My Jesus is a healer!

I believe in a God who heals. In fact I believe that He loves to heal. Jesus, when He walked on earth, healed maltitudes of people with various diseases and sickness. I personally think He enjoyed it so much so until He did not forbid people from touching His garment because the Bible said that as many that touched His garment, they were made whole. Jesus gave authority to His disciples to heal the sick too. And today, we too, have this authority.

I’m very passionate in the area of healing. Every now and then, when I personally hear and know someone who is sick and is being warded in the hospital, I will try my best to go visit and pray for them. It gives an opportunity for God’s name to be glorify and for Jesus to be known. What really stirs me up is a bad encounter I had a couple of years ago.

I had a friend whose dad was admitted to hospital due to sudden stroke. Me and my other friend had made it a point to pay a visit to the dad who was in coma but I thought I needed the approval from the mom if it is ok that we pray for him since the family is not Christian.  We agreed to go a couple of days later. But it was too late for us even to pray as the initially agreed date was now the funeral date.

It was really a blow to me. A lot of things came to my mind. If we were to go there earlier, perhaps, a miracle could have happened. Perhaps, he would be healed and the family would come to know God. Wonderful isn’t it? But sadly, the reality is the reality.

It kept me reflecting. We are God’s channel for His healing power to flow. I felt I was selfish in not being able to be there in time to lay my hands and pray for this man. That’s my conviction. I believe God can heal. So now, everytime I hear of people who are sick, I would love to pray for them knowing that Jesus loves to heal them. I will try not to delay as time is really critical. Such urgency. Such burden.

When I was admitted to SJMC due to infection in my feet (though it was nothing serious) somehow or rather I felt a deep sense of compassion for people who are sick. I just want to lay my hands on them and pray believing in a God who heals.

Today, I visited my grand uncle who was in ICU due to cancer in the stomach area. The growth was removed. Yesterday, I struggled with a lot of thoughts. What if I go there and pray and nothing happens. What if people redicule me. There was a lot of what ifs as though it was like fiery darts coming in the form of doubts from the enemy.

Having learnt from previous experience, I made a decision to go. I believe God prompted my heart as I was challenged with the question, If Jesus is here with me, what would He do? I personally believe He will travel to the hospital and with compassion, lay His hand on my grand uncle so that my grand uncle can be healed. So many times, we read that in the Gospel.

I just could not comprehend on the thought of knowing that I have the authority to heal but I am holding back. Does that not make me selfish? I would rather obey a God who loves to heal and chose us as His disciples to continue to do what He do best while He was on earth, to heal the sick.

He was still in ICU when we arrived. I struggled as to whether I should enter the room and pray. Eventually, I believe God opened the door in the very last moment where I was struggling with shyness. I went into the room with a simple prayer. I touched his hand and with my faith, I prayed that God will heal him.

I thank God for giving me the opportunity and courage to pray.

2012

2o12.

Looks like it’s the buzz word at the moment.

Now, say that if it is really going to happen, how would you respond to it as a Christian?

For me, I will do the following or at least, make an effort to do so.

1. Build on my faith. Faith in Jesus for me is the most important thing. The only way to grow my faith is to read God’s Word, spend more time praying and listening to Him, attend church services, prayer services and continue to be part of a discipleship and mentoring process. Through all these, I can experience God and thus, experiencing breakthroughs and testimonies. However, it is a personal responsibility to build and grow my own faith. At the end of the day, in the judgement throne of God, I’ll be alone with Him. So my faith should not be based on my Pastor’s, Elder’s or church as a whole. I have to have the personal responsibility in growing it while having Pastors, Elders and the church around to encourage me in growing it. I will try my best with the help of His Holy Spirit to live a life that is pleasing to Him. Even when I’ve fallen, by His grace and in His mercy, I will pick myself up with the help of His Holy Spirit to finish the race knowing confidently that God loves me.

2. I will share the power of God’s love to others. If 2012 is really going to happen, doesn’t it adds more urgency that the Gospel must be preached? Put it very crudely, those who have Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour will enter into heaven and those who are not, will not. If we then being saved and already have the Good News, we must share it. Do not be sellfish! Do not hold back! A hurting world and a hurting generation needs to know that only God’s love in Jesus Christ can heal them. If we have tasted something that is so real (you know God is real) and good (you know God is good), then why should we hold back? Why in the natural, we can share about a good movie that we’ve watched (and talk on and on over it over countless mamak sessions), a good shopping bargain that we had, a good restaurant that we’ve dined in or even a good holiday vacation place where we’ve gone with confidence but when it comes to sharing the love of God, we can be so timid and shy? We must not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. Are our mind on the lost recently? Have we been thinking about them? God’s heartbeat is always for the lost.

I wonder how many will join me for the above? Because if you do both the above, not only will you be able to save yourself, but others.

If we take personal responsibility to grow our own faith, our character and attidude will change for the better and definitely for the better and not worse. When our mind is constantly renewed, our attitude towards others will change as well. Others will definitely be able to see Christ live in us and thus, opening a gateway for the Gospel to be shared.

But still, I think we should not be living it because 2012 is around the corner but living it daily because we are disciple of Jesus who loves God! Even if, 2012 does not come to pass!

How to know before a natural disaster strikes? Look at the animals

I was watching a documentary today on Animal Planet. They were showing a documentary of animals who had acted weirdly before the tsunami striked in 2004. Amongst the animals were dogs, monkeys, birds and many others.

A well known naturalist said that before the disaster strikes, it seems that all the animals from different species knew a universal language, that a natural disaster is about to happen. They were prepared for it. All of the animals survived the catastrophe.

While I was watching that, a thought came to my mind and I was like WOW!

During the days of Noah, the rigtheous man was divinely warned by God that a great natural disaster will come. I believe this is the first great natural disaster ever happened on earth, the great flood.

When God instructed Noah to build the ark, He also asked Noah to bring the animals into it.

The animals must have seen the disaster for the first time. I wonder what went through their mind seeing such a great disaster and survived it  by the will of God. I think they lived to tell their offsprings about it and now, after one generation to another, all animals knew how to react before a disaster strikes.

Hm, science may have an explanation to it but, anyways, these are just my thoughts. Hope it made some sense.

So next time you see any of your pets or animals acts weirdly beyond the ordinary, know that something is coming or happening and be prepared.

Infection

God is good.

I’m now recovering from a feet infection in SJMC which the doctor said I need to stay for at least 2 to 3 days under IV antibiotics. I felt it was unnecessary for me to stay but both the doctor and nurses insisted that I stay. So here I am, on my sick bed in front of a laptop and TV.

The skin in my feet used to cracked sometimes due to dry skin. When I came back from OA Missions, there was a small cut but I did not bother it as there was no pain, no bleeding and it seems to be common for me to have the cut. But on Friday, 5 days after returning from OA, I felt a very sharp pain at the bottom of my feet. It was as if a bee kept on stinging my feet. It was as if I stepped into a sharp nail.

I did not bother about the pain while at work. But when I when back, the pain was so excruciating that I could not sleep at all! Went into SJMC  and here I am, being admitted. They only gave me a pain killer jab around 2 am.

This morning, around 10 am when the doctor checked on my condition, he seems a little bit surprised that I did not have fever though the bottom of my feet was swollen and infected. They took a swap of the puss for testing and results will be out soon, I hope.

I thank God for His covering upon me.

I thank God that He is always with me.

Psalm 8:4 “What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?”

P/s: Thank God also for a laptop and free Wifi in SJMC

Bertapa Hatiku Tuhan

I just came back from OA Missions. One word, blessed!

One thing that I’ll never forget is when we sang this song during Friday night’s Kebaktian. It really touched my heart and I pray that God will continue to bless my brothers and sisters in Terlimau and continue to watch over them.

 

Bertapa hatiku Tuhan

Berterima kasih, Yesus

Kau mengasihiku Tuhan

Kau memiliki ku

 

Hanya ini Tuhan, persembahan ku

Segala hidupku, jiwa dan raga ku

Tak ada ku miliki harta kekayaan

Yang cukup bererti untuk ku persembahkan

Hanya ini Tuhan, permohonan ku

Terimalah Tuhan, persembahan ku

Pakailah hidupku, sebagai alat Mu

Seumur hidupku

Challenges, I fear you not!

It has been a great time of testings recently having to face some personal challenges. I thank the Holy Spirit for being with me.

I thank God and give Him praise for He has forewarned and prepared me during this time of testing. Many weeks ago, while I was praying, the Lord spoke to me through Psalms 11:4-5. I sensed a still small voice saying:

“The days of testings will come but remember, that My Holy Spirit will strengthen you in this time. The days of testings will cause you to grow deeper with My Holy Spirit”

It’s important to spend time with God and hear from Him. Never let the excuse of “I’m too busy, I’m too tired, I’ve been to church a lot of times therefore it’s ok not to pray alone at home” rob you from hearing from God.

He will speak to you. Will you listen to Him?

Missions…Wee!

I’m really excited to go for the Orang Asli Missions trip next week. This is my 5th time.

This time round, there’s an inner joy in me that somehow, I know that God is going to do an amazing miraculous work there. It’s different from the previous 4 that I went. I pray that the sovereignty of God will reign over the land.

I look forward to see the villagers there. They have been a real encouragement to me. They kept the faith despite having to face different circumstances. They could have easily gave up but instead, made a stand. I’m inpired by them.

I look forward worshipping with them. A simple yet meaningful worship unto the Lord. Like a sweet aroma, God takes delight in the heart of their worship. Everytime I went there, I get touched by the simplicity of their worship. It always remind me that worship is from the heart.

I look forward to see the kids. I pray that one day, they will grow up to be a strong Christian and start making a difference in their community. The kids are really cute but may be mischievous at times. But God loves them!

I look forward to hike into the village which may take 2 to 3 hours. I’m always reminded by the beauty of God’s creation whenever I see the trees, mountains and skies there.

I look forward to serve my brothers and sisters in Christ there.

I look forward to see God move in a powerful way to bring salvation, deliverance and healing! Luke 4:18-19

I look forward in seeing them in Heaven one day.

I look towards the Holy Spirit to work with us.

I hate second hand smoke!

I was eating in a restaurant today before prayer service. Out of a sudden a guy next to me decided to pop out a cigarette and wanting to start smoking. Immediately, I looked at him feeling angry. I was thinking, man, no way am I going to suffer from inhaling the smoke.

So before he lights his lighter, I told him in a polite manner that if he wants to smoke, he can go outside to smoke because I’m eating here. Amazingly, the guy adhered to my request. I was about to make a big fuss if he wants to smoke.

One thing, I hate it when people smoke in the area I’m eating. I have my right to breathe a smoke-less air and they are not going to murder me slowly. No offense to smokers, but I think they are dumb. How can a person still smokes regularly if he/she knew beforehand that smoking does cause various cancers? Not only they are killing themselves slowly, but the people around them. So I say, they are dumb!

I know that not all smokers are bad person in fact there are many good person who smokes.

Question, Why do smokers smoke then while knowing it’ll bring much detriment to their health?

If you are a smoker and reading this, no offense to you but I have my RIGHT to speak up. But then, if you need to get rid of smoking and want a way out, do let me know.

Ask, and you’ll receive

This is what I caught while preparing for Discovery Lesson 3 on the topic, prayer.

I’m glad to see the hunger in the 2 campus students that was recently saved and I pray that God will preserve them and raise them up to be great men of faith. Eric, Adrian, if you are reading this, I’m blessed by you guys in wanting to learn more. It’s a privilege to do Bible studies with you!

This is what I caught.

Mark 11:24 “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will receive them”.

All of us do pray and expect God to answer our prayers. However, sometimes we forget that in the time of waiting, we are to  believe that we have received what we asked for. When I read the verse again, my spirit jumped out and I was like WOW!

So simple and easy but it’s so easy that I forgot about it. That’s dangerous.

Though it’s simple and easy, it’s an important truth. Coupled with faith, it produces miraculous testimonies for God’s glory!

As I enter into my prayer closet, I will speak what I’ve prayed into existence.

Hebrews 11: 1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”

Next time when you pray, pray believing and have faith that you’ll receive.

Matthew 6:8 “For your Father knows the things you need of before you ask Him”

Prayer

I visited DUMC today. They were having a conference about prayer and the guest speaker was Pr Dr Philip Lyn. I was there for just one session. However, it was not Pr Philip who spoke, but his wife, Mrs Nancy Lyn. I must say, WOW! An anointed woman full of grace and truth.

Here’s some quotes I’ve gotten which blesses my heart and I hope, yours too.

“Prayer is caught and not taught”

“Prayer is to work with the Holy Spirit”

“Intercession is not an option”

“The Lord have called us to mature in Him and not remain as babies”