Monday, July 31, 2017

The Lighter Yoke

UV 2736/10000 The Lighter Yoke
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Matthew 11 v 29
A heavy yoke is used for ploughing hard and dry ground. But when we give our hearts to Jesus, a light yoke is enough to plant the good seed in the smaller moist furrows of our hearts, minds and souls. The lighter yoke that Jesus offers us is the yoke of the fear of God. It is much lighter and burdensome than the yoke of the fear of man, fear of evil, fear of death, fear of judgment, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of the unknown, fear of the future. The yoke of Jesus is the yoke of love or a deep and personal relationship with the Lord God Himself. All our earthly burdens will feel lighter as the Lord Himself lifts our burdens from our shoulders and off our minds. The yoke that is heavy and burdensome is to try to obtain our own salvation by our own efforts. The heavy yoke of this world are the sorrows and stress of a life without the help of the Creator-Redeemer. The lighter yoke is that Jesus Himself took the heavy burden or responsibility for bearing the consequences of sin upon Himself. We need not struggle with God and ourselves hereafter. The yoke that Jesus offers His followers is the yoke of wisdom. Wisdom is supernatural decisional intelligence that enables us to avoid the wrong choices that we are prone to as the physical descendants of Adam and Eve and to make the right choices as the spiritual descendants of Jesus. The yoke that Jesus gives us is the anointing of the Holy Spirit who inspires, guides, goads, informs, corrects, encourages, comforts, gifts us, builds us, empowers and enables us. The yoke of Jesus are the godly principles He taught us for in remembering, observing and keeping these we build our lives on an unshakeable rock foundation. If the foundation is rock , the load factor or the burden of the building of our lives will never come crashing down on account of overloading. The yoke that He gives us is the fellowship we have with Him and the fellowship of fellow believers in His name.

The yoke that Jesus offers us is that of learning from a real, living and perfect person- He Himself. We do not have the wearisome task of learning from books, from theories or through trial and error that often turns out to be ‘trial and terror’. The yoke that Jesus offers us is to be fruitful or productive in terms of our character and our qualities and not in terms of external or extraneous goals like worldly goods and wealth. The primary qualities of Jesus that we need to model on and emulate are His meekness and gentleness despite having all the armies of heaven, the chariots of fire at His beck and call any time. He did not rely on power but on love and meekness to touch and transform human lives.

The rest, relief, release, healing and renewal we receive by accepting the yoke of Jesus is not just for our bodies or minds but for our souls and spirits. We experience inner strength, vision, healing, deliverance, restoration, revival, transformation of both our character, our perspectives and our destiny. We will run and not get tired as the more we run for the Lord, the more energy and strength we derive from Him. We will rise on the wings of prayer and the Word to the very throne room of heaven. We will begin to realize that no task is too difficult, no difficulty will be too unbearable, no barrier will be insurmountable.
Prateep V Philip

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Casting off the Veils


UV 2735/10000 Casting off the Veils
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3 v 18
There are many veils covering our spiritual eyes or blinding our inner vision. This is the reason that Jesus described the world as “the blind leading the blind.” These veils keep us from perceiving the presence, the power and the glory of the Lord. God the Father made man in the image of Christ at the beginning of time. But man chose to separate Himself from God by his acts of omission and commission. Man departed from the perfect model on which basis he was created. When Jesus died on the cross the veil of the Temple that separated the altar from the rest of the temple was torn from top to bottom, indicating that God Himself had torn the veil that separated mankind from Him. The veils that separate us from the Lord are our sins, our pride, our lusts, our self deception, our ignorance, our traditions, our past conditioning that limits our faith, our desire to please people, our belief in our own limited knowledge, understanding and wisdom, our lack of sincerity and willingness to compromise with the world.. We can throw off all these blinkers and enjoy full 20/20 vision that enables us to gaze into eternity. We are now being restored like works of art that have been damaged back to the pristine glory of the original- the image of Christ.

The blinded mind of man cannot know what it cannot see. With our human nature, we cannot perceive the Lord face to face but we can see His perfect image in the mirror of His word. We see the perfect image of the Father in His Son Jesus and we see the perfect image of Jesus in the word . We are not to conform to the patterns of the world but conform to the patterns of the word. We are to conform to the image of Christ. We discern His character, we understand the depth and other dimensions of His love, power and grace by studying the word and applying it to our lives. The law given through Moses subjected people to judgement and death. Yet, it was a glorious leap forward for mankind to have received the ten commandments through Moses. But it is much more glorious to perceive Christ in the word and to become like Him, degree by degree, little by little, day by day, moment by moment. Instead of the letter of the law that sears our conscience with guilt since we fall short of it by any measure, we now have the spirit of liberty that sets us free from all guilt and condemnation. The Spirit convinces us of the truth of the word and convicts us of salvation. A believer can never be set in his ways. He has to be always learning, always growing, always changing for the better.

Transformation is conforming to the perfect image of Jesus by obeying, practicing, applying the truths hidden in the word but revealed by the Holy Spirit. The transformation does not happen overnight but it is a lifelong daily process of imbibing the word and removing all the veils that hide the invisible image of Christ from our vision. We are to conform to the new patterns revealed in the word: new patterns of thinking, feelings, speech, priorities, goals, plans, actions, reactions and relationships. As we do so, with such unveiled or open vision, we experience both the liberty and the effulgent or fullness of glory of the presence and the power of the Lord at work in our life’s patterns and experiences. When we are fully restored, we become like the first born Jesus, brothers and sisters of the same family with the same spiritual, emotional and intellectual DNA.

Prateep V Philip

Saturday, July 29, 2017

The Cost of Belief


UV 2735/10000 The Cost of Belief
For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake
Philippians 1 v 29

Believers in Christ should not only enjoy the benefits or multitude of blessings of such faith but be prepared to pay the cost of belief- suffering. Jesus said, “"But don't begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?” We are building a temple for the Lord with our lives. We need to know how much it will cost us and be prepared to pay it. Many believers right through the centuries from the first century of the Lord’s coming have suffered the cost of being put to death. We need not be surprised that believers in Jesus continue to be the most persecuted world-wide and through the ages though they are gentle and aim for resurrection, not insurrection.
No one is greater than their leader. When our leader Jesus Himself suffered all types of “costs”- shame, pain, agony, loneliness, betrayal, desertion, death, we too are liable to suffer. Only when we are partakers of His suffering, can we also partake in His glory- the resurrection from the dead, to be seated at the right hand of the throne of the Father, to dwell in the mansion built by the Father forever, to receive the crown of righteousness that never fades. When the mother of two disciples asked Jesus if her two sons would be seated next to Him, He asked if they are prepared to drink the cup of suffering that He was soon to drink from. This perspective does not however mean that we invite suffering or that we do nothing to alleviate or pre-empt suffering but it means a willing submission to suffering that is inevitable and God-willed or allowed. The willingness to suffer for one’s belief in Jesus is often the test of the genuineness of our faith and it is also of immense evidentiary or testimonial value to touch the hearts and lives of others who hear of our attitude and response when subjected to suffering.
The difference between the Old covenant believers and the new covenant believers are that the latter do not complain about their suffering for the cause of their faith while the former complained, grumbled, murmured, rebelled in the wilderness about their suffering in the wilderness. The difference between the stoic or the philosophical and the new covenant believer are that the stoic do not complain about earthly hardship or suffering, face it with equanimity while the believer in Jesus accept it both willingly and gladly. The vision of heaven that Stephen received at the time of his being stoned to death by a crowd, that included a man who was soon to be St Paul, filled him with an inexplicable hope and joy. It is hope that fills us with joy and not the other way round as the world sees it that joy fills us with hope.

Prateep V Philip

Friday, July 28, 2017

The Multicoloured Favour of the Lord


UV 2734/10000 The Multi-coloured Favour of the Lord
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Genesis 37 v 3
Joseph was the favourite of his father, Jacob. But the favour of the father imperilled his life while the favour of the Lord lifted him out of one crisis to another. The favour of his earthly father was vested in a token symbol- a multi-coloured coat while the favour of the heavenly Father put his star in the ascendant, a rainbow in the sky of seven colours as a sign of the Father’s covenant with all who trusted in Him. The rainbow is a natural sign of supernatural favour. Man’s favour can be taken away while the favour of the Lord rescues, establishes, exalts us. We should not therefore prefer the man-made multi-colour coat over the covenant relationship we have with the heavenly Father through His Son Jesus. The torn, blood soaked multi-coloured coat of Joseph's staged death is a symbol of our own robes of salvation washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus.
The favour of his father almost destroyed the hope and future of Joseph while the grace of the Lord redeemed him from threats to his life, slavery, false accusation, captivity in prison, from anonymity and mediocrity. Likewise, the grace of our Father will redeem us in the many seasons and experiences of our lifetime. Joseph could fulfil the meaning of his name , “ He will add” as he was grafted onto the branch of the Saviour and Redeemer. The enemy took away his freedom, his father’s love, his home, his comforts, his rights while the Father restored him. The Father added whatever he had lost many times over in terms of his possessions, family ties, wisdom, influence. His earthly father tried to make him look different or distinguished by gifting him a multi-coloured coat that evoked insecurity and jealousy among his brothers while the heavenly Father gifted him a colourful life that inspires people with faith and hope to this day.
The Father gave up His only beloved Son Jesus for a time in order that He may share His love with all. He draws all people into the covenant relationship with Him and sets the rainbow as the multi-coloured symbol of His favour upon our lives. The enemy subtracts like Joseph’s brothers from our lives but the Lord adds and multiplies our faith, our blessings, our wisdom, our influence and impact. In nature, we usually see a rainbow after some rain but the supernatural rainbow of the love and favour of the Lord is seen in our lives in the early rain, the seasonal rain and the latter rain. The rainbow always points upwards. It implies that whatever is added or removed from our lives, we need to attribute all glory, praise and thanks upwards to the Lord. Like Job, we need to acknowledge faithfully when He gives as well as when He takes.

Prateep V Philip

Thursday, July 27, 2017

The Best Mediator

UV 2732/10000 The Best Mediator
But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Hebrews 8 v 6

Just as Moses was the mediator between God and the nation of Israel, Jesus is the mediator between God and mankind. The reason that we need a mediator or a Saviour to stand in our place is that there can be no negotiation between holiness and unholiness, between righteousness and unrighteousness. Even the most righteous of us have traces of unrighteousness in us that make us unacceptable in the presence of the Most Holy or absolutely holy God. Moses then was a freedom fighter for the Jews while Jesus is the freedom fighter for all mankind. Moses fought Egypt’s might under Pharaoh on behalf of the generationally enslaved Jews. He stood in the place of God before Pharaoh and invoked the authority and judgement of God. He stood between Israel and the anger of God when the former sinned provocatively making a golden calf to worship. Moses was an imperfect mediator for he had human failings and he himself provoked God to anger on some occasions. He had little control of his anger and as a young man, he smote an Egyptian in anger for oppressing a fellow Jew. He even hesitated to obey the call of the Lord to lead the freedom struggle of the Jews. He struck the rock for water instead of speaking to it while in the wilderness, disobeying the voice of the Lord.

Jesus is the perfect mediator in contrast to Moses. The parallels are there in their ministry right from the time of birth. Both were under the threat of death by state power at the time of their birth. Their births were accompanied by the genocide of Hebrew infants. Moses brought down the stone tablets given by the Lord from Mount Sinai. The ten commandments and the basis of human law across the globe is largely based on these commandments. But the observance and the obedience to these laws given by Jehovah was imperfect and incomplete. A greater mediator and a better one was needed. He Himself is the Word or the command and promise of the Lord. He is to write the laws of God on the tablet of our hearts and minds. He did not strike any rock for He Himself is the Rock, the source of strength, the strong unshakeable foundation of a life of faith and love. He did not strike the ground with a staff to execute miracles but He just spoke and the needed miracle of salvation, healing, deliverance happened. He ministered to all He encountered or who sought His help to overcome disease, challenges, difficulties. He forgave people and set them free from sin. In His willing submission to an unjust death, He promised salvation and resurrection to all who believed and obeyed His call. He laid His body down as a bridge across the eternal chasm separating man and God. Moses was asked to remove his sandals as he stepped on Sinai as it was holy ground, ground hallowed by the presence of God. Today, every step we take we are standing and walking on holy ground. We are set free from the ruler of this world, set free from the bondages of sin, death, disease, curses, fear, darkness, spiritual oppression.
Today, we have a ministry that is better, more excellent, more effective, purposeful and impactful than the ministry under the old covenant. Each of us can stand in the gap between God and man. We are not ourselves mediators but in the name of the Mediator Jesus we can take up the case of other people, we can intercede. For our own need of salvation, enablement, healing and deliverance, Jesus is our Advocate and Intercessor. We are no longer part of the problem but part of the solution, no longer part of the darkness but part of the light.

Prateep V Philip

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

The Marks of Maturity

UV 2731/10000 The Marks of Maturity
But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
2 Timothy 3 v 10

Paul writing a letter to Timothy, bishop of the early church and his mentee, emphasizes that he had known doctrinal truth, lifestyle, purpose, extent of faith, patience, endurance and love of people as lived by Paul. These are the basic traits of a testimonial life. We should learn sound doctrinal truth not as traditions practiced by people but as taught by the Lord Himself and practiced by the early church fathers. Like St Luke and Paul, we too should have a full understanding of the basic doctrinal truths. These truths are meant to perfect us and make us mature followers of Jesus, not someone who can be pushed over easily by the enemy or deceived by his agents on earth. Our lives should mirror the truths we have learnt in the Word. We should not only be continually hearing and learning the truths but continually examining ourselves, applying and correcting ourselves in the light of these doctrinal truths.

We must be people not driven by our personal ambitions but by our sense of purpose and dedication to the Lord. We do all things for the glory of the Lord and for dispensing hope to all mankind. We need to pray globally and act locally to improve things around us. Our faith will be strengthened as we increase in our knowledge of the Lord and our application of it in the experiences we encounter in the course of our lives. We need to be prepared mentally, emotionally and spiritually to endure much hardship and suffering as we live by faith.
The uni-verse also exhorts us to be full of love and compassion for others. As Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, “love is patient and kind.” We need to be patient and kind to others even as we are exacting and demanding of our own selves. When all these marks of the apostle St Paul are in us, we too will be mature and effective in our faith and in the practical outworking or expression of our faith. Many of these traits are a result or fruit of the joint responsibility of the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and our own response, sincere and committed to allow or welcome the change He brings in us as we follow Jesus.

Prateep V Philip

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

The DNA of Jesus

UV 2730/10000 The DNA of Jesus
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust
2 Peter 1 v 4
We must be first partakers of the DNA(divine nature) of Jesus before we can be propagators of His divine nature. The invaluable and imagination-exceeding, need-fulfilling, awesome promises of the Lord are not meant primarily that we be blessed abundantly in this life but that we share in the divine nature of Jesus. He walked in the flesh on the earth without yielding to the lusts of the flesh or of the mind. Likewise, we too are to walk in the flesh without yielding to the lusts of the flesh or of the mind. We are in the world but of the Lord. The purpose of the ten thousand amazing wonder-working promises of the Lord are intended to keep us sailing like a ship on the surface of the sea of sin without going into or under it. We are to desalinate the sea water to make it fit for human spiritual consumption by means of the Word.
The DNA of Jesus implies that we should be saturated with the Word and the Spirit who interprets it to our spirits and minds. The DNA of Jesus implies that we should grow and be filled with the spiritual fruit of His nature of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. These nine fruit cover the entire gamut of spiritual values that constitute divine nature. Everything we think, speak and do should increasingly reflect these qualities of Jesus. Believers are experts in claiming scriptural promises to obtain healing, gifts, increase in income, solutions to marital and familial problems, deliverance from enemies, success and other benefits. But disciples of Jesus claim these very same promises primarily to obtain the DNA of Jesus. First, His nature in us, then only His benefits, His gifts, power and authority. We need to seek first His DNA and all the other things that the Lord decides we need will be added unto us, into us or onto us. In order for this to happen we need to diligently study the promises, understand its spiritual purpose and claim it to transplant the DNA of Jesus.

Our calling is to be servants not of the inherent corruption of this world but servants of righteousness. A servant obeys the commands of the master and then obtains the reward. Every promise of the Lord has a corresponding command, a principle to follow, to adopt, to practice in our lives. We need to understand these principles and follow it practically in our lives. We will then be transformed from being mere believers to faithful followers, from followers to disciples, from inconsistent disciples to consistent evangelists who live, breathe and walk the way of the Word. From partakers of the divine nature of Jesus, we become propagators of His DNA. From being consumers of blessings we become producers of blessings and blessings in ourselves. We become faith multipliers. Only when the arrow head is added to the shaft it becomes an effective and powerful arrow or it is only a shaft. When we partake of the DNA of Jesus, we become arrows in the quiver of the Lord.

Prateep V Philip