Significance Of Colours in The Bible

gold speaks of deity and glory
silver speaks of atonement or redemption
brass speaks of judgment

purple speaks of royalty
scarlet speaks of atoning blood
white speaks of purity, repentance and forgiveness
blue speaks of sky or heaven

A Man's Story

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.

This are the Chinese Character written on the poster.

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

I meditated on 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 my Lord began to show me A Man's Story.

I am going to show you according to the sequence my 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 my Lord is trying to tell me. It is about a Man's Story. He is that Man with Capital M. That is Jesus......

A MAN'S STORY

The Gospel of Christ is the Story. It is the story of a Man's awesome work on the cross. Whenever we talk about work, it is His work on the cross that matters. He had finished the work on the cross two thousand years ago and what is left for us to do is to tell people this story. The story of this Man, Jesus and what is His finished work means to the world and the born again Christians.

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

The 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 labour to earn our blessing by ourselves. Abide in Him, rest and trust in His Finished Work and all these things will be given to us!

Significance of Numbers

1 number for unity or beginning
2 number for testimony or agreement
3 number for resurrection or completeness
4 number for God creative works associated with earth
5 number for grace
6 number for man or humanity
7 number for Spiritual perfection
8 number for the new beginning or a new day
9 number for the Gifts or the fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 number for complete responsibility or perfect divine order
11 number for end time or disorganization
12 number for governmental perfection
13 number for rebellion or revolution
14 number for deliverance or salvation
15 number for rest or divine grace
17 number for victory
18 number for bondage or devil
24 number for the priesthood
25 number for forgiveness
27 number for the Gospel
30 number for dedication
33 number for the promise
38 number for infirmity
39 number for lashes or sickness
40 number for probation or trial
42 number for time of tribulation
50 number for jubilee or deliverance
70 number for the restoration of Israel
77 number for abundance or perfect forgiveness
120 number for end of fresh, beginning of Spirit
144 number for perfection of the redeemed man
153 number for "I Am God" in Hebrews (Ani Elohim)

Do Not Love The World

“Do not love the world”! Do not love the world means do not love the system that governs the world. What is the system that governs the world? It is the law! We have to do good to get good, when we do bad, we get beat! The phase “Do not love the world” does not mean loving the things of the world also. The things of the world are just the fruits of the world.

When I first came to the Lord, I was given an impression that if you love to go shopping, party and other social activities instead of church activities, you are actually loving the world. If you love to change your hand phone, change your car, dye your hair, very fashionable, you love the world. I believed that, because that is what the worldly people do.

But as I grow in the Lord and beginning to see grace, I start to understand that these are only the fruits and not the root. The root cause is actually the law! The law makes us live in our flesh, we are legalistic, self righteousness and always judging others. As the result, we can only see the fruits produced by our law abiding because our eyes are veiled by the law and it prevents us from seeing the root cause.

Contrary to this, when we see grace, this veil is taken away, the wisdom of God helps us to see the difference between the root and the fruits. Grace deals with the root while law deals with the fruits. Law demands our outward behavior modification while grace transforms us from inside out. Law demands our outward performance while grace gives us strength and grace to perform. Jesus cursed the root of the fig tree instead of the leaf of the fig tree although the leaf represents the self righteousness of the Israel people. Once the root is cursed, the leave withered.

The law is the root of the system that governs the world! Therefore, try to read it this way, it may help you to understand better, i.e. Do not love the law or anything in the world. If anyone loves the law, the love of the Father is not in him.

Our Heavenly Father is not of the law but of grace because He gave up His one and only Begotten Son to die on the cross to give us this new covenant, which is not of law but of grace.

If you love grace, you will know how not to love the world!

The Lost Identity

My son Adrian loves to watch cartoon movies. One day, as he was watching Lion King, my Lord brought my attention to Simba and preached to me a sermon on the lost identity of Christians in today churches. With His sermon, He called me out of Babylon (confusion caused by mixing law and grace) in an unexpected and a unique way.

Simba, the son of Mufasa, was destined to reign as king. As a young cub, he was prepared by his father for the day to take over the throne and rule the land. But because of Scar’s conspiracy in trying to lure Simba into a wildebeest stampede, Mufasa was killed in the process while trying to save Simba. Uncle Scar then led little Simba to believe that it was all his fault and that it would be best for him to leave the Pride Lands and never return. Scar and his company put guilt on Simba and condemned him for his father’s death. The condemnation led him to flee from the Pride Lands and find himself in the company of gracious gang of a meerkat named Timon and a warthog named Pumbaa.

The bible says the law kills and the Spirit give life. The law justifies right doing, condemns wrong doing and condemnation brings death to life.

The condemnation from Scar had caused little Simba to lose his identity as a charismatic and majestic lion. He was a confused and a frightening young cub then. With the guidance of his newly founded friends, Timon and Pumbaa, they sang the famous song “Hakuna Matata” (means no worries) together in a gracious spirit. Simba matured into a young adult and with the help of Rafiki, a wise shaman baboon, Simba realized that his father's spirit lives on in him and that he must took his place in the circle of life and accept the responsibility of his destined role as king of the Pride Lands.

Rafiki’s affirmation and encouragement restored Simba and he returned to the Pride Lands and re-captured the throne from his Uncle Scar. 

Condemnation from legalistic and self centered preaching has destroyed many Christians. A condemned Christian is weak, confused, blind and lost. Condemnation has made Christians lost their real identity. There must be a demonic conspiracy behind all this just like the conspiracy of Scar behind Simba’s life!

We are called church. The English word church derives from the Greek Κυριακή. The Greek term 'ekklesia' which is ecclesia, literally means "called out from or called out of". The church had been called out from Law by the finished work of Christ on the cross. Jesus fulfilled the law and nailed it together with Him on the cross. With revelation from the Holy Spirit, we ought to know that law has nothing to do with the church!

We are all sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of us who are baptized into Christ have been clothed with Jesus’ righteousness. Father God see us righteous because of the gift of Jesus’ righteousness and not because of our performance. When the truth of Father God’s prospective is not on our performance but on Jesus’ performance, how can we fail after we have received the gift of everlasting righteousness? We need faith to continue our living as a Christian but faith only comes by hearing, hearing by the word of Christ.

The word of Christ is Jesus Himself. The word of Christ is not law but grace. The word of Christ is gracious because He Himself is Grace. The word of Christ never condemns but imparts us with faith. If the preaching of the grace of our Lord and the gift of His righteousness are continuously being preached, that church will become a radiant church. Those who hear of this truth and receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness will surely reign in life.

As a born again Christian, called to be the sons and daughters of God, our real identity is in Christ Jesus.

Durian Cake with Pistachio Nut

Penny was inspired with a new recipe to combine Durian Fresh Cream Cake with Pistachio Nuts. A well balance mixture of the aroma of the King of Fruits with crunchy Pistachio Nuts. It is in the dispensation of grace that the anointing in you can teach you all things.

Sheep Farming?

Richard and I visited New Creation Church in the month of March 2007. During the visit, we had a change to fellowship with Pastor Joshua Lee and Deacon Anthony Lau. Though the time was short, it was a blessing to both of us.

I came across this DVD "Shepherd and Sheep - The Secret To The Abundant Life" in the Rock Gifts & Book Center. The first thing I did was to find out whether there are dogs among the flock on the DVD cover. Obviously there are non, praise God, goooood job! In fact, I am a bit concern whenever I see this sort of shepherd and sheep pictures. My peace would be disturbed if I see dogs among the flock.

I believe in bible way of shepherding the sheep but not the worldly way. The bible way is call shepherding and the worldly way is call "sheep farming". What is the difference? Well, in the bible, our Lord never use dog to help in shepherding the sheep. In fact, He warned us to watch out for dogs! Our Lord is always leading the sheep at the front not from the back chasing after the sheep or forcing the sheep to move on. Our Lord would leave ninety nine sheep on the hills and go to look for the one that wander off. Sheep farming method would say I still have ninety nine sheep, who cares about the one that wander off? To be honest, how many sheep were hurt or wounded by dogs in this modern way of "sheep farming"? We are not aware that we are in fact, copying the method of the world and not the bible way of shepherding. If we have heart to see, our Great Shepherd is busy seeking the lost sheep and putting them back to an appropriate sheep pen. Good Shepherd knows each and everyone of us and He calls us by name.

I was very much blessed by this DVD. The way Pastor Joseph Prince delivered the message was full of cleansing water and the aroma of our Lord. This is the kind of spiritual food that we need for our spiritual life to face our everyday living in this fallen world. The word just refreshes us and strengthens us with the revelation of the Jesus' grace and love. It is this kind gracious aroma that leads us to follow the Good Shepherd!

When we are dwelling in the realm of grace, we are actually pointing the sheep to our Good Shepherd and the sheep are following because of the aroma of His grace. As we all follow, He says My sheep hear My voice.

What kind of voice are you hearing? A condemning voice from the dogs or a loving and affirming voice from the Good Shepherd?

Law Supplanted by Grace

This is another nuggets from the Lord that set me free. You can never understand this truth if you sit under a legalistic preaching and if you are still self conscious and not Christ conscious. I praise God that He opened my eyes to see this truth and on this solid foundation, I am able to behold more of the revelation of His glory which made me grow up in Him not to be an infant anymore, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching.

Only then you can understand what He meant by His sheep follow Him because they know His voice.

The Transfiguration

Jesus in His three and a half years of ministry, we can see in the bible that He always took His disciples with Him and the name of Peter, James and John were mentioned the most.

Mount Hermon covered with snow

In Hebrews, Peter is "Kepha" which means Stone, James is "Ya'aqob" which means to supplant and John is "Yohanan" which means Grace.

Law (two tablets of stone) is to be supplanted by Grace!

Jesus took this three disciples up to a mountain to pray. And at the mountain, Moses and Elijah appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus about His death which He was about to bring fulfillment at Jerusalem. His death was the theme of heaven.

Moses represents the Law, Elijah represents the Prophet and Jesus represents Grace. Peter, represents those who boast of his love for the Lord, wanted to put Moses, Elijah and Jesus on the same level by proposing to put up three shelters for them, but Father God said, " This is My Son, Whom I have chosen; listen to Him." The instruction from the Father is to listen to Jesus, that is Grace, not Law or Elijah!

In this short passage, our Father in Heaven is trying to tell us twice that grace is to supplant law and Prophet. I was taught that if God tells you once, it is an important thing. When God tells you twice, it is a very important thing. In the books of Gospel, God is telling us that grace is about to supplant Law. While in Paul's letters, He is telling us that Law had been supplanted by Grace!

I thank Him for this wonderful truth.

Abundance of Grace

Image captured by using Nokia N82 at Sekama Avenue

This tree stands out from the rest by the grace of God.

The "Speak Of" in the Bible

Woods

Scarlet speaks of Jesus' blood
Cedar speaks of Jesus' strength
Hyssop speaks of Jesus' humility
Acacia speaks of Jesus' incorruptibility

Faces of Living Creature

Jesus is seen as the face of a Lion in the Book of Matthew
Jesus is seen as the face of an Ox in the Book of Mark
Jesus is seen as the face of a Man in the Book of of Luke
Jesus is seen as the face of an Eagle in the Book of John

Man

Jesus portrays as the King of Jews in the Book of Matthew
Jesus portrays as the Divine Servant in the Book of Mark
Jesus portrays as the Perfect Man in the Book of Luke
Jesus portrays as the Son of God in the Book of John

Colours in the Tabernacle

Purple speaks of the Gospel of Matthew
Red speaks of the Gospel of Mark
White speaks of the Gospel of Luke
Blue speaks of the Gospel of John

Types of Sin Offering

Bullock speaks of Jesus' strength
Sheep speaks of Jesus' meekness
Dove speaks of Jesus is from heaven
Flour speaks of Jesus is the Bread of Life

Trees

Hyssop Tree, the smallest tree, speaks of the humility and the lowliness of Christ.
Cedar Tree, the largest tree, speaks of the majestic, dignity, strength and glory of Christ. It is so strong that no natural forces can uproot it.

The Opposite

The opposite of Law is Faith

if you observe the law, there will be no faith

The opposite of Work is Grace

if you work to deserve your blessing, grace stops flowing

The opposite of Flesh is Spirit

if you dwell in your flesh, you are not in the Spirit

Righteousness of God ~ The Old Way or The New Way? 神的公義 ~ 是"義"还是"义"?

The Chinese people created a system of writing that was based on pictures. The Chinese characters told many stories that can be found in the Old and New Testaments.

This is the traditional Chinese character for righteousness (old way of writing righteousness). It is made up of the symbol of lamb over the symbol of me.

這義字是繁体中文的義. 是以 “羊”和“我”組合而成的.

In the OLD TESTAMENT, Jewish people under law had to bring gift to God for Sacrifice of their sins on the Day of Atonement. They had to perform this ritual for their forgiveness of sins. This is Moses' way of righteousness. You have to perform in order to have righteousness.

在以行律法为本的旧约时代, 犹太人因他们所犯的罪要蒙神的赦免, 每一年他们都要把一只没有残疾的羔羊犊献给耶和华作为赎罪祭. 就当他们要献祭给耶和华的时候, 他们會背着那没有残疾的羔羊来到圣殿献祭. 人背着羊的画面就被写成義的字样. 這就是旧约的義. 要靠着我们人的行为. 这是摩西的义，是靠着我们的行为称义的。

The Simplified Chinese character for righteousness (new way of writing righteousness) it is made up of a drop of Blood dripping into a cup used by a ancient King.

這义字是简体中文的义, 是以 “丶” 和 “乂” 写成的. “丶”和“乂” 這画面就是耶稣基督的宝血流入一個古代王帝所用的杯裡.

This speaks of Jesus’ blood dripping into the cup that He used. Jesus is our King of kings and Lord of lords. He prepared for us His own blood with His own cup. In the New Testament, God Himself provides The gift of Righteousness. We are all made righteous by Jesus' blood.

在新约的恩典时代里, 我们的君王耶稣基督, 他用自己的杯,献上自己的血, 洗净了我们的罪, 把他自己的义献给了我们. 這就是神的义，因我们信靠耶稣基督,神就把神的义加给一切相信的人. 我们是靠着主耶稣的宝血称义的。

Hebrews 9:22 ~ In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

希 伯 来 书 9:22
- 按着律法，凡物差不多都是用血洁净的，若不流血，罪就不得赦免了。

It is so obvious that in the New Covenant, we are depending on Jesus’ blood to be righteousness. We are righteousness by receiving His gift of Righteousness. We do not have to do right so as to be righteousness. In fact, when we understand that we are righteous because of Jesus' blood, whatever things we do are righteous things!

很眀临的, 在這新约的恩典时代里, 我们是靠着耶稣基督所流的宝血而称义的.我们不是靠着我们自己的行为而称义. 当我们眀白我们已是义人的时候, 我们所做的一切都是公义的, 都是正直的.

If the Chinese people can figure out the old and the new way of righteousness by writing them out, the Chinese people do know God and understand the will of God, and they understand the GRACE of God.

如果我们华人能用筆画寫出古代旧约的義和新约时代的义, 可见我们华人是知道及眀白上帝的旨意的, 我们华人是明白神的恩典的！