Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus

Friday, my dad passed on and went home to the Lord.  Sunday, we had the funeral service. When I reached home, I couldn't stop humming the hymn "Jesus, Jesus, how I trust you." I don't know where that came from, because we didn't sing it in the funeral service. I just think the Lord put it there because it's a truth he wants me to hold onto - that he is eminently trustworthy.

Picking up from my earlier blogpost, David Wilkerson writes: "Let me tell you what truly satisfies the heart of our Lord. It is the child of His who completely rests in His love, His power, and His wisdom. It is the child who can say, "I know He has all power, He can heal and save by whatever means He chooses - but He also is all wisdom, and I will trust completely even when I don't understand His workings."



And here is the wonderful story behind the hymn. 



’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, 
Just to take Him at His Word; 
Just to rest upon His promise, 
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!” 

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! 
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er; 
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! 
Oh, for grace to trust Him more! 

Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus, 
Just to trust His cleansing blood; 
And in simple faith to plunge me 
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood! 

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus, 
Just from sin and self to cease; 
Just from Jesus simply taking 
Life and rest, and joy and peace. 

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, 
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend; 
And I know that Thou art with me, 
Wilt be with me to the end.

Christ suffers when those he loves most doubt His love, wisdom and power (David Wilkerson)

In February, a friend passed on from stage four stomach cancer. We had prayed for her, and I had a word from the Lord that He would show her His glory - that is, to cause all his goodness to pass before her. I was contending for her healing. When she passed on, I was really sad, disappointed in God even. Even though she had said the sinner's prayer a week before she passed on, which was surely more deserving of rejoicing! Other Christian friends told me that she was now with the Lord, where she is perfectly healed. But for the physical healing-fixated me, it was heartbreaking.

Early this week, the Lord led me to read the book of Philippians. As I read it, I prayed the prayers in the book which Paul prayed. Until I came to a line Paul said in Phil 3:10 - that "I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead".

Oh I couldn't pray this line for myself. I wanted the power of his resurrection alright! But I could hardly bring myself to pray that I would know the fellowship of his sufferings. It seemed like one of those scary prayers one would regret praying.

So I dug deeper. And chanced upon this sermon by David Wilkerson. What struck me was where he says,"Let me tell you what truly satisfies the heart of our Lord. It is the child of His who completely rests in His love, His power, and His wisdom. It is the child who can say, "I know He has all power, He can heal and save by whatever means He chooses - but He also is all wisdom, and I will trust completely even when I don't understand His workings." The church is full of people who believe in His power. That is all they know; it is all they want. Oh, how they trust when they see miracles and blessings. But let God in His wisdom take a loved one home to Himself, and those same power brokers either pout, or they go into a tailspin of fear and unbelief. They end up accusing God of unfairness. I believe in miracles! I believe in healing! He can heal cancer or any other disease. I believe my great God has a mighty arm that has authority over all the universe, all of nature, and all kingdoms of darkness. But I don't trust Him at all if I cannot believe He will do what is right -- through good times and bad, through sickness and health, through life or death. I refuse to push God -- I prefer to rest in His power, mercy, and wisdom."

That pierced my heart. I realised that in contending for healing, I had become one of those power brokers myself. I had forgotten that God is not just power, but love and wisdom. And that He can heal, but He can also choose not to. And that when He does not, we need to say, I trust you completely because your plans are perfect. Everything that happens, happens because your highest love, your highest wisdom is at work.

Four days after reading this text from David Wilkerson, the Lord took my Dad home. My dad was in hospital, but due to be discharged that day. And while talking his doctor, he went into a massive cardiac arrest, and could not be revived. I thank God that he had showed me this passage just four days earlier. Almost saying to me beforehand, Child, if I take Dad home, would you choose to trust that this is my highest love, my highest wisdom, my highest power at work?

I may not always understand His ways. But He is all-loving, all-wise, all-powerful. In that I rest. Amen.

Sermon from David Wilkerson
Jesus loved Lazarus. He also dearly loved his two sisters, Mary and Martha. Their home was an oasis for the Master. We know Lazarus and his family loved Jesus, but the Scripture is most emphatic in pointing out Christ's love for them:"He whom Christ loved was sick..." (John 11:3). When Jesus heard that, He sent them a message: "This sickness is not unto death; but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby..." (John 11:4).

Jesus knew that His Father intended that this miracle among His most beloved friends should give Him glory and hopefully, give them confidence and faith!

But what an experience of deep suffering it turned out to be for Jesus. The disciples doubted Him. Mary and Martha doubted Him. So did the weeping friends of Lazarus. Did Mary know how deeply she hurt Him when she accused Him of being preoccupied and disinterested in their problem? "...Lord, if you had just taken the effort to be here on time -- it's too late now... the damage is done."

Did Martha know how it hurt her Master when she questioned His resurrection power? He had plainly told her, "Thy brother shall rise again." But His word was not enough: "Oh, yes, on resurrection day he will arise -but what about now?"

How painful it must have been for Christ to have His dearest friends doubt He had all the power they needed. "Don't you know who I am yet?" is what the Lord was seeming to say. "I am the resurrection, and the life... believe in me. I have the power, the life..."

I don't think we know how deep the pain was for Him at that moment. His own disciples couldn't grasp the concept of who He was. It was awful enough that His own nation of people knew Him not, but those He loved dearly - how could they not recognize His power? Could He have said to Himself, "Not even my dearest friends believe - who then will ever believe? It is the ignoring of His power that causes such pain and distress to our lord! If we, His dearest friends, will not trust His power and faithfulness - who ever will? We call Him friend, Lord - but we do not live our lives as though He had the power needed to keep us victorious and joyful.

In recent weeks the Holy Spirit has been asking me repeatedly, "Is He really Lord? Is He truly Lord to you?" I testify to others that He is Lord! I tell myself that He is! But there are times I must cause Him so much hurt because I doubt Him in the times of need and crisis. If He is Lord, why do we live in such fear? Why do sickness and death so frighten us? Why do we live so down, so empty, so dry - when our Creator Lord has all power, all might, all wisdom! No wonder Jesus wept!

Let me tell you what truly satisfies the heart of our Lord. It is the child of His who completely rests in His love, His power, and His wisdom. It is the child who can say, "I know He has all power, He can heal and save by whatever means He chooses - but He also is all wisdom, and I will trust completely even when I don't understand His workings. The church is full of people who believe in His power. That is all they know; it is all they want. Oh, how they trust when they see miracles and blessings. But let God in His wisdom take a loved one home to Himself, and those same power brokers either pout, or they go into a tailspin of fear and unbelief. They end up accusing God of unfairness I believe in miracles! I believe in healing! He can heal cancer or any other disease. I believe my great God has a mighty arm that has authority over all the universe, all of nature, and all kingdoms of darkness. But I don't trust Him at all if I cannot believe He will do what is right -- through good times and bad, through sickness and health, through life or death. I refuse to push God -- I prefer to rest in His power, mercy, and wisdom.

I fellowship in Christ's suffering when I grieve over Christians who believe God can get glory only in miracles, signs and wonders. Jesus Himself said, "This sickness of [Lazarus]... is for the glory of God..." Not just the resurrection from the dead, but the sickness also. Some Christians cringe at the thought that God can get glory out of any illness.

But I'll go a step further and say that God can even get glory out of the death of His saints, as He did with the suffering and death of His own Son. I repeat my concept that death in Christ is the ultimate healing. It is not doubt to rest in the wisdom of God to overrule our prayers, even our faith. Job could say, after seeing no relief -- "Though he slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15).

What Mary and Martha should have done was to rest in Christ's love and power - telling Him, "Lord, we know you are well able to raise him up. But, if not, you must have supernatural reasons, backed by holy wisdom - so we accept joyfully your ways. I know a dying family in Ohio who is bringing more glory to God than most healthy Christians in that state.

The singing Sigrist family suffers a rare form of cancer. Two daughters have gone to be with Christ - another is stricken. The father has a large tumor in his stomach. They live on the brink of death. But, oh, the victory in that household! They rejoice in God's love and faithfulness. Newspapers have carried the story of their faith throughout the state. They have such great faith in Christ's healing power - but also a complete confidence in His wisdom and love. They rest in God, preferring His will to their own.

People who hear their story say, "That's the kind of faith I want! That's the kind of God I want to serve. One who can give such peace and rest in the very face of death itself. A God who keeps you from coming apart in a crisis." "Blessed are they who have not seen, yet believe... "(John 20:29).

I believe God can get glory out of any and all situations. He doesn't need a miracle to get Him glory. He can cause even the wrath of men to praise Him. The sweetest grace of all is that which Christ gives to those who are led through the valley and shadow of death. They are the ones who know the glory of His comfort and the beauty of His rest. They look death in the eye and feel no alarm. Even pain and sickness can bring forth the most glorious revelation of the actual presence of Jesus. He makes our bed, in sickness (Ps. 41:3). Our family can vouch for that also. Through Job-like trials, Christ revealed Himself in ways beyond the glory of miracles.

The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

Was feeling very burdened today, not knowing entirely why, and was surprised to hear myself pray out loud, "Lord, do not let me miss the harvest."

After I uttered it, I thought to myself, is it even possible, that we should miss the harvest? That was when the Lord reminded me of this verse from Jeremiah 8. "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."

He also reminded me that it is possible that the fields are white unto harvest, and we may miss it altogether. That's why he says in Luke 10:2, the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.

The blog "A case for God" quotes Dr Neal Chadwick as explaining that in Israel's agricultural economy, there were three main harvests. The barley harvest is the first, and occurred in the spring around the time of Passover. About six weeks later, the wheat harvest would commence at Pentecost, and in the fall, corresponding to the Feast of the Tabernacles, was the fruit harvest.

When the people cried about the harvest being over and summer being gone, they were lamenting that the time for the grain harvests had past and they had not been able to reap the fields. This would mean that they would head into winter without any food supplies. Famine and death would follow.

In the New Testament, the idea of “harvest” is connected with the ingathering of souls into the Kingdom of God. That's part of the significance of the harvest festival of Pentecost when 3,000 people were welcomed into the first church.

Is it possible that the harvest may come and go and we will miss it altogether because of our complacency, or lack of compassion, or lack of urgency? Is it possible we will miss it altogether because of the lack of workers in the harvest field?

The blog "A Case for God" also observes that there is coming a time when God's patience will be exhausted, and He will bring to an end the present age and the world as we know it. It says, "This will bring to a conclusion the harvest, and the summer of opportunity to be saved will be over. In that day, there will be many who will repeat the saying first spoken by Jeremiah's contemporaries, 'The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.'"

What a sobering thought. That thought made me cry.

I am praying for my nation Singapore that the Christians among us will see the ripe fields before us, and that we will evangelise those around us. "We must work while it is yet day, for soon night will come, when no one can work." (John 9:4)

For those who do not yet know Jesus as personal Lord and Saviour, Christ has died for you, and he longs for you to  accept his gift of sacrifice by which you will be saved. All we need to do is, “Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, and thou shall be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10)

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

Lamb of God 神的羔羊

Last night, I had a dream. In the dream, God spoke to me about 羊 - Lamb. I awoke, and it is Good Friday. The word really stirred my spirit, and so today, I began to really delve into what it means that Jesus is the Lamb of God.

In Genesis 22, God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his only Son, at the Mount.

Early the next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day, Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey, while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." 

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied. 

"The fire and the wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the Lamb for the burnt offering?" 

Abraham answered, "God Himself will provide the Lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together (Genesis 22:3-8) 

It struck me that Abraham said, "God Himself will provide the Lamb." 

What a prophetic declaration of Jesus, who in Isaiah 53 is described like "a lamb that is led to the slaughter". In Revelation 5, when John sees the Lord in the heavenly vision, he sees "a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth." 

This is my Saviour, the one of whom John the Baptist says "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

He is the one whom Abraham foretold in Genesis, God himself will provide the Lamb. God provided his own Son as the sacrifice and atonement for our sin. 

What grace is this. What love is this. 

God's loving kindness

On this Good Friday, I read this story in the news:

With the noose around his neck, Iranian killer pardoned by victim’s mother Parents choose to spare convicted murderer moments before he was to be hanged (BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF April 17, 2014, 10:48 pm)

The execution of an Iranian man convicted of murder was called off only moments before his hanging was set to take place, after the mother of the killer’s victim requested a pardon.

Balal Abdullah was sentenced to death after he stabbed Abdollah Hosseinzadeh, who was 17 at the time, to death during a street fight in the town of Royan seven years ago. 

Abdullah, 24, was scheduled to be hanged on Tuesday in the city of Nowshah. As the noose was tightened around Abdullah’s neck, Hosseinzadeh’s mother approached the convicted killer and announced that she had chosen to forgive him. Hosseinzadeh’s father untied the noose a short while later. Abdullah’s own mother ran up to Hosseinzadeh’s mother and hugged her. The two proceeded to weep in each other’s arms.

Hosseinzadeh’s father stated that he and his spouse had decided to pardon the young Abdullah following a dream his wife had, in which their son begged them them not to avenge his death. “Three days ago my wife saw my elder son in a dream telling her that they are in a good place, and for her not to retaliate,” he said. ”This calmed my wife and we decided to think more until the day of the execution.”

Despite his pardon, Abdullah will most probably remain in prison. According to a literal interpretation of Sharia law, the parents of a murder victim may take part in the hanging of the killer by kicking the chair out from under his feet. On the other hand, the parents may choose to spare the convict’s life. 

Someone wrote in response to this story that this is the chesed ... Loving kindness. It made me tear up remembering on this Good Friday of the chesed of God, his loving kindness. It made me tear up thinking of the two mothers in this story hugging each other, weeping in each other's arms. One had lost a son to crime, and was only asking for justice. The other was losing her son to justice. The grief, the pain, of both.

Like Balal Abdullah, the wages of my sin is death. For God's justice and holiness demands that the guilty one be punished. For justice had to be done. But my Father God in his loving kindness chose to spare me from death. Instead, his Son Jesus took my place, dying for my sins, paying the penalty for me, to buy my pardon.

'Surely he has borne our griefs
 And carried our sorrows
 Yet we esteemed him stricken
 Smitten by God, and afflicted.
 But he was wounded for our transgressions
 He was bruised for our iniquities
 The chastisement of our peace was upon him
 And by his stripes we are healed.
 All we like sheep have gone astray
 We have turned, every one, to his own way,
And The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

Here's a great video on his Amazing Love.