Growing with God

Seeking God’s will in my life

2011-01-22T12:45:00.002+08:00

I have been seeking the Lord to know His will in my life in the area of my career advancement.

I felt that it is time for me to leave my current job and start seeking a new one. I believe God is leading me out as well. But where? This is an important question which I have learnt to only seek God’s direction and blessing instead of jumping into the next best offer. As companies start to respond to my job applications, it is no longer whether I could find a new job but a question of which one to take up. The dilemma starts here.
Other than that, I have so many questions I have in mind surrounding this departure. Because if this, I started studying the stories of Joseph, Moses and Daniel in greater details. I want to seek to hear God’s guidance by spending time reading His Word as one of the avenue. Not only that, I seek advice from fellow Christians and spent time reading books on seeking God’s will and how to hear Him more accurately. I was desperate for an answer.

Amazingly as I am writing this testimony until this point in time, God asked me, “Should you be spending all these efforts to just know My will for your life or should you be seeking to know Me more deeply as your key motivation?” When God asks a question, very often you will know the answer if you check your heart. The mercy of God is so great. I repented at His correction. He searches my heart deeper within and gently reminded me to seek the source and not the blessing.

Proverbs 3:12, “For whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.”

Nevertheless I would like to share some of the revelations I received during this period of study.

In Exodus 33, God told Moses that He will send His Angel and bring the Israelites into the promised land. Moses asked God to show him His way so that he may know God instead of depending on His Angel. In addition, Moses told God that unless God Himself goes with them, he will not move.

God was pleased and He replied in
Exodus 33:14, “And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.””
Exodus 33:19, “Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you…”

Having read this, I feel that God is telling me that the path towards the job of His choice will be one laid with His grace with supernatural confirmation along the way that “I may know His way” as Moses seek in Exodus 33: 13. Moreover I will have also have “rest” or peace in my heart in my decision.

Isaiah 55:12, “ For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; …”

Looking back, I was led into my current job firmly rooted in the knowledge of being in His will. Trials and tribulations followed but still I knew in my heart it was God’s will for me to preserver in those times even though an exit would be a more logical and wiser decision from a secular point of view. I began to understand that while God may want me to go through some challenges in life, the process leading me into the next season of my life laid with His grace and the point of entry will always be of peace and joy.

Then I asked myself and God what I have accomplished in my job over the past few years. I must admit that there have been a few successes here and there but not one which this really spectacular that I am proud of. My answer is submission to authority, more compassionate towards people and have a deeper of understanding of what it means when people say “I can do nothing of myself without Christ”.

A friend of mine recently shared with me one interesting observation. She said that in Genesis 40:14, it was written that Joseph specifically reminded the chief butler to remember him and ask the Pharaoh to free him from prison when he is out of prison. The chief butler forgot and but 2 full years later, Joseph got the opportunity to interpret the Pharaoh’s dream. However Joseph did not specifically asked the Pharaoh to free him after correctly interpreting the Pharaoh’s dream. Instead, he offered his advice. The way I interpret this observation is that during that 2 more years of imprisonment, Joseph had probably reached a point when he told God that he will not use his own strength and way to get out of prison anymore. He will not make it happen anymore. A God given dream can only be fulfilled by God given way.

Perhaps Joseph might have given up hope from disappointment and despair at some time or another. However I believe somewhere hidden in Joseph’s heart, the hope of his dream still lingers. In one of John Bevere’s sermon titled: Hope, he pointed out that it was amazing to see Joseph’s faithfulness when he continued to interpret people’s dream and give God the glory and honor while all the while he is not seeing his dream coming to pass. In fact, it seems like he is heading in a direction completely opposite of what he dreamt and expected. Such is great faith with regard to his own calling from God despite his own situation.

Then I asked myself, am I ready to move to the next level? I started to ask: how could a prisoner become the right hand man of the Pharaoh overnight? Is this realistic? What gave the Pharaoh such great faith to place Joseph in such a high position? The answer: first, the evident knowledge of God’s anointing upon Joseph. People can see the presence of God upon his life. In other words, favor.

Genesis 41:37-38, “So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?””

And second, the wisdom in Joseph.

Genesis 41:39-40, “Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.””

This is the same case in the story of Daniel.

King Nebuchadnezzar appointed Daniel, a conquered citizen, to serve him because of his exceptional level of wisdom and understanding.

Daniel 1:19-20, “Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm.”

And king Nebuchadnezzar also acknowledged the power of the God of Daniel.

Daniel 2:47-48, “The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon.”

Then was Joseph even prepared to serve in the role that the Pharaoh had given him given his long years of captivity? I believed that God’s preparation for Joseph arises from his role in serving Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, and later the keeper of the prison. In both accounts, the bible says:

In the case of Potiphar, Genesis 39:6, “Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate…”

In the case of the prison keeper, Genesis 39:22-23, “And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison; whatever they did there, it was his doing. The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.”

Both men were able to trust Joseph completely! Joseph himself must have exhibited great integrity and capability to his masters. All these in addition to God’s favor. God actually says that Joseph is a successful man even when he was a slave. As a side track, we can see that God determines man’s success not by the situation he is in or status he has achieved.

Genesis 39:2, “The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.”

Last but not lest, God showed me that apart from Joseph’s catapult from prisoner to become the second most powerful man in Egypt, there was an very important aspect of his life that attributed to his success. The forgiveness of his brothers who sold him to slavery 13 years ago. Joseph could not hold back his tears so many times when his brothers seek his audience after he became Pharaoh right hand man. Lastly he said in Genesis 50:20 to 21:

Genesis 50:20-21, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”

Paul wrote in Acts 24:16:

Acts 24:16, “This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”

I need to check if there are any tints of bitterness towards anyone in my company due to any offences. God wants us to live free and would expect us to forgive and brush off any wrongs even when we knew we were right. Bitterness could hold me back from where God’s best for my life. This is not a one time adjustment but a life long process.

Hebrews 12:15, “looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;”

Joseph started off as one who told on others

Genesis 37:2, “… Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives; and Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father.”

But God eventually molded him to become a person of great compassion for others before he was promoted to be a man of great stature.

3 John 1:2, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

From the above understanding and revelation, I strive to position myself to receive God’s blessing by studying the ways of these great men of the Old testimony and continuing to hear from God.

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

Anonymous

I pursued my business to the extent of not realizing I was neglecting God

2010-12-04T00:54:00.000+08:00

There was a period of time when I was managing my day work, travelling heavily on business trips and building my a new business during the night. I was so passionate and driven to make my business successful that I did not realize I spent too much time at night on it and subconsciously neglected what God has initially appointed me to do – to lead a group of fellow Christian brothers and sisters. I was missing in action for 2 months until God spoke to me through His Words in the bible and through my spouse.

What I started off for God fervently and consistently for a considerable period of time had taken a lesser priority in my life unknowingly. The consciousness of God has always been there and I have always wanted to spend time with God daily. The problem is the more I extend the time and effort on my own start up business, the more I compromise those time with God through prayer and bible study, leaving these times to the end of the day when I was physically and mentally tired. As a result, the degree of intimacy with God decreases and slowly the accountability of the things He as given me wanes. Instead of seeking God for instructions and wisdom to manage my group, I spent more time asking for favor and wisdom to build my own business. While asking God for wisdom to grow my business is not wrong, the issue is the content of my prayers are becoming more self centered and less “servanthood”. I am losing balance in this area.

However God has been merciful and gracious.

Proverbs 3:11-12, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.”

While reading my bible during one of those stolen moments, God brought my attention to the Words written in the book of Haggai. In particular, I could sense that God was trying to catch my attention to the following scriptures

Haggai 1:4, ““Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?””

I realized I have neglected building the house of God while I pursued to build my own business. I was convicted then.

Several days later, my spouse also mentioned that I was focusing too much on my business and have spent considerably less time with her in the evening.
I felt that God was also trying to reach me through my spouse and bring me to an attention of something that needs to be reviewed and change.

Then and there, I have decided to put my own agenda aside and reprioritize my roles and responsibilities. As much as I want to pursue my business, I have decided to cut and limit the time I spent on it and give God’s work its due diligence and attention.

Looking back at those 2 months, I was also glad that I did not clinch a major deal that would considerably boost my confidence in my new start up business. If I had then, I would have overworked to meet the dateline and compromised every other areas of my life and get hurt in the process.

I thanked God for His conviction and correction.

Revelation 3:19, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”

In addition, I was brought back to my remembrance on what the bible says.

Proverbs 23:4, “Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!”

Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.”

Anonymous

God orchestrated a string of events supernaturally for the Word of God to be shared

2010-12-04T00:53:00.000+08:00

I had a friend of mine whom I have the desire to reach out to him. He was an unbeliever and he was a good man. I will call him Tom in here. Every now and then I would have this nagging feeling in me to share the gospel with him. This lasted for months and I knew I need to obey God at a point in time.

The challenge is Tom is smart, sociable and had a strong character. In a social setting he leads conversations and provide logical advices most of the time. I knew it will not be easy to bring up the subject of God and share my testimonies with him. God would need to open up doors of opportunities for me to do so and I knew He would.

In the beginning of our friendship, I was already seeking ways and opportunities to reach out to him. However the level of passion wanes as time passes when I repeatedly could not find the right time to do so. Nevertheless, our friendship deepens as we get to know each other better over the months. Trust was established. Close to a year later, Tom would be pursuing his own agenda which means that we would not get to see each other as often in the future. It was then when the sense of urgency came back to me and I begin to seriously ask God for opportunities again. I knew that it would be now or never.

I must say supernaturally, God orchestrated a chain of events that eventually gave me the chance to bring up the topic to Tom. I looked back and realized it was God’s hand moving behind the scene as various situations build upon each other over time to give me this final opportunity. God leads but my obedience was equally important to bring the events to pass. Most importantly, my heart was seeking and hence God can use me and work through various situations.

There was an occasion when 2 of my Christian friends mentioned that there was a Christian book store sale going on around the corner. Tom happened to be lunching with us at that time and he thought it was ok to accompany us to the store. I was quite surprised though. Anyway when we were in the store, we were searching for what we wanted while Tom was walking around the store. After I paid for what I wanted, I went to search for Tom. At the corner of my eye, I noticed him browsing through a book at one corner. A part of me wanted to go up to him to check out what he was reading due to my curiosity. The other part of me thought that God could be speaking to him through the book and I should not interrupt him at this moment. After all we are in a Christian book store. Hence I continued my browsing before joining him later.

When we convened, I suggested we check out the café around the corner as the other 2 friends were still browsing. I thought this was a good opportunity for me to bring up the subject of God to him. So I asked him, “Tom, you believe in God?” Tom replied, “I do not feel it is relevant to me. I cannot relate to it.” He paused before saying again, “Anyway, I was reading a book on something relevant to my life and I agree with some of the things the book mentioned. It is more like some motivational book to me.” At this point in time, I still could not feel the flow to share my testimony on how relevant Jesus can actually be in our lives using me as an example. The conversation took a change in topic and I could not find ways to bring back the topic on Jesus. In my heart, I was thinking if I could have just force my testimony into our conversation even though it did not flow. Such thoughts have went through my mind on several occasions when Tom and I were alone and I thought it was a good time to share the gospel.

Nevertheless the next day when I woke up, I was still thinking about the short conversation I had with Tom at the Christian book store. “How can I create a situation that allows the topic of God to me share in a non intimidating manner?” Then, I recalled about the book he mentioned and I felt impressed in my heart to buy the book for him and use it as the conversation starter! Praise God! And I did just that. It was out of the way for me but I drove to the Christian bookstore, check out the area where he was browsing the book earlier and managed to find the book which he was reading. I knew it must be the one because that was the only book on the subject he told me he was reading. I was joyous! Not only that I picked up another Christian children book which I thought since this was a rare opportunity so why not bless his child too! Now I told myself that I must make the opportunity right and ask God to help me.

A few days later, we had the chance to have lunch alone again. One of our friends wanted to join us but he could not due to some reasons. I brought along the books and was glad he could not so I could have some alone time with Tom. I believe it was God’s plan. I had a very specific agenda for this lunch.

I put out the books and passed it to him, “Tom, for you and your child. This is the book that you were reading that day right?” He was shocked. I then said, “This is a Christian book and hence as a Christian, I want to bless you with you. In addition, the other book is for your kid. I hope your child will like it too.” I paused. “Anyway have I shared with you how I became a Christian and how God transformed me to who I am today?” God opened the door of opportunity and the divine seed in Tom was watered. It was watered because Tom later shared with me that he had encountered some friends who had similar testimonies with God. I told him, “See, I am not the only one, hope that someday before you pass away, you must remember to asked Jesus to be your God. This is one thing which I sincerely want you to do and you know I have your interest at heart.”

Hallelujah! Praise God! This evangelizing encounter with Tom is certainly one of the highlights of my life. I am very grateful to God to lead me in this manner to reach out to Tom. God was helping me to see the “cracks” that I could use to reach out to Tom and how things unfold over time still amazes me today.

Anonymous

An interesting evangelizing experience with a cab driver

2010-12-04T00:51:00.000+08:00

This was one of the most interesting evangelizing encounters I had with a cab driver.

I was going to the airport to catch my flight. As usual, I would flag a cab for my trip. However the moment I got into the cab, it did not take me long to realize that the cab driver was actually meditating with a chain of beads while he was driving. The chain of beads was long and it kept getting tangled around the gear stick and the cab driver was trying to change gear and count the beads simultaneously. I was certainly not pleased with him trying to multitask this way and putting his passenger’s life at risk, especially when he was driving a manual car.

However I could feel a sense of grief in my heart for this cab driver for putting his faith in the wrong source. My compassion for him rises and I could feel the Holy Spirit prompting in my heart to share the gospel with him. I started praying in tongues at the same time, asking God to lead me or show me an opportunity to break the salvation message to him. So I broke the silence and the conversation went like this:

Me: “Uncle, can I disturb you for a while?”
Cab driver: “Ya, sure sure.”
Me: “ What are you doing?”
Cab driver: “Oh, I am meditating.”
Me: “For peace?”
Cab driver: “Yes, yes. For peace.”
Me: “Is it ok if I share my experience with you?”
Cab driver: “Sure.”
Me: “Jesus can give you the peace that you want.”

And the conversation about Jesus and God’s salvation plan started from here.

As our conversation went on, I could tell that this cab driver was a staunch believer of another religion. He believes the need in doing good works to attain salvation. While he was not a student of his religion, his faith in it was strong.

I remembered in the past, one of the visiting pastors to our church shared his experience with the congregation on his relationship with a leader of a non Christian religion. He told us that this leader was very well trained in the teachings of his religion. The pastor started to build a relationship with this leader and gradually gained his trust as a friend. There was mutual respect for each other’s role as a religious leader. The pastor also did not try to share his faith with this leader all this while. He knew they would engage in a never ending debate on the topic of God. Until one fine day, the Holy Spirit prompted the pastor to ask the religious leader questions on salvation and eternal life. These were questions where the answers to them were vague and uncertain from non Christian religion teachings. Hence I applied this wisdom into the current situation I was facing.

While I was trying my best to share the message of that salvation is free for the cab driver, I could sense that our conversation was veering towards the direction of a debate which was something I do not want to get into.

Cab driver: “Every religion is the same. It depends on fate. Maybe I do not have the fate with Jesus.”
Me: “Then you can consider we are fated today to meet and for me to share this gospel with you.”

(Some people tell me that they are not fated to be with the Christian God. In realty, they just do not believe in Jesus and was using this as an excuse. I have realized that my answer is probably the best approach to such replies, which is true. God arrange for this divine appointment.)

Colossians 4:2-4, “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”

Then I asked, “Uncle, does your religion guarantee a passage to heaven?” The cab driver replied, “Yes.” I was not surprised because I had encountered such replies in the past but the underlying confidence is not there when you probe further.

Me: “How do you know?”
Cab driver: “It was written in this religion’s scriptures.”
Me: “Who wrote the book?”
Cab driver: “The religious head.”
Me: “So is this person a man or God?”
Cab driver: “Man.”
Me: “So if he is a man, how does he know he will go heaven when he had not been there?”

The cab driver was not able to answer properly and kept emphasizing it was written in the scriptures. If he has asked me, I would have said, “I knew I would go heaven because the bible says so too. The bible also says that Jesus was resurrected and hence we serve a living God. But most importantly, I had a living relationship with Jesus. Hence I am fully convinced that I would go heaven should I die.” I did not have the luxury of time to explain this to him as he tried to change the topic.

Cab driver: “So tell me. When is Jesus birthday?”
Me: “I do not know.” (Jesus birthday was not written in the bible although 25th Dec was appointed as Christmas day)
Cab driver: [laughs] (Deity birthdays are very important occasions in his religion)
Me: “Is it important?”
Cab driver: [kept quiet]
Me: “I really do not know when is Jesus birthday because the bible did not say so but I knew that Jesus death made such a big impact to this world that 2010, the year we are living now, was marked at His point of death. This is where BC (Before Christ) and AD (After Death) dates arises from.”
Cab driver: “Sorry, I do not understand what is BC and AD.”

The cab driver was probably not well educated and hence he did not know what is BC and AD. By this point in time, I was arriving at the airport already. I ended our conversation with, “Uncle, thank you for allowing me to share my faith with you. Please do not misunderstand me that I am asking you to believe my God right now and then. I just want to share this with you so that in case you want to seek other gods, you can consider turning to Jesus Christ by asking Him to be your God.” The entire conversation went well and we ended amicably. It was non confrontational but gentle in nature. My sharing arises from my compassion for the cab driver and I was sharing with fear and trembling.

1 Corinthians 2:2-4, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,”

After I got down the car and think back about this incident, I realized that the Holy Spirit had been leading me in asking the right questions and giving the right answers to the cab driver. Praise God!

Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Like what the visiting pastor advised. Ask the right questions, share the Word and let God minister to their hearts and set them thinking.

I thanked God for this divine opportunity as well as the wisdom to share the gospel with this cab driver.

Steve

A testimony on how God changed the hardened heart of a non believer

2010-12-04T00:50:00.000+08:00

My friend shared this testimony of her friend’s father’s salvation which I felt was very encouraging to all believers whose family members have not been saved as well as a reminder to continue reaching out to them. I will name her friend Sharon here.

Sharon was serving full time in her church ministry. She is a Malaysian but has been working in Singapore for a long time. Not long ago, her dad fell sick. He was suffering from cancer and that was then when Sharon decided to take a no pay leave to return back to Malaysia to care for her father. As a trained nurse, she felt that she could take care of him and it was her duty to do so as a daughter. For 9 months, she saw the gradual deterioration of her father’s health and for the 9 months, she fed, washed and clothed him unceasingly with love. One of her greatest desire is to see her father receive God’s salvation. Her father was strong willed and stubborn. Despite all the years of reaching out to him, her father never accepted Christ. There was a point in time when the father even told her that even if he is going to die, he will not acknowledge Jesus as his God. However with this sickness hitting him hard this time, Sharon was more than determined to see her father accept God’s salvation before he dies. She told God that if He could change King Nebuchadnezzar, He could change her father. And by God’s grace, her father accepted Jesus finally.

One day, Sharon was washing her father and scrubbing his back as what she had been doing all for the past 9 months. And then she gently asked her father, “Dad, you want to accept Jesus as your God?” To her utter amazement, her father replied, “Yes.” She could not believe it. In fact after leading her father in the salvation prayer, she still doubted because she thought her father might be in a state of semi conscious under medication.

It was then later some of her relatives visited her father. She told them that her father has accepted Christ. This group of relatives was elated! In fact they have been praying for her dad all these while. “Did you really receive Christ?” one of them asked. “Yes I did. I only believe Jesus and no other gods,” her father replied. Sharon was swept away by her father’s reply as this was a confirmation God is showing her. Praise God.

A while later, Sharon knew that her father’s time to go home to the Lord was near. One night she felt impressed in her heart to sing the song “So you would come” by Hillsong to her father. In fact a friend of hers emailed her the lyrics of this song for her to sing to her father a week ago. Finally that night, she sang the song to her father while he was lying on his bed. Her father was in pain and could not sleep. She sang once, and then the second time, and then the third time. She just kept singing because it seemed like the Holy Spirit was prompting her to do so.

So you may come lyrics:
Before the world began
You were on His mind
And every tear you cry
Is precious in His eyes
Because of His great love
He gave His only Son
Everything was done
So you would come

Nothing you can do
Could make Him love you more
And nothing that you've done
Could make Him close the door
Because of His great love
He gave His only Son
Everything was done
So you would come

Come to the Father
Though your gift is small
Broken hearts, broken lives
He will take them all
The power of the Word
The power of His blood
Everything was done
So you would come

When she sang the third time, she saw tears running down her father’s cheek and her father broke into a smile at that moment. A short while later, he fell asleep. He never woke up again.

After the funeral service was over, Sharon began to ask God, “Heavenly Father, why did you ask me to sing the song 3 times and then why did my father tear?” God answered her, “It was because your father felt unworthy of Me for all the years of rejecting Me. He was not sure if he would see Me when he dies. I affirmed him through your singing.” Sharon was touched and was very grateful to God. Only God knows the deepest depth of a person’s heart and know how to respond to him in times of need.

Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart - These, O God, You will not despise.”

Steve

A lesson learnt to just obey God’s prompting instead of deferring it

2010-12-04T00:48:00.001+08:00

Not long ago, I learnt that my colleague’s dad was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I give this colleague a car lift back when we knocked off from work pretty frequently. In fact during the same year, his grandma passed away. Hence it was particularly sad and tiring for him to take care 2 sick family members one after the other as he was the only son and they do not have many relatives in Singapore. I offered my prayers to his father but he told me his father was not keen as his father was a staunch believer in another religion. I did not pushed further but told him the door is always open for prayer any time he felt it was ok for me to visit and pray. His father’s condition deteriorated over time. Each time my friend mentioned about his father condition, I would offer to visit and pray for him. However, this was always turned down. In order not to appear too pushy, I did not offer my prayer proactively since then.

A few weeks later, I was chatting with my colleague over the phone and then I casually asked how his father was doing. He said no good and that his father will be admitted into hospital in the week after this. To hear this, I was happy and yet sad. Sad that his condition worsens but happy because I thought I could visit his father more conveniently and pray for him at the hospital. However at that moment there was an impression in my heart to ask if I could visit him at his place to pray for him. I did not obey. I thought I would get the same negative response from my friend and since I could visit the hospital next week, I will just check him out at the hospital. The conversation with my colleague on the phone was on Friday. The next Monday, my colleague’s father died.

Immediately I thought if I should have offered my prayers back then. It was too late now. I knew my part was to just ask when prompted to instead of being overly concerned with what the response might be. Like what .. says.

Luke 5:5, “But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.””

I might have missed a divine appointment with my colleague’s father. I apologized to God and asked for His forgiveness then and there.

A few days later, I learnt about a probable relapse of my dad’s cancer at my dad’s place. I felt impressed in my heart to tell him I want to pray for him. I struggled to tell him as my dad was a non believer and we had unpleasant experiences over issues of religion in the past. However I recalled about my disobedience to my colleague’s father case. In addition, God brought me into remembrance of a sermon from John Bevere shared that I heard recently. God asked me, “Who is the source of my life? Men or God?” I said, “God.” He said again, “Do you remember you just learnt that a person will not offend his source of life just like a salesman wouldn’t do so to his customer. He will choose to please his source. ” He paused and asked again, “So if you are willing to visit your friends’ relatives and pray for them all these while, why are you then afraid to pray for your own dad?” I knew if I determined in my heart to make God the Lord of my life, I need to obey his prompting. God has teaching and correcting me.

Eventually I did so and I was glad to do so. There was a sense of release. I do my part and will leave the rest to God.

Anonymous

Sharing the gospel with a Japanese friend

2010-12-04T00:46:00.000+08:00

I had the opportunity to share the gospel with my Japanese colleague during one of my business trips to Japan. Although we moved in a group visiting customers and conducting meetings, I had the opportunity to sit next to him in one of the long rides on a Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Osaka.

I took this opportunity to know his background, hobbies and family better. It was been a while since we met and it was a great time to catch up especially on long train rides like this. I thought this would be an appropriate time to bring the message of God’s salvation across to him too. While my friend’s command of English is limited, I tried my best. Knowing his mobile phone was installed with language translation software. I requested him to check the translation on words like “Salvation”, “Sin”, “Holy Spirit” and “Speaking in tongues” as I shared the key points of God’s salvation with him. My intention was to make sure he understood me and he responded with “I see, I see.” each time he read the translation.

Later I asked him if he had anyone to share the gospel with him like I did. He told me he had an English teacher in the past who was a missionary. I did not ask if the missionary shared the gospel with him though. Nevertheless he commented that this is the first time someone shared his religion so “strongly” with him. In Japanese culture, I do not know whether “strongly” meant I was not polite or I was very direct in my sharing. He did not seem offended though and we had a great time even after my sharing. Anyway I believe the message has been clearly delivered.

God will be using someone else to touch him again in at the right time and at the right place. I want to thank God for allowing me to be part of His divine plan for my Japanese colleague.

Steve

Evangelizing under the anointing of God and evangelizing without the anointing of God

2010-09-28T01:23:00.000+08:00

There is a difference between evangelizing under the anointing of God and without the anointing of God.

Most of the time, I am consciously aware of the need to reach out to non believers. However I remembered there was a period of time when I evangelize out of duty and not because I really want to. Sometimes, I was just responding to a personal challenge of whether I am bold enough to share the gospel with this person or that person. It did not flow out of the love for the person.

This was also the time when I neglected spending time with God through reading, praying and studying His Word. As a result, I felt spiritually dry, even after sharing the gospel with someone. My words seem to be bouncing off the person. There was no “life” in my words. My sharing seems not effective and I was regurgitating what I normally say without the supernatural flow of the Holy Spirit.

However knowing the mistake that I made, I was encouraged by what God says in Philippians and all my “lifeless” sharing is not lost.

Philippians 1:15-18, “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”

Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Hence I believe seeds were still sown or watered despite my lack of intimacy and corporation with God.

On the other hand, evangelizing under the anointing of God is a completely different experience. You share with passion and out of the love for the person. Such passion develops as your desire to know God increases and time is spent on developing a personal relationship with God through praying and reading the Word of God.

I like what Reinhard Bonnke wrote in his book: Living a life on fire regarding sharing the love of God to others from his heart. I was able to somewhat relate to his experience.

He wrote: “…it was an overwhelming feeling of love. This too, had been the force that had moved me past all the expectations others had placed on me … It was so much more than sympathy, or empathy, or affection. It came from the indwelling person of the Holy Spirit.”

I remembered there was this occasion at work when a colleague known for his superstitious beliefs and feng shui theories came into my room to chat with me and my other colleague. Before I was a Christian, we would listen to his stories and laugh about it. However this time, it was very different. I was a young Christian then. He started to share passionately about reading the face of a new colleague and started to predict how his future with the company will turn out. I was busy with my work but I was listening to his chat with my colleague. Suddenly I felt a deep sense of compassion for this colleague. There was this love welling up inside of me, that I felt so sad for him for putting so much faith into something that is not of God, to the point that I started to tear in my eyes. Of course I did not let my colleagues see what was happening. I was very young in Christ during that time but God allowed me to experience a portion of the reality of His love and compassion for the lost. It was supernatural.

Matthew 9:36, “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.”

In some of my evangelizing experiences under such compassion, ideas came and words just flow out of my mouth. The right words were shared at the right time. I knew I hit the nail when I get comments like, “Have you considered preaching as a career.” There is life in such sharing. There is life when you cooperate with the Holy Spirit in these precious moments. Glory to God!

There were times even though the person who was receiving your message was not paying attention to what you are saying, he could see the reality of God in your life and the passion you have deeply for God. I remembered sharing the gospel with a colleague of mine and telling him how my life changed as a result of a divine appointment. After I shared the gospel, he commented, “Wa, you talk with passion just like my son talked to me about God!” I responded, “If your son talks like this and I talked in the same manner, there means that there must be something about this God that I am sharing with you today.” I believe the seed in him is watered by my words too.

Not only that, there will be evidence of your much time spent with God.

1 Timothy 4:12-15, “Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.”

You will have a supernatural glow on your face.

Exodus 34:29-30, “Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.”

This was true. There were 2 occasions when someone commented that I looked different. The first was in the lift with a middle age lady. She took a longer than normal look at me and said that there was something different about me in a positive manner. On a separate occasion, it was my security guard who actually stop me in my tracks, took a look at me and again commented, “Wow, brother, you looked different today.” I knew it was not physical beauty that both persons were talking about. I believe it was the same supernatural glow that I sometimes see in some God fearing people. As I recalled back, those “glowing moments” were period of times when I spent a lot of time with God privately. Hence your spiritual intimacy with God does show outwardly.

Lastly I would like to make reference to what John Bevere wrote in Drawing Near. People who spent intimate time with God carry His presence where ever he goes.

He wrote: “… I had previously picked up close to a hundred ministers, for many came to our church. However, this would be different, for when he (Dr, David Cho) got into my car the first time, the presence of the Lord came into my car. Almost immediately I started crying, tears were running down my face. I was very quiet as I didn’t want to disturb him before ministering. Yet I eventually felt compelled to speak. I said soberly and softly, “Dr. Cho, God is here, in our car.” He smiled and nodded.

It was also written in Acts where Peter carried the presence of God with him.

Acts 5:15, “ … so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.”

Therefore lets serve God under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and experience the supernatural. These experiences will leave you wanting more.

Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Steve

People can see the relationship between you and God when you pray

2010-08-31T23:12:00.000+08:00

Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

Even though Paul was addressing the Philippians with regard to the teachings of the same God, he used the word “MY” God which might suggest his God and the Philippians’ God were two different Gods. However this is not the case. Paul was actually personalizing his relationship with God and demonstrating outwardly his intimacy with Him.

Recently I had the opportunity to share the goodness of God with a friend of mine. He was facing some challenges in life and God impressed in my heart to tell my friend that in an event of need, God can help him supernaturally.

Now this is not the first time I am sharing the Gospel and the goodness of God to my friend. As far as I could remember, God has opened up 3 times, the door of opportunity to minister to him over a period of a couple of years. Through the grace of God, I had shared the salvation message with him, my own testimony, addressed some of his questions regarding God and even provided some good literature for his reference. Each of these was accomplished over the 3 different occasions through the leading of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, whatever I knew with regard to Christianity and God, I have shared much with him. However there was something different this time round. I was prompted in my heart to request if I could pray for him before we end the chat. He gladly said, “Sure, why not?” I requested him to close his eyes. I then closed mine and I started to pray out verbally with boldness. This was something I learnt from Pastor Amos when he shared in one of his testimonies.

The prayer went forth as follows briefly, “Heavenly Father, I thank you for this wonderful opportunity to pray for my friend XXX … Father I pray that You will touch him supernaturally in a way that he knows and he knows that You can be so real and that he could not deny that You exist. …. Father I pray that You will bless him, bless his family and that Your peace manifest in their presence. We now thank You and we praise You. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.”

(Certain contents were excluded in the above written prayer to protect the privacy of my friend)

What happened next was when I opened my eyes, I saw my friend looking at me. It seemed to me that he had been observing me while I prayed. There was a moment of silence before he said,” Wow, your prayer is very comprehensive and all round.” I jokingly replied, “I think this is what you need at this point in time.” However in my heart, I believed this is the first time someone has prayed for him and he was amazed by the way and the things that I prayed out. Holy Spirit was actually bringing things in my mind to pray for him. Moreover I have been telling him how real God is to me but somehow I believe he was able to witness the relationship between God and me from the way I communicate with God during the prayer. I feel that God is trying to show me that if I consistent talk with God and fellowship with God through prayer, when we have the opportunity to pray for people, especially non believers, they will be able to see the presence of a relationship with the God that we believes in, as well as the authenticity of the intimacy we have with Him. Just like how Paul says, “My God …” Praise God!

On the hindsight, I could have added the following scriptures in my prayer for him as well: “Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts; and Your ways higher than our ways. Moreover the thoughts that You have toward us are thoughts of peace and not of evil; to give us a future and a hope” and “We thank you for what you are doing right now and what you are going to do in the future.”

Nonetheless, I will bear these in mind when the next similar prayer opportunity comes.

Anonymous

We need to learn to embrace boldness to represent and serve God effectively

2010-08-31T23:10:00.000+08:00

Ephesians 6:19, “… that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,”

I had the opportunity to share the gospel with one of my relative lately and he accepted Christ as his savior. Praise God!

My relative came to visit my family and we had lunch together. Such visit happened every now and then and our conversations were mostly revolving around catching up with each other. However this time, it was a little different. Halfway through the meal, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me in my heart to share the gospel with him. There was a burden in my heart and I knew God wanted me to do so right then and there. It was a familiar feeling.

Nonetheless, I started to struggle in my mind on how to start, what to say and should I even bring the topic up. I was also thinking perhaps I should wait for another convenient time to share the gospel. Perhaps I should not even spend the effort as it is impossible for him to accept what I am planning to share. Since I would face rejection, I must as well not talk to him about it. Thoughts of justifying why I should not share the gospel with this relative of mine just went wild in my mind in that short span of time. This was when I started to realize I have not been consciously making the effort to seek out opportunities to share the gospel with people around me lately. I was too occupied with my own agendas. As a result I felt “rusty” in some sense.

Nevertheless, I knew I had to obey the Holy Spirit leading. This was one of those moments when I knew that if I consciously ignore the prompting or procrastinate long enough to miss the opportunity, the Holy Spirit would be grieved and I would be accountable for any consequences.

So while I was eating, I started to replace the negative thoughts with thoughts of how to bring the subject up at the right time. Eventually I started bluntly and asked my relative, “Have you ever thought of believing Jesus?” Next I brought up the subject about how God could forgive bad deeds that we have committed in our past and that we have an eternal heaven to go when we die. The sharing took off from there as the Holy Spirit leads. Eventually I asked him if he wanted to become a Christian. In fact, I did not ask him. I suggested to him, “Why not we pray together right now with my wife, I lead you in the salvation prayer and you repeat after me, as you do not know how to pray. But you must speak to God with your heart.” I assured him that he does not need to go church and he does not need to be baptized. At that time, my wife was in the room. My relative hesitated and suggested later. I was not ready to let go of this rare opportunity. I asked my wife out and then suggested to him to pray with us again. He said OK this time round.

Word for Word, he repeated after me. I could feel the boldness in my voice as I lead him to say the salvation prayer. I wanted to make sure he understood clearly what he was praying about. Praise God. As I think back, it was truly a miracle for my relative to even say the salvation prayer with us. I am glad that I obeyed Holy Spirit’s prompting.

As what Pastor Amos shared recently, boldness is the key to effective evangelism and believing for the promises of God. He mentioned:

Moses was bold enough to step out and call forth the parting of the Red Sea.
David was bold enough to step out and challenge Goliath.
Peter was bold enough to step out of the boat to walk on water.
Peter was bold enough to step out and preach to multitudes after receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit when he just denied Jesus previously.

Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. By stirring up the gift that was in us, which is praying in the Holy Spirit, we could speak forth the Words that were accumulated in our hearts with conviction. This is when power is released through our mouth.

There were several accounts in the bible where men of God asked for boldness.
Paul requested his brethren to pray for him the boldness to speak the Word of God in the book of Ephesians.

Ephesians 6:19, “… and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel,”

Peter asked God for boldness in the book of Acts.

Acts 4:29, “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,”

And Paul reminded Timothy about the faith of Timothy’s mother and grandmother and urged him to stir up the gift that was in him because Paul knew that praying in tongues can bring forth the boldness of God in the book of 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy 1:5-7, “when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

Therefore, boldness is one of the key attributes we need to learn to embrace in our personal life to represent and serve God effectively.

Steve

God is more interested in developing our character

2010-07-03T12:13:00.000+08:00

There have been many times when I thought God was opening up doors for me to exit out of my current situation and move on to another phase of my life but it was not so. There have also been many occasions when I thought God was ready to bless me abundantly but it was not so too.

Proverbs 16:1, “The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.”

Proverbs 16:9, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.”

Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

As I stand on the above Word of God and wait upon God to navigate me through my life, it came to a point whereby I was no longer overly excited about new business opportunities that come along my way or extremely happy when I clinch a deal. I became indifferent to a certain extent.
And when things do not turn out well, I will encourage myself with the following scriptures:

Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

From the life of Paul, we are able to see that serving God is Paul’s passion and focus in whatever situations God presented to him. My personal opinion is Paul must have experienced many times when he thought God was going to bring him out of his hardship but it turned out to be otherwise. Eventually he was fully persuaded that while good and bad things happen to him, Jesus is still there for him. That is why Paul was able to write in Philippians 4:11-12.

Philippians 4:11-12, “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”

Similarly Joseph being given the promise by God to rule over his brothers ended up being sold as a slave. Nevertheless, there were many occasions whereby he must have thought God would bring him out of his captivity but it turned out otherwise. He was made to oversee his master’s household only to find himself jailed over a false accusation. Subsequently he interpreted the dream of a royalty while in prison, with the hope of being released, only to find himself being forgotten and continuing to stay in prison for a couple more years. However eventually he was promoted overnight to be the right hand man of the pharaoh. At that point in time, I believe Joseph must have been happy that God delivered him. However I also believed that God has molded his character to an extent that he was cool and not overly hyped up about his latest promotion. He would be a good testimony to what Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-12, “for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:”

We create plans for our personal life eg getting a good job, getting married, having children, getting a bigger house etc. While we are charting the way we hope it will turn out and desiring God to lead us the way we want it, it dawned on me one day during worship that God was more interested in developing our character. He is more interested in planning and charting the way we can develop our character.

Therefore while we anticipate the way God will open up doors for us to meet our needs, I believe we need to look into our heart and see if God is trying to use the present opportunity to develop our character or attitude towards certain matter or person.
This is especially true when we are faced with difficult situations.

Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Steve

We need to maintain the holy fear in our heart towards God to stay in His will

2010-07-02T18:20:00.002+08:00

Recently a friend of mine shared with me the story of Samson and pointed out certain revelations which inspired me to read more about the story in the Book of Judges.

Before Samson was born, he had been chosen by God to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. Unfortunately Samson backslided to the point that he thought he could get away with his sins. He must have thought that “God does not see” what he was doing.

Ezekiel 9:9, “… the LORD does not see.”

As a result, God gave him the desire of his heart according to his covetous desires and eventually the judgment of God catches up on him.

Ezekiel 14:4, “… I the LORD will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols,”

Firstly before Samson’s birth, God has appointed Samson to be a Nazirite to God. As a Nazirite, he should not drink wine (Numbers 6:3) or go near a dead body (Numbers 6:6). However Samson broke the above two laws that God had set.

Then Samson married a Philistine woman, an enemy, when he was ordained to deliver Israel out. Not only that Judges 14:5, “… came to the vineyards of Timnah.” gave hints that Samson had hanged around vineyards to know this Philistine woman and most probably drank wine in his younger days although the bible did not specifically state so. I believe this might be the beginning of his willful disobedience to God’s instructions.

The scriptures revealed that Samson later drank honey from a lion carcass, went in with a harlot and married Delilah who caused his ultimate downfall.

He became so complacent that he thought God would not judge him when he realized his supernatural strength stayed with him even while he was sinning.

1 Timothy 4:2, “… having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,”

How could he not discern something was wrong when his wife, Delilah, repeatedly taunt him to reveal the secret of his supernatural strength? How could Samson treat something so sacred and divine so lightly and carelessly? At that point in time, he was still playing along with Delilah and joked with her.

Judges 16:20, “But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.”

Samson did not know that the Lord had departed from him when his hair was shaved. The words “did not know” suggested that Samson had not been spending time with God for a long time as he could not discern the presence of God had left him.

Judges 16:20, “So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!””

He still thought that he had his supernatural strength because he said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!”

It is sad to learn that a man ordained to do great things for God by God himself no longer know the Person who gave him his supernatural strength, probably forgot about his mandate and was deceived by his own pride. He seek the power but not the source. He assumed that the power will stay with him forever.

Judgment finally caught up with him in the end; and his fall from grace was great. Samson got his eyes put out, cast into prison and put to mockery as a performer before the very people he was ordained to defeat.

Nevertheless, it was a good but sad ending for Samson when he repented before God.

Judges 16:28-30, “Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!” And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life.”

The scriptures showed that Samson burial was a simple affair.

Judges 16:31, “And his brothers and all his father’s household came down and took him, and brought him up and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of his father Manoah.”

If Samson has stayed in the will of God and finished his race, his death would be one that is greatly mourned and his burial would have been a glorious affair. Why wouldn’t it be if he had delivered Israel out of the hands of the Philistines?

Steve

It is easier at times to share the gospel without prior knowledge of the person’s background

2010-07-02T18:19:00.000+08:00

I read about 2 amazing testimonies of people sentenced to death but was miraculously being released from prison in John Bevere’s Honor’s Reward as well as Reinhard Bonke’s Even Greater.

In John Bevere’s book, he gave a prophetic word to one of the prisoners, who was sentenced to 3 life sentences, in the middle of his prison service. He was not even aware of this until 16 years later, he bumped into the prisoner who became a worship leader in a big church.

In Reinhard Bonke’s book, he was instructed by God to give a prophetic word to one of the prisoners telling him he will be released in due time. In this case, Reinhard Bonke struggled to speak these words to the prisoner for he thought it was cruel. These prisoners were on the death row and there is no way he can leave the place. Nonetheless Reinhard Bonke yielded to God’s leading and spoke forth the prophetic word. However he felt that he was giving the prisoner a false hope and did not feel good about it. Little did he know that many years later, Reinhard Bonke met that person on the streets. The prisoner was miraculously released from the prison. Praise God!

From these 2 accounts, we can see why Paul wrote in Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 2:1-3, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.”

If Reinhard Bonke did not know what his prisoner friend was going to be put in death, if would have been easier for him to speak the prophetic word to him. It would have been easier for John Bevere in this case.

Moreover, I recalled in one of the soul I managed won to God’s kingdom. Little did I know that the person declare that he detest Christianity prior to our conversation. I reckon that if I knew his background and perception, I might not have been as free and as bold to share the Word of God to him then and there. It could have hindered the flow of God as a result of my thinking.

Anonymous

Knowing which church to attend and staying where God wants you to be

2010-07-02T18:17:00.002+08:00

For the past few years in His Harvest Church, I have witnessed various phases of transformation of our church size. People have came and have left the church for various reasons. I have been asked if I have ever considered leaving the church and I said, “No.” So I started to ask myself why I would not do so at this point in time and the following reasons came to my mind.

1. I treat His Harvest as my home church.
It is not the church of the pastor but a church that belongs to everyone who recognize it as their home church. Just as in a secular family setting, there will be good times and there will be bad times. However the home is still where we belong. Therefore; the church is also the place where we could learn to overlook each other weaknesses, keep off offense and we do our best to stay together.

2. I came for the message and not for the Pastor.
John 14:26, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

The Holy Spirit has been using the messages that I have received under the ministry of Pastor Amos to guide my life throughout the years. To correct me in times of err, to comfort me in times of despair, to encourage me in times of disappointment and to guide me in times of dilemma. I honor the Pastor but I came for his message more than the person himself.

3. I have learned to submit and honor my leaders
We should always submit and honor our leaders as much as we can, even at times when they might have offended us. Samuel honored Priest Eli although his sons were living in sin and that Priest Eli has lost his anointing. David honored King Saul by withholding his sword to kill him on two separate occasions even though King Saul sought over his life repeatedly. In fact, David mourned after King Saul’s death. We must keep a submissive heart towards our leaders instead of being critical or judgmental, in order for the anointing upon the leaders to flow into our lives.

4. Isaiah 55:12, “ For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace;”
Last but not least, I believe that if it is God’s will for us to leave, we should leave with peace in our heart. If we feel that God wants us to move away from the spiritual covering of one church to that of another church, we need to know very clearly in our hearts that it is His will for us to do so.

Steve

God helped me to release my bitterness of feeling shortchanged

2010-07-02T18:17:00.001+08:00

My company is approaching the end of the fiscal year and this was the time when our performance reviews were done and the amount of variable bonus to receive was determined.

In my case, I had some contention with my supervisor on the way my bonus was calculated. Although I left the meeting with a common agreement and understanding, I later realized that there were still some areas which I have overlooked that could contribute more to my overall performance bonus. However looking at how the meeting had proceeded earlier, I knew that if I continue to pursue the matter, it would not benefit my long term relationship with my supervisor. I was not happy and felt that I was stuck in a compromising position.

I wanted so much to complain to my other colleagues on how unfair my bonus was calculated. However I knew that such an act would not contribute a cubit to my bonus but only cast a bad light on my supervisor. Not only that, it will stir up my bitterness over the matter. At that point in time, God reminded me that it is right to control my tongue. I knew the Holy Spirit was constraining me. I did well in this area in the past and I should and could do it again.

Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

Eventually, I kept the matter to myself.

On the same day, I attended my church night service. The congregation was having a great time worshipping God and Pastor Amos was telling us the presence of God is in this place and encouraging us to continually praise and worship and enjoy the presence of God. Time passed and it was almost more than an hour that we worship God.

However while everyone around me was worshipping God, I knew I was not flowing with the anointing as much as I wanted. In fact throughout that time, my mind was so cluttered with what happened during performance review meeting I had earlier in the day. I kept thinking how unfair my case was, what I could do later, how I should justify my bonus etc. Images after images keep appearing in my mind. Thoughts after thoughts of bitterness flood my mind. “Its not fair” became the focus of my mind. The bible says

Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,”

It was not easy. I knew that if this matter could pull me down so badly that I could not worship God, something is not right. I told God to help me to get into the place of worship because I was struggling to offer sacrifices of praise to God while keeping those thoughts at bay.

It was then at some point in time, I felt impressed in my heart that Jesus was asking me, “Is it fair for me to go to the cross?” I was caught in my tracks. Jesus asked again, “Is it fair for me to go to the cross?” I did not reply. He asked the same question the third time, “Is it fair for me to go to the cross?” Eventually I relented. I said to Him in my heart, “No.” His questioning and my response to Him somehow helped me put an end to the contentions I had in my mind. One touch of God is indeed better than a thousand words.

While a better way to get out of the rut is to put my faith into the Word of God and ask God to increase my faith to help me release this bitterness, God could see I was struggling and He loves me so much to drop a word of correction into my heart. I knew God was trying to help me release this bitterness, accept the outcome and let the matter rest.

In the later part of the service, Pastor Amos shared on Ephesians 5:17-19.

Ephesians 5:17-19, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,”

I realized that. I was “drunk in my thoughts” dwelling for so long on the matter leading to “waste”, when I should be worshipping God in spirit and in truth. This serves as a reminder to me that we should be constantly praising and worshipping God to keep us in the presence of God. In the presence of God, there is fullness of joy.

Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Anonymous

Be faithful in little

2010-07-02T18:15:00.000+08:00

In one of my night church service, Pastor Amos wanted me to share some of my experiences with God with the people. It was a last minute request and the only time I had to prepare was during the worship session.

The sharing was brief and it went well. Then I thought about how I managed to quickly put my thoughts together. While part of the reason was Holy Spirit inspired ideas, I was also reminded that the other part of the reason was I have been faithfully updating my church testimony blog, sharing God’s Word with people around me as well as regularly reading God’s Word.

Matthew 25:23, “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

God has showed me that by constantly sharing of God’s Word, reviewing and improving what I have shared, such practices are important and will prepare me well when he create opportunities for us to bless people or evangelize. I believe as we continue to do our best in various service that we offer to God, God will definitely open up more opportunities to use us as a vessel to bless others. His expectation of us will be raised as well.

Matthew 13:12, “For whoever has, to him more will be given,”

Steve

God gave Jesus to the world but He gave the Holy Spirit to His Children

2010-07-02T00:53:00.001+08:00

Pastor Timothy shared with the church a revelation that he received previously. He taught about the relationship between spiritual facts and truths in our hearts.

It is a spiritual fact that Jesus died for our sins and whoever believes in Him will have everlasting life. God gave Jesus to the world.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

It is also a spiritual fact that God has already prepared all the promises for us and it is our responsibility to access by grace through faith to claim these promises in our lives.

Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”

However how do we establish these truth in our lives?

Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Holy Spirit is given to His children. We are the children of God. Therefore we need to be led by the Holy Spirit to translate what the bible says into reality in our lives. We need to receive these promises as established truths in our heart in a manner that we are fully persuaded by the Word of God through the revelation that the Holy Spirit brings to us.

Ephesians 1:17, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,”

One example is in the area of tithing/ giving. You will not be fully established in this truth unless the Holy Spirit leads you to tithe/ give accompanied by experiences of the supernatural blessing and protection from God in the area of finances.

After establishing the various truths of the bible in our lives, we will then be able to minister effectively to believers or non believers who need to hear our personal experiences.

Like what John C. Maxwell wrote in his book: Everyone Communicates Few Connects, “Nothing can happen through you until it happens to you.”

Therefore it is necessary that we spend time reading the bible, praying in the Holy Ghost so that Holy Spirit is able to teach us and guide us and bring the reality of God’s promises into our lives.

1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

Steve

Lessons we can learn from the bad press on Christians recently

2010-06-02T00:57:00.000+08:00

In recent few months, there have been several bad presses on the conduct and choice of words used by prominent pastors and a case on the probable misuse of church funds in a high profile church. Being a Christian, I do not feel comfortable when I see these stories highlighted on the headlines of major newspaper. The worse part was people started to take this opportunity to make snide remarks about God and the church on various forums. What happened does not cast a good name on Christianity especially on non believers who followed the news.

If we look carefully, the events that occurred will literally affect two key areas of bringing the gospel to the world.

Firstly, spiritually immature Christians in the area of tithing and giving will be affected. They may not trust the leadership of the church or even feel bitter about giving money to the church if the allegations of fraud is true.

Secondly, if I am a member of the church of which the above news were affiliated to, a young Christian might feel certain reservations in spreading the gospel or even invite people to his/ her church services. Or spiritually young Christians might not openly declare their faith lest people start to challenge them in these areas and they do not know how to respond. As a result, the commission of Jesus upon Christians to spread the gospel will be hindered.

Nevertheless, reflecting on what is happening around us further reinforces two very important principles of Christian living.

Firstly, the gospel is free but the channel of bringing the gospel to the lost is not. Hence it is important that we remain cheerful in tithing and giving with the full awareness that we are giving unto the Lord to build the kingdom of God and not to men.

2 Corinthians 9:7, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

Having said that, I knew one of my colleagues belongs to the church under investigation and hence I felt in my heart to drop the person an e mail to encourage her to continue tithing and giving to her church cheerfully and not lose heart. I was glad when she thanked me for the encouragement and that she understood the principle of giving unto the Lord and not to men.

Romans 12:4-5, “For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.”

This is a good time for fellow Christians to build up each other and undergird each other’s faith in the face of persecution and trials.
Secondly, it is very important that Christians should always look at Jesus and not to men.
Their Christian faith must be based on Jesus and not men.

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In an unfortunate event where the pastor/ leader indeed fell from grace, the disappointment of the sheep under the covering of these pastors/ leaders would come but the faith of these believers must not wavier because their confidence is not on men but on God alone.

In fact a spiritually mature Christian should remain in his/ her church to encourage and support their pastors/ leaders at least during this period of time. They should not leave their church or abandon their faith because a truly repented pastor/ leader would need all the encouragement and support they have around them to help him overcome his challenges while he seeks God for restoration and guidance.

Let every Christian stand tall and stay strong and be proud to continue declaring their faith in the midst of these trials and persecutions.

Steve

Our words rule our world

2010-06-02T00:55:00.000+08:00

Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

Proverbs 6:2, “You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.”

Proverbs 21:23, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.”

Pastor Amos was sharing the importance of words that proceed out of our mouth.
He shared that our words rule our personal world, not other people’s world but our world. Hence we can change our world through speaking good words. In order words, speaking in tongues is definitely speaking good words that would help shaped our world.

1 Corinthians 14:2, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.”

Mysteries here refers to divine secrets that God wants to share with us at the right time and at the right place.

We know that we have a good future ahead of us

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”

However we do not know what our future is like and sometimes, we do not know if we are walking in the will of God. Hence as we pray in tongues for our future which God has prepared for us, we are actually ruling our world supernaturally. I like to picture myself praying out the supernatural events that would take place in the future that would lead me in the way prosperous.

For example when we pray in tongues, we might be praying out something like this: “On the 1st of August, I would bump into an ex colleague of mine at 5.06pm while I was on my way to buy my family dinner. He will share with me a business venture he is interested in investing and he will asked me if I would be interested in it …” Perhaps, what happened next could be the onset of explosive financial blessings.

Or we might even pray out something like this: “For the church service this coming Sunday, I would not feel like going to church due to a late night the night before. However I would feel the urgency to still attend the service. In that service, Pastor would talk about the forgiveness of heart. This will minister to a particular matter that has been bothering me and the message will set me free once and for all ...” Again, God is arranging an opportunity to set us free from bondage.

Therefore we can safely say that in the event of us walking out of God’s will due to disobedience or due to ignorance, God can lead us back as we pray out the events that will help us to do so. Praise God!

We can rule our world with both our natural tongues as well as our spiritual tongues.

JY

God gave Jesus to the world but He gave the Holy Spirit to His Children

2010-06-02T00:53:00.000+08:00

God refreshes my spirit when I feel down from the pressures of working life

2010-06-02T00:51:00.000+08:00

I am always trying to do my best to conduct myself in every aspect of my life, honoring God, especially at work. However, in this pressure cooking society, I realized it is difficult to keep my focus on God as much as I want to. In my new job, there are so much politics and strives that makes me sick to my guts, often time... I am one of the tools that people use in the game of "Who is to Blame?" Just a few days back in the office, my supervisor was in a bad mood and shouted at the top of her lungs at me from morning till evening for minor issues that crashed my soul and my confidence.

Nevertheless as I seek the Lord that night, He touched my heart and gave me the strength to stand. I stood up from the inside, refreshed and felt like the best employee that everyone wants, hahaa. The next day, my supervisor was like a changed person, happy and kept her cool and gave me peace for that day. And Yes, the Lord has saved my day once again!

In the midst of this chaotic environment, I realized Jesus is my only hope in journey of life. Many times, Jesus has took me out of burning situations that would oppress my soul. This just makes me shout, "Yes, Jesus is my all, my way out and my God who understands all my sorrows that no human or creature can feel. Oh I need him so much!!..."

I love the way Apostle Paul wrote about work, labor and patience in 1 Thessalonians 1:3

1 Thessalonians 1:3, “remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,”

I think I will anchor myself on this verse, as I walk towards my destiny that the Lord has prepared for me and while waiting for His return :)

D

We are to be the LABORERS to reach out to the harvest

2010-06-02T00:49:00.000+08:00

Luke 10:2, “Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Pastor Timothy shared on one occasion with the church. He asked, “If the Lord of the harvest refers to Jesus. Have you ever wonder why would Jesus himself urge His believers to pray to Himself to send laborers into the field?

The answer is simple: Jesus, being the head of the church, is in heaven while we, the body of Christ, is on earth and hence we are His hands and legs and mouth piece to spread the gospel of God.

In Dutch Sheets: Intercessory Prayer, he wrote the following passages which I felt help to explain why we need to pray.

Why, then, am I supposed to ask Him for something He already wants to do if it’s not that my asking somehow releases Him to do it?

It has been handed over humans were forever to be God’s link to authority and activity on earth.

Please think about that. If earth remained a paradise, it would be because of humankind. If things became messed up, it would be because of humankind. If serpent ever gained control, it would be because of humankind. Humanity was really in control.

Here we have, I believe, the reason for the necessity of prayer. God chose, from the time of the Creation, to work the earth through humans, not independent of them. He always has and always will, even at the cost of becoming one. Though God is sovereign and all-powerful, Scripture clearly tells us that He limited Himself, concerning affairs of Earth, to working through human beings.

Therefore while we pray for more laborers to be sent to spread the gospel of God, let us be driven by the passion to proactively seek out opportunities to bring the message to people around us. Jesus already says that we are the laborers, meaning we are to be the workers. We need to work to reach out to the harvest.

Matthew 16:18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

Pastor Timothy brought up something which I found very insightful. In the medieval times, when one nation attacks another nation, the attacker will attack the fort/ castle and the only way of penetrating the fort/ castle would be through the gate.

Hence what Matthew is illustrating here is we are the attackers, attacking satan’s gate to bring souls to the Kingdom of God. We are not to be passive. And this is further enforced in Matthew 11:12.

Matthew 11:12, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”

JY

True meaning of submitting to your authorities

2010-06-02T00:48:00.000+08:00

Colossians 3:22-24, “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

1 Peter 2:18, “Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.”

God wants us to be submissive to both our spiritual leaders as well as secular leaders regardless whether they are good or bad.

A few days ago, I was reading Kate McVeigh: 12 ways to be a blessing to your church,
In one of the chapters, I thought it gave a very good description of what it meant by submission. In essence, the author wrote:

Agreeing with what your leader asks you to do does not involve submission. You do not submit until you disagree with what your authority asks you to do. What it means to say is if you are in the shoes of your leader, you will not handle the matter in the manner you leader does. Nevertheless you choose to obey and follow what your leaders says even though you think your idea is so much better than your leader’s.

Recently, I was ordering a plate of grilled fish with two side dishes from a hawker during lunch. While I was pondering what side dishes to choose from, the hawker took the initiative to make his recommendations fervently. He ended his recommendation with the following words which I was quite impressed. He concluded his recommendation with, “Sir, my suggestion, your decision.” I think this saying fits very well into the context that was shared above. Our attitude towards our leaders should be “My suggestion, your decision.”

I have witnessed several instances of people falling off with their leaders in both the secular world and in church as a result of not submitting to their authorities. It affects both parties ultimately.

Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Hence what I read is a good reminder for me to consistently watch out for this aspect of my Christian walk as an employee as well as a church member. As what Pastor Amos said several times, “Humility is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength!”

Steve

Someone paid for my drumming lessons

2010-05-01T01:04:00.001+08:00

This is a combined testimony on the topic of giving from both the recipient’s and the giver’s point of view.

A member of our church saw a need for a drummer in the worship team and decided to offer his service to play with the worship team. However he has not undergone any prior formal training but decided to give it a try any way. Things turned out well and Pastor Amos decided to ask if he would like to take up formal training in drumming lessons to upgrade his skills. However the volunteer was not sure if this is a permanent role for him and to use the church fund for training would inevitably demand a certain level of commitment to play with the worship team seriously. Therefore he decided to reject Pastor’s offer but prayed to God that if it is His will, send someone to provide for his training.

Around the same time, another member of the church saw the above mentioned volunteer took up the position of the drummer and was very glad. The drummer’s involvement would definitely add more resources to the worship team was well as allow a wider variety of worship songs to sing and play. He thought about how he could help the drummer and God later impressed in his heart to send this volunteer for drumming lessons. Hence he checked out the rates in the market and felt that he was able to afford the course. So he later obeyed this leading and offered the drummer to send him to a beginner’s course in drumming.

During the conversation, the drummer asked if it is ok if he does not continue to play for the church after the course. The giver told him it is ok. In fact the giver told him that this arrangement is even better because the drummer can go for lessons without the pressure of commitment to the worship team and if the drummer felt that he would like to seriously play with the worship team, he could then probably consider using the church fund for subsequent lessons. At that point in time, he was not aware of any prior arrangements that were made between Pastor and himself. Immediately, the drummer knew that this was the person God sent to settle him

Praise God! Two parties seeking ways to bless the church and God divinely connected them together while increasing their faith in the process.

Steve

Be more than a follower of Christ, be a disciple of Christ

2010-05-01T01:03:00.001+08:00

When we are young in Christ, we find that our prayers are answered almost very easily and God blesses us in many different ways that are personal to us. As we grow spiritually through knowing God better, God starts to expect us to act on His word and put our faith in Him through the various situations and circumstances that we found ourselves in. This is similar to the difference in the expectations we have towards a baby and an adult.

Nevertheless apart from the above area of Christian living, there is also another aspect of Christian walk that God wants us to engage in as well. Being a service to others.

Jesus came to serve and not to be served.

Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

When we experience God in using you to touch other people lives, you will not find yourself being contented with just leading a passive Christian life. You will want to be someone who wants to get involved in the “works” of Jesus. Such experiences might include:

- Someone whom you thought would be the least likely to accept Christ actually act on it when you ask him.

- Laying hands on the sick and seeing them recover before your eyes.

- Sharing your testimony with someone and you see tears welling up in their eyes.

- Giving someone a sum of money that God led you to do so and later you found out that he has been praying for this exact amount of money.

Experiences of the above nature often require the obedience on our part. Most of the time, thoughts of doubt or fear (of rejection, appearing stupid, saying the wrong things etc) come into our mind each time we felt led by God to give more financially, to share the gospel with a fellow friend or extend an act of love to someone else, just to name a few examples. However this is exactly when you will know that there is a divine connection when we act upon this leading and we see that act of blessing making an impact upon the person's life or when we experience the unexplainable joy in our hearts.

This is the point when you start to consciously look out for opportunities to bless people and see how God moves creatively in your life to do so through divine intervention and connection.

This is the also level of Christian walk that Pastor Amos has encouraged us to pursue and persevere. We serve because we love God and also because we love the people God loves.

Be a useful vessel!

2 Timothy 2:21, “… he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

Steve

God divinely arranged an opportunity for me to minister to my sister

2010-05-01T01:02:00.000+08:00

It was amazing how God lead me to minister to my sister who was a non believer recently. She has not been open to the gospel all these while and it is rare that we share our hearts out.

I remembered a few weeks ago, my sister dropped by my house with my dad for dinner. She was lounging in my living room when I noticed she saw a Christian book that I was reading then lying on my coffee table. She took a while looking at the book but did not picked it up. Nevertheless, I could sense that she was interested in the content of the Christian book. That instance, I smelled an opportunity to reach out to her. I felt impressed in my heart to buy the book by Joel Osteen: Be A Better You for her; and I did just that.

Two weeks later, I had a phone conversation with my sister to learn more about an unhappy incident that she has experienced lately. I was able to share some of my thoughts with her concerning the incident and we had a few laughs here and there.

As we chatted, I was seeking how to bring God into the picture into the course of conversation. God amazingly led our conversation from one topic to another topic. The conversation slowly evolved into a counseling manner whereby I shared my views and suggestions on approaches that I would adopt if I was in her shoes that were Christian based. She then talked about a motivational course she has attended lately but felt very uncomfortable with the intrusive methodology the course employed into her personal life. It was not cheap either and I do not feel good about the tactics and content of the course from the way she described it. It was at this point in time I found the opportunity to encourage her to read the book that I gave her a few weeks ago (she has not look at it yet at that point in time). Most importantly, I concluded by telling her that all the precepts that I shared with her concerning the issues that she is facing came from the bible and my experiences with God and they were free.

Towards the end of the call, I could feel that she was lifted up in her spirit and I now know why God specifically led me to get the book for her. Joel Osteen’s books are motivational based with underlying Christian values but yet not too heavy or aggressive for a non believer to read it. On my part, this is definitely one of the closest opportunities God used me to touch her in this manner after all these years. Praise God!

Anonymous

I asked God why my business venture did not take off

2010-05-01T00:59:00.001+08:00

Recently, I looked back at the amount of preparation and ground work that I have done two years ago in setting up a business. It was quite a hefty amount of work and I poured out my heart into this business venture. All these were done while I was holding a permanent normal working hours job.

Disappointingly, it never really took off but by God’s grace, I did manage to clinch a deal that paid off all my initial investment plus a couple of thousands in profit. After that, I tried many ways and means to make new sales but have been unsuccessful. I was really discouraged and wondered if I have missed God in any way or this business was purely out of my own will and by the mercy of God, He helped me to pay off my initial investment. Nevertheless at the same time, I do not believe God will allow me to go through something in vain. There must be at least something I can learn from this experience. I have been asking God many “whys” and recently I felt that God was trying to show me two things.

Jeremiah 9:23-24, “Thus says the LORD:

“ Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the LORD.”

Firstly, you can have all the resources on hand, you can have all the brains and even the best business plan. However things might not always turn out in the manner you thought it would be ideally no matter how hard you try. Nevertheless this does not absolve you from doing your best in whatever you set you hands on.

Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might …”

Secondly, by God’s grace all things are possible.

Isaiah 43:19, “Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Therefore this is a good reminder to me that God is Lord and we should always depend on Him in everything we do. We need this.

Anonymous

At times God wants our heart to be ready before we receive His promises of life

2010-04-01T21:20:00.000+08:00

Sometimes God does not want to reveal the full picture of His plan for our life. God hide it for our own benefits. Perhaps He knew the condition of our heart and how we will react if he reveals to us too much. Like a father who would not give a car to a small boy even though he intends to do so in the future. It is just not the right time.

I remembered hearing stories of my friends getting head hunted and experiencing rapid progression in their career. I started to develop this desire to be headhunted as well and hence I told God about it. True enough, I begin getting calls and leads on potential job offers. However I also did not realize that pride had started to creep into my heart as more calls started coming in. I begin to feel proud about myself to the extent that even though some of the jobs that I was head hunted for were not suitable, I felt bitter about it. I thought that I was so highly prized that everyone should think that I was good enough for all the roles offered. Soon I came to realize that this was only a sign of immaturity and lack of social exposure too.

Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

Eventually, all the jobs that were offered were not suitable for me. Actually there was also no peace in going for them. I started to feel demoralized and God started to take this opportunity to teach and correct my heart and warned me of pride.

Proverbs 3:11-13, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights. Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding;

Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.”

1 Corinthians 4:7, “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

After all, all the talents and gifts that people might see in me is God given and not by my own strength. I learnt that if it is the intention of God to lead me to another job, it would be a smooth transition with everything falling into place. I do not need to get overly excited or promote myself so eagerly during the calls. I just need to do my best and God will settle the rest. Moving forward, I begin to take a very different attitude towards such head hunter calls. An attitude of humility instead of pride, knowing that next job offer might not be what God wants me to do. There is nothing particularly great about a head hunter call after all. I would not have known my weakness in this area if I did not go through the failed interviews. God is good. He changes us inside out.

It was then that a job offer came by through a head hunter which God has meant for me. I accepted the offer and God blessed me financially over this job transfer.

Eventually I was led out of my old job with peace and entered another new one with joy.

Isaiah 55:12, “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace;”

Praise God.

Anonymous

Developing a heart of giving and allowing God to open up your heart

2010-04-01T21:10:00.000+08:00

I tithe and give under the obedience of God’s leading.

During times when I am in doubt of the amount God impressed in my heart to give is more than what I wish to, I would pray about it and eventually just follow my heart. The attitude that I have kept is, even if I heard wrongly from God, it is still money sowed into good grounds.

While sowing into the kingdom of God will bring returns to us in various forms,
I realized that as I continue to do so, God has also developed my heart in the area of giving and helping others in times of need; be it for spiritual reasons or natural reasons.

When I was a young Christian, a few of my seniors blessed me with Christian books which have helped to enrich my spiritual understanding of God immensely and at the same time developed a hunger in me to read extensively. When I was tasked to take care of a group of church members, I too started to seek out opportunities to bless them with books which I have read and hope that these readings would bless them at the right time. In this aspect of giving, the value the book I perceived could bless them often far exceeds the tangible cost of the books that I need to pay for them. In such instances, I would not be overly concerned about the price of the book although some of them were expensive to me. It was a pick and go attitude.

In the area of helping people with natural needs, I too start to realize my heart starts to seek out opportunities to do so. I become sensitive to situations that I come across and conversations I have with people around me be it Christians or non Christians. I wanted to see where I could contribute financially through practical gifts, cash etc. Moreover such acts of gift will help soften the heart of non Christians whom I want to share the love of God with them as God leads.

Luke 16:9, “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.”

Luke wrote about using money (unrighteous mammon) to make friends with non believers to make connections and eventually share the gospel with them.

Not only God gave me the desire to help others, I realized that the desire to make my contribution a bigger impact to the recipient or organization increases as well. I seek to see how I could significantly help in various situations as God leads within my means.

I could relate to Pastor Amos when he mentioned that he does not bat an eyelid when it comes to God’s leading in the area of giving while he is more “careful” with spending in his personal life.

Acts 20:35, “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’””

I definitely feel blessed in my heart with the joy and liberty to help others within my means. God bless us to be a blessing to others.

Like what Pastor Amos mentioned, one of our purposes is to help others to be a success.

To side track a little, there was a time when I was pondering on the below scripture and thinking to myself:

Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

God is faithful in meeting our needs and not our wants and His will is always to bless others through us. This implies that if I continue to develop this heart of giving to others, perhaps it will come to a point that such acts of giving would eventually become part of my need; and this could be one of the many reasons I give God to bless me financially even more!

Steve

God made a divine arrangement for me to demonstrate His love for my friend grandmother

2010-04-01T21:00:00.000+08:00

Jude 1:21-23, “keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."

Recently a grandmother of my friend passed away. Although I have met her only 3 times within a period of a few months, I felt sad in my heart looking at her corpse at the funeral. There seems to be a connection between both of us. God supernaturally connected me to this friend of mine and led me to be a part of his grandmother’s life.

The first time I learnt about her was when I was giving my friend a ride home. He mentioned about his 90 over years old grandmother being admitted to the hospital. The immediate question I had in my mind was whether she was a Christian. I knew it would be a matter of time before she passes away. Unfortunately she was not. Hence I wanted to visit her and share the gospel with her.

The first visit was at a local hospital. She was in a dazed state with no ability to move or communicate effectively. I could feel the compassion in my heart for this particular grandmother. I spoke into her ear about receiving the salvation of Christ and prayed for her. All I could ask God was, “God, help her know you.” However I was not convinced she would receive her salvation then. Despite my friend was a non believer, he was appreciative of my prayer.

The second visit was when I learnt that the grandmother was admitted to one of the local old folks home. I visited her and could understand why my friend was reluctant to place her there. In her ward of over 20 old folks, all of them except her were in the state of unconsciousness, mental instability or handicapped in one way or the other. The old lady beside her had both her legs amputated while the old lady diagonally across her bed died a day ago. The atmosphere was definitely not edifying and there was a sense of despair lingering around. The care takers were also mostly foreign workers who could not speak dialect or Chinese. After the visit, I shared with my friend that I was very concerned about her salvation than her current situation. He was appreciative of my concern but he told me his grandmother was not ready to receive Christ.

The third and last visit was on Good Friday. I have been pondering how I could help to bring some joy to the grandmother’s day and so I thought of bringing my baby girl to see her. My family went there without the knowledge of my friend. Initially I was a little apprehensive about the spread of diseases or sickness among the old people but I just make sure hygiene was ensured for my baby during the visit. The grandmother could not recognize me but I just took her hands to stroke my sleeping baby’s head and talk to her about my baby. Although the grandmother was still not able to communicate well, she was more alert in her mind this time. On several occasions she even broke into smiles as she touched my baby. This time, I took the opportunity and time to explain the gospel to her again and prayed a little in tongues for her. I asked her if she believed Jesus and she just looked at me and nod her head at times. To be frank, I do not know if she really did accept Jesus.

Every now and then, I would have this grandmother in mind and would ask my friend how she was doing. The last time I heard was she got into a seizure and was admitted into the hospital again. However I had other commitments and thought of dropping by the week after. It was then that I received the news of her death when the new week started.

Through this episode, I was reminded not to be negligent in the area of reaching out to non believers. I am probably the last person to reach out to my friend’s grandmother and who knows I might be the only person to share the gospel with her.

Moreover whenever God made the divine connection to touch non believers through us, He would place the compassion in our heart to love them to our best know how for the sake of the kingdom of God. I also realized that when these people passed away, I would feel the sense of loss in my heart that is different from the loss of people whom I have acquainted for years.

Steve

Jesus led an example in drawing strength from God through prayer

2010-03-01T00:37:00.000+08:00

Recently, I have been pondering how Jesus led His life on earth as I seek to know Him more personally. I was then brought to my remembrance an interesting observation from a book I read in the past. During the cross examination of Jesus by Pilate just before His crucification, Pilate asked Jesus who He was and He answered in the manner recorded in John 18 : 37.

John 18:37, “Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.””

Jesus knew the purpose he was born and this struck fear to Pilate. Thereafter, the scriptures mentioned repeatedly that Pilate clarifies that he seek no fault in Jesus. Men may declare that they are being called to the ministry while God leads their way. However it is a different paradigm when a person knew what he was born to do. Jesus knew WHY He was born. To be sacrificed and to die for mankind’s sin. Not only that, He knew WHEN His execution would happen as He gave His last words to His disciples during the last supper; and HOW He was going to die as He prayed out sorrowfully with blood of sweats at the Garden of Gethsemane.

Luke 22:44, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Recently I saw a documentary which states that the crucification of criminals on the cross is exhibited in every Roman city as a reminder to the people of the sovereignty of the Roman Empire as well as to strike fear into any dissidents who attempt to disrupt the peace. It must have been a terrifying sight to behold.

This is also a sobering thought to me. I can imagine if a cancer patient was given the report that he would not live beyond the next 3 months, I could almost guarantee that there is no single day he would go by without thinking of when that day would come. Even for a healthy person to know that he would die 3 years later due to whatever reasons, he would probably stop working and spend all his savings and time to enjoy his remaining years but the thought of that day would doubtlessly linger with him every single day. In such situation, depression could creep in easily. I would reckon Jesus will be highly challenged in such circumstances too.

Although it was not mentioned in the bible at which stage of His life did Jesus know His purpose and kind of death He will experience. Jesus started His ministry at the age of 30 and crucified at the age of 33. This means that He knew He would die young. Nevertheless, Jesus, who possessed a divine nature but living in flesh, was able to live His life with joy and even impart life to the people around Him as He preach, teach, heal and socialize with the people around Him. Even though Jesus is anointed beyond measure, He is essentially operating as a human being and this is truly amazing and beyond comprehension.

Personally I believe one of the many reasons Jesus prayed so much was also to draw strength from God through the Holy Spirit. To keep Him focus on His ministry and to keep fear and thoughts of depression away.

Jesus source of joy, strength and perseverance is a lesson that we can draw parallel to as we go through our challenges in life. We need to learn to draw strength from God, to fight the good fight of faith. With the challenges we face in this modern society, can it get any worse than knowing you will experience a suffering death and at a young age like what Jesus went through?

2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Steve

Taking small steps in life to establish holiness in our hearts

2010-03-01T00:36:00.000+08:00

1 Peter 1:16, “… “Be holy, for I am holy.””

During one of the meetings, one of our leaders shared with us on how he faithfully obeys the law of the land and uses the car park coupons as it should have been. If he parks in a parking lot that requires the use of parking coupons, he would tear the coupons according to the time he parked and the period of time he will be occupying the lot. Meaning, he would not give the pretext that he started using the parking lot 10 minutes later or would he use a half an hour coupon to compensate for 2 hours of usage. Even to the point that his car is only a few steps from where he is dining.

This is hard saying and can easily be an offense to some people. A common reaction to this would be, “Please don’t act so holy and get so religious. Tearing car park coupons are small matter.”

My leader brought up one good point. It is not him trying to act holy but rather it is the holiness of God which was imparted to him the moment he became a Christian. The same thing happens to us Thereafter God leave it to us to cultivate the holiness in our lives through our decisions.

The bible tells us to take note of the small areas of our life that need adjustment.

Song of Solomon 2:15, “Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines …”

Starting making such small adjustments in your life for God wants you to grow in more and more into holiness. Perhaps God might be preparing you to be in positions that require such a high level of integrity.

I remembered very clearly when I was dating my wife and even after we were married, one of our pet peeves was to trod down to Borders (a book shop that offers free browsing) at Wheellock place to browse through all the magazines and books that interest us. Her World, Cleo, Men’s health, Times, Newsweek, Home and Décor, National Geographic … you name it. We would do this almost weekly and sometimes soaking in there for hours with no intention of buying a single piece of item in the bookshop.

For years we enjoyed our time in Borders like this until we started to ask ourselves if we should be doing this. Oh yes we can argue that, “The book shop offers free browsing and even provide arm chairs for their patrons.” or “Come on, every body is doing it.” or “Aiyah, otherwise how to save money? One magazine costs S$5. If I buy every single magazine wouldn’t I be broke?” or “I am only reading the fashion section of the magazine and not the whole magazine.”

However we knew that the Holy Spirit is already starting to convict us. We ask ourselves truthfully and we knew it was wrong. If I am running the business, I would prefer only interested buyers to browse my magazines and books. Not free loaders.

It was hard decision for us especially when it has sort of became a habit or part of our lifestyle. However we eventually obeyed and decide cut off this hobby. We turned to patronizing National Libraries instead, which also offers some of these magazines even though they were past editions. Not only that, we also found out that there were tons of highly educational videos available for loan which we benefitted tremendously from watching them. Praise God! In a sense, we are cleared of our conscience of “robbing” Borders.

Let’s strive to embrace holiness in our daily living and live more and more like Christ. Like what 1 Peter 1:16 says, “… “Be holy, for I am holy.””

JY

In Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being

2010-03-01T00:34:00.001+08:00

Acts 17:28, “for in Him we live and move and have our being …”

I have been pondering over the above scripture for quite a number of years. Never really understood what it meant literally.

During one of the worship services, I thank God for revealing it in my heart. I was not even expecting Him to bring this verse back to my remembrance.

Ephesians 1:17, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,”

Jesus is the Word of God

John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Therefore we can read Acts 17:28 as In Jesus we live and move and have our being Or Based on the Word of God we live and move and have our being.

“Based on the Word of God we live” means that we develop the character of Jesus in our life such as we say what we mean, we do what we commit, we do not sprout nonsense or non edifying words out of our mouth or we develop the compassion that Jesus had for the people etc

“Based on the Word of God we move” means that we make decisions based on the Word of God.

I remembered there was an occasion when I found out that a colleague of mine wrote an email to my higher management behind my back, citing I was partly responsible for a mistake committed by another person when I have already clarified the matter with him. I was very unhappy with regard to his ungentlemanly act and this was not the first time. However after thinking through, I decide to let the matter rest and not confront him but chose to continue working with him as if this matter has never happened.

Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

“Based on the Word of God we have our being” means we know who we are and we know who we represent.

Jesus knew who He is and when Pilate tried to threaten Him, Jesus was not moved for He knew who He is.

John 19:8-12, “Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” From then on Pilate sought to release Him …”

We can see that there is substance in Jesus. We too should learn to develop this substance within us in various areas of our life. I remembered during the economic recession towards the end of 2008, my company was going through mass retrenchment. However I was bold enough to say in my heart that because I have been faithfully tithing and giving to the kingdom of God, this pipeline of finances will not be cut off. Hence even if I happened to be retrenched, I am sure God will lead me to another better job.

Acts 17:28, “for in Him we live and move and have our being …”

Steve

Anointing is for the people

2010-03-01T00:33:00.000+08:00

Elder Timothy was sharing his experiences in doing mission work in Myanmar when he brought up a very good point. He mentioned that the anointing of God is for the people. Because God loves the people, He will use anyone appointed to preach or teach to reach the hearts of those who are humble in the spirit and hungry to hear from God. To the extent that He could even use a donkey to minister to the people.

Numbers 22:28, “Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?””

However it does not mean that God will not deal with the speaker personally regarding areas of his/ her life that require change. Hearing this will allow a minister to understand the meaning of servanthood. Not only that, this understanding will also relieve him/ her from the pressure of giving a good sermon based on his/ her own strength but rather believing that the anointing will come as long as him/ her gives God the full dependence on His grace to operate as an oracle of God. This of course does not mean that the minister can skip the preparation of his/ her sharing.

Exodus 4:12, “Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.””

In addition, the minister need not be overly concerned about hindering God’s purpose to minister to the audience despite of knowing that he/ she still has areas in his/ her life that need correction. This will also only stem from a pure motive of the minister in letting the Word out and blessing the audience.

Steve

I witness how God has touched my China friends during my recent business trip

2010-03-01T00:32:00.000+08:00

During my recent trip to China, I was greatly encouraged by what God is doing in the country through 2 persons whom I attempted to share the gospel with them.

The first one was my Beijing colleague who had been my companion for the whole of week. On the last day of our customer visit in Wuhan, our local host wanted to bring us to pay a short visit to the most famous temple in Wuhan. I was not keen on it but I had to follow along. Our car arrived on site first and I managed to spend some private time with my Beijing colleague while waiting for the rest to arrive. I have been asking God to show me the right opportunity to share Christ with him throughout trip and I sensed that this is the right window of time to do so. I asked him if he believes in the temple idols and eventually led the conversation to Jesus and His salvation plan.

During our conversation, I found out that my Beijing colleague was not a Christian. However he told me that recently he watched a movie called Fireproof because there was some element of Christianity in it and he wanted to find out more. I was pleasantly surprised! Fireproof was an English Christian movie which talks about how God restored a broken relationship. I have seen it myself but I have never expected my Beijing colleague to have watched it too; definitely not in China. Praise God! This work of God has definitely travelled far. My colleague also shared with me that he was particularly touched by how the male lead pursued his wife despite the challenges that he faced.

Not only this, he also mentioned to me that he remembered a fellow female colleague, a Christian, left a good impression on him through her work attitude, character and ways of dealing with people. Overall he feel good about Christians.

1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”

The above scriptures became very real to me in this event. I was very encouraged when I learnt that God has used different people and channels to reach out to my Beijing colleague and I am so happy to be part of His plan. Eventually I left my Beijing colleague with how he can received Jesus into his life when he is ready.

On the second occasion, I managed to share the gospel with the taxi driver on the way from my hotel to the airport in Wuhan. During overseas trips, travelling from one place to another normally takes more than an hour and I had ample time to chat with the driver to know him better. During the conversation, I asked the taxi driver, “Have you hear about Jesus?” He replied, “He read the bible a couple of times but he did not understand the scriptures.” I was again pleasantly surprised! I asked again, “Are you a Christian?” He replied cheerfully, “No, but I just had a bible at home.” He later shared with me that one of his passengers, a young China lady, passed him the bible and asked him to read if he had the time. Praise God! I never expected someone had reach out to him before too.

One of the reasons why I was so excited was it was the first time I witness the gospel had reached my China friends. I cannot imagine people in Wuhan to know who Jesus is due to its remoteness from the big cities. After the Cultural Revolution, a vast majority of China people do not follow any religion and Mao’s ideology still prevails in their hearts. Although China has gradually starting to open up its society to Christianity in recent times, so far for the past few years, most of the China people that I have met have never heard much of who Jesus really is until now. Praise God! Let His will be done on earth!

Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

Anonymous

I apologized to my superior for not being respectful to him

2010-02-02T22:44:00.000+08:00

Recently I had a business discussion with my superior. We touched on a couple of issues which we were not in alignment and both parties were assertive in our thinking. Although the discussion ended amicably eventually, I knew that there was a point in time during our discussion that I was not respectful in my attitude and heart towards my superior.

Holy Spirit convicted my heart in this area and I knew what I did was not right. I remembered there were 3 separate recent occasions which God spoke to me previously in this area.

Only previously I was reading John Bevere’s Honor’s Reward and I like what he wrote: Therefore the fear of the Lord in a person’s heart says to its leader, “I ‘m aware of the authority on you that it originates from God. Therefore you already have my respect and honor. You don’t have to earn it.”

You give respect to the superiors that were assigned over you. You do not wait for them to earn your respect.

Elder Timothy shared in one of Saturday meetings:

3 John 1:2 “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

He mentioned our soul would encompass attitudes, character, habits, thinking, social skills etc that would affect our success in life. God cares about our soul as much as He cares about our spirit. He knew that receiving His salvation is one thing while leading a successful life in the secular world is another area we need to learn. Hence God says, “… just as your soul prospers.”

And this area will involve the renewing of our minds.

Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Pastor Amos shared in one of the Sunday service:

Haggai 1:5, “Now therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: “Consider your ways! …”

Psalm 127:1, “Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.

From the above scriptures, we can infer that even if we are in God’s will to be in a particular role or position in a company waiting to be promoted within the same company or to other places, “ If God is not with us”, meaning if we do not do it through God’s way, we too are wasting time.

From all the seeds that was sowed in me from hearing the Word from my leaders and in so many different ways, it was definitely an affirmation to what my heart tells me to do.

The next day, I decided to apologize to my superior first thing in the morning when I reach the office. Although there were so many meetings going on throughout the day, I eventually got the opportunity to do so during lunch. My superior was surprised and said he did not feel that I was disrespectful in any way. He felt it was a business discussion and hence it could sometimes get serious. However I knew I did the right thing regardless.

Anonymous

God gave me strength to face my adversaries

2010-02-02T22:18:00.000+08:00

A couple of months after resigning my previous job as a financial planner, I started to work at my relative’s restaurant as a waiter. It was not an office job but I was grateful to God and my relative for suggesting me to help him. After all, I needed the money for my living expenses.

It was all going well until one day, my ex boss and some of my ex colleagues came to patronize the restaurant that I was working in. I grasped when I saw them. One of the reason why I resigned from my previous job was I could not get along well with my ex boss style of management. It was not a very amicable departure from my previous job.

I head back into the kitchen. I do not feel good to meet my ex boss again and I started to ask God, “God, why is this happening? It will be so awkward for me to serve him.” At that instance, I could feel the presence of God surrounding me. At the same time, there was a sense of supernatural peace welling up in my heart. The following verse came into my mind as if God was teaching me.

Philippians 2:13-15, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,”

With the renewed strength, I went out to greet my ex boss and my ex colleagues and serve them. And I make sure I do a good job with a smile on my face. I did it with joy in my heart. However I did not expect what was about to come at me.

While I was serving tea, my ex boss said to me, “I observed you and you are so fast and hardworking in our new job. I think if you had adopted the same attitude working for me as you are right now, you would not have landed into this state.”

I was shocked momentarily. He made the statement purposefully with the full awareness of everyone sitting at the table. Looking back, it was truly amazing how I could keep my cool and continue to serve them with a genuine smile on my face. The peace of God in me and His presence was so strong. True strength comes when adversity hits. I had to do what I was paid for and the peace of God shielded me from the shame.

After my ex boss and ex colleagues left, I did not complain or dwell on the unnecessary hurtful remarks made on me. Instead, I just had this compassion to pray for them to know Jesus one day and start developing a relationship with God. Praise God. God was teaching me to look at things through His eyes. Who knows all of them who have witnessed the event might start thinking why I could respond in this manner despite the deliberate shame my ex boss tried to put on me; and hopefully they will realize it was because of Jesus.

Anonymous

I was asked why churches are so rich nowadays and why should mega church pastors be paid so much

2010-02-02T22:15:00.000+08:00

Recently I met up with a group of old friends for dinner. I was the only Christian among them and one of them brought up the topic of rich mega churches in Singapore and well paid pastors. Another one brought up the topic of churches using GIRO approach to take out 10% of church members salary. Having heard this, it was a rare opportunity to share with them more about God. I told them I tithe and give to my church as well and took the opportunity to share my testimony with them.

However looking back at what I have shared, I thought about how I could have expressed myself better in several areas and deliver God’s Word in a more presentable way..

1 Peter 3:15. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;”

Given another opportunity, I would share it like this.

I tithe 10% of my salary to my church. Gross, not net; and on top of it, I give as and when God leads me. The next thing you might or might not ask me is why I you do this? Isn’t it crazy to enter a religion and give 10% of my salary to the church just because the bible says so?

One point which I would like to highlight is while the bible did speak about tithing and giving, I give out of my heart willingly. It was an inside out decision rather than just because the bible or pastor says so. It did not begin with following a set of do and don’t rules.

2 Corinthians 9:7, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”

The second point and the most important point was this willingness originates purely from my personal relationship with God. God changed my life and I want to bless the church so that they have the finances to reach out to more people to experience the love of God in their lives. The gospel is free but the channel is not. Brochures, rental of function rooms, mission trips etc requires finances.

I am not in a position to judge how much salary a pastor should draw. However I know that accepting and knowing God truly brings about a change in a person’s life. Imagine a successful millionaire who had a son who wastes money unnecessary, indulge in unpleasant habits, disrespectful and got into trouble with the law every now and then. After years of trying to correct his son, the situation just got worse and the millionaire was literally helpless. One day, his son happened to meet the pastor through coincidence. They chatted and the pastor took the opportunity to share the gospel with this boy. This boy being touched by the love of God, decided to accept Jesus as his God. He went home, told his father what happened, repented and gradually changed over time. To the millionaire, it was a miracle. He was so thankful to this Jesus that he became a Christian as well. Not only that he wanted to bless the pastor and the church financially out of his gratitude because that was what he thought he had to offer. Easily he could give a million dollars to the church and another million to the pastor to spend. The pastor became rich overnight. We all know that there are things in life that money cannot buy.

Thereafter, I would share my own testimony on how God changed my life.

Malachi 3:10-12, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. “ And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts.

Thereafter, I would share my own testimonies on how God has proven His faithfulness in blessing my career, business, and other needs of my life through supernatural favor. I would also share the steadiness and peacefulness in the midst of chaos. I read some where in a book which speaks of a picture that best describes such a situation. A painting of a bird hiding safely in the cleft of the rocks while the thunder storm and waves rage violently against the rocks all around it.

When the opportunity arises again, I believe that the above preparation would give people a more complete understanding on the subject of tithing and giving; as well as putting the criticism of an “overpaid” pastor in a better perspective.

JY

I have been thinking how God leads us in His will

2010-02-02T22:13:00.000+08:00

Recently I have been seeking God for directions in my life. I am not seeing things happening as fast or as what I would have desired. During my quiet time, God brought me to the knowledge of the scripture below.

Psalm 139:16, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”

When I first read this, it seems to me that how we are going to live each day has already been planned for us by God. This would be something that the secular world would call it “fate”. This means that whatever I do and how things will turn up in my life has already been “predestined”. If my business does well, it will be luck. If my business does not perform. It is fated. If someone met an accident or contracted certain diseases, it is fated or unlucky.

I started to ponder and mediate on the scriptures as I do not think this is what the scripture meant and how God wants us to lead our lives. It will be a hopeless one. So I started asking God and He gave me some answers as time passes.

Firstly, there is no mention of “luck” in the bible. God wants us to prosper in all things, just as our soul prospers. He delights in our prosperity.

Psalm 35:27, “Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”

Deuteronomy 8:18, “Ad you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth”

Someone has asked me, “Why some non Christians are still able to make so much money and be so successful in their careers and businesses even though they are not Christians?” My answer was, “Probably God knows that He could only touch these people at those times of their lives.”

Secondly, the way I see Psalm 139:16 is God has given each one of us a specific calling in our life; even before we are born and that is His will for our lives. A calling which each of us need to find out what God wants us to do. Very often, this calling has the purpose of glorifying His name. For example, you might be called to be a successful businessman to finance the expansion of the kingdom of God. Or you might be called to be a teacher to touch the lives of students because you have the gift of interacting with kids.

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Who needs future and who needs hope? Us. And how do we define what future or desires we hope to achieve? By thinking about it.

Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”

This means that each time we think of new dreams, God can make it bigger and better than that. When we are young, we dream of toys to buy. When we get a little older, we dream of getting good grades, good life partner, successful career, happy family and the list never ends.

In this way when we are very certain of God’s will in our lives and we think of our dreams that are aligned with God’s will, we can have the confidence that our dreams will come to pass eventually in spite of challenges, circumstances or situations that might seem otherwise. For His ways are higher than our ways.

Isaiah 55:8-9, ““For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

I am encouraged by His words.

Steve

My preferred approach vs my boss’s instructions

2010-02-02T22:12:00.000+08:00

A couple of months ago, I was assigned an additional job role in developing a new business with a range of new products. I realized I had passion in this new role and I was extremely motivated to do a good job. Within 3 months, I created a marketing proposal that earned the praise and approval from the higher management. I was so convinced that this business could take off. At that point in time, I knew that the grace of God was upon this project. Moreover I felt that this was the direction God wants me to embark on.

Just upon finishing my project, my new boss arrived. He did not agree with putting any more resources into this new business and wanted me to focus on other areas. I had to pull my brakes on the plans that I have made in developing this new business. Nonetheless, I spent hours trying to convince him and even went to the extent of using other channels to bring my personal opinion across.

However I came to the realization that things were not going in the direction that I wanted and I begin to wonder. On one hand I thought I felt that God is leading me to bring this new business project to greater heights. On the other hand, it seems like I am not submitting to my boss’s instructions and trying to get my ways across if not around. Perhaps I was being too stubborn. Holy Spirit started to convict me in 2 areas:

Firstly, Jesus did not insist on His way but He sought God’s leading and direction. He was reluctant to go to the cross but He chose to obey.

Luke 22:41-42, “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.””

Secondly, the bible tells us to obey our bosses.

Colossians 3:22-24, “Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.”

It was not biblical for me not to submit to my boss wishes and orders if they are not against the ways of God.

I struggled for quite some time. Eventually, I told God, “Father, I give up on my own agenda. There is no point arguing with my boss or to be antagonistic. Whatever my boss asks me to do, I will do so without murmuring or complaining for the bible teaches us to submit to higher authorities. I will yield to your Word”

The grace of God is certainly on me to start out the new business but it might not be His will for me to embark further on this new business. I am still finding out.

Anonymous

I could only share with my friend how to ask God for help in times of need

2010-02-02T22:08:00.000+08:00

I had the opportunity to know a friend of mine better recently. From our conversation, he was convinced that life is like a rat race. I tried to share with him that there is another life that he could lead through knowing Christ Jesus. A life of hope and joy with the confidence of knowing God is with you in good times as well as seeing you through bad times.

John 10:10, “… I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.””

However I could feel that the Word was not getting into him. I could not even put my thoughts across in a manner that I wanted because I was constantly interrupted by my friend. Prayer for my friend is necessary in this case. In the end, I just managed to share with him how to ask God for help in times of need perhaps not now but in future.

From what I have personally experienced and from some of the testimonies that I have heard, if a person reaches a point of desperation that he humbly comes before God and seek His help sincerely, even though the person does not know God personally, I believe God will respond in such situations. He is just waiting for the right opportunity to touch the lost.

Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart - these, O God, You will not despise.”

Of course it will be a different case if it is a case of tempting God like what Satan did.

Matthew 4:5-7, “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:

‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘ In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’””

SL

My army officer exhibited the exemplary traits of a Christian

2010-01-31T00:28:00.001+08:00

Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Recently I met my national service officer in one of my army mates wedding dinner. It has been at least 10 years that we did not meet each other since we left the army. I was an armour infantry while my officer was responsible to lead our platoon. He was a Christian then while I was not.

One of the most respectable traits that I observed of him then was I never heard him breathe even once a single word of profanity, even in the most stressful and physically demanding condition. We are in the combat service and things naturally get physically demanding due to the nature of our roles and responsibilities. While some people got away with doing administrative work in an air conditioned environment, we often have to do our bits of carrying heavy equipments and tottering for hours over unforgiving terrains. As a result, expressing unhappiness or frustrations through cursing and swearing were common among army personnel, even the quietest comrade. Sometimes vulgarities even got weaved unconsciously into our daily use of communication language. That is the reason why this officer shines among us. He spoke none of such words.

Personally I see that as a form of strength. At the same time, I thought to myself how he could control himself.

From the day we left army more than 10 years ago till we met again at the wedding recently, I received God into my life during this period. I could also now understand how he was able to keep away from speaking profanity during times of difficulty. It was the working of the Holy Spirit in him. Since then, I have always wanted to compliment him for exhibiting such exemplary the traits of godly living. And finally I got the chance to do so.

Steve

God is more concerned about our heart of worship

2010-01-31T00:27:00.001+08:00

In my younger days in my ex church, I remembered there was once when I was witnessing a group of my church members performing a dance on the stage. As I was sitting comfortably on my seat, I began to realise that there were some middle aged ladies dancing among the group of younger dancers. Soon I began to make judgement on the older dancers in my mind, “Why are they still dancing around with the tambourines at their age? In terms of form and grace, younger dancers would be more suitable for such dances.” Then just as I was thinking to myself, suddenly God impressed upon my heart, “They are worshipping Me.” Immediately, I realized my mistake of passing judgement on them without realizing they are worshipping God with their heart with their dances.

Similarly, in my ex church, there is a flower ministry whereby they will put together a very elaborate flower arrangement at the front of the altar every Sunday before the service. Request for people to contribute money to make these arrangements were made and people gave. Again, these people are worshipping God with their participation in making God’s sanctuary a more beautiful place with these decorations. God does not need the money; God sees their heart in honouring Him in this manner; those who contribute money and those who put up the flowers.

Hence I have learnt never to judge on activities or things that I perceived as meaningless or unnecessary when it comes to the things of God. Just like in the case of the flower arrangements. They might not be necessary but the hearts of the people who made it happen are significant to God.

Anonymous

Share what Jesus did for you with compassion and sincerity as a friend

2010-01-31T00:25:00.001+08:00

1 Timothy 1:5, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith …”

Recently I shared the gospel with a colleague of mine over lunch. She was amazed by some of the life transforming testimonies that I shared with her. It was the first time she has heard of such stories and she knew I was speaking truthfully out of my heart. I could see that she was trying to comprehend how these miracles could happen but yet afraid of going to the extent of accepting God. I could relate perfectly to what she was feeling because that was exactly the kind of dilemma I felt when an ex colleague of mine shared his life transformation through Jesus Christ with me.

Acts 24:24-25, “And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, “Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.””

Although my colleague was not ready to accept Christ there and then, a seed has been sown into her heart and she said something which I caught in my heart too. She said, “If you are not my friend, I would not have listened to you.”

While the gospel is the simple truth of God sending Jesus for our salvation, I would always try to know the person better and find out if there are any areas whereby God can use me to bless them or share relevant life testimonies with them. Making the effort to know the person and doing it out of a pure heart with genuine sincerity would no doubt gain you a friend and perhaps further opportunities to share with them what Jesus did for you.
1 Timothy 1:5, “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith …”

Like what Paul shared in Acts 26:2-3, “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.” God sent him to meet and share the gospel with King Agrippa. Both of them shared the same training in the way of laws and customs. Both of them “speak the same language”; and with the same mutual level of respect they hold for each other, Paul could minister to King Agrippa. And King Agrippa later said in Acts 26:28, “Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.””

S

My backache disappears and I was able to sleep well after asking God for help

2010-01-31T00:24:00.002+08:00

It had always been difficult for me to believe in the healing power of God. Somehow I always thought healing is meant for the faithful and the devoted while a less faithful Christian may not deserve it. However, God is so full of grace and mercy that He takes care of all - even those who may not deserve that much.

I developed a terrible backache during my pregnancy. It was so bad that I developed insomnia due to the excruciating pains. For a few days, I was only able to sleep at around 4.00am in the morning! It was extremely difficult as I’m a person who sleeps well. Thinking it was a common aliment of pregnancy I thought I could only grit my teeth and endure the pain.

However, my husband reminded me that God is compassionate and would not want me to suffer like this. He prayed with me, thanking God for His promises to help heal my sore back and to give me undisturbed sleep. I was sceptical at first but the pain was too much to bear and I mustered all the faith I have to believe God’s healing power will take place.

True enough, that night I slept like a baby. Subsequently, though sometimes I do experience some soreness when I neglect my posture, those pains were mild and could be quickly rectified by some stretching. With God’s grace, that excruciating pain I suffered those few nights just left me.

Later part of the week, my husband shared with me that he thought having backaches were part and parcel of pregnancy. He also assumed that this was normal for a pregnant lady. However when he saw the frustration and the helpless feeling of me struggling to get into a comfortable lying position nights after nights, there was a sense of compassion welling up within him and prompting him to think that God would not want His children to suffer unnecessary in this manner. Hence he decided for us to pray to God about this condition.

Anonymous

An evangelism encounter became an encouragement to me

2010-01-31T00:24:00.001+08:00

During my business trip to Philippines, I was hosted by my local colleague throughout my stint there. During this trip, I learnt that he is a Roman Catholic and could tell that he is very faithful to God. Due to the long hours driving around, we chatted about everything under the sun and from our conversation, I could also see that his life was truly very blessed. A happy marriage, very smart children (3 of them) and they all lived in a nice big house. Moreover, he was sharing with me how God has fulfilled many of his dreams he desired during his days of youth. He did not specifically prayed to God and asked God for the things that he desired. Nevertheless God knew and made them come to pass gradually over the years. One great example was living in a double storied house on the side of a mountain overlooking the city of Manila. When he first came to Manila from another province, he started off with nothing. But today, I could see he was very proud to be able be the owner of such a big house. I was truly encouraged by his testimonies.

I then took the opportunity to ask if he has received the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. He said, “No” and when I asked if he was interested in receiving this gift from God, he immediately said, “Ya ya ya. Sure, why not!!?” Personally I was pretty taken aback by his response. When I asked people this question, most of them were a little apprehensive but this colleague of mine was really eager to receive it. Praise God. I took some time to briefly explain the meaning behind speaking in tongues and demonstrated to him how it might sound like. I was surprised by his reply. He told me that for all his years of life as a Catholic since young, this is the first time he heard someone praying in tongues although he has read about it in the bible. So before I left for Singapore, I laid my hands on him and prayed together to ask God to give him the gift of tongues.

From this evangelising encounter, God gave me a real life case study that shows speaking in tongues does not make you a more spiritual person or a better Christian. God still loves you as who you are. Although my colleague had not receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues, God looks at my colleague’s heart of faithfulness and He has blessed him tremendously in all areas of his life. Nevertheless, it is God’s will for all of His children to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit; to give them greater power to do greater things for God.

JY

In remembrance of God’s Grace In My Life - A 76 year old grandma testimony

2010-01-28T16:55:00.000+08:00

I was born in Johor, Malaysia, grew up in Ipoh. During my childhood day, my dad was captured by the Japanese army; we did not know whether he was alive or dead. My mum was very sickly and had a lot of sickness. Life was very hard on us, my siblings had no choice but to separate and begged along the streets for our meals.

When I was 8 years old, I met a young man by the name of Mr Liew Chong Ming, Who pitied me and brought me home to help in domestic chores. From then on, I lost contact with my family. When I was 15 years old, Mr Liew came to Singapore to venture into a partnership business. He brought me along and I studied in Nanyang Primary School for 1 ½ years.

In 1950, Mr Liew’s business failed and he switched to teach in Chinese High Secondary School. Meanwhile I returned to Ipoh to help in the domestic chores and came back to Singapore for 3 yrs to study in Chinese High Girls' School.

In 1955, Mr Liew ‘s mother suggested both Mr Liew and me to get married and we stayed in the school’s hostel to raise up our children and I became a full time housewife.

In 1958, I came to know this lady by the name of Sister Teo Giak Kuan and we started to serve in the ministry together.

I thank God for His help though I had difficulty both in speaking and writing English and with my low education, I began to venture into real estate business. Eventually, I managed to own a house and a car. Whenever Sister Teo led me to areas of needs to give my offerings, I would give without much consideration of the amount. I was willing and obedient to give and I was blessed greatly with God’s grace and mercy.

In 1974 to 1998, due to changes of rules & regulations governing foreigners’ ownership of property in Singapore, I went into piano trading business. Although I had no musical background and knowledge about piano, I thank God for His wisdom to manage the piano business. By God’s grace, business was very good.

My children had good education and they loved God and had married to build their own family, they led a good life and served in their own respective ministry in church. I thank God that my eldest son is a pastor.

In 1990, I followed Sister Teoto Glory Church and join their fellowship. Both my husband and I continued with the piano business to support ourselves. However later we ran into debts due to poor business. Whenever creditors came after us for the debts, I was filled with anxiety and fear. My whole brain was like fire burning. I would always kneel under the feet of Jesus and prayed for Him to open doors and ways for us to clear our debts.

In 1996, my husband went home with the Lord.

In 1998, the debts piled up and I had no choice but to close down my business and sold my car and house. Even after selling all these, I was still full of debts. I did not want to burden my children and not to rely on others for help. I sought and relied only on God’s help, firmly believing in Him and submitting to His will.

I humbled myself from being a lady boss wearing nice “cheong sam” to a toilet cleaner, domestic cleaner and other cleaning jobs. I even worked as domestic cleaner for a few families per week.

When my creditors or people whom I knew saw me in that plight, they did not dare to approach me to repay the debts. Some even stopped me from giving offerings. As I relied on God’s grace, His financial blessings never stop flowing to me. I led a thrifty life but never stop giving tithes and offerings.

As time passes by, some of my creditors moved their homes to other places and became uncontactable. Nevertheless I would try all ways and means to locate them and go to their homes to pay my debts. Some people mocked at me and said I was foolish, but eventually I still repaid all my debts. I did not want to tarnish the name of God. No matter how difficult the situation was, I would find all ways to repay my debts and not rely on anyone but only relied on God’s grace which was sufficient for me. Although I was old, I felt obliged to return the hard earned money of those kind hearted people who loaned me. I did not want people to look down on me as a Christian. I wanted to glorify God.

Thank God for His presence with me. I worked daily with joy and no complain.

Time had passed so fast that 10 years was like 1 day. Our God had given me a healthy body. I had never been sick, worked daily to pay off my debts for the last 10 years.

In January 2009, I had cleared all my debts.

I am 76 years old now, I am still healthy other than leg pain that stopped me from working as a cleaner. I am healed now.

I know that in all things God has His will and His timing. I really thank God for His mercy and grace though I was very busy working in the past, I continued to attend weekly fellowship and Sunday services.

Although I am old now, I want to maximize the rest of my life on earth to worship and serve God. Thanking God for His Grace and Mercy.

Madam Liew Lay Keng

God taught me the importance of obeying what He impressed in our hearts vs what our mind reasons

2010-01-28T16:52:00.000+08:00

During one of the Sunday service this month, Pastor Amos gave a contrasting example of being sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading vs what our mind thinks logically, based on his own experiences.

Pseudo names have been given to facilitate the narration.

The first testimony involves a lady called Susan. During his early years of his career, Susan has first introduced Pastor Amos into the trading industry. Under her mentorship, she managed to help propel him to become a very successful trader in his later years as a trader. After he left his career to enter into the ministry, neither of them has contacted each other for several years.

Then one day Susan suddenly called him when he was in Thailand doing missionary work. She wanted to borrow some money from him. She needed S$2000. Due to his past working relationship with the lady, Pastor Amos felt indebted to her and thought that he should help her since the amount was manageable. After all Susan was a high flyer with a very impressive career background. Hence it should not be a problem for her to return the money at a later period.

However when he was about to say “Ok” to Susan, he immediately felt an uncomfortable tug in his heart which prevented him from agreeing to her request verbally at that point in time. He told her, “Give me some time; I will call you back with an answer.” Upon putting down his phone, he started praying and asking God if he should not lend her the money. His mind was telling him: Yes, he should give. There is no reason why he should not but his heart was telling him: No, do not give. After much struggling, Pastor Amos decided to call Susan to tell her he was not able to concede to her request. Then Susan started to scold and criticize him for not being grateful to her for the contributions she had made in his life. It was hard and he did not know why God did not give him the peace to borrow the money.

Several months later, he received news from his friends that Susan has actually lost a lot of money through stocks and that she had been going around borrowing money from her friends and not returning them.

Thank God, he did not lend his money to Susan previously. God knew about the situation and had protected him from losing his finances unnecessary.

The second testimony involves his childhood friend, Daniel. Daniel worked as a taxi driver. From what Pastor Amos knew about his friend, Daniel gambled a lot and had a history of borrowing money from loan sharks. For many years, they have not contacted each other.

Then one day, Daniel called Pastor Amos out of the blue. He wanted to borrow S$7000 from him. Pastor Amos wanted to say no but it seems as if there is peace in his heart to do so. This time, his mind was telling him: No, do not borrow. S$7000 is a huge sum and it is very likely you will not get back the money. However it seems as if there is peace in his heart to borrow him the money. He told Daniel to give him some time to consider before getting back to him. He started to pray in tongues and it seems like God is allowing him to agree with his request. Again his mind wrestled with the impression in his heart. In the end, He agreed to lend Daniel the money but he requested him to come to his house to get the money. Daniel said, “Ok. Thank you.” It was a tough decision to make. His reasoning was strongly against the idea. But finally he as prepared to lose the money forever. While Daniel was on his way, Pastor Amos decided to make sure he could share the gospel with Daniel. After all, the sum of money was huge and Daniel was an unbeliever. So this is one of the rare opportunities.

When they met, Pastor Amos said to Daniel, “Before I pass the money to you, I wanted to tell you ...” Daniel cut his sentence and answered, “I knew what you want to tell me. I am already a Christian. I gave my life to Jesus on the way to your house.” Pastor Amos was shocked. Later Daniel shared with him that he has approached every single one of his friends whom he knew but everyone was avoiding him. He was in heavy debt and was at his wits end. Daniel knew he had no one else to turn too now. Finally while he was alone and deep in his thoughts, he turned to God and said to Him, “If You are really God and You helped me this time, I will dedicate my life to You and become a Christian.” At that moment, his childhood friend, Pastor Amos, came into his mind and so he decided to call him. When Pastor Amos agreed, he knew in his heart that God answered his prayer; and hence he gave his life to Jesus. After knowing this, Pastor Amos was elated! Subsequently later part of that day, Pastor Amos went to Daniel’s home and managed to get his wife and child saved as well. Eventually, Daniel managed to get himself a job and returned the money in full to him. It was a win-win situation. 3 souls saved through Pastor Amos obedience. Amazingly, he also managed to get his money back. God is great!

From the above 2 testimonies, God knew what was going on in both situations. He protected Pastor Amos in the 1st testimony while He used him to bless others in the second one. The most prominent observation I made here is the antagonizing instructions he hear from his heart and from his mind. Nevertheless, due to his sensitiveness to the Holy Spirit and his obedience, He chose to obey God’s instruction (through his heart) despite the reasoning he had in his mind and flesh.

Hebrews 5:8, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

In the first testimony, Pastor Amos “suffers” from being labeled as an ungrateful person. In the second testimony, he “suffers” from the possibility of losing S$7000. John Bevere said in his book: “The bait of satan”: “Physical growth is a function of time. Intellectual growth is a function of learning. Spiritual growth is neither a function of time or learning, but is a function of obedience.” We grow from faith to faith through these experiences. Praise God.

Steve

Knowing God’s love for me allows me to receive from Him and releases me to love others more from my heart

2010-01-28T16:50:00.000+08:00

For the past few Sundays, Pastor’s "love message" reminded me of exactly what God had shown me 2 years ago, which is before we can walk in the love of God, we have to open up our heart to love (noun). I went through something similar that God has shown me - it is POSSIBLE to open our heart to love and that comes with much more benefits than just having the love to give to others. It even enriched our own personal walk and sensitivity to the Lord.

During my first 2 years of being a Christian, I’m just a church going Christian who knows that Jesus is my Saviour but do not have a personal relationship with Him. The funny thing is I do see His goodness in my life, like how He had faithfully protected my family and provided for our needs in a miraculous ways, but I seem to be like a bystander. I see His acts, which is always through others around me, I heard about Him, in church sermons but I do not really KNOW Him personally. Most of the time even if I do pray, it seems fruitless to me because I don’t even know if He hears me. So gradually, I give up on praying and stop spending time in the bible.

Finally, I came to a point of frustration where it seems like everyone around me can experience God personally, is so close to Him yet He seems so far away from me. I know I’m missing out on something because there is emptiness inside of me. In desperation, I began to cry out to Him and that day was the 1st personal encounter I had with God. He led me by giving me an urge to read Joshua about the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6:1) and further to (Joshua 6:17). With these 2 scriptures, He answered my prayer about why I felt distant from Him and what was the solution I needed. It was so direct to the point that it was easy for me to understand.

Joshua 6:1, “Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.” This was to say that my heart is like the walls of Jericho, tightly shut up that I can’t receive, not even from Him and I’m not willing to give to others.

Joshua 6:17, “The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord.” At the word “devoted”, I saw a footnote that explains the meaning of the word in Hebrew: it refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them”.

By that, I know that the Lord is asking me to give up everything that is in my heart which had caused the wall to be built up to Him. Bitterness, fear, shame, insecurity and hurts had helped to build up that wall.

Joyce Meyer once said, “We can't give away something that we don't have” She went on to explain: - Firstly I have to receive the love of God, which is to really know that God loves me unconditionally & not base on my do's and don'ts. Then when I receive the love of God, knowing that God loves me as I am & have forgiven me, maybe I can love myself & forgive myself & there starts the healing process of a relationship with myself. That has to happen before I can love other people. I believe that a lot of people are trying to love others but they really do not have it to give because there's something inside them tat still needs to be fixed. It's a freeing experience knowing that it is His love to me & through me, no longer my doings and my failure in loving others because He will help me, it releases so much pressure.

In the past, not only do I choose who to love but also how much I am willing to love. Even to those that I’m supposed to love, I love "sparingly" and not wholeheartedly. I still do help people around me, care for them, socialize around but the main thing is my heart is not open to them. It not only affects how I love others but also how I receive love from others. I don’t allow others to love me too much. Some say I am an independent person but I would say that my walls and guard were so high up that made me strong on the outside to protect my insecurity on the inside. As a result, I was hindered in receiving from God and as a result, I do not have anything to give.

The Lord is so GOOD; only He gave the solution, He helped me with it too. He strengthened me to do what He says by these 2 sentences which I hear so clearly in my heart. He said “All forgiveness can be found in the blood of Jesus” and “Trust in me and I will protect you from all hurts”.

What God did released me to dare open up my heart to the people around me. I am able to love others more and am able to receive love from others too. I began to be more sensitive to the compassion that sometimes rises up from within my spirit and I am able to give more of myself out of love than the past.

His love had torn down my walls and from that encounter on, things started to change gradually. I began to desire to know more about Him through His words, I spent more time in prayer and confessions, I became more sensitive to His presence and it seems like the more I experience Him, the more I hunger for Him and the more I hunger, the more He will fill. Hallelujah! All Glory to Jesus.

Anonymous

At last I managed to share the gospel with 2 of my friends after years of missed opportunities

2010-01-28T16:47:00.000+08:00

I have the opportunity to meet different people from different countries due to the regional nature of my role. Among my overseas colleagues, two of my Malaysian colleagues were my closest. They were great friends to begin with and were wonderful colleagues to work with. For the past few years we meet on various occasions and I had the desire to reach out and share the gospel with them for quite some time. However the opportunity to do so was limited. This month, I was on a business trip to Malaysia and I determined in my heart to do so as I pray to God to open up windows of opportunity for me. During my trip, I deliberately arrange for chances to have one to one time with them over meals.

Matthew 10:16, “… be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

God helped me with it and I finally managed to share my life testimony and the gospel with both of them on separate occasions. Praise God.
Through our conversations, one of them told me it’s the first time he heard someone share the gospel through life experiences. However he knew of a relative who was a Christian but was not behaving in a manner he felt good. I told him he cannot judge God with men’s actions. Men sometimes fail but God never fails. The other colleague told me it was also the first time he heard about the reality of God in one’s life in such a manner. However he knew of a friend who used to embrace several undesirable habits but suddenly became a totally new person when he turned his life to God. He stopped all his past bad habits and started to be a very devoted Christian. My friend was puzzled in how this could happen until I explained how this was possible as God changes us inside out, starting with our spirits, and how it applied to me as well.

I thanked God for giving me the opportunity to sow the seeds of God’s word into their life. I could tell they were receiving God’s words. Even though they were not ready to receive Christ when I asked them, I believe someone will continue to water into their lives subsequently.

Acts 26:1 to 3, “Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”
So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.”

Paul used to be a Pharisee, extremely well versed in the laws and customs of the Jews. God brought Paul to meet King Agrippa, someone who was also “expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews”. In this way Paul could relate to him at his level. Similarly I was able to relate to my 2 colleagues better because my personal experiences and testimonies are relevant to them. Praise God!

JY

I thank God for restoring my intimacy with my wife after a heated argument

2010-01-28T16:46:00.000+08:00

It started off with a small argument between my wife and I over some issues which we did not see eye to eye with each other. Unexpectedly it exploded into a very unpleasant stage as both of us got more and more historical. Words were loud and sharp and attitude towards each other were unbecoming. I was particularly stubborn and the argument ended with me in the room and she in the living room.

While I was in the room, I tried to read a book but just could not find the peace to do so. I knew that if I do not do anything to restore our intimacy, both of us would suffer from the uncomfortable and tense atmosphere throughout the night. Moreover I was the main culprit in creating it. It was hard because my flesh simply did not want to give in to mend the gap. In my mind, I was still thinking if I could play this silent game with her throughout the whole night. However in my heart, even though I want restoration, I do not foresee how it could be possible. Nevertheless, I eventually humbled myself and said to God under my breath, “God, help me here.”

The next thing I knew, I went out to join my wife to watch TV programs. I knew she was still fuming. I was myself. We were still not speaking with each other and were sitting apart from each other. At that time, the TV was showing a Japanese tourism variety program with a middle aged couple enjoying themselves on some excursions in Japan. As we continued to watch the program, it started to coincidently show places that we have previously been to during one of our holidays.

Somehow I knew God was doing something here. He was opening up opportunities for restoration to take place.

I could feel my bitterness dissipating away as memories of our fun times in Japan started to flood back as the TV flashes familiar sceneries before our eyes. I tried to make some small comments on the TV program. Before I know it, I was already jumping on my wife and teasing her. Thank God she responded in kind. I believe her heart was softened while she watched the TV program too. Our intimacy was restored that moment and we could spend the rest of the night in peace. Thank you Jesus.

Anonymous

I managed to win a soul to God through MSN

2010-01-28T16:45:00.000+08:00

I was pretty free one night and began to look for someone to chat with on the internet via MSN. It was not long when I started to chat casually with this girl. As we conversed, she mentioned that life is pretty boring. I replied her saying life would not be boring if you have Jesus. She was a little taken aback by my response. Then I took this opportunity to share some of my experiences with her. Eventually we ended the conversation and told each other we will contact again in the near future.

A few nights later, I was preparing to wind down after a long day at work. All I wanted to do was to read the bible and listen to some gospel songs. Just at that moment, I felt impressed in my heart that God wanted me to switch on the computer and go onto the net. I was lazy to do so but this prompting kept hounding me. Eventually I decided to obey this prompting. To my surprise, the girl whom I chatted with previously was on the net as well. I could not imagine the chances of meeting her again on the net. The probability was almost one in a million. Immediately I felt there was a purpose in this. Perhaps God had arranged for a divine appointment for us to meet again.

We chatted a little and eventually I took the boldness to ask if she wanted to accept Jesus as her savior. She agreed! While I led her into salvation over the net, I could sense the genuineness in her acceptance of her salvation. I had joy in my heart. Praise God!

X

I experienced God’s favor upon my inability to produce results in my business

2009-12-03T00:59:00.000+08:00

Close to 2 years ago, I attempted to start a business selling art pieces. With the passion and drive to make it happen, I put in a lot of effort to realize this business idea. I know God gave me an artistic talent and I wanted to turn it into a business.

During this period, God used events and unique circumstances to guide me as well as people with unique talents to help me. In one particular case, I came to know one of the most talented fashion photographers in Singapore; whom I met during my army reservists. He was one of the most generous people I have come across. I remembered him working late into the night on some occasions but he did not want to charge me. I knew without a shadow of doubt that without God’s connection, my path would have never crossed his in my life time, due to the different kind of life and circle of friends we take. Hence I was able to relate to what John C Maxwell wrote in “Be All You Can Be!”, “Until I am committed, there is hesitancy, a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also, and a whole stream of events erupt. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, persons and material assistance which I could never have dreamed would come my way begin to flow toward me – the moment I make a commitment.”

Eventually I tried to sell my paintings. As you might have heard people say, “To reach the peak of a mountain, there could be many different paths of climb up.” I could say I almost exhaust all the different ways as I could think to market my products In fact I even went to the extent of knocking on people’s door to peddle my paintings. It did not take long to convince myself that this path would not work out. However I managed to clinch a deal with one of the hotels in Singapore. This deal covered all the expenses I invested for this business start up and I made some decent profits from it as well.

Leonie Smith from Planetshakers wrote, “The most simple ideas and strategies conceived by the Holy Spirit in you will be far more effective and anointed than the most dazzling display of human skill and achievement.” I could not agree with her any more. It might seem that my hard work and perseverance brought me the hotel deal. But it was not the case and I knew it was the favor of God. This was confirmed through my brief conversation with the person who was appointed by the hotel to install my paintings. He told me that I was actually competing with an established art gallery organization and this organization has been collaborating with the hotel management for ten over years. In particular he kept making this comment, “I still do not understand why the hotel wants to work with you. In terms of price, they can beat you if they want to. In terms of quality, theirs were better. I really don’t understand.”

What could I say, but it is the favor of God.
Ecclesiastes 9:11, “I returned and saw under the sun that—

The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all.”

Steve

It was not being positive thinking that brought me through difficult times. It was listening and obeying God

2009-12-03T00:58:00.000+08:00

Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Recently I have been receiving comments from friends and colleagues that I am a very positive thinking person. From our casual conversations, they were able to pick this up and feedback to me casually. Perhaps, I seldom complain and perhaps the way I see things could be different from the manner other people see. Nevertheless, as I ponder deeper upon their comments, I found that I was not really thinking positively most of the time. That was when God gave me a revelation on how the above scriptures applied to my experience although I have been reading them many times.

During the early years of my career, I was faced with numerous unfortunate events and persecutions of various degrees. Thoughts of giving up came. Thoughts of producing mediocre work came. Feelings of bitterness came. Feelings of pride came. In most times, I seek God for refuge and guidance through prayer and reading His word; and sought to do things His way. That is when I felt “labored and heavy laden” having to work against my flesh. I was not thinking positively. I was working against negative thoughts most of the time!

However each time I draw near to God for refuge as he said “Come to me ...” I start to hear words of instructions in my heart. Jesus is teaching me through my heart and I begin to “... learn from me Jesus.” Very often, Jesus will speak and teach you to respond to your adversaries or situations in a peaceful manner and with a humble attitude. This goes against my fleshly pride most of the time. Jesus walked humbly and He expects us to do so too. Hence He said “For I am gentle and lowly in heart.” In most cases, Jesus wants me to walk out of my bitterness and continue to submit to my superiors especially during times when I felt I knew better than them. I remembered there was once when I almost wanted to justify myself to my direct boss’s superior over a project that my boss was leading. Earlier in the day, I felt abandoned by my boss in some strategic meetings which made me appeared that I was not doing a good job. That night, I was complaining to my wife and was contemplating if I should talk to my boss’s superior to clear up some misunderstandings. My boss superior just joined the company and I do not want to start the working relationship with a bad impression.

I decided to talk to God about it that night and God changed my heart. What I did next was, I messaged my boss and apologized for not looking into the project more carefully. I explained that although he was leading the project, I should have worked as a team and go beyond his expectations to make sure all grounds were covered.

Immediately when I did that, there was a great sense of release. Prior to this, I was struggling and warring in my mind throughout the night with thoughts and imaginations of how I should complain to my boss’s superior and what to say and how to justify myself. However, this act of submission literally cut off all these non edifying thoughts. This is when Jesus says, “And you will find rest for your souls.” My soul (emotions and mind) found peace and rest. There was joy in me after that too.

God’s way is certainly easy and light; and always in our best interests. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Not easy but the reward is good.

Overtime, I found that I walked the most intimately with God through these experiences and spiritual maturity and character building follows after obedience. Praise God.

Anonymous

Through God’s supernatural protection, I escaped death

2009-12-03T00:57:00.000+08:00

I was riding on my bike and I had a collision with a taxi. I skidded off my bike, my head hit the ground and the helmet broke, and the weight of the bike dragged me on the ground for some distance. It was so painful that this might be the last thing that u want to encounter.

However during that split second, I would feel something pulling my body. At the same time something was surrounding me very tightly and protecting me. I thought I had lost my senses but somehow I knew that I will be ok. There was absolutely no fear building up in me at all. Even after being dragged for a distance, I could stand up and pick up my bike. However my body was sore and I felt very anxious and nervous. I thought I was losing blood but after looking at those wounds, I was relieved. I only suffered some cuts and scratches on my skins. Overall I was fine. There were no major injuries at all!

After the accident, I was thinking to myself and trying to recall the incident. I asked myself, “Could I have survived this serious accident if I was alone?” I concluded that it must be the hand of God protecting me and I believed this will be one of the most miraculous protections that I will ever experience from God.

Andrew

What is the meaning of life?

2009-12-03T00:54:00.000+08:00

Recently I got to know a new colleague better. He was sharing with me why he would take a lower pay rather than a higher pay with greater responsibility and position. He was sharing with me there is no point working so hard till you burn out and what kind of life he wants to lead. One of his bosses literally died as a result of overwork. The management had placed so much pressure and stress upon him that 2 days after he delivered his project, he died of some unexplained reasons. The people in the management were so guilty that most of them gave generously during his funeral wake to redeem themselves. So my colleague has got all the reason to say what is the point of working so hard. However our conversation led me to ponder again what is the meaning of life.

In my own opinion, experiencing a fulfilling and rich life would mean experiencing God’s grace and favor in my life and sharing these blessings and testimonies of the goodness of God with people that I meet. God blesses us to bless others and that can be very joyful especially if it blesses the person spiritually. I remembered Pastor Amos once shared how a young Christian laid hands on a blind person and seeing the black iris forming literally. I thought living with such experiences and you will never say life is boring again.

JY

I felt spiritually dry and asked God for help

2009-12-03T00:53:00.001+08:00

Jeremiah 29:12-13, “Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

In the span of my Christian walk with God, despite circumstances when I experience confusion and frustration, I could always feel a spiritual connection with God. However, last week, I was very down. Deep in my heart everything seemed to go wrong. I was not in the mood of reading my bible and saying my prayer. Everything seemed to be in complete chaos. Although I ignored the terrible situation as well as the lack of willingness to fellowship with God, I persisted to pray and read the bible but there was no compulsion to continue.

Yesterday, I began to pray to God asking Him what was wrong with me. I did not seem to be my own self. Everything seems to be going wrong and deep in my heart there was emptiness. I continued to pray and tears rolled down my cheeks. I told God that peace and joy did not seem to be with me, I called out to Him to help me because my spiritual walk with Him was very dry, as if it was running out of fuel, like a lamp without oil or a car without petrol.

Then one evening, someone passed me a Victory magazine from Kenneth Copland ministry. Inside there was an article written with this header “Running on Empty”. This really gave me a great revelation and it answered my prayer with regards to the situation I was facing. After reading this article, my confusion and frustration were all gone. With a pure and seeking heart, God uses different methods to speak to us and address our needs.

I would like to share with you whenever your spirit is running dry and you need to stir your spirit up, you can speak up because the bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speak. We can stir up our spirit by saying loudly "In the Name of Jesus I stir up the gift that's within me by faith, I am stirring up the love of God that's in me, I'm stirring up the power and I'm stirring myself up in the spirit of the living GOD! I'm stirred up. If we continue to confess that we are stirred up, it will eventually happen. Without knowing it, you would have already stirred your spirit!

Thank you Jesus. Glory to You!

Eileen

Restoration of God in my work place

2009-12-03T00:52:00.000+08:00

Habakkuk 2:3, “… Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”

These few months, I have been receiving very good reports and comments on my work from my direct superior, colleagues as well as from an overseas colleague whom I have never met before. I did a couple of marketing campaigns and have set a benchmark upon which future similar projects will have to meet or exceed. Some of these reports actually went all the way up to senior management level at headquarters.

Proverbs 22:29, “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men”

However there was this half page good report that one of my indirect superior wrote which felt special to me. Not because of the content of the report, not because it was from a senior management person but rather it was the person who wrote the report that glorifies God. Cut the story short, 2 years ago, this same person said to me, “I looked at your resume and I do not think you are fit to be in this role.” At that time, I was not as experienced but those words sting. Nevertheless God impressed in my heart to stay on in my job and eventually He opened up opportunities in my company to allow me to establish my worth in the company again.

It was the humiliation followed by the obedience followed by the justification that glorifies God.

Habakkuk 2:3, “… Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”

Anonymous

The Wednesday mid week service was so joyful that it refreshes my heavy spirit

2009-12-03T00:48:00.000+08:00

I was mentally and emotionally drained after a hard and long day at work. Much of the stress was attributed from the pressure of completing a project in the next 2 days. Moreover, I was upset with how things were progressing with my colleagues.

Nonetheless, it was Wednesday and I was determined to attend the mid week church service that evening.

From my experience, I knew that with a heart seeking to hear from God during a service or gathering, God will definitely speak to me in one way or another. And I was glad I did! It was one of the best worship services I have attended. We sang in words and in tongues and as I deliberately lay down thoughts of my work and focus on singing and praising God, I could feel His presence refreshing my spirit. Not only that. After the worship, Pastor Oon was sharing some of his comical experiences he had during his work as a pastor. The congregation laughed till we teared. Pastor Oon laughed till he teared. It was so funny and it was like we could all relate to his experience humorously as a family of God. The joy of the Lord was certainly in that service! Praise God.

I walked into the service feeling a little unhappy but with a determination to refresh myself in the Lord; and I walked out of the service feeling joyful and refreshed indeed! In addition, during the worship service, God led me to change my heart and attitude towards certain matters and individuals at work and I felt so much liberated after the service too.

Acts 13:2, “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said …”

Like what Pastor Amos always says, “The bigger God is in your heart, the smaller your challenges will seem.”

Nehemiah 8:10, “…Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Steve

God impressed in my heart to encourage a friend of mine divinely

2009-11-01T00:28:00.001+08:00

Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.”
Proverbs 15:23, “…a word spoken in due season, how good it is!”

I have been looking for the opportunity to share the gospel with the people around me lately. Overcoming the hesitation and taking the first step to witness for God is not easy but I am happy to have obeyed. God saw the desire in my heart and He really brought people that need to hear about His love and salvation plan across my path. I remembered there was one day while I was travelling back from work in the MRT when God put in my heart to drop a message with one of my friend. Before this, I have been sharing God’s love with her via e mails. I messaged her, “Hi XXX, to others you might just be a face in the crowd. To me, you are a dear friend and your name is constantly in my prayers. But to Jesus, you are so precious that He's willing to lay down His life for you, not because of what you have done or what you can do for Him, but simply because He loves you.” I was pretty taken aback by her response. She replied, “Thanks XXX, this is lovely, I'm in the train now and tears are streaming down my face...God!!” I thought it was not appropriate to ask her what happened but I felt impressed in my heart to share the love of God with her, not knowing what she was going through. I replied, “You know what, Jesus loves you and you are precious to Him. If you have any problem, just call out to Him and He will help you. The word of God says that whoever that calls out to him shall be saved. Believe in Him and you will have eternal life.” She did not reply and I did not know how she responded to my encouragement. Nevertheless, I felt joy in sharing with her.

Isaiah 55:11, “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

I believe the seed of the gospel has been sown into her life through this timely brief encounter and I just commit her onto God’s hand.

B.

I felt bitter for not getting any credit for my good work

2009-11-01T00:27:00.001+08:00

Recently I took the initiative to help and pray for a couple who was facing some difficulties in their relationship. They are not close to me but they are close to my good friend. Hence I decided to pray and agree with my friend to see restoration in the couple’s relationship. I took the lead and we prayed intensely and purposefully. It was an anointed joint prayer.

A few days later, we learnt that they have patched back and we knew our prayers had interceded on their behalf. The couple gave thanks to the people who have advised them during their times of difficulty. However I was not mentioned in it. As a result, I felt a little bitter about it each time I thought of the matter. I knew it was wrong of me to feel this way. So I decided to talk with God on this issue.

Then during one of my prayer time, God spoke to me in 2 sentences. He said, “I love you.” Then He paused for a little while before He continued, “And I need you to help other people.”

Immediately, I was arrested in my heart. His simple and sharp words changed my entire perspective of the whole matter. I could feel the appreciation God has for me and I felt honored to be used by Him to help other people. I thought this was even better than actually receiving the gratitude expressed by the couple themselves. As what Pastor Amos always say, “One touch from God is better than a thousand words.” Amen! God sees and God knows.

Anonymous

The more I pray, the more I find myself in the flow of God’s work to help people

2009-11-01T00:26:00.002+08:00

I realized that the more I pray and talk with God, the more I am in flow with the leading of God whether consciously or subconsciously.

In one particular case, God impressed in my heart to take note of a friend’s holiday trip a month later. I marked it down on my calendar and did drop him a message to wish him a great holiday a day before he took off. However I did not expect his reply was he was not going anymore. He was experiencing some relationship difficulties which made me sad. Nonetheless, God created this opportunity for me to help him.

In a second case, God woke me up earlier to pray. I was reluctant to wake up but I yielded to Him. Not know what to pray about, I stayed to pray in tongues in a giddy state of mind.

Romans 8:26-27, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us[a] with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

Just as I prayed, God impressed in my heart to give my friend a certain verse from the bible. I thought the Word was quite harsh and was afraid that he might be offended. Nevertheless, I messaged him and went back to catch 30 minutes more of sleep before I need to wake up again. Later part of the day, my friend called me to explain he was shocked by my message and why did he felt so. God has spoken into my friend and wanted to lead him back to His ways.

I thank God for giving me the opportunity to be used by Him in this manner.

SL

God ensured me to have a safe and smooth trip to and fro Japan

2009-11-01T00:26:00.001+08:00

God blesses his people in even mundane affairs. Nothing is too big or small for God to handle.

During a recent trip to Japan, God protected me from the beginning to the end of the trip.

In the beginning, there was a possibility that my flight might be cancelled. There was going to be a typhoon in Japan and due to this reason my flight was delayed for 2 hours during departure. News kept flashing about the impending typhoon in Tokyo. Instead of worrying, I decided to place my faith in God and prayed for a smooth trip. I trusted God and sure enough, God ensured that I had a smooth trip. When I was there, the weather was so good. There wasn’t even any rain!

During the end of the trip, I faced another difficulty. I can’t find the right train to go back to the airport. We went around asking for help but due to the language barrier, we couldn’t understand them. I was so anxious that I nearly cried out. Deciding to seek God’s help, I prayed for directions and managed to find the train back. We reached the airport 5 minutes before gate closed.

I know deep down that if not for God, I would have missed the flight.

Lena

God reveals my future step by step

2009-11-01T00:25:00.001+08:00

1 John 2:20, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.”

Corinthians 2:9-10, “But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.”

There have been times when God impressed in my heart on future events that will take place in my life especially those that are of significance and importance. The following are a few of my experiences till date.

The person I would marry. When I was dating my wife some years ago, there were times of arguments and insecurities. So I asked God if my girlfriend then would be the woman I would marry. I remembered driving along Tomlinson Road, preparing to turn right into Tanglin Road when God told me: “She is yours.” I asked again and again and these words kept coming up in my spirit. The feeling I had at that time was not one of childish triumphant but one of solemn commission. I felt I was given the responsibility to love, cherish and provide for my wife the best life I could for the rest of my life. I did not tell my girlfriend then though. Eventually we did get married after 3 years of dating and she remains dear to me.

The house I would stay. I felt assured in my heart in getting the flat that I desired to stay in after my marriage. It was a prime area with no lack of applicants. The competition was very stiff. Nevertheless, the moment I received the HDB email alert with regard to opening the area I desired for balloting, I was impressed in my heart that I would get it. Eventually we did get it. The best part was we never really went around the island scouting for places to stay. Knowing the amount of time and energy to search every weekend, I would have reckoned it to be very tedious and tiring. It was close to a one shot one kill situation for us. We were truly blessed.

The time I would have my first baby. My wife has always been proactively bringing up the topic of having a baby on several occasions. I felt the time was not right and hence refused to talk about this subject to the point that frustrates her sometimes. I kept telling her when we are ready, we will have a baby. Then one day, I just felt impressed in my heart that the time is ripe. So I relate this to my wife and I told her that we would be going to Country A for a holiday and it would be the last one we would have until the next 5 years at least. We relate this to our parents and close friends, telling them we would be trying for a baby. However when we did not see any results for the1st 2 months, our parents started to suggest ways and means that encourage child birth. I also have people telling me stories of how difficult it was for young couples to conceive these days probably due to food or lifestyle. As a result I too start to waiver a little; at the same time feeling a little frustrated and disappointed. Nonetheless, God has been faithful and my wife did become pregnant after 3 months. Praise God!

I remembered Pastor Amos mentioned Christians do not look for fortune tellers. Firstly it is against God’s will to seek evil spirits of familiarity for they will eventually lead you to a state of bondage and fear, Pastor Amos also highlighted: “Being Christians, we are children of God. If we want to know the future, ask God directly. God would not use a third party to relate to you concerning your own future; as much as you would not to talk to your earthly children through someone; especially important and private things concerning your children.”

S.

Sharing the gospel lifts my spirit up and refreshes my soul in times of unhappiness

2009-11-01T00:23:00.002+08:00

I was feeling down because I felt I was not appreciated by my company for the years of hard work that I have put into it. Although I knew God is with me, the lousy feeling came to me suddenly that particular day. I do not know why as I thought I have gotten over it so long ago. Although I tried to focus on my work on hand, there was this unpleasant feeling hanging there throughout the day until the time I was knocking off work. Praise God. While I was picking up my car from the basement car park, I bumped into one of my company operator whom I barely knew. Through our brief greetings, I realized she was knocking off as well. So I offered her a lift to somewhere near my house if it is convenient for her. She was so appreciative and I too was glad. In my heart, I was thinking this would be the perfect opportunity for me to share the gospel with her, if not there might not be any more chances like this. At least I could do something for God and at the same time take my mind off my work and problems. I did just that and through the sharing of the Word, I felt edified and so much joyful after the evangelizing encounter. Working together with the Holy Spirit refreshes my soul! Thank you Jesus.

Having said that, I was brought to my remembrance the other day when a friend of mine shared with me a story she read from a book by Kenneth Hagin. She mentioned: Kenneth Hagin talked about an encounter a lady had with Smith Wiggleworth. She asked him what in the world caused the look of joy on his face and he shared with her the answer – the goodness of Jesus in his life gave him such joy. She then asked if God can give her such joy as well? He said yes and led her into salvation. She started rejoicing and asked if it was possible to keep this joy. He told her the only way was to give it away by telling others about it. She the proceeded to share her salvation with her friends and they in turn were saved. This story gave her a new perspective of evangelism – sharing the gospel is the way to keep our joy.

I could not further agree with her on this fact.

Anonymous

My brother re dedicated his life to God after 11 years away from Him

2009-11-01T00:23:00.001+08:00

Just like to share something with all of you. Some of you may know that I have an older brother. Well, he has been away from God for many years. At the age of 1, he had a kidney problem and had to undergo quite an intense surgery or he would've passed away. The surgery was a success and he has not had any problems since then. He got into some problems with the law as he grew older. Mixing with bad company etc. It has been roughly 11 years since he last stepped foot into church.

We have tried means and ways to re-invite him back but to no avail. Last Saturday, he had an attack on his kidney. I was not around, but my parents said they had never seen my brother in so much pain before. He turned white and was grabbing his kidney calling out,'Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus'. My parents took him to the hospital. He was not warded, but was given some medication. I believe that attack scared him and woke him up. The very next day, he followed my aunt to church and re-dedicated his life to God once more. After 11 years of being away from the Lord.

While I am very happy for my brother, I am equally worried about his kidney problem. The doctors could not deduce any problem with him at that given moment. I believe the devil is trying hard to get to him. However, I believe he is healed. His full name is Shaun Daniel. Let’s pray for him during our devotional time!

Terry

God led me to a sale on my birthday

2009-11-01T00:21:00.000+08:00

I used to have broad shoulders and long arms. As a result my body frame is not able to fit nicely into standard sizes in the market like G2000. Either the arm sleeves are too short or the shirt becomes too baggy due to the broader shoulder cutting. I resorted to tailor make my shirts. Over the years, I have lost considerable amount of weight partly due to work commitment and more critically lack of exercise. I became skinny but my hands are still too long. I still cannot fit nicely into standard shirt cuttings. Being a pretty thrifty person, I have not been upgrading my office wear for quite a while. The last 2 shirts I bought were probably more than 2 years ago. The rest were probably at least 4 years ago. Then this year as my birthday approaches, I finally decided to take heed with my wife who has been painfully nagging me to replace my wore out shirts. So we decided to go back to our tailor to make perhaps 3 shirts, each costing around $75. Good quality ones with designs like Raoul.

Actually on my birthday itself, I still had not make my shirts. After dinner with our family, we were strolling around Marina Square and into John Little by chance. With some time to spare, I noticed a pretty nice shirt on sale and decided to try it. Price was around $33 per piece. To my pleasant surprise, it fits well. I begin to try other more brands but only this particular brand of shirts fits my frame. The next moment, we were informed that today is the last day of sale and if you are a member, you get a 20% + 20% discount for the items. We got excited and I asked how much it would cost to be a member. The sales lady told us it is free. I just need to fill up some form and I could get the card immediately. The shop was literally empty and I had the privilege of choosing and trying out my shirts as freely as I wanted. I entered the shop with no intention of purchasing anything but I came out with 4 nice quality shirts, 3 pairs of shorts and a box of briefs. All at a total price of $125. I was elated!

After shopping, we decided to take a break at Long John Sliver when my wife took out the receipt to casually look at the good deal again (We do not check our receipts 99% of our time). It was when she realized that the box of briefs was not accounted for. Immediately, we decided to quickly go back to the shop to pay for the missing item as the shop is closing; but upon closer inspection, it seems like they have over charged us with a more shirt. I rushed to the shop and by the time I reached, they were already in the midst of closing their cashier. Adjustments were made and in the end, I walked away with my loot at a total cost of $100.

Throughout the journey back, I thought God was so amazing to treat me in this manner on my birthday. I still cannot get over the good deal and more importantly how each event unfold during this shopping experience. I could have only gotten 3 shirts at $225 but I got so much more out of it in the end. God is good and He loves me. Praise God!

JY

God taught me not to allow offense to hinder myself from working in peace

2009-11-01T00:20:00.002+08:00

Psalm 119:165, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”

After working in a personal office room for several years, I have been recently asked to move out to sit in one of the cubicles at the common office area. The company is employing more managers and there were not enough rooms to house the new hires if we go down by the hierarchy.

Although this seems to be a form of downgrade and should not be considered a good testimony at face value, I noticed that the attitude I took towards this was one of peace and not of offense.

In fact I was recently given a promotion in job title but was explained that it was just a title change. I was tasked with added responsibilities to drive a business unit but my request for a monetary increment was rejected. I was explained it was not justifiable and the timing was poor; and now I was asked to shift out of the room. It was hard not to feel short changed to a certain extent.

However through my walk with God in times of trouble, He has proved His faithfulness to His words time and again. I know God is moving in a way I might not comprehend now. I have also learnt to put my faith in Him to bring me higher eventually; as I continue to put in my best effort in my work.

The supernatural thing is while I used to constantly seek God’s help to fight and overcome thoughts and actions of bitterness and resentment faced at my workplace, the peace and nonchalance towards this order to shift out just came naturally. I reckoned I have been strengthened by God in this area of my life and I want to thank Him for it. It is certainly freer to work in peace.

Anonymous

God gave me creative ideas when I commit my work to Him

2009-11-01T00:20:00.001+08:00

I was given the task of making a Harvest Hunt video. In all my life, I have only three experiences using Flash software. Furthermore, I do not have any foundation in using this software. I spent five nights burning the midnight oil till 3-4 am in order to complete this. However, it was with God’s grace that I was able to complete this video.

After I got this Project, I was totally stressed about it and I wasted two nights working on a concept which I had wanted to achieve. Nevertheless, I prayed for wisdom to complete it on time.

On the second night, I prayed again, “Lord I really can't to this; really, Lord I will do it your way!!!” On the next morning, while walking to work, I told myself that I will give up my own idea and do it God’s way. At that point of time, ideas came into my mind. It kept on appearing, scene after scene in my mind. However, God didn't show me every thing all at once; it all came bit by bit. So, this time, I went through the same process again, working on the video straight away, after my work, till the late nights again. This time round, there was a strange. I was not tired at all when I worked on the video and I can’t stop seemed to stop working on it. Even when I was sleeping, pictures just kept coming in my mind. Hence, I kept on working on it. I didn’t know what the final outcome will be but I just followed God’s leading. On the fifth day, I completed the flash! I added the music without a glitch because there was just too much to choose from and I just chose the based on God’s guidance. All went well! Even during the last part, I was surprised that the logo text went so well with the music. At last every thing was done.

I know by world’s standard, completing a flash video is nothing but for me, to be able to complete the video when I knew nothing in the beginning makes me satisfied already. Thank you so much Lord and I know this is a lesson You gave me... And I won't forget.

Hanrong

Doing good to others bring glory to God

2009-11-01T00:19:00.001+08:00

Matthew 25:40, “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

For the past few months, by God’s grace, I managed to lead 2 souls to receive the salvation of Christ. In both cases, fellow Christians whom I did not know have exhibited the love of God to the two precious souls prior to receiving their salvation. In one, he experienced the thoughtfulness and consistent care and concern from his friends during his time of recuperation from an operation. In the other case, a fellow friend wrote her a letter on how Jesus could help her during her period of work stress and a lack of direction in life. She teared as she read the short prayer and was touched by her friend’s act.

What happened next was I just happened to be divinely hooked up with both of my friends and lead them to Christ at the right moment.

Hence both experiences have shown that apart from presenting the gospel to pre believers, helping them out of a pure heart is important as well.

Personally, God has also impressed unto my heart to do something extra for others or strangers. There was once I remembered chatting casually with my office cleaner while she was tidying up my room. From our conversation, I learnt that during a certain period of morning rest, she would lay cardboard on the floor and catch a short nap. A few days later, while I was doing some shopping with my wife at Ikea, a body length well padded cushion caught my eye and I felt impressed in my heart to buy it for my office cleaner. I told my wife and I thought, "Well ok, lets buy the mattress." I checked the price tag and hesitated. I did not expect the mattress to cost so expensive. Then I tried to convince myself that perhaps I should try to buy it somewhere cheaper; after all, there is no hurry right? So I went home without the mattress. However who knows, I kept having this nagging feeling in my heart to buy the mattress. It kept coming to my mind even as I was doing my own stuff. At last I yielded to the leading. So I went back to Ikea the next day and bought the mattress and gave it to my officer cleaner the next day. She was shocked and at the same time very appreciative of this act of kindness. Following on, we start to build a good level of trust between each other and very often she would take extra effort to take care of my office. On my side, I was eventually able to share the gospel with her more effectively.

Listen to the Holy Spirit and cultivate a sense of sensitivity to His voice. It could be buying a book for an acquaintance who has particular interest in the subject, or it could be sheltering a stranger across a street during a thunderstorm. There could be so many other scenarios to spread the love of Jesus to both believers and pre believers.

Steve

God opens up my eyes to see the needs of people around me

2009-11-01T00:18:00.000+08:00

I have recently read “Honor’s Reward” by John Bevere which I felt very meaningful and true. See excerpts below in italic.

We come across these people every day, Sometimes due to being focused on our own business we’re undiscerning of their needs. The older I’ve grown, the more I’ve come to realize how easy it is to reach out to these people. It all begins with simply receiving in our hearts the charge to honor all people. If we do this, we become sensitive and are le, many times unconsciously, by the Spirit of God, and everyday life becomes continuous ministry. When you honor people, you will not ignore or speak rudely to those God brings across your path, rather you walk in a divine flow that brings the living waters of heaven to the thirsty in heart. A scripture I love and have cleaved to for years in regard to these people is, “The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned” (Isa. 50:4).

On a personal note, we are supposed to bring life to where ever we are. As fragrance smells nice, it would even be more appreciated in a place of stench.

For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (2 Cor. 2:15)

In particular, I agree with the above statement “everyday life becomes continuous ministry”. Recently, God has placed people who needed help into my path. I spent some time reflecting the people that I have spoke with and actually within a month, I have come across friends and colleagues, who faced problems with relationship, problem of not being able to conceive, going for operation, nagging pain here and there, overstress with work, marriage problems etc. I reckon these encounters came as a result of prayer. Most of the cases, God gave me the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with them.

“The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to hear as the learned”. I believe if we could be as diligent as Jesus to pray on a consistent manner to hear from God, we would be very effective in dispensing the gift of the Holy Spirit and ministering to the needs of the people whether saved or not. This would take our act of discipline to transform into an act of habit and finally into an act of lifestyle.

Steve

I received a free scholarship to study a 3 year course that I have wanted so badly for so many years

2009-09-30T22:51:00.000+08:00

Ecclesiastes 3:1, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.”

After graduating from polytechnic with a Diploma in Civil & Environmental Engineering. I have always wanted to pursue a degree in either Social Work or Psychology. Thus, I applied for my degree with SIM, which promised to give me an 'answer' by end of May 2006, regarding whether I am accepted for the course or not. I waited and waited for a response from the university and despite numerous calls and clarification, the school was not able to give me a confirmation on the success of my application. Soon later, I decided to go to work. I found myself applying for Singapore Prison Service, as a Prison Officer. Guess what? I saw a parcel from SIM on my dining table, after booking out from training school for the very first time. I received a letter stating my confirmation of my placing with the university. They approved my application but it was too late. I was so agonized! Either I pay the penalty for the bond or I continue my service. Needless to say, I chose the latter.

After serving about 3 years of service with the Prisons Department, I decided to resign, as during this period of time, I also managed to save up a certain amount of money that could help me to pursue my degree in Psychology. However my father was retiring at that point in time and he started to express concerns about the financial needs of the family. After much thoughts and discussion with my family, I decided to shove away this idea until the next opportunity comes. I was utterly disappointed though. After all I was the only child in the family.

After serving my bond with Singapore Prison, I decided to change my career to 'Social Work'. This is where my passion lies. My stint in prison actually helped me to bridge my relationship with the students. The students seem to be very interested in what is happening in prison and I was able to speak into their lives. During my career also gave me the opportunity to know Veronica. She is a Christian and she actually brought me to church later. I turned my life to God the first day I visited His Harvest Church. It was such a wonderful decision that I made.

Soon after, life continued as usual. I did not really think about pursuing my studies anymore as it has passed so many years since the last time I wanted to pursue it until one day, my supervisor offered me a scholarship to get a Degree in Social Work at uniSIM. He even said that I would be fully paid with my salary during this 3 years study period. I was thrilled!!! I could not believe this was happening to me. This offer was so much more attractive as compared to me actually paying for the course myself if I had made it previously. Praise God!

Looking back, God was certainly good to me. Seems like He is charting my life step by step, little by little even before I was a Christian. I believe the experience gained working at Singapore Prisons served to help me in my current job.

Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.”

Perhaps some people might see this as luck but I knew in my heart that this is from God. Anyway the bible says,

James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

There are certain good things that happened to Christians which they know very distinctively came as a result of God’s grace and goodness. Very often only the person involved would know because there will be an inward witness in the spirit that confirms it. There is a sense of “knowing”.

God is never late but He is also never early. He knew exactly the right time to answer the desire of my heart. Thank you Jesus.

LX

My sales went from S$980 to S$12, 000 in just 2 days

2009-09-30T22:50:00.001+08:00

Malachi 3:10 – 11, ““Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “ If I will not open for you the windows of heaven; And pour out for you such blessing, That there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts;”

I was feeling a little depressed recently. My wife came to visit me from Philippines with my son. Initially, they intended to stay for 3 weeks. However my wife contracted some skin infection and so she decided to return home so that someone could help to look after my son better since I was working. They were only here for 2 weeks as a result. I was sad. I could also feel myself getting lethargic with the things of God due to my low morale. My time spent with God through prayers and bible reading was not as fervent as I had been previously. As a result the anointing from God on my spirit was gradually leaking from all these “holes”. I was spiritually very dry.

In addition, due to my one week holiday in Philippines with my family earlier. I was not able to work more to hit my sales target of S$3,200 for the month. I only closed S$980 of sales. I am a gym instructor and I need to recruit people to take up personal training courses with me. I tried my humanly best for the past few days to recruit as many customers as possible but it was getting now where. My morale was extremely low. The worst part was I was the top sales person in my company throughout the whole of Singapore previously and this added more pressure on me.

It was during one of my Sunday service, I was worshipping God with hands lifted up as usual during the worship. I came to church with a heavy heart. However I decided to surrender myself to God. As the worship continues, Pastor Amos had a word of knowledge and he told the congregation that God is speaking to someone and comforting the person. God wants to tell him that everything is under his control. The moment I heard this, I knew God was speaking to me through Pastor Amos. I could not control myself as tears rolled down continuously my cheeks. I could also feel a very strong warm sensation arising within me. I knew this was the touch of God. There was a deep sense of supernatural peace in my heart. I felt assured in my heart that everything would be alright.

An amazing thing took place. Within 2 days before my company financial month closes, my sales shot up from S$980 to S$12,000!!! My manager was thrilled by this amazing result. This was unbelievable. Everyone was not able to comprehend how this could happen. Everyone was resigned to close the sales poorly for the month.

To me, this was the supernatural outpouring of God’s blessing. I have been obedient in tithing and God honors His word! He protects and prospers me. Looking back, I should not limit what God could do based on my limited thinking. Praise God. Thank you Jesus! This is indeed one supernatural intervention of God in my work experience.

Eric

I was chosen to endure harsh treatment from my boss to glorify God in the process

2009-09-30T22:49:00.001+08:00

Matthew 5:16, “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

I was working as a photographer with Company A in Singapore for a couple of years before my company was bought over by Company B. With this acquisition, my team came under the management of the new company photography section. This marks a new beginning for me and it seems that opportunities have increased, but it was not long I realized I am not getting along well with my new boss. The boss does not esteem his subordinates well with respect and consideration. It was tough working for him.

Working with a group of crew like stylists, designers, editors and models were part of our job environment. There is always a team of us with different roles and support. A photographer, after knowing the concept of the shoot will be the one to lead the team on how the shoot would take place. I remembered there have been several occasions when my boss would step into the studio out of the blue, complained about the setting I had arranged and how stupid the idea was. He would then take the initiative to rearrange the set and in-front of the whole team gave me a lecture on how the set should have been better arranged. I felt humiliated each time he does that. It causes the whole crew to doubt if I could really direct a good shoot. Eventually, the rest of the other crew esteem us ,photographers, as just the “clicker boy”. You become demoralized and creativity is stunned in such an environment. I felt like quitting.

Just during this demoralizing period, my ex-company contacted me and offered a super attractive package. It was a 50% increase in salary and they agreed to give me the position I wanted, practically every request that I made they were able to match. It was so tempting but before I took it up, I brought it to the Lord in prayer. I very much would like to take it up but there was no peace in my heart to do so. It seems like God wanted me to stay and He would not want me to leave with my head down. No matter how I disliked going to work, I let go of that opportunity and constantly reminded myself that the bible says,

1 Peter 5:6-7, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

I continued to do my best in my work.

In fact I was not the only person to be subjected to such treatment from my boss. All 8 of us were treated with disdain throughout our career with the new management. As a result coffee breaks and lunches were often times of complaining and criticizing our boss. The temptation was very strong but I refused to be sucked into the non edifying talks; I knew it would not be good for me spiritually. The bible says,

Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

It was not long before my entire team of 8 photographers gradually reduced to 2 of us. All have resigned because of my boss. Throughout these 4 years, God has been encouraging me through His Word in His presence and though with much difficulty, I had hang on with His given grace.

Gradually, things started to turn around. My works started to be commended by the higher management level although was criticized by my direct boss. Suddenly one day, my boss came up to me and said, “I have been observing you for a while. You are a miracle. The way you carry yourself is really different from the other people that I have come across. I can see your God’s power working in your life.”

Matthew 5:16, “16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

I was shocked by his comments and I was so thrilled that I ran out of my studio and gave my heartfelt gratitude to God telling Him, “All glory goes to you Father! Thank you for preserving me and assuring me all these while just for this purpose” This was the MOMENT when I felt that all the persecutions that I have suffered for the past 4 years were all worthwhile. It was God’s will for me to be a worthy ambassador of God that displays exemplary characteristics in times of trouble. Not only did God use me in this situation to show His glory and goodness, I was also edified and encouraged by God in serving Him. Doing God’s work is not easy but you emerge a winner if you preserve to the end. Praise God! It was also at this time, I felt impressed in my heart that now is the time to move out. God wanted me to go into full time bible study.

Subsequently after I sent in my resignation letter to pursue my bible studies. My boss was very surprised. He had repeatedly made offers to increase my salary and even to the extent of offering me a 3 months paid leave to let me ‘explore my own interest’. However I declined because I knew that God wanted me to focus on my studies first.

Amazingly on the day I declined the company’s counter offer, I got home and I received an encouragement from God. He encouraged me on this decision of putting Him first by blessing me with a cheque sent by an anonymous sender from our ex-church. The sum turned out to be the amount I needed to pay for my first month school fees.

Anonymous

God protected me and prevented my knee cap from further injuries even though I had a terrible fall

2009-09-30T22:48:00.002+08:00

Psalm 91:11-13, “For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.”

An unfortunate accident happened to me during one of my IPPT test after I ORD. I broke my knee cap when I attempted to make a 180 degrees turn while doing my shuttle run. This injury was so bad that I was admitted immediately to hospital and the next thing I knew was I could not work and had to be on crutches for the next 6 months. I was very upset with this condition as I could not live my life properly.

However after I became a Christian, my pastors and His Harvest Church members have prayed for me for a rapid recovery. I put my faith and believe in God that my knee cap would heal rapidly. I know that I am in the safe hands of God.
One operation passed by one operation. It was by the third operation that the doctor told me that I could start walking without my crutches. I was so glad upon hearing this news. So glad that I can start working and move about freely!

However only a few days after my last operation, I had another bad fall. Blinded to a patch of water on the ground in front of me, I slipped and landed in a very awkward position. I realized the side of my left knee cap (the one which was injured previously) hit the ground so hard that it swelled and the pain was so great.

I got so discouraged and worried. My condition just got better and this has to happen. I immediately took a taxi to NUH to get an X ray to assess my condition. On the way there, I remembered Pastor Oon’s sharing on how he used to pray each time he sprained his leg during basketball games. I started to do likewise and pray to God while I force myself to think positively about my situation.

At the same time, I called my friend, who is working in the A&E department to check the human traffic there. She told me it will be very crowded at this point of time.

Amazingly, when I arrived at the A&E department, there was no crowd in sight; just with a few people waiting for their turn to be called. Thank God! The entire process of getting my injury assessed by the doctor was so smooth and fast.

And again amazingly, despite the swelling, nothing happened to the original injury. IT'S A MIRACLE! I remembered the last time after my second last operation, I did not fall but the fractured knee cap were not healing and that was why I was required to go for the third operation. NOW I had this bad fall but everything was still intact!

I really cannot explain why but I believe it was God’s hand protecting me. I am so happy that I'm okay.

Praise the Lord! Thank you Father!

Kee Lin

The process of character building is difficult and painful

2009-09-30T22:46:00.001+08:00

Hebrews 5:8, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

Right after I gave my life to God, He started to work on my character almost immediately. Previously, I was often disrespectful to my parents. Many times, I would raise my voice or lose my patience over issues which I am in disagreement with them.

However my conscience was made so tender by God after my conversion that I almost always immediately feel an uncomfortable nagging tug in my heart each time I raised my voice against my parents or my sister. The Holy Spirit living in me kept telling me to apologize to them regardless whether I am right or wrong in the particular situation. God just wanted me to do the right thing and I found it so difficult to humble myself and obey Him. My flesh was literally screaming at me saying, “NO!” However I still followed His instructions almost every time. As a result, during the first few months of my new believer life, I found myself apologizing to my dad so many times to the extent that I remembered once he shooed me off saying, “Please lah, stop shouting at me and then saying sorry the next moment. It does not mean anything.” I was hurt to hear that because I took the effort to humble myself. Nevertheless I pressed on and I realized each time I obeyed, there was a sense of release in my heart and I could also feel a sense of triumphant.

There were also times when I tried to bridge my relationship with him by deliberately taking the initiative to make simple conversations with him. It is weird when I kept infuriating him and at the same time trying to make small chats with him constantly. Under normal circumstances, I reckoned it would be better for people to just keep quiet and not to talk to each other at all, lest more quarrels erupt. However I felt that it would not be right to do so. So I continued to press on. I remembered clearly there was once when I tried to get my mum over the phone to pass the phone to dad so that I could talk to him on certain matters. However I overheard his frustrated voice in the background telling my mum, “Tell him I am busy, no time to talk with him lah.” I was really hurt by his words. To a certain extent, I believed part of his displeasure came from me becoming a Christian too. I remembered he made a comment during one of the Good Friday when my mum asked him whether the family was going out for lunch, saying, “Jesus suffers today so we go out to celebrate today.” I thought that was really unnecessary. Apart from my dad’s negative opinions on Christians, he was a very loving husband and a good, responsible father to me and my sister. His attitude towards me was probably due to my poor attitude towards him too.

However as time passes by, my relationship with my dad gradually became better and better. It was supernatural. Today our relationship has improved tremendously and I enjoyed my time with my dad together with my family over every weekends.

The process of character molding is certainly hard on the flesh but God knows that it is for the benefit of us. In retrospective, I was persecuted for doing the right thing. However God honors his children when they obey and continue to pursue the things of God. The lessons on perseverance from these experiences continues to serve as an important foundation of obedience and doing the right thing each time God calls. As the bible says in …

Hebrews 5:8, “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”

God wants to use us but we need to be worthy vessels. I like what John C. Maxwell wrote in his book “Be All You Can Be!”: “… productive people are continually being pruned, going through this process that God uses to make us more fruitful. And God knows what to prune from our lives….God doesn’t mess around with the peripherals. He goes right in with His dynamite and blows up only areas in our lives that aren’t productive”

Amen.

Steve

God sent people to give us money to tide over our financial difficulties

2009-09-30T22:44:00.001+08:00

Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

We were considering changing our daughter to another childcare as the one she was attending wasn’t very hygienic and already had severally hand foot mouth (HFMD) cases. Furthermore, our son is of age to be enrolled into nursery and we would want the both of them to be in a respectable Christian childcare with a good environment and spirit filled teachers. We decided to put them in one that we were familiar with, though the fees were on the high side, we thought that it would be the best for them.

Unknowingly, this seems to be the start of our struggles. Not only in the area of our finances but also the strain on our kids. Because the school is far from our home, we started out by taking cab daily to and fro so that the travelling will not be too taxing on our kids. But as it goes on, our finances seemed to be leaking. It was quite tough to change our travelling mode to public transport as most of the time, my wife have to bring both kids to childcare alone and by the end of the day, the kids will be too tired to travel by MRT. My daughter had responded well to that childcare but the strain on my son was obvious. He will often fall asleep in the middle of his dinner. Even in school, he’ll fall asleep before he can finish his lunch and he got sick quite often.

We surrendered our situation to God. We continued to believe Him for finances to come in as well as for wisdom in handling the whole situation. We have been exposed to prosperity messages in our ex-church and have also read books that testified about God’s faithfulness in provisions. So we know that it is God’s will for us to prosper and be in health, just as our souls prosper.

True to His words, there have been a couple of occasions when people who do not know the financial situation we are going through, came up to us and hand us sums of money. These supernatural encounters really boost our faith in God our Father as we are seeing such manifestation intimately. Such testimonies are not only stories that we read from the States but they are blessings that we are experiencing it in our life in Singapore!

I remembered there was once when my wife and I were left with $50 and payday was quite a while away. It was a precious experience because though it seems in the natural we should be fretting and worrying about tomorrow, but we felt the peace of God within us holding us together so strongly. We gave thanks to God for an enjoyable simple dinner that night.

The next morning, God revealed to me that my sister would bless me with a sum of money. I didn’t give it much thought until I saw her. She handed me a crushed envelope, and said, “It wasn’t meant for you initially but somehow, I just felt like passing it to you.” I looked into the envelope and it was exactly the amount God had impressed upon my heart.

There was also another time when God impressed upon me that one of my church mate would bless me with a certain amount of money. In fact this church mate of mine really did came up to me and told me, “Hey, I do not know why but I felt impressed in my heart to give you this amount of money.” And he went away to draw the funds and passed it to me. However in his absence, the amount he mentioned me was not what God had revealed to me. So I told God that I’ll not be taking it if it’s not from Him.

However when my church mate came back, he said “I can’t pass my own conscience, I had to obey the leading from God to bless you with a higher amount. Please take it.” Amazingly, when I checked the amount he gave was exactly the sum God had revealed to me. God is so real to us! We have not mentioned about our financial needs to anyone and let alone any specific sum of money that we need. But God just keep sending people to us to help us tide over our period of financial difficulty.

Furthermore, God led us to make certain adjustments in our situation like changing school. Eventually, He also touched my parents heart to help take care of our kids so that they don’t have to go full day childcare. The many little adjustments brought about great benefits to my whole family.

In the midst of our adjustments, God truely provided faithfully for our family and delivered us out of lack into sufficiency.

Matthew 6:25, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

My family can certainly testify to this scripture and God’s love for us. Praise God!

Tom and Belle

We received a supernatural call from God for our bank loan approval

2009-09-30T22:43:00.000+08:00

It was 4 years ago (2005) when we incurred a huge loss from selling our HDB flat. We were devastated. Eventually we tried to get a loan to purchase another flat. One Friday, when the world seemed to be against us, a surprise call came to my wife. It was 'Doris' calling from Hong Leong Finance with regard to our HDB loan. 'Doris' told my wife to meet up that afternoon at 2pm.

We saw 'Doris' but she claimed that she did not call nor she knew my wife. Moreover, she was temporary sit in bank manager and she does not approve loan. The actual bank manager was in China at that point in time. We were puzzled and at the same time very disappointed. We thought we heard it wrongly and made a wasted trip.

Then at that moment, ‘Doris’ said, "No problem, your loan will be approved." At this moment, we felt in our hearts that these words came from our Lord. It was then I told my wife to call 'Doris' immediately. The hand phone number that we dialed rang but the hand phone of 'Doris', in front of us, did not ring at all. We realized that this 'Doris' was our Lord Jesus; We received a heavenly call from Him. The following Monday, we collected our cheque and got the keys to our house.

I told my wife to call back to 'Doris' again. The phone over the other side rang over the weekend but still no one answered! It confirmed that 'Doris' was actually Lord Jesus, our God.

We rejoiced that not only did we get the loan from the bank through supernatural encouner, we also got a brand new flat with a 100 years lease. How great is our Lord! GOD CALLS.

John & Joyce

God gives me the ability to balance my time between work, family and Him

2009-09-30T22:41:00.000+08:00

Recently I have been flying more and more frequently due to the nature of my business and my job scope. In the month of September alone, I have been travelling on alternate weeks, spanning no less than 4 days each trip. In fact, I have to travel between countries and provinces during a week trip. To give you an idea: I can fly from Singapore to Taiwan on Monday, fly from Taiwan to Osaka on Tuesday, Take a Shinkansen (bullet train) from Osaka to Tokyo on Wednesday and take Shinkansen from Tokyo to Yokohama on Thursday. The travelling times are often long and I will be physically and mentally drained by the time I reach the hotel. Apart from the travelling, there were major projects and presentations to make during this period of time. This was coupled with other responsibilities and work that I have in church.

As a result, presentations and preparations have to be planned and organized carefully. Things have to be accomplished within very tight period of time and often during travelling times.

I want to do my best in all my responsibilities. However I refuse to fall back to the workaholic attitude and approach that I had adopted during the initial year of my work. There were times when I am tempted to stay longer at work or even work at night but I am learning not to give in. Sometimes I would tell my wife I have not completed something very important for the following day meeting but I would continue to lie on my bed to read my book. She would then start to nudge me to do my work instead but I would reply her I should be able to complete it the next day before the meeting and that this time is personal time. Actually there were times when I do feel a little jittery about my unfinished work but I just cast it aside.

It is not about being negligent about my work but being disciplined in balancing my life for work, family and God.

I have learnt my lesson not to be burnt out and more importantly to rely on God rather than my own strength. I am determined in my heart to spend my weekday nights and weekends with my family and I do my very best to complete what I need to accomplish during working hours.

Deuteronomy 8:18, “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth …”

Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.”

So God has been good to me. I would always pray to God for wisdom and creativity and I tell Him I want to accomplish this and that by a certain time. Most of the time there will be a certain calmness and steadiness in my heart each time I focus entirely on my work assignment and good ideas just come while the pressure of time presses on. The bible says,

James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

So far so good. However one thing I realized: I often find myself running to board my plane and almost always the last person to do so. The reason is: I was always clearing as much emails as possible at the airport lounge before that.

Steve

God taught me never to judge someone’s actions

2009-08-31T23:40:00.003+08:00

Psalm 19:14, "14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer."

Psalm 139:23-24, "23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."

This happened around four years ago. I remembered sharing with a fellow church member how I could sometimes react very angrily towards my girl friend over small incidents. He told me that he behaved in similar manner too but he went further to briefly narrate how he recently threw a pizza that his wife bought for him onto the floor and messed up the whole kitchen because he told her he wanted to have home cooked food initially. Although I did not show it, I was thinking how he, being a Christian, could react in such a manner that was so aggressive. I thought he had over reacted. I thought he could have represented Jesus better, since his wife was a pre believer. Nevertheless, I did not really give much thought to this incident after our conversation.

A few weeks later, we happened to meet up and we began to chat. From our conversation, he started to share with me that he was experiencing a period of very difficult time for the past few months. He told me that a few months back, he had accidentally caught explicit photos and videos of his wife and her business partner in his wife’s mobile phone. This business partner happened to be someone he knew as well. God actually led him to this discovery which had been apparently been going on for some time. He was struggling to forgive her while contemplating thoughts of divorcing her. He was going through a period of emotional turmoil.

I was shocked. I was also convicted then and there.

God gave me the privilege to lend a hearing ear to my friend but God also brought me to my remembrance the time I had judged my friend regarding the pizza incident. God asked me what I would have done if I was in his shoes. I confessed to God that with that kind of emotional stress, I might have committed a terrible crime in a fit of anger. I asked God for forgiveness. This lesson taught me never to judge a person’s heart or actions again. You never know what that person might be going through in his/ her life. God corrects in creative ways.

Anonymous

Experiencing the joy of the Lord that comes from evangelizing

2009-08-31T23:39:00.000+08:00

Luke 15:10, “10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Recently, I received a SMS message at around 1 plus in the morning. I just about to sleep at that time and thought who could have messaged me at this time of the night. It turned out that it was from one of my group members. She was overjoyed from being able to share the gospel with one of her colleagues so much so that she could not contain the joy and must share it with someone else. Hence she decided to share the good news with me because I had been sharing with her my joy in this area too. The supernatural joy of the Lord bubbles up in us whenever we share the gospel.

I also recalled not too long ago, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a friend of mine. I was so engrossed with sharing my life changing experience and the wonderful news of Jesus to him that I was not aware that time had passed by so fast. Thank God that he received his salvation then and there. When I left his place to pick up my car, I could vaguely see a piece of paper being placed on my windscreen. Upon closer look, it turned out to be a parking summon which I was fined for overstaying at the parking lot. Nevertheless, I was too overjoyed to bother about the fine. Even if it was a heavier fine, I would have gladly paid for it because the joy from the time spent sharing the gospel far exceeds the monetary loss that I experienced. Again this was the joy of the Lord in demonstration.

JY

God supernaturally provided my monthly allowances and ease my workload

2009-08-31T23:35:00.003+08:00

Matthew 11:28-29 (New King James Version)
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

The past week had been a tough week for me - whether it was the work in school or my financial status. Everything seemed to happen in that week. Just thinking of all these problems dampened my attitude and mood.

For school work, it was the final week for my projects; I had to hand it up that week. A lot of things had to be done and yet at the same time I had to prepare for my presentation. On Tuesday, I woke up feeling stressful at the start of the day due to work and financial issues. However, God brought a song to my remembrance, last Sunday we heard a new song called "Today is the day". I repeated this sentence in my heart saying that, "This is the day that the Lord has made, therefore I will rejoice and be glad in it." With peace in my heart, I walked towards a small corner in my room, looked up to the sky and I said, "God, you made this beautiful day for all of us. Each of us will have a beautiful day to begin with in our lives. Therefore, I believed that things will happen today and I am able to experience You for You have not created your children to suffer. You know what I am going through, and therefore, give me the revelation, the wisdom and the knowledge that I need to fulfill this day. All these things, I pray in Jesus name."

Next, an amazing thing happened, (it might sound shocking but it is the truth), once I opened the door, my mother came to me immediately and said, "Yesterday I went out with my sisters and they gave me some money, at the same time, your brother also got his year end bonus, therefore, I am giving you XXX amount of money." And this allowed me to survive at least for a week with my girlfriend. I cannot thank God enough to have my prayers answered within a split of a second.

Later that day, upon reaching my school, to my amazement, I managed to solve all the errors in my projects with my teammates with much greater ease compared to last week.

Seriously, sometimes we are depending too much on our own strength and neglected the power of our Almighty God. He is there for a reason. He is there to help us. Therefore, I will remind myself to be more conscious of His presence, in order to connect myself to Him who blesses all of us. Praise God!

Gary

God healed me of my flu

2009-08-31T23:34:00.003+08:00

Isaiah 54:17, "17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper ..."

I was showing symptoms of flu two days ago. I was suffering from a running nose, a slight sore throat and my right nostril was blocked. Initially, I thought it was due to my lack of sleep; hence I did not see a doctor. Instead I drank loads of water and slept early, hoping that I will recover the next day. However, when I woke up in the morning, I continued to have the same symptoms and now with a little phlegm in my throat. I began to pray for healing and I kept praising God. I ate a flu medicine too. Slowly, I felt the healing working in me and I continued to praise Him. By late afternoon, I have fully recovered from my flu, even the phlegm was gone! Now I can fully concentrate on completing my projects and prepare for exams.

Thank God for His healing. God is our Healer.

Anonymous

An ex gangster shared his life changing experience with me when I was a pre believer

2009-08-31T23:33:00.000+08:00

Romans 2:4, “4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?”

That day I managed to share my life changing story to one of my Malay colleague. It all started with some casual conversations between us while he was waiting outside my room to meet another colleague sitting in the room next to mine. He jokingly asked me whether I am happy. I replied him saying I am not only happy but also joyful. He corrected me saying happy and joyful meant the same thing but I told him happy depends on feelings and situations while joy is something that is consistent even in the face of trials and tribulations. I then started to explain how God came into my life and how I changed after being a Christian.

I was extremely careful with what I was sharing due to the sensitivity of our religion differences but I was also aware that when I share my life changing testimony, it is something non threatening and non debatable, as compared to theories and philosophy.

I thanked God for this opportunity to reach out to my colleague. This incident also brought to my remembrance how a Christian brother shared his life story in the same manner 10 years ago when I was still a pre believer.

Back then, I was working as a part time Sony sales promoter at SAFE superstore in Bishan Junction 8. During one of the work days, I happened to have lunch with another sales promoter working at the same outlet. At that time, I was not aware he was a Christian. We started to make casual conversation to find out a little more about each other over lunch. It was then when he started to share his life testimony with me. He told me how he used to participate in gang fights, drug parties in hotels behind closed doors, stealing etc. Then one day, God touched his heart during one of the evangelistic outreach at the Indoor Stadium which he attended. He told me at that point onwards, God began to change his life for the better. That night when he got home, the first thing he did was to look for his mother. When he saw her, he cried sorrowfully and hugged his bewildered mother, He then sincerely asked for her forgiveness for all the trouble and worries he had brought onto her for the past few years. His mother was shocked by her rebellious son’s actions but she being touched by her son’s repentance, started to shed tears of joy as well.

I was taken aback by this sales promoter story. I thought he was sharing something very personal with me and I could sense the joy in his tone as he narrates his story with sincerity. Most importantly, I was not a Christian then and I was not able to comprehend how he could turn over a new leaf in such a supernatural manner. I knew there was something good coming out of his life after he accepted Christ. His testimony started to get me pondering about this mysterious force and the reality of Jesus in this world. Somehow I know in my heart that there was something very special about this particular encounter with my colleague.

Years later, after becoming a Christian and learning more about God, I believed he was speaking to me under the anointing of the Holy Spirit during that time. God has used his testimony to catch my attention. I know my colleague had played a pivotal role in watering into my life. From this experience, I have also started to faithfully sow and water seeds of righteousness into other people’s life; desiring them to be touched by God in a supernatural way too. Praise God.

Steve

My challenges in stepping out to receive the healing of God

2009-08-31T23:31:00.000+08:00

This is a continuation of the healing testimony that I have written earlier: I received healing on my skin after months of skin irritation. There is something more which I have learnt from this experience. I believe every time a person decides to obey or step out of his comfort zone for God; be it for personal blessing or doing the works of God, he will grow in the knowledge of God as a result of his act of obedience.

As I was contemplating in my heart to step out to the front of the church to receive my healing that Sunday if my pastor asked for the sick to step out, there were thoughts that were discouraging me to do that; even as I was worshipping the Lord at the start of the church service with the expectations of receiving the healing later. Thoughts like: “If I step out, would people start to think why I had such a big problem that I need to be prayed over by the pastor? What was so grave that I couldn’t solve it myself? What if I was the only one to step out?”

Being a leader in church, thoughts even crept in like, “What if the church members think: “How could a leader step out to receive healing? Shouldn’t he be qualified enough to believe for healing? Is he qualified to even lead then?”

They could be my thoughts or they could be thoughts put into my mind by the devil. Regardless of the source, they were clearly trying to prevent me from receiving God’s best. Looking back, such thoughts might not be what people really think after all. However I could recognize the resistance of the flesh as I was contemplating.

Then when I have decided in my heart to step out to receive my healing, other thoughts started coming in, “What if nothing happens? What if the pastors prayed so fervently and I do not see any effect? What if I did not fall under the power of God? What if I really did fall and how long should I lie down? Would I look stupid” Again, I think all these thoughts revolve around human performance. These thoughts are not Christ driven.

2 Corinthians 10:5, “5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

My desire was pure and I just want to get healed. I asked myself if getting healed is more important than my pride in not surrendering to God and stepping out of the crowd. The answer was yes. As a leader, I thought I should even set an example to show my members, especially the younger Christians that it was perfectly fine to step out to receive things of God through Pastor’s laying of hands; because I knew some of the members might feel shy in this area given our culture. To lead by example was a secondary part of my intention of stepping out as well.

As Pastor Amos puts it, humility is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. Surrendering to God brings blessing. In this case, I gave up my pride to receive my healing. Thank you Jesus.

Steve

I received healing on my skin after months of skin irritation

2009-08-31T23:30:00.000+08:00

Isaiah 53:4-5, “4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

I have a problem with skin irritation when I was very young. It was very bad because I would keep scratching myself and my skin would turn very raw. However this problem went away when I sort of grew out of it around the age of 18 years old. On and off, I might still have this problem coming back but it is easily cured after applying some medicine. Recently, after many years later, this skin problem came back. This time, I tried to apply medicine and even changed my body foam but it just got worse and worse over a period of a few months.

Initially I refused to see the doctor and kept believing that God could heal me even though my wife kept asking me to seek medical advice. At that point in time, the degree of faith in God that I had in this particular area was not strong. Mainly because I thought this skin problem would soon go away given time and after all I have lived with it for most part of my younger days. I kept telling my wife it is ok and not to worry so much.

However recently, I realized that my body got so itchy that I kept scratching myself. Sometimes the itch was so bad that I would even scratch myself out of sleep. Sleeping under air conditioning also does not really help much. Not only did I disturb my wife’s sleep, my bed sheet was stained with blood here and there due to broken skin. Finally I recognized the seriousness of the condition and decided to see the doctor.

The doctor looked at me, gave me a pack of oral medication told me to monitor my situation. If it got bad, he would refer my to the dermatologists and take my skin sample for analysis. When I asked for medicine to apply on my body, he said there is no point since I would use up the tube in a few short days due to the amount of body area to apply.

I remembered that I saw the doctor on a Saturday and that was when I took the first dose of medication. That night, that itch was one of the worst I have experienced so far, I kept waking up many times in the night from scratching. This was when I told myself, “This is it. It has gone over the limit. I am very sick of scratching all day long and all night long and I want to sleep well at night again. I now truly want this skin problem to be solved and I do not want to spend any more unnecessary money to see a skin specialist or to get my skin samples analyzed.”

The following morning, I knew Pastor Amos would be praying for the sick during the service. That morning, I went church with the full intention of allowing him to pray over me if he calls for the sick to be prayed over as well as with the expectation that my skin will be healed and that I would not scratch anymore at night. Two things I clearly knew were, firstly it was God’s desire for His children to walk in divine health as it was written in the bible. Secondly my pastors’ hearts were pure and their faith in the area of healing was strong. God would surely give them the anointing to pray over the sick.

James 5:14-15, “14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

With that in mind, I am expecting God to show up.

When the church service started, we sang a new song, “Today is the day!” I sang my heart out as if today will be the day I will receive my healing. I sang my heart out as if today is the day I no longer scratches at night. I desired badly to be healed and I expect healing to take place. Towards the end of the church service, Pastor Amos asked for people who wanted healing to step out. I walked out immediately with my eyes closed and my hands slightly lifted, waiting for Pastor Amos and Pastor Oon to pray over me. They laid hands over me and I fell down naturally. As I lie on the ground, I felt good and I knew that I have received something in me, something spiritual has happened. It was not long before I stood up again and returned to my seat.

Although when I looked at my skin and the problem was still there. I believed my skin will heal rapidly moving forward. That very same night, I went to sleep with the confidence that I would not scratch myself up anymore. True enough it came to pass. I continued my medication and my skin is healing rapidly. Even days after that, I still enjoyed my sleep. When I find myself starting to scratch a little again, I would confess “By the stripes of Jesus, I am healed” and I would thank God for the healing he has done for me. Each time I do that, the itch stopped. Praise God and a big thank you to You, Jesus!

Steve

The joy of a new believer!

2009-08-31T23:27:00.007+08:00

This is an exerpt from the blog from one of our newly converted members

Li Xian was salvaged on 02 August 2009 =)
many may think that its an impulsive decision; but its not. =)
The main reason 'why' - I felt comfortable.
After all that had happened for the past few years, I've decided; This, is it. =)
It's definitely a tough decision at first; But I thought, I'll just follow what my heart tells me. And, yes, this, is it.
Thank you Princess for the Bible! =)
This, would be my first entry, in my entire life, blogging, and Thanking God, for everything. Really.

*happy*

Praise God!

I managed to share the gospel with my colleague through MSN

2009-08-31T23:26:00.002+08:00

Isaiah 55:11, “11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

This month was supposed to the 7th Month Hungry Ghost festival accordingly to and secular beliefs. My company has organized a ritual to pray to the “ghosts” in return for peace and protection during this period of time. Being a Christian, I pointed out to my HR that I do not want to get involved. However my HR manager insisted that I must attend the prayer session even if I do not participate in it. She said that this is a company policy. Reluctantly I obeyed her instructions. Deep down in my heart, I felt sad that my colleagues are all fervently going to pray to the “ghosts” and not Jesus. Perhaps no one has shared the gospel with them.

When I got home, I gave my MSN a nickname “真的不明白” which means “Really don’t understand”. While I was surfing the net, one of my colleagues was also online and she got curious by my nickname. So she decided to ask me why I gave myself such a nickname. I told her if she has ever wondered why people would rather pray to the dead spirit and not to the living God, who can bless them instead? As the conversation continues, this topic actually led me to share the gospel with her. I was overjoyed because I have been looking for opportunities to share the gospel with my colleagues. I also referred her to His Harvest Church blog to let her read about all the blessings that our members have received.

I pray that God will eventually touch her in a way that she will come to the knowledge of God and receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior. I have released the Word of God through my mouth and I believe that Word of God that I have shared with her will deposit in her spirit somewhere and somehow for it is written:

Isaiah 55:11, “11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Lena

Saying grace over my food gave me an opportunity to share the gospel

2009-08-31T23:25:00.001+08:00

Colossians 4:3-6, “3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, 4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak (proclaim it clearly). 5 Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time (make the most of every opportunity). 6 Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.”

There are proactive and reactive evangelism. The below is an example of proactive evangelism.

I was having lunch with a new colleague of mine the other day. After the food was served, I bowed my head to say grace over my food. This colleague then asked me whether if I was a Catholic or a Christian. I said I was a Christian. Taking this as a door of opportunity, I requested her permission to share how I became a Christian six years ago. She agreed and I managed to sow some seeds into her life.

Steve

I was not able to explain why I became a Christian clearly

2009-08-31T23:24:00.001+08:00

1 Peter 3:15, “15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness (gentleness) and fear (respect);”

There are proactive and reactive evangelism. The below is an example of reactive evangelism.

I remembered when I was younger in Christ, I was posed by a close friend of mine asking me why I became a Christian. This presented an excellent opportunity to share the gospel with my friend but at that point in time, I was not prepared to answer him. I was tongue tied and was not able to explain to him clearly. I gave a very vague answer and brushed the topic aside. Subsequently, I did not feel good about the way I handled the chance.

The Lord later led me to read 1 Peter 3:15 to remind me to start thinking how to relate to my friends when I was posed the similar questions again. I realized I need to spend time thinking about what and how God has blessed me and how I could convey my testimony to people around me clearly when opportunities arise again. The principle is the same as how I market my products to my customers in my secular marketing role.

Steve

A lesson on faith, prayer and God's goodness

2009-07-31T18:35:00.001+08:00

Proverbs 3:4, “4 And so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man.”

Frankly speaking, I do not really practise any faith or do prayers often. I seem to believe only in myself until this incident. I just finished my test in school but I had a few problems with answering some of the questions. Nevertheless I still wanted to top the class, deep in my heart. Unfortunately when I checked whether I have answered the questions in my test correctly, I was really disappointed with my answers. With my expectation to excel and top the class, I doubt I would be able to make it. Perhaps I should have prayed before I do the test or even as I was preparing for it. All these while, Jesus did not cross my mind.

After 3 weeks of school vacation, I did not know why but I started to pray the night before school reopened. I remembered the test that I previous wanted to do well and I just started praying to get good results earnestly and wholeheartedly.

The next morning, every classmate was expecting to receive their result anxiously particularly me. My lecturer came and showed us an excel file with our results. To my huge surprise, I got the highest score. I was extremely elated and grateful to God! With my result, I was even presented with a prize from my lecturer as a bonus. This prize was not even mentioned earlier.

Looking back, I did well in my test and even received an unexpected prize. I thank Jesus for answering my prayer as well as for His mercy and grace. After all, I did not do as badly as I thought it would be. Probably God had given me the favor of my lecturer as what was written in Proverbs 3:4. I believe God, being my spiritual Father, wanted me to have a fore taste of His goodness despite my passiveness in getting closer to Him. He answered my earnest prayer this time but in future, I have better learn to exercise my faith in a more proper way. That is to do my humanly best in preparing for my test and then pray for God to give me the wisdom that I need before I do my test.

JT

God taught me to stay contented while waiting upon Him through my career

2009-07-31T18:34:00.000+08:00

Philippians 4:11-13, “11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

After working for a couple of years in the private sector, I began to be curious how much my peers were earning now particularly in the public sector. So I began to check it out. While it was interesting to keep up to date the development of my friends and knowing that they were doing well in their respective career, it was to my dismay, I was not as well paid as them. I met up with a headhunter and through our discussion; she too felt that I should be earning around 10 to 15% higher than my current package. I felt shortchanged by my company. It has been close to 2.5 years in my existing company and my pay has not been raised to a level that I am satisfied. It does not really help when I am losing my passion in my current role. I began set in my heart to start seeking other jobs proactively by searching for new opportunities in the papers. However, my heart just does not feel right with it. There was no peace.

Soon there was a re organization in the company which led me to a new role with a new boss. My new job title reflected a promotion and so I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask for a pay raise. However I found myself to be disappointed for I was informed that my new job title was a just a change in job designation; no raise will be given. However I would like to admit that this new role actually did inject a new lease of motivation in me, which was painfully needed, despite no monetary gains.

Just that day, Pastor Amos preached about a period of transition as God plans to move you from one place to another where you just wait on the Lord even though there is no answer to your prayers. Thoughts of discontentment sometimes come to derail you from a supposed path that God wants you to take. This spoke to my heart. A week before that, one of our church leaders, Rajan, also taught on our own desire vs God’s desire for our life. It dawned on me that I have been too prideful and not contented with what I have now. I have been seeking around to justify for a higher pay because I felt unfairly compensated and possibly just being competitive. Probably God wants me to stay in the current job a little longer for there might be a bigger plan waiting for me in the near future. Although it is not wrong to desire for a higher pay, it seems like my motivation for doing so is not right and pure.

In the meantime, I will continue to do my best and fulfill my duty to my company but at the same time learn to be content as Paul shared in Philippians 4:11-13, while I wait upon the Lord.

Anonymous

We committed to give and God was faithful to His words

2009-07-31T18:33:00.000+08:00

Ephesians 3:20, “20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”

On 21 Jun 09, Sunday, we attended the service at His Harvest Church and Pastor Amos mentioned briefly during his preaching about building God's kingdom. Agreeing with what Pastor Amos had said, we had this desire to offer a 3-digit sum of money to the church by the following Sunday. We made a simple prayer, asking God to remember our obedience and to provide for us.

The next day on Monday, we received news from the company that they are paying out a special bonus on a monthly basis for six consecutive months. And you know what. Each month of that special bonus payout was exactly the amount which we had decided to offer. Praise the Lord! The point is God honored our obedience at the point when we committed our heart to give even though we have not actually gave God the money because the following Sunday has not come to pass.

To be exact, we offered ONCE on that amount and God blessed us back FIVE times more of the very same amount. Hallelujah! Praise God for His faithfulness. On top of that special bonus, we also received an extra blessing of double the amount of money we are going to offer. All glory to Jesus!

God is always so willing to bless and more than we are even ready to receive. Pastor Amos said that we do not have to dig too deep into the things of God by reasoning. We just need to follow what God says in His words and get excited to see how God's going to move in our lives. God blesses us for us to be a channel of blessings.

Tom & Belle

I could have cost someone's salvation had I not submit to church authority

2009-07-31T18:29:00.003+08:00

I have learnt the importance of recognizing and respecting the authority that God has ordained over me in church over the years; be it in a group activity or discussion, regardless of race, language or age. Then there was this particular incident that God used to reinforce and internalize this lesson in me.

This happened during my first mission trip to Thailand. We were doing street evangelism during one of the late afternoon when my group was addressing to a group of motorcycle taxi drivers. They were resting and waiting for customers along a small road alley. My leader was preaching over the loudspeaker explaining God’s salvation plan for the people. I could tell that my leader was doing his best to bring the message across to them.

However the group of seven or eight people certainly did not show any level of interest on their faces and to make matter more demoralizing, they start to trickle away slowly as their customers came. Nevertheless, my leader was relentless in repeating the salvation message to them and asking them if they would want to receive Jesus into their lives. Then it got to the point that I started to feel a little impatient and thought of proposing to my leader to stop wasting each other’s time and move on to the next location.

Thank God, the Holy Spirit gripped my heart and reminded me to give all due respect to my leader as he has been appointed to lead the proceedings of the street evangelism. To my huge surprise and joy, two of the men raised their hands in response to the salvation message after my leader asked the group in general for the fourth or fifth time.

This episode has clearly reinforced that it is Holy Spirit who does the work according to Zechariah 4:6, “… Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” At the same time, God further instilled in me the importance of obedience and respecting church authority.

I could have thwarted the God’s plan for someone’s salvation if I had not respected my leader.

Steve

Some pointers in leading people into the salvation prayer

2009-07-31T18:29:00.001+08:00

Recently Pastor Oon demonstrated to me on 3 occasions in leading people into the salvation prayer. There are a few good observations which I have made that would make the process very clear to the person you are leading into the prayer.

He would always start off with telling the person that because they do not know how to pray as pre believers, he would lead them in the salvation prayer while they repeat what he says. Pastor Oon then makes sure he tells the person that while he/ she says the salvation prayer, he/ she must make sure that his/ her heart is towards God and not him (Pastor Oon). However Pastor Oon would tell the person that he will be the human witness of this special moment as he would be listening to the person’s prayer.

In a nut shell
• Ask the person to repeat the salvation prayer after you.
• Tell him to say the prayer with an attitude of telling God in his heart
• Tell him that you will be the witness of his salvation because you hear him.

I believe the above would help to make things clear to the person while he/ she begins to accept the greatest gift of his/ her life.

Having learnt the above, God presented the opportunity for me to lead a friend of mine back into the hands of God. Briefing him exactly what Pastor Oon did.

Steve

I was retrenched but God found me a better job

2009-07-31T18:24:00.003+08:00

Revelation 3:7-8, “… He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens” 8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;[b] for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.”

Due to the economic recession, our company business was badly affected. Our business earnings dropped from 30 million to 12million. Our management in US started to retrench staff and it was one month later that they wanted the same exercise for Singapore. On 19 June 09 in the afternoon, I was asked by my immediate boss to accompany her to the general manager room and warned me that I would be expecting some bad news. So we sat down, and the general manager began to explain to me that the company was making a huge loss in the business and they were told to execute a retrenchment exercise in Asia. Unfortunately I was one of the candidates to be asked to leave.

At that moment, I was shocked to hear this news because I did not expect the retrenchment exercise was so sudden. Although I was shocked, there was a peace in my heart. I did not have any fear or anxiety. After the meeting ended, the general manager handed me the retrenched package and my immediate boss told me that she would help me find a new job. Suddenly, she remembered that the boss of one of our competitor company mentioned previously that he needed a staff. So she quickly gave him a call and recommended me to him. After speaking to him, he wanted to see my resume but I did not have it with me. So my immediate boss took the resume she had in her record and passed it to me. She wanted me to send it to him and I did so. In the email I mentioned that I would forward him a revised resume with updated information and the testimony which my general manager promised to give me.

The next Monday morning, I received a missed call and a message to ask whether I can meet up for an interview. I told him to meet on Tuesday. After the interview he told me to wait for the reply either on Wednesday or latest by Thursday. On Thursday morning, I received the call from him informing me to sign the appointment letter on Friday.
PRAISE THE LORD! Everything just happened so fast. I got a new job within a week and the retrenched package was an extra bonus for me.

Actually a few months back, I did pray to God for a job that would be nearer to where I stay because travelling to and fro the current job took me 4 hours every day. As a result, by the time I returned home, I would not have much time to spend with my child. Now, the new job is very near to my place and its only about 1 hour traveling time to and fro from work. Even the working time is shorter than my previous job.

God is so real and He does things in such a supernatural and creative manner. He shuts one door and opens another door for me. The peace that I had in me when the bad news was broken to me showed me the reality of John 14: 27: the supernatural peace that God gives and not the world gives. This is the type of peace that sustains us even in bad times, knowing that God is in control. This experience really affirmed me that His promises are always yes and Amen. Trust in Him and cast on your care upon Him. He is always faithful to His words.

Eileen

God does not want me to overwork and miss church

2009-07-31T18:24:00.001+08:00

Matthew 6:33, “33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Went I just came out NS, I took up a sales job at a pet shop. As this is a retail business, I was required to work on weekends and public holidays at times. As a result, I was not able to attend church every Sunday. Consequently without hearing the Word of God from the sermons that my pastor gave, I was not growing spiritually and was not strong in the Word of God.

My flesh started to get the better of me. From time to time, I was like having depression and even thoughts of contemplating suicide crossed my mind due to my heavy work load. I remembered there was a certain day when the shop was very busy and I found myself unable to cope with all the work. I was the only one managing the shop and I almost broke down then suddenly Pastor Oon appeared at the shop. He dropped by to ask me how I was doing and wanted to catch up a little with me. I did not tell him what emotional feelings I was having at that time. However subsequently, whenever I had depressing and fatal thoughts, I would always receive a call from Pastor Oon or he would simply appear at the shop. It happened so frequently that I felt it was no longer a matter of coincidence but rather God trying to put me back to Him through Pastor Oon. After a few more incidents I was so touched and amazed by God that I decided to quit the job and put God as my priority; by attending church every time to worship Him and hear His words.

After quitting the pet shop job, I started to believe God for a new job that allows me to earn money and attend my church Sunday service. Needless to say, God answered me not long after that.

Anonymous

I came to work in Singapore and God helped me to settle down

2009-07-31T18:22:00.001+08:00

Proverbs 16:1, “1 The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.”

Psalm 37:23, “23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.”

I am from Philippines and I want to thank the Lord for ALL the favor He had given me so far. He had remained faithful to me and my family even when I came to Singapore during March of 2009. This trip alone was a blessing because it had been my desire to work abroad with the opportunity to earn more. It was hard for me as I had to leave my wife and my 18-month-old son. But I saw the hand of God moving in my life and allowing everything to happen for a purpose while providing for my family.

I was so blessed to find a church that loves the Lord and made me feel as a part of the family. I saw the heart of Pastor Amos that hungers for God and the accommodating spirit of Pastor Oon. The other members later became brothers and sisters to me. I was overwhelmed! I know that I am at the right church with the right people at the right time.

The adjustment period was never that difficult because I know that the Lord brought me here to Singapore. I was excited to come to church every Sunday. However due to the nature and schedule of my job as a fitness trainer, I was stopped from attending Sunday services for the fact that I had to work the whole day on Sunday.

I started knocking the gates of heaven asking for favor from God for me not to miss Sunday services. My wife backed me up in prayer. I began to bring up my desire to my manager and to my surprise; he immediately granted it the moment I asked for his permission. Praise God for touching the heart of my manager! My schedule now allowed me to not only attend the Sunday service but also the Wednesday night service as well. The Lord knows what's best for us. I believe that nothing is impossible with our God; we will run and not grow weary and we will walk and will not faint.

I remembered worrying about my sales performance in getting clients previously because I was not having good sales at all while all of my colleagues were doing great. My wife even advised me to be patient, to pray that God would bring me the right clients and just continue to give my tithes. She also advised me to just give my best and not to worry and simply allow God to move. Amazingly, my clients started to increase in numbers and thus my sales. Unknowingly, I became the top seller in our company, that means more commissions and more tithes to give to the kingdom. Praise Jesus! As long as we are faithful, the Lord will reward us. This is one promise in the book of Malachi that if we give our tithes, the Lord will open the windows of heaven for us, He will pour out a blessing so great that we won't have enough room to take it. Amazing! The Lord even told us to test him with this and he will prove it! What a big God we serve!

Just recently, our manager arranged for a one to one meeting session with him at his office. When it was my turn to meet him, he greeted me with a wide and congratulated me for my good performance. I was almost moved near to tears when he gave me all the praise reports and compliments. He said that I was responsible and was able to complete tasks given to me all the time. He said his first impression of me was that I am a shy and silent person and therefore was not expecting a lot from me. However he said what I had accomplished today was way beyond his expectations. All I know was I was just doing my best in my work place and adding excellence to it. If anyone will boast, let him boast in the Lord.

The word of God says: It is impossible to please God without faith. I believe by faith that the Lord will bring my family here to Singapore. I know that it's not the will of God for families to be far from each other. It was a blessing in disguise that my wife did not clinch a seeming attractive job offer in Singapore earlier due to the foreign quota imposed by the government; because I later realized that my son actually need her presence at a very young age. I know that the Lord has a perfect timing for everything. So soon, I believe we will be together. There is no turning back now. Pastor Amos, Pastor Oon and Pastor Jo D (my spiritual father back home in Cebu) were right. Jesus takes the highest place and glory.

Eric

3 family members saved within a month

2009-07-31T18:21:00.000+08:00

Colossians 4:3-4, “3 meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains, 4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.”

Last month, 3 family members of my wife’s family received their salvation. First her grandma, followed by her aunt and then her mum. This was how it happened.

Her grandma was had a heart problem and had to go through a major operation .The doctor gave a probability of 20% success rate. In other words, the possibility of her grandma passing away was very high. The family was in a dilemma but her grandma wished to go through the operation. My wife then requested me to ask Pastor Oon to visit her together before operation. We went in there and she was alone. It was an excellent opportunity for us to share the gospel with her. Without wasting much time, Pastor started to share the salvation message with her by explaining to her the importance of receiving God into her life, the reality of heaven and hell and how a personal choice must be made to accept her salvation. She made a decision to accept Christ into her life that moment. Next we prayed for her healing. The next day her grandma was due for operation. Some of the church members were informed to lift her up in prayers and believe she will walk out of the operation theatre well and alive. It was not long before we received news that the operation was a success!

A week later, I received news from my wife’s aunt that she has been admitted into a hospice due to cancer, she is already in the terminal stage. Again Pastor Oon and I went down to pray for her and to share the love of God with her. She too accepted her salvation that day. When Pastor Oon asked how she felt. She said she felt the peace of God in her. Although she considered herself to be a Christian, she has never said the salvation prayer and it was the first time she experienced the reality of the peace of God coming into her heart after Pastor Oon led her into the salvation prayer. Coincidently, my wife’s mum happened to be there and she too accepted Christ into her life. God had amazingly opened the doors of opportunity for us to spread His love and goodness – 3 souls were saved just over a short period of time. Praise God!

Steve

God used a simple incident to mould my character

2009-07-31T18:20:00.000+08:00

Romans 12:18-20, “18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”says the Lord. 20 Therefore “ If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.””

I remembered there was once when I left the main door to my house wide open over the entire night after I came home late one night. It was only discovered by my dad the following morning and I was woken up by the huge commotion caused by the uproar of my family members as they thought someone had broken into the house. Actually I did not even know I forgot to lock the door. It was the first time such an incident had happened and this was probably due to my carelessness that my hands were full from carrying something bulky into the house. My elder sister was particularly angry as she was very particular about safety matters in the house. It was no wonder that she kept complaining and complaining to my dismay. While I felt guilty over the incident, I was also annoyed by my sister’s behavior. No one likes to be scolded over and over again. Of course I apologized for my carelessness and promised my family that I would not allow this to happen in future.

That same night when I was back, I discovered the lock was arranged in a manner that it would be difficult for me to open. My family members knew that due to my bigger hands, the lock need to be arranged in a particular way such that I could easily reach it and open it. However this time, it was arranged otherwise. To my frustration in trying to reach it, I had no choice but to press the door bell for help even though it was late. This moment my sister opened the door and told me that she deliberately wanted to teach me a lesson for leaving the door open the other night. I was so angry that I almost threw a punch at her. At that time, I was still a very young Christian and my aggressive nature was still in me. I could not imagine she could think of doing something so childish for her age. Thank God the Holy Spirit in me arrested me. My heart stopped me from doing something foolish. I just kept quiet while I accepted her comments and went in. My blood was boiling and my face fiercely red though. However I wanted to obey God and keep His ways.

Interestingly a week later, I came home late again and this time I saw a bunch of keys dangling in the key hole of my main door. The key pouch hanging from the keys clearly indicated that they belonged to my sister. “I got you this time!” I cried to myself. While the thought of creating a huge scene out of this rare opportunity did crossed my mind, I humbly took out the keys, entered the house and left the key pouch on my sister desk quietly. I knew what Jesus would do if He was placed in the same situation. I obeyed Him again. In fact my sister did not just leave her keys in the key hole once but twice!
Two times I repeated the same response. Although I never bring up my sister carelessness to anyone including her following the events, somehow I felt that she knew what had happened and I believe she felt convicted to a certain extent.

Although I felt that Romans 12:18-20 speaks very intimately of this situation but at the same time, Hosea 6:6, “6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” would also speak of this story in a better manner.

This was one of the few incidents which God used to mould my character as I obeyed His prompting. It was very uneasy for me in these situations as my flesh was always screaming to do otherwise, but it got easier and easier each time. Nevertheless, it was always to my own benefit whenever I obey Him. He is my spiritual Father after all; always wanting the best for my life.

Anonymous