The Alpha of Dealing with Failure

UV 3023/10000 The Alpha of Dealing with Failure
And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31 v 8

We are to be taught more how to deal with failure than how to succeed for more frequently we fail or sometimes other people fail us in our expectations. This uni-verse gives basis to our faith that the Lord alone will never fail us or forsake us or disappoint us. He wants us to be joyful and not disappointed. He loves to fulfil the desires of our hearts provided we are walking in faith and obedience. He never lets go of us. He is with us wherever we are, whatever situation we are facing. He precedes us. He follows us. He surrounds us with His care and protection. He supplies the inner strength and confidence that we lack. His word is a sufficient antidote for our failures and disappointments. He comforts us with an apt word when we are crestfallen. When we are caught in a crisis, as we look to Him for help, He rushes to our side and encourages us.

Often we fail the Lord in the decisions we take or in our conduct or speech. Even then He does not make His disapproval or reproach evident. He silently watches us and gives us space to repent and make the necessary changes in our lives. Every time we fall, the Lord helps us rise again, dust ourselves and begin again. He is called the God of second chances not without reason. He helps us deal with our moral failures as well as our real time professional failures and overcome our sense of regret. He removes our sighs and replaces it with rejoicing in His presence.

The Lord knows that we learn much more from our moments of failure than in our successes. He teaches us His eternal wisdom even as the pain of failure has not faded. We realize that neither success nor failure is permanent or final. We should therefore neither be carried away or be puffed up by success nor be discouraged by defeat or failure. Our vicissitudes or ups and downs of life do not affect our faith but strengthens it. Our failures do not make us bitter with the Lord or with life but help us understand His love and grace better. Sometimes, the Lord allows failures in the areas of our pride or our over confidence in the flesh or our personal abilities in order to humble us and make us teachable. Our confidence should be on the Lord and not in our money or possessions or connections or talents. If we repose disproportionate confidence in any of these, a failure would demolish it and cause us to refocus and trust in the Lord with all our hearts.

The Alpha of Being Established

UV 3022/10000 The Alpha of Being Established
To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints
I Thessalonians 3 v 13

In our covenant with the Lord, He is obviously the stronger One. He takes the responsibility once we commit our hearts and lives to Him to establish us in our faith, to stabilise our lives, to establish our character in accordance with His own DNA or divine nature. The enemy wants to destabilise and weaken us but the Lord desires to establish us so that we take a firm grip on the Eternal Rock of Christ. He is the Alpha, the good root, the cornerstone, the keystone on which the strength of our lives depend. To this end of establishing us, He sends people and angels to minister or serve us, to comfort us, to teach us, to help us, to encourage us, to bless us.

The divine nature of Jesus is that He is blameless or blemishless. We too are called to live blemishless lives in this imperfect and sin-prone world. It is an impossible challenge but it is possible when we live by faith and grace and not by sight and not relying on our own limited knowledge, ability and senses. We as believers have the advantage of knowing our beginning and our end but remain more or less clueless about what happens in between. But we trust the Lord for each day and each moment of our lives. He leads us to green pastures as well as to valleys and mountains.

The Lord uses His word to heal our fickle hearts and thereby, establish us. He uses His word to teach our minds, our intellects, emotions and will to be stable and able. The eternal perspective the living word gives us makes us realize that the fluctuations in our earthly fortunes do not affect our eternal destiny. By focussing on the Author and Finisher of our Faith, Jesus, we add to our faith, righteousness or integrity of character, goodness of heart, patience or stability of mind, discipline of habit, humility of attitude, gentleness of manners. Salvation is only the first step in our spiritual journey. Living up to the standards of salvation in Christ or sanctification and edification are the remaining steps that takes us to the finishing line, the victory stand. But Jesus undertakes to walk us the entire way with us to establish us, to complete us.

The Alpha of Execution

UV 3021/10000 The Alpha of Execution
And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joel 2 v 11

The Lord executes or carries out whatever He has spoken in and through His word. If He has spoken, we can be sure that He will carry it out accordingly. He has said that eye has not seen nor ear heard nor entered the imagination, the wonders that the Lord has reserved for those who trust and love Him. Hence, we can rest assured that He will carry out this word in due time. He is the Guarantor of His word. His power is immense and awesome. His Execution Quotient is hundred per cent. As for us, our execution quotient is low- we seldom do all that we promised or planned to do. We need to therefore learn from the Lord on how to enhance our ability to execute plans and promises. The enemy of our souls being a thief of time and opportunity however causes us to postpone or procrastinate. We end up not doing more than half the things we planned or promised ourselves and then, feeling frustrated, weak- willed, ineffective. We need the help or grace of the Lord to redeem our time and utilise every opportunity to the full. The uni-verse above states that the Lord has an army of angels and agents to do His bidding, to execute His will on earth as it is in heaven. He will if and when needed send His angels and agents to our assistance. What seemed like insurmountable problems or challenges, metaphorically referred to as mountains of our lives, will be levelled out. We are to actively and persistently seek a transformation of our wills or the power to choose wisely and execute effectively.

No word spoken by the Lord will fail or fall to the ground in vain. If it falls to the ground, it will fall as a seed that will bring forth a mighty tree with great fruit. We will do therefore well if we plant the seed of His word in our hearts and minds and constantly recall and nourish these seed till they sprout and bear fruit. Our faith is to a great extent based on the Execution ability of the Lord. His thoughts and ways being higher, infinitely higher than our limited thoughts or even imagination, we sometimes are apprehensive whether the Lord will be able to carry out that which He has promised us. We need to keep our inner ears glued to the Holy Spirit in order to hear and understand the will and ways of the Lord. Believers are called “living stones” not without reason . We are to carry out or execute the Lord’s instructions in four dimensions- physical discipline, intellectual determination, emotional intensity or passion focussed on our goal, spiritual grace. We are not to be weak willed or poor executors but strong and filled with the execution power of the Lord. A living stone does not remain static or stunted or limited but keeps growing in all four dimensions.

We can improve our own execution quotient if every day we list out the top priority goals and activities we have before us that day. We need to pray and ask the Lord for the strength and freedom from distraction and disturbance to carry out that which we have planned to do. At the end of the day, we need to review how many items on our priority list we were able to execute or carry out either wholly or partially. Based on it, we can work out our execution quotient. Say for instance, if we have done three out of six tasks, our execution quotient is 50 per cent. As days go by, we should aim for a higher and higher execution rate. We need to encourage ourselves with the example of Jesus. It is written that He set His face like flint towards His mission – the cross of Calvary. He executed the Father ‘s will in entirety and comprehensively. He trained His disciples to execute His word effectively, to carry it to distant shores and people.

The Alpha of Education

UV 3020/10000 The Alpha of Education
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Luke 2 v 52

This uni-verse that sums up the entire early biography of Jesus is truly the cornerstone of understanding what is education. Education is to be lifelong learning resulting in growth first in wisdom, then in stature, physical, intellectual and social, followed by spiritual intelligence( in favour with God) and man (emotional and social intelligence). The highest priority is wisdom or applied knowledge. Scirpture states that wisdom comes only from reverence for God. Its source is spiritual and eternal. True wisdom is morally and spiritually pure, peaceable or gentle and considerate, reasonable, full of compassion and the good fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control . In contrast, counterfeit or superficial wisdom is proud, arrogant, insincere, provocative, having double standards, wavering, selfish and cunning. The source of such wisdom is the enemy and this world. Knowledge of this world parades itself as such superficial wisdom. True wisdom promotes peace with self, others and God. Counterfeit wisdom promotes strife, rivalry, envy, conflict and disorder. True wisdom increases in proportion to our reverence and devotion to the Lord.

Apart from gaining a heart of wisdom that is continually learning from the Lord and growing in His wisdom, we need to learn continually and grow in stature. In physical terms, once we have done our growing by the age of eighteen, we should focus on maintaining our fitness and health and improving thereon in whatever way we can. We should grow intellectually by learning as much as we can about our chosen domain or field of study or profession. We should grow socially in terms of our relationships with our fellow beings, reaching out to help the needy and disadvantaged as Jesus did through His earthly sojourn and to this day.
Finally, education implies that we should win the favour of the Lord and grow in terms of spiritual intelligence. The Lord marvels at the extent of our faith and how we apply our faith in our everyday life and in confronting challenges. We need to increasingly depend on His grace or enablement and empowerment. We seek the seven -fold anointing of Jesus that Isaiah prophesied about: the spirit of God, the spirit of wisdom and knowledge and understanding, the spirit of might, the spirit of counsel and the fear of the Lord. We should obtain and exercise both spiritual gifts and spiritual fruit through our intimacy with the Holy Spirit. Being spiritual does not mean we cut off ourselves from our fellow beings but increasingly relate to them and influence them in a positive way. We learn to manage our conflicts and resolve our differences in an amicable way without anger or violence. We manifest or bear practical witness of all the above traits or qualities of Jesus to all of our associates- spiritual wisdom, continual learning and development, the grace of the Lord and the approval of our fellow beings.

The Alpha of Expectation

UV 3019/10000 The Alpha of Expectation
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death
Philippians 1 v 20

Faith in Christ is expressed in terms of expectation and hope. We can expect that the Lord will never put us to shame. We can expect that the name of Christ will be glorified in our lives or even in our death. We need to hope and quietly wait for the Lord’s glory to be revealed in different aspects of our lives- physical, intellectual, spiritual, social, professional. This gives us the boldness or confidence to face different difficulties and challenges of life.

The benefits and blessings as well as answers to prayer we have received in the past also feeds and sustains our expectation that He will not fail or forsake us. It is not as if we can only expect good things to happen to the chosen of the Lord but even if something bad happens, it will have a specific purpose and the Lord will deliver the believer in that particular affliction. Even if He does not, we are to continue to trust the Lord and not question His sovereignty for as the exiled companions of Daniel said, “ Our Lord will deliver us from death and even if He does not we will not forsake our faith in Him.”

Our expectations are to be based on scripture and the leading of the Holy Spirit. He will speak to us and inform us if our expectation is of the Lord, if it is good, wholesome, pleasing to the Lord. St Paul in the above uni-verse reflects his single-minded devotion to the Lord and affirms that the basis of his hope and confidence is the love and faithfulness of Jesus to His promises to His followers. He had fully surrendered his life, his prospects, his future and his eternity into the hands of Jesus who had called him into ministry.

The Alpha of Excellence

UV 3018/10000 The Alpha of Excellence
Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

Deuteronomy 33 v 29


Excellence is of many kinds: material excellence, intellectual excellence, excellence in performance or achievements, moral excellence, professional excellence, spiritual excellence. Scripture speaks of holistic and all round excellence. Like Israel or Jacob, we can give up our struggle for excellence in whatever we seek and surrender our lives to the Lord. The plan of salvation He has for us is excellent. His word working in our inmost places will execute or carry out excellence beyond what we can think, imagine or ask. Like a sword, it will kill that which is mediocre, not worthy, not godly in our lives and produce the gifts and fruit of excellence that comes from the Holy Spirit. He helps us overcome our spiritual and mortal enemies and neutralizes their weapons against us by the power of His word that first created us. We need therefore to be not in quest of excess but of excellence of the Lord’s power working in us. The enemy deceives us by prompting us to feed our lusts and pride and only seek material or professional or intellectual or excellence in achievements. But the Lord sees our heart’s desire and enables us, helps us seek and find all round excellence for His excellence is eternal, the joy of many generations. In order to tap into this source of eternal excellence, we need to find pleasure and increasing pleasure in the treasure without measure- His word.


It is not as if we can stop striving or putting in diligent efforts towards all round excellence. But as we go the extra mile as Jesus exhorts His followers, He will reward us in abundance. He will cause the seed of our labour and of our love to grow and bear fruit, much fruit. Whatever we have set our hearts and minds on, He will cause to prosper as we submit the fruit or the final results into His hands. It does not also mean that we will succeed in everything we do but even if we fail, He will make us wise enough to learn lessons from it and improve on our efforts and give us the determination and confidence to try again.

Our quest for excellence is not based on the miry sands of deceptive human desires and vain efforts but on the rock -solid faith in the infinite impossibility working power or grace of the Lord. As we persist with diligent efforts, the Lord’s infinite power is helping us continually. As nothing is impossible for the Lord, if our imagination is regulated by the Holy Spirit, we will be able to do. As we strive, He renews us, He refreshes us with a word of encouragement, guidance, inspiration. He removes the visible and invisible barriers and obstacles in our path. God’s eye on us helps us hit the bull’s eye of all round and holistic excellence.

The Alpha of Esteem

UV 3017/10000 The Alpha of Esteem
Will he esteem thy riches? no, not gold, nor all the forces of strength
Job 36 v 19

Esteem is the value we place on a certain person or thing. Esteem often shapes our behaviour as well as performance. Low esteem often results in poor performance, addictions and aberrant behaviour. We do certain things to win the esteem of others –our parents, our colleagues, our children and the world at large. But the esteem of human beings is fickle. We will do well to emulate the example of Daniel who won the esteem of God. Our esteem should not be on the basis of who we are, what we have accomplished or what we possess but on the esteem of the Lord. We need to esteem or respect ourselves on the basis of the faith fact that each of us is a child of God, a king and a priest in His eyes, a co-heir with Christ, an ambassador of the Lord in this world, destined for the throne, salt and light of this world, a city built on a hill.

Some people aspire to become very powerful so that they can command the respect and obedience of others, for example dictators like Hitler and Mao. Such rulers like to be worshipped like demi-gods. But what wins the esteem of the Lord is character and conduct that is humble, God-fearing, faithful, trustworthy, gentle and compassionate. In order to conform to such a character template, we need to esteem the Word of God above the riches and knowledge of this world. When we value the precepts and principles of scripture above our worldly aspirations, we are willing like Daniel to face challenges and pay the price of following Christ.

When we esteem ourselves as a child of God, we better reflect His character or His DNA (divine nature) in our daily lives. Love, faith and hope are to be an integral part of our lives. When we regard ourselves as kings and priests, we are to exercise authority, be just, be wise, be strong, faithful, pure, righteous. When we regard ourselves as a city on a hill, we realize we are meant to be godly leaders to illuminate this world and provide hope for the people living in the valley of death, sin and curses. When we are called salt and light, we are to preserve the peace of God on earth like salt, we are to overcome the works and words of darkness, we are to bring hope, cheer and joy into the lives of all the people we interact with. When we regard ourselves as ambassadors of Christ, we should know we are roving evangelists for the Lord, to represent Him on earth and to carry out His will here and now. We are to behave as behooves an envoy of God. We are to carry His message to the nations.

The Alpha of Entanglement

UV 3016/10000 The Alpha of Avoiding Entanglement
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage
Galatians 5 v 1

Whom Jesus has set free is free indeed but we must endeavour to avoid entanglement again with the world and the yoke of bondage or slavery to sin and death such entanglement entails. We are to do our best not to mix with the world even as soldiers who are recruited by the army maintain a strict code of conduct and discipline so that they do not get entangled in civilian affairs. The enemy of our souls is always waiting to have us entangled again in folly, sin and shame. He wants to weigh us down with the burden of guilt and fear. He sends his spies to see how we can be entangled again. This is the reason that scripture asks us to be vigilant and keep our two spiritual eyes- prayer and the word –open all the time so that we can spot our adversary who is sometimes like a roaring lion attacking us openly while most of the time, he is a subtle serpent lying in wait to coil around us and entangle our feet in his snares. The adversary knows the chinks in our armour or the weaknesses and lusts of our hearts and will try to exploit it in our weak moments when we are not able to take a firm stand against him or we do not recognize that he is leading us into a compromise of our beliefs and principles of faith.

Apart from keeping our two spiritual eyes open and alert, we need to take a firm stand of faith against the viles and traps of the enemy. Applying the word to our daily situations and to guide our thinking and actions or reactions will impart the spiritual wisdom that we need to overcome such enticement and deception. If something weighs heavily on our minds and hearts, it is a sign of bondage and we need to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to emerge from such bondage. If some tradition or honoured custom substitutes for the Word or for the Lord Himself, it could lead to such entanglement and bondage. For instance, the bronzen serpent or Nehusthan that Moses made on being directed by Jehovah to deliver the Israelites from death by snake bite became over time a source or yoke of bondage instead of freeing them when people started worshipping it. We are to avoid the Nehusthans of our lives- accepting something as an article of faith and salvation in place of Jesus.

Our false beliefs, our practices based on such false beliefs can lead to our ensnarement and entanglement. Therefore, we need to take an unequivocal stand against such untruths and be firm about our belief in the sufficiency of the saving power of our faith in Jesus. The yoke or the burden and responsibility that Jesus gives us is so light that we hardly sense it. Instead, we are to enjoy the freedom or liberty we have through our faith in Jesus from the requirements of man-made religion and traditions. We should not allow ourselves to be manipulated and led into false doctrines like hyper grace and the like.

The Alpha of Enjoyment

UV 3015/10000 The Alpha of Enjoyment
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy
I Timothy 6 v 17

The living God is not a joy-killer but a joy-filler. He desires to fill our hearts and minds and lives with joy. This is the reason that when the Earth was desolate and lifeless like the other eight planets in the solar system, He re-formed the earth to make it sustain life and gave all things to man to master, rule and enjoy. When man sinned and fell short of knowing who is the living God, the Lord and Giver of Life sent Jesus, the foreordained Messiah and part of Himself, to redeem mankind, grant eternal life and eternal promises that our joy might be full. This uni-verse states that He has given us richly all things to enjoy. We are not to misplace our confidence in the riches which are uncertain in this lifetime and of no use in the next. History records more cases of riches to rags than rags to riches but no man who has been faithful has ever gone hungry. The Lord will send ravens to feed him if it is needed. Our sense of identity, our source of power, our source of wisdom, our source of security, our source of pleasure and pride should therefore be the Lord and His word and not worldly wealth.
Very often in life, we fail to enjoy all the things we have at the thought and in the pursuit of the one thing we lack. We need to not only count our blessings but also make our blessings count. We may not be rich but we are richly blessed just to be alive and to enjoy the blessings the Lord has given us. We are to be rich towards the Lord in prayer, in intake of the Word of God, in praise, worship and thanksgiving. Abraham was rich in silver, gold and cattle but he set his heart not on these uncertain earthly riches but on the Lord. His faith in Jehovah and trust in His promise was his source of confidence and strength.
We can enjoy or use to satisfy our needs and the needs of others, God-given wealth but we are not to be covetous, status conscious, proud of possessions, revelling in our earthly wealth. We are to ever thankful for whatever the Lord has bestowed on us this far. We should not allow our joy or happiness to coincide with our possession of increased riches. We can be glad and thankful when the Lord grants us an increase but every increase should not see us rely less and less on the Living God. We should know that earthly riches are not going to buy us peace, health, joy or eternal life. We are totally dependent on the Lord for all the priceless blessings of life. We should therefore. not glory or exalt ourselves on the basis of mundane wealth, fame or power or position but instead glory in the fact that we have a personal bond or relationship with the Living God. Whatever we own, we receive as a gift from the Lord. We rejoice in the Giver and not the gifts. We acknowledge that what the Lord has given, He can also take away as happened in the case of Job.

The Alpha of Dealing with Emotions

UV 3014/10000 The Alpha of Dealing with Emotions
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life
Proverbs 4 v 23

The heart is said to be the seat of emotions and desires. It is the core or the inmost part of the human being. Scripture asks us to guard our heart. With what and with who do we guard our hearts or our emotions and desires? We can guard our hearts with scripture and with the Holy Spirit. What do we guard against? We guard our hearts against evil and the author of evil desires entering and ruling over our hearts. When the Holy Spirit rules and regulates our hearts, we produce the fruit of the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. In the past few decades there has been a lot of writing, thinking and talking about emotional intelligence with little to show that it can or has been enhanced. In fact, if anything the evidence is that it has declined or rapidly deteriorating. The reason is that godly wisdom alone can deal with human emotions effectively.

Our natural emotions fed by our hitherto carnal nature are to be replaced by spiritual emotions – the fruit of the Spirit. Love is how we feel towards others, joy is how we feel within, peace is how we feel with others, patience is how we feel towards others, kindness is how we feel towards those who are weak, sick, poor or vulnerable, goodness is how we feel towards all of life, faithfulness is how we feel towards the Lord, humility is how we feel about ourselves and self control is how we control our feelings or emotions and regulate our desires, actions and reactions. Our foremost desire is not to please our own selves, satisfy our own desires or egos but to please the Lord for where the heart is, there lies our treasure. Instead of being mulish and stubborn, we are willing to change, to deny our own egos, lusts and pride, to conform to the image of Christ in us.

Scripture teaches us to make our anger short-lived: it should not last beyond sun set or the end of the day. The antidote is forgiving all who hurt or provoked us to anger. The uni-verse contains a clue to dealing with our emotions: study diligently. We need to study our hearts. We need to ask the Lord to examine our hearts, our thoughts and emotions and remove any contamination of this world as well as any negative emotion like envy, pride, hate, bitterness. To deal with emotions, the trait of self control is vital. It is not a natural quality but the result of our yielding our wills and emotions to the Holy Spirit. The mouth and tongue of man has a vital role in the expression of emotions. The words and the tone and tenor of our words are the barometer of our current state of emotions whether we are angry, positive or negative, stressed, relaxed, helpful, thankful, joyful or bitter and sad. It is impossible to control the human tongue unless we yield it to the Holy Spirit. The tongue is like a sail that catches the fair wind of the Holy Spirit. It has immense potential for self destruction and harm of others but that potential is neutralised and harnessed as a positive force when regulated by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The Alpha of Dealing with Envy

UV 3013/10000 The Alpha of Dealing with Envy
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
James 3 v 16

In the second generation after Adam, the first crime of murder was caused by the envy in Cain’s heart for the favour of God upon his brother Abel. From that time, envy has grown, mutated and manifested as strife between people, between nations, between families and even within the same family among kith and kin. The enemy of mankind is the author of confusion and strife and he does it by sowing the seed of envy in the hearts and minds of people. Scripture states plainly that we are to pursue peace with all people and not be envious of the sinful or wicked who seem to prosper externally and during this lifetime but await judgement and penalty.

We are exhorted to pray and bless our rivals, foes, opponents that they prosper even more and not attempt to conspire against them to pull them down. Envy is like subtle poison that makes our hearts bitter even as Cain was bitter with both God and his brother. Instead of seeing that his brother came to no harm from any quarter, he became the instrument of murder. We are therefore, not to harbour ill will or resentment against anyone lest it swallow us in bitterness, strife and evil. We are to be contented with our divinely apportioned lot and not envy others for their apparently greater gifts, talents, blessings, possessions, influence or accomplishments.

St James prescribes in the very next verse the antidote for envy and envy-provoked antagonism or strife- spiritual wisdom. We should seek spiritual wisdom that is gentle, peace loving, full of the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, peace, self control and humility, merciful, that makes us impartial, not showing undue deference to the rich and powerful or bias against the poor, weak and indigent, sincere and free from deceit and untruthfulness. There is a reason that wisdom is not listed in the nine fruit of the spirit as there are two kinds of wisdom- worldly or earthly, sensual and materialistic and spiritual wisdom that comes as a gift from the Holy Spirit. The nine fruit of the Spirit together constitutes spiritual wisdom that comes from continually sowing in the Spirit, watering with the Word, pruning or disciplining with the spirit of correction and improvement or sanctification. We are to be ruthless with ourselves so that envy remains rootless in our lives. The human heart and mind loves to envy, to compete, to beat others as witnessed in sibling rivalry even in a home. The grace and wisdom to overcome comes from the Lord.

The Alpha of Enlargement

UV 3012/10000 The Alpha of Enlargement

He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me
2 Samuel 22 v 20

The heroes of faith always found that the Lord set their feet in a larger place. The Lord enlarges those He delight in. Jabez, the once unwanted child of his mother prayed that the Lord enlarges his coast or his territory. The Lord enlarges the influence of the faithful. Esther was told by Mordecai that if she did not act, enlargement for the Jews would come from some other source. Enlargement in this sense was deliverance from condemnation by the arch enemy of the Jews- Haman. Enlargement meant deliverance from mass genocide due to an evil proclamation issued by the king under the latter’s influence.

Enlargement is an experience of divine freedom, freedom from the confines or restrictions of this sinful, disease-prone, disaster-prone, accident-prone, evil and unjust world. King David speaks of the enlargement of his heart by God so that he will run on the track of the commands of the Lord. In this sense, it means a broadening as well as deepening of our understanding of the will and purpose of the Lord so that we know that the commands or the word of the Lord are not meant to restrict us as we are naturally inclined to think but to expand our freedom, to prosper us in all our ways.

The path the righteous or the God-fearing, God-loving, God-living travel on is the road less travelled. It widens and brightens as we go further. We experience enlargement as we spend more time in the word, more time in prayer, more time communicating the love of the Lord to others. Enlargement comes from tasting the goodness of the Lord in a myriad ways- through blessings received, through times of trial and tribulation, through learning more about the length, height, width and depth of the agape love of God in Christ.

The Alpha of Enablement

UV 3011/10000 The Alpha of Enablement
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
I Timothy 1 v 12

St Paul had a complete turn around of his life from being one of the chief persecutors of the followers of Jesus to being one of the chief apostles. In this uni-verse, he acknowledges that it is the exceeding, abundant grace of the Lord Jesus that made it possible. He was a chosen vessel despite his past as the Lord saw that he was faithful and trustworthy, that once his misdirected zeal for the Jewish religion was replaced by knowledge of the Living Saviour Jesus, he would prove to be a most effective and excellent instrument of God.

Grace, then is divine enablement. It is given without measure by the Lord Jesus to the faithful. We only need to obey the call of the Lord and He will invest His grace in us to enable us to do that which He has intended for us. Grace is infinite, unlimited, abundant, sufficient for us to be able to follow and emulate Jesus. The once powerful but defeated and imprisoned Napoleon bemoaned in these famous but tragic words, “Able was I ere I saw Elba.” Military, political, economic, financial, personal power has its limitations but the enablement we receive from Jesus does not fluctuate or ebb. As we empty ourselves of our sense of our own abilities, the Lord will equip us, endow us, anoint us, empower us, enable us. We seek not to display our mettle, talent, strength but to manifest the strength of the Lord. We are therefore, ever humble and grateful to the Lord Jesus who gives us continual access to the throne of the Father, the source of all strength and power in the universe.

St Paul wrote, “ I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.” He no longer relied on religious traditions, on his training or education at the feet of Gamaliel, his knowledge of scriptures, his influence with the High Priests, his privileges as a Roman citizen. He unlearnt his old pride, prejudices, biases. His confidence was not on his background or upbringing but on the moment to moment leading of the Holy Spirit. He was a live wire in the hands of the Lord to conduct His power and grace to humanity. He had no agenda of his own but devoted himself to fulfil the agenda of God- the salvation of humanity.

The Alpha of Dealing with Enemies

UV 3010/10000 The Alpha of Dealing with Enemies
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5 v 44

The Lord desires that His children learn to bless and not curse their enemies, to forgive them and love them, not hate. While it is a natural tendency for us to dislike or detest our enemies, it takes supernatural grace to learn to love them and to bless them. Though the Lord in accordance with Old Covenant promises to deliver us from the viles and traps of the enemies, we should not seek their utter destruction. When they seek our help, we should extend our hand of help. We need grace to forgive them for the anger and the hurt they had caused in our lives. Jesus said that the Father is pleased when we help our enemies and pray for their well being.

The rationale is that we were all once enemies of God. But since He has forgiven our unredeemable debts to Him, we cannot hold any hurt or grudge against any fellow human. We have found favour undeservedly in the eyes of the Lord. We are now Friends of God and as Friends of God when we act kindly towards those who do not deserve such kindness, it shows we remember the kindness of the Father to us. We are to forgive those who hurt us as thoroughly, wholeheartedly and promptly as the Father forgave us in Christ. Our behaviour towards our enemies would win them too as Friends of God.


It does not mean however that we should be willing subjects of repeat victimisation by our enemies. We can take steps to ensure that we are not harmed again by our enemies. It only means that once we are hurt or harmed, we should release and not retain that sense of hurt and feed the desire to get even or to avenge ourselves. We should not bring back to our memory or our speech the wrongs done to us by our enemies. We are not to even try to have them repay us for our loss. Since we have freely received forgiveness, total forgiveness from Jesus, we too should freely forgive them. Our model to emulate is Jesus who while nailed to the cross, tortured, bleeding and in spiritual, mental, emotional and physical agony cries out to the Father, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” We too should forgive them as they do know the Lord or His word nor have they tasted His mercy and grace.

The Alpha of Effectiveness

UV 3009/10000 The Alpha of Effectiveness
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe
I Thessalonians 2 v 13

The Word works effectively in the hearts, minds, spirits and even bodies of believers to produce godly qualities. The Word is the Alpha, the seed and the sword of God. The words of Jesus contained in the four gospels are the fountain head of effectiveness. Jesus being the personification of truth, His words plant the truths of eternal life in the depth of our being. These truths grow and produce fruit or effectively creates God-desired results in our lives. The effectiveness of the word is compared to that of a hammer and of fire. Like a hammer, it can drive truths deep into us, it can powder or destroy whatever needs to be so destroyed in us, it can remove obstacles, it can shape and mould us. Like a fire, it can refine us, removing the dross or impurities. It can provide warmth and encouragement on cold, wintry nights or times of difficulty or discouragement. It can make us fully baked and not half baked in our beliefs and the practice of our faith.

The Word works effectively at many levels in our lives. As we hear the Word and retain it or keep it as living treasure or treasures that help us live to purpose and live with power, it influences our thought process. It penetrates our souls and impacts our emotions. It feeds our spirits and nourishes us at the spiritual level. It enters our hearts and changes our motives and desires or intentions. It in short changes us effectively for the better from deep within. It effectively affects our relationship with both God and man.

The Word replaces the lust of our hearts and minds with the love of God and love for God. Instead of the vain, deceitful, divisive ideologies and philosophies and religions of man, we learn the eternal truths on which the universe is founded. Philosophy is the love of wisdom while the gospel is the wisdom of love. We learn how to effectively manifest or apply love in all that we do. For instance, while the world ingrains in us and teaches us to seek revenge, the Word teaches us effectively to forgive others as the Lord forgives us in Christ. We are so equipped with effective mental and spiritual tools to be victorious in our lives.

The Alpha of Encouragement

UV3008/10000 The Alpha of Encouragement

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
I Samuel 30 v 6

The patriarchs of faith like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, King David and others faced extreme situations of discouragement. David was discouraged as the people wanted to stone him, blaming him for the abduction of their sons and daughters by the enemy of Israel. Even Moses faced discouragement when he cried out to the Lord that the people wanted to stone him. Suffice it to say that there are times of great discouragement in our lives when we cry out from the depth of our hearts to the depth of the Spirit of God. At these times, the Lord hears us and comforts or encourages us either with a word from Him or a miraculous turn around of our current situation.

We are called to rejoice in the Lord at all times. We entrust the alpha to omega of our situations or the totality of our distress in life to the Lord. Once we entrust it to Him, we are confident that there is nothing that he cannot do, nothing is beyond Him or too hard for Him to accomplish. We rejoice in the strength of the Lord. We have hope even in hopeless situations. When we are up against the wall, we can turn to our wall of salvation- Jesus even as Hezekiah did. He will make a way where there is no way, a river of joy in the desert of our sadness, a stream of hope in the bleak landscape of our despair. The word “ encouragement” literally means to be strengthened in our hearts. We are to strengthen our hearts in a time of discouragement with the strength or grace of the Lord for we find no strength in ourselves.

Even if immediate defeat stares us in the face, the Lord will grant us ultimate victory. We are therefore to rejoice at all times, in good times and bad times, in hard times and times of ease, in crisis and opportunity, in every season of our lives whether of sowing, ploughing, weeding or harvesting. When we thank, praise and worship the Lord at all times, our spirits rejoice for we are fulfilling the purpose of our life on earth. This is the manner in which we can encourage ourselves in the Lord. Once we are encouraged, we can become like Barnabas, the thirteenth apostle - an encourager, the one who finds the positive in others and in situations. We are to absorb strength like a living sponge from the Lord and His word and The Comforter –the Holy Spirit and then when people are squeezed or under pressure in any situation or crisis, release the strength of the Lord to them.

The Alpha of Endurance

UV 3007/10000 The Alpha of Endurance

But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved
Matthew 24 v 13

Once the good root of faith in Jesus is planted in a man, he is subject to a lot of hardship, persecution, trials and tests. Jesus warned His followers that people would hate them just for following Him. But He encouraged them to endure or to patiently continue doing good and bearing fruit till the very end. We need to hold onto our faith till the finishing line and not give up midway when the going gets too tough. Suffering is promised and inevitable but we need to emulate Jesus who bore the suffering of the cross, its shame, its pain till the very end but death or the grave or the sins of the whole of humanity placed on His shoulders could not hold Him prisoner. He rose with a glorified body. He was resurrected and is seated in glory at the right hand of the Father.

St Paul compared the suffering of the follower of Jesus to the hardship of a soldier, the patience of a farmer and the training of an athlete. Indeed, endurance requires courage of a soldier, the patience of a farmer and the discipline of an athlete.
While the farmer learns from years and seasons of experience, of toiling on the land, the soldier and the athlete learn through training. The hope of victory keeps the soldier and the athlete buoyant and focussed. The hope of a rich harvest keeps the farmer consider the toil and the wait worthwhile.

How long should a man endure trouble and suffering? Till the Lord ends it, we are expected to endure, hold on to our hope in Christ for relief, for release, for breakthrough. While we are running, fighting, waiting , we need to ask the Lord for the grace to endure, to finish well. When someone did a survey of leaders and men of God, it was found that a small percentage finished well. They did not endure till the end. But in a race as in a war or battle, the ending is vital. In this race, we are in, in this war we are fighting, we already know the end – of victory, glory, of rest in the Lord, of eternal joy and peace, of rewards and the crown of eternal life. We need to focus on the author and finisher of our faith- Jesus and learn from His example of how He ran, how He fought, how He patiently did the work of the Lord, how He endured.

The Alpha of Edification

UV3005 /10000 The Alpha of Edification
Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.

I Corinthians 14 v 12


The follower of Christ is continually built up through all the teachings, experiences, trials and triumphs off his or her life. His life is the tabernacle of the Lord and is built by the Lord Himself. The building blocks are supplied by the Lord in the form of both the fruit of the spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. There is no strict demarcation between fruit and spirit for even faith and love are described by St Paul as gifts though these are largely traits of character. We are to earnestly seek to receive and manifest the nine fruit and nine gifts of the Spirit in our lives. The nine fruit are aspects of the character of God or of Christ. The nine gifts are aspects of the power of God or of Christ. Together with the nine fruit and nine gifts of the spirit, we are to develop the nine beautiful attitudes that Christ extolled in His Sermon on the Mount.

Edification then is a lifelong process as well as a daily one. We are to persistently, eagerly seek the nine fruit, nine gifts and the nine attitudes of Christ if we are to be effective witnesses or representatives and ambassadors of the One who called us. The fruit of character of God will give us the strength, the maturity, the balance and wisdom to exercise the gifts with a sense of responsibility, faithfulness and humility. The fruit and gifts are meant to build the faith of other believers and to initiate the faith of non believers by meeting their need for teaching, instruction, healing, guidance, deliverance.

The impartation of the fruit and gifts are the work of the third person of the Trinity- the Holy Spirit. The more we listen to Him and obey His voice, the more we grow to spiritual maturity and effectiveness or spiritual excellence. We are to grow from strength to strength, grace to grace and leave behind our former inclinations, desires and weaknesses. In this sense, edification also involves the break down of our former nature along with the build up of the DNA or divine nature of Christ in us. The ultimate goal is that the seven fold anointing of Christ of excellence, of wisdom, of knowledge, of understanding, of counsel, of might and of the fear of the Lord should be manifest in the growth of the nine spiritual fruit embedded in our character and the nine gifts imparted by the Spirit of God. All the fruit or all the nine gifts may not manifest at the same time but according to the need and the situation, these will be imparted and manifested. The word “zealous” implies that we need to be more or less obsessed about building our spirit traits or fruit and seeking the spiritual gifts.

The Alpha of Defence

UV 3004/10000 The Alpha of Defence
My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart.

Psalm 7 v 10


For many people, money or their wealth and possessions are their source of confidence and security. For some people, wisdom, knowledge or ability is their source of security. For yet others, it is their connections, network, power and influence. But for the person of God, God is His sole and chief defence or source of security. When the first person Abraham was called into a personal relationship, the Lord promised to be to him both a shield and an exceeding great reward- a shield from all that could be a threat or danger to him as well as the One who rewards him for his faith, righteousness or zeal to live an upright life in the sight of God.


Jesus revealed the full face of the enemy of mankind- satan who He described as a killer, a robber and a thief. He rules this world through sin, death, deceit and fear. Jesus is the complete Saviour who redeems us from sin and death- eternal death, premature death, deadly situations. With His perfect love, we overcome every fear. He protects us from being robbed of our peace, our health, our prosperity by preventing us from being deceived by the enemy who uses our lusts and pride to gain entrance into our lives and deceive us. He gives us the peace that the world cannot give or take away.

David who had many mortal enemies made the above declaration of faith in God being His defence. David had a body guard, horses, chariots, armour and weapons, a strong army and fortresses but He relied only on God as His ultimate defence. He knew that all these could fail him but the Lord alone would never fail him. What could mere man do to him when God was with him? We too need not fear our visible or invisible enemies, known or unknown but we need to wear the full armour of God. If our hearts are right with God, we will wear the full armour of the spirit- from the helmet of assurance of salvation to the feet of readiness to take a stand for God and to go places for Him. We would have a firm grip on the word of God and apply it daily and as frequently as needed in all of life’s situations. Our faith in the word of God is a veritable shield against our own internal fears as well as external threats and attacks of the enemy.

The Alpha of Deeds

UV 3004/10000 The Alpha of Deeds
He will pay back to each person according to his deeds.
Romans 2 v 6

The Lord is just and He promises to repay us according to our deeds. If we patiently keep doing good and seek His glory, honour and blessings, He will reward us duly in due season. Likewise, those who having tasted of His grace, continues to do evil or neglect to do all the good he can, would also suffer the penalty for such acts. His grace is indeed sufficient for us to cover our flaws and help us overcome our failings but it cannot be taken for granted.

St Paul states this principle of reward or retribution by the Lord in the expression, “ as you sow, so you reap.” Of course, His grace can exempt us from facing the consequences of our misdeeds. If we sow in the spirit, we will reap or receive spiritual blessings. If we sow in the flesh, we would reap or receive in the flesh the shortcomings of the lusts of the human body and mind. We should always fear the Lord and know that we are accountable as Jesus said for every word we speak, every deed we do, every thought we think. Jesus being very God or same as God had the spirit of the fear of the Lord- how much more should we as His followers have the spirit of the fear of the Lord. We ought to reverence His holiness, desire His perfection and do all we can to attain to it by His grace.

The Lord rewards us or penalises us with the same measure we use. This is however not to be confused with the concept of Kkkarma which is inescapable and relentless. While the Lord is just, He is also merciful and would quickly justify or correct us once we confess and seek His pardon. Like a true leader, He is quick to reward and slow to punish. Our beliefs should not just be intellectual but be reflected in our actions and reactions. The emphasis by the Lord on practising our faith is seen in both the old covenant as well as the new. Having tasted of the mercy, grace and power of the Lord, we are expected to be His witnesses not just with our words but with our good deeds.

The Alpha of the 5 D Life

UV 3003/10000 The Alpha of the 5 D Life

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might
Deuteronomy 6 v 5

The first and most vital commandment is to be devoted to the Lord. We need to love the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, souls and strength. It means that we need to both fear Him to avoid evil and love Him to do all manner of good, walk in all His ways and serve Him with all our hearts. Next to devotion is dedication: we need to dedicate ourselves to excel in our work. The third “d” is discipline: we need to subject our bodies, our minds and our mouths to godly discipline. Our habits should speak of a lifestyle of discipline. The fourth “d” is diligence: we need to keep studying and learning from the Lord, the word and the world on improving whatever we are doing. The fifth “d” is determination: we need to set goals for ourselves in different domains and spheres of our lives and be determined to achieve these goals or targets we have set for ourselves.


Devotion to the Lord is all encompassing. No part of our lives can remain uninfluenced by our devotion. Our bodies and minds are to be presented as a living sacrifice, implying that we give up whatever is not pleasing to the Lord, whatever is not in accordance with His will and word. Our minds are like magnets that attract what is positive, wholesome, healthy, good, noble, worthy and repulse what is evil, negative, unhealthy, unworthy of the Lord. We need to place a sieve on our mouths to run our words through several invisible filters before we utter these. Devotion in turn engenders dedication to our work for we are to regard whatever we do as if we do it not for an earthly master but for the Lord Himself.

The five dimensions or the five d’s are like a spiritual cascade: starting with the highest-the devotion to God and ending with the lowest- the determination to achieve set goals, to carry out things as per a plan that is in line with our overall vision of life. The third “d” of discipline of our spirit, minds, bodies, temperaments, mouths, appetite or desire for various things is vital to produce determination or will power in us to achieve set goals. The fourth “d” of diligence is a requisite to keep learning how to live and do better whatever we are doing. When we lead the 5 D life instead of the average senses-based, emotion and desire- driven 3 D life that humans are naturally inclined to live, our lives will be pointed like a flinthead arrow heading straight towards fulfilling the purpose of our creation and redemption. Instead of a flight or fight syndrome, we will be living in an ever-flowing, overflowing pattern of life marked with the grace of God, the compassion for people or empathy, divine guidance, intuition, supernatural wisdom, energy and enthusiasm, excellence of character, competence and calibre. Instead of ‘hamartia’ or shortcoming or failure, we experience ‘hyperbole’ or holistic success exceeding normal human expectations and accomplishment.

The Alpha of Dealing with Double-mindedness

UV 3002 /10000 The Alpha of Dealing with Double-mindedness
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways
James 1 v 8

We can either believe and serve God or believe in and serve the world. The double –minded will not be rewarded either by God or the world. As Elijah posed a challenge to the people of Israel- “Serve God or Baal. As to who is God make up your minds.” Jesus again expressed the dilemma in these words, “ You can either serve God or mammon or materialism. You can respect one and despise the other.” We are to focus our minds on the Lord, the locus of life. If our entire focus is on Him and not diverted or distracted, our lives will be full of light, love and hope. We will be both stable and able in Christ. We surrender both our strengths and weaknesses to the Lord to use as He pleases. The double minded in contrast think that he can rely largely on his own strengths and when it fails he can turn to the Lord. The single-minded put their whole-hearted efforts in whatever they do for they do it as if it is for the Lord. The double –minded do things half –heartedly for they are not sure whether they will succeed or fail. The double-minded take credit when they succeed and blame God for deficiencies and failures. They do not persist and give up the chase mid-way.

A double minded person’s thoughts, emotions and decisions will be wavering like the waves, unstable at all times. He mixes the traditions, teachings and precepts of man with the teachings, truths and principles of the Lord. As such, he is like a man caught between two stools or a person straddling two boats or two horses. He is bound to fall between the two. He cannot persist in one direction. His efforts are scattered in many directions. His mind will be restless. His life will lack both purpose and power. The focussed mind will be like a laser and set ablaze a trail of impact, contribution and inspiration. He will be a lightning rod in the hands of the Lord to conduct His power and fulfil His purpose on earth. His emotions will not be like a yo-yo, fluctuating violently, moving up and down, throwing everything into disarray. Though circumstances may change for good or worse, He will be able to say with confidence and faith, “Though He slay me, yet shall I worship Him alone.” The double= minded separates different aspects and zones of time and space of his life into compartments, some of which belong to him and some to God. The double- minded are like a piece of bread that has been cooked on one side and is raw and inedible on the side.

The follower of Christ will look at the world through the lens of the word. His perception of life and the world is the same as the Lord’s. His perspective and priorities also align with the Lord’s. He is anchored on the Rock of Christ and therefore, stable in all his ways. He is not afraid of the unknown. He knows who He believes in. He knows what He believes. His thoughts, words, goals, desires, actions and reactions will be in alignment with his belief. He is not in awe of the high and mighty in this world for He knows One who is much higher and mightier by far. He is not afraid of death, disease or disaster as He knows One who has overcome all these and more. He is single-minded in his devotion, his dedication, discipline, determination. Like a horse whose eyelets keep it from being distracted or disturbed by what is happening to its right or left, he keeps moving forward on the path before him. He is not discouraged by failure or setbacks as he knows he can learn more from it and start all over again or try something new. He is a constant learner at the feet of the Lord. If there is something that the Lord wants him to stop, he exercises his will to end it. If it is something, he has to change, he will mend it by the grace of the Lord.

The Alpha of Continual Dying

UV 3001/10000 The Alpha of Continual Dying

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

2 Corinthians 4 v 10



While we live on earth, believers in Jesus need to die to themselves, die to their lusts and pride, die to the old sinful creature, die to the sinful demands of the flesh and mind and live by the Word, live by the teachings of Jesus, live by the resurrection power of Jesus. Like the catabolic and anabolic process sustains physical life, there is an equivalent catabolic and anabolic process in the realm of the spirit. The Holy Spirit is given as our Helper to aid with both these processes.



St Paul refers to continual dying as “bearing the marks of Christ.” We are to constantly remind ourselves that we are dead to the world and live to the Word. It is also the process of denying ourselves and acknowledging the Lord in all aspects of our lives- the physical appetites, the intellectual longings, the social demands, the emotional drives, the spiritual quest. We are to crucify our excessive and illegitimate motives, thoughts, desires, actions, reactions, habits. We are to negate the negative thoughts, emotions, attributes, actions and reactions that we are prone to hitherto.



The uni-verse above also hints that while the “dying “ is subtle and not so visible, the Resurrection or life of Jesus is manifest or made evident in our bodies and in our lives. In short, every attribute of Jesus, every truth taught by Jesus, every attitude of Jesus, every power of Jesus is demonstrated in our lives. The process of dying to our old selves and living with the zoe or life power of Jesus is comparable to the emptying ourselves of the evil, the weaknesses and failures of our past and filling with His goodness, His Spirit and His power. It is also analogous to our actions of breathing in and breathing out- we need to continually breathe in the Spirit of Christ and breathe out our own evil and weaknesses.

The Alpha of Dealing with Disasters

UV 3000 / 10000 The Alpha of Dealing with Disasters
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
Psalm 46 v 3

Disasters are a heart-wrenching experience for anyone who faces it. Today, the frequency of natural and man made disasters are so high that nations devote considerable resources for disaster management. The Bible predicts that in the last days, many disasters would happen. Since the Lord is our refuge and strength, our ever present Helper, we are not to fear disasters. Even if the oceans rise and the mountains are shaken or drowned, we are not to be perplexed or terrified. As He is our refuge and fortress, we are to hide or take shelter in Him.
The Lord will also preserve us in man-made disasters as it is promised in the Psalms, “ A thousand shall fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, and yet it shall not come near you.” In accordanc e with this promise, my life was preserved in the world’s first human bomb assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Sriperumbudur. My faith in Jesus acted literally as a shield and protected the vital organs in my chest even though my limbs were burnt and injured. Scripture promises that when we go through the water, it will not drown us and when we go through the fire, we will not be consumed.

Disasters have their uses in increasing our constant dependence o the Lord. When we confront death face to face and are saved by the Lord, we learn many lessons- His sovereignty and dependability, Our vulnerability and dependence on His saving grace. When our faith is so strengthened after we survive a disaster, whether natural or man-made, we will be effective and faithful witnesses of Jesus. The enemy being a killer and robber wants to have us killed or robbed but the Lord is ever present at our side as our Deliverer.

The Alpha of Dexterity

UV 2999/10000 The Alpha of Dexterity
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,
Exodus 31 v 3
When God gives man a vision, He will also make the provision. He had asked Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant with elaborate details in gold, silver and other valuable material. He had also directed him to make the Tabernacle to certain specifications. To execute these instructions, He filled Bezalel, son of Uri of the tribe of Judah. There is no indication in scripture that Uri, the father had any of these gifts and the gifting, therefore, of Bezalel was not natural or hereditary. The Lord God filled him with His spirit of excellence. He filled him with wisdom to take the right decisions, to draft and execute plans, understanding to manage people in his team, knowledge of metallurgy and other crafts and in all manner of dexterity or skilled workmanship.


We later read of the Lord God bestowing extraordinary wisdom and understanding in Solomon, the son of David, the king. But the greatest gifting is reserved in the seven fold anointing of Jesus : the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Under the new covenant, the Holy Spirit imparts to the followers of Jesus the gift of word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, working of miracles, of healing, of discernment of spirits, of prophecy, of tongues and interpretation of tongues. The skill sets seem to have changed from the partly physical to the wholly spiritual for the new tabernacle is a spiritual, invisible and living one- our bodies and minds and the new ark of the covenant is built not out of gold or silver but out of faith in the redemptive power of the Blood of the Lamb of God- Jesus. These diverse gifts have to be exercised with due diligence, wisdom and humility, knowing that it is not accomplished by us but by the grace and might of the Lord.

To this day, the Lord fills His children with wisdom, knowledge and the skills needed for their particular calling or profession. It is also promised that if any one lacks wisdom, let him ask and the Lord will give generously. The good root of dexterity or the Alpha of dexterity or ability to do things with skill also rests in our faith in Jesus. As a senior police officer, I often asked the Lord for wisdom to solve some very complex law and order as well as crimes and He gave the wisdom, the understanding, the counsel, the people with the right attitudes as well as skills. Some complex issues which could not be solved by my seniors and predecessors who were certainly more competent police officers were resolved effectively without loss of time, resources and lives. Many of the innovative concepts and projects undertaken by me over the past thirty years are also due to divine inspiration or gifting.

The Alpha of Disobedience and Of Obedience

UV 2998/10000 The Alpha of Disobedience and of Obedience
For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Romans 5 v 17

By the disobedience of Adam to the expressed command and will of God, sin and death came into this world. The disobedience of one man was the root of the fallen nature of mankind. Likewise, the obedience of one man Jesus Christ, mankind is redeemed from the consequences of sin and death. Righteousness is now credited to our accounts. We are righteous by faith and by grace. Having received the righteousness of Christ, we in turn are expected to increasingly obey and be more and more righteous in our day to day lives hereafter. We are not to live by the standards of this world but by the standards set by Jesus for His followers.

The more we are rooted in Christ, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and the Word, the more we bend our wills to obey the expressed will of God, the fruit of righteousness will abound in our lives of love, joy and peace. As we are naturally children of Adam and spiritually, we are children of Christ, the enemy is always crouching at the door of our hearts to let him in and to listen to his subtle suggestions to sin and disobey. The Lord Jesus is also standing at the door of our hearts and asking us to let Him in and to listen and obey Him. While the sacrifice of Christ on the cross wins for us absolute absolution of our sin and frees us from the consequence of eternal death, the decision we take on whom to let into our hearts and lives on a moment to moment, day to day basis determines which way our life on earth progresses. We are called by Christ to reign over sin and death, to be victorious, to consistently make the right choice in our lives.

Someone rightly said the other day that when we are born again in Christ, our bodies and minds are not changed but our spirits that were dead are born again in us. We are to now feed our spiritual being on the pure milk of the Word and become strong and mature spiritually. Our spirits are now fused with the Holy Spirit and we should consistently make the right choices by listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Our spirits knows and reveals everything about us while the Holy Spirit will counsel us on how to mend or end whatever is wrong or in violation of God’s will in our lives.

The Alpha of Dealing with Distress

UV2997/10000 The Alpha of Dealing with Distress
In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

Psalm 120 v 1

There are situations and days in our lives when we face extreme despair and distress. The word “distress” indicates a disastrous level of stress to which one is exposed in such times and situations. Yet, it is precisely in these troubled times that when we cry out to the Lord, He hears our cries. He rushes to our side and comforts us. Though we are crushed by troubles from many sides and we seem helpless, the Lord sets our feet in a spacious space where we can breathe more freely. He delivers us from all of our troubles so that we glorify Him for His goodness towards us.

A couple of days ago, I met an industrialist who faced a great crisis as one of his units were closed due to labour unrest. During this crisis, his own brothers let him down by asking for their share. He was greatly distressed that during a crisis when he needed support his own brothers deserted him. In such situations, it is only the Lord God on whom we can rely. He will counsel us on what steps we ought to take to come out of it victorious and joyful. Another of my batchmates is right now facing a liver transplant in a couple of days. But his faith and that of his family is remarkable. He wrote to me, “ As I have received the word from the Lord, I consider myself already healed and whole. “

Faith in Jesus makes our lives more predictable as well as unpredictable at the same time. In one sense, we are living life on the edge and are not sure what would be the next predicament we would be facing and at the same time, we are sure that the Lord will not fail us in any kind of trouble. He is truly our anchor in the storm. He not only stabilises us and strengthens us from within but also changes the conditions: the wind and the rain are controlled by Him. So much so, our faith increases from crisis to crisis, distress to distress, trouble to trouble. We can rely on His word to us, “Many are the troubles of the righteous but the Lord delivers them from all.”