Light and Darkness

PART XVIII

Lord, look at our heart and cleanse us to avoid darkness 

  Our Heavenly Father loves us so deeply that He offered His only Son, Jesus Christ, as a genuine sacrifice for us. I was struck with mortality in an unexpected way many years ago, when I was newly married. I assumed I'd died and that everything had ended. My wife was pregnant at the time, and we both worked in Oman. One day, I paid her a visit at work. I was crossing the street after the visit to catch a bus, and the bus was coming from the opposite side, and I didn't look to the left when crossing. A Pick Up suddenly hit me in the knee, sending me down. The automobile tried to save me. It simply overturned and skidded to the opposite side of the road. The Arab (local) came out of the car and asked what had happened to me. He expressed gratitude to God for my rescue. Later, I sensed an angel of God take possession of the vehicle, and I believe the angel is sitting in the Pick Up Vehicle. There is no way a driver driving in the opposite direction could have saved me from this accident. My vision had gone black, and I couldn't see anything.  The driver helped me board the bus and told me how scared my wife was because of the incident; she was staring at me helplessly, wondering what to do. I began to believe that if I died without accomplishing anything nice for my soul, I would go to hell. Sirach 15:14–18 (NJB):15 If you choose, you will keep the commandments and so be faithful to his will. 16 He has set fire and water before you; put out your hand to whichever you prefer. 17 A human being has life and death before him; whichever he prefers will be given him. 18 For vast is the wisdom of the Lord; he is almighty and all-seeing. I felt as if God had given me a new life, and a great longing for Jesus arose in my heart. I was blaming myself and contemplating a retreat. The following year, both of us attended a retreat at Divine Retreat Centre. It was a watershed moment in my life as I faced the gloom of death. God was always providing me with situations or incidents in my life to bring me closer to Him. Actually, the incidences are a summons from God, and they serve as a caution to me to seek Him while He is near. God is not concerned with our physical looks or ability.. 1 Samuel 16:7 (NJB): 7 but Yahweh said to Samuel, ‘Take no notice of his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him; God does not see as human beings see; they look at appearances but Yahweh looks at the heart. God is choosing us in a different way. Then I attend so many retreats and I could not experience Jesus in a full manner. Then I thought I am not worthy to get Jesus. I knew it was because my sins that Jesus was away from me.  

Daily Word of God

 

Daily Word On 21st September 2023

Lord, I am eaten up with zeal for your House

John 2:16–17 (NJB): Take all this out of here and stop using my Father’s house as a market.’ 17  Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: I am eaten up with zeal for your house. 

When Jesus saw the merchants and sellers in the Synagogue, he became enraged. He does not want his church to function as a marketplace. He desires that his church be a place of prayer. He became enraged and angrily threw everything that these folks were selling down. We must be zealous about the Church of God. Psalm 69:9 (NJB): for I am eaten up with zeal for your house, and insults directed against you fall on me.’ It is critical that we show our Lord respect. Be calm and pray hard for what is bothering us when we receive insults or contempt from our church or community. 

Lord, grant us the grace to keep your house, which is our heart, pure and holy in order to make it a home for you. 

The Daily Word of God

Daily Word On 19th September 2022

Mother Mary told servants: ‘Do Whatever he tells you’ 

John 2:3–5 (NJB): the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ 4 Jesus said, ‘Woman, what do you want from me? My hour has not come yet.’ 5 His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ 

Mother Mary told Jesus that there is no wine in the marriage party. Jesus was not started his mission fully. So he told her “my hour has not come yet’. But she has the full faith in Jesus that he will do it for her. We can see the obedience of Jesus to his mother. Mother Mary told the servants ‘Do whatever he tells you’ and this should be our attitude towards God, without any doubt we should obey Him. So as Mother Mary told the servants ‘do whatever he tells you’ we should obey what Jesus tells us to do without looking back. 

Light and Darkness

 

Part XVII

   What Psalmist prays for, to keep his eyes from seeing the bad images of this world to avoid the sins and pleading to God to give him the word of life. Lord, ‘Avert my eyes from pointless images, by your word give me life.’(Ps. 119: 37). Satan always tries to show us all the worldly things in front of our eyes. Our Lord gave us beautiful eyes, our heart, body and mind, which should not be corrupted by all these evil desires. Once these things start to corrupt us, our desires for Jesus and for the heavenly things will be vanished away. Psalmist pleads to God to give him the Word of life. Psalmist entrusted his life for God by praising Him with hymns and songs. His pen he always uses to write beautiful praising hymns to enlighten his mind and to avoid darkness in his life. So what should we try to see? Search from the Word of life, the Scriptures. Everything is hidden in him.16 Search in Yahweh’s book, and read, not one of these will be missing, not one of them lacking a mate; for thus his mouth has ordained it, and his spirit has brought them together.Is 34:16. Isiah the Prophet says read from the Bible and we will be guided by His spirit to understand the Scriptures. Jesus in his Gospel promised to give us the Holy Spirit ; If you love me you will keep my commandments. 16 I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete to be with you for ever, 17 the Spirit of truth whom the world can never accept since it neither sees nor knows him; but you know him, because he is with you, he is in you. Jn 14: 15-17. Here Jesus promises about the Holy Spirit and Worldly people cannot understand or know Him. He is the Spirit of the truth and we will understand the truth. The truth is Jesus, Jn 17:17;Consecrate them in the truth; your word is truth.