Casting Down the Castes 9-3-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. As the sun rises over India this morning, let the Son arise in my heart and in the hearts of all people throughout all the earth. ... Last night, we had dinner on the top of a roof overlooking the city of Chennai. Two thousand years ago, You sent Thomas the Apostle to the people of this very city to share the good news of salvation in Your love. Many heard and received, but most did not. They listened for awhile, and then they killed him -- to silence him and the message he was sent to bring. There remains a heaviness in the spirit that seems to hang over this city to this day. "And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But all who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God" (John 3.19-21). There is a darkness of oppression, fueled by a culture and a religion that imposes a judgment of value upon every person -- not based upon what is in their heart but upon where and to whom they were born. They are taught from birth that one's caste, and therefore one's worth, is set at birth. The lower castes are to serve the desires of the higher castes, no matter how oppressive. This is the penance of the sins of the former life, to be paid by living out a life with no hope of change until the next life, in an endless cycle of reincarnation. There is no forgiveness of sins, only punishment that lasts until the next life, where one will begin to pay for the sins of the last life. It is a religion that crushes hope. As they always do, men will find a way to exploit one another for their own gain. The evils of bonded slavery, child labor, and forced prostitution have as much to do with religion as they do with money. But the light of Your truth brings all things out of darkness and into the light. You have come to bind up the broken hearted and set the captives free -- free from the oppression of our sins and free from the oppression of those who would enslave us by their own. But a culture is not changed in a night. And darkness is only expelled by the shining of the light. Freedom from oppression, like salvation from sin, comes one soul at a time, but it's worth the effort and it's worth the wait. You have created India, and the people of every nation, with great purpose and destiny that awaits Your light to push back the darkness. Set us free to be all You have created us to be. There is but one life to live, let us live it in the light of Your glory and in the hope of freedom in Your love. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address for ministry and contributions: 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.blogspot.com andwww.morningbymorning.injesus.com