CHRISTEN SECTION

THE GREAT TAX COLLECTOR- ZACCHAEUS

Long time back in Jericho; Two thousand years ago

Lived a man whose Zacchaeus was name;

Who was rich had status and fame.

Still he lacked peace in his family;

Neither was there love nor joy or unity.

To see Jesus was his plan; but he was a short little man

So he ran ahead to see, and climbed a Sycamore tree.

To see Jesus was his desire;

Burning in him like a jungle fire.

When Jesus reached below the tree there;

He lifted his head and gave a loving stare;

And said to him, “Hurry down!”

For his house was chosen in that town.

For He should stay there that day

To show Zacchaeus the Salvation way.

The people around began to grumble,

But from Father’s will, Jesus did not stumble;

For Zacchaeus was proof for man;

To see God’s love for the sinner clan.

Zacchaeus stood and said to Christ:

“Sir, I’ll return the robbed rights;

To poor I’ll give half my belongings;

To pay back the ones I’m longing.”

Jesus smiled and stood up to say:

“Salvation has come to this house today.”

By giving everything when he did surrender;

Jesus gave peace and threw his sins never to remember;

For the Son of Man came to seek

To save the lost, the humble and the meek.

(Luke 19:1-9)

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 favor and give you peace.

With love filled blessings,

Your Sister in Christ

YOUTH CORNER

A WITNESS TO HIS MAGNIFICENT GOODNESS

The Holy Bible says, “Arise Jerusalem,  and  shine like the sun;  the glory of the Lord is  shining on you”. (Isaiah 60:1)

Born and brought up in a traditional Catholic family that consisted of my strict disciplinarian father, my mother and two younger siblings. Tension grew in my family due to my weak academic reports and adding to it my father’s extra strictness was suffocating me. I was unable to do or decide anything. I tried doing various Diploma courses like Electronics, Secretary, Mechanical etc but failure awaited me everywhere. Meanwhile I was doing odd jobs which were neither helping me and parents out of their concern, would pressurize me to look for a better job. I was unable to find steadiness and eventually change it within a year or two. Day after day would pass just for the sake of it, I was neither living nor were there any rays of hope or future ambitions to look forward to. Initially I would obey my father half-heartedly, but then when the bitterness of disappointment at every opportunity seemed regular, I began to rebel against him, would not care for anyone else and lived a depressed and hopeless life.

I was regular in church and family prayers but with the constant flow of tensions, worries; I myself began to question the existence of God and my faith began to waver. Even the tiny drop of faith evaporated in the vast sea of my troublesome life along with the desire to live. Sickness entered into my life in the form of tuberculosis and a severe migraine which would continue haunting me for months. No medicine or treatments helped me. On the other end of my town a small prayer group began evolving; and all young and old were participating in it. Hearing about it from various sources, sparked my parents enthusiasm and they too tried an opportunity to attend KLWC to restore the family’s harmony imbalance. Just as salvation came to Zacchaeus and his family; similarly we were blessed with an opportunity. During their conversation with Respected Sister, my parents showed willingness to enroll their three sons in the Lord’s service without any reservation.   

Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Salvation has come to this house today, for this man, also a descendant of Abraham. The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10)

My father who very rarely visited Church and its services, began to be a regular at the KLWC prayer meetings. When the life-giving Word of God began to work its power in my dad, numerous changes reflected in him and he would embark to draw others too into these meetings. Seeing my depressed state my father would repeatedly compel me to visit Respected Sister. To escape from further compulsions, I agreed and set out with him. To be frank I was curious to know the origin of my dad’s change in attitude. One bright afternoon, we stepped into her home. During the course of our conversation, my dad requested for a pray over for me and she obliged. As days passed, I observed that I was cured of my migraine; awakenness gave way to my depressed mind; voluntarily I began to attend KLWC meetings. Listening to the Bible preachings cleared my doubts and misunderstandings about God.

The Word of God “Cast all your anxiety  on  him he cares for  you”(1 Peter 5:7) assured and rekindled my faith in God and I surrendered all my uneasiness, worries and my burdens. The formation of the Youth Section and through my involvement in it I gained confidence and strong will power.  Regular attendance of the Youth classes sowed seeds of deep rooted faith. Soaking myself in God’s Love, washed away all my sorrows, grudge and unforgiveness towards my family members. God created a pure heart and new and loyal spirit in me. The inner healing classes helped me to reconcile to a great extent; to accept all who hurt me and wholeheartedly forgive and pray for them.

While I was being spiritually blessed, on other hand Lord favoured me with a steady job. As an active member, we are spiritually tutored to read the Holy Bible on a regular basis. Adhering to this rule, boosted my memory power and enabled me to grasp things on a faster scale. These amazing changes in me ignited a fire of hope to live for God alone. Praise the Lord! Halleluiah!  

To be honest, I did not have the courage to come forward and partake in the Lord’s work publicly; but my step towards Christ banished my fears and inferiority complex.

“Arise Jerusalem, and shine like the sun; the glory of the Lord is shining on you”. These words along  with the constant support of my team members encourages me to run towards my goal and keep my eyes fixed on the great reward that God has in store for me. 

                                              -By a silent warrior

                                                                                                

LIFE IN HOLY SPIRIT

PART VII

“Your life in Christ makes you strong and His love comforts you.  You have fellowship with the Spirit, and you have kindness and compassion for one another.”  (Phil 2:1)

Goodness

Sovereign God is the focus of all Goodness. Since He is the stream of goodness and when we take it from His cup, we grow in goodness.  Saints rejoice in the goodness of God because they are the ones who searched for it and keenly analyzed their work.  

In the book of the Acts of Apostles, Peter spoke to the people, “You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on Him the Holy Spirit and power.  He went everywhere doing good and healing all who where under the power of devil, for God was with Him.” 

The deeds that He has done have been called ‘the Goodness of Lord’. 

God can see goodness in every human being. 

The Lord Jesus visualized goodness in the life of the woman caught in adultery. 

Aware of her obedient nature within, Jesus said to her, “Go, but do not sin again.” The Lord poured out His goodness when He whispered the words to her.  Alleluia!!  Amen!!

Similarly, the Lord found the spirit of evangelization in the Samaritan Woman. Only Jesus could glimpse into the inner heart thirsting to share and help the poor in Zacchaeus who was nicknamed ‘sinner, tax collector, cheater, full of malice.’

Above all Jesus had always loved those in the world who were his own and he loved them to the very end.  (John 13 :1)

Let us urge for this nature of Lord Jesus. St. Paul assures us that “God has already gifted you with full of goodness that you have all knowledge and that you are able to teach one another. (Romans 15)

For it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness and truth.  (Ephesians)

The law of the Holy Spirit brings life in union with Christ. Jesus has set us free from the laws of sin and death.  Leading a life according to the laws of Holy Spirit is the command given by our Good God.   

The Bible says when “the Holy Spirit comes He will prove to the people of the world, that they are wrong about God’s judgment.  They are wrong about sin because they do not believe.  They are wrong about what is right. “ (Jn 16 : 8)

Goodness can be interpreted as blessings.  People who fear the Lord receive the gift of blessings.  God gifted king David with blessings as well as the people of Israel and King Solomon were happy about all blessings – goodness , that the Lord had given to them. 

To do good at all times and to see the goodness of others are the inheritance that belong to the people of Holy Spirit and they can keep their blessings forever.  The most and best blessing is the achievement of the Holy Spirit.  The person who appreciates and adopts goodness is acceptable to God and He writes off all his wrongdoings and blesses him with more virtuous habit to practice.

By gentle attitude towards everyone, be ready to do good in every way and speak good to one another, so that we will abide in the peace that our Lord granted us.