Jesus count us in those he loves!

Long back when I moved from my town to another and when you move from your town to another, you start living by yourself and being by yourself means, you can get more Me Time.
So I got that too and I started spending more time reading my Bible and praying.
There in that city I used to spend time with a lady name Amy, who was my mentor too and I used to spend time with her reading Bible and praying
So, once Amy and I were reading a Bible verse, that was, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
Psalm 139:14
When we read this Bible verse I was actually thinking “am I really fearfully and wonderfully made.”
And I actually asked her, “am I really fearfully and wonderfully made.”
She smiled and said, “ofcourse Karishma! we all are!”
We read this Bible verse because I was sharing with her that I always feel to be someone else or something else which I am not because I am not very happy for who I am.
She helped me with this Bible verse and she actually taught me that, “Karishma no matter how different we are but we all are different in a good way because if we are not different from each other then that would be so boring to live for being the same.
And I actually realised and understood that few days back when I was teaching my students a story about “A Little Monkey.”
And I asked a question to my students,
“Do you want all your wishes to come true?”
And they all replied me with a big “yes!”
I again asked them, “do you really want all your wishes to come true?”
And they again replied me with the same answer.
I once again asked them the same question as it was the final question and they all told me “Yes Ma’am! all wishes.”
I said, “Let’s learn about a “Little Monkey” who just wanted to be the strongest and big.
And he was very impressed by the other animals and he just wanted to be like those animals.”
He wanted a trunk like elephant, long neck like giraffe and stripes like zebra.
He got all that and then he went to a river to see how wonderful he was looking.
But when he saw his reflection in the water he screamed, cried and said, “there is a monster in the river.”
But soon he realised that, that was not a monster that was his reflection only, because he wanted to be something else and someone else so all his wishes came true and now he does not look like a monkey, elephant, giraffe or zebra.
Now he is a different creature.
So for one last time he wished for, to be himself again and he turned into himself again and he never wanted to be someone else ever again.
So I again asked them, “Do you still want all your wishes to be true?” and this time my children said, “Not all wishes Ma’am.”
Sometimes we want to fit in any group of people or in any society and for that we start changing ourself without even noticing that we are trying to be someone else and we will eventually miss, “who we really are” and try to become something what we are not.
And this feeling causes to be alone and lonely.
We need to understand that, “we are unique the way we are.”
I often see that people compare each other and appreciate the one and discourage the others. We ask people to copy this one person whom we are appreciating and want others to become like that person but can it really happened? can this person really copy others whom we are not appreciating and can others really copy the person whom people are appreciating?
According to me, it’s a big “NO!”
But we don’t realise that we are trying to break someone down by trying to build someone up. And when people try to be someone else they cannot be themselves as they try to leave their own way and their try to live in other’s way.
Just like the little monkey who tried to be like others but he lost what he was.
Because God created you, just to be you! When you were born, the Lord had an amazing plan in his mind for you. He wants you to follow His plan as the person He made you not as the person who is next to you, because you are a unique and a masterpiece that God has created.
A very beautiful Bible verse says:
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10
You don’t need to waste time for feeling inadequate or comparing yourself to others. While you can learn “great things from other people”, you do not need to be envious of anyone else or try to be someone else. Jesus is excited to watch you turning into a beautiful spirit and a person
There is no reason to change that, no matter what anyone else says or thinks about you!
We need to learn great things from others but don’t try to turn yourself into others!
We are God’s beautiful masterpiece he loves us the way we are and he knitted us wonderfully in our mother’s womb.
Always remember and say to yourself:
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
So just to show some people, to fit in any group of people or to fit in any society, you don’t need to pretend what you are not because you are unique the way you are.
You can never satisfy all the people around you, I once heard Priyanka Chopra saying, “No matter how hard you try there will always be someone who will always be unhappy with you.”
So you work on yourself to improve yourself and work on the things God has appointed you for, all things that God has sent you for.
1. Be a hand of support.
2. Be a person to encourage others.
3. Be a shoulder for someone to cry on.
4. And be yourself in the way God has created you.
5. You are amazing the way you are
Always remember that you are God’s masterpiece created by his hand.
I know just by reading one blog it is not easy to start thinking that we will be doing it and will change our thoughts about ourselves and about others.
It is a little by little everyday process because we are God’s masterpiece and fearfully and wonderfully made.
Finally I just want to say,
Respect yourself the way you are made and the way you are.
Respect others the way they look and the way they are.

Blessings
By: Karishma George

Do you feel discouraged sometimes when we face challenged by some problems?
Do you ever feel that I am, not at all special?
Even sometimes we start to copy others or to compare ourself to others and all these things start to discouraging us.
we may think that we have to give up on our joy and we often get upset when we get discouraged…!
Right…?
But a Bible verse says, “The joy of the Lord is my strength”.
What joy is this talking about?
Do you love to see rainbows?
When I was a young girl I used to wait for the rainbows to appear in the sky and I used to jump and laugh in joy to see the rainbow,
Because it is so colourful and I love colours…
I love to see colours around me because that gives me a smile on my face.
One of my student loves rainbows too and everytime when I ask her to draw something, she says this one line, “Ms. Karishma, can this be in rainbow colours?”
And I always tell her, “Esther, draw and colour what gives you joy” and she makes many things but in rainbow colours and I cannot tell you how happy she is to see her drawing.
Sometimes she colours the vegetables with all rainbow colour and tells me, “Ms. Karishma look at this, even my vegetables are so colourful” and the joy of her heart can be seen on her face and that smile that joy gives me joy and I start to smile and laugh with her.
These are the colour of joy when different things work for your happiness and doesn’t matter how odd they are or best they are but all things work together for our good, right?
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
” Romans 8:28
So, can we say, that the joy is contagious?
Yes! The joy of our heart is contagious because when you smile at someone the person smiles too and that time one smile makes two smiles..
But how can we be joyful in difficult situation?
One this I am learning these days is, how can I be more patience?
How can I give more grace to myself and people around me?
And when I saw this verse, “The joy of the Lord is my strength” I was honestly encouraged to have a joyful heart…
But I know it’s not easy to have it all the time but we know that we learn something when we practice it, so having joy in our heart is like carrying colours in our hand and just spreading it all around.
“The joy of the Lord is your strength”. The Bible says God gives us joy and peace. It tells us that real joy comes from God and is ours forever. The joy that is found in God’s presence isn’t static; it transforms and regenerates us.
Sometimes, though, it may seem like hard work to feel joyfull. The task gets easier when you recognize that you have the power to govern how you think.
There isn’t anything that can really take away your knowledge of God or stop you from feeling spiritual joy. You can let this spiritual sense be yours, instead of thoughts of discouragement or despair. If it still seems difficult to express joy, you might even need to argue with yourself that you have power from God over it…
Keep your strength up by being joyful and get your joyful colours be the rainbow of someone’s life.
But when it’s difficult, read the word of God and be encouraged.
The one person who can keep you joyful is you yourself.
Understand the power of joy and Be a colourful joy of someone’s life.
Let the joy of the Lord be your strength!

By:Karishma George

From my childhood I love one Bible verse, which is “Your word is lamp to my feet and light to my path”
I loved this Bible verse and loved it so much that I used it for my facebook bio too…
But what does that mean?
How come “His word be light or lamp to our path of feet”
Growing up, I used to sing one song which is, “Oh! Be careful little eyes what you see,
Oh! Be careful little hands what you do,
Oh! Be careful little FEET where you GO,
Because your father from above look down in love…
Oh! Be careful…”
I loved this song and I always wanted to sing this song, especially when the part comes “your father from above…”
Because that gives me security that he is looking after me and you no matter what we are and where we are.

Also, In this journey of this life with many dangerous pitfalls, slippery places, and darkness to destroy our close fellowship with our Lord, but in this verse “Psalm 119:105”, we have a beautiful promise and an eternal truth… that God’s Word is a lamp to our feet that will guide us through the darkness of this life and it is a shining light to brighten the path we are walking.

Not only there are external difficulties and dangers to face in life’s journey, but also there are internal failings and weaknesses that lurk deep within our soul and heart which can cause us to walk away from the purpose of the life we have but God’s Word provides a sure foundation upon which to stand in a darkened world that is falling apart.

Reading of his word will light up the path that we take in our journey and re-energise our hope in Christ, and provide us understanding to the one who walks humbly before the Lord.

His Word not only brightens our path but also guide us and our heart on our journey through life, and warns us of each lurking danger, but it is a treasur that is hidden deep within our heart for it contains words of wisdom to guide our thinking, precious promises to encourage our hearts, godly instruction on how to live as the Lord desires us to live, and it is the perfect pattern for Christian living.

Lord’s word always encourages us, lead our path and guide our feet but the real questions are…
Whom are we encouraging?
Whose path are we lighting up?
Whose the one whom we are guiding?
Does our life shows love, care and encouragement to others?
Are we a downfall for someone or STEP THAT LEADS?

I will leave these questions so that we can think through and try to be an encouragement for someone’s journey through life.

Let’s his light shine through our life and let that light brighten someone’s path to walk!
Be the light that shines in a dark place!
By: Karishma George

Many times we have heard that we should love each other and always help. But when it comes to helping others, first we think about whom are we helping and then we help them accordingly. Though the Holi Scripture says help everyone, we do not do that-not because we cannot but because we don’t want to.

These days outlets accepts all kind of ATM cards- Debit, Credit, Visa, Master etc.
In God’s Kingdom everyone is accepted and has a vital role to play.

A long time ago I was part of a group and I loved that group. But slowly I started noticing that while only a few people were called on, others were not called on for anything.The ones who were not called were not ignored because they weren’t capable of doing anything but because they did not have the same talents as others (those who were often called on).In this group we needed to have the same talent to be considered as talented.Therefore, people were feeling left behind because they did not share the same talent. Slowly I started getting frustrated and wasn’t very happy to be part that group because I did not share the same talent as others. My talents and callings were different and different people were not accepted in this group. One day one of my friend who was a new believer asked me,”Karishma why do people treat each other like this in the group and judge each other by what they wear, what they do and what talents they have?”

I was struggling with the same questions but I said to her, “You know what I am also feeling this way but the Lord says that we are his body and each body part has different work to do”

While encouraging her I myself learned that yes, “we all are different yet one.”

It is okay to have different talents but we are still part of the same body.
“Eyes cannot hold but hands cannot see either.”

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function (Talent), so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
Romans 12:4‭-‬5.

This word really spoke to me and always speaks to me by telling me that “God accepts all” No matter whether you are a person full of different talents or you have one special talent, we are still part of the same body and God loves us equally. We as humans might have favorites but we all are God’s favorite in different ways. If judging others is wrong then also looking at others and murmuring about their behavior and actions is wrong too!

There is passage which clearly shows that we all are called for different works. Some are called to go to stage in the church and lead the crowd for worship and by preaching but some are called to sit quietly and praying for these people while they are in front of the crowd but none of these people are more important than each other.
“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.” Romans 12:6-9

It is important for us to know that we are called to do different works and that all need to do the work that they are appointed to do to help each other and love everyone.

“Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.” – Romans 12:9‭-‬10

So if we have been people who always thought that God only loves certain people and use their talents only, lets pray today asking for forgiveness. Lets help each other, encourage each other and know that he is the God who takes delight in us. Lets respect everyone’s work – not only certain people in the group with certain talents.

Because he accepts all of us for who we are, we don’t need to pretend to be someone else.

“When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” Romans 12:13.
Lets help people when we see they are left behind or left out and encourage them with what talents they have. And lets love each other with God’s love!

We all belongs to the same body with different functions. When one part hurts the whole body suffers and when one part is happy the whole body rejoices with them.
Christ should be seen through our actions, behaviors and attitudes instead of us screaming and saying, “Hey! Come see Christ in me” when our actions don’t show Christ in us.

And all Cards are accepted in HIS Kingdom because we all are DIFFERENT but SAME!

Blessings
By:Karishma George

“Few years back I was struggling with the issue FEAR, wow! I mentioned it with bold letters as it is so big!
Since I was a little girl,I started experiencing it but as we all think and say FEAR is not a thing. We don’t take it seriously at all.
But every night and whole night I used to hold my mother’s hand to sleep but I wasn’t able to because of the fear I had in my heart.
I grew up with these feelings and then the time came when I was moving to different city where my mother wasn’t there with me to hold my hand during the nights.
This FEAR start to increase, though I was staying with prayerful family but I was alone in my room at night and often struggled to sleep.
I was over powered by fear and struggled to be alone any time of the day. I used to sit on a chair the whole time until the family came back and I used to keep all the lights on, no matter if it was night or day.I started feeling so alone, unhappy and lost my peace and joy.
I wasn’t able to sleep and I wasn’t able to share what I was going through and what I was feeling.”
Because FEAR is funny not a serious thing. Right?
Everytime I shared my struggles with others, I was teased, they made fun of me. This was funny for them but wasn’t for me.
No one understood my struggle and I felt that I am being judged because of the questions that people used to ask about my struggles “Karishma! How can you be so fearful you are a 20 Year old girl not a Child, don’t you love God? Don’t you have Faith? Don’t you follow Jesus? And why are you not trusting Jesus?
I was crying and praying continuously and asking God to help me but I stopped sharing my struggles with people.
One day I met a friend who knew me as a joyful person and she asked me, “How are you girl?” I am fine “I replied”.
She started looking at the floor and looked at me again and said, ” Karishma how are you?” I looked at her and my tears started coming out and I just nodded my head for NO!
I wanted to tell her I wasn’t okay, I haven’t slept well from a long time, when I am alone I don’t enter in my room, I sit in common room with all lights on and continuously watch TV but I wasn’t saying anything then with a low voice I said, “Can I share with you something but you have to promise me, you will not tell anyone and will not make fun of it.” She held my hand and assured me , then I shared with her what was happening and I was continuously crying but she listened to me very patiently as she really cared and didn’t leave my hand and once I was done talking,she just encouraged me with few kind words and said, “Can I pray for you?” Later she said, “Do you want to meet me ones a week? So we can pray together and talk through all what you are going through.”
She was the first person who heard me and felt my pain, later she and her husband, counseled me for fear for almost 18 months and I was able to open myself to them because I knew that they were not judging me instead they were praying for me and with me!
We all need that person, who can pray for us and with us.
I was continuously loosing my hope and there was even a time which I only shared with this lady and her husband,I said to them,”what is the point of living like this,having a fearful life.” (Of course I wasn’t thinking to end my life because I was continuously praying for myself and God wasn’t letting any bad thoughts to come in my mind) but everyone doesn’t have that.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord . “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11”
I was thinking God wasn’t listening me but now when I look back, I can see that he was preparing me so I could experience this and so I could understand the people who go through the same pain.
Now when someone comes to me and tell me about it, I know how it feels.
Because God had and has a plan for me.
After a long counseling through God’s word and prayers I was healed and I realised that when I had to stay all alone in a big house for few days.
I was so comfortable, in peace and I was staying with my joy.

My mentor always said, Karishma until you are alone you won’t know if this fear has gone.
Word says:
The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.
Psalms 34:17

If we ask his help, he is faithful and just to help us and provide us what we need.

As he sent my friend and her husband in my life to help me.
I still feel fearful but it’s not what I went through.

Please give people some grace when you get to know that someone is going through some emotional challenges. Listen to these people who are looking for a person who can lead them, guide them and understand them.

And, give yourself a grace too so you can go to a person you trust and share what you are feeling and going through.

Recently a brilliant young actor Sushant Singh Rajput from Bollywood who had lot of potentials in him ended his life. Now people has started talking about Mental Health and issues of depressions. He felt that the best way to deal with his struggles is to end his life.
Doesn’t that happens to us sometimes?

We look great, people love what we do, people love us but do we really love ourself?

I asked many people about…

What do they think about suicide?

Why do people end their life?

..and I got many different answers and views…
Some said weakness.
Some said lack of joy, happiness and peace.
Some said depression.
Some said these people have no hope.
And so on…

And in a way these are true too but how can we have the joy, happiness and peace which would not leave us?
Is it okay to kill ourselves when Bible clearly says killing is a sin?

Of course not!
The true Joy, happiness,peace and hope we can only get through Jesus.

Bible also says,
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

I don’t know if the people who commit suicide are weak or what but I know that they feel so alone and lonely and they stop being happy and that’s why they end their own life.

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

Walk with him on his WAY with your TRUTH and he will surely give you a LIFE with happiness, joy and peace.

And the happiness, joy and peace he will give you, no one will be able to take it away from you.

Suicide is a sin because murder is a sin. Life is gift of God and its not to end in suicide.

Suicide is not a planning, it is a thought.

Which comes to our mind and if we don’t know how overcome it, this overtakes us.

Come to God with your broken heart and he is able to heal it.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.
Psalms 34:18”

If you are loosing your joy, happiness and peace please call on to God and he will rescue you!

If your heart is broken for anything,please come to God and he will provide you the best help and lead you through the storm of your life.

Sometimes he calms the storm you are in and sometimes he calms you during the storm you are in.
Just like me, first he calmed me and then he calmed the storm of my life.

You will never know what people around you may be going through inside.
Dear ones, during this Lockdown Pandemic,loneliness and uncertainty is terrible.
Please reach out to someone you feel might be lonely and struggling.Just listen to them patiently and pray with them.

Do’s
1. Stay Socially Connected.
2. Talk about your feelings and struggles to someone.
3. Be entertained, Watch and listen to Positive Music and TV.
4. Develop a healthy routine. Exercise, Pray, Going to bed on time and waking up early etc.
5. Good Humour and fun time with friends and family is really helpful.

Don’t
1. Don’t be quite about your Mental State and struggles.
2. Avoid saying discouraging statements and negative criticism.
3. Do not Hurt someone’s feelings.
4. Do not judge others or compare.
(Comparison is a dangerous territory)
6. Do not be alone for a long time.

Still if you feel discouraged and is struggling with something.
Hey!! LET ME TELL YOU I AM HERE FOR YOU; GOD LOVES YOU UNCONDITIONALLY.

There is nothing impossible for God.

Trust him with all your heart.

Blessings

By: Karishma George

We all love different types of MASKS. We always seek to be someone else and want to do things like others do because many of us don’t want people to see who we really are. Many of us have gone through these questions in our life ones.
Who am I?
Am I what I do?
Am I what and how I feel?
Am I what others think of me?
And many more never ending questions!

To hide and to represent ourself to others we often wear a mask on our face. We hide what we are and how we feel about things.
We hide ourself behind the mask so the people around us can’t really know us.
We have masks to hide our…
Pride, Selfishness, Loneliness, rejections and righteousness

The masks we try to put on might be…
Anger, Love, Acceptance, social media and righteousness
And so on…

Masks
Behind the mask of Anger we often hide our feeling like loneliness, rejection and many other feelings.
Because we don’t want people to see our feelings so we usually find a mask of Anger.

Mask of Social Media
We wear a mask of social media because we want people to see what we want them to see but God doesn’t see what we want him to see, instead he sees in us what even we can’t see.
It says, if you lie about something over and over again even we ourselves start believing the lie as that’s the truth.

Why do we want to hide our righteousness?
In this “COOL” world we don’t want people to know our relationship with Christ because according to many people, religious people are not the right fit in the “COOL” groups and in this “COOL” world.

Long back I met a girl and she wanted to go to seminary but she always said, “I have no idea what I want to do”. One day when I got to hear that she wants to go to seminary I asked her, “why did u hide this?” She replied, “I don’t want my friends to know that I am too much into religion so that I can’t hangout with them because if they know that I am a religious person, they may stop calling me to hangout and they may laugh at me too.”

Are we embarrassed of God?
Is he embarrassed of us?

Even the mask of RIGHTEOUSNESS!

What is the mask of RIGHTEOUSNESS?
The mask which we usually wear at the Church around the people of God and no one can know that these people are wearing a mask on their face…

But when we start spending time with them, we often see that they pray very well. They may have a pretty good Biblical knowledge too but what about the relationship with Christ?

We know Christianity is not a religion it is a relation with Christ, so we don’t need to wear any type of mask. He accepts us as who we are!

Do you ever try to pretend to be someone else with your family or the people you love or people who love you?
No! Because we don’t need to do that,
Right?

Last year I met someone and when that person was leaving, I wrote her a letter (because I love to write letters to people I love) and I wrote a line in that, “Dear, I wish I was like you, so confident.” She could stand in public and could say things or whatever she wanted to say. When I met this person, I wondered about how this person is so confident about everything and can stand in public but is that what God wants me to do?
Does he want me to be her or to be me?

Of course God wants me to be me and he wants to accept me not someone else in me!
For how long, can I pretend to be someone else, not very long, right?

In Luke 12:2

The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is in secret will be made known to all.

There will be a time when everything will be revealed and nothing will be hidden too.

There is nothing which is hidden from God. We can’t hide anything from him.
He knows the real us but he still waits for us to remove the mask we are wearing and go back to him.
The mighty things can happen when we take the mask off and ask God to do his work in us.

I always say and I have even written that in my Bible:
“He doesn’t count my sins instead he counts me in those he loves!”

Let’s come to him with real us and let’s be the ones he wants us to be!

Let’s be who we are and come to God because he loves you as much as he love me or someone else!
His love is not partial.

Task:
Is there any mask we need to remove?
Are we even aware of the mask we have on our face?

Sit with God and talk to him about the mask you are wearing and why you are wearing that!

Find a Godly person (someone you can trust and share about the mask)

Let’s remove it and be ourself with God.

Blessings

By: Karishma George

How important is it to knock on the right door?
Once on my birthday, my friends were all set to surprise me and they made a plan to surprise me. This was the plan: They would walk in my house at 12.00am and scream “Happy Birthday” to me.My roommat/a very close friend was in on this plan too and they all were set with their plan.My friends called my roommate and told her that they were sitting outside and asked if she could keep the door unlocked, so my roommate agreed. It was 12.00am and my roommate wished me a happy birthday. She kept going out and checking on something so I asked her what was happening. She didn’t reply and she kept on talking on the phone. Then she stood at the door. Now it was 12.15am and my friends entered in and did what they were supposed to do.They all were laughing because my friends were sitting outside the wrong door and they kept on knocking on the WRONG door and trying to open that door, but it was locked from inside! They kept on telling my roommate that she hadn’t unlocked the door!
So they could have been in trouble by knocking and trying to open the wrong door.
Just like this moment, God has told us that when we knock the door it will be open for us.

What is that door?
That door is the door of his love and eternal life.
Just like when my friends were lost my roommate stood at the door and called them again and again and gave them the address and the location.
When we are lost, God himself opens the door (which no one can close), stands outside and keep on calling our names, giving us the right address and directions. But sometimes we try to open and to knock on the door that is not for us.

This may relate to our lives sometimes. Just like the prodigal son, his father was waiting for him until he came back.
God waits for us until we come back to him. He is that loving father who stands at the door and if he sees us lost he starts calling us and giving us the address and directions. He keeps on waiting for us and calling us so that when we see him standing and waiting for us, we overflow with joy and with a peaceful smile on our face (just like my friends, when they saw my roommate they were so happy and peaceful)

Meet him at that right door because he says:
“I have open the door for you that no one can close.”
Revelation 3:8

Task:
Ask yourself:
“Am I knocking or trying to open the door where God is waiting for me?”

Blessings
By: Karishma George