Our Double Anointing as Priests and Kiings

UV 2143/10000 Our Double Anointing as Priests and Kings
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
I Peter 2 v 9

Peter 2 v 9 which speaks of believers of Jesus being a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a special possession of God when co- related with 1 Corinthians 2 v 9 shows us how the Lord does the unheard of, the unseen, the unimaginable or incredible and amazing for those who live by faith and not by sight, who do not judge by what they see or hear or imagine but in accordance with the word and the spirit of God. We are chosen out of this generation to serve God as kings and priests. We are a nation ruled by the law of the Lord, the rule of love. Our standards, goals , values, aspiraitons and principles are different from those of this world. We are formed and transformed to be the people of God out of disparate individuals who were living to satisfy their own appetite. Now, we give priority to declaring the excellencies, the love and the perfection of the Lord. The irony of history is that those who are chosen by God are often rejected by man. But the powerful double anointing of kingship and priesthood enables us to overcome the opposition, the hostility, the persecution of this world. As kings we command the spiritual powers of darkness. As priests we stand in the gap between God and man, interceding for the latter and appealing to the former. As kings , we are to be brave and strong. As priests, we are to be meek and broken. As kings, we are firm and determined while as priests, we are flexible and open to the will of God being sovereign and supreme in our lives. As kings, we are ambitious to advance the glory or manifestations of the greatness of God while as priests, we are contented and like a child who has been weaned and has no other desire than to please God with our lives.

Prior to us coming to know the Lord we lived in darkness or ignorance. Now that we live in the spiritual knowledge of God and His word, we are no longer in darkness. We are therefore, promised that our experience of life would not be merely sensate, cognitive or natural but would be miraculous, awesome, wonderful, out of the ordinary. Our vision of life and its purpose, our concept of power and strength would be re- defined. It will be in many ways beyond prediction and imagination.


As spiritual kings, we wield power and authority delegated to us by the Lord. As priests, we experience the presence of the Lord. As a chosen race, we have a different destiny. As a special possession of God, we rejoice in Him even as He delights in us. We have a dual identity in Christ : as kings and priests, we are to combine authority with humility, power with grace. We are to be firm and strong as kings and gentle and wise as priests or sages. As kings we take pleasure in finding out the secrets or treasures in the Word of God and apply it to the world. As priests we seek the revelations and visions from the Lord. As kings we seek the happiness of the people we serve and as priests we seek the joy of the Lord. If we believe and obey 1Peter 2 v 9, we will enjoy the promise contained in 1Corinthians 2 v 9 These are the wages of righteousness: peace of a priest and joy of a spiritual king by the Holy Spirit

The Alpha of True Riches, Power and Fame

UV 2142/10000 The Alpha of True Riches, Power and Fame
Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all.
I Chronicles 29 v 12

David at the end of his reign, before he handed over the kingdom to his son Solomon acknowledged the real ruler is God Himself and that he like all of us are mere shadows representing Him on earth. David acknowledged the ownership of the Lord of all things in heaven and on earth. He acknowledged the sovereignty of God. He also acknowledged that all strength and power belong to Him. Worship is acknowledging what belongs to God. It is acknowledging and bowing before Him in all aspects of our lives. The Lord is the source of all riches and honour and greatness and strength. True success comes from the hand of the Lord. We need to know like David that everything that we offer to the Lord actually belongs to Him.
Like a man’s shadow follows him everywhere and remains in the background, giving prominence to the man himself, so also we should follow Jesus in all that we do. He is the real king of hearts and rules over our minds and our bodies as well. David proved that he is a man after God’s heart by opening all that was in his heart to God before all his people. He was not ashamed to acknowledge that the source of his exaltation from shepherd to king off Israel was God, the source of all his riches, fame, power and honour came from the hand of the Lord. David in the course of his lifetime had tasted the greatness and power of the Lord to exalt and to humble, to reward and to chastise, to bless and to deliver. God manifests His strength on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards Him. Hence, the Lord enabled David to defeat his many foes throughout his life.
The riches the Lord blesses His children are durable riches, everlasting or eternal riches and not the riches that moth and rust can destroy or what thief can steal or what time can erode. Likewise, the fame is not the fickle popularity of this world but the greatness of the Lord that lifts us from the dung hill of mediocrity and ordinariness. The Lord strengthen us with His might and resurrection power by means of His Holy Spirit. The power of the Lord is so great that His shadow or presence has more power than the sceptres of the mightiest of history or any of their weapons. We just need to be famous with the Lord by always walking close to Him, walking in His paths described in the Word, walking in His favour. As somebody said, “One day of favour of God is worth more than a lifetime of labour.” It does not however mean that we do not have to set goals, make plans and work hard to plan. It does not mean that we do not use our own intellects and talents. But at the start and end and during any work we do, we acknowledge the amazing provision, guidance and ownership of the Lord. He determines which seed we planted would yield how much fruit. The Lord will then enables us not only to taste true and holistic success but to enjoy the fruits of our labour, the recompense of our work. To Him(praise, thanksgiving), through Him(His enablement) and for Him( for eternal purposes, kingdom).

The Alpha of Overcoming Weakness

UV 2141/10000 The Alpha of Overcoming Weakness
For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
2 Corinthians 13 v 4
Jesus embraced absolute weakness as He hanged on the cross. God Himself taken captive. He did not lift a finger to prevent His flogging, His being mocked, His being nailed to the instrument of execution- two wooden beams. In so doing, He removed the beam blocking our vision- our own blindness and weakness. We no longer have to hide our weaknesses or hide from the consequences of our weaknesses. Jesus had before the crucifixion declared Himself as no one else ever did as the Life and the Resurrection. The very same resurrection power freed Him from His state of absolute weakness- death and the grave. That same absolute power or strength is at work in us who believe to help us aim for perfection, to overcome our weaknesses that cause us to yield to evil.

We now live by the absolute power of God that perfects all things and all who believe. We die to our weaknesses and live in the strength of the Lord. Thereby, we overcome our weaknesses of spirit, mind and body. We can now live the 5 D life of devotion to God, dedication to serve man in the name of God, determination to set goals and achieve these, discipline to cut out whatever is unnecessary and to focus on our goals and our ultimate vision, diligence in studying the word in order to excel and shine for God in this world of darkness. The resurrection power of the Lord not only helps the prodigal son come back but also deals with the inner attitudes and motives of those who have apparently not strayed away like the elder son. Jesus the elder Son becomes the One to go and bring back all the prodigal sons and daughters even at the cost of His own life. The power of the Lord is able to deal not only with overt acts of rebellion or disobedience of God but also the very heart and spirit of disobedience or weakness. For obedience of God is strength and power while disobedience is weakness.
When we rejoice or delight in the word of God, the name of the Lord and in the Holy Spirit, we experience the strength of the Lord, the absolute power of God surging through our veins. We now have the power to break the jaws of the spiritual lion or predator of evil and to surrender to the Lion of Zion-Jesus. We have the authority to stamp on serpents and scorpions- the forces of darkness that are more subtle and hidden. The Resurrection power that brought Jesus back from death is able to make us return from the brink of crisis, failure, defeat and death. We are now supernaturally natural and naturally supernatural. The Lord has tagged us for a miracle of His supreme power, nay He has tagged us to be the miracle ourselves in this life and beyond.

The Alpha of the Heart and Mind of Man

UV 2140/10000 The Alpha of the Heart and Mind of Man
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Genesis 4 v 7
The human mind is not one organ but the intersection of our core thoughts, emotions and will. Scripture gives us the key to the human mind in this uni-verse. How can we harmonise our spirits, thoughts, emotions, motives, desires, decisions, words and actions ? At the same time, we have thoughts and emotions as well as desires and choices that add up to our well being and our doing well with both God and man as well as those that harm our well being and keep us from doing well. The enemy who is an external force becomes an internal force waiting at the intersection of our thoughts, emotions and will, to prompt us to make the wrong choices and to do badly and feel bad about it in terms of guilt. The enemy is a specialist in marketing. The enemy makes evil more attractive than good. He makes it appear that it is for our own good.
Jesus restores the image of God in us when we believe and receive Him into our hearts or the intersection of thoughts, emotions, decisions. The truth sets us free to make the right choices again. Even then, the enemy has access to our hearts but his voice becomes dimmer and dimmer as we listen to the voice of Jesus, the whisper of the Holy Spirit, the word of God. The Word is Jesus in print. Hence, as we imbibe the word and consistently make the choices in conformity with the word, we change at the speed of God. Instead of the curses that Cain inherited from his bad choices, we inherit the blessings of the Lord.
Jesus said, “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect” meaning, “Do your best to resemble your Father’s character or heart.” A person who never makes a wrong choice of thought, word or action is perfect. Such a person is Jesus and Jesus alone. But, we who believe are called to maximise our right choices and minimise our wrong choices. When we act on a positive thought or with a positive emotion or motive, it is creation. When we act on a negative thought or with a negative emotion or motive, it is a reaction. We are to maximise our creations and minimise our reactions.

The Alpha of Overcoming Faliure

UV 2139/10000 The Alpha of Overcoming Failure
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall
2 Peter 1 v 10
Man encountered failure first when he disobeyed or rebelled against God. The image of God in man was distorted. We suffer failure in health, business failure, failure in relationships, failure in decision making, failure in communication, failure in realizing our dreams and goals, failures of leadership and management, failure of envisioning , failure in meeting targets, personal and professional and so on. But God 's plan for mankind was not to harm him but to bless him, multiply him, crown him with success and joy. He therefore paid the price of our collective and individual failure through His Son Jesus. Once we know that Jesus is absolutely wonderful, wise, powerful, loving and peaceful, our response should be devotion, dedication, discipline, diligence and determination. If our right hand ‘s five fingers symbolise the five qualities of Jesus, our left hand should symbolise the five qualities of devotion, dedication, discipline, diligence and determination. Devotion implies our whole hearted obedience of the two commands given by Jesus that sum up in a positive way the Ten Commandments given through Moses, namely to love God passionately and to love man compassionately.
Our devotion should lead us to the next D- dedication. Whatever work we do, however humble or great, we should do it for the Lord. The Lord God is not excluded from any part of our lives and no part of our lives is excluded from His involvement as Friend, Partner, Master, Parent, Guide, Leader, Ruler. Dedication naturally implies that we discipline ourselves, our use of time, our habits and lifestyle, our organs like the brain and the tongue, our emotions so that we are not overpowered by anger or bitterness or hatred. The Word clearly states that the next D – the diligent study to uncover the principle of righteous living embedded in the Word is the key to succeeding and not failing. Diligent or careful study should be followed by diligent practice or application of these life-giving and enhancing principles and insights of scripture. We should diligently seek the purpose of our lives, the general as well as our specific purpose, the calling or the vocation or the work that He has called us to do for Him in our lifetime on Earth.
Determination is the practical fifth dimension of our response to the five qualities of Jesus. It is written that Jesus set His face like flint towards the cross. He was determined ot fulfil His mission in life- to offer Himself as a sacrifice so that all mankind will find salvation in Him. Likewise, we should set or determine goals for ourselves at each stage of our lives, that we pursue with total determination. If we live life on these five dimensions, we will never fail. We will have overcome hamartia or the Greek word for shortcoming or failure. We will migrate in our spirits to the economy of God of abundance or hyperbole. Even if we suffer apparent failures, the Lord will turn it to our good.

The Alpha of Overcoming the World

UV 2138/10000 The Alpha of Overcoming the World
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16 v 33
The word that Jesus speaks to us is the source of our victory, peace, the secret to our overcoming the world. Life, many would characterise to be a series of troubles, trials, tribulations. The enemy of our souls is always busy trying to stir up trouble from either within us, among our near and dear, amidst our co-workers, amidst strangers as well as friends. Sometimes, even a friend would turn into a fiend. But the word (Jesus) promises to save us for He has proved Himself greater than death, sin, troubles, trials, tribulations, persecutions. His word internalised would give us shalom or peace, well being, success, breakthrough, blessings, wholesomeness, health, deliverance, victory.
We overcome the world with its many pitfalls by knowing, understanding, meditating, remembering and habitually applying the principles of the word to facing any challenge the world poses to us. Our inner world is the first challenge we face and a consistent challenge throughout our earthly sojourn. We need to overcome our weaknesses, our frailties, our natural tendencies towards pride and lust. The Holy Spirit whom the Lord Jesus sent to us after His resurrection will help us overcome the inner world, the passions of our own minds and bodies. I once wrote after a particular moment of weakness in my youth, “ Weakness is a part of my nature. The power to overcome comes from God.” Indeed, the power to overcome our inner self comes from the word as interpreted to us, reminded to us, explained to us by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus warns us of trouble that is endemic in this world but asks us in the same uni-verse to be cheerful, joyful, confident, optimistic, bold and faithful for greater is the One inside us than the one outside us. We need to just cooperate with the Lord, submit to Him in establishing the kingdom of God within us, the rule of love in us. The best that the world offers is rule of law in democracies of the world but the Lord establishes the rule of love in us. The love of the Lord being perfect casts out fear or the things that limit us. We have the model of the Lord Jesus of overcoming the world and we need to just emulate Him. Every one whose spirit is truly re-born by faith in Jesus will overcome the world even as He overcame.

The Alpha of Spiritual Struggles

2137/10000 The Alpha of Spiritual Struggles
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places
Ephesians 6 v 12
This is an amazing verse and revelation received by Paul. There are no knock out blows in a wrestling match. It is a continual struggle with sometimes our opponent gripping us, sitting astride us and sometimes with us coming on top. Jacob instead of struggling with his own inner desires that were trying to dominate him was wrestling with the spirit of God. Saul, the king was also wrestling with flesh and blood and even kicking against the thorns hurting himself in the process. This uni-verse points out to us with utmost clarity the range of forces of darkness, of evil, of the enemy of mankind, the killer, the robber, the thief of our peace, our shalom, the thief of the glory of God, the thief of our health, success and well being. The enemy is described as the lord of the power of the air, the one who rules over the governing authorities and ruling powers of the nations of the world.
In the run up to this verse, Paul exhorts the believers to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. It does not tell us to use our own strength but to be clothed, filled, endowed with the strength of the Lord. We need to have a conception of the infinite power of El Shaddai or Almighty God. The psalmist states that the nations are but a drop in the bucket for the Lord, that the great oceans and universe itself can be held between His palms. We have a demonstration of the power of Jesus throughout His ministry on earth and to this day through testimonies of people who have been raised from the dead, healed of incurable diseases, set free from bondages. We should clothe or saturate ourselves with such great power, strength, authority of the Lord and exercise it effectively to set people held captive by sin and curses, demonic forces, evil habits, evil influences and alliances. In order to do so, we should always wear the internal spiritual armour that the Lord gives us in the form of His sword, the shield of faith to defend ourselves from the attacks, assaults, missiles of the enemy forces. From head to foot, we need to be protected so that our vulnerable areas are not exposed, no weaknesses or chinks in our armour that the enemy’s weapons can penetrate.
We do not have to physically fight for the Lord will fight our battles for us. We should only stand, pray, praise, worship and thank the Lord for imminent and certain victory over the forces of darkness. The Lord will crush the enemy under our feet. We are declared more than conquerors for we do not have to shed our blood, we do not have to raise our arms to defend ourselves or to attack. Whether our struggles are against many or few, the Lord will give us victory in Christ. What we declare in faith with our mouths will become spiritual reality. It is as if our tongues have become spiritual swords of fire to drive the darkness away, to throw the forces of darkness into utter disarray. Under the old covenant relationship, Joseph fled from the adulterous advances of Potiphar’s wife. Under the new covenant forged by Jesus, the enemy flees from us. Often our mere presence will resolve contentious issues. Our whole being becomes a sharp edge axe of the Lord to cut at the root of evil in this world. Our stance of faith will change circumstances. In these spiritual battles, Jesus as Commander –in-Chief of the armies of heaven will depute angels and chariots of fire in our aid and defence. The Lord like an effective judo champion will turn the strengths of the enemy against himself, the weapons of the enemy will turn against him like the waters of the Red Sea drowned the horses and chariots of Pharaoh as they were in hot pursuit of an unarmed Israel fleeing on foot. The Lord is our strength and defence. His strength will manifest in our areas of weakness and vulnerability. He determines the strategy that will deliver victory into our hands.

The Alpha of Help from All Forms of Troubles

UV 2136/10000 The Alpha of Help from All Forms of Troubles
Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man
Psalm 60 v 11
Scripture runs counter to the vain thinking of mankind. The idea of Uber Mensch or Superman who can solve all problems and needs no help of the Almighty led to the rise of human monsters like Adolf Hitler and various other dictators like Joseph Stalin in Russia. Scripture tells us that the help of man is vain or useless or meaningless. We need the help of the Lord. The very presence of the Lord will cause our troubles to break like bubbles. His help is certain and reliable for He declares Himself to be Ebenezer- the Helper. The Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised to send to His followers is also described as the Helper.
We need the help of the Lord to clarify our own thinking. We need His help to deal with the sinfulness or wickedness and lusts of our own inner nature. We need His help to deal with the inner enemy as well as the external enemy. Which battle we are fighting at the present moment determines and defines who our enemy is ? The presence of the Lord or our personal relationship with the Lord will cause the enemy to melt like wax. Even as the wax of a candle melts, it gives out light. Hence, as the battle waxes, as we confront our personal, professional, familial challenges, we learn the truths of the Lord that strengthens us from within, equips us with the spiritual armour of a warrior ready to take on any enemy.
At the height of our personal battles and even on the cusp of victory, we realize that we are zeroes without Christ and heroes with Him. We are confident that unlike human beings, the character, the resources, the love, the faithfulness, the ability of the Lord to help us is hundred per cent dependable. To paraphrase St Paul’s famous statement, “ I can face all things with Christ who strengthens me.” The One who won victory over human frailties, deep temptations, intense troubles, extreme pain, utter shame, absolute sin, total failure, spiritual death, conspiracies, betrayal and all manner of persecution and suffering is more than able and willing to help us.

The Alpha of Disciplining the Tongue

UV 2135/10000 The Alpha of Disciplining the Tongue
I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.
Psalm 39 v
The horse is said to be on the average ten times more powerful than a man. Likewise, the tiny tongue in our mouths belying its diminutive size is ten times more powerful in terms of potential for good and evil than any other part of our bodies. Like a horse is controlled by bridle and reins, we need to use the word of God to control our tongues so that it gallops, trots, walks on His paths. A horse even if bridled needs a rider. The rider for our tongues is the Holy Spirit but we need to invite the Holy Spirit to sit on the bridle and ride our tongues, making it move in the direction He wants us to move.
There are times when the horse is muzzled so that it cannot open its mouth. Likewise, we need to discern the times when we need to keep silent and not utter a word. The trouble is that the spur or provocation that causes us to often speak are the words, barbed insults, sarcasm, mocking statements, demeaning, proud, lying, malicious speech of others within our earshot. We need to discipline ourselves to either remove ourselves from their vicinity or learn to muzzle our own mouths.
The fruit of eternal life flows like a fountain from the spirit-controlled and led tongue. When we love eternal life in Christ, the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control flow into and overflow into the lives of others. Conversely, if we love eternal death or a state of being separated from the Lord forever, we will enjoy or rather suffer the opposite consequences. James asks us to aim for a six sigma speech pattern where we commit no error even of speaking when we should remain silent or of speaking inappropriate or offensive words that hurt or harm others. We need to speak to build the faith, hope and love of others. It is the tongue of the messenger of God that blesses him from head to foot. The tongue instead of being the natural source of destructive fire and sparks will be the source of supernatural and creative fire as nothing else can. This is perhaps the reason that the anointing of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost descended on the early believers and disciples as tongues of fire. We need to yield our tongues to the Lord to cause us to speak what He wills even as the pen of a writer yields to him to write precise, concise and beautiful words that make sense and meaning of life.

The Alpha of Patient Perseverance

UV 2124/10000 The Alpha of Patient Perseverance
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved
Mark 13 v 13
In all periods of history, the believers of the word and work of Jesus have been hated and persecuted. Jesus warned His followers that they will be hated and reviled for the servants are not greater than the Master. He set an example of patient perseverance of all kinds of persecution that He Himself faced right from His birth. But He patiently endured it all knowing it is His Father’s will. Before His trial and crucifixion, He even shed sweat drops of blood in His agony but He prayed, “ Not my will but Yours be done.”
When we undergo suffering for the faith we have, we should not wilt or draw back. We should not complain or expect pity or sympathy but emulating the example of Jesus and the apostles, drink the cup of suffering willingly. When we endure suffering till the very end, we are victorious in Christ. Whatever we give up for the Lord, we will be rewarded in the kingdom of heaven. The early followers of Jesus went to their violent deaths torn apart by lions, burnt at the stake and so on with thanksgiving and praise on their lips. The hope in the promise that they would receive a crown of glory sustained them through the pain and suffering. They valued their faith more valuable than their lives, eternal life more valuable than earthly lives. Prayer, praise and thankgiving even in their dying moments seemed like an effective anaesthetic for their extreme pain and suffering. Their testimonies endured while the tyrants who ordered their unjust killing have gone into oblivion and eternal suffering.
Having begun the race of faith and grace well, we should continue running till the very end, regardless of the hurdles and obstacles we face. We may not be popular or esteemed by people but the Lord esteems us. He gives us the strength to endure, the patience, the perseverance, the tenacity, the resilience to withstand the trials and tribulations that our faith exposes us to. The Lord is with us in our times of intense suffering even as He was with Daniel’s friends in the burning hot furnace to shield them from the searing flames. They held onto their faith stating that they believed God will save them but even if He chose not to, they would not turn their backs on their faith.

The Alpha of Paradise

UV 3123/10000 The Alpha of Paradise
In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelation 22 v 2
Though fallen man was expelled from the paradise on earth- Eden, a place of pleasure for both God and man, Jesus restores us to paradise on earth and in heaven. The tree of eternal life that is removed from the earth by the Father is restored to earth that we may take and eat of its fruit. The word is the river of eternal life that never dries up. Its source is the throne of God and of His Son Jesus. The trees on either bank of the river are the people of God who are living on earth and in heaven. The twelve types of fruit are the fruit of the spirit that manifest in our lives. The leaves are our anointed words and prayers that are uttered to bless people of all nations and all communities. These leaves never dry up and continue to bless and heal people in succeeding generations.
The Word is of supernatural origin as it originates in the sovereignty of the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit reminds us, teaches and interprets the word in specific situations to the seeker and the believer even as Philip, the disciple explained to the Ethiopian official. The word is crystal clear as it does not complicate matters but makes transparent and absolutely clear the truths of the Lord. The Word refreshes our spirits. It renews our spiritual strength. It reinvigorates our faith, hope and love. As we grow on the earthly bank, we should allow our roots to grow, expand and reach the river. We are continually fed and nourished by the word we have already consumed. We are to meditate on the Word and on Jesus, who became the Word so that our thoughts, intentions, actions, reactions, words, emotions are a blessing to the nations.
Just as we are continually nourished by the Word, we should continually bear a variety of spiritual, intellectual, emotional and creative fruit. While natural trees bear fruit only annually or seasonally, we bear fruit every month. We should set goals for ourselves on a month to month basis and seek the help of the Lord to convert these goals into results. The awesome grace, wisdom, power, love and peace of Jesus is at work in us in the form of the Word to bring our goals to fruition. He waters us continually and He shines on us continually as the Sun of Righteousness. As His satellites, like the moon we only need to reflect the bright light of His face upon all we encounter daily. It will heal the nations of the pursuit of vanity, purposelessness, the anaemia of power and a weak will that makes them susceptible to all kinds of weaknesses and afflictions, the love of money and hedonistic godless pleasure.

The Well Watered Walled , Strong, Challenging and Fruitful Life

UV 3123/10000 The Alpha of the Well Watered, Walled, Strong, Challenging and Fruitful Life

“The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

Isaiah 58:11 NIV





Life is like an uncharted sea. The word of the Lord acts as buoys and channels to guide us through safer waters to the shore of eternity. While we journey,He promises to satisfy our needs. The sun might scorch us with its heat but the Lord will shelter us like a rock in the desert. He will strengthen us spiritually so that we can confront physical, intellectual , emotional , financial and relational challenges.



We will not have to rely only on occasional inspiration like seasonal rain but He will water us from deep within like an eternal spring that will never dry. He becomes our source of all resources and fountainhead of life. Our roots will be kept moist so that the sap of His love will feed every part of us. We will be like the trees in heaven supplied with healing light and abundant water from the river of life. We will produce a variety of internal and external fruit.



Our thoughts, words and feelings will make us a perfumed garden with the scent of many flowers, the very aroma of Christ. Christ in us which is the hope of a glorious salvation will produce joy in us and our beholders. Our actions and qualities will make us a fruitful garden abounding in all kinds of delicious fruit. The high walls of Jesus will protect us from predators, little foxes and fierce winds and storms. We only need to turn to the wall and pray. The resurrected Christ was mistaken for the gardener but in fact, He is the caring, loving, skilful, creative, compassionate Gardener of our lives. He prunes or disciplines branches or parts of our lives that are not fruitful or not producing to potential to satisfy the need , eternal and earthly of others.

Five Dimensions of Our Relationship with God and Man

UV 3121/10000 Five Dimensions of Our Relationship with God and Man
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9 v 6
This uni-verse throws the five dimensions of our relationship with God that Jesus made manifest among us. Wonderful – the Happiness, Awe, Joy, Excitement dimension.
Counsellor- the wisdom dimension which is very significant in the pursuit of happiness. Our decisions or choices determine the direction of our lives. Mighty- the power dimension which is the subtle dimension in any relationship. Everlasting Father- that signifies love, concern, provision, protection. Prince of Peace- the peace dimension for we need peace with God that is a precursor to peace with self and others.

A balanced and impactful life will reflect these five dimensions in our own relationships with our spouse, children, extended family, friends, foes, strangers, neighbours with one or the other dimension dominating at any given time. When we discipline our children for instance, we are on the power dimension though love is the motive behind our acts of disciplining. Effective Leadership also requires us to be skilful or well versed in using all these five elements appropriately. Jesus rules and reigns over the lives of believers in terms of these five dimensions. Sometimes we go through great hardships to discipline us or to strengthen and mature us in faith, to prune us and enable us to be more fruitful in terms of our inner qualities of heart and spirit and mind. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Christians are ordinary people with extraordinary claims." Actually, we are ordinary people with an Extraordinary God with us, in us and for us. This is what makes us wonderful, wise, powerful, loving and peaceful people.
God governance or indeed, good governance should be a judicious interplay of the five dimensions. Everything Jesus did was a blend of wonder, the spiritual wisdom of the Holy Spirit, love, power and peace. Many wonders were performed at the birth of the Christ child- Jesus : His immaculate conception but natural birth, mighty God becoming a vulnerable child, kingship at birth, greatness at birth. His childhood and growth also doubtless had been wonderful of which we have no record but the verse that says that the child grew in wisdom and stature and favour with God and man. He did numerous wonderful miracles to help and bless and heal people. The wisdom and holiness of God sent His Son to a miserable death on the cross but He had a wonderful resurrection from death. Similarly, modelling on Jesus, what we speak and do should evoke a similar wow or wonder effect. Jesus promised us that if we truly believe we would do greater wonders than even He did during His earthly sojourn. We need to use all the five elements or dimensions in order to overcome the world and fulfil the word. Wonder should be tied to wisdom, wisdom to power, power to love and love to peace.

The Alpha of Watching and Praying

UV 3121/10000 The Alpha of Watching and Praying
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Matthew 26 v 41
The Lord exhorted His three disciples, Peter, James and John who had fallen asleep even though he had asked them to stay awake and alert as He prayed in the garden at Gethsemane to prepare Himself for the greatest tribulation of His life on Earth. He had asked them to stay awake for only one hour while He prayed. The disciples also knew that His heart was heavy with sorrow. But the disciples slacked off and slept, unmindful of the state of mind of the Lord. Jesus chided them with the words of this uni-verse.
We are to watch the world and pray for whatever ills affect the world. We are to watch ourselves and pray for grace to resist temptation and to endure suffering. Our intentions will remain pious aspirations unless we are willing to subject ourselves to hard discipline as Jesus did. We can overcome the weaknesses of our bodies if we watch our own thoughts. We can ask the Lord to send us the Holy Spirit to strengthen and help us combat the temptations and to endure trials. The enemy crouches at the door of our hearts all the time looking for an opportunity to enter our lives. We need to be watchful to keep him at bay and drive him away.
Like an eagle watches the ground and spots the movement of any serpent, we too need to have a watchful eye and keen ears. We need to watch our habits, our decisions, our relationships so that we walk in alignment with the will and word of God. We are to be both vigilant and agile so that we spot any threat and move quickly to neutralise it. Jesus taught us to pray, “ Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” The Lord never tempts any man but it implies that the Lord should not allow us to tempted by the enemy. We seek His deliverance from all our troubles. When we are spiritually alert, the enemy cannot catch us unawares. Apart from the three great common temptations of wine, women and wealth, we need to set up personal alarms to alert us and show us red flags when we are disobedient, negative minded, bitter, sullen, angry, unfaithful, unforgiving, backsliding, ungrateful, doubtful. We should not be ensnared by the enemy by the words we speak or the thoughts we think. Our inner attitudes should not trip us but enable us to trump the enemy. We need to watch our words so that we do not invite the enemy to be an influence in our lives, unwittingly or willingly.

The Alpha of Zeal

UV 3120/10000 The Alpha of Zeal
And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
Numbers 25 v 13
Manna applied is alpha. It is spiritual God-given and inspired food that has been consumed and is at work in our spirits, minds and body. As we meditate on the Word- the manna that never spoils, the manna which whether we gather in small or large quantity is never too little or too much, it becomes the Word applied or alpha. In this uni-verse or unique verse or rhema verse that the Lord has spoken to us specifically, purposefully and personally, Phinehas, a grandson of Aaron, the first priest anointed by Jehovah, the spokesman appointed to aid Moses, is described as zealous for his God. Phinehas felt the pain of God at the sin and rebellion of Israel while at the same time, he felt compassion for the people of Israel out of fear of the consequences of their rebellion. His sense of ‘ sempathy’ or spiritual empathy led him to atone for the sin of Israel as if it were his own. In this sense, he became a type of Christ, a forerunner for Jesus made Himself sin so that all mankind be redeemed.
The zeal of Phinehas for God, his identification with the holiness of the Lord, his understanding of the weakness and fragility of faith of the people of Israel, moved him to prayer and fasting on the latter’s behalf. The Lord was pleased with his whole hearted devotion and intercession that He re-affirmed his covenant of everlasting peace with Phinehas and his descendants. When we intercede for others, we show at once our reverence for the holiness of the Lord, our appreciation of His love, mercy, justice and grace. The Lord seeing our zeal, blesses us and our descendants with a covenant or everlasting commitment of Shalom or holistic peace affecting all aspects or the alpha to omega of our lives.
Just because God grants our prayers, we cannot take Him for granted. We cannot be casual or lukewarm in our relationship with Him. He is priority No. 1 in our lives and this sense of priority should be reflected in our lifestyle, our relationships, our decisions and our attitudes. We need to optimise our natural desire for happiness and a lesser degree of suffering with reverence for the holiness of the Lord. We cannot disown our responsibility for the spiritual well being of our people, of our nation, of the church at large. We need to atone or offer spiritual sacrifices not only for our misdeeds but for those of our families, our wider community and our nations. Such zeal will find favour in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord will not only bless us but pass the balance forward to our future generations, too. The word “ seed” in the uni-verse does not imply only our children or descendants but our words, our ideas, our projects, our efforts, our desires, our hopes.

The Alpha of the Lion Leader

UV 3119/10000 The Alpha of the Lion Leader
Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain.

Numbers 23 v 24
The people of God have the strength of a wild ox as their faith in Jehovah who has led them with great miracles and an outstretched arm gives them both courage and joy. Courage and joy on the emotional and spiritual plane are the equivalent of our physical muscles. The more we work on our courage and the more we work up our joy in the Lord or our sense of rejoicing that we are saved by the hand of the Lord, saved by the blood of the Lamb, saved from the captivity of “Egypt” – a metaphor for death and misery, the greater is our strength. We will rise like Jesus rose from death. Even in death, Jesus was imprisoned with a boulder at the mouth of the cave of the grave, the Roman seal on the huge boulder and a Roman strong guard in front of the cave. But, like a Lion, He brushed aside all of these, folded the shroud that covered Him for three days and rose to rule over the universe again, to head the church, the body of true believers through the generations to come.
When the Holy Spirit came upon the fearful disciples hiding in Jerusalem, they became fearless as lions. From fearful, reluctant, disobedient followers, they became transformed into leaders- lion leaders. Likewise, as we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the equivalent of the strength of Samson fills our whole being. The enemy cannot prey on our minds with worthless thoughts or emotions or motives. When we pray, the enemy hears the roar of the Lord and he scurries for cover. Like Samson, on account of the unlimited spiritual power and courage that fills us, we can with our bare hands, break his jaws and cause something good to rise out of every plot and attack he plans against us. As we pray, the enemy cannot prey on us. He is afraid of our silence, our roar and our words. The Lion Leader goes for the jugular, for the kill as he deals with evil in this manner.
A wild honey bee hive grew within the carcass of the lion that Samson slew. Likewise, the promises of the Lord contained in His word are tastier than wild honey. Every time we squeeze the word in our mouth like a dripping hive, power, strength, grace and everything we need to be victorious in our lives begin to flow in us. No weapon can rise against us, no tongue can condemn or curse or judge us. We are lion leaders, led by the ultimate Lion Leader- the Risen Christ. He was led to death as a lamb but He rose as a lion. We belong to the same brood and breed. We share His DNA or divine nature. The last part of the uni-verse is also symbolically true for believers of Christ drink of the blood of the slain Christ. Pussilanimous leaders pass on the blame for failure to others while the greatest Lion Leader of all took the flak for all humanity upon His shoulders. Therefore, the government of the world should rest on His shoulders for He alone proved by His deeds and His word that He alone is capable of leading all of humanity back to God.

The Alpha of Spiritual Supplies

UV 3118/10000 The Alpha of Spiritual Supplies
And he builded an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD, and pitched his tent there: and there Isaac's servants digged a well.
Genesis 26 v 25
Since Isaac had a covenant relationship with Jehovah based on faith like his own father Abraham, God was with him. He did not have to fear anything since God was with Him. The Lord God promised to bless him and to multiply his descendants. Likewise, when we are faithful to our commitment to the Lord based on our faith in Jesus, the Lord promises to be with us, to bless us, to preserve us from all fear, to multiply us. Isaac responded with a heart of worship which he manifested by building an altar of thanksgiving. He called upon the name of the Lord. We, too should turn our hearts into an altar of worship of the Lord.
Isaac pitched his tent where he worshipped the Lord at the altar. The worship of the Lord is the focal point of our homes and our lives. There is no separation of home and church. The Lord is tabernacled in us. Scripture provides the templates of the living temple not built with human hands where alone the Lord dwells. We therefore, experience joy for the word states that “ I hear the voice of rejoicing in the tabernacle of the righteous.” We are declared righteous by faith in Jesus and then, we manifest that righteousness as the fruit of that faith. The place where we worship is also the place where we dwell. The place where we worship is also the place of our life’s work and the source of our provision for there, Isaac’s servants dug a well. We call upon the name of Jesus who is the Yes and Amen to all God’s promises.
Scripture is the source of the water of eternal life. We need to dig deep into it and draw from it the water of life that will keep us from becoming spiritually dry. Scripture is also the source of the oil of eternal life. It is an oil well too for we are anointed as we dig into scripture, our minds are anointed by the Holy Spirit to understand, our ears to hear , our eyes to hear, our hands to do, our legs to go places for the Lord. When we study and meditate on scripture and examine how we can apply it to our lives, we are digging the well of eternal life. When we apply the revealed truths of scripture to our lives and manifest its power, we are drawing the water therefrom and drinking it to nourish our souls. Our souls prosper as we drink from the fountains of the Lord even as we are blessed with physical, intellectual, material, familial and social well being. We can agree with St Paul ‘s statement, “My God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory.”

The Alpha of Secrets and Revelations

UV 3118/10000 The Alpha of Secrets and Revelations
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Deuteronomy 29 v 29
What the Lord has kept secret is not meant for us to know. His ways and thoughts are beyond human cognitive ability. Instead of trying to know the secrets of God, we are to put to use what He has made known to us. We are not accountable for what we do not know but we are accountable for what we know of God and His ways. Whatever we need to know of who He is, why He created us, why and how He redeemed us, how He provides,protects and promotes our well being is revealed to us in His word. Since Jesus is the only person who has seen God, been with Him from the very beginning and before the beginning of creation, He is the only One who could reveal all the secrets of the nature, character, power, love and grace of the Father. He has also revealed the broad contours of the kingdom of God and how we are part of the kingdom of God. He has revealed to us our true identity once we are grafted onto Him, the True Vine in faith.
Jesus has revealed to us that nothing is too difficult or impossible for the Lord God. He also taught us to ask in faith, without doubting, without wavering and with thanksgiving. Now once we get a grasp of this revealed truth, then we know that nothing is impossible to us in Christ. We realize that the Lord God revels in doing the difficult and the impossible so that our eyes would see what we have not seen before, our ears will hear what we have not heard before, our imagination would be astounded by what the Lord does in our lives. While non believers are constantly trudging on the road of drudgery, the possible, the easy, the facile, the path of least resistance, flowing with the tide and running with the current of time, we are called to think of doing the impossible and difficult. Yes, we do not have to dream of doing the impossible but we only have to think of doing the impossible. The Lord has also revealed that we should be wise in what we choose to do in our lives. We are not to jump off a cliff or from the pinnacle of a temple in the hope that the Lord will keep our feet from being hurt. He , however, has promised us that He will give us hope in seemingly hopeless situations.
The revelations of erstwhile secrets have been given to us among all mankind so that we will be able to do all that is written in His word. The impossible and difficult becomes doable. The Lord fills us all the time with enormous grace and power to do His word. We only need to claim, appropriate, use this power. As long as we keep our commitment to love and obey the Lord, it is our inheritance, our heritage to be like Him, to behave like Him, to speak and execute things like Him. Like Jesus, we can conquer death, sin, evil, failure, treachery, betrayal, sadness, loneliness, bondages of every kind. The Lord becomes our fulcrum on which we can leverage to lift enormous loads, lift other people out of spiritual poverty, eternal misery and bring them into understanding of their eternal destiny. We become the manifestation of the good news to the world. Without Jesus, people are generally harbingers of bad news. With Jesus, people become messengers of good news. The uni-verse states that what is revealed to us is to make us strong, enthusiastic, purposive, courageous, creative, compassionate, humble and faithful.

The Alpha of Overcoming False Imagination and Vain Thought

UV 3117/10000 The Alpha of Overcoming Falsehood and Deception
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2 Corinthians 10 v 5
Thought and imagination have huge potential for distortion unless these are tied to fact and truth. Faith cannot be mindless, factless and thoughtless. In fact, the first four letters of faith form the word “fait” which means fact. But human imagination can go into overdrive and create falsehoods, myths, distortions like the new age philosophy or man-made religions and rules that parade themselves as the truth. We need to discipline our thought and imagination so that it is focussed on Christ who declared Himself to be the very embodiment of truth. Many spiritual strongholds of darkness that hold mankind in captivity and bondage to sin, untruth and death can be razed by the power of thought and imagination that is subjected to the reign of Christ in us.
We have spiritual weapons and the anointing of the Holy Spirit to cast down to the ground the falsehoods that rise against the truth of the Lord. The Holy Spirit will teach and train us in using the spiritual weapons of the word and prayer. The world’s speculative philosophies cannot stand against the power of truth and grace in Christ. The Holy Spirit as well as Jesus intercede on our behalf so that we have protection as well as victory over the forces of darkness.
Our faith in Jesus shields us against false beliefs and practices. Our thoughts, emotions and imagination are sanctified so that we do not offend the Lord in any way. By intermingling our prayer life and meditating on the inner meaning hidden in scripture, we discover and experience freedom from the influence of the dark powers of this world. We are no longer slaves of sinful habit or actions but our wills and minds are set free from such shackles. Imaginary thoughts that deceive us can no longer hold us under its influence. We have the authority to cast down at the feet of Jesus anything that deludes or deceives us.

The Four Corners of the Cornerstone

UV 3116/10000 The Four Corners of the Cornerstone
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Ephesians 2 v 20
We who have accepted Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone on which we build our lives need to know that just as a finished stone has four corners on every side, we are to connect with Him on a continual basis through the four corners of Word, Prayer, Fellowship and Witness. The Holy Spirit teaches us which corner we should connect at the present time. He also connects the four corners so that we too become a cornerstone in our homes, our workplaces and the world at large. If any corner is crooked or neglected, He will make us aware we need to spend more time and give more attention to that corner. Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone holds us together. He makes us both stable and able leaders. As we are stable in Him, we have peace. As we are able in Him, we have progress. We experience both growth and fruitfulness.
Practicing what the Holy Spirit teaches us through the four corners will increase our strength, correct our inherent flaws and in due course, make us a fit habitation, a living temple for the Lord to inhabit. Though the sacrifice of Jesus obviates the need for animal or bird sacrifices today, we are to make spiritual sacrifices and present our bodies, our senses, our desires to the Lord as a living sacrifice.
The uni-verse also refers in addition to the cornerstone of Jesus to the “foundations of the apostles and prophets.” It implies that we also build our lives on the principles, precepts and example of the apostles, the spiritual mentors and prophets of yore as well as those presently having an influence in our lives. As living stones, we are not dead or static but we are constantly learning, growing, improving and being perfected in Christ. Some part of every day we need to spend in one or other of the four corners. As we spend time in these corners, the Holy Spirit will minister to us, anoint us, equip us, enable us , counsel us, comfort, remind and strengthen us.

The Alpha of Making Our Lives Weapon-Proof

UV 3115/10000 The Alpha of Making Our Lives Weapon-Proof
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 54 v 17
This uni-verse makes our lives weapon-proof. No weapon of man, or of the supernatural world or of the natural can prosper or succeed against us. Our enemies may conspire against us but in so doing, they conspire against the Lord and He will certainly have the last laugh. The human tongue is also a potent weapon. It is called a “tongue” not without reason for sometimes the words spoken by others can hit us like a ton of bricks or cover us with a heap of rubbish. But the Lord promises that the words of the human tongue will hurt us no more. Nobody will be able to raise their tongues against us for the Lord will enable us to refute them effectively. He will put to shame our adversaries and vindicate us.
In order to be weapon-proof or immune to all types of human and spiritual attacks, we need to be faithful in wearing the full armour of God. We do not shrink from the battle. We do not resent our struggles as long as the Lord is with us. We should be ever battle-ready. We cannot go into battle every day wearing just our clothes. We need to be equipped and we need to wear the armour from head to foot. If we do so, we will have victory even without having to fight for the Lord will fight for us. We only need to take our positions of faith in prayer and dig deep into the word and hide in these spiritual trenches. We are declared to be more than conquerors for by faith we know the end result of victory, triumph, success, blessing, breakthrough even at the beginning unlike any warrior or conqueror who does not know the result of battle or his own fate. We know that we cannot be separated from the love of the Saviour and of the Father by death or suffering or sadness or failure or bondage.
The Lord empowers us to overcome all apprehensions and fears of any kind of weapon. The opposite of fear is not courage but faith in Jesus. Courage is a byproduct of faith. Faith implies that “for all I trust Him, for all I thank Him, for all I talk to Him.” The Lord protects us from the internal weapons that weaken humanity- anxiety or worry. The Lord neutralises all our fears, worries, guilt, remorse, grief, regret for these are weapons that can kill us from within. The Lord protects us when the flood waters rise. As we hold onto our faith, the Lord preserves us in catastrophes or disasters, natural or man-made as I experienced in the world’s first human bomb assassination.

The Alpha of What False Rags to True Riches Mean

UV 3114/10000 The Alpha of What Rags to True Riches Mean
Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
Romans 11 v 12
The Amplified version puts this uni-verse in clearer terms for us to understand its import and significance in this manner: “ Now if Israel’s transgression means riches for the world (at large) and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment and reinstatement be!” It implies that the descendants of Jacob or Israel moved away from having a personal relationship with God as their ancestors Jacob, his father Isaac and his father Abraham had. They replaced their personal relationship with God with the religion of Judaism. Judaism is an elaborate religion of keeping of many rules and rituals. They substituted true faith- a one to One relationship with the Creator God with the rags of religion, freedom and power and love with slavery and spiritual poverty and narrowness. Indeed, all man-made religion puts man in rags while true spirituality based on historical facts of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus is the key to accessing amazing and awesome spiritual riches beyond what one’s eye can see or ear hear or enter our imagination. This is also the reason that the Old Testament dismisses our good deeds motivated by considerations of religion as being “dirty or filthy rags.” These are the rags in which every sinner returns to the Father but the older Son, Jesus, unlike the elder brother in the parable of Jesus steps in and tells the Father that He has paid the price to restore the sinners to sonship, to sharing His own abundant spiritual riches of inheritance.
While religion like rags barely covers the nakedness of man and does not keep him warm and protected from the elements, salvation in Jesus that most of Israel has consistently rejected is complete cover from head to foot, from past to present to future to eternity for every believer. Since the Jews rejected Jesus, their Messiah, it proved to the benefit of the rest of the world that the gospel was preached in all other nations. The Jews historically have stuck to their rags instead of embracing their spiritual inheritance, now enjoyed by believers in all other nations. When the word says, “Turn to the wall and pray”, it implies, “Turn to the One who proved Himself stronger than sin, satan and death- Jesus, the Messiah of both Jews and Gentiles.” But their religion teaches them to turn to the one remaining wall of the Temple in Jerusalem and shake their heads mournfully.
But St Paul, also a Jew by birth and the most zealous of them who persecuted most severely the early believers of Christ, had hope that like his spiritual blindness ended with a blinding vision of Jesus and ended his habit of holding onto the rags of religion. He states in this uni-verse that the Jews will one day be reinstated and they will come into their full inheritance- true spiritual riches of eternal and abundant life in Christ. They will hold in their hands the full set of the keys to life that the Father has given us in the Word. They will be restored from miserable rags to glorious and eternal riches. The lesson for us who are of other races and believe in Jesus is to pray that the Lord will hasten the restoration of Israel to their spiritual inheritance for the word says, “ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” The peace of Jerusalem is not a political peace but Shalom- a word that sums up all the spiritual riches that the Father gives His children by faith in the older Son, Jesus.

No Crown without a Cross

UV 3113/10000 No Crown without a Cross
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me
Matthew 16 v 24
Scripture clearly shows us that we can have no victory, no triumph without carrying the cross. The cross does not mean something physical or that we punish ourselves. It means that we subject ourselves to the discipline of the Lord, His word and the Holy Spirit. We need to deny our lusts and pride but we do not need to deny what is legitimised by the word and the Lord. We need to follow Jesus in terms of following His taught principles, His example of patience and strength and character in the face of extreme temptation and extreme suffering. The Lord will, of course, give us a cross that we can bear.
The cross is an instrument of death. We need to willingly put to death all that is not in accordance with the word and the will of the Lord. The iceberg of our lusts or our sinful self needs to melt in the presence of the Lord in His love and grace. We need to pray and ask the guidance of the Holy Spirit to know what are the specific areas we need to deny ourselves and then go ahead and do it. As we focus on the example of Jesus and meditate on His words, He as the author and finisher of our faith will begin a good work in that area or areas and see it to completion.
Denial implies that we say, “No” to ourselves and “Yes” to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It means that we do not do our own wills but seek the will of the Lord and execute His will. Like the grain of seed that dies to itself before it can produce much fruit, we die to our own egos, our own desires and our own set ways of doing things. We crucify or nail anything that displeases or grieves the Holy Spirit. We get rid of dead habits in our lives. The cross can also mean a source of personal pain in our lives that does not go away or does not abate. The Lord will give us the grace or strength to bear our crosses and endure it till we inherit our crowns.

The Alpha of Spiritual Understanding

UV 3112/10000 The Alpha of Spiritual Understanding
Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
Psalm 49 v 20
In the absence of spiritual understanding of who one is and who God is, human beings are no better than the beasts that die. In the absence of a personal relationship and all that this means, our lives are lived in vain. When we fear God to avoid evil and equally love Him to do good, we become both stable and able. We are both required by virtue of being God’s creatures endowed with reason, faith and conscience to be intellectually and emotionally and spiritually stable even as we are working on our skills and abilities. Leaders or managers are not respected or honoured just because they occupy positions but as they bring both honesty and ability to those positions.
People often rise to positions of leadership due to charisma or personal charm and ability but soon find that they do not have the accompanying understanding and matching character. When we know, understand and acknowledge God as the source of our abilities and our progress in life, we remain humble and humility is a sign of our understanding of where we stand in the big picture of life. Scripture, therefore exhorts us not to revel in wealth or wisdom or power or fame but to revel in the fact that we know, understand and acknowledge the Lord in all that we are, have and do.
The application of the principles embedded in scripture to life produces understanding, wisdom, power and eternal blessings. Scripture shows us how the Lord God related first to one human- Abraham, then to a couple- Abraham and Sarah, then to the immediate descendants of the couple, then to the twelve tribes of Israel, then to the nation of Israel and finally, through Jesus to the whole world. The vision of the Lord expands from one to many to everyone. Likewise, our spiritual understanding needs to expand from understanding ourselves to understanding the Tri-une God, to understanding our spouse, our children, our wider family or kith and kin, to understanding our colleagues, to understanding our friends and enemies, to understanding everyone we come across. We acknowledge the Lord as the source of our wisdom and lean not on our own understanding but increasingly depend on the wisdom of the Lord. We can enhance our spiritual understanding by praying, meditation, by reading and studying scripture, by seeking the gifts of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual principles are often counter intuitive, counter culture, against the tide. It implies a cost has to be paid and the rewards of keeping these are often not visible in the short run. But this is the way human beings as creatures and children of God are wired and nothing else works. Of course, we can choose to be a beast or choose to follow the Best- Jesus.

The Alpha of the Sovereign Will of God

UV 3111/10000 The Alpha of the Sovereign Will of God
And this will we do, if God permit
Hebrews 6 v 3
When we willingly bring our free wills in submission to the will of God, heaven’s favour or grace is obtained for our decisions and plans. St James in similar vein wrote that we should not say we will do this or that or go here or there but instead say that if it is the will of God we will live and do this or that. St Paul sought the will of God for everything that he did whether it was his journey to a particular place or something else related to his ministry. As we yield our wills to Him, He will increase the yield of our lives. We should not hold onto our stubborn views but have utmost respect or reverence for the sovereignty of the Lord at any time of our lives.
The way to bring our plans and actions as well as emotions in alignment with the Lord is to pray before the start of any enterprise or project or plan to reveal His will and to bless what we are about to do. We should also apply the principles and precepts we have learnt this far from our study of the Word. We can also seek the prayer support and counsel of godly people in our circle. The litmus test is if at the end of the process of so seeking the will of God, we have the peace of Jesus, the peace that confirms that it is in alignment with His perfect will. If the dilemma disturbs our minds and spirits, we should desist from proceeding. The Lord who alone has complete knowledge of us, of our situations and of the future will guide us to the very end of our lives. He promises never to leave us alone or let us down or forsake us. He becomes literally a partner with us in what we are attempting and orchestrates events and situations in ways no man can ever predict. He eventually crowns our efforts with success in many cases but even if He lets us fail, there would be something that we gain in terms of wisdom and faith which could not have been learnt in some other way.
Once we have committed to action, we should trust in the Lord with all our hearts. The Holy Spirit will whisper in our inner ears to walk in this path or to take a certain step. We should be always sensitive to the voice of the Lord and comply immediately even as Abraham obeyed the Lord implicitly, without hesitation and with fullness of faith. The Lord in His time will bring our plans to fruition or success. At no stage should we doubt or waver for St James says that a man who is wavering or vacillating cannot hope to receive any blessing.

The Alpha of The Release from Bondage

UV 3110/10000 The Alpha of the Release from Bondage
Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments
Exodus 6 v 6
The burdens of the Egyptians is the bondages and burdens this world imposes on us. When we relate the revelation of God to the Israelites as “ I am the Lord” to the seven identity statements of Jesus, the above uni-verse takes on a new and deep meaning for our lives today. Jesus said, “ I have the water of eternal life”, the One who quenches our thirst for eternal life with His words. Jesus said, “ I am the way, the truth and the life,” the One who shows the lost the way to eternal life, reveals the truth, releases from falsehoods and gives eternal life, releases us from the burden of death and the fear of death that the enemy has shackled mankind with. Jesus said, “ I am the True Vine,” the One who grafts us to the truths, principles that enable us to grow from personal bondage into true freedom and the abundant life.
Jesus said, “ I am the Bread of Life”, the One who satisfies our hunger for life and releases us from such bondage of need. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” who releases us from the burdens imposed on us by the powers of darkness. Jesus said, “ I am the door of the sheep,” meaning that He is the entry point into the kingdom of God. He said, “ I am the good shepherd,” meaning that He guides us to the end and beyond and He died to release us from the burden of sin and consequent curses. He said, “ I am the resurrection and the life,” implying that He saves us from the burdens of death and of life.
Jesus as Lord stretched out His arm to heal people, to calm the stormy waters, to call His followers, to forgive, to bless, to deliver, to rebuke, to make victorious. He will spare no efforts to do so even today in our lives. His teachings, principles, precepts, judgements are also meant to keep us out of needless trouble and evil, to give us breakthroughs and deliverance from any form of earthly bondage. As Lord and Saviour of our souls, His will and word is sovereign and immutable in our lives. We only need to believe, trust and obey Him implicitly and explicitly. Though He is all powerful, He respects our free will and would never interfere with it. He will also help us overcome the enslavement of our wills by deadly habits for grace is a perfect blend of supreme power and absolute love.

The Alpha of Patience

UV 3108/10000 The Alpha of Patience
That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6 v 12
We are warned not to be slothful but labour hard with faith and patience in order to inherit the awesome promises of the Lord. We cannot be complacent or lethargic. We cannot rush headlong into whatever we are doing but we need to take wise decisions with the Holy Spirit as our constant and chief consultant. We need to imitate the large number of witnesses of the Lord and imitate their lives of endurance, patience and hope. We are to cast down any burdens the enemy has stealthily placed on us to tire us down, to sidetrack us from the paths of the Lord.
The best example of apostles who were industrious, persevering, patient and endured all types of suffering and whose life and ministry was full of lasting and good fruit is Paul. This is the reason he exhorted the early church to imitate him even as he imitated Jesus. We need some contemporary models, mentors and examples even as by faith we try to imitate the greatest of all- Christ Jesus Himself and how He endured the shame, pain and horror of the cross without complaining or despairing, knowing that the Lord will lead Him into a glorious resurrection and thereafter to be forever, the Ruler of the entire universe. Scripture clearly states that only the diligent can be rulers while the slothful and impatient will be ruled over. Jesus diligently studied the scriptures and understood the details as well as spirit of the commandments and promises of the Lord under the new covenant even as He was called to establish the new covenant with His life, teachings and sacrificial blood. He spared no effort to fulfil every detail of prophecy concerning Him.
The same patient and compassionate Christ is now with us who believe. He longs to see the fruit of eternal life manifest in our hearts and lives. He is with us for the long haul and not just intermittently. We need to exercise the faith that Abraham exemplified. Abraham was not just eager to enjoy the fulfilment of promises of God but He was also willing to give up in obedience that which he obtained through faith. He gave up the idols and desires of his former life in Ur of Mesopotamia. He lived every day with diligence, patience, faith and hope. Some of the promises he would never obtain while he lived on earth but he knew that he would see it fulfilled historically and eternally. Our patience and faith needs to stretch beyond the temporal, beyond space and time, trusting the Lord to fulfil it in His time, implying in the eternal realm.

The Tested and Tried Stone

UV 3107/10000 The Tested and Tried Stone
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste
Isaiah 28 v 16

Jesus is the precious cornerstone of all of human history. He is the cornerstone also of Zion or the kingdom of God. He is the sure foundation for our lives- the bedrock foundation. Those who believe in His name, His work, His word will not be disappointed, ashamed or be afraid of mortal man and what he can do. He is also the tested stone- He has endured all the tests and temptations any man can and has emerged victorious. He has endured much suffering, hardship and the ultimate test of being the sacrificial death to break the power of sin, death and satan upon all humanity.
When we build our lives on this tested and secure foundation, our eternity is guaranteed, the abundant life is ours to claim and enjoy. We do not have to panic when things do not go as per plan for we know the One who is in control of our lives and our destiny. He is the stone that has been cut from the mountain of the Lord not by human hands but by the Lord Himself as it is written in the book of Daniel. Hence, our lives are not like the shifting sands but like Daniel, we are filled with a rock-like sense of certainty about our purpose in life. We are filled also with the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfil that divine purpose far beyond the mundane needs and considerations of everyday human life.
Like a precious stone, we should take a definite shape reflecting the strength and grace and power of the Chief Cornerstone- Jesus. We are born as charcoal but re-born in Christ as diamond. Hence, we should reflect the 4 C’s of a diamond- cut, colour, clarity and carat. Our character must be cut by the Chief Cornerstone in His image so that we manifest 4 C’s of Courage, Compassion, Calmness and Creativity. We should be creative in the way we fit into the architecture of Zion, the living temple, the tabernacle of God. Like Jesus, we too will be tested and tried. Like charcoal endures a lot of pressure over a long time in order to metamorphose into diamond, we too will endure a lot of trials, temptations, persecutions and earthly troubles but as we hold onto our faith in the Cornerstone and stay connected to Him, we will be victorious. Chosen by God, we will be rejected by man. Like Jesus , we will be rejected but when we are rejected, instead of being dejected, we should rejoice for it is a sign that we too would one day be a cornerstone, a leader in the kingdom of God.

The Alpha of Re-defining Heaven

UV 3106/10000 The Alpha of Re-defining Heaven
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name


Matthew 6 v 9
When Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who are in heaven,” the implication is tht wherever the Father is, that is heaven. Since the Father is omnipresent or everywhere- heaven is where the Father is. Therefore, if we are rooted in Christ by faith, then we are in heaven for the Father comes to whoever is in Christ. The first man and woman- Adam and Eve were in Eden, a veritable heaven. Yet, the common enemy came into that place and deceived them into thinking that they should aspire to an even better place. Likewise, today as we believe in Christ, we are in heaven but the enemy tries to delude us into thinking that we are not, that we should strive for something better. We are praying in truth, “Our Father who are in me and everyone who believes in Jesus..” Heaven is no longer a destination we go to after death but a spiritual life of abundance of faith and love. Heaven is not just our journey back to the Father but our journey with Him.
Often in times of prayer, the Lord has revealed that we are already in heaven. The Father, the Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit are close to us and within us. The kingdom of God is within us and amongst us. But the enemy tries to cause a sense of discontentment, disappointment as if this is not enough and that we need to aspire and be in an even better place. The Lord said that if we are not facing ICU, court cases, prison, disputes and emotional tumult, we are already in heaven. If we are praising God for the absence of these in our lives, that He has preserved us and saved us from the thorns and turmoil that so many are caught in, we are ushering in both God and heaven into our lives at that very moment.
We need to hallow or make holy the place where we are so that it is fitting for the Lord to dwell in. Our homes where we live, our workplaces where we work, our streets where we commute can well be part of heaven as long as our hearts and minds are constantly praising and thanking the Lord, our spirits are worshipping the Lord for a thousand mercies, for grace upon grace , blessing upon blessing in our lives. The absence of the desire to sin, to cherish the fruit of sin in our lives, the absence of cursing, bitterness, anger and complaining ushers us into heaven and heaven into us. The good news is not just that we are going to heaven but that heaven has been brought home to us in Christ. It is not as if we have no sorrow or trouble in this world but our closeness to the Lord, our faith in Him and His love for us wipes our tears, comforts us and fills us with hope and cheer. True, the heaven in heaven is far greater than the heaven on earth but heaven does start here and now. We become co-creators and establishers of the first heaven on earth where His will is done on earth as in heaven.

The Alpha of Invincibility

UV3105/10000 The Alpha of Invincibility
There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
Joshua 1 v 5
This is an amazing promise that the Lord will be with His chosen ones even as He was with Moses. The omnipotence, the wisdom, the understanding, the power and grace will be manifest in our lives even as it was manifest in and through Moses as well as Joshua. We receive the anointing to lead His people out of spiritual slavery even as Moses led His people out of political or physical slavery. In order to accomplish this purpose, the Lord will pour forth His power and His spirit upon us. The spiritual equivalent of the tremendous miracles that occurred under the leadership of Moses will happen in our lives- the Red Sea will be parted, the Lord will fight for us against the pharaohs of this age. As a result, no man however powerful or highly placed or influential can withstand us, our power and our influence.
The uni-verse should embolden, empower and enable us to fulfil our role as the Lord’s chosen leaders. We are emboldened to speak for Him, to decree change, to obtain victory in whatever we are attempting. We will be led into our inheritance even if it means the defeat of 31 powerful kings, principalities and powers of darkness. We are therefore, never to be discouraged, afraid, worried, depressed or disheartened. We are never to be dismayed or disappointed. We are to be courageous, fearless, cheerful, hopeful, confident and faithful.
Even as Jehovah promised to be with Moses and Joshua till the end of their lives, Jesus promises to be with us till the end of the world or the end of our lives, whichever is earlier. He has declared us to be more than conquerors. Victory is guaranteed and sealed. It cannot be taken away from us. Moreover, the Holy Spirit is sent to us to encourage, inspire and guide us. Like Moses and Joshua, we will be witnesses of the amazing power and grace of God. We will experience or cause miracles that are just manifestations or evidence of the presence of God with us. The Lord promises never to fail us, never to leave us or give up on us. He will uphold us in our faith. He will strengthen us in many ways. He will help us. Just as He blessed what was in the hand of Moses-his staff and vested it with power and authority, the Lord will bless whatever we have in our hands and vest it with His awesome power. When we are believers, we should never expect just the ordinary to happen in and through us. The Lord will accomplish extraordinary things in and with us. Just as Moses and Joshua were trained by the Lord to be effective leaders, we will be trained by Him to be effective and to excel in all that we do.

The Alpha of the Grace of God

UV 3104/10000 The Alpha of Grace of God

My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch
Job 29 v 19
When we are rooted in the Rock that is Jesus, we are like the cedars of Lebanon that gather moisture from the dew all night. We can walk on the water, walk through fire, neither despairing of the depths of sorrow or scared of the heights. Our roots or our foundational beliefs, convictions and principles should be embedded in the word of the Lord. We should keep seeking out the underground water even as the dew of grace accumulates on the branches or different aspects of our lives. Such a person will succeed in whatever he does as promised in the very first Psalm. He will bear fruit right through his life, fruit that will endure to satisfy the hunger of people for hope, for purpose, for love.
If we are spiritually wise, we will both understand and practice the ways and obey the word of the Lord. If we are other-wise, we would do the opposite and the heat of drought will dry up our roots, our leaves as well as our fruit. Just as the roots of a healthy tree keep pushing out till it reaches the river, we should keep pushing our knowledge of the word so that we more fully understand and obey the Lord. The Lord seeing our earnestness, our hunger , our zeal would add grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing so that our invisible roots, our beliefs, our convictions will strengthen us from below and the visible branches, leaves and fruit would strengthen us from above.
The uni-verse states that the dew is gathered and deposited at night when it is dark and cold. Likewise, at night or during the times when it is dark, cold and difficult, the grace of the Lord is strongest and makes itself manifest in our lives. Job was just and generous in his generation. He was a father to the poor. He did his best to stay righteous and principled even when circumstances were very difficult or adverse. The enemy thought he would turn against God. Instead, Job affirmed his faith by saying, “ In the end, I will behold my Redeemer.” In a time of extreme drought, his roots did not dry up as it was fed by the waters of faith in Jesus. We too will be tested in the course of our lives- our roots of faith, hope and love of Jesus should be strong enough to outlast the dark night of our souls, the winter of our trouble.

The Alpha of the Overflow

3103/10000 The Alpha of Overflow
Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
Zechariah 1 v 17
The Lord has chosen us before the foundation of the earth. We have not chosen Him but He has chosen us. He has seen us, known us, understood us long before we have known, understood or acknowledged Him. He has chosen us to dwell with Him in the eternal city, the heavenly Jerusalem. Having chosen us, He has turned our mourning into rejoicing. He has turned our sorrows into pure joy. He comforts us in our suffering. He re-builds the things and places in our lives that have been laid waste or spoiled by the enemy of our souls. When the enemy takes a part of us for the soul is spiritual territory belonging to the Lord, the Lord takes back the territory. Like rulers guard territory and would do anything to wrest it back, the Lord looks upon us as His precious belongings, His possessions that He will redeem and take back from the grasp of the enemy of our souls.
The Lord restores the ruins of our hope and of our lives. He causes these ruined places to overflow with new hope of prosperity, health and well being. We are not to allow our minds to be in a “fight or flight” mode as psychologists say but we are in an “overflow” mode- an overflow of joy, hope, love, goodness and all of the fruit of the spirit. The prosperity that scripture or the uni-verse speaks of is not a narrow, materialistic or monetary prosperity but a wholesome and holistic experience of the abundant life Jesus came to give us.
Instead of being silent about the goodness and grace of the Lord overflowing in our lives, we are to be vocal and proclaim His kingdom. He is the Lord of hosts or the Lord of the armies of angels of heaven. There is nothing that He says He will do which is too difficult for Him to perform. If He says that our lives will overflow, it will overflow though we do not see any physical evidence or signs at the moment. We are to be thankful in anticipation and acknowledge the goodness of the Lord to us. We are to amplify the soft whisper of witness of the Spirit of God in our hearts and minds.

The Two Edges of Communication

UV 3102/10000 The Two Edges of Communication
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
Ephesians 4 v 29
The tongue is double-edged. If anything is double-edged like a sword, it can be used for benefit or for mutual harm. Hence, the human tongue more often than not is used for unfair criticism, harmful gossip, sarcasm, mockery, vulgarity, lying, slander, arguments, abuse, insults, conflicts, to express wrath. As children of God, our tongues should have only one edge- the edge that is used by leaders and teachers to build, to encourage, to inspire, to guide, to bless, to instruct, to edify. The tongue of the godly leader is not forked like that of a serpent, bending this way and that way. It is not to be used to express unfaithfulness or lack of faith in God. Our words should be in agreement with the spirit and word of God. Such communication would be wholesome, helpful, beneficial to the listeners. In contrast to the "leader edge" , the bleeder edge causes only harm.
Likewise, we should not use our communication to boost up our own image or ego that is often the source of envy and conflict in human relations. We should use our communication to make the Lord understood, known and acknowledged for He is the giver of this amazing G0d-like ability – the ability to express creatively, communicate beneficially and in a wholesome way. Our words should be seasoned or flavoured with grace and gentleness. It takes a lot of discipline to bring our tongues under the control of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will teach us how to communicate and how much to speak. He will help us measure our words against the truth of the word of God.
One loose word can often cause hell fire to break out on earth, in our homes and even among our nearest and dearest. Instead, scripture says that a soft answer will turn away great wrath. The enemy wants to use the harmful edge of our tongues to cut up our own lives, to destroy peace, to cause strife. The human tongue is one of the chief targets of the enemy as it is also the chief source of expressing faith in the grace of God. The enemy is delighted when we use our tongues in an indiscriminate way. Conversely, the Holy Spirit is grieved when we engage in heated arguments and express anger or bitterness. Our tongues are meant to be pure fountains of life and not instruments that spew death, harm, curses and ill will. Our words should increase the faith of our listeners and paint for them the character and image of the invisible God so that they almost begin to see or perceive the Creator and Redeemer in everything we speak and do. In this manner, we will be ministering grace or building belief in the agape, unlimited love, power and mercy of the Lord. For this the rough, harmful, sharp edge of our tongues should be neutralised, tamed, made wholesome and healthy.

The Alpha of Lifelong Victory, of Sustainable Success

UV 3101/10000 The Alpha of Victory
But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries
Exodus 23 v 22
In this chapter in Exodus, the Lord reveals His invincible, fail-proof strategy for the conquest of the Promised Land. The land was not given to the people of Israel on a platter. It involved years of struggle, a war of attrition with the people who resided there. The Lord promised the Israelites that if they obeyed His voice and do all that He spoke to them, He would be their shield. He promised that He would be an enemy to their enemies and adversary to their adversaries. Anyone who touched the people who knew, understood and acknowledged the Lord were touching the apple of His eye. In short, we are precious in the sight of the Lord and when we are persecuted for any reason, the Lord closes His eye of compassion towards the persecutors. He would then send a “hornet” or a series of troubles to wear them down. He will vindicate us and prove that our cause is just, our faith is not misplaced or based on wild or unreal assumptions. The Lord will prove the reality of His presence, His power, His love in the course of our days as we lean and depend on Him. This uni-verse is in fact the basis of our faith in the verse, "If God be for us , who can be against us." Regardless of who is against us, we should ensure that the Lord God is not against us at any time.
The Lord will bless those who bless us, encourage us, help us and curse those who curse, obstruct, oppose us. The angel of the Lord travels ahead of us to prepare the way and to take us to the place prepared and promised to us by the Lord. We need to be careful not to overtake this angel, to be careful to listen to His voice, to abide by His instructions communicated to us in this age and time through the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. The strategy of the Lord is not to overthrow the enemies overnight or in a single year but slowly and gradually so that the land is not overtaken by beasts or the lawless elements of society.
The Lord also promises to bless our food and water and to take away sickness from our midst. We are not to trust the smooth, vain and deceitful words of those of this world. We are not to trust even our own whimsical and fickle hearts and so turn away from the Lord even for a moment. We are only to repose our trust and confidence in the word of the Lord as long as we live in this world. He would never fail us or let us down in any way. We are to patiently hope in His ever present help, His sovereign will and power that prevails in every situation. We should not despair when circumstances seem to be against us temporarily. However, adverse it might seem, however formidable our enemies, the Lord’s will and word will prevail. Our inner eye of faith should be able to perceive every move and desire of the Lord for our lives. The desire of the Lord is that we understand, know and acknowledge Him as the pillar of strength of our lives, the number one relationship of our lives, the focus and mainstay of our days on earth.

The Alpha of Lifelong Victory and Sustainable Success

UV 3101/10000 The Alpha of Lifelong Victory
But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries
Exodus 23 v 22
In this chapter in Exodus, the Lord reveals His invincible, fail-proof strategy for the conquest of the Promised Land. The land was not given to the people of Israel on a platter. It involved years of struggle, a war of attrition with the people who resided there. The Lord promised the Israelites that if they obeyed His voice and do all that He spoke to them, He would be their shield. He promised that He would be an enemy to their enemies and adversary to their adversaries. Anyone who touched the people who knew, understood and acknowledged the Lord were touching the apple of His eye. In short, we are precious in the sight of the Lord and when we are persecuted for any reason, the Lord closes His eye of compassion towards the persecutors. He would then send a “hornet” or a series of troubles to wear them down. He will vindicate us and prove that our cause is just, our faith is not misplaced or based on wild or unreal assumptions. The Lord will prove the reality of His presence, His power, His love in the course of our days as we lean and depend on Him.
The Lord will bless those who bless us, encourage us, help us and curse those who curse, obstruct, oppose us. The angel of the Lord travels ahead of us to prepare the way and to take us to the place prepared and promised to us by the Lord. We need to be careful not to overtake this angel, to be careful to listen to His voice, to abide by His instructions communicated to us in this age and time through the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit. The strategy of the Lord is not to overthrow the enemies overnight or in a single year but slowly and gradually so that the land is not overtaken by beasts or the lawless elements of society.
The Lord also promises to bless our food and water and to take away sickness from our midst. We are not to trust the smooth, vain and deceitful words of those of this world. We are not to trust even our own whimsical and fickle hearts and so turn away from the Lord even for a moment. We are only to repose our trust and confidence in the word of the Lord as long as we live in this world. He would never fail us or let us down in any way. We are to patiently hope in His ever present help, His sovereign will and power that prevails in every situation. We should not despair when circumstances seem to be against us temporarily. However, adverse it might seem, however formidable our enemies, the Lord’s will and word will prevail. Our inner eye of faith should be able to perceive every move and desire of the Lord for our lives. The desire of the Lord is that we understand, know and acknowledge Him as the pillar of strength of our lives, the number one relationship of our lives, the focus and mainstay of our days on earth.

The Alpha of Security

UV3100/10000 The Alpha of the Sense of Belonging or Security
Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not
Jeremiah 14 v 9
The key words in this uni-verse is that the Lord is in the midst of us. Immanuel or God in our midst is the alternative name of Jesus.He is fully in control of whatever is happening in our lives. He is the One who gives us a sense of identity as we are called by His name. He has complete knowledge of us, our needs, our purpose in life. He gives us access to His infinite knowledge, wisdom, hope and power. If He is in our midst, we need not look for answers anywhere else. We should not be like people who are weak, confused, unmotivated, apathetic. The Lord is committed to us even as we are committed to Him in a personal bond or covenant. Our source of strength, power and purpose are in Him. In contrast, the man who does not recognize that the Lord is in his life feels weak, vulnerable, unstable and insecure.
The meaning of life is hidden in the name or identity of Jesus. He is faithful to us all through our lives. He never leaves us nor will He ever forsake or give up on us. Our source of joy lies in belonging to Jesus. Unlike the rest of the world , we need not seek our security in the desire for more and more acquisition or the spirit of covetousness. We are contented with what the Lord has provided for us this far. We are hopeful that whatever need that might arise in future, too the Lord will provide for us. Our sense of security is absolute and anchored in the person of Jesus. When the disciples were startled by the heavy storm in the Sea of Galilee, they looked to Jesus for help. Even a sleeping Jesus in the boat was enough to make them all look for help in His direction, for salvation from the storms of life. Sometimes, the Lord might appear to be sleeping or inactive in our challenging situations or storms, but He is only testing whether we repose our complete faith or trust in Him.
Our confidence and our strength is derived from the Word of the Lord. It provides us the inner clarity of purpose and the power to fulfil our purpose in life. We therefore have no excuse to be inactive, listless, restless, despondent or confused. We trust the Lord and know that He will do what is beneficial for us from the perspective of our eternal destiny and His sovereign will. We do not wrestle with Him or challenge His will for our lives. Instead, we submit or yield every aspect of our lives to Him-alpha to omega.