JESUS APPEARS TO SEVEN DISCIPLES

After this, Jesus appeared once more to his disciples at Lake Tiberias. This is how it happened. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael (the one from Cana in Galilee), the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples of Jesus were all together.  Simon Peter said to the others, “I am going fishing.”

“We will come with you,”  they told him.  So they went out in a boat,  but all that night they did not catch a thing.  As the sun was rising, Jesus stood at the water’s edge, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.   Then he asked them, “Young men, haven’t you caught anything?”

  “Not a thing,” they answered.

  He said to them, “Throw your net out on the right side of the boat, and you will catch some.”  So they threw the net out and could not pull it back in,  because they had caught so many fish.

  The  disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  When  Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment round him (for he had taken his clothes off) and jumped into the water.  The other disciples came to shore in the boat pulling the net full of fish.   They were not very far from land, about a hundred metres away.  When they stepped ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and some bread.  Then Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

  Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore full of big fish, a hundred and fifty-three in all; even though there were so many, still the net did not tear.  Jesus said to them, “Come and eat.”  None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.  So Jesus went over, took the bread, and gave it to them; he did the same with the fish.

  This, then, was the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from death.

 (John 21:1-14)

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With love filled blessings,

Your Sister in Christ

JESUS APPEARS TO HIS DISCIPLES

While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them.  “Peace be with you.” 

They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost.  But he said to them, “Why are you alarmed?  Why are these doubts coming up in your minds?  Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself.   Feel  me, and you will know for a ghost doesn’t  have flesh and bones, as you can see I  have.”

He said this and showed them his hands and his feet.  They still could not believe,  they were so full  of joy and wonder;  so he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?  They  gave him a piece of cooked fish,  which he took and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them,  “These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you:  everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.”

Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “This is what is written:  the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later, and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations,  beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.   And I myself  send upon you what my Father has promised.  But  you must wait in the city until the power  from  above come down upon you.”

 (Luke 24:36-49)

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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

PETER’S MESSAGE

“All the people of Israel, then, are to know for sure that this Jesus, whom you crucified, is the one that God has made Lord and Messiah!”

When the people heard this, they were deeply troubled and said to Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”

Peter said to them, “Each one of you must turn away from his sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God’s gift, the Holy Spirit. For God’s promise was made to you and your children, and to all who are far away--- all whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Peter made his appeal to them and with many other words he urged them saying, “Save yourselves from the punishment coming on this wicked people!” Many of them believed his message and were baptized, and about three thousand people were added to the group that day.

(Acts 2:36-41)

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

THE WALK TO EMMAUS

On that same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about eleven kilometres from Jerusalem, and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened.  As they talked and discussed, Jesus Himself drew near and walked along with them; they saw Him, but somehow did not recognise Him.  Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?”

They stood still, with sad faces.  One of them, named Cleopas, asked Him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have been happening there these last few days?”

“What things?” He asked.

“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered.  “This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything He said and did.  Our chief priests and rulers handed Him over to be sentenced to death, and He was crucified.  And we had hoped that He would be the one who was going to set Israel free!  Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened.  Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, but could not find His body.  They came back saying that had seen a vision of angels who told them that He is alive.  Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see Him.”

Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said!  Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter His glory?”  And Jesus explained to them what was said about Himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.

As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther; but they held Him back, saying, “Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark.”  So He went in to stay with them.  He sat down to eat with them, took the bread and said the blessing; then He broke the bread and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognised Him, but He disappeared from their sight.  They said to each other, “Wasn’t it like a fire burning in us when He talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others and saying, “The Lord is risen indeed!  He has appeared to Simon!”

The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognised the Lord when He broke the bread.

(Luke 24 : 13 -35)

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With love filled blessings,

Your Sister in Christ

THE EMPTY TOMB

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance.  She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!”

Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb.  The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent over and saw the linen wrappings, but he did not go in.  Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went straight into the tomb.  He saw the linen wrappings lying there and the cloth which had been round Jesus’ head.  It was not lying with the linen wrappings but was rolled up by itself.  Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed.  (They still did not understand the scripture which said that he must rise from death.)  Then the disciples went back home.

(John 20 : 1 – 10)

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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

DEAD TO SIN BUT ALIVE IN UNION WITH CHRIST

For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with His death.  By our baptism, then, we were buried with Him and shared His death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.

For since we have become one with Him in dying as He did, in the same way we shall be one with Him by being raised to life as He was.  And we know that our old being bas been put to death with Christ on His cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves of sin.  For when a person dies, he is set free from the power of sin.  Since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.  For we know that Christ has been raised from death and will never die again – death will no longer rule over Him. And so, because He died, sin has no power over Him; and now He lives His life in fellowship with God.  In the same way you are to think of yourselves as dead, so far as sin is concerned, but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

Sin must no longer rule in your mortal bodies, so that you obey the desires of your natural self.  Nor must you surrender any part of yourselves to sin to be used for wicked purposes. Instead, give yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life, and surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes.  Sin must not be your master; for you do not live under law but under God’s grace.

(Romans 6 : 3 – 14)

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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

JESUS IS SENTENCED TO DEATH

Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him whipped.  The soldiers made a crown out of thorny branches and put it on His head; then they put a purple robe on Him and came to Him and said, “Long live the King of the Jews!”  And they went up and slapped Him.

JESUS IS CRUCIFIED

So they took charge of Jesus.  He went out carrying His cross, and came to “The Place of the Skull,” as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Golgotha.”) There they crucified Him; and they also crucified two other men, one on each side, with Jesus between them.  Pilate wrote a notice and had it put on the cross. “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” is what he wrote.  Many people read it, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city.  The notice was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.  The chief priests said to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.’”

Pilate answered, “What I have written stays written.”

After the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier.  They also took the robe, which was made of one piece of woven cloth without any seams in it.  The soldiers said to one another, “Let’s not tear it; let’s throw dice to see who will get it.”  This happened in order to make the scripture come true :  “They divided my clothes among themselves and gambled for my robe.”  And this is what the soldiers did.

Standing close to Jesus’ cross were His Mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved standing there; so He said to His mother, “He is your son.”

Then He said to the disciple, “She is your mother.”  From that time the disciple took her to live in his home.

THE DEATH OF JESUS

Jesus knew that by now everything had been completed; and in order to make the scripture come true, He said, “I am thirsty.”

A bowl was there, full of cheap wine; so a sponge was soaked in the wine, put on a stalk of hyssop, and lifted up to His lips.  Jesus drank the wine and said, “It is finished!”

Then He bowed His head and died.

JESUS’ SIDE IS PIERCED

Then the Jewish authorities asked Pilate to allow them to break the legs of the men who had been crucified, and to take the bodies down from the crosses.  They requested this because it was Friday, and they did not want the bodies to stay on the crosses on the Sabbath, since the coming Sabbath was especially holy.  So the soldiers went and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other man who had been crucified with Jesus.  But when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs.  One of the soldiers, however, plunged his spear into Jesus’ side, and at once blood and water poured out.  (The one who saw this happened has spoken of it, so that you also may believe.  What he said is true, and he knows that he speaks the truth.)  This was done to make the scripture come true : “Not one of His bones will be broken.”  And there is another scripture that says, “People will look at Him whom they pierced.”

THE BURIAL OF JESUS

After this, Joseph, who was from the town of Arimathea, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus’ body.  (Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but in secret, because he was afraid of the Jewish authorities.)  Pilate told him he could have the body, so Joseph went and took it away.  Nicodemus, who at first had gone to see Jesus at night, went with Joseph, taking with him about thirty kilogrammes of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes.  The two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen with the spices according to the Jewish custom of preparing a body for burial. There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried.  Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus’ body there.

(John 19 :1-3, 17 – 42)

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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

JESUS PRAYS IN GETHSEMANE

They came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  He took Peter, James and John with Him.  Distress and anguish came over Him, and He said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me.  Stay here and keep watch.”

He went a little farther on, threw Himself on the ground, and prayed that, if possible, He might not have to go through that time of suffering.  “Father,” He prayed, “My Father!  All things are possible for You.  Take this cup of suffering away from Me.  Yet not what I want, but what You want.”

Then He returned and found the three disciples asleep.  He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep?  Weren’t you able to stay awake even for one hour?”  And He said to them, “Keep watch, and pray that You will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

He went away once more and prayed, saying the same words.  Then He came back to the disciples and found them asleep; they could not keep their eyes open.  And they did not know what to say to Him.

When He came back the third time, He said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?  Enough!  The hour has come!  Look, the Son of Man is now being handed over to the power of sinful men.  Get up, let us go.  Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”

(Mark 14 : 32 – 42)

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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

JESUS EATS THE PASSOVER MEAL WITH HIS DISCIPLES

On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Where do you want us to get the Passover meal ready for You?”

“Go to a certain man in the city,” He said to them, “and tell him : ‘The Teacher says, My hour has come; My disciples and I will celebrate the Passover at your house.’”

The disciples did as Jesus had told them and prepared the Passover meal.

When it was evening, Jesus and the twelve disciples sat down to eat.  During the meal Jesus said, “I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

The disciples were very upset and began to ask Him, one after the other, “Surely, Lord, you don’t mean me?”

Jesus answered, “One who dips His bread in the dish with me will betray me.  The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say He will, but how terrible for that man who betrays the Son of Man!  It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

Judas, the traitor, spoke up.  “Surely, Teacher, you don’t mean me?”  he asked.

Jesus answered, “So you say.”

THE LORD’S SUPPER

While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples.  “Take and eat it,” He said; “this is my body.”

Then He took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them.  “Drink it, all of you,” He said; “this is my blood, which seals God’s covenant, my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.  I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

(Matthew 26:17 -30)

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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

THE REQUEST OF JAMES AND JOHN

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus.  “Teacher,” they said, “there is something we want you to do for us.”

“What is it?”  Jesus asked them.

They answered, “When you sit on Your Throne in Your Glorious Kingdom, we want you to let us sit with You, one at Your right and one at Your left.”

Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking for.  Can you drink the cup of suffering that I must drink?  Can you be baptized in the way I must be baptized?”

“We can,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup I must drink and be baptized in the way I must be baptized.  But I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left.  It is God who will give these places to those for whom He has prepared them.”

When the other ten disciples heard about it, they became angry with James and John.  So Jesus called them all together to Him and said, “You know that the men who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority.  This, however, is not the way it is among you.  If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, he must be the slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; He came to serve and to give His life to redeem many people.”

(Mark 10 : 35 – 45)

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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

THE LORD’S SERVANT

The LORD says,

“Here is my servant, whom I strengthen –

the one I have chosen, with whom I am pleased. 

I have filled him with my spirit,

and he will bring justice to every nation. 

He will not shout or raise his voice or make

loud speeches in the streets. 

He will not break off a bent reed or

put out a flickering lamp. 

He will bring lasting justice to all.

  He will not lose hope or courage;

he will establish justice on the earth. 

Distant lands eagerly wait for his teaching.”

God created the heavens and stretched them out;

He fashioned the earth and all that lives there;

He gave life and breath to all its people. 

And now the LORD God says to his servant,

“I, the LORD, have called you and

given you power to see that justice is done on earth.  Through you I will make a covenant with all peoples; through you I will bring light to the nations. 

You will open the eyes of the blind and

set free those who sit in dark prisons.

(Isaiah 42 : 1- 7)

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CHRIST’S HUMILITY AND GREATNESS

Christ Jesus 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.

He became like man and appeared in human likeness.

He was humble and walked the path of obedience

all the way to death-his death on the cross.

For this reason God raised Him to the

highest place above and gave Him the name that is greater than any other name.

And so, in honour of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, and all will openly proclaim that

Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

(Philippians 2:6 –11)

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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

SPIRITUAL AWAKENESS

Then Samuel took a stone, set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and said, “The Lord has helped us all the way” and he named it ‘Stone of Help’.”  (1 Samuel 7: 12)

The parents of Samuel, old Hannah and Elkanah, dedicated their only son in God’s service as per their promise to God. When Samuel reigned, the Israelites when attacked by the Philistines, cried to him for help and he instructed them as, “if you are going to turn to the LORD with all your hearts, you must get rid of all the foreign gods and images of the goddess..Dedicate yourself completely to the LORD and worship only Him, then He will rescue you from the power of the Philistines.”  The people agreed to his order and gathered at Mizpah according to Samuel’s command. They drew some water and poured it out as an offering to the LORD and fasted, offering themselves that whole day confessing, “We have sinned against the LORD.” The Philistines consisting of their five kings, on hearing their enemy gathered at Mizpah set forth to attack them with their armies.  As Samuel and Israelites were offering the sacrifice to the Almighty God,  thundered from heaven against their enemy, sending them into panic and confusion; while the Israelites marched from Mizpah to Shen. Thus Mighty Lord rescued His people. In memory of God’s protection, Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen, calling it the ‘Stone of Help’.

Dear ones in Christ, this passage reminds you to treasure certain old memories of your life which God your defender has done for you. In His mercy, God has bestowed numerous instances that we ought to regurgitate and be grateful for. Many times you might have tasted the bitterness of life  with roaring waves, stormy dark days engulfed in despair and fear, days overlaid in sickness, poverty, debts, loneliness with no one to extend a finger or a word of comfort yet your God led you to cross such rivers of life. Through those moments were bitter, yet He did not forget to add a spoonful of glucose that refreshed you in your tiredness and made you come out stronger; carrying you till date. All glory and honour to Him! Let us gratefully say a halleluiah! Close your eyes and meditate how good is your God. Have you done anything precious in memory to treasure God’s constant care? Share it with your beloved family and who knows, you might as well lead someone to God. Introduce this blog to those in need of spiritual encounter. Meditate and you will come to the conclusion how those bitter cups have turned into sweet, flavoured delicious experiences to grow in Him.

Another wonderful successor of Moses was Joshua. His experience will strengthen you to a greater extent. His past memorial days when he walked with Moses influenced him and infused in him confidence and determination to lead the people according to God’s will. When it was time to cross the  river Jordan, he reminisced the miracle of the Dead Sea; and confidently assured his people. In tune with the command from the Sovereign Lord, Joshua comforted the priests who carried the Covenant Box, “Put your feet in the water, Jordan will stop flowing and downstream will pile up in one place. The priests must stand on the dry ground in the middle of Jordan until everyone crossed over.” When the whole nation had crossed Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men, one from each tribe and command them to take twelve stones out of the middle of Jordan where the priests stood. Take these stones to the place where you will camp tonight. These stones will be a reminder in future of what the Lord has done.”              

Beloved parents, take some time out to recollect the hardships, brokenness and temptations you and your ancestors had to overcome. Your forefathers had crossed Red Sea by faith in the Living God who abides with them. Similar to Joshua, who remembered his young days and recalled how God used Moses, a perfect vessel; God proves time and again that He is our trust worthy father, who insists to be honoured. Sharing your life’s Red Sea experiences will enable  and assure our children  to cross their River of Jordan  confidently and courageously. They will declare, “My parents courageously crossed the Red Sea with Loving God, so can I too cross my river of Jordan, because the God of Moses and Joshua, who was with my parents, is with me today and all through my life.”  Join together and say a rejoicing Halleluiah!

Nothing was possible for you, if not those incidents were lead by your Father in Heaven who kept you safe and guarded you till date. Let us hope that He will secure your family and the land in His mercy through the Wounded Hands of Lord Jesus.    

                                                                                         

He says to one and all, “Do not be afraid – I am with you!

I am your God – let nothing terrify you!  I will make you strong and help you; I will protect you and save you.”  (Isaiah 41:10)

May you be of any caste, creed, any tribe, orphan, disabled child, young or old; sick, lonely, compressed with deadly forces, planning to end life due to darkness of troubles; remember the proclamation of His entry to the world, “People who live in darkness will see a great light, the light will shine on who live in the dark land of death.”  (Matthew 4) .Let us fix our gaze upon Him.

He, the Almighty, Supreme Power and Perfect Light may open your mind and eyes to the goodness of His wonderworks. Even if you walk in the dark valleys, He, the Light of the World, can illuminate your path and turn it positive, leading you to the truth. In the midst of your deadly disease, where there is no other way to cross, turn towards the Word of God, that can steer you to positivity and guide you confidently. Trust His promises! May the Almighty God through the Power of His Passion and Cross of His Beloved Son Jesus, purify your past memories, strengthening you to confess to your family to be never discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

In His constant love, He will be merciful to you. In His great mercy, He will wipe your sins and wash away all evil.

By dying, Lord Jesus destroyed our death.

By rising, Lord Jesus restored our life.

Lord Jesus, we welcome you in our families, in your Mercy and Glory!

 This day marks our 300^th post! We dedicate these 300 days of evangelization through blogging to our Most Sacred Heart of Lord Jesus.

We are glad that you, our dedicated readers, are there for us in the Lord. Do witness your testimonies to glorify the Sovereign God and to draw others to Him.

We are glad to serve the Lord, who chose, called and separated us for His service.

Yes, the wait continues for those who are yet to reach the shore to taste and know the goodness of our Lord!

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

IN RESPONSE TO MASTER’S CALL

Jesus said, “Anyone who starts to plough and then keeps looking back is of no use to the Kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:62)

When the Almighty God created man He said, “Subdue the world” giving man authority over entire creation. He called certain people, appointed them to do His special tasks, which are generally called ‘vocations’. In accordance to the message from the Almighty God, Prophet Elijah went to Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who would succeed him as a prophet. Elisha was ploughing with a team of oxen when Elijah took off his cloak and put it on him. Soon he said to Elijah, “Let me say goodbye to my parents.” He then killed his team of oxen, cooked the meat using the yoke as fuel for the fire. He served the meat to the people and joyfully began his journey following Elijah. Here we observe how he faithfully buried his past and willingly became a servant of God. He burnt the yoke so as never to think or turn back to his previous wealthy life. By destroying the old yoke Elisha freely accepts the new yoke His Creator gifted him for the light of glory. It signifies that from then on he would concentrate on God’s calling, sacrificing everything, without thinking about the gains and loss. What about you? What is your level of success to God’s invitation and vocations?

A young man, expressing his interest to follow Him became sad and withdrew his decision, when Lord Jesus said to him, “Give away all you have to the poor.” The New Testament testifies various ‘would-be-follower’ vocational stories.  When the time came for Jesus to be taken up to Heaven, He made up His mind to set out on to Jerusalem, where He was to be handed over to His enemies. As He continued His teachings about the Kingdom of God, a man shouted from the crowd, “Sir, I will follow you wherever you go.” (Luke 9:57) Lord Jesus replied to him, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lie down and rest.”  (Luke 9:58)

What did the Lord mean by this? The Lord was asking him, “Do you have a place in your heart for my Kingdom? Though the world and everything in it belongs to the King of kings, who could abide in a magnificent palace yet He rejected the world with all its perishable gifts. His sole purpose of coming to this earth was to conquer the power of the world. He said to us, “whoever wants to serve me must follow my way of life here. Then my servant will be with Me, where I am.” (John 12:26)

Accept and enthrone Him willingly rather than trumpeting your wavering, feeble decisions. To make us thoroughly understand, Lord Jesus continued extending His invitation by saying to another, “Follow Me.” Refusal followed in response to the Divine calling citing worldly concerns like burying the dead, bidding farewell to family, etc. Realising their attachment to the world and its obligations, Lord Jesus warns them, “Anyone who starts to plough and then keeps looking back is of no use to the Kingdom of God.” By this Jesus clearly tells us that you would be considered unworthy of His Kingdom unless priority and value is given to His invitation, by denying self. One must have faith and courage to leave everything in Jesus’ Name to protect the vocation faithfully till the end. St. Paul says, “You were called to be free. Since He has set you free, stand firm as free people. Do not allow yourself to become a slave again.” He exhorts to use your freedom not for your physical desires but to achieve salvation. The supreme goal of a follower of Christ is to satisfy his/her spiritual hunger.

Do you understand your call and vocation? Have you responded to it? If yes, serve the Lord willingly and He will accept you and your prayers will reach the skies. In his Gospel, Matthew narrates his response to the call to His vocation. Detaching himself completely, he zealously accepted it. Knowing the heart of the tax collector, Lord Jesus, said to him, “Follow Me.” These words pierced Matthew’s ears and heart, forsaking his profession and its benefits. At once he requested Lord Jesus to be the chief guest for a meal at his home. Preparing a great feast for the public as an occasion to share in his joy, he set out to follow his Master. The words ‘Follow Me’ transformed his life. He buried his past life, forgot himself and chose to walk with Him and reach wherever He reached. He continued practicing, observed minutely His deeds, actions and to step carefully only in His footprints. It evolved to being his only aim to grasp His teachings, never to find rest but continue His journey. He humbled himself, aware that he cannot reach his Master’s level, yet never to divert his attention to anyone or anything. His submissiveness taught him never to overtake the Lord but to expect the same fate. To run and follow the ‘one who never turns back’.  Yes! Indeed a true sacrificial and dedicated follower was he! He successfully narrated the Good News, inviting us to ‘Follow Jesus’ proving that only a positive and immediate response to God’s invitation can make a follower joyful and happy.

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

THE WOULD-BE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS

As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lie down and rest.”

He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But that man said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.”

Jesus answered, “Let the dead bury their own dead.  You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”

Another man said, “I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.”

Jesus said to him, “Anyone who starts to plough and then keeps looking back is of no use to the Kingdom of God.”

(Luke 9:57-62)

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God

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