Three thoughts or Three revelations

I am enjoying three thoughts that I have been meditating on or I should say revelations from the Father that help me think a little better. I tweeted one of these.

First thought: "Don't ask God for strength. Ask Him for His Joy" The scripture says "The Joy of the Lord is our strength". As we become blessed with His Joy, His strength strengthens us in all areas. How do you get His Joy? The scriptures resound: "In His presence is the fullness of Joy".  We should chase after His presence, long for His presence, we hunger to dwell in His presence. Being conscious of Him always is a path of intimacy.  He promised: "Behold I am with you always".

Second Thought: In resting and being unhurried - time expands and sometimes multiplies. The key is resting in Him. Nobody in the world had or will ever have a bigger agenda than Jesus had...a.k.a "saving the world past, present and future"  at the same time leading a motley crew of twelve that will change the world. Yet he created sacred space for Himself with the Father. Needs, chaos, sin, and even his endless compassion to those who He healed didn't hurry him. He operated from the centered rest creating order in the world of confusion and chaos. Resting in Him is another revelation. Those who enter into His rest, He establishes their steps, their work, and even their time. Resting in co-dependency with Him helps you do your work with Him.

Third Thought: I have read in some Christian books:  "Work as if everything depends on you and pray as if everything depends on God". I like it and it is well intended.  As I think about it based on my thoughts of rest I feel for me the revelation extends to rewriting that quote to say:  "Work as if everything depends on you and Him and pray as if everything depends on God".  I love it, it's working with Him and worshipping and praying to him reveals His work and establishes the work of my hands. This works better for me.

Shalom & Blessings,

Time & Being

I am re-reading "The Happiness Equation" by Niel Pascha. I like the space scribbles he uses to explain concepts in a simple way. Inspired by his 56 hr bucket analogy I have been examining closely about my own time buckets. I plan to reflect on that in my other blog but reading this book along with Daniel Pink's 'When' and Charles Duhigg 'The power of habit", things seem to have converged for me

in my understanding and management of time.  As I sit here early morning hammering on my laptop keyboard, I am transcribing here a poem I wrote on time a few weeks ago on my date with my daughter Hannah. My mind struggled as I spent time that Saturday contemplating all the things I had to get done and comparing it against the time I was spending with my daughter. Reflection and introspection resulted in this poem I penned that Saturday afternoon.

Our investments so measured in greedy returns,

Be it of money,  resources or relationships, 

Or Time spent or lost spun like the rings of Saturn,

Displaying time & again our poor skill in life's gamesmanship.

Lessons I learn are riches beyond measure,

Deep reflections are now collections of timeless treasure,

More valuable than war chests, spoils & stock returns,

It is time to live life with intentional pleasures. 

Time is one constant given to all - be it for the rich or the poor,

Be it east, west north or south it flows unhinged & unshackled,

If we endure, focus less on the hunt & drive to ever procure, 

It is in just 'being'; time's timeless secrets unravel

Where time slows & multiplies - 

For a life to be once more called, 

well-traveled, better lived and fully qualified - 

For heaven's reward in being fully present & fully enthralled!

- Time & Being!

Hupernikao

Darkness & shadows loom large,

In a fallen world slipped off the barge,

I thank the good Lord for His steadfast love,

That pulled my soul from the pit of despair. 

Circumstances, disasters, plagues that lay waste,

Arrows aimed to throw hearts hope to displace,

His wings and pinions covered my face,

Keeping me from falling, as angels held me in His Grace.

Beyond this place of hell's disgrace, 

Charges & condemnations didn't stick from satan's swinging mace,

Who or what can separate me from the love of Christ!

His strong arms pulling me into my Father's embrace.

It matters not how bloody the fight,

In battles & wars when tens of thousands fall in fearful fright,

He has in all things made me more than a Conqueror, 

He is the Captain & Commander of my Destiny,

The King of my Soul & the King of Kings of my All!!

Background to my composition Hupernikao!

I love William Ernest Henley's poem 'Invictus' and his indomitable spirit to not give up. We are all not born with such will power but blessedly so, as believers, we have been bought at a costly price with the precious blood of Christ. Unlike Henley, I know and thank the God I serve there are no gods for me to thank for but one - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The one who became man incarnate to pay my debt, and purchase me out of throes of death. His grace and will power gives me hope and makes me a 'hupernikao' (what a strange Greek word but we will come to that later). I know I am not my own and my partnership with Him is what makes Him the master of my fate and the captain of my soul.

I composed 'Hupernikao' for this reason in Greek it means 'overwhelmingly conquer' or to plainly say:  'you are a super-conqueror'. Paul the wise scribe of the new testament specifically wrote using that word in Romans 8 knowing the context of his pagan audience. Our modern-day sportswear and sporting company 'Nike' takes the name from the Roman goddess of victory. I love Nike clothes and the swoosh on my hat is a conversation starter for me these days to reveal my identity as expressed in Romans 8.

On a side note from the Wikipedia entry here about our mythical lady Nike:

Nike was variously described as the daughter of the Titan Pallas and the goddess Styx, and the sister of Kratos (Strength), Bia (Force), and Zelus (Zeal).^[4]

"And Styx the daughter of Ocean was joined to Pallas and bore Zelus (Emulation) and trim-ankled Nike (Victory) in the house. Also she brought forth Cratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), wonderful children."

In other sources, Nike was described as the daughter of Ares, the god of war.

"Ares . . . O defender of Olympos, father of warlike Nike (Victory)."

Paul uses the term "Hupernikao"  in Romans 8: 37 to explain our overwhelming status against tough situations.

“³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake, we face death all day long;

    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are hupernikao [more than conquerors] through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Rom 8:31-39 NIV] 

I have been long winded about this but wanted to give my context for my composition but didn't know this post would get that long so I am going to stop this post here. In the next the poem..."Hupernikao" from the super conqueror in training.

Shalom and Blessings,

Sam

Busy Or Rest

In busy America, our chasing-after-the-wind culture hands out an identity badge that we wear with pride. We say "I am busy" the way earlier generations said, "I am well."

I know the pull of it firsthand. Colleagues have told me I am a hard-driving leader who sets high goals and heavy expectations on my teams. That critique lands. Too often, it shows up in my actions, carrying with it the wrong portrayal of work—activity for its own sake, bottomless task lists, projects stacked on projects.

Busyness of that kind is disastrous for anything strategic or long-term. Worse, it is dangerous for our health and our lives. So I want to go after these notions head-on.

Here is what I want my teammates to know. BUSY stands for Being Under Satan's Yoke. If the enemy can keep us in dizzying activity, we become the hamster on the wheel — spinning hard, going nowhere. He is glad to have it that way, because a spinning saint is no threat to the kingdom of darkness. Our identities get wrapped in masks of occupation, ministry, family, and the endless to-do list. And those masks keep us from the truer thing: that we are beloved, rested, children of God.

About six or seven years back, I had a wonderful opportunity to go through Life-on-Life coaching with the late Rev. Richard Bush, graciously facilitated by my former boss at The Alliance. One of the greatest gifts of that season was the teaching on Sabbath — operating from centered rest, and the practices of reflecting, connecting, storying, and journeying. (I may write about these sometime, or pull some notes straight from my journals.)

That teaching undid in me the assumption that Sabbath is something I perform well or poorly. The Jewish thinker Ahad Ha'am turned that around in a single sentence: "More than Israel has kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept Israel." Read it twice. We imagine we are the ones keeping a discipline, when in fact the discipline keeps us—holding a people together across centuries of exile, with no land and no temple to hold them. Abraham Joshua Heschel, who wrote the small and luminous book The Sabbath, said the Sabbaths are our great cathedrals: holiness built not in space but in time. You cannot be busy inside a cathedral. That is rather the point of one.

So if BUSY is a yoke, REST is the yoke-breaker. Here is the acronym I hand my teams alongside the first one:

R — Reflect. Look back before you charge ahead. Unexamined activity is just motion.

E — Enjoy. Receive the day as a gift, not as a reward you clocked in for.

S — Stop. Shabbat means to cease. Not to optimize, not to catch up. To stop.

T — Trust. The work will hold without you for a day. God does not clock out when you do.

The poem below names what rest gives us. These four letters name what it asks of us.

A better yoke

The invitation is not to a yokeless life. Jesus offers a swap: come to me, all who are weary and burdened, take my yoke, and you will find rest for your souls — for his yoke is kind and his burden light (Matthew 11:28-30). Two yokes are on offer every week. One drives you at a pace that never ends. The other has a seventh day built into it.

And a Sabbath rest still stands open for the people of God, which is why Hebrews gives us the strangest command in Scripture: make every effort to enter that rest (Hebrews 4:9-11). Strive to stop. Work hard at letting go. I am still learning it.

In light of busyness and rest, here is a poem I wrote a couple of weeks ago. I call it "Busying and Resting."

Busying or Resting

Busyness tends to make us busy,
Very few people know it's hell's age-old technique,
To keep you well -  trapped in BUSY
For Busy is 'Being under Satan's yoke'
Busy Bees chained to busying activities, addicted &
cocaine-ed - chaining us to abysmal absurdities.

In Resting and Reflecting is true living,
Very few people know it's heaven's age-old strategy,
To keep you from perishing
For Rest is 'Restoring, Enriching, ever Seeking Truth'
Like gliding eagles  flying above the storms, keeping us
Renewed and strong, living freedom in God-filled wonders.

ink blurs & blots

My leather journals - I am proud of them, lots of toils, tears and coffee stains mar them. The reader might have guessed the geographical locale of coffee smelling (or stinking) houses where most of my 'ink blurs & blots"  happen while reflecting and writing.

I use good fountain pens and noodlers ink (courtesy of my friend David who introduced me to them cheap but quality -  a trait he carries well).  Inspired by the tear-stained and ink blurred pages of my journal which I pride as beautiful battle scars of prayers, knowledge, wisdom, and life here is my poem: 

Drops of tears that blur and blots,

the ink on my journal, hair raising-ly raised, 

Words of pain, prayers, and praise

Of a contrite heart, that pleases

in the  midst of the bloodstained clots,

Stained and blurred,

Still looking beautiful

Like a worn out old map, pointing to a lost treasure,

Or like the old leather bag well traveled far and wide,

With its scratches, holes & batterings, 

A reflection of my heart in the sculptor's hand,

ink blurs and blots form the tear-stained art

slowly shaped by the

the Master's craft for his own pleasure and delight.

Testing, Dying & Storm Chasing

Writing poems again and beginning to strings thoughts, words, and ideas from the deep. However, the exercise is mainly to record here and have quick access for me as it's unwieldy for me to carry tons of journals everywhere I travel; even if that travel is in the safe cocoon of your car or a plane. Next month I am looking forward to my travel to 4 countries and only 3 days downtime but it will be good. Good because I will get tonnes of reading and reflective time. Looking forward to it till then...

My test lies before me,

The tests I have failed time and again,

But, His testimonies are for me,

Delighting, securing and faithfully containing  -

His saving salvation and touching grace, 

Now my wounded heart heed into His loving embrace, 

His light shining and now lifting my face 

From age-old guilts and shame, 

Redeeming, 

Restoring, 

Justifying & Sanctifying 

A story and journey unfolding the chrysalis, 

The Dying seed budding to be born again, 

In its core lies the mighty tree, 

Rising to be the phoenix of all oaks tomorrow, 

Renewing, 

Reviving, and 

Readying, 

For the new storms & testings that lie yonder. 

With new skill sets being built in spirit-filled wonder 

Strengthening, 

Overcoming 

Rooting & a warrior forged for storm chasing

Biblical Humor!

This may be a lame attempt at humor but I found these fun and couldn't resist sharing. I don't know where I got it from to cite the source but this one was in my drafts for a long time. Well, not trying to fill my month's blog quota here but these are funny...enjoy!

Q. What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?
A. Ruthless.

Q. What are German pastors called?
A. German Shepherds.

Q. Who was the richest male financier in the Bible? 
A. Noah He was floating his stock while everyone else was in liquidation.


Q. Who was the greatest female financier in the Bible?
A. Pharaoh's daughter. She went down to the bank of the Nile and drew out a
Little prophet.


Q. What kind of motor vehicles are in the Bible?
A. Jehovah drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden in a Fury. David's Triumph
was heard throughout the land. Also, probably a Honda, because the apostles
were all in one Accord.


Q. Who was the greatest comedian in the Bible?
A. Samson. He brought the house down.

Q. What excuse did Adam give to his children as to why he no longer lived in Eden?
A. Your mother ate us out of house and home.


Q. Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?
A. Moses. He broke all 10 commandments at once.


Q. Which area of Palestine was especially wealthy?
A. The area around Jordan. The banks were always overflowing.

Q. Who is the greatest babysitter mentioned in the Bible?
A. David, He rocked Goliath to a very deep sleep

Q. Which Bible character had no parents?
A. Joshua, son of Nun.


Q. Why didn't they play cards on the Ark?A. Because Noah was standing on the deck.


PS. Did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee?Yup, it's in the Bible. It says... 'He-brews'

deadness holding and Life beholding!

Poems written from the depth have a life of their own. In its own strange therapeutic way words though bellowed in storms of despair carry away the dead leaves to a distant place, so space and time are created for newness and the new to form. This one I wrote last year though very personal, it's in
vulnerabilities and tenderness new growth find their roots.

There stands a tree in my yard,
Whose dead leaves still hold on,
They won't fall easy But fall they must,
The winter has been long,
The deadness in my heart holding on,
Why won't these leaves fall?
Dead as they are...yet receiving nutrients!
The stem won't grow weak;
But fall they must!For new life to begin,
New leaves to come in,      
drying,       
dying,      
 wilting,      
Waiting,     
Awakening,     
Rooting,     
Rising,     
Blooming
Hoping for my new life to begin!!
    
 --- deadness holding & Life beholding

Reflecting on Last Year through some Poems

What is stronger
than the human heart
which shatters over and over
and still lives
              - rupi kaur

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2018 is almost closing,
another hard year about to wrap
my heart musters for another one
awaiting all its storms,
shipwrecks,
heartaches,
brokenness, and pains yet to be re-visited;
How do I brace myself?
Do I have strength or boldness?
Do I have what it takes to faith and hope?
Do I have the courage to resurrect and love once again?
                    - new year Q's

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I am not here neither there,
Away from home to make a new one here;
The new one hasn't been home either,
Identity lost, don't belong here or there.

Lost my way in the wanderings & journeys,
More lost in the ruts and routines, and
Lost my heart somewhere along,
Its worse than losing oneself, I know
Yet somewhere it lives,
echoing the long haunting call,
The heart must respond to this yonder call &
Find once again its way back home.
                      - lost & found
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As the new year closes, a new one awaits to birth forth,
A day or two a new year will roll in,
With the old one rolling over,
With its events,
disasters,
joys,
miracles & mundanes to unfold.
Each unfurling & unraveling,
creating unique juxtapositions of choices,
hopes,
dreams,
wishes & desires
failures & fears,
expectations and hopelessness;

I stand my heart holding these tensions.
Directing them to faith to replace fear,
Desiring for my heart to hope to replace death,
Dealing to love once again
to live fully refreshed, and reset in freedom
                             - rolling over tensions

IF - Book Cliff Notes

I don't do book reviews but I want to talk about one of the books I read recently.  But first on a side note:  I recently tweeted (it's funny saying it as a verb) about my relationship with books. For some, I have found I am not even ready to read them as I haven't had the maturity to waltz with the words for  complicated knowledge to distill hence they wait on my shelf; whereas for some, I find myself already having the wisdom deposited in my soul and it seems knowledge and information are just catching up to my mind. Some books are fun past-time reading (never visit them again), some come alongside for lifelong journey's and some are truly transformative. Mark Batterson's "If" - Trading Your If Only Regrets for God's What If Possibilities has come along on cue and in a timely manner into my life.  Fortunately for me, Mark obviously prayed through it and the Holy Spirit sneakily wanted me to read it from the array of books that sit on my reading shelf ...so I know there are no coincidences. God is in the business of resurrecting hope and getting you back in believing in "What If" possibilities.

Here is a summary of things I have pondered upon from the book. A good start is to quote Emily Dickinson's poem "I Dwell in Possibility" which encapsulates the idea of naming the places (especially where we minister, steward and work) as "possibilities". God had divinely ordered our lives, our steps to dwell in the What if's. It is the What If' moments make inventions happen, ideas have to be born, battles that have been won, and the course of histories changed. What if possibilities are distinctly different from "If only" Mark goes through the entire chapter of Romans 8 to prove the point that: If God is for us who can be against us.  

He starts with the power of 'If'.  The story of Howard Schultz's decision to buy Starbucks started with the decision of quitting his $75K safe salaried job to investing of $3.8 million of in coffee shops which would become a company that has a market capitalization of $27.8 million, topping revenues of $4.7 billion a year and jobs for about 137,000 employees. The power of If is moving to from "if only" to "what if". There is no highest leverage point apart from God. He is your greatest supporter Key ideas from chapter 1 and 2 again "What If you rejected everything about God that wasn't God and accepted Him for who He is - God is for you"

Every path to the promised land must pass through Gilgal. The journey of the Israelites in the exodus took a turning point at Gilgal when God said: " I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt". Key points in chapter 3 for me were: If you want to break the sin habit, you' better establish a praying habit. If you want to leave the past in the past, it helps if you bury it, burn it, flush it, or delete it. Reminded of the words of the Father "forget and forgive yourself" because when it comes to your sins God has a clean slate memory and so should you...it takes faith to believe the new you.  The glass is full of the righteousness of Christ overflowing in you - You are a new creation in Christ. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

Condemnation is feeling guilty over confessed sin, Conviction is a feeling guilty over unconfessed sin. Conviction is healthy and holy. 

One of the highlights for me was learning the traditions of Bet Sefer where the Rabbi's put honey on the slate after they have written Psalm 119 before the Jewish children start memorizing scripture. Its a reminder to them that God's word is sweet as honey to the soul and the spirit; and as the words of God are physically imprinted in the cortex of their brain when they memorize the way they think changes. I have resolved to memorize even more scriptures this year because of this and the promises I have inherited over my life I got to bring them to mind. They are like a muscle memory which enables us to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

I learned again fasting is a spiritual discipline that positions us for breakthroughs. Fasting is not just fasting from food (though its a big portion for people who like food) it's symbolic and relational to hunger and there are many things we can fast from. We want to dwell in the intersection points of God's compassionate kindness interceding with our hunger/resolve of seeking breakthroughs. In these places, you enter into the what if possibilities.  Mark quotes "Whatever it is you need more of, you need more of the Holy Spirit". I tweeted something profound today my original quote "A vessel cannot be filled unless a continued emptying happens from time to time. So are things with the Spirit - holy emptying, holy regular in-fillings, and holy overflowings into others". Spiritual maturity takes us to places of serving and outflowing of blessings to others. Your what if's are waiting for becoming surplus blessings for others. The key idea from chapter 6 for me was "It is the Holy Spirit who dispels if only, it's the Holy Spirit who spells our what if". Make decisions against yourself that take you from self-gratifying places, to even discomfort in the pursuit of your goals. The reward is totally assured and sealed for the purposes the Father has for you. God does not reward laziness, even intellectual laziness.

The Hebrew word for new is 'Hadas' - it also means "never before experienced".  Mercy is not getting what you do deserve, Grace is getting what you don't deserve.  God wants to not only just forgive your sins He wants to leverage your past regrets for His eternal purposes.

Mark cites the work of Marcel Losada the organizational psychologist who studies the power of positivity. He developed the positive feedback loop which simply put is celebrate what you want to see more. This is known as the Losada ratio  - it is the positive feedback to negative feedback in the system. You need about 2.9 positive feedbacks for every negative feedback. So pick a promise, any promise and drop an anchor. The anchoring effect is key to our lives. The Greek word 'Phronema' means to fix one's mind on something. Our testimonies, stones of remembrance,  our small and big wins are anchors we need to drop, revisit, decree, and declare.  Keeping a gratitude journal is a practical way I personally think about my blessings and how I center and shelter my heart from anxieties to rest. It is a sure way of moving from FEAR which stands for "false expectations appearing real" to a place of centered REST.

Thomas Carlyle quotes " Our main business not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand" Key idea from chapter 17 "What if you started living in day-tight compartments?".

 Some key points from chapter 18 I liked were: "Destiny is not a mystery; its a decision. And how we make those decisions determines our what if possibilities" Failing to plan is planning to fail but even the best-laid plans of mice and men need a contingency plan. The Bible is a way where we can reality-test our assumptions against the truth. It's how we attain distance before deciding by getting a God's-eye view. And nothing widens our options like the promises of God. Knowledge, by itself, leads to one-dimensional assumptions, but true-wisdom (one that is rooted in the Tree of Life) leads to multi-dimensional understanding. (I added multi-dimensional and the tree of life  - Mark cites it as two dimensional). The key idea "What If you started praying like it depends on God and working like it depends on you? Keep an open mind to avoid narrow framing. 

Arthur Mckinsey's poetic description of problem-solving:

If you think a problem as being a like a medieval walled city, then a lot of people will attack it head-on, like a battering ram. They will storm the gates and try to smash through the defenses with sheer intellectual power and brilliance. I just camp outside the city. I wait. And I think. Until one day - maybe after I've hurned to a completely different problem - the drawbridge comes downand the defenders say, "We surrender." The answer to the problem comes all at once. 

When you tag-team with the Holy Spirit you are never out of your league. Sometimes it is divine revelation and sometimes it is a divine appointment. The Holy Spirit is both inspiring and conspiring. God has a tendency to use our seeds of faith to accomplish things we didn't even set out to do.  If history turns on a dime, the dime is that of bold predictions.  Mark cites my favorite story about JFK's speech on May 25, 1961 "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth". JFK's what If became a reality on July 20, 1969, when Niel Armstrong took one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. Key idea: What If starts with bold predictions and supernatural courage to pursue them (the latter part my addition). Pray a bold prayer! Dream a God-sized dream. After all, if you are big enough for your dream, your dream isn't big enough for God. Resurrection is a down payment on every promise!!

One dimension of spiritual growth is being reconditioned by the grace of God. Mark writes "reactions are conditioned reflexes and they must be reconditioned by the grace of God". I love this idea and plan to be conscious of God's grace, favor and Him being in the corner of my life to shape my identity, actions, and my reflexes. A relationship with God involves surprise as well as progressive revelation.  Destiny is not an accomplishment its a reflection.

Count the Blessings, flip the blessings and repeat!

I loved the book there are many more thoughts that I could capture here but time is running and I must stop for now and revisit these truths prehaps again,  add more of the author's God inspired words along with my own Holy Spirit insights, He is teaching,  I am processing, until then.

Shalom & Blessings,

Dr. Sam Kurien