Prophetic vision

Touring the Affordable Art Fair today, I asked the Lord to speak to me through the art pieces. At one point, we stopped at a gallery display of works by the Italian artist Franco Anselmi. Now, I don't know the works of this artist, but had been attracted to them initially because of their whimsical nature. This one is called "Owl on Cat". 

At that point, one of the sales people came up to explain the art pieces to us, and to hand us a brochure. Everything he said sounded prophetic to me!

He explained that the pieces of Franco Anselmi are allegorical in nature. In this series, the owl always has both eyes open while the cat, only one. The owl represents "balance, wisdom and justice", while the cat (with only one eye opened), "sees only what it wants to see". 

It spoke to my heart. As prophetic people, do we see completely, as God sees? Or do we see only what we want to see ... with our perspective and vision only partially clear?  Do we suffer from tunnel vision or do we have kingdom vision? 

What is kingdom vision anyway?

What is seeing from the heart, and not as man sees?

Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.

Daddy, please give me eyes to see as you see. Eyes to perceive truth as you see it. I want kingdom vision - your vision. True prophetic vision. Thank you for your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

A testimony of healing!

Two weeks ago, I was at a YWAM Associates gathering. 

Dean Fujishima, the speaker, was teaching about the importance of alignment and balance in our walk with God, when he felt God wanted to demo it with a sign. So he called out for those whose right shoulder is higher than the left. I put my hand up. He then shared that usually in such situations, it means one leg is longer than the other. I didn't know this was true about me. 

At this point, he asked one of the participants in the crowd (there were 60 of us in the room, attending this meeting) to pray for me. But first, she held my outstretched legs together, and true enough, my right leg was slightly longer than the left. This was visible to me and the others who were looking on. 

He said to the participant to pray a simple prayer to align me. At that point, the presence and fire of God fell upon me. I started shaking nonstop in my chair. I heard people around me exclaim, "Its growing, its growing." And, I felt a sensation of gentle tugging/ pulling of my left leg by an invisible force. It was incredible. God aligned my leg, and within a few minutes, the left was the same length as the right.

Even when I went back to my seat, the manifest presence of God was so strong that I continued to shake nonstop for another half hour at least! 

The Tuesday after our retreat, I met a friend for dinner and shared this testimony with her. Midway through dinner, she exclaims, "God didn't just align your legs. He aligned something else!" I said, "What?" Unbeknownst to me, this friend had noticed that my eyes (which are sometimes wont to drift sideways ... a condition I have had since childhood) were focused throughout dinner. Hallelujah! We hi fived each other in the restaurant because God is awesome!!! 

This Sunday past, I had an appointment with my physio. I shared my testimony with her and ask her to check me out. Now, apart from having different limb lengths, she has also said to me in the past that I have scoliosis, that my spine is somewhat S-shaped. This time around, after checking me out, she says, "I can't explain it but your spine is less curved." Fistpump. Yeah God!!! The leg is aligned but beyond that, the whole body is coming back to line!!! 

What have all these events of the week taught me? 

1. God heals. I have always known this at the head level, but not at the heart level ... in the past, the notion of a healing God has been more theoretical than real to me. But it is impossible to be a recipient of a powerful healing like this and not to have one's paradigm completely transformed. Now, I totally believe that God heals, and He heals today. It's made me more zealous to pray for others, given that God is no respecter of persons, and what He has done for me, He can do for others too. 

2. God's healing is a sovereign choice. The prayer my friend prayed for my healing was all of three words, "God, align her." That's it. It wasn't long, it wasn't rambly, it wasn't pleading, it wasn't begging ... it wasn't twisting the arm of a reluctant God to do something He didn't want to do. In fact, before she finished uttering the last word, the presence of God fell upon me. I realised that in the past I had a wrong and misguided notion of God... an erroneous sense that when we pray for someone's healing, we need to be anointed or gifted in the ministry ... as if it's about us. No, it's about God and what He wants to do. If He wants to heal someone, He does it, even if the prayer is as simple as one a child would utter. 

3. When God shows up, healing occurs. His presence brings healing and wholeness, both inner healing and physical healing. How do we usher in the presence of God? How do we steward that presence? I am pressing in to know more of what attracts His presence and causes Him to stay. I am increasingly of the view that when God shows up, miracles happen, healings take place, lives get transformed. 

4. Alignment is the word of this season. The physical alignment is an outward demo of a deeper inner message - that God wants us to be aligned to Him and each other in this season. What does alignment mean? It means being in sync and in step with all that He wants us to be and do ... Am praying for greater clarity on the things in my life that are out of sync, and which need to be corrected. 

My mind has been blown by everything the Lord has done. It is tremendous, awesome and just breathtaking. He deserves all the praise. Lord, may I always walk in alignment with you and others. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quotes on prayer and the prophet

Prayer

1. A man may study because his brain is hungry for knowledge, even bible knowledge. But he prays because his soul is hungry for God. (Leonard Ravenhill)

2. Don't pray when you feel like it. Have an appointment with The Lord and keep it. A man is powerful on his knees. (Corrie ten Boom)

The prophet (Leonard Ravenhill)

1. He has a heart like a volcano and his words are like fire.

2. He faces God before he faces men, but he is self-effacing.

3. Let him say nothing that will draw men to himself but only that which will move men to God.

4. Let him come daily from the throne room of a holy God, the place where he has received the order of the day.

Experience vs Encounter

Was at the burning hearts conference last week and Jaye Thomas shared his definitions of "experience" and "encounter" ... which made an impact.

Experience happens on the outside and increases our ability.

Encounter happens on the inside and increases our capacity.

Worship, he said, is a response to encounter.

12 months ago, a preacher from Kansas City IHOP encouraged us to pray this simple prayer that I've been praying periodically now. The prayer is, "Lord, please increase my capacity to know your love, and my capacity to love others." This has been one of my best prayers ever ... in that God has increased my revelation of how deeply He loves me, and my capacity to respond in love, which is the core of our relationship as sons and daughters of God. It is also the source of all ministry. Praying this prayer has moved my heart. It has moved my understanding of God's love from a head level to a heart level.

Lord Jesus, we want an encounter with you. We want an increased capacity to know you, and who you are. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Beautiful (Kari Jobe)

God's call for the Chinese church at this hour

Stumbled upon this Youtube video, and while Allen Hood of IHOP is speaking about the new Forerunner School in Chinese at the International House of Prayer at Kansas City, everything he says about the destiny of the Chinese church resonates with me. I believe the Chinese have been raised up by God for such a time like this; to join the mighty army of God to bring the Gospel to the nations, and ultimately back to Jerusalem. We need to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to us at this hour, and to be prepared, for it is the midnight hour. Amen.

Honouring our older brother

Two weeks ago, I was in Hong Kong for the Homecoming Conference, an awesome meeting of 20,000 believers (10,000 of whom are mainland Chinese) gathered together to worship God, and seek His heart for our generation. It was a tremendous time of worship, intercession, repentance, restoration and blessing among the 35 nations there. We laughed, danced, wept and marvelled at the work God did among us. I was truly blessed. 

Perhaps it was because I was in a predominantly Chinese setting, whilst there, God gave me downloads in Mandarin. And one area He spoke to me deeply about is the role of the older brother. As I reflected on it, there was a realisation that Jesus is our older brother (Matt 12:47-49), we also have older brothers in nation terms. 

It started one particular morning when worship was a struggle. It felt like I was in the outer court and unlike previous days, struggled to enter into the Holy of Holies. Until ... the worship leader sang Kadosh, or Holy, a Hebrew song. All of a sudden, it felt like we were led right into the presence of God. Then God gave me understanding about why this was the case. Israel, He said to me, is the eldest son and hence the vanguard. He said to me, as the oldest son, Israel possesses an authority we do not have. This is why there is a special anointing when the Jews stand with us in worship, or spiritual warfare. There is a special anointing when they bless us, their younger sibling, the Gentile nations. There will be a special anointing when they are saved, because God caused me to understand that his blessing on them will also be our blessing, and his favor on them will our favour. It made me deeply long for my older brother Israel to be saved, because I could totally see how much more the Gentile church will be truly blessed when they come to Christ. There will be a fullness we aren't yet seeing today. 

Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, 'Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' (Zechariah 8:23) 

At the conference, we also took time to honour the Koreans. I had always been intrigued by the 1907 revival in Pyongyang, which The Lord spoke to me about some years back. But it was only two weeks ago in Hong Kong that I realised the implications of Korea's revival on the Chinese. At the conference, a Chinese pastor shared that she spent some time living in Korea with a host family. And since this Korean Christian family had daily 4am prayer meetings, living under their roof, she had to join them. At her first meeting, she met a Korean believer who was delighted to meet her. He told her, for the last 30 years, I have been praying for the rise of the Chinese church, and today, I am finally meeting a Chinese believer face to face. When she heard that, she was very moved in her heart. And so was I. At that moment, I realised that the Chinese church are coming into our destiny, that we are being saved, because our older brother, the Koreans, have been praying for us all these years. Korea is Asia's first missionary sending nation and they have been faithfully fulfilling the Great Commission in the nations and interceding for us. Having been to the Korean prayer mountains, I know the blessing and legacy that this nation has left behind. So wow, as a Chinese church, we honoured them.

Then last week, I had the privilege of dining with a Welsh pastor and his wife. They shared that many Koreans pray for Wales because the first Protestant missionary to Pyongyang was beheaded there. He gave his life for the gospel and as he was being killed for his faith, continued to hand out bibles to those around him. About 40 years later, Pyongyang 1907 happened. The blood of the martyrs ... Recognising their spiritual roots and the debt they owe the Welsh, today, many Koreans pray for God to revive the Welsh nation once again. That sharing blew my mind. If we, the Chinese church owe a debt to the Koreans for praying for us, we likewise trace our spiritual heritage back to the Welsh.

Closer to home, I now recognise that Malaysia is the older brother to Singapore. I now believe when God sends revival there, that we in Singapore will be blessed.

God has been moving in the nations and the connections over the last 150 years are incredible. As a Chinese believer, I now thank God for the faithfulness of the saints over the generations from nations other than my own. It was they who paved the way for us to come to faith. Thank you Daddy for older brothers!

純潔的心 A Pure Heart (with English subtitles)

Beautiful, beautiful song by City Harvest Church.
Praying that God would give me a pure, undivided heart - "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8)

Powerful combinations in the Spirit

Recently, The Lord has been teaching me about powerful combinations in the Spirit, where 1+ 1 is more than 2. These combinations are like dynamite in the hands of God's children; powerful weaponry in the arsenal He has given us. Here are the three combinations He has given me revelation about recently:

1. Prayer and fasting. We often pray, but without the fasting, and The Lord has been convicting me to live a fasted lifestyle. It takes discipline but there is also an intense delight in being in the presence of God. The Lord has reminded me often of Isaiah 58 on the benefits of fasting. One of them is the answer to prayer. "Then you shall call, and The Lord will answer. You shall cry, and he will say, "Here I am."

In Mahesh Chavda's book "The Power of Prayer and Fasting", he speaks of why the disciples failed to cast out the demon in the story of the boy with epilepsy. The first is that they had unbelief. The second is that there are certain demonic strongholds that will not yield to secondhand authority.

He writes, "The church has seemingly been powerless to bring the family of man into victory and freedom even though we have been given the name and authority of the Son of Man for our use. We suffer from the same problems that plagued the disciples of Jesus in the first century....

"There is no way you and I can fulfill our divine call without the power of God. When we find ourselves ministering in a place where the whole atmosphere is impregnated with demon powers, we need more than delegated authority. We need to walk in a demonstration of power in the anointing that comes through fasting.

We must tap the power of the Spirit through the combination of prayer and fasting, and second, we will overcome in the largest battles in this generation only when we pray and fast together and unleash the incredible power of the body of Christ on its knees.

An avoidable part of the works of Jesus begins with prayer and fasting because these were the first works of Jesus in his mission to destroy the works of the enemy.

Fasting boosts the intensity and effectiveness of your prayer at least tenfold and often a hundredfold. As you fast and seek God's face, He will begin to plant an authority in you borne out of intimacy with Him that the demons will recognize and fear.

2. Worship and declaration of the word. This revelation came to me at a recent James Goll conference in Singapore. In the midst of worship, as my eyes were closed, I saw a vision of a young boy drawing; in the scene, what was troubling was that an evil being was unbeknownst to him, next to him. As I looked, my spirit was deeply troubled. Here I was in the midst of wonderful worship... why was The Lord showing me this picture? What did it mean and was it for me or a picture for the corporate body? All this time, James Goll is worshipping and leading us in worship. Then, he sings, "I love you, I love you," to The Lord. It was a high note and at that time, in my vision, hundreds of arrows were unleashed almost from out of nowhere to pierce the evil being. He stood no chance and was defeated. What was that all about, Lord? I asked. In my observation, James Goll did two things simultaneously. He was worshipping and declaring His love for God. That unleashed power and deliverance. On my way home from the conference, I asked God for a scriptural verse to back this up if the whole vision was from Him and boy, was I excited when He gave me Psalm 149:6-9.

Let the high praises of God be in their throats and
Two edged swords in their hands
To execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples
To bind their kings with chains
And their nobles with fetters of iron
To execute on them the judgement written!

What did these warriors have? Two things. High praises in their mouth and a sword in their hand.
Hallelujah. Praying that God would teach me how to war this way. With worship and word.

[I learnt later God does have a bow. Habbakuk 3:9 says of God, "You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows.]

3. Gentile and Jew in unity. This revelation came to me last Sunday at service. Our worship leaders led us in a wonderful time of worship first then halfway through passed the time on to Karen Davis of Carmel Congregation to continue in the time of worship. As the two worship leaders (one gentile, one Jew) stood side by side on stage leading us in worship, I felt the anointing of God, the presence of God, the pleasure of God go up a notch. It was like dynamite was being released. It was so awesome. It was worship at a level I had not experienced before. There is something about unity that attracts God and there is something about unity between our older brother (the Jews) and us that especially attracts Him. I love it!!!

Fly Away (Corrinne May)

Beautiful, beautiful song by Corrinne May, a Singaporean singer. Listened to her perform at the Esplanade just this Friday past, and was just so ministered to by her song. Corrinne tends to sing of her life experiences, and often brings God into the picture, which is really wonderful. Her voice is just spellbounding, and her music has such a wisdom to it. I especially loved this piece from her first album, called Fly Away. It's about a mother who allows her child the freedom to pursue her destiny (an autobiographical song, no doubt, for Corrinne May). So proud that she's Singaporean!!!

Fly Away

"When will you be home?"
she asksas we watch the planes take off

We both know we have no clear answer
to where my dreams may lead

She's watched me as i crawled and stumbled
As a child, she was my world
And now to let me go, I know she bleeds
and yet she says to me

You can fly so high
Keep your gaze upon the sky
I'll be prayin every step along the way

Even though it breaks my heart
to know we'll be so far apart

I love you too much to make you stay
Baby fly away

Autumn leaves fell into spring time
and SIlver-painted hair

Daddy called one evening saying
"We need you. Please come back"

When I saw her laying in her bed
Fragile as a child
Pale just like an angel taking flight
I held her as I cried

You can fly so high
Keep your gaze upon the sky
I'll be prayin every step along the way
Even though it breaks my heart
to know we'll be so far apart

I love you too much to make you stay
Baby fly away

Identity and the prophetic

Over the past two days, I have been attending a conference on the prophetic. Last night, Steve Chua, a pastor from California spoke and his message left a deep impact.

He spoke about identity - why it is important for us to know we are valued not for our function or calling, but simply because we are children of God.

Why is it important for us to be secure in this?

Because if we derive our affirmation and value and self-worth from our function, then we will end up  taking the holy things of God (the gifts He has given us) and using them to build our own kingdom and not His.

He used an analogy which really brought this home to me. He said he used to dream that God would use him powerfully as a healing evangelist. As he preached in these massive rallies (stadiums packed full with people), the blind would see, the deaf hear, the lame walk. One day, God asked him if this dream of his wasn't for his own glory. "No Lord!!" Steve protested. "This would be for your glory." The Lord replied, "If this is for my glory, why do YOU have to be there?" It exposed his heart.

In the prophetic, if we derive our affirmation from the accuracy of our words and declarations, then we risk doing ministry for the praise of man. Ministry then becomes all about us, rather than about Him or others.

That is why I think God's priority is for us to know Him and his deep love for us, regardless of what we do and whether we perform or not. For us performance oriented Singaporeans, I really think that requires a deep heart work and a renewing of the mind.

I also realise why although I went on my Chiangmai silent retreat last year to enquire about the assignments He would give me this year, He had other plans. No, in the end, God hijacked my agenda. He spoke to me deeply about my identity in Him instead. I now see why. I was being my usual performance / task oriented self in wanting to find out the assignments. God just wanted me to know I am loved just the way I am. That revelation that He loves me deeply even when I fail made me cry.

In like fashion then, Steve exhorted us to love people for who they are, not their function or calling.

Journey with people's hearts, he said.

Make love the centre of revival.

Don't judge because when we judge people, we orphan them.

For a conference on the prophetic, it put first things first.

Love. His love for us. Our love for others. I needed the reminder!

I know that you are for me (Kari Jobe)

Beautiful song from Kari Jobe. This is so ministering! If God is for us, who can be against us:)
 

How our church in Singapore came to purchase the Bible College of Wales

This is a wonderful account by my pastor Yang Tuck Yoong on how our church in Singapore came to purchase the Bible College of Wales. I feel so excited to be a part of this awesome work that God is doing. Like Ps Yang, I've always been inspired by Evan Roberts, and the revival in Wales. Am really looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in the nation of Wales, and in the lands far and near, in future. Thank you Daddy for letting our church and our nation Singapore be a part of all that you are doing!

The article below was written by Ps Yang, published in Charisma Magazine, and I reproduce it here.  
    

In September 2011, a small team of pastors from my church in Singapore went on a short assignment to Wales. Our assignment was to re-dig the ancient revival wells and pray at the very places revival broke forth in Wales in the early 1900s.

Little did we know that a pleasant surprise waited for us in the seaside town of Swansea. At Swansea, we visited a place called Derwen Fawr, which in the Welsh language means “Great Oak” and is a reference to the great oak tree that stands in the gardens of the Bible college that Rees Howells established there in 1924.

It just so happens that 17 years ago, I picked up a book written by Norman Grubb, called Intercessor, that chronicled the life and times of that amazing man, Rees Howells. Besides the Bible, no other book has had as profound an influence on me as that book. I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that it was Howells and the wonderful praying saints at this little Bible college in Swansea who, through their amazing intercession, thwarted much of Hitler’s plans in World War II and altered the course of the war. They were also instrumental in the prayer and travail that birthed Israel as a nation in 1948. What a great debt we owe those wonderful saints!

In addition, the 1904 revival in Wales has always captivated me since my early days as a believer. I have longed for revival to come to my own nation of Singapore, and for some reason I have always felt deeply connected to the 1904 revival and the men who carried its fire.

You can understand, then, why I was saddened to hear during our visit that the property of the Bible college was being put up for sale—the board of trustees planned to sell it to a developer. I couldn’t bear the thought of them demolishing the site of such heritage, history and inheritance. So our team stood there that day, under a little drizzle, and cried out to God, asking Him to preserve the property.
It was a divine moment in God—one that would change the course of our church.

Claiming Our Field of Lentils
When we got back to Singapore, we started negotiating the purchase of the property. But after several months of negotiations, we got stuck over the price. The whole deal threatened to collapse, and I was a little despondent. We couldn’t come to an agreement.

During that period, our church was hosting its Kingdom Invasion conference, and on the second day of the conference, Bill Johnson preached an amazing sermon on supernatural courage. At the end of the message, he spoke about Shammah, one of David’s mighty men. We are told that in a conflict with the Philistines, the Philistine army had formed itself in a troop and that the children of Israel were in retreat. The Philistines came to a field of lentils, and Shammah, who knew the historic value of the field, stood his ground in the middle of it. His singular act of courage so inspired the Israelites that they turned back from their retreat and came to the battlefront, and on that day God gave a great victory to Israel. (See 2 Samuel 23:11-12.) Shammah’s name is recorded in eternity as one of the most courageous men.

For the longest time, I had pondered the significance of that field but never fully understood it—until that day. Bill remarked that the field was the very same field upon which David slayed Goliath. Shammah was defending a field that had much history to it. In other words, that field represented the past victories of God’s people. It represented their victory over the enemy. And to God, it carried important historical significance.

That just about unraveled me. Bill got all of us to stand, and I was weeping, and the presence of God came upon me like a mantle. I heard the Lord say to me, “Buy the Bible College of Wales.” Now I was a wreck and totally undone.

About 10 seconds later, a man walked up to me, put his arm on my shoulder and said, “The Lord is talking to you about buying the Bible College of Wales.” I don’t know if anything can be more prophetic than that. I made up my mind right there and then that no matter how much it was going to cost us, we would be valiant and purchase that piece of property without any discount. Like David, I was determined to buy it at full price. The Bible College of Wales was our field of lentils, and it was something I was going to defend with all my heart.

Poised for Revival Beyond Borders
Almost nine months later, on December 21, 2012, I stood in my church and announced that I had in my hand the title deed to the property. It was a glorious moment.

I do not fully understand everything about this situation, but I am convinced that the purchase and redemption of the Bible College of Wales is just one piece of the amazing puzzle God is revealing that is making ready a new revival to come to Wales—and to the nations.

Wales is undoubtedly the nation of revivals. No other nation on the planet has seen more revivals than that nation, with the possible exception of Israel. The revival that broke forth in Wales in 1904 is of special importance because of the power and influence it generated. There have been many other great moves of God through the ages, but most of them were localized. But two historic revivals—the Azusa Street Revival of 1906 in Los Angeles and the Welsh Revival of 1904—had international influence.

Both those revivals went past the shores of their countries of origin to impact generations in the nations. And we have this prophetic sense that what God did in that 1904 Welsh revival is still having a profound effect on us 100 years later. When the Lord told us to buy this property in Swansea and redeem it, we realized we were being pulled into the greater eternal purposes of God and that this could be a sign to the Welsh people that their time has come yet again. That God is now stirring the Welsh people to cry out for revival is a beautiful thing, and I have no doubt that we are at the cusp of another great wave of the Spirit.

What God is doing in Wales right now is unprecedented in almost 100 years. God is moving in a fresh way again in that little principality, and when the Welsh are stirred up for revival, we need to take note.

Prepare Yourself for the Ripples
An interesting phenomenon takes place every year at the southern tip of the South American continent. At a certain time of year, millions of butterflies come out of their cocoons and start to flap their wings. Because of the sheer number of them, the simultaneous flapping of wings is known to have a direct impact on the weather patterns in the Northern Hemisphere. This is called “the butterfly effect.”

In a similar way, what we do in the church has repercussions in places we sometimes don’t even know exist. It is like dropping a little pebble into a pond—we don’t know who is going to be affected by the ripples.

May the Lord bring forth the promised revival, and may we live to see and be a part of it.

Yang Tuck Yoong is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Community Church, an independent Pentecostal congregation based in Singapore.

To read about how to visit the Bible College of Wales and other significant revival sites through an organised Welsh revival tour, click here.

Holy laughter

Two nights ago - Maundy Thursday - we had an overnight prayer meeting in church. I love praying with my group because it's with a prophetic band of God-lovers! These are with folk, many of whom I've known for years. Over the years, we've journeyed with each other through life's ups and downs, I've seen some of them go through pretty trying times. Through it all, by God's grace, everyone has stayed fervent for the Lord!

And there is nothing more joyful than spending Maundy Thursday with a prophetic band of God lovers! Anyhow, we had gathered to pray - from 10pm to 7am ... and what I love about these times is the opportunity to commune with God, and to walk with Him. During these meetings, we periodically do a "Listening to God" corporately, and then we take our next steps as He says after hearing His voice. In the many years I've done this, I've always known it to be an adventure. God is always up to something, He does the most amazing things, and as we are led by the Spirit, and we follow His direction and counsel step by step, He always unfolds something breath-taking.

This night, we started off well. We worshipped, we listened to God, we prayed ... there was such a tangible presence of God in the place. By His grace, we were hearing Him well. I was hearing Him well. In our midst, there are seers, hearers, feelers ... God speaks to us in different ways. And the wonderful thing about the Body of Christ coming together to discern His voice and His heartbeat is that different ones perceive Him differently - by sight, sound, feeling. Since we see in part and prophesy in part, when we come together to share what we are getting, the piece that we get becomes clearer, and there is a delight!

Around midnight, we take some time out for a break, and I check my email...perhaps not such a wise thing to do. There was one mail I received that after reading, put me in dismay. I couldn't shake off the feeling of dismay, and when we regrouped for Round 2 of worship and listening to God, I was distracted, downcast, out of sorts. In short, my peace had been disturbed. At this time, no one in my group knew this, but it was also affecting my ability to see and listen from God. All I had was the tumult in my heart. This is really quite disastrous for a prophetic person!

But God is amazing and He is so good.

With worship, my despair lifted somewhat...and I was deeply impressed to pray a prayer "Holy Spirit, we give you freedom to do anything you want in our midst." This was confirmed by others, so our prayer leader prayed the prayer and released us to our own time with the Lord. I got off my seat, we all walked away in various directions for our own time with the Lord, and what happened next blew me away.

God zapped me with Holy laughter. He gave me a laughter that emanated from my belly (out of the belly shall flow rivers of living water), and I could not stop laughing. And it was such a deep laughter. Everytime I stopped, it would start again. It's the first time anything like this has happened to me, such a deep joy welling up from inside. Such a hilarity.

I knew it was supernatural, because of where the laughter was welling up from, from deep within the Spirit. But it is not so much the outward manifestation of this laughter that wowed me. It was the fruit of it. After that, I realised that although nothing had changed regarding the news in the email, and I still had a situation in my hands, the sting of it had gone. I wasn't as affected by it, and I wasn't as crushed by it. Yes, the best way to describe it is that the STING was gone.

Needless to say, I danced through the rest of the night (figuratively speaking). God restored joy and peace to me, I started to flow with the rest again, and had a wonderful time with the Lord! I marvel at all this, and now, two days later, continue to marvel.

I move in Pentescostal circles, love being led by the Spirit, and have oftentimes experienced travail ... where as intercessors, we weep while praying for someone/ something/ a nation as led by the Spirit. But until Thursday, I had never experienced holy laughter myself.

I've always thought holy laughter had a bit of a "bad rep", especially when one reads about the chaotic scenes in church sometimes when this phenomenon is manifested in the congregation. But now that I've had it happen to me myself, I can attest that God uses it as a healing tool. It is a powerful tool - Hallelujah!!!

Sure, as in any move of the Spirit, there are counterfeits, and it may be that sometimes, what we see manifested in some places is not of God. But it can be a genuine move of God too. God has many weapons in His arsenal, with which He uses to heal us or accomplish His purposes. May we just be vessels yielded to Him, and say "Lord, we give you the freedom to do whatever you want to in our lives."

I know when we are fully surrendered, He will take our breath away.

Being filled with the fullness of God

"I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:16-19)

If we have the power of God in us (as we do as Christians), why is it that so many of us live a powerless Christianity. The early Church in the book of Acts walked in the fullness of God. They preached the word and signs and wonders followed. They healed the sick, the lame walked, the blind saw. They were like their Master, Jesus.

Today, I find so much of the reality of the power of God missing from our lives. Yet, the world is searching. Just last week, my hairstylist shared why she abandoned the faith of her mother (Christianity) to convert to another faith. It was because the other God was able to dramatically deliver her from a demonic affliction. It broke my heart to hear that, because our God is able to save to the uttermost. Yet, if we are His ambassadors, we don't bring his hope to a lost and dying world. For the most part, we don't carry His power and presence, heal the sick, deliver the oppressed ... We don't represent Jesus and the good news of the Gospel terribly well.

I speak for myself in all this, and I asked God what it would take for us ... for me ... to be able to move in a greater dimension of His authority, His power.

The Lord convicted me of two things:

1. To walk in a greater dimension of power, we need to live a fasted lifestyle.

One of my big ahas was to read in Luke 4 that prior to His 40-day fast, Jesus was "full of the Holy Spirit". After His 40-day fast in the wilderness, where He overcame the temptations, Jesus returned in the "power of the Spirit" from whence He began His ministry. There is a shift here. Jesus also tells His disciples that in a particular deliverance, they were ineffective because "this kind only comes out by prayer and fasting".

2. To release His power to those around us, we must first be filled with Him to the point of overflowing. The analogy He brought to mind is the cup in Psalms 23. "You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows." And how do we get the fullness of Christ? Ephesians 6 says it is in knowing the height, depth, length, breadth of the love of God that we will be filled with Him. We love only to the measure of our understanding of His love of us. If we really truly knew how much He loves us, we would be completely undone.

Last year, when IHOP's Matt Candler was in Singapore speaking about the Father's love, I got such a deep revelation of how much He loves me that I couldn't stop crying. My altar minister thought I was going through hard times as I was crying so hard! Truth is, I was totally undone by the knowledge of His great love for me.

Since then, I have been praying a prayer that Matt taught us ... "Father, please increase my capacity to know your love and my capacity to love you." It's been one of the simplest but most life transforming prayers for me, even as I pray it regularly, and now I know that knowing His love is key to being filled by Him.

At the end of the day, our walk with God is such a beautiful one. It is not burdensome. The outflow of power to touch and heal lives comes not from striving but in sitting in the presence of God, gazing upon His face, having Him love on us. Oh that we may know that truth, and out of that place of communion and revelation knowledge, to be a potent force just like the early Church was. Amen.

Healing at a sushi bar

Wonderful testimony from my friend Dean who is Japanese American, and who was bringing the love and power of Jesus to others in his everyday life. I think that's what it means by being supernaturally natural. Simply fabulous!!

  

Our team went to eat at a sushi bar on our last night in Kochi Shikoku. We sat in front of this sushi chef. When he found out I was from Hawaii, he asked, "Why are you here in Kochi?" I told him for church. He asked, "What do you do? Evan...gelism, teach, missions, what?" We said, "Training!" He said, "I don't believe in spiritual things?" Tetsuro, explained that we just came from a time of praying for healing at a church in their city. He asked, "Do you do exorcisms?" Tetsuro replied, "Yes, he does that too!" The chef was a bit shocked! Then Tetsuro asked, "Do you need healing?" He replied, "No, I am really healthy! I don't have any physical problems!"

 

Then the Lord spoke to me, "Ask him about his wrist?" So I did! Immediately, he was in shock! He kept saying, "Who told you that?"  He shared, he had problems with his wrist but never told anyone about it. Not even the other sushi chefs. It would happen when he made the egg. Apparently, he just started at this restaurant and he was the lowest of the chefs, so he had to fry the eggs for the sushi.
First when I asked if he wanted prayer for his wrist, he said, "No!" Finally he allowed me to pray for it.

 

I knew the Lord had already healed him, but so not to panic him completely, I asked if I could touch his wrist. He said, "Okay," then stuck our his hand over the counter. I just touched it for about 2 seconds, then said to him, "Try it out!" He started moving his wrist in circles and said, "Huh? How did you do that?" He was even more in shock as he realized his wrist had been healed that simply." I shared that the Lord had spoke to me about his wrist and that opened the way for him to share about his wife who is experiencing demonic problems. Then I told him, if he gave his life to Jesus, Jesus would use him to heal people and cast out spirits. Again, he was shocked, and said, "How do you know that?" I said, "Kami sama (God) told me!" I also shared that he has this gift, but only Jesus can unlocked it." He staggered and said, "Long ago, a shinto priest told him the exact thing and that up to the age of thirty he could see things but it stopped." It was all true!

 I knew I could have led him to the Lord, but I felt Jesus stopped me. Instead, we wrote the salvation prayer down for him with the address of the church we visited. The head chef who was listening and standing next to him in the center area, said to him, "Give him your mesh! (Business card) So we exchanged our cards. As we left I took this picture of him, he was all smiles, and said, "I will go to church! and bowed very low to me!" Sometimes before we can lead people to Jesus, just as important is that they can find a community to fellowship and be supported in ... especially for people in Japan!