By Titto Thomas 

Philippians 2: 5 “Have the same attitude among yourselves that was also in Christ Jesus” 

This phrase “Have the same attitude” primarily denotes a state of mind. Some translations put it as “ let this mind”. But let us focus on this word attitude. I recently discovered a wonderful analogy to help understand this word.

Basically when the pilot is looking out of the cockpit, he can see the runway straight ahead but there is a high possibility that the tail is pointed in some other direction. The result…The flight could offshoot the runway or maybe even land sideways. 

Now let’s compare that picture in our Christian life…while your mind maybe pointed at the runway, your heart could be offset. There are so many practical issues where we need the right attitude. Now what is the right attitude, it is the attitude of Jesus Christ! We need to see our need for having the right attitude towards issues like faith, relations, work/study, money, church…etc. We need to even have the proper attitude towards the Word! 

I was at a camp last month and an elder in our church called all ‘us youth’ for a group discussion on ‘work’. Before I started to work I had searched scriptures on what it says about work but I was surprised by what I heard. I had a lot of repenting to do afterwards! One of the most important ways in which we can have the right attitude is to study it properly. I encourage you to spend time alone and with friends studying, discussing and sharing on what the bible talks about day to day things you handle. For eg. Time, money, relations, work/study etc.  

We can’t afford to have a torn garment knowledge about the word and what it has to say about practical things in life. Our hearts, minds and body need the proper orientation and what better way THAN THE WORD!! 

By Sidharth Mohandas

I had been struggling with a bad temper of recent. I’d lose my temper for things really insignificant. Last night as I was dwelling on this, I felt the Lord impress in my spirit the word “Meekness”.

What is Meekness?

Most people have a wrong understanding of meekness. A meek person is often thought of one who is weak and easily imposed upon. However, the Greek word used for “meek” in the Bible is “praos” and this word means “strength brought under control”. In ancient Greek this term was used to describe a wild horse tamed to the bridle.

Are we easily angered? Do our passions override us? Do we slam the door when we have a fight with someone in our own family? Do we slander about someone whom we have bitterness to? Do we speak what we feel like when we are upset? How long can we be nice to some one who is irritating us or who keeps nagging us all the time? We hear a wonderful testimony about Moses in Numbers 12: 3

Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.

Moses was the meekest man who lived upon the face of the earth. In spite of having a very bad temper, you find him keep quiet even when his own brother and sister slandered against him and questioned his authority. This is meekness! Strength under control… A person who gets angry and tries to look tough is actually a weakling unable to bridle his temper.

The fruit of meekness is a character of God Himself. Remember, Jesus calls Himself meek in Matthew 11: 29 [Gk: praos]. If the Lord were to give way to His anger, none of us would exist today. On the contrary, Scripture tells us in Exodus 34:6 that He is slow to anger and abounding in love. Thank God!

Let us examine our lives today and make every effort to yield to the Spirit of God in this area of meekness.

Originally posted by Lisa

By Sidharth Mohandas

I believe God is calling the Church in this final hour to the ground of humility. When God uses us in great ways, many of us get puffed up and we start bragging about the things that the Lord does through us, supposedly giving glory to God. All of us need to stop regularly to examine ourselves in the Presence of the Lord. Like Zaccheus, the rich man, who wanted to see Jesus and realized that he couldn’t see Jesus because of his small stature [Luke 19:1-10], we too will realize our short-comings and inabilities in His Presence. Zaccheus climbed the sycamore tree to see Jesus, but notice what Jesus tells him, “Zaccheus, come down. I am going to stay at your home tonight”. That’s exactly what Jesus is telling many of us: “Come down!”. Friends, Jesus isn’t on the tree tops, He’s way down on the ground of humility!

Many years back the Lord asked me something that really made me think: “Sidhu, are you willing to be hidden and unknown so that I may be known?” Are we ready to get off the stage and come down so that He can be made known? What do people read from your life? Do they read your message or do they read His? Examine your talks with others, is it all about you or is it about Him?

I look at people who are used by the Lord and see an invisible wall in their lives that prevent them from going to any further heights in Him. I ask, “Have we forgotten the way up?”. God says to us today, “The way up has always been down”. Let us all heed to God’s message today and come down from the sycamore trees we have climbed.