The Blessed!

The Amplified Bible gives the following explanation for a “Blessed Person”

Happy, blithesome, joyous, spiritually prosperous--with life-joy and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions

So who are the blessed? And why are they blessed?

Blessed	Reward
The humble	The Kingdom of heaven
Those who mourn	Comfort
The Meek	Earth as Inheritance
Those who hunger for righteousness	Complete satisfaction
The Merciful	Mercy
The Pure in Heart	They shall see God!
Peace Keepers	Would be called Sons of God
Those persecuted for righteousness	The Kingdom of Heaven

Democracy in India

Yes...we all know it has to be "the government of the People by the People." but sadly, though it is founded on that lofty principal, it no longer serves the purpose...

This post is not aiming at providing a solution nor soothing the pain... but a mere thought blogged out loud :)

 Democracy is a double edged sword... :( Bad decisions either do not come to be or at least delayed... but good ones... they take ages to get noticed :( as Calvin says... I know, but why isn't it ever unfair in my favor?

Take all the bills yet to be passed or criminals yet to be hanged or any other major decisions that are vital for the nation...  they are delayed... every Government seeks the following in their reign...

1. Put major leaders of the previous regime under bars... so obviously law suits take most of their 5 year term

2. Undoing all those done by the previous regime... (no thought of what is good or vice versa... of course whatever has been done by the opposition has to be wrong :P)

What amuses me is that how the hell is the ruling party so certain that they would not win the next time???

Well if they do something constructive to the nation during their time and the future is seemingly secure...

Corruption is yet another vice that, with no apparent discrimination seeks out all politicians... 

All said and done, the Government is like a ship with 2 captains... Hating each other and taking turns overthrowing each other while losing direction of the ship...

God's ways are mysterious

The greatest weakness of man kind is the Greatest gift given to them by their maker... 


"The authority to make decisions on our own..."


With all His love for us, His unimaginable and unfathomable power, He has not and will not enforce decisions on us.


This gives us freedom... with freedom comes responsibility and accountability.


So lets ponder...

Punishment from God...?

Is there something called God's Punishment?






No I do not think so...


Here is a typical scenario...


There is a sign on a cliff that says 'weak rock' or 'land slides'... you/we being the adventurous kind we are 'dare' to take a peek beyond the sign board... and we pay for it... Now this clearly states the following....


1. you were warned...
2. you chose to ignore the warning
3. you reap the benefits ;)


Now there are no external element in play... 


The same goes with whatever God tells us...


1. When we know whats wrong and whats correct (of course we know... we claim to have '6' senses)
2. When we choose to be ignorant of the above-said facts... under the pretense of 'adventure' 'daredevilry' 'ignorance' or simply giving in to the temptations of the flesh


We fall into traps, pits, dangers, damages, some even fatal.... and THEN we blame everything on God...


Now...


1. You were warned... by God, by those who had the taste of ignoring God's warning's before...
2. You deliberately chose to ignore it...



The aftermath...


We end up fooling ourselves...


@ those who play PC games..


When you see a pit with lots of nasty looking spikes or a pit of fire or a big fat turtle hurtling towards you, you would certainly not charge head on... you wait... you plan... you strategize. then you make your move... 


If a game(remember it could be saved and loaded) demands such attention to detail and carefulness.... how much our life should be planned for and taken care of...


Lets just remember.. Look for signs in life... they are life savers...


p.s. a tip to remember...


Hold the hands of your maker... he can guide you through safe and sound... signs or no signs... :)

Where are we heading?

Some observations that made me question some aspects of Life that are considered to be taboo...

Why go to Church, claiming you are spending time with God and recite ages old prayers and dialogues and well versed paragraphs?

When you consider God as a friend/father/ - a relationship, why do you call upon Him using prayers that are mechanical?

How would you react to some one who talks to you the same thing, with no change in tone, words, punctuations, everyday all through the years...?

The Bible states that the purpose of the Church is to bring together people in God's name to worship Him and to learn more about Him from the Holy Bible...

The importance people give to Church, its extensions, renovations, branching, etc... is not given to God... this scenario is bad taking into consideration the ignorance of the people who do this...

Then there was a church, a pastor and people who flock to him to learn deeper truth from the Bible...

But

Now, we have churches, diocese, and parties in each church, committees, elections, voting, bribes, and fights on everyday in the name of God and Church...

There was a time when people looked up to Christians with envy... envious of the good people they were. Envy because they could not be as good as them...Christ was glorified then...

Now... as Gandhi had very correctly stated... "If not for Christians, I'd be a Christian"

The very acts of Love for which Christians were known for are gone...

The very motive of people at every Church is selfish and egotistic... any act of charity has a hidden motive...every smile carries stronger venom than a Cobra's... and every hand shake and hug is filled with malice....

With reference to the sermons that we hear often on Sundays...

Personal oratorical flavour and individual vengeance takes over simple truth...

Subjectivity and illogical and out of context verses are used for liberal and annoyingly high decibel messages...

IMO - any constructive Bible study ought to be a communication... and definitely not an announcement or a press release statement...

The core of every message, which is supposed to be Christ and His love for Humanity has become some syllabus set by the 'main' church or the diocese that literally choreographs the Christian Holidays...

Ultimately...

Either people become ignorant of the fact that they are nowhere near God or they pathetically believe that their high attendance to Churches guarantee them a place in heaven...

and

Above all, this is the reason for Churches being devoid of young minds that are swifter than the elder ones and are always on the look out for some mental task... They need to think... they need more than 'yet another lecture' to snap into reality...

IMO - Reading and meditating upon the Bible sincerely and with the guidance of the Holy Ghost, which the Bible promises, we can learn more of Christ and His love and delve deeper into the mines of Bible...

as for fellowship... a dedicated small group of believers sharing learnt knowledge and worshiping the holy God with sincere hearts is worth ten churches...

Kind regards.

Jaaz    

Qualities of Love

1. Extreme Patience
2. Amazing Kindness
3. Lack of Envy
4. Lack of Boasting
5. Severe Lack of Pride
6. Absence of Rudeness
7. No sign of Self
8. Sans Anger
9. Strange amnesia of others' wrongs
10. Peculiar delight in the truth
11. Hatred of evil
12. Sense of protection
13. Trust
14. Hope
15. Perseverance
16. Has never failed
17. Always exists
18. The greatest of the greatest three... Faith, Hope and Love :)

Inner Fitness - Shed and Gain

Everyman/ Woman aspires to be in a 'perfect' body...


They try to shed unwanted weight and try to gain some shape/muscles.


Our inner self demands such attention... in fact more than our outer self.


Here are some tips by my dear friend Paul as he writes to his buddies...


Things to shed for inner hygiene:

1. Earthly Nature
2. Sexual Immorality
3. Impurity
4. Lust
5. Evil Desires
6. Greed - which he equates to Idolatry
7. Anger
8. Rage
9. Malice
10. Slander
11. Filthy Language
12. Lies

and he suggests dressing up our rehabbed inner man with the following...

1. Compassion
2. Kindness
3. Humility
4. Gentleness
5. Patience
6. Forbearance
7. Forgiveness
8. Above all these... he recommends Love 

Directing our lives based on these tips can greatly improve our efficiency and productivity.

Kind regards.

God's Help

God's help!

This point came up to my mind during a sermon...

God's help is kind of strange...

When a flood comes, He doesn't stop the flood but he gives us the strength to get over it...

Not that He can not stop it... but His decision of helping us get over it is two fold.

1. We develop self confidence
2. His most magnificient creation is not a robot, but a being that is Human and that can and that has to think and work on itself.

We learn that God gives us options in Life. His strength is there for taking. All we have to do is to believe and claim the loot.

His help and His grace is given not because we deserve it but because He loves us.

So Let us seek God's help in every walk of our life.

That would boost our inner self and make us a better person every day!

Why Me?

Why me?

This is the question that arises in most of the people's heart when they face trouble...
1. I follow Christ
2. I read and Medidate on the Bible
3. I pray and am close to God...

So Why this trouble/situation...

Well points 1-3 are precisely the reason for you being in trouble.

Imagine two pieces of rock.

1. Just plain rock
2. A diamond hidden by dirt

Which one would you take and polish?

That is exactly you get into 'trouble' when you follow Christ.

They are not exactly troubles... but tests and further tests that qualify us and make us just more than plain rock.

In short, these tests are which that sets us apart, makes us worthy, increases our value and makes us Holy

Happy February!

My Soul and I

Hi all,

This quote from C S Lewis changed my very perspective of Life...

"You do not have a Soul.... You are the Soul.. You have a body"

My perspective and most of our own belief was that we all have a Soul that passes by at the time of our Death.

Now think of this...

God says that we do not die... our earthly body dies and we go to the Creator... So now Lewis is making sense.

We do not have a Soul per se... We are the Soul. We have a body that is just a host, a temple of God, for a temporary camp in this World.

Now the options are very simple. 

We either please the temporary residence and loose eternal salvation...

or...

We please the Creator by respecting His greatest Creation, Us, the Soul and please God in whatever we do with the host.

I Corinthians 10: 31 can not be any more clear on what we need to do...

"So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God."

as the Preacher says in Ecclesiastes 11: 9

"Rejoice, O young man, in your adolescence, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your [full-grown] youth. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment."

Kind regards.

To Preach or not to Preach

Dear All,

Happy New Year!!

This thought of preaching/ teaching/ feeding came to my mind en route to work from my home.

The thought is very simple...

"If my life is not worth being learnt from, My teachings and words would all the more be meaningless"

When I do not live a life worthy of a leader, a life that is not a Living testimony for the principals I stand for, vouch for and die for, My words would have no meaning whatsoever.

Lets lead a life of values and save our words.

Cheers,

Jaaz

Pressuredynamic

The most common factor in moving any person/vehicle against wind would be aerodynamics.

The key aspect is in the design part in the context of a vehicle. In terms of an athlete it lies in the posture and the angle of inclination.

In my discussion with my manager regarding how people cope up in pressurised corporate environment, the same concept flashed by again.

Thus the term “Pressuredynamic”

A person, full of energy, smart, pro-active and an embodiment of all corporate virtues is all the more susceptible to pressure. The reason is simple. He performs and he is expected to perform more... It like a Golden Goose. One can probably never satiate a Vampire's thirst :)

The same Golden employee, the Salt of the Earth, undergoes tremendous pressure on the job. This cannot be fought back, neither can it be skirted around. It has to be faced head on.

Imagine a cliff-diver. He has many options from such a height. He can walk back (which would probably thwart the very purpose) or He can jump carefree and break all his bones unceremoniously.

But He chooses the one which is least hurting and the most enjoyable... He twists and swirls but maintains a spear head when hitting the water...

There is a mighty lesson from this...

When the crisis moment or the high pressure situation hits you head on...

Maintain a Spear head – that is the key... enter smooth and the rest would be not only be free of pain but enjoyable too!

Cheers!!

Choosing Life Partner

Choosing Life partner is a very simple yet the most important decision a person can ever undertake.

IMO:

When the First priority in Life of the person/spouse-potential is the same as that of mine.....

It Has Clicked!

Compromising on this can lead to unnecessary complications that would make the very purpose of marriage fail... 

Cheers

Mastery

The most fleeting term I've come across – Mastery

When do we Master something?

When we've got the entire mechanics of the process known both in theory and practice.

The primary step in gaining mastery of anything, IMO, would be to master ourselves first.

As the saying goes, Be the master of your own house first.

What is Mastery of the self?

It is neither gaining all possible stances of Yoga nor Floating above the clouds in narcotics.

Lets begin this with an allegory!

You buy yourself a new phone. An entirely out of the world, new to the world model.

Where do you go get the directions on the usage. The user manual of course.

Now lets come to think of ourselves. We DID NOT Evolve, for that comical term has been proved null and void aeons ago.

We were created, by a Master par excellence.

The creation, in order to know itself more, should approach none other than the creator.

Ask God on inner knowledge. Seek out information on yourself. Get to know yourself. Gain a higher ground everyday.

When the knowledge of the self increases, better would be the channelling of our skills, talents and instincts.

This would in turn facilitate understanding of the outer world.

Inner mastery is the key to the mastery without.

This works in terms of Nations and politics.

When your home country is free of Corruption and politics, you can be a force to be reckoned with in the world politics. If not, someone, someday would certainly say “Be first the Master of your own household”

Attitude - learning

Attitude – a term that interests me slightly lower that gaming!

It is also called 'Learnt Predisposition'

So it is linked with Learning, but albeit predominantly at a subconscious level.

Learning happens continuously. To some it comes naturally. Some learn things the hard way. The methodology apart, Learning happens. To everyone, all the time.

So it is how the learning is implemented, that results in predisposition.

Predisposition, which more a reaction to a particular situation or an event, happens in a reflexive way. But Learning and implementation of the learnt knowledge makes some tweaks to the reflexive reactions that help people define one's attitude.

The key in reflecting a healthy attitude is in keen observation, absorption and implementation of that learning.

Happy Learning!

With God/ In God

Was just helping out my dearest friend out of a self-made pit of worry (which in my view an utter waste of imagination)

Being with God, is like a Child holding on to its Mom's hands and walking... The problem here is that the strength of that link is as strong as the strength of the Child... The Strength of the Chain is in the weakest link...

But now let's assume that God carries us... Now that's a different scenario all together... the strength of the bond is determined by the one who carries us... that means our Master...

So what makes the difference...

A simple act of Love and trust... the willingness to be led by Him blind folded... A humble surrender of all what we are to Him who knows best...

So lets ask God to take control of us... Let us stop dictating terms to Him... Lets stop questioning Him..

After all faith is Practical... It HAS to work...

Warm regards.

Consciousness

Definition from the net:

an alert cognitive state in which you are aware of yourself and your situation...

My professor/ Mentor gave an excellent guidance on the consciousness we ought to have.

He divided them into three.

God Consciousness

Word Consciousness

Prayer Consciousness

God Consciousness:

Simple, as the term implies... Being aware of God's presence with us... especially when we are alone

Word Consciousness:

Being armed... A Believer's life is wrought with unexpected arrows, darts and lances lashing out from dark corners. Being armed with the word of God makes all the difference...

Belt of Truth – Knowing God

Breastplate of Righteousness – Righteousness of Jesus

Sandals of Peace – Peace that surpass all understanding

Shield of Faith (my Favourite) – Living by Faith

Helmet of Salvation – The process by which we are born again

The victorious Sword of the Spirit – Verses with which to counter-strike Enemy

Above all the life blood of every believer is the Everlasting Love of God!!

Prayer Consciousness:

This is very simple. A whisper of prayer, a small thanksgiving from the depths of the heart to God whenever and wherever you get the chance.

When we are consciousness of all these three, we are a force to be reckoned with.

Happy!

XY - Hygiene and Motivation

This amazing theory has been flashing across my mind often.

At the work spot, is it good to be hygienic or should we have to be specifically Motivated?

Being Hygienic, well that stands much similar to personal Hygiene.

Just doing things or undoing things that would make people ok with us. This would mean not getting on the wrong side of a boss, or not being escalated by a client.

Now Motivation is a step Ahead!

Motivation is clearly subjective, though runs the risk of being standing out and being a red painted target.

Doing things that would get you credit, an appreciative slap on the back, or in some rare cases a boost in the appraisal value ;)

Being Hygienic is neither getting appreciation nor a condemning glare.

Being Motivated in a work spot is both productive and destructive.

The right balance, of course, as in any other subjective decisions is contingency based and should strictly be based on the Zeitgeist and the prevalent vogue.

Secret of Success

The secret of Success is that there is no secret to success...

The pathway to success is always very plain and simple...

A straight road; no twist; no hidden crevices to enter; no one to deviate...

The toughest hurdle to going on that is probably ourselves.

When we keep life and our outlook on life simple, the pathway appears as it is; Clear

When we complicate life with meaningless Human wisdom; reason; doubts without any base, we doubt the pathway.

It then appears TOO easy; TOO simple and TOO straight to be right.

We are always clouded by the false reasoning that Success or any good thing for that matter WILL NOT BE EASY.

Flash news: We are wrong.

When the outlook and the definition of Life is simple and straight or in other words, when the priorities in Life is set right in the order it is ought to be, Success and “Living Happily ever after” would be simple and easy.

Maker First, Keepers Next

God's Name and its Usage

 God's name is THE most powerful word in the World.

But unfortunately, it is the most frequently used word for many silly situations.

God's last name is definitely NOT DAMN.

What most of us think is that when we say “In God's name” we mean it. Well, Flash news, You are wrong. You mean something only when you mean something. God's name is NOT a ticket to your honesty neither is His name a passport to your holiness.

The Bible says,

“ You shall not use or repeat the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, lightly or frivolously, in false affirmations or profanely]; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain” Exodus 20: 7

and God does not joke neither does He say something He did not mean.

So using God's Name in vain would be the most ingenious way to invite His wrath...