seeking first His kingdom?

Matthew 6:33 has been in my mind and heart for the last few weeks. I've even spoken about it in my class a couple of times.

What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness? His Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but it's peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That is so comforting to me, as there is a deeper and divine meaning and fulfilment in the Kingdom of God than just earthly pleasures.

When Jesus came on earth, he taught and preached about the kingdom of God, and he healed the sick and brought deliverance to the oppressed. He also fed the hungry, raised the dead, spent time with his disciples, and with little children. He said that He came to seek the lost. He demonstrated the Kingdom of God.

And with His crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension to the throne, at first shedding his own blood, and then presenting that blood to our Heavenly Father in order to redeem us, thus giving us eternal life. He became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. This means we can have a personal relationship with our heavenly Father. When He sees us, He sees us in Christ. He sees us as righteous as the Lord Jesus. That's the power of the blood of Jesus, which has made us righteous... Awesome, isn't it? We come to Him boldly now, with the confidence of a little child as he approaches his father.

So what does it mean by seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness? I had a glimpse of it when a lady shared with me that she asked God for 52 souls last year. And she said God blessed her abundantly with more than that just before 2006 came to a close. WOW! That touched me and impressed me so much...

She is a mother, her child just entering teenhood. She is a church leader, a career woman in a managerial position, travels quite often, and she is studying in a bible school part-time. Where does she find the time? Well, she sought first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness... She said she cried out to the Lord when by the time she reached November and she had only brought 30 souls to the Lord. But in her travels in the last month of the year, she was given opportunity to speak to a large group of believers and unbelievers on 2 occasions, and more than 22 people confessed Jesus as Lord, bringing the number to more than 52.

AMAZING! An ordinary woman with an extraordinary God accomplishing Kingdom work of eternal impact.

Seeking first His kingdom is about advancing His Kingdom, having people added to the Kingdom of Light! My heart's desire is to have a part in that!

il divo - divine but still earthly

I was blessed with a free ticket to watch Il Divo on 18 jan, courtesy of a good friend. Her friend gave up the ticket as she had another function to attend. It wasn't the best seat, but it cost over S$100, which was more than i would have been willing to part with. And i brought my binos, which adequately made up the difference between me and the stage they performed on at the Indoor Stadium.

They looked and sounded great singing songs in Italian or Spanish or French with pleasant, even thrilling harmony, but their humour, which was rare to begin with, was less entertaining, bordering on bland, and at times, disturbingly suggestive.

I enjoyed myself...to a certain extent. First, the music on the whole was too loud. Many of the climaxes were almost unbearably so. Their harmonies would have sounded better softer. The younger of my 2 younger brothers said it was common phenomenon in modern live concerts - loud - and he used another word, which i forgot, but i think it meant clear - in that every voice and instrument could be heard.

Second and more important, i noticed that such music did not thrill my soul so much as it used to...it was strange that i could still cry when i heard certain songs...i mean some secular songs still move me to tears, but i respond more to Christian songs now, especially to those about the nations worshiping and people consecrating themselves and spending time in His presence.

Anyway, right in the middle of it all - and there were no breaks during the concert (amazing stamina right? but i guess they could take breaks while the rest of the group was singing) - i remembered praying for the whole audience, that they would know the greatest thrill of all - our Lord Jesus Christ - and be moved by Him and respond to His love for us.

Il Divo means divine male performer. This described them well, if divine means wonderful or fantastic. But i could only describe God as divine, which means godly or heavenly. And what Jesus did on the cross for us so that we could have eternal and abundant life is simply DIVINE!

so i am blessed...

So i am blessed... it cannot stop there. I am blessed to be a blessing... A familiar enough phrase with many. But what does it really mean?

This is first found in the bible in Genesis 12:2 where God was speaking to Abram, calling him out of the country of his birth, to a new land that God was going to show him. In order to fulfill the calling of God in his life, to overcome the dangers and obstacles in his path, God promised to bless him abundantly.

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you [with abundant increase of favors] and make your name famous and distinguished, and you will be a blessing [dispensing good to others].

The above is taken from the Amplified Bible. God blesses with "abundant increase of favours".

God indeed used Abram, later called Abraham, mightily to become the father of all nations. Through him, all nations are blessed. That is God's heart. His love is extended towards all. He loves one and all!! It's amazing that God our Father has, through Jesus Christ, blessed us (those who believe in Him, are already in His family, bearing His name and empowered by His Holy Spirit, with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm. And i am blessed to know Him and to serve Him. I am blessed to reach out and impact others around me. And i am blessed to be a blessing unto the nations! I am blessed to fulfill the calling He has placed upon my life.

That's why we are blessed.

So we are blessed...it cannot stop there. We are blessed to be a blessing!!

our experience in a nation He loves

We were impressed by the zeal and passion of these believers for the things of God. They were hungry for the word of God, and they worshiped God with an intense desire. We enjoyed worshiping God with them. They are single-minded in their focus on advancing the Kingdom of God. Pastors whom we met invariably reached out to the lost, and to the poor and needy.

We were particularly touched by a pastor whose congregation of about 100 invited 500 people from the surrounding villages, including the local officials to a Christmas celebration, complete with a sumptuous meal in order to present the gospel to their neighbours. The church was feeding 2 pigs till fat so that there will be sufficient pork for all present.

Anther incident which moved us was that 40 bible school students who had just enough for themselves, and who were living by faith, fasted every Friday, and the rice they would have taken for lunch were given to the poor and needy in the surrounding villages.

We thank God for the privilege of being able to minister to the people there, believing that God’s word will never return to Him void, but accomplish the purposes for which it was sent.

my first post (i'm just so blessed!)

There's been this desire to blog for quite some time now, but i never took it seriously as i've always considered it a phenomenon of the "younger generation"... there, i almost revealed my age!! And, what would i hope to achieve my putting my thoughts on the internet?

Anyway, the desire grew, and with it, the purpose of blogging became clearer to me when i talked to God about this.

Moreover, when i mentioned it to a few people over the last half a year, just in passing, they encouraged me (thanks, people, you probably be the first few to read this). The younger of my 2 brothers even helped start me off by showing me the "ropes" of blogging.

I'm really blessed. My other brother helped purchase the equipment on which i'm typing my blog. He did the research as if he were buying for himself. Kevin bought it as a birthday/ christmas gift for me. My parents even got in on the act by paying for the upgrades together with this brother and my sister-in-law. Wow! What more can i ask for? I no longer have to wait my turn at home...

I'm so thankful to God for all the wonderful things in my life.
As i entered into this new year, there's been a renewed sense of purpose in my life. I am more sure than ever that my God is a God who will fulfill His Word and His Promise in my life.

16 of us (ages ranging from 16-70) started the year together at a watchnight prayer meeting (11pm on 31 Dec 06 to 1.30am on 1 Jan 07). Our last overnight prayer meeting was like 6-8 years ago...when a couple of young ladies were the full time ministry personnel leading our congregation. It was a great time of sharing and worship and prayer. The presence of God just swept over us like waves - of assurance, of love, of strength, of purpose. Sweet and strong!

Even as we waited on Him, He spoke to my heart about following Him step by step and not going ahead of Him. He will show us even the strategies to take to accomplish the plan He has shown us. We need to spend time with Him. And indeed He has shown us His plan for our lives (and even our church) - even if it's just glimpses of it...so far.

Hallelujah! Indeed, we are blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus! (Eph 1:3)