Blessed Assurance

Hello... I've been absent for quite some time... Took a trip down to Novena on Wednesday with Ele to check out the t-shirt printing place.. we wore the Sojourners shirt there on purpose so that the guy would recognise it like the other time Nana and Alicia went.. Brought back a few t-shirt sample sizes for the kids to try out on Sunday... Den I went back to church to show them to Auntie Ivy and stayed back for prayer meeting...

On thursday, went to church again to do some work... got quite a fair bit done lah... i love working in church cos it's so quiet and everything is right at your fingertips.. :)

Went "holy shopping" with Auntie Ivy on Friday at Vivo and Ikea.. Bought lots and lots of sweets for CC camp and some "trophies"... hehe... when they're finally done up, they're gonna be really cool.. then went in the evening with Ele and Joel to watch Nigel's play which was really entertaining.. Jon Jon was there too with his frens.. Yeah.. and after going to Chinese High drama centre, i remembered all those days that i was in drama.. the thrill of being onstage.. the adrenaline rush just before a performance.. kinda missed them.. oh well...

So what's God been showing lately? I've been reading the book of Isaiah and on Wednesday night when i read Isa 44 and 45, the Lord was showing me that the reason why certain things He promised take very long in being fulfilled is so that everyone will know He is God and that He promised it... Cos if the promises were foretold long ago, despite everyone perhaps having forgotten them and despite the fact that everything in the natural seems to be working against them, God will show Himself faithful and true to His word when He finally brings them to fulfillment... cos a long period of time would test and weigh the word that is released... Cos only God can see into the future... not even demonic powers can do that... no idol can, no man can.. men can fairly guess what's gonna happen in the near future cos of the state of how situations are going.. for example, if i see a car driving down a road leading to bukit batok, i can predict that the car will definitely end up at Bukit Batok.. and it would most likely come to pass... but this is just guessing... men can also make their own words come to pass the near future... for example, if a man utters by his flesh and "predicts" that he is going to knock himself into a lampost and thereby proceed to do so, he is successful in his "prediction".. but man cannot predict something in the far future and predict the fulfillment of such an enourmous a task that only God can do, moreover in the light of it being utterly impossible in the present or in the natural... man cannot truly see into the future, especially the far future, unless by the Spirit of God... so if God speaks into the future and declares for them to happen, and fulfills it against all circumstances that oppose it, then it's truly God.. it must be God... And when it does come to pass, who is glorified? None other than Himself. So all you who are hoping and waiting for promises to be fulfilled in your own lives or ministry, take heed of this... God will bring about what He promised and in doing so He will glorify Himself... Hallelujah!

While praying on Wednesday evening, i just sensed that God was saying "I am the bread of life"... and on Thursday evening, He was saying "Why spend your money on what is not bread, your labour on what does not satisfy?" I know that the Lord was speaking to me from Isa 55 which seems to always come up regarding the ministry lah... And after thinking about the Lord's question, i was asking Him back, "Ya, Lord, why?" The Bible makes it clear that only Jesus satisfy us.. He is the Desired of All nations and all who partake of the Bread of Life will not go hungry again.. and that's a profound statement from the Lord Himself... cos in our materialistic consumer culture, we are so caught up with trying to satisfy ourselves with things that will leave us hungry... after we engage in some retail therapy, we're left with the feeling that we dun have enough and we gotta buy some more... after people engage in sexual gratification, they'll be left with a continual lust for more... after people engage in entertainment- movies, TV, games and the like, they'll be left hungry for more... and they're stuck in a self-perpetuating cycle that binds the person to the world and blinds the person to God... And i speak this from my own experience... This year, the Lord has been teaching me much about life... what it means to have life in Him... what it means to rest in Him and be satisfied in Him.. On thursday when i was just having my lunch alone and there's no one around to disturb me, i just felt so satisfied in God and so rested in God.. it's like how a child feels in the arms of their father or mother... And that thing about it is that i didn't even have to do a thing... i just have to be... yeah that's it.. cos Jesus is the Great I Am... and when i am in Him, i will also be... (sounds cheem but true)... There's something about being satisfied in God and being rested in him and living His life and allowing Him to live His life through us.. The reason why contentment is next to godliness is cos unless one is God-centred, he is left unsatisfied, discontented, restless... and he will chase after every passing craze just to fill it... not knowing that Jesus said that the works that God requires of us is to believe in the One that He has sent.. that's another profound statement cos imagine Him saying that the works that God requires is to believe- we dun even have to do a thing.. we just have to believe.. we dun have to strive to take our place in God.. we are already there.. we just have to believe and appropriate that truth in our lives and live it out! To enter His promises is to enter his rest... (Read the book of Hebrews) The rest of God is calling out to us...

To reinforce this truth, i'd like to share some songs that have been in my spirit these days:

Made to Worship

Before the day
Before the night
Before the world revolved around the sun
God on high
Stepped down into time
And wrote the story of His love for everyone

He has filled our hearts with wonder
So that we'll always remember

You and I were made to worship
You and I were called to love
You and I are forgiven and free
When you and I embrace surrender
When you and I choose to believe
Then you and I will see who we were meant to be...

Even the rocks cry out
Even the heavens shout
At the sound of His holy Name
So let every voice sing out
Let every knee bow down
He is worthy of all our praise

Blessed Assurance

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Oh what a foretaste of glory divine
Heir or salvation, purhased of God
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood

This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Saviour all the day long
This is my story, this is my song
Praising my Saviour all the day long

Perfect submission, perfect delight
Visions of rapture now burst from my sight
Angels descending, bing from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love

Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Saviour am happy and blest
Watching and waiting, looking above
Filled with His goodness, lost in his love

These two songs have lotsa truth to communicate, especially the latter (though not many of us sing hyms nowadays...) But just meditate on these and sing them to the Lord and allow Him to reveal the truth of His rest to you... These past few days, I've been feeling so rested and so alive in my spirit.. and i didn't even have to do anything... It's all God...

God bless! ;)