Today we just heard a wonderful message by Pastor Voon, Chairman of EE Malaysia challenging us to go out and share the gospel. When Tim and I stood up to respond to the message, we did not know that the opportunity would come so soon.
Right after service, I had to rush Amanda, our youngest daughter to take her bus to Sg Petani. You see, she is currently in her foundation year at AIMST University in Kedah and she was going back after her short holiday in KL which began last Friday.
The traffic was horrendous, the sun was beating mercilessly and I was sweating profusely trying to squeeze the car past the big buses and other impatient vehicles when the engine just stopped on me in the middle of the road!
Horror or horrors, no matter how much I tried to turn the key, the engine gave this miserable 'click' 'click' sound and the picture of the car battery emerged flickering on the dashboard! I prayed, I laid hands on the steering wheel but the sound did not go away. Sighing, I managed to push the car to a less obstructive place at the side of the road and called my hubby to help.
I was upset, sweating, dirty and wishing for the cool comfort of my house and I was just about to grumble and complain and maybe even give my husband a piece of my mind for not checking on the battery the last time the car was sent for service, when the Holy Spirit spoke to me quietly "In everything give thanks".
Chagrined, I immediately said sorry to the Lord and began to pray in tongues and gave thanks. However I continued to ask God for a miracle i.e to repair the car battery for me! Nevetheless,I have come to realise that there are certain reasons why answers to my prayers are often withheld....one of them being that God is more interested in the development of my character, the moulding of my attitude and the building of something in me during the waiting period!
And wait we did...we waited from 4 pm to 7 pm...by that time we had taken several drinks, ate a roti tissue, gone to the toilets and the bus terminal to look around...still no sign of the mechanic. It was then Tim suddenly realised that a young Indian girl had also been waiting for the same period as us. Judging from her belongings, we could only guess that she was waiting for someone to fetch her. Tim struck up a conversation with her and halfway through he suddenly then turned to me and said "Go and share with her"!
Huh?...me share with her? I don't even know her, what if she rejected me. Her parents surely would not approve of her talking to strangers....no not me...you share with her, I told my hubby. Suddenly my husband got up and pushed me closer to her and said "My wife has something to share with you". In this kind of situation I had no choice but to do the only thing I knew to do, I quickly took out my 4 spiritual laws and shared with her the Gospel from the first page to the last. She did not reject me when I showed her the diagrams of man separated from God by sin and of Jesus being the bridge between God and man....in fact her face lit up when I asked her if she wanted Jesus to sit on the throne of her heart. She agreed and prayed the prayer of salvation on her own!
Then I realised that it was only yesterday when I felt led of the Lord to put the NT in my handbag. I quickly took out my little Bible, gave it to her and asked her to read the Gospel of John. Even when we drove the car away after the mechanic had replaced the battery, I saw her taking the Bible and reading it!
It was a truly amazing end to an amazing day! God can turn an otherwise 'miserable' day to a victorious one when we learn to give thanks!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Face to Face with God - Letting go of the world
The Bible tells us that to a be a friend of God we need to be an 'enemy' of the world. James 4:4 calls us adulterers and adulteresses if we are friends with the world. This is a serious thing indeed....to be called and adulterer/adulteress.
I wonder what it means to make the world my enemy. I don't think the Lord would want me to live in a cave or stay in a castaway island without shopping malls,TV, work, family,shopping, responsibilities etc. I think Jesus would want me to live in the world the way He did. His heart was not in the world, it did not belong to the world, it did not beat with the pulse of the world, it did not entertain the attractions of the world. Everyday in His quiet time with His dear Father, He left the world behind and put His heart in the palms of God's hands....I believe that this is letting go of the world. To live a life with our heart consecrated and set apart; in the inner recesses of our soul and our being knowing that we belong to Him and Him alone!
O if we only know the wonderful position of being called a friend of God! We would gladly give up our position as friends with the world!
James 4:4 "...Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God"
Truly as the scripture says, there are times when I really do not know that I am making myself an enemy of God. So often when I let the cares of the world come to me or when the tide of envy rises in me for my neighbor's new volvo or nicer condo, the desire for the things of God seems to slip away from me.
To be a friend of God, we need to let go of the world. This means letting go of the cares of this world, the lusts of the world and the wisdom of the world.
The cares of this world concerns what we will eat, what we will put on and an anxious mind. Luke 12:29-31 "And don't be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don't worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows what you need. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need"(NLT)
The lusts of the world concerns godless living and sinful pleasures. "And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness and devotion to God" Titus 2:12 (NLT)
The wisdom of this world concerns behavior/thought patterns that are fashioned after our fleshly desires. An example of this is found in 1 Cor 2:3-4 "for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn't this prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren't you living like the people of the world? When one of you say, "I am a follower of Paul", and another say, "I follow Apollos" aren't you acting just like the people of the world?" (NLT)
There is only one way to let go of the world and that is to make the journey to the heart of God for that face to face encounter with Him on a daily basis. When we are face to face with God, all else will fade away in a distance, all else will pale in comparison, the world and all its lusts thereof will pass away, only the reality of God exists.
I wonder what it means to make the world my enemy. I don't think the Lord would want me to live in a cave or stay in a castaway island without shopping malls,TV, work, family,shopping, responsibilities etc. I think Jesus would want me to live in the world the way He did. His heart was not in the world, it did not belong to the world, it did not beat with the pulse of the world, it did not entertain the attractions of the world. Everyday in His quiet time with His dear Father, He left the world behind and put His heart in the palms of God's hands....I believe that this is letting go of the world. To live a life with our heart consecrated and set apart; in the inner recesses of our soul and our being knowing that we belong to Him and Him alone!
O if we only know the wonderful position of being called a friend of God! We would gladly give up our position as friends with the world!
James 4:4 "...Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God"
Truly as the scripture says, there are times when I really do not know that I am making myself an enemy of God. So often when I let the cares of the world come to me or when the tide of envy rises in me for my neighbor's new volvo or nicer condo, the desire for the things of God seems to slip away from me.
To be a friend of God, we need to let go of the world. This means letting go of the cares of this world, the lusts of the world and the wisdom of the world.
The cares of this world concerns what we will eat, what we will put on and an anxious mind. Luke 12:29-31 "And don't be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don't worry about such things. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows what you need. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need"(NLT)
The lusts of the world concerns godless living and sinful pleasures. "And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness and devotion to God" Titus 2:12 (NLT)
The wisdom of this world concerns behavior/thought patterns that are fashioned after our fleshly desires. An example of this is found in 1 Cor 2:3-4 "for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn't this prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren't you living like the people of the world? When one of you say, "I am a follower of Paul", and another say, "I follow Apollos" aren't you acting just like the people of the world?" (NLT)
There is only one way to let go of the world and that is to make the journey to the heart of God for that face to face encounter with Him on a daily basis. When we are face to face with God, all else will fade away in a distance, all else will pale in comparison, the world and all its lusts thereof will pass away, only the reality of God exists.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Face to face with God
How wonderful is it for us to meet with God face to face!
What does it mean to meet God face to face?
In Exodus 33:11 we were told that Moses met God face to face. "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man spoke to his friend". To speak to God face to face is to talk to him as his friend. Other than Moses, Abraham was also addressed in the Bible as God's friend. James 2:23 "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God." Wow! What a privilege to be called a friend of God!
In John 11:11, Jesus called Lazarus friend too. "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up". When we are God's friend, we will surely be woken up! We will not be dead but we will be alive in Jesus! Our love and passion for Him will cause every fibre in our being to be aflame for Christ!
In the NT, Jesus calls those who believe in him his "friends".
What is involved in this friendship? Friendship with God is
1. Letting go of the world
2. Letting God love us
3. Learning from God
4. Loving others and loving the unlovely
What does it mean to meet God face to face?
In Exodus 33:11 we were told that Moses met God face to face. "So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face as a man spoke to his friend". To speak to God face to face is to talk to him as his friend. Other than Moses, Abraham was also addressed in the Bible as God's friend. James 2:23 "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God." Wow! What a privilege to be called a friend of God!
In John 11:11, Jesus called Lazarus friend too. "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up". When we are God's friend, we will surely be woken up! We will not be dead but we will be alive in Jesus! Our love and passion for Him will cause every fibre in our being to be aflame for Christ!
In the NT, Jesus calls those who believe in him his "friends".
What is involved in this friendship? Friendship with God is
1. Letting go of the world
2. Letting God love us
3. Learning from God
4. Loving others and loving the unlovely
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Prayer is a journey to the heart of God
Last Sunday while sharing the Mother's Day message in church, God dropped the following in my spirit "Prayer is a journey to the heart of God".
Many years ago during an overnight prayer in my old church (NLRC), I heard this in my spirit but I never quite understood it until last Sunday.
It was as though a light was switched on in my spirit and God began to speak to me about His heart.
Where exactly is the heart of God? Does it exist? If it exists, how can I find it? How can I discover it?
The heart of God is the Holy of Holies, it is very center of our being, it is where the Holy Spirit is resident and it is
Many years ago during an overnight prayer in my old church (NLRC), I heard this in my spirit but I never quite understood it until last Sunday.
It was as though a light was switched on in my spirit and God began to speak to me about His heart.
Where exactly is the heart of God? Does it exist? If it exists, how can I find it? How can I discover it?
The heart of God is the Holy of Holies, it is very center of our being, it is where the Holy Spirit is resident and it is
- a place where God speaks to us face to face
- a place where we find rest in Him
- a place where absolute peace, joy & contentment abound
- a place spoken of in Ps 91 as the secret place of the Most High, the shadow of the Almighty
- a place where the Song of Solomon speaks about as a garden enclosed, as spring shut up, a fountain sealed (Song of Solomon 4:12)
- a place where deep calls to the deep
- a place where we love Him with all our hearts, minds and souls so much so that we achieve this oneness in Him.
It is a holy place, a special place, a place of such wondrous and deep fellowship that you just don't want to depart from it.
I believe that in a day I have had to make several journeys to the heart of God depending on the time I spend in prayer before Him.
I will share with you on each aspect of the heart of God........(to be continued)
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