Tag: Christian Inspiration

The Art of War: Praises and Sword

~ Sowmya Gali

Psalm 149: 5-9

Let the godly ones exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, To execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, To bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron,To execute on them the judgment written; this is an honor for all His godly one. Praise the Lord!

In the days of Nehemiah, the exiles returned to their beloved city Jerusalem. They were tasked to rebuild the temple and the wall of Jerusalem by the king of Persia, Artaxerxes. Nehemiah and a few exiles traveled to Jerusalem with official letters to carry out the rebuilding of the temple and the city walls. However, they ran into a lot of opposition from the Samaritans and others living in the region. Nehemiah encouraged the weak-hearted exiles to continue the good work as God will stand on their side and protect them. Despite interruptions, and threats, the rebuilding of the wall continued, and breaches were being closed. This infuriated the enemies of the Israelites. They conspired to thwart their efforts by infiltrating into their ranks, destroying them and their efforts from within.

Nehemiah continued to encourage the Israelites with the Word of God, constantly reminding them not to be afraid and to remember the greatness and power of their God. He encouraged them to continue to fight for their families and their fellow countrymen. Simultaneously, he urged half of his men to take up swords, spears, shields, bows and arrows and stand guard for the other half of the men who continued rebuilding the walls. Nehemiah 4: 17 – Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. Thus, they continued rebuilding the wall while declaring that Our God will fight for us (Nehemiah 4: 20).

Our life is a battlefield. Our home is a battlefield. Our mind is a battlefield. Every corner we turn, there is the enemy lurking to pounce on us. We conquer one enemy; another one pops up. Many a times, we are battling more than one enemy on multiple fronts. As long as we are on this earth, we will continue to fight until our dying breath. There is not a moment of respite. We are fighting the battles of temptation, addiction, denial, health, apostasy, atheism, debt, politics, culture, social, etc. There never seems to an end to our battles.

Dear Saint of God, we must learn to equip ourselves well for the battles we face. It is not just equipping but utilizing the weaponry we have to fight. First and foremost, we must believe that our God is on our side. When we believe that, half the battle is already won. Marching ahead with the weaponry we have; we will see the victory. The Psalmist declared the praises of God with his mouth. Let the praises of God be in our mouths and on our lips at all times. When we have God on our minds, then songs of joy will erupt from our hearts. Let us declare that we are righteous through Christ. Let us buckle ourselves with the Truth. Let us be ready to defend the Gospel. Let us shield ourselves with such a faith in our Almighty that no weapon formed against us can prevail. Let us walk confidently that we are saved by the blood of the Lamb. Last, but most importantly, the only offensive weapon in our hand is the Sword – the Word of God, that we must take up to fight against the enemies.

That is all we need to march into life’s battles: Mouths filled with the praises of God and declaring the Word of God. No enemy can stand against such a deadly force. The Israelites rebuilt the city walls with one hand and held a sword in the other to fight the enemy. Even when the enemy infiltrated their ranks, they were able to fend off. Numerous times, we are fighting in a close warfare. The enemy could be someone who is close to us. If we are immersed in the Word of God, then we can use this Sword of God in close battles. Spears, bows and arrows are used against the enemy that is far off and charging towards us. If we have shielded ourselves well with faith in God, then we can charge ahead while protecting ourselves from the onslaught of the culture, social and other societal battles.

Dearly beloved, let us use our God-given weaponry. Praise Him for His goodness and faithfulness. Praise Him for His awesomeness. Praise Him for His glorious power. Praise Him for His abundant mercy and love. Praise Him for who He is. Let such praises always be on our lips, in our mouths and in our hearts. With the Sword of God in our hands, we can fight any enemy that comes against us. With the Sword of God, we can silence the taunts and boasts of the enemy. Let the Word of God be your sword. For He will give you wisdom when and how to use this all-consuming, all-powerful Word for our victory.

Detour To Running Waters

~ Sowmya Gali

Psalm 1: 1-3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

We recently embarked on a trip to Payson, Arizona, a small quaint town in the Tonto National Forest. It was a short two-hour ride from the South East Valley of Phoenix to the North East mountains of Tonto National Forest. As we ascended the mountains at a steady grade, we could observe the changing landscape before our eyes. From the dry valley with scattered small shrubs and cacti, we slowly ascended to larger and taller cacti over the rolling hills with medium sized shrubs. In the distance large mountains were looming, void of any trees. We wondered if there was any water source nearby. Just as the thought crept up in our minds, our GPS display showed a blue snake meandering a few hundred feet from the main highway. Soon, we noticed signs for Salt River recreation sites. There were detours from the main highway to go towards the river.

Our plan was to reach the Mogollon Rim at 7000 ft beyond Payson. In a hurry, we didn’t stop at any of the sites that would lead to the Salt River’s edge. We could see people with boats, canoes and trailers heading towards the river. Ignoring the signs, off we traversed on the highway towards our destination. We continued to see more cacti despite the elevation. Once we reached around 3000-4000 feet, the cacti disappeared and more trees appeared. As we continued our ascent, we noticed that the small trees disappeared and tall Ponderosa pines appeared. As we reached our destination at about 7000 feet, we were treated to a delightful site of the mountains all across the horizon, the highway that we just were on now seemed a distant winding path.

Our life’s journey is so much like our own journey to the Mogollon Rim. We go through life carrying the thorns and thistles so much so that they become a part of our life. The thorn filled cacti have become a part of our life’s journey. The worldly addictions, struggles, pains, heartbreaks and such are something we tend to carry as we journey through life. With all the thistles, we trudge on to make something big or something meaningful of our lives. We are in a rush to reach our destination, hurrying to accomplish everything that we’ve set out to do. We want to feel the sense of accomplishment as we come to life’s end.

We ignore all detour signs, detours to places of some respite, detours to start afresh, detours to turn around, etc., when all along our life’s journey, there is a river flowing with living waters right next to us. We have had glimpses of the river, heard the peaceful sound of gentle running waters as they trickled over the rocks, the sound of chirping birds as they took their dips to cool off, and the occasional neighing of the wild horses as they crossed the river to greener pastures. Yet we pressed on. We reasoned that as good as detours maybe, we must continue on with less distractions. And so, we forge ahead.

It is only at our destination that we realize the path that we were on seems so distant and meaningless. Our destination doesn’t seem to be what we hoped for.  All the hard work, pains and struggles seem pointless. We wonder if we had taken those detours, how our life’s journey would have turned out. How desperately we have avoided the running waters considering that they would be a distraction!

Fellow Sojourner, Jesus, the source of our living waters is just a small detour away to find rest, peace, comfort, a new meaning, and a new purpose in life. He is right next to our own path all along, where He is beckoning us to come and wet our feet in the cool springs. He is nudging us to take that detour from the mad dash we are making to find meaning and purpose for our lives. As we journey through this life, let us be alert to the detour signs that the Holy Spirit places in our way. In so taking those detours, we will find the running waters. If we find ourselves planted by those living waters, be rest assured that we will be fruitful in all seasons of our lives. From there on, where ever we go, we can be confident that our roots go deep to the living waters. No storm can uproot us. No valley can scare us. No mountain can stop us. When we finally arrive at our destination, there are no what ifs, no regrets and no disappointments. Instead, our joy multiplies and looking back at the path that we journeyed on, we see the river of living waters meandering alongside our own path, nourishing us, strengthening us and satisfying us.

Dearly beloved, take that detour if God is prompting you to. You will not be disappointed. For our confidence is in the Lord of Hosts, who is the source of refreshing, healing and renewing living waters.