UV 316/10,000 Amazing principles of the Universe revealed verse by verse Mark 1 v 2 The promise of a messenger to prepare the way
Mar 1:2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
With our human intellects we often limit God’s Word to the context in which it was spoken or written. The Word of God being the Word of God, the content can jump out of its context to be meaningful in our day to day contexts too. In a time of prayer, the Lord gave this promise that He would always send a messenger ahead of me to prepare the way in what I was doing or proposing to do.
In the police context, when we are planning the security detail of a particular key person visiting a new area for a meeting, we do what I call the Triple A formula: Advance Liaison, Anti-sabotage check and Access control. Similarly, the Lord sends before us when we venture out on a particular mission either in pursuit of our secular calling or a ministry opportunity, a messenger who is capable of doing advance liaison to sort out matters and tie the loose ends, to counter any moves to disturb or obstruct or harm us and to decide who should come in close contact with us and who should not.
The Lord uses both angelic agency as well as human agency to execute His will as a herald. The Holy Spirit gave intimations to many before the birth of the Child Jesus. He sent angelic host to herald His birth. He also sent the Magi to confirm the intimations. Similarly, the Lord gave Abraham a faithful servant who vowed to find a wife for his son Isaac out of His own people. When the servant asked if the maid he so finds refuses to come with him, what should he do, Abraham said that the Lord would send His angels ahead to ensure the success of his journey. When we undertake our work as if we work for the Lord and when we undertake His work as His servants, He promises to send faithful and competent messengers ahead of us to ensure the successful completion of the mission.
Prateep V Philip
Showing posts with label help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label help. Show all posts
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
The Divine Mandate to Help
UV 312/10,000 Amazing principles of the Universe revealed verse by verse
The divine mandate to help
Isa 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow
This is the Father’s will for His children: that we must do well. He desires that we prosper in spirit,mind and body. He delights in us when we imitate Him in seeking and executing justice as far as it lies with us to alleviate the suffering of the weak, vulnerable, the orphans and the widows.
As Commissioner of the city of Trichy, an old woman came to my office one day. She wanted a sum of money to do a surgery. I extended monetary help to her. Later, the Lord confirmed that “ I have come to in different forms at different times to test you and you have not said no to my requests.” It is not as if the Lord had come in the shape of these different people but when the needy approach us for help it is as if the Lord Himself had sent them to us and we should do what we can within our official and personal capacities to meet their need. What we do to the least of humankind, we do to the Lord.
During a flood in the city of Trichy, I was on a tour by car along with the Collector. At the time, a poor single woman with a little child wailed with anguish pointing to the sheer slush in which she lived. She asked the Collector for help to build a home for her. He said, “ There is no provision for building a house for her.” I gave her an assurance that as part of the Friends of Police we would build a house for her. The local police along with FOP volunteers of the city joined hands and built a house for that poor woman.
When we lend to the poor our voice, our official help, our resources or our time, we lend to the Lord. When we so lend, He will defend us in our hour of trouble. A senior officer sent me a memo questioning the propriety of giving an assurance to the poor woman when it was not part of my job to do so. But I had felt a higher calling from above as I heard her crying out. I gave a fitting reply that the action was done voluntarily out of the good will and efforts of FOP volunteers and that it won widespread appreciation for the police in the city. Even today that little house in an obscure street of Trichy city remains a testament to how the Lord moves us to action beyond the call of duty.
Prateep V Philip
The divine mandate to help
Isa 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow
This is the Father’s will for His children: that we must do well. He desires that we prosper in spirit,mind and body. He delights in us when we imitate Him in seeking and executing justice as far as it lies with us to alleviate the suffering of the weak, vulnerable, the orphans and the widows.
As Commissioner of the city of Trichy, an old woman came to my office one day. She wanted a sum of money to do a surgery. I extended monetary help to her. Later, the Lord confirmed that “ I have come to in different forms at different times to test you and you have not said no to my requests.” It is not as if the Lord had come in the shape of these different people but when the needy approach us for help it is as if the Lord Himself had sent them to us and we should do what we can within our official and personal capacities to meet their need. What we do to the least of humankind, we do to the Lord.
During a flood in the city of Trichy, I was on a tour by car along with the Collector. At the time, a poor single woman with a little child wailed with anguish pointing to the sheer slush in which she lived. She asked the Collector for help to build a home for her. He said, “ There is no provision for building a house for her.” I gave her an assurance that as part of the Friends of Police we would build a house for her. The local police along with FOP volunteers of the city joined hands and built a house for that poor woman.
When we lend to the poor our voice, our official help, our resources or our time, we lend to the Lord. When we so lend, He will defend us in our hour of trouble. A senior officer sent me a memo questioning the propriety of giving an assurance to the poor woman when it was not part of my job to do so. But I had felt a higher calling from above as I heard her crying out. I gave a fitting reply that the action was done voluntarily out of the good will and efforts of FOP volunteers and that it won widespread appreciation for the police in the city. Even today that little house in an obscure street of Trichy city remains a testament to how the Lord moves us to action beyond the call of duty.
Prateep V Philip
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)