UV 1769/10000 The Master Key
“ I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 16 v 19
Do we have one key to open all the treasures of heaven and earth? That key is the master key, rather it is the Master’s key. The Master is Jesus and He is the key to all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of heaven and earth. When we have Jesus as ruler of our hearts, it is like holding a bunch of keys in our hands, that can be used to lock and unlock many things, many doors, many opportunities, many threats, many possibilities. He is the Yes and Amen to all God’s promises. He is the Affirmer and Affirmation of our potential in Him. Without Him we can do nothing. Without Him, we amount to nothing, we are like the grass that is here today and gone tomorrow or like the flower that is here today and faded tomorrow. With Him, we can do all things. Nothing is impossible for us. Nothing is beyond our reach. What eye has not seen, nor ear heard nor entered into the imagination of man is accessible in Him. He is the Amen, the One who establishes and fulfils God’s promises in our lives. He is the One who agrees with God’s purpose for our lives and releases His grace and power to go ahead and do it.
Jesus is the Key of David- the key to open the gates of heaven for us. He holds the key to death and hell, the key to the abyss of life. He is the key to salvation. He is the key to understanding the secrets of the Lord and of His kingdom. He is the key to realizing His kingdom or rule within us and without. He is the key to success, joy and fulfilment. He is the key to health and healing. He is the key to deliverance. He is the key to protection and security in this life and beyond. He is the key to prosper us in spirit, first but also in mind and body. He is the key to contentment and stability of homes as well as the holistic development of individuals, organisations and nations. He is the key to peace and eternal life. He is the key to abundance and prosperity, to freedom and honour. He is the key to unlocking our personal bondages and chains. He is the key to unlocking our talents and abilities and locking our destructive potential. He is the key to spiritual victory and all triumphs of the spirit. He is the key to destroying all strongholds of the enemy. He is the key to integrating our spirits, minds and bodies. All these keys are the light yoke He places on our shoulders in place of the heavy yoke of our past. He is the key to every blessing of God’s word and to avoiding every warning of the Lord, to keeping every command and direction. He is the key to being the head and not the tail, the key to being above and not below our circumstances, the key to flying like an eagle over the storm and being like a young man who runs and never gets tired. He is the key to all spiritual blessings and riches in heavenly places, the key to breaking down barriers and brass gates that hinder our progress and growth.
Jesus is the key to locking doors that need to be locked like the doors of destruction, the doors of addiction and negative habits. He is the key to unlocking our human and divine potential. He is the key to fellowship and friendship with the Creator. He is the key to resolving our conflicts and solving all our issues. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the key to all the beginnings, the endings and all that lies in between. He teaches us two main disciplines: to love that which is good and to hate or abhor or avoid that which is intrinsically evil. In the uni-verse, we are given the power, the authority, the grace, the privilege to lock what is evil on earth ad to unlock whatever is good on earth and all that is good in heaven. We are given the power to lock the guilt of our past, to unlock the hope of the future, the joy of the present, to lock the power of curses and unlock the power of blessings, to lock the power of death in our tongues and to unlock the power of eternal life of our tongues, to block the darkness and to release the light. What we shut in faith, no man can open and what we unlock, no man can shut.
Prateep V Philip
Monday, May 30, 2016
The Management of Invisibles
UV 1768/10000 The Management of the Invisible and the Intangible
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear
Hebrews 11 v 3
Faith enables us to understand what even scientists or philosophers or scholars or thinkers cannot understand. We understand the primacy of the invisible world. We understand that the visible world or universe was created by the invisible God, that His word is law and it is the law governing our universe. We understand that everything visible was created out of the invisible, that God is the Author and creator, that He alone has the power both to judge and to save. The more fundamental laws of the universe that govern our relationship with the Lord and with each other are derived from His Word.
If all the worlds, the visible and the invisible, the known and the unknown are framed or under-girded or founded on the Word of the Lord, how much more should our lives, our relationships be surrounded or covered or founded on His Word. Our invisibles and intangibles are more significant than our visible and tangible bodies and possessions. In His Word there is no separation of the two but a beautiful integration, of harmony between the visible and the invisible. It is due to the violation or disbelief of God’s Word that the dichotomy or disharmony between the visible and the invisible came into being. The invisible enemy of man became visible and audible to man and deceived him to believe that the visible had more significance and credibility than the invisible and intangible. Man began to live thereafter by sight and not faith, by the grasp of the physical rather than the spiritual, invisible and intangible. Jesus, the Son of God became the visible expression of the invisible God and sought to redeem mankind from this state of blindness, disharmony, lack of faith and true vision. He became the visible expression of the invisible Word. We who were spiritually naked were clothed in the invisible clothes of salvation, given the invisible ring of His sovereign authority and given the invisible shoes to go places for Him and proclaim the majesty of His Word, the greatness of His being, the liberty of the gospel of grace.
We now realize that we are not in subjection to the kingdoms of darkness, the kingdoms of this world. Our kingdom is an invisible and eternal one. Our laws are found in His Word. Our goals are blessed by Him. He enables us to achieve our goals for His glory. The focus of our lives is not the tangible happiness, the tangible wealth, the tangible pleasures, the tangible privileges of this world. These may follow us as part of the goodness and mercy of the Lord but we do not get entranced or obsessed or distracted by such. We live in the physical and visible world but we are not of it. We obey the rules and regulations of this visible world so long as it does not violate the higher principles and precepts of the Word. We learn the principles and precepts set in His Word, precept by precept, line by line, day by day. As scientists experiment with different substances in their experiments, we test these spiritual principles in our experiences of life. We are both subjects and objects in the experiences to prove the Word is true, genuine, authentic. Our lives are dominated by the supernatural and miraculous. In the interface between the visible and the invisible, miracles or experiences transcending the ordinary, the scientific, the natural take place in accordance with our faith and His Word. Signs and wonders are secondary evidences of the Lord, the primary evidence, the substance of our faith is His Word. It is so fundamental and significant that Sovereign God and the invisibles also subject themselves to the Word. We eat of the invisible tree of the fruit of wisdom and of the abundant and eternal life, when we eat every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The Word is the frame of reference for our invisible and visible world: It determines and guides us on how do we view wealth and money in the context of our lives. It frames our thoughts, words, emotions, actions, reactions, relationships, goals, priorities, desires. All our invisibles are guided by the invisible influence and power of the Word and all our visibles are blessed by it.
Prateep V Philip
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear
Hebrews 11 v 3
Faith enables us to understand what even scientists or philosophers or scholars or thinkers cannot understand. We understand the primacy of the invisible world. We understand that the visible world or universe was created by the invisible God, that His word is law and it is the law governing our universe. We understand that everything visible was created out of the invisible, that God is the Author and creator, that He alone has the power both to judge and to save. The more fundamental laws of the universe that govern our relationship with the Lord and with each other are derived from His Word.
If all the worlds, the visible and the invisible, the known and the unknown are framed or under-girded or founded on the Word of the Lord, how much more should our lives, our relationships be surrounded or covered or founded on His Word. Our invisibles and intangibles are more significant than our visible and tangible bodies and possessions. In His Word there is no separation of the two but a beautiful integration, of harmony between the visible and the invisible. It is due to the violation or disbelief of God’s Word that the dichotomy or disharmony between the visible and the invisible came into being. The invisible enemy of man became visible and audible to man and deceived him to believe that the visible had more significance and credibility than the invisible and intangible. Man began to live thereafter by sight and not faith, by the grasp of the physical rather than the spiritual, invisible and intangible. Jesus, the Son of God became the visible expression of the invisible God and sought to redeem mankind from this state of blindness, disharmony, lack of faith and true vision. He became the visible expression of the invisible Word. We who were spiritually naked were clothed in the invisible clothes of salvation, given the invisible ring of His sovereign authority and given the invisible shoes to go places for Him and proclaim the majesty of His Word, the greatness of His being, the liberty of the gospel of grace.
We now realize that we are not in subjection to the kingdoms of darkness, the kingdoms of this world. Our kingdom is an invisible and eternal one. Our laws are found in His Word. Our goals are blessed by Him. He enables us to achieve our goals for His glory. The focus of our lives is not the tangible happiness, the tangible wealth, the tangible pleasures, the tangible privileges of this world. These may follow us as part of the goodness and mercy of the Lord but we do not get entranced or obsessed or distracted by such. We live in the physical and visible world but we are not of it. We obey the rules and regulations of this visible world so long as it does not violate the higher principles and precepts of the Word. We learn the principles and precepts set in His Word, precept by precept, line by line, day by day. As scientists experiment with different substances in their experiments, we test these spiritual principles in our experiences of life. We are both subjects and objects in the experiences to prove the Word is true, genuine, authentic. Our lives are dominated by the supernatural and miraculous. In the interface between the visible and the invisible, miracles or experiences transcending the ordinary, the scientific, the natural take place in accordance with our faith and His Word. Signs and wonders are secondary evidences of the Lord, the primary evidence, the substance of our faith is His Word. It is so fundamental and significant that Sovereign God and the invisibles also subject themselves to the Word. We eat of the invisible tree of the fruit of wisdom and of the abundant and eternal life, when we eat every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The Word is the frame of reference for our invisible and visible world: It determines and guides us on how do we view wealth and money in the context of our lives. It frames our thoughts, words, emotions, actions, reactions, relationships, goals, priorities, desires. All our invisibles are guided by the invisible influence and power of the Word and all our visibles are blessed by it.
Prateep V Philip
Due Season
UV 1766/10000 Due Season
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6 v 9
Our work for the Lord is never in vain. In due time or season, in the hour appointed by the Lord our efforts will bear fruit, our life’s work will be recognized and rewarded by Him. We should not feel discouraged that nothing seems to be happening, no sign of favour from the Lord. We need to rejoice in the hope of our reward. This may be the season of the early rain or the latter rain, when the seed is growing or when the crop is ripening. Having laboured this far, we should be patient like a farmer and not feel exhausted, let down or disappointed. Worldly people measure their gain in terms of the money they earn per hour or per day of work. But our yardstick is whether the Lord judges us to be faithful and diligent. We have different seasons in our lives: the tilling season where the fields are ploughed and prepared, the sowing season where the seed is sown as the early rain softens the ground for the seed to take root in the soil, the growing season where the shoot and branches are growing, the fruiting season where the fruit begin to grow, the reaping season where the fruit mature, ripen and are ready to pluck. There is also a fallow season when the ground is kept idle so that the soil is renewed in its fertility. Each of us are in one or other of these seasons in our lives. Different types and degree of effort and other inputs are needed in each season. In the sowing season, the focus is primarily on getting the best seed or seedlings to sow. In the reaping season, the focus is on the dividends or rewards of our efforts.
Different crops have differing seasons to ripen and be reaped. Different fruits have varying periods of time to mature and ripen. Likewise, our fruit may be waiting for the apt time or period to be manifest. We should keep doing all the good we can by all the means we can so that we can win some souls for the Lord. We should set our eyes like flint as Jesus did when He moved towards the cross. We should not despair but know for sure that the Lord is with us and is always acting ,intervening, interceding on our behalf.
Like an athlete who increases his pace as he nears the finishing line,we should work with renewed gusto and energy at the tasks at hand. We should have the constant assurance or faith that in due time we shall reap. The Holy Spirit will egg us on like a coach who sees his trainee approach the finishing line of a race that he had prepared for over a long time. The Holy Spirit is an encourager, a comforter, a hope giver, the One who renews our youth and vigour, our energy and courage. Whatever the Lord has called us to do, we should do it with all our heart and not half heartedly. We should go the extra mile or go to extraordinary lengths to fulfil the Lord’s purpose in every area of our lives.
Prateep V Philip
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Galatians 6 v 9
Our work for the Lord is never in vain. In due time or season, in the hour appointed by the Lord our efforts will bear fruit, our life’s work will be recognized and rewarded by Him. We should not feel discouraged that nothing seems to be happening, no sign of favour from the Lord. We need to rejoice in the hope of our reward. This may be the season of the early rain or the latter rain, when the seed is growing or when the crop is ripening. Having laboured this far, we should be patient like a farmer and not feel exhausted, let down or disappointed. Worldly people measure their gain in terms of the money they earn per hour or per day of work. But our yardstick is whether the Lord judges us to be faithful and diligent. We have different seasons in our lives: the tilling season where the fields are ploughed and prepared, the sowing season where the seed is sown as the early rain softens the ground for the seed to take root in the soil, the growing season where the shoot and branches are growing, the fruiting season where the fruit begin to grow, the reaping season where the fruit mature, ripen and are ready to pluck. There is also a fallow season when the ground is kept idle so that the soil is renewed in its fertility. Each of us are in one or other of these seasons in our lives. Different types and degree of effort and other inputs are needed in each season. In the sowing season, the focus is primarily on getting the best seed or seedlings to sow. In the reaping season, the focus is on the dividends or rewards of our efforts.
Different crops have differing seasons to ripen and be reaped. Different fruits have varying periods of time to mature and ripen. Likewise, our fruit may be waiting for the apt time or period to be manifest. We should keep doing all the good we can by all the means we can so that we can win some souls for the Lord. We should set our eyes like flint as Jesus did when He moved towards the cross. We should not despair but know for sure that the Lord is with us and is always acting ,intervening, interceding on our behalf.
Like an athlete who increases his pace as he nears the finishing line,we should work with renewed gusto and energy at the tasks at hand. We should have the constant assurance or faith that in due time we shall reap. The Holy Spirit will egg us on like a coach who sees his trainee approach the finishing line of a race that he had prepared for over a long time. The Holy Spirit is an encourager, a comforter, a hope giver, the One who renews our youth and vigour, our energy and courage. Whatever the Lord has called us to do, we should do it with all our heart and not half heartedly. We should go the extra mile or go to extraordinary lengths to fulfil the Lord’s purpose in every area of our lives.
Prateep V Philip
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Packing Our Faith with Power
UV 1675/10000 Packing Our Faith with Power
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
I Peter 1 v 7
Faith is valuable as it is a balm to heal our wounds, a guard to our footsteps, a guide to our decisions, a boost to our courage, a foundation to wisdom, a sail to catch the wind of God's favour or grace, a goad to greater efforts, an anchor in the storms of life, a reason to accept and love people as they are. It is an energiser and a stabiliser. It is the dynamo, the rudder and the steering wheel. Anything valuable is to be tested for two reasons: to test if it is authentic or true and to further purify or refine it to the highest level possible. Paul wrote that when all that is there in life is squeezed, the essence that remains is faith, hope and love, of which the greatest is love. Our faith if it is true and real is tested and refined even as our love for God and fellow being is tested and refined. Faith is the equivalent in the kingdom of God as gold in the human economy. Gold is tested and refined in the crucible of fire even as our faith is tested and refined in the crucible of suffering in the name of Jesus.
Once our faith is tested in suffering and we hold onto our trust in God and Jesus, our confidence in the Holy Spirit, we are marked by the Spirit of God as “approved” or as a good and faithful servant to whom more can be given, more blessings as well as responsibilities. We are tested both by trials of suffering as well as temptations of this world. Just as gold is tested seven times over, the believer is tested and tempted in many ways and that is why scripture refers to it as “manifold suffering”. The tests, trials and tribulations are meant not only to authenticate but to remove the dross or impurities of thoughts, motives, desires, words, gestures, reactions and attitudes that we are accustomed to. The purification process is sometimes like a sieve, sometimes like a furnace, sometimes like a refining soap to wash us. The less we resent, resist, refuse these trials and tests, the more we yield, welcome, accept and acquiesce to these tests, the faster and more effective the process of the purification of our faith. The tests will establish whether our faith weakens or gets even stronger in moments of crisis, periods of suffering. Do we cry out to God, for God in our “lema sabachthani” moments, do we cling to Him for comfort and strength?
Building, testing, refining faith is like building a six pack body: the first pack is our thoughts. We need to take every thought captive to glorify or honour God and Christ in us. The second pack is our speech. Our words have to be run through some “question filters” to emerge pure and wholesome. The third pack is our emotions- we need to avoid a murmuring or complaining attitude. The fourth pack is our motives, goals and priorities. We should not be motivated by selfish gain or pleasure or power or ambition but by the focus on building the kingdom of God. The fifth pack is our patience, perseverance and diligence. The sixth pack is our love for God and compassion for people. If our faith is without love it is useless and fit to throw on the rubbish heap, according to St Paul. Jesus was not weak but the toughest guy in history. We need to fix our eyes on Him and emulate Him in our exercise of faith and expression of love. We may pray like Jabez, “ Lord, keep me from pain and grant my desires” but if pain is God’s will we should willingly submit to the pain. From the perspective of the Lord, pain is a great discipliner and affliction a great teacher of the attributes of God that we should emulate.
Prateep V Philip
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
I Peter 1 v 7
Faith is valuable as it is a balm to heal our wounds, a guard to our footsteps, a guide to our decisions, a boost to our courage, a foundation to wisdom, a sail to catch the wind of God's favour or grace, a goad to greater efforts, an anchor in the storms of life, a reason to accept and love people as they are. It is an energiser and a stabiliser. It is the dynamo, the rudder and the steering wheel. Anything valuable is to be tested for two reasons: to test if it is authentic or true and to further purify or refine it to the highest level possible. Paul wrote that when all that is there in life is squeezed, the essence that remains is faith, hope and love, of which the greatest is love. Our faith if it is true and real is tested and refined even as our love for God and fellow being is tested and refined. Faith is the equivalent in the kingdom of God as gold in the human economy. Gold is tested and refined in the crucible of fire even as our faith is tested and refined in the crucible of suffering in the name of Jesus.
Once our faith is tested in suffering and we hold onto our trust in God and Jesus, our confidence in the Holy Spirit, we are marked by the Spirit of God as “approved” or as a good and faithful servant to whom more can be given, more blessings as well as responsibilities. We are tested both by trials of suffering as well as temptations of this world. Just as gold is tested seven times over, the believer is tested and tempted in many ways and that is why scripture refers to it as “manifold suffering”. The tests, trials and tribulations are meant not only to authenticate but to remove the dross or impurities of thoughts, motives, desires, words, gestures, reactions and attitudes that we are accustomed to. The purification process is sometimes like a sieve, sometimes like a furnace, sometimes like a refining soap to wash us. The less we resent, resist, refuse these trials and tests, the more we yield, welcome, accept and acquiesce to these tests, the faster and more effective the process of the purification of our faith. The tests will establish whether our faith weakens or gets even stronger in moments of crisis, periods of suffering. Do we cry out to God, for God in our “lema sabachthani” moments, do we cling to Him for comfort and strength?
Building, testing, refining faith is like building a six pack body: the first pack is our thoughts. We need to take every thought captive to glorify or honour God and Christ in us. The second pack is our speech. Our words have to be run through some “question filters” to emerge pure and wholesome. The third pack is our emotions- we need to avoid a murmuring or complaining attitude. The fourth pack is our motives, goals and priorities. We should not be motivated by selfish gain or pleasure or power or ambition but by the focus on building the kingdom of God. The fifth pack is our patience, perseverance and diligence. The sixth pack is our love for God and compassion for people. If our faith is without love it is useless and fit to throw on the rubbish heap, according to St Paul. Jesus was not weak but the toughest guy in history. We need to fix our eyes on Him and emulate Him in our exercise of faith and expression of love. We may pray like Jabez, “ Lord, keep me from pain and grant my desires” but if pain is God’s will we should willingly submit to the pain. From the perspective of the Lord, pain is a great discipliner and affliction a great teacher of the attributes of God that we should emulate.
Prateep V Philip
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Getting Rid of the Stockholm Syndrome
UV 1674/10000 Getting Rid of the Spiritual Stockholm Syndrome
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35 v 10
Most of us human beings suffer from what is called the Stockholm syndrome of being in love with our captor. We have been so inured or used to living in captivity and bondage to the world and the enemy of our souls that we accept our lot and remain in continual mourning. We need to activate our sacred imagination to imagine we are captives in the custody of a powerful enemy, a hostile power who is much stronger than us. There is no escape from his clutches. At this point in time, Jesus comes and pays the ransom, the payment for our freedom, our total liberty in spirit, mind and body. He pays with death and blood since the Father Himself had set the price of freedom, the abundant life, eternal life to be absolute death and the blood shed willingly of a perfect sacrifice.
Faith is not fantasy but fact-based, history-based imagination. We are now set free from both the clutches of the enemy, set free from hamartia or tragic failing, set free from the need to pay for our own failings, set free from the threats, accusations, curses and power of the enemy. Only a person held in continual captivity in a dungeon knows the value of such freedom. The moment we realize this value, we will from that moment be filled with continual rejoicing. We are filled with hope, a sense of security since we have no fear that we will not be taken captive again.
The assurance of such amazing and awesome salvation fills us with joy and gratitude since we did not attain it by our efforts, our abstinence, our penance, our merits. Since we are now restored to an intimate relationship with our Redeemer and know He lives in us and with us, sorrows in the form of burdens, worries, fears, diseases, failures, scarcity, shortcomings, happenings will evaporate. Our lives and our emotions will no longer be “yo-yo” but “You-You”. He becames the locus of our existence. We live and move and have our being in Him. Our desires and needs are fulfilled in Him and by Him. We are not released and rehabilitated like convicted prisoners but redeemed like innocent victims. But no longer can we have the victim mentality and exhibit the Stockholm syndrome of being in love with the enemy and the fallen world but live as strangers and pilgrims in this world, children of God waiting to return to our permanent and eternal homes. While we wait to return home, we ought to command every fear, every worry, every negative thought, word and feeling to flee. Our temporary homes are redeemed. Our minds are redeemed. Our wills are redeemed. Our bodies are redeemed. Our relationships are redeemed. Sorrows and sighing are the visiting card of the enemy. We should reject these outright, telling him he has no part in our lives, even as Nehemiah told the foe of the Jerusalem wall building project, “You have no part or share with us.”
Prateep V Philip
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 35 v 10
Most of us human beings suffer from what is called the Stockholm syndrome of being in love with our captor. We have been so inured or used to living in captivity and bondage to the world and the enemy of our souls that we accept our lot and remain in continual mourning. We need to activate our sacred imagination to imagine we are captives in the custody of a powerful enemy, a hostile power who is much stronger than us. There is no escape from his clutches. At this point in time, Jesus comes and pays the ransom, the payment for our freedom, our total liberty in spirit, mind and body. He pays with death and blood since the Father Himself had set the price of freedom, the abundant life, eternal life to be absolute death and the blood shed willingly of a perfect sacrifice.
Faith is not fantasy but fact-based, history-based imagination. We are now set free from both the clutches of the enemy, set free from hamartia or tragic failing, set free from the need to pay for our own failings, set free from the threats, accusations, curses and power of the enemy. Only a person held in continual captivity in a dungeon knows the value of such freedom. The moment we realize this value, we will from that moment be filled with continual rejoicing. We are filled with hope, a sense of security since we have no fear that we will not be taken captive again.
The assurance of such amazing and awesome salvation fills us with joy and gratitude since we did not attain it by our efforts, our abstinence, our penance, our merits. Since we are now restored to an intimate relationship with our Redeemer and know He lives in us and with us, sorrows in the form of burdens, worries, fears, diseases, failures, scarcity, shortcomings, happenings will evaporate. Our lives and our emotions will no longer be “yo-yo” but “You-You”. He becames the locus of our existence. We live and move and have our being in Him. Our desires and needs are fulfilled in Him and by Him. We are not released and rehabilitated like convicted prisoners but redeemed like innocent victims. But no longer can we have the victim mentality and exhibit the Stockholm syndrome of being in love with the enemy and the fallen world but live as strangers and pilgrims in this world, children of God waiting to return to our permanent and eternal homes. While we wait to return home, we ought to command every fear, every worry, every negative thought, word and feeling to flee. Our temporary homes are redeemed. Our minds are redeemed. Our wills are redeemed. Our bodies are redeemed. Our relationships are redeemed. Sorrows and sighing are the visiting card of the enemy. We should reject these outright, telling him he has no part in our lives, even as Nehemiah told the foe of the Jerusalem wall building project, “You have no part or share with us.”
Prateep V Philip
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Cancelled Judgements
UV 1763/10000 Cancelled Judgements
The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
Zephaniah 3 v 15
We often tend to be judgemental about others without realizing the extent to which we are indebted to the Lord for not being judgemental about us. If He is judgemental, we would not be able to even approach His throne of mercy and grace. We would be cast away and rejected. But, the Lord has cancelled the judgements against us by His great grace and mercy. Forgiveness is about cancellation of judgements. We too are exhorted to cancel the judgements we have against others who have offended us in some way, big or small. The Lord holds us as innocent and just not by the standards of law but by the standards of grace. Nothing we have done or not done could have earned us this unction or anointing. Having received His grace and mercy, we have no reason or excuse to feel guilty. Since the Lord Himself has declared us guiltless or blemishless in His sight, we are free from every form of captivity or bondage. The foundation of a cleansed past gives us a joyful present and a bright future. We are shielded in order to be fielded as God’s invincible champions in the battlefield of life.
The Lord rules in us as not just God but as a king among men. He orders our steps or the things we need to do in our lifetime. He is in our midst and accompanies us wherever we go. He is with us in our deepest thoughts. He rejoices over our righteous conversations. He delights in our noble intentions and actions. He identifies with us in our pursuits. His kingdom is being built in us and with us, day by day in all that we think, speak and do. We find our recreation, rest and relief, renewal and rejuvenation in Him. All our fountains lie in Him, implying that all that refreshes us is found in Him and His wholesome word.
Not only is the Lord not judgemental and extremely gracious and merciful towards us, He casts out evil from our midst. All that the enemy has plotted against us to take us captive is cancelled by His sovereign decree. He preserves us from every weapon. For all the days we have experienced evil, He multiplies good in our lives. He takes away our reproach or that which causes shame, pain or embarrassment to us. He strengthens us internally and externally. He will wipe our tears or remove the causes and sources of our sorrows, fears, mourning and regret. He comforts us. He restores us. He delivers us from all manner of evil. Every morning He will bring His judgement concerning to light as the Morning Star. The sun being an unique star that shines not in darkness but from the morning of every day, Jesus is unique. Other leading lights of history shine in the darkness dimly but Jesus alone is outstanding, shining forever and outshining all else. His light or His love, integrity, glory, grace, holiness and truth dispels all manner of evil or darkness. Our walls will be ramparts of salvation and our gates towers of praise, implying that His salvation will surround us at all times such that we need not fear death or judgement.
Prateep V Philip
The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
Zephaniah 3 v 15
We often tend to be judgemental about others without realizing the extent to which we are indebted to the Lord for not being judgemental about us. If He is judgemental, we would not be able to even approach His throne of mercy and grace. We would be cast away and rejected. But, the Lord has cancelled the judgements against us by His great grace and mercy. Forgiveness is about cancellation of judgements. We too are exhorted to cancel the judgements we have against others who have offended us in some way, big or small. The Lord holds us as innocent and just not by the standards of law but by the standards of grace. Nothing we have done or not done could have earned us this unction or anointing. Having received His grace and mercy, we have no reason or excuse to feel guilty. Since the Lord Himself has declared us guiltless or blemishless in His sight, we are free from every form of captivity or bondage. The foundation of a cleansed past gives us a joyful present and a bright future. We are shielded in order to be fielded as God’s invincible champions in the battlefield of life.
The Lord rules in us as not just God but as a king among men. He orders our steps or the things we need to do in our lifetime. He is in our midst and accompanies us wherever we go. He is with us in our deepest thoughts. He rejoices over our righteous conversations. He delights in our noble intentions and actions. He identifies with us in our pursuits. His kingdom is being built in us and with us, day by day in all that we think, speak and do. We find our recreation, rest and relief, renewal and rejuvenation in Him. All our fountains lie in Him, implying that all that refreshes us is found in Him and His wholesome word.
Not only is the Lord not judgemental and extremely gracious and merciful towards us, He casts out evil from our midst. All that the enemy has plotted against us to take us captive is cancelled by His sovereign decree. He preserves us from every weapon. For all the days we have experienced evil, He multiplies good in our lives. He takes away our reproach or that which causes shame, pain or embarrassment to us. He strengthens us internally and externally. He will wipe our tears or remove the causes and sources of our sorrows, fears, mourning and regret. He comforts us. He restores us. He delivers us from all manner of evil. Every morning He will bring His judgement concerning to light as the Morning Star. The sun being an unique star that shines not in darkness but from the morning of every day, Jesus is unique. Other leading lights of history shine in the darkness dimly but Jesus alone is outstanding, shining forever and outshining all else. His light or His love, integrity, glory, grace, holiness and truth dispels all manner of evil or darkness. Our walls will be ramparts of salvation and our gates towers of praise, implying that His salvation will surround us at all times such that we need not fear death or judgement.
Prateep V Philip
Monday, May 23, 2016
Killers to Keepers
UV 1762/10000 Killer to Keeper
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
Genesis 4 v 9
Human beings are either killers or keepers. A killer is moved by destructive motives, emotions, deceitfulness and selfish impulses. A keeper is moved by love, nobility, creativity, honesty ,empathy and sensitivity. The Lord is not only our keeper but He is also our brother’s keeper. We are so ill equipped to take care of ourselves, not to speak of others. Brothers are often moved by sibling rivalry and jealousy and do not care for their own. Cain was moved by the evil spirit of jealousy to slay the innocent and faithful Abel but the Lord looked for Abel and questioned Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain desired to eliminate Abel as the latter had won the grace or favour of God. Jealousy seized Cain’s mind and he plotted to kill him. A better blessing or a greater good coming to our own brother provokes us to jealousy and violence. The theme is often repeated in biblical history with Esau and Jacob, with Joseph and his brothers. The culmination is the birth of the beloved of God- Jesus. He is plotted against by the enemy even before his birth. Herod the king is moved by jealousy and insecurity to order the killing of all new born male infants in the entire realm to prevent the promised ruler and Messiah being a threat to his own reign.
The point being made is that it is only the Lord who can be trusted to take care of our well being, it is only the Lord who can be trusted. No earthly ruler or power or authority can be trusted but Jesus alone. As long as we keep faith with Jesus, He is our keeper. As long as we keep His commands and hold His words dear, He is our amazing and wonderful keeper. He keeps His promises to us and our successors. The innocent blood of Abel and his better and whole hearted sacrifice saved him. The innocent blood of Jesus and the perfect sacrifice He made with His own body and life has the potential of saving all mankind.
As long as we keep or store the law of God in our hearts, He keeps us from temptations. As long as we keep our faith, He gives us grace to endure every trouble and challenge we face in our lives. Like Abel, we need to offer our best consistently and diligently to the Lord and He would surely bless us and cause us to be a blessing as the faith of Abel is a blessing to succeeding generations and his example a forerunner to the sacrifice by the Lord of His precious son Jesus. Once we know that we are safe and secure in the hands of our Keeper , the Lord God, we are now able to take care of the interests of our brothers or fellow beings as if they are our own. We are rid of the lying or deceitful nature the enemy had planted in Cain and in any human being born since then. The nature of the enemy of our souls is that of a killer while the nature of God is to be a keeper. As the Keeper of the flock, He raises a sure and safe fencing of His words around us. We too imbibe this godly nature to become keepers not killers, enhancers not detractors. When scripture proclaims that we have become a new creation in Christ, it implies that we have been transformed from being killers into keepers.
Prateep V Philip
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
Genesis 4 v 9
Human beings are either killers or keepers. A killer is moved by destructive motives, emotions, deceitfulness and selfish impulses. A keeper is moved by love, nobility, creativity, honesty ,empathy and sensitivity. The Lord is not only our keeper but He is also our brother’s keeper. We are so ill equipped to take care of ourselves, not to speak of others. Brothers are often moved by sibling rivalry and jealousy and do not care for their own. Cain was moved by the evil spirit of jealousy to slay the innocent and faithful Abel but the Lord looked for Abel and questioned Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain desired to eliminate Abel as the latter had won the grace or favour of God. Jealousy seized Cain’s mind and he plotted to kill him. A better blessing or a greater good coming to our own brother provokes us to jealousy and violence. The theme is often repeated in biblical history with Esau and Jacob, with Joseph and his brothers. The culmination is the birth of the beloved of God- Jesus. He is plotted against by the enemy even before his birth. Herod the king is moved by jealousy and insecurity to order the killing of all new born male infants in the entire realm to prevent the promised ruler and Messiah being a threat to his own reign.
The point being made is that it is only the Lord who can be trusted to take care of our well being, it is only the Lord who can be trusted. No earthly ruler or power or authority can be trusted but Jesus alone. As long as we keep faith with Jesus, He is our keeper. As long as we keep His commands and hold His words dear, He is our amazing and wonderful keeper. He keeps His promises to us and our successors. The innocent blood of Abel and his better and whole hearted sacrifice saved him. The innocent blood of Jesus and the perfect sacrifice He made with His own body and life has the potential of saving all mankind.
As long as we keep or store the law of God in our hearts, He keeps us from temptations. As long as we keep our faith, He gives us grace to endure every trouble and challenge we face in our lives. Like Abel, we need to offer our best consistently and diligently to the Lord and He would surely bless us and cause us to be a blessing as the faith of Abel is a blessing to succeeding generations and his example a forerunner to the sacrifice by the Lord of His precious son Jesus. Once we know that we are safe and secure in the hands of our Keeper , the Lord God, we are now able to take care of the interests of our brothers or fellow beings as if they are our own. We are rid of the lying or deceitful nature the enemy had planted in Cain and in any human being born since then. The nature of the enemy of our souls is that of a killer while the nature of God is to be a keeper. As the Keeper of the flock, He raises a sure and safe fencing of His words around us. We too imbibe this godly nature to become keepers not killers, enhancers not detractors. When scripture proclaims that we have become a new creation in Christ, it implies that we have been transformed from being killers into keepers.
Prateep V Philip
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