Then He took a loaf of bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me’. And He did the same with the cup after supper, saying ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood – Luke 22:19, 20 (NRSV)

Greetings in Jesus’ Most Holy Name!

Remembrance has a theological significance. It leads to faith. Every human being has experiences of ‘remembrance’ in their lives. We remember events, people and situations that occurred in our lifetime. Experiences in the form of memories; both good and bad help us to remember and these remembrances can make us happy or sorrowful. Good memories always make us smile in thanksgiving, while bad memories can make us sorrowful if the situation has not been surrendered to Jesus for healing. We will always remember experiences of the past, whether good or bad! In fact every moment of every day is being transformed into memories as we live out our lives here on Earth!





Do this is in remembrance of Me



Today, we celebrate another glorious feast of the Catholic Church – Corpus Christi or in other words – ‘The Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ’! What a wonderful way to remember God’s divine act of Love for each one of us through the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper. In John 6:53-56 we read about Jesus’ specific words regarding His body and Blood - “So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat My flesh and drink My blood abide in Me and I in them.”

The Church teaches us that the Mass is not a re-crucifixion of Christ but the re-presentation of the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary. Through His intercessory ministry in heaven and through the Mass, Jesus continues to offer Himself to His Father as a living sacrifice in the form of bread and wine, which are transubstantiated into Christ Himself! Thus, at every Holy Eucharist, we are not merely commemorating Jesus Christ but actually participating in His Body and Blood as Paul states in 1 Corinthians 10:16 – “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?" The Eucharist is a wonderful and powerful reminder of Jesus Christ’ personal love for each human being through His sacrificial death on the Cross in atonement for our sins! That’s why the Holy Eucharist is also the highest form of prayer where the Real presence of Jesus Christ is manifested!

In the Gospel of Luke chapter 24: 6-9, we read about the importance of ‘remembrance.’ – “Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered His words and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest.” Even the angels encouraged the women at the tomb to remember the words of Jesus! Every time we read the Holy Scriptures from the Bible, we are called to remember God! Our Lord speaks to our hearts through the Bible, which is God’s personal Love letter to each of us as He brings to memory what He wants to communicate to us.

God speaks to our hearts and lives through various ways but we can be sure that He speaks to us when we read the Scriptures and through the Holy Spirit we are reminded of His Words. God will always confirm what He wants to communicate to us through His Word and through His Holy Spirit! “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” – John 14:26.

Even as God commands us to remember Him through Scriptures, He also gives us a command ‘NOT to remember’! In the book of Isaiah 43:18 we read God’s Word about not to dwell on things of the past – “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.” The next verse Isaiah 43:19 provides an answer as to why we shouldn’t dwell on the past, which has been surrendered to our Lord. “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” In this same chapter, we read about God who says ‘He will NOT remember’ our sins – “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” - Isaiah 43:25.

Dear brothers and sisters, how would you like to be remembered while you are alive and even after your death? Have you noticed how people often speak in remembrance of the life of the dead person at his or her funeral? Yet, what is more important is ‘GOD’S REMEMBRANCE OF US’, not people’s words of our remembrance! Hence, may our testimonies; whether we are alive or dead, always bear witness of the remembrance of God’s goodness and faithfulness despite our sinfulness, God’s loving presence and care despite human rejection, God’s perfect understanding of us when people misunderstand us, God’s provision and divine healing when human efforts fail - This should motivate and encourage us to live holy lives as we endure our remaining days here on Earth because God never forgets us and He’s always watching out for each one of us – “…I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.” - Isaiah 49:15, 16. In Malachi 3:16 we read about ‘God’s book of remembrance,’ in which our names are recorded as we worship and meditate about the Lord - “Then those who revered the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord took note and listened, and a book of remembrance was written before Him of those who revered the Lord and thought on His name.”

 GOD’S REMEMBRANCE OF US is more important than human remembrance!

Prayer: Abba Father, may we always revere Your Holy Name and daily remember Your Love for each of us in our spiritual journey back to Heaven, where we truly belong with You, Lord! Amen.

Blessings,

Monisha Rebello

You may submit your prayer requests, which will be treated with absolute confidence. Remember to glorify our Lord as soon as He blesses you. You can email your testimonies with permission to publish them online at www.heavensmission.witnesstoday.org

Jesus wept – John 11:35 (NKJV)

Greetings in Jesus’ Most Holy Name!

“Jesus wept” - This is the shortest sentence in the entire Bible, yet one that should inspire each human being to connect deeply with our Living Lord, because every human has shed tears in his or her lifetime.

Why did Jesus cry at the tomb of Lazarus? Does the Bible say that Jesus was late in reaching Lazarus’s tomb? No! Jesus delayed His journey to the home of Lazarus because He knew exactly what He was going to do in that situation by manifesting His power and glory! After hearing of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus stayed back for 2 more days because He was in prayer with the Father who told Him to stay back. Then, when He reached the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus wept through the Holy Spirit! How do we know that Jesus had been praying to the Father before He worked the miracle of raising Lazarus back to life? John 11:41 tells us that Jesus thanked the Father for having heard His prayer! This is a classic example of the work of the Holy Trinity in perfect communion with each other. Today, we celebrate the Glorious Feast of the Most Holy Trinity; in essence we are celebrating the mystery and unity of the 3 persons of the Trinity - Abba Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 5:7 gives us further insights about how our Lord offered tear-filled prayers while He was on Earth – “In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the One who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission.” The key word here is reverent submission or in other words obedience to the Holy Spirit. This is true intercession and Jesus is the perfect intercessor!



Jesus is interceding with tears for each of us before the throne of God in Heaven!

Jesus is also named Emmanuel which means God is with us – Matthew 1:23. As Christians, we have the life of Christ within us. So, whenever we cry, it is comforting to know that Jesus cries with us! He cries in order to tell us that He understands our human struggles; that He is deeply concerned about that which causes us the deepest pain!

Our Lord’s hands are not shortened to stop our tears yet He cries with us and allows us to cry with Him in order that we share in His suffering and burdens so that we can come to terms with our own pain and thru’ this suffering believe that He has kept count of each teardrop and will collect our tears and transform them into bouquets of blessings. He did that for Mary and Martha when He raised Lazarus from the dead! Psalm 56:8 tells us – “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in Your record?” Each time a pained or sore spot is touched or brought to the surface in our life, tears will surely flow from the heart into our eyes, if this area of pain has not been surrendered into Jesus’ hands for Him to deal with His grace, healing and forgiveness.

Even the most hardened heart and the heart of an atheist would have shed tears, if not in their adult lives then surely at birth when they came into this world. We can easily empathize with people who console us and understand our pain, yet when it comes to our Lord who created us and knows us better than our own self and anyone else in this whole world, we find it difficult to believe that this same God who became human can understand our pain and cry along with us.

After a baby is born into the world it starts crying, but is lovingly pacified by all those around – it’s own mother, doctors, nurses, loved ones etc. What about the babies who cry in the womb? Some of us have been rejected in our mother’s womb and may be crying from the pain of rejection or fear of death (for those who survived abortion attempts); Some of us may have been rejected in the womb when we were so tiny that even our eyes were not formed to cry while we were being rejected and traumatized in our mother’s wombs, which became our tombs even before we were born! Some of us could still be carrying these painful rejected feelings, pre-natal trauma right from the moment of our conception. All our uncried tears are stored within us and they just flow out whenever we feel rejected because a rejected child knows when he or she is rejected. But the Good News is that our Loving Father God knew us even before He created us and He was present while He was forming us in the womb – Read Psalm 139 and Jeremiah 1:4. God our Creator cries every time a baby is aborted (murdered) in the womb! After attending Inner Healing retreats and understanding God our Father’s deep and personal love for me, I now choose to believe that my Abba Father was very close to me even in my mother’s womb, holding me as He saw the uncried tears in that little lump of flesh that was being rejected there and was crying to survive. He cried along with me even there in the womb just as He cries along with each suffering, rejected and aborted soul.

Tears are the universal language, which reveal a broken spirit – Psalm 51:17. Our tears are witnessed in Heaven – Job 16: 19,20. Tears always have an answer from Heaven! God always answers a tear-filled prayer! Men are known to withhold or suppress tears and few cry openly. On the other hand, women who are supposed to be the weaker ones cry easily. Tears are a gift to worship God! We know the story of the sinful woman in Luke 7: 36-50 who worshipped our Lord Jesus with her tears! She was crying because she knew who Jesus was; She knew His Holy and Godly character; she knew that Jesus would not take advantage of her like all the men in her life. Her security in life was only Jesus! So, she let down her honor by coming to the feet of Jesus, kissing them, bathing them with her tears and drying them with her hair! She was God-conscious, not self-conscious. She offered her tears as worship to Jesus! When you truly worship God with your tears, people around you will get upset and talk about you. Luke 7:39 tells us that the Pharisee not only condemned the woman, but also Jesus! But Jesus has the perfect answer to this, who read the mind and heart of the Pharisee and saw thru’ the tears and the heart of the woman who had displayed great love for God after being forgiven! Indeed, the one who is forgiven much is sensitive and compassionate and has greater capacity to love God and people!

                                        

Tears can also deceive and leave deep wounds. Don’t be fooled by the tears of people! In my own painful life experiences, I’ve seen real tears in the eyes of certain people whom I blindly trusted with all my heart only to learn few months later that they had been betraying me right from the start of the relationship! One of them even said these words to me “#@%%$ to your tears!” It was only thru’ the love, grace and strength of our Lord Jesus that I could forgive this person. Praise God, because our loving Jesus is not like these deceitful men who even insulted the painful tears that were cried! Jesus never disappoints, never deceives and never betrays us! All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. In fact, it’s we who need to shed tears for betraying our Lord’s love and hurting Him by our sinfulness when we turn away from Him and when we wound others thru’ our words and actions. Yet, He is such a loving and merciful God who cries along with each of us sinners and wipes away our tears, all the while telling us ‘I hate your sin but I love You, My child’. We see examples of this unconditional love in the parable of the Prodigal son and Jesus’ love for His enemies even while He was being rejected and crucified on the Cross! While meditating on the subject of tears, I always remember an incident preached by a priest at Tabor Ashram – a man who was very sick had come to him for healing and father himself had been so moved to tears seeing the sad condition of this man that in his prayer to our Lord, he had pleaded for the man’s healing and thru’ the gift of word of knowledge, our Lord told this priest that the man was crying because of his current illness but if he cried even ‘one tear in repentance for his sins’, He would heal him! I’m sure we all remember that scene from the movie ‘The Passion of Christ’ how that one meaningful teardrop fell from Abba’s Father’s eyes when Jesus was crucified and breathed His last on the Cross and that teardrop shook the very foundations of the earth!

Tears serve as a sign that we are all human. When we are sad or broken or when people hurt us or rather when we feel hurt by people, our pain surfaces and gets released thru’ the shedding of tears. Have you noticed during an anointed and inspiring talk, the Holy Spirit touches our pained and sore spots and draws out the tears? This is the first sign that God’s Word is at work – Indeed the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart - Hebrews 4:12. Praise God for tears! Praise God for the people who caused you pain and brought tears in your eyes because He is the same God who will wipe away those very tears thru’ people whom He will bring into your life!

Brothers and sisters, are you shedding tears on account of your suffering and pain? Are you crying at the loss of a loved one? Does your heart bleed with tears as you remember the pain inflicted on you by others? Have you been the cause of someone else’s tears? Does it seem as if God is late in visiting you in your pain? When was the last time that you wept, remembering Jesus’ suffering and pain on the Cross? Do we shed tears when we see Jesus crucified in our place on account of our sins? We may think we are alone and no one sees our tears, but let us remember that God is keeping count of every teardrop from our eyes! God is NEVER late and it is NEVER late to turn to Him! His delays are not denials; He is crying along with you to strengthen you for your own good and for His greater glory. Just believe in Him and you will see His glory thru’ your tears and thru’ your pain!

I read the following on the Internet few years ago – which is so true! ‘It’s better to have wet eyes and a warm, loving heart than dry eyes and be dead inside. Those tears will clear our vision to see God’s Holy Spirit in each person we meet and will open our hearts to all the love that God wants to bless us with. Those tears will strengthen our soul so that we can bring joy, compassion and healing to all those around us. God gives us tears to ease our pain and express our joy! Use them both to make this world a better place!’

Prayer: Lord Jesus, through our tears, we come into contact with Your heart, in which are love and pain, sorrow and joy. Make us compassionate like You Lord, so that our tears will flow as blessings in every situation! Amen.

Blessings,

Monisha Rebello

 

You may submit your prayer requests, which will be treated with absolute confidence. Remember to glorify our Lord as soon as He blesses you. You can email your testimonies with permission to publish them online at www.heavensmission.witnesstoday.org

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! – Luke 11:13 (NRSV)

Greetings in Jesus’ Most Holy Name!

The key word in the Bible verse above is ‘Ask’. The very act of ‘asking’ is a sign of trust and dependence on the giver! In our moments of need, we usually turn to those whom we know and trust to ask them for help! Similarly, when we come to God with our needs, we trust and believe that He will provide for those needs! In fact when our Lord taught us to pray ‘Give us this day our ‘daily’ bread,’ He didn’t say ‘monthly’ or ‘yearly’ bread because He wants us to come to Him in faith daily, asking Him for our needs. Yet, some of us ask and do not receive, or we ask and do not believe that we will receive and some just give up because they’ve been asking for years and they are still waiting to receive! Perhaps we do not receive because we are asking for wrong things that God in His wisdom will not grant us, because He knows what is best for us!

Asking is a sign of trust and dependence on the Giver

 

Our beginnings in life may have been bad, but it’s our end that will determine our final destiny. The very setback that you’ve experienced will become your greatest comeback! As human beings, we have many wants and needs to ask from God, but very few of us sincerely ask God for constructive and deep transformation – a change from a life of sin to an abundant life in Christ! How many of us wrestle with God for heavenly things? It’s better to wrestle with God for His blessings rather than contend with people!

Today, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost; the birth of the Church. In preparation for this glorious day, novenas, rallies and even night vigils are being conducted in various places. The first ever night vigil that was recorded in the Bible was when Jacob wrestled with God throughout the night, asking for His blessings and did not let go until he had received from God – Genesis 32:22-32. Such stubborn persistent behavior from a man who was such a rascal, cheater and trickster – but even with all his colorful attributes, he was determined to wrestle with God all throughout the night! Such behavior from Jacob in our times, would be typically termed as a ‘spoiled brat raising a tantrum.’

Jacob was someone who liked to be in charge. He spent his whole life fighting with people and plotting against those around him. Jacob also struggled in life. And he experienced deceit from his own people. If we were in Jacob’s shoes, most of us would have given up and stopped wrestling with people and God as well! Yet, we know that Jacob did not leave God until He had blessed him. God also changed his name from Jacob to Israel. God asked him ‘his name’ because He wanted Jacob to come to terms with his own sinfulness – in other words acknowledgement of his own sinful self. That’s when God gave him a new name! God indeed blessed him after that night vigil! He blessed Jacob so that he could become a blessing for others!

Through the story of Jacob, we discover that God loves people with ‘spunk’ who are willing and determined to change because it’s through His grace that we go through a life-transforming process where He prunes, molds and re-shapes our personalities into that which He first created us.

Do we feel that life is really a struggle? Do we feel that we are fighting an uphill battle and the world around us seems set to keep us from succeeding? What do we do when we find ourselves in such a situation? Do we give up and stop struggling and let the forces around us decide our destiny? Or do we persevere and make attempts to overcome? Is the struggle worthwhile? Is it okay to wrestle with God? To better understand the answers to these questions let us read Luke 18. Jesus tells us of a woman, a widow, who kept pestering an unjust judge that she might receive justice. And because she does not give up; because she continues the good fight, the judge hears her and gives her what she asks. Through this parable, Jesus tells us that here is an example of a corrupt judge doing what is right because she continued to struggle with him. Sometimes, God actually does want us to struggle in certain situations. When that which, we are standing for is just and merciful, He wants us to stand up to everybody, even Him. Therefore, in the OT, we have Moses talking God out of destroying the people of Israel, reminding God of His mercy. And in Luke 18 we have the widow asking for justice. How much more will a just God do what is right if we are persistent in asking Him for the right things?

Life can seem tedious when we spend it fighting God. It becomes much easier once we give in and allow Him control. With God in charge we will discover that we don’t need to fight quite so hard for He will fight the battle for us. May we wrestle with Him to give us only that which truly matters – the Lord Himself, for without Him, we can do NOTHING and with Him ALL things are possible. Then, even in the midst of trials and suffering, His love, peace and joy will prevail and sustain us thru’ the power and anointing of His Holy Spirit.

At this feast of Pentecost, let us surrender our lives, families, ministries, nations and this entire human race into God’s hands, asking Him for a fresh anointing of His Holy Spirit upon all.



Come, Holy Spirit we need Thee!

 Life is not about how we started out but how far we persevere with a renewed heart and mind in Christ! True Spirit-filled renewal and revival will begin when each person yields to God’s Holy Spirit and His transforming love will then spread from heart to heart and soul to soul until they circle the entire world!

 Prayer: Abba Father, send forth Thy Holy Spirit and we shall be created and Thou shall renew the face of the earth. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love! You’re the Living Water, the never drying Fountain; Comforter and Counselor, take complete control and help us grow in the knowledge and love of God. Amen.

Blessings,

Monisha Rebello

You may submit your prayer requests, which will be treated with absolute confidence. Remember to glorify our Lord as soon as He blesses you. You can email your testimonies with permission to publish them online at www.heavensmission.witnesstoday.org

….be filled with the Spirit – Ephesians 5:18b (NRSV)

Greetings in Jesus’ Most Holy Name!

As we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ when He was lifted up to heaven, we look forward to His second coming. Yet, during this waiting period, our Lord has not left us alone. In fact, He gave us the promise of the Father; the Holy Spirit to be with us till the end of time! What God has promised, He is surely fulfilling and He will continue to fulfill this promise of pouring out His Spirit on all flesh!

‘Be filled’ is a command that God gives each of us. It’s a present continuous tense in the Greek language. It’s not an event, but a process to ‘keep on being filled’. When God says ‘be filled’, then we should be filled with the Holy Spirit who is the third person of the Holy Trinity. He is Love itself, proceeding from the Father and Son and uniting them in infinite and eternal love.



In order to drive a vehicle, the tank needs to be filled. We may also be using the most sophisticated cell phones but if it’s not charged, it’s of no use. We don’t fill our car tanks or charge our cell phones only once to use them daily, do we? Many of us are running on tanks filled in the past i.e baptized in the Spirit, but not abiding in Him daily, perhaps because we not know how to connect with Him or we do not have a relationship with Him.

We fellowship with people because of the relationship that we share. The Holy Spirit is a person, so we need to develop a relationship with Him by communicating with Him daily, through prayer, praise and worship.

It’s interesting to note that in the Scriptures, ‘Be filled with the Holy Spirit’ is always compared to that of a drunk person! Reference – Ephesians 5:18a; Luke 1:15; Acts 2: 4,13.

The in-filling of the Holy Spirit is always compared to wine! Let us see why? A man who is drunk is intoxicated. ALL his actions are controlled or influenced by alcohol. His speech changes, ordinary men become bold, some keep quiet, walk is unsteady, attitudes change. No one needs to know Rocket Science to detect a drunken person.

When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, his entire lifestyle undergoes changes because of the power and anointing of the Spirit. His speech and thoughts will change which are the first signs. In the OT - 1 Samuel 1:12-16 when Hannah was so moved with sorrow, the Holy Spirit was praying through her with tears and groaning. In the book of Acts chapter 2, we see the disciples filled with the Holy Spirit – Peter who was shy became bold and after hearing him preach, about 3000 people were cut to the heart and converted.

In Luke 1: 41 we read that Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit when she heard Mary’s greeting and the child in her womb leapt for joy because our Blessed Mother Mary was herself ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit, through whom she conceived and gave birth to our Lord Jesus!

What does the word ‘infilling’ of the Holy Spirit mean? Infilling is not ‘me having more of the Holy Spirit’, but rather it’s ‘the Holy Spirit having more of me’! In other words, the more we empty ourselves of ‘self’ i.e I, me, myself and receive and yield to the Holy Spirit, the more will He work in our lives!

A common hymn comes to mind here – May it become our prayer!

I’ve got something that the world can’t give and the world can’t take it (Holy Spirit) away.

I’ve got something that the world can’t give and it (Holy Spirit) keeps me night and day.

I’ve got something worth talking about; it (Holy Spirit) makes me sing and it (He) makes me shout.

I’ve got something that the world can’t give and the world can’t take it away.

More and more of Jesus, I want more of Him,

More and more of Jesus, than I ever had before,

More and more of His great Love (Holy Spirit), rich and full and free,

I want more of Jesus, so I’ll give Him more of me.

The key to effective prayer and communion with God is only through His Holy Spirit, who teaches us to pray! We can be ‘filled with God’s Holy Spirit’ as we sing psalms and hymns, spiritual songs, making melody to the Lord in our hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything! – Ephesians 5:18.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we prepare our hearts, minds and lives for a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit at the feast of Pentecost, let us surrender ourselves completely into the hands of our Lord. Let us give Him access into every minute detail of our lives, to purify, sanctify and prepare our unworthy vessels to receive Him for He has created and purchased our bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Beloved Lord Jesus, refresh and anoint us with the promise of our Father – the Holy Spirit. Let there be an outpouring and infilling of Love in the hearts of each person who is sincerely seeking and thirsting for You, Lord. Teach us to be holy as You are holy. Lead us and guide us through the power and anointing of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Blessings,
Monisha Rebello

You may submit your prayer requests, which will be treated with absolute confidence. Remember to glorify our Lord as soon as He blesses you. You can email your testimonies with permission to publish them online at www.heavensmission.witnesstoday.org