Thursday, May 31, 2018

The Alpha of Certainty


UV 2960/10000 The Alpha of Certainty
That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.
Luke 1 v 4

Most people think that there are only two certainties- our birth and our death. But Luke researched the life, teachings and times of Jesus and wrote His gospel as a letter to a friend in order that he might not know with certainty the truth concerning the birth, life, teachings, doings, death and resurrection of Jesus. This morning I just had an online discussion with a school classmate of mine now living in the USA. As a Muslim, he believed that Jesus is a prophet. I wrote to him that though Jesus fulfilled many prophecies uttered several centuries before His coming to the earth and He Himself uttered many prophetic words concerning things to happen in this world right onto the end time, He is no mere prophet but very God, man yet God, God yet man. One can combat a legion of doubts with this one certainty.

The certainty of our faith is that Jesus is the only person in history who is both historical and contemporary in the sense-He entered history two thousand years ago as a new born child, died as a fully grown man as a sacrifice for the absolution of all humanity but rose again with a transformed body and lives now and rules at the right hand of God the Father, the Almighty. Jesus is the first to call and reveal the nature of God Almighty as “Our Father in heaven.” In stating that His Father is our Father too, He was declaring us to be His brothers and sisters, His co-heirs to inherit all of heaven and eternity. The Alpha of certainty implies that among our unmet needs, the need for a child to know his father is the most fundamental. Jesus meets that need by introducing us to God as His children and God to us as our Father.

What are the things we are certain of? We are certain that we are loved by God. We are certain that we are saved by Christ. We are certain that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that there is no need for any alternative nor does an alternative exist. We are certain of our hope in Christ both in this life and the one to come. We are certain that our sins are forgiven. We are certain that the Father hears our prayers. We are certain that Jesus is our Advocate who pleads for us in heaven. We are certain that He ascended to heaven leaving the Holy Spirit to comfort, remind, strengthen, sanctify, enable, anoint, equip and counsel us in our new life in Christ.

Monday, May 28, 2018

The Alpha of Competence

UV 2959/10000 The Alpha of Competence
Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God
2 Corinthians 3 v 5

Our competence is of God. This is the reason St Paul wrote, “ I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens us.” The Lord supplies not just our need but the inner competence and strength and wisdom needed by us to fulfil His purpose on earth. Jesus proved in many ways during His earthly sojourn that He alone is omni-competent even as the Father is omnipotent. He could heal all types of diseases. He walked on water. He calmed the storm. He gave sight to the born blind. He enabled the crippled to walk. He resurrected the dead. He resurrected Himself when He lay dead in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. He did all this and more without any human help. He answered all the trick questions of His adversaries. He defeated the enemy in all the temptations posed by the latter.
Jesus replaces our weaknesses with His strengths. He blesses our gifts, talents and inborn strengths so that these become productive and useful. People in all kinds of professions and situations have prayed to Jesus and received amazing revelations, grace to do that which they would not have done in their natural selves. He uses our flaws to work His grace and power in. He gives us extraordinary power to triumph in all the challenges and difficulties we face in life. We only need to expand our faith, exercise it and ask for that ability which we lack or that which we need. As a student, when I needed the studying skills and presentation skills to excel, He taught me new methods and imparted the needed wisdom and knowledge and understanding. As a police officer, handling tough law and order and crimes, He gave me the grace to emerge victorious out of it. The Lord imparts His competence to us in a variety of ways- through the gift of the Holy Spirit, through a word of knowledge or wisdom, through anointing with a new hitherto unused or unknown ability, through divine intervention, by sending His angel of help, by sending us aid through humans with the particular gift or ability we ourselves lack.

The trouble is that we often doubt if Jesus can do it and if we believe He can do it, will He do it for me or in this situation? Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive.” We shall receive the omni-competence He alone can impart. At the end of whatever we are attempting, we should not forget to give the credit and glory to Jesus as St Paul did in these words- “Yet not I but by the grace of the Lord.” Like Paul, we need to define ourselves as “ I am what I am by the grace of Jesus.”

Sunday, May 27, 2018

The Alpha of Compassion


UV 2958/10000 The Alpha of Compassion
In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
Isaiah 54 v 8

But for the compassion of the Lord Jesus, we would have perished in our affliction. It is His great compassion that He extends His mercy to us. He loves to redeem the souls that He had made. It is true that we need to fear the lion-like anger of the Lord but His default mode is not anger but gentleness, kindness, mercy. Sometimes, when we displease Him with our ways, He may withdraw His face from us for a time but when we call to Him for mercy, He rushes to wrap us in His compassionate embrace. His kindness and love for us is not transitory or peremptory but everlasting and consistent.

It takes a whole lifetime to experience the full gamut of the Lord’s mercies towards us. As we gain an understanding and insight into His compassion, our own character and temperament gets transformed into a likeness of His. We will be able to deal with our own anger, resentment and bitterness towards our fellow beings more effectively. We too will begin to look at others with the eyes of compassion of Jesus. When Jesus saw people overburdened with afflictions, He was moved with compassion and He acted to heal them, to deliver them. When He saw a person burdened with guilt at his or her past, He forgave them freely, without imposing any condition. When Jesus saw the multitude following Him hungry, He was moved with compassion and He asked His disciples to find some food to feed them. When the food was insufficient to feed so many, He prayed and multiplied it to feed the multitude. Many of the miracles of Jesus when studied in context were not to prove that He is the Son of God but were the result of the deep compassion He felt in certain situations.

The uni-verse is a personal promise of the Lord to be ever compassionate to us. It is a guarantee that we will find mercy in the Lord whatever be our past , whatever be the folly or vile thing that we had done. We need to experience the compassion of the Lord in every aspect of our lives so that we extend the same kindness to others who have erred wantonly or unwittingly against us or against our own sense of right and wrong or of propriety. We ought not to keep a record of wrongs against others but release them with a spirit of compassion and kindness.

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Deal with Conceit


UV 2957/10000 Using Alpha Power to Deal with Conceit
Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

Jeremiah 9 v 23


The Word or Alpha warns any man from professing to be wise, any man boasting of his power, strength, ability, gifts, talents, any man from taking pride in his vast possessions. The Lord is a jealous God and does not share His glory with anyone. No one can elevate himself in his presence like a god or a divine being as Lucifer one of the chief angels did. He catches the wise and the shrewd in their craftiness or negates their schemes. He nullifies the might of the powerful and brings them down to the ashes. Instead, the Lord expects us to boast or glory in our claim that we know the All-wise, Almighty and Owner of the entire universe- Jesus. He is the only real Landlord and we are all His temporary tenants and stewards in His vineyard. The rent we pay are our praises, thanksgiving and the disciplining of our character on the lines of His word.


We find our wisdom in Jesus, our power in Him, our riches in Him. The more we humble ourselves under Him, the more we glorify Him and get an impartation of His wisdom, power and riches. The Word says that the Lord resists the proud or conceited and gives grace to the humble. We should realize the severe limitations of earthly glory, power, wisdom, wealth and trust only in the heavenly counterparts revealed in and through Jesus. In this world, we should be wise without appearing to be overly wise. We can be wise only by acknowledging and trusting on the Lord with all our hearts. We cannot partly trust in the Lord and partly on our own abilities, influence, riches, resources. The more we empty ourselves of conceit, the more are the channels of grace that are opened up in our lives.

Realizing the vanity of human wisdom, riches and power, we depend entirely on the Lord for His wise counsel, His protection and His provision according to His eternal riches. Even the situations of need and challenge in our lives are meant for us to realize and experience the riches and abundance of His grace towards us. Our dependence on the Lord is total. He is the Alpha and Omega of our wisdom, of our power and of our resources. He provides everything we need from beginning to the end. Imagine three circles with A or Alpha at the point of origin and the circumference of Omega. These are the three circles of God’s wisdom given to us, His might revealed and manifested to and through us, His riches supplied for our physical, emotional, spiritual, social, professional, familial needs. We buy His riches with the currency of our faith exercised in the name of Christ, the signatory of God.

Friday, May 25, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Build and Mould Character


UV 2956/10000 Using Alpha Power to Build and Mould Character
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

2 Peter 1 v 3

The divine power of Jesus is described herein as Alpha. It is the chisel with which He sculpts our character so that we are a likeness of Him. Character sculpting by the Alpha power of Jesus is a lifelong process and not executed overnight. He begins by strengthening our faith which is the foundation of our godly character. The first man had broken faith with God by disbelieving His word and by our believing the Word of God- Jesus, we are restored to the image in which we are created. But the distortions that have crept into us along with our disbelief this far are removed. To faith, is added the knowledge of the character of Jesus, the knowledge of the Word. To knowledge is added virtue or the excellence of goodness unmotivated by profit or pleasure. To virtue, is added patience. We are to learn to wait with a faithful and thankful attitude for the Lord to act in certain situations. To Christ-like patience and perseverance, we need to add godliness and to cap it all- the cornerstone quality of Jesus – godly love or agape love.

To build Christ-like character is not easy. It costs us a lot. But with the help of the Holy Spirit and a diligent study of the models of good and bad character and conduct strewn across the Bible as well as the principles and values of godly character embedded in the Word, we can grow in grace and truth like Jesus. Our focus is to reject the models and patterns of this world and to conform to the patterns of the word. As our minds are renewed in Christ, the Holy Spirit gets busy growing the supernatural fruit of love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control in us. We sow in the spirit the seed of such fruit by thinking noble and wholesome thoughts consistently and develop godly habits and make choices that are pleasing the Lord.

St Paul further summed up the godly character in three attributes of the mature believer of Christ- faith, hope and love. His description of love in I Corinthians 13 in fact includes all the fruit of the spirit or the attributes of God-pleasing character. If we are imitating the love of Christ, we are to avoid being envious, proud, resentful, bitter. We are to cultivate a lifelong habit of continual forgiveness. We are to virtually kill or sacrifice our personal egos or pride as we mature in Christ. Jesus took His first twelve disciples through a lifetime course of character building where they kept shedding some attributes which were not God-pleasing and developing attributes that were God-pleasing and edifying to the early body of believers. Peter, for instance, had to give up his racial and cultural biases. He had to cease being temperamental, emotional, impatient. Sometimes, the Lord uses a painful experience or affliction to deal with some aspect of our character even as Paul endured a painful unknown affliction, a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble despite the awesome revelations he received in the course of his ministry.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Using Alpha Power IN Obtaining an Extraordinary Catch


UV 2955/10000 Using Alpha Power in Obtaining an Extraordinary Catch
And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes
John 21 v 6

The secret of a good catch in life is to listen to the Word of Jesus. When He asks us to do something, we should do it and the results will be astonishing. After the death of Jesus, the disciples had returned to the only profession they knew- fishing, not knowing anything better to do with their lives. Simon Peter had been first convinced Jesus is the Messiah when He had similarly told him to cast their net deep into the lake and they had an catch exceeding their expectations. They had not caught any fish all night- a frustrating experience for any fisherman. But on hearing the word of Jesus and acting on it, they caught an immense number of fish in their nets on both occasions, when they were first called to be disciples and later, when they were re-called to be apostles to catch mankind for Jesus.

Jesus will counsel us on the right direction in which we should devote our efforts. It was business as usual for the disciples who were fishing. It was an ordinary day. It is not as if Jesus could lead only fishermen into extraordinary success on an ordinary day but any of us, whatever be our profession or our calling in life as followers of Jesus could act on His word and similarly experience a miraculous catch, beyond ordinary human experience and expectation. The difference is that now we as believers need to go to Jesus to seek His direction, His counsel on where and when we should cast our nets. Of course, we do not catch humans by putting hooks in their noses but casting our nets has a metaphoric meaning.

We cannot stand on the shore and attempt shoreline fishing. We need to take risks and go deeper in faith. We need to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we row into uncharted seas, new experiences. The alpha power of Jesus works with pinpoint precision. He could tell the experienced fishermen to throw a line and catch a fish and that in its mouth they would find a gold denarii enough to pay their taxes. If He can direct fishermen in the area of their core competency, He can direct a businessman in business, a homemaker in bringing up children, a teacher in teaching, a policeman in detecting crime and keeping the peace, a doctor in healing, a statesman in governing and resolving disputes, a leader in leadership. Jesus does not cast the net on our behalf. We are to do what He tells us to even as Mary told the servants at the marriage banquet in Canna, “Do as He tells you to. “ We only need to have the faith, the confidence that Jesus is able to do far more than what our reasoning allows us to believe.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Deal with Corruption


UV 2954/10000 Using Alpha Power to Deal with Corruption
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2 Peter 1 v 4


The root of corruption in this world lies deep within each individual human. We are mandated in this uni-verse to share the DNA or divine nature of Jesus by trusting and appropriating the power in the precious promises of God contained in His word. Lust is the bad root in us that causes corruption. In order to escape, avoid, overcome the corruption in this world to which our flesh is prone, the bad root of lust has to be eradicated from within our souls and the good root of Jesus, the Alpha and Omega of love should be engrafted. Once we are engrafted to the True Vine, we will bear good fruit in every season of our lives. The Alpha of God's Word has a double effect on our lives- it removes the evil root and plants the good root. It acts at three levels- in our spirits, minds and hearts. It shapes our desires and motives.

Instead of being addicted to the evil caused by the lust or the bad root in us that the world has planted and nourished, we can add to our precious faith, we can add goodness, to goodness, we can add knowledge, to knowledge, self control, to self control, to self control-patience, to patience-godliness, to godliness-brotherly kindness and to kindness, add love. In short, once the root of lust is removed from our hearts, minds and lives, we are heading in one direction- all round excellence. We will get rid of corrupt thoughts, corrupt communication, corrupt company, corrupt desires and motives in our lives. From the new root of Christ, will spring forth the new life of love, peace, mercy and hope.

Once the natural inclination of our souls towards lust or corruption is ended, our lives will become productive, blessed, fruitful. We will abound in the fruit of the New Vine of Life of Christ-like love, Christ-like joy, Christ-like peace, Christ-like patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. The evil fruit of corrupt communication, corrupt practices, corrupt desires, corrupt actions, corrupt thoughts, corrupt habit and attitudes will cease in our lives. We sow the seed in the spirit and not in the flesh. We feed the spirit and not the lust of the flesh or the pride of the mind when we feed on the Word. We nourish the good root of faith in us through faith in Jesus. The fruit of good deeds and righteousness of character will follow logically as the root takes hold in our souls.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Be Content

UV 2953/10000 Using Alpha Power to Be Content

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
Philippians 4 v 11


Jesus is both the center of our circle of life, the Alpha as well as the circumference, the Omega. All the sub-sets of our being are contained within His Being. Whatever be our needs in any or all sub-sets of our lives, He supplies our need. Hence, like St Paul, we can be contented in whatever state or circumstance we are in. Whether we are in plenty or in want, whether hungry or well fed, whether comfortable or in penury, we are contented in Him. Like Paul, we need to believe that He can supply all our need according to His riches in glory. Of course, He does not supply our greed but our need.

It is written in scripture that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” If our souls are saved in Christ, then there is nothing we can lose. We obtain godliness through our faith in Christ and our imitation of His life, the practice of His word. We gain contentment by believing He is with us as Helper, Ebenezer, Immanuel, not only living Saviour but Saviour in our personal lives, our greatest Problem-Solver, Our Defender, Our Provider, Our Vindicator and that He would never leave us nor forsake us. We submit to His will for us, whether He has ordained for us plenty or just sufficiency or even deficiency. But it is written in the Word that He satisfies the hunger of those He cherishes. Since we trust in Jesus, He cherishes us and rushes to satisfy our hunger or need in every aspect and dimension of our personal lives.
The sense of security that our faith in Jesus provides us is the foundation of our contentment. The belief that our stance of faith in Jesus can save us in every circumstance of life transforms our perspective on life’s great insecurities- food, clothing, shelter, safety, children, future, esteem. It does not mean that we will neglect opportunities that the Lord sends our way for blessing, growth and legitimate gain. Contentment does not imply that we do not strive to do our best in our vocations, in trying to contribute our mite to improving the world around in some way. We are to be divinely discontented with our spiritual growth, our work for the Lord, our contributions, the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in our character and relationships even as we are contented with the provision for our physical or financial needs. It means that we will not overly excited when we receive an increase or be depressed when we suffer a loss or insufficiency of resources.

Monday, May 21, 2018

Using Alpha Power for Spiritual Circumcision

UV 2952/10000 Using Alpha Power for Spiritual Circumcision
And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live
Deuteronomy 30 v 6

This uni-verse speaks of spiritual circumcision. Like circumcision cuts and casts off the outer skin, the Word of God acts as a double- edged sword to cut into our hearts and minds and remove the outer coat of sin. The Word cuts out the ungodly passions, the lusts that rage in our souls. The evil motives, the wickedness, the covetousness, the pride are incised out. The cutting and casting away happens not on the surface but in our inmost being. Our hearts that are like stone are replaced by the heart of Christ. Our minds that are worldly are replaced by the new creature mind- the mind of Christ. We are now enabled by grace to love the Lord our God with all of our being, our thoughts, our emotions, our desires, our actions and reactions.

Talking of skin, a snake grows a new skin and casts behind its old skin and moves away from the place where the old skin lies. The change from the old creature without Christ and the new creation in Christ is not a superficial transition or cosmetic change like this. The bad root of sin in us is replaced by the good root of Christ in us. If there is a good root in us, we cannot avoid being fruitful. We will be fruitful in two aspects – the inner fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control will abide and abound in us. The outer fruit of good deeds done to honour Christ in us and to win souls for Christ will also abound in our lives. Just like circumcision can be painful and hard to endure, spiritual circumcision also causes some pain and hardship but it is pain and hardship that can be endured.

Spiritual circumcision removes the blocks in our personal and intimate relationship with the Triune God. The blocks may be spiritual, emotional or intellectual. As we submit ourselves to the Alpha or the power of Jesus working in us, the process of spiritual circumcision happens in our hearts, minds and spirits. Unhealthy attitudes, unwholesome habits, superficial falsehoods will be removed and cast away. We are able now to love God selflessly, unconditionally, wholeheartedly. This will reinforce the DNA or divine nature in us. We are no longer working at cross purposes with the Lord but our purpose in life is centred and aligned with His cross. We sacrifice the bad parts of our lives so that we live the good life, the eternal life, the abundant life that Christ came to give us, the blessed life, the life where we are fully human and fully alive.

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Using Alpha to Make Pro Life Choices

UV 2951/10000 Using Alpha to Make Choices
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Deuteronomy 30 v9

God has set before us a clear choice – between life and earth, between blessing and cursing. He also urges us to choose life and blessing instead of death and cursing so that both we and our children will live in peace and well being, in fellowship with the Creator, Almighty God, the Spirit of God and Redeemer Jesus. So that our spirits, minds and bodies are completed or perfected or made whole in Him. At the practical level, when we choose to be angry instead of being calm, we are choosing death over life, when we choose hatred over love, we are choosing death and cursing. When we choose bad habits over good habits, we are choosing death over life. When we choose bad words over good ones, we are choosing death and cursing over life and blessing. When we choose to be morose and depressed, we are choosing death and cursing over life and blessing. When we choose strife instead of peace, we are choosing death and cursing. When we choose to be impatient with each other, we are choosing death and cursing over life and blessing. When we choose to be rude instead of being kind, we are choosing death and cursing over life and blessing. When we choose to be unfaithful to God and others in our lives, we are choosing death over life, cursing in preference to blessing. When we choose to be proud and arrogant or conceited or egoistic, we are choosing death and cursing. When we choose to believe in untruths and falsehoods, we are choosing death and cursing. Choosing to believe in the existence of good and evil, of God and satan, of heaven and hell, of angels and demons, of blessings and curses is our choice. When we choose to lie, cheat or commit crimes or live an adulterous life, we are choosing death and cursing. Often, a series of wrong choices sets us up for a life of cursing and a propensity of making the wrong choices again and again in different aspects of our lives.

Though the choice of life over death is an obvious one, we unwittingly choose death over life. We choose wealth over wisdom on account of our inner lusts and covetous fallen nature. Jesus restores to us the freedom to make the right choice- the choice of life over death and blessing over cursing. We are now free to choose His precepts in preference to the treasures of gold and silver and precious stones or money of this world. We are free to choose to spend time and devote attention to learning at His feet instead of busying with the affairs of our house or of our business or profession like Mary who Jesus endorsed as One who chose the better part that no man can take away. Every choice we make every moment of our lives has an opportunity cost in terms of blessings obtained or forfeited. The way we set our hearts and minds in a default mode to choose the most preferred blessing- spiritual over intellectual, emotional, social, material, monetary benefits is also our choice. Whether we prefer the eternal to the long term and the long term to the short term blessings is also our choice. Whether we choose to share our blessings with others in need of it either by speaking about it or by giving of it is also our choice.

Our choices should be pro-Life or pro-Jesus, pro-The Way, The Truth and the Life. He is both the Temple and the template. When we choose to love ourselves more than we love others or love God, we are setting ourselves up for misery and failure and hamartia or shortcoming and cursing. God never curses anyone We curse ourselves with the choices we make constantly in our lives. We need the grace, the wisdom of Jesus and the counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit to consistently make the right choices. Of course, the culture of society, the company of other people, peer pressure often pressurises or compels us to move toward wrong choices. The Word has the power to remove us from the world of wrong choices. God does not compel us to make any choices but He has witnesses in heaven and earth to watch the choices we make in the course of our lives. How we respond to the problems, handicaps, challenges, difficulties, shortages, threats we face in our lives is also our choice. Choosing to obtain the help of Almighty invisible God in facing and surmounting these mountains is also our choice. Hence, the choices we need to make are not a complex array but usually a binary choice, one out of two options. Of course, there are grey options or choices but the major issues of life can be clearly decided in terms of a simple “yes” or “no” response. The Word of God or the Alpha is sufficient to guide us in all the choices we make daily.


Friday, May 18, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Cling to What is Good




UV 2950/10000 Using Alpha Power to Cling to What is Good
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
Romans 12 v 9

St Paul while writing letters to both the Roman church and the Thessalonian believers of Christ, the Saviour and Lord, emphasized that they cling to what is good and let go or repulse evil. We are to be spiritual magnets attracting or pulling to ourselves, drawing into our hearts and minds, our very DNA or divine nature what is good and repulse what is evil. But only God is absolutely good while we humans can at best be partially or relatively good. The uni-verse implies that we need to let go of what is only relatively good and partially evil and cling or cleave or stick like glue to God. We need to cleave to God and His very image sent on Earth Jesus like leeches and draw from Him our supply of what is absolutely good- His cleansing blood, His healing, His word, His precepts, His faithfulness, the fruit of His spirit. We cannot let go for a second. But just as salt causes a leech to let go of the human body on which it clings, sin causes us to let go of God. Conversely, the Word acts as salt to cause the leech of bad habits, evil attitudes, spiritual strongholds to let go of their tentacles on our lives. One cannot cling to what is good without hating what is evil and one cannot let go of what is evil without clinging to what is good. It does not happen in a single day but over one’s life, the degree to which one clings to good or loves good and the degree to which one hates evil and gets rid of evil in his life should increase from day to day.

Only God’s love is without deception, selfishness, without limit. When we cling to Him, His love is understood and assimilated by us as blood by a leech. We will remove our earthly masks and biases. In order to do so, we also need to hate evil the way the Lord does. We need to be first of all, intolerant of evil in and by us. We therefore need to be ruthless judges of ourselves, sensitive self critics, not blinded to our faults. For this we need the help and counsel of the Holy Spirit. Is there a trace of idolatry in my faith, in my life ? I need to give up any idols in my heart- there should be nothing that replaces God in my heart, my life, no other mediator other than Christ. My highest passion or love should be for the Lord and His word. I do not use lesser lights to light my path of life other than the light of the Lord- His word.

There is no mid-point between good and evil, no compromise that is acceptable to the Lord. Our hatred for evil should at least be as strong as our love for the Lord. The Lord will enable us to overcome momentary lapses, failures on our part as His grace is unlimited and adequate for all of our spiritual and holistic need. It is not an easy path for while our flesh is naturally attracted to what is evil or partially good, our spirits are attracted to what is absolutely good. It requires supernatural discipline and disciplining by the Lord to avoid the folly of being evil, doing evil, speaking or thinking evil and to stick to the wisdom of being good, doing good, speaking good and thinking good. This attitude determines one’s spiritual quotient. It affects all aspects of our lives and enhances us in 360 degrees. The cost is high but in terms of rewards or benefits, it far exceeds the cost. When we cling or cleave to good and hate what is evil, we receive the favour of the Lord, the reward of the blessings of Shalom, of eternal and enduring peace, of joy sublime, the rewards of a life lived wisely.

Prateep V Philip

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Be Careful

UV 2948/10000 Using Alpha Power to Be Careful
Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways
Haggai 1 v 5

We are to be careful in all our ways. We need to compare our life in all its aspects against the Word. The Word of the Lord is our benchmark, our litmus test, our standard. We need to measure how much we have fallen short of His ways reflected in His word and repent. The word “repent” means that not only we are sorry for our ways but we desire with all our hearts to make amends, to improve on our ways. The word provides many filters through which we need to send our thoughts, our words, our reactions and actions. The Word like a sharp and penetrating instrument is able to discern the motives behind our thoughts. We need to allow the Word to so destroy any false motives of lust and pride that causes us to think certain thoughts, speak certain words and do certain things.

To be careful, it does not mean that we should be anxious, paranoid or hesitant. It only implies that we should introspect and allow the Holy Spirit and the Word to guide us in our ways. To be careful is to examine ourselves every day in the light of the knowledge we have of the character and teachings of Jesus. Are we thinking, speaking and acting or reacting like Him to the various situations we face in life? We model ourselves on Jesus and try to emulate Him in our inner life as well as its external manifestations.
We need to consider our priorities. Are we giving the Lord the first place in our lives ? We need to consider our lifestyle. Are we disciplined enough? Are we using our time, resources, talents, gifts, opportunities to glorify God ? We need to consider our pattern of spending and giving? Are we giving enough for the right causes? We need to consider our speech pattern? Are we positive, encouraging, helpful to others with our words? We need to consider our relationships with family and colleagues as well as those who work under us. Are we kind, considerate, thoughtful, respectful? Are we careful to avoid arguments, fights, insults, retaliation in the flesh ? If the answer is no to any of these questions, we need to seek the grace or Alpha power of the Lord to change ourselves for the better in the days to come.



Wednesday, May 16, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Cancel Debts

UV 2947/10000 Using Alpha Power to Cancel Debts
Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt

Matthew 18 v 27


Our debts to the God Lord is forgiven or cancelled without trace by the Lord Jesus out of His great compassion. The servant in this parable narrated by Jesus Himself owed Him a great debt of ten thousand talents of gold. Each of us owe the Lord a great debt for every violation of the written code of Moses that we have committed in thought, word or deed. But Jesus cancels our debts when we receive and believe in Him as our Lord and Saviour. Likewise, we too are to cancel the smaller debts, the small hurts, the insults, the betrayals, the denials, the deception that we have suffered at the hands of others. When we have experienced such great grace that we in no measure deserve, it is right that we extend the same to others in our lives- our family members, our friends, our enemies, strangers, our neighbours, our colleagues. We need grace or the Alpha power of Jesus in order to issue a blanket cheque of forgiveness or cancellation of debts to all who owe us something this far.

Nehemiah saw God as One who is ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, of great compassion and faithful. We need to ask Him for grace to emulate His nature. It wont come easily and naturally, for it is natural to remember wrongs done to us, real or imagined, to seek vengeance, to retaliate, to pay back in the same coin. We need to submit our begrudging nature to the Lord, to offer it as a sacrifice or in other words, to kill it. We should be ready to forgive our brothers or sisters seven times seventy or times without number in the same manner, the Lord God has cancelled our moral and spiritual debts. He has declared us debt-free or free men to act on free will and not in bondage to those we owe a debt. We, too should cancel the debts owed to us, to declare those who have done us harm or hurt us in any way. When we hold anything against anybody we are actually holding him in spiritual chains in our minds and hearts. When we truly cancel their debts in the same measure our debts with the Lord have been cancelled, they will be released to enjoy freedom and we are released to enjoy a relationship once more with them.


Jesus taught us that it is not a one time cancellation of debts but as often as our brothers and sisters offend us in any way, we ought to forgive them. To be able to do so, our natural egocentric hearts should be transformed by Alpha power of Jesus into hearts of compassion, full of grace, not bile or bitterness, full of mercy, not vengeance, full of kindness, not rudeness or violence of word or actions, faithful and trusting of those who have harmed us not suspicious.





Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Be Calm

UV2946/10000 Using Alpha Power to Be Calm
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee
Isaiah 26 v 3


When our minds are focused on the focal point of history, the focal point of our personal history- Jesus, He will keep us in perfect peace. He will give us the peace that passes human reasoning, comprehension and apprehension. He can give us peace or the strength to stay calm even in the midst of a fierce storm. As long as we pay the TOLL, we can cross the bridge to eternity, to eternal peace here and now. TOLL meaning trust, obey, learn from and above all, love Him who first loved us and demonstrated His love by dying for us on the cross. He demonstrated His power by rising again from the highly secured grave, the only instance of a grave being guarded like a jail. We therefore have the confidence that nothing is impossible for Him. Whatever be our situation, He can use His Alpha power or the power of His word to change it in our favour. Whatever be the outcome, He changes it for our good.


His peace does not rise and fall like the ocean or wax and wane like the moon but keeps increasing or growing in us as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of His love and of His word. We learn to trust Him more and more. He will never disappoint or fail us. His presence in the boat in the midst of the fierce storm in the Sea of Galilee was enough to guarantee that nothing untoward would happen to the panicking disciples. He said, “ Peace, be still” and even nature obeyed its Creator. He was not violating the laws of science or physics but the natural laws themselves obey Him. Since we know the end result of our efforts, our lives, our deeds, we need not be anxious for anything. We have learnt the secret of being calm.


Peace, it is written is a great power derived from the mastery of self. Nay, it is a great power derived from His mastery of our selves. We submit our entire being, our alpha to omega to Him, our thoughts, our fears, our hopes, our desires, our plans, our work, our relationships, our problems, constraints, challenges, difficulties, weaknesses to Him and His grace is sufficient to fill the gaps and perfect it all. Our intellects, our emotions, our imagination, our wills are focused on the Author and Finisher, the Initiator, Sustainer and Perfecter of our lives. We obtain the wisdom, His strength, His encouragement, His guidance, His protection, His help at all times and especially, in times of trouble, crisis and challenge.

Monday, May 14, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Be Cheerful


UV 2946/10000 Using Alpha Power to Be Cheerful

All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast
Proverbs15 v 15


Regardless of what has happened in our lives, regardless of the circumstances, we can predispose our hearts and minds to be cheerful, to have a victor mentality and not give in to a victim mentality. Our hope is in Christ that even as He overcame sin, poverty, misery, betrayal, deepest anguish and sorrow, physical torture, humiliation and a slow and painful execution, we too can face any or all of these with equal composure and confidence that the Lord will deliver us. That hope gives us the inner joy and peace. He embraced an absolute level of sorrow to exchange it in our hearts and lives for an absolute level of joy. Knowing the assurance that this hope brings, our hearts and minds can always be kept cheerful. We need to see the bright side of things. We need to count our many blessings. Then, our hearts will be like a continual feast in which the delicious, wholesome and healthy dishes of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control are being served. We need to dip into the dishes again and again for our appetite for these finer things of life will never be satiated. The Holy Spirit will make an inexhaustible supply of these dishes from the kingdom of God. We only need to ask ourselves – from which dish shall I serve myself now- should it be love or joy or peace or patience?

The joy of the Lord is my strength. What pleases the Lord is the source and cause of my sustenance. The Alpha power of the Lord embedded and confirmed in and by His word will work in our Omega situations or 360 degrees over 365 days of our years. It becomes an uninterrupted feast. The Lord is delighted when we find our delight in His company, in our personal relationship with Him made possible through Christ. He is delighted when we seek after His wisdom, rejecting our own and the world’s. He is delighted when we seek the things that are invisible and spiritual in preference to the physical and material. He is delighted when we find pleasure, strength and wisdom in His word.

Not only are our hearts cheerful when we meditate on His word but it reflects even in our faces. When our hearts are beating at the same frequency as the Lord’s, we will be aligned with His perfect will. The cheerful attitudes we cultivate and maintain also act as medicine to heal our past hurts and disappointments. Our minds are no longer to operate like an yo-yo going up and down according to whether the circumstances are good or bad. We set our minds like thermostats not to dip below a certain level of joy or cheerfulness. We move all lust and covetousness from our hearts and keep all available room therein for healthy emotions, continual rejoicing. That is why St Paul quotes King David, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again, I say, rejoice.” The joy of Christ is continually bubbling in and from our hearts to influence and spread to others in a contagious way.

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Break Bondages

UV 2945/10000 Using Alpha Power to Break Bondages


For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem
Ezra 9 v 9

Contrary to what the philosopher Rousseau wrote , all mankind are born in chains. We are born bondmen, born in sin to sin or fall short of the greatness of God but we are born again in Christ to be free. There are several bondages that afflict all mankind- it could be certain addiction or bad habit, a negative trait of character, a spiritual bondage to evil. But, the Lord extends His mercy towards us as we seek it earnestly. He revives our hope even as He revived the hope of Israelite slaves of Egypt by sending them a leader and saviour in Moses. Likewise, He revives our hope and strength by sending us the Holy Spirit whose Alpha power can break any bondage of addiction, any bondage of bad habit or any grip of evil, any bondage of weakness, shame or stigma on our lives. The Lord God sets up His spiritual house in and with us. He repairs the broken walls of our lives, He restores our fallen defences.

As we worship and praise Him as the people of Judah under King Jehoshaphat facing war against a formidable army of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, He causes spiritual strongholds of darkness in our lives to fall or cease. As we relate to Him in all the details of our lives and give our hearts or the very core of our existence to Him, He makes us Jerusalem- a house of peace or Shalom. The Lord becomes our hedge, our wall of fire and works out things in our lives for His greater glory.

Instead of our former bondage, we are now free for whom the Lord Jesus sets free is free indeed. No bondage of this world no longer has a hold on us. The enemy of our souls have no claim on our lives since we are vessels consecrated to the Lord. Unlike bondmen, our freedom to think, to speak, to express ourselves creatively, to move around freely are not hindered. Our sagging spirits are revived. Our souls are refreshed constantly by the fellowship of the Spirit of God. No fear or threat of our former master has any hold on us.

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Be a Living Sacrifice


UV 2944/10000 Using Alpha Power to Be A Living Sacrifice
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12 v 1

If we read or study the rules of sacrifice explained in the books of Leviticus, Numbers under the old covenant God instituted with Israel, people were required to offer sacrifices of the good parts of dead animals while under the New Covenant relationship instituted through Jesus, we are now required to sacrifice the bad parts of our own lives or the bad use of the good parts of our lives, the animal in us. We are to put to death our old sinful nature. As priests of the Most High God, we are to offer our own egos to the Lord. We are to offer the members of our bodies- our tongues, our hands, our legs, our minds, our mouths, our appetite, our tastes, our emotions, our decisions or our wills to the Lord as part of the living sacrifice this uni-verse calls us to do.

The apostle Paul who had sacrificed the old Saul, his pride, his arrogance, his predilection for vengeance and violence, his misguided zeal to Jesus after his encounter on the road to Damascus pleads in this uni-verse with the body of believers to offer their bodies as living sacrifices. In short, our whole lives are to be consecrated to the Lord God not out of our own sense of self righteousness or pride in our own goodness but out of repentance, having received and benefitted and continuing to benefit from the rich mercies of the Lord. We are to abstain hereafter from the illicit or illegitimate desires or lusts of the bodies, minds and egos. We are to offer our minds or our intellects, our imagination, our emotions and our wills to the Lord Jesus who will make it acceptable, good and perfect to be offered as sacrifices to the Lord God. As priests, we sacrifice the very heart of our being to the Lord. We offer praise and thanksgiving continually to the Lord. We make positive confessions or declarations of faith in all practical aspects of life for these then become our spiritual sacrifices to the Lord. As kings by appointment and anointing of the Lord, we offer our crowns, our joys, our victories, our trophies, our claims to greatness, fame and power to the Lord for His use and enjoyment. When we fail, we offer a broken and contrite spirit for repentance is also a living sacrifice acceptable to the Lord for it shows that we have not received His grace in vain or that we despise it. Obeying the Word or fulfilling a vision is also a form of living sacrifice.

We use the double edges of the Alpha, the sword of the Word to kill or cut our own over-sized egos so that we do not consider ourselves better or more entitled than any other person. We curtail our selfishness by considering the needs and well being of others in whatever we say or do. Whatever we offer in thought, word or deed, the Holy Spirit sanctifies or perfects that which is imperfect in our lives. Our lives and every part thereof, then become sweet smelling sacrifices to the Lord, wholly acceptable, pleasing and perfect in His sight. Jesus in His role as High Priest in heaven presents us daily to the Lord God as the living sacrifices He has prepared unto the Most High on earth. Our homes are the tabernacle of sacrifice, our workplaces, the altars of living sacrifice. Every day takes on the shade of the Sabbath for we enjoy His rest or peace even in our workaday lives, while we are up and about. Our meditation and our communication on godly lines are a living sacrifice. Living a life worthy of the high calling we have received is a living sacrifice. Living a life of excellence or continual improvement in all aspects is a worthy and pleasing sacrifice. Choosing to think thoughts that are good, positive, beautiful, noble, edifying is a living sacrifice that take place in the sanctum sanctorum of our lives- our minds. Incremental as well as radical change for the better in our lives is a living sacrifice. Enduring suffering that one does not deserve patiently, faithfully, without complaining if not joyfully, is sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord. Using our natural talents and spiritual gifts for His glory is living sacrifice. Stretching oneself to face enormous challenges with a victor mentality instead of a victim mentality is a spiritual sacrifice. Speaking in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is a spiritual sacrifice that both the sacrifice and the One sacrificed to enjoys equally.

Friday, May 11, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Deal with Battles


UV2943/10000 Using Alpha Power to Deal with Battles
With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
2 Chronicles 32 v 8

When the odds are against us, if God is with us, we need not be worried or anxious. When Hezekiah, the King of Judah faced overwhelming odds of the formidable Assyrian army of King Sennacherib, he was not daunted or discouraged by the taunts of the enemy for his faith and courage rested on the Word of the Lord to be with him, to help him, to strengthen him, to uphold him with the right hand of His power and righteousness. Mere human power cannot prevail against the might of righteousness of God. For with the enemy is only a hand of flesh and only mortal weapons while with us as a mighty warrior to fight our battles is the Lord of Hosts or the Lord God of the armies of heaven. Therefore, Hezekiah asked his people not to be afraid or discouraged for he said, “Greater are those who are with us.”

Our battles in life today are often not military or physical but intellectual, social, financial and above all, spiritual. We only need to exercise our faith daily in the power and prowess of the Lord to vindicate us as long as we hold onto His hand with a firm grip and do not resist Him. We need to have a vice-like grip on the sword of the Word of the Lord. Whatever be the battle we are currently fighting, the Word is versatile enough, alive, dynamic, relevant and powerful to be the text in our context which we need to believe, claim, pray, declare, hold on to, recollect again and again. Whatever be the circumstances we are going through, we should have a victor mentality not a victim mentality.

Moses fought and won against only one enemy- Pharaoh and his mighty Egyptian army while Joshua was a more intrepid warrior. He fought and won against 31 kings before claiming the promised land of Canaan for the descendants of Israel or Jacob. To put the text in context, 31 kings to us implies 31 spiritual strongholds that keep us from entering into our spiritual inheritance. Virtually, every day we are fighting a battle against one spiritual king or other or a combination or spiritual strongholds. Their goal is to prevent us from entering into our inheritance in Christ of peace, prosperity, eternal life, joy, love and mercy and if we perchance we have entered and experienced any or all of these, to cease or seize it from us. If we do not wrestle in prayer with the Lord, they may well be able to wrest it from us or arrest us in our spiritual journey to the promised land- the kingdom of God. We can wrestle without moving a finger or a muscle by resting on the Word, calmly believing that the Lord is true to His first and last word- the Alpha and the Omega, the first to the last word, the Alpha to the Omega in all our battles every day of our lives. The ultimate outcome is the concern of our Commander-in-Chief Jesus but we can be assured He will ensure we are victorious as long as we allow Him to fight our battles.

Thursday, May 10, 2018

The Frame of Reference

UV 2941/10000 The Frame of Reference
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear
Hebrews 11 v 3

Without a frame, even the most beautiful picture or image can neither be presented properly or preserved. Without a rational, logical, meaningful, true frame of reference, our lives too would be torn apart. Our lives would be shapeless, meaningless, powerless, useless or vain. The worlds or the entire universe were not only formed by the Word of God but framed by the Word. The Word forms the frame of reference to understanding the fundamental issues of life and of the universe. We get the big picture as well as the meaning of everything that happens to us personally can be explained only by the Word comprehensively and adequately. The Word spells out the moral laws on which the universe is based. Jesus is the Word of Alpha- the initiator, the sustainer, the motivator, the salvation and the Word of Omega- the completion, the finisher, the last word on any and every subject. The biblical frame of reference tells us plainly that the invisible was made by the Invisible made Visible- Jesus at the time of creation and the Invisible-made-Visible, the Spiritual –Made-Flesh –Jesus saves all whom He made in His own image. The frame of the Word is unique as it alters the contents of the picture of the life of the person that constantly refers to it. It beautifies the picture. It preserves the picture as a legacy or testimony for the generations to come.

The big picture understanding convicts us that all that is visible does not matter in the long run or rather, in the eternal run. All that matters is the Invisible. The visible cannot make the invisible appear or disappear while the invisible makes the visible appear. Faith in the Invisible-Made-Flesh Jesus should surround all of our visible existence- our relationships, our business, our work life, our progeny, our homes, our difficulties and challenges in life, our minds, our thoughts, our speech, our actions and reactions. When the Word frames everything in our personal world as it does the universe, not only does everything make sense, every priority will fall into place, every potential will be fulfilled, every purpose will be met, every power manifested.

The word “frame” in the original Greek is “ katartizo” which has several nuances of meaning- to restore, to repair, to frame, to perfect, to mend. The frame of the Word can shape our whole lives, mend our minds, bend our wills, perfect our character, restore whatever we have lost in our lives. If we have messed up our lives or a significant part of it like our marriage, our children, our careers or our finances, the Word asks us to start again in conformity with the frame of reference- the Word. The Word is needed to repair the world- to remove the “l” in the world that stands for lust or illegitimate or illicit desire. Like a surgeon cauterises or burns a tumour or an unhealthy growth on our bodies, the Word cauterises the root of lust and pride in us. The lust has to make room for the love of Jesus, the pride has to make way for the deep humility of Jesus who gave up His own world to save the fallen world out of selfless love. The fear has to make way for faith. God also operates on a need to know basis like our professional organisations and He has revealed in His word in plain words and not in enigmas and riddles all that we need to know and the secret things are reserved.

Prateep V Philip

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Heal the Broken-Hearted


UV 2940/10000 Using Alpha Power to Heal the Broken-Hearted
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Isaiah 61 v 1

The cross is the only instance in all of history where God sacrifices Himself to Himself for the sake of others. We are the significant others for God. Jesus, the Alpha was sent to heal the broken-hearted. The earth He recognized is a vale of sorrows and tears, of tragedies and calamities, of injustice and wickedness. All human beings are captive to some form of sin, sorrow and affliction. He came of His own free will in obedience to the Father to set the captives free. He breaks the spiritual shackles that bind us.

The Word or Alpha holds in it the Balm of Gilead that heals the broken-hearted. Only God can heal the broken-hearted. Even the nearest and dearest have no answers to our questions, no balm for our agony when we are broken-hearted or in deep distress. We are faced with a fait accompli that cannot be reversed and we seek answers as to why it should have happened to us, what great wrong did we do to deserve to be broken. We feel alone and forlorn in our sadness. At such times in our lives, the Man of Sorrow Jesus who is well acquainted with all types of sorrows of this world having walked among us for thirty three years, would come to us and comfort us as He alone can. No human counsellor can give us advice or comfort in these moments. But, the Wonderful Counsellor who knows the A to Z or Alpha to Omega of being broken-hearted will provide us words of wisdom that will soothe our burning wounds, our deep and soul-searing pain.

Jesus having experienced the extremes of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual agony and being anointed by the Holy Spirit with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord is alone empathetic as well as omni-competent to deal, heal, lead, guide, deliver the broken-hearted. The Psalmist David declared that the Lord is near to those who are broken-hearted and that He will not despise the broken-hearted. The Lord God Himself undertakes to minister, to nurse the broken-hearted, to apply the spiritual equivalent of a bandage of medicine to our deep and inner wounds that no man can see, no man can heal. Such divine intimacy is both the reward and the cause of healing, the source of everlasting joy to the broken-hearted.


Tuesday, May 8, 2018

The Alpha of Being Blessed


UV2939/10000 The Alpha of Being Blessed

And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

Ezekiel 34 v 26


The Bible teaches us how we can be blessed. The first blessing God pronounces after creation is in the book of Genesis: “ God blessed them and said, “ Be fruitful.” To be blessed by God means that we have the favour of God. It does not mean that bad things do not happen to the blessed. Jesus, the most esteemed Son of God faced much trial, trouble and sorrow during His earthly sojourn. To be blessed by the Lord implies that our destiny, our final place in eternity is fixed, settled, established. The blessing of the Lord cannot be revoked, cancelled or countered.

There are a variety of ways we can be blessed. When we bless Israel, we are blessed. When take refuge in the Lord Jesus, we are blessed. When we have consideration for the weak and poor , we are blessed. We are blessed when the Lord disciplines us. We are blessed if we maintain justice. We are blessed if we fear or deeply respect the Lord. We are blessed if we study the Word diligently and obey it consistently. We are blessed if our ways are blameless. We are blessed if we are faithful. We are blessed if we raise godly children. We are blessed if we search and find wisdom. We are blessed if we wait for the Lord. We are blessed when we pray for our enemies. We are blessed when we recognize our sinfulness, our inability to save our own souls. We are blessed when we mourn and comfort those who mourn. We are blessed when we hunger for righteousness, peace and justice. We are blessed when we are merciful. We are blessed when we are truly humble before God and man. We are blessed when we are attacked and persecuted for no fault of ours. We are blessed when we are insulted and humiliated. We are blessed when we go in the name of the Lord into any venture. We are blessed when we give generously. We are blessed when we persevere in doing good. We are blessed when we call on the Lord. We are blessed when we acknowledge the Lord in all our ways. He blesses us in a variety of ways- with all round comprehensive peace or Shalom, with joy, with contentment, with security, with longevity, with abundance of spiritual fruit.

Above all, we are blessed when God is with us. The presence of God or the personal relationship and deep fellowship with Him is a sufficient cover of blessing upon our lives. He is the Alpha and Omega of blessing. He shall send a shower of blessings when we need it. He can also send a flood of blessings. So much so, the places where our feet tread will be blessed. The Word or Alpha is the key to opening the floodgates of blessings in our lives. When the Lord blesses us, He adds no sorrow to it. Many people who are rich in the things of this world are affected by some deep sorrow or affliction in their lives. But , we should seek to be rich towards the Lord, rich in our attitudes towards Him and His Word.

Monday, May 7, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Breathe


UV 2938/10000 Using Alpha Power to Breathe
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2 v 7

It is the breath of God in man that distinguishes him from all other creatures. The breath of God is not just our physical breathing but the spirit of God. God breathed His spirit into the nostrils of the form or shape He had made out of mud. The spirit of God is us makes us living souls. We are conscious of our connect with God. Man lost this consciousness when he first disbelieved and disobeyed God. Disbelief in the word of God preceded disobedience. Therefore, belief in the Word or Alpha precedes obedience. Obedience precedes salvation, blessing and eternal life. Hence, only when we once again believe the Alpha or Jesus and obey Him, is the breath or spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, restored to us.

No longer should we merely breathe physically but we ought to breathe spiritually. Every time we take in a breath, we breathe in the Alpha- the Word revealed as Christ. Every time we breathe out, we breathe out praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. The Breath of Life or Jesus forms and re-shapes us from within to conform to His image. He gets rid of the distortions that have crept into our perceptions, our character, our actions on a continual basis as we practice spiritual breathing. Our spiritual breath is the Word inspired. When we are inspired by the Word, we are breathing in the Breath of God.

When we breathe in the Word and breathe out prayer based on the Word, we experience the power of Alpha, the power to begin well, to sustain and to end well. Every breath re-invigorates or renews our living souls. Our souls enjoy the fellowship of being one with the Triune God. Our thoughts, words and actions are blessed. Just as the hypothalamus regulates our breathing pattern, the Holy Spirit regulates our reactions. Life depends on breathing from moment to moment. When Jesus defined Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, He was and is saying that the way to live the eternal and abundant life is to breathe in His truth and to restore our lives in all aspects, to experience the power of His resurrection in every dead or hopeless facet of our lives. Like we do not stop breathing for to do so would be to die, we intake His word or Alpha power all the time through meditation on His word and the output is prayer, praise, thanksgiving, belief, obedience, application.

Sunday, May 6, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Deal with Burdens


UV2937/10000 Using Alpha Power to Deal with Burdens

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Matthew 11 v 30

The contrary image this uni-verse brings to our mind is that of an ox or donkey which has a very heavy yoke placed on its neck and on top of that the creature is forced to carry a very heavy load or burden. The yoke is a symbol or metaphor for responsibility. The burden is a symbol of the problems, difficulties, afflictions, challenges, limitations we face in everyday life on earth. It is the enemy’s work to increase the weight of our yoke and to also increase the load of problems and challenges we face in life. Jesus as our personal Saviour, the Alpha in contrast gives us a bearable responsibility and the power to bear the challenges and difficulties of life. Jesus does not promise to give us a carefree life or a life of ease. If we bear His burden to help others and save their souls, He will help us bear our burdens.

Jesus asks us to cast our burdens on Him. He helps us carry our burdens daily as stated by the Psalmist. We cast our burdens on Him when we take it in prayer to Him on a daily basis. He gives us the strength or Alpha power to endure the hardship, to face it, to overcome it. Unlike Balaam the prophet, we should not be blinded to seeing the angel of the Lord or insensitive in hearing His word. We need to move in the direction the Lord asks us to take and not be obstinate or stubborn in pursuing our own wills even it aggravates the situation. The cross of sacrifice is the lighter yoke the Lord has given us. We need to deny our old selves and feed our new selves with the manna of His word in order to develop the strength to bear this cross. The Spirit has to be fed and the lust of the flesh and the pride of our minds are to be starved. When we sow in the Spirit, we reap strength and grace to bear our lighter burden that Jesus gives us gladly.

Even as the Lord lends us His hand to carry our burdens, we too should lend our hand to help our fellow beings, both believers and non believers in whatever we are directed to or whatever way we are able to. The Holy Spirit also gives us the strength to face and overcome the various challenges of our lives. Sometimes, we may get miraculous or supernatural resolution, sometimes He may give us wise counsel or points out to us the steps we should take in the natural world to deal with the burden. Jesus Himself was not exempted from carrying the heaviest burden any human could every carry- the Cross of Calvary, a burden He did not bring on Himself but placed on His shoulders to alter the destiny of all mankind who believes in the salvation He provides. Deserted by His followers and family, He faced alone the agony of bearing the burden and for the first time in history, blood, sweat and tears issued from His body in preparation for the absolute absolution- the solution for all burdens of mankind- physical, intellectual and spiritual. The very Body of the Divine Physician, who healed all types of afflictions and lifted all types of burdens from shortages of resources to reviving the dead, became the means of lifting the heavy yoke and burden of sin, guilt, curses, diseases, suffering and death that the enemy had placed on every human.


Friday, May 4, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Build


UV 2936/10000 Using the Word or Alpha to Build
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

I Peter 2 v 5


Only the house built by the Lord will stand forever. Believers in Christ having accepted Him as the cornerstone of their lives, build their lives as a living temple for the Lord. The Word or Alpha gives them the living bricks with which to build. The agape love of Christ is what cements the bricks of our lives together. The Lord gives us the design of our lives. The Holy Spirit guides us as we build our lives around Christ. A house does not belong to itself but to the owner and the One who owns us is Jesus, the King. Our every thought, word and action are to be living sacrifices to Him. We live not for ourselves but for Him. We build on the foundation of the teachings of the apostles and prophets. Our lives are sacrificial as we willingly subject our egos, our wills to obedience to the Word or Alpha. Our lives are sacrificial as we seek no glory for ourselves but for the Lord. The Alpha then operates in all aspects of our lives till we are completed or perfected and made acceptable to God through Christ Jesus. There are no holidays while we are building. Like the volunteer builders of the walls of Jerusalem marshalled under the leadership of Nehemiah, we are volunteer builders of the walls of the spiritual houses that constitute the city of the Lord, the kingdom of heaven, the Eternal City under the leadership of Jesus. In one hand, we hold our swords, the Alpha or the Word of God and in the other , the tools of our profession. We are on guard all the time as we can be attacked by the enemies in order to disrupt our work. As we build, we need to fence our lives in all its aspects (Omega) with prayer and faithful appropriation of the promises contained in the Alpha or the word. Jesus is both Alpha, the Word and Omega, the Action that defeats the world.

God does not dwell in houses built with human hands but He loves to dwell in the houses built by Him. Our bodies and lives are made acceptable to Him through Christ. We are now sanctified vessels to carry His love to the whole world. We are not only the living temple in which He dwells but we are also the holy priests who offer up the sacrifices and the kings who reign on behalf of Christ on earth. This brings up the paradox of our identity in Christ. As priests, we are ministers or people meant to serve God and man. As priests, we are consecrated to serve the Lord. We are to be humble and broken before the Lord. We offer up prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the people. As priests, we are to be wise with our words. As kings, we are to rule in His name. We are to take dominion over all realms. We are to extend the territory or the influence of the Lord. We are representatives of heaven on earth. We are to strategise and execute plans. We are to pass spiritual decrees, wage spiritual warfare. Hence, we are both weak, meek and powerful at the same time. We are both servants and kings, rulers and subjects. We are controlled by the reins of discipline of the Lord and we reign in His name.

The actions and good deeds we do in the name of the Lord are the raw material with which the spiritual house of our lives are furnished. We are to furnish our lives with what is beautiful, enduring, eternal, magnificent, spiritual. The living stones that make up the many walls of our lives are to be shaped, polished, perfected to fit the mould of the Cornerstone. Jesus is the cornerstone, the keystone and the capstone of our lives. He is both Breath and Bread of our Spiritual lives. Our spiritual lives are not compartmentalised but part of the whole of our lives. We are separated from the world as we stand apart from its sinfulness, depravity, selfishness and we are united with Christ. Yet the temple of our lives are existing in the dust and grime of the world. We are part of the world but the Word or Alpha keeps us from behaving like the people of this world or having their priorities. We are not yet perfected but we are excited as we are moving constantly toward being like our ideal, our model. He too is not a distant spectator but He is involved actively, continually and all our lives in building us.


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Using Alpha Power to Be Blameless


UV 2935/10000 Using Alpha Power to Be Blameless

I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart

Psalm 101 v 2



The power of Jesus is Alpha power for He alone described Himself as the Alpha and the Omega. Even in a race, all the action happens between the first words and the last words, the runners hear. First, they hear, “on your marks, get set go” and finally, “Congrats, well run.” So also all of our lives of faith in this race of grace are bracketed between the first word, Alpha and the last word, Omega. The Lord wants us to start well, to run well and to finish well. He desires that we are blameless in our walk in the world, with Him and in our homes. The Lord has accomplished everything for us on the cross but He expects us to measure up to His high standards in our daily lives in what we speak, what we do , how we relate to people, what our priorities are in life, the condition of our heart or the state of our attitudes.



Our attitudes are not a matter of chance but the default attitudes of our fallen or old nature. But it can change to be blameless through “etude”(French for study) of the Word of the Lord. Jesus is a different kind of Sovereign or King as He expects our willing and even delightful obedience and not an obedience out of fear or force. Simultaneously, we face great challenges as the enemy or “accuser of the brethren of Jesus” is sent out to test us, tempt us, make us fall and blameworthy. This binary dynamic is always at work in us who believe. In order to wrest victory, we need to be blameless in our beliefs. There should be nothing in our belief system that is erroneous, contrary to the Word of the Lord, that detracts from our complete love of God and fellow human. If not our beliefs will belie us and weaken us from within. Our faith will not be the rock-like , solid foundation on which we build a blameless life that cannot be shaken even in the worst of the storms of life.



But none of us being absolutely good and perfect given our human failings and frailties, the Lord supplies the grace to fill the gaps in our character and lives. In our weakness, is His strength and Alpha power revealed till we reach Omega or the last Word, the finishing line of life. However, between start and finish, Alpha and Omega, we need to do our very best to obey the word in letter and spirit. We need to walk in integrity of heart and uprightness as much as it depends on us. We need to evaluate our inner thoughts or attitudes on a daily basis with the searching eye and discernment of the Holy Spirit if we have given cause for offence or sorrow to the Lord and delight to the enemy of our souls. To this end, we need to bracket each day with etude or study of the word at the start (Alpha) and finish (Omega) of each day, the start and finish of each new project, each new phase of our journey back to God. The Word is a telescope to see the distant finishing line, a microscope to see what is happening deep inside us and others, binoculars to see clearly the path that lies ahead of us, an endoscope to study what is wrong within us and a periscope to see what the enemy 's next move and well- framed lens to enable us to see our next few steps, correcting our near and far vision.



Prateep V Philip

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