The Banner of Love

UV 680/10,000 The Banner of Love “You have given a banner to those who fear You that it may be displayed because of the truth.” Psalm 60 v 4 When we fear God, He responds with love. He calls us to His banqueting house, implying He invites us to celebrate every moment of our life just as a bride is joyous in the company of the groom. The Lord is a “Bridegroom of Blood”, implying He proved His love for all mankind regardless of caste, creed, colour , class, gender or age. He proved it by the death of Christ Jesus upon the cross. After His death and resurrection, God has placed a banner over the head of every human being who has lived and will ever live, saying, “ I love you, my son, my daughter.” Those who read the truth written on the banner and believe it in their hearts and confess it with their mouths, will have another banner written over them: “ He/ she belongs to Me.” The way we live out our lives and our faith will lead to a third banner of victory to be held over us that states: “ Jehovah Nissi”. As we remain firm in our faith, He affirms us. A banner in military parlance is a rallying point. In political rallies too, a banner is a rallying point to convey a message to others. Our life itself is a banner for others. What is written on it needs to be bold and clear. It depends on us if we write on the banner ourselves or if we accept the banner that the Lord provides for us. We cannot hide the truth but we need to publicize it in the manner of a banner. God 's banner of love is displayed like a rainbow over our lives: He manifest His love and truth in our lives in a variety of ways: physical- He heals us, intellectual- He gives us wisdom, emotional- He gives us joy. Spiritual- He saves our souls, Financial- He provides for our need, Social-He blesses our family and friends,Creative-He gives us talents and abilities. In a time of prayer, the Lord gave a remarkable vision through prophet: He said that all the five fingers on your hand are anointed. The thumb is anointed for healing. The index finger is marked as “ Nissi” or victory over foes. The third finger is anointed for promotion and rise in leadership. The fourth finger is anointed that your hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied. The fifth or little finger is anointed that you can support and strengthen those who are weak and vulnerable. This together constitutes a miniature banner or a thumbnail banner that we can remember all the time and use it to muster our strength in all of life’s diverse situations. Prateep V Philip Listen to this Hillsong: His Banner over me is Love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCT2ekYEpj0 See this picture: God 's Banner of Love over us is a Rainbow: ://www.google.co.in/imgres?hl=en&biw=1137&bih=565&tbm=isch&tbnid=YhRc3llr-d-ffM:&imgrefurl=http://www.miriamruiz.es/weblog/%3Fp%3D188&docid=Ddvi4qidGmRcwM&imgurl=http://www.miriamruiz.es/img/love_banner.png&w=482&h=175&ei=am4xUb6uC82HrAfA4IGABQ&zoom=1&ved=1t:3588,r:7,s:0,i:101&iact=rc&dur=3359&sig=116801597118175419606&page=1&tbnh=131&tbnw=366&start=0&ndsp=12&tx=216&ty=37

Freedom from Depression

UV 679/10,000 Freedom from Depression “But as for you, O Jacob My servant, do not fear, nor be dismayed, O Israel! For, see , I am going to save you from afar, and your descendants from the land of their captivity; and Jacob will return and be undisturbed and secure, with no one making him tremble.” Jeremiah 46 v 27 “Jacob” in this context means any believer in the God of Israel. In whatever we do and say, we are serving the Lord. He gives us the servant’s wages: we need not be afraid for there is no power greater than God on Earth or in Heaven and hence, we need not fear any one, neither the wicked and powerful on earth nor the powers of darkness. He will redeem us from all our captivities. The greatest captivity that mankind faces through the generations is the captivity of sin and eternal death. The Lord our Redeemer God saves us from the captivity of sin and death forever. He promises to save not just us but our descendants as long as they too serve and obey the Lord. He is our proximate help and shield 24x7x365x360 degrees. The Lord protects us not just from our fears. He frees us from the spirit of disappointment and depression. The spirit of despondency is replaced with the spirit of dependency. We find our fulfillment in the Lord, not in chasing our dreams and goals. There is no disappointment whether our goals and dreams are realized or not. We need not regret the mistakes and blunders we have made in our past. The Lord will turn it to something of profit for our eternal destiny. We need not be depressed about our failures or about the opportunities we have missed in life. The Lord will take the sting out of failure and cause our souls to prosper on account of these setbacks in our lives. The word dismay means things that can cause us to break down. We will be broken before the Lord but yet we will not be broken-hearted. His grace will quickly fill the gaps and cracks in the broken jar of life. On account of the above two blessings: freedom from fear and freedom from disappointment, He gives us a sense of absolute security where we no one can intimidate or threaten us. When we tremble at God’s Word and His presence, no one can make us tremble. We are not scared at the prospect of either death or defeat or failure. We are not overwhelmed by circumstances. We should always walk so close to the Lord that nothing disturbs our minds or spirits. Satan aims to disturb us by bringing all kinds of negative thoughts and worries but the Lord defends us and neutralizes these anxiety and panic attacks. When the Word of God pierces like a double-edged sword our hearts and minds, our thought patterns change leading to change in our life patterns too. Faith that is used as a life-encompassing shield is exercised or used through our breathing prayer constantly. The Lord has given us each all the armament and equipment to lead a victorious life. A victorious life is a life free from sin, a life free from fear and regret, a life free from guilt, a life free from fear of death and defeat, a life free from worry and anxiety, a life free from sadness and depression. A couple of weeks ago, a colleague’s daughter took her own life due to depression. By the year 2020, the World Health Organization has predicted based on surveys that 40 per cent of the world’s population would suffer from depression. That prediction came before the current world-wide recession. Imagine the rate of depression after its onset. Depression causes crime rates to rise and suicide rate to increase tremendously. Health and productivity would be adversely affected. The Word of God has already revealed the antidote for depression. It is the lack of hope that things will improve which causes depression. The Word of God restores that hope. In fact, as we believe in the Word, things will not only improve- they are already declared good by the Lord. Our belief will now give birth to the new reality. Prateep V Philip

The Acts of Greatness

UV 677/10,000 “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126 v 3 We are filled with joy when we recognize the great things the Lord has done for us. He has given us life and eternal life. He has given us a body and mind, free from handicap. He has given us our talents. He has delivered us from powerful foes. He has provided abundantly for us. He has strengthened us from within. He has comforted us in our losses. Israel as a nation rejoiced in the great deliverance they were given from slavery in Egypt. Hannah rejoiced on being given a son even as Sarah rejoiced in Isaac. Jacob rejoiced in seeing his lost son, Joseph. He saved Moses from death as an infant. He delivered him to be raised by the very family, Pharaoh’s that had ordered the slaughter of all Hebrew infants. Mary rejoiced when the angel confirmed that the child she was going to bear is the Son of God, the Messiah sent to save all mankind. The Lord desires that our joy shall be full. Therefore, He undertakes to do great things for us. He cannot do an ordinary or commonplace act. Acts of greatness reveal His might, His love, His grace and His mercy. Creation and redemption are the two great acts of God in our lives. In addition to these two, He does innumerable acts in our lives that fill us with thanksgiving not just at the time it happens but all through our lives. Three short sentences sum up the great acts the Lord has done in my life so far:He saved me. He delivered me from death. He lifted me up. Indeed, salvation of our souls is the greatest thing the Lord has accomplished for us. It pleases God when we constantly remember the great moments and events of our lives and give praise and thanksgiving to Him. It is said that the great moments in our lives are few but the small moments run into millions. We need to use all the small moments to remember with joy and thanksgiving the great moments. Prateep V Philip

The Esteem of God

UV 677/10,000 The Esteem of God “Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being? declares the Lord. “ This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my Word.” Isaiah 66 v 2 The Lord has made the entire universe in its awesome array, diversity and magnificent spread. He placed man on one humble planet, the Earth –beautiful but as small as a dot in comparison to the whole universe. Out of all the rhythms He set in motion in the universe, He desires that the heart of every man beats in sync with His own. He made all other things after His own imagination but when it came to man, He made us in His own image. He desires to speak with us, feel with us, relate to us, enjoy with us in our good times, empathise with us in our suffering, protect us, provide for us, comfort us and uplift us. But, He can relate to us not on our terms but on His. His terms are humility or reverence, contrition or repentance and diligence or obedience to His every word. As we meditate on the splendour of all that God has created, it will fill us with reverence, awe and humility. As we reflect on the character of God, we will be filled with contrition or repentance. As we feed on the Word of God, we will be endowed with the spirit of obedience. The Lord declares that He holds in esteem or respect the individual human who is humble before Him, acknowledging Him first as Creator of the universe and Father of all mankind. That is the first connection with God. Next we realize His holiness and love and we are filled with a spirit of reverence, repentance and gratitude. This recognition and realization leads us to seek salvation. Salvation is a loving and honest relationship with God. We stop playing hide and seek with God as Adam and Eve did after they sinned. The words, “ trembles at my Word” implies that we need to believe and obey the Word of God that reveals the character, purpose and plan of God for each of us. The Word of God is the blueprint that shows us how to live from day to day, fulfilling the eternal purpose of God even as we live on a practical, temporal and mundane plane. The use of the word ‘ tremble’ implies the attention we pay to every word that God has spoken in our lives, the care we take to carry the Word in our hearts and carry it out in our lives. Some fifteen years ago, a person with a gift of prophecy. whom I had never met before, was praying for a group of people individually, one by one. When my turn came, the word of prophecy came, saying, “ You are esteemed by God.” At that time I wondered what I had done to win the esteem of God. Most of our lives we spend our time vying for the esteem of men. But, it is mind-boggling that we can even think of winning the esteem of God. His glory is so great and we have fallen so short of it. We cannot win or earn the esteem of God by any thing we say, do or don’t do. We receive the esteem of God by consistently following three steps described in the uni-verse above: humility, repentance and obedience. The first two are attitudes of heart and mind while the third is about action. It is a combination of thoughts, emotions and actions that enable us to enter the esteem of God. Yes, the Lord declares to every one without partiality, “ If you humble yourself, repent , believe my Word and accept my provision for your salvation, I esteem you.” Prateep V Philip

The Seen Versus the Unseen

UV 676/10,000 The Seen versus the Unseen “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11 v 1 Faith is seeing the unseen with such clarity that the things that are seen either loose their significance in our eyes or acquire a new meaning and significance in the light of it. It is the power of conviction. It is choosing to live on an eternal plane and not on a temporal one. There are two kinds of people: people of faith and people of fate- the latter rely only on what they can see and touch while the former rely only on what they cannot see and physically touch. Fate is self-limiting while faith is always expanding and growing. First, we start with a little faith even as small as a mustard seed but since our faith is organic or living, it begins to grow with each experience of God’s grace. God created the entire universe out of what is unseen. Faith is therefore both the founding principle of the universe and the ruling principle of history. We cannot gain the approval of God without faith. All the patriarchs of faith like Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Joseph gained the approval of God through their faith. But, the capstone of faith is Jesus Christ who manifested Himself in human history. When we believe in His Name, His words, His acts of grace, our faith is complete and perfected. Our divine destiny is fulfilled, our earthly purpose is met. There is nothing more we need in heaven or earth. All the promises of God are fulfilled in and through Him. True, there are uncertainties but we can combat a legion of uncertainties with the one certainty that Christ died for us and rose again and is alive in us by faith. Our belief is the driving force of life. The first part of the word “ belief” is ‘be’ and it means all that we are, all that we do and all that we stand for. It determines our hope, our joy or our positive emotions, our strength, our ability to endure hardship. It gives us an eternal perspective to see all things in the light of a truth we believe in. If that truth was amenable to proof, it would not be faith. But, the truth can be experienced. We cannot experiment with the truth but we can experience the truth. Faith presupposes character as we need to wait with patience for our hope to be realized. Faith includes seven types of assurances: assurance of salvation that we will live for eternity, assurance of answered prayer that God, the Unseen Creator hears and answers our prayers, the assurance of provision that He provides for our need, the assurance of protection that He cares for us, the assurance of victory that He will help us overcome the obstacles and difficulties that come our way to test our faith, the assurance of guidance that He will guide us step by step as we rely on Him and His Word. Faith expresses itself initially in reverence or fear of God. It then expresses itself in obedience. Faith when full grown expresses itself in love for God, love for man- the two axes on which God measures our faith. Prateep V Philip Pic of a Miracle Cross a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-3yMUDlwwKIYbDPGDjjJmXUV6keUixjbzbTjL_U-rCuF_fhaTazc4TWvLav0q9onvXr-A5iaL2S6SVq-etn9Lb6NgEUYUYf2zz5pOIgZRrtL8MiTam3xh4m1YP2oxZzcwtafI_TeGKE/s1600/IMG-20120921-00086+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" >

The Mind of Christ

UV 675/10,000 The mind of Christ Your attitude should be same as`that of Christ Jesus Phillipian 2 v 5 As followers of Jesus, we are exhorted to have the mind of Christ. Mind consists of thoughts, emotions and will. The product of thoughts,emotions and will are our words, actions and reaction. Our attitude is our mental address, our id that determines our identity. God is interested in our attitude. He was`pleased with the`attitude of David. He was`delighted with the`attitude of Christ. Jesus’s attitude of humility and obedience led`God to commend Him as His beloved Son. Attitude is a mix of thought, emotion and commitment to decide and act. The quickest, surest and most effective way of transforming human lives is to work on attitudes. It is transformation from within the individual. Jesus in the`sermon on the Mount enumerated`ten beautiful attitudes that constitute what we can call the mind of Christ: repentance in spirit or a recognition of spiritual poverty, a sense of compassion for the lost, helpless and unsaved, meekness that will keep us from repaying others in the same coin, an intense desire for righteousness, a merciful attitude , purity of thought, words and desires, desire for peace, an endurance of persecution, desire to do good to others and so reflect the goodness of God, an attitude of generosity and love for enemies. When we practice constantly these ten attitudes, we aim to imitate the perfection of God. When we practice these attitudes, we are like the wise man who built his house on rock and the storms of life will not affect us adversely. None of us can possibly be perfect like God or have the same attitude of Christ all through our lives. But, when we sincerely attempt to do so, the Lord adds His grace and makes our thoughts, emotions and actions perfect in the sight of God. One practical way of practising these ten beautiful attitudes is to tie or identify each of the ten attitudes with each finger of the hand and from time to time during the day check our attitudes in that area. Cultivating beautiful attitudes will result in an inner beauty and a beautiful life. As someone said, " The only true beauty is the inner beauty of the soul." Prateep V Philip

Re-creation

UV 704/10,000 Re-creation “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11 v 29 The word “ yoke” means a responsibility or a burden or a position of servitude. We humble ourselves before God as His servants when we believe and receive Christ into our hearts and lives. Jesus says, “ take my yoke” meaning share His compassion for human beings and share His desire to save lost and perishing souls. When two bullocks are yoked together to pull the plough on the fields, the weight rests evenly on both. But, when we are yoked to Jesus for the rest of our lives, He bears the major part of the burden and only a small portion due to us rests on our shoulders. He has removed the weight of dos and don’ts of traditional religion to introduce us to a direct, personal, hassle-free and barrier-free relationship with God. There is no pilgrimage that we have to undertake, no painful ritual to do, no person to be satisfied in order to certify us worthy to be redeemed. Our focus in much of our lives is earning and not learning. Jesus said through this uni-verse to focus first on learning and learning from Him. Apart from being yoked with God through Christ, we need to learn from Him. This is the lifelong process of discipleship or godly training. He will teach us gentleness, humility and meekness. Though the Son of God, the Prince of Heaven, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, He lowered His status to be not just one of us but among the least of all human beings. We will learn as we meditate on His character and qualities, on His teachings and His actions. He never reviled or hated when He was reviled. He never threatened when He was subjected to cruelty. As the prophet Isaiah wrote, “ He never broke a bruised reed or put out a smouldering wick”, in the sense He did not condemn or look down upon any one. He did not shout or raise His voice in aggression. He surrendered His ego to God. He did not resist the cup of suffering He was given to drink. Once we have gone through step one- being yoked or personally bonded with God through Christ and step two- being discipled by Him and learning from Him, practicing His attitudes and imitating His actions and reactions, we will have rest. Another word for rest is “ recreation” or renewal. We will be re-created. The first time we were created we became mere creatures of God. This second time we are re-created to be children of God. Rest implies the absence of fear of death, fear of failure, anxiety about meeting our needs, insecurity about the future. It also means the presence of joy, peace, gladness, assurance, comfort, deliverance and hope. Prateep V Philip