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Overcoming Loneliness Through Jesus

Overcoming Loneliness Through Jesus: Victory Over Isolation

Loneliness, a feeling of distress and discomfort, is experienced by almost every living being at some point in their life.  Overcoming loneliness through Jesus can be a source of strength and healing as Jesus, a true friend, can comfort in this moment.  Jesus, now in His presence, is embracing the loner with His fellowship and companionship.  Overcoming Loneliness Through Jesus Understanding Loneliness In Our Times Being lonely can be the heaviest burden of the human heart.  Loneliness does not discriminate by age, gender, or any period of one’s life. A teenager may feel lonely in a crowded classroom. A working adult may feel empty within the busyness of life. An elderly person may feel forgotten as days grow quieter and the need for people in his life grows, to fend for himself, mentally if not physically.  This profound sense of isolation, of being absent and disconnected from people around, is one of the deepest aches of the human condition.  Loneliness in our times is characterized as a “silent epidemic” or a major public health crisis.  It is not just being alone but a subjective, distressing feeling of disconnection that arises when a person’s social needs are not met by the quality or quantity of their relationships. Social platforms have also become a reason to measure and gauge one’s life against that of others.  In a world more connected than ever, loneliness has paradoxically become more common. Loneliness can be bitter, making the person question the value or need of one’s life.  While prevalent across all ages, young people (18-24) experience the highest rates, with up to 79% report feeling lonely.  Jesus has walked these darkest paths of loneliness and rejection. He meets your moments of pain, remembering them with the scars in His hands and the memory in His heart, all symbols of His own loneliness and rejection.  Yet the Christian faith offers a profound and living hope: overcoming loneliness through Jesus is not only possible—it is an encounter with healing for this state of aloneness and rejection.  Why, Jesus? When Feeling Lonely The Holy Bible can be a refuge in difficult moments of loneliness.  The words in the Bible can be encouraging and a rescuer.  Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me (Psalm 27:9-10). Overcoming loneliness through Jesus is not merely a comfort through words; it is a promise.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:18) Why Jesus?  Because Jesus is not distant from human pain of loneliness, instead He enters that state.  Jesus understands loneliness because He has shared and lived this human experience.  He has experienced it firsthand and also intimately.  This should be comforting and authoritative for them in overcoming loneliness through Jesus. The Holy Bible speaks of how Jesus had known the pain of loneliness… This is the astonishing truth: Jesus, the Son of God, knows what it is to be rejected by friends, ignored by the masses, and to feel the terrifying absence of the Father’s presence.   Jesus was never understood by His own family… When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21). Jesus was rejected in His own hometown    28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away. (Luke 4:28-30)    He was abandoned by His closest friends Peter denied Him, Judas betrayed Him, and the disciples fled away when Jesus was arrested.  (Matthew 26:56) In His final moments, Jesus endured the deepest loneliness imaginable.  The highest point of feeling lonely and deserted came for Jesus in His passion, when Jesus was falsely accused, beaten, and made to carry the cross (enduring the cross of sins, not His own, but our sins)  Later on the cross, Jesus cried out,  “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).  Though the Father had not abandoned Him, Jesus fully entered the human experience of feeling forsaken. Jesus, though divine, was also 100% human, so to understand and endure the human pain of loneliness.    Now in the present moment, the person feeling lonely, ignored, or left behind, when seeking Jesus, is speaking to the one who has lived it all. Overcoming loneliness through Jesus becomes relatable, as Jesus’ presence lives in it.  Talking to Jesus brings comfort,  Loneliness often whispers, “You are alone”. Jesus responds, “I am here.” The pain of loneliness might not disappear immediately like a miracle, but there is always comfort, stability, hope, and endurance.   Why Jesus? …  As Jesus answers with a promise that He is not only a Savior and our Lord, but also a ‘true friend.’  “I have called you friends.” (John 15:15) This is not human words but a promise from the divine.  So Jesus will not judge you.  He will stay behind with you when others leave and forsake you.  His love knows no conditions. (No Earthly… Conditions Apply) No matter what others think of you, Jesus only thinks of you as ‘beloved’ and ‘precious.’  Your belief in overcoming loneliness through Jesus is real and guaranteed.  Ways of Finding Jesus When Lonely  Prayers Prayer is talking to God; when lonely, it is talking to a friend.  Conversing with Jesus is important because He listens. He listens when you know nobody else listens to you.  You don’t need words to speak to Jesus; just being in His presence is praying to Him, and feeling the presence of someone who cares.  Even wordless prayers are heard

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Praying Every Day

Praying Every Day: A Powerful Path to a Deeper Walk With God

We live in times that move relentlessly fast, where daily distractions compete for our attention, and worries weigh heavily on our hearts and minds. Praying every day is a divine moment for believers, as now, when in prayers, we breathe comfort and peace, as we are in the presence of the almighty Christ. Praying is not to be done as a religious routine or task; it is a relationship with God that we are to live and nurture as precious each day.   Praying Every Day Why Praying Every Day Matters Praying is the moment when man meets the Divine. It is a sacred moment that will also make the place where prayer is made a holy place, as now God resides there at the moment, at that very place. It is now a sacred space and moment where faith is strengthened, burdens are released, and hope is renewed.  Prayer is a breathing dialogue between the mortal being and God, who is eternal. Prayer is a relationship for the believer with God. Praying every day is like breathing every day, not reciting some faith formulas or asking for things or a “spare tyre” to be pulled out only in emergencies. Prayer is a conversation, a dialogue, or communication between the believer and God. Prayer is a one-to-one moment; no one else or nothing else in the world should matter when in prayer. The merging of the being and God, even for a microsecond in that divine moment of prayer, is a blessing, and then that seeker is gifted, even if he or she is unaware. The state of presence of the heavenly angels before God in heaven is what is achieved by the seeker on earth when in prayer. Why not then? Praying every day is essential. You become an angel. From each day’s experience, we learn that spending time and speaking with somebody builds a relationship with that person. Now, how can it be different with God? Praying every day to God will do the same. We build a personal, intimate relationship where you share your heart, joys, worries, and thoughts with God, who’s now your best friend or a family member. Praying Every Day: Walking in the Footsteps of Jesus  There can be no further inspiration than Jesus Christ when it comes to praying every day. The Holy Bible speaks of Jesus going into the wilderness and also on the mountain to pray alone, and not occasionally, but every day. Jesus had His moments when He would spend speaking to His Father. He knew He was on a mission of His Father and also knew He couldn’t do it alone; He needed His Father all along. It was in these moments that He was strengthened and guided when in communion with His Father in prayer. Jesus, by example, shows us that praying every day isn’t about a rigid ritual but about maintaining a vital connection with God, and it happens only in this moment of prayer. Following Jesus’ ways of praying daily, there is a realization and a submission, and we now move on from relying on our own limited energy to tapping into a source of aid that is divine. Praying every day is entering and walking into a “desolate place,” as Jesus did, and in our own busy schedules and troubles, allowing God’s presence and peace to anchor and guide our lives. Prayer is our umbrella against the rain and thunder of a life in living. Praying Every Day and Being Like God Can we be like God, with all our sins?  No must be your answer.  Yes, that’s right, but even a dust particle of the Lord’s feet is enough for us to be called worthy if we become that. Praying every day will have its consequences… It will surely make us like Him. We as humans by nature become and behave according to the company we keep, so having God in the midst of our daily living in prayers will make us like him. We will build God’s nature of endurance, patience, understanding, mercy, and love. The grace of holiness and the spirit of God’s own self are breathed on us when we are praying every day. The very presence and time spent in prayer will touch and heal our intellects and minds, making us wise, and aligning our hearts to God’s will and purpose for our lives.  When in prayer, God is working on you; you stare towards God, and His response of staring back at you carries all the blessings spoken before. Our stare can be empty; God’s staring has His protection, mercy, love, and goodness given to us as a gift. No single prayer is a time wasted or spent and exercised in God’s book of life for you. It will be named as a ‘good deed’ if you were to be accountable at the end of your life for all the time spent by you on earth. A ‘good deed,’ as you, when in prayer, had acknowledged and thanked your creator, sustainer, and the one who sacrificed Himself in Christ, just so you could live with God in eternity after this earthly life.   The Holy Bible says … Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself    (1 Corinthians 6:19)  What happens in the temple or church…? Prayers. So praying every day should happen inside this temple (our bodies) Making Prayer a Daily Habit Give us this day our daily bread, (Matthew 6:11)  The Lord’s Prayer is not just seeking our daily food of the word of God and earthly food for sustenance but, as a true disciple, should expand to asking Jesus to grant the grace to thank Him in prayer every day. Praying every day is a moment that we ignore as ordinary. But it is a grace, a gift that we should ask God

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Finding Jesus

Finding Jesus: The Surprising Path to True Encounter

For us ‘finding Jesus’ seem a moment that will happen when we have lived our living years on earth and be gone to God’s abode. Like a distant moment yet to come, so we are waiting till then. But Scriptures speak us of finding Jesus, here and now as we live. Finding Jesus Jesus is here and near The Scriptures speaks a more immediate, tangible truth: finding Jesus is consistent, it will not be for us some spectacular scene, but is in the small and sometimes mundane everyday moments. We will find Jesus when we choose love over indifference, service over self, and kindness over convenience. Matthew 25:40-45 from the Holy Bible shows us a stunning picture of the final judgment. The verse speaks of Jesus’ presence amongst the hungry, thirsty, the troubled stranger, the sick, and the imprisoned. Finding Jesus is here for us and so near every day, therefore when you hand a meal to someone experiencing homelessness, you are handing it to Jesus, the eyes of gratefulness is not of the hungry and needy, but they are of Jesus. You are visiting Jesus, when you are meeting the lonely neighbor. Your patient, kind words to a frustrated coworker or a weary cashier, is your words towards not them but towards Jesus, now in your rush hour in the morning, you must have missed your prayers, but this encounter of kind words was truly a strong prayer in disguise towards the Lord. So you’re ascending to a mountain and having the ‘transfiguration’ moment of finding Jesus can wait for the future, feel the presence of Christ today in the little things and moments, Living the Jesus’ Way Live like Jesus every day, so when you serve the needy and also others in general, you are resembling Jesus washing the disciple’s feet. Listening to the grievances and hurts, and encouraging them to be strong in faith and hope is being like Jesus, who had a compassionate heart, and an attentive ear to the cries of the marginalized and also the troubled in life. Forgiving others is finding Jesus’ heart and will and resembling His outstretched arms. Your every small act is a sacred meeting with the Lord, a prayer to Jesus. We have our hidden Lord Jesus, revealed to the world around us by our act of doing Jesus’ will. Isn’t that so simple yet amazingly deep and profound.   So in the simplicity of moments, finding Jesus becomes an everyday event, when the eyes of the person in need becomes the very eyes of Jesus, a good two thousand years from now when He walked on earth. He has not left the earth, He still lives here and now, we just need to reach Him, and it’s not so difficult. And in this encounter, it’s not about finding Jesus, but being the ones who are truly found by our lord and our God, Jesus Christ.

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PRAYING FOR HOLINESS

Praying for Holiness: A Powerful Surrender to God’s Will

Praying for Holiness should be your daily prayer as this is not just a spiritual moment with God but a daily surrender. Bible says that we were made in the image and likeness of God, and we are children of God, so we as children should be like our Father in Heaven, holy. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 1 Peter 1:15 PRAYING FOR HOLINESS Why Praying for Holiness is Essential We live in times and surroundings that constantly shapes our desires, distracts our focus from goodness, and can make us spiritually dry. Being holy can feel distant or even impossible, thus praying for holiness is essential. Sin and disobedience is what separated the first man and woman from God.  The ransom of this was paid by Jesus with the offering of His own precious body and blood. So salvation for us came with a sacrifice. Our not being holy is being ungrateful for all the hurt, pain, and passion that Jesus undertook, just for His love for us each. This sacrifice can never ever be repaid, but the least we can do is be holy and do His will for us in our living days.  When Jesus saved us, He did not only redeem us from sin – He also called us to a holy and pure life. We are humans and will fall and fail in temptation thus praying for holiness is our way of surrendering wholly in His care and mercy. Jesus understands our shortcomings and limitations, so when we pray, we show our will and offer our weaknesses, and the consequence is that now we are strengthened and made powerful in Christ.   “even in your weakness I am made strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)   Now this is a prayer to Jesus, and His power is fully displayed when we admit our limitations, and now the Lord’s divine power works through us. When we are praying for holiness, we as children of God are acknowledging a will that is … “Lord, make me more like You than like the world” Holiness does and will forever touch every part of our life in our living days.   Personal Prayer Lord, I surrender myself wholly to you. Cleanse my heart and soul where sin has stained it, wash them all in your holy blood. Keep me protected, I’m praying for holiness to embrace and envelope me, guard my mind and thoughts where temptation attacks it. Strengthen my spirit where my flesh and weakness has allowed it to compromise. Make me sensitive to your voice and words from the Holy Bible. Let me honor and obey thy will. I surrender all my sinful desires, habits, words, and will at your holy feet. Shape and mold me to be an earthly vessel of purity, obedience, and a heart that loves and honors holiness. When I fail, lift me. When I drift afar, draw me back. Lord Jesus, you are my Lord, and my God. I’m praying for holiness, as that is what makes you happy, and I’ve found heaven on earth, if my deeds and holiness brings a loving smile to you. In grace and prayer. Amen.  

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Jesus Calling

Jesus Calling: Unstoppable Good News for Today

Verse : Luke 4:14-22 (This is a link of the verse discussed below, click on it to read and relate the understanding) Jesus Calling Jesus Calling: Then and Forever Jesus Calling is clear and complete in Luke 4:14-22 of His divine authority and purpose. Jesus begins His ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit, after his baptism, testing by the evil one at the wilderness, and our Lord’s victory over the temptation, Jesus returns to Galilee filled with divine authority.   The same Spirit who descended on Him now empowers Him. He now enters Nazareth, His hometown, where familiarity of Jesus is an obstruction rather a veil to the Jesus’ divine revelation. In the synagogue, Jesus reads from Isaiah 61, declaring the mission of the Messiah: to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom to the captives, sight to the blind, liberation to the oppressed, and the arrival of God’s favor. Then comes the defining moment: “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing, says Jesus And all those who heard Him saying had not understand its meaning wherein Jesus as the long-awaited Savior stands before them, not as a future promise but a present reality. The people marvel at His words, yet struggle to reconcile His identity with their expectations. They see Jesus as Joseph’s son (thus ordinary), but still cannot see God’s revealing of His only Son in Jesus. Their lack of Spirit has veiled to them the Savior midst them.   This tension teaches us something timeless: God often moves through what looks ordinary to bring something extraordinary. God is present amidst us in our good things, however small and ordinary they seem. In our modern life and speed-paced days, when life feels fast, pressured, uncertain, and overwhelming, Jesus calling still steps into our “today”—our routines, struggles, homes, workplaces, hearts, and announces hope, healing, and freedom. His mission didn’t start or was meant for Nazareth; it continues in us and our times today. We are both recipients and carriers of His good news. Jesus teaches us that our Jesus filled ministry is led and spread by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is compassion-driven, and action-filled. The Kingdom of God is in our everyday theology, it is in us as a living transformation. So your doing a good deed to the other, your gentle response, and helping  those in pain, is revealing Jesus to them. Especially our brethren of  other faith, our deeds is what shows what lives within us, Jesus. We reveal Jesus to them by our actions, and thats, Jesus calling for us each.    Ask: God fulfills His promises through Jesus in the present. Do I believe Jesus can transform mine and others today, even through ordinary moments? What should be my role as per God’s will.   Act: Surrender each day to the Holy Spirit. Bring hope to someone who’s hurt. Speak freedom, show compassion, and walk boldly in Jesus calling.   Pray: Lord, fill me with Your Spirit and open my heart to Your will for me “today.” Help me walk in Your purpose, carry Your good news, and obey Your will with courage. Strengthen me to act with compassion and faith. Use my ordinary moments for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.  

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Finding Hope in Dark Times

Finding Hope in Dark Times: The Unshakable Source of Strength

“Do you ever feel like you’re walking through a tunnel with no exit?”, and the tunnel is dark with no light.And all you seek is a ‘Saving Grace’ Finding hope in dark times is your quest and the answer is in Jesus, truly the light of the world.  Jesus is the dawn. The light of the dawn is not temporary, fading, or fragile. It is eternal, advancing, and unconquerable. Finding Hope in Dark Times When Darkness Feels Overwhelming: A Biblical Promise of Light The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.” [Matthew 4:16] Matthew 4:16 is quoted from Isaiah 9:2, pointing to the fulfillment of God’s promise through the Messiah.  While the world sat in “darkness”, a state of spiritual blindness and separation from God, the Light arrived as a free gift, unbidden and unearned. From the above verse, “The light of God”, Jesus was not called on by the Gentiles, but Jesus Himself chose to be with them in their dark times.  It refers to Galilee of the Gentiles, a region historically dismissed, spiritually neglected, politically oppressed, and socially stigmatized.  Galilee was considered insignificant, a land overshadowed by war, poverty, and spiritual ignorance. Yet God chose that place (lowliest),You are still precious to him, for the first sunrise of Christ’s ministry. There is a promise… God doesn’t wait for darkness to leave before He sends Light. He sends Light precisely because darkness exists. Jesus did not begin His ministry in Jerusalem, the religious center, but in Galilee, the forgotten frontier.  He started not among the elite theologians but among fishermen, common families, Gentiles, and the overlooked. This is the heart of Christ, He steps first into the places others step away from. So when you feel overlooked, under pressure, or spiritually dim—remember: You are exactly the kind of place Jesus chooses to shine first. Every move and deed of God in Christ that we find in the Holy Bible is speaking to us of all things that He is still doing for us each. Finding hope in dark times for us is for the moments that are like “shadow of death” from the Bible verse in biblical literature, and we too seek solace, comfort, remedy to all our tragic moments.  Like the Gentiles living in darkness, for us the darkness would mean Mental Fatigueness Identity Pressure Financial Stress Spiritual Distraction Loneliness Fear of the Future Physical and Mental Burnout  All these are no lesser or dense in darkness living for us each like the people living in Galilee, before the light in Jesus shone upon them.  Jesus, The Hope Why Jesus is the Hope In Dark Times Jesus, the light is not a small flicker of hope in our dark times. He is not a passing spark, a temporary relief. He is also not a borrowed glow for our earthly dark moments. Jesus is a Great Light. A light that doesn’t negotiate with night, it ends it. Life has a way of dimming the lights when we least expect it.  Whether you are dealing with a sudden loss, a heavy heart, or just a season where everything feels “off,” finding hope in dark times can feel difficult and also weary. We’ve all been there, sitting in the “shadow of death” that the Bible mentions, wondering if the sun will ever rise again. But there is a powerful promise found in Matthew 4:16 for anyone currently walking in dark times.  It tells us that those sitting in deep shadows haven’t just been forgotten; they are the very ones about to see a “great light.”  Jesus’ love for us each has let the light already turned on for us. We need to surrender our lives to Christ and let Him take control of everything.  In Matthew 4:16, the lives of the people in Galilee were transformed from spiritual darkness and oppression under Roman rule to experiencing a great light in ‘Jesus’, bringing hope, healing, and a promise of God’s kingdom. Their existence, once characterized by sin and the “shadow of death,” shifted as Jesus offered salvation and a new way of living, extending to all nations, not just Jews, in this mixed region.  Inspired by the above for us, when  embraced and illuminated with Jesus’ presence (light) in our lives, the effects now to our dark moments of life is what will bring peace, stability, and endurance to our lives.  When finding hope in dark times and discovering the light of Jesus will speak blessings, strength, and resilience in our lives because, Jesus… He is a Revealing Light  In our world full of opportunists and deceivers, Jesus exposes lies, confusion, deception, and false identities.        2. He is a Guiding Light  The road ahead may feel like lost and broken but Jesus will lead when the path feels unclear  Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Psalm 119:105) For the world accustomed to directions from Google Maps, they need to now find their way with God-Maps.       3.He is a Warming Heart The troubled cold hearts bruised by rejection, anxiety, and exhaustion will find their comfort in the light of Christ.  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.    Matthew 11:28       4.He is a Victorious Light The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. [John 1:5] Tell your dark moments in all faith that you have a victorious light.  Peace When Jesus’ Light is Our Hope, Everything Changes Fear Changes For Alban everything seems to be all over.  He was young and successful in business, but was cheated by his partners and also payments had failed, life seemed to be in a pit and a chance encounter over a youtube podcast that spoke of letting Jesus’ light fall into your dark moments had

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1 Peter 5:7

1 Peter 5:7: Casting Off the Crushing Weight of Worry

1 Peter 5:7 — “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 1 Peter 5:7, A Promise Life for everybody can often feel heavy and burdened. There are responsibilities, relationships, expectations, and of course the unknown future that can weigh on your mind and heart.   Whether you are a teen navigating identity and pressures of the modern age, or a young adult facing moments to make decisions that will shape their future. Life can feel filled with anxieties that can feel unavoidable. But Scripture verse like 1 Peter 5:7 offers us a powerful invitation that is to cast your worries on God. In the verse the word “casting” means to place something onto someone else entirely. It’s not a placing worries and anxieties gently or just taking a chance, hoping God might pick them up, if you’re lucky. It’s in fact releasing or shifting the weight of your troubles and anxieties into His hands because you in all faith know that God is strong and capable enough to carry it. Giving God our anxieties is an act of humble trust and hope in the Creator of our lives and the world around. It’s admitting to oneself, “I can’t carry this alone, but with God’s aid, I can.   He Cares For You The reason we place them all on Jesus is our faith and belief that “He cares for you”. He promises us comfort in Matthew 11:28. Jesus loves me. He is not just speaking plainly,  He has proven it at the cross, where Christ carried for us our sin, guilt, and a sacrifice to bring to an end our separation from God. Now if Jesus had carried the heavy cross of sin, He surely can carry our earthly troubles of today.    Hope and Strength You must be a weak sheep, but you’re “Good Shepherd” is strong. You are not abandoned as Jesus cares for you. And as the day unfolds, take a deep breathe of hope and pray, casting your anxiety on Him, as 1 Peter 5: 7 promises us that Jesus truly cares for you.

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How to Forgive Someone

How to Forgive Someone: The Christian Guide to Healing

This happens to everyone. There’s no escaping, and the number of times you have to undergo this situation, well, it’s innumerable. Struggling with how to forgive someone is not just about releasing another person from guilt; it is also about allowing God’s peace to reign within. How to Forgive Someone Understanding Forgiveness Through God’s Eyes: The Christian Way The words echo in our hearts and minds, like the constant ticking of the clock, “You need to forgive”. You know it’s the right thing, the Christian thing to do. But when the wound is fresh, and the pain deep, the command can feel difficult, rather impossible to live. Your protest is, “You don’t know what they did,” or “They don’t deserve it.” “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) Like the verse above on forgiveness from the Holy Bible, for us as Christians, it is not about pretending or accepting that we aren’t hurt, nor is it about excusing the wrong or instantly restoring trust. It is, in fact, a profound spiritual process that leads to our very own freedom. Psychologically, when we struggle with how to forgive someone, we are often carrying a heavy burden of bitterness, reliving the hurt, and feeling stuck in grief and annoyance. Forgiveness can be challenging and indeed a weighty command to live and practice as a Christian. Strangely, just as much as it is a deep human struggle, it is also a profound divine calling. The natural human response to the wounding of the heart would be to protect, withdraw, or even retaliate. Yet Scriptures call believers to a higher way, the way of the Lord, and the way of grace. Now this isn’t about mustering up the strength and will to forgive on your own; it’s about tapping into His, thus Jesus’ way. Thus, find your soul going free from the chains of bitterness and allowing Jesus’ peace to reign within. To be a good Christian is to be like Christ. Being like Christ is the first step to resolving how to forgive someone. Forgiveness begins with understanding how God forgives. The core message of the Gospel rests on Divine forgiveness. Humanity, broken and sinful, was reconciled to God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The death of Jesus on the Cross was the ultimate act of mercy, offering pardon and forgiveness to those (thus us) who did not deserve it. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) The heart of Jesus on the cross, with the above words of forgiveness, radiates compassion in the face of cruelty. To forgive someone is to reflect or imitate the character of Jesus. It is not about excusing the wrongdoing or pretending you aren’t hurt; rather, it is about choosing to place the offender into God’s hands, trusting that all judgment and healing is of God’s. Forgiveness is not your weakness; it is your spiritual strength. Your “how to forgive someone” becomes easy as you are now courageous to let go of resentment and allow love to triumph over hate. In the story from the Bible (Genesis Chapter 37 — Chapter 50) Joseph’s brothers betrayed him and sold him into slavery, yet years later, when they came to Egypt in need, Joseph forgave them. He said, “Do not be distressed…for God sent me before you to preserve life” (Genesis 45:5). His choice to forgive shows how God can turn hurt into healing and calls us to extend grace to others. Also… We need to forgive, as forgiveness is a virtue that originated from God, as mentioned in the Old Testament and later in the New Testament, and ultimately from our Lord Jesus at the cross. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35), a king forgives a servant an unimaginable debt, in millions. That same servant then refuses to forgive a fellow servant a tiny debt of a few coins. Jesus ends the parable with a stark warning: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” God’s Healing Grace How to Forgive Someone Through God’s Healing Grace How to forgive someone becomes easy when you bring your raw hurts and honest emotions before God. Jesus has lived it all. He was falsely accused, insulted, and even ignored. All the hurtful resentments, He had faced them all first-hand. So Jesus can hear it all, as He has experienced it all. He will easily relate to your pain and suffering. Your wounds need to be treated, lest they become an infection for your soul. Un-forgiveness is a silent burden that corrodes the peace of your soul. It will manifest as anger, anxiety, or even a physical illness. Your anger is a poison that you drink and expect the other person to suffer. The longer the bitterness lives inside you, the more it replaces your own joy, peace, and spiritual vitality. Place them all before God, in your moments of prayer. Find your place of blissful presence with God. Tell Him exactly how you feel, your hurts, insults, and how to forgive someone. Present your offence before Him; your healing requires that you acknowledge your wounds of unforgiveness and resentment. Now you are bringing the darkness into the light of God’s presence; you take the first step towards your own healing. Talk to Jesus honestly. Scriptures remind us that true forgiveness flows not from our own strength, but from God’s healing grace working in our hearts. When we bring all our hurts and pain before Jesus, He softens what bitterness has tried to harden and thus destroy. A prayer of how to forgive someone begins with surrendering before God your desire for revenge or justification of the one who has hurt you. Ask the Holy Spirit to replace resentment with compassion, even if your emotions have not yet reached there. You pray, even if your mind speaks

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How Not to be Afraid

How Not to Be Afraid: Wisdom from the Book of Tobit

Our daily living is packed with moments that make us feel happy and sad, and these sad moments can outgrow in our minds, bringing fear and uncertainty of the future. Times can feel hard. How not to be afraid when times are hard becomes an essential to us and our anxiety filled moments. The love of God has always provided us the relief. The balm to this pain by God is in the Holy Bible and the powerful message of Tobit that speaks of how fearing God and embracing spiritual wealth is the key to lasting peace in our anxious world.    How Not to be Afraid A Biblical Guide on How Not to Be Afraid, Inspired by Tobit “Life is tough” is a common phrase that we hear almost every day. We have each lived moments to utter the above phrase. We all know the feeling. That coldness of heart when the doctor calls with the test results. The hesitation when you look at your bank account as your mind stays filled with thoughts of the expenses ahead for the month. The restless anxiety of your child’s future or your own marriage that seem to be on shaky grounds suddenly.  Fear is a universal human experience, it’s like a constant companion. How not to be afraid in a world of uncertainty and on the face of very real problems is highly desired and wished to be known by one and all. As Christians, we’re often told and read the phrase “Do not be afraid” countless times in the Scriptures. But does it affect, console or strengthen us anyways. Does these words feel to us just mere moral statements than a practical help, how not to be afraid when in these moments of uncertainty and fear is a quest for each life that lives. Our Creator in Christ knows it all, just what affects us and answers our anxiety, strengthens us in our weak moments and He does by signs and His own words that we find in the Holy Bible, words written by humans but surely inspired by God. One such inspired works for our deliverance we find God acting on and is a hidden gem from the Old Testament of the Holy Bible: The Book of Tobit… The Book of Tobit is a story of faith, family, and God’s guiding providence. It follows Tobit, a righteous man who becomes blind, and his son Tobias, who is sent on a journey. Guided by the angel Raphael, Tobias finds a wife, Sarah, who is freed from a tormenting spirit. Tobias returns home, heals his father’s blindness, and restores the family’s joy. The book highlights prayer, charity, obedience, and God’s protection over those who trust Him. The story introduces us to two righteous people paralyzed by their circumstances. Their simultaneous cries represent our deepest fears: the fear of suffering without purpose, of a future without hope, and that our prayers are hitting a silent ceiling. Now do the above words relate for our times. The fear surely can still be a lack of meaning or purpose in life, which can be experienced by anyone regardless of their material wealth and financial state. It can be a social exclusion. Our fears are so many. How not to be afraid for a Christian following the teachings of the Holy Bible, offers a key, an understanding of living a life of peace in a world of chaos, the command to release fear, the redefinition of true wealth, and a search for truth that gives us eternal joy and peace and that is found in a God-centered life. The words of Tobit from the Bible can be a profound truth and highly relatable for any generations and time as fear as an emotion is real and associated with every life. It is a natural response to a perceived threat. When Tobit, who has lost his property, his status, and his physical sight, tells his son how not to be afraid, he is speaking from a place of trust, hope and faith. There is a deep sense of wisdom that lives for us also today that the “circumstances that we see is not the ultimate reality, the ultimate reality is the God that we cannot see, but God surely is holding on to us. There is a lesson for us each on how not to be afraid that we can learn from the book of Tobit. Place Your Fear in Prayers How not to be Afraid: Voice Your Fear to God The world we live in philosophies to always remain positive and not to voice out your fear and negatives. But the world of Christian faith teaches “how not to be afraid” thus do not suppress your fears and negatives rather voice them out, lament them out. The first lesson from Tobit teaches us just how to voice it out in prayers. Speak them out to God. We find that both Tobit and Sarah were not hiding their grief and pains, rather they each poured out their despair and anguish. Tobit prays, “Command that I now be released from my distress… For it is better for me to die than to live” (Tobit 3:6) And Sarah weeps and begs, “Look upon me with favor and show me mercy… I have heard the reproach attached to me” (Tobit 3:15) And as they each prayed, what was the result, the consequence of their lamenting in hope before God, (Tobit 3:16) reveals … At that very moment, the prayers of both of them were heard in the glorious presence of God.  (Tobit 3:16) Their fear, when prayed before God, became a dialogue, their hope, and self-reliance on God. God loves you, He will not just listen to your sufferings, He will work on them. It is for us to bring these fears and sufferings from the shadows of our heart and into the light of God’s presence. How not to be afraid in your moments of suffering, ask

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What it Really Means To Live A Righteous Life

What It Really Means to Live a Righteous Life: God’s Will

We are living in times where we are constantly encouraged or being influenced in organizing our lives. We crop and edit our images and keep working on social platforms projecting ourselves as successful, smart, and purposeful. Is living a life just of the exterior or is this kind of life all in vain, there’s a cry within that further says, the shine has to be within. What it really means to live a righteous life, is the defining quest within, is my life being lived worth my God and His will for me. What it Really Means To Live A Righteous Life Every Life Is Meant for Righteous Living Living our days in a fast paced world, all that is exterior matters us the most. Our day begins with we be awakened by an alarm clock, to pace and time each moments governed by the same clock guiding us how much time you need to spend on each activity. We glance at the wardrobe, choosing our shirt and shoes to match the day like the meetings, and persons that we will encounter during the day. We want to please them each with how we would look outwardly. So here we live a life that tends to focus on the external, the visible, what brands we are using, in clothes, our work bag, and our shoes. Further what trending social apps are we using, how our feeds and uploads look, what image of ourselves do we post. Beneath all this is an invisible garment of our heart and soul that is often overlooked and ignored that the seer speaks to us that we need to contemplate and ask ourselves each day, maybe just once a day… What it really means to live a righteous life. We are obsessed just how those around us and even the unknown to us but interacted and conversing with us on social platforms think of us, for us their judgment matters or affects us so much. The likes, the claps, the comments and the messages conversed, all these are the modern age sketch of us. This sketch is of what we are as a person, at least that’s what we and other’s think otherwise. Representing ourselves for others to judge, thus value us.  But there is something deeper and profound for a Christian living and that is asking ourselves what are we wearing spiritually and emotionally? And as a practicing Christian, what it really means to live a righteous life, as this is at the core of every Christian teachings from the Holy Bible and significantly by Jesus Himself. So now let your heart and consciousness not prick you otherwise, questioning you your righteous living, thus what has righteousness to do with my life. Righteousness… The word in our times and the generation can sound outdated and even un-important. Today in the Ai age, tech, social media and digital convenience define rather re-write our days and much of the human life. Biblically, righteousness simply means being ‘right with God.’ It would not mean we live a flawless life or go self-perfecting, we will fault and fall, and that’s fine. But we need to do is get up after that failure and do what we are to do, to do just what Christ our Savior wants us to do. We need to align our hearts, motives, and actions with God’s truth and will. Righteousness is not a performance or some brownie earned, it is a position, a state of being right, and living the teachings of Jesus Christ. Living our lives as true Christians that has the will of Christ being lived is making perfect the very sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness…” — Isaiah 61:10 The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God Himself has “clothed” us with garments of salvation, and “covered us with a robe of righteousness. Righteousness is described as a garment, a “robe” provided by God Himself. So now you don’t have to weave a robe that you’re already wearing. You don’t earn a gift, that is already been given to you. The righteousness is not our moral achievement, but our humble reception. When we speak of what it really means to live a righteous life, we need to find the unrighteousness that hinders or obstructs us from living a life as willed by God for us each. The unrighteousness would be the sinful human nature and the state of sin that stains everything, even one’s “righteous deeds”. Praying for a Righteous Life Hindrances to a Righteous Life   ‘What it really means to live a righteous life’ is not about living a religious life alone, just how often we attend Church or how holy we are or at least how holy we appear to others.   Jesus constantly challenged that mindset. The Pharisees followed every rule but missed the heart and will of God. True righteousness flows from relationship, not regulation and religious rituals. It’s walking with Jesus daily. Living a righteous life would be to surrender our will to God and allow His spirit and will to shape our hearts, thus life. And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no distinction.  (Romans 3:22) A personal relationship with God  will deepen righteousness, making it a natural outflow. You become of what company you keep, Jesus the friend is now obeyed not because of His approval and correctness, but you obey Jesus because you love Him.  That shift from obey to love is the essence of living a righteous life. This love for Christ is now your divine connection. What it really means to live a righteous life won’t be easy and will come with many a challenges. Our times and modern thinking celebrates self over surrender, comfort over conviction, and pleasure over purity. The digital age

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