Unspeakable gift

7 April 2012   

Dark cloudy day @ Kodaikanal

‘Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift.’2 Corinthians 9:15.

God’s indescribable gift is salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God gave the gift of His Son because He wants to have a personal relationship with you (and me) through Jesus. God is the supreme giver and His ability is immeasurable.  Hence God gave more than world can give us.  HE GAVE US HIS SON.

 God's Son is called an "unspeakable" gift.( 2 Corinthians 9:15) God's gift justifies us from sin by bring complete forgiveness and restores peace with God and all men.

•  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

A gift should be given much thought and care (should reflect the uniqueness) –it should be personal too. God’s gift to us was very personal. 

We can call God our “Daddy” (Romans 8:15) He knows us fully well (in and out of us- nothing is hidden from Him)

• “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar……....... “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139: 1-2,23-24

Open your heart, so that God  can show you the way of salvation through His Son.

God’s gift of forgiveness and salvation is permanent.

•  “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance…” Ephesians 1:13-14

God gives us His Spirit to “seal the deal” and our guarantee for securing our inheritance in heaven.

 

•  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you…” 1 Peter 1: 3-4

God’s own indescribable gift to us cost us nothing, but it cost Him His life

• “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

• “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15

When we understand how costly the gift is that God gave to us, we should want to express our gratitude back to Him.

 

 “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as  a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5: 1,2

Be an imitator of God( not the word and the content of the world)

 

Give yourselves back to God as a living sacrifices. 

Do not  step into the shoes of others.

Be yourself and do good to others.

God bless

Good Friday---

6 April 2012  

  

Good Friday is a day to remember the crucifixion and death of son of God at Calvary, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed his life for the cause of humanity.

This day is known as Good Friday, Holy Friday, Great Friday or Black Friday

 As such, Good Friday is a day of mourning (all the rituals of the day are centred on the feeling of sorrow, pain and humiliation etc-) that Jesus went through for the goodness and humanity.

The entire message of Good Friday is not "an eye for an eye"( not the very thought of vengeance  and vindictive actions ) but to conquer evil is through good (to overcome evil with good deeds.)

Many things we have learned each year on this concept. Follow the example of Jesus, who stressed the ‘role of prayer’ in the struggle to conquer evil. Turn to God in prayer when we are stressed’ or totally wayward.

• “I called on the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me and set me in a broad place”  Psalm 118:5.

• When situations in life frighten you, look up to the Lord and cry to Him. Pour out your burdens to Him when in distress. Psalm 142:1-2

The tremendous love He has on you is beyond our thinking.

• ‘He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.1Peter 2:24

The Almighty God left all His glory and came into this world as a human being to die on the cross in order to save us.

Pray and turn to God.

‘Lord, hear my prayer; in your faithfulness listen to my pleading; answer me in your justice.

The enemy has pursued me; they have crushed my life to the ground.

They have left me in darkness …..My spirit is faint within me; my heart is dismayed…. Hasten to answer me, Lord; for my spirit fails me.

Do not hide your face from me, …..At dawn let me hear of your kindness, for in you I trust. Show me the path I should walk, for to you I entrust my life. ........Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your kind spirit guide me on ground that is level. …..Psalm 143

Let this  teach us the role of prayer in our life.

Read the following.

Jesus taught peace in an age of violence. 

Jesus taught forgiveness in an age of victimization.

Jesus taught humility in an age of spiritual arrogance. 

Jesus taught equality in an age of division. 

Jesus taught love in a world of hatred. 

God Bless

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.