He Knows

The Lord is indeed all knowing, even about things yet to happen. He has recently impressed upon my heart the fact that He often makes use of this knowledge to our advantage and for our good. God is for us. As His children, we can have the assurance that nothing ever caught our heavenly Father off guard, so we should never be fazed by any circumstance cropped up in our lives.

Last Wednesday I was supposed to have an appointment in Kuala Lumpur. I had taken leave from work so as to be able to make the trip, a two and a-half hour’s drive from Ipoh. However, last Tuesday afternoon the other party informed me that he would be coming to Ipoh instead so we could meet up here. I was happy not needing to make a distant trip, and thank the Lord for it. But that was only half the story.  Evening came and I found my body less than agreeable, its usual complaint flaring up in gastric pain coupled with throbbing headache just as whenever I am stressed out or overworked. My wife noted that I have of late worked too late into the night and slept too little because of my blog. So I retired very early at 8pm on Tuesday evening and woke up some twelve hours later. Because I didn’t have to go back to office I slept again after a light breakfast until noon. So I effectively put in some sixteen hours of sleep. The headache was gone and I felt real good when I met up with my friend after lunch. Looking back it would have been quite impossible for me to drive to K.L. and back that same day under the condition. I would have to start my journey at six in the morning to meet the appointment. But the Lord knew about my condition and arranged for a change in venue. He took care of the need of my body even before I realized there was a need. How good is my God!

There’s more to it.  On Tuesday morning a brother in our MMG informed me that his father had passed away and the family would be holding wake services on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. He took the trouble to personally text me on the phone to inform me, and I replied that I would be there. I was knocked out on Tuesday so I had to go on Wednesday. Again I don’t think it was possible for me to make it had I been to K.L. that day. It was truly amazing the way the Lord had put things together. I pondered about it on my way to the wake service giving thanks to the Lord in my heart, little did I suspect I was about to hear Him speak even more clearly about the very issue He had me thinking about.

At the end of the wake service, our brother gave a testimony of his father. In his own words he said he was “revealing a secret of his father”. Knowing our brother to be a pragmatist I gathered it must be something worth saying and profitable for us to hear. Indeed it was not only encouraging; it’s one of the most amazing testimonies that attest to the assurance of our eternal destiny that you will ever hear. This is the “secret”: prior to his death, the old man knew he was departing and was able to tell our brother the exact date he was going back to the Lord!

Before the recently concluded Chinese New Year, our brother and his wife visited his old man one day. During the visit his old man told them that he would pass on after the Chinese New Year, on the nineteenth. They were of course shocked to hear him pronounce the date of departure but they kept it in their hearts and pondered over it. As you know the first day of the Chinese (Lunar) New Year fell on the 3^rd of February this year. So they were counting the days until and pass the 19^th of February but the old man was alright. They were then able to let down their guard, but not for long. For in the early morning of the 22^nd of February at 5.30am it did happen: the old man breathed his last and went back to be with the Lord.  It was still close, our brother thought, only a difference of three days. But on retrospect, he checked the calendar and found the time to be just a few hours after the nineteenth of the first month of the lunar calendar! So that was what the old man meant, and he got it spot on!   

The Lord knew. He told the old man. The old man told his son. He spoke of a bearded man who visited him often in his last days. Who knows, our brother reasoned, it could be Jesus who came to lead him home. How good Jesus is! He prepared the old man and He prepared his children. When our brother spoke, it was with perfect assurance that his father is with the Lord. And he knows they will one day meet again.

A Tale of Two Kingdoms (9)

I would like to call time-off for the series A Tale of Two Kingdoms here. Surely we will come back to the topic on the Kingdom again and again because it is so rich and pregnant with divine truths applicable to life. However I think it is quite enough for the moment.

Thus far I’ve emphasized on two aspects of the Kingdom: the supernatural power and supernatural grace of God. Both are available to us in and through Jesus’ superior Kingdom. The powerful picture in Daniel 2 helps us understand and retain these truths in our mind. As we slowly digest them, we shall find our mind being transformed and we will cease to think like the world thinks.   

Then we will also live differently. We will live the Much More Life.

A Tale of Two Kingdoms (8)

A Secret of the Babylonian Kingdom

If you recall, in Daniel 2 (see also my blog post A Tale of Two Kingdoms (4)) we had a glimpse into Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, in which he saw a great image crumbling into pieces when a stone cut out without hands struck it. According to Daniel’s interpretation, there were to be four kingdoms of men, Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon being the first, before the setting up of God’s Kingdom. But we have to realize also that the image being a whole (gold, silver, bronze and iron-clay made into one structure), we can look at it as one kingdom – the Babylonian Kingdom.

This Babylonian Kingdom is the epitome of everything that’s of man, but all of man apart from and independent of God is satanic in nature. To understand the nature of the Babylonian Kingdom is but to understand the nature of God’s Kingdom. They are opposite. In essence, darkness is but the absence of light and death is but the absence of life. We have already seen that one aspect of God’s Kingdom is that it is full of Grace. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace (John 1:16, NKJV). There is a strange description given to the stone that struck the image – “cut out without hands”. We couldn’t fail to observe the emphasis, though somewhat odd looking at it. Certainly it means “not cut out with men’s hands”. This is a clear picture of Grace: none of human effort, all of God’s favor. It is the nature of His Kingdom.

The Babylonian Kingdom is smack of human effort, a lot of it. In human economy, everything we need or desire has to come from our hard work. We have to merit it. Fallen man is cursed with this curse: In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread (Gen 3:19, NKJV). We don’t have to go far to see this, just look at the life of one of the great kings of the four human kingdoms – Alexandra the Great. Classical Bible interpretation will tell you that the kingdom designated “bronze” refers to the Grecian Empire and her greatest king was Alexandra the Great. In his time, he conquered as much as he could possibly have done. That’s why Daniel 2:39 says of his kingdom: a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. It was said of Alexandra the Great that when he had conquered all that he could possibly reach, he sat down and wept. When asked why, he replied that it’s because there was no more land for him to conquer. You see, his meaning and purpose to life was determined by how much he could achieve, and when he could not exert himself anymore he felt miserable. What a pathetic life he had!

Whenever self-effort is esteemed, it’s because Law is being emphasized. Law always requires self-effort. Perfect Law demands greatest exertion of self-effort. What does Law say? When you do well to observe the commandments you will be blessed. When you fail to do so you will be cursed. It all depends on your doing, your self-effort.  It is easy to see that this system of Law governs the kingdom of men.

Let’s see what we can find in Nebuchadnezzar’s image. We have a head of gold, which Daniel said represents Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom. Gold is the strongest among the four metals. It speaks of purity and strength. There is also something we must notice about this gold: the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength and glory (Dan 2:37). So this gold represents something given and ordained by God which is very good, full of purity and strength.  But at the same time, we know that Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom was not good for God’s people Israel and not the will of God for them. Can you think of something whose nature is similar to this gold? It is good and ordained by God, yet not His will for His people. Why, it’s Law! Law fits the bill perfectly.  Law is good and holy, ordained by God, yet not His will for believers. It is easy to prove this about Law. Certainly there is no question that the Law is good: What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not… the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good (Rom 7:7,12, NKJV) But it is just as clear that it’s not God’s will for those who are in Christ to be under Law. Paul said in Galatians that Law is meant to bring us to Christ, but after that we are not supposed to be under Law: the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor (Gal 3:24-25, NKJV). So the gold of the image could represent Law, in fact it is perfect Law.

After gold come silver, bronze and iron. They are basically of the same substance so to say, i.e. they are metal, but each is inferior to its predecessor. If gold is perfect Law, then silver bronze and iron are more and more substandard Law.   Then, there is also a mixture of iron and clay. So, is this clay an even more inferior material? No, not so, not in the sense in our particular interpretation. In fact it is of a different substance. Basically it is of the same substance as the stone. If the stone represent perfect Grace, then the clay, which is inferior in strength, must represent substandard Grace! So, in fact what we have here is a mixture of substandard Law and substandard Grace. Do you get it? There is no mixture of perfect Law and perfect Grace; there cannot be. There can only be a mixture of substandard Law and substandard Grace. A professed believer of Jesus Christ, who believes that salvation only comes by grace but at the same time thinks that he must work hard to please God in order to deserve His blessings, is a good example of someone living under the mixture. Whatever they are, whether pure Law, substandard Law or a mixture of substandard Law and substandard Grace, they belong to the Babylonian Kingdom.

This is a secret of the Babylonian Kingdom, which is so powerful and efficient that it has kept many in darkness, even believers. But fear not, it is no match for the Kingdom of Grace, the stone cut out without hands. Jesus has no desire to let his loved ones live a second longer in the evil kingdom. He has begun a good work in our lives which He will bring to completion. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end (Isaiah 9:7, NKJV)

A Tale of Two Kingdoms (7)

Surprised by Grace

In A Tale of Two Kingdoms (5) I told you about my encounter with God’s power twice in one day. On both occasions I was made a mediator for the display of His power. No words can sufficiently describe my joy at being used by the Lord in such a manner. But really, normal Christian life should be like that. Through it all I could recognize His love for the individuals concerned that cause Him to demonstrate this power. Just as I literally could sense His power, I literally could feel His love.

The episode concerning my non-Christian colleague should teach us one thing or two about His Kingdom. It is a perfect example of the demonstration of the grace of God. Grace simply means favor. Because of His love God is predisposed to show us favor. Favor is not favor if it’s deserved or earned. One simply receives favor from another as a gift, not doing anything to deserve it.  My colleague certainly did not do anything to deserve this particular favor from God. In fact the Bible says that anyone who does not have Jesus is in enmity with God! He was pleasantly surprised. Think about it, if I were your friend you might want to do me a favor, but what if I was your enemy? Such is the grace of God. And it is a common commodity in His Kingdom.

What about the sister who also received healing on the same day? Did she earn it? Do Christians need to earn their blessings? The idea sounds like words from a familiar song, You better be good … Santa’s coming. I remember years ago when I was very active in church ministry works, well-meaning brothers and sisters, even leaders and pastors, would tell me that God will bless me a lot because I served Him fervently. I had hoped that it’s true and worked even harder. But for a period of time following that I struggled financially. Then I contemplated spending less time “serving” God and more time on my career. Some suggested then that the Lord would withhold His blessings. Well, I thought, there’s not much He could withhold anyway. But deep inside I didn’t believe that my God is like that. True enough, as I “served” Him less and went about my own life I saw His favor increased. I was greatly blessed.      

I am not telling anyone to stop serving in church, nor am I suggesting that how much we serve God should be determined by how much blessing we can derive out of it. But I am saying that the notion that Christians ought to serve God in order to be blessed is wrong. You cannot earn God’s blessings. They come because of His favor. In fact, His blessings may not come when we try to earn it because we are joining ourselves to a different system – the Babylonian system, in which self-effort is the rule. We have to join ourselves to His Kingdom. Grace permeates the atmosphere of His Kingdom.

So my dear sister certainly did not earn her blessing. Do not be mistaken, she is a committed Christian. Still, she didn’t earn her blessing. The Lord simply wanted to demonstrate to her His love and power, just like He did to my non-Christian colleague. But there are Christians who try to earn God’s blessings. They thought by their effort at serving Him and at righteous living they could somehow deserve His blessings. They are sincere and honest, but unfortunately they have lived their life under a mixture of law and grace. It’s a human system, not of God.   

Jesus despises the mixture of Law and Grace. He told us so in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, didn’t He?

Of Da Vinci Code, Gnosticism and the Bible

Popularity cannot ensure authenticity or accuracy; we are not saying just because the Bible is the all-time bestseller it must be absolutely correct and reliable as the Word of God (I certainly believe it is so but not for this reason). If it were so we would have a problem with one run-away bestseller The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, because it blatantly claims that the Bible doesn’t tell half the truth about Jesus Christ.

Over 80 million copies of The Da Vinci Code have been sold since 2003; it has become the best-selling English novel of the 21^st Century. The author claims that the story he tells about Jesus Christ and the church is absolutely true, which means what the Bible says about Jesus is not. The juicy part of it is that Jesus was supposed to have married Mary Magdalene and that she carried the bloodline of Jesus. The early church fathers were accused of suppressing the truth in collaboration with the Roman Emperor Constantine I and chose what they want people to believe to be included in the Bible.  According to the book, some ancient writings about Jesus known as the Gnostic Gospels were marginalized in favor of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John found in our Bible. The following is a quote from the Wikipidea on The Da Vinci Code:

“According to The Da Vinci Code, the Roman Emperor Constantine I suppressed Gnosticism because it portrayed Jesus as purely human. The novel's argument is as follows. Constantine wanted Christianity to act as a unifying religion for the Roman Empire. He thought Christianity would appeal to pagans only if it featured a demigod similar to pagan heroes. According to the Gnostic Gospels, Jesus was merely a human prophet, not a demigod.  Therefore, to change Jesus' image, Constantine destroyed the Gnostic Gospels and promoted the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which portray Jesus as divine or semidivine.”

The Gnostic Gospels are not some new discovery, the early church fathers and scholars were well aware of them.What believers need to know is that the Gnostic Gospels were indeed not considered Scripture when the canon (a standard or norm) of the New Testament was established but not for the reason stated in the novel.  In their book From God to Us (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), Geisler and Nix listed 5 basic criteria for discovering canonicity (i.e. for a biblical book to be recognized as Scripture and included in the Bible): (1) Is the book authoritative – does it claim to be of God? (2) Is it prophetic – was it written by a servant of God? (3) Is it authentic – does it tell the truth about God, man, etc.? (4) Is the book dynamic – does it possess the life-transforming power of God? (5) Is this book received or accepted by the people of God for whom it was originally written – is it recognized as being from God? All the books in the Bible by and large fulfilled all the above but the Gnostic Gospels did not. In fact they were included in a category of books known as Pseudepigrapha, meaning the books rejected by all! To quote Geisler and Nix again: “…Eusebius (one of the renowned early Church Fathers) called these books totally absurd and impious. Virtually no Father, canon or council pronounced any of those books canonical. So far as Christians are concerned, these books are mainly of historical interest. Their contents are heretical teachings of Gnostic, Docetic, and ascetic errors. The Gnostics were a philosophical sect claiming special knowledge into the divine mysteries. They held that matter is evil and denied the Incarnation of Christ. Docetics held to the deity of Christ but denied His humanity, saying He only appeared to be human. The ascetic Monophysites taught that Christ had only one nature, which was a fusion of the divine and human.”

So out of the way the Gnostic Gospels! And Dan Brown’s book could at best be recognized as good fiction, quite entertaining. The Bible is authentic and accurate, not least because of the stringent conditions for discovering canonicity for the books it contains, but also because of the almost fool-proof transmission process of the books. We will not go into the details here. I don’t think The Da Vinci Code has done much harm to the perceived credibility of the Bible. If any, it has raised the Christian’s awareness and understanding of Gnosticism – which was a prominent Greek thought in the times when the New Testament was written and had influenced some of what’s been written. Armed with this awareness the believer will certainly understand his New Testament better. So thank you, Brown!

Much More Group Presentation-The History of the English Bible

Some time ago, in my post Archaeology and the Bible, I told you about the study project the MMG was working on. I think we are now ready to present our findings. I would like to invite you my dear reader to this presentation next Tuesday February 15, 2011-8pm at my house (do contact me if you need direction).

The Bible is the most printed book ever, and more Bibles in English have been printed than  in other languages. Over 1 billion copies of the KJV Bible alone have been printed. However, its value does not stop at it being the most printed book. To believers, it is the Word of God, and they treasure it on a very personal dimension.

How much do we know about our Bible? How it comes to be the way it is? How reliable is it as the Word of God? Who translated it from its original languages? These are just some of the questions we try to answer. We don’t pretend to know it all, I think the session will raise more questions than answer them but it will be a good starting point for everyone to learn more about the subject. More than giving a presentation on facts and knowledge, we hope to foster an appreciation for God’s love towards us by His giving us the “love letters”.

Come and see.

The English Bible and God’s Faithfulness

Today, if you were to enter a Christian bookshop looking for a Bible you will be spoilt for choice. In any good bookshop, you will find some twenty versions available, sometime even more. Bible translation and publication so flourish today it seems we could have a new version every other year. We must appreciate all who work hard to translate and publish the Bible, for they are a great blessing to us. It is really hard to imagine a time when such noble actions could land one with a charge punishable by death, in many cases burnt to death on a stake! And that by people who professed to be defender of the Christian faith!

The translation of the Bible into English has come a long way. John Wycliffe, an Oxford scholar, started the ball rolling in the 1380s producing the first hand-written English language Bible manuscripts.  The books in the Bible were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, but Wycliffe used the Latin Vulgate, which was used by the church at the time, for his translation work. Wycliffe is known as the Morning Star of the Reformation; at the heart of the Reformation was the idea that every believer should have access to the Bible in his native tongue. The Roman Church was dead against this idea, for if the masses could access and read the Bible for themselves the church would lose control over them and in the long run it would hurt the coffers of the Pope and his cronies. The church at the time wielded great power, even over kings of states, not to say common people.  The Pope was so infuriated with Wycliffe’s teachings and actions that some forty-four years after his death the Pope ordered his bones dug out, crushed and thrown into the river.

Most of Wycliffe’s Bibles were destroyed but the struggle continued. In 1526, William Tyndale produced the first printed edition of the New Testament in English. His works ultimately became the basis for the Authorized King James Version of 1611; in fact nine-tenths of the KJV is Tyndale. Even today, the KJV Bible holds the distinction of the most printed book in the world with over one billion copies printed. But Tyndale was in hiding in Europe when he printed his New Testament. He had to flee England earlier on in order to work on his translation project, because while in England as soon as the authority got wind of him working on his project they tried to hunt him down and stop him from his translation work. After printing, his N.T. had to be smuggled into England; anyone found in possession of a copy would be arrested and burnt at the stake. Tyndale was later caught and put in prison. King Henry VIII of England, then eager to please the Pope, ordered Tyndale’s execution. On Oct 6, 1536, having been incarcerated for more than 500 days, William Tyndale was strangled and burnt at the stake. His last words were, “Oh Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”.

The above are the heroics of just two of the Lord’s generals. Countless more were involved in His cause and they gladly paid the price. The struggle continued; many more were burnt at the stake. It was like birth pangs at the time of labour, but it couldn’t stop the baby coming out. Nothing could stop the advancement of God’s will: to have His Holy Word available in English. Today the vast number of English Bibles available is testament to God’s power and His faithfulness towards those He called for the cause. He is faithful! And He always has the last laugh.

A Tale of Two Kingdoms (6)

Carried away by the Wind

Since we are on the subject of power, let me tell you another true story that demonstrates a power encounter between the two kingdoms. It happened quite recently, in mid January. We have a lovely lady who is among the eldest in our MMG, I shall call her Lynn. Lynn is a frank and outspoken person, and she speaks with a loud clear voice; firm and swift in her steps, there is nothing to suggest her age save for some bit of gray hair. In fact, to me her voice exudes formidable strength, which must have come forth from a strong spirit. But on that particular day when I heard her voice over the telephone, she sounded quite sick.  I had meant to contact her about our forthcoming meeting but after hearing her I decided that I must visit her as soon as I could.

When my wife Meiwan and I reached Lynn’s place after work, her appearance and demeanor told us that she had suffered much pain and anxiety. I was quite taken aback to see that our usually upbeat sister had become a different person altogether. Lynn said it started with a tormenting headache a few days back, then she developed double vision – she said she could see her grandson having four eyes and everything she saw was like two-dimensional without depth. She went to see a general physician who gave her some pain-killer but advised her to see an eye-specialist. The medicine somewhat relieved her pain but her vision continued to be abnormal and now what troubled her most was a heart palpitation condition (fast and strong beating) which was getting worse. She was on medication for her heart condition for some time now but apparently the medicine didn’t help much this time round. Coupled with a constant buzzing sound in her ears, the condition caused her gripping anxiety.  I think the likelihood of needing to spend more money on seeing some specialist was also weighing on her mind, worry was written all over her face.

Of course the reason we visited her was to pray for her, so Meiwan and I took turn at it laying hands on her to heal her body. Initially there was not much change, but the more I prayed  the more I could sense a compassion for her that was far more than my empathy towards her. I now realize that it must have been Jesus’ compassion for her that I felt. After two rounds of prayer we seemed not to be too successful but something inside me told me that we must persist. At this point Lynn brought our attention to the buzzing sound in her ears which she said was sometime very soft and unnoticeable but was now like howling at her. She seemed to think that this could be a major problem. Then Meiwan discerned that it was a “noisy” spirit that was causing the problem and told us so.

What she said made me realize that thus far we had been trying to heal the symptoms on the body without recognizing the root problem was spiritual. Immediately I placed my hands on both of Lynn’s ears and commanded the oppressive spirit to leave. I was still in the midst of prayer when suddenly I caught a rather disagreeable stink coming out of nowhere. Meiwan smelled it too. We learnt from Lynn later on that her grandson who was at the back of the house at the time (we were with Lynn in the living room) also caught the smell. I continued praying and stopped after a while. This time Lynn said with a slight smile that the heart beating had become regular. We prayed some more and the buzzing sound became negligible too. Before long she was free from all the physical conditions that had kept her captive for a few days. Most importantly even the fear and anxiety had left. In a very short time we could see that our sister’s appearance had changed dramatically. When we left the house she was back to her upbeat and buoyant mood and my wife marveled at the change so conspicuous. To think of it, it was quite incredible. But when the Kingdom of God comes upon you, nothing shall be impossible. Barely one day after prayer, Lynn gave her testimony in our MMG meeting giving Glory to God. She was evidently very relieved that she didn't have to see a specialist.

I was most intrigued over the unpleasant smell, it kept me thinking. I dare say without a doubt that it was the evidence of some evil element being lifted up, a “noisy” spirit according to Meiwan but possibly more than that. Very naturally I thought of the scripture in Daniel 2, in particular verse 35. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan 2:35, NKJV). Lynn was so to say being overwhelmed by the kingdom of darkness with an overt manifestation of its reality, but when the greater Kingdom of Jesus came crushing into it, it was destroyed and its elements carried away by the wind. The stink in this case clearly portrayed the picture of evil being carried away by the wind. Not only is evil to be defeated and its influence stayed, evil is to be completely removed from the scene. More than that, the reality of His Kingdom such as peace and joy will increase and fill the void left behind. This is God’s will when His Kingdom comes. He is truly awesome.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

 

I wish all my Chinese readers a happy and prosperous New Year.

It is the Chinese custom to pronounce the blessing of prosperity upon everyone that we meet during this festive season, also known as the Spring Festival. To think of it, this is really Christian. Our Father in heaven couldn't be more pleased to hear His desire announced in such frequency. He wants you rich. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Cor 8:9, NKJV). So pronounce the blessing and receive it unabashedly.


Gong Xi Fa Cai!

A Tale of Two Kingdoms (5)

Power and the Kingdom

I preached on Daniel 2 in our Much More Group meeting on Oct 19, 2010. The title of the message was “Jesus’ Superior Kingdom”.  Some came to me after that saying it was a truly awesome message and they were very blessed.   Some regretted that it was not recorded in audio form. Sometime I don’t know whether I have encouraged them more or they have encouraged me more. These are really precious brothers and sisters to me and they are the Lord’s precious people. My desire is that through these articles there can be some measure of record on what the Lord has put in my heart, including but not limited to what I have preached in the group meeting or in church. And everyone, including myself, can always go back to it and chew on it. Knowledge, however, is not only information and content. It is also experience.  

We had very anointed and powerful worship that particular evening and throughout I felt like I was in a warm bath, only I was not wet. In the midst of the worship I suddenly had a physical sensation on my upper back towards the side near the left shoulder. It lingered and I knew that the Lord was telling me something. After the worship I asked if someone in our midst was suffering pain and I described the condition. A sister responded and after confirming the condition of pain I laid my right hand on her head and commanded the problem to leave. Faith was easy when you have confirmed a word of knowledge. I remembered my right hand becoming hot, really hot, as I prayed for her. Immediately after a short prayer the sister declared the pain was gone. I love the way she put it. She simply said, “It’s gone!” This demonstration of power set the tone for the evening. It fanned into flame a message that’s already burning in my heart. 

The Lord is good to His people, and He is not confused as to what is good and what is bad. My favorite author Bill Johnson put it this way: Jesus is perfect theology. The Bible tells us that Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38, NKJV). So make no mistake about it, to be healthy is something good, else Jesus would not be “doing good” putting people out of sickness. The kind of teaching that says that sickness could be from God to teach us something and we should glorify God in it is at best misinformed, or worse it’s from the pit of hell.  Deuteronomy 28 speaks about blessings and curses. Believers will do well to check it up to see for themselves how God defines “good” and “bad”.

In His goodness He desires the coming of His Kingdom upon our lives to remove and replace any limiting difficulty or adverse circumstance. The collision of His Kingdom with the kingdom of darkness is always a power encounter, and His Kingdom always wins. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The message of Daniel 2 serves to emphasize the truth of the all-conquering power of His kingdom, not only to Nebuchadnezzar, but also to all that have ears to hear.

Here is another true story. It happened in the morning of the same day. I was at work and was having a chat with a male colleague of mine. We were talking about things concerning our work and nothing about Jesus. But unexpectedly the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart that my colleague had pain in his right knee. Certainly I couldn’t tell the Lord it’s working time and not ministering time. But yet it was kind of awkward to pull myself out of an on-going conversation and ask him if he had pain on his right knee.  Anyway I did it because the Lord insisted. My colleague was stunned. With a look of utter unbelief on his face he confirmed it was true and kept asking me how I came to know about it. He was a Buddhist but he did not object when I asked if I can pray for him. He was healed on the spot. And I got to share Christ with him.

Two incidents in one day got me thinking. Jesus is really keen to establish His kingdom in our life, don’t you think so? Neither of the ailments in question is life threatening, yet Jesus desired to show both our sister, a devoted Christian, and my colleague, a devoted Buddhist, His love and His power. Jesus will show up whenever we call upon Him and He will show Himself strong on behalf of us. He is willing to do it more often than we dare think.

Won’t you let Him?