Sparrows

The park in my residential complex is a haven for sparrows. I spend quiet times there enjoying the beauty of nature. Today, as I was gazing upon some sparrows, I got a revelation from the Word. When Jesus instructed us not to worry, pointing us to the birds of the air - I believe He was not just pointing to "not worrying" but to learn from the freedom the birds have. Fluttering around in freedom, a carefree life... The Lord wants us to not just keep our heads above worry but to go beyond, much beyond that point into a limitless free world in the Spirit!

Pink tulips in the rain!

I could dance away the days of my life, drenched with you in the downpour
I could palette my life, with the pink, the green, and the petrichor
I could live gazing at you as my wallpaper, and I'd be gratefully thrilled
I enjoy this life, once again enchanting and evergreen, in God refilled!

O! The captivating creativity of the Creator that causes countless cataracts
Of inexplicable joy to catapult from within, precious feelings so abstract
Bedazzled by the gift to beauty behold, bestowed so bountifully by the Boss
Trinket triflings of this temporary tent, all of them for you away I toss!

The tea-mug from GOD

Fall of 2009 in Berkeley. Was contemplating whether or not to quit my job in BGI. I needed a permanent job with a visa sponsorship,soon. BGI had its own merger engagements with Blackrock. How could that entity help me? I looked to GOD.

One of those weekends, my ex-roomate from Gurgaon, Yati, came for a business visit in the Bay area. We went on a day long memorable outing. It was almost dusk as we waited in Sausalito - a beautiful and serene small town - for a ferry ride back to San Francisco city. Typical girls who love window-shopping as we were, we ventured in and out of handicraft and accessory shops that adorned the sea-kissed habitat. In one of the shops, I stumbled upon the prettiest tea-mug ever! A mix of pink and white, it had beautiful flower patterns all over. My heart leapt for joy at the thought of having such a piece set on my study table! It was only about twenty dollars, easily affordable. But then, something stopped me; I thought "Why do I need to waste money? I can, of course, live without this mug." I wistfully placed it back on the display and walked out. This was a Sunday evening.

Monday was uneventful. Same routine - barted to SF and came back in the evening. Andrea and Fred, my landlady and lord, were to return the next day from a cruise vacation. As I walked into my room on Tuesday evening, I saw a gift packet placed on my bed. I unwrapped it only to find something unbelievable - a tea-mug!!! My heart skipped a beat - it was quite similar to the one I left behind in Sausalito! "Oh my GOD! What are you trying to tell me?! You love me so much that you want to fulfil the least and insignificant of my desires?!!!" I had no words for GOD. GOD once again proved to me how personal He is!

Again, I realized that I got this tea-mug for free. I didn't have to pay a penny! Indeed, GOD gives things for free - even His own Son. That didn't cost us anything, He Himself took care of the payment.

The message was clear "Why should I worry about my job prospects? I should obey God (believe in Jesus' words) and allow Him take care of every earthly need!" He has indeed taken care of my need for a job and today I am in a new job in New York! May Your name be praised!Thank you for all the gifts. I love you, Daddy!

Saving souls on their way to shipwreck...

Another of Carter's messages that has sunk deep into my spirit - the shipwreck episode in Paul's life, towards the closing chapters of Acts.

Paul's been through all of it - great miracles, great showdowns, great supernatural stuff - proving to believers, to-be-converts, pagan spectators, everyone alike - of God's indisputable power. However, come to the shipwreck chapter in his life and Paul, a man seasoned in miracles, has to fight it out in the natural. God didn't calm the storm and transport him instantaneously to dry land! He is very much in the midst of the storm,with 275 others, many of whom are prisoners like Paul, on their way to meet Ceaser in Rome.

The storm builds up. Paul gets to move from his position of captive to Captain and instructs the rest what to do. He gets the opportunity to preach the gospel in the midst of the storm and save 275 souls - not just from immediate physical death in the waves of the sea but from the flames of hell. All 276 of them had to stay afloat clinging on to pieces of wood till a day's time let them reach the shores of Malta.

Paul was allowed to go through this trial filled journey only to save 275 others from shipwrecking their souls! God empowered Him to fight it out in the natural. Just as God's word had spoken though him - that all aboard would be safe - ALL reached Malta safely. Not one perished. Statistically speaking this is a 'tail event'!!! Very low probability that ALL would reach shore safely. God carried them in His hands to prove that His word is true and got 275 converts for the Kingdom.Wow! Our hardships are being used/will be used by God to save somebody. Rejoice! Our lives are not about saving our own lives but others'!

"The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life." Jesus (John 12:25)

Thoughts...

No, I am not talking about thoughts as we know of as our enemy! =). I am thinking how does God and how can God know our thoughts! We may casually skim over the verses that say that God knows man's every thought. Yeah, He is God and so he knows everything, including our thoughts. What's the big deal?!

Why don't we stop and think for a moment? Wow! Do you realize how impossible, at least scientifically, it is for someone else to know our thoughts?!!! Let's try to analyze what we call us "thoughts". Thoughts can be words, images, recollection and/or fresh processing of information stored in our brain or translation into 'storable' pieces of information, of what we perceive through our senses.

How can thoughts be interpreted without a medium? If God can see our thoughts, there must be some medium (invisible to our eyes) through which information from our brains or minds gets communicated to Him. I believe this is through the "Spirit". In the book of Genesis, we read that God breathed his Spirit into man and man became a living being. Elsewhere we read, "in Him we move about and have our being". So human beings have this umbilical cord with his Creator. So it's not surprising that God can read our thoughts. Guess He has a super computer that records every thought from every individual. Wow! There's no escape on Judgment day.