His Love Is Perfected In Us

Christmas and New Year is a season of giving and giving is one of many ways that we can express our love.

1 John 4:12 ~ No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.

I want to love others, and I long for others to love me too. The ability to love is inside every created things on earth. The desire to love is in man. Ever since I have become a believer, the felt of the need to love others become stronger because of the many verses stated in the Bible about love. Especially with the verses from 1 John chapter 4. I felt the need to love others more or at least, I was taught that this is the basic requirement from the Lord for a believer. From the way we used to read the Bible, we might conclude that loving others is also a sign to show that we are believers! Because of the way we are brought up in the Christian circle, we do not really know the true meaning of what is “we love because He first love us”.

After I have been enlightened by the grace of God, I gradually learn that we are actually the subject of His love and men are created for His love.  Men are created to be loved by Him and we are created to receive His love. Even though the teaching on the grace of God has overturned the inception that was rooted in me on how men should love each other, and even though I have been proclaiming the verse “we love because He first love us” over and over again, the Lord is still showing me through my circumstances that I still do not really know what is He trying to say...

It was after I have been led to learn on how to engage my heart to receive His revelation a few months ago; I started to receive new insight on what kind of love this really is. Incidentally, this revelation was immediately confirmed by a Christmas card given by a sister in which 1 John 4:12 was quoted: “No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and His love is perfected in us.”

This kind of love is not our human kind of love. It is His love which perfected in us. We all know we have to love, but without knowing that when we are using our own effort in trying to love, we are doing it out of our flesh (brain), i.e. the dogs that God asked us to be aware of. At the end of the day, we murmur and we are not satisfied with others responses in respect of our “love” for them.  We have seen this over and over again and do not even realize that we are using our own effort to love each other. We did not love others out of the overflow of His love which is perfected in us.  We do not love others out of His love for us.

On the 31st of October last year, our church declared that, the church offering collection of that day would be used as a love gift to three of the churches in Israel . Through this event, the Lord revealed to me the meaning of “His love perfected in us”.

As believer, we have our Jewish brothers in the holy land. These are the kind of brothers that we never know of and we have never seen them before. But as we know more about the message of His grace, the desire of this kind of love to our Jewish brothers grow stronger each day. This is what we call the "supernatural love" from our Lord because our Jewish brothers are His chosen people and our Lord loves them very much. As such, this "supernatural love" is His love perfected in us.  If we have this kind of love towards our Jewish brothers, His love is already perfected in us! If we know that His love is perfected in us, we can rest assure that we can love and we shall love.

The only problem is on how are we going to dispense this perfect love to each other?  Perhaps the only solution to this problem is how much we can rest in Him. When we rest in Him, this perfect love shall flow in and through us. When this perfect love is flowing, we are in the flow of loving each other with the love that He perfected in us. And now, we love because He first loves us.

Understand that once we have put our faith in Him, His love is already perfected in us. Rest in Him and let this perfect love flow in and through you by His grace. After all, we love because His first loves us and only His grace can bring us there...

See The World Through His Heart

See the world through His heart… what a blog title! This blog was started because of  the Mango Cheese Cake made by my wife. I could still recall that moment while I was enjoying my Mango Cheese Cake, the Lord spoke in my heart with the verse from Mark chapter 16 verse 15:  And He said to them, Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation. While looking at the pieces of MANGO slices in the cake, my heart connected with His prompting as MANGO..., "MEN GO" into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation...! My first blog post was the picture of that Mango Cheese Cake made by my wife Penny, and I called that Mango Cheese Cake an Evangelistic Cake. 

As I walk and grow in the Lord through this blog, I was amazed to realize that as I learnt to see this world through His heart, I started to see thing the way He see and the whole Bible become real and alive…. So with this insight of the function of our heart and seeing thing through His heart, I recompile and post this revelation under the title of  "SEE THE WORLD THROUGH HIS HEART".

I have been wondering and asking the Lord why is that some believers who have tasted His grace and still shy away from Him after a short period of time… With this question, He is not slow in revealing the answer to me. To my surprise, His answer has become a series of my preaching in 3 separate sessions.

Ever since He started to reveal His answer, He has been showing me the biblical truth in respect of our mind and our heart.

Way back in the Garden of Eden, we could find the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. In the wilderness, we could see the Israelites asking for the two tablets of Stones even though they had the leading of the Lord. Even in this dispensation of grace ever since the resurrection of our Lord, we, the believer, the temple of the Holy Spirit, have been using our mind instead of our heart.

The Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, two tablets of Stone and our mind have the same characteristic, whereas the Tree of Life, the Lord’s leading and our heart are of the same characteristic. With the help from the structure of the tabernacle, we can actually see the picture of the two Trees at the outer court, the two tablets of Stone and God’s leading at the inner court and our mind and heart as the Holy of Holies.

In the outer court, Adam and Eve had chosen the wrong Tree and were driven out of the Garden. In the wilderness, the Israelites had chosen the two Tablets and they took forty years to complete an eleven days journey. My oh my… in this dispensation of grace, believers are using their mind, intellect, and their head knowledge to walk with the Lord. These three eras shared the same consequences which gave birth to human religions…

2 Timothy 1:9 -10 ~ who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

It is NOT only those who preach GRACE is under GRACE... GRACE is not for Christians only, but as long as you are a human being, you are under His GRACE. As long as you are born after the death of Christ, you are under this Grace Dispensation! Believers of Christ are no more under law but under grace. Believer did not invite Moses into their heart to be their Saviour... Believer has invited Jesus into their heart, and Jesus is their Saviour. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time...!

From the picture of the tabernacle, we could understand that Jesus’ death had already positioned us in the Holy of Holies where we can freely commune with Father God. The problem with many believers is that, we are using our mind, intellect, and our head knowledge to dwell in the Holy of Holies. As a result, we are moving the furnitures that are supposed to be in the inner court into the Holy of Holies. We are practising the rituals of the inner court in the Holy of Holies. We are still abiding to the law even though we are now in the dispensation of grace.

Because of these reasons, the Lord pointed me to a verse in Philippians chapter 3 and reminded me to watch out for dogs. Yes..., He meant dogs… dogs that bark, and there are two dogs!

Philippians 3:2 ~ Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.

Although the Lord had used this verse to speak to me before and warn me to be aware of those who used the Law to bind believers, but He regards that incident as in the outer court when I was still in “Babylon”. He wanted me to look at this verse again from a different point of view in the Holy of Holies.

I then realized that He was referring these dogs as our brain. Our brain has the shape of the two tablets of Stone brought down by Moses from Mount Sinai. Our brain is the storehouse of our memories, rules and regulation, our intellect and etc… Our desire to work and to abide the law is from our brain. Our brain is also our religion stronghold. Our brain barks at us whenever we made mistake… and we might consider this as self checking. Our brain pushes us to do well… Accuse us of our failures… condemn us of our pass mistakes, sins, failures… and even condemn others! Our brain is actually the shadow of the two tablets of Stones. Our brain is also the shadow of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

If we associate our intellect with what Apostle Paul called flesh, we will have a better understanding on what Paul meant by living according to the sinful nature and according to Spirit.

Romans 8:1 ~ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (using their intellect), but according to the Spirit (using their heart).

We are under the dispensation of GRACE. We are already in the Holy of Holies. We cannot use our intellect anymore; we have to use our heart…Or else, we can never walk in His grace and we can never walk with Him. Grace is not in line with our logical mind. We need the Holy Spirit to reveal His grace to us. Can you still remember the moment when you decided to put your faith in Our Lord Jesus, you invited Him into your heart...!? From that moment onwards, He has given you His own heart and His heart is the way of grace.

In respect of the revelation on our hearts that He has given me, the Lord used the Chinese’s writing character of  LOVE （爱） to show me His heart.

In the old way (I see it as Old Covenant) of writing this character of LOVE (愛), there is a heart （心）in it… But in the new way (I see it as New Covenant) of writing LOVE（爱), it is without a heart （心). This is the question I have been asking the Lord for a long time; and He answered my question with a revelation of His heart.  

Matthew 22:37 ~  Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.

In respect of the Old Covenant writing on LOVE (愛), The Lord said we have to use our own heart to love God… that is why there is a heart（心）in the old writing. But for the New, He said He had already help us to love God with all His heart and with all His soul, and with all His mind. We cannot find the heart in the new way of writing (New Covenant) because He has given us His own heart.

Ezekiel 11:19 ~ I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 

Our heart that is now beating is the heart from our Lord. By the grace of God, He has given us His own heart for us to believe in Him. It was this heart that healed the sick. It was this heart that casted out demons.  It was this heart that feed the multitudes. It was this heart that sympathized our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. It was this heart that accomplished all the written code of the Ten Commandments. It was this willing heart that sent Him to the cross. 

It is this heart that understands the grace of God. It is this heart that understands the will of God. It is this heart that is full of love and compassion. It is this heart that Jesus has given us. He has given us a new heart…. In this mortal body of ours, only our hearts are new and living. With this statement from the Lord, He led me to a deeper understanding on what the Bible meant by "Do not walk in flesh but walk in the Spirit".

Our mortal bodies are subject to death. Apostle Paul was actually struggling in Roman chapter 7 and his struggle ended with him asking WHO would rescue him from this body of death not how or what he could do. He did not ask HOW but WHO. By asking WHO, the WHO, Who is always faithful, revealed to him that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  The Who did not revealed to him that he must repent… The Who revealed to him that there is now no condemnation. Who would have known that Paul condemned himself because of the tenth commandment which was nailing his innermost being? It was the dogs (his brain) barking at him... The 1st to the 9th commandments are of external behavior, while the 10th deals with the hearts of men.

From here, the Lord asked me to add the word “brain” in bracket after the flesh and the word “heart” in bracket after the Spirit.

In the Garden of Eden, the eyes of Adam and Eve were opened. Their minds were activated by the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When their minds were activated, they started to see their nakedness. They started to see their lack and fear came into them.

On the road to Emmaus, the couple by the name of Cleopas, ate the bread broken by the Lord and their eyes were opened too, but they see the Lord and their heart was burning. The Lord said "Shalom...!"

Romans  8:1 ~ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (our brains) , but according to the Spirit (our hearts).

The revelation from the Lord at this point of time becomes very clear and easy to understand. If we walk according to our flesh (using our brains) condemnation will come! Remember the Lord reminded us to beware of dogs? Our brains are the shadow of the two tablets of Stone and they bark at us when we fall short. If we walk according to the Spirit (using our heart), there will be no condemnation. It is so clear that under the dispensation of grace, we cannot use our brains anymore. To walk in flesh (to use our brains) is death; to walk in the Spirit (to use our hearts) is life. After all, when we put our faith in the Lord, we never invited Him into our brains but into our hearts.

Our whole body is death… there is no life. In this resurrected body, only our hearts are new and are from the Lord. But the hope is found in Romans 8 verse 11 where we can find the Trinity God appears together in one verse…

Romans 8:11 ~  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you (our heart), He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (our heart).

Oh Hallelujah! The power that gives life to our mortal bodies is in our hearts! He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in our heart. It is all by grace through faith, not of us; grace and faith are gifts from God not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them.

We can do nothing. We are human being not human doing. We don’t do good deed to become a believer but as a believer, we produce good deeds. The Lord did not ask us to do anything. He said He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to our mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in our heart. Being in Christ alone, is already doing our good work because we are His workmanship, created in Him to produce good work...!

Proverbs 4

20: My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

21: Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;

22: For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.

23: Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 4

20: My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.

-             Romans 10:17 ~ Then faith is of hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.

We can only listen to the preaching of the Gospel of Grace. Let His living water washes our feet day in day out. This Gospel of Grace will point us to see Jesus and His finished work. We are then transformed from glory to glory by beholding our wonderful Lord Christ Jesus. We can do nothing but give attention to His words; incline our ear to His sayings. Let His living water washes our feet...; It is finished,,,!

21: Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;

-             On the road to Emmaus, Jesus expounded the Word from Moses to the Prophets things concerning Himself, He broke bread and their eyes were opened to see Jesus and their heart was burning.

When we read the Word be it Old and New Testaments, we must find out the Spirit of Jesus. Where the Spirit is, there is freedom.

22: For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.

-             Romans 8:11 ~ But if the Spirit of the One who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised up Christ from the dead shall also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit who dwells in you.

He has given us His own heart. That is the fountain of life, the abundant life that He has promised.

23: Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

-             Matthew 12:35 ~ A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings out good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings out evil things.

A verse before this is “Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” His definition of good and evil is : When you trust in His grace that is good. If you trust in your performance by abiding the law, He calls that evil. There is nothing good coming out from our performance through obeying the Ten Commandment because a man of sinful nature can never abide to the holy standard of the commandments.

Coma patients have non-functioning brains yet as long as their hearts are still beating, they are considered alive.  Heart Attack patients are dead because their hearts stopped beating... Patients suffering from Heart Attack are certified dead once their hearts have stopped beating...and Heart Attack is caused by stress and the root of that lethal stress is from our mind...

Matthew 6:34 ~ Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow shall be anxious for its own things. Sufficient to the day is the evil of it.

Faith is to depend on Jesus' performance while work is to depend on our own performance. The Lord said, "It is finished...!" It had all been taken care of... It had all been done by our Lord Jesus... ! Go now, and preach this God's news, i.e. the Gospel, the too good to be true news. Go into all the world, proclaim the gospel to all the creation... and see the world through the heart that He has given you.

His Heart ~ The Way Of Grace

I have been wondering and asking the Lord why is that some believers who have tasted His grace and still shy away from Him after a short period of time… With this question, He is not slow in revealing the answer to me. To my surprise, His answer has become a series of my preaching in 3 separate sessions.

Ever since He started to reveal His answer, He has been showing me the biblical truth in respect of our mind and our heart.

Way back in the Garden of Eden, we could find the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. In the wilderness, we could see the Israelites asking for the two tablets of Stones even though they had the leading of the Lord. Even in this dispensation of grace ever since the resurrection of our Lord, we, the believer, the temple of the Holy Spirit, have been using our mind instead of our heart.

The Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, two tablets of Stone and our mind have the same characteristic, whereas the Tree of Life, the Lord’s leading and our heart are of the same characteristic. With the help from the structure of the tabernacle, we can actually see the picture of the two Trees at the outer court, the two tablets of Stone and God’s leading at the inner court and our mind and heart as the Holy of Holies.

In the outer court, Adam and Eve had chosen the wrong Tree and were driven out of the Garden. In the wilderness, the Israelites had chosen the two Tablets and they took forty years to complete an eleven days journey. My oh my… in this dispensation of grace, believers are using their mind, intellect, and their head knowledge to walk with the Lord. These three eras shared the same consequences which gave birth to human religions…

2 Timothy 1:9 -10 ~ who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

It is NOT only those who preach GRACE is under GRACE... GRACE is not for Christians only, but as long as you are a human being, you are under His GRACE. As long as you are born after the death of Christ, you are under this Grace Dispensation! Believers of Christ are no more under law but under grace. Believer did not invite Moses into their heart to be their Saviour... Believer has invited Jesus into their heart, and Jesus is their Saviour.

From the picture of the tabernacle, we could understand that Jesus’ death had already positioned us in the Holy of Holies where we can freely commune with Father God. The problem with many believers is that, we are using our mind, intellect, and our head knowledge to dwell in the Holy of Holies. As a result, we are moving the furniture that is supposed to be in the inner court into the Holy of Holies. We are practising the ritual of the inner court in the Holy of Holies. We are still abiding to the law even though we are now in the dispensation of grace.

Because of these reasons, the Lord pointed me to a verse in Philippians chapter 3 and reminded me to watch out for dogs. Yes..., He meant dogs… dogs that bark, and there are two dogs!

Philippians 3:2 ~ Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.

Although the Lord had used this verse to speak to me before and warn me to be aware of those who used the Law to bind believers, but He regards that incident as in the outer court when I was still in “Babylon”. He wanted me to look at this verse from a different point of view from the Holy of Holies.

I then realized that He was referring these dogs as our brain. Our brain has the shape of the two tablets of Stone brought down by Moses from Mount Sinai. Our brain is the storehouse of our memories, rules and regulation, our intellect and etc… Our desire to work and to abide the law is from our brain. Our brain is also our religion stronghold. Our brain barks at us whenever we made mistake… and we might consider this as self checking. Our brain pushes us to do well… Accuse us of our failures… condemn us of our pass mistakes, sins, failures… and even condemn others! Our brain is actually the shadow of the two tablets of Stones. Our brain is also the shadow of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

If we associate our intellect with what Apostle Paul called flesh, we will have a better understanding on what Paul meant by living according to the sinful nature and according to Spirit.

Romans 8:1 ~ There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (using their intellect), but according to the Spirit (using their heart).

We are under the dispensation of GRACE. We are already in the Holy of Holies. We cannot use our intellect anymore; we have to use our heart…Or else, we can never walk in His grace and we can never walk with Him. Grace is not in line with our logical mind. We need the Holy Spirit to reveal His grace to us. Can you still remember the moment when you decided to put your faith in Our Lord Jesus, you invited Him into your heart...!? From that moment onwards, He has given you His own heart and His heart is the way of grace.

I will continue to share this revelation in respect of our heart in my next post....

Mind vs Heart

The kingdom of this world is in our mind.
The Kingdom of God is in our heart.

Law is in our mind.
Grace is in our heart.

To do right or not to do wrong is from our mind,

Abundant life is in our heart.

Our mind prompts us to do.
Our heart prompts us to rest.

Work is from our mind,
Faith is from our heart.

The devil speaks and prompts us through our mind,
Our Lord speaks and prompts us through our heart.

Worries are from our mind.
Shalom peace is in our heart.

Self righteousness is from our mind.
The Righteousness of God is in our heart.

The nature of condemning is from our mind,
The nature of compassion is from our heart.

Doubt is from our mind.
Believe is from our heart.

Our mind seeks knowledge,
Our heart seeks wisdom.

Knowledge is from our mind.
Revelation is from our heart.

We obey the letters with our mind.
We obey the Spirit with our heart.

Ezekiel 11.19 – I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.

Why Pray If God Is All-Knowing?

The Old Concealed, The New Revealed!

Many years ago, I was reminded by the Lord that Apostle Paul, who wrote two third of the New Testament had only the Old Testament as references at his time and dispensation. It actually took years for my peanut brain to comprehend what the Lord is hinting to me... By the grace of God, I finally begin to understand the true meaning of what it means by “The Old Testament is in the New revealed and the New Testament is in the Old concealed.”

The Old and New Testaments are not two books but one. Since the literary context of the Old Covenant in the Christian canon is the New Covenant, this means that the Old Covenant must be understood in the context of the New Covenant Spirit.

However, God is always progressive in His revelation to man. With this wonderful enlightenment and as I begin to read the Old Testament again, I begin to understand that God used avenues of “visual aid" to express His Truth to man. I begin to realize that He always moves from the lower to the higher level; like from first Adam to the last Adam. He always moves from ritual to reality… from shadow to substance, from types to antitype, from prophecy to fulfilment, from symbol to its spiritual truth, from the natural to the spiritual and from earthly to heavenly.

Even at the stage of His last breath, in the midst of the two thieves, Jesus demonstrated the difference of the Old and the New Covenant. The thief who saw the GRACE of God was able to cry out: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." ... And he was saved!

2 Timothy 2:15 ~ Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

What Jesus had done at the Cross had totally changed everything from the Old to the New. And since the old book is Jesus Christ concealed, and the new is Jesus Christ revealed, the heart of the New Testament is Jesus Christ. In between these two books stood the mighty cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. This means that every message from the Old Testament must be seen in the light of Jesus Christ. This is what the Apostle Paul meant by rightly dividing the word, and consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

However, the principle of "The Old Testament is in the New revealed and the New Testament is in the Old concealed" could only be understood through revelation from the Holy Spirit, under the New Covenant Spirit i.e the Spirit of Grace. For it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" — but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.

Evolvement

By Ole Henrik Skjelstad

In his first epistle John introduces something not found elsewhere in the Bible. He suggests that the Christian walk can be divided into three separate periods, where each period has some common characteristics. I have been pondering this lately and what I am now to pen down is not an exhaustive exposition on the subject, merely some initial thoughts.

The little child knows his sins are forgiven. He is not yet, however, secured in God’s grace and has a limited understanding of the mystery of the gospel, that is, Christ’s abiding presence in him. The child is an easy prey for condemnation, and is apt to judge himself and others based on behavior. He prefers fixed boundaries and finds security in a predictable religion.

The child usually wants to have its will and God have mercy on those who is so audacious that they shake their outlook and their predictable world. Children prefer predictability and strict boundaries. They prefer to divide things in good and evil.

The young man has overcome the evil one. He has disclosed the devil’s devices and is secure in his identity. He is strong because he has discovered the surpassing power of the One who abides in him. The adolescent is well settled in God’s grace and he is beginning to make righteous judgments in accordance with the light he has been given.

Otherwise the young men are like most other adolescents. They almost invariably know better than those who are older and more mature than them. Full of plans and energy they embark on any project they think will glorify God.

The father, who knows Him who has been from the beginning, has delved into this mystery we call love. He knows God is limitless and unsearchable. He has found that God operates outside any preconceived boxes. Daily his mind is stretched, because the Spirit is leading him further and further from the trodden paths. The father is completely secure in God’s love. The fact that he is loved is a fixed inner knowledge. He is not dependent on feelings, sensations or experiences to feel loved even though he appreciates those moments of intimacy.

What does it mean that the father knows Him who has been from the beginning? God is love and thus love is the origin of everything. It is a love that far surpasses any human understanding, so the father has undressed himself of those inhibiting thought patterns which attempt to understand God intellectually. God is Spirit and can hence only be recognized in a realm where words cannot by any means make justice to God’s person or ways. The father has abandoned any earthly ways, and his soul is utterly captivated by the beauty of the Eternal one.

For the father any illusion about separation has been dissolved and he is well established in his union with God. His will is fused with God’s will and he confidently obeys his heart knowing he can do nothing of himself and is thus secure in his own I. Paradoxes do not scare him. On the contrary he is intrigued by the freedom those almost preposterous inconsistent ideas offer.

Others envy him his freedom to express himself without any inhibitions. In the same manner as God the father is preoccupied with one thing only and that is life and life in abundance.

Finding Fault...

Toyota Motor Corporation, commonly known as Toyota, is a multinational corporation headquartered in Japan and is currently the world's largest carmaker.

Toyota is also one of the largest companies to push the hybrid vehicles in the market and the first to commercialize such vehicles, an example being the Toyota Prius, their innovative model which combine an internal combustion engine with electric motor. Toyota eventually began providing this option on the main smaller cars such as Camry and later with the Lexus divisions, producing some hybrid luxury vehicles. It labeled such technology in Toyota cars as "Hybrid Synergy Drive" and in Lexus versions as "Lexus Hybrid Drive."

The Prius has become the top selling hybrid car in America, and Toyota, as a brand, now has three hybrid vehicles in its lineup: the Prius, Highlander, and Camry.

During the recent embarrassment for the world's largest carmaker which was triggered by complaints about their faulty accelerator and braking system. The fault, which causes the car to accelerate, has also proved deadly, leading to the death of an American family whose luxury Lexus vehicle allegedly sped out of control. The brake problem also affects the petrol-electric Priuses that were sold in the US and Japan. Drivers there have complained of a short delay before the brakes kick in.

In respond to these complaints, Toyota “found fault” with the accelerator pedals and braking system and responded with recall exercise to fix the accelerator pedals and brake system. Approximately, Toyota announced recalls of 8 million cars around the world because of the sticky accelerator pedals and braking system…

If you own one of these cars, there are faults hidden in those two pedals under your feet… and is life threatening. I don’t think a person with a sound mind would reject this recall exercise.

If you own such a car, will you refuse to respond to the manufacturer’s recall exercise…?

Apostle Paul, one of the greatest “agent” of the Creator of this universal, reminded us the believers, times over times in his different epistles that the ministry that is engraved in letter on stone is a ministry of death. The Creator of this universal Himself had found fault with this weak and useless covenant, for the law made nothing perfect. He Himself had made an open statement through His prophets on why he had found fault with this old covenant….

Nevertheless, if the first covenant with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. But the Lord found fault with it and said,

"I tell you the time will come, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It won't be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke their agreement with me, and I stopped caring about them! "But now I tell the people of Israel this is my new agreement: `The time will come when I, the Lord, will write my laws on their minds and hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Not one of them will have to teach another to know me, their Lord.'  "All of them will know me, no matter who they are. I will treat them with kindness, even though they are wicked.  I will forget their sins."

When the Lord talks about a new covenant, he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old, outdated and useless had disappeared.

The recent recall exercise by Toyota is to replace the sticky accelerator pedals and to rectify the braking system. Two thousand years ago, the Creator of this universal, found fault with this weak and useless regulations that He made with the Israel people. Through His one and only Begotten Son, and at the cross, He implemented the recall exercise to reconcile this sinful world with Himself.

Through that recall exercise, the Creator of this universal had written His laws, the law of the Spirit of life, on our minds and our hearts. He had become our God, and we had become His people. Not one of us will have to teach one another to know Him, our Lord. All of us will know Him, no matter who we are. He treats us with lovingkindness, even though we are wicked, for He remembers our sins no more!

Have you responded to His recall exercise… or are you still holding on to the law of sin and death?

Wisdom Of The World

By Mick Mooney of Searching For Grace

Wisdom Of The World
By mick on September 7th, 2009

The more you love Christ, the more you love His church – that is His people. I love the church, I really do. I had somewhat of a tough time uploading this comic, because I know it will probably offend some people I love and care for.

So then why did I upload it you might ask. Good question. I’m doing it for the very reason that I love the church. I just want Brothers and Sisters in Christ stop for a few minutes, and think about what is going on. God calls the wisdom of the world ‘foolishness’, so why are we using it for our model of church organization and growth?

Until we stop to think, and actually give ourselves the permission to think about such questions, we can never learn from the Holy Spirit his way of Church organization and growth. It won’t look like the world’s idea of wisdom, it won’t be founded on worldly principles, rules and laws. It won’t look anything like a worldly corporate business model, but it will work, I’m sure it will.

God created the entire universe by His Spirit. He holds the whole universe together by His Spirit. With the same Spirit He can build, unite and grow His people (that is the church), but we have to be willing to let Him do it. If we keep trying to hold the church together by our amazing organizational skills, we’ll never experience the church being held together by God’s Spirit (that is by love, instead of structure).

Let’s all come to our Father as He desires, like children, and ask Him for advice about this whole topic. He will guide us into all truth, and He will help us as we continue searching for grace.

Blue skies,

Mick

Do We Have To...?

Do we have to put Jesus No.1 in our life? Hmmm... Interesting question. What is your opinion?

Back To The Basic

To be a doer of Word is to believe that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. How hard it can be for the Body of Christ to believe that they are righteous? It is very very hard...... cos' the Body of Christ has been "Christianized"!

Yes, we have been "Christianized"! We need to go back to the basic… go back to our first love… go back to the time when the Holy Spirit first convicted us of righteousness. It was in John Chapter 16 that Jesus first expounded on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to convict the world of sin, the Body of Christ of righteousness and to judge the prince of this world!

When did the Holy Spirit first come to convict of the Body of Christ of righteousness?

It was at the Upper Room when the Day of Pentecost had fully come. The Holy Spirit came like a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and He filled the whole house where the 120 disciples were sitting. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

How long since the Body of Christ has been convicted of righteousness?

Since then, it has been two thousand years… all these while, the Body of Christ has been struggling to be taught on the issue that is actually their own rightful nature, the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus... What a conspiracy?

If you are a man, do you have to be taught on how to be a man? Or, if you are a woman, do you have to be taught on how to be a woman? But Christian, as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, still need to be taught that we are righteous. Duh…!

Thanks to all those religious and legalistic teachings that encourage deserved and merited favor… this type of teaching is "Christianizing" the Body of Christ. We need to be "gospelized" by the teaching on undeserved and unmerited favor! It is all about His grace, His undeserved and unmerited favor! The Lord is stirring up Gospel Revolution to “gospelize” the world and the Body of Christ… That is why we need to be brought back to the basic as the time of shaking is here… so that things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
Hebrews 12:23 to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Hebrews 12:24 to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Hebrews 12:25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven,
Hebrews 12:26 whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "YET ONCE MORE I SHAKE NOT ONLY THE EARTH, BUT ALSO HEAVEN."
Hebrews 12:27 Now this, "YET ONCE MORE," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

We just need to believe that we are righteous by faith; we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. This is our rightful identity. By believing we are righteous by faith is our only work that we need to do to prove that our faith is not dead. The rest are blessings for which we only have to say Amen, to the glory of God through us.

It is so easy because of His grace. Let us go back to the basic and start majoring on the major... let us "gospelize" the "Christianized"!

Doer Of Word

I beheld the Perfect Law of Liberty lately, He is the One who abide the 10 Commandments for me.
I beheld the Perfect Law of Liberty lately, I did not die but live, for He is the One who gave me His righteousness.


James 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
James 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror;
James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.


I looked into the Mirror lately, I saw perfect beauty in the Mirror... that’s me.
I looked into the Mirror lately, I saw a righteous man in the Mirror... and that’s me!

I stood in front of the Mirror and observed myself lately, I realized I was fearfully made by the Creator of this universe.
I stood in front of the Mirror and observed myself lately, I realized I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Oooh... I have been brought back to simplicity lately, where the Holy Spirit first convicted me of Jesus' righteousness when I first put my trust in Him.
Oooh... I have been brought back to the basic lately, where the Holy Spirit first gave me the gift of speaking in tongue and I spoke out in marvel...

I stand in front of the Mirror and observing myself today, I realize I have not been a doer of Word. My heart is breaking...
I stand in front of the Mirror and observing myself today, I realize I have been a doer of my own word. My tear is falling...

Selah

I am now looking into the Mirror, I see perfect beauty in the Mirror and that’s my natural face.
I am now looking into the Mirror, I see a righteous man like Abraham and that’s my natural man!

I am now beholding the Perfect Law of Liberty and He is the One who abide the 10 Commandments for me.
I am now beholding the Perfect Law of Liberty and I am living forevermore, for He is the One who gives me His righteousness.


Now, I am a hearer of Word and I am a doer of Word. Whenever I walk away from this Mirror, the one and only thing I have to do is to BELIEVE that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Ooooh... He brings me back to basic and He brings me back to my First Love... I am now like an eagle renewing its youth.

I never know that it is so easy to be a doer of Word. Oh it is so easy to be a doer of Word… but men complicated it. I asked the Lord why is it soooo easy? He simply answered, “Son, this is My grace…”

He Cares When I Don't Care...

Ever since I have been enlightened by the revelation of casting our cares away in last Thursday evening…, the devil would have thought that I have forgotten about this in a matter of four or five days. Well, before I could forget, I finally faced some little "cares" which raised from certain situation this morning.

The anointing in me is still teaching me the biblical way of casting our cares away... but I'm religiously slow to comprehend. So the best thing I could do is trying not to think about it… but I couldn’t. The next thing I tried to do is by occupying myself with other things hoping that I could forget about this little care… I couldn’t either. After these two attempts not knowing that these were my own self efforts, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart asking me to pray in the Spirit… i.e. speaking in tongue. In a matter of a few minutes, the burden was lightened and the care was gone…!

Indeed, Paul was right in his letter to Titus. For he had written…

Titus 2:11-12 ~ For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

Grace teaches us...

When I went back for lunch, I saw Katherine Poon of Everything Grace followed up with a new post in her blog entitled: "When We Take Cares, God's Grace Cannot Flow"... and by the way, the Holy Spirit first used her to initial this wonderful revelation! So, not out of my religiosity, I felt honor to post my fresh encounter in her blog as comment. Hmmm... what a privileged!

We have chosen to humble before His grace and this is just part of the consequence... His grace teaches us or to be precised, He teaches us… Hey...! This is life; I'm growing in His grace...! Yahoo...! I'm so excited! This is what Paul meant by do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. I'm experiencing what Paul was preaching! Praying in tongue is giving thanks and Jesus, our faithful Master, is never too late to meet our needs that takes away our cares!!!!

In the midst of writing this post, a fresh revelation comes to me again in respect of the abundant of His grace and the gift of His righteousness.

Romans 5:17 ~ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Now, we all know that the word "care" in its original meaning is "worry" and worry is sin. The word sin in Greek is “missing the mark.”

Wow..., this is going to be powerful!

When we have cares and worries, we are missing the mark. I realized from this morning experience that we cannot do away with cares and worries by our own effort. So, the moment we pray in tongue, we are resting in Him and making full use of His abundant provision of grace, for when sin (missing the mark) abound, grace super abound. Instead of letting our consciousness being condemned intentionally or unintentionally, the Spirit gives us life and set us free from any condemnation. Praying in tongue engages the Holy Spirit to bear witness with our spirit man that we are still the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Pointing us to Jesus' righteousness is the duty of the Holy Spirit. This is the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit in our life to cast out the spiritual force of cases and worries. That is why we are freed from our cares and worries when we engaged with praying in tongue...

If you still think that grace and righteousness is a doctrine or teaching, you have missed the mark! Grace and Righteousness is not a doctrine or a teaching at all! Grace and Righteousness is not for us to teach but when we unveil Jesus in His glorious form, we see His Grace and Righteousness as Grace and Righteousness are Jesus personified. We are encouraged to receive these abundant gifts continuously through unveiling of Jesus Christ, our Magnificent Savor.

How can we not reigning in life when we keep on receiving God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness?

You might think that I have gone crazy… but who cares???? I am sicked and tired of entertaining and pleasing my own logical mind and people's logical talk... and human logic always ends up in religiosity and bondage. I just want His truth, and only His truth can set me free... After all, He is the One who had shed His Blood for me!

Oh… I'm so bless and you can be bless too... if you choose not to please your logical mind. It is all about Jesus and God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness because He cares even before the foundation of the world...

REST and BELIEVE

Last Friday, early in the morning before I woke up from my sleep, this Bible verse (2 Corinthians 8:9 ~ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.) came echoing in my mind and I started to meditate on it and realized that it is by His grace that though He was rich (very very very rich), yet for my sakes (because of me) He became poor (already became poor at the cross) so that through His poverty I might become rich! This Bible verse is all about His work, my believing and non of my doing. It is by His grace not by my own struggling effort to obey the principles and methods to make myself rich. It is through the Tree of Life not the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and yet again, I have fallen from grace… At this point of time, the Spirit was quick to affirm me with the word “REST and BELIEVE”!!!

While I was on my way to office, I went to bank to withdraw some money. When I was at the Tally Machine, I could not find my ATM card in my wallet! I have lost my ATM card!!! I have no idea when I lost it!!! As I tried to recall the last date I used my card, it was about 10 days ago while transferring money to my son in KL… I could have leaved my ATM card in the machine then!!! It has been 10 days since then, what will happen to my saving???

I call my wife to access my account through the internet and thanks God, the money was still in my account. At that moment, the verse that I meditated earlier that morning came back echoing in my heart and this time the verse gained more weigh in my spirit and indeed, it is all about His grace. A fresh impression of REST and BELIEVE from the Spirit came upon me again... I then, decided to come back to report of my lost ATM Card when the bank opened for business.

When I reached my office, I took out my Destined to Reign daily devotional and began to expect what the Lord had to say... I was marveled and goose bumps all over! Let’s see why…

See The Miraculous When You Give Thanks

John 11:41 ~ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.

Jesus lived a life of thanksgiving. He always thanked His Father for what He had and for always hearing Him when He prayed. That was how He released miracles in His life.

In the story of the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1–13), Jesus’ attitude was one of thankfulness. He took a little boy’s lunch of five loaves and two fishes gave thanks and had them distributed. He gave thanks for the little that was there and the little multiplied. Not only did the people eat as much as they wanted, there were 12 baskets full of leftovers!

So when you see the meager balance in your bank account, thank the Lord for what you have. That’s your “five loaves and two fish”. When you give Him thanks that He is your provider and the source of your supply, in spite of the little you have, your little will become much, with leftovers!

Even when faced with the impossible, the solution was still, “Father, I thank You…” When Jesus stood outside Lazarus’ tomb, and the people took away the stone that was covering the tomb, He did not see the situation as hopeless and impossible. He simply lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.” Then, He proceeded to call forth Lazarus, and the man came forth alive once more!

The raising of Lazarus, who had been dead for more than four days, was one of Jesus’ greatest miracles. And He accomplished this by saying, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.” He thanked His way to an awesome miracle.

My friend, the next time you find yourself praying, “God, please do this for me! Please give me...” stop! Instead, say, “Thank You God, for hearing me. And because You have heard me, I thank You that I have what I asked for.” And when you thank God, the little that you have will multiply. Your impossible situations will turn around to reflect God’s provision. And resurrection life will hit you!



What have I been doing? I have been listening to grace messages day in and day out and yet did not rest but busy working out my life through the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I can still find a lot of religiosity in me and without my knowing, I fall from grace from time to time! I was reminded by the Spirit to believe and to labor to enter His rest. I was reminded to give thanks for what I have and see the miraculous happen in my life. I was also reminded to live a life of thanksgiving...

Father, I thank You that You have heard Me for You have prompted me to REST and BELIEVE... and by Your grace, the rest is Yours!

Tests

There are two kinds of tests, a self-test and the life-test. Both tests ask the same question and imply the same conclusion. In Paul′s final letter to the Corinthians, he challenges the believers to examine themselves, to see whether they are holding to their faith. He says: ‘Test yourselves. Do you not realise that Jesus Christ is in you!′

This is what your faith is all about. This reality is the only correct conclusion of your faith. This is the first and final test that qualifies the believer, just like when a medical student for example, will have to correctly understand and answer all the relative questions in his final examination before he qualifies to face the real life issues of a career in medicine. Why must we come to the conclusion of Christ in us? Certainly not for mere personal entertainment or convenience, but for dynamic and effective service and ministry! The blessing of His nearness, presence and awesomeness is inevitable! Now we can face life′s tests with confidence.

Thoughts For Life - Francois du Toit

Perseverance

James 1:2-4 (New International Version)

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Perseverance is the fruit of what your faith knows to be true about you. You cannot buy perseverance over the counter, neither do you inherit perseverance; it comes no other way. Perseverance in your faith, to be convinced about your true identity and oneness with God, is your link to the most sought-after quality: a life-experience beyond lack. A test or temptation in this context means anything that makes you feel imperfect, incomplete and in lack; anything that would challenge your conviction that Christ is in you.

Remember, God tests no one; there is no hidden agenda with God, no shadow of inconsistency or change of mind. God is convinced about you. His mind is made up about you. His opinion of you is not subject to your passing or failing a test. He is in no need to still experiment with you before He finally approves of you.

Thoughts For Life - Francois du Toit

Honey

This morning I went to pay my parking coupon at KMC (Kuching Municipal Council) drive-in counter. I did not have a smaller note in my wallet, so I pulled out a 10 Ringgit note to pay for my RM0.55 parking charges.

Behind the tinted glass of the drive-in counter, an elderly lady said, “Do you have 55 cents?” I reply, “Sorry, no...”. She said, “We do not have small change…”

So I went back to my car decided not to pay here but to pay at other counter by any road side… My friend who was with me in my car gave me a Ringgit suggesting to me that if I do not pay then I might forget later…

Holding that Ringgit in my hand, I approached the counter again and leave the coupon together with the Ringgit at the counter’s opening. They processed the payment and I could hear the printer printing the receipt. Then the elderly lady said to me, “Do you have 55 cents?” Wow…! Inside of me came a boiling sensation… and I was thinking to myself, “Why don’t you ask me when I handed in the coupon with my money just now?” So, I responded like this, “Never mind the change, you can keep the change…” Ha..., though I offered to solve this problem by giving away the change, I sounded a bit sour and bitter, and my style was bad. Indeed, I have fallen short of the glory of God...

When I return to my car, I told my friend and he laughed and said, “It is cheap to spend 45 cents to know a person…!” (He was referring this to that lady but to me, this 45 cents has exposed my weakness... LOL!) Well, moving right along while I was driving back to my office, I remembered what Pastor Prince has preached on the subject of Grain Offering in the Book of Leviticus about the burning of honey and frankincense...

Leviticus 2:11 ~ No grain offering which you bring to the LORD shall be made with leaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey in any offering to the LORD made by fire.

Honey is usually used to describe man’s kindness or goodness. Honey cannot withstand the heat of the fire. When honey is being burnt, it bubbles up and turns sour and bitter. That’s me and my situation at the drive-in counter. With a little bit of fire, I bubbled up and turned sour or bitter.

Leviticus 2:1-2 ~ When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it. He shall bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests, one of whom shall take from it his handful of fine flour and oil with all the frankincense. And the priest shall burn it as a memorial on the altar, an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.

The Bible uses frankincense to describe our Lord Jesus. When the frankincense is being burnt, it emits a sweet aroma present to God and frankincense can withstand the heat of the fire and the longer you burn it the more aroma it emits… Frankincense emits best aroma under small and slow fire, just like our Lord's suffering when He was being crucified on the Cross from 9 o' clock in the morning until 3 o'clock in the evening.

Praise be to our Lord for His Finished Work at the Cross and I am now under the grace dispensation. I can look at my weakness and understand from it through the teaching of the anointing in me and I can still have the courage to draw near to Him to receive the super abounding grace and favor from God because the Apostle Paul said, “Where sin (man falling short of the glory of God) abounded, grace abound much more…" Which means whenever I fall short of the glory of God, grace super abound!!! Indeed, His grace is sufficient for me, for His strength is made perfect in my weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Hallelujah, I receive the super abounding grace and favor into my life, in Jesus' Name, Amen!



Since we are on the subject of "Honey", it reminds me of a joke from the Elder of my Church and I want to share it with you before I end this post. It goes like this…


There are three couples in a Hotel Restaurant sitting together at the same table for their American Breakfast. They are American, British and Malaysian couples…

As they are all believers, the men just love to show each other how much they love their wife. As the coffee is being served over the breakfast table, the American says to his wife, “Honey, Honey, please pass me the honey…” Upon hearing this, the British immediately says to his wife, “Sugar, Sugar, please pass me the sugar…” The Malaysian is marveled over the way the American and the British addresses their wife. So coolly, he turns to his wife and says, “ Lembu, Lembu, please pass me the susu…!”

Lembu means cow and Susu means milk in Malaysian language.

Hey, Cheers…!!! And have a nice day….

The Two Trees Are “In Us”

When we are young in the Lord, we have little knowledge about these two trees or we can say we don’t even care at all. We looked from afar; it is as if these two trees grow side by side to each other, very near. But when our spirit-man is growing through the awakening of His grace, we are led nearer and nearer to these trees and the distance between them become further apart. It is when we are under these two trees that we realized they have a marginal distance between them. They are different too…

With revelation through typology, I came to know that every human being has the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life in their life; Christian or non Christian… there are no differences. But for Christian, the Tree of Life comes alive the moment Christ is in their life. In typology, the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil typifies our flesh while the Tree of Life typifies our born again spirit.

Looking at these two trees with cross references from the Book of Romans, I received fresh insights on what Apostle Paul said about “living in our flesh” and “led by the Spirit”. The revelation from Apostle Paul in the Book of Romans helps to reveal the bisection of flesh from our spirit when grace has enlightened us. The wonderful truth in Romans Chapter 8 comes alive after this bisection of flesh and spirit takes place.

The Bisection

The message of Grace is sharper that any double-edged sword. Grace bisects our flesh and our spirit.

Hebrews 4:12 ~ For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Our flesh is controlled by our souls. Resurrection power of Grace divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow and judges the thoughts and attitudes of hearts!

Dividing Soul and Spirit

Divide the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (our flesh control by our soul) and the Tree of Life (our spirit).

Dividing Joints and Marrow

There are two types of bone marrow: red marrow (consisting mainly of myeloid tissue) and yellow marrow (consisting mainly of fat cells). Red blood cells, platelets and most white blood cells arise in red marrow. Both types of bone marrow contain numerous blood vessels and capillaries.

At birth, all bone marrow is red. With age, more and more of it is converted to the yellow type. About half of the bone marrow is red. Red marrow is found mainly in the flat bones, such as the hip bone, breast bone, skull, ribs, vertebrae and shoulder blades… Yellow marrow is found in the hollow interior of the middle portion of long bones.

In cases of severe blood loss, the body can convert yellow marrow back to red marrow to increase blood cell production. When joints and marrow are divided, blood supply to our flesh is cut off and life of our flesh is terminated.

Judges the Thoughts and Attitudes of Hearts

Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. Grace, the unearned and unmerited favor of God, judges our religious thoughts and our religious attitudes of our hearts. Our flesh delight in works and reject grace, but our spirit rejoices in receiving this double-edges sword.

In the early stage of my grace walk, I was very zealous but I dispensed grace legalistically. Instead of feeding people with milk from the grace I received, I vomited to others without digesting it.

Due to my immaturity, instead of edifying people with grace message, I felt I have slapped many on their faces. The devil took advantage of my immaturity and laid condemnation on me from time to time. I felt guilty and condemn for "slapping" on people's faces. The condemnation has somehow hindered the growth of my grace walk until six months ago, the Lord comforted me with this statement: This is a holy slap on a religious face...! From then onwards, He started to reveal to me the mysteries behind these two trees …

Grace provokes our religious mind. That is why when we minister grace to people around us, those who are religious are defensive and reacted as if they have been slapped on their faces. Grace message is indeed living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

I presume I was awakened by this holy slap too. What do you think?

A Man's Story 一个人的故事

Once upon an afternoon, I was having lunch with my wife at Jade Pot Tea House. A famous local Cafe serving Taiwanese food. While we were waiting for our food, I saw a poster with Chinese writing hanging on their wall.

有一天中午, 我和太太一起在一家台灣小吃专賣店用餐, 店名叫玉壺軒. 在店裡的墻上挂著一幅对聯. 这对聯是这样寫著的: 能做是幸, 能吃是福. 能做能吃, 是幸福!

This are the Chinese Character written on the poster.

It means
If you can work, you are Lucky, if you can eat, you are Blessed.
And if you can work and you can eat, you are very lucky and very blessed.
Something like that!

I meditated these words for a while and thinking that if we can work and eat, we are lucky and blessed. It sounds more like a worldly way of encouraging people to labour to get their blessing. The word "WORK" suddenly hit me and the Lord began to show me A Man's Story.

当我在思考著这对聯的含义时, 我发现世人要有得做才有得吃. 論到做, 只有祂在十字架上所成就的事才是做. 而在两千年前, 耶稣已经做成了这令人敬畏的事.

I am going to show you according to the sequence the Lord had shown me!

This is the word WORK in Chinese writing.

This is the Chinese word for WORKING.

And my Lord began to split the word WORK. And here it goes...

This is the picture of a MAN.

These are the Chinese words for STORY.

By now, I already got hold of the revelation of what the Lord is trying to tell me. It is about a Man's Story. He is that Man with Capital M. He is Jesus...

这时, 我已经明白主的启 示, 是关于一个人的故事. 这一个人就是主耶稣...

A MAN'S STORY

The Gospel of Christ is the Story. It is the story of a Man's awesome work on the cross. When we are talking about work, it is His work on the cross that's matters. He had finished the work on the cross two thousand years ago. What we are leaved to do is to tell people this story; the story of this Man, Jesus and what is His finished work meant and the mystery of this awesome work to the world and the born again Christian.

这一个人的故事是基督的福音. 是耶稣在十字架上的故事. 这个“做”字是以一个人 (亻) 字旁和故事的“故”所组成的. 然而, “做事”就义表著一个人的故事; 就是耶稣在十字架上已经做成的事. 我们可以做的就是将这好消息传给人. 将主耶稣的故事和祂成就的含义和祂旨意的奥秘分享给世人和重生得救的信徒.

That is not all. He continued to reveal to me skillfully by using other Chinese character.

This Chinese word means BELIEVE.

Since we are established that this word is the picture of a MAN,

and this Chinese character is SPEECH.

The word "BELIEVE" in Chinese character is made up of a MAN and SPEECH.

MAN'S SPEECH

What is He trying to say? He is saying, we ought to BELIEVE in this MAN's SPEECH! He is telling us that only His Finished Work works! Don't try to labor to earn our blessing by ourselves. Abide in Him, rest and trust in His Finished Work. All these things has been given to us in Christ!

主又将这个信字启 示给我. 这个信字是以一个人 (亻) 字旁和言所组成的. 这含义是説这一个人的所説的. 你们要信; 信祂已在十字架上成就了令人敬畏的事. 常在祂里面, 在祂里面安息. 父已经在基督里曾赐给我们天上各样属灵的福气.

John 19:30 ~ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

约翰福音 19:30 ~ 耶稣尝（原文作受）了那醋，就说：「成了！」便低下头，将灵魂交付神了。