HUMILITY

Mary said, “He –the Lord- has brought down mighty kings from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.”  (Luke 1:52)

Lord Jesus was invited on a Sabbath after the synagogue prayer for a meal as was the common practice of the Pharisees.  Noticing the immature behaviour of people, rushing to occupy the important seats inspired Lord Jesus to provide a good prescription about humility and hospitality to be observed in a social human life.

The Lord told them this parable, “When someone invites you to a feast don’t select the best places, instead choose the lowest place.  If you sit in the best place, then, when more important guest than you comes, the host will ask you to move back and it will be a great insult for you. Wherein, if you are seated in the lowest place, the host may ask you to take a better seat.  Then you will be honoured in the presence of all.” 

Lord Jesus concluded, “Everyone who makes himself great, will be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be made great.”

The Book of Proverbs provides further guidelines to us, “When you stand before the king, don’t try to impress him and pretend to be important.  It is better to be asked to take a higher position than to be told to give your place to someone more important.”  (Chapter 25 : 6 – 7)

Humility is an important virtue to be practiced by a follower of Christ.  Lord Jesus is the owner of a heart full of meekness and humbleness.  St. Paul provides insight regarding the humility of Christ Jesus, “He always had the nature of God, but He did not think that by force He should try to become equal with God.  Instead of this, of His own free will, He gave up all He had and took the nature of a servant...”  (Philippians 2 : 6 – 7)

Here St. Paul advises us to imitate Christ Jesus and to realign ourselves according to the teachings of the Word of God to adorn the nature of the Lord.  So also he instructs us, “Don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble towards one another, always considering others better than yourselves.”  (Philippians 2: 3)  The Lord reprimands the proud and blesses the loyal.  St. Peter puts it this way, “God resists the proud, but shows favour to the humble.  Humble yourselves, then, under God’s mighty hand, so that He will lift you up in His own good time.”  (1 Peter 5 : 6 – 7)

God cannot tolerate pride and arrogance.   Humility is a gift from the Holy Spirit and to avail it one must get rid of pride and arrogance.  Lord Jesus sternly corrected the pride, prejudice and cowardness of the Pharisees.  If the Lord is against you, human wisdom, brilliance and insight are of no help.  The ‘superiority’ or ‘I know everything’ attitude makes you to do foolishness and thereby become a victim of insult.  It will push you to interfere in others’ matters and take you to unworthy places. 

Those who are honest and accept their status modestly, choosing to remain in a position of humility can be honoured in the Kingdom.  Let us take stock of our lives and learn to be content with what we have and be a stronger person.  Lord Jesus clearly indicates that God will carry out His judgment on the same principle. 

And finally He turned to the host and added, ‘When you give a lunch or a dinner do not invite your friends or brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbours, for they will invite you back and in this way you will be paid for what you did.’ People are often mistaken when this sentence is taken out of context.  In fact, Lord Jesus very beautifully informs us that if you feed the rich people for the sake of a mercy deed, the reward for your good deed will be repaid by them.  Lord Jesus never meant not to invite benefactors or well wishers to your feasts; instead He depicts in attractive human terms to feed the poor and hungry who are unable to repay your good gesture.

The Lord was reminding us that the Gracious God has provided and blessed the world in abundance so that all the people can enjoy and have sufficiently. Only if the rich would open up their hearts and store rooms generously to the poor and deprived people, then no more will there be any poverty.

…. by a Guest Writer

OBSERVE THE SABBATH AND KEEP IT HOLY

 “…. the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”  (Mark 2:28)

The Pharisees failed to understand that Laws were meant to exercise love; and it so happens that down the lane they are followed without proper reason but under the force of traditions. When Almighty God created the world, He gave us His Laws to govern the world. When Lord Jesus was walking through the cornfields on a Sabbath, His disciples who were with Him, began to pick the ears of the corn to eat it. The Pharisees soon raised their opinion, saying, “Look, it is against our Law to do that on the Sabbath!” Lord Jesus answered, “Have you never read what David did the time when he needed something to eat? He and his men were hungry, so he went into the house of God and ate the bread offered to God….” He concluded saying, “The Sabbath was made for the good of man! Man was not made for Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:23-28)

Sabbath is a day kept aside to recollect the goodness of God; and to celebrate with Him in praise and thanksgiving. A day of rest from the daily routine in order to observe and spend more time with God. However, for the Pharisees the Sabbath turned out to be a day to strictly adhere to fulfil certain rituals and laws. When Jesus’ disciples were accused by the Pharisees for plucking some corn to eat on the Sabbath; Lord Jesus took this opportunity to establish the important principles that concerned human priorities over mere ritual considerations. The Holy Bible indicates that Lord Jesus regularly attended the synagogue on the Sabbath; which proves that He upheld the commandment of observing Sabbath.

From the time of Moses, the Sovereign Lord had commanded the Israelites to observe Sabbath. The Holy Bible says, “Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy. You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to Me. On that day no one is to work—neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country. In six days I, the LORD, made the earth, the sky, the sea and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the LORD, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

The Law teaches us that everybody must be given a weekly rest and consider this day in priority for religious nourishment, time for reconciliation, self exercise spirituality imparting it to children and encourage them practice giving honour to God.  A day dedicated in spending time with your family; attending all their basic needs. It is His command to provide rest to your employees to pray and relax. Imposing this practice will lift us above the material concerns, impart sound health, bringing peace and stability to our personal and family life. In the Old Testament, the Sovereign Lord commands us to give rest to the animals and land too. “For six years sow your field and gather in what it produces, but the seventh year let it rest; and do not harvest anything that grows on it. The poor may eat what grows there; and the wild animals can have what is left.” (Leviticus 25:2-7)

How impartial and kind is our Father in Heaven. The love and concern about each of His Creation is marvellous. Accordingly let us practice and allow others to have the same nature of our Heavenly Father. You may think how can we survive if there is no crop for a year? The Holy Bible answers, “The Lord will bless the land in the sixth year so that it will produce enough food for two years. When you sow your fields in the eighth year, you will still be eating what you harvested during the sixth year, and you will have enough to eat until the crops you plant that year are harvested.” (Leviticus 25:21-22) Obey the laws and commands loyally and faithfully; so that you may live safely in the land. How wonderful it is if we could obey and rely on Him!

We torture ourselves, others, animals and the land in search of prosperity; we do research to eradicate diseases, poverty, hunger, violence, calamities, disasters etc. By examining the soil thereafter boost it using artificial fertilizers, chemicals we try to increase the yield of the crops. However, the Creator confidently assures that if we allow the land to rest for a year after six years; He will bless it to produce food abundantly. Lord Jesus said to the Pharisees that the Sabbath was made for the welfare of man and not man for Sabbath. So, Son of Man is master of both man and Sabbath. By saying this Lord taught them to keep God as the centre of their worship rather than concentrate on the man-made customs of Sabbath; as it was never created to oppress people or make their lives difficult and burdened. The Lord says, “If you treat Sabbath as sacred and do not pursue your own interest on that day; if you value My holy day and honour it by not travelling, working or talk idle on that day, you will find the joy that comes from serving Me. I will make you honoured all over the world and you will enjoy the land….” (Isaiah 58:13-14)

May the Lord bless you and take care of you. May He be kind and gracious to you. May the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace.

With love filled blessings,

Your Sister in Christ

A LIFE IN THE LIGHT

PART I

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out. (John 1:5)

Our life gets completely transformed in a twinkle of a moment when the power of the Lord dispels darkness around our life to flood it with His divine light.

“We know that we belong to God even though the whole world is under the rule of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)

The devil, our adversary, is always standing against us prowling like a roaring lion; so it is very essential that we should completely put our refuge on Lord Jesus so as to walk in His light constantly.  Our life within Him will be a path that leads us to our salvation.

Here we mention certain incidences on how darkness enters people.

On a Sabbath Day Jesus went into a Synagogue, where He saw a man whose right hand was paralyzed.  Some teachers of the Law and Pharisees wanted a reason to accuse Jesus of doing wrong so they watched him closely to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to the man, “Stand up and come here to the front.” The man got up and stood there.  Then Jesus said to them “I ask you: What does our Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To help or to harm?  To save a man’s life or destroy it?” He looked around at them all; then He said to the man “Stretch out your hand” he did so and his hand became well again.

They were filled with rage and began to discuss among themselves what they could do to Jesus. (Luke 6:6-11)

The above holy verses from the Scriptures indicate how the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law emit out the enmity and jealousy, a reflection of the darkness that had captured them; and their futile attempts to put off the source of Light of Life i.e. Jesus Christ.

If we sincerely and with true devotion read or listen to the Word of God, He graciously endows us with His power and presence which conveys the Heavenly Light to shine bright in our surroundings.

The Word of God, when studied with sincere veneration and dedication will fill us with the discernment to distinguish amid the false and deceptive teachings. Being the Source of Life, it penetrates deep into our hearts imparting True Knowledge of our Lord. It was this knowledge that made the Pharisees insecure and jealous towards Christ.

Even today, there are many among us who spread false teachings combined with wrong principles and theories, misleading people from the message of Salvation, thus preventing them from attaining further spiritual growth, blessings and the fruits of Salvation. Ultimately, those in search of faith, fall into such traps due to their lack of knowledge in the True Word of God.

Jesus summed up the traps set up by such people, when He said, “How wrong you are it is because you don’t know the scripture of God’s power.” (Mathew 22: 29)

Engulfed in such dark theories would further pave the way for imbalance and procrastination of spiritual duties leading to diminishing the presence of God and His illumination.

Regular studying and meditating of the Word of God will enhance your mind with Divine Knowledge and light, keeping you away from the trap of wrong teachings and ideas.

During my public mission, there would be a flow of prayer requests and thanksgivings of people who would share their joy of blessings received. Amidst this overwhelming joy, there would be few comments and instructions that were against my teachings.  Deep in my heart, the contentment from the fact that God was pleased with me did not shake me. But as the frequency of those false accusations increased, my peace and health began bothering and soon some disturbance also crept into my prayer life. Soon the devil began to slowly try his chance on me, with sickness and unnecessary worries. But through the Work of the Holy Spirit, I kept aside a day of Fast and Prayer dedicated to those who were not in the favor of KLWC. Lord God comforted me, “My dear daughter why are you worrying and thinking about those who are against you.”

He poured out His Holy Spirit and made me realize that those who were scandalizing me were not from God but it was the work of the devil in disguise. Once again tranquility filled my ached heart, while the healing from the Lord departed all the aches and pains. Alleluia!! Alleluia!!

I cried out to the Lord in pardon while He in response delivered me and showered His blessings upon me!

When you begin to lose the presence of God, physical illness like fatigue, weariness, guilt begins to creep into your life burdening you further with serious health issues.

                                                                                                (To be continued….)

With Love Filled Blessings,

Your Sister in Christ