Malachi : Corrupt Priests? God-centred or Human-centred?

Malachi 1:11"For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles...v12 But you have profaned it, in that you say, The table of the LORD is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible"

The following is a quote by the wife of Joel Osteen . Osteen is the author of the book Love Your Life, and is “co-pastor” of Lakewood in Houston, Texas. Her husband Joel is known for his motivational speeches and his books Your Best Life Now and It’s Your Time.: Taken from-

http://christiannews.net/2014/08/28/do-good-for-your-own-self-osteen-says-obedience-worship-not-for-god-video/

“I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God—I mean, that’s one way to look at it—we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we’re happy,” she declares in the undated 36-second clip with her husband standing by her side and nodding. “That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy…”

“So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy,” Osteen continues. “When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?”

What do you think of the above statement?

Really ? Doing for ourselves? Happy happy for ourselves? Does that make God happy if we are happy happy?

Reflections

Malachi was a prophet during the time of Nehemiah. His name means "Messenger" He spoke during the period around 432 - 425BC.   His book was the prelude to the 400 years of prophetic silence and was broken by the next prophet John the Baptist.

1. The corruption of priests

Mal 1: 6 "O priests, that despise his name"! So much contempt by the priests for His name. Such is the statement above by a relatively popular preacher of our time today. Living is no longer for the true worship of Yahweh but for self edification.  No longer God-centred by humans-centred.  It is an upside down world today indeed.

2. The Curse of priests

Mal 2:2 "If you will not hear and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto his name...he will even send a curse upon you.."

Mal 2:7 " For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts"

Mal 2:8 "But you are departed out the way, you have caused many to stumble at the law, you have corrupted the covenant of Levi"

It is kind of scary to fall into the hands of our Lord. Popular as it might have seen that books like Osteen hit more than 10mio in sales.  Do the people agree with his teaching or are there many out there who are now stumbled? Kind of scary to think of the impact.

3. The Coming of the Real incorruptible High Priest 

Who is this Great High Priest?

• He is the refiner's fire or a launderer's soap who will cleanse us all Mal3:2
• He is the unchangeable One Mal 3:6 
• He is the compassionate Father Mal 3:17
• He is Jehovah Sabbaoth - The Lord of Hosts (is mentioned 20 times in Malachi in the KJV)
• He is the Great King Mal 1:14
• He is the convenantal LORD . Mal 2:5
• He is to be feared , respected, not treated with contempt Mal  2:5
• He is a Holy God. Mal 2:11
• He is proven and tested, unchallenged , unparalled Mal3:10
• He is the Judge Mal3:16-18.
• He is the Sun of righteousness that arose with healing in his wings Mal4:2

As Malachi had written in the very first verse, For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles, indeed He is the Sun and Son of Righteousness.

Caught this morning sunrise on 23/8/2014 and decided to capture the sunrise at few min intervals.  The notable change in the whole lighting was about an hour later past 8am.  It was a glorious sight to behold. To always remember the soon and coming Son of God, our returning King, Yahweh - to reign in justice and righteousness. Amen.

20140823: Matt10:1 & 8 To Heal the sick or to pray for the sick?

Late Simth Wigglesworth 

Matt 10:1 And when he had called unto him his 12 disciples, HE GAVE THEM POWER against unclean spirits , to cast them out, and TO HEAL all manner of diseases and all manner of diseases"

Sometime in May this year, a kind of fresh new perspective came to my mind. It was from  a book that my ex-pastor had written.  His first published book in fact.  Perhaps some parts were indeed a little controversial but I took home with this little nugget after reading.

For more than 20years now as a child of God, I have been brought up with the idea of that kind of prayer - to pray FOR the sick. Perhaps from James 5:15 where we know the "the prayer offered in faith, will make the sick person well, the Lord will raise them up, if they have sinned , they will be forgiven"  And that onus kind of lies on the 'faith' of the person.  The problem herein lies when the person does not get the healing and we get the guilt and allow that faith of ours to be questioned!

So in May 2014, while reading this book, it suddenly dawn on me that indeed, the Lord gave his disciples power To Heal all manner of diseases! (In fact, strangely, the verse all manner of diseases is repeated twice ? in v10? LOL?" (Not to Pray for the sick, but to Heal!!)

When Jesus sent forth his disciples in v 5-8, as they go into the lost sheep, what was to be preached? The simple declaration of "The kingdom of heaven is at hand.  HEAL the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils : freely you have received, freely give" Oh what kind of action verbs - Heal, cleanse, raise , cast out! Nike! JUST DO IT!

Smith Wigglesworth

“If it is in the Bible, it is so. It’s not even to be prayed about. It’s to be received and acted upon. Inactivity is a robber which steals blessings. Increase comes by action, by using what we have and know. Your life must be one of going on from faith to faith.”

So perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that my friend who had been just diagnosed with fairly advance lung cancer could not make it to church that day though I was dying for her to be there to be prayed for by my ex-pastor (quite normal for us to approach 'big players ....lol)  It was with this new fresh perspective that I took when I prayed with her together with another friend at her home subsequently instead. 3 mths had passed us by with her completing the arduous round of chemo and radiation. But with great report given just this week that the x-ray showed the tumor had disappeared much to the surprise of the doc that he thot it was the wrong x-ray and had to double check! To add to the joy of the sequel of the lady from the rainbow citing in April journal - she received Christ during an altar call in KL church this month! PTL.

 Smith Wigglesworth
“Fear looks; faith jumps. Faith never fails to obtain its object. If I leave you as I found you, I am not God’s channel. I am not here to entertain you, but to get you to the place where you can laugh at the impossible.”

“How can one come to possess great faith? Now listen, here is the answer to that: First, the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. Faith must grow by soil, moisture, and exercise.”

Reflections

I love to read Smith Wigglesworth books. Think I had read most of his books. Wigglesworth continued to minister up until the time of his death on March 12, 1947

He died exactly 18 years before I was born. So which is which now? To heal the sick or to pray for the sick? Just as Wigglesworth wrote "If it is in the bible, it is so.  It is not to be even prayed about. It is to be received and acted upon. Inactivity is a robber which steals blessings.  Increase comes by action, by using what we have and know. Your life must be one of going from faith to faith"

Mine just did in this month of August 2014. Pray that yours would to as we NIKE and run this race together on this earth till we receive the crown at the end of the line. It is not about how big our faith is but how big our God is. It is not about us but all about Him. And taking authority as vested by HIm in us.

Quite a funny preacher too. Here are some of his other funny quotes

“If I read the newspaper I come out dirtier than I went in. If I read my Bible, I come out cleaner than I went in, and I like being clean!”

“Some people like to read their Bibles in the Hebrew; some like to read it in the Greek; I like to ready it in the Holy Spirit.”

“Repeat in your heart often”baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire, fire, fire!” All the unction, and weeping, and travailing comes through the baptism of fire, and I say to you and say to myself, purged and cleansed and filled with renewed spiritual power.” “Who maketh his ministers a flame of fire.” Heb. 1:7

“How great is the position of the man who is born of God, born of purity, born of faith, born of life, born of power!”

“If you are in the same place today as you were yesterday, you are a backslider.”

“If you want to increase in the life of God, then you must settle it in your heart that you will not at any time resist the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost and fire - the fire burning up everything that would impoverish and destroy you.”

“I don’t ever ask Smith Wigglesworth how he feels!” I jump out of bed! I dance before the Lord for at least 10 to 12 minutes – high speed dancing. I jump up and down and run around my room telling God how great he is, how wonderful He is, how glad I am to be associated with Him and to be His child.”

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 Who is Smith Wigglesworth?

"Raised a Methodist, he became a born again Christian at age eight. His grandmother was a devout Methodist; his parents, John and Martha, were not practicing Christians although they took young Smith to Methodist and Anglican (Episcopalian) churches on regular occasions. He was confirmed by a Bishop in the Church of England, baptized by immersion in the Baptist Church and had the grounding in Bible teaching in the Plymouth Brethren while learning the plumbing trade as an apprentice from a man in the Brethren movement. He abandoned this trade because he was too busy for it after he started preaching. In 1907 Wigglesworth visited Alexander Boddy during the Sunderland Revival, and following a laying-on of hands from Alexander’s wife Mary Boddy he experienced speaking in tongues. Wigglesworth learned to read after he married his wife Polly; she taught him to read the Bible. He often stated that it was the only book he ever read, and did not permit newspapers in his home, preferring the Bible to be their only reading material.

20140814_One Pair of Hands? Put Your Faith into HIs hands

S
ONE PAIR OF HANDS?
One pair of hands formed the mountains,

One pair of hands formed the sea
And one pair of hands made the sun and the moon,
Every bird, every flower, every tree
One pair of hands formed the valleys,
The ocean, the rivers and the sand
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith in the one pair of hands

One pair of hands, healed the sick,
One pair of hands raised the dead
One pair of hands calmed the ragging storm
And thousands of people WERE FED
One pair of hands said I love you
And those hands were nailed to a tree
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith into one pair of hands
[music]
Those hands are so strong, so when life goes wrong
Put your faith into one pair of hands
Put your faith into one pair of hands

Reflections:-

Recently a friend forwarded this song 'supposedly' sung by the late Elvis (or may be not?)
And I enjoyed the richness of the voice and the lyrics.

Then suddenly I stopped and asked myself "Did God's hands form the mountains , the sea ...? I thought Genesis recorded that in the beginning, creation was done by Him speaking?..And God said...so so it was done! Magic!!!

So I began to study some scriptures again on "HANDS of God"...

1. God's Hands is creative!

• Ps95:5 The sea is his and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land
• Ps102:25 Of old have you laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of his hands
• Heb1:10 And you LORD, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands.

2. God's Hands is mighty to save and heal!

• Gen 49:24 (Referring to Joseph) But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob;)From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel)
• Mark 5:23 (Referring to Jairus plea) My little daughter lies at the point of death: I pray thee , come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.  ....and we saw in v40; How Jesus took the damsel by his hand and He said unto her "Arise" and she arose and walked!
• Mark 6:2 (Jesus astonishing the people at Nazareth) and the people said "From when has this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?"

The figurative nature of "hands' of God - is it still relevant today?

Actually, no one can really see God as in the real person God physically. Unless for some exceptional souls perhaps. But we do see the creative nature and environment around us to know that for every creation - be it animals , flowers or grass and its diverse species, there is definitely a creative Mighty Creator.  Close your eyes and think for a moment - how many types of orchids have you seen? How many types of different shape/sizes of leaves and colours have you plucked? How many types of fragrance have you smelt from the flowers? How many herb leaves have you tasted? Open your eyes and be awed. Or perhaps, imagine God toying around with his playdough or lego stuff - kneading , pinching with His hands to form the dry land and all this is in it? LOL

The revolution that took place the day Jesus died on the cross at Calvary. His hands were nailed to the cross and suffered a most horrific death on the cross of crucifixion.  The tabernacle which Moses was instructed to build for God for worship during the exile was no longer required (Mark14:58 - Jesus said that he will destroy this temple that is made with hand s and within 3 days he will build another made without hands) Acts 17:24 " God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands. @ 2 Cor 5:1 "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." The same hands that man used to worship and built the temple to worship in days of old were the same hands that also nailed Him to the cross.

Heb9:11. 12 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, v 12 neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once  into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" That pair of hands that were nailed to that cross, completed what was needed for us. He died and in 3 days He rose again.

So when life goes wrong , do we put our faith in that pair of hands?

After Jesus's death on the cross , he resurrected after the 3rd day. He appeared to many & to doubting Thomas in John 20:27  he said" Reach here your finger and behold my hands, and reach here your hand and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless but believing" And of course Thomas answered "My Lord and my God. And Jesus said to Thomas " because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe"

That is what we call - Fearless faith But believing.

Mark 5:36 after Jesus raised from the dead Jarius daughter , He reminded us "Be not afraid, only believe"

Can we just do that? Be not afraid?ONLY Believe? That was the late Smith Wigglesworth famous tagline - Only believe!!!!

Remember in Mark 6:5 after the raising of Jarius daughter, Jesus went back to Nazareth. V5 and he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and healed them. v6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief.

Let us bring marvellous joy to our Lord with our fearless faith of simple belief and not unbelief.  Believing for greater things to come.

Jesus who was crucified had sent his Holy Spirit to us. JOhn 14:12 "He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father"

Amen!

20140801- Mui's Rainbows -Past & Present - the Divine Exchanges over the years of chasing rainbows!

1/8/2014 : Mui's most recent rainbow caught in Sutera , JB, Malaysia

About 4 months earlier in April 2014, shortly after landing at Subang Airport heading towards Sunway, this rainbow was sighted.

This April rainbow was very special. Just before boarding the Firefly plane at Changi at noon this day, a sudden text came in requesting an urgent prayer for a young lady in her 20s in KL who was going through a tough time of attempted suicides . Family was in distress.  Upon informing my friend that I was about to head for KL, she wanted me to connect to this lady and family immediately! However owing to the short notice given, I was not comfortable and confident of the meet up. Instead I activate a prayer shield from the prayer friends for this lady.  In the meantime, decided to call for some friends who might know some other friends in KL.  The text came shortly when I landed in KL. A link was done.  When I saw this rainbow in the evening , my heart lept for joy. Deep within me, I knew God had heard the prayer.There was a shalom peace. Unable to share too much details over this. However, I must say that our Lord has His eyes on the sparrow and on this precious gal's life.  A miracle in the making....And for the link up - really gave thanks to Him who is the Vine indeed and that we are merely the branches . He is the Potter and we are merely His earthen vessels fit for His master's use in His own time and disposal.

Rainbow Reflections

As I witnessed the most recent rainbow this week as our red dot approaches her 49th birthday, my heart went out in gratitude to the One who painted these awesome rainbows since 2003 when I first documented my sightings. These rainbow moments had become my personal divine exchanges with my heavenly Father who loved me so much.

That first documented rainbow on 3/4/2003 was a memorable one. It set me on a path of being a rainbow chaser. Because of this sighting, when the news of cancer of John broke a month later, I was able to have the deep shalom peace from the Lord - it will be alright. The following year sighting in Perth was an affirmation of His great love. And so 11 years had passed me by in a twinkle of an eye.  We are alive today merely of His grace and love. 

I am also known to be an earthquake chaser.  But I still prefer to chase after rainbows. The former brings the shaking whereas the latter brings joy and hope. And right now today, the whole earth is indeed shaking. Yunan just suffered a 6.5 earthquake.  Kaoshiung had an unprecedented gas explosion that led to more than 5km of the roads being blown up - like a scene of hell that broke loose. Rivers in Wenzhou and Sydney suddenly turning red!  ME is in turmoil with ISIS horrific killings and with Israel invading the Gaza under the Operation Protective Shield. 

So, this 1/8/2014 rainbow sighting in Sutera , JB brought great joy and comfort and peace.  Interestingly, there was no rain during that time.  So to sight this awesome arc of the covenant was indeed a welcome surprise! (usually I am in constant lookup to the sky after a rain while the sun is up. But this one....there was no rain? What a surprise!)

As we approach 49 year, this is the second edition of my rainbow youtube. The first was done way back in 2010 when I first bought the apple and learnt how to youtube! Hopefully more refined in this rainbow revised edition ! Sit back and enjoy the photos and the lyrics.

Dedicated specially to 

• those struggling in their health condition. YWHW is faithful always. Hang in there.  Every cloud has a silver lining. And rain storms will pass and the Son always shine and you will get to see your rainbow!
• those who had made a positive influence in my earthly journey . My prayer is that He will continue to set His eyes upon you too wherever you go. May the Lord keep you and bless you and keep His face to shine upon you Always!

Post: 14/8 Salvation yes in KL! PTL

20140728_Ubin Revisited

On 29/7/014, a group of 15 of us went biking at Pulau Ubin! It was Hari Raya holiday and there were many people on the island this day.

Arrived at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal Boarded the ferry at about 9:30am. One way is S$2-50 per pax


https://www.dropbox.com/s/wgzqqifh6dtwz0g/14%20Pulau%20Ubin.wmv

This is the Changi Beach Sailing club. Boardwalk

The ferry only takes about 10 min to Ubin

The max number of passengers for each ferry is only 12!

Rented the bikes on arrival at S$8 for the whole day. Some chose the newer bikes at S$10

We decided to turn left to Chek Jawa which was about 2km away from the jetty?

Rather undulating for some parts of the road...need to disembark to push the bike!

Took the Chek Jawa Boardwalk...the tide was too high for us to spot the starfish etc..:(

Weather was pretty good!

 They were looking at the mud holes..there were mud crabs and mudskippers!

And this is the atap seed's "covering"! Strange that the transparent looking seed actually is found as such!

 Arrived at the tower...time seem to passed us by slowly....

 Some went up to peek and it was Aaron who led the way!

From above looking down!

Nice green looking "lake"!

 Rambutans - er...not too sweet and the flesh tend to stick to the seed...

Left Ubin at about past noon.

To prevent any from collapse from the biking, we decided to go for lunch at the hawker centre at Changi Village.

The chicken chop noodle and the red tea longan dessert! Wow ! Great!!

Next time" We will cycle to the right and explore the other side of this island!

20140712-East Coast-New sports Hub- Marina Bay Gardens- Day and Nite biking!

12/7/2014 - Crossing over the time zone between dusk to nite @ about 6:15pm

A beautiful picturesque scene indeed

On 12th July 2014, we took some friends and loved ones (some from Malaysia and UK) to this bike ride from evening sun down to nightfall.  

The last time we did this cycle was back in Oct 2012 and it was in the morning.  This time we decided to do a ride where we could see both the day and the nite lights. And yes, we were not disappointed as it was a rather cool and windy day . 

What was even more unexpected was that we were in for a greater treat as the National Day rehearsals were on going and the timing was just right! We saw the paratroopers where we arrived at the mid point at the new Sports Hub which was newly opened in July!

The view along the Kallang River was spectacular - both day and night scenes.  We saw the heli with the big flag flying past us at the Gardens. The fighter jets zoomed in formation . We watched the gun salutes at the Marina Promenade.  Had great food at the Satay Club and rushed back to catch the fireworks along Kallang River.  We did it in 4 hours as we did not want to pay the overnite surcharge of bike return at additional S12/pax!

Did a previous youtube of this cycle in 2012.  This one is dedicated to all the gang who rode that day.  Interesting, the pencil sketch artist Stephen Whitshire too finished his sketch on 20th July 2014 - in 10 days. His sketch was focused too on this East Coast to Marina Bay Gardens .  So the ending part in this youtube is a token of thanks for his gift to little Red Dot for her coming Jubilee celebration next year 2015!

May you be blessed as you browse and enjoy this song "FLY" by Jason Upton. His testimony in the link below too.

http://asahengathers.blogspot.sg/2012/10/20121006-cycle-east-coast-to-bay-gardens.html

NEXT CYCLE? LIKELY CHANGI LOYANG OR PULAU UBIN? Any takers??

20140628- A sweet dream : Of Mansion Of Stars and a Dog named Peggy

Me and my pretty dog Peggy - taken in 1981.....

I had not been having nice dreams for a pretty long while.

But on this sat morning of 28th June 2014, I woke up with a big smile on my face and a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart.   

Because the Lord blessed me with a awesome dream. I woke up at 8am.

It was kind of strange as I was not feeling well on Friday evening. Decided to rest and skip the corporate prayer.  Had been down with bad flu over the last 2 over weeks and did not recover fully.  And for the first time in my life, I had very low blood pressure and low heart beat that evening. It was definitely hypo as I felt really lethargic. Could not get to airport to pick John at ten that night.

I dreamt I was in an attic kind of room.  The extra 2 bedrooms that I did not even knew it existed. The outside led to a rustic shed with trees and a well.  It opened to a big nice garden where I could see lots and lots of stars in the night! And some of the stars were shooting with blazing trails . Wow...awesome sight! And there was a stairways that led me down to a lower garden.  There I met my dog Peggy - a white samoyed which I owned as a teenager.  She was leashed. I wanted to unleash her but John discouraged me for fear of she running off perhaps. Yep, I missed my Peggy.

I wanted to borrow a sleeping bag and a poncho to lie down in the garden to see the sky...and I woke up! It was a very pleasant dream indeed.  No words can describe. Umm.

Reflections

Perhaps I had been 'haunted' by a bad sighting of a bloodied recent blog which was eventually taken down by Google shortly. Thank God for that.  And this dream kind of given to antidote my scare. Yes, that sicko blog troubled & disturbed me for a while. 日有所思， 夜有所梦。Thank God it was a good dream and not a nightmare!

Reminded of John 14"Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world give, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Is that a special attic with roof garden prepared for me I wonder? Will I see my beloved doggy again up above I wonder? How sweet it would be. Heh heh.