Beauty of "Two have become One"

I had often heard many sour jokes about marriage and married couples and I often wondered, " Can marriage be this bad? " But the bible says "Marriage is Honorable in All". As now its been almost two years that I have entered the Married phase, I wanted to write to all those who are waiting upon God to get married and have also heard these weird jokes and comments about marriage, how beautiful God's design of marriage is. I believe its the most beautiful thing that has happened to me till now and I know that the reason is not because I have a perfect husband but because I have a husband who loves God as I do and we both have given the reins of our marriage into God's hands. Only when God is in control a couple can enjoy the beauty of becoming one.
 
I tell you its not an easy thing when two different people are joined to be one. I believe that through my marriage God is transforming me more into the image of His son Jesus Christ. And I feel God is doing that in every family that has its foundation on Jesus Christ. I know that no marriage is without problems, misunderstanding and hurts. And It is not right to expect your marriage to be bed of roses. But when we look to God, He reminds us that nothing in our life is a co-incidence or by chance. God has allowed every situation in our life to prove and exhibit His power and presence. And through these trials He chooses to refine me as gold. I am glad that God allows all these hard times in my life because He loves me and wants me to experience His mighty power for His glory sake.

It is very exciting to learn the lessons each day God teaches me through my marriage. The most important of all the lessons I have learned is to depend on God alone. Many times I have tried to seek comfort and attention from my husband. Many times he has failed to fulfill my desires because no man on this earth can fulfill many of those expectations. During those times God constantly reminds me that ultimately He alone is my source of satisfaction, comfort, love and acceptance. This does not mean that I do not depend on my husband. In fact I do and that's how God has created marriage, to be interdependent on each other. But I know that whatever amount of love and affection my husband displays, I would always long for more. And I would be quenched only when I come to God.

Through my marriage God has been asking me to throw my desires to the sideline and look after the ones of my husband. He has been teaching me to submit to my husband's leadership and decisions. Sometimes I really feel I know everything and all that I know is right. Sometimes it is hard for me to trust my husband's decisions for our family. But God is the one who is leading my husband and if there is something that God wants to do in and through our family, I am learning to trust my husband to do as God wants. Each day I pray that God would fill in His heart all the things that God wants for our marriage. I know God is doing that in Jeswanth's heart and its much more relieving than to continually worry. God has been telling me to take care of my husbands needs and desires and as God knows all of my desires it is up to Him as to when He wants to give me those.
God has placed a fervent desire in my heart to be a blessing to my husband through my life, words and actions. I know I really fail when it comes to words because sometimes I really don't know what I speak and the tone in which I speak is surely hurting. I am praying that God would cleanse my mouth with coal and renew me so that the words I speak will only build and encourage my husband.

The most difficult lesson that God has been teaching me is forgiveness. The thought of most of the things in my marriage sometimes make me bitter, sad and angry. God has been reminding me that His mercy and forgiveness has sustained me thus far in spite of the worst sins of mine. I have found joy and comfort in God's mercy and grace towards me all my life as a believer. So how can I not forgive the wrongdoings of my husband, the hurts that have been caused? God is helping me to forgive and love.

God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and during these times of chastening and cleansing by God, my husband accepts me just as I am, weak and poor. He understands that God is still working on each of us to make us like Him. And that is such a big relief. :)

I pray that God will use us as a family for His glory, for many to know that marriage is indeed beautiful, refining and pleasurable in spite of all the trials and temptations when we fix our eyes on God for help. He has been our Ebenezer and Emmanuel (looks like I have found the names for two of our sons :D) thus far. 

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

Jesus Christ taught His disciples to pray ,
"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from Evil".
This very prayer spoken from the mouth of Jesus Christ underlines the need and importance for us to pray that God would keep us from being tempted and that he would deliver us from the clutches of the evil one. The word of God very clearly testifies that our battle is not against flesh and blood but against the darkness of this world.
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph 6:12.

But does God "lead us into temptation"?
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted , when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. And then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:13-15
This verse makes me believe that if I am a slave to something, I am to be blamed for it because at a point way back I yielded myself to it. I failed the test that was set before me. This verse clarifies that God does not tempt us but then the question is why would he allow us to be tempted? Let me draw my point using two very influential characters from the Bible, who have made a big impact in my own life.
The first character is David. The Bible says that David was the man after God's own heart. This very man who won the favour and anointing of the Lord could not pass the test which was set before him. It was a moment where he had to make a choice and he made the wrong one. This wrong choice led him to make another wrong choice and finally took away the child he received through Bathsheba. Now David repented and God forgave Him. I believe that God does forgive our sins but there is a price we would have to pay for the disobedience.
Can a man carry fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk upon hot coals and his feet not be scorched? Prov 6:27-28
This is what Prophet Nathan had to say about David's disobedience:
"Howbeit because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die." 2 Sam 12:14.
The agony of David and his cry to God to cleanse him, forgive him and to cast him not from his presence can be read in Psalm 51. He cries out for mercy saying,
"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: According unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions". Ps 51:1
Our sins may not be as grave as adultery but at one point or the other all of us are guilty of disobedience, all of us are guilty of satisfying our own desires rather than the desires and will of God.

Lets move to the other character Joseph. Joseph had a very fair chance to yield to Potiphar's wife and keep himself from being thrown into the prison. But he says," how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" and flees from that place. This too was a point of testing, but Joseph passed it as he made the right choice. Though Joseph was falsely accused and was put into prison for no sin of his, the word says that the Lord was with him and blessed him.
"But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison" Gen 39:21

Going back to where we started, why does God allow us to be tempted by evil. Firstly because through trials and temptations God tests our faith and the testing of our faith produces patience. This is to make us perfect and mature. This is a time when all the theory that we came across would have to be put into practice. This is a test of our love for God. Through temptation, God allows us to be refined into this likeness, teaching us that we cannot live a life holy and acceptable to Him without abiding in Him and without His grace. Through temptation, God helps us understand the depth of His mercy, He helps us comprehend His love. When we see ourselves in the light of our sins, we realise that there is nothing good in us as Paul says
"For I know that in me( that is in my flesh), there dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." Romans 7: 18
But God also promises that he would not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and He would show a way out of it. God has shown me that a way in which I can stand without stumbling when temptation strikes is by prayer. There is definite power in prayer. Also, we need to make every attempt to keep ourselves away from every thing or every circumstance that can lead us to fall and disobey God. Let us not give any chance to the evil one to lure us into its trap, for the whisper of the evil one is seductive and focuses on our area of weakness. Spending time studying His word is another way to keep ourselves strong. A young man can keep his ways pure by His word. We need to feed our Spirit rather than gratify the desires of our flesh.
Many times in our lives, we do face situations, maybe not exactly as David and Joseph did, but times when we would be put to test and we would have to choose the path we want to take. And many times we know which is the path God wants us to take but its hard for us to choose it. I am encouraged to know that Paul faced the same dilemma. He says:
"I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." Rom7:15.
Knowing that God does allow us to be tempted and tested, how can we live lives pleasing to Him, holy and blameless? Where is the deliverance? It is a desire of every child of God to live as pleasing aroma to God. But is it possible to attain this by ourselves? The answer is a definite "No" . Paul says,
"So, I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand." . So how do I get out of this?

Thanks be to God that he has shown us a way out , in the death and resurrection of Christ. The word says
" There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit". Rom 8:1
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" Eph 1:4.
So, as we yield our lives to God with complete submission and reverence, desiring to live a holy and pure life, God would provide us the grace to stand holy and blameless before His throne. But his grace is not a license for us to continue in sin. Far be it from us that we take His precious grace for granted and make a joke out of it.
"If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you." Rom 8:11
Let us watch and pray for strength in the face of temptation, for grace to be poured out from above into our lives through faith in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us be fully equipped with the Armour of God, living lives worthy of our calling, set apart for His service.
"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Eph 6:13

The joy of small things

I wake up every morning,
longing the day would collapse soon.
I drag myself along,
sustaining and not living.
Heart is running faster each day
to catch I don't know what.
Have I lost the joy of small things,
overlooking the most beautiful presents in life?

I see the sparrows chirping
and the flowers dancing to the breeze tune,
Things in which I once found beauty
have become just another entity.
My mind accelerates to the days
when every second seemed splendid.
Then the very smile of a dear one
brought joy and serenity to life.

At night, as I lay down on my bed,
recollecting the tedious day.
I think about the millions
who do not have a tomorrow.
The thought awakens my senses,
I can see, all that I have is this breath.
Let me savour each bit of life
because all that I own is a moment.

Called to Belong

I was broken, your love bound my heart
I was wounded, your wounds made me whole
I was needy, your grace gave me all I needed
I was filthy, your embrace made me pure
I was poor, your richness filled my cup
I was weary, your right hand sustained me
I was faithless, your faithfulness gave me faith
I was blind, your Word opened my eyes
I was lost, your light gave me hope
I was haughty, your sacrifice brought me to my knees
I was a bundle of junk, worthless in true sense
But you called me your own
Now you alone are my joy, my yearning, my life
And I cry out, "I belong, I belong, I am called to belong".

God's tender side

Prem ki Soorath, Daya ki Moorath,

Aisi aur kahan hai, Jaisi meri Maa hai...

This is the song by Saagarika from the album Maa. Every time I hear this song, my eyes well up with tears. I am always awe-struck when I think about how a mother loves her child. It makes me praise God again and again for giving me a mother who loves me, cares for me, is never tired thinking about me. This article is not to put my Dad's love anywhere inferior to Mom's but I just wanted to touch upon the tender love of a mother which represents the tender side of God. My journey on this earth towards eternity begins with my mom. So this is my love to you in return mamma!!

I was born to my parents when my mom was 23 years of age. When I was born, I was the whole world to her. Nothing else was more precious to her than her daughter Kirti( till my sister was born- now happens the attention division process :)). When I was young, I always took my mom for granted. I never gave much thought to her love and sacrifice. Now, as I look back, I see that she was the one who actually showed me a glimpse of how God loves his children. Every day after school, I would run back home, my eyes longing to see my mummy and I would run into her arms. She would be waiting in the balcony to see me coming home. I would tell her stories about all that I did in school. If I had a bad day, I would be comforted only when I tell my mom the whole story and when she would dry my tears. I remember the times when I would run onto the school dais on the school Annual day, to receive my prizes, I could see her rejoicing in me, wiping her tears off her cheeks.The best part of my visits to home nowadays is to snug beside my mom and sleep without any cares and worries. She is there when I need some one to listen to me, she knows every need of mine even before I know what I need.

At times I wonder, how would my life be without mamma. When i see kids who have lost their parents or kids who have not even seen their parents in the whole of their life time, my heart cries. I wish God would use me one day to bring love and light into the lives of such kids. If the love of parents here on earth is so incomprehensible, I wonder how much much much more my Father in heaven loves me, who formed me with his own hands and ordained every moment of my life before the foundations of the earth were laid. Today, I have my mom hundreds of miles away from me. I can't run into her arms whenever I want to but I have a God into whose arms I can run into at any point of the day. He is there with his tender compassion and touch to strengthen me, encourage me and rejoice over me.

I thank You Father, for showing me the tender face of your love through my mom!!!!