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Are your muscles sore?
Just recently, I did heavy weight lifting (about 25kgs) to build up my biceps. I lifted these weights after a long time break from weight lifting and I did around 25 repeats. I wanted to continue on and so I did another 20 repeats after a short 5 minute gap. I will tell you what made me do it. In my mind, I imagined myself where I would and how I would feel with great looking biceps.
I was tired in no time and I knew I shouldn’t have lifted so much weight at once. The next morning I could feel that my biceps were very sore. I couldn’t stretch out my arms fully and even moving my arms around made me feel an acute, sudden, sharp pain. This made me realize why it was such a big mistake lifting 15kg weights at once.
While applying a curing ointment to my biceps, I realized this is much like our faith in the Christian walk and how certain things I did could be used as an analogy to explain things mentioned in the bible. But before I talk about faith, I want to explain a bit about what causes Muscle Soreness. This is purely Wikipedia knowledge and I will try and make it as non-technical as possible.
Muscle soreness is a result of microscopic tearing of muscle fibre. The amount depends on how hard, how long, and what type of exercise we do. This tearing of muscle fibre causes sharp pain with swelling/bruising over the affected area. As it slowly cures over the days, the rebuilding process begins which makes muscle grow bigger and stronger than before.
But when does this process begin, you may ask? It begins when we are at rest. You see if you continue exercising as you normally would, your muscle fibre is torn over and over until you break down completely. You muscle grow smaller as there was no time for them to recover. This is much like our faith. Let me show you some verse from the bible and how they co-relate to our analogy of exercise and faith…
Romans 10:17 – “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ”. Muscles grow when we excercise regularly just as faith grows through the hearing of the word of God.
James 1:3 – “…because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance”. Lifting 15kg weights is testing your muscles capabilities…its stretching out the maximum potential your muscles have to lift them up and put them back down. It develops perseverance (endurance). Well…what do we need endurance for?
Romans 5:2-5 – “…and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”.
So what is that kept me going when I was tired? In other words, what motivated me to exercise more and more? It’s that image of myself feeling confident and having bigger biceps. Similarly, in our Christian walk, we also have an image that we can set before us. Its the image of finishing this race.
What race you may ask? It’s the race mentioned in Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”. It sums up all the verses we have talked about earlier about perseverance, character, and race.
Dear brothers and sisters, this world is like passing through a large shopping mall that is about to close down. The time is ticking (Jesus is coming soon), the things all around you are very tempting and great to look at (temptations). If you stop and look at things, you are wasting time. You have to reach the exit before the mall closes down. In this shopping mall, once the gates are shut, it won’t be opened again. It’s open now…so make your way through the narrow path, squeezing through the thousands around you who are still shopping, tell them to get out as much as you can. Those that listen, will walk to the exit with you but those who don’t will face the consequences.
It’s their choice and it’s your choice. Make it out quick and you will see a world that you’ve never seen before. It won’t be the same as the entrance world. It will be a place so beautiful that your mind cannot comprehend. You will see His face, so beautiful that you wouldn’t want to ever turn away. You will see our wonderful Savior and our Lord saying to you “…Well done, good and faithful servant!…” (Matthew 25:23)
God bless you and I hope this has been an encouragement to you!
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22/07/2012 – After attending the Church today, I just felt that I should mention this. I was thinking a bit more about the shopping mall analogy. Have you ever felt lost in a shopping mall…not knowing where the exit is. Have you ever referred to these little maps that are available that show you the exit points. There are many exit points but there is only one which you need to exit through which will reach you to the place you parked your car. Consider this little map as the Bible, which is guiding you on what to do, what is good for you, what is not good for you and how you should make it down to the final exit before the time runs out.
Have you ever been so lost that a guide in a mall will literally take you to the exit? Well consider this guide, Holy Spirit promised to us by God (Luke 24:49). He can be as real as a person next to you can be. He only becomes that real to us when we spend time with Him, talking to Him and listening to His advice. And when you are following the map (bible) or the guide (Holy Spirit), you trust them that they will take you or guide you through to the right exit that you are wanting to get to. God is willing to guide you given that you ask him for his guidance (Isaiah 58:11).
Please consider this as just an analogy which fits quite well with many aspects of things related to God. It doesn’t accommodate all that is taught to us in scripture and therefore one must meditate what’s in the scripture and try to relate them to what’s happening in their own life.
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Kingdom of God
My topic for tonight is very simple. Most of us have already prayed about it tonight. Someone prayed that we have a lot of challenges in this world; someone prayed that we need His grace. It’s just like that word in the bible where it talks about the life of a man as being a moment but God is there forever…forever same.
So the word has already been preached for tonight but the only interesting bit is…are we putting what we hear into practice? The topic tonight is the Kingdom of God. We all know and heard many messages about the Kingdom of God. We are all hoping that one day we would reach this kingdom that Jesus talks about. That’s our aim but the question is how well do we know the kingdom of God. And if we know about this kingdom of God, what are we doing to reach towards that. What are our strategies, our drawbacks in life that are keeping us from moving towards this Kingdom of God? How well are we equipped with the burden to reach the kingdom of God?
If you have a look at Luke 19:1…It says “While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once”. While Jesus was talking people assumed that the kingdom of God was going to come just like people today. In these last days, many are deceived by false calls to the Kingdom of God and Jesus appearing in various parts of the World. But Matthew 24:14 clarifies this anticipation and false calls. It tells us when this gospel of the kingdom is proclaimed to the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Let’s look at the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), most of us know this parable quite well. I am sure many of us have heard messages about it as well. It’s regarding this Master who handed over talents to his servants. Two servants have responded in a positive manner but one servant was lazy and buried it in the ground. This is not about how good one servant did and how bad another one did. This about judgment! We can use the master’s illustration as Jesus Christ. The master said I am going for a purpose; I will come back and talk to you.
You can see that two servants made an effort and brought back a return by working hard at what they had. The third man however said to the master that he wasn’t a good man. He also said that Master wanted to reap what he did not sow and gather where he has not scattered seed. He knew that his master was not a good man.
So that brings us to a question…do you know your master? The basic analogy is a servant listens to whatever a master says. We know this even better because we come from India. If you think about it, how hard is it to say to your master as a servant that the master was a hard man. It’s very hard! He keeps building blame on the master. God gave to me this thought and I kept asking what was the point God was trying to tell me.
Its very clear, this person knew about his hard master so why didn’t he say in the first instance when Master was handing out the talents that he would not have it. This person doesn’t want to work hard. He had a bad attitude. The master trusted his servants despite the fact that there was no accountability. He gave out the talents on the basis of trust alone. The master did not demand anything and neither did he warn them of loosing those talents. He didn’t say he was expecting something when he returns. He said simply to just do the business.
Similarly, Jesus Christ trusted us and gave us talents. Each one of us has specific skill sets/talents given by God himself. Now, It is up to us to use those talents. It’s not about how hard you use those talents or multiplying talents or loosing talents…it’s about our responsibility.
When he comes back, are you able to stand up and says…Lord, here is what you gave me and this is what I have done with them or are we going to be a lazy servant who buried what he had and returned it back to the master. You can see from the parable…the reward that these two people who worked hard for their master have got. Double of what they initially had. Be responsible…It doesn’t matter whether you like it or not…whether you feel like it or not. Jesus Christ, our master has called each of us to be responsible for his kingdom.
The day will come where we will stand in the presence of His majesty and glory…we have to account for each and everything we have done. We are all called to do something. He said, Go into the nations and preach the gospel. We all have different opportunities where we can see the gospel of Jesus Christ advance so people get to know the kingdom of God.
Jesus believed in us…he trusted us with his valuables…so lets be serious about our father’s business.
– Pastor Paul Talluri (Nazarene Prayer Fellowship)
This is an Audio Transcript from 13th July 2012 at All Nations Church of Nazarene
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In today’s Christianity, Grace is one of the most talked about subject. Pastors and preachers from around the world explain of the richness and importance it brings to our daily lives. I am sure many of the people who have been raised up in a Christian family have heard this term ‘grace’ being used in almost everything from getting up each day alive & well to achieving successful outcomes in various tasks.
This wonderful term ‘grace’ as one brother has put it is “God’s riches at Christ’s expense”. It has been given to us as a free gift just as our Salvation. It was not because we deserved it or because of our works in this world (Ephesians 2:8-10). It was purely God’s unmerited favor to mankind. In our quest to understand this term ‘grace’, it is important to realize that God’s grace is available to all men just as it says in Titus 2:11. Despite this, not all men have been saved. You see God gave people a choice to make for themselves.
He is not a God who forces people to do what his will is. Although, he knows very well that being submissive to Him will leads you to a life full of Joy and Peace. He took so much effort into making each one of us unique so much so that not one single finger print is same as another person who lived thousands of years ago. He did this to not make us robots controlled by what he likes and dislikes but that we would have a choice to come as we are and accept him to be our Lord and Saviour.
Grace on its own doesn’t redeem us of our sin, it is Jesus Christ who redeems us of our sin. It’s not there to forgive our sins since its Jesus Christ who forgives our sins and makes us new creatures in Him. The biggest misconception comes when ‘new-age’ preachers tell their congregation that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. That sinning against God is ok as long as you ask for forgiveness.
Forgiveness comes only after true repentance from your sinful life. “True repentance is not only sorrow for sins and humble penitence and contrition before God, but it involves the necessity of turning away from them, a discontinuance of all evil practices and deeds, a thorough reformation of life, a vital change from evil to good, from vice to virtue, from darkness to light. Not only so, but to make restitution so far as is possible for all the wrongs that we have done, to pay our debts and restore to God and man their rights, that which is due them from us. This is true repentance and the exercise of the will and all the powers of body and mind is demanded to complete this glorious work of repentance” – President Joseph F. Smith.
Doesn’t sound like what your pastor has told you or your counselor? It may not be but it’s what God has said in the Bible according to Titus 2:11-12. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12. Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;”.
How does Salvation fit into all this? Salvation is given to man as a gift from God by His grace. People are here to share the good news of Salvation and new life in Him but has no part in God’s salvation to people. You see that in Philippians 2:12 where Paul says, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling”. He did not say to work out God’s salvation but your own. No man or No minister can forgive your sins or give you salvation. It is Jesus Christ alone who can give you salvation. He is the only one who died on the cross and rose again to forgive our sins. Salvation is received not achieved.
Another biggest misconception is when preachers tell you that once you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, ask him to come into your heart and forgive you of your sins, and pray a simple prayer, you are saved. Not so, as this forgiveness of your sins depend on the topic we just explored. The topic of True repentance.”True repentance is not only sorrow for sins and humble penitence and contrition before God, but it involves the necessity of turning away from them, a discontinuance of all evil practices and deeds, a thorough reformation of life, a vital change from evil to good, from vice to virtue, from darkness to light. Not only so, but to make restitution so far as is possible for all the wrongs that we have done, to pay our debts and restore to God and man their rights, that which is due them from us…”
Are you ready to truly repent of your sins and ask God to come into your life. Do you want to be submissive to His will and plan for your life? Do you want to be assured that when you die, you will go to heaven? Do you want to have peace and rest in the midst of trouble and restless world? Do you want to have freedom and liberty from the bondages of this world? Do you want to live a life pleasing God’s sight and live to be all that God wants you to be? Do you want to have joy and peace that surpasses all understanding in your life?
If your answer is YES to all those questions above, pray this simple prayer and believe in God. You will surely experience a life of abundance, joy, peace and tranquility.
“Lord Jesus Christ,
I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. I ask your forgiveness and now turn from everything which I know is wrong. Thank you for dying on the cross for me to set me free from my sins. Please come into my life and fill me with your Holy Spirit and be with me forever.
Thank you Lord Jesus, Amen.”
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