'Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.' Psalm 37:4
For those who have been journeying with us in the last few months, you will know that we are still in Singapore waiting to get back to our work in China.
When we first came out, it was because of the visa restriction that the Chinese authorities had imposed to all foreigners due to their hosting of the Olympic which was over recently. Since we returned to Singapore in late June, the consistent word that came back to us from various friends as they prayed for us was 'safe or safety'. In the last few weeks, the word seems to be clearer. When I was in HK doing some teachings, one of the words received by the students for us was 'Stop' and 'Proceed after it is safe'. In the last couple of days, we attended a prophetic seminar in a local church in Singapore and the speaker brought up a point that this is a time where God wants to bring us into a SAFE location to protect us from danger before He launch us out again. Though the speaker is speaking to the whole congregation, it seems as though Father is speaking to us directly at the same time.
We had been praying constantly whether Father wants us to return back to China to continue our work or to stay on in HK for a period of time. Personally, as the head of the family, my fear is whether I am leading the family according to the Will of Father be it living inside the Mainland or in HK. And the underlying fear is that He will not bless us or He will be 'angry' with us if I made the wrong choice.
This morning, I was talking to Father again about where to stay when we plan to return back to China in the 1st week of October or by mid-October latest. And I was telling Father that I want to move to where He wants me to move so that He will not be unhappy with me. To my surprise, He spoke into my spirit and ask me why do I think He will be unhappy and not bless our family if I have made a decision not according to His will. My reply to Him was that wouldn't it be natural for Him to be upset if I made a decision that is NOT according to His Will. Well, His reply into my spirit is almost immediate. He said that He will not be upset with us just because I made a decision that may not be according to His Will. He is not a Father that is easily upset by us. And that His Will for us as a family and personally will be done on earth as in Heaven.
And it was at the end of this 'conversation' with Father that it donned in my spirit that since we started praying in late June till now about where to stay when we get back to China, in the mainland or in HK, our focus is what is His Will for US and whether He will be pleased with US based on the decision that we are going to make. Yet, I have never thought about what is the decision that will MAKE Him glad! The focus has been on our family and me though we have been talking about His Will. It is about US because we have been talking about His Will for US. We had been talking about are WE making decision according to His Will. And I have not asked Him what decision will make Him glad. Our focus in the past months has been about US, frankly, though we keep asking for His will be done.
The verse in Psalm 37:4 came to my mind immediately. Delight ourself in the Lord and He will grant us the desire of our heart. What does it mean to delight in the Lord? I am not a theologian. To me, it simply means asking Him what makes Him glad and do just that. When I do that, what delight Him (or make Him happy) will actually becomes my desire and He will grant it to me. And His desire for me is always good and pleasing. It is not something that will cause much distress in my spirit. It is not something that I will say in a sorrowful heart, 'Not my will but Thine be done.' But rather I will be able to say it in a delightful spirit 'Not my will but Yours be done!' when I learn to delight in Him first.
Now, my focus has been changed. I started to ask Father what kind of decision would makes Him glad with regards to whether we are to live inside mainland China or in HK when we make the move to return in early or mid Oct.
I pray that as I share this morning's experience with Father, it will encourage all of you who read this blog to consider where our focus is when we are praying or making a decision. Even when we are praying about His Will. Is our focus really on Him or are we basically focusing on ourselves. That if we take out the phrase 'His Will', the focus of our prayer or activities is just US? Have we asked Him what delight Him or what will make Him happiest in our live?
For our family and myself, we will change the focus of our prayer. It will no longer be about US primarily. It will be about His Delight. And in His DELIGHT, He will grant us our desire that WILL BE according to His Delight. That desire will comes from Him and that desire will be the best for us becasue what DELIGHTS Him will also be good for us.
Blessings
Monday, September 22, 2008
Isaac and Ismael
Hi Everyone,
Just want to share with you what I was sharing with 1 sister about hearing the Voice of God regarding His will for our lives.
We were talking about hearing His voice regarding His will and the frustration of the 'silent period' where He seems to say nothing anymore. I believed that all of us have such experience.
We heard God or see Him directing us in a certain direction, which at that point of time seems to indicate that is the Will of Him for us. Than, quite suddenly or gradually, He seems to stop 'talking' to us or directing us. And we start to wonder if we have heard Him correctly or maybe it is time for us to change course etc.
As we chatted, we talked about the lessons from the life of Abraham, the father of Faith. We all know that Father spoke to him about leaving his home country to another city that Father is the builder and also the promise of a son where his descandants will be numerous as the sand of the seashore or the stars of heaven. However, many of us seems to have the impression (through the teaching of some teachers or our wrong understanding) that Father speaks to Abraham continuously regarding His Will (the promised city and the son).
Yet a careful examination of the bible reveal the opposite. For the promise of a son, between the first time that Father spoke to Abraham and the 2nd time of assuring him of the promise, there is a space of about 10yrs. And between the 2nd assurance to the actual birth of Isaac, at least 1 more year had passed. In between the 'silent period' of Father, all Abraham had is to see the stars in Heaven and the sand in the desert as his assurance of the promise.
And Abraham is like us. There came a point that he begin to doubt and thus agreed with his wife, Sarah, on how to 'help' God fulfil this promise. We know the rest of the story. Ismael was born.
Many of us are like Abraham at various point of our lives. We receive a promise or revelation or direction about our lives. We are excited. And He had also promise that if we look to the 'stars' and the 'stand', it will remain us of His promise or will. Than came the 'silent period'. For some of us, it has been a month or a year or even 10 years or 20 since He has last spoken that promise to us. And what we did do? We started to try to help God to fulfil His promise. We start to look around us to see what we can do to fulfil that promise or should we change course.
And what happen next is that the 'Ismael' of our life (a ministry or career that seems to be what God has promise) is born and we thought that this is what Father has plan for us. Yes, Ismael is a boy (God promise Abraham that he will have a son). And yes, Ismael grows up healthy and definitely taking on the characteristic and probably even the image of Abraham. And similarly, our so-called ministry (when actually it is a 'Ismael'
seems to begin to grow and taking on the characteristic and even the image that we want it to have. Yet that is still not His will because it is not the 'Isaac' that He promise.
We see that God did not stop Abraham from conceiving a son thru Haggai and we did not see God stopping the birth of Ismael. Why? Because He respect our will. If we choose to fulfil His will with our ways, He will actually allow it to happen. But it is still not His will. And it would seems that He also blesses the 'Ismael' of our lives.
However, Father's plan for Abraham will not be deter by the birth of Ismael. We see that eventually, the promised son, Isaac, was born according to His way. After Isaac was born, it came to a point where Sarah demanded that Ismael should be sent away. What was Abraham's reaction? He was totally distressed although he could see young Isaac, probably only less than 10 yrs old, growing up. What did God tell Abraham? He told Abraham to listen to what Sarah is speaking. In other words, just let Ismael go even if Abraham thinks that he had spent so many years trying to nuture this boy to be the 'will of God' and not only that, to see that there seemingly to have bore some results because Ismael is really growing into a fine young man.
There are a few lessons here for all of us. First, do not be mistaken that Father speaks to us (regarding His Will) all the time or the frequency that we expect. Don't get me wrong. I am NOT saying that He will not speak. But rather, that He chose the frequency to talk to us while we seek Him. He is God and we are not. And when He seems to be silent, it does not change what He had spoken earlier. And frankly, this is when we learn or rather He teaches us to live by faith. Living by faith is keep doing or going in the direction that He has last show us until He speaks again. If He is to speak to us very frequently or daily as some of us expect Him to do it, than there is no need to live by faith.
Second, do not TRY to fulfil His will in our lives with our own method or ways or plan. In doing that, the 'Ismael' of our live will be birthed. And it will caused us much heartache eventually simply because it is not His Will. We can say that the problem in Middle East today is because of the birth of Ismael. Even if our 'Ismael' may not cause the 'scale' of problem' as we see in Middle East, there will still be repercussion in His Kingdom. I wonder how many ministries, or careers today are actually the 'Ismael' of our lives and not the 'Isaac'.
Third, God will actually allows the 'Ismael' of our lives to grow and even blossom. But there will come a time when He will tell us to let it go because of the arrival of 'Isaac' Instead of getting distress like Abraham, we need to learn to just let our 'Ismael' go. What are the "Ismael' of our lives? It could be a successful career which Father wants us to let go so that a new and young career (which He destined and just like Isaac) can 'grow' without the constant distraction or harassement from the 'Ismael' (like we see in the bible). It could be a growing ministry and yet in Father's eye, it is an 'Ismael'. It could be a relationship that we are in (talking to those who are not married) even though our potential life-partner seems so spiritual and godly, but still an 'Ismael' in His eye. It could even be a growing and successful church that we are pastoring, but yet a 'Ismael'. Whatever forms our 'Ismael' come in, there will come a time that Father will tell us to let it go and we need to do that so that the 'Isaac' in our lives can grow and developed according to His ways.
I believe that if we learn that Father speaks but not based on the frequency that we want, and we learn to hold on to what He had last spoken during the 'silent period', not only we are learning to live by faith but it will save us from the heartache of 'Ismael'
Just want to share with you what I was sharing with 1 sister about hearing the Voice of God regarding His will for our lives.
We were talking about hearing His voice regarding His will and the frustration of the 'silent period' where He seems to say nothing anymore. I believed that all of us have such experience.
We heard God or see Him directing us in a certain direction, which at that point of time seems to indicate that is the Will of Him for us. Than, quite suddenly or gradually, He seems to stop 'talking' to us or directing us. And we start to wonder if we have heard Him correctly or maybe it is time for us to change course etc.
As we chatted, we talked about the lessons from the life of Abraham, the father of Faith. We all know that Father spoke to him about leaving his home country to another city that Father is the builder and also the promise of a son where his descandants will be numerous as the sand of the seashore or the stars of heaven. However, many of us seems to have the impression (through the teaching of some teachers or our wrong understanding) that Father speaks to Abraham continuously regarding His Will (the promised city and the son).
Yet a careful examination of the bible reveal the opposite. For the promise of a son, between the first time that Father spoke to Abraham and the 2nd time of assuring him of the promise, there is a space of about 10yrs. And between the 2nd assurance to the actual birth of Isaac, at least 1 more year had passed. In between the 'silent period' of Father, all Abraham had is to see the stars in Heaven and the sand in the desert as his assurance of the promise.
And Abraham is like us. There came a point that he begin to doubt and thus agreed with his wife, Sarah, on how to 'help' God fulfil this promise. We know the rest of the story. Ismael was born.
Many of us are like Abraham at various point of our lives. We receive a promise or revelation or direction about our lives. We are excited. And He had also promise that if we look to the 'stars' and the 'stand', it will remain us of His promise or will. Than came the 'silent period'. For some of us, it has been a month or a year or even 10 years or 20 since He has last spoken that promise to us. And what we did do? We started to try to help God to fulfil His promise. We start to look around us to see what we can do to fulfil that promise or should we change course.
And what happen next is that the 'Ismael' of our life (a ministry or career that seems to be what God has promise) is born and we thought that this is what Father has plan for us. Yes, Ismael is a boy (God promise Abraham that he will have a son). And yes, Ismael grows up healthy and definitely taking on the characteristic and probably even the image of Abraham. And similarly, our so-called ministry (when actually it is a 'Ismael'
seems to begin to grow and taking on the characteristic and even the image that we want it to have. Yet that is still not His will because it is not the 'Isaac' that He promise.We see that God did not stop Abraham from conceiving a son thru Haggai and we did not see God stopping the birth of Ismael. Why? Because He respect our will. If we choose to fulfil His will with our ways, He will actually allow it to happen. But it is still not His will. And it would seems that He also blesses the 'Ismael' of our lives.
However, Father's plan for Abraham will not be deter by the birth of Ismael. We see that eventually, the promised son, Isaac, was born according to His way. After Isaac was born, it came to a point where Sarah demanded that Ismael should be sent away. What was Abraham's reaction? He was totally distressed although he could see young Isaac, probably only less than 10 yrs old, growing up. What did God tell Abraham? He told Abraham to listen to what Sarah is speaking. In other words, just let Ismael go even if Abraham thinks that he had spent so many years trying to nuture this boy to be the 'will of God' and not only that, to see that there seemingly to have bore some results because Ismael is really growing into a fine young man.
There are a few lessons here for all of us. First, do not be mistaken that Father speaks to us (regarding His Will) all the time or the frequency that we expect. Don't get me wrong. I am NOT saying that He will not speak. But rather, that He chose the frequency to talk to us while we seek Him. He is God and we are not. And when He seems to be silent, it does not change what He had spoken earlier. And frankly, this is when we learn or rather He teaches us to live by faith. Living by faith is keep doing or going in the direction that He has last show us until He speaks again. If He is to speak to us very frequently or daily as some of us expect Him to do it, than there is no need to live by faith.
Second, do not TRY to fulfil His will in our lives with our own method or ways or plan. In doing that, the 'Ismael' of our live will be birthed. And it will caused us much heartache eventually simply because it is not His Will. We can say that the problem in Middle East today is because of the birth of Ismael. Even if our 'Ismael' may not cause the 'scale' of problem' as we see in Middle East, there will still be repercussion in His Kingdom. I wonder how many ministries, or careers today are actually the 'Ismael' of our lives and not the 'Isaac'.
Third, God will actually allows the 'Ismael' of our lives to grow and even blossom. But there will come a time when He will tell us to let it go because of the arrival of 'Isaac' Instead of getting distress like Abraham, we need to learn to just let our 'Ismael' go. What are the "Ismael' of our lives? It could be a successful career which Father wants us to let go so that a new and young career (which He destined and just like Isaac) can 'grow' without the constant distraction or harassement from the 'Ismael' (like we see in the bible). It could be a growing ministry and yet in Father's eye, it is an 'Ismael'. It could be a relationship that we are in (talking to those who are not married) even though our potential life-partner seems so spiritual and godly, but still an 'Ismael' in His eye. It could even be a growing and successful church that we are pastoring, but yet a 'Ismael'. Whatever forms our 'Ismael' come in, there will come a time that Father will tell us to let it go and we need to do that so that the 'Isaac' in our lives can grow and developed according to His ways.
I believe that if we learn that Father speaks but not based on the frequency that we want, and we learn to hold on to what He had last spoken during the 'silent period', not only we are learning to live by faith but it will save us from the heartache of 'Ismael'
Desert Experience
Hi Everyone,
Prayed that all of you were blessed with the sharing on Isaac and Ismael. I was going through Luke Chapter this morning and 1 verse caught my thot and stayed there. It was in the last verse of the chapter that said John the Baptist was sent to the desert to live till the time of his ministry come.
Desert. When we think of desert, it is a place of torment. The temperature is so hot in the day that some said you can fry an egg on a rock and so cold in the night. It is a harsh place live in. Only the toughest will survive. Water is scarce. There is hardly any shade from the sun. It is just miles and miles of sand with high possibility of getting lost and die of thirst.
Yet, we see here that John the Baptist was sent to live in the desert till the time of his ministry. And he is not the first person to have the desert experience in the Bible nor will he be the last.
We see that Abraham has to journey from his home country to a new promise land and he has to pass thru the desert land.
We see Moses being called but ended up in the desert for 40yrs before the time of his ministry came. And the children of Israel have to journey in the desert for 40yrs before a entire generation die off and a new generation that will enter into the promise land.
And there are others like David who may not be in the desert literally but have desert experience between the time he was anointed as king and to be literally made the king of Israel. Even Paul apparently seems to spend 3 yrs in the desert after his conversion before he start his public ministry. (I could be wrong here in that he was in a literal desert but he definitely have the desert experience!)
So, desert experience is not something that is rare. In fact, it seems like it is a 'must' or a 'boot camp' experience for anyone that Father wants to use.
It seems to be a place where we are stripped of everything to the point that all we can do it to look up. It is a place where even the most powerful will be reduced to mere mortal. It is a place where with all our intellectual knowledge or even spiritual knowledge does not seem to work. It is a place that all the polished talk seems to end. A place that everything seems to die. It is a place of 'nothingness'.
Yet it is a welcome place for us because it is in such a 'place' where Father can get our full attention, It is in such a place that we will realise with all our training, it is nothing without Father's intervention. It is in such a place where we realise that all our riches will not get us through. It is in such a place that we are stripped of everthing. It is in such a place that we begin to die. And it is ONLY when we DIE, than we will EXPERIENCE the resurrection of CHRIST in our lives.
And this morning, I sense that there is a purpose of why Father allows us or sometimes even intentionally bring us through the desert experience. The purpose is so that we will eventually learn that only HIM and HIM alone will matter.
It is not a place of punishment as many think. It is not a place of curse from Father. It is not an indication that we are out of the will of Father. In fact, it might be even the reverse in the sense that because we are in His Will, He allows us to go thru the desert experience before our time of ministry comes.
Is anyone of you going through a desert experience where your situation become unbearable, where nothing works, where death (symbolically) seems definite? I want to encourage you that you are not out of His will. But rather it is a place of training that He has allow everyone of us to go through in various stage of our life.
Know that the desert experience will come to an end. Know that when it ended, Father has a greater plan or ministry for us that we have never thought of. And yet, it will not happen if we do not go through the desert experience.
Prayed that all of you were blessed with the sharing on Isaac and Ismael. I was going through Luke Chapter this morning and 1 verse caught my thot and stayed there. It was in the last verse of the chapter that said John the Baptist was sent to the desert to live till the time of his ministry come.
Desert. When we think of desert, it is a place of torment. The temperature is so hot in the day that some said you can fry an egg on a rock and so cold in the night. It is a harsh place live in. Only the toughest will survive. Water is scarce. There is hardly any shade from the sun. It is just miles and miles of sand with high possibility of getting lost and die of thirst.
Yet, we see here that John the Baptist was sent to live in the desert till the time of his ministry. And he is not the first person to have the desert experience in the Bible nor will he be the last.
We see that Abraham has to journey from his home country to a new promise land and he has to pass thru the desert land.
We see Moses being called but ended up in the desert for 40yrs before the time of his ministry came. And the children of Israel have to journey in the desert for 40yrs before a entire generation die off and a new generation that will enter into the promise land.
And there are others like David who may not be in the desert literally but have desert experience between the time he was anointed as king and to be literally made the king of Israel. Even Paul apparently seems to spend 3 yrs in the desert after his conversion before he start his public ministry. (I could be wrong here in that he was in a literal desert but he definitely have the desert experience!)
So, desert experience is not something that is rare. In fact, it seems like it is a 'must' or a 'boot camp' experience for anyone that Father wants to use.
It seems to be a place where we are stripped of everything to the point that all we can do it to look up. It is a place where even the most powerful will be reduced to mere mortal. It is a place where with all our intellectual knowledge or even spiritual knowledge does not seem to work. It is a place that all the polished talk seems to end. A place that everything seems to die. It is a place of 'nothingness'.
Yet it is a welcome place for us because it is in such a 'place' where Father can get our full attention, It is in such a place that we will realise with all our training, it is nothing without Father's intervention. It is in such a place where we realise that all our riches will not get us through. It is in such a place that we are stripped of everthing. It is in such a place that we begin to die. And it is ONLY when we DIE, than we will EXPERIENCE the resurrection of CHRIST in our lives.
And this morning, I sense that there is a purpose of why Father allows us or sometimes even intentionally bring us through the desert experience. The purpose is so that we will eventually learn that only HIM and HIM alone will matter.
It is not a place of punishment as many think. It is not a place of curse from Father. It is not an indication that we are out of the will of Father. In fact, it might be even the reverse in the sense that because we are in His Will, He allows us to go thru the desert experience before our time of ministry comes.
Is anyone of you going through a desert experience where your situation become unbearable, where nothing works, where death (symbolically) seems definite? I want to encourage you that you are not out of His will. But rather it is a place of training that He has allow everyone of us to go through in various stage of our life.
Know that the desert experience will come to an end. Know that when it ended, Father has a greater plan or ministry for us that we have never thought of. And yet, it will not happen if we do not go through the desert experience.
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