Sam's blog - Mind, Matter, and Soul

Father & Son

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 02:37:00 +0000

Father & Son

So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him. “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will. “If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved. John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you. “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life. “Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God. “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” (John 5:16-47 NLT)

Summary:

The longest scripture where Jesus himself tells about his relationship with the Father, how he and the Father are one together. Jesus explains the authority that he received from the Father, yet doesn't do anything on his own - everything I do is what my Father tells me- which shows that the Father and Son are one.

Unison and harmony:

We have a model for a father - son relationship. The Father shows his son everything to do, and the son does exactly as his father taught him. The son does whatever the father does.

Jesus in the Old Testament :

He clearly says that Moses wrote about him, but that you don't see or know it - establishing that he is referred in the Pentateuch and it is all about him.

Spiritual and physical dead:

Jesus talks about the dead hearing his voice and will live again - both in the present (spiritual dead repenting, accepting him as Lord and receiving the Spirit of life) and the future (rapture), where the dead who will rise first to the sound of the trumpet.

Witness to Jesus :

Jesus says that he has a greater witness to his claim as the Son of God - greater witness than John the Baptist - which are his teachings and his miracles.

Be Courageous, be Strong

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Sun, 19 Jan 2014 20:47:00 +0000

Overview of 1Cor 2 - A treatise on Holy Spirit

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 18:06:00 +0000

When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.
...............................

For, “Who can know the Lord ’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:1, 16 NLT)

1 Cor 2 1-16 , is all about the role of the Holy Spirit, in teaching & preaching, in understanding the message or the mystery of God's Word, why some understand and some don't. This chapter refers to the Spirit or Holy Spirit as we know, the most than in any chapter of the Bible. I believe that this was provided to us especially to our generation where everything is sought to be experiential, and a majority of us struggle in understanding the Spirit/Holy Spirit.

Genesis 39 overview

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 14:24:00 +0000

Overview of Genesis 39 -
When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. (Genesis 39:1, 23 NLT)

Summary : Joseph is taken to Egypt, sold to Potiphar. God's favor is on Joseph, which shows in Joseph's abilities to manage. Potiphar recognizes this, and promotes Joseph to a position over all his house hold. Joseph is a well built and handsome young man. Potiphar's wife wants an extra-marital affair with Joseph, and applies pressure on Joseph, to which he refuses. This continues over a period of time, but Joseph doesn't agree. The breaking point comes when Potiphar's wife forces Joseph to sleep with her, but when he runs away, humiliated by his refusal and publicly accuses Joseph of attempted rape. An enraged Potiphar throws Joseph into prison. God's favor being with Joseph as Joseph gets busy in managing the prison, and the warden is happy to give him responsibility.

What are the striking points and takeaways from this chapter.

1. God's favor is always with Joseph.
2. Joseph is an active, intelligent, handsome young man, with exceptional management skills.
3. Circumstances change for Joseph - slave, manger of the Pharoh's chief of guard's household - a position of influence, Opportunities to have physical relationship with his boss' wife, intense pressure and his stand against it, accused of rape, and thrown into prison, rising to manage the prison and favor of the warden.

It's easy to think this happened as God's favor was with Joseph. But we got to see that Joseph's actions are equally important. One, he was upbeat even in the worst of situations. Even as a slave, he took the initiative to lead, and grabbed opportunities to demonstrate his abilities. This lead to recognition by Potiphar, and eventually being elevated to a position of power. What if Joseph didn't do any of this instead, and wait for a divine intervention for God to pull him out of the bad situation?

Next, when he was in a position of power, and when he was sought by his master's wife, he refused. Note that this wasn't a one time incident. He was still a slave, and bound to obey anything that his master or master's wife commanded him to do. Yet he refused to obey, a sure way to face death. Why did he do this? It's because of Joseph's respect for his master and a very clear understanding of his responsibilities. Potiphar's wife was not given to Joseph, and he considered as stealing what belongs to his master. His strong belief made him withstand the overtures and resist.

Joseph May have been disappointed when Potiphar got enraged and threw him into prison. But realize that Joseph was a slave, he did not have any rights. Joseph accepted his situation but refused to give up. It is a blessing to have god's favor upon you, but question is what do I do with it. Joseph continued his initiative even in prison, grabbed/created opportunities to prove his talents and in turn get recognized.

This chapter tells us it is very important what we do with God's favor, how our attitude at prevalent circumstances are, do we take the initiative , act or wait/get depressed? Or act with the trust in God, take responsibility to work what we can do?

Why is Tamar righteous?

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 14:21:00 +0000

Genesis 38:26 (NLT)

Judah recognized them immediately and said, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arrange for her to marry my son Shelah.” And Judah never slept with Tamar again. (Genesis 38:26 NLT)

I am surprised about the choice of the word "righteous" in the context of what happened between Judah and Tamar. I think it is purely relative - between Judah and Tamar. And Tamar is righteous in the sense that she did what she did to get a child. We need to be aware of the times and society of Tamar's time. A son represents security and who will take care of the parents and property, and honor. That was what Tamar was after, whereas Judah's reason was pure lust.

Clever Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 14:11:00 +0000

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” (Mark 2:5-12 NLT)

"Son of Man" is a title that Jesus took for himself. We see that Jesus directly tells everyone that he has authority on earth to forgive sins. And we know what he does to prove it, through healing the paralyzed man. We can dig deeper through these verses.

Why did Jesus say to the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven, when he was brought for healing ? Because sin is a worst disease than paralysis, or maybe Jesus wants to use this incident to settle questions about his authority or by what authority he was doing all the miracles.

The question Jesus asks "Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ' Your sins are forgiven' or ' Stand up, pick your mat, and walk' - is a tricky one. Obviously the easier one is saying ' Your sins are forgiven', because the other option involves a miracle. So if he can do the hard part, it means he can do the easy part! This is how he proves that he has authority to forgive sins on earth. And by doing both he establishes that he is God, as the Pharisees were thinking only God can forgive sins.

A blueprint

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 00:56:00 +0000

A blueprint

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT)

1.God empowers us through his Spirit with inner strength.
2. Christ lives in our hearts, as we trust him
3. We grow in our faith in God (God is love), become strong foundation.
4. We labor and work for good deeds for the Kingdom of God, to experience His love and power.
5. We are transformed into the likeness of Christ.

David as a precursor of Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 00:50:00 +0000

David as a precursor of Jesus

They brought the Ark of God and placed it inside the special tent David had prepared for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. When he had finished his sacrifices, David blessed the people in the name of the LORD. Then he gave to every man and woman in all Israel a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins.
David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the Ark of the LORD—to invoke his blessings, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel. (1 Chronicles 16:1-4 NLT)

David lead as king. But we also note that during the transfer and placing of the Ark of God, David was wearing the robes of a priest, and functioned like the Chief Priest. He also distributed bread, raisins nd dates to all the people. This is a precursor of the High Priesthood of Jesus. David is not from the tribe of Levi, nor is Jesus. Both are from the tribe of Judah. Both are not priests ordained as per the statutes or the law, but by the Spirit of God.

Kneeling

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 00:48:00 +0000

Kneeling

2 Chronicles 6:13 (NET)

Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet long, seven and one-half feet wide, and four and one-half feet high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, (2 Chronicles 6:13 NET)

King Solomon is not a common man. He is a king, and even in those times, there would be protocol. Kings don't bow, or kneel in public. But why does Solomon get down on his knees?

He is kneeling before the Lord God, King of kings, Almighty , All Powerful. He was following protocol. He is submitting to the King. In the diplomatic world, protocol is very important. Unfortunately we don't see this attitude in the Western world. We can rationalize it as cultural, but really if you are before a king what would be your attitude? Would it be, I kinda respect you but I am my own man?

Encouragement

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 17:40:00 +0000

It's been a while since my last post. I want to share some encouragement through the pictures and verses together. All the photos are taken by me.

Jesus' death and resurrection

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 11:57:00 +0000

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. (Romans 5:10 NLT) I have read many times this verse, but never realized the dual effect of Jesus's death and resurrection on me. I always believed that through Jesus's death on the cross and resurrection I am saved from eternal death. But now I can clearly see the two step process. Jesus's death on the cross washed away my sins and made me righteous with God the Father, restore friendship from the enemity. Step 2 - Jesus' resurrection saves me from the eternal fire, which would happen in the final judgement (Revelation)

Dad , your love and values continue

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:08:00 +0000

Beera Sundar Rao

A responsible son, caring husband, loving dad. Wonderful singer, tireless helper and a man of his word. Your love and values continue in your son and also daughters. Your sacrifices as well as all your good deeds to many, turned into blessings for us. Thank you Dad, for inculcating in us values and love for God and to help others as much as one can. You live in our lives through everything we learnt from you.

Rest in Peace

It pays to give

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:59:00 +0000

In these hard economic times, the one thing that is heard over and over is economic prudence, saving, and how to make the dollar go farther. This is all good and necessary, no doubt. Come the season of giving, Christmas, all Non-Profits vie for the donations, and we hear a lot about giving, generosity etc. How does this stack against getting the dollar go further?

Logic and basic math, says I cant part with my dollar. Got to be like the chipmunk that stores all the walnuts for winter. I got to hold on to all for the uncertain days ahead. Then at church I hear a message on generosity and what Kingdom Math is. What is Kingdom Math ? Well, basic math tells me if I subtract 2 from 5, the result is 3 But Kingdom math says if I subtract 2 from 5, the result is 9. WHAT? In other words, subtraction is multiplication.

5 -2 = 3 x n

What is this 'n' ?

It made me wonder how I can understand the above from the Bible. And here is what I found.

God commands me to love Him with all my mind, soul and being, and also my neighbor. How do I love God and my neighbor? by letting him do His will through me, and relying on Him for everything. By being kind and generous to my neighbor. Another point is stewardship, everything and anything I own or have is given to me to be a steward. So when I give or be generous, I am actually tapping into a source that is God himself. Of course, one needs to be wise and balanced in all actions. What I want to point out is You can be generous when you realize that you have a store that never runs out. That store is Jesus. Only those who clearly are conscious what they have, can be generous.

God provides, I know this from my personal experience, and also from His Word (Bible). This is counter intuitive, as everything that economic prudence or storing for the rainy day or if you think there is nothing you can give , tells me is no to be generous. But if you go ahead and in FAITH, take that plunge to be generous, whether in way of money, time or talent, you will see for yourself how Kingdom math works. This is not prosperity preaching. When you give something without expecting in return, just see how that affects you.

Take a Generosity test Drive, kick the tyres, go for a spin........

Repentance - all you ever wanted to know about

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:49:00 +0000

"If lost, follow GPS - God's Plan of Salvation" - From the Sign board of Bellingham Baptist Church

Repentance is a key concept to understand God's plan of Salvation, yet is a difficult one to grasp. There are different shades or degree of repentance that is taught by churches, and one is confused by the multiple versions of repentance taught or understood. Of course, there is no other way to understand and know what Repentance means, but from the Scriptures and personal experience. I came across this resource that I found clear, with Scriptural backing and helps one to understand what the Scriptures talk about Repentance. Questions like, What is true repentance, after one repents, can one sin? What happens when after repenting one falls back in sin etc. I went through a quarter of the content and was able to find answers to most of my questions, that helped me understand godly repentance.

Click here Repentence to go to the page, it is a very long page.

A Prayer that you and I can offer daily

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:13:00 +0000

"Lord, today I want to do what You say regarding contentment; I want to have a calm and gentle spirit. I don't simply want to call myself a Christian. I want to be known as a genuine servant of God because my life demonstrates the truth I say I believe. Help me this day to face everything and deal with everyone with a gentle and quiet spirit. Help me to be content, even though things don't go my way.
"Help me today with diligence, Lord. I tend to lose sight of the goal as the day wears on. I'm a good starter, but I don't finish well. Help me to do a quality piece of work and not to give in to the mood of the moment.
"And, Lord, help me, when You begin to bring to pass these qualities in my life, not to call attention to them, but just to let them flow out of my life in glory to You. Help me to become Your servant, Your man, Your woman."

An object of faith to relate

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:36:00 +0000

Col 1:15 Message

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created.

Since ages man always seeks an anchor, an object that he can relate to in anything he does. God, the Father is Spirit, and He commanded not to form any image or idol for worship. But we see even as He was instructing Moses, on mount Sinai, the people of Israel wanted an object that they can relate, see, touch and worship as their God. Mankind has been all along had this yearning to have an object of faith. As part of God's redemption plan for mankind, He satisfied man's yearning by sending His son , Jesus Christ to be a human. Mankind was given the opportunity to satisfy that desire to have an object of faith, worship - but what happened? Men rejected God's offering and instead decided to crucify Jesus. What does this tell? Man cannot make the right choice, even for something he desires. We are incapable to satisfy ourselves. But through the Father's grace, all of us who have been called to see Him in His son Jesus, now have an object of faith, that we can touch, talk, relate to. We now by believing in His son Jesus worship God in Spirit and Truth.
Thank you Father for your grace, and Jesus for being obedient to leave your glory an riches, so that we can worship the Father through you.

Mom's first death anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 23:34:00 +0000

Time flies, its a year since my mother passed away. I should have been in India, attending the Anniversary Prayer Meeting at Vizag with my family. However due to work situation, I chose not to be there. Even though mom is not here, she always lives in my memories. My family and my sisters' families are testimony to her love, commitment and values. As I recall the memories, I am reminded of her and dad through Hebrews 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

All our loved ones who passed away are urging and cheering each one of us here in our race that is set before us to receive the crown from the Almighty. That is such a refreshing thought and strength for me, especially when I am low.

Mom and Dad, you are up there cheering us on towards our goal. Love you always.

Who is the sower?

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:51:00 +0000

Scripture: Mark 4 : 1-20

Parable means beside , cast

Ordinary language to an ordinary audience
Extend the parable of the sower -
Focus on the title - what is it about? It's about the Sower
Questions -
Why did the sower spread the seed over the different types of earth?
This method of broadcasting was used extensively in the parts of Galilee.

The sower is the person who spreads the word of God. He has abundance of God's word. So he is extravagant. He does not worry about the people. He just broadcasts the good news. The good news should be like seed. Small, containing the ability to take root and sprout. Not one that is hard to understand and hard to take root. It is the responsibility of the sower to have the kind of seed that will Sprout. The next point is that it is not the responsibility of the sower to worry about the type of earth. That is something God and His Spirit will take care of. By means of cultivation, and fertilizer, infertile earth can be made to be fertile. But that is the job of the tiller.

So the Kingdom of God is people who go out and broadcast His good news to all types of people.

What do others see me as?

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:56:00 +0000

Rev 10:1
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire.

A special angel? A special representative of Jesus Christ, reflecting his glory. Remember Moses' face when he came down from Mt Sinai after being in the presence of God. His face was so bright that folks could not face him. When you spend time in the presence of God, His glory rubs on you in some way, that WILL be seen by others. What do others see in me/you?

Peace and Joy on earth

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 01:48:00 +0000

In this season we are all enveloped by the spirit of festivity. There is no escape from the marketing pitch by companies wanting to get us the perfect gift, the constant stream of holiday music, invitations for Christmas events - within the Church/Fellowships and at work. Listening to the group which says "Get Christ back into Christmas", you are convinced that they are right and feel unhappy at the barrage of activity aimed at eliminating the word Christmas, to be replaced by Holidays. And of course, you are under pressure to get the gifts for your family, for the teachers/bus drivers of your kid's school, send cards ..I am lousy at this !!

But have you asked yourself what Christmas means to you? Is it the festivity? nothing bad about this.. the gifts? hmm not sure if you foot the bill etc etc. Well it may mean depending on who you are. To a child, it may mean Santa, gifts, the tree. To a youngster, it may mean gifts (again), fun with friends. To an adult, it may mean food, pressures of the season. But whoever you are friend, somethings don't change. Let us go down memory lane back to 2000 years ago, and try to see what changed?

Sometime between Spring and the first rains falling in October, in Judea, a child was born to Mary in Bethlehem. You know the story. Mary, a virgin is chosen by God to deliver a son, named Yeshua who is God becoming a human to be one of us. I am not going to go into the Christmas story in the gospels. But instead let us look at the conditions then. It was a crowded place in Bethlehem. Due to the edict of Caesar, Bethlehem was packed with people -- just like the shopping malls now. Mary and Joseph could not get a place to stay, just like you cant find a parking spot. Everyone were busy enough not to pay attention to a fully pregnant woman and her husband. Life's too busy to slow down. Too many things to do, attend. And then the baby is born. But then the angels appear to the shepherds and tell them about the baby. They go seeking the baby. Now why do the do this? Are'nt they supposed to stay with the sheep and keep watch over them. So they neglect their duty, and decide to check out the mystery that was revealed to them. I am pretty sure they were shell shocked with all the angel thing, that they were overwhelmed, but chose to seek the mystery. Would we do that? Say an angel appeared to you and told you some good news, and then an angelic host appears glorifying God, what will be your reaction?

Well, Mary and Joseph did not have an easy time in Bethlehem. Finding a spot to rest was hard. Nothing was conducive. Sounds familiar? Jesus, even then was not welcome into this world. The prince of this world was indeed hard at work, making it hard and difficult. And then Herod felt threatened by the news of the birth of the King of Jews, and decided to take action. Kill all male children up to the age of 2. Sounds like, lets get rid of Christ in Christmas. But what happened? Jesus grew to be the man He was to be. He died, conquered death, and rose again. He completed what was necessary. He gave/gives His Spirit to all who repent and accept Him as their Savoir who took the punishment that is due on them, and gave eternal life.

But since that time, all out effort is underway to replace Jesus by things like Santa, tree, mistletoe etc etc. But does this change anything? no- because God reigns, and His will is being implemented. If you know His will and are sure that you have the Spirit of God in you, then you are sure about the outcome, your's and God's. Oh there are times of doubt, because the prince of this world is a master counterfeiter that he will scam you. But get back to rest on God, trust in His Spirit to hold you, get you up. Friend - Jesus said don't worry, so much that you are paralyzed with fear. You see, fear is a beast that will cause you to freeze if you allow it to get under your skin. This is up to you. You need to decide whether you trust in God, Who has finished doing all and is Victorious and is offering everything to you to be victorious. Or do you want to be bothered by all the distractions that you worry and get busy so much that you forget that , Jesus has already won the victory and is offering you the peace and joy for your spiritual self?

Do you want that peace and joy? Jesus said - Seek the Truth and the Truth shall set you free. He said, I am the Way, the Truth and Life.

May you have the peace and joy in your heart given as a gift from Jesus.

Happy Christmas.

Tamara Lowe raps - you gotta hear her

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:18:00 +0000

The Key to Success

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:43:00 +0000

Are you one of those who wish that there is a manual for success? Take a walk in a bookstore like B&N or Borders, you will find many a book that under the covers they will give you a recipe for success. Of course, the author would be the success if you buy one!!

Many a Christian, including myself wish that a clear direction from God Himself would be great, especially in prayer. I found such a direction and want to share. I am pretty sure you all have read the Gospel from Mark 11: 22-25

22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

This is how I understand and apply it:

V22 - What we should do - Trust in God - Cause
V23 - Effect - if you trust in God, in God all things are possible.
V24 - instruction: believe that you will receive everything you ask in prayer. This is an extension of the trust that you put on God.
V25: Continuation - I am still in prayer. In prayer, the first thing I need to do is to forgive anyone who has offended you. Without this step you will not receive the power of God. This is because your Father has forgiven you and that is why you are in His presence. God wants you to be like Him, so you too should forgive others the first thing in prayer, when you are pleading God for something.

Folks in this passage, the only part that is figurative is V23; Verses 22,24 and 25 are literal and direct instructions. Read the passage and meditate on it and do it. You will find what I meant in saying - "The Key to Success "

2010 July 4th FW

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 04:00:00 +0000

7 Must Have Soft Skills

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:12:00 +0000

If you are a IT and Project Management professional, it is highly relevant; if not you can still benefit by reading this. Successful professionals invariably differentiate themselves because of "soft skills". What is a soft skill ? Wikipedia says "Soft skills is a sociological term relating to a person's "EQ" (Emotional Intelligence Quotient), the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that characterize relationships with other people.^[1] Soft skills complement hard skills (part of a person's IQ), which are the occupational requirements of a job and many other activities." .

For further reading go to 7 Must Have Soft Skills - Part One

Who is a leader and how do you know?

noreply@blogger.com (Sam B) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:52:00 +0000

This is an excellent read to know the difference between Management and leadership

What Leaders Really do