City Harvest Church - Xmas Drama 2014 - The Night I Met The Watchmaker

Week 62: The Tree of Life

In this same month 2000 years ago, God decided.... "Enough, is enough.." Despite the first compilation , Old Testament being a hit.. Despite it recording His great miracles through the hands of His appointed ones.. Moses parted the Red Sea and delivered His people from the hands of Egyptians. David killed the gaint Goliath with a sling and a stone. Samson killed a thousand of Palestine with a jaw of a donkey. Joshua tore down the walls of Jericho by matching around the walls in 7 days. All these were great men of God, but God was not satisfied  As much as these men of God had victories of their time, they were still under the dominion and curse of the sin which Adam brought forth.

Week 61: Perfect Love Casts Out Fear!

The system of God (lack of a better word) with man, can be determined right at the beginning of the Bible. Because of the existence of sin, blood shed is essential for the sinners to make right with God. This is seen when we look at the story of Adam and Eve. Right after they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, They hid themselves when God came looking for them.

This is the beginning where we see sin entered and separated man from God. Adam and Eve knew they sinned against God and they knew they were naked when their eyes were opened to the knowledge of good and evil. They tried to cover themselves with fig leaves.

Fig leaves in the Bible is referred to as "self-effort". As you can see from Adam's action. They tried to cover their own nakedness with fig leaves  But, what God did was He  clothe them with the animal skin. That is the first mentioned of animal sacrifice killed to cover man's sin.

Week 60: From Law to Grace

We have been discussing Law & Grace for a number of weeks. I hope by now you have a good idea of what they are all about. Last week, we said that the essence of Law is demand, whereas the essence of Grace is supply.

When we are conscious of our state of mind, we can easily determine if we are under Law or under Grace. Simply, ask ourselves this question: Are we in a demand-mode or supply-mode? Are we demanding on ourselves or others to get things going? Or are we simply relying on the strength of our Lord to get things done?

To look one step further, usually toxic emotions are associated with demand-state, A commander, demanding a high standard of his soldiers, will most often than not, yell at his soldiers. Yelling speaks of toxic emotion; this could often lead to what we discuss last week about stress. Hence, in a demand-mode, we are subjecting ourselves to negative state of mind and its effect.

When we study the Bible carefully, Jesus did not subject Himself to such negative emotions. Throughout the Scriptures, we don't see Him yelling at His disciples. He did correct His disciples but not through yelling nor screaming. He is the Supplier and He is the Source. It speaks a lot of His character especially when we realize His disciples weren't a perfect bunch  (Peter-lowly educated, behaved like a gangster;Matthew-tax collectors(not liken by many); Thomas-nick name doubting Thomas; Judas-not a true follower, a betrayal). It takes a person with a lot of character to mingle with these people for three and a half years, isn't it? And yet, Jesus took them as disciples and never mentioned in the bible Jesus yelled or shouted at them at any one time.

Week 59: Law Demand, Grace Supply

Hallelujah! Amen! The difference between a believer and a non-believer is a believer believes. We believe in God as our heavenly Father, the Creator of heaven and earth, who loves the world so much that He sent His only Son to redeem us, so that whoever believe shall not perish but have everlasting life! Amen!

2000 years ago, He came in person... That in itself speaks of intimacy... He did not redeem us from heaven  Could He do that? Of course, why not? He is God almighty! But He chose to come, He chose to take on a human form, He chose to take on the toils of life, to go through the pain and suffering. Only when sins were punished on His body, that today we can truly be at rest. For the justice of God on the punishment of sins is fully met at the cross in the body of our sacrificial Lamb, His Son! Amen! 

Week 58: Beholding His Glory

Hallelujah! Praise be the name of Jesus! The King of kings and the Lord of lords.Today, He is alive and He still is! Amen!

1 Cor 15:21-22

21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 

This verse says that Jesus is resurrected from the dead and because we, believers, are in Christ, we are made alive together with Him! Amen!

Week 57: Inspiration in His Words (Supplement)

Week 57: Let go and Let God

Good day!

As I was sharing with you recently about my experience at Bedok reservior, I had a "rolling" good time. Half way through the roll, I stopped as I felt giddy. Almost vomited. But, it does have been a good experience and definitely eye-opening for me. For the benefit of the rest, let's take a look at the video below once more.



Interestingly, most of the practitioners are old folks and some were acquired with sicknesses (mostly tumor or cancel). Apparently, they found healing by going through such practices. They termed such illness as "qi" in the body and could be released by purging out through "qi gong".

What caught my attention is that when I was there, a few regulars came to me and shared with me their thoughts . One of them taught me to remain "relax" or "let go" when going through the process. Sounds familiar? "Relax", "rest" or "let go"? I am sure such mindset is necessary to help us to cope in this fast-pacing society, let alone it can remove illnesses from our body.

If the world can understand that "relax" and "rest" is the way to healthy lifestyle, how much more we as Christian whose trust are in the Lord!  Amen! We have the heaven's best, Jesus! We "rest" in His finished work at the cross... we "let go" of taking control of our problems and let God take charge.. Amen!

Week 56: Knowing God - His Grace

Both stared immensely towards the far horizon. They saw the dark clouds illuminated by the thunderous flashing lighting, resulting in patches of random cotton flashing over the entire sky. The wind was strong and spiraling, very much like it may evolved into a bigger scale of whirlwind.. While it lifted the fallen leaves off the ground, that very sight before them stirred urgency in their hearts. 

They knew the end (of this world) is near. One of them turned to his partner and said "Are you ready?" His partner looked at him in blank. For a moment, his partner was speechless. His mind started to flash back what he had accomplished over the years and all of the sudden, all of these things doesn't seem to matter anymore. If the rapture is happening that very day, then none of his accomplishment, achievements and acquisitions on earth, is going to follow him to heaven.

Obviously, the rapture did not take place. But it was a wake-up call. It happened in the 1990s. This is exactly what my boss experienced that day. He and his partner saw such dramatic weather and thought it was the end of the world. My boss challenged this question to his partner ;" Are you ready?" 

He never knew that his question had made such an impact on his friend that day. It was a "kairos" moment for his friend. He eventually gave up his secular career and become a full-time pastor till today.

Lately, I've been hearing this phrase "Are you ready?" I thought I should just slip in this story. Never know some one out there need to listen to this. My boss, in the spirit at that moment, spoke a word in season to his friend and led him into full time ministry. Likewise, I am just flowing in that spirit. I am not suggesting we should give up our career now and serve God full time. But, let's be mindful of the things that are eternal than the things that are temporal. Because at the end of the day, what we bring along with us from this world are those of eternity. Amen!

Last week, we mention that Jesus died on the cross due to heart ruptured. Medical experts cited that His heart had failed, the blood and water clogged in the area of His heart and as a result, when the Roman soldier pierced His side with a spear, blood and water flowed out.

John 19:33-34

33 But when they came to Jesus and they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came (flowed) out.

Why are we so concern about the every little details that happen on the cross? Derek Prince, a great man of God who specialized in demon-deliverance, explain in one of his sermon:

"One of the great basic truths of revelation is that on the cross there was divinely ordained exchange. I believe this is central to the entire gospel message. If we do not understand this much about what took place when Jesus died on the cross we really have no anchor for our faith, no stability, no solidity. On the cross by the fore ordained purpose of God there was an exchange, very, very simple in its basic nature. Jesus the sinless, obedient Son of God took upon him all the evil that was due by divine justice to all our rebellion and disobedience that in return through faith we might receive all the good that was due to the perfect obedience of Jesus. More simply, Jesus took all the evil that was due to us that we might receive all the good that was due to him. This was the exchange. You can work this out in every aspect of what took place on the cross.

It’s not my purpose to do that tonight but here is one main aspect of the exchange. Jesus was made a curse — what’s the opposite of a curse? Blessing. —that we might receive the blessing. There’s the exchange. The curse was due to our disobedience but Jesus as our representative and our substitute took the curse upon him that we might have what? The blessing. Jesus took the curse that we might receive the blessing. Say that. Jesus took the curse that we might receive the blessing. The evidence that Jesus was made a curse was that he hung upon the cross. "

For further reading of this sermon, go to:

http://www.derekprince.org/Articles/1000085700/DPM_US/Archive_of_UK/Keys/Gods_Abundance/The_Divine_Exchange.aspx

Clearly, at the cross of divine exchange,  Jesus took all our curses so that we can receive all the blessings from God. Amen!

So when we read Matthew 27:46 "My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me [leaving Me [l]helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need]?", we know Jesus is taking our place... Because for the first time in the Bible, Jesus addressed His Father as "My God". No where else in the Bible did Jesus called His Father "My God"! So today in exchange, we shout "My Father, My Father, why have You so blessed me!" Hallelujah! Amen!

Following so far? Let's go one step further.... When judgement of our sins was exhausted in the body of Christ, Jesus shout "It is finished!" Do you know that Jesus actually quoted the first verse and the last verse of Psalms 22 in the Old Testament? 

Psalms 22:1

1 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

Psalms 22:31

31 They shall come and shall declare His righteousness to a people yet to be born—that He has done it [that it is finished]!

At the cross, Jesus took on the pain, the suffering, the judgement, the curse, and at that very hour He quoted Psalms 22. Lets think for a moment and put ourselves in His shoe, with all the pain and punishment taken so far, would anyone quote the verses in the Bible? I doubt I would. I don't think I am composed enough to quote the Bible verses. The pain would have overwhelmed me! 

Yet, our Lord Jesus quoted Psalms 22.... What is the significance? Question: What come after the last verse of Psalms 22? Psalms 23! The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..... Familiar?

What is Psalms 23 all about? If you read and digest the entire passage, you will realize this passage is the covenant of Grace! Jesus died on the cross so that He can bring forth His covenant of Grace! Hallelujah! Jesus took on the pain and sacrifice at the cross and He quoted Psalms 22, so that today we can confidently say that the Lord is my Shepherd!  The One who hang on the tree, took on all the judgement of our sins, paid for all of us the penalty of sins, He is our Shepherd! Hallelujah! 

When we remind ourselves in this manner, we are telling the devil to stay away from us. We are reminding him that he has already been defeated at the cross! The devils may around like a roaring lion, but he is not going to devour us,  who declare the Lord is our Shepherd!  Amen!

I am thankful on our recent trip to Paris. It was by the Grace of our Lord. For many years, I felt God prompting for me to go to Paris... But, I did not act upon it until this year because to me it didn't make much sense. I've been to Paris in 1994 and my impression then was I don't really like it. I would rather spend the money to go to some other places like Japan, Korea or even Israel.

Nevertheless, some time before making the decision to go Paris,  I received in my spirit that by going to Paris, God would want to commission me in sharing the Gospel of Grace. With the encouragement from my wife,  Shao Qing, we decided to go Paris by faith. 

 I've shared my story on this trip in the previous blog so I won't go into it. But, this is something I received from the Lord in this trip. Right underneath the Eiffel Tower, I saw a tag that indicates the year which this tower was  built. It was from 1834-1923. Didn't quite make much sense about it then but throughout the trip, we know we were blessed by His Grace. Everything was smooth and flow easily like a river.

Some time later after we return from the trip, while listening to a sermon, all of a sudden, I jumped out of the bed. 1923 is actually Psalms 23! Psalms is the 19th book in the Bible! It is the passage on the covenant of Grace! Hallelujah!

God is good! And the amazing thing is He gave me another confirmation about this trip through my dear friend, Mac! After returning back from the trip, I had coffee with Mac and found out that while we were away during  that period of time, he fasted for three days three nights and at the end of the fast, he kept seeing the word "Amazing Grace"! Right then, I knew in my heart it was a confirmation from God. Hallelujah!

Since then, I have decided to memorized and meditate on Psalm 23. I have made Brielle memorized as well and I would encourage you to do so. Once you memorized and start to meditate on it, you will be surprised how beautiful this passage is!

Ok, glad we manage to share this message this week. For the next few weeks, most likely we won't be doing any sharing. Just want to take some time off to consolidate before we move forwards to more sharing in the future.

I have actually compiled all the previous sharing into a blog website. 

http://gracegrace15.blogspot.sg/

Feel free to go through those sharing during this period of time. Still doing a bit of touch up here and there, but good to go. So, feel free to go to this blog website.

Grace and peace be with you!

Week 55: Knowing God - His Love (Part 6)

Good day!

Praise be to the name of Jesus. What a wonderful name! He came to this earth to set us free! Free from bondage, free from sickness, free from addictions, free from condemnation, guilt, lust, bitterness, fear, worries... Whatever darkness in our lives, He is there to shine with His light. Amen!

Two nights ago, I was watching the channel 8 TV series "Against the Tide" and at the ending of the show, Rui En was trying to re-enact the crime scene and a phrase at the end caught my attention.. It goes like this "You are in contact with darkness, darkness is in contact with you too. Belittle it and you will be engulfed by it"

Isn't it true? Since Adam's sin, forces of darkness has ruled this world. The world is out there to grab our attention in every way so that when we continue to dwell in the forces of darkness, we will be consumed! Remember the news we talked about the boy giving up his organ in exchange for the latest iphone! The power of lust of this world cannot be belittle, less we be consumed by it.

But be of good cheer, we as believer have the One who conquered death and He is on our side! Amen! Jesus said in John 8:12

“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Last week, we spoke about Mary Magdalene. She was the first one to see Jesus after His resurrection. When we look closely, we know that Mary's heart was all out for Jesus, yet she may not know everything about Him. Interestingly, Jesus chose to appear to her first.

Let's pause for a moment, assuming you are Jesus, You are resurrected, You are all-knowing God. Question: Who would you want to see when you first resurrected? Would you consider Mary whom knew little about you as your first choice of appearance?

In fact, according to the Bible, the disciples rushed to the tomb when Mary told them that the tomb was empty. Jesus could have chosen to reveal Himself to them since everyone were there, isn't it? But, no. Jesus did not.The Bible says Mary was heart-broken and she insisted to find His "body".

Interestingly, do you know that Jesus died of a broken-heart? Here's some findings of the explanation:

Dr. Stroud, in his book, tried to explain that the death of Christ resulted because His heart ruptured. He reasoned that the blood passed from the heart into the pericardium or caul of the heart where it collected into red clot (blood) and into the limpid serum (which he calls "water"). Therefore, after Jesus was dead, says this doctor, a spear was thrust into His side and out flowed a little blood and water which had collected around His heart So, it is reasoned, Jesus died of a broken heart!

James Thompson believed that Jesus did not die from exhaustion, the beatings or the 3 hours of crucifixion, but that he died from agony of mind producing rupture of the heart. His evidence comes from what happened when the Roman soldier pierced Christ’s left side. The spear released a sudden flow of blood and water (John 19:34). Not only does this prove that Jesus was already dead when pierced, but Thompson believes it is also evidence of cardiac rupture. Respected physiologist Samuel Houghton believed that only the combination of crucifixion and rupture of the heart could produce this result.

Week 54: Knowing God - His Love (Part 5)

Today, we celebrate the colour "blue" not because it is in fashion this season. It is because  the colour "blue" represent "Grace / Favor". When we look up to the sky, it is blue. But, at the same time, we are actually looking up to the One above. Amen! When the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years touched the hem of the garment of Jesus (Mat 9:20-22),  she was healed instantly!

The word "hem" actually refer to the tassels. In ancient Israel, men wore four-cornered outer tunics with these tassels, or tzitziyot, tied to the four corners. This outer garment became known as a tallit, and eventually evolved into the more formal prayer shawl. The interesting thing is these tassels are in blue! Why? It was an instruction from God to Moses in the Old Testament. This instruction is found in Numbers 15:37-41.

So, when the woman touched the blue tassel, she was healed! Therefore, blue is always associated with "Grace".

Matthew 9:20-22

20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him ,and touched the hem of his garment:

21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.

22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Week 53: Knowing God - His Love (Part 4)

Good day, Mdm!

Last week, we talk about exercising God's love for us. We said that Apostle John was one disciple whom knew how to do that. In the Gospel of John, he wrote very often "the disciple whom Jesus loved". Notice that this phrase is only used in the Gospel of John and not in any other Gospel like Matthew, Mark nor Luke.

Why? John was exercising Jesus's love for him. Just to elaborate a little more on this by an example. Let say you love your kids and decided to bring all of them to Paris. And assuming your kids have a habit of writing diary. So Ryan wrote " My mom brought me to Paris....." Ethel wrote "My mom brought me to Paris.." And then Carrie wrote "My mom brought the daughter whom she loved to Paris.."

Notice the difference? But does that mean that you love Carrie more than Ryan and Ethel? No, you showed your love equally among them because you brought all of them to Paris! What Carrie did was she practice your love for her. She is conscious of your love for her. Likewise, for Apostle John. Jesus love everyone of His disciples. John chose to practice and be conscious of Jesus's love for him.

Love is a powerful thing. Often, we see in the movie a mother could lift-off a heavy object like car in order to save her daughter who was trapped... out of love.We want to be empowered by this love..The more we are conscious of God's love for us, the more we are empowered to love others, Amen!

Last week, we also mentioned that although Jesus, out of His own mouth said "You shall love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul..." We claimed that He doesn't really mean it. What He did was to put Law at its highest form so that we will know we can never love God the way He love us. Whenever we think of Him giving up His only Son for all of us, we know deep inside our hearts He truly love us. Amen!

Are we sure about that claim? Because even till today, there are many believers still trying to love God with all their hearts, all their mind, all their soul! And when something or challenge happened in their lives, they started to question where is God? Worst of all, they will cite that they love God whole-heartedly but yet they could not seem to see God helping in their situation. This is very dangerous thinking. This is self-righteous thinking and it is back to the Law again. They are expecting God to bless them because they have been putting all their might to love God. Dangerous.

Week 52: Knowing God - His Love (Part 3)

Last week, we see the story of Peter in the Bible. After spending 3 and half years with Jesus, Peter finally see the aspect of love from the Lord. And yet today, we say love is basic and law is deep and we got to go deep into the ten commandments. On the contrary, law is basic. The first time Peter met Jesus and saw His power to bring in the load sinking fishes, he was much aware of Jesus holiness. But, after 3 and half years with Jesus and failing big time, he did not run away from Jesus. Why? Because he was not looking at Jesus holiness, but was drawn to His love. Amen! And by doing so, he became a great vessel for the kingdom of God. Only when we can see and be touched the love of God, we can be empowered to do great things for His kingdom, Amen!

Peter in the Bible represent a certain type of believer in the Christianity today. He was loud, self righteous and always speak of his love for God. "Love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind." This is what Jesus said, summarizing the totality of the law. But, that doesn't mean He want us to do that, because He know we can't. But, why does He mention then?  In Mat 24:34-38 we can see this phrase spoken by Jesus.

Week 51: Knowing God- His Love (Part 2)

Good day, Mdm!

Last week, we say that God's love is immeasurable. I love what Apostle Paul said about God in Romans 11

Romans 11:33

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!

We cannot put God in a box because He is unfathomable! Amen! He is bigger than we can ever imagine. That's why whenever we run into problem, we don't focus on the problem. If we do, we put Him in a box. But how are we going to solve the problem?? The "How" department belong to God, not us. So we don't question how. The Bible say "All things are make for good for those who love Him and called according to His purpose." George Muller put it this way "sovereign goodness"

Some believer acknowledge the sovereignty of God and because of that, they adopt "Que Sera Sera / Whatever will be, will be" attitude. Such mentality does not exalt the glory of God. "Well, if God bless, bless lor... if don't bless, don't bless lor..." Although we do not "play God" in this case, neither are we exalting the name of God.

But what George Muller is saying is that God is in charge of All things (soverign) and yet He is good! And because God is sovereign and at the same time good, we can have hope with positive expectations. We do not view our situation with  "Que Sera Sera" attitude. Instead, we proclaim All things work for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Amen! Hallelujah! When a job opportunity door is shut, we know God is opening a even bigger door for us! Amen! You knew my story of looking for a job back then. The door for that job was shut because God opened a bigger and better door for me! Amen! God is sovereign and He is good! Hallelujah!

This week, we will continue to look into the Scriptures in search of knowing God. We will examine the story of Peter and find out what we can derive from the perspective of His love.

When Jesus began His ministry, He was preaching at the sea of Galilee. Let's follow the story from

Week 50: Knowing God- His Love

Last week, we talk about this great man of God, George Muller. His priority back then was to keep himself happy in the Lord first thing in the morning when he woke up. Other things can wait. We learn also from him that in order to keep ourselves happy in the Lord is to know Him through the Scriptures. Here's a recap:

Happiness in God comes from seeing God revealed to us in the face of Jesus Christ through the Scriptures...Our eyes are divinely opened to see what a lovely Being God is! And this good, gracious, loving, heavenly Father is ours, our portion for time and for eternity.” Knowing God is the key to being happy in God.

Week 49: Spiritual Warfare - Happy Soul: How?

Good day!

I just came across this news about this teenage in the southern province of Hunan sold one of his kidneys in order to raise funds to buy Apple iphone. Yes, this is what I said:"What?" "What is this boy thinking?" "Why would he want to exchange his organ for something that probably will be obsoleted few years down the road?"

Kind of remind me of Esau in the Bible. He sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of stew.(Gen 25:29-34) Wait a minute, did I just mention "What is the boy thinking?" Ahhh.. Let's take a step back and look at this case from the perspective of the spiritual realm. What is that boy thinking? Remember, we said this before, what we think will eventually transform to what action we take.

Why would this boy want to own the iphone to the extend of giving up his kidney? Why would he want to give-up his God-given kidney for a worldly-made gadget? If he only knew how much God love him, he would not have traded-in his precious organ to the lust of this world.

Yes, the power of lust of this world. Today, we say:"No, I won't give in my kidney for the iphone." Well, to the extend we expose ourselves to this world, to the extend we are exposed to the lust of this world. But, the Bible say:" He (Jesus) who is in us is greater than he (Satan) who is in this world." Amen!

Week 48: Spiritual Warfare - Nourishing Our Soul

Good day, Mdm!

Thank God for His perfect plan. On the day when Adam sinned against God, God was not caught by surprised. God is on top of all things and He is still today. Amen! And His plan to redeem us from sin is perfect and complete. Jesus, our sacrificial Lamb, willingly died on the cross for us.

Jesus was not murdered, He laid down His life. Do you see the difference? Amen! Jesus knew where He came from and where He is going to. When the roman soldiers came to capture Jesus, they drew back and fell onto the ground when Jesus said "I Am He."  The word "I AM" was introduced to Moses when he asked God what should he say to people of Israelites who sent him. God replied "I AM" who sent you.

Exodus 3:15

15 God said also to Moses, This shall you say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has sent me to you! This is My name forever, and by this name I am to be remembered to all generations.

Here, God identified His Name as "I AM" What a name! As much as the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.... God said by this name "I AM", He is remembered to all generations.

Now you see why the Roman soldiers drew back and fell onto the ground? They were shocked and afraid when Jesus identified Himself as God. Instead of they capturing Him, Jesus has to surrender Himself to them. Because He knew where He is going to, He was not carried away by His Godly authority. He knew He had to accomplish the task of going to the cross. This is the kind of God we serve.  All loving and all humbled, always composed and swift. Hallelujah!

Before we went for the Paris trip this year, I was not too keen to include Amsterdam in the itinerary. But, after much consideration, knowing we had quite a number of days to spare in Paris, we decided to head up to Amsterdam. While doing our research on Amsterdam, I got very excited when I saw there is display in Amsterdam.

Week 47: Spiritual Warfare - Demon-Possessed

Good Day, Mdm!

Just to refresh what we discussed last week... The essence of Spiritual Warfare begins in our thoughts. What it means basically is whenever we allow a thought to reside in our mind, we are allowing that thought to manifest into an action. The Bible says we got to capture every thoughts in our mind and bring them to the obedience of Christ. Amen!

This week we will look at demon-possessed. Let's understand what exactly is demon-possessed and how one can be demon-possessed. I've found this website which have a good amount of information on this topic.

http://www.gotquestions.org/demon-possession.html

I've extracted this information here for our study today.

Question: "What does the Bible say about demon possession / demonic possession?"

Answer:The Bible gives some examples of people possessed or influenced by demons. From these examples we can find some symptoms of demonic influence and gain insight as to how a demon possesses someone. Here are some of the biblical passages:Matthew 9:32-33;12:22;17:18; Mark 5:1-20;7:26-30; Luke 4:33-36; Luke 22:3; Acts 16:16-18. 

In some of these passages, the demon possession causes physical ailments such as inability to speak, epileptic symptoms, blindness, etc. In other cases, it causes the individual to do evil, Judas being the main example. In Acts 16:16-18, the spirit apparently gives a slave girl some ability to know things beyond her own learning. The demon-possessed man of the Gadarenes, who was possessed by a multitude of demons (Legion), had superhuman strength and lived naked among the tombstones. King Saul, after rebelling against the LORD, was troubled by an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14-15;18:10-11;19:9-10) with the apparent effect of a depressed mood and an increased desire to kill David.

Week 46: Spiritual Warfare - Obedience Of Christ

We are in the series of Spiritual Warfare.. We have spoken about the devil's tactics and how he will try to stir up our emotions which would eventually lead us to manifest in our action. An angry man and continue to be angry will eventually punch someone on the face or worst still kill someone. Even if he can contain his anger, such frustration will eventually result in health problem to that person. No matter which angle you look at this, someone will suffer as a result. Be it the man with anger or the one being punched, someone will suffer.

Whatever it is, the devil doesn't care. His aim is to destroy us. Whoever suffer in this case, it is a win-win situation for the devil. That's why Spiritual Warfare always start with us and how we, by the grace of God, control our thoughts. When it comes to Spiritual Warfare, this passage is famous in the Bible and it has every reason to it.

2 Cor 10:3-5 (AMP)

 3 For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.4 For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,5 [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasoning and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),

Week 45: Spiritual Warfare - Case Study

Good day, Mdm!

This week, we will do a case study related to Spiritual Warfare... I refer to this new I read yesterday:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/robin-williams-hanged-himself-with-a-belt-police-2014-08-12


Another one bites the dust. Yesterday morning, I saw the news that Robin Williams passed away. According to the report, initial evidence points to "a suicide due to asphyxia," (asphyxia refers to suffocation or lack of supply of oxygen to body). Not sure if he choked himself intentionally since it is a suicide. (afternote: Indeed, he hang himself)

Apparently, he has been battling severe depression of late. What a waste. With all due respect, someone who has gained great fame and well respected for his outstanding acting, won numerous prestiges awards and brought many laughter and joy to the audience, sorted to end his life by committing suicide? It make us think what life is all about? Fame and wealth is not the answer to life, if it is so, Williams won't have to seek death. I'm using the word very carefully here. Seek - an act of looking out for. We know the answer to life. It is so simple, to trust Jesus and His finished work but yet many prefer to choose the ways of the world, which can be devastating most of the time.

On further reading the news, it reveals that Robin Williams was addicted to cocaine. Here's what he said about having cocaine:

"Cocaine for me was a place to hide," Williams told People in 1988. "Most people get hyper on coke. It slowed me down. Sometimes it made me paranoid and impotent, but mostly it just made me withdrawn. And I was so crazy back then — working all day, partying most of the night — I needed an excuse not to talk. I needed quiet times and I used coke to get them."

Week 44: Spiritual Warfare- Of What Spirit?

Good day, Mdm!

We have been discussing on spiritual warfare for the past two weeks. We have specifically look into the tactics of the devil. One of the common tactics of Satan is to point us to ourselves, our identities and our needs. The moment he can grab hold of our attention in these areas, he can tempt us to trigger our emotions and as a result lead us to manifest into physical action.

At the garden of Eden, the serpent pointed Eve to her own desire. In other words, the serpent pointed her focus away from God's Word (despite God's warning on eating the tree of knowledge of good and evil). Do you see that? Have a look at Genesis 3. The serpent tried to lure Eve to the idea she can be superior, like God. But, she failed to realize that she was already like God! Didn't God said in Gen 1:26 "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule..."

Question: Who rule the earth before Adam & Eve were made? God. Now God said here "...so that they may rule.." Who were God referring to? Adam & Eve. From here, can you see that God is giving the rulership to them? Weren't they like God?

The  thing is this. Satan is very cunning. So, spiritual warfare to some extent may not be as simple as it seem. We are fighting at something we cannot see (spiritual), yet at the same time we have to deal with some thing we can see, touch, feel, experience. Which is easier? To "see" the natural or spiritual?

Most of time, we can get carried away easily with our emotions (eg the pain on our neck, disappointment over the negative medical report, impatience over a slow driver in front, anger over critics or rude customer services, etc) because these are real; they can be felt, touched, experienced with our physical senses. Our physical senses demand our immediate respond. To complicate matter, Satan will cunningly present before us a "real" picture of our natural circumstances. Only when we have  discerning Spirits, we can deal with the issues spiritually (for we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers and rulers of darkness).

Week 43: Spiritual Warfare Part 2 - Self-Focus (Supplement)

Romans 4:5

5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness

Boldness is what God wants you to have when you come to Him. He does not want you to be afraid to come to Him, feeling unworthy because of your sins. He wants you to come boldly to Him, knowing that the death, burial and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ has justified you and qualified you to boldly receive from Him.

This was the kind of boldness that the woman with the issue of blood had when she touched Jesus. (Mark 5:25–34) Now, by touching Jesus, she knew that she was breaking a Levitical law which states that anyone with a bodily discharge is unclean, and should not appear in public, let alone touch another person. (Leviticus 15)

But she refused to feel condemned by the law. She believed what she had heard about Jesus, and was confident that there would only be love and compassion, not condemnation, from Him. She believed that Jesus would justify her and qualify her to receive the miracle she needed. That was why she boldly pressed her way into the crowd to touch Jesus, who indeed said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.” (Mark 5:34)

What was it about her faith that made her well? Romans 4:5 talks about faith that believes God justifies the ungodly. When you believe that God justifies the ungodly, it will give you boldness to come to God, even when you feel unclean because you have just blown it.
When you fail, don’t run away from God. Run boldly to Him, knowing that you are justified by the blood of Christ and not by your good behavior.

The devil may say to you, “How can you do that? Who do you think you are?” Don’t listen to him. Pick yourself up and thank God for the blood and the gift of no condemnation. (Romans 8:1) If God justifies the ungodly, how much more you, His beloved child!

Week 43: Spiritual Warfare Part 2 : Self-Focus

Good day, Mdm!

Last week, we talk about spiritual warfare. We said that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, power and rulers of darkness. What it mean is that there is this dark or evil 'forces' out there where we cannot see in which we are against.

The common  tactics of the devil is to stir up our negative emotions. Come to think about it, take a look at Jason whom I mentioned last week. What do you think lead to his suicide? He was emotionally "disturbed", isn't it? How about the near accident I had at TPE when the car hitted the kerb, span and almost crush onto us? According to brother 2, that car was actually trying to chase after another car in front at high speed. The driver must have been provoked emotionally , isn't it?

Now that we know how the devil operate, we can use the gifts given by God to guard against the enemy. How? Speak in tongues. This gift has been so effective for me. Every time when I sense any toxic emotion in me, I will start speaking in tongues until the "burden" is lifted out. Of course, when your state of mind is clear, you can start confessing the Word of God about the situation. The Word of God is a sword and we use it to speak to our situation. Remember, whenever you feel weak and do not feel like praying to God, that is the time you should pray. Grace can only flow in our lives when we surrender our situation to our Lord. It's no longer about what we can do to the situation, it's about letting go and letting God. Amen!

Today,  we will discuss further about spiritual warfare. We will look deeper to the ploy of the devil. Once you "see" his tactics, it will help you from falling into his trap.

Let's take a look at the two disciples of Jesus, Peter & Judas. Here, we are looking at two contrasting person yet both committed sin at the time Jesus was captured. For Peter, he loves Jesus and he will always stand up for his Lord. Sounds good or right, isn't it?

Week 42: Spiritual Warfare: The Devil's Lies (Supplement)

Hello Mdm!

Below link is a write up of a Bible passage with regards to principalities, power and battles in the spiritual realm.

This is in line with what we are discussing here, I thought you should take a look. Take your time to read and be blessed!

http://www.jesusplusnothing.com/studies/online/elisha6.htm


Shalom!
Bro

Week 42: Spiritual Warfare: The Devil's Lies

Good day, Mdm!

We have spent quite a number of weeks discussing on speaking of tongues, meditating on God's Word and partaking the Holy Communion. These are powerful gifts and truths. I would encourage you to continue to practice these truths as much as you can.

As I was preparing on what to share this week. I came to know about this lady named Irene who was at our office recently to introduce herself after being transferred back from Hong Kong.

Let's take a look at the news where she was involved:

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/news/art/20140405/18680004

What a devastating moment for her! Though we may not know what exactly went wrong, these images will be haunting her for awhile at least. Imagine your love one decided to end his/her life without even sharing their problem with you. They rather find their own solution (commit suicide) than to find someone for help.

Life is fragile (without Christ). When I heard of this man Jason jumped to his death, I wonder what when through his life. Financial problem, work stress, health problem or relationship issues? Whatever that is, it must have resulted in him tremendous pressure. Even with sports like thai boxing doesn't seem to help him to reduce his stress. Despair, stressed and anger in its full manifestation can propel a person into action (like suicide or murder) which is usually irrational and destructive.

The Bible says " Guard your heart with due diligence, for out of it spring forth issues of life." Here it says "Guard our heart",  With the advancement  of technology, accessing information has become so much easier. Everyday, we can be flooded with thousands of information. Selecting what goes into our heart can make a different to the way we view and live out our lives.  If fact, our Lord Jesus has already given us the answer on how we should guard our hearts. He said " Peace... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

Week 41: Under His Wings

Good day Mdm!

My heart goes out to the recent MH17 crash in Ukraine. Reading news like this make us feel so vulnerable and uncertainty. But, that should not put us in the bondage of fear. Instead, through such event, we learn to treasure our love ones even more and have right perspective and priority when it comes to family, work and ministry. Nothing is more important than life. When we do not have the right perspective, we maybe slaughtering our lives away and not spending quality time with our love ones. We missed the point. The Bible says " For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" When Jesus came to this world, He came not to offer us a temporary solution, He came to offer us eternal life! It takes awhile to chew on this.

 The greatest thing we can have on earth is life. That's why Jesus came to give us life and more abundantly.  We are created by God  in His own image. The world has fallen because of Adam's sin. The Satan is out there to get us. Why? Because we are created by God and He is too powerful for Satan. So Satan turn to us and attack us, the image of God. Just like a broke-up relationship, the girl filled with hatred would attack the photo (image) of the boyfriend because she could not get her hands on her boyfriend. Yes, Satan hate us and he will do anything to destroy us.

But be of good cheer, Jesus has conquered the world! We, as Christian, in Christ live with a constant expectation of good. There maybe plane crush in this world, but when we are on that plane, the plane is not going anywhere. In fact, in our recent trip to Amsterdam/Paris, this is how confident I was despite the missing plane MH370. I was so confident that nothing will happen to us. "We will not go missing." I thought to myself "because Jesus is with us." If there's something I want to boast, then let me boast on  my Lord ,Jesus. This is what He came to this world to give us, Hope. Not the hope hope like the world say "I hope so." "Maybe God has mercy, I hope He can heal my sickness. If not, whatever will be will be"

The hope we are talking here is an expectation of good. It is hope that bring joy (not doubt). It is a hope that bring peace (not fear). The Bible in Romans 15:13 says:

Week 40: Grace All Over

Good day, Mdm!

Thank you for arranging the durian plantation trip last week. I believe everyone had a great time! Thank God for His Grace throughout this trip. Can't help it but kept noticing the rhythm of grace working around us through the entire trip.

Was there grace, you may ask? Well, We left Singapore with heavy down pour and we arrived the durian plantation without a single drop of rain. Our trip could have been ruined with that down pour, isn't it? That's grace. 

The mosquitoes attack  was kept to a minimal, thanks to your Army-proven mosquitoes repellent spray. And I believe you came to that knowledge of using such repellent in time for this trip. Or else we could have been irritated by mosquitoes bite throughout the plantation walk, isn't it? That's grace.

Those durian we ate, they were creamy, bitterly sweet and delicious. However, the environment for consuming them was not conducive. The house flies were all over the place. The durian could have been easily contaminated by these flies and we could have fell sick after consuming them. Thank God none of us had diarrhea nor fell sick. That's grace. I remember many years ago we were in Bandung, Indonesian for mission trip, we had our lunch in one of the chicken stall. Likewise, house flies were all over. Some of us fell sick and had diarrhea after the meal.

And that driver, being new to the route, did not waste too much time searching for the destination. Or else, we will be spending most of our time searching for the location. One thing I really admire about this driver is that although he spent 16 hours driving us around (not including the time he himself need from his starting point) and graciously serving our needs, I did not notice any tiredness from his face instead he was always smiling and friendly throughout. Well, you can say that he is working hard for the money. For 16 hours without a sign of tiredness and serving with smiling face does make a difference to a road trip.  Imagine if we have met a grouchy driver, our trip would have been less enjoyable, isn't it. That's grace.

And your friend, Terence. What a friend... to spend his entire day to show us around Maur. That's grace. 

Grace is all around throughout this trip. Are you seeing it? There's this rhythm of grace and everything seem to fit in nicely in its place. All we need to do is just flow and be thankful to God that everything turn up well even though it is just a simple trip.

By the way, you know that little hill your friend Terence brought us to climb. I know for you is chicken feet. But for me, it was a challenge. Before we reached the "mid" point where the hut is, I remember saying this to Brielle as I was carrying her " Grace Grace." For I knew I would not have the strength to carry her all the way to the top. Thank God, some of us decided to stay behind (for I doubt I could continue further with Brielle along) while Terence, youself, Greg and I decided to continue with the climb. And we made it to the top! Thank God for His grace.

 In Zechariah 4:6-7., Zerubbabel has struggled to build the temple amid all many and means of problems. An angel comes with encouragement and wisdom:

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 
“Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit” 
says the Lord of Hosts. 
Who are you great mountain? 
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! 
And he shall bring forth the capstone 
With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” 

Basically, the message to Zerubbabel and to us is that some problems are beyond our ability to fix, no matter how powerful or talented we may be. When we rely on the LORD and say "Grace Grace" to our situation,  the task will complete by the Spirit of the Lord. Amen!

My "mountain" then was to climb up the hill that day. Thank God despite the challenge, I made it alive! I knew people who was more fit than me fell flat (died) in the midst of his challenge. It's real and sad. Thank God I am alive! That's grace.

You might ask "So, how do we tap into this grace? If nothing we do can earn God's Grace, how do we constantly positioned ourselves to receive His favor in our daily life?"

Let's go to 2 Peter 1:2-3:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

God’s Word tells us that when we receive revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, it will cause grace and peace to be multiplied in our lives. It will cause us to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness.

What is grace? It is the unmerited, unearned and undeserved favor of God shown to us. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s grace. But the more we learn of the beauty and love of our Lord Jesus, the more we see His perfect work on the cross, the more we position ourselves to receive a multiplication of God’s grace in our lives.

The verse says that peace too, is multiplied to us through the knowledge of Jesus our Lord. The peace of God sets our hearts free from fear, stress, worries, anxieties and cares. Won’t you want to have the peace of God presiding over your heart always?

God’s divine power has given us all things that pertain not just to godliness, but to life as well. Won’t you say that health, money, a good job and a nice home for your family pertain to life? Well, all these things and everything else which God has already given is released to us through the knowledge of Jesus our Lord.

So let’s ask God every day, “Father, give me wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus.” For to know Jesus is to have grace and peace multiplied to us. To know Jesus is to receive all things pertaining to life and godliness! Amen!


Grace & peace be with you always.

Shalom
Bro

Week 39: The Living Word

Good day, Mdm!

Praise be to His wonderful name, Jesus! Whenever, we use the name of Jesus, demon flee! They cannot withstand this Name; they knew they cannot hang around people who have given their heart to Jesus. The moment we accept Jesus in our life, we accept the Holy Spirit into our body. The Bible says our body are the temples of the Spirit. In other words, when the Holy Spirit come and dwell in our body, other spirits have to move out. Amen! Our body "the temple" cannot contain two different opposing spirits. They cannot share share the same body, Amen! That also explain when a person accepted Christ as his Lord, he cannot be demon-possessed. Demon-possessed can only happen to the non-believer.

Two days ago, as I was having lunch. I bumped into two old friends at two different location. Both are younger than me I believe and yet they have something in common. Both of them look frail and weary. I am not sure if the work has bogged them down or if it is the aging effect but from the look, it seem like life of this world has worn them down. I was reminded of these verses in the Bible Proverb 4:20-22.

Proverbs 4:20-22

My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.

There is something about God's Word which the world will never understand. These Words are living, not death. The Words can speak life, resurrection to our situation. And when you can find them and extract every nutrient out of them, there is this healing effect. With due respect, I have nothing against Harry Potter novels or Dan Brown thriller novels, as far as these novels are concerned, they can only bring entertainment and excitement, but, they cannot bring any healing to our body.

Last week, I shared with you about my long-time oppression which I was delivered not too long ago. In fact, since that deliverance, my trust in the name of Jesus has taken a step higher. There is power whenever we use this name, Jesus. Amen!

Yesterday, I had a headache as a result of not sleeping well. Normally, whenever I have this problem, my solution was to popped 2 paracetamol. Within minutes, the headache will be gone. But this time, I decided to deal with the root in Jesus' name. Nothing against medication for we are on the same side against the enemy. Just like my oppression case, I can go on and on to massage my neck whenever I am oppressed. But it does not deal with the root. Likewise, I decided to deal with the root of my headache this time.

I must confess I didn't do much though. I began to pray in tongues for awhile. Then,read some verses of Scriptures which I don't remember by now. Listen to a sermon while onboard the train. By the time, I reached home , the headache subsided though my head was still alittle heavy. To make the matter worse, I bought 3 boxes of durian from pasar malam. I know it was "heaty" and won't do any good to me nor my "heaty" body.

The reason I bought the durian was not to test God with the impossible (for we don't test God, we worship Him, Amen!) but to satisfy the craving of my mom-in-law. I ate one box in Jesus' name (just don't want mom-in-law to feel bad or guilty; she wasn't aware I had headache).
This morning, I woke up. The durian did not worsen my condition and my headache was gone. Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus!

There is testimony I heard recently about this christian who was diagnosed with with  tumor in the area of his jaw. All the while, he never read the Bible. He goes for Sunday service for religious reason. That day, after being told about the tumor, he came back, sat down and felt like reading the Bible for the first time. He started reading the Bible, not knowing the power of His Word, Subsequently, he went back for review and the doctor could not find the tumor anymore. The doctor cautious him not to be to happy about it because the tumor may re-surface. However, the guy knew deep in his heart he was healed by the Word of God. It has been 14 years since he shared his healing miracle with a pastor.

With this, I would like to encourage you to read and slowly chew on the Word of God. It doesn't matter if you understand it or not. God's Word has the effect of cleansing and healing. In fact, if you are sick, weak or suffering from any pain, stress, oppress, empty or any toxic emotion, don't run away from God but run to His Word. Immerse and soak yourself with His Word. If you can't even have the concentration to read, pluck in your earpiece and listen to some sermon, worship music or even audio bible. Whenever I cannot sleep at night, I will put on my earpiece and listen to the sermon. Trust me, if the Word can heal me, it can do the same for you. And if you are not sick, the Word will rejuvenate your body. Amen!  The Bible says "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will NEVER pass away."  Amen!

Grace & peace be with you!


Shalom,

Bro

Week 38: Facts vs Truth

Good day Mdm!

Glad to be back. Praise be to our Lord, Jesus! What a journey of faith! This trip to Amsterdam/Paris has been both revitalizing and fruitful. As much as it seem like any other ordinary  holiday trip, I could not help but to experience the grace of God throughout the trip. What can one expect when the trip involved two old folks, a baby and four luggage. One would probably think this is tough, knowing very well the passage way in those cities are not as friendly neither the rise of pick pockets will by any mean lighten the load of this trip.

As much as the facts are there to dampen our spirit, our trust, as Christian should be always to follow the truth. Our believe and action should always be based on the truth derived from the Word of God, not from the facts presented before our eyes.

In essence, our faith or simply right believing draw the line separating us from the facts and position us in the truth. The Bible says " We walk by faith, and not by sight." For faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God (to be exact Word of Christ). Therefore, our faith are established in the Word of God which in turn position us in the truth. Amen!

Why are we so uptight about this truth? Jesus said "..and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." Freedom is available for us only when we know the truth.

Take for example, for many years I had the problem of being "immobilized" at night while sleeping. It didn't happen every night but occasionally I will become stiff on the bed when being "attack". I could hardly moved although I was consciously awake. During the early years, I reckoned it was due to stress. So, in order to break away from this "attack", I have to force myself to move and wake up. I would normally massage my head and neck and return back to sleep. One day, by the grace of God, I decided not to do what I normally would do when under the "attack". Instead, I proclaimed the name of Jesus over the situation. To be frank, at that time, I don't know what I will end with. Unconsciously, I "rest" my case in Jesus' name.

The "attack"  eventually subsided and now I do not experience this problem anymore as long as I am aware I am in Christ. I am free from this oppression! Hallelujah! The facts was that I was under stressed and massaging seem to be the remedy. But, the truth is when I am in Christ, I am no longer under stress. As He is, so am I in this world. Jesus is not oppressed, so am I in this world. Amen! Jesus has already taken all of our problem away from us and He bored them at the cross. He said "It is FINISHED!"

Question: “I know that God is my healer. But why is this sickness and pain still in my body?” If you have been looking at your sickness and pain all this while, stop looking at yourself and start looking at Jesus. Did He or did He not take upon Himself your sickness and pain?

God’s Word declares, “Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, and our pains — he hath carried them…” (Isaiah 53:4, YLT)  Since Jesus has already taken your sickness and pain at the cross, then He cannot “untake” them. Even if you find it hard to believe that Jesus has paid for your healing, especially when the pain is unbearable, the truth is that it is still paid for. It is a finished work!

God is not saying that your sickness does not exist, nor is He asking you to pretend that it is not there. He is asking you to look away from the sickness, painful as it may be, and look to the truth that it has already been judged at the cross in the body of His Son.

Once, while still in the wilderness, the children of Israel were bitten by deadly desert serpents. The serpents were real. The bites were painful and deadly. So God told Moses to point the people to the bronze serpent put on a pole — a picture of the cross.  (John 3:14) Bronze signifies judgment. In other words, the serpent — their problem — was already judged at the cross.

Those who kept their eyes on the bronze serpent lived. Those who focused on their wounds died. So stop looking at your sickness. Instead, look to the cross and see your sickness already judged in the body of Jesus. Surely He has borne your sicknesses and carried your pains! That is the truth of God’s Word. And His Word supersedes natural facts.

Today, do you let natural facts rule or establish God’s truths over your problem ? What you choose to focus on will determine the result. So decide today not to focus on the facts concerning your problem. Instead, establish the truth of God’s Word and Christ’s finished work over your problem — and live!


Shalom,

Bro

Week 37: The Mind Game

Good day, Mdm!

I didn't plan for this sharing.. However, as I was reading this book "The Power of Right Believing", I came across this section which I thought is interesting and thought I should just slip it in before taking the flight tonight.

Here's the extracts:

The Enemy's Strategy

The enemy knows that if he can control your thought life, he can manipulate your emotions and feelings. For instance, if he can make you entertain thoughts of guilt, failure and defeat, you will begin to feel lousy about yourself, physically weak and even depressed.

Our emotions are flags that indicate to us what our thoughts are. Thank God for emotions. They tell us if something is terribly wrong with our thoughts. Many of us are not cognizant when our thinking slides down a slippery slope to fear, doubt, pessimism, and anxiety. However, God has designed us in such a way that we can quickly recognize our thinking through our emotions.

Try this: whenever you begin to sense negative emotions like fear, worry, guilt and anger, stop and ask yourself, "What am I thinking?"

Your emotions follow quickly at the heels of your thoughts. If your thoughts are negative, you will naturally produce negative emotions. Conversely, if your thoughts are positive in Christ, you will produce positive emotions.

That is why there is a battle for your mind. The devil wants to keep your thoughts negative so that he can keep you defeated. He is a master of mind games and he doesn't play fair. When he first tempted Adam & Eve in the garden, he made them doubt God's motives, by lying to them and insinuating that God was deliberately withholding something good from them. He made God appear stingy, when in reality God was protecting them.

The devil's strategy hasn't changed - he is still using lies, accusations, guilt and condemnation to ensnare believers today and to make them doubt God's perfect love, forgiveness and super-abounding grace.

Many years ago, when I was fairly new in the ministry, together with another pastor, I prayed for a lady who was oppressed by the devil. She was not a believer. While we were praying for her, all of a sudden the woman growled menacingly in a deep male voice, "I want her mind!" Whoa! It was the first time I had prayed for a demon-possessed person and the demon actually spoke back! I remember it vividly till this day. Well, we prayed for her and cast the demon out of her.

Now, please don't worry, as a believer in Jesus, you can never be possessed by the devil. He can oppress you mentally. But he can never possess you. I shared my experience with this woman to unveil to you the enemy's strategy. He wants your mind! He wants to keep your mind negative, oppressed, depressed and pessimistic. He wants you to remain in wrong belief, knowing that as long as you continue to believe wrong, you will continue to live wrong. There is a battle for your mind and we win it through the power of right believing.

The Bible says "He (Jesus) who is in you is greater than he (satan) who is in this world." Amen!

Hope you are blessed by this extracts. Most probably, we will discuss more on the topic of spiritual warfare when I return from my trip.

For now, Grace and peace be with you always!


Shalom,

Bro