The Road to CALVARY

To deny self is to pass through death and the breaking. Without being broken, without suffering, we cannot be persons who are filled with Christ.

The Road to Calvary, is Christ's final journey from Jerusalem to the hill of Calvary, or Golgotha, where He was crucified.

The suffering of Jesus was endless. On the Cross, there was His crucified Self, He was in terrible agony. In His Heart He knew the unbearable pain of His Mother. He understood the misery of His Apostles, He understood their fear. 

To the people, who knew and saw Jesus crucified, it would have seemed there was nothing to hope for.

His disciples had run for fear...

His opponents had the final say. In their minds they had won. They had finally put a stop to Jesus, Who seemed unstoppable!

All the deeds and wonders of Love - was it all forgotten?

The Scene on GOOD – FRIDAY, Hope seemed lost!

But the final word is the suffering and Death of Christ - for the love of ALL. 

The crucifixion leads to the marvel of the RESURRECTION!

LOVE PREVAILS!

Most often we hold on to the things of the world. The time we spend here on Earth is short. And yes, depending on how we live our lives. 

If we hold on to the credentials, the job titles, the power and position in society, then our lives will be just that, all about power and the titles. 

To die to self, is being born in the ways and life of God. We come closer to God when we give up on our false sense of security. 

Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:37-46

37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zeb′edee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”

39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.”

40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour?

41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done.”

43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words.

45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

V 38-Jesus experiences great anguish about His impending suffering on the way to the Cross. 

V 39-Jesus prays to be delivered from His suffering, while also adding, not as I will, but as thou wilt.

V 42-A second time Jesus prays, to His Father, saying Thy will be done.

V 44-A third time Jesus prays, to His Father, accepting His will. 

In our daily ordeals, we do pray, BUT... 

We forget to pray and tell God what our worries or fears are.

We forget to surrender to God. 

We forget to ask for the strength of God.

We forget to say Thy will be done.

Each one of us, as Christians, have to carry our Cross. At times the situation, will be mild and at other times quite unbearable. But in all this, we are to remind ourselves of what Our Saviour did for us. 

Luke 9:23 - And he said to all, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

We can't be half-hearted Christians. 

We can't deny the teachings of Christ.

We have to love like our Lord. 

We have to follow the teachings of the Church. 

In simple words, we have to be like Jesus.

Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make my heart like unto Thine. 

He feeds us in Holy Communion, with a fragment of His Heart. How should we be?

We should be like our Master, shouldn't we? 

God Himself exists within a loving community –

The Father, The Son, and The Holy-Spirit.

Man bears God’s image in relationships of community and love. In God’s Holy Law, Marriage is a union between man and woman. 

But things in this material world are fast changing. 

In a glitz and glamour world, there is no real worth... 

Today's world is competitive. There is stubbornness and hardness of heart in society. And you see it everywhere. Women want Power - and the Church is no exclusion for them in this matter. 

The understanding of the world is 'Live life to the fullest' and if lived in the right manner, then surely there is nothing wrong about it. But most often, we come across, 'my life, my way' and from the feminist point of view, 'my body, my choice'. Selfish ideas. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

In the case of abortion, to end the life of an unborn child - which is still a human life and stands in contradiction to the 5th commandment of The 10 commandments of God-Thou shall not kill. 

The unborn baby has no say, they are defenseless human beings. And they die, in a gruesome manner, as defenseless little babies in what should have been the safest place in the world. When a woman kills the life within her, she kills that which is sacred, the power to be a co-creator with God.

As Christians we know, God breathes life in the womb of the mother. The moment God breathes, a new life begins. A child is the gift of God! 

But there are also people, who go through medical procedures to conceive. It was always, the understanding that God blessed a couple with a baby, but now people bless themselves. Don't we take matter into our own hands. We play God. With the choice to have twins. And some choose to have a boy and a girl. There is definitely a market out there. There is surrogacy (womb on rent)- it is something the rich do. As humans we play God over and over. We have not learnt to surrender to the Plans of God. We have not understood God.

But this slogan 'my body, my choice'-in the point of abortion goes against the principles of God. 

Everything we do in these matters (conception through various methods/abortion) is disobedience, everything in this matter is defiance with God. 

Every life is God's gift and that is how it should be.

We are all made in the image and likeness of God. 

God loves all. No distinctions.

We are called to love. But we love ourselves more than we love anybody else. Look at the world of selfies. So much love for oneself. Selfish world - it's a selfie world. So many people have died clicking their selfie in dangerous positions. This obsession with oneself only comes from the devil. 

However difficult a day may be, I love to live every day to the fullest with the Heart of Jesus as the center of my universe. 

To, Deny myself, carry my cross daily and live for the love of Jesus. 

This life is God's gift to us. My life is God's gift, which when i come to understand must be truly lived the way, God expects of me and nothing less than my best to God, with His grace in my life. Everything i do must be to the greater Glory of God.

Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

I've heard some courageous stories of women who some months into their pregnancy realized that carrying the baby to full term would cost them their lives. But they died for joy, so that their babies would live. There are some great women who sacrifice even today. We may not hear of them, but such love exists. The love of a good mother is for a baby, what it feels like to know the love of God. God sent His only Son, Jesus, for love of us. 

I must Love kindness and work humbly with the will and grace of God in my life to touch every life with the love of God.

Unless a grain of wheat, falls into the ground

It still remains but a grain of wheat

But if it falls and dies, then it bears much fruit

So it is with those who lose themselves in me.

Lose yourself in me and you will find yourself

Lose yourself in me and you will find new life

Lose yourself in me and you will find yourself

And you will live, yes you will live in my heart.

But once the seed dies, there is always new life.

Wheat must be sown. It must fall into the soil, and spring up, and ripen, and be harvested, and be ground before it can be made into good bread.

A seed has to be buried in the earth (and in a manner, die). After which the life-generating elements within the seed would cause it to germinate into a plant containing many such seeds.

Jesus says humility in His suffering and death would result in making forgiveness of sins and eternal life possible for all humanity through faith in Him. 

Please continue to Read: The Road to CALVARY - Part 2.