The Family and the Lamp

UV 1164/10,000 The Family and the Lamp
You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

Amos 3 v 2

There is an aspect of faith that is quite bewildering. Why is it that the chosen suffer often more than those who are not chosen? The Lord reluctantly afflicts the chosen as a father who loves His children reprimands, chastises and punishes his children. We are His chosen jewels and therefore the Lord spends time and effort in polishing us and perfecting us. The church is God ‘s chosen family of faith. Recently, the Lord gave us a revelation of family- the husband is the oil of the lamp, the spouse is the lamp itself and the children are the wick that needs to soak and burn in the oil. Without the oil in the lamp, the wick will lie dead, cold and blackened in the lamp.

We are a special people unto the Lord. We are His greatest concern on earth. He is focussed on dealing with us and leading us. He desires to shape and groom us for His heavenly kingdom. His holiness prevents Him from glossing over our infirmities and weaknesses. The Holy Spirit furnishes the oil for our spiritual lives. We are the lamp or vessel in which He lights up. Our homes are expected to be Philadelphia or a place of brotherly love as well as a city of light. Our children are expected to soak up in the learning and instruction provided by the Lord and be the wick that constantly burns in a world whose mind is darkened by incomplete, incorrect and uninspiring knowledge.

We are a family or people set apart by God and for Him, to be a kingdom of kings and priests, a royal priesthood. His knowledge of us and our inner working is awesome and beyond our comprehension. We are called to be noble vessels or lamps of gold for the Lord to be used for special purposes- the worship of the Saviour and spreading the savour and flavour of the Saviour God. He purifies the dross and impurities in our faith and our profession of our faith through a process of direct revelation, teaching by godly mentors as well as by the process of affliction and correction of our character.

Prateep V Philip

Uplifting Humility

UV 1163/ 10,000 

Now the man Moses was very humble, more  so than any man on the face of the earth.

Numbers 12 v 3

Moses lowered himself before God and exalted The Lord higher and higher. When we likewise humble ourselves before God  we qin the favour of God,  He clothes us with His grace.  He fills us with His spirit and anoints us.  Moses began his life as an aggressive person and He even vented his anger against an Egyptian for oppressing his fellow Jews by attacking him and killing him. But forty years in the wilderness caring for the sheep of his father in law broke his spirit and he learnt his life lessons there.   We too when we are called to tend, lead and feed spiritual sheep are to become like the good shepherd, Jesus - exceedingly gentle and unusually humble.

The Lord resists the proud but gives grace to he humble. Moses never needed to defend himself against the accusations and insinuations of Aaron and his sister Miriam. The Lord judged and punished them for their careless and unkind utterances against the leadership of Moses.  Those who murmured against him suffered the consequences.  The Lord takes it personally when those He esteems  or holds in favour are unjustly criticised.  

The Lord found there was no trace of even hidden pride in Moses even though He had enabled him to perform amazing miracles in order to deliver the Israelites from the yoke of slavery.  Moses yielded himself completely to The Lord.  He did not consider himself worthy of leading the Israelites.  He knew that he was called to do so not on account of merit or ability or leadership qualities but due yo the sheer grace of God.   He did not consider himself better in any way than any of his fellow Israelites.   He did not have a spirit of entitlement on account of his God ordained and  anointed position as leader.  He simply  did the tasks assigned by The Lord just as the staff in his hands obeyed him. 

Prateep V Philip

Encirclement

UV 1162/10,000 Encirclement

And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.

Zechariah 9 v 8

Since we are the house of the Lord God and He resides in us, He encamps His angels around us to guard us against an army of forces of darkness that pass by and can return to us to afflict us, to tempt us, to affect us, to torment us. The word “ encamp”, a military term , is also echoed in other portions of Scripture for instance in Psalm 91 that states that the angels of the Lord encamp around those who fear Him. It implies that when we stay put in a place, they stay with and around us. When we pitch our tent, He pitches His army too around us. When we move around, they move with us. They that array themselves against us may be a legion of hundred but the Lord encamps a whole company and battalion of angels around us and our homes. He will not allow the spirits to oppress us, to take away the joy of salvation from us. He breaks every chain of habit, every negative attitude of fear and doubt by which we might be oppressed by the forces of darkness. He will not leave us or forsake us. He is a very present help in trouble.

The attacks are not just spiritual but it could be physical for the uni-verse says that we will perceive it with our own eyes. The promise of physical, spiritual, financial, emotional, social protection implies that the Lord covers us in all directions and dimensions. The protection is total and complete. There are no loose links in the fencing around us, no gaps in the hedge He places around us.

We will see the protection of the Lord with our own eyes. We will experience His grace and mercy in tangible ways. These experiences make up the testimonies of our lives. The creatures in heaven are described in the book of Revelation as having eyes all round. But we are created with eyes only looking to the front as the Lord covers our backs. He knows all our vulnerabilities, threats and risks and He undertakes to give us complete security and assurance. He watches for us and over us. Faith is a pre-condition for successful and wholesome living even just looking at the positioning of our eyes. Our knowledge as well as our vision are limited and only by faith can we move from day to day, event to event in our lives.

Prateep V Philip

A Heart of Joy

UV 1161/10,000 A Heart of Joy

For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.


Psalm 33 v 21


Our hearts rejoice in the Lord much more than a connoisseur of finest wine takes pleasure in it. The source of our pleasure and delight is our trust in the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord is a pool of refreshing water, a pillar of strength, a canopy of shelter, the guarantee of our provision and reward, a source of comfort, a promise to honour us, the hope of salvation and eternal life. Eternal life begins here and now. Heaven begins here. His awesome power is revealed to us in our everyday life. His holiness drives a sense of deep reverence into our deepest parts of our souls. Yet, His love draws us near.

It is no mere coincidence that the word “heart” when re-arranged can form the word “earth”. Everything in the earth can be found in the human heart and vice versa: both faith and doubt, violence and gentleness, love and hatred, peace and strife, hope and frustration, kindness and cruelty, mercy and injustice, greatness and pettiness. The kingdom of heaven as well as the kingdom of darkness can dwell in our tiny hearts. Our hearts are most valuable to the Lord. The circumcision of our hearts means all that is not of God needs to excised out of our hearts. When our hearts are so circumcised, it becomes the veritable fountain of joy everlasting. The enemy of our souls knows it and tries to preoccupy our hearts with all possible things of this world, either pleasures or pains to choke our inner life, to make it difficult for us to rejoice or exult in our Lord and Creator. He first of all works with his primary weapon – the doubt whether God exists at all for he knows no man can see him. He uses the power of our eyes to overcome the potential of our hearts to delight in God. But the Lord affirms His holy name as “ I AM ..” His very name means “ I Exist”. His Name is “ Logos”, the Word. It implies that I will do whatever I have said I will do. “ Your eyes may not see me. Your hands cannot touch me but I dwell in your hearts.” We do not see our own hearts. Neither can we touch it. Yet no man exists who thinks he does not have a heart.

We trust in the Name of the Lord. We believe in His character as revealed in His Word and in His interactions with us this far. Our dealings with Him are not merely transactional but relational. When we trust in His Name as Jehovah EL Shaddai, we are confessing or declaring first to ourselves and then to others that we rejoice in His might. As the young virgin Mary beholden with the holy infant said, “ My spirit rejoices in God my Saviour. He regards the low estate of His handmaiden. He that is mighty has done great things for me.” Mary became God’s surrogate. When we trust in His Name as Jireh, we rejoice in all that He has provided for us thus far and all that He will provide for us for our every need- emotional, spiritual, intellectual, material, financial, familial, physical and social. When we trust in His Name as Rapha, we delight in His healing- preventive and curative. When we trust in His Name as Jehovah Nissi, we rejoice in the victories He gives us over our own hidden sin, over our mortal foes, rivals and adversaries, over every work of the enemy to depress, weaken and overcome us.

Application:

Let us celebrate today as a festival of joy recalling and delighting in all that the Lord has done for us both collectively and individually..

The Source of Our Confidence

UV 1159/10,000 The Source of Confidence

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

I John 5 v 14



We need to have confidence in the Lord and His faithfulness to His promises. We need to ask that His will be done on earth in our houses and our lives as it is done in heaven. In heaven, everything is organised in such a way that it pleases the Lord. All the mighty creatures of heaven and all the elders prostrate themselves before the throne of the Lord. Everything is spoken and done for the glory of God. There is no pride or attempt to equate themselves with God in any manner but they completely humble themselves before the Sovereign Lord. They spend their days in worshipping and praising the Lord. When His will is done in like manner in our houses, our homes become part of His kingdom, part of heaven itself. Our bodies are His houses on earth. His pleasing will should be done in our bodies, minds and homes.

When we do the will of God, obey His commandments, seek and keep His Word in our hearts as precious treasure, when we heed the Holy Spirit, the Lord delights in hearing our prayers. He will grant us whatever we ask in His Name. If we ask bread, He will give us bread. If we seek His blessings, He blesses us. When we pray as the Lord Jesus taught us, “Let thy kingdom come , let Thy will be done..” the kingdom of darkness that rules through division, conflict, misery, sin, weakness, failure, sickness, destruction will depart from our lives and His eternal dominion of peace, goodwill, joy and blessing will be established in our lives.

Once the Lord reigns and rules in our lives, then we will be confident that whatever happens is for our own good. That confidence will give us a sense of rest, peace, security, joy and assurance. We will be anxious for nothing. We will rejoice and revel in thanking and praising the Lord all the time. The word “confidence” implies that we confide in that or whom we have confidence in. We need to confide in the Lord our problems and life issues, our hopes and desires but leave it to Him to grant it at the time of His choosing and the manner of His choosing.

Publishers of Great News

UV 1159/10,000 Great News


Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.

Nahum 1 v 15


Our problems and challenges in life are the mountains on which our feet rest and walk in the name of the Lord. He will enable us to surmount them and give us the grace to hear and experience good tidings of great joy. Every challenge or test we confront and overcome will be a cause for rejoicing, testimony and celebration. Just before going overseas recently the Lord had told us that we would have many testimonies during our journey. Early one morning after we had disembarked from a bus from Washington to China Town, New York, I had forgotten to collect three small bags including my laptop bag I had placed on the pavement while I was taking the bigger boxes from the cargo hold. Half the way to a cousin’s place, the Lord reminded me that I had forgotten to take the bags, one of which held the passports of the four of us. To the surprise of my cousin who is a traffic police officer in NYPD, the three bag were exactly where I had left it. When I shared this incident with others both in New York and back at home in India, they marvelled. It gave me and my family greater joy than all the delicacies we can feast on in a celebration.
Even our lowly feet are described as beautiful in the eyes of the Lord. We are His messengers to bring the good news to those who do not believe or perceive or experience the goodness of God. The gospel of Christ is not just good news that you hear only once but great news that give us reason to rejoice and celebrate all our days and all our lives. We are publishers of good news and peace. In order to be a publisher of news, the events reported have to be true, happening real time. We need to collect every detail of the event or happening. We need to be faithful in reporting it on time and reach it to all persons possible. We have the inheritance of Judah, the elder son of Israel and we need to keep our commitments to and before the Lord. We are not to keep secret and confidential the marvellous things the Lord has done in our lives. Rather we are to share it openly so that we are truly His messengers to the world, to unbelievers so that they too gain faith and to believers to encourage them to grow further and stronger in their faith. Every day is a festival to rejoice. Every person we meet is an audience for the message from the Lord. Every experience is a testimony.

The presence of the Lord in our lives makes our lives a continual feast where we enjoy many choice dishes represented by the promises of God. But we are to know the limits that God has set for us- remember His commandments to be faithful, diligent and obedient. We need to be conscious of the promises and commitments we have made to the Lord. When we do this, it will lend a solemnity to our celebration of life. We need to take time to remember to praise and thank the Lord for His goodness, love, mercy, kindness and grace and for His wonderful acts in the lives of our children. The wicked, the unrepentant, the ungodly, the fiercely jealous have no place or influence in our lives. We need not feel threatened, intimidated or fearful of such as these. We can be unmindful of their hostile attitudes, actions and words. Their power to harm us has been completely annulled and negated.

Prateep V Philip

Absolute Security or Absolute Insecurity

UV 1158/10,000 Absolute Security or Absolute Insecurity


When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether ist be done against a nation, or against a man only:


Job 34 v 29



It is so refreshing to return to the living waters of the Word- the feeling is like the splash of cool water on the face on a very hot summer day but the benefits outlast the feeling of the moment and go beyond a lifetime and beyond time and space into the generations next. When the Lord has ordained peace for us, who can create trouble for us? He is our shield as long as we yield to Him. When we resist Him in doubt or disbelief or disobedience, He hides His face from us and no one will be able to unveil it for us except at the time and way of His own choosing. There is no reproach for us as long as we approach Him. We are faced with the dilemma of choosing between absolute security in the Lord or absolute insecurity in His absence from our lives. Quietness or peace is not a given or not an assumption in life that we can take for granted. It comes from actively seeking and finding the One who can give it. Peace is a gift, a blessing, an anointing. His presence or our personal relationship with Him is the guarantee of His blessings. Moses more than anyone else in Biblical history knew this secret and therefore pleaded with God not to leave him or Israel.


The peace of God will keep us united with Him through the blood bond of Christ regardless of the circumstances. Christ is like the buckle that binds us to God. If the buckle is removed the bond breaks, the belt falls. As long as His presence is with us, His peace is with us. His light shines upon us. His face radiates and shines upon us and our own. We are blessed of the Lord and not of our own making. He will give us rest all round from our enemies and our troubles. He anchors our minds. We are at rest from our sorrow and from our fear and from the bondage to sin and death. We will be preserved from evil from within and from without. We will do the work of righteousness the Lord has willed us to do and the effect of that is peace, security and assurance all round. Our hearts will not be neither troubled nor afraid. Our minds will be focussed on Him and we will have peace of mind, unity of purpose and hope eternal. It is the kind of peace that cannot be explained rationally. It is the kind of peace that the world and anything in it cannot detract or reduce. Nobody and nothing can affect it, disturb it or take it away. When we have the Lord’s favour or His grace, we stand strong like a mountain, unshakeable, immovable and enduring. We will have peace and joy bubbling like a river flowing down from that mountain. Joy is indeed the byproduct of peace. Each of us occupies space and time. How much of that space and time do we reserve for our Lord, Creator and Redeemer? That determines whether we are truly seeking Him or whether we are just going through the motions.


In contrast, when the Lord hides His face from us or takes His presence away from us, we will be greatly troubled. Our minds will be in a state of civil war with ourselves. Nothing we do and no one can give us a sense of peace, neither medicine nor physician nor psychiatrist. When He breaks one down, he cannot be built again. When He shuts us up, we cannot find an opening again. His decision is final and irrevocable even as His mercy is enduring. The recent suicide of the famous Hollywood actor Robin Williams is a case in point. He had everything in life: the looks, the talent, the glamour, the wealth, the fame, recognition and popularity. He made millions laugh and entertained them but it did not save him from an unexplained intense depression that led him to take his life with his own belt. He had neither searched nor found the peace of God in His life. The buckle was missing and the belt strangulated him. Death is the byproduct of depression. In a crowded life with no space or time for God , the Lord hides His face and one cannot find Him. As Paul Coelho the modern parable writer says: “What is success? It is being able to go to bed each night with your soul at peace.” But how does one find peace in the soul=the answer is Christ. He gives the anointing of peace for He has been anointed to be the guarantor of our peace. He gives the answer of peace for every question and every trouble in our lives. This principle of life and leadership applies universally not just to individuals but to organisations and nations too. The Lord is consistent in the way He deals with people whether it is one individual like you or me or a billion people. The Lord hid Himself from His beloved and chosen nation Israel from time to time as they rebelled against Him. They had the greatest victories as long as He was with them and when He hid His face, they went through the greatest of human tragedies, a people dispossessed and persecuted, subjected to the worst possible of human tragedies.



Prateep V Philip