Accessing All Conquering Power by Faith

UV 4146/10000 Accessing All Conquering Power by Faith Do not let your heart be troubled (afraid, cowardly). Believe (confidently) in God and trust in Him, ( have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going and) believe also in Me. John 14 v 1 In this uni-verse, Jesus is encouraging His disciples even after revealing to them all the troubling events of the coming days including His death, His betrayal, the denial by Peter. We are to be peaceful, joyful, calm not on account of our worldly circumstances but despite these. Our hearts will not be troubled if we wholeheartedly trust God and believe the words of Jesus. The antidote for our trials, our tribulations, our worries is faith in God and trust in Jesus. He, then manifests Himself to us as the Balm of Gilead to anoint, enable, empower, equip, strengthen us, to heal us, to restore us, to deliver us, to make us victorious over our own betrayals, denials and death. The greater the trouble we face, the closer we should cling to God, our Father and to Jesus. Then, the Holy Spirit will comfort us, encourage us, remind us of the love of the Father and the compassion of the Son. We can find rest, assurance, consolation and strength in the loving embrace of the Lord which will help us brace ourselves to face any situation, overcome any challenge. The ultimate weapon the enemy has is death and even that cannot sting us, harm us, hinder us. Indeed, many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers him from them all. But total trust, complete obedience, dependence, surrender to the sovereign will of God is the precondition to our entering and remaining in the rest or peace of the Lord. Our minds should be anchored in the Lord in the midst of any storm. Our mind should be focused, fixed on Him, not mixed with the world. It is reflected in a life of dedication, a lifestyle of meditation on the word. The word, it is promised in the Psalms, will deliver us from all our self-destructions as well as natural and man-made disasters or troubles. No problem is too difficult for the Lord to handle, no crisis too great for Him to confront and resolve. His power is unlimited. His resources are infinite. His mercy and love are great. Hence, by our faith and trust in Him, we can scale any wall, any obstacle, any barrier. We can run through a troop and break through a phalanx of forces arrayed against us. Our prayer like a javelin, like the staff of Moses can break through the heart of the enemy.

Burn Your Old Yoke

UV 4145/10000 Burn Your Old Yoke Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me (following Me as My disciple), for I am gentle and humble in heart, and You will find rest ( renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. Matthew 11 v 29 The heavy yoke of religious practices universally followed will not give man peace and rest. The heavy yoke of old covenant or old testament rules ( followed till today by both Jews and Muslims) will not give rest and peace. Jesus offers the lighter yoke, the lighter burden. The heavy yoke Jesus referred to is the weight of human guilt, the weight of God-given and man-made laws and rituals. The heavy yoke is the weight of karma or the teaching that one needs to free oneself by good deeds. The lighter yoke is the mustard seed of faith in Jesus, the smallest of all seed, that is planted in the hearts and minds of man. It becomes the radiating nucleus of life, the central point, the focus of our lives and sets us free of all bondages of laws, curses, personal weaknesses, fears. Jesus took the heavy yoke of the cross upon His shoulders and once He shed His blood on the accursed wood to which He was nailed, each drop of His blood became the lighter yoke which gives birth to new life in all believers’ hearts. We find our rest, renewal, blessings, peace, Shalom, freedom, eternal and abundant life through faith in what He accomplished on the cross. There is no more burden to prove ourselves to God. We no longer need any validation or approval from other human beings. We only need to embrace, accept the lighter yoke of renewing our minds with the word and the Spirit of God to prove what is good, acceptable and perfect in the sight of God. The lighter yoke is to walk in the way the Holy Spirit indicates to us, day after day, saying, “ Walk in this path, the path of Jesus, the good path where you will find rest, peace, salvation for your souls, abundance of blessings”. We do not therefore, have a dead yoke placed on us but a living yoke placed inside us that is always pulsating, growing, fruitful. This living and lighter yoke is the word of God, living, active, deep penetrating our souls, releasing grace and power that makes our souls stronger than even our bones. There is a real danger of many new covenant believers living old testament lives. We need to burn the old ploughs ( yokes) that weigh us down like Elisha who burnt the old ploughs before following Elijah as his disciple. Likewise, when we decide to follow Jesus, we can burn our old yoke.

Strength and Weakness, Victory and Failure

UV 4144/10000 Strength and Weakness, Victory and Failure Keep actively watching and praying that you may not come into temptation the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26 v 41 The flesh is weak but the spirit and bones of man are strong. The flesh is overpowered by appetite, temptation, lust, weariness, laziness. The senses often overcome our scruples. Flesh wants to do what is opposite to the spirit. It does not want to do what the spirit wants. The flesh and spirit are often at cross purposes but the purpose of the cross is to reconcile God with man and incidentally, it also reconciles the spirit and flesh of man. The Spirit is reinstated as the one to supersede the flesh and direct the flesh. If the flesh embodies human weakness, the spirit constitutes grace or the strength of God manifested in a godly man, made godly by faith in Jesus. If flesh and bone and spirit co-exist side by side harmoniously, the purpose of God is fulfilled in our lives. Weakness and strength co-exist in our being. Hence, we need to seek strength of the Lord to overcome our inherent weaknesses of spirit, mind and body. The Lord gives us His grace and the Holy Spirit to overcome weaknesses of the flesh of the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eye. He gives us grace to overcome the weakness of the spirit and mind which is the pride of life. Hence, we need not hide like Adam and Eve when our weaknesses are exposed. We should instead hide in the Lord, hide the word in our hearts to help us turn our weaknesses into strength. A man whose steps are ordered of the Lord or who lives according to the word will therefore, have the Spirit of God ruling over his own spirit, mind and body. Thereby, as Paul wrote, in our weaknesses will His grace and glory be revealed. In our ignorance and folly, is His wisdom manifested. The direction of Jesus in the uni-verse to his sleepy disciples who could not stay up to pray with Him even though they were willing in spirit to do so is to watch out for their weaknesses and to ask the Lord for grace and power to overcome these weaknesses. We also need to be alert and be forewarned of temptations, snares the enemy lays to catch our feet and pray proactively asking the Lord for strength to be aware, to detect the snares, to avoid and overcome these. The tempatation can come from within us, our own senses, our own desires, our own bodies and flesh or it can come from without. We need to be both aware and prayerful to overcome both types of temptations in this world as long as we live.

Enjoy, Apply, Teach

UV 4143/10000 Enjoy, Apply, Teach Your words were found and I ate them, and Your words became a joy to me and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 15 v 16 We need to search for the word of the Lord. The word that is meant specifically for us is called the “rhema” word. By searching the logos or the general or whole word, we find the rhema, the specific word the Lord intends for us in a given situation on a given day or moment. This is why knowledge of the word is vital for salvation and for spiritual growth. Having found the word, we need to consume it, read, memorise, meditate on it with zeal or enthusiasm as we would a choice or favourite dish. Eating the word of God keeps us from eating our own words. For the Lord has called us His children. As our Father, He takes the responsibility to feed us, to guard us, to guide and defend us. He always has a whole standing army of angels to defend us for that is what the term “God of hosts” mean. Like there is a specific word, there is a specific angel for different tasks. The word “EAT” is an acronym for Enjoy, Apply, Teach. We need to enjoy learning the word, applying it in practical ways in our lives, delight in teaching it to others to equip them to lead godly lives. We are given a new identity as believers of Christ. We are given His name as His followers. We are sons and daughters of God. When we call out to Him, He will feed us with His divine manna- His word. Just as morsels of food after chewing are further digested in the stomach and then sent through the blood to all parts to provide energy for activity, protein for building the cells, regenerating the eroded parts, when we chew on the word, break it into smaller parts, cover it with digestive juices and then, it is ready to nourish our spiritual and inmost being. It becomes the delight of our hearts. It produces joy, peace, confidence, security, wisdom, knowledge in us which equip us for life, the abundant and eternal life in Christ. The word needs to be stored in the heart to keep us from falling into sin. What is bitter in the mouth and mind, becomes sweet as honey in our inner parts. We should not just feed on the lighter parts of the word which is like milk for the new born but delve deep, sink our teeth into the bone and meat of it to grow to maturity. The commands and warnings in the word produce discipline and wisdom in us while the promises produce hope, courage, faith, opportunities for the Lord to act in our lives. Each promise we believe and claim is like a door we leave in our hearts for the Lord to enter and work a miracle.

The Everlasting Son

UV 4142/10000 The Everlasting Son Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; For the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over. Isaiah 60 v 20 In the beginning the Lord had set the sun to rule over the day and the moon to rule over the night, implying to provide light for all creation. The word “rule” implies to be light providers, problem solvers, positive influencers in the world. We have accepted the Lamb of God, Jesus to be our everlasting Lamp, too. He is the One who lights up both our days and our nights. As long as we walk in His light, with His word as our lamp to guide our steps, we will not be in darkness. God is our glory, our splendour, our cause and source of radiance. The word promises that His glory and brilliance will be seen on us, in us. Unlike the sun that leaves us in the darkness by night, Jesus is consistent in His leadership, guidance, teaching, love towards us. Unlike the moon that is not consistent in reflecting the sun's light, we should be consistent in reflecting the Son's Light. In Egypt at the time of Moses, there was darkness in all the land but in the Israelites homes, there was light. Likewise, while there is darkness all round, deep darkness as human values tumble, leaders stumble, the ones led by Christ have seen a great Light that cannot be extinguished. The Lord promises to glorify His Name through us. He is our everlasting Light. The word is the fuel in our lamp. The wick of our lamp will burn brightly, not flicker, never die even as the wicked, the ungodly, those who do not fear or trust God perish. The moon has no light of its own. It wanes and waxes as the earth casts its shadow upon it. So also the world cannot cast its shadow of death or destruction or defeat upon us as we reflect the light of Jesus with and in our lives. The Shadow of Jesus, of the Almighty is the only shadow that produces everlasting glory, effulgence, brightness, hope, eternal life. We find our light, our warmth, our hope, our strength by continually dwelling in Him, covered by His presence, His radiance, His glory. Hence, no sorrow, no curse, no affliction can touch us, harm us permanently. His blood shed on the cross has become the gateway to flood our lives with joy and peace. The Holy Spirit, God in us, glorifies and radiates His grace in and through us.

Rescue from Death

UV 4141/10000 Rescue from Death O Lord, You have brought my life up from Sheol ( the nether world, the place of the dead); You have kept me alive, so that I would not go down to the pit ( grave). Psalm 30 v 3 Escape from premature or untimely death comes from the Lord. It is not as if we ourselves can escape but we are rescued by the hand of the Lord. It is been thirty years since the Lord spared my life in the human bomb assassination of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Psalm 30 ironically also records the reason why a man’s life is spared by the Lord- to praise Him, to declare His faithfulness to man. ( Psalm 30 v 9). We are taken to the very edge of life where human knowledge neither exists or works to realize that only the Lord could have saved us from such a calamity. The Lord lifts us up literally from the grave, the nether world, the place of the dead. He hears our cry for help and heals us of our pride, our sinfulness so that we lead godly lives, worthy of His calling and justifying His saving us. From the moment of so being saved providentially by the hand of the Lord, we will be so reverential that even at the very mention of the name of God, we will remember our debt to Him and offer spontaneous thanksgiving. We realize the truth of the scripture that says, “ His anger lasts for but a moment but His favour for a lifetime.” When all goes well for human beings, we tend to forget God and feel secure in our prosperity but the moment God hides His face for even a moment, we will be terrified. Once we recover from the trauma of suffering, our mourning will turn to joy and dancing and celebration of God’s grace and faithfulness to us proven in the very fact we are still living and well. Once we are saved from death by the Lord, we cannot be silent but we are filled with the joy of salvation that expresses itself in songs of praise to the Lord. We become living evidence for the existence of God and to attest that He is faithful and rewards our faith. Our scars remind us daily of the fact that the Lord has saved us. We are not ashamed to say so. We are also purged of the roots of evil in our human nature when we go through such life threatening experiences. We remain in our bodies so that we become embodiments of God’s truths and His love to the rest of mankind. We are divested of our mortal fears of death and instead, our confidence and trust in the Lord grows manifold.

Listen to Glisten

UV 4140/10000 Listen to Glisten Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him and obey Him!” Mark 9 v 7 The Father desires that we listen to Jesus and obey Him. We need to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit reminding us of the word of Jesus and get His help to obey it. When we do so, we please the Father. Like Peter, awed by the transfiguration and the appearance of Moses and Elijah on the mountain was blurting out whatever came to his mind. He said they would make three tabernacles or sacred tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. All the Lord wants us to do is not to do anything but to just listen to the Word ( Jesus) and obey Him. Like the cloud overshadowed them on the mountain, we need to be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. When Bezalel, the craftsman who made the Tabernacle according to the plan received through Moses, was so overshadowed by the Spirit of God, he was gifted with skills and cunning to work with all kinds of precious metals and materials used in the tabernacle. When Mary was overshadowed by the Spirit, she conceived the Messiah, Jesus. When we are overshadowed by the Spirit of God, we will be equipped to obey the Lord, to fulfill His will for our lives. We need to spend time listening to Jesus. We need to listen without interrupting with our own thoughts and ideas. We need to listen intently like Mary at His feet. Listening should be accompanied by the commitment to obey His directions, His teachings, His word. The Lord needs to say, “Ephatha” or open for our inner mind, our inner ears to open for we cannot listen with just our physical hearing. Our eyes should open to see Him in His glory like Peter, James and John saw Him radiant and glorious, as Daniel saw the awesome, resplendent vision of Jesus, as John, the Revelator saw Him in a vision, as Paul saw him on the road to Damascus, as Stephen saw Him in his dying moment. Our ears should open to hear and understand and receive His word. Our heart should commit to obey Him fully, not half -heartedly, not fearfully, not doubtfully, not hesitantly but wholeheartedly, enthusiastically, faithfully. When we so listen, so obey, our lives will shine for Jesus in this dark world. Our lives will be transformed and our bodies transfigured like Moses and Elijah. The appearance of Moses and Elijah, mortal men like us is a sign that we too will receive glorified bodies beyond death in the kingdom of God. Meanwhile, we have only two tasks- to listen, to obey.