Silent retreat at Seven Fountains (Chiang Mai)

Just returned from 3 days spent at Seven Fountains, a Catholic retreat centre in Chiang Mai. Had gone for a silent retreat, a breakaway from times past, when we had gone to Osanri and Kwang Lim in South Korea instead. Compared to Kwang Lim, Seven Fountains has what I would describe as "raw beauty"... it is not as scenic, the gardens are overgrown and haphazard at parts, and mosquitoes abound. But just as we are treasure in earthen vessels, Seven Fountains grew on me as the days passed. As I spent time in quiet meditation seeking the Lord for the things on His heart, I began to see the gems in the place. There are wonderful creatures in the place - beautiful birds I could not identify, squirrels, moths... and God spoke more deeply to me there than before. The Jesuit Father who was my spiritual director was also always gracious and full of wise counsel.

In particular, God spoke to me through the cat family! He spoke to me about trusting in His love through a very loving cat which roamed the grounds. And He spoke to me about His majesty through a lion I saw at the Chiang Mai zoo (within walking distance from Seven Fountains). It made me realise that the Great King of the Universe, the Most High God, the Lion of Judah, loves me unconditionally, just the way I am. The revelation brought tears to my eyes :)

It was a very precious time for me with the Lord; sitting in His presence, communing with Him. I grew to appreciate the sanctuary that Seven Fountains is, a place away from home to be in silence and solitude and to tune in to what is on God's heart.

The problem with prophetic people

Wise words from Ps Lip, one of the pastors at Cornerstone Community Church ...

The problem with prophetic people is that we are given to know something about the future and yet at the same time, we have no idea how it will look like when it happens.

Think for a moment about Joseph. He was given prophetic dreams in which he saw his call to rule and govern. Yet he could never imagine that the fulfillment of his dreams would be in a place he did not know, to a people that was not his own, in a language he could not speak, and much less the process that he had to go through to come into his prophetic future. Likewise with Abraham or Moses or David - none of them could have imagined the timing or the form in which the fulfillment of their future would be, even though they all received prophetic calls. Even the disciples could not imagine that Jesus had to die or the death Jesus had to endure to become the Messiah of not just Israel, but of the world.

If this is a consistent picture in the word of God, then it means that this is a pattern through which God will work in all the lives of His people. What this means is that if you have been given a prophetic sense of the future that God has in store for you, you can be certain it is not going to appear the way you imagine it would. With this in mind, I believe then that we can get into deep trouble if we try to help God along by trying to orchestrate things to suit what WE have imagined our future to look like. From a scriptural point of view, I want to show you what we can and need to do: -

1. They kept their integrity
The people that went on to fulfill their prophetic future were people that kept their integrity even when things did not turn out the way they expected or wanted them to turn out. Joseph kept his purity when tempted by Potiphar's wife. His work ethics gained him favour, whether as a slave or as a prisoner, and that enabled him to progress on in God's plan for him. David continued to walk in integrity towards Saul even though Saul was after his life. It didn't matter that these men were going through contradictory circumstances in their lives, they kept their reputation intact through integrity.

2. They kept their walk with God
We ought not to forsake our walk with God just because we are not in the place that we imagined ourselves to be. It was in the delays of his life, that Abraham grew in his walk with God. Many of the names of God were revealed to Abraham prior to the birth of Isaac. In fact, it is in the times of delay and contradiction that God shows up and begins to teach us about Himself. This instructional season is crucial to our ability to handle the task of our prophetic call in the future. It is important, therefore, for us to be aware of what He is speaking to us NOW and pay attention to the lessons and dealings He has for us. Learning the present lessons unlocks the future.

3. They kept believing despite circumstances
This is faith! It is to completely lean our human personality onto Christ in trust and confidence. The great men and women in the bible who entered into their prophetic future clung on to God's promises and did not waver despite how their natural circumstances were around them. They kept believing and never gave up. They counted God faithful, trustworthy and able to fulfill His word to them, and God always came through for them. Not only does He come through for us, He does exceeding, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think of.

I received the call of God at the age of 12. Over the years, I've tried many times to help God along, towards what I had imagined the call of God would look like. However, these efforts never seem to take off. In fact, often times, the opposite seems to happen. At the most crucial moments of my life, I always seem to encounter failure and disappointment. However, after 25 years of hindsight, I now see that those failures brought me closer to His plans for me and placed me in line to be where I am today. I still have many unfulfilled promises, but I am fast realising that there will be unexpected turns ahead of me that I can never anticipate. I can rest though in the knowledge that I am in good hands - His hands.

Pastor Lim Lip Yong
24 November 2012

Rest (Bob Fitts)

I grew up with Bob Fitts' worship music in secondary school, so was really glad to see him back in Singapore ... about 20 years later. And to see that he still pretty much looks the same :)
He led this song in worship at Cornerstone yesterday and today, and it's just such a ministering song to me.

 

I rest in Your love

My strength comes from You alone
Your grace is more than enough
A fountain for my thirsty soul

You are everything that I need

My all-sufficient King
I rest, I rest
In Your love
I rest in Your love
My strength comes from You alone

Your grace is more than enough

A fountain for my thirsty soul
You are everything that I need
My all-sufficient King
I rest, I rest
In Your love

You're Beautiful (Phil Wickham)

How great is the Creator God we serve.

In Job 26, Job says of God:

"He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing.
He wraps up the waters in his clouds,
yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
He covers the face of the full moon,
spreading his clouds over it.
He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters
for a boundary between light and darkness."

He goes on to say in Verse 14, "And these are but the outer fringe of his works".

This great God, who created the skies, the clouds, the Universe, the beautiful earth we live in, is truly awesome. The breathtaking beauty of Creation is just but "the outer fringe of his works"!! I don't even think we've begun to scratch the surface of who He is, and what He is capable of. And yet, this great God deigns to know and love me, takes a keen interest in my life, knows the number of hairs on my head, keeps every tear I shed bottled, hears every prayer of mine and treats it as a fragrant incense to Him. Sends His best gift, His son Jesus, to die for me, so that He can adopt me into His family and call me daughter. Sends the Holy Spirit to live in me, so I can live this life victorious. Wow. I am quite undone.

Beautiful
I see Your face in every sunrise
The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes
The world awakens in the light of the day
I look up to the sky and say
You’re beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night
Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright
We are amazed in the light of the stars
It’s all proclaiming who You are
You’re beautiful, You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree
You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me
Now you are sitting on Your heavenly throne
Soon we will be coming home
You’re beautiful, you're beautiful

Worthy of It All (David Brymer and Misty Edwards)

All the saints and angels bow before Your throne
All the elders cast their crowns before the Lamb of God and sing
You are worthy of it all,
You are worthy of it all
For from You are all things, and to You are all things,
You deserve the glory

Day and night, night and day,
let incense arise
Day and night, night and day,
let incense arise
Day and night, night and day,
let incense arise
Day and night, night and day,
let incense arise

Set A Fire (Will Reagan and United Pursuit)

When Jeremiah is called to be a prophet to the nations, he is also called to obediently share God's word even though all of it would fall upon deaf ears. He will be ridiculed, rebuffed, rejected. There is a point where he realises the futility of so much of what he is called to do.

Yet he says in Jeremiah 20:9
If I say, “I will not mention his word
or speak anymore in his name,
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot."

Praying that He will send a fire down our souls to purify our lives, send a fire into our hearts so that we will burn with passion for the things that matter to Him. May we say like the prophet Jeremiah, "His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones, I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."

The goodness and severity of God

Am currently reading the book of Jeremiah, and today stopped to linger at Chapters 14 and 15, where God tells Jeremiah not to intercede for Judah because He will not relent.

 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for this people, for their good. ¹² When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.” (Jeremiah 14:11-12)

God goes on to say in Jeremiah 15, that because the people have persistently rejected Him, He is "weary of relenting".

You have rejected me, declares the Lord;
you keep going backward,
so I have stretched out my hand against you and destroyed you—
I am weary of relenting (Jeremiah 15:6)

I've paused here because these two chapters have made me rethink my notion of God - whether my view of Him is a biblical view or a Santa Claus view. I've always known of course that God is a God of justice and mercy. But these chapters reminded me today that we cannot presume on the mercy of God forever. Even more sobering, it reminded me today that there is a point of no return, a point where God intends to bring forth judgement, and no intercession, no pleading, will change His mind.

We really need to consider the goodness and severity of God, and hold this in a tension. He is "a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6). But He is also "a jealous God" (Exodus 20:5), and holy and righteous.

God cannot let sin go unpunished, but He has graciously made a way - by sending Jesus, His son, to bear our punishment in our stead. We need to repent though of our wicked ways, ask God for forgiveness, and made Jesus our Lord and Saviour.

We don't know how long this window of opportunity for repentence will be. We cannot presume upon God that His patience towards us will last forever. May we respond to Him, and keep our hearts tender towards Him.

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:15)

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Proverbs 9:10)

The Stand (Hillsong)

Lovely song! Especially love the words, "So what could I say, And what could I do, But offer this heart O God, completely to you..."

In the Secret (Chris Tomlin)

The prayer of my heart is to know Jesus more... which makes this song so precious! Sing it like a prayer to Him. Oh Lord, I want to know you more... I want to hear your voice... I want to see your face..."But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD." (Jeremiah 9:24)

In the Secret

In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait,
Only for You,'cause I want to know You more;

I want to know You,
I want to hear Your voice
I want to know You more.
I want to touch You,
I want to see Your face
I want to know You more.

I am reaching for the highest goal,
then I might receive the prize.
Pressing onward, pushing every hindrance aside,
Out of my way, 'cause I want to know you more

Digging into the word, and expository preaching

"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16)

The Lord has been speaking to me about being "trained in righteouness", which I understand to mean knowing the Word of God.  I firmly believe that this is one of the prerequisites of growing in the prophetic. To me, the preciousness of the prophetic is the value of the rhema word, the word in season, but rhema words are from the logos word, the whole counsel of God.

In this day, there is also so much "mixture" / "syncretism" in the teaching out there, especially in the Charismatic. Truth is mixed with error, wheat with tares. Those of us who move in the Spirit must be especially cognizant of the importance of being schooled in truth, to be like Bereans, because those who worship God must "worship in spirit and truth". We need to be anchored in the Word because in the last days, deception will increase, and it will be subtle.

In Matthew 24, when Jesus speaks of the End Times, he says one of the signs will be that "false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect".

We need to be careful about this because God has warned "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6)

So I am praying for the discipline to dig in and to really know the Word of God, not just topically, but in its context. To be trained in a way so I can "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).

On this note, I really appreciate expository preaching, in which the Word is taught chapter by chapter, so it is not taken out of context/ distorted to suit one's whim. There are not many good expository teachers I know - since many preachers teach topically - but here are three who are excellent, and whose material is freely available on the Internet - David Pawson, Lance Lambert and Singapore's own Aw Swee Eng :)

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." (2 Tim 2:15)

Our God (Aaron Schweinberg)

Stumbled upon Aaron Schweinberg accidentally while buying Christian music from the itunes store. Really like his voice and his piano playing! What incredible anointed worship :)

Friendship with God (Bill Johnson)

I love this preaching by Bill Johnson. Servants are task-oriented, friends/ lovers know the heart of God, and do out of relationship.

The end of this sermon also packs a punch. It reminds us that whatever gifting God has put in us, without the Spirit of God on it, we won't get very far...

Says Bill: "I don't care if you can sing, if you can lead, if you can preach, doesn't matter what you can do, you're a businessman, a schoolteacher, doesn't make any difference to me. That gift is like a sail on a boat, it's useless without wind.

We need the breath of God on who he's made us to be. There has to be the supernatural element with whatever it is that God has given us to do. The breath of the Almighty God is what empowers that which we can do. The horse is prepared for the day of battle but the victory belongs to the Lord.

We take that which is natural, we get everything in order, we've done what we know to do in the natural, then we anticipate the breath of God to come to make that which is natural, supernatural, and then we give Him all the glory for it. And then just be thankful that he let us be in the room."

Wow. Awesome preaching!

We Wait For You (Shekinah Glory)

Endless Hallelujah (Matt Redman)

When I stand before Your throne
Dressed in glory not my own
What a joy I'll sing of on that day
No more tears or broken dreams
Forgotten is the minor key
Everything as it was meant to be

And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
An endless hallelujah to the King

I will see You as You are
Love You with unsinning heart
And see how much You paid to bring me home
Not till then, Lord, shall I know
Not till then, how much I owe
Everything I am before Your throne

And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
An endless hallelujah to the King

No more tears, no more shame
No more sin and sorrow ever known again
No more fears, no more pain
We will see You face to face
See You face to face

And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
An endless hallelujah to the King
An endless hallelujah to the King
We'll sing
An endless hallelujah to the King

The Resting Place - Bill Johnson

Listened to two sermons today.

The first was by Heidi Baker, when she preached at Cornerstone on "A resting place for the Lord". Was deeply, deeply struck by the testimony she shared of time when she was hospitalised for a life-threatening infection. She says, "There I was. Sick. Waiting, longing, longing for the presence of God. And the presence of God was so precious to me. Day and night I listened to the bible (on my ipod) and I worshipped, day and night, and the presence of God got so thick in my room that the nurses would walk in and start weeping. Here I was, weaker than I’ve ever been at anytime in my life and they would come in and say there is strength in this room, there is life in this room, there is presence in this room. At they would come and weep, and try and change the sheets and they’d be weeping. They’d come at 2-3am in the morning asking for prayer, lining up, asking for prayer. The presence of God was just in the room, and this little dove would come in the morning, a literal dove, I’m not giving you a vision, I’m telling you what happened. It would fly in front of my window, cock its head, look at me. And in the cool of the evening, it would come back. And the Lord said to me, “Who will become a resting place for me?”

How can we carry the presence of God? How can we become a resting place for the Lord?

Bill Johnson says, "Let the Holy Spirit remain on you so you can impart that presence everywhere you go." This is at the heart of his sermon below, which is so powerful, so wonderful, so inspirational. I am so heartsick, so jealous to host the presence of God, so that it may be released into the earth, into situations, to people. This is such a deep sermon, such a packed one, but one that bears listening to again.



"Work in me, O lord, so I can actually impart the presence of your Holy Spirit. Amen."

Thoughts from The Dark Knight Rises

Warning: Spoilers below!



Watched "The Dark Knight Rises" yesterday, and it was good, action-packed entertainment. Am saddened to hear about the shooting in Colorado though :(

Towards the end of the movie, there is a real danger that Gotham City will be destroyed by Bane. Batman (Bruce Wayne) is determined to stop him, at the expense of his own life.

Batwoman says to him, "You don't owe these people anymore. You've given them everything."

Batman replies, "Not everything. Not yet."

He goes on to sacrifice his life to save the city.

At that moment in the film, the verse popped into my mind: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)

The analogy is not perfect of course. Batman felt like he had an obligation to save Gotham City. God doesn't owe us that obligation. Batman is a creation of Marvel Comics, a fictional superhero. Jesus is Unseen, but as real as life itself.

But there are parallels. Both Jesus and Batman willingly laid down their lives because of love. Both were willing to shed blood that others may live.

Jesus died that we may have life, and to have it abundantly. He died that our sins would be atoned for, and that the burden of our guilt and the punishment that is ours may be rightfully wiped out. He died that we would have the peace and joy that comes from knowing we are forgiven. He died that we may be reconciled to the Father, and be restored to rightstanding with God Himself. He died that we may be adopted into His family, and call God "Abba Father." He died that our names would be written in the Lamb's book of life, and that we would have our citizenship in Heaven. He died that we would have eternal life.

"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him." (Psalm 32)

How blessed indeed.

Some days I wonder, why would Jesus die for me? Why would He do that? Why would the Son of God do that? His love confounds me.

Today, if you are reading this, and do not yet know Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, please know that He died for you that your sins may be forgiven and that you may be reconciled to Him. He came to give His life as a ransom for many; yes, including for you!

Sharpening your edge

A few months ago, while I was brushing my teeth, I sensed God say to me that I was "losing my edge". I was taken aback by that. The week had been an extremely busy one, and this had caused me to be disengaged from my lifesource, Jesus, the vine Himself. It was a warning from the Lord, but one I appreciated. I would rather get some gentle chastisement from my Lord than live under His best for me.

I didn't know at that time that there is a bible verse that contains the same principle ... that is, until Ps Yang shared this verse from Ecc 10:10 today.

"If the ax is dull, And one does not sharpen the edge, Then he must use more strength; But wisdom brings success."

Here is a devotional entry from worthydevotions.com that resonates:

"When I was younger I used to take an ax and cut up firewood from the woods behind our house. The one thing I always did was sharpen my axe! A dull axe meant harder work chopping through fallen trees. The sharper the ax the less effort and energy required for the task. So I learned early on to sharpen my ax before venturing into the woods, and I saved myself a lot of time and energy. (Besides I was a small kid, growing up, so I needed all the help I could get! ;) )

I see a lesson here. How many of us are exerting so much energy for the Kingdom, but are working with dull axes? We need to sharpen our spiritual lives, get focused in prayer and spend deep time in the Word. Then, when we are "out in the woods", working for the Kingdom our effectiveness will be greatly multiplied because our axes are sharp!

Don't get so busy that your ax becomes dull. Remember that your devotion to the Lord and His word will sharpen your spiritual life, especially before you start the day. Prioritize your devotional life and watch how your "edge" will cut through the problems, obstacles and difficult situations, like a hot knife through butter!

The manifest presence of God

Over the past month, I've been pondering about the manifest presence of God. I can sense His presence, and sometimes even split second changes in the spiritual atmosphere when He arrives. Words cannot describe what His manifest presence feels like ... I guess for me it feels like an encounter with liquid love. I feel His pleasure, and it is usually manifested as a warm feeling on the crown of the head. It's a very precious feeling, something I long for, and so I've been grateful for Murray Dueck's book "Keepers of the Presence" because he puts into words what I've felt. He says that some of us have been created to be "sensers/ feelers", and that when we are in His presence, it is as if we are "in the very atmosphere we are created for". I believe that to be so.

While I've felt God's presence in church, of late, I've been sensing it out in the world too, in my everyday life.

I felt it in a Japanese restaurant in my neighbourhood, as a friend started to share about how God was working in her life. As she started recounting her story, the spiritual atmosphere in our restaurant suddenly changed. I felt it visiting a friend in her house. We were yakking away for three hours, talking about this and that, and as we were about to leave, we felt it was only right to pray for her. And as we bowed our heads (just three of us), and said "Dear Father...", His presence came flooding in. Another split second change in spiritual atmosphere. I felt it having a conversation with a colleague just outside our office tower in downtown Singapore. It's been the first time I felt His manifest presence so strongly in such a secular place. Here she was, my colleague, being open and honest and authentic about her struggles to know the Father Heart of God; and as I conversed with her, God showed up!

It has been leading me to ponder why God showed up in these moments. I know for sure they are God-moments, but what was it about these situations in particular, that He was there?

Murray Dueck writes, "As spiritually sensitive people, we need to recognise that God created us to be sensors/ feelers of His presence that would mature into keepers of the presence of God. To fulfill this calling, we must learn to stand in, be aware of, and grow in our addiction to worship, intimacy, and the presence of the Lord. We need to realise that by focusing upon the Lord, His glory comes upon us, reflects from us, and transforms us into the image of Jesus. Over time, we begin to recognise, become accustomed to, and enjoy His glory and presence. This ability to recognise His presence is essential for us. As our spiritual sensitivity increases, we will start to get a feel for what the Lord is resting upon or involved in and what He is not. As our sensor tunes in, we become ready for the next step - learning to discern what the presence of God is resting on, then guarding and keeping His sweet presence."

I've just started to get a glimpse of what God's presence rests on - and it's always on people. In Italy, I was often awestruck by these iconic cathedrals that took 300 years to build, amazing structures that were the epitome of architecture at their best. But the two occasions I felt His presence were in very "ordinary" places, with people. His presence is on people hungry and longing for Him, people who are hurt and brokenhearted, people whom He has a special touch for. Oh, to know and abide in His presence, and to guard and keep it!

ps. After I wrote this, was just thinking still about how to put God's manifest presence into words, when I was reminded of Psalm 103. I believe this is a revelation by the Holy Spirit :) Thank you Holy Spirit.

Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits –
³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord crowns us with love and compassion. No wonder I so often feel His presence as a warm feeling on the crown of my head :)

Crooked Lines (Corrinne May)

Was at the Corrinne May concert last night, and heard her sing this song "Crooked Lines". It moved me greatly. Especially the line "God writes straight with crooked lines, He takes the mess we make in life, Turns our groaning into perfect rhyme, Hidden by the veil of time, The wisdom of His love's design, God writes straight with crooked lines." There were so many moments last night when I had goosebumps just listening to her music, which was at once ethereal and ministering. Thank you Abba for Corrinne May!



My daughter tries to draw a butterfly
With her crayons and crooked lines
And she's crying cause she just can't get it right
So I wrap her tiny hand in mine
To guide her with her heart's design
And she smiles as her dreams take flight

Perhaps that's how it is on this labyrinth road
I just need to let Him guide my soul

God writes straight with crooked lines
He takes the mess we make in life
Turns our groaning into perfect rhyme
Hidden by the veil of time
The wisdom of His love's design
God writes straight with crooked lines

I've had days as dark as smoke
When it hurt too much to hope
And it felt like the pain would never end

Searching for answers but finding jokes
Limping along the winding road
Certain He left me all alone

When it's hard to trust that there's a greater plan
Like a child I've got to just hold His hand

God writes straight with crooked lines
He takes the mess we make in life
Turns our groaning into perfect rhyme
Hidden by the veil of time
The wisdom of His love's design
God writes straight with crooked lines

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) - Matt Redman

Tremendous song by Matt Redman - especially the chorus which says "Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, worship His holy name."

A Call to Anguish (David Wilkerson)

I have made known to thee the path of life

This week, in my busyness, I forgot God. It made my heart restless and I became antsy and somewhat empty but did not know why. Then God reminded me from Psalm 16:11 "You have made known to me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures evermore." In that instant, it hit me - and my heart was pierced. All week, I was not walking in life. I was relying on my own strength, going about my business, forgetting the life source (the vine that I as a branch am rooted to). I had not spent time with Daddy God, hardly spoke two sentences to Him. No wonder my joy was diminished, and my heart wasn't stilled.

The Lord also reminded me of this old hymn - "Nothing but the blood of Jesus". Spending time listening to it, singing to it, refreshed me. It ministered to me. It blessed me. It reminded me of the basics - that Jesus' blood makes me whole, makes me righteous, makes me accepted in the beloved.

This morning at Cornerstone, an amazing thing happened. For the past few days, my upper back has been in excruciating pain, and it was quite unbearable. All yesterday night, I was thinking of which masseuse to go to, to get some temporary relief. It didn't dawn upon me to pray ... I guess when it comes to physical healing, I am still a bit of a doubting Thomas. I know it happens conceptually, but it's an assent at the head level, not at the heart level. Anyway, this morning, when Ps Yang released a word of healing for the congregation from the pulpit, in that instant, the power of the word hit my belly/ Spirit, and I felt the tangible power of God surge up my spine. It was incredible! The pain started to subside, and now, nearly 10hours later, it is almost completely gone!! I am still in wonder at it all. It is just amazing to witness for myself first hand the power of God in physical healing.

I have made known to you the path of life, God says. It all started at the Cross of Calvary, when He shed His blood to atone for our sins, and reconcile us to the Father. I have come that you may have life, and to have it abundantly, He says. Oh praise God indeed. May I tap into that life source, from whom comes blessing, and love, and fellowship with an all-loving God, wholeness and healing. I am among all men most wondrously blessed!! :)

ps. After I posted this, the Holy Spirit showed me that the line "You have shown me the path of life" has path in the singular. There is ONE path, not multiple paths. Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) "But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:14) Today, if you are reading this, and do not yet know Jesus as Lord and Saviour, I pray that you will ask Him into your life to be Lord and Master. There is one God-prescribed path to reconciliation with Him, and it is through Jesus, and no other way.



What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The heart of prophetic training (R. Loren Sanford)

Have been reading R. Loren Sandford's book "Understanding Prophetic People", and just had to journal this passage down, because it is hardhitting, but oh so true. In 1 Samuel 19, it is said that Saul was hunting David down to kill him, and on his way, he met a company of prophets, and also prophesised. This is a sobering passage, a stark reminder that because God's gifts and calling are irrevocable, we can be rotten to the core, and yet, still retain the gifts. Are we walking right with God? The plumbline is not whether we are flowing in the gifts; the plumbline is the fruit/ the character of our lives. This line by Sandford is convicting - "Good water pumped through a dirty pipe exits the water tap coloured by the condition of the pipe".

Here is an extract from his book:

The heart of prophetic training has little to do with learning about dreams, visions and methods of hearing God. Rather, it has everything to do with character development, brokenness and humility. Intimacy with God is the goal. The sin nature and its practices constitute obstacles to achieving that goal. Without the crushing and breaking of the sinful practices and structures of the flesh brought about by the wilderness and the dark night, otherwise good words can and do produce decidedly bad fruit. Good water pumped through a dirty pipe exits the water tap coloured by the condition of the pipe.

Character is everything. The prophet must be dead to self and alive to God... the essence of our training must be loss of control and surrender to the hand of God, even in suffering. So do you still want to be prophetic?

When all has been stripped away, what remains? What value is there in standing naked and broken before God? The answer is the inestimable value of knowing to the core of myself that I am a son, that I am loved and that He is my Father. This is my whole identity. Am I a prophet, a healer, a leader? Recognised or ignored? Well-known or labouring in obscurity? These things no longer matter. What remains is that I am His, secure in His arms. Nothing more. And should that not be enough?

A new leadership is soon to emerge. They labour in hiddenness under limitation, learning the sweet simplicity of nothing more than sons and daughters, but they must soon be revealed and released. In brokenness and humility, walking in the depth of His love, this new generation will be safe to wield the power of God because those elements of flesh that would have abused the flock or usurped the glory of God will have been crucified with Christ. This must be the goal, not building great ministries or expanding our influence.

Dwelling in the house of the Lord

"One thing have I asked of the LORD,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
he will lift me high upon a rock." (Psalm 27:4-5)

A week ago, the Lord led me to this awesome truth in Psalm 27. One of the words I've been getting is that 2012 will be a year of storms. But the Lord has been good to provide as many promises of refuge and security as well. What I didn't know before is that there is a place where we can be concealed, and literally hidden, from the Enemy. A place where he cannot touch us, because he cannot see us. That place is God's dwelling place, his tent.

I realised that the promise in Psalm 27:5 follows Psalm 27:4, where David longs to dwell in the house of the Lord. The benefits of abiding in His presence are many. Safety from the enemy is one. I want, I want, I want to dwell in God's house!

But to dwell in God's house requires holiness.

"Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol, or swear by a false god." (Psalm 24:3-4)

The realisation that God is holy, and he cannot tolerate sin, makes Jesus' atonement all the more precious. We can draw near to God, and enter into the Holy of Holies, and not just visit, but stay in God's presence, because Jesus' blood has made the way. This morning, God gave me just a sense of how holy He really is. To know how Holy He really is, is to be filled with gratitude that we can now "come boldly to the throne of grace".

I like this commentary by Matthew Henry.

"All God's children desire to dwell in their Father's house. Not to sojourn there as a wayfaring man, to tarry but for a night; or to dwell there for a time only, as the servant that abides not in the house for ever; but to dwell there all the days of their life, as children with a father."

I believe this is not just speaking of eternal life, as a promise for after we die. But it is a truth we can enter into now.

Jesus has paid the highest price for the veil to be rent, and for us to be able to now dwell in the Father's house, in His presence, communing with Him face to face. I want to be like Elijah, who says "the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand."

The Lord God Before Whom I Stand

I am reproducing this article from Full Gospel Family Publications (www.characterbuildingforfamilies.com) because every word here resonated with me. God has been speaking exactly the same things to me this past 12 months, about standing in His presence. It is a precious place to be.

The Lord God Before Whom I Stand

For many years now, my heart's cry has been to see and hear in the Spirit as accurately as Elijah and Elisha did. Elisha seems to have been more of the seer, while Elijah was the one who knew the voice of the Lord. I love His voice -- more than just about anything.

One of the phrases Elijah used repeatedly was, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand." Standing before the absolute Potentate of the entire universe -- what an awesome privilege! Yet, it is the place God wants every New Testament believer to have. Throne room access was purchased for us by Jesus' blood, but very few of us have it as an experiential reality in our lives. Why? It is about relationship. Although Elijah lived under the old covenant of the law, he managed to tap into what God desires for the Spirit-filled believer today. Elijah knew experientially, vividly, what it meant to "stand before the Lord." What did he have that so many of us -- even baptized-in-the-Spirit, tongue-speaking, faith-declaring believers -- are lacking?

Elijah was a diligent seeker. Hebrews 11:6 says, "... he [God] is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." Elijah went after his God with his whole heart. He listened to the Lover of his soul with intensity, because he loved God's voice. What do you think Elijah did during the years of the drought he had prophesied, while he sat by Cherith Brook (1 Kings 17:5, 6)? He didn't just think, from morning until night, about the next meal of bread and meat that the ravens would bring. He spent time with God, interceding for his beloved people Israel and listening to God's heart.

God holds up Elijah as an example for the rest of us:

James 5:16-18 -- The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months. He prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth fruit.
Elijah did not begin his life as an intercessor and listener at Cherith. The time spent alone with God there was an extension of what was already Elijah's way of life. He already clearly understood what it was to stand before the Lord. We know this, because when he first appears in the Bible, a virtually unknown prophet, he tells King Ahab that he comes in the authority of one who stands in the Presence of the Lord. (1 Kings 17:1)

Sometimes people get a wrong idea of what decreeing things is all about. They use Elijah as an example of decreeing and receiving. They say that because we speak, our innate authority as believers makes it happen. I think there might be a little more to it than that.

God did not hold back the rain for three and a half years just because Elijah spoke it. Elijah's decree was established because he was in intimate communication with God, and he knew that it was God's directive that it was not to rain until Elijah said so. He had his decree from the throne room, where he stood and received God's counsel. He spoke what he had heard from God. This is why some Christians decree right and left, yet nothing happens. They didn't get it from the throne room; they just thought it was a good idea.

Jesus Himself said, "I do nothing of myself; but as my Father has taught me, I speak these things. ... for I do always those things that please him." (John 8:28, 29) Jesus also said, "I speak that which I have seen with my Father ...." (John 8:38) I think that is what Elijah also experienced: doing and speaking what he had seen and heard in the very Presence of God.

I am suggesting that when Elijah said, "The LORD God of Israel ... before whom I stand," what he was talking about was knowing experientially what it was to stand in the actual throne room of heaven, and it was from that experience that he derived his prayers, his strategies, and the amazing decrees that he so boldly pronounced (and which God backed up with thunderous answers).

Elisha also knew what it was to stand before the Lord. He referred to his relationship with God in the same words as Elijah had used before him, which is not surprising, since he received Elijah's mantle. No doubt during the years that Elisha served as a prophet-in-training, Elijah poured into him all that he knew about having intimacy with God.

I believe Jeremiah and Samuel both "stood before the LORD" as well. God promised it conditionally to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 15:19 -- "... and you shall stand before me." The condition which Jeremiah was required to meet in order to stand before God was that he needed to repent of questioning God's faithfulness and truth. He needed to repent of doubt. He needed to "take forth the precious from the vile" so that he could be God's mouthpiece -- which meant separating out of his life wrong speech and carnal ways of acting and thinking, but especially the speaking part. (See Jeremiah 15:15-19.) Samuel must have "stood before the LORD" also, because "the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground." (1 Samuel 3:19) This involved prophesying and decreeing.

What is standing before the Lord like? In detail, what is involved? I have pondered these questions a great deal, and I believe the Lord has given me some understanding on the subject:

It is standing at attention before Him in His throne room as His servant,

watching for the least gesture of His hand or the least eye contact,

knowing what He wants and moving to do it.
This requires an acute sensitivity to Him. Psalm 123:2 -- Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God ....

It means having face-to-face relationship with God (intimacy).

It means to be one who is invited into His war council room, to take counsel with Him for His strategies.

It is a place of honor, and is not to be taken casually. Although it is every believer's potential privilege, not everyone achieves this kind of intimacy with the Lord. It is not an easy place to come into. It requires a total abandon of all self into the Lord's hands. It involves painful refining at His hand.
I began to wonder just how close to God Elijah stood. Was he standing at a distance in a massive palace, just one attendant among thousands and thousands, waiting his turn and hoping to be noticed and called upon? At first glance this may seem like a foolish question, but since I desired to stand before the Lord like Elijah did, I desperately wanted to know how close I could get! As I pondered my question, God simply spoke to me, "Put your hand in Mine." Mentally I obeyed, putting my hand in the hand of the King on the throne. And then He quietly said, "This is how it is." I suddenly understood what Elijah had experienced. He did not receive his revelation in an impersonal manner from the Lord. He took the hand of the King, gazed intently into His eyes, and they communed over the plans of God. Awesome! It was an entirely new idea for me. It has revolutionized my intercessory prayer life.

When we read Elijah's story, we see that he never said, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I have stood." His words were, "As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand." It is always a present tense expression of his relationship with his God. I believe that Elijah not only phrased it in the present tense; he lived a present tense experience of continually being in the throne room. That is where God wants to take modern-day believers as well. It is possible to come to the place of being so continually in the Lord's Presence, that it is as though we never step out of the throne room. We commune constantly with the King of Kings. I'm not there yet, but I'm convinced that that's what God desires -- here on earth, not just after we die. It's a goal to reach for, to hunger after, to get as near to as we possibly can.

So, where do we start? Once again, it is the way of the Diligent Seeker: "... He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) I'm on my way. Would you like to come along?

WHY by Nichole Nordeman

Hugely moving song about Jesus' death on the Cross from the perspective of a little girl. Heard it at the Watchnight Service at Cornerstone this evening and it really gripped me!