Thursday, February 10, 2022

The Power of God

UV 4311/10000 The Power of God Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was restored to health at that very hour. Matthew 8 v 13 The centurion was a man of high position, power and wealth. But he humbled himself to come to Jesus and seek the healing of his servant. When Jesus offered to come to his house, he said with all humility that he was not worthy to have Him come under his roof, that He only had to say the word and his servant would be healed. He explained that just as he had authority in the secular world, the Lord Jesus exercised authority over the spiritual realms. He just had to speak the word and his servant would be healed, he believed and affirmed with his mouth. Jesus was astonished at his faith and said that He had found no one with this kind of faith in all of Israel. Seeing the centurion’s faith, Jesus spoke the uni-verse- “Go, it will be done for you as you have believed.” The centurion’s concern for the health of his servant is another remarkable aspect. He was willing to meet Jesus, a stranger to him and plead on his behalf. Like the centurion, we should set aside all our titles, positions, worldly influence and submit to the Lord. The moment Jesus spoke the word, the servant was healed- that very hour. The centurion understood that just as his servant would have obeyed him, so even demons and disease would obey the word of Jesus. The centurion was awed and held Jesus in great reverence and respect. Jesus, likewise, paid the highest encomium to his understanding and faith. We, like the centurion, need to humble ourselves always before the Lord. The Lord would never ignore our humble pleas. He will certainly honour our trust and faith in His miraculous power and authority over the natural and supernatural world. Another remarkable fact is that Jesus knew His power to heal by just His thought or His word but He said He would go to the house of the centurion. In short, the Lord manifests His authority and power in accordance with our faith, our confession and expectation of Him. He will never disappoint us or fail us. The centurion was not a Jew and yet, Jesus responded to his request and expression of faith. It shows Jesus treats all humans as Friends of God and does not discriminate on race, language, religion.

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

Personal Covenant Making and Keeping

UV 4310/10000 Personal Covenant Making and Keeping I have made a covenant ( agreement) with my eyes; how then could I gaze ( lustfully) at a virgin? Job 31 v 1 This uni-verse introduces a new, innovative spiritual practice adopted by Job. No wonder God was pleased with him and the devil was displeased with him and sought to sift him with many trials and tribulations. We could take a page from Job’s life and make a covenant with our eyes, our mouths, our tongues, our appetite, our egos not to sin against God. We can make a covenant to consider all women other than our spouse to be our sisters or brothers as the case may be. We can make a covenant with our lips, our mouths, our vocal cords not to argue, not to complain, not to say vulgar things, not to abuse, not to criticize others, not to say anything hurting, negative or sarcastic. We can make a covenant with our brains or minds not to think a negative thought or yield to temptation. We can make a covenant with our legs not to go to a sinful place or a place of temptation but to flee it like Joseph. A covenant is a sacred, inviolable agreement in which God is our witness. These covenants we make with our own various faculties and organs will move us closer and closer to the standards of holiness or righteousness God call us to uphold in our lives. If we are able to keep our covenants with our mouths and discipline our speech, James goes so far to call us perfect. Of course, we need to confront the fact that we cannot keep any of these internal covenants without the grace of God, the help of the Holy Spirit who will remind us of the terms of our agreements. The question is whether if we constrain ourselves with so many personal agreements, whether we will have any freedom, whether our lives would be enjoyable. These agreements, in fact, are meant not to restrict us but to enlarge our territories like Jabez, to increase our influence, to protect and preserve our testimonies, to bless us. It will accelerate our spiritual and personal growth like never before. When our energies are regulated like the water of a dam, it becomes a powerful force, not a burden or a hindrance.

Monday, February 7, 2022

Repent and Reset

UV 4309/10000 Repent and Reset So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1 v 27 God created man in His own image. Hence, when man and woman were first created they were good, absolutely good with no iota of evil like God. But, the enemy came and planted the weeds, the seed of evil in man and woman. Today, good and evil are mixed in human nature. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we first repent and our lives are reset. We are once again restored to the image of Christ, the visible image of God. Thereafter, whenever we fall short of God’s standards described in His word, we are to repent and reset our lives. We should not own the negatives or evil in our human nature as we were created in the image of God- a reflection of the absolute goodness of God. We need not defend or deny our negatives but we only need to repent and reset our lives. In respect of any specific fault that we become aware or someone points out, we need to repent and reset, or in other words, change to be like Christ. Even the current covid global pandemic is a call from God to humanity to repent and reset. When we realize that we are to reflect God in His holiness, glory, majesty, wisdom, beauty and grace like a mirror reflects an image, we will not try to hide our faults but try to keep improving. Repent and reset is a good concept to import from spirituality and faith into the realm of corporate and personal management. Even on a computer, we need to use control, delete, alt buttons to change what we have typed. We need to delete our past negatives, control our negative thoughts, emotions, impulses and alter our lives to move forward. Paul wrote, “Forgetting what is past, I surge forward to do the will of God.” We need to forget our bad memories and keep surging forward in hope, faith, courage and strength. The enemy will try to bring accusations, doubts, fears to weaken our resolve, to demotivate, to demoralize us. But when we are sealed by God with the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, he cannot steal our inner peace or joy.

Saturday, February 5, 2022

The Feet of Iron and Clay

UV 4308/10000 The Feet of Iron and Clay Its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay ( pottery). Daniel 2 v 33 We, humans, are partly made up of iron, or strengths and partly of clay, weaknesses. The English expression, “All have feet of clay should” actually read, “All have feet of iron and clay. The trouble is that the iron and clay are mixed up. The story of the good wolf or dog and bad wolf or dog existing in each man and the need to fee the former and starve the latter does not make much sense as our good is mixed up with evil, our strengths with weaknesses. Some of our foundational ( symbolized by feet) beliefs are of iron or inducing strength and power in us but it is mixed up with clay or human weaknesses. Jesus refers to it as the good crop mixed up with the tares or weeds. As in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar interpreted by Daniel, the stone not cut with human hands that can demolish the clay parts or our weaknesses is none other than Jesus Christ. All who are touched by Him and saved by Him become the great mountain of faith that filled the whole earth. In practical and spiritual terms, every day we need to surrender our clay parts to the Lord and ask Him to use our iron parts for the building of the mountain. We need to examine ourselves regularly, seeking the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit to identify the clay parts for it can be disguised to look like iron on the surface and to remove it. The process of sanctification is one of separating the iron from the clay. The iron-clay mix applies also to our emotions, our thoughts, actions and responses to various stimuli in life. The Lord wants us to remove the clay or emotions that make us weak, the thoughts that make us weak and prone to sin, the actions or habits that make us weak and to build the emotions, thoughts, actions, habits that make us strong. The Lord’s power, wisdom and glory is often revealed in how He deals with our weaknesses. Hence, Paul wrote that “ In my weakness is His strength.” Our iron parts or strengths itself are like clay in His hand. As we surrender our strengths and weaknesses to Him, He will take it and use it for revealing or manifesting His power, wisdom and glory.