Life Lessons

By Daniel Thomas

The explosion of technological advancement has created an illusion of self-sufficiency and greed with the modern man. A feeling of “I don’t need of anyone” and “I can manage my affairs” has come up on a worldwide basis. This has resulted a disconnect with the Creator. This is a self-destructive phenomenon.

The author urges the need for a deep-rooted relationship between the Creator and creation. The pages inside display an intimate relationship of the author with Jesus Christ. It is imperative for a successful Christian life. The readers are challenged for an introspection to see where they are today in their faith journey. Not only God will lead you through his path but also will join you on the journey called life.

The author invites you to get reconnected without any delay with the One who gave up even the last drop of his blood to save you from the bondage of Satan. This will assure your safe passage to the other shore, his love, peace, and joy now and throughout eternity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886160871

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Life Lessons

Daniel Thomas

Copyright © 2022 by Daniel Thomas

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Life Is a Journey, and It Is Given

The Amazing Creator

We Are Purposefully Created

Purpose-Driven Storms in Life

Earthly Time Limit

You Are in the Hands of Your Creator

Choices and Consequences

Called and Enabled

You Are Bought with a Price

Life Becomes Meaningful with Relationship

Use Your Time Wisely

Christian Stewardship

Ungrateful and Dissatisfied Humanity

Trustworthy God

Also written by Daniel Thomas:

In his Footsteps Every Morning (A Daily Devotional)

Family Prayers

For Better Shores (Coauthor)

Faith is the centerpiece of a connected life.

It allows us to live by the grace of invisible

strands. It is a belief in a wisdom

superior to our own. Faith

becomes a teacher in

the absence of facts.

—Terry Tempest Williams

To my grandchildren Jade, Joshua, Emma, Caleb, and Siena

through whom my Lord and Savior blessed me to see generations

Foreword

Todd Henry, in his book Die Empty , elaborates about how we must end successfully. The book narrates that we must empty unleashing all our best in ideas and work in this earth, and we must walk to the shadow with an empty mind.

Glad to note that Mr. Daniel Thomas who has an optimistic perspective of life completed a book named as Life Lessons. As the name denotes, the book comprises of lessons treasured from his life for the younger generation. At the outset, this book is a companion to a searching soul. It comprises of theological disposition of a person who have firm roots in Christ. I am really glad to read this work since the author is personally known to me. I cherish the good old memories with Daniel Thomas when I was pursuing ThM studies in Princeton University.

Enumerating the highness of Creator God and the purpose of creation, author renders deep-rooted relation between Creator and creation. Uncertainties and violent storms are absolute realities in life. The place of shutters and time of shatters are not signs of hopelessness but a new beginning in the hands of God. Through life experiences and vast reading, author narrates God’s providence. Crisis is not a situation of doom but a time of bloom. We are safe in the hands of God, who creates new ways and charges with new hope.

Author points our thought process as a rationale of choices. It’s not on how wise we opt, but the matter is in how deep we cling to his hands. If we cling to God, Holy Spirit will guide us to safe side as an incessant lantern. The book ends with a note of relationship. Life is meaningful in relationship with God and with the world. As Christ related himself empathetically with the lost, last, and least, likewise are obliged to enact Christ’s event in our day-to-day life.

Pandemic world demands a transformation. Tomorrow we are entering into an endemic situation. We are forced to walk with virus. It’s our responsibility to hold our faith firmly. I very much appreciate Mr. Daniel Thomas for attempting a book like this with lots of life lessons for the new generation. Author’s experience as a Sunday school teacher for long time and a teacher in life and active member of Mar Thoma Church in the United States for almost five decades has filled the pages of this book with life-moving experience, which touch the heart of the reader.

I wish and pray that this book may help younger generation to have a fruitful and meaningful relation with God, to have a deep intimacy with Christ, and to have strong affinity to Holy Spirit to walk diligently in this world.

In his service,

Rt. Rev. Thomas Mar Timotheos Episcopa

Preface

Our earthly journey called life is a gift from our Creator. While it is a gift, God has a unique and definite plan and purpose for each one of us. In other words, we are part of God’s created plan. This is not only true for the human beings but also for each created being like the smallest bird called hummingbirds, the trees and plants, even the earthworms—all of them have a part to play. Our life should be driven and molded with this view with each step that we take.

As many of us are either not aware of who we are, whose we are, or why we are here, they travel through a broad way, swim with the flow, and end up in losing their gifted life. These people want to get everything that pleases their eyes. For those who go after where the grass is green, there is a warning from the disciple John:

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15–17)

We live in an uncertain time, especially in this pandemic known as COVID-19 with many variances pop up each new day. I have never seen such an uncertainty in my lifetime. Many of you may feel the same way. When I come across with people in stores, malls, airports, and various other places where people congregate, at least, it seems to be that many of us do not know what we are doing or just don’t care. Each one of us is responsible for the welfare of ourselves and others. Dear fellow traveler, do you know which way you are heading on today? What is your goal in life? Do you have one? Pause for a minute in your busy life. Try to answer to these simple but profound questions. Your answer will determine your journey from this day on. I hope and pray that your answer will make you inherit your destiny.

Whatever has happened in your life so far, both good and bad, cannot be changed. The decisions and events that have shaped you what you are today are indelibly inscribed in the story of your life. But with the mercy and help of God, you can change your future, and that is what this book is all about. The future does not need to be the same as your past, nor does God intend it to be. No matter what your life has been like so far, God wants you to take a U-turn to a new path, a better path, his path. No doubt that his path promises joy, peace, purpose, and a glorious life with him in eternity. What I have written in the following chapters are the lessons that I have learned during my life journey.

Our Creator has given us a blessed opportunity to be a part on his created plan. He has also enabled us to do his will for us wherever we are placed or whatever vocation we have chosen. What he ask of us is our wholehearted obedience and faith. When we trust and obey God and do his will, he will bless us with his continued presence in our life. His presence is not merely a doctrine to believe, it’s a reality to be lived out.

Life becomes meaningful and authentic with relationship to God and his children. In order to be fruitful in whatever we do, we have to be connected with him. He told us, I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing (John 15:5). So the key for a productive life is the connection. All the problems that we see around the world today is because this connection is broken. As we live in a push-button culture, many of us think that we don’t need any help from anyone, including God. In other words, as we live in an age preoccupied with the things of the world, God is almost marginalized. May be many of us feel that we are on our own, and we can handle ourselves. Whatever may be the reason, this modern phenomenon is not a healthy one. Let our merciful God give us the wisdom to get back to him.

I left my parents and hometown many years ago for higher studies and my livelihood. Ever since, my Savior, Jesus Christ, was my companion and fellow traveler without a moment of absence. I fondly remember with gratitude to my late beloved mother, who introduced me to my Savior at a very young age. I had to go through many ups and downs, peaks and valleys, storms of life, failures, deception, and the like. But I can assure you that in every situation, either my Lord saved me or gave me strength to face them.

Jesus never intended for us to go through it alone in our journey of life. He is eager and willing to help us deal with life’s problems. He wants to join with us as fellow travelers in every situation. One of the great challenges of the Christian life is trying to make sense of the apparent contradictions and setbacks we face. Much of our perplexity comes from having only part of the whole picture, which distorts our perspective. The two men on the road to Emmaus illustrate this inadequacy and how the resurrected Christ helped them overcome it (Luke 24:13–35). Be assured that Jesus loves us and wants what is best for us.

My hope and prayer as you read this book is that God will use the following chapters to help you begin a new life journey. If you do, I am sure that you will find your destiny.

Daniel Thomas

Acknowledgments

Every author is indebted to all those who have influenced their lives, and this certainly is true of me. I can never be grateful enough for all those whom my Lord and Savior brought across my path over the years and the way he used them to enrich and energize me.

I am indebted to Rt. Rev. Thomas Mar Timotheos Episcopa of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church for writing a foreword to my book and blessing me with this endeavor.

I am grateful for the patient and constructive reading, editing, and valuable suggestions of Rev. Joseph T. George.

I am indeed indebted to Ms. April Van Scoy of the Christian Faith Publishing, Inc., Meadville, Pennsylvania, for tirelessly encouraging me to finish this project.

As always, I owe a lot to my family, my wife Molly Thomas, and my dear children, Simmi, Dylan, Susan, and their loving families, whose love, support, and prayers enabled me to undertake this project.

A lot of religious writers influenced my thoughts and ideas to finalize my book. I am grateful to all of them.

Last but not the least, I am always grateful to my almighty Lord for empowering this unworthy one and blessing me with appropriate thoughts and ideas from day one until the last line of this book.

Chapter 1

Life Is a Journey, and It Is Given

Life is a journey. Like every other journey, it has a starting point. You had no choice about it, of course, just like you had no choice about your parents, the color of your eyes, color of your physical body, your race or gender. All of these are the Creator’s choice. The minute we were born, we embarked on a journey, the journey of life. Each step we take and every decision we make will have an effect. Life has often been compared to a race, and it is often a test of our will, our endurance, and the set goal in the same way a physical race is.

Like any other journey, it has also an end. It may come suddenly and unexpectedly or after years of declining health, but it will certainly come. Just like your birth, you will have no choice about it either. Whether you agree or not, it is an inevitable reality. A wise poet once said that death comes equally to us all and makes us all equal when it arrives. This is the only one place where the injustice of the world cannot intrude.

The time between our birth and death, in fact, is our real journey. For some, it is unfortunately brief. For most of us, however, the time of the journey will last many years, moving successively from early childhood to adolescence and adulthood and then on through the middle age to the sunset years. Like birth and death, this part of the journey is also inevitable. There is no way we can alter it. Truly it doesn’t matter how long we live, but what matters is how we live.

In creation, the life system is mutually sustaining. Collectively it is effective and powerful just like a rope is strong and effective and not each individual fiber. The very survival of every living being is dependent upon the equilibrium of the environment. There is a created purpose for each one of his creation, and that purpose is expected to be fulfilled within the time given for each one. The Bible says that every one of us is uniquely created in his own image, by his own will (Genesis 1:27).

After creating humans, they were given prominence, purpose, and special placement in God’s plan. Only humans have the attributes of personhood, self-consciousness, will, reason, knowledge, emotions, creativity, morality, and spirituality. The chapter 2 of Genesis tells us that God placed the first human being in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (v. 15). That means, we are made in God’s image to carefully steward the world he made. The book of Genesis declares that the one true God created humans to be his representatives, ambassadors, to steward what he’d made on his behalf. Every one of us are equipped with the necessary talents and abilities to fulfill his will for us. Being a steward does not involve total dominion or freedom to do as we like but to convey the Creator’s rule on earth.

Many of us have difficulty to distinguish the difference between stewardship and ownership. The Creator owns everything, and we are simply managers or administrators on his behalf (Deuteronomy 10:14). This is the fundamental principle of biblical stewardship. Being administrators, we ought to be obedient and faithful regarding the administration of everything God has placed under our control. This is because of the responsibility of accountability. At the end of our earthly sojourn, we will be rewarded, and of course, the reward depends upon how faithfully we fulfilled the will of our Creator.

There are certain facts that we should understand about our journey of life. The first one is that we are not here by chance or by accident; our Creator God put us on this journey called life. We were part of his plan. There is a created purpose as well. You didn’t have any choice about whether or not you would be born, but God has a choice about it, and he chose to give you life. We came from him, and our greatest joy will come from giving ourselves back to him for his will for us and learning to walk with him every day until we return to him. God told Jeremiah, a priest and prophet, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you (Jeremiah 1:5). David eloquently wrote in his Psalm that for you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful. I know that full well (139:13–14).

Secondly, our Creator wants to join us on our journey. Some people think that God is distant, remote, unconcerned about their problems and decisions they face every day. According to my experience, it is not true. God not only put us on our journey, but he also wants to be a part provided we let him. We are not created to be in isolation but to be in community. That is where the action is. Life becomes fruitful and joyful when we are with our Creator and others in community. We don’t need to be alone, for he is with us. The Scottish theologian, mathematician, and preacher, Thomas Chalmers wrote, When I walk by the wayside, he is along with me. When I enter into company, amid all my forgetfulness of him, he never forgets me. Go where I will, he tends me, and watches me, and cares for me. If we understand this truth, it gives us hope and strength on our journey. Moses declared, The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:8). Jesus himself promised, Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20). Throughout the centuries, millions have discovered the truth of these words, and so have we.

There is one more truth that we should be mindful of about our life’s journey. God calls us to take a new path, the path of faith, and trust in him. The fulfillment of our created purpose depends on this. Jesus said to the disciple Thomas, I’m the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). On our journey, we can travel through many paths, some of which are tempting, much wider and easier to travel, and apparently used by more people. Make sure whatever path you are taking will help reach your destination. We read in the gospel according to Matthew that enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only few find it (7:13–14). This is what God urges us to do, to choose a new path, a different one he has laid out for you and me, and he assures us that it alone leads to true life. If we do, our journey now will be on the right path, even if many others don’t take it.

We may think that why should we change the path which we already know and familiar with, even if we have not found the peace and security we seek. One of the reasons is that there is no guarantee that the world path will ever deliver what it promises. The world promises many good things. Even if you enjoy the life now, don’t forget the fact that it will only be momentary and fades away quickly. Ultimately we will end up in anxiety, uncertainty, heartache, and sorrow. The old path may promise freedom, which enslaves us with lust, greed, anger, and bitterness. Who among us has not needed to be corrected by those who care for us from paths or actions, decisions or desires that could have been hurtful? Who knows what harm might have been done to ourselves or others had someone not intervened at the right time? James end his epistle with these words, Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins (v. 5:20).

Correction is an expression of God’s mercy and love. There is a story of a self-centered rich man in one of Jesus’s parables. He enjoyed his selfish life and said, Take life easy. Eat, drink, and be merry. But God says, You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? (Luke 12:19–20). He was one of the many who chose the wrong path, and it destroyed him. It doesn’t mean that those who believe and obey God, their journey will always be easy and trouble free. Believers in God are not exempt from suffering and grief. Jesus said, In this world you will have trouble (John 16:33). Yet in the midst of it all, they experience the peace of God, which transcend all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

Whenever we are on a trip, we will be thinking quite often of the day we return home. Home is a place where we enjoy peace, security, and rest; home is where we belong. If we long to get back to our temporary home in the world, how much more should be our longing for our permanent, eternal home! The Bible teaches that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth (Hebrews 11:13). Apostle Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth, Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands (2 Corinthians 5:11). So our true home is in eternity, and that is where God’s path leads.

We are all on a journey; we have been on it since the day we were born. It won’t end until our given time and mission on earth are finished. Once we fulfill our duties for which we are created, our Maker will call us back to him. You and I know what kind of journey we had so far. We can’t change the past, as the body of water passed through certain place on the river, which cannot be brought back, but with God’s mercy and love, we can change the future incorporating the lessons that we have learned so far. He knows our inmost being, our strengths and weaknesses, our failures and waywardness, our problems and heartaches. He doesn’t want us to be shackled by the past. We read in the prophetic book of Isaiah that God was speaking to the sinful nation of Israel, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land, but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword: (vv. 1:18–20). This is true with us as well. He wants to free us from our old ways and put our feet on a new