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
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
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
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
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Week 36: Noah:The Real Story & The Finished Work (Supplement)
Good day, Mdm!
Here's the video excerpts which I thought are interesting. Be open & receive:
Noah: The Real Story
The Finished Work
May these videos bring forth a glimpse of the revelation of God's love that He has for us all this while. Amen!
Shalom
Bro
Here's the video excerpts which I thought are interesting. Be open & receive:
Noah: The Real Story
The Finished Work
May these videos bring forth a glimpse of the revelation of God's love that He has for us all this while. Amen!
Shalom
Bro
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Week 36: Peace Paid For
Good day, Mdm!
Last week, we talk about Hebrew alefbet (which is the origin of all language). We even look into the names of Abraham & Sarah in Hebrew origin and see how God has breath "grace" into their names. In fact, the Old Testament of the Bible was written in Hebrew.
The Bible we read today are a translation from the original Hebrew. To some extent, the meaning after the translation may not have expressed fully to what it is intended as precise as it is in its original language.Therefore, when we want a more definite and deeper understanding behind the inspirations and writings of the Old Testament, it only make sense for us to examine the Hebrew texts as it was originally written. Likewise, the New Testament which was written in Greek can only be fully comprehend when we examine these texts in Greek.
Remember some time back, we look at the word "heal" in Hebrew? "Heal" in Hebrew is "rapha" (Pronounce: rah-fah).
This is how it look like in Hebrew character : רָפָא
Like chinese characters, Hebrew characters are read from right to left.The word "heal" consist of 3 characters in Hebrew.
"Resh" רָ picture of head; meaning first, beginning
"Pey" פָ picture of mouth; meaning speak
"Alef" א picture of Ox head; meaning strong, leader, sacrifice, God
So "heal" in Hebrew has to do with "first from our head, speaking of the sacrifice" and we know from the well-known verse "By His stripes, we are healed." Therefore, from a spiritual point of view, to receive healing, we need to confess the healing verses in the Bible and always proclaim the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and His finished work. Amen!
The root word for "rapha" is "raphah" רָפָה
"Resh" רָ picture of head; meaning first, beginning
"Pey" פָ picture of mouth; meaning speak
"Hey" ה picture of man with hand raised; meaning look, reveal, breath, grace!
And if you assemble these characters, it look like this "first from our head, speaking of [God] grace!" The interesting thing is "raphah" רָפָה in English is the word "relax."
In other words, "healing" has something to do with "relax." Make sense? When a person is sick, you would normally advise the person to rest more, relax and don't work so hard! (Please do not misunderstand that I am promoting laziness; The Bible says "if any man would not work, neither should he eat.." The "relax" here refers to taking rest from toils & torments resulting from issues of life. Jesus said " Peace... let not your heart be troubled..")
In Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know I am God." The words "Be still" in Hebrew is the word "raphah" or "relax". So it read like this " Relax, and know I am God."
So far so good? Can you see the richness in these translation? The beauty and infallible truths of God's Word. Hallelujah!
Let look at another word "Peace". In Hebrew is "Shalom" which mean "completeness, wholeness, health, peace, soundness, prosperity, perfectness, rest, harmony." So, in the origin language, "peace" is more than just simply peace, it is a complete peace. It is a feeling of contentment, completeness, wholeness, well being and harmony in Hebrew.
Interestingly, the root word for "shalom" is "shulam" and it mean "fully paid."
Let's go to John 20:19-20
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled,[c] for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Notice the disciples were fearful and hide themselves. Lord Jesus came and stood in the midst. The first thing He said to them is "Peace" or "Shalom" in Hebrew. And then, He showed them His hands and His side.
Now, let's think for a moment.... God resurrected Jesus on the third day from death. We agree that God is all powerful. But, if He is so powerful, why would He want to leave the nail prints alone? Can't our almighty God capable of restoring the entire body of Jesus, including the nail prints?
As much as the nail prints represent the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus, most importantly it mean that our sins have been paid for. Our peace has been paid for! Amen! That's why Jesus said to his disciples in the midst of their fear "Peace" / "Shalom", followed by showing His nail prints, symbolizing the peace He gave has been paid for by Him being crucified at the cross. Hallelujah!
Hope you have enjoyed this revelation of truth as much as I do. Today, we can have the peace of God is on the basis it has been paid for. That's why in Hebrew, the word "peace" or "shalom" come from the root word "shulam" or "paid for". Praise be to our Lord, Jesus!
As I'll be travelling for the next few weeks, I'll stop writing the weekly sharing during this period. We will continue when I come back from the trip.
Grace and peace be with you!
Shalom,
Bro
Last week, we talk about Hebrew alefbet (which is the origin of all language). We even look into the names of Abraham & Sarah in Hebrew origin and see how God has breath "grace" into their names. In fact, the Old Testament of the Bible was written in Hebrew.
The Bible we read today are a translation from the original Hebrew. To some extent, the meaning after the translation may not have expressed fully to what it is intended as precise as it is in its original language.Therefore, when we want a more definite and deeper understanding behind the inspirations and writings of the Old Testament, it only make sense for us to examine the Hebrew texts as it was originally written. Likewise, the New Testament which was written in Greek can only be fully comprehend when we examine these texts in Greek.
Remember some time back, we look at the word "heal" in Hebrew? "Heal" in Hebrew is "rapha" (Pronounce: rah-fah).
This is how it look like in Hebrew character : רָפָא
Like chinese characters, Hebrew characters are read from right to left.The word "heal" consist of 3 characters in Hebrew.
"Resh" רָ picture of head; meaning first, beginning
"Pey" פָ picture of mouth; meaning speak
"Alef" א picture of Ox head; meaning strong, leader, sacrifice, God
So "heal" in Hebrew has to do with "first from our head, speaking of the sacrifice" and we know from the well-known verse "By His stripes, we are healed." Therefore, from a spiritual point of view, to receive healing, we need to confess the healing verses in the Bible and always proclaim the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus and His finished work. Amen!
The root word for "rapha" is "raphah" רָפָה
"Resh" רָ picture of head; meaning first, beginning
"Pey" פָ picture of mouth; meaning speak
"Hey" ה picture of man with hand raised; meaning look, reveal, breath, grace!
And if you assemble these characters, it look like this "first from our head, speaking of [God] grace!" The interesting thing is "raphah" רָפָה in English is the word "relax."
In other words, "healing" has something to do with "relax." Make sense? When a person is sick, you would normally advise the person to rest more, relax and don't work so hard! (Please do not misunderstand that I am promoting laziness; The Bible says "if any man would not work, neither should he eat.." The "relax" here refers to taking rest from toils & torments resulting from issues of life. Jesus said " Peace... let not your heart be troubled..")
In Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know I am God." The words "Be still" in Hebrew is the word "raphah" or "relax". So it read like this " Relax, and know I am God."
So far so good? Can you see the richness in these translation? The beauty and infallible truths of God's Word. Hallelujah!
Let look at another word "Peace". In Hebrew is "Shalom" which mean "completeness, wholeness, health, peace, soundness, prosperity, perfectness, rest, harmony." So, in the origin language, "peace" is more than just simply peace, it is a complete peace. It is a feeling of contentment, completeness, wholeness, well being and harmony in Hebrew.
Interestingly, the root word for "shalom" is "shulam" and it mean "fully paid."
Let's go to John 20:19-20
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled,[c] for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Notice the disciples were fearful and hide themselves. Lord Jesus came and stood in the midst. The first thing He said to them is "Peace" or "Shalom" in Hebrew. And then, He showed them His hands and His side.
 |
| Thomas, who simply could not believe that Christ had risen from the dead, touched the wound in Christ's side himself |
As much as the nail prints represent the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus, most importantly it mean that our sins have been paid for. Our peace has been paid for! Amen! That's why Jesus said to his disciples in the midst of their fear "Peace" / "Shalom", followed by showing His nail prints, symbolizing the peace He gave has been paid for by Him being crucified at the cross. Hallelujah!
Hope you have enjoyed this revelation of truth as much as I do. Today, we can have the peace of God is on the basis it has been paid for. That's why in Hebrew, the word "peace" or "shalom" come from the root word "shulam" or "paid for". Praise be to our Lord, Jesus!
As I'll be travelling for the next few weeks, I'll stop writing the weekly sharing during this period. We will continue when I come back from the trip.
Grace and peace be with you!
Shalom,
Bro
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Week 35: Abraham & Sarah
Good day!
Last week, we spoke about "resting" on Jesus and His finished work. We also talk about the importance of names in the Bible. In fact, when we examine the name "Noah", it reveal the word "rest" in Hebrew. Today, we will look at the name Abraham & Sarah. But, before we do that, let's have some understanding of ABC.
When we say ABC, we are referring to the English alphabet. In Hebrew, the alphabet is known as "alefbet". To be exact, the English alphabets are derived from Greek which in turn derive from Hebrew.
The word "alphabet" comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, namely Alpha (A) and Beta (B). Likewise, the Hebrew "alefbet" comes from the first two letters of Hebrew alphabet. "Alef" אַ which is the first letter and "Bet" בְ the second letter.
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