Grace, Obedience and Love

UV 4193/10000 Grace, Obedience and Love If anyone does not love the Lord ( does not obey and respect and believe in Jesus Christ and His message), he is to be accursed. Maranatha ( O our Lord, come)! I Corinthiansn 16 v 22 The believer needs to show His love and commitment to Jesus by his or her respect and obedience of His word. If we do not love and respect the Lord and His word, we curse ourselves or continue under the shadow of sin or hamartia, death and its consequences. We need to live in the hope of the soon coming, the second coming of Jesus as Lord and King of Kings. At the time, He comes to receive those who truly believe and follow Him as well as to weigh others in the scale of judgement according to their words and deeds. When we believe and follow Jesus, we move into the realm of the kingdom of God where God’s laws and promises operate. We cease to be under the law and the scarcity that our scant respect and obedience of the law of God brings into our lives. We move into abundant life, abundance of the presence of God, the power of God, the blessings of the Lord. There is a clear paradigm shift such that we are viewed as a brand new creation. Our reactions to the stimuli of this world or of the flesh and in our relationships should be modulated by the awareness of the presence and abundance of grace in us, around us, all the time. We need to prepare ourselves in every aspect of our lives or 360 degrees to meet or receive the Lord on His second coming or our going to Him, whichever happens earlier. While the law of Moses was earlier the yardstick, we are now governed by the word of Christ in our lives. The essence of the word of Christ is love, love for God and of God, and love of our fellow humans. Hence, as we mature in our faith, we need to grow stronger and stronger in our love for God and man. Love never fails and hence, we cannot fail. Grace and love go hand in hand even as law and judgment go together. Whenever we tend to fall back or relapse into law and judgement, we need to come back to grace and love.

Reciprocating the Mercy of God

UV 4192/10000 Reciprocating the Forgiveness and Mercy of God Should you not have mercy on your fellow slave ( who owed you little by comparison), as I had mercy on you? Matthew 18 v 33 We are slaves of sin and owe a debt to Jesus for setting us free from sin and its consequences. He in His great mercy has forgiven our total debt. Hence, it is expected that we who have received such great mercy, behave mercifully and graciously with those who owe us much less. Some might be ungrateful to us for an act we did to help them. Some might be vicious and attack or harm us without any reason. Some might have betrayed or slighted us. Some might have caused grievous harm to our reputation or career by their slander. But whatever be their actions that hurt us the total weight of it is much less than the unconditional mercy the Lord has shown us in Christ. Hence, Jesus included mercy as one of the beautiful and blessed attitudes of children of God, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” Jesus is our ultimate benchmark for forgiveness for He forgave Judas for betrayal, He forgave Peter for denial, He forgave the Jews who got Him cruelly crucified, He forgave the Roman soldiers who crucified Him, He forgave the prostitute who fell at His feet, He forgave tax collectors for extortion. On the cross, in His dying moments, He cried out, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Others owe us much less by comparison to what we owe the Lord- this is the one reason we are exhorted to be merciful to others, overlooking their faults, errors, willful acts against us. The Lord promises that though He is ever merciful, He would use the same yardstick or measure to forgive or deal with us that we use in our dealings with others. Just as the Lord is patient with us, we need to show the same patience to others. We need to forgive the acts of omission or commission of others that has hurt us. It is not, therefore, becoming of the children of God, the believers of Christ to nurse a grudge, to harbour resentment or to seek to wreak vengeance. It is the prerogative of the Creator to judge people and we should avoid passing severe or uncharitable judgements of those we relate to. We are accountable for everything we think, speak and do and being aware of this, avoid being harsh or cruel or unkind to others. We, humans, have a natural tendency to pay back others in the same coin and often with added interest but the Lord asks us to examine our own lives, our own debt to others. If we always have the consciousness that we are forgiven sinners, we will tend to be more compassionate like Christ who is sinless and has a right to judge, condemn, punish others but chose to forgive freely at great cost and suffering to His own Person.

Disciplining Our Lives

UV 4191/10000 Disciplining Our Lives If your eye causes you to stumble and sin, pluck it out and throw it away from you ( that is, remove yourself from the source of temptation); it is better for you to enter life with only one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fiery hell. Matthew 18 v 9 In this uni-verse, Jesus teaches us to have an uncompromising attitude when it comes to sin and temptation. We should distance ourselves from the source of sin and temptation instead of making it a part of our lives like an important organ like the eye or limbs. It is a metaphor that Jesus is using for it is not the eye or the limb that causes a man to sin but the heart and mind of the man. That said, what we feed our minds and hearts through what we see with our eyes has a decisive influence and impact on what we desire in our lives. Lust is fed for instance if we are used to watching pornography in any form. Pride is fed if we are always thinking highly of ourselves and consider ourselves superior to any others. The uni-verse is a plea for extreme disciplining of our thoughts and habits so that we do not err in the sight of God. Even a single wayward thought can throw us off track. A single temptation can ruin our testimony of faith. We should be always aware of the presence of sin and its precursor, temptation and take active steps to preempt or prevent or avoid it. Sometimes it needs us to take ruthless actions to end a relationship or a particular habit that distracts or diverts us from the path of the Lord. An awareness of the end result of a life of deliberate and unrepentant yielding to sin, namely, the consequences of sin- death and eternal judgement has a deterrent effect in reducing the attractiveness of sin in our lives. Consequential thinking or thinking what each action of ours will bring to us in terms of reward or punishment in the eternal realm can help to keep us consistently on the straight and narrow path without any detours. Another way to keep ourselves from sin and temptation is to studiously follow the example of Jesus, the early apostles and other contemporary men and women of God who chose the difficult over the easy, the eternal over short term pleasures.

Prayer Warrior

UV 4190/10000 Prayer Warriors For the Lord your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. Deuteronomy 20 v 4 The power of God invested in us thanks to His presence with us is 1000x as the word says that “each of you can put to flight a thousand.” Hence, when we face a formidable foe or force, we ought not to be afraid or fearful. The Lord is with us as a mighty warrior. The weapons He wields are not physical or of the flesh but spiritual. We are only expected to stay faithful, wear the full spiritual armour and stand without fleeing from the battle or the struggle we are currently confronting. Instead of being professional worriers, chronic cribbers, effete cynics in this life, we need to be prayer warriors. The Lord goes ahead of us, with us and in us. He is the path breaker and the scout and clears the minefield before we step out into danger. Victory is assured and certain. We, however, do not battle in the flesh like the ancient Israelites on the way to the promised land. We battle in the spirit. We are called to be prayer warriors, not military warriors though some of us may even experience His power with us as army officers. Both our weapons and our armour are invisible even as our foes are spiritual and invisible. By our faith-packed prayers, we launch long distance spiritual missiles through our messages and prayers that destroy spiritual strongholds by which the enemy advances and captures more and more human souls. Praise and worship precedes a time of engaging with the enemy in battle. The Spirit of God strengthens and reinforces us so that we are fully equipped to face every challenge, overcome every vile and device of the enemy. We are no longer the innocent man in the garden of Eden, blissfully unaware of the deception of the subtle enemy but are aware that daily and everywhere we are in the thick of spiritual warfare and battle with the enemy. Without shedding a drop of blood, we wrest victory in the battles we face in this earthly life before we ascend to the eternal realms to receive the crown of the victor. But with our faith eye, our inner eye, we perceive the victory from afar.

Rock Foundation and Super Structure of Salvation

UV 4189/10000 Rock Foundation and Super Structure of Salvation But you, beloved, build your self up on the foundation of your most holy faith, ( continually progress, rise like an edifice, higher and higher), pray in the Holy Spirit. Jude 1 v 20 Faith, in this uni-verse, is called as the foundation. Our faith resting on the rock of Jesus rises like a lighthouse for all the world to take light from and find their path back to God. We should keep growing in Christ so that more and more people threatened with ship wreck of their lives see His light in us and turn to Him in hope and faith. We need to continually intake His word ( which is His light) and pray fervently in the spirit so that our growth is steadfast. Our faith is both holy and holistic affecting all parts or all aspects and areas of our lives. A lighthouse is built of solid blocks of stone so that it can withstand any storm in the ocean. Likewise, we are to built up as an edifice that endures any storm. The stone blocks are a metaphor for our natural strength while the rock on which the lighthouse rests is our faith in Jesus, the Conqueror of both sin and death. The rock foundation is our source of spiritual strength. Unlike a lighthouse that is static and does not grow, we are to constantly learn from Jesus, from the Holy Spirit. The reference to “holy faith” is to the fact that in addition to faith, we as believers and followers of Jesus need to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and grow in our knowledge of the word, grow in love, grow in strength and hope. Growth implies both sanctification and edification. We are justified by faith but sanctification and edification are essential for our spiritual growth and fruit bearing. God purposed to save us through our faith in Christ but we should purpose in our hearts to grow to the very limit of our potential. We are to lower ourselves more and more before God in humbling ourselves but we should grow higher and higher in fulfilling the purpose for which God has called us.

Mouth and Tongue Management

UV 4188/10000 Mouth and Tongue Management Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door to my lips ( to keep me from speaking thoughtlessly). Psalm 141 The secret of happiness, good relationships, good reputation, good fortune, success lies right inside our mouth. How to manage our mouths and our tongues is a lifelong challenge that (I have yet to master or overcome). We cannot do mouth management without the Lord’s help, the grace provided by the Holy Spirit. About Jesus, it is prophesied in the Psalms, that there was no guile or deceit in His words. Hence, such a man is deemed to be perfect in the sight of God as James says. We need to model ourselves on Jesus. He never spoke a thoughtless word. Hence, Jesus said, “ Learn from Me as I am humble and gentle.” Words that are called the fruit of the lips are meant to save people,help them, build their faith and not to destroy it. We need to learn to bridle our tongues or ride it as a man rides a horse. In other words, the tongue has ten times the power of the rest of the organs like the horse to shape our days and our lives. We need grace or divine anointing on our mouths. We need to pray constantly, asking the Lord to help us in this regard, to set an effective guard over our mouths. Our mouths should not become “open sepulchres” that bury our future. Our default mode should not be an open mouth but a tight lipped one if we are to be wise. We must have a word of God always riding or connected to the tongue like the reins of a horse. To take the metaphor further, the word says that we should muzzle ourselves like a horse in the presence of the wicked, lest a word we speak affects our well being or the wicked take a word out of us and use it against us. The tongue has power both for good and evil, life and death and we must harness it as a force for good and not evil, for life, abundant life and not death. Many of the things we say often leaves the door wide open for the enemy to act in our lives, against our best interests. Believers need to keep confessing positive things, not the things we see and hear but what we believe or see with our inner eye, the eye of faith. We need the Holy Spirit to anoint our mouths, lips, vocal chords, the powerful speech center in the human brain, our emotions so that the words that emanate therefrom bring glory to God, share His grace, His love, the other fruit of the Spirit with the hearers. The mouth speaks what the heart and mind are full of and so we should not only guard our mouths with the help of the Lord but be mindful of what occupies our hearts and minds. Not only does the Psalmist in the above uni-verse plead with Jehovah God, the Lord to set a strong guard at the door of his mouth but he asks the Lord Himself to watch over it. It is almost as if he believes that only the Omnipotent One is potent or powerful enough to rein in the reckless tongue, that spark that incites violence, evil, lies, abuse, negativity all round through speaking ill of others, gossip, slander, boasting, vulgarity and so on. The source of much conflict in human relationships, whether at home or in the workplace or even in the public places and streets is an undisciplined tongue. The first line of defence is keeping a tightly closed mouth with intent not to speak unless it is warranted. The second line of defence is to allow the specific word of God connected with communication to be always under, over and at the tip of the tongue. Before speaking a single word, we can run it through the Holy Spirit for it is written that the Holy Spirit will teach us what to speak. We must always endeavour to speak a wholesome word that does not harm others but is helpful, encouraging, positive, joyful, edifying. Running our words through many scriptural filters will keep us from faltering. Another effective antiseptic for the mouth is to fill it with praise and words to honour and thank the Lord all day long.

Resisting and Overcoming the Enemy

UV 4187/10000 Resisting and Overcoming the Enemy Be sober ( well balanced and self-disciplined), be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion ( fiercely hungry), seeking someone to devour. I Peter 5 v 3 The enemy wants to finish us off while the Lord wants to finish us well. The Lord wants to complete our lives, enable us to live forever in eternity, to be victorious. But we need to be aware of the opposing force, the inveterate foe of mankind. The latter has an insatiable appetite for human souls that he can devour. Peter should know as he was tempted even while in the company of the Lord to deny Him thrice, to be impulsive at times. Peter gives us three strategies to overcome the formidable foe- to resist him, to be firm in our faith, to understand that all the faithful are tested with such temptations, trials and suffering. After suffering for a while, we have the hope to be called to eternal glory in Christ. He assures us that the God of all grace would give us the power to resist, the grace to endure tests and suffering and to be established and firm in our faith. The chief aim of the enemy is to deceive man into believing that God is the God of wrath and punishment while in truth, He is revealed by Christ to be the God of all grace. We, as humans need to be always aware of the enemy’s plan to “de-grace” and disgrace man in the eyes of God. We are exhorted by Peter, moved by the Spirit of God, to be balanced, mature and self-disciplined. To be self -disciplined for a believer implies being willingly subject to the counsel and guidance of the Holy Spirit and to discipline ourselves to live in accordance with the word of God. Hence, self control actually means God-control. We submit to the Author and Finisher, Jesus to take charge of our lives and be the helmsman to pilot our lives. Without the Lord as our pilot, we will pivot downward and not upward. We, also need to be alert to the growls and roars of the enemy, the evil lion for he is invisible, subtle and not seen with our physical eyes. He can morph and even appear as a dear friend, an angel radiating light or even manifest in our own thoughts, words and actions. The Lord God needs to rule over our thoughts, emotions, words, actions and reactions consistently. In our weak or stressed states, we should spend more time in His presence, listenting to the promptings and quiet voice of the Spirit of God. All the while, we need to wear our devil-proof and resistant spiritual armour of a life consistent in prayer, word, praise, thanksgiving, readiness to witness, the desire to bear spiritual fruit, consistently acting in line with the overarching purpose of glorifying the Lord. Then, we have victory in the name of Jesus, by His grace.

WWW- Word, Worship, Witness

UV 4186/10000 WWW- Word, Worship, Witness Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus, glorifying, praising and honouring God. And all the people when they saw it, praised God. Luke 18 v 43 Blind Bartimaeus received his sight and began to follow Jesus but for most of us, we receive our sight ( in a holistic and spiritual sense) after we start following Jesus, remembering, meditating, applying, obeying His teachings. When we follow Jesus, we have a personal relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, too. We begin to honour God in all that we think, speak and do. Our deeds are meant to glorify God and our words to praise Him. When we have personal knowledge of God, we acknowledge Him in all things, moment to moment, day to day. We involve and invoke God in all we do or attempt to do. Hence, every experience in life becomes either a blessing to be thankful for or a lesson to be learnt. When we lead such a life, it is called a testimonial life. When people see the God-led lifestyle of the followers of Jesus, they understand God is real. We become witnesses of the love of God. Whatever we do becomes exhibits, evidences, proofs of the reality of God’s grace outworking in our lives. As a consequence, the people witnessing our lives also begin to honour, praise and glorify God. We have a purpose in life that is longer than long term and stretches into the eternal. This eternal perspective influences and directs all our prospectives. Since we involve God in all that we do, our lives revolves around Him. He is the locus or central point of our universe. Everything else is either crashing meteors, wandering asteroids or planets in orbit around the locus- the Lord. In short, like the blind Bartimaeus began to see everything in a new light, the light let into His life by Jesus, we see everything in His light. Bartimaeus not only received his vision back but he got the gift of faith. He experienced the unconditional love of God through his restoration. The restoration came from his act of believing the word ( of Jesus ). Only a life of word, worship, witness is an adequate response to what the Lord had done in his life. Likewise, we who have received back our vision from the Lord, need to respond with word, worship, witness in all that we do.

Living In Alignment

UV 4185/10000 Living in Alignment For it is through Him that we both have a (direct) way of approach in one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2 v 18 Both Jews and Gentiles have in Christ a direct approach to the Father through the Spirit. Christ laid down His body, His life as a bridge between man and God. Till then the Father was not directly accessible but now He is directly accessible for anyone who believes in Christ. There is no need for any other intermediary or mediator. We have boldness and confidence in Christ to approach the throne of the Father. The Spirit carries our prayers and praise to the Lord God. Looking to any other human or other intermediary is a kind of spiritual adultery or idolatry. No one and nothing else can take the place of God in our lives and in our hearts. Since God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, we are continually in the O-zone of the Father as long as we are in Christ. We have access to the wisdom, power, grace, love of the Father and hence, we can lack in no good thing. He supplies all our need according to the riches of His grace. The enemy wants to finish us off but the Lord wants to finish us well. As long as we continue steadfast in our hope in Christ, we are grafted onto Him and live in fellowship with the Tri-une God. Any trouble or trial we face, we can carry it instantly to the Lord. He will often allow us to go through it with Him by our side as we need to develop patience or strength of character and be purified by the suffering as gold is purified in fire. His word acts as an anaesthetic, His presence as a balm. His Spirit always supports, encourages, counsels us on the next thing we need to do in any crisis or situation. If we are living in alignment with the visible, legible, living word, we will be in alignment with the Father, Son Jesus our Saviour and the Holy Spirit. Like a marksman needs a firm grip on the gun, we need a firm grip on the word. Like the marksman brings his shooting eye in alignment with the target, the foresight, the hindsight, we need to be in alignment with Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father. The trigger is our immediate or ultimate need. The target is our life’s goal.

Seeking Neither Fame nor Blame

UV 4184/10000 Seeking Neither Fame nor Blame How can you believe ( in Me), when you (seek and ) receive glory and approval from one another, and yet you do not seek the glory and approval which comes from the one and only God? John 5 v 44 Jesus came in His Father’s name and all He did and spoke, He did it for the glory and approval of the Father. True glory and approval can only come from God and yet we, humans seek each other’s approval and validation of what we do and speak. We cannot be true believers or followers of Jesus unless we seek the glory and approval of the Lord in all that we do and speak. We can do so only if we do not seek the glory and approval for ourselves. We must be seekers neither of fame nor of blame but keep doing the things that bring pleasure and a good name to the Lord. This calls for an attitude of total surrender to the Lord. We need to be unselfish in our motives which lie behind our deeds and words. We need to realize that we are nothing before God and we have no tall claims to make in His presence. We should not also be people pleasers or be worried about the opinion that people have about us as long as we are in alignment with God’s pleasing will. Dying to our own opinion about ourselves and that of others about us will free up space in our hearts and minds to be focussed on the work and the word of the Lord. Jesus intentionally did and say many things that were needed to fulfill God’s will as revealed in prophecy. For example, He obeyed the waters of baptism of repentance even though He had nothing to repent for unlike other humans. We, too need to be intentional in our obedience of the Lord. We are to become equally immune to either the praise or censure of people while at the same time, be extremely sensitive to whether we are grieving the Holy Spirit or pleasing the Lord in all that we think, speak, do.

Not Leaders, Teachers, But Only Followers, Servants, Students

UV 4183/10000 Not Leaders or Teachers but Only Followers, Servants, Students Do not let yourselves be called leaders or teachers; for One is your Leader ( Teacher), the Christ. Matthew 23 v 10 No human, according to this uni-verse, qualifies to be called a teacher or leader. At best, we can be called servants of God. Only Jesus, who is anointed by God to be our leader and teacher can and should be called so. Just because we exercise some leadership functions, or possess some leadership traits or knowledge, we are not leaders or teachers. As followers of Jesus, we need to seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit to be a faithful servant. The more we serve and the more people we serve, we are considered a better or more faithful servant. We emulate Jesus and reflect His grace and qualities in order to point all glory to Him. The moment we allow others to call us leaders or teachers, pride of position or pride of knowledge sets in. It is as if we have arrogated the right to rule over, dominate other people when we are only called by Jesus to serve them. When we regard ourselves only as servants, we will avoid the spirit of entitlement, the intent to exploit others to our advantage. This is the reason, the Lord addresses new arrivals in heaven with the epithet, “Great and faithful servant, Well Done!” We can never aspire for the greatness of the Master but we can aspire for the greatness of a servant. Scripture does not even use the word “servant leader”. Rather, we are to be lifelong servants of the Leader, lifelong students of the Teacher Jesus. Only by being students of the Teacher Jesus, can we become effective servants of the Leader Jesus. We need to imbibe His teachings, follow His lead, His example. Jesus has sent us the Holy Spirit as the Enabler, Helper, empowerer to equip us, fill us with strength, courage, power, wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Diligent study of the life, teachings and parables of Jesus is the best preparation to be a good servant. If we regard ourselves as teachers, we would stop learning, thinking that we already know all that is needed for one to know. The servant of God should aspire to serve more and more people in more ways. We are in a predisposition as servants to apply the principles of Christ’s leadership in the circumstances and with the people we are called to serve. The president or head of government of a country or organization is then only to be regarded as the Chief Servant of the people and not its ultimate ruler for that would be taking the place of God. It does not however mean that a servant has no authority. He has authority in accordance with what the Lord has vested in him. As the centurion told Jesus, “ I am a man in authority and under authority.” Authority or power is meant to serve people not to dominate or oppress them, to lighten their yoke, not to increase it.

The Secrets of Spiritual Strength

UV 4182/10000 The Secrets of Spiritual Strength Be on guard; stand firm in your faith ( in God, respecting His precepts and keeping His doctrine sound. Act like ( mature ) men and be courageous; be strong. I Corinthians 16 v 13 Paul exhorts the believers to be proactive, careful, to be firm and unflinching in our faith. We need to respect the teachings of the Lord and faithfully observe or carry it out in our daily walk. We are to be courageous and strong, not weak and listless. We are dealing with a subtle, cunning, powerful enemy who can manifest even through people, even the ones near and dear to us. We need to clothe ourselves with all the power and might and wisdom of the Lord. The power of God or the strength of the Lord is manifest in us in many ways. We have the sheer power of His name and can access and claim this power all the time. This power is defensive as well as useful to advance into the territory of the enemy. Next, we have the power of the word of God which is a sword of the spirit. Knowledge of the word is needed in order to stand firm and victorious in our faith. We must not allow human custom or tradition to replace the primacy of the word in our lives. Following closely on the power of the word where we incarnate His power in our flesh is the courage and strength we obtain by being strong in the Holy Spirit. We can combat our own internal fears and insecurities with the strength we receive from the Spirit of God. The “blood armour” of Jesus covering all we are and all that we do is another strong defence we have against the powers and principalities of darkness that inhabit this world. All the four forms of power and strength we have access to only through the medium of prayer. Prayer itself is of many kinds- prophetic prayer is useful to encourage us when we are distressed or confused, not knowing what to do. Fasting prayer can destroy powerful strongholds and give deliverance. Persistent prayer is also always rewarded. Praying in the spirit or with sounds, groans and moans like the Holy Spirit prays is another fervent expression of our inner faith. Finally, in every circumstance, armed with all the above, we need to act like mature and wise people, not as the weak and indecisive, the doubtful, the fearful, the pessimistic, the cynical, the ones who are always complaining or murmuring like the ancient Israelites under the leadership of Moses. Our faith should always be based on strong doctrinal foundations, our beliefs and practice in conformity with the light revealed unto each of us.

The Beginning and The End

UV 4181/10000 The Beginning and the End The (reverent)fear of the Lord (that is, worshipping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome) is the beginning and the preeminent part of knowledge ( its starting point and its essence); But arrogant fools despise ( skillful and godly) wisdom and instruction and self-discipline. Proverbs 1 v 7 A person who does not revere, believe, worship God has not even begun the process of knowledge, wisdom, understanding. He is a non starter, not even a beginner in the realm of true knowledge, wisdom and understanding. He may be a genius, (like Stephen Hawking) intellectually and in the esteem of the world but he is an arrogant fool in the sight of God. He arrogates to himself the right to ignore the evidence and experience that ordinary individuals from the beginning have had of God working in their lives. The latter, implying the believers, the godly hold God in great awe and such reverence is the starting block in their race for knowledge, wisdom, understanding. They do not despise or ignore the word of God that contains great wisdom, amazing instructions and is the source of self-discipline. We who believe move from awe and reverence to trust and love of God as we begin to understand more and more about His love, His grace, His justice, His power, His sovereignty, His wisdom, His knowledge, His understanding. Every day is a journey a little closer, a little deeper in knowing the Lord a little better. If reverence is the starting block for the faithful in the human race, then love of God is the finishing point for the race. The love of God is manifest in Christ Jesus who is full of grace and truth. Jesus personifies the love, wisdom, power of God. He is the repository of all the wisdom and knowledge of God. The uni-verse then shows that the worldly wise actually are foolish and those who are regarded as foolish in the eyes of the world, in the eyes of unbelieving scientists, scholars and the like are actually wise, understanding and knowledgeable. Their knowledge itself blinds them to the greater and deeper truths of God that can be grasped only through reverence of God and through faith. But we are not to look on them with pride or contempt but with compassion and understanding for we, ourselves were once like them- foolish and arrogant in what we thought was our wisdom and knowledge. Being in awe of God is only the beginning and we need to grow and manifest the love of God in Christ to all.

Becoming Like A Child

UV 4180/10000 Becoming Like A Child And said, “ I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent ( that is, change your inner self- your old way of thinking, live changed lives) and become like children ( trusting, humble, and forgiving), you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18 v 3 Repentance is a complete change of direction, change of heart, change of priorities, change of attitudes. We need to be humble and gentle like Jesus. Like a child, we need to be egoless, sans pride, sans deceit. We need to learn to forgive people who offend us from the heart and hold no grudges against anyone. This kind of transformation can come only after a deep work in us by the Lord using His chisels, the word, suffering and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us who believe. He needs to chip away at our angularities, rough edges, flaws and traces of our old self with its pride and lust. It does not however mean that we should be guileless, gullible or naive for elsewhere Jesus exhorts His followers to be as shrewd as a serpent and gentle as a dove. We should not place our trust on anyone or anything in this world but trust the Lord and His word completely without reservation or doubt. Faith in Christ needs to be followed by works and a change of character. We need to give up many things that were part of our character and life before we believed Jesus. We cannot deceive God and He knows our thoughts, motives and intentions. He does not want us to disguise bad motives with good actions. We are to be wholly His, wholly sanctified to become like a child in purity, simplicity, humility, trust, gentleness. This is perhaps, the reason that however old we are, we are referred to as a child of God. A child needs to grow to maturity. In order to grow spiritually and holistically, we need to have an appetite and habit of imbibing the word. To be a child of God, we also need to be teachable, willing to correct ourselves and to accept the admonition of elders as well as hear the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. We need to be flexible in all minor matters and rigid and unmoving in matters the Spirit flags to us as important, vital, significant in our relationship and intimacy with the Lord.

Saving the Lost

UV 4179/10000 Saving the Lost For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. Matthew 18 v 11 Jesus, confident of His status as Son of God, preferred to refer to Himself in the newly assumed role on earth- Son of Man. He came with a mission to save not just Jews but all that which was lost- Jew and Gentile or in other words, all of humanity. He embraced humanity giving up His divinity, His position at the right hand of the Father. He embraced poverty to identify with all. He embraced absolute death, absolute sin, absolute misery, absolute pain, absolute loneliness, absolute hatred, absolute curse in order to be an absolution for mankind and a solution for all the ills and sins of mankind. The definition of the Good Shepherd is that He is the One who goes in search of the lost sheep. God sends the Holy Spirit to search for that sense of ‘lostness’ in our hearts and reveals His plan of salvation in Christ to us. He did not come to save the righteous ( or those who think themselves to be righteous). Only those who know that they are genuinely lost sinners, can benefit from the promise of salvation offered by Jesus. Repentance or a turning away from the past is called for if a person is to be saved. Since the sin offering is absolute, a once and for all payment for all sin of all mankind, a one time repentance and commitment to Christ is all that is required for a man to be saved. Our confidence or trust in this plan of God executed by Jesus for our salvation needs to be also at an absolute level or as near to that we humans are capable of. The plan of salvation executed by Jesus is comprehensive. It gives us hope of our own overcoming of our spiritual poverty, pain of all kinds, diseases, shortcomings, loneliness, hatred, curses, misery, punishment and eternal death. In addition to confidence and trust, we also need to be grateful for so great a salvation that comes to us at no cost to us but with many benefits. It is God’s plan to prosper us, to give us hope on earth, a better future and life in eternity.

The Overflowing

UV 4178/10000 The Overflowing Having been deeply rooted ( in Him) and now being continually built up in Him and (becoming increasingly more) established in your faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing in it with gratitude. Colossians 2 v 7 The image in this uni-verse speaks of a metaphor of spiritual gardening Jesus restores us to the good root in Him. He is both Gardener and Root. He plants us and grafts us onto His good root. The good root has the power to overrule and erase all the ill effects of our natural roots, our genetic roots, the influence of our upbringing, our past and habits. We are to grow downward and deeper into Him even as we are growing upward and outward. We grow in this manner only when we daily intake His word, His teachings and practice it in our lives. Since we are saved by grace and not out of our own merits or efforts, our hearts ought to be always overflowing with joy and gratitude towards the Lord. We need to move from superstition, the superficial to the superlative- the perfection that comes from maturity of faith in Christ. If the root is good and healthy, the shoot will grow erect and the branches of our lives will spread out to capture the sunlight of His righteousness. We are planted in Christ or established in faith when we bear fruit in abundance for the glory and pleasure of the Lord- the fruit of the spirit, implying love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. Hence, our cups are not half full or half empty but always overflowing with joy, the fruit of the spirit and with gratitude to Jesus who made it all possible. Since we have this assurance of salvation in Christ, we overflow with hope, with joy, with goodness, with everything positive and true in life. We are not to be bitter or negative or ungrateful but acknowledge our eternal debt to the Lord that we are spiritually alive in Him. Most of the fruit of the spirit are an outpouring of the mouth and hence, self control plays a role in filtering out anything negative, unwholesome, unworthy of the Lord and allowing only what is edifying others and pleasing to the Lord to emanate from our mouths. It is no doubt the most difficult of challenges to control our tongues but it is possible as the Holy Spirit establishes, settles, strengthens us, enables us.

The Caterpillar Effect

UV 4177/10000 The Caterpillar Effect Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things ( center your mind on them and plant them in your heart). Philippians 4 v 8 As believers, we must be like caterpillars constantly feeding on whatever is good, noble, true, pure and wholesome. We become what we think. Hence, continually we need to meditate on the truly beautiful, the truly wonderful, the truly great. There is only one Person who fits such a description- Jesus. We need to focus continually on the person, work and word of Jesus, the parables He narrated, the precepts He taught, the miracles He did. The more we focus on Him, the more we will become like Him. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith and hence, He will supply what is needed or lacking in our faith. The caterpillar effect means that the more we observe the word of God, absorb it and apply it, the more and faster we are transformed into a better version of ourselves, more in conformity with the image of God and of Christ. The Holy Spirit uses specific word to chisel and sculpt us into that image. Like a caterpillar, we need to be ever hungry but not foolish but wise enough to apply what we read, meditate on, pray over. Like a caterpillar rolls over, becomes inert and enters a chrysalis phase, every day we need to be silent in the presence of the Lord. Then, the Lord will enable us to rise on wings of faith to excel. Whatever we have learned, received, heard, seen in our faith, seen in Christ, seen in our mentors and forefathers of faith, we need to practice these things in daily life. Then, it becomes God’s business to ensure our peace and well being. Like a caterpillar gets transformed into virtually another creature, we will become a new being formed in the image of God, the image of Christ. The new creation experience does not happen overnight for a believer but it is a lifelong process in which the Holy Spirit is an active participant, the word of God is an active ingredient, our minds are active instruments. It is not an empty and vain mindfulness that psychological experts ask people to practice these days. Just as God is mindful of us, we are mindful of Him. Our minds should be saturated with good thoughts, the thoughts of God, filled like a sponge with water. Any pressure the world exerts on us, the water of life should ooze forth.

Run IN Such A Way As To Win

UV 4176/10000. Run in Such a Way As To Win Now every athlete who (goes into training and ) competes in the games is disciplined and exercises self-control in all things. They do it to win a crown that withers, but we (do it to receive) an imperishable (crown that cannot wither) I Corinthians 9 v 25 God does not want anyone to be a loser. He wants us to be successful, eternally successful. He wants us to run in such a way as to win. Before the actual event, we need to be in training for a long while. We need to exercise discipline and self-control in all things, our diet, our regimen of exercise and fitness. Instead of being enslaved to the passions of the body, we need to enslave our bodies to make it obey our will to win. We need to cut out unnecessary engagements, distractions, disturbances and work with focus towards the goal we have set before us – to win in the race of life. We cannot win the race of life without a coach, a pace setter, a guide, a counsellor. That coach is the Lord Himself and the Holy Spirit. Jesus set for Himself the goal of dying on the cross as a sin offering for all Jews and Gentiles. Scripture records that He set His face like flint towards the cross on His last journey to Jerusalem. We cannot win the race of life without God’s grace. At the same time, we cannot sit back and rest. We need to display more grit, dedication, determination, devotion, discipline, diligence than an Olympic gold medallist as we edge towards the finishing line of life for the athlete is aiming for a prize that is temporal, perishable. He is working only for a moment of glory when he stands on the podium while we are working for a crown of eternal glory. We must not do or say anything that will disqualify us from taking part in the race or the victory ceremony in the eternal realms. In order to win, Paul writes that we should have a specific goal on which we should focus. We must strain every nerve and muscle, spare no effort to attain that goal with the help of the Almighty. In an athletic race, we need to discipline the body in the main while in the race of faith, we need to discipline our thoughts, emotions, appetite, speech, lifestyle, choices. Hence, it is not just a more rewarding race but a more challenging one. It takes commitment, total commitment to be a runner in the race of life. Another important difference from other races is that the relative performance of others does not affect our winning the prize. As long as we finish the race, we are all declared winners.

Ignore and Perish, Consume and Flourish

UV 4175/10000 Ignore and Perish, Consume and Flourish You ( spiritually ) blind guides, who strain a gnat ( consuming yourselves with miniscule matters) and swallow a camel ( ignoring and violating God’s precepts)! Matthew 23 v 24 Leadership in this world is oft described as blind by Jesus, the Ultimate Visionary Leader who executed a plan to save every human born of woman. If a leader is not spiritually alive, then he is blind by definition. He will focus on minor matters and ignore the topmost priority which is observing God’s word and serving Him. Hence, in the practice of leadership and management, there are “gnat” principles and precepts and there are “camel” principles and precepts. The world’s leaders are more concerned with keeping up with the former and tend to ignore the latter, confirming their spiritual blindness. Ignoring the principles and precepts of God leads to eternal death. Ignore and perish forever- is the dictum. Instead of being consumed, obsessed with minor but urgent matters, we must focus on being consumed, obsessed with the word of God and the precepts that He teaches us. My experience over the last forty years since I became a believer is that when we daily consume the word of God and delight in it more than food necessary for the body to survive, the soul thrives. When we so consume, we flourish in all aspects of life, including the “gnat” and the “camel” areas. Only when we are spiritually alive are we qualified to guide, teach, counsel others. Or else, we are like the blind leading the blind into the ditch ( the grave). We need to prioritise the kingdom of God matters over the mundane, the earthly, the physical, the worldly. Then and then only can we provide visionary leadership. When we focus on the locus (the priorities set for us by the Lord), everything else including the minutae of detail will fall into place. We are not followers of blind guides but of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit sent as a spiritual Guide, Counsellor, Coach to teach us the things of God. Seek first the Lord and His word and the world cannot mislead us, the enemy cannot deceive us.

Ephphatha

UV 4173/10000 The Truth that Sets Us Free “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8 v 32 Jesus told the Jews around Him that if they abide in His word, they would be His disciples. By abiding in His word, we come to know the truth. Jesus is the truth personified and when we know Him truly, we are set free from the bondage of sin and from the penalty of sin. Sin is any shortcoming or falling short of God’s glory. By knowing Jesus, we are able to overcome the shortcoming, the falling short. We are freed from the clutches of the father of sin- the enemy of humanity. Jesus points out to the Jews of the time that we can be either the children of God by believing and abiding in Him or be children of the evil one. Children of the evil one could not recognize or accept Jesus. They wanted to murder Him and disregarded His word. Children of God recognize that Jesus is the Son of God sent by the Father in heaven to redeem mankind. Hence, the latter respond with love towards Jesus. Hence, it is not an abstract principle of truth that sets us free but Jesus Himself through His teachings, through His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection proclaiming victory over sin and death and all shortcoming or “hamartia”. The follower of Jesus, therefore, enjoys more freedom and not less as he is set free from the attraction or seduction of sin, he is set free from the weaknesses of his own flesh and mind, he is set free from the fear of death and eternal judgement. Fear restricts us and when we are set free from all kinds of fears, we are like stall fed cattle, being fattened for the killing, that have been set free suddenly. We rejoice in the freedom we have in Christ, the power over sin and death, curses and disease. This truly results in a paradigm shift- the patterns of our thinking, speaking, doing, reacting now conform not to the desires of our flesh or mind but to the will of God expressed in and by Christ. UV 4174/10000. Ephphatha For the heart ( the understanding, the soul) of this people has become dull ( calloused), and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have shut their eyes ( to the truth); otherwise they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return ( to Me) and I would heal them. Acts 28 v 27 This uni-verse equates the heart with the soul and with understanding. It is understanding that opens the eyes to see and perceive, the ears to hear and comprehend and not the other way around. Our senses need to be informed by our understanding for our souls to grow, our understanding to increase. The eyes and ears become channels for blessing. They will enable us to return to God, the Creator, the Father. Life is best perceived as a journey back to God, the fewer and lesser the detours the better it turns out to be. Understanding scripture, authored by the Lord God Himself, is essential for our understanding or souls to grow. When our understanding increases, we desire a personal relationship with the Creator, the Father, the Almighty. We can have such a relationship only through the means provided by Him- the Son, the Redeemer, the Saviour, the God-anointed King of Kings or the Ruler of rulers since all rulers are subject to Him and His law and word is far above any other earthly ruler. He is the Road, the Path to return to the Father. No wonder the early Christians were called as The Way and Jesus declared Himself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life. When we return to the Father we have access to holistic healing, healing of spirit, soul and body. We recognize that we need healing in all aspects of our lives- our souls, our minds, our bodies, our relationships, our finances, our work life, our society, our systems and institutions. The eyes and ears once opened by spiritual understanding with the Holy Spirit echoing the one word command of Jesus, “Ephphatha” or “Open”, become the means of enabling our personal relationship with the Lord, of understanding the meaning and application of scripture. Cleansing and healing, being made whole is not however a one time need of humanity but a continual need. We need the healing touch of Jesus every day, nay every moment. We also become His extended hand to reach healing to our neighbours ( those who are in our intimate circles) and the world around us.

The Truth that Sets Us Free

UV 4173/10000 The Truth that Sets Us Free “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8 v 32 Jesus told the Jews around Him that if they abide in His word, they would be His disciples. By abiding in His word, we come to know the truth. Jesus is the truth personified and when we know Him truly, we are set free from the bondage of sin and from the penalty of sin. Sin is any shortcoming or falling short of God’s glory. By knowing Jesus, we are able to overcome the shortcoming, the falling short. We are freed from the clutches of the father of sin- the enemy of humanity. Jesus points out to the Jews of the time that we can be either the children of God by believing and abiding in Him or be children of the evil one. Children of the evil one could not recognize or accept Jesus. They wanted to murder Him and disregarded His word. Children of God recognize that Jesus is the Son of God sent by the Father in heaven to redeem mankind. Hence, the latter respond with love towards Jesus. Hence, it is not an abstract principle of truth that sets us free but Jesus Himself through His teachings, through His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection proclaiming victory over sin and death and all shortcoming or “hamartia”. The follower of Jesus, therefore, enjoys more freedom and not less as he is set free from the attraction or seduction of sin, he is set free from the weaknesses of his own flesh and mind, he is set free from the fear of death and eternal judgement. Fear restricts us and when we are set free from all kinds of fears, we are like stall fed cattle, being fattened for the killing, that have been set free suddenly. We rejoice in the freedom we have in Christ, the power over sin and death, curses and disease. This truly results in a paradigm shift- the patterns of our thinking, speaking, doing, reacting now conform not to the desires of our flesh or mind but to the will of God expressed in and by Christ.

Learning By Heart

UV 4172/10000 Learning By Heart I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119 v 11 To protect ourselves against bullets, we need to wear a bullet proof jacket on the outside of us but to protect ourselves from sin and temptation, we need to hide God’s word in our hearts. The word stored in our minds do not help us with fighting temptations but the word stored in our hearts will certainly protect us against sin. For each type of offence, there is a specific word that needs to be stored in our hearts. The moment the temptation arises, the specific word will come up to defend us from committing that specific sinful act or saying the sinful thing or even thinking it. We need not wear our faith on our sleeve but we need to hide the word. People may not even be aware of the reason we do not commit specific acts that are offensive to God as the word in us is kept hidden. The word needs to saturate our hearts, our thoughts, our emotions for the circumcision of our hearts. It helps us to avoid doubting God in our difficult circumstances even as it increases our resistance to sin. The way to hide the word in our hearts is not merely to read and forget it but to meditate on every word in scripture portions that speak to us in specific circumstances or situations of life. In our weak moments of spirit, mind or body, the word will augment our inner strength, courage, trust in God, confidence. The word once committed to heart does not remain dormant but being alive, active creates changes in our inner man. It transforms us from within. The Spirit of God in His role as Remembrancer reminds us of specific word that the Lord has spoken into our lives. In His role as Counsellor and Comforter, too He flashes the light on specific promises of God to encourage us, guide us, comfort us. When we were young students, our teachers asked us to learn by heart certain important texts or portions. In the context of the word, learning by heart takes on a new meaning and significance in our lives. Learning by heart implies a total commitment to live by the word and not just be hearers or preachers of the word. We need to live or hang on every word spoken by the Lord to us, giving it priority, time, attention and total obedience. Belief and obedience to the word opens up opportunities for supernatural favour, blessings, grace to flow in and through us. We become a live wire of and for God.