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