by Ray Boltz
relive one of our church's special items =)
have a blessed Christ-filled week, basking in His love and favour always!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
No More Lies
I felt angry at a negative thought that came to me today and after a while I realized that ultimately, I was angry at the devil's lies; it's like a veil was covering my eyes from really seeing the fullness of God's love.
I spent a few years in NCC hearing that the ultimate display of God's love was shown when God sent Jesus to die on the cross. I heard that without understanding what that really meant.
More often than not, if something bad happens, or things do not turn out well, I would know to remind myself of the cross and say, "It's ok. I know God still loves me and the cross is the proof." It became an excuse. Whenever things do not turn out well I would look back at the cross as if it was just something of the past and just accept the natural circumstance that was happening in the present. Now I realize that that was not seeing the fullness of the glory of the finished work of Jesus.
Jesus' death on the cross is not just an ancient historical event, it is THE EVENT. It is the proof that we should be reigning in life. I do not want to stop short by just looking to the cross and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I want to start believing that the cross is the proof that God has, can and will come through in my situation. It is a declaration of victory and no matter how bad things may get, I will stand on God's promises. I do not want to allow the natural things of this world to have the final say because God's word always, always, ALWAYS has the final word in every situation.
Jesus death on the cross is the marker of God's love but it does not end there. Jesus died on the cross and because of that I know that God's love is so great and not only that, Jesus rose again to show that even death is not final. Even if my natural circumstances scream, "It will not be so. It's impossible. There's no way in hell. It's a dead-end. DEATH!" I can simply say the one and only name that is above everything - JESUS!
I really want to hold on to God's Word and not allow this natural mind to hinder me from believing by showing me what is natural. How can we who are in Christ remain natural? If Christ is in us, then we can only be supernatural. Supernatural is the default mode.
I've heard enough of the lies that have seeped in so subtly and I choose to believe in God's Word. No matter how long this journey may take, I know that God's Word will out-live, out-last, out-class and out-everything that the world can throw.
It's time to really run with this no matter what others say and not be apologetic of this undeserved supernatural life that has been paid for in full by Jesus' blood. No more lies. No wonder Jesus also came as the truth that sets people free.
Even as I write this I get thoughts that it will be a long journey and I believe that's the natural mind thinking again. Thank You, Daddy, that you meet me at my level of faith. I will not think naturally but believe in acceleration and even if I may come across bumps, I will continue to trust in you.
My natural circumstances are not proof of God's love for me. There may be ups and downs but I can trust God that because of His love, the down times will be short and the high times will be long-lasting. God's love for me is not subject to my natural circumstances but my natural circumstances are certainly subject to God's love for me!
I spent a few years in NCC hearing that the ultimate display of God's love was shown when God sent Jesus to die on the cross. I heard that without understanding what that really meant.
More often than not, if something bad happens, or things do not turn out well, I would know to remind myself of the cross and say, "It's ok. I know God still loves me and the cross is the proof." It became an excuse. Whenever things do not turn out well I would look back at the cross as if it was just something of the past and just accept the natural circumstance that was happening in the present. Now I realize that that was not seeing the fullness of the glory of the finished work of Jesus.
Jesus' death on the cross is not just an ancient historical event, it is THE EVENT. It is the proof that we should be reigning in life. I do not want to stop short by just looking to the cross and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I want to start believing that the cross is the proof that God has, can and will come through in my situation. It is a declaration of victory and no matter how bad things may get, I will stand on God's promises. I do not want to allow the natural things of this world to have the final say because God's word always, always, ALWAYS has the final word in every situation.
Jesus death on the cross is the marker of God's love but it does not end there. Jesus died on the cross and because of that I know that God's love is so great and not only that, Jesus rose again to show that even death is not final. Even if my natural circumstances scream, "It will not be so. It's impossible. There's no way in hell. It's a dead-end. DEATH!" I can simply say the one and only name that is above everything - JESUS!
I really want to hold on to God's Word and not allow this natural mind to hinder me from believing by showing me what is natural. How can we who are in Christ remain natural? If Christ is in us, then we can only be supernatural. Supernatural is the default mode.
I've heard enough of the lies that have seeped in so subtly and I choose to believe in God's Word. No matter how long this journey may take, I know that God's Word will out-live, out-last, out-class and out-everything that the world can throw.
It's time to really run with this no matter what others say and not be apologetic of this undeserved supernatural life that has been paid for in full by Jesus' blood. No more lies. No wonder Jesus also came as the truth that sets people free.
Even as I write this I get thoughts that it will be a long journey and I believe that's the natural mind thinking again. Thank You, Daddy, that you meet me at my level of faith. I will not think naturally but believe in acceleration and even if I may come across bumps, I will continue to trust in you.
My natural circumstances are not proof of God's love for me. There may be ups and downs but I can trust God that because of His love, the down times will be short and the high times will be long-lasting. God's love for me is not subject to my natural circumstances but my natural circumstances are certainly subject to God's love for me!
Monday, April 20, 2009
The Father's Heart
Heyz Southies,
I am just so amazed at the nature heart of Daddy God's heart. He is really such a generous and loving father. Throughout the past few months I felt like He was revealing more and more of Himself. This is a culmination of some stuff that has really showed me how awesome (and that is still an understatement) Daddy God really is.
I used to think that tithing and giving offerings were ways in which we can honour God. Albeit, that is true, but I thought that was the main purpose for tithing and giving offerings. I thought it was a chance to "pay back" God for His goodness (although everything is His to begin with). Yet, even in our giving, God multiplies what is given. Like the boy who gave his bread and fish to Jesus, more was given to him. Jesus showed the Father's heart when he multiplied the little that was given and was enough to feed thousands of people. God uses our giving as a chance to bless us further! When we are able to give, God is able to give us much more. When we let go of our tithes and offerings to Him, He takes it, and through a divine cycle, the blessings find a way back to us many times over!
I remember Pastor Prince mentioned the widow of Zarepath a few months ago. Pastor asked God why was it necessary for Elijah to go to the widow. Surely He knew that the widow only had so little flour left and He even asked her to feed Elijah. God could have sustained Elijah at the brook where the ravens brought him bread and there was a supply of drinking water. God was revealing Himself in this story. It was precisely because the widow's supply was about to be exhausted that God wanted to supply her and He did it by allowing the widow to give. Whenever God has a chance for us to give, it is because He is preparing His supply to overflow into our lives. It was never God's intention to have the widow feed Elijah alone and have her and her son die of starvation. All along He was planning to increase her supply and the man of God was especially sent to her and she and her son were blessed with enough supply to last through the famine. God's heart is always to give. Even when it seems that we are giving Him something, He has already something better to give to us!
And if that was not enough, God wanted me to change the way I thought of another thing - worship. Now, it is common to think that worship is for God. It is our chance to give Him glory and proclaim His goodness and truly, God enjoys it when we praise and worship Him. But as much as worship is a time of intimacy with Daddy it is also for our benefit. Pastor Benjamin shared about worship in the month of February and that really further enhanced my worship experience. He shared that worship (which is also known as the fear of the Lord) carries with it blessings.
Blessings of Worship:
Proverbs 1:7 - Knowledge, which is to ascertain by observing. Basically, the power of observation.
Proverbs 9:10 - The wisdom here is "skillful wisdom", skills for living.
Proverbs 10:27 - Prolonged life; longevity.
Proverbs 14:26 - Confidence. The confidence that is of God and not of self.
Proverbs 22:4 - Riches and honour and life.
And there I thought worship was a one-directional thing which is from us to God. Even as we give God our worship, He gives us all these blessings. Not only is worship enjoyable, its good for you too! (Kind of like playing Wii sports.)
I was thoroughly reassured that my God is good but God still wanted to change the way I thought about another thing - prayer. I used to think that the only benefit that I can get through prayer is if I pray for my own personal well being. It was during the prayer meeting held recently that Pastor Henry shared a little bit about Job and through that I saw God's heart once more. The prayer meeting was to pray for a lot of things, a lot of great things, a lot of things outside of my own self (although technically some of them can affect me e.g. praying for the government). We prayed for Singapore and for other nations, for our church, and for other churches, for Christians all over the world. Pastor Henry shared that when Job prayed for his friends, God turned his situation around (Job 42:10). Pastor Henry encouraged us that even as we came together and prayed for others, God was turning our own situations around for the better. And there I was thinking that I was making the world a better place and making God happy in the process but God's heart was to turn my own situation around.
Through all these things, tithing and giving offerings, praise and worship, and prayer, I was able to see that God's heart is really so generous. When it seems like all these things are for God's own benefit or for others, it also benefits myself. Daddy God really knows how to give, give and give. If my cool new hairstyle was not keeping my head together, I think my mind would have been blown away already at the sheer love that Daddy has for us. He gave us all these opportunities with the intention of blessing us much more!
-----
For those who managed to read through all that, you will be rewarded with a funny little story.
When titles and positions change, it takes some time to change the way we address the people involved. It took a while to get used to call Deaconess, "Deaconess" when I was so used to calling her, "Coach".
I was finally getting the hang of it and have been calling her Deaconess as I should.
It was in the second day of the retreat and since most of the people around were from church, it was not unusual to just greet them when we see them. A simple, "Good morning!" or, "Hello, so and so," was apt.
What's not cool is when JG greets a male Deacon in this manner: "Good morning, Deaconess!"
*exit stage left*
Just want to share this post taken from my blog. I know I have not been updating so I thought the least I could do is import some of my posts to share with you all too.
-----
I used to think that tithing and giving offerings were ways in which we can honour God. Albeit, that is true, but I thought that was the main purpose for tithing and giving offerings. I thought it was a chance to "pay back" God for His goodness (although everything is His to begin with). Yet, even in our giving, God multiplies what is given. Like the boy who gave his bread and fish to Jesus, more was given to him. Jesus showed the Father's heart when he multiplied the little that was given and was enough to feed thousands of people. God uses our giving as a chance to bless us further! When we are able to give, God is able to give us much more. When we let go of our tithes and offerings to Him, He takes it, and through a divine cycle, the blessings find a way back to us many times over!
I remember Pastor Prince mentioned the widow of Zarepath a few months ago. Pastor asked God why was it necessary for Elijah to go to the widow. Surely He knew that the widow only had so little flour left and He even asked her to feed Elijah. God could have sustained Elijah at the brook where the ravens brought him bread and there was a supply of drinking water. God was revealing Himself in this story. It was precisely because the widow's supply was about to be exhausted that God wanted to supply her and He did it by allowing the widow to give. Whenever God has a chance for us to give, it is because He is preparing His supply to overflow into our lives. It was never God's intention to have the widow feed Elijah alone and have her and her son die of starvation. All along He was planning to increase her supply and the man of God was especially sent to her and she and her son were blessed with enough supply to last through the famine. God's heart is always to give. Even when it seems that we are giving Him something, He has already something better to give to us!
And if that was not enough, God wanted me to change the way I thought of another thing - worship. Now, it is common to think that worship is for God. It is our chance to give Him glory and proclaim His goodness and truly, God enjoys it when we praise and worship Him. But as much as worship is a time of intimacy with Daddy it is also for our benefit. Pastor Benjamin shared about worship in the month of February and that really further enhanced my worship experience. He shared that worship (which is also known as the fear of the Lord) carries with it blessings.
Blessings of Worship:
Proverbs 1:7 - Knowledge, which is to ascertain by observing. Basically, the power of observation.
Proverbs 9:10 - The wisdom here is "skillful wisdom", skills for living.
Proverbs 10:27 - Prolonged life; longevity.
Proverbs 14:26 - Confidence. The confidence that is of God and not of self.
Proverbs 22:4 - Riches and honour and life.
And there I thought worship was a one-directional thing which is from us to God. Even as we give God our worship, He gives us all these blessings. Not only is worship enjoyable, its good for you too! (Kind of like playing Wii sports.)
I was thoroughly reassured that my God is good but God still wanted to change the way I thought about another thing - prayer. I used to think that the only benefit that I can get through prayer is if I pray for my own personal well being. It was during the prayer meeting held recently that Pastor Henry shared a little bit about Job and through that I saw God's heart once more. The prayer meeting was to pray for a lot of things, a lot of great things, a lot of things outside of my own self (although technically some of them can affect me e.g. praying for the government). We prayed for Singapore and for other nations, for our church, and for other churches, for Christians all over the world. Pastor Henry shared that when Job prayed for his friends, God turned his situation around (Job 42:10). Pastor Henry encouraged us that even as we came together and prayed for others, God was turning our own situations around for the better. And there I was thinking that I was making the world a better place and making God happy in the process but God's heart was to turn my own situation around.
Through all these things, tithing and giving offerings, praise and worship, and prayer, I was able to see that God's heart is really so generous. When it seems like all these things are for God's own benefit or for others, it also benefits myself. Daddy God really knows how to give, give and give. If my cool new hairstyle was not keeping my head together, I think my mind would have been blown away already at the sheer love that Daddy has for us. He gave us all these opportunities with the intention of blessing us much more!
-----
For those who managed to read through all that, you will be rewarded with a funny little story.
When titles and positions change, it takes some time to change the way we address the people involved. It took a while to get used to call Deaconess, "Deaconess" when I was so used to calling her, "Coach".
I was finally getting the hang of it and have been calling her Deaconess as I should.
It was in the second day of the retreat and since most of the people around were from church, it was not unusual to just greet them when we see them. A simple, "Good morning!" or, "Hello, so and so," was apt.
What's not cool is when JG greets a male Deacon in this manner: "Good morning, Deaconess!"
*exit stage left*
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
From: In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado
February 15, 1921. New York City. The operating room of the Kane Summit Hospital. A doctor is performing an appendectomy.
In many ways the events leading to the surgery are uneventful. The patient has complained of severe abdominal pain. The diagnosis is clear: an inflamed appendix. Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane is performing the surgery. In his distinguished thirty-seven-year medical career, he has performed nearly four thousand appendectomies, so this surgery will be uneventful in all ways except two.
The first novelty of this operation? The use of local anesthesia in major surgery. Dr. Kane is a crusader against the hazards of general anesthesia. He contends that a local application is far safer. Many of his colleagues agree with him in principle, but in order for them to agree in practice, they will have to see the theory applied.
Dr. Kane searches for a volunteer, a patient who is willing to undergo surgery while under local anesthesia. A volunteer is not easily found. Many are squeamish at the though of being awake during their own surgery. Others are fearful that the anesthesia might wear off too soon.
Eventually, however, Dr. Kane finds a candidate. On Tuesday morning, February 15, the historic operation occurs.
The patient is prepped and wheeled into the operation room. A local anesthetic is applied. As he has done a thousand of times, Dr. Kane dissects the superficial tissues and locates the appendix. He skillfully excises it and concludes the surgery. During the procedure, the patient complains of only minor discomfort...
Dr. Kane has proven his theory...
But I said there were two facts that made the surgery unique. I've told you the first: the use of local anesthesia. The second is the patient. The courageous candidate for surgery by Dr. Kane was Dr. Kane,
To prove his point, Dr. Kane operated on himself!
A wise move. The doctor became a patient in order to convince the patients to trust the doctor.
... The story of the doctor who became his own patient is mild compared to the story of the God who became human. But Jesus did. So that you and I would believe that the Healer knows our hurts, he voluntarily became one of us. He placed himself in our position. He suffered our pains and felt our fears.
Rejection? He felt it. Temptation? He knew it. Loneliness? He experienced it. Death? He tasted it.
And stress? He could write a best selling book about it.
Why did he do it? One reason. So that when you hurt you will go to him-- your father and your physician-- and let him heal.
In many ways the events leading to the surgery are uneventful. The patient has complained of severe abdominal pain. The diagnosis is clear: an inflamed appendix. Dr. Evan O'Neill Kane is performing the surgery. In his distinguished thirty-seven-year medical career, he has performed nearly four thousand appendectomies, so this surgery will be uneventful in all ways except two.
The first novelty of this operation? The use of local anesthesia in major surgery. Dr. Kane is a crusader against the hazards of general anesthesia. He contends that a local application is far safer. Many of his colleagues agree with him in principle, but in order for them to agree in practice, they will have to see the theory applied.
Dr. Kane searches for a volunteer, a patient who is willing to undergo surgery while under local anesthesia. A volunteer is not easily found. Many are squeamish at the though of being awake during their own surgery. Others are fearful that the anesthesia might wear off too soon.
Eventually, however, Dr. Kane finds a candidate. On Tuesday morning, February 15, the historic operation occurs.
The patient is prepped and wheeled into the operation room. A local anesthetic is applied. As he has done a thousand of times, Dr. Kane dissects the superficial tissues and locates the appendix. He skillfully excises it and concludes the surgery. During the procedure, the patient complains of only minor discomfort...
Dr. Kane has proven his theory...
But I said there were two facts that made the surgery unique. I've told you the first: the use of local anesthesia. The second is the patient. The courageous candidate for surgery by Dr. Kane was Dr. Kane,
To prove his point, Dr. Kane operated on himself!
A wise move. The doctor became a patient in order to convince the patients to trust the doctor.
... The story of the doctor who became his own patient is mild compared to the story of the God who became human. But Jesus did. So that you and I would believe that the Healer knows our hurts, he voluntarily became one of us. He placed himself in our position. He suffered our pains and felt our fears.
Rejection? He felt it. Temptation? He knew it. Loneliness? He experienced it. Death? He tasted it.
And stress? He could write a best selling book about it.
Why did he do it? One reason. So that when you hurt you will go to him-- your father and your physician-- and let him heal.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Our beloved Blog 2009
Dear Southies,
I have to say... wow, we have come a long way since our first post! And we're still alive. PRAISE THE LORD.
Heres just a little note ... something i wanna say for 2009... Let's continue to update this blog!!!haha. WE CANNOT LET IT DIE LIKE OTHER CG's ;) It really helps us to keep in touch! (dont't u think so?)
And also, A GREAT BIG THANK YOU FOR ALL THE POSTS WRITTEN AND EFFORT TO THIS BLOG! (EVEN THE TAGBOARD! HAHA) I always check back and it ROCKS to have something new to read! :D
So heres what we can all do:
- Post pics of events. (even small ones, ANYTHING) Bday celebrations/sendoffs... ANything!
- Any song you LOVE to the core. haha.
- Sermons that you LOVE.
- Excerpts from books. (thx Sheryl for doing it so often, it really spoke to me)
- Verses that you've been meditating on, and whats soo cool/amazing about it.
- Biblical movies you've watched maybe?
- Testimonials
and the list goes on...
Well, I just thought I'll share a very common verse that we all know, but it's the verse of my season. haha. and it never hurts to be reminded...
"6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7 (New King James Version)
Lets just REST in our Lord and trust that whatever we are asking from the Lord will come in His time... Especially in this Miracle Seed Season. (loved the sermon, btw) Chill, don't worry, think about it too much. Pray, read the amazing love letters from God (the bible) and be rooted in the Love of God! (And don't forget to share your testimonials then! haha)
AMEN!
xoxo
Yan
I have to say... wow, we have come a long way since our first post! And we're still alive. PRAISE THE LORD.
Heres just a little note ... something i wanna say for 2009... Let's continue to update this blog!!!haha. WE CANNOT LET IT DIE LIKE OTHER CG's ;) It really helps us to keep in touch! (dont't u think so?)
And also, A GREAT BIG THANK YOU FOR ALL THE POSTS WRITTEN AND EFFORT TO THIS BLOG! (EVEN THE TAGBOARD! HAHA) I always check back and it ROCKS to have something new to read! :D
So heres what we can all do:
- Post pics of events. (even small ones, ANYTHING) Bday celebrations/sendoffs... ANything!
- Any song you LOVE to the core. haha.
- Sermons that you LOVE.
- Excerpts from books. (thx Sheryl for doing it so often, it really spoke to me)
- Verses that you've been meditating on, and whats soo cool/amazing about it.
- Biblical movies you've watched maybe?
- Testimonials
and the list goes on...
Well, I just thought I'll share a very common verse that we all know, but it's the verse of my season. haha. and it never hurts to be reminded...
"6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7 (New King James Version)
Lets just REST in our Lord and trust that whatever we are asking from the Lord will come in His time... Especially in this Miracle Seed Season. (loved the sermon, btw) Chill, don't worry, think about it too much. Pray, read the amazing love letters from God (the bible) and be rooted in the Love of God! (And don't forget to share your testimonials then! haha)
AMEN!
xoxo
Yan
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
2009-dektos
Hey my fellow commando southies! Blessed Acceptable new year!! haha=D since all of us are still in the "Chinese-New-Year festive" mood, i've some stuff to share with you guys! regarding this year's theme- THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.=D bear with me for the long post, cuz it has been brewing on my heart already!=D
Have you all ever wondered what doest it mean by ACCEPTABLE ? (even though in greek, the word ACCEPTABLE denotes, the MOST BLESSED time when the salvations and FREE favours of God PROFUSELY ABOUNDS.) like one of the many curious peepos like you guys, i asked Abba what does it mean by acceptable year of the Lord? why acceptable and not anything else?
Furthermore, remember sheryl's post on the sms her aunt sent to her and also subsequent sermons,both Pastor Prince and Pastor Benjamin actually preached and prophesied more on this. so in short here's the summary of what they have prophesied on.
Pastor Prince said that year 2009 is gonna be:
1)A year FULL of God's TURNING POINTS in our lives
2) A YEAR of REST for the beloved child of God (and that's us)
Pastor Benjamin said year 2009 is gonna be:
3) a FRUITFUL and POWERFUL year
4) and a year whereby Daddy GOd is setting us up on a NEW DIRECTION- HIS WORD.
so all these word spoken through pastor's mouth sort of answered my question. But i went home asking The Lord more, like to show me in His word this all these are true. And guess what, HE DID!!! and Jesus is SO MIRACULOUSLY ACCURATE!! He used the the very passage that pastor prince preached to speak to me!! wow, and you guys take a look at how Jesus PROVE His WORD preached through the bible, it's amazing mans i tell you! hahaha=D
Isaiah 61:1-2 (this is the portion pastor preached)
1 “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me,
Because the LORD has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
As we all know, the day of vengeance is fulfilled when Jesus was at the cross!! and whatever comes after that can ONLY BE GOOD!! so look at the next few verses, AWESOME i tell you!=D
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.”
wow, from ashes to beauty, mourning to joy, heaviness to praise! Doesn't this fulfilled what Pastor Prince said- the THIS YEAR IS A YEAR OF TURNING POINTS? =D=D=D
And remember what pastor benjamin preached at the first arrow service of the year? He preached tt we'll be like the trees of psalm 1, planted by the rivers of living waters (which is God's Word), and that our leaves will not wither and we'll MOST DEFINITELY BEAR FRUITS we wanna see in our lives? the brown portion fulfills what pastor benjamin said- that tis year, 2009, is gonna be a year Daddy is setting each of us on a NEW DIRECTION!!! a direction of HIS WORD. when Jesus aligns us according to what His word says, how many mistakes can we make? how bad can our lives get? Our lives can only be BETTER and BETTER, our paths can only shines BRIGHTER and BRIGHTER!! AMEN=D=D=D
Isaiah 61:4
4 And they shall rebuild the old ruins,
They shall raise up the former desolations,
And they shall repair the ruined cities,
The desolations of many generations.
In year 2008, the year of manifested blessings, some expectations i trusted Daddy for like family salvation, handling of finances etc didn't come to pass. i was quite affected so i asked Abba to give me a SURE word this year so that my dreams wont burst like bubbles again. And you know what, THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD IS ALSO A YEAR OF RESTORATION!!
Jesus Himself promised me that He will RISE UP and build and RESTORE to me things that i've lost my hope in trusting Him for!! and truely, i've seen His hands work SO MUCH in this new year already!! (will share with u guys again!! if not this will be 3000 word essay hahahaha) so ya for those of you trusting Daddy God for some things close to your heartbut have yet to come to pass,take this Word as your own too and DON'T GIVE UP BELIEVING because OUR GOD IS ABLE!!=D=D=D
Isaiah 61:5
5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,
And the sons of the foreigner
Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6 But you shall be named the priests of the LORD,
They shall call you the servants of our God.
You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their glory you shall boast.
Remember start of the year pastor preached on praying in tongues to enter THIS YEAR OF REST?Here is the evidence that this year is TRUELY gonna be A YEAR OF DIVINE REST for all of us, His beloveds!!
in this verse, everything is done for us! people "feed" our flocks and p"plow"our land for harvest and "prune" our vines for us!! this means, WE REST!! our friends may study alot or do the major parts of our project, but they are actually studying and doing our projects for our benefits!! don't ask me how, but know that GOD CAN!!=D
and for army people, all of you guys may go for combat shoot and stuff, you may not fare as well as the others, but you still get to enjoy the 200 bucks reward when all your other friends do well!! we just need to REST and SPEAK ( cuz you're king priest!!)!! hahaha
even in the times it seems as though other people are winning their fights of life and it seems as though they are doing well and getting better results and stuff, remember our inheritance that is ALREADY PAID at the foot of the cross. we're not winners-in-the-making or striving-to-be-the-best. WE ARE ALREADY CHAMPIONS IN CHRIST!! and a CHAMPION's life can ONLY be GOOD and nothing else!=D
and the last part!!this is the verse for pastor benjamin's prophesy-that year 2009 is gonna be a FRUITFUL AND POWERFUL YEAR!
Isaiah 61:7
7 Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,
And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.
Therefore in their land they shall possess double;
Everlasting joy shall be theirs.
it is one thing to have a restored portion, but it is a MUCH BETTER PORTION to know that we have DOUBLE THE ORIGINAL!! isn't that the meaning of FRUITFUL and ABUNDANCE!!??( how can we lose with this kind of promises in the bible? moreover ALL the promises of God are YES and AMEN in Christ!! haha=D)
Also, the bible actually did say in nehemiah 8:10 that the JOY of the Lord is MY STRENGTH!! knowing that Daddy God delighting over us as His beloveds in Christ actually gives us the POWER to stand against the devil EVEN WHEN THINGS SEEM TO BE AGAINST US.and the POWER Abba gives us last FOREVER( because the verse says everlasting!!=D)
And the amazing thing is, Daddy only gave us the POWER to STAND, not fight, because the FIGHTING part belongs to Him!! we just need to stand firm on the word of God and speak it forth and Jesus will be The Word made manifest in our lives as our blessings!! just like how He became flesh from heaven to earth to save us!!=D
So that's about it! thanks for bearing my long post!! Just wanna end off by saying,
GOD'S WORD IS EVERYTHING.
His word is the MIRACLE you need, the breakthrough you've been waiting for. simply because
JESUS CHRIST is THE WORD BECAME FLESH. if Jesus can manifest as flesh to save us from our sins and establish us in His righteousness and His grace, he can manifest as our breakthroughs and miracles as well!! so SPEAK FORTH God's word from the bible(don't know what to speak, just read out loud whatever the bible says=D), b because whenever we speak forth The Written Word,we're speaking forth Jesus into our lives and He manifests as our blessings!! that's why Jesus is ALL we need and in Him ALL things consist and are HELD TOGETHER=D AMEN.
love you peepos loads!! you guys are the BEST bunch of friends ever!!!=D
Monday, January 26, 2009
A Close Call
Hi Beloved Southies,
I'd like to share a testimony because it's really not my testimony, but rather, God's testimony of His love for me, and for all of us. It's not about how confident (or unconfident) I am in my faith or how many chapters of the bible I read everyday, or even how much I think about Him (which, to be honest, is not a lot. Many a time, I simply forget that He's with me). But He stayed with me, and saved me. So I'm typing this to thank and glorify Jesus for giving me a second chance (and so many more to come) at life, and to encourage those reading that there is a God out there, in here, and He loves you. He gave His Son so we will never have to experience pain, loss, death, sickness, failure, shame or strife.
It's all about Jesus.
I'd like to share a testimony because it's really not my testimony, but rather, God's testimony of His love for me, and for all of us. It's not about how confident (or unconfident) I am in my faith or how many chapters of the bible I read everyday, or even how much I think about Him (which, to be honest, is not a lot. Many a time, I simply forget that He's with me). But He stayed with me, and saved me. So I'm typing this to thank and glorify Jesus for giving me a second chance (and so many more to come) at life, and to encourage those reading that there is a God out there, in here, and He loves you. He gave His Son so we will never have to experience pain, loss, death, sickness, failure, shame or strife.
It's all about Jesus.
*
- Hui Yi
It happened yesterday, the eve of Chinese New Year, 25th January 2009, close to 4 o' clock. My sister had my dad's car and took my mom and I out for a short joy ride to Pierce Reservoir. We were on our way home when we came across a huge junction directly underneath the Upper Thomson Flyover, where we would have taken a smooth right turn onto SLE. Having let her guard down slightly, my sister sped up to beat the yellow light when she should have halted at the stop line of the junction to wait for the green arrow to come on. It was an honest mistake. Right at that moment, when we were already three-quarters of the way diagonally across the junction, two cars - one black, one silver - came whizzing towards us, having beaten the amber light on their side of the road. Maybe it was adrenaline, I have no idea, but everything went into slow motion, like in the movies. Only this time, latched in the front passenger seat, I was literally a few inches from death.
But thank God! My sister stepped on the brake pedal just as the black car flew past in front of us. And then before I could blink, from my window I saw the silver car a short distance away - and swiftly closing the gap. I didn't even have the time to think about the bloodied mess that would have covered the road if my sister hadn't released the brake and stepped on the accelerator just in time for us to miss the silver car. All three of us emerged unscathed, not a scratch on any of the cars involved. There were screams of terror, but it was so quiet. I heard none of it. Throughout the whole episode, there were no honks, no screeching of tires; all the drivers and passengers were shocked out of our wits. It was a silent ride home. But we made it. God made it, for us.
Even now as I recount the almost-accident, I shudder inside. The memory of what could have happened haunts me sometimes. The image of that silver car hurtling itself towards my door. I wouldn't be here typing this. I can hardly believe what happened. Thinking about it, it was really God. It could not have been anyone else. My sister was too stunned to have switched pedals the way she did, and at those precise crucial moments, without God. There was a tiny pocket of safety then, and He led us right into it. It was truly Jesus' blood that surrounded our car like a shield.
Daddy God has given me a second (and unlimited) chance at life. He will for you too. He already has.
Happy New Year
But thank God! My sister stepped on the brake pedal just as the black car flew past in front of us. And then before I could blink, from my window I saw the silver car a short distance away - and swiftly closing the gap. I didn't even have the time to think about the bloodied mess that would have covered the road if my sister hadn't released the brake and stepped on the accelerator just in time for us to miss the silver car. All three of us emerged unscathed, not a scratch on any of the cars involved. There were screams of terror, but it was so quiet. I heard none of it. Throughout the whole episode, there were no honks, no screeching of tires; all the drivers and passengers were shocked out of our wits. It was a silent ride home. But we made it. God made it, for us.
Even now as I recount the almost-accident, I shudder inside. The memory of what could have happened haunts me sometimes. The image of that silver car hurtling itself towards my door. I wouldn't be here typing this. I can hardly believe what happened. Thinking about it, it was really God. It could not have been anyone else. My sister was too stunned to have switched pedals the way she did, and at those precise crucial moments, without God. There was a tiny pocket of safety then, and He led us right into it. It was truly Jesus' blood that surrounded our car like a shield.
Daddy God has given me a second (and unlimited) chance at life. He will for you too. He already has.
Happy New Year
- Hui Yi
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Finally.. My aha moment!
I've finally got the link between Rom7 and Rom8..
Ok for those of you who have got it already I thank God that you are mature and deeply rooted, but take this as maybe a revision? or maybe comment on it if you think something else is missing or wrong..
You only understand what Paul is writing in Rom7:7-25 if you have truly experienced it; the things you do not want to do, you do and the things you want to do you do not.. I'll tell you what led to me experiencing this..
Friday 16/01/09 I was late for my parade.. cos we fall-ed in at 0530 and I was still sleeping in bunk.. so on the bus I was like Jesus when I've fallen soooo badly I really need you abundance of grace now to restore me.. well I went back to camp and got punished.. punishment is a consequence not that there's no grace for the situation.. there was a lot 'cos this offense warrants at least 2/3 days extra duties.. so I had to remain in camp for the whole day and couldn't secure early.. so I got the chance to share with this friend of mine, who I'm believing to get saved, say amen, the difference between sinful nature and flesh.. he understood 'cos he's been attending another church just waiting for a time to get saved.. which I also believe will be 23rd Jan Friday our Chinese new year service!
so the flesh is the part of us that is compelled to sin.. our sinful nature was what we were before we died to sin and became alive to Christ.. now you have a Christ-nature / God-nature..
so let's look at Rom 7:21-8:1
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
It's different when you remove all the numbers 'cos I don't think Paul intended his letter to have numbers segregating each sentence..
so it says my God-nature wills to do good but I see my flesh compelled to do evil.. and he says who will deliver me from this flesh: the Lord Jesus Christ.. not what, but who.. so if you look at indwelling sin, it's like cancer in our body.. but we are not the cancer.. so because i am not the cancer, I am not condemned.. because I did not sin, but the cancer in me.. it's a shallow way of putting it, but to say it this way because I am not the sinner I will not be condemned by God.. because I have been made alive and free from the law of sin and death..
how to battle the cancer is another thing, but the link between Rom7 and 8 is not how to battle with the cancer, but who you are when you see the cancer manifesting.. (the eradication of the cancer is like 8:9 and further when it says you are dead to your flesh and alive in Christ, oh yes and Rom 8:3-8 is why you are no longer condemned also explains 7:25-8:1)
because I used to condemn myself even after sitting under Pastor's ministry long enough.. i used to condemn myself as: I'm a Christian and Jesus set me free from sin how come I'm still sinning.. And then I feel bad about my sin.. yes I confess: thank you Jesus you are my righteousness and I've been washed, forgiven, but the self-condemnation creeps in silently.. until I realised finally it is NOT me who has sinned, but my flesh and I should not be saying I am a Christian and I sin, but the indwelling sin that is manifesting..
I hope you get it cause I realised I've been condemning myself enough stealthily without my knowledge..
Be Blessed and see you all in church! Shalom
Ok for those of you who have got it already I thank God that you are mature and deeply rooted, but take this as maybe a revision? or maybe comment on it if you think something else is missing or wrong..
You only understand what Paul is writing in Rom7:7-25 if you have truly experienced it; the things you do not want to do, you do and the things you want to do you do not.. I'll tell you what led to me experiencing this..
Friday 16/01/09 I was late for my parade.. cos we fall-ed in at 0530 and I was still sleeping in bunk.. so on the bus I was like Jesus when I've fallen soooo badly I really need you abundance of grace now to restore me.. well I went back to camp and got punished.. punishment is a consequence not that there's no grace for the situation.. there was a lot 'cos this offense warrants at least 2/3 days extra duties.. so I had to remain in camp for the whole day and couldn't secure early.. so I got the chance to share with this friend of mine, who I'm believing to get saved, say amen, the difference between sinful nature and flesh.. he understood 'cos he's been attending another church just waiting for a time to get saved.. which I also believe will be 23rd Jan Friday our Chinese new year service!
so the flesh is the part of us that is compelled to sin.. our sinful nature was what we were before we died to sin and became alive to Christ.. now you have a Christ-nature / God-nature..
so let's look at Rom 7:21-8:1
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
It's different when you remove all the numbers 'cos I don't think Paul intended his letter to have numbers segregating each sentence..
so it says my God-nature wills to do good but I see my flesh compelled to do evil.. and he says who will deliver me from this flesh: the Lord Jesus Christ.. not what, but who.. so if you look at indwelling sin, it's like cancer in our body.. but we are not the cancer.. so because i am not the cancer, I am not condemned.. because I did not sin, but the cancer in me.. it's a shallow way of putting it, but to say it this way because I am not the sinner I will not be condemned by God.. because I have been made alive and free from the law of sin and death..
how to battle the cancer is another thing, but the link between Rom7 and 8 is not how to battle with the cancer, but who you are when you see the cancer manifesting.. (the eradication of the cancer is like 8:9 and further when it says you are dead to your flesh and alive in Christ, oh yes and Rom 8:3-8 is why you are no longer condemned also explains 7:25-8:1)
because I used to condemn myself even after sitting under Pastor's ministry long enough.. i used to condemn myself as: I'm a Christian and Jesus set me free from sin how come I'm still sinning.. And then I feel bad about my sin.. yes I confess: thank you Jesus you are my righteousness and I've been washed, forgiven, but the self-condemnation creeps in silently.. until I realised finally it is NOT me who has sinned, but my flesh and I should not be saying I am a Christian and I sin, but the indwelling sin that is manifesting..
I hope you get it cause I realised I've been condemning myself enough stealthily without my knowledge..
Be Blessed and see you all in church! Shalom
Friday, January 9, 2009
its-all-connected
Hey guys(:
going to share something here. its way much easier than saying it out. haha. It has really opened my eyes to many things I thought were just there, and it has truly blessed me; and I believe it will bless you too.
You know how last year 2008 was said by Pastor to be a year or manifested blessings right? And this year 2009 would be the ‘acceptable year of the LORD (Luke 4:19)’ – the most blessed time when salvation and the free favour of God profusely abound (dektos).
And on the first service of the year, Pastor Prince shared about how rest should be a priority in our lives. Then he went on to show us how to get that rest too – that is through tounges.
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, "This is the rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,"
And, "This is the refreshing"; Yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was to them,
(Isaiah 28:11-13)
----------------
okay. So going back to last year, after I heard about how this year was supposed to be a year of all these good blessings from Deuteronomy 28, I was really glad. Because just nice that year I was taking my A levels. heh.
But 1) strangely enough, all through the year, God led me to focus more about resting instead of blessings. Now when I say that ‘God led’, I don’t mean it in an audible voice. It is more of an inner knowing that God will take care of my stuff for me. like there is a sense of comfort and assurance and peace that God is always by my side all the time, and that everything is going to be alright because of that. it was a time where I was so much more aware and conscious about the fact that I can leave my problems and worries to God, instead of trusting in my own efforts. I believe this awareness did not come from human willpower, but I believe it really was supernaturally given by God. And this sense just constantly came back to me time and time again, always reminding me whenever I forget.
And when I say rest, I do not mean inactivity in the natural. when I told my Christian Fellowship friends about how this year (2008) I would rely on rest, I think they saw it more in its literal form. They sort of smiled and joked about a ‘magic pen’ that would help me write words as I just sat there. Now don’t misunderstand, but they are good friends who love God and are quite grounded in the finished work of Jesus already. but just that I don’t think we were exactly on the same page there.
I believed it more along the lines of how rest is not inactivity, but rather Holy Spirit-directed activity (its from a sermon). and… I’ve clean forgot what was said in that sermon already. I believe that Pastor would have shared about praying in tongues somewhere in the sermon, but at that point in time I still did not really practice tongues as often as we could la.
Now, if you ask me how I rested, I also seriously cannot remember exactly how :/ I just would merely say to God ‘this thing I’m gonna leave it to You’, or ‘I cannot handle this on my own, You know. I let You take charge of it.’ . All this regardless of my ability or inability to handle a matter. Initially as far as I can remember, there was hardly much awareness of the power/frequent practice of tongues at that time at all – (even though I was aware that there was such a thing as tongues la). Yet while I did that, so many blessings came to me. how friendships fell into place, how there was a supernatural ease when I did my CCA and school stuff, and how theres just this peace even though things did not work out the way I want them to.
And the best part here is that God isn’t petty about how well I perform towards Him, or whether I am doing it the so called right way or not. He still favours me even though I did not pray in tongues like Pastor Henry. That He does not withdraw His grace or favour just because I don’t do regular ‘intensive quiet time’, or do deep Hebrew bible study, or even if I flip to the contents page of the bible :/ heh. (Now those things are good, but not in a legalish way.) and moreover I can so easily believe Him in my own personal way, that I can even talk to Him in singlish privately. And there is just so much security in that.
So this was how it was like for about the first one third of the year.
----------------
and 2) strangely enough, at the beginning of the year, when I was on the bus on the way home, something inside me said that ‘tongues is the key to all your blessings’. Now at that time somehow my mind focused more on the word ‘tongues’ only, and I did not see the full picture la. How it ties in with the blessings. So I asked God, saying ‘how come Pastor Prince talk about blessings, and then You come and lead me towards tongues? Shouldn’t I be sort of in line with the rest of the Church?’
*from here you can tell that at that point in time, I didn’t know much about tongues la. Head knowledge-wise and heart knowledge-wise.
Anyway after that, I tried to practice praying in tongues for a few days. I only succeeded in doing it (as a routine) about 10 mins for 5 days I think. Then after that it died down. heh. Then it was back to the same life where I prayed in tongues only sometimes.
But somehow the desire towards tongues came back to me again after awhile, like after the first one third of the year part. And it was all especially because I wanted to pray something really badly about friendships. And I remembered somewhere that Pastor said that tongues is the perfect prayer that you can ever pray. And that’s good stuff. So I began to listen to the sermon series about tongues by Pastor Prince. Like really pay attention to listen those kind. As I listened to those sermons, (there are loads of them), I began to get more and more rested, in many many ways.
One example is by how we ‘work out your own salvation’ (Philippians 2:12). From there I don’t have to be bothered about how I should have the right kind of faith or what is the proper attitude/mindset when it comes to loving God, or the correct way we should worship and stuff like that. I just tell God that all this I leave to Him, and as I pray in tongues these things that I want will be ‘worked out’ from inside of me. that means that it is not me who makes this relationship with God work, but rather it is the Spirit, or God Himself, that makes it all work in the end. how this example links to my prayer for friendships is that, I knew that I didn’t have to count on my natural efforts to make things work. I knew that He should be our first priority – and not the blessings that we all desire. Then after that I can leave all the rest to Him; whether the outcome is what we desire or not.
Okay. At this point in time, its towards the end of the year already. this is when we heard what Pastor Henry showed us about praying in tongues during one meeting. And I was really glad that whatever things I believed about praying in tongues, was grounded again in the Word. Like a reminder again of the significance of what I was practicing; cos we cannot remember every word that was said in sermons that we’ve heard before.
----------------
alright. this part would be the conclusion to what I said just now. It might seem kinda out of link categorically with what was mentioned above, but this part is the more important one.
I used to think that there are different stages in our walk with God. Like we should categorize different aspects of this walk, and focus on these different aspects all the time. perhaps you all have realised it already and I’m just slow :/ but I just realised that everything that was showed in church is all actually linked together.
I used to think that for example:
Stage 1 – grace/finished work/righteousness/favour/love
Stage 2 – speaking as a king and priest
Stage 3 – anointing oil, tongues, supernatural healing
Stage 4 – genuine heart understanding of the bible
Stage 5 – super intimacy with God
And stuff like that. Like everything should be categorized. Like only in 2007 will we see more acceleration, and only in 2008 we will see more manifested blessings, and only in 2009 we prioritize our rest.
But in a profound scheme of things, I feel that all these things cannot be divided and focused on individually. (I don’t have bible reference for this part though) Rather, all these things above like His love, healing, anointing oil, rest, and stuff like that, all boils down to ONE thing – that is the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
I really don’t know how to explain this, but everything is linked together.
From the finished work,
- righteousness that we have in Christ (1 Cor 1:30)
- blessings through righteousness. (Romans 4:8)
- how we get peace through His death. (John 14:27)
- how we have the authority to speak as kings and priests. (Ecclesiastes 8:4)
- how we have the Holy Spirit to guide us/ ability to speak in tongues/ sword /fruits of the spirit (John 7:39), for example.
- and many many many more of the things that we learn in church during service.
Bascially, everywhere in the bible is centered around the finished work! I mean, I’ve heard this before many many many times, but I’ve never actually realised what it actually means. Not that I fully do now la.
So when I was listening to the sermon on rest this year, in my mind I was thinking ‘God, I’m one year earlier than all of them?’ And I was believing that this year would be a year that I will be on a whole new level in being conscious of His work, apart from how well I do or how badly I fall. But the thing is, even though last year I was led more towards rest and tongues, doesn’t mean that this year I neglect them and focus on this ‘new one’ instead.
In any case, it would be impossible to focus on rest without involving all the other stuff, because they are all linked together. And the thing that links them all together is ultimately the finished work, and His love for me. It does not matter whether I fall or not, whether I do right or wrong, whether I sin or not. I do not mean it in a perpetual lifestyle of the flesh or evil hurting others kind of sin.
But ultimately really, even if one does live in a perpetual state of drugs or vice, but he is saved – he is still ‘righteous apart from (his) works’ (Romans 4:6). It does not mean that what he is doing is good and acceptable and should be continued, but he is still righteous by the blood of Jesus and he will get to heaven. (only faster ). By the same token, if he is compared to another man who is super intimate with Jesus, like our Pastors, or even the Pope for that matter. The first man is no less righteous than the pastor, nor is the pastor more righteous than any other person around – simply because of what Jesus did on the cross. And from that belief we would then live ‘right’. Yeah(:
So with the so many things that we hear and learn in the Church every week, or the so called ‘themes’ for every year, it would be difficult to focus on each of them individually all the time. all these things that we learn from our church are really really great Truths – since its all from the Word. but instead of trying to use my own effort to wrap my mind around all of them, and focusing on each of them individually, it would be better to just continually speak in tongues and rely on Jesus, allowing Him to work out everything that is needed for us – even in our own personal relationship with Him.
yup
-----------
if you managed to read until here, it surely is God who gave you supernatural endurance and comprehension to read and understand this. Heh. I’ve no idea how to organize these personal thoughts. they just float as 'concepts' in my head. Which is really apt in my need to rely on Him to write this out :/
Sorry for being long winded though. Haven’t written essays in a long while(: but I reallly hope this has spoken to you.
Stay loved,
George.
going to share something here. its way much easier than saying it out. haha. It has really opened my eyes to many things I thought were just there, and it has truly blessed me; and I believe it will bless you too.
You know how last year 2008 was said by Pastor to be a year or manifested blessings right? And this year 2009 would be the ‘acceptable year of the LORD (Luke 4:19)’ – the most blessed time when salvation and the free favour of God profusely abound (dektos).
And on the first service of the year, Pastor Prince shared about how rest should be a priority in our lives. Then he went on to show us how to get that rest too – that is through tounges.
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, "This is the rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,"
And, "This is the refreshing"; Yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was to them,
(Isaiah 28:11-13)
----------------
okay. So going back to last year, after I heard about how this year was supposed to be a year of all these good blessings from Deuteronomy 28, I was really glad. Because just nice that year I was taking my A levels. heh.
But 1) strangely enough, all through the year, God led me to focus more about resting instead of blessings. Now when I say that ‘God led’, I don’t mean it in an audible voice. It is more of an inner knowing that God will take care of my stuff for me. like there is a sense of comfort and assurance and peace that God is always by my side all the time, and that everything is going to be alright because of that. it was a time where I was so much more aware and conscious about the fact that I can leave my problems and worries to God, instead of trusting in my own efforts. I believe this awareness did not come from human willpower, but I believe it really was supernaturally given by God. And this sense just constantly came back to me time and time again, always reminding me whenever I forget.
And when I say rest, I do not mean inactivity in the natural. when I told my Christian Fellowship friends about how this year (2008) I would rely on rest, I think they saw it more in its literal form. They sort of smiled and joked about a ‘magic pen’ that would help me write words as I just sat there. Now don’t misunderstand, but they are good friends who love God and are quite grounded in the finished work of Jesus already. but just that I don’t think we were exactly on the same page there.
I believed it more along the lines of how rest is not inactivity, but rather Holy Spirit-directed activity (its from a sermon). and… I’ve clean forgot what was said in that sermon already. I believe that Pastor would have shared about praying in tongues somewhere in the sermon, but at that point in time I still did not really practice tongues as often as we could la.
Now, if you ask me how I rested, I also seriously cannot remember exactly how :/ I just would merely say to God ‘this thing I’m gonna leave it to You’, or ‘I cannot handle this on my own, You know. I let You take charge of it.’ . All this regardless of my ability or inability to handle a matter. Initially as far as I can remember, there was hardly much awareness of the power/frequent practice of tongues at that time at all – (even though I was aware that there was such a thing as tongues la). Yet while I did that, so many blessings came to me. how friendships fell into place, how there was a supernatural ease when I did my CCA and school stuff, and how theres just this peace even though things did not work out the way I want them to.
And the best part here is that God isn’t petty about how well I perform towards Him, or whether I am doing it the so called right way or not. He still favours me even though I did not pray in tongues like Pastor Henry. That He does not withdraw His grace or favour just because I don’t do regular ‘intensive quiet time’, or do deep Hebrew bible study, or even if I flip to the contents page of the bible :/ heh. (Now those things are good, but not in a legalish way.) and moreover I can so easily believe Him in my own personal way, that I can even talk to Him in singlish privately. And there is just so much security in that.
So this was how it was like for about the first one third of the year.
----------------
and 2) strangely enough, at the beginning of the year, when I was on the bus on the way home, something inside me said that ‘tongues is the key to all your blessings’. Now at that time somehow my mind focused more on the word ‘tongues’ only, and I did not see the full picture la. How it ties in with the blessings. So I asked God, saying ‘how come Pastor Prince talk about blessings, and then You come and lead me towards tongues? Shouldn’t I be sort of in line with the rest of the Church?’
*from here you can tell that at that point in time, I didn’t know much about tongues la. Head knowledge-wise and heart knowledge-wise.
Anyway after that, I tried to practice praying in tongues for a few days. I only succeeded in doing it (as a routine) about 10 mins for 5 days I think. Then after that it died down. heh. Then it was back to the same life where I prayed in tongues only sometimes.
But somehow the desire towards tongues came back to me again after awhile, like after the first one third of the year part. And it was all especially because I wanted to pray something really badly about friendships. And I remembered somewhere that Pastor said that tongues is the perfect prayer that you can ever pray. And that’s good stuff. So I began to listen to the sermon series about tongues by Pastor Prince. Like really pay attention to listen those kind. As I listened to those sermons, (there are loads of them), I began to get more and more rested, in many many ways.
One example is by how we ‘work out your own salvation’ (Philippians 2:12). From there I don’t have to be bothered about how I should have the right kind of faith or what is the proper attitude/mindset when it comes to loving God, or the correct way we should worship and stuff like that. I just tell God that all this I leave to Him, and as I pray in tongues these things that I want will be ‘worked out’ from inside of me. that means that it is not me who makes this relationship with God work, but rather it is the Spirit, or God Himself, that makes it all work in the end. how this example links to my prayer for friendships is that, I knew that I didn’t have to count on my natural efforts to make things work. I knew that He should be our first priority – and not the blessings that we all desire. Then after that I can leave all the rest to Him; whether the outcome is what we desire or not.
Okay. At this point in time, its towards the end of the year already. this is when we heard what Pastor Henry showed us about praying in tongues during one meeting. And I was really glad that whatever things I believed about praying in tongues, was grounded again in the Word. Like a reminder again of the significance of what I was practicing; cos we cannot remember every word that was said in sermons that we’ve heard before.
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alright. this part would be the conclusion to what I said just now. It might seem kinda out of link categorically with what was mentioned above, but this part is the more important one.
I used to think that there are different stages in our walk with God. Like we should categorize different aspects of this walk, and focus on these different aspects all the time. perhaps you all have realised it already and I’m just slow :/ but I just realised that everything that was showed in church is all actually linked together.
I used to think that for example:
Stage 1 – grace/finished work/righteousness/favour/love
Stage 2 – speaking as a king and priest
Stage 3 – anointing oil, tongues, supernatural healing
Stage 4 – genuine heart understanding of the bible
Stage 5 – super intimacy with God
And stuff like that. Like everything should be categorized. Like only in 2007 will we see more acceleration, and only in 2008 we will see more manifested blessings, and only in 2009 we prioritize our rest.
But in a profound scheme of things, I feel that all these things cannot be divided and focused on individually. (I don’t have bible reference for this part though) Rather, all these things above like His love, healing, anointing oil, rest, and stuff like that, all boils down to ONE thing – that is the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
I really don’t know how to explain this, but everything is linked together.
From the finished work,
- righteousness that we have in Christ (1 Cor 1:30)
- blessings through righteousness. (Romans 4:8)
- how we get peace through His death. (John 14:27)
- how we have the authority to speak as kings and priests. (Ecclesiastes 8:4)
- how we have the Holy Spirit to guide us/ ability to speak in tongues/ sword /fruits of the spirit (John 7:39), for example.
- and many many many more of the things that we learn in church during service.
Bascially, everywhere in the bible is centered around the finished work! I mean, I’ve heard this before many many many times, but I’ve never actually realised what it actually means. Not that I fully do now la.
So when I was listening to the sermon on rest this year, in my mind I was thinking ‘God, I’m one year earlier than all of them?’ And I was believing that this year would be a year that I will be on a whole new level in being conscious of His work, apart from how well I do or how badly I fall. But the thing is, even though last year I was led more towards rest and tongues, doesn’t mean that this year I neglect them and focus on this ‘new one’ instead.
In any case, it would be impossible to focus on rest without involving all the other stuff, because they are all linked together. And the thing that links them all together is ultimately the finished work, and His love for me. It does not matter whether I fall or not, whether I do right or wrong, whether I sin or not. I do not mean it in a perpetual lifestyle of the flesh or evil hurting others kind of sin.
But ultimately really, even if one does live in a perpetual state of drugs or vice, but he is saved – he is still ‘righteous apart from (his) works’ (Romans 4:6). It does not mean that what he is doing is good and acceptable and should be continued, but he is still righteous by the blood of Jesus and he will get to heaven. (only faster ). By the same token, if he is compared to another man who is super intimate with Jesus, like our Pastors, or even the Pope for that matter. The first man is no less righteous than the pastor, nor is the pastor more righteous than any other person around – simply because of what Jesus did on the cross. And from that belief we would then live ‘right’. Yeah(:
So with the so many things that we hear and learn in the Church every week, or the so called ‘themes’ for every year, it would be difficult to focus on each of them individually all the time. all these things that we learn from our church are really really great Truths – since its all from the Word. but instead of trying to use my own effort to wrap my mind around all of them, and focusing on each of them individually, it would be better to just continually speak in tongues and rely on Jesus, allowing Him to work out everything that is needed for us – even in our own personal relationship with Him.
yup
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if you managed to read until here, it surely is God who gave you supernatural endurance and comprehension to read and understand this. Heh. I’ve no idea how to organize these personal thoughts. they just float as 'concepts' in my head. Which is really apt in my need to rely on Him to write this out :/
Sorry for being long winded though. Haven’t written essays in a long while(: but I reallly hope this has spoken to you.
Stay loved,
George.
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