Vision Alive

You would have heard of God of Abraham, God of Isaac or God of Jacob. But this day, I want you to know something very different. God of Uzziah! Did you know that Bible recognizes Uzziah by two names – Uzziah (2 Chr 26:1) and Azariah (2 Kings 15). This is clear from the fact that both of them took the throne at the same age, reigned for the same number of years, and had the same father, namely Amaziah. 1.                     He is a God who can use anyone irrespective of any conditions II Chr 25:27 ‘----- but they sent after him to Lachish and killed him there.’  Here we find Uzziah’s father, Amaziah, was murdered. Why was he murdered? We’re not very sure. However, it must have been God’s plan as he turned from following the Lord. I was just thinking how this 16-yr-old Uzziah would have felt at this time. His father is dead, not just dead, in fact murdered. No wonder, he would have thou...

and the LORD said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”  Ezekial 9:4 Read this passage carefully. Here, one group of people are pardoned while another group of people are killed. In Exodus, when God destroyed the firstborn sons in Egypt, he spared the Israelites who had a mark on the doorpost of their house. Any Israelite who believed God’s word spoken through Moses and applied the blood of the lamb on the doorposts were saved. The angel of death did not enter their houses but simply passed away when he looked at that sign. In this passage too, something similar but radical takes place. God calls the man clothed with linen and having a writer’s inkhorn and asked him to put a mark on one group of people. While in Exodus, it was the Israelites who decided whether to believe God’s word and put the sign on the doorpost, here God decide...

  “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7  Many a times, you may think of yourselves as weak, inefficient, useless and fit for nothing. But how often have you realized that God has placed a great treasure in you? Here Paul is talking of a great treasure - the knowledge of glory of God. True, we are earthen vessels. That means we are fragile and can be broken easily. We are liable to any accidents and mistakes. There is nothing in us that will guarantee our strength and perfection. In spite of our weaknesses, gracious God chose to place this great treasure in us. The purpose of placing this treasure in us is not that it should be hidden. Matthew 5:15 says, “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all   who are   in the house.” We are to proclaim this treasure to the rest of the world. Imagine costly diamonds are placed in ...