Let There Be Light

Recently the Lord brought me back to the very first chapter of the Book of Genesis where He began to show me yet another precious revelation that I could never comprehended before. 

In the third verse of the first chapter, God said:  “Let there be light!”  And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good. And God divided between the light and the darkness. And God called the light, Day. And He called the darkness, Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 

We all know that God used His Word to create this universe and His Word is light. I never really noticed that there were no sun and moon yet on the first day of God’s creation. The sun and moon only came to existence on the 4th day of God’s creation. But in God’s prospective, the sun and moon already existed in and between these three days. This could be the reason why He declared the light, day, the darkness, night and the evening and the morning in the first day. 

From here, I began to understand that the Word of God is the source of life and is brighter than the sun. That is why in Psalm chapter 36 verse 9, the Bible says:  “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we shall see light.” 

With this Light shining into my heart, the Lord began to connect chapters and verses to show me His revelation. WOW... in Your light, I see light!

If ever you have heard God speak to your need or situation and you are yet to see the manifestation, you can rest assured that the promises shall come to pass! I am telling you this because our God is faithful and just. From the very first book and chapter of the Book of Genesis, when He spoke in the 3rd verse, the sun and moon only came into existence in the 14th verse. Therefore, I hereby submit to you that every one of us who are yet to see the promises of God come to pass are actually stuck in between the first day and the fourth days of creation or the 3rd verse and the 14th verse of chapter one of the Book of Genesis. Bearing in mind that, the work of God from the second day to the fourth day did not involved man. It was all by His speaking. It was all by His grace… not human effort. After He had created everything on earth, He then created man… and that was on the sixth day of God’s creation.

Therefore, in this dispensation, unless we are good listeners of the Word of CHRIST, which is the Gospel, we can never understand what the grace of God is about. We will always be struggling with our own religious mind through our performance to gain favor from God. Our human mind can never comprehend what the grace of God is. Even though some “elderly” Pastors or Pastors with “big name” have given their definitions on the grace of God, those definitions can never satisfy our heart but our logical mind because they are from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We need the Holy Spirit to reveal to us the grace of God.  As Apostle Paul was saying, he received the revelation of God’s grace from the Lord not man.

For those believers who have been enlightened by His grace, these are the good listeners of the Word of Christ. They listen to the messages that expound only on the Finished Work of Christ. They hear about His grace, His Favor, His Holiness, His Forgiveness, His Righteousness, His Redemption, His Salvation and all His goodness. They are not self centered...

The Word of Christ is the word from the resurrected Jesus and always speaks of what He had done for us at the Cross. Because of what He had done at the cross, we who are the redeemed, are now holy, righteous, justified, healthy, prosperous, anointed and full of wisdom. But most of us do not see this in our life and we find it hard to believe. Whenever we look at ourselves, we will think that we are still sinful, unrighteous, sick, poor and helpless… This kind of mentality is earth bound and we are actually stuck in between verse 3 and verse 14 of first chapter of the Book of Genesis. Whenever we engage our logical mind, we will be stuck in between these verses.

The Word of Christ had declared that we are now holy, righteous, justified, healthy, prosperous, anointed and full of wisdom. As far as God is concerned, He see us holy, righteous, justified, healthy, prosperous, anointed and full of wisdom. As He is, so are we in this world! 

We have to believe in the Word of Christ and the sun and moon will come into existent! The moment we engage our heart to receive this revelation, our faith manifest because we are focusing on grace, the unearned, undeserved and unmerited favor of God. When we see His grace, He see our faith, and the “sun” and the “moon” will manifest!

My friend, I encourage you to listen to the Word of Christ. Listen to the Good News, listen to the Gospel, and listen to what He says about you. Because of His grace, whenever you receive a word for your situation in life, you can rest assured that the manifestation is coming your way. Not because you are good but because He is faithful. That is why faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ… and the Gospel of Christ is the Word of Christ and is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. In this Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith and the just shall live by faith. 

We are now in the dispensation of Grace; we are the "just" and we are to live by faith not by sight. When we live by faith (faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen), we are looking at the manifestation of the fourth day and we are not stuck in between verse 3 and verse 14!

So, let there be light…! And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good... and the "just" say, "Amen!"

Whoever Has, More Will Be Given!

If we need to use our intellect to understand everything about what the cross has accomplished for us before we can believe in Him, I can tell you that you can never believe because our intellect can never understand the wisdom of God. But when we choose to believe in our heart and we confess in our mouth that Jesus is Lord, the mystery of the cross started to reveal in our heart. This revelation is given by the Holy Spirit whom the world does not process. The work of Jesus at the cross is the wisdom of God and you need the Holy Spirit to reveal to you this spiritual truth. Thus, to walk with our Lord, we need to use our heart instead of our mind simply because from the beginning, we invited the Holy Spirit to dwell in our heart...!

Therefore, if we are unable to comprehend what His death is for, we can never understand what His resurrection is for. If we cannot comprehend what He had taken away from our life at the Cross, we will never understand what He has given us in our resurrected life. With the help of the Holy Spirit in our heart, we can start to comprehend the purposes of His death and the power of His resurrection because this is the duty (so called) of the Holy Spirit to reveal things concerning Jesus, and to glory Him.

At the cross, Jesus was righteous and holy, and without sin. He chose to identified Himself with sinful man like us by laying down His garments and seamless tunic and bore all our sufferings, curses, sicknesses, depressions, bondages… Through His perfect work at the cross, a divine exchange of status occurred. He had totally taken away all the "bad"  from us and had given us His Shalom peace, blessings, health, freedom, prosperity... Through the cross, He had taken away our SINNER status and had given us His RIGHTEOUS status. We are saved by grace through faith. This faith is now available to each and everyone of us because of His finished work at the cross. Because of His RIGHTEOUS work, we can now have our RIGHTEOUS walk in Him.

Indeed, our Father God is very pleased and proud of what His Son had done for us at the Cross. Our Father God is also very satisfied with what He had taken away from us. If not, Jesus would not have shouted: "It is finished!"

NOW... Father God is also very pleased and proud to see His redeemed one identifying themselves with Christ and acknowledging what He has given them. Most of all, personalizing all these blessings and counting these blessings that He has given us as OURS! For the Bibles says:"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God."  We are glorying God when we say amen. Is this not an act of acknowledging and receiving His abundant provision of grace and the gift of His righteousness?

We know deep down inside our heart that we have nothing good if not because of the grace of God... and we are not being self righteous when we humbly acknowledging His grace... When we acknowledge this truth and start receiving His grace and the gift of righteousness, we reign in life and He is glorified… Wow… What a way to live our abundant life and at the same time, glorying Him and boasting in Him!

Mark 4:25 ~ For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

In the context of this passage, our Lord was talking about the sowing of the Word. Therefore, find out what kind of word are you listening to... Are you listening to the Word of God or the Word of Christ? The word of Christ is the gospel. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of Christ.

The Word of Christ always points you to His Finished Work. His Word always tells you who you are in Christ, what you have in Christ, how secure you are in Christ. When you know what you have in Christ, more will be given. On the other hand, if you do not know what you have, the evil one comes and take away what you are actually have without your knowledge... You are already in Christ... As He is so are you in this world!

Therefore, to acknowledge and personalize His promises and blessings are not pride but humility... It is written: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Father God is glorify when we acknowledge and personalize the promises and the blessings, for whoever has, to him more will be given!

Promises

There are more than 14,000 promises in the Bible – God has not broken one of them. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 

The Bible is full of God’s promises to provide for us spiritually and materially. Because of the finished work of Christ, God promised to never forsake us, to promise us with prosperity and health, to give us shalom peace in times of difficult circumstances, to cause all circumstances to work together for our good even though they might look bad..., and finally to bring us safely home to glory. Not one of these promises is dependent upon our performance but Jesus’ performance. They are all dependent on the grace of God given to us through Jesus Christ. They are all unearned and unmerited favor from Father God. 

Satan lures the world or even Christians with promises of the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor, and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure, and pays with pain; he promises profit, and pays with loss; he promises life, and pays with death. But Father God pays as He promises; all His payments are made in His Begotten Son at the Cross….

The Bible says there are more than 14,000 promises from God and not 14,000 VACANCIES!!!! So stop WORKING to deserve these promises but BELIEVE and RECEIVE what God has already promised...!!!

2 Corinthians 1:20 ~ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 

So if we really want to glorify God, we better don't labour but BELIEVE in HIM with our spontaneous shout of Amen...!

Rest In the "PEACE"!

Have you ever wondered why it is that when believers die, in a flick of a second, they are in heaven? Those who believed in Christ Jesus are being guaranteed of this greatest miracle the moment they put their faith on the Gospel of Christ the Saviour. Indeed, the gospel of Christ is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.

From the Bible, we also know that once we put our faith in Christ Jesus, our health, financial standing, peace of mind are restored and line up with the truth because the word "salvation" stated here is from the Greek word "Sozo", which means saving in our every situations and conditions.

Have you ever wondered also, why the miracle of going to heaven can happen as fast as a flick of a second, whereas in some of the "smaller" miracles like healing, financial break through and being set free from bondages take so long to come forth?

The answer is simply because those who are in heaven are DEAD! Yes, I mean they are DEAD! νεκρός ! TOT! מת ! MUERTO ! 死了! There is not a bit of self effort from the dead persons. They are DEAD and REST in peace! There is no man effort but Holy Spirit effort. There is no participation from man’s flesh but the Holy Spirit only.

We are unable to see our break through simply because we do not rest in Christ. Somehow or rather, our flesh is still participating in helping the Holy Spirit and in turn we delay the manifestation of the miracle that we are hoping for.

Hebrews 4:11 ~ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. 

It will still be good if Jesus say He will or he is going to help us to accomplish the will of the Father on our behalf, for Jesus with His integrity, will surely accomplish for us. But here is better deal, for it is the Good News/Gospel of Christ; Jesus said “It’s Finished!” It was a completed work which our Lord Jesus had accomplished at the cross. He had finished everything that needed to be finished and He is now inviting us to rest in His finished work. By knowing this Good News and believe in His outrageous grace through the spontaneous faith make the promises sure. For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 

Hebrews 3:19 ~ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief. 

Our believe is the key issue for the miracles to manifest. Believe is not work or self effort. Believe is trusting Jesus’ outrageous grace and His finished work. Believe is not that you have once believed but keep on believing… For the just shall live by faith!

Galatians 3:9 ~ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham. 

The Book of Hebrews encourages us to labour in resting in our Lord Jesus, the Prince of Peace. For He came and stood among His disciples and said, "Peace be with you!" and after he said that, He showed them His hands and side! Peace be with you too… for He had finished the Father’s will 2,000 years ago. Let us, therefore, have peace in our heart and make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following the example of Israelites’ disobedience, and we see that they were not able to enter the Promised Land, because of their unbelief. 

Believe His Finished Work and rest in the "PEACE"!

Romans 8:11 ~ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Grace, Promise and Faith...

Abraham was a pagan like us from a heathen community. The LORD called him and promised him to make him into a great nation and blessed him. The LORD also promised to make his name great, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through him.

Through the stars in the bright Middle East night sky, the LORD preached to Abraham the same Gospel that we have heard from the story of the star of Virgo (virgin birth of Jesus in the Books of Gospel) to the star of Leo (Lion of Judah in the Book of Revelation). Abraham believed and God declared him as righteous.

Genesis 15:6 ~ And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

From the account of Abraham in the Book of Genesis and the Book of Hebrews, Abraham was known as the Father of faith. The LORD addressed  this faith giant as His friend and referred Himself to his descendant as God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Through Abraham, a tiny nation of Israel, made out of his 12 tribe’s of descendant was born.

Abraham lived before the dispensation of Law, an era of grace and faith. Like all of us, this faith giant made mistakes here and there. He committed adultery by sleeping with his maid who gave birth to a son by the name of Ishmael. Because of his beautiful wife Sarah, He lied to two different kings just to prevent himself from being killed by these kings.

Indeed the life of this faith giant is a total conflict to our human definition on righteousness. Our definition is to do good or right so as to be righteous. But God accounted it to Abraham for righteousness because he believed in Him. This is interesting… and whether you like it or not, it is all about the promise of God. And Abraham’s actions could not change the promises of God for a promise is unearned and unmerited.

Romans 4:16 ~ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring — not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

In the body of Christ today, there are believers who believe in their own effort and their doing good to get righteousness. The Bible addressed these performance orientated believers as babies who drink milk instead of solid food. But those whom the Bible addressed as matured are those who abide themselves in Jesus’ grace and righteousness. The Book of Romans says for those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life. The matured are destined to reign in inheriting the blessing of Abraham as they are justified by faith not work and they are the true seed of Abraham.

Galatians  3:26 - 29 ~ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

A seed by itself is a finished product and the full measure of grace is in the seed. The seed promised a tree and fruits beyond measure, and more seed are in every fruits… If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

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….

See The Abundance Within You

Yes, I know you know where this is from... This is taken from Pastor Joseph Prince daily devotional.

Well, from time to time, I fall into the trap of looking at myself and looking at my own lack... I know this thing do happen to you as well... :) Well, how little is considered lack and how much more is considered enough? We all have our own definition. At times when I am too much into my wrong focus, I forget what the Word of God says. What does the Word of God says? Our Lord Jesus see abundance... and that is how our faith comes in.

This message speaks to me today and I hope this will be a blessing to you too...

Luke 17:21 ~ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.

When you were younger, were you often scolded for not finishing all your food or leaving the lights and fan on when you left your room? Were you constantly reminded that there are people starving in the world, that electricity costs a lot of money and that money doesn’t grow on trees? Now, do you find yourself telling your child the same things?

We are naturally conscious of lack, but Jesus isn’t. Even in the midst of lack, He was always conscious of abundance. Remember the little boy’s five loaves and two fish? What did Jesus do when these were placed in His hands? Did He say, “What do you expect Me to do with so little?” No, His eyes were not on the natural, the visible, the lack. His eyes were on the kingdom of God where there is always abundance. So in His hands, the little boy’s lunch was multiplied, and 5,000 men, not counting women and children, were fed that day! (John 6:1–13)

God doesn’t want you to be conscious of the lack in your natural circumstances. He doesn’t want you to live by how much you earn or how much you have in the bank. Now, I am not encouraging you to spend foolishly beyond your means. I am saying that God wants you to be conscious of the abundance of resources in His kingdom.

“But Pastor Prince, where is that kingdom?”

As long as you have received Jesus as your Savior, that kingdom is in you!

Jesus said that “the kingdom of God is within you”. This means that the kingdom of God is not some physical place. It is within you and it is where the abundance of resources is. So if you want to experience abundance in your life, be conscious first of the abundance inside you. Then, what is inside you will become a reality on the outside.

Beloved, God doesn’t want you to be conscious of the lack you see outside you. He wants you to be conscious of the abundance within you because His kingdom is within you!

Generation Christ

1 Peter 2:9-10 (New King James Version)

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.


Generation Christ


1 Peter 2:9-10 (Contemporary English Version)

9 But you are God's chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done. The Scriptures say, 10 "Once you were nobody.Now you are God's people. At one time no one had pity on you.Now God has treated you with kindness.



SIB Grace N.O.W. Generation Christ

It is through His Grace, not by our behavior that we are called Generation Christ!

Do Not Eat The Meat Raw!

During the time of the Old Testament, lambs for the Passover meal were being slain and not a bone was to be broken in these sacrificial lambs. Passover pronounces redemption and to the Jewish people, the Passover feast has a special meaning. Though we are not slaves, like the Jewish people, we were slaves to our sin, our own wants and desires. Sin was our master until Jesus, the Passover Lamb, delivered us from our "Egypt". The lamb slain during Passover is a foreshadow of the redemption we find in Jesus, our Saviour, our Passover Lamb. The principle of redemption is the concept of bondage to the slavery of sin and freedom from its domination. To be "redeemed" means to be purchased from slavery and Jesus Christ purchased our freedom with His blood as the payment for the redemption. The Good News is; we are redeemed!

Before the Passover lamb was taken to the Temple, the High Priest would tied it for public view so that it could be inspected for blemish. In the same way, Jesus sat and taught in the Temple courtyard for four days. He was inspected and questioned as the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the teachers of the law sought to trip him up in His words and entrap Him. They could not, because He was perfect and without blemish.

Jesus had equal status with God but did not think so much of Himself that He had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, He stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He did not claim special privileges. Instead, He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Like the Matzo bread, Jesus was pierced in His brow by the crown of thorns as well as in His hands and feet by the nails. He was also pierced in His side by a soldier’s spear. He was pierced for our transgressions… He was also scourged on His back until His flesh was all torn and bloody, and His bones were exposed. By His stripes, we are healed…

Like the brunt of the Matzo bread, the full fire of God’s wrath fell on Jesus, burning up our sins into ashes, and at the same time, bring out the fragrance of the offering of Jesus. After the Finished Work at the Cross, our sins and lawless deeds are but ashes and our Daddy in Heaven remembers our sins and lawless deeds no more! If anyone come to you with this ashes in their hands, just sneeze and these ashes will vanish in the thin air...

Exodus 12:8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire—head, legs and inner parts.

Jesus indeed was the true Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. At the Cross, He had accomplished the Father's will...

I am concern for those who come to the Lord’s Table with confession of their sin. Although they are sincere, they ignorantly sin against the body and the blood of the Lord the moment they confess their sin. No wonder Prophet Hosea said in the Book of Hosea: “My people are destroyed from the lack of knowledge.” If we confess of our sin before we partake the communion, we are saying the Lamb has not being judged, the Lamb has not been burnt and our sin is still with us. In this manner, we are eating the meat raw. When we are eating the meat raw, we still hold on tight to our sin and therefore, we eat and drinking judgment on ourselves! The Lord says this is an unworthy manner because this manner does not glorify the Father but brings humiliation to His Name! The truth of the matter is, God is Holy and He had lawfully judged and legally punished our entire sins of our life on our Substitute at the Cross. The same sin cannot be punished twice!

If we believe that all our sin had been forgiven, the way we approach the Table is not by the confession of our sins but the confession of our righteousness we already have in Christ. In this manner, we are eating the meat burnt with fire. If we come to the Table with confession of our sin, we are saying the Lamb has not been burnt and judgment for our sin has not been executed. To come to the Lord’s Table with sin consciousness is unworthy. This sort of manner contradicts to the truth and we are eating the meat raw!

Come to the Table seeing our sickness had been judged on Jesus’ body, our sins had been punished and exhausted on Jesus’ body; our poverty had been taken away as He died poor and naked on the Cross and our curse had been removed as He was hung on the tree on our behalf. He had been burnt…

The Lord’s Table is not a place to plead for forgiveness of sin or to claim God's blessing and healing but a place to remember Jesus and celebrate His death for through His death on the Cross, He conquered for all our victories. The Bible says in the Book of Romans that we, as the redeemed one are more than a conqueror. Is this not grace...?

Therefore, renew your mind and do not eat the meat raw!

Seek Ye First...

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

What is the Kingdom of God?
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). The Kingdom of God is not natural but supernatural.

Isaiah 55:8~9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts".

God’s ways are higher than our ways. Men use Law to administrate their kingdoms, while God administrates His Kingdom through the riches of His Grace. His Kingdom is a Kingdom of Grace. The riches of His Kingdom was manifested through the Person of Jesus in the midst of a law abiding society. Jesus' disciples were told that if they knew Him, they would know the Father as well. The manifestation of the Father's riches was demonstrated to the fullness at the Cross where the Fountain of Life was lavished as a Gift to this hopeless world.

Yet this rescuing Gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If Adam’s sin put many at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God's Gift poured through one Man, Jesus Christ, will do! 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 (Romans 5:17).

Matthew 6:33 and Romans 5:17 are having the same truth and promises. The only difference is, Matthew 6:33 (seek ye first) is before the Cross while Romans 5:17 (receive the abundant provision) is after the Cross. Before the Cross, you seek. After the Cross you receive! Do you know how this provision was make possible? It was Jesus' Finished Work on the Cross that enable us to benefit from this divine provision. Is this not grace?

Our law keeping bring us no way in the Kingdom of God. There is nothing we can do to earn anything from Him because everything had already been given. If you are still seeking, SEEK first His Kingdom (Grace) and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. For those who are very much into grace, RECEIVE His abundant provision of Grace and the gift of righteousness and you shall reign in life...

Is Your Joy Complete?

John 16:22 ~ So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.
John 16:23 ~ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
John 16:24 ~ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

Our joy is complete when we ask of ANYTHING from the Father in Jesus’ Name. To be able to ask from the Father, we must have revelation knowledge of what His Grace means. Most of the believers are shy to ask from the Father because of their wrong conception of who God is. Our Lord declared the era of Grace at the end of His earthly ministry from the above scripture to portray the three stages of human destiny on before the Cross, after the Cross and when the mystery of Grace is revealed.

Before the Cross
John 16:22 ~ So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

After the Cross
John 16:23 ~ In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

When the mystery of Grace is revealed
John 16:24 ~ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

Have you understand much about Grace? If we understand Grace, asking anything from the Father is the fruit of our understanding of His Grace; and our understanding of His Grace depends on:-

1) Whether we are born again or not.
- Jesus said no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

2) Whether we choose to humble ourselves before His Word that He has revealed to us in our heart or not.
- Before I was enlightened by Grace, I was taught to humble before man (Leader). Don’t get me wrong for encouraging disobedience in the midst. The truth is, when we humble before His word, we have the abundant Life to be obedience in proper prospective to anybody. In fact, when we are disobedient to man, we are obedient to God and in turn, our obedience is a holy obedience to anyone.

3) Whether we believe in His Finished Work on the Cross or not.
- Because of His Finished Work, everything bad that you can ever think of or even you cannot think of, is nailed on the Cross by Jesus. Therefore, our sin is a done deal and we are forgiven eternally. To be exact, the sin for the whole world has been forgiven because God so love the world that He gave His only Begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life! The world just has to respond with faith and believe in Jesus to be saved! The providence for the forgiveness of sin is ever ready by grace and the world does not go hell because of their sin but because of their unbelief!

4) Our revelation knowledge that we are no more servant but son. Our relation with God is no more servant and Master Relationship but rather, son and Father Relationship.
- Before Jesus died on the Cross, He personally came to introduce the Name of Father and His death on the Cross brought forth this Father and sons relationship for us. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"— which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He cried out, "My God, My God!" so that we can call God, "My Father, My Father!"

5) When we question ourselves that what kind of son are we if we do not ask of anything from our father?
- For a child to ask from the father is proper thing to do. To be able to ask from the Father is an unmerited and undeserved favor from God not our merited and deserved achievement through law abiding. In the realm of Law, we all fell short to ask from God, while in the realm of Grace, God has given us a new life through His grace for us to ask from Him.

The Lord said: “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” To ask of anything from the Father is a lifestyle not an act. When our joy is complete, the full blossom of Grace is flourishing in our life!

This is Grace...!

Promises

I have received New Year greetings through SMS from friends and I find this particular one very meaningful…

Peace in your HEART,
Health in your BODY,
Wealth in your LIFE,
Joy in your HOME,
May you always be blessed with these priceless treasures!
BLESSED NEW YEAR 2009!

Year after year, the world is wishing each other with sound messages like this. Only after I have been enlightened by His grace, I then could see God's promises and I found myself remembering what the Lord had done for me at the Cross. As His beloved, I found that I already have what the world is wishing for because I have chose to believe in what the Finished Work of Christ had done for me...!

Peace in your HEART

John 14:27 ~ Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Isaiah 53:5a ~ But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him.

Health in our BODY
Isaiah 53:5b ~ and by His wounds we are healed.

Wealth in your LIFE

2 Corinthians 8:9 ~ For we know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for my sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich.

Joy in our HOME

John 16:24 ~ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

By His grace, and not through our effort that for no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through Him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

His grace is indeed priceless and I say Amen to that!

Merry Christmas

Anyway, 25th of December is not the birthday of Jesus Christ. This is actually the day when angel Gabriel visited Mary in Nazareth, a town in Galilee 2000 years ago. This is the day in the month of December that, virgin Mary was conceived through the Holy Spirit and would be giving birth to a Son by the name of Jesus. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

After the gestation period of nine months, i.e. on the month of September of the next year, Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. The town of Bethlehem was packed with people as the Jewish people start the celebration of the Fall Holidays thirty days prior to the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), which falls on the first day of their seventh month (September/October). For thirty days the Shofar is blown every morning in the Synagogue to remind the people that the holy days are approaching, and that they should prepare themselves. Their preparation consists of confessing their sins and seeking forgiveness, and going back to fix mistakes made during the year on the ten days between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).

Baby Jesus was believed to be born on the 11th day of September, after the Feast of Trumpets, in between the Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles. The Feast of Trumpets is feast proclaiming the spiritual birthday of the world or creation, and is celebrated with blowing of the trumpets.

The Day of Atonement is the central holy day in the autumn season of Tabernacles. It is the most solemn day of the year and the Jewish people had to be prepared for Yom Kippur as it was the day of national cleansing and repentance and is also known to the Jews as the Day of Judgment.

Baby Jesus was born after the the Feast of Trumpets and between Yom Kippur and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) as He came to “tabernacle among us". He was born for the purpose of dying for this world and to be judged on the Cross on our behalf thirty three year later…

Well, by His grace I have learned the way God see thing. He sees the birth at the time of conception while men have to be convinced with seeing the physical birth…! He sees us in Heaven the moment we accepted His Darling Son as Savior while men have to see Heaven to be convinced that they are saved...!

The Forgotten Curse

In the body of Christ today, we hear a lot of preaching about cases whereby people in the world are under the curse and even Christians are under the curse. These curses are all related with what they have done or what they have not done or what their ancestors have done.

In the Old Covenant, God knew that men could not up hold His commandments and ordained sacrificial offering of burnt offering and fellowship offering right after Moses came down from the mountain with the two tablets of Laws. Those who had departed from God ordinance in offering of burnt offering and fellowship offering, were under the curse because they had departed from God and followed other gods. The Israelite were spared from receiving their curses not because of their law abiding but the sacrificial offerings ordained by God.

Galatians 3:10 ~ For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT CONTINUE IN ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM."

But when our Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross, He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE". When Christ took away, He took away all the curses. What He has leaved behind are those blessings stated in Deuteronomy 28 because all the blessings and promises are “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus.

Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentile and the Apostle of Grace, pronounced a double curses in the Book of Galatians to those who preached other then the Gospel of Christ. This is the only curse as well as the forgotten curse in the body of Christ today.

Galatians 1:9 ~ As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!



Apostle Paul was astonished that the believers in Galatia were so quickly deserting the One who called them by the GRACE of Christ and were turning to a different gospel—Which he said was really no gospel at all. Evidently somebody was throwing them into confusion and was trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. Obviously, some people had came to the Galatians and preached a gospel mixed with law. The perversion set in when the preaching is mixed with grace and law. Apostle Paul stressed that even if he or an angel from heaven, not the angel from hell, should preach a gospel other than the one he preached, let him be eternally condemned!

What was happening in Galatia is still happening in the body of Christ today. There is a spiritual conspiracy going on that a wrong emphasis has been stressed in remembering the curses that had been taken away by our Lord on the Cross and forgetting about the double curses that was pronounced by the Apostle Paul.

I rather stay away from this curse by preaching the grace of Christ of which, the Apostle Paul was preaching i.e. the Gospel of Christ…

David's Heart

King David was a shepherd boy, a musician, a giant killer, a fugitive, King of Israel, and a flawed family man. He was honored by God as a man after God’s own heart not because of what he had done but the way he touched the Father's heart. This beautiful honor from God prompted many Christians to seek what this kind of heart is like… Have you found the way to have a heart that is after God’s own heart?

David, before he became the King of Israel, had already touched the heart of God as tabulated in his beautiful Psalm, Psalm 23. Out of his overflown revelation of God's love and graciousness, he wrote this beautiful Psalm when he was still a shapherd boy in the field.

A psalm of David
Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
Psalm 23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
Psalm 23:3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

To understand his revelation of God’s heart and his spontaneous respond, let’s break this Psalm into two parts. First part is on his revelation of the Father's heart and His deeds while the second part is on David's spontaneous respond.

His revelation of the Father’s heart
The LORD is my shepherd.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He restores my soul.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life

His spontaneous respond
I shall not be in want.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Despite of the fact that he was living under the dispensation of Law, he had a good expectation of how the Father’s heart is. He understood God’s heart is gracious and full of lovingkindness; and he dreamed of having such a forgiven life as he confessed in Psalm 32: 1~2: Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Friend, his dream is our reality and we have the kind of life he longed for when Jesus died for our sins on the Cross. He saw our generation as a forgiven generation because of Jesus' Finished Work on the Cross while he was shepherding the sheep in the field. God, the Father credited to David the honor of "a man after God’s own heart" because of David's understanding of His grace and lovingkindness.

What kind of opinion do you have of God our Father in heaven? How do you find Him as your heavenly Father?

Friend, Psalm 23 is full of the expression of the Grace of God and portrays non of our human effort. When we see His grace and we respond with spontaneity, we have touched the Father's heart and He in turn, credits to us with a honor of "a man after His own heart"…!

Are you still searching...?

John 6:28 ~ 29: Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

He Who Spared Not His Own Son

Susan Hoover starts her preaching on "He Who Spared Not His Own Son"

She was supposed to be here on the 24th night but due to some issue to her Passport, she managed to arrive in Kuching on 25th morning and her entry to the State of Sarawak was indeed a miracle…

She was in Kuala Lumpur on the 24th to submit her visa to Indonesian Embassy for renewal. The Indonesian Embassy gave her the photocopy of her Passport as the renewal would take 3 working days to process. She then went to Airport with her photocopied Passport to board her plane to Sarawak. She was restricted from boarding by the Emigration Office in LCCT as it is the Malaysian regulation that a person needs to have a valid, original Passport to enter the State of Sarawak.

Susan was shocked of the regulation and was helplessly stranded in the Airport. She sought the Police Officers on duty for assistance; but no one could help as this matter was under the authority of the Emigration Department. A Police Officer in the Police Kiosk then started to make a few phone calls and managed to contact the Indonesian Embassy. It was later found out that there were still some Officers having their meeting in the Embassy until 10.00pm that night. So Susan managed to rush to the Embassy and the Officer called for the Officer in charged to open up the safe box and gave her the Passport with the visa already renewed.

The Police Office were shocked to see her with the Passport and claim that she was the luckiest girl they ever seen and they just could not believe thing like this could ever happen under the emigration regulation… She spent a night in Airport and took the first flight to Kuching.

Philippians 2:10 - 11 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus The Same - The Closing Worship

We have yet another wonderful Sunday Service yesterday where Jesus was glorified with her uncompromised grace preaching.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

By meditating on this verse alone, His peace is already magnifying the awesome power in my heart and it is enough for me to chew this spiritual food for the whole week.

When We See His Grace

When God made His promises to us, do we take Him at His Word? It is natural for us, in our stage of growing in the Lord, to be like Abraham, always asking, “Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit Your promises?”

God is a good God. He is so gracious that He will never reproof us for failing to take His Word. He will always come down to our level of faith and encourage us with His Word, to assure us that He will always keep His promises. Though a lot of time we are of our little faith, He will still show us His gracious Word to “grow” our faith!

John 8:32 ~ You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Romans 8:32 ~ He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

In response to Abraham’s little faith, God cut a covenant with Abraham. But in response to us, the seeds of Abraham, He had already made a new covenant with us, which is established by the blood of His begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Through the encouragement from His gracious Word is how our Lord strengthens our faith day by day. That was how Abraham grew in his faith day by day; and after years of affirmation, he had come to a stage that, even on giving up his begotten son, Isaac, he believed that God Himself would provide the lamb for the burnt offering. This is grace and Abraham saw His grace and the Lord sees him with faith!

Galatians 3:18 ~ For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Take a look at today’s Christianity, how many legalistic preachers or religious teachers still fight to urge believers to obey rules and regulations so that they can come up to “their level” of faith (the level of the preacher’s faith) to receive from God? Not knowing that even the preachers’ faith is the kind of faith that is called, little faith.

Proverbs 8:32 ~ Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep My ways.

What is His way, my friend…? When we see His grace, He sees us with faith!

How Deep Is Your Love?

I just cannot figure out how deep is Jesus' love for me. I can only say Jesus loves me this I know. You loves me so much that even without my knowing; You had already died for me on the Cross. Even when I was not formed in my mother’s womb, You had already blessed me in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ two thousand years ago. You are truly jealously in love with me that You protected me from any forms of destruction and gently guards me to Your love. You had finished doing everything on the Cross just for me without my knowledge. You had restored every blessing on the Cross just for me without me knowing.

Now that I know You loves me; is there anything leave for me to do so as for me to deserve Your love? Is it not Your grace that makes me the recipient of all these blessings? Even if I fall now, I fall into Your Grace… because I can never know how deep is Your love!

God Is Holy Not To Punish Us!

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

An extract from Will the Real Christianity, Please Stand Up!

If Christ is not raised, we are still in our sins! The truth is, Jesus is now seated at the Right Hand of our Heavenly Father. In a Court Room environment, a Prosecutor is at the left hand of a Judge while the Defense is at the right hand side. Today, I want to tell you a good news. There is no one standing at the left hand side of our Heavenly Father...!

So, give thanks for His Finished Work on the Cross and have peace with God. We are forgiven!