I heard Pastor Prince's sermon 'Speaking God's Language of Faith' a few times because it is really such a fantastic sermon. But today when I heard it again, this message jumped at me.
You might have heard it before. Sometimes people say that faith is like this: when you believe or confess long enough, the thing that you desired which didn't exist will eventually materialise. Pastor Prince explained it like this. Actually it is not that the thing you desired never existed. The fact that you cannot see it with your physical eyes doesn't mean that it didn't exist.
The truth is that long before we believe or confess it, God had already seen the reality come to pass in our lives. For example, long before Abraham had a child, God already saw him as a father of many nations. God lives outside of time. He saw the future in Abraham if it has already happened. It heartens me to know that when God sees me, He sees me as a happy mother of children at home long before I even had that desire.
So, when we believe and confess God's promise for us, faith is actually about seeing reality from God's perspectives. We are agreeing with what God is doing in our lives and rejoicing in faith before we see the physical manifestation. Pastor Prince also mentioned that when the manifestation comes, we are not as excited as before. The reason is that some time ago, we have already rejoiced and celebrated the victory in faith. That is really so true.
Today, I would like challenge you to start seeing yourself as how God sees you - prosperous, healthy, strong, blessed, highly favoured and deeply loved!
Friday, November 26, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Speaking to Your Mountain
Many of us want to see the desired results in our lives but how many of us are speaking what we want to see? I just want to quote an example in which I spoke to my mountain and saw the results manifest.
The completion date (the day we collect the keys) for our new home is on 1 Dec. Prior to that, we were expecting to receive a letter of approval from Central Provident Fund (CPF) to confirm the use of funds in our ordinary accounts to pay for part of our condo downpayment. The use of CPF funds is very critical because we need to 'cough up' this amount equivalent in cash if this does not materialise. Of course I checked all the necessary conditions and even called up CPF Board to confirm we could use this money, after setting aside some Minimum Sum in our accounts.
I remembered opening our letterbox a few times expecting to see the CPF letter but the letter haven't arrived. Surprisingly, I was not disappointed. I just declared that 'The CPF Board has approved our request and our letter is on the way.' Each time I didn't see the letter, I would declare that it is on the way. As the completion date neared, I could have panicked, called CPF Board and worried about whether our request would be approved. But I didn't. I just spoke to my situation.
True enough, last Friday, the letter arrived! Praise the Lord! I was of course not surprised to see the letter because I had expected it to come all the while! But I was certainly relieved. I didn't even doubt the contents of the letter before I opened it. I assumed it would be approved and of course it was approved!
The interesting thing was another letter came along with this. It was not what I had expected though. This is a letter from Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to confirm that the caveat had been lodged on our new property, so that others could not lay claim to it. This letter was also important but I wasn't expecting it. But thank God it all came within the same day! I am really excited about the possession of our condo because it is just next week! Counting down to the momentous event!
The completion date (the day we collect the keys) for our new home is on 1 Dec. Prior to that, we were expecting to receive a letter of approval from Central Provident Fund (CPF) to confirm the use of funds in our ordinary accounts to pay for part of our condo downpayment. The use of CPF funds is very critical because we need to 'cough up' this amount equivalent in cash if this does not materialise. Of course I checked all the necessary conditions and even called up CPF Board to confirm we could use this money, after setting aside some Minimum Sum in our accounts.
I remembered opening our letterbox a few times expecting to see the CPF letter but the letter haven't arrived. Surprisingly, I was not disappointed. I just declared that 'The CPF Board has approved our request and our letter is on the way.' Each time I didn't see the letter, I would declare that it is on the way. As the completion date neared, I could have panicked, called CPF Board and worried about whether our request would be approved. But I didn't. I just spoke to my situation.
True enough, last Friday, the letter arrived! Praise the Lord! I was of course not surprised to see the letter because I had expected it to come all the while! But I was certainly relieved. I didn't even doubt the contents of the letter before I opened it. I assumed it would be approved and of course it was approved!
The interesting thing was another letter came along with this. It was not what I had expected though. This is a letter from Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to confirm that the caveat had been lodged on our new property, so that others could not lay claim to it. This letter was also important but I wasn't expecting it. But thank God it all came within the same day! I am really excited about the possession of our condo because it is just next week! Counting down to the momentous event!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
What Has Faith Got To Do With Lego
I am so excited to share from this book 'The Spirit of Faith' by Mark Hankins. I learnt about a very powerful spiritual principle that I needed to share with all.
The subtitle of this passage is 'Lego Bible Building Blocks'. In Mark 11:23, Jesus said 'Whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the seas, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.' Notice that Jesus said 'believe' once but he mentioned 'says' three times. We would have to pay three times more attention on the saying part than the believing part. The speaking part is vital to faith.
In Mark 11:23, Jesus used three different Greek words to explain the speaking part of faith. The first 'says' is the Greek word 'epo', which means command. It shows the authority of the believer. The second reference to 'says' was the Greek word 'laleo' which means to be bold and speak out with your own voice. The third reference to speaking is the Greek word 'lego' which means a systematic set discourse (conversation).
With reference to the Lego sets that contain building blocks for children to construct according to the diagram on the box, Jesus was in effect saying 'I am giving you a lego set of building blocks that you can use to frame your world according to the picture I have given to you in the Word of God.'
Oh to me, this is very exciting because this is a chance for me to re-construct my world according to what God says about me - healthy, strong, prosperous, fruitful, blessed and favoured. I can frame my future by putting the Word of God in my mouth. When I confess that I am the happy mother of children at home, I am actually framing my future to the picture that God has for me.
You have to recognise that your circumstances do not frame your future. Your words and confession actually shape and determine what you are and what you will become. Remember: epo, laleo, lego. So, what do you want to say about your future?
The subtitle of this passage is 'Lego Bible Building Blocks'. In Mark 11:23, Jesus said 'Whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the seas, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.' Notice that Jesus said 'believe' once but he mentioned 'says' three times. We would have to pay three times more attention on the saying part than the believing part. The speaking part is vital to faith.
In Mark 11:23, Jesus used three different Greek words to explain the speaking part of faith. The first 'says' is the Greek word 'epo', which means command. It shows the authority of the believer. The second reference to 'says' was the Greek word 'laleo' which means to be bold and speak out with your own voice. The third reference to speaking is the Greek word 'lego' which means a systematic set discourse (conversation).
With reference to the Lego sets that contain building blocks for children to construct according to the diagram on the box, Jesus was in effect saying 'I am giving you a lego set of building blocks that you can use to frame your world according to the picture I have given to you in the Word of God.'
Oh to me, this is very exciting because this is a chance for me to re-construct my world according to what God says about me - healthy, strong, prosperous, fruitful, blessed and favoured. I can frame my future by putting the Word of God in my mouth. When I confess that I am the happy mother of children at home, I am actually framing my future to the picture that God has for me.
You have to recognise that your circumstances do not frame your future. Your words and confession actually shape and determine what you are and what you will become. Remember: epo, laleo, lego. So, what do you want to say about your future?
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