Thought of the Day- May 20, 2020

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth”
(Acts 1: 8) 

Today is the last of the “Rogation” Days. Rogation (Latin- rogare) meaning: “to ask or request” is a time of solemn supplication or prayers before the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ from our world. A time of supplication because our Lord who has been appearing and reappearing to his disciples over the last forty days since His resurrection defying the three dimensionality of our human vision and has been speaking about the kingdom of God, is now about to ascend to the Heaven. (Yes, another forty days – we should remember Jesus was in the wilderness for forty days preparing himself before starting his earthly ministry). How do we think the 11 disciples may have felt during these forty days after Jesus’ resurrection? May be joyful, maybe afraid not knowing exactly what is to happen next, we all know how it feels to say a final good bye to people we love and whom we may not see again. But our Lord Jesus Christ assures them not to be afraid, because whatever they ask in His name and He will grant it.  As Jesus said, He was not going to leave them or us alone, but will send an Advocate, an intermediary between us and God, a Spirit of truth who will give us wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord and this Holy Spirit (the arm of the Trinitarian God) when it eventually came on the disciples at Pentecost, strengthened them to continue Christ work here on earth. 

So, as we celebrate Ascension Day tomorrow, when our church buildings will closed because of the corona virus pandemic, let us be joyful because Jesus’ ascension signifies the commencement of His heavenly ministry which after He has given us a foretaste of it during His earthly ministry. We should be joyful also because, Jesus is going to prepare a place for all of us who believe and trust in him including our ones who are dying because of the corona virus. We should also rejoice because His Ascension signifies the commencement of our own ministry here on earth as we are His earthly representative. What an honour to be called Christ’s representative on earth (to work in Christ’s Embassy here on earth), so friends, let us go forward and obey His commandment of “loving one another, as God love us” and let the Holy Spirit (God’s breath) abide and lead us to do God’s work here on earth. Amen.

Prayer: 

Lord God, we thank you for not leaving us alone when your Son Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, but leaving us with the Holy Spirit which is You speaking within us and walking in our systems. May this breath of Yours renew us and make us into new creations serving You and being Your witness bringing Your word to those yet to know You so that at the last, our whole world may enjoy Your glory and salvation, in Jesus name we pray. Amen 

Hymn of the Day:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFYMhF2GA4E ( Rejoice The Lord is King)