Mountain Moving Faith

Hey Tabby, I like to continue our conversation on the subject of FAITH. I thought it'll be better if I write down my thoughts ... really, there's so much to talk about this topic of faith but I'll just restrict it to 3 practical pointers.

1) What is Faith?

Using the great faith chapter to start off....

Hebrew 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

HOPE & FAITH. When you want something, you have to hope first, but hope cant take the place of Faith. You hope when you dont hv something but hope does not have substance. Faith has substance.. If I reach into my bag and pull out my hp, I know I hv my hp coz I can feel it & touch it coz there is substance. So faith gives substance to the things hoped for. Faith cannot take the place of hope. So Faith says I have it now even though I cant see it. Faith has absolutely nothing to do with how you feel or the circumstances around you. Emotions and circumstances change all the time so they are unreliable.

Faith is different from positive thinking. Positive thinking is very limited, more of a temporary fix although it can help you. Faith is something that God gives you a measure of, that you can keep developing it as you live your life. Faith, therefore, has more permanence. Moreover, faith can exist even in dire circumstances whereas positive thinking may tend to deny them!

So how do we tell the difference? Simple. The one who uses the Word to keep his faith strong is the one who does not rely on positive thinking.

2) How To Get Faith

You can only get faith from hearing the Word of God.

Romans 10:17 " Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." The Word of God is called the Word of Faith. God gives faith, the Word is the instrument. 3 years back, I witnessed an old lady, who was wheelchair-bound for 7 years, stood up and walked when Ps Khong called out to her. Now how did she get faith for healing? She heard the msg on faith by Ps Khong. He not only preached the salvation msg but he also preached that Jesus took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.

3) How to Turn Your Faith Loose

Romans 10:8-10 gives you the answer.

"The Word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming. That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."

For faith to work for you, you got to release it by believing in your heart and confessing it with your mouth. When God talks about the heart, He is talking about the spirit of man. Believe on the inside of you and not speak out of your head (intellectual faith).

You can confess and proclaim that Jesus is raised from the dead but if your heart does not believe, it will do nothing for you. Faith has to be both places in your heart and in your mouth (verbal). That's the confession that saves. You dont have to shout, you can murmur it under your breath.

Faith begins when the will of God is known :

- I can have faith in someone's salvation because God wants to save people from satan's clutches. John 3:16 says.. For God so loved the world that he gave his one & only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

- I can have faith in someone's healing because God says in Matt 8:17 that He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.

- I can have faith in driving out demons because God gave us the authority in Luke 10:19 "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you."

- I can have faith in relationships .. instructions on marriage is found in 1Corin 7, building bond with people whether it's platonic or love relationships, is found in 1John etc.

For everything that happens in your life, you believe by faith there is a purpose - either to mould your character, teach you dependence on God, show you God's faithfulness & love or giving you life experiences to prepare you for the next phase of life. I know you are grateful for the experience in Canada and the travels that you can make. Sure, there are times when you feel down but when you grumble often, you are not taking the faith step to believe that all things work together for good, and confessing it. Hebrews 11:6 says "Without faith, it is impossible to please God."

God is also in the business of preserving love relationships. He keeps couples together if they put their trust in Him, that is, only if both believe in God. You cannot have faith to pray for a relationship if one is either an agnostic or an atheist and the other a Christian. It's not that God doesnt love the agnostic/atheist, He cannot speak to & bless that person, there4, God cannot bless the relationship itself. There is no unity with the Spirit of God. 1 Corin 2:14 "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of GOd for they are foolishness to him & he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned."

Last week, Ps Dyshan from India told us he was in a 3-yr relationship with a Christian Caucasian lady during his studies in America. He always wanted to marry a 'white' but deep in his heart, he was not certain. However, he knows for sure, God wants him to serve in Sri Lanka.. would a caucausian woman want to settle in Sri Lanka? He finally broke off with her coz he had no peace. The minute he came back to S Lanka, he knew he wld marry a Sri Lankan lady. He met her & just after 2 mtgs, he told her he would marry her...she thought so too & she said yes! Trapped! Haha.

In 6 mths, they were married! You see.. faith begins when the will of God is known. Both are committed christians & both wanted to stay in S Lanka to serve God. Both had a heart to minister to the people in S Lanka & that was God's heartbeat as well. Of course, I wont suggest taking such drastic step to marry within a year, he even said so himself. THis is rare but they had God's approval. Same bed, same dreams! God kept them together & increase their love 4 each other even though they had lots of arguments. This is because they had no chance of really getting to know each other well during courtship. Besides Ps Dyshan said that they could not go on dates without someone coming up to them & intruding in their privacy. Even the waiters and people on the street know him.

Remember, faith is a lifestyle. Matt 9:29 says : "Because of your faith, it will happen." You must want to build your mustard seed faith to a mountain moving faith. Mustard seed faith is simple but when it's mountain moving faith, it's no longer about yourself & your ability. It's all about God, His power & His glory. Mountain moving faith is not wishful thinking, it's about walking in His power & that in itself is a great testimony of what a fantastic God we serve.

Because of Him,

Mum

How To Train the Human Spirit

Dearest children

I cannot miss this out for you both - How to Train the Human Spirit. Often we develop the body, the soul (consists of the will, emotions & intelligence) but we leave the spirit untouched.

Since we accept Jesus into our hearts, our spirit is re-created, born again. We are reborn spiritually by receiving eternal life - Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Eternal life is a gift given to us and is the life and nature of God that comes into our spirit when we are re-created.

We are made in the image and likeness of God. Gen 1:27 "God created man in his own image... Gen 5:1-2 "..When God created man, he made him into the likeness of God. He created them male & female & blessed them." Man is not an animal although some people would have you believe we belong to the animal kingdom. Have you tried communicating with an old goat or a gorilla? Definitely not! We are in the same class as God. The thing that differentiates man from other creatures is his spirit. That's the part of him that makes him like God.

God is a spirit. Man is also a spirit as we are created in God's image. With our spirit we contact God. God contacts us through our spirit. If that is so, we should be more spirit conscious.

How do we train our spirit? The answer is found in Joshua 1:8

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth;
Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Then you will be prosperous and successful."

Step 1 : Meditate on God's Word
The written Word was given to us to fit & develop our spirit nature. A man whether saved or unsaved has this heart hunger/spirit hunger on the inside of him. He's never satisfied with the world, ie, status, wealth, religion, etc, until he finds God. The Greek word for meditate is murmur. You have to talk about the Word, say it to yourself, murmur it; it's constantly on your mind. You can start with 15 mins daily, then increase the time.

Step 2 : Be a doer of the Word
Practise the Word, do what it says. For eg, God's Word says in 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." So you have to literally cast your burdens off you onto God, otherwise you will be filled with sorrow.

Step 3 : Giving God's Word 1st place
This means God's Word takes 1st priority over other things, the minute you receive God's instructions on a certain matter.

Step 4 : Instantly Obeying the Voice of Your Own Spirit
Do not doubt coz the spirit's voice will be in line with God's Word. Do not procrastinate in obeying the voice of your own spirit.

When you follow the 4 points, you will be prosperous and successful. If God doesnt want Joshua to be successful, then why would He give Joshua the formula for success? BTW, prosperity does not always mean wealth, it can also mean everything is well with you.

If you constantly practise the 4 steps, you will be able to deal wisely with the affairs of life, even in the minor details of your life. Your spirit will be an authorative guide, a safe guide, for the spirit of man is the 'candle of the Lord' (Prov 20:27).

May God give u understanding & insight into His Word,
Love Mum

Being Led...Part 3

Tab & Cal,

I spoke about God leading us by what we call the still small voice. But He also leads us by the voice of the Spirit of God speaking to us.

Number 3 way : The Inward Voice of the Holy Spirit

The difference between the inward voice of the Holy Spirit and that still small voice speaking to our spirit is that the voice of the Holy Spirit is more authoritative. Sometimes it's so real that it almost seems like someone is talking to you in the room but then you realise it was in you.

Remember in the OT how Samuel as a young boy heard a voice call his name, "Samuel, Samuel?" He thought the priest Eli was calling him. After the 3rd time, although Eli did not hear God's voice but it dawned on him that it was God who was calling Samuel. So the next time it happened, Samuel answered that voice and God spoke further with him (1 Sam 3).

Back to the story, I had spoken to CM that I would pray for her on Sun. That week itself was also the Women's Encounter (EW). I told my leaders that I would go to the EW to help them on Sat and the whole of Sun. So focused was I on the EW, that I had totally forgotten I had to pray for CM on Sun.

On Sat morning when I woke up, I had a sudden sharp pain that shot right through my neck and shoulders while on the bed. The pain was so intense that I had to slowly turn over to daddy's side to ask him to pray for the pain to go away. Immediately, the pain left when he prayed. Simultaneously, as I called out CM's name in my head, I heard..."Arent you suppose to pray for CM this Sun and yet you are going for EW tmr?" The voice was distinct and authoritative.

That experience left quite an indelible impression on me. Well, on Sun I prayed for her verbatim using the scripture vs. She claimed her knees were healed coz there was no pain when she deliberately 'work out' her legs @ the gym. Her neck & shoulder pain lessened tremendously. But God hadnt finished with her, 2 weeks later in church, God touched both her & her husband. God's presence was so strong; the pain came back and then went off, with her crying out to God. Right there and then, she settled the grievances in her heart against her husband with GOd. Now, I can see a closer relationship with her spouse.

The reason why Spirit-filled believers continually make mistakes and fail to hear is because our spirits which should guide us, are kept 'locked away in prison'. Knowledge & intellect have taken the throne. It's a sad thing that most of us have not been taught to listen to our spirits. If we dont, we will become crippled in life and become an easy prey to selfish and designing people.

People have heard 'voices' and have all kinds of revelations. In the end, it didnt turn out right and got themselves into an awful mess. They became disillusioned and blamed God instead! You can and should judge spiritual experiences by the Word. 1Thess 5:21 says "Test Everything."

Always remember that the bible teaches that the Spirit of God and the Word of God agree. Anytime the Spirit of God speaks to you, it will ALWAYS be in line with the Word.

Sure, there are times when I do receive visions and dreams. It is not frequent. Be content, if it is all you ever have, to follow the inward witness (the primary way). Educate, train and develop your human spirit so that the inward witness becomes more and more real to you.

Ezekiel 36:26-27 "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and
I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you..."

We serve A Great & Living God, Love Mum

Being Led...Part 2

Hi Tabby & Calvin

Proverbs 20:27 - The lamp of the Lord searches the spirit of a man, it searches out his inmost being.

In other words, God will guide us and enlighten us through our spirits. He does not communicate directly with our mind, our soul or mental faculty.

Number 2 way - The Inward Still Small Voice

The inward man, who is a spirit man, has a voice just as the outward man (body) has a voice. This voice of the inward man is called the conscience. It is the still small voice. Sometimes, it is so faint that you may not be able to hear it if your mind (distracted, worried & stressed) and body (busy, running around) are active.

During a cell mtg this year, we were called to pray for one another. 1 lady in front of me complained of severe back pain and another 1 next to me complained of knee pain. Obviously the one in front of me needed prayer more but the still small voice on the inside of me told me to pray for the one next to me instead. I did.

Back home after bathing, my inner spirit again told me to call this cell member (CM) the next day to tell her that I will pray for her on Sun using :

Isaiah 10:27 In that day, their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck, the yoke will be broken because of the anointing.

I called her the next day, Thursday, that I'll pray for her after the Sun service at the front using Isaiah 10:27. That was when she told me she had neck and shoulder pain for a while. At times, she experienced a sharp pain that ran through her neck to her shoulder! She also told me her husband and her family's burdens and, of course, I knew about her distrust toward her husband.

You will notice that Isaiah mentioned about their burden (meaning someone's burden) will be lifted from your shoulders (hers) and their yoke (representing anything that binds people, eg sickness, sin, poverty, oppression etc) from your neck (hers) will be broken.

CM's physical problems on her shoulder and neck stemmed from a spiritual problem. God wanted to heal her; it was His perfect timing. I shall continue the story in Part 3.

Our conscience, the voice of our spirit, will know if we have done wrong and will 'prick' us. We may be harsh with our words & say hurtful things, or lie. Our spirit, this new man, the inward man, which takes on the nature of God does not talk that way. The new man is mentioned in 2 Corin 5:17 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." It is our spirit, the new man that reproaches us NOT the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is our helper, comforter & counsellor as described in John 14:16. He will convict you of sin but will not condemn you. The earlier you learn this, the better it is for you to understand the personality of the Holy Spirit who's living in you right now.

When I got to know your dad after sometime, I wasnt sure I wanted to marry him coz his family was the most dysfunctional family I had ever come across! Besides, we are poles apart in our personality! Anyway, I was glad I trusted my inner voice coz it told me this was the man I was going to marry. I was pleasantly surprised that he protected me from his family members and always stood on my side. As a result, I got along quite well with his extended family members coz I didnt need to fight for myself.

Your dad too was led not only by the inner voice to choose me as his wife but also through the Word of God. There was 1 thing he said that I will not forget. Be careful whom you choose to marry coz that person will determine your life's path. How true! If he had married his ex, he would not be in business at all coz she was not a person who took unnecessary risks unlike me.

Isn't God a wise God? Depend on Him always.. train your spirit to listen to God and you will do the right things when the 'crisis' of life hits you.

In Him We Trust, Mum

Being Led...Part 1

Dearest Tab & Champ

Hearing the right voice, ie, the voice of God, is extremely important. This is because God has a plan for everyone of us - the specific job He wants you to have, the person you gonna marry, the ministry you should be in and many other decisions throughout your lives.

Before GOd brings His plan to pass, there is a time of preparation. However, going through it is not always easy, as there is always a price to pay. You may have to die to your own desires and your timing as you allow God to prepare you.

If you dont prepare yourself during preparation time, you wont be ready to step into the next phase in God's plan. So if you dont pay attention to the training now, you wont be ready to take on that job that has been reserved for you. Perhaps, when the door of opportunity opens, you may not even recognise it coz you feel you lack the skills for the job! Patience is the key and if you dont have it, you will make several detours (like me in the past) only to land at the place where you had taken off. So dont jump-out-ahead of God's leading.

Every child of GOd can learn how to be led by the Holy Spirit. It is a safe guide because a born again Christian is born of God's Spirit when he verbally accepts Jesus Christ into his life. How exactly does God speak to us?

Number 1 way: Inward Witness

Romans 8:14 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."

That means that God's direction comes from inside, not outside of you. This is the inward witness the primary way the Holy Spirit will continue to guide you throughout your Christian walk. It's not a physical feeling, it's more like a spiritual perception - that quiet knowing, that urging, prompting and leading arising within you. Your spirit will pick up info/knowledge from the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. God doesnt inject thoughts directly into your mind from the outside, very rarely. Instead, He speaks to your spirit, and your spirit translates it into a thought.

After my 21st birthday, I told myself that I would not marry, but instead would like to have the freedom to travel the world & climb the ladder of success. I attended a 'Singles' seminar which told the participants how great it was 4 singles to serve God. By the time the seminar was over, I knew by the inward witness that God wanted me to get married and I did.. the year I was turning 27.

Another incident was when I heard that my friend had bought 2 units of private properties at what he thought was at a very good price, I knew immediately he had made a mistake. Something tucked at my spirit and told me it was a wrong move. A few months later, the global economic crisis came unexpectedly. The prices of all private properties plunged. Until now, the units are still under water.

You have to develop your spirit to know God's will. You can educate and train your spirit just as your mind can be readily trained and built up in strength. The only way is to be grounded in the Word of God. Being in the Word sharpens your spiritual perception.

If you dont know for certain on the inside of you that you have God's direction and timing, dont make a move. Just stay steady and wait until you have a release in your spirit that it's time to move in God's plan.

If you are about to do something and you get a check in your spirit, then stop! That check or unrest is a stop sign from God, and although you may not understand it at the time, He has every good reason for giving it to you.

Sometimes you may miss it. Dont worry, keep trusting Him to teach you how to hear Him more accurately the next time. Remember to fill your mind with God's Word so you will not be misled or deceived by satan or even yourself!

Tap into HIS Power, Mum

Catching Up

Dearest Tab & Cal

How time flies! I'm trying to finish all my work before I go for my marketplace Transformation Network Global conference and holiday in Hawaii with dad.

Remember Ps Beow Chin's prophesy about the both of you in the mid 1990s? She said one of you is gifted in finance and the other in communication. She saw both of you in a vision at a market place. There's a bridge, some buildings and we couldnt quite understand what it all meant back then. I thought she was referring to the market where we buy fish & veg. Now we know what's she's talking about! Both of you will be in either the business or the corporate arenas .. in the marketplace - that's God's purpose for you. Our job is to prepare you 2 for it, & your dad will have a larger part to play in this. Now we have to figure out who is gifted in what! I think our whole family is 'slated' for the business world. We have this in our blood! Even your grandparents (both sides) were in business.

Anyway, I heard that some 500 delegates from 7 continents will be in Honolulu, staying at Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort & Spa, in the host's words, "one of the nicest venues on earth". The resort is at Waikiki which is the main shopping area, upmarket like our Orchard Rd. 700 local people will be joining us too. In between plenaries, panels & workshops, we will also get to meet International successful Christian business people and hear their fantastic testimonies, and we will visit churches for ministry. Exciting!

Before that, we shall spend 3 nights in Maui. Besides hiking & visiting the volcanoes, we'll have water adventures like boating, snorkelling, rafting.... imagine.. waking up to the sounds of waterfalls, fresh air, or sitting on a beach in Kihei in Maui, leisurely looking out for whales to peek above the waterline while sipping our wines ... pure relaxation!

Ohhh... dont be too jealous.. your turn will come and you'll have to pay for it yourself ( glee(: ).

I'll take along my laptop so I can skype, msn, email, blog about Hawaii and if I have time, I'll load up pics for you in my FB.

Ok.. I'm going to blog about how to be led by the spirit of God in 3 parts. I shall do all before I leave, in fact, I'll do the first part today!

Love, Mum

SAME Bed, SAME Dreams

Well C Champ, this is for you. Many young people have asked us for practical suggestions for the selection of a partner. First, you just cannot depend on looks or personality alone. There are some things you have to seriously consider :

1) DONT MARRY THE PERSON YOU THINK YOU CAN LIVE WITH.

MARRY THE PERSON YOU CANT LIVE WITHOUT.

Your dad and I always show the above catchphrase in our marriage classes.

Marriage can be difficult even if two people are passionately in love with each other. It is murder when they dont have that foundation to build on. Love has to be based on God for it to last.

2) BE EQUALLY YOKED

If you are a deeply committed Christian, you will find someone with whom you can share the same values, build those values based on God as a legacy to be passed down to the next generation. When it comes to one's decision to marry, this matter should be given the highest priority. It's kinda of like sharing the same bed and having the same dreams.

3) CHARACTERISTICS THAT YOU CANNOT TOLERATE

Dont marry a person and then secretly plan to change her after marriage. That is unfair and it wont work coz behaviour or character is already formed during early childhood and it is very hard to change it. Therefore, if you cant live with a characteristic that shows up constantly during courtship, it may plague you for the rest of your life.

Red flags such as foolishness with money, extreme selfishness, tendency to violence, drinking problems, promiscuity, etc, should not be ignored. What you see is what you get! You think there is no violent woman.. - I had to counsel one who threw her spouse's hp at him (missed him) and hurled his new laptop against the wall!! A very expensive fight!

So if you marry a sunflower, dont expect her to smell like a rose! Take this advice.. It is good to keep your eyes w -i-d-e open before marriage and then half-closed thereafter.

4) DONT MARRY IMPULSIVELY OR UNDER OBLIGATION..TAKE TIME

Some couples do not give careful thought & prayer when it comes to this critical decision. Be aware of girls who marry impulsively because they want to escape their unhappiness in their family or their fear of loneliness. Some marry coz they are obligated to the other partner even though love is lost due to many reasons. It takes time to get acquainted & to walk through the early stages of the bonding process. It takes more than a year to get beyond the facade of the other person and into the inner character of the other person.

5) KEEP YOURSELF PURE BEFORE MARRIAGE

To do otherwise is a bad idea for many reasons.

1st, it is a violation of GOd's law.

2ndly, it undermines a relationship. Excessive physical touching outside of marriage leads to formation of a soul tie, & the lust that accompanies it make that tie unclean, which opens the door for unclean spirits.

3rdly, in keeping with the theme of marital bonding, you have 'stolen' a level of intimacy that is not warranted at that point, nor is it validated by the degree of commitment to each other. Save sexual intimacy for marriage. God's commands and ways are always the best & right way; it always protects us and is the healthiest for everyone concerned.

Let me tell you the ultimate secret of lifelong love. In a nutshell, the stability of a relationship or marriage is a iron-willed determination of a couple to make it work. If you want to go the distance, you have to do a marathon (like us), not a sprint. There is no back door for divorce too. When the back door is shut tightly, the couple has to work on their differences through honest constructive communication. But if for reasons such as violence, couples are advised to stay apart for a while, not divorce each other, until a solution is found.

Finally, women need men to be romantic, caring & loving which is what GOd says in Ephesians 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives (all year round, i'm afraid), ...v28 husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself."

Men need women to be respectful, supportive and loyal in all seasons of his life. Ephesians 5:33 "...the wife must respect her husband." When a man gets all the respect, support & loyalty from his partner, he will definitely feel loved.

LOVE & RESPECT - it's an unbeatable combination dont you think??!!

Remembering you in my prayers always, not forgetting tab, Mum

The God of Details

I think you may not have time to visit FCBC website to realise that more than half of the church is doing their QT based on a book called Living Life from Duranno.com.

Today, 1 Oct, is the start of our daily devotional based on 1 Chron 27:1-34. It lists the monthly duties of the officers of each tribe. These long lists may seem boring but it tells me that God is a God of details. He is interested in each one of us personally.

Yet we do not depend on these details to lead us but allow the God of details to lead us in every areas of our lives. As I meditate on this passage, I remembered an incident that happened in a cell that I led in the late 1990s. I had a nasty fall a few days before cell on Friday. To me, the fall was something insignificant; I only care for the larger more significant things in my life. My only concern was the dreadful little scar that would appear on my knee after healing. I did not even tell daddy!

After worship, I encouraged the cell members to listen to God for a Word, vision or a tongue to be released for the group's edification. A member responded by saying that "someone in the group had a fall but she thinks it's only a small thing and not important at all but God wants her to know that He is interested in her, even in the minute details of her life."

I was stumped! How could she have known I had a fall? I didnt tell anyone. By the way, I wore jeans which covered the wound. I almost wanted to cry .. to think that God could be so personal.

So my dears, God is interested in the details of your life. Nothing that you ask in prayer is unimportant or silly. You can even pray for the rain to stop coz you have an important outing or you can pray for that pimple on your face to go away.

The application for today's QT is : Do you allow God into the details of your life? Sometimes we compartmentalise God, giving Him only Sundays. Give God ownership of all your life.

Trusting God with you for your future,
Mum