The Blessed Hope

Reflection on Easter Sunday.

Matthew 28:5-6 - The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

The resurrection of the Jesus Christ from the dead is central to God’s message of salvation. It is central to our faith and hope in God for eternal life.

The hope from the resurrection of Christ is secure, confident, unshakeable hope in the God we know will come through for us. In His earthly time together with the disciples, Jesus told them He would die and be raised again. He is faithful to His word.

We can have hope that death is not the end. We have hope, not just for this earthly life but for life after death - eternal Kingdom life. That gives us the courage to have an eternal mind-set, focused not just on this short life which will soon be gone, but rather making decisions that only make sense when we have the hope of eternal life – Kingdom mindset.

The hope we gain from the resurrection changes everything. It changes our priorities. It changes what matters most to us. It changes how we spend our money and where we invest our time.

When our hope is in the gift of everlasting life through Christ Jesus, our life's priority becomes sharing that hope with the hopeless around us.

Blessed Easter my friends.

His Love knows no boundaries.

Reflection on the day after Good Friday.

Matthew 27:65-66 - “Take a guard,” Pilate answered. “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.” So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard.

His Love knows no boundaries.

At the plea of the priests and Pharisees that the tomb be secured, Pilate remarks prophetically, "You have a guard of soldiers; go and make it as secure as you can". Neither death nor the power of Roman empire could contain Christ's infinite life, nor ours.

Today nothing can stop the love of God from reaching out to us except if we choose to close our heart.

No tomb can contain God's promise, through Christ our Savior. May we receive His love by opening our heart to Him.

Be Blessed.

Our Response: The Gift of Salvation - Receive or Reject

Reflection on Passion Week - Good Friday

Luke 23:34 - Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

The cross is where we see the convergence of great suffering and God’s forgiveness. The cross of Jesus is where God’s demands, His righteousness, coincided with His mercy. We receive divine forgiveness, mercy, and peace because Jesus willingly took our divine punishment, the result of God’s righteousness against sin.

Jesus endured the cross on Good Friday, knowing it led to His resurrection, our salvation, and the beginning of God’s reign of righteousness and peace.

Wishing you the joy and peace of the Lord. May you experience the power of His love in this Good Friday. It is good because He died for you & me and take away our divine punishment.

Be Blessed

Our Action: Selfless or Selfism?

Reflection on Passion Week – Thursday


John 13: 14-16 - Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

In a world filled with proud and egotistical generation, selfless attitude and servanthood is considered weak and worthless. Self-promotion, self-praise and "me, myself & I" take precedence above others.

But Jesus demonstrate true humility and servant heart. He step down from a position of deity to become a man, and then further humble Himself to be a servant and wash the feet of twelve undeserving sinners. That is true love, and true humility.

May we learn to develop a servant's heart. The way of the Cross is selfless and not selfism.

Be Blessed.

Our Attitude: Gratitude or Greed?

Reflection on Passion Week – Wednesday

Matthew 26: 7 - .... a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.

Matthew 26:14-15 - Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles, went to the chief priests and asked, “How much will you pay me to get Jesus into your hands?” And they gave him thirty silver coins. From that time on, Judas watched for an opportunity to betray Jesus to them.

Both knows the Savior well. One choose to act in absolute worship and adoration. She broke the alabaster jar and poured the costly oil on His head. The other allows greed to overtake him. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver which was the going rate for a slave at that time. Till today he is still referred as the betrayer. Both knows Jesus but the condition of their heart determine their action.

May we be more like the woman who offered her precious alabaster jar for the Lord. May we anoint Jesus with the precious oil of our devotion, our worship, our resources, our talents and our life. May we give the best of our lives on the One who poured out His life for us.

Be Blessed.

Our Lifestyle - A Screen Saver or A Reflection of Christ

Reflection on Passion Week - Tuesday
Matthew 21:18-19 - In the morning, as he was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry and noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “Never bear fruit again!” And soon the fig tree withered up.

Sometime we observe that spiritual barrenness is camouflaged with an appearance of religiosity...like the fig tree with leaves but without fruit. God is looking at our inner man. The key to bearing fruits can be found in John 15:5 where Jesus told the disciples “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing”. If we abide in Christ we will produce fruit. Those who have a relationship with Christ will bear much fruit or otherwise we will wither away. The question to all of us today - Are we bearing fruit?

Be Blessed

Our Heart - A Den of Thieves or a Temple of God?

Reflection on Passion Week - Monday
Matthew 21:12-13 - Jesus went into the Temple, drove out the merchants, and knocked over the money changers’ tables and the stalls of those selling doves. “The Scriptures say my Temple is a place of prayer,” he declared, “but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

Jesus’ second day in Jerusalem was as eventful as his first (Triumphant entry into Jerusalem). According to scripture and tradition, Monday of Passion week was when Jesus cleansed the temple. The cleansing of the temple at the very least illustrates how concerned He is with the purity of our heart and worship.

If we profess to be saved by God’s grace, love, and mercy than we too are a temple of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9 says that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, if we are a temple of God and Christ abides in us and with us, than we too need to consistently search our heart for things that doesn’t please the Lord.

In this Passion Monday, let us pray and ask God to purge our hearts and fill them to maximum capacity with His love, wisdom, and understanding, so that we can start living our lives with Him and through Him, finding good even in the bad that surrounds us.

Be Blessed.

Hosanna in the Highest

A Palm Sunday Reflection:

Hosanna in the highest!!

Revelation 7:9-10 - After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. [10] And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Palm Sunday is the day we celebrate triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, one week before His resurrection. But it also serves as a reminder of what will happen in eternity.

Apostle John records in Revelations a scene in heaven that features the eternal celebration of the risen Lord. The saints were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands”. These palm-bearing saints will shout, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb”.

Take time to be in the house of God today. It is a preparation for life in eternity.

Be Blessed.