A Part of God's Heart (23/6/06)

I was reading through the book of 2 Chronicles these days, when God revealed to me clearly today about His heart, as I was reading through the life of Jehoshphat King of Judah in 2 Chronicles 20. From this story, God showed to me that He does not like us, as the child of God, to make alliance with the wicked people. With that revelation, he pointed my mind to this passage in the NT, in 2 Corinthians 6:14-16

Do Not Be Yoked With Unbelievers
14Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[a]? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."[b]

We are called Light of the world.

Are you Shining forth His Light?

The Lord Is With You (21/6/06)

I had a close and personal connection and fellowship wit the Lord when I was doing my devotion this morning. His Spirit spoke into my heart great words of encouragement, as I read through the devotional materials.
I was reading through the devotion book this morning, where it spoke about Spiritual Famine. At the end of the reading, they quoted a beautiful passage that spoke to my heart personally.

The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.

It was also strange that there was no quoting of this passage, as they always do with the rest of the Scripture in the book. My heart yearns to look for the passage in the Bible.
As I ignored it a moment and moved on to my following reading of passage, which is totally different and not connected to the devotional book, I was so surprised that I came across this verse that I wanted to look for in 2 Chronicles 15:2. I truly believe that this was not just a coincident, but it’s a divine appointment with the Lord and I was very sure that this is what He wanted to say to me this morning.
As I continued with my devotion, I read through it with more expectation that He’s going to show me more and reveal greater words and mysteries to me.
Other verses that spoke to my heart were also found in 2 Chronicles 15 and 16.

2 Chronicles 15:7 But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

As I read through the words of wisdom in Proverbs 21, God somehow caught my attention and my heart on these few verses, which I felt like they were connected with what He had just revealed to me in the story of Asa King of Judah in 2 Chronicles.

Proverbs 21:2,3 All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.
To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.
Proverbs 21:31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.

King Asa seeks the Lord first in His early days and the Lord was with him and helped him through wars and battles. But at one attack, he made a treaty with King of Aram to save him from the attack of Baasha King of Israel. Instead of turning to the Lord for help and deliverance, he turned to King of Aram, which also solved his problem. But the Lord was not pleased with him and rebuked him through a prophet and he was bitter with the Lord ever since after that.

I believe that the Lord wanted to tell me that I (and we) have to put our trust and hope in Him, and to seek and counsel Him first in all that we do, and also not to depend on our own wisdom and our own way of doing and settling a problem.

Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him all he will make your paths straight.

Praying But Not Believing (19/6/06)

This morning devotion seemed to be connected to my testimony about last night. The Bible verse was taken from Acts 12:14-15;
When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”

Is it possible to be a “person of prayer” and yert have no faith?
Is it possible to gool yourself into believing that because you ask God for help, you have faith in His ability to meer you needs? Is your faith so weak that you are surprised when God answes your prayer? As a child of God, you ought to expect God to answer your prayers……..

Ask God to increase your FAITH, and then begin living a life that reflects absolute trust in Him. Out of His grace, God may choose to respond to your requests despite your lack of faith, but you will miss the joy of praying in faith.

I believe that the main message that He wanted to share with me is that WE NEED TO PRAY WITH AND IN FAITH.

Are you praying in faith today?

And without faith, it's impossible to please God

Heb 11:6

We (need to) live by faith, not by sight

(2 Cor. 5:7)

The Power of A Simple Prayer (18/6/06)

I was rostered to sing in the choir for the evening Interactive Church tonight. My cousin couldn’t make it to the church this morning, so he also went for the evening Interactive Church. We met up after the meeting in the foyer.
As we looked around trying to look for someone to give us a ride home, we couldn’t find anyone. So we decided to catch a bus home. We looked through the bus timetable and realized that the latest bus would be 8.04 pm and we had a few more minutes to walk to the bus station. We hurried off straight away.
On the way there he said that he don’t think he’ll be able to catch the latest bus back home from the city. However, I reassured him that we will make it for that bus. As we rushed over to the station, I prayed a simple prayer, that the Lord would bless him that he’ll be able to catch the bus on time.
Amazingly, we managed to reach the city on time and we parted off at his bus stop. I went my way to my bus stop, catching another bus that will bring me home. As I was waiting, my LG leader called and I told him that I left the church with my cousin and board the bus home. After the call, I received a call from my cousin, saying that he’s back at home already.
I truly praised the Lord for answering the prayer – the simple prayer – that He would show my cousin and me of His great power and wonder. It may seem impossible in man’s eye, but all things are possible in HIM.

Matthew 7:7,8 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

I truly praise the Lord for such an opportunity, for I truly believe that this was His arrangement and that He shall show us both of His power and also to reveal of what He can do through this simple prayer and this walk of faith. As it turned out, most of the people whom we were looking for, while we were in the church, for transport home were in the guest lounge, the place we didn’t search. With that I believe God wanted to show us this wonderful work of the Lord.

Do not underestimate God’s power and what He can do
Through a simple prayer and faith!
Matthew 17:20
“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed,
You can say to this mountain,
‘Move from here to there’
And it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you”
-A quote from Mr. ‘J’, the Son of God.

Everlasting (4/6/06)

It was really a busy Sunday today, as I was rostered to sing in the choir in the morning, 9am service and evening 6pm service. I had to be back in church by 4pm for the practice for the evening Worship Night.
I enjoyed singing in the morning, as I felt so joyful and happy. When it came to the evening, I became more tired. My feet were aching, after standing for so long in the practice, walking, and jumping around, and my brain was a bit exhausted when it came to the practice in the evening.
I felt so exhausted that I struggled to kept my focus on Him, so that I can have an encounter with Him tonight. I felt so tired that I didn't think I would have the encounter with Him tonight.

After lunch in the city with my friends, I took the bus back to church again, after I got myself changed at home. As I walked over to the church from the bus station, and I was reading a book as I walked along the side road line/trail, I sensed a nudge in my heart to stop and look around. I stopped reading and walking, looked around to noticed the dark clouds, enveloping through the beam of the sunlight. I looked carefully at the clouds and noticed that it looked like a big opened hand, with the ball of the sun in between the thumb and palm. Wow! The scene was incredible and the beam of the sun shone down onto the empty horizon near the church - the straight beam of the light, shining down from between the clouds.
It reminded me again that He has called us to be the Light of the world and we (I) are all held in His arms and His light will shine brightly into the world or the darkness through us.

During the evening worship night, we sang this song, From The Inside Out. The song captivated my heart as the Lord touched my heart through the lyrics and as I reflected through the vision of the clouds and sunbeams again. The song went like this;

A thousand times I've failed

Still Your mercy remains

And should I stumble again

I'm caught in Your grace

Everlasting

Your Light will shine when all else fades

Never ending

Your Glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else

My purpose remains

The art of losing myself

In bringing You praise

Everlasting your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending Your glory goes beyond all fame

#My heart and my soul

I give you control

consume me from the inside out

Lord let justice and praise

Become my embrace

To love You from the inside out

#Everlasting

Your light will shine when all else fades

Never ending

Your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart

Is to bring You praise

Form the inside out

Lord my soul cries out

The vision of the great scene just kept ringing through my heart again and again when we sang this song and His peace envelped my heart and I can feel little small tears about to roll out from the corner of my closed eyes. The experience of the touch of God was just awesome and He also strengthen me through the encounter.
I truly thank the Lord for such experience and the short encouraging message that Ps Jane spokke in between of the songs also spoke mightily into my heart.
PTL for such greatness!

Glow in Our Faces (1/6/06)

Passage 2 Corinthians 3:12-18:
12Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. 14But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect[a] the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Are you a Christian?
WHat does Christianity means?
Are we glowing forth His glory in our images?
Are we an image of Christ in our world?
How to have such a glow in our faces?
Are you spending enough time with the Lord each day?
Is the GLORY of the LORD shining and reflected in our lives?