Month: April 2022

As the song “How deep the Father’s love for us” was sung during the Good Friday service, I broke down into tears. Even with us who are in the Christian circle for ages, the love of God-the Father towards us to send Jesus His Son to die on the cross for us is quite un-understandable. Those who are not in this circle yet have even harder time understanding the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

Though the Father’s love is vast and indefinite, I got a tiny glimpse of how a father’s love might look like. Love itself seems undefinable. My father went to be with the Lord in March. He was in coma for 4 weeks. God gave me the privilege of helping with my father’s last journey by reading the Word, praying for him and reconciled with him resulting in an amazing bonding. We had a sour relationship for quite a while. God spared me from regret by removing all bitterness from my heart. I asked my father to forgive me and conveyed to him that I realized very late that I did love him much – loved him enough to plead to Jesus for his eternity in heaven.

Doctor had told me in the first couple days that he will not sustain after removing from the ventilator. But by God’s amazing miraculous grace, my father started to breathe on his own. Not one day, not two days but for 21 days. Everyday I read the Word to him, talked to him a lot just as if he was conscious and prayed. Though there were times I couldn’t understand what God’s plan for my father was, each day made accomplishments in my life. Even before I got to the hospital, God had given me a word, “The yoke will be removed from my shoulder”. During this time when my father continued to breathe, God removed so many yokes from my life. As I wrote down the happenings of each day, I saw that each day accomplished something in my life towards my good future. It was like my father, even in his unconscious state, might have requested to Jesus to make provisions to protect my future and then to take him. I truly felt like there was probably no father in this world who would have done this for his child. Of course, behind this amazing happening was God’s grace towards me and my father.

If a father who did not have a great relationship with his daughter could do such a loving deed, how much more love would our Heavenly Father have for us?

Hebrews 9:22 Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Without forgiveness, no one can enter into God’s Kingdom. And the only other place with doors open wide is the hell. So, God sent His only Son, to suffer extreme pain and humiliation and then to die on the cross for us, to pay our debt in full. The Father’s love is so deep and vast. It is un-understandable for our little human wisdom. This is a glimpse I got of a father’s love from my own father. May we ever be grateful for the love of our Heavenly Father and the sacrifice of Jesus and for the guiding and comforting presence of our Holy Spirit Lord! AMEN!

Luke 22:3 Satan entered into Judas. Whoever betrays Christ, or His truths or ways, it is Satan that puts them upon it. How Satan entered into Judas was in awful stages. The awful stages were 1) Covetousness being his master-passion, the Lord let it reveal itself and gather strength by entrusting Judas with the money bag, as treasurer to Jesus and the twelve disciples. 

In the discharge of that most sacred trust, he became a thief, taking the money from time to time to his own use. Satan, seeing this door into Judas’ heart standing wide open, determines to enter by it, but cautiously putting it into his heart to betray Him, suggesting the thought to him that by this means  he might enrich himself.

God gave His children the Ten Commandments to keep. If we find ourself breaking those commandments by simple white lies, coveting, dishonoring parents, having other priorities than God etc, we should have the wisdom to understand that we are doing what the devil wants us to do and not God. Neglecting these in the beginning makes the heart and the conscience callous and then it makes one go in a downward spiral with the devil. 

The devil’s tactics are old and nothing new. He blinds people into being ignorant. Amazed by how Judas after making a pact with the Chief Priests still came over for the Passover meal with Jesus and the rest of the disciples. This Jesus who always exposed the crooked thoughts of the Pharisees and Sadducees, would He have not known what Judas was upto? But the devil blinded Judas from realizing that Jesus is omniscient and omnipotent. 

Amazed by how the chief priests who claimed to keep even the smallest of the laws had no problem plotting to kill a sinless man because He came in the way of their earthly agendas. 

1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you”. So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

The God who created the universe and all the living things in it has promised that He will feed us and provide for us without fail. So we don’t have to exhaust ourselves in such meaningless pursuits after wealth rather focus on the heart of God and His Kingdom.

Of all the disciples, only Judas was given the money bag because he was the only one who was greedy while the rest of them laid down their lives for the sake of the gospel of Christ. And the noose of that moneybag strangled Judas’ neck to his death.We are tested in our area of weaknesses more than the strengths. May we ask Him not to lead us into temptation but to deliver us from the evil one! AMEN!