We've Been Offered Glory

He taught in the meeting places and He offered everyone glory!...Lk 4 :14, TPT

You read it right: Jesus offers everyone glory. That was The Passion Translation’s rendering of the later part of the 14^th  verse of Luke chapter 4. In the footnote the translator states that this is a literal translation from the Aramaic text.

I was stunned when I first read it. Never read it this way; I bet you too.

Jesus went about teaching in the synagogues, and He offered everyone glory! But what exactly does He mean by “glory”? Perhaps the following verse would shed some light on the matter:

But Jesus said, “Don’t you know there are other places I must go so I can offer to them the hope of God’s kingdom-realm? This is what I have been sent to do.”…Lk 4:43, TPT

So by “glory” Jesus meant “the hope of God’s kingdom-realm”.

How things go in the realm of God’s Kingdom?

In God’s kingdom there can be no shame, no sickness, no strife, no oppression, no bondage, no poverty and no lack of any kind. And Jesus offers us the hope of being in such a state - a state of shalom peace. Instead of shame we could have honor; instead of sickness we could have health; instead of strife we could have peace; instead of oppression we could have liberty; instead of poverty we could have wealth and instead of lack we could have abundance.

This is glory!

There are two more things about this glory.

Firstly, it has been offered to us by Jesus. We are not called to attain it.

Secondly, the glory is here and now. If it were not so, Jesus would not have asked us to pray “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Too many believers are waiting to get to heaven, whereas the Lord wants them to usher in heaven on earth now.

Glory! Glory! Glory!

You have been offered GLORY! Take it.

Image courtesy of Victor Habbick at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Happy Day

It is a happy day.

The little girl has only happy thoughts. Why, she gets to eat ice-cream! This is the third time in a week she has asked her father. He relented.

In the process she learned something: it pays to persevere.

Well, I bet she doesn't understand the big word; can’t even pronounce it. But she’s got the idea.

Her mother says that she is just like the father: loves ice-cream. She says that the little fellow has been having too much lately and that is the reason for her complaining stomach-ache for much of the past week.

He loves it – that her little girl is just like him. Got to be careful though; must refrain from giving her ice-cream. Not until her stomach is okay.

Sometimes, you need to persevere, to persist, to keep on asking. The Father who loves you will grant you the desire of your heart. At the right time.

And it is a happy day.

Unreasonable Hope?

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You must have been told before, and very often:

This is not our way; in anything we must have principles, follow the rules. This is not the right time. There is a time for everything. Be patient. Be good. Be reasonable. 

And all the while your heart is burning. You have never felt more worked up, and you know you are in the right. Follow the rules? You asked. What if those who made the rules or are supposed to uphold the rules don’t follow the rules? You have worked hard. You have played fair. You have hoped much. Yes, never have you had this much hope. But what now? You asked. Am I to keep on waiting? Until when? Until what?

A wise man once said: Hope deferred makes the heart sick! (Prov 13:12)

You cannot help but suspect that at times rules are made to help keep those in power in power. And they appeal to your decency to behave like a gentleman, to play by the rules, to bide the right time. If you fall for it you will be sick. Very sick. Perpetually sick.

What then should you do?

Something stunning happened one day when Jesus traveled to worship at the holy temple.  Early morning, on the way to the temple with His disciples, Jesus felt hungry. Seeing a fig tree from afar, He approached it hoping to find some fruit to eat. But there was none. Hungry and disappointed, you know what Jesus did? He cursed the fig tree, saying, “From now on no man shall eat fruit from you again.” And the fig tree withered from its roots up.

Beholding the feat in itself is jaw-dropping to say the least. Curse a tree and it dies?! Really cool. But to me, the most amazing thing is that the good old book explains that there was no fruit because it was not the season for figs!

Well, if it was not the season for figs how could you expect to have figs? Isn’t it unfair to expect fruit on the fig tree? Isn’t Jesus’ hope of finding something to eat on the fig trees out of season unreasonable? Yes - if you look from the perspective of the world and the fig tree. No - if you look from the perspective of Jesus and His Kingdom.

In Jesus’ own estimate he is the rightful owner of everything created including the fig tree. All things created must serve their function – in the case of the fig tree to produce figs for man – and in the manner prescribed by the Creator. The corruption on the earth as a result of sin has so distorted the original purpose of the Creator that things created for mankind have demanded to serve on their own terms – in their seasons. Of course Jesus could not accept this when he walked in. He took the opportunity to demonstrate His power.

Is your hope unreasonable? Never - if God is with you. Like Jesus, your words carry great power. Use them to remove the mountain that stands between you and the abundant life that God has promised you.

Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready?

Curse the fig tree!

Scripture: Mk 11:12-24

 

Fullness of Time

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” 

Galatians 4:4-5 NKJV

Fullness of time.

The phrase surely packs a punch – as if time itself is forced to stand still momentarily before the unraveling event makes it flow again. And the perpetual waiting finally comes to an end. But who could discern the fullness of time except God? Who lives long enough and could see the beginning and the end? It takes one who lives longer than time itself to declare that it is the fullness of time. It shouldn’t surprise us to find scarce use of the phrase outside of the Bible. Only God could declare it is the fullness of time.

They waited and waited, the Jews who had been given inside information, for the coming of their Messiah. They were oppressed as a people, and longed to see God’s salvation. They needed deliverance. Their prophets often asked God how long they had to wait. So much so when the old prophet saw the baby Jesus show up in the temple he said he is finally free to die (Luke 2:25-32). What many of them didn’t know was that the Messiah didn’t come for a people, He came for all people.

God knows when it is the fullness of time, and that not only for the birth of Jesus.  When it concerns those that He loves, nothing is too big nothing is too small.

Bryan was taking the final exams at the end of his second year in college. Studied late the previous night he woke up one day at an odd time. He was wide awake suddenly and very fresh, nothing of the drowsiness that he usually feels in transition from deep sleep. The light the ambience the room temperature all felt odd. He looked at the clock – it was 2:00pm! And he was supposed to sit for the Literature paper at 2pm! Immediately he darted from his dorm and rushed to the exam hall – fortunately at a lower floor in the same building! He was in at 2:10pm while the rest were just settling down to the papers in front of them. He sat down, did his paper and scored an A for it.

When Bryan told me his story two weeks ago he was fresh from his exams. He was so eager to share with me his unforgettable experience of being wakened up by God I could see light shining from his eyes. His gratefulness towards the Lord oozed out of his being and soaked the realm around us. Life could not be hidden.

Is there anything you are concerned about? The Lord knows when it is the fullness of time for you. He will act when the fullness of time is come.

Photo Credit: Grant Cochrane at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Scripture Link: BibleGateway.com 

Choosing the Supernatural Life

The supernatural is for every child of God, everyone who believes.

Actually, to claim that we have a relationship with the living God presupposes that we can live in the supernatural realm because God is a supernatural being who cannot be seen with our natural eyes. Isn’t it odd to think that we can talk to God and hear Him but other areas of the miraculous are not reachable? If we can communicate with God it means that we have access to the supernatural realm.

Throughout the Bible men through faith in God performed “impossible feats”. They opened up the sea, stopped the sun going down, called down fire from heaven, walked on water, healed the sick and raised the dead. Many of them lived before Jesus under a lesser covenant. The New Testament recorded Jesus’ and His followers’ works of miracles in graphic details. Before Jesus left the world to go back to His Father He told His disciples that those who believe in Him will do even greater works (John 14:12).

Signs and wonders marked the ministry of Jesus. Signs and wonders marked the ministry of the early apostles. Signs and wonders must also mark the ministry of the church today. But why is it not so -mostly? Where are the greater works that Jesus said would be commonplace?

Most in the church today are concerned about one of two things: trying to do something for God or trying to be good for God. But the thing is that anyone can do these without God being involved at all. Although it gives us a sense of security doing things we know we can manage, a humanistic gospel is never the true gospel. The lack of power does not come without a cause. The more we try to do something we know to do without God the more we are estranged from His presence and His power.

Only when we attempt the impossible are we telling God that we need Him to show up! That is why Jesus placed so much emphasis on a ministry of signs and wonders. Those who have received supernatural blessings have no doubt that the very personal God has broken into their world. Those who administer the blessings have no doubt they have become a vessel through which the streams of living water flow (John 7:38). A life like this is worth living because God’s Life is being lived out through you (Gal 2:20). We are meant to live like this and only those who have Christ can live like this. Anything less simply cannot satisfy.

 
So choose to live the supernatural life. Start with this: go heal the sick. You will find the whole of heaven backing you up.

Photo Credit : Victor Habbick at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Scripture Link: Biblegateway.com 

When Grace Moves In

                                                 

Set up by God (1)

You have hedged me behind and before, and laid your hand upon me. ...Ps 139:5

If you’ve ever had any interaction with God at all, you must have experienced being set up by Him.

He loves to take the initiative, and He only has good things in store for us. Much too often when something happen to us we attribute it to luck or coincidence. But when we look at them from the eyes of faith, we could often see His fingerprint all over the place.

Towards the end of February I was jobless. I had resigned from my last job in K.L. late last December to come back to Ipoh, having had a three-month stint there. Primarily it was because I didn’t want to be away from my wife and my daughter anymore; so again I took a step of faith. While working in K.L. I often thought how good it would be if the job was in Ipoh. However, there weren’t many openings for my position in Ipoh, and pay was also generally lower.  Well, I did have something that I could work on - some friends have entrusted me with a few plots of land to develop and sell, although I couldn’t expect any income in the short term. By the end of February I had done the ground work and had begun marketing work. 

I wanted very much for it to work out; I didn’t want to go back to K.L. to work. But it wasn’t easy. Property development takes time, and I had run out of reserve - having no income in four of the previous seven months. I tried to get some contract works but couldn’t. Finding myself in a tight spot financially, I grew increasingly frustrated. I even began to doubt if I had heard God correctly in the first place when in last July I resigned from the company that I had worked for seven years. Until and unless I clinched some sales, and it needed to be fast, my work was like grasping thin air. I told the Lord I needed something concrete to work on that provided income immediately.

One Sunday evening I listened to a message by Bill Johnson. He made a statement that caught my ear. He was concerned about people having no job, but his concern was far more than about the need for survival. This is the way he put it: if anyone is denied a job he’s denied a means to worship God. Our work is not only the means to an income, but in giving our life to it it’s also the means by which we expressed ourselves in what God made us to be. And that is worship. We cannot be denied our right to worship God. And God cannot be denied worship due to Him.

I pondered over it, and my desire to work on something concrete immediately took on a different dimension. The need for survival was still strong, but more importantly I decided that I cannot be denied the right to worship my Creator!

That was a Sunday evening. And on the following Tuesday, I received the phone call.

I had not heard from Yee for about three years, but I immediately recognized his voice. He is a good brother in Christ, and in the same line of work as I am. We have known each other for more than ten years but had no contact for the past three. He sounded real happy to connect up, and in no time told me why he did so: he was looking for someone to work with him! He thought I might fit the bill and asked me to go see him. To cut the story short, within a week I met him and his boss and was offered a job! And the offer was better than my previous employment in K.L.!

What is the chance that some friend you have not seen for three years call you up and offer you a job when you need it? I knew I had been set up by God.

Take heart, you could be next!

Photo Credit: dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Freedom from the Power of Sin

Dead Old Man (5)

When God created the world, there was no sin. Everything was very good, even in God’s eyes. Knowing God’s standard, when he says it’s good it must be good. Man had everything he needs and enjoyed all that God had created.   But when sin came into the world as a result of Adam’s disobedience, things changed. This verse sums up the practical side of things (God was speaking to man):

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return. (Gen 3:19, NKJV)

Because of sin, man got a curse instead of blessing. Man was created to live on God’s blessing and favour; that was his confident posture before God. It was as natural as breathing. But after sin, curse had become his lot.  

Because of sin, the ground was also cursed and man had to work hard for a living - this is the source of poverty on earth. Poverty is not only a sense of lack, but also a sense of difficulty in fulfilling need.

Because of sin, death came upon man to return him to dust. Sickness either became an agent to cause weakness in the body or sickness resulted due to weakening of the body. Either way, sin brought sickness into the world.

Sin is powerful and its effects far-reaching, the above are the effects it had on the Old Man. Not only was the Old Man a slave to sin, he was also a slave to curse poverty sickness and death. But since our Old Man is dead we are no longer under the power of sin. Our Old Man who was ravaged by, or susceptible to, the power of sin was crucified with Christ on the cross. We are no longer under the power and effects of sin. We have been freed from its power!

If the Old Man was a slave to sin curse poverty sickness and death, then the New Man’s nature must be one of righteousness, blessing, wealth, divine health and life. I am not saying that we will not die physically, but as long as we live here on earth we should live free from the power of sin and in the nature of the New Creation, which we are in Christ. Why call ourselves the New Creation if we see ourselves the same as the Old Man?

This is indeed good news. Do you see yourself as poor and sickly? It’s time to see the poor and sickly “you” crucified on the cross.  The new “you” is a different person: one who is rich healthy and strong. You are a New Man. Have the correct image of the new “you” and you will live out the life of the New Man.

Photo Credit: thampapon1 on FreeDigitalPhotos.net