The snare of ‘comfort’

In the book of Judges chapter 2 verse 10, is this ‘scary’ sentence “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.”

I often wonder why the parents of that generation did not pass down to their children the same life-saving messages they had heard and the miracles they had experienced through God’s mercy. I think the answer for this is that the parents got too comfortable. They were in the ‘Promised Land’, they had more than enough, they had peace and protection, they were blessed beyond their dreams. Why bother too much about God, right?

Step out of the crowd

“There is comfort in many” says a popular adage. But is that really true? There could be great deception in many as well. The Bible urges us not to follow the broad way that has lots of people on it, but which leads to destruction. Rather we should follow the narrow way which is often lonely, but that leads to a safe destination.

We live in a world where most of us make decisions on what others tell us or what we see others do. If ‘every one’ is becoming materialistic, we assume we have to do same otherwise we may be seen as ‘old school’.

The Seasons of Life

It’s currently autumn/winter season in the UK. It’s that time of the year when trees shed their leaves, the weather gets colder and it gets dark at 4pm. After a lovely summer period, I don't think autumn is  very nice. I love summer, I get to wear colourful clothes, go to the parks, eat ice cream, even people tend to smile more! But autumn? Nah, people are usually too cold to say hello or smile! It’s just too gloomy!

But I realised that no matter how much I hated autumn, it was not going to make any difference. It will stay for as long as it is supposed to stay. Summer too will not come any sooner, it will come when it is supposed to come. That made me learn to start appreciating autumn as opposed to hating it.

Are you a Pharisee Christian?

I know you are probably thinking that is not right. "You can’t be a Pharisee and a

Christian at the same time, right?" Wrong! You can still be a self-professed Christian but act like a Pharisee. Let’s look at some ways we do that:

Laws minus love: The Pharisees were very critical and judgemental. They viewed themselves as better off than other ‘lesser mortals’ and were always quick to point out the flaws in others.

Your weakness and your destiny

Most of us have heard the story of Samson and Delilah: the strongest man alive, who was brought down by a cunning woman. 

He was was strong no doubt, and  dreaded by the Philistines, Israel's enemies. Yet he had a weakness. He had a soft spot for women who cried. Especially those who wanted him to prove his love by revealing secrets. 

You would think he would have learnt after his wife repeatedly begged him to tell her the answer to the riddle he had earlier asked her countrymen. Sadly he didn’t address his weakness and later fell for the same tricks with Delilah. This time, it cost him his destiny.

Dealing with depression

In just one week, I have read four tragic suicide stories linked to depression. All the victims were responsible people who were valuable to their families and society. One was a pastor of a church, who was such a blessing to his members, and the other three were mothers, one of them a doctor.

What is this horrible disease? Depression can be defined in many ways, but it is generally described as feelings of intense sadness and misery.

The deception of women

It’s often said “educate a man, and you educate an individual, but educate a woman and you educate a nation.” The importance of women and girls cannot be emphasized enough. 

In the Bible, the nation of Israel was frequently warned not to marry women from the surrounding pagan nations. This was because of the power of influence women typically have. Failure to heed that advice often resulted in husbands and children being led astray. We see examples of that in the lives of King Solomon and King Ahab and their children, who were led astray by their foreign wives.

Have you ever wondered why women are often abused and treated as objects instead of as persons?