Day 123: Biblical Living – a Novice Manual

I started Biblical living 123 days ago not knowing what I would get into. As the days progressed, I had encountered God like never before. By God’s grace and His loving kindness I managed to persist on most days and record down my experience. (I lived my daily Biblical experience mainly using passages from the Book of Matthews plus a number of passages here and there in the Gospels)

Three months have passed with a lot of drastic changes in my life. Looking back, the journey was all about God the Holy Spirit. When I first started I never expected the shift moving of events and transforming power of the Holy Spirit. I was full of my own ideas of doing some religious services on my own. However, as I went through them, day after day, I realized that they were not as simple as I initially thought. For example, the momentum would have slowed down and died off if I had to carry on depending on my own effort to live Biblically and interceding as a church member performing his religious duty.

Thank God it was not like that. The Holy Spirit began to emerge and take charge as I continued to seek Him. The Holy Spirit took charge of the time, the length of time, the contents, the forms (methods), and the outcome. The Holy Spirit was the teacher, the motivating factor, the initiator, the power supplier, the master. It was indeed an exciting journey.

Most of the events happened in the inside. Some manifested in the outside of my being. Signs and wonders. For example, prior to the transformation, I dreaded singing. During church worship most times I maintained my silence. Occasionally I sang when the songs were familiar and meaningful to me. In the past three months I developed a liking for singing and even sing songs in the Spirit and some are really nice to my ears.

Another area of dread was prayer (when I had nothing to pray for). I stopped joining a group of business men who met during lunch time to pray, many years ago, not because I could not spare the time, but because I did not quite believe that those prayers worked. Many years ago one brother in Christ made it a point to come to my office during lunch time to pray and we were enthusiastic for awhile. After sometime we reduced the frequency and finally we stopped the prayer session entirely. I had led cell groups for years and prayed the routine prayers week after week, month after month, until none of us felt them really helping much. Singing and prayers became part of the rituals we did as part of the religion.

When the Holy Spirit took over, I was revamped inside out. Songs and prayers could stretch from one hour to two and half hours! All by myself! Sleeping four hours and not feeling tired the next day was not rare. How did the Holy Spirit take over?

I believe it started when I started to take God seriously. My early morning worship time helped me to be focused on God and the more focused I was the more I could sense the reality of His presence. At first I used faith to believe whether I sensed anything or not. Then I learned to appreciate the songs I sang. Then I became bold enough to ask the Holy Spirit to choose songs for me and subsequently prayers for me. Lately I asked Him to show me verses to read. God helped me a lot in this progress. He let me see some pictures, some words, and hear some tunes in my mind/heart. As I received messages through all these mediums (words, pictures, dreams, songs) I grew bolder and more confident of receiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit and answers from God.

Yes, it takes time and effort to seek God. However, it is worthwhile to give all to this quest. I never thought I could hear God’s voice before. But now I can even persuade others that they too can hear God’s voice. Believe me, it is wonderful.

Jesus has promised very clearly the following:

1. He will show Himself to those who love Him.

2. He will come and stay with those who love Him (those who keep Jesus’ commandments).

3. God will send the Holy Spirit to teach us all things and about what Jesus has said.

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”

John 14:26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

I pray that you too will be richly blessed when you read this novice manual. Please be assured that it is worthwhile to trust God seriously and plunge into the pool of living water He has provided you in His Son and through the Holy Spirit (and the Word of God)!

AAA Jack

Revised November 5, 2009

day 119-122: more signs and wonders and miracles

Prophet Isaiah thus recorded, ‘Thus says the Lord, the Holy One for Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons; and concerning the work of My hands, you command Me.”’ (Isaiah 45:11)

When I read of this verse previously I always wondered how we could ever ask God to tell us things about ourselves. But this is God’s saying. All we need to do is ask. I did ask before but could not differentiate what was from God and what was from my own thoughts. So I had stopped asking after awhile many years ago.

I believe the best thing in one’s life is to know that God is real and He is good. The more years we have lived the more we appreciate the need to know God and be assured of a place in God’s kingdom. I used to think that God was a faraway ‘person’ or being who had nothing to do with me except perhaps on the Lord’s day when I went to church for a mere 1-2 hours religious service.

Recently I have discovered that God is real here and He is present even in the daily living matters which I used to think too small for Him. Yesterday we had to give a very important talk on how to live a positive, optimistic life Biblically. After I prepared the PowerPoint presentation, I saved it in a pen drive memory key. I tested the file in the key and found it functioning alright. However before we left for the talk the speaker asked me to delete two slides so I changed the presentation in my computer accordingly and took out the key and replaced the file. After that I suddenly decided to save a back up file in another memory key as well. Instead of copying and transferring the file from the first key to the second one, I decided to save the talk from the master copy in my computer. Then I carried both keys to the talk.

On reaching there I tested the first memory key in the church computer, and the key failed to work as it was virus infected. The files were blank. I took out my back up key and it worked perfectly. Otherwise the speaker would have a tough time using oral illustration alone for the solid two and half hours talk. The talk went well and the audience which consisted of mainly older and middle aged folks sat through the two whole sessions attentively and with obvious enthusiasm. It was the best I had heard so far, being very much led by the Holy Spirit.

To me it was a miracle. I have never prepared a back up for any of our previous talks all these years. I was always confident that the memory key would work perfectly. Yesterday I was led by the Holy Spirit to back up and bring it along. When I did that I was puzzled but I just obeyed without question. It turned out that the Holy Spirit knew what I did not know and He saved the day!

This talk was important to us as this was the first talk we presented with the overt help from the Holy Spirit. The speaker did the writing and has prayed for Holy Spirit guidance all along. I did the typing and visuals. We used to pray for every talk too, but we did not know about spiritual matter then. So we depended on our human mind and effort. This time we knew that the spiritual world is very much involved and we really need to listen to the Holy Spirit through out. Our morning and evening worships as led by the Holy Spirit helped us to be more focused and clear about what we were to share.

On the night before the talk I thought the talk was to be held in a common community open place at some low cost housing flats. So I prayed for angels to encamp around. Then I indeed saw lots of huge angels cordoning off a place (which I could not see).

Yesterday morning I was led to pray for that church to be Spirit-filled etc. Then I heard God telling me (for the first time He talked to me as in a conversation) He has heard and answered my prayer, and has taken care of things, and His presence will be there! I was surprised and honored. I was speechless but I thanked Him.

Then He told me to go on and pray for an African country for an 85 years old missionary doctor who, having served there for over 50 years is still faithfully serving the Lord. When I finished praying I asked what Bible verses I should read and I was led to read a chapter in Hosea, John, James (no chapter was given, so I presumed the whole book) and psalm. I read all the verses and left James to be read at night.

When we were on the way to the talk, the speaker realized my misconception about the place and told me that the talk was in a church and not as I thought earlier. I was relieved and realized why God said His presence will be there and asked me not to worry!

The end result was that the talk was carried out as planned by the Holy Spirit. In the second part of the talk the speaker did not follow the original text at all. Instead she gave a personal testimony which was very touching to many of the audience who later gave their feedback.

In the evening when I read James I read the whole book but then I thought I would just ask what chapter the Holy Spirit wants me to pay attention to. I immediately got the message that it was chapter 3 (about our speech). So I read it again and prayed over it. It was indeed a Spirit led passage as the speaker’s talk that day was about controlling our way of talking and the contents thereof which came out of our hearts!

To be led by the Holy Spirit is wonderful. We are indeed thankful for God to have intervened and taken part.

Yes, sons and daughters of God can ask God about your lives, your future, your pending decisions, choices to make, directions and paths to take, your career, your relationship, your health and so on. Do ask and wait for answer. Listen carefully to the still small voice. I have personally found that the words from the Holy Spirit usually flow smoothly without hesitations. There is no time for me to write down. There is no time for me to think. They can come as if I am thinking. They also come in the way I received yesterday as in a conversation.

One thing to bear in mind is, do not be in a hurry. God has eternity on His side. He created us to worship and minister to Him. You need to come and worship Him and seek Him first. Do not rush into prayers and requests without being prompted by the Holy Spirit. Do not babble a one sided speech. Listen in quietness and rest. Endure long silence.

Listen today to God and you will be greatly blessed!

AAA Jack

day 118: time to repair and rebuild the altar

Today I listened to a message about Elijah the Prophet. The passage (1 Kings 18:30-39) attached below is a narration on how he followed the Lord’s instructions and showed to the unbelieving people and their king that the Lord God is the only true God. As I have been worshipping God at home I am interested in a number of things that happened in this event.

1. Elijah followed the exact instructions of God.
2. He repaired and rebuilt the altar according to the exact requirement and specification of God.
3. Similarly he prepared the sacrifice accordingly.
4. He eliminated the possibility of unbelievers rationalizing that the fire could have been caused by the dry weather etc. He made sure that the whole place was practically soaked in water.
5. He offered the sacrifice at the time of offering of the evening sacrifice.
6. He testified to the people that he was praying to the true God, the Lord God.
7. The fire of the Lord came to the altar at the above time-at the right time and the right place only.

Today’s application:

None of the things I do in seeking to know God could originate from me and be acceptable. All that I do in relation to worship, singing praises, praying in understanding and in the spirit must be led by the Holy Spirit Himself. I have grown to be more and more aware of this important requirement. In 1 Corinthians 2:14-15, the Holy Spirit plainly stated through the Apostle Paul that the natural man (as contrasted with a spiritual man) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned, but he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself id rightly judged by no one. “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Cor. 2:16)

The fire of the Holy Spirit falls on the altar and at the time of the sacrifice (prayer) as prescribed by the Lord. When I was in my natural state, I could not receive any revelation or any message at all. Only after I have worshipped for sometime I began to discern clearly what the Holy Spirit had led my spirit to see or read or sing. Once that happened I knew and could testify the presence of God.

I must admit that I still lean heavily to being a natural person instead of a spiritual person. That is why I could spend a lot of time doing religious activities in vain. (I cannot fool myself for long and when I realized that, I stopped the activities.) But God is a merciful God and He likes us to seek to get closer to Him to know Him better. That is why I am still on this quest of Biblical living, making baby steps.

AAA Jack

1-7-2009

1 Kings 18:30-39 (New King James Version)

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. ³¹ And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.”^{[a] 32} Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. ³³ And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” ³⁴ Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. ³⁵ So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.

³⁶ And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

³⁸ Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. ³⁹ Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!”

day 117: Holy Spirit, fire of God

One of my latest favorite songs is, “Holy Spirit, fire of God, fill this temple of Yours. We are waiting for You Lord, to fill all of our hearts. Holy Spirit fire of God, come and fill this whole world. Holy Spirit fire of God, come and fill our hearts.”

John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would come and baptize the believers with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11)

Every believer receives the Holy Spirit when he believes in Jesus and makes a commitment to follow Jesus. Before Jesus left this earth He promised to send the Holy Spirit in His place to every believer. The Holy Spirit in us is a guarantee and identity that we are the children of God and belong to Jesus. The Holy Spirit gives a lot of supernatural gifts to believers and the gifts will help them live and serve God in supernatural power and in truth. But not all believers believe in or have made use of these gifts.

What has happened to me and my family recently is directly linked to the Holy Spirit. An old acquaintance of ours met us and exclaimed that we look so different now compared to what he has seen before. “You both look so well and happy, so… (he ran out of words) what has happened?” He was expecting us to say we have just struck the first prize of the national lottery or something. To his disappointment, we merely smiled and thanked him and said we were just happy in Christ. How not be overjoyed, knowing that the Holy Spirit is real and does work in us? How not to shine in light when we know for sure that the God who is light is shinning in us? How not to look contented and fulfilled when the God who is love has filled us to the brim?

We are not newly converted Christians. Both of us have gone through more than twenty five years of solid Bible teaching in traditional evangelical churches. But this is the first time we know our God is real not only in head knowledge but also in our spirits. When one knows the supernatural God truly lives, and He is a good God, one cannot help but be overjoyed, because all that He has promised is true too. Both of us have been driven to read the Bible with fresh interest and zeal to know Him more. The words of God are alive in our lives. We are no longer spiritual orphans. We need no longer fear the unknown out there and beyond, this life or next or forever.

Every morning we wake to expect God talking to us and walking with us the whole day. Every night we go to bed secured in the arms of God. Sometimes we soar on His wings too. Many times we stand on high grounds with Him looking at the world out there with a totally elevated perspective of life.

Our combined economics, management, health psychology, wellness, counseling and medical professional training and experiences had never given us such security and rest before. The natural can never compare with the supernatural. This is all I can say in mere words.

Believe me, it is worth the effort to seek God and ask to be Spirit-filled and continue to abide in Christ by living in the Spirit as commanded by Jesus. If you are a Christian, do not forget to put on your whole armor of God daily: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the readiness of the gospel of peace on your feet, the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, and praying in the Spirit without ceasing. You can note that all these relate to Jesus.

AAA Jack

day 110-116: going forward in songs and in the Holy Spirit

Today I received a timely message, from the Book of Exodus. God told Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” (Exodus 14:15)

For nearly three months now, I have been pondering on the words of Jesus and asking the Holy Spirit to guide me what to read and give me understanding of the truth. Jesus said His words are life and spirit. The word of God is also the sword of the Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit it is impossible to read the Bible not to mention to live the Bible.

When I heard a message I also asked the Holy Spirit to show me the truth I need to pay attention to and take action in my Biblical living. I recently heard a teaching on the passage from Exodus 14. The speaker told us that like the Israelites we have the assurance of God that He will fight for us and we shall hold our peace. (Exodus 14:14) Therefore all we need to do is not to continue crying out to God for help. Instead, we should just step forward by faith and win the battle. Whatever the battle is in your life, be it study or employment, financial, relationship, moral, behavioral, attitude, your mind, your emotion, your diseases, unhealthy or addictive habits, binges, obsessions, oppressions and depressions, suppressions, bondages, cravings of the flesh, the pride and arrogance of life etc. They can be overcome.

All the Israelites had to do was to step into the pathway God had opened for them by faith and cross over to the other side. God really took good care of His people as in the case of the Israelites. He miraculously delivered them out of Egypt, miraculously brought them across the Red Sea, miraculously through the wilderness, and miraculously into the promised land of milk and honey.

Reading this passage, I noted that after the children of Israel crossed over the Red Sea safely, all Moses asked them to do was to sing a song to God. God likes us singing songs and hymns to Him!

During the three months of learning to get close to God and learning to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, I have transformed from a stiff, rational, and skeptical Christian to a Spirit-led, songs and hymns singing Christian; from one who normally would doubt anything to do with the spiritual, to one who pays serious attention to visions and dreams. I still make a lot of mistakes in hearing the voice of God and seeing visions. When I prayed for someone close I tended to use my knowledge of him or her to pray. But the Holy Spirit told me things that I did not know about but was in the plan of God. So when I saw the Spirit-led vision, I thought it was from my own thought despite the fact that I could not recall having thought of such matters previously. Only after I have received confirmation from another intercessor who saw the same vision or received the same message then I was convinced. Why am I still so doubtful? I believe it is because I am still young in the Spirit.

I have come to realize that living Biblically is to live spiritually by faith. I am still learning. But I do enjoy my new life and daily look forward to daily meeting with God. One morning I heard the wind in my garden and I thought to myself how nice it would be if I could hear God walking in my garden. After the intercession I prayed to God to reveal Himself by walking in the garden so I could hear Him. After my request, my heart was immediately urged to sing “Holy, holy, holy”. After I finished singing that hymn, before I could get up from the kneeling position, I was urged to sing “Jesus we enthrone You”. After that I was further urged to sing “Holy Spirit, thou art welcomed in this place”.

Only after I finished singing all three songs to the trinity God, I was allowed to stand up. God indeed responded instantly. What an awesome experience! (I did not hear the sound in my garden as I was too busy singing).

My advice to you, my brethren in Christ, is that be always ready to sing and expect the demand to sing songs and hymns (as led by the Holy Spirit) by memory as you may not have the song book with you. I did not have the song book on the occasion but I managed to memorize them (short choruses and one stanza of the hymn) even though I had to work hard to memorize anything. The preparedness is worth it. Otherwise, be careful what you pray for.

AAA Jack

day 109: surely you don’t want a millstone hung around your neck

Jesus warned the disciples, “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

No Christian parents would want to cause any of their children to sin. No sane and normal person would want that in that matter. So why did Jesus warn the disciples (Christians)? Was it not irrelevant to give them this obvious commandment?

You may not think it relevant to you. But you are wrong. Jesus knew you could cause your children to sin. You could lead your children into temptation and personally deliver them to the evil one, although every morning you pray to the Father God not to lead you into temptation and deliver you from the evil one.

Do not feel insulted and stop reading right now. Just look at the list of temptation I summarize below. Tick off those you do not have and come out with a net list for your own immediate action.

List of temptations and death traps that parents have often led their children into:

TV and other multi-media entertainments (violence, sex, immorality, immodesty, anger, revenge, killing, disrespect and hatred of parents and elders, hatred of good people, love of bad and evil people, selfishness, degeneration, demotion of human to beast level, dehumanization, bigotry, chauvinism, racism, greed and covetousness, jealousy, worldliness, vanity, materialistic and many more evil values), video and computer games (of similar evil and anti-Christ values), junk food, sweet drinks, caffeine, alcohol, gluttony spirit, poverty spirit, fear and rejection spirits, depression and oppression spirits, lack of self-control spirit, lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, pride of life and many more. (Pease read 2 Timothy 3:1-5)

You know exactly what you have allowed your children into. God knows too.

I have made the same mistake and have repented of it. I once thought that children need to have what their peers have. Children must not be deprived of the world’s goods and services. Children must keep up to date with the world. Children will gain respect and acceptance from their peers if they have all those worldly stuff. Children will have high self esteem when they do not feel left out as compared to their peers. Children must be given the best that money can buy and many more.

Every child must have started on innocent, simple and seemingly ‘harmless’ TV, video programs and video games. No parents will be foolish and evil enough to start their innocent little lambs on violent, hatred and immoral sex stuff. However, many parents who have gone this broad way of allowing the world values to come into their living room soon found out that the child had grown into a monster in no time. There is no way to harness the monster once it is unleashed.

There is no point trying to reform your child when he is old enough to rebel when you could have led him to God, helped him to build his character and habits on the solid rock of Jesus and the Biblical values instead of leading him into the world to pursue the world’s “pleasure”. Looking at the world today you do not have much time to train and equip your child to resist temptation. You have about ten years counting from birth at the most. By ten years old they are fixed and their hearts and minds are hardened like stone. Their habits and characters are patterned according to what you have input them during the ten formative years.

Good Christian children became evil. How can this happen? Who are the ones who were responsible to ward the child off evil? Not lead him or her into temptations? Lead the child to watch and pray daily just as Jesus has commanded? Ask yourselves. Blame no one else.

Who you are predicts who your child will be.

There is no need to look into the Chrystal ball or have great dreams for your child. Just look at yourself and the values you value, the way you spend your time, the thoughts you have, the words you speak, the focus you have set your heart on. Lead them to heaven or to hell. Your choice. Meanwhile do not sing you love God or you surrender all to God anymore in church as it is a blatant lie. God knows.

AAA Jack

day 108: and when they have sung a hymn

“And when they have sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” (Mark 14:26)

On the night that Jesus was betrayed, He continued to teach the disciples, had the last supper (Holy Communion) with them. After that they sang a hymn and went off to the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed His last prayer on earth before crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection. There were three things that Jesus did on this last fateful night: He taught the disciples, had the Holy Communion with them, sang hymns and prayed (urging them to stay awake, watch and pray too)

Based on this last model, I have noted the contents of a worship meeting: the words of God, the Holy Communion, hymns, and prayers.

As I have recorded before, I have been following this format.

I have never placed any importance on hymns before. In the old traditional church I attended as a child, the hymns were sung by white-robed choirs and I could not understand a word of them. So I spent my time of worship looking out of the window at the trees and the birds. When I grew up and attended the Charismatic churches I hardly heard any hymns sung. Short repetitive and meaningless choruses were often shouted out backed with loud band music. This had gone on until I attended some evangelical churches. I had a chance to sing traditional hymns again. They were meaningful to me and I quite liked singing them. However, they were just songs to me then. After that I moved on to Charismatic churches again and again I have been bombarded by loud short repetitive choruses.

Lately when I started this quest of seeking God and living Biblically, I have the opportunity to be led by the Spirit to sing old hymns again. I have discovered a very important truth- the hymns are Spirit-filled. There is power in the hymns. Most of them have lyrics taken from the words of God. There is a hymn for every situation. The answer to prayer is there. There is revelation of God’s Biblical truth there. I see them for the first time of my life. I regret all those years wasted without being led by the Spirit of God.

On a personal level, in my early morning devotion, I like to open the hymn book at random and see what hymn appears on the open page. This is a personal thing. This is not something to be emulated by the uninitiated. Somehow I always found a hymn which spoke to me personally that morning. For example, one morning after I interceded for a church calling the Holy Spirit to come and pour on them and fill them, a tune came into my heart and when I opened the hymn book and found that tune, the hymn that appeared was “O Spread the Tidings around” (The Comforter has come). It was the confirmation of God’s answer to my prayer. This is a hymn which I had not sung for over twenty years and so the tune could not be hovering on my own flesh mind. The Spirit has put it there and tells me I have not prayed in vain. (It was so hard praying for that church even when praying in tongue. In my vision, the roof of the church was like a thick cement slap. Nothing got through for a long time. But it finally burst a small hole and one dove flew inside. )

On another occasion, I was led to sing a hymn I did not particularly like, “In my heart there rings a melody”, and after that when I prayed in tongue I burst forth with songs sung in tongue. I even wrote them down. Subsequently I sang a lot of songs in the Spirit and some are nice to hear to me. I believe the hymns have helped me with this breakthrough in my life.

A few nights ago I heard the singing of a hymn from the little guest’s room. It sounded very lovely. So I stood outside and listened for awhile. When asked the next day, the little guest said she was singing the hymn “Nothing but the blood of Jesus” for ten times before she slept. She knows the power of the hymn!

Hallelujah!

I pray that you too may be encouraged to wait upon God after reading this and appreciate the value of old hymns written by men and women of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

AAA Jack

day 102-107: how to build your family altar?

During the last two weeks I was tied up in a number of things. However, I was also able to practice an intensive worship life. I had never spent so much consistent time worshipping God and seeking God before. Yet at the same time I was able to clear a lot of outstanding paper work (including sorting and filing of a whole year’s papers for two companies!) of course I was assisted ably by someone expert in such matters! The most amazing thing is that the assistant is voluntary and God-sent.

My daily worship time has increased from once daily one hour (maximum) to thrice daily, totaling about four or more hours. Forgive me for quoting figures. My purpose is to testify that worshipping and seeking God is not boring or dry or meaningless or ritualistic at all. Time just passes without notice. Please do not think that there is a fixed format or number of hours. Quantity does not necessarily guarantee quality of worship. The essential elements must be there: because God is Spirit, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth as Jesus has taught us. (John 3:24)

I summarize below what I have learned.

Benefits: closer to God (more thankfulness and reverence for the awesome and yet merciful God), more spiritual acumen in discerning the things of God (better able to listen to God, see visions or words of God), improved understanding of the Bible (more able to see under the guidance of the Holy Spirit), closer (more mutual appreciation and respect) to each other in the prayer team, improved intercessory abilities (as we learned to depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us and show us what to pray and how to pray), and develop a deeper love for God. The sessions helped us to abide in Christ, walk closer with God and live the kingdom of heaven lifestyle.

What/How did we do? We usually started by praying in tongue to prepare our hearts. Sometimes we opened by a prayer in words too. Then we had the Holy Communion. After that we sang hymns and prayed in the Spirit (tongue). We also read passages of the Bible (usually a few chapters or one of the Books in the New Testament). Lately every person read the whole Psalm 91 by turn, which means it was read a number of times in one sitting. We listed out thing we wanted to pray for and went through the list, as the Holy Spirit led us. We prayed in understandings or in tongues freely and not in any fixed pattern. We interspersed our prayers with songs and praises. Some may sit on the floor. Some may bow low. Some may prostrate on the floor. We shared after we prayed and encouraged one another. By being totally open to the Holy Spirit, we have witnessed amazing spiritual growth in each of us, including the little one.

The little one has gone home after her two weeks holiday (intensive spiritual course). She has asked us to give her one hymn book, two kneeling cushions, and a daily schedule/program so that she can teach her mom how to worship God with her daily! We also gave her the address of a similar prayer house near where she lives so she and her mom can attend the Saturday night worship there.

We are grateful to God for sending these two assistants to us, a Spirit-filled sister in Christ and the little disciple. Both have played their role in encouraging us to seek God closer and more consistently. Personally my faith has risen further. By faith I have stopped taking my heart rate medicine (for ten days) and coffee (and tea too) (for eight days).

How did we get all that time? Someone may ask. Oh yes we can. We reduce hours of sleep. We eliminate TV time totally. We reduce newspaper reading to not more than five minutes. We reduce shopping time. We reduce time spent in the kitchen or doing other unnecessary chores. We reduce talking idle words on the phone. We reduce internet-surfing time. We reduce reading words of no value. We make use of all free time like driving in the car, to sing hymns, listen to God’s words and pray. We reduce speaking words of no value. We reduce and eliminate practically the bulk of living that has no eternal value.

Now that both helpers are gone, we have to practice on our own. I do not foresee an easy time. We are still learning and growing. We pray that this will encourage at least someone to take a step forward towards God by faith! What we have gone through and witnessed have demonstrated that it is never too young or too old to start to live in Christ and in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul, led by the Spirit declared, “For as many are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

AAA Jack 19-6-09

day 101: SONGS, signs and wonders

We (four generations of us, one of each) continue to have family worship twice a day on most week days, and also attend the twice weekly prayer house worship. The youngest of us is six years and ten months old. She has acquired the habit of worship and has become the self-appointed organizer of worship. Every morning she will get the sitting room ready complete with a cushion for each person to kneel, exercise mats in two rolls, hymn books, Bibles, notebook (for us to write down spirit songs, if any), and ball pens.

The four of us love to sing. We each sing in our own ways. The master of the house used to be the worst singer. The mistress of the house can sing reasonably well. The guest is a spirit-filled intercessor who sings very high pitch songs (mostly spirit songs). The little one sings softly in her own childish way. All cannot read music notes.

Our meeting has four parts: songs, prayer in the Spirit, Bible reading, and more songs.

Initially only the Spirit-filled intercessor visitor could sing spirit song or see visions. The two other grown-ups and the young child had not displayed such gifts. After seeking God for sometime, the master of the house had developed the gift of seeing a bit of visions (in words and in pictures). Lately he developed the gift of singing (followed by interpreting and writing songs) in the spirit.

When the little one joined us for holiday she soon learned to hum songs in the spirit and pray in the spirit. She loves the worship sessions and has participated in and stayed throughout every meeting without fail. Of course she fell asleep (like any normal little child) while prostrating on the floor during late night prayer house meetings. Yesterday morning she participated in the whole Bible reading session in the prayer house. Three of us grown-ups were given the book of Isaiah to read (all sixty-six chapters). The little one helped us to read two chapters. Then she read five chapters in the Gospel of Mark. We finished reading aloud the book of Isaiah in two hours.

The little one is so used to such meetings that yesterday afternoon she voluntarily joined a group of adult ladies’ fellowship and knelt and bowed down with them and prayed in tongue when they were interceding in a home fellowship in this house. The prayer meeting was the first ever since its inception so Spirit-filled and charged up. The usually quiet and subdued ladies were loudly praying in the Spirit and extended the meeting by one hour!

The mistress of the house has been a committed Christian for over twenty years, actively serving God for a long time, recently seeking God in the spirit after attending a course on waiting upon God. She felt disappointed as she saw others heard from God, saw visions, and could sing spirit songs, whereas she could not. She felt she wanted to know God more and was hindered by the lack. She told God her feeling. During the last few days she progressed to seeing visions and yesterday she began to sing in tune as in spirit songs.

All we can say is that we cannot limit God. All we can do is to seek Him with thirst and hunger in our spirits and wait upon Him regardless of our feelings or experiences.

This morning I prayed for my own career and ministry, if any. As I worshipped and prayed in the spirit, I saw myself in two consecutive scenes. First I was playing a guitar to the audience of trees, as in a forest. There seemed to be flowing streams as well. The second scene was I playing a violin, to the open field with green grass, flowers and butterflies. The land could be hilly but I am not sure. In my mind I had words like spread, disburse, and grow.

I do not play both musical instruments. I do not consider myself having any talent to learn either. So far I only managed to sing and write in crude numerical symbols of the music I had created. Rationally I cannot imagine myself pursuing a musical direction in my career or in ministry. This vision is not a result of my wish fulfillment.

The spiritual development has led me and others to know God as a limitless God. Yes, He performs songs, signs and wonders in our lives.

AAA Jack

day 99-100: many songs burst forth

It is amazing how God reveals Himself. Spirit songs burst forth as I worshipped God. So far I managed to write down a few, some in tunes only, some with lyrics (incomplete and complete). Today I sang the new song “My utmost for His highest” again but in a different tune, much lighter and with full lyrics. I managed to write it down as I sang it a number of times. To clarify, I do not write the proper music scores. I write the tune in numerical symbols (numbers) (as I was taught to read the numbers in primary school).

After I wrote two songs in English I was led to sing a spirit song in a tune which is definitely oriental. So I put in Chinese words and they sounded well-fitted. As I did that in a car, I did not manage to write down that song. The following day, I sang another Chinese spirit song with lyrics as well. Again, I was in the car and did nt manage to record it down.

When I analyze the songs, I find that they are all worship songs about God. As I sang them I felt lifted up, peaceful and happy.

Today I interceded for the churches of this land. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me what to pray for. Then I began to sing. The song was all about asking the God’s glory to fall on this land, His living water to rain down, and the blood of the Lamb to flow and give life, healing and nourishing this land.

Last two nights before I slept I asked the Spirit inside to intercede for me as I slept. The first night the whole night I could sense the singing of two songs, both of which are about the blood Jesus has shed on the cross. The cleansing work has started! The second night I sensed the singing of another two songs, both about the Holy Spirit having come and like fire sweeping over the land.

I could not sing as I wish. Many times I tried to sing but managed to speak in tongue instead. Like wind I did not know its coming or going. But the songs are really nice and many I just cannot write down or interpret. I now realize a bit how David the psalmist had felt. As he sought God, he burst forth with many songs/psalms. What was his secret? One obvious clue is: he seeks God a lot of time.

AAA Jack

day 98b: my utmost for His highest

Reading what I have recorded lately, one cannot help but wonder how such a lot of unusual things could have happened to one ordinary person? Perhaps the person is just bragging or exaggerating. Perhaps the person is indeed a multi-talented or very knowledgeable person. Perhaps the person is a bit loose in the head etc. of course I would have thought of the person that way too if I were not the person involved here.

I have taken pain to record as best I could of each encounter with God. There are times when I could not remember the exact details but the gist is there. I am interested in learning new things but I am not that knowledgeable. I like creative things but I am not that creative. For example, I used to sketch a lot when very young but I have never developed beyond simple caricature. I can hum a song but I cannot read the proper music scores. I cannot compose music or write songs. My hearing is good but my visual is poor. I do not play any musical instrument. I like reading and listening to spoken words more than words sung. I am a rational sane person. In fact I have avoided spiritual matters until recently when I started this Biblical living quest.

As I have written before my goal in this quest is to know more about God and what His plan is for my life. I am prepared to live out my destiny. I am learning to live Biblically and be real spiritually.

I had not expected much when I first started this series of blogs three months ago. I was not aware of what I had let myself into. Someone may wonder why God had allowed an ordinary believer to experience such a lot within such a short time. I marvel too. If I have to give an explanation, I can only come to the conclusion that it is because I want to know more about God. God cannot be limited to one aspect or one talent. God is multi-talented. When I did something unusual like singing a spirit song and even writing the tune and lyrics, I knew that is just another one of His many ways of revealing Himself to me.

When I sang those songs in spirit and later in words, I was touched by them. This morning I could sing how much I adore God, really meaning what I said. How have I been changed? I believe it was during all those hours of waiting in God’s presence, seeking to know Him more.

I pray that by sharing my experience with you, I may encourage you to seek God too, my brethren, my friend.

AAA Jack

June 10 2009

day 97-98: do not quench the Spirit

These past few days were like a dream. A little angel (my eldest sister’s six years old grand child) joined us and sang spiritual songs with us. Prior to starting this quest to know God, I did not know how to really praise and adore God in my heart. So I had skipped the part when others professed their love for God during worships in the church. I did not want to be a hypocrite. Ever since I started this quest, I have been led by the Spirit to sing some old hymns. Then worshipping on my own, I have found out that I could sing a bit in the spirit. But I had not thought much of it.

During the last three days I discovered that I had progressed to singing a lot in the spirit, even when driving or not worshipping. We have spent last two mornings worshipping God (myself, a Spirit-filled niece and the little grand niece) and I began to sing more. This morning I woke up early on my own and had no particular agenda. I worshipped as usual and sang an old hymn, “In my heart there rings a melody”. I found that after that I was led to sing a spirit song. I realized what I was singing and that I could put words in it. I was singing “my utmost for Your highest” (writing the song in the spirit). After singing for sometime I wrote it down.

Thinking that I could have taken the tune from some old hymns I searched the hymn book. I could not find any tune similar to it. However, I was drawn to sing another old hymn, “How firm a foundation”. It was as if God was speaking to me, telling me that all that He has to say to me He has already said in the Bible. He gave me his assurance that I need not fear the danger and trials of this world. He said, “I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.” (He knows how timid I am in spiritual matters) It was a wonderful hymn!

After that I sang another spirit song while worshipping Jesus. I wrote that down too. The worship was wonderful and I saw the steps leading to the throne as before. I thought today was just for worship and I had nothing to pray for. However I asked the Spirit whether there is anything to intercede for. Immediately I saw a face.

The face belonged to a deacon of a church I attended nearly ten years ago. I had not seen him since he got married. He was in panic and carrying his two little children. His wife was hanging on to him at the back. He was running, fleeing. Close at his heel was something that I could not describe here.

That church has had a series of tragedies during the past ten years, with strife between the former senior pastor (until near breakdown) and someone in the church resulting the pastor opting to leave the church ( the church was subsequently led by a junior pastor). At least three male members (including a deacon) died of cancer/other sudden acute illness, wives of all the three elders suffered from cancer (and one had died), a number of mothers suffered from depression, autistic and hyper active children were born to deacons and active serving leaders etc.

Previously I could not understand the meaning of the frequency and way above proportion level of tragedies in this church. It cannot be explained as the church is small with about three hundred members. The members are ordinary people with stable income and ordinary living (not excessively indulgent). The elders are faithful people serving God diligently and doing all the religious activities as faithful Christian churches do.

The only thing that made the church stand out is its leaders not willing to understand matters of the reality and power of the Holy Spirit. They are afraid that spiritual teaching may not be from the Holy Spirit. They are satisfied with mere head knowledge. Some members (including my family) have left that church and fled to a Spirit-filled church. We tried to share with the junior pastor and the three elders once. They agreed that the Holy Spirit is important but said that their members were not ready to understand. So they advised us not to share with their members further.

Looking back now, the ignorance of the power of the Holy Spirit appeared to have led to spiritual weakness and resulting members (including the religious leaders themselves) become easy preys to spiritual enemies- the thief, (of whom Jesus has already warned His sheep in John 10) to steal, kill and destroy.

When I interceded for the deacon (whose wife is now suffering from anxiety and depression) and his family and seeing them being pursued by something (which I could not describe here) in my vision, I was close to tears. I knew this good man when he was a youth leader. He is kind-hearted and willingly serves others. He serves God diligently.

After the intercession, I read Hosea as this was the first book in the Bible that I was led in a dream to read. I read what I feared in Chapter four. I quote below what I read. (Excerpts from 4:1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14)

“There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.”

“Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away.”

“For your people are like those who contend with the priest. Therefore you will stumble in the day. Your prophet also shall stumble at night; and I will destroy your mother.”

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you as priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

“For the men themselves go apart with harlots, and offer sacrifices with a ritual harlot. Therefore people who do not understand will be trampled.”

AAA Jack

day 93-96: be clean and be blessed

day 93-94: first clean the inside of the cup and dish

I was off to spiritual adventure (training) these two days! On Friday we took off after work. By the time we reached the seaside it was around 10.40pm at night.

We started our worship at 11pm, had a small supper, and continued to listen to message until 1.40am. The next morning we continued to have worship around 8am, followed by breakfast, and continued with message. We left before midday to a small town for lunch. After that I continued my journey to visit the parent in-laws at another small town. By the time we reached there it was late afternoon.

During the seaside retreat, I learned about spiritual warfare and self-deliverance from unclean spirits. It was a practical lesson, which I am required to practice if I want spiritual growth. I summarize below what I learned.

In Matthew 23:25-26, Jesus told off the religious leaders, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of extorting and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

The trainer explained Bible verses to us and showed that we all have a number of personality and behavioral traits that hinder us from spiritual growth and living like Jesus. There are people who appear to be good moral and behavior Christians who fall when faced with temptations. Why? How not to stumble like them? The preacher had the following solution for us:

1. Find out what evil is in us. What is your regular recurring weakness? For example, anger? Bitterness? Gluttony? Alcohol? Gambling? Lust? Pride? Jealousy?

2. Find out the root of the evil. Where does your anger come from? For example, were you involved in occult practice or idol worship before? The Chinese ‘goddess of mercy’ (originated from an Indian god) was an idol of anger. A Chinese man suffered from burst of violent anger which got uncontrollable. He subsequently realized that in the past he was a devout follower of this idol. So he knew the root of his evil. The evil spirit controlled him from within. The war is within. (Ephesians 6:12)

3. Believe that Jesus has given you the spiritual authority to cast out demons in Jesus name. (Mark 16:17)

4. After finding out, you need to practice binding this evil and casting it out of your system and put it under Jesus’ feet (to crush it).

The advice is ‘just do it’. Keep practicing until you are clean. Your anger does not recur. Your lust dies. Your filthy habit stops. Your obsession ceases. Your bondage broken and you are set free!

AAA Jack

June 5-6 2009

day 95-96: if you know these things, blessed are you if you do them

In John 13, Jesus demonstrated to the disciples one practical way to receiving blessing. He washed their feet. He being the master washed the followers’ feet. They were shocked. But He told them, “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” (John 13:17)

Again, Jesus has shown us the way to God’s blessing is not what the world tends to think. Blessed are not those who ask others to wash their feet. Blessed are those who voluntarily wash others’ feet! Note that there are two steps required:

1. Know these things.

2. Do them.

Seek to know God. Know God through knowing Jesus. Then do what Jesus has asked us to do. We shall be blessed. It sounds simple. However, not easy to do. How many of us are willing to do something that the world considers lowly and not commensurate with our social status? For that matter, how many are willing to seek God just to know Him more?

It is not easy to practice what Jesus has said. But it is dangerous not to try. Jesus warned, the thief (enemy of God) will come and steal, kill and destroy. There is danger lurking out there in the spiritual realm. When we read the Bible seriously and let the Holy Spirit guide us, we will realize that what we are involved in is spiritual and we need to know God in the spirit to receive all that He has promised. The body and the mind cannot receive His communication. Your spirit is a switch. Switch on.

AAA Jack

June 7-8 2009

day 92c: “Alive! The Words are alive!”

I have heard the best testimony today. A close relative’s landlady, a middle aged housewife who has been depressed and suicidal for sometime, has uttered these amazing words one day recently, “Alive! Alive! These words are alive!”

When the lodger moved into her new lodging in February this year, the landlady was a severely depressed Chinese housewife who sat whole day by herself and hardly spoke a word. The two ladies could not communicate with each other much because they could hardly speak the other’s language. The lodger is a Spirit-filled Christian and often sings in tongue. Sometimes she and her visitor would sit in the room and prayed in tongues. When the landlady heard the tongue she recalled the time when she was converted from an idol worshipper to a Christian, about two years ago. She could speak in tongue then but only for a short period. After that she could not utter a sound. She sank into depression regularly and became suicidal. The lodger shared with her some Biblical truth and encouraged her to read the Bible.

At first the landlady said she could not read or understand the Bible and she hardly read any books for that matter. The lodger brought her to her prayer group meeting where a few elderly people attended regularly to pray in tongues quietly. They have no other agenda. After the landlady attended the prayer meeting for three times, she started to pray in tongue. She spent whole day and days coughing. She coughed out a lot of stuff. Then one day she regained her ability to pray in tongue. She started to read the Chinese Bible fervently and one day she ran to the lodger, carrying an open Bible in her hands and exclaimed, “Alive! Alive! These words are alive! They speak to me!”

She was overjoyed and her whole countenance changed from gloom to peace and joy. Then she developed the gift to sing spiritual song as well. She went to cell group meetings and shared her wonderful recovery and supernatural healing. Although she could not understand English she asked her son to buy her a New King James Version Bible and has started to read Genesis with the help of her son every night. As her husband has lost their fortune (including their home), her dream was to have another house of their own.

One day she asked the lodger to join her in prayer for the nation. She told the lodger that she heard the Spirit told her that “without a nation, how can you ever think of having your home?” So she fasted and prayed for the nation regularly.

This is an amazing testimony. I can share her joy about the Bible being alive and real.

AAA Jack

day 92b: let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord

“Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.” (Hosea 6:3)

I have returned to this prophetic book as it was the first word I heard from the Lord. I heard the word “Hosea” very clearly when I woke from a dream after much prayer, asking God to let me know more about Him. Although at that time, I thought I had the answer then in the last verse (“Who is wise? Let him understand these things.”), I now believe there is more in this book for me to ponder on.

When I have started this quest I asked the Lord to let me know Him and know Him more than what I thought I knew before. During the quest, I was led to use the spiritual gift of knowledge. I could see a word in my mind or hear a word of God in my spirit and knew it was from God. I did not know the meaning of the ‘knowing’ but I know it is a way God shows me Himself or something He wants me to do. In short, it is a way of communicating with me. He is Spirit and I am flesh. Obviously I find it very hard to receive His communication. He can hear me and I cannot hear Him.

Only by living in the Spirit, I can receive His communication. That is why Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit will come and tell us everything. Indeed those who live close to God, living in the Spirit and walking by the Spirit can receive His message accurately.

Hosea saw a sad situation among the people of Israel and Judah: they did not know the Lord. Therefore they ran here and there instead of running to God to seek help. Hosea described them as being sick and wounded. God can rescue them. God can heal them. But they had no knowledge of Him, so they did not ask Him to save them.

Today many Christians run here and there in time of troubles. They do not seek God first. Seeking God may be their last resort. Because they do not know God. Recently a man collapsed and died suddenly outside a Christian gathering place. With his last breath, he screamed the name of a Christian worker for help, and he uttered in horror that the devils were coming to get him. He did not even call out to Jesus to save him. He called the wrong name instead. In your utmost danger, whom do you call first? In your extreme trial, whom do you turn to first? In desperation where do you run to first?

Let us know God. Let us pursue the knowledge of God diligently before it is too late.

AAA Jack