Does your faith hurt God?

You must be confused by that question, arent't you? Faith can be defined as a strong unshakable belief; well that is the definition of a strong faith. Faith can be defined in one other way called 'weak faith'. Weak faith can be defined as a faith that has no clear purpose of existence. And yes ofcourse, I am talking about faith in context with Our lord Jesus and our God. We all can boast that we are follwers of the only true God in the whole wide universe, but, we should indeed be ashamed of the strength of our faith. But most of us suffer from this weak faith and thank God, as usual, he knew of our shortcoming and has indeed given the solution in the Holy Bible.

In my catholic days, when I attended catholic service, for the sake of my parents, I happened to come across a message delivered by the priest. It was a dull saturday afternoon, and I chose to attend church that day. You know why, well I wanted to keep off crowd on sudays and yes I did not want to miss nice liitle weekend specials on TV. I was restless, and my thoughts started wandering when they came to a halt by a sentence. The priest was half way through his message and was working on a parable. A small boy tells his mum, 'Take an umbrella mum, it will rain today" His confidence sort of appealed to me. After supper, while lying down on the bed beside my mum, I asked her about the message and this is what it is:

Once a woman along with the other members of the church prayed for rain. She prayed in the morning. In the evening, she along with her 5 year old son, was getting ready for the evening service. They were all ready and were on their way to church when the boy jerked.

'Mum, you've forgotten the umbrella. I'll go fetch it' The mother was surprised. "But why dear? The weather is fine" "But you prayed for rain this morning ma, you prayed that it should rain today. It is gonna rain then, right?"

The story sort of had no interest for me then. After years of slavery to satan and after my long sought redemption, I understood the value behind the story. My dear brothers and sisters, let us face the truth. We dont give God the faith he deserves. Our prayer is more of a 'hit and try'. We pray with a faint belief and at times even tell God that we would give him this, give him that, if he grants our earthly desire. You know something, God does not expect anything from you and there is nothing you could give that would equal his blessing. All God expects from you is your love. When you learn to love God, you would know what I mean here. But as humans, and as constant victims of satanic doings, we fall short. But God is always more than happy to help. Believe me, thousands of miracles have happened to me in my life, but as yet, I can never say that my faith is strong.

Ultimately we trust our strength, not his. That is why we undergo stress, depression and that is why we sense failure.We trust in humans, at times we are even tried to trust fortune tellers. God condemns everything. The psalmist says it well, "Dont put your trust in human leaders, no human being can save you."(Psalm 146:3) How meaningful the verse is?

True trust in God and faith in his word makes us feel full even in darkest void. It gives us a bright hope for future. I underwent ultimate faith in God. Believe me, and let the mighty God punish me to death if I lie, in my ultimate failure, in an irreversible depth and darkness, I sensed a bright future. I knew that sufferings were going to come my way, but God gave me his strength to carry on through the darkness. I knew that God would show me and lead me on the right path.As a human, I get very angry and frustrated when nobody trusts me. How hurt and wounded God would be when you dont trust him.

Faith in God builds you as a person. It gives you confidence. It changes you, completely. I am a fat person, tall, and was always concerned about my looks. I suffered from low self esteem and was everybodys toy. I attended personality development classes but they never worked. I trusted humans to change me and develop my personality, but they all failed and I failed before the eyes of God. But his magnanimity saved me. Jesus changed me. His plea for me to our God saved me.

But there is one thing all of us must understand. The faith we are all talking about is indeed not a result of our human endeavours but a result of Gods grace. Faith requires courage, spiritual strength and a never die attitude. And I call it Gods grace.

We,as,christians know that our God is the only true God. If we cant trust him, I dont think we would ever understand life.

Short story- Biggest ever mistake.

Frustrations seemed the order of the day for Lizzie. All her life, day and night, for sixteen long years all she loved was that vineyard. It was not just a vineyard, but was indeed a memoir, passed on to her by her father. She breathed it in, in every breath of her, she dreamt ambitions for it, and worked each day harder towards it.

All was then destined to be passed on to her brother. She breathed a breath of sorrow as she prepard food for her mom.

"Where shall I go ma? Where?"asked Lizzie as she served the sandwich.

"Perhaps, I can talk to Rony dear. I am sure he would be okay with it. It is better that you ask him. Tia is the one who isnt ready darling, Rony is afterall your brother. He is not going to ask you to leave. Am sure he would'nt" Ma sounded confident. For a while Lizzie's face brightened and a sense of hope crept in.

"Then I dont have to leave.." she said to herself, with an air of assurance.

Rony came down and went straight into the kitchen.

"Where is the coffee?" he spoke, in a semi-conscious tone.

"Here you go Rony." said Lizzie. Her mom gestured her to open her point.Lizzie did.

"Rony, I was hoping if you could let me stay here with you uh, not for long. Until I find a job in the city."

The answer was quick. It needed no time. "Lizy, Tia is particular of your room and space.
You know an inn requires atleast 3 or 4 rooms extra for the guests. Ma is gonna share her room with Du and we simply can't afford to give you a seperate room. What say sis? you tell me uh? We came upon this decision only after you agreed to leave."

"I gotta find some job Rony? I have no money to sustain,even for a day.Please, just give me a few more days, few please. After I get a job uh, I will leave that very day."

"It's not for him to decide, darling"spoke Tia. She was up and dressed. And her sound was not sweet. "The inn is opening in 3 days dear, and we have to be ready by tomorrow. Ma Jane can share Du's room. Du is not very thrilled but she said she could do untill we move to the out place."

Lizzie's shame could not tolerate any thing more. She just smiled, tear rolled down her eye. Her throat stuck. All she could come with with was," You might need someone to take care of our vineyard"

Rony and Tia spoke,almost together "Newman Agent said he would bring a wine specialist list tomorrow. So no worries about that."

Her hunger reached the brain only when she felt the heat of the city. Rony lent her 50 bugs. That could take her through the evening. But tomorrow was even more misty. The curch potico was empty. She thanked her ma for the taughtful little b'day present. It was not much but that delicate quilt must work through that cold. As she laid there, all her days at the vineyard reminded her of her mistake. Her dad, from time to time, asked her to go and have some education. But at that while that vineyard seemed hard to part. She litteraly lived in that vineyard.The flashes of her childhood kept her from sleeping. Tears drenched her face and washed off all the memories.

Ma asked her to go to Christo. "Why would he have me?"she said. Darkness was intense that night. Air was cold.

It was five when she woke up. She decided to laze around untill the sun rose. A woman, young and puny, much like her passed by. She had a queer but a kind look. Before she could realise, Lizzie was asleep again. When she woke up, she saw a puny figure smiling at her. The smile was different. Not a bit of sarcasm was found.
"Are you unwell?"she asked.
"Uh?>No, am good. Should I vacate now?" asked Lizzie.
"No, No. Uh...am Sheryl. I found you this morning here at the portico. Are you a traveller.?" she asked, with utmost concern.
"Almost..."
"Here on business eh?" asked Sheryl.
"Almost..."
"Well have you got some word other than Almost" said Sheryl, a bit frustrated.
Lizzie looked up at her. She spoke, softly "Have you got food?"
Sheryl nodded. She immediately went inside the chapel and brought out some bread and fruit drink. Lizzie ate. After eons, she felt she had the best meal, with no fear of being kicked out the next minute.
"Thanks. Thank you so much" she said.
The rest was silence. Sheryl quietly ushered her into a quiet bright room accompanying the chapel, brought out hot water and made up the simple bed. After a quick wonderful bath Lizzie was all set to take up the rest of the day.
Finally Sheryl spoke, to break the silence.
"So... what brings you here...in this state?"
Lizzie had no desire to speak. But she had to. Atleast now, 23 years after her birth she had. The demand of the evolution from an professional introvert to an expert extrovert, at that moment, was more than she could bear. But she was partly happy for the moment.But still, she kept mum, until the next question was out.
"You havent even told me your name dear. We need to know each other right? You, for sure, do require my help?"
"My name is Lizzie" she said " I come from the country"
"In search of work?"
"Well, sort of, I mean, I did not want to but I had no choice"
"What were you doing there, at the country"
"For the best part of my teen years I looked after our vineyard. I spent all my days there. Iam an expert wine maker, you know, I could tell the taste of the wine in a sight of the grapes. But days changed and my bro took charge. Its theirs now so"
"So?"
"So they asked me to leave." Tears ravaged her eyes. She cried and cried as much as she could.She cried her heart out. She cried as never before. Sheryl looked on, and kept quiet. But her hands never failed to pat Lizzie, even for a minute.
"I am sorry... Its just...its just that I loved these people too much"
"Who? Loved who Lizzie?"
"My family... mom,dad, bros all those"
"Its just the circumstance Lizzie, forgive them will you?"
"Forgive them? I have no grudge against them Sheryl, nothing at all. I still love them. I just don't understand how they can send me out like that. My dad died when I was 17, ma can't walk she needs help all the time. At times I feel what they did is right. I mean, I deserved this. All my life I spent every moment taking care of the vineyard, my parents, my sibs. I did not do the right thing of defining my future. I am such a failure. Now all of them have gone their own way and am nowhere. I am angry and if there is none I cant' forgive then its me"

"You did nothing wrong Lizzie, you did nothing wrong. You loved all, very good thing to do. But there is one thing you missed. You forgot your best friend, honey, you forgot Jesus"
"What?! I did not forget anybody. I attended every service every weekend. I decorated the whole house every christmas, I prayed every night, every morning, for the well being of my family. And this is how God has repayed me for all my prayers. He has taken away the one I loved the most, my family. How does he become God then?"
Sheryl nodded her head in dsagreement.
"Lizzie, Lizzie, my Lizzie. What are you saying dear? You thing God is your God because you give him your prayers, because you do this or that. Look at what you have done? When He was ready to stay with you always, you confined him to weekends. When he was ready to share your sorrow, you threw him far away with routine prayers. You did not give him the first priority but still he continued to love you. He gave you all you wanted. Now, he did this only so that he could turn your attention towards him.
God is ready to give you his everything. But you only want the worldly love, not his true love.
I was just like you. I only knew the truth when my fiance, the one whome I considered my everything deserted me. My life, I thought was over. But God picked me up from that gutter like he picked millions of our believers.You are indeed lucky"
Lizzie could not concur all at once. But a part of her heart lit up in joy. We know, don't we, of what would have happened after that.

TESTIMONY- Saul to Paul.

What best testimony can we speak of than that of Paul's. The story is well known. It is one of the best testimonies that inspired me to build my faith. So shall we discuss his story, his life, and the change that changed his life, forever? Paul was first Saul; the pharisee. Saul like the many of us was an unbeliever. He rose his banner against Jesus, persecuted the Christians all over Jerusalem. He was blood thirsty.So he set out to persecute believers in Damascus. He must have been filled with wrath. His vengence against christians was fuming against him. God is truly awesome, is he not? He does the most unexpected things. Saul was lucky to experience such unexpected miracles in his life. What happened to him redefined christianity forever.

Lord, Son of the most High, called on Saul. Those words: "Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?( Acts 9:3) sounded the knell of Saul. Saul died. His horse tumbled, he fell down, became blind and died. But, Paul was born. Saul's soul was reborn as Paul. A murderer became a leader for Christ. Such is Lord's grace and love for us. Paul suffered then. But his suffering was different. It was a gift and God gave him the strength to accept it with a smiling happy heart.

Those of you who read this maybe are from different walks of life. Perhaps, all of you are hunting for 'the truth'. Maybe a few of you are angry with God for life's failure. But let me tell you out of my own life's experience. God is good and I mean it. He is an awesome God and a God of miracles. He is capable of moving mountains to help you. He is capable of everything beyond human comprehension. He is a God who can give you unconditional love.

All you are expected to do is give yourself to him. Bow down to his name and his grace. Tell him your worries and talk to him like he is your friend. Believe me,after establishing that relationship with him you would understand 'true love' the way you have never experienced it before. Leave your burdens in his feet. Go to his presence with thankfulness and no expectation. I can assure you( because I am a person who has experienced his love) your life would meet a change like never before.

Do we deny CHRIST in our day to day life?

For long I thought that I was Christian. I woke up everyday like any body. I carried on with my daily duties, worried over my failures, about tomorrow. I carried on the day with vengence, with wrath and yes I never ever forgave people. But somehow I could not bring myself to take revenge on the ones who pulled my legs, and yes, I considered it 'my' magnanimity. I prayed each day to please my God, so that he would grant me my desires. At times when my prayers go unanswered I tried to please him with my offerings and fasts. Well that was all He was to me.

" Thats all about being a christian" I would say. It took me 13 long years to understand that Christianity and Christ means much more. I also realised that all my life I considered him to be an idol, a person who receives something in return for granting my wishes. Phew! How aweful is that. Not only was I denying myself the truth, but was indeed hurting christ and denying him, rahter call it a betrayel.

But how does that become betrayal? Well, just telling Jesus face on that you dont know him is not betrayal. The very fact that you do not pursue his values seriously and confine them to weekend servises and Bible study classes is in itself a denial of Christ. So let us measure our denail for the day, shall we?

• Did you forgive anyone today? Well yes you would have. Now this is satans trick of taking you away from christ. Remember, he is a slow poison. He makes you believe that you have forgiven some body. But truly your hatred against him is intact. It is just dormant for a while.Or perhaps does not show out. Forgiveness is complete when you love the person who tormeted you, from the very bosom. Next you have to forget about his shortcomings against you and talk to him like he is your own.

Jesus set us a fine example by forgiving millions of various walks of sins. He also asked us to forgive others and love them as we would love ourselves. He forgave Paul and thereby commited him to serve and lead millions of other christians. In fact forgiveness is a gift from God and it is only right that we share it.

When we dont forgive others we deny Jesus before satan.All os us as humans would have done this mistake all our life. Peter did it too( well literally) But hey God forgives.

So let us take our stand, let go of hatred, fiery wrath and ask God to take over our heart.

Poets meadow- The father

The father

He smiled, a humble
But yet a peaceful smile,
As he saw his daughter play.
Her hair he felt as she
Curiously, meddled with the toy.

Her eyes he beheld,
Those eyes of innocent
Untamed beauty, concealed
From all ugliness, from everything,
Everything but himself.

She was at all times
At the edge of a cliff,
But she was never at
The Edge of her valor.
Her father at all times
Was there watching her,
Holding her tight

She grew, she changed
But the smile on her
Fathers face, was all
The same. Oh! those eyes
Of his, ever full of radiance
Ever full of love
For his little one.

His eyes were ever full of strain
When he saw her, entwined in the sand
Her paw on the dust were
But his heart and soul in a boiling broth
The tether of innocent fatherly love
Held her no matter were she went

They took walks
Down the wonderful calm lane,
Both in each others arm
He telling her the beauty of silence
When she told him her craving
For a world, he did not want her
To have, to even think about.


It was her will and as she said
Her life and he had to
Let her go.
Farewell, she said to her loved one
To the one she ever knew,
And of the one she ever believed.

He let her go and stood there
Waiting, waiting for her
With his arms extended
Ready to embrace her
With the same love
Of no less degree.

O what loss that heart
Of innocent love must have felt.
The space that clogged his heart
Must have made him weary
But yet he waited and waited
For that day.

That day when she would come back
Come back to him, and when things
Would turn their normal way.
Time rolled by and he waited
Years on end, he did.

He sat there, at the place
She left him and waited
Counting days by the sun
While his love grew immeasurable

In twilight, she returned
With a muddled hair
And befuddled mind
Did he ask her what happened?
No, he knew all about it.
All about her experience
All about what she did not see.

He just hugged her
And took her home
Her hand he held
And never let it go
He fed her hope
And a never failing love
He entrusted on her

She begged him to forgo her,
For she knew she deserved none
Of what she received and
That made her heart leap with guilt.
But his love made her understand
That he cared about nothing, but her.

For him, his little girl was back,
Back from that dearth of happiness,
And fullness of pleasure.
For him she was there,
And that was all he ever wanted.

That day was back,
Back to stay never to leave,
Never ever to say goodbye,
Father and daughter were back,
And they walked down that beautiful lane
Together as one, towards that
Eternal home of his.

-S. Martina Victoria

Answer this!!!

How does God Speak?
That's right, that is the question for this week. You have exactly 1 week to answer this question, or until the next question gets posted. Drop in you real life experience: it might be insignificant to you, but for us, perhaps it holds the answer that many are looking for in this world.

Why do we have to take a stand for CHRIST?

Living as a Christian is not easy, is it? We have to meet a lot of demands. These demands pose to be a great burden everyday. Have you ever thought why? Have you ever wondered why God puts us into a testing furnace everyday? Well, the answer lies in us? Have you ever heard of the proverb 'Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder'? Similiarly the answer lies in the manner of perception of our trials and everyday tribulations.
Iam no different from the most of you. I am a 'born christian' who never lived a christian. I believed and 'prayed' to God so that he might fulfill my desires and wishes. As far as I was concerned he was just a ritual, a mere ritual. But then, when he chose me to know Him, when he redeemed me of the awful gulf of severe sin, things changed forever.
Trials are the cross that we have to bear everyday not to 'please God' but just and only just to tell him that we love him. After all is that not the prime purpose why Jesus hung on the cross. His Love for us did not want us to suffer eternal hell and so he underwent all that a commoner would not even dream of. He died bearing all the shame and sin for our sake. During our trials we have to stand up for JESUS by going through it with a happy heart.

So next time when clouds cover your life, stand up for Jesus. Not because it is going to give you eternity, because God loves you beyond human comprehension.