What God wants from me?

Nothing. That’s right. Nothing. That realization itself will save us from a lot of trouble. This is very contrary to the way the world operates. All of us expects something from each other. In other words, the concept of ‘unconditional’ anything is out of the picture in a human realm. I love my wife and expect her to love me back. I love my kids and expecting them to love me as well. That’s just the way we are.

So over the years many of us program that pattern into our brain and assume God too works in the same way but the opposite is true. God expect nothing from us! If that wasn't the case, he would never say ‘apart from me you can do nothing’. That tells me He doesn’t expect anything from me. He also said, we must die. If I expect something from someone, I would never tell them to ‘die’ because I know once they are dead they can’t do anything for me. I want them to live so that they can do something for me. But the way God works is very different.

Since He has no expectation from us, He will never be disappointed by us as well. Remember, disappointment is the result of an unfulfilled expectation. Why wouldn’t He expect anything from us?

1. He knows us.
2. He is not a man.
3. He Himself is self sufficient.

Bible also tells us that we are His ‘workmanship’, means we are a piece of art. We are created by God, the artist. Now, if we think, an artist does not expect the art (paint, sculpture etc) to do anything for him. All work is done by the artist according to His creativity, timing etc. All the art needs to do is to ‘stay there’, just don’t run away. It is the artist who begins the work, and does all the work until He is satisfied. The art has to sit there and enjoy/endure the touching, chipping, carving, welding, flipping, curving etc.

Many people worry if they become passive or lazy in this process. If we take the art as an example, the art itself is not lazy / passive as long as it is in the hands of the artist. It is continually progressing to a finishing product. Bible assures us that 'he who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion'.

I have heard many people saying that they do this and do that to glorify God. But God is saying He is glorified when we stop doing and start trusting. (Without faith it is impossible to please God).

Does the art know what the finished work will look like? Not necessarily. But remember we are in the hands of a well known artist. Does the art know how or when the artist is going to do some chipping or shaping which is more likely a painful process? Not necessarily. But again, remember we are in the hands of a world class artist. He is reliable and perfect. He knows what He is doing. He doesn't expect us to know all the details. He doesn't even expect us to 'help' Him in the process. Let Him drive. Leave that driving wheel to Him and sit in the passenger seat and enjoy the ride.

"I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." The kernel of wheat has to die to produce many seeds. In other words, it has to lose its life.

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." We have to 'lose' our life so that we can find true life in Him. It is Him who does the living. It is Him who does all the work and He expect us to do nothing. This is not just theoretical or theological, it has to be practical. It is possible to appropriate this truth into our daily life, which in essence the Bible calls, 'walking by faith'. I know it can be very scary to lose something which we hold tight. But it's worth losing it, so we will find true life in Him!

Why so many denominations?

I have news for you! I have found the answer for one of the frequently asked but rarely answered question in the world: If all Christians serve one God, why are there so many denominations and why do they fight each other?

Here is the answer:

Ready?

“Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” - God

Sound familiar?

Remember the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11? As people tried to reach up to God with their own effort by building a huge tower, God came down and confused their language.

Today, as Christians try to reach up to God with their own effort (obedience to the law, works, building huge towers (churches) etc), no wonder their language is confused. So they cannot understand each other, they scatter and make their own denominations and fight each other!

I think that answers it! There is a slight difference though; 'So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building'. They (at the least) stopped but we haven't. We are still building our own individual towers!

Emptiness, silence, ...

I have been thinking about a lot of things to address on the blog such as keeping short accounts with God, the reason for our 'flesh' etc. But sometimes I feel empty and can't really express (write) anything. It's not that I am empty but I 'feel' empty. I know it is strange. Another thing I notice is that the mood and style I use in the posts are so connected to my life circumstances. I write depressing posts when I am depressed. I write exciting things when I am excited. I write intolerant things when I am intolerant. I admit that sometimes I am very intolerant and abrupt with legalism and the people who promote such things. Yes, I am speaking out of hurt and thats okay, right?
There are also moments of silence where I have no idea what to say. I am talking about feeling overwhelmed. The message of grace is huge and it requires a lot of discipline (discipleship) to explain this to someone but I often get overexcited and thus overwhelmed. As a result I mess up!

Is this all part of 'growing'?

I am learning that I don't have to 'prove' anything. Does 'faith' requires proof? If it can be proved, then why call it 'faith'? There is uncertainty in faith. There is also unpredictability. So I have no guarantee that I will 'act' the same tomorrow as today and that means there might be inconsistency in my sayings/actions. On the other hand, If I try to scrutinize everything I ever say, I fear I become mute. 'Going with my own heart' doesn't really sound biblical, but I believe there is a uniqueness in everybody's heart (or soul or mind or whatever). I also believe the grace of God works in unique ways in individuals. Do you agree?

Is it okay to feel 'empty' even with an understanding of Grace? Sometimes I can talk about grace all day long with a lot of fervency and at the end of the day when I read my Bible, I feel blank! Are those moments of 'silence' also part of growth or am I weird?

He is pretty strong!

I don’t think a religious person can ever live an authentic life because his religious mind is always disconnected from his true heart. The true human heart is wicked. There is sin, greed, lust, envy and everything bad under the sun. All human beings, provided the right circumstances are capable of doing any sin in the world. That’s a scary thought. So, people suppress that truth with a religious mask. But the point they miss is that the religion cannot bring a bit of change to the human heart.

That’s is the reason while the religion kept talking about the external mask, Jesus went under the skin and said, adultery is a matter of heart and murder is a matter of heart and it scared them.

So, why people still hesitate to move away from religion and go into a relationship with their Creator who addresses the heart issue?

In every relationship, there is a certain level of unpredictability and I think it is true in a relationship with God as well. As humans, we hate unpredictability. We don’t want to risk anything to be in an unpredictable relationship especially if the other party is ‘unseen’. So we try to find a substitute for it – religion, where everything is predictable. We build a relationship with religion. There is no risk and we always ‘feel’ safe! They say, you just come to our church, fill out our membership form, get baptized by our minister in our water in our baptistery, pay tithe to us and submit to our authority, you are all good and at the end we will give you a grand funeral to send you to heaven! Do you see any element of risk or unpredictability anywhere in that picture?

Also, I think in every relationship, there is hurt and pain and it is true in a relationship with God as well. There are moments where we feel God is not listening and we hate such moments. Religion, however, provides a (false) sense of security which does not require risking our heart. But what is interesting is, God risked certain things when He decided to have children. Are we ready to risk something to have a relationship with that Dad? Knowing that there are going to be unpredictable moments, pain, silence, disciplining, and wilderness?

If everything in life is predictable, safe and risk-free, what is the thrill? How do we know what is under the deep waters unless we dive in?

Isn’t it enough living a suppressed life which is not ours? Can we step out of our religious boat into the Sea of Galilee (Grace) like Apostle Peter, ready to explore little bit of adventure? Hey, it is true that he wavered after sometime. We may face winds, we may run of out of oxygen but look, "Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him."! Peter took a risk and tasted some thrill and more importantly he experienced the strength of Lord's hand. Though he doubted, Lord was still there!

If we are to ask Peter, he would say, it is a great adventure to experience Him, He is pretty strong!

Yes, He is pretty strong. He provides us one ultimate guarantee which no man-made system can ever give us – He will bring us to safety at the end… In the meantime, if we are willing to get out of the religious safe-zone, we can experience some wild adventures!