Sunday, May 15, 2016

Join the Winning Side

UV 1756/10000 Join the Winning Side
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
Psalm 118 v 6
There are two sides: the sinning side and the winning side. Both sides have sinned and fallen short of God’s favour but the latter chose to find forgiveness of their sins by and through a personal Saviour Jesus. The Lord is on our side and we have joined the winning side. No strength of man can ever prevail against us. He is the LIGHT of our lives: source of true and everlasting Love, the cause of our Integrity, the source of Grace, the source of our happiness and the source of Truth. By these means He greatly strengthens us with the weapons of the spirit that can counter any weapon of the flesh. When we know and experience the Truth that is Jesus, the Truth sets us free from inhibitions, limitations, fears, guilt and all other bondages. The universal fear that all mankind has is the fear of death. We are not afraid of death and we are not afraid of life on earth. We are set free of the sting of fear of death by the resurrection of Jesus. All other kings and conquerors succumbed eventually to death and were seen no more. But Jesus alone rose from death, conquering death itself. As Jesus lives today, we too will live forever.
Since we are in the Lord’s favour, He will cover us under His protective shadow, the cloud of His presence. Nothing and no one can penetrate the shield and fencing He places around us. The prayers of other believers are also another source of help to us. The disciples were encouraged by the Lord when they were incarcerated, saying,” I have many people in this city.” Indeed, the Lord saves us with many or few.” Faith in Jesus fills us with great boldness, calmness, assurance, a sense of absolute security, confidence, courage, fortitude, the capacity to endure. Of course, we might cause harm to ourselves by the way we confess our faith. Our mouths having power of life and death can invite injury or death in the words we speak. We must avoid these self goals of destruction by the words and choices we make in life. When my boss, the Superintendent of Police of the district was told by an astrologer that he would perish on May 21st , 1991, he was filled with apprehension and tried to do all that he could humanly do to avert a tragedy for himself and his family. He even expressed that apprehension that the stars control our lives and predictions based on the stars but I denied his suggestion, saying that “ I am not afraid of what the future holds as God holds my future.” On the fateful night of May,21st my boss’s worst fears came true while the Lord enabled me to escape, a powerful RDX bomb explosion that assassinated a national leader and seventeen others. My injuries too were of such a nature that I could fully recover in a few months.
Neither man nor the enemy of our souls can touch a hair on our heads unless the Lord allows it for a purpose. He allowed many people in the first century AD as well as in our times to be martyred for a greater purpose. All we need to do is to affirm that “ we do not fear anything or anyone.” Even if an army is arrayed against us, the Lord will deliver us.” The prophet Elijah was fearful when he heard the wicked queen Jezebel was intent on killing him. But the Lord delivered him and took him up on a chariot of fire. Moses was delivered from death even as a baby by the basket of reeds in which he was placed. God turned his persecutor, the Egyptians to become his adoptive parents. When the whole world faced the wrath and judgement of God, Noah was told to build an Ark to preserve his family, self and all creatures on earth. David was saved from the jealous king Saul. Nobody can stop us from fulfilling our divine destiny and purpose for nobody can thwart the plans of the Lord. The only thing we need to do to remain on the winning side is to always remain in alignment with the center of the Lord’ s perfect and pleasing will. We should not enter an alliance with the sinning side or imitate the ways of the sinning side.
Prateep V Philip

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