looking through the communion glass cup

"Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?" 1 Corinthians 10:16

Today, as usual during Sunday Service in church, we all come to a time of Holy Communion. This time I hold the cup in my hands as always. The bread in another. There is someone leading the Holy Communion and I was waiting for the person to finish. The communion cup was a small transparent sized cup and I noticed my own fingers holding the cup. I saw my fingers through the crimson drink within the communion cup. For a moment it struck me. This is how God sees me, through the crimson blood of Christ. My sins, my shames, my guilts, all cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and God look at me with eyes of grace through the blood of Christ. Blood shed in Calvary to seal my pardon that I can come blameless before God. It was a meaningful communion, partaken meaningfully, remembering what Christ has done.

"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:13

Hallelujah, What a Savior by Shelly Moore Band

Man of Sorrows, what a name

For the Son of God, Who came

Ruined sinners to reclaim.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,

In my place condemned He stood;

Sealed my pardon with His blood.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;

Spotless Lamb of God was He;

"Full atonement!" can it be?

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;

"It is finished!" was His cry;

Now in Heav'n exalted high.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,

All His ransomed home to bring,

Then anew His song we'll sing:

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

the temple

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit." 1 Corinthians 6:17

The temple of the Holy Spirit, our body. Yet we still have control over our bodies, to do what we would want to do, be it good or bad, the choice on how to use our bodies lies with us. God give us the responsibilities to take care of our own bodies and to direct our bodies and the usage of our bodies. "So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." 1 Corinthians 9:26-27. The Lord intends for us to discipline our bodies and submit it to good usage and for more Godly purposes rather than let our bodies be enslaved to temporal satisfactions that only drains us. That said, the temple of the Holy Spirit is in our bodies yet the Lord does not control our bodies like a puppet, the Holy Spirit exists in us to help us in our spiritual walk with the Lord and helps us to be victorious over the flesh. It helps us not to let the flesh control our mind and spirituality but helps us to use our mind and spirituality to control the body. Apostle Paul mentions this a lot in the book of Acts, Romans and also 1st Corinthians, constantly reminding us of the difference between a spirit led life and the life led by the desires of the flesh. He also mentions a lot on the control of our body and living a life worthy in our body for the calling by which we are placed by God. When we sin, the Holy Spirit in us is grieved. The Holy Spirit in us is the seal and guarantee of the salvation of the Lord.

"Holy Spirit" by Kari Jobe ft. Cody Carnes

There's nothing worth more that will ever come close

No thing can compare, You're our living hope

Your presence, Lord

I've tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves

Where my heart becomes free and my shame is undone

Your presence, Lord

Holy Spirit, You are welcome here

Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere

Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for

To be overcome by Your presence, Lord

I've tasted and seen, of the sweetest of loves

Where my heart becomes free, and my shame is undone

By Your presence, Lord

Let us become more aware of Your presence

Let us experience the glory of Your goodness

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable:  “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders  and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’  I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." Luke 15:1-7

The parable of the lost sheep. Most of us have had been a lost sheep once. Lost in sin. Lost in the things of this world. Lost and directionless in life. Lost and unable to untangle ourselves from that mess that we are in. Lost and most of the times feeling condemned. Often the world outside the sheep pent looked more interesting, tempting and often cheated us and brings our life upside down. It feels us with fear and leaves us out in the open for the foxes and wolves that lie in wait. The sins and temptations, the condemnations and the evilness all flings themselves at us the moment we are out in the open and away from The Shepherd. The Shepherd comes looking for us, knowing what danger we are in, knowing that He needs to find us because we probably cannot find the way back or even sometimes we don't even want to go back because we don't understand the love of The Shepherd, we choose to hide like Adam in the garden after his fall. When you are lost and too confused to get out and the hands of grace just comes in and pulls you out of that situation of being lost and then clothed you with love and warmth, that is a beautiful moment. It is hard to forget such moments because in that moment we get to see the beauty of His Love, the extent by which He will reach out and the extend by which He searches for us even when we run away from Him. The most beautiful moment is He brings us back, when we are all so entangled in our sins and the things of this world, not when we have untangled ourselves. The beauty of His grace, His love is just so great. It brings repentance and conviction, there's totally no condemnation. That's love in the highest standards.

The foundation of faith

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."

I once had a sheep who asked me. "How do I strengthen the foundation of my faith? Is it by reading the Bible and praying more during devotion?" The typical answer that I would have replied is "Yes" But in reflecting the question, the real question that should be asked is "What really is the foundation of our faith? What is it that compels us to read the Bible and what is it that enables and drives us to pray?" To build the foundation of our faith, it is undoubtedly to read the Bible and to pray often and also to join in the fellowship of the brothers and sisters in Christ. We have come to think of this as the building of the strong foundation, but Bible reading and praying and fellow shipping comes to nothing when we do not understand the very thing that compels us to build these foundations, it becomes routine that happens because our leaders, our parents, our elder siblings and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ ask us to do. The true foundations of our faith is the death and resurrection of Christ. That is really the foundation of our faith, because when we fully understands Christ and what He has done upon the cross, when the reality of the spiritual exchange that was made on the cross dawned upon us, when the significance of how the death cleansed and saved us and the resurrection gives us a victorious choice of life and salvation just strikes the chords of our hearts, when all these happens within our hearts, minds and souls, it just compels us to have a passion and a desire to want to know more of God and to want to go deeper in that relationship with Him and that passion and desire will be the thing that compels us to read the Bible and to pray and to join in the fellowship of the brothers and sisters in Christ. The true foundation of our faith is understanding and really knowing what Christ has done for us upon that cross and living each day based upon that. The strength of the foundation of our faith is not what we do to strengthen the foundation, it is living in what Christ has done for us.

"Forever" by Kari Jobe

The moon and stars they wept

The morning sun was dead

The Saviour of the world was fallen

His body on the cross

His blood poured out for us

The weight of every curse upon him

One final breath he gave

As heaven looked away

The son of God was laid in darkness

A battle in the grave

The war on death was waged

The power of hell forever broken

The ground began to shake

The stone was rolled away

His perfect love could not be overcome

Now death where is your sting?

Our resurrected King

Has rendered you defeated

Forever he is glorified

Forever he is lifted high

Forever he is risen

He is alive, He is alive!

The ground began to shake

The stone was rolled away

His perfect love could not be overcome

Now death where is your sting?

Our resurrected King

Has rendered you defeated

Forever he is glorified

Forever he is lifted high

Forever he is risen

He is alive, He is alive!

We sing hallelujah

We sing hallelujah

We sing hallelujah

The Lamb has overcome

Forever he is glorified

Forever he is lifted high

Forever he is risen

He is alive, He is alive!

You have overcome

You have overcome

You have overcome

You have overcome