Chapter 3

God's Law and commandments

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. (Proverbs 3:1,2)

God calls His people individually as "My son". You may be a female. But if you are in Christ Jesus, you are "My son" indeed. A son has more privileges than a daughter. A son is supposed to be bolder than a daughter. A son is supposed to work harder than a daughter. A son is supposed to be a warrior more than a daughter. If you are "My son", you are not supposed to forget the law of God. God calls His law as "My law". It is not a written code for His son. It is a law written on his heart. If you are "My son", you know His law. You need not study His law in a Bible college. You may be an illiterate person knowing not to read the Bible. But if you are "My son", you are supposed to know His law. If you are "My son", nobody needs to define what the law of your Father to you is. Nobody needs to give you a sermon on the law of your Father to you. Nobody needs to quote the Bible to you. As His son, you know His law. You meditate on His law and follow it without questioning the reasonableness of His commandments. Your heart keeps His commandments.

These days, we find that many people of God question the reasonableness of His commandments and argue that the commandments of Jesus regarding marriage and divorce, etc are not meant for you. If you are "My son", you will never argue that the Ten Commandments are not meant for you and that you are not supposed to follow the Law of Moses.

Today, many people of God do not have "long life" because they forget His law and do not follow His commandments. They do not have "peace" in their hearts even after accepting Jesus as their Savior. It is because that they forget "My law". Many people of God say that they are being attacked by the devil and that they could not get deliverance from sicknesses. Though they stand fully protected by the Covenant of the Blood of Jesus Christ, yet they are susceptible to the attacks of the devil because they forget "My law" and do not follow His commandments. Grace does not give any license to indulge in sins or to disobey His commandments. Grace gives you His power to obey His Law. The indwelling Holy Spirit gives you His power to overcome the sin and to obey His commandments. In other words, grace means divine enablement to over the sin and to obey His commandments.

Mercy and truth

Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. (Pro.3:3-4)

We have to be merciful as our Heavenly Father. These days, the people of God are not merciful whereas the people of this world are more merciful than the children of the kingdom. The people of God do not sacrificially give to the poor. In India, we find people throwing away their currency notes as alms to the beggars who throng to the temples/Gurdwaras (places of worship for people belonging to Sikh religion) whereas Christians throw away only their coins as alms to the beggars who beg for the same standing outside the church premises. In many Christian families in India, the so-called "born-again" sons and daughters are not merciful to their old parents. The so-called "born-again" Christians are not merciful to their spouses. Though we are the children of our Father in heaven Who is full of mercy, we are merciless. Similarly, the pastors are not merciful to their sheep. They do not take care of their sheep but want themselves to be taken care of by their sheep by way of tithes and offerings.

At the same time, we have to be truthful also. We should be truthful in our personal life - with your spouse and children; then with your God; then with your employer or business partner. Then, you should abide in the truth that you learn from the Word of God. Nowadays, we do not find the people of God abide in the truth. Christian preachers preach from pulpits righteousness and holiness but in their personal lives they are unrighteous and unholy. Abiding in the truth means following what you preach. The people of God throw to the wind the truth of the Word when the truth enjoins them to take up their crosses and follow Christ Jesus. Christian preachers distort the truth just to suit their conveniences or to become popular. The people of God covet only blessings but not the truth. I wonder how many Christians countered the lies propagated through The Da Vinci Code by taking the Sword of the truth. The lie of the Devil was propagated to every nook and corner of the world whereas many Christian leaders were busy with their own meetings and did not bother to counter the great lie of the father of lies through their television/magazine ministries. What are we doing for the truth that we learn? The communists won the whole world for communism because they were truthful to their doctrines and were prepared to lay down their lives for the sake of their doctrines. There is not a single nation in this world which is not influenced by the doctrines of communism.

A disciple of Christ needs both mercy and truth. He cannot ignore one at the cost of another. If you abide in the truth but are not merciful, then you are not manifesting the love of Christ as His disciple. Similarly, if you are merciful but do not abide in the truth, then you are manifesting yourself as a philanthropist and not as a disciple of Christ Jesus.

You have to bind both mercy and truth around your neck and write the same upon the table of your heart. People around you should see the manifestation of mercy and truth through your life. The same should be visible as a necklace around your neck and should not be hidden. You should write this great truth upon the table of your heart in stead of storing the same in your head. This means you should practice this truth in your life. If you do so, you will find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. People around you will understand you and will favour you, apart from your finding favour and good understanding in the sight of God. We ought to find favour in the sight of man also. If you are merciful and truthful, your employer will prefer you. If you are merciful and truthful, your estranged spouse will favour you. Let these two words i.e. Mercy and Truth be written upon the table of your heart today. Examine in your life whether you are lacking in mercy and in truth! Have you ever neglected the truth of the Word that you learnt from the Bible just because it appeared it was impossible for you to obey His commandment?

Trust, lean not and acknowledge

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Pro.3:5-6)

How does God direct His paths in your life? First of all, you should trust in Him with all your heart. Believe in His wisdom and ability to guide you. At times, we do not trust in Him with all our heart. We are afraid of taking the first step of trusting in Him. We go to man and trust in him. But we do not trust in God Who has given His Son for us. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we do not trust in our God. Maybe, we trust in Him but not with all our heart. Like a child who trusts in his father, we have to trust in Him. We may trust both in God and in man. But God wants us to trust in Him with all our heart. It is 100% trust. What a Friend we have in Jesus? If Jesus is your eternal Friend, do you carry every burden in prayer to Jesus Christ first?

While trusting in the Lord, you should not lean unto your own understanding. According to your understanding, you may choose a wrong path. If you trust in Him with all your heart, God will not allow you to choose that path but will take you to another path. People may give you many suggestions and you will get confused if you listen to their ideas or suggestions. Just go to your closet, kneel down before Him and say, "Lord, I trust in thee with all my heart. Lead me through the right path". After committing your ways into His hands, then go ahead. God will open only that way you have to tread on. He will close the other ways before you. But, in your own ways, the ways closed by Him or which do not open for you may appear to be good. Do not lean on your own understanding but leave everything to His judgment. Remember that our God is good and always does well for His people. He brings water out of the rock for us. Your vision is always short-sighted but His vision is far-sighted. God looks beyond the horizon whereas you look at the horizon. He goes ahead of you and prepares everything for you.

Thirdly, in all your ways, you have to acknowledge Him once you have trusted in Him with all your heart. God will ordain all your ways. Be assured that God guides you in all your ways. Every person who you will come across will be ordained of God only. There may be still afflictions or confusion for you. But your eyes shall see "thy teachers" - servants of God who the Lord sends your way to comfort and guide you. "Thy teachers" may be certain Bible verses which will speak to your heart giving you guidance. Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left (Isaiah 30:20-21). When some misfortune befalls you, you should not think that God is not with you. He is with you in all your ways because you have trusted in Him with all your heart. Even if misfortune befalls you, acknowledge Him. He will make a way for you even in the wilderness because He is with you.

If you acknowledge Him in everything, He will direct your path. At times, we trust in Him with all our heart but do not acknowledge Him in everything that happens with the result that He could not direct our paths in the right direction. This is like a mountaineer who has climbed the mountain but did not deem it necessary to plant his flag on the summit of the mountain as a mark of success. When he narrated his success story to others, they could not believe him because there was no evidence before their eyes. Likewise, you do not see the evidence of His guidance in your life and miss the mark of reaching your destination. The mountaineer did not acknowledge the universal way of success through the planting of the flag on the top of the mountain. He did work hard straining his every nerve to reach the summit of the mountain but did not acknowledge the universal way of success through the hoisting of the flag on the top of the mountain. Thus he lost the reward. His success did not lay in his reaching the summit but in hoisting the flag on the top of the mountain. In fact, the destination for him is not the top of the mountain but the act of hoisting the flag on its top.

Similarly, we trust in Him and then go ahead towards the destination. But if we do not acknowledge God in all ways, especially, while nearing the destination, we may lose sight of the destination but may drift away towards another direction. Or we may doubt the way He has led us when we are about to reach the destination or to receive His blessing. Unbelief at this juncture may take our eyes off the destination. God cannot help us in such a situation because we have not acknowledged Him in all our ways. I would teach this truth through another example. You must have seen the game board of snake and ladder. There are many squares on this board. You have to move your coin starting from the square No.1 at the bottom and you have to reach the square No.100 at the top. You will find many ladders and snakes. As the dice is cast, you will have to move your coin. If it reaches the mouth of the snake, you will come down. Cast again the dice. If you land on a ladder, climb up; if you hit a snake, slide down.

You will find the mouth of a long and big snake on the square No.99. If you reach here, then you will slide down to the bottom row of squares. It will be a great fall! This teaches us a great truth. The ladders are the various steps of graces that take you to the destination i.e. the square No.100. The small snakes are the different tools employed by the enemy to bring you down. Of course, you will definitely get a snake bite. But you will have to recover from it and move up. You should escape the long and the big snake on the square No.99.

In your spiritual life, this long and big snake may be your developing a sudden feeling of unbelief. If God has promised you healing, you have to claim it and reach the destination by faith. While climbing up, you have to activate your faith by acts. You have to cast the dice and move the coin. It will not move on its own. If you are on a wheel-chair, you have to start rising up from the wheel chair and to ask someone to life you up from the wheel chair. You have to take up your bed and walk. “In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6) “Rise up and walk” is the word of prophecy for you.

Christ Jesus has already finished His work on the Cross of Calvary for you. He will not again go to His Cross for your deliverance. Christ Jesus died on the Cross not only for our great salvation but also for delivering us from our sicknesses and problems. All you have now to do is “rise up and walk”. By faith, you have to take the first step. If you are now sick with no relief after undergoing all kinds of medical treatments, as you read this message, just rise up and walk in His Name. If your dear one is on the sickbed, you may lift up and make him/her walk in His Name. If you face a personal or a financial problem, you should now thank and praise Him for His wonderful work for you on the Cross. If you are on the look out for a better placement in your career or a change in your business, you should now start applying or looking for new avenues. As you walk by faith, believing that the Lord has already performed this miracle for you on the Cross of Calvary, you will experience this miracle in your life or in your ministry to the Lord.

I am not talking of positive faith or faith healing. You have not seen or heard about what the Lord has prepared for you since the beginning of the world. You have to simply discover through your spiritual eyes the things that the Lord has already prepared for you. “…since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him’ (Isa.64:4).

Just remember the truth of the snake and ladder game. Trust in the LORD with all your heart as you walk with Jesus by faith (moving your coin on the board). Lean not unto your own understanding when you face the trials and tribulations (encountering the snakes). Just move on by faith. If the snake has bitten you, just come down and recover in His green pastures. In all your ways acknowledge Him even when you near the destination (reaching the top row of squares just near the square No.99). He shall then direct your paths by delivering you from the temptation or the evil. When you reach the summit, you should neither look down nor beat a hasty retreat. But hold on to your ground on the summit and hoist the flag on the top.

Three principles for divine health

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. (Pro.3:7-8)

We always try to be wise in our own eyes. We do things in our own short-sighted wisdom keeping in mind the immediate benefits that we derive by taking some particular decision. We should leave everything to our Lord through prayers and then wait on Him patiently to see how He would direct our ways. He will close a particular door that you may try to enter and will open another door after sometime. The door closed by Him would appear to be the right one in your own eyes and you may murmur against Him. What seems wise in your eyes may deceive you. Your reasoning may fail you. Your own wisdom may fail you. But your faith in Him will lead you to the right direction.

Secondly, fear the Lord in everything. Just wait and think a minute before doing any thing. Will your decision grieve the Holy Spirit? Will your decision edify the Body of Christ? Will your decision affect the well-being of your neighbours? Will your decision hurt the sentiments of your spouse? The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Do not fear God just remembering His rod of judgment. Fear Him treating Him as your Heavenly Father. In every act of yours, your Father has to be glorified. You are His son under the New Covenant, and not a servant under the Old Covenant. As a son, you have to fear Him because of His eternal love. He has given everything for you in Christ Jesus.

Thirdly, depart from evil. You know what the evil is. The word of God teaches you in this regard. The indwelling Holy Spirit prevents you from doing something evil.

If you follow the above three divine principles, it shall be health to your navel and marrow to your bones. You need not go to any doctor for routine health check up. This is the prescription from the Heavenly Doctor for your divine health.

Do not be wise. Fear God. Depart from evil.

Firstfruits of all your increase

Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:

So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. (Pro.3:9-10)

Nowadays, we honour the Lord through our lips only. We worship and adore Him in our churches. We pray a long prayer like the Pharisee. But when it comes to honouring Him with our substance, we just turn a blind eye to the missionary organizations who appeal for funds. The Old Testament standard of giving is just one tenth of our increase. But under the New Covenant, there is no limit to our giving. We have to give beyond our ability until it affects us. We want to receive everything free from our Lord. We want free email devotionals to be sent to our Inboxes. At times, when we receive some email devotionals freely in our Inbox, we immediately react violently and we send an impolite reply saying, "Unsubscribe". Why cannot we thank the servant of God who took pains to send us this message and then request him not to send you his message? We want free books. We want free Christian magazines to be delivered at our door steps. We want free CDs/VCDs. Of course, those who send us free have been blessed by God. But we are supposed to pay a price for what we learn from the elders in the Body of Christ who take pains to teach us.

Secondly, we have to honour Him not only with our substance but also with the firstfruits of all our increase. If you get a promotion in your career, the first salary should go to our Lord. If you get a job after the prayers of a servant of God, your first salary should go to the servant of God concerned. If you get a windfall profit in your business, the first profit money should go to the Lord. Today, the missionary organizations are not able to meet their budgets because the people of God are not giving sacrificially to them. The people of God do not give their firstfruits to the apostolic ministers who are the missionaries that serve God in places not reached by the gospel. God has set the apostles in the first place in His body, and the other ministers entrusted with miracles and healings, etc, in the secondary places (I Cor.12:28). We give more to the ministers who perform miracle and healing ministries but ignore the apostolic ministers in our midst who just lead a hand to mouth existence in mission fields. We just reverse the order set by God in the body of Christ.

Recently, I was invited to speak during the first anniversary of a Christian organization in Delhi which is engaged in translating the Bible into the scriptless languages of India. The missionary couple who do this wonderful ministry could not get their "salaries" fixed by the Trust of this organization for the last two months and they just struggled to buy a computer for their ministry which cost only Rs.16, 000/- (equivalent to $400). In fact this computer could be bought due to the precious gift sent by a dear sister in USA.

I have been receiving many prayer requests from the people of God all over the world about their financial problems. Many of them mentioned that they could not pay their mortgage loans/clear their electricity/cooking gas bills, etc. They want others to pray for "financial miracles". I say with all the assurance that their financial problems would vanish the moment they give a part of what they have in their pockets to the apostolic ministers in the universal Body of Christ. They would have sown "seeds" in the ministries of those who preached the "prosperity gospel". I exhort them to sow their seeds in the "good land" that gives them 100 fold yields (Matt.13:8). Let them give to God out of their penury to receive the great financial miracles. " So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine".

Long ago, I came across a wonderful testimony of a poor couple who gave to God out of their penury. Arul Jothy of J.D.Nagar, Sankarankoil, Tamil Nadu, India lives with her family in a house with asbestos sheet roof and with no proper door. They are supporters of Indian Missionary Society that is engaged in sending missionaries to those places in India which are not reached by the gospel of Christ. In India, there is a system of raising funds from the house-wives or the poor people. They are given offertory boxes in which these people put their coins in a sacrificial manner. They will never open these boxes even if they need money desperately. These boxes are handed over to the fund raisers after a particular period. In a similar manner, the Indian Missionary Society distributed offertory boxes known as "IMS Hundi" amongst their donors. When the staff of IMS went to the house of Arul Jothy to collect the money saved by her through her offertory box, she said, "Sir, the Hundi is overflowing and there is no more space to drop the coins." She also said, "All three of us, my husband, son and myself, never had any medical expense. If any becomes sick, we will put our offering in the Hundi and pray on our knees. Sickness will fly away." When the offertory box was opened, there was Rs.2675 (equivalent to $50). Today, many people of God suffer from various ailments and do not get healed because they do not honor God with the firstfruits of all their increase.

Dearly beloved in Christ, you need not send your prayer requests over the internet to many servants of God. Instead, give a part of what is in your hand to God today, especially, to the apostolic ministers whom God has set first in the body of Christ. Your barns shall be filled with plenty and your presses shall burst out with new wine. Elijah just wanted the widow at Zarephath who was gathering the sticks to feed him "with a morsel of bread in thine hand " (I Kings 17:11). He wanted only what she had in her house. She did not have much but only "an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse". She told him in a plain language that she had this last meal in her house and that she and her son might "eat it and die". But she gave what she possessed. She made "a little cake" for Elijah. Then came the word of prophecy: "The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth" (I Kings 17:14). What happened to her? She and her house "did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah (I Kings. 7: 15-16). The word of prophecy, though it emanated from Elijah, was in fact the word of the Lord. Today also, the same word of prophecy comes to you from the God of Elijah! It is not my word but the word of the Lord.

Until and unless the Elijah is fed through your own hands, you cannot expect a financial miracle but only a deficit. Dear minister, you will have definitely "new wine" in your ministry if you feed the Elijah in the wilderness. God will definitely enlarge your tent in your nation if you have a willing heart to help the apostles in the body of Christ. Are you like the widow at Zarephath? The God of Elijah is here to bless you. You will have your barns filled with plenty, and your presses burst out with new wine. Is your bank balance "empty"? Has your debt mounted like anything? Give to God out of your penury today. The "new wine" for you may be divine healing for your body or a financial miracle or a new job with a very good pay package.

Despise not the chastening of the Lord

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of His correction:

For whom the LORD loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. (Pro.3:11-12)

God again calls you "My son" here. You may be a female. But if you are in Christ Jesus, you are "My son" indeed. A son has more privileges than a daughter. A son is supposed to be bolder than a daughter. A son is supposed to work harder than a daughter. A son is supposed to be a warrior more than a daughter. If you are His son, you have to undergo His rod of chastening or judgment. Nobody in the body of Christ is perfect. God chastens His imperfect sons so that they may be conformed to the image of His only Begotten Son. This is His will concerning His sons. Judgment by our Father is part of our spiritual journey in this world in the same manner as earthly fathers chasten and correct their prodigal sons. He corrects us because He loves us.

Suffering in our body is part of His judgment only. God allows sickness or infirmity in our flesh to chasten us. God allows Satan to afflict His people with sicknesses. God allowed the Devil to afflict His servant Job with disease. The Devil afflicted Paul with a bodily infirmity. This bodily infirmity was termed as the messenger of Satan because the Devil had caused this infirmity. This bodily infirmity, a messenger of Satan constantly buffeted Paul when he wanted to glory in the abundance of the revelations. According to a report based on the church history, Paul had some infirmity in his eyes. Sickness is not a curse but is part of His judgment. When we suffer sickness, we have to examine our lives very closely to see whether we have grieved the Holy Spirit at any point of time or whether we have offended any member of His body through our word or deed. As God forgives your iniquities, He heals all your diseases (Ps.103:3). Iniquities and diseases are twined together.

The word of God says in 2 Sam.7:14, "I will be his father, and he shall be My son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men". If we commit iniquity, God will chasten us with the rod of men and with the stripes of the children of men. God does use our enemies to chasten us when we commit iniquity. It may be your work place or your business establishment. The dictionary meaning of the word “iniquity” is “want of equity or fairness; injustice; wickedness; crime”. Iniquity is different from sin. An act of omission to help a poor person is an act of unrighteousness or iniquity. If you fail to do justice to someone, it is an act of iniquity. If you are partial to someone in the matter of judgment, it is an act of iniquity.

God does chasten you because He is your father and you are "My son". In fact, God has not dealt with you after your sins, nor rewarded you according to your iniquities (Ps.103:10). If God should mark your iniquities, who shall stand? (Ps.130:3)

"Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore, despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty" (Job 5:17). "Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him" (Heb.12:5). When God chastens you, do not despise it. At times, we just ignore the matter when we face His judgment. This is an opportunity given by God to examine our ways before Him. During His judgment, you have to humble yourself before Him. Pray to Him like David, "Rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot pleasure" (Ps.6:1). Plead to Him,”O remember not against us former iniquities; let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low" (Ps.79:8).

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous, therefore, and repent" (Rev.3:19). When God chastens us out of His love, we have to be zealous and repent. As we repent through the Blood of Jesus Christ, we become blessed because our iniquities are forgiven, and our sins are covered (Rom.4:7).

Dearly beloved in Christ, are you suffering the chastening of the Lord by the rod of men and by the stripes of the children of men today? God is chastening you through your estranged spouse or through your enemies. If your spouse has forsaken you, just remember the instances wherein you had used abusive language against him/her. If your employer has denied you your rightful promotion, just remember the instances wherein you had abused your position in the organization and ill-treated your subordinate officials. If your daughter or son is leading a miserable life today without God, it is none but you to blame. Just remember the instances wherein you had allowed them to swallow in the youthful lust of the flesh. If you are bankrupt today, just remember the instances wherein you had turned away the servants of God who had appealed for funds to you or the instances wherein you had just overlooked some appeal for charity for some orphanage, old age home, etc. Be zealous and repent!

According to the New Covenant made through the Blood of Jesus Christ, God is merciful to our unrighteousness, and our sins and iniquities are no longer remembered by Him (Heb.8:9-13). Let us go to the Calvary again with a heart of repentance and receive His forgiveness by faith.

Seek Wisdom and Understanding

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold.

She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.

Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor.

Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her (Pro.3: 13 - 18).

The Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom of God as a precious gift (I Cor.12:8). Jesus was filled with wisdom (Luke 2:40) and increased in wisdom (Luke 2:52).

In Acts 6:3, we find that the seven men of honest report chosen by the apostles for ministering to the widows were "full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom". These men were not only filled with the Holy Ghost but also with wisdom. The people who heard Stephen speak were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke (Acts 6:10). The wisdom of God which we receive as a gift from Him is in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom (I Cor.2:7). This wisdom is hidden from the people of this world. When we receive the wisdom of God, we are led by the Holy Spirit to teach, not in men's wisdom, comparing spiritual things with spiritual (I Cor.2:13).

Happy is the man who finds wisdom. If you find wisdom and get it from God as a gift, you will be happy. If you are filled with wisdom, even your sorrow will turn into joy because wisdom will help you overcome the sorrow. Your enemy cannot stand before you because wisdom will be revealed through your mouth. "I will give you a mouth and wisdom which your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist" (Luke 21:15). Your financial problem will vanish the moment you are filled with wisdom because it will guide you to invest in His Kingdom so that you may not become bankrupt. God will turn the heart of your loved one to you because wisdom changes the heart of your loved one. Wisdom flows from your mouth to your loved one and touches the heart of the latter. You will not speak any word that will further antagonize your loved one other than words of wisdom.

According to the school of thought prevailing in this world, a man is happy if he gets all the material prosperity, good spouse, good children, good job, etc. But according to God, a child of His who does not have the good things of this world will be happy if he finds and gets wisdom. In the whole book of Proverbs, the Holy Spirit speaks about the importance of wisdom. If you find wisdom, you will be able to excel in your research work, in your career or in your study. The wisdom in you will be greater than the wisdom of this world. The wisdom that you receive of God is neither the wisdom of the wise nor the wisdom of this world (I Cor.1:19-20). "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! (Rom.11:13).

Happy is the man who gets understanding. If you have wisdom, you will get understanding. We should understand the Word of God at any cost. It is through wisdom that we should understand the Word of God. Nowadays, the people of God do not understand the Scriptures at all because they have not received wisdom from God. They should ask God to give them wisdom as a gift.

One day, I taught the students of my prophetic school class in India about the meaning of salvation. I taught, inter alia, about "a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David" (Luke 1:69). Many times, you would have read this passage. When I taught to my students, I received the understanding of this particular word. God "has raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David". Jesus is revealed not merely as a Savior but as a horn of salvation. Rhinoceros is an animal with a single horn, known as unicorn. The horn is so powerful that even a lion is afraid of attacking it. Jesus is a Rock of offense and whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed (Rom.9:33). Our Lord does not only reveal Himself as the Crucified Christ but also as the Glorified Christ with "His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace..." (Rev.1:15). The Horn of Salvation bulldozes any political or devilish power in this world. Nobody will go unpunished after persecuting or attacking the people of God. No power on this earth can stand against this horn of salvation. A young man who was saved from the Hindu religious background was there. He told me that the Hindu fundamentalist elements did not allow him to worship the Lord in his church. I told him, "You can go and start the church service in your place because Jesus, the horn of salvation, will bulldoze any power that works against you and your enemies will fall before you". The horn of the Antichrist or horn of any world ruler cannot stand before the Horn of salvation.

Wisdom or understanding is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. It cannot be equated with any valuable thing in this world. It cannot be measured in terms of money. The gain from wisdom and understanding is better than fine gold. If you get unlimited quantity of fine gold, you will be considered as the richest person in the whole world. But wisdom and understanding will bring you gains that will exceed that of this unlimited quantity of fine gold. You will be able to do great things for God than what a king or a ruler who has all the military, economic and political power can do. Wisdom from your mouth (word of prophecy) will bring down any political power from his throne. Wisdom from your mouth will destroy the work of the devil in your midst.

When Jesus taught in the synagogue, people were astonished at His doctrines and said, "Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?" (Matt.13:54). Through wisdom, Jesus did mighty works (Mark 6:2). Similarly, we can do mighty works through wisdom today.

Wisdom is more precious than rubies and all the things that you desire cannot be compared with her. Wisdom has two hands. In the right hand, it has length of life. In the left hand, it has riches and honor. You need not beg for funds from anyone if you have wisdom. Funds will come your way when you are filled with wisdom. You will find honor wherever you go. You need not seek honor. It will come your way. You can have long life if you have wisdom. You need not get your life insured for a hefty sum of money because wisdom gives you long life. Even if you have any disease, it will not stay on your body and wisdom will prolong your days on this earth. If a child of God dies due to a disease or is on the deathbed, if you pray for him/her to be filled with God's wisdom, the former may not die but may live long.

Her ways (ways of wisdom) are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. A child of God with wisdom leads his/her life with pleasantness and there is abundance of peace through his/her life. Others receive pleasantness and peace through his/her life.

Wisdom is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retains her. According to the standards of this world, if you have money and power, you are blessed and happy. But, according to God, if you have wisdom, you are truly blessed of Him. Wisdom causes a tree of life to grow in your life. People around you find eternal life in you. The tree of life gives life to them who have lost their hope. People around you witness the living waters coming from your life and drink it through you.

Dearly beloved in Christ Jesus, you should lay hold upon wisdom and if you find and retain it, you will be happy in this world. Do not seek material prosperity but wisdom. Do not seek wealth but wisdom. Do not seek fame but wisdom. I hold a big platter in my hand. The platter is full of gifts, both visible and invisible. The visible gifts occupy half of its space. I tell you that the other half portion of this plate which is seen empty is full of the spiritual blessing of wisdom which is not seen. As I carry on this platter wisdom, which is not visible to your eyes and a bundle of dollars or a diamond necklace or ring, which is visible to your eyes, and bring it to you, which one you will choose? Wisdom or money/diamond? You will naturally choose what is visible. And you will not believe me for the spiritual blessing of wisdom because you do not see it through your physical eyes. Wisdom is unseen but spiritual whereas a material blessing is seen but temporal. Happy is the man who finds wisdom because it is better than rubies, fine gold or the merchandise of silver. He who finds wisdom also gets riches and honor. But happy is not the one who finds only the temporal blessing.

We find wisdom not as something intangible or abstract but as a person who has eyes to see, two hands to stretch, a mouth to utter her voice and to cry in the chief place of the concourse (Pro.1:20-21), etc. Wisdom as a person is represented in feminine gender in the whole book of Proverbs. You receive this gift from God in the form of a person. This gift stays with you in the form of your spiritual mother. She advises you to walk in the right direction. She warns you against the snare of the devil. She reveals the motherly love of God for you. Wisdom is justified of her children (Matt.11:19).

Foundation of the earth and establisment of the heavens

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

By His knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew" (Pro.3:19-20).

The Lord by wisdom has founded the earth. Normally we are taught in the Scriptures that God created the earth by His power. How can we understand the term "wisdom" here? By wisdom of this world, the scientists make inventions. By wisdom, God creates something out of nothing. The wisdom of God is unsearchable (Rom.11:13). We can easily search out the wisdom of the wise or the wisdom of men because man creates something out of something. Then the Lord has established the heavens by understanding. Understanding comes out of wisdom. God understood the intricacies of the hosts of the heaven out of His great wisdom. Accordingly, He established the courses of sun, moon, stars and various planets. Job says that God spread out the heavens and treads upon the waves of the sea (Job 9:8) and that God commands the sun not to rise up and seals up the stars at night (Job 9:7).

Let us study from the astronomy how the universe is functioning so that we can know how God has established the heavens by understanding. Through the study of astronomy, we are simply discovering how God has established the whole universe by understanding. But still we through the study of astronomy are not able to understand the power by which the entire universe functions in a systematic manner and in a time frame. It is beyond the human understanding. Through our limited knowledge, we cannot comprehend the understanding of God by which He established the heavens or the whole universe. Since we are inhabiting the earth which is given to us for living, we understand the hidden things of the earth. But we cannot understand fully the hidden things of the planets which are not meant for our living. We send un-manned satellites to planets like Mars and discover something. We thus understand something about the planets out of something we discover.

Our earth is one of the nine planets of our solar system; our sun is a star like other thousand millions of stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. The light of the stars comes to us from different directions and distances with varying intensity.

Innumerable stars are above us. Stars have a certain position, distance and brightness. All stars are born, live thousands of years and die. Inside them energy is set free by nuclear reactions. Stars with greater mass burn faster and end as neutron stars or black holes. Stars with less mass possess a longer life. They are ending as white dwarfs, which are cooling down very slowly and at least are getting invisible. It is only God who can number the stars and who can all them by their names. "Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite" (Ps.147:4-5). His understanding cannot be comprehended through our human mind as it is infinite.

Our solar system consists of the sun, nine planets (and their moons), an asteroid belt, and many comets and meteors. The sun is the center of our solar system; the planets, their moons, the asteroids, comets, and other rocks and gas all orbit the sun.

The nine planets that orbit the sun are (in order from the sun): Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. A belt of asteroids (minor planets made of rock and metal) lies between Mars and Jupiter. These objects all orbit the sun in roughly circular orbits that lie in the same plane, the ecliptic.

By His knowledge, the depths of the water are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew. The solar rays penetrate the depths of the sea water and make them evaporate. All large scale sea ice melting is triggered by the solar radiation. Due to the solar radiation into the depths of the sea, the sea water gets evaporated and goes up. When the sun shines, the sea water is heated and it begins to rise, and as the air rises, it begins to cool. Clouds are formed when the humid air is cooled below a critical temperature : the water then condenses on tiny suspended particles and forms droplets in the atmosphere. Dew forms when a surface cools (through loss of infrared radiation) to a temperature which is colder than the dewpoint of the air next to the surface. Dew is made of liquid water that has condensed from some of the water vapor contained in the air. The Word of God sums up the whole process of formation of dew. His knowledge means "solar radiation".

Sound wisdom and discretion

My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.

When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. (Pro.3:21-24)

Sound wisdom is different from ordinary wisdom. Sound wisdom is reserved for the righteous whereas wisdom is reserved for all who seek it. The righteous people are those who are made righteous through the Blood of Jesus Christ and who excel the Pharisees and the scribes in righteousness (Matt.5:20). The more righteous we are the sounder wisdom we get. A child of God can get wisdom as he seeks it. But sound wisdom is meant for a child of God who walks uprightly. "He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous......" (Pro.2:7).

Discretion means "witty invention, a plan (machination), thought". While building the Kingdom of God, the people of God have to be aggressive. They should come out with witty inventions. Through the brain-storming session, the executives in the corporate sector think high, plan great things, and achieve great results. What about the people of God who build the Kingdom of God? I find that many Christian ministers organize prophetic seminars or similar other meetings or seminars which are not result-oriented. But these are "number-oriented" as they come out with certain figures of how many people have attended these seminars. These seminars/meetings are always held for projecting the ministry of some one. In this regard, please read my message "A great truth through two parallel lines". These seminars have not produced disciples of Christ Jesus but merely made the people feel "good" through ecstasy. Where are the Paul’s, Peters, Sundar Singh’s, etc. in our midst? In the prophetic seminars or the prophetic schools, the ministers of God concerned deliver only messages to the trainees but do not "individually" minister to these trainees. The trainees who have attended such meetings go away with the "feel good" experiences after appreciating the wonderful messages. Jesus taught His disciples in a practical manner and sent them away for ministry. He equipped them for the ministry by interacting with them. During the prophetic school which I held in Delhi, I ministered to every student in order to equip him/her to preach and to do the ministry. I evaluated the ministry of every student throughout the week. I exhorted every student to share his/her ideas or revelations. I had noticed tremendous changes in the lives and ministries of these students. When I held a prophetic seminar in Malaysia, I exhorted the people to open their mouths and to share with me their thoughts or revelations. I did not choose to preach from a pulpit at all. When we choose to preach from a pulpit or from dais, the people listening to us will never be equipped to preach or to do the ministry at all. Let us seek sound wisdom and discretion for equipping the people of God for ministry.

In the corporate house in-house meetings for executives, these executives are motivated to produce results towards their organizational goals. The Corporate business houses have produced many business leaders today. But our ministries have not produced elders and apostles who are mission-oriented. The ministers of God do not invent new ways for evangelism. The evangelical tools being used by them are radio, television, films, open air-meetings or crusades, magazines and books, CDs/VCDs, internet and email services. We need to evaluate each evangelical tool in terms of its output in today's scenario. In India, I find that many ministers of God do not make use of the electronic tool of internet and email services. In India, there are a good number of apostolic and prophetic ministers. Their messages do not reach "all the nations". Many of these ministers do not operate PCs with the result that they have to depend upon their office staff. Their office staff or their web-masters decide which messages are to be taken in print-outs for placing the same before their bosses. The staff selectively chooses only those messages where the ministers of God concerned are glorified through testimonies or those messages wherein some people have indicated their willingness to extend financial support to their ministries. The work culture prevalent amongst the bosses and subordinates as in a commercial organization has permeated almost all these wonderful ministries of God. Even in the corporate business houses, the CEO concerned has delegated all his authority to various managers working down below. But, in the ministries of God, the minister of God acts like the CEO and is not available to his own staff, not to talk of being made available to the thousands of people outside.

In the television programmes, the evangelists introduce all their books/CDs, etc. Why cannot these popular evangelists make use of the native evangelists during their television programmes to preach the gospel of Christ in their native languages? The native evangelists can be trained in preaching the gospel to their own people in their own languages. In some television programmes, the faces of persons who translate their messages are not shown on the screen. We find the same face of the speaker in every programme. What about his co-workers who labor with him? It is only glorification of speakers and promotion of their own personalities. God abhors such glorification of men in place of His only Begotten Son. If we evaluate the open-air meetings, we find that only those ministers of God who hold these meetings are glorified during these meetings. You can see them seated on the men-made dais. The dais of Apostle Paul was not men-made. Jesus Christ did not have His own pulpit or dais at all. Why cannot they introduce the native evangelists of the places where they hold such meetings? The native evangelists are those who have accepted Jesus from their peculiar religious background and culture to which these popular evangelists do not belong. These native evangelists can convey a better message than these "alien" evangelists. No doubt, the Holy Spirit will work great miracles through the hands of these native evangelists. These evangelists are wasting the precious time of the multitudes that throng to hear them by getting their messages translated into native languages.

The people of God need sound wisdom and discretion in getting themselves engaged in God's vineyard. Today they are not motivated to evangelize or to minister but to support the ministries of some popular ministers of God. Neither are they motivated to seek God’s power through prayers in a similar manner as when the 120 disciples were gathered together in the Upper Room for prayers. On the contrary, the people of God are exhorted to seek the prayer ministries of the ministers of God concerned for miracles and healings. Of course, God performs miracles in response to the prayers of intercession made by them or on their behalf because such prayers are made in the Name of Jesus Christ. The people of God should be exhorted to have faith in Christ Jesus and not in the ministries of the ministers of God concerned. When these people face problems, they seek the prayers of others instead of trusting Jesus Christ God and sitting at His feet to find out what has been wrong with their personal lives.

The people of God should seek sound wisdom and discretion so that they may invent novel ways for evangelism. Community feeding is the best tool of evangelism. The Lord led me to visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab State, India. The Golden Temple is the seat of the Sikhism. Thousands of people visit this temple every day. The visitors are given free-food in this temple. The free community kitchen is called "Langer". The people who do not know the God personally are feeding the hungry whereas the people who claim to know God personally do not feed the hungry in their churches. You will find that in all the temples of Sikhs (those belonging to the religion of Sikhism) the people are fed in a systematic and disciplined manner. The Sikh temple is called a Gurdwara. The word 'Gurdwara' means 'Gateway to the Guru'. Guru means God as teacher. Jesus our Guru fed the thousands of people through the five loaves of bread and two fishes after seating them in rows in a disciplined manner. A common feature of all Gurdwaras around the world is Langer, the free community kitchen. Here food is served to all people who sit together to enjoy a communal meal. It is a symbol of the Sikh belief in a non-sexist, non-racist society where all people of all casts, religions are equal and can share a common meal in the true spirit of unity. Beggars flock to the Gurdwaras to fill their bellies with the food being given there, whereas beggars stand outside our churches to receive pennies from us. We, the Christians, throw Christmas parties to our own church congregations and even on Christmas, we forget the poor. This is the best way for evangelizing the world. Let us invite all the people including the homeless, the orphans, the widows, the beggars into our churches. The Gurdwaras serve food to the visitors daily. In the Gurdwaras, the rich and poor are fed on the same table. The founders of the Sikh religion had introduced this ministry of feeding in their Gurdwaras whereas the Christian evangelists and pastors do not spend their money on feeding the people that attend their evangelical crusades. During their annual conventions, the pastors of The Pentecostal Mission in India feed those who attend their annual conventions.

It is time for us to seek sound wisdom and discretion to identify those apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers and pastors whom God has given to the Church for the perfecting of the saints for ministry (Eph.4:12). No doubt, our ministries have produced many saints. But how many of them have been equipped to do the ministry? No doubt, God has given some apostles, some prophets, etc. Have we identified them? These ministers are required for the perfecting of the saints.

Our ministries should be result-oriented. Every tool needs to be evaluated in terms of results. In India, we have so far conducted many healing crusades. There are many television ministries. How many people committed their lives to Christ Jesus and are now serving God in His Vineyard as a result of all these television ministries? No doubt, people would have received miracles or healings. But how many people have become mission leaders, missionaries, evangelists, etc? Where are those "that turn the world upside down"? (Acts 17:6).

Let the evangelists and pastors seek sound wisdom and discretion. It is time for them to sit together and evaluate their individual ministries with a view to identifying those cities, towns, states, ethnic groups and tribes, which are not yet reached by the gospel of Christ so that they can focus on those places and ethnic groups not reached by the gospel. A beloved evangelist from India claimed in his magazine that the Lord Jesus gave him a mandate to construct a huge building at an enormous cost in a metropolitan city which would be used by him for intercessory prayers and for holding meetings. He has solicited financial help from the people of God. At the same time, I know a dear couple engaged in translating the Bible into a scriptless language of North India. This couple just struggle to carry on this wonderful ministry with their limited financial resources. They are faithfully and sincerely doing this ministry in a state where the anti-conversion law is in force. We are supposed to invest our money in building churches in places where the people of God worship God in hutments or under thatched roofs/asbestos sheets or in constructing buildings for orphanages, old age homes, schools, etc. which help us reach the people with the love of Christ. The need of the hour is to spend such money directly in fulfilling the only mandate given by Jesus Christ to the Church i.e. going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature. For fulfilling the mandate of Jesus Christ, all we need is wisdom and discretion. The Church is the only institution on this earth which does not seek "sound wisdom and discretion" whereas the other worldly institutions have grown to greater heights by making use of "their worldly wisdom and discretion". We take pride in preaching the gospel to the same people again and again, and in holding healing crusades in cities and towns which have already been evangelized. Are we going into all the world and preaching the gospel to every creature? Where is the "sound wisdom and discretion" amongst the people of God?

You should not let sound wisdom and discretion depart from you because it is life "unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck". Your soul needs to be filled with the life of Christ. You may be a wonderful orator or "an anointed man" in the Pentecostal terminology. Anointing without humility is not of the Holy Spirit. Anointing without love is not of the Holy Spirit. The true anointing is intertwined with the love and humility of Christ Jesus. Let us not attribute only power to the anointing. Lucifer was the anointed cherub. But he lost humility and love on his fall but retained only power. Do people see Christ Jesus in your life? Otherwise, you will be useless in His vineyard. Your ministry may be sought by the multitudes. You may perform signs and miracles in Jesus' Name. But still you may not be used of God in His vineyard. Today many people of God are not used by God in the same manner the early apostles and our forefathers like Sadhu Sundar Singh, were used by Him. Why? It is because their souls do not reflect the life of Christ. Their souls merely reflect the life of this world because they do not have sound wisdom and discretion. If they abide in Christ Jesus and follow Him, they get sound wisdom and discretion.

Sound wisdom and discretion add grace to your life. It adorns your life as a necklace adorns your neck. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. When you have sound wisdom and discretion, God gives you abundant grace through Jesus Christ. Grace means unmerited favor with God. Sound wisdom and discretion leads us to grace. Sound wisdom and discretion is the means whereas the grace is the end. It is ultimately the grace that adorns your life. It is not the mammon of unrighteousness manifested through perishable assets that is going to adorn your life. It is the grace that adorns your life. Jesus was full of grace. Apostles Paul, Peter, etc. were full of grace and did not accumulate the mammon of unrighteousness. It was the grace adorning their lives that manifested the life of Christ through them.

If you hold on to sound wisdom and discretion, you will walk safely in your spiritual journey and your feet will not stumble. You will not be afraid when you lie down and your sleep will be sweet. Today many people of God do not have sound sleep as they get frightened while sleeping. Many popular servants of God do not have proper sleep because they are worried about their big establishments that have become corrupt due to the mammon of unrighteousness. They are afraid of tax authorities because they have received money through unaccounted sources. Had they held on to sound wisdom and discretion, they would not have made these "corrupt" establishments which do not give them peace. Seeking and adopting sound wisdom and discretion give them a lot of peace which helps them have sweet sleep.

Sudden fear and desolation of the wicked

Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. (Pro.3:25-26)

You should not be afraid of sudden fear. These days, many children of God are afraid of travelling by air, following the terrorists' attack on the World Trade Towers of the USA in Sept.2001. Many people of God are afraid of sudden fear due to incurable diseases or dreaded diseases. I am receiving many emails requesting for prayers for those who suffer diseases like cancer, etc. People are afraid because they have no faith in God. You should not be afraid of sudden fear neither of the desolation of the wicked when it comes. Sudden fear or the desolation of the wicked may come your way as we are all human beings. But we should not be carried away by such sudden fear for the Lord shall be your confidence and shall keep your foot from being taken. If your confidence is in the gun of the army or the police that protect you, the Lord will not keep your foot from being taken. Fear kills your faith. It is a powerful weapon used by the enemy against the people of God. When we hear reports of sickness of our loved ones, we do not speak words of faith but words of fear. Even if your loved one is suffering from any deadly disease like cancer, just go to him/her and speak words of faith in Jesus' Name. Read out Psalm 91 to the sick or to the fearful. Faith comes by hearing the word of God.

You should make the Lord thy confidence. Your confidence should not be in men or perishable money or assets. Today many of us do not make the Lord as our confidence as we trust in the mammon of unrighteousness for our life and ministry. Many people say that they cannot work in His vineyard because nobody has given them "money" or because they have no "sufficient funds" in their bank accounts. Our Bible colleges turn out many graduates on theology every year. But these graduates do not make the Lord as their confidence for ministry. They seek only men-made pulpits for ministry because their confidence lies in the perishable structures of human organizations. After they join these organizations, they complain that they do not get enough salaries and ultimately they find their feet being grounded in materialism with the result that they seek to go abroad for "ministry". They find their feet being taken away from what they have learnt through the Bible colleges. If the Lord is your confidence, He shall definitely keep your foot being taken by the devil.

Helping the poor saints and the neighbour

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.

Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee. (Pro.3:27-28)

Today, we find many people of God abundantly blessed by God with resources to help the poor people. They have "good" to give to others. But if they withhold this good from them to whom it is due, they would transgress the commandment of Jesus for loving their neighbour. When it is in the power of your hand to give, you should give. If we read the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we find that the rich man landed in hell just because he did not want to share his good things with the poor Lazarus who was lying next door. Today, there are many poor saints in our midst but we do not minister to them when it is in the power of our hand to do it. We covet to receive words of prophecy from ministers of God and save such words of prophecy on our comptuers but we delete their requests for funds to help God's work. If God has blessed you today, you should minister to the Body of Christ today without waiting for any appeal. If you do not minister to His body today, tomorrow the power of thine hand will be taken away from you. A time may come in your life when it will not be in the power of your hand to do it. In our church in Delhi, we organized a sale to raise funds for one of the poineer missionary organizations in India. Our missionary organizations pay only an amount of about Rs.6000/- to a missionary. It is very difficult for a missionary to maintain his/her family with this meagre amount. Our missionaries are poor saints in the Body of Christ. It was an auction sale. The congregation offered gifts for sale. The sale lasted about 3-4 hours. We had two congregations i.e. English speaking congregation and Tamil speaking congregation. The Tamil speaking congregation participated in the auction sale, whereas most of the English speaking congregation members left the church. The Tamil speaking congregation members, though small in number, participated in the auction sale. They gave beyond their ability. An ordinary coconut which costs only Rs.10 was sold for Rs.5000/-. We were able to raise a large amount of about 7 to 9 lakhs of rupees within a short time.

If your neighbour who is in need of money approaches you for financial help, do not say "Go and come again". You should share with him whatever amount you can. Tomorrow God may make you poor. You may have some unfortunate financial downfall or some disease which will drain your financial resources. Who is your neighbour? He is a stranger, not known to you. The definition of the word "neighbour" is given in the parable of the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan came across a stranger who was wounded by the dacoits. You might have seen some appeal in the television or in any media of communication about the natural calamities or wars or diseases like AIDS that destroyed the lives or the properties of people not known to you. The international relief agencies are sending out their appeals for raising funds. You may be thinking of paying your contributions to these relief agencies at a later date or at a convenient time. As Christians, it is our moral duty to go to the rescue of those who are in despair or in tears. We should not just close our eyes when we see the sufferings of the strangers.

Evil against thy neighbour

Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. (Pro.3:29)

There may be some people who dwell securely in your neighbourhood under your care. In your office or in your business establishment or in your ministry, some people may be trusting you for their protection. You are not supposed to devise evil against them. You have to follow the principles of natural justice and to do justice to them even if they have committed some crime against you. You have to uphold righteousness in all your dealings with your neighbour. In the world, the mighty oppress the weak. But as you are of the Kingdom of God, you have to support the weak or the socially oppressed communities. You should not pervert judgement when it comes to those who dwell securely under your care.

In many Christian organizations, the erring staff working in these organizations are dismissed summarily without following the principles of natural justice. They are thrown out of employment in one day in an arbitrary manner. The managers in these organizations devise ways to humiliate these erring employees. They are treated not as brethren or sisters in Christ Jesus but are treated in a worse manner. Love your neighbour as yourself. If you love your neighbour as yourself, you will never devise evil against him.

Striving without a cause

Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Pro.3:30)

These days, many people of God strive with others without cause, particularly when no harm is done to them by the latter. Why should you strive with a man when he has not harmed you? If there is a cause to strive with a man, you can do so by convincing him of your action. In your place of business, you may be striving with your clients or customers without any cause if your clients/customers have not harmed you. Similarly, in your place of employment, you may be striving with your colleagues or your seniors without any cause if you have not been harmed by them. You ought to be gentle unto all men. Your Christian testmony is more important than your actions. Do not lose your temper even if you are provoked by someone so long as no harm has been caused to you.

A Christian ruler should not strive with a non-Christian ruler if the latter has not harmed the national interests of the former. The Christian ruler needs the wisdom of God in reigning over his nation. He should not be in a hurry to wage a war with another nation without cause if the latter has not harmed his nation in any manner. Allies during the World War-2 fought against Hitler because the latter had harmed the national interests of the former. If a Christian nation does not follow the Lord's counsel, the consequences will be dire.

Envying not the oppressor

Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. (Pro.3:31)

If your oppressor harms you, you should not envy him and should not choose any of his ways. The oppressor may be your spouse or your employer. Let the oppressor harm you. The Lord will defend you. Do not repay him in the same coin. If you seek His wisdom, He will guide you in your fight against your oppressor. There is no need to be envious on seeing his power. If you choose any of his ways, the Lord will not defend you. The best Christian character is long-suffering in the face of adversity. How long your enemy will strive with you and oppress you? When the Lord arises, he will flee from your land.

The oppressor has many ways to oppress you. He may drag you to the court of law through a false allegation. Your spouse may be the oppressor seeking a divorce from you through a court of law. Be silent before your oppressor and do not repay him in the same coin. If he chooses the court of law for oppressing you, you may resort to prayers by kneeling down before God. The oppressor whom you see today will not be there tomorrow.

Secret of the Lord

For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous. (Pro.3:32)

In this verse, you find the froward and the righteous. The froward is the one who is not straightforward but is crafty. He may be intelligent but may lack in wisdom. A highly intellectual person who is not saved through the Blood of Jesus Christ is abomination to the Lord. The Lord's secret is not with the froward. The froward may have all the knowledge in his brain but the secret of the Lord is not with him. The secret of the Lord is the wisdom of God. It is with the righteous. Those who are made righteous through the Blood of Jesus Christ are the repositories of the Lord's secret. A person may be an illiterate person but if he/she is saved through the Blood of Jesus Christ, you will find the Lord's wisdom in the life of the person concerned. If you approach this person with a humble heart for prayers or for God's revelation, you will get the same from this person. Some years ago, I came across a maid servant who came to listen to my sermon in a local church in Bangalore. She was illiterate and could not read her Bible. She used to take the help of his son in reading the Bible. But I found that she had the revelation from the Holy Spirit and that the Lord was using her. Her own pastor and the local church of which she was a member was just ignoring her. But the secret of the Lord was with her.

Wicked and Just

The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. (Pro.3:33)

The curse of the Lord is with the wicked and His blessings are with the just. What do we mean by "the curse of the Lord"? People of this world may attribute sickness and poverty to the curse of the Lord but health and prosperity to the blessings of the Lord. In fact the curse of the Lord is eternal separation from the Lord whereas the blessing of the Lord is the eternal salvation. A person may have all the wealth of this world and the best medical treatment of this world. If he does not know the Lord as his personal savior and Lord, he remains as the wicked. Another person may be financially poor or may not have sound health. But if that person is saved through the Blood of Jesus Christ, he becomes the just. The Lord does bless his habitation. Though his habitation may be in a slum, yet the Lord blesses it.

Scorners and lowly

Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. (Pro.3:34)

Surely the Lord scorns the scorners. Who is a scorner? He is the one who derides another or shows disrespect to another or ridicules another. There are many people of God who are haughty so as not to receive rebuke or correction from others. They tend to think that they are always right and that their doctrines are always correct. God calls them "the scorners". They do not receive grace from Him. But the Lord gives grace unto the lowly. There are a few people of God in our midst who are always humble. They are open to correction or rebuke. They search for the truth and accept it when it is revealed to them. They receive grace from the Lord. Even if they fall down in their spiritual life, God lifts up and restores them. But if a scorner stumbles and falls down, God will not lift him up but scorns him.

Glory and shame

The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools. (Pro:3:35)

Who is the wise? The wise is the one who has accepted Jesus Christ as his/her savior and Lord. He or she inherits His glory. But those who have not accepted him as their personal savior and Lord are fools. They inherit shame. Shame means suffering from disgrace, embarassment, dishonor. On the judgment day, they will be put to shame by their own sins which were not covered by the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Next.....Chapter 4