"I love to live on the brink of eternity, let me not loiter in my heavenly journey"

This week I take a break from writing the Cuenca testimonies (more to come) to write this short exhortation which will be shared in church this Sunday.

"During corporate prayer on Wed, God spoke to me about the mid-year review of my life? The leaders will be doing theirs this Saturday for their ministries. How about me? Have I considered reviewing what I have done for the first half of this year and contemplating what I should be doing for the remaining half of the year?

I recall a devotion that my hubby shared while in the Philippines. He had the 10 wisdom of life and one of them goes like this:

"Life is like the windshield of a car. In order to move forward, we have to look ahead into the windshield. We cannot look behind. The only time we look into the rear mirror is to avoid the pitfalls, traps or mistakes of the past"

If you have not thought about what you will be focusing on for the next 6 months (life is short), let me give you something to focus on.

David Brainerd said that "I love to live on the brink of eternity, let me not loiter in my heavenly journey".

Look ahead in the road of life to build up treasures in heaven. How do we do so?

Put our heart into those things and activities that will build up heavenly treasures for ourselves.

Luke 12:34 "For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also"

5 things to do in order to lay up heavenly treasures:

1. Treasure God's word

Proverbs 2:1 "My son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you"

2. Treasure the fear of God

Isa 33:6 "Wisdom and knowledge shall the stability of your times, and the strength of your salvation. The fear of the Lord is his treasure"

3. Treasure evangelism and outreach to the souls of men

Isa 45:3 "I will give you treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places"

4. Treasure good speech/words

Matt 12:35 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks"

5. Treasure of our giving to God and to the poor

Matt 6:19-21 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also"

The divine attributes of the Holy Spirit - Part 8 of the Cuenca testimonies

9. He is the spirit of fellowship and communion - Phil 2:1, 2 Cor 13:14

I have been so blessed in this mission trip. The whole trip has been bathed with prayer and the spirit of koinonia (participation, joint contribution). 

For 2 months, we prayed, we sang and we prepared ourselves as a team to minister together. At Cuenca, we spent time with the Rufinos just praying and interceding every morning before we ministered in the church and at different homes. Each of us took turns to do the devotion. These were learning times for us.

What a joy and what a blessing! The fellowship has been so sweet and so wonderful! 

You get this feeling that everyone is important and everyone contributed to the whole trip. True koinonia is

- when all of us do our part to contribute to the work of the Lord. 
- when we recognize the gifts of each member of our team 
- when we graciously allow them to release their gifts to their maximum potential
-when there is no competition, no envy, no jealousy but just wishing that the other person do better than us (consider others better than ourselves)

Is koinonia possible without the touch of the Spirit of the Lord? From what I have experienced in Cuenca, I think not. It is in much prayer together that we have achieved true koinonia!

When we move in the Spirit even the koinonia with people we have just met i.e. members of Cuenca Church can be simply unforgettable and O so sweet!

10. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord - Isa 11:2

The wisdom that God gives us is 'cokmah' and refers to several facets:

- wisdom in skill (war)
- wisdom in administration (ruling over men)
- wisdom, shrewdness, prudence (religious affairs)

Mayor Endaya is a man of wisdom. He is wise because in his administration of the Cuenca municipality, his principle is zero corruption. It is a privilege and an honor to have met him and to have prayed for him and the city of Cuenca.

The word 'understanding' is 'biynah' meaning discernment.

I think many times I lack discernment in relating to people thus making mistakes in relationships. Surely this quality of the Spirit of God is sorely lacking in my life. Discernment can only be gained through spending time with the Lord in His precious word. Lord, give me more discernment according to Your word!

Counsel refers to mighty acts, valour, advice, mastery, bravery.

As for 'knowledge' the word refers to perception, skill, discernment, understanding and wisdom.

What about the fear of the Lord? Fear is 'yir'ah' meaning respect, reverence or piety. Some people confused the fear of man with the fear of God. The fear of man puts us into bondage but the fear of God sets us free to enjoy the things of God. The fear of man leads to torment, the fear of God leads to love, power and sound mind!

In conclusion, the Spirit of God is the wind, breath and the mind of God. He imparts the following:

- a warlike energy
- executive and administrative power
- endows man with gifts
- is manifested in Shekinah glory

God has given us the Spirit without measure. May we yield ourselves to more and more of Him!

The divine attributes of the Holy Spirit - (Part 7 of the Cuenca testimonies)

7. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of adoption

Romans 8:15 "...you received the spirit of adoption by who you cry 'Abba Father'"

The spirit of adoption or "huiothesia" speaks of three aspects in the Greek:

1. relationship which God was pleased to establish between Himself and the Israelites in preference to other nations

2. the nature and condition of true disciples in Christ, who by receiving the spirit of God into their souls become the sons of God

3. the blessed state looked for in the future life after the visible return of Christ from heaven

Ours is the only religion in the world that gives us this spiritual birth certificate. What a privilege, what an honor, what a blessing!

8. Spirit of prayer and intercession

Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered"

4 things to highlight here:

1. weakness of the body - refers to the lack of strength, weakness or infirmity of the body and the soul. What is bodily weakness? It is frailty, feebleness of health or a body in sickness. Thus the scripture tells us that we can pray even though we are sick because the Spirit can do the praying through us!

2. weakness of the soul - the soul is unable to understand things, unable to do things, unable to restrain corrupt desire, unable to bear trials and trouble.

There is an inherent weakness of the soul that can only be overcome by praying in the Spirit!

3. cannot be uttered - the "alaletos" means something which cannot be uttered or expressed in words.

4. groanings - refers to sighing. There are times when all we can do is sigh. These are times to be praying in the Spirit.

The divine attributes of the Holy Spirit (Part 6 of the Cuenca testimonies)

4. The Spirit of comfort

The Holy Spirit is also the spirit of comfort who comforts us in all our afflictions. No one knows our pain, our grief and our hearts more than the Holy Spirit. Only He alone can heal and comfort us as He is the parakletos (the Comforter).

The word "comfort" is "paraklesis" referring to "exhortation, admonition, encouragement". Note that this relationship may not all be lovey-dovey. In fact there will be times when the Holy Spirit will admonish us or tell us off. I have experienced this many times especially when I have done or said something to others that have caused Him grief. There are often times when even my very thoughts were thoroughly displeasing to Him and He had to tell me off!

While we were ministering to the different families of the church, the one family that really touched me the most was Sis L's family. She gave us a wonderful breakfast of rice with a special vegetable plucked from her garden. Apparently this vegetable is not available elsewhere except in the Philippines.

Sis L had a daughter named J. After finishing our meal, we will normally ask whether the family had any prayer request. J started to us ask to pray for her husband in Africa. He had been working there for a few years to support the family. We laid hands on her and prayed for her. Suddenly the comfort of the Holy Spirit flooded her heart and she started to weep. She really poured out her pain, her grief and her sorrow to the Lord. 

I felt such pain was in her heart. Now I do not operate so much in the word of knowledge but there and then I thought there must be some discord in their relationship.

We prayed for reconciliation. I asked her to forgive her husband whatever he may have done to her.

I gave a word to her mother to pray together with J for J's husband. I felt that was what God wanted them to do, to establish the family altar in their home.

5. The Spirit of Holiness

Studying the lives of great men of God who spend hours in prayer before they minister to others, none touched me more than David Branaird, the missionary to the American Indians. 

He was consumed with two things in his entire short life:

- "hagiosyne" or the holiness of God and
- the salvation of souls, in this case, the souls of the American Indians, a group of people in respect of which he had a burden for.

He fasted and prayed for days often for them at the expense of his health. Often he fell sick due to the ravages of being out in the harsh terrain, praying and fasting for this group of people. As a result of his prayer life, many American Indians came to the Lord.

What is holiness?

Holiness is to love God with all our hearts, our minds and our soul and to live in right relationship with others (to love others as we love ourselves) on which hinges all the law and the prophets. These are the two great commandments that Jesus commanded us!

This is what David Branaird said:

"O it is sweet disposition to forgive all iniquities done to us, to wish our greatest enemies as well as we do our own souls"

If we can pray this for our enemies, we can truly lay a claim to holiness.

Some quotes from DB:

"I love to live on the brink of eternity"

"I care not where I go, or how I live or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep, I dream of them, when I awake, they are first in my thoughts"

"No amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition, of brilliant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls"

"If you hope for happiness in the world, hope it from God, nor from the world"

Divine attributes of the Holy Spirit (Cuenca testimonies - Part 5)

The Divine Attributes of the Holy Spirit

No wonder the Psalmist says that he only sought one thing i.e. that he may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple (Psalm 27:4)

Here is the beauty of the Lord in all its glorious attributes:

1. Spirit of grace – Zec 12:10

 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced"

The Spirit of grace brings conviction of sin. 

In Cuenca, Batangas and Manila, we led many to pray the sinner's prayer using the simple 4-steps prescribed in the tract "Steps to peace with God" - Gloria in the van, Abby @ 7/11, Roldan our driver, Jem in the mall, Errol and family in Payatas (slum area in Manila), Jomal at Lumunpao (1,500 steps at the volcano lake Taal).

In fact when we visited Errol's family, the salvation message was preached straight from the tract. It was awesome to see the Lord touching each of the family members. Errol's sister had tears in her eyes when we laid hands on her and prayed for her. Errol was our driver from the beautiful holiday resort, Tagaytay to Manila.

Note: The Cuenca church blessed our team with a holiday to Tagaytay after our ministry time with them. We stayed in a 3 bedroom apartment overlooking a volcanic lake with a little volcano in the middle of the lake and Mount Taal and Mount Malucot in the scenic backdrop.

Tagaytay volcano lake

Taal lake, Taal crater, Taal volcano and Mount Maculot from back to front

2. Spirit of truth – John 16:13

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come"

I need the Spirit of truth. Without Him, I can easily fall into deception as I have done before. How can I know the truth? ONLY THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD.

1 John 5:7 says the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, these three are one. 

They confirm one another, they are consistent with one another, they flow together as one - the Father, the Word (Jesus Christ) and the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit can only reveal to us the truth of the written word. He will guide us into all truth. What He hears, He will speak. He is also the spirit of prophecy.

2. Spirit of might – Eph 3:16

"that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man"

So that we will never grow tired in doing His work, so that we will never give up in serving Him, so that we will never grow weary in following Him, the Holy Spirit will strengthen us with the power of His might in our inner man. This strength is an inward strength that will come from within us when we serve the Lord. It is like a "spiritual petrol" that will keep us going! It needs constant re-filling and in-filling!

In Cuenca, Batangas and Manila, we had so much strength that although we had little sleep, we could still minister in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

We saw many falling under the power of the Holy Spirit, many weeping and crying uncontrollably confessing their sins unto the Lord. 

How wonderful is He! How glorious is He!

Re-filling station

Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge and all workmanship 

Exodus 31:2-6

“See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.

And I, indeed I, have appointed with him Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you"

How we need His wisdom, understanding, knowledge and workmanship in order so that we can make a living. 

In Cuenca, we saw the excellent workmanship of the people:

- in baking. The Cuenca bread, pandesal is one of the most delicious bread I have ever eaten. Small in size, like a little bun and best eaten fresh, it is so delicious that one can eat ten of this without stopping! We were told that we can only find the best pandesal in Cuenca and this is true. We tried the pandesal in our hotel in Manila and it was not half as good. Cuenca bakers are famous throughout the Philippines and a few of the church members were running bakery businesses in Cuenca and Manila.

Pandesal - the best in Cuenca

- in poultry rearing. We saw many poultry houses made for chickens to roost. The chickens were reared for their eggs rather than their meat. We stayed in Ramon and Dell's house one night and it was near his chicken farm. In the morning the sound of pigs grunting and cock-a-doodle-do greeted us! Ramon has retired but works part-time at the Municipal Council of Cuenca teaching Cuenca folks about poultry rearing and organic farming.

- in ginger tea making. In this agrarian community, ginger tea making is one of their livelihood. Dr. Vicky's father lovingly grows the ginger and grind them into powder. Mixed with turmeric and other stuff, the ginger tea is really unique. 

Added with honey and warm water, Cuenca's ginger tea is really one of the best one can ever get this side of the Philippines.

The very gifted worship leader of the Cuenca church, Ah Doy who is blind, makes ginger tea in small packets for sale to raise funds for his ministry called People with Disability. A gifted musician, Ah Doy can play several instruments by ear. His marriage to Ah Joy is a testimony in itself and should be told in a dedicated posting!

- in growing mangoes, papayas, vegetables such as egg plants, bitter gourd and all kinds of leafy vegetables (whose names I cannot remember since they were unique only to Cuenca - I only know how to eat them!). 

Everyday we ate fruits from the garden. Harvested from their own backyard, our hosts will lovingly prepare organic and delicious meals for us.

To me Cuenca is "mango heaven". Mangoes fall by themselves all over the town. One could pick it up and eat up and they taste O so sweet! In fact we gathered two big bags of mangoes from the roadside and orchards of family members and had a feast of mangoes when we were holidaying at Tagaytay.

 We had so much vegetables at every meal. We also had the delicious milk fish known as "ni hao"! 

This fleshly milk fish is the size of a human palm and bigger! Barbecued over charcoal it is simply delicious, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, every part of this fish is edible. Tim's favorite dish. We were teasing him on how he can eat so much fish!

Organic home-cook meals

Mango heaven

To be continued.....

Who is the Holy Spirit? (Cuenca testimonies - Part 4)

2. The Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father to us promised by the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 14:16-18 "And I will pray the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you"

Teaching

He is a gift from God. He is given to us as the Spirit without measure (read earlier blog post on this). 

"Not that we need more of Him but He needs more of us" - Ps Allan Webb.

The Holy Spirit is our helper and He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will be with us till this age ends.

He will give us the spirit of sonship, spirit of adoption where we can call God our "Abba Father". He is a relational spirit. He wants us to experience fellowship with the Father and the Son. He has come to reveal the Father to us so that we can enjoy our communion with the Father.

3. The Holy Spirit is the promise of the Father

Acts 2:33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear"

Testimony

Our last day in the church was to put into practice what we have learned on the Holy Spirit. One of our team member led the church into a time of worship, dance, flag-waving and singing strongly in the Spirit. It was as though angels were singing along with us! Sis Lorna who stayed nearby heard the beautiful singing and dropped everything in order to hasten to the church to join in the glorious time or worship. Many young people were weeping, crying and many saw visions and released the prophetic word.

4. The Holy Spirit is the love of God

Romans 5:5 says that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Love is indeed the greatest of these - faith, hope and love of these abideth and the greatest is love.

Testimony

We were encouraged by the many who had the love of God and was moved by the Holy Spirit to come to Cuenca and Batangas to plant churches there.

The Cuenca church was founded by 2 lady missionaries who came to Cuenca under OMF, Auntie Rhoda and Auntie Hanna. They came, prayed, visited the homes and ministered to the people until a small group was formed leading the planting of the Cuenca Bible Christian Church as it is now called. In the midst of doing so they encountered demonic works and prayed for many to be delivered from spiritual oppression.

These missionaries were indeed moved by the love of God to do what they did. After that they handed the church over to the locals who had ministered together with them to continue the good work - an apostolic work no doubt!

Aunty Hanna who is now residing in Singapore comes to visit the church about once a year. The church leaders have also gone to Singapore to attend church conferences.

In Batangas (a bigger town than Cuenca and about half an hour away), we met a Korean missionary who gave 25 years of his life to start a school for needy children called King's Kids School. Many children who came to the school to study later became teachers in the school. Some like Ps Willy became missionaries to the nations.

When we met Rev Lee in his house adjoining the Batangas Presbyterian Church, we were blessed to spend some time praying for his wife and children. The wife was particularly concerned about their finances and the separation of the children as the 2 older boys had to return to Korea to continue their college studies.

We spent some time praying for the family.

Rev Lee informed us that he is building a residential block that will be able to house visitors from Korea and other nations. He invited us to come again and stay in the hostel when the work is finished!

He also shared that he is need of teachers to train children's church teachers.

Note: I saw something really awesome in this church. The maps of the 5 continents of the world with the oceans, the lands and the names of nations were pasted on the walls of the church at the preaching area. I have seen maps and globes but I have never seen the maps of the world of such gigantic size. 

Immediately I took the opportunity to lay hands on the wall map especially on the area marked as the Southern Indian Ocean and prayed for MH370. I also laid hands on the map of East Malaysia and prayed for Ps Shin, remembering that he too was a Korean missionary who had given his life for the people of our land. 

Who is the Holy Spirit? (Part 3 of the Cuenca testimonies)

Teaching

How can I describe Him? He is all of the following and more:

1. Spirit of the Living God 

2 Cor 3:3 "clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tables of flesh, that is, of the heart"

Teaching

The ministry of the Holy Spirit using men as His vessels to speak is a heart to heart ministry and not mind to mind. His ministry is one that touches the innermost core of our being. The Holy Spirit always gently nudges us to a genuine response. No one can avoid His love, His graciousness, His mercy and His tender touch. All will surely be captivated by Him!

Testimony

On Sunday, the pastors of Cuenca church, Ps Manny and Fanny (senior pastors), Ps Jun, Ps Willy, Ps Rene, Ps Johnny and Dr. Vicky all knelt down on the stage and requested the team to pray for them at the close of the 2-month discipleship training. 

Who was I a mere woman without any credentials or title to my name be praying for this pastors who have given their lives for the people and who have had so much experiences in church planting. I felt so ashamed and yet so privileged to be praying and prophesying over them!

I saw this verse made alive in their lives when they knelt down to receive our prayers that Sunday (June 2). The Spirit of the living God is written on the "tablets of their heart". The humility flowing from them is not of the worldly kind but of the spirit flowing from awakened hearts.

After that the church presented us framed certificates of appreciation for having taken the time to teach them on the Holy Spirit. We were so touched as we looked at the certificates. All we did was to teach a session each for the past 2 days and they presented us something as meaningful as this! Can we not help but cry at such a touching and thoughtful gesture! 

The love of God was so evident in their hearts when they handed us a love offering after our sharing. We were taken aback. I have been to several mission trips but this is the first time someone has given us a love offering, a substantial one too! Immediately the team was in unity over this - to sow the love offering back to the church. 

There was so much joy in our hearts when we did so. Ps Willy was even saying that the leaders thought they had to pay our airfare too!

Truly the Spirit of the living God is alive and active working in them the character and love of the Lord Jesus Christ for all the world to see.

What a testimony, what a blessing!

God bless you Ps Manny, Ps Fanny, Ps Jun, Ps Rene, Ps Johnny, Ps Willy and Dr. Vicky! Thank you for being an example to us with your love and appreciation for us and your humility!

What is a spiritual revival? (Part 2 of the Cuenca testimonies)

Ps Allan Webb in his book "Bend the church, reach the world" described a revival as:

1. A time of refreshing - Acts 3:19
2. A breaking open of the heavens - Isa 63:1
3. An outpouring of spiritual blessing - Isa 44:3
4. A divine visitation of the Holy Spirit - Luke 1:68, Luke 4:18
5. A returning to the Lord - Hosea 6:1-3
7. A time of spiritual awakening - Romans 13:11-12

Testimony

As we ministered the word of God in Cuenca, we experienced a divine visitation of the Holy Spirit. There was a great outpouring of rain upon the members of church. Young people were spiritually awakened. They testified that God spoke to them to love Him with all their hearts, minds and souls. Many made a deep commitment on Sunday afternoon after the praise and worship session to follow the Lord closely. One sister, Sis Lorna heard such beautiful singing that she hastened to the church to attend the afternoon session when at first she had not intended to come.

Sis D testified that she saw rain falling and falling upon the members of the church. At least 2 other sisters said that they heard the sound of a mighty rushing wind - "whoosh" - flowing from one end of the hall to another! Team members were crying out for God to do something!

It was Sunday afternoon and after a heavy lunch. Some of us were falling asleep!

Suddenly some of us heard the mighty wind in our ears...that was the time that many of the young people present suddenly started crying with tears streaming down their faces. The young people had cried out to the Lord desperately for a divine visitation and God answered them.

It was the prayers of our church back home and our united prayers together as a team in the 2-month leading to the mission trip that led to such a powerful visitation of the Lord.

We heard the sound of a mighty wind

United preparation in prayers led to a divine visitation of the Spirit just like what happened in the book of Acts.

It was a time of spiritual awakening for Cuenca Bible Christian Center!

Prayer together as a team covered a multitude of sins and united us as one in praying for a great visitation of the Spirit of the Lord upon the Cuenca church. A lot of differences were ironed-out among us as we spent time in prayer together. The prayers of the church could be felt tangibly throughout this trip.

I recalled the testimony of the 21-year old pastor of Bigain Church (daughter church of the Cuenca Church), Ps Johnny. When we visited his church on Saturday afternoon to pray for him, he shared with us that there were prayers every night at the church from 8 to 10 pm from Monday to Friday. About 5 to 6 people will be in church praying. They started this about a year ago.

Bigain Church

I asked whether there had been any breakthroughs as a result of the nightly prayers. He said that there were. Mighty reconciliations of relationships have occurred. His family members that were once at loggerheads with one another have reconciled and made peace with another!

We have seen it, heard it, tasted it and experienced revival in Cuenca and Bigain!

The Holy Spirit & His work in a spiritual revival - Part 1 of the Cuenca testimony

Hab 3:2 "O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid. O Lord revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known. In wrath remember mercy"

Teaching

This verse tells us the following things about a revival:

1. Revival starts with prayer. The prophet asked God for revival after hearing God's speech. He was afraid because he said that he heard the word of the Lord. The word was regarding a pronouncement of wrath upon the inhabitants of the land. A pronouncement of wrath is like a judgment upon the land. The moment we see, hear and discern that there is a kind of judgment coming upon our land, we have to start praying to the Lord "in wrath, remember mercy"!

2. Revival starts with the prayer of sinners. God does hear sinners. We need not wait to be perfect before praying. In fact we should pray even in our sins. 2 Chron 7:14 commands us to humble ourselves and pray, seek God's face and turn from our wicked ways. In this verse God is telling us that we need to turn to Him while we are even in our sins/wickedness otherwise we would have no hope!

Testimony

Cuenca, Batangas, Philippines have seen a spiritual revival as a result of your prayers and the prayers of the Cuenca church!

Our team was there from May 30 to June 7 to teach on the Holy Spirit yet we felt that we had learnt so much more from them than they had learnt from us. The church in Cuenca known as the Cuenca Bible Christian Church has a rich Christian heritage. 

There is a book written about how the church was planted called "Assignment: Cuenca". Not only did the first church planters (Auntie Rhoda and Auntie Hanna) faced strong Roman Catholicism, they also faced residents who practiced witchcraft, sorcery, black magic, faith healers of the dark kind. Remember the encounter of the apostles with Simon the sorcerer?

Walk around Cuenca and you will see houses with the words "Healers" in neon lights as though beckoning people to come in to buy potions and spells from them for a fee.

Cuenca folks are a people steeped in the black arts, sorcery and voodoo. Thus we were truly amazed to see a church thriving and growing in the midst of the darkness. The church had even planted 3 other daughter churches - San Jose, San Pascual and Bigain. Many of the people mentioned in this book is still in the church in particular the senior pastor and his wife. However some names have been changed for their protection. Many wonderful testimonies of healing and deliverance are also recorded in this book.

The Cuenca church had suggested that we teach on the Holy Spirit as they wanted to learn more about life in the Spirit. All the daughter churches were invited to attend the seminar which was to be the closing of their 2-month discipleship training held every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm. The beautiful church hall could have seated up to 300 people for the Saturday discipleship training and the Sunday service.

Thus it was to our surprise when we saw and heard how the church had adopted a few things that we are doing in HGC such as the DG training with the potential of setting up DG groups (similar to our life groups), DISC which they did on their leaders, members' profile, pre-service prayers, prayers during services and harp & bowl during their prayer meetings!

The few days that we were there, we had indeed experienced a revival, not only for the Cuenca church but also for ourselves!

All our messages and testimonies flowed together as one with the same focus. The healing testimonies were particularly powerful with many responding to the call for healing. People were slain even as we laid hands upon them. They were falling all over the place!

Preaching

Testifying

Many were baptized in the Spirit. Many had tears running down their faces. Some young people wept uncontrollably touched deeply by the Holy Spirit and yielded themselves to receive the gift of tongues. It was my first time praying for people in such numbers to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Praying for people 

On the last day after a particularly awesome time in worship and singing in the Spirit, Ps Willy's daughter testified that she saw us having halos around our head. The halos were shining brightly. She said that we have to keep on praying and living in the Spirit in order to keep the halo burning brightly around our heads!

God had indeed done a deep cleansing of His people. The appearance of the halo confirmed that we had been cleansed and made right in our hearts and our minds by the Spirit of Holiness.

Gloria accepted the Lord in the church van

Our assistant LG leader just made it in time!

Good measure, bad measure, neutral measure, the Holy Spirit without measure

There are 4 types of measures:

1. Good measure
2. Bad measure
3. Neutral measure
4. Without measure

1. Good measure

The word "measure" means "metron" in Hebrew from which the word "metre" is derived. A metre or metron refers to a determined extent, a portion measured off or a vessel or instrument for receiving and determining the quantity of things, dry or liquid.

In the word of God there are 2 types of good measures i.e actions that we can do that will produce good fruits in our lives:

• giving is a good measure. 

Luke 6:38 "Give and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running out all over shall man give unto your bosom"

• obedience to the word of God is a good measure

Matt 4:24 "Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use (apply and obey God's word) it will be measured back to you and to you who hear more will be given"

2. Bad measure

There is only one bad measure in the word of God which refers to our tendency to judge and criticize others. Those who "measure" out criticism of others will receive the same criticism that they criticized others with.

Matt 7:2 "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged and with the measure you use (to judge others) it will be measured back to you"

3. Neutral measure

There are several neutral measures. However these measures can only be measured by God as it is beyond us to do so. Surely we do not have the capability to measure it out nor do we have any instrument that can be used for performing such a function.

Only God has the measuring instrument for these:

• measure of the foundations of the earth - Job 38:4-5
• measure of our days on this earth (three score and ten) - Ps 39:4
• measure of our tears - Ps 80:5
• measure the waters in the hollow of His hand - Isa 40:12
• measured heaven like a span - Isa 40:12
• measured the dust of the earth - Isa 40:12
• measured the sand of the sea - Jer 33:22
• measure the circumference of the earth - Hab 3:6

4. Without measure

Yet the best measure of all things has been given to us by God. He has given us the Holy Spirit without measure.

John 3:34 "God does not give the Spirit by measure"

In other words, God is not "calculative" in giving us His Holy Spirit. 

He has given us the Spirit without measure. 

Let us treasure Him always.