men of Faith will head God's list of chiefs.

I want to share what i shared with AI cell recently:

Those who have FAITH will possess the Land! (those who possess faith will possess God's promise)

Just want to recap and share something the Lord pointed out to me during scripture reading. Look at Numbers 13:3-16 and compare it with Numbers 34:16-29. What would you discover? Remember that there is significance in order of things which are being listed. The first list (num 13) was an order of birthright in accordance to the law. The chief of Reuben came first because Reuben was the firstborn of Jacob. The second list had the tribe of Judah, led by Caleb representing the new generation that was to possess the land. What does this tells us? Why the discrepancy? The first generation of leaders could never enter the promised land without faith. The way they were being listed tells us about what religion is: following the law (according to birthrights), rituals or routine blindly without any hint of any exercise of faith. In contrast, Joshua's generation was headed by a good old man. Not just a man but a man full of faith and trusted God. His name was Caleb, of the tribe of Judah. We know well that Caleb and Joshua were the only two who believed God for the promised land when the first generation of the chiefs failed to do so.

Conclusion: Numbers 13 shows us that religion or law or faithlessness will never get us anywhere in God's Kingdom. But God makes a very clear point in Numbers 34 that the generation which enters God's fullness must have faith. The order of chiefs for Joshua's generation is an order, led by FAITH, not law.

Let us remember: the Just shall live by Faith! 2 Cor 5:7

Elijah and the widow revisted

What should one do when he/she faces a dire situation? Give up on God and start working on a backup plan? When a person believes in Jesus, from that point forth it is a journey of faith. What happens when faith runs out in the harshest of circumstances? It is just like the widow of Zaraphath. All she had was her son, a bit of oil and flour. She was preparing their final meal before Elijah met her. Shocks me to know that God sent Elijah to her in order to provide for him. What can so little do for Elijah?

In those circumstances, one ought to save him/herself. But in the manner of the boy who offered his 5 loaves and 2 fishes, in the manner of how another woman offered up her alabaster jar of oil and in the manner of how a poor woman who lived on two copper coins and gave everything, the widow gave her final meal to Elijah..and lived.

I am reminded of the words of Jesus, "for whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matt 16:25) Jesus calls me, calls us to give our all. Even in the hardest of times, God looks for a complete offering unto him. And that I may find life in Christ by losing it in Him.

heavenly

Felt that worship could continue endlessly this morning. The manifest Presence of God was extremely tangible and sweet. Could simply sit at the feet of the Lord and worship till sun down. His Presence is oxygen to my soul!

some observation on Rest

Realized I hadn't updated this blog for about 4 months?! As this semester comes to a close, it's been tough as usual. Getting good grades for Japanese seems to be hard for me. I guess this journey has been one of knowing myself better...that i am not really a "language" person. May the Holy Spirit give me the ability to speak. Amen.

In this season of nothingness, God has been helping me to see that the preparation of a minister lies not only on the outside but inside of a person. Getting an education may be important, but only by being in the wilderness will the "inside" of a minister be shaped or forged. The wilderness is a place of waiting, where nothing appeals to the flesh, where there is no recognition from men. God prepared men like Joseph, Moses, John the Baptist, Lord Jesus himself, in the wilderness. May my inner being be forged by God in this season of life, that I may become even Christ-like. It seems that God is more interested in making us "usable" (as servants) rather than what we can do for Him with our human efforts.

At the same time while Pastor Daniel is preaching about Son-ship during this period of time, I am reading John Sung's Hidden Manna. It has been an amazing time reading this book in CHINESE! Seriously I can't believe I am reading a Chinese book. Besides being amazed that I am reading Chinese, I am witnessing Hebrews 11:4. "...And by faith he still speaks, though he is dead." There has been countless of time when my faith was leaking, I would read and find the short chapters speaking into my situation! John Sung's Hidden Manna was written while he communed with the Lord many years ago. That was when he was ill and could only spend time praying and searching scriptures. Everything that the Lord revealed to him during that time of prayer and study was written down into "Hidden Manna". Indeed, the faith of this man speaks even till today. Really recommend it for our generation.

An observation made by John Sung on the Dove & Raven during days of Noah in the ark led me to make some observation on Rest. Below are some of my observations from Scriptures:

1. God made the world in 6 days. The seventh day He rested.

2. In OT, the Sabbath is the day of rest which mustn't be violated.

3. The way of the Spirit is rest: the dove Noah sent knew rest. It returned when the only resting place was the ark. The Holy Spirit rest upons. (taken from Hidden Manna)

4. Only the raven kept flying to n fro without resting.

5. The Holy Spirt , like a dove rested upon Jesus, the Son of God!

6. Romans 8, says the sons of God are all led by the Spirit of God!

7. The Holy Spirit rests... Only upon the sons of God!

8. Prayer is the foundation to my identity as a son to my Heavenly Father. Luke 11.

9. Prayer is about Father and Son relationship. Like Jesus and the Father.

10. In prayer my posture must be as a son (Luke 11:2 begins "Our Father who is in heaven..."), thus prayer is essential for me to enter His's rest. By being a son, the holy spirit rests upon me!

11. Walk as His beloved son and the Holy Spirit will surely rest upon me!

Talking about change

Change is good. I heard somewhere that change is the only constant in life. As though nothing is absolute. Somewhere along my semester I thought about "change" and its implications. So I am gonna share a bit about what I think of it.

Came across it this semester in two classes. One in Alternative Lives in Japan and the other in Intro to Political Science. I learn in the former that culture is always changing. I always thought it was static. For example, what is so Japanese about Japan? Is it Ikebana, Sushi, Samurai, Geishas, etc? Or what? If 100 years from now, lets say Japan fails to keep these things preserved as I mentioned, will Japan still be Japanese? I'm trying to say that culture is man-made. Its something we keep and maintain to define ourselves from others. And more importantly, it is not absolute. Culture can kill. The suicide rates in Japan tells you something about it. It can harm or benefit society.

My application point: Culture can be cajoled for the good of society since its dynamic & not static.

In the latter class, I asked what's gonna happen if China literally turn democratic overnight? We all read in the media that China is known for its human rights record, etc. Initially, I thought that I should join in the chorus demanding that China respect Human Rights by going democratic until I read Kishore Mabulani's argument. He said that China's soft authoritarianism is slowly but surely increasing the welfare of society. Furthermore, nobody seems to be reporting that China has been working with NGOs to increase the welfare of its people. What's going to happen if China jumps into democracy? His conclusion...chaos.

My take home is, by all means change for the better but at a rate that is sustainable.

I believe that change is necessary and that church can change too. Thats why I left. I know you are thinking that I should be the change in the church. But I question that, think deeper. Its not so straightforward. How do you change something which operates on a philosophy different from your conviction? Most of the time I change but you don't. If you make me your SP (try guess what it means), maybe & perhaps I can be the change. I will always change and of course...you did better change too.

Reminder for myself

For two semesters in a row I scored below the average marks for Japanese Language mid-Semester test. Furthermore, throughout the semester i have been failing my listening quiz. Well, the same happened for last semester and I had a C+ for the language. Perhaps, history is repeating itself?

Maybe I don't work as hard. I play more than I work. I sow what I reap. That aside, it definitely felt like crap. Why the hell am I studying Japanese language, getting my CAP screwed. Really, I should just quit. Language is not my cup of tea, something evident since primary school days.

Innocuously enough I still carried myself to YWAM base on thursday night. We had a gathering of people who are interested in ministry in Japan. My heart felt dead and I was out of sync with the enthusiasm of the crowd. But, more importantly, that night I decided to throw the grades out of the window. Found out that I am not studying Japanese to get a good grade. I am studying Japanese so that I may use the language in the future! Not for the sake of grades! I need a whole new attitude seriously and I better work harder for the sake of competency (not grades).

Basically, I'm telling myself: "You are learning Japanese so that you can speak and understand Japanese. This have got nothing to do with your grades. You are not here for grades but to achieve the objective of learning! Wake up!"

I know why I am doing Japanese Studies as major. I'm living for Christ not for grades. Right now I'm like trying to live for both. Its time I throw the grades out of the window. I need to start dying and to start living.

All men die but few men really lived. I seriously need to crucify my double-mindedness. I can't do anything else. God help me.

Recently...

I realized that I have been wanting to update my blog without putting it into action... So finally, i decided that I should write down some reflections.
Had a good chat with a friend lately and I think that I came across as somebody who is trying to always fix something. Do you feel that way? I.e Church. Its kind of sad if people perceives me that way because in the end, you and I are still human beings. I am definitely not obsessed with my own ideas.

Recently, I came across two schools of thought among different people. On one hand there are people like "me" seemingly trying to get church to work the way it should, believing that certain things should be done in a particular way. On the hand, some people think that as long as we are happy, and everybody is happy, why should we change the status quo? The most important is to be Christ-like isn't?

Well, in response, I believe that God gave us prerogatives. That means he laid down certain things for us to do and to carry out. I call it responsibility though the free-online dictionary calls it a privilege or a right. For example, prayer is ordained by God and he calls his church to pray. What if the church doesn't pray? Is everything well then? Of course not! We cannot simply say that if God is sovereign, we leave everything to him or live prayerless lives. We have to carry out what God intended us to do! God does what he as God is suppose to do, we as men do what God has commanded us to do, what to think or to believe.

Knowing that God is sovereign is only the foundation. Simply leaving self-correction to the idea that God is in charge is as good as not changing anything. The question we got to ask is what is my God-given role? The bottom-line is: we are here to partner with God.