Luke 8:7-8

GOD IS ALWAYS GOOD… ALL THE TIME HE IS GOOD!!

April 22,2022—-I had face to face encounter with JESUS last night while sleeping in my dream which woke me up at 1:30 AM today. His face was so clear and His voice was so clear, too…it was so gente and kind and full of love.

His word was so clear that it kept ringing in my ear. God wants me to write it on my note so I will not forget it but I was too sleepy and lazy to do so, so I just asked Him, “Lord please don’t let me forget it.” As human as I am, I memorized the verse JESUS gave me 5 or more times before going back to sleep even after asking Him to remind me.

When I woke up from alarm, the first thing I asked my mom is to open her Bible and read me LUKE 8:7-8, because this is the Word JESUS gave me in my dream.

I wonder why would God gave this word to me. Like what would I do with it? Then, He reminded me, “Do you remember your prayers in two consecutive days?”

Me: “…… oh I remember.” (I remembered I asked God to touch my students especially those who don’t believe in Him and continue to harden their hearts, not accepting Jesus. I remembered I asked God to have mercy on those lost souls in the world. I remembered I asked God to show to those hard to reach people in the world. I remembered I ask God to use me in whatever ways He could.)

At the back of my mind, I am overwhelmed. God is so amazing at answering our prayers even our personal queries. His ways our higher than our ways.

And, I realized that Jesus is soooooo interested with our prayers. He listens intently. He is our good shepherd. He cares about our whereabouts.

When God invites you, let Him guide you through. When you are confuse or needed answers, you can directly ask Him, He is so willing to listen and answer. Just don’t give up…pray unceasingly.

Develop time with JESUS. He loves to commune or have fellowship with you and you will learn a lot from Him.

The Thorns of Sin

Evil people’s lives are like path covered with thorns and traps. – Proverbs 22:5

If the fruit of sin is thorns, isn’t the thorny crown on Christ’s brow a picture of the fruit of our sin that pierced his heart?

What is the fruit of sin? Step into the briar patch of humanity and feel a few thistles. Shame. Fear. Disgrace. Discouragement. Anxiety. Haven’t our hearts been caught in these brambles?

The heart of Jesus, however, had not. He had never been cut by the thorns of sin. What you and I face daily, he never knew. Anxiety? He never worried! Guilt? He was never guilty! Fear? He never left the presence of God! Jesus never knew the fruits of sin . . . until he became sin for us.

(Max Lucado)

Joshua 1:8

In the workplace, my workmate once asked me as she saw me studying the bible with my notes, “Have you completed reading the whole bible?” I was reluctant to answer, yet instead said, “Yes, it’s important to read it every day.”

Then I pondered, there are days when I read the bible not because I’m hungry or thirsty of God’s Word but because I’m afraid of God. Like, if I would not read His Word, I might displease Him. I realized by thinking like this, I’m becoming religious.

Today, while I was reviewing my notes, I happened to read Joshua 1:8,

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe t do according to all that is written in it. For then, you will make your way prosperous, and then will have a good success.”

While I’m meditating on this verse, a memory from the past resurface of how I first time read the Word of God due to hunger and thirst of God…that as a result I was able to complete the whole bible for more or less two weeks. And, I experienced Jesus, met Him, gave my life to Him and baptized by the Holy Spirit by just reading the Word of God.

I was humbled when in those times of dark moments, of depression, frustration, brokenness and I was seeking God, He rescued me. He used someone, from long distance, who phoned to encourage me to start reading the bible cover to cover—which had changed my life drastically.

If I could look back on those dark chapters of my life—me as with no direction, no purpose in life, without joy though got the luxuries of life. . .like “What is it for man if he gains the whole world yet losses his soul?”, it brings assurance to me that my GOD watches us. Unlike earthly fathers who may abandon their children, God, our Heavenly Father, would never forsake us.

Those dark moments were also the times when I was so eager to find Christ, to know Him and to have a relationship with Him. It was so good to reminisce when Jesus was present at every storm of your life, that He became the light when the world gets dark, and darker…yet He is more real. His presence was more real than the things around you. That you can’t think of anything but Him. That your focus was on Jesus because you were madly in love with Him.

However, how about now? Everything is smooth. How’s my love to Him? I’m checking my heartbeat. I believe He is giving me rest. I run here and there, trying to do, do and do, and forgot that He wants me to be, be and be.

 

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, create in me a pure heart. Renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Forgive me in times I neglect Your voice.

Forgive me in times I try to control my situations.

Forgive me in times I do my own thing without asking your help or guidance.

Forgive me in times I worry, forgetting that worry is a sin—thus doubting that you are ABLE, GREAT, MIGHTY TO SAVE.

Forgive me in times I’m impatient, thus manipulating Your timing.

I realize that waiting benefits us so much! That is cleans, purifies, purges, renews, strengthens and transforms us to be like You. Thank you Lord Jesus for your great LOVE.

 

Movie Review: Love finds you in Charm

“Everyone said that they have faith in me to make the right choices. But what I really needed was faith in myself, faith that I would know the answers when they came. Sometimes God willing, we find our answers in another (people)…to someone who is the first person who we wanted to go to tell things. Someone who’s always interested in what we have to say. Someone who’s our best friend. And someone who loves you. This is where we belong.” -modern prodigal daughter Emma

from the Hallmark movie: Love Finds You in Charm.

REACT: As human, we always explore new things…go anywhere to find the answers to our questions. To succeed in our dreams, never stopping until we are satisfied. But at the end, we become frustrated and still dissatisfied because we tend to become self-centered neglecting Him who truly cares and loves us.

But in spite that we become faithless and went to the wrong direction, He remains faithful and merciful to pull us back to His loving arms just like how a prodigal son was welcomed back by his loving father. Thank you Lord God.

To God be the glory!

Book Review: Look What God Can Do!

Author:  Jess Jennings

This book is about the lives of mission heroes, some of which I’ll mention here.

William Carey (1761- 1834) — I’m so blessed by the life of this man of God for his undaunted dedication as he obeyed his call from God to go to India leaving all the comfort of life. Life in India was not easy for him, in fact his son died while they’re battling for financial problem and struggles with the work laid on him since many are opposing his work.  During that time, since there were no Indian converts, he alone buried his son. No one, help him dig, make a coffin for his son…he buried him himself.  This made him indignant because they’re traditions and false religion made them blind. He became a pastor at age 24 in a small Baptist Church.  One of his greatest works was not just building the first and biggest university in India, but his success in ending “Sati”, the tradition in India of burning the wives alive together with their dead husbands. Many Indians oppose him, including the killing of some Indians who accept Jesus, since as they believe they had betrayed their fellow Indians, their traditions and customs as they accept foreign teaching from a white man. Besides persecution from Indians and the government itself, he also was finally opposed by her wife.  I learned something from their story, that when the other one is called, the one must also be called because they are one. His wife at the very beginning of his call, had reluctantly joined him saying, “God might be calling you, but not me.” So, when they begun to experience crisis, her wife begun to complain and discouraged him. To make the story short, his wife became insane and died. Moreover, in spite difficulties, he’s the first missionary to India who translated and published the Bible in Bengali (language in India) starting in the book of Matthew, then John until the whole bible with the help of other missionaries, until he and Shirley, who later became her wife, build a big school that opened gender equality in India, since women used to be unschooled; only boys/men were allowed to study.  His humble beginnings could be, only after 7 years, he had led the first Indian to Christ. Others may have given up and gone home, but he’s convinced that “only God can open blind eyes. Only God can convert lost sinners.”

Hudson Taylor (1832 – 1905) — “The mission was formed by prayer, nourished by prayer and is still sustained by prayer month by month only in answer to believing prayer.” — This man of God give birthed his mission work by prayer. Prayer was the foundation of all he did. Like other missionaries, he had compassion to reach the lost souls and he “wrestled with God to send with him workers to the field since China is very big and populated. Personally, I appreciated his preparations. His first six years and half were spent in learning language, culture and becoming immediately involved in the ministry. Wherever God sent us, we must relate to the people, including adapting to dress, food and lifestyle. Though he’s small in stature, his giant faith, stands as one of the influential Christian leaders since the apostle Paul. In contrast to today’s youth who see missions as some type of adventure, for him missionary was shown to be a life of sacrifice. His first strategies were meeting the people’s physical needs through medicine and following up on those who showed interest in the Gospel. Noteworthy statistics on his 6^th journey to inland China was that they visited 58 cities, towns and larger villages in 25 days. Foundational years provided many spiritual markers for Taylor’s life like practical experience, divine revelation and providential leading. He said, “As I looked upon the thousands of unreached and saw the darkness and sin of the interior, the comforts of Shanghai faded away.”  When he went back to Europe, he was unable to bear the sight of hundreds of Christian unoccupied. This became his driving force to pray to God for more workers for each of the 11 provinces in China. He believed that God would call them out and He would provide for and sustain them.

After 20 years on the field, he went through a deep spiritual experience which others called, “filled with the Spirit”, others called, “experiencing the deeper life.” Taylor called it “the exchange life.” But before he experienced this great blessing, there were many days and weeks of inner struggle and dryness. He goes on to describe how much he struggled with temptation and how wicked his heart was. Thus, he prayed to the Lord to make him more holy. There was hungering and thirsting for more of God. The Holy Spirit was preparing Hudson for a deeper work and more fruitful work and did not depend upon his own strength and effort, but on abiding to Christ. Also, in the practical things of life, he had a new peace. Troubles did not worry him as before. He ha d learned in a new way to place all of his cares upon the Lord. He began to give more time to prayer. Instead of working longer, he began to go to bed earlier and rising earlier so as to give more time to Bible study and prayer. Thirty years after his death the numbers of Chinese converts multiplied to over seven hundred thousand; it was because he started the work and totally surrendered to Him!

 Amy Carmichael (1867- 1951) – Missionary work offers little that could be called glamour. What it offers is a chance to die. Then why would I want to become one? One of the inspirations I have had to pursue into missions is by learning about the lives of missions in the past and present, inspiring me a lot, rekindling the fire within for the lost souls, and one of them that ignite me, a woman like me, is Amy Carmichael. We knew that when we respond to this calling, we need to be ready to the chance of picking up the cross and follow Christ, dying to self, ambitions, career, money, family, or like, even to the prospect of marriage. Amy said, “Missionary work is a grain of sand, the work untouched is a pyramid…Face it. Look and listen, alone with God. Then go, let go, help go, but never, never, never think that anything short of this is being interested in missions.”

Yeah, it’s not about the interest, but it’s the compassion for the lost souls, and the burden God put in your heart, that if not fulfilled, you’ll not be complete; your life is not worth living.

I could go on writing the rest of the missionaries who sacrifice their lives to the point of death, but all of those biographies were all the same: the heartbeat for the dying world, the lost souls to be won for Christ! What greater sacrifice could we give compare to what Jesus did for us on the cross? Do we have the right to complain of the great works when these works are but only a speck compare to how He did for us, saving us from eternal death?

To God be the glory!

 

 

Book Review: Renewing, Re-programming the mind

—The mind of a Christian is our greatest battlefield. We fought against temptation, lies, negative thoughts, accusation, evil thoughts, fearful thoughts, depressing thoughts, thoughts of self-pity, confusing thoughts, etc. The author said, “The enemy will try to take our mind, and Satan knows if our mind is knocked out, if our thinking is wrong, the whole person is out.” So, we need a clear, sharp, renewed mind if we are going to walk with the Lord in any degree of clarity and reality. Incompatibility between our spirit and our mind is one of the greatest hindrances to walking with God in the Spirit.

Nothing in a person’s life is closer to the spirit than his mind. The mind is the mechanism for learning matters in the intellectual and materials realms; your spirit is the mechanism for perceiving realities in the spiritual realm. You can’t walk with God in the spirit without your mind playing complementary role. When your mind is free and released, you open a doorway for God’s light to flow to you, hence getting your thought life aligned with God and His word and His purposes and the way He thinks.

Let’s talk about the brain. Again, it was mentioned by the author that your mind is vitally important link in enabling you to hear from God; Satan will attack your mind. This is an area which is used by Satan to get entry into your life. How? Through the eye gate, hearing gate and emotions. Essentially, temptations and thought can’t’ be separated.

Understanding the brain, we knew that it does not originate thought. It cannot think, it’s purely a computer. It can process thoughts—thoughts can be injected, store, played back, and can be put together by our brain because it’s a computer, and can come to conclusions.

However, the brain can’t think of itself, it needs a mind. Just like a computer which needs a mind to use it—the operator.

But the brain can be programmed, with bad and good things, with truth and error. The problem is if we can get wrong programming in there. The scariest thing, who or whatever programs your mind. When programs in your brain are triggered, that program will run, affecting your behavior pattern. That program will run, and that will be your life. The way you think will determine how you walk, what your life is. And Satan will try to program your brain.

How our mind is influenced by outside forces—by our five senses; hearing, touching, smelling, tasting. Also, it is influenced by role models. Celebrities like Lady Gaga whose name means insane is followed by teenagers particularly. So their thinking of that model is then programmed into them—the way they act and dress. The programming comes across—concepts, values and so on.

Another way to influenced …is spirit transmission—by revelation from God and by evil spirits. Our brain is vulnerable to spirit influence—by God or from the kingdom of darkness. It is designed, you see, by God to be operated by spirit, and that makes it vulnerable because there’s more than one spirit, more than the Spirit of the Lord around, all kinds of spirits. These spirits can program your brain; they can inject thoughts, they can put in wrong programming into your brain. So we are made, we can be influenced by the spirit realm and if we accept that influence, over a period of time, you accept it, it will join itself to you. It will become part of you, and it will attach itself.

The brain can be programmed by spirit transmission because your own spirit, evil spirits or God in your spirit can originate thought, revelation which once it becomes illumination; it’s into your brain.

According to the author, “Your brain can be programmed through what we call revelation from God, and by the evil spirits. If you entertain, and not reject, and receive these evil thoughts, they are programmed into your brain.

But sometimes, it just entered into you through passivity. You haven’t rejected it enough to close the door when it comes. That’s why whatsoever things that are of good report, only think of those things. Filter it out, resist and reject them immediately with the help and enabling of the Holy Spirit. There are demons, there are lying evil spirits. The Bible tells us that he from the beginning was the father of all lies. So, he’ll sit there and lie to you, quite often about other people.  And then deluded Christians call that ‘discernment’. They have a thought about someone else, something is wrong—dadadada—and they haven’t filtered it out, and after awhile they think they’re getting discernment. And they are deceived by a deceiving, lying spirit.

God will lower the hedge because He wants you to put on the helmet. So he comes on and drops the hedge and you go, “Why am I thinking like this?” All kinds of terrible thoughts, you know, you see, you’ve got to be bad. You know that something is really wrong with you. God just drops the hedge. He kept the hedge right in, and kept certain things out. Now He says, “Alright, I’m going to let in.” These spirits crowd in, put thoughts into your mind and…now at that point God says, “You’ve got to grow up. You’ve got to control the way you think.”

Phil 4:8 “Whatsoever things are good, pure, lovely, of good report, if there any virtue, think of these things.”

The mind needs to be renewed, re-programmed—one of the greatest hindrances to walking with God in the Spirit is the unrenewed mind, the natural mind with all wrong programming; lies stored in it. When your head is saying one thing and your spirit another, you have confusion. When God is speaking to you and your brain does not agree with what God is saying, that communication from the Lord will be confused at best, totally rejected at worst. God is after compatibility between mind and spirit. Our mind needs to be renewed, re-programmed by God. The problem arises when you come to the realm of faith, your brain objects. The natural mind—your brain—is an enemy of God.

Romans 8:6, “To be carnally (or naturally) minded is death…” “…but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. The carnal mind is enmity against God.

A narrow mind will limit the ability of God to speak to you about great things, large things.

How our mind can be renewed, re-programmed

1. By revelation from God, the engrafted Word—the more revelation you get, the more your mind is renewed. Once mind begins to be renewed, you will begin to hear more clearly the voice of the Lord.
2. By the presence of God—Learn to focus on the Lord. When you’re in the presence of God, you’re being changed by the Spirit of God. Your brain is becoming compatible with your mind which is spirit. And when those two merge, you will walk as Jesus walked. You will walk in the Spirit.

Your brain is programmed the way God thinks. There’s no incompatibility. Re-programming— the presence of the Lord, rhema of God, revelation becoming illumination which changes the programming in your mind. So your brain begins to think how God thinks.

3. By the fire of the Holy Spirit —the power of the Holy Spirit can erase false programming in your brain, and that can happen through the administration of God which we call fire. Fire goes through and it wipes out everything that’s not of God, and only what remains which are of God will get a reward of it.

Finally, take responsibility for your mind. Take it back from the enemy. It’s a fight, he, the devil is going to lie to you all the way, down the way. It’s his favorite way—LYING TO CHRISTIANS either about themselves—he’ll lie to you about yourself and how you feel about yourself—or he’ll lie to you about other Christians. We’ve got a bit work to do, but if you understand how it works, you can approach it with clarity and with faith.

CONSECRATION IS REQUIRED OF YOU HEAD. It means to set aside for God, set it aside to God. Because of consecration of your mind, you are limiting yourself to what you allow input in, input in, what you allow—input, entry. You are limiting yourself. Consecration requires cutting your brain off from certain things and it also requires exposure to the presence of the Lord and His Word.

(source: Keys to the Kingdom; author: Neville Johnson)

to God be the glory!

 

THE IMPORTANCE OF WALKING WITH GOD VS the barrenness of a busy life

“Those who walk with God have learned the secret of having quiet times with Him in personal devotion.”

A public man though he is necessarily available at many times must learn
to hide. If he is always available, he is not worth enough when he is
available.

They’ll know ye’ve been by the lights ye have lit. All those who walk
with God will be like a lamplighter. They’ll be instruments in the hands
of God to light up the lives if those who live in spiritual darkness.

As we walk with God in life, we will be used by the Lord to reach many
others with the wonderful message of Jesus Christ.

Those who walk with God will by their daily life, example, and words
share with others the precious gospel of Jesus Christ. It is impossible
to truly walk with God and continually fail to tell others about their
need of Jesus Christ.

Time management takes discipline.
To manage our time wisely takes discipline. A disciplined life will be a
fruitful and successful life.

The Lord expects of us daily what is reasonable and achievable.

The conflicts and pressures we experience usually arise as we confuse
human desires or pressures either our own or those of someone else–with
the duties God expects us to fulfill.

It takes a great deal of wisdom and courage to not be robbed of our
time. We need to avoid those things that waste our time. We need to
avoid those individuals who would waste our time. Time is too valuable
to waste on nonessentials. There is nothing wrong with taking time for
disciplined relaxaion or rest, but we must be careful of wasting huge
chunks of our days doing nothing of value.

“Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Beware of barrenness of a busy life.–Fred Mitchell

MacDonald, “[Busy people] rarely think they have accomplished enough,
they seize every available minute to attend more meetings, to study more
material, to initiate more projects. They operate on the precept that a
reputation for busyness is a sign of success and personal importance.
Thus, they attempt to impress people with the fulness of their schedule.
They may even express a high level of self-pity, bemoaning the “trap” of
responsibility they claim to be in, wishing aloud that there was some
possible release from all that they have to live with. But just try to
suggest a way out.”

The truth is that the very worst thing that could happen to them would
be if someone provided them with a way out. They really wouldn’t know
what to do with themselves if there were suddenly less to do.
Busyness for the driven person becomes a habit, a way of life and
thought. They find it enjoyable to complain and gather pity, and they
would probably not want it any different. But tell a driven person that,
and you’ll make him angry.
——

ABOUT LAZINESS

According to proverbs, lazy person will:
a. be poor (prov. 10:4)
b. irritate those around him (Prov 10:26)
c. severe someone else (Prov 12:24)
d. never be satisfied (Prov 13:4)
e. have difficult obstacles to observe (Prov 15:19)
f. be paranoid of unrealistic danger (Prov 22:13)

——-

REST TIME IS NOT WASTED TIME

Taking time to rest and replenish your strength and health is not wasted
time. An old saying goes that, “Sometimes we may do more by doing less.”

Pastor David Ireland tells a story: “One day, a man challenged another
to an all-day wood chopping contest. The challenger worked very hard,
stopping only for a brief lunch break.

The other man had a leisurely lunch and took several breaks during the
day. At the end of the day, the challenger was surprised and annoyed to
find that the other fellow had chopped substantially more wood than he
had. “I don’t get it,” he said.

“But you didn’t notice,” said the winning woodsman, “that when I sat
down to rest, I was sharpening my ax.”

Often busy people are living a barren and meaningless lives. Know how to
use your time wisely for it is a gift from God, and once spent can never
be brought back again.”

“Wasting time is just as serious as breaking any of the Ten
Commandments. The Lord alloted us a certain amount of time on earth and
wasting it is being ungrateful and selfish, not only to the God above,
but to our fellow citizens.” –Bob Feller

“How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your
money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever.” —
David B. Norris

“Kill time and you murder opportunity.” –Anonymous

“Right now counts forever.” –R.C. Sproul

“Time is not a commodity that can be stored for future use. It must be
invested hour by hour, or else it is gone for ever.” –Thomas Edison

“Never work just for money or for power. They won’t save your soul or
help you sleep at night.” –Marian Wright Edelman

“If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money
can’t buy.” (old proverb)

“If you work just for money, you’ll never make it, but if you love what
you’re doing and you always put the customer first, success will be
yours.” Ray Kroc

(source: LIVING FOR JESUS, Robert L. Dickie)

To God be the glory!

7 things I relearned and wanna share with you today

1. When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.

2. The secret of Benjamin Franklin’s success is he speak ill of no man, but only all the good he know of everybody.

3. Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.

4. “A great man show hi greatness,” said Carylle, “by the way he treats little men.”
Instrad of condemning people, let’s try to understand them. Let’s try to figure out why they do what they do. That’s a lot more profitable and intriguing than criticism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindness.

5. “To know all is to forgive all.”

6. As Dr Johnson said, “God Himself sir, does not propose to judge man until the end of His days.” Why should you and I?

-Dale Carnegie

To God be the glory!

Benefits of Having the Word of God

When we have the Word of God, we will:

1. Have life – John 1:4; John 6:63

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

2. Have faith – Romans 10:17
3. Have healing – Psalms 107:20
4. Have the truth – John 17:17
5. Have light – John 1:4; Psalms 119:105
6. Have the weapon (sword) against the enemy – Ephesians 6:17; Hebrews 4:12
7. Be sanctified – John 17:17; Ephesians 5:26

That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. (Ephesians 5:26)

8. Be cleansed – Ephesians 5:26
9. Have a shield of faith for protection – Ephesians 6:16

Above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. (Ephesians 6:16)

(Source: The Power of the God’s Word in Healing by Jean Lim)

@50

Is there a retirement age based in the Word of God?

re·tire·ment

rəˈtī(ə)rmənt/

noun

1. the action or fact of leaving one’s job and ceasing to work.

   “a man nearing retirement”

 

Book Review: The Power of God’s Word in Healing by Jean Lim

God has special purpose for people who are 50 and above.

Numbers 8: 25 says, “And at the age of fifty years, they must cease performing this work, and shall work no more.”

1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that many proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

To God be the glory!