Uni-verse 256/10,000 For better through verse Genesis 8 v 11
Gen 8:11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
Three days ago, the Lord revealed, " You are like the dove that brought back the olive leaf .." Every faithful believer is like the dove that flitted to and fro over the waters, and finding an olive leaf, brought it back to the one who sent it. Every other person in the world is like the raven that never returned to the one who sent it as it was feasting hungrily on the dead flesh of floating bodies in the receding flood waters. Sadly, they do not return to the One who sent them into the world.
The olive leaf is a symbol of the peace, prosperity, health and eternal life that is embodied in the gospel. We are ready to go places or wherever God sends us and whenever He sends us. Like the dove, our feet are beautiful in His sight because we carry the gospel. The sight of the dove with the olive leaf in its beak gave hope to Noah and his family, incarcerated for many days by the flood waters. Similarly, we are hope-bringers to a lost world, a world that has lost its sense of bearing of right and wrong, of good and bad. It is flooded with crimes, hopelessness, recession, corruption scams, depression, suicides, broken marriages, diseases, plagues, tyranny, pornography, wickedness in high places .. you name it. No wonder the Chancellor who succeeded Hitler in war-ravaged Germany told the young Billy Graham, "Outside the gospel of Jesus Christ, there is no hope for this world."
Like Noah's dove,we are to keep taking the concerns of the world to the Lord and the concerns of the Lord to the world, back and forth. Then, God will send His healing and creative Word to bring healing and calmness to the storms in our life. The waters will abate and we will rest on solid rock. Finally, we will be ready to be taken back into our heavenly homes, the Ark not of Noah but of God.
Prateep V Philip
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hope. Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Sunday, November 13, 2011
How to be more than conquerors
Rom 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
The love of God revealed through the person, mission and message of Christ abides in us so deeply and so enduringly that even tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, shame, danger or violence or disasters cannot shake our belief and our sense of assurance. As believers we are ready to face these tests of our faith rather than give it up in the face of such difficult predicaments. Instead, we rejoice in such suffering as a great reward awaits us in heaven and to partake in the very sufferings of Christ is itself a privilege.
Conquerors never knew the final outcome of their campaigns and conquests. They despaired on loosing a battle. They feared defeat and death at the hands of the enemy. We are more than conquerors for we are overcomers. We will run the full course that God has set for us and finish the race with joy. In order to become overcomers, we need to understand or come to grips by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit with the full extent and magnitude of the love of God in Christ.
We need to know how long is God’s love –meaning to what extent God’s love will remain with us in the course of our lives. For we know that God’s love is a line that extends for all of eternity. It began long before we began and extends to eternity long after we end our race on earth. We need to comprehend how broad it is –implying what are the areas and domains of our lives that God’s love covers. It covers all of our physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, familial, relational and financial aspects of our existence. It goes beyond whatever we are in need of. We need to realize how high is God’s love- it is higher than our most exalted thoughts and imagination.
Prateep V Philip
The love of God revealed through the person, mission and message of Christ abides in us so deeply and so enduringly that even tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, shame, danger or violence or disasters cannot shake our belief and our sense of assurance. As believers we are ready to face these tests of our faith rather than give it up in the face of such difficult predicaments. Instead, we rejoice in such suffering as a great reward awaits us in heaven and to partake in the very sufferings of Christ is itself a privilege.
Conquerors never knew the final outcome of their campaigns and conquests. They despaired on loosing a battle. They feared defeat and death at the hands of the enemy. We are more than conquerors for we are overcomers. We will run the full course that God has set for us and finish the race with joy. In order to become overcomers, we need to understand or come to grips by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit with the full extent and magnitude of the love of God in Christ.
We need to know how long is God’s love –meaning to what extent God’s love will remain with us in the course of our lives. For we know that God’s love is a line that extends for all of eternity. It began long before we began and extends to eternity long after we end our race on earth. We need to comprehend how broad it is –implying what are the areas and domains of our lives that God’s love covers. It covers all of our physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, familial, relational and financial aspects of our existence. It goes beyond whatever we are in need of. We need to realize how high is God’s love- it is higher than our most exalted thoughts and imagination.
Prateep V Philip
Friday, November 4, 2011
Combatting moments of weakness
Mic 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me
The enemy rejoices when we fall. When man first fell, the enemy was jubilant that God’s new creation, man had become his captive and subject. But his joy was short-lived as God enabled fallen man to rise again. Indeed the one who is strong is not the he who never falls but he who falls but rises from the fall. It was part of God’s plan and purpose to impart His strength to man, to make him a “ new creation”. He desires to make our joy complete and full in Him even as the enemy plots to rob us of our joy. The enemy gloats over our defeat, sorrow and failure while the Lord reveals His glory in such situations.
Each of us have moments of weakness, times when we fall in our own esteem and confidence, times when we are saddened by the turn of events, times when we are apprehensive and fearful But, these are times when the Lord is closest to us. We can lean on Him for strength and depend on Him to enable us to stand erect again. His strength shall make us rise again. The trouble is we give up too early. We react with despair without waiting for the Lord to act.
There are times when we seem to be surrounded by darkness, situations that seem to be hopeless. The Lord will let in the glorious light of His presence and His comforting Word and we will feel the brush of the Holy Spirit against our crestfallen spirits. He will illumine the paths we are to travel by. Once He leads us to victory, He will rejoice over us with singing.
Prateep V Philip
The enemy rejoices when we fall. When man first fell, the enemy was jubilant that God’s new creation, man had become his captive and subject. But his joy was short-lived as God enabled fallen man to rise again. Indeed the one who is strong is not the he who never falls but he who falls but rises from the fall. It was part of God’s plan and purpose to impart His strength to man, to make him a “ new creation”. He desires to make our joy complete and full in Him even as the enemy plots to rob us of our joy. The enemy gloats over our defeat, sorrow and failure while the Lord reveals His glory in such situations.
Each of us have moments of weakness, times when we fall in our own esteem and confidence, times when we are saddened by the turn of events, times when we are apprehensive and fearful But, these are times when the Lord is closest to us. We can lean on Him for strength and depend on Him to enable us to stand erect again. His strength shall make us rise again. The trouble is we give up too early. We react with despair without waiting for the Lord to act.
There are times when we seem to be surrounded by darkness, situations that seem to be hopeless. The Lord will let in the glorious light of His presence and His comforting Word and we will feel the brush of the Holy Spirit against our crestfallen spirits. He will illumine the paths we are to travel by. Once He leads us to victory, He will rejoice over us with singing.
Prateep V Philip
Thursday, June 30, 2011
U 136 The Purpose of Suffering
Uni-verse 136/10,000 For better through verse I Peter 1 v 7
1Pe 1:7 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:
What is gold to man is faith to God. Gold is precious, rare and can be pure or impure depending on the process it is put through. Life itself is a process that God uses to purify our faith. Believers in Christ likewise through the ages reckon their faith more valuable than gold. This is the precious jewel for which a merchant sold all his fortunes to acquire it. So much so, in the early years of the church, they gave their lives for their faith as many were tortured, crucified, burnt, put to the sword or thrown to wild beasts. Faith is tested by suffering even as gold is tested in fire. Only the degree of suffering may vary from believer to believer. Some women who were studying this verse went to the goldsmith and asked him," Till what point do you keep the gold in the fire?" The goldsmith replied," Till I see my image in the gold." God has made man in his image. We lost that image through sin. We regain the image of God through faith in Jesus, the only begotten Son of God who Himself embraced suffering and death on the cross. Suffering removes the dross or impurities in our faith and polishes or purifies the image of God in us. God does know that the best lessons of life are learnt in the school of hard knocks. He tests us in the furnace of afflictions.
It is not great fun when we undergo suffering. It is extreme pain. I know as I went through part of the bone-breaking pain that Jesus underwent as I suffered excruciating pain from multiple pellet injuries in various bones and parts of the body from the world's first "human bomb" that assassinated former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi. But, our faith is victorious when we can look back and say as I do today, " I thank the Lord for the suffering I underwent." St Paul wrote to the Romans in similar vein that tribulation brings patience, patience brings experience and experience brings hope. Suffering will make us more patient, more experienced in terms of the grace of God and therefore, more hopeful and faithful. In the midst of our sufferings, when we wait with patience and expectation that the Lord will deliver us according to His promise, it will result in the experience of deliverance that will further increase our hope in the future. It will make us complete in faith, whole in our character and perfect in Christ. Faith gives birth to grace and joy much like the pangs of childbearing give way to joyful smiles and happiness when a baby is born. As the Psalmist says," Tears by night but joy and laughter in the morning."
Our suffering will produce praise, honour and glory as an offering and an outpouring from our soul to the Lord Jesus. Our suffering will enable us to encourage others who suffer similarly. Our suffering will strengthen and purify our inner being. Our suffering will give us a testimony for as it is said, Jesus transforms trials into triumphs, our tests into testimony, our mess into a message, our scars into stars, victims into victors. The American flag has stars and stripes. Our flag has scars and the stripes of Christ.
Prateep V Philip
1Pe 1:7 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:
What is gold to man is faith to God. Gold is precious, rare and can be pure or impure depending on the process it is put through. Life itself is a process that God uses to purify our faith. Believers in Christ likewise through the ages reckon their faith more valuable than gold. This is the precious jewel for which a merchant sold all his fortunes to acquire it. So much so, in the early years of the church, they gave their lives for their faith as many were tortured, crucified, burnt, put to the sword or thrown to wild beasts. Faith is tested by suffering even as gold is tested in fire. Only the degree of suffering may vary from believer to believer. Some women who were studying this verse went to the goldsmith and asked him," Till what point do you keep the gold in the fire?" The goldsmith replied," Till I see my image in the gold." God has made man in his image. We lost that image through sin. We regain the image of God through faith in Jesus, the only begotten Son of God who Himself embraced suffering and death on the cross. Suffering removes the dross or impurities in our faith and polishes or purifies the image of God in us. God does know that the best lessons of life are learnt in the school of hard knocks. He tests us in the furnace of afflictions.
It is not great fun when we undergo suffering. It is extreme pain. I know as I went through part of the bone-breaking pain that Jesus underwent as I suffered excruciating pain from multiple pellet injuries in various bones and parts of the body from the world's first "human bomb" that assassinated former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi. But, our faith is victorious when we can look back and say as I do today, " I thank the Lord for the suffering I underwent." St Paul wrote to the Romans in similar vein that tribulation brings patience, patience brings experience and experience brings hope. Suffering will make us more patient, more experienced in terms of the grace of God and therefore, more hopeful and faithful. In the midst of our sufferings, when we wait with patience and expectation that the Lord will deliver us according to His promise, it will result in the experience of deliverance that will further increase our hope in the future. It will make us complete in faith, whole in our character and perfect in Christ. Faith gives birth to grace and joy much like the pangs of childbearing give way to joyful smiles and happiness when a baby is born. As the Psalmist says," Tears by night but joy and laughter in the morning."
Our suffering will produce praise, honour and glory as an offering and an outpouring from our soul to the Lord Jesus. Our suffering will enable us to encourage others who suffer similarly. Our suffering will strengthen and purify our inner being. Our suffering will give us a testimony for as it is said, Jesus transforms trials into triumphs, our tests into testimony, our mess into a message, our scars into stars, victims into victors. The American flag has stars and stripes. Our flag has scars and the stripes of Christ.
Prateep V Philip
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Uni-verse 124 A Meditation on Joshua 1 v 8
Uni-verse 124/10,000 For better through verse Joshua 1 v 8
Jos 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Meditation is medicine. When we meditate constantly on the Word of God 24x7x365 , it heals our mouth, it heals our mind, it instills courage and strength in our hearts. Like a compass or a Global Positioning System, the Word of God will give us a sense of our bearings of where we are and where we should go. It heals the deep hurts of our hearts. It takes the poison out of our tongues. Our tongue will cease to be a fiery evil, the spark that can set a forest on fire and foments trouble in our lives. Instead, it will become a rudder that will direct our communication in wholesome ways. Our thoughts will be transformed so that the negative ones are negated and made positive and the positive ones even more reinforced. It teaches us to think on the right lines. The man who bases his life on the Word of God follows a 5-4-3 pattern of living meaning Think, Plan and Act. The result(6) will be prosperity, fulfillment and good success. The world' s patterns will give us an empty, vain or futile success but living in accordance with the Word of God will produce a lasting and fulfilling result.
The Word of God teaches us not to conform to the world but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds-intellect, emotions and will- by continually meditating on what the Bible says on how we need to live and act. When we meditate on the Word of God, we are focussing on the priorities of God. He in turn, will be involved in our thoughts and goals and give us enabling grace to do whatever we think and plan in accordance with his Word. The Word of God has a tremendous transforming effect on our thought, temperament, tongue, talent and time. The result is a life that is pleasing to God.
The Law given through Moses required a complete adherence to ALL that is written therein. This is considered a virtually impossible and unattainable standard. But, the love and grace of Christ Jesus today enables us as He fills up the gaps. Hence, in addition to meditating on the Word, we must meditate on the Person, character and message of Jesus. This is the reason that both in the gospel of John as well as in Revelation, Jesus is called the Word of God. He is the Word of God incarnate and therefore, we too must become the Word of God incarnate. We become so when we meditate on the Word of God and the Son of God all the time, both day and night. Isn't it a mind-boggling thought to think that we are the Word of God in flesh and blood today?
Prateep V Philip
Jos 1:8
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Meditation is medicine. When we meditate constantly on the Word of God 24x7x365 , it heals our mouth, it heals our mind, it instills courage and strength in our hearts. Like a compass or a Global Positioning System, the Word of God will give us a sense of our bearings of where we are and where we should go. It heals the deep hurts of our hearts. It takes the poison out of our tongues. Our tongue will cease to be a fiery evil, the spark that can set a forest on fire and foments trouble in our lives. Instead, it will become a rudder that will direct our communication in wholesome ways. Our thoughts will be transformed so that the negative ones are negated and made positive and the positive ones even more reinforced. It teaches us to think on the right lines. The man who bases his life on the Word of God follows a 5-4-3 pattern of living meaning Think, Plan and Act. The result(6) will be prosperity, fulfillment and good success. The world' s patterns will give us an empty, vain or futile success but living in accordance with the Word of God will produce a lasting and fulfilling result.
The Word of God teaches us not to conform to the world but to be transformed by the renewal of our minds-intellect, emotions and will- by continually meditating on what the Bible says on how we need to live and act. When we meditate on the Word of God, we are focussing on the priorities of God. He in turn, will be involved in our thoughts and goals and give us enabling grace to do whatever we think and plan in accordance with his Word. The Word of God has a tremendous transforming effect on our thought, temperament, tongue, talent and time. The result is a life that is pleasing to God.
The Law given through Moses required a complete adherence to ALL that is written therein. This is considered a virtually impossible and unattainable standard. But, the love and grace of Christ Jesus today enables us as He fills up the gaps. Hence, in addition to meditating on the Word, we must meditate on the Person, character and message of Jesus. This is the reason that both in the gospel of John as well as in Revelation, Jesus is called the Word of God. He is the Word of God incarnate and therefore, we too must become the Word of God incarnate. We become so when we meditate on the Word of God and the Son of God all the time, both day and night. Isn't it a mind-boggling thought to think that we are the Word of God in flesh and blood today?
Prateep V Philip
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