I came out of a Cult Church

I came out of a Cult Church

This Friday, at FGB Jaya One, we were privileged to have brother Gary share his stunning testimony of his experience and escape from a powerful Cult Church.

Now brother Gary grew up as a Non-Christian who went to a missionary school as a young child and learnt Christian songs in Chapel, but never became a Christian at that time. However, looking back, brother Gary realized that his early exposure to Christians planted important seeds that would help him in the days to come. Many times in the past, he had come to close brushes with death.

Once, swimming in a monsoon drain, he and his friends noticed a sudden change in the current. Immediately, he called to his friends, “let’s get out now”, and within seconds, the drain filled up with water right up to the top. Another time, Gary was electrocuted but survived, and in his young days, when he loved to ride up to 100 miles on his motorcycle, he had two very dangerous accidents. In one, he fell to the ground in front of an oncoming lorry that somehow managed to stop in time. In another, hitting a car at high speed, he was thrown across the divider. Somehow, he felt warm hands lift him up and carry him at a certain point, and though he was injured, he was not seriously hurt, to the surprise of the doctors. At that time, being a Buddhist, he did not realize it was the Lord’s grace preserving his life. As a staunch Buddhist, brother Gary went to great lengths to follow rituals, superstitions and Feng Shui, but somehow he felt his life becoming worse and worse until he accepted Christ at age 38. Some may consider be late, but for brother Gary, he felt it was God’s time for him, not too early, not too late.

His wife had gone to church for a month and encouraged him to follow her, and so he did. After 3 months, he responded to the message. It was as if the Word which spoke that God heals came like a ray of light into his heart, and he realized that he wanted Jesus. He was a chain smoker, smoking up to 40 cigarettes a day and he prayed to God for help. At a deliverance session, the prayer to break bondages had immediate effect on him and the cigarette stick looked foreign to him. Drinking and gambling also no longer appealed to him. In his spirit, he felt enlightened, free.

And through God’s grace, he received a deep hunger for God’s Word. Reading it was like cool drinking water to him. He understood this was a gift from the Lord, acknowledged it, received it and thanked God for it. His reading would later have a profound impact in helping him escape from the cult church.

Now the cult church had begun as a very good church. People were healed, lives were changed, the church was growing and God was glorified. It was very organized and there was an AGM, with very detailed accounting. People in ministry were selected according to the Pastor and 6 accountants were selected to audit the church accounts. Initial preaching was good, and the congregation enjoyed every word. Sometimes, the service would last from 11am to 8pm and Bible Studies on Tuesday from 8pm to 12pm. The Holy Spirit was moving and active in the church.

And then evil came in, and man’s doctrine entered the church. Pride came into the Pastor, and he began to act like he was very special. He started to claim to be the high servant of God, like Moses of old. No one was allowed to judge him. First, there was the destroying of antiques. Some members destroyed up to RM60,000 worth of antiques. Now some antiques have spiritual connotations and caused some health problems to brother Gary’s wife before they were taken away. However, there soon followed the disallowing of fellowship with other brethren from other churches. Then, the Christmas tree was banned, and then the cross was taken away.

With a wave of the Pastor’s hand, there was a reaction in the members and some would manifest, possessed by demons. In one such meeting, brother Gary saw a dragon before him in the sanctuary. During prayer, thoughts would come into his head, and he would speak about his ancestors and how his ancestors had died. Soon, the Pastor was preaching that only if you believe him could you have salvation. The “Word” of the Pastor became like oracle, and cursed you would be if you did not follow his words. He often said that just as the Israelites who did not follow Moses were cursed, so too, any who did not follow his word would be cursed. All thoughts had gradually turned from Jesus to man.

People in the church started dying prematurely, at 18, at 21. The death rate in the church was almost 1 per month. The Pastor started a program to check the speaking of tongues by the members to see if it was from the devil, and he would cause manifestations in his members. Soon people stopped speaking in tongues. And soon they were banned to read the Bible for Pastor said the Bible was only to trap Satan. . The Pastor began saying that he was a High Priest of God, like Jesus Himself. Then he spoke about a higher miracle where he would send people to “heaven” at a wave of his hand. The people who went there would return and speak of meeting dead members and being told of the sins they had committed. Fear gripped the hearts of the people. Again and again, the Pastor would tell his people “Question me, and you are questioning God” He would warn the church to “Prepare themselves” before entering the sanctuary as at any time, the holiness of God would strike someone dead right there in the service. The entrance of the church hence became walls of wailing as people would plead for forgiveness before entering fearfully. The last straw for brother Gary was when the Pastor started saying that Jesus was a dead man.

In those days during the Bible Study, there seemed to be a spirit of slumber that caused members to doze off and brother Gary too. One faithful night on December 27,2005, as he was starting to doze off, he heard the Pastor say very adamantly that whoever believes Jesus is God will have no salvation. After that, brother Gary and some similar-minded brothers and sisters, decided they would put aside their fear and leave the cult church. In fact, they would run away as fast as they could. If Jesus was not God, if there was no salvation from believing in Jesus, Gary understood his entire faith was meaningless.

From the outside, Christians can easily see the blasphemy and error in doctrine preached by the so-called Pastor who was a wolf in sheepskin. However, inside the church, being under your spiritual leader and Pastor, it was not so easy. Members were naturally afraid to challenge the Pastor, and in fact, he would constantly threaten them and rule over them with fear. Those who continue to attend the church are trapped by a spirit of fear. It was like the minds of the members were filled with darkness and they could not see light. Darkness had come not into their minds, but into their hearts.

Looking back, brother Gary realized that those who manage to come out did so because they continued to seek the truth. He had often prayed for God to open his eyes to see the truth. Members who had come out would carry great bitterness, rejection and hurt in their heart. Some wanted to turn back to their old religions. They had heard of other cult churches and were so afraid they might accidentally join one again. They had been damaged on the inside.

Through God’s grace, brother Gary found himself in Pastor Raymond Mooi’s church and was ministered to by a lady who herself had come out of a cult church. Brother Gary realized that he had to relearn everything again, and forget all the erroneous teaching that he had been taught. So he joined the school of Acts and was a course mate of brother Damien. He was cleansed and reformed and began to walk in faith again. When he left the church, brother Gary lost his job but he was led to start a business in faith. It did not go so well, but he continued to pray and trust God in faith, and a business opportunity came to him. He got his first assignment, and then another came and another. Through it all, brother Gary saw that God had never failed to bother brother Gary, even as a young boy.

Now, after all this, brother Gary decided that he would not look at his experience with regret but rather as an opportunity to warn the body of Christ. Even from Deuteronomy, Moses warned the Israelites of false prophets and following them would be rebellion to God.  Hence, brother Gary had to confess the sin of rebellion.

One of the great truths brother Gary realized is that vessels of God must stay humble all the time. The sister who ministered to brother Gary shared that once when praying for someone who was slain, she was told by her, “You are very anointed”. At first look, that comment seemed pretty harmless, but the Holy Spirit warned her, and she rebuked the spirit of pride. We must never touch God’s glory but leave it for Him alone.

As the Word of God says, even the elect can be deceived, as such we must be extra vigilant and know the Word for ourselves. We must look to Jesus and not to man as our Lord and strength. About a year ago, the pastor died very painfully at a young age with his flesh rotting away with worms. The cult church although losing members is still active and blaspheming.

In closing, we are warned to always, always be humble before God, to look to Jesus and not to man, to read and mediate on the Word often ourselves to really know it. The cult rules by fear, but perfect love drives out all fear. If we are in Jesus, we will have the peace of Jesus. May God give us peace and help us discern right and wrong and remain true to our Lord Jesus always.

PRACTICAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

PRACTICAL FINANCIAL ADVICE

These days, we so often have calls from the bank offering personal loans and attractive credit card balance transfers. Retailers are quick to offer payment by installment for goods over 12 months. There is very heavy pressure on the consumer to buy, to borrow money, to spend more than they have. Many, many people fall into this Debt Trap, and end up paying thousands in interest. Credit Card debt has caused many, many bankrupts in the last decades and so many of these are young professionals.

Another common occurrence is that people who withdraw their savings from EPF quickly finds that it disappears very quickly, and they do not quite have enough for retirement. For most people, upon receiving a huge chunk of money, they would immediately buy a new car or renovate their house. In accounting terms, both are spending on assets, yes, but do they really add value to your overall financial position. Cars depreciate very quickly, from the day you drive off and incur lots of maintenance expenditure. One gets no income at all unless they are willing to rent it out, or turns it into a taxi. Renovating the house adds a certain amount of value to the home, but usually not the full cost. For instance, a RM50,000 renovation may only add market value of RM30,000. Hence, it is little wonder that money is so easily frittered away with little return, if any.

Authors like Robert Kiyosaki have done a world of good by writing to educate the general public on better financial understanding. For him, the only assets that are true assets are assets that put money in your pocket. Everything else are liabilities, because they take money out of your pocket.

What are common assets that put money in our pocket? Properties that we rent out. Shares that pay dividends. Bonds. Interest Bearing Fixed Deposits and of course our Skills and Knowledge. What does not put money in our pocket? The house that we stay in ourselves. All cars and vehicles. Hifi Systems, Big LCD TVs, Handphones, Iphones, Ipads and other expensive gadgets. Yet where does our money commonly go? Naturally, to the latter, which fulfill our immediate wants and cravings but do not help our long term future at all.

The correct financial plan for us is therefore to delay immediate gratification, but channel our excess funds to income-generating assets.

Of these classes, the most important one is property. It is said that the rich either make their money through property or hold their money in property. Property has proven to be an excellent hedge against inflation, and tends to appreciate significantly over time. However, not all property appreciates, but a lot depends on location, access, supply and demand. Hence, it is important for us to educate ourselves further in this area before making any investment. In general, a property will appreciate if the area grows in population, with businesses continuing to thrive in that area. Visibility and access is also very important. There is a common fear in regard to property is that they cost so much, and one has to borrow so much, and it is a genuine concern. However, the principle is that we are to rent and let the rental cover the installments. Before any property investment, we should have enough planning to at least cover 6-12 months installments in case we cannot get a tenant for that period.

A property guru often says we should look at 100 properties before investing in 1. The main reason is that by looking at 100, we would have a better idea about the market rate, and not overpay as profit is best made when we buy, not when we sell. For residential properties, we can often get better financing, but more challenges when dealing with tenants while for commercial properties, we usually have to settle for a lower margin of financing but tenants are usually easier to deal with and can even enhance your property at their cost with their renovations. In terms of appreciation, generally, commercial property has better appreciation but residential properties in areas with very high demand and short supply also experience very good appreciation.

The second major class are shares. Shares are far more dangerous than properties as you can lose everything if the listed company tanks and goes under which is possible. One can only imagine how much investors lost in “solid” shares like Enron, Worldcom and Citibank in those terrible financial years. Still, one can make money much faster if their chosen company grows very fast or rakes in huge profits through market conditions. It is a double edged game, but before investing, it is important to look at the company itself and see if it gives you confidence. The timing of investing is also important as there are cycles of booms and busts. Generally, it is better to look at the share market when everyone is getting out, and selling at whatever price. Still because of the risk, its not everyone’s favorite method.

Unit trusts hold less risk in a sense, as the fund managers buy across a wide diversified portfolio of shares. However, you need to pay the fund managers a hefty fee, and not all are as trustworthy as you would hope, as some may manipulate the market for their own benefit with investor funds. Still many people have lost money or got unsatisfactory returns through unit trusts. A lot depends on the timing of when we purchased the unit trusts. It is better to educate ourselves to invest on our own if possible rather than rely on others.

Real Estate Investment Trusts which you can buy like shares on the KLSE are interesting as they are required to pay off 90% of their profits as dividends. It is a way of investing in property managed for you by professionals. At in Unit Trusts, there is a hefty fee to pay for the management. However, REITs are generally quite stable, not fluctuating as much as shares, but giving good dividends. So it is a good choice for the more risk averse, but again it is probably more profitable to learn and invest ourselves directly.

Some speculate in commodities, high risk penny shares which give no dividends or FOREX, but these are high risk with no fixed returns. If we wish to invest in these areas, it is important to spend more time in learning and understanding these markets. Gold in general has been rising over the years, and could well be the way to go in the end days, as the power of money is expected to grow weaker and weaker.

For some, MLM has also been a very profitable investment. Those who enter this do not need much capital but rather a lot of time. Again, this is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is a good source of regular income for those who are willing to spend the time and effort and manage to succeed

Investing in ourselves is also very important. Increasing our knowledge and skills makes us more valuable in the job market, and also by our current employers. If we are business, learning only increases our ideas and potential to grow further.

In conclusion, I encourage each one of us to rethink our current spending patterns and priorities but instead think more of investing, and building a solid financial base that will put us in good stead for our retirement and also for our future generations. May God bless you and give you wisdom.

Regards

Jason

A contrite and humble spirit

A contrite and humble spirit

Scripture:- For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones Isaiah 57:15

Observation:- This Scripture in Isaiah gives us a very interesting picture. First there is God, high and lifted up, dwelling throughout all eternity. His name is holy. Yet, despite all God’s glory and majesty, it says that He also dwells with him who has a contrite and humble spirit. Great and mighty God, staying with lowly, humble men. It seems such a contradiction, but in it, we see the awesome grace and mercy of our loving, Heavenly Father.

There is no room for the proud in God’s kingdom. In his pride, the wicked does not seek God. In all his thoughts there is no room for God. The Pharisees and teachers of the law in Jesus’ day were guilty of this. Very typical was Jesus’ example of the Pharisee who hypocritically thanked God for how righteous and perfect he was and not like the general sinful public or even like the tax collector beside him. The tax collector on the other hand beat his chest before God and said “Have mercy on me, a sinner” and it was he, the contrite one, who went home justified before God.

Many other parts of Scripture show us that God favors the humble but His eyes are on the haughty to bring them low. David, despite his terrible sin, returned back into God’s favor because of his repentant and contrite heart. Even King Rehoboam and King Manasseh, in spite of their sins, found favor with God when they humbled themselves before Him. Pride is indeed one the most dangerous temptations in life that can bring down anyone.

At the same time, we need to be careful of false humility, the calculated, intentional debasement of one’s self to appear “humble” and “contrite” in the eyes of others. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. Only God knows whether we are truly humble and contrite before Him. Therefore we would do well not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but come honestly and humble before Him, and depend on Him to change us.

Application:- Regularly, we need to check our heart to see if we have become too proud or conceited in any particular area. Then, we need to come humbly and honestly before Jesus and ask Him to change us to become more like Him, the humble servant King, who gave Himself for us that we might be saved.

Prayer: Lord, forgive me for the pride I have within me, for the tendency to think too highly of myself or to look down on others. Help me become more and more like You, that I may humbly and honestly serve You and show Your love to many. In Jesus name, Amen

Sons of the stranger

Sons of the stranger

Scripture:- Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Isaiah 56:6-7

Observation:-

Who are the sons of the stranger? We are. And this Scripture in Isaiah speaks of God accepting us Gentiles, as His own people, His children. In Romans 11, the apostle Paul likens the process of us that “join ourselves to the Lord” as wild olive branches that have been granted into the main olive tree. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been grafted in to become part of the same vine, the same tree. Jesus is the wine and we too are the branches. Our lives, our spiritual food and water flows from Him.

Why were we joined in? To serve Him, to love the name of the Lord! We are not saved by good works, but we are saved unto good works, and our service is done out of love for God. If we work as hard as we can but without love, it counts for nothing, as Paul has so eloquently explained. Hence, love and service are closely intertwined in our Christian lives, as service is the way we show God’s love to others, and our love to Him.

Now, the reference to the Sabbath does not mean that we are required by law to keep the Sabbath like the Jews. In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul explains:- Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. What were the main things the Lord did on the Sabbath when He came? He healed the sick, He did good and showed mercy to the poor. We are also called to do likewise in showing love to others.

In regard to taking hold of God’s covenant, we are under the new covenant, which is by faith in the blood of Jesus to purify us from our sins and make us righteous because of His death on the cross. We must believe this truth, and our faith in Jesus will save us and give us life to live each day according to His truth through the Holy Spirit.

And in verse 7, Isaiah gives us a wonderful picture of our destiny. God will brings us too to His Holy mountain and make us joyful in His house of prayer. We do not need to sacrifice burnt offerings anymore, but depend on the One all-sufficient perfect Sacrifice, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who took all our sins upon Himself and is accepted by God in atonement for our sins forever.

In the end, God’s house will be called a house of prayer for all people. All the nations will have their representation in the house of God just as all the animals had their representation on Noah’s ark.

Application:- Thank God for joining us to His people, that we too might receive His salvation and blessing.  Remember that service and love must go together. Ask God to give us a loving heart, and to be able to serve out of love. Thank Jesus for His perfect sacrifice on the cross for us that has saved us. Declare praises and thanks to God with joy often.

Prayer:- Father God, we thank You that You provided a way for us to join in and be Your children, Your people and inherit Your salvation and blessing. Give us a heart of deep love and compassion that we might serve You with meaning and purpose. Lord Jesus, thank You for dying for us that we might have life! Let your kingdom come, and your house be filled with the praises of every tribe and tongue and people.

To light from darkness

To light from darkness

This Friday, we were privileged at FGB to have brother David share his very powerful testimony. It was indeed an amazing story of how God poured out His amazing grace and mercy on his life.

Now brother David was a former drug trafficker in the 1980s who traveled to and fro from Thailand twice a month, shipping through the customs 120kgs of morphin each trip. And then in 1988, he was caught by the police. Traveling ina Ford LS3, brother David was speeding down the highway when suddenly two fast cars appeared behind him. Shortly, one of them overtook him and went in front of him while the other remained behind. Sandwiched, David tried to overtake the car in front but was hemmed in and he noticed that the men in the cars had walkie-talkies. That’s when he knew he was finished. They were policemen, and shortly, he saw a police roadblock in front and a policeman dragging a row of spikes across the road. He knew that the car would capitulate if he were to go over those spikes, so he hit the emergency brakes and handbrake and spun 180degrees. Facing backwards, David tried to go back the same way but was blocked off by the other car. Faced with no choice David surrendered, and the first thing the policemen did was to give him a severe beating, and he even lost two teeth.

After being remanded in prison for 6 years, David was sentenced to death for trafficking 120kg of morphin. For morphin, death was mandatory for anyone who trafficked more than 15g, what more 120kg!

In prison on death row, David now found himself in another world, a terrible, morbid place, isolated from the rest of the world. There, the prisoners were treated like dogs, with no human dignity left at all. Any time, the prison officer could call up anyone and make them strip naked and crawl across the basketball court at 12 noon, burning their skins very painfully. The food was worse than that eaten by beggars, with worms often coming out of the measly vegetables. There were drugs in the prison, smuggled in by a corrupt warden, and all sorts of cheating and inhuman activity was rampant in the prison. There, David saw many people praying to their gods – torn pictures on the wall of deities were worshipped. However, David decided not to pray, as he did not believe any of these could help him. Instead, David went to the library and read a lot of books, magazines, Reader’s Digest, anything he could get his hands on.

Somehow, David believed there was a god out there. Sometimes, looking at the window, he heard voices of laughter and he often wondered what was outside the window. Resolving to look outside, he came up with a plan to stack the books he borrowed to make a makeshift staircase up to the window using leftover rice as glue to hold the books together. Reaching the top, he saw just outside was the beautiful Taiping lake gardens.

Now David had been transferred from the prison in Alor Setar to Taiping as the prison had no gallows. In Malaysian history, Taiping was the oldest person and had the record of never having a prisoner escape before. Looking outside the window, David wondered why he had not treasured life, and dreamed that if one day he could walk out, he would sit in this beautiful garden and taste the sweetness of the grass. The Gardens seemed so near yet so far.

Around that time, David came across a newspaper 3-weeks old and found a column about Malaysian Care and their ministry helping ex-prisoners, giving them a place to get shelter, and be disciplined and get a job. With hope, David cut out the column and kept it in his diary, a little “555” notebook, which was a luxury in prison.

Then one morning, an officer came and called out David’s number informing him that his date of appeal was tomorrow. Great fear filled David’s heart there and then. Every week, drug traffickers were hanged for 18g, 32g, and here he had 120kg. He felt that he had no hope, no chance. Everyone had one appeal, but David could not see how his salvation was possible.

With a greatly troubled heart, David looked up to the window, kneeled down and called upon God. “God, if you are there, please help me. I deserve to die. I know I am a sinful man. I have sinned against you. Have mercy on me. I promise I can be a good man. I want to repent. I am so sorry.” Through the night, David continued to pray and ask God for mercy though he did not know God. And so the next day, he was brought to the Supreme court. As he saw the bright sunlight, David said to himself, this is the light that I want. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, he thought, this is the air I want, not the air of the gallows. His lawyer came and asked him “Do you want to be born again?” Not understanding, and from a background where he was taught reincarnation, David thought it was an insult. But the lawyer continued to ask him to just look to heaven and pray to the mighty God. “It does not matter that you do not know him, just pray”, the lawyer said.

And so David prayed, as he had done the whole night. The prosecution went up to the 3 judges and had a private discussion and then sat back down. To David’s relief, one judge spoke and declared the judgment that in this case, there was a doubt, and as such, David would not be hanged. Instead, his offence would fall under another provision which was 20 years jail. Due to good behavior in prison, David was released after 15 years. On the day he was set free, there was an official of the Home Ministry who told him that he was a free man, but only within the country as he would not be granted a passport because of his serious crime.

Coming out of prison, David didn’t know where to go. He did not want to go back to Penang because of the painful memories, and so he took a bus to KL where he hoped to find a job. Arriving in Pudu Raya, he found himself in

Petaling Street

and saw a Hindu Temple and a Buddhist Temple. Somehow, he managed to persuade the Buddhist temple’s caretaker to let him stay for 2 nights, but strangely around 4am in the morning, David was suddenly chased out. It was very dark, and feeling helpless, David called out to God “Where shall I go. I need direction”. Suddenly a voice came from behind “Open your diary”. Startled, David turned around and saw nobody, and then suddenly, the voice came again, saying the same thing. So David picked out his 555 book, and the column he had cut out fell to the ground. He picked it up and remembered the Malaysian Care column he had put in. After whiling the time away in a Mamak shop until 9am, David called up the Malaysian Care office and proceeded to go to 7 ½ mile Old Klang Road. In Wisma Peter, they interviewed ihm and checked his record and sent him to Rumah Petros at 3 ½ mile

Old Klang Road

. Rumah Petros sheltered a lot of rejected, broken people, and upon arriving, David found some ex-drug addicts he knew from before. They welcomed him with open arms and it was the first time he felt wanted by somebody. Looking back, David realized that Rumah Petros was the turning point in his life. David decided to stay on albeit initial reservations about Christianity and accepted Jesus into his heart. From time to time, volunteers came to share the gospel and on the first night, a volunteer gave David a Gideon Bible. Opening it, he saw “thou shall not steal”, and couldn’t quite understand. The brother asked him to turn to Psalms 18:6, and he tried to find “Sums” in the Bible. Another brother showed him the exact place, and when he read the words, tears came to his eyes, and he wept for some time. Sum 18:6 reads “In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.” Brother David remembered that it was God who heard him in prison that night and saved him. His little faith had moved a great mountain.

8 months after that, brother David was still allowed to stay and help, and he was offered a job not too far away. After working for some time, he was persuaded by a friend to go to an FGB Chapter meeting, and speaking was our very own President Damien Chua, speaking of how God saved him from a serious kidnapping. A friendship soon developed and Damien offered to sponsor David to attend the School of Acts. So David attended as a full time student, while Damien attended as a part time student. After 5 months, the time came in the course for the students to go for a mission trip, and they were to go to Thailand. He told Pastor Raymond Mooi that he could not go because of his prison record but Raymond asked him to pray. He prayed and nothing happened, so Raymond asked him to pray and fast. After, a week, a dream came to David asking him to go to Pusat Damansara where he applied for his passport. Amazingly, his record did not show any black mark, and in a second miracle, David was now free to join the mission trip. And so, David, ex-drug trafficker graduated by God’s grace from the School of Acts.

Since then, David has seen many visions, and is serving God in ministry to orphanages, disabled centres, and even cleans the wounds of AIDs patients. Some of them have blackened holes in their arms, and worms come out of them. David helps them clean the wounds, kill the worms, and place dettol before bandaging them up, giving great relief to the patients, and he shares Christ with them. David feels his particular calling is prison ministry and in mission trips to Philippines, he has seen many turn to the Lord through his testimony.

One of David’s favorite verses is Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. He encourages all of us to call unto the Lord, like he did, and see truly great and mighty things indeed!

No weapon formed against me shall prosper

No weapon formed against me shall prosper

Scripture:- No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. Isaiah 54:17

Observation:- What a great and wonderful verse! No weapon that is formed against us shall prosper! An image comes to mind of a superhero being met with hails of fire of all kinds, bullets, missiles, arrows, axes, darts, and just before they hit the hero, they all melt away against a kind of invisible force field! In the spiritual realm, there are many weapons that the demonic forces throw against us - darts of doubt, fear and confusion, nets of temptation, procrastination and pride. Our family life may be attacked, relationships at work, even our physical, mental and emotional health. Attacks may come from within or without. However, whatever plans and weapons are used against us, we have a wonderful promise in Isaiah 54:17 – It will not prosper! Let’s say it aloud “No weapon formed against us will prosper!” It is a great declaration.

The second part is equally important. Every tongue that rises against us in judgment, we shall condemn. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren, he points out our sins and our weaknesses day and night before God. However, we have a great defender in Christ Jesus, who made His righteousness come upon us through the divine exchange on the cross! Likewise, in life, there may be many who condemn us but their condemnation will not stand for it is written that we will refute every condemnation against us! Therefore, we accept no condemnation from others, just as it is written, therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus!

A very important part of the verse is that these promises, this heritage, are true for those who are servants of the Lord. If we have accepted Jesus Christ into our hearts as our Lord and Savior, we are servants of the Lord. Perhaps, some of us do not feel that we are really serving Him because we do not serve in main church duties. However, even giving a glass of cold water to a child is service unto Jesus. Serving Jesus is not about great works and high positions in church, it is about being close to Jesus and learning to love God and love others more and more. As we begin to serve in small ways faithfully, God reveals more and more new ways that we can serve Him. The important thing is our heart and commitment to Jesus and willingness to let Him change us.

The final part speaks that our righteousness is of the Lord, not of ourselves. Our righteous acts done through our own efforts are like filthy rags before the Lord. However, when we put on the robes of righteousness that we receive from Jesus, we are accepted before God in Heaven. We need to start seeing ourselves wearing robes of righteousness, pure white linen, fine and clean.

Application:

Declare and think daily –

·      No weapon formed against me will prosper in Jesus name”.

·      There is no condemnation for me for I am in Christ Jesus” 

·      I am a servant of the Lord

·      I am wearing robes of righteousness

Prayer:- Lord, I thank you for your promise that no weapon formed against me will prosper. I thank you that there is no condemnation for me because I am in you! Let me be your faithful servant O Lord. Thank you for the robes of righteousness that are on me. Bless you, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen!

The redeemed of the Lord shall return

The redeemed of the Lord shall return

Scripture:- Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaiah 51:11

Observation:- This verse is indeed a joyful verse. It is a picture of singing and dancing and everlasting joy, of celebration and gladness. I still remember an old song based on this verse which was sung even in my childhood, and it is a wonderful song, resonating with joy.

Who are the redeemed of the Lord? Literally, it is the people of Israel. Spiritually, all of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior into our hearts are the redeemed. What does redeem mean? It gives the idea of buying back something that was lost or pawned or sold earlier. In the Garden of Eden, when Adam sinned, eternal life was lost to all mankind, and all men were doomed to death. However, when Jesus came, He redeemed back that which was lost. He made the way for man to come back to God, and to receive eternal life through Him. In the book of Hosea, there is a picture of Hosea as husband buying back his wayward wife that had sold herself into slavery. Imagine the joy of being set free, of being able to return home once again, forgiven.

Zion is first mentioned in 2 Samuel Chapter 5, the city which David won from the Jebusites and became known as the City of David. Zion is Jerusalem. At the end of days, the book of Revelation speaks of the New Jerusalem coming down from Heaven. Imagine what a beautiful and marvelous sight it will be! When this New Jerusalem comes, as spoken of it Revelation 21, the tabernacle of God will be with men, and He will dwell with them and wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain!

Application: There are times in our lives when we may exhausted and weary, depressed and fed up with life perhaps. In these times, we may be tempted to sink into deep gloom, and self-pity. It is in these times that we should read a verse like Isaiah 51:11, reminding ourselves that because of Jesus Christ, we are redeemed, and we have a bright and glorious future where there will be everlasting joy and a new dwelling place where there is no sorrow or mourning. As we meditate on our future, let the Holy Spirit turn our mourning into dancing, and our sorrow into joy!

Prayer: Lord, I thank You that You have redeemed me and prepared for me a wonderful, beautiful future in Zion with You. Praise and glory be to Your name, O Lord, let Your joy and gladness always shine through me I pray. In Jesus name, Amen.

A Word in Season

A Word in Season

Scripture:- The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. Isaiah 50:4

Observation:- In this chapter, we see the prophet Isaiah giving glory to God for giving him the tongue of the learned, which is the wisdom to think and speak wisely. And what is the reason this wisdom is given? It is so that he can speak a word in season to him that is weary. It is not given to puff up one’s ego, or to have one become proud and lord his knowledge and wisdom over others. Instead, it is given to help, and to help those in need. The “weary” gives us the picture of those who have been beset by a problem for sometime and have become tired and perhaps are on the verge of giving up hope.

Many have head knowledge and know the Scriptures well on a general basis, but few are so wise and discerning to know the particular word in season that is needed for a particular situation for a particular person. This special Word of discernment can come only from revelation from the Mighty God. This word is called Rhema, referring to that specific word of God needed for the moment in contrast to the Logos, which is the whole word of God in the Bible.

How did Isaiah receive this tongue of the learned, this wisdom? We are given a clue in the next part of the verse which gives us a picture of God wakening him up morning after morning, wakening him to hear as the wise. There was once a girl who said the Lord woke her up early every morning so she could talk to Him. There was indeed a beautiful two way relationship between God and Isaiah, and the more time Isaiah spent with God, the wiser he became, and the more able he was to help others. Many of us have difficulty waking up early in the morning and prefer to do our quiet time at night. However, there is something really special about meeting God in the wee hours of the morning when the day first breaks, and God’s new mercies are seen together with the first morning light.

Application:- If anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault but he who asks must believe and not doubt… writes James. Wisdom comes by seeking God, and the purpose of wisdom is to help others and be a blessing, not for our own selfish interests. We should try to make it a point to wake up early once or twice a week as a start to seek God. Sometimes if we wake up in the middle of the night, we can go to the window and look to God in Heaven, to pray and listen.

Prayer:- Father God in Heaven, all wisdom and power belongs to you. I humbly ask O Lord for Your wisdom to be poured out on me, that I may be a blessing and help to others. In Jesus name, Amen.