THE TRUE SERVICE...:

There were saints in olden days who lived more on their knees than on their feet. In John 12:3 we see Mary at the feet of Jesus doing some very humble service. She took the highest part of her body (hair) and used it for the service of the lowest part of the body of Jesus (feet). Many want to serve God, but they don't know how to serve. To serve God, one needs humility. Jesus is very humble, only the humble can serve the humble Jesus.

Mary brought an alabaster box of very precious ointment, broke the bottle, and poured the ointment at the feet of Jesus. This is true service to God that any of us can do. Our body, our heart and our life can be compared to the alabaster box. We must lay them low at the feet of Jesus. Your alabaster box must be full of precious ointment. Our heart should be filled with divine love. Our love should be full of perfume. Mary did not give that ointment to any man; she did not want to sell it either. She wanted to pour it all out for Jesus.

Will you be a Mary today? Bring your alabaster box in all humility to the feet of Jesus. Offer to Him your life, your love, your all.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

GOD IS WITH YOU...!

"The angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour... And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel... And he said unto Him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house" (Judg 6:12-15).

Here we see God choosing Gideon for His great work and separating him for it. The fifteenth verse, as quoted above, shows how disqualified and weak Gideon appeared to be. How true it is that God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, the base things of the world, things which are despised, and the things which are not (I Cor 1:27-29).

The angel of the Lord says, "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." Strangely, we hardly see in this man anything to make one call him mighty or great. Further, his questions prove that he was depressed. "Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of?" (Judg 6:13).

Nevertheless, Gideon's depressed state was not a hindrance for God to work in and through him. The sovereign grace of God not only chose Gideon to be a servant of God, but also chose him as the leader of the people of Israel. And, through this very timid, doubting and depressed man, the Lord performed the greatest miracle of the time. With 300 people Gideon crushed the Midianites whose army was like the sand of the sea.

Dear reader, perhaps you are a Gideon; you may be full of doubt and anxiety. But the Lord Who chose Gideon is with you. "Beware of despairing about yourself: you are commanded to put your trust in God, and not in yourself," said St.Augustine. The Lord has planned great things for you and He is going to do great things through you. Indeed, you are a mighty man of valour, because God is with you. "Go in this thy might." What is this "might"? It is, God being with you, the God of glory being with you, the God of victory being with you.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

THE NATURAL LAW CHANGED!

"By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned" (Heb 11:29).

The path opened for those who have faith cannot be used by those who have unbelief. By faith the Israelites passed through the Red Sea as by dry land; however, the same path brought only destruction to the Egyptians who tried to use it. This shows that the Israelites had faith and hence they passed through the Red Sea. As they walked in the sea, the farther they walked, the deeper the ground might have appeared. Also, the water which stood up as a huge wall without any literal barrier must have appeared to threaten to come back any moment. And perhaps, while walking, they also saw various creatures, like whales and crocodiles, threatening to jump out of the water and attack them. Those who did not have faith would have felt like retreating.

When Pharaoh tried to follow the Israelites into the Red Sea, his army saw the water receding and making the ground very wet and making the chariots get stuck in the mire. However, the Israelites had faith in the promise of God - "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee" (ISa 43:2).

The dry ground is only for those who walk by faith. The natural law became a supernatural one only to those who believed the One Who is supernatural. The ravens changed their nature only for the sake of Elijah. Before the unbelievers the waters easily came back, following their natural law.

Dear reader, the Lord is wanting to change the natural law for you if you walk by faith, just as He changed the natural law of the sun and moon and made it stand still for a while, honouring Joshuah's faith.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

YOUR TONGUE - A DESTRUCTIVE WEAPON

"Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin... wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?" (Eccl 5:6).

If we sin with our mouth, our work or ministry, no matter how great the things we have done for the Lord, will be destroyed. How true this was in Moses' life! He who was to lead the people into the land of Canaan could not enter it himself, as he opened his mouth and spoke "unadvisedly." "Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth." (Prov 6:2). "As ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you," said the Lord and saying that they would not be able to possess the promised land (Num 14:28).

The soul of a man and his tongue are connected - "Deliver my SOUL, O Lord, from lying LIPS, and from a deceitful TONGUE" (Psa 120:2). If you are a man with a defiled tongue, your whole soul is defiled.

We find that particular mention is made about the tongue or the mouth of the saints in Zion: "In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God" (Rev 14:5). The plain fact is that when there is no fault in the mouth, there is no fault in the life.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

TOO SMALL A PUNISHMENT!

"Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear" (Gen 4:13).

In fact, despite the atrocious sins Cain committed - murdering his innocent brother, getting angry with God, lying to God, questioning God, etc. - the Lord did not punish him as He ought to have: the punishments the Lord pronounced were only a blessing in disguise.

But Cain, instead of saying, "My sin is greater than I can bear," says, "My punishment is too great to bear." This was afront to the matchlesss love God had showed to him. It was not God Who drove him away, but his own sins. But he accuses God of driving him out "from the face of the earth" (vs 14). Now also many sinners speak the language of Cain.

But look at how King David took reproof. When the prophet pronounced God's judgment on him for his sin, he humbled himself greatly before God and accepted his punishment. We can read of this in many of his psalms. "My sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight," he cries (Psa 51:3,4). Another time he tells the Lord, "I have sinned... I have done wickedly. Let Thine hand be against me and against my father's house" (II Sam 24:17).

Child of God, it is a heart like David's that the Lord wants us to have. When we err, let us humble ourselves and say like Ezra, "Our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve" (Ezra 9:13).

"He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities (Psa 103:10).

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

GRAVITATIONAL PULL....:

"He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing" (Job 26:7).

"He hangeth the earth upon nothing." No one could understand the meaning of this mysterious text, till scientists discovered that the earth, by the force of gravitation, actually stands upon nothing. Still, no one knows what gravity really is, how it originated and why it is there. Thank God, the Bible has the answer. "Upholding all things by the Word of His power" (Heb 1:3). It is God Who is holding up the earth.

What lesson can we learn from this? If the earth hangs upon nothing, God's people on the earth should also hang upon nothing - on nothing but their God. Our faith should hang on nothing but our God, on the Word of God, on the power of God.

There is a spiritual gravitational pull by which we are upheld - "grace wherein we stand" (Rom 5:2). Yes, that gravitational pull is the grace of God which is upholding us and keeping us. Let us put all our trust in the Lord and allow ourselves to be upheld by the powerful grace of God.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

RIGHT TIME FOR THE MOVE

The first mention of the Spirit of God is closely connected with the waters - "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen 1:2).

'Waters' show afflictions (Psa 69:1,2). Often revival breaks out, not when we are comfortable, but when we are in afflictions, when our faith is tried.

"Without form and void" in the original also means 'confusion and emptiness' (see Isaiah 34:11). Yes, when we find everything in confusion and empty, that is where and when "the move is on." The present age is a perfect picture of Genesis 1:2 - confusion, emptiness and darkness everywhere. Hence this is the right time for the move of the Holy Spirit; it is high time the Spirit of God moved mightily - for which let us believe and pray.

The greatest blessing God could ever bestow on sinful man was the sacrificial death of Christ. However, that was preceded by three hours of pitch darkness when the sun went into hiding. Similarly, dear reader, we may very often find the Sun of righteousness (Jesus) hiding from us either by not answering us or by delaying to answer our prayers, BEFORE WE RECEIVE THE GREATER BLESSINGS OF GOD. Let us be encouraged as this is the right time for the move of the Holy Spirit Who moved upon the face of waters when everything was dark and in a chaotic condition.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

SEEING THE INVISIBLE GOD

"By faith he (Moses) forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible" (Heb 11:27).

Egypt stands for sin and the sinful pleasures of this world. Why are many so-called children of God not able to forsake "Egypt"? Because they have no eyes of faith - to see the invisible God. If Moses had not forsaken Egypt, God could not have chosen him as the leader of Israel and fulfilled His grand plan through him.

When the Son of Man cometh, will faith [to forsake Egypt] be found on earth? Many who once forsook Egypt are now embracing Egypt. Why? They have lost their eyes of faith.

"He endured, as seeing Him Who is invisible." This implies that while Moses was enduring suffering in the will of God, he was seeing the invisible God. When Stephen, the first church martyr was about to be stoned, he "saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55). While Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were enduring the fiery furnace, they saw the invisible God in the fire. When you endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, even others will see the invisible God in you - as King Nebuchadnezzar did when Shadrach and the others were in the fiery furnace.

Let us therefore joyfully endure sufferings in the will of God - they are rare opportunities on earth to see the invisible God.

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"

THE HUMBLEST ARE THE PUREST

"And he (Joseph) commanded the steward of his house, saying... put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest and his corn money. And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken" (Gen 44:1,2).

This silver cup typifies an extremely pure heart. Joseph was very careful that not any silver cup, but his own silver cup, be put in Benjamin's sack. Joseph is a type of Christ. Benjamin, the youngest, speaks of the least, the humblest. Jesus, our Joseph, is pleased to put His silver cup, (His own purity), into the sack (life) of the least. St.Paul says, "I am less than the least of all the saints." The Lord put the "silver cup" in his sack also, it appears, for he confesses that he has "a pure heart" (I Tim 1:5). Benjamin could in no way take the credit for it, for it was placed by the steward (Holy Spirit) at the express command of Joseph (Jesus).

Purity and humility go together. The humblest are the purest, and the silver cup (the most pure heart, like the heart of Jesus) is found in the most humble (youngest).

"And he searched, and began at the eldest, and left at the youngest; and the cup was found in Benjamin's sack" (vs 12). Dear friend, if the Holy Spirit searches your sack (life) today, will He find the silver cup? IS YOUR HEART AS PURE AS THE HEART OF GOD?

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"