The Root, the Branch and the Dew

UV 589/10,000 The Root and the Dew “ My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch” Job 29 v 19 Our root is our “ souls”, our minds, our consciousness. When our minds, implying our intellect, conscious and subconscious, our emotions and will, are growing deep roots into the subsoil of the Word of God- implying that we take efforts to understand the inner spiritual meaning of the Word and apply it in our lives, the “ dew” of the Lord will lie upon our “ branch” or upon all that we are, all that we do and all that we have. The “waters” are the living waters of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. When we saturate our minds with the Holy Spirit and the Word, rivers of life-giving, life-enhancing and life-empowering water will flow out of our minds, our mouths and our lives as a natural outflow. Our “ branch” or our life needs to be grafted onto the root of David, Jesus Christ. When it is so grafted, it will be evergreen and live forever. The “dew of Hermon” or the dew of Heaven will make our “ branch” or our lives fruitful. The “ dew” is the moisture in the atmosphere that condenses on leaves and branches of plants. It has a cooling effect in the summer heat. It softens, renews and re-vitalizes the plants. Similarly, the Lord promises that when we are rooted in the Word and the Word spreads out to influence all spheres or domains of our lives, then the dew of His compassion will lie or rest upon us. His assuring presence will comfort us. The dew of His favour will be upon all that we do, giving us success in all aspects of life. Our need, physical, spiritual, social, emotional and financial will be met. Even in the darkness of night or unfavourable circumstances, He will bless us. Even when we are resting, He will provide for us. When the dew forms, it lies not just on one branch but on all branches of a tree or plant. Similarly, all that we do and are will be blessed. The dew is a symbol or metaphor of God’s grace. Just as a tree is covered or clothed with moisture by the morning dew, we will be clothed with God’s grace. No aspect of our lives will remain untouched. But, just as dew forms in the darkest hour before dawn, we need to wait for the appointed hour for God’s grace to manifest in different areas of our lives. Just as dew is formed every night but in different proportions depending on the weather, the dew of the Lord’s grace and mercy will be upon us all the days of our lives. Indeed, the “ tender mercies of the Lord never ceases.” They are fresh every morning and are certain. Just as the mercy of the Lord never ceases, we should never cease to bear spiritual fruit for the glory or the honour and satisfaction of the Lord. Prateep V Philip

The Lion and the Root

UV 588/10,000 Revelation 5 v 5 Lion and Root “Then one of the elders said to me, “ Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” This uni-verse was spotlighted by the Holy Spirit in a time of prayer last evening. The elder referred to in the uni-verse is the elder who belongs to the heavenly council of God. That elder tells each of us “ Do not weep!” Whatever causes us to weep today or be worried and depressed, whether it is our family problems, our health issues, our work related challenges, persecution on account of our faith, harassment by others, the Lord is in control. Our worries need to turn into worship, our fears into faith, our hope into fulfillment, our mourning into laughter, our tears into joy. He is the Lion of Judah. The lion is a kingly beast, a symbol of power, majesty, justice and triumph. Judah was given the departing blessing on the death-bed of Jacob that he was a lion and out of his descendants, a ceaseless line of kings or lions would arise till the day of Judgement. Accordingly, David was born out of that lineage. Jesus though He was born as a descendant of David, pre-existed David and hence is called the Root as well as Offspring of David. We need not be sad or fearful of events to come or of any other issue or challenge in life, as Jesus will arise on our behalf as a Lion of Judah. His roar will disperse the opposition. Whatever issue we are facing will melt in His holy presence. The only thing we need to do is to “ See” or to focus on Jesus and realize His sovereign power. Since Judah was a mere man like us with his own strengths and weaknesses, Jesus as the Lion of Judah knows our natural selves. He understands our natural inclinations. He remains a Lamb towards us and a lion towards our adversaries, spiritual and mortal. He is a good Shepherd toward us who love Him and a righteous King towards others who should fear Him just as all creatures fear the lion. He who is victorious forever will wrest victory for us. He will not allow us to become victims. He has given us victory over the 5 big D’s in life: death, difficulties, disease, disaster and debility. He will transform our weaknesses into strengths. He will change our failure into success. He is the one who has access to the deep secrets of God and the counsels of God. He won the right to open the scroll with the seven seals, one by one, to unfold the will of God operating through all of history by the way He lived and the way He died and the way He rose again. The Book of Revelation reveals the seven seals that have to be opened over time before the day of Judgement. There are seven days in a week, seven continents on the globe, seven oceons, seven colours in the rainbow and a scroll with seven seals. This implies that Jesus is Lord of time and space. As the Light of the World, He splits light into seven different colours to glorify God in and through our lives in seven different ways: the spiritual, emotional, physical, intellectual, social, financial and creative aspects of our lives. He is the Root of each of us. We become a righteous fruit bearing branch as we are rooted and grafted in Jesus and the Word. We are invincible in Christ and hence, we must be overflowing with joy and exalting the Lion of Judah, the King of Kings. He is the taproot while all other aspects of life including family, career, friends, ambitions and so on are just adventitious roots. Jesus, though He is the offspring of David, was the source of victory of David against his foes or those who bore ill will towards him: his own brothers, Saul, Goliath, his own sin and lust, his political enemies, his own children who rebelled and conspired against him. He gave David victory and stood with him through thick and thin. Similarly, the Lord God as an all-powerful lion acts on our behalf to help us triumph against the Goliaths in our lives. Like the shepherd David, we must carry our sling, namely , prayer and five stones: worship, intercession, supplication, confession and thanksgiving. We must also graduate like David from moving on to the more lethal weapon –the sword or the Word of God. It is the innumerable victories that David obtained by the grace of God that inspired him to compose many Psalms. He will give us the key of David: the key to success in life, the key to unlock the secrets of the Lord. We may not be poets or gifted musicians but we too need to write our own personal Psalm, a song of praise and thanksgiving to the Lion of Judah. As the offspring or spiritual progeny of David and his kind of faith- an intimate relationship with the Sovereign God, our hearts should for ever be a wellspring of worship. Instead of weeping we ought to be rejoicing all the time and in all circumstances. Prateep V Philip

What is Written and What is not

UV 587/10,000 It is Written… “From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” Acts 17 v 26 It is amazing that though there are so many cultural differences and differences in belief and lifestyle of different races, people everywhere are fundamentally the same with the same basic principles of life holding good in every nation. It underlines the fact that we all descended from one man- Adam. The concept of pre-determination is a much misunderstood idea. What part of our lives, if at all is pre-determined? What part of our lives do we have control over? This uni-verse states that God made every nation of men. Just as we inhabit the earth, the Lord God should inhabit us. He is the author of life as well as of salvation of mankind. As the author, He wrote the instructions in the first cell that then divided, multiplied and diversified into the human being, the crowning glory of all of His creation. Hence, it is written into our DNA the instructions on the development of our physical being. This uni-verse also states that the Lord has determined the times and the exact places where we should live. He has written the bounds of our habitations and our lifetime. He has set us in own little Adens. We need not blame Adam alone now, for people everywhere in every generation have proven their capacity to turn Eden into a den. Hence, there are two types of writing of pre-determination: what the Lord God has written in our DNA, what He has written regarding where we should live and the times when we should live. The third type of writing is what we ourselves of our own free will write with our thoughts, words, emotions and actions. We are free to write our own goals and to pursue these. We write our own eternal and earthly destiny by the choices we make within the boundaries God has set. When we surrender the pen of our faith to the Lord, He helps us write the kind of life that He alone can inspire. It is tragic that many through history and space have surrendered their precious lives to the fictional control of stars, numbers and such other figments of the human imagination. Prateep V Philip

Spiritual Life as a Scientific Experience

UV 583/10,000 Spiritual Life a Scientific or Empiritical Experience “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The earth was in the beginning like the other eight planets, formless, void or empty and dark. The eight planets remain lifeless to this day and are the control planets to show what the Earth would be like but for the plan of God to populate it. Every blade of grass, every drop of rain, every peal of laughter, every whiff of wind bear the fingerprint of the Creator. The Spirit of God moved or hovered upon the face of the waters to separate the light from darkness, the night from day, the land from sea. The other day, I heard a chemistry teacher explain that water alone of all the liquids is most dense at 4 degrees centigrade and hence, sinks to sustain life below the surface even when the surface is frozen at 0 degrees centigrade. Can any scientist explain why such an exception was made in nature? No wonder Einstein wrote that " there are only two ways to live: as if everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle." Even today the Spirit moves upon the depth of our souls to separate reason and doubt, hope and fear, love and hatred, joy and sadness. But for the Spirit breathing life into our spiritual nostrils, we would be leading shapeless, directionless and dark lives. It is impossible to understand history or philosophy or science without an understanding of who God really is. Every verse in Scripture is like the hypothesis of a scientist. It is to be tested empirically in our real-life experience just as a scientist does experiments to prove a hypothesis. No one is big enough to experiment with truth but every one can experience truth. However, short or long our lives are, we will find time and space and opportunity to experience truth and the move of the Spirit of God upon our souls. It is such a great privilege to have the Creator of the universe interfacing and interacting within the depth of our souls and spirits to give a shape to our lives, a direction to our steps, a vision to our eyes. He fills and fulfills us in every way. He moves on the surface of the depth of our beings: our inner thoughts, our deep desires,our deepest feelings, our hope and longing. Without Him we will be as lifeless and empty as the eight control planets but with Him, we will flourish and thrive. He separates us from the rest of creation to be the crowning glory of the Creator. He leaves the choice with each one of us: whether to flourish or to perish. He spoke to the universe: “ let there be light” but to us He says, “ let there be faith.” Prateep V Philip

Fuel for Faith

UV 582/10,000 Fuel for Faith Luke 24 v 32 They asked each other, “ Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” As the resurrected Jesus talked to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, His words burnt into their hearts and convicted them that it was the truth that He spoke. The seven miles of their journey would have taken more than an hour. Similarly, we must each spend an hour each day listening to the Lord opening the Scriptures to us. It might even be while we are travelling to some place that we listen to the Word. It is the Word of God burning in us that makes us lamps in clay pots for the world. The Holy Spirit will illumine the Word to our hearts. Even after all the dramatic events of the preceding Passion week, the disciples could not believe what they heard. They were distressed and confused. But, when Jesus taught them, they were touched to the hearts. Their understanding expanded. Their faith quickened or came alive. Till that moment they only thought Jesus was only a prophet, powerful in word and deed. Their eyes opened to recognize that it was truly Jesus who had been speaking to them. They now received Him along with His Word as the Lord. At that time Jesus disappeared from their sight. Like the disciples we, too, blinded by too much reason and too little faith are not able to recognize the presence of God in our lives. We are not able to discern the meaning of different events in our lives. We are unable to recognize when Jesus Himself is talking with us. But, when He speaks with us, we will sense a burning of our hearts. The Word is fuel for our faith. It is as if the flame of truth has been lit in our darkened hearts and minds, giving us a sense of purpose, direction, meaning and power. We can now lead lives that are powerful in word and deed. Whatever road we are travelling on,we will realize it is part of the journey back to God, the journey to eternity and Heaven. Instead of Jesus disappearing from our sight, we can now ask Him to tarry or stay with us. Prateep V Philip

The Good Confession

UV 580/10,000 The Good Confession 2 Timothy 4 v 7 " I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." St Paul towards the end of his life, could make the good confession that he had fought the good fight. He had started by fighting against the faith and being zealous in persecuting the early Christians but once the light of the Lord opened his eyes, he remained focussed on the mission of spreading the gospel. In his personal walk, he focussed as a runner would on the imperishable crown of eternal life. His faith was unshakeable and His enthusiasm unquenchable. Like a fighter St Paul did not pull any punches but gave it all he got. Nothing could deter or discourage him. He worked tirelessly. He soaked in the power of God that he was strengthened from within. Like him we need to harden our bodies and minds and soften our hearts towards the move of the Holy Spirit. St Paul uses the image of a fighter to demonstrate that our faith life is a struggle and it requires courage, hope, endurance of hardship and sacrifice. St Paul knew he was running after God, for God and with God. He realized what counted was finishing well. Like a runner gets a last burst of power as he sees the finishing line, as we get older, we must summon and muster that final surge. St Paul alludes to the image of a runner as our faith life requires discipline, stamina and hope of victory. In living a life of faith, we compete with our own flesh and the desires of the old self. Keeping the faith implies storing and treasuring the Word of God, obeying it to manifest our love for the Lord. Prateep V Philip

Continual Praise and Worship

UV 581/10,000 Continual praise and worship Hebrews 13 v 15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Once we realize the extent of our indebtedness to Christ who gives us access to the presence of God, we will be ready to offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. The words, “ by him” signifies that it is Christ who makes our worship acceptable to God. By ourselves we being sinful and disobedient are not worthy to enter the presence of God. The Old Testament blood sacrifices were meant to foreshadow the final and ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus. But, what truly pleases the Lord God is after we have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus as absolution of our shortcomings, we continually offer Him the sacrifice of praise. It implies that we thank the Lord in our minds at every turn and every circumstance. It is an attitude of spiritual worship. It is a full dress rehearsal for our worship of the Lord in Heaven. Praise is described as the fruit of our lips. Our deeds of charity are the fruits of our hands. Just as the fire of sacrifice burnt continually in the temple of God, the fire of praise, worship and thanksgiving is to burn continually in our hearts and minds. The mouth will speak what the heart is full of. When our hearts are full of thanksgiving and praise unto the Lord, our mouth will also acknowledge Him all the time even in our sighing. Just as there are different types of fruits, there are different ways of praising and worshipping God. Uninterrupted or continuous worship does not imply that we spend all our time on our knees. It means that we have a continual awareness of the presence of God in us and with us. It means that even in the course of our daily chores or in the midst of a conversation, we remember the Lord and His goodness to us. That awareness will lead us to occasionally raise our arms to praise Him or to write down a thought or to internally rejoice by thanking Him for a particular blessing. Each day and night,we will have a series of moments and ways to remember, acknowledge, thank and worship the Lord. Prateep V Philip