The Narrow Path

UV 4282/10000 The Narrow Path Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad and easy to travel is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss, and there are many who enter through it. Matthew 7 v 13 Jesus is the narrow gate. He is the entry point into the kingdom of eternal life, the kingdom of God. Faith in Him is the way of righteousness. The narrow gate and the narrow way is the path less travelled, the less popular option of humanity. Yet, it is the way of eternal gain, not eternal loss. It is the path to fulfilment and eternal life. Any other option is the easier one. Most people opt for the easy way out, the path that looks smooth and not difficult, not having many challenges, not risky, not uncomfortable. The narrow wicket gate is not the gate the wicked of this world will take. Jesus declared that He is the door to eternal and abundant life but warns people that it is not an easy path. Following Jesus and obeying His teachings, applying the principles of Jesus to our every step is not the popular option but it is the only thing that leads to eternal life. As the path is narrow and rough, we might fall from time to time. Our progress might be slow and hindered but Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to encourage us, guide us, lead us, strengthen us. His word is our google map to help us find our way back whenever we appear lost. The alternatives to Jesus are many- the path of man-made religion, philosophies of this world that seem to help one make sense of this world and might even give us some strength and success in getting ahead. But eventually what comes of it is eternal loss and eternal death. The path is broad, the road is smooth but it ends in a steep precipice. The enemy deceives mankind to take this broad road with false signages saying, “Happiness, Prosperity, Peace.. “

Made for Greatness

UV 4281/10000 Made for Greatness Then God said, “ Let Us, ( Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to our likeness ( not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness); and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.” Genesis 1 v 26 God has made us great. Like Adam, we lost that greatness somewhere in our journey. Now, we have the opportunity in Christ to rediscover our greatness. We are called for leadership and excellence. Our greatness does not lie in our physical attributes, the positions and titles we have, the material wealth we accumulate but in our spiritual nature and our moral likeness to God, Our Creator, Our Redeemer. God made Jesus, the greatest of humans who never lost His greatness, to be like us so that we can be like Him. Let us face it – we are made for greatness and for enjoying complete authority over all the earth, over the rest of creation. We are not to strive for dominion over other humans but for dominion over all of nature. When we are restored to the Christ nature, the original image of God in which we were created by the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, we attain greatness, we fulfil the purpose of God, for which we were formed. Jesus derived His authority over nature from His spiritual and moral power- even the winds and waves obeyed Him. Recall the instance of the fish delivering a golden drachma to Peter, the former fisherman, so that they could pay their tax to Caesar’s representative. The fish would have obeyed no Caesar for they had lost their source of greatness, their moral authority. Today, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit are involved in restoring us to our rightful greatness and authority. Our words release the power of God on earth. We become the instruments of God on earth to rule it and dominate it. We use power to serve humans and dominate nature- the evil nature sown in us by the enemy as well as the elements of nature. We are to dominate or defeat and rule over the evil manifested by human sin in this world. The Son -Jesus is described as the Word and hence, the word of God we read, the words that we think and speak have the power of God in it for life and eternity when directed by God and the power of death when it is directed by the devil. As children of God, we have the right to spiritual bread. Jesus said, “ Healing and deliverance is the children’s bread” or our right as children of God. The word of God is our spiritual bread. If we do not eat physical bread or food, our body crumbles or weakens. We cannot be healthy or strong without food. Likewise, we cannot be spiritually strong and healthy, we cannot discover or manifest our godlike greatness or exercise kingly authority or leadership without the divine manna, the word of God.

The Power of God

UV 4311/10000 The Power of God Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; it will be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was restored to health at that very hour. Matthew 8 v 13 The centurion was a man of high position, power and wealth. But he humbled himself to come to Jesus and seek the healing of his servant. When Jesus offered to come to his house, he said with all humility that he was not worthy to have Him come under his roof, that He only had to say the word and his servant would be healed. He explained that just as he had authority in the secular world, the Lord Jesus exercised authority over the spiritual realms. He just had to speak the word and his servant would be healed, he believed and affirmed with his mouth. Jesus was astonished at his faith and said that He had found no one with this kind of faith in all of Israel. Seeing the centurion’s faith, Jesus spoke the uni-verse- “Go, it will be done for you as you have believed.” The centurion’s concern for the health of his servant is another remarkable aspect. He was willing to meet Jesus, a stranger to him and plead on his behalf. Like the centurion, we should set aside all our titles, positions, worldly influence and submit to the Lord. The moment Jesus spoke the word, the servant was healed- that very hour. The centurion understood that just as his servant would have obeyed him, so even demons and disease would obey the word of Jesus. The centurion was awed and held Jesus in great reverence and respect. Jesus, likewise, paid the highest encomium to his understanding and faith. We, like the centurion, need to humble ourselves always before the Lord. The Lord would never ignore our humble pleas. He will certainly honour our trust and faith in His miraculous power and authority over the natural and supernatural world. Another remarkable fact is that Jesus knew His power to heal by just His thought or His word but He said He would go to the house of the centurion. In short, the Lord manifests His authority and power in accordance with our faith, our confession and expectation of Him. He will never disappoint us or fail us. The centurion was not a Jew and yet, Jesus responded to his request and expression of faith. It shows Jesus treats all humans as Friends of God and does not discriminate on race, language, religion.

Personal Covenant Making and Keeping

UV 4310/10000 Personal Covenant Making and Keeping I have made a covenant ( agreement) with my eyes; how then could I gaze ( lustfully) at a virgin? Job 31 v 1 This uni-verse introduces a new, innovative spiritual practice adopted by Job. No wonder God was pleased with him and the devil was displeased with him and sought to sift him with many trials and tribulations. We could take a page from Job’s life and make a covenant with our eyes, our mouths, our tongues, our appetite, our egos not to sin against God. We can make a covenant to consider all women other than our spouse to be our sisters or brothers as the case may be. We can make a covenant with our lips, our mouths, our vocal cords not to argue, not to complain, not to say vulgar things, not to abuse, not to criticize others, not to say anything hurting, negative or sarcastic. We can make a covenant with our brains or minds not to think a negative thought or yield to temptation. We can make a covenant with our legs not to go to a sinful place or a place of temptation but to flee it like Joseph. A covenant is a sacred, inviolable agreement in which God is our witness. These covenants we make with our own various faculties and organs will move us closer and closer to the standards of holiness or righteousness God call us to uphold in our lives. If we are able to keep our covenants with our mouths and discipline our speech, James goes so far to call us perfect. Of course, we need to confront the fact that we cannot keep any of these internal covenants without the grace of God, the help of the Holy Spirit who will remind us of the terms of our agreements. The question is whether if we constrain ourselves with so many personal agreements, whether we will have any freedom, whether our lives would be enjoyable. These agreements, in fact, are meant not to restrict us but to enlarge our territories like Jabez, to increase our influence, to protect and preserve our testimonies, to bless us. It will accelerate our spiritual and personal growth like never before. When our energies are regulated like the water of a dam, it becomes a powerful force, not a burden or a hindrance.

Repent and Reset

UV 4309/10000 Repent and Reset So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. Genesis 1 v 27 God created man in His own image. Hence, when man and woman were first created they were good, absolutely good with no iota of evil like God. But, the enemy came and planted the weeds, the seed of evil in man and woman. Today, good and evil are mixed in human nature. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we first repent and our lives are reset. We are once again restored to the image of Christ, the visible image of God. Thereafter, whenever we fall short of God’s standards described in His word, we are to repent and reset our lives. We should not own the negatives or evil in our human nature as we were created in the image of God- a reflection of the absolute goodness of God. We need not defend or deny our negatives but we only need to repent and reset our lives. In respect of any specific fault that we become aware or someone points out, we need to repent and reset, or in other words, change to be like Christ. Even the current covid global pandemic is a call from God to humanity to repent and reset. When we realize that we are to reflect God in His holiness, glory, majesty, wisdom, beauty and grace like a mirror reflects an image, we will not try to hide our faults but try to keep improving. Repent and reset is a good concept to import from spirituality and faith into the realm of corporate and personal management. Even on a computer, we need to use control, delete, alt buttons to change what we have typed. We need to delete our past negatives, control our negative thoughts, emotions, impulses and alter our lives to move forward. Paul wrote, “Forgetting what is past, I surge forward to do the will of God.” We need to forget our bad memories and keep surging forward in hope, faith, courage and strength. The enemy will try to bring accusations, doubts, fears to weaken our resolve, to demotivate, to demoralize us. But when we are sealed by God with the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, he cannot steal our inner peace or joy.

The Feet of Iron and Clay

UV 4308/10000 The Feet of Iron and Clay Its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay ( pottery). Daniel 2 v 33 We, humans, are partly made up of iron, or strengths and partly of clay, weaknesses. The English expression, “All have feet of clay should” actually read, “All have feet of iron and clay. The trouble is that the iron and clay are mixed up. The story of the good wolf or dog and bad wolf or dog existing in each man and the need to fee the former and starve the latter does not make much sense as our good is mixed up with evil, our strengths with weaknesses. Some of our foundational ( symbolized by feet) beliefs are of iron or inducing strength and power in us but it is mixed up with clay or human weaknesses. Jesus refers to it as the good crop mixed up with the tares or weeds. As in the vision of Nebuchadnezzar interpreted by Daniel, the stone not cut with human hands that can demolish the clay parts or our weaknesses is none other than Jesus Christ. All who are touched by Him and saved by Him become the great mountain of faith that filled the whole earth. In practical and spiritual terms, every day we need to surrender our clay parts to the Lord and ask Him to use our iron parts for the building of the mountain. We need to examine ourselves regularly, seeking the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit to identify the clay parts for it can be disguised to look like iron on the surface and to remove it. The process of sanctification is one of separating the iron from the clay. The iron-clay mix applies also to our emotions, our thoughts, actions and responses to various stimuli in life. The Lord wants us to remove the clay or emotions that make us weak, the thoughts that make us weak and prone to sin, the actions or habits that make us weak and to build the emotions, thoughts, actions, habits that make us strong. The Lord’s power, wisdom and glory is often revealed in how He deals with our weaknesses. Hence, Paul wrote that “ In my weakness is His strength.” Our iron parts or strengths itself are like clay in His hand. As we surrender our strengths and weaknesses to Him, He will take it and use it for revealing or manifesting His power, wisdom and glory.

The Joy that Comes From Sincere Sorrow

UV 4307/10000 The Joy that Comes from Sincere Sorrow Blessed are those who mourn (over their sins and repent), for they will be comforted ( when the burden of sin is lifted). Matthew 5 v 4 Each beatitude is related to a specific fruit of the spirit. When we repent and mourn over our personal sin, we are comforted by the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and our spirit of mourning is replaced by one of joy. We feed a great relief as if a big weight has shifted off our shoulders. This uni-verse, then is the one related to the fruit of joy. Though we are saved by faith when we first repented and placed our faith in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, we need to keep practicing mourning daily and from time to time over specific sins as long as we live even as it is necessary to bathe every day in order to maintain our personal hygiene. We are to mourn as that part of us which caused us to sin is to die or to be put to death on the cross. The other beatitudes – to be poor in spirit is related to the fruit of humility. To be gentle is related to the fruit of kindness and patience. To hunger and thirst for righteousness is related to the fruit of goodness. To be merciful is related to love even as God forgave us in His agape love and Christ chose to pay the price for our sin. To be tolerant of insults, persecution and false accusations is also related to this beatitude of mercy. To be pure in heart is a choice or in other words related to the fruit of self control. To pray and work for peace is related to the fruit of peace. Hence, it does not mean that Jesus is asking us to only practice one of the attributes or beatitudes but with the help of the Holy Spirit to manifest all nine. When we give priority to practice all the nine principles that Jesus taught and so manifest all the nine fruit of the spirit, we will be exceedingly joyful. We may not see our rewards and “promised land” on earth but we will see it from afar in heaven and the hope will keep us from being frustrated, from questioning or doubting God, from weakening in our faith. All these attitudes or attributes are useful in responsibly and effectively putting to use each of the nine spiritual gifts- gifts of healing, doing miracles of deliverance, other miracles, speaking in tongues, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, gift of discernment, prophecy, discernment of spirits.