You live only once – Zindagi na melegi dobara

For my overseas friends reading this, the second half is the Hindi equivalent which when literally translated means “You don’t get to live twice”. So true! ( and yet it is a strange title in many ways for a land that believes in a cycle of death and rebirth!)

 However, that is not what not my mind is right now. I watched this new bollywood movie (that bears the above title). At first I was happy and then sad and shocked at various levels. It is a well known fact that the youth take a lot of cues from the film stars, the movie themes, and lifestyles portrayed. Whether Bollywood sets the trend or merely reflects what’s already going around is a debateable matter. But, that is not what not what is on my mind is either.

What is it that made me happy?

The movie got it right - you have one life to live! The movie is about three best mates going on a holiday before one of them gets married. So it’s a bachelor party/holiday of sorts. Two are very successful yuppie businessmen. One in particular made work, ambition,and the acquiring of wealth his focus. This had repercussions on his social life and relationships. The movie goes on to show how this holiday helped him reflect and realize that money is not everything. There is more to life – and I couldn't agree more – but more of that later. There is a message here especially for the urban yuppy “wanna get rich quick” youth of today. Life is more than your work. It’s not an uncommon sight to see people in their twenties working 10-12 hours a day and sometimes even 7 days a week. They are being slave driven to the ground where they are not able to think beyond projects and deadlines. Their mind space has been totally occupied, their senses dulled. This is an unhealthy trend and we see it taking a toll on the recently married, young families etc. There is more to life than work. The Bible says in Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

What made me sad?

 I was shocked to see a blatant challenge to marriage in an open and almost approving display of “live in relationships”, “short flings” and sleeping around. It came across as this kind of life style is a given – nothing to be bashful about or ashamed of. I thought to myself – have we as a nation fallen so far? Some may mock me and say I am not keeping up with the times or that this has been happening for a long time it’s only coming out in the open. No I am not old fashioned and no I am not unaware of the happenings around me. What I am sad about is that this life style is getting legitimized through the media. Thirty years ago an affair between the movie stars was hushed up and the media warned not to come anywhere near it. Today it is being blatantly flaunted in the press and the movies.

This brings me to what I have been reflecting upon –

The absolute standard as given and instituted by God for our well being –  holy matrimony. This was God’s idea right from the beginning and He knew that if we kept this one command i.e “you shall not commit adultery” – all would go well in the family and society at large. Today in my city alone there are over 300 divorced filed every month. The west has its own tale to tell and the tell tale signs of that life style is showing up in different kinds of social problems and breakdown. As a famous sociologist and historian Carl Zimmerman, in his 1947 book Family and Civilization, recorded his keen observations as he compared the disintegration of various cultures with the parallel decline of family life in those cultures. Eight specific patterns of domestic behaviour typified the downward spiral of each culture Zimmerman studied. 

* Marriage loses its sacredness; is frequently broken by divorce. 
* Traditional meaning of the marriage ceremony is lost. 
* Feminist movements abound. 
* Increased public disrespect for parents and authority in general. 
* Acceleration of juvenile delinquency, promiscuity, and rebellion. 
* Refusal of people with traditional marriages to accept family responsibilities. 
* Growing desire for and acceptance of adultery. 
* Increasing interest in and spread of sexual perversions and sex-related crimes.

Is this where India wants to be heading? God forbid! We can turn this terrible tide by teaching our kids the right values and modelling it.  I know I need to mix it with faith and prayer and ask the Lord to keep my children from evil and temptation. I need to talk the values with them and walk the talk thus modelling it for them. If our kids get it, we have a hope for a better future.

The other thing I was reflecting upon was : What is life all about?Is life about a better job, better education , better home, better car, better holidays, better this , better that? None of these things are bad in themselves – it’s how we use them – do we control these things or do they control us? Have they become idols in our lives? What is the purpose for which we are on this earth? The question has eternal implications. If life is all about “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die” then we ought to live it up. But if it is where each one will have to give an account for their lives and we will be judged according to what we have done; where there are rewards to be obtained or lost because of what I did with the 3 score and ten years here on earth – ah! that puts a totally different complexion on things, doesn’t it? 

  While the movie got one part right , about the fact that we live only once, its interpretation of how we ought to live this life needs a serious reflecting upon. And the best way to reflect is to look into the mirror if God's word , the Bible.The movie  had a very existential note to it - live in the now, indulge yourself today because you don’t know if there is a tomorrow. How wrong!! There is not just a tomorrow but an Eternity to face ( whether you believe it or not) and a King on His judgement seat to whom we will all give an account. Death is indeed a leveler and it is final.

How then should I live? One of the principles from the Bible that has helped me in the choices I have made this far is and I quote is “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” Matt 6:33. I am more and more convinced that God is not a kill joy and He who created the heavens and the earth knows what’s best for me. When I put God in the centre of my life  everything falls into its right place and gets the right priority AND I am blessed.

As a Christian I have been saved and chosen at great cost to Jesus – I have been chosen for a purpose – to bring glory to His name by how I live here on earth. It’s not about me- it’s about Him. It has always been – right from creation.  As a Christian is my life centred on Jesus, His Kingdom, His glory, His fame? Or am I living with a “bless me God; make my life more comfortable, more easier, bless my gifts, my talents ....”

I have one life to live: I get only one shot at it and the years are zipping by faster than I can cope. I am already at the half way mark. I want to live to the glory of God. I don’t want to be short sighted. and live for a few fleeting pleasures of this world. I want to build with silver and gold and costly stones that will stand the test of fire. I want to blaze bright for Jesus. Pleasing him in all that I do is my highest aim. I want to give my life to something that will last forever! Reflecting on these things this is my prayer. So help me God!

Navaz D Cruz

Nov 2011.

At the foot of the Cross- Navaz DCruz

When all kinds of thoughts assail our minds, coming to the foot of the cross helps sift what is not wholesome and retain what is. The Cross has always helped me get my balance when I am going off. It has helped me make sense of life,and has helped me in the continual lesson in humility . The Cross reminds me that there is someone else who bore it all of me- Jesus. All that is left for me to do is worship and live a life worthy of the calling.

Thank you

This morning as I sat down to view my mail, blog, Facebook etc.I was pleasantly surprised to see the ticker on this blog having crossed 1000 views. I am overwhelmed! This  is a short note to a BIG thank you to all of you who have been reading my posts. I do hope you have been encouraged and blessed.
We have now added a "like"  which you can click on at the end of each post.
Thank you for your support once again and do share this Blog with your friends.


with love,


Colin and Navaz.

Friends @ Home - Hospitality

Friends @Home : A Study on hospitality
This is an extract from a set of Bible Studies I had written for women a few years ago. I do hope you will be blessed as you read and ponder on this. Much of the material here has also been taken from a sermon my husband, Colin, preached a few years back.

A few days ago I came across an article in the newspaper that spoke of a modern trend amongst the “yuppy crowd” of our cities – that of no longer offer hospitality in their homes but prefer entertaining people in restaurants to avoid the “mess and work and clear up” that is involved when you have friends over. I mulled over this article and thought to myself about how much we are moving away from anything that disturbs our comforts zone and anything that we see as threatening our private space. What should the Christian response be? Am I against eating out, or talking friends out for a meal? Far from it. But when there is a trend that does not want to have people in our homes because it is seen as being a pain rather than a blessing, I think we need to go back to the plumb line and adjust our thinking: the plumb line is the word of God.

As a home maker what should my attitude be toward hospitality, toward having people over? 

One of the functions of a God glorifying home of Christians is providing Hospitality.  

Q. Are we willing to open up our homes to hospitality? When our husbands want us to have people over for tea, or a meal are we reluctant or responsive?

Hospitality is a practice that God has honoured and commanded.

Rom 12:13 “Practice hospitality, practice hospitality”.

Gen 18:3 “Let me get you something to eat so you can be refreshed..”

Prov 11:25 “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed”

What was Jesus’ attitude to such mundane things as a home and food?

Mark 6:37-But he answered, “you give them something to eat”

 Mark 14:3-“ While  he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper..”

What was the early church like?

Acts 2:46- “They broke bread in their homes.”

In 1 Tim 3:1-7 Paul lists the qualification of elders and church pastors.
“. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, and able to teach…”

In 1 Tim 5:9, 10 Paul lists out the character qualities of a godly widow who is eligible to be put on the widow’s list and being hospitable is one of them.

In 1 Pet 4:7-9 Peter begins by saying “⁷The end of all things is near. ⁹Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.”

The word hospitality is “philo xenos”. We know that philo is one of the greek words for “love”.

What does “xenos” mean? We get our English word “xenophobia” from it. – Fear of strangers.

Xenos is greek for “stranger”

So “philoxenos” is literally a lover of strangers.

There are several examples of people who excelled in hospitality in the early church viz Martha, Peter’s mother in law, Aquilla and Priscilla, Lydia to name a few.

Q. Is hospitality the same as entertaining?

In hospitality, the focus is on the fellowship and not on food. It is about keeping an open home where people feel welcomed. It may be that all you offer is a cup of tea or a light snack, or a simple “Dal and rice” for a meal. When you do this your home becomes a beacon for the Lord.  Keeping the meal simple  helps not to put a strain on ones finances and then one can do it more often than one large banquet done once a year. If you put up a big meal, people may feel fearful about inviting you over as they feel they may not be able to meet your standard. Also don’t busy yourself in the kitchen preparing or clearing up that your friends are left to entertain themselves with you absent most of the time.

Q. Who can be hospitable? ANYONE. You don’t need to be married or own a big home in order to be hospitable. Our experience has been the ones with small homes and incomes have been the most hospitable. I know a family of 5 that lived in a one room and kitchen home but had more people in their home for a meal than most people I know.

Q.What are some of the ways a single person can be hospitable? What about bachelors or spinsters?

We should aim to make hospitality a lifestyle and a family affair. Involve the children and get them excited about the prospect of having visitors over. In doing so you will train your children to be outgoing and friendly and welcoming to people who visit your home.

To be sure, every family needs privacy. However, today the trend is towards individualism and self comfort. This is not biblical. Many people, even Christians want to live in luxury and to live undisturbed by anyone. They offer no invitation to others and will not take the trouble to cook even a simple meal for someone.

Hospitality is one of the ways love is demonstrated amongst believers and members of a church, especially toward new comers to the church. Statistics show that if a new person makes 5-7 friends in a church, he/she is more likely to stay on.

If you find yourself struggling in this area ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Ask Him to pour love in your heart for your brothers and sisters in the Lord. All our acts of service should be motivated by faith and love or else they will be a dead works for which there is no reward.

Take some practical steps to help you get into a new groove. Call up people and fix a date for when you can have them over. This ensures commitment on your part and theirs rather than leaving it vague and to chance.

Reflections:

Q. Think for a moment about your own attitude toward hospitality-

 Are you open to having people in your home or are you reluctant and see them as an intrusion?

Q. When was the last time you had people from the church over to your home for a meal?

Q. Do you find hospitality difficult? If so, what are the factors that are hindering you and how can you overcome them?

Q. Spend a minute to consider who you can invite to your home in the next month and write down some names here. Then make it a point to call them up within the next few days after you have discussed it with your husband ( if your are married).

____________________________________________________________

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Hebrews 13 urges us to follow the example of the ancients who emphasized hospitality and because of it sometimes unknowingly welcomed angels into their homes. The reference is undoubtedly to Abraham and Lot entertaining strangers and later discovering them to be angels (Gen 18).

Q. Who do you invite to your home ? Be careful of only inviting “your type” of people viz ethnic group, language group, economic status, marital status etc. We are encouraged to be hospitable to all.

Remember what Jesus says: In Mt 25:31 onwards -³¹ "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.³⁴ "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

So with these thoughts in mind let us motivate ourselves to becoming more hospitable.. Jesus offers a kingdom to those who have been hospitable.  Wow – what a reward!

 Navaz D Cruz

The Courage to encourage

The courage to encourage

 Encouragement: Who does not want it? Who does not thrive under it? This thing called encouragement is very powerful. It can lift up the lowly; make the failure to fly into the realms of success, the heartbroken to hope again, the weak to do things beyond themselves. We have all received encouragement at some point in our lives and have been the better for it. We can remember the people that gave us encouragement very distinctly. Those memories are etched in our minds and hearts forever. Many of us are doing the things we are today, only because somebody had the courage and cared enough to encourage that gift, that ability and see the diamond in the rough.

 The question I ask myself is will I be that somebody for someone else?  It takes courage to do that. Because encouragement it not flattery, it’s not glib talk, it’s not irresponsible words spoken. People cling to those words as it promises hope and a new future. So when we encourage we bring hope and kindle faith in a flagging heart.

There are many challenges that ones who encourages may face and those are challenges of the heart.  We live in a world where criticism is rife; putting others down is the way up, envy and jealous rule the day and secrecy is the way to secure success. To spare a kind thought, word or deed is not a common practise these days.  Often the outlook is “what’s in it for me?”

Here are some things I have been pondering on and some questions I would like to challenge myself with. Maybe you would like to reflect with me?

• ·        Am I willing to put myself out to encourage someone else and make them feel good about themselves? Can I look beyond my own nose? In order to encourage, I should practice being able to think of others better than myself. Sometimes my own pride gets in the way of encouraging someone else. It feels like giving ground to someone else. I need to practice humility and honouring others. (Rom 3:12, Phil 2:3) It’s not good enough to think the good thoughts in my head; it needs to be vocalized to the person who deserves the praise. Am I deliberately holding back praise from someone because of envy, jealousy or selfishness?  Don’t we all remember being in situations where a lot of effort was put into something and no one even says a word of thanks? Let’s not do the same to others.
• 
  
• ·        Am I willing to play the part of Barnabas (Acts 9:26)who brought Paul to the other Apostles. Paul went on to be one of the greatest Apostles who wrote so much of the New Testament. If Barnabas had not played his part I wonder how history would have panned out. He did a selfless thing. He did not promote himself. He had the courage to stick his neck out for the “the new kid on the block”. And you know what? Paul gets to be part of the Inner circle and Barnabas is left out in the cold – or that is how history gets recorded. We don’t hear of Barny anymore. (But you know, there is another perspective to all this. If I get caught up with recognition and affirmation from people alone, I will be left sorely disappointed and despondent. DON’T. People can be self absorbed and fickle. But there is one who sticks closer than a brother and who is faithful to the end. His encouragement is forever and with it comes rewards that are eternal. He is Jesus our Lord).
• 
  
• ·        Am I ready for the person I lift up to go ahead of me? (Phil2:3) If my motives are clean it will not bother me, it will only make me glad. I remind myself of that final day of reckoning when the books will be opened and everything we have done will be tested by fire, I do not want to be found wanting .
• 
  
• ·        For those of us who have received encouragement – go back to those who gave you a help up and thank them for the role they played in your life. Lack of gratitude is a bad thing.
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• ·        Does envy and jealousy catche my throat and cause me to withhold the praise that is due? I need to repent and the only way to overcome it is to do the very opposite.  I need to be profuse in my encouragement to the one I am envious or jealous off. It will take the sting away. Thank God for the talent/gift/ abilities God has blessed them with.
• 
  
• ·         I should expect nothing in return – this helps clean up the motives. I will get my reward in heaven.
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• ·        Am I afraid of encouraging someone else because they might then get noticed and get ahead of me? Do I believe in a sovereign God? Then I should be careful of manipulating circumstances. God can bring a man crashing down on his face in a day and exalt a man in a second. We have plenty an example in the Bible and the starkest one is that of Joseph – one of my own personal heroes. His brothers thought they could manipulate his destiny and keep him away from the lime light. But God worked things out where he got exalted way beyond anyone’s expectations of wildest dreams ( I don’t think Joseph knew his this was how his dreams would pan out)

I want to be the one who will be remembered for moving people forward and up and not manipulating people into the shadows and down.

When I do this my father in heaven is pleased, God is glorified, blessings come down and there is enough to go around for us all.  So I want to  encourage and thank those who have been sources of encouragement in my life.

Navaz D cruz

Rats !!!

Running like rats on a treadmill is what some days feel like. Then a restless begins to descend deep into ones soul and begins to express itself in a sharp tongue, ill temper and anxiety for no reason at all.

Have you been there and done that? I plead guilty many times over. I then I want chide myself and say "how foolish"!! Don't you know the source of Peace and stillness? Don't you know better than to be anxious? How often I forget, and do the very things I ought not to.

Then my heart and spirit lead me to the Rock that is higher than I, to Jesus throne and I am stilled like a child. Did He not say His yoke is easy and burden light? Did He not say "Be still and know that I am God?” Did He not say that He will renew my strength? Did He not say he will give me living water that will quench my thirst? Did he not promise to leave his peace with me? How foolish have I been!!! I turn in repentance to giver of LIFE and PEACE - Jesus.

I realize that the practice of being still takes a lifetime and is often ruffled by life's busyness. I have to make sure I do not wander away from this. Here is where my soul finds it’s anchoring - in His presence alone. So this is my prayer:

 To know you more take - me deeper Lord

To seek your face takes - me to your throne

To love you more - pour out your spirit Lord

And make me yours alone.

To live in your presence - that’s where I want to be

To draw closer and linger is my heart’s desire

To wait on you for renewed strength

To draw on your grace that flows without end

To hope in you and have faith rekindled

This is my desire, this is my desire.

Navaz D Cruz

Cure for the Common life.

https://kindle.amazon.com/post/Z5T0R6GU1JFV

This book makes for great reading and provokes us to live life to the fullest.

Navaz