UV 3404/10000 New Visions, Old Fervour
Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43 v 19
Faith often depends on the quality of our hearing the Word of God. If we are listening intently, carefully, persistently, we are enabling the grace of God to work in our lives in ways we cannot imagine. The Lord will take our faith the way He took the five loaves and seven fish of the boy and multiplied it to satisfy the hunger of a multitude of people. He can and does do the impossible in our lives. He can create a road, a way out of our life’s challenges and problems in ways we cannot see or understand. He can cause life-giving, hope-giving rivers to flow from stony hearts and hardened minds. The metaphor of rivers implies a continuous flow of the Spirit of God in us, causing all kinds of fruit of the Spirit to grow on both banks the river flows through- the intellectual and the physical, the emotional and the spiritual, the social and the personal “banks” of life. The metaphor of roads in the wilderness is a promise that the Lord will remove the “mountains,” obstacles, barriers, hurdles in our paths. Jesus is the ladder that connects the wilderness of the earth, full of thorns and brambles with the beauty of heaven, the kingdom of God.
Very often in life due to our conditioning we are not God-aware. We are not aware of His presence as it is drowned in our consciousness due to competing voices and noises in our lives. If we can still all these distracting voices and noises including the chatter of our own minds, we will clearly sense the move of the Lord in our lives. The attention we pay to the Lord will eliminate all tension from our lives. Believers of Jesus should expect the miraculous, the supernatural, the inexplicable to happen in their lives. He will endow us with new gifts, new visions, new ideas, new skills, new consciousness. We must bring our old fervour to bear upon the new visions He gives us and bring it to fullness, fulfilment and fruition in His time.
In my professional career as a senior police officer, the Lord gave me many new ideas ( FOP, Social Justice Tea Parties, VOP, Factor X, Excenomics, State Assurance, Know Your Criminal.. ) which I tried to carry into implementation, trying to create bridges between the police and the people they serve. Many powerful and senior officers tried to scotch or scorn these ideas over the past three decades due to petty reasons but the Lord did a new thing as prophesied and promised by enabling me to win coincidentally the SKOCH awards for two new ideas I implemented. He surely creates roads in the wilderness beyond our wildest imagination and causes rivers of joy and gladness to flow upward to Him from our hearts and minds.
Friday, November 22, 2019
Thursday, November 21, 2019
A Daily Key to Spiritual Portals
UV 3403/10000 A Daily Key To Spiritual Portals
Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for I trust in You. Teach me the way in which I should walk.
Psalm 143 v 8
We need to pray like the Psalmist in the uni-verse above that we may hear of His love and kindness every morning. We should affirm our trust in Him. He will teach us the way we should walk. We need to ask Him to rescue us from our enemies, spiritual and human for we take refuge in Him. We should also ask Him to teach us to do His pleasing, perfect and not just permissive ( permission given reluctantly) will and to lead us in uprightness or level ground. When we pray in this manner, we are using the key of the Lord to open the spiritual channels, doors and portals that are now locked. He will do a new thing in our lives, renew us from day to day in His grace and power, give us new thoughts and consciousness of His presence.
The Lord’s mercies are fresh every morning. It is through prayer that we can avail of these fresh mercies, new blessings the Lord reserves for those who plead for these. He renews our strength for the day so that we can fly like an eagle, not strut like a chicken. We will have the energy, the God –given enthusiasm and joy to run our lives on an even keel. We will not stumble or fall into the snares of the enemy that He has sown or sewn into our very flesh and minds. The Lord will keep our feet from falling and our eyes from tears.
The words we talk as well as the paths we walk should be under the control of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to control our unruly tongues to make it like a river of eternal life, a stream of wisdom, a channel of blessing for hearers and us. When we use the above mentioned spiritual key, the Holy Spirit will use our tongues as rudders to give our lives as well as our listeners the direction of eternal life.
Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for I trust in You. Teach me the way in which I should walk.
Psalm 143 v 8
We need to pray like the Psalmist in the uni-verse above that we may hear of His love and kindness every morning. We should affirm our trust in Him. He will teach us the way we should walk. We need to ask Him to rescue us from our enemies, spiritual and human for we take refuge in Him. We should also ask Him to teach us to do His pleasing, perfect and not just permissive ( permission given reluctantly) will and to lead us in uprightness or level ground. When we pray in this manner, we are using the key of the Lord to open the spiritual channels, doors and portals that are now locked. He will do a new thing in our lives, renew us from day to day in His grace and power, give us new thoughts and consciousness of His presence.
The Lord’s mercies are fresh every morning. It is through prayer that we can avail of these fresh mercies, new blessings the Lord reserves for those who plead for these. He renews our strength for the day so that we can fly like an eagle, not strut like a chicken. We will have the energy, the God –given enthusiasm and joy to run our lives on an even keel. We will not stumble or fall into the snares of the enemy that He has sown or sewn into our very flesh and minds. The Lord will keep our feet from falling and our eyes from tears.
The words we talk as well as the paths we walk should be under the control of the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit has the power to control our unruly tongues to make it like a river of eternal life, a stream of wisdom, a channel of blessing for hearers and us. When we use the above mentioned spiritual key, the Holy Spirit will use our tongues as rudders to give our lives as well as our listeners the direction of eternal life.
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Nobility of Character Invites Abundance of Blessings
UV3402/10000 Nobility of Character Invites Abundance of Blessings
Now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you whatever you ask, since all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
Ruth 3 v 11
The rich landlord Boaz spoke to Ruth in this manner. But in place of Boaz, we have Jesus the landlord of the entire universe speaking the same words to us: “ I will do for you whatever you ask…” But the rider is something that we, believers and followers of Jesus need to be. Ruth was a woman of excellence, also translated as a woman of noble character or virtuous person. She was loyal, humble, obedient, faithful, diligent. We, too need to develop on a day to day basis, along with our faith in Jesus, a nobility of character that will keep us from stooping to act or react in a crass, base or sinful manner.
The human mind is like a decision tree. At the base level are the most obvious but baser instinct or emotion based decisions or reactions. With our personal relationship with Jesus, His teachings, the word engrafted in our hearts and minds, we should ascend the higher and nobler branches to choose the nobler responses of behaviour on a consistent basis. Boaz was so impressed, touched, impacted by the testimony, the reputation, the behaviour of Ruth that he promised to do whatever she asked of him. In fact, Boaz, the eligible bachelor goes on to become her groom and kinsman- redeemer. Jesus, likewise is our kinsman-Redeemer.
Salvation or redeeming us is the responsibility of Jesus but our response is to be excellent, noble, virtuous. Our testimonial lives is our response to His grace and mercy. When both these sides are in place, we will enjoy the abundant or eternal life and our lives will be impactful for God. The Lord will do for us whatever we ask of Him. Ruth asked of Boaz only permission to glean but Boaz not only conceded to her humble request but went onto save her from a life as a miserable, lonely young widow. He took her into his life, his home as his bride and wife. Likewise, in my experience, the Lord does much more than we think, ask, expect, imagine of Him.
Now, my daughter, do not be afraid. I will do for you whatever you ask, since all my people in the city know that you are a woman of excellence.
Ruth 3 v 11
The rich landlord Boaz spoke to Ruth in this manner. But in place of Boaz, we have Jesus the landlord of the entire universe speaking the same words to us: “ I will do for you whatever you ask…” But the rider is something that we, believers and followers of Jesus need to be. Ruth was a woman of excellence, also translated as a woman of noble character or virtuous person. She was loyal, humble, obedient, faithful, diligent. We, too need to develop on a day to day basis, along with our faith in Jesus, a nobility of character that will keep us from stooping to act or react in a crass, base or sinful manner.
The human mind is like a decision tree. At the base level are the most obvious but baser instinct or emotion based decisions or reactions. With our personal relationship with Jesus, His teachings, the word engrafted in our hearts and minds, we should ascend the higher and nobler branches to choose the nobler responses of behaviour on a consistent basis. Boaz was so impressed, touched, impacted by the testimony, the reputation, the behaviour of Ruth that he promised to do whatever she asked of him. In fact, Boaz, the eligible bachelor goes on to become her groom and kinsman- redeemer. Jesus, likewise is our kinsman-Redeemer.
Salvation or redeeming us is the responsibility of Jesus but our response is to be excellent, noble, virtuous. Our testimonial lives is our response to His grace and mercy. When both these sides are in place, we will enjoy the abundant or eternal life and our lives will be impactful for God. The Lord will do for us whatever we ask of Him. Ruth asked of Boaz only permission to glean but Boaz not only conceded to her humble request but went onto save her from a life as a miserable, lonely young widow. He took her into his life, his home as his bride and wife. Likewise, in my experience, the Lord does much more than we think, ask, expect, imagine of Him.
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Choosing the Better Part of Life
UV 3401/10000 Choosing the Better Part in Life
I was cast upon You from birth; From my mother’s womb You have been my God
Psalm 22 v 10
Jesus had a lifelong and indeed, eternal relationship with the Father. This uni-verse declares that from the womb, He had a personal relationship with God. The greatest good that one can find on earth is to have a personal and lifelong relationship with God. Jesus has made it possible for us to know God from the womb to the tomb and beyond. To be able to talk with God every day and to know Him personally is the greatest privilege a man can have. We have 24x 7 access to the Lord.
God knows us before we know Him for scripture says, “He puts us together in our mothers’ wombs. “ He knits us together and only by Him and in Him are we held together, the different parts of our lives are integrated and welded together. He is closer to us than our own skin. He knows our thoughts and our words, even before it is thought or spoken. We cannot ignore so great a love, so much grace. We would be foolish to do so. Instead, we should acknowledge Him at every step of the way, seek His grace and guidance, His wisdom and power in all that we attempt or do. He is our partner, director in all our ventures. He is the CEO of our lives.
We find our purpose, our significance in Him. We live and move and exist in Him. His word is our breath, our spiritual life-giving and enhancing oxygen, our food and drink , our shield and sword. He is invisible but we can feel His touch, sense His move in our lives. Like Mary, we have chosen the better part, to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen in silence and awe. It is not religion but relationship and fellowship with us that He seeks and delights in. We are to be real, authentic, genuine, honest in our relationship with the Father and the Son. He knows what we are, He knows we have “feet of clay” or weaknesses and frailties. Yet, He declares us righteous by faith and grace. The love of our parents or of our children is only a shadow of the agape love of God.
I was cast upon You from birth; From my mother’s womb You have been my God
Psalm 22 v 10
Jesus had a lifelong and indeed, eternal relationship with the Father. This uni-verse declares that from the womb, He had a personal relationship with God. The greatest good that one can find on earth is to have a personal and lifelong relationship with God. Jesus has made it possible for us to know God from the womb to the tomb and beyond. To be able to talk with God every day and to know Him personally is the greatest privilege a man can have. We have 24x 7 access to the Lord.
God knows us before we know Him for scripture says, “He puts us together in our mothers’ wombs. “ He knits us together and only by Him and in Him are we held together, the different parts of our lives are integrated and welded together. He is closer to us than our own skin. He knows our thoughts and our words, even before it is thought or spoken. We cannot ignore so great a love, so much grace. We would be foolish to do so. Instead, we should acknowledge Him at every step of the way, seek His grace and guidance, His wisdom and power in all that we attempt or do. He is our partner, director in all our ventures. He is the CEO of our lives.
We find our purpose, our significance in Him. We live and move and exist in Him. His word is our breath, our spiritual life-giving and enhancing oxygen, our food and drink , our shield and sword. He is invisible but we can feel His touch, sense His move in our lives. Like Mary, we have chosen the better part, to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen in silence and awe. It is not religion but relationship and fellowship with us that He seeks and delights in. We are to be real, authentic, genuine, honest in our relationship with the Father and the Son. He knows what we are, He knows we have “feet of clay” or weaknesses and frailties. Yet, He declares us righteous by faith and grace. The love of our parents or of our children is only a shadow of the agape love of God.
Monday, November 18, 2019
Being Godmatic
UV 3400/10000 Being Godmatic
And in your knowledge, self control, and in your self control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness,
I Peter 1 v 6
Our personal knowledge and relationship with God in Christ needs to be reflected progressively in qualities of goodness, self control, steadfastness, godliness, love and brotherly affection being manifest in our character on a consistent basis. We need to ask ourselves the question daily, “Have I grown in terms of Christ-like goodness, unselfishness, love, Holy Spirit-control ( self control in this context means this), perseverance, godliness and brotherly affection for all?” Physically, we might have stopped growing but personal growth in these qualities is endless and continuous. The stony heart of man needs to melt into these spiritual qualities of character.
Holy Spirit-control is leadership, guidance, empowerment, counsel and comfort by the third person of the Trinity without which we cannot succeed in walking in the spirit with all that the enemy throws at us, all that the world brings to bear on us in terms of pressures and temptations, circumstances and relational dynamics. Are we increasing in yielding our egos, our pride, our wills, our weaknesses to the Holy Spirit? Are we focusing on the practice of our faith as a more vital dimension than professing it? The more we yield to God, the greater is our internal yield. Are we using the sword of the Spirit, the Word to attack others or to pierce our own hearts and create transformation by obedience?
When we joined service as officers, we were told that we should develop and uphold OLQ or Officer-Like Qualities in our daily deportment. As believers and followers of Christ, we need CLQ or Christ-like Qualities for these are the qualities Peter gleaned form living with Christ over three years. If we have been with Jesus, we should be like this! Shorn of these qualities of heart and spirit, we are immature, barren, short sighted, blind, foolish like the bride’s maids who did not prepare and trim the lamps to receive the Bridegroom. Everyday, it is an useful exercise to evaluate ourselves against the checklist of whether we have grown in goodness, knowledge, godliness, steadfastness, love, Spirit-control and affection? If we are falling short in any area or aspect, we can seek earnestly more of His grace and wisdom which He has promised He will render in abundance as we seek it.
And in your knowledge, self control, and in your self control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness,
I Peter 1 v 6
Our personal knowledge and relationship with God in Christ needs to be reflected progressively in qualities of goodness, self control, steadfastness, godliness, love and brotherly affection being manifest in our character on a consistent basis. We need to ask ourselves the question daily, “Have I grown in terms of Christ-like goodness, unselfishness, love, Holy Spirit-control ( self control in this context means this), perseverance, godliness and brotherly affection for all?” Physically, we might have stopped growing but personal growth in these qualities is endless and continuous. The stony heart of man needs to melt into these spiritual qualities of character.
Holy Spirit-control is leadership, guidance, empowerment, counsel and comfort by the third person of the Trinity without which we cannot succeed in walking in the spirit with all that the enemy throws at us, all that the world brings to bear on us in terms of pressures and temptations, circumstances and relational dynamics. Are we increasing in yielding our egos, our pride, our wills, our weaknesses to the Holy Spirit? Are we focusing on the practice of our faith as a more vital dimension than professing it? The more we yield to God, the greater is our internal yield. Are we using the sword of the Spirit, the Word to attack others or to pierce our own hearts and create transformation by obedience?
When we joined service as officers, we were told that we should develop and uphold OLQ or Officer-Like Qualities in our daily deportment. As believers and followers of Christ, we need CLQ or Christ-like Qualities for these are the qualities Peter gleaned form living with Christ over three years. If we have been with Jesus, we should be like this! Shorn of these qualities of heart and spirit, we are immature, barren, short sighted, blind, foolish like the bride’s maids who did not prepare and trim the lamps to receive the Bridegroom. Everyday, it is an useful exercise to evaluate ourselves against the checklist of whether we have grown in goodness, knowledge, godliness, steadfastness, love, Spirit-control and affection? If we are falling short in any area or aspect, we can seek earnestly more of His grace and wisdom which He has promised He will render in abundance as we seek it.
Sunday, November 17, 2019
No Condemnation
UV 3399/10000 No Condemnation
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8 v 1
We need to live lightly in the flesh and deeply in the Spirit. Our bodies are like tents that we carry on our earthly journey. A tent can get torn and worn out. We should, therefore, not drive the pegs or stakes of our earthly existence too deep as we should be able to pull it out and move on. The Spirit of God renews our spirit as long as we are walking not pandering to the whims and desires of the flesh but doing all we can to satisfy the righteous directives and claims of the Spirit on us. According to the law of the new covenant, once we believe and receive Jesus into our hearts and lives, we are set free from the law of sin and death. Therefore, neither the enemy or any human can condemn or shame or accuse us of our past misdoings. We, too should not condemn or blame or shame anyone we know of their past when they are walking in Christ and in the Spirit as of now.
We are no longer in bondage to any fear as we are sons and daughters by adoption of the Almighty God in Jesus through the Spirit of God. We need to cling to God and cleave to the Spirit, holding onto our faith in the name of Jesus. If we return to the past either in recalling it or in blaming someone in our circles though they are now in faith, we are doing something that displeases the Spirit. When the Truth has set them free, who are we to again try to hold them in bondage? This is the reason no tongue can rise to stand against us or to find fault with us for we have been declared by faith as faultless being clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. He has given the blemishless, spotless clothes of salvation in place of our “spiritual dirty rags”. Every believer’s story is then a “rags to riches” story.
Since no one can condemn us, we can walk in the Spirit with our heads held high, not with pride but with assurance, confidence and hope in Christ. We, too, should not fall into the trap of the enemy in blaming, accusing or condemning people for then, we become agents of the devil. Letting go of past memories is vital to avoid becoming bitter and allowing it to come up in our conversations with even our near and dear adversely affects relationships. Carrying the cross daily in our lives, a command of Christ to His followers, implies that we should convert anything negative in our past, our thoughts, our relationships, our circumstances into something positive or plus that adds to life, peace and the glory of God.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8 v 1
We need to live lightly in the flesh and deeply in the Spirit. Our bodies are like tents that we carry on our earthly journey. A tent can get torn and worn out. We should, therefore, not drive the pegs or stakes of our earthly existence too deep as we should be able to pull it out and move on. The Spirit of God renews our spirit as long as we are walking not pandering to the whims and desires of the flesh but doing all we can to satisfy the righteous directives and claims of the Spirit on us. According to the law of the new covenant, once we believe and receive Jesus into our hearts and lives, we are set free from the law of sin and death. Therefore, neither the enemy or any human can condemn or shame or accuse us of our past misdoings. We, too should not condemn or blame or shame anyone we know of their past when they are walking in Christ and in the Spirit as of now.
We are no longer in bondage to any fear as we are sons and daughters by adoption of the Almighty God in Jesus through the Spirit of God. We need to cling to God and cleave to the Spirit, holding onto our faith in the name of Jesus. If we return to the past either in recalling it or in blaming someone in our circles though they are now in faith, we are doing something that displeases the Spirit. When the Truth has set them free, who are we to again try to hold them in bondage? This is the reason no tongue can rise to stand against us or to find fault with us for we have been declared by faith as faultless being clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. He has given the blemishless, spotless clothes of salvation in place of our “spiritual dirty rags”. Every believer’s story is then a “rags to riches” story.
Since no one can condemn us, we can walk in the Spirit with our heads held high, not with pride but with assurance, confidence and hope in Christ. We, too, should not fall into the trap of the enemy in blaming, accusing or condemning people for then, we become agents of the devil. Letting go of past memories is vital to avoid becoming bitter and allowing it to come up in our conversations with even our near and dear adversely affects relationships. Carrying the cross daily in our lives, a command of Christ to His followers, implies that we should convert anything negative in our past, our thoughts, our relationships, our circumstances into something positive or plus that adds to life, peace and the glory of God.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Faith Plus
UV 3398/10000 Faith Plus
Jesus explained, “ I tell you that to everyone who has (because he valued his gifts from God and has used them wisely), more will be given; but from the one who does not have (because he disregarded his gifts from God), even what he has will be taken away.
Luke 19 v 26
Everything we have is from God. Life itself is from Him. He holds our breath in His hands and can take it away anytime He chooses. Our time, talent, tongue, opportunities, circumstances are all gifts from Him. If we recognize this fact and use it with an attitude of carefulness, gratitude, humility, grace, it will be further multiplied. Even the ability to multiply comes from the Lord. The uni-verse states that the Lord rewards faithfulness and diligence in developing and using the gifts the Lord has invested in us. To the one with faith, He will give even more both here in this earth and in the life to come.
To the one who is faithless, who does not know or believe the true character of God as one who rewards faithfulness, to the one who is careless, who takes things for granted, who is not diligent and does not value whatever God has entrusted to him, the Lord will prove Himself to be a tough taskmaster. He will take away even what He has. In the kingdom where Jesus is king, faith plus diligence is excellence. We need to study diligently how to best invest our time, energy, attention, spiritual gifts, health, resources, connections, influence, talents, abilities instead of worrying over what we do not have or what others have.
The servant who did nothing with what he was given had a bad attitude. He did not have knowledge of the true character of the master. He knew Jesus is the Master but did not believe Him to be fair or generous. Unlike the ones who rebelled and conspired against the Lord, He believed the Lord but drew wrong conclusions about His sense of justice. This led to bad judgement and flawed decision making on his part. This is what happened in the case of Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. Instead, we are to emulate the faithful and diligent servants of God. They believed that whatever happened, in the end, the Lord is good, generous, faithful. Faith plus is proven faith, it translates into fruitful, productive, constructive actions. Only such faith is rewarded in the kingdom of Jesus.
Jesus explained, “ I tell you that to everyone who has (because he valued his gifts from God and has used them wisely), more will be given; but from the one who does not have (because he disregarded his gifts from God), even what he has will be taken away.
Luke 19 v 26
Everything we have is from God. Life itself is from Him. He holds our breath in His hands and can take it away anytime He chooses. Our time, talent, tongue, opportunities, circumstances are all gifts from Him. If we recognize this fact and use it with an attitude of carefulness, gratitude, humility, grace, it will be further multiplied. Even the ability to multiply comes from the Lord. The uni-verse states that the Lord rewards faithfulness and diligence in developing and using the gifts the Lord has invested in us. To the one with faith, He will give even more both here in this earth and in the life to come.
To the one who is faithless, who does not know or believe the true character of God as one who rewards faithfulness, to the one who is careless, who takes things for granted, who is not diligent and does not value whatever God has entrusted to him, the Lord will prove Himself to be a tough taskmaster. He will take away even what He has. In the kingdom where Jesus is king, faith plus diligence is excellence. We need to study diligently how to best invest our time, energy, attention, spiritual gifts, health, resources, connections, influence, talents, abilities instead of worrying over what we do not have or what others have.
The servant who did nothing with what he was given had a bad attitude. He did not have knowledge of the true character of the master. He knew Jesus is the Master but did not believe Him to be fair or generous. Unlike the ones who rebelled and conspired against the Lord, He believed the Lord but drew wrong conclusions about His sense of justice. This led to bad judgement and flawed decision making on his part. This is what happened in the case of Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. Instead, we are to emulate the faithful and diligent servants of God. They believed that whatever happened, in the end, the Lord is good, generous, faithful. Faith plus is proven faith, it translates into fruitful, productive, constructive actions. Only such faith is rewarded in the kingdom of Jesus.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)