Beautiful but Terrible

UV 905-10,000 Beautiful but Terrible And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God Revelation 19 v 15 The stereotype of Jesus’s image is that of a meek and gentle person. But in reality He is so mighty that by His mere word that acts like a sword of judgement, He can and does strike nations. He can slay with His breath. He rules the world with a sceptre of iron. Similarly, we who follow Him are expected to be like a iron hand in a velvet glove. We are expected to be beautiful and terrible at the same time. The Lord will give us wisdom and grace to reconcile the bipolarities of our own minds, environments and relationships. We must always wear the glove of grace and compassion but when the time for compassion has passed and it is time to act and to execute, we need to bring out the iron hand or sceptre of righteousness. The last part of this uni-verse speaks of the fierce judgement of Almighty God. Jesus acts as an intercessor, a defence advocate and stands between us and the fierce wrath of the Lord, pleading for us , explaining our circumstances and the hope that He has that we are on the mend. But once the die is cast, the mind of God is made up, Jesus Himself accelerates the execution of the judgement like one who treads on the winepress to make it roll forward. Recently, in an interview I said that “ I like to combine firmness with compassion.” The Lord has endorsed this style by saying, “ You know well how to combine authority with humility.” We should not confuse servant leadership with “ doormat leadership.” We need to assert ourselves and exercise our authority whenever it is called for. Nothing is excusable but everything is forgivable. This implies that we cannot turn a blind eye to injustice and perversion. We need to correct those who are placed under our responsibility and when required gently point out the error of those who lead us. I heard once of an incident in which when a team member pointed out the error of the person he trusted, a believer, the latter lashed out at him and threatened to call the security guards to throw him out for merely pointing out to him that he was not living up to his own standards. Yesterday, an officer working under me sent his church priest to request a transfer. I politely told the latter that I do not entertain requests from third parties and I would consider on merits the request of the officer himself if he directly represented it. Even those who are perceived to be close to me know that if they exceed the brief would face a rebuke or correction and chastisement. The sword is wielded by even us as believers when the Word is laid upon our tongues and we act or speak in accordance with it. Nobody will be able to refute us. The spiritual precept that we learn from this uni-verse is that we cannot take the mercy of God for granted. The management and leadership precept that we learn is that we need to be compassionate but firm, meek but decisive, humble but assertive. Prateep V Philip