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 purpose. Show all posts
Showing posts with label purpose. Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
The Purpose of our lives
Uni-verse 249/10,000 For better through verse
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
From every generation of mankind, there are chosen numbers of people who are anointed by God to be kings and priests, to belong to a divine nationality, a people who look forward to a future life beyond earthly loyalties and allegiances. All are called from birth but only a few are chosen. They belong to every race, nation, culture,linguistic and ethnic background.
We are called a peculiar people as we do not share the standards, values and aspirations of the rest of humanity. We cannot resort to the same methods as they do. For instance, we cannot be materialistic though we know of the necessity of money. We cannot be vindictive though we have been wronged.
Our life is driven by the one purpose that we declare and show the praises of the Great I Am who called us out of darkness of sin, curses and death into the light of righteousness, blessings here and now and eternal life.
Prateep V Philip
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
From every generation of mankind, there are chosen numbers of people who are anointed by God to be kings and priests, to belong to a divine nationality, a people who look forward to a future life beyond earthly loyalties and allegiances. All are called from birth but only a few are chosen. They belong to every race, nation, culture,linguistic and ethnic background.
We are called a peculiar people as we do not share the standards, values and aspirations of the rest of humanity. We cannot resort to the same methods as they do. For instance, we cannot be materialistic though we know of the necessity of money. We cannot be vindictive though we have been wronged.
Our life is driven by the one purpose that we declare and show the praises of the Great I Am who called us out of darkness of sin, curses and death into the light of righteousness, blessings here and now and eternal life.
Prateep V Philip
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Ultimate power and purpose behind WORK
Uni-verse 143/10,000 Colossians 3 v 23
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
All our lesser goals, aims and desires should converge in one purpose to serve God, to fulfill His plan for our lives, to please Him as a servant pleases his master, as a child pleases the parents or as a pupil pleases the teacher. Whatever we do, we must do it with all the energy, enthusiasm and strength at our command as we owe our very existence and our justification to God. Many people attempt to justify themselves by their work, their contribution or their achievements but these fall short of fulfilling the standards of God.
Each day we must ask the Lord, " What do you want me to do this day?" We must focus on the priorities that God has set before us. Since the Lord dwells in our hearts, He will give us a sense of direction. As Scripture says, " The paths of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord." Our work should become a display of the power, grace and love of God. It should be fruitful and not a vain or tantalising effort. The evil one , the devil attempts to destroy our work by planting tares or weeds in the midst of our crop. One of the ways the latter does it is by affecting our sense of focus so that we move in different directions without achieving much, producing frustration and failure. He also causes us to procrastinate or put off to another day the things we need to do today. The Devil uses a 5-D strategy: destroy, debilitate, divert, distract, diffuse. To counter such a strategy we need to depend on God's grace and power in deploying our own 5-D strategy: dedication, devotion, determination, discipline and diligence.
Our sense of commitment in our God-given professions must be whole-hearted. Our dedication, devotion, determination, discipline and diligence should be evident to all people. Our work is another way of being a witness to others for people will come to know that our ultimate boss is the Carpenter from Nazareth. He in turn will not be just a silent spectator but will be a co-worker with us for He is Ebenezer or the Helper. He will help us overcome our challenges and bless our outcomes with supernatural grace as well as supernatural results. To this day, He continues to show His disciples which side of the boat they need to throw the net. When we throw our professional nets in the direction He wants us to throw it, He will fill it to bursting.
Prateep V Philip
Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
All our lesser goals, aims and desires should converge in one purpose to serve God, to fulfill His plan for our lives, to please Him as a servant pleases his master, as a child pleases the parents or as a pupil pleases the teacher. Whatever we do, we must do it with all the energy, enthusiasm and strength at our command as we owe our very existence and our justification to God. Many people attempt to justify themselves by their work, their contribution or their achievements but these fall short of fulfilling the standards of God.
Each day we must ask the Lord, " What do you want me to do this day?" We must focus on the priorities that God has set before us. Since the Lord dwells in our hearts, He will give us a sense of direction. As Scripture says, " The paths of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord." Our work should become a display of the power, grace and love of God. It should be fruitful and not a vain or tantalising effort. The evil one , the devil attempts to destroy our work by planting tares or weeds in the midst of our crop. One of the ways the latter does it is by affecting our sense of focus so that we move in different directions without achieving much, producing frustration and failure. He also causes us to procrastinate or put off to another day the things we need to do today. The Devil uses a 5-D strategy: destroy, debilitate, divert, distract, diffuse. To counter such a strategy we need to depend on God's grace and power in deploying our own 5-D strategy: dedication, devotion, determination, discipline and diligence.
Our sense of commitment in our God-given professions must be whole-hearted. Our dedication, devotion, determination, discipline and diligence should be evident to all people. Our work is another way of being a witness to others for people will come to know that our ultimate boss is the Carpenter from Nazareth. He in turn will not be just a silent spectator but will be a co-worker with us for He is Ebenezer or the Helper. He will help us overcome our challenges and bless our outcomes with supernatural grace as well as supernatural results. To this day, He continues to show His disciples which side of the boat they need to throw the net. When we throw our professional nets in the direction He wants us to throw it, He will fill it to bursting.
Prateep V Philip
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
U 140 The power of God
Uni-verse 140/10,000 For better through verse Romans 9 v 17
Rom 9:17
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Power has two exercises in the main: the power to do good and the power against evil. God's power works against evil in rulers who have hardened their hearts against God, deeming themselves as demi-gods. It also works for good in those who believe in Him and trust His Word. God's power works in both these ways to declare His Name and His glory through all the earth and through all history. He raises both Pharoah and Moses to reveal His glory and purpose that is sovereign and absolute.
God does amazing wonders and miracles as signposts pointing to His love, power, purpose and justice. Each wonder and miracle is a sign of peace for His children who acknowledge Him as their Father and a sign of judgement for those who oppose His will as Pharaoh did. Each wonder and miracle increases the faith and love of His children even as it increases fear and awe in those who oppose Him.
On Sunday in a time of prayer at the Tabernacle, Jesus in a vision narrated the story of a sojourner on a boat who moved from one boat to another sharing the great news of Jesus Christ. He came to a particular point in his voyage where there were only rocks and even a huge boulder in front of him that he could not cross. He fasted and prayed for three days and on the third day, the Lord caused a wonderful miracle to happen as He alone can: He caused the sea water to rise up and cover the huge rock and the other smaller ones. The Lord removed all the obstructions by causing the sea to swell up and so enabled the traveller to cross over safely. Similarly, when we pray for God's power to be revealed in different situations, He will deal with the Pharoah or the big rock and the Egyptian bondages or the smaller rocks in our lives and enable by His grace our safe crossing. Our lifeboat is powered by two oars- grace or God's power in us , for us and on our behalf and peace or God's power against evil, disbelief, fear, anger, malice and confusion. So pray for a safe crossing and experience God's power both to deal with evil(peace) and to lead us to the good( grace).
Prateep V Philip
Rom 9:17
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Power has two exercises in the main: the power to do good and the power against evil. God's power works against evil in rulers who have hardened their hearts against God, deeming themselves as demi-gods. It also works for good in those who believe in Him and trust His Word. God's power works in both these ways to declare His Name and His glory through all the earth and through all history. He raises both Pharoah and Moses to reveal His glory and purpose that is sovereign and absolute.
God does amazing wonders and miracles as signposts pointing to His love, power, purpose and justice. Each wonder and miracle is a sign of peace for His children who acknowledge Him as their Father and a sign of judgement for those who oppose His will as Pharaoh did. Each wonder and miracle increases the faith and love of His children even as it increases fear and awe in those who oppose Him.
On Sunday in a time of prayer at the Tabernacle, Jesus in a vision narrated the story of a sojourner on a boat who moved from one boat to another sharing the great news of Jesus Christ. He came to a particular point in his voyage where there were only rocks and even a huge boulder in front of him that he could not cross. He fasted and prayed for three days and on the third day, the Lord caused a wonderful miracle to happen as He alone can: He caused the sea water to rise up and cover the huge rock and the other smaller ones. The Lord removed all the obstructions by causing the sea to swell up and so enabled the traveller to cross over safely. Similarly, when we pray for God's power to be revealed in different situations, He will deal with the Pharoah or the big rock and the Egyptian bondages or the smaller rocks in our lives and enable by His grace our safe crossing. Our lifeboat is powered by two oars- grace or God's power in us , for us and on our behalf and peace or God's power against evil, disbelief, fear, anger, malice and confusion. So pray for a safe crossing and experience God's power both to deal with evil(peace) and to lead us to the good( grace).
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
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