SENSING OF 2022

Blessed 2022 to all! I had been battling with some things in the last few months hence had not been posting. As I was just reviewing my journals and the posts for the past week. I realised that God was trying to tell me after I had been through the fire and water, He is bringing me to a wealthy place. I have been impressed upon this verse about seeing the goodness of God in the land of the living in Jan but along the way with all the assaults, I forgot about it. It was only recently, especially in Dec that the Lord brought this verse to my remembrance. Although it still didn’t see like I had seen much of God’s goodness in the natural, the hope is that I would see more of His goodness before this year ends. 

(When I did the review of 2021, I finally saw the goodness of God. I was blown away because there was so much the Lord did for us this year. More than anything else, the greatest work was inside us. How He changed us, fortified us and sustained us in spite of the opposition and persecution. He has done such a marvellous work of cutting off all bondages in our lives. Bringing us to a place where we can be fearless in Christ. To see His hand at work despite all the evil in the world. To find hope where others see no way out.

 

Though the trials were uncomfortable and we didn’t like it, we made it through by His grace. We didn’t perish in the fire. What didn’t kill us would only make us stronger. God burnt away the ropes of captivity in the fire, gave us true freedom. We had a taste of persecution so we would know how to navigate it in the future. We also testify to God being our provider. How He came through for us when we most needed Him to. Nowadays I can hear His voice more easily, His instructions gave me the courage to move on.)

 

Well it didn’t occur to me that as I was talking about going through the fire and water, the fiery furnace like the Hebrew teenagers, until one of our pastors also preached on this on 19 Dec. And this month the Lord began to talk to me about the wealthy place He is bringing us in 2022. Even though things still seemed dire in the natural, my spirit was stirred up and excited when I caught a glimpse of this wealthy place. The transfer of wealth will begin next year and will accelerate. I had gotten a forecast of this transfer in the past two years but more is to come. 

 

I still didn’t know exactly how God prospered us in the past two years because my focus wasn’t on it. Especially this year, the attacks were mainly in our health. From the recent messages, it seemed like the season of fighting and contending was finally over as we chased out the giants and possessed our land. So the next assignment is to start building. There was a time and season to fight and conquer, but now is the time to build. Exactly what we are building I am still not very sure but God will download the blueprints in the days ahead. 

 

My sense for next year is that it would be a more stable year, less of the roller coaster ups and downs we encountered this year. Either the circumstances would have changed next year or we have changed. Indeed the end of the season has come and we are entering into a new era. There has been much letting go of the past and putting the house in order. To make way for the new things. As the Lord heals our battle wounds and refreshes us before the new year begins, He is also causing us to hope and dream again. 

 

He is raising our expectancy of all the good things we can’t even imagine in 2022. Yes there will be a payback from the enemy. It is a season of great restoration. And there will also be many promises fulfilled. Long awaited promises. Hence it is the time to get my hopes up and press in. Don’t give up or give in. For in just a very little while my long-awaited promise will manifest. After I turned the corner around last Christmas. 

 

The reason for my confidence this time round is based on what God told me: I am coming out of my 13-year wilderness. I have passed the faith test. I have done whatever I knew to do. I have finished the race. I have closed the chapter of waiting. Now what awaits me is the manifestation. This is my reward for being faithful to His promise all these years. God is not a man that He should lie or change His mind.

So yes, I can look forward to the new year with hope because I have already come to the end of the old season. The old has passed away and the new has finally come. No matter how long the journey has been, I had walked to the end of it. During those years of waiting, I used to wonder many times if I could ever make it to the finish line, whether I would be able to endure to the end. Now I know that I have indeed crossed the finish line. There has been a dying, a death of sorts. Passing away of the old season and a part of me died along with it. Yet out of the death comes resurrection life.

As I sought the Lord for His plan in 2022, I began to see how wealth transfer is a recurrent theme. And God bringing us to a wealthy place next year. I still don’t know how things are going to pan out but God is going to bump us up to the next level of prosperity. Where we would not be able to achieve by our own strength. And people will look at us and wonder how we even manage to get there. So yes, financial blessings are going to play a big part in 2022. The other sensing is that 2022 is going to be a year of new beginning hence the restoration of God will take place. 

 

When God restores, it is always better in quality or quantity. So whatever the enemy stole from us in the past two years, God will make him repay us sevenfold. Our family will be very healthy next year because the enemy stole from our health this year. 2022 will also be a year of promises fulfilled where I will see that I hadn't heard God wrongly all these years and that His word really came to pass. 

 

Which was why the warfare was so fierce leading up to the crossover into 2022 because of all the pent-up and delayed blessings in the past decade. The dam was breaking. The walls are crumbling. This time the breakthrough is going to be so huge which was why the enemy was desperately trying to distract us. 2022 will be a repayment of all that I suffered in the 13-year journey. Pursue and overtake, recover all. A restoration of all the shame and pain that I went through. 

 

God will give me double honour for my shame. It will also be a year of launching into my divine destiny. Finally the year that Joseph got called to the palace. I will begin to see that all the preparation and training in the past decade didn’t go to waste. It was to prepare me for such a time like this. There will also be many open doors of opportunities. Be it my personal ministry or Joseph ministry. Hopes deferred will also be broken. An avalanche of blessings will be seen. 

There will also be much freedom in 2022 as all the restrictions would be removed when God cause the pandemic to end and the virus to fade away. Yes 2022 will be a very good year which is why God is so excited and He kept telling me to rejoice and celebrate now. If only you knew what is in store for you, you will not be discouraged or lose hope. You will rejoice now. 

Main themes for 2022:

• Year of giving birth to new things (John 16:21), sorrow turned into great joy
• Acceleration, things moving fast all at once (Amos 9:13)
• This is when harvest time comes, hundredfold return (Mark 4:20)
• Avalanche of blessings began, floodgates of heaven open over us (Acts 10:11)
• Time of restoration and repayment (Joel 2:25)
• Good days ahead because we have been through the fire and water, enemy overplayed his hand (Psalm 66:12)

 

AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS

Yesterday wasn’t a good day for many of us. The US Congress has certified and confirmed Biden’s win. It was sad that Mike Pence didn’t object or stand up for Trump. It was also sad that the riots at Capitol Hill was turned into an act of violence though I believe it wasn’t started by Trump supporters. We saw thousands and thousands of people travelling to Washington DC to support Trump but in the end there was such an anti climax for them to go home without seeing the outcome they wanted. 

Even though we knew this wasn’t the end, there was still two more weeks to Presidential Inauguration but still, this wasn’t the outcome we expected. Trump went through all the possible routes like Supreme Court and Congress. He did all that he knew to do. It was all an act to flush out the people who are not for him and not for God. It was amazing how many people, including notable ministers who had turned away from what they initially declared that Trump is God’s choice. 

 

All this just taught me to put my eyes on Jesus rather than on man. At this point all of us are totally powerless. We really didn’t know what else we could do but to look to God. We had prayed, bound, declared and stood on our faith. There is nothing else to do but to continue to stand on what God told us. This is like another test that we have to pass before promotion. 

 

God didn’t tell us to win the election for Trump. That wasn’t the reason why He got us to pray for US. He told us to do our part and He will do His part. I believe we are at this place where all hopes seemed to be gone, everything seemed to be hopeless and dead. Just like the time when Lazarus died. Yet Jesus told Mary in John 11:40 that ‘If only you believed, you would see the glory of God!’ 

 

God is still asking us whether we can believe when all seemed to be lost. Like the defeat seemed to be imminent. Can we still stand on what He said? Can we trust that even though things don’t turn out the way we expected, God’s will is still going to prevail? Eventually God will work all things out for our good. Besides victory is already assured at the cross. It is only a matter of time that He comes on the scene in power and glory.

 

The world, the media, the people behind all these lies and injustices act as though God is dead. But God is very much alive! And He is laughing in heaven at the plans of the evil doers (Psalm 2:4). Though it didn’t seem like victory is on our side in the natural, we ask God to open our eyes to see that more is with us than against us! God is on our side and angels are being dispatched to turn things around now.

 

I don’t believe that God has turned a deaf ear to the millions of His people crying out to Him and praying for truth and justice to prevail in US, even all around the world. I don’t believe His hands are too short to save. I believe there is more than meets the eyes. Right now, God is planning a comeback. The greatest turnaround that no one could imagine. So that when it happens, all the world will know it can only be through the hand of God. 

 

And so this is my response to what happened yesterday at the Congress. I am not giving up on God’s word. I still stand for justice and truth. And I still believe Trump is God’s choice. I believe God is still looking for a group of people, perhaps a remnant who doesn’t give up, who continue to stand and pray. I don’t need to justify my faith to others. I also don’t believe that God needs me to safeguard His reputation or His name. He alone is powerful to defend Himself. He is God. 

 

On the contrary I will praise and worship. I will rejoice in the Lord for victory belongs to us! I ask for eyes of faith to see what God is doing and not what I am watching from the media. This is my encouragement to those who are weary and losing hope right now. This is not over yet! It cannot end on a defeated note. This is not God’s ways. It will always end in victory. We continue to rest in His faithfulness. Watch and see how God comes on the scene! God will turn our sorrow into joy! Those who trust in the Lord will never be disappointed! 

MAKING SENSE OF WHAT’S HAPPENING NOW

Recently some of us were talking about how the debt system had to collapse so that the wealth transfer can take place. Or else the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. Some of us held the opinion that perhaps the reason why Trump wasn’t re-elected was because God didn’t want him to be remembered for posterity as the person who brought about the Great Depression. With Joe Biden as the president, the financial market would head towards the crash sooner.  

Well, this thinking seemed very logical and made a lot of sense but I discerned it might not be coming from a heavenly perspective. Many financial experts like Jim Rogers and Ray Dalios had been talking about the market crash, a depression worse than 1930s in order for a reset to take place. So that the people in the world enslaved to this debt system for a century could be set free. But I was reminded that we could be boxing God in if we limit His work to just resetting the financial system.

 

Just like when Jesus came, the Jews expected their Messiah to overthrow the Roman Empire and set them free from the oppression like what God did for them in Egypt. But this time Jesus came for the entire world. He had to die and be resurrected again. This was something the Jews didn’t expect and hence they rejected their Messiah. Just because Jesus didn’t come to fulfil their expectation didn’t make him any less than a Saviour.

 

The Jews were thinking about their nation whereas God had the entire world’s salvation in mind. It was not just about Israel but the church. Similarly I became very clear that what the enemy was coming hard against wasn’t about the wealth transfer or the great financial reset or even delivering the poor from bondage. The enemy was trying so hard to stop the revival from coming. He knew that when the church, the sleeping giant awakened, that would be the end of his control of the earth. 

 

All the deception, the lies and the system which he used to keep the church and the world enslaved for centuries would be destroyed. This is beginning to happen right now. When the church awakened, she would fight back and take her place to usher in the great revival. This would be the restoration of all things that Acts 3:21 talked about before Jesus comes back again. God is bringing His church to a place of greatest glory and being found spotless. (Ephesians 5:27)

 

Some people also talked about how if Biden wins, then the financial and age-old debt system would collapse sooner then the world would head into a one government rule faster. Then it would hasten the rapture and the second coming of Jesus. But the Lord showed me that this is actually the enemy’s plan, to keep the church in a compromised position, passively waiting for rapture to come while the whole world heads towards the great tribulation. 

There are believers who seriously think there is no need to pray for whatever will happen will happen. 

This kind of thinking gives no place for the church to play a key role in the end times. There would be no need to take possession of the seven mountains. No need to make a stand for Jesus. No need to use the authority Jesus has given us to take dominion of this earth. Where then would the glory be found? No! I don’t believe that this is God’s best for His people. For His church. 

 

I believe God wants His people to stand up, be bold and influence the world. The church is not peripheral to the world but the world is peripheral to the church. And now is the time to be trained up as warriors. Now is the time to start taking possession of our inheritance. Isaiah 60:1 says ‘Arise and shine for your light has come! The glory of the Lord has risen upon you!’

 

Honestly if you think about it, if we don’t take a stand for Jesus on certain issues then when the rubber meets the road, do you think we will have the boldness to be a witness for Christ? The word martyr simply means being a witness. Are we able to witness for Jesus at the expense of our lives? I don’t know know about you but at this point I still cannot, for example stand up to the government regarding certain issues, but God is toughening me up. He is giving me boldness to speak forth words from His heart. 

 

Words that might offend or not go well with some belief systems but I have to be obedient to the Lord and not fear men. Like Esther, who knows we have come to this position for such a time like this? If we remain silent, deliverance will come to the house of God through other ways. But we would have lost our opportunity to be part of God’s great plan to usher in the biggest harvest of souls. 

 

Now I believe that though God cares for the poor and those oppressed by the rich but ultimately He cares most about their eternal salvation. The harvest of souls during the end times is on His heart. And that is what the enemy is coming hard against. If the church remained asleep and continued to compromise on certain issues, then there would be no restraining force for the anti-Christ to come on the scenes. 

 

But I believe that God has put His church as the restraining force. As long as the church is on earth, the anti-Christ cannot come on the scene. So you see, things that are happening in the world now are giving us an opportunity to respond. Of course we should always pray and seek the Lord’s will instead of just listening to what the prophets are saying. Then we can have our own position based on our understanding from the Lord. 

 

In fact this is what God desires for His children. That everyone of us can hear His voice and know His heart on all these issues. After all the Holy Spirit was placed inside us to help guide us and show us things to come. In fact, this is a crucial time to press into the Lord’s presence for answers. So many believers have questions about what the Lord is doing ever since the pandemic started. I encourage you all to seek this Lord on this. 

 

And God is so good. He loves it when we press into His presence. He promises that we can hear His voice because we are His sheep (John 10:27). But after He shows us His will, we need to have the proper response. We need to take action. It could start with praying for certain people in authority, especially our own government. Or it could be influencing our circle of friends. The Lord will show us the way if we really have the heart to witness for Him. He will not disappoint us or put us to shame.

 

A MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH

I really want to thank God for a major breakthrough that occurred recently, during the Passover week. This matter was about an overdeduction of Heng's pay for Central Provident Fund (CPF) when he was still in the previous company. The company was required to make restitution in Nov 2016 and they did so for one entity. But for the entity that Heng was in, the payment was supposed to be voluntary as this matter had not surfaced to the CPF Board. The good thing was the company decided to also pay the employees in that entity. However the payment was delayed for a long while.

Even after Heng left the company in Feb 2017, this payment was still not made. Now we know this was a repayment for the overdeduction in Heng's salary so we didn't want to let it go. This money had Heng's name on it. There was a delay as the company had cash flow issues and asked to pay up only by end Mar 2018. There was a time during the wait when I felt this issue was immovable and I could not see how they would pay up. Hopes were raised and then dashed as there were further delays. Many times we felt so frustrated and upset over this issue.

Heng later found out that some employees had already received the restitution in Dec 2017. So we waited patiently till end Mar even though we hoped that God would expedite the entire process. On 26 Mar, Heng received news from the previous company. We were elated to hear from them finally! We thought that the contending, the fight of faith was finally over. But it was not over. On 30 Mar, which was the start of Passover and also Good Friday, something cropped up so Heng still could not receive the repayment. We were so pissed and frustrated.

It felt like the meat was already at our mouths but we still could not eat it. But we knew the enemy was desperate. It was a last ditch attempt to make Heng give up on the repayment. Heng likened this situation to the time when Pharaoh and his armies pursued Israel. If they didn't pursue, they wouldn't have perished. But because they did, they died a horrible death. So we prayed and bound the opposing forces in Jesus' name and asked God to loose the solution from Heaven. The next day God gave Heng a strategy to recover the money, which Heng set about doing.

I then realised that it was a good place to be in because shortly after that, God would open the Red Sea to let us cross over. Not only that God also would drown our enemies by closing up the Red Sea. The enemies we see today we will see no more. After our enemies perished, we could them plunder their spoils. It was a double win. Double restoration. I told Heng it wasn't a coincidence that this thing happened on Passover.

I was singing the song of deliverance from the cartoon movie 'Prince of Egypt' during those few days. I was telling Heng we should watch this movie again to remind us of how God delivered the Israelites and destroying the enemies. It was no coincidence that this movie was showing on TV that evening. God was reminding us that He is fighting our battle as we watched how the Egyptian armies were drowned by the Red Sea.

It was brought to my attention that Passover this year fell on Good Friday. It was again no coincidence. Something is very special this Passover. We are really crossing over to a new season, a new level. In fact, the Holy Spirit already alerted me to such opposing forces two weeks ago and had me pray in tongues more frequently last week. The Lord has already released strategies to getting a breakthrough this Passover.

So this recent event shouldn't come as a surprise to me. After all God had prepared me in advance for this opposition. He has given me the strategies to break this cycle of delay. Even so I was still feeling weary. At the end of the church service last Sunday, I told the Lord the battle belonged to Him. It had been such an intense weekend. We had come such a long way for the issue yet at the final stage the enemy was still trying to keep us from our restoration. At this point I was too tired to fight the enemy. I had already done what I knew to, so the rest was up to God.

Of course we would not give up as we were so close to breakthrough. But just the thought of having to press on for a while more, to handle another delay was unbearable. Yet we had come so far, waited 1.5 years, endured such a long delay so what was another few days of waiting? The end was already here. Besides it wasn't as if we needed the money. God is so good. During our Resurrection Sunday service, there was an video of a lion roaring which stuck in my mind. God was assuring me that the Lion of Judah was roaring over our roadblock so all would be well.

What happened on Monday was nothing short of a miracle. Heng did exactly what God put on his heart, said what he had to say to the company and God resolved it for him in that same day! So there was no more delay! Heng received the cheque on Tuesday and we happily banked in the cheque, giving thanks to the marvellous work the Lord had done for us. Indeed it was a tremendous breakthrough. What had seemed like an impossible mountain was finally removed by the Lord! 

Praise Jesus for His resurrection power!

GOD DID A MARVELLOUS WORK!

Today is Joshua's last check up with the bone specialist. He had a fall on 15 Feb which caused his wrist to be fractured. Even though he had his cast removed on 14 Mar and all will be well with this last visit, somehow I still felt a bit uneasy about today's check up. I guess it was because of the one bad experience when his bone slipped out of alignment that I was a bit apprehensive. Even when God has redeemed that bad experience with two positive ones, somehow a part of me, the flesh part was prone to worry. There were thoughts thrown by the enemy about the possibility of his bone slipping out of alignment again, just like that time. Especially since the cast had come off and there was no support for his hand.

But when such thoughts came up, I just cast them to the Lord and said Jesus took the punishment for Joshua at the cross so he is completely healed. God will be judicially unjust if He put on Joshua what Jesus had paid. Hence I proclaim that the report will be good in Jesus' name. That gave me some peace but I still had to go through it, as in to get this check up over and done with. I couldn't really sleep late this morning and woke up before the alarm rang. I took this time to do quiet time and to build up my inner man.

I was praying in tongues and reading the devotionals when doctor called us into his office. He asked how was Joshua and Joshua said good. Doctor was surprised for this was the first time he heard Joshua speak. He then put the X Ray up and said it was all very good. When I saw the X Ray, I was surprised to see that his bone had aligned perfectly. I never thought I would see such a sight. It was as if he never had that fracture at all! I was so happy to see that God has done a beautiful work of healing Joshua's hand! Not only I became more relaxed, I was over the moon! The Lord has done a marvellous work for us! He has turned all things out for our good!

While I was feeling restless, God has already gone ahead to prepare this good news for me. He has in store this wonderful surprise for me! Had it not for this last visit, I wouldn't be able to see the completion of His wonderful work in Joshua's hand. I wouldn't be breaking out in praise and worship, amazed at the resounding victory Jesus has wrought for me. I thank God for restoring my faith and confidence in Him, as He showed me that He answers my prayers and watches over us. More good news to come! I could sing of Your love forever! Right now I just want to thank God that it is finally over! The last check up is over and Joshua is discharged from seeing the doctor! Below is the X Ray of his wrist before and after.

Lost and Found

Last week I happened to find the keys to my bedrooms which we thought we had lost. In fact, we could not even remember if we had taken over these keys from the previous owner when we bought this place. It was just that we could not find these keys for the past year that we stayed here. We had intended get a locksmith to replicate another set of keys for us but never got down to it. Well, actually the keys (kept in a pouch) were always in the drawer of the TV console and I was the one who put them there!

When we found that one of the bedrooms was accidentally locked from the inside in Jan, we panicked because we thought we did not have the keys. It was on the first day of Chinese New Year and to get a locksmith to open the door would be so expensive. Thank God that the bedroom could be reached from the balcony via the toilet! Heng had to climb out of the toilet to access the bedroom window, open it and climb into the room to open the door. Now coming to think of it...it was really quite hilarious and totally unnecessary because we had the keys!

I believe God was trying to bring across an important learning point here and I asked Him to shed light in this situation since I have not received the full revelation. It's like a riddle. Something that you already have it all along. You received it but you forgot about it and never used it. Then you act as if you never received it in the first place and lived your life without it.  You thought you lost it but it was with you all along. When God opened your eyes to see that it was with you all along, you are so happy and you rejoice and praise God!

What could this be? Suddenly, in a flash, the Holy Spirit revealed what that was to me. It was the spirit of faith.  I completely forgot that I received the God-kind of faith many years ago. No wonder God had to remind me about Mark 11:22 'Have faith in God" or have the God-kind of faith. Every believer has a measure of faith upon salvation because it takes faith to receive Christ. Faith can grow like the smallest mustard seed to the largest of all garden plants (Mark 4:30-32).

I always have faith in God but I was stumbled by my past experiences. After waiting so long for some of the promises to come to pass in my life and thinking that I have exercised my faith in vain, I lapsed back into believing that maybe I did not even have faith in the first place. I have been trying to live my life with my own efforts forgetting that I have this wonderful resource within me. The truth is the spirit of faith is in me. Learning about the gospel of grace does not negate the importance of faith. Faith is equally important. It is by grace, through faith that we have been saved (Eph. 2:8). Both grace and faith is the gift of God; it is not from ourselves, that we should boast about.  

Our experiences though real would not negate our faith in God. There is a fight of faith but it is a good fight because in the end, God says we win. Hence what we can do is to rest and enjoy the process. When you truly believe God's Word, you enter into His rest (Heb. 4:3). You cease from your efforts and toilsome labor and finally, when you enter into rest, God brings it to pass. 1 Peter 1:8-9 says 'Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith..." The end of our faith is when the thing we believe for manifests and we don't have to believe for it anymore.

To get from believing to receiving, when we have a spirit of faith, we rejoice with "joy unspeakable and full of glory". This is like how I rejoice when I realised that I always have this spirit of faith; I never lost it. It's good news that our faith has an end; the situation we are in has an end! I can rejoice even more now because I have seen the outcome of my faith in many promises in my life. The fulfillment of these promises just spurs me on to seeing the rest of the promises come to pass. Joshua 21:45 says 'Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord has spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.' Let that sink into your spirit - ALL CAME TO PASS. Hallelujah! Praise Jesus!  

Guard your 'ear' gates and 'eye' gates

I felt impressed to share this experience I had. It was a totally unpleasant experience in which I fell sick and had senseless pain for at least a week.

It all started with a harmless book. This book was bought from Beijing. It is one of the timeless classics in Chinese literature. I bought this book because even though I read it in secondary school, I had no recollection of what it talked about. Not only that, because we were 'forced' to read this book, I remembered feeling so repulsed by it that I completely lost interest in Chinese as a language.  Only until recently my interest in Chinese was rekindled by God and I discovered what a beauttiful language it is.

After reading most of the book, I realised why I hated it in the first place. This story was so depressing. It did not have any heroic acts or any strong characters that would capture audience's attention. The storyline was weak and there were no turning points. It was like a downstream ride all the way till final destruction. The main characters were melancholic, pessimistic and they cried easily. They were victims of societal norms and eventually the lady died of an illness. She did not even get to see her lover for the last time. Her lover, on the other hand, was deceived into marrying another lady during those last moments of her life. How pathetic right!

Well, I guess maybe that is really the case for unbelievers. They really cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel. They have no hope for the future. But this should not be so for us! We are children of the Most High God and our days are getting brighter as time passes.  Our hope is in Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us from the curse of the law and the sin of this world through His death on the cross! No wonder I totally cannot identify with the characters in that book. I am the blessed one!

However, unknowingly as I got deeper into the plot of this book, I opened my mind to the spirits of distress. Dear beloved, I can tell you that the spirit realm is more real than the physical realm. Everything that you see (whether good or bad) first happened in the spirit realm. It is in this realm that strongholds are set up or destroyed. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says 'For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war accordingly to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought to the obedience of Christ...'

When you find yourself caught in an endless cycle of depression or sickness or some bondage, go to the Lord and ask Him to show you what is happening in the spirit realm. You would be surprised to discover that the cause of all these things is not of the natural! And here you are running around in the natural trying to solve the problem which is not even natural...sounds familiar right?

This was what happened to me. After a few days of gum pain which refused to go away, I went to see a doctor but even after taking antibiotics, the pain still recurred after the effects of the painkiller wear off. I thought that this issue could be solved with medication. I finally sought the Lord for the reason and for the resolution.  The Lord showed me that I would not be able to get results from the world. John 3:6 says flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. The stronghold originated in the spirit realm and has to be destroyed in that realm.

When He revealed to me the source of the stronghold, I quickly took hold of that book and trashed it. I declared 'You foul spirits of distress, go in the Name of Jesus, along with this pain and swollen gums!' At that moment I felt a release and even though the pain was still there, I knew that this was a turning point and I would experience the manifestation of healing soon. True enough, by the next day the cycle of pain was broken even after I stopped taking painkillers. Praise God!

Dear brothers and sisters, I just wanted to share that all things are permissible but not all things are beneficial (1 Corinthians 10:23). We really need to guard our 'ear' gates and 'eye' gates because sometimes the materials we read or hear take root in our heart unknowingly and slowly become a stronghold. This would eventually play out in our lives as physical manifestations because wrong believing leads to wrong living.  Conversely, if you let the Word of God take root in your life, you will surely bear fruit. Proverbs 12:12 says the root of the righteous yields fruit.

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!   

Don't Give Up!

Have you ever had experiences when you are believing the Word of God and acting on it, then the troubles in your life seem to increase and not decrease? In times like that, one really wonders 'Where is the restful increase that Pastor Prince often talks about?' We ask God 'I am trying my best to remain at rest but
why are all these troubles still happening?'

Recently there has been numerous troubles that the enemy has thrown in my path of rest. After I recovered from gastric flu, there had been a case of my toilet sewage pipe blockage just yesterday. It was so bad that I had to call in the plumber to clear the pipes and the mess. Honestly, it was a traumatic experience but I wish to spare you all of the gross details.

As I laid on my bed last night, totally exhausted from the day's event, I was wondering why there seemed to be no end to these troubles or attacks from the enemy. I felt that I was so tired that I could not withstand another blow anymore...I told God 'please have mercy on me!'. The encouragement that came to me was 'Don't give up' and a quiet assurance that God will turn beauty out of ashes.

Today Pastor Joel's devotional 'Your Reward is Coming' is like God cheering me on, telling me to persevere. The devotional talked about how when I stay in peace and stay faithful with what God has called me to do, not only will God fight my battles, He will pay me back for all the troubles the enemy brought into my life. No matter what is going on around me, I know God is faithful and my reward is coming! God will perfect everything concerning me and reward me beyond what I can ask or imagine!

First Samuel 26:23 says 'The Lord rewards everyone for their righteousness and faithfulness.' God is so good. He rewards us for something that we don't even have (righteousness and faithfulness) in the first place!

Praying for Japan

The major earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan caused more damage than it was initially thought. This was because of the explosions of the nuclear plants, releasing radioactive materials into the atmosphere. And it did not help that the snow in the afflicted areas made the conditions of survivors and rescue teams almost impossible.

In spite of all these, I believe God has already tempered the disaster with mercy. Had the quake hit mainland Japan, instead of the ocean, it would have caused even greater damage. And there are cases when there are miraculous survivors in the afflicted areas that seemed impossible like the four month baby who was found. Cases like these showed God's protection over these people.

While our hearts ache for Japan's people who are afflicted, let's plead the blood of Jesus and the mercy of God over them. In John 14:12-14, Jesus said '...the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father. And whatever you ask in My Name, that I will do, that the Father be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My Name, I will do it.'

We pray that the authorities have the wisdom to deal with the leakage of the nuclear radiation and that the effects of the radiation would be minimised and not pass on to the next generation. We also pray for the snow to stop so that the rescue work would not be hampered and that more survivors would be found. Let's pray that the food and water supplies would be provided to those Japanese in refuge.

Most importantly, we pray that Japan would see Jesus in this crisis and when they cry out for Jesus, He would turn the situation around, bring comfort and relief to Japan and protect the nation from further harm.

Bragging about God's Goodness

Today I am bragging about how good God is. I just had an exit interview with my CEO yesterday. It was really full and complete restoration of my honour in this re-organisation.

I never knew how my CEO thought of me and I never bothered to ask. Yesterday, for the first time, I heard him say he actually valued me a lot and he also relied on me to charge forward with the capability development work in the early days of the re-org. I have heard what high standards my CEO had for his staff and how he was usually not very generous with his compliments.

Hence I really thank God that I have his respect and recognition! He even told me it was a pity that I chose to leave this place but in any case, he respected my decision and hoped I would find my peace in doing so. I told me I certainly have peace in leaving because I am leaving this place in joy and peace.

God is so good - it is actually enough for me to know that I am greatly valued by my Dy CEO and my supervisor but He went a step further to let me hear this directly from my CEO. What a great contrast to my experience 7 years ago when I left my previous organisation as I felt so condemned by my CEO. God had really turned around this situation and I can leave this place with my head lifted high! God did it all for me! All glory to God!

Finally Tendered My Resignation!

I finally tendered my letter of resignation on 30 Dec and my last day is 31 Jan 2011. What a sigh of relief when I finally submitted the letter to my boss! It seemed to take so long before I get to pass this letter to her. Afterall, I made the decision to leave in Oct 2010. So it has been 3 months since I waited to tender.

Actually, to be factually correct, I had waited for 2 years for this day to come. But when the day finally came, I had mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand, I am very happy and relieved to leave. On the other hand, I was quite sentimental...I thought of all those years I stayed in this organisation. As I passed by the reception counter, I could still remember coming here for my interview and observing the culture here which I really liked. It has since changed...everything felt so different now in my workplace.

But God told me there is nothing to feel emotional about. All it just means is that my season here has come to an end and I have finished the race well. Hence I need to move on.  In fact, God is the one who started a good work of restoration in me and He brought it to completion.

In 2004, when I left my previous organisation, I had just gone through a re-organisation as well. I didn't do well in that re-org but God was gracious to me. He quickly opened a way out for me to leave my organisation then. But the manner in which I left was not the best - I felt I left in shame and I couldn't lift my head high because my dept was condemned by my CEO then.

Little did I know that by bringing me here, God had set into motion a great plan of restoration in this workplace. And true enough, about 5 years later, He brought about another re-org here. But this time, my dept gained favour and was brought to the forefront. Besides, God planted wonderful, smart and capable bosses to guide me. As a result, I did much better in this re-org than the previous one, all glory to God!

And now as I leave this place, I can leave with my head lifted high, at the highest point of my career here. I can leave with joy and peace, with no regrets. God's work of restoration is now complete and I have to move on to greater heights. I am excited about what God is going to bring me to in my next season as I close this chapter of my life, knowing that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Restoration for marriages

I have a very dear uncle whom I loved very much and I looked up to him as a role model since young. He was always encouraging me to do well in my studies and would reward me with gifts and cash when I had good grades in school. He was always generous towards me. Actually my parents were not so concerned about how I do in school but my uncle was. He believed in the best in me and always told me that I could earn 'big' money in future and give my parents a better life. My family was very poor then.

Little did he know that the seed he sowed in me many years ago actually bloomed and blossomed. Today I grew up to be exactly what he had expected me to. I was the first in the entire family to have completed a university education and brought pride to my parents.  I thank God that I had such a loving uncle who believed so much in me when even my parents didn't seem to care so much in the past.

Many years later, he and his wife had some challenges in their marriage. They were on the verge of a divorce. It turned out that he had made some mistakes again and again. Now his wife was very disappointed with him.  But thank God that both of them are believers and that my auntie is touched by God's grace. Even how trying it was for her, she never gave up on this marriage. I really admire her for her love and dedication for my uncle.  The road towards restoration is not easy and sometimes they still struggle. I know my uncle is also trying his best to turn around. I thank God that it is not by his own efforts but by God's grace. That will take the pressure off self-performance.

But I truly believe that God's work of restoration in their family is complete because of the finished work in Christ. In my eyes, I still see my uncle as the loving and compassionate one.  No matter what mistakes he has done, he will still be respected by me. Even if no one believes in him, I still will. And I believe my faith that God will fully restore their marriage will cause a beam of light to pierce through unbelief all the way up to heaven and the anointing will follow the line of faith back to earth to release the power of God!  I know that God will turn the ashes into beauty and this family will emerge stronger and closer to the Lord! They would be a great testimony and blessing to many others who could be going through the same struggles! Amen!

Baggage Draggers

Everyone of us has baggage. It could be an offence, a betrayal, an unfair situation which results in anger, doubt or bitterness.  Either way, such baggage is like junk. This past week had been tough for me because I had to deal with the issues of my work which I had handed over to another dept after the re-organisation.

I guess I felt indignant because I was not treated right. I had to keep casting my cares to the Lord. I had to drop those burdens. I had to tell myself to forgive those colleagues who treated me not so kindly. I struggled a lot about forgiving them. It was tough because many of them are my friends, my sisters in Christ. But I told God I don't want all these baggage to be dragged into the next season of my life. I don't want to be a baggage dragger.  I made a decision. I prayed for them instead. I asked God to bless them richly in their lives. The love that the Holy Spirit shed in my heart was the only way to help me forgive them.

Actually I can choose not to care about many of the projects so much since I have decided to leave this company. But a part of me just want to do my best to have a good closure. Again I need to remind myself it is not by my own strength that I close this chapter well. It has to be God's strength because He who started a good work in me will bring it to completion until the day of Christ (Phil 1:6).

I told myself that I am still going to leave this place with my head lifted high. I know I may have made mistakes or not done a good work in handing over my projects. Anyone from the old regime would have known that it was the best I could do in those times. Anyway, many of those who criticise my work don't even have a solution in the first place! So when we took the ball and ran, we got the flax! I told myself God can turn those unfair situations around. People may have hurt me and done me wrong but I will leave it up to God. I trust that my Daddy God will not only make my wrongs right, He will repay double for all these trouble.  I ask that God will give me the grace to see me through the remaining 2 months in this place. I shall go out in peace and be led forth in joy! Amen!