Thursday, January 31, 2019

The Alpha of the Seed and the Sower

UV 3164/10000 The Alpha of Seed and the Sower
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 126 v 6
In the beginning, nature yielded crop, food and fruit on its own. After the fall of man, God had cursed the ground and said that the soil will have to be tilled, ploughed and worked. He also ordained that man shall eat out of the sweat of his brow. Sweat of perseverance is a kind of tears of our bodies. Accordingly, the Lord had set a time for weeping and a time for rejoicing. There is a time for sowing and a time for reaping. If we follow all the conditions for sowing, the harvest of crop or fruit will also ordinarily be gratifying provided the climate also holds good. The climate or the period of sunshine, the cloud cover, the rain and timing of the rain are the x factor or the unknown factor that is not in our hands but in the hands of the Lord. We need to persevere and do all that lies with us to do. When we cry out and pray to the Lord with genuine faith and thanksgiving, the Lord wills see our tears of faith, our “liquid prayer” as it is known, and He will wipe our tears. He also values our tears of repentance. It is written that He collects our tears in a bottle. He will comfort, encourage, strengthen, provide, enable us. There are different kinds of tears even as there are different kinds of seed. Jesus wept not for Himself but for mankind. He wept for the Jews of Jerusalem and Israel. Now He rejoices that people of every nation, tribe, language are redeemed by His passion.

At the time of sowing, we cannot be casual, lazy or careless. We need to reflect due diligence in our efforts. Even if we show an ounce of faith and confidence in the Lord and in ourselves, the Lord will multiply it many times. The mustard seed of faith that is so tiny as to be almost invisible will keep growing into a mighty unshakable mountain of strength. There are a variety of seed a man carries, seed for his food, seed of ideas, seed of words spoken to those in our inner and outer circles, seed of desires, seed of hope. For every need of a human, there is a corresponding seed in the spiritual realms. The Word of God is a bag of powerful or miraculous and precious seed. We need to dip into this bag as often as we can for the Lord is the giver of Seed. He gave His Seed, His Son Jesus who fell to the earth like a seed, died, rose again and multiplied to populate the kingdom of God with His own kind. We need to intercede for the barren souls of this world with tears and pleading.

The uni-verse ends with the assurance that “doubtless”, we will return to the same field where we sowed the seed with tears to witness the flourishing crop, the astounding results of our faith and toil. It will cause us to experience the joy of salvation. We will celebrate the victory of the Lord with laughter in the tabernacle of our souls. We will know that it is marvellous and it is done by the Lord. Our hearts will be filled with the emotion of joy, our souls with peace and our mouths with laughter and praise. The word “carrying” implies that we should between the period of sowing and the harvesting, be pregnant with faith that the Lord is going to do a marvellous thing. We should be full of excitement or earnest expectation that our tears, our efforts, our prayers, our faith is not in vain. Though there are a variety of seeds, we need to be focussed and carry only one seed at a time for the sowing. Our tears will water the soil or hard ground in which the seed falls. We should also always carry only good seed in the form of thoughts in our minds, emotions in our hearts, words from our mouths. We cannot mix the good seed of the Word with the bad seed of the world or else the tares or weeds will come up with the good crop.

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

The Alpha of Re-building

UV 3163/10000 The Alpha of Rebuilding
Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
Ezekiel 36 v 36
If the Lord has spoken anything to us, we can be confident that He will do it. In this uni-verse, the Lord promises to make our lives a testimony to the unbelievers. When they look at us, they will see how the Lord has re-built us in a marvellous way. Whatever parts of our lives are ruined will turn into a wonder in the hands of the Lord. The words, “ I am ruined” will turn into a testimony, “ I run” for God. For He has plans to help us, to prosper us, to give us hope in this lifetime and a future in eternity.

The Word of God needs to be planted in our hearts and minds for the power of God to be revealed, manifested in our lives. Every word will find root in our souls and grow to bear leaves, flowers and ultimately, fruit. The Lord waters our faith with His word daily and continually the way drip irrigation systems continually water the soil around at periodic intervals. The word has to percolate into our sub-souls through meditation even as water drains into the sub-soil and softens the soil around for the root to branch out in different directions as also to draw nourishment for all parts of the plant to grow in proportion. The plant grows only in one direction –only towards the sun that sustains and provides energy to it. Likewise, we need to grow in love, faith and hope towards the Son of God – Jesus who sustains and provides spiritual energy to us.


When the world around sees the growth in our lives, the blessings, the joy, the purposeful strides we are taking in our daily lives, they will begin to wonder and understand that it is the hand of the Lord upon our lives. Nothing is wasted in God’s economy. He uses our every experience to build strength, endurance, hope and joyfulness into our character and attitudes. We will realize that it is not only our privilege to enjoy a personal relationship with the Father through Christ but to also suffer and endure for Him. In times of drought and famine in the land, the Lord will supply all our need. We are not time servers but all weather God-servers. We do our best to bring solace and comfort to the lives of others around us who feel their lives are ruined, that their lives are barren, fruitless, purposeless and meaningless.

Monday, January 28, 2019

The Alpha of Rescue



UV 3162/10000 The Alpha of Rescue
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king
Daniel 3 v 17
The relationship we enjoy with a person influences the words we speak about that person to others. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three friends of Daniel spoke with one voice that their God whom they serve was able to deliver them from the fiery furnace. The Lord Jesus heard their words and scooped them out of the fiery flames that were seven times hotter than usual as King Nebuchadnezzar had the furnace heated to that extent when they refused to kowtow to what he said. Their skin was untouched, not even a hair on their heads was singed. The Lord had done what is scientifically impossible to rescue them from death, injury and punishment. He had delivered them from the cruel hands of the earthly ruler.


We serve God by just being faithful to Him, by believing that nothing is impossible for Him, by knowing that He is sovereign and above all forces and rulers of this universe. We prove our faithfulness by the stand we take even when facing life-threatening dangers and circumstances. We serve God by trusting His promises, by taking shelter or refuge in these in our times of crisis and challenge. Pro-blems are needed for G0d’s pro-mises to be tested, for our spiritual pro-gress. Each testimony of rescue or deliverance is a build up to the next spiritual milestone. The rescue of his three friends from the burning hot furnace prepared and strengthened Daniel to take a similar stand of faith when confronted with the challenge to foreswear his faith in Jehovah or to be thrown in the lions’ den. Likewise in our lives, every breakthrough in a crisis, every deliverance by the Lord prepares us for the next level of faith. Scripture says that if He has delivered us in six troubles, will He not in a seventh? Seven being a number indicating completion, it implies that the Lord will deliver us from all our trials and troubles in life. King David also when faced with many testing situations recalled how the Lord had delivered him in his days as a shepherd from the lion and the bear.


When we recall all the ways and times the Lord has rescued us, our faith is greatly strengthened. A song of thanksgiving and praise emanates from my heart every time I recall how the Lord delivered me from death in the sea and from death in the world’s first human bomb assassination of a former Prime Minister. Frequent recall of such wonderful deliverance strengthens the faith of the hearers also. For faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God along with testimony of how real and true it proved in the lives of living witnesses and survivors around the world and right through history. Stories of rescue are accounts of faith being tested empirically and experientially to which no one can have a counter argument. We have stories of rescue where the rescuer did not suffer any risk or loss while there are other stories where the rescuer dies in the attempt to rescue another. These are cases of sacrificial rescue. When I was in school, I recall how a school mate rescued his cousin from drowning in a farm well but he himself fell and died in it. Jesus dying on the cross is also the true and historical account of how God became man and died on the cross to rescue people across all nations and cultures from eternal danger and death.

Sunday, January 27, 2019

The Alpha of the Revelation of the Lord

UV 3161/10000 The Alpha of the Revelation of the Lord
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
Judges 6 v 12
Gideon showed no sign of valour before the revelation of the angel of the Lord. Jacob showed no sign of faithfulness before the revelation from the angel of the Lord. Indeed, Gideon was hiding in fear from the marauding Midianites and Jacob was running in fear from his brother Esau after defrauding Esau of his rights as the first born. These are instances of how an encounter with the Lord transforms us. He creates the opposite qualities in us. In the New testament, too , we see the weak and vacillating Simon is called Peter or rock by the Lord Jesus. Peter is then anointed or enabled to be the leader of the church. Our weaknesses of character or ability are not a deterrent for the Lord to call and use us. The Lord calls into being the character and quality He wants to see in us. He endows us with the courage, the faith, the wisdom, the grace we need to fulfil His calling as we submit to Him.
Grace is the greatness of God being manifested in man. In place of our weaknesses, He invests and manifests His power and strength. Gideon went on to be a great leader and warrior for the Lord. He led Israel to victory against powerful foes as the Lord of hosts was with Him. He is the One with us as a mighty warrior. He will give us ultimate victory in whatever challenge we are facing. We only need to remain still in His presence or in other words, we need to lay to rest our fears, apprehensions, anxieties, our inadequacies and weaknesses and He will fight on our behalf. Prayer is the process of making still our inner being, our souls and spirits in the presence of the Lord.
Even Daniel was greatly strengthened by the appearance of the angel Michael. The words of the angel reflect the esteem in which the Lord held Daniel. We too in our weak moments, our moments of challenge, our times of testing and trials, can seek an appearance of the angel of the Lord. The young Mary who was going to be put to the greatest test of faith of her life also was greatly encouraged and strengthened by the appearance of the angel Gabriel to her. More than the sight of the heavenly creature, the angel of the Lord, it is the words or the message of the Lord that he delivers that blesses and enables us. The appearance of the angels of the Lord with a direct revelation is quite rare as it is often intended to give the person concerned a change of direction in his or her life, a new phase of life in which the express purpose and will of the Lord is fulfilled.

Friday, January 25, 2019

The Alpha to Omega of Faith

UV3160/10000 The Alpha to Omega of Faith
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12 v 2
This uni-verse declares Jesus as the Alpha or the Beginning and the Omega or the Finisher of our faith. Without faith in Jesus it is impossible to please God. He is the One who rewards and honours our faith. All aspects of faith have been revealed to us by Jesus. He revealed everything we know about the Father to us. He is the Yes and Amen to all God’s promises. He endured the pain of the cross and did not think twice about the shame of crucifixion. Emulating Jesus, we too should bear the cross that we face in our lives. The cross bore Jesus while we are called to bear the cross or to endure the suffering that life has in store for us for the joy of uniting with the Lord in heaven.
We need to focus not on other men or on our circumstances or challenges of life but on Jesus, the locus of our faith. He will give us grace and strengthen us in our weakness. He initiates and completes our faith. On the cross, every single drop of blood in His body drained out. It implies that He gave His hundred per cent so that we can be victorious in 360 degrees or in all aspects of life. Jesus is omni-competent to help and enable us to be victorious in life. He who conquered death is alone able to help others overcome the challenges of life and of death. We can confide in Jesus and entrust all our concerns, our anxieties and our burdens. He will certainly lighten our load and enable us to complete our journey of faith. In the journey of faith, the first shall be last and the last shall be first. We only need to complete it without giving up on our faith.
Christ is no longer on the cross but He sits at the right hand of the Father on a throne. He reigns over our lives now. He takes pleasure on working in us as a master craftsman works on his handicraft. He perfects us so that we can be presented blameless to the Father, as a finished work without flaw. He shares the glory of the Father and while we have glimpse of it now, we would share in that glory in due time. Since Christ has drank the cup of sorrow, we no longer need to drink from it for He has reserved the cup overflowing with joy for us. In His death on the cross, He has broken the power of death, the power of sin, the power of curses, the power of disease, the power of sorrow over our lives and so liberated us, equipped, empowered, enabled for eternal life and salvation.

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

The Alpha of the Strength of Jesus

UV 3159/10000 The Alpha of the Strength of Jesus
Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.
Matthew 12 v 29
Jesus was, physically, no weakling. Scripture says that He did not even break a reed. He was not portrayed as a six pack hero. Yet, His strength and determination were supernatural. It is written that He set His face like flint and moved towards the cross, to complete the most difficult mission of His sojourn on Earth. His spiritual strength is awesome. He stripped satan of his power by His death and resurrection. It is the same power that is now at work in us to make us victorious. We have the strength in Christ to bind or tie all the strength of the enemy of our souls.
We can bind or tie the power of the enemy to hurt us, to harm us, to deceive us. We can enter his house or the spiritual realm and crush his minions or agents under the heel of our faith for greater is He that is in us than he that is with them. We can ransack or recover the things that we have lost to the enemy in the past, our health, our peace, our relationships, our hope, the abundant and eternal life. For Jesus gave us this amazing promise and power, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you bind in heaven will be bound on earth.” “Whatever we release or loose on earth will be released in heaven and whatever we release in heaven will be released on earth.” We are given the power to break the weapons of the enemy, to neutralise his strength against us.
The joy of salvation is compared in the book of Isaiah as the joy of the spoils of victory in battle. We take back what belongs to us and we also take what belongs to the enemy. In the case of earthly kings, spoils could be treasure, territory, people and so on. In the realm of the spiritual it is the breaking of curses, the release of blessings, the healing of bodies, minds, relationships and nations, the salvation of our kith and kin, the salvation of our foes and enemies. We rejoice as the Lord vindicates us. He reveals His power and strength through us. A strong one always finds someone stronger who arrives on the scene to take over from him. Is there any limit to the strength and power of Jesus? Nothing is too hard or impossible for the Lord. As Paul writes, we can accomplish anything and everything through the power of Jesus working in us.

Friday, January 18, 2019

THE Alpha of the True Leader


UV 3158/10000 The Alpha of the True Leader
Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ
Matthew 23 v 10

This uni-verse clearly states that just as we have one Father , the One in heaven, so also we have one Master or Leader on earth- Jesus. We should not be presumptuous to call ourselves leaders or teachers for we have only one Leader and Teacher revealed from heaven- the Lord Jesus. We should rather regard ourselves as servants of the Lord. This runs counter to the trend world-wide as believers and workers in the Vineyard of the Lord take pride in calling themselves and getting others to recognize them as leaders by taking on various designations and titles like apostles, bishops, prophets, leaders and so on.
Jesus taught His disciples that it is better to be the servant of as many as possible rather than lording it over others even as He gave Himself as a ransom or payment for everyone. The more people we are serving, the more we lead to the Leader the greater is our calling and our anointing or enablement.
Jesus declared Himself to the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus proved it by His words and His deeds. He proved Himself to be the true Master as He washed His disciples feet, the true Leader for He led by example, the true Teacher for He knows the eternal truth. He overcame the temptations of this world. He overcame death. He overcame the consequences or penalty of sin. Hence, sin could not hold Him prisoner in the grave. He is the only One who imparts His resurrection power to us. He left the Holy Spirit to lead, build, guide, comfort, counsel, encourage and strengthen us.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

The Alpha of the Keys of Life


UV 3157/10000 The Alpha of The Keys of Life
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Matthew 5 v 6

The word “behave” has in it the clues to life. We need to “be” before we can “have”. Jesus in the Sermon on the mount puts it pithily in the beatitudes or the “be”-attitudes. We need to “be merciful” before we can “have mercy. “ Everything we can have including the Earth as well as the “kingdom of God” is preceded by a “be”. As human beings we need to be all that in order to have all that. These are the things that are eternal and valuable from the perspective of eternity or of eternal life that begins the moment we “be-lieve” in Jesus and we can have these if we also “be” or possess and practice these attitudes.
In the uni-verse above, we got to be hungry and thirsty which means yearn with all of our hearts and all of our being for the righteousness of God, the “set apartness”, the holiness, the perfection of the Lord manifested in Jesus. It means that we got to be hungry and thirsty for the word of God which has the principles of righteousness, the practices, the models, the precepts of righteous living. When we are so “hungry and thirsty” or so desperately desirous more than all the things of this world, then the Lord will satiate or satisfy us with His blessings, His promises, with fulfilment of the promises.

To represent the kind of hunger and thirst or zeal we should have, the simile the word uses is that of a deer that is tired and hungry after running a while, escaping the claws of death and injury of the roaring lion of this world- the enemy of our souls. The deer at the end of a day of running in the hot sun is longing for water as it would for dear life. We need to desire the word as if our lives depended on our hearing it and being, what we hear, here and now. Another simile is that of dry, lifeless, broken and parched land soaking up and being healed and made whole and fertile or productive by falling rain of the specific word of God directed at us. Our hunger and thirst should exceed the desire of the prospector for gold or silver or precious stones. We should be more hungry and thirsty than the poor man who desires only a piece of bread to satisfy his intense hunger, a glass of water to quench his burning thirst.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The Alpha of Perfection in Speech

UV 3156/10000 The Alpha of Perfection in Speech
The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned.
Isaiah 50 v 4

It is the Lord who can truly educate a person to communicate. Speaking is different from communication. Speaking is the first skill we pick up but the last skill we master. Communication is one of the greatest gifts and faculties given by God to man. He blesses our communication : we are blessed to listen well with our ears and to also speak well with our tongues. The ears are the silent mouths of our minds and feeds our thoughts, emotions and wills. What we hear gives us power and energy to live in such a way that we fulfil the purpose of our creation. This uni-verse promises us that the Lord gives us the tongue of the learned as well as the ears of the learned.

When we yearn for God, desire His perfection or holiness with all our hearts, minds and spirits, He fills our mouths with His goodness. Our tongues will then shed the natural negativity of speech to which it is prone, the curses, the abuse, the hatred, the vulgarity, the violence, the boastfulness, the pride and lies it is capable of and take on the anointing or enablement by grace of the Lord. The anointed tongue is controlled like a rudder by the Holy Spirit to give direction to the lives of people. The tongue will then become a wellspring of joy, positivity, generosity, faith, hope, truth, mercy and love. Since we praise, thank and pray to the Lord with our tongues, He wants our tongues to be dedicated to Him. It cannot be a spring that produces both sweet water and bitter water. It is written in scripture that the lips or tongues of priests preserve knowledge of the Lord and imparts the abundant and eternal life.

Godly communication implies that we should emulate the Lord in the way He communicates. Most of the time, He is listening and rarely, He speaks as He has spoken through the prophets, the gospel and epistle writers, as He spoke with Moses. When He does speak, His communication is impactful and effective. With His words, He caused all creation into existence, He brought order out of chaos, light out of darkness, , healing and wholeness, eternal life out of death. His communication is crystal clear, simple and easily understood. Like the Lord, our words should be refined, filtered, pure, faultless, wise, helpful, wholesome or health –producing not hurtful, egoistic, confusing, meaningless. If we cannot speak such words, we should prefer to be silent.

Monday, January 14, 2019

The Alpha of the Multi-faced Persona



UV 3155/10000 The Alpha of the Multi-Faced Persona
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle
Ezekiel 1 v 10

The vision of the prophet Ezekiel of a four faced creature of heaven has implications, meaning for us on how to live the heavenly mandate on Earth. We should be humane like Christ as we humans are created in the image of God. People who do not believe God cast their world in their own image or according to their own lights and imagination but we are to live according to the revelations of the truth by the Lord. In addition to the compassion of God who became man- Jesus, we need to manifest the courage, leadership, dignity and strength of a lion. Every believer is intended to be a leader, a shepherd, one who leads people by word, example and action to Jesus.

Every believer also needs to be obedient, patient, hard working like an ox, displaying stamina and endurance while facing difficult work and work-related challenges. As an ox, we need to patiently bear without complaining or murmuring about the yoke the Lord places on our shoulders. While manifesting all the Christ-like, lion-like, ox-like qualities, we should also be like an eagle, flying high over storms of life on the wings of faith- prayer and the word. When combatting the serpents and scorpions of evil on Earth, the eagle changes the theatre of war from the physical, the terrestrial to the air, to the spiritual where the enemy has no reply to the sharp talons of the eagle. Like the eagle, we are constantly utilising the resurrection power of Jesus to renew ourselves in spirit, mind and body. Like the eagle, we need a 360 degree vision of life and be vigilant and wary of the adversary- the menacing evil man-eating lion.

To live victoriously in this world with other –worldly principles, concepts and precepts to practice, we need such versatility and competence of the man-lion-ox-eagle combination. We need to reflect the love and compassion of Jesus, the courage of the lion, the strength, endurance, patience and calmness of the ox, the alertness, shrewdness, firmness, tactics and strategies of the eagle at different stages and in different areas of our lives. In practical terms, it implies that when one faces a threat, he or she looks at it with courage like the Lion of Judah faced death on the cross. When one is insulted or caught in a baseless argument that is heading nowhere, he should take like the eagle to a higher perch. In all seasons, one should work hard, patiently and with all his strength and natural abilities like the ox works for its Master, the One who feeds, shelters and provides for it. We need to be flexible, sensitive and strategic to change tack, track and tactic depending on the nature of the challenge or attack.

Saturday, January 12, 2019

The Alpha off Refining Oneselff


UV 3154/10000 The Alpha of Refining Oneself
But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23 v 10

When we willingly accept the Lord as the very centre of our lives, the locus around which our lives revolve, the Sun that holds us in orbit like the planets, He knows us from deep within. He knows our hearts inside out. He knows our desires for the very word “de-sire” means “ of the Father.” Desire is not the cause of suffering in this world as Gautama Buddha postulated centuries ago. Evil desires or lust is certainly an issue we need to grapple with. Lust creates dross in the purity of our hearts and lives. Just as dross or impurities in gold are refined by fire, the Lord tries us in the furnace or fire of suffering.

Apart from suffering, the Lord refines us through His word. As we imbibe His word, it is alive and active in judging the motives of our hearts and creating alignment with the knowledge and will of the Lord. Job had several layers of protection around, hedges that the accuser, the enemy or satan asked the Lord to remove in order to test the heart of Job. The layer of protection from natural disasters was removed and his sons and daughters perished in it. The layer of protection around his possessions was removed and he lost all he owned. The layer of protection around his health was removed and he became afflicted with severe skin disease. Each was a test or trial as the Lord like any good scientist or technologist believes in testing and not rusting His products. It is said that faith is not having any doubts about God but it is expressing one’s doubts to God. Job expressed his doubts and dismay to God and his faith came out after the several rounds of tests and trials as refined gold. The enemy ‘s task assigned to him by the sovereign will of God is to prove that the faith of humans is fake, lacking in depth or authenticity. The Holy Spirit is entrusted with the task of proving that our faith is genuine and pure. He acts as a catalyst in the refinement process.

Every day our speech, our thoughts, our desires should become more and more refined. We should pass our speech, our thoughts and actions and reactions through several filters provided in the Word. When we willingly and consciously submit ourselves to such a disciplining of our bodies, minds and spirits, we accelerate the process and keep ourselves from greater pain or hurt. As we grow in the Lord, become more mature and fruitful, our faith and its practical manifestation in all aspects of our lives need to be refined more and more. This kind of maturity is called patience. The tests that our forebears, mentors, fellow witnesses faced should also produce such patience of character and of faith. As our faith grows, our patience or our ability to endure pain or suffering for the sake of the Lord increases.

Friday, January 11, 2019

The Alpha of Self Control

UV 3153/10000 The Alpha of Self Control

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind
2 Timothy 1 v 7
The uni-verse first puts the negative side of the truth: the spirit of fear does not come from God. It is the opposite spirit of faith, the spirit of truth, the spirit of love, the spirit of all prevailing power, the spirit of judgement, the spirit of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, the spirit of self discipline that comes to us from God in Christ. It is this self same spirit that teaches us that we can overcome and do all things in Christ, we can face all things through faith in Him. God has not given us the spirit of laziness but of industry and enterprise, the spirit of doing all we can to use the talents He has placed in us, the gifts He inspires in us through the Holy Spirit. He has not given us the spirit of failure and despondency but one of optimism, joy and confidence in Him.
The spirit of self control means that our self is yielded to the control of the Holy spirit. We are no longer in control of ourselves for we cannot control ourselves but we gain the spirit of disciplining of our selves when we yield our wills to the Lord, when we imbibe His word as the spiritual equivalent of our life-sustaining breath, as the spiritual equivalent of our necessary food that enhances our strength. We are no longer vulnerable and weak before the world and the powers of darkness but we are clothed with the might and power of the Lord. We wear the full armour of God. We battle not with human weapons or with the weapons of darkness but with spiritual weapons. We cam look death in the eye and say, without batting an eyelid that " You can do nothing to me. You cannot touch a hair on my head without the knowledge and permission of the Lord." Consequently, we are filled with lion-like courage to take on challenges and problems much bigger than us or much bigger than we could ever handle before we received the Word into our hearts.
We yield control of our tempers to the Lord- we surrender our right to get irritated, angry, out of control to the Lord, the Holy Spirit. We yield control of our thoughts, our emotions, our tongues to the Lord. We are no longer afraid of what the future will bring to us and to our family and friends. We are no longer guilty about the past. We no longer fear eternal death and the judgement of God for we have passed from death to life, from darkness to the light of His word, of His love and His righteousness. We no longer live by our desires, our passions, our priorities, our whims and fancies but by His word and His expressed will. We pass on both our anxieties and our ambitions to the Lord. We are confident He can handle it to work it out by His great love and power for His glory and our goodness.

Thursday, January 10, 2019

The Alpha of Navigational Aids to Life


UV 3152/10000 The Alpha of Navigational Aids to Life
Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
I Timothy 1 v 19

It is instructive and enlightening to see how the Amplified version puts this uni-verse: “keeping your faith (leaning completely on God with absolute trust and confidence in His guidance) and having a good conscience for some (people) have rejected (their moral compass ) and have made a shipwreck of their faith.” In short, faith is what puts wind in our sails but we need the navigational aid of our conscience. The map is provided by our reason enlightened by the word of God. Life is like an uncharted sea but the Holy Spirit as a Master Navigator will whisper guidance as we go either through prophetic word or through a word of wisdom or knowledge or counsel. We should avoid wrecking our life and our faith by running the ship of life onto the rocks of unrighteousness, doubt, fear, lust and pride.

The Captain of our life ship is no doubt, Jesus who proved His ability to steer through storms, temptations, trials, troubles, betrayals, hunger, poverty, loneliness, failure, death and sin. We need to surrender different areas of our lives to His discipline and guidance through prayer and meditation. The steering wheel or the helm should be in the hands of Jesus. In extremely stormy seas, we should drop anchor in His love and wisdom and grace. We should be confident that He is able to take us through without ship wreck to the eternal shores. The goods we carry are the good deeds and love we have manifested in practical ways in the course of our lives.
While navigating life’s challenges, we should learn from the example of those who have ruined their testimonies by not following the promptings of the Holy Spirit or of their own consciences quickened or made sensitive by the word of God. At the same time, we will do well to emulate the large number of faithful witnesses, both in the past and in the contemporary times who have victoriously traversed the sea of life. Jesus is not only Captain but He is also our life saving belt tied tightly around our hearts so that even in the event of an unintended shipwreck, we can remain afloat and be saved. We see this in the case of St Paul for even when he suffered a literal ship wreck, the Lord saved the crew and the fellow prisoners on account of his faith in Jesus.

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

The Alpha of The Grateful Samaritan


UV 3151/10000 The Alpha of the Grateful Samaritan
And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan
Luke 17 v 16
Alpha is the word of God that is applied or a promise that is appropriated by faith. It is teaching that is immediately applicable to our lives to make us shine more for the glory of God. It is the beginning of a new stream of blessing, understanding, wisdom and grace in our lives that as it develops influences and impacts us in 360 degrees. In this uni-verse, we hear the story of the other Samaritan, not the good one but the grateful Samaritan. We can immediately identify and empathise with him when we realize we too were once ( in our B C period when we did not know Jesus ) spiritual lepers. Our moral and nervous system was crippled and our hearts calloused and hardened, our spiritual eyes were covered with scales that blinded us from seeing or experiencing the grace, mercy and love of God in Christ.
The Samaritan was the tenth and last of the lepers and least expected to return to praise and worship God after receiving a miraculous healing on believing and obeying the words of Jesus. Yet, he remained the only one to return to Jesus and he fell on his face at the feet of Jesus, thanking Him again and again. We too need to like the grateful Samaritan fall at the feet of Jesus and thank Him again and again for our salvation, for the healing of our spiritual leprosy. In ancient Israel when a leper was healed, he was to show himself to the priest in the temple and receive an anointing with sanctified oil. The ten lepers received healing as they went towards the temple to show themselves as instructed by Jesus. The words of Jesus was at work in them to produce healing and salvation. Nine received healing but only the Samaritan received both healing and salvation. He was so grateful that he did not wait till he saw the priest but he returned immediately and spontaneously and wholeheartedly praised and thanked God. He had led a hopeless life that far for leprosy was then an incurable disease. A leper was ostracised and lived on the fringes of society. His own family did not receive him. He lived off alms received in begging. But the encounter with Jesus had healed him, made him whole once more, restored him as a child of God, a full citizen of the kingdom of God. He like us received blessings from the Father’s hands not as alms cast into our laps but as rights reserved for the children of God. Till the moment of his complete healing, he lived a fractional life, every faculty of his was a fraction of its potential, every organ or member of his body was a fraction of what it once was. Now, having been made whole again, he is filled with a mixture of joy, love, faith, thanksgiving, praise, awe, wonder, excitement that causes him to run back to worship Jesus, the manifestation of God on Earth.
It was not as if the leper thanked Jesus once and forgot therefore, but his heart witnessed a ceaseless flow of gratitude to God all the remaining days of his life and manifested in all that he said and did in life. Like the grateful Samaritan leper, we need to spend some time every day on our face at the feet of Jesus, thanking and praising Him for the healing of our leprous souls, the anointing of our spirits. Jesus will then commend our faith and ask us to “Get up and go your way. Your faith has made you whole.” We will be whole people, not fractions of people. We enjoy holistic salvation and blessings in Christ. A grateful attitude is a complete attitude for it includes gratitude, a great attitude and a gracious attitude.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

The Alpha of Uncertainty of Riches


UV 3150-10000 The Alpha of the Uncertainty of Earthly Riches
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

We should not find our security or our hope and confidence in the riches of the world. Instead, our hope, trust and confidence is in the Lord. We should rejoice in the Lord and not in our possessions. Those who are rich in this world are often poor in the sight of the Lord. We should seek to be rich in the eyes of the Lord in terms of our good attitudes, behaviour, good deeds and our giving. Material or monetary riches of this world are highly uncertain and can take flight from us. If our health is affected, what good can wealth do ? If our reputation is bad, what good is great riches? If we do not have a peaceful home and peace of mind, what use is riches?

The Lord is the source of all our blessings. He is the One who gives us our skills and abilities. So we cannot gloat in our money or possessions. There is nothing we can ever have that was not granted by the Lord. This is the reason Job said, “ He has given and He has taken.” We should yearn for the true riches of the word of God that enriches our understanding and our hearts, minds and souls. The riches of this world are deceptive and does not satisfy our souls. Our souls are satisfied only in the presence of the Lord, our personal relationship with Him.
We should not look down on those who are poor but try to extend our hand of help to them. The blessings the Lord has given us are an opportunity to also meet the needs of others around us. The temptation of great wealth is that we tend to consciously or unconsciously replace the Lord with material or monetary wealth as the alpha and omega of our lives. When we do this, the locusts of irrational fears, excessive worries and anxieties will weigh on our minds, resulting in the wealth turning out to be more a liability than a pleasure. People build great empires out of their industry and innovativeness only to leave it to unworthy successors who cannot maintain or develop it. When the Lord makes a person wealthy, He adds no sorrow to it. Rather, He adds purpose, meaning, power, joy, peace and blessings of longevity and a good testimony to it. Our greatest longing should therefore, be for eternal riches and not earthly riches, for the kingdom of God and not earthly empires of power, wealth and fame.

Monday, January 7, 2019

The Alpha of Recognition of Reality


UV 3149/10000 The Alpha of Recognition of Reality
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger
Luke 15 v 17
Every human resembles the younger son who in his pride thought he knew better than his Father. We rebel as we think that to be free means to be away from the Father. True humility is submission to God while arrogance is non submission. When the younger son came to his senses as many of us do in the course of our lives, he realized the abundance of the goodness of the Father. He then chose to return to the Father’s home. A failure to understand who we are vis –a – vis God, our Father is what deprives us of His love, His comfort, His provision, His protection.
Like the younger son, each of us needs a turning point in our lives. We need to turn from sin to the light of God’s love, from darkness to light, from spiritual death to spiritual life, from spiritual poverty to spiritual abundance in Christ. The irony of the difference from the narration of the prodigal son’s story by Jesus is that in reality the elder Son Jesus becomes the means for the salvation of all His brothers- all humans born before and after Him. Like Saul’s eyes blinded by ignorant zeal and hatred for the followers of Jesus, the scales of our eyes that blinkered our vision and kept us from the Truth need to fall off.
Like the loving father in the story, our Father in heaven welcomes us with open arms. He embraces us in His love. He places the signet ring of His authority over His household- the Earth, the whole universe and even heaven itself on our finger. We can speak and act and direct the servants of the Lord in His name. He clothes us with the clothes of salvation. He gives us shoes that help us walk in the direction and the path He has shown us. We no longer live for temporal goals but for the eternal. We will never want to depart from Him, His love ever again. Instead of collecting the stones and food for the pigs, we collect the pearls of the Lord’s wisdom every single day of our lives.

Sunday, January 6, 2019

The Alpha of Human Significance




UV 3148/10000 The Alpha of Human Significance

And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them

Habakuk 1 v 14

Without faith in the Lord, life on earth would be virtually spiritual and moral anarchy. We would be like the fish that are vulnerable, unthinking and fall prey to the net of the enemy. We would not intervene when evil or injustice happens right in front of our eyes. We would be only concerned with our own happiness and consumption. We would resemble the fish of the sea that have no ruler. But the Lord made Himself manifest on earth and in history through the person of Jesus. He is the Prince of Peace to bring order and protection to His people. He will put a hook in the nose of the enemy. He will cause them who are the agents of the enemy to be caught in the snare of their own plots. The Word is our safety net protecting us against the snares of the enemy.

The teaching of Jesus is the basis of our spirituality and our morality. The Holy Spirit instructs us with the word and gives us the inner power to obey it. The Lord rules over our hearts and minds. He holds the reins of our hearts, our motives, our purpose in life in His hands. We are no more like fish without a ruler or sheep without a Shepherd. He directs our paths and our footsteps. We are no longer passive witnesses of the unrighteousness and injustice that occurs in this world. Through prayer and proclamation or faith decrees, we influence the course of events, the governing powers of this dark world.

We are no longer insignificant like the fish of the sea but we are anointed or enabled to be co-rulers with Jesus. Though the world is vast like the sea, though there are no clear landmarks to measure our progress, we anchor in the word and in the Lord. We find strength and stability or security in Him. His promises buoy up our hope in an otherwise hopeless and vain world. We no longer wander aimlessly like the fish of the sea but act on purpose, swim against the currents of this world. He turns us into fishers of men. We help to revive spiritually dying people by bringing them into covenant relationship with the Lord. Salvation in Christ then is not an end of life or after life experience but it is a real, moment to moment rule of Christ in our lives, our souls, hearts and minds.

Saturday, January 5, 2019

The Alpha of the Unchanging Nature of God

UV 3147/10000 The Alpha of the Unchanging Nature of God
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Malachi 3 v 6
The Lord is behind all change in this world- the change of seasons, the changes of history, the turn of events in our lives and so on. Yet He Himself remains unchanging. His word remains unchanging from eternity past, to eternity present to eternity future. The word does not need any revision or updating as it is always up to date. He is the only constant in a constantly changing world. He is the locus of the universe that holds the world together even as the sun is the locus of the solar system and holds together and in their separate orbits all the nine planets including the only inhabited one , our Earth. He is the center of the existence of everyone who places his or her trust in Him. Just as the Lord measured and calibrated the inter planetary distances to keep Jupiter at the right distance from the Earth in order to draw most large asteroids from space, the Lord measures and calibrates our lives. We will do well, therefore, to focus on the locus, Jesus, ( if you want to remember this as a number code from the number of letters, it is 555) the Sun of Righteousness, the Everlasting, Unchanging, Faithful, Loving One. He controls the seasons of our lives. We receive the warmth and intimacy of His love and care that sustains us. He keeps us from being consumed by forces larger and more powerful than us.
Even as the nature of God’s love and word are unchanging , His covenant or promise of relationship with us through His Son Jesus is unchanging, constant. We can anchor downward into His word and upward into His love. This anchoring in the constancy of His promises gives us stability, strength, power, meaning, hope. We cannot trust the false hope and deception of the enemy, the anti-Christ ( represented in scripture as 666 as he adds, distorts, deletes words from the word of God to deceive us even as he deceived Adam and Eve). The interesting thing is that even satan uses the word to deceive us to this day. Like Jacob, we are in a covenant relationship with the Lord after all our struggles on our own. We now have peace with God, peace with our own past, peace with ourselves, peace with others, peace in the present, peace in the future and eternal peace in Christ. Peace with God and others implies we have victory over enemy or multiple enemies of sin, death, curses and so on.
Like the Lord God fulfilled every promise of His to Jacob and His descendants, the Lord fulfils His promise in accordance with His will in our lives. As we focus on the locus of our lives, Jesus, we walk in alignment with the center of His sovereign will for our lives. The Lord does not make things easy for us but He makes it possible. Not only are we consumed by His anger but He reveals His plan of salvation for us, His plans to prosper us in this world and the one to come, His plans to give us hope, His plans to give us the “de-sire of our hearts.” It is instructive to note that the word “desire” comes from “de- Sire” or from the Father. Whatever the Father desires for us, which is good, will come true and real in our lives and we only need to trust Him, believe the goodness of His character for if He did not withhold His son Jesus from us, will He withhold anything we need, anything good from us?

Friday, January 4, 2019

The Alpha of Priesthood

UV 2146/10000 The Alpha of Priesthood
For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 2 v 7
For only two professions in this world, the person concerned taking up that profession is anointed with oil to consecrate him or her to the service of God. A believer of Jesus is a priest of God. He is also a king anointed by God. As a priest, his role is to turn many away from sin and towards the Lord. He should measure his life, his words against the word of God. He should weight his motives too against the word. As a messenger of God, from head to foot, he is beautiful for the word says that the least part of the human- the feet of the messenger are beautiful. The word of God is to be in the mouth of the priest. It sanctifies his lips and perfects his speech. Every word we speak should pass through the many filters that the word provides us- whether it is true, whether it is useful or beneficial to the hearers.
The priest’s lips are anointed by the Holy Spirit. His tongue is a sword of fire, pronouncing freedom from bondage, healing and deliverance. None of his words should be offensive. We are to use our tongues to enhance knowledge and wisdom in our listeners. He should judge with discernment and be ready to correct others. He should always walk with awe and reverence before the Lord as he knows that he would be judged more severely by the Lord. As priests we pray without ceasing. Our mouths should declare the truths of the word of God.
As messengers of God, we speak for Him and hence, have an enormous responsibility. We need to share the word and testimony with grace and humility. As priests, we stand in the gap between the wider humanity and the Lord. We believe the Lord is attentive to our prayers. As priests, we should not get easily angered or excited. We need to make sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving at all times. We should be people of integrity with no greed for dirty lucre. We should be known as people of peace and great patience. Spiritual wisdom should inform all our thoughts, words and actions.

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

The Alpha of the War and Peace of our Souls

UV 2145/10000 The Alpha of the War and Peace of our Souls
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
I Peter 2 v 11
We are not to live in this world as if this is our permanent or eternal home. Even our bodies are the temporary residence of our eternal spirits. This is the reason Peter addresses believers of Jesus as strangers and pilgrims. We are sojourners or travellers. Like a pilgrim, we travel with a light or good conscience. Like a pilgrim, we revere the Holy Spirit at every step we take in our lives. While our legit desires for food, clothing, shelter, companionship are to be satisfied, we should do nothing that would feed our illegitimate desires, the desires that the enemy has planted in our minds. These desires are at war with the desires of our spirits. When we yield to those desires we are trying to pitch our tents permanently here on Earth. We are to clothe ourselves with the grace of Jesus and overcome the lusts of the flesh, eye and pride. Paul refers to us as strangers, implying non-citizens of this world. Hence, many of the rules and principles of this fallen world do not apply to us. A pilgrimage is not a pleasure tour. Hence, our lives are promising to be difficult and challenging, not easy or smooth.
As citizens of another kingdom , the eternal one ruled by the Father jointly with Christ, we are to uphold the standards and principles Christ taught us and is still teaching us through the Holy Spirit. We are to live a life worthy of our great calling, pursuing righteousness, love, faith, hope, peace, mercy and wisdom. As ambassadors of Christ, we should remember to conduct ourselves with the dignity, courage and poise of Christ. He gives us victory in the inner war being fought continually in our minds and souls. We should realize that we are not lone pilgrims trudging a lonely path but we have scores of people accompanying us on the journey. There are only two kinds of people we encounter in this world- the fellow pilgrims and the permanent settlers, the citizens of this world. We should take care not to be influenced or to emulate the latter in our choices or behaviour. The citizens of this world are marked by love of selves, love of money, love of power, love of pleasure, love of self glorification, pride, envy, contentiousness and egoism. While not judging or hating them for these qualities for we were once like them, we need to put a safe distance between us and these characteristics.
Instead of seeking to do that which our flesh or minds want, we should diligently seek the will of God by studying the scripture. It gives us the roadmap to reach our permanent or eternal home on high. We need to live our lives on Earth as if it is only a preparation, a preamble, a pit stop before we get to the kingdom of heaven. When we get immersed in our daily schedule of activities, it is easy to forget this but by being contstantly alert, by being watchful and prayerful, we can win this war. We put to death or crucify our lusts and pride and live for Christ, producing the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. Every battle we win in the war of life gives us strength, courage and confidence for the next battle. Even if we lose a battle or two, the Lord gives us grace to get up again, dust ourselves and join the war on His side- the winning side.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

The Alpha of Abundance


UV 2144/10000 The Alpha of Abundance
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
2 Corinthians 9 v 8

God ‘s economy is one of abundance. Jesus stated His purpose on Earth is: I have come that you may have life and life in all its abundance.” God is able and willing to bless us abundantly, so that in ALL things at ALL times, having ALL we need, we may abound in ALL good works. He is able to do much more than we ask, think or imagine. The Psalmist says that He will cause our carts to overflow with abundance. In response to His abounding grace, we as believers of Jesus are to abound in every fruit of the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. It is almost as if the Lord is eager and hungry to see the abundance of such spiritual fruit in our lives.

We are also to abound in faith, in communication of the bon mot de Dieu or the good word of God and the good news of Jesus, in diligence, in hospitality, in giving and in every good work we have the opportunity to do while we live. In so doing, we will be fulfilling our calling as “good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” We are to make the most of every opportunity and talent we possess for the glory of God. We are to abound in thanksgiving and praise for all the good things the Lord has accomplished in our lives this far and wait with patient expectation for the fulfilment of the hope we have in His continuing promises still at work in our lives.
Is there anything we need to do to make God’s manifold grace overflow in the areas of our need? We need to expand our faith, persist in prayer, praise and thanksgiving in anticipation of the blessings of abundance. We also need to never cease giving to the needy in the body of Christ and for the work of the Lord. This is the faith seed we plant in the kingdom of God that we water with the tears of persistent prayer. The Lord takes pleasure in the measure of our giving. The Lord seeing our faithfulness in giving multiplies the seed many times over, a sixty fold, eighty fold or a hundred fold. We are only giving out of what belongs to the Lord in its entirety and yet, the Lord in His graciousness counts it as His debt and repays us in many ways, visible and invisible, finite and infinite, tangible and intangible. Our pleasure at no time should be in the treasure the Lord has given us. Instead, it should be in the pleasure of doing the Lord’s will, of executing His word in ways that impact, influence, benefit the living.