Check this out! :) I stumbled on this website when making preparation for the tabenacle bible study for the kids. This website really enhanced my imagination of what a tabernacle looks like. I pray that as you begin to understand why God commanded for the earthly tabernacle to be set up, you can also begin to see that it is a copy of heaven, a foreshadow of the real thing to come.
The sacrifice that God demanded was a way for Him to help us understand that one day He would send us a saviour i.e Jesus Christ because for 1,500 years, the Israelites tried to obey His commands but they could not. Even as early as Cain and Abel, men had already begun to sacrifice to God but only through Moses did God show us the perfect way to burn and offer sacrifices to Him. Throughout history, we can see people all over the world sacrificing to their gods though it is not pleasing to the God who made the heavens and the earth.
God Himself gave us a perfect lamb, His son Jesus Christ as a ransom for our sins. All His wrath which was meant for us because he hates sin (that's why we sacrifice, do repentance etc) has been put on Jesus. And Jesus before He died said "it is finished".
It is finished. There is nothing more that you and I can do. Not climb mount Himalaya, not carry the cross, not do repentance. It is a free gift from God, not by our works that we can boast.
And today, if you are a non christian who DO NOT offer any sacrifices, note that Christianity has wiped out the practice of sacrifices and are responsible for "western culture". A lady once asked Henry "Aiya, you follow gwai lo God ah?" Non christians who do not offer any sacrifices today are in a way living like a christian WITHOUT reaping the benefits of christianity.
http://www3.telus.net/public/kstam/en/models/tabernacle3d.htm
So enjoy the Tabernacle, read Exodus and Hebrews and dig away. :)
I pray the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to see Jesus and what a wonderful savior He is as He has done it all for us and we need only love Him.
Hebrews 10:1-4
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sing Psalms
1 Corinthians 14:26
“…When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
How wonderful that just after I blogged about “Ethan begins to share Christ & Praising God ” yesterday, Deeper Life Seminar had also touched on the “Psalmist Ministry” last night. The Holy Spirit seem to help me to pull the truths together. Just recently, it was about heaven and now it is about praising God.
Ps Gerry explained that the psalms written by David were normally sung accompanied by instruments. In fact, it was King David who revived the Levitical ministry. Imagine King David singing his song of thanksgiving (1 Chronicles 16). The Levites, priests who minister at the tabernacle day and night, were also musicians! They played cymbals, harps, lyres and trumpets while singing “He is good; his love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 5:12-13).
Can’t imagine? Well, last night, we were asked to sing the “song of the lamb” in Revelations 15:3,4. Any of us who received any prompting were to just start singing.
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Although I had previous fears, I was the first to start singing the above after Elaine nudged me. I was surprised that I did not tremble. Don’t ask me what the tune is like now! Praise God! It reminded me of my days in kindergarden when my teacher encouraged us to go to the front to sing any song. I did but after I sang (I think it was some garbage I made up) everyone was just staring at me and I was asked to sit down. Sigh. Thankfully, Ps Gerry encouraged all of us to just sing unto the Lord. It does not matter whether we have good voices or not. Tonight, I hear there will be another round of singing David’s song of thanksgiving from 1 Chronicles 16. We will be just singing from our hearts how ever the holy spirit guides us.
Won’t you try it today too on your own? As you seek out these songs in the book of Psalms and Revelations, you will find that people before us have already made tunes out of these songs which we are singing today in churches!
1 Corinthians 14:15
“So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.”
“…When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
How wonderful that just after I blogged about “Ethan begins to share Christ & Praising God ” yesterday, Deeper Life Seminar had also touched on the “Psalmist Ministry” last night. The Holy Spirit seem to help me to pull the truths together. Just recently, it was about heaven and now it is about praising God.
Ps Gerry explained that the psalms written by David were normally sung accompanied by instruments. In fact, it was King David who revived the Levitical ministry. Imagine King David singing his song of thanksgiving (1 Chronicles 16). The Levites, priests who minister at the tabernacle day and night, were also musicians! They played cymbals, harps, lyres and trumpets while singing “He is good; his love endures forever.” (2 Chronicles 5:12-13).
Can’t imagine? Well, last night, we were asked to sing the “song of the lamb” in Revelations 15:3,4. Any of us who received any prompting were to just start singing.
“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Although I had previous fears, I was the first to start singing the above after Elaine nudged me. I was surprised that I did not tremble. Don’t ask me what the tune is like now! Praise God! It reminded me of my days in kindergarden when my teacher encouraged us to go to the front to sing any song. I did but after I sang (I think it was some garbage I made up) everyone was just staring at me and I was asked to sit down. Sigh. Thankfully, Ps Gerry encouraged all of us to just sing unto the Lord. It does not matter whether we have good voices or not. Tonight, I hear there will be another round of singing David’s song of thanksgiving from 1 Chronicles 16. We will be just singing from our hearts how ever the holy spirit guides us.
Won’t you try it today too on your own? As you seek out these songs in the book of Psalms and Revelations, you will find that people before us have already made tunes out of these songs which we are singing today in churches!
1 Corinthians 14:15
“So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.”
Heaven
Nicholas told me the other day he wants to go to heaven and now he understands that he can't go yet until he dies. But I do tell him that we can now enjoy heaven in our heart because we have Jesus in our heart. He wanted to know what Heaven looked like. He asked whether heaven would have PS2 games? I smiled and said I am not sure as the bible does not spell out such detail. I showed him a picture of what heaven looked like from my Holman Study Bible and he said "It looks so old" because it was just a faded visual of city, a river running through it and palm trees on both sides of the river.
After listening to Ps Vernon Falls and Leong Tien Fook I am beginning to understand that heaven is not just a spiritual place as I always thought it was. People tell me it will be more beautiful that I can imagine but I can't imagine it because they don't feed me with enough information. Now that I've gotten hold of the Randy Alcorn's book "Heaven", I am completely enjoying it and have reached Chapter 10 thus far.
Heaven is going to be a "new heaven and new earth" as mentioned in Revelations 22 and God who created the heavens and the earth will not give up on his creation. It is His ultimate plan to redeem us and that means what He planned all along will come to pass. He is not a God who realised his mistake and start afresh with a new "spiritual place" for us. It will be right here on planet earth. When Jesus returns, we the believers will be caught up in the air with Jesus in the clouds. Then those who have died before us will be resurrected. Then comes 1,000 years where Jesus will rule on the earth. Then, we will come back to planet earth and return to a renovated earth. There will be glorified bodies and natural people on earth. During this time Satan will be thrown into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. During that 1,000 years, there will be peace on earth and Jesus will reign as King of Kings.
After that, Satan must be set free for a short time. He will go about deceiving the nations again before He is defeated this time once and for all in the burning lake of sulphur to be tormented forever and ever. Those who are not in the book of life will also be thrown in the lake of fire. The new heaven and earth will be a new earth and as Randy puts it the heavenly dimension will be brought into earth and become one and God will dwell amongst his people. It will be a city. And a city consist of buildings, houses, people, entertainment, arts, culture, businesses, adventure. There will be nations. There will be mountains, rivers, trees, fruits, we will be able to eat and feast. We will see Jesus and we will fall on our face and worship Him. He will pick us up because He loves us. We will have remembrance of our family and friends and there will be no pain, no tears, no sorrow, no hurts. We will still have our memories but the presence of God and the beauty of being with God far outweighs any sad or pain we went through before. That is the heaven we can look forward to.
So to Nic's question, I better tell him yes, there will be games better than he can imagine! :) But for me, I can rejoice that there is heaven in my heart today and there will be continuity to this new heaven and earth where God will dwell amongst us soon. :)
After listening to Ps Vernon Falls and Leong Tien Fook I am beginning to understand that heaven is not just a spiritual place as I always thought it was. People tell me it will be more beautiful that I can imagine but I can't imagine it because they don't feed me with enough information. Now that I've gotten hold of the Randy Alcorn's book "Heaven", I am completely enjoying it and have reached Chapter 10 thus far.
Heaven is going to be a "new heaven and new earth" as mentioned in Revelations 22 and God who created the heavens and the earth will not give up on his creation. It is His ultimate plan to redeem us and that means what He planned all along will come to pass. He is not a God who realised his mistake and start afresh with a new "spiritual place" for us. It will be right here on planet earth. When Jesus returns, we the believers will be caught up in the air with Jesus in the clouds. Then those who have died before us will be resurrected. Then comes 1,000 years where Jesus will rule on the earth. Then, we will come back to planet earth and return to a renovated earth. There will be glorified bodies and natural people on earth. During this time Satan will be thrown into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. During that 1,000 years, there will be peace on earth and Jesus will reign as King of Kings.
After that, Satan must be set free for a short time. He will go about deceiving the nations again before He is defeated this time once and for all in the burning lake of sulphur to be tormented forever and ever. Those who are not in the book of life will also be thrown in the lake of fire. The new heaven and earth will be a new earth and as Randy puts it the heavenly dimension will be brought into earth and become one and God will dwell amongst his people. It will be a city. And a city consist of buildings, houses, people, entertainment, arts, culture, businesses, adventure. There will be nations. There will be mountains, rivers, trees, fruits, we will be able to eat and feast. We will see Jesus and we will fall on our face and worship Him. He will pick us up because He loves us. We will have remembrance of our family and friends and there will be no pain, no tears, no sorrow, no hurts. We will still have our memories but the presence of God and the beauty of being with God far outweighs any sad or pain we went through before. That is the heaven we can look forward to.
So to Nic's question, I better tell him yes, there will be games better than he can imagine! :) But for me, I can rejoice that there is heaven in my heart today and there will be continuity to this new heaven and earth where God will dwell amongst us soon. :)
Ethan begins to share Christ & Praising God
WoW! Ethan told me last week that he asked his friend whether he believed in Jesus. He asked in his broken english "Do you believe to Jesus?". It's amazing! How is it possible that they start so young? He is only 3 going to 4.
I taught Ethan an old hymn "Holy holy holy, Lord God almighty, Early in the morning, our songs shall rise to thee...". I was inspired by "Little Einstein" to use my fingers as a baton. I would sing the hymn as Ethan conducts. When his baton stops, I would stop singing too! He gets a good laugh when he conducts really fast and I have to speed up my singing. Nowadays, he can sing the first line and hum the tune too.
I've also been teaching him the song "Oooooo, heaven is in my heart" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLH5Nk8AJyA&feature=related) substituting "heaven" with "Father God", "Jesus" and "Holy Spirit". Surprisingly, he made a game out of it. He tells me to sing "Father God" and he would sing "Jesus". We mix them all up and we have a good time praising God. Last night, he surprised me when he said "God the spirit". I think he is beginning to understand the holy trinity! :)
I was overjoyed when Marvin spoke of praising God in his sermon yesterday. Indeed praising God prepares our heart for worship. It makes our spirit rise up and the best time to praise God is when we are angry or fearful because when we think of heavenly things and align ourselves to agree with God's words, our anger and fear disappears as we trust in God. Saturday's prayer advance at Deeper Life Seminar was beautiful, just praising him and praying in the spirit for 3 hours.
Ps Vernon Falls says our church lack praising God in the understanding. A lot of times we sing but we don't really understand what praising God means. It was DLS class that first taught me to praise God and I thought it was strange at first. If you don't know how to praise God, just say:
"Praise God, praise God, praise God" but as you read Psalms and even Revelation, you begin to observe how David and the angels praise God. So these days I may go like this:
"Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise Him, Praise Him, praise His glorious name, I bless your name, I extol you, I magnify you, I bless your Holy Name! Praise God Praise God Praise God, all the sun stars and moon praise you, all the flowers, bees and birds praise you, all the sea and everything in it praise you, I worship you, Praise God, praise God Praise God, generations upon generations declare your wondrous deeds, Halelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, Holy holy Holy Lord, Lord God Almighty, all heavens declare your wondrous works! All honour, all blessings, all glory belong to you! Praise the Loooooorrrrrrd!".
It just gets deeper and deeper the more you praise God and our spirit rise from within and prepares us to communicate with God and hear what He has to say to us. To me it is spirit to spirit (our spirit communicating with God) because we are both physical and spiritual beings.
I pray that this will encourage you to start praising God! :)
I taught Ethan an old hymn "Holy holy holy, Lord God almighty, Early in the morning, our songs shall rise to thee...". I was inspired by "Little Einstein" to use my fingers as a baton. I would sing the hymn as Ethan conducts. When his baton stops, I would stop singing too! He gets a good laugh when he conducts really fast and I have to speed up my singing. Nowadays, he can sing the first line and hum the tune too.
I've also been teaching him the song "Oooooo, heaven is in my heart" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLH5Nk8AJyA&feature=related) substituting "heaven" with "Father God", "Jesus" and "Holy Spirit". Surprisingly, he made a game out of it. He tells me to sing "Father God" and he would sing "Jesus". We mix them all up and we have a good time praising God. Last night, he surprised me when he said "God the spirit". I think he is beginning to understand the holy trinity! :)
I was overjoyed when Marvin spoke of praising God in his sermon yesterday. Indeed praising God prepares our heart for worship. It makes our spirit rise up and the best time to praise God is when we are angry or fearful because when we think of heavenly things and align ourselves to agree with God's words, our anger and fear disappears as we trust in God. Saturday's prayer advance at Deeper Life Seminar was beautiful, just praising him and praying in the spirit for 3 hours.
Ps Vernon Falls says our church lack praising God in the understanding. A lot of times we sing but we don't really understand what praising God means. It was DLS class that first taught me to praise God and I thought it was strange at first. If you don't know how to praise God, just say:
"Praise God, praise God, praise God" but as you read Psalms and even Revelation, you begin to observe how David and the angels praise God. So these days I may go like this:
"Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise Him, Praise Him, praise His glorious name, I bless your name, I extol you, I magnify you, I bless your Holy Name! Praise God Praise God Praise God, all the sun stars and moon praise you, all the flowers, bees and birds praise you, all the sea and everything in it praise you, I worship you, Praise God, praise God Praise God, generations upon generations declare your wondrous deeds, Halelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, Holy holy Holy Lord, Lord God Almighty, all heavens declare your wondrous works! All honour, all blessings, all glory belong to you! Praise the Loooooorrrrrrd!".
It just gets deeper and deeper the more you praise God and our spirit rise from within and prepares us to communicate with God and hear what He has to say to us. To me it is spirit to spirit (our spirit communicating with God) because we are both physical and spiritual beings.
I pray that this will encourage you to start praising God! :)
Update - Nic had Chicken Pox
Ethan enjoyed getting watered along with the plants.
Nic on his 6th day of chicken pox. What chicken pox? Overjoyed about eating pizza finally.
I can't believe it. Nic had chicken pox last Monday and I had to be jabbed with chicken pox immunity! I never liked needles and I had to look brave for the kids in the clinic. Nic was panicking, squimishly looking at the injection and I told him "Hello, it's me getting the jab!". Thank God it wasn't painful.
Praise the Lord that Nic never had fever although one of the symptoms of chicken pox is fever preceding the break out. Praise God that he only had a few spots and he could just be his active self. Although he started off with a poor appetite and he cleverly avoided rice, his appetite started to return by the fifth day.
I was full time mummy again for a week because Henry's mum was away on holiday. Thank God the chicken pox did not spoil our time together. The creative and tiring part was trying to get Nic to do different things throughout the day (while quarantined at home) without him watching too much television and not overly stressing myself out. There's always an instinct to pour all my time on the kids and forget God but I managed to go for a swim once, do my daily devotion and grocery shopping as well with Ethan on tow. One thing was definitely not touched - the computer! It was a taste of "normal life" and putting God first in my life again through it all.
I thank God for all His angels encamped around and about us throughout the week. Praise God for all He has done! Thank you Jesus!
Pentecost Sunday
This article is specially for Bee Lian because she popped a question in our preparation for bible lesson for the kids in our home group 2 weeks ago and her question has been on my mind ever since. It was the Friday before Pentecost Sunday (23 May 2010) and we wanted to introduce the Holy Spirit to our children whom so far have only heard of Father God and Jesus. We decided we would tell the story as set out in the scripture in Acts 2:1-38. I had prepared a painting of “…what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each…” of the disciples in Acts 2:3.
But she asked a very observant question- “What is Pentecost?” I thought it was the day when the Holy Spirit came down on the disciples as Jesus promised that the Comforter (Holy Spirit) would come after He leaves us to heaven. But in Acts 2:1 it clearly showed that the disciples had already gathered to celebrate Pentecost BEFORE the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them.
So I dug today and discovered that in Greek language, the Feast of Weeks was known as Pentecost (which literally means fiftieth). It was celebrated 50 days from the Feast of firstfruits. The Feast of firstfruits" marked the beginning of the spring barley harvest. It is written in Exodus 24:22 “Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest”.
In Bible days, the Feast of Weeks was one of seven God-appointed feasts given to Israel. Three were solemn feasts in which Israelite men were to appear before the Lord at the place He chose (Deuteronomy 16:16).
Feast of Unleavened Bread
Feast of Weeks
Feast of Tabernacles
In Jesus’ time, the Feast of Weeks was a holy day, a day of rest (Leviticus 23:21; Numbers 28:26) and no work was permitted.
Since 150 B.C. the Feast of Weeks was associated with the covenant and its law made at Mount Sinai. It was a festival of covenant making and covenant renewal. Previously, God spoke through His prophets to send His word, His law to His people but today as in Acts 2 it is the disciples who proclaim the message as empowered by the Holy Spirit and sent by Christ.
Bee Lian and I had a “fun” (i.e. quite difficult) time describing to the kids the loud wind and the tongues of fire that came upon the people. They asked "Is that light?" "Is it a bird?". We huffed and we puffed in booming sounds. We spoke in different languages. That was a tough one since the languages I speak are so limited!
The end message?
That same Jesus whom we nailed on the cross, He was raised from the dead and He is alive today. He is at the right hand of God today. Jesus is God and He promised us the Holy Spirit. The people asked “Brothers, what shall we do?” and Peter replied “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Then Bee Lian prayed with the children that we are sorry and asked God to forgive our sins and asked for the Holy Spirit to guide us, teach us and to help us when we are sad. It’s been a great learning experience for both the kids and for me as well.
Thanks Bee Lian for the question because now I know a little more about Pentecost. :)
Onward Christian Soldiers
I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Ethan lined up his army on both sides. I taught him several times before but he didn't seem to be interested in lining them up. He merely wanted to knock down every soldier I placed in line!
I wonder what's going on in his mind? "Onward Christian soldiers!"
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Father Goddddddddddd!
Early yesterday morning , Ethan and I were singing songs to God when suddenly Ethan said "Where is Father God? I can't hear him oso (also)." I've always told him Jesus is in our heart so I told him that Father God is in his heart too. I told Ethan "If you cry out to Father God you will hear him talking to you in your heart". To my surprise he started to calling out to God several times and very loudly and sincerely too like as if he was looking for Father God "Father Goddddddddddd!" Uh oh, I prayed that Father God will answer him because he was really calling out very loudly and wanting a reply!
So, after I brushed my teeth I went back to the room and asked Ethan "So, did Father God answer you?". Ethan nodded his head! Praise the Lord!! Like how I hear God, it must be how Ethan heard God too! I was so touched how Father God loves His children so much that He answers them all, big or small.
I was really really surprised by the answer so I couldn't help but ask Ethan again "So, did Father God answer you?" He nodded his head again. Praise the Lord! Praise His Holy name!
So, after I brushed my teeth I went back to the room and asked Ethan "So, did Father God answer you?". Ethan nodded his head! Praise the Lord!! Like how I hear God, it must be how Ethan heard God too! I was so touched how Father God loves His children so much that He answers them all, big or small.
I was really really surprised by the answer so I couldn't help but ask Ethan again "So, did Father God answer you?" He nodded his head again. Praise the Lord! Praise His Holy name!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Crying Out To God
I must share with you about my old friend P. We haven’t met for a long time and when I shared what happened to me, she was so excited to “try God” as well. She was not exactly facing the smoothest ride of her life and desperately needed God to help her in a coming court case. Really, I did not know how to advise her but to relate to her an incident where I had encouraged Henry to tithe and the day he committed to giving more to God, he immediately was blessed with a sum in return and shortly a few days later, Inland Revenue refunded taxes that were over paid by Henry. The collective amount was 52 times more than the amount he tithed. To us, it was a lesson of tithing and giving control to God for all our possessions are from Him. It was also God’s way of providing for our cash flow in the times when we had to pay the high cost of Tarceva. In our small human minds, we could not possibly comprehend how the cash would flow into our hands and there it was, He provided it all.
Philippians 4:19
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Malachi 3:10
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts.
I wasn’t sure what to say but led by the holy spirit, I advised P that God has his ways, He may make her debt go away just like that or it might be down sized to something more manageable maybe by instalments if she would only cry out to Him for help. Last week was judgment day and her lawyer had told her to brace herself for bad news and she was certain it was 75% to 85% bad news. She quickly ended the call and desperately cried out to God in prayer that amazingly she googled from the internet! I would prefer that she went straight to the bible maybe Psalms as a guide. Anyway, she DID manage to google some prayers which used Psalms and Proverbs.
Then as she cried out, for the first time she “SAW” God listening to her pray because He said to her “P, I will give it to you this time” and she said she felt a sense of assurance for 2 seconds. Suddenly right in the middle of all that she received a call and received the most relieving news!!! She just burst into tears. She said it different this time. Somehow, it was like I described ...there were visuals!!....Or perhaps she said she was beginning to be as imaginative as I was!
Well, I say it was the moving of the holy spirit and when she sought God, God answered her. It is a beginning of her journey now because now she wonders what she should do next! I say CLING ON TO GOD! Soak in God’s word and hear Him speak to you. I am so amazed and encouraged by all this. It showed me that all we need to do is to share our walk with others but He has indeed given me the boldness, something I would not dare to do before maybe because I had no testimony to share. But surely that isn’t true. We just need to recall the wonderful things He has ever done for us.
Psalm 145: 6,7
“They will tell of the power of your awesome works,and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodnessand joyfully sing of your righteousness. “
Philippians 4:19
And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.
Malachi 3:10
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts.
I wasn’t sure what to say but led by the holy spirit, I advised P that God has his ways, He may make her debt go away just like that or it might be down sized to something more manageable maybe by instalments if she would only cry out to Him for help. Last week was judgment day and her lawyer had told her to brace herself for bad news and she was certain it was 75% to 85% bad news. She quickly ended the call and desperately cried out to God in prayer that amazingly she googled from the internet! I would prefer that she went straight to the bible maybe Psalms as a guide. Anyway, she DID manage to google some prayers which used Psalms and Proverbs.
Then as she cried out, for the first time she “SAW” God listening to her pray because He said to her “P, I will give it to you this time” and she said she felt a sense of assurance for 2 seconds. Suddenly right in the middle of all that she received a call and received the most relieving news!!! She just burst into tears. She said it different this time. Somehow, it was like I described ...there were visuals!!....Or perhaps she said she was beginning to be as imaginative as I was!
Well, I say it was the moving of the holy spirit and when she sought God, God answered her. It is a beginning of her journey now because now she wonders what she should do next! I say CLING ON TO GOD! Soak in God’s word and hear Him speak to you. I am so amazed and encouraged by all this. It showed me that all we need to do is to share our walk with others but He has indeed given me the boldness, something I would not dare to do before maybe because I had no testimony to share. But surely that isn’t true. We just need to recall the wonderful things He has ever done for us.
Psalm 145: 6,7
“They will tell of the power of your awesome works,and I will proclaim your great deeds. They will celebrate your abundant goodnessand joyfully sing of your righteousness. “
Art in Hebrew Class
Alright, I will learn to sit like a lady in class next time.
Who would have thought that over and above a wonderful exposition of the "Book of Hebrews - The Defense of the Christian Hope" by Leong Tien Fook, we would also find an artist amongst us. The above is not even considered an art piece by Mun Loong but only doodling during class!
Imagine if he puts his mind into sketching a master piece. I've got his "art pieces" forever stuck in my Hebrew exercise book. Thanks Mun Loong! :) I know you had a hard day when you doodled Henry. I am not sure whether you actually relieved any stress by sketching him..ha ha.
Thank you so much to Chee Seng, Lisa and Mun Loong for the huge "Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament" by GK Beale and DA Carson. I read it as soon as I got home at 11 pm plus. It's very deep but I love the references to the old testament and with the tools that Leong Tien Fook has taught us I am looking forward to more digging. :)
Yesterday, marked the end of the Hebrew classes. Sob sob. I really did enjoy it very much and also the fact Leong Tien Fook took all my questions during break time which meant he had no break. Oops. I wish I could ask him more. He also recommended the same book to me as Marvin on Heaven by Randy Alcorn. I went to both Salvation and Evangel today in SS2 but none of them sold it. Anyway, you may be interested to know that Evangel is having a sale now.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Saying Wow To the Heavens
Ezra 8:22
"....The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him."
On Sunday night I played a little game with Ethan at bed time. It was beginning to rain and the sky lit up each time there was lightning some distance away (we could not see the lightning). I told Ethan that each time we see the sky light up we will say "Wow" for God made the heavens and the earth. We got to a point where there was so many "wows" and my spirit was rising and praising God. Ethan, on the other hand had grown tired of the game and decided to go to bed! When everyone fell asleep, I just sat by the window sill enjoying God's presence and knowing that He loves me so much and because I am His sheep He disciplined me.
After Marvin's sermon last Sunday (http://www.fbc.com.my/1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=29 *click on the sermon 16 May 2010*), I realised I was so close to damnation living as a compromised Christian but because of His awesome love for me, he allowed the disease to happen to me as a wake up call. Leong Tien Fook mentioned last night at Hebrews class that God may decree something but it is always human's responsibility to make it happen like the curse of Jehoiakim-Jehoiachin (Jeremiah 22:24-30).
For me, it was not seeking God's purpose in my life, and chanelling almost all my energy on my children to the detriment of my health. And Mickey Quah said that what I faced was a typical urban girl's experience. Dare I say then that many of us live as compromised Christians? I believe that it was more than just a wake up call for me and I have been praying for God to show me, teach me, guide me His will for me. I just need to take baby steps.
What made me cry was when Marvin said Jesus would redeem me for all those wasted years. Imagine all those wasted years that I could seek Him and ask Him the same things I am asking for but now I am 10 years behind in contributing to the kingdom of God!
So, that night I sat at the window sill looking at the dark sky that kept lighting up and I knew God was showing me His awesome love for me. Now that I am beginning to unfold the hope of the new Jerusalem comparing between the earthly tabernacle, what Jesus did for us and the hope of the heavenly tabernacle, this hope of the new heaven and earth has become even more exciting. What more, we can experience God right now in our heart with the power of the Holy Spirit!
Tien Fook shared how so many of us just believe God for heaven. We lock up this truth in our hearts and THAT'S IT. Nothing more. It is when we start to believe God's word and His promises for us daily and releasing our cares and burdens to Him daily and standing on His promises that we will begin to grow. When our faith in Him grows, our hope in Him grows too.
In this journey, I am only now beginning to understand the hope of heaven in Christ beyond His promises for my daily living. So funny, I've gotten it the other way round now. Previously, I only believed in heaven and not His promises for daily living. Today, I'm all for standing on His promises and only now beginning to want to see what else He has promised us when He comes back again. Dennis says to me "Why want to know what is in heaven. It's heavenlah!" It is unravelling God's plan for the humankind, speaking to us in repetitions throughout history and the same repetitions unravelling to something better each time and ultimately heaven. Seeing it all gel together is very exciting and isn't it amazing how some of us could not and would not see till today!
It is faith and hope in a God whom we know as real that compels us to love or springs from us a love for others. It's then a continuous cycle of faith, hope and love until the second coming of Christ. Oh, I pray you will slowly surrender all your daily troubles to God and trust that He will deliver you from them.
"....The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who abandon Him."
On Sunday night I played a little game with Ethan at bed time. It was beginning to rain and the sky lit up each time there was lightning some distance away (we could not see the lightning). I told Ethan that each time we see the sky light up we will say "Wow" for God made the heavens and the earth. We got to a point where there was so many "wows" and my spirit was rising and praising God. Ethan, on the other hand had grown tired of the game and decided to go to bed! When everyone fell asleep, I just sat by the window sill enjoying God's presence and knowing that He loves me so much and because I am His sheep He disciplined me.
After Marvin's sermon last Sunday (http://www.fbc.com.my/1/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=29 *click on the sermon 16 May 2010*), I realised I was so close to damnation living as a compromised Christian but because of His awesome love for me, he allowed the disease to happen to me as a wake up call. Leong Tien Fook mentioned last night at Hebrews class that God may decree something but it is always human's responsibility to make it happen like the curse of Jehoiakim-Jehoiachin (Jeremiah 22:24-30).
For me, it was not seeking God's purpose in my life, and chanelling almost all my energy on my children to the detriment of my health. And Mickey Quah said that what I faced was a typical urban girl's experience. Dare I say then that many of us live as compromised Christians? I believe that it was more than just a wake up call for me and I have been praying for God to show me, teach me, guide me His will for me. I just need to take baby steps.
What made me cry was when Marvin said Jesus would redeem me for all those wasted years. Imagine all those wasted years that I could seek Him and ask Him the same things I am asking for but now I am 10 years behind in contributing to the kingdom of God!
So, that night I sat at the window sill looking at the dark sky that kept lighting up and I knew God was showing me His awesome love for me. Now that I am beginning to unfold the hope of the new Jerusalem comparing between the earthly tabernacle, what Jesus did for us and the hope of the heavenly tabernacle, this hope of the new heaven and earth has become even more exciting. What more, we can experience God right now in our heart with the power of the Holy Spirit!
Tien Fook shared how so many of us just believe God for heaven. We lock up this truth in our hearts and THAT'S IT. Nothing more. It is when we start to believe God's word and His promises for us daily and releasing our cares and burdens to Him daily and standing on His promises that we will begin to grow. When our faith in Him grows, our hope in Him grows too.
In this journey, I am only now beginning to understand the hope of heaven in Christ beyond His promises for my daily living. So funny, I've gotten it the other way round now. Previously, I only believed in heaven and not His promises for daily living. Today, I'm all for standing on His promises and only now beginning to want to see what else He has promised us when He comes back again. Dennis says to me "Why want to know what is in heaven. It's heavenlah!" It is unravelling God's plan for the humankind, speaking to us in repetitions throughout history and the same repetitions unravelling to something better each time and ultimately heaven. Seeing it all gel together is very exciting and isn't it amazing how some of us could not and would not see till today!
It is faith and hope in a God whom we know as real that compels us to love or springs from us a love for others. It's then a continuous cycle of faith, hope and love until the second coming of Christ. Oh, I pray you will slowly surrender all your daily troubles to God and trust that He will deliver you from them.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Moving of the Holy Spirit - IN and ON
Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you..."
I asked Leong Tien Fook "What is the difference between the Holy Spirit in the old testament and in the new testament?"
In the old testament, the people did not know about the trinity. To them, the holy spirit is the spirit of God. Actually the old testament embeds the new covenant. It was predicted that there will be a new priest in the order of Melchizedek and he will be the son of David (Psalm 110:1-4, 2 Samuel 7:11-14) and that's Jesus our priest forever! In Ezekiel 36:25, it talks about being "born again" through the washing of water and that God will give us a new heart, a new spirit, no longer worshiping idols and the law will be written in our hearts so we can keep the law. That was God preparing the people of Israel and the world to receive Jesus under the new covenant.
Interestingly and I am so relieved that Leong Tien Fook said this "Why can't the Holy Spirit dwell in us and move amongst us as well?" If it could have happened in the old testament, and Act 2 demonstrates that the holy spirit is poured out onto them and empowered them, why do we just think that the holy spirit is limited to indwelling us only. He said it is for this unwillingness to see this that has sparked many debates between the traditional and charismatics.
If you search the word "spirit" on the online bible, you can see all the references to the holy spirit and you can see for yourself that the holy spirit dwells in us and can also move from person to person during anointing (like Saul to David). http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=spirit&version1=31&searchtype=all&wholewordsonly=yes
I am only now beginning to understand the word "anointing". I did not even know what it meant! Anointing means the holy spirit empowering us to do a certain task for Jesus. One definition says "Supernatural enablement, grace, manifested presence of the Holy Spirit operating upon or through an individual or corporate group to produce the works of Jesus."
So, when Tien Fook said that the holy spirit works IN and ON on a person, I am soooooooooooooo relieved because that to me ends all confusion in my mind. At least there's someone from a traditional view who agrees with me! Because, from my personal experience, I can see Him working in us, His power on us, there can be special anointing as well. That's why someone with special anointing can do a particular task better and more effortlessly compared to others eg teaching, evangelising, healing etc and everyone else around them cracks their head and wonder how it is possible. It is the power of God!
We are dead, it is God living in us and if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives everyday, oh, words cannot describe it! It will be like all of us in heaven right now - new Jerusalem spritually! Awesome!
I asked Leong Tien Fook "What is the difference between the Holy Spirit in the old testament and in the new testament?"
In the old testament, the people did not know about the trinity. To them, the holy spirit is the spirit of God. Actually the old testament embeds the new covenant. It was predicted that there will be a new priest in the order of Melchizedek and he will be the son of David (Psalm 110:1-4, 2 Samuel 7:11-14) and that's Jesus our priest forever! In Ezekiel 36:25, it talks about being "born again" through the washing of water and that God will give us a new heart, a new spirit, no longer worshiping idols and the law will be written in our hearts so we can keep the law. That was God preparing the people of Israel and the world to receive Jesus under the new covenant.
Interestingly and I am so relieved that Leong Tien Fook said this "Why can't the Holy Spirit dwell in us and move amongst us as well?" If it could have happened in the old testament, and Act 2 demonstrates that the holy spirit is poured out onto them and empowered them, why do we just think that the holy spirit is limited to indwelling us only. He said it is for this unwillingness to see this that has sparked many debates between the traditional and charismatics.
If you search the word "spirit" on the online bible, you can see all the references to the holy spirit and you can see for yourself that the holy spirit dwells in us and can also move from person to person during anointing (like Saul to David). http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=spirit&version1=31&searchtype=all&wholewordsonly=yes
I am only now beginning to understand the word "anointing". I did not even know what it meant! Anointing means the holy spirit empowering us to do a certain task for Jesus. One definition says "Supernatural enablement, grace, manifested presence of the Holy Spirit operating upon or through an individual or corporate group to produce the works of Jesus."
So, when Tien Fook said that the holy spirit works IN and ON on a person, I am soooooooooooooo relieved because that to me ends all confusion in my mind. At least there's someone from a traditional view who agrees with me! Because, from my personal experience, I can see Him working in us, His power on us, there can be special anointing as well. That's why someone with special anointing can do a particular task better and more effortlessly compared to others eg teaching, evangelising, healing etc and everyone else around them cracks their head and wonder how it is possible. It is the power of God!
We are dead, it is God living in us and if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives everyday, oh, words cannot describe it! It will be like all of us in heaven right now - new Jerusalem spritually! Awesome!
Oooooh Heaven is in my Heart
At the end of yesterday’s Hebrews class, Leong Tien Fook reminded us of that hope that we have of heaven and that we should live out our lives with faith, hope and love until we see Jesus again.
This is the part I was confused about. If we are waiting for heaven and we do NOT experience Christ in a real way (and a lot of us are like that!), then we are just part of the world. Yet, we are told to have hope of heaven! And when we are told to love others, we tend to love others out of our own strength and that is legalism. Earlier in this journey, this message of hope of heaven seemed to tell me, “Don’t worry about dying, then you can go to heaven to see Jesus”. It just did not sit well in my spirit because somehow there is a job not done, a calling not fulfilled.
So, how do I live on earth meanwhile then, just suffer and wait for heaven? Before this journey, it was so difficult for me to even pick up the bible or to spend time for devotion before. My cousin over the weekend told me she struggles with this. As a lawyer, she works till very late. Her colleagues work to 3 or 4 am! She doesn’t do that and still she has no time for God.
Yesterday night, it all became clear why it did not sit well with my spirit and I thank Tien Fook for this.
It is the fact that Jesus became the fore runner as the perfect High Priest into the heavenly tabernacle and by his perfect sacrifice, He has torn down the veil between us and God. So, we NEED NOT wait till we die but we can experience Him right here, right now – in the new Jerusalem (heaven), in our hearts, spiritually because the holy spirit dwells in us now. We can enjoy Sabbath-rest in Him right now. What joy what beauty! Spiritually, we can experience God so real. Imagine, Jesus sits at the right hand of God always interceding for us and His blood that cleansed the heavenly tabernacle so that we can draw near to God. Somehow, when I was jolted out of my spiritual slumber (and trust me God will find a way for each of you to experience him all over again) I could suddenly have a relationship with God again and experience His awesome love for me even though I am NOT in heaven yet. And when His love flowed through me and I have that confidence in Him, he blessed me and even healing flowed through me!
It is this faith, hope and love that compels me to want to share with others. When I shared it with LP, I saw her life transform and she says she loves God. I don’t think she would say that to her god previously because it was not personal, it could not talk to her. She started going to church, her children are really enthusiastic to learn about Jesus in Sunday school and even teaches her in return. She says she plans to go for bible study soon when her face clears up from taking Tarceva.
When I shared with Cheryl recently, she said she could not hear Jesus and later she surprised me when she shared Psalm 56:3,4
“When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. “
and Psalm 41:3
“The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness.”
That’s God speaking to her and comforting her! When we start to believe God’s words over our circumstance, then His love will just flow through us and He will carry us through whatever situation we are in.
After learning Hebrews, the representation of the earthly tabernacle to the heavenly tabernacle gave me a better inkling of what to expect. One interesting fact is that in the old system, the high priest wore a breastplate with 12 stones on it, each representing a tribe. When he walks in alone into the Holy of Holies, he represents the 12 tribes as well. Although God wants to dwell with us then our forefathers’ sins prevent them from entering into His presence. It took all the rituals of cleansing, sacrifices and offerings before the high priest could finally enter into God’s presence (the Holy of Holies) and that too - only ONCE a year. What a barrier between God and man!
But in the heavenly tabernacle, there will be a city where there are 12 types of precious stones making up the foundation of the city and they are there in heaven forever (see Revelations 21:19,20). The 12 tribes, the 12 apostles are there in heaven, with no barrier (no veil, no holy place and no outer court yard i.e. the 2 other parts of the tabernacle) and they are continuously dwelling with God! And that’s how it would be like for us too. That is the hope that we have in heaven to finally dwell with God with no death, mourning, crying or pain. Just rejoicing forever and worshipping God. No necessity for tabernacle/temple too for HE is the temple, WE will be in His presence forever.
So, if you are finding it difficult to do devotion or read the bible, keep fighting the devil, it does not want us to fellowship with God. It comes like a roaring lion, it want to steal your time, your prayers, God's word.
1 Corintians 10:3-5 NLT
"We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ."
Align back yourself to God's word and once we do find Him (and He said He will be found), it is so awesome, you just wanna cry and keep digging more and more and know Him more and more. And then, even if we die today, it doesn’t matter anymore because there is continuity from the spiritual new Jerusalem into the real new Jerusalem! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Juicing Daily
Received this from LP this morning recommended by a Melaka Health Farm. Thought I'd share it with you. I personally juice only twice a day but I end up drinking like 4 tall glasses of juices daily. Looks like the MHF is recommending small quantities of only 350 ml each time. Try it if you can!
Juicing 7 Times a Day
8.00am Apple 150ml + Guava 125ml + Green Papaya 75ml (350ml)
10.00am Grape 250ml + Green Papaya 100ml (350ml)
12.00pm Carrot 200ml + Broccoli 50ml + Asparagus 50ml + Pineapple Juice 50ml (350ml)
2.00pm Apple 150ml + Guava 125ml + Green Papaya 75ml (350ml)
4.00pm Carrot 200ml + Cucumber 50ml + Beetroot 50ml + Pineapple Juice 50ml (350ml)
6.00pm Carrot 175ml + Cabbage 100ml + Pineapple 75ml or Carrot 200ml + Cucumber 50ml + Green Vege 50ml + Pineapple 50ml (350ml)
8.00pm Grape 250ml + Green Papaya 100ml (350ml)
Here is your shopping list for this weekend :)
Asparagus *
Beetroot *
Broccoli
Cabbage *
Carrot *
Cucumber
Grapes (with seeds) *
Green apples *
Green papaya
Green Vege *
Guava
Pineapple *
Now, that's a lot! Honestly, only those with * has made it into my shopping cart thus far. Dr Ted gave me an article that for broccoli, it is best eaten and the water drank after you have steeped it in water between 60 to 80 degrees celcius (like steeping tea). This is so that the enzymes can be released. So, I have never chucked broccoli in the blender just like that.
Have a healthy week end! :)
Juicing 7 Times a Day
8.00am Apple 150ml + Guava 125ml + Green Papaya 75ml (350ml)
10.00am Grape 250ml + Green Papaya 100ml (350ml)
12.00pm Carrot 200ml + Broccoli 50ml + Asparagus 50ml + Pineapple Juice 50ml (350ml)
2.00pm Apple 150ml + Guava 125ml + Green Papaya 75ml (350ml)
4.00pm Carrot 200ml + Cucumber 50ml + Beetroot 50ml + Pineapple Juice 50ml (350ml)
6.00pm Carrot 175ml + Cabbage 100ml + Pineapple 75ml or Carrot 200ml + Cucumber 50ml + Green Vege 50ml + Pineapple 50ml (350ml)
8.00pm Grape 250ml + Green Papaya 100ml (350ml)
Here is your shopping list for this weekend :)
Asparagus *
Beetroot *
Broccoli
Cabbage *
Carrot *
Cucumber
Grapes (with seeds) *
Green apples *
Green papaya
Green Vege *
Guava
Pineapple *
Now, that's a lot! Honestly, only those with * has made it into my shopping cart thus far. Dr Ted gave me an article that for broccoli, it is best eaten and the water drank after you have steeped it in water between 60 to 80 degrees celcius (like steeping tea). This is so that the enzymes can be released. So, I have never chucked broccoli in the blender just like that.
Have a healthy week end! :)
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Singing in the Spirit (Singing with the angels)
That’s a new term to me until I joined Deeper Life Seminar. In 1 Corinthians 14: 15, it is written:
“Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand”
How does one sing in the spirit anyway? I say it would be like singing to God from the heart. And I still believe it is that way. In Deeper Life Seminar, part of the daily homework is praising God in songs for 10 minutes and if you can, to sing in the spirit as well. Ps Vernon says at some point God may give you heavenly melody. I know it’s not from the bible. He speaks from experience in this case.
I observe that it is an extension of praying in tongues for a long while. But it is also easier to sing in the spirit after praising God in songs after a long while. The first time I sang in the spirit was after the singing “Joy of My Desire”. It just flowed easily from there and from my mouth came gibberish melody and words.
These past 2 days we’ve been learning about angels in DLS. I was very encouraged after learning about angels after making reference to the bible (see below). Ps Margareth told us that about 30 years ago, she was worshipping in a group in California -praying in tongues and singing in the spirit for 8 hours and then when they sung they could hear, in the background, sound of angels singing with them.
Today, I heard little Davien cry next door. My neighbour’s son cries so much everyday. Today, I decided I would pray for him and prayed for angels to encamp around him, his mum and his maid and to calm him down. As I prayed in tongues, singing in spirit (singing “alleluia” like how I heard the angels sing) and also in the understanding, he stopped crying! Praise the Lord! I must try it again tomorrow that is if he cries again. Thank you Jesus for sending us angels to help us in everyway. All glory to God. All the angels and us praise you! Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty!
Here are some of the facts about angels which I learned from DLS:
They do not die (Luke 20:26)
They do not reproduce nor marry (Matthew 22:30)
They are powerful being. Only one angel will be required to throw the devil into the Abyss (Revelation 20:1)
They have emotions, not puppets (Luke 15:10)
They have desire (1 Peter 1:12)
There are different ranking angels like the seraphim and cherubim that protect God’s glory (Genesis 3:24)and proclaims God’s grace and holiness (Isaiah 6:1-3).
There are innumerable angels (Hebrews 12:22).
They fight the devil between the first and second heaven (I still don’t know where this source is from. Chor Hon says “ancient source”. What’s that?).
Michael is an archangel, one of the chief princes (Jude 1:9, Revelations 12:7)
Gabriel is not an archangel (oops - lost the reference)
They aid in healing (and interestingly John 5:4 was intentionally left out from the NIV bible. I wonder why?)
Do not worship angels. Only worship God. (Revelation 22:8,9) Do not pervert the gospel. (Galatians 1:6)
God made men a little lower than angels (Psalm 8:5) but when we are risen with Christ, spiritually, we are with Christ, seated at the right hand of God, higher than the angels.
Angels escort the born again Christians to heaven (Luke 16:22).
They aid God in judgment, weeding out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil (Matthew 13:40).
They strengthen us (Daniel 10:19).
They bring encouragement from God (Acts 27:23).
They are created by God though the bible does not say when (Psalm 148:2,5).
They worship and praise God. (Psalm 148:2, Revelation 7:11) When we worship God, they will join us too. That’s why when we praise God in worship, demons flee.
Angels never depicted as woman or baby with cute bellies but as young man, yes (Mark 16:5).
They have a will, like Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12 and it fell from heaven.
They are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:13,14)
We have our own guardians angel (Matthew 18:10, Acts 12:15).
They protect us (Psalm 34:7, Psalm 91),
They bring messages and/or instructions from God (Acts 10:1-6).
They bring warning from God (Matthew 2:13).
“Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit, and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand”
How does one sing in the spirit anyway? I say it would be like singing to God from the heart. And I still believe it is that way. In Deeper Life Seminar, part of the daily homework is praising God in songs for 10 minutes and if you can, to sing in the spirit as well. Ps Vernon says at some point God may give you heavenly melody. I know it’s not from the bible. He speaks from experience in this case.
I observe that it is an extension of praying in tongues for a long while. But it is also easier to sing in the spirit after praising God in songs after a long while. The first time I sang in the spirit was after the singing “Joy of My Desire”. It just flowed easily from there and from my mouth came gibberish melody and words.
These past 2 days we’ve been learning about angels in DLS. I was very encouraged after learning about angels after making reference to the bible (see below). Ps Margareth told us that about 30 years ago, she was worshipping in a group in California -praying in tongues and singing in the spirit for 8 hours and then when they sung they could hear, in the background, sound of angels singing with them.
Today, I heard little Davien cry next door. My neighbour’s son cries so much everyday. Today, I decided I would pray for him and prayed for angels to encamp around him, his mum and his maid and to calm him down. As I prayed in tongues, singing in spirit (singing “alleluia” like how I heard the angels sing) and also in the understanding, he stopped crying! Praise the Lord! I must try it again tomorrow that is if he cries again. Thank you Jesus for sending us angels to help us in everyway. All glory to God. All the angels and us praise you! Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty!
Here are some of the facts about angels which I learned from DLS:
They do not die (Luke 20:26)
They do not reproduce nor marry (Matthew 22:30)
They are powerful being. Only one angel will be required to throw the devil into the Abyss (Revelation 20:1)
They have emotions, not puppets (Luke 15:10)
They have desire (1 Peter 1:12)
There are different ranking angels like the seraphim and cherubim that protect God’s glory (Genesis 3:24)and proclaims God’s grace and holiness (Isaiah 6:1-3).
There are innumerable angels (Hebrews 12:22).
They fight the devil between the first and second heaven (I still don’t know where this source is from. Chor Hon says “ancient source”. What’s that?).
Michael is an archangel, one of the chief princes (Jude 1:9, Revelations 12:7)
Gabriel is not an archangel (oops - lost the reference)
They aid in healing (and interestingly John 5:4 was intentionally left out from the NIV bible. I wonder why?)
Do not worship angels. Only worship God. (Revelation 22:8,9) Do not pervert the gospel. (Galatians 1:6)
God made men a little lower than angels (Psalm 8:5) but when we are risen with Christ, spiritually, we are with Christ, seated at the right hand of God, higher than the angels.
Angels escort the born again Christians to heaven (Luke 16:22).
They aid God in judgment, weeding out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil (Matthew 13:40).
They strengthen us (Daniel 10:19).
They bring encouragement from God (Acts 27:23).
They are created by God though the bible does not say when (Psalm 148:2,5).
They worship and praise God. (Psalm 148:2, Revelation 7:11) When we worship God, they will join us too. That’s why when we praise God in worship, demons flee.
Angels never depicted as woman or baby with cute bellies but as young man, yes (Mark 16:5).
They have a will, like Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12 and it fell from heaven.
They are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:13,14)
We have our own guardians angel (Matthew 18:10, Acts 12:15).
They protect us (Psalm 34:7, Psalm 91),
They bring messages and/or instructions from God (Acts 10:1-6).
They bring warning from God (Matthew 2:13).
Yoma 39b Talmud
Further to my previous article on One Sacrifice For Our Sins Forever, the discussion of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement) came up during my bible study where I explained that during the sacrificial system under the old covenant, the red thread stopped turning white around the time that Jesus died and resurrected (30 AD).
Someone in my bible study group commented "sure or not?". That prompted me to dig into the Talmud again today. Good thing with internet these days is that you can get free online Talmud just like the bible! :) The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism, in the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history.
So, if you would like to read with your own eyes a Jewish document showing the break down of their own sacrificial system for the forgiveness of sins around the time the perfect lamb Jesus Christ was sacrificed for our sins - once and for all - go to:
http://www.halakhah.com/
Look for Yoma (The day: 8 chapters, 88 folios 441 pages) pdf
click on pdf and go to pg 115
It reads: "Our rabbis taught: During the last 40 years before the destruction of the Temple the lot {for the Lord} did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson colored strap become white; nor did the westernmost light shine; and the doors of Hekal would open by themselves..."
The temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. 70AD minus 40 years = 30AD i.e. around the time Jesus died and was resurrected.
So, we should not be surprised that the red thread stopped turning white (previously indicating that the people's sins were forgiven).
Actually, I am still very excited to have discovered this fact. Why didn't anyone tell me before? It shows me that indeed God had a rescue plan for us, He prepared us beforehand to show us that we can never fulfil the law on our own. Only Jesus' blood is perfect enough to pay for our sins once and for all and today He sits at the right hand of God interceeding for us always. All praise, glory, honor, blessing and power belong to our God!
Someone in my bible study group commented "sure or not?". That prompted me to dig into the Talmud again today. Good thing with internet these days is that you can get free online Talmud just like the bible! :) The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism, in the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history.
So, if you would like to read with your own eyes a Jewish document showing the break down of their own sacrificial system for the forgiveness of sins around the time the perfect lamb Jesus Christ was sacrificed for our sins - once and for all - go to:
http://www.halakhah.com/
Look for Yoma (The day: 8 chapters, 88 folios 441 pages) pdf
click on pdf and go to pg 115
It reads: "Our rabbis taught: During the last 40 years before the destruction of the Temple the lot {for the Lord} did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson colored strap become white; nor did the westernmost light shine; and the doors of Hekal would open by themselves..."
The temple of Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. 70AD minus 40 years = 30AD i.e. around the time Jesus died and was resurrected.
So, we should not be surprised that the red thread stopped turning white (previously indicating that the people's sins were forgiven).
Actually, I am still very excited to have discovered this fact. Why didn't anyone tell me before? It shows me that indeed God had a rescue plan for us, He prepared us beforehand to show us that we can never fulfil the law on our own. Only Jesus' blood is perfect enough to pay for our sins once and for all and today He sits at the right hand of God interceeding for us always. All praise, glory, honor, blessing and power belong to our God!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Happy Mother’s Day – 9 May 2010
I felt truly blessed with 2 boxes of cake from church even though I could not eat it. I thank the little boy who asked me if I was a retired teacher! I told my relatives at a little tea party yesterday that I don’t feel that I miss out on anything (not eating the cake) because my eyes are feasting the food and I am actually quite happy as though I am eating the food. It is hard to express myself. Then Aunty Kiki said it correctly “You don’t feel you miss out on anything because when you see your kids enjoy the food, you feel happy because they are happy too. This is because they are an extension of you.” Wisely said!
I made curry fish with vege for the party and I reckoned that the only thing I could not eat in the curry was the coconut milk and the fish. But Aunty Kiki said that coconut should only be avoided if I have heart problem. So, that made me brave to scoop up some vege and gravy to eat. Little Ethan enjoyed the curry too even though I thought I had put in too much tamarind juice! It was also lapped up at the party and that made my day as well. :)
I thought what Marvin said in his sermon about husbands helping their wives become the perfect bride for Christ was a wonderful message. I think husbands as leader of the family should lead their family to spiritual truth. That means whatever the wife questions (ahem), the husband should diligently seek out the answers before there are too many unanswered questions that lead to unbelief and eventually spiritual death. And our family influences other families and very soon the entire church is lukewarm and spiritually dead. Hmmmm, I wonder what message Marvin has in store for the wives on Father’s day. ;)
Lunch was at the Apartment and I was wonderfully blessed with a free meal (pan fried dory with lentils) though I could not eat it and offered it to Henry instead. Still, it was a good discount off the entire meal! I had 3 dips comprising of chick peas, aubergine and roasted capsicums instead (oh yes, i stole some of Henry's lentils too). Then, at the newly launched MPH for Gal readers, the lady from the counter came up and asked me whether I would like a free shoulder massage. It was a professional massage by a “specialist” using pure essential oils by Jurlique.
What a delightful massage. What a wonderful day!
A blessed Mother’s Day to you and may our good Lord bless you richly and abundantly too.
I made curry fish with vege for the party and I reckoned that the only thing I could not eat in the curry was the coconut milk and the fish. But Aunty Kiki said that coconut should only be avoided if I have heart problem. So, that made me brave to scoop up some vege and gravy to eat. Little Ethan enjoyed the curry too even though I thought I had put in too much tamarind juice! It was also lapped up at the party and that made my day as well. :)
I thought what Marvin said in his sermon about husbands helping their wives become the perfect bride for Christ was a wonderful message. I think husbands as leader of the family should lead their family to spiritual truth. That means whatever the wife questions (ahem), the husband should diligently seek out the answers before there are too many unanswered questions that lead to unbelief and eventually spiritual death. And our family influences other families and very soon the entire church is lukewarm and spiritually dead. Hmmmm, I wonder what message Marvin has in store for the wives on Father’s day. ;)
Lunch was at the Apartment and I was wonderfully blessed with a free meal (pan fried dory with lentils) though I could not eat it and offered it to Henry instead. Still, it was a good discount off the entire meal! I had 3 dips comprising of chick peas, aubergine and roasted capsicums instead (oh yes, i stole some of Henry's lentils too). Then, at the newly launched MPH for Gal readers, the lady from the counter came up and asked me whether I would like a free shoulder massage. It was a professional massage by a “specialist” using pure essential oils by Jurlique.
What a delightful massage. What a wonderful day!
A blessed Mother’s Day to you and may our good Lord bless you richly and abundantly too.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Taking the time to share
After school, Nic took some time to chat with his school mate. His Ah Ma (grandma) hurried him along but Nic said "Wait, I want to ask my friend to come to church with me". Later, Nic asked his Ah Ma to go to church too but she replied that Jesus does not love her which he replied "No, Jesus loves everybody!".
Sweet little Nicholas is really living up to his name "Victory for his people". We had this in mind that he would reach out to his peers to share Christ with them that he may lead them to victory in Christ. I am so amazed it is happening so soon but I know it is the holy spirit guiding him. It comes naturally in all his conversation. He looked at the big moon in the sky one morning and Henry heard him commenting aloud to his friend in school "I think Father God created the moon".
God bless you little Nic and may all the angels encamp around and about you always. I bet each time you share Christ or praise God for His wondrous works, the angelic host are rejoicing with you.
Sweet little Nicholas is really living up to his name "Victory for his people". We had this in mind that he would reach out to his peers to share Christ with them that he may lead them to victory in Christ. I am so amazed it is happening so soon but I know it is the holy spirit guiding him. It comes naturally in all his conversation. He looked at the big moon in the sky one morning and Henry heard him commenting aloud to his friend in school "I think Father God created the moon".
God bless you little Nic and may all the angels encamp around and about you always. I bet each time you share Christ or praise God for His wondrous works, the angelic host are rejoicing with you.
Update - Swimming
During our family holiday in Port Dickson last December, I almost got the chill from wading in the cold pool. I was sniffling and had to quickly get out of the pool and dry off. During the Sg Gabai waterfall trip last March, I decided to take a plunge to see if I could withstand the icy cold water. Surprisingly, I could and it was also not necessary to wrap myself to keep warm. Ever since, I have been getting more adventurous, swimming with the kids and last week, I swam laps in the pool. Twice too! No sniffles. It's truly wonderful to be able to swim so long in the pool! There has been talks of chlorine, dirty water etc but my trust is in the Lord. As long as I am not pushing the limits, I believe God will take care of everything else. :)
Thank you Jesus for healing me and for strengthening me physically and spiritually. Thank you for introducing another form of exercise for me. You are my Lord, my Helper, My Healer! Amen!
Thank you Jesus for healing me and for strengthening me physically and spiritually. Thank you for introducing another form of exercise for me. You are my Lord, my Helper, My Healer! Amen!
Did you know Abraham Fell Asleep?
Did you know that in Genesis 15:8-21, when God made the promise to Abraham, he asked for certain animals to be brought to Him?
Abraham brought the animals, cut them into two (except the birds) and they were arranged in 2 rows opposite each other. But Abraham fell asleep during this “promise signing ceremony”. God made His promise and walked between the 2 rows in a blazing torch, WITHOUT Abraham! It goes to show that it was solely left to God to deliver His promise to Abraham and to us today.
Praise the Lord who knew we were going to sin (fall) and arranged a rescue plan and HAS executed His plan through Jesus Christ. We only have to believe what Jesus did as the ultimate sacrifice to receive all the blessings through Abraham and more importantly to be right with God again.
I asked Leong Tien Fook that after all the pain and suffering that Jesus went through on the cross, did God the trinity know all along that it would happen and he said yes. Revelations 13:8 says “…the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world”.
How awesome is God’s love for us that He still created us to have fellowship with Him despite knowing all that is to come. THAT is love.
Abraham brought the animals, cut them into two (except the birds) and they were arranged in 2 rows opposite each other. But Abraham fell asleep during this “promise signing ceremony”. God made His promise and walked between the 2 rows in a blazing torch, WITHOUT Abraham! It goes to show that it was solely left to God to deliver His promise to Abraham and to us today.
Praise the Lord who knew we were going to sin (fall) and arranged a rescue plan and HAS executed His plan through Jesus Christ. We only have to believe what Jesus did as the ultimate sacrifice to receive all the blessings through Abraham and more importantly to be right with God again.
I asked Leong Tien Fook that after all the pain and suffering that Jesus went through on the cross, did God the trinity know all along that it would happen and he said yes. Revelations 13:8 says “…the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world”.
How awesome is God’s love for us that He still created us to have fellowship with Him despite knowing all that is to come. THAT is love.
The Fiery Cloud - The Lord Leading
I wasn't sure of the bible verse when I last posted this picture but I was delighted when Cheng Cheung helped me find the reference to Numbers 9:15 to 23. Then suddenly, this whole picture came alive!
"On the day the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered it. But from evening until morning the cloud over the Tabernacle looked like a pillar of fire. This was the regular pattern—at night the cloud that covered the Tabernacle had the appearance of fire.
Whenever the cloud lifted from over the sacred tent, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. And wherever the cloud settled, the people of Israel would set up camp. In this way, they traveled and camped at the Lord’s command wherever he told them to go. Then they remained in their camp as long as the cloud stayed over the Tabernacle. If the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed and performed their duty to the Lord.
Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay for only a few days, as the Lord commanded. Then at the Lord’s command they would break camp and move on.
Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on. Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on. So they camped or traveled at the Lord’s command, and they did whatever the Lord told them through Moses."
It reminds us to let God lead us and not to be wise in our own eyes.
Christ entered the perfect tabernacle (the holy of holies/ heaven) for us. He is the perfect high priest. He is now at the right hand of God always interceding for us. Leong Tien Fook says this intercession is not Jesus always praying for us but He is also always interceding for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12 He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels).
The earthly tabernacle needed to be cleansed with blood of bulls and goats. So the heavenly tabernacle need also be cleansed i.e with Jesus Christ there always interceding for us and He has also paid the price for us. That’s why we can come boldly before the throne of grace and He will listen to us when we pray in Jesus’ name.
In Hebrews 11:10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
Revelations 21:1-3 says “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them”.
It will be the fulfillment of Leviticus 26:11 “I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.”
We will have a new Jerusalem, a heavenly city to look forward to. Is the new Jerusalem a city or church in heaven? Leong Tien Fook says it is both but we are not there. For now, we have the holy spirit dwelling in us (Corinthians 3:16) and we can have that experience of dwelling with God if we allow Him to. By faith we can experience God spiritually through the holy spirit and the only way is to soak in His word daily and let His word sink into us. And these baptized Christians who do and who collectively make up the true & genuine church will one day dwell with God in the new Jerusalem. There will be no temple /tabernacle in heaven for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Thank you Jesus for guiding me to understand the purpose of the tabernacle which points to your holiness and the joy of knowing one day we will be in your city with you dwelling amongst your people. Thank you for showing what a personal God you are as you have woven Leong Tien Fook's message, the Galatians bible study, Cheng Cheung's sharing and even yesterday's daily bread (http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2010/05/10/devotion.aspx) on the SAME subject. Indeed you are a powerful and mighty God and I can't thank you enough for guiding me so closely and leading me. In Jesus' name I pray Amen.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Celebrating Nadine's 7th Birthday
Smile Nadine!
Shheeeeeahhh...good spiderman!
By Wondermilk - Ethan loves the GREEN one, no not the frog, the GREEN one...yes the cactus...whew!
I can carry you, Naomi!
The cousins had so much fun at Get Crafty, Bandar Utama (new wing second floor outside MPH) making spiderman and dragon crafts that I am so tempted to do the same for Ethan's coming birthday. He says he wants to do an Ultraman craft. It's really a great place for the kids to hangout together and have fun. Peer pressure spurs them on. Ethan and Nic were "clingons" at first but when they saw that other parents have left them, little Ethan said to me "I am brave already mummy. Bye bye mummy". Guess where most of the parents went to? A thai massage at Day Dream in the old wing. Ha ha it must be the most stress free, therapeutic birthdays I've ever attended! Thanks Evelyn for the invite.
It’s a Terrifying Thing!
Hebrews 10:31 (NASV)
“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
God made man and woman with free will, with option to obey or disobey God. He wants an intimate, personal relationship with us and not with robots. He made us like this so that we may choose to love and worship Him. Before the fall, we were in neutral gear, neither bias towards good or evil but after the fall, we have a tendency towards sin. That’s why we do what we ought not to do.
“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
God made man and woman with free will, with option to obey or disobey God. He wants an intimate, personal relationship with us and not with robots. He made us like this so that we may choose to love and worship Him. Before the fall, we were in neutral gear, neither bias towards good or evil but after the fall, we have a tendency towards sin. That’s why we do what we ought not to do.
Ever since Adam disobeyed God, we have been tainted with “sin genes” passed on from generation to generation. What was good has been corrupted and became evil. The evil spirit is at work in those who are disobedient following the ways of the world and the kingdom of the air (the devil) (Ephesians 2:2).
But because of God’s great love, by His rich mercy and grace (Ephesians 2:4) He made us alive with Christ when we were dead in our sins. We should have been condemned because God is a holy God and He hates sin. Jesus said in John 8:24 “That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins."
My friend finds it hard to believe that a loving God would actually throw us into hell and not forgive us for our little sins for we are only humans. That’s because we fail to understand how holy our God is.
Yesterday’s Hebrews class helped me understand God’s holiness better.
In the Garden of Eden, God dwelt among Adam and Eve. There was no tabernacle required as there was no sin present.
In Canaan, God dwelt amongst His people. A tabernacle was required where sacrifices were made for sin offerings.
When Jesus came, God Himself dwelt amongst His people and eventually upon His resurrection He tore down the veil so we can have direct access to God.
In the bible, we see from the tabernacle and the Mt Sinai experience that the area was divided into 3 parts with different level of holiness showing how humans cannot have direct access to God. Interesting! I never saw it like this before!
The tabernacle was divided into 3 parts – the holy of holies, the holy place and the outer courts. God dwelt in the Holy of Holies and only once a year, the high priest representing the people would come into His presence offering sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. In the outer courts, Jews made daily sacrifices and no gentiles (non Jews) were allowed in.
In the Mt Sinai experience, it was also divided into 3 parts. Only Moses could come close to God, the other elders were in between the other people at the foothills and Moses. In Exodus 24: 1,2 it is written
“Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.””
Read Exodus (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+1&version=NIV) and Leviticus (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus&version=NIV)to appreciate further how Holy our God is, that we had no direct access to God but Jesus became the perfect High Priest, the perfect sacrifice, resurrected and is now King of Kings. That’s why through Jesus Christ, we now have direct access to Father God. That’s why God will hear us when we pray “In Jesus’ Name”.
In John 3:17,18 it is written, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”
In John 3:17,18 it is written, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”
So, it is not that God is not loving, he loved us so much He sent us Jesus so that whoever who believes Him shall have eternal life and not be condemned for his sins.
Please come back to God because it is terrible to fall in the hands of the living God. He is SO holy and He has showed us in history the kind of holiness that we cannot fulfil so that when He sent us Jesus we may believe in Him for then we know we need a savior.
He loves us so much that He has already given us a way out.
Monday, May 3, 2010
The Power of His Word
After the Zometa Bone Treatment yesterday, I was getting a bit tired and my back was hurting a little. It got slightly worse during the Deeper Life Seminar class at night. After it ended, I ran after Ps Vernon and asked him to pray for me (only because Elaine didn’t want to lay hands and pray for me ha ha). He said let’s pray for a miracle and after praying he said to move my back and to check whether the pain was gone. And truly, I moved and it was gone and I thanked Jesus!
As I drove home thanking Jesus, the pain slowly started coming back and by the time I reached home, it was back to square one again. So I prayed in tongues and laid my hands to my back, I rebuked the pain but it was getting so uncomfortable I could not lie down to sleep! So I got up and told myself “Okay, time to cry out to God” and grabbed my bible.
I flipped open the bible to Psalm 69, 70 and 71 (see below) and I used the words in the bible to help me cry out to God. And I cried out over and over again and then I had a prompting to go pop a panadol. I didn’t think it would help but I popped it anyway. I was getting tired because it was already midnight and I memorized the 2 last lines “You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.”
While I was lying down in bed I did not feel the pain and I kept repeating the last line for him to restore my comfort until I drifted off to sleep, without any pain! Praise the Lord! All glory to Him.
The power is in His word as we cry out to Him. It’s amazing because the last 2 lines didn’t really make sense to me this morning but it made great sense to me because what I was praying that he would grant me favour and bring back comfort to me. So you can see it got twisted but God still heard my cry! Praise our God in Heaven! Thank you Jesus for your goodness to me. Thank you Lord for everything.
Psalm 69:1,2
1 Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
Psalm 70:1
1 Hasten, O God, to save me;
O LORD, come quickly to help me.
Psalm 71:1-3, 12, 14-21
1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
12 Be not far from me, O God;
come quickly, O my God, to help me.
14 But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.
19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
20 Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.
As I drove home thanking Jesus, the pain slowly started coming back and by the time I reached home, it was back to square one again. So I prayed in tongues and laid my hands to my back, I rebuked the pain but it was getting so uncomfortable I could not lie down to sleep! So I got up and told myself “Okay, time to cry out to God” and grabbed my bible.
I flipped open the bible to Psalm 69, 70 and 71 (see below) and I used the words in the bible to help me cry out to God. And I cried out over and over again and then I had a prompting to go pop a panadol. I didn’t think it would help but I popped it anyway. I was getting tired because it was already midnight and I memorized the 2 last lines “You will increase my honor and comfort me once again.”
While I was lying down in bed I did not feel the pain and I kept repeating the last line for him to restore my comfort until I drifted off to sleep, without any pain! Praise the Lord! All glory to Him.
The power is in His word as we cry out to Him. It’s amazing because the last 2 lines didn’t really make sense to me this morning but it made great sense to me because what I was praying that he would grant me favour and bring back comfort to me. So you can see it got twisted but God still heard my cry! Praise our God in Heaven! Thank you Jesus for your goodness to me. Thank you Lord for everything.
Psalm 69:1,2
1 Save me, O God,
for the waters have come up to my neck.
2 I sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
Psalm 70:1
1 Hasten, O God, to save me;
O LORD, come quickly to help me.
Psalm 71:1-3, 12, 14-21
1 In you, O LORD, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
12 Be not far from me, O God;
come quickly, O my God, to help me.
14 But as for me, I will always have hope;
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteousness,
of your salvation all day long,
though I know not its measure.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign LORD;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,
do not forsake me, O God,
till I declare your power to the next generation,
your might to all who are to come.
19 Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God,
you who have done great things.
Who, O God, is like you?
20 Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter,
you will restore my life again;
from the depths of the earth
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.
Update
I went for another check up at the hospital yesterday. This time it was for an x ray and the Zometa bone treatment. For the first time, the x-ray report had only 3 lines! The status is unchanged but it was like that for the past 2 reports, yet there's less said this time. Oh, I don't know the details. You will have to ask Henry.
When Dr Foo met me, she said I was looking good as my skin was clear and the side effects seem manageable. I asked again whether I could stop taking Tarceva as I wanted the nutrition to strengthen my immune system. She said taking Tarceva is independent from taking nutrition. Sigh. It inhibits the protein and keeps the cancer at bay. She also said it would have to be taken long term. Sigh. But I don't think I was surprised by her answer as traditional doctors do not bridge to nutrition whatsoever. I wonder why? Do they not see the potential in nutrition?
Apparently, news was out in the Star newspaper yesterday (http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2010/5/2/health/6159716&sec=health) that the doctors have made Iressa (another targetted therapy similar to Tarceva) the first line of defence. I told Henry that he was the FIRST to discover this through the HOLY SPIRIT! Imagine! Through fasting and prayer, he found out the answer earlier than any doctors. The power of God!
So, with this confidence, I will wait upon the Lord as I believe He has given me this resting time for a purpose. To know Him, to rediscover Him all over again, to step out in faith to wherever He is leading me to.
Dr Foo did end on a high note. She said "You are doing well, you are doing very well".
All glory and praise to God for the disease is not progressing. Like Peter said "It is struck down and dead!" Yeh, I claim that in Jesus' name! Thank you Jesus for guiding me and giving me strength day after day!
When Dr Foo met me, she said I was looking good as my skin was clear and the side effects seem manageable. I asked again whether I could stop taking Tarceva as I wanted the nutrition to strengthen my immune system. She said taking Tarceva is independent from taking nutrition. Sigh. It inhibits the protein and keeps the cancer at bay. She also said it would have to be taken long term. Sigh. But I don't think I was surprised by her answer as traditional doctors do not bridge to nutrition whatsoever. I wonder why? Do they not see the potential in nutrition?
Apparently, news was out in the Star newspaper yesterday (http://thestar.com.my/health/story.asp?file=/2010/5/2/health/6159716&sec=health) that the doctors have made Iressa (another targetted therapy similar to Tarceva) the first line of defence. I told Henry that he was the FIRST to discover this through the HOLY SPIRIT! Imagine! Through fasting and prayer, he found out the answer earlier than any doctors. The power of God!
So, with this confidence, I will wait upon the Lord as I believe He has given me this resting time for a purpose. To know Him, to rediscover Him all over again, to step out in faith to wherever He is leading me to.
Dr Foo did end on a high note. She said "You are doing well, you are doing very well".
All glory and praise to God for the disease is not progressing. Like Peter said "It is struck down and dead!" Yeh, I claim that in Jesus' name! Thank you Jesus for guiding me and giving me strength day after day!
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