He is Risen!

Resurrection Day - the day at death met its end in the person of Jesus Christ!

Jesus came, conquered death and rose again. He brought forth a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things have become new. He has reversed the curse in our lives. No more curse!

This is the day that the curse is reversed in your life. Death has been abolished. Death is an enemy to God. Sin is an enemy to God. It is never God's plan that man should die. The last enemy that would be put under the feet of Jesus is death. We wait for that day. Jesus conquered death and brought eternal life. Our life is one that has swallowed up death.

It is not the loving plan of our Father God that there be death. But God gave man a free choice. God did not bring death. The devil is the one who exercises the power if death. Jesus has settled that for us.

God told man that the wages of sin is death. Man is free to choose. Although you can choose freely, you cannot choose the result/effect of your choice. The day that Adam partook of the fruit, he died spiritually that day. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our God. Eternal life is not living forever. Eternal life is zoe life - it is the quality of life that God lives by. It is the life that swallows up death. Death is the end of natural life for man. Resurrection is the end of death. Death has received its just desserts. His life swallows up death. When Jesus rose from the dead, it is death for death.

Jesus did it all for us. He came down so that whatever He did, He can include us in it. When He died and rose again, His victory over death is our victory over death. Death is in our history. Death is behind us. Now, we are walking in resurrection life.

Many people fear death. The fear of death is causing us to be subject to bondage and causing us to lose the good life. Jesus came to release us who through the fear of death are subject to bondage. Death is no respecter of persons. Death is a tyrant. The fear of death is behind every bondage. Wrong emotions are indicators of wrong believing. When you have fears, you have wrong thinking somewhere. We do not know that we have wrong believing. One indicator is whether we experience fear on a constant basis. Are we depressed? Do we experience worries? Wrong believing is often because of wrong hearing, which is because of wrong preaching. If we preach the Word of God, it will set us free from every fear.

Our blessings and security depend on Jesus and we can rest. This rest transforms us into a holy, powerful and overcoming life. Through death, Jesus destroyed the devil (who has power of death because of what he borrows). The law is the knowledge of good and evil. When God first gave the, 3000 people died at the foot of Mount Sinai. The ministry of death is written and engraved on stones. This is referring to the Ten Commandments, ie. the law. The other laws are written on scrolls and parchments.

The devil flashes before us the Ten Commandments and keeps trying to remind us of it. There is no grace to memorise the Ten Commandments. But even little children can memorise John 3:16. Because of the law, people fear death. Conscience is the knowledge of good and evil. Conscience will always tell us when we are doing wrong. Conscience always says that somebody has got to pay. Many a time, we cause our loved ones or ourselves to pay the price.

Do not have the "I do not deserve" mentality. Your conscience creates that fearful expectation of judgment. Jesus became human flesh so that He can die the death that will set us free. The devil uses the law to bring about death. The devil accuses and if we accept the condemnation, the devil has us. The devil cannot bring about death per se - it is only if we accept the accusation by the devil. Through death, Jesus has released us from the fear of death.

Through death, Jesus has released us. Through death, He destroyed the devil and deprived the devil of the power to accuse us and cause us to fall under condemnation. It is not all about us. It is all about Christ. It is about us only in Him. Jesus used death to put an end to death. The law must be met. God's law is holy but cannot make us holy. It is perfect but cannot make us perfect. It is the devil's master achievement to use something holy (the law) so that we did not expect it is the devil.

When Jesus was born, he placed in swaddling cloth and placed in a stone manger. He was the only baby born to die. God's law must be met. Sin must be paid. Punishment must be executed. God is righteous, just and holy. But God does not want to punish sin in our body. God knew that the only way for sin to be punished is that it must be paid. God in His love sent His Son. He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Jesus has freedom from death and judgment. Jesus said that no man takes His life from Him. He has power to lay down His life and He has power to take it up again. The devil tried to kill Jesus several times but it was not time for Him to die. When the time came, at the Cross, He absorbed all the punishment for us, He bowed His head and dismissed His spirit. That is power. And He did not do that until all our sins are paid for and then He cried out, "It is finished!".

Jesus swear blood at the Garden. Why? Because of the very thought of becoming our sin. He had no sin of His own to die for. He did no sin, He knew no sin and in Him is no sin. Pilate found no fault in Him. Even Judas said that he has betrayed innocent blood. When He carried our sins, there was such a violence that went through His body. A holy God became a perfect man who never knew any sin. to receive our sin into His system was such a violent shock. Being a holy person, even the though of becoming sin, caused Him to sweat blood in the Garden. We will never know what happened fully. It is all about God and the sacrifice. 

God loved Jesus always and He gave up His Son for us. God loved Jesus because Jesus lay down His life for us. Jesus was never more pleasing to God. As God, He turned His back on the sin offering but as Father, God was heartbroken because Jesus was never more pleasing. When Jesus hung on the Cross, mid day became midnight. Jesus cried out, "Why have You forsaken me?". So that we can cry out, "Why have You so blessed me?". God is our Father. 

Jesus finished everything when He absorbed every condemnation and punishment in His body and then He cried out, "Finished!".

The resurrection is a proclamation that the work is finished. Jesus coming out of the grave is the divine receipt that it is paid. If Christ is not risen, we are still in our sins. Christ is risen and therefore, we are no longer in our sins. It is all finished at the Cross. He rose from the death without our sins - He did a perfect work.

For us to expect punishment for our future is negating the work of Jesus. When we are sin conscious, we are saying that God did not accept what Jesus did. Jesus has paid for our sins. The payment that Jesus gave on our behalf to a holy God is an overpayment. That is why God is more than satisfied. That is why we have much more. He overpaid our sins because of who He is. His victory is effective in the lives of those who believe in Him. God wants us to experience the devil's defeat.

Christ is risen from the dead. By Jesus came the resurrection of the dead. If you put your trust in Christ, you are made alive. Christ must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy is the enemy of death. When Jesus rose from the dead, death has been abolished. Before Jesus' comes back, the body of Christ has power over death.

Death, for the believer, is falling asleep. For the believer, death has been deprived of its sting. We who are alive and remain shall always be with the Lord. Before Jesus come again, we will remain alive and have power over death. We do not need to suffer any more. All the enemies, one by one, through the years, have been put under His feet. The experience of the Church is now. He must reign until He has put all the enemies under His feet.

When you look at Jesus, you are transformed from glory to glory. He is our answer. Behold the Lamb of God! See Him in the scriptures. Let us unveil Christ. We are transformed into the same image.

The body of Christ will put the enemies under them. God will make our enemies our footstool. Today, we are seated with Christ at God's right hand. The only thing that God wants us to do is sit and rest. Our enemies are coming every way but God says, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.". Sit and thank the Lord that our enemies have been defeated. Let us thank God. We pray in faith and our victory will manifest. When we sit, God gets up and does something about our situation.

Let His resurrection life flow through our lives. When we let go, God holds on and does something about it. Have the throne attitude and sit. God will make our enemies our footstool. God, I cannot and I thank You that You have done it all.

Psalm 91 - the promises of God. Let us confess that all the time. He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. No evil will befall us and no plague will come near our dwelling. It shall not come near us. We are the people that Christ has redeemed. Jesus died young so that we might live long. We have protection from all dangers and disease.

Where is this secret place of the Most High and the shadow of the Almighty? Believe in the Lord and He counts it to us for righteousness. Justification by faith. We are justified based on our faith in what Christ has done. God wrote His love story in the stars. It is about us. It is about Him. The heavens declare the story of the Lord. We have the Bible - the perfect revelation has come. Our own righteousness is from the law. We want the righteousness which is from faith in Christ. Let us know Him and the power of His resurrection. Do not live in self-condemnation anymore. God is bringing about a grace revolution and from there, the revelation of faith becomes real and death has no more power over us. We rest in Christ who has overcome it all for us. We rest in Jesus and His righteousness and we will be flanked by the Most High. We have divine protection that only God can give. When God protects, we are protected. We are as safe as the ark is safe. We are in Him and all because when Jesus hung on the Cross, He took our place and bore the fullness of God's anger. He absorbed all the sin and condemnation. It is not a matter of getting angry with the Jews. It was our sins that placed Him on the Cross.

Under law, the judgment was greater than the sacrifice. Under grace, Jesus absorbed all the condemnation and when it was over, He was still alive. When the judgment was all gone, He called, "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!" and He dismissed His spirit and died.

See what happened in the spirit. Christianity is not a religion. He came to give us life and life more abundantly. He came to make us righteous. He loves us. All that He has done will be in vain if we do not receive it. God will never force us but He loves us and He says "Come home to love and to victory".

Let us put our trust in Christ and what He has done for us.

Thank You, Father, for the gift of Your Son. The devil is defeated. You are my Lord, Jesus... now and forever. Amen.

Rejoice in our redemption

Believers never walk in darkness. Going to Church per se does not make you a Christian. Have you accepted Him in your heart?

The Church is the house of God. We have eternal life through His name.

The Bible doesn't deal with uncertain things. Joy and peace coexist with the certainty that He has obtained for us eternal redemption.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Whoever who believes in Him will have eternal life.

Many of us have been or will be challenged in our belief in the Word of Grace. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Don't turn your back on Him. Jesus is the final sacrifice. My hand cannot give me nor maintain my redemption. The truth is in us because we have Christ in us.

1 John 1:9 - was this written to believers? "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.". The problem is not confessing our sins. The problem is believing that we must confess our sins to receive forgiveness. Once you know that you are forgiven completely, you know that your sins "are forgiven you for His name's sake". One action executed which needs no repetition. Our sins are forgiven - past, present and future.

If you go to Jesus, acknowledging that you are a sinner, God says, "No problem. I am a Saviour.". Know that you are saved. We are sons of God and the light.

If we have no sin, why do we need a Saviour? Either you are forgiven or you are not forgiven.

All true children of God - their sins are forgiven. Know that you are forgiven much. Right believing produces right living. This gives you a sense of gratefulness to God and you can forgive others because you know how much God has forgiven you.

God commanded light to shine out of darkness. Preach Jesus! He is the light, the knowledge and the glory. Who is Christ? Christ is Grace. Grace and truth came by Jesus. The Son of God brought Grace. Jesus sets us free. Those who under Grace - sin will have no dominion over us.

People who are proud give you the most trouble. It is the insecure who are bad tempered or proud. When you are secure in Christ, no one who says anything about you can affect you - their words are nothing.

All our sins are fully punished at Calvary, where a lone figure hung on the Cross. God will never punish us again, if we truly believe in Jesus.

The Bible was written by simple people of the countryside who had the Holy Spirit breathe in them. The same Holy Spirit will guide us.

Rejoice in our redemption.

Have you been blessed?

Will you let Jesus have centreplace in your life? He will hold all things together forever. On the Cross, God's judgment fell on the body of Jesus. There is no more judgment left if we believe in Jesus.

How to have health and wealth, God's way

God's Word is visual. It puts faith pictures in you. Incline your ears to His sayings. God's Words are life to all who hear them. There are healing properties in God's Word.

Everything comes from above. If God can bless him, God can bless me too. Don't be jealous of other people's blessings. God wants us to have abundance.

Take heed how we hear God's Word. Take heed what we hear. With what measure we hear, the same measure will be given to us.

God wants to heal us today. It is not true that God wants us sick to teach us a lesson!

If you have a heart to understand God's Word, you will understand. Be hungry and have a heart for God's Word.

The Scripture has authority. Oh, the love of God that He confined Himself to a Covenant so that Man can plead with Him on the ground of a Covenant. As many who touched Jesus were healed.

Blessed are our eyes for we see and blessed are our ears for we hear. And God heals us! God is life to us and health to our flesh.

See His Word, hear His Word and understand His Word... and God has bound Himself to heal us.

When anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom and does not understand (ie refuse to meditate upon and study God's Word), the evil one comes and takes away what he has heard. God won't allow the devil to stop you from hearing God's Word. However, having hear the Word and you do not have a heart for it, then the devil comes to steal the Word. What is the devil afraid of? He knows he cannot make you sick and touch your family until he takes away God's Word from your heart. When you deliberately don't want to understand God's Word, then the devil comes to steal the Word away.

When you receive the Word and choose to understand it (God, open my eyes today! Give me a hearing heart and seeing eyes!), God heals us.

Psalm 110 - God spoke to Jesus. God swore and will not relent. God does not have to swear because His Word is truth but He swore by Himself and it is a double ironclad guarantee. God swore that Jesus is a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Blessed are we and blessed is God. This blessing lasts forever. By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better Covenant. Jesus' priesthood of blessing lasts forever. The Oath carries us forever.

Jesus has an unchangeable priesthood. We are saved to the uttermost. This is my Jesus! A Priest forever. If you can understand the truth of Melchizedek (a type of Jesus), God should heal you.

Shaloam means wholeness. Jesus ministers health to us. What is bread and wine? The Holy Communion!

In the person of Melchizedek, Jesus brought the Holy Communion to Abraham. He blessed Abraham. Abraham tithed. The tithe is to show the One you are tithing to how great He is. The tithe is a proclamation of how great Jesus is. How great is our High Priest today! When you tithe to Jesus, it indicates the presence of Jesus in your life. The tithe is a testimony that He lives.

Across different Christian denominations, Communion is being practised. It is an integral part. On the other hand, tithing is not being practised as an integral part across different denominations. When Jesus brings something, it is brought. However, Abraham had to respond with the tithe. Man is the weak link. Jesus presently in heaven is actively receiving tithes from those who have the revelation.

This is how to have health and wealth, God's way.

He is watching over us. Our day is coming!

God sees generations. He has a mind to bless generations.

Let's give Jesus all the praise. Amen!

The Lord will open to us His good treasure

(sermon notes - 27 January 2013)

This year, you will lend and not borrow!

The system of the world fails us. Lay out for yourselves treasures in heaven. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If you put the gospel first, you will receive a hundredfold in this time. Prosperity is more than money. God's prosperity is in every dimension of your life. Jesus is opening the treasury of what you have put in and He is giving you a hundredfold return. He always exceeds our expectation. Ask Him for big things! According to your faith, be it unto you!

God allows His words to come down as rain. It will prosper, refresh and nourish. Jesus took our poverty to give us prosperity. Money is a wonderful servant but a lousy master. Prosperity is for service.

Good news produces true morality. Wherever His word goes, prosperity comes. God gives blessing so that we have seed to sow and food to eat.

God is able to make all Grace abound towards us. God will open to us His good treasure. We will have all sufficiency in all things. Grace is always conscious of supply.

God will give us plenty of seed to sow and plenty of food to eat. Father, I am ready. Pour it all on me! God constantly supplies seed to the one who is constantly sowing. God multiplies seed that we sow. 

God calls us by name. God gives us the treasure that was previously hidden from other people. God will open up to us His good treasure in His season. 

When worship goes up, the blessings of God come down like rain.

The Lord will open to us His good treasure. He is the first and He is the last. He has the final word. He makes sure that what we touch prospers. It's coming! Amen!

He opens and He shuts

This will be a year of opened doors. When He shuts doors that are not good to be opened, no one can open them.

There are trials that God will allow us to go through with victory. Thank God for the things we do not know of. God will open the door to a brand new life. When He shuts, no one can open. When He opens, no one can shut.

The key is in His nail pierced hands! Don't be afraid. He has the keys of hell and death. We are saved forever because His blood is forever.

We will live long. This will be our healthiest year yet.

Jesus stands at the door of our lives and knock. It is a door of faith that can be opened. We are so dependent on Him.

God always delivers us out of our troubles.

Lord, open to me a door of utterance, that I may make manifest the words of God.

2013 - The key of David - He can open and He can shut. His hands move the events of this world. When He opens, it is a door of love. Our Lord Jesus is the bearer of Royal Grace.

Our key is to ask Him - pray. Prayer is an expression of Grace. I cannot but He can. We have influence with God.

Do you choose to be changed by God? If you choose to, He puts in the key.

Closed doors may be good for us. Listen to Him.

God can open the doors of our hearts.

Prayer and worship (praise) - these are paramount. They protect us. God will find a way. His heart is kind beyond measure. Thy loving kindness is better than life. When we praise and worship Him, Jesus uses the keys. God opens the doors of liberty. What man shuts, Jesus can open.

There is going to be family joy in our households this year. I have a positive expectation of good this year.

This is going to be the Year of the key of David.

When He is for us, who can be against us?

Someone once told me that when things go according to plan, it is because he (that is, that someone) made it happen.

I beg to differ.  Whilst we can do all we want, at the end of the day, when things fall into place, it is because He had a hand in this.  How else do you explain why sometimes, the harder you try, the worse things become?  And yet, when you rest in Him, things just happen?

I am not advocating laziness nor licentiousness.  What I am saying is that we should do the best we can but leave it to Him to worry about the outcome.  The Lord only wants what is good for us.  When a window closes, it may be because He has bigger plans for us or because He is actually averting danger for us.  How often have we looked back on an incident and felt so thankful that something happened to prevent us from venturing down that path and while we may have been disappointed at that time that things were not going to plan, as it turned out, had we proceeded, we would have headed straight into danger?

I have lost count of the number of times that the Lord has bailed me out.

In Princess Chickadee's school, they are taught to call upon the Lord.  It is quite amusing to see her suddenly stop what she is doing and call out, "Jesus!".  Then she tells Him something.  I am thankful for a little one who loves the Lord so much.

He loves us and he will always want what is best for us.

When the Lord is for us, all our enemies will fall by the wayside.  This is not to say that we will not face obstacles or persecution.  But take heart that not matter what trials we are going through, when the Lord is for us, we can expect victory!

We all need God's Grace

Lord, Your favour and Your Grace last a lifetime. Grace has got to do with Jesus. God says He will be merciful and our sins He will remember no more. When we look at Jesus, we are transformed.

Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. See Jesus and God will give the breakthrough. God will make a way when there seems to be no way.

When you try to pretend to be someone you are not, you have difficulty receiving His love. Be yourself! God wants us to know that He loves us.

Do not take so little when He is so great and His favour is bountiful.

When you take Grace away from faith, it is a serious thing with God. Grace is the gospel of Jesus. We believe in good works, not dead work. We have influence with God. We pray because we are right with God. Right believing will produce right living. To him who rests and believes in a God who justifies the unholy (the Cross changed everything), his faith is accounted to him for righteousness.

When we cannot, God can. Do not rely on our own effort. The Laws give birth to bondage. God supplies righteousness as a gift to man. If you hold onto the Law, you will be in bondage. We receive the gift of righteousness and God sees us right with Him. We are the children of promise.

Grace is given to the humble. The Holy Spirit cannot flow when the Law is in our lives. Our Christian life will blossom when the Law is out of our lives. God wants inward transformation.

Whenever faith and Grace meet, there is laughter. There is noise in the house of God. Woo-hoo!!

God renews our youth. When we are under Grace, we are at rest and we are not stressed.

Jesus came to give us Grace. When Grace came, it brought us into maturity. We have the spirit of sonship. We are an heir of God through Christ.

The attempt to get right with God before we take Communion is falling from Grace. Do not stir our flesh. Do not trust in our own efforts. Bring us home into the promised land by your Grace. When we are under Grace, we rest and trust in Him and we get fruit of the Spirit, which fruit is the result of life.

When we are under the Law, we cannot see when good comes. The Law makes us self-reliant. When we are under Grace, God opens our eyes. Do not have a finger-wagging religion. Whenever we touch the Law, arrows are being shot at us.

After the Law is removed from our lives, Grace is enough in our lives. God is with us in all that we do. Favour flows in our lives like a mighty river. God will make us the head and not the tail. When we are completely under Grace, even the people of the world will entreat our favour. The world will see that God is with us when we no longer have the Law in our lives. Let us understand all that Grace is. Those not skilled in the word of righteousness are babies.

We are now possessing our possessions. We are now possessing the land.

In these last days, the good news of Jesus will flow like torrential flood. The only help we can get comes from the One above. Human effort cannot prevail anymore.

It is time for us to come to God in simplicity.

Let us receive our healing

It is God's will for everyone to be healed. God meant for us to live forever... and forever young and strong.

Jesus bore all our infirmities and healed all our sicknesses. He forgives all our iniquities. When God says "all", He means all. He can see all our sins from the day we were born to the day we see Jesus again.

God took all our sins and placed them on Jesus at the Cross. Whoever knows they are forgiven much will love much. We are forgiven of all our sins, past present and future. We can therefore experience healing for all our diseases, just as God has forgiven us of all our sins.

The greatest antidote against sin is God's grace. Jesus called us to feed and not to beat. It is His flock and not our flock.

We have a loving Saviour. All our sins have been forgiven. Christ is in us. Do not be justified by the law - when you do so, you are fallen from Grace and Jesus becomes of no effect to us. Sin is not the problem to receive healing.

Lord, I want to receive from you.

Let us proclaim Grace. God will not allow anyone to put aside the Grace that came because His Son suffered and died.

Faith has to be intimate with Grace. Do not take Grace away from Faith. When we see Grace, Faith springs eternal. When Grace is from Faith, the result is death. God will protect Grace from being defiled. Grace will purify the world.

God loves us unconditionally. Nothing that we do or not do can even deprive us of His love. Let us not be afraid of Grace. Grace is the most powerful thing in the universe.

Praise the Lord for He is good and His mercies endure forever. Grace came by Jesus Christ. We are righteous by faith. We are justified not by our performance but by Grace.

The good do not die young. With long life He will satisfy us.

God heals us because of His Son and not because of our performance. Our eye must always be on Jesus. The goodness of God leads us to repentance. Even when we fall, God still sees us as righteous because of His Son, who died to give us Grace.

Until Grace has her rightful place, we will not see the healing that we want to see.

What is so amazing about Grace? It means we can receive the good we do not deserve because at the Cross, Jesus received all the bad that He does not deserve.

When we accept Jesus, God sees us as right. We have influence with God. God wants us to see ourselves as righteous by faith and whatever problems we have will be swallowed by His Grace.

Whenever Grace is put back in her rightful place of honor, faith is enriched. Grace is not a licence to sin. Now, Grace is being compensated and vindicated. When Grace is given her rightful place of honour, healing comes. God is interested in saving the world's people, by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus. When people are saved, the nation is transformed. Wherever the Gospel has gone, women are honoured, men become inventive, there is prosperity... It is the Gospel that prospers individuals and nations.

We qualify when we do not qualify. We are righteous by faith. Do not look at our own performance. When Grace comes, it is powerful and its roots go so deep. Our complete trust is in righteousness by faith. Healing is by Grace and is for imperfect people.

The last, the lost and the least qualify for His Grace. God's Grace flows when there is a minus. When we are imperfect, the healing will flow. Amazing healing will flow. Go to Jesus as we are and whatever do not have, He will supply. Faith is important but it should not become a wall. When we listen to the Gospel, faith will come.

When we pray for the sick, we set into motion our own miracle. Stop listening to the lies of the enemy.

Praise the name of Jesus!

He supplies more than enough

Whenever you see Jesus, you see supply.

He will give us more than enough to meet our needs. Glory to Jesus!

Whatever little we have, when placed in His hands, when we believe in Him, it becomes more than enough.

We are never alone, even though we think we are alone and even though it feels like we are alone. He never takes His eyes off us. The love of our Father is not blind - it is attentive and it acts on our behalf. God considers us the apple of His eye. He looks on us with love and favour. He comes to us. Nothing is too hard on Him. He looks out for us. We matter to Him.

We have the ability to do great things when we believe in Him. As He is, so are we. Even when our faith fails, the moment we cry, He comes to us and every storm is stilled in His presence because He loves us.

Whatever little we have is multiplied in His hands.

Let us not harden our hearts. Believe that Jesus loves us and His eyes will never leave us. The solution to unbelief is to believe the perfect love of God. Perfect love will cast out every fear from our hearts. His eyes are always on us. If anyone touches us, he touches the apple of His eye and He will come for us.

In the day of judgment, we have boldness. Boldness comes when we know that we are loved. If we are fearful, it is because we think that God does not love us enough to come for us. When we know His love, it makes us bold. Have a revelation of how much God loves us.

God is always present with us, by His Holy Spirit. God is in our situation. Jesus and His love lift us up. His eyes are on us.

God is love. His desire is that we would run to Him and be loved by Him. We do not just run away from fear. We run to His arms and He will carry us. We have boldness in the day of crisis because as He is, so are we in this world. We can step out and walk on the water. When we have to do something that is challenging to us, it is okay because it is by His strength that we are able to it. In His presence, we become strong.

God knows. We are not alone. His eyes are on us. He comes and He is attentive to our cry. When He steps in, every storm is stilled. The love of God never fails. Because Jesus went to the Cross, He paid the penalty for all our sins. As He is, so are we in this world.

The power of meditation

Job 14:7-9

Green shoots coming out from a dead tree.

Psalm 1:1-3

Whatever we do, prospers. The ungodly does not so.

1 Timothy 4:7-8

Let God's Word be our culture.Godliness is profotable for all things. Health comes from the Lord.

Colossians 1:16-17

In Christ, all things are held together.

1 Timothy 3:16

Godliness has got to do with the person of Jesus.

1 Timothy 4:15-16

Everytime you meditate, there is profiting. When you are prospering, the blessing comes upon those around you and will appear to all, even to unbelievers. Others can see that the Lord is upon us.It's all about the Gospel, Jesus and Grace. Don't forget to divide the Word. Jesus' integrity is behind His promise. Preach the Gospel of Grace (ie share the Word with those around you) - you will make yourself healthier and protected from danger and destruction and also those around you. Transform the lives of yourselves and those around you with the hearing of teaching.

Psalm 92:12-15

We will be fresh and flourish and bear fruit even in our old age. Be planted in God's house and you will flourish outside. God's Word is the power to prosper you.

Grace saves, love gives, faith takes

After an exhausting saturday excursion to the Marina Barrage, we overslept today and got up at 10+ am.

As such, Da and I decided to have a simple breakfast. We heated up some pastries in our oven.

We also microwaved some char siew pau.

After Princess' enrichment class (which she thoroughly enjoyed), we adjourned to our usual post-enrichment haunt - Qi Ji at Suntec Tower Two. Princess gave a shout of delight when she spied her favourite auntie at Qi Ji (who is one of the staff there).

Da ordered a mee rebus.

I ordered a steamed yam cake.

We shared a popiah.

As for drinks, we had our usual "one coffee and one tea".

After Qi Ji, we went for the 5 pm church service. It was a power-packed sermon, full of the grace of God.

"Grace saves, love gives, faith takes" - such a powerful message. If God is giving us all the time and we are concurrently trying to give God, then who is taking? The Lord loves it when we take, take and take some more. His supply far exceeds our demand.

By the time we reached home, it was almost 9 pm. After I put an exhausted Princess to bed, we sat down to a simple dinner.

I decided to make a mug of mocca instead of our usual coffee, tea, Chinese tea or green tea.

After dinner, I could not resist snacking on a chocolate muffin that I had baked.

Forgiveness - the way back to Glory

Justified means "made righteous". God remembers our sins and lawless deeds no more. God looks at how good we are. Jesus has made us so righteous and there is value in us. We are righteous not by our works and our filthy right action / behaviour but as righteous as Jesus is. We have the righteousness of Jesus that God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us.

God only sees us glorious, full of the glory of Jesus, because we have the righteousness of God in us.

God's favour never expires. Those He called, He justified. Those He justified, He also glorified.

Glory is the goodness of God. We have to begin to see the way God sees. We have the abundance of Grace and the gift of righteousness. We reign by One Christ Jesus; just by Him alone.

God favours us. We are righteous and the beloved of God. We are the head; we are achievers. Do not lose your sense of righteousness. Do not be self-conscious and self-reliant because we end up being self-condemned.

Let us have a bold consciousness of our righteousness. We are all righteous. Let us rise up boldly and be conscious of it and we can reign.

Grace is not a licence to sin. It is the answer to sin. The root of sin is that we have such a small opinion of God. We think God cannot, so we take things into our own hands and end up sinning. When we have a big view of God, we do not have to sin.

We have aggressive blessing. When things are in God's hands, we are blessed. God has already forgiven us. The moment we belong to God, when we sin, God wants to rush in and give us unmerited favour. Favour and Grace are God's resources at Christ's expense. God's resources come into the situation.

Repentance means "return to God's Grace". We turn to God and receive His unmerited favour. We receive all God's resources that God gave to us at Christ's expense.

We do not need anyone to give us favour. God can put us right at the top!

No more unforgiven sin! We are righteous by the blood and not by our works. We are righteous with the righteousness of God in Christ. We are receiving God's glory in increasing measure.

Boast in the Lord's love for us

Where two or more are gathered in His name, there He is. Put Jesus in our midst and see our trials disappear. Jesus wants to be in our midst. When He is in the midst, all things are held together in His midst.

Jesus, knowing where He came from and where He was going, He stopped down and washed the feet of His disciples. It is only those who are secure as to who they are in Christ can serve.

God is not unrighteous to forget our works and labour of love. A blessing is about to smack us in the face!

We are children of the new covenant. God loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. God will love us with all His heart, soul and strength and He gave us His Son. We are no longer under the law. We are under Grace. Under Grace, it is a new and living way. The more we go to God, the more we live. God imparts righteousness to us as a gift.

When we preach Grace, life is imparted to our people. Today, we love because He first loved us.

If we want to be at the right place at the right time, boast and feed on the Lord's love for us. Put a magnifying glass over our heads for the love of God to burn into us. God will use us mightily. When we boast of the Lord's love for us, we love the Lord the most. We are the beloved of the God.

It pleased the Lord to crush Jesus (His arm) because of His love for us. At the Cross, Jesus cried out that God had forsaken Him, so that you and I can say, "Father, Father, why have you blessed me?". We have received the spirit of sonship by which we cry out "Abba, Father!". Jesus gave up His position to take our place at the Cross so that we can take His place of favour. The name Jesus came to reveal is "Daddy" ("Abba"). Jesus took our place and we have taken His place. We deserve no blessing and Jesus deserved no curse but we took His place and He received our curse so that we can be blessed by God.

God loved Jesus all the time but when Jesus lay down His life, God loved Him even more. The Father tore the veil and removed our sins for us to come in. The Father turned His back on Jesus and He turned His face towards us and showed us blessings and favour.

It takes someone who knows He is loved by God to knock down the giants in his life.

As Jesus is, so we are in this world. Christ is accepted before the Father and as He is, so are we in this world.

The devil is always accusing us. God wants us to focus on Jesus. Jesus is under the favour of God and so are we. The question today is not how good we are but how good is our Lamb.

We will never know how much God loves us until we know how much He loves His Son because He gave up His Son for us. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, we walk away with much more. We walk away with the favour of God.

Today, every which way we see Jesus, we see perfection. No one took Jesus' life. He lay down His life for us. Jesus is altogether lovely. As He is, that is how God sees us today in this world. We are more than conquerors through Christ. His victory is our victory. We did not fight - He fought. God is looking at Jesus as us.

At the Cross, Jesus said, "It is finished" and bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. At the Cross, when Jesus finished everything in love for us, Jesus finally found a place to rest.

The vine life

In this season, God will meet the impossible demands of us if we can refuse to regret the past and refuse to worry about the future. God can give us favour, wisdom and breakthroughs that we are trusting the Lord for.

This shall be a year of restful increase. This is a year when we will see that as we rest in Him, we will experience favour. We will be ten times better than the world. We will be at the right place at the right time.

When we allow God to use us, God will give to us and through us.

In every season, God has called us to bear fruit. We did not choose Jesus. He chose us and appointed us to go and bear fruit that will remain and whatever we ask His Father in His name, He will give to us. God will not allow us to be barren in this season.

We are like the vine. Every branch in us that does not bear fruit, He lifts us up. God is going to lift us up! A barren branch is lifted up on the Cross. God will bring us back so that we will remember what He gave us at the Cross. If we are discouraged, it is only because we have forgotten what He has done. God says, "Come and receive". He lifts us up and causes us to cling to the Cross and we bear fruit. When we cling to the Cross, there is no way we will not bear fruit - the fruit of joy, health, healing, fertility, prosperity, peace, wholeness - all because He lifts us up.

Even though our body is dead, because of the Spirit, our body becomes alive and will bear fruit. Jesus has chosen us. Our destiny is to be fruitful. He is lifting us up - let us receive and let the vine life flow! Amen!

God wants to bring us into a new season of our life where His vine life will flow into our lives. It is a resurrection life that flow sin us. Through Jesus, the world is saved.

The Lord's life flows in us and we shall be fruitful.

Chew the cud

"Chew the cud" - to ponder over; mediate.

(source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/chew+the+cud)

Da had to work today. As such, we had a quick lunch at Qi Ji located at Suntec Tower Two before we parted ways for the afternoon.

Da ate mee rebus.

As I was running late for church, I ate popiah instead of my usual nasi lemak.

What is this "chew the cud", you may wonder. According to Wikipedia, the idiomatic expression "chewing one's cud" means "meditating" or "pondering". Have you ever seen how a cow eats? It will chew its food slowly, regurgitate it and chew again. In the same manner, it is not enough to memorise the Bible from cover to cover. We need to mediate upon the Word and live a life that reflects the light of Jesus from within us.

Sometimes, all we need is one phrase from the Bible and that phrase will see us through our trials and tribulation. There are many ways to see Jesus and whichever way you see Him, He is altogether lovely and altogether wonderful. How often do we reflect upon what Jesus has done for us and how He is all we need?

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. Our Father in heaven knows what we want and what we need, and He gives us much more beyond all we can ask or think. We have victory in life through Jesus. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Da's niece, SCT happened to be in Suntec City area today and as such, she and I shared a "4-door MRT" home. We requested that the taxi driver let me alight first (as I live nearer to Suntec City) and SCT second. I enjoyed your company today, SCT and I look forward to catching up with you again soon.

By the time Da came home, it was past 9 pm. As it was too late for a heavy dinner, I prepared a simple dinner of otah sandwich for the two of us.

Shaloam,

A simple prayer

Mama bear said, "Let's say a prayer before you sleep.". Immediately, baby bear clasped her tiny hands together and waited for mama bear to say a simple prayer that goes "Thank You, Jesus for all the blessings in my life.".

Simple faith but oh-so-beautiful.

The Lord bless the little ones whose faith (and undoubting belief that the Lord loves them) often puts the adults to shame.

Righteousness and right believing

Just because God is providing does not mean that we are receiving. We have to ask ourselves why this happens. There is something that we believe that is not right that causes us not to receive.

Never put our faith in human experiences. Right believing is so important.

God is our heavenly father. He will give good things to us. How good He is! God wishes above all things that we prosper and be in health.

God justifies the ungodly (that is, you and me). The Cross gives God the righteous foundation. All our sins were punished on the Cross and a holy and just God cannot punish the same sin twice. Until God is unjust, our sins will never come back to haunt us.

Blessed is the man to whom God imputes righteousness apartment from works. Blessed is the man to whom God shall not impute sin.

The blessing of Abraham has come upon the church. We will be renewed in our youth. Let our light shine before man so that they may see our good works, so that we can glorify God.

Be patient and keep on believing that we are righteous. Our lives are a testimony.

Do you put your trust in Jesus and His sacrifice? Practising righteousness is not something that you do but what you believe.

People have love in their hearts for others because it is a result of right believing.

Right believing produces right living.

Let go

We are the temple of God. Blessings follow us wherever we go.

The outer aspect of our lives can be busy but on the inside, there is perfect peace when we walk with God. God's presence is in our spirit. Our soul is nourished with revelation from the Holy Spirit and the church. The more we go to church, the more our soul is restored. There is perfect rest and unshakable peace.

Our power comes from the Lord to handle any situation that besets us. Whatever problems we face, what is important is our response to the problem.

Rest covers every area of our lives. Rest so that we can be supplied.

If it is a miracle we need, it is a miracle we will get, so long as we do not let our hearts be troubled. Do not worry about your life. Regardless of what happens in the world, Jesus (who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow) says "do not worry".

We are blessed effortlessly. Victory does not come by sweat. The man who walks in perfect peace is victorious.

No one was more unhurried as Jesus. Rest is therefore spirit-directed activity.

We are the righteousness of God in Christ. Let God lead us in our everyday lives. In every area in our lives that we do not worry, the supply from God flows. As such, do not worry and let go. Do not clench the grace and do not stop the supply by worrying.

Let go and let God. If we let go, God will provide. Do not worry - it will all work out. We will live our full length of life out.

Come unto Him, all who are labour laden and He will give you rest.

We have little faith and yet if we do not worry, God will clothe us better than King Solomon. God gives us a harvest for every seed we sow.

It is time to let go.

Go into peace

The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath! The Sabbath was made for man; not vice versa.

The Holy Spirit is our Helper. Let not our heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid.

When we are righteous, we are fully clothed. Jesus is kingly.

Peace keeps what Grace gives. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

If it is a miracle we need, it is a miracle we'll get, if we guard our heart. Let us therefore go into peace and learn to live a life of rest and peace.

We have been healed by Jesus of all our afflictions. If we learn to live in peace, not only are we healed, we will be made whole. Our glory will be restored. Being made whole is a process of peace. If we go into peace, we will be made whole and complete.

Rest and relax

Grace is unmerited favour.

Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Grace is truth. What God has joined together, let no man put asunder. We shall know the truth and Grace is the truth that will set us free.

Rest is the greatest holiness there is. Rest is holy.

We are made in the image of God. Jesus came to wash us clean.

If we put the Lord first, everything in our life will follow.

Christ is the Sabbath. Rest is the person of Jesus.

When we enter into rest, there is increase. rest is directed activity and not inactivity. God commands His blessing on the Sabbath day of rest.

In this year 2010, I intend to rest in the Lord as I go about in my everyday life. Lord, guide me to be active and yet restful. Show me how to let go more and to rest in Your finished work. When I rest, You work. Amen.