Contemplation gives the joy of Salvation
Dear Friends
Greetings to you all from this coldest weather in London.
I’m pretty sure most of you are eagerly waiting to welcome the warm weather. On the other hand, we can make use of this weather to enrich our spiritual journey by reading and reflecting on the word of God while we stay at home. Worshiping the Lord either in private or in public gives us inner joy.
Herewith I would like to share below some of my personal reflections which come from my personal life situations.
You will call your walls, Salvation, and your gates, Praise.
Isaiah 60:18b
Walls always give us an alarming situation like hatefulness, or separation, or ignorance, or untouchability and so on. But Isaiah was encouraging Israelites to see the walls as their Salvation. We need to reflect and apply this verse to our life situations. I reflected that we can pray before the walls (barriers) as it will give us the salvation which comes from the Lord. Standing before the wall increases our faith, love and Hope in God who is giving us the energy to see His power through our prayers. So if we recognise our own walls which we cannot move in our lives, the first thing we need to remember is to PRAY and trust in the power of God to break any walls which are barriers in our lives to move on.
On the other hand “Gates” give us the authority to open them and to enter in with joyful and grateful hearts. When we enter the gates we should not forget to praise the Lord and uplift His name through our testimonies. It will bring others to celebrate His name together. Psalmist says about entering the worship in “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.” Psalm 100:4
My second reflection is :
…where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Matthew 18:20
Two or three gathered affirm Christ’s presence among us through this verse. When we are gathered in person to worship the Lord we do feel the same in our worship services. But something else may also happen with this gathering. That is Politics. We need to be conscious of the emerging politics in our gatherings and take an opportunity to solve the political issues with the knowledge of Christ who is within us. Because Gatherings reminds us to walk with the Lord and to reveal His way of doing things to the public to build His kingdom only but not our own Kingdom.
This month as we begin our Lenten journey from 22nd February, we humbly practice to listen, learn and reflect which will help us in our personal life journey to live like Jesus and share the love of the Triune God amongst us. This year, five Lenten Bible Studies will be led via Zoom. Please get the information from your Prayer Group Coordinators. We will also have the joint Service on Ash Wednesday with Rivercourt Methodist Church, Hammersmith at 8:00 pm. Please attend and bring your friends to participate and begin our Lenten journey together and meaningfully.
Have a blessed new month!
In His Service
Revd Jessie Anand, Minister, LTCC 1st February 2023