Rain of Revival

This blog is titled "Rainbow of Promise".

When I pictured it in my head before launching it out, I knew it is going to be a blog for the Lord, to publish His things, His word, His working in my life. So even though sometimes I really feel like saying something about the political directions and the many things that are happening in our nation at the moment, I told myself I wasn't going to write them here.

I wasn't going to comment about what the politicians say or anything like that; my journalistic self isn't up to par to write political analysis pieces.

If I were to put any entries on political issues, it was all going to be copy and paste. XD so it defeats the purpose.

But yes, this blog is to give all glory to God, because He deserves it.

And hence, yes, praise the Lord that His promises are true.

And yes, though it may seem like the uncertainties of the future of Malaysia has increased even more after the by-election 2 days ago, I believe that God has something unprecedented in stored for Malaysia.

Budget 2009 is tomorrow -- but I believe everything that will tabled will be in favour of everyone, regardless of racial differences.

Aug 31 this year marks Malaysia's independence for the 51st year -- I believe it also marks the number of years that God has blessed this land with peace and development. It will also be the mark of a turning point for Malaysia, a new dawn that will bring about good changes in this nation.

Sept 16 is Malaysia Day. It's also D-day that is marked on everyone's heart, though it may not have been marked down on your calendar. Everyone is watching. Different parties are scrutinizing on different things. The old and the young are looking towards the date with a sense of anticipation and expectation. And we Christians ought to be watching plus praying.

Many prophecies have been released by prophets around the world that there will be a widespread of revival in Malaysia the way that has never happened before, and it will be one of the greatest in the whole of South East Asia. It's a call to pray.

Many people, regardless or race, are voicing out their demand for a change, through many forms of communication, especially through votes. Perceptions have changed since 10 years ago, but it has been changing and changing all these 50 years -- to my gladness. I don't believe it's due to advances in technology and influences of the West. I believe it's due to changes in the spiritual realm, that forces of darkness have continuously and will perpetually be more and more weakened as the Lord Jesus' Second Coming draws nearer each day.

I smell the rain of revival. It's time to pray. Gear up!

Narnia: The Horse and His Boy

I love reading. It's a leisure that gives me room to escape from the hectic and busyness of the day into a world that requires only imaginations.

Imagination is what The Chronicles of Narnia demands if you were to have a good reading time. That's not difficult, but it also requires your heart to be open, because this supposedly suited-for-children series is not what it seems. May a times it has touched my heart deeply.

The 3rd of the Chronicles, titled "The Horse and His Boy" is one of my favourite, besides the most well-known "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe".

There's this part in the story that I want to write down here. At this point of the story, the boy Shasta has been through a lot of adventures and long journey to get to Archenland. He finally managed to fulfil part of his mission of informing King Lune of Archenland of the incoming attack from Rabadash the Calormene. However, after meeting up with the king, Shasta becomes lost in a fog and separated from the King's procession. After continuing blindly for some way, he senses that he has been joined in the darkness by a mysterious presence. Though terrified by knowledge that a being that was walking beside him, he started to engage in conversation with it. Shasta confides what he sees as his many misfortunes in his life and this journey, including being chased by lions on two separate occasions, and concluding with "If nothing else, it was bad luck to meet so many lions." His companion then proclaims himself as the single lion that Shasta has encountered in his travels:

"I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the tombs. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at night, to receive you."

[Shasta] "Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"

"It was I."

"But what for?"

"Child," said the Voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell you no one any story but his own."

"Who are you?" asked Shasta.

"Myself," said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again, "Myself", loud and clear and gay, and then the third time, "Myself", whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all around you as if the leaves rustled with it.

Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, not that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too.

The mist was turning from black to grey and from grey to white. This must have begun to happen some time ago, but while he had been talking to the Thing he had not been noticing anything else. Now, the whiteness around him became a shining whiteness; his eyes began to blink. He knew the night was over at last. He could see the mane and ears and head of his horse quite easily now. A golden light fell on them from the left. He thought it was the sun.

He turned and saw, pacing beside him, taller than the horse, a Lion. The horse did not seem to be afraid of it or else could not see it. It was from the Lion that the light came. No one ever saw anything more terrible or beautiful.

But after one glance at the Lion's face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at his feet. He couldn't say anything but then he didn't want to say anything, and he knew he needn't say anything.

There's nothing and no words that are accurate enough to describe that feeling of being in awe when I read this chapter. I could almost identify with Shasta when he slipped off his horse and bowed down at Aslan. It's that deep feeling inside when you're in the presence of God, knowing that He holds you dearly to Himself, knowing that your life was and is in His sovereign hands, and so will your future be. It's that feeling of having your mind blanked out but your heart is doing all the thinking, thinking of His awesomeness and the beauty of His love...

The Samaritan woman at the well (1)

John 4 -- Jesus wanted to go from Judea to Galilee, but He needed to pass through Samaria. (v4)

Samaria was a race that the Jews hated, because they see them as blood traitors, betraying their own race through cross-marriage with non-Jews. Hence, they always go around the skirts of Samaria without actually passing into Samaria. This is a longer journey, but they would rather do that to avoid these people.

But v4 says, Jesus needed to go through Samaria.

Many preachers always said that Jesus went through Samaria for a purpose, the purpose of meeting that woman at the well. I quite agree. Through that meeting, Jesus showed us many things...

He didn't just want to tell her that He was the Messiah and for her to believe in Him. He didn't just want to have a drink. He went there for a purpose that was more than that.

Meanwhile, Jesus' disciples must be really wondering why He wanted to pass through Samaria without going around it like everyone else does. It was noonday; they were tired and hungry, so they went to the city and buy food. (v8) But since they were Jews, wouldn't they face some difficulty from people who sell food to them? Imagine the disciples entering a restaurant and the waiters refused to serve them or was slow in their service... And when their food came, it was extremely bad taste, stale food... And when the bill came the price was hiked and they had to pay more than all the other Samaritans...

Coming back to where Jesus was, He was sitting by the well (v6). If He went there on purpose, perhaps He was waiting for the woman to come and draw water at noonday. So the woman came, and He asked for a drink(v7). She wondered why he asked a drink from her, seeing the racial difference, and that "Jews have no dealings with Samaritans" (v9). But then He started preaching to her about having living water (v10). In v14, it says, "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst, But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

Now, we know that John the Baptist baptised with water, and Jesus is the one who baptised with the Holy Spirit (Matt 3:11). So then, Jesus was saying, if you would believe in me and receive the Holy Spirit (living water), you would become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life -- you will become a channel for the Holy Spirit's living water to flow, because you have received salvation and everlasting life, and this is for eternity.

Again, Bill Johnson says, Evangelism in its purest form is Worship. Therefore, Jesus was saying, if you would believe me and worship me, the Holy Spirit will fill your life with living water that will empower you to be a fountain and let that water flow to others, the spring of everlasting life.

Hence, if we really worship the Lord Jesus -- and I mean really really really worship Him -- it would compel and propel us to evangelise. This is what happened to the Samaritan woman.

Resurrected with Christ

The Israelites in the Old Testament regarded names as an equation to the person’s character and personality. It carried significant influence to their lives. When I learned of this, I asked God, “Lord, what’s in my name?”

Stacy was my pen-name when I used to write stories, but when I accepted Christ I decided to take it as my Christian name too. I had no idea what it meant until I did a search and found out that Stacy means RESURRECTION. I was very happy and surprised when I knew this because I realised that God had given me this special name even before I was born-again.

Jesus was crucified on the cross, He bleed and died for us, and He was resurrected on the third day. Today, He is sitting on the highest position on God’s right hand side, and all of us who has believed in Him are on that same position with Him. But God spoke to me that I though was sitting together with Him in the heavenly places, my life was not resurrected.

Dying, Resurrected, and Living
I was on the bus on my way back to Ipoh when the Lord dropped His understanding to me from heaven. He said to me, “Stacy, your name means resurrection, live up to it! To be resurrected means you have to die first, overcome death and rise again to live a stronger and better life.”

Actually, we are all in the process of dying the moment we were born into this world. If we’re not growing, or if we are stuck in stagnancy, we are living a dead life. If we’re not doing the good works that God has prepared beforehand for us to do, we’re doing dead works.

Dying is not without the price of pain. When Jesus died for us, He not only suffered pain, but also rejection, betrayal, shame, mockery, and loneliness. However, Phil 2:8 says "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." Because Jesus was obedient and humble to the point of death, God raised Him to the highest position in Heaven.

The Lord spoke to me that I needed to die to my old-self. I need to die to all my past hurts, pains, disappointments, fleshly desires, sins, weaknesses, and especially pride -- everything that had hindered my growth in Christ. The thing is, even though we don’t like all our weaknesses and the bad things in our past, we can still hold on to them and be unwilling to surrender ourselves to God. There are also things in our lives that are so dear to us that we don't want to surrender to God, but these are the very things that will hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives. It was definitely painful, but I have to submit to God all those dead areas of my life so that He can do a resurrection in them.

Then God said, “Stacy, be resurrected!” Just like Jesus had called Lazarus out of the cave when He resurrected him, God was calling me out of the cave of death. I have to leave behind all the old and walk into the new with Christ, into the new life that Jesus has given me when I accepted Him as my Lord.

In the Bible God said that He’s a Living God. Praise the Lord He’s not a dead piece of idol, Amen, because if He is we’ll remain dead. God is a God of resurrection. He resurrects our lives so that we are able to walk alive in His spirit. Romans 8:5–6 says, “those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” I have to resurrect not my worldly mindset, but my spirit, so that I will live in the will of God, and His life and peace may fall upon me.

I’m determined to walk more and more in His Spirit. I commit myself to resurrect all the dead areas of my life, so that God may do a change in them. It may be very difficult at times, but the breakthroughs will come if we press on. Therefore, let us be mindful of what we want to resurrect in our lives – whether our old-nature, or our renewed life, a life that we live by faith through Christ.

Evangelism & Worship

Bill Johnson said, Evangelism in its purest form is Worship.

We have been reminding ourselves about this statement for many times now, and every time it was spoken by someone in our midst, it always gives me a sense of urgency, an urgency to get it right, to get a correct and full understanding about this statement.

Because it's not just any other statement.

It's not just another slogan or tagline.

And it's certainly not something made up without real revelation. (Because we can all say something very catchy but without real meaning)

Someone said to me recently that he has seen many dimensions to this one-statement truth as he opened up his heart for the Holy Spirit to teach him. I agreed -- there are really so many dimensions to be learned, and every time I meditated on it, it gives me a new understanding. It let me see another dimension to it that was previously not seen.

So... Evangelism in its purest form is Worship.

Does it mean then...

• If our motives for evangelism are right, it is pure, and therefore it is a worship unto God. If it is not, then we deceive ourselves and it is not a worship unto God. We deceive ourselves because we think that we are doing something that pleases God, but it actually doesn't. We deceive ourselves because we think that we are worshiping God, but actually we are worshiping ourselves, congratulating and glorifying ourselves because we have done it, when actually we are doing it by our own strength.
• If we evangelise from a heart that has the heart of Christ, we know that His heart is for the lost souls. Having this heart, we go and love and share the gospel of salvation, knowing that the Father's heart cries out for the lost. That, is the purest motive for evangelism.
• If we claim that we worship God, but we don't evangelise, we deceive ourselves.
• If we claim that we evangelise to people but we don't worship God, we also deceive ourselves.
• Evangelism and worship goes hand in hand; it is inseparable. If worship doesn't drive you to evangelise, you have not really worshiped the Lord until you come to a point of knowing what is upon God's heart. If evangelism doesn't drive you to worship God, you are doing it as a work, by your own strength, it does not carry God's presence.
• Of the 5 purposes of Worship, Evangelism, Fellowship, Discipleship & Ministry, Evangelism is found in the Great Commission; Worship is stated in the Great Commandment. We always like to quote the 2 purposes from the Great Commandment, i.e. Worship & Ministry, saying that if we say we love God (Worship) but don't love people (Ministry), it's wrong understanding. But then, if we say we obey the Great Commandment, but we don't do the Great Commission, how can we say that we are obeying God?
• If we come into God's presence to worship God, are we coming to worship Him because we want to give Him all praises that is due Him, and we want to give ourselves entirely to Him, or is it because we just want a good time? Are we coming into His presence to benefit ourselves? Or are we worshiping Him because He deserves it?
• If we say that in worship we give ourselves entirely to Him, how many times do we have to repent because we really held back many things from Him? eg. Lord I give You my heart, I give You my soul, I live for You alone, and blah blah blah, but that's only the lyrics, I'm just singing that because that's in the lyrics. God, You know I can't possibly give You all of my heart and live for You, cos I've got this and that to take care of... (plus thousand and one reasons why I can't give you my heart) Really, just how many times we have come that way to worship?
• Someone said, if you have come to church and think you will have a good time 'worshiping' God and be touched by God, you've got it all wrong. That someone said, if you come to church without having your heart changed, you will come every Sunday just being encouraged, but your faith will not increase, you will not see a change in your life. If you think worship is just to feel good, you've got it all wrong.
• If you think worship has got to have good musical performance, you can go to any concert, whether secular or Christian concert. It will not make a difference, because your heart did not see the difference between worship and good music.
• If you are a musician, and you think worship is about how well a band or an individual can play, or how well you yourself can play, you've got it all wrong. Worship is not about the music. It's not about the band. It's not about the voices who sing. It's not about the choice of songs. It's not about who's worship leading. It's not about the song arrangements. IT'S ALL ABOUT GOD.
• If you evangelise without coming into His presence to worship Him, you will soon ask this question, "Why am I doing this? For what am I doing this?"
• Every one in the Bible who encountered God in worship was changed in their lives forever, not for nothing, but for the expansion of His Kingdom. eg. Moses, Saul/Paul, Samaritan woman, Peter, etc etc etc.

God, please teach us more about worship and evangelism. Please let us have a change of heart, from a heart of stone to a heart of sponge, that we may understand it correctly. God, we don't want to worship you every Sunday not knowing what we are doing or why we are doing it, but just want to feel good. We don't want to be on stage thinking that we need to get all the chords right, and do the music correctly, though skill wise it carries some weight. But let us really know and be assured in our hearts that it's really all about You. It's not about how well we play or how bad we play. It's not about the songs chosen, not about the music. God, it's about our lives and our heart conditions, whether we facilitate or we become a hindrance for your Holy Spirit to move. God, we don't want to be the latter.

Holy Spirit, please teach us and give us wisdom and understanding...

Orange, Lime & Lemon

Are you lemon, orange or lime? says the headline...

I have always felt that I was lemon, though I am definitely born human.
But no matter whether you are lemon, lime or orange, you're still you, and I'm still me.

Yup! That's Right! I'm still Stacy, the one that is created and loved by God, a child of God. And I know that no matter what happens, He loves me the same forever.

"But why are you writing this? Why the affirmation?" you might ask.

I'll tell you it's not because this identity in Christ is not written in my heart and mind. It's not because I need to affirm or convince myself for another time that God loves me. But it's because His love is real, and I have experienced it.

I remembered the past five years that I have trusted Him and experienced Him in various situations and through numerous circumstances. I remembered through these five years that He has never failed be a single time. And as I rememebered, I realised that all these while, He's been answering my questions about life, and specifically about how things would turn out for my life. Tonight He's answered yet another question that I posted this afternoon...

Discipline VS Grace. What would your choice be? I want grace, Lord let me fall in love with You again.