“And she [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place in the guest room.”   Luke 2: 7                                                        Tinsels are the decorative items which makes the Christmas tree or the house beautiful. Our Christmas celebration is full of it. Apart from the literal tinsels, we have figurative tinsels which were slowly added in due course in our Christmas celebrations. Among the several Christmas activities like the carols, presents, Santa Claus, Christmas tree, early morning Christmas service, family time and obviously the good food, we can easily spot what are tinsels and what is connected with the core of Christmas. Now that we are in England, we see a different type of Christmas tradition – the turkey, Christmas pudding, Holly w...

  “Your word is a lamp to my feet…”  Psalm 119: 105 There are always many questions about the nature of God’s guidance and how the Word of God should be used in the context of providence. Some imagine that Bible could be used as guidance by seeking to find random verse which could be source of encouragement or a word of promise.     Some expect God to show some verses to them for clear direction. Some even use it as a spell book which could be recited to get the preferred outcome.     But in this verse by describing the Word of God as a lamp, Psalmist is talking about the nature of God’s guidance to his people in different terms. Lamp is the source of light which could guide the steps. Lamp, with its oil, thread and container which holds the oil, does not represent the light it brings out but the inner mechanism which ultimately produce Light. The power of the Word and its guidance begins by first working inside us. It changes our inner being so that we dev...