The Comforter

I prepared this message to preach at the Saturday service but forgot to bring it with me to CHC....panicked big time!

But God was really gracious to me. He gave me another message on John 14:6 on the spot (totally unprepared for it)....I guess the Lord is really teaching me to be dependent on my BFF (best friend forever)...the HOLY SPIRIT...

So here is the message although I didn't get to preach it at all.

I believe the Lord will give me another chance to preach it if it is His will for me to do so.....

THE COMFORTER

John 14:6 

"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give You another Helper (KJV - "Comforter" which seems a more accurate translation), that He may abide with You forever"

Comforter in Greek is "parakletos" one who pleads for others like a lawyer or an advocate.

It is also someone who pleads on behalf of another, an intercessor. 

He is also our Helper, Assistant, destined to take the place of Christ after his ascension. He leads us to a deeper knowledge of the truth, giving us divine strength to enable us to suffer for Christ's sake.

John 16:7-8

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment"

I want to share about the Holy Spirit as the COMFORTER SENT BY GOD. He is so precious. He is so lovely and He loves us so much. He longs to be with us. He longs for us to fellowship with Him, to worship JESUS, to magnify God.

Father God told me that if I were to teach about the Holy Spirit, speak about the Holy Spirit, love and adore the Holy Spirit....He will surely appear each time to bless the people...He does not seek to draw attention to Himself but He seeks to reveal the heart of the FATHER to us and the supremacy of JESUS'S FINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS to us...

How do we receive COMFORT when we are down?

The people of the world go out and drink. Like the Hong Kong movies I see, people get drunk. Some people like the shopaholic "shop till you drop". Some people eat chocolates or ice-cream.

I saw a TLC movie of a girl named Charity who weighed 600 lbs. Her addiction to eating started when she was a child. She was abused and badly beaten up by her father when she was a child. Her escape - eat, eat, eat. She found solace in food to escape the pain in her heart....

It was only after meeting a therapist to deal with what her father did to her and she forgave her father that the addiction to food broke. She gradually lost up to 200 pounds and had surgery to remove the excess flesh on her body. The last I know she was still dealing with her hurts by continuously releasing forgiveness to her father and still losing weight...

Some people suffering from severe depression will shut themselves up in their room and refuse to eat and drink. Some people take their own lives, jumping down from a high building, cutting their wrists.....

I have good news for you. You have a friend. He is the Holy Spirit. He lives within your heart. He lives deep in Your heart and He wants you to bring all your sadness to Him. He wants to help you overcome the disappointments you are facing. You need not be alone when you are facing suffering, pain, disappointments and hurts.

GOD HAS GIVEN US A COMFORTER. The one who will comfort us in all our pain, our distress, our hurt, our anger, our wounds and bitterness. 

John 14:26 

"But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name..."

When will He appear?

1. When we mourn.

Matt 5:4

"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted"

However we have to mourn in the direct direction. Excessive sorrow or mourning in the flesh is destructive. If we sorrow, let us have sorrow toward God. Let us direct our mourning in God's direction and humble ourselves under His mighty hand....

Do not "mourn to man" but "mourn to God" and He will comfort you. So rejoice when you mourn for you shall be comforted...

2. When we forgive others

The church in this place will grow when you have peace with one another and forgive one another.

Are you upset with someone today? Forgive.

Are you angry with a member of your family. Forgive.

Sometimes forgiveness does not mean immediate forgetting. But that's ok as forgetting is a PROCESS...do not feel condemned if forgetting does not come to us naturally...if you keep on releasing forgiveness you will surely but slowly FORGET....

Forgiveness is a choice. You just open your mouth as a first step to say "LORD I FORGIVE... (name them)...... for what they have done to me. Help me to forgive them for what they have done to me. In Jesus Name. Amen"

Forgiveness is an absolute pre-qualification for GOD'S COMFORT....it is the first step toward FORGETTING....

When Saul came to Jerusalem in Acts 9 everyone was afraid of him. After all he was the one who consented to Stephen's stoning. 

Acts 9:26

"And when Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, and did not believe that he was a disciple"

They were scared of him. Maybe some were angry, bitter or even hated him for what he did to Stephen. Did not the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of Saul as a sign that they were doing this to please Saul?

Stephen was preaching the Gospel and his listeners knew he was speaking the truth. We need to keep on preaching the Gospel even though we are being rejected by others.

Yet Stephen forgave those who stoned him and fell asleep. Acts 7:59-60. Surely we need to follow the example of Stephen....

However Barnabas shared Paul's testimony of salvation and the disciples accepted him. Thank God for Barnabas the son of encouragement...may we all be like him....

The church forgave Paul. We know that they did because they opened their arms to him and received him as a disciple. God caused the following to happen to the church:

- peace
- edification
- fear of God
- comfort of the Holy Spirit
- multiplication

Do you want to see growth and multiplication? Do you want to receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit in your life? 

FORGIVE...FORGIVE...FORGIVE....

3. When we read the Bible

Romans 15:4

"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope"

4. When we prohesy

1 Cor 14:3-4

"But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and COMFORT to men. He who speaks in tongues edifies himself but he who prohesies edifies the church"

5. When we are in trouble for Jesus sake.

2 Cor 1:3-4

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all COMFORT, who COMFORTS us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God"

2 Cor 7:4

"Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with COMFORT. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation"

6. When we are doing a good work and speaking good words

2 Thess 2:16-17

"Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father who loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort you hearts and establish you in every good word and work"

Caleb

I prepared this message to share at the Saturday service on 22 August but during the overnight prayer at BOL on 21 August I felt the Lord wanted me to preach another message....

This is the message for the elderly folks. I believe that the Lord will give me another time to preach it.

Caleb – a man of faith and patience

Caleb was a remarkable man of faith and patience.

His speech to Moses in Joshua 14:6-13 sums up all that is in his heart toward God:

1. His humility

2. His faith & self-control

3. His was a man who believed in God’s Word

FIRST LESSON – Caleb was humble

• ·      Caleb did not praise himself.

Joshua 14:6-7

“Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea.  I was 40 years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart….”

Caleb speaking to Joshua about what God spoke to Moses (man of God) concerning him and Joshua. Caleb was a humble man. He did not immediately proclaim his goodness but mentioned that this was what the “man of God” spoke concerning him and Joshua thus deferring to Joshua as his leader. Caleb did not boast of himself to Joshua. He just mentioned what Moses spoke about him and Joshua at Kadesh Barnea.

Prov 20:6 “Most men will proclaim each his own goodness. But who can find a faithful man”

It is better for us to be faithful than to proclaim our own goodness. Caleb is an example of such a person.

• ·      Caleb respected Moses as his leader.

Caleb called Moses the servant of the Lord. He showed respect for Moses as his leader. Caleb showed forth his humility through the words he spoke. Caleb was submissive. He did not go into the Promised Land when he was 40 years although he saw the potential. He subjected his desires to the desires of his people even though he knew that it was wrong. 

• Caleb believed in the timing and sovereignty of God.

When the people changed their mind the next morning in Numbers 14:39 – 44, Caleb somehow knew that it was not God’s timing and did not follow them.

Also I believe that Moses (and Caleb knew) what was in the people’s heart when they changed their minds. In actual fact, I don’t think that they were ready to take the Promised Land at that time as they were going to do it in the flesh! God knew that and stopped them from doing it by causing them to lose their first battle.

SECOND LESSON – Caleb was a man of faith & self-control

• ·      Caleb followed God with all his heart even though he was in the minority.

He did not blindly follow the crowd. He followed God with all his heart and spoke out words of faith to encourage the people to take the Promised Land. He saw God and not the ‘giants’ in the land. In fact the people wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb on that day when Caleb and Joshua declared that they are well able to take the land.

Numbers 14:6-10

“But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk of honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them”. And the congregation said to stone them with stones….”

• ·      Caleb did not lose his faith in God for another 45 years.

Even though he lived, ate and wandered with his people, his generation for all the 40 years in the wilderness, he kept himself pure and untainted.

He did not allow his heart to lose faith in what God spoke to him concerning the Promised Land as his inheritance. How did he do this?

I believe he kept his communion with God alive and his walk with God intact all through the 40 years of wandering. Can you imagine Caleb mixing with the crowd day after day? Can you imagine him listening to all their complaints and murmuring? Yet he kept his faith in God alive even though he probably was taunted and discouraged by his own people who wanted to go back to Egypt at the first sign of trouble.

In fact Caleb said in Joshua 14:8 that the words of the other eight spies cause the heart of the people to melt but not his heart as he continued to wholly follow the Lord.

“Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God”

Caleb had self-control to wait for God’s timing for 45 years! Do you have an outstanding prayer request that you are still waiting for God to answer? Follow Caleb’s example to keep on believing and keep on praying. 

Exercise self-control to never give up praying….never give up believing….

Joshua 14:10

“And now, behold the Lord has kept me alive, as He said these 45 years, ever since the Lord spoke His word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness and now here I am 85 years old”

THIRD LESSON – Caleb was a man who believed in God’s Word

• ·      Caleb believed God’s word with all his heart

Joshua 14:12

“Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day, for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said”

When did Caleb first heard about God’s promise to him with regard to his physical inheritance in the Promised Land? It was about 45 years earlier?

Joshua 14:9

“So, Moses swore on that day, saying “Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever because you have wholly followed the Lord My God”

Caleb believed in God’s Word for as long as he could remember. 45 years down the line and he still can remember vividly what God promised him then.

When we are old, we can forget many things but I realize that spiritual things are hard to forget. 

Prophecies and visions given by God regarding our destiny in life are things hard to forget. I recall prophesying over a sister once. I said “God has a full time call upon your life”. She broke down in tears when I said that. She said that she had received this call before. She later quit her job and started work with a Christian NGO.

I remember to this day vividly what happened on my baptism day. I remember a power like the fire of God came upon me from my belly up. The power physically raised both my hands up to heaven like electricity the moment I came out of the water. I cried “Father, Father, Father” – 3 x.

I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me:

“You are only a sojourner on this earth. This earth is not your home. You are only passing through. Heaven is your home. One day you will come home to heaven.  I have work for you to do on earth. In this world you have tribulation but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”

·      It is never too late for us to respond to God to fulfill the vision/destiny He has laid upon our hearts

No matter how old we are. No matter how many years we have left to live on the earth. If we respond to God’s call upon our life, there will be the grace given to us to accomplish it to the fullest.

Joshua 14:11

“As yet I am as strong this day on the day that Moses sent me, just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and coming in” – this signifies the grace of God upon Caleb’s life to accomplish what God had laid upon his heart four decades ago.

Joshua 14:12

“Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the city were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said”

Joshua 14:13

“And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron therefor became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh to this day because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel”

  

Hebron - Caleb's inheritance...

Some meaningful sayings on prayer....

Some of my favorite sayings on prayer:

"The prayer offered to God in the morning during your quiet time is the key that unlocks the door of the day. Any athlete knows that it is the start that ensures a good finish" - Adrian Rogers

"God does nothing but by prayer and everything with it" - John Wesley

"I know of no better thermometer to your spiritual temperature than this, the measure of the intensity of your prayer" - Charles Spurgeon

"Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused" - Charles Spurgeon

"The Lord intends us to be powerful people - mighty in optimism and hopeful in spirit, powerful in evangelistic zeal, potent in influence, sturdy in moral fiber and purity. We can be powerhouses in prayer and preaching"' - David Jeremiah

"I firmly believed a great many prayers are not answered because we are not willing to forgive someone" - DL Moody

"Work as if you were to live a hundred years, pray as if you were to die tomorrow" - Benjamin Franklin

"Work, work, from morning till late at night. In fact, I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer" - Martin Luther

"Pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended on man" - Francis Spellman



"Prayer is not only asking, but an attitude of mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural" - Oswald Chambers

"God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede" - Oswald Chambers

"Worship and intercession must go together, the one is impossible without the other. Intercession means that we rouse ourselves up to get the mind of Christ about the one for whom we pray" - Oswald Chambers

"Prayer does not fit us for the greater work, prayer is the greater work" - Oswald Chambers


"God warms his hands at man's heart when he prays" - John Masefield

"In worship, God imparts himself to us" - C. S. Lewis

"No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil, not that he practises it, but he suffers from it" - Guy King

"Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for" - John Piper

"Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God" - Edwin Keith

"We can be tired, weary and emotionally distraught, but after spending time alone with God, we find that He injects into our bodies energy, power and strength" - Charles Stanley

"Of all the things Christ wants for us, loving Him and focusing our attention on Him are the most important" - Charles Stanley

"The amount of time we spend with Jesus - meditation on His Word and His majesty, seeking His face - establishes our fruitfulness in the kingdom" - Charles Stanley

"When God speaks, oftentimes His voice will call for an act of courage on our part" - Charles Stanley

"Often times God wants us to sit before Him in quietness. He doesn't want us to do all the talking. As Isa 30:15 says "In quiet and confidence will be your strength" - Charles Stanley

"There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer" - D.A.T Pierson.

"History is silent about revivals that did not begin with prayer" - Edwin Orr

"It is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone" - Hudson Taylor

"Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers" - Oswald Chambers

"Nothing tends more to cement the hearts of Christians than praying together. Never do they love one another so well as when they witness the outpouring of each other's hearts in prayer" - Charles Finney

Harp & Bowl - a template only

What is Harp & Bowl Worship?

By Ray Watson

Harp and bowl ministries use a certain worship style to incorporate both prayer and music. It is based on the worship found in Revelation 5:8.

“Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints”. Revelation 5:8 NKJV

The harp represents music and the golden bowl refers to prayer. Music and prayer, when combined becomes a powerful way to intercede and seek God’s face. The harp and bowl style of worship also lends itself towards being able to sustain long periods of prayer and worship at a time.

The general harp and bowl model includes reading scriptures, praying and singing.

Usually someone will read a passage of scripture and then begin praying. These prayers represent the bowl. 

Next, singers will use the verse and prayers as a springboard to develop music around this theme – representing the harp. By alternating between harp and bowl (music and prayer), different themes can be developed and songs created that help establish an environment of prayer, intercession and seeking His face.

A feature of harp and bowl worship is the spontaneous singing that develops. Spontaneous singing or antiphonal singing happens when singers hear the bible verse or prayer someone has said and then develops it vocally. 

They start singing around that particular theme and soon a spontaneous song emerges. Often a simple phrase is developed out of this spontaneous song which allows those listening to join in and participate. 

The music often builds to a climax as everyone repeats this simple phrase. After staying on a particular theme, the music will quieten to create space for the person leading the prayer time to begin praying or reading a bible verse again.

The following is a general explanation of what can happen during harp and bowl worship:

Reading of Scripture

The person leading the harp and bowl worship session will often start by reading The Word around a particular theme. This gives the worship session focus and allows the musicians to develop creatively around this theme. Often the Bible verses read out will come from the Psalms or the New Testament.

Prayer & Intercession

Once a scripture is read out, there is an opportunity for prayer and intercession around that topic. Different people will often speak out and pray while music plays in the background.

Prophetic

The prophetic voice is often heard during these times of harp and bowl worship. People can start declaring things in prayer prophetically, or the prophetic word can be sung. 

Soaking

Through harp and bowl worship, an environment is created for soaking and encountering God’s presence. The harp and bowl style is often used where ministries want an extended time of seeking God’s face. People will often spend hours soaking in the prayer and worship of the musicians. The combination of the prayers, scriptures, prophetic voice and worship creates a perfect environment for soaking and hearing God’s still small voice. 

Psalm 27:4 - I HAVE DATA

I received this message very clearly during the leaders' meeting yesterday - 1 August 2015.

Psalm 27:4

"One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple"

1. I only need to desire "one thing", not many things. I need not desire houses, lands or cars or material possessions. They have no eternal value. The "one thing" of eternal value is to seek to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold His beauty and to inquire in His temple.

2. "Desire" for the "one thing" i.e. to dwell in God's house is GOOD. To have such a godly desire is simply excellent....yet it is not enough. If it remains as a mere desire, it has no eternal value either. What is the use of such a desire of there is no "seeking" after the dwelling place of God?

3. "That will I seek" - how profound is this statement. How absolutely true it is!

What is seeking? What does it involve? It involves action! 

Hebrews 11:6

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him"

Seeking involves a diligence. It involves action on our part. It involves getting up early before light dawns to seek God's face, to read His word and to worship Him. There is some action, some sacrifice of time and even sacrificing sleep!

4. "Dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" - where is God's house? It is not the building. The church is only God's house in so far as God's people gather there to worship and hear His word. God's house is my heart! God dwells in my heart, within my spirit man! 

I believe with all my heart that the moment I worship, the moment I read God's word aloud, the moment I pray, I have entered into God's house. 

What an awesome place to be. In fact, we need not dwell anywhere else. No mansion, palatial homes or majestic castles can ever compare to the beauty of God's house which is the heart of the man.

5. "To behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple". Where else can I see the beauty of the Lord except in His word. His word shows me different facets of His beauty. So eternal, so glorious, so unchanging....I simply love His word....

Yesterday night I asked the Lord the meaning of 24/7 prayers. Does it really mean that I have to give up my job to be in the church 24/7 to pray and pray and pray....? 

While it can be possible in the case of Anna, the prophetess, it is definitely not possible in my life as I hold a full time job that can be very hectic at times. The only time I can be in God's presence and dwelling in His house is from 6 to 7 am. I continue from 8 am for another 45 minutes and if I don't take my lunch, I will spend another hour with the Lord.

Then I realize that all things are possible to him who believes. A 24/7 prayer is to be in such a position of communion with God that there is an endless flow of asking, inquiring, giving and receiving from God throughout my day.

Yes...even while I am asleep at night, my spirit man is downloading things from God. This endless flow of giving, receiving, inquiring of the Lord is very much similar to my mobile phone having data and not having data.

When my mobile phone has data, I constantly receive whatsapp messages and email. I can even reply them on my phone. However when I have too many worries and my mind is preoccupied with worldly needs rather than God, my phone gets "hanged"....I have to restart it to make it function like normal.

There are times, I need to shut down and restart my relationship with God. There are times when I need to empty all my worldly thoughts and concerns and start afresh by only focussing on God.

This is how we should be in our 24/7 relationship with God...always having "data".....so that our flow of communication with God is endless!

I do not ask for cars, houses or lands. Neither do I ask for money, gifts or talents. I only want ONE THING to be the sole consuming desire of my heart. I will do whatever it takes to seek, pursue and relentless make it my sole obsession.

To dwell in God's house all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. TO HAVE SPIRITUAL DATA!