Uni-verse 234/10,000 For better through verse I Samuel 17 v40
“Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine”
We must not carry our sling in our hand unlike David. We carry our sling in our hearts and minds- our faith in Jesus. That sling enables us to defeat our mortal foes and spiritual enemy who mocks at us, threatens us like Goliath. The "Philistine" is whatever troubles us or persecutes or obstructs us. The staff is the cross that shields us from the slings and arrows of misfortune.
The five stones are the “rhema” verses that we pick up from the stream of living water of God’s Word that makes it over time smooth and just right to throw at the enemy’s temple. These stones are sufficient for us against all the threats,lethal arms and heavy armour of the enemy. The Goliath in our life is fear. Just as the other four stones that David picked up were meant for the brothers of Goliath. The brothers of fear in our lives are worry, anger, insecurity and despair. Each day we approach a battle line but like David we must approach it with courage and faith in the Lord. The pouch of the shepherd’s bag is our own memory.
The Lord has provided the stones of assurance of salvation, provision, answered prayer, victory and guidance. He will not throw it for us. We need to load it on our slings of faith and aim it at the strategic spot of whatever opposes us.
Prateep V Philip
Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fear. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
On valour
Uni-verse 189/10,000 For better through verse
Jdg 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
Gideon was only a farmer when the angel of the Lord appeared before him. He considered himself the least in the tribe of Manasseh and the poor house of his father. What holds us back from our divine destiny is negative conditioning from our ancient past , inherited conditioning from the previous generation and peer pressure to conform from our current generation. As a result, Gideon trembled with fear at the mere prospect of fighting the powerful Midianites or even challenging the practices of his own people. Even extracting his own wine, he did in stealth and hiding. Yet, the angel declared him to be a mighty man of valour. God sees qualities in His chosen children that they themselves or their contemporaries cannot see and affirms these qualities. He does not look at where we came from but where we are going. It is His presence in His chosen that transforms us into mighty people of valour.
Courage is overcoming our biggest fear. The fear factor should not be denied but identified and acknowledged. The biggest fear that mankind collectively and individually face is the fear of death, a violent or untimely death. When Christ is in us and we are in Christ, we overcome this fear as Christ has overcome death. His resurrection power available to us makes us mighty people of valour. Unlike Gideon, we should not ask for signs to confirm God’s Word but instead believe God’s Word and sign, wonders and mighty acts will follow.
Gideon the farmer was transformed into Gideon, the soldier, the general, the freedom-fighter, the deliverer, the leader. Before he was transformed, he was transfixed with fear and self-doubt. He asked the angel for a sign. The angel transformed his offer of a meal of meat and bread into a “heavenly barbecue on the rock” to confirm his calling by God to be a new generation Moses, one who breaks the yoke of the oppressors. The might was not of Gideon but it was sourced from JehovahShalom as he himself soon acknowledged in an act of worship and commemoration. We are called in this generation to be a new- generation- Gideon, to reveal the might of God in and through our lives, to act with courage in overcoming the biggest fear and challenges in our current situation. For the Almighty Lord is with us, we mighty people of valour. We can reveal His might to all people in all fields.
Prateep V Philip
Jdg 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
Gideon was only a farmer when the angel of the Lord appeared before him. He considered himself the least in the tribe of Manasseh and the poor house of his father. What holds us back from our divine destiny is negative conditioning from our ancient past , inherited conditioning from the previous generation and peer pressure to conform from our current generation. As a result, Gideon trembled with fear at the mere prospect of fighting the powerful Midianites or even challenging the practices of his own people. Even extracting his own wine, he did in stealth and hiding. Yet, the angel declared him to be a mighty man of valour. God sees qualities in His chosen children that they themselves or their contemporaries cannot see and affirms these qualities. He does not look at where we came from but where we are going. It is His presence in His chosen that transforms us into mighty people of valour.
Courage is overcoming our biggest fear. The fear factor should not be denied but identified and acknowledged. The biggest fear that mankind collectively and individually face is the fear of death, a violent or untimely death. When Christ is in us and we are in Christ, we overcome this fear as Christ has overcome death. His resurrection power available to us makes us mighty people of valour. Unlike Gideon, we should not ask for signs to confirm God’s Word but instead believe God’s Word and sign, wonders and mighty acts will follow.
Gideon the farmer was transformed into Gideon, the soldier, the general, the freedom-fighter, the deliverer, the leader. Before he was transformed, he was transfixed with fear and self-doubt. He asked the angel for a sign. The angel transformed his offer of a meal of meat and bread into a “heavenly barbecue on the rock” to confirm his calling by God to be a new generation Moses, one who breaks the yoke of the oppressors. The might was not of Gideon but it was sourced from JehovahShalom as he himself soon acknowledged in an act of worship and commemoration. We are called in this generation to be a new- generation- Gideon, to reveal the might of God in and through our lives, to act with courage in overcoming the biggest fear and challenges in our current situation. For the Almighty Lord is with us, we mighty people of valour. We can reveal His might to all people in all fields.
Prateep V Philip
Monday, August 15, 2011
Set free
Uni-verse 172/10,000 For better through verse John 8 v 32
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Knowing Jesus as Lord and Saviour sets us free from the bondage of sin and the captivity of death. The saying of the French philosopher Rousseau that," Man is born free but is everywhere is in chains" is not true as everywhere and in all ages, man was not born free but in the chains of sin and death. With Jesus came grace and truth to set free all who believe that He is the way of truth and life. All the freedom fighters are the ones who are most respected in history like M.K. Gandhi or Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King. But, Jesus was the greatest freedom fighter. He lived, died and was resurrected to set free all mankind of the yoke of sin and death.
The Word of God is the law of liberty and not a set of rules to restrict our freedom. The Word also says that where the Holy Spirit is, there is freedom. When we receive by faith the Lord Jesus into our lives, we are anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit interprets the Word of God to us so that we remain free and become fruitful in our lives and our faith.
It is said, " Knowledge is power while wisdom is liberty." Knowledge makes us think about our lifetime while wisdom makes us think about eternity. Knowledge gets us earthly rewards while wisdom gets us eternal rewards. Freedom does not mean that we have the license to do whatever pleases us. With freedom comes the responsibility to grow and bear fruits of righteousness. We are servants of righteousness. But, we are servants not in the sense we have no freedom or liberty as we are Friends of God. We are set free that we become dependent on our dependable God. We are set free from the fear of death, fear of failure, fear of disapproval, fear of want, fear of curses and fear of the unknown.
Prateep V Philip
Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Knowing Jesus as Lord and Saviour sets us free from the bondage of sin and the captivity of death. The saying of the French philosopher Rousseau that," Man is born free but is everywhere is in chains" is not true as everywhere and in all ages, man was not born free but in the chains of sin and death. With Jesus came grace and truth to set free all who believe that He is the way of truth and life. All the freedom fighters are the ones who are most respected in history like M.K. Gandhi or Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King. But, Jesus was the greatest freedom fighter. He lived, died and was resurrected to set free all mankind of the yoke of sin and death.
The Word of God is the law of liberty and not a set of rules to restrict our freedom. The Word also says that where the Holy Spirit is, there is freedom. When we receive by faith the Lord Jesus into our lives, we are anointed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit interprets the Word of God to us so that we remain free and become fruitful in our lives and our faith.
It is said, " Knowledge is power while wisdom is liberty." Knowledge makes us think about our lifetime while wisdom makes us think about eternity. Knowledge gets us earthly rewards while wisdom gets us eternal rewards. Freedom does not mean that we have the license to do whatever pleases us. With freedom comes the responsibility to grow and bear fruits of righteousness. We are servants of righteousness. But, we are servants not in the sense we have no freedom or liberty as we are Friends of God. We are set free that we become dependent on our dependable God. We are set free from the fear of death, fear of failure, fear of disapproval, fear of want, fear of curses and fear of the unknown.
Prateep V Philip
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