Did you ever encounter situations when you are serious about the Word of God, feeding and acting on God's Word daily and then you experience more troubles and distractions? When such things happen, it throws you into confusion, thinking 'What have I done wrong?'
The fact is, you have not done anything wrong. On the contrary, you have been believing right and that's why the devil launches an attack on God's Word. Learning from the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:13-20, I observed that there are 4 scenarios when the devil attempts to steal God's Word:
1) Seed sown by the wayside - when we first receive the Word and our hearts may not fully understand it.
2) Seed sown on stony ground - when we have a full revelation of the Word and receive it with joy. But when trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, these believers are stumbled and give up on the Word.
3) Seed sown among thorns - when the Word is taking root in our hearts but the worries and the distractions of this world choke the Word of God.
4) Seed sown on good grounds - when we believe right and God is about to bring tremendous blessings to our life. Those who hear and accept the Word bear fruit: thirtyfold, sixtyfold and hundredfold.
I believe that most of us can identify with the 3rd and 4th scenario. For me, it is the 4th scenario I am going through now. I am encouraged that the harvest comes thirtyfold, sixtyfold and hundredfold. This meant that I might not see the fruit of the Word of God sown in my heart all at once but the blessings are progressive. I have seen God's manifestation of His promise in most areas of my life but for some areas, I am still persevering. When we receive the Word and the opposite situation happens, keep on believing, keep on persevering and God promises that we will surely bring forth fruit with patience.
Pastor Prince said that patience means there are adverse circumstances against the Word and we are fighting against contradictory symptoms in our bodies that are screaming 'The Word is a lie! The Word is a lie!' But when we still persevere with God's Word, we will surely bring forth fruit! When we do this, no demon can prevent that Word of God from bearing fruit in our life. And God is merciful, He will not delay a single moment. He promised in Hebrews 10:37 that 'For just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not tarry.'
So my friends, when you find yourself in that situation, rejoice for your hundredfold harvest is coming! You will see that in just a little while, when you have persevered and done the will of God, you will receive the promise. The reward is going to be so sweet that you will not regret that you have persevered even though the path you have walked have not been easy.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
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!
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!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Holy Communion
Another important area I would like to address is Holy Communion. In this blog post, I have extracted key points in Pastor Prince's book 'Health and Wholeness through the Holy Communion'.
What I was taught in a traditional church was that I would need to confess all my sins before partaking the communion or else I will be eating and drinking God's judgment upon myself. First Corinthians 11:29 says 'For he who eats and drinks in an unworthily manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.' Sometimes I was not sure if I have confessed all my sins and hence I would rather not take the Holy Communion.
Actually other than remembering that Jesus' body was broken for us and His blood was shed for our forgiveness of sins, I was not totally sure why I was partaking of His body when I came to the Table. And precisely that was the reason why many sincere believers were not receiving the divine life of our Saviour, causing them to be weak and sick and to die before their time. First Corinthians 11:30 says 'For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.' Sleep here means death, not bodily rest. If this is true, the opposite would be true too. If we do discern the Lord's body, we will walk in his divine health and wholeness.
How then do we discern the Lord's body? First we must be clear that the body and the blood should not be treated as one. The wine, which is His blood is for our forgiveness of sins. The bread, which is His body, is for our healing. in Mark 7:26-28, Jesus referred healing for the Greek woman's daughter as children's bread. When we partake of the Lord's body, we are partaking of His divine health for Jesus was never sick. He was vibrant, full of life and full of health. So when Jesus said 'Take, eat; this is My body', He was imparting His life, health and wholeness to their bodies. His body was beaten, bruised and broken (symbolised by the Matzah, the flat bread eaten during Passover) so that our bodis can be whole.
What does it mean to partake in an unworthily manner in case we bring judgment upon ourselves? In First Corinthians 11:29, Apostle Paul said that if we eat and drink unworthily, we bring judgment to ourselves. The word 'unworthily' is an adverb, which means it modifies the verb. In this case, 'unworthily' describes the action of eating and drinking, not the person eating or drinking.
So Paul was not saying if you are an unworthy person, don't partake of the Lord's Supper. (In fact, the blood of Jesus already made us worthy before God!) He was saying that we should not partake in an unworthily manner which means taking the Holy Communion when we don't understand the significance of the Lord's body. In such cases, the Holy Communion can easily become a ritual if we don't understand the significance of the bread. Hence most believers (like me in the past) missed out on the blessings of health and healing. Not only that, by failing to discern the Lord's body, we are making Jesus' work on the cross ineffective and powerless.
Jesus told us to have Communion often, so there must be something powerful about it. His blessings of health, wholeness and preservation of life abound at His Table. We do not need a pastor to conduct the Holy Communion. Once we are believers, we are priests (1 Peter 2:9). We can partake of the Lord's Supper at home. In the church, pastors do it because they are the spiritual authority over the people and there must be some order in how they conduct things. Outside of the church, we, as royal priests, are qualified to partake on our own, as often as we wish to.
What I was taught in a traditional church was that I would need to confess all my sins before partaking the communion or else I will be eating and drinking God's judgment upon myself. First Corinthians 11:29 says 'For he who eats and drinks in an unworthily manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.' Sometimes I was not sure if I have confessed all my sins and hence I would rather not take the Holy Communion.
Actually other than remembering that Jesus' body was broken for us and His blood was shed for our forgiveness of sins, I was not totally sure why I was partaking of His body when I came to the Table. And precisely that was the reason why many sincere believers were not receiving the divine life of our Saviour, causing them to be weak and sick and to die before their time. First Corinthians 11:30 says 'For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.' Sleep here means death, not bodily rest. If this is true, the opposite would be true too. If we do discern the Lord's body, we will walk in his divine health and wholeness.
How then do we discern the Lord's body? First we must be clear that the body and the blood should not be treated as one. The wine, which is His blood is for our forgiveness of sins. The bread, which is His body, is for our healing. in Mark 7:26-28, Jesus referred healing for the Greek woman's daughter as children's bread. When we partake of the Lord's body, we are partaking of His divine health for Jesus was never sick. He was vibrant, full of life and full of health. So when Jesus said 'Take, eat; this is My body', He was imparting His life, health and wholeness to their bodies. His body was beaten, bruised and broken (symbolised by the Matzah, the flat bread eaten during Passover) so that our bodis can be whole.
What does it mean to partake in an unworthily manner in case we bring judgment upon ourselves? In First Corinthians 11:29, Apostle Paul said that if we eat and drink unworthily, we bring judgment to ourselves. The word 'unworthily' is an adverb, which means it modifies the verb. In this case, 'unworthily' describes the action of eating and drinking, not the person eating or drinking.
So Paul was not saying if you are an unworthy person, don't partake of the Lord's Supper. (In fact, the blood of Jesus already made us worthy before God!) He was saying that we should not partake in an unworthily manner which means taking the Holy Communion when we don't understand the significance of the Lord's body. In such cases, the Holy Communion can easily become a ritual if we don't understand the significance of the bread. Hence most believers (like me in the past) missed out on the blessings of health and healing. Not only that, by failing to discern the Lord's body, we are making Jesus' work on the cross ineffective and powerless.
Jesus told us to have Communion often, so there must be something powerful about it. His blessings of health, wholeness and preservation of life abound at His Table. We do not need a pastor to conduct the Holy Communion. Once we are believers, we are priests (1 Peter 2:9). We can partake of the Lord's Supper at home. In the church, pastors do it because they are the spiritual authority over the people and there must be some order in how they conduct things. Outside of the church, we, as royal priests, are qualified to partake on our own, as often as we wish to.
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