Christmas Greetings.

 Christmas greetings - 

King Herod was successful deceitful backstabber. He back stabbed Mark Antony who made him a tetrarch. He backstabbed his sons Aristobulus and Alexander with the help of his another son Antipater by Doris. Even Antipater was killed by order. His very loved wife Mariamne was killed as well as his mother-in-law Alexandra was killed. 

This time he planned to kill Jesus by treachery. He sent the wise men to Bethlehem to see Jesus and come back to report where He stays, so that he can kill Him. But the wise men went away by the other road guided by angles. Jesus was taken to Egypt for safety. 

The successful backstabber Herod has lost his lot this time. Just a few years before the successful journey of Jesus on the road to Redemption and Salvation the once successful deceitful backstabber failed in his attempt and died by a strange disease.

Jesus right from his birth to his death and resurrection has upset the plans of satan, saying, "Away from me, Satan!" Or "Get behind me, Satan!" until one day "He (Jesus) shall bruise your (Satan's) head."

This is the successful reign of Jesus and we celebrate this imminent success with "Christmas".

"Merry Christmas to you all."

Verse from Holy Bible : Matthew 4:10, 16:23, Genesis 3:15.

Victim of Bigotry - Don't Worry, Be Happy.

Victim of Bigotry - Don't Worry, Be Happy.

Bigotry opens the door of hate and anger, the resultant is hate speech.

Some might have gone through such harsh experiences. My experience was of the same kind too. A very good pastor friend of mine, suddenly stopped talking to me. Intially I didn't take it seriously, but as days passed by I came to know that he wants to keep distance. I retrospected, but I didn't find any cause for this spur. That made me so sad. Even if somebody explains the situation to pacify me in very soft words, that was bigotry for me. And bigotry opens the door of hate and anger, the resultant is hate speech.

I petitioned it to God and asked for His guidance, because that's the time when satan gets active. He makes you to feel all alone, left-out, worth for nothing, fragile at heart and mind, tries to bring in fear, loneliness, unenthusiastic, and more. He trades on the situation, tries to make you far from God's guidance and obedience.

I always believed that, "don't worry if love doesn't work between two, but you can still live at peace with your frenemies, because love and peace are two sides of the same coin, a definite currency you can trade upon and depend upon without doubt, and obviously doesn't disappoint or fail you."

At this point of time, I needed an answer, an answer than can build me, that can bring peace into me. The only one who I can depend upon without hesitation is God himself. I always believed that, "don't worry if love doesn't work between two, but you can still live at peace with your frenemies, because love and peace are two sides of the same coin, a definite currency you can trade upon and depend upon without doubt, and obviously it doesn't disappoint or fail you."

..weeping and gnashing of teeth is the characteristic of the devil.

Even after such a great revelation from God, I still need an answer which can bring hope and joy into me, because weeping and gnashing of teeth is the characteristic of the devil (Matthew 13:42), which I'm not.

..you need to let go-off for a better good. This is what had happened with Noah, when Methuselah and Lamech have left Noah to lock himself behind the safest abode.

At a pleasant time, Holy Spirit started teaching me. First, He took me to Noah. The whole world was wicked and God found none to be good. He wanted to destroy it with water. Now I made the rest and concluded that, God wants to destroy the wicked, so, does that mean my frenemy is a wicked person? But God stopped me there and cautioned me not to be prejudiced and started to teach me new things. God wanted me take a look into the genealogy of Noah, his father and grand-father i.e. Lamech and Methuselah. Both Methuselah and Lamech from the line of Seth, other than Noah they are having other sons and daughters too. Let's leave the rest of sons and daughters. Methuselah and Lamech both died in the same year on which the rain and the watery depths bust open. God made me do some research, the Rabbanic literature states that when Noah was 480 years old all the righteous men were dead, except Methuselah and Noah. Book of Jasher, says that, "Methuselah lived until the ark was built, but died before the flood, since God had promised he would not be killed with the unrighteous." Josephus in his works, The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1.3.4.88, says, "let no one inquire into the deaths of these men.. but let him have regard to their births only." This means that the day the rain and the watery depths bust open, was the same day the deaths of Methuselah and Lamech have occurred. This might be a little suspicious to the reader, but God taught me a great lesson from this. If your frenemy has to grow spiritually, he has to keep afar from certain things or people. The process in which you might not be the one who offended him, but your friendship should not hinder or be an obstacle for his spiritual growth. Keeping that in mind, you need to let go-off for a better good. This is what had happened with Noah, when Methuselah and Lamech have left Noah to lock himself behind the safest abode.

Christianity survived to this day is just because of those Christians who sacrificed their lives wilfully, became martyrs for the sake of faith as well as for their co-brothers and sisters as well.

Holy Spirit gave me time to think over it. My thoughts went wild. Unsatisfied with one example, I asked God for an another reason. This time God took me to the times of early Church persecution. Right from the execution of Apostle Paul and Peter, the initial steps for persecution of Christians has started. Roman emperors like Nero, Domitian, Nerva, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Maximin, Decius, Valerian, Aurelian, Diocletian, all these have a history of persecuting Christians. So what does God wants to teach me out of this. How if they wanted Christianity to end still survived? By the time of emperor Constantine, Christianity became the official religion of the state. God meant that, even Diocletian searched from house to house, person to person, destroying and burning every Scriptural Scroll, and executing Christian believers, man, woman and children, however, some still survived. These very Christians have not disclosed information of early believers. It is because of those early believers who survived by the lives of their co-brothers and sisters, Christianity still survive today. The spiritual growth of the early survived believers, depended upon those Christians who sacrificially leaving-off their lives for the sake of faith as well as for their brothers and sisters as well.

Characteristic  of a Christian - "When your frenemy comes back to you, don't clench your hands, but embrace and console him." 

Now I learnt the lesson, to let it go-off for the the benefit of others. But I still had my own qualms. I said, Lord thank you for giving me this revelation, but what if my frenemy was been guided wrongly to this conclusion or have been forced to act to this end? Grieving inside, I waited for God's reply. Now this time God took me to the Parable of Prodigal Son in Gospel of Luke Chapter 15. The lesson God taught me was this, the younger son seems to be a worldly, profane individual. Nobody can convience such individual. It's better to leave them off for quite some time. Let the time teach them their mistakes. When realized they themselves will learn from their mistakes as like the Prodigal Son. So, if your frenemy was been influenced by some other person in keeping you afar, don't worry; when he realizes, he will come back to you. 

In addition to the above paragraph, I was counselled by the Holy Spirit of an another verse from Book of Acts 15:38,39, "..For if this plan or this work is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even be found fighting against God." (On 26.12.2021 at 12:59 PM).

But make sure that when he comes back, don't clench your hands, but embrace and console him.

A true friend is he as Jesus said in Gospel of John, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends.." (John 15:12-14). Frankly, this is too hard for me to fulfill, but I can "give my coat if asked for a shirt, can walk two miles if asked to accompany one, can share whatever I can, so that I can imitate my Lord in heaven" (Matthew 5:40-43,45).

After all this pedagogical revelations, I madeup myself and let my frenemy go free. Now he is no frenemy to me as well; just a brother in Christ. No hate or grumbling for the past. But when I feel lonely, I remember what David in his full faith says, "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and rescue them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He saves those crushed in spirit. One who is righteous has many adversities, but the Lord rescues him from them all" (Psalm 34:17-19).

Source : Wikipedia; Halley's Bible Handbook; Complete works of Josephus; Eusebius Church History.

Arrogance Never Works.

 King Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, who had been exiled to island of Capri by emperor Tiberius for expressing a desire of having his friend Caligula to be the successor of emperor Tiberius. Tiberius might have thought of some treachery behind this and exiled Agrippa and Caligula to the island of Capri. Agrippa might have died over there undertrial. In his sixth month of his exile emperor Tiberius died naming Caligula as his successor. 

As soon as Caligula became emperor, he made his friend Agrippa king over tetrarchy of Philip, son of Herod the Great. In the conflict between jews and greeks, Agrippa sided jews and was successful in abandoning the plan of erecting the statue of emperor Caligula in the temple of Jerusalem.

After the murder of Caligula, the praetorian guards kidnapped Claudius and made him emperor going against democracy. But Agrippa spoke to the Senate and diplomatically persuaded Senate in making Claudius the emperor. In return Claudius made Agrippa a king extending his domain more compared with Caligula. Agrippa made great wealth and strengthened the walls of Jerusalem. May be because of the jews on his side or to strengthen his support from jews, he cut off the head of James, the brother of John and put Apostle Peter in jail and planned to put him on trail in public after the Passover (Book of Acts Chapter 12), on whole Agrippa was against Christians.

From rags to riches, from life sentence(?) to the kingship, Agrippa's stature grew. As his stature grew, his tyranny grew. His judgements over James and Peter is a best example of his tyranny. The sway of his power with jews on his side and above all the support of the emperor made Agrippa a substantial power in the region. This predominance brought arrogance. Out of this arrogance, Agrippa in the city of Cesarea on the second day of games on a certain festival in honour of Caesar, came into the theater at dawn, dressed in a garment woven in silver being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun's rays upon it. Upon the luminesce of the bright light, his flatterers at once addressed him as god. They shouted, "be thou merciful to us, till now we have feared you as a man, from now on we agree that you're more than a mortal". Upon this king Agrippa neither rebuked them nor reject their impious flattery. Book of Acts Chapter 12 reads, "22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died."" The picture attached, a reconstructed theater is the very place where king Agrippa died instantly. 

The resultant of sinful character either ego or arrogance is death. Book of job Chapters 38 and 39 gives us a picture of God's sovereign dominion over everything seen and unseen. In Chapter 40, the Lord challenges, "Would you discredit my justice? ..Do you have an arm like God’ ?" (v8,9). Let's conclude this lesson with a firm belief knowing our true nature as humans can't challenge the sovereignty of God and by accepting His dominance a blessing over us.

A Fulfilled Purpose.

Paul's journey to Rome was interrupted with a shipwreck and gone with winds to Malta. It's a no trade or commerce route, so there will be no frequent ships. The purpose of God was to take Paul to Rome. God had His plans, a ship that was there with full of grain enroute to Rome from Egypt has stayed to spend winter there, Although it's not the regular route, why that ship came to spend winter is unclear. The regular shipyard is on the other side. This ship which is called Castor and Pollux, the name after the two sons of a roman god Jupiter, carried Apostle Paul to Rome. Even while they were crossing different waters of the sea with different sea currents between Rhegium and Messana which is highly dangerous before reaching Puteoli, there is clear evidence of purpose of God behind Paul.

We are made with a purpose and to fulfill that purpose God has His own plans and He knows how to fulfill them. Just be obedient to be thank ful. Perhaps the purpose in Paul's journey to Rome was not the death sentence but to preach about Jesus between the well learned, atleast for two years.