Jewish New Year

Today is Rosh Hashanah or the Jewish New Year. Actually it started on 28 Sept sundown and will end tomorrow evening. Rosh Hashanah is one of the most important days in the Jewish calendar. It is an exciting time for on this day, the Jews welcome the New Year and wish for a good, happy and fruitful year. A New Year makes us feel that a door is opened, welcoming new directions, opportunities and hopes. We can walk through this door and move forward in a hopeful and fearless way.

As some of us may know, this event is also called Feast of Trumpets. There will be a sounding of the trumpet or a ram's horn as in Leviticus 23:24 'In the seventh month, on the first day, it shall be a solemn rest unto you, a memorial proclaimed with the blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.' Trumpet sounding in the bible is also associated with these things:

1) Before victory is obtained (like the fall of the Jericho city & Gideon's war with Midianites)
2) Anointing and coronation of a new king (1 Kings 1:34)
3) A cry for battle and to gather the people to prepare for war (Nehemiah 4:20)
4) A call for worship of the Lord (Isaiah 23:13)
5) Raising of a signal flag, meaning the Lord is about to say or announce something (Isaiah 18:3)
6) A call to attention to the Word of God, perhaps a warning (Jeremiah 6:17, Ezekiel 33:3)
7) A sign that the day of the Lord is about to come (Joel 2:1)
8) Sending of His angels with a loud trumpet blast (Matthew 24:31)
9) At the last trumpet sounding, the dead will be resurrected (1 Corinthians 15:52)

Of course you may ask...what has the Jewish New Year got to do with me? The Jews are God's appointed people and their festivals all point to Jesus. The significance of this festival is the newness in our lives, the change in season and the Lord may be showing us new things that are going to happen. When we are careful to take heed of His Word, then we would be ready to move with Him when the divine shift occurs. He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit has to say.

Happy mother at home

Psalm 113:9 says 'God settles the barren woman at home, like a joyful mother of children.' This verse was given to me in 2004, even before I had a baby. It was a desire that God put in my heart back then, while waiting for my baby. In all my growing up years, I never saw myself as being so maternal or homely. I still remembered laughing at my Christian hostel mate when she told me that her desire was to be a stay home mum. I mocked at her, saying 'Then why are you here in university? Don't you think that it is such a waste of your education?'. She replied 'Of course it's not a waste. Our education could be used to teach our children.'

Now on hindsight, I realised she was truly the wise one. Because God put that desire in her heart. She had chosen rightly even at such a young age. You know, most of us at that time as young adults would put riches and honour above anything. All we wanted was to have a very good career, make our mark, earn lots of money and be recognised by our bosses and peers. This was the path I had chosen in the years after graduation. And I still remembered telling myself I did not wish to get married early and I certainly did not want to have kids soon after marriage.

On the contrary, I actually got married quite early at 26 years old (thank God I found the right guy pretty soon!). For the first few years of marriage, I was so afraid of falling pregnant accidentally for I would not be prepared for motherhood. It was so bad that my hubby had to ask our cell members to pray that God would give me the desire to have kids. God did give me the desire but when it took longer than I expected to conceive, I was disappointed. I then regretted why I didn't plan for kids straight after marriage. But God had His own timing and I must say He was merciful. I really did not wait too long. I gave birth to Joshua when I was 31 years old.

I was glad that I took no-pay leave to take care of Joshua for about a year. But when I went back to work, this desire to stay home kept recurring. Because it was planted by God, the desire refused to go away even after years had passed. Though those years of waiting for this desire to be fulfilled were not easy, God is faithful and He eventually brought this promise to pass. By His grace, I left my full-time job in Jan 2011 and officially started my stay-home days since then. It has been more than 7 months now and I thank God I am still enjoying it.

Today I was just thinking about how amazing God answered my heart's desire to stay home. Many working mothers are still struggling to make this decision to stay home while some do not have their husband's support. To them, having children might be easy but being able to take care of their children full-time might be difficult. On the other hand, the decision to stay home could come easily but some mothers might not be happy taking care of their kids. I am sure these mothers could be thinking what they have chosen to give up (a high-flying career, self-worth, more money etc). I really salute these mothers for making this choice because I am sure that their children are all worth it.

God has truly done a marvellous thing for me because not only could I stay home in peace, knowing that He provides for our finances, He also makes me a happy mother at home. God is the joy of my life. And that joy overflows to taking care of Joshua. Hence I would not even call it a sacrifice because this had been my heart's desire! God causes me to have no regret whatsoever in choosing this path because I know it is only for a season. One day, when the time comes, He will call me to serve Him in full-time ministry. But until then, I will continue to enjoy my stay-home days as a happy mother of children. To God be the glory!

Similar posts: http://avinlee.blogspot.com/2010/10/of-dreams-and-hearts-desires-part-i.html

Finished writing my book!

I started writing my book in Mar this year. The progress was quite slow initially as I only wrote one or two chapters when I felt inspired by the Holy Spirit. I did not feel the urgency or the need to hurry. But only recently, after I had completed the re-tracing of my journey for the past few years, I suddenly felt the urgency to concentrate on writing the rest of the chapters.

In fact, I should say that I felt the anointing of God while I wrote the chapters. There was a flow and a certain momentum that I could just keep on writing. And before I knew it, I was already at the last chapter of my book. Even though my book was a short one, the process of writing was nevertheless not easy. Indeed like Max Lucado said, writing a book is much like running a long race. There is the initial burst of enthusiasm, then the sags of energy. You give serious thought to giving up but then a chapter will surprise you with a downhill slope or an idea will inspire you.

But towards the end, with the finish line in sight, I want to finish strong, like how I closed each chapter of my life for the past three years. I think the final chapter was the most challenging as I was digging for a stronger conclusion. As I finished writing this last chapter, I was really excited! I felt like a mother who just gave birth to a baby!

On one hand, I wanted to shout and share my joy with the rest of the world. On the other hand, I wanted to enjoy a quiet moment with God, relishing in the sweet satisfaction of a task completed. As I read through my book, I really felt the anointing of God on it and believed that God would use my testimony to bless many others. In His grace, God even gave me a title for this book.

I know there is still some way ahead of me...in terms of editing and finding a publisher. But at this point, I really do not want to think so far. I am committing the path ahead to my Lord. Since God was the one who put this desire and anointed me to finish writing this book, I trust that He would open the right doors and place the right people to guide me in publishing this book.

Dear friends, if you have any experience in publishing a book or know how to go about it, I would greatly appreciate your advice on this. Thank you so much for your support!

Who's the thief?

I was watching this Taiwanese drama series 'Sunshine Angel'. The story was about a guy who lost his parents at a young age and even though his parents left a multinational company for him, he always felt insecure about his inheritance. Just as how his parents were suddenly taken away from him, he feared the same would happen to his company.  It turned out that indeed, his inheritance was swindled off by none other than his childhood friend. He was betrayed and deceived into giving up not only his company but all his assets to his friend.

When he confronted his friend, his friend did not feel the least bit of remorse or guilt. Instead, the friend put all the blame on him, saying that he was too arrogant, inconsiderate to others' feelings and too trusting. In short, he deserved it. What audacity! How could his friend accuse him when he was the one who stole his inheritance!  In any case, the inheritance belonged to him as the rightful heir regardless of his behaviour or character. The truth is, such things happen in the lives of children of God as well. We are just blinded to it.

You see, when your possessions are stolen from you, regardless of whether it was your own mistake, it was the devil who stole from you. And this same thief, after stealing your inheritance from God, comes to you and accuses you of being the culprit for causing your own loss. He accuses you and condemns you because he himself stands accused and condemned by God. The Holy Spirit convicts believers of our righteousness but condemns the prince of this world because he is judged (John 16:11).

The good news is: the thief has been caught by Jesus and exposed! And when he is caught, the law of restitution in Exodus 22:2-3 says 'If the thief is found breaking in and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make full restitution; if he has nothing, he shall be then sold for his theft.'

Under that law, God will make the thief pay double for what he has stolen. Praise the Lord! Dear friends, if you have been stolen (either a job, finances, baby, relationships), it does not matter if the mistake is your own making. Your inheritance was paid by Jesus' death and you did nothing to earn it in the first place. Look to Jesus your Redeemer who would restore all that was lost to you!   

God's Timing for Your Life (Part III)

When God shifts us from a chronos time to a strategic kairos time, it does not mean that the process and fight of faith are finished. It means that we have entered into a season where the opportunity is great but we have not yet reached fullness. Victory may be very, very close but often that is when that battle becomes the most intense.

Galatians 4:4 says 'But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law.' This word 'fullness' means fully completing or finishing something. Where kairos indicates opportunity to produce much fruit, fullness means all of the fruit is produced. The features of kairos and fullness stage are as follows:

• Similar to the process of childbearing, a woman goes through chronos, kairos and fullness stage after conception. For nine months, she faithfully endures the challenging and important stage of chronos. Much is happening in the hidden place of the womb but she cannot yet hold and fully enjoy the fruit of her womb
• She then moves into the kairos stage of labour and delivery. She has not yet come to fullness but is near. There will be much work, pain and pushing if the fullness stage of birth is to be reached. This is the stage of greatest discomfort and vulnerability. This is the time she most wanted to give up yet the birth is unstoppable.  
• Finally, a woman goes from kairos season into fullness stage and the baby is born. It is always worth the pain of the process when we hold the fruit in our hands. Keep reminding yourself that God is faithful and if you did what He told you, He would do what He said. We can cooperate with God, persevere and keep ourselves positioned properly.

When God takes us to new levels of growth, we are often very shortsighted about it. We think it is simply to bless us or reward our faithfulness when in reality it is often to bless others. God usually has greater issues at stake when we come to Him with the specific request we have. Remember that others will be impacted by your successful shifting.

As we move forward into our divine destinies, it is reassuring to know that God has already been there. Every chronos, kairos and fullness season He has seen before. He understands very well how to open the doors of breakthrough, victory and fruifulness because He has been there before.

God's Timing for Your Life (Part II)

Today I am going to blog about the characteristics of God's divine shift so that we would better understand the nature of God's work in changing seasons and be ready when the shift comes.

Features of God's divine shifts:

• God often waits until the last moment to move. Like how the Red Sea opened up just before the Eygptian armies closed in on the Israelites, I once asked God why He waited till then to act. His reply was that He may gain glory for Himself and the Gentiles come to know that He is God.
• When God moves, things happen quickly. The next generation of Israelites waited for 40 years to possess the Promised Land. Suddenly God came to Joshua and said in 3 days' time, they were to cross the Jordan. (Joshua 1:11) When God says 'Time to move!' it is decision time very quickly. Often there is an urgency to the move maybe because if we have too much time to think about it, we might mess things up.
• When God begins to do something new, it is usually something hidden. He often keeps it a secret until the last minute. God likes to surprise us and bless us beyond what we can ask or imagine. In our human minds, we envision how things should occur but when it does not happen that way, we can become confused, frustrated and question everything. That is the time when we become the most vulnerable. Bear in mind that God will do things in ways we really did not anticipate but we must trust Him and be flexible to cooperate with Him.
• Even though you have been waiting for a long time (chronos season), do not think that you will be stuck with waiting. We need to be prepared to change when God says He is bringing the divine shift. We have to move with Him or else we will miss it. We need to fan into flames the Spirit of faith. And when God says it is time to move forward, there will be steps of faith needed from us. It is important to obey the Lord and do it quickly. He knows how things must be done and though we may not understand it now, it is crucial that we do it His way.

In my experience of waiting, I know how easy it was to be discouraged and become so disillusioned to the point of giving up on God's promise. Proverbs 13:12 says 'Hope deferred makes the heart sick.' Because I was so passionate about God's promises and I had been crying out to God for years, I often struggled with hope deferred and disillusionment. As I was believing for a miracle in my life, I am more likely to experience hope deferred than someone who does not expect anything to happen.

However, I remind myself that a long time is not forever and this too shall pass. I must be careful not to lose my expectation as I go through the chronos season. I cannot shift the times and seasons; only God can. But I can cooperate with Him and be faithful during the chronos and trust Him to bring me to the kairos and to the fullness stage. I can keep myself positioned properly so that I will be ready to move when He says so.  In time to come, He did shift the seasons and moved me quickly to kairos.

God's Timing For Your Life (Part I)

I was reading this book 'God's Timing for Your Life' by Dutch Sheets and felt very ministered by it. Hence I would like to share the highlights of this book. The purpose is to help you understand and recognise the divine shifts in your life - moments when God changes the times and seasons. The following verses in Isaiah speak of God's change into new seasons:

• You have heard: see all this. And will you not declare it? I have made you hear new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them. (Isa 48:6)
 
• Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (Isa 43:19)
 
• Behold, the former things have come to pass and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them. (Isa 42:9)

The author then explains the different New Testament words for time, chronos and kairos. The word chronos refers to the general process of time or chronological time. The word kairos refer to the right time or opportune time or strategic time, the now time. Kairos, in many ways, is an extension of the chronos. As the processes of God's plan unfold, chronos becomes kairos.

I shall attempt to describe the features of the chronos season here. In my next two blog posts, I will then touch on the features of God's divine shift and kairos season.

Characteristics of chronos:

• A season of our life which tends to be largely routine or mundane, where you do not feel anything exciting happening. It may even be tedious - a time of plowing, standing, believing and persistent praying.
• A time of transition when God is training us, preparing us and renewing our minds (Rom 12:2) for our future assignments. Often the insight we receive in the chronos season is actually meant to help us in the future stages God is bringing us to.
• A time of stretching as we progress with God, moving forward as He trusts us with more responsibilities. The faith He requires from us today is not the same as yesterday.
• Confusion during transition times is normal. You cannot revert to the comfort of things before yet you do not know what is ahead. During such times, it is the basics of God's word that keep us going - God's faithfulness in fulfilling our past promises, God's great love for us etc. These will give us comfort, direction and something to anchor.

We loved because He first loved us

I was watching this Korean drama called "Cinderella's Sister". The story talked about how a promiscous lady married into a rich man's family. The lady brought along her teenage daughter into the family. This rich man also had a daughter who was about the same age as the other girl. The story focused on the rivalry between the two step-sisters but that was not what I wanted to touch on. Today I am centering my attention on the rich man: the husband and father.

This man really has a kind heart. His wife was a highly insecure and materialistic person. She stayed with him because of his wealth. She pretended to be the virtuous wife and mother so that he would like her. However, that was not her true character. She was loud, noisy and rough. She even cheated on her hubby by meeting up with her old flame.

Then one day this man suddenly died of heart attack. The wife was sad to see him leave but when she read his journals, she was devastated. She saw that he all along knew she was pretending and was telling lies to cover up her affair. However angry and sad he was, he did not mind this because he really loved her. He felt he was useless because he could not give her the security to be herself and hence she had to lie and be hypocritical.  He also didn't expose her for fear that it would end their relationship. He would rather endure all these than to live a life without her. Such was the extent of his love for her.

When I thought about it, I realised no human being possibly could be so kind as to endure all these and forgive their spouse. Not especially when you loved her so dearly since you would be hurt so deeply. But I know of someone who is really that good. He is our Abba Father. Imagine sending His only Beloved Son to die for us while we are still sinners with our backs turned against Him.

We are like the bride of Christ yet when we lose our first love for Jesus, we are like spiritual adulterers. Yet through it all, Jesus never blamed us and kept loving us like how He loved His own body (Eph 5:28). All because He loved us so much. It was never about what we did or who we are to make God love us more. It's all about God and His great love for us. No wonder bible says in 1 John 4:19 'We loved because He first loved us.'

The husband in the drama was so kind-hearted and sincere. He truly loved his wife even though she was far from perfect. Nothing the wife did could make him not love her. Actually I thought it was sad for the wife to not know this when he was alive. It was a sad thing to think that someone liked you because you are virtuous but in fact, you are not the person he thought you are.

Remember the story of the Syrophenocian woman who came to Jesus to ask for healing for her demon-possessed daughter. She called Jesus 'Son of David' even though she was not a Jew. She pretended to be one so that Jesus would heal her daughter. However, Jesus did not want her to pretend. He wanted her to come as she was so that when He healed her daughter, she would know that she was so loved for being who she was.

Beloved friends, imagine how liberated you can be when you know that the Father loves you just the way you are. In fact, He first loved you, long before you knew Him or loved Him. Nothing we could do would separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:39). It was all about God, not about us. Let the security of His love sink deep into your heart. When you know that you are always loved by the Father and that you cannot lose this favour, you will then be truly free to respond to His love. 

Fan into Flames the gift of God!

Have you ever thought about this: over time, your pain and wounds would eventually get better until one day it no longer affects you anymore yet the reverse is true for the God-given dreams in your heart. Over time, these dreams and desires never seem to die, instead they intensify and get rekindled. Maybe not everyone feels that way but I do.

I believe this is how God programmed us. We were never meant to hold on to those hurts and pains and disappointments. We were supposed to cast all these cares to the Lord because they will weigh us down. On the other hand, God has given each one of us a divine destiny. He has made us for a specific assignment on this earth - an assignment that only we could do because God gave us these gifts and talents. Sometimes, these dreams and desires actually get 'chucked' into one corner of our minds but they were never totally erased.

In my case, I thought that over a long time of waiting, my desire for a second child would wane off. In fact, for most people, the desire probably will taper off. The desire would usually be very strong in the beginning but after years of waiting, some people would be so disappointed and give up totally. They would think that maybe God didn't want them to have kids in the first place.

Not me. After a few years of waiting, my desire actually intensified. God has a way of reminding me that He has already given me this child and He will bring it to pass no matter how long it seems. Almost every single month in those years, I never fail to think about this promise no matter how hard I try not to. Especially after a long time has passed, I believe I am closer to the manifestation more so than ever and my expectation heightens. 

Sometimes, it can be painful to hold on to this promise when nothing seems to be happening these few years. But God wants us to walk by faith not by sight. We are not to be discouraged by what we can't see on the surface because the truth is: God is always working behind the scenes and He who promised is faithful.

We may not understand how God works but we must always remember God loves us so much and He is a good God. In fact, why would He withhold any good thing from us when He has already given us heaven's best - Jesus His only Son? In my limited understanding, I believe there can be only one reason for the delay. He is planning something even better, grandier and greater than the request we are asking Him now. When His masterplan is finally revealed to us, our faith in Him will be emboldened and we will give Him all the glory for what only God can do.

2 Tim 1:6 says 'Fan into flames the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.' God wants you to get the fire of that dream back because your time is coming. Every dream in your heart, every promise that's taken root, God not only put it there, He has every intention of bringing it to pass. Keep your spirit of faith high and see your dreams come to pass!