Sreedhar's Journey

Sicknesses is an ancient occurrence that continued through the ages to this day. Many of the sicknesses that we have today existed thousands of years ago. Some may have been confined to certain areas in the old days because people did not travel much between regions. Viruses also change and become stronger to resist one's antibodies. How this happens I am not sure. But one thing I am certain of is that God has made our bodies capable of defending and healing itself. The prerequisite for this is our state of mind and body. But many do not have these perquisites, including me on occasion, and we fall ill. As the old saying goes prevention is cure. Prevention starts with a great relationship with God and His holy presence in our lives. This helps build a natural defense against things that would cause us to fall sick. But when we do fall sick, we can call out to God as many did it history. Luke 7:1-5 Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered...

Growing up you may have been taught to never be a pushover or something similar to that expression. This runs contrary to everything Jesus is saying in this chapter. Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek. Lend without expecting it returned. Be expecting people to persecute us. Pretty hard to reconcile the two modes of living or life. Jesus was truly counter human tendencies. But that is the God system, and it is diametrically opposed to the world system. He allowed his disciples to pluck and eat grain on the Sabbath. He healed on the Sabbath. Luke 6:17-19 And He came down with them and stood on a level place with a crowd of His disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and be healed of their diseases, as well as those who were tormented with unclean spirits. And they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for power went out from Him and healed them all. This chapter c...

Over the years I have read of many rags to riches stories. Everyone one of these describe how hard work yielded great results. The disappointing thing about these stories is that you do not hear of the many more who worked hard and did not see success. You may argue that their formula was not right. Or the product or service they carried did not work. Whatever the reasons, hard work alone does not guarantee success. Luke 5:5-7 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. Here Luke shares the story of experienced fishermen who worked all night and caught nothing. Jesus, a carpenter by training, and seen as a great teacher of spiritual things, came...

Whenever Israel's name is mentioned it is always associated with trouble. Always so many issues. Why? Those not clued in to the historical matters surrounding the Middle East (or West Asia as some would refer to) will not understand why this area attracts so much attention. This generation is mostly only aware of what happened in 1948 with the formation of Israel. Is Israel "entitled" to territories that it now occupies? Are the people cohabitating in those lands the original people of the land? If you are unclear about the answers to these questions best to do some research. The Bible is a good start because it is consistent with the oldest manuscripts available to us today. Whatever your position on the matter, God's sovereign will on the matter prevails. There are human issues on all sides where you can see the evil hand of Satan at work. But there is another kind of trouble and the cause is the same as what we have today. Luke 4:28-30 So all those in the sy...

Are you intending to be a part of history? Do something really silly and foolish. Or, do something that would leave behind a legacy. Obama, a previous President of the United States, is said to have tried to do everything possible to protect the legacy he created from his 8 years in the Oval office.  For many, he will be remembered as putting in place the greatest number of liberal policies the United States has ever known. What were his motivations? We don't know. But we know why John the Baptist did what he did. Luke 3:2-6 While Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brou...

When you want to spread some great news who do you share it with first? Usually it is someone with a great number of friends and loves to share information. Do you think shepherds qualify under this category? Personally, I don't think so. They spend many days alone with sheep from day break to sundown. They do not ordinarily see anyone unless they are using common pastures with other shepherds. Jesus' birth was announced but not many got to know about it. Luke 2:8-11 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wra...

When you come back from an event it is always great to have multiple reports on it as you see different perspectives and opportunities for learning. There are many leaders who only want to listen to certain perspectives but there is wisdom in hearing everyone out. We are blessed that our forefathers of the faith, through the direction of the Holy Spirit, had the wisdom to allow a tax collector, a young man (during Jesus' days), a doctor and a fisherman to document their knowledge of Jesus and His ministry for the blessing of the generations that followed. Today I start looking at the writings of a doctor who interviewed many and was reporting to a person of some social, religious and/or political standing in the Roman Empire at that time named Theophilus. Luke 1:1-4 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them ...

The social media today is filled with incredible amount of fake news. I have mentioned before that when it became easy for people to forward messages through SMS, we discovered the meaning of something going viral. The term coined by the medical fraternity had suddenly found new meaning. It takes effort to verify something and that is what we must do before we circulate new information that we receive. Likewise, the disciples were very unbelieving when told the news that Jesus had risen from the dead. They needed to verify its authenticity.  But, should they have been surprised? Mark 16:6-7 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” Many times over Jesus told the disciples that He will be killed but He will rise again. He even told them that t...

I do not mean to belittle anybody, but over the years I have to come to see how difficult it is for a politician to be seen to be right in public.  Democracy has worked very well in certain context and historically for many western countries, but it is failing everywhere today.  Democracy has become a popularity contest, and decisions may not be made for the common good, or with the right moral and God fearing reasons.  We see a little of this in the case of Pilate's handling of the crowd in relation to the religious leaders' accusations against Jesus. Mark 15:12-15 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!” Then Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!” So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. The ...

Chinese New Year is a celebration that has many elements steeped tradition and pointing to deep meaning.  It is difficult to gloss over these elements.  As an Indian boy growing up in multicultural Malaysia, I loved the red packets of money I would get when I visited Chinese homes.  When I married my darling Lee Yen, I was on the other side giving out red packets.  There is one dinner that was very significant.  The dinner on the eve of the Chinese New Year.  Everyone in the family would try and come together to have this meal.  We had great meats and vegetables before the house is cleaned one last time before midnight.  This reminds me of another kind of significant meal.  The Passover meal. Mark 14:12-15 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, “Where do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?” And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, ...

Is 13 an unlucky number for you? I found this statement from the web: " Researchers estimate that at least 10 percent of the U.S. population has a fear of the number 13, and each year the even more specific fear of Friday the 13, known as paraskevidekatriaphobia, results in financial losses in excess of $800 million annually, as people avoid marrying, traveling or in the most severe cases, even working. "  Incredible!  I suppose people cling to this like many other superstitions. Well in the case of this Mark chapter 13, Jesus foretells a lot of bad things. The first thing He says is that the Jewish temple will be destroyed. It has happened. He also said the disciples will be persecuted. This also happened. Wars and rumors of wars will happen. It has happened, including earthquakes. Jesus also mentions that no one will know when the final end will come. But He does give the assurance that those who choose salvation given by God will be saved. They will have the Holy Spir...

Christmas is truly a great time of celebrating God's gift to all mankind more than 2,000 years ago.  I used to think of it as an opportunity to receive presents when I visit a home with a "Christmas Tree". However, at the age of 14 I understood better the Christmas story. Not only did Jesus come to show us the Kingdom but also the way to the Kingdom of God. He is truly the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Him. God came in the flesh, suffered, died, was buried and resurrected so that we may have eternal life. In Mark Chapter 12, Jesus continues to speak of His imminent death at the hands of the Jewish leaders. Jesus continues to show His tremendous wisdom and understanding of all things.  This made the Jewish leaders very upset but they could not challenge His wisdom on the many things they questioned Him.  He obviously had supernatural wisdom and knowledge. Mark 12:35-37 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the te...

In any organization or situation you usually get your authority either through your position or through the influence you have in people, sometimes referred to as personal authority. You could start with positional authority and if you do not develop personal authority, you will not go far in that organization or situation. Jesus on the other hand started with personal authority and threatened the positional authority of the Jewish leaders.  Mark 11:9-10 Then those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Blessed is the kingdom of our father David That comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” In this chapter, Jesus made multi day visits (starting with His triumphal entry) to Jerusalem and the temple and spoke with authority about the conduct of people in the temple.  Jesus intended for the temple to be an international house of prayer, a house of prayer for all nations....

Yesterday I spoke of corporate ladders that are steep and slippery. In Mark Chapter 10 you can see that the disciples still did not get it. They are talking and thinking about the difficulty of getting into the kingdom and being positioned in places of authority. But Jesus was continuing to remind them of the suffering he has to go through. They still couldn't comprehend what Jesus was telling them. Mark 10:5 says, "And Jesus answered and said to them, “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept." There are many things that seem right but God has given us up to these things because of our sinful ways. The kingdom of God is different. But I want to focus on something else today. Mark 10:51-52 So Jesus answered and said to him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.” And immediately he received his sight and follow...

Corporate ladders can be steep and slippery. I personally spent 30 years in this space and have made interesting observations about everything from habits to work styles. I have had my share of successes and failures.  All this has prepared me for the work I am doing now helping others. Living your life as a follower of Jesus Christ in the middle of this marketplace culture is not easy and requires radical intent and God given wisdom and strength. Jesus was expounding on this throughout His ministry. Mark 9:33-35 Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Yes, hear him well. You cannot be a leader without being a servant of all. You must respect even the least ...