UV3408/10000 Winds and Fire
And concerning the angels He says, “Who makes His angels winds and His ministering servants flames of fire ( to do His bidding)
Hebrews 1 v 7
The Lord sends His angels in the wind to help us who are His ministering servants. Winds help to cool down the temperature, to bring rain and to spread flames. The Lord has at His command battalions of angels who do His bidding. Often He deploys them in our aid to cool down any opposing person or factor, to bring us showers of blessings of every kind and to spread the flames of faith or our influence in this dark world to give light and a sense of purpose, significance and power. In us should burn the fuel or the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit who renews us from within.
Along with the angels, we serve Jesus who is the visible expression of the invisible God, who has manifested the Shekinah glory of God in this world and continues at the right hand of the Father administering the universe. He intercedes on our behalf continually with the Father. He sends us timely help when we need it. We on our part should fan the flame of our faith to fullness in zeal and truth. The winds are needed to cool our zeal when we get too hot or to increase our influence and impact. The presence of God with us is not a passive one then, but an active and dynamic one. The Lord is always reading our situations and acting accordingly, sending His angels to our side and aid.
The angels are the chariots of fire that the prophet Elisha and his followers saw in the sky. Even though we who believe may be few we will never be outnumbered or overwhelmed. The Lord God is in our midst. We should therefore, be always full of the fire of faith and the truth of His word and not entertain fears of any kind. The indwelling Holy Spirit lights us up from within, anoints, equips, empowers and enables us to be victorious in our lives. We are living flames lit up by the Lord to shine and burn for Him in this world. Even the words from our tongues are like flames that light up the hearts of our listeners with faith and praise to God. The Lord will send His angels in the wind to keep us burning, shining and to distinguish us, not to extinguish us.
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Distinction by Service
UV 3407/10000 Distinction by Service
Then you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.
Malachi 3 v 18
This uni-verse defines people as either wicked or righteous. The righteous are those who know God and serve Him while the wicked are those who do not serve Him. The latter by default serve the enemy of all humanity. If we know God we have no option but to serve Him. We serve Him by making our organs like our brains, our mouths, our hands and legs work for Him. We serve God when we speak of Him, when we teach His word. We serve God when we go places just for Him. We achieve distinction not by our good deeds or accomplishments but by our knowledge and submission to the only and absolutely holy Being- God.
The righteous and the wicked according to the above uni-verse are distinguished not by deeds but by the presence of God or by the personal relationship they have or do not have with the Lord. Whatever the righteous do is done in the name of the Lord and for His glory and by His grace or power. He is the be all and end all of our existence. As His faithful servants, we are always in awe of Him. We worship Him in reverence and adore Him with love. It is a combination of commitment, deep respect, humility, implicit obedience and curiousity to know Him more as well as desire to experience more of His love and power.
The servants of God are paid their due wages or just rewards both in this lifetime and in eternity. The wicked or those who do not chose to serve Him also receive their just desserts. The righteous receive the power from God to defeat the wicked. Their faith and character puts them in conflict with the wicked but they will eventually be victorious whatever be the struggle they face now. Often the wicked are the ones who are successful and powerful in this world. But the Lord acts on behalf of the righteous and ensures justice is done.
Then you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve Him.
Malachi 3 v 18
This uni-verse defines people as either wicked or righteous. The righteous are those who know God and serve Him while the wicked are those who do not serve Him. The latter by default serve the enemy of all humanity. If we know God we have no option but to serve Him. We serve Him by making our organs like our brains, our mouths, our hands and legs work for Him. We serve God when we speak of Him, when we teach His word. We serve God when we go places just for Him. We achieve distinction not by our good deeds or accomplishments but by our knowledge and submission to the only and absolutely holy Being- God.
The righteous and the wicked according to the above uni-verse are distinguished not by deeds but by the presence of God or by the personal relationship they have or do not have with the Lord. Whatever the righteous do is done in the name of the Lord and for His glory and by His grace or power. He is the be all and end all of our existence. As His faithful servants, we are always in awe of Him. We worship Him in reverence and adore Him with love. It is a combination of commitment, deep respect, humility, implicit obedience and curiousity to know Him more as well as desire to experience more of His love and power.
The servants of God are paid their due wages or just rewards both in this lifetime and in eternity. The wicked or those who do not chose to serve Him also receive their just desserts. The righteous receive the power from God to defeat the wicked. Their faith and character puts them in conflict with the wicked but they will eventually be victorious whatever be the struggle they face now. Often the wicked are the ones who are successful and powerful in this world. But the Lord acts on behalf of the righteous and ensures justice is done.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Invisible But Invincible
UV 3406/10000 Invisible But Invincible
“With him there is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. “ And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Like the people relied on the encouraging words of Hezekiah, their king, we should rely on the strengthening word of Jesus. The One who is with us is greater than the one who is with the enemy. With him is only the arm of flesh that is finite and limited in strength, power and prowess but with us is the Omnicompetent, Omnipotent God Almighty. Our reliance is not on our army or our array of resource, abilities or strengths but our dependence is on Jesus, Our Advocate, the Holy Spirit, our Counsellor and Comforter and Jehovah, our Heavenly Father. We do not rely on horses or chariots but on the Lord alone for our victory. The arm of flesh will both flail and fail but the arm of the Lord no man can predict how it will act or react. The arm of man however strong will perish but the arm of the Lord is eternal, infinite, invincible.
Sennacherib, the king of Assyria threatened the people of Judah and their king Hezekiah but the Lord God sent an angel that slew the warriors of his army and he himself was killed by his own children. The Lord proved Himself time and again in the history of Israel to be mighty, invincible and a God of rescue who hears the cry of His children, whoever acknowledges Him and worships Him. We should therefore not pin our hope and faith on mortal help but seek the favour or grace of our Lord. The battle or the struggle belongs to the Lord and He will surely deliver us from it. We need not despair or be afraid regardless of the size or strength of the quarry we are currently confronting.
We only need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Finisher or Perfector of our faith, character and testimony. He is the Lord of a host of powerful angels. He deploys them to guard and protect His children so that no angel remains idle. Every battle or struggle, challenge or problem is meant to bring out the grace, power and glory of the Lord. We should therefore, not shrink or avoid these but just take our stand of faith in Christ. He is ever present with us to help us, to equip us with His armour and His weapons. He gives us the apt strategy or solution in every situation, crisis or predicament.
“With him there is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. “ And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
Like the people relied on the encouraging words of Hezekiah, their king, we should rely on the strengthening word of Jesus. The One who is with us is greater than the one who is with the enemy. With him is only the arm of flesh that is finite and limited in strength, power and prowess but with us is the Omnicompetent, Omnipotent God Almighty. Our reliance is not on our army or our array of resource, abilities or strengths but our dependence is on Jesus, Our Advocate, the Holy Spirit, our Counsellor and Comforter and Jehovah, our Heavenly Father. We do not rely on horses or chariots but on the Lord alone for our victory. The arm of flesh will both flail and fail but the arm of the Lord no man can predict how it will act or react. The arm of man however strong will perish but the arm of the Lord is eternal, infinite, invincible.
Sennacherib, the king of Assyria threatened the people of Judah and their king Hezekiah but the Lord God sent an angel that slew the warriors of his army and he himself was killed by his own children. The Lord proved Himself time and again in the history of Israel to be mighty, invincible and a God of rescue who hears the cry of His children, whoever acknowledges Him and worships Him. We should therefore not pin our hope and faith on mortal help but seek the favour or grace of our Lord. The battle or the struggle belongs to the Lord and He will surely deliver us from it. We need not despair or be afraid regardless of the size or strength of the quarry we are currently confronting.
We only need to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Finisher or Perfector of our faith, character and testimony. He is the Lord of a host of powerful angels. He deploys them to guard and protect His children so that no angel remains idle. Every battle or struggle, challenge or problem is meant to bring out the grace, power and glory of the Lord. We should therefore, not shrink or avoid these but just take our stand of faith in Christ. He is ever present with us to help us, to equip us with His armour and His weapons. He gives us the apt strategy or solution in every situation, crisis or predicament.
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Measuring Our Words
UV 3405/10000 Measuring Our Words
But I tell you, on the day of judgement people will have to give an accounting for every careless and useless word they speak.
Matthew 12 v 36
Our words reflect our inner spiritual condition, our state of the heart. If we are storing evil in our hearts, evil words will come forth. If we are storing good things, good words will come forth. If we store the Word of God, the perfect word of God will come forth. Hence, Jesus warns us not to speak any careless or useless or purposeless words. Our words are meant to build the faith, to encourage and edify the hearers. Jesus said, “ If we call our brother a rascal, we are guilty to be sent to the fires of hell.” We are not to use our words to abuse or insult others.
Both sweet and bitter water cannot flow from the same spring. Hence, we who are dealing with the Word of God cannot allow our words to be negative, carping, insulting, discouraging to our listeners. We need to allow our words to go through a filter or sieve and only words that are wise, pleasing, gentle, gracious should be allowed to emanate from our mouths. We should spend some time every day examining the quality of our conversation, our speech both in public and private. As a rule, the more angry we become, the slower our speech and lower our tones should be. Our words should be carefully chosen and deliberately delivered in order to be effective and useful. The more we treasure our relationship with God and man, the more we will measure our words. The more we treasure eternal life in Christ, the more we will measure our tones and our words.
Speaking on impulse without much thought has the propensity to get us into much trouble. The more thought we apply to our words, the less trouble we will have. Words affect our emotions, our relationships, our decisions, our influence. We should not speak unless our words are likely to have a better effect than silence. Words should be used carefully like currency, not carelessly, thoughtlessly. Spending more time listening, spending more time praying and less time talking helps us avoid needless chatter. Praying for the Lord’s anointing of our words, the Holy Spirit’s regulation of our speech is the key to perfecting our speech.
But I tell you, on the day of judgement people will have to give an accounting for every careless and useless word they speak.
Matthew 12 v 36
Our words reflect our inner spiritual condition, our state of the heart. If we are storing evil in our hearts, evil words will come forth. If we are storing good things, good words will come forth. If we store the Word of God, the perfect word of God will come forth. Hence, Jesus warns us not to speak any careless or useless or purposeless words. Our words are meant to build the faith, to encourage and edify the hearers. Jesus said, “ If we call our brother a rascal, we are guilty to be sent to the fires of hell.” We are not to use our words to abuse or insult others.
Both sweet and bitter water cannot flow from the same spring. Hence, we who are dealing with the Word of God cannot allow our words to be negative, carping, insulting, discouraging to our listeners. We need to allow our words to go through a filter or sieve and only words that are wise, pleasing, gentle, gracious should be allowed to emanate from our mouths. We should spend some time every day examining the quality of our conversation, our speech both in public and private. As a rule, the more angry we become, the slower our speech and lower our tones should be. Our words should be carefully chosen and deliberately delivered in order to be effective and useful. The more we treasure our relationship with God and man, the more we will measure our words. The more we treasure eternal life in Christ, the more we will measure our tones and our words.
Speaking on impulse without much thought has the propensity to get us into much trouble. The more thought we apply to our words, the less trouble we will have. Words affect our emotions, our relationships, our decisions, our influence. We should not speak unless our words are likely to have a better effect than silence. Words should be used carefully like currency, not carelessly, thoughtlessly. Spending more time listening, spending more time praying and less time talking helps us avoid needless chatter. Praying for the Lord’s anointing of our words, the Holy Spirit’s regulation of our speech is the key to perfecting our speech.
Friday, November 22, 2019
New Visions, Old Fervour
UV 3404/10000 New Visions, Old Fervour
Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43 v 19
Faith often depends on the quality of our hearing the Word of God. If we are listening intently, carefully, persistently, we are enabling the grace of God to work in our lives in ways we cannot imagine. The Lord will take our faith the way He took the five loaves and seven fish of the boy and multiplied it to satisfy the hunger of a multitude of people. He can and does do the impossible in our lives. He can create a road, a way out of our life’s challenges and problems in ways we cannot see or understand. He can cause life-giving, hope-giving rivers to flow from stony hearts and hardened minds. The metaphor of rivers implies a continuous flow of the Spirit of God in us, causing all kinds of fruit of the Spirit to grow on both banks the river flows through- the intellectual and the physical, the emotional and the spiritual, the social and the personal “banks” of life. The metaphor of roads in the wilderness is a promise that the Lord will remove the “mountains,” obstacles, barriers, hurdles in our paths. Jesus is the ladder that connects the wilderness of the earth, full of thorns and brambles with the beauty of heaven, the kingdom of God.
Very often in life due to our conditioning we are not God-aware. We are not aware of His presence as it is drowned in our consciousness due to competing voices and noises in our lives. If we can still all these distracting voices and noises including the chatter of our own minds, we will clearly sense the move of the Lord in our lives. The attention we pay to the Lord will eliminate all tension from our lives. Believers of Jesus should expect the miraculous, the supernatural, the inexplicable to happen in their lives. He will endow us with new gifts, new visions, new ideas, new skills, new consciousness. We must bring our old fervour to bear upon the new visions He gives us and bring it to fullness, fulfilment and fruition in His time.
In my professional career as a senior police officer, the Lord gave me many new ideas ( FOP, Social Justice Tea Parties, VOP, Factor X, Excenomics, State Assurance, Know Your Criminal.. ) which I tried to carry into implementation, trying to create bridges between the police and the people they serve. Many powerful and senior officers tried to scotch or scorn these ideas over the past three decades due to petty reasons but the Lord did a new thing as prophesied and promised by enabling me to win coincidentally the SKOCH awards for two new ideas I implemented. He surely creates roads in the wilderness beyond our wildest imagination and causes rivers of joy and gladness to flow upward to Him from our hearts and minds.
Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43 v 19
Faith often depends on the quality of our hearing the Word of God. If we are listening intently, carefully, persistently, we are enabling the grace of God to work in our lives in ways we cannot imagine. The Lord will take our faith the way He took the five loaves and seven fish of the boy and multiplied it to satisfy the hunger of a multitude of people. He can and does do the impossible in our lives. He can create a road, a way out of our life’s challenges and problems in ways we cannot see or understand. He can cause life-giving, hope-giving rivers to flow from stony hearts and hardened minds. The metaphor of rivers implies a continuous flow of the Spirit of God in us, causing all kinds of fruit of the Spirit to grow on both banks the river flows through- the intellectual and the physical, the emotional and the spiritual, the social and the personal “banks” of life. The metaphor of roads in the wilderness is a promise that the Lord will remove the “mountains,” obstacles, barriers, hurdles in our paths. Jesus is the ladder that connects the wilderness of the earth, full of thorns and brambles with the beauty of heaven, the kingdom of God.
Very often in life due to our conditioning we are not God-aware. We are not aware of His presence as it is drowned in our consciousness due to competing voices and noises in our lives. If we can still all these distracting voices and noises including the chatter of our own minds, we will clearly sense the move of the Lord in our lives. The attention we pay to the Lord will eliminate all tension from our lives. Believers of Jesus should expect the miraculous, the supernatural, the inexplicable to happen in their lives. He will endow us with new gifts, new visions, new ideas, new skills, new consciousness. We must bring our old fervour to bear upon the new visions He gives us and bring it to fullness, fulfilment and fruition in His time.
In my professional career as a senior police officer, the Lord gave me many new ideas ( FOP, Social Justice Tea Parties, VOP, Factor X, Excenomics, State Assurance, Know Your Criminal.. ) which I tried to carry into implementation, trying to create bridges between the police and the people they serve. Many powerful and senior officers tried to scotch or scorn these ideas over the past three decades due to petty reasons but the Lord did a new thing as prophesied and promised by enabling me to win coincidentally the SKOCH awards for two new ideas I implemented. He surely creates roads in the wilderness beyond our wildest imagination and causes rivers of joy and gladness to flow upward to Him from our hearts and minds.
Thursday, November 21, 2019
A Daily Key to Spiritual Portals
UV 3403/10000 A Daily Key To Spiritual Portals
Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for I trust in You. Teach me the way in which I should walk.
Psalm 143 v 8
We need to pray like the Psalmist in the uni-verse above that we may hear of His love and kindness every morning. We should affirm our trust in Him. He will teach us the way we should walk. We need to ask Him to rescue us from our enemies, spiritual and human for we take refuge in Him. We should also ask Him to teach us to do His pleasing, perfect and not just permissive ( permission given reluctantly) will and to lead us in uprightness or level ground. When we pray in this manner, we are using the key of the Lord to open the spiritual channels, doors and portals that are now locked. He will do a new thing in our lives, renew us from day to day in His grace and power, give us new thoughts and consciousness of His presence.
The Lord’s mercies are fresh every morning. It is through prayer that we can avail of these fresh mercies, new blessings the Lord reserves for those who plead for these. He renews our strength for the day so that we can fly like an eagle, not strut like a chicken. We will have the energy, the God –given enthusiasm and joy to run our lives on an even keel. We will not stumble or fall into the snares of the enemy that He has sown or sewn into our very flesh and minds. The Lord will keep our feet from falling and our eyes from tears.
The words we talk as well as the paths we walk should be under the control of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to control our unruly tongues to make it like a river of eternal life, a stream of wisdom, a channel of blessing for hearers and us. When we use the above mentioned spiritual key, the Holy Spirit will use our tongues as rudders to give our lives as well as our listeners the direction of eternal life.
Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for I trust in You. Teach me the way in which I should walk.
Psalm 143 v 8
We need to pray like the Psalmist in the uni-verse above that we may hear of His love and kindness every morning. We should affirm our trust in Him. He will teach us the way we should walk. We need to ask Him to rescue us from our enemies, spiritual and human for we take refuge in Him. We should also ask Him to teach us to do His pleasing, perfect and not just permissive ( permission given reluctantly) will and to lead us in uprightness or level ground. When we pray in this manner, we are using the key of the Lord to open the spiritual channels, doors and portals that are now locked. He will do a new thing in our lives, renew us from day to day in His grace and power, give us new thoughts and consciousness of His presence.
The Lord’s mercies are fresh every morning. It is through prayer that we can avail of these fresh mercies, new blessings the Lord reserves for those who plead for these. He renews our strength for the day so that we can fly like an eagle, not strut like a chicken. We will have the energy, the God –given enthusiasm and joy to run our lives on an even keel. We will not stumble or fall into the snares of the enemy that He has sown or sewn into our very flesh and minds. The Lord will keep our feet from falling and our eyes from tears.
The words we talk as well as the paths we walk should be under the control of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to control our unruly tongues to make it like a river of eternal life, a stream of wisdom, a channel of blessing for hearers and us. When we use the above mentioned spiritual key, the Holy Spirit will use our tongues as rudders to give our lives as well as our listeners the direction of eternal life.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Nobility of Character Invites Abundance of Blessings
UV3402/10000 Nobility of Character Invites Abundance of Blessings
Now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you whatever you ask, since all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
Ruth 3 v 11
The rich landlord Boaz spoke to Ruth in this manner. But in place of Boaz, we have Jesus the landlord of the entire universe speaking the same words to us: “ I will do for you whatever you ask…” But the rider is something that we, believers and followers of Jesus need to be. Ruth was a woman of excellence, also translated as a woman of noble character or virtuous person. She was loyal, humble, obedient, faithful, diligent. We, too need to develop on a day to day basis, along with our faith in Jesus, a nobility of character that will keep us from stooping to act or react in a crass, base or sinful manner.
The human mind is like a decision tree. At the base level are the most obvious but baser instinct or emotion based decisions or reactions. With our personal relationship with Jesus, His teachings, the word engrafted in our hearts and minds, we should ascend the higher and nobler branches to choose the nobler responses of behaviour on a consistent basis. Boaz was so impressed, touched, impacted by the testimony, the reputation, the behaviour of Ruth that he promised to do whatever she asked of him. In fact, Boaz, the eligible bachelor goes on to become her groom and kinsman- redeemer. Jesus, likewise is our kinsman-Redeemer.
Salvation or redeeming us is the responsibility of Jesus but our response is to be excellent, noble, virtuous. Our testimonial lives is our response to His grace and mercy. When both these sides are in place, we will enjoy the abundant or eternal life and our lives will be impactful for God. The Lord will do for us whatever we ask of Him. Ruth asked of Boaz only permission to glean but Boaz not only conceded to her humble request but went onto save her from a life as a miserable, lonely young widow. He took her into his life, his home as his bride and wife. Likewise, in my experience, the Lord does much more than we think, ask, expect, imagine of Him.
Now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you whatever you ask, since all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
Ruth 3 v 11
The rich landlord Boaz spoke to Ruth in this manner. But in place of Boaz, we have Jesus the landlord of the entire universe speaking the same words to us: “ I will do for you whatever you ask…” But the rider is something that we, believers and followers of Jesus need to be. Ruth was a woman of excellence, also translated as a woman of noble character or virtuous person. She was loyal, humble, obedient, faithful, diligent. We, too need to develop on a day to day basis, along with our faith in Jesus, a nobility of character that will keep us from stooping to act or react in a crass, base or sinful manner.
The human mind is like a decision tree. At the base level are the most obvious but baser instinct or emotion based decisions or reactions. With our personal relationship with Jesus, His teachings, the word engrafted in our hearts and minds, we should ascend the higher and nobler branches to choose the nobler responses of behaviour on a consistent basis. Boaz was so impressed, touched, impacted by the testimony, the reputation, the behaviour of Ruth that he promised to do whatever she asked of him. In fact, Boaz, the eligible bachelor goes on to become her groom and kinsman- redeemer. Jesus, likewise is our kinsman-Redeemer.
Salvation or redeeming us is the responsibility of Jesus but our response is to be excellent, noble, virtuous. Our testimonial lives is our response to His grace and mercy. When both these sides are in place, we will enjoy the abundant or eternal life and our lives will be impactful for God. The Lord will do for us whatever we ask of Him. Ruth asked of Boaz only permission to glean but Boaz not only conceded to her humble request but went onto save her from a life as a miserable, lonely young widow. He took her into his life, his home as his bride and wife. Likewise, in my experience, the Lord does much more than we think, ask, expect, imagine of Him.
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