Long Absence, Great Outpouring

Oh, my hands are itching to write!! But I don't have the luxury of time to do so at this moment, because the Lord is doing His great and mighty works now, as He always is.

The Apostolic Program Intake 11 is finally here! And it's already the 5th day, almost 1 week over. Pastors and ministers have come from all across the globe, I believe many have received great revelations, insights from the Word of God and blessings in abundance. It always amazes me when I think of how they, from different nations, different backgrounds, different cultures, having greater ministries and bigger churches would come to listen to our senior pastor Pr. David's preaching. Yet, this is the call of the Lord, and no one will evoke it. And as it is said in Isaiah 55:5, so it is the promise is materialised and brought forth to pass. I believe in years to come, it will continue to expand and bloom, greater move of the Holy Spirit like never before.

Serving during this period of 2 weeks is just awesome. There's no words accurate enough to describe that feeling, but I just feel it's so awesome, so humbled to be able to serve in His glorious presence, while I'm totally unworthy and incapable of anything without the Holy Spirit. God, I just want more of You, because all I need is found in you.

I do want to gather all the words and write something about the Apostolic Program, but I shall do this in November. This will be my last entry in October... Hopefully I will have a clear memory to write down everything I experience. I have taken 1 week off just to avail myself for His service. Not that I'm boasting of anything, but I really felt it so strongly and stronger each day, that there's nothing else that matters except to just be in His presence, to soak there in the Secret Place... (Oh God, please give me the word to write!)

Bye for now. See you guys in November. =) Stay blessed

Reaping What You Sow

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory
If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony
If you plant hard work, you will reap success
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy
If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.
But...
If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness
If you plant pride, you will reap destruction
If you plant envy, you will reap trouble
If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation
If you plant greed, you will reap loss
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles
If you plant sin, you will reap guilt
So be careful of what you plant now,
it will determine what you will reap tomorrow.

Verse to Remember:

Matthew 7:12 "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."

Luke 6:13 "And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise."

Proverbs 18:12 "Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honour is humility."

Remembering You

Steven Curtis Chapman sang the theme song for Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The song is titled 'Remembering You' -- Precisely to remember the goodness of the Lord.

It's easy to praise God when everything is well in life, to bless the Lord when we are happy; but we may not even remember the Lord when we go through difficulties and tough times in life, let alone giving Him praise and worship Him. Yes, it's pretty much a cliché to say this, but really, how many of us have truly made it a practice to rejoice always and give thanks to the Lord through circumstances? If we haven't, then all the more we should be reminding ourselves to remember the Lord, rejoice in Him, give thanks and praise Him.

Verse 1: "I found You in the most unlikely way But really it was You who found me And I found myself in the gifts that You gave You gave me so much and I I wish You could stay but I'll, I'll wait for the day..." Do you remember His grace for your life?

In the chorus it sings: "And I'll watch as the cold winter melts into spring, I'll be remembering You Oh, and I'll smell the flowers and hear the birds sing, I'll be remembering You." Have you seen God in the beauty of nature? Do you remember that it was Him who created all things before the dawn of time? Above all, He created you...

Verse 2: "From the first moment when I heard Your name Something in my heart came alive You showed me love and no words could explain A love with the power to Open the door To a world I was made for..." Our salvation is precious. It's that moment when you made the best decision from your heart to receive Jesus' love, and it's with this love that you enter the World -- not this world, but His Kingdom, where you are made for.

And in the bridge: "The dark night, the hard fight The long climb up the hill knowing the cost The brave death, the last breathe The silence whispering all hope was lost The thunder, the wonder A power that brings the dead back to life." This sings of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Though it was thought that all hope was lost, yet by His resurrection, hope was restored.

Enjoy the song. Remember the Lord's goodness and rich blessings on our lives. Remember Him.

Narnia: The Silver Chair (1)

I've just finished reading the 6th book, Narnia: The Silver Chair. Love it! There are many defining moments in the book -- the most of all the books, I feel. Right from the start, there is just the message of God's nature and Spirit there. I shall comment on all the defining moments separately. So here's one:

At the climax of the story, Eustace, Jill and Puddleglum rescue Prince Rilian from the Lady of the Green Kirtle's spells. But just as they planned to escape from the Underland, the Lady returns and tries to bewitch them all into forgetting who they are and where they are from. It was quite a long struggle, until Puddleglum stamps out the enchantress's magical fire with his bare feet and breaks her spell.

Then he said to the enraged enchantress:

"One word, Ma'am," he said, coming back from the fire; limping, because of the pain. "One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things - trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a playworld which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's a small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say."

Satan does the same today in our lives. He lies that this world is no more than it is, that there isn't anything higher than this world, there isn't a spiritual world. He doesn't want people to believe in God, even better if you believe in false gods. He even deceives Christians so that we pursue things of this world and hold on to them so tightly that we forget about God.

But truly, Puddleglum has strike a point: if there isn't anything higher that we ought to pursue, if heaven is just a made-up idea, if there is no God -- then it's just a small loss that we pursue all these 'imaginations' with our lives, since this world is not going to become any better than it is now.

Someone once said that by probability, it is true that either heaven is real, or it isn't. The fact remains that we will only find out the answer when we die. If we believe that heaven is real, but it turns out that it isn't, then it would be but a small loss, because whether or not you have believed, the outcome is the same, no one goes to heaven.

However, if we don't believe heaven is real, but the final truth reveals that it is, then we would be the more foolish one because we have been pursuing what is unreal for a whole life, when we could have done otherwise. And the unbelief will watch in regret and despair as the believers enter heaven while they are left out.

This world will fail and it will not last. Verse to Remember:

Col 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on
the earth.

The Rainbow

This blog is named 'The Rainbow of Promise' for many reasons. This account of God's glorious presence and faithful promise is one of it.

I graduated and started working in June 2007 as a junior executive in a Public Relations agency. It's a tough job, very stressful and highly demanding for a fresh-grad like me. I'm still in this job as I'm writing this, not because of anything else but God's grace.

The first three months of the job was really challenging as I tried to adapt to the new phase of life. It was not encouraging when I saw some of my colleagues leaving for various reasons. One particular colleague who was close to me said that she was going to resign because she found the job unsuitable for her. I was very sad when I heard this, because she was like a partner in the job.

At that point, I too, began to ask myself whether this job was really suitable for me. I knew I had asked God to bless me with a good job and a good future, but was this really it? Is this where I really want to be? Is this the dream that I am pursuing? If not, what is my passion and how to I get there from where I am now? There were a lot of questions and uncertainty in me.

But it was at this time that the Lord have spoke this verse to me: Jeremiah 29:11–14a “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord…”

And He also said to me, “Stick onto Me, I will bless you.”

At first, I could not understand much of it. I have always known that the Lord is interested in my life and will bless me with a good future. And I was already sticking to the Lord – I was drawing myself close to him in prayer and worship. So I asked the Lord, “God, I will stick to You. My future is in Your hands. But Lord, will You please let me know if this is where You want me to be? And if Your answer is yes, will you please show me a sign? Could I please see a rainbow in the sky?”

It has always been in my understanding that rainbow symbolises God's promise. In the Bible, God showed Noah a rainbow after the 40 days and 40 nights of the great flood, as a sign of covenant between Himself and the earth that there will never be such a flood ever again. "The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." (Gen 9:16)

However, rainbows are rarely seen on KL skies, being quite a polluted city. I knew that I have asked something that was definitely going to be God's miracle working.

A few days after this prayer, my colleague gave the resignation letter, and I felt very helpless and despair again. I broke down in tears, but it was in tears that I found assurance from the Lord again. The Lord impressed deeply upon my heart that if I would just stick onto Him, He will surely bless me. I purposed in my heart that day to choose the more difficult choice of staying on in the company, even though I would be the only junior left.

On that day, when I was on my way home after work, it was drizzling on my side of the city, but I saw that there was sunshine on the other side of the city. The Lord quickened my mind, and as I turned to look behind me, behold, there was the huge beautiful rainbow in the shape of an arch, clear and displaying its splendour against the grey sky! Silently, I thanked the Lord in my heart as I stared in awe (and in tears) of His wonderful creation.

Although from that point onwards I still faced a lot of challenges and difficult times at work, the Lord also added strength to endure and to embrace along with the promise of rainbow. I understood that He was training and equipping me for greater things to come.

Truly, the promises of God are faithful, He will never leave us nor forsake us, but He will surely bless us if we would just stick onto to Him. As I held on to God’s promises, things took a positive turn and became better. I experienced His joy and peace as He took over my concerns.

Lord, I will always remember this promise -- Your rainbow of promise.

Faithful in Sowing

The LORD says, what you sow, you will reap. If you sow sparingly, you will also reap sparingly. But if you sow bountifully, you will also reap bountifully.

Worship is not complete without our giving of tithes and offering, because the Lord deserves the best of us, not just in our singing, but also in the things that mean the most to us.

Yes, money means the most to us, because we need money to survive in this world. But God says that He knows we need all these things, yet as we obeying Him in our giving, we will receive blessings.

I am not from a wealthy family background, but I have never lacked in finance or experienced any financial difficulties. Of course, it does not mean then that God did not bless me financially.

I've always settled in my heart that if there would come a time in my life that I needed a large sum of money, it will be provided for me. I also understood the blessings of God may not be come in monetary terms all the time – it could be in other areas of life. All in all, I was content.

I used to give in this manner: on Saturday night, I will set aside my tithes and offerings for the next day (Sunday), so that there will be something given every week, instead of just giving a sum of money at the beginning of the month and end up not giving later on. In my heart, I have always settled the amount that I want to give to God and had no problem preparing that amount for that week.

However, when I started to work, I also began to spend more. It felt more difficult to be giving tithes and offering on a weekly basis than it used to be. Towards the middle of the month, I would be asking myself where had my money gone. I was not tight on my budget, but I felt as though my money was shrinking in value.

Then, the Holy Spirit quickened my understanding that I needed a change in the way that I give. Instead of setting aside my tithes and offering on a weekly basis, I decided to do so right at the beginning of the month. This means that as soon as I withdraw money from the bank, I will set aside the total sum for tithes and offering. Only then from this sum of money, it will be segregated into weekly giving.

The Holy Spirit taught me to honour Him by putting what belongs to Him above all my spending. I also need not worry that I don't have enough to give by the end of the month.

Immediately on that month itself, I saw His hand blessing me financially. I no longer felt that I was tight in my budget. In fact, I saw myself having surplus at the end of the month. With faithful sowing, I reaped my harvest of financial blessing at the end of the year when I received my annual bonus. From there, I blessed the Lord with my annual thanksgiving offering, an amount that I never thought I could give.

Truly, when the Lord bless us, He bless us exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think of. Therefore, by honouring Him in our giving, we shall have overflowing blessing.

Verse to Remember:

2 Corinthians 9:6 - 8 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is ale to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having sufficiency in all things, will have an abundance for every good work.