Paul described the armor of God in Ephesians 6:13-18 and in verse 17, he talked about the sword of the Spirit. Ever wondered what Paul meant by that? For a long time I had the impression that the sword is the scriptures since Paul also tells us in 2Tim 3:16 that the scriptures are inspired by God. So for many years I went around struggling to memorize bible verses so that when I am tempted I have a verse to counter the devil with.
Bible scholars have this principle called "the principle of first mention" and as we study the bible, we need to take the meaning of particular key words from the first time that word appears in the bible. For example in Genesis 2:2 the word 'rest' was mentioned for the first time and it was in the context of the seventh day and so bible scholars associate the number seven with rest.
Now the first time the word 'sword' appears is in Genesis 3:24 where it is mentioned that God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and He place cherubim at the east of the Garden and then a flaming sword which turned every way to 'guard' (or protect) the way to the tree of life. So the word 'sword' is to be taken to mean 'protection'.
So this afternoon as I was pondering over this word 'sword', the Holy Spirit brought my attention back to Eph 6:17 and in particular the sword that a believer is supposed to use as his defense against the devil. Do you notice that the sword is the only visible piece of armor that is offensive in nature? the rest are all passive pieces. So my initial thought of memorizing the scriptures immediately sprang to my attention. But the Spirit took me further - back to John 16:7-11. This is the first time Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit by name and the first time He appears in person in the New Testament.
In these 5 verses, Jesus gave us the job description of the Holy Spirit and we better pay close attention to what He is supposed to do for us. He has 3 job functions
1. convict the world of sin
2. convict us (believers) of our righteousness
3. convict (or remind) the devil that he is judged.
When I read that again, suddenly it all makes sense to me. You see, many Christians out there are still trying to declare war on the devil and they go around literally on a 'witch-hunt' looking for the devil and when they do find his disciples, they start to quote scriptures to the evil spirits. No wonder many of them do not see results. Do you know that the devil and his fallen angels also know the scriptures? better than you and I and they even twist and turn the scriptures to their advantage and turn the tide back against some Christians.
No, what the Spirit told me this afternoon was so powerful that I must share with all of you on this blog today itself and not even wait until the morning (it is now 11PM). As the sword is to represent protection and since this sword is the Spirit's, we are to be protected by the Spirit (go back to His job description). When the devil comes against us, we do not need to go 'ra, ra' but we just have to stand our ground and remind him with conviction that we, as children of the most High God, are the righteousness of God in Christ and that he (the devil) has been judged and he cannot touch us. When the devil realizes that you know your ground, he will have to back off and not trouble you again.
Wow, what a tremendous revelation the Father gave me today - this is my manna for today and I am so grateful to Him for this affirmation. Glory to our Lord Jesus for His Word in season, so fresh. Hallelujah!!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Almost Six Months Since Leaving Deutsche Bank
Come end of September I would have left Deutsche Bank for six months and still counting - that is amazing! how time passes so very quickly!
So how is the feeling? one may ask. I am still trusting our Lord to provide me that BREAK-THROUGH in my business. Yes, there had been a couple of small projects here and there but to quote Alice (my wife) I am still too free sitting at home waiting for things to happen.
Is that bad? I will testify that this waiting period is really a test on my faith. FAITH (Forgetting All I Trust Him) is basically having a good opinion of our Lord; so all of us do have an opinion of our Lord - good or bad. Good opinion of our Lord will lead to us trusting Him to be our PROVIDER as Abraham found out on Mount Moriah when he was asked to sacrifice his own son Isaac. Read what he said to his servants in Genesis 22:5, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then WE WILL COME BACK to you."
I used to think that Abraham took a long time at the altar struggling with the flint knife whether to plunge the sharp instument into his son's body or to walk away and disobey God. Now I know better that he had so much faith that the Holy Spirit said this about his faith in Hebrews 11:19, "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death." Abraham had such a high opinion of our Lord that God called him THE FRIEND of God. What a title; what an honour.
So I have to ask myself everyday, "what is your opinion of our Lord?" I kept reminding myself that I have more going for me than Abraham - we have our Lord Jesus who had already died for our sins compared to Abraham who could only look forward to His death. So I really have no excuse for not having a good opinion of Him with all these blessings already laid out right in front of me. Which leaves me only to say, "which blessing will our Lord give me today?" and go out believing that I have already received it.
Now that is a very valuable lesson I have learnt over these last six months or so. My breakthrough will come and when it comes, it will be over-abundant, exceedingly above all that I can imagine and just have to receive my blessings and give thanks and worship my ALL-Sufficient God - El-Shaddai. Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN
So how is the feeling? one may ask. I am still trusting our Lord to provide me that BREAK-THROUGH in my business. Yes, there had been a couple of small projects here and there but to quote Alice (my wife) I am still too free sitting at home waiting for things to happen.
Is that bad? I will testify that this waiting period is really a test on my faith. FAITH (Forgetting All I Trust Him) is basically having a good opinion of our Lord; so all of us do have an opinion of our Lord - good or bad. Good opinion of our Lord will lead to us trusting Him to be our PROVIDER as Abraham found out on Mount Moriah when he was asked to sacrifice his own son Isaac. Read what he said to his servants in Genesis 22:5, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then WE WILL COME BACK to you."
I used to think that Abraham took a long time at the altar struggling with the flint knife whether to plunge the sharp instument into his son's body or to walk away and disobey God. Now I know better that he had so much faith that the Holy Spirit said this about his faith in Hebrews 11:19, "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death." Abraham had such a high opinion of our Lord that God called him THE FRIEND of God. What a title; what an honour.
So I have to ask myself everyday, "what is your opinion of our Lord?" I kept reminding myself that I have more going for me than Abraham - we have our Lord Jesus who had already died for our sins compared to Abraham who could only look forward to His death. So I really have no excuse for not having a good opinion of Him with all these blessings already laid out right in front of me. Which leaves me only to say, "which blessing will our Lord give me today?" and go out believing that I have already received it.
Now that is a very valuable lesson I have learnt over these last six months or so. My breakthrough will come and when it comes, it will be over-abundant, exceedingly above all that I can imagine and just have to receive my blessings and give thanks and worship my ALL-Sufficient God - El-Shaddai. Praise be to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN
Monday, September 17, 2007
The devil cannot touch a Christian who is at rest
Recent events can make a weak heart troubled and subsequently lead on to all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. The situation in the middle east, the recent earthquakes in Sumatra, the plane crash in Phuket yesterday, the financial upheaval in the loan mortgage arena, etc can be very discomforting and I know of a few people who had even lost sleep over these incidents.
Disease come from the word 'dis-ease' or lack of ease. And clearly these people are not at ease - worrying about what would happen to their investment portfolio or their businesses or even their jobs. And by worrying, will that add more into their lives? in fact I would say the worrying will take away some moments of their lives and aid the decaying process.
A few days ago I mentioned that the favourite catchphrases of Jesus are 'Don't worry', 'Let not your heart be troubled', 'Take no thought', 'Peace' and 'Do not be anxious'. Jesus told His disciples, 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid' (John 14:27) only after He spoke to them about His sending us His Holy Spirit (John 14:26) Who will teach us all things.
So what is the key here? The Holy Spirit will teach us ALL things. So what are these things? Notice in John 16:8 Jesus gave us the threefold work of the Holy Spirit
1. He will convict the world of sin
2. He will convict believers of their righteousness
3. He will judge the devil because he stands condemned
Know for a certainty that we, children of our Lord Jesus Christ, have the righteousness of God in Christ. In John 15:5, Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches and when we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit. The branch gets its nourishment from the vine and without the vine, the branch is dead. Since we are the branches, we cannot help but receive His righteousness and knowing that will make us at rest.
When we are at rest, nothing will be able to ruffle our feathers. The devil cannot touch us when we know where we stand in the Lord. He can only do so when we are not at peace with yourselves: dis-ease sets in only when we start to worry and that is why Jesus kept reminding us not to worry but be at rest. Hey, He created us; He is the true Manufacturer and He knows His products well.
Disease come from the word 'dis-ease' or lack of ease. And clearly these people are not at ease - worrying about what would happen to their investment portfolio or their businesses or even their jobs. And by worrying, will that add more into their lives? in fact I would say the worrying will take away some moments of their lives and aid the decaying process.
A few days ago I mentioned that the favourite catchphrases of Jesus are 'Don't worry', 'Let not your heart be troubled', 'Take no thought', 'Peace' and 'Do not be anxious'. Jesus told His disciples, 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid' (John 14:27) only after He spoke to them about His sending us His Holy Spirit (John 14:26) Who will teach us all things.
So what is the key here? The Holy Spirit will teach us ALL things. So what are these things? Notice in John 16:8 Jesus gave us the threefold work of the Holy Spirit
1. He will convict the world of sin
2. He will convict believers of their righteousness
3. He will judge the devil because he stands condemned
Know for a certainty that we, children of our Lord Jesus Christ, have the righteousness of God in Christ. In John 15:5, Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches and when we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit. The branch gets its nourishment from the vine and without the vine, the branch is dead. Since we are the branches, we cannot help but receive His righteousness and knowing that will make us at rest.
When we are at rest, nothing will be able to ruffle our feathers. The devil cannot touch us when we know where we stand in the Lord. He can only do so when we are not at peace with yourselves: dis-ease sets in only when we start to worry and that is why Jesus kept reminding us not to worry but be at rest. Hey, He created us; He is the true Manufacturer and He knows His products well.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Watch the Middle-East - something is cooking again
Some time last week, the Israel Air Force (IAF) flew a few sorties over Syria and made an attack on a convoy of trucks that were delivering suspected nuclear related equipment from Iran. The source of the equipment is suspected to be North Korea and they went to Iran who in turn shipped them to Syria. The final target for all these nuclear stuff was Israel of course who is the sworn enemy of Iran and the Hizbollah whose headquarters is in Syria.
Next I am also reading from Israel Today newspaper that Hamas is now gathering a force together to launch more attacks on Israel. The combined nuclear and suicide (or even frontal attack) bombings will be a real challenge for Israel and weighing the outcomes, IAF decided to move and launch a counterstrike and bring down a whole shipment in Syrian soil.
And what was the reaction of the Syrians? So far...nothing yet but we cannot preclude a strong retaliation from them directly into Israeli soil. In fact Israeli military intelligence is now saying that there are preparations by the Syria Armed Forces in the Golan Heights area, an area that Syria lost out to Israel after the Yom Kippo War and which is fueled with immense tension and which Syria had 'sworn' that they will take it back.
Next I am also reading from Israel Today newspaper that Hamas is now gathering a force together to launch more attacks on Israel. The combined nuclear and suicide (or even frontal attack) bombings will be a real challenge for Israel and weighing the outcomes, IAF decided to move and launch a counterstrike and bring down a whole shipment in Syrian soil.
And what was the reaction of the Syrians? So far...nothing yet but we cannot preclude a strong retaliation from them directly into Israeli soil. In fact Israeli military intelligence is now saying that there are preparations by the Syria Armed Forces in the Golan Heights area, an area that Syria lost out to Israel after the Yom Kippo War and which is fueled with immense tension and which Syria had 'sworn' that they will take it back.
Friday, September 14, 2007
What A Way To End The Week
There were a total of four earthquakes in Bengkulu area of Sumatra on Wednesday evening Sep 12 and Thursday Sep 13 and all measured more than 8 on the Richter scale. And of course there were more than 25 aftershocks ranging in magnitudes from 5 to 7.
And now US geologists are predicting that there will be a big earthquake in excess of 9 on the scale within the next 30 years although they feel that this may come sooner. So how to be prepared when it comes? Know that it will come and be prepared for it so that when it does come, we are not caught off-guard. And of course have a strong heart.
And then this afternoon as i was driving home from Orchard Road and as I was travelling along the PIE just after Bedok in the direction of Changi Airport, the downpour was so heavy that some parts of the highway were flooded with at least 10cm of rainwater. And my friend who was riding as front-passenger commented of the lousy weather conditions - earthquakes followed by heavy storms.
So what are we to make out of all these? That it is all part of global warming? as our greeny friends would have us know? No, I say it is all bible prophecies coming to past and soon the End will be here. Are you ready for the Lord when He comes back? what will He say to you when you meet Him? Will you be filled with expectant joy or will you be breathing a heave of regret that you had wasted all those opportunities to have enjoy His blessings for you while you still have time here and now to enjoy and be thankful for? It is entirely up to you...
And now US geologists are predicting that there will be a big earthquake in excess of 9 on the scale within the next 30 years although they feel that this may come sooner. So how to be prepared when it comes? Know that it will come and be prepared for it so that when it does come, we are not caught off-guard. And of course have a strong heart.
And then this afternoon as i was driving home from Orchard Road and as I was travelling along the PIE just after Bedok in the direction of Changi Airport, the downpour was so heavy that some parts of the highway were flooded with at least 10cm of rainwater. And my friend who was riding as front-passenger commented of the lousy weather conditions - earthquakes followed by heavy storms.
So what are we to make out of all these? That it is all part of global warming? as our greeny friends would have us know? No, I say it is all bible prophecies coming to past and soon the End will be here. Are you ready for the Lord when He comes back? what will He say to you when you meet Him? Will you be filled with expectant joy or will you be breathing a heave of regret that you had wasted all those opportunities to have enjoy His blessings for you while you still have time here and now to enjoy and be thankful for? It is entirely up to you...
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