My Walk with God 🌱

  "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."  -Revelation 21: 2-3 I can't wait to walk down the aisle ... and hear the words: "This is your captain speaking...✈️" 😉 I don't know about you, but I enjoy getting on a plane, travelling, being a tourist and exploring this big wide beautiful world we live on, observing and learning about various cultures and seeing different people. So when I discovered that today was World Tourism Day, my curiosity was peaked. I learned that the United Nations sets aside this day (September 27) every year to promote awareness of the benefits of tourism to personal development, local, regional and international collaboration and the wo...

  "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory." -Revelation 16: 8-9 These days, I have found myself having to step out of my home for various reasons, and every single time, I am either looking for shade or air conditioned comfort as often as I can while I am outside, or extremely relieved when I reach back home, out of the sun but not without first being properly toasted. Words that I hear around me that are being used to describe the sun's heat range from brutal to scorching to stinging. Can you relate? I don't know about you, but I have started asking myself if this is normal. Is this a new norm? Or am I the one slowly but surely becoming increasingly intolerant or less resilient when it comes to regular heat from the sun? I even ventured to ask some pers...

  "Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps." -Matthew 25:7 What do you use to give light? Many use a light bulb or an electrically powered light source. However, there are other traditional light sources. For example, consider a wax candle that we tend to seek out when the electricity goes, or even a scented candle when we want to set a mood. In my country, during the Hindu festival of Divali, deeyas (small cup-shaped oil lamps made of baked clay) are placed all around the devotee's home. Consider also, even before electricity was the standard form of power in homes, many would rely on what we call oil/kerosene lamps. These traditional light sources tend to have some things in common. They have a supply of fuel, and a wick, that serves as a conduit for the fuel, which is lit and burns to give light. On doing some research, I realized also that the wick does tend to get charred, and if not trimmed, tends to smoke or not give off as bright a light as desired. I...

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." - 2 Corinthians 3:18 Have you ever stopped, observed life around us, and wondered to yourself "Hmm, Christianity today surely looks a lot different to the Christianity lived and displayed by Jesus" ? It is something I have been contemplating for a while. Historically, the early Christians lived in simplicity, hungered for truth and righteousness, endured persecution to the death, shared what they owned with each other, worshipped together in secret because Christianity was considered illegal, and were bold in their courage of living for Jesus and dying in Him. Their belief and testimony was so firmly rooted in Christ that even after their death, through the working of the Holy Spirit, more persons were won over and converted to the message and movement of the gospel. After all, something w...

Illustration ©  Review & Herald Publ. Assoc. "And I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself. that where I am, there you may be also." John 14:3 I remember reading a piece of writing some years ago that described a vision that the writer received. They recalled seeing a large group of believers sensing the darkness of this world and setting off on a journey to heaven, or as some may refer to it, the promised land. As they progressed along this journey, they noticed that the path got narrower and steeper, and little by little, they needed to shed the bulk and the weight of the things they had started with on the journey. The path was challenging, and oftentimes, they would have lost their footing if they hadn't maintained their focus on the light provided by the Holy City ahead. Some got discouraged along the way, and fell away. Almost at the end of their road, the path was so narrow, all they could depend on was holding on with both...

"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen." - Revelation 1:7 Have you ever had a dream that felt so real, you woke up and were experiencing real physiological reactions like tears, or strong heart palpitations, or panic responses? I had such a dream this week. And as I awoke and tried to process it, I prayed about it too. It was a nightmare to me. After I finished telling it to God, I checked my messages. One of these messages was from a friend who appears to have awakened from a dream one hour earlier, and was sharing his dream. As I read his dream, it brought comfort to me. This was his dream: I was in a park, looking up at the mountains, and then we saw this huge foot break through the stratosphere (sky). It seemed to belong to what reminded me of the statue in the prophetic dream of Nebuchadnezzar, but I believe that it was Jesus. Everyone started to ru...

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." -Titus 2:11-14 While going through my Facebook account, a reminder notification came up showing me this post that I made nine years ago. At the time, I had put it together to present at my local church as the opening remarks for the service that day. Reading it again today brought back some fond memories, but it also sobered me up to the fact that I am ten years closer to the promised event of which it speaks.  Homeward Bound Jesus' birth was the subject of many prophesies before he was born. They outlined his mother'...

Fireside (Mike Moyers - Oil Painting) "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." - Acts 1:8 Different Stories. One Mission. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit and spend some time at Jesus' feet? What would he speak about? What would you ask or tell him? What would it feel like? What would you be inspired to believe or do after such an experience? I believe that one cannot remain the same after spending time with Jesus. The disciples spent a few precious years with Him and their purpose was ignited by the Holy Spirit . They were now on a mission. Story 1 : One day this week, I spent some time house-cleaning. My parents and I were on a mission - de-clutter, clean, discard the unnecessary as much as possible. Focusing on the task was demanding but I must say it was rewarding. I sweat a lot, got some exercise, and it did a lot for me...

"And I looked and saw a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was One like the Son of Man, with a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. Then another angel came out of the temple, crying out in a loud voice to the One seated on the cloud, “Swing Your sickle and reap, because the time has come to harvest; for the crop of the earth is ripe." - Revelation 14: 14-15 In the US, the month of September has been designated as the month for raising awareness of Sickle Cell Disease. Do you know someone who is affected by this? Depending on which part of the world you are in, the chances of this may vary, as certain regions/ethnicities seem to have a higher frequency than others. According to statistics, twenty million people worldwide are affected by this condition, of which approximately 100,000 are in the US (1 in every 365 persons are born with the disease, and 1 in every 13 persons carry the trait). Normal blood cells are disc-shaped and flexible and can travel eas...

  "And we desire for each one of you to show the same diligence [all the way through] so as to realize and enjoy the full assurance of hope until the end." - Hebrews 6:11 I stumbled across this photo over a decade ago. I saw a resilient tree, holding on to barely any soil, and yet it found a way to survive. Its roots searched for and found something to hold on to, and dare we say, it even appears to be thriving, against all odds. In life, many, if not all of us, at one point in time or another, may find ourselves in circumstances or seasons where we may feel like this tree. You may have been crowded out of your comfort zone by grief, despair, unfulfilled desire, displacement, need, depression, disappointments, challenges, struggles, the cares and worries of this life. You may find it difficult to find your way back to a place of assurance, stability or security, contentment or fulfilment.  Tonight, be reminded that all is not lost. Like this tree, as long as we have life, we...

"But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, That I may declare all Your works." -Psalm 73:28 This week, the world watched in shock as the frantic search for five passengers aboard a missing submersible vessel named the Titan ended in the discovery that it had already self-destructed in a tragic implosion. It is deeply ironic that this same vessel had gone in search of the sunken ship, the Titanic which had also met a tragic end on April 15, 1912. While there are many mixed emotions about the recent tragedy, my attention can't help but return to the historical demise of the SS Titanic. Maybe it was because of its size, or the idea of the rich and famous being on board that attracted so much attention, or maybe it was the hype surrounding the new ship, with someone famously boasting that "not even God could sink this ship" . Maybe it was the subsequent namesake movie made that helped to further immortalize its story in our me...

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:  “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means God with us). - Matthew 1: 22-23 🌱 Immanuel. What a comforting name. This was God's best gift wrapped 'present' to us - His 'presence' with humanity. This gift came filled with a true knowledge of God's loving regard for us, His salvation and paid ransom for us from sin, to show us the path in the here and now, and hope for His eternal kingdom.  What a precious experience to have witnessed and interacted with Jesus, been touched by Him, to have shared a laugh with Him or listen to His precious voice teaching through parables and sermons. All we have is the historical accounts to hold on to.  The good news that resonates from then until now is that this same God still wants to 'be with us', and this time forever. No matter the challenges of this life, we have the hope of seeing Him ag...

"When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh."  - Matthew 2:10-11 🌱 Have you ever looked forward to an event for such a long time that it felt surreal when it happened? I am pretty sure the wise men of Matthew 2 must have felt this way too. They would have been carefully studying the ancient prophecies, eg. Isaiah 7:14 which said "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."  They would have become familiar with and recognized the signs of the imminence of the Messiah's birth, and with  God's continual guidance, they made a voyage in faith to seek the Messiah. According to the biblical account, their faith was rewarded, and they were able to present the symbolic gifts they though...