A Sense of History, A Sense of Destiny

UV3518/ 10000 A Sense of History, A Sense of Destiny
I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

Genesis 17 v 6

The old covenant had some promises, some conditions, some memorials like sacrifice and circumcision. The promises remain for us to claim and receive by faith in this age and time but the conditions and memorials have changed. God overhauled the old covenant with a better one through commissioning the God-man Jesus to lay the foundation of the new covenant relationship between the Lord and mankind. The Israelites or the Jews and the Ishmaelites, the people largely of the Middle East, also descendants of Abraham in fulfilment of the above promise that kings will come from him, still adhere to the old covenant, unmindful of the new and better covenant. They are blinded to the significance of the new covenant promises and memorials and still carry on with the old memorials like circumcision of the males and religious practices. But Jesus instituted the new memorials to remember His sacrifice which once and for all fulfilled all the requirements of all the laws and all the conditions. The new memorial of baptism which should be done only once as fully born again believers and the memorial of communion which celebrates or commemorates the body of Jesus being broken and His blood being shed for our sins.


God chose to bless Abraham with the promised child, Isaac only when he and Sarah were too old to bear children to prove to mankind that it was He and not anything else who gave the promise and fulfilled it. Hence, there are reasons for apparent delay in God acting on our prayers and needs. By our faith, like Abraham we call into being that which was not as if it is. Hence, faith is beyond reason, beyond logic, beyond our senses to perceive. The birth of Ishmael to Hagar was by natural means and it led to much strife as Sarah acted in anticipation of God or before the Lord could act. It led to the historic fact that Ishmael’s hand would be against his brothers and his brothers’ hands being against him to this day. Sarah's uterus was practically too dead to be able to bear offspring. Yet, the Lord revived it. In our lives, too there may be dead parts or dead wishes or dreams that the Lord can revive, re-kindle, fulfil. Abraham did not live long enough to see nations and kings emerging from his lineage. But history has witnessed its fulfilment. Likewise, we will never see or witness the fulfilment of some of the promises of God to us. Nevertheless, these are true and will be fulfilled. It will be witnessed by the world at large. Some of the promises are related to our lifetime while many are related to our posterity and legacy. God is not circumscribed by the number of days we live on Earth to fulfil His promises to us. Every believer, therefore needs a sense of history, a sense of divine destiny. Faith is not blind or baseless. It is precedent based. The Lord has proved Himself true to His word to another human or humans like Abraham and Sarah. Hence, we believe He can do the impossible in our lives and times, too.

The Lord promises us that we would be exceedingly fruitful in every sense of the Word. He caused nations to rise out of Abraham- the nation of Israel through Isaac and the twelve nations of the Middle East through Ishmael. He multiplied not just the supernaturally promised but the natural, too. In fact, the natural offspring was multiplied even more with more kings emerging from the lineage of Ishmael. Likewise, the Lord will bless our offspring to be like kings, bless nations through them. He blesses us in the natural and supernatural realms. We only need to be faithful in keeping the two laws of the new covenant given through Jesus and be faithful in observing the memorials of believers’ baptism and communion. Two laws to be obeyed, two memorials but a multitude of promises to claim and enjoy. We are to be exceedingly fruitful not just in the physical sense but in terms of the fruit of the spirit. We should abound in the nine fruit of the Holy Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. Self control has two dimensions- things we ought not to do and things we ought to do.

The Premise Versus The Promise

UV 3517/10000 The Premise Versus The Promise
No man will be able to stand before you to oppose you as long as you live. Just as I was present with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you or abandon you.

Joshua 1 v 5

. Worldly people live on the basis of a premise or assumption, for example that as long as they are having enough money, they will be fine. But people of the Word who is God, live on the basis of a promise, for example, the belief that the Lord will secure their lives and as long as they are in a right or covenant relationship with God, all will be well in their lives. This uni-verse is an amazing promise of protection, strength, vindication, victory and security given to Joshua on his succeeding Moses as leader of Israel. On the basis of this promise, Joshua was to be strong, confident and courageous. The only reason for godly leaders to succeed is that God is with them. The only precondition for their success is that they should be faithful and consistent in obeying all the commands of the Lord and believing all the promises of the Lord. They are to never stray away from following biblical principles and teachings. They should meditate on it day and night. Scripture should saturate our minds and thoughts 24 x 7. Then, the word becomes our source of strength, inspiration, guidance, wisdom and hope. When we fulfill this precondition or prerequisite, the Lord will not forsake or abandon or fail us.

The promise holds good for us as long as we live. We are not to move to the left or the right or waver in our faith as we hold onto this promise of God. We are to be steadfast in remembering, relying on this promise. It was this promise and the confidence and strength it produced in Joshua that enabled him to defeat 31 kings physically and wrest the promised land from them. Likewise, many spiritual kings of darkness are squatting on our inheritance, our rights as children of God. The Lord will enable us to defeat these 31 kings and come into our “promised land” in due time. No man or spirit can contend against us and win. Yes, they will attempt to resist, oppose, attack us for one third of the fallen angels cannot remain idle and unemployed. They would always be hatching some plot to attack or steal our happiness or peace but the Lord goes ahead of us, is with us and is also holding the rear, covering our backs. The plot to harm us cannot succeed as long as both the pilot and the escort are none but Almighty God.

Normally, when we put up our bare hands, it is a gesture of surrender and defeat but as long as Moses’ hands were held up the Israelites had victory in battle against their enemies. Likewise, when our hands are held up in “sweet surrender” and worship of the Lord, we have victory. The law of God was given through Moses while the love of God was revealed through Christ Jesus. Christ promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to be with His followers. Today, the Holy Spirit is present with us, leading, guiding, comforting, strengthening, emboldening, encouraging us. He lays the promises of the Lord on our hearts to believe, claim and receive in our every situation. The battles we face are not physical or military like Joshua’s but are intense and lifelong. We can draw courage, strength, confidence from the fact that the Lord will never abandon, forsake or fail us.

The Foolish Capitalist Versus The Wise Philanthropist

UV 3516/10000 The Foolish Versus The Wise

But God said to him, “ You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?”

Luke 12 v 20


The tiny Covid virus is preaching a big sermon today, world-wide. Jesus said to the rich man planning to build big barns to store all his grains and goods: “ You fool, you are considering building big but your soul will be asked of you tonight.” Read that in the context of a big business owner dying in Dubai without being able to reside in the largest house of 45000 square feet newly built in his home state, Kerala. Read it along with a prophetic verse in the book of Amos that speaks of bodies being buried with long fishing hooks. It is a precise description of a Covid burial witnessed on social media recently.

God is not against wealth. Abraham, the father of faith was wealthy by the standards of even today’s world for he owned cattle on a thousand hills. He is against people who store up and hoard possessions for themselves alone and are not “rich” in their relationship toward God. To be rich towards God is to spend time in His presence, soaking in His love, to spend time at His feet learning, to lean on Him in times of weakness or crisis, to observe, study, understand and apply His word, to obey His commands, to believe His promises, to emulate His model. Jesus taught us that life is more than all the things or substance of what we own. We are created in the image of God and renewed in the image of Christ. We are to celebrate our relationship with Him, we are to celebrate the purpose of life, we are to celebrate His promises, His blessings. We are to celebrate or rejoice in the people He has brought into our lives. We are to rejoice in the opportunities and equally rejoice in our failures and setbacks. He measures the inclination or priorities of our hearts.

Life is more than food, clothes, house, cars, work, pleasure or leisure.. It is not the sum of all these things. It is about giving God first place in our hearts, to seek Him daily, to trust Him for provision and protection for we are more valuable than the birds that fly carefree, do not sow, reap or store food. Life is about caring for other creatures and fellow human beings and giving out of the extra that the Lord has placed or trusted in our hands. It is not wrong to be wealthy but it is wrong to be foolish and wealthy. It is right to be wise and wealthy. To be wise and wealthy is to revere and love God above all things and above all people, to know and acknowledge that all blessings come from the Lord and He can both give and take what He gives. To be wise is to be always prepared to meet the Maker.

The Heart - The Storehouse of Treasure

UV 3515/10000 The Heart – The Storehouse of Treasure
The intrinsically good man produces what is good and honourable and moral out of the good treasure stored in his heart; and the intrinsically evil man produces what is wicked and deprived out of the evil in his heart; for his mouth speaks from the overflow of his heart.

Luke 6 v 45

This uni-verse gives us a key to understanding the human heart. It is the place where our most sacred, treasured memories, treasured wisdom, treasured desires are stored. It is the sanctum sanctorum or the holiest place in the temple of our bodies. If our intention is good, we will store good things in it. If it is bad, we store evil. We are to speak from the overflow of goodness from our hearts. We should open our mouths when our hearts are filled with the treasures of faith, hope and love. Our communication reflects the fruit of the spirit that we have stored in our hearts. If it is love, we speak with love. If we have stored joy, we speak joyfully. If we have stored peace, we speak of peace. If we have stored humility or gentleness or self discipline, we speak with these qualities. These are the treasures that Jesus said that neither thief nor rust nor mouth can neither steal or destroy.

We should empty our hearts of evil, of the bad memories, of the bad feelings we stored in the time we did not experience the love of God. We should empty our hearts constantly of bitterness, envy, pride. Both evil and goodness cannot co-exist in our hearts, either would rule over the other in the end and determine our destiny. We cannot live a double life by hiding evil in our hearts while we speak of good things. The good treasure we stored in our hearts not only influences our speech or communication, it influences our thoughts, our decisions, our behaviour.

The Psalmist David wrote that he stored the word of God in his heart that he might not sin against God. The word is the greatest treasure we can store in our hearts to overcome, master sin and discipline ourselves before God. While evil intentions, actions and words are mercurial and unstable, the word brings safety, security and stability of strength or power of God into our hearts. Our core values affect our couer, French for heart. It safeguards our hearts from foolish impulses, passions, desires and decisions. It makes our words and actions wise and useful to others. Our human hearts are cured of the otherwise incurable depravity and wickedness it is susceptible to in the world’ s environment.

A Log Pulled Out of the Fire

UV 3514/10000 A Log Pulled Out of the Fire
“I overthrew and destroyed ( some among) you, as ( I, your) God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were rescued like a log pulled out of the flame; yet you have not returned to Me ( in repentance), “ says the Lord.

Amos 4 v 11


The Lord sent various tests upon the world like famine, drought, pestilence, plague and yet, we have not repented and returned to the Lord. He has rescued us as a log of burning wood is pulled out of the fire and saved us from destruction. Yet, we have not repented and returned to the Lord. We have instead adored our own “golden calves” as the ancient Israelites did under Aaron’s leadership when Moses left the camp of Israel to commune with Jehovah. We have eaten “leavened” bread, a symbol of pride, hypocrisy, of profiting from the practice of deceit. We have not heeded the many warnings and admonitions of the Spirit of God.

The current global pandemic is a sign from the Lord that we should repent and return to the Lord. We must cast aside all that distracts us from the Lord and seek the Lord with devotion and diligence as our most essential need. He is the One who formed the mountains, who knows our thoughts and feelings. He can turn darkness into dawn and the bright dawn into darkness, implying He can turn adversity into prosperity and vice versa. He cannot bear the injustice meted out to the poor or the corruption of the unrighteous. We are living in an evil time where people will not listen to the truth and will disregard those of good character. The world’s values are topsy-turvy, upside down but the Lord expects His children to set it right and walk upright beside Him.

We cannot escape the judgement of the Lord unless we repent and return to Him. We must hate evil and love good. We must give up the pursuit of power and passion and surrender ourselves to the mercy and grace of the Lord. The Lord is measuring us as a mason checks a wall with a plumb line. We should hunger for the word of God. We should use the word as the plumb line of our lives. Since we are a log or ember pulled out of the fire by the Lord, we ought to burn brightly for Him in this dark world.

Triple Hope in Christ

UV 3513/10000 Triple Hope In Christ

O Israel, hope in the Lord from this time and forever.

Psalm 131 v 3

Israel is a unique nation. It is the only nation that can be traced back to one person as the father of the nation, Abraham. It is the only nation in history named after the God –given name of one individual, Jacob. The history of Israel reflects our own struggle to believe and relate with the Almighty God. David as a youngster calls upon Israel to hope in the Lord from then on and for eternity. In order to hope in the Lord, we need to humble our hearts before God. We need to avoid any pride in our look or our behaviour or attitude. We have to calm our fears, lay to rest our anxieties and insecurities. We need to trust the Lord like a weaned child trusts her mother that she would feed her what she needs. Our hope is not just for now, our lives on earth but also for the hereafter. David at the time he was composing or singing this Psalm was nourishing the hope of being King, succeeding the first king of Israel, Saul. Our hope is not only about our eternal home but also about fulfilling our triple calling to be priest, prophet and king before God Almighty on Earth. This is why Jesus prayed and taught us to pray , “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” The moment Jesus resurrected from death, the Kingdom of God had come on earth.


We need to prepare ourselves emotionally, spiritually, mentally and physically to exercise hope in the Lord God. We do not know enough about the future but we can trust the Lord not just for our present needs, our future needs but for eternal life. As St Paul wrote to the Colossian church, “Christ in us is the hope of glory.” Believing that Christ dwells in our hearts by faith gives us the hope of salvation as well as to be restored to the glory, the goodness, the greatness of God.

Faith is about right sizing. We downsize our egos, our fears, our worries and upsize the image of God. We begin to see God for who He really is through what we know about His physical manifestation- Jesus. We humble ourselves before the Lord so that we no longer hold onto our own ambitions and desires as being more precious or important than what the Lord wants us to do. We are contented that we have gained godliness in Christ. We are inspired by the example of Christ, the suffering of Christ, the wonderful acts and words of Christ and are so filled with hope regardless of the circumstances surrounding us.

The World and The Word

UV 3512/10000 The World and The Word

Thus says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who trusts in and relies on mankind, making (weak, faulty human) flesh his strength, and whose mind and heart turn away from the Lord

Jeremiah 17 v 5


We are like streams that arise on the mountain of God and like rivers that empty into the ocean of God. If in between the source and our emptying into God, we rely on ourselves, on other limited humans like us, if we have any confidence in our own knowledge, wisdom, understanding, we are cursed. Instead, if our confidence is in the Lord and what He says, then we are blessed. Jeremiah draws the contrasting images of a shrub in a desert, in the wilderness, an uninhabited salt land and that of a flourishing tree planted by waters which spreads its roots till it reaches the river bank. The person who trusts God and relies on Him and His word is like an evergreen fruit-bearing tree.

The man of faith delights in what the Lord delights in. The joy of the Lord is our strength, not human knowledge or wisdom. We delight in Jesus just as the Father delighted in His own beloved Son. The river of eternal life flows through us and it never dries up. We begin and end our lives and our every day in the Lord. He is both the mountain of our source and the ocean into which we empty ourselves. The course of our lives is determined by the Lord. He renews our peace, our joy, our wisdom, our strength.

We do not turn our faces away from the Lord and curse ourselves to live limited lives. Like plants that grow in the direction of the sun, we raise our faces to seek the Lord and His word. In good times we do not forget the Lord and in bad times, we do not blame Him. We are steadfast in our faith. David while writing the first Psalm refers to this uni-verse in Jeremiah. The wicked, those who choose to ignore God, to rebel against the Lord are like the chaff that is blown away, like grass that is here today and gone tomorrow. The righteous by faith and grace in contrast meditate on the word of God day and night, when things are bright and when things are gloomy and dark. Their roots run both deep and wide to reach the river of God’s nourishing. Their hearts are soft and moist towards the Lord, repentant of their shortcomings and appreciative of the goodness and glory of God. They bear fruit right through the year.

Enter the Ark of Jesus

UV 3511/10000 Enter the Ark of Jesus
And God remembered and thought kindly of Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters receded.

Genesis 8 v 1

Noah’s Ark was man-made. It was made of gopher wood. The Ark of Jesus is made not of wood but of the flesh and blood of Jesus. The Ark of Jesus is God-provided. Inside the Ark, Noah and other creatures had physical food but we have access to spiritual food, the word of God. The Noah’s Ark was sealed with bitumen while we are sealed with the blood of the Lamb and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the wind God sent over the land, the same Spirit who hovered over the darkness and chaos preceding creation and order brought in by the sovereign command of God. The Holy Spirit made the waters of the flood recede. The Holy Spirit can do the impossible. He can make the ravages of the current pandemic recede, diminish, disappear. But before that God should remember us and think kindly of the faithful Noahs of this generation.

The Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat while we rest on the Rock of faith in Jesus. We, therefore, need not fear or panic. The Lord is not only mindful of us, He not only remembers us kindly but He provides us the stable, rock-like secure foundation of the wisdom and grace of the wisest man, the wise Redeemer God- Jesus. We cannot be destabilized, moved to panic. We can have a safe exit from the world at the time of God’s choosing even as Noah and his family left the Ark when it was completely safe. Till we leave this world, we are to remain in the Ark of the new covenant- Jesus. We should hide, shelter, take refuge in Him by faith. Everything we do, think, speak we do in Him even as Noah and his family did everything inside the Ark for over an year. We live and move and exist in Him. The Ark was needed for only a little more than a year but we need Jesus all the time. It was Noah’s pre-flood disposition that won the favour of the Lord, likewise, it is our pre-pandemic disposition towards Jesus that wins the favour of God though it is never too late to repent and enter into the Ark of the new covenant –Jesus.

The Ark saved Noah and his family as well as species of all creatures while Jesus saves people of all races and cultures, all social strata. The rainbow appeared to Noah as a sign of the covenant of God’s faithfulness after the flood. It was a sign of the many splendoured compassion of God to remind Him of the covenant not to destroy humanity in a flood ever again. The rainbow over God’s throne described in the book of Revelation is a sign of the new covenant love of God. Noah relied on birds to confirm safe passage while we rely on the promises of God. After the flood, the world was renewed. Noah and his family were blessed to multiply and spread across the earth. All the species of creatures multiplied. New life began once again. Once we enter into relationship with God through Christ, we too become new creations, the old order has passed away, the new has come, the old nature has passed, the new has come. Noah and his family were given new laws to obey after the flood by God. We, however, have passed from the regime of laws to the regime of grace.

He Will Do It

UV 3509/10000 He Will Do It
Faithful and absolutely trustworthy is He who is calling you ( to Himself for your salvation), and He will do it ( He will fulfill His call by making you holy, guarding you, watching over you, and protecting you as His own.

I Thessalonians 5 v 24

Since God is faithful and absolutely worthy of trust, He will do it. He will consecrate us to be set apart for Him, to serve Him. He will sanctify us, make us pure, refine us, make us complete and whole in Him. We are His workmanship but since we are also autonomous and having free will, at no point or time, we should walk away as His hands are working on us. In four words, St Paul expresses his confidence in God, “He will do it.” We do not have to fret or fume. We do not have to be anxious, perturbed for He will do it. He will do that which He has called us for – our salvation. He will save us. He will do that which He has purposed for us- to be His witnesses.


Sometimes, the enemy assails us with doubts whether we would fulfill our calling, our mission in life, the vision the Lord has given us. We must make our minds doubt-proof by meditating on the character of the Lord- His reliability. None of our prayers will be in vain for He will answer every one in His time and in His way. . He will preserve us from evil from within and without. We only need to hang on or cherish every word He has spoken to us either through a specific word we received or a prophetic utterance through someone sent our way to encourage us. As we cherish His word, we also should be determined to stay blemishless, faithful to the very end. We cannot be like the waves of the sea that are driven in every possible direction or like flotsam on a flooded river, driven hither and thither. We should choose the wind, the Holy Spirit and the direction we are to be driven in and persist in that direction.


We can be assured of His protective grace, His wise guidance, His leading. We should show our faith by doing what is possible for us and He will show His faithfulness by doing what is impossible for us. We should meditate on the person, the teachings, the deeds of Jesus during His earthly sojourn and beyond. It was impossible for Him to turn water into wine except He be God. It was impossible for Him to walk on water except He be God. It was impossible for Him to call the dead like Lazarus to life except He be God. It was impossible for Him to feed the multitude by multiplying five tiny home-made loaves of bread and two fish. Our need will never outrun His capacity to fulfill it. Jesus never materialized the bread and fish out of nothing. He multiplied the available. He saw the need, felt the hunger of the crowd, assessed what they had on hand and then, blessed it to multiply to meet the need. He satisfied their spiritual hunger with His word and their physical hunger with bread and fish. Likewise, even in this day and time, He assesses our need, our available resources and multiplies it to meet the need and still have some to spare.

Cling to God not Bling

UV 3508/10000 Cling to God not Bling



But you are to cling to the Lord your God, just as you have done to this day.



Joshua 23 v 8





These are the words of advice to the people of Israel at the end of his life when he was advanced in years. He exhorts them to remember how the Lord had delivered them from their enemies. We are to cling to the Lord as a leech clings to the human body. By default, sin clings to us like a leech but the word of God acts as the salt to remove the clutch of sin in our lives. We must use the Word as a sword or sharp weapon to cut the remaining tentacles of sin in our lives. We should depend on the Lord and not the world or anything or anyone in it to sustain and develop ourselves. We should understand the depth and breadth of God’s love and rejoice in it. We should often recall the goodness of the Lord in our lives so far. We should often remember, testify and thank the Lord for the awesome deeds He has done in our lives to this day.





The Lord fought on behalf of Joshua and enabled him to defeat 31 kings before he led the Israelites into the promised land. He keeps us likewise under the umbrella of His protection. Not one of His promises to us will ever fail. Joshua reviewed the history of Israel and how the Lord had led them from victory to victory, strength to strength. On the contrary, we should remember the other edge of the word- we face the anger and judgement of God if we cling to evil, if we cling to our own stubborn ways. Despite the warning and exhortation of Joshua at the fag end of his life, the people of Israel did not heed his words. They turned to their own ways.



Today, the world like Israel cling to its icons of various domains- sports, films, the glam world, politics and so on. It has forgotten or ignored God. People are too busy to spend time in the presence of the Lord. They do not even spare a thought for Him in the midst of their daily schedules. Hence, we are facing the other edge of the sword- pestilence, death, disruption of our normal life and routine, fear and despair. Covid- 19 has demolished all these "golden calves" or idols we have erected for ourselves. At this juncture, we need to heed Joshua’s call to cling to the Lord. St Paul writes, "Cling to what is good, let go of what is evil." It implies that God is not going to be displeased, rather He approves when we cling to whatever is good in this world. The other synonym Paul uses for cling is cleave. The same word "cleave' is used in the context of marriage. The bride is exhorted to cleave to her jusband and leave her own parents. We are to cleave to Christ and leave the world.

Standing in the Gap for the World

UV 3508/10000 Standing in the Gap for the World

O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and look at our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You because of our own merits and righteousness, but because of Your great mercy and compassion.

Daniel 9 v 18


The Lord is asking us to pray for the world, our nation, our cities, our people, like Daniel for mercy not on our own merits and righteousness. We should humble ourselves and repent. We should plead with the Lord to take action to cease this pandemic and not to delay. Daniel stood in the gap between God and His people by faith and grace. Today, we have Jesus as our Advocate on High in heaven. He identifies with the dying, the suffering, the afflicted and knows our pain. We need to acknowledge like Daniel our sins and rebellion, that we have behaved wickedly, turning away from His commandments and ordinances.

The Lord reminds us of the parable of the Bridegroom, the bride and the bride’s maids with the lamps. The Bridegroom (Jesus) is ready but the bride, the church is not ready, the lamps are not filled with oil ( the Holy Spirit) and are not lit. Like Daniel we must fast and pray. We must humble ourselves as erring servants and seek the Lord’s face and mercy. The present pains of the world-wide pandemic are like the birth pangs, the signs of the return of the Bridegroom to take His bride. The church needs to be prepared, purified and be ready to receive the Lord.


We may not wear sack clothes now to indicate our repentance but we need to take active steps to turn away from sin and rebellion. We cannot take grace for granted for a heavy cost has been paid to purchase our salvation, to ransom us from the serpent leader. We cannot and should not be lured to fall into his traps or snare again. It is regretful that a couple of senior leaders of our faith have fallen into the trap of the enemy in terms of adultery. Instead of staying away from public ministry for a fair length of time in which the Lord would deal and heal with their underlying weaknesses, they have concealed it from many who are unaware. They go on with impunity as if nothing had happened with a strong possibility that they may prey again on some innocent person in the future.

The Blood Price

UV 3507/10000 . The Blood Price

The blood shall be a sign for you on (the doorposts of ) the houses where you live; when I see blood I shall pass over you’ and no affliction shall happen to you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12 v 13

Why are there so many references to blood in scripture? It is because the Lord revealed that our life is carried in our blood. Science teaches us that blood carries oxygen to all parts of the body and it has an army of cells that fights infections. Blood has a positive role and a negative role. Both are vital. Blood is also a visible marker. It can be used to communicate messages as it is dark and does not fade away with time. Like the blood of a lamb was used to mark the houses of the Israelites, the blood of the Lamb of God is used to mark our houses, not for destruction but for salvation. The “fourth horseman” mentioned in Revelation chapter 6 is galloping around the world and in all nations, afflicting people with this strange virus Covid 19. Every day the number of people afflicted is increasing and the number dying is also increasing. But those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, those whose houses are marked by faith in the shed blood of Jesus for their sins are redeemed. Jesus is the only one in history to roar at death and death fled from Him. Today, He stands as a lion roaring at any threat or creature in order to protect its young. While it is true that even some believers have been afflicted and some have died, we need to submit to God’s sovereign will. We are to be wise and not foolhardy and take all precautions that the authorities advice us. We should understand that such apocalyptic events affecting all nations and all people are a sign of the end times and the coming again of the Lord to take His own and to judge the world.

Instead of cowering in fear, we should take shelter under the powerful name of Jesus. His name is a banner of victory for us. His blood is our spiritual armour. The Spirit of the Lord also inhabits us and empowers us. With these three, we are emboldened, equipped, enabled. The fourth weapon, of course, is the Word of God. The word is a sword unsheathed. It should always release God’s power and grace in our lives. Obeying God’s commands brings immense blessings into our lives while claiming and believing His promises creates wonders and miracles in our lives.

The word “sanguine” meaning confident or faithful and fearless is derived from the root “sang” which signifies blood. Our confidence both for this lifetime and for eternity is derived not from our ability to defend ourselves or fend for ourselves but it comes from the heavy price paid by Christ, the One anointed to save all. While our bodies and limbs can be washed with water, our souls and spirits can be washed or sanctified only with blood- the price of life is life. Jesus is described as the Blood Bridegroom, the One who provided everything needed for the bride, His church or His universal body with His own blood. We can, therefore, be sanguine that He will defend us, provide for our needs and keep us as the apple of His eye.

The Forty Day Quarantine

UV 3506/10000 The Forty Day Quarantine

Moses entered the midst of the cloud and went up the mountain; and he was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Exodus 24 v 18


Moses entered into quarantine with God for forty days, the precise number of days India is under lock down. Jesus Himself went into solitude for forty days and nights on the mountain near Jerusalem. Instead of resenting this lockdown and the lack of freedom it entails, the disruption of our normal schedules, we should celebrate it as a God-ordained break in our lives when we can continually spend time on the mountain of God’s presence. Moses entered the presence of God after offering the sacrifice of young bulls as a peace offering to the Lord. But Jesus Himself became our sacrifice, a peace offering forever that obviated any further sacrifice. WE can practice social distancing along with spiritual proximity and intimacy with the Lord. We can access the presence of the Lord any time and all the time. Our covenant or relationship with God relies on the foundation of the Lamb of God, Jesus.
Moses went on the mountain of the Lord to receive the stone tablets on which were written the ten commandments. But, under our new covenant through Jesus, the Word of God is written not on stone tablets but on our hearts and minds. What is written on our hearts is meant for our two way communication with the Lord while what is written on our minds is meant for our strengthening, augmenting of our intelligence, wisdom, imagination, creativity, emotional health, will power. When we emerge out of this forty day period, we should be radiant like Moses. Our faces and lives should shine with the Shekinah (Lion-like) glory and (Lamb-like) grace of the Lord.


When we stick to the Lord and His word like a leech with all our suction pads fixed on Him, He will make us immune to the evil of this world. He enables us to make the best of our lives, the best of every opportunity and the best use of our time, talent and resources. Ever since the resurrection of Jesus, the kingdom of God or rule of God on earth has arrived. We are now ruled not by fellow men or women but we are under the rule of God. He orders our steps and ordains all that happens in our lives. We live by trust in Him and His word. His absolute grace and power redeems us from all the traces or vestiges of the world. Like oil or water that has been purified by distillation, we are purified by the heat and pressure of our real life experiences that we endure by faith.

The Light Shines in the Darkness

UV 3505/10000 The Light Shines in the Darkness

For in fact, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness will cover the peoples; But the Lord will rise upon you and His glory and brilliance will be seen on you.

Isaiah 60 v 2


Yes, it is a fact that the current global pandemic has brought darkness upon the earth, deep darkness upon all nations. The uni-verse distinguishes between darkness and deep darkness. Darkness is what comes from ignorance and deep darkness is wilful evil or wanton commission or omission of that which is evil. But in this uni-verse, the Lord promises to rise upon us like the noonday sun in the full effulgence of His glory and brilliance. President Trump tweeted that the Covid 19 virus is too “brilliant for antibiotics” but it is not too brilliant for the people of faith. It is not our successes and triumphs that raise us up as a city of light for the world covered with darkness but it is our trials and tribulations that lead to our elevations and for the strength, grace and wisdom of the Lord to rise in us.



Several powers and super powers of this contemporary world have been bested by the little virus but the Lord promises whether in big (challenges) or little (ones), He is with us and the glory of His deliverance, His protecting hand, His healing hand, His victorious right hand will be seen by all. Like a tiny mosquito will be destroyed if it approaches near a basin of boiling water, the Lord is in our midst as a glorious fire that destroys anything that approaches. He is the Victor who will not allow any vector or virus to hector us.

When we are not lukewarm but red hot for God, His glory and brilliance will certainly be manifest in many ways in the course of our days. His footprint will be in our homes as a sign that He will defend us. His light will shine through everything we do and attempt. Darkness of ignorance, blindness, wilful evil cannot comprehend, cannot contain, cannot restrain the Light of Jesus. We may not succeed in everything we do but we will succeed in pointing people to see the invisible invincible without fearing the lethal invisible.

Good Times, Bad Times

UV 3504/10000 Good Times, Bad Times
They are new every morning; great and beyond measure in Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3 v 23


God is a consuming fire. We cannot ignore Him, cannot violate His commands. But along with His great power, is His attribute of compassion. His faithfulness to His promises is infinite, immeasurable. The current pandemic can be seen as a visitation of His immense power and judgement of the world, a world that has ignored and violated His word. Yet, He does not afflict us willingly. He will not reject us also forever. We need to go to Him daily and avail of the fount of the waters of His mercy. The word says that His mercies are new, fresh every morning and beyond measure.


We cannot win today’s battles with yesterday’s faith. We need to come close to the Lord, drink deep of His word and be renewed in strength, in grace, in wisdom, in faith and in love. Every day is a new essay in experiencing God’s mercies and grace. When we are afflicted, we should wait quietly and with hope and trust in His merciful and compassionate nature. God has afflicted us for our discipline and for our benefit. He knows the time and place to lift the affliction from our lives. He will not test us beyond our strength but we need to build our faith, our endurance, our patience.

Both adversity and good times come from the Lord. We have no reason to complain. Instead of being driven into depression by the enemy of our souls, we should test and examine our ways, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal if there is a wanton sin or a hidden sin in us. The Lord will surely take us from the pit of destruction and lift us onto the Rock of His salvation- Jesus, our Lord. Our belief will give us relief. Jesus will plead as our Compassionate Advocate on our behalf. He will repay the wicked according to their ways but the faithful, the just, the repentant, the humble He will by no means cast away. Some people choose to harden their hearts in hard times but we should soften our hearts with the tears of repentance and compassion for the world.

The Joy and Power of Resurrection

UV 3503/10000 The Joy and Power OF Resurrection
And as they went, suddenly, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” And they went to Him and took hold of His feet ( in homage) and worshipped Him ( as the Messiah).

Matthew 28 v 9

Good Friday was the day , the only time in history God was put to death on a cross while what is called Easter is the Resurrection Day, the only time in history, He came alive, the death was needed to enable man to obtain mercy, to overcome sin while the resurrection was needed to overcome death. At the first Easter in our lifetime, when the shroud of death is over all the world, all nations, all regions, all humans, we have hope on account of the resurrection of Jesus of overcoming Covid -19 and the threat of death. Instead of being cowed down in fear, bowed down in sadness, Jesus asks us to rejoice in Him, rejoice in His resurrection, rejoice in the hope of the eternal and abundant life we have in Him.

Every day after writing this devotion, I lie for sometime at the feet of Jesus to worship Him. It is a sign of total surrender of our lives. At this time, He lifts the burdens that hinder our character, the fears that hinder our faith. We are asked by scripture to cast our burdens at His feet and cast away the burdens that distract or hinder our faith. When fears, worries and sins are lifted, we are able to rejoice in Jesus. He extends His nail-pierced hands to lift our burdens, our fears and worries. We get to know the truth and we are set free by Him.

The disciples were returning to their home town in Galilee. They were burdened by the grief at his death. Jesus met them on the way and asked them not just not to grieve Him but to rejoice at His resurrection, the ultimate victory He had won over sin and death. Till then sin had reigned in man’s life through death but hereafter, grace will reign through righteousness. Jesus was going to reign in their hearts through His righteous word. When we are going our way, Jesus will meet us and ask us to rejoice, not to be weighed down by the world and its burdens. He gives us a lighter yoke or responsibility to bear. We do not have to change the world or even ourselves. We only need to surrender to Him. We need to yield to and not resist or resent purposive suffering or suffering that has a purpose to glorify God, to refine our character, increase our patience, make our testimony more effective and impactful. We have the example of Jesus who yielded to the cross but glorified God and brought potentially all mankind to God. The world was not made for Covid virus to rule through fear and death. It was made for man to rule through grace. By His resurrection, Jesus proved for all time that He has absolute power and authority over life and over death. Jesus now vests His resurrection power in us.

Be Thou Perfect

UV 3502/10000 Be Thou Perfect

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said,
I am God Almighty; Walk habitually before Me ( with integrity, knowing that you are always in My presence), and be blameless and complete ( in obedience to Me).

Genesis 17 v 1

Abram was set a goal by God – “be thou perfect.” It is surprising that this goal was set for him not when he was a young man but when he was aged, showing that it is never too late to try to be perfect. Jesus later made this applicable to every believer, “Be perfect because Your Father in heaven is perfect.” James, the apostle wrote that the one who has control over his tongue is perfect. The Lord desires perfection in His children. In all our habits, we are to aim for perfection. Knowing that we are always in His presence, we are to aim for perfection in our speech, our behaviour, our actions and reactions. Perfection is not superficial. It is to be blameless not only in the eyes of fellow humans but in the all-seeing, all-knowing sight of God. We can evade the sight of man by wearing different types of masks but the Lord sees the working of our hearts and minds. He understands our every thought and emotion. Perfection grows on us as we increase in our obedience of the Lord and His word. Obedience, the uni-verse says, has to be complete or total and uncompromising in every area of our lives. There is to be no dichotomy of our private life that God sees and knows and our public life which we manifest or reveal to others.

The challenge for us is how can we be perfect in a grossly imperfect world. The standards of speech, behaviour and integrity of the world are different from that indicated in the word of God. This is where Paul’s dictum is relevant that we should not conform to the world but be transformed from within by the renewal of our minds by our constant reading, studying, meditating and applying the Word of God in our daily lives. If our speech is to be perfected, we need to constantly measure our speech against the guidelines written in the Word, for instance, Paul’s golden rule written in the letter to the Ephesians, “ Let your speech be wholesome, edifying and equipping” the hearer to be faithful. Again Paul wrote, “Speak the truth in a spirit of love..”


We cannot be perfect on our own strength. We need the grace or help of God. Nothing is impossible for Him and He can make it possible for us to control our tongues, our passions, develop healthy, clean and disciplined habits. We need the Holy Spirit by our side to guide and prod us in the right direction. To try to be perfect is to do our utmost to be like Christ, to imitate Him. Imitating Christ is the highest and most acceptable form of worship of God.

The Joy of Victory

UV 3503/10000 The Joy of Victory
The Lord your God is in your midst,
A Warrior who saves.
He will rejoice over you with joy;
He will be quiet in His love ( making no mention of your past sins)’
He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.

Zephaniah 3 v 17


The Lord God is in our midst not as a warrior who steals, robs or kills but as a warrior who saves. Jesus is the Saviour- Warrior. We do not have to fight any war alone, including the current war against the pandemic Covid-19 alone. The most difficult war is fighting an invisible enemy. The invisible enemy is almost invincible. But the Saviour- Warrior is in our midst as the Invisible Invincible. Without making much noise or much ado, He saves us in every crisis, individual or collective, that we face. We may have struggles in life but He guarantees us victory in the end. The greater the struggle, the bigger the challenge, the greater the joy, the bigger the rewards of victory.

Jesus knows we are sinners saved by His grace. He does not remind us of our sinful past, the mistakes we made. Instead, He rejoices over us as if we had never committed mistakes or sins. We are His trophies, His emblems of victory. He rejoices over every individual He saves as if he alone matters like the good Shepherd who rejoices over saving a lost sheep. Therefore, we can face life’s challenges with courage, confidence and joyfully. We are more than conquerors or warriors for the latter need to fight on their own strength and resources while the Lord fights on our behalf as long as we repose faith and trust in Him and His word.

The enemy of our souls attempts constantly to steal our peace, our joy, our health, our finances, our well being. He does it stealthily and sometimes even violently like a robber. Sometimes, his attacks and assaults are murderous. He weakens us by reminding us of our sinful past. But, Jesus is in our midst as a powerful lion, a great warrior whom no one can thwart. Our faith in Him is our shield and His word our sword, the unsheathed sword we declare with our mouths in faith.

Riding A Donkey

UV 3500/10000 Riding a Donkey

And they brought the donkey and the colt, and placed their coats on them; and Jesus sat on the coats.

Matthew 21 v 7


In the Hebrew tradition, the donkey was the preferred vehicle of transport and not the horse like in most cultures around the world. The donkey was used to carry kings like Saul, David, Solomon, prophets like Elijah. It was also used to carry bread or wheat. The Messiah, also according to the prophet Zechariah would come riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. So even while a colt was available, perhaps as an escort, Jesus rode on the donkey. The donkey, quite surprisingly, represents the authority of the Word (Bread) of God. It also represented humility and stability. We are riding a donkey, implying that we are basing our lives and our faith on the authority of the Word of God. We are to be stubborn about our convictions and beliefs based on scripture even as God is certain about His Word and His promises contained therein. We should be like Balaam’s donkey that did not budge even when its master beat it and cajoled it. We should not move to the right or the left of the path that the Word indicates to us.
The expression that has biblical origin- ploughing with the donkey implies that one needs to rely on the word of God, the knowledge of God. This is in sharp contrast with ploughing with the cow, which implies relying on human intellect and knowledge. Though God’s knowledge and ways are higher than man’s ways, God deliberately positions lower than the ways of men. Jesus, though the Son of God and destined to take His place as the Highest King, Highest Priest, Highest Prophet is positioned physically far below all other kings, prophets and priests. He does not have a royal upbringing like Moses, the other great prophet. In the book of Deuteronomy, God forbids yoking the donkey and the cow together to plough. When we mix the ways and knowledge of God with the ways and knowledge of man, we are unwittingly yoking the donkey and the cow and are trying to plough with this incongruous combination. It is like standing with our feet in two boats or on two stools. Instead, we should ride the donkey, stable, certain, sedate and not finicky, moody, proud and temperamental like the horse. A horse can drop its rider either accidentally or intentionally out of a fit of temper or irritability but not so a donkey. It may not move as fast as we would like but it would get us to our destination.


Man chooses the obvious or what strikes the eye as good, the mind as interesting while God chooses the less obvious- what strikes the heart as good. We humans prefer beauty over content, charisma over wisdom. The donkey represented a deliberate choice. An animal that is usually ill treated and looked down upon in all nations except Israel. Jesus chose fishermen and ordinary people as His disciples not scholars. He chose to die for mankind and not allow mankind to die. He chose to accept death penalty on our behalf so that we do not suffer eternal death. Following Jesus is not the glamourous option, not the most obvious choice but it remains the best option.

Personal Protection 360 Degrees

UV 3499/10000 Personal Protection 360 Degrees
Keep me ( in Your affectionate care, protect me) as the apple of Your eye; Hide me in the (protective) shadow of Your wings.

Psalm 17 v 8

This is David’s prayer for protection from his oppressors. He spoke the prayer sincerely from guileless lips. He expected the Lord to vindicate him. He promised not to allow his mouth to transgress. He committed himself to stay away from the paths of the violent. Yet he know that many deadly enemies surrounded him, waiting to track him and tear him apart. He cried for the Lord’s protection. He wanted the Lord to encircle him like the eyelids cover the pupil, the apple of the eye. He desired 360 degrees protection or all round protection. The Lord does not just have our backs but He hems us in all sides like a hedge. The enemy, also, tries to penetrate that hedge to attempt to ruin the vineyard of our loving relationship with the Lord by using the little foxes of our own fallen nature.

The Lord’s protection of His people is personal, intimate, comprehensive. He protects us as we are loved by Him. When we are the pupil of God’s eye, we perceive our threats and dangers accurately, ahead of time and effectively. Having perceived the threat, we can take refuge or hide in the wings of the Lord. The enemy is more than a match for us. He is cunning, malevolent, dangerous as a thief, a robber and a murderer, all rolled into one. He operates through many human agents as well as spirits. We need to be aware of his machinations and plots to harm or destroy us, our testimony, our health, our future. We need to have a sensitive spiritual radar to track the moves of the enemy at any given point in our lives. Then, we need to take cover under the promise of protection of the Lord and hide in him even as the pupil hides under the eyelids when it perceives any direct hit or hurt to the eye.

The Lord holds out the guarantee of protection to us by saying, “ Whoever touches or harms you is touching the apple of My eye.” Our threats and enemies may be visible or invisible, spiritual or physical, known or unknown but the Lord promises to take them on. It is as if we are part of Him, part of His body, as it were. If a small part is hurt, the whole body is hurt. Hence, if we are hurt or threatened, it is as if the Lord is hurt or threatened. The consequences can be deadly for those who unjustly seek our harm. Once we have a right standing or a personal relationship with the Lord, it becomes His responsibility to safeguard us.

Crisis Management- the Christ Way

UV 3498/10000 Crisis Management- the Christ Way

But when he saw (the effects of ) the wind, he was frightened, and he began to sink, and he cried out, “Lord, save me!
Matthew 14 v 30

No boat or no human can be on an even keel all the time. Just as a glass with some liquid spills it content when shaken by some external force, we reveal what lies within us at times of such crisis- whether it is faith or doubt. Peter was not testing Jesus when he said, ‘If it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” He had a doubt like the other disciples that it was an apparition or ghost for as John records in his gospel, the boat was in the center of the Sea of Galilee or about five to six miles from the shore where Jesus had disembarked. From their practical experience, a human cannot walk that far on water . It had to logically be a ghost or spirit that is lighter than water and can walk on it. When Jesus said, “Come!” Peter started walking on the water in faith and confidence in the authority and power of Jesus even over nature for just a little while ago, Peter had witnessed how Jesus had fed a multitude of hungry people with five loaves and two fish.

But the moment Peter took His eyes off Jesus and focused on the raging wind and waves, he lost his confidence, his faith and his balance. He began to sink. Likewise, in any crisis like the current world-wide crisis affecting all nations, organisations, corporations, individuals, we who are followers of Jesus should keep our eyes focused not on the symptoms, the statistics, the statements by various agencies and experts, the hundreds of posts on whatsapp and other social media but on Jesus and His word. We must not allow doubt to belittle, adulterate our faith and weaken it.
Walking on water is a metaphor for doing the supernatural, the impossible in our lives. Christ is in us and with us in the midst of the crisis even as He was with the disciples in the boat as it was rocked by the storm. Christ walked on water as He wanted to be with the disciples and save them from the storm. Likewise, He rushes to us wherever we are in a crisis. The moment Jesus and Peter entered the boat, the storm subsided. The presence of Jesus is sufficient to release His power and grace to resolve any crisis we may face in our lives. We need to learn crisis management – the Christ way. Jesus remained calm and confident that things were under His control. We, too need to be calm and confident that the Lord is in control regardless of the circumstances. We should not allow either doubt or fear to rule our hearts and minds. Our eyes should not be on the cause but on the solution- the grace of God.