My Brother's Hands

Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen! In order merely to keep food on the table for this mob, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood. Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer's elder children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy. After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines. They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht's etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works. When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht's triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn.Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you." All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No...no...no...no." Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, Brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look, look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother...for me it is too late." More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer's hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver-point sketches, watercolors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer's works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office. One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother's abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands." The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one, no one, ever makes it alone!

Do not covet...

Exodus 20:17"You shall not covet (desire) your neighbor's house, you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor ANYTHING that is your neighbor's."


Looking for a dream job? Looking for the dream girl? Searching for a job that would pay you several dollars? Hear me out! Today every ethics and moral is thrown to the wind in order to achieve what you covet. To "Covet" is to strongly desire something that belongs to someone else. Have you seen little children covet the other one's toy. They would be on the floor kicking their legs, screaming and asking for the same toy and it would be something like this, "I want it right now". As adults we may not go on the ground and kick our legs but we surely have ways of coveting.

Listen, I have something important to share with you! Today there are thousand and one ways to get a job. Why is there such a mad rush for consultants and placement services? Why are there so many Recruitment Offices? Why are there so many fake educational certificates floating in the market? Why do the young not bat their eyelid to bribe or give false information regarding their education and experience details? Why is there so much corruption in this world? On one hand there are needy candidates who are in want of jobs but on the other hand there are greedy candidates who would like more carrots everyday. Jesus says "greed" is something we need to guard against, in Luke 12:15 He says, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Businessmen shamelessly grab trained employees of other organizations using subtle and devious methods. Absolutely callous and wicked! To abruptly leave a company after they have invested on you and trained you is also downright betrayal. The Bible commands us not to covet someone else's manservant, nor his maidservant. I know the whole world is running on a common code and that is, 'smartly survive". There is so much of back-stabbing and grabbing going on in this world but as children of God we have rules to follow and we cannot go by the worldly way. Got it?

I want to share here an interesting article I read somewhere: "A successful businessman and his friends were talking and laughing together and enjoying success. The businessman told of his childhood of poverty. Someone had given him a big coin. To have a coin was rare for children then, and his little sister begged to hold it. He laughed over the memory of all the chores he could get her to do for him just to get to hold the coin. He told of a day when she minded the cows all day for the privilege of holding the coin, only to have to give it up at the end of the day. All of the men laughed again at the childishness of the sister. Just then, one man not laughing, reminded the businessman that all he was doing now in labor and service was for the privilege of holding onto a few possessions. The end of the day is coming, and you will have to give them up like your little sister did."



BEWARE! JESUS IS COMING SOON TO JUDGE YOU AND ME!

The Mouse Trap……….

A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package; what food might it contain? He was aghast to discover that it was a mouse trap! Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning, "There is a mouse trap in the house, and there is a mouse trap in the house." The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell you this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me; I cannot be bothered by it." The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mouse trap in the house." "I am so very sorry Mr. Mouse," sympathized the pig, "but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers." The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, "Like wow, Mr. Mouse, a mouse trap; am I in grave danger, Duh?" So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer's mouse trap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see that it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital. She returned home with a fever. Now everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. His wife's sickness continued so that friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well, in fact, she died, and so many people came for her funeral the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat. So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that when the least of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

The freedom & power of FORGIVENESS!

Luke 23:34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."


We were having a heated debate on ‘forgiveness’ in a seminar and I vividly remember as a bold, fiery youngster many years ago bravely arguing for my stand. It was on how would you react if you were to judge a rapist, I loudly and emotionally said, “he deserves to be hanged”. I never knew about forgiveness until Jesus stepped into my life. The transformation that Jesus brings into our life is just phenomenal and break-taking.

One afternoon, a woman from our neighborhood came to see me with her fingers bandaged. She said that her drunkard husband beat her up mercilessly, dragged her out of the house, pulled her saree and then further chased her on the road. By then this lady ‘s fingers were cut and she was bleeding. This man’s thirst for blood did not stop though, he said, “now wipe the blood stains on the floor with your own hurting fingers”. She came running to me and said, “sister, because you spoke of the love of Jesus, I tolerated this man this long, but this morning I had to go to the police, please forgive me for disobeying you.” Dear friend, how would you react to this? Believe me, I silently cried with her, prayed for her and sent her home. As a teacher of the Bible, I had to guide her wisely. Every day I hear of atrocities done to women and the way they suffer. But when they walk to a servant of God and come for counseling, they walk with HOPE IN JESUS; because transformation is possible with Jesus and Jesus also gives His children the tolerance to endure pain and pray patiently for the person; because Jesus Himself prayed forgiveness for the people who tortured and tormented Him which words cannot describe.

Very often we find it difficult to pray for someone when they’ve wronged us, we like to hang on to the pain for a while, and if at all we pray, it may be after we cool off. But here Jesus prays in the heat of that moment. How could Jesus pray like that in the heat of the battle? We can receive this power through the grace of God. Hallelujah! FRIEND, WE NEED TO TELL THE WORLD THAT THERE IS HOPE FOR US THROUGH JESUS WHO WENT ON THE CROSS FOR US. We don’t have to be sad on ‘Good Friday’, but we need to meditate on the cross and be glad that we have redemption and forgiveness through His death.

The last words of Saddam Hussein were ''Down with the traitors, the Americans, the spies and the Persians.'' But the last words of our Redeemer Jesus were “forgive them”; this is the mark of the love of Jesus.

Jesus’ final words were not recorded just for popularity, but for a purpose, so that we would pray for our enemies, than holding a grudge.

GOD BLESS YOU!

A Horrified Horse

Alexander, the Great (356 – 323 BC) had a wonderful and gorgeous horse, Bucephalus, which carried Alexander through several battles to create the mighty Greek empire. There is a legend about the taming of Bucephalus as described by Plutarch, the Greek historian and biographer.


When Alexander was only twelve years old, Philoneicus, a Thessalian brought a wild horse before King Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander. He wanted to sell it to King Philip. But the horse was uncontrollable and unstable. No one could tame it.

Alexander observed the peculiar behaviour of the horse and noted that it was behaving abnormally as it was scared of its own shadow. Every time it saw its shadow, it got frightened and became uncontrollable. Alexander volunteered to tame it. King Philip promised to buy the horse and gift it to Alexander if he could ride it.

Alexander knew that it was shying away from its own shadow. So he stroked it gently and slowly turned its face towards the sun and led it forward, so that its shadow was behind it and it could not see its shadow. The horse became tame and Alexander easily mounted on it and rode happily. He named it Bucephalus and used it in all his conquests till its death.

Our shadow becomes visible to us only when we turn away from the source of light. The shadow grows in size as we move away from the light.

The shadow of our sins haunts us as we turn away from Jesus, the light of the world. As we move away from Him, the shadow of sin appears to grow to alarming proportions and frighten us. But if we turn towards our Saviour, our sins cannot scare us. He sacrificed His life and redeemed us from sin and the influence of Satan.

The saintly sages of ancient India used to recite the Vedic prayer:

“ASATO MA SAD GAMAYA,

THAMASO MA JYOTHIR GAMAYA,

MRITHYOR MA AMRITHAM GAMAYA.”

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28}.

This popular prayer of Hindus in the Sanskrit language can be translated as:

“Lead us from Untruth to Truth,

Lead us from Darkness to Light

Jesus revealed to us, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” {John 14:6}.


“I am the light of the world,” He said. “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness” {John 8:12}.

“I have come into the world as light, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness” {John 12: 46}.

St. John teaches us, “God is light and there is no darkness at all in Him” {1 John 1: 5}. Isaiah foretold His incarnation and mission, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light is shining on them” {Isaiah 9: 2}.

“The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to mankind.The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out” {John 1:4,5}.

God said, “I, the Lord will be your eternal light; The light of my glory will shine on you” {Isaiah 60: 19}.

Let us turn towards Jesus, our eternal Light, who removes the shadow of sin from our lives.

CRACKED GLASS………….

Mr. Knight, science teacher, poured some really hot water into two glasses. One glass had a spoon in it, and the other one didn't. The one without the spoon cracked when the hot water was poured into it, but the other one was fine and remained still. Mr. Knight said the metal spoon helped absorb some of the heat and kept the glass from breaking. My friend Karen wasn't in school today- her family is having all kinds of problems. Her little brother fell down from their basement stairs .Her mother had a broken leg, and her grandma is really sick-she might be dying! I don't see how they can stand it. Well, they know the Lord and that makes a very big difference. That science experiment is a pretty good example of knowing how God helps people. The glasses can represent people's lives, and the hot water can stand for the problems that sometimes surround them. The spoon can represent the Lord; He’s the one who helps absorb trials. Without Him, I don't know how anyone stands the troubles and pains of life that come and hit us. With him, his constant love and care keeps spirit. Let’s ask God to comfort us and help ourselves leave our concerns with him and trust him through it all. Are you surrounded by problems and difficulties or do u know someone else who is? Do you wonder how he or she can bear it? Sickness of death of a loved one, loss of a job or difficulties, problems with friends or with neighborhood bullies, All these and many other things make you feel like you are going to "crack" like u simply can't stand it anymore. Give your life and your fears to God today. He cares, and he can give the courage you need.

How is your walk?

Philippians 3:17 "Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern."


Many get weary very soon and give up 'walking with God'. I want to share some important truths with you today. Walking impatiently, rashly and hastily will take us no where; we need to learn to walk faithfully, patiently and truthfully. Psalm 37:23 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way."

God looks at Joshua and tells him, "Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you.." God expects Joshua to take a step of faith and conquer the enemy territory. The Bible says, "Walk by faith and not by sight." Walking in faith means to look beyond the present circumstances, to look beyond the present sufferings, failure, discouragements and darkness. It is to walk holding on to the pleasant promises of God which would surely come to pass. Right now, many of your steps are staggering, unsteady, you have given up hopes and you have no strength to walk steadily. Let this message pick you up and draw you by the collar to trust God and walk briskly. Will you?

When I think back of my walk with God, it surely has been a long walk. I dreamt that the moment I resigned my job, I would have doors opened for me and I would instantly get busy. It never works that way. In fact, it happened the other way around, all doors were closed. I had a fire in my heart to serve the Lord, but I did not know how! I started praying and walking inside my prayer room, days turned to months, months turned to years, but I faithfully kept walking everyday. Now and then, God would open a door like an oasis in a dessert, but I knew the real break-through is yet to come. God did prove to be faithful in my life and before He could build my ministry, He taught me to walk faithfully. Sometimes, it is truly exasperating and frustrating when nothing seems to move; yet today I suggest that you just walk with God. Wake up in the morning and spend quiet times with the Lord, read the Word even if you don't feel like it and trust Him even if the situation is grim and gloomy. Remember just one thing, He can change your circumstances! I was ministering to a hindu lady who was shattered because her husband had an affair with another lady. I just advised her to walk faithfully trusting Jesus to do a miracle. As I was leading her to Christ, the situation started getting bad instead of improving but I asked her to focus just on Jesus. She would read the Bible in her office, pray as often as she could because she was unable to worship Jesus openly. She attended meetings even though she did not understand the sermon, but God was watching her sincere walk with Him. Praise God! Allow God to work in your life, instead of you holding the reigns.

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:1 "Finally brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God."