Even in our earthly existence we know that all our tomorrows were shaped by what we all did yesterday; isn’t it? If all those actions had consequences; then definitely life when it moves beyond death is going to feel the impact of all your choices made today.
The one thing that can shape your tomorrows is whom you trust your tomorrows with? Some prefer to trust their tomorrows with their Banks; some others with people close to them. But some choose to trust God. This is often made fun of by others. Yet in the end, trusting God proves the wisest of all decisions you can make.
Some people make elaborate preparations for journeys. We don’t find people travelling long distances without making plans and arranging for a comfortable stay. But so many wait too long to prepare for eternity which stretches timelessly ahead. For those who delay to make a decision; tomorrow will spell darkness, no hope, no return, and no end to misery.
But to those who hope in God today, life becomes meaningful; because in God they find the LORD of their tomorrows. They realize that tomorrow is in God’s hands. And nothing can separate them from the love of God; not even death. Those who hope in God lose sight of tomorrow; instead they see the One who knows what tomorrow brings.
Life is God’s gift to you. Do not nip it in the bud.
Life might not have been fair to you. But that is not reason enough to take your own life.
You might have made mistakes. Yet when you choose to live, you get a chance to redeem those mistakes made. But if you choose to end your life that is the biggest mistake you can make. You cannot undo it.
Do you say no one cares for you? God will not forsake you even if your father and mother forsakes you.
Even if a mother forgets the baby at her breast and has no compassion on the child she has borne, God says, “I will not forget you!”
He has loved you with an everlasting love. His unfailing love for you will not be shaken for he has compassion on you.*
My dear friend, thoughts of suicide can attack you at any time; sometimes without any reason at all. What should you do then?
Let me ask you what you would do if an ugly worm falls on you when you are standing under a tree? You will shake it away in disgust; won’t you? Yes that is what you should do with all negative thoughts; always! Brush them away. Do not entertain them. Do not lovingly spread a bed for them. Instead, kick them out!
If you have a friend share your struggle with him or her. Accept his or her love and care. Never deceive yourself by thinking that no one cares. It’s a lie!
My dear friend, you can come back from life’s defeats, loss of confidence and failures. Just hold on. The Bible says, “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
Remember my friend, God loves you even if you don’t feel like it. Even when your problems seem so huge and unsolvable, he has a plan and purpose* for your life.
Sometimes you might have faced abuse, mental torture, and been the subject of jokes. You might be going through shame and guilt and feelings of worthlessness. Yes, I admit some memories are hard to erase.
Yet you can have a brand new beginning* in life! Choose Life. My friend, that doesn’t mean life is going to be easy, but life will certainly be meaningful when you look forward with hope as God walks along with you!
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” — Jesus Christ (John 10:10, 11; 14:6 Bible NIV).
*Bible references: God’s child (John 1:12, 1 John 3:1), Father and mother forsake (Psalm 27:10), Mother forgetting (Isaiah 49:15), Loved with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3) Unfailing love and compassion (Isaiah 54:10), Apple of God’s eye (Deuteronomy 32:10), weeping and rejoicing (Psalm 30:5b), Plan and purpose (Jeremiah 29:11), brand new beginning (2 Cor. 5:17).
Teens, not surprisingly, is a time you commit many mistakes. Some of them are painful, some others embarrassing. Do not worry too much about what others think about you. Know that you are significant and have great value in God’s eyes. Some of his best selections are those who are failures in the world’s estimate. So do not despair.
Teens, is a time of yearning to be loved and respected. Love is mostly a feeling, an emotion, a sudden unexplainable connect with someone for most teens. Yet love is more than anything of these. Closely associated with love is respect. A safety line that can be drawn is not to trust anyone who does not respect your private or personal space.
Love that makes demands, love that manipulates,
love that tries to control, love that puts pressure on you to yield,
love that compares you to someone else,
love that demeans your dignity as an individual
and treats you like an object, exhibit or commodity,
love that bargains to make deals—these cannot be called love.
They are a cheap imitation, and at its worst, deception.
Teens, for some at least, is a time of heartbreaks. Broken promises, lies and deception, the luring world of instant messaging, cheating, rejection, having someone dump you are all sadly common. If you have been at the receiving end, do not think about yourself a failure. It is time to focus, have new dreams, and start working towards worthy goals in life.
Finally, if no one else is there to listen to you, God is there. When you feel worthless, when your thoughts like wild horses on the gallop uncontrollably go, when thoughts of suicide come, when others forsake you, make fun of you, and give up on you, you still have God. Teens, God loves you You will find acceptance with him just as you are. Always. God is near, much nearer to you than the breath you breathe.
At the sound of this one word, some hearts flutter, some others skip a beat. There is rush of adrenaline for some; others blush.
Love, surprisingly, has been equated with emotions. But is it all that is there to it? Emotions keep changing; don’t they? Today, you feel madly in love with someone; when the sun rises the next day you wonder where all the “love” you felt yesterday has gone; don’t you?
So love does not properly belong to the realm of emotions; though emotions do colour our love with all kinds of splashes. Then what is love?
It is basically a decision to hold the other person in the highest esteem, value him or her above all else, and cherish that person like no other and hold him or her so close and dear to one’s heart.
Love is not about getting; it is about giving.
Love is not about selfishness; it is about sacrifice.
Love is not about being on top of the charts; it is about humility, the willingness to serve.
Love is not about bragging; it is about doing things for the other without advertising.
Love is not about covering up evil; it is about being transparent and living in the light.
Love is not about falsehood; it is about speaking the truth.
Finally, we cannot think on love without thinking of God. The well known passage in the Bible speaks about love in this compelling way: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”*
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Sad to say, many look for happiness outside themselves. They look for riches, fame, power, and even entertainment to bring them happiness. Riches can be lost, fame can burst like a soap bubble, power can be taken away, and entertainment that excited you yesterday might not be enough for today’s happiness. But one thing is sure: men and women are constantly in the pursuit of happiness.
The whole world of advertisements, it seems, revolve around the concept of happiness. People are told that they will be happy if they have a new car, a dream home, travel to an exotic destination and so on. Anything is offered on credit. Surprisingly, the more attractive the advertisement sounds, the more people are ready to buy and invest.
Now if you want to be happy, there are a few things you can do. Be thankful.Have good friendships. Maintain contact with people you value and love. Have a passion in life. Study well. Do your work with skill, enthusiasm, and integrity. Give to others your time, talent, and treasure. Try to help others achieve their dreams. These are meaningful ways to find happiness.
At the same time many fall for the trap of happiness for the moment. For example, it can be entertaining wrong relationships. It can be substance abuse. It can be gambling. But somehow people in spite of warnings and red signals fail to read the price tag. It can spells the D’s–Despair, Disillusionment, Deception, Destruction, and finally Death. So happiness for the moment is not worth the game. You need to look for happiness that lasts.
Again, think about all those things that you don’t need. People love to accumulate things and try to find happiness in possessions. But when it is time to die, nothing matters except the love you had for others. Similarly technology these days is bringing more and more gadgets that makes you slaves to them. Think about it. Do gadgets make your really happy?
Finally, there has been many songs in the past titled, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Is it that simple? The truth possibly is people worry about not being happy. It is like a dog who went round and round trying to catch happiness which it believed was in its tail. While another dog seeing the other’s struggle simply said, “My happiness is also in my tail. But it follows me wherever I go!”
A life with purpose is one which looks with intense focus and passion on the goal. It defies all odds and comes back from all setbacks in the pursuit of the same.
It rises out of depths of despair; often clinging on to God in moments when strength gives out. It is energized by a single-eyed determination and a burning desire to excel.
It does not allow oneself to be distracted by the frivolous and the silly. Purpose enables one to be decisive in action, judicious in the use of time, wise in investments of talent and treasure, and cautious in friendship.
It is only when one is driven by purpose that one will persevere till the end. A purpose driven life knows where it is headed to; and in the first place why it is travelling to that destination.
Even when all other rewards are taken away; even when all others oppose, mock or reject; even when nothing else is there to be gained but only the joy of doing what one is called to do; a man or woman with purpose will remain true and faithful to it.
When life is dominated by purpose, there is no time to be wasted in answering critics, no time to wallow in self-pity licking the wounds of battle and no time to scatter away wishing “What might have been!”
When purpose takes hold, it knows how brief life is and with what speed and finality windows of opportunity will shut tight. Therefore it will act and will not rest till the matter at hand is done.
Aimless drifting is one sure sign that your sail has not caught the wind. If you are driven by purpose, life will never find you unprepared. Now is the opportunity and it is never too late.
It is not just the take off nor the flying that matters; but what counts is how you land finally. When you look back, hope you will be able to find many lives impacted just because you stayed good and true to your purpose.
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
“There are two great days in a person’s life–the day we are born and the day we discover why.”
— William Barclay
The LORD declares:
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
I was watching a fancy dress program at my kids’ school a few days ago. A five -year old dressed as an old lady was hobbling along the stage with the aid of a stick. She looked very realistic.
Suddenly she saw someone at the far end of the stage holding out a chocolate to her. At that moment, totally forgetting the situation, she rushed to grab the chocolate! Watching the rest of the participants perform, I have no doubt that she would have easily been voted the best of the participants otherwise.
What made her do so? Temptation.
Temptation. It often comes right at the path of your duty. One way to escape it is to be prepared. Do not let temptations take you by surprise.
Temptation. The moment you allow curiosity to take the first bite; you are finished. The moment you think it is safe to step inside a lion’s cage to take a selfie; even your bones will not be recovered.
Temptation. The longer it knocks at your door, the more bold you should be that you can overcome it. It is because you are still safely locked in. However great and furious the knock or pleading just say NO.
Temptation. It has great power when it comes through your friends. The possibility that they might reject you or make fun of you can unnerve you. It is good to be called names rather than to slip into a lifetime of misery and regret.
Temptation. It often defeats you when you stay a moment longer at spots you are not supposed to be. Run away. And do not look back for that second glance. Guard your eyes. Let it not look at evil and have your hearts hooked by what you see.
Temptation. It can come in many subtle and glamorous forms.
Temptation that is not attractive;
that doesn’t have a tinge of pleasure in it;
that does not give you a momentary satisfaction cannot be called temptation.
The danger about temptation is that it makes you think only of instant gratification and not about long-term and far reaching consequences, guilt, shame, remorse, ridicule and the burden of sin that you need to face or carry.
Ultimately the only absolute defence against temptation that I know is God. Call out to him for help. A sincere heart prayer and cry from a broken and contrite heart is always heard and answered.
Once upon a time two angels went from heaven to earth with two huge baskets to collect the prayers of people. One basket was labelled Requests and the other Thanks. When the angels returned to God, the basket of Requests was full and overflowing; but the basket of Thanks was almost empty.
Dear friends, the lesson is quite clear. An attitude of gratitude is often absent in our lives. The lack of a thankful heart may be the root cause of many human illnesses as well.
Let me now point out two things:
Firstly, an attitude of gratitude means you learn to count your blessings in life. When you do so you will find that they far outnumber the difficulties or problems you face in life. Moreover it gives you a joyous heart as well.
You can be thankful for the gift of life, your parents, home and school, your teachers, relatives and friends, for the clothes you wear, the food you eat and the place you live in. The list is endless.
Secondly, an attitude of gratitude helps you value simple joys of life. You may not have the latest gadgets to play with. Instead a thankful heart will help you to be content and satisfied in whatever situation you find yourself in.
A thankful heart will value people more than things, it will value a smile more than riches, it will find joy in giving than grabbing, and it will hold on to hope even when life’s ship moves in troubled waters.
Bless the LORD, O My Soul!
—
Daniela B. Peter and Stefan B. Peter sings the song, “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart” as part of Little Kingdom program on Harvest TV.
Today is a very special day because it is God’s gift to us. That is why it is called the Present.
Today presents us with opportunity to do good. Today is very special again because it gives us a chance to love others and encourage the weak.
Today is a very special day because it gives us a chance to act on our dreams and achieve our goals. That is why Martin Luther King said, “I have a dream today.” He said that because today’s dream is tomorrow’s reality.
Therefore let us not postpone for tomorrow what can be done today. Whoever you are, God has gifted you with an equal opportunity of 24 hours.
Let me end with the words of Jesus Christ who said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
Yes, yesterday is gone, tomorrow might never come. So let us grab the present moment and live life to the fullest for today is a very special day. Thank you.
The ability to laugh is God-given. It is best seen when children come together and play. What an amazing thing it is how they laugh and have fun. Those are moments when life is bubbling over with joy and sheer enthusiasm.
Yes, such laughter can have echoes of heaven in it too. As Corrie ten Boom pointed out, “I had always thought that the laughter of the little children in an empty cathedral was the most beautiful of all hymns of praise.” You cannot give laughter a nearer place to the heart of God than that, can you?
When you laugh, there are many good things that happen. It helps you connect with people. For laughter is positively contagious. People laughing together is an excellent way to build relationships. It helps friends and members of family bond with each other. It helps increase trust and intimacy as well.
Again laughter is an expression of joy in one’s heart. Sadly, anxiety and worry, depression and loneliness are ills of modern society that prevent people from laughing out loud. It is in this context that laughter is understood to be the best medicine.
For laughter can relieve stress and increase our health in many different ways. While the smile of babies and the elderly are incomparably beautiful, it is the hearty laughter that acts as a stress buster.
One area of life that has been often seen as off-limits for laughter is one’s relationship with God. Though it is true that God is holy and no man or woman can stand in his presence based on his or her merits, goodness or achievements in life; it is also true that God wishes to impart gladness and joy to those who love him.
King David expressed his sincere hope that God will fill him with joy in his presence and eternal pleasures at his right hand.* Therefore it is clear that God gives joy and laughter to those who love him. It is indeed a sad thing to go through life and never laugh. For, as the noted theologian Karl Barth said, “Laughter is the closest thing to the grace of God.”
Again, King Solomon many centuries ago expressed this truth in these words, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”* It is up to you to decide to step out of despair into a mode of thankfulness and praise. Laughter is absent from many lives, simply because people allow negative circumstances to crowd out their joy. So it is up to you again to see that your joy is not stolen from you.
Finally, let me ask you one question? What prevents you from laughing? Whatever be the reason you cannot afford not to laugh. Therefore take time to go out with friends and family. Do something positive and creative together. Enjoy healthy fun and entertainment.
Let me conclude with a wish and prayer for you. May God send long-cherished blessings your way today. May you find things close to your heart restored to you. Then you will be like “men who dreamed,” and your “mouths be filled with laughter and your tongues with songs of joy.”* Thank you.
This post is dedicated to the memory of Eric Lidell, the Flying Scotsman, who won the gold medal in the 400 metres race in the 1924 Paris Olympics. His athletic achievements have been chronicled in the Oscar winning movie Chariots of Fire which was released in 1981. Eric Liddell refused to run the 100 metres, the event he was expected to win, because the heats were scheduled for a Sunday, the day he had dedicated to worship God. He was called a traitor in his country but he cared more for the honour of God than winning a medal for the king.
Even though Eric Liddel had turned his back on his favourite event, he focused on the four hundred meters and trained for it. At the start of the finals of the event he went around shaking hands with all his competitors. And then, as shown in the movie, someone ran to his side and placed on his hand a folded square of paper. As he unfolded it, he found these words written on it: It says in the old book, “He that honours me, I will honour.” It was a verse from the Bible. And when the race began, Liddell starting from the outer lane simply ran fast as if he were running for his life. And came out first in world record time.
A little over a year, he just disappeared from the limelight by going to China as a missionary teacher with the good news of Jesus, to the land where he was born to missionary parents. During the Second World War he was interned in a camp by the invading Japanese and was held in a compound which housed more than one thousand five hundred foreign residents of China. He spent the rest of his life by having Bible studies, taking classes on chemistry for the youngsters there, organizing games for them, and even carrying water for the sick and the elderly. He died of an inoperable brain tumor at the young age of 43. His body was buried and a simple wooden cross put up with his name Eric Liddell written with boot polish.
Eric Liddell’s life has inspired many athletes including some gold medal winners in the Olympics in later years. I have dedicated this podcast to his memory because of the tremendous inspiration his life has been to me. May his life be an inspiration to you too to run the race of life well and finish on a note of glory.
If life is a race, you have to run. Staying still is not progress. It does not matter if others get distracted and do not focus on the race. You need to keep on running forward.
If life is a race, the destination is ahead. You cannot run if you keep looking back. An occasional backward glance can help you know how much distance you have covered already. But look ahead and run. Forget the past.
If life is a race, you have to run with patience as well as perseverance. Train yourself early to endure hardships. Then you can discipline yourself to run the long distance of life.
If life is a race, you should know the goal towards which you run. Otherwise it is a meaningless run. Run so as to win the prize.
If life is a race, at some point joy comes from helping others to run and succeed in life as well. Even though you run to win, many of your friends need your encouragement. Remember that.
If life is a race, and you did not know it, there is still time even though time is short. The one who starts late still has a chance to be rewarded. So it doesn’t matter if you were slow to start. Success comes even to those who started late.
If life is a race, make sure that you finish. Do not yield to despair or be discouraged. Be strong. Know that God will act for those who trust in him. He will bring to completion what he has begun to do in your life. There is glory awaiting you beyond the finishing tape!
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”– Hebrews 12:1z Bible.
“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” — St. Paul (Philippians 3:13, 14 Bible NIV).
To be beautiful and lovely, to be handsome and attractive, to be admired and appreciated; these are the longing of every human heart.
Some spend a fortune on cosmetics and apparels, on handbags and shoes, jewellery and ornaments to achieve these goals.
But there are better methods to make yourself an attractive person.
It is when we are dissatisfied that we become jealous of others. And when we become jealous all our joy turns into bitter poison that corrupts the heart and darkens our facial features as well.
Therefore stop comparing yourself with others and feeling inferior. Instead be thankful to God for all that you are and all that you have.
Nothing compares with the beauty of a baby smiling. And we all had smiled as children. Now when did we lose that? We lost it by worrying often. Stop worrying. It accomplishes nothing. Worry increases the wrinkles and frowns on your face.
So don’t lose your attractiveness through constant worry. Try smiling more often.
That is needed, but more than that why not try to be an encourager.
Make a deliberate effort to speak an encouraging word to someone today. Appreciate others a lot. Try to do a kind deed even as simple as smiling at the person who filled petrol in your car today. Or, saying “Thank you” to the one who took orders at your table in the restaurant.
Remember one good word that lights up hope from you can be the pull that brings back a person to life from the pit of destruction he or she was about to fall into.
Let me conclude.
A thankful heart,
a smile on your face,
and an encouraging word for others
are three secrets of a lovely, attractive, beautiful, and a handsome, winsome personality. And look stunningly beautiful too.
No one has become successful and maintained it without discipline. Talent, opportunity, passion, ambition, hard work and perseverance all have their contribution to make to success. But without discipline it is highly likely that a genius too will end up as a failure.
So what is discipline? “Discipline is one’s ability to adjust oneself to the given situation.” That was the thought the Principal at my school had driven home into our hearts at each school assembly. That means we are not to blame circumstances but instead rise above them by making necessary changes in our attitudes and actions.
The next step in discipline is to make priorities. As far as students are concerned, their first priority is not studies. You might be shocked and surprised by that statement, I am sure! But then what is your highest priority. It is to obey your parents and teachers!
Now why do I say this? This is because disobedience and disrespect are so fashionable with today’s young generation. But let me tell you; a disobedient child is an undisciplined child. And even if such a child becomes successful the traits of disobedience he or she carries in the mind will someday prove to be his or her downfall.
Let me add one more important thought to this. Many of you aspire to be leaders; don’t you? It is a good thing provided your attitude is to serve others in your leadership role—to be a true minister unto men. The Bible portrays this as servant leadership which Jesus showed when he took off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist, took water in a basin, washed the feet of his disciples and dried them with the towel the night he was betrayed.
Now if you want to be a leader, obedience is the key. Make a note of the saying, “He who cannot obey cannot command.” Just imagine what chaos will result if there is disobedience in the armed forces? Therefore obedience is the key as far as discipline is concerned.
After desire, and priorities and obedience, the next step as far discipline is concerned is to strengthen your resolve and commitment.Just making decisions are not good enough to lead a disciplined life. You have to increase your efforts to stick to commitments. Otherwise you will become bored and lazy with routines.
The key is to create good and healthy habits. Once those are formed; it is difficult to break them. Just imagine, the simple act of brushing your teeth every morning. This discipline became part of your life because your parents helped you to form that habit early in life; isn’t it?
Let me conclude with one last thought about a disciplined life. It is a very important thought as well. If you wish to maintain a disciplined and successful life, you have to avoid distractions. As far as youngsters are concerned, let me point out one way in which you are distracted is time you spent with your gadgets. If you do not learn to discipline yourself and limit time you spent on them; you will regret that later in life. For the quality and vigour of time in youth will never return. Therefore, invest the best of your time in life in the best things of life.
So my dear friends learn to adjust yourself to the given situations in life. Discipline yourself and leave behind an inspiring legacy of success!
