"Fight! Fight!" - My Son Is Wild

I love watching my little boy grow. He is such a combination of a lover and a warrior. The other day we were at Panera's and the simple sipping straw turns into a mighty sword and he beckons his papa to lift up that fork and fight him. At home he has his play swords, sometimes he carries them to bed ever watchful if some monsters were to jump out of the closet, he is ready to spill blood (green or red...he doesn't mind). He  runs around the hallways of our home sometimes chasing his sister or many a times rising in her defense.  Waving his sword, he stomps the spiders and bugs rescuing the damsels in distress (his mother and sister) who are terrified at the very sight of these bugs. The chants of 'Fight, Fight' is common sound in our household. Don't misunderstand me, its a good sound to hear especially coming from a two year old; reminds me we are in constant warfare in the spiritual realm and in the natural. I love watching this in Issac, no one has taught him to fight (especially from his papa who considers himself as a man of the tents) it is  built into him, its a heart that God has created in him. Isaac is also a snuggler and a lover, always ready to show love and compassion. At Sunday School, he pushes the bigger boys down if challenged and at the same time obedient to his teachers and doing what is commanded and gentle to the girls.  Why am I bragging? I not only want to but I learn from my little boy. Men are created in the image of God to be that warrior and yet to be gentle and tender hearted. Yeshua showed this He was filled with compassion, love and mercy but He is the same God who made a whip and lashed out at the merchants who had turned his sanctuary into a marketplace. He is the same God who stood in the pillar of fire terrifying the armies of Egypt, He is the same God who had wept at Lazarus's tomb but is enthroned on heaven's throne as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The Son of God is Wild (lover-warrior & a consuming fire), and he has created me and my son in His image.

My love-thoughts for the day.

Sam Kurien.

Silence The Rooster

Sometimes we find ourselves doubting and questioning “If the freedom that Christ won for us is real?”. The questions lurk in our mind in form of difficult financial cirumstances, death of a close one, despair, disappointment, unfulfilled promises, a debilitating disease, treachery and the list of troubles go on. The adversary of our soul connives in soft whispers through these tough spots of life that the freedom and grace we live in is not real. Our adversary is more afraid of knowing what we are capable of if we know who we are in Christ and what we may become when we realize our real identity in Him.

The sound of these doubts are like the dark lord Sauron's murmurings (In the Lord of The Rings) to Aaragon that he is not Elessar, that he is not Issiuldur’s heir or the rightful king of Gondor. Over and again Sauron reminds him that he is just that lone strider meant to roam about in the deep woods with no purpose and no freedom.  I say it is time to silence those crowing roosters.

Max Lucado tells us about the story of Booker.T Washington’s family who were slaves serving in the cotton plantations of the south. The early morning rooster’s crow was a everyday reminder for them to report to duty to the plantation fields, a reminder of servitude with no wage, a reminder of bondage to an earthly master who did not treat them justly.  But then came Abraham Lincoln’s emancipation proclamation. Early morning, next day Washington’s mother was not answering to the rooster’s call but was chasing it down. Booker .T Washington’s family killed and ate the rooster for lunch that day.

Let not anyone tell you that your freedom is not real. It may be time to silence those roosters forever.

John 10:10  reads: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance."

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

God is the Fiery Lover

God is the source of all masculine power; God is also the fountain of all feminine allure. My eastern friends may look into it and draw conclusions that this is very familiar with their gods and goddess's but it is not, there is no comparison here with false gods and deities but the idea here is to look into the face of the God of Israel and see His love and love his character completely. The endeavoring aim of this heart is to become more like him. He is the source of all perfection and every man or woman aiming to be more like Him has found the fount of all perfection.  Come to think of it, he is the wellspring of everything that has ever romanced your heart. The thundering strength of a waterfall or the thunderstorm, the delicacy of a flower, or for that matter the delicacy of your entire physical being, the stirring and romantic capacity of music, the richness of wine. The masculine and the feminine that fill all creation come from the same heart. What we have sought, what we have tasted in part with our earthly lovers, we will come face-to-face with in our True Love. For the incompleteness that we seek to relieve in the deep embrace of our earthly love is never fully healed. The union does not last, whatever the poets and pop artists may say, its only the futility of human wisdom and words that such earthly union lasts forever...unfortunately it does not. However, morning comes and we've got to get out of bed and off to our day, incomplete once more. But oh, to have it healed forever; to drink deeply from that fount of which we've had only a sip; to dive into that sea in which we have only waded.

And so a man like Charles Wesley can pen these words: "Jesus, Lover of my soul, let me to thy bosom fly," while Catherine of Siena can pray, "O fire surpassing every fire because you alone are the fire that burns without consuming! . . . Yet your consuming does not distress the soul but fattens her with insatiable love." The French mystic Madam Guyon can write, "I slept not all night, because Thy love, O my God, flowed in me like delicious oil, and burned as a fire . . . I love God far more than the most affectionate lover among men loves his earthly attachment."

Your God is a consuming fire, a fire in whose embrace the beloved will not be scorched or burned but the wicked will be destroyed.  As I pen this my heart is overwhelmed these days with the goodness of my God. Just as Yeshua raised Joseph and Daniel in the courts of kings so has His mercy come upon my life, so has his love consumed me. The verses from the Psalmist's heart come to mind:

Psalms 105:13 reads: “They went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people. He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm".

I meditate on these thoughts for the day.

Blessings & Shalom in the name of Yeshua Ha Meshiach

Sam Kurien

If a Tree Falls In a Forest....

At work we have interesting philosophical discussions about faith, theology, stories, quantum physics, metaphysics, astrophysics, the theories of anything and everything and their confluence ends up giving me things to ponder about.  Recently finished reading Edwin Abbot’s book Flatland written in the 1800’s a treatise making fun of Victorian England, but it seems Abbot had much more to say that have significant impact on Physics, Metaphysics and even faith theology in general.  My pondering's or rants over this so bear with me:

‘Flatland’ basically describes a two dimensional world where shapes like squares, triangles, circles, polygons and lines live, almost in structure like ours but only in a two-dimensional plain. This two dimensional world has its own set of rules and regulations. The lines are normally females, and of course dangerous as they can severely damage you if you don’t see them coming, cutting you into half – so the apparent rule that they need to be walking in squiggly fashion to avoid accidents. Then there are things like houses are built in such a way where females have one entrance and the males have another entrance. The triangles belong to the soldier class, squares and rectangles belong to the gentleman class and the idea that the more sides you have, higher up you are in social class order. This means the circle which has so many sides that it’s almost impossible to count all of them is considered to be the perfect shape and hence on top of the social order and the one’s entitled to make the rules.   

One day in Flatland a sphere from the three-dimensional world comes into the two dimensional world. Now from all sides the sphere appears to the Flat-landers as a perfect being able to be in multiple places at the same time. The Sphere meets the Square and tries to explain him about the third dimension and the idea that there is much more to this world than two dimensions. The square has no perception of what the sphere is talking about.  Finally the sphere explains him with the concept saying “what if your world is one-dimensional?”-  Which means all you will be doing is walking in a straight line.  The square begins to understand but is unable to relate this concept to others. The idea of becoming aware of another dimension then opens up quite a few, or more possibilities.

Again, we all have heard about the age old philosophical riddle “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”. Quantum Physicists will say the event never occurred since there was no observer. The deeper philosophical question then becomes what is the difference between perception and reality? Or when do these lines blur? Does observation affect outcome? Does the observer have an impact or influence on the event? Does the even influence the observer. If the tree did fall and did make a sound it must have traveled as a wave in the observable universe and propagated to someone.  If I say Disney World existed to someone who has never been there but has only heard about it and believes it exists is relating himself or herself to the experiences of others.  Sound is the variation of pressure that propagates through matter as  a wave is what we study in Physics, which tells me the most important part of this riddle is the division between perception of an object and how the object really is. If something exists outside of our perception there is no way for us to know that the tree exists. The kind of dimensional problem the square felt when listening to the sphere.

Now what am I trying to say here..I really don’t know how to relate...but I will do my best to explain.  Math and Physics do prove that multiple dimensions exist but we are not aware of it by our mere senses. The spiritual realm is as real as the physical realm.  I tend to think the tales in Narnia or Lord of the Rings may be a reflections of something that is more real than we can really perceive. If I was looking at a physical object like for example a table, and was aware of all the dimensions, it wouldn’t be much of a problem for me to walk through that table or say walk through the wall. Didn’t Jesus do it?

I believe eternity and heaven will be interesting places because in the resurrected body we will become aware of multiple dimensions and will be in the pursuit of the infinite dimensions of His nature. Eternity doesn’t sound boring after all. A mind and heart that is aware of all these dimensions or at least the dimensions that God makes us aware of is truly liberated. This has enormous implications a event happening in distant planet 'X' in the farthest corner of the universe trillions of light years away will be known to you just like that or like Philip who talked to the Ethiopian official and disappeared in a whirwind, or like Elisha servant Gehazi’s eyes that were opened to see the heavenly armies that were with them opened up new possibilities of renewed hope.

I believe as we grow in our relationship with Yeshua we become aware of more dimensions, our faith and hope grow and stretch, walking in the supernatural is the natural. Teleportation across the universe is the natural thing to do. And If the tree falls in a forest, you will not only know it and hear the sound but you can say the words and even re-plant it. Moving mountains is even easier...:) 

 Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

Multitude of His Mercies/Your Heart is His!!

Today I read in the accounts of Kings, the life of Solomon. It is sad to observe that though Solomon was loved deeply by God and was called ‘Jeddiah’ - meaning ‘beloved of the Lord’, Solomon in his latter days did not follow in all the righteous ways like his father David did.  The observations I am making here between David and Solomon are, though David committed sins and made terrible mistakes in his life journey, never once in his life did he give his heart or a place in his heart for anybody else but God.  On the other hand Solomon though he loved God, gave his heart away to things, power, women and followed after the idols of gods/goddess’s of other nations. In spite of being the wisest and the smartest man on planet earth Solomon’s life ended tragically, I say tragically because he left the path of following God and lost his heart,  exchanged it with perishable things of this world. Somehow, I know Solomon knew this, but was lazy or had traveled so far away from God that he didn't take corrective action. At least the Bible doesn't reveal to us that he did.

Yet, God in his mercy told Solomon that for his servant David’s sake He will not take away his kingdom in his life time but his kingdom nevertheless will get divided into ten smaller kingdoms and will be taken away from his son.  We see the fulfillment of what the Lord had said in Rehoboam – Solomon’s son’s life.  However, during Solomon’s own lifetime God had raised up men who were rebellious to Solomon and cause him lot of anguish during his rule.  And that brings us to the discovery I made in the reading this morning…

Edomites were a group of people that came from Esau’s lineage, we know God had chosen Jacob/Isarel over Esau as the chosen one for the scriptures say:

Romans 9:13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Esau married pagan women and the Edomites came into existence. However the Edomites were blood brothers to Israel, they surface from time to time as arch rivals and enemies in various battles throughout Israel’s history. But it is during David’s time, Joab the commander of the armies of David almost routs out this race. He kills all the Edomite men and women; the race is almost obliterated. I say 'almost' because, God in his mercy had spared a boy called ‘Hadad’, who had fled to Egypt, grew up in Pharaoh’s household and married the sister of  Queen Tahpanhes. When Hadad learns about Joab’s and King David’s death, he returns as a grown young man to Edom and becomes a a life-long thorn in Solomon’s flesh during the latter's reign..

Why am I relating this obscure event here? I think it is important to observe and learn the working of our God and the multitude of His mercies even to his Gentiles. Though he loves his children deeply and expects a very high standard from them, He is long suffering, waits patiently, corrects us, judges us, justifies us and redeems us. I see God’s mercy on Abraham’s seed even in the sparing of Hadad’s life. Edom as a people group almost vanished because of the generational sins but for the mercy of God on Abraham’s seed. We also see Solomon is corrected by the Lord, he does not turn his ways, yet God has raised problems that surround him in his life time. We see this time and again in Israel’s history as a chosen people as well as a nation, when they surrendered and followed God as their first love, no one could stand up against them. But when they went seeking after other idols and other gods, they were not only judged but lost their standing with God. Yet God was merciful and kept on loving them unconditionally.

So what am I learning; apart from the enjoying the mercies of my God, the teaching here is simple and the lesson very important: Instead of identifying our hearts with His, we identify ourselves to things, people, idols, and other gods that distract and take our attention from Him; ultimately we stray and exchange our hearts for something else.  But Friends, we know our hearts are won and He is worthy to have it in complete surrender and complete devotion. I think it is the best place to be, the coolest dwelling place, it is a place when you will see the cup overflowing with His goodness and mercies. Now I understand why the Psalmist sings:

“Surely Goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life”

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

'Be Still And Know I Am God'

My talented friend Hannah posted a video on her blog singing a few songs and one them was "Still/Be Still My Soul" and am so excited for her as she prepares to lead worship for a church in Utah. She sings beautifully and the words of the song blessed my heart.I decided to look up the lyrics and fortunately I found them on you tube (everything is available on you tube).  The lyrics echo Psalm 46:10 and I related especially with it with what God is lately teaching me to "be still and know that He is God" along with the idea that those that wait on the Lord soar like the eagles.

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

So here are the lyrics visually presented to you and thanks to Don Moen who wrote the lyrics. Enjoy!

Be Still And Know I am God from Sam on Vimeo.

I have a hard time sitting still, always on the move and always wanting to do something, so when God says to "Be Still" its a struggle for me. In my growing relationship with Yeshua I have found and from examples of great characters in the Bible it is the things that we struggle with most are the first places that He comes to address. And in the addressing of those issues waiting and being still play a big part. Daniel waited on the Lord for an answer, Esther waited, prayed and fasted before the Lord before going up to the king, Moses sat still for forty days and forty nights on the mountain. Being still before God is not a skill that you can acquire in an instant but develops over the course of time as you purpose in your heart a devotion of waiting upon Him. I am by no means an expert in this but reading books like "Conversations With God" and "Practice of the Presence of God" by Bro. Lawrence has given me a glimpse of the idea and I learn on the journey.

Be blessed by the lyrics, know that He is in control and He is the king over the flood and we are bound to soar up with Him. Be still and know He is the Holy One of Israel!

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

"Build The Plane" - Flight Of The Phoenix

Last night I saw the movie 'Flight of the Phoenix' for the second time a remake of 1965 version. The movie has some good memorable quotes. At first you may think it seems to be a movie about survival - how against all odds the oil rig crew that crashed into the desert survived and build the plane and saved their lives by getting out of the grips of death that surrounded them on all sides. But there is much more to that story than mere survival, it is a story that reveals more about relational dynamics, hope, and above all resurrecting the deepest desires of our lives..."To Live". In one of the scenes, the Captain of the plane has left the group to find Liddle a crew member who has left the crash site as he learns the captain didn't want to do anything about their situation and was against the idea of building the plane. The captain Frank Towns has resigned himself the fact that there was no chance for them to survive and the best thing for them was to wait, conserve water and again wait for a a search party to find them. The captain finally finds Liddle and tries to stop Liddle from wandering away from the group into the open desert. Liddle says I don't want to be a part of a group that doesn't want to do anything or at least try to re-build the crashed plane. The following is the dialogue that ensues between them.

Frank Towns: Why give people false hope? Liddle : Come on man. Most folks spend their whole lives holding on to hopes and dreams that are never going to come true but they hold on to them. Why are you going to give up on them now when you need them most? Frank Towns: You are assuming I'm one of those people who has hopes and dreams. Liddle: I find it hard to believe that a man who learns to fly never had a dream. Frank Towns: Look, how can I let those people build that plane when I don't believe it will work? And, every day they waste trying to build it brings them one day closer to dying. Liddle: I think a man only needs one thing in life. He just needs someone to love. If you can't give him that, then give him something to hope for. And if you can't give him that, just give him something to do Frank Towns: James, you'll never make it. Liddle: Then I''ll die trying. There are people counting on me. Frank Towns: Okay Okay, Okay. We''ll build it.

Aren't those some amazing lines? The reason to live goes much more deeper than mere survival, it is rooted in God given desires. The desire  of a redeemed heart is good and our lives burn down to three things love, hope and purpose. God places these as foundations of desire. We are created with a desire to love, with desire to clinch to our hopes and dreams and ultimately to have a desire to live a life of purpose. Liddle manages to convince the captain with the idea - "yes we are stranded but now we have a purpose, we have renewed friendships, a new fellowship and it is worth the shot to try rather than sit and do nothing".

Again a saved and redeemed heart is good and desires that He places in us are good, a contrary idea to the traditional Christian belief. It is good because Yeshua has made it good and we cannot afford to doubt the good work He has done for you and me.

Blessings, & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

Shall We Journey or Live In The Smaller Stories?

Every epic story we have known has a grand quest involved in it. In J.R.R. Tolkein's 'The Lord of the Rings', the fellowship of the ring sets out on the journey to save middle earth from destruction, in the 'The Hobbit', Bilbo Baggins runs from the door without even a pocket handkerchief and launched a adventure that would change his life forever; Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter stumble into Narnia to save Prince Caspian from the Telmarines; In the mythical greek legend Perseus and his band set out to save Argos and Andromeda; The stories go on with these incredible journey's. Thousands of years ago the patriarch Abraham left his country, his people, and his father's houselhold (safety net) to follow outlandish promises from God, he never came back. Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt for a few groceries and four hundred years later Israel embarks on an epic journey that sees the wonders and miraculous provisions from God. The journey of our lives however is still a choice that we make, the sacred romance involves every soul to go through a journey of heroic proportions and while it may require some to change geography, it is ultimately the journey of our hearts.

I say its a choice because there is a parallel here and every choice has at least two options. Remember Daniel Defoe's  famous story 'Robinson Crusoe'; Crusoe was not a pilgrim but was stranded on an island, he was a survivor, lost and living in a very small world where he alone was the lead character. In fact the only character with everything focussed on himself ; he was living in a story of survival. In the contrary we have been rescued with the blood of Christ and infused with the life of the Holy One of Israel. He has beckoned us on a journey not for mere survival but to thrive in life and undertake those journey's. So the choice is really ours shall we then take that quest or choose to clutch our household gods and false lovers and not run towards significance of life fully lived.

My thoughts for the day!

Blessings & Wholeness In Him,

Sam Kurien.

Learning From The Nature of Eagles

Experiencing the amazing wonders of God's creation is indeed a special privilege given to us by our Creator. I happend to see a bald eagle recently soaring up falling into space and then rising again and again. Eagles are fascinating birds of prey, strong, majestic and soaring up in the sky spreading their wings in all glory. Truly the king of birds display interesting character traits in nature and occupies parallels in the scriptures to teach us how we are to emulate these characters in our personal walk with God. The famous passage from Isaiah 40:31 says:

"But those who hope on the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint"

Recently a friend of mine at work was relating about the nature of eagles molting their feathers from time to time. When eagles get old their feathers molt and shed so much that they perch themselves on rocks and crags awaiting to die. During these times the predator of the skies  becomes a vulnerable prey for animals or starve itself to death as they cannot fly or hunt. Interestingly the older eagles who have gone through this process themselves fly above these wretched looking birds and drop meat for them to eat, and help them out to survive. Slowly after about 150 days of waiting, new feathers start growing, the eagles that have survived with the help of the older eagles renew their strength and as the sun shines they stretch out their wings for the heavens with new life and vigor.This reminds me of the process sometimes God takes us through, wilting, waiting and loosing our strength and in some cases even our hope.  We come to the place of surrender, telling God, that we cannot do it by our own, without His strength we will wither away and die, it is at this time God in His love, mercy and for His glory looks upon those who wait upon Him and renews their strength enabling them to mount up with new wings as the eagles do.

Eagles are interesting birds they mate for life and are fiercely protective of their young ones. It is interesting to note when their young one's are ready for flight, the parents literally push them out of the nest and throw them off the mountain tops. When the young eaglets are unable to fly and fall rapidly the father eagle swoops under at incredible speeds and carries them on his back up to the mountain top only to throw them down again. They repeat this process till the young eaglets flap desperately and learn to fly. Again what a reminder of freedom and love, sometimes learning to fly can be a dangerous proposition, venturing out to a new place, uprooting and moving when He tells you to go may seem risky and the future seems to be unknown. It is at those times we should be willing to take those bold steps and walk in faith because our Lord swoops down under and puts us back to the task or the battle at hand. Deuteronomy 32:11-12 says:

11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions. 12 The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him

Ultimately we reflect the nature of our heavenly father, the same nature will come out.  I am reminded of the eagle and the chicken story one last one as I wrap up this article:

An ornithologist was visiting a farmer friend in the country side. At the farmer's place he was surprised to see a eagle pecking the ground with the farmer's chickens. The farmer explained that he had found the majestic bird as a baby in the mountains fallen from its nest and brought it home and put it along with the chickens in the coop and that it had grown up over the years among the chickens and thinks himself to be one. The visiting ornithologist puzzled at the nature of the eagle knew there was more to this noble bird and his rightful place belonged in the skies not with the chickens. He took permission from the farmer to teach the bird to fly. He took the eagle and said "Eagle, you are an eagle, king of birds, stretch out your wings and fly." The eagle looked blankly at the man and clucked. This time the ornithologist balanced himself on the fence and repeated the same command. The eagle jumped off from his hands and began pecking like the other chickens. The farmer said "I told you- he thinks he's a chicken".  The next day the ornithologist took the eagle  and carried him on the top of the farmhouse  and repeated the same command but for no avail the eagle didn't fly. After another restless night, he took the eagle up on a mountain, they could not see the farm or the chicken coop (the eagle's safety net). The man lifted the eagle on his outstretched arm and pointed high into the sky and spoke "Eagle, you are an Eagle! You therefore belong to the sky and not the earth. Stretch out your wings and fly." This time the eagle stared skyward into the bright sun, straightened his large body, and stretched his massive wings. His wings moved, slowly first, then surely and powerfully, with a mighty screech, he started climbing up into the air for his first flight and the eagle flew away. 

Understanding the foundational application of the story - those who are born again imitate His nature. They are the ones who wait on Him knowing, trusting and waiting on Him that He will bring us to new heights daily. 

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

Sweet Time -'Pursue, Overtake & Recover All'

Renewing myself in strength before the Lord are the sweetest times I have as I walk this journey. And today I had that time going up to the WPC, facing the majestic rocky mountains and spending few hours in worship before the Lord. King David did that time and again, he rested in the sovereignty of his God. Reading through 1 Samuel we find David is running from his enemy Saul and is hiding in the Philistine territories. During his stay in those territories the Amalekites an age old enemy of Israel raids David's camp at Ziklag (while he and his mighty men are away) and take captive the women, children and all their cattle as plunder. When king David and his men return 1 Samuel 29 says:

4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

The strength of king David's mighty men had failed so much so that they wanted to stone their leader for failing them and blaming him for losing everything they had. However the last part of verse six is so inspiring and so awesome. Its an expression that we see multiple times in stories of his life and especially the psalms he has written - "And David encouraged himself and strengthened himself in God". After that David inquires of the Lord asking him "Shall I pursue the Amalekite troops?" and the Lord answers "Pursue, Overtake and without fail Recover all".

I know the word is for me and as I walked around WPC campus the Lord led me to look at the scripture stones that lay on the grounds and told me I have a word for you and I saw a stone that had the following verse:

Joshua 10:25 "Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed; be strong and of good courage, for thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight"

It is amazing how the word of the Lord can speak to the very circumstances of your life and spending time with the Lord reveals to us the hearts of our enemies and the battle plan to emerge victorious.Other sweet words that I had were from Psalm 86 and Psalm 89 and some of the promises I record here as stones of remembrance for my life.

Psalm 86:13- 14 & 17 "For Great is your mercy toward me, And You have delivered me sound from the depths of Sheol. O God, the proud have risen against me And a mob of vilent men have sought my life. And have not set You before them. 17 Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

The verses that came from God's heart for me from Psalm 89: 19-26 were:

Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one. And said "I have given help to one who is mighty, I have exalted one chosen from the people. I have found My servant David; With My holy oil I have anointed him, With whom My hand shall be established; Also My arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not outwit him. Nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down his foes before his face. And plague those who hate him. But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him. And in my name his horn shall be exalted. Also I will set his hand over the sea, And his right hand over the rivers. He shall cry to Me 'You are My Father My God and the rock of my salvation.'

I am encouraged and strengthened in the Lord.

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

Ten Times David's heart

One of my all time favorite characters in the word of God apart from Yeshua has always been King David for me. Though many of us identify ourselves with the struggles he went through, I have always prayed asking God to give me ten times David's heart. You remember in the story of Elisha's life he asks Elijah before taking on the mantle and office of prophet hood double portion of his spirit and it was granted to him. We thereafter see how Elisha's ministry was transformed with the power of works and miracles throughout his life.

You know now why I want ten times David's heart, the scriptures reveal not once but many times that David was a man after God's own heart, primarily because of his  intimate relationship with the Lord and readiness  to do everything that was in the heart and mind of God.

Yesterday  I re-read the all time favorite story of faith from 1 Samuel Chapter 17, the scene is the huge philistine army and the armies of Israel are lined up against each other for battle. And adding to the terror of the scene for forty days the Philistine giant Goliath has come out to hurl insults, threats and challenges at the armies of God. A shepherd boy from the fields of bethlehem has come to the battle scene to run errands for his father bringing food supplies for his brothers who are enlisted in King Saul's army.  And as usual the Goliath the Philistine war champion is hurling insults at the Lord God of Israel and the armies of Israel. Thousands of warriors are shaking in their armors at the very sight of this giant except for this shepherd boy, David who is rather surprised. He enquires as to what will be done to warrior who challenges and brings down the giant. The pivotal points I want to emphasize here is he specifically is inquiring asking "Who is this uncircumcised gentile who dares defy the armies of the living God of Israel?" (Paraphrase mine).

David takes up the challenge even foregoing the warning from king Saul. David knows who is on his side and who goes with him. He runs out to meet his foe with five stones and a sling. At the sight of the ruddy handsome kid, Goliath the giant laughs and retorts, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" Cursing David he said "Come here, and I will give your flesh to birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"

We know how the story ends, David slings his stone right on target and brings the giant down, cuts off his head with Goliath's own sword and saves Israel and its armies, but that is not the clincher of the story. The nailing point of the story comes in the reply that David gives to Goliath, a answer that gives goosebumps to many to this day, an answer that inspires towering faith and that was:

45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."

The shepherd boy becomes a warrior because he knows who his God is, he knows who he is and he knows this giant is nothing but a puny little stumbling block that he can bring down with a tiny stone. The shepherd boy was fully devoted in intimacy with the God of Israel and he was not going to an opportunity go by to LET THE WORLD KNOW THAT THERE IS GOD IN ISRAEL and it is for His Glory that he will stand and fight.

Blessings and Shalom

Sam Kurien

P.S: Today in my quiet time the Lord spoke to me from Hosea 2:19-20 I share it here and I pray may it be so too for your life:

19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in [d] righteousness and justice, in [e] love and compassion. 20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.

That my friends is the promise of intimacy with the Lord.

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Happy Easter everybody! He is Risen indeed!. He has and always will be on the throne of heaven. The scriptures say "Heaven is His throne and the Earth is His footstool". As we celebrate His kingship and authority I want to post here something that blessed me through the starry hosts of heaven.

The Psalmist declares in Psalms 19:

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

And the fascinating thing is God painted a celestial poetry with the stars during Jesus's birth and death foreshadowing to the ancients of what was to come and what He had done to redeem mankind. I won't go into much details here for it will be a exhaustive post running into pages, but a good book to pick up and read is E.W. Bullinger's "The Witness of the Stars" on this matter or visit for a abridged version of the starry dance that happened in the heavens on "The Star of Bethlehem" website a research presentation by Federick Larson. You will enjoy it as I did, the clockwork universe tells us a story, He conceals it and it is the glory of kings to find it out.

The point of the post however as the title suggests is "He is Risen". There were not only witness's on earth but the heavens declared the glory of God. So why the correlation to the stars you may ask; it is imperative that we talk of His death first, to shout aloud "He is Risen". His death paved way for you and me to salvation, for us to be reconciled with God. His resurrection from death, sealed the victory and sealed us eternally in Him. Hence sharing with you a snippet of the correlation from the celestial poem that was displayed in the heavens two thousand years ago. When Christ died, there was a lunar eclipse and if you use 'Starry Night Pro' the astronomy program you can go back on the celestial plane in the heavens and to the date when Jesus died on the cross (You can calculate these from the number of Passovers as mentioned in the gospel of John and the Jewish calendar). So for that day, If you were observing the skies from the moon, the picture we get is the earth blocking the sun completely and at their intersection or overlaying of the two objects coincides right at the heart of the Aries constellation which is indicative of the passover lamb's pierced heart. He had died for mankind and His creation. The moon rising out of the eclipse was permeated with the sun's rays and hence the blood moon mentioned in the scriptures as the time of Yeshua's death recorded in the Joel's prophecy.

What a marvelous event on early morn of the third day after His death, when the two women are on their way to the tomb they ask each other "Who is going to roll away the big stone boulder that covers His grave?". Once at the site, they see, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is empty and the Angel of the Lord appearing to tell them the good news " "He is Risen".  For the Father had said "Arise My Love...." 

Death where is your sting? For the grave could not hold the King'

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

Yeshua Is Our Kinsman-Redeemer

I just finished reading the book of Ruth, and I should say that I love this book in the Bible. It is true a story of strength, honor, respect, sacrifice, beauty and most importantly redemption. And if you are following the theme of my posts, it is always pointing and centered around the central character of all stories - 'Yeshua' Himself...who is our kinsman redeemer.

Ruth is a foreigner, to be precise a moabitess married into a family of Israel. A series of unfortunate events leads to the deaths of her husband, father-in-law and her brother-in-law and a famine that ravages the land. She is left alone with Naomi her mother-in-law who has urged her daughter-in-laws to return to their respective families and not follow her misfortune. Naomi calls herself 'mara' for her life had become bitter. However Ruth sticks around, purposes herself to follow Naomi wherever she would go. She tells her in the famous words of the story "Where You Go, I will go, Your people will be my people and your God will be my God".

The story unfolds as the two women return to Bethlehem. Ruth is gleaning after the harvesters in the fields of Boaz and faithfully brings food back on the table for her mother-in-law. As I read this I see the picture of a beautiful woman, sweating in the fields, working hard to provide for the only family she has. She is in a distant land far away from home called to faithfulness, fulfilling her calling and following the God of Israel.

Incidentally Boaz the landlord happens to be a distant relative of Naomi on her husband's side and hence a kin. He sees Ruth working in his fields and enquires about her. Boaz instructs his servants to leave stalks of grains for her to pick, he has instructed his men servants that no one should touch her or embarass her for picking the gleanings. What a picture of Christ himself, without her knowing, he has ensured her protection and is secretly providing for her.

Naomi on the other hand is worred for Ruth and wants Ruth to settle down (have a home) and instructs her to pursue Boaz during the harvest festival. She instructs her to adorn and perfume herself and to go into the fields and lie down at the feet of Boaz when he has celebrated and has drunk himself to sleep. She instructs her to uncover his feet and ask for his shelter. She obeys all the instructions that her mother-in-law gives. This again is a beautiful picture of submission and obedience. The story continues...Ruth is in the fields as Boaz is sleeping, she unovers his feet and lies at his feet. Startled in the night by something, Boaz wakes up and looks at Ruth and address's her as "Daughter who are you?" at which Ruth replies "I am your servant Ruth," and asked him to spread the corner of his garment over her and tells him "You are my kinsman-redeemer".

The scripture aptly quotes Boaz who replies in this beautiful verses in chapter 3:10 saying:

"The LORD bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Although it is true that I am near of kin, there is a kinsman-redeemer nearer than I. 13 Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to redeem, good; let him redeem. But if he is not willing, as surely as the LORD lives I will do it. Lie here until morning."

Again what a picture of honor and strength!! Boaz doesn't take advantage of the situation, he remembers who he is and is secure in his own calling. Ah! what a picture of strength and honor...though being a rich landlord he is thankful and humbled that Ruth has considered him as her kinsman-redeemer instead of choosing a younger man for herself. I see here again the beautiful expression of "submission" in the dynamics of their relationships, I strength of character, strength of honor, lifting up of each other and most importanlty an aspect that mixes this all up which makes up to be foundational core in our relationship with our savior.

The story continues to reveal the next day Boaz invites the elders of the land to be witness's and give the first opportunity to redeem Naomi's family to a closer relative than himself., That man declines (as it was not profitable for him to do so) and in stead Boaz becomes the kinsman-redeemer and the husband of Ruth. The elders at the gate bless Boaz saying "May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built the house of Israel. May you have a standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem."

Ruth bears a child through Boaz and the women of Israel now say to Naomi: "Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughtout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons has given him birth." God had turned back the bitterness 'Mara' in the life of Naomi to a blessing, and to something very sweet.

Wow!! what a story of redemption indeed! Ruth and Boaz are in the genealogy tree of Yeshua himself. Their faithfulness, submission and obedience was a picture to us to point to our own kinsman-redeemer who came to redeem us and He paid the price in full. Scripture says He was the first born and has become our elder brother though He is the King of Kings. What I just mentioned is another subject in itself and too much to unpack here....but maybe for some other time...till then keep enjoying your redemption and keep enjoying Him.

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien.

The Lion of Judah Roars

My family and I love the Narnia movies and especially the 'Chronicles of Narnia' books by C.S. Lewis because it is such a revelation of the story of Yeshua.  Aslan the Lion is a reflection that Lewis wanted to portray about Jesus of Nazareth or I should more aptly quote 'Jesus the Lion of Judah'.  I am glad the movies were able to bring out the fierceness and nature of the lion through Aslan as revealed in the books. I have put a clip from the movie "Prince Caspian"  which shows Lucy is on her way to get Aslan to come and save them from the battle against the Telmarines. The soldiers are pursuing Lucy, and deep in the forest Aslan appears and at first sends out his thundering roar, which throws off Lucy and debilitates the horses with fear. Aslan then jumps over her and attacks the marauding riders.

The scene then shows how Lucy wrestles with the dangerous lion and the book mentions for a moment Lucy didn't know if she was playing with a kitten or a thunderstorm. The Bible and the Gospels through its various historical stories and events reveal the same nature of God. Yeshua is fierce, awesome and a consuming fire and at the same time a gentle, caring and a loving God. Isn't this such a lovely paradox of our God.

As I read through the scriptures the Lion of Judah is always showing His fierceness in love and even in His justice and battles fought His actions are motivated by His love. When He roars, the world is paralyzed in fear, but for those who are His, though struck by His awesomeness  are bowing at His feet in His magnificence, loving every moment of His glory. Our response is to seek Him, wrestle with Him, to come into the intimacy He is calling us to.

Paul Wilbur sings 'The Shout of El Shaddai' , this song is very appropriate here and the clip is down below....Can you hear it ...when we worship, the Lion of Judah roars, strongholds crumble all around us and there is victory in the camp.

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

Passover

Our family celebrated the passover sedar meal yesterday. Truly an emotional and spiritual moments at its zenith of the reminder what God did for us and what God did for me. For those not aware of the Jewish traditions the passover in short is defined below an excerpt copied from Wiki entry for quick reference. You can click here to read the entire wiki entry.

The verb "pasàch" (Hebrew: פָּסַח‎) is first mentioned in the Torah account of the Exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:23), and there is some debate about its exact meaning: the commonly held assumption that it means "He passed over", in reference to God "passing over" the houses of the Hebrews during the final of the Ten Plagues of Egypt, stems from the translation provided in the Septuagint (παρελευσεται in Exodus 12:23, and εσκεπασεν in Exodus 12:27). Judging from other instances of the verb, and instances of parallelism, a more faithful translation may be "he hovered over, guarding." Indeed, this is the image used by Isaiah by his use of this verb in Isaiah. 31:5: "As birds hovering, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem; He will deliver it as He protecteth it, He will rescue it as He passeth over" (כְּצִפֳּרִים עָפוֹת—כֵּן יָגֵן יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, עַל-יְרוּשָׁלִָם; גָּנוֹן וְהִצִּיל, פָּסֹחַ וְהִמְלִיט.) (Isaiah 31:5)

The historical events that started the celebration of the Passover thus revolve around the night when the children of Israel huddled around their houses in the night, their doorposts marked by the blood of the lamb so when the Angel of death came down he would pass over if he saw the blood on the doorposts. The Lord send the angel of death as the last plague bringing death in egyptian households and that led Pharaoh to free the children of Israel from slavery. Yehovah had brought a mighty deliverance for His people by destroying Egypt.

The passover is thus a celebration of the four main purposes of remembrance and they are:

1. Sanctification
2. Deliverance
3. Redemption
3. Praise

In the Jewish household usually the youngest child is encouraged to ask the four important questions during the meal.

1. Why is this night different from all other nights?
2. On all other nights, we eat either unleavened or leavened bread, but tonight we eat only unleavened bread?
3. On all other nights, we eat all kinds of vegetables, but tonight, we eat only bitter herbs?
4. On all other nights, we do not dip [our food] even once, but tonight we dip twice?
On all other nights, we eat either sitting or reclining, but tonight we only recline?

The answers point to the four purposes that I mentioned above. This night is different from all the other nights because God spared us from death, He separated us from the Egyptians sanctified us by his blood, delivered us, redeemed us and we are here to praise Him. We eat unleavened bread because the symbolism of yeast that puffs up is like sin puffing up. So all leaven is cleaned out of the house. We eat the bitter herbs to remember we were slaves and aliens in a foreign land. The celebration of the Passover was a foreshadow of the cross, the ultimate sacrifice was given by lamb of God, by his blood we are sanctified, delivered and redeemed.

The best part of the passover meal is the special chair at the dinner table that is kept empty and the special cup of wine from which no one at the table can drink. The Jewish traditions tell us this special chair is kept empty so that the spirit of Elijah can come and sit with them at the dinner table. There has been an interchangeable confusion between the spirit of Elijah and the place of Messiah, that's whey the Jews asked Yeshua the question are you Elijah? Are you the messiah. It is interesting note so when Yeshua celebrated the Passover at the last supper with His disciples, He sat in that special place and more radically He lifted the cup from which no one could drink...that special cup...because the one worthy to lift that cup had come, He drinks from it and then passes it to His disciples for them to partake in the blood of His body.

Jesus drank the cup of suffering for us for our redemption, He shed His blood as an atonement so God's wrath on us sinners would Passover. Isn't this a beautiful pictures of Love. Let this passover season be a reminder of God's great love that He has overlooked our sins, and He himself provided the justification, redemption and deliverance for us.

Blessings & Shalom,


Sam Kurien

Tether Your Heart & Tighten The Knot

Continuing my thoughts and lessons learnt deep within, I am trying to come to the point that resolving in your heart early on about the fundamental principles solidifies your core. People who are blessed and graced to have this laid early on as a strong foundation in their young age by parents or mentors have it easy (or easier) when the storms of life come. They know inherently that their lives are built on the solid rock. That's why a biblical world-view is important, though it may sound fanatical to the lay reader (and to even some Christians some times), the idea is much more bigger than that. It is in not just knowing or blindly believing in those ideas of faith, ideas of trusting Yeshua completely but it is so much more larger and deeper. It is about being intimately involved with Him, intimately involved with your creator. And like any relationship that grows over a period of time there are times of separation, times of loneliness, times of utmost joy, times of mountain-top moments and times of despair and not to forget the long seasons of waiting.

So in the "meantime" what do we do? I talked about 'response' in the last post, now its about 'RESOLVE'. The scriptures state "Jesus resolved in His heart and set out to Jerusalem". He was bent on saving the world, He was on the mission of rescue in giving the ultimate sacrifice of His life and that needed a strong "resolve". But we may argue terrorists blowing up planes also have a similar kinds of resolve, a similar kind of fanatical take of blind faith. But the answer lies in the question "Does that resolve account on the basis of the foundation of love?" Or "Does that resolve account in the motivation of love?". If so, then resolve is where you tether your heart and tighten the knot. Casting no shadow of doubt and to be marching onward to the battlefields of big wars that lay ahead. It will be foreign to many when I say that sometimes physical battles and wars in the natural can be an outcome or be motivated by love or about pursuing someone because of love; for example saving of an oppressed people being one among the many reasons. We know from the greatest generation of all the time the 101st Airborne division that fought the second world war ran out on the beaches of Normandy in the face of fire and death to stop the raging armies of Hitler from over-running earth. Abraham Lincoln's emancipation proclamation to end slavery turned into a long civil war that ensued for eight long years; and boy...the resolve Lincoln needed to bind his heart and take the risk of a country being divided to wage a war to free oppressed men.

Life is a War, and wars cannot be fought without strong resolve. So tether your heart and tighten the knot, be motivated and be centered by love and above all else FIGHT!. So when you make a decision to follow the Captain of the Hosts, the commander of the armies of Israel, tighten the knot and follow Him wherever He may lead.

The song "Shepherd of my soul" comes to mind, which says:

Shepherd of my soul I give you full control, Wherever You may lead I will foll-ow. I have made the choice to listen for Your vo-vo-ice, Wherever You may lead I will go. Be it in a quiet pasture or by a gentle stream, The Shepherd of my soul is by my side. Should I face a mighty mountain or a valley dark and deep, The Shepherd of my soul will be my guide. Shepherd of my soul Oh You have made me whole, Where’er I hear You call how my tea-ars flow. How I feel your love how I want to se-rve I gladly give my heart to You O – Lord. Be it in the flowing river or in the quiet night, The Shepherd of my soul is by my side. Should I face the stormy weather or the dangers of this world. The Shepherd of my soul will be my guide.

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

No More Will I Run

My last post though hard for me to learn and understand has made me come to the conclusion that promises given by the Lord do not always come to a fruitition in the ways we planned or hoped for. In fact they may not come even true in our life time, but we are nevertheless shaken at times like this especially as how to respond to Him. The Lord tests our hearts and waits to see what our response will be like in times like this. I suspect those who have learnt His intimate ways know how to respond, but some times life's beating on us leave us wondering, leave us thinking "Has He disappeared? Will He come through? Hebrews Chapter 11 echoes to us the acts of heroes of our faith, who were given incredible promises and miracles, yet the chapter end with Hebrews 11:39 saying thus:

39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

What shall we say then? What shall my response to the one who gives life and abundance be? I am convinced my response should be that of surrender and acknowledgement of Who He Is? casting no doubt on His goodness, casting no question on His greatness and casting no accusation on of His plans because He is the one who knows better than anyone.

The answers may not be comforting, but I have found, it is in those times that Yeshua comes and ministers to the deepest of our heart, it is in those times that Yeshua restrains heaven and earth from bestwoing the goods, instead He bestows Himself and His presence. He causes growth and growth causes good fruit to bear. And growth is not pleasant all the time, it becomes pleasant when our response is looking on to the power of His name.

One of my favortie messianic singing group called 'Zemer Levav' (a family of seven with 5 daughters) sing the song "Your Name". I was lucky to find this on You Tube so I share it with you hear. Below the video are the lyrics to the song and they have immensely blessed and ministered to me when my response to Him is tested. But every time Yeshua comes, He has spoken and rescued me by the power of His name.



No more will I run from You
I will be wise accepting Your shelter
No more will I have to fear
I will be here in Your arms
(repeat)
Chorus:

Your Name, is above all powers above all kings
Your Name, You are the blessed Prince of Peace
(repeat)

Bridge:

No one else will ever let me live
This life I live in You
And no one else will ever take the place
That I have made for You
And no one else could ever fit the mold
That You have cast for me
You are my God I will bow down before You
You are my God I will lift up Your Name

(chorus)
Shimcha, Anu Ohavim Otcha
(Your Name, We love You)

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

Center Stage In The Drama Of Cosmic Proportions

Every human being is of great significance to God, but those whom God has drawn to believe in Him are at the center stage in a drama of cosmic proportions. The life of Job mentioned in the Bible is a fascinating book and often one that I run away from reading, but some of the most precious philosophies, answers to tough questions, as well as unanswered questions linger in those chapters.

Job was a God-fearing man and yet something in him suspected that faith in God did not necessarily translate into peace and safety. We read in the scriptures that after every feasting party his children had, Job goes out to sacrifice before the Lord just in case somebody in his family had committed a sin. Of course, Job had no inkling of the discussion going on in heaven between God and Satan. It was a debate over whether the foundation of God’s kingdom was based on genuine love or power. And astonishingly, God was placing the perception of his own integrity as well as the reputation of his whole kingdom on the genuineness of Job’s heart. (See Job 1:6–12; 2:1–10.).  We also read that  Job was a man of integrity and when disaster strikes he exclaims "What I dreaded has happened to me". Job endured the accusations of his friends as he sat in ashes and sackcloth mourning for his misfortunes, the wind had taken away his family, his wealth carried away by a warring party and a fire, everything is lost in the blink of an eye, and yet in all this heaven remained silent. God does not once reveal that Satan had questioned the motives of Job's heart.

Friends, those who are called according to His righteousness are in the midst of a cosmic battle, turmoil, tests, temptations, heart wrenching events, wars, injustice, intrigues of men and the raging kingdom of evil set against his children. Yet!  we have this amazing promise in all things we will prevail, in all things God will turn it for our good and in all things the purposes of God and His kingdom will advance. It was this kind of hope that Job clung onto and yet there were nagging questions and to summarize them into one it was "Why me?"

In the final chapters of the book of Job, God comes with the answers and as I read it, I don't see any direct answers to any of Job's questions, instead what I do find is the Lord asking more questions. The Lord talks about His marvelous creation, His ways and things like ..."where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?", the stars that I threw in the heavens, the turning of seasons, the mountain goats that give birth, young lions on the hunt, the flight of the eagle, strength of the ox,  stride of the horse, the leviathan frolicking in the oceans, and the patterns of the wind. And yet somehow Job is satisfied that His creator has heard, that His creator has answered and realizes that he is in the will and purposes of God. He knows that God is proud of him and that his life was used to uphold the very thing God was willing to stake. My friend and pastor at New life church Glenn Packiam uses Job as his central example in his book "Secondhand Jesus" quoting from the book of Job, he remarks one needs to trade rumors of God and experience Him firsthand. When God answers Job, exclaims "I have not heard rumors but a first hand account from my creator" (paraphrase mine). God is Love and in His love and  pursuing we stand redeemed; we stand secure.

Blessings & Shalom

Sam Kurien

The Battle of 'Ai'

The Lord has been inspiring me to write a post on the battle of Ai. So here it is. I am recording this as not only to learn battle and leadership strategies but to remember things that God is teaching me in this time.  Joshua's life is a life full of battles, battles against Hittities, Jebusites, Amorites, Anakites, Girgashites etc (all the 'ites' you can think of in the people groups that occupied Canan). Among these were the children of giants. We read their cities were urban civilizations with fortified cities and superior weapons and superior methods of warfare.  Yet Joshua and the children of Israel are given the chrage to take these cities down, conquer, destroy and annihilate the memory of these races from the face of the earth. A nomadic group of priests and sheperds are now warriors on an assignment from God, promised by God that their God is going before them as a devouring fire and yet they are given the mandate to STAND & FIGHT!.

The batte of Ai is interesting to me because just before this there is an interesting story of Achan's sin being dealt with and sin being removed from the camp. You can read an account of it in Joshua chapter 7. In the account Joshua is on his face asking Yehovah the reason for their defeat on Ai...at which God answers him saying "Stand Up! What are you doing down on your face?" (Joshua 7:6). Basically the story reveals later..God was asking him to get up and address the sin, purge it and be prepared to take down Ai, the resulting battle which is mentioned in Chapter 8.

Just before the battle The Lord gives Joshua the strategy to set an ambush behind the city and draw out the army in Ai from the front. The battle enuses Joshua's troops draw out the army out of the city and are being pursued by the enemy, the fight deepens and Joshua raises his javelin as the signal and the army on the hills descend and burn down the city. The army of AI that is outside the city fighting look back and see the ruins and smoke rising up in the city, they are terrified and are defeated. The account reveals that Joshua doesn't lower his javelin till the enemy is completely destoryed.

Why am I sharing this with you? The morning I read this in my quiet time, an hour later I get an email from a prayer warrior who covers me in prayers and in the email he mentioned signal the armies on the hills to descend, he didn't know that I had read this but God was confirming in spiritual light that it was time to signal the armies to descend from the hills and annihilate the enemies that stand before us. Let me remember this for the days to come:

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.

1 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city." (Joshua 8)

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien

And The Chief Priests were mad...

Jesus's journey to the cross was a single minded rescue mission God had conceived even before the fall of man/world to save us from the clutches of the evil one. The roman procurator Pontius Pilate had engraved the title of Jesus on the cross. The titles were written in three languages Aramaic, Greek and Latin (remember here Greek and Latin were roman languages and Aramaic was the local Hebrew tongue in Palestine) and it read "Yeshua The King of Jews" or in Latin it said ESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM"  (Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum). 

A little research reveals: When the Jewish children who are taught the Hebrew letters from a young age are trained in their minds to automatically see the first letters of each word in the sentence. They are encouraged to see forms of new words from those first letters in statements or sentences. Interestingly, the chief priests when they read the sign on the cross in Aramaic were not comfortable at what it said and they were not just a little upset by it;  The gospel of John is the only gospel that gives us an account of this incident.

"9Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read:|sc JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." .

You begin to wonder what made them so upset. Well God was making a point on that Cross.

The  four Hebrew letters (Yod, He, Waw and He) called the "Tetragramaton" are the four characters that correspond to the four Hebrew letters YHWH and are transliterated IAUE or Yahweh. Yahweh is the name of the Almighty Father in Heaven that people commonly call "The LORD" or "God". The reason we see "LORD" and "God" in our bibles is because of a Jewish tradition is that the name Yahweh was not to be spoken or written for fear that it may be blasphemed. The name of God is so precious that the Rabbis of old printed or wrote the short hand form of the name. So when the average Jew and especially the Pharisees who passed by the cross saw the title of Yahweh and that Yahweh was hanging on the cross for all mankind really irked them. What Pilate had written was no coincidence, but a revelation from God that Yahweh was indeed on the cross making the ultimate sacrifice to redeem His bride.

This blesses my heart and so let it be a lesson deep for us, the price was paid by Yahweh Himself
Praise to my glorious Yehovah - King of the Universe whose mercies are numerous and His ways are wonderful.

Blessings & Shalom,

Sam Kurien