Random Remark

Dear Readers, just a random remark here, if you're reading my blog and wondered why I share some word and passages in the Bible and label the posts "Radical Worship". It's because I deem our journey with God as a worship.

Quoting Pastor Joseph Prince, the greatest call in our lives is to be a worshipper. Since the Lord has said that true worship is worshiping in spirit and in truth, and the truth is Jesus, and Jesus is The Word; hence, the little sharings that I offer here, I hope to offer it to His glory.

By the way, there's no way I can share a testimony or write all the "Radical Worship" posts without first experiencing what I wrote, but Praise God, His Holy Spirit reminds us of all the things that we have learned, not only that, He also adds to what we learn by giving us more revelation. These revelations often come as I am writing, that's why sometimes the posts seem to end hanging, because I actually meant to write about the verses that came after, but as I elaborated on the former verses, it becomes too long for me to drive home two points in one long post.

I hope to experience more of Him and share with you more of what He is speaking to me. Let us continue on in His word and be rooted in His love. Hope to encourage you as you read, and myself as I write for His glory.

God bless :)

I AM (Walking on Water, Part 2)

Matt 14:22 After Jesus fed the five thousand (besides women and children), and there remained twelve baskets full of the fragments of the multiplied food, He immediately made the disciples to get into the boat to cross over to the other side of Lake Galilee.

Did you ever wonder why Jesus had to make the disciples go into the bed to go ahead of Him to the other side? The New Living Translation used a stronger word: He insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. Jesus did this because He knew what He was about to do later on.

v23 So He sent the multitudes away and He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. After ministering to the multitudes, He went back to the secret place of intimacy with God the Father. He withdrew Himself, as He did often, to spend time with the Father. The Bible said that Jesus did nothing of His own; everything that He did was done according to what God the Father had said. He was spending time with God so that He would hear from Him what to do next.

As He was praying alone, the disciples' boat was in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves. They were having tough time sailing through the sea. Mark 6:48 said, "Then He [Jesus] saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by."

Jesus would have passed them by -- that means He was very much adept at walking on water, and He was able to walk fast even though there was a storm at sea. It also meant that He was the help coming to the disciples, but if they were focusing so much on the storm that they didn't see Him coming, He would have passed them by. He was the present help that they needed, but if they didn't recognise Him, the miracle would have just passed them by.

The disciples saw Jesus, but they almost let Him pass by because they didn't recognise He was Jesus. They were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. (v26) Instead of knowing that He is the Lord God, Tuhan (in Malay = God), they thought the other way round and called Him "Hantu" (in Malay = ghost).

To the disciples it was perhaps like this: "Man, we're in this boat-sinking roaring storm because Jesus 'forced' us to get into the boat. Now, if we didn't get into the boat to get to the other side, we probably don't need to go through this! Just how much worse can the situation be? (Suddenly sees Jesus walking on water) *gasp!* It's a GHOST!!"

Sometimes when we are facing difficult situations and circumstances in life, we can be so desperate for the Lord to show up, to the point that we don't recognise that the Lord has already shown up or that He is in control of the situation. Worse still, if we don't guard our hearts, we would be complaining and seeing all the negativity of the situation, i.e., seeing ghosts, seeing only ghost and not God.

Praise God that at this moment, Jesus showed grace to the disciples. v27 He said to them, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." The Amplified Bible translated it as "Take courage! I AM! Stop being afraid!" Jesus was showing Himself as The Great I AM.

Isn't this a great picture of who our God is? When The Lord revealed Himself as the I AM to Moses, He was saying, "I am He who was, and who is and who is to come. I am the one you've been searching for. I am the Everlasting God, I am the Almighty, I am all you need. I AM." There were times I find myself praying or worshiping and I would say "You are, You are, You are Lord, You are..." But many times our minds ask us, "He is what? What do you mean I AM?" I realised that if you ask it this way, you won't see Him, His being, because our mental understanding tells us that the sentence is incomplete, i.e. You are..... (what?) Yet, our hearts can understand and connect to God, that He truly is (the Lord).

So Jesus was saying to them, I am He! I am God, not ghost! I am all that you need, I am THE LORD.

If we, in any situation that we face, can readily recognise that God is in control of the situation, we will not turn our sight to look at all the negative things in the situation. We will instead set our eyes and hearts and our entire focus on God. When Jesus shows up, all the other things become dim as shadows in the light of His glory and grace.

The account of Jesus walking on water is to me like life's journey. The Lord sends us ahead of Him, before His second coming, but He never has us off His mind, and He is determined to show up in our every day situations. When He comes, He doesn't just want to pass us by and leave us still deep in the problem, but to help us recognise we don't need to struggle; we just need to acknowledge that HE IS. Many times, God tells me that I don't need to struggle, because struggle is a form of work -- you're doing it by your own strength, labouring in vain. But when we acknowledge that He is THE LORD, He gives us rest and peace of heart as He takes over and set things right. As Pastor Joseph Prince said, when we look to Him and see all that He is and has for us, He sees us in our faith, and that pleases Him.

Verse to Remember:
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths

He is the solution to every need, the answer to every question.

Reminders of Love

The Word of God is beautiful, wonderful, powerful, prophetic, poetic, and every other good adjectives you can think of to describe it. It is life to our spirit and soul. It's the Love Letter from our dear Abba Father. Many times we believers, when we were newly born-again, we suddenly had a very strong desire to read the Bible, to study His word, even though many a times we may not understand it fully. And then, we get busy with various stuff in life, and sometimes you tell yourself that it's time to read the Word, but you're flesh is not willing to put down whatever that you're doing. And we grow cold, gradually, unconsciously succumbing to the devil's scheme to cause us to forget the Word. The very Word that has first saved us...

Jesus is THE WORD. And we are to declare Him, not just remember Him. Because you can remember something but never talk about it, and no one would know that you actually do remember it; it becomes a mere memory, sometimes even like a figment of your imagination -- you know it, yet you don't really know it.

In this post, I just want to list down some of the verses that has been speaking to me lately. If I were to share with you just what each and every verse meant to me, it would be a really, really long post. But I'll try wherever I can, yet the Word speaks for itself without the need of an interpreter, so read it as it is, and let it speak to your heart, just as it did to me.

I just flipped open my Bible and it landed on Zephaniah.

Zephaniah 3:17 -- The Lord your God in you midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Remember the song "Amazed"? He dances over us, rejoicing over us with singing. He quiets us with His love -- when you are embraced in His amazing love, you will just be in awe, without the need to say anything at all.

John 14:1, 27 -- Let not your hearts be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me... Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you, Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 

Phil 4:7 (Amplified) -- And God's peace [shall be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and being content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 23 (Amplified)

     ¹THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.

    ²He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.

    ³He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him--not for my earning it, but] for His name's sake.

    ⁴Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.

    ⁵You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.

    ⁶Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.

Psalm 84:11 -- For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Rom 5: 1-5 -- Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Be reminded of His great love. When we start to focus on His love, on the very Person of Jesus, when we behold His glory and grace, He sees us in faith. All the things that surround us are mere shadows in His lovely presence.