“So Moses finished the work.” (Exodus 40:33) I came to the end of my reading in Exodus this morning. To fully appreciate those 5 words, you really need to read the 39 preceding chapters. The whole thing had been such an ordeal, drama from the time God called out to Moses from

the burning bush to the moment he “inspected all the work they had accomplished” in the building of the tabernacle. For starters, Moses wasn’t looking to lead anything but sheep to pasture. He was hiding when God found him. Moses was no volunteer. And even after God called him,
he insisted God find someone else. But the force of the divine call is hard to resist. The people he served nearly drove him nuts. He was supposed to lead a group of worshippers and what he mostly got was whiners. He’d lost his temper over & over. Even thrown the stone tablets
inscribed by the finger of God. Nope. Moses couldn’t say it had gone well. What the whole thing had been was WORK. Unrelenting, frustrating work so detailed that it had to match the divine instructions down to every clasp on endless yards of curtains. There had been some great
moments like the time the people were invited to contribute any personal possessions to the makings of the tabernacle furnishings. They had given so freely, Moses had to tell them to stop. There was that. But overall, what he’d done, what they’d all done, was WORK. Lo & behold,
they’d “finished the work.”

Ministry is work. Hard work. Sometimes extremely frustrating work. And most frustratingly of all, often you may feel like your work is not working. Eph 4:11-12 reads “And he himself (Christ) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,
some pastors and teachers, for equipping the saints for the work of ministry.” All saints are called to ministry. And ministry is work. Sometimes we live to see some of our work come to fruition and be blessed by God and other times we don’t. Moses did. Stood right there at that
finished work and “The cloud covered the tent of meeting and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses was unable to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud rested on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” One way or the other, this is how it ends.
Our work is done and we see the glory of God. Moses got to see it before his death. But, should we get no glimpse whatsoever in this lifetime that our work in the name of Jesus actually worked, to be sure, we will see what Jesus built in the next. Christ IS building his church.
Our calling is to participate in what He is building. And it is WORK. We are not called to equip saints to be spectators & consumers. We are called to equip saints to be fellow workers.

So let’s work till the finish.

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast,
immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
1 Cor 15:58

Onward to the finish.

When the work is done,
we’ll see His glory and cry,
“Worthy!”

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Tripundra Dhaaran - Paapa Vimukti

Our generations are fascinated about Tripundram being just a religious symbol. There are in depth meanings of such a Tilak on a Seeker's Forehead


The very first mistake is the way it is applied.

Tripund isn't applied with dry Bhasm, it should be made wet and then applied in a prescribed manner with proper use of fingers and direction of application. Bhasm is collected from various sources


The most important ones mentioned in upanishats are 1. Yagnya Kund Bhasm 2. Bhasm made from Cow's Dung alone. A special agnihotram was perform to save the Bhasma after that for Dhaarana. A major mantra while applying bhasm is Mrutyunjaya Mantra


Dwijas have a very long process of applying the Tripundram along with their Sandhyavandanam. For commoners there are some basic rules people have to follow while applying Bhasm


Bhasm Applied in Morning - Should be mixed with water and applied
Bhasm Applied during Afternoon - Should be mixed with Chandan and Applied
Bhasm Applied during and after Pradosh - Should be applied Dry as such

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