Month: February 2022

SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME

Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Luke 18:39 

 

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There are so many names in the scripture for our Lord Jesus Christ but why did this blind man call Jesus as “Son of David”?
He cried out to Jesus to have Mercy on him. Nothing can stop the Grace of God flowing towards anyone who approaches God with a humble and repentant heart. This blind man knows Jesus not only as healer but He is the Messiah, for the Redeemer of Israel will come from the lineage of King David. So the blind man was acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah in front of everyone not fearing the High priest or the prevailing religious establishment.

We must also witness loud and clear that Jesus Christ is the Only Saviour who has come to redeem us out of sin, curse and bondages. He alone can save us from darkness and bring us into his marvelous Light. He alone can deliver us from the clutches of the evil one.

Life throws in a lot of surprises and some of them are not at all pleasant, some are outright failures, disappointments and setbacks.

But we are not alone, Our Lord and Saviour who is always at our right hand (Psalm 16:8) will either change our failures into victory or make the setbacks/failures favorable to us in due time. Many a times the setback we faced in life were disastrous, but God changed the external circumstances and situation in such a way that this disaster was the best thing to have happened in my life.

When I failed to get a medical seat, I thought everything was over, but God broke my ego, made me stronger and revealed through the scriptures that greater things can be achieved if we learn to effectively wield the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God (Eph 6:17)

Jesus Son of David have mercy on me, let your mercy speak for me, let your favour speak for me. Amen

Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good! For his mercy endures forever (Psalm 118:1)The steadfast love of the lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness.

(Lamentations 3:22-23)

Sol Michael Roby. P

my heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king. My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

Psalm 45:1

The Psalm 45 is a messianic psalm and was sung by a poet to praise the king.  Usually, any poet would write down the poem and read before the audience. But here the poet didn’t write anything in advance to read before the audience. He was filled by the Holy spirit. His tongue was just like the pen of a skillful writer. The gathering might have thought that the poet was praising the king who was the Bride groom and greeted his Bride but each and every word was

prophetic. He prophesied about the marriage of Jesus Christ with the church (the Bride) which would be celebrated after thousands of years in the future. Jesus Christ will be the Bride groom. The church will be the bride.

Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul compares the union of husband and wife to that of Christ and the church. Jesus has purchased us with His suffering because he wanted us to be with Him for His happiness.

Matthew 25 says Jesus Christ is the bridegroom and the church is the virgin. The awaited event is Jesus’ second coming.

For more than 2000 years the earth and heaven have been waiting for this great ceremony of marriage of Jesus Christ with the Church. Angels are very eagerly waiting to recite psalms praising Jesus (the Bridegroom) and to greet the Church (Bride). Bride represents the multitude of followers of Jesus Christ.  The transformation of the Bride is not yet complete. The Bride is being shaped by the Holy Spirit so that a worthy Bride may be presented to Jesus Christ. Jesus is expecting a transformed Church to sit at his right hand.

Are we ready for this great moment? The bride should be ready and clothed with righteous deeds as per Rev 19:7-9

Ephesians 5:27 says that Christ has given himself up for her so that he might sanctify her having cleansed her washing with water and with word so that he might present the Church to himself in splendour without spot or wrinkles or any such things. The Bride should be holy and without blemish. She should be presented to Christ as a pure virgin.

The Holy spirit should testify our worthiness to become the Bride of Christ.

Let us await the day of happiness like a virgin who awaits her husband. Amen. Hallelujah.

Sol. Subramanian

“And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God!”

Luke 18:24

Praise the Lord. Glory to God Almighty.  “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mathew 6: 21).

When I meditate on this verse the Holy Spirit guides me to remember a passage from Luke 16:19-23. There Jesus Christ told his disciples about the actual experience of a rich man and a beggar.

 Mathew 18:10 says “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven”.

Beggar stayed at the gate of rich man, and was neglected by him. He didn’t take it seriously , didn’t have the mind to extend his hands to care for the beggar.

Lazarus was laid at his  gate with sores all over the body. Foul smelling copious discharge from the sores which attracted flies and it was licked by dogs.  Lazarus was out of his control and even his condition was deteriorating day by day. But for this rich man he didn’t have a courtesy  to  arrange for a medical assistance.

“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thine hand to do it” (Proverb  3:27)

The rich man had everything in plenty, but his heart didn’t have a thought to help Lazarus. Lazarus was struggling for his bread and medical illness . no one there to help Lazarus  even the rich man also. How the heart  of rich man was  diverted to selfish and worldly things.

“If a man says, ” I Love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. That he who loveth God love his brother also” ( 1 John 4: 20,21)

The rich man stored his wealth in the earthly kingdom. He followed the commandments but didn’t have fruits of the Holy Spirit.

 The Bible says  after the death of both,  Lazarus was comforted in Abraham’s lap. The rich man was in hell. This is a warning for us, let us look into our life. Where are we now?. Are we manifesting the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our life?. If not, ask for forgiveness to God and repent. 

Let us pray. Heavenly father we come before you, Forgive us and  enrich us with the Holy Spirit to follow your steps. We ask in Jesus name Amen.

Sol. Dr. G. Kamalin Viji , AOJ

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:14

The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, we see that the tax collector was justified because of his humbleness.

What does justified mean?

Justified meaning, according to theology, declared or made righteous in the sight of God.

How are we justified?

Romans 3:24-26 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because of His forbearance, God has passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Humbleness:

Humbleness is the spirit of submission or the lack of pride. Through this parable we understand that we are made righteousness through Jesus Christ if we humble ourselves.

Humbleness is an attitude that we have to cultivate in us in order to bring the favor of God in us.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.

Apostle Paul: Paul who was called Saul a Jew full of pride and a fierce executioner of Christians. One encounter with Jesus completely changed his life.

He was justified (made righteousness) and became humble through Jesus Christ.

Paul’s radical testimony in 2 Corinthians 11:25 is a constant reminder that God can take the least likely of us and use our lives powerfully for his glory.

Now let us look at our Lord Jesus Christ

The perfect example of humbleness is our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.

Phil 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus humbled himself to extent that he could forgive everyone on the cross.

Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls”.

Psalms 25:9 The humble he guides in justice, and the humble he teaches his ways.

I was born and brought up in Roman Catholicism, later we as family accepted Jesus and became born again Christians. We were rejected and humiliated by all our family members. But God gave us the grace to be humble, we started to pray for salvation for all our relatives, praise be to God, now everyone accepted Jesus and took Baptism. Glory to God.

Prayer

Our heavenly father, fill us with the spirit of humbleness. Help us to be obedient to your call. In Jesus name, Amen.

Sol. Camilia AOJ

His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?” and he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom.

1Ki 1:6 

One of the characters about whom, much description is given in Bible, is David.  Even though David achieved much, his failures are also described in Bible. He had many children. The above verse depicts clearly David’s failure in the fatherly duties.

Pro 22:6  Train a child in the way appropriate for him, and when he becomes older, he will not turn from it. 

Today’s society puts so much restrictions on disciplining a child.

Pro 23:13  Don’t withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with a rod, he won’t die. 

Many countries have put legal ban on uttering the word “Jesus”, ‘God’ ‘Sin’ to their kids and young generation. But Bible teaches the opposite.  Bible teaches about disciplining a child strictly.

Why should we discipline a child?

Pro 29:15  The rod and rebuke bestow wisdom, but an undisciplined child brings shame to his mother. 

In 1 King 1:6, we see Adonijah brought shame not only to his mother but to his father, to his siblings, family and to the whole Israelites.  Finally, he was killed by his own brother which would have brought unimaginable misery and sorrow to his parents.

Note the word, “His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?”

David’s failure in his fatherly duty is emphatically mentioned 3 times.

1. David had not displeased him. 2.  At any time 3.  Never asked “Why have you done so?”

Are you prepared to displease your child? The parents will have to get the displeasure of their children if you discipline them. Are you afraid of displeasing your child? How much effort, energy and time have you put in disciplining your child?

Modern families are becoming child centred and it is not a good sign as per the above verse. Let’s look into our family. What are the negative tendencies in my child?

Have you ever taken effort to find them out?

If not, allot time today itself, to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal it to you. Don’t postpone it to tomorrow.

Why David hesitated in disciplining Adonijah? The next verse says,

“Adonijah was very handsome and had been born after Absalom”. 

May be David was proud of his two handsome sons.

Never hesitate to discipline your ‘intelligent’, ‘handsome’, ‘rank holder’, ‘smart’, ‘efficient’ child.

If you do not correct him/her at the appropriate time, its life will be damaged. The child will become a headache, and a nuisance to your family, his/her own family which he/she is supposed to raise, and to the society.

This is the great spiritual erosion that has taken place in the ‘once reputed Christian nations.  They failed to discipline their children.

God sent among them a powerful delusion so that they believed  in a lie. “If given maximum individual freedom, without any disciplining, children will choose the right from wrong.”. This generation has proved that it was a deception. By the time we found it out,  many generations suffered irreparable damage, many died spiritual deaths, and  the countries’  Government went into the hands of  unworthy hands who have no or less regard for the laws of the Lord.   

Sr. Angelica AOJ

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

Luke 18:11

Jesus spoke this parable to certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.

Self-righteousness blinds our eyes from our own mistakes and makes us to look down on others who fail in life, commit mistakes or don’t bear spiritual fruits like us.

Once In a prayer meeting, my companion fell asleep during message. I was upset and despised her. Just in few minutes I fell asleep. But in the spirit, I was awake. Then the Lord said unto me “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged”. I repented for not showing mercy on her weakness.

In Luke 13:2,3 Jesus asked, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish”. Luke 6:41 says “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye but fail to notice the beam in your own eye?”

When we are self-righteous, we lack in showing gratitude towards God.

In Luke 7:36-47, A pharisee invited Jesus for a nice meal. A sinful woman heard about Jesus and came to that place. The Pharisee who was careful in keeping the law, despised the woman as she was a sinner. On the other hand, the sinful woman, convicted of her sins, washed Jesus’s feet with her tears, ceased not to kiss his feet and anointed Him with perfume. Jesus said in verse 47 “So I’m telling you that her sins, as many as they are, have been forgiven, and that’s why she has shown such great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.”

Man’s righteousness shown in works can boast before other Men, but not before God. Rom 4:2  In the presence of the Lord, “all our righteousness are as filthy rags” Isaiah 64:6. It is Jesus who forgives our sins and makes us righteous before God and not our deeds.

“The righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” Rom 3:22.

“The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal 2:20

Amen!

Sol Sheeba Benjamin AOJ

Despising and Despised

The parable referred to in Luke 18:9 is the one about the Pharisee and the publican. The Pharisee is self righteous and despises the publican. On the contrary, the publican realizes that he is a sinner and pleads for God’s mercy and thereby, he is exalted.

The word of God is the double – edged sword. Self righteousness and pride are less desirable to God when compared with humility. As believers, we must be very careful not to despise anyone lest we lose favors from God. Romans 12:3 instructs “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think”. The perception of most human beings about God is far from reality.  The Bible gives a lot of instances to this. We can meditate on a few.

Genesis 29 shows how Jacob considered Rachel to be significant and the object of his love. Verse 31 says, “the Lord saw that Leah was hated”. Leah continued to be steadfast in love for her husband and her devotion to God. So God blessed her with six children and Rachel remained barren for a long time. Leah found favour in the eyes of God, though despised by her husband.

I Samuel 16:11 shows how David is almost a forgotten son of Jesse. Samuel at the time of anointing the next king of Israel asks Jesse “Are here all thy children? And he said there remaineth yet the youngest” who tends the sheep. Samuel anoints David for he is chosen by God.

Judges 6:15 shows Gideon thinking of himself as “the least in my father’s house” when God considers him as a “mighty man of valor” in Judges 6:12. John 4 speaks of the Samaritan woman who is looked down upon by the Jews and by many in the village. That is the reason she comes to the Jacob’s well at an odd time. When she meets Jesus, He transforms her into an evangelist who leads many to Christ the Messiah.

I had to appear for an interview once. That time, I had neither Ph.D. nor enough experience. When I saw the other candidates with more qualifications and experience I did not have much hope. But I prayed and depended on God. Even today, I can witness that God selected me on merit.

The Bible teaches us how the Lord looks at an individual despite the perception of one’s own self or family members or society. As a Child of God, we must seek His grace to look at others as He sees them. At the same time when we are despised and treated as insignificant we can be sure that we will receive favour from God which is better than that of man. In our lives we might have come across situations when God blessed us beyond our own expectations. We must thank God for his mercies are everlasting.

Dear God,

Help us to rely on you when we are despised.  Help us to trust that your eyes are on us to exalt us in front of those who despise us. Lord, we humble ourselves before you. Give us grace to consider the best in others and never to despise any of your creations. Amen.

G.S. Angelin AOJ Trichy