Lead Us Not Into Temptation but Into Excellence

UV 3632/10000 Lead Us Not Into Temptation but into Excellence I have heard of you, that a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you. Daniel 5 v 14 Daniel was recognized by successive kings as one who had the spirit of excellence, the very Spirit of God. Though the king used the plural, “gods,” he was not far wrong. Daniel’s reputation preceded him and brought him into the presence of the king, fulfilling the word of God that says, “ The one who excels will stand before kings.” Daniel had illumination or anointing of the Holy Spirit. He had insight and extraordinary wisdom to be able to decode mysteries and solve complex problems, a handy resource for any administrator charged with the affairs of state. Daniel spurned the rewards the king offered. He was not tempted by the loaves and fishes of office. He had elevated himself by many spiritual disciplines not to succumb to the mundane temptations that most men in his position and stature would have been tempted to fall for. His intelligence was not natural but of a higher order of spiritual intelligence. From the days of his youth, he had trained and disciplined his appetite for the finer things of this world. He preferred to fear and serve Jehovah, the God of his ancestors. The Lord had in return invested immense and amazing wisdom and gifts of discernment in him. It is sad to read this morning that many gifted leaders and teachers have fallen prey to the temptations of the flesh. The enemy had seen the chinks in their spiritual armour. Due to certain subtle weaknesses, the Lord allowed them to be tempted so. That is why we pray as Jesus taught us, “Lead us not into temptation.” God is not one who tempts anyone. But when our pride, our reliance on our natural gifts or charisma or influence increases beyond our dependence on godly wisdom, He allows us to be tempted. Hence, St Paul also beat himself not that there is any merit in self mortification but there is a need to be always aware that we are fallible people, the enemy knows where the clay in our feet exists and targets it.

Altar Ye Go

UV 3631/10000 Altar Ye Go Then Isaac planted seed in that land as a farmer and reaped in the same year a hundred times as much as he had planted, and the Lord blessed and favoured him. Genesis 26 v 12 What the righteous plant, God multiplies. What the unrepentant, the envious plant perishes. The latter will plant wheat and reap thorns. They will exhaust themselves without seeing profit from their labour. Their harvest will put them to shame. Not so those who fear, trust and love the Lord. Like Isaac, they will reap a hundred fold of whatever they plant. Our efforts are our seed. Our words are our seed. Our plans are our seed. Whatever is in seed form today will in due time become crops and fruit. Scripture records that his enemies made peace with him. He obtained the favour of local chieftain Abimelech who offered him guarantee of protection. Even with a single angel Michael protects His own against even an army that has risen against them. Isaac became great and distinguished on account of the favour of the Lord upon him. When the Lord smiles on us, we will prosper. The wicked and those who do not understand will gnash their teeth in envy. The foes of Isaac tried to block his blessings by filling with dirt the wells dug by his father Abraham but Isaac uncovered these. Likewise, our contemporaries may throw dirt at us but the Lord will ensure we are unscathed and blessed. The Lord will move us from Esek, the place where disputes arose and hence, Isaac called it Quarrel. He will move us to broad places called Rehoboth, or the spacious, the unconstrained or unrestricted. We need to pitch our tent in the Lord’s favour, offer Him our wholehearted worship and gratitude for His presence with us. We do not have to fear the future or what it brings for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (past, present and future) is with us. We have no alter ego or person we greatly admire for our hearts are dedicated to be altars to the Lord God. When the Lord dwells and rules in our hearts, we say to our egos, “Ye Go” and our egos will go with our pride, sinfulness, deceit, fears and the Lord, the Great I am comes with us. God does not want our resources, talents, abilities. He only needs our hearts of commitment and love. Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice to God. The Lord declined it. But Isaac offered up his heart to God. The Lord accepted it and blessed, multiplied and caused him to rejoice as his very name means.

The Passion for Christ

UV 3630/10000. The Passion for Christ Put me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm; For love is as strong as death, jealousy is as severe and cruel as Sheol ( the place of the dead) it flashes are flashes of fire, ( a most vehement flame, the very flame of the Lord)! Song of Solomon 8 v 6 Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords has signed and sealed us who believe in Him. We are His signet rings, the ring of authority used by rulers of old to stamp a decision or decree. Once it is sealed or signed, it is irrevocable, unbreakable. God’s agape love has caused this to happen. The power of His love is released in us and through us to break the power of death. His love is jealous, implying that when we spend hours with others and on other matters of our work or private lives but rush through mere minutes with Him, we are offending Him, hurting Him. On the contrary, we please Him when we spend hours in prayer, fellowship, worship, meditation. He will adorn us on His fingers as a signet ring. Our hearts desires or wishes, our prayers will be like His command. God is compassionate in His love but He is also a consuming fire. He requires of us what is rightly and justly His- our hearts. He needs our wholehearted allegiance as a King, commitment as His lover, not our treasures, not our possessions, not our abilities. When we withhold these from Him, we provoke Him to passion, to “jealousy”. It will burn like a fire, an inexhaustible flame till His will is done for He is sovereign. He has written our names on His nail-pierced palms, our image or selfies are on His heart. Do we offend His sensibilities and sensitivities with just a backward glance or ignore Him when we should be focusing on His eternal beauty, His enduring goodness, His multidimensional incomprehensible infinite love. We need to inscribe our vision of Jesus on our hearts. Our hearts once sealed cannot be wooed and won by the deceiver, the enemy. He uses not melted wax but His shed blood to seal us and all who are ours, all that is ours. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit is a witness within whether we just go through the motions of outward religion, light joss sticks to His picture or whether we treasure the living Saviour in our hearts, whether we value His blessings over the One who has so blessed us. When we are so blessed by Him, it will provoke the jealousy or envy of even our brothers as did Joseph's anointing from childhood provoked his eleven brothers to shoot arrows at him. But the Lord who loves us with more power than inexorable death, more passion than consuming fire, will shield us from every flaming arrow of the enemy. Even as He distinguishes us in His love, He extinguishes the scorching flame of evil triggered by jealousy.

Our Reliance on the Quiet Spring

UV 3629/1000 Our Reliance on the Quiet Spring Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoice in Rezin ( the king of Aram) and Remaliah’s son (Pekiah the king of Israel), Isaiah 8 v 6 We are like the people of Judah (Praise) for we are a people formed to praise God, to trust in Him and His word as the people of Jerusalem relied on the perennial spring of Shiloam for sustenance. We rely on the Lord for our protection and our sustenance. We do not rely on human networks or relationships, on the arm of flesh for our strength or our provision. We trust in the promises of the Lord. We do not rely on the world and worldly prowess. The prophet Isaiah compares the tendency of people to shift their allegiance and reliance to the “mighty Euphrates” and hence, they would be allowed to be carried away by the overflowing waters of the river of history. Those who take counsel together against us will come to nothing. We are not to fear them but we should fear the Lord and not what man can do to us. Jesus will become to those who believe a rock of foundation and strength to those who believe and a stumbling stone to those who reject Him. He is our dawn, our Morning Star, our hope of another day. He is a sanctuary, a cornerstone, an indestructible shelter for all who choose to hide in Him. He will never hide Himself like the sun behind clouds. He is the eternal spring of Shiloam as well as the Rock of ages as He alone conquered or overcame death after surrendering meekly to it. He is the only One who overcame the twin eternal challenges of humanity before which all humanity bowed- sin and death and its accompanying emotions of shame and sorrow. He manifested Himself not as mighty river like the Euphrates but as a quietly flowing spring that never dries up, that quenches our thirst for eternal life. We wait for the Lord even when He is not seen. We will persist in looking eagerly for Him. The children ( spiritual or natural) God has given us and we, ourselves are signs and wonders that the Lord of hosts performs in the commonwealth of Israel, nations united in faith upon the name of Jesus. We dwell with Jesus on Mount Zion, a place of strength, a place of victory, a place of peace, a place of eternal rest.

The Rock of Ages

UV 3628/10000 The Rock of Ages For their rock is not like our Rock, even our enemies themselves judge this. Deuteronomy 32 v 31 Rock is a symbol of strength and stability. Different people choose different rocks or sources of strength. It constitutes the fulcrum of support of their lives. But in our case, the Rock has chosen us and not the other way around. He is the Rock that is much higher than us. Even our enemies, those who oppose us know that He is different and formidable. Our faith in Jesus is our force multiplier. With such faith, we can put a thousand to flight. Two believers united in prayer can put ten thousand to flight. Nothing can shake us and our faith while all else can be shaken. The Lord Himself is our source of strength, comfort, healing, deliverance, protection. He is unchanging like a rock and consistent in keeping His promises to us. We can depend on Him to defend us in every situation and circumstance of life. He can melt the foundations of the mountains or strongholds of our adversaries. Yet He upholds us with His might right arm. Our sense of security and contentment is fixed and focussed on the Lord. He is the locus or center of our lives. Everything we think, speak and do rotates around Him. We are like satellites held in place by His gravitational force. We can choose to rotate around Him in near orbit or in perihelion or the distant orbit. In fact, He is the only one we do not have to maintain social distance but the more intimate we are with Him, the better off we are. The song says it all, “ You are my Rock – all else is sinking sand.” His love and commitment to us is constant and stable. His mercy and faithfulness to us is unchanging and manifests itself in a variety of ways in our everyday lives. Nothing being permanent in our lives, we should pitch the tent of our lives on the Rock of Jesus. The rocks or sources of strength of others will give them up easily but not so, Jesus. No one can deliver from His hand but He can deliver us from anyone’s hand.

The Secret of Strength

UV 3627/10000 The Secret of Strength For our fathers did not possess the land of Canaan by their own sword nor did their own arm save them, but Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence, because You favoured and delighted in them. Psalm 44 v 3 We have not succeeded in life on account of our own actions or strength or ability or hard work. We have been victorious as the Lord flashed His light upon us. He used His sword to sharpen us and to put our enemies to shame. He has ransomed us for the sake of His great love through Jesus, His Son. He has freed us. He commands victory and deliverance for us. He tramples those who rise against us like a raging bull. With one hand, He uproots and with the other, He plants. With one hand, He lifts up and the other He lowers, with one hand, He blesses, with the other He afflicts. With one hand, He tears down that which needs to be torn down and with the other He builds. With one hand, He creates, with the other He destroys. With one hand, He heals, with the other He afflicts. His word like His sword is double edged. We do not rely on our weapons or horses or chariots. We rely on the God of Israel who sees our every struggle and delivers us. We respond to the great love and grace of our Lord by continually boasting of what He has done in our lives. None of it is an empty boast but testimony or evidence of what He has actually done in our lives, the things we have seen, heard and experienced in our lives. We also remember what He has done in the lives of our fathers and fathers of faith and give thanks to the Lord. He has led us to a filling and an overflowing. He is the One who lifts our heads and satisfies us with the greatness and goodness of His agape love. He uproots the ones who oppose us without reason or tyrannises us without justification. His presence is both an overpowering light and a soothing shadow, a comforting joy. We do not rely on an arm of flesh or a sword of steel to defend us. We depend on the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, the One who left heaven for earth to save, defend and restore us from the hands of the enemy. Having come so far to save us, he gives us unflinching, unstinted support in all our endeavours. We who believe do all things in His name for His glory and by His grace. Hence, we have no reason to boast of our own strength or power or wisdom.

The Spoils of War

UV 3626/10000 The Spoils of War Asa called out to the Lord his God, saying, “O Lord, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and the weak; so help us, O Lord our God, for we trust in and rely on You, and in Your name we have come against this multitude O Lord, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.” 2 Chronicles 14 v 11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of God. He did not compromise with man but rather, He trusted the promise of God fully. He commanded his people to seek the Lord wholeheartedly, obey Him fully, and to observe the law given through Moses. God gave him peace on all sides. When an enemy rose against him with a massive army from Ethipia, he cried out to the Lord with this uni-verse. He knew that God alone could help him against such a formidable foe. His army was outnumbered by almost half. He knew that God helps the weak against the powerful. He pleaded that man should not prevail against God. The Lord heard the cry of Asa and struck the army of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian army fled and was routed. If we do not flout the law of God, He will rout our enemies. There is no other route to victory for us. We need to seek the Lord like Asa all our lives with all our hearts and minds and strength. This is equal to loving Him with all our being- the first commandment which if we seek, the Lord will add all things to us. It needs to be ingrained and integrated in our daily schedules to seek the Lord as a vital daily necessity, not an occasional luxury. Asa and his army benefitted from the large spoils of the defeated Ethiopian army. The enemy likewise tries to spoil our plan but the Lord will foil it and give him into our hands as our spoil or reward. The Lord is with us if we are with Him. If we leave Him, He will also leave and forsake us as the lessons of biblical history show. We should be strong and not lose courage, hope, faith. The Lord will surely reward our work of faith.

Turning Our Hearts Back to the Father

UV 3625/10000 Turning Our Hearts Back to The Father He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers ( a reconciliation produced by repentance), so that I will not come and strike the land with a curse (of complete destruction) Malachi 4 v 6 This uni-verse is the last verse in the Old Testament and it is the last thing the Lord, God and Father in heaven spoke to humankind for four hundred years before the birth of His Son and Messiah Jesus. Indeed, the heart of the Father in heaven had turned toward His children on earth who were created in His image. It was almost as if the Lord was in deep thought for four hundred years, thinking and planning to do something to turn the hearts of mankind back to Him. The hearts of mankind had been hardened by sin, disobedience and disbelief. Now it had to be softened or broken through repentance, belief and obedience. The greatest reconciliation or healing of relationships that is needed is the reconciliation with our Father in heaven. Once that happens everything else will fall in place. Ohter reconciliations between man and man, man and woman, man and his offspring, man and nature will follow. When believers pray to the Father in heaven in the name of the Son, Jesus, we are turning the heart of the Father to his lost as well as found children on earth. The ones who had taken their share of their inheritance and moved away from Him as well as the ones who had returned or were returning to Him. Love is tough and sometimes the Lord has to allow us to go through much strife and many struggles before we are ready or prepared to return to Him. The alternative to us turning our hearts back to the Father is to face the curse(s) of disobedience, disbelief, distrust. Indeed, the global covid 19 pandemic is a call to repentance of both the church and the world, for hardened hearts to repent and change. God does not curse us but our disobedience and disbelief itself brings its load of hamartia or shortcomings in our lives. We condemn ourselves to eternal destruction for the prodigal son needed to return to the father in order to be saved from his misery. Only the Father knows what our hearts need to be healed, to be delivered, to be blessed. While we as sentient beings want to enjoy our rights, to prosper in the flesh, pander to our senses, the Lord knows our deeper need is a healing of our hearts, to turn back to Him. Our deeper need is to prosper in our souls, not for a lifetime but forever. This we know can only be done or provided for by the Father in heaven which He has done through His older Son Jesus. Unlike the older son in the parable of Jesus, Jesus is the older son who rejoices and longs for the return of all the Father’s children to His loving embrace. Not only does He rejoice but He provided or paid for our passage too.

Ability with Stability

UV 3624/10000 Ability with Stability The servant said to him, “Look here, in this city is a man of God, and the man is held in high honour; everything that he says comes true. Now let us go there perhaps he can advice us about the journey and tell us where we should go.” I Samuel 9 v 6 Saul, the son of Kish, a man of considerable wealth and influence who belonged to the tribe of Benjamin was in search of something mundane like his father’s donkeys. Sometimes, we too lose something, it is possible the Lord is leading us to some higher ground. When they were frustrated about not finding the donkeys that had strayed away, the servant of Saul advices him to meet the prophet and man of God, Samuel. Likewise, when we are reaching a dead end in any of our pursuits, we should seek out the man of God who can pray and counsel us. Samuel had already received an intimation the day before of a young man of the tribe of Benjamin who would be anointed king of Israel. The people of Israel wanted a king like all other neighbouring lands. They did not heed the warnings of the Lord given through Samuel that any human king would exploit them, mislead, abuse power and privilege. But as the people insisted and wanted to go beyond the perfect will of God, the Lord allowed His permissive will to operate. The spirit of the Lord rested on Saul who was head and shoulders above his peers in his personality and ability. The lesson we learn from the example of the kings of Israel recorded in the scriptures is that for good leadership, we need to have mental ability coupled with emotional stability. We will have ability and stability only if we rely on the leading of the Spirit of the Lord and depend on His word to lead and guide us in all our ways. Power will then neither tempt us nor corrupt us. Some of us are to play the role of Samuel to be king makers or those who anoint leaders for our nations in different realms. The Lord will anoint us as seers or prophets to the nations and what we say will come true. As a result, people will honour and respect us, knowing the Lord is with us and favours us with His wisdom and grace. They will come to us for something as mundane as the loss of something valuable in their lives, to find out how and where they should continue their journey of life.

The Power of Worship and Godly Speech

UV 3623/10000 The Power of Worship and Godly Speech My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my psalm to the King, My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer. Psalm 45 v 1 The good theme that our hearts should overflow with is praise of the King of Kings, Jesus. The whole psalm describes the wedding of the Bridegroom and King with His bride, the church. Our tongues are to be totally disciplined that it becomes inert like a pen and under the control of the speaker, who uses it in a wholesome way to praise God. There is the power of life and death in the tongue, scripture rightly says. A certain gentleman who said whimsically that he wants more suffering, had affliction visited upon him within less than a week as he invited such trouble with his words. We not only need to be careful not to speak or pray the wrong thing but to address our words of praise and worship to the Lord. The skills of communication involve the aural, the oral and the written forms. What the heart is full of, the mouth will speak. Hence, we should be careful what we listen to. The aural leads up to the oral. I recall a fillipism I wrote some time back that finds a place in my first volume, Fillipisms, “ What we store in our hearts becomes our story.” We eat out of the fullness of the words we speak. The best and purest form of communication is to address our words to the Lord in worship, thanksgiving and praise. Worship is out of a sense of awe of the Lord. We might even be short of words to describe the Lord, His goodness and His grace but the Holy Spirit will lay the words we need on our hearts and tongues. Our words should be gracious like those of Jesus, reflecting His glory, not deflecting it. Our lips are anointed like those of priests so that our words keep people from perishing for want of hope. At the same time, our words can be like sharp arrows, aimed accurately and powerfully to penetrate the hearts of men. Our words get the power from the righteousness, truth, humility in which these are embedded. It should bring forth the aroma of the presence of God, of Jesus. Our words are the leaves that are meant for the healing of the nations.

The Proud Tree and the Lowly Creeper

UV 3622/10000 The Proud Tree and the Lowly Creeper “All the trees of the field will know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will fulfil it.” Ezekiel 17 v 24 In a time of prayer recently, the Lord revealed that the believer is like a flourishing money plant creeper that grows above the tree that supports it, with very large green and yellow leaves that eventually rise above the tree, almost as if it is shaming the tree for the tree cannot be seen anymore. The tall tree dries up but the lowly creeper flourishes. The interpretation of this vision is that the tall tree stands for the world’s systems including the governmental system, the influential persons, the giants of society and the economy and so on. These appear to flourish today but will eventually dry up. These are meant as a support for the lowly creeper whose roots are in Him, who is planted in good soil, watered continually by Him with the water of the word. The lowly vine will turn its roots towards the Lord, its leaves towards Him and it will bear fruit for His glory. No strong arm or force of this world can uproot it for it is a planting of the Lord to reveal His splendour. Its leaves will not wither, implying the thoughts and words of the faithful and godly will prosper till these are fulfilled in His time. The branches turned in submission, implying that in all aspect of our lives, we submit to the Lord’s will and in keeping with this vision. The Lord can make a green tree or someone who now seems to be successful and prosperous to dry up or disappear overnight. He can also cause a dry tree to begin to sprout green leaves and branches and flourish once again. He is the God of new beginnings. He can break off twigs or branches and plant a branch also on the highest mountain to have a fresh start. It implies that we need to be faithful, humble and submissive to the sovereign will of the Lord and honour His word with trust and obedience. We should not trust the broken systems of this world or make an unholy alliance with it though the Lord uses it to give us support whenever and wherever we need it.

Better than At Our Beginning

UV 3621/10000 Better than At Our Beginning I will multiply on you man and animal; and they will increase and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly, and I will do better (things) for you than at your beginning. Then you will know (with greater confidence) that I am the Lord. Ezekiel 36 v 11 The Lord promises to do better for His faithful than before. He executed the new covenant as a better covenant of love than the Mosai covenant of law. The law was not abolished or done away but every requirement was perfectly fulfilled by love. Likewise, in our individual and personal walk with the Lord, He promises to do better things than before. He has in mind our plans and our hopes and He executes His will to fulfill our aspirations and expectations much better and higher than we can possibly think or imagine. The Lord promises to multiply our blessings in the latter days of our lives with the latter rain of His outpouring. Having tasted of His abundant grace in a variety of ways and circumstances, we should not wait for the promises to be fulfilled but fill our hearts and minds with thanksgiving, praise and worship of the awesomeness of the Lord. He will not allow affliction to come upon us a second time as in the manner before. We might have many difficulties to endure, many challenges to overcome but we need to be ever confident that the Lord is faithful and able to do that which He promised us. When the Lord Himself inhabits us, we should not feel inhibited or limited. We are filled with hope and assurance that the word He has spoken to us personally will be fulfilled in His time. He is the source of our victory and our provision. He is not tight fisted in blessing us. He uses the measure we give of us to multiply. Sometimes, He might place an obstacle on our path like a king who wanted to see the reaction of his people. The king placed a boulder and under it a bag of gold coins. Most of the passersby skirted the boulder and went their way. But a simple peasant decided to set aside whatever he was carrying and spent time and effort to shift the boulder out of the road onto the sides. He found to his surprise the bag of gold coins with a note from the king, “This is your reward for facing up to the obstacle and removing it from the path.”

Dry Bones -Disease and Remedy

UV 3620/10000 Dry Bones -Disease and Remedy Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is lost. We are completely cut off.” Ezekiel 37 v 11 Our bones represent the foundations of our lives. Without hope and specifically, hope of eternal life, the bones of all mankind, not just of Israel, are dried up. The different parts of our lives become disconnected and disjointed like the bones of a skeleton. Our bones are our hidden parts like our souls and spirits. We seldom think about its nourishment and upkeep. The ligaments that hold the bones and connect them also die over time. Once a man puts his trust in Jesus as His Saviour, his hope is revived that he will be raised up from the grave. Hence, Paul wrote this famous line, “Christ in us is the hope of glory.” In other words, faith in Christ produces the hope of eternal and glorious life. Eternal life begins the moment we trust in the name and the finished work of Jesus on the cross. So we have a foretaste of the glory of heaven while we live on earth. But whatever we taste of it here and now is only a shadow or image of the real experience in the kingdom of heaven. Signs of dried bones are worry, depression, disunity, lack of purpose and power, feeling enervated and having no sense of direction in life. We do not even know we are alive as President Trump said of Joe Biden yesterday in a campaign speech. We are not in touch with our Creator and Redeemer. We are not thankful or grateful for the myriad blessings the Lord has bestowed on us even without our seeking or asking for it. When Jesus comes into our hearts, the spiritual marrow of our bones is revived. Scripture says that meditation on the Word of God makes our bones strong and vibrant. Scripture is like coagulated sunshine of God’s love and mercy that we intake. Hence, we get enough of the spiritual equivalent of Vitamin D that strengthens our bones. Vitamin D is also a metaphor for devotion to God, determination to pursue God-set goals and priorities, diligence in studying the word, discipline in our daily routine. When all this is in place, we will have no shortage of the oxygen of life-giving, life enhancing hope. We do not have to wait for the ventilator ( in these Covid times) to ventilate or express our faith and hope in Christ for we would be doing it continually and daily.

Handiwork of God

UV 3619/10000. Handiwork of God For we are God’s handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2 v 10 God has created us in the mould of the Prototype Jesus, His first born Son. We are to resemble Him not in our physical appearance but in His character, communication and conduct. From the foundation of the universe, the Lord has prepared the prototype, the master design in which we are created. We are not machine-made replicas that roll of an assembly line of heaven but we are carefully, beautifully, woven together cell by cell, organ by organ in our mothers’ wombs. The purpose of our creation is two fold: one, to be in the image of Christ and two, to do good works like Him. This is the good life, philosophers of yore spoke and wrote about. We were created in the image of God, the Father with knowledge and wisdom but since we are autonomous, we chose to depart from His ways. On account of His great, inexplicable and incomprehensible love of God for the crown of His creation, mankind, He then set about re-creating or redeeming us in the image of Christ, His anointed Son. Now, we live our lives with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. We are now being moulded in the image of the Son by the Holy Spirit who is like a spiritual sculptor who uses the chisel of the word and the spirit to prompt, to inspire good deeds like Jesus. Hence, there is the participation of the three persons of the Trinity in our creation, redemption and transformation. Our faith in Christ is the root that connects us to the three, the good root. The Holy Spirit overshadows us like He did Mary, the mother as a virgin, induces the growth with the watering of the word that softens the hard soil of our hearts inured hitherto to sin. Instead of being pregnant with sin or full of sin, we now become pregnant with good thoughts, ideas and good deeds like Jesus. The foretypes of Christ Jesus were Joseph, Moses, Joshua. Today, the Lord has destined that we are the post types of Jesus, similar to Jesus but each an unique masterpiece filled with the Master’s peace.

Being on the Same Frequency as the Lord

UV 3618/10000. Being on the Same Frequency as the Lord Behold God will not reject a man of integrity, nor will He strengthen or support evildoers. Job 8 v 20 The Lord blesses the way of the righteous or faithful in Christ. He will fill his mouth with laughter and his lips with joyful words. Such a person seeks God, enquires of Him in all matters and for all decisions. He does great and unsearchable things, marvelous things without number. The Lord will not reject such a person. He walks in the favour of the Lord. He is always covered by the presence or shadow of the Lord. Like a shadow never ever leaves a person, He always follows the faithful. Light causes a shadow when it falls on an object. Likewise, when the light of His word falls on us, it causes the presence of the Almighty and Triune God to cover us. We need to internalize His commands, precepts and teachings, the prodding of the Holy Spirit. We need to be diligent in both listening or heeding His word, retaining it in our minds and hearts, paying attention or focusing on it. Then, the Lord will manifest Himself to us in our every heart beat as CPR or Creator, Provider and Redeemer. Jesus is the be-in-all, end -of- all CPR. When we rejoice in the Lord and His continual presence with us even as Mary rejoiced in listening at His feet and fawning, not feigning, on every word. The Lord loves to spend time with us, talking with us, sharing the ageless and timeless truths that He alone can teach. We are on the same frequency as the Lord like a tuning fork that resonates to a sound of the same frequency. Our hearts matches the beat of the heart of the Matchless One. His presence is our reward. His presents are only incidental.

Teething Love

UV 3617/10000. Teething Love Your teeth are like a flock of ewes which have come up from their washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them has lost her young. Song of Solomon 6 v 6 We would have heard of teething troubles but not teething love. The first time I heard and focused on this uni-verse was when prophetic prayer was being uttered about a sister in faith a few years ago. I realized the extent of love of the Lord for her and indeed, for each of us. He knows and loves and cares for every intimate part of our lives. He has formed us not only fearfully and wonderfully but He has transformed us with His unfathomable love, a glimpse of its depth we find in this uni-verse. A few years later that sister died in a tragic mishap and her frontal teeth were broken in it. That was a sign that though the Lord loved her and because the Lord loved her, the enemy had targeted her like a cunning fox tries to prey on a sheep loved by the Shepherd. The enemy, Jesus told us plainly in words and not in a parable, is a killer, robber and thief. He is always targeting the faithful. Our response to the agape love of God that counts the very teeth in our mouths is to walk in intimacy with the Spirit of God. Our response to the many threats we face from the enemy is to hide in the Lord, to cover ourselves with His promises that He would shield us. The more we yield to Him, the more the shield we obtain from faith to put out the burning arrows of false accusation, slander, physical injury, financial loss, ill health and so on. In these disease-prone times, we should personalize the promise , “By His stripes, --- (replace we with our names) are healed, we are preserved, we are blessed, we are surrounded by His love. The Lord is concerned even with the hygiene and health of our teeth, our most insignificant parts. His love is specific, personal, deep and amazing. Whatever we have experienced of His love this far, we are yet to plumb its depth, comprehend its all encompassing width, the length or the enduring nature of it. We need to soak in His love, immerse ourselves in it even as we go through tough times.

Intense Longing Opens Portals of Blessing

UV 3616/10000 Intense Longing Opens Portals of Blessings Then with a deep longing you will seek Me and require Me ( as a vital necessity) and (you will)find Me when you search Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29 v 13 When we have experienced God’s grace in our lives, we will no longer seek the blessings of His hand but rather seek His presence, His face. We need to search the Lord not for the Lord. We need to search the riches of His love and mercy and grace and He will certainly reveal Himself, reveal His beauty, His power. The more intense our desire, the less tense our lives will be. We will find our rest or peace and security in Him. We will not be disturbed by unwanted thoughts or desires but find a sense of rock-like, unshakeable confidence in the Lord and His immutable word. The Lord will be found by us and He will restore our fortunes and whatever we have lost in the past to the locusts of time and space. He will bring us back to green pastures and still waters of His presence. He will hear our call and give us a calling, too. He will make our lives purpose-driven, principle-centered, word empowered. The Word says that He hears us even before we utter a word in prayer, while we are praying, He also answers. Our faithful prayer to the Good Shepherd Jesus opens portals in the heavenly realms that manifest as green pastures and still waters for us, the sheep. We need not look for greener pastures in terms of human connections, promotion and so on but rely on the Lord and His promises completely. Of course, we should not take leave of our senses and act in an irrational manner in the guise of faith. The Lord appreciates wisdom, passion with balance provided by prudence.

The Justice of the Lord

UV 3615/10000 The Justice of the Lord If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and (the Feared One) of Isaac, had not been with me, most certainly you would have sent me away not empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and humiliation and the (exhausting) labour of my hands, so He rendered judgment and rebuked you last night. Genesis 31 v 42 Laban, Jacob’s father-in-law, being deceitful by nature had tried to short change Jacob. Jacob worked for twenty years and he changed his wages ten times. But the God of his forefathers was with him. Therefore, whatever evil that Laban planned God turned it to good, for his blessing. The Lord multiplied the flock that would belong to Jacob. Jacob fearing that Laban would take away his wives forcibly had left the house secretly at night. Laban pursued him with his men for seven days and caught up with him. God did not allow the Israelites to leave empty-handed Egypt many generations later. He caused the Egyptians to part with gold jewels as a parting gift to the Israelites. The Lord knows our hearts, our inner being and He is faithful and rewards us in due time. He did not allow the guile of Laban to harm Jacob and his family. Likewise, He protects us from our earthly and spiritual foes and enemies. Whatever they plan or plot for evil against us, He turns to our good. The Lord sees our exploitation, our oppression, our humiliation, our labour for Him and will not allow us to go unrewarded even in this lifetime and in the life to come. He will render justice to us and pass judgement against those who act unjustly against us. We need to be confident that the Lord will guard us and preserve us from such elements. He will rebuke them in His righteous wrath and indignation that they attempted to touch the apple of His eye.

Dealing with Unexpected Hurdles

UV3614/10000. Dealing with Unexpected Hurdles But we prayed to our God, and because of them we set up a guard against them day and night. Nehemiah 4 v 9 Sanballat, Tobiah and others were mocking, opposing and plotting to attack Nehemiah and the Jews when they were about the task of rebuilding the ruins of the temple and the city walls. Whenever and wherever God’s work is underway, such forces and foes will emerge who will mock, offend the builders. But God frustrated their designs and enabled the work of rebuilding the walls unhindered by them. Nehemiah not only prayed but took practical steps to thwart them. He organized an armed guard by day and night. He exhorted the Jews not to be afraid but to remember the Lord who is awesome and to muster courage from Him and to fight for their rights. Half of Nehemiahs volunteers guarded the work while the other half built the walls. Every builder also had his building implements and a sword with him. Likewise, we too need to carry the sword of the Word of God in us along with the tools of our different professions. We need to be skilled and ready with both. The Jews were ever vigilant and ready for any assault. They did flinch or draw back from the work of building. Likewise, when we face unexpected opposition, we should muster courage and strength from the Lord, be encouraged with the word. We should spend time in prayer even as we do all the practical things we need to do to make things happen or to achieve our goal. The Lord will fight for us and thwart the evil designs of our foes. Nehemiah and his family and servants were so dedicated that they never even paused to change their clothes. We, too should continually wear our clothes of salvation and our armour of faith, carry the sword of faith in the word and speak it as the occasion needs to encourage, exhort, warn, edify, strengthen the people of God.

The Overwhelming Power of God

UV 3613/10000 The Overwhelming Power of God He who has dug a pit and hollowed it out, and has fallen into the (very) pit which he made (as a trap). Psalm 7 v 15 The wicked are pregnant with sin and plot mischief and give birth to lies against the righteous by faith. They dig pits against them but the Lord promises to cause them to fall into the very pit they had dug to trap the latter. The stone that they roll on others will roll back on them and crush them. Their mischief will return to their own heads. Joseph’s brothers in their jealous hatred against Joseph plotted to kill him and then sold him into slavery but the Lord was with him in the pit and in the prison and raised him out of both wonderfully and miraculously. Many centuries later, when the twelve brothers descendants grew to be the nation of Israel, The Egyptian army that pursued the unarmed Israelites were drowned in the waters of the Red Sea as they were in hot pursuit. The Lord will rescue us from those who unjustly pursue us. The Lord will mete out justice to us. He establishes those who are in right standing with Him. Our ten fingers are merged with His as we bow and kneel in prayer and seek to find our refuge, our defence in Him. He sends five types of angels to defend, protect and rescue us. He silences and closes the mouths of the lions, our adversaries. He closed the jaws of the lions when Daniel was thrown into the lion’s den. Even a hair on his head was not harmed. God defended Daniel as he was blameless before him. He was also blameless before the king. The king Darius desired with all his heart that Daniel be saved from the consequences of his own signed edict or order. Darius fasted that night for Daniel and prayed that the God whom he served would rescue him. Even the king expected God to save Daniel. Daniel had committed no crime. He was guiltless, innocent and vindicated by the miraculous hand of salvation of the Lord. Instead, the wicked men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den along with their families. The event led to the God of Daniel being exalted through all the dominions of the kingdom of Persia. Darius himself acknowledged God by saying He is the living God, enduring and steadfast forever with a kingdom that is indestructible and power that lasts forever. He is the One who rescues, saves and performs signs and wonders. Daniel prospered and enjoyed remarkable success in successive regimes, even in the reign of Cyrus.

The Blessings of the Seeker

UV 3612/10000 The Blessings of The Seeker As for me, I would seek God and inquire of Him, and I would commit my cause to God; Job 5 v 8 Regardless of what the rest of the world is doing, we need to focus on the Lord, seek to know Him, His will. We need to daily enquire of Him and in His word. The days may be full of trouble but we should not be discouraged or despondent. Those who are dependent on God are never despondent for they always have hope the Lord will redeem them. The wicked or the unfaithful are not like this. They may appear to prosper outwardly but their destruction is certain. As for us, we should commit our cause and our ways to the Lord. We should invite the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts. We should seek the advice and counsel of the Wise Counsellor Jesus. The Lord will then do great and unsearchable things, miracles without number. He will lift to safety those who mourn. He will promote the humble and repentant while He scorns and resists the proud, the irreverent and the unfaithful. He frustrates their designs and schemes against us. The plans and advice of the devious and envious are thwarted by Him. He outsmarts the worldly wise and those who are street smart. Though we are afflicted, He binds or bandages our spiritual and emotional hurts. When our thoughts, emotions and lives as it were wind around God, nothing can wound us. He gives us relief because of our belief in Him and heals us with His touch even as the woman who touched Him was healed instantly of an incurable chronic disease. We will live in harmony with nature and mankind. Our homes will be peaceful and secure. We will not suffer loss due to theft or accident. Our offspring will be blessed and multiply. We will go to the grave in a ripe old age like wheat that is harvested at the apt time.

The Rewards of Faith

UV 3611/10000. The Rewards of Faith But without faith it is impossible to (walk with God and ) please Him, for whoever comes (near) to God must (necessarily) believe that God exists and that He rewards those who (earnestly and diligently) seek Him. Hebrews 11 v 6 The giants of faith like Abraham and Moses walked close to God and won His favour on account of their faith. We need to believe according to this uni-verse only two things: One, that God exists and two, that He rewards those who earnestly and diligently seek Him. The first is a premise and the second is a promise. The greater our faith, the more in His favour we will be. The stronger our faith in the premise of God’s existence, the greater is the possibilities of His promise being fulfilled in our lives. If we are not certain that God exists, then we cannot relate to Him personally. How can we pray to someone who is imaginary? How can we expect answers to those prayers. But when we hold in us the tiny but living mustard seek like faith that God exists for sure, we desire to know Him better, to hear Him and to be blessed by Him. The more earnestly and diligently we seek Him, the more blessed or rewarded we will be. The Lord can reward us in this lifetime and even beyond into eternity. When we are certain about our faith in God and His promises, then the rewards or blessings of His presence in our lives follows suit certainly. We cannot be half hearted, undecided, doubtful about our faith in Jesus. God revealed Himself in history and in our personal lives in the fullness of grace and truth of Jesus Christ. Scripture says that when we seek Him with all our hearts, we will surely find Him. He no longer hides from us but reveals Himself to us in the person of Jesus, the person of the Holy Spirit and the word of God. When we internalize our belief and His promises, it will lead to actions on our part. The root belief leads to the fruit of the spirit and the fruit of good works.

The Signs of A Fruitful Life

UV 3610/10000 The Signs of a Fruitful Life Joseph is a fruitful bough ( a main branch of the vine), a fruitful bough by a spring ( a well, a fountain); Its branches run over the wall ( influencing others). Genesis 49 v 22 The anointing on Joseph from his childhood caused Joseph to be the fruitful bough. The Father in heaven had formed him in his mother Rachel’s womb. He was to be a branch of the true Vine (Jesus). He was shaped and groomed to be fruitful, successful, influential. He was like a well-watered fenced and fruitful plant. The water of the Word constantly moistened his heart to prevent it from being dry. He was intimately connected and grafted onto the good root. Many wicked hunters aimed their evil arrows or weapons at Joseph. They attacked him in their bitterness and envy. They shot at him and harassed him. His own brothers put him in a pit. But the Lord lifted him up. He made his bow or weapon strong, steady and victorious. His strength never failed him as he relied on the Lord, His God, the God of Israel and of his forefathers. He was the prince among his eleven brothers as he was principled and well versed in the word. No weapon could prosper against him, no tongue could curse, judge or abuse him. No word of man, no plot of man could hurt him. The Lord was indeed His weapon-proof shield who surrounded him at all times and in all seasons of his life. The Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, blessed him with blessings from the heavens above and and of the depth of the earth and of his family. The blessings of his earthly father, Jacob was also upon him. The blessings of Abraham and Isaac was upon him. Above all the blessings of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were upon him and His presence with him through the ups and downs of his life distinguished him from all others. The six pointed spiritual crown of excellence was placed upon his head by the Lord.

The Marks of a Godly Person

UV 3609/10000. The Marks of a Godly Person Praise the Lord ( Hallelujah!) Blessed (fortunate, prosperous, and favoured by God) is the man who fears the Lord ( with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience), who delights greatly in His commandments. Psalm 112 v 1 When we bless God alphabetically, meaning using praises starting with the letter A and proceeding to Z, we experience abundant blessings. The fervour for God determines the favour of God. As it is put in Numbers chapter 6, His face will look down upon us with a smile, literally. When He smiles on us, the rising tide of adversity against us will also alter its direction and instead of bringing us pain will bring us the rain of blessings, physical, mental peace, health and healing, deliverance and victory. When we delight greatly in the commandments of God, we will have no trouble internalising it. That in turn would lead to personalizing or appropriating apt or rhema promises with faith and confidence that the Lord will bring it to pass in our lives. When we delight in both His commands, His promises and His models of righteousness strewn through scripture in real men who lived lives of faith and uprightness, we will not hesitate to speak or synthesise the word in our lives. We will profess the word in all we do. The promises that will be fulfilled once we internalize the commands of God, His values and priorities are there in the next verse of the same Psalm. Our descendants or our generations will be mighty or powerful on earth. They will be blessed on earth. Such a person will never be shaken, apprehensive, worried or afraid of bad news. His heart and spirit are in sync with the Lord. He will see the plans of his adversaries foiled. He will be honoured or vindicated by the Lord. Such a person will leave a legacy of good memories. He is just, gracious and generous. He will be strengthened and steadfast. He will not shiver or quiver at the threat of the mighty on earth. His hope is in the Lord and His word. He knows for sure that the Lord will send His light to disperse any temporary darkness or attack on him. Doing the will of the Lord gives him immense strength or power. He has reason to praise and thank the Lord ten thousand times and in ten thousand way for ten thousand reasons.