The posture for Spiritual Warfare

Pentecostals and Charismatics have to be extra careful in the area of engaging the enemy in spiritual warfare. We cannot afford to be flippant in the use of the Name of Jesus to do war with demons and powers of darkness with the wrong spiritual posture. Apostle Peter is not inexperienced in this matter and he identifies the pitfalls of warfare warriors and advises us on the right posture.

1Pe 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Pride was the downfall of Lucifer. Humility is prerequisite to be seated with Jesus in heavenly place.

A divine compassion for the lost and a holy disdain for the adversary of the souls of man ensures a sure victory for His Glory.

Superficiality chokes the human soul.

Consumerism and market-driven spirituality have given birth to shallowness and superficiality among the people attending church services and activities. Superficiality is so inhumane. It chokes the human soul and it stifles the nurturing of true and beautiful communion of the saints of God.

Man in the Mirror

Have you ever really stand in front of the mirror and look deep into your own eyes?
What do you see? Do you see Love? Fear? anger? ...or
From that inward revelation we turn to a vertical concentration.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus..Look full into His wonderful face.
and the things of this world will grow strangely dim
In the light of His Glory and Grace.

Incarnation

I watched the Dark Knight with Joash and May.

I am constantly amazed at the ability of certain actors who seems to have such ease and and skills in taking on different roles in different movies or even in the same movie. Maybe that's why they are actors. The really good actors actually clothed themselves with the personality of the character that they are portraying. The way they communicate and express themselves particularly in their speaking or not speaking reveals the depth in which they have enfleshed or have incarnated themselves in that character.

I observe that one of the greatest difficulty in our spiritual formation or transformation is in the way we communicate, especially in the midst of the people that we live with.For years we have developed a certain style of talking and communicating. At work or in our worshipping community we are more conscious about how we carry ourselves: one because we need to keep our job and two we probably only meet with them once a week. So we tend to be nicer, more courteous and polite.

But within our family we often get stuck with a certain culture of communicating that has evolved through the years...whether between spouses or parents and children.For any one who desires a much more healthy and happy family life together we ought to make greater effort in noticing and changing our style of communicating within our family.

We are not trying to be great actors when we make decision to enflesh ourselves with the personality and character of Jesus Christ. John the Apostle observed that " The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we behold His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH." John 1:14.

What a challenge it is to be able to speak the Truth in the spirit of Grace. To be able to clothe ourselves with this divine Son who came and walk among us as one of us.

The Ease or Difficulty of Forgiveness

What is our capacity to forgive dependent on?

Are there people that we find easier of more difficult to forgive.

Does God have a great capacity to forgive?
1 John 1:9 simply says " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Do I find myself forgiving some easier and others more difficult?
Why is it that the desire to forgive is stronger towards some and not others?
How much does God longs to forgive us and why?

I believe that God has a deep and strong desire to forgive us when we sinned against him or our fellowmen. God hates sin and He hates death, and breaking of fellowship and relationship is a form of death - a separation, a disunited oneness. God longs to forgive because He desires fellowship, communion, oneness. It is the nature of God = LOVE to desire oneness, communion, fellowship and sharing.Our weak capacity to have deep communion with Him does not stop Him from desiring this connection with us. It is His great love for us that determines His great and strong desire to forgive us.

In Luke 15 - the story of the return of the prodigal son shows to us the longing of the Father to be reunited with the son. The Father ran to the son when he saw the son a far. He threw his arms to embrace the returning son. He has been waiting a long time stretching his vision hoping to see the shadow of the son's returning. He has great love for his son.

1 John 3:1 " Beloved, behold , what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God."

Our desire and capacity to forgive someone is really dependent upon how much is our love for that person. ...???

Home and love

Deut 15:Don't ignore the poor.

If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; but you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks... You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.'


Micah 6: This is what the Lord requires of you.

He has told you, O you people, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?

James 1: True religion?

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

1 Jn 3:What love is?

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Do as unto the Lord.

The poor will judge us. It is the poor person we encounter in the crucified and risen Christ who calls us to account for our actions, and it is the poor person of Jesus Christ who says to us, "whatever you did or did not do for 'the least of these' you did or did not do for me."

home and love

Home: the place you love and you are loved.

For those who have, these are often taken for granted.

Most people I know have a place to go back call home. It is the place they know that they will always be welcome..they do not fear going home with the prospect that they are not allowed into the 'house; that they are not welcome; they do not worry whether people of the house are angry with them or not. They have the keys to move in and out of the house. it's the place they know that they belong to someone or some family.

Home is a place that they feel safe.A place that they are listened to. A safe place where they can share their joy and sorrow, their success and failure; their disappointments and their elations. They are not afraid that they will be judged or envied. They know that their 'family' will weep or rejoice with them.

Home is the place they know that they will be missed when they are absent. They know that others are waiting for them to return soon. They know that others are concerned of their whereabouts and how they are doing away from home. They will receive letters, emails or calls from people from home.

Not everyone has a home. Not everyone feel belonged. Not everyone is missed by someone or some family. Not everyone is remembered. For them, Jesus is their only Home.

Oh boy, Do you miss home? Do you have a home that misses you.Come Home.

The orphaned heart and the beloved

The orphaned heart..

I guess we have heard about the "fatherheart of God". We all called Him our Father when we pray. But in a lot of life we do not apply this truth. Fatherheart of God is the answer..but what is the problem or question?

You know whenever we feel the pain in relationships, the root is actually a problem of identity..who am I? ..Let me just say that your primary identity is this: ' YOU ARE GOD'S BELOVED" - how much reality is that in all these natural relationship?

....like you are saying about not having close relationship with family members or with your dad. How do we usually relate? Usually..based upon a natural relationship..father, mother, brother or sister. We relate based upon these identity....all these need to be redeemed by the Cross..meaning looking at them from the eyes of the Father. But before that,we must recognised and faced the pain that we feel by the fact of us relating to them naturally.

Say for example your dad and you...the pain that have come from [ whatever ] that has happened,,that have inflicted the sense of "orphan-ness" - unloved and not the belovedness. When we are willing to unveil [ 2 Cor 3:18 ] and face the pain [ not hiding as our for-parents Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden - Genesis 3 ]...and allowing the pain to take us to the Father's embrace..to receive progressive healing and wholeness. The area of emotional woundedness, lack or deficiency is the area of "orphan-ness' where God wants to fill and heal.

Most of us, because of being hurt or wounded by relationship have chosen the part of self-preservation: to be strong. We loose the vulnerability...afraid of feeling the pain...our way of coping with pain is not feeling it. We need to remain tender..by bringing our "orphaned heart" to the Father over and over again. There will come a time when we actually will begin to feel the pain of others..even those who have wounded us and feel great compassion for them. It's also healing to be able to express our wounds to those who have done the wounding in the way/posture of the Lamb. { Jesus his wounds -to Thomas and in the End -Revelation ]

Jesus talked about leaving family members to follow Him...I would think that many people who have left physically had never left emotionally. They have these "soul-ties" unredeemed and bound to them. We do not need to leave them physically, but we need to leave emotionally and let those relationship be redeemed through the Cross...seeing each one of them through the eyes of our new identity in Christ - Beloved of God.

I am still discovering these reality.

Lord, if you move i move.

I remember he was one of our students in the rehab center but i had forgotten his name. That was more than 15 years ago.He looks like he is still on those stuff. He has aged much..his hair long and unkept. Today his hair is trimmed but i still could not remember his name. Should i approach him? Should i offer my handshake? What could i offer to him? Will i have another burden to carry?

" Lord, if you move i move."

Just as I was about to get out of the mamak stall, he looked at me and said..."Ps.Luke is it?" I offered my handshake, and ask for his name. Ok!. How could i have miss that name. I mumbled a few statements...Jesus still loves you. Don't give up on your life. There's still hope. Come and see me if you want to get help. I bend and gave him a hug. I straigtened up to leave and I saw a smile on his face. I showed him where the church was and told him the time of our service.

"Lord, Can You move again?"

Philippines 2

He was into alcohol,smoking and gambling. Then at a neigbourhood film evangelism outreach he responded to believe and follow Jesus. He has now been with the pastor for the past one year. His life has been transformed. He found peace of heart, joy to live and love and serve others.

Every morning they hold prayer at 5 am. At 6am he [ MA ]feeds the pigs at the farm. After shower and a simple breakfast he goes to teach at the church kindergarten, an outreach to the very poor neigbourhood. During the day he and others like him would do all kinds of chores to upkeep this "house" which is the pastor's home/school of evangelism/youth center/home for orphans and returning prodigals. In the evening they have very spontaneous worship/bible study/revival meetings as the young people of this neighbourhood gather at the "hut"/ House of Prayer next to the beach.They sang with gusto and listen to the Word attentively.Yes this place is beside the beach...lovely with lots of coconut palm trees swaying with the wind. There are also a lot of chickens in cages and dogs and puppies running around.They dogs also attends the prayer meeting and night services. You can go to Joash's blog to look at the pictures..I hope.

MA's parents keep urging him to go outside and work, but he insisted that he wants to serve the Lord this way and God will provide for all their needs. The father is a fisherman who actually "mortgaged" the house to the neighbour for 10,000 pesos [Rm800 ] last December for a motor for the boat. The principal has increased to 12,000 Pesos and the burden of loosing their home was very heavy on their hearts. MA put his arms around me weeping/praising the Lord when I told him that we will get the money to pay the loan and get back the "mortgage paper". [ Actually it is a "IOU" note.]To him it is a Big answer to his prayer to testify of God's faithfulness. So little for many Malaysians can do so much for my brother in Philippines and encourages him to serve the Lord more faithfully. They now will save the repayment money in an account to "recycle" it for the next " healing project" instead of the burden of paying the interest with the unpredictable catch of fishes.

I saw tears of joy when MA pass the money to his father to pay the neighbour. I had tears of joy too. Truly it is more blessed to give than to receive. A sister sent me this sms: God uses little spark to ignite big fires. Do you believe?