The River of Life

UV 710/10,000 The River of Life “Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine.” Ezekiel 47 v 12 The Holy Spirit flows like a river of divine consciousness inside our hearts and minds. As a result, spiritual growth takes place from within us that leads to a variety of fruits. The fruit is used to nourish our faith. Every month we will produce a different kind of fruit as our minds take in the Word that comes from the very sanctuary of God. The Word is the “water that flows from the sanctuary.” The Lord determines the course of our lives as He determines the course of a river on the planet. The river appears to be still, even as its water is constantly flowing. Similarly, our lives are dynamic. There is the stillness of Shalom peace combined with the dynamism of fruitfulness. Nothing is predictable. Life is exciting and ever changing as the river turns and winds through changing landscape. What gives us peace and tranquillity is that the end result is guaranteed and known just as every river empties itself into the ocean- victory in Christ. The fruit is necessary for our effective witness in the world. All twelve months we must be consistent in our witness so that our faith touches the lives of people on this side of the bank and the other side. This side of the bank are the people who are not yet saved by Christ. They are irrigated by the gospel of hope we bring into the lives of the lost and hopeless. The people on that side of the bank are the ones who have already believed the gospel but are now growing into fruit-bearing trees. In order to produce a different type of fruit every month, we should prayerfully set goals for ourselves in different spheres and work assiduously and diligently to fulfil our commitment. The thoughts, emotions, words and actions of a believer filled with the Holy Spirit and nourished by the Word are “ their leaves for medicine.” These need to be health-producing and healing us all through the year. Our thoughts and emotions coupled with the eternal Word of God have the power to heal us of bitterness, resentment, pride, arrogance, egoism, vindictiveness, jealousy, greed, lust, selfishness and diseases of the spirit, mind and body. Our words and actions have the capacity or power to heal others of their disease-causing emotional, physical,relational and spiritual issues. When Jesus was asked if He was hungry on an occasion, He replied, “ My food and drink is to obey the One who sent me.” When we live in this manner, even the air and water that we breathe and drink will be blessed. Instead of causing disease as these are prone to in the natural world, they will turn into a source of healing, health, and strength. God has concealed many healing properties in many types of leaves. The neem leaves have properties of cleansing the air. The curry leaves have properties of curing the stomach of ailments. Recently, even the government placed an advertisement in the papers stating that the papaya leaves are good to cure the deadly dengue disease as it increases the platelets count in the blood. Many of these medicinal leaves need to be either boiled in water or chewed and munched in order to extract their healing power. Similarly, in order to benefit from the medicinal healing properties of the Word of God, all year round we need to munch or meditate on a variety of scripture verses. This exercise will boost our spiritual, intellectual, emotional and physical immunity and enhance our health and productivity. Our fruit will indeed not fail and our leaves will not wither: this translates as – our plans may fail but our lives will not fail nor will our words fall to the ground. Prateep V Philip Listen to the music of Tal Wilkenfeld on Youtube: The River of Life

The Tabernacle Re-built

UV 709/ 10,000 The Tabernacle Re-built “And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “ Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.” Revelation 21 v 3 Though we are like clay pots before God, He is building His temple, His tabernacle inside us, His dwelling place. The disciples had deserted and fled from Jesus before the crucifixion but the Resurrected Christ breathed upon them and the Holy Spirit came to dwell inside them. They were transformed from being mere disciples or learners into apostles and teachers. They were filled with the power of conviction and an unshakable faith in Christ and His mission to save the world through His life, teachings, death and resurrection. Now they were ready to even face death in obeying the call of Christ. The very word, “ profession” hides an inner truth. We profess faith that God will use us to fulfil His pleasing will even as we do our best with what we already know. We have now access to the power of God –the Holy Spirit teaches us all that we need to know. We also have access to the grace of God-the Resurrection power of God that will bring to life our dead parts, our dead dreams, our dead relationships. These are the parts of the clay pot that needs to be broken for the tabernacle to be built and revealed. Three factors stand out from this image of the tabernacle that is enshrined in us: the will of God, the power of God and the grace of God operates from within us. One of the names or titles of Jesus- Immanuel or “ God in and with us” – is fulfilled in this uni-verse. This in itself is a great spiritual revolution from the traditional law-based faith of the Jews who regarded God Jehovah so awesome that even His Name could be only mentioned under one's breath as Yahweh. Now, He continues to be awesome but He is awesome-intimate. He is now closer to each of us who believe than even our own skins, than even our own minds, psyche and spirits. The physical temple or church is just a symbol for our bodies as the tabernacle of God: the sanctum sanctorum where the altar of communion is kept is like our heads, the entrance and exit points are our mouth and ears, the main hall and flanks are like the chest and limbs. Our bodies are His living temple. This is the reason Jesus said, “ I can destroy the temple and re-build it in three days.” He was referring to His crucifixion and resurrection. When the body of Christ was destroyed and re-built as the church, the temple of God, all barriers of time and space, of holiness and the infinite, of sin and wickedness were broken down in one go. The Jews are waiting to re-build the physical temple but Jesus is saying, " it is already re-built in my Church, your bodies." Recently, the Lord affirmed, “ Your body is like a clay pot but my fire is always burning inside you.” The Word is the fuel that burns inside our minds and hearts. When the resurrected Christ taught the two disciples on the way to Emmaus that these things, meaning the events of the previous week were prophesied to happen as it did, His words burnt into their minds and lit up their grieving hearts with faith and hope. As a spontaneous response, they worshipped God even as they recognized the risen Christ. The prophecy is fulfilled: “No longer do men have to be taught as My law will be written in their hearts and minds.” All animal and blood sacrifice was abolished with the death and resurrection of Christ, the blemishless Lamb. We are now to offer from deep inside our bodies, the very tabernacle of God, a continual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Three W’s come together as one in our lives: Word, Work and Worship. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RGcb7alSk0

Angelic Ministry

UV 708/10,000 Angelic Ministry “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.” Daniel 10 v 13 This uni-verse gives us a rare glimpse of the secret world of the spirit. It gives us insight that each nation and each region of each nation is governed by a prince of darkness like the prince of the kingdom of Persia. This prince rules and influences all people subject to his influence and resists the agency and will of God. In this case, the Christophany or the appearance of Jesus before His birth on Earth is resisted by the prince of Persia, withstanding Him for 21 days. Even the prince of darkness of Greece is mentioned as having joined forces with the prince of Persia. But the Lord sent Michael, the archangel who acts on behalf of the people of God, to overcome the resistance of Satan’s demonic agent and the other princes of darkness of the region. Michael just said, “ The Lord rebuke you” and their resistance was overcome. Before a man of God, these are like stray dogs who act as if they own the whole area but one shout will send them scurrying. The spirits of darkness are also territorial in this manner. Even to this day when the servants of God meet with obstacles set up by demonic forces, it is Michael who is sent to their aid and assistance. The role of the princes of darkness is to inspire wickedness in high places. For instance, the world peace is threatened in the past few days by the open and menacing threats of nuclear attacks by North Korea. It is not just the free will act or choice of Kim, the leader but he is inspired by the forces of darkness that thrive on fear, violence and death. In such situations, the servants of God need to pray, “ Lord, please send Michael to rebuke these forces.” When our daughter left for London to pursue higher studies, the Lord said, “ I am sending Michael ahead of her to protect and guide her.” The role of the powers of darkness is to hinder, harm and disturb in a variety of ways the children of God. The role of Michael and the angels is to help, guide, protect the servants of God. Scripture says, “ We are not wrestling against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places.” Often we struggle in the flesh or at an intellectual or emotional level when the battle is actually on the spiritual plane. The Lord revealed that it is on account of the presence and work of Beelzebul,one of the chief demons, the suicide rate is climbing higher and higher. Wherever Christ is present, Lucifer tries to intrude but we need to be sensitive to this and say, “ The Lord rebuke you. We/ I command you to leave this holy place that does not belong to you.” Every place we are in is holy and belongs to God as Christ is in us. As a police officer, I find these truths quite powerful and liberating as I understand thereby that the root of many crimes as well as challenges is spiritual and not just human or physical or psychological. When we pray the bad spiritual root of evil is replaced by the good root of Christ. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-08YZF87OBQ

Forsaken for Our Sake

UV 707/10,000 Forsaken for Our Sake About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “ Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani? -that means, “ My God , My God why have you forsaken me?” God had forsaken the stricken and wounded Jesus for the first time in eternity while He was nailed to the cross. This separation from the Godhead was necessary to restore the union of God and mankind. For our sake, Jesus was forsaken. He was the price to be paid to ransom us by faith. For the price to be fully paid, He had to loose His intimate connection with the Father – a painful interruption of the communion of the Trinity. From the sixth hour to the ninth hour or from noon to 3 pm the earth was shrouded in darkness to signify this separation, the darkness into which the soul of Jesus was plunged in order pay the price for every man’s life. At 3 pm again, the daylight was restored to signify the dawn of a new hope for all mankind. The curtain that separated the people from the Holy of Holies or the sanctum sanctorum of the temple in Jerusalem was torn by God from top to bottom to signify the restored fellowship of mankind with God. The death of Jesus was a decision He took on the cross to commit or release His spirit into God’s hands. At that moment, He released the goodness, mercy and grace upon us who believe. His death guarantees eternal life for each of us. His five wounds on His head and face, back and chest, hands, knees and feet released the power of God to heal our minds, bless our work, bless our faith, guarantee answers to our prayers and bless the places we travel to. It is our turn to ask the Lord, “ Why do you embrace me? How can you love me so?” Our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus declares us perfect in the sight of God. He has justified our lives. In place of our old debit account, He has opened a faith credit account in our names. He has credited us with absolute righteousness just by virtue of the death and resurrection of Christ and our faith in His saving grace. The wages of sin of all mankind was potentially paid by Him but those who believe and align their lives with His Word alone will appropriate the blessings of grace and peace. Having been justified, we need to collaborate with the Holy Spirit in sanctifying our lives degree by degree till we reach or attain the standards or example of Jesus. The vicarious unrighteousness or sinfulness of Adam and Eve that passed on to all mankind was now replaced by the vicarious righteousness of Jesus. Prateep V Philiphttp www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOY0mjjmx8Y Listen to this Blessong:

The Triune Blessing

UV 706/10,000 The Goodness of God The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13 v 14 The Trinity comes together in this uni-verse to bless us in spirit, mind and body- the triune elements of our human personalities with all of the goodness of God. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ sums up the Aaronic blessing on us who believe: The Lord Jesus shall bless us and keep us. He will cause His face to shine upon us with divine or spiritual or supernatural favour. He will be gracious to us. He will lift up His countenance to focus His eyes upon all that is happening in our lives and give us peace or Shalom that means peace, security,wholeness, completeness, prosperity, success, health, healing, freedom and every spiritual blessing from the heavenly realms. He will give us the name of God to bear –both us and our children as a mark of ownership and identity that we are both children and heirs of the 10,000 plus promises of God. The love of God for you and me was manifested in His sending that which was most precious in His sight- His own Son Jesus who is one spirit with the Father – to redeem us from Satan’s hold, to take our place of condemnation that our own consciences subject us to. That love causes Satan’s head to be bruised under our feet. He has given us all authority under heaven and His throne to rule over every power on earth. On account of His love, He has given us the constant hope of salvation and life forever more. Those who do not treat His love with disdain, He chooses to give the gift of faith to believe that all these things are true, more true than the things they can see, touch, feel and experience on earth. The communion of the Holy Spirit implies the close fellowship and companionship that the third member of the Trinity gives us as we walk our lonely paths and plough our lonely furrows. He is the One who gives us strength by causing us to delight in the Word and the work of God. Joy is our emotional strength. When our joy is drained, even our physical and intellectual strength to live is drained. The Holy Spirit gives us through our communion with Him the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is taking delight in what God delights in and thereby deriving spiritual strength. The Holy Spirit causes rivers of life to flow from our hearts. He ignites the passion in our belly for the work of the Lord. He gives us courage, boldness and wisdom. Recently, the Lord the Holy Spirit revealed, “ My eye is upon your brain to guide you in what you think, speak, write, decide and act. My fingers are intermingled with your ten fingers. All that you do with your ten fingers is blessed. ” The Holy Spirit prepares or builds us up as a habitation for God. He inspires the fruit of character in us. He is our Comforter and Rememberancer. He comforts us in our present troubles. He reminds us of the promises of the Lord. The last few words of this usually taken for granted benediction, “ be with you all” implies that this triune blessing is available for all who are faithful without discrimination, favouritism or exception. As this triune blessing is upon us and ours, we are blessed when, how, why and where we go and blessed when, how, why and where we come. The very last word “ Amen” means that the Lord guarantees, underwrites and will cause all this to happen even as He is the first cause of the entire universe. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpoese4cfSM

The Opening

UV 705/10,000 The Opening And looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, he said to him, “ Ephphatha!” that is “ Be opened!” Mark 7 v 34 A man with a speech impediment was brought to Jesus and He put His fingers in his ears, and after spitting, touched the man’s tongue with His saliva. He then said in Aramaic, “ Ephphatha” which means “ be opened.” The man’s ears were opened and his speech impediment was removed. God heard every sigh of Jesus even as He hears our every sigh of pain or disappointment or hope. Jesus looked up to heaven as He sighed. He as our High Priest feels the pain of our infirmities and limitations. Our sigh acts as a prayer to the Lord from our innermost being. Ephphatha is a command to remove the blocks to our being, becoming, doing, having, feeling, communicating and achieving. Before we command in the spirit, we must precede it with the prayer of sighs. He will never ignore our deep pain that causes us sometimes to wince and sigh. He will open our eyes to perceive Him. He will open our ears to hear His Word. He will open our mouth to speak His truth. He will open our hearts to feel Him. He will open the path before us. We should also command drawing on our faith from deep within as Jesus did, “ Ephphatha”. He will remove blocks or impediments to our blessings. He will open doors or opportunities and openings in our jobs or professions or ministry. He will give us visions and dreams. He will remove barriers to our understanding and wisdom. He will operate and sharpen our wisdom for decision making. He will end our “decision paralysis.” He will remove the spirit of procrastination that prevents us from achieving our goals. Our vision is unstoppable as God is with us. The spit of a man is looked down upon. To spat upon has always been considered an insult in virtually all cultures. But even the spit of Jesus was spiritual medicine to heal the deaf and mute. It got the power from His sinless life, His pure speech and His word of command in faith – “Ephphatha”. Modern bioinformatics science says that the spit of a man is sufficient to draw conclusions about his health status, the kind of lifestyle he should lead. Modern forensic science has discovered that the spit is enough to get a DNA fingerprint of a person. When the spit of Jesus touched the tongue of the man with the speech impediment, the very DNA(DNA=divine nature) of God mingled with the DNA(our dead nature, character, challenges) of the man and brought forth the healing miracle. I sometimes used to pray recalling this miracle, “ Lord, just spit on me. Walk on me so that the dust from your sandals will be enough to bless me.” I sometimes also lay my hands on the heads, ears and eyes of our children and say, “ Ephphatha!” We also need to command, “ Ephphatha” to open closed doors, to realize and fully utilize our God given gifts and potential, to remove the full range of mountainous problems and challenges that we and the people face, to create new opportunities to release God’s power and realize His glory. Prateep V Philip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X819nmyz8Cc Listen to this Blessong:

The Seed

UV 704/10,000 The Seed “What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.” Galatians 3 v 19 The difference between the law of Moses and the covenant of Christ can be explained to some extent by the difference between the ordinary laws of a land and the Constitution of that country. The latter is an agreement between the people of the country who are considered the political sovereign or the supreme authority and the governing authorities. The ordinary laws are created for a time by some particular government to control offences and bring about peace. The people forming governments are mediating on behalf of the people. Similarly, the law of Moses came through the mediation of Moses and the angels. The angels gave revelation and understanding to Moses to write down the rules that are embodied in the Old Testament or old Covenant. But, these are subordinate to the covenant or sacred promise God made directly to Abraham and his seed or his descendants. The promise of God is an agreement that is higher, more sacred, inviolable and fundamental than the law given through Moses and the angels. This uni-verse also emphasizes that the promise came first and that the law was an addition. Moses the mediator appointed by God could not himself keep all of the law written down by him. He disobeyed God and instead of speaking to the rock to give water, he struck it with anger. Hence, the function of the law is to awaken us to our shortcomings. The best of us and the best in us falls short of God’s perfect standards embodied in the law. The Mosaic law reiterates the need to fully obey the will of God as explained in the law given through Moses. No one is able to fully obey. All of us have disobeyed and will continue to do so. It does not give us an excuse to deliberately and wantonly disobey. At least, we should do our best to fully obey the law. God however knows our inability to fully obey. Hence, He sent His Son Jesus to fill or bridge the gap by laying down his life. Moses was an imperfect mediator but Jesus is a perfect mediator. Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the law and remained sinless in the sight of God. The covenant established or sealed with His blood supercedes the law. While the law declares us sinful, the promise given through Jesus declares us sinless and perfect. The purpose of the Mosaic law is to establish the need for the covenant promise of God through His Seed Jesus. Hence, the requirements of the law is fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus is the Seed of salvation, the Seed of perfection, the Seed of fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham and his descendants, the seed of fulfillment of our potential as spiritual beings created for an eternal purpose. God took away the tree of eternal life from the Garden of Eden once Adam and Eve fell in sin, but He has now planted its seed in our hearts and minds. A natural seed contains all aspects of a full grown tree: its roots, its shoot, its branches, its leaves and fruits. Similarly, the faith of Jesus in us contains the root of salvation, the shoot of spiritual and holistic growth, the various branches of versatile development, the leaves of healing, the flowers of fragrance and the fruit of the spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. One of the reasons, it takes time and patience for a promise of God to be fulfilled is that it needs to grow naturally and supernaturally in the good soil of our faith, nourished by the salt and water of our tears and nurtured by prayer and the Word. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeF2qke_8kw

APT Thought Process

UV 703/10,000 APT Thought Process “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.” Philippians 4 v 8 Often we think that St Paul is asking us to think of the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy in the abstract. No, he is asking us to think of the practical aspects of these qualities working in our own lives or what we have experienced in the past. He is asking us to reinforce whatever is true in our lives, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy in our own experience of life. These are the enabling and ennobling moments in our lives when the Lord in His grace enabled us to experience the sublime and the spiritual in our own lives. Over a period of time our thoughts become attitudes. When we saturate our minds with the Word of God which is nothing but the mind of Christ or the thoughts of God, we place ourselves in the trajectory of an automatic positive thought (APT) process. St Paul does not want us to think in a mere abstract, impersonal or theoretical manner. He wants us to have ownership over the image that God has created us in. Our greatest tribute or adoration of our beloved Creator and Redeemer is to present the best aspects of our selves to Him. We need to recall or summon those memories of whatever is noble and excellent in our lives so far. He wants us to think or meditate continually on these qualities so that these become ingrained in us, so that the habits that reflect these qualities in our lives are established, so that we are consistent in living according to these best principles of our lives. This uni-verse does not mean that we only think positive and do not even consider the negative. The enemy would be pleased if we did that. Instead, we need to identify the roots of the opposite qualities, thoughts and actions and deweed these out of our minds and lives. If we do not do so, the weeds of negativity like bitterness, wickedness, impurity, lust, selfishness, greed, folly, falsehood, mediocrity will proliferate in the backyard of our minds and overrun the garden. When we live in accordance with this teaching, our lives itself will become a thank offering to the Lord. Thinking continually on these lines will lead to actions and those actions when repeated over a fairly long period will become our habit and lifestyle. The only model St Paul exhorts us to always keep in mind is Jesus Himself for He personified whatever is true, noble, right, pure, admirable, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy. We need to ask ourselves constantly, “ What would Jesus think? What did Jesus say? What would Jesus say in this situation? How would Jesus act and react in this situation? What would Jesus do?” As true and faithful followers, we need to constantly align ourselves with the responses to these questions. When we invite Jesus into our hearts, the true, noble, righteous, pure, admirable, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy gain entrance into our lives. In due time, these will become manifest in our lives in a variety of ways even as there are a variety of flowers and fruits that grow on the planet. Prateep V Philip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCyE3kgnjak

A Revelation of Power and Grace

UV 702/10,000 A Revelation of Power “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Exodus 9 v 16 The Lord raised up both Pharaoh and Moses for the purpose of showing both Pharaoh and all Egypt as well as Moses and all Israel His power and might. Through this revelation of power, the name of God is proclaimed in all the earth. We would not have heard of Moses unless we had also heard of Pharaoh. There would have been no King David but for a Goliath raised up to reveal the power of God. Every event of deliverance in history and in our lives happens to proclaim the name of the Lord. Proclaiming the name of the Lord implies giving the glory due to Him, acknowledging His presence, power and attributes in humble worship and adoration. He has raised up those who oppose us as well as we who believe to reveal His power and so that His name is proclaimed in all the earth. This explains why even today some are sensitive to the move and voice of the Lord and obey the Word while some harden their hearts to be stubborn in disobedience. It does not depend on man’s desire or effort but on God’s mercy. If a newspaper called Times of Heaven is published, it will daily reveal how the Lord has allowed some temporal power to rise up and how He caused a person endowed with His anointing and spiritual power to counter it. It will publish the good news that the latter has ultimate victory. The Lord has mercy on those whom He chooses to have mercy upon. He hardens the heart of those He chooses to harden. Every time Pharaoh hardened his heart not to free the Jewish slave-nation, it only gave God another bigger opportunity to use Moses to perform a more amazing act of God. When Moses struck the dust, it turned into lice that afflicted the Egyptians. Pharaoh in his time was a super-power but his power proved to be temporary. Today, he and his successors are only a trace of a memory of a mighty power who was overthrown by the power of Almighty , Jehovah El Shaddai. Moses continues to be remembered as one through whom God made manifest his victorious power. We are his descendants by faith. The laws revealed through Moses is the very basis of global civilization. Wherever the law exists and prevails, the name of the Lord is proclaimed. Yesterday, the Lord revealed in a time of prayer in The Tabernacle, “ You and your family are like an ‘oxygenal banyan tree’, giving oxygen to many.” Such a beautiful expression of a scientific reality and a spiritual truth for the banyan tree enriches the atmosphere with more oxygen than all other trees. He has raised up for this very purpose. He raised up the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then from the terrible circumstances of his assassination, lifted me up, though bruised and battered, to proclaim His name in all the earth. Moses, the “reed” (as his name signified) had become Moses, the banyan tree. Like Moses, we will be a banyan tree in this generation. We will spread like a banyan tree with many shoots and offshoots. He has raised us up in this generation to reveal His power and grace. Power and law was revealed through Moses while grace and truth came through Christ. Today, the Lord raises believers to reveal His power, grace and truth in all the earth. We have only one duty- claim and proclaim. Claim victory and proclaim the glory of God. Prateep V Philiphttp Listen to this Blessong: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lh5IxRmgcY

Choice Making Ability

UV 701/10,000 Choice Making Ability “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.” Deuteronomy 30 v 19 God is always nudging us to make the pro-life choices in our lives. But, sometimes relying on our own senses and desires, we make our own choices that lead to death. I recall an airhostess coming in her working dress, straight for a seminar I was teaching using this very uni-verse. The theme of the seminar was “ Choice-Making Ability.” Some months later I learnt that she had made a choice to break away from her live-in-partner. The latter poisoned her to death and then hanged himself. She had made a choice to break away from him too late. The choice she had made to live in sin with him for many months before had taken them both to death. The Lord urges us to choose life and not death so that we and our descendants might live forever, so that we and our descendants will be blessed forever. Adam and Eve had one wrong choice and multiple right choices. Today, we have multiple wrong choices and only one right choice. The only right choice He has set before us is that we love the Lord our God, obey His voice or His written Word and the still voice of the Holy Spirit, hold fast to our faith in Him and His promises to us. He will then add life to our days and days to our lives. It is a Hobson’s choice. I had a very tall gentleman, all of 6 feet 5” sitting next to me in a flight recently. He said that in one way his great height was a blessing as he had to bow all the time as if to acknowledge God. Why should mankind ignore such an obvious choice? The reason is one, plain ignorance and two, conditioning of the past makes many blind as a bat and they prefer to peer into the darkness and death. God means business and that is why this is one of the rare occasions He calls for the witnesses of heaven- the Lord Jesus, the archangels and angels and the witnesses of earth: His chosen people-meaning the ones who have chosen to follow Him. We need to love the Lord with all our heart, meaning with all our emotions and with the maximum intensity. We need to love Him in good times and bad, when we are feeling glad and when we are sad. We need to love Him with all our soul, meaning with absolute trust and a sense of surrender. We need to love Him with all our mind, implying with each and every thought, word and decision. Our decisions and actions should reflect that increasing trust of God and His Word. The mind can be used as a gateway to truth and freedom in God or as a getaway from truth and freedom. We need to love Him with all our strength, implying that we need to trust Him for our physical health, vitality and well being. Indeed, an increasing dependence on God will make us increasingly independent and free. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiC4GU4NttA

The Magnifying Lens

UV 700/10,000 The Magnifying Lens He said to me, “ You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will display my splendour.” Isaiah 49 v 3 We are the servants of the Most High, the God who is perfect, who perfects His servants. Each of us is His masterpiece, created and being shaped for the fulfillment of His purpose. We are created to show forth His praise and to declare His glory. People will see our lives and wonder about what makes us click. They will be amazed. They will realize that we have some secret that they do not know about. They will be curious to know. We need to live our lives in such a way that we arouse the curiousity of the people among whom we live and work. God does not make a secret of His splendour. He has revealed it first in all of creation. He has revealed it also in the power and potential of man to design, innovate and invent. But, He revels most in the splendour of His believing children as parents dote on the gifts, character traits and achievements of their children. We are a magnifying lens to magnify the light that the Lord sends into our lives and to focus that light with such intensity that those who come in contact with us also catch the fire. If Jesus is the Root of the Kingdom of God, we are the Branch. The root does not bear the fruit. The branches bear the fruits. We reveal the greatness of God in the variety of fruits of character, of spirit, of mind, of mouth, of efforts and of our hands and body that we bear in the course of our lives. The fruits of the spirit and of character are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. The fruits of our minds are wisdom, knowledge, insight and understanding. The fruits of our mouths are our words. The fruits of our efforts are our achievements and accomplishments in a variety of spheres or fields. The fruits of our hands are our work or our professions. The fruits of our bodies are our children or offspring`that we dedicate back to God. Prateep V Philip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpPTjHpIIOw

Renewal

UV 699/10,000 Heart-Mind-Life Renewal “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,” Mark 7 v 21 Jesus, the Master Psychologist knew the cause of all evil and crime begins in the hearts and minds of men. It begins as thoughts in the minds and desires in the heart. It is then externalized as sexual immorality, theft, crime, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. It is the evil that comes from inside us that makes us unclean or unrighteous and unacceptable to God. When desires of the heart combines with the thoughts of the mind, the evil is enacted or performed in real time. He established the intimate connectivity between heart, mind and life. The Spirit and the Word provide the templates to which our hearts and minds should conform. Jesus knew the root cause and He knew that He himself was the solution that God had placed before mankind to accept or reject. He criticized the Pharisees and High Priests of Israel for they were outwardly righteous and clean. Similarly, today we might appear outwardly righteous and clean but the Lord knows our hearts and minds. He wants change to happen from within us. The first thing is that we need to be aware of the evil desires that resides in our hearts summed up in the Word as the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and pride of life. He wants us to be aware of the evil thoughts that occur in our minds. These evil desires and thoughts lead up to bad decisions and actions or reactions. Once we identify the roots of all these evils in our hearts and minds, we must ask the Lord to send the Holy Spirit to cleanse us from within. The Lord creates in us a new heart and a capacity to think, feel and decide based on the truth and love He has imparted to us. Just as the lungs take in oxygen and pump out carbon dioxide and the heart pumps out oxygenated blood and pumps in deoxygenated blood back to the lungs to be renewed, we need to constantly renew our minds and hearts with the Word and the Spirit. We are transformed degree by degree into the likeness or image of God by renewing our minds in this manner. Prateep V Philip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ei16-y5o0

Living Temple

Living Temples UV 698/10,000 “ Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 4 v 6 God is declaring to us through this uni-verse that He will build His kingdom and His temple not by virtue of military or economic or political might but by the move of His Spirit in the midst of His people. The spirit of God is gentle, humble and wise. So also the people who obey the call of God to build His kingdom are to be gentle, humble and wise. Each of us is called to be Zerubbabel, a noble governor descended from King David who undertook Under the new covenant, our own bodies and being are the very temple of God. Our minds and hearts are the sanctum sanctorum of the living temples that God has called us to be. Our passion to know God and to do His will is the fire that burns continually in this temple. We offer our bodies as a living sacrifice on the altar of God by denying our evil desires and acknowledging God in all our ways. Our spirits offer praise and worship continually to the Lord. Whatever the Lord wants to accomplish, He does so through the Holy Spirit and spirit-led people. The Spirit teaches us from the Word. The Word is the meat that the Lord provides to sustain us. The Spirit empowers us and equips us for our calling. He gives us wisdom and good gifts to fulfill the task He has given. He enables us to be captivated by the glory of God so that every thought of ours is focussed on Him. This is what is meant by “ taking every thought captive to God.” Our deeds become the incense and perfume in the nostrils of God. He is pleased when He sees us. We exist to please Him. We become surrogates of God to perform His sovereign will on earth. Prateep V Philiphttps www.youtube.com/watch?v=O269cn5aS0A

D for Deliverance

UV 697/10,000 D for Deliverance “He gives great deliverance to His king, and shows lovingkindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.” Psalm 18 v 50 Every believer is a king in the sight of God even as Jesus is hailed as the King of kings or King of the saints. The Lord promises not an ordinary deliverance but a great deliverance to His kings as we rule over the spirit world in His holy and all- powerful Name. The invoking of His Name in any earthly situation that we face or before any threat or danger that we face will set in motion the armies of Heaven on our behalf. Indeed, greater is He that is with us than they that are with them. We are by virtue of our faith the spiritual seed of both David and Jesus. God will do in our lives the exploits of David- we will fight a giant like Goliath in the spiritual realm and be given extraordinary victory. Our prayer is the sling of deliverance and the promises of God the deadly munition that delivers us from defeat, from sorrow, from tragedy, from misery, from shame, guilt and inadequacy. The Lord God has anointed us with the Holy Spirit as kings even as David and Jesus were anointed to prepare them for the battles ahead. We declare that His lovingkindness or His care and concern are better than life or in other words we regard a love relationship with our Lord as far better than life itself. He will reward us with the spiritual riches of Heaven. Therefore, we must be jubilant and dance and worship the Lord as David danced. David was a warrior in all the years of his public life, beginning with the killing of Goliath. But, the Lord has declared us in Christ to be greater than warriors or more than any conqueror. It is a pact He has made with us and our descendants for all of time and all of eternity. He will wrest victory for us against all impossible odds. He will establish us as winners even without us moving a little finger. We do not rely on our strength ,prowess ,talent, power , position, resources or influence but we depend on the Lord for our strength. He is our strength from within and our help from without. We call upon the Lord in our times of trouble and He will save us in a marvelous way. He will save us from death and ungodliness. He will draw us from many waters or protect us from a variety of threats, risks and dangers. He will deliver us from those who hate us. He will deliver us from the strong enemy. He will rescue us from natural and man-made calamities. He will lift us above those who rise against us. He will reward us with the spoils of victory: that which once belonged to them will be given over to us. We need to be righteous and blameless before His eyes. Our hands and our conscience need to be clean. The joy of salvation is compared with that of a farmer on seeing His ripened harvest or the fruit of his labour, the joy of a military conqueror on seeing the treasures and spoils of a hard-won victory. God does not promise that the struggle will be easy even as He guarantees the certainty as we hold onto our faith. In all my struggles and triumphs over the past three decades, I have found the Lord true to this Word. Once He confirmed, “ You have fought and won against 31 kings.” Prateep V Philip Watch this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxLfj_xS72I

Remedy for Pain

UV 696/10,000 Remedy for Pain Now Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “ Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested. I Chronicles 4 v 10 Jabez was named so as his mother had borne him in pain. But, what man has been born so far who has not been born in pain and born into a world of pain. Each of us has been born in pain. Even a single word often brings intense pain to us. A single thought can bring pain. A relationship can cause pain. After all God had told the first woman that you will bear children in pain. Instead of bearing our pain silently, we should take it to God like Jabez. The God of Israel is waiting to hear us pray like Jabez. Jabez craved the blessing of God. Each of us must desire the Lord’s Shalom blessing- the blessing of joy, prosperity, health, wholeness, success, goodness- upon our spirit, mind and body. The first 14 verses of Deuteronomy 28 speak of these blessings. These are the blessings of grace that the Lord blesses us on account of Christ in us. The blessings of grace is represented by the vertical bar of the cross. The blessings of peace or the protection from the pain of curses, enumerated in Deuteronomy 28 verse 15 -68, is represented by the horizontal bar of the cross. The Lord will set us high above all the nations on earth. These blessings will come upon us and accompany us wherever we go. We will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. Our children will be blessed and great shall be their peace. The work of our hands will be blessed. Our food and water will be blessed. Our stay and our journey will be blessed. He will make us the head and not the tail. He will anoint us with leadership positions, roles, responsibilities, qualities and abilities. He will ensure that we will be always at the top, never at the bottom as long as we are faithful. The Lord will expand our boundaries and our territory. He will expand vastly the sphere of our influence, the domain of our impact in our lives. He will extend our vision and our legacy beyond our lifespan and our generations. This is the spiritual bank account in which we are blessed with all the spiritual blessings of heaven through Christ Jesus. The Lord has given us any time access to this account through prayer and promise. The promise of God or the uni-verse is our access card like an ATM Card. Not only does the Lord give us access to His infinite riches or resources by faith, He gives us a protection plan or insurance. His hand of protection will be upon us. He will grant that the enemies who rise up against us will be defeated before us. They will come at us from one direction but flee from us in seven. They will attack us one day but flee all their days from us. They will attack us in one area but they will be attacked in all directions or 360 degrees for the might of El Shaddai will be turned upon them. People will fear us because we are called by the name of the Lord. They will recognize that not just the hand of God but God Himself is with us. He will keep us from harm. He will not willingly subject us to pain except when there is no other way to teach us life’s lessons or eternal truths. On our part,we must implore the Lord to keep us from temptation, to keep us from harm to our spirit, mind or body, to keep our families, children, kith and kin from harm and affliction. We must not just pray like Jabez in this manner but be careful to obey all that He has commanded us to do. We might even fail in some areas. But, as long as our desire to obey is earnest and we do not willfully disregard His commands, He will be pleased with both our prayer life and with our real-time life. He will fill the gaps with His grace. There must be a close alignment or coincidence between our spiritual life and our real-time life. When such a coincidence or alignment exists, the Lord floods us with all the blessings He has promised. He will grant all of our request. His reign in our lives brings an unceasing rain of blessings. Prateep V Philip Listen to this song and enjoy it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mzSFcUEJWU

Perfect Presentation

UV 695/10,000 Perfect Presentation “ We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.” Colossians 1 v 28 When we proclaim Christ with our lives, our words and our deeds, it amounts to teaching and admonishing everyone who sees us or knows us. It is like breathing spiritual life into people. We need to do so with wisdom, love, humility and gentleness, not with condemnation and a spirit of one-upmanship. We present Christ to them as the perfect man and the perfect sacrifice. If they are convicted of the truth and and are desirous to grow, it is our sacred duty to further teach and train them so that they in turn are mature in their faith and in their knowledge of God. The goal is to enable them to grow to their highest potential, free from blame or blemish. Every one of us is imperfect in ourselves but in Christ we are perfect. His perfection is imputed to us. God has wiped our slate clean on account of our faith and our acceptance of the perfect sacrifice of the perfect man. Proclaiming Christ implies believing in our heart and declaring with our mouth that Jesus is the keystone of our lives. Every thing else may fall or fail but we will hold on to this keystone. Presenting every one perfect in Christ implies that we have to give an account of how we have used our time, talents and resources. It implies that we should not rest on our oars but attempt to excel in all things for the glory or satisfaction of God. Excellence is the minimal but excellent consolation prize that we get in our pursuit of perfection. It is the crown that we present back to the Lord as a sign of our gratitude and faithfulness. God is not a Christian. The use of the word, “ everyone” implies that it is open to any one from any background to hear the good news, believe and receive Christ into their lives. The good news is that they are freed from the need to strive for salvation or to earn their salvation. Nothing they do or don’t do is ever going to save them forever. God has already done it for them through Christ. Now relax and enjoy your relationship with the Father. But don’t relax to the extent that you become lethargic or negligent. Having been saved by faith and grace, work to reach perfection. God is neither a westerner nor an oriental. He does not have a nationality or race. Hence, the gospel is an open invitation to people of all nations. God is not a respecter of people, in the sense people of any economic class or social status are welcome to relate to Him. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARcUnEfecMA

The Triple Blessing

UV 694/10,000 The Triple Blessing “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.” Psalm 19 v 35 Any battle or war involves offensive and defensive tactics, weapons and moves. Spiritual life is a lot like warfare. Salvation does not just give us eternal life in the hereafter but brings us the Lord’s favour and help in this lifetime. The Lord’s favour encompasses us like a shield in all directions or in 360 degrees. He protects our bodies from diseases and plague. As you read this uni-verse, claim prophylactically in prayer the protection of you and your loved ones from cancer, heart disease and other deadly diseases that afflict mankind. He preserves and enhances our reputation and testimony. He promotes us even as He took David- a mere shepherd boy and anointed him as king of Israel. Even after the anointing for many years, he remained a shepherd boy but the Lord took him through a series of misfortunes, exiles, attacks, insults, apparent reverses and adversity before giving him victory over every one of his opponents and rivals and installing him as king of Israel. Indeed, promotion does not come from the East or the West but it comes from the Maker of Heaven and Earth. So instead of looking to the East or the West, we need to look upward to the Lord Jehovah Nissi and inward to the Lamb who wrested victory for us and sits on the throne of our lives. Wherever there is a reference to the right hand of God as in this uni-verse, it implies the might of Jehovah El Shaddai, the Mighty One who parted the Red Sea and the River Jordan for His people to pass through safely. It means the blessing of security. His right hand upholds us as we walk in faith. We may go through not just the valley of the shadow of death but the valley of death itself but He will take us through. Finally and ultimately, His gentleness or His meekness or His clemency or kindness will make us great. The word ‘great’ means that He will cause us to excel. He will do it not in haste or with much pomp and show or with force but gently, quietly working on our inside, triggering change from within us. He will vindicate us. He will give us victory over our foes as well as our circumstances. In short, the uni-verse contains a triple blessing from the Triune God or from each member of the Trinity: salvation from the Lamb, supernatural help and favour from Jehovah El Shaddai and greatness from the Holy Spirit. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOe5GpqFJrE

The Secret of Strength and Power

UV 693/10,000 The Secret of Strength and Power “He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak.” Isaiah 40 v 29 Once after a particularly trying circumstance in the days of my youth, while I was yet in school, I wrote on a piece of paper, “ Weakness is a part of my nature, the power to overcome comes from God.” Yes, He is the source of our strength, the cause of our power. For many their physical strength or their intellectual acumen or their beauty or their talent or their wealth or their influence or family name are the source of their strength. But history and our own experience have clearly demonstrated the severe limitations of relying on such temporal sources of strength and power. The ordinary or average people wither like grass and the so called extraordinary fade like flowers. Their strength often will turn out to be the cause of their destruction and fall. The enduring and eternal source of all power is the Lord God of hosts. In our weakness is His strength revealed. He provides the strength in our areas of weakness by grace. He uses us in the areas of our weaknesses more than in the areas of our natural strength so that we will have no confidence in flesh and we will have no reason to boast. He renews our strength constantly. He encourages the weary of life with a Word from scripture. He feeds His flock like a shepherd with eternal truths that revitalize them, nourish them and cause them to grow or increase in emotional strength and spiritual power. He trains us like a mother mountain eagle trains its eaglets for flight by a gentle push from its nest on the cliff. His caring mighty wings are there below us to catch us in the event of our free fall. The cause and source of our strength and power is not because of who we are but on account of who God is: He is the everlasting God. Hence, His power is everlasting. His holiness is the source of His power. He does not grow tired or weary. No one can understand the extent of His knowledge, wisdom and understanding. The Lord increases our wisdom and thereby enhances our personal power potential( PPP). He counsels us in the way we should go, the decisions we should take, the relationships we should cultivate as also He warns us about the ways we should avoid and the decisions we should not take and the relationships we should avoid. He deals with our fears and anxiety. He increases our inner peace and joy which in God’ eyes are synonymous with human power and strength. He protects us from bad news and sends us good tidings so that we rejoice in Him. He sends people and circumstances our way to test our strength and thereby increase it. He gives us opportunities to expand our influence as leaders. He will invest in us an unflagging zeal and anoint us with an indefatigable spirit of perseverance, confidence and persistence. The memory of each victory that the Lord has given us through the years will increase our enthusiasm or spiritual energy. No personal deficiency is a challenge for God as long as we submit it to the Lord. When Moses pleaded that he stammered and was not a good communicator, the Lord gave him the strength of miraculous power to communicate both verbally and with his rod. He asked him to take Aaron along as a spokesman but we find that it was Moses and his stick that did all the talking that drove terror into the heart and mind of mighty Pharaoh and all Egypt, the superpower of those times. The Lord renewed the physical strength of Caleb so that he retained the same strength and power into his eighties that he had at half that age. Today, the Lord calls me a Caleb as I have been praying, “ Lord give me the same strength that I had at forty even at the age of eighty.” It is through prayer and meditation on the Word that we drink at the fount of His strength and power. We need to wait on the Lord for strength to slowly but surely bubble up inside us like a brook that slowly arises from a spring but suddenly becomes the rush of the mighty Jordan river. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong and feel your strength rising in you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gZ2LeFTQ4I

The Love Exchange

UV 692/10,000 The Exchange “ Since you are precious and honoured in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.” Isaiah 43 v 4 It is difficult to love even the people whom we can see and interact with. To truly love means to be willing to exchange our life for their affection and their interest, to be willing to sacrifice for the one loved, to enjoy that person’s company, words and ways. It is difficult to love God whom we do not see and do not interact with unless God reveals or manifests His love for us. The difficulty of loving God is not only is He invisible to our eyes but He is so big and infinite. Scripture says that even “the nations are like a drop in a bucket” before Him. Yet, when God chose to reveal Himself in His Son Jesus and gave Him in exchange for our lives, He made manifest and as clear as daylight His love for us. Those who love Jesus and believe He came from God are loved by God Himself. As Jesus said, “ I am in them and they are in me” and we are one with God. Man has set up foreign exhanges and stock exchange but the Lord has set up the Love Exchange. When we obey the voice of God and keep His covenant and His commandments, we are a peculiar or special treasure unto God above all people. He has brought us out of darkness and gross darkness into His marvelous light- the light of His Word and His righteousness. He has so brought us out to declare His praises and to be zealous of good works for His glory or satisfaction. On account of our faith in Jesus, we are as precious and honoured in the sight of the Lord as the Son of God Himself. Jesus took the place of countless millions in history. That exchange took place at Calvary cross. We begin to change for the better after that exchange in our spirits. Thereafter, too the Lord exchanges people to spare our lives. A family heirloom or inheritance is precious in the eyes of its owner not because of the price it commands in the market or on account of the precious metal of which it is made or the jewels encrusted on it. It is precious as many memories of many generations are associated with the heirloom in the mind and heart of the owner. He takes it out from his treasure chest from time to time to just look at it. If he loses it, he is willing to give any price to get it back. Similarly, the Lord is willing to give men, to give people in exchange for our lives. This promise fulfilled was spoken to me when I survived the ‘human bomb blast’ at Sriperumbudur. 18 people lost their lives there. Some of the men and one woman I posted died in the blast. The Lord said, “ I have given people in exchange for your life for you are precious and honoured in my sight.” For the people above me, my life was expendable in comparison with the VIP and my name was even included in the list of the dead in the first despatch of the government. Prateep V Philip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8yJHejtPpw Listen to this Blessong:

Hold on to the Premise and the Promise

UV 691/10,000 The Premise and the Promise “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Hebrews 11 v 6 Faith is holding on to the unprovable premise that God exists not as if He exists but believing and knowing He exists. Faith is also holding on to the unverifiable promise that He not only exists but rewards those who seek Him and trust Him with their whole hearts. When we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him. Many people like Sadhu Sundar Singh and many others who hated and disbelieved the Bible sought the true God with all their hearts and were surprised to see the vision of Jesus. Faith is the invisible currency of God with which we can buy equity in the invisible Heaven. We need to hold on to the premise of God despite the contrarian views and tell tale evidence of so called science. Faith is an absolutely essential prerequisite in order to relate to God. Even if our faith is small, it is enough to relate to Him. It begins with the tiny seed of the gospel but over time it grows organically into a big fruit-bearing tree. Faith expresses itself in love for God and love for mankind. Love itself is expressed in diverse ways. Holding on to the premise of God’s existence does not mean we suspend our rationality. It means that our rationality which is normally blinded not to see and experience God is freed from that blindness. It means realizing that true rationality means admitting that nothing can exist without a first cause and that first cause is God, nothing evolves on its own through time but everything deteriorates over time. It means that beyond the intellectual understanding of God, we need a direct personal relationship with Him where we believe His promises to us and appropriate it to our lives for our immediate and future need. We need to hold on to the promise of God patiently till He chooses the time and opening to fulfill it. Our faith is an admission that we cannot truly live without knowing and relating to God as our Father, Friend and Redeemer. The promises of God are the enabling provisions of the Word. When the Word is mixed with faith, the miraculous and supernatural power of God is released just as cement when mixed with mere sand and stones bonds into solid concrete. Faith is the cement or glue that holds all the disparate pieces of our lives together. It supplies the final key to solving the jigsaw puzzle of life. This uni-verse reveals that God is a rewarder or remunerator, the One who supplies our wages or meets our every need. He rewards those who diligently seek Him. The word ‘ diligence’ implies carefully study or investigate or probe and examine. Hence, the faith that we are called to exercise is not a blind faith but a diligent faith or a faith based on the study of the Word, a faith based on the testing of the reality of the promises of God, a faith based on increasing experience of His presence and blessings. Retaining a promise in our minds on a constant basis, and holding it up to God in prayer, believing and claiming it has led to my practically experiencing the truth of God’ s promises in scores of practical, real-life situations including solving of difficult crimes and dicey law and order scenarios. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DpSIIiWkEM

The Blood Price

UV 690/10,000 The Blood Price But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53 v 5 This is a very powerful uni-verse. It holds the secret of eternal salvation. It is the key to lasting peace in our lives. It is the guarantee of our forgiveness, our justification and our sanctification. It is also the promise of health and healing. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that cleanses every one who believes in an absolute sense. We become the righteousness of God. The sacrifice being absolute and perfect satisfied the standard of holiness of God that had declared all mankind sinful. Hitherto, our sins had tormented us but since Jesus was tormented for our sins, we are freed from the chastisement or the payment we have to make. Our peace or reconciliation with God has been purchased by the blood of Jesus on the cross. Our Father-child relationship is fully restored and it replaces the more formal and impersonal Creator-creature relationship of before. Our sins may be crimson or even a darker shade of scarlet, meaning more deadly sins, yet we are washed whiter than snow. Both sin and salvation,sickness, health and healing, success and failure, blessings and curses have a deeper spiritual manifestation before it gets manifested at the physical plane. The Father ensured that nothing about the suffering and death of His Son Jesus was in vain: not His life, not His Word, not His wounds, not His stripes,not his body, Not His blood, not His death and resurrection, not His spirit. In a vision, Jesus reminded us of the fountain of blood from His five wounds: the fountain from His feet, the fountain from His knees, the fountain from His chest and back for His chest and back were ploughed with the flogging He received before the crucifixion, the fountain from His hands and finally, the fountain from His face and head. By virtue of His substitutionary death, we receive freedom from spiritual death and obtain eternal life. In addition, we can obtain healing and sanctification daily by prayerfully washing ourselves in the blood from these five wounds on His body. It will reinforce our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. It will induce the healing that we need on a daily basis. We need not wait till we fall sick to claim our healing. Scripture declares that “ with His stripes, we are healed”. It is a confirmation of healing, that we are already healed and not just a promise of healing. It will also protect us from internal temptation and external aggression or attacks of different kinds. With His death and resurrection, Jesus crushed the head of the enemy, satan as it was prophesied in the book of Genesis. Satan had bruised His heel but an injury on the heel is not fatal or causing permanent damage while the blow to the head of the enemy restored victory to mankind. Hence, this uni-verse is also key to a victorious life. As we claim the blessings embedded in this verse, it will release freedom, salvation, forgiveness, peace, grace, victories, success, healing and health into every aspect of our lives. A question may be asked, why is there so much emphasis on “blood” in our faith? I learnt it from experience- as I lay wounded and pierced by many steel shrapnel in Sriperumbudur, I could sense the life draining out of my body. Our blood literally supplies life to the various parts. It is aptly called “ lifeblood”. As I cried out “Jesus, Jesus” He restored life and set the healing process in motion. Weeks later as I lay in a hospital and crying out of excruciating pain from the shrapnel embedded in my feet, He spoke the words, “ By my stripes, you are healed.” I was slowly relieved of the pain and could limp back to normalcy. Prateep V Philip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8rWZyoV-2g Listen to this Blessong and karaoke it as a personal prayer.

The Mandate to Forgive Man

UV 689/10,000 The Mandate to Forgive Man “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” John 20 v 23 Jesus gave His disciples the authority or power to forgive others as well as to withhold forgiveness from others. He was Himself questioned when He told others,” Your sins are forgiven” as it was held that only God has the authority to forgive men. Jesus being part of the Trinity knew He had authority to forgive men. But, He has empowered us with the authority to forgive. It implies that we can plead in prayer for the forgiveness of all people. Love covers a multitude of sins. That is why St Paul wrote in his famous chapter describing the attributes of love: “ love does not hold a record of wrongs.” Forgiveness, it is said, is done for our own sake and not just for others. It frees us of the hurt and bitterness caused. It is also incumbent that since the Lord has forgiven us all our sins, we must necessarily extend the same grace to others. Nelson Mandela said that “ He who has been liberated from fears- his very presence will liberate others of their fear.” This is more true when spoken about sin. Once we are freed from sin and its consequences, our very presence will liberate others. When we learn to forgive- it is a sign that we have understood the meaning of being forgiven or else we are taking it for granted. Forgiveness requires us to give up the natural urge to avenge ourselves and to give up the sense of pride, ego and hurt. Forgiveness is about releasing a person of the burden of guilt of committing a particular deed. Without forgiveness, it is impossible today for even families to survive. A spouse needs to continually forgive her husband and vice versa. The same applies to siblings and children. If we do not forgive, every relationship including marriage would be so brittle and brake down. It is forgiveness that causes relationships to endure misunderstandings, mistakes, blunders, insults, betrayals and offences. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VquoupNiypI

Weed out Greed

UV 688/10,000 Weed out Greed Then He said to them, “ Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12 v 15 The Lord Jesus warns us about materialism and covetousness. A sense of insecurity grips human beings that drives us into the seductive embrace of materialism. Today, materialism or Mammon gives God more competition for the hearts of mankind than any other single factor. Materialism implies giving priority to material and monetary gain in life as if it is the be all and end all of life. Covetousness implies desiring to possess that which one does not have and also to possess that which belongs to another. Scripture equates covetousness with sexual immorality, wickedness and states that it is the root of evil. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life are the three roots of evil that branch out from covetousness. It will pierce us with many sorrows and will lead us into many kinds of traps and foolish schemes. Therefore, we should be on our guard about various types of greed: greed for money, greed for clothes, food or modern gizmos. It is also a warning to avoid the tendency to keep up with the Joneses. We should not look at everything and anything from the selfish and narrow perspective of WIIFM or What’s in it for me? When our hearts and minds are full of such desires, we will have no room for God and His kingdom in our lives and our souls will be impoverished. The Lord is elbowed out of our hearts and lives. Life consists of the abundance of the riches of the grace, peace, hope, wisdom and blessings of the Lord. Instead,we are exhorted to be rich towards God, to store up treasures of His Word in our hearts and treasures of good deeds in Heaven. We are exhorted to be contented since we know that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. We know that the resources available with God are unlimited. We know His power is unlimited. We know from His Word that His grace and love towards us are unlimited. This becomes the basis of our security. We cannot be easily shaken or tempted. We need to believe that the Lord will provide for our need though not for our greed. We need to understand that we came into the world with no luggage and we will leave it with no luggage. Our life does not consist in material or monetary abundance but as we seek to give priority to God and the things of God, as we seek to live on His every Word, He will add all these things in our lives. It is not an attitude of impractical other-worldliness that this uni-verse encourages but rather it teaches us to be confident and not panic that our present or future need will not be met. It is based on our understanding of the generousity of God’s provision for our lives as well as our experience of His provision for our every need in the past. Over the past many years, the Lord has been faithful in not denying any good thing that our family needed at any point in time. Sometimes the provision would come from an unexpected quarter. When He gives us a vision, He makes the provision. I was hoping I would get a provision of Rupees Ten lakhs to start an office and training center for the Friends of Police. When the provision came miraculously through a new global award, the amount exceeded that goal by more than a lakh or one hundred thousand. Similarly on the personal front, He blessed our few investments to make it grow manifold over time. At different stages as new need arose, the Lord provided. When we give priority to His work, He gives priority to our need. UV 688/10,000 Weed out Greed Then He said to them, “ Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Luke 12 v 15 The Lord Jesus warns us about materialism and covetousness. A sense of insecurity grips human beings that drives us into the seductive embrace of materialism. Today, materialism or Mammon gives God more competition for the hearts of mankind than any other single factor. Materialism implies giving priority to material and monetary gain in life as if it is the be all and end all of life. Covetousness implies desiring to possess that which one does not have and also to possess that which belongs to another. Scripture equates covetousness with sexual immorality, wickedness and states that it is the root of evil. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life are the three roots of evil that branch out from covetousness. It will pierce us with many sorrows and will lead us into many kinds of traps and foolish schemes. Therefore, we should be on our guard about various types of greed: greed for money, greed for clothes, food or modern gizmos. It is also a warning to avoid the tendency to keep up with the Joneses. We should not look at everything and anything from the selfish and narrow perspective of WIIFM or What’s in it for me? When our hearts and minds are full of such desires, we will have no room for God and His kingdom in our lives and our souls will be impoverished. The Lord is elbowed out of our hearts and lives. Life consists of the abundance of the riches of the grace, peace, hope, wisdom and blessings of the Lord. Instead,we are exhorted to be rich towards God, to store up treasures of His Word in our hearts and treasures of good deeds in Heaven. We are exhorted to be contented since we know that the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. We know that the resources available with God are unlimited. We know His power is unlimited. We know from His Word that His grace and love towards us are unlimited. This becomes the basis of our security. We cannot be easily shaken or tempted. We need to believe that the Lord will provide for our need though not for our greed. We need to understand that we came into the world with no luggage and we will leave it with no luggage. Our life does not consist in material or monetary abundance but as we seek to give priority to God and the things of God, as we seek to live on His every Word, He will add all these things in our lives. One of the effective ways, money looses its hold on us is when we learn to give it away for good causes or God’s causes. It is not an attitude of impractical other-worldliness that this uni-verse encourages but rather it teaches us to be confident and not panic that our present or future need will not be met. It is based on our understanding of the generousity of God’s provision for our lives as well as our experience of His provision for our every need in the past. Over the past many years, the Lord has been faithful in not denying any good thing that our family needed at any point in time. Sometimes the provision would come from an unexpected quarter. When He gives us a vision, He makes the provision. I was hoping I would get a provision of Rupees Ten lakhs to start an office and training center for the Friends of Police. When the provision came miraculously through a new global award, the amount exceeded that goal by more than a lakh or one hundred thousand. Similarly on the personal front, He blessed our few investments to make it grow manifold over time. At different stages as new need arose, the Lord provided. When we give priority to His work, He gives priority to our need. Prateep V Philip http://theunboundedspirit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/money-greedy1.jpg Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf9TyJ5rv5Q Prateep V Philip

The Purpose of Events of Life

UV 687/10,000 The Purpose of Events of Life “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8 v 28 The purpose of life is not human happiness. If we pursue happiness, it will be like a mirage in the desert- the closer we move towards our goal of happiness, the further it will recede. When some thing happens in the life of someone who does not believe, he or she welcomes it if it is something good. But if it is something unfortunate, he or she attributes it to fortuitous circumstance or fate. People everywhere think that the purpose of life is to be happy. As a result, God and man are out of sync with each other. When something good happens, we will take the credit and say we are fortunate people. When something bad happens, we shrug it off saying we had a bad day. When something terrible happens, we will blame God and say, “ He has not been kind to me.” But, when we are called according to God’s plan for mankind, when we are called to enter into a personal and covenant relationship or commitment to God through His son Christ, we can understand a pattern in the things that He allows to happen in our lives. The words, “ in all things” implies that every little thing or significant thing that happens in our lives, every conversation, every acquaintance, every person we come in contact with, every opportunity and every difficulty, every success and failure, every source of joy and disappointment in our lives is in accordance with His express will and sovereign purpose. Our response should be to submit to His plan and purpose with trust, faith, hope and thanksgiving. God does not allow pain in our lives willfully to harm or sadden us. He would rather that we be joyful but sometimes it becomes inevitable even for Him to allow some pain that we might learn from it. All things happen for good- nothing is unplanned or wasteful or purposeless. This belief produces trust in God and trust in God produces lasting happiness or God ordained blessings. God ‘s priority and purpose is similar to that of a master sculptor. Day after day, as the latter shapes the masterpiece he has in mind, he patiently chips away at rough patches and corners to make these smooth and well shaped. It is also similar to a landscape gardener who prunes and shapes the hedges into precise shapes and sizes. Similarly, the purpose of God is to make us conform to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. Hence, He allows both what we consider good or happy events to happen to us as well as the not so happy or painful events to happen in order to shape and mould us into His likeness. Every event has a purpose and is part of God’s plan for our lives. Everything happens for our ultimate good. He allows certain incidents to happen to prove us or to elicit what is in our heart towards Him- to deepen our understanding of His love and nature, to increase and strengthen our faith and hope in Him, to make us mature and fruitful, to remove our other dependencies so that we depend solely on Him, to prove the truth of His Word and His promises to us, to fulfill prophecies. His ultimate purpose is to shape us into people who are worthy to be part of the Family of God, with Jesus as the first born Son. Some things happen in our lives that make us think: “ This cannot possibly be from God- it is not for my good.” For instance, Joseph was sold as a slave and imprisoned on false charges. It might have seemed evil at the time but God turned it to long term good when Joseph won the favour of Pharaoh by interpreting his dreams and thereby became the right hand man of the most powerful person in the then known world. Learning about that turns it into eternal good for us who believe. I was drowned to death and revived. Again I was battered and bruised in a bomb blast. It might have seemed evil at the time but God turned it into long term good in terms of disciplining me, increasing my faith and increasing the world-wide influence of my testimony. Prateep V Philip See this image: http://www.google.co.in/imgres?hl=en&biw=1137&bih=565&tbm=isch&tbnid=2tvQyuFl31E1JM:&imgrefurl=http://www.facebook.com/Yinka.Ayefele.Fans/posts/433249826706906&docid=_pOmyRb38M2_YM&imgurl=http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/s480x480/556627_10150954093767114_2033139011_n.jpg&w=480&h=373&ei=_5w6UazhEMK8kgWjpoCQCA&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:50,s:0,i:239&iact=rc&dur=2206&page=4&tbnh=166&tbnw=213&start=39&ndsp=14&tx=149&ty=79 Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNeOeuyVpvI

Do A Beautiful Thing

UV 686/10,000 Do a beautiful thing to Jesus “ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “ Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” Matthew 26 v 10 Jesus is aware of what’ s happening in each of our lives, all the time. The disciples were upbraiding the woman for “wasting” the equivalent of a whole year’s wages by pouring an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume on the head of Jesus. But, Jesus defends her action and chides them by saying, “ She has done a beautiful thing to me.” Mary Magdalene was giving up a vestige of her life as a prostitute of Magdala- her most valued perfume that was part of her trade in flesh. When she was condemned to death by the Pharisees, she had been saved from physical death and spiritual condemnation by the forgiveness that Jesus had extended to her. This was her way of showing her life had changed and to demonstrate her devotion and gratitude to Jesus. He is aware of every little and big thing we have done out of love for Jesus. Each of us should aim and strive to be a beautiful person for Jesus in this world. We need to cultivate our inner beauty. As one man of God said recently in my hearing, “ The only true beauty is the beauty of the soul.” People look at our skin colour, our external features and body shape and reach judgements. But the Lord judges us by the beauty of the soul and by the beautiful things we have endeavoured to do for Him. We develop the beauty of the soul by nurturing the beautiful attitudes that Jesus enumerated in the Sermon on the Mount. Even after hearing the sermon of the Mount directly, the disciples negative attitudes had not changed. They calculated the cost as we would do to this day of the simple act of adoration of the woman. God has created man to be the best among all creation, the crown of creation but once a negative attitude takes root in us, man becomes a beast with the negative A taking the central place in our lives. Best+A=BeAst. Instead, when we counter the negative attitude and induce positive attitudes within us, each of us become the alabaster jar of expensive perfume. Our life and all we do will bring the fragrance of Christ to the nostrils of God and into the lives of people around us. The woman was unwittingly preparing Jesus’s body for His burial. For Jesus did what the woman did to Him: He poured out every drop of His blood to wash and anoint us with the perfume of salvation. The difference was that the outpouring of Jesus’s love anointing on us is to prepare us for the resurrection of our bodies and for eternal life. We need to ask ourselves what has Jesus saved us from? When we realize the extent of His grace towards us, we will then be moved to ask, “ What is the beautiful thing I can do for Jesus?” We must be prepared in our heart like Abraham to give up to God that which is most precious to us in our lives. When I won by the grace of God, the British Gurukul Scholarship for Excellence and Leadership in 1997 and was introduced to the Queen as an honour, I asked myself what is the best gift I can give her. Then, I decided to give her a “ Bible for Busy People” writing in it, “ May God , the King of Kings bless your Majesty.” What pleases the Lord is remembered by Him. What the woman did is remembered to this day throughout the world. The perfume would have evaporated or been used up in some time but since she gave it all to the Lord, its effect lasts to this day as an example to us who believe. What we do for ourselves will not last but what we do unto and for the Lord will last forever. Indeed, it came literally true for five years later on the Queen’s Jubilee of her coronation, the Lord enabled me to win the 15, 000 GBP inaugural Queen’s Award for Innovation in Police Training and Development in 2002. Prateep V Philip https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRfyzsSWrBB0Tkm2o2f4QU1HkfuTtQf_Wn3kGRBSPE7MILGYbvQ Listen to this Blessong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_KXsMCJgBQ

Freedom from Suffering

UV 685/10,000 Freedom from Suffering He said to her, “ Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” Mark 5 v 34 A woman who had heard about Jesus pressed forward in the crowd around Him to touch His clothes. Jesus could feel the anointing power leaving His body as the woman was healed in that instant. This was the only recorded instance in the Bible of a miracle being triggered without the express will and knowledge of Jesus. He turned round to look for who had touched Him. The woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve long years with fear and trembling told Him the whole truth. Jesus then confirmed the miraculous healing that He Himself had not ordained and said, “ Your faith has healed you.” Two elements are needed to birth a miracle: the power of Jesus and the faith of the person with a need for that miracle. Our whole body is born and maintained in equilibrium. When the quantity of water or fluid comes down in our bodies, we become thirsty and we seek and drink water or some fluid. That restores the equilibrium or wholeness or stability. When we are tired, we seek and find rest to restore the equilibrium. When we feel hot, we seek and find the shade and the homeostasis or balance is restored. Similarly, once I heard the word of wisdom of Jesus, “ I am the source of your equilibrium. Be at my feet.” The reason He used this word was that He knew that I was teaching a large number of people what I call Eqthinking or Equilibrium Thinking. When we are in need of healing, we seek Jesus like the woman with the chronic case of bleeding and we will be restored to equilibrium or Shalom wholeness. When we are in pain, we seek Jesus and He comforts us. When we are in need, we seek Jesus and He supplies our need out of His riches in eternity. When we are in fear or anxious, He calms us like a mother comforts her child. In order to be in equilibrium all our days and all our lives, we need to be at the feet of Jesus or in constant communion with Him. We cannot touch His clothes but we can seek and be touched by His Word. Other teachers like Buddha taught that we can be freed from suffering when we are freed from desire. But need or desire is a natural part of the processes of life. It is inevitable and only physical death can free a person from desire. Jesus told the woman He had unwittingly healed, “ Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” She had already experienced freedom from the suffering caused by her chronic ailment but here Jesus was blessing her so that she would have equilibrium in every situation and freedom from suffering of every kind. Suffering in this life is caused by the separation from God caused by sin, willful and as well as inherited and unconscious. When the woman touched Jesus, she was healed but when Jesus touches our lives, we are restored to peace or equilibrium with God and freed from our suffering. Indeed, we cannot have a touch of God without a taste for God. Prateep V Philip https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=BVX36A1GeNCGKM&tbnid=GKfjKEAG4qJYKM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.myspace.com%2Fpraise2themanjs05&ei=m_Q3UaLeBc3PlAXJxoG4Dg&bvm=bv.43287494,d.bmk&psig=AFQjCNGD8I5CKeICqdOWCLK1OMZHUerM_w&ust=1362707975716409 Listen to this song: He touched me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1g9tH2osQQ

Love that is Practical and Spiritual

UV 684/10,000 The Jesus Kind of Love When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “ Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “ Yes, Lord,”he said, “ you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “ Feed my lambs.” John 21 v 15 The Resurrected Jesus appeared to the disciples a third time to continue to teach them and to confirm and establish them in their ministry. It is the resurrection power and anointing that transformed them from fickle and error-prone disciples into apostles to the world. Jesus showed his love for them in a practical way by guiding the hapless fishermen to a huge haul of fish in their hitherto empty nets. The spiritual implication of this gesture is that to this day, when believers look to Him for guidance when they seem lost, He will point to them the path to great productivity, profitability and professional breakthrough. Jesus again demonstrated His love for them in a practical way by keeping barbecued fish and bread ready to feed the hungry disciples who were out all night. Peter who had not forgotten the shame of having denied Jesus thrice is now asked thrice by the risen Christ, “ Do you love me?” It is not as if He was partial to Peter but it is a question He asks to this day every believer and disciple, “ Do you love me?” It is not enough to profess love like Peter with words but Jesus expects us to do what He did for the hungry disciples: to feed the spiritually hungry. He first taught them how to be successful in their profession-fishing and then fed them. Similarly, we ought to teach and train people to be successful in their lives and professions. Jesus tells each one of us today, “ If you love me, feed my lambs.” When we feed the lambs with the Word, they grow and mature and become sheep and some even become shepherds in their turn who feed other lambs. The people who mentored us taught us not just spiritual truths but they taught us practical ways of how to be successful in the different theatres or spheres of life. They also fed us from and with the Word. Today too, the Lord says, “ You are feeding my lambs, my sheep and my shepherds when you write the uni-verse and share it across the world.” It is a love for Jesus that is at once practical at first and spiritual, too. The practical expression of love comes first and the more significant spiritual expression comes next. Prateep V Philip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JhZjQS_a5Y Watch this video and be blessed

The Uni-verse

UV 683/10,000 The Uni-verse “ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” Matthew 24 v 35 This simple sentence is one of the most incredible and mind-boggling statements made by Jesus. We consider the universe and earth as stable and permanent. But,the universe, the earth and all in it and on it will pass away for certain but His uni-verse or His Word will endure forever. The universe has an expiry date while the uni-verse has no expiry date. The stars and heavenly bodies and the hills and mountains will be folded up like a scroll but the Word of Christ will outlast all natural phenomena. The Word pre-existed the universe and will continue long after the universe ceases. It contains the moral and spiritual laws of the universe that are the eternal law of the Kingdom of God. Understanding this precept will enable us to re-focus and prioritize our lives. The covenant of peace, the bonds of love of God and the mercy of God revealed in the Word will endure forever. Seeing that the things that we now regard as permanent will one day be dissolved, we should be moved to live godly lives and prompted to be righteous in all our conversation and actions. Knowing that the Word of God will last forever, we must store it like precious gold and silver in our hearts and minds as if nothing else counts. When we treasure the Word of God in our lives and give it a central place in our lives, our lives will take on the value of that which we store in us: we will outlast the universe. Our influence will endure beyond the stars of the world. They shine for a while however long but we will shine forever. When we endure a trouble or trial, we can tell ourselves, “ This too shall pass away.” But the outworking of the Word in every situation will continue forever. Prateep V Philip A visual of the beautiful Universe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTY-UKgLlXs Listen to an even more beautiful song of the Uni-verse

Talent Management

UV 682/10,000 Talent Management “His master replied, “ Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.” Matthew 25 v 21 A talent is a special mental capacity or a skill or a gift that God has invested in human beings alone of all species. The children of God are given some special gifts to equip them for ministry or service. Daniel was given the talent of administration and the spiritual gift of the interpretation of dreams.. Joseph similarly was given the talent of the interpretation of dreams. St Paul was given the ability to write powerfully and effectively. Moses was given the gift of leadership. As people of faith we must not treat these gifts lightly but exert ourselves to use them for the glory of God and for the service of people. Many people in today’s world use talents for their own glory and get recognized as icons. The very word “icon” means “I con- myself and others.” They gloat in the glory and fame they receive. But they only flatter to deceive as sooner or later, they will fall from their pedestals in some controversy or exposure: take the case of many sports icons like Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong or many movie stars or leaders like Bill Clinton. We ourselves are only pedestals for the Lord. We must try to become in the course of our lives a tall pedestal to carry the Name of the lord, implying increase in our influence for the sake of the Lord. In the parable of talents, the Lord sets out an example of good and bad talent management. One servant buries his talent with his negative attitude, his sloth and indifference. The other two use their talents and multiplies these talents, knowing full well that they have to give a good account of themselves as stewards of not only the resources they are given but the talents placed with trust inside them. Multiplication of talents means putting our God given gifts and capacity to the maximum limit possible in the course of every day and over a life time, availing every opportunity. We are called to redeem or save time and use opportunities. The two go hand in hand like a man’s legs move one ahead and one behind each other to take one in the direction he or she should go. The maximum number of people we serve with our talents, the greater is our faithfulness. If we are given the gift of communication, we must use it to bring eternal meaning, hope and purpose into the maximum number of lives. The Lord has told me often after I started writing and sharing the uni-verse series, “ I am pleased with you. You are analyzing and sharing my Word from coast to coast and nation to nation.” But, we must not get complacent at any point and being filled with a divine discontentment, seek to expand our influence much more. At present the Uni-verse is read by a few hundred people in some ten nations but my plan to multiply the talents would mean it should reach over time millions in almost every nation of the world. We must earn the commendation of the Lord not the praise of men. When we utilize our God –gifted abilities to the maximum extent for the good of all and not just for our self gratification or aggrandizement, the Lord gives us the epithet-“ good.” When we use it for the extension of faith or the extension of the kingdom or reign of God in the lives of men, He calls us faithful. When we use it without a sense of egoism or selfishness, he calls us servants. When we use it for our own pleasure and purpose, He will call us “ half-baked.” When we use it also for the good of others, He calls us “ Well done.” When we prove ourselves faithful in the earthly responsibilities given to us, He will give us greater responsibilities as rulers in the Kingdom of God. However, the greatest reward is sharing in the Master’s happiness. Listen to this beautiful song, and live the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zawWD6YFTY Talent Management - a visual Prateep V Philip

The Shepherd's Door

UV 681/10,000 The Shepherd’s Door “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door; into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and robber.” Luke 10 v 1 To emphasize what He was saying, Jesus who elsewhere described Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, used the preamble “ truly, truly, I say to you.” He was speaking not just to the contemporary audience but to you and me. As a good shepherd, He laid his body down at the doorway of the sheep fold so that He could defend the sheep from any predator or other intruder. It also means that Jesus is Himself the door to eternal life, the door to Heaven, the door to the Kingdom of God. The one who enters by this door is the legitimate shepherd. Bill Gates gave us different versions of the Windows software to access computers. Jesus gave us one unchanging version of the Door to access our Creator-Father in all His glory. Jesus is also emphasizing an important principle –that God enters the lives of people only with their willing consent. Whoever enters by virtue of just religious conditioning or inherited belief or speculation or imagination is the one who climbs up some other way. He is an intruder, a thief and robber. A thief is not interested in the well being of the sheep. Such a belief can steal our peace and our blessings. Jesus Himself chooses to enter the lives of people in every generation only with their consent and knowledge. He does not run away like a hired worker when we confront danger. He is faithful till the end. He demonstrated it by consciously and willingly giving His life for the sake of the sheep. No one else has done this in human history. The martyrdom of the Good Shepherd is different from the martyrdom of every other person for they did not know the purpose or the hour or the manner of their death. Since the payment is final and full, no sheep is so black that it cannot enter His fold. When Jesus enters the fold, the sheep can recognize Him by His gentle wisdom, the surrounding peace and His love. The door is the symbol of an access point. We can access the fullness of God through Jesus. God does not gatecrash into people’s lives. He waits and knocks gently on the door of our hearts, minds and lives. If I believed in Him just because I was born in a Christian home, He would be making a back door entry and He has clearly stated that He will come in by the front door. But on 31st July, 1979 I heard His voice and opened the door of my heart to Him. When the Shepherd comes in, how do we benefit? Satan and his army of fallen angels are the thieves, robbers and killers who prowl the earth waiting for easy victims. We are protected from these dark predatory forces. He literally preserved me first, from a watery grave and then, in a powerful bomb blast. He feeds us from His Word. Every day He feeds us with a uni-verse. He leads us from one green pasture to another. He gives us one blessing after another. He takes us to still waters where we can refresh ourselves. We eat and drink from the trough of the Word. He also shears and harvests our wool, implying that He will enable us to be of service to others. He builds a close fencing around us so that some fox of deception does not bite a chunk of meat off our backs even while we are resting. The cross is the staff and rod that comfort us for while we all go through difficult terrain in life, nothing is as difficult or as painful or as shameful as the cross the Shepherd bore for us. Just as the sheep are branded with a mark, we are branded with a mark of the glorious cross. He is our strength from within and our help from without. Prateep V Philip https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images? q=tbn:ANd9GcT1aBya02aSUrQgWRJek49IQaMGRUAK9Ih1RstEiNl77W2J0XI Watch this video -link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZGRubkzUHw