Sreedhar's Journey

Yesterday I reflected on the need for me to hope in God. I have been questioned, in a very sincere way, how can you hope in a God you cannot see? This is a wonderful question. Today I am reading chapter 43 in Psalms and this verse jumped out at me. Psalms 43:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. David was being pursued by Saul for a good number of years. It almost seemed hopeless. You may remember the story when David should have killed Saul in the cave, but he did not. David was such a God fearing man that he would not sin against God. But the one time he committed adultery and had a man killed, he was highly repentant and God forgave him. Much of the inspiration for the book of Psalms comes from David's experiences and musical talents. You may ask, are these stories for real? Check the history books. They are. Most importantly is my personal experience with ...

We face daily issues in life that may create much anxiety to the point of depression. Concerns and worries may fill us and this affects our physical well-being. We have no appetite or we binge eat. If you have a poor relationship or no relationship with God, you will be significantly challenged during these times. Psalms 42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. The Psalmist understood this. The best thing to ever happen is for you to hope in God. This chapter in Psalms starts with a description of how a deer looks for water. It knows it needs water. Likewise, when we are thirsty we need to look for God. Father, in my times of anxiety and worry, I will always look for you. My hope is in You.

Fake news or satire? When some creatively done writings and videos came out and were understood to be not really the truth, they called it satire. Nice word to describe in what many instances is actually fake news. They even made some people dead even though they were alive. This bad human intention has been there from ancient times. Psalms 41:8 “An evil disease,” they say, “clings to him. And now that he lies down, he will rise up no more.” Why do people want to lie? I remember days when we would say something like, "that isn't a nice thing to say". What happened to everyday niceties. We are very careful to respect or honor somebody. We open doors for strangers. We greet them on the street with a smile. We were ready to help a person in distress without fear of personal harm. Now we speak against each other and even scheme bad things. However, reading this chapter in Psalms shows that the problem is not new. Father, we need people to go back to recognizing ...

The character of a person is best seen as the thoughts, words and actions of a person, especially when no one is looking. However, you cannot see the character of a person. It is deep within the soul of one's being. It is only in the behavior of a person that you can have some sense of their character. David's character was driven by his preoccupation with God. Psalms 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.” Is this bad? Can anything bad come from God? Absolutely not. But, watch the latest movie from Hollywood or another entertainment hub of the world, and you see divorce (starting with separation), homosexuality (now called sexual diversity) and dishonor for those in authority (in the name of human rights). God instituted standards of behavior and human systems so that it does not break the laws of nature. Go against them and you will see chaos, like we are seeing now. We need to have God's laws in our hearts, and delight again in do...

Steve Jobs, great man. Given all the creativity to create a brand called Apple and change the way man interacts with technology. Graphical user interface (GUI) was a term coined to describe the new (now old) Mac OS. But one thing Steve could not create. Life! Psalms 39:6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them. We pursue much activity in the days we are alive, but as the scripture says, we busy ourselves in vain. We have no sense of what would happen after a time. After we are dead. Even many religions grapple with this. It all depends on your relationship with the one that created LIFE. The ultimate creator. The same one that created the mind for Steve Jobs to create Apple. Put your hope in the Creator. Psalms 39:7 “And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You. Father, yes, my hope is truly in you.

God has made us with great potential. However, due to the original sin, the "human tendency" birth from that is to seek self gratification at the expense of general good. Basically greed has set in, and everything else that is against our God-given conscience has resulted from that. And so David is experiencing that from people around him. Psalms 38:12 Those also who seek my life lay snares for me; Those who seek my hurt speak of destruction, And plan deception all the day long. I am of the strong opinion that all man has the DNA of God to do good. When we allowed Satan to have a role in our lives, it caused the issues that we face today. When someone does wrong, speak against the influence of demonic powers in that situation. Jesus said it. Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. When we have evil thoughts, or things that are not going good, speak against the demonic works at play. When you call on God in these situations, He is ready to deliver. Jesus says, He wants t...

There are many who have a thirst and a yearning for Godly endeavors. They go to places of worship almost daily. They pray everyday in special places in their homes. They make special pilgrimages. Many of them go vegetarian or complete fast in their desire to show their devotion. The Psalmist says this. Psalms 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Those who sincerely delight in God are to be commended. But, many may go through the motions but not have that true and abiding relationship with the Creator. Your actions yield nothing but false peace and poorly met desires. The biggest question is your future in eternity. You have no assurance. Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except by me. The Jews spoke of this Messiah. The Quran mentions the true position of Jesus, Isa Al-Masih. Even the ancient writings in Sanskrit anticipated the coming of the Messiah. Come to Jesus. Psalms 37:23-24, The...