Uni-verse 199/10,000 For better through verse
Jer 9:23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
Though a person becomes wise or powerful or rich, he must not set much store by these things for they cannot redeem his soul. If a person increases in any of these aspects, he should not set his heart upon it. Our soul is much more precious than all these things. These are also very uncertain. But, we can find our source of strength in the Lord and place our complete trust in Him and His power of salvation from all that threatens us, be it death, disease, our earthly foes and persecutors or the enemy of our souls. The word " glory" means to rejoice with a sense of jubilation and self-affirmation. Man is created for the glory of God but instead we glory in the things created instead of the Creator.
Man through the ages is in quest of conquest for the sake of glory. But our glory lies in knowing and understanding God on a personal basis, in knowing that He exercises lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth. In knowing this, our lives get shifted from the plane of "Hamartia" or sin and its shortcoming to " hyperbole"- an abundance of peace, joy and righteousness. We must set our heart on the increase of these very real but intangible aspects of our life.
For the faithful, the increase of wisdom, power and wealth is in itself not considered wrong and is in fact a blessing from the Lord. But, such increase is incidental and secondary. Our eyes or our focus must be set on the face of God not on His hands. Is He smiling when He regards us or is He unhappy with our heart-attitudes? Does He delight in us and do we delight in Him? Our focus is not on what we can obtain from His hands. He will send these things our way in due course as we stay faithful to the course, in due time and according to our need for He denies no good thing to them that love Him.
Prateep V Philip
Showing posts with label wisdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wisdom. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
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
Saturday, July 9, 2011
U 144 The lost art and discipline of Stillness
Uni-verse 144/10,000 For better through verse Psalms 100 v 3
Psa 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
When we say that mankind and all other creatures evolved by themselves, aren't we saying," We made ourselves." Is there anything so foolish as this? Yet, brilliant minds and most intelligent fools keep reiterating this folly in their sheer ignorance and arrogance. Knowledge of God and the truth about God has eluded and will continue to elude such mind that are deluded that they can know all things that exist through cognitive intelligence. We must know that we know as much about God as sheep know about their shepherd. We are as vulnerable and as powerless. The sheep do not know the name or the other personal details of the shepherd. The sheep only recognize the shepherd by his voice. We, too can recognize our Shepherd Jesus's voice. He is shepherding us back into the pasture of God where we can find both food and water. He fends for us and defends us.
The word " know" means to be aware of, to realize or to discern, to acknowledge or to declare. Knowing that the Lord is God implies that we must respond with a deep sense of awe at His presence and His power, amazement at His grace, love for His act of redemption from the wolf, the serpent and the lion( metaphors for different types of spiritual and mortal enemies), gratitude for His provision and blessings. As the Psalmist writes, " Be still and know that I am God." The counter-intuitive knowledge of God demands that we cease to explore or attempt to discover spiritual truths through intense brain activity and reliance on our five senses. We have to still our bodies and minds, our restless thoughts, tongues and souls and become aware of the beauty of God's creation. We must still all our senses and the chatter within us to allow the Holy Spirit to permeate our souls and commune with us. We must still all our anxieties, hopes and fears and allow the Lord to comfort us.
Knowledge is power, wisdom is liberty. Knowing God gives us both a sense of power and a sense of liberty. We can lie still for a few minutes every day and relate our secular knowledge of the different organs of our bodies, the different aspects of the universe, the events of history with our biblical knowledge of the One who is called," I Am" and the One who said, " I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Stillness is a spiritual discipline that increases our awareness of ourselves vis a vis God. Stillness creates space for God to move into our lives. Stillness will give way to knowledge and wisdom, wisdom will give way to grace and truth.
Prateep V Philip
Psa 100:3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
When we say that mankind and all other creatures evolved by themselves, aren't we saying," We made ourselves." Is there anything so foolish as this? Yet, brilliant minds and most intelligent fools keep reiterating this folly in their sheer ignorance and arrogance. Knowledge of God and the truth about God has eluded and will continue to elude such mind that are deluded that they can know all things that exist through cognitive intelligence. We must know that we know as much about God as sheep know about their shepherd. We are as vulnerable and as powerless. The sheep do not know the name or the other personal details of the shepherd. The sheep only recognize the shepherd by his voice. We, too can recognize our Shepherd Jesus's voice. He is shepherding us back into the pasture of God where we can find both food and water. He fends for us and defends us.
The word " know" means to be aware of, to realize or to discern, to acknowledge or to declare. Knowing that the Lord is God implies that we must respond with a deep sense of awe at His presence and His power, amazement at His grace, love for His act of redemption from the wolf, the serpent and the lion( metaphors for different types of spiritual and mortal enemies), gratitude for His provision and blessings. As the Psalmist writes, " Be still and know that I am God." The counter-intuitive knowledge of God demands that we cease to explore or attempt to discover spiritual truths through intense brain activity and reliance on our five senses. We have to still our bodies and minds, our restless thoughts, tongues and souls and become aware of the beauty of God's creation. We must still all our senses and the chatter within us to allow the Holy Spirit to permeate our souls and commune with us. We must still all our anxieties, hopes and fears and allow the Lord to comfort us.
Knowledge is power, wisdom is liberty. Knowing God gives us both a sense of power and a sense of liberty. We can lie still for a few minutes every day and relate our secular knowledge of the different organs of our bodies, the different aspects of the universe, the events of history with our biblical knowledge of the One who is called," I Am" and the One who said, " I am the Way, the Truth and the Life." Stillness is a spiritual discipline that increases our awareness of ourselves vis a vis God. Stillness creates space for God to move into our lives. Stillness will give way to knowledge and wisdom, wisdom will give way to grace and truth.
Prateep V Philip
Monday, June 20, 2011
Uni-verse 125-10,000
Uni-verse 125/10,000 For better through verse Proverbs 15 v 4
Pro 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
A tongue that is disciplined and controlled by the Holy Spirit is a fruitful tree. Almost all the fruits of the Spirit can be perceived by the way we use our tongue. If we listen to ourselves or others for a couple of days, by observing the speech we can discover the underlying patterns- whether it is marked by love,joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control and wisdom. A wholesome tongue is one that manifests all these qualities on a day to day basis. In order to undertake this exercise of speech observation, we must quieten ourselves and listen to the words that fly off human tongues and discern the spirit or attitude behind the words.
A wholesome tongue should give appreciation where appreciation is due, correction where correction is due, understanding where understanding is needed and backed by love at all times. It is a tree of life as it is by virtue of the tongue that people are led to Jesus- the source of eternal life. The highest and best use of the tongue is in sharing the gospel and in building up believers or edifying the body of Christ. The Psalmist says that in order to offer praise and to glorify God,we must order our conversation aright or that we must command or arrange our speech
Often, when we are born again our tongue is not " born again". Old habits both die hard and hardly die and we continue to use our tongues to convey bitterness, sarcasm, vulgarity, to speak lies and to hurt the feelings of others. This causes a breach or disruption or imbalance in our spiritual growth. Instead, we must progressively yield our tongues to the control and direction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit often manifests Himself as " tongues of fire" - this is an indication that the Lord wants to transform our tongues into a life-giving fire that brings warmth, comfort and strength to those who shiver in the darkness of sin,sorrow and misery. Our mouth speaks what our heart is full of. Therefore, we must get rid of all evil and malice from our hearts and instead fill it with treasures from the Word of God. Sound speech patterns are referred to in the book of Proverbs as " apples of gold in settings of silver." The world says that silence is golden and speech is silver. But, the Word of God says that an apt word is like gold while silence is likened to silver. We must shape or forge precious golden words in furnaces of silver or backgrounds of silence.
Prateep V Philip
Pro 15:4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
A tongue that is disciplined and controlled by the Holy Spirit is a fruitful tree. Almost all the fruits of the Spirit can be perceived by the way we use our tongue. If we listen to ourselves or others for a couple of days, by observing the speech we can discover the underlying patterns- whether it is marked by love,joy, peace, patience,kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control and wisdom. A wholesome tongue is one that manifests all these qualities on a day to day basis. In order to undertake this exercise of speech observation, we must quieten ourselves and listen to the words that fly off human tongues and discern the spirit or attitude behind the words.
A wholesome tongue should give appreciation where appreciation is due, correction where correction is due, understanding where understanding is needed and backed by love at all times. It is a tree of life as it is by virtue of the tongue that people are led to Jesus- the source of eternal life. The highest and best use of the tongue is in sharing the gospel and in building up believers or edifying the body of Christ. The Psalmist says that in order to offer praise and to glorify God,we must order our conversation aright or that we must command or arrange our speech
Often, when we are born again our tongue is not " born again". Old habits both die hard and hardly die and we continue to use our tongues to convey bitterness, sarcasm, vulgarity, to speak lies and to hurt the feelings of others. This causes a breach or disruption or imbalance in our spiritual growth. Instead, we must progressively yield our tongues to the control and direction of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit often manifests Himself as " tongues of fire" - this is an indication that the Lord wants to transform our tongues into a life-giving fire that brings warmth, comfort and strength to those who shiver in the darkness of sin,sorrow and misery. Our mouth speaks what our heart is full of. Therefore, we must get rid of all evil and malice from our hearts and instead fill it with treasures from the Word of God. Sound speech patterns are referred to in the book of Proverbs as " apples of gold in settings of silver." The world says that silence is golden and speech is silver. But, the Word of God says that an apt word is like gold while silence is likened to silver. We must shape or forge precious golden words in furnaces of silver or backgrounds of silence.
Prateep V Philip
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