Maundy Thursday

A bunch of roses @ Kodaikanal

5 April 2012  

 

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”John 15:13

Today is Maundy Thursday.

Maundy Thursday, also known as “Holy Thursday” of "Passion week"  one day before Good Friday (the Thursday before Easter).

"Maundy," comes from a word meaning ‘mandate’ or ‘commandment’. The word “Maundy” is derived from the Latin word for “command.” 

The word “Maundy” in Maundy Thursday refers to the command Jesus gave to the disciples at the Last Supper, that they should love and serve one another .

This is the word used in John 13:34 in the Latin translation of the Bible.

 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”John 13:34 

  This commandment was given by the Lord on the Thursday before his crucifixion. 

 So Maundy Thursday is the “Thursday of the Commandment.” 

Also called as, "Commandment Thursday", or otherwise as  "Love Thursday". 

This is the commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.”

 “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself”. Galatians 5:14 

 If the whole law is fulfilled in “Love your neighbor as yourself,” – it says otherwise “Love one another as Christ loved you”.

Maundy Thursday is the name given to the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with His disciples, known as the Last Supper.

 Two important incidents are the main focus of Maundy Thursday.

First, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His disciples and thereby instituted the Lord’s Supper, also called Communion.

 

'And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you'. Luke 22:19-20

Second, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as an act of humbleness .thereby setting an example that we should love and serve one another in humility . read -(John 13:3-17).

It is a good thing to remember the Last Supper and’ sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.

 It is a good thing to remember the Lord’s example of humility .

Fine, it is okay as for now.

 Let us shape ourselves to adopt to humble way of life. (it should come from inside the person-  to be reflected consecutively in his thoughts and  actions in his life.)

 Mere following the rituals and following what others are doing will only be a show-off.

 The pride, arrogance, vengeance egotism etc should be thrashed down.

 Year after year we are following the rituals (without meaning) as custom. 

 Turn Away and realize the reality and wash your heart with the blood of Jesus this year.

 Have a big remarkable change overtake you.

When will we see the real change in people around us?

 Think and pray.

 Change yourself. Turn Around...

Praise the Lord.

God Bless

Show me your ways, LORD

A beautiful scene @ Kodaikanal

 4 April 2012  

When we are at cross roads,there may more than one option,(learn to choose the best)  waiting on God is indispensable.  

We may be totally confused to choose between good and bad and between good and better.  

 

'Show me your ways, LORD,  teach me your paths.Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long'. Psalm 25:4-5

'I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts'. Hebrews 8:10

The way we are carried through is a different route, far beyond our imagination and thinking.
 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Waiting on God really means or can be expressed as   a servant looking to his master for orders and instructions. We need that humbleness and  there should not be any trace of ‘ego’ in expectation. 

'I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy. 

Psalm 123:1-2

 The attention and care to serve for the master should be undivided.Day in and day out we are liable to miss God’s will in our life. At critical times We are so engrossed (in the problem) we do not withdraw ourselves for a while to wait on the Lord.

 

In our stumbling, we may fail to see the answer. 

Only God knows the best for us. 

Be still and wait for the Lord. 

To hear from above, shut your ears from the voices around you. 

Sharpen your ears to listen to the soft and clear voice ( God’s) speaking to you.

Pray.

 Let thy will be done.

Of course the total procedure is tough it needs a strict discipline to wait on the Lord.

Have a good day.

God Bless.

Covetousness

Deep valley @Kodaikanal

3 April 2012 


Covetous: “Inordinately desirous; excessively eager to obtain and possess; avaricious” - Webster.
 

 Covetousness like jealousy, when it has taken root, never leaves a person, grows steadily and become a big one, spreading its roots and branches everywhere. 

None of the area in our life has left out of its hold.

'And He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” Luke 12:15.
 

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." I Timothy 6:10.

Bible warns : "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17

Materialism is a barrier to contentment. "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction." I Timothy 6:9

Greed or insatiability often accompanies prosperity and may lead to crime.

"What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it because there is a whole army of evil desires within you? You want what you don't have, so you kill to get it. You long for what others have, and can't afford it, so you start a fight to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it." James 4:1-2

Wealth can give us wrong attitudes ( may incorporate anti-social elements) about material things., "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15

Beware of resorting to materialism. 

The Wealth (blessing ) God showers on you will not tag along with pain.

‘The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it..Proverbs 10:22

Think twice before doing anything out of line- inclusive of all our daily routines.

Read  Philippians  chapter 4--- the biblical antidote for covetousness

Have a good day

God Bless