Jdg 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
Gideon was fearful and apprehensive of the Midianites. So much so, he hid the barley for fear of the raiding Midianites. Yet the angel of the Lord hailed him as a mighty man of valour. Likewise, Jesus called Peter the rock even though he was so fearful that he denied His Master thrice. The Lord sees our potential in Him and speaks words of affirmation. He knows our human failings and our fears but an assurance of His presence with the faithful is sufficient to drive it all away. We are called to be warriors and not worriers.
The Lord Himself is with us as a mighty warrior. He deals with our formidable foes and enemies in His inimitable way. Often, He lets them fight among themselves and bring destruction upon their heads. Sometimes, like an expert judoko He turns their own force and strength of the opponents against themselves.
The other day in a time of prophetic prayer, the Lord revealed, “ Only I know the ways in which I have protected you and led you this far.” Our role is just to believe, trust the Lord and take a stand. He does the rest and manifests the grace and power of Jehovah Nisi, the God who gives victory. Gideon was a farmer turned warrior. We too must combine the patience and endurance of a farmer with the courage,strength, strategizing ability and vigour of a soldier. We must combine the ability to wait for a long time for the seeds to germinate and grow with the ability to strike swiftly.
Prateep V Philip
Showing posts with label victory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label victory. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
UV 276- The primacy of belief
Uni-verse 276/10,000 For better through verse Luke 1 v 45
Luk 1:45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
This verse holds the key to faith and the victorious life. Yes, there are many things that we can do in this life that will bring us success, happiness, fame, wealth or conversely, sorrow, pain, failure and misery. But,there is nothing that we can do that can save us for eternity. If we merely believe the Word that the Lord spoke to us and speaks to us, we will be saved and we will be blessed. If we believe the Word of God we will keep it, meaning we will hear it, retain it and not allow it to leak out of our conscious thoughts, emotions, decisions and memories as a sieve lets water to flow through without retaining any of it.
In real life we focus on the performance so that we will be established. But, the Lord says, believe my Word and there shall be a performance of what the Lord has spoken into our lives as He spoke into Mary’s life. When we believe the Word of God, we believe God and His Word, Jesus. When we believe Jesus, we believe His words.
The word “ belief” has in it the clue for the old English word for the root “lief” means kingdom. When we believe, we live forever as we are ‘supernaturalized’ citizens of the Kingdom of Christ. Belief releases the power, the grace and the peace of God into our lives. The defining quality of the human being is not doing or performing or having or possessing, not feeling or emotions but it is belief. Indeed, believe in the Great I Am, the One who said, “ I Am who I Am” and His Son Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” and you will be blessed. The doing, the feeling and the having will follow in its season or due course.
Prateep V Philip
Luk 1:45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
This verse holds the key to faith and the victorious life. Yes, there are many things that we can do in this life that will bring us success, happiness, fame, wealth or conversely, sorrow, pain, failure and misery. But,there is nothing that we can do that can save us for eternity. If we merely believe the Word that the Lord spoke to us and speaks to us, we will be saved and we will be blessed. If we believe the Word of God we will keep it, meaning we will hear it, retain it and not allow it to leak out of our conscious thoughts, emotions, decisions and memories as a sieve lets water to flow through without retaining any of it.
In real life we focus on the performance so that we will be established. But, the Lord says, believe my Word and there shall be a performance of what the Lord has spoken into our lives as He spoke into Mary’s life. When we believe the Word of God, we believe God and His Word, Jesus. When we believe Jesus, we believe His words.
The word “ belief” has in it the clue for the old English word for the root “lief” means kingdom. When we believe, we live forever as we are ‘supernaturalized’ citizens of the Kingdom of Christ. Belief releases the power, the grace and the peace of God into our lives. The defining quality of the human being is not doing or performing or having or possessing, not feeling or emotions but it is belief. Indeed, believe in the Great I Am, the One who said, “ I Am who I Am” and His Son Jesus who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” and you will be blessed. The doing, the feeling and the having will follow in its season or due course.
Prateep V Philip
Saturday, December 17, 2011
UV 274-10,000 Rootless and fruitless
Isa 11:1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
Jesus though He is the Lord of the entire universe chose to be born by the Father’s will as a little vulnerable baby as part of the family tree of Jesse, the father of King David. At the time, he was born circa 4 AD in that line, the family tree of Jesse had been reduced to be a mere near lifeless stump. There was no more any king in the line of descent –only Joseph, a carpenter by profession remained. But, onto this stump, Jesus was grafted in most uncongenial circumstances. But, over the next two millennia that tender twig became a tree of eternal life for all of humanity. The insignificant and the unimportant had become the source of significance and blessing for those who choose to believe.
Ironically, the Christmas tree though it is symbolic of joy and gaiety and festivities, is a rootless and hence, a fruitless tree. The implication is that if we are rooted in Christ, we become fruitful. Being rooted in Christ means that we must be rooted in the Word of God. We must also be rooted in continual prayer and worship. Then, we will bear a variety of internal fruits of character and external fruits of good deeds and accomplishments. When we are so rooted in Christ, we will experience all-round success and victory.
Jesse had bad genes lurking in his family background. His grandmother was Rahab, the prostitute. But, God turned bad genes around to make a non-Jew Rahab an ancestor of the God-child Jesus Himself. Faith in the God of the Jews enabled Rahab to prove the promise of “ rehab” or transformation by faith. The principle of fate or “ as you sow, so you reap” is transcended by faithful rooting or grafting onto God, His Word and His presence. We are empowered to bear a different kind of fruit for every month of the year and our “ leaves” or our words and thoughts will be used for the healing of nations.
Prateep V Philip
Jesus though He is the Lord of the entire universe chose to be born by the Father’s will as a little vulnerable baby as part of the family tree of Jesse, the father of King David. At the time, he was born circa 4 AD in that line, the family tree of Jesse had been reduced to be a mere near lifeless stump. There was no more any king in the line of descent –only Joseph, a carpenter by profession remained. But, onto this stump, Jesus was grafted in most uncongenial circumstances. But, over the next two millennia that tender twig became a tree of eternal life for all of humanity. The insignificant and the unimportant had become the source of significance and blessing for those who choose to believe.
Ironically, the Christmas tree though it is symbolic of joy and gaiety and festivities, is a rootless and hence, a fruitless tree. The implication is that if we are rooted in Christ, we become fruitful. Being rooted in Christ means that we must be rooted in the Word of God. We must also be rooted in continual prayer and worship. Then, we will bear a variety of internal fruits of character and external fruits of good deeds and accomplishments. When we are so rooted in Christ, we will experience all-round success and victory.
Jesse had bad genes lurking in his family background. His grandmother was Rahab, the prostitute. But, God turned bad genes around to make a non-Jew Rahab an ancestor of the God-child Jesus Himself. Faith in the God of the Jews enabled Rahab to prove the promise of “ rehab” or transformation by faith. The principle of fate or “ as you sow, so you reap” is transcended by faithful rooting or grafting onto God, His Word and His presence. We are empowered to bear a different kind of fruit for every month of the year and our “ leaves” or our words and thoughts will be used for the healing of nations.
Prateep V Philip
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