The Journey of the Cross_Bearer

2004-08-12T03:36:00.000-07:00

2004-08-12T03:12:00.000-07:00

David did this for me...really cool :)

2004-08-05T17:35:00.000-07:00

I was reading again the word protrait of EM Bounds. What a great man of God and of prayer!!!
He was compared to Wesley, another great giant:

"Wesley was preaching and riding all day. Bounds was praying and writing day and night."

"Wesley came to his fame while yet alive. He was always in the public eye. Bounds, while editing a Christian Advocate for 12 years, was little known out of his church"

"Wesley at 86 could still preach on the streets for 30 minutes. Bounds was able at 75 in the 1st hour of the 4th watch, to pray for 3 hours upon his knees."

"Wesley, at the time of his death, had enjoyed 56 years of preferment. His name was on every tongue. Christianity was born again in England under his mighty preaching and organization. Bounds was comparatively unknown for 50 years but will recover the "lost and forgotten secret of the Church" in the next 50 years."

"Wesley was the incarnation of unworldliness, the embodiment of magnanimity. Bounds was the incarnation of unearthliness, humility and self-denial. Wesley will live in the hearts of saints for everlasting ages. Bounds, eternally."

"Wesley sleeps in City Road Chapel grounds, among his "bonny dead," under marble, with fitting tribute chiseled in prose, awaiting the Resurrection. Bounds sleeps in Washington Georgia, cemetery, with marble covering, awaiting the Bridegroom's coming."

These two men held ideals high and clear beyond the reach of other men. Imitate them as they imitate Christ.

2004-08-05T02:26:00.000-07:00

ChiangRai Doi Tung Project

2004-08-05T02:16:00.000-07:00

Somewhere near the Pacific Ocean in Philippines

2004-06-25T01:59:00.000-07:00

Luke 4 The temptation of Jesus

V1 Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

After the baptism of Christ, He was filled with the Holy Spirit and yet in fullness of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God led Him into the wilderness to prepare Him for something progressive...and we know later on in v14, that He returned in the power of the Spirit and started His ministry...

During these 40 days in the wilderness marked by Luke (Luke being a detailed physician), not a lot of details was released; only the three testings challenged by Satan were recorded.

1) Turning the stone into bread to satisify the hunger
2) The worship of Satan to have a quick gain of authority and glory
3) The proof of Jesus, Son of God

Three times, the Lord Jesus counteracted with the Word of God.
He understood the words of God and knew the authority in the word of God.

2004-05-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Recently, I am preparing for the 40 days fast and pray. And I realise that one of the things that really burden my heart is the issue on revival and the glory of God. In Acts 10:38, it says that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil...
In this verse, we see clearly that the Holy Spirit and power are two things although the Holy Spirit is always associated with power. My challenge is this: We have to have the Spirit of God leading and guiding us always but we must also have the power that flow from God to those needing it. How? Maybe the passage in Luke 4 can give some insight to us...

2004-04-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

The disciples in the book of Acts seemed to know what was the will of God for any situation. The thought struck me as I was praying: For 3 1/2 years, the disciples have been walking with the Lord Jesus. They slept, fellowshipped, shared meals, laughed, cried, communicated with one another in a intimate and close manner. So even when Jesus was taken up to heaven, they knew the thoughts of their teacher, the one that so impacted their lives and thinking. The ways and directions that they took were influenced by the images and words that Jesus implanted in them.

The great news is that even when the Lord Jesus went up to heaven, at the right hand side of God the Father, He sent the disciples the Holy Spirit. And in Galatians, Paul asked the Christians to live and walk in the Spirit - that is a key for us if we want to know God's will and ways.
WALK AND LIVE in the HOLY SPIRIT

2004-02-19T01:21:00.000-08:00

I prayed: "Lord, let me know that you are here, let me feel your presence!"
Then a thought struck me, "The bible teaches that God's presence (Omnipresence) is everywhere, so you should know that God is here now."
But deep in my heart, I know that was just the head knowledge that I have accumulated.
Just like, we all know that God is all powerful, able to intervene in our situation, strengthen us in tough times, fulfill what He has given as promises in the Bible. BUT that is again head knowledge unless we tap or enter into the spiritual realm through our prayers and our times with God. Then we will be able to experience/ encounter the promise.
Sounds easy but need discipline to persevere...God bless!

2004-01-28T23:51:00.000-08:00

Just a thought:
Last time (about 6 years back), when we played the instruments, sing, lead worship session. The emphasis and the phrase that we used is: "Wow, this person is anointed, when he picked up the instrument and played...we can sense such anointing"

But now, it seemed not to be the emphasis anymore or not so emphasize at all. The phrase that I now hear is: "Wow, this person is so skillfull, look at the way he play, look at the way he sings."

Time is investment...
When time is spent polishing our skills,
When time is spent playing with our instruments,
Improvement is evident.
A Better Way:
When time is spent in the presence of God,
When time is spent praying (communicating) with God,
Sharpening in the spirit takes place,
Anointing is rubbed off from the Anointer.
Choose the better way.

2004-01-11T19:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was given a new perspective of the song "You are the peace that guards my heart, my help in times of need...For You alone deserves all glory, For You alone deserves all praise...Father we love You , and we worship You this day"

The verses that came to mind is one of the favorite quotes: Phil 4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus"

Not really sure whether the song writer had this verse in mind when he wrote this. Because it expressed the verses so well.

"You are the peace that guards my heart
My help in times of need
You are the hope that leads me on
And bring me to my knee (To me it talks about kneeing down to pray)
...
...
...
...

Chorus:
For You alone deserves all glory
For You alone deserves all praise
...
...

The chorus climaxes to a point whereby when the peace of God through prayer has come, when we realize that by prayer, we can have our hope strengthened again in Him, and through prayer we can do all things...we finally come to a point to give God the glory, praise, love, worship, adoration (as the chorus brings out)

I am challenged again to love and worship God more...to pray more in all times...

2004-01-10T02:22:00.000-08:00

Just attended a seminar called the Purpose Driven Life and it really challenged and encouraged me towards the purpose that God intended me to fulfill.

Well, what on earth am I here for? We can know through either speculation (and may fortunately get it correct) or be revelation. We have to come to our Creator and ask.
Just like when we have an new invention, we do not look at the invention and ask it. Instead, we go to the inventor and ask what is the invention for...or we can go to the manual to find out its purpose.

God created us and we need to go back to our Inventor and ask...

"For everything absolutely everything above and below, visible everything got started in Him and finds purpose in Him." Col 1:16

2004-01-07T01:49:00.000-08:00

"Disciplined to be a better translator for God"
That is my goal for the year 2004.

A life of discipline is necessary to get us to the place we want to be, of course with God's help.
God's Word is His communication to us yet many of us are unable to understand this language He uses.
We are uninformed, dull in hearing, sometimes doesn't even know what He is trying to communicate to us, whether in the preaching from the pulpit, the reading of the bible, the hearing of a sermon...

Just like you need a translator to translator English to the Thai language, and the amount you received depend on how well and proficient the translator is. I desire that in the preaching and communicating of God's Word to His people, I will fare well too - to be able to allow the people to understand what He is trying to communicate and what is His heartbeat...

2004-01-02T01:20:00.000-08:00

I started my yearly bible reading yesterday and also did some goal setting for 2004.

Gen 1-2: I thought it was really refreshing to read the creation account, especially the climax at the creation of man.

For those that like bible trivia: God did not declare the "it was good" for the first and the second day - this is for you to find out and maybe can tell me why.

One of the repeating statements that caught my attention in Gen 1 is "according to its kind" v11,12,21,24,25.
Dogs reproduce dogs
Birds ... birds
Fish ... fish
Durian trees ... durians ... durians trees

It seems that the author of Genesis is using this literary technique (repeating) to point us to a highlight in verse 26.
Then God said, "Let Us make man in our image, according to Our likeness: ... "

Although the author did not use the repeated phrase "according to its kind" in v26 (it will sound blasphemous), the thought that he is trying to tell us is that we are the same kind as God.

Psalm 82:6 (In case you think I am blamspheming)
"I said, 'You are "gods";
you are all sons of the Most High.'

We are not God, but we are made in His image and likeness. We are to exhibit the characteristics of God. We are to reflect the very nature of God. All these are possible when we are in God. It is possible because we have the same D.N.A. of God when He made us according to His kind.

We are to be overcomers.
We are to be history makers.
We are to be conquerors.
We are to be like Jesus...

In the beginning...Genesis...this is the first book of the Faith...the foundation...the standard...
Without Genesis, there can be no beginning...

What is our beginning...Only in God will we find our beginning and also the end...

There is also another thought as we continue to read after Gen 2...after the fall of man.

The word of God still abides...the creation still produces "according to its own kind" but because of the fall of man and the entry of sin...the 'kind' that was reproduced become degenerated. It became worse and worse...over time and the reproducing cycle, we see that the replica is much inferior than the original.
Man became worse over time...

If there is no redeemer, if there is no person that break through the degenerating cycle...man and creation will eventually be going towards self-destruction.

That is the reason why Jesus came: To break through the cycle and renew a people according to its kind.
Rom 8:29 "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren"

2004, my prayer is that you will be conforming to the very image of the Son of God.

2003-12-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

Nearing the end

Just a few more days and a new year begins...what a fast year it is. Well...we are to be good starter and a good finisher. Many may not have a good start but surely we can all make an effort to finish it well.

The bible says, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"

Let finished the relay of 2003 well, knowing that in front of us, is great rewards.

It will be great also to pull people along...this Christmas, churches will be holding outreaches. Pray, invite, serve, make any contribution to get people into the race of faith...

2003-11-04T01:51:00.000-08:00

Frustration and our Gifts

It is interesting to note that sometimes our frustration, discouragement, directionless of life are caused by our mis-managing and under-utilisation of our gifts.

When we focus too much in pleasing others with our talents like singing (did we sing nicely to the congregation during worship service?), playing guitar (did I play the correct chords during the service, did I make any mistake, did anyone notice it?), we turn out to be negative if we did not do a good job in meeting the expectation you think the people will have for you.

Sometimes we will have the feeling also of not being fruitful in our lives, we pass each day thinking, what I have achieved, did I spend the day well in glorifying God...that leads to deep frustration and unpleasant feeling.

It may be that we are not using or developing the gifts that God has given to us for His glory.

For example: If you are gifted by God to sing (maybe your calling), you will be frustrated if you are not singing or developing your vocal skills. You may be gifted to preach, and you will never be feeling fruitful or satisfied unless you spend time preparing a message and preach it out. If you are gifted to write, then spend time writing in your journal (whether it is published or not). If you are called to the ministry, spend time developing yourselves.

Unless each day we work towards what God calls us to and use what God has given, we will always feel that we are unfruitful in our hearts and lives.

The challenge: Know, Love, Serve Him.

"There is a vaccum in our hearts that only God can filled"

2003-11-01T00:38:00.000-08:00

What is Prayer exactly?
Prayer is communicating with God. Each time, when we pray, we come into contact with a Person that is able to transfer us and to show the power of His might. It is a life-changing and profound experience.

There are two sides of prayer: the fellowship side and the partnership side.

The fellowship side of prayer is when we come just to be with God in the intimacy of relationship. E.g. Praying in your prayer language, seeking, waiting...maybe include "no agenda" prayer meetings.

The partnership side of prayer is when we exercise the responsibilities of partnering with Him to see the reintroduction of His rule into our circumstances.

We must always have a balance because it is always through a relationship with God that we know His heartbeat and will...thus flowing to the partnership side of prayer...

2003-10-27T01:47:00.000-08:00

On Prayer:

Since God is sovereign and therefore free to do what He pleases and chooses, why pray?

Since God is immutable and does not change His mind, is prayer effective?

Does our prayers matter?

Jesus encouraged us to pray and He became our model in effective prayer. He indicated that properly motivated prayer should glorify the Father, be offered in the name of the Son, rely on the Holy Spirit's power and assistance, meet scriptural conditions and harmonize the will of man with that of God...

...And prayers draw us closer to Him, because the dependency on God in prayer brings us to Him.

Sometimes, even when we meet the requirements of prayer, we may still not achieve the object of our prayer...but we are progressively changed by our trust that issues forth in believing prayer.

2003-10-22T23:57:00.000-07:00

By faith you are saved, but it is also by faith that you STAYED saved!!!

Ours is a journey...a Walk of Faith.

2003-10-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

It is always a struggle to deny yourself and take up the cross because it may mean time sacrifices, energy used, selfcentered desires given up...But in the end is joy and satisfication that the yearning pleases my Maker...

When I fall down, pick me up.
When I arise, lift me up.
When I walk on, guide me up.

Proverbs 24:16
For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again,
But the wicked shall fall by calamity.