Sreedhar's Journey

When someone is newly appointed into senior leadership from outside the organization there is always some internal resistance to this. Change is not easily accepted and creates stress on people. It gets manifested in objections to even the smallest of changes, like changes to an internal form. I experienced this in numerous occasions as a consultant and this continued into my days in corporate leadership. As we work through the bigger picture and the end result, much of this resistance gives way and success results. Jesus faced huge opposition to what He had to say. Matthew 21:23 Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?” The chief priests and the pharisees were challenging Jesus' authority in the temple. He spoke to them in parables so that they got the message. He answered their question with a question. The...

Is a half-truth the truth or a lie?  In the American court system, part of the witness oath requires the person to say, "the whole truth, and nothing but the truth".  Half-truths are not admissible in court and are considered lies, and can lead to a contempt of court.  Saying everything can sometimes hurt but always delivers good in the long run.  The name "Jesus" is so misunderstood.  Many use this name as a curse word, but others mention Him with high acclaim.  However, these high acclaims fall short of the "full truth".  Matthew 20:30-31 And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” Greatest prophet. Greatest guru. Greatest holy man. The man you will see at judgement. These statements or accolades...

Life is never simple when there are so many things (and persons) that you cannot control and there are so many uncertainties.  Many motivational speakers will make you cry out, "Take Charge" or "Yes, We Can", but truth be told that these statements of motivation can only get you so far.  Jesus encounters many questions and requests for direction in this chapter. Marriage, wealth, position and family. They all fall under this same category of things you have limited control.  So what do you do? Matthew 19:26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Jesus' reply seems to be difficult to understand and obey. If this is what God wants us to do we can do it by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Have you been put into difficult situations where all your skills and experience seem inadequate for the task at hand. I have been there many times. I still remember as a 33 year old leading a projec...

Children in your home and/or around you are great. They can teach you many things in life as they ask straightforward open questions about many things. Sometimes they may ask intimate or sensitive questions and we need a way to explain them so that they get what they need in this stage of their lives and they can understand it well. Jesus uses the same parallel with us. We need to come to God with straightforward and open questions when we interact with Him in prayer or reading the Word. Matthew 18:2-5 NKJV Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me. After talking about children, Jesus goes on to talk about correction and forgiveness. Again, ...

The days are going by so quickly and before you know it, it is December and Christmas is less than 30 days away, and another year is coming to an end, and you are faced with another year of either challenges, opportunities or perhaps regrets. No, Jesus never looked back. He looked forward. When He shared again that He was going to be killed and arise after 3 days, the disciples only focused on His coming death and were sad. They did not catch the second part of His statement. Even though Jesus was transfigured and Peter, James and John saw it all, they had little faith. Matthew 17:22-23 Now while they were staying in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him, and the third day He will be raised up." And they were exceedingly sorrowful. We have a tendency to focus on the here and now. The struggles, the challenges and the regrets. No, there is a new thing coming and we need to keep moving forwa...

Do you remember the old phrase that you hear people around you saying "touch wood"? Well it has pagan roots from the days that they worshiped the spirits of trees and things made from the wood. It has become so common that people of many faiths say it to repel a bad saying, especially death. Do you fear death? Is death defeat? If your paradigm is limited to the here and now then the answer would be yes. But Jesus saw it very differently. Besides talking about the bad teaching of the religious leaders of His time, He freely and frequently spoke of His death in this chapter. Matthew 16:4,21 [4] A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah." And He left them and departed. [21] From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Jesus was asked...

Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. How true. We use the phrase "slip of the tongue" all the time. In reality there may not have been a slip.  You spoke what was on your heart. We can justify for all you care, it does not remove the fact that you were thinking in a certain way about a situation or a person. The religious leaders of Jesus' day were having great heart issues and this was prophesied by Isaiah. Matthew 15:7-9 Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' This chapter in a nutshell shows Jesus speaking about the “elephant in the room” when it came to the spiritual condition of the religious leadership of Israel in His days. We also need to be self searching.  Are we sincerely seeking God and His ways in our lives? Jesus was unconven...