How many people know you by name? That question is deeper than you think. In that sense the question is, how many people know you truly?
Your name represents you. Isn’t your name sweet to your ears? Your name gives you your sense of identity and your sense of uniqueness and to a great extent you are not an impersonal alphanumeric code because you have a name.
When others call you by name they respect you as a person. In fact, by calling you by name others are not dismissing you as an lifeless thing or object.
And when God says, “I have called you by name; you are Mine!” it is the highest honour you can have. It means that God knows you like no other. He knows your heart’s true desires. He knows where you fail.
But beyond that when God says, “I have called you by name,” it means that he knows your future. You need not worry about it any more for you are known and intimately known by the One who holds you future.
Isn’t that comforting? But then do you know the One who calls you by name? Do you know the One who has even all the hairs of your head numbered? Therefore, try your best to know him who knows you by name!
The fisherman prepares his nets and fishing rods. A cricket batsman prepares in the nets. The motto of the Scouts says “Be prepared.” Are you prepared?
What is the other extreme? You are invited to speak, told about a coming game or informed of an upcoming exam. What happens then. You start to postpone preparation. You meet with inertia according to Newton’s first law of motion, which states “an object either remains at rest or continues to move at a constant velocity, unless it is acted upon by an external force.”
Why do you yield to inertia? Simply because you hope that motivation will fall on you from the sky like the legendary apple that fell on Newton’s head. But you only experience gravity pulling you down.
So what can you do to overcome this?
First of all realize that there is nothing pleasant or romantic about preparation. It is simply honest hard work. You might have to do it alone. No one might see you do all the toil. No one will applaud you.
Secondly,look at people who perform well. They make it feel that it all happens easily. Realize that it is so only because of the long hours and perhaps months and years of preparation. There is no substitute for it.
Thirdly, the secret is to simply start. Inspiration will follow. Do not wait eternally for inspiration. Often it comes as a result of hard work and not by waiting for it. For example, if you have decided on a topic to speak just take a sheet of paper and write the topic. Note down one or two thoughts that comes. It need not be perfect and it need not be the best. That doesn’t matter. What matters is you got started.
Fourthly, try to cover as much ground during preparation. For example, you are to prepare for a speech. You might be using only forty to fifty percent of all that you prepared for the actual speech. But then what is the importance of extensive preparation?
It helps you to improvise while you perform: As a speaker a new idea will come suddenly while you speak and you can go for it like Martin Luther King did. His “I have a dream segment” was not in the original written script but was the inspiration of that historic moment.
Similarly, you might have seen a batsman in cricket execute improvised shots with great effectiveness. This is the power to improvise you get out of preparation.
The fifth secret about preparation is anticipation. You need to think about all situations that can go wrong and be prepared for it. Let me give you real life examples. I have forgotten to take the notes I prepared for an important speech. I have faced power failure at night during speeches. During your preparation you should be able to foresee situations.
The sixth secret is rehearsal. The more the better. The moment should come when you feel you have had enough of it and you feel absolutely weak and nervous and almost unable to perform. Until that point rehearse and rehearse till you are dead tired and fed up with the whole exercise.
Finally,get some good sleep the day before your performance. Today’s preparation will help you in some future crisis. The result will be a performance with confidence. Then you will be thankful that you did all that hard work when you had the chance.
Exams cause a lot of fear to you; don’t they? Expectations of parents and teachers, comparison with siblings and friends, comments from neighbours and even strangers add fuel to the fire. Now what can you do to overcome your fear of exams? Here are 7 few thoughts for you:
Of course, God blesses you with good memory and ability to understand your lessons and calmness of mind to write exams without undue pressure.
The second thought you need to remember about exams is that you need to discipline yourself to prepare long-term. Refer to question papers of previous years. Write down notes on your own summarising content from textbooks while you study. Use your own codes, diagrams, and tables to reduce content to points you can easily revise at the time of exams.
Writing down notes on your own will help you internalize content without having to memorize. Use these notes to have a quick look the day prior to your exams. It will help you write exam well.
The third thought is that you shouldn’t try too much to study new content at the time of exam. It will create more fear and tension. Instead focus on what you already know and try your best to make it thorough.
See, isn’t it practical to think that generally the one who sets the question paper will not be asking all the tough questions together? So don’t worry too much. There will definitely be a lot of questions simple enough for you to answer.
The fourth thought is about getting good sleep. The more you lose sleep it will affect your good judgement while you write exams. You might forget to write your hall ticket number. Or in a much worse situation, you might number your answers wrongly after having written all answers correctly. And that is disastrous!
Even more worse is you forgetting the answer you knew best. All this can happen as a direct result of losing sleep. By the way, start your exam by writing the answer you know rather than waste time thinking on the question to which the answer doesn’t come easily to mind.
The fifth thought is about efficient time management. Why is this important? Due to procrastination and postponing, many students find exams staring at them at the end of term or semester or year without them being prepared for it. Learn to plan your time using a time table. Stick to it in spite of unexpected interruptions. And when you start writing your exam first have a quick glance at the entire question paper whenever that is possible. That will give you a fair idea how to utilize given time wisely. And leave five minutes at the end of writing your exam to cross check whether you have written all the answers.
Sixthly, one of the best ways to learn is to teach. Try to teach your friends the subject most difficult for you to learn. You’ll find it surprising how fast you learn and retain what you’ve picked up. Now with online options it is easy for you to interact with friends in a combined study context; isn’t it? When you teach, you master your subject much faster than when you just try to study it for yourself.
Finally, in spite of all that you do well, it is quite possible to lose marks. Take it as part of the game. Do not allow negative thoughts to dominate your mind. If you had done your best be happy. You will have your reward.
But then when Jesus is willing to step into the empty boat; will the nets return void? And when he says, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch,” you can raise a lot of objections; for you Simon Peter are an experienced fisherman in the sea of Galilee; aren’t you? And he is just a carpenter from the obscure town of Nazareth. Or isn’t he?
Is it positive thinking that what creates miracles? Or is it obedience to the voice of him who commands the winds and the waves?
But the greater miracle was not the miraculous catch of fishes.Instead it was Peter’s confession, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.”
Isn’t that amazing?
Instead of striking a deep-sea fishing deal with a man who knew the seas better than he, Peter falls at Jesus’ knees. Worship is recognizing the worthiness of him who commands the winds and the waves. And in that process knowing my own unworthiness before his holiness.
The Master’s voice comes across to you today. “My child, have you been toiling hard? And are your boats empty? Do you really know what you need? Is it that you need a boat full of fish? I can give that to you. But is that what you really need? Or is it Me?”
And who is he?
He who angels worship;
before him demons trembled; in him sinners found a friend; the outcasts found mercy;
those who strayed met with compassion;
the sick found healing;
to the guilty, forgiveness was gifted;
he taught with authority;
the wild waves and stormy winds obeyed instantly and calmed;
death bowed down low and licked the ground at his feet; as he triumphed over the grave
by his blood shed on the cross;
he opened heaven for all
who is willing to trust, obey, and follow him.
So, here is he standing across the sea watching you dock an empty boat and washing the nets which did not bring a catch saying, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
—
Post inspired by Luke 5:4 A Haiku Poem:
The empty boat docks.
Cast nets to blue deep says he.
Do that; fishes catch!
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
You might be the fastest sprinter in the world. Yet you won’t think of or ever imagine to run a 100 metres sprint at the Olympics or World Athletic championship finals with bricks on your head; will you?
But the sad thing is that in real life you are probably attempting to run life’s race and rush ahead with many bricks on your head. And what are these bricks? They are dead weights that slow down your progress.
And what are these dead weights?
The first one is definitely the baggage of your past. Your past might be full of mistakes you made and plenty of regrets you have. But they are to be left behind. Let the lessons you learned from them remain. Let those teach you humility. But never entertain the past and its baggage with the same dignity given to a foreign head of state paying an official visit to the country. So, leave your past behind.
The third dead weight you carry is, worries of this life. Each day the news is getting bad and worse. There is not one day without some kind of negativity being heard. In spite of all the entertainment going on, bad news still makes its rounds. And you are worried. Especially about what the future is going to be. The only antidote to worry is trust in God.
Now what can you do about these three: baggage from your past, negative habits from your present and worries about your future?
So many runners in the Olympics in its earliest form ran to win a wreath or a laurel that faded away. But God rewards for an eternity with a crown that does not perish, spoil or fade away. So be careful how you run life’s race. Run so as to win the prize. There is going to be rewards and joy at the end of the race if you do away with the bricks you are carrying today.
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”
Are you tired of living? If yes, there are three quick things you can do.
One, call out to God for help. You need not worry how he is going to answer your prayer. Instead what you need to believe is that God is able to help you and willing to help you.
Therefore the first thing to do if you are tired of living is to call out to God for help.
Two, believe in goodness ahead. It is easy to lose hope when you are under pressure constantly. That is quite natural. But when you wait for God to answer your prayer you need to look ahead to see God’s goodness stored for you.
When it comes, people who despised you and mocked you will see that is God who has shown you goodness. You too will know how troubles you faced moulded you to be prepared for the goodness which God had already prepared for you.
Therefore the second thing to do if you are tired of living is to believe in goodness ahead.
Three, do not entertain bitterness in your heart. It is true that words were painful when people stung you bitterly with their accusations and criticism. It is true that you faced pressure beyond your ability to endure. In spite of all this do not hold a grudge against those who hurt you.
That is not easy. Yet if you can try to see the hand of God orchestrating events, managing people, bringing situations to a crisis, and finally bringing you to that point where you are ready to live your true dream; then instead of bitterness your heart will overflow with gratitude to God.
Therefore the third thing to do if you are tired of living is to stop entertaining bitterness in your heart.
To conclude, the three things to do if you are tired of living are:
One, call out to God for help.
Two, expect goodness ahead.
And three, do not entertain bitterness.
My friend, this is not the time to give up or to quit. But it is the time to hope, to believe and to hold on.
So many people dream about the perfect time to begin. It rarely happens. Though there are occasions when timing means everything; most of life is about doing things now. Do not postpone anything that you can do today and now. If you do it becomes a habit that is going to be difficult to break.
So how do you get out of the habit of postponing? Take a look at certain elements you need to keep in mind.
We are told not to worry about tomorrow. It means that we use the present opportunities. The right time to start is now. The secret is to start small. There should be a sense of urgency in getting things done.
Many people never start to do anything thinking of the bigness of the task ahead. It is wise to break the big task into small bits and work on each bit at a time. That makes the big work manageable. So many small acts done consistently over a period of time will yield better results than attempting to do a big thing all at once.
It is observed that when there is a flow of things happening you do your tasks well. But when there is a break a long gap follows. Each time you want to restart what you have been doing you feel a kind of inertia holding you back. And you wait for an appropriate moment to restart.
Instead of waiting for the right time, start immediately. The joy of doing what you have been doing well will return very quickly. You will also start to wonder why you waited so long?
Avoid too much thinking and too much planning. It can take away your initiative. Start to act now. And be prepared to make the needed changes as you go along. Pick up a project or plan you had shelved long ago. If you haven’t played your guitar for a long time now, just pick it up, wipe the dust and start strumming. The tune will follow. The melody will return. The power of acting now will ensure that you will be able to follow through.
So now is the time to take action. Get up and do something. And get rid of your self-defeating habit of postponing.
Worry steals away our valuable time. On the other hand planning helps to utilize time effectively. So many people dream of doing big things in life. This is mostly wishful thinking. Instead those who really want to do something meaningful in life make use of small chunks of time.
For effective utilization of time create good habits. Say No to all distractions. Work against deadlines and work towards your dreams and goals.
The greatest thief of time is procrastination. It is the thought that I will do it later. Sadly, tomorrow also the same pattern is repeated. Therefore keep in mind that time is the stuff life is made of and laziness is the lover that steals it.
Yet another enemy of time is the thought that my life stretches long ahead. But who knows what awaits you at the next turn. Many people marry laziness before they even grow up. Such people who sleep in the embrace of laziness won’t even realize it when the very bed they sleep on is snatched away from beneath them.
A man or woman of action plans and acts as if there is no tomorrow. They always audit how they are making use of available time today. One of the best ways to utilize time is to have a sense of purpose. Those who are sent on a mission never while away their time. They know they are on duty. They are conscious that many others are depending on them to do their assigned task well.
A simple way to manage time is to allot a chunk of time for a particular task you are attempting. That will compel you to plan how to use that time. The threat today to proper time management is our own slavish mentality towards mobile screens. It is a great stealer of time. So be aware and alert that time is the stuff life is made of and laziness in life and addiction to the mobile screen are lovers that steals it.
Once again, let me remind all those who are regretting time lost in the past, hold on to this astounding promise of God: “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten!”
“Time is too slow for those who wait,
too swift for those who fear,
too long for those who grieve,
too short for those who rejoice,
but for those who love,
time is eternity.” — Henry Van Dyke
Bad habits give you pleasure. But as with everything there is a price tag. Nothing comes free of cost. Think about how the bad habit will take its toll on your life.
Bad habits have triggers. Certain people or situations compel you to indulge in bad habits. The best thing you can do is to identify the triggers and avoid them.
Bad habits can take hold of you when you are alone and feel lonely. Therefore try to build good friendships or engage in creative hobbies or sports.
Bad habits mostly take hold of you because you have no purpose in life. Do not be idle. Do something positive. Work towards a meaningful goal.
Bad habits can make you feel like a failure. But there is good news for you. If you can rise up one more time and fight one more round, you are no failure.
A child who grows up listening to bedtime stories is prepared for success in later life.
Great stories of the world not only can help a child get to know the cultures of the world, it can also help the child with developing good language and communication skills too.
Perhaps what stories do the most is to help a child know that happiness and sadness are episodes that recur in life.
Stories prepare children to enjoy the good things in life and hold on during tough times. In that sense stories are the best training a child can have.
Stories teach us about lasting values like love and friendship, about the joy of being lost and then found, about the thrill of coming back home and finding acceptance as in the classic story of the prodigal son that Jesus told.
Above all stories give us hope. They paint for us life experiences and enable us to look at it from outside.
Each good ending helps us to hope and believe that it will turn out well for us at the end in spite of all twists and turns that happen before that.
Let me conclude by saying that life without stories is tasteless like the white of an egg. And a story a day brings happiness again!
Everywhere! I find people ready to give up.
Everywhere! I find people in need of an encouraging word.
Will you shine your little light?
There never was a time when men and women needed the courage to hope more than now. Yes! Now is the time. If at all we needed light to shine in our darkness; it is now. Will you shine your little light?
But who will show the light? Those that have it, have covered it tight. O foolish ones who think that light gets lost if it is allowed to shine. So they light candles in burning sunlight.
Oh, how they lack the simplest of wisdom. That light should shine not when it is daylight. But light should shine when it is pitch black at night.
So unravel your light. Let it shine. It can be that just before one step to the blackest night; some poor soul will find the light. So will you shine your little light; in this time of rampant night?
The second F is Family. All of us are born into a family. Of course there are many who are less fortunate and are orphaned early in life. Now the divinely ordained instiution of family has undergone many changes in the last few decades. Yet in spite of all that has changed, the family is where we learn the first lessons of being loved and cared for.
The third F is Finance.Money is not everything in life. Yet money is needed for meeting the basic necessities of life. Therefore one has to learn to earn money through honest hard work. One has to learn to be wise and prudent in spending and investing money. Greed can make you blind to the more important values in life and can make you lose compassion to others.
The fourth F is Friends. There is a wider circle than our immediate family that makes an impact in our lives. Even though it includes many, there are few who stand with us in all our needs and moments of difficulty. They are your friends. There might not be many, but only few who will have your best interest in mind. Value and cherish them.
So let me conclude. The four F’s that make life what it is are: Faith, Family, Finance, and Friends. Faith in God, love in the family, faithfulness with one’s finances, and fun with friends are what makes life what it is.
We all long to have a glimpse of heaven. Here is how heaven is going to be like:
Heaven is the home of God the Father. It is a real place. He awaits his children to arrive there. Meanwhile preparations are on for welcoming them home. What a joy when life’s race is over and you touch the finishing tape. You wake up to a new morn—a glorious beginning that will never end.
Heaven is a place of joy. It is a place where God will wipe away all tears from your eyes. No more death or mourning or crying or pain. I tell you it is not the boring kind of entertainment that you get on earth. Heaven is joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Heaven is where Jesus is. He said that he is the way. He said that in his Father’s house there are many mansions. And he is going to prepare a place for those who believe in him. One day he is going to come back to take us there. Amazing, isn’t it? God wants to share his home with us brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
Now the question is how soon will all this become real to us?
I hope most of you have seen Umpires calling “Time” during tennis matches. That trumpet call will sound from heaven soon. Earth will give up her dead. Books will be opened. Each man will have to give account for his life before God’s judgement seat.
And then those whose names are found in the Lamb’s Book of Life will live with God for ever. Others who never accepted God’s offer of life while living on earth will be thrown into the lake of fire from which there is no escape!
Sounds too narrow-minded; isn’t it? I cannot find fault with you for thinking so. But the truth is that Jesus said the way to heaven is narrow. This is what he said. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13, 14 Bible).”
Heaven, my friends, is not open by popular vote. It is open only for those who enter through the way of the cross. For it was on the cross that God came near to man like never before. That was where God put the punishment due to me and you for all our sins on his own beloved Son Jesus. That was where he shed his precious blood for us. And when we look to him in faith, he welcomes us home to heaven!
Coaches help you win. They push you to perform at your best and to achieve a world-class performance.
Performance management and optimisation is the key after you have put in all the hard work in your chosen passion and pursuit.
Performance becomes critical in all disciplines—be it athletics, sports and games, Formula One (F1) racing, coding, signing or dancing or acting, or without doubt public speaking too.
Here are four important points I can remind you as a Performance Coach just before your important performance:
Be Yourself
Many lose at the final performances because they carry a subtle baggage of people they have imitated or looked to for inspiration as role models early in their lives. In mirroring your role models you limit being yourself. So do away with all that is not true to yourself. It can be even certain mannerisms or speech patterns you picked up from others.
Be Relaxed
Nothing hinders performance as much as tension and stress and nervousness. If you can manage to have a good peaceful sleep the previous night before your critical performance what a difference it can make! A certain amount of nervousness will be there when you are thoroughly prepared. But imagine it to a be a race horse raring to go.
Focus on Giving Your Best
Some habitual winners lose when they focus on winning the prize. This happens because they forget what made them winners in the first place—it was their thirst to do their best. But the label of winner is a tough one to carry. It puts a lot of pressure on you to keep winning and it makes you focus on winning the prize. This can affect your performance if you allow it to dominate your thoughts.
Enjoy the Process
All great performers enjoy what they do. They especially dream of doing well the few days that lead up to their performance. They entertain no negativity. Their minds are full of joy at what they are about to do. As Eric Lidell is found saying in the 1981 Oscar-winning movie Chariots of Fire, “I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure.” So also you too focus on enjoying your performance.
To conclude, let me say that when you perform better than your best, you not only entertain but also inspire a host of others to raise their standards to that of excellence.
Hope rises in every human heart even as light shines. Therefore “Lead us O LORD from darkness to light,” has been a prayer in the lips of many for centuries.
Light conquers darkness—whether it be the darkness of ignorance or the darkness of evil or the darkness of fear; it is the nature of light to conquer darkness.
Light brings hope. A world that has become so busy with even Nano seconds1 being taken into account has no room for failures and those who despair. But light brings hope to even those rejected and broken and marginalized.
Light shines knowledge. Ignorance can imprison people. It can chain people in superstitions, lies and deceptions. And it is the truth of knowledge that can break these chains and set people free.
Light spreads. It is impossible to conceal light and perhaps it is foolishness to attempt to do so. Therefore no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bowl; but puts it on its stand that it may give light to everyone in the house.2
And once upon a time there walked on this earth One who embodied all these. He said: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”3
About him, his beloved disciple John wrote: “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.”
Yes dear friends, the greatest of all that light is; is that light gives life. It conquers death by its life-giving power. Therefore let us continue to pray, “Lead us O LORD from darkness to light.”
As a school student, the first step you can take is to stop giving excuses to your teachers on not completing your homework and not submitting your assignments on time.
The second step to stop telling excuses is to take responsibility for your actions. It is easy to put the blame on your teammates for the mistakes made. That is cowardice.
The third step to stop telling excuses is to find out what causes you to fail. Is it your laziness? Is it procrastination? Or is it poor listening that makes you miss out on vital information. For example, you did not listen carefully and therefore did not hear the teacher say, “Submit your notebooks on Monday.”
Finally seek the help of your friend to remind you whenever you tell an excuse. This will help you realise telling an excuse each time you do it. Becoming aware of it like that will alert you next time you attempt to tell an excuse.
Let me end by reminding you that the best place to start to stop telling excuses is your home itself. The basic excuse you give there is “I forgot”; isn’t it? Remember that forgetting happens because in your mind you have given priority to someone else or something else.
Right from a child’s wonder as to who made the stars to a philosopher’s explanation of the meaning of life there is in every human heart an yearning to search for the truth.
If truth can be found through men and women’s search for the meaning of life, it might not be a complete understanding because his or her circumstances will certainly colour his or her painting of life.
The question therefore is whether truth is abstract or concrete? Truth, if it has to be within the reach of all, has to be made plain for all to understand. In that sense truth came to us when Jesus was born a child. God came down to us not to judge, accuse, or condemn but to save.
But many people act like how the Roman governor Pilate did when he asked the question “What is truth?”1 to Jesus standing trial before him. But he did not wait for an answer.
And again truth was on public display when Jesus lay hanging on the cross and bleeding to death. The truth that all men and women deserve to be punished for their rejection of God was proclaimed by this act of God. BUT, the truth that God is showing mercy to all who would believe and receive him by placing their punishment on Jesus was a greater proclamation.
Thus in Jesus we find God showing us the truth—the truth about who God is: that he is merciful and compassionate and willing to forgive your sins however great they might be.
Therefore truth is not abstract. It is found in him who claimed: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”2 Look to him and you’ll find meaning in your search for the truth.
A new year with many unknowns. Eager expectations on one side. Worry and anxiety on the other. How can I move forward with courage? is the question that might dominate your mind at this time.
Do not fear. God never asked you to walk alone or shoulder all the burden by yourself. He is willing to help you and guide you. Simply trust that he has your good in mind as you move forward.
The overflowing waters which stand as a major obstacle preventing your progress will separate to reveal a way forward when you boldly step into the waters. It will not happen if you stand on the bank wondering how it will be accomplished.
The dry ground in the midst of the waters will be revealed only when you take the first step forward in faith. It is not by logic that it happens but by obedience to God’s command to you to step into the surging waters.
Impossibilities like what you are probably facing now are gateways to the land of the giants. You can look at them and be frightened or trust in God’s assurance, “I am with you, ” and find victory. But remember that there is no victory without battles.
Therefore look ahead to the New Year realistically. Much awaits to be accomplished. Old mindsets have to be left behind. And your mind has to be renewed. It was unbelief that defeated you so far. Now trust in God and believe you can.
It is then that the way forward will open up before. March forward and step by step claim your ground. If at any moment you falter and fall, look to God and rise up and move forward to victory.
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
See, God acting on your behalf is not advertised. He doesn’t blow a trumpet to announce that he is making things work for you. Often what God does, happens behind the scenes. You need to believe that even when nothing seems to happen your prayers have been heard and your tears have been seen and preserved.
Then again, you need to anticipate and be ready for what God is going to do in your life. As it is popularly said you need to carry an umbrella when you pray for rain. It is unwise to remain idle when the Bible points out the wisdom of the ant which stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
Beyond being active with what your hands can do at the moment, you need to believe that God can do immeasurably more than all that you can ask or imagine. To have it happen that way you need to have patience to wait for God’s time. And you need to have the humility to ask God to do what is best in his eyes for you.
Finally, a thankful heart is what you need to recognize the hand of God in your life. At the end of life’s journey when you look back you might recognize that several people who crossed your way at the right time were God-sent.
And today do not be ashamed to testify before others that it was God who performed wonders and miracles for you. And those wonders and miracles don’t happen by chance. If you look at an embroidered piece of cloth you will not make any sense of what is being done if you watch the process from the underside; will you?
But you will know that it is a wise hand is working out the design. Blessed are you if you have learnt to recognize that hand in your life as the hand of God threading the various colours to a work of splendid art!
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”— Romans 8:28 Bible NASB
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
If you’re talented, don’t hide behind the baggage. Stand tall.
Didn’t you know that you’re chosen? Then why is that you’re trembling with fear?
You might not be from a big family. You might not have great wealth. But that is not what matters!
Come on, play it big!
It is not the size of the armies against you that matters either! Not even the mountainous obstacles and the gloomy shadows that they cast on your path.
Of course you’ll have to shoulder the burden, face the murmurings against you, and fight discouragement day in and day out.
But nothing can change God’s call on your life. So take courage. Move forward. For there is nothing like God is with you!
Come on, play it big!
When God has called you to be the city on a hill, don’t sit on a molehill and pity your insignificance.
Do not dare to tell God your petty excuses. For he knew you before you were born and has called you by name.
He didn’t ask for your resume not did he conduct an interview. He just called you. When he calls he also enables. When he enables he stays with you until the end.
Hear his call today; and don’t dare to say “No.” Nothing else matters only if you obey his call even now as he is giving you a second chance!
If you ask people what brings success, you will hear a lot of answers like hard work, perseverance, luck, ambition, and a host of other factors. But King Solomon had something higher to add: “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”1 This is how you can find success God’s way.
First of all, he asked us to commit to the LORD. It calls for trust. It implies that you give something over to someone for keeping it safe, watching over it, and seeing that it is well taken care of. When you entrust something like that to the LORD you stop worrying about it because it is in safe hands; don’t you? That is step number one to find success God’s way.
Secondly, whatever you do should be committed. If God is just asked to put a signature at the end of your plans you are sadly mistaken. For when you commit something to God, it also means that you ask God first for his wisdom and his will in that regard. And when your plans move accordingly, he will be able to bless. That is step number two to find success God’s way.
Thirdly, God counts success very differently. You can be a failure in the eyes of the world but be a success in God’s eyes. When the world counts money, power, fame, influence, possessions and even a YouTube video going viral as success; God measures success against your faithful stewardship of resources entrusted to you. Seeing success as God sees it is step number three to find success God’s way.
To conclude, God loves to see you succeed. In God’s terminology that reads, God loves to see you bear fruit. Well, a branch of a grapevine doesn’t wriggle and struggle and move here and there to produce fruit; does it? It simply remains in the vine; isn’t it?
And remaining in the vine can be understood as a personal and growing relationship with God. And like a true vinedresser God might prune you2—that is, he might discipline you-–so that you may bear more fruit.
God takes his own time with the process. He is patient. He reduces you to less so that you’ll bear more. He cuts you down so that your trust will be in him alone. All that he does with you is not without purpose; but with the aim of making you succeed. Therefore, rise up from your bed of despair! You can have hope that you’ll certainly find success God’s way!
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He came to save people from their sins. No other person has ever addressed this basic need of men and women. And if you ask what sin is; it is anything that separates you from God. It can be your possessive love for anyone or anything; it can be rebellion in your heart against God; it can be pride or even attitudes and habits that are wrong. The name Jesus should remind you that you have a Saviour. He is always willing to save. There is absolutely no situation in your life where he cannot step in and no darkness in your life where his light cannot shine!
Immanuel
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Think about this. God became a single cell invisible to the human eye in the womb of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit and was born a child. God with us. Artificial intelligence, Nanotechnology, nuclear fission and fusion, supercomputers, interplanetary space missions and whatever marvellous else you can think of does not compare with God becoming a child. Immanuel. It means God with us. Jesus came as someone who could be seen and touched and one who mingled with the common people and the untouchables of society. He is with you today as a loving brother and faithful friend. Immanuel.
Wonderful Counsellor
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Google maps can help you when you travel. PAPI lights can help planes land safely. But what about situations in life where it seems a thick fog has come down on you? And you are unable to decide what to speak, whether to answer yes or no, and not sure about how your present action is going to impact your future? What about situations in life where you have messed up already? Don’t you think you need Jesus who has absolute knowledge of your life, is compassionate to you in your failures and doubts, and most willing to guide you continually? You might not hear angelic voices, neither see visions or dreams. Yet this Wonderful Counsellor will guide you. In spite of all the chaos you feel, the end of it will be peace; for in the abundance of his wisdom is safety.
Mighty God
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Calling Jesus a great teacher, a good man, a powerful prophet, a worker of miracles, or one who brings God’s blessings to people; all even when true fall short of who he is. When descriptions and adjectives don’t scale the heights of the majesty and holiness and supremacy and sovereignty of Jesus who is Mighty God above all; then you fail to know who he is. And when you come to know him for who he is; there is only one response that is possible—worship! And that is not possible unless you repent and turn away from all that is false and evil and turn to God in humility and tears.
Everlasting Father
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God, who is from eternity to eternity. He is, was, and will be. Jesus. He never can fail to be your strength and source of hope and comfort. Never will he leave you alone; never will he forsake you. When he steps in to your present moment, he will take the sting and bite and shame away from all that is past and take absolute charge over your future too. Death then becomes a curtain that is parted, and you will see him beyond life’s final farewell on earth. Eternal Father he is! Always there, always present, Jesus!
Prince of Peace
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Peace requires no definition as you know it when you don’t have it. But one thing is common to all: everyone is in search of peace. It is not to be found in pleasures nor is it to be found in living alone like a hermit in the forest. Peace with God can be found through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross. Have you found the peace that Jesus the Prince of Peace can give? It is not absence of trouble in life that he promises but his presence with you and his peace in the midst of life’s difficulties
Lamb of God
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Sinless One. Blameless. Innocent. Yet he was slain. He willingly laid down his life. His body was broken; and his precious blood was poured out for the forgiveness of your sins and mine. It was love for you that made him do that. Jesus, the Lamb of God. May this Name resound with the praises of his children time without end. May the corridors of heaven echo his praises for ever throughout all eternity! May his sacrifice be the subject of songs for ever and ever. Amen! Read 7 Names of Jesus on LinkedIn
— The above Christmas Day 2020 Special Post is inspired by the following texts in the Bible:
“You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” — Matthew 1:21b
“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means “God with us.” — Matthew 1:23.
“And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” — Isaiah 9:6b
“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” — John 1:29b
Online classes have changed the way children learn. It has also given rise to the practice of fashionable cheating. It is considered smart; but is it?
Many parents without second thoughts help students, especially young children with answers. And children get good marks. Parents are proud and children are happy.
But what are the consequences of this?
First of all, truth no longer has any weightage in the mind of the child. He or she is shown by example that it is ok to cheat by his or her parents who are most likely their primary role models. In this situation, how can you expect a child to grow up without resorting to greater malpractices in future?
Sadly, honesty is the best policy will remain in this growing up generation, a proverb to be recited and not to be practised.
Secondly, children will grow up thinking that getting full marks is quite easy if one is smart enough to invent ways to cheat. He or she will never be able to appreciate an objective evaluation whenever that happens. A child under the present fashionable cheating contexts grows up with no understanding of how to cope with mistakes,failures, criticism,rejection and unfavourable comparisons too.
Sad to say, a child grows up with a false estimate about one’s own intelligence and academic knowledge.
Thirdly, parents need to remember that children will grow up soon. They will learn to stand on their own feet. The Internet will become a gateway for them to a virtual world where one’s safety depends much on self-discipline. A child growing up learning fashionable cheating will soon master the craft of doing more tricks online that can bring real heartache for everyone concerned.
In all earnestness let me say that then it will be too late to correct.
Finally, what many parents are not aware of is that online video conferencing or online classes are tricky. Sometimes there can occur unexpected bugs. While they think that audio is mute, it actually might not be. When they help children write exams the instructions they give and the answers they whisper to their children are all heard by many. Many teachers might even be able to know which child is being helped. In this context, does fashionable cheating sound nice to you?
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the LORD of hosts.1
Hey, you can bounce back from a defeat always. Bouncing back from a defeat is not an option but a must for all who wish to succeed. You must always keep a burning desire within your heart to push forward, maybe inch by inch, and edge onward towards victory.
My dear friend, a defeat is not a dead end. It is not a showstopper. It doesn’t have a life of its own unless you inflate it like a balloon and make it big in your mind. A defeat might look like a giant having made a fortified city on the mountains, but look at it as a hurdle kept and preserved to make your conquest all the more glorious.
You should never stay comfortable in the valley of defeat. That is where dry bones lie. You should get up, leave behind your past, pray to the Spirit of God to come and breathe life to your vision and press on to victory. If there is some known cause in your life that is causing your defeat time and again, search it out, bring it out in the open, seek God’s help and get rid of it. Eliminate it.
It can be lethargy, complacency, laziness, worry or anxiety, or even a negative habit that is pulling you down. Your love for self-pity, airing victim stories of helplessness, and analysis paralysis of indecision; they all should be disarmed and discarded like a dirty piece of clothing if you have to bulldoze to victory.
Time does not wait for those who rehearse and play back a defeat in their minds. Look up and aim for the summit. When you focus sharply on that one aim and goal and ambition and passion, all lesser things will fade out. The Spirit of God will fill you with strength to rise up and soar on wings like eagles.
There is no reason why you should remain a loser and there is nothing to prevent you from bouncing back but your own doubts.Life can be lived in the valley of defeat or in the plain of daily routines or on the mountain tops. You might be lonely out there at the top and no one might be there to share your joy.
But you will not be alone because God is there where the skies kiss the mountain tops to bless you with his presence and give you the vision for your life forward.
Therefore decide to break out from self-imposed prisons of defeat. And with God’s help bounce back from that defeat you think you can’t break out from. When the Spirit of God moves like a mighty wind in your life; there is sure strength and resource needed for that leap forward.
On a high window sill stood two flower pots. One had a wild red rose full of thorns in it. It was in bloom. The other was a small garden plant. It had a single bud in it. Shades of golden yellow could be faintly seen. But it refused to bloom even when its time had come.
The Wisethorn, for that was the wild rose’s name, asked: “Hey, Bloomy, why don’t you bloom?”
In reply, she said: “I can’t. I’m not so beautiful like roses. I’m afraid whether my petals would come out well. What if the ugly worms put black spots in it? And then what will roses think of a poor little flower like mine?”
The Wisethorn understood. But it did not agree; for it knew better. The Wisethorn had seen even deserts burst into bloom. So it gently whispered a secret in Bloomy’s ears.
She listened. Then she thought, “Well, it sounds too good to be true.” A gentle wind seemed to soothe her mind for a flash of a second. Then it was cloudy again.
She drooped once more.
The Wisethorn was patient. It asked again: “What’s it this time?”
This time Bloomy said, “The wind is too strong and the sun is so hot ….”
The Wisethorn did not shed any tears for her. But it was all ablaze in flaming fury. It thundered the secret once again in Bloomy’s ears. Time stood still.
There was a pause.
Then time began to tick again. The struggle had begun. Other voices shouted in her mind’s ears: “It can’t be done.”
She looked to the Wisethorn again. It seemed to know what it had said. There was an authority in its look.
As eye met eye, she felt a surge of confidence. She said quietly but firmly: “Yes, the bud will bloom! It will! It will!”
It was the death-knell of the other voices. Yeah, Wisethorn’s words had triumphed!
Bloomy knew that her time had come. It was now or never. She had to choose. She had to be what she had to be or else it would be as if it had never been.
The clouds were gathering. The first streaks of lightning lit up the dark sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance.
But a greater fire was burning within her. She longed to be what she was created to be. Bloomy drew a deep breath and raised her head. She knew for sure that her bud would have a sunshine bloom!
That was yesterday. The rains had come and gone. The sun shone.
Now Bloomy was in bloom!
When the first joy of breaking free from the negative thoughts that had bound her was over she turned and greeted Wisethorn. The exhilaration of life’s first triumph was written all across her jubilant face.
Was it a smile? Were it tears? Was it joy or a twinkle in the eye? No one knows; but then it all seemed to say with one heart and one voice, “Thank you, thank you so much!”
All those who saw Bloomy were happy for her. They all said, “You’ve changed, Bloomy!”
But then none knew the word of wisdom Wisethorn had thundered in her ear!
But experience has taught us that New Year resolutions are broken sooner than expected in spite of all the good intentions behind them. And it is heartbreak time then. And giving up all as lost when promises are broken.
One thing you should never forget is that in our unending quest for ideal beginnings in life we wait to the end of the year postponing every good thing we could have attempted. Many opportunities are lost in this kind of waiting.
Instead of waiting for the New Year to come, why not start today with your resolutions. Attempt something you always wanted to do. Begin small. Even when you fail start again. That is the true promise of life.
Achievements and success is not to be seen as destinations and the end of our journeys. Instead see attempts and failures as the real cornerstones of success.
So start today and now. Do not delay. Be realistic that there will be failures and setbacks. But be determined to bounce back. Enjoy the process. And then you will have a beautiful journey ahead.
Do not wait for the New Year. In spite of all the hype and promise about welcoming a New Year it is a deception as far as resolutions are concerned. Do not believe the lie that something magical is going to happen the first day of the year. It can happen or it might not happen.
But if you trust God, and believe in him for your future; today is the best day and now is your opportunity. The promise the Bible declares is that God’s compassions never fail and they are new every morning1.
So get up and start to put your dreams to reality. By the time New Year comes around, you would have far advanced than most of those who chose to sit and watch and wait!
1Lamentations 3:22, 23.
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
Standing still is difficult. It does not come naturally to any one of us. Like a child who has just learned to walk; our hearts and hands constantly try to grab things fast.
With mobiles in our hands that can compute real fast if some page takes more than a few seconds to load we become impatient.
In the midst of such daily experiences, God commands us to stand still. But those who have tried to do so know that it is more than difficult. We would like to engineer our ideas and try to help God somehow.
Yes, standing still goes against our wisdom. We are used to connect with people, use money power, or influence to get things done. Waiting for God to act is not in our scheme of things.
But God waits. He waits to allow us to come to the end of our strivings. He waits till our strength and resources and wisdom are all exhausted. He waits until we are truly helpless.
Unable to fight one more round when we lie down in the dust; God steps in. He acts decisively.
So today make a deliberate attempt to calm your hearts and minds before God.
He is on his throne and in absolute control of all that is happening in your life. He is concerned for you. Negative circumstances and giant opposition is no match for his wisdom and power.
The only thing he is asking of you and me is to put our confidence and trust in him. Standing still is an outward sign of our faith in God. In such moments our focus is on God himself, how big he is, how great he is, how wise he is, and how great power and resources he commands.
So my dear friend, tell God that you have come to the end of all your ideas. Ask him to step in and tell him you feel helpless. Remember that the battle is God’s. You role is to stand still and watch what God is going to do for you.
When you stand still without running here and there in desperation, there will come people asking you, “On what are you basing this confidence of yours?” Do not let their doubts or their ridicule shake your faith. Stand still. Stand firm and see the deliverance God will bring in your life.
“Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity<” so said John Flavel . Sometimes God acts only when there seems to be no hope to go forward and no possibility of going back. It is then that you have to stand still and not give in to panic.
Short Speeches of Introduction, Welcome, Felicitation, Vote of Thanks!
Get up!
Life is more about second chances than you can dream of. Champions and winners script success stories by rising up from the ashes of defeat. They are heartbroken when they see someone else lift the trophy for which they fought with sportsman spirit till the last moment. But that does not prevent them from pursuing their goal to win. You too should be like that. Don’t stay in your bed of despair. This is the time to get up!
Get up!
It might have been years that you stayed in this defeated mode. That doesn’t matter. God is not only the God of your past but of your present and your future as well. He is not limited by all that went wrong in your life. He is not limited by the victim stories you have told yourself and others countless number of times. He is not limited by all your negative circumstances, all those people who tell you that you can’t succeed, or any other force that is bulldozing you at this time. He wants to act decisively in your life. Therefore, get up!
Get up!
This one single act can change the way you think, act, and move forward. It is by taking this first step that you will realize all that the locusts have eaten away in your life. It is this one act of getting up that can change your destiny. Do not wait. Now is the time. This moment is your opportunity. Get up!
“Why are you downcast,
O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Saviour and my God”
One of the questions commonly asked in my training sessions is this: “What will others think about me?” Whether it be professionals or students they share this same concern.
Often I’ve seen many talented speakers in my training sessions make wrong judgements of their own speech. They sport a sad face after they speak. If asked why they look so defeated, the reply usually is, “I did not do well.”
This reaction is usually triggered by a few inattentive participants in the group. The speaker therefore concludes that his or her speech was not worth listening to. The truth is that you cannot judge the quality of your speech by audience reaction alone.
Look at these three incidents and come to your own conclusion regarding, “What will others think about me?”
The first one happened at a recording in All India Radio, Thiruvananthapuram studio. I had sent one of my students to do the recording of a story for Yuvavani a youth programme. She was reading her script in the recording room. From there she could see the computer room through a glass partition.
A few people who were involved in the recording process were talking with each other and laughing in that room. Their jovial chatter posed no threat to my student who was reading her script well because it was a sound-proof room. Yet at one point in time the graph on the computer screen stopped showing the voice-recording. My student had stopped reading!
Surprised by this (because my student was reading well), one of the programme executives came over to her side from the other room. She was asked why she had stopped reading. The reply took the programme executive by surprise.
My student told the programme executive that she had suddenly panicked thinking that all of the programme executives were laughing and joking at her poor reading. How far from the truth it was! The programme executives were sharing some funny stories. It had nothing to do with my student reading her script (this was her first recording experience too).
The second incident happened many years ago at the College Annual Day. It was March 17, 1995. I had the privilege of doing the Reply to the Toast Speech. It was a speech that I had dreamed of doing the last year of my college and I had prepared well to the best of my ability.
After having studied in Mar Ivanios College, University of Kerala, for seven years, I knew a large majority of students seated in the auditorium personally. Yet a couple of minutes after I started to speak there were howls and boos from the jam-packed audience. It took me by surprise because I was delivering a very carefully prepared speech.
I was shaken a little bit because that was the first time I faced such a reaction from the crowd in the college auditorium. That being my last speech (a swan song, so to say) at the auditorium as a student of the college, I felt sad too. But somehow I kept my composure and finished the speech.
After the programme was over, my teachers congratulated me for the wonderful speech I had delivered. Now it really baffled me why then had the crowd created trouble for me while I spoke?
As I thought on this contradiction, the truth dawned on me. There were several speeches that had preceded my speech. The student community were gathered together that day not to listen to speeches but to listen to the songs and enjoy the dance programmes that would follow in the variety entertainment segment.
The students had howled to send across the message that they wanted the cultural programmes to begin quickly. Their howls had nothing to do with the quality of my speech.
So let me come back to that original question, “What will others think about me?” The truth is that they might not be thinking anything negative about you at all. Their reactions might have to do with something else. While you speak, do not try too much to read negative meanings into reactions in the audience.
Let me now move on to the third incident. At National Institute of Personnel Management (Trivandrum Chapter), I asked all my students to read aloud what I had written on the board. After all the twenty-three students had read those lines, I asked one student to stand up and read those lines again. Her reaction took me by surprise.
Almost in tears, she asked me, “Why Sir, why do you want me to read again?” She thought that I had found fault with her reading. The truth was, her reading was so excellent that I wanted the other students to listen to her once again! How wrong an interpretation and negative colouring she had given to the request!
Isn’t it true that we often jump into wrong conclusions from how others react? Therefore, kindly stop thinking too much about what others think about you.
How can you tackle self-doubt? Let us look at seven steps to do so:
Look at the worst that can happen. You might fail. So what? At least your fear of failure will be removed; isn’t it?
Look at your best performance in the past. If you could do it then, you can certainly repeat that again; can’t you?
Look at all those who are eagerly waiting for you to do your part. Maybe it is your speech, your song, or your batting. Whatever it be they are all looking forward to your success. Isn’t that encouraging?
Look at those closest to you: Your parents, brothers and sisters, teachers, friends, Coach etc. They are people who believe the best about you. They know you can.
Look at the opposition. If they are strong it should bring out the fighting spirit in you. Therefore do not yield to a spirit of despair. You can conquer your doubts and win.
Look to yourself. You are unique; isn’t it? Doubts are not a sign of lack of talent but it is usually nervousness playing its trick before a critical performance. So learn to master it. Self-doubt comes to those who are genuinely talented.
Finally look to God. He is a great encourager. He says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. I know you by name. You are mine. I have given you both skill and wisdom to perform the tasks I have called you to do. And I will never leave you nor forsake you. Therefore, be strong and courageous!”
“Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
