Feast of The Presentation of our Lord

Today we think and meditate upon the Feast of Presentation of Our Lord in Jerusalem. According to the Law of Moses, every first male Israelite should be designated as holy to the Lord. So when Jesus was a child itself, His parents brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Luke 2: 22-40). According to the law, they need to offer a sacrifice and so they did the sacrifice, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. At that time a righteous and a devout man of God Simeon, filled with the Spirit of God took child Jesus and praised God.

Throughout his whole life, he was looking forward to the consolation of Israel and a deliverer and at the right moment Spirit of God showed him Jesus. He praised God for showing him the deliverer of this world. He told Joseph and Mary about the plans of God regarding Jesus. He told them that Jesus is the savior of this world and He is going to deliver the world from sin by offering himself as a sacrifice. Soon after that a servant of God Anna, who also was fasting and praying for the savior praised God for the deliverer.

Yes, Jesus came to deliver everyone. Israelites think he come to deliver them from their enemies. But Jesus came to deliver everyone from their sins. He had the same flesh and blood as everyone. He knew how it is to be rejected, humiliated, bullied, and even getting cheated. But in all, He remained sinless because He was called to be a sacrifice for our sins.

Finally He became a sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross for the sins we did against God for us to be free from the punishment.

Salvation or deliverance is free and it’s a grace of God. But you need to do only one thing. Repent your sins and accept Jesus Christ’s salvation in your heart. There is no need to climb any hill or carry the cross in shoulders or light a candle. Just be where you are and confess your sins before God in your heart and accept Christ’s salvation. You are free. Once you accept Christ, He tells us not to sin anymore. Yes, try not sinning anymore.

May The Lord reveal you Jesus through His word as He revealed Jesus to Simeon and Anna, and may you freely give the salvation message to the needy, in Jesus name  

Never Lose Hope

 

It is a challenge to live a Christ cantered life in this world. People around you will throw stones at you for not leading worldly life. Worldly lives mean the one who knows Christ and live according to his carnal satisfaction. They will insult you and try to put you down in all ways. In Mathew 5: 11, Jesus teaches “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Christ is encouraging you not to be depressed because of the evil people do against you. In verse 12 he says, “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. Yes, your reward will be great in heaven.

The people who are against the saints or the ones who live Christ centred life, are the ones who have never experienced Christ in life. They may know Jesus, but have never given their heart to Christ. So when you walk in Christ, others might not like your ways, but be confident that you are a child of God. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him” 1 John 3: 1

Worldly people look at you to find out a loss or failure in your life. They will embarrass you and insult you taking the name of Jesus. But be confident and have hope and faith. In the book of Revelation, John saw people wearing white robe and were holding palm branches in their hands and were crying out loud – “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb”. They were the one who had to go through all the tribulations in the earth. Revelation 7: 9-17. Just imagine yourself among them. Build faith accordingly and stand firm in the midst of loss and failures, when the evil point fingers at you. Never leave the faith and hope in Christ Jesus

In the life of David we see when he had to face the toughest time, he wrote in Psalm 34, “I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice”

Let the Spirit of God encourage you, motivate you and provide you the faith and hope to have the same heart as that of king David and see yourself being with the Angels and Elders praising God in eternity.