When will grace runs out?

Consider this question - Will God's grace run out and judgement comes?

Title: 

When Will Grace Run Out?

Scripture:

Genesis 6:3 – “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.’”

2 Corinthians 6:2 – “Now is the day of salvation.”

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Reflection:

God is incredibly patient. His grace reaches far, and His mercy endures through generations. But the Bible also shows us that grace has a limit—not because God is cruel, but because His justice and holiness cannot be ignored forever.

In Noah’s time, God gave the people 120 years to repent while the ark was being built. They ignored the warnings—and grace ran out. In Zephaniah’s day, Judah heard repeated calls to return to God, but they hardened their hearts until judgment fell.

Today, we still live in a season of grace through Jesus Christ. The cross is the ultimate expression of God’s mercy. But this offer is not eternal in human terms. There comes a time when:

Life ends.

The heart becomes too hardened to hear.

The door of grace closes.

That’s why Paul writes, “Now is the day of salvation.” We must not assume that tomorrow will give us the same opportunity to respond to God.

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Response:

Ask yourself:

Am I taking God's grace for granted?

Have I delayed surrendering an area of my life to Him?

God’s grace is still open today—but don’t wait for tomorrow to respond.

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Prayer:

Lord, thank You for Your amazing grace. Forgive me for taking it lightly or delaying obedience. Help me respond to You today, while grace still calls. Soften my heart and lead me in Your ways.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

2025 Trip to Guilin

This is my 67th year of my life. 

I remember saying when I turned 60 that the coming 10 years will be the best 10 years of my life! 

And now I have already lived 7 of the 10 years. 

In 2024 Chin Nee and I celebrated our Anniversary in Hoi Ann and Danang. It was a very good trip. We also led a youth who was working in one of the shops to the Lord. 

This year despite having to take care of Mum (Chin Nee's 92 year old mother) who need to do dialysis 3 times a week, I felt led to plan a special holiday to celebrate our 38th Wedding Anniversary in Guilin and Yangshuo.

GUILIN 2025

We are very encouraged by God's goodness towards us in this trip.

I'm encouraged that I was inspired by the Lord to book for Guilin

First the air tickets

Then the hotels 

Then Chin Nee's input for Yitian, not have Li River Cruise.

Weather - forecasts was rain during the 5 days we will be there. However I believe the Lord will favour us. 

Indeed He went before us. Weather changed for good. We had beautiful weather all our days there with around 24 C high every day. On the day leaving for airport it drizzled. 

We enjoyed our holiday very much. 

Our driver Lu Wen Ke served us very well. And I shared the Gospel with him using Wordless book over lunch on the second day. On the way to our hotel in Guilin I was given utterance to ask him to ask Jesus into his life. And he responded so positively. After he accepted the Lord there was an evident joy in his face. He hugged me and Chin Nee in his joy.

Thank God I can continue to share God's word with him via WeChat even back in KL. 

Mum was okay when we were away. Despite having to be admitted to hospital on Saturday before we were leaving on Tuesday. 

Lord, I'm so encouraged that we are Your beloved and blessed children as You pour out Your goodness on us. 

EE Malaysia 2nd Convention 8-9 May 2013

Just 3 days after Malaysia Votes EE Malaysia held it's 2nd Convention. What a timely Convention with the focus on what is of THE HIGHEST PRIORITY TO THE LORD - THE RULER OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH - the salvation of precious souls and the making of disciples.

Even at the Convention the hot topic at break time was the outcome of GE13. While emotions are running high with anger, sadness, grief, shock, unbelief etc., we must all remember GOD IS ON THE THRONE AND HE IS SOVEREIGN.
I certainly believe that THE LORD KNOWS WHAT'S BEST for us at this time.
Dr Hong Seng's message of "Winning the Nation" was certainly God's proceeding Word to His church. He reminded us that God's people like Nehemiah, Moses, Daniel and Joseph served the Lord and fulfilled His purposes for the nations who were under very wicked kings/governments of their day. Hong Seng reminded us that:-
Our responsibility is to change the church (discipling the church)
We are to trust God for His Sovereignty to change our nation according to His wisdom and timing.
Unless we, the church, change, we cannot be change agents.
We are to continue faithfully to fulfil the MANDATE :-
Mark 16:15-18

• Be His faithful witness
• Go and Preach the Gospel and equip the church to preach the Gospel
• Make disciples
• Cast out demons
• Be filled with the Holy Spirit
• Bring healing in the name of Jesus
• Experience God's confirmation of His Word
• Lay on of hands

We are to be SALT and LIGHTS in MALAYSIA!
He stressed that the Lord said if we have no saltiness we are good for nothing.
We are also to be those who will PUNCH THE DARKNESS!

We must not allow INDIVIDUALISM, MATERIALISM AND SECULARISM to shape the church.
WE MUST BE DIFFERENT AND STAND UP FOR CHRIST.
WE MUST REPENT OF WORLDLINESS.

He also stressed on the MUST DO of the church.
The church MUST HAVE STRONG FOLLOW UP OF NEW BELIEVERS.
The church MUST BE EVANGELISTIC!
The church MUST HAVE STRONG PRAYER MEETINGS.

In the 24TH ANNIVERSARY DINNER held on 8th May our speaker shared a CONVICTING MESSAGE on IS IT RIGHT?
Is it right for us who HAS THE GOOD NEWS to keep quiet and not tell others who don't know?
Is it right for churches who knows and uses EE training to keep it to themselves and not share with  other churches who love the Lord?
Is it right for us to just keep EE training to the nations that already have it and not bring it to other nations?

Other sessions were informative, heart moving, encouraging and challenging.

Our goals is to keep having EE semesters and keep sharing EE with other churches who have yet to adopt this training.

In closing - GE 13 is over.
THE CHURCH MUST KEEP THIER EYES ON THE LORD, THE KING OF KINGS.
ONLY WHAT HE SAYS AND WHAT HE WANTS MATTERS.
LET US NOT BE DISTRACTED.
LET US KEEP TO OUR COURSE AND CAUSE - TO GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS.

ONE THING IS NEEDED

The Lord said, "One thing is needed!"

ONE THING is needed (Luke 10:41-42)  

ONE THING I desire (Ps 27:4),

ONE THING I do (Phil 3:13)

As a disciple of Jesus this ONE THING will be fulfilled when we faithfully FOLLOW HIM.

Jesus first called Peter – FOLLOW ME Mark 1:17.

Jesus last word to Peter  – FOLLOW ME. John 21:19, 22

Discipleship = Calling to Follow Jesus = Following the Word with the Helper, the Holy Spirit  

Discipleship = Learning; not just learning from Jesus BUT learning to be LIKE JESUS

Discipleship = Transformation = Change to be like Christ

Discipleship = Conformation - into the image of Christ

Discipleship is a life of learning from Jesus Christ how to live in the Kingdom of God now.

                                                                                                             By DALLAS WILLARD

A Disciple of Jesus is pre-eminently a man of ONE THING.

He only sees ONE THING

He only cares for ONE THING

He only lives for ONE THING

And that ONE THING is to please God

Whether he lives or whether he dies

Whether he has health or whether he has sickness

Whether he is rich or whether he is poor

Whether he pleases men or gives offence

Whether he is thought wise or whether he is thought foolish

Whether he gets honour or whether he gets shame

For all of this the spiritual leader cares nothing at all.

He burns for ONE THIING, he cares for ONE THING,

he lives for ONE THING and that ONE THING is to please God                                                     

and to advance His glory.

                                                                        By JC RYLE

We are in a WAR

HGC Men’s fellowship + paintball game – 17^TH Sept 2012

PAINTBALL GAME - a war game

For most of us this is the first time we are in a paintball game.

We learned many precious lessons – practical and painful lessons.

Firstly jokingly I told the gang – please don’t shoot me, I am the pastor. They all started laughing and said WE WILL SURELY SHOOT YOU! THE BATTLEFIELD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS. We must realise that we are in a battlefield – we are at war!

The Battlefield was fierce – I got shot many times. At one time I grasped the flag and ran back – and they shot my back – it was painful. At other times I got shot on my head, on my arms, on my face mask, on my leg etc. If it is real bullets I would have died many times. I still have a blue black mark on my arm.

We need to have our whole armour on!

The real bullets can kill.
We need to fight as a team. We’ll be dead in no time if we fight alone.

We must have a clear strategy to win. Every soldier must be clear what they are to do. If he is attacking, he must do his part well. If he is defending, he must cover his attacking team well. Etc.

We must be fit.

2 days after the game I’m feeling the pain in my muscles. We must have regular training to stay fit!

 

PRE-GAME TIME

In the pre-game time we had a time of Praise and worship. It was powerful, liberating, anointed and Christ exalting!  There was indeed a breakthrough as the men praised the Lord loud and free and also danced before the Lord!

 While worshipping I was reminded of Ps 29 – The voice of the Lord

The voice of the LORD is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The LORD is over many waters.

⁴       The voice of the LORD is powerful; The voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

⁵       The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon.

⁶       He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.

⁷       The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire.

⁸       The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.

⁹       The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everyone says, "Glory!"

 

Man is made in the image of God – we ought to have a powerful voice like God too.

Man must not be silent.

When the world was void and without form – GOD SPOKE ORDER, DESIGN, PURPOSE  AND BEAUTY into being – Gen 1

God made man first before making woman because God wants man to lead out of a relationship with Him.

 The enemy’s plan to foil God’s plan for man is to silence man.

Adam was right beside Eve when the serpent tempted her – but he said nothing – he was silent. He didn’t say, “STOP it! God said NO! Don’t do it! We must not disobey God etc.”  He should have said something!

Today the devil is trying all out to stop man from speaking God’s will, God’s order, God’s word, counsel, judgment etc.

One area is that he is trying very hard to stop men’s praise and prayer; authoritative, bold, strong prayer.

And it is not just in the area of praise and prayer. Many men today are silent when they ought to speak up.

Many fathers say nothing about their children’s life – they don’t give their approval or objection – they don’t rebuke and neither do they affirm.

Because of that many young people today are insecure, lost and weak or they are simply fed up, frustrated and rebellious just to get attention.

They lack the strong father leader figure over their lives.

 God has a calling for man – to rule!

How are men supposed to rule?

One most vital area is to rule with their authoritative, decisive, strong, wise yet loving VOICE!

 If men say nothing, the devil moves in and speaks lies, deceptions, perversions, unrighteousness, accusations and all his evil schemes.

 Where do men start to move towards being a positive, strong, righteous voice for the Lord?

Let’s start with PRASING GOD for we are called to praise the Lord!

1 Pet 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

 Praising God is powerful!

 Psalms 22:3

But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

 Praising GOD enthrones HIM.

That mean it dethrones everything else.

The enemy always seeks to dethrone God from our hearts.

In fact the WARFARE we are in is the battle of the heart – who is going to be the LORD of man’s heart – THE LORD HIMSELF or any other things. The devil wants us to enthrone self, money, power and lusts and he will tempt us to do that. Anytime we allow these things to be number 1 in our hearts we lose the battle and the devil wins. He subtly deceives us to put self-interest above God and if we fall for it – guess what? He wins and we are defeated.

 So men let us decisively with determination and zeal, in unity and in strength choose to PRAISE THE LORD with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength!

 And I know out of that the LORD will release into our hearts HIS STRENGTH, COURAGE, POWER, LOVE, WISDOM ….AND HEAVEN’S BACKING into our lives and we will be HIS VOICE ON EARTH – THAT WILL BRING HIS ORDER, HIS RULE, HIS BEAUTY TO EARTH!

 

Our special trip to Israel and Europe

Chin Nee and I celebrated this year, our 25th Wedding anniversary by taking this special trip to Israel and then hopping over to Switzerland from there to minister in Ps Daniel and Ruth's church and then as a BTW thing we also hop over to London to visit my sister Maggie and her husband Bill. We left on 7th march 2012 and arrived back safely on 2nd April. This was the longest time we were away from home.
When asked how our trip was, my answer was a resounding EXCELLENT!
The Lord was so good and gracious to us. We were very very blessed in everyway.
Israel
It was really awesome visiting the Bible Land. The Bible truly came alive.
I spent quote a lot of time in the night and morning reading the Bible concerning those places we visited or about to visit. The cities, the towns, the Sea of Galilee, the mountains, the rivers, the terrain, the plants, etc all came alive. The weather in that relatively small region is very diverse. It can be very cold in Jerusalem and very hot in the dead sea area at the same time. That's because the dead sea is 1388 feet below sea level. The sea of Galilee is 712 feet below sea level and is the lowest fresh water lake in the world. I had the experience of Baptising some Christians on this trip in the River Jordan, like John the Baptist. Now when I read the Bible these places have special meaning. The ruins in Ceasarea was spectacular. You can't imagine the kind of civilisation 2,000 years ago. Today it is just ruins. BUT THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST IS EVER EXPANDING TODAY!

Jordan
We visited some parts of Jordan too and it is so disctinctly different from Israel. Most of Jordan is wilderness but Israel is a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses led the Israelites through the dry, parched, uninhabited wilderness for 40 years. We can see clearly that the Israelites could never have survived without the PILLAR OF CLOUD BY DAY (They would have been scorched to death by the hot sun) or the PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT (They would died of cold or being attacked by wild animals).

Switzerland
We had a most blessed us time in Switzerland. We had beautiful snow for 2 days and then the other days were all sunny, blue sky and just beautiful. The ministry in Ps Daniel's church, Hope of Glory Switzerland, was wonderful. The members were very hungry for God. The Lord's was present to bless His people there. It is a very good work and the need is great.

London
We flew over to London to visit my sister Maggie and her husband Bill. They are a very godly and loving couple. They showed us wonderful hospitality and it was really a great blessing to get to know them much better. They are in Salisbury, about 2 hours by road from London city. It is a peaceful city with beautiful countryside plains. We enjoyed our 3 nights and 2 full days there.

Germany
After getting back from London to Switzerland we ministered in Ps Daniel's church dedication service. It was a very powerful time as the Lord spoke clearly about His call for this church.
The following week Ps Daniel drove us to Germany to visit a place call the Black Forest. We stayed 2 nights in a lovely hotel in a place called Titisee where there is a beautiful lake.

All in all it was a superb trip for our Silver Wedding Anniversary.
All thanks, praise and glory to our Lord Jesus!
Lord you are so good to us!

Wage the Good warfare!

We are in a war!
Often we say it is a spiritual war as though it doesn't affect other areas of our lives. But the spiritual affects all other areas. In fact the spiritual is first and then the physical. So we are in a war battling for souls for eternity.

In 1 Tim 1:18-19 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck

One of the most important gift that God has given man is the conscience.
What is conscience?
The following story by Theodore parker illustrates it very well.
" I saw a little spotted turtle," he writes, " sunning itself in the shallow water. I lifted the stick in my hand to kill it; for though I had never killed any creature, yet I had seen other boys, out of sport, destroy birds, squirrels and the like, and I had a disposition to follow their example. But all at once something checked my little arm, and a voice within me said, clear and loud, ' It is wrong.' I held my uplifted stick in wonder at the new emotion, till the turtle vanished from sight." I hastened home and told the tale to my mother, and asked what it was that told me it was wrong. She wiped a tear from her eye, and taking me in her arms, said, ' Some men call it conscience, but I prefer to call it the voice of God in the soul of man. If you listen and obey it, it will speak clearer and clearer, and always guide you right; but if you turn a deaf ear or disobey, then it will fade out little by little, and leave you in the dark without a guide. Your life my son depends on heeding that little voice.'"

Definitions of conscience
· The consciousness within oneself of the choice one ought to make between right and wrong. (Oxford)
· From a Christian perspective a conscience is all about having God’s standard in our hearts to guide us in how we conduct ourselves.
· Conscience is a group of laws in our hearts. Mankind has demonstrated that they know God’s principles. No matter if we know the Bible or not, we know we should not murder, steal, be jealous of other people, and generally not do the things that displease our Creator.
· A good conscience is one that allows me to look every person in the eye knowing that not one of them can point a finger and say, “You wronged me and you never tried to make it right”.

Then why do man made in the image of God do “beastly”, ungodly and wicked things? What happened to their conscience?

THE BIBLE SAYS THAT CONSCIENCE CAN....
seared – burned and destroyed with hot iron (1 Tim 4:2),
defiled – made corrupted by impurities and filth (Titus 1:15) and
weakened – a conscience that is seared and defiled and a conscience that has been filled with lies and wrong examples will be weak (1 Cor 8:7,10).

How can one’s conscience be weakened? If we keep seeing wrong things done around us we can accustom ourselves to it until what we consider as wrong become "acceptable". If our parents uses foul language, the children will soon follow and they have no shame feelings about it.

GOD’S WANTS OUR CONSCIENCE TO BE:
good - strong and healthy - 1 Tim 1:5, 19;
pure - cleansed and kept clean - 1 Tim 3:9 and
clear - void of offence towards God and men

CONSCIENCE CAN BE AWAKENED BY TRUTH:
John 8 :9. When Jesus spoke the truth; the men beginning with the oldest were convicted in their conscience of their own sins.
We need to constantly expose ourselves to the truth of God’s word to keep our conscience healthy and strong.

WAGE A GOOD WARFARE BY HAVING FAITH AND A GOOD CONSCIENCE: 1 Tim 1:18-19
We can’t fight against the devil if our conscience is pricking us or condemning us. The devil’s scheme is to defile, sear and weaken man’s conscience till he doesn’t know what’s right and wrong. Then he can easily tempt man to do the wrong things i.e. to sin against God and be destroyed.

What can we do to maintain a good conscience
§ Love truth & not compromise it
§ Please God
§ Live by God’s standard
§ Be sincere

CONCLUSION:
Let’s be like Paul who said in Acts 24:15,16 …I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

Don't ever bow to compromise; to fear; to self preservation.

Only bow to God and His Word; to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Poor People are more Compassionate and more Blessed

Recently the news of Yue Yue the 2 years plus baby who was ran over by a van and was ignored for 7 minutes by 18 passers by, shocked us all. How could human beings (in this case the Chinese people) be so heartless that they could totally ignore a critically injured baby by the road side right before their eyes.

Has the busyness of life in the city made cold hearts out of us. Notice I use "us" and not them. Before we point the finger and criticise the 18 people let us do some soul searching. Could we have done the same? Perhaps we are rushing to go to work, to an appointment or even to go home to take care of our family members at home. There could be a 101 reasons, right? As someone puts it, " we could have made the money but we have lost our hearts (the loving compassionate human hearts). Is progress, development and higher standards of living beneficial to us? Maybe to our physical comfort but I'm certainly doubtful about it's benefit to our souls/hearts.

In contrast I have a heartwarming story to tell.
Ten of us from our church went to India for a Mission Trip recently. We went to a small town about 10 hours drive from the city of Hyderabad. It is one of those poor towns where roads are bad and where everything seems so messy and dirty. You see cows strolling on the roads or resting right in the middle of the road. On top of that there are wild pigs like dogs running around, scavengering for food amidst rubbish thrown everywhere. There are lots of pedestrians and people on bicycles and motorcycles. On top of that cars are always honking.

On one of our trips on the road, the car in front just went past a junction and a motorcycle came out and hit the car and the riders fell to the ground. We exclaimed! But what amazed me was that almost immediately 6 to 10 people came from different direction to help to lift up the riders and the bike. The sight really left a deep impression in my heart. They just "dropped" whatever they were doing to come to aid. I know that these people were the "poor" people of a small town in India. But they were "real" human beings. They have compassion. They are helpful. They are caring.

In this Mission trip we were serving the villagers. They live in simple small one room thatched roofed houses. When we preached the Good News to them, they responded enthusiastically and many (numbering above thousands) lifted their hands to receive Jesus into their hearts. In the last night I preached a message on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and many responded and came forward to ask the Lord to fill them with the Holy Spirit. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to pray in the heavenly language.

No wonder Jesus declared in Luke 6:20-21
"Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled."

Be saved from this perverse generation

Acts 2:40
And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation.

Most people don't know that they are in danger. In danger of being harmed, being cheated, being stolen from and even being destroyed.

We know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Saviour and Deliverer.
But we don't know what we need to be saved from or delivered from.

We are living amidst a perverse or crooked generation.
Lying, cheating, being selfish, being greedy, being lustful is part and parcel of life. Most people can't beat this kind of lifestlye so what do we do. We join them. And we think it is OK. We think that nothing will happen. There will be no consequences. We think that we won't reap what we sow.

We really believe that nothing will happen and we go on living in sin.

But surely God is not mocked.
Surely what we sow we shall reap.
Surely judgment will come.

And we who are in the light of the truth about God and the Gospel must be convinced of this truth. And we must be so convicted that we will stand for this truth and we will also TESTIFY & EXHORT with many words to people who are ignorant, who are deceived, who don't care BECAUSE WE BELIEVE AND WE CARE!

We will do it in the name of Jesus because HE GAVE HIS LIFE ON THE CROSS to save us from this perverse generation that will come under judgment if they do not BELIEVE AND ACCEPT WHAT HE HAS DONE FOR THEM.

Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes

An Episode at the Immigration Office

I had to renew my passport for travelling purposes and got my photos and a copy of my IC (Identity Card) ready. After I drove all the way there and parked my car, I realised that I forgot to bring my passport. Aya! I called Chin Nee to express my frustration. Anyway, I still went to the office get a form. And what a relief it was that I didn't have to join the queue of a huge crowd that was already there.

Two days later I went early to the office and this time I made doubly sure that I had everything that is needed. Even though I was early there was already a lot of people waiting. Once I got my number, I went to look for a seat and was surprised to find a front seat right in front of the Payment counter vacant.
After I got seated I noticed that a young man was seated next to me. I said hello and spark off a conversation with him asking him what time he arrived and where he was travelling to etc. He said that he came 30 minutes ago and there was already a lot of people.

We talked about many things and it was meaningful and interesting. The Lord led me to share some wise counsel to him as he just began his working life. Eventually I was led to share the Gospel with him. He was very open and even allowed me to pray for him and I prayed for him asking the Lord to bless him.

The amazing thing was that the Lord had him in His plan for me to meet him this time. That's why my earlier trip was not to be. I had to come back here on this day to meet him and to share Christ with him.

Also I noticed that as we talked, the moment I looked up to check if my number was called, my number popped up. First for payment and then for collecting the passport.

The 2 hours went by so quickly as we shared together and as I presented the Gospel to him.

When my number was called to collect my passport his number was not called yet. (Remember he came 30 minutes earlier). So as I went to collect my passport he followed me and he too collected his passport. Apparently he missed his number because he was listening to me!

Anyway I offered to send him to the LRT station as I discoverd that he doesn't have a car. I wasn't sure how to get to the station but he directed me and when I got there I discovered a new way to come back to Ampang which was much faster and shorter. (And I have been going the long way all this while). It is a wonderful testimony that when we give we will surely receive much more!

Looking back I was so encouraged to see that I was flowing with the Lord's wonderful sovereign plan.

So I must indeed give thanks always even when I seem to have forgotten somethings and went through some inconveniences.

HE IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL!

The Power to Witness

DATE: 11th Sept 2011
SPEAKER: Ps Khor
SCRIPTURE: Matt 28:19-20, Acts 1:8

INTRODUCTION:
THE MISSION: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;

THE PROMISE: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. (Matt 28:19-20)

God’s heart beats with missions and so must ours. Before ascending into heaven, Jesus left His disciples with a mission and the promise of His Presence &.Power.

THE PROMISE: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;

THE MISSION: and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8)


THREE WAYS OF WITNESSING:
1. LIFESTYLE – at home, at work, in school, in our neighbourhood and amongst our family and friends. By the way we live or through our behaviour we are sending a message. But important as it is, it is NOT ENOUGH.

Are you conscious of the unspoken messages you are sending out?

Do you get upset or offended easily? Are you able to control your anger?

Our lives must bear the fruit of the Spirit of LOVE JOY PEACE PATIENCE KINDNESS GOODNESS FAITHFULNESS GENTLENESS AND SELF CONTROL! These fruits will bear witness to the life of Christ in us!

2. GOOD WORKS – Eph 2:10 & Matt 5:16
Whatever we may do as our vocation let us be known for doing good work.
If you are a teacher, let it be known that you are a good teacher.
If you are a painter, be a good painter.
If you are a taxi driver, be a good taxi driver.
If you are a boss, be a good boss! Amen!

On top of that let us be a people known for the good works we do to the poor and needy.

Doing the above two things is great and is absolutely necessary BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH. We MUST STILL ....

3. PREACH THE GOSPEL – At home AND Abroad.

We must learn how to share the gospel and our testimony. We can give a tract. And we must make disciples. That means we must teach the whole counsel of God's Word to build up His church. But we must begin by presenting the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Paul says, "Woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel"
He also proclaimed, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, it is the power of God for salvation for all who believes".

Rom 10: 13 For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."
14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent?


HOW CAN WE EXTEND GOD’S KINGDOM:
1. GIVE OF OURSELVES to be a blessing, Live the more blessed life.
2. PRAY, GIVE, GO in obedience

AS WE GO OUT TO FULFIL GOD’S MISSION:
1. We will experience renewal and revival
2. We will have His Promised Presence – eg: the gifts of the Holy Spirit will flow
3. We will experience the pilgrim’s life – our focus will be “off” this world
4. There will be a more intense focus on God and His commission.
5. We will experience great joy – see harvest of souls
6. All will experience God’s blessings – those who go; those who send; those who pray; those we go to

THE ENEMY WANTS TO STOP MISSIONS:
1. BLOCK prayer, giving and going
2. Get the church BOGGED DOWN with internal problems
3. Get the church to just have an INWARD FOCUS to meet her own needs
4. Get Christians so busy that we have no time for missions
5. Get Christians fearful about going to missions
6. Block finances from being released into missions.

Are you aware of the enemy’s tactics?

CONCLUSION:
Don’t let the enemy stop us! Focus on God! Let Him empower us to preach the gospel with great boldness.

THE LORD’S MESSAGE FOR THE YEAR 2011

The following prophecies were the compilation of Ps Khim of River of Life Sanctuary.

Read Through The Prophecies Below and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you and prepare you for what is coming!

WHAT IS GOD SAYING IN 2011 !
· No more warning about earthquakes and natural disasters. It will be common from now on.
· To the Churches: Have reverence and the fear of the Lord. Return to your first love.
· Release of demonic spirits of death, mammon, strife, sexual abuse in the world

YOUTH AND CHILDREN
· THE ENEMY TARGETS THE YOUTHS!
· PRAY!!!! God will hold parents responsible
· Youth, listen! Those who disobey His Word will suffer with the wicked and defiled.
· Stay close to God that He may save you.
· Strong Warning : MIND CONTROL spirits empowered to take over the mind. How?
· Through MUSIC VIDEOS, Internet, Television, Video games.
· Erode morals. No sense of right and wrong
· You have spiritual authority, just as the police have, so…Get down on your knees and pray!
· God is our Banner and only security.

CHILDREN
· God calls for special prayer for Children in danger. They are children who are....
· Disabled, children from broken homes, child laborers, child refugees, street children, children in prison, latchkey kids, child soldiers, child prostitutes, children on drugs, children without education, children under racial prejudice, child brides, missionary children, children in church.

ABORTION
· Abortion! Double in 2011.
· Many youths fall into this sin because of loose morality.
· Dream Nov 2010: multiple rows of baby cots in heaven. Boxes of babies kept coming in.
· A spirit of murder – abortion and babies killed including gender selection

FAMILIES UNDER ATTACK
· Divorce rates around the world among Christians will escalate!
· Get serious! Guard home and families from demonic attacks through entertainment and mass media.
· Many “Christians” not saved!
· Dream: Christians walking around with chains of pride, arrogance, STRIFE. God says, “I do not know you, go away. This celebration is not for you”
· They keep knocking but the door remains closed. Swamps of black locusts came upon them and they disappeared!
WARNINGS!
· Do not dirty the clean water of God’s house. Eze 34:17-22
· Do not lose your Sword, the Word of God! or you will be easily fall and be defeated. Eph 6:10-18
· Do not serve Two masters! Choose God or Mammon. Luke 16:13b
· Do not be lukewarm. Rev 3:15-16.
· Time is running out. Travel on the narrow road. Be prepared, be HOLY Psa 15

AMERICA, EUROPE, BRITAIN
· Satanism will increase – a mighty shaking in the next two years...
· (see 2009 & 2010 New Year prophetic message)
· The Islamic countries will see a rise in power and influence.
· The USA and UK will lose 50% of their power. (USA – a third world country?)

ISRAEL AND HER NEIGHBOURS
· 1 minute to 12!!! Return to your God!
· Turkey, Iran, Syria – a nuclear attack within two years.
· God has huge angels guarding His faithful ones.
· Roman Catholic church – find Jesus or be subjected to the power of the anti Christ through mind control images.
· A new virus – pandemic fears
· Armies of the devil, a dark cloud

TIME OF ZECHARIAH 12:1-3
· Jerusalem, a heavy stone.
· Those who divide Jerusalem inherit the wrath of God.
· Great pain and terror on the earth.
· Weapon smugglers using mountain passes, amassing against Israel. Pray!
· A whirlwind coming her way. Only God can save them, as in the past

IRAN
· End of 2011/2012 – a major earthquake hits Teheran, south of Iran
· Underground churches see a harvest
· More oppression and torture by the persecutors in this land – pray against it!

JAPAN
· Vision: a black hand with claws trying to catch the youths.
· Many youths don’t know God; worshiping electronic gadgets, satanism, idolatry.
· Increase in suicide & homosexuality
· A killer earthquake in 2011, thousands will die but prayer can move God’s hand to intervene.
· Japanese churches, be bold! Reach out! Preach the Gospel!

MALAYSIA
· Only the prayers and fasting of His saints have kept Malaysia.
· 5 seasons – dark leaves start to fall. Prayer for us to be able to help the poor and needy here and overseas.
· Perlis – Open door for smuggling of drugs, weapons, pornography materials, bribery of police. Prayer needed to overcome
· Penang – A cloud of darkness because of increase in idolatry, witchcraft, homosexuality. A tsunami coming.
· Malacca – Historical jewel! 500 years anniversary of the Gospel entering Malaysia. A Revival! It begins in this city!

AUSTRALIA – See Dr Owuor’s prophecy.
· Summary: 31 July 2010
· “…a controversy between Jehovah and the church in Australia. Unless you repent it is going to be horrific…
· …the eastern side of Australia..I have seen the ocean fail to stop. Around all these places…twice. If they don’t repent, tell them that the ocean will fail to stop!”
· Jan 2011
· Massive floods hit eastern Australia.
· Described in the news as “ Inland tsunami of Biblical proportion”
· Covered a land area comparable to the land of France and Germany combined.
· From Queensland to Victoria – many weeks.
· Australia divided into two viewed from the satellite

PROPHECY ON 3 AUG 2010
· “A horrific earthquake. A n earthquake to visit Australia! On the western horn, the north west corner.
· The earthquake pushed the ocean, a huge high speed wave, a mountain of water so many stories high, a tsunami is coming! Please repent.
· Personal, corporate, national repentance needed.”

PS. JOH MATUTIS (Berlin, Germany) PROPHETIC VISION AND WARNING
· “A worldwide MOBILIZATION by the Lord! (Rapture?)
· Calling out His TRUE saints out from the people.
· Financial Crisis triggers this!
· Lose all – savings, investments. Infra structure and welfare will collapse
· (Is he describing events after the Rapture?)
· Security out of control – lawlessness, crime, riots, killing.
· Only those under His wings will be saved from ruin and danger.
· GOD’s MESSAGE: Seek immortal things!
· Seek God. Study His Word
· Forgive one another, make peace
· Stop being envious, pointing of the finger
· Do what you are supposed to do and what you are able to do!
· Free yourself from unnecessary things
· Stop fighting for your rights every now and then. I will do that for you. (if you are really wronged)
· God will bring us into safety His own way.
· You will see the plagues of Egypt before you are released by Pharaoh.
· My people, HOLD TOGETHER, STAY WITH ONE ANOTHER, ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER. You will soon make it.
· Spread this revelation – the Mobilization... I am at the door. Be serious about their relationship with Me.”

DR OWUOR’S GODLY INSTRUCTION TO AUSTRALIA (AND US). REPENT OF…
· All false prophesies to make people feel good and not deal with their sins
· All sexual sins, lust, sexualized dressing.
· Failure of leaders to rebuke sin.
· Preaching prosperity gospel, focus on money
· Accepting post-modernism, not believing ALL the Scriptures.
· Building one’s own kingdom instead of the Kingdom of God
· Preaching focused on improving one’s life style instead of preparing a spotless Bride of Christ.
· Not teaching the centrality of God’s holiness.
· Not mobilizing God’s people in repentance

FINAL CONCLUSION
· BE LIKE NOAH – PREPARE
· DON’T BE LIKE LOT – CONFUSED, LOST FAMILY MEMBERS
· SAVE THE LOST URGENTLY!!

The problem of demandingness

Have you ever met someone who is demanding? Have you ever seen yourself being demanding? How do you feel? What do you think?

I think we all agree to what demandingness is.
• It is ugly
• It is a show of pride
• It is the exposure of sin in the heart

Demandingness is anger that can weaken our health

We are a demanding people.
· We demand that slow drivers get out of the way
· We demand that the waiter serves us promptly
· We demand that our spouses respond to our needs
· We demand that our children be what we want them to be
· We demand that ….

In relationships with people
· Demandingness erodes trust because it shows you don’t understand others and you are impatient with them
· Demandingness exerts pressure that oppresses (some breakdown under such pressure)
· Demandingness destroys freedom and brings bondage

Maturity
· The beginning of maturity is an estimate of oneself that makes demandingness unthinkable.
· And that estimate develops when we confront the reality of who God is and who we are.
· GOD IS THE LORD! HE IS TOTALLY IN CHARGE FOREVER! Not me!
· Proud people demand
· God opposes the proud who demand but He gives grace to the humble who express their hurt.
· There is NO ONE whose high estimate of himself qualifies him to tell God what to do.
· The necessary foundation for any relationship with God is a recognition that God is God and we are not.
· We therefore have no business demanding anything of anyone, no matter how much we long for relief from pain or we long for what we want immediately.
· It is wrong to internally demand that your loved ones become a Christian or your spouse stop drinking or your rebellious child straighten up.
· Desire much, pray for much BUT demand nothing.
· To trust God is to demand nothing!

Humility
· Perhaps the 1st step in learning humility is to consider who it is we think must change.
· Certainly NOT GOD
· Or even others
· Certainly it is ME who needs to change

(Luk 6:35-38 NKJV)
55 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil
36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
37 "Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

Beware of the Marketing Department of Hell

A story was told of a man who was living a sinful life. He was into drinking, smoking, womanising, cheating, lying and doing all kinds of evil, godless stuff. He had a dream. In the dream he had an accident and died and was taken to hell. When he arrived at the entrance, there was a party going on. People were drinking and smoking and there were pretty girls all around. Then he woke up and he said to himself, "Oh! hell is not that bad after all." He then went on to continue to live a sinful and godless life.

Then he met with an accident after one of his drinking party and died instantly. He was taken to hell and was tortured by fire and eaten by worms. He screamed and cried out, "This was not what I saw". A demon came by and told him, "What you saw before in your dream was the marketing department of hell".

Moral of the story
Do not be deceived to think that hell is not real and sins will not be judged.

Psalms 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.

Matthew 5
29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Matthew 10
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Gal 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

“Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them”

2 Kings 6:8-23

We are in a spiritual war. Although it is spiritual and unseen by the naked eye it is nevertheless a very real and fierce war. Much is at stake; not just material things but the souls of men and women, children and youth. We, the church of the living God must rise up to stand our ground and fight. Our enemies are not flesh and blood but they are demonic spirits in the spiritual realm. Our weapons are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.

In this spiritual war we must remember that our King has the highest authority and He has defeated our real enemies. He is our “David” who has defeated Goliath. We fight with His authority and from His victory. It is a war that the end is already determined, we win!

In 2 Kings 6:8-23, we learn some keys to war in victory. The enemy of Israel, the king of Syria, was making plans to attack Israel. But every of his plans were foiled. The king thought that someone from his camp has been a traitor. But they told the king that none of them were traitors but that Elisha the prophet, by divine revelations tells the king of Israel what the king plans/speaks in his bedroom.

The first key for victory over our enemies is having an intimate prayer life with God. We need to be connected to the God who knows all things and receive from Him revelations. There is no short cut to this. We as His people must develop intimacy with Him. This includes thanksgiving, praise, worship, prayer, obedience to His word etc. We must be diligent to study His Word to know His heart and His ways and be familiar with His voice and visions. Elisha like Elijah, his spiritual father, is one who “stands in the presence of the Lord”. This speaks about him delighting in God’s presence and always being with Him, walking with Him and obeying Him.

The second key is that we must immediately obey what He tells us. The king of Israel takes immediate actions to do as Elisha says. In doing so Israel was delivered from the attacks of the Syrians again and again.

The third key is that we must not be fearful but have faith in God that “those who are with us are more than those who are with them”. When Elisha’s servant saw the great army of Syrians surrounding the city where they were he was filled with fear. Elisha on the other hand was in perfect peace. That’s when he told his servant, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." Truly, If God is for us who can be against us! With God on our side we are the majority. The angels of the Lord encamp around those who fear Him! Elisha had such great confidence. That I believe is because he knew the promises of God and trusts in them.

The fourth key to victory is prayer for our youth. We need to pray for revelation for those who are young, both in faith and in age. Elisha prayed for the young servant, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Elisha had faith but the young man needs to see to believe. The younger generations of believers need to grow strong in faith. They need those who are more experienced in God, who had walked with God, who knows God’s heart, God’s ways and God’s voice to mentor them, to disciple them and to pray for them. Elisha’s prayer for the young servant was immediately answered by the Lord and he saw an army of horses and chariots of fire all around them to protect them and to fight for them.

The fifth key to victory is also prayer, to pray against our enemies. Elisha asked God to strike them with blindness. "Strike this people, I pray, with blindness." And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. God blinds our enemies to change them. He did that to Saul, the then enemy of the church who was on the road to Damascus to arrest Christians to put them in prison. Our prayer binds the power of our enemies and paralyses them.

The sixth key to victory is also prayer, to pray blessings for our enemies. Elisha then prayed to God to open their eyes. "LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see." And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw. Elisha then asked God to open their eyes. He did the same for Saul and instructed Ananias to pray for Paul’s eyes to be opened.

The seventh key to victory is to bless our enemies with good deeds. Elisha then instructed the king of Israel to set food and water before them. The king prepared a great feast for them before sending them home. Then he prepared a great feast for them; and after they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master.

The result of all that was, “So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel.” Through Elisha’s faith, prayers, wisdom and love and the king’s obedience to God’s instruction through Elisha, the Syrians were defeated and they no longer were Israel’s enemy.

The church is in a spiritual battle. We are not fighting against people but spiritual forces of darkness. We must engage. We must fight. But the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but MIGHTY IN GOD. Let’s arise and fight, arise and build. Let’s pray and obey. Let’s pray some more and bless our enemies. We are on the victory side. Those who are with us and more than those who are with them.


2 Kings 6
8 Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, "My camp will be in such and such a place."9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there."10 Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice.
11 Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?"
12 And one of his servants said, "None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."
13 So he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him."
And it was told him, saying, "Surely he is in Dothan."
14 Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.15 And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"
16 So he answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."17 And Elisha prayed, and said, "LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.18 So when the Syrians came down to him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, and said, "Strike this people, I pray, with blindness." And He struck them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
19 Now Elisha said to them, "This is not the way, nor is this the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek." But he led them to Samaria.
20 So it was, when they had come to Samaria, that Elisha said, "LORD, open the eyes of these men, that they may see." And the LORD opened their eyes, and they saw; and there they were, inside Samaria!
21 Now when the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, "My father, shall I kill them? Shall I kill them?"
22 But he answered, "You shall not kill them. Would you kill those whom you have taken captive with your sword and your bow? Set food and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master."23 Then he prepared a great feast for them; and after they ate and drank, he sent them away and they went to their master. So the bands of Syrian raiders came no more into the land of Israel.

DOMINION - THE GOAL OF YOUR FAITH

Message by PS VOON
SCRIPTURE: 1 Pet 1:3 - 2:15

Acts 28:31 ….preaching the KINGDOM OF GOD & teaching the things which concern the LORD JESUS CHRIST…

1. INTRODUCTION

The book of Acts ends abruptly with this verse which tells us that Paul continued preaching about God’s kingdom and teaching about Jesus.

2. THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The Kingdom of God is where Jesus rules as King and the Gospel of God is not just a passport to heaven but making Jesus KING of our lives, allowing Him to change and transform our lives.
1 Peter 1:9 - The end of your faith – the salvation of your souls.
This means transformation and sanctification of our lives. God wants to see our lives changed and transformed into the image of His Son, Jesus. (Rom 8:29)
There are many things our KING asked us to do and many things we know we should do as subjects of the KING. But often we choose the things that please ourselves rather than please our KING. We choose the path of least tension or resistance. We don’t want too much trouble.

3. LOOK AT THE DIAGRAM - not able to show diagram in here.

A. CREATION – God created us to rule and have dominion.
B. Because of SIN we lost our dominion. Instead there was SHAME, SEPARATION &
SUFFERING.
C. AT THE CROSS - Jesus, in His obedience to the Father, voluntarily took the shame, separation and suffering and won salvation for us. He is exalted to become the KING of the Kingdom of God.
D. THE WORK OF THE CROSS - restored to us the place of authority and dominion that God intended.
E. THE WAY OF THE CROSS – Jesus learnt obedience by the things which He suffered (Heb 5:8). No suffering = No Obedience. God calls us to follow Jesus by willingly choosing the way of the cross as in Luke 9:23; deny self, take up our cross daily to follow Jesus. We do this by voluntarily choosing to bear shame, separation and suffering. To bear the cross = to do God’s will = to suffer for doing right or for obeying God. This includes to love the lost, to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to make disciples, to do good, to pray, to fast etc.

4. JESUS CALLS US
a. not just to be saved from hell but to walk the WAY of the CROSS.
b. to rule our own lives, to be under His control, to do His will.
c. to fulfil the GREAT COMMISSION - to be fishers of men, to make disciples
d. to be DOERS and NOT TALKERS

5. THERE WILL BE REWARDS:
Rom 8:17 – …joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we SUFFER WITH HIM then
we may be GLORIFIED WITH HIM
Jam 1:12 – Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved; he will receive the CROWN OF LIFE which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

This is not the royal crown but the laurels for champions. Your obedience, effort, perseverance, sufferings will be rewarded by the Lord. If we do nothing, we will get nothing.

6. SIX THINGS WE CAN DO - 1 PET 1:3 – 2:15
In the passage we see 6 things that God calls us to be and to do

1. Pinpoint your target – Personal holiness (1:13-15)
2. Live like Pilgrims (1:17) This world is not our home, heaven is our home. Travellers travel light.
3. Be Passionate about the church (1:22). Love each other deeply. We are called to preach and live the Kingdom of God. We are to encourage, stir one another to follow Jesus, to suffer for Him in doing His will.
4. Purge yourself of all kinds of evil. (2:1-3)
5. Live like a Priest (2:9). Do what priests are supposed to do. Declare the praises of God, make known the knowledge and will of God, pray for people as representative of God. Be a priest everywhere NOT just in church.
6. Perform for every authority God has appointed over you (2:13-14). There are basically 4 areas of authority that we are to submit to - Family, Church, Work and Government. Joseph was a man with such a submissive spirit. He obeyed his father and was his father’s favourite. He obeyed Potiphar, the Prison chief and Pharoah and had great favour with them all.

CONCLUSION:
Let us rise up to the call of God for transformation for sanctification to be more and more like Jesus so that we will rule with Him on earth, in all our circumstances and relationships. Let’s embrace the call of God to carry our cross to follow Jesus. Let’s embrace sufferings for Jesus for His Kingdom sake!


QUESTIONS:
Comment on Heb 5:8 – Jesus had to learn obedience by the things he suffered. Do you agree that the measure of true obedience is our willingness to suffer for our obedience? Why?
Do we choose things that please ourselves or please Jesus?
Share some personal experiences of Shame, Separation and Sufferings that you experience in following Jesus and how it has changed your life
After going through the 6 points above share any particular point that especially challenges you and what you need to do to have victory in that area.

The root of sin - Iniquity

Very often we equate iniquity with sin. But it is more than sin.
Someone has defined it as the root of sin.
If there is iniquity in your heart you will be bent towards sin.

A definition of iniquity by Genaveve Carlene Welch - It means preversness, to be bent or crooked, to be wrung out of course! It signifies not merely that which is wrong, but the tendency to do wrong! This lies in the disposition and nature and not merely in an act of breaking the law. It is nothing more or less then the spirit and nature of the Devil working in the children of disobediance. John.8:44..Eph.2:1-3..1John.3:8 and Rev.12:9...

In Ez 28:15 the devil was described as "You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you."

Iniquity was found in the devil. What was the devil's iniquity?

It was his prideful self will. 5 times he says "I will" in Isaiah 14.

He wanted to be exalted above God Himself!

12 " How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart:
' I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.'
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol,
To the lowest depths of the Pit.

Today the devil tempts man to seek his own self will above God's will.
Any trace of self will will become an opening for the devil to tempt us to sin against God.
If we do not deny ourself and take up our cross daily to follow Jesus, the devil will tempt us to seek our self will in opposition to God's will. Every time the devil succeed to deceive us to think that self will is better than God's will, we have fallen into his temptation and sinned against God. We have opened a door to him to control us or come in to attack us.

We can trust THE LORD 100%!
Why?
He is the CREATOR OF ALL THINGS. He only knows what's best!
He loves us so much that he sent His Son to die for us. Can't we trust Him?
He alone is ALL WISE! Our human wisdom is so minute and finite BUT His wisdom is infinite and great!

So let us give our hearts 100% to the Lord and not yield ourselves to selfish desires. We will truly be blessed by Him!

BEING PILLARS IN THE KING’S PALACE (Pt 1)

SCRIPTURE: 1 Tim 3:1-15

INTRODUCTION:
Everything that can be shaken will be shaken so that only what cannot be shaken will remain (Heb 12:27).
God’s house built upon CHRIST as the foundation cannot be shaken because Jesus, the Rock of all ages is the ETERNAL foundation, the Beginning and the end. If you and I are pillars, built upon CHRIST, in God’s house, we will be safe and secure for all eternity! We will also be serving His eternal purposes.

THE KING’S PALACE
1 Tim 3:15 …I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

THE KING’S PALACE = HIS CHURCH
1. House of GOD or Household of God - Not house of idols
It is a Spiritual house, not a physical house or building. Only those who are born again in Christ can become His children who are fitted into His house.
2. Church of the Living God
Church = the called out ones, believers who are called out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9) a people belonging to Him who is alive. We are the church of the living God!
3. Pillar and Ground of THE TRUTH

QUESTION: Share about some qualities and functions of pillars of a building.
The House of God is the pillar and ground of Truth. What does that mean to you?

· PILLAR OF THE TRUTH
Pillars are visible and absolutely necessary. If pillars are taken away, the building will collapse.
They carry loads/weights down to the foundation. They are strong and support the building which provides shelter. The bigger the building the more pillars are required. Every pillar carries the load around them.
Foundation on the other hand is not visible but an absolute necessity. Jesus Christ the Truth is our foundation on which the church is built upon.

The church needs pillars. We need to be pillars of truth in the house of God - STANDING UP FOR and BEARING WITNESS TO God’s truth so that people can see the Truth, JESUS, in us and the Gospel lived out by us. Then they can come to Jesus through us.
Pillars can be men and women. Eg. Ps 144:12 refers to daughters as pillars in the palace.

· GROUND OF THE TRUTH
The church is the ground of Truth = a defender and protector of truth. The household of the living God must stand up to PROTECT THE TRUTH OF GOD and ensure it is not compromised.

READ AND COMMENT ON 1 TIM 3:1
This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work.


QUESTION: What conclusion can you draw from it?

“This is a faithful saying” = YOU CAN TRUST THIS TRUTH – Jesus would say, “TRULY, TRULY, I
say to you”
“If a man” = any man
“Desires” = reach out after, long for, to stretch oneself, diligently seek to qualify oneself to serve God
Deep inward drive to equip oneself to be of greater use to God
“Position” = NOT A TITLE – it is an office to function in a work / ministry, to serve in a greater capacity
“Bishop” = 3 interchangeable words as below:-
§ Overseer – to oversee, be in charge, lead, supervise, direct
§ Pastor – shepherd, care, feed, nurture, guard, lead, direct
§ Elder – mature, exemplary, wise, experienced, to discern , to discipline
“Good work” = an excellent task

God wants to use each one of us to be an example, a servant and a leader (someone who serves and influences others towards God)

QUESTION: Do you have the desire to be a “SERVANT LEADER” in His church?

THE QUALITIES OF A BISHOP
Being a leader in His house is a great privilege BUT it is also a great responsibility.

1 Tim 3:2 - A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teachIt is serving the KING OF KINGS!


QUESTION:
Discuss the qualities mentioned.
What do you observe about these qualifications?
Do you agree that CHARACTER in a leader is much more important than SKILLS?

Blameless = above reproach, unable to find fault with, no charge should be brought against him, even if blamed will not be guilty. Note: Christians, especially leaders who are dominated by their flesh have been blamed for all kinds of things, and they have become stumbling blocks to non-believers

Husband of one wife = faithfulness for life to one’s spouse to reflect Christ’s love for the church

Temperate = vigilant, watchful, not careless, not sleepy, or blurr, “keep our head in all situations”, exercise sober sensible judgment in all things, stay cool and collected at all times, able to govern oneself at all times, self controlled, disciplined, stay sharp and perceptive at all times

Sober minded = clear mind, wise mind, spirit of power love and sound mind.
His thought life is Phil 4:8. He is not easily swayed or waver in his mind, not easily deceived or manipulated,
makes right and wise judgments.

Good behaviour = well behaved, polite, considerate, gentle, kind, patient, gracious, approachable, friendly, sociable, respectful, humble in speech, Not selfish, not proud/boastful/arrogant, not rude, not impatient, not harsh,
does not embarrass others in front of them, not critical or judgmental.

Hospitable = opening our homes to welcome new people and minister to their needs
§ Firstly opening of hearts to others – welcome, accept, respect, appreciate, refresh, serve, bless them
· Giving a warm handshake with a affirming smile to someone – especially new people
· Stopping to take time to talk, to ask about them, to get to know them, to be genuinely interested in them; asking if they need anything that you can help them with
· Looking at the interests of others to find out if they can join you for lunch; join your LG etc.

Able to teach = to do this, one has to know and experience the Word. There is no short cut.
On top of daily QT, one have to study the Word, take notes when others teach / preach,
attend classes, conferences, read books, listen to CDs, DVDs etc.
Always learning and growing and seeking to be an example to your students in every way especially in
DOING the Word!


CONCLUSION:
Be AGENTS of CHANGE by desiring to be a PILLAR IN HIS HOUSE, a SERVANT LEADER FOR JESUS.

OUR MIGHTY WEAPON OF WAR – FASTING!

SCRIPTURE: JOEL 2:12-13, 15, MATT 6:1-17

INTRODUCTION:
A prophetic word to our nation:
The FASTING & PRAYER of the saints in Malaysia has kept that nation from the judgment of God.
This is the 11th year of the national 40 days of prayer and fasting. We MUST rise up to continue fasting and praying as we are in critical times. God’s trumpet call has sounded loud and clear. We must humble ourselves and ask God for mercy, for forgiveness of our sins and the sins of our nation. (2 Chron 7:14)

‘WHEN YOU’ not ‘IF YOU’:
In Matt 6 the Lord Jesus taught on key principles His disciples need to live by to be victorious in the Kingdom of God, among which are 3 great duties to be practised. Jesus in teaching on these 3 areas, said:

WHEN you give … v 2;
WHEN you pray … v 5;
WHEN you fast … v 6

Jesus did not say, IF you give… pray… fast… but WHEN you give… pray… fast…This means
1. It is not an option.
2. It ought to be done.

Jesus expected all His disciples to give, pray and …FAST regularly. They are to be practised from the heart, with humility and in honour of the Father who sees in secret and rewards openly!

Most Christians agree that as disciples of Christ we cannot afford NOT to give or pray. But when it comes to FASTING (an area much neglected…), we seem to think that it is an option. God has meant fasting to be a lifestyle of His children. Let’s seek to take hold of this neglected area and use this powerful weapon to see great breakthroughs in our lives and see the advancement of His Kingdom.

WHAT IS FASTING?
It is abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. It is a form of spiritual discipline, a form of mourning and humbling of self.

BENEFITS OF FASTING:
1. Cleanses our bodies of harmful toxins. A natural way towards healing and health
2. Brings us into a deeper, more intimate relationship with God. Increases our spiritual sensitivity.
3. Dethrones the flesh and enthrones the SPIRIT!
4. Releases the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT! Eg of Jesus (Lk 4:14)
5. A fasting lifestyle that honours God will break poverty from our lives.
6. Breaks yokes, demonic bondages and addictions (Isa 58:6, Matt 17:21)
7. Brings divine intervention, deliverance and victory (2 Chron 20:1-30, Esther 4)
8. Judgement of God can be averted. (Jonah 3:10)

MY PERSONAL EXPEREINCE
As an encouragement – 9 Aug 2011 is my 5th day of liquid fast. I’ve experienced many breakthroughs. I feel strong spiritually and physically. I’m experiencing His joy and peace in a wonderful way. Prayer comes so easily and I’m amazed at what the Lord is directing me to pray. Also the Bible comes alive like never before. I’m receiving very enlightening revelations from Him and His Word. Praise the Lord!


CONCLUSION: Be AGENTS of CHANGE!
Let us commit to fast and pray during these 40 days!
Do a fast that means something to you. These is always the element of “sacrifice and suffering” to show our humility and sorrow for our sins and the sins of our nation.