Tuesday, December 27, 2005

A Heart like Jesus...

How's Christmas for all? Boxing Day was over, I am sure you are blessed with heaps of Gifts with the Lord's Blessing...As for me, I happened to be unwell on the eve of Christmas till now. I dragged myself up for an early service at the Indoor Stadium for the Christmas Celebration as I expect the presence of God to open up the flood gates of blessing & Healing...

Pastor Prince led us into healing rally & when I prayed in Spirit, I felt 'the spin' & 'warmth' of Holy Spirit embracing me, healing me. I did not receive immediate healing but within a day with High Fever, Flu, Throat Infection & more, the progressive healing came a few hours ago, & I give the Glory to our Lord Jesus as He loves us beyond our understanding...

Still have piles of workload to clear & here I am, to share as when I opened my diary, a bookmark imprinted read, "But Seek first His Kingdom & His Righteousness, and ALL these things will be given to you as well." Matt 6:33 Amen?! His favors & Wisdom always lead us to 12 baskets FULL...not LACK...

God doesn't love us and leave us alone; He loves us enough to live wihin us, making our hearts like His home. Jesus wants us to have a heart like His..."Let this same attitude & purpose & [Humble] mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus; [Let Him be your example of humility] " Phil 2: 5 Amplified Bible

God wants us to be just like Jesus. He wants us to have a heart like His. God loves us the way we are. If we think His love for us would be stronger if our faith were, you are wrong. If you think His love would be deeper if your thoughts were, wrong again! The love for people often increases with performance & decrease with mistakes. Not so with God's love He loves you where you are. God loves you just the way you are and He will turn the worst to be the best, that's how much our Abba in Heaven loves us...
Our God is a good God, what is new Godwyn? The Sunday service led me back to flash backs of incidents, just 2 years back, I back-slided to the extreme end of worshipping idols for my deteriorating health. Cut the story short, the Lord led me back to Church where I thought I can RIP forever, since I believe in the Lord when I was at very young age...
Pastor Lawrence kept sharing the essence of Holy Communion, communion to me was just a piece of bread & Ribena. In my mind, I was thinking, since I drank so much 'Holy' water from all idols, so Just do it! Weeks after weeks, the words that echoed in my mind is "Godwyn, Jesus Loves You." from Pastor Lawrence. I could not accept the fact that Jesus STILL loves me as instead of worshipping the Lord, I went to the idols! The breakthrough came when I receive the Grace message & I stop condemning myself! Healing came with cheetah speed, all I can say is amazing grace! How sweet that Sound! That saved a wretch like me...How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first Believed...

Okay Back to Jesus: Our hearts seem so far from Jesus. He is pure; we are greedy. He is peaceful; we are hassled. He is purposeful; we are distracted. He is pleasant; we are cranky. He is spiritual; we are earthbound. The distance between our heart & His seems so immese how can we ever hope to have the heart of Jesus?

You already do! If you are in Christ, you already have the heart of Christ. One of the supreme yet unrealized promises of God is simply this: if you have given your life to Jesus, Jesus has given Himself to you. Says who? The Bible, "I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to & reliance on & complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me & gave Himself up for me." Gal 2:20 amplified Bible... AMEN?!

More good news? "Therefore, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictate of the flesh, but after the dictate of the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life [which is] in Christ Jesus [the law of our new being] has freed me from the law of sin & death." Romans 8:1-2 Amplified Bible...Does it means the verse from above, we can sin & account for no condemnation?

Stop! Think for awhile...Knowing our Lord who loves us so much, would you want to sin? Yet, do not draw yourself to be away from God when you sin as such is a deception of the Devil, drifting you away from Jesus from your quilty conscience. If we are to do such, it will put us back with the first Adam, Jesus Christ died for us in vain...

Jesus came to save humanity from its sin, "For the Son of Man came to seek & to save that which was lost." [Luke 19:10 Amplified Bible] Won't it be Ironic for God to save us & condemn us? Let us "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author & perfecter of faith, for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, & has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"... Heb: 12:2 [NASB]

Saturday, December 17, 2005

If God is for us, who can be against us?

How shall we overcome our tribulations or temptations? Have we forgotten God is for us for one moment? 3 Days back, I visited my Uncle with mum but Uncle refused to speak much this time. I can see in his eyes the joy of receiving us, yet why is he so cold? For that moment, I fail to remember, "What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?]" Amplified Bible Romans 8:31...

I shared my thoughts with mum and her explanation is somewhat I never thought of...Uncle was diagnosed to suffer from tuberculosis apart from cancer. He did not want us to get near him as tuberculosis can be infectious...he has a heart like Jesus, Uncle would rather bear his pain alone as I believe in his heart, he knows Christ had taken it away at the perfect work on the old rugged cross...

Who is against us? Disease, inflation, corruption, exhaustion. Calamities confront, and fear imprison. "God is for us!" "God is for us!" "God is for us" "God is for us" is that loud enough for you to remember? God is for you & me! Our parents may have forgotten us, our teachers may have neglected us, our siblings may be ashamed of us; but within reach of our prayers is the maker of the Universe. ABBA!

God is for us! Not "may be", not "has been", not "was", not "would be", but "God is!" He is for us! As you read this, with no need to wait in line or come back tomorrow, He is with us. Christ is for us! His loyalty won't increase if we are better nor lessen if we are worse. Jesus is for us! Jesus is always cheering us in our 'run' in life! Look past the finish line, that's Jesus applauding our steps. Too tired to continue? He'll carry us! Too discouraged to fight? He's picking us up! "The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?" Psalm 118:6

Abba has a tattoo on Him for us, did you know that? It says in Isaiah 49:16, "Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.." In verse 15, it reads, "Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you!" God is with us Amen?! Knowing that, who can be against us? Can death harm us now? Can disease rob us life? Can our purpose be taken or our value diminished? NO! Though hell itself may set itself against us, no one can DEFEAT us! We are protected with the promise of Palsm 91 "A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you!" Halleluiah! Halleluiah! Halleluiah! Aren't you glad God is for us?...

Yet, at that moment I was worried about my Uncle. We often worry don't we? We worry that we won't have enough money, and when we have money we worry that we won't manage it well. We worry that the World will end before our parking coupon expires. Aren't all these thoughts ironic? Would God teach us to walk just to watch us fall? Would Jesus be nailed to the cross for our sins and then disregard our prayers?

Are you aware that we are constantly being watched over? The Bible says, "For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience & service] Palsm 91:11 Amplified The last incident months or years back when we were nearly knocked down by a bus is not avoided because we are "Heng" [Dialect, meaning luck]. It is not Mr. Heng who saves you, it's our Almighty God & savior, Jesus Christ our Lord Amen?! Are you convinced that God is for us? I am...

Monday, December 12, 2005

Man has no way, but God always has a way...

Been feeding on His words, mostly from Pastor Prince's teaching, Max Lucardo's books & Holy Spirit. Haven't been sharing for awhile as I had been lazy and had that 'I must read more' self effort before I can pen down anything. Awesome thoughts & reading to share...
"A person is made right with God through faith, not through obeying the law." [Romans 3:28] Self-salvation simply does not work and we have no way to save ourself, yet God has a way, it is call 'Grace' the much debated undeserved favour! "Every good gift & perfect (free, large, full) gifts is from above; it comes down from the Father of all...our Abba, Daddy God" [James 1:17] Salvation is God-given, God-driven, God originated & God empowered. This gift is not from man to God...
The Bible says, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us & sent His Son to be propitiation (astoning sacrifice) for our sins. [1 John 4:10 Amplified Bible] It leads to the creation of Grace from God. Our approach to God is similar to the bartering system; if I do this, God will do that. We often think, I'm saved by works [what I do], emotions [what I experience], or knowledge [what I know]...Is that the way God is all about?
God's highest dream is not to make us rich, not to make us successful or popular or famous but to make us right with Him. I am not saying that God makes us poor or pathetic to let us know He is Almighty God! In our 'rat race' fast paced society, we often battle daily for higher pay, higher post, higher status in term to have more wealth. We get confuse that wealth can provide us more comfort such as a bigger house, a better car, yet happiness is not measured by what we have, it is measured by our level of satisfaction, our degree of being loved...
God has to keep his integrity that no law is to be compromised for He is holy. Our Father in Heaven loves us so much but He cannot relax the standards of judgement. He cannot encourage us with our mistakes [sins] we naturally will make with our human nature. How can God be merciful and fair at the same time? How can He offer grace without endorsing mistakes? How can God punish the sin & love sinner? Is God going to lower his standard so we can be forgiven? Is God going to look away and pretend we have never sinned? Would You and I want a God who can altered the rules & make exceptions? I don't...
In Romans 2:11 It says, "For there is no partiality with God." We are judged in the same way, no favour or unfairness. If our Sin has no price, we will Sin on won't we? If our sin brings no pain, we will sin on won't we? How then can God compromise His Holiness and enable our evil? Is there any way God could honour the integrity of heaven without turning his back on us? How can God do both that sinners being punished and being loved?
There is a man who commit no sin. He has never broken a law, not one violation, not one trespass, not even a lie, be it white, blue or muliti-coloured! He had took our place, was punished for what WE did wrong. His name is Jesus, our Lord & Saviour! "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the JUST for the UNJUST, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh but made alive in spirit" [1 Peter 3:18] By his death He satisfied the demands of sins.
Jesus suffered not like a sinner but as a sinner. He was punished for OUR SINS on the cross, Son of God, crying "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Lamb of God, roasted on fire, suffered for our sins. God does not condone our sins nor does He compromise His standard. He does not dismiss our sin he assumes our sin and, incredibly sentences himself. God's holiness is honoured. Our sin is punished and we are REDEEMED! God is still God! The wages of Sin is still death but we are made perfect, "For by one suffering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." Hebrews 10:14
For this month, I have come across brothers & sisters in Christ suffered from stress leading to physical illness, from stress leading to mental pain such as depression, panic attacks, from stress leads to emotional distress of heart breaks. I just prayed that we will look away from our physical signs that the Devil had created, a deception against the perfect work on the cross. Our Sins are all taken away with every records of wrong, nailed it to the cross Amen?! Christ will suffer in vain if we think we do not deserve the healing...
Living in the 21st century, stress has transformed to the World Number One killer...Yet Jesus has paid for it ALL with His crown of torns. He wore on the cross for your stress; He knows when Satan come & lie making you believe that you are dying when you hyper ventilate with your panic attacks...He has suffered for you & me even before the cross in the Garden of Gethsemane where "His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground" Luke 22:44
How could a loving God feel anything less for you and me? Believe the truth, We are healed by His stripes, by the beating He bores, by His precious blood shed on the cross...
Jesus is our ultimate source of freedom...from our pain...sorrow...bitterness...without Jesus all are lost...God justifies the believer, not because of the worthiness of His belief, but because of Christ's worthiness...Our God is abundant in love & steadfast in mercy. He saves us, not because we trust in a symbol, but because we trust in a Savior...