Live Love Life

Saved by Grace, Called to Love  Hey there, Elora here!  Here's how I got into a personal relationship with God.  If you are new to this concept - do comment below, and I would be glad to help you understand the jazz around this topic.  So, going back to my story...  I grew up in Church going, Sunday honoring, family. I have memories of my childhood where my grandma would tell me and my brother stories from the Bible. Stories of Abraham, Samuel, Samson, Daniel, and so on... (honestly, I didn't like Abraham at all, he was ready to kill his son, and I would imagine myself in Isaac's place sometime). I grew up going to Sunday School and learning that if we confess our sins, Jesus would forgive me.  One Saturday evening, my heart was getting heavier. I now know that it was the Holy Spirit God who had filled my heart with such an awareness of my sinful state. I was 11 years old when this happened. I rushed to my mom and said, "mom, I need God, I need to change." ...

James 1:16 - 18 (NIV version)  "Don't be deceived, my brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created." Verses 16 to 18 have multiple facets to them. They explain various concepts in a go.  An Alert Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Mr. James started his paragraph with an alert about what we receive in life. He goes on to explain why he is asking his people to be alert. We are often deceived by the desires of our hearts. We know that the heart is deceitful of all and whatever the heart says, we do it. Whatever our eyes want, we pursue and try to get it. So let's be reminded of the difference between what we want and what God gives to us.  A Fact Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of heavenly lights.   All that we have...

Eve - Her life, journey  When we start off reading about Eve, the story sounds cliched (no offense - I'm referring to how many times the beginning story is read and preached about!).  The perfect woman saw how imperfect she could be when God's not around.  Eve Saw the Before & After The first lady saw the before and after version of the perfect earth. More or less, she must think it was solely her responsibility to have the earth totally change in front of her own eyes. She not only crossed a line herself but also dragged Adam into it.  We need to remember here that Eve was created to provide a suitable helper for Adam. But the way she chose to help him made him the ultimate breadwinner of the family. Also, from the helper (an exact equal), she got demoted to being ruled by her husband.  My mind is going tangent here..as I want to discuss a lot of things about her, but let's just discuss how awesome she handled it all.  Handling it, Well!  Knowing ...

Anxiety, as one may have it, is closely depicted in this picture. But I should say this is the faintest representation of what's happening inside.    You don't have to guess it, I am obviously anxious, unable to sleep, and constantly on edge - the famous flight or fight response as they call it. Over analyzing every situation and drawing all the possible outcomes of an event in a fraction of a second and wanting to type it! All this aptly define my condition at the moment. I usually feel this the exact night before my big exam. I screwed all my important exams with this dear anxious brain of mine. I have thrown years of preparation down the drain with this uncontrollable brain. When I am anxious, I touch my face, and that gives me these acne marks - which are a proof of my state.    So, sunken eyes, black spots over the face, oil drooling down the cheek, and brain racing so many horses that it ceases to think. This is how I define anxiety.  Imagine standin...

Simplest Introduction To My Dad We (me and my brother) grew up in a Christian family, as in my mom was a believer. She bought us up in Sunday school and with Christian values. My dad was okay with going to church. He used to attend the church and allow us to choose if we wanted to follow Christ. But initially, he never liked Christians. He felt Christians were hypocrites and the pastors were the head of that department. He believed that there was God, but didn't know Him personally. God Change Lives! So one day, he thought for himself, that if there really is a God, he would see a change! A change that he said was that which would transform him to be a better person internally and externally. My dad was a man of morals and integrity, but this, in my opinion, was his internal quest that in God's sight, he wasn't good enough. Then he told me that he decided he would find out for himself if there really was a god, He'd bring in him the holy transformation. So ...

2 views is all that I have for my present posts. (those are mine, I viewed them twice to see how the formatting looked). Here I am writing to IMPACT the WORLD with zero readers and there you are not even trying to find posts with incredible messages. Sarcasm apart, today it is not discouraging to not have readers. Today it's encouraging to be able to write with a peaceful mind, a comforted heart, and a rested body. Not Discouraged At All - Naaha!  Woke up to a beautiful winter morning and pleasant light through the window. And though I have innumerable things that I can be grateful for. Thank you, Lord, for all the good people in my life. Thank you for those who love me. Thank you for the good health and financial security. Thank you for the beautiful weather. Thank you for all your providence. Thank you for being the God of my life. Thank you for the healing and miracles. Thank you for all the people who get the bad side of me, I get to repent and correct myself. ...

Hey there! Are you discouraged? So am I! Well, in the world of all pop and success. Let us accept that there are days when we feel discouraged, down, and depressed. I too have those days, when I question everything I do when I feel my work isn't enough. When I don't feel I am good enough for anything in particular. When nothing seems to change or work out. BUT  Our God is a God of ALL times. If we are discouraged we must go to HIM and tell him that we are discouraged. AND We should acknowledge HIS sovereignty over our situation and seek HIS help to deal with, endure and hopefully get out of these discouraging situations. WHY? Because there are times that God allows discouragement to shape us - Joseph & David are an example. And if Satan discourages us, HE allows it too! - Job is an example. So we must remember this verse " all things work for good to those who love that Lord." My Plea I encourage you to fill your mind with positive though...

Dear no readers at all, Today is the day to think about positive thinking.... Let's remember Jabez's prayer. Lord that you would bless me indeed. And enlarge my borders. That your hand would be with me. That you'll keep me from evil. So I won't cause you pain. As I read from Bruce Wilkinson's book, he wrote that the very name Jabez means "PAIN". Such a negative name to give it to a baby! But the man named Pain is praying all positive. He seems to not believe in the reason why he should be named Pain and why he shouldn't ask for God's goodness on his life. These days when a small event shakes people's self esteem, praying that way when your name itself is "Pain" is quiet a feat! So let us all remember, that whatsoever we might be going through or feeling through, we can always pray for HIS blessings on our lives. If you want to read that book, here's the link -  Get Your Copy

According to behaviorism, human beings are conditioned to act according to external stimuli. But as Christians, we should be lead by the Spirit and act according to " Spirit Conditioning".

Hey there!      Its a beautiful day to be alive. And I am grateful to God for a quiet mind and a rested soul. I just saw that my previous post was published last year. And it has been an year that I blogged. So I think I owe my apology to God first, to myself and I regret how much HIS work got affected because of me. Why Did I Stop Blogging Well, I started blogging because I got that idea from a person and it went well with my calling. God called me for writing and I feel the pleasure of God when I write. But I stopped blogging for worldly reasons. I want to honestly confess. I banked on the less readership and the less impact with my writing.   This is wrong because its not MY writing that should have an impact but its God. If HE should bless it, HE would bless it. I should simply trust him and keep carrying HIS zeal in my heart. Please forgive me Lord. Amen. I haven't been disciplined and I didn't properly plan or think of the vision.  ...

The Message    Eugene Peterson    Well It was introduced to me by one of my uncles.   Trust me, It is an awesome book. A great paraphrased version of The Bible. I know that many at times we tend to not understand, or feel threatened by few old testament scriptures. There have been days when I'd suddenly close my Bible seeing the harsh prophesies. And there have been days when the scripture wasn't clear and not understandable. And the solution lies in this " The Message by Eugene Peterson" . My uncle says, " Somehow I feel lot spiritual when I read It". And this has been my experience too. One section from Psalms which I read recently is this : 12  How blessed the man you train, God, the woman you instruct in your Word,  13  Providing a circle of quiet within the clamor of evil, while a jail is being built for the wicked.  14  God will never walk away from his people, never desert his precious peo...

Lord please show me the way Or I can't face another day, Else take my life, end it with a knife, I'll be happy to see you, Will enjoy the paradise' view. Or even in your silence  Make mt ears keen, on you only to lean To hear your still silent voice This is my heart felt choice. And fill me with your spirit and  Give me a heart of lion, To soar courageously till I reach zion But I know that you're always there And that you always care.

This is an excerpt from the time I went to tenali. Down here in Tenali, Attending a church that my aunt used to attend. Women outnumber men ( this at least proves that most men aren't hypocrites ) The women here sing, according to their inspiration, each one a different song. No tempo, no tune, no melody, no nothing! A braying donkey win a competition with these people here. Beethoven would commit suicide twice. A little kid on a rustic drum playing the same beat for every song which obviously doesn't go with the song, people clapping hands with a don't care syndrome for basic rhythm is all you can find. BUT you know what? ( and this but makes all the difference of course ) God blessed these people with himself. You could sense the presence of God in this place. He rejoices even over their ignorance be it in terms of intellect or music... His measuring scales are deeper and wider than we can even comprehend. He sees the heart, he understands humane limitations ...

It takes a Judas iscariot to betray. Anyone could have handed over Christ! But it takes only Judas to betray, One among the twelve, he must have seen the lame walk, The blind see, the deaf hear and the dead raised to life. The one who felt the love of Christ and participated in the 'first communion ever' . And betrayed Christ with a loving kiss! It takes a Brutus to stab Ceaser, A loved and trusted Delilah to chop Samson's hair, And A David to slay Uriah. A barking donkey or a braying dog can do no harm. It's the ones closest to our hearts that can draw a sword into it. The only bright side of this is that we've had the courage , Courage to be vulnerable enough and love someone so bad that they could bruise us this immensely. Courage? When I hear this I'm reminded of "Courage the cowardly fool".

The moon doesn't only belong to the night! If we care to see, the moon's always there... In the morning and in the night... Just because its counterpart, the sun overpowers it in the morning, It doesn't cease to show up! In fact, it's the sun that goes down and comes up every single day. But the moon doesn't!  What's so much fuss about sun and moon haaaan? !!! Just celestial bodies! ?! Let's ponder if the sun represents our struggles & pain... Then the moon is like our loving God. Yes,  we might have gushing happiness. ...pounding pain.. But through it all, we have this consistent God who never gives up on us, who never betrays, and who always stays, He loves us, and he is ready to give up anything for us! He gave up HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON!  what else would we want! Sure the moon gets unnoticed by us, and sometimes due to the sunshine, we may not trace it. ... but let's remember even if the Earth,  celestial bodies, people give away...HE...

In HIS silence let me wait, In my folly, he'll let me repent # all_of_HIM   # ALL_of_me   # chritst_centerend_Christianity

Don't point me to the skies, There's lot beyond to see Don't point me to others, They've gone a rougher way Don't point me to the worst, Even now I feel sorry for them Don't point me to the saints, They are spiritual giants Don't point me to my past, I had few happy days to count on Don't point me to my family, I have lot pain to give em Point me to jesus , yes point me to cross Point me to dear Lord and his loving wounds, His pierced hands and his side, Point me to HIM and HIM ALONE....

I saw a video on YouTube..   "Usain Bolt's world record event". 💖 I started watching it, the introduction, warm-up then the race. It was so magical a run! I thought he was extraordinary in his performance. I watched the replay with same awestruck fascination. But in the end, when he was interviewed he says, "Sure I've made a world record, but my technique was wrong"! Such  a startling statement! Imagine our life that way.  Unfortunately or fortunately, ours is a race where the race track moves.  We never know when we reach the finish line. But when we are nearing it, we better have the affirmation that our journey had had eternal relevance and conformed to rules. We better not regret about our technique that it was wrong when everybody is appreciating us for our seemingly great spiritual life. "2timothy 2:5...   a contender does not receive the crown unless he competes according to the rules"