Musings of a redeemed one

Dwelling in the house of the Lord

2012-01-29T22:30:00.003+08:00

"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

2012-01-04T23:38:00.004+08:00

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

2012-01-01T01:41:00.002+08:00

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!

I love your presence (Jenn Johnson)

2011-12-24T21:04:00.000+08:00

Franklin D. Roosevelt - strength of spirit

2011-12-23T00:59:00.005+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was channel surfing, and landed on the History Channel. It was airing the tail end of a documentary on Pearl Harbour, and I lingered because the story has always fascinated me. But the next programme was what got me hooked. It was about Franklin Delano Roosevelt - then President of the United States - at the time of the Pearl Harbour bombing.

Before watching the programme, I didn't know anything about FDR. After watching it, I was really taken by him, and felt that I needed to study more about his life. Throughout it all, I felt God was saying something to me - about how to develop a strong spirit.

But first, here are some nuggets about FDR, and why I consider him to have incredible strength of character:

1. He was president of the United States from 1933-1945, which meant he was leading the nation through one of its most difficult periods of history (The Great Depression, and World War II). The people were frightened, the nation was in an unprecedented and very troubled time, and he gave them leadership and hope.

2. At the age of 39, he was diagnosed with polio, which left him paralysed from the waist down. In the book "Character Above All" (Edited by Robert A Wilson), it is written: "The actor Gregory Peck recalled waiting at a harbor when he was a boy to catch his first glimpse of the President. Like most Americans, Peck had no idea that Roosevelt was a paraplegic. While he knew that Roosevelt had had polio when he was younger, he had no understanding of the full extent of his disability, no idea that he had to call for his valet every morning to help him get out of bed. Because there was an unspoken code of honor on the part of the press never to photograph the President looking crippled, never to show him helpless, never to show him on his crutches or in his wheelchair, most people simply assumed that the polio had left him a bit lame but that he could still walk on his own power.

"So when the young Gregory Peck stood on the dock that day and saw Roosevelt being carried off the boat like a child, he was so stunned that he started to cry. But then, Peck recalled, Roosevelt instantly put everyone at ease. As soon as he was placed in his chair, he put his hat on his head, placed his cigarette holder in his mouth, waved to the crowd, and smiled his dazzling smile, and suddenly Peck said, 'I started clapping and everything was fine. He seemed with every gesture to be saying, 'I'm not pitying myself, so why should you worry about me?"

His wife Eleanor Roosevelt called the polio "his trial by fire". "I think probably the thing that took most courage in his life was his mastery and meeting of polio. I never heard him complain. He just accepted it as one of those things that was given you as discipline in life." After his struggle with polio, he seemed less arrogant, less smug, less superficial, more focused, more complex, more interesting. "There had been a plowing up of his nature" Frances Perkins commented. "The man emerged completely warm-hearted, with new humility of spirit, and a firmer understanding of philosophical concepts."

When he died, the nation mourned greatly for him, which underlines just what a strong, well-loved leader he was in a time when the US was in the crucible of fire (and despite he having to deal with his own disability). The New York Times editorialised that "men will thank God on their knees a hundred years from now... that FDR was in the White House."

All this was fascinating to me. What gave FDR so much strength, that he could not only carry himself but an entire nation through a troubled time; and give himself and them hope to overcome? It is said that one of the most significant achievements of his presidency is "the renewal of courage and hope and faith of the American people".

In an essay of FDR by author Doris Kearns Goodwin, she says the strength came from "an inner well of serenity ... which proved to be an unending source of spiritual refreshment for Roosevelt".

An inner well of serenity. Those words jumped out at me. It is a stillness, a calmness, an inner peace in spite of the outer turmoil, an unshakeable confidence. It is about having an anchor for the soul.

The verse that keeps coming back to me is:
"I have set the Lord always before me,
Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved (shaken)." (Psalm 16:8)

I am definitely not there yet. But I know this is a quality that God wants to cultivate in His people. We cannot be spiritual warriors unless our hearts are still even when there is trouble all around.

This is an old song by Don Moen that I started to sing tonight - God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Amen.

I need you more (Kim Walker)

2011-12-19T00:15:00.003+08:00

Beautiful, beautiful song, which expresses a deep, heartfelt love for the Lord!

I need You more, more than yesterday
I need You Lord, more than words can say
I need You more, than ever before
I need You Lord
I need You Lord

More than the air I breathe
More than the song I sing
More than the next heartbeat
More than anything
And Lord, as time goes by, I will be by your side
Cause I never want to go back to my old life.

We give you the highest praise...

Prophetic Worship (Views by Matt Redman)

2011-12-13T01:03:00.002+08:00

There's a sense in which the prophetic flows from that place of Intimacy. You have to be close to God to hear His voice... He speaks with a whisper. He maybe shouts to His enemies but to His friends He whispers. If you want to sing, play or dance prophetically, it has to come out of place which is close to God.. where you hear His voice, you become His spokesperson.

The prophetic is that which reveals Jesus. In Revelation it tells us that the spirit of prophecy is "the" testimony of Jesus, it's that which reveals Jesus. We often think of the prophetic about revealing the future; but the prophetic is far more about revealing Jesus. The heart of the prophetic, the heart of God is to reveal Jesus. That can come about in so many different ways; you could reveal the heart of God through dance, a spontaneous song - 'a song of the Lord'. The effect of that spontaneity is that people are drawn closer to Jesus.

The prophetic could be that you really feel to play a song one day, an old song maybe, but you feel this is the song the for tonight; and you play it and it is the song for tonight That's prophetic, something happened there which revealed Jesus; it brought us into His Presence more and more... it revealed the heart of God. We mustn't fall into the trap of thinking that the prophetic is just one thing... silence could be prophetic. You hear the voice of God and you act in such a way that it brings people closer to Jesus. Prophetic playing may bring a time of intercession or compassion for the lost, but the effect is always ultimately to glorify Jesus.

Prophetic worship is not a new thing; the Psalms are great example of prophetic worship, they revealed the future and they also revealed Jesus. In 2 Kings 3:15 Elisha said, "Bring me a harpist, and while the harpist was playing the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha." People may have experienced that in a meeting; all you're doing is playing and it's revealing the Lord; the Presence of the Lord is being ushered in... just through playing.

Just in the same way that God speaks through creation; you see a lovely landscape and you think 'now I know there's a God, I can sense Him speak through these things'. It's the same in music; you can hear Him speak through music which is just another part of creation. God created it for His glory and His honour but it can be used in many different ways; even sometimes when someone is not playing it for the glory of God (example Dave Gilmore with Pink Floyd playing a big guitar solo) it points you towards the Lord. How much more so, we who are saved, with our music point people towards the Lord; usher them into His Presence. It allows peoples minds and their hearts and their spirits be stirred, even by the music alone. Again in the Old Testament; I Chronicles 25:3 it talks about Jeduthun's sons. It says they prophesied using the harp, thanking and praising the Lord.

It doesn't always have to be spontaneous. You maybe preparing for the meeting and you write a little song, and that song will only ever get sung in that meeting; it seems to be the song of the moment.. addressing something that is on the Lord's heart for that night

Sometimes we're just playing along, the worship time is just normal; and then into the worship leaders mind, or a dancer or musician, comes something. And because that's the thing on the Lord's heart for that moment, and that's how He's chosen to reveal Himself, suddenly something happens... there's a dynamic... you change gears as it were; you find yourself even deeper in the Lord's Presence.

A prophetic word will break through into your life. In the same way prophetic songs, dance, music will cause a breakthrough in a time of worship. People sit up and listen when you prophesy over them, a change occurs. It's the same in worship. People get ushered into the Lord's Presence through the prophetic in our playing or in our words. That's what we should be aiming for. Our aim is to put people in touch with God.

Playing or singing prophetically is like walking a tight rope; sometimes all I have is a line in my head and I think 'OK then, here we go'. The thing about walking a tight rope is that you mustn't look down. In the same way when stepping out in the prophetic keep look 'straight ahead' towards God. Keep focusing on the Lord, focusing towards Jesus. I keep my eyes shut personally, because there will always be a few people giving you a weird look. lf you lookdown and worry about falling you probably will.

The Bible says we only see in part when we prophecy. One day we'll see in full. Often with the prophetic we won't understand the whole of what we're singing or be consciously cognizant that we're not seeing the whole picture.

I was in Norway once and in the middle of the worship time I felt the Lord put the Michael Jackson song 'You are not alone, I am here with you' into my head. So I sang this song out and at the end of it I felt 'Oh no, what have I done', I thought - at least I'm in Norway, we'll be going home in a couple of days'. At the end of that I felt 'that was not from the Lord... your a prat.'. But then this lady comes up to me at the end and says 'I've been desperate for the Lord, I've been crying out for him and I came tonight In the car I said to God I felt so alone, where are You... You're not with me.'. That seemed to be the heart of God for that day... God will often leave the 99 to go after the 1.

The Throne Room (Graham Cooke)

2011-12-08T21:55:00.004+08:00

Completely love this sharing by Graham Cooke - as it gives a new perspective on what to do with people who offend us. "God allows in his wisdom what he can easily prevent by his power." The difficult people He puts in our lives are there, many a time, to shape us. Lord, give us the grace to see things the way you see them.

Child of God (Kathryn Scott)

2011-12-03T23:36:00.005+08:00

Beautiful beautiful song about the greatness of the Father's love for us.
Been attending the Father Heart conference in Singapore, and am once again reminded that it is only in knowing His love for us that we will be sustained through life's journey.
Love is the only thing worth living for and dying for.
It is such a privilege to be known and loved and held by God, now and forevermore. May we know this and drink of His everlasting love deeply.

With every breath, with every thought
From what is seen to the deepest part
I offer all that I’ve come to be
To know Your love Fathering me

Father You’re all I need
My soul’s sufficiency
My strength when I am weak
That love that carries me
Your arms enfold me, till I am only
A child of God

With every step on this journey’s walk
And wisdom’s songs that the soul has sought
I give myself unreservedly
To know Your love fathering me

The Way of the Warrior (Graham Cooke)

2011-11-27T19:25:00.005+08:00

At the YWAM retreat, the Lord spoke to me about spiritual warfare - namely, that if we can be at rest in the spirit even amidst a storm, that is when we will overcome. It's something I still need to process, but Graham Cooke's The Way of the Warrior helps immensely in making sense of many things I am still pondering...

Spiritual warfare is primarily about discovering the sovereignty, supremacy and the majesty of Jesus and learning to track from heaven to earth, rather than earth to heaven.

The fruit of the spirit is a more powerful weapon against the enemy than the gifts of the spirit. The nature of God, which makes us Christ-like, is the very thing that overwhelms and defeats the enemy. Our circumstances are not the problem; it’s our perception of that which is the problem. When you are a warrior, you start with a perception that comes direct from heaven.

When you deliberately align yourself with how you are known in heaven, how you are perceived in heaven, what your identity is that comes to you from heaven, you step into a place of agreement, you step into that place of alignment, and the intentionality of that identity. And it is your identity that opens up a way for you to experience and come into your destiny, what you were created for, what your role is in the earth, what your persona is in terms of how you’re known in heaven. When you begin to deliberately align yourself with how God sees you, that’s when you notice that the intentionality of God himself flows into your life in such a powerful way that you become significant even when you’re not trying to.

I find the last quote, in particular, very interesting. How does God see you? Ask him! I have found that His view is always refreshing! And He always think of us very highly, because we are much loved by Him.

Reflections on YWAM The Call (One Body, many parts)

2011-11-26T21:39:00.004+08:00

Attended the YWAM - The Call retreat over a week ago. It was an awesome four days with the Lord, and I count it a great honour and privilege to have journeyed with the organising committee and walked with them as a prayer partner throughout this time. It is especially a privilege for me because despite my rather tenuous link with YWAM, they took me into their fold. It gave me a behind-the-scenes picture of the preparation work behind this amazing retreat, and has taught me so much!

One big reason the retreat was so awesome is that from the start, the Holy Spirit was given plenty of room to have His way. Unlike pre-planned or pre-programmed meetings, there was a large dose of listening to God, to hear what He wanted, before moving out. It was, as far as we could, letting God set His agenda. It required a new paradigm to how we Singaporeans, consummate planners that we are, do meetings. As an example, on Day 2, I asked the organising team who would lead worship on Day 3, and was shocked that they hadn't yet firmed this up. I was panicking on their behalf, but they hadn't finalised the team because God hadn't spoken. Hence, they weren't going to move in presumption. Wow.

Because I had the privilege of praying with the organising team, and was privy to their pre-gathering discussions, one thing that struck me was how we sometimes had to launch out in faith with God alone as our safety net. Before one particular session on worship, the team had met (like we always did), to pray and ask God how He wanted us to run the session. The collective, corporate revelation we had was probably only 50%, when it was time for the session to begin. Again, if I was leading this session, I would have panicked! The Lord had given us revelation to start the session, but no sense of how to run the middle or end part! We had to trust that He would take the reins and glorify Himself through it. It turned out to be one of the most breathtaking sessions of all, because I believe the Holy Spirit honoured the team for giving Him the freedom to move.

One other big learning is something the Lord has been teaching me these past months -of the preciousness of the Body (One Body, many parts) walking together. For me, this was just precious to behold:

1. Prophetic minstrels - the sessions were phenomenal because the worship was incredible. The worship leaders, with their talent and giftings, yielded up to the Lord, were able to bring us into the Holy of Holies, the very throne room of God. They were hearing God as much as the intercessors were, and ushering in the presence of God through song. One worship leader, a friend of mine, broke into prophetic song for the very first time in her life, and it was one of the most ministering songs I've heard in a long time. They blessed us with their anointing.

2. Intercessors - In "The Kneeling Christian", which I have been recently reading, one quote has just stuck in my head. The author said, "All fruitfulness in service is the outcome of prayer - of the worker's prayers, or of those who are holding up holy hands on his behalf." Before one of the sessions, the worship leader asked the intercessors to pray during the worship. In his words, he said, "Throughout the entire practice session, I feel that the arrow has been missing the mark, and what is needed for the arrow to hit the target is intercession." I was floored by his humility, of his recognition of the importance of prayer fuelling worship. It turned out to be one of the most incredible worship times over the four days.

3. The teachers - After the worship, we had the word, and this was brought to us by very anointed teachers, who knew how to rightly divide the word of truth

4. The "grandparents" - In a meeting that is run so much by hearing God's voice, how is abuse prevented? How do we know we are hearing rightly, and not being deceived by our hearts? This is where the "grandparents" come in - the ones who have walked with the Lord for many more years, who have developed a deep intimacy with God, who have honed their discernment. They are there to protect us, and it is to their wisdom and counsel that we submit.

5. The nations - In this meeting, there were over 20 nations represented, and one thing the Lord is increasingly showing me is that there is a glory that is unveiled when the nations walk together. He has gifted each nation with its own unique anointing, and when we serve each other (as individuals, corporately, or as nations), it brings delight to His heart. As a case in point, on one of the days, the teaching was on freedom, and the breaking of chains. There were 4 Samoans in the meeting, and in one of the sessions, they felt led by God to do a Haka (a warrior dance), to symbolically war for the breaking of strongholds. When they did so, the spiritual atmosphere changed; it was highly charged, and I believe chains were broken that night.

"God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body." (1 Cor 12:18-19)

I have been greatly blessed because all the members of the body, diverse as we are, walked in our various giftings, and served the others according to our anointings. That partnership is precious, and I believe, brings the corporate church into a greater measure of the fullness of Christ.

The Father's Love (Matt Redman)

2011-11-20T23:14:00.003+08:00

I heard this song at the YWAM Associates retreat over the past four days, and have been playing it over and over again since. I find it so incredibly ministering ... and have broken down in tears just listening to it, and to know just how much God loves us. Over the last few days, one of the things I discovered about God is that what pleases Him is to see His children be just who He created them to be. At the meeting, we had 4 Samoans. These indigenous people have a special anointing, I believe, as a warring tribe. When one of the Samoans, a huge man, danced his native warrior dance in honour of the Lord, I could feel God's delight all over. It breaks my heart to know He loves us, he loves us, he loves us. We don't need to perform to earn that love, He loves us because we are His.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)

The Father's Love

I have heard so many songs
Listened to a thousand tongues
But there is one
That sounds above them all
[Sounds above them all]

The Father's song
The Father's love
You sung it over me and for eternity
It's written on my heart

CHORUS

It's Heaven's perfect mystery
The king of love has sent for me
And now you're singing over me
The Father's song

The ACS Clock Tower Revival of 1972

2011-11-15T09:26:00.009+08:00

For a while now, I've heard snippets of the Clock Tower Revival at ACS Barker in the 1970s, but they have just been bits and pieces. So when a friend passed me a little booklet "The Clock Tower Story: The Beginnings of the Charismatic Renewals in Singapore" (edited by Michael Poon and Malcolm Tan), it was exciting to me. Finally! Here was the complete story of what transpired at ACS so many years ago, when the Holy Spirit fell upon a bunch of young boys, whose lives were so indelibly changed, that a number of them because pastors in the Methodist Church in Singapore.

In a nutshell, the ACS Clock Tower was a place where groups of students gathered together for regular prayer. In 1972, the Holy Spirit moved upon the students "in a dramatic way ... the result was similar to the experience of the apostles at Pentecost". Nearly 30 years later, the students described it as "a move of God", "outpouring of the Holy Spirit", "baptism of the Holy Spirit", and "speaking in tongues". It was such a big thing at that time that two articles appeared in The Straits Times.

Given I have been thinking about revival for some time, here are some thoughts as I read this account that happened in Singapore nearly 40 years ago:

1. A prayer movement preceded the revival. As Malcolm Tan recounted it, "It cannot be denied that there was a very powerful prayer movement that was going on here in school prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And if you walked up Barker Road Hill in those days, you will see groups of ACS boys - five, three, four - just praying in the sanctuary of the Barker Road Methodist Church. Not only was the church full, but also the clock tower was full. Boys were meeting and praying."

2. There was such a tremendous zeal for prayer, the students used every opportunity -recess-time, before school hours, after school hours, to cry out to the Lord. I believe that God cannot resist the hunger and thirst for Him. As Noel Goh put it, in 1971, "we started to gather to pray, and we prayed every recess. Every recess, we would run to the clock tower. And when we hear the bell, we would quickly say 'Amen' and run back. It was quite a distance back to the Pre-U block. We would just be on time there panting away in the classroom".

"Sometimes, we would come before seven o'clock to pray before school starts. If we did not have prefect duties, and other duties, sometimes we would also stay back after school to pray. I remember we used the church garage. We took chairs there after school and would kneel there to pray until four or five o'clock and then go back."

3. Conditions must be right for the Holy Spirit outpouring. Some lay down their lives to lay the foundations for this, and it is only the ones that come after who enjoy the fullness of God. We must always honour the ones who go before us, because truly, their ceiling is our floor. Revival comes when the different generations are as one.

Malcolm Tan: "I wish you could feel the spiritual fervour in those days as people like Noel Goh, who led us in the Christian Fellowship. They were into Scripture memory, personal evangelism and prayer. And they influenced us in the younger generation."

Tan Khian Seng: "Rev Noel Goh was like John the Baptist who blazed the trail in the prayer movement. When he vacated the clock tower because he was slightly older, we took over."

4. If our experience does not square with the Scriptures, it is not because the Scriptures are wrong. The boys, who came from a Methodist background, did not know the Holy Spirit, having come from a more traditional conservative environment. But "they searched the Scriptures", and were convinced that the baptism of the Holy Spirit was right and true. Given this, they pressed in to God, asking that if this was true, that He should make it real in their lives. God responded to this, as He would. I love the simple faith expressed by Tan Khong Chew, "We went into the Word, took it at face value, and claimed the promises that God has given us. We began to see things happening in our lives."

5. Genuine moves of God can meet with tremendous opposition, both from the world and even the church itself. The Straits Times on 7 Nov 1972 reported that "some students who have been taking part in religious meetings after school hours have ended up either in hysterics or in a trance".

This doesn't surprise me. The world doesn't interpret the church, the word interprets the world. So when the world interprets the church, is it any surprise that it condemns or derides that which it doesn't understand?

But what was stunning to me was that the church condemned this movement too. In the ST report on 11 Nov, it was said that church leaders at 4 mainline Protestant churches likened the renewal to "a certain religious cult with unhealthy practices ... the trouble with young people is that they think it is a great experience to end up in hysterics".

6. God works behind the scenes to take care of all our needs. He prepares the way in advance, knowing what we need. After the clock tower revival, the school authorities clamped down on the boys meeting, so that they could mostly only meet with a teacher present. As one of the boys said, "Because most teachers were not willing to be with us, we could not meet."

Funny thing is that at this time, a Rev Hugh Baker, a veteran Pentescostal preacher, had his beautiful premises at Clemenceau Avenue taken away and he and his wife had to move to Bukit Timah. Said Rev Baker, "My wife and I were talking about this move, and we said certainly God must be going to do something great. We did not know about all of what was happening in ACS at that time." Because Rev Baker's centre was near ACS, he was the one who opened his house to the boys, and ministered to them often, teaching them about the things of the Holy Spirit.

7. Ps Melvin Huang: The hunger for the word, the hunger for prayer and the desire to preach the Gospel were the hallmarks of the revival.

8. I thought this musing by Rev Baker sums up this little known but glorious moment of history in ACS, which then spread across Singapore, and across denominations, beautifully:

"There is nothing in ourselves that merits anything from God. But God in His mercy and his grace and love sees the hunger of our hearts and the channel that is open for the moving of His Holy Spirit. And He begins to pour His Spirit into that channel and that begins to spread out. God was looking for channels.

"He found channels in ACS. He found channels in Swiss Cottage. He found channels in the Anglican Church. He found channels in the Methodist Church. He found channels in the Catholic Church. He found channels in the Baptist Church. And that's a miracle. He found people who were willing to be channels the Holy Spirit could move through. And in moving through, we begin to touch lives."

Finally, love this prayer as prayed by Rev Baker.

"Father, here I am. I just want to be the channel that you can use to ignite the revival that will not only spread across Singapore but will spread out to the rest of the world. And the world will come to know the glory, the majesty and power of your name. And the free flow of your Holy Spirit will demonstrate to the world the power of a living Christ. Thank you, Father, thank you, Father, thank you, Father."

The Cambridge Seven

2011-11-13T23:43:00.006+08:00

Today, I found out about a group of men known as the "Cambridge Seven", who gave their lives to the cause of Christ and became missionaries in China. Am deeply, deeply inspired by this, since they are from my alma mata. At their lives' end, all of them had run the race well, having stayed true to their original vision to evangelise Christ.

But what is equally inspiring is the story of Harold Schofield, of whom it is said prayed "night after night" to God to send labourers into the harvest field. Surely he who prays (and moves the hand of God) - and he who is sent - both labour equally. Am praying that I, like the Cambridge Seven, will view with right perspective the all-surpassing greatness of giving my life to His cause. He is worthy.

------
The Cambridge Seven (Reproduced from an article by Anthony B. Wong)

The seven young men who came to be known as "The Cambridge Seven" were all Englishmen, but the story of how God used this handful of students really begins in China, with a medical missionary named Dr. Harold Schofield. Dr. Schofield was a member of the China Inland Mission, the first Protestant mission allowed to penetrate into the interior of China and it was the mission pioneered by Hudson Taylor in 1866. Dr. Schofield had been a brilliant young doctor at Oxford who gave his life to Jesus and at the age of 29, God sent him to China as a missionary.

There was nothing glamorous about missionary life in the interior of China. The stench of dung, mingled with the stench of unwashed bodies was everywhere. Disease was common, especially among the poor, peasant class, and in fact, Dr. Schofield would later die from typhus, contracted in his mission field. At the time, few in England were interested in China mission. Fewer still had even heard of Hudson Taylor's China Inland Mission and the handful who did go to China were not university men, "trained in mind and body for leadership." Students in the universities were not interested in foreign missions and actually, there were not many students who were deeply interested in Jesus. Of the university students who had answered God's call to be missionaries, they wanted to follow the paths blazed by Dr. David Livingstone in Africa or the footsteps of William Carey in India.

As Dr. Schofield surveyed the province (Shansi) in which he lived, with its nine million unsaved heathen Chinese and only five or six missionaries total, combined with the sleeping church back in England, he should have packed up his bags and went home in utter defeat.

However, Dr. Schofield was a man of prayer and so night after night, "leaving behind food and leisure," he got on his knees and prayed that God would raise up Bible teachers and shepherds, especially from the universities and send them to China as missionaries. When Dr. Schofield died, he did not physically see much answer to his prayer. But God was working in such a way as not only to answer one man's faith and prayer but to awaken an entire nation from its spiritual slumber.

Brian Doerksen: Resting place

2011-10-21T23:40:00.003+08:00

This beautiful song is based on Isaiah 66. It blows my mind that God desires to dwell among men. He says "where will my resting place be"? In Genesis, God walks with men in the garden in the cool of the evening. After man sins, the entire bible chronicles God's singular mission to reconcile man to Himself through the death of Christ, so He can dwell with us once again.

Rev 21 shows His heartbeat and what happens at the End of the Age: "Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth' for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God."

I am just awestruck by the Father's great love for us!

While that is what happens at the story's end, in the meantime, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. What an amazing privilege that God Himself should dwell with us, in our hearts!

Heaven is my throne
And earth is my footstool
Where is the house you will build for me?
Whom of you will hear the cry of my heart?
Where will my resting place be?

Here Oh Lord
Have I prepared for You a home
Long have I desired for You to dwell
Here Oh Lord
Have I prepared a resting place
Here Oh Lord I wait for You alone

Running in a time of acceleration

2011-10-20T22:35:00.003+08:00

Of late, there seems to be an acceleration of events around us. A sense of the need to fasten one's seatbelt, because of the time compression all about us. God is fast-forwarding events, and also His saints, because time is short.

I am reminded of a couple of verses where God says RUN! (not meandering about, or taking a leisurely stroll, but RUN!)

In Habbakuk 2:2-3, for example, He says, "Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."

Or Jeremiah 12:5, which is all about running with horses. Horses! "If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

Interestingly, Elijah in 1 Kings actually outran King Ahab in his chariot... which must surely count as a miracle. It is a lesson in the supernatural strength and enablement that only the Holy Spirit can give.

Then there is what I call Holy Spirit transportation, which is even faster, as illustrated in Philip's encounter with the Ethopian eunuch in Acts. After Philip explained the gospel to him, and baptised him in a pool of water, "the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. But Philip was found at Azotus."

The closer we get to the end of the age and the imminent return of Jesus, the shorter time becomes. The time is coming when seed time and harvest will be the same time. The speed at which souls are swept into the kingdom will take place at an unprecedented pace!

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, "when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman, and the planter by the one treading grapes." (Amos 9:13)

God says in 2 Tim 4:2 "Be ready in season and out of season." If we are called upon to be ready even out of season, then how more so in this season of acceleration. Lord, make us ready to partner you for this great work of yours that is coming upon us! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Living your prophetic destiny (Graham Cooke)

2011-10-08T20:07:00.001+08:00

All of the tests you presently face are there to develop you into the person you need to be to live your destiny. Everything you are going through has been aligned by God to forge you into the person He has called you to be. Your destiny is unfolding before your very eyes. You have a battle to win, and He must prepare you for it.

When we embrace the idea that God has a plan for us, no issue should be able to stop us. The statement, “This situation will be the death of me,” is completely incorrect. The truth is that this situation will make you into who you are destined to be.

God partners with our present situation to prepare us for the future He has designed. He uses every test, every challenge, every hurdle, every issue to sharpen us for what is to come.

We can use the prophecies over our life to navigate our way through our present circumstance. God wants to establish intimacy as a way of life. He wants to cover us in His favor. This process starts by God establishing the fact that He is our source. Quietly and deliberately, God will strip away every crutch we have been relying on and obliterate anything that detracts from His ability to provide for us.

He wants to take away the false sense of security most of us have been clinging to. God is not in the business of playing second fiddle to anything—and certainly not to the many ways we try and take care of ourselves.

Lesson one is to go into the future and bring back the traits and intimacy we will need to fulfill our destiny. We must understand what that intimacy will look like. How must our relationship with God evolve and grow in order for us to become the person He has destined us to be?

When I was 31 years old, I had a dream about the kind of relationship with God I would have when I was 45. It was so alluring, so magnificent, so amazing, that I did not want to wait 14 years to get there. I was so hungry when I woke up that I immediately began to pray for that kind of intimacy to happen right away. I discovered something in the process of fighting for that word—I didn’t have to wait until I was 45 for it to come to pass. I had been looking prophetically at a 45-year-old who had lived in that intimacy for ten years!

Our timeline is not always God’s timeline. He often wants to bring breakthrough far sooner than we dare hope. I wanted that intimacy at age 31, thanks to God creating a deep hunger in me for it. I thought about it, meditated on it, prayed for it, and began to come into powerful times of worship. An hour worshipping God would turn into two and then three and sometimes six. I desperately wanted to know God, and God always answers an extreme desire for intimacy.

Prophetic words come to pass as our intimacy and reliance on God develops. Intimacy is a part of our destiny. Look at the prophetic words over your life and ask yourself about the intimacy you will need to live in that kind of wonder. Become hungry for that relationship, and your destiny will come into focus.

In Genesis 18:9, God says a remarkably simple thing about Abraham, His dear friend: “I have known him,” (NKJV). God wants that same intimacy with us, and has guaranteed that it can occur through the love and motivation of Jesus. Intimacy draws us and keeps us in the presence of God. Jesus taught on the importance of this relationship in John 15:4-5—Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Intimacy is a reciprocal act; there is exchange and dialogue. It is not a one-way street. There is interaction between us and the Lord Jesus, and that interaction results in us staying, dwelling, and remaining where God has put us in Christ.

The enemy wants to knock us out of that place of intimacy. He knows how key that relationship is to everything the Lord wants to accomplish, so he tries to poison it from the start. Without water, a seed won’t grow; the enemy wants to kill the seed of our destiny before we grow even a single inch. But our job is to be so established in an intimate relationship with God that nothing can come between us and Him.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting,” David sang in Psalm 139:23-24. That is the very crux of intimacy—allowing God to look deep into us and remove any blockage between Him and us. Everything in our lives, every situation we go through, is about growing our intimacy with God.

Tough love

2011-10-08T00:57:00.006+08:00

Just last week, a tumour started growing on the foot of Tom Yam, my pet hamster. Took him to the vet, and because he's a small creature, surgery isn't quite an option. Amputation is, and the vet assured me that Tom Yam's quality of life would still be pretty good even if he were down to three legs. But we thought we would defer that drastic move. In the meantime, I am to swab the tumour every day with a disinfectant to prevent an infection.

I know it hurts or stings badly when I swab the foot because Tom Yam struggles and winces every time. The other day, this mildest of hamsters even bit me because I insisted on putting him through the pain for his own good. It was the first time he ever bit me, probably because he really wanted me to stop putting him through pain.

It reminded me of this principle: In the fire, and trial, it really is about understanding and trusting God's love. It may be tough love. But it is love alright.

Graham Cooke writes:

"If we really are going to rise to a place where our own personal anointing and faith level is high, then we need to know what real communion with God is. All ministry comes out of relationship. Power comes out of suffering and anointing comes out of intimacy. It is in communion with God that we learn how to humble ourselves under His hand. There is no point in complaining.

In communion, the Lord works a new level of intimacy into our lives. Standing still under the hand of God, wanting His will to be fulfilled no matter what cost to ourselves, is one of the most intimate responses we can make to Him. Kneeling down to kiss the hand that hurts creates an intimacy that truly glorifies God."

I baulked when I heard the line "kneeling down to kiss the hand that hurts creates an intimacy that truly glorifies God", because it is so hard to do! When God is stripping away the things in our lives that hinder love, it will hurt. And it will hurt bad. The human tendency is to resist, to decry the process. Would it be that we will have the grace to endure, knowing that when God puts us through a stripping process, it is only out of love.

Revival: Don't Substitute Praying for Obeying (Tozer)

2011-09-24T16:22:00.006+08:00

So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." (Samuel 15:22)

Have you noticed how much praying for revival has been going on of
late-and how little revival has resulted?

Considering the volume of prayer that is ascending these days, rivers
of revival should be flowing in blessing throughout the land. That
no such results are in evidence should not discourage us; rather it
should stir us to find out why our prayers are not answered....

I believe our problem is that we have been trying to substitute
praying for obeying; and it simply will not work....

Prayer is never an acceptable substitute for obedience. The sovereign
Lord accepts no offering from His creatures that is not accompanied
by obedience. To pray for revival while ignoring or actually flouting
the plain precept laid down in the Scriptures is to waste a lot of
words and get nothing for our trouble.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; show me any wicked way that
needs to be corrected in my own life before revival can come. I'm
praying for revival; help me to also be obeying. Amen."

Longing for the fire to fall

2011-09-03T21:45:00.005+08:00

Many of us long to be baptised in the Holy Spirit - for His fire to fall on us - the same way it was at Pentecost.

"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them." (Acts 2:1)

The Old Testament equivalent is this: after Solomon had finished dedicating the temple through prayer, "fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple". (2 Chronicles 7:1)

In the New Testament, we are meant to be that sacrifice. "I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual act of worship." (Romans 12:1)

Tamara Winslow writes: "OT worshippers expected fire to fall. Heavenly fire fell on acceptable sacrifices, and if it didn't fall, for some reason, heaven didn't approve of the offering. The acceptable sacrifice is like a magnet, attracting God's approval and fire (Acts 2:1-3), Holy Spirit visitation and outpouring."

Here are some questions to ponder:
1. Why doesn't the fire tangibly and visibly fall today?
2. Have we failed to offer sacrifices that are pleasing to God?
3. Per AW Tozer's devotional message below, if the fire were to fall, will it give off a sweet smell or a rancid one?

Worship with a stench - AW Tozer

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil. --Isaiah 1:16

Let us suppose we are back in the old days of the high priest, who took incense into the sanctum and went behind the veil and offered it there. And let us suppose that rubber - the worst-smelling thing I can think of when it burns - had been available in those days. Let us suppose that chips of rubber had been mixed with the incense, so that instead of the pure smoke of the spices filling the temple with sweet perfume, there had been the black, angry, rancid smell of rubber mixed with it. How could a priest worship God by mixing with the sweet-smelling ingredients some foul ingredient that would be a stench in the nostrils of priest and people?

So how can we worship God acceptably when there is within our nature something that, when it catches on fire, gives off not a fragrance but a smell? How can we hope to worship God acceptably when there is something in our nature which is undisciplined, uncorrected, unpurged, unpurified - which is evil and which will not and cannot worship God acceptably? Even granted that a man with evil ingredients in his nature might with some part of him worship God half acceptably, what kind of a way is that to live?

"Purify my heart. Bring to my remembrance anything that might be a stench in Your holy nostrils. Cleanse me, that my worship this morning might be a sweet perfume, pleasing to You in every way. Amen."

Whom God confides in

2011-09-01T23:13:00.003+08:00

Today's reading from Ellel's Peter Horrobin is a great reminder of the privilege that we as children of God have - that of hearing the voice of our God. But it is also a reminder that the measure by which God confides in us is in proportion to the measure by which we are in right relationship with Him.

In Genesis 18, God says something that is remarkable to me! God has decided to judge Sodom and Gomorrah. And this is the Lord of all the Earth. But before He carries out his plans, it seems that He feels compelled to share His heart with a man. Not just any man though, but with Abraham, whom God says will "keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just".

Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[c] 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

Here's what Peter Horrobin says:

“The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”
Psalm 25:14, NIV

When you confide in someone, you are doing two things. Firstly you are trusting them and secondly, you are sharing with them things that you wouldn’t necessarily want anyone else to know about. This remarkable verse expresses an incredible and amazing truth - that the living God, the Creator of the Universe wants to trust us and share with each one of us personally in just this way!

He wants to trust us and then He wants to share with us things that are precious and important to us that are not for anyone else to hear. But if we want to be one of those who is able to hear the Lord speaking in this sort of way - and sharing His heart with us, then there is a condition that we need to fulfil. It’s a very simple one - have we learned to “fear the Lord”?

When someone fears the Lord, they are not afraid of Him because he’s a frightening person. But because they love Him they will always seek to walk in His ways. Their first choice will always be to do those things that please Him. And it is to these that the Lord reveals the blessings that are to be enjoyed through understanding His covenant. Someone who has the ear of the Lord will not need to be alarmed, in case they accidentally transgress the commandments of God - for they will constantly be aware of the Lord’s gentle confiding voice showing them what is right and what is wrong, what is within God’s covenant provisions and what is not.

It is through this profound principle of covenant relationship with God that we are able to enjoy the guidance of the Lord in all of life’s many different circumstances. I can think back to times when I chose not to listen to God’s confiding voice and do my own thing - always those were proven to be bad decisions. I learned the hard way that the only key to guidance that really matters is also the key to being in relationship with the Lord - enjoying life living in holy fear of a holy God. Then the promise of the second part of the verse can be fulfilled - as our eyes are always on Him, the Lord will release us from snares laid on our pathway by the enemy of souls. No wonder Isaiah said that the Sovereign Lord would come to “proclaim freedom for the captives” (Isaiah 61:1)

Prayer: Lord, I would love to hear Your confiding voice, as you share with me Your truths and lead me along the path of righteousness. Help me to desire above all else to walk day by day within the provisions of Your covenant blessings. In Jesus Name, Amen.

The Secret Place

2011-08-23T22:34:00.002+08:00

It's interesting that in Matthew 6, Jesus teaches that giving, fasting and prayer should be done in secret.

In reference to these three things, He says, do them in secret. "Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

There is a place of hiddenness, a secret place, where God builds character, in order that the man of His choosing might be able to carry the anointing. It is a place where away from the gaze of others, He builds a deep foundation in His children, in order that they may carry His giftings.

It was so with Elijah, whom God hid at the Brook Cherith and in the widow's house for 3 years, before he came forth in power to take on the prophets of Baal on a single day.

It was so for Moses, who was hidden in the desert for 40 years, before he was used as an instrument to liberate the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery.

It was so for Jesus, whose preparation took 30 years, for 3 years of public ministry.

I like this quote by Leonard Ravenhill on the prophet.

"He walks before men for days but has walked before God for years."

It is in the place of hiddenness, the secret place, in communion with the Lord that God prepares His children to do mighty exploits.

It is only they that know their God who do mighty exploits for Him (Daniel 11:32). Would it be that we are a people of the secret place.

Blessings (Laura Story)

2011-08-07T00:02:00.003+08:00

Blessings

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the achings of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

At the foot of the Cross (Kathryn Scott)

2011-07-19T00:11:00.006+08:00

As sinners, we are a people bound for eternal damnation. As a holy and righteous God, God cannot let sin go unpunished. According to the Bible, the wages of sin is death. But in His great love, God decides to spare the sinner. So He finds a substitute instead. Someone to take our place. Someone to bear the punishment in our stead. God the Father chooses to crush His son, Jesus, to reconcile ourselves to Him. Not only does He save us out of darkness into His marvellous light, when we give our lives to God, and accept His gift of life, He adopts us into His family. And calls us sons and daughters of God, with a full inheritance, and the resources of Heaven behind us. Imagine that! Truly, now we can trade our ashes in for beauty!

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5)

Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved (Acts 2:21)

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

We are saved into God's family!

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

Intimacy with God

2011-06-27T00:48:00.002+08:00

Oswald Chambers says:

"It is an incontrovertible fact that some Christians seem to experience a much closer intimacy with God than others. They appear to enjoy a reverent familiarity with Him that is foreign to us. Is it a matter of favoritism on the part of God? Or do such people qualify in some way for that desirable intimacy?

Both Scripture and experience teach that it is we, not God, who determines the degree of intimacy with Him that we enjoy. We are at this moment as close to God as we really choose to be. We are now, and we will be in the future, only as intimate with God as we really choose to be.”

When I think about the Lord

2011-06-27T00:43:00.001+08:00

When I Think about the Lord
How He saved me, how He raised me
how He filled me, with the Holy Ghost
How He healed me, to the uttermost

When I Think about the Lord
how He picked me up and turned me around
how He placed my feet on solid ground

Chrous

It makes me wanna shout
Hallelujah
Thank you Jesus
LORD, you're worthy, of all the glory, and all the honor
and all the praise

God hear the prayers of the humble (Peter Horrobin)

2011-06-17T20:52:00.004+08:00

Then (the angel) continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel.. Since the first day when you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.”
Daniel 10:12, NIV

Our first thoughts when someone mentions the name Daniel are usually about the story of what happened when he was thrown into the lion’s den as a punishment for not bowing down to an idol. Daniel was more concerned about his relationship with God than he was about his own personal safety. Daniel’s relationship with God was lived out at an unusual level of intimacy and fellowship. He wasn’t interested in protecting himself if it meant that he would be betraying the God he loved. What an example he is to us all.

Through his well-established pattern of living in relational obedience to the Lord, Daniel had grow into having an unusual level of awareness of the spiritual realms. He was able to hear and understand what God was saying through dreams and visions and at times he was able to see the angelic beings and hear what God was saying to him through them. And when Daniel prayed it was as if there was an open door into the heavenly realms - he had an exceptional level of earned authority with the Lord. When he prayed - things happened!

In our Scripture for today we discover the key to Daniel’s effectiveness as an intercessor - as a man who could not only speak to God in prayer, but who also heard God’s answers with amazing clarity - whether those answers came to him directly from God or through the intervention of God’s angelic messenger, as happened here in Daniel 10.

The key is one that is there for each and every one of us to use! The key of humility! Humility is the opposite of pride. Pride says, ‘I know best’. In pride people rise up in their own authority, oblivious to the fact that there is a higher authority than any human authority. Humility recognises that God is the source of all power and all authority and that as we come before Him, in holy fear of the Lord, then we are putting ourselves in the place where our ears can be open to hear His voice in response to our prayers and intercessions. Derek Prince used to say, ‘The way down is the way up.’ Daniel was a dynamic example of how when he humbled himself before the Lord, God raised him up!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the example of Daniel and for his humble submission to your authority. Help me, Lord, to walk in a similar way in my own life, recognising that pride is a barrier to effective prayer and that humility opens the doors of the heavens to those who know and love the Lord. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Today's Writer : Peter Horrobin Peter Horrobin is the Founding and International Director of Ellel Ministries. He has now written and is currently developing Ellel 365 – a completely new online training school. This is specifically designed to help people understand and apply the practical truths of God’s Word into their lives. Already there have been many remarkable testimonies of what God is doing in people’s lives. The Ellel 365 website has now been completely updated. To take a look for yourself click on the Ellel 365 link on this page.

Show me your face, Lord (Paul Wilbur)

2011-05-15T23:48:00.003+08:00

It says in Exodus 33, "The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend." Wow. Would I want to be known as God's friend.

What was Moses' secret? I believe that it is that above all things, He wanted to know God.

And Moses said to God, "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you."

Would we yearn, above all things, for intimacy with God.

This song by Paul Wilbur just beautifully captures the prayer of my heart.

Moses stood on the mountain
Waiting for You to pass by
You placed Your hand over his face
In Your presence he wouldn't die
All Israel saw your glory
and it shines down through the Age
and you call us to boldly seek your face

Show me your face Lord
Show me your face
And then gird up my legs
that I might stand in this holy place
Show me your face Lord
Your power and your grace -
I will make it to the end
If I could just see your face.

David knew there was something more
than the Ark of Your presence
In a manger Messiah was born
amongst Kings and peasants
All Israel saw the glory
and it shines down through the Age
Now you've called us o boldly seek your face

Parable of the 10 virgins

2011-05-15T22:40:00.004+08:00

For a while now, I've been attending classes held at One Thing Ministries in Singapore, which seeks to set up a 24/7 prayer house in the land. The ministry emphasises two streams - the End Times, and intimacy with God. Both resonate deeply with me, the first because it's hard not to sense through world events that we are in the last of the last days. And the second, because as Ps Kay Cheong of One Thing Ministries would say, How can we be sure, when we see the unprecedented darkness of the last days, that we will not get offended with God? The God most of us know is a God of mercy and love. But Jesus when He comes again will also be Judge, King and Bridegroom. In Psalms 2 and Revelation 19, Jesus is described as having an iron rod and an iron sceptre, respectively. So how will we be sure we won't be offended by Him when we pray for mercy and see judgement, destruction and carnage? By knowing His heart, growing in intimacy, or in other words, "buying oil" now.

Ps Kay Cheong's teaching on "The Parable of the 10 virgins" is what the Church desperately needs to hear in this hour. It is a heart piercing teaching about what we need to do to prepare ourselves, so we don't miss out on partnering Jesus in the greatest revival the earth will see. It pierced my heart. Listen to this teaching - it will change your paradigm about living in these End Times.

Making sense of what's happening in Egypt in light of End-Time prophecy

2011-05-08T22:02:00.005+08:00

In February, Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in an uprising. Despite being a strongman, under his rulership, Egypt was an ally of Israel. It will be interesting to see what next for Egypt, now that he is no longer in power. In Isaiah 19, there is a verse that speaks of Egypt's redemptive place in God's plan. What is notable is that God calls Egypt "my people" and it says that Egypt and Assyria will worship together with Israel the third.

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing[b] on the earth. 25 The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.” (Isaiah 19:23-25)

Ps Kay Chong of One Thing Ministries helps to distill God's End-Time plan for Egypt, and to make sense of what will ultimately happen in fulfilment of Biblical prophecy. To listen to it, click here.

Love Came Down by Brian Johnson

2011-05-07T08:35:00.000+08:00

What a wonderful song!

Love Came Down by Brian Johnson

Verse 1

If my heart is overwhelmed and I cannot hear your voice
I hold onto what is true, though I cannot see
If the storms of life they come, and the road ahead gets steep
I will lift these hands in faith, I will believe

Pre-Chorus
I remind myself of all that you’ve done

And the life I have because of your son
Chorus
Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am yours
I am forever yours
Mountain high or valley low
I sing out and remind my soul
I am yours
I am forever yours

Verse 2

When my heart is filled with hope, and every promise comes my way
When I feel your hands of grace, rest upon me
Staying desperate for you God, Staying humbled at your feet
I will lift these hands and praise, I will believe

Prepared for the Coming Tribulation (Corrie Ten Boom)

2011-04-22T15:31:00.005+08:00

“The world is deathly ill. It is dying. The Great Physician has already signed the death certificate. Yet there is still a great work for Christians to do. They are to be streams of living water, channels of mercy to those who are still in the world. It is possible for them to do this because they are overcomers.

Christians are ambassadors for Christ. They are representatives from Heaven to this dying world. And because of our presence here, things will change.

My sister, Betsy, and I were in the Nazi concentration camp at Ravensbruck because we committed the crime of loving Jews. Seven hundred of us from Holland, France, Russia, Poland and Belgium were herded into a room built for two hundred. As far as I knew, Betsy and I were the only two representatives of Heaven in that room.

We may have been the Lords only representatives in that place of hatred, yet because of our presence there, things changed. Jesus said, In the world you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. We too, are to be overcomers – bringing the light of Jesus into a world filled with darkness and hate.

Sometimes I get frightened as I read the Bible, and as I look in this world and see all of the tribulation and persecution promised by the Bible coming true. Now I can tell you, though, if you too are afraid, that I have just read the last pages. I can now come to shouting Hallelujah! Hallelujah! for I have found where it is written that Jesus said, He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I will be His God, and he shall be My son. This is the future and hope of this world. Not that the world will survive – but that we shall be overcomers in the midst of a dying world.

Betsy and I, in the concentration camp, prayed that God would heal Betsy who was so weak and sick. Yes, the Lord will heal me, Betsy said with confidence. She died the next day and I could not understand it. They laid her thin body on the concrete floor along with all the other corpses of the women who died that day.

It was hard for me to understand, to believe that God had a purpose for all that. Yet because of Betsy’s death, today I am traveling all over the world telling people about Jesus.

There are some among us teaching there will be no tribulation, that the Christians will be able to escape all this. These are the false teachers that Jesus was warning us to expect in the latter days. Most of them have little knowledge of what is already going on across the world. I have been in countries where the saints are already suffering terrible persecution. In China, the Christians were told, Don’t worry, before the tribulation comes you will be translated – raptured. Then came a terrible persecution. Millions of Christians were tortured to death. Later I heard a Bishop from China say, sadly, We have failed. We should have made the people strong for persecution rather than telling them Jesus would come first. Tell the people how to be strong in times of persecution, how to stand when the tribulation comes – to stand and not faint.

I feel I have a divine mandate to go and tell the people of this world that it is possible to be strong in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in training for the tribulation, but more than sixty percent of the Body of Christ across the world has already entered into the tribulation. There is no way to escape it. We are next.

Since I have already gone through prison for Jesus sake, and since I met the Bishop in China, now every time I read a good Bible text I think, Hey, I can use that in the time of tribulation. Then I write it down and learn it by heart.

When I was in the concentration camp, a camp where only twenty percent of the women came out alive, we tried to cheer each other up by saying, Nothing could be any worse than today. But we would find the next day was even worse. During this time a Bible verse that I had committed to memory gave me great hope and joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you; on their part evil is spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. (I Peter 3:14) I found myself saying, Hallelujah! Because I am suffering, Jesus is glorified!

In America, the churches sing, Let the congregation escape tribulation, but in China and Africa the tribulation has already arrived. This last year alone more than two hundred thousand Christians were martyred in Africa. Now things like that never get into the newspapers because they cause bad political relations. But I know. I have been there. We need to think about that when we sit down in our nice houses with our nice clothes to eat our steak dinners. Many, many members of the Body of Christ are being tortured to death at this very moment, yet we continue right on as though we are all going to escape the tribulation.

Several years ago I was in Africa in a nation where a new government had come into power. The first night I was there some of the Christians were commanded to come to the police station to register. When they arrived they were arrested and that same night they were executed. The next day the same thing happened with other Christians. The third day it was the same. All the Christians in the district were being systematically murdered.

The fourth day I was to speak in a little church. The people came, but they were filled with fear and tension. All during the service they were looking at each other, their eyes asking, Will this one I am sitting beside be the next one killed? Will I be the next one?

The room was hot and stuffy with insects that came through the screenless windows and swirled around the naked bulbs over the bare wooden benches. I told them a story out of my childhood.

When I was a little girl, I said, I went to my father and said, Daddy, I am afraid that I will never be strong enough to be a marty for Jesus Christ. Tell me, said Father, When you take a train trip to Amsterdam, when do I give you the money for the ticket? Three weeks before? No, Daddy, you give me the money for the ticket just before we get on the train. That is right, my father said, and so it is with Gods strength. Our Father in Heaven knows when you will need the strength to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need – just in time

My African friends were nodding and smiling. Suddenly a spirit of joy descended upon that church and the people began singing, In the sweet, by and by, we shall meet on that beautiful shore. Later that week, half the congregation of that church was executed. I heard later that the other half was killed some months ago.

But I must tell you something. I was so happy that the Lord used me to encourage these people, for unlike many of their leaders, I had the word of God. I had been to the Bible and discovered that Jesus said He had not only overcome the world, but to all those who remained faithful to the end, He would give a crown of life.

How can we get ready for the persecution? First we need to feed on the word of God, digest it, make it a part of our being. This will mean disciplined Bible study each day as we not only memorize long passages of scripture, but put the principles to work in our lives.

Next we need to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Not just the Jesus of yesterday, the Jesus of History, but the life-changing Jesus of today who is still alive and sitting at the right hand of God.

We must be filled with the Holy Spirit. This is no optional command of the Bible, it is absolutely necessary. Those earthly disciples could never have stood up under the persecution of the Jews and Romans had they not waited for Pentecost. Each of us needs our own personal Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We will never be able to stand in the tribulation without it.

In the coming persecution we must be ready to help each other and encourage each other. But we must not wait until the tribulation comes before starting. The fruit of the Spirit should be the dominant force of every Christians life.

Many are fearful of the coming tribulation, they want to run. I, too, am a little bit afraid when I think that after all my eighty years, including the horrible nazi concentration camp, that I might have to go through the tribulation also. But then I read the Bible and I am glad.

When I am weak, then I shall be strong, the Bible says. Betsy and I were prisoners for the Lord, we were so weak, but we got power because the Holy Spirit was on us. That mighty inner strengthening of the Holy Spirit helped us through. No, you will not be strong in yourself when the tribulation comes. Rather, you will be strong in the power of Him who will not forsake you. For seventy-six years I have known the Lord Jesus and not once has He ever left me, or let me down. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him, for I know that to all who overcome, He shall give the crown of life. Hallelujah!”

Hearing God on the Job (Os Hillman)

2011-04-22T13:54:00.006+08:00

This is a great story by Os Hillman. I've learnt that when God asks us to do something, we may not always understand, but He calls us to obey anyway. His ways are truly higher than our ways. Amen.

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong" (1 Cor 1:26-27).

God is raising up a new kind of workplace believer who is experiencing the power of God in their daily work life. My friend, Emeka Nywankpa, was a barrister (lawyer) in Nigeria. Emeka spoke at a conference a few years ago on the subject of how the spiritual impacts the physical.

Emeka shared a story about arguing an important Supreme Court case in his country. There were five points to argue in the case. The morning the trial began, he prayed with his wife and junior lawyers in his chambers. During his prayer time, he sensed that the Holy Spirit was telling him, "Do not argue points one through four. Only argue point five." Imagine making such a change just before you are to argue a case before the Supreme Court!

In the courtroom, Emeka announced that he wished to drop points one through four and only wished to argue point five. The judge was shocked, but gave him permission to proceed. He argued point five and sat down. The other attorney got up, and then for twelve minutes stumbled around trying to defend his position, unable to get a coherent word out.

Finally, he approached the bench and said, "Your Lordship, it is unfortunate that my learned friend has dropped the first four points. I wish to yield the case." The other attorney had only prepared for the first four points. Emeka won the case. God had given him a strategy to win his case supernaturally. It made no sense to him, but he obeyed and God gave him victory in a very unusual way.

Isaiah 48:17 tells us "Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: 'I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go.'"

When is the last time you allowed God to give you a strategy to be successful in your work life call and bring glory to His name? This is his desire for you.

Longing for God's presence

2011-03-06T21:18:00.007+08:00

Thursday and Friday, I attended a healing conference. It was a powerful time, and we were all so blessed! God desires to heal. We know it from Psalm 103. "Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases." We were asked: What is the scope of diseases that God heals. The answer: He can heal any disease. Every disease. Nothing is outside the scope. He heals all our diseases.

But Thursday night, at 3am in the morning, the Lord spoke clearly to my heart. I thought there was even a sadness in His voice. He said: "My people long for my healing. Oh, that they would long for my presence."

I was so convicted by that. It drove me to repentance myself. For that morning, my neck was in acute pain and I had also sought the Lord for healing. Nothing wrong with that, but I believe the Lord is sometimes grieved that we (I) have a greater longing for the gift than the Giver.

And then I was reminded by how foolish we are. For in His presence is fullness of joy. At His right hand are pleasures evermore (Psalm 16) When God visits us His presence, every need is met. Every disease healed.

God called David a man after His own heart. And I believe it was because David walked with God in a certain way. The New American Bible translates it as such in 2 Chronicles 7 - where God tells Solomon:

"As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David did, doing all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and ordinances, I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David when I said, 'There shall never be lacking someone of yours as ruler in Israel."

Oh that we would seek His face, and live in His presence.

As I considered these things, we sang this song "Here in His presence" at Cornerstone the past two days. It totally echoes what is own my heart.

The Gospel Song - An Animation

2011-02-20T23:29:00.001+08:00

Louie Giglio - Laminin

2011-02-20T23:14:00.001+08:00

No Greater Love (Rachael Lampa)

2011-01-10T00:30:00.002+08:00

"We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19) If only we would be able to grasp God's stupendous love for us, this will completely transform us, and the way we live.

This song by Rachael Lampa - "No Greater Love" - speaks of Christ's love for us, and is simply gorgeous.

Before I knew Your Name,
You knew my ev’ry breath.
Before I found my way,
You knew my ev’ry step.
Before I knew everything that I need,
You gave it all to me.

No greater love than this…
That You should lay down Your life
For someone such as me;
I’d spend a lifetime wondering why.
The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love than this.

I never understood
How merciful Love could be,
Until I felt His Flame
Light every part of me
And I would give everything that I am
’ Cause I have been saved;
Yes, I have been saved!

No greater love than this…
That You should lay down Your life
For someone such as me;
I’d spend a lifetime wondering why.
The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love.

Oh, oh oh, oh oh, woah…

The Beauty of Heaven
Is here in my heart
And I know there can be
No greater love...
For someone such as me.
No greater love...than this.

Pentecost (Leonard Ravenhill)

2011-01-02T22:31:00.004+08:00

These words by revivalist Leonard Ravenhill have been resounding in my heart: "A fire is self-announcing. A conflagration needs no publicity." Would it be that the church of Jesus Christ would draw all men to Him, by the sheer witness of His fire in us. Amen.

Pentecost
By Leonard Ravenhill

Lord Montgomery, that unpredictable British field Marshall, said recently that England went into the Second World War equipped to fight the First World War. This was a polite way of saying that in World War II England was way behind the times in battle equipment and strategy.

When Sir Christopher Wren designed the great St. Paul's cathedral in London, he planned a thing of lasting beauty and unfading charm, but did not order it air-conditioned. When George Stephenson built his rocket engine, it was not smooth, herculean diesel, but a low-powered hissing machine. In other words, both Wren and Stephenson underestimated the needs of our day, and designed for their day.

Many today have a benevolent patronage of the church of Jesus Christ (or what they mistakenly think is the church of Jesus Christ). These "wise ones" think that the psalm-singing saints are as much out of line with the atomic age as a penny-farthing bicycle would be on a motor-crowded four-lane highway. Was Jesus Christ guilty, then, of underestimating the need of this twentieth century? Is the Church which Christ founded a cumbersome, slow-moving thing, badly needing a gigantic overhauling and a government subsidy to get her up to date and moving? No! The church does not need state support.

We concede, however, that the Church does need a mighty overhauling by divine Hands, that is, she needs the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire. When the Lord Christ ascended into heaven from Mt. Olivet, He charged the disciples that they should "wait for the promise of the Father" - the "baptism of the Holy Ghost" with its resultant power.

This promise was exclusive - "Ye shall receive power." Who was to receive the promise? Only the followers of Christ.

The promise was exciting - "Ye shall receive power." In eager anticipation of this blessed enduement, the waiting ones could see all their weakness evaporating in the baptism of fire.

The promise was explicit - "Not many days hence."

The promise was expanding - This thing was not to be done in a corner, nor whispered among the redeemed. It would reach out through them to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.

This promise was exalting - In the whole world of created things there is no greater power than that of the Holy Spirit of God. They were to be filled with the Spirit of the living God. Earth has no greater honor than that.

Angels, behold and wonder!

Every thing in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters above the earth - all these are the work of His fingers and this Mighty one is He who condescends to come and indwell mortals.

But though Pentecost meant power to the disciples - it also meant prison to them. Pentecost meant enduement - it almost meant banishment. Pentecost meant favor with God - it also brought hatred from men. Pentecost brought great miracles - it also brought mighty obstacles. Pentecost brought anointing for the upper room preachers - it also brought appointing a deacon and under the enduement he turned Samaria upside down.

In Europe Pentecost Sunday is always called Whitsunday (White Sunday), and the children usually dress in white. The disciples were "made white" at the first Pentecost - that is, their hearts were "purified by faith" (Acts 15:8, 9). This purification is a lost accent these days in interpreting the Baptism with Spirit. Under the title of Spirit-filled churches, there are some weird and wanton things operating at present.

If too much stress has not been made of the gifts of the Spirit, then too little has been said of the fruit of the Spirit. Note how few books are available on the fruits of the Spirit, but how many on the gifts of the Spirit. Yet the Son of God said, "By their fruits ye shall know them."

The first essential for the coming of the Holy Ghost into a heart today is that the heart should be cleansed from sin, for the Holy Spirit does not fill an unclean heart. What God has cleansed, He then fills. Finally, whom God fills, He uses. A holy life is the authentic sign of being filled with the Spirit.

Today we need a revival of holy living. Why do we have to hang a sign outside our church to announce that we are Fundamental and Biblical? Because without a sign, no one could identify us? When I passed through a town that a few days before had been torn apart by a tornado, I assure you I had not to be told a mighty wind had cleaved the place. A fire is self-announcing. A conflagration needs no publicity. When the fire of the Holy Ghost falls again and the mighty wind of the Spirit comes (I am positive He is coming), then our "bush" will burn too, and a Moses will turn again to see the great sight. Even so, come Holy Ghost! Come quickly!

Leonard Ravenhill's tombstone

2010-12-28T22:52:00.002+08:00

I like this - revivalist Leonard Ravenhill's tombstone. Says "Carried by angels" and "Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for."

The Gospel of Prayer (Leonard Ravenhill)

2010-12-27T21:31:00.002+08:00

There's nothing more transfiguring than prayer. People often ask, "Why do you insist on prayer so much?" The answer is very simple - because Jesus did. You could change the title of the Gospel according to St. Luke to the Gospel of Prayer. It's the prayer life of Jesus. The other evangelists say that Jesus was in the Jordan and the Spirit descended on Him as a dove - Luke says it was while He was praying that the Spirit descended on Him. The other evangelists say that Jesus chose 12 disciples - Luke says it was after He spent a night in prayer that He chose 12 disciples. The other evangelists say that Jesus died on a cross - Luke says that even when He was dying Jesus was praying for those who persecuted Him. The other evangelists say Jesus went on a mount and He was transfigured - Luke says it was while He was praying that He was transfigured. There's nothing more transfiguring than prayer.

The Scriptures say that the disciples went to bed, but Jesus went to pray - as was His custom. It was His custom to pray. Now Jesus was the Son of God - He was definitely anointed for His ministry. If Jesus needed all that time in prayer, don't you and I need time in prayer? If Jesus needed it in every crisis, don't you and I need it in every crisis?

The story goes that a group of tourists visiting a picturesque village saw an old man sitting by a fence. In a rather patronizing way, one of the visitors asked, "Were any great men born in this village?" Without looking up the old man replied, "No, only babies." The greatest men were once babies. The greatest saints were once toddlers in the things of the Spirit.

C. H. Spurgeon was converted at the age of 16 and began preaching in London at the age of 19. When he was 27, they built him a tabernacle seating 6,000 which he packed twice on Sundays - that's 12,000 - and once on Thursday nights. How? He waited on God. He got alone with God. He studied...and he prayed.

Desperate Prayer

God makes all His best people in loneliness. Do you know what the secret of praying is? Praying in secret. "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door..." (Matt. 6:6). You can't show off when the door's shut and nobody's there. You can't display your gifts. You can impress others, but you can't impress God.

I Samuel 1:1-15 gives an account of the yearly trip Elkanah and his wife, Hannah, made to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord. During this time, Hannah had been distressed that she was not able to bear a son for her husband. This passage of Scripture gives quite a descriptive account of her time in prayer concerning the barrenness of her womb. It says that Hannah wept. More than this, she wept until she was sore. She poured out her soul before the Lord. Her heart was grieving; she was bitter of soul, provoked, and of a sorrowful spirit.

Now that's a pretty good list of afflictions - sorrow, hardship, and everything else that came upon this woman. But the key to the whole situation is that she was a praying woman. In verse 20 it says that she reaped her reward. "And it came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, 'Because I have asked him of the Lord.'"

Now I say very often - and people don't like it - that God doesn't answer prayer. He answers desperate prayer! Your prayer life denotes how much you depend on your own ability, and how much you really believe in your heart when you sing, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling...." The more self- confidence you have, the less you pray. The less self-confidence you have, the more you have to pray.

What does the Scripture say? It says that God takes the lowly, the things that are not. Paul says in I Corinthians 1:28 that God takes the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no flesh should glory in His presence. We need a bunch of "are nots" today.

The Language of the Poor

Prayer is the language of the poor. Over and over again David, the King of Israel, says, "Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and answer me; for I am afflicted and needy" (Psalm 86:1). And do you remember that one of the greatest psalms he wrote says, "This poor man cried and the Lord heard him..." (Psalm 34:6).

The apostle Paul overwhelms me with his spirituality, his pedigree, his colossal intellect. Yet he says that he's very conscious that when he's weak, he is strong. He was always trying to prove to himself and to others that he was a nobody.

True prayer is a two-way communication. I speak to God and God speaks to me. I don't know how the Spirit makes communication - or why God needs me to pray - but that's how God works.

"Get Up And Pray!"

One day I was at a conference with Dr. V. Raymond Edman of Wheaton College, one of the greatest Christian educators in this country. He told us of an experience he had while he was in Ecuador as a missionary. He hadn't been there long before he was sick and dying. He was so near death that they had already dug his grave. He had great beads of sweat on his brow and there was a death rattle in his throat. But suddenly he sat straight up in bed and said to his wife, "Bring me my clothes!" Nobody knew what had happened.

Many years later he was retelling the story in Boston. Afterward, a little old lady with a small, dog-eared, beaten-up book, approached him and asked, "What day did you say you were dying? What time was it in Ecuador? What time would it be in Boston?" When he answered her, her wrinkled face lit up. Pointing to her book, she said. "There it is, you see? At 2 a.m. God said to get up and pray - the devil's trying to kill Raymond Edman in Ecuador." And she'd gotten up and prayed.

Duncan Campbell told the story of hearing a farmer in his field who was praying. He was praying about Greece. Afterward, he asked him why he was praying. The man said, "I don't know. I had a burden in the spirit and God said, 'You pray; there's someone in Greece that is in a bad situation.' I prayed until I got a release." Two or three years later the farmer was in a meeting listening to a missionary. The man described a time when he was working in Greece. He had been in serious trouble. The time? Two or three years ago. The men compared notes and discovered that it was the very same day that God had burdened a farmer, on a little island off the coast of Scotland, to pray for a man in Greece whose name he didn't even know.

It may seem the Lord gives you strange things. I don't care. If the Lord tells you something, carry on with what the Lord tells you.

Who Shall Ascend to the Hill of the Lord?"

There's another experience Duncan Campbell told about when he was working in Scotland.

"I couldn't preach," he said. "I couldn't get through to God. The heavens were solid. It was as though there was a 10 ft. ceiling of steel." So he quit trying to preach. He asked a young man named John Cameron to pray. The boy stood up and said, "What's the use of praying if we're not right with God?" He quoted the 24th Psalm, "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?"

You can't approach God unless your hands are clean, which means your relationships with others are clean and your heart is clean. "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? He who has clean hands and a pure heart..." (Psalm 24.3-4).

After the boy recited Psalm 24 he began to pray. He prayed 10, 15, 20 minutes. Then he suddenly said, "Excuse me, Lord, while I resist the devil." He turned around and began to tell the devil where to go and how to get there. He fought for all he was worth. You talk about having on the armor of God and resisting the devil! When he finished resisting the devil, he finished his prayer. He prayed for 45 minutes! When he finished praying it was just as though God had pulled a little switch in heaven. The Spirit of God came down on that church, that community, on the dance hall at the other end of town, and the tavern on this end of town. Revival was born in that prayer!

At the end of Malachi it says, "And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly (that's the word I like, suddenly) come to his temple" (Malachi 3:1). Remember what it says about the shepherds? They were watching their flocks by night when suddenly there was the sound of the heavenly host. Do you remember a bunch of men that had been waiting in the upper room? Suddenly the Holy Spirit came on them in that room.

There's a date in history that I love very much. It was Wednesday, August 13, 1737. A little group of people in Moravia were waiting in a prayer meeting. At 11:00 suddenly the Holy Spirit came. Do you know what happened? The prayer meeting that began at 11:00 lasted 100 years! That's right. That prayer room was not empty for a century! It's the longest prayer among men and women that I know of. Even children six and seven years old travailed in prayer for countries the names of which they couldn't even spell.

Why We Don't Have Revival

In an old town in Ireland they'll show you with reverence a place where four young men met night after night after night praying for revival. In Wales, there's a place in the hills where three or four young men only 18 or 19 years old met and prayed night after night. They wouldn't let God go; they would not take no for an answer. As far as humanly possible they prayed a revival into birth. If you're thinking of revival at your church without any inconvenience, forget it. Revival costs a lot.

I can give you one simple reason why we don't have revival in America. Because we're content to live without it. We're not seeking God - we're seeking miracles, we're seeking big crusades, we're seeking blessings. In Numbers 11, Moses said to God, "You're asking me to carry a burden I can't handle. Do something or kill me!" Do you love America enough to say, "God, send revival or kill me"? Do you think it's time we changed Patrick Henry's prayer from, "Give me liberty or give me death," to "Give me revival or let me die"?

In the 30th chapter of Genesis, Rachael goes to Jacob and throws herself down in despair. She says, "Give me children or else I die." Are you willing to throw yourself down before God to seek the spiritual birth of spiritual children in our country?

People say, "I'm filled with the Holy Spirit." If the coming of the Spirit didn't revolutionize your prayer life, you'd better check on it. I'm not so sure you got what God wanted you to get.

We've said that prayer changes things. No! Prayer doesn't change things. Prayer changes people and they change things. We all want Gabriel to do the job. God says do it yourself - with My sufficiency and My strength.

We need to get like this woman, Hannah. What did she do? She wept, she was grieved, she said she had a complaint, she fasted - and she prayed.

Jesus, the anointed of God, made prayer His custom. Paul, with his background and intellect, depended on prayer because he said he was weak. David, the king, called himself a poor man and cried to the Lord. Hannah prayed for a son and gave birth to a prophet. The prayers of a handful of young men sparked revival.

There's nothing more transfiguring than prayer.

Copyright (C)1994 by Leonard Ravenhill, Lindale, Texas - http://www.ravenhill.org/

I will offer up my life (this thankful heart)

2010-12-26T18:10:00.004+08:00

As I reflect on the year gone by, I cannot help but be full of gratitude to the Lord for His goodness. Indeed, He is good. While I was in Kwang Lim, I realised I had the greatest blessing possible - knowing God, and being known by Him.

But he's also blessed me with so much more. This week, I realised I am a product of so much grace; and am loved by so many people ... God, family and friends.

Yesterday, as the prayer team gathered for an Xmas party, one of my friends asked how my Korea trip went. Then she asked, "Were you sick at the last leg of the trip?" I nodded. My fellow trippers would know that towards the tailend of the trip, I had a left arm that was in pain, a nose that was dripping like a tap, and fingers that were peeling from the dryness of the cold winter. But how did this intercessor and friend in Singapore know that? I certainly didn't tell her. But the Lord did. And because the Lord did, unbeknownst to me, she and another friend had been interceding for me in Singapore!!! I was tremendously touched, and felt sooooo blessed. In situations like this, it just reinforces to me that the Lord takes care of His sheep! :)) He tells his children supernaturally what his other children might be going through so they can pray for one another. And this is the blessing of being part of the body of Christ - where we cover each other and lift each other up before the Father. WOW!!!! So blessed. So blessed.

Then today, I spent the better part of the day with another Christian friend, just sharing with each other what God has been doing in our lives. And I am grateful for the people God has put in my life, whom I can journey with.

So this song - Matt Redman's "I will offer up my life" that we sang in church today just captures a wonderful 2010 gone by.

Jesus, what can I give, what can I bring
To so faithful a friend, to so loving a King?
Savior, what can be said, what can be sung
As a praise of Your name
For the things You have done?
Oh my words could not tell, not even in part
Of the debt of love that is owed
By this thankful heart

Back to the heart of the Gospel

2010-12-21T23:22:00.003+08:00

“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His love toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.”
(Psalm 103:11-12)

On Saturday, I attended a YWAM meeting - the worship was just awesome!! As we were worshipping, the scripture verse above came to mind. And this thought came to me:

For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His love toward them that fear Him. As I thought about this, I mentally drew a vertical line that goes until infinity.

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us ... I mentally drew a horizontal line that goes on until infinity.

And behold, when I put the two lines together, there is the symbol of the cross - until infinity.

Back to the heart of the gospel.

Wow. Awesome.

There's a Place for Us (Carrie Underwood)

2010-12-21T00:02:00.005+08:00

Caught the latest Narnia movie "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" at the cinema yesterday and it was enchanting ... as well as heart-convicting and moving at bits. I loved Repicheep the mouse - which Wikipedia describes as "a large, talking mouse who carries a rapier, and wears a red plume tucked in his golden circlet. He is an experienced warrior, utterly fearless, and faultlessly courteous, particularly to noble ladies. He is also pugnacious and quick to defend any affront to his honor". Heheh. Aslan the Lion is of course noble, majestic and kindly, as usual.

But what was a nice surprise was the song which was played as the credits rolled. J and I wondered who the singer is ... only to discover it is Carrie Underwood. The lyrics are below. Someone said it could only be describing heaven. Somehow, I think so too ... what a lovely piece!

There's A Place For Us

There’s a place out there for us,
More than just a prayer or anything we ever dreamed of.
So if you feel like giving up cause you don’t fit in down here,
Fear is crashing in, close your eyes and take my hand.

We can be the kings and queens of anything if we believe.
It’s written in the stars that shine above,
A world where you and I belong, where faith and love will keep us strong,
Exactly who we are is just enough
Yes there’s a place for us, there’s a place for us.

Where the water meets the sky,
Where your heart is free and hope comes back to life,
Where these broken hands are whole again,
We will find what we’ve been waiting for,
We were made for so much more

We can be the kings and queens of anything if we believe.
It’s written in the stars that shine above,
A world where you and I belong, where faith and love will keep us strong,
Exactly who we are is just enough,
Yes there’s a place for us, now there’s a place for us
So hold on, now hold on,
There’s a place for us
We can be the kings and queens of anything if we believe.
It’s written in the stars that shine above,
A world where you and I belong, where faith and love will keep us strong,
Exactly who we are is just enough, exactly who we are is just enough,
There’s a place for us.

Made Me Glad (Hillsongs)

2010-12-18T23:37:00.000+08:00

I will bless the Lord forever
And I will trust Him at all times
He has delivered me from all fear
And he has set my feet upon a rock

And I will not be moved
And I'll say of the Lord....

You are my shield
My strength
My portion
Deliverer
My shelter
Strong tower
My very present help in time of need

Whom have I in Heaven but you?
There's none I desire beside you
You have made me glad
And I'll say of the Lord....

Repentance: Key to revival (The Pyongyang example)

2010-12-15T23:47:00.004+08:00

While in Korea, we spent some days at the Osanri prayer mountain. Whilst there, I am always struck and deeply inspired by the fervency with which Koreans cry out to the Lord in prayer. It's hard not to hear these prayers - they are shouted from the mountaintops (literally!) and resound beyond the confines of individual prayer ghettos. It seems to me these prayers are not just uttered; they almost rise from deep within the believers' spirit. It's just incredible to behold.

Another reason I'm inspired by this is that I've been thinking a lot about revivals -and why the Lord has poured out His Spirit to sweep in great numbers into His Kingdom in some lands. As far as I know, these God-breathed revivals are few and far between in modern history ... the Azusa Street revival, the Welsh revival etc, are a few that come to mind. So one question I had in my mind was: How did Korea get Christianised? It's an Asian nation and the spread of Christianity in the East largely occurred in the last 50 years. We had the privilege of dining with a full-time Christian worker in Seoul, whilst there, and she shared that Korea was blessed by the presence of Western missionaries. What surprised me though was when she shared that the first major revival in Korea took place in Pyongyang.

This is what I learnt from my research: the Pyongyang revival of 1907 was triggered by a repentance movement. As people confessed their sins to each other and the Lord, the Holy Spirit fell.

Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit (Psalms 34:18)

Is genuine repentance, hearts broken by our sin, a key to revival in the land?

Article from OMF:

What is the extent of God’s grace and what are its limits? Sometimes we have the tendency to forget that God delights in working the impossible in the most difficult of times. And, indeed, one of the great reminders of His powerful grace and His perfect timing is the Pyongyang Revival, a dramatic revival in 1907 that was later called the “Pentecost of Pyongyang” and which was one of the reasons Pyongyang came to be called the “Jerusalem of the East.”

The northern region of Korea in the early 1900s faced many struggles and was a seemingly unfruitful place for the gospel, in much the same way that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is perceived today. In 1905, at the end of the Russo-Japanese war, Korea was placed under Japanese protectorate (and later fully annexed by Japan in 1910); this led to a general feeling of disillusionment and despair in the country. Pyongyang, the country’s third largest city at the time, had been known as “the most wicked city in Korea” and “a city of hopelessness” until 1892 when the gospel began to be preached there. By the end of 1906 there were 6,000 Christians out of a population of 40,000, but about two-thirds of all businesses were drinking establishments and the city’s reputation for ungodliness remained.

The beginnings of revival in Korea started in Wonsan (on the Eastern coast of what is today the DPRK) in 1903, with a small group of missionaries who felt led to confess their sins. Similar meetings were held in a few major cities in 1904 and the spirit of confession and repentance began to spread. In 1905 the revival movement spread over the whole Korean peninsula, continued to grow in 1906 and peaked in 1907 in Pyongyang.

The Pyongyang revival was precipitated by reports delivered in 1906 about the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in India and Wales. This caused some Korean Christians to greatly desire the same blessing, for which they began to pray. The revival began in spiritual improvement meetings the missionaries in Pyongyang had planned at the beginning of the year 1907, starting on January 6. People came from as far as 100 miles away to attend the meetings; there were so many attendees from the countryside that locals were barred to make room for visitors. People began these meetings from the start with a great expectation to be blessed by the Spirit, but met for a week with no extraordinary blessings. Saturday, January 12 after the sermon, many testified to a new understanding of what sin was. Then on Sunday, January 13 there was a strange “night of gloom” when everyone had particularly heavy hearts. The following day the missionaries met and prayed for God’s blessing; and that night those who entered the church felt that the place was full of God’s blessing.

As the people prayed, a spirit of heaviness and sorrow came upon those present, and all began to confess their sins and repent. “Man after man would rise, confess his sin, break down and weep…Every sin a human being can commit was publicly confessed, that night. Pale and trembling with emotion, in agony of mind and body, guilty souls standing in the white light of judgment saw themselves as God saw them.” The same experience of prayer, confession and repentance stirred by the Spirit was also experienced at the local missionary-run high schools and elementary schools. In some schools as many as 90 percent of students became Christians. The movement continued until 1910 and spread as far as Manchuria and Japan.

“The impact of the revival movement at Pyongyang was enormous. It changed not only the Christians of Pyongyang but also its entire society. The vast number of bars was gradually closed because business had become unprofitable. The city of Pyongyang cleansed her past and restored her reputation. The result of the meetings was that about 2,000 persons decided to accept Christ as Savior.”

From 1906-1910 in all of Korea there were 79, 221 new converts. There was also a new zeal for sharing Christ with others. Many who couldn’t contribute funds to the work contributed “days,” going outside their local areas to preach the gospel at their own expense, with the result that almost every house in Korea was visited. Clearly believers in Pyongyang in 1907 experienced one of the most remarkable Christian revivals in history.

Now, more than one hundred years later, God is at work in North Korea and is looking for believers worldwide to answer his call. The Lord is establishing ways for Christians to establish relationships that will build a foundation for future work. From the human perspective, revival in North Korea may seem slim. But our God is a God of great wonders and divine timing. Join with us praying for His grace to fall once again on North Korea.

Snowy Kwang Lim Prayer Mountain 2010

2010-12-14T13:12:00.016+08:00

December 2010. Just returned from the prayer mountains in Korea. What a wonderful time with the Lord! My friends and I reprised our time last year at the Osanri and Kwang Lim prayer mountains ... to spend some time in quiet solitude before the Lord, to seek His face, and to worship. We had an awesome time fellowshipping with Him and one another. This trip is all the more meaningful to me because we nearly didn't make it - primarily because of me! All this talk about impending war between North and South Korea and military exercises (including the presence of a US warship in the Yellow Seas) a week before our planned departure made me very nervous indeed. I knew that unless we had peace in our hearts, there would be no point going - after all, this is a prayer retreat! But God is good, and He spoke to the 4 of us individually, in ways that would convict our hearts, that He would go before us and protect us.

And then, while we were in Kwang Lim, He surprised and delighted us in just the way Father God would! He sent us snow, that completely transformed the bleak wintry landscape into what I thought was breathtaking beauty. I never thought it possible, reckoning that Kwang Lim was not at a high enough altitude. But it snowed over two days. We worshipped with singing as the snow came down, but also had fun pelting each other with snowballs, and sticking our tongues out to taste the snowflakes :)

Indeed, God does all things well!

That night, I chanced upon Psalm 135:5-7, and mused about how God brought snow out from his storehouse, to bless us with scenery that took our breaths away and brought so much joy to our hearts.

Psalm 135:5-7
5 I know that the LORD is great,
that our Lord is greater than all gods.
6 The LORD does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths.
7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

Prayer distilled

2010-11-29T22:55:00.002+08:00

Prayer is simply being with God. The greatest thing in life is to be able to touch the heart of God and have His heart touch you.

Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)

We all have a sacred calling

2010-11-21T11:11:00.003+08:00

Two nights ago, I re-watched the movie "Amazing Grace" on DVD. It's an excellent film about William Wilburforce, and his crusade in Britain's Parliament for the abolition of the slave trade. It was a fight that would take many years, and a toll on his health, because Britain and its empire flourished on the slave trade. But God used his man with his great oratory skills and sharp mind, who deeply believed that all man should be free, to accomplish a wondrous thing.

Today, I read about the Moravian Christians in Herrnhut. Herrnhut, Germany is the home of the renowned Hundred-Year-Long Prayer Meeting. In 1722, persecuted Christians from Moravia fled to Saxony and found protection in the domain of the regional Count Nicolas Ludwig von Zinzendorf. Initially, twenty-four people took one hour shifts during which they committed to pray – the Lord’s Watch. More joined the watch and this prayer watch went on unbroken until 1847.

Steve Hickey's website writes: "As Moravians at Herrnhut started to sense God’s missionary call to take the good news to the lost, they would hold funerals for the missionaries before they sent them off to places like Jamaica. (We found Moravian missionary graves when we were in Jamaica a couple years ago!) Imagine holding a funeral for someone who is about to leave because it was understood that the call of Jesus was to go give your life reaching lost people and that you’d not return in this life. To reach the slaves in Jamaica, the Moravian missionaries would sell themselves into slavery as it was the only way to gain access to Caribbean slaves. Stories of supernatural visitations and provision accompany each missionary account of the Moravians."

John Wesley wrote that he was led to Christ by a Moravian missionary from Herrnhut while sailing on a ship to America. When the ship was nearly overtaken by a storm, and he and the other passengers panicked, however the Moravian fellow on the ship was calm, had peace and prayed. In his revivals Welsey often talked about the “warming heart” moment of his born-again experience with the Moravian missionary."

I was deeply struck by this. God used lives given to Him to accomplish His purposes as the slave trade was going on. Moravian missionaries who were willing to sell themselves into slavery to reach the slaves. Full-time missionaries willing to give their all. And one William Wilberforce in government to eventually have slavery abolished altogether. His is not a secular pursuit either.

As Ravi Zacharias put it in "The Grand Weaver", "Because we are all priests before God, there is no such distinction as 'secular' or 'sacred'. In fact, the opposite of sacred is not secular; the opposite of sacred is profane. In short, no follower of Christ does secular work. We all have a sacred calling."

"The World is a great liar" - Peggy Noolan

2010-11-21T09:54:00.007+08:00

Am presently reading management guru Tom Peter's book "The Little Big Things - 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence". For a management book, it's incredibly filled with biblical principles! Since turning 35 this week, I've been thinking a lot about legacy. Perhaps it's triggered by the notion that if God lets me live to 70, I'm half-way there. Time to think about legacy!

Here's a quote by Peggy Noolan in the book that made me think this morning. It says "The world is a great liar". How true. In the financial world I'm in, success is measured by mind-boggling pay checks and bonuses Wall Street used to pay. These days it's more moderate. Two years back, I sat in the memorial service after our CEO passed on from leukemia. I knew him briefly and he was a good man. What struck me was that although he was at the pinnacle of his career; had reached the height of his profession; was the leader of many thousands; during the eulogies, no one mentioned how brilliant, or bright he was. Everyone remembered him for the good man he was.

This week, Credit Suisse's former Chairman of investment banking Paul Callelo passed on. He was 49. The newspapers eulogised him, for being a rare-breed banker; one who was ethical, and who loved people. Even in an industry that seems to worship money, when all is said and done, it honours the men and women who exemplify goodness and kindness.

Here is what Peggy Noolan says:

"In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it worships and admires money, but at the end of the day it doesn't. It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it doesn't, not really. The world admires, and wants to hold onto, and not lose, goodness. It admires virtue. At the end it gives its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty, courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that, brought into the world, make it better. THat's what it really admires. That's what we talk about in eulogies, because that's what's important. We don't say, "The thing about Joe was he was rich." We say, if we can, "The thing about Joe was he took care of people."

Quotes from Robert Murray McCheyne

2010-11-20T14:57:00.004+08:00

Today, I read an excerpt of the life of Scottish preacher and revivalist Robert Murray McCheyne, and was very inspired by the man. He died at 29 but left a deep impression.

He made prayer, meditation and self-discipline key aspects of his work throughout his life. His usual daily pattern was to rise at 6:30 am and spend two hours in private prayer and meditation (including an hour devoted to the Jews). From 8:30-10 am he had breakfast and family prayers. On Sundays his practice was to spend six hours in prayer and devotional reading.

Here are some of his quotes worth pondering:

"Live so as to be missed.”

“Most of God’s people are contented to be saved from the hell that is outside; they are not so anxious to be saved from the hell that is inside them. Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be.”

“If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.”

“Your own soul is your first and greatest care. Seek advance of personal holiness. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to the Lord Jesus. A holy pastor is an awful weapon in the hand of God. A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear, and your heart full of God’s Holy Spirit, is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin.”

Words worth pondering indeed.

Countdown to the Last Days

2010-10-17T18:49:00.008+08:00

A sobering message by Ps Yang that is very unequivocal that Christians will have to endure the suffering of the last days ... To listen to this excellent message, click here.

Better than a Hallelujah (Amy Grant)

2010-08-28T09:59:00.001+08:00

Five Loaves and Two Fishes (Corrinne May)

2010-08-24T23:11:00.003+08:00

Corrinne May is a Singaporean who has two (or is it three?) amazing albums! Five loaves and two fishes is one of my favourite songs. And I just discovered her sing In a Bleak Midwinter. It just gave me goosebumps! And Same Side of the Moon - is just the most poignant song ever!

Sent Ones

2010-07-18T23:55:00.005+08:00

Tonight, as I was reading the book of Hebrews, I saw something I never saw before in this verse on angelic beings:
"Are they not ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14)

Sent out. Some of my friends who have the seer gifting, or move in the gift of prophecy, see angels in our meetings. Many times this is in church. But they have also seen angels with us once when we were simply praying and ministering to a friend in one of our homes. It is awesome that they are with us. And it struck me, that God sent these angels out. If I were them, perhaps I would prefer to stay in heaven, by the side of the Lord Almighty. But God in His love, sent them out to earth, to serve those who are to inherit salvation.

The Holy Spirit reminded me that we, believers, are also Sent Ones.

And I was really excited to read in a note by Campus Crusade on the Internet on why this is important. Why did Isaiah in Isaiah 6:1-8 say "Here I am, Send me" rather than "I will go?"

The note says this is because Sent Ones have the following characteristics:
1. Sent Ones go in the power, authority and presence of God (Matthew 28:18-20)
2. Sent Ones carry the message of the sender (2 Cor 5:16-20)
3. Sent Ones are empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit (Acts)

When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." –Matthew 9:35-38 (ESV)

Redeemer, Saviour, Friend

2010-07-13T22:10:00.000+08:00

Psalm 23 to music!

2010-06-27T10:40:00.001+08:00

Stumbled upon this wonderful video of Psalms 23 set to music and gorgeous paintings!

Jehovah Nissi - The Lord Our Banner

2010-06-09T23:41:00.003+08:00

Tuesday night, I had a terrible, terrible nightmare. When I woke up, I was quite disturbed in the spirit. Was it a coincidence that only a few days before, we had an awesome time with the Lord in an overnight prayer, when all of us felt the presence and power of God so tangibly, we believed we had advanced God's kingdom? It seemed to me that the Evil One was saying again to me, "Back off!" I am not naturally courageous by nature, so this disturbing dream did shake me somewhat.

But God is gracious. All this week, I am attending a prophetic conference, and as part of exercising our prophetic gifting, we had to ask the Lord for a word for one another. Given how shaken I was, I prayed to the Lord, "Please God, give me a word that I need." And the sister who prophesised over me gave me just the word I needed by reminding me of my calling in Him.

Then at night, the Lord prompted me to revisit something he's been laying on my heart - which is to KNOW him, REALLY KNOW him... his power, his majesty, his goodness, his lovingkindness. So I decided to spend some minutes reading Herbert Lockyear's "All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible". The name I needed - for my situation - was Jehovah Nissi, the Lord my Banner.

Here's what Lockyear wrote, which was revelatory to me, and which so blessed my heart:

Explaining Jehovah Nissi from Psalm 23:5 "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies", Lockyear says, "We might well ask, 'What has a banner to do with a table? Well, banners and banquests are a suggestive combination. 'He brought me into His banqueting house and His banner over me was love'. In our human way, the banquet follows the battle, and successful leaders and victorious troops are entertained and feasted. But here is loftier conduct. The banquet is spread before the battle because the banner is already victorious. Even though we live in the midst of foes, ours is the joyful privilege of living in fellowship with Him who is our Banner, our Defense."

Amen, and amen.

When we are the ones who tarry...

2010-05-19T21:06:00.006+08:00

Yesterday, I read this account of the heavenly man.

"Brother Yun was born in 1958 in the Southern part of Henan Province among the simple farmers and pheasants of Liu Lao Zhuang, Nanyang County. Brother Yun’s mother had believed in Jesus years before through missionary witness, but after the missionaries were expelled and churches shut down in the Communist take-over, she had grown cold towards the Lord through lack of fellowship. There were no Bibles to help the Christians grow.

In 1974, Yun’s father lay dying of cancer. Such a loss would have left the family in dire straights, and things were so hopeless that Yun’s mother even contemplated suicide. One evening as she lay in bed, she heard a voice say, “Jesus loves you.” In tearful repentance, she rededicated herself to Jesus Christ. She gathered her family around and they all prayed, “Jesus, heal father!” The very next morning, Yun’s father began to get better. Everyone in the family believed on Jesus, and they all began to experience revival.

Brother Yun was 16 at the time. The family did not have a Bible, and it had been many years since Yun’s mother had heard any teaching about Jesus. Yun began to ask his mother who Jesus truly was. She would reply, “Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for us, taking all our sins and sicknesses. He recorded all his teachings in the Bible.” Yun would ask if there were any way he could learn of the teachings of Jesus for himself. His mother would say, “No. All his words are gone. There is nothing left of his teaching.” Imagine a family hungering and thirsting for some knowledge of the words of God, and no way to find out what they were!

Yun’s mother took him on a long walk to see a man in another village who she remembered had a Bible. The man was too afraid to show Yun his Bible, but he told him, “The Bible is a heavenly book. If you want one, you’ll need to pray to the God of heaven. Only He can provide you a heavenly book. God is faithful. He always answers those who seek Him with all of their heart.”

Yun decided to fast and pray for a Bible, and for the next 100 days ate only one bowl of steamed rice every day. He cried out to the Lord for a Bible. His parents thought he was losing his mind. One morning, there was a knock at the door. Two men had brought a Bible to Yun.

Three months before, an evangelist in another town had been instructed by the Lord in a vision to give his Bible to Brother Yun. Although he did not know this young boy, the Lord had showed him the village and house where Yun lived in a vision. It had taken him three months to decide to obey the Lord."

After reading this account, I was quite bothered by it ... bothered by the fact that Brother Yun had to fast for 100 days for an answer to prayer because the person God instructed to be the answer to prayer took 3 months to obey.

It set me thinking: How often do I not obey immediately?

And when that happens, what are the repercussions on the person for whom God had intended for me to bless through my obedience?

God sometimes does not tarry. However, He uses human instruments, and sometimes it is us who tarry. Would it be that we are like the men and women of God in the Bible, who respond immediately when God calls.

Prayer that moves mountains

2010-05-18T23:19:00.003+08:00

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.

Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. (Acts 12)

A few years ago, as I was studying the book of Acts in a bible study class, our teacher told us about Brother Yun - the Heavenly Man. He told us the book of the same name was Acts for the modern day.

In Brother Yun's autobiography, he recounts the persecutions he went through preaching the gospel in China. During his third imprisonment, he endured many beatings and scourgings. One day in May 1997, he heard the voice of the Holy Spirit, telling him to simply walk out the heavily guarded prison gate. Risking being shot to death on the spot, he obeyed the voice, and walked straight through several prison doors that were somehow left open in front of many prison guards, across the prison yard and finally out of the main gate. Brother Yun stated that it was as if he had become invisible to the guards who stared straight through him.

A little known fact is that Brother Yun's escape tallies completely time-wise with an intercessory meeting taking place miles away in far-flung Sweden. In a church in Sweden, a group of 30 were in a small room interceding for Brother Yun and other Chinese people who had been imprisoned for Christ. During a meeting, a Swedish lady, who usually prayed silently to herself, suddenly exclaimed aloud that she had seen a vision of a man walking out of prison to freedom. The group praised the Lord! This was recorded in the annals of the church... many years later, the lady's vision was verified by Brother Yun as having taken place at the very hour he was freed.

I was so inspired when I heard this. Yes, Brother Yun is a giant of a man. But the Holy Spirit intervened in a supernatural way in his life, as He did in the life of Peter, in response to the prayer of the saints.

It was so during the time of the Apostles. It is so today.

Prayer moves the hand of God, to free those in physical and spiritual bondage. Prayer is a powerful force on earth because it is plugged into the Most High God!

God's gifts to Singapore

2010-05-15T23:28:00.004+08:00

While in Israel last year, we were reminded of how blessed Singapore is ...

Though a little red dot nation, with no natural resources and hinterland, we were punching above our weight politically and economically.

In our group of 70 at the Mt Carmel School of Ministry was an African couple (a pastor and his wife). They were in Israel on the sponsorship of a Singaporean.

Then, we visited an Arab Christian church, and the pastor shared that when God called him to build a bigger church, some of the funds he needed came in by divine providence - on the generosity of an annonymous Singaporean.

Those of us Singaporeans in the school realised then at that time what impact our little nation was making ... many many miles away in Israel (And possibly around the globe). We realised just how blessed we are ... that we have materially more than we need, such that we can give unto others ... That God prospered us not so we could spend lavishly on ourselves, but so we could partner with Him in Kingdom work.

Yesterday, one of Singapore's founding fathers Dr Goh Keng Swee passed away. He was 91. Watching a documentary which paid tribute to him, I realised we are blessed because God gave us incredible leaders and politicians. Men like Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Keng Swee - who had great vision, top-rate minds, incredible executional ability, and who put country before self. The policies they implemented set us on a course of development that transformed our land into a first-world country in one generation.

"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." (Proverbs 21:1)

So we are blessed because of the leaders we have. We are blessed because the people God set in authority above us were men (and women) who governed and governed well. While we mourn today the passing of Dr Goh, I can only think how thankful we should be that God gave him to us when our little nation was being built. We owe the high quality of life, and our material wealth and creature comforts, to him. For which I am very grateful to God indeed!

Sanctuary (City Harvest Church)

2010-05-09T17:23:00.001+08:00

Another fabulous song from City Harvest Church!

Called to be watchmen

2010-04-25T16:08:00.003+08:00

All of us are called to be watchmen.

When I was in Korea last year, I met a lady whom everyone recognised as an intercessor. And I had the privilege of being ministered to by her ... she heard from God and she released words to me that pierced the heart. She is an ordinary person; she doesn't hold an office in the church nor is she theologically-trained. I pondered why God used her so mightily, and came to this conclusion: She is sensitive to His Spirit through a close walk with Him. But she also loves Him so much that she obeys Him instantly and unconditionally. Obedience for her supersedes her own personal reputation. I think that is why God uses her so mightily.

Tom Hess, in his book "The Watchman" also captures the qualities of the watchman. He writes:

The true watchman is someone who watches God, the Chief Watchman - beholding Him in His awesome, majestic glory, and what He is doing. The watchman is attentive to God with all his faculties and consequently sees things more clearly through God's eyes and His word, the Watchman clearly hears and obeys God's voice and is faithful in practicing all the aspects of watching as led by the Holy Spirit. He will be prepared to prepare the way for Messiah.

I find this short paragraph so densely packed with truth. It puts Jesus at the centre of everything we watch. It makes Him the centre of our gaze. It provides the key to clarity of hearing of seeing (the revelatory gifts). It makes clear that God gives us relevation for us to obey. It makes known why we watch and pray ... ultimately, to prepare the way for the Messiah.

Martina McBride - God's Will

2010-04-10T10:41:00.002+08:00

One of the most wonderful songs about God's grace towards us ... and how this often comes to us in dear lil' children. This song moves me to tears. The lyrics are just lovely.

Martina McBride - God's Will (Official Music Video) - Watch a funny movie here

Israel's increasing isolation and our response

2010-03-28T09:01:00.006+08:00

Yesterday, I attended a prayer meeting for Israel. The host of the meeting summarised very well latest developments in Israel, and the snub Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received from Obama during recent meetings in the White House. Relations between both nations are at their worst in 35 years (according to some high-level aides).

The diplomatic row centres on the Israeli government's insistence on building 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem. Israel believes it has the right to build on this land, which it possessed following a victorious 1967 war. The peace roadmap that the US seeks to broker with the Palestinians sees East Jerusalem as occupied territory, to be returned.

God's word is pretty clear on this ... we are not to divide up Jerusalem ... which God restored to His people in 1967, though they were not the aggressors. To the nations that divide up the land, God says in Joel 3:1-2, that He will "enter into judgement against them".

"In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
I will gather all nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations, and divided up my land." (Joel 3:1-2)

Says Joel Rosenberg of the latest diplomatic spat between Israel and the US:

The central problem is the White House and State Department are trying to force Israel to divide Jerusalem and divide Judea & Samaria, commonly known as the West Bank.

"Prophetically, I believe Israel will eventually be isolated from all countries in the world, especially as we approach the fulfillment of Ezekiel 38 & 39. Eventually, the Lord will wean Israel off of every nation – including the U.S. – so that the Jewish people only have Him to turn to and depend upon. That said, however, the Scriptures are clear in Genesis 12:1-3 and elsewhere that those who bless Israel, He will bless, and those who curse Israel, He will curse.

We want our countries to be blessed by God, to experience repentance and revival and to be blessings to the rest of the world. Now, therefore, is the most critical time for true followers of Jesus Christ to show unconditional love and unwavering support to Israelis and to their Palestinian neighbors. We need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We need to show the love of Jesus to every Jew and Gentile in the Holy Land. And we need to strengthen the Church in the epicenter, encourage pastors and ministry leaders, and help them fulfill Isaiah 60."

My heartfelt prayer yesterday was for Singapore - that we would continue to bless Israel, even if it suffers continuing isolation from the nations of the world in the days ahead. Because the Scriptures are clear that those who bless Israel, He will bless, and those who curse Israel, He will curse. When it is time for us to vote, which way will we cast our vote? Will we fear man, or fear God?

All the Way My Saviour Leads Me (Chris Tomlin)

2010-03-07T22:13:00.006+08:00

Late last year, when I sought God about what He wanted from me in 2010, I sensed Him saying it was to be a year of extravagant worship. While worship is not all about music (it probably is least about that, then faithful obedience), nevertheless, I signed up for keyboard class at Believer Music School (now at Novena Square). Five weeks into class, I am so glad I signed up! Since it's the Beginner class, we are simply learning how to play simple chords, without much embellishment. And yet wow! I can always feel such a wonderful presence of the Lord in that small room, with five of us ... and our teacher, as we play the keyboards and sing. Next week, we learn how to play Chris Tomlin's "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me". I never heard this version of this old hymn until it was introduced to us. I LOVE IT! Great rendition of an old classic!!!

All the way my Savior leads me
Who have I to ask beside
How could I doubt His tender mercy
Who through life has been my guide

All the way my Savior leads me
Cheers each winding path I tread
Gives me grace for every trial
Feeds me with the living Bread

You lead me and keep me from falling
You carry me close to Your heart
And surely Your goodness and mercy will follow me

All the way my Savior leads me
O, the fullness of His love
O, the sureness of His promise
In the triumph of His blood
And when my spirit clothed immortal
Wings its flight to realms of day
This my song through endless ages
Jesus led me all the way
Jesus led me all the way

All the way my Savior leads me
All the way my Savior leads me

What does God want to do with all His heart and all His soul?

2010-02-26T00:12:00.003+08:00

Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: 37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. 38 They shall be My people, and I will be their God; 39 then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. 40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. 41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’(Jeremiah 32:36-41)

These three days, I've been attending the Eastern Gate Prayer Convocation in Singapore, led by Tom Hess from the Jerusalem House of Prayer. It has been an incredible time of hearing what God has been doing in the nations, and praying for the nations. There are more salvations now than in any other time in history, in nations like Israel and the Middle East, and of course Asia! God is moving in a powerful way!

Today, as we prayed for Israel, and a sister read the passage from Jeremiah 32, these words jumped out at me.

God says, "Assuredly, I will plant them in this land, with all my heart and with all my soul." (Jeremiah 32:41)

When I heard those words, I thought to myself, "God said THAT?!"

God is a God who hates lukewarmness. He wants us, His children, to have undivided hearts. To be a people passionate for Him and His kingdom's cause. The first and greatest commandment, He tells us, is that we should love Him with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. (Matt 22)

But until today, I didn't know there was a verse in the Bible which describes the reverse - namely, what will God do with all His heart and all His soul?

Amazingly, to me, it is to plant His chosen people (the Israelites), back in their OWN land.

This prophecy was fulfilled in 1948. We are witnesses to this. Today, the enemies of Israel continue to want to force them out of this land, even threatening to wipe them off the face of the earth.

As believers, we need to stand with Israel, and to pray against this, and the carving up of the land that God has promised them, and planted them back in.

This hit home today, in a very strong way. Because giving Israel back their land is what God wants to do with ALL HIS HEART AND ALL HIS SOUL. The only verse which describes God in this fashion. Awesome!

With All I Am - Hillsongs

2010-02-21T23:27:00.002+08:00

O Lord, you deserve all that I am.

The Holy Spirit - Confirming Signs (AW Tozer)

2010-02-14T16:42:00.004+08:00

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs - Mark 16:20

Such words as these in the second chapter of Hebrews stand as a rebuke to the unbelieving Christians of our day: "God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will."

A cold Church is forced to 'interpret' such language. She cannot enter it, so she explains it away. Not a little juggling is required, and not a few statements for which there is not scriptural authority, but anything will do to save face and justify our half-dead condition. Such defensive exegesis is but a refuge for unbelieving orthodoxy, a hiding place for a Church too weak to stand.

No one with a knowledge of the facts can deny the need for supernatural aid in the work of world evangelization. We are so hopelessly outclassed by the world's superior strength that for us it means either God's help or sure defeat. The Christian who goes out without faith in "wonders" will return without fruit. No one dare be so rash as to seek to do impossible things unless he has first been empowered by the God of the impossible. "The power of God was there" is our guarantee to victory.

"May the power of the Lord be with me in my ministry today, so that I might not be 'outclassed by the world's superior strength'. Amen."

Delay is not denial

2010-02-09T22:30:00.005+08:00

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. (Luke 1:12-15)

I read this passage from Luke 1 last night, and was struck by the angel Gabriel's words to Zechariah - "Your prayer has been heard."

God's gift of a baby boy to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth in their old age was in answer to their prayer. As John Wesley says, "God does nothing except in answer to prayer."

But what I've been pondering is how long ago Zechariah had prayed that prayer. Somehow, it seems he prayed that in times past. He probably prayed real earnestly. He might have persevered for years. But I think he eventually stopped, because he thought God had said no.

Of course I can't be sure he stopped praying. But the circumstantial evidence seems to suggest so, because when the angel announced this good news - that "Your prayer has been heard", Zechariah didn't really have the faith to believe this could be true anymore. He asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."

I think Zechariah probably stopped praying because he thought God had said no to him. But what he thought was God's denial was actually just a delay. Perhaps even a long delay.

What he didn't know was that God always meant to answer his prayer. But God had to wait until it was time for Jesus to come, because He wanted to bless Zechariah with a son whose calling was to be the forerunner of Christ.

It reminded me of this beautiful poem I had read before ... that Delay is not necessarily Denial.

God always hears and answers prayer,
Though long may be the trial.
Let patience bloom while God prepares;
Delay is not denial.

When God would glorify His Name,
And make His blessing great;
The one whose heart God's will doth frame
Must sometimes pray and wait.

But come, the answer surely must,
For God has never lied.
And faith, which looks at God in trust,
God never has denied.

So when the weeks turn months, then years,
And doubt feign would defile,
Beseech the more and that with tears;
Delay is not denial.

I can only imagine - MercyMe

2010-02-09T21:53:00.003+08:00

My friend Kat pointed out this song to me. What a wonderful song!

Hosanna - by Hillsongs

2010-02-08T00:05:00.002+08:00

Sang Hosanna by Hillsongs at Cornerstone today ... the lyrics in the Bridge really struck me. I think these words are so good, they can be a prayer!

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I go from nothing to Eternity

Your rod and your staff - they comfort me

2010-01-17T01:51:00.003+08:00

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4)

Tonight as I was pottering about the house in the wee hours of the morning, I felt a pang of fear threaten to unseat my peace ... to which I uttered, "I will fear no evil ... for your rod and your staff - they comfort me." -- a verse I am very familiar with from Psalms 23.

And... in that moment, the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to something I had never seen before, and I was so excited! ... which is that the shepherd carries two implements, a rod and a staff. I always knew Psalm 23 to be a pastoral, peaceful psalm - and the shepherd carries a staff, to guide and care for us, His sheep. But suddenly, the Holy Spirit asked me, what is the shepherd doing with a rod?

So I did a quick search online, to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Yes, the rod and staff are separate implements.

This is what my googling threw up - among them, a short excerpt from the book "The Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23" by W Phillip Keller. He writes: "The staff is essentially a symbol of concern, the compassion that a shepherd has for his charges. No other single word can better describe its function on behalf of the flock better than that it is for their comfort. The rod conveys the concept of authority, of power, of discipline, of defense against danger."

The Holy Spirit reminded me at that moment of Psalms 2, where God speaks of Jesus as King, Bridegroom and Judge. In that Psalm, it is said of Jesus, in reference to the rebelling heathen nations, that "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." A picture of a powerful, majestic, fearsome Lord.

Sometimes, like tonight, the Evil One tried to cause me to doubt if the Lord can keep me. It is almost as if he was tempting me to doubt if the Lord is powerful. So tonight, I was really really excited by what the Holy Spirit showed me from Psalms 23:4. Which is that even in a Psalm whose main focus is about God's love for us, His love for us is a fierce love that says to the Enemy, Don't mess with my sheep.

If you mess with my sheep, you will contend with my rod.

Prayer today: Oh Lord, thank you. This pierces my heart. You are a good, awesome God, and I am safe in your arms indeed. Hallelujah. Amen!

Angels, and the goodness of the Lord

2010-01-12T21:23:00.010+08:00

This morning, before I left for work, my sis told me the news that a church member had passed on ... I didn't know this lady personally, but my sis did. She was a fiesty lady, dedicated to ministry, and a faithful servant of the Lord. She had passed on, after succumbing to cancer. It was a relatively short battle ... months only ... and when she was diagnosed, this lady had still retained her optimism. But the chemotherapy got to her - her organs started failing - and this morning, she went home to be with the Lord.

I asked my sis if her death was sudden. I asked because from recent accounts, it had been an up and down journey - some days up, some days down. My sis said no, the family was prepared. Because - and this is what brought a lump to my throat - before she passed on, this lady had asked her husband to release her to the Lord. This was after she saw a vision of two angels standing by her bedside. And ... despite the pain she was in ... she was so happy, she lifted her hands to worship the Lord.

Just thinking about it has made my eyes tear a few times today. It made me tear because it just reminded me how good God is. How real our faith is. How real eternity is. How we are spirit beings, looked after by God, and ministered to by his angels. And at our journey's end, He sends His angels to bring us - His dear children - home. WOW!

I teared because I was just floored by how even at her life's end, even when it was painful physically to do so, this lady praised the Lord, not just in her heart but with the lifting of her hands. WOW!

God is good. And real. Suddenly, the reality of eternity hit home. And the reality of the Lord's goodness in redeeming us - so we are forgiven and adopted into his family - hit home. We are truly privileged as children of God. Truly privileged.

Solomon and largeness of heart

2010-01-10T19:12:00.005+08:00

There is a story that comes to us out of the long ago of a king who organized a great race within his kingdom. All the young men of the kingdom participated. A bag of gold was to be given to the winner, and the finish line was within the courtyard of the king's palace. The race was run, and the runners were surprised to find in the middle of the road leading to the king's palace a great pile of rocks and stones. But they managed to scramble over it or to run around it and eventually to come to the courtyard. Finally all the runners had crossed the finish line except one. But still the king did not call the race off. After a while one lone runner came through the gate. He lifted a bleeding hand and said, "O King, I am sorry that I am so late. But you see, I found in the road a pile of rocks and stones, and it took me a while, and I wounded myself in removing them." Then he lifted the other hand, and in it was a bag. He said, "But, Great King, I found beneath the pile of rocks this bag of gold." The king said, "My son, you have won the race, for that one runs best who makes the way safer for those who follow." -- Bruce Thielemann, "Christus Imperator," Preaching Today, Tape 55.

Today, at Cornerstone Community Church, we were taught about living as Royalty (sons and daughters of the Most High God). What struck me most was this verse on Solomon:

"And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore." (1 Kings 4:29 KJV)

I always knew Solomon had wisdom. I never knew he also had largeness of heart. Ps Yang preached that how large our heart is determines the extent to which God can use us to reach others ... how much we can carry ... and then distribute. In the F1 pitstop, refuelling a racing car takes all of 7 seconds, because the fuel hose is huge (and takes 2 men to carry). On the contrary, if our hearts are constricted, how little love and grace will flow from God, through us, to others ...

I found another analogy in Sheena Ryan's book "Pathways to Destiny", which I am currently reading. She writes, "Our lives can be a narrow pathway or a superhighway for the purposes of God. It is up to us to choose what we will allow God to do in our life and how much of His presence and power can dwell in us ... The state of our personal pathways determines the degree of the glory of God that can be revealed in and through us, and also how much of His kingdom we can access. When the pathways are fully restored, they become that highway for the glory of God. Within that glory-God's manifest presence - is contained all that we need both for our own life and the lives of those we touch."

The start of 2010 has been busy, harried and fast-paced already ... and I can so feel my heart constricting as a result. I think in Singapore, our pace of life and the striving is the biggest enemy of this thing called largeness of heart. But what a gift it is! My prayer is that He would grant me largeness of heart!

The ultimate rags to riches story

2010-01-02T23:27:00.003+08:00

As I asked the Lord what He would have me do in 2010, I sensed Him say that it is to be a year of extravagant worship. I read in a devotional today that as believers, ours is the ultimate rags to riches story. How true. These are a few things I picked up from my readings today on how blessed we are:

1. We are children of God! What a royal calling!

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." (John 1:12,13)

2. God is a shield to those who walk uprightly

"He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
For he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones." (Proverbs 2:7-8)

Herbert Lockyer says it eloquently. He describes the shield as "the most ancient and universal weapon of defense". "Shields were most necessary for use against besiegers who employed darts and stones and blazing torches to overcome the besieged. It was the means of defense between the soldier and his foe."

"Is it not blessed to know that as our Shield, God is between the enemy and ourselves, and that therefore no trial can overtake us apart from His permissive will? Behind Him as our Shield, the antagonisms of Satan, and accusations of men cannot injure us."

Prayer today: O Lord, thank you for our royal calling as children of God. And thank you that you are our Shield, to protect us from the enemy. If you are for us, who can be against us? I stand secure in your protection, your love. Help me to adore you, to worship you, to praise you, for in you, mine is the ultimate rags to riches story. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Dreams ... and 2010

2009-12-31T17:39:00.003+08:00

Today is the last day of 2009. As I reflect on the year gone by, I cannot help but be thankful for the many blessings bestowed by God this year. I thank God for friendships, the Korea silent retreat, iDTS, the Mt. Carmel School of Ministry, the Wesley prayer team, the Cornerstone Community Church, and everyone who has journeyed alongside me in Christ all year. I thank God for stretching me beyond my comfort zone (through my boss, He made me do more public speaking this year than suits my personality ... although I thank Him because I recognise that this training is useful for preaching and sharing my faith and testimony in front of large crowds :P I also thank Him for the inspiration for this blog (which came from the Wesley prayer team) ...

God has a calling on each one of us. This sermon by Lance Wallnau is worth listening to - the synopsis is this:

"Every Christian has an assignment to release God's glory on earth. We are called to be His kings-priests who administer His authority and invade systems. Being an overcomer involves aligning ourselves with God's kingdom purposes on this earth. Overcomers exercise authority to liberate nations and manifest the unseen realm and the glory of the age to come."

What has God called us to do? Sometimes, we get an inkling in what He has gifted us to do, and what we enjoy doing. For me, it's writing. I love to write. I once had a discussion with a friend about what I would love to do in heaven for eternity. Yes, we will worship God forever. But I believe we will also have roles (or assignments), which we do to the glory of God. No, I told my friend, we won't be floating on clouds and playing our harps all day long. So ... what would I like to be doing in heaven? I hope I get to be a scribe. According to Wikipedia, "A scribe is an ancient occupation. A scribe's job involved reading and writing, especially during the Renaissance. Being a scribe meant writing letters, and historical records for kings, nobility, and temples." I would love to be a scribe for the King of Kings, Lord of Lords. To write the prayers of the saints, and the historical records of the goodness of the Lord :) But ultimately, God knows best, so I'll do whatever He assigns me to.

What would you like to do? Please share.

Happy New Year! :)

Your name (Paul Baloche)

2009-12-25T20:44:00.002+08:00

Such a beautiful song and video!

The key to spiritual discernment and hearing God's voice

2009-12-20T23:35:00.004+08:00

The Wesley prayer team had a gift exchange at our Xmas party two days ago ... being the prayer team, we rightly had to ask God what we should buy! (Urm, this is without the knowledge of who would pick up our gift ... and thus, needs to be Holy Spirit led). This allows us to practice listening to God ... and to know His voice. Anyway, I asked God and had the impression that I was to buy a dartboard. Now, this is totally outside my realm of safe or generic gifts to buy. And I had this nightmare that perhaps a young girl or even one of the ladies in the group might pick this gift, and that I would be gloriously wrong! But thank God ... in the end, a young boy picked it up, and loved it! It made me very happy to know that I made someone's day :) Thank you Father!

Back to listening to God ... my desire is to be able to hear Him acutely and sharply ... so that my prayers can be like a "single stroke of the sword of the Spirit". Or in the case of buying the dartboard, I wouldn't dither and wonder, or have nightmares about whether it's a foolish idea of my own mind or a genuine prompting of the Holy Spirit. How do we come to a place where we know our Father's voice so intimately that we will be fully confident when He speaks?

I came across a very well-articulated answer recently in Sandra Teplinsky's "Israel's Anointing".

How do I know my Father's voice so intimately, and His ways so clearly, that I will have a revelation of Him?

The answer, according to Sandra Teplinsky, is to have a passion for holiness!

"Without holiness, no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." (Matthew 5:8)

And this passion for holiness, starts with us knowing God's love, abiding in it, and manifesting it in obedience.

"This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome." (1 John 5:3)

"We have come to know him, if we obey his commands." (1 John 2:3)

Teplinksy writes: "A consummate carrier of the fire of God's love, (the apostle) John is passionate about obedience. Is it coincidental that John receives the most profound single-recorded prophecy in the Bible - the entire book of Revelation? God's love leads to obedience, and obedience leads us to holiness. Love-propelled holiness, in turn, relates dynamically to spiritual discernment and a release of high-level revelation."

Wow! As believers, I think all of us yearn to have spiritual discerment and revelation. The key to unlocking all this - love-propelled holiness. Would it be that we would grow in love-propelled holiness day by day.

God's calling upon our lives

2009-12-17T00:26:00.004+08:00

Attended Lea Salonga in concert at the Esplanade this evening, and oh my goodness. What an inspiring performance she gave. I last saw Lea Salonga more than 15 years ago in London, in Miss Saigon. Now she's 38. But wow, what an incredible voice she still has! And as I watched her on stage, I couldn't help but think that God has created her to sing. What immense talent. What a gift!

One of my favourite films is Chariots of Fire ... a true story on Eric Liddell, who chose not to run in his best race - the 100m sprint - in the Olympics of 1924 because it fell on a Sunday. This committed Christian went on to run in the 400m race and win. He was quoted as saying, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."

Lea Salonga was created to sing. Eric Liddell to run. Both bring glory to God with their gifts.

Psalm 139:14 declares, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

All of us are fearfully and wonderfully made. And each of us was created with unique and distinct traits to bring glory to God. Ps Peter Tsukahira said if we are hungry enough to find the calling God has upon our lives, and if we seek Him about this, He will reveal it to us. Praise God that He is liberal with his gifts towards us!

Ps. One of the songs that Lea sang in concert tonight is "Two Words", which is actually the vows she sang at her wedding. Her husband Rob was so touched, he couldn't stop crying. It's such a beautiful song, I simply have to share it here...

The secret behind prayers that are like "a single stroke of the Spirit"

2009-12-13T17:33:00.001+08:00

In Christian/ prophetic circles, the sense is that we are living seriously close to the end days; and that as people of God, we need to arise. To me, that means growing in intimacy with God ... from which flows the anointing from Him to fulfil the purpose for which He has created us. As time is short, each of us in the body of Christ (with our different gifts) needs to be positioned where we can make maximum kingdom impact. And we need to be obedient (meaning brave, faithful, secure in the Lord's ability to hold and help us) when He calls us to an assignment greater than ourselves. In the last days, the darkness will be unprecedented; but so will God's glory ...

Elijah was called to a giant-sized assignment. He was called to a spiritual battle against the false prophets of Baal. He called for a very public showdown at Mt Carmel between the God Almighty and the false Gods that the people of Israel were worshipping.

In a public showdown, where he was clearly outnumbered, Elijah needed to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God would show up. This is what transpired in 1 Kings 18:36-37

"At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."

Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

At Mt. Carmel, Ps Peter Tsukahira said something that pierced my heart. He said Elijah's prayer from 1 Kings 18:36-37 was like a "single stroke of the sword of the Spirit" ...

How many of us yearn for this ... that we know so clearly what God's will is for a person or situation that when we pray, it is like a "single stroke of the sword of the Spirit"?

David Davis in his book "The Elijah Legacy" helped to crystallise the secret to Elijah's confidence, and the authority he wielded, at that showdown on Mt Carmel.

He writes: "The courage of Elijah was a great challenge to us. To what can we attribute the courage of a single man publicly standing against an entire nation? We don't know that Elijah was naturally courageous or confrontational. I believe the answer can be found in the prophet's simple prayer on that memorable occasion.

He implored "the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel" to hear and respond to him, because "I have done all these things at Your word" (1 Kings 18:36).

Every word and action of Elijah on that day was dictated and directed by the Lord. God told him specifically what to do - the 12 stones, the trench, all of it. Prophets walk in the power of a word not their own, but from God. "Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path." (Ps 119:105)

The source of Elijah's courage was his absolute obedience to a word from God. He knew that God watches over His word to perform it. The prophet had also been refined for over 3 years since giving his last public prophetic word. In the Lord's economy, purity always precedes power. Elijah heard, obeyed and prayed a simple prayer, and God manifested his presence."

At a superficial level, Elijah seems like one of God's superheroes. One of these men destined for outsized assignments - a rare breed. But actually, what Elijah achieved is not outside what God calls each and everyone of us to do ... which is to know His voice, and be absolutely obedient to a word from God. Every word and action of Elijah on that day was dictated and directed by the Lord. God told him specifically what to do. Prophets walk in the power of a word not their own, but from God.

Were it be that we too, are people who hear God's voice, and only do what He tells us to do. That alone is what enabled Elijah to pray a prayer that was like a "single stroke of the Spirit".

Is it any surprise that God answered?

What God is zealous for

2009-12-09T00:11:00.012+08:00

I was listening to Ps Yang's sermon on zeal recently, and the emphasis was on us having zeal for God. But what struck me was this question: What is God zealous about?

If we know what God is zealous about, we will catch a glimpse into what He will fight for...what matters to Him.

A quick search unveiled this:

1. God is zealous for His name. "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name." (NIV, Ezekial 39:25)

2. God is zealous for Jerusalem. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; With great fervor I am zealous for her." (NKJV, Zechariah 8:2)

Honestly, I have known God is zealous for His name for a while already. But I was truly surprised when Ps Yang shared that God is zealous for Zion. There are very few mentions in the Bible on what God is zealous about - and Jerusalem figures as one of them! That was new to me. It also made me realise how for many of us (including me), Israel has been peripheral to our faith. Yet, it is clearly central to God, and His heartbeat.

Why is God zealous about Jerusalem?

Because it is the city He has put his name on. Forever. Even when the people failed Him, and the temple was destroyed, and the ark of the covenant removed from the Holy of Holies, one thing did not depart from Jerusalem. God's name.

"Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever." (2 Chronicles 33:4) Other verses which say the same thing are: 1 Kings 11:36; 2 Kings 21:4; 2 Kings 21:7; 2 Chronicles 6:6

And because Jerusalem is where Jesus will one day return to rule and reign as Messiah. It is to be where He takes up residence on earth.

This is what the LORD says: "I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain." (Zechariah 8:3)

This didn't hit me until it was taught us in Israel recently.

And now that I'm more sensitive to this, that God is zealous for Jerusalem, am also more awakened to the adversities Israel faces. The attempts to divide up Jerusalem continue... with Sweden leading the latest charge. We need to watch this, and pray against it, because this is clearly not what God intends to happen.

Check out what is happening in the latest headlines.

Standing with Israel

2009-11-29T23:00:00.007+08:00

I saw a copy of the latest Foreign Affairs at Kinokuniya yesterday, whilst I was there to pick up some books by Joel Rosenberg and Michael Oren ... the former writes about Israel and the Mid-East conflict from a Christian perspective ... As for Oren, his book "Power, Faith and Fantasy" was recommended as a good primer on US foreign policy viz Israel since times past. (All the books are extremely thick! I hope to get down to them!)

Incidentally, Foreign Affairs is also completely online... and I got sidetracked with a piece in the magazine titled "Is Turkey leaving the West?"

Singaporeans can hardly be called parochial. Because we live in a small, open economy, I think we're pretty well-read about international affairs. But following my recent Israel trip, I guess my reading has now been extended to Mid-East affairs, and not just what's happening in Asia, Europe & the US.

This article in Foreign Affairs was interesting to me. I didn't know that in the past, Turkey and Israel were allies... that in 1998, Turkish newspapers wrote headlines championing the Turkish-Israeli alliance: "We will say 'shalom' to the Israelis on the Golan Heights," one read. I didn't know that the tide has been turning since the ruling Turkish party came into power.

According to an article by Soner Cagaptay in The Washington Post in February 2009:

"For years, Turkey has had normal relations with Israel, including strong military, tourist, and cultural and commercial ties. The Turks did not emphasize religion or ideology in their relationship with the Jewish state, so Israelis felt comfortable visiting, doing business and vacationing in Turkey. But (Turkish Prime Minister) Erdogan's recent anti-Israeli statements - he even suggested that God would punish Israel - have made normal relations a thing of the past. On Jan. 4, 200,000 Turks turned out in freezing rain in Istanbul to wish death to Israel; on Jan. 7, an Israeli girls' volleyball team was attacked by a Turkish audience chanting, "Muslim policemen, bring us the Jews, so we can slaughter them."

Anti-Semitism is not hard-wired into Turkish society - rather its seeds are being spread by the political leadership. Erdogan has pumped up such sentiments by suggesting Jewish culpability for the conflict in Gaza and alleging that Jewish-controlled media outlets were misrepresenting the facts. Moreover, on Jan. 6, while demanding remorse for Israel's Gaza operations, Erdogan said to Turkish Jews, "Did we not accept you in the Ottoman Empire?" Turkey's tiny, well-integrated Jewish community is being threatened: Jewish businesses are being boycotted, and instances of violence have been reported. These are shameful developments in a land that has provided a home for Jews since 1492, when the Ottomans opened their arms to Jewish people fleeing the Spanish Inquisition. The Ottoman sultans must be spinning in their graves."

This shift in sentiment towards Israel by a long-time ally is interesting to note. Coming back from Israel, touring the Yad Veshem, and hearing about re-emerging anti-Semitism in Europe - this latest article in Foreign Affairs is sobering. We need to pray for the hearts of the Turks and the Israelis to be re-knitted back to one another! It is sad when friends turn their backs on one another. It's also a sobering reminder to an oft-asked question - at the last, which nations will stand with Israel?

Our secret history with God

2009-11-27T11:38:00.005+08:00

From "The Elijah Legacy", a book by David Davis. I found this passage on the secret to Elijah's "divine authority" to be something we should all chew on:

"Every person has a secret history with God. No one really knows this secret life but God and that person. I believe that Elijah had been given such divine authority because of his secret, intimate life with God. He was a man of prayer, communion and dialogue with God. Every prophet is first of all an intercessor, otherwise he or she will be a false prophet. Our public ministry will only be as powerful as our private prayer life. The divine principle and standard has always been "purity before power". Character before commission. Many are powerless because they are prayerless.

Elijah prayed "earnestly" (James 5:7). He "pressed in" with burning, zealous prayer. He would not let go until he received the answer. This was key to his divine authority and power. "We have not because we ask not," Jesus said. We are to "earnestly desire the best gifts", and to "pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy" (1 Cor 14:1). We are to be zealots in prayer. The end-time Elijah company will be zealots for the cause of Jesus - salvation, not destruction - love, not hate.

Elijah lived in "the secret place". Jesus commanded us "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place, and your Father who sees in the secret place will reward you openly" (Matt 6:6). The authority and anointing on Elijah was being produced in the place of secret communion with his heavenly Father. It is the place of stripping and equipping, and the place of prophetic preparation.

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalms 91:1). You can't be in someone's shadow unless you are very close to Him. Elijah accepted the divine invitation. He went and lived at the place of separation and preparation, and the Lord was faithful to His promise. Ravens brought him two meals a day for a year. His daily bread was the Word of God, as he fed on God's faithfulness and drank from the ever-flowing stream of the river of life, the Spirit of God."

Two wonderful worship songs

2009-11-22T22:34:00.004+08:00

We sung these two wonderful worship songs in Cornerstone today - We Bow Down (Lenny LeBlanc) and Everlasting God (Chris Tomlin). Love both of them!

We Bow Down (Lenny LeBlanc)

Princes and paupers
Sons and daughters
Kneel at the throne of grace
Losers and winners
Saints and sinners
One day will see His face

And we all bow down
Kings will surrender their crowns
And worship Jesus
For He is the love
Unfailing love
He is the love of God

Summer and winter
The mountains and rivers
Whisper our Savior's name
Awesome and holy
A friend to the lonely
Forever His love will reign

He's the light of the world
And Lord of the cross

And we all bow down
Kings will surrender their crowns
And worship Jesus
Worship Jesus
Worship Jesus
For He is love
Unfailing love
He is the Love of God

Everlasting God

Allenby: Greatness and humility

2009-11-21T17:07:00.003+08:00

In Israel, the name of General Edmund Allenby was mentioned twice to us, as one individual who lived out his calling as a great warrior for God.

As the commander of the British forces, he liberated Jerusalem, capturing the Holy City on 9 December, 1917. Although a victorious, conquering general, and the master of cavalry warfare, Allenby and his men famously dismounted their horses and entered the city on foot through the Jaffa Gate. One version of events is that this man of God felt that if Christ Jesus his Lord entered Jerusalem on a donkey, far be it for him to do so on a horse. So he walked in on foot. This is humility worth emulating.

I like this definition by Jack Hayford on how to live out humility (esp Points 6 & 7, when we find out how great is God's special calling on each one of us):

1. Never slight anyone who cannot help you to favour someone else who can
2. Treat everyone with respect, whether you like them or not
3. Be willing to admit you need prayer
4. Try to always encourage others
5. Always forgive quickly and be hard to offend
6. Always be thankful and never really sure why God wants to use you
7. Let whatever God does for you or through you never cease to amaze you

Speaking of making a difference, the Singaporeans among us on the SOM had a warm fuzzy feeling while in Israel when we heard about the good things our fellow countrymen had done. This latest SOM school comprised about 90 of us from the nations - there were Finns, Americans, Australians, Singaporeans, New Zealanders, Canadians etc, and a couple from Ghana. And guess what? The Ghanaian couple was there on the sponsorship of an annonymous Singaporean! Whilst in Israel, we also heard from the pastor of a thriving Arab Christian congregation that a number of years ago, God called him to build a new church. The building project cost millions, and at crunch time, when he needed finances in to pay the contractors, his banker called him to say that USD 50,000 had been wired to him. And again guess what, the money had come from an annonymous Singaporean!

Wow. I was quite floored. God has blessed our little nation with prosperity for a reason, and I am soooo proud of fellow Christians in our land for blessing the nations. Go Singapore!

Prayer today: Father God, thank you that by your grace, we can be the force that changes the world. This is true wherever you have placed us - in the marketplace, in government, in the military, in education, in church, in the media, or the arts. When you enable us by your spirit to do amazing things for you, help us to be humble and never cease to marvel at what you do for us or through us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Why Israel testifies to God's faithfulness

2009-11-21T14:47:00.018+08:00

Many Jews today still bear the scars of the Holocaust - believing that God forsook them in those dark days. And that has been a large barrier in their coming to Yeshua, or Christ Jesus. Walking through the Yad Veshem, it is easy to see how deep the wounds are, and how much healing has to take place. But God is faithful.

My two weeks in Israel were spent with the Mt Carmel School of Ministry - a wonderful ministry by a bunch of Israeli believers (Peter Tsukahira, David Davis, etc) on what God is doing in the Holy Land. It is a vital ministry, because so few of us in the Gentile nations know the prophetic significance of what God is doing in our generation - particularly with regards to Israel.

In Ezekial 36:17-18, God prophesises that he will "disperse" and "scatter" the people of Israel throughout the lands and nations, to "judge them" for shedding blood in the land and "because they had defiled it with their idols". This was fulfilled, as we know, in the Jewish diaspora.

In verse 24, however, He promised through the prophet Ezekial that "I will take you out of the nations (plural); I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land."

The reason God said He would do this is that when the House of Israel was scattered, His holy name was profaned among the nations. But God said when He brings back His people into their land, "then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD" (Ezekial 36:23)

"Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,'but 'As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.' For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers." (Jeremiah 16:14-15)

"Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children." (Isaiah 66:8)

I didn't know how staggering these verses were until it was explained to me at the School of Ministry. Then my eyes were opened. The formation of the State of Israel (following the Holocaust) on May 14, 1948, is a fulfillment of God's promises to the Jewish people in Ezekial, Jeremiah and Isaiah. Since 1948, millions of Jews (from the former Soviet Union - the north country), Africa, Europe, the US, etc, have returned to the land in one wave after another. God is restoring the glory of His great name.

Why is this significant for us believers?

Because Israel is the great prophetic event in our day. For 2,000 years, the Jewish people have wandered from nation to nation. God says that when they had no rights, no dignity, no identity, massacred, pushed from border to border, His name was profaned.

But He never forsook them. And His gathering of His people back to the land is testament to that. He is a faithful God who keeps covenant for all generations.

Our generation is a witness to these things, and to the fulfilment of one of the most prophetic events as laid down in the Bible.

We have lived to see these things. For that alone, we are highly privileged!

Let us not doubt it. No matter know the world defames or profanes His name, our God is a faithful, covenant-keeping God.

PS. The Mount Carmel School of Ministry describes itself as "an intensive two-week training course for men and women of God who are seeking a prophetic understanding of the Scriptures and an anointing from God for end-time ministry". Having attended the SOM, I highly recommend it to those wanting to understand the sign of the times, and God's calling on your life in this time and season. For more info, click here.

Holy fear for the dark days ahead

2009-11-21T12:54:00.007+08:00

"A country is not just what it does - it is also what it tolerates." - Kurt Tucholsky, German essayist of Jewish origin

"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak out for me."- Ps Martin Niemdler

Just returned from the land of Israel, where I spent two awesome weeks learning about the nation of Israel, and God's faithfulness to his covenantal people.

Whilst there, one of the places I visited was the Yad Veshem, the Holocaust museum. The Yad Veshem is really a very sobering place - and documents a very dark period in humanity. During the Holocaust, a staggering 6 million Jews died. Why? For no other reason than that they were Jews - God's prooftext. God has said He will preserve a remnant of Jews for Himself, and if they are annihilated as a people, God would be proven to be a liar. This is what the Evil One wants, and this spiritual dimension is behind the 52 genocides perpetuated against the Jewish people throughout history.

But while the Jewish slaughter is staggering, equally horrific is the small number of people who stood up as the voice of conscience during the Holocaust. And all this in Christianised Europe. While the killings were going on, the Church was largely silent. By its silence, it was complicit.

In the 1938 Évian Conference convened by then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to discuss the issue of increasing numbers of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution, only one nation out of 32 committed to take refugees. That country: the Dominican Republic. What a sad state of affairs that the world was sympathetic, but chose to turn a blind eye. Faith without works is dead.

At the Yad Veshem, a tree is planted for every single individual who is considered the "Righteous Among the Nations" - these are non-Jews who risked their lives to save the persecuted Jews. If they just saved one Jew, they would have been honoured. How many in the entire world did so? Just a paltry 18,000 (among them, Oskar Schindler and Corrie Ten Boom).

Why so few? The reasons boil down to the following: (1) Prevailing anti-semitic feeling (2) Apathy (3) Atmosphere of fear in Nazi Europe (4) Conformism.

The Gentiles who risked their lives to save the Jews did so even though there was a very real threat they would die doing so. They risked the constant fear of betrayal from their fellowmen; in Western Europe, they would have been sent to the death camps; and in Eastern Europe, they were in danger of execution.

When I reflect upon that, I dare not say that I too would be brave. That is why as the days get darker, one of my prayers is for God to give me a holy fear of Him. Fear of God, not fear of men.

"They overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." (Rev 12:11)

Amazing Grace - the life of William Wilberforce

2009-11-01T21:11:00.003+08:00

I picked up a copy of the DVD "Amazing Grace" at a Gramaphone bazaar sale on Friday, and what an excellent movie it is! I am so glad I got it!

The 2006 movie is about William Wilberforce, who in his 20s, had a renewed conversion experience and came to know God. Awakened to God, he was torn between living a life as a man of God (in the Church), and staying in politics as a Parliamentarian. In politics, he would be able to champion the abolition of the slave-trade through legislation. It would be a battle that would require grand vision, moral fortitude, courage and bulldog tenacity ... In the end, Wilberforce was all of the above, and more.

This film is just soooooo inspiring, and having watched it, now ranks as one of my favourites. In one scene of the movie, Wilberforce, still unsure about his calling, is persuaded that he can be a man of God and be in the world (though not of the world). In the end, I can see how God used him greatly in politics to make the world a much better place.

God's people are called wherever they are - in church, in the marketplace, in government, in the arts, in education, in media, etc - to be the force that changes the world. Wilberforce proved just that.

Top-notch movie. Go get the DVD and watch it if you haven't!

Knowing the intimate whisper of God

2009-11-01T16:58:00.007+08:00

Today, I attended the 1st anniversary celebration of Covenant Vision Church. What a joyous time it was! But what struck me deeply was Ps Bruce Allen's message on what God is looking for in a people/ church of the Last Days. Preaching from the life of Samuel and Leviticus, the conclusion is that, ultimately, what God wants is a people who listen and obey the voice of God.

What is God looking for in a people/ church of the Last Days?

1. A people wholly given over to Him. Hannah, when she prayed for the baby Samuel, vowed to God that if she had a son, "then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head" (1 Samuel 1:11)

2. A people who can hear His voice. If we are to usher in the Lord of Hosts, to usher in a new move of the Spirit, we must know His heartbeat.

3. A people who will respond to the voice of God in obedience. "The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground." (1 Samuel 3:19)

Ps Allen said there are 2 types of servants. The first type is a hireling - someone paid a wage for his labours, who is free to leave after his term of employment ends, who has possession of his family. Then, there is the second type of servant, a bondservant. Now, a bondservant voluntary chooses to surrender his freedom to his Master. He chooses to stay permanently with his master's household, to give up his rights to whom he will marry, and also his rights to pay. He does so out of love, and in turn, his master adopts him into his family and becomes his protector. We are all to be bondservants of the Lord.

What is interesting is that when the slave decides to be a bondservant to his master, according to Exodus 21, this is contractually sealed when the master 'bores his ear through with an awl". A gold earring is then placed in the ear of the slave.

Similarly, in Leviticus, when a person is pronounced free of leprosy, the priest ...
"shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering and put it on the tip of the right ear of him who is to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot". (Lev 14)

Sequence of santification - ear, hand, foot. As bondservants, the first thing that needs to be sanctified is our hearing (ear), followed by our service (hand), then our walk (feet). We can have hands that work and feet that walk, but if these are not guided by God and His voice, a lot of our activity could actually be pointless. They might be a striving of the flesh, or contrary to what God wants.

Jesus only did what He saw the Father do. Ultimately, everything and everything comes down to our relationship with God.

May we all press in to know the very intimate whisper of God, because only then, will our walk and service be fruitful. Amen.

The Aroma of Prayer

2009-10-24T19:59:00.005+08:00

I never grew up thinking I would join the prayer ministry. Even today, bible studies/ teachings/ seminars are probably more popular than prayer meetings at most churches. A good friend I met for tea today said that many churches today are more focused on feeding the mind than the heart. Hmmm.

Anyway, in my 20s, when I had settled back in my homechurch after 5 years overseas, I drifted in and out of different ministries, trying to find my giftings and where God wanted me. In all, I probably tried 7-8 ministries over a number of years. Yet, none seemed to ignite true passion. None seemed to say, Yes, this is Home.

Then one day, I read Ps Jim Cymbala's "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire". Ps Cymbala is the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle; which is today home to the world-famous Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. His book is the story of how when he first pastored the church, it was a decrepit, motley crew of a handful of people; who were dregs of society. Even the ushers were stealing the Sunday offering. It left him at his wits' end. Then he sensed God saying that he was to make the prayer meeting more important than any other meeting in the church - even the Sunday service. That book so pierced my heart - and I saw how much sense this made - that I immediately enrolled myself in the Wesley prayer team. And when I did, that felt like Home! :) It was the best thing I did. And it has been the most exhilarating ride with God - to know that He speaks to us; He loves us; He bids us to come boldly to the throne of grace!

Last night, I re-listened to one of Ps Cymbala's sermons on Mp3 - "The Aroma of Prayer". He is still one of the best teachers on prayer, because he is a practitioner. His whole church is run on prayer. He doesn't teach from theory; he teaches from a life lived out believing wholeheartedly that prayer should be central to every church.

To listen to Ps Jim Cymbala's sermons "The Aroma of Prayer", "My House Shall be Called A House of Prayer" and "Calling On the Name of the Lord", click here.

Obedience: this, too, is love

2009-10-17T20:48:00.003+08:00

Obedience.

Jesus said in John 14:15, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

Obedience is something we do if we love God.

Today, as I was reading Watchman Nee's thoughts on spiritual authority, I suddenly saw why God wants us to obey.

I saw it from another perspective.

This is what Watchman Nee writes.

When the Son left the glory, He did not intend to return on the basis of His divine attributes; on the contrary, He desired to be exalted as a man. Jesus was exalted by God after He was obedient. In like manner, God wants to affirm this principle of obedience in us now, so that we also will be worthy to be exalted in that coming Day.

I always thought God wants us to obey Him because He is God. He is the ultimate authority. He is the Law. And there is nothing wrong with that.

But today, I saw things from another perspective. I realised that God wants us to obey Him so that He may be able to exalt us.

God wants us to obey Him because He LOVES us. He LOVES us. That caused a pang in my heart. He wants us to obey Him because it is good for us.

Obedience - this is a demonstration of love. Our love for God. His love for us.

Amazed - by Lincoln Brewster

2009-10-17T16:05:00.004+08:00

Every morning, I have a short 5-minute walk down the road from my house to the main road, where I catch the transport to work. These days, in my busyness, sometimes those 5 minutes are all the private time I get to really spend alone with God (I really should do more, I know!). Anyway, these days, as I walk down that little road, have been plugging into Lincoln Brewster's song "Amazed" on my ipod. It never ceases to make me marvel at God's love, and to praise Him. It's such a favourite song of mine! :) Here are the lyrics:

You dance over me while I am unaware
You sing all around but I never hear the sound

(chorus)
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
Lord I'm amazed by You
And how You love me

(verse 2)
You paint the morning sky with miracles in mind
My hope will always stand
For You hold me in Your hand

(bridge)
How deep how wide
How great is Your love for me

The God I Know (City Harvest Church)

2009-10-02T00:15:00.001+08:00

Heard this song last week - such a beautiful worship tune - which originated from Singapore!

The Privilege of Prayer - by Adrian Rogers

2009-09-18T23:41:00.011+08:00

Ps. Adrian Rogers from Love Worth Finding Ministries is one of my favourite preachers - and he is one of the soundest bible teachers I know. So have reproduced his message on The Privilege of Prayer below. It cuts to the heart of matters!

The Privilege of Prayer
taken from a message given by Adrian Rogers

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6

Prayer is our greatest Christian privilege and our greatest Christian failure. Now there are some valid questions concerning prayer. In my study I’ve tried to think through some of these and I want to give you some brief insights.

Why should we pray when God already knows our needs?
We do not pray to impress or inform God, but to invite Him. We pray to fellowship with God, so He can develop and grow us, and because we depend on Him.

For what is it proper to pray?
There is nothing in life that is outside the reach of prayer. If it concerns you, it concerns God. We sometimes try to divide life into secular and sacred. We’ll pray about the sacred parts but handle the secular parts ourselves. Pray for everything.

Does God hear the prayers of the unsaved?
Cornelius was an unsaved man, but God was aware of his prayer as told in Acts 10. God can hear the prayer of an unsaved person, but we, who are His children, have been given so much more – His promises found in His Word.

Why should we pray in the name of Jesus?
God promises that He will give us what we ask for when we pray in the name of Jesus (John 14:13-14). When asking in Jesus’ name, first consider:
His Approval – Does Jesus approve this thing?
His Authorization – Is it something He has authorized?
His Acclaim – Is it for His glory?

Does God always give us what we ask?
No, and thank God! Sometimes we ask God for the wrong things (Numbers 11:11-15; Matthew 20:20-22). Other times our prayer perhaps is not answered because there’s sin in our lives (Isaiah 59:2; Psalm 66:18).

Does prayer change the mind of God?
No, it does not. Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance. Prayer is laying hold of God’s will. God is a changeless God (Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). But God will do things when we pray that He will not do if we don’t pray (James 4:2). Prayer effects what God does, but does not change Him.

What do we do if our prayers are not answered?
Persist – There is a time to keep praying. Daniel prayed for three solid weeks about a matter before God sent an answer (Daniel 10; Luke 18:1).
Desist - There’s a time to quit praying. Paul prayed three times for God to remove a thorn in his flesh. God did not give Paul what he asked, but God gave Paul something better than he asked (2 Corinthians 12:8-9).

Should we expect miracles when we pray?
Never get in the habit of saying what God cannot do. You will find clusters of miracles in Bible times. They gave glory to God, validated His identify, and advanced His work. But these are not normative. God is still a God of might and miracles (Jeremiah 32:17). If God has a miracle for you, He’ll give you miracle faith!

Can our prayers override the will of another person?
No, God has given man a free will (Revelation 22:17). If God were to force one person to be saved, He’d have to force all six billion people on earth. However, we can bind the powers of darkness and bring God’s influence to people in prayer. God does not force salvation, but He frees people to be saved.

Does God have favorites whose prayer He hears?
God will hear your prayer just as quickly as He hears mine, Billy Graham’s, or anybody else’s (Psalm 65:2). However, there are certain people that if I have a prayer need, I’ll go to. I know that they believe in prayer; therefore, I can ask them to pray. God has intimates, but He doesn’t have favorites.

How can I know the will of God in prayer?The prayer that gets to heaven is the prayer that starts in heaven. We just close the circuit. The will of God is what you would want if you knew everything from God’s viewpoint. The key is to abide in Christ. If you abide in Him (John 15:7), you will find that God will guide and direct your prayers, and you will be praying in the will of God.

Don’t wait until you have all of the answers before you pray. You don’t have to understand electricity to turn on the lights. “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.”

Hearing God's voice

2009-09-12T10:47:00.003+08:00

Last Sunday, I went for a pre-trip briefing for my upcoming visit to the Mt Carmel School of Ministry in Israel. There, I met a fellow Wesleyan for the first time, a fellow-tripper. She invited me to attend a small group session at church yesterday night, because her group would be learning to listen to God.

I started practising listening to God or Hearing God's voice as part of the Wesley Prayer Team. I love it because it makes our relationship with God come alive when we realise He loves us enough to speak to us, He wants to commune with us, He knows us. The Word of God says "My sheep know my voice" (John 10:27) - would it be that every child of God is able to appropriate this truth, to seek to know their Master's voice, and to hear from Him directly.

Anyway, so I eagerly said yes, and attended the meeting last night. And as usual, had a great time! I felt the moment I got there that it was a divine appointment - and so it was. We spent time in little groups of threes listening to God for each other.

There is always a risk in giving a specific word. If its wrong, it's major oops. But if it's right, what an encouragement it is, for both the giver and the receiver. So it was for me last night.

A young lady in our group shared that she felt God was asking her to trust Him. For what we didn't know. So we spent some time listening to God for her. And then I sensed God saying, "Tell her not to worry about where she's going to stay." Hmmm. I asked her, "Are you looking for somewhere to stay?" That's when she shared that yes, she's getting married in two months' time, and she and her husband-to-be have been fretting that they would not be able to get their flat in time because the existing tenants were still living there. WOAH!!!!! She was surprised by the specific reassuring word she received from God, and I was greatly blessed, because once again, I left last night praising God that truly He knows everything that is on our hearts and our every anxiety.

Our Abba Father knows everything about us, and He cares, and He will provide for our every need. Hallelujah!

The Secret to Winning Spiritual Wars

2009-09-12T10:39:00.005+08:00

Read this article previously on intercessors and it struck a chord and left much to ponder on ... so am reproducing it here. It's by Rebekah Montgomery - Editor, Right to the Heart.

The Secret to Winning Spiritual Wars
Rebekah Montgomery
Editor, Right to the Heart

There was a crisis with my children and I was a long way from home.

And I had no one on hand to pray with me.

This was ironic. At the time, I was serving on the staff of an evangelical conference for over 1600 kids roughly the same age as my own children. Even so, there was only one person I felt free to ask to pray with me. She smiled compassionately and said she would pray for me. I suppose she did — I don’t really know because I didn’t hear her. But I desperately needed someone to pray for me.

Fortunately, I belong to an Internet loop of women who not only will pray for me, but also email to me their prayers on my behalf. I cherish these women and my faith is bolstered from their prayers.

Sometimes, when the pain is very deep, you need someone to do your praying for you. The Bible has a name for these people: intercessors.

Warriors in Heavenly Places

Intercessors are a rare breed of spiritual warriors who set aside their own needs on behalf of others and strap on holy armor to do battle with evil forces in the heavenlies. These people are near to the heart of God because they lay down their lives for their friends. In a way, you might call them living martyrs.

Strategic planning, talent and training are fine and good, but spiritual battles are won or lost based on intercessory prayer. Ministry advances — or retreats — based on it.

Moses learned this. As the Amelekite army was confronted, Moses stood on top of a hill overlooking the battle holding the staff of God. The Israelites gained ground when he held up the staff: they lost ground when Moses’ arms grew weary and set it down. Finally, Aaron and Hur held up Moses’ arms until the war was decisively won. (Exodus 17)

What did Moses, his fellow intercessors, and the Israelite soldiers learn from this? What should we know for our personal and ministry battles?

The army of God moves forward on its knees. Hold up the staff of God and advance. The Lord is our banner or war flag. Fight spiritual battles any other way and you will ultimately lose ground.

Here’s what you need to know to be an intercessor and to form an intercessory team around you and the ministry God has called you to:

Intercession is a sacrificial gift of self. Intercessors become spiritually one with those for which they pray, so generally speaking, if you intercede in person, women should intercede for women, etc.

True intercessors sign on for the duration of the battle. They continue to pray until the battle is finished and God — not you — is victorious.

Intercessors pray from knowledge. It is important that intercessors pray for specific needs as well as general needs.

Intercession is work. The disciples slept through their big intercessory moment in Gethsemane. You’ll be tempted by the demands of your flesh, too.

Intercessors will go through a transforming process. The Holy Spirit thoroughly cleans intercessors. After purifying, He blesses them with depths of knowledge and understanding of Him that is beyond the norm.

Ask God to lead an Aaron and Hur to you. Don’t feel you need thousands of “prayer partners.” That would be wonderful, but what you really need are a few who take intercession seriously.

As the Lord builds trust, be vulnerable and admit when you are weary and your arms need to be held up.

Intercession is a mutual spiritual responsibility. If God sends you intercessors, be prepared to hold up their arms too.

© Rebekah Montgomery 2009
For reprint requests, contact Rebekah at her website, www.RebekahMontgomery.com.
Rebekah Montgomery, author/speaker/teacher, is a gifted, dynamic communicator. She is the author of more than five books and has penned 1,100 articles. She shares tough real-life topics and biblical application in a simple easy to grasp manner. To book Rebekah for your next event visit www.rebekahmontgomery.com. Rebekah is also the editor of Right to the Heart of Women and a publisher at Jubilant Press.

Singapore's calling and destiny

2009-07-26T06:45:00.004+08:00

At YWAM class yesterday, we had Joseph Chean come talk to us about missions. It was an inspiring class.

One thing that struck me deeply was just how God's hand had always been on Singapore. We are a tiny red dot nation, located in the backwaters of Southeast Asia. But God knew he had a destiny for our little land. And He sent missionaries from the early days to evangelise our forefathers.

So shortly after Stamford Raffles arrives to found Singapore in 1819, the first Protestant missionary sets up a local ministry here. In 1826, the Anglican church is founded in Singapore. In 1835, the Armenian church, founded by the Sarkis Brothers who built our iconic Raffles Hotel, is built. The missionaries also set up schools and hospitals - praise God for them! In 1885, Rev William F. Oldham arrives to head the work of the Methodist Church of Singapore - I grew up a product of the Methodist Church!

In the 1930s, John Sung - known as the Billy Graham of Asia - preaches in China and the overseas Chinese population in Southeast Asia. Wikipedia says by 1936, it is believed that more than 100,000 Chinese were converted through his ministry. Today, some in Singapore are second or third-generation Christians because their parents or grandparents believed in God after hearing John Sung.

In 1978, Billy Graham preached in Singapore, and people crowded into the 55,000-seat National Stadium each night to hear the message. More than 19,600 people - many of whom are leaders and pastors today - surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. It was Billy Graham who called out Singapore's destiny - saying God wants our little nation to be the 'Antioch of Asia' ... a hub or stepping stone for the rest of the world into Asia. I think our strategic location in the middle of key trade and air routes is no coincidence!

I was almost in tears when I considered our illustrious Christian heritage. What are we after all? A citystate with no natural resources and no hinterland, and just over 4 million people. It is a miracle that we survived independence, let alone be transformed from a third-world country to a first-world nation in one generation. For that, we have to thank God and the leaders He gave us. Indeed, in Singapore, we have been blessed beyond all measure - both materially and spiritually. And now, we have this amazing calling as 'Antioch of Asia' - to send out missionaries, to bless the Asia people materially, to be a place of refreshing and refuelling for the church workers in our neighbouring lands.

As I was reminded of the torchbearers - the men and women God sent our way to point the way to Christ - I thank God for their obedience. Truly God, you have done this. May we do the same for those who do not yet know Him.

God's assignments for us

2009-07-20T23:01:00.004+08:00

"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, Lord?" I asked. "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 9My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. "What shall I do, Lord?" I asked.
"Get up," the Lord said, "and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do." (Acts 22:6-10)

Jesus had assignments for Paul. Likewise, I believe God has assignments for us all. Recently at YWAM, we have been learning about calling and destiny. What is our calling? What is our destiny?

Some lessons: God is liberal with our destiny. And He has big dreams for us. He called Gideon a mighty man of valour, before Gideon ever achieved anything for God.

Was at a bookshop recently, and noticed that there are plenty of self-help books and books on self-esteem. Self-esteem and self-confidence are wonderful, I thought. Especially the right esteem about ourselves in God's eyes.

Until I read this in the notes a friend shared with us this evening, and it makes so much sense: "Self-esteem is focused on self. Christ-esteem is recognising I’m filthy, sinful and have no good apart from God – I look to Christ – Jesus alive in me. I don’t have to struggle because my self is dead. And I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

"You can be everything you want to be – that’s the world view. But what does Jesus want me to be? That's the kingdom view."

"Don’t discourage children and their big dreams, but refocus it to how they can align their dreams with God."

Prayer today: Father God, I want big dreams. But I want them to be aligned with your big dreams. My vision, no better how big, is still much smaller than yours; because you are a Big God, and you are liberal when it comes to destinies. Help me to live the fullest life that you intended me to live when you conceived me in your mind. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The heavens are telling of the glory of the Lord!

2009-07-13T22:37:00.009+08:00

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, and crowned him with glory and honor (Psalms 8:3-4)

Recently, I saw a Louis Giglio video on the stars that God created. Before this, I thought stars were little twinkling things in the sky (a misnomer probably caused by the nursery rhyme one learnt at kindergarten). When I realised that some of the stars in our universe are way way bigger than Earth, it took my breath away. It really caused my mind to be quite blown away. And this is just fingerwork for God!!!!

What a Great God we serve!

Christian the Lion

2009-07-05T16:21:00.005+08:00

Saw the book on Christian the Lion at the bookshop today, and remembered what a wonderful story it is. This is a true story... and the following is an account from Wikipedia: "Christian was a lion originally purchased by Australians John Rendall and Anthony "Ace" Bourke from Harrods department store of London in 1969 and ultimately reintroduced to the wild by conservationist George Adamson. One year after George Adamson released Christian to the wild, his former owners decided to go looking for him in Africa to see whether Christian would remember them. Surprisingly, he did and with him were other lions in the pride who were also friendly."

This is so immensely touching. Impossible? On this earth, it's very likely a one in a million ... but I am looking forward to when Christ establishes His kingdom, and when even the predatory animals become peaceable :) Just like Christian the Lion.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them (Isaiah 11:6)

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD. (Isaiah 65:25)