on Laughter

Sarah and Abraham were wanting children. Let's start reading at Genesis 18:11-15.

       Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 

            Therefore Sarah laughed within herself saying, 'After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?' 

             And the Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time, I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.'


            But Sarah denied it, saying, 'I did not laugh,' for she was afraid.


           And He said, 'No, but you did laugh!'


Much to Sarah's surprise, she did have a child.


        And Sarah said, 'God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me.'  Genesis 21:6


Guess what she named the kid? Issac,which literally means, he laughs.


>>>>>Fast forward to thousands of years after the birth of Isaac.


Pregnant Elizabeth said to Mary, the mother of Jesus, 

           For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for you. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of things which were told her from the Lord. Luke 1: 44,45


The coming of Jesus caused even a baby in the womb to jump for joy.


Laughter is a beautiful thing. And so is joy! 

the Lord provides

Source

Kerala, India

            In my parent's home, there is a plaque on the wall, right when you walk in, and it says, the Lord provides. Today, while pondering on a difficult situation in my life, I looked up and saw the plaque, and remembered. 

When I was young

          I thought back to the time that we first got the plaque many years ago. I think we found it at a garage sale somewhere. I immigrated from India along with my family to the US 10 years ago. With little money, few possessions, no friends, and no social support, we struggled to live in this strange, new world. But the Lord has provided. Yes, he has. Although our transition to this new life was sometimes rough, He still has met all  our needs, and has provided for us through it all. 

         And He will provide once again. Though I cannot see the future, and though I cannot see my sweet Savior's face, I can believe in His provision. He has provided in the past, and He will do so to the very end - for His name's sake. 

The Lord is my Shepherd.

I shall not want. 

He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness 

for His name's sake. 

~ Psalm 23: 1,2,3

on Friendship

Dear friends, 
Just so you know, you mean a lot to me. 
Your presence and friendship has encouraged me far more than you can imagine. 

This is gonna be heavy guys. But, it's the truth. Once, I thought I would never really have good friends. After a lot of bad friendships that ended in disaster, I really did believe that I was friend un-worthy. 

Then I realized something, that I may truly be friend-unworthy. That, I may have done some things/ been somethings that makes me less than friend material. That's where Jesus comes in guys. He sees everything unworthy in me, and still loves me just the same. 

Guess what that means? I can make friends, by His grace, who see all the mess in me and still love me the same. because even the perfect Son of God was willing to do that. Amen? 

Thank you also for your encouragements to be better, to be holy, to be more like Jesus. because we all know that we need more mini-Jesuses in this world, bringing glory to our Father above. 

Love you all. 

Source

In this time of waiting, 
I wanted to:
- blame God
- throw a pity party for myself, wasting my days away
- separate myself from friends and family


So dear future me, 
take note:
- Do not do the above things. 


Instead, do the opposites and then some:
- trust God - Read the psalms for encouragement
- confide in good friends and family 
- Know that its gonna be ok. 
- Be proactive, get things done.
Even if it's just doing something for 5 minutes, do it. 
        Finishing one small task will give you motivation to go on. 

Wildflowers

Source

"Nothing is too costly as a tribute to Your unrivaled love, and yet You receive with favor the smallest sincere token of affection! You receive our poor forget-me-nots and love-tokens as though they were intrinsically precious, though indeed they are but as the bunch of wild flowers that the child brings to his mother."

C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening.

on sin

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about sin.

The reasoning behind it, and the consequences of it.

I realized one thing:

           sin hurts.

It hurts you. It hurts those around you.

Maybe that is one reason why God hates sin,

          Because sin hurts.

Even when we think no one else knows.

But remember,

Jesus died for our sins. For our hurts. For the hurts others have caused us. He took Father-God's wrath on our sin upon Himself. The King of Glory became as a criminal for me, for you. Oh. How He loves us.

"Upon that cross of Jesus mine eye at times can see

The very dying form of One Who suffered there for me;

And from my stricken heart with tears two wonders I confess;

The wonders of redeeming love and my unworthiness.  " 

Elizabeth Clephane, Beneath the cross of Jesus

I just found my first gray hair.
Boy, I am getting old.