Fingerprints of the Lord

UV 653/10,000 Fingerprints of the Lord “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” Isaiah 49 v 16 The Lord has carved our names on His palms. This is a metaphor to show how dear we are to Him, how intimate He is to us. He never forgets our names for a moment. Like students write important reminders to themselves on their palms. The difference is that our names are written indelibly. It is carved implying causing considerable pain and suffering to the Lord. The lines on our palms do not determine our fortunes but the very fact that the Lord has our names carved on His palms indicates that only His sovereign will guides and causes all that happens in our lives. We are safe in His strong and caring hands. His palm of protection is upon all of our lives. In a recent revelation, the Lord said that “My palm is on all the walls of every room in your home. My footprints are there on the floor of every room.” Even when we leave our homes, His presence continues to watch over our homes and our loved ones. Since He is so mindful of us, we too must have our minds full of Him. Our thoughts, emotions and wills should reflect this as a reality in our daily lives. A thief leaves his fingerprints on objects he touches at the crime scene. But, Jesus will leave His imprint on all that we are, all that we own and on every thing we do and say. No man or woman or child can ever come in touch with Jesus and remain the same. Yesterday, at a dinner I was surprised to hear that a big gangster turned politician who had killed many people and created mayhem and much disorder over the past many years had become a changed man while in jail. He has become an evangelist. We need to do a high-five with Jesus every now and then so that our palms too get the anointing and power to heal, bless and overcome. The palms of Christ were not just engraved but they bled for our sakes. In a vision, Jesus said, “There is a fountain of blood from my feet, knees, hands. My back was ploughed- remember the fountain of blood from my back and from my face and head.” I empathized with Christ when I suffered injuries on my face, hands and legs in the bomb blast that killed Rajiv Gandhi at Sriperumbudur. The pellets embedded in my feet produced nail-piercing pain. The loss of fluid produced intense thirst that made me cry out for water as Christ cried out , “ I am thirsty.” In response to such a sacrifice, we must always be thirsty for His presence, hungry for the Word and eager for the touch of His palm. I cannot comprehend how Mel Gibson the producer-director of the film, “ The Passion of Christ” went back to alcoholism after depicting so powerfully and movingly the suffering of Christ for our sake. Prateep V Philip