Tuesday 31 March 2009

more healing testimonies

The next day, which was Wednesday, a lady shared that she had initially taken leave from school that day as her daughter was sick and was hospitalised. However, her daughter, whom she had been praying the previous day, recovered so fast that she was discharged. So she came to school to attend lessons, testifying to the healing compassion of the Lord.

My husband prayed for the sister of another student who was suffering from a woman's problem. This woman wanted to come to be prayed for as she had heard the teaching on healing from her sister who was the student. As she heard, faith arose in her, and she felt herself getting better even as her sister shared and prayed with her. She wanted to come and hear more. So she did.

We are so glad that God "confirmed His Word with signs following"!

Monday 30 March 2009

testimonies of instant healing

On the second day that we taught healing, we asked the students to lay hands on themselves at the end of the session on healing. It was a clear prompt from the Holy Spirit not to lay hands on them, but to have them lay hands on themselves so that they know that God's healing power is available to each one of them and they know that they can lay hands on others and they will recover according to Mark 16:15-20.
As they lay hands on the part of the body that needed healing, we then prayed a general prayer for the healing power of God to heal them.

We then asked whether any of them were healed at that point, at least 5 (or perhaps more) put up their hands.

As it was time for lunch, we requested that they shared their testimonies after lunch. We had time for the following five to share.
  1. There was a woman who had been suffering stiff neck for a few days was instantly healed.
  2. There was a man who had been having pain in his whole body for over 10 years. He felt that his major organs were not working well, and had little strength. He had no money to see the doctor. The pain left him as he cried out to God in prayer.
  3. A woman who had shoulder pain for some time, was instantly healed. She saw light in front of her and this light enter her arm and shoulder and took away the pain.
  4. A woman was troubled by indigestion since the night before was healed instantly. She came to school as she did not want to miss any lesson. As she exercised her mustard seed faith, she was healed.
  5. A young man whose eyes were affected by measles that he contracted in 2001, could see better. He was able to read smaller print than before.
Praise the Lord!

I'm just so amazed by His goodness and healing power in these lives.

Sunday 29 March 2009

God heals today!

When we were teaching three weeks ago in another country, one of the students shared an amazing testimony of God's healing.

Her 18 month old daughter was suffering from inflammation of especially her extremities because she had not been able to urinate or pass motion for almost a week. She also had not been eating or even drinking much. She was brought to the clinic and the doctor there did not know how to treat her. Instead, the mother was asked to send her to the hospital as her condition was critical. Her family did not have enough money to bring her to the hospital for further treatment. They did not even have money for the trip to the hospital.

On the second day that we taught on the healing power of God, i noticed that she talked to the Coordinating Director of the school quite animatedly. She was explaining that she needed to take leave from school to bring her daughter to the hospital. He gave her some money for bus fare and promised to meet her at the hospital to give her more money required for treatment. She was supposed to call him to confirm the time to meet.

He later reported that he waited till quite late for her call, which did not come, then went to the hospital but did not see any sign of her or her baby. He waited for almost 2 hours till about 11pm before he returned home.

She had turned back on her way to the hospital as she felt that God was telling her that He would heal her daughter. She had no access to any phone so was unable to inform the pastor. When she reached home, she began reading the healing scriptures that were taught to her in the last two days. Faith arose in both her and her husband. They laid hands on their daughter and began to pray for healing.

The following morning, the daughter was able urinate. Her inflammation gradually subsided. She was able to pass motion too. By the end of the day, she began to say that she was hungry.

She testified on Friday morning to God's goodness and healing power to all the students present.

God heals today!

Friday 27 March 2009

my sheep hear my voice

I read the following in an excerpt from an online devotional:

"A friend of mine told me a story about an experience he had in Israel that demonstrates how sheep know their shepherd's voice. He and his wife were visiting some of the famous biblical sites when they saw a group of shepherds and their flocks. They watched as three different shepherds put their sheep in the same pen for the night, and they wondered how in the world the shepherds would separate their sheep the next day, since none of them had any identifying marks on them.

My friend got up early the next morning to watch the shepherds gather their sheep. The first shepherd went over to the pen and called out to his sheep. One by one, his sheep (and only his sheep) filed out to follow him. The same thing happened with the other two shepherds. My friend said it was amazing to watch how only the shepherd's sheep followed him while the others remained in the pen--and all because they recognized his voice.

What a picture of Jesus' words spoken centuries earlier."

Thursday 26 March 2009

dream

I had a dream just before i woke up... in fact, it was cut short by the alarm. I had never dreamt such a dream before. I put the alarm on snooze and tried to continue the wonderful dream but could not get back into the spirit or into sleep... :D

In the dream, I was in a believers' convention or meeting, where a good speaker i know was encouraging us in the Lord. The presence of the Lord began to intensify, and the glory of the God was being made manifest in the midst of us.

The speaker spoke that fact out, and i began to see light all about me, which came closer and closer to me, and just overwhelmed me. It was the glory of the Lord. I almost could see the angels or at least the directions in which they were moving as they were leaving streaks of wispy clouds behind them.

The alarm went off after about 10 minutes of the experience. It was so real.

I am refreshed.

Thursday 12 March 2009

the word of God: the fixed point of faith

Tell My people everything that can be shaken will be shaken.
Tell them to fix their faith.
If their faith is not fixed during the crisis, they will not stand.
They must fix their faith on that which is infallible and that which is impregnable.
They must have a fixed point for their faith.
That fixed point is the Word.
A revelation of God's Word...
Living...
Written....

Morris Cerullo

Tuesday 10 March 2009

success

I had this for a long time before deciding to publish it. I didn't want to "bash" anyone. Then i thought i wasn't. I'm complimenting both. We just need to know the difference.

Don't confuse fame with success.
Madonna is one;

Helen Keller is the other.
Erma Bombeck

Monday 9 March 2009

Great Faith

I've come across this before, worded in different ways. But i really like this one. God is a giver of good things. He is the one who gives great faith, great testimonies and great triumphs. Fights, tests and trials are what life and its circumstances (aided by the evil one) offer us.

Still, in all this, God is SOVEREIGN! Yay!

Great faith is the product of great fights.
Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests.
Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.


Smith Wigglesworth

Friday 6 March 2009

Resting Faith

Faith

Dr. Charles Stanley has identified three levels of faith:

Level 1 – Struggling Faith
Characterized as “little faith”
Scriptural reference: “I believe; help my unbelief.”

Level 2 – Reaching Faith
Characterized as “great faith”
Scriptural reference: “If I can only touch the hem of His garment, I'll be healed.”

Level 3 – Resting Faith
Characterized as “perfect faith”
Scriptural reference: Anything you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and you will have it.

Thursday 5 March 2009

nothing to fear

My dear brother smsed this a week ago, and it had me reading again and again to internalise it:

"Jesus sends His healing power and brings His restoring grace and so there is nothing to fear.
The only thing that is wrong is your wrong feeble conception of the mightiness of His redemption."

Smith Wigglesworth

Wednesday 4 March 2009

nothing else

I was reading a bunch of quotes when this one just leaped out at me with its bluntness and the accuracy of how it captures my own desires:

Dear God, Your will: nothing more, nothing less, nothing else!
Bobby Richardson

Tuesday 3 March 2009

the abundant life

What is this abundant life?

It is knowing the Lord God who loves us so much that He gave His beloved Son so that we can have a personal relationship with Him. We could not have come to Him on our own because of our sinful nature. But when Jesus came, He lived as a man and yet was without sin. Therefore, He earned the right to give His life, becoming sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God through Him. Because of this, we can come to our heavenly Father personally and boldly, even intimately to find help and mercy in time of need.

This relationship with the Lord is the abundant life.

It is knowing that our Heavenly Father loves us unconditionally, choosing to love us even in our unworthiness, while we were yet sinners. Out of this relationship flows His blessings and favour.

One of the greatest blessings is salvation. This salvation that God has given through Jesus Christ does not only include eternal life - we can live in the presence of God forever. Our spirits live forever. Together with eternal life, Jesus came to give life and that we might have it abundantly.

Life is not abundant when we live in pain, or sickness, or in lack. 2 Cor 8:9 shows us that Jesus became poor that we might become rich.

And yes it is about having joy unspeakable and peace that passeth all understanding.
It is about enjoying unconditional love, and receiving undeserved mercy.
It is about living in divine health, and walking in unlimited grace.
It is about knowing that you are NEVER alone as you live life according to His plans and purposes for you.
It is knowing that His supply and resources in material terms will never run out.
It is about being fulfilled to the very core of your soul.

This salvation that Jesus obtained for us is for our spirit, soul and body.

Because we are born again, our spirits quickened or made alive, we are able to commune with Him spirit to spirit.

Our salvation begins in the spirit and is spiritual in nature. But because we live in this physical world, salvation impacts our bodies in terms of health and provision of food, shelter, clothes etc. His salvation plan thus includes our needs being met as stated in Philippians 4:19, and "all these things will be given to us" in Matthew 6:33. In the context of Matthew 6, Jesus was talking about clothes and food. Yet, as Matthew 6:33 also exhorts, we are to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, not "these things". And as we focus on "things above", things material will be "added unto us".

What about our soul? Well, so much of the spiritual blessings in terms of joy, peace, love etc., actually has to do with the soul.
Don't worry, for I have prepared a place for you...
Do not fear, for I am with you...
Don't be anxious, but in everything...
Rejoice! And again i say Rejoice!
These are but part of what the Word of God encourages, even urges us to do.
And these have to do with our emotional well-being...

Moreover, in order to fulfill the Great Commission, we need resources - financial, human; we need to physically strong and emotionally well-adjusted, we need to know who we are in Christ, what we can do in Him, and what His plans for us are. And this comes back to the relationship we have with our heavenly Father.

This is the abundant life. This is the eternal life. Knowing and being with our heavenly Father, and having all the resources that He has provided for us made available to us through His Son, and being able to commune with Him through the Holy Spirit.

Monday 2 March 2009

reaching out

"Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter?when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Isaiah 58:7).

I was watching Jamie Oliver's latest cooking series - his Australian diary - about 2 weeks ago. It featured his live cooking show in Sydney and Melbourne as well as his fourth FIFTEEN restaurant set up by the FIFTEEN foundation. This foundation was established to help those less privileged (delinquents, former drug addicts, abuse victims, etc) to become chefs and start a new life altogether.

It brought tears to my eyes the compassion he had for the students who were in the programme. I was moved by the vision he had for people who were so battered and downtrodden by their own choices, circumstances that they needed a leg up from others in order to just stand on their own two feet. It would be a continuous programme where at least 15 a year would be impacted. After receiving training in basic cooking skills (for a chef), they would work in the FIFTEEN restaurant for up to a year, and then be hired by other restaurants. The transformation was amazing for many of them, and this concept has been successfully established in three other restaurants in England and two other countries.

Of course there would be those who fall by the wayside because of their lack of discipline, and the inability to pull themselves out of their situation for various reasons.

How do i reach out as he had done? He used his fame, his celebrity status, his resources, time, money(?), energy, skill to influence many people to see his vision and to become part of it. Obviously i don't have fame and celebrity status. But how do i use what i had been blessed with to help others in such a practical manner?

From the time i was twenty, i had wanted to impact lives - one at a time. So i had taken time to invest in individuals with the grace of God. And i'm still doing that today, and excited about the people that God had put in my care. So precious!

I've also been contributing a monthly sum to World Vision (see earlier blog dated 17 August 2007) - nothing to boast of... just to encourage those of you to start with this avenue if you have been thinking about helping but still have not done anything about it.

But there's a desire in me to reach out more... to touch more lives at a time, which i believe i am doing partially, through teaching the Word of God.

This desire, which has been growing, makes me want to reach out to those who need just a little in order to make it through, in order to survive, in order to live.

I just heard from a friend yesterday there are people who count it a blessing to have three meals a week - just rice with some vegetables. The church set aside resources to provide three meals a week for the poor in the village.

My prayer is that God will open my eyes to see the needs, and open the doors to give the opportunity to help. This desire is more than words can express... and i believe the Lord will give me the words soon to express the desire which is also given by Him, so that i can run with it.

Habukkuk 2:2-3
2
Then the LORD answered me and said:
“ Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.


Sunday 1 March 2009

if i have not love, i am nothing

This phrase from 1 corinthians 13:2 resounded in my heart since for a month now.

(NKJV): (if I) have not love, i am nothing

(AMP): i am a useless nobody.

Strong language...

According to Romans 5:5, the love of God has been shed abroad in my heart, so i do have love.

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Since i do have love, i am able to love with God's kind of love - unconditionally, sacrificially.

Because i have love, i am not nothing. I am something. I am not a useless nobody. I am a useful somebody. :D

The same argument goes for a similar phrase in 1 Corinthians 13:3

(NKJV) (if i) have not love, it profits me nothing.

The AMPLIFIED version says: i gain nothing.

So it's not about doing spiritual things which are impressive, like speaking in tongues of men and of angels, and having spiritual gifts and great understanding, or even about doing physical and practical things like giving all that i have to the poor or being being martyred.

It is about having the LOVE of God (which we are already given), but this love has to be expressed in our behaviour.

In 1 Corinthians 13:1, the Amplified version explains love: that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God's love for and in us.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 continues:
4Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealous. It is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. 5It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. 6It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. 7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. 8Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end].

A tall order, but it's possible if i set my heart on it. It's possible just because the Word of God says so. Moreover, i want to be be something - a useful somebody.

So i love...

:D
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