The deeper walk with Christ

My 2nd article for Truth Alive Magazine :)

The deeper walk with Christ

‎"Some think that the benefits of this world are the reason for our faith; they are wrong and must abandon superficial living if the deep life of Christ is to reshape them for eternity." Quoted

The goal of the Christian walk, the Word of God says, is to become a “perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13)”. Christ, the exact representation and image of God (Heb 1:3, Col 1:15), displayed many characteristics that a charisma chasing believer might want to only gloss over. Healings, miracles, and attendant gifts of the Holy Spirit are undeniable and may happen all around us and all over us. Our eyes might have got opened up to the reality of the living God through an impossible miracle from God. However, that is only a key-hole to peep into the panorama of God’s Kingdom.
If we want to be modeled after Christ, we cannot expect to be led through primrose paths all the days of our life. Think about the character of Christ. He operated in perfect love. Perfect love, as described in 1 Corinthians 13, sounds too lofty to attain, sounds too good to be humanly possible; but Christ demonstrated perfect love in His character to the dot of i and the cross of the t. He was greatly compassionate. Remember, “Jesus wept” when Mary told him that Lazarus had died (John 11:35). Just as the prophet Isaiah foretold, Christ was so meek that “a bruised reed he never broke (Isa 42:3)”. He never talked back to His accusers when He was being crucified.
Think about his nature of ‘servanthood’. Think about his ‘humility’. Think about his ‘obedience towards God’. Phil 2:6-11 records, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross”. Jesus Christ yielded Himself to the will of His Father. Paul says in 1 Cor 11:1, “Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ”.
God sits as a refiner of gold and silver, burning away the dross (Mal 3:3). It’s through seasons of suffering that man acquires many of the Christ-like characteristics. It might be a season when the world may take pity on a weak and worthless, supposed child of God. It might be a season when we tear our robes and cover ourselves in ashes like Job and ask God, “Why”? From my personal experience, I can say that every time I experienced a season of suffering, I got drawn closer to God. Whether I like it or not, every such season, the Potter shapes my character to be more Christ-like. And of course, when I am in the valley I get cornered into spending time on things of eternal value, which otherwise I am not inclined to when on the mountain tops! I am led to recall that many a great men of God have penned down the most beautiful of hymns in the bedrock of suffering. “It is well with my soul” by Horatio Spafford, one of the greatest hymns of all times, was birthed when things in his personal life were inconsolably tragic.
I am not advocating that we should specifically ask God to send suffering our way. We need to yield to the will of God and be ready for the plunge – a deeper walk with God – into where He wants to takes us rather than where we want to go. Remember, Jesus told Peter the exact same thing (John 21:18-19).
“Let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity (Heb 6:1).” I close with this prayer, “Lord, enable me to love you for who You are. May I delight in the fact that You yourself are my very great reward. (Gen 15:1). Christ, you gave up everything for me, to seek me and save me. Enable me for a deeper walk with you and shape me for eternity. Though the fig tree may not blossom, may I rejoice in God my Savior (Hab 3:17-18).”

Gifts

An article I wrote for Truth Alive magazine. My first attempt. Hoping that my flow will get better as I write more.

GIFTS

Every child likes to receive gifts from his Daddy. Every earthly Dad likes to give gifts to his children. Our Heavenly Father loves us more than our earthly Dad does. God loves us ‘lavishly’. He has lavished such great love on us that we are called His ‘children’ (1 John 3:1). Daddy God gives His children good and perfect gifts (James 1:17). As believers, the most precious gift we could have ever received is the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). Gifts are called gifts by its very nature that we cannot claim or boast that we earned them (Eph 2:8-9).
The word ‘gift’ appears 158 times in the NIV Bible. There is a myriad of gifts mentioned – gifts from God, gift of the Holy Spirit, gifts of the Holy Spirit, earthly gifts and blessings, etc. Some gifts are like those extra ‘toppings’. God moves away from being just a provider to a lavish bestower of awesome blessings. He gives and gives. Daddy God loves to surprise and delight His children with unexpected gifts in unexpected measures – more than what we could have asked for or imagined (Eph 3:20).
God’s idea of giving His children everything as a gift is to prove a point that stands in stark contrast to the principles of world, where it’s all about self-centeredness. “Everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ (Phil 2:21)”. We need to imitate God and follow the pattern He has set. As we are being transformed into the image of Christ day by day, we need to ask Him for an extravagant heart that is lavish in the way it loves others, the way it serves others and the way it gives for the Kingdom. Generosity comes from surpassing grace and is called an ‘indescribable’ gift (2 Cor 9:15). God’s word says that our gifts are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God (Phil 4:18). Our gifts to the poor are remembered by God (Acts 10:31).
If we open our eyes to the fact that everything in our life (not just spiritual gifts) is a gift from God, we would never cease to be amazed. We would never cease to thank Him. We would start to recognize the intrinsic worth of our families, friends, our abilities, even our very breath – every little and big thing we have been blessed with. My Dad and Mom are a gift from God. So are my siblings. My inborn talents are a gift from God. So are my education and every other ladder God has enabled me to climb. From that vantage point, where I sit on a mountain of gifts from Daddy God, I pause and ask, “ Daddy, what little gift can I give you in return?”
The Holy Spirit reminds me, “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me (Matt 25:37-40).”

May each of us use “whatever GIFT WE HAVE RECIEVED to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms (1 Peter 4:9-11).”