Step 4ward By Faith (29/3/06)

Wow! The devotion this morning was great and God showed me how to walk in faith from the book of Joshua. When the people of Israel was led to conquer the promised land, the priest was ordered to step into the Jordan River and the Lord will cause the flow of the river to stop, thus enabling the Israelites to cross over the Jordan River safely, with Joshua leading the way, before they are able to conquer and pssess the Land.
The same with our lives on Earth. We need to walk by faith and walk with the leading of the Spirit and step forward, although we would not know what that step would hold for us. But we just have to step forward into what the Lord has led/put into our heart.
What a great and wonderful words!
Another reading for the devotion was from John 20. Thomas doubted when the disciples told him that Jesus was arisen and He showed Himself to them. He wanted to see the scars on His hands and His side, before he can believe. John 20:25, "unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
Guess what! Jesus appeared and showed Himself to them again, when Thomas was around and he showed Thomas the scars, "Put your fingers here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and oput it into my side. STOP DOUBTING AND BELIEVE........ Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:27-30)
Wow! These passages were powerful.

Do you believe or are you doubting?
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN AND YET HAVE BELIEVED!

It HIM Working, Not Me! (27/3/06)

As I was doing my prayer before bedtime tonight, God again revealed to me about a mistake I've made about prayer. At first, I thought prayer can change people's lives and heart, but tonight God showed me that prayer is one thing, and the work of transformation is another different thing. I should not equate prayer as a tool to transform other peoples' lives. He showed me that we (or I) can come to Him with the request about a person. But the works of transformation is in HIS HAND. He is the One who works transformation into another person's lives, and not our prayers. No doubt we can present to the Lord about the person, but the works belongs to God.
I truly praised the Lord for such revelation and correction.
I've truly learned a lot through these.
PTL!

God of Revelation (26/3/06)

I went to city service today and God blessed me that I was still able to be there on time (without missing anything) in the morning, although I woke up a bit late this morning. I was dressed in a smart purple shirt today and it was wet all around my back when I reached the church, after a 20 minutes walk to the place. I was so embarassed when I grabbed a seat and as I stood there, worshipping the Lord, as I was afraid that the wet shirt might distract my friends, standing at the back rows. I just ignored such feeling and asked the Lord to cool me down and take away the sweat and also that it would not distract my friends at the back rows. The Lord truly has heard my prayer and helped me to put such thought at the back of my mind.
The sermon by Pastor Matt today truly surprised me. As the Lord worked through Ps Matt to bring forth the message, my heart rejoiced and it burned with fire as he spoke. The Lord spoke to my heart the same message last Friday (17th March 2006) as He led me to the same verse in Deutoronomy 7:21-24, with the same message - that He works breakthroughs in my (our) lives LITTLE BY LITTLE. I also managed to blogged this down on that day, with the blog dated 15/3/06, below. As I thought through what happened when God revealed such message to me last Friday, I realised that I've ignored another verse that He has led me to, the story of the persistent widow - in Luke 18:1-8 - , which was also spoken in the sermon today.
I, kinda thought about this story on that day, but I just couldn't understand what connection it has with Deutoronomy. That was why I put that story aside. By today, I truly understood about this verses, as the Lord unfolds them within my heart through Ps Matt.
Now I knew for sure that the Lord wants me to keep praying persistently for the breakthroughs in my lives, as He works mightily to destroy strongholds in my lives, LITTLE BY LITTLE.
I PTL for such revelation and understanding that He unfolded into my heart.
After returning home from the city, the Lord spoke/unravel to me another great revelation into my heart. Prayer also connects with people and works into people's lives as well, no matter how far it could be, through our prayer and requests to the Mighty God, through Jesus's name, which connects beyond great distance and boundaries.
I believe as we pray according to His will and with faith, the Lord is working within peoples' lives and hearts at that moment too. And it would be more powerful that we claim that the Lord is working in their hearts at the moment, with our mouths, as we pray for them in our prayer and in the conversation with the Lord of breakthrough and of great power. THe same goes when we pray for ourselves.
I also truly agreed with the message that the Lord has brought through Ps Matt, that we must not let the "natural mountain" hinder us from going forward/pressing ahead, but we can use it to grow "bigger" & stronger, as we press on and never give up, to pursue the promises and rewards ahead of us.
PTL for all these revelations and understanding, for I believe that He has a greater plan for me (and us) in the days ahead and I look forward for what He has in store for me.
1 Cor. 2:9 No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what the Lord has prepared for those who loves Him

ARE YOU PRESSING ON?

Lazarus and Martha (20/3/06)

The devotion today really spoke into my heart.
Today's reading was about Lazarus and Martha. (John 11) Lazarus was dead for four days before Jesus came for the rescue.
When martha met Jesus, She said, "If you have been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
This part showed to me how much faith Martha had on Jesus and that she acknowledges his mighty power.
Another verse that caught my attention was Jesus reply to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; & whoever believes in me will never die. Do you believe in this?"
Martha replied again in faith, "Yes, I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Wow! Look at the faith that Martha had and how much God has revealed to her and her eyes were opened.
These words truly spoken forth words of faith into my heart. PTL!

God's Mighty Revelation (15/3/06)

I was discussing a matter with my aunt for the previous days through email when she spoke something about observing Commandment 10 in the Bible. This brought my mind to wonder what is Commandment Ten and what is the true meaning of that. This caused me to ponder into the Ten Commandments again and amazingly, I was currently reading in the book of Deutoronomy in my daily devotion and the next day was where I came across the Ten Commandments. Truly I knew that God wants to speak to me and reveal great mystery into my lives.
Commandment #10, it says - Do not covet! As I pondered into the deep and true meaning of it using my Life Application Study Bible. God revealed to me of my sins that I have been doing all this while without noticing. I have broken commandment #10, through discontentment and lust. Immediately, I went on my knees and asked for forgiveness and also strength to change my mind and heart.
In the evening, I went to Powergen and Rene was the speaker and she spoke about "Speaking Supernatural Words & Speaking a Blessing". As she spoke, it was as if God spoke to my heart personally. God spoke mightily through her as she revealed and asked the guys (specially addressed to the guys) to repent of our ways. She said that many of us are trapped in the life of sin and found it hard to be set free of this bondage. We were given the opportunity to respond that night to repent before the Lord and He shall forgive us and shall help us out from such bondage of sin.
These words and sermon spoke mightily into my heart and I responded in faith to the call of repentance and I asked the Lord to help me to change and to set me free from such bondage. PTL!

The next day, as I read through the sermon notes again in the night before I sleep, God again revealed to me another great thing. As Rene has said, our words are binding and it has the ability to change the future. Therefore we need to speak positively to change the natural order of life. From this, God revealed to me that instead of asking Him to help me to release me from the bondage of sin, I have to pray and believe that He is doing the work right now. So I prayed, "Lord Father, I give you thanks for the great things You are doing in my lives and my heart and my mind right now. I believe that as I come to You in repentance and I asked You to help me to set me free from this bondage of sin, I truly believe that You are doing great and mighty works in me right now. I believe You are breaking the strongholds in my mind and my heart, setting me free bit by bit". Another revelation that God has shown me was that His work is gradual and He will and is breaking down the bondage in my lives gradually/day-by-day. I learned this when I was doing my devotion on Deutoronomy Chapter 7,8, & 9.

Deutoronomy 7:21 & 22 Do not be terrified by them (the "enemies" or the bondages), for the Lord your God, who is among you, is great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, LITTLE BY LITTLE. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.

The following is what the Life Application Study Bible says about this passages;
Moses told the Isarealites that God would destroy Israel's enemies, but not all at once. God had the power to destroy those nations instantly, but he chose to do it in stages, "little by little". In the same way and with the same power, God could miraculously and instantaneously change your life. Usually, however, he chooses to help you gradually, teaching you one lesson at a time..........

From this, I truly believe that God is working within my heart right now, delivering me from the bondage, little by little. PTL!
I'll leave the work of breakthrough and clearing such bondage into His mighty hand, for He is more than able to do great and mighty things.

I praise the Lord for He has brought and ordained such victory for and in my lives. I would also like to thank God for today - such a great day.
I'm thankful to God that He enabled me to catch an alternative metrobus to go into city this morning. After knowing that the free bus that I wanted to board earlier was full, I walked over to another public metrobus. As I was approaching the corner of the bus stop, I heard a voice telling me to be fast and that the bus might be there already. I ran and amazingly, the bus was there and was just about to leave. Finally I mange to board the bus to the city just on time. Praise the mighty and caring God!

I also thank God for giving me the opportunity to bless the Life Group with some junkies food....... Smiths New flavours....... tonight.

All glory and honour belongs to the mighty God of heaven, Who is worthy to be praised! Hallelujah!