Ascension Teaches

In the Bible, when you look at the Gospel of Luke 24 end verses, you see Jesus Christ preparing to ascent to heaven. But before that He called His disciples and told them about events happened in His life. He told all things happened in His life according to the will of God and what was written according to the Law of Moses.

This clearly explains the life of a servant of God. When you follow Christ, your life will never be easy because you are going to fight against the darkness of devil. But according to this verse, everything is known to God, or written about your life. Once you live a faithful life as Christ lived, you are going to be honoured by God as He did to Jesus. Jesus was telling the same to His disciples.

But Jesus told the disciples to stay in the city until they are anointed by the Holy Spirit. They stayed continually at the temple and praised God (Luke 24: 44-53). One day suddenly Spirit of God came upon them and they were anointed (Acts 1: 1-11). As Christ told them, once they received the Holy Spirit, they went witnessing all over the places.

Jesus Christ is telling everyone the same truth. Once you receive him as your personal savior, wait upon the Lord, praise him and worship Him. At the appointed time, you will be anointed with the Holy Spirit. Once you are anointed, even you cannot hold yourself quite. The Spirit motivates you and provides you the strength to be a witness for Christ Jesus.

Jesus is going to come back the same way He went up. The Spirit of God is given to you to know more about Him with the wisdom and knowledge (Ephesians 1: 15-23). You need to use the gifts and fruits of the Spirit to be a blessing to the ones around you. In this way of leading them to Christ, always keep yourself Holy and pure before God, so that the God who sees you in quite times will help you grow in Jesus name 

Palm Sunday - Holy Week

 

Today, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the Holy Week. This week the believers should be meditating and thinking about the humble nature of Christ, who left the Heavenly place and came to earth, lived a poor life and died on the cross for our sins.

The Holy week starts with Palm Sunday (Mathew 21: 1-11), with Jesus entering Jerusalem in a donkey. Usually Kings will travel in horse, but Jesus, even though being the King of Kings; he humbled most and came in a donkey. People were praising him, some placing their cloaks on road and others cut branches from trees and spread on the road.

Jesus did not considered equality with God, but humbled himself by taking nature of a servant and came to humans. This week is considered as Holy one, because this week Jesus was crucified and because of His crucifixion, the ones who believe in him are free from their sins (Philippians 2)

Some people fast and pray this week to show their humbleness towards God and His love.

At this time, it is very important to know about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Why, because when Jesus ascended to Heaven, He gave us the Holy Spirit as our comforter and we should obey the Spirit to live a life pleasing to God.

Speaking in tongues is one gift of the Spirit. Some people consider only this gift and without any botheration join together and pray. Knowledge and Wisdom are also gifts of the Spirit. At this point of a time where social distancing is much needed, everyone should use that knowledge and wisdom and isolate themselves and pray to God and meditate upon the humility of Christ.

When you look at the fruits of Holy Spirit, self-control is one among them. Whatever gifts you possess, if you are not having this self-control, you are going to be a curse to the people and the world, where you are to be a blessing.

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” – Mathew 6:6

In these days of lockdown, it is better to be isolated and be in the presence of God this Holy week. Last 2 months was very horrible throughout the world, and even though many countries declared social distancing, some irresponsible uncontrolled people broke everything and because of them the virus got spread to a large extent.

May The Lord help fill you with His fruits and gifts as you read and meditate His word this week to stay Holy and safe and be a blessing to everyone.

Follow Wisdom

In the world we live, every philosophy teaches us to follow our parents and teachers. In south India there is a saying to follow and consider the hierarchy - Mother, Father, Teacher and God. Unfortunately in this same place we can hear Breaking News about how the little children are being trashed by their own mothers.

The creator of mankind knew all about these and so he is comforting everyone that even though your parents forsake you, God will never. [Psalms 27: 10]

In the book of 1 Kings we can find the kings of Israel and Judah after it became two nations. The Kings who came after Solomon were against God and they sinned and pushed the entire nation against God’s anger. In 1 Kings 15, we see Abijah becoming the King of Judah and following his father’s footsteps of committing sins. So Abijah just followed the world’s philosophy of following his parents.

But in 1 Kings 15: 9, we see Abijah’s son Asa becoming the next king and he was totally opposite to his father. 1 Kings 15: 11 tell us that Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. That means he did not do anything good in the eyes of his parents. He followed the wisdom given by The Lord.

Proverbs 1 takes about wisdom. At the same time in Proverbs 1: 8, it tells to listen to your father’s instruction. But in the underlying verses we see the writer asks us to follow wisdom. So here we understand it is the responsibility of the parents to be wise in God for their children to listen. Otherwise you will have a life like in 1 Kings 15 - Abijah listened to his father and lived against God.

To live a life of wisdom, it is good to read Proverbs and meditate upon it. May the Lord help you, guide you and lead you to read the book of proverbs and follow wisdom to lead a life pleasing to The Lord and be a role model.

Be Humble

Humility is part of Christian faith. Even though most of the followers of Christ don’t have this humility, the word of God commands everyone to be humble. Recently we saw how a Catholic bishop (Indian) who should be a most humble person, spreading malicious statements against a rape victim, in which he is the prime accused.

                When a person is elevated to take care of higher position, he is supposed to have wisdom. Bible talks about two types of wisdom. One is spiritual wisdom and another is earthly wisdom. In the book of James 3 and 4, it talks about earthly wisdom. They will have selfish ambitions and for that they will indulge in evil practises.  When they don’t get what they desire, quarrel and fights happens. They don’t want to ask God on their needs, because they know it will not be answered by The Lord, since they are asking with wrong motives. A friend of the world is an enemy of God.

                Godly wisdom will help you to take wise decisions in critical situations. When you are filled with Godly wisdom you become humble. In Mark 9:30 – 37 on seeing the disciples arguing on who is the greatest among them, Jesus heard and told them anyone who wants to be first must be the very last and servant of all.

                A wise person will not be selfish or boastful. He will be filled with the fruits of the Holy Spirit. He will show the character of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. In James 3: 13 – 4:10 we see God gives grace and favour to the humble.

                It is easy to be a friend of the world. Friend to the world is enemy to God. You need to submit yourself to God and resist the devil. The scripture tells us in James 4, when we resist the devil, the devil will flee from us. May God give you a heart to go behind him and humble yourself for God to lift you high.

Book of Experience - Ecclesiastes

God has given us this book of Ecclesiastes the record of all that human thinking and natural religion has ever been able to discover concerning the meaning and goal of life. The arguments in this book are not God’s arguments, but God’s record of people’s arguments. The writer is Solomon, and the book is a dramatic biography of his experience and reflections while he was out of fellowship with God. Solomon may have been wise, but he did not follow his own wisdom.

The message of Ecclesiastes is that, apart from God, life is full of weariness and disappointment. The problem that faced Solomon was how he could find happiness and satisfaction apart from God (Ecclesiastes 1: 1-3). He sought the following things

·         He sought satisfaction in science (Ecclesiastes 1:4-11)

·         He sought it in Philosophy (Ecclesiastes 1: 12-18)

·         He found pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2: 1-11)

·         He tried materialism (Ecclesiastes 2: 12-26)

·         He tried natural religion, wealth and morality (Ecclesiastes 5, 6, 7).

But in all these, he was not able to get an answer. The conclusion message is found in Ecclesiastes 12:13. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind”

The best and possibly good way to be wise and be with God is found in Ecclesiastes 11:9 – 12:1. The mention of being youth in growing up is interesting. It simply points out that in order to know God and have a life worth living, it is better to know him when you are young.  Instead of having a worldly life, with the so called best friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, and having affairs and getting ditched in life, it is always good to live a life according to the word and know about God and live according to his principles.

May the Holy Spirit enable you to live a life according to the scriptures and know God to live a holy and faithful life.

Splendid Reign of Solomon – 1 Kings

If we reject God, He will reject us. If we obey God, He will bless us. “In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel” – 2 Kings 10:32. First and Second Kings are just a continuation of the books of Samuel. As their name suggests, they record the events of the reign of Solomon and then of the succeeding kings of Judah and Israel. They cover a period of 400 years and tell the story of the growth and then decay of the kingdom. Kings begin with King David and end with the king of Babylon. Kings open with the building of the Temple and end with the burning of the Temple. During Solomon’s reign, the kingdom reached the height of its grandeur. With the death of Solomon, the kingship really ceased to be the medium through which God governed his people.

As the scene opens in 1 Kings, we find that “King David was old and well advanced in years”. He was prematurely aged for he was only seventy. Because of David’s feebleness we find a rebellion started against him. Adonijah’s attempt to get his father’s throne was natural because he was the oldest surviving son (2 Samuel 3:4). This rebellion called for prompt action, which Nathan the prophet took. David saw that Solomon was the most fit to succeed him. Solomon was God’s choice (1 Kings 2:15). It was clear that the choice of Solomon was popular (1 Kings 1:39-40). Adonijah soon saw that opposition was useless. Because of this rebellion, Solomon was crowned before David’s death (1 Kings 1:30, 39, 53).

Solomon was a magnificent king; his throne was the grandest the world had ever seen and his life was filled with happenings of marvellous significance. His kingdom of 60000 square miles was ten times as great as that which his father had inherited. God appeared to Solomon in a dream early in his reign and asked him to make a choice of anything that he might wish (1 Kings 2:6-9). Solomon asked for a “discerning heart”. It will be good that we also have a heart that listens to the Spirit’s voice. The greatest undertaking of Solomon’s reign was building the Temple. This was what his father, David, had longed to do. The immense foundation of great hewn stones upon which Solomon’s Temple was built remains till this day under the Dome of the Rock. The Temple site was a historic spot. On Mount Moriah, Abraham offered up Isaac (Genesis 22:2). We saw how David secured Araunah’s threshing floor and here today the Dome of the Rock stands, the sacred spot of the Muslims.

Solomon reigned 40 years, the second great period of the complete kingdom (1 Kings 11). At first all went well, but later there was serious trouble. Saul, David and Solomon each reigned 40 years (2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Kings 11:42). Taxes under Solomon’s reign had weighed the people down. Luxury and Idolatry had broken down their morale. The kingdom now was to be divided. A rise to such prosperity and power as Solomon enjoyed had its dangers. It cost money and meant increased taxation, which grew into burdens that were unbearable and that bred the seeds of unrest and revolution.

When Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, threatened to levy heavier burdens upon the people, his unwise headstrong action added fuel to a fire that had been gathering and burning for nearly 300 years, from the time of the judges. The revolt of the ten tribes immediately followed (1 Kings 12:16), though the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal (1 Kings 12:17). This tension led to the appointment of Jeroboam as king of the northern section (1 Kings 12:20).

A new name of great importance appears in the pages of the life of Jeroboam. This young man of low origin had risen to notice because of faithful service and deeds done. The prophet Ahijah made a startling revelation to Jeroboam. “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, see I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes” – 1 Kings 11:31.

Solomon was a great and glorious king, but unlike his father, David, Solomon dealt cruelty with his brother Adonijah (1 Kings 2:24-25). His heart, like Saul, was lifted up in pride (1 Kings 10:18-19). He also was led into idolatry by his wives (1 Kings 11).

Things do not happen by accident. There is a cause at the root of every revolution. The event may come as suddenly as an explosion, or as the eruption of a volcano, but somewhere secret causes were at work undermining the structure. I pray that you be careful when taking decisions, because the God who watches will be taking the final call according to your faithfulness towards Him.