Extraordinary Miracle (Acts 19-20)

"And God was doing the extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul. So that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them."

When they first saw the new and creative way to do some of the miracles, the sons of Sceva tried to so the same thing by using the name of Jesus and Paul. But since they do not know Jesus as their personal relationship, they had no protection from the evil spirit. So when they asked for the extraordinary miracle (extraordinary power), then they are asking for the extraordinary evil spirit as well because their temple are empty due to no relationship. So, "the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded."

But because Paul was willing to do something different as the Holy Spirit led him to do so, the extraordinary miracle brought "a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all." They saw that the sons of Sceva were overpowered by the evil spirit, so they recognized the need of having that personal relationship with the Lord. So they dumped their value and it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver in total!

Can we experience something extraordinary today? Yes I believe we can experience something extraordinary today! But we will need to have a deeper relationship with Him first before we can do something extraordinary and creative! In this generation, I believe that we are in the need of the extraordinary miracle to reach those scattered people out there. We need to do something new to reach them like how Paul reached and healed the others through handkerchief and aprons, we need to reach others through something extraordinary to accomplish His final missions! FIRST, GO TO HIM!

Your Prayer Needed (2 Thes 1-3)

"Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith." Not all of the people out there know or understood the faith because there are some scattered cultures out there that we overlooked. Maybe we forgot to reach those types of people or we were clouded by our humanly judgmental error, such as thinking, "I need to focus on those 99 people rather than wasting my time for one person." Sometimes we naturally forgot about those three parables: lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son (Luke 15). In other word, they were scattered... Yeah our brains are so limited. But our brain may expand through our prayer to help us starting to recognize things we never recognize before! When we do, we finally increased our faith so that the word of the Lord may speed ahead through us. "We must think in new ways for bringing together the scattered community with this life-changing, eternal gospel of our Lord." -Deaf Diaspora

Paul wrote to Timothy that he remember him constantly in his prayers night and day. Then he went on to say, "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God." - 2 Tim 1:5-6

I love how Paul reminded Timothy that it is through his mother and grandmother that he had that kind of faith! In the same way, we need some respectable leaders out there to be our role model by passing down their faith to us. Then we need to pass down our faith to the others, especially to those who don't have any role models with faith.

Don't Quench the Spirit (1 Thes 4-5)

"Rejoice always" and "Pray without ceasing" were circled in my Bible because most of us understood how important it is to worship and praise Him so that our heart may open it's door for Him to come in to sit down with us. So that we may talk to Him without ceasing. But we overlooked the part about how we need to listen to the Spirit. A two-way conversation is when we will talk and then listen in turns. So we need to listen to the Spirit to increase our discernment.

"Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good." After we rejoice in Him and give Him thanks in everything, talking to him. We need to listen and see what the Spirit is trying to tell us through firsthand (directly from God) or secondhand (prophecies) voices and test them. Once we discern our position, we must hold fast to what is good. We must stay in that position even if our human thoughts told us to move! Do not move until God moves you to another position because you wouldn't want to "quench the Spirit". You wouldn't want to put out the unshakenable flame in each of us. Hold fast to what is true.

Sometimes we forgot to sit still after praising Him. Sometimes we forgot to turn on our Holy Anticipation. Take time to pause after reading some powerful words. Take time to pause after doing many tasks. Take time to pause like how a Good Samaritan paused to help the helpless. Don't quench the Spirit by doing any of dead duties like how a priest and a Levite didn't pause in order to do their dead duties. So they weren't able to discern what God wants them to do. It's better to sacrifice our reputation so that we won't quench the Spirit. A Good Samaritan didn't care about his reputation (or his humanly thoughts), but he cared about God's reputation (or God's thoughts).

Don't Be a Burden (1 Thes 1-3)

"Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ." They received a higher authority from God as an apostle to cast out demons, to show His signs and wonder, and to oversee the Church. They were given those authority because God knew that they wouldn't misuse their authority by demanding anything from the people. They were matured into the Christ, they weren't like the children who complain to their friends when they play a game in the public square, "We played wedding songs, and you didn't dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn't weep." -Luke 7:31-32

Instead of demanding a lot from their followers like the children who will complain when they didn't get anything in return for their deeds, they worked hard to serve the followers. Jesus Christ came here on the earth to serve us, to give us a free gift by his sufferings so that we live our life to the fullest. "We worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God." But they didn't just physically worked hard, but they also worked hard spiritually, "as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?"

We may think, "Oh that doesn't apply to us all". All of us probably don't have the same authority as those apostles, but I believe that all of us already received a small portion of authority from Him, so are we using our authority in the right way? Do we demand a lot from our fellows? Are we complaining? Are we still growing in Him? Are you thinking "ME"? Grab a thin paper and a thick marker, write down "ME" and then flip it over, what do you see? Are you willing to flip over your life and stop being a burden to them?

Accompany A Ministry Leader (Acts 16-18)

Timothy joins Paul and Silas as they travelled from town to town, presenting the simple guideline the Jerusalem apostles and leaders had come up with. "So the churches there were strengthened in the faith, and they increased number to number daily."

As they travelled around the world to spread the Gospels and plant some churches, they waited for the doors to be opened. "The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens" (Rev 3:7):
-"having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia."... SHUT
-"they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus didn't allow them"... SHUT
-"And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us'"... OPENED

So they immediately set to go into Macedonia for they knew that the door is clearly open for God gave Paul a vision. A vision may be an inspiration or a plan that came from God. Did you have had any kind of revelations from God? Dreams? Prophecies? Revelation from the Bible? Signs? Sometimes we have to keep moving with our Holy Eyes open like how Paul moved when the Holy Spirit shut several doors until a vision came to him, opening a door.

Are we like Timothy who mightn't have any God-given vision yet? Although Timothy didn't know what he is called to do yet, but he accompanied Paul. Don't know what God wants you to do yet? Maybe we ought venture a step to find a trustworthy ministry leader to accompany with for a start. Then we may have a starting point like Timothy did, to our calling.

True Freedom (Gal 4-6)

"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

"Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Sometimes a lot of us abused our freedom such as freedom of speech. We used that freedom to tear down certain people in our lives by gossiping, backstabbing, slandering, etc. We forgot that if we are led by the Spirit, we have that freedom to build someone up not to tear someone down! We used this kind of freedom in America in a wrong way! In the same way, God gave us the freedom to grow in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But it is up to us to use those fruits to share! If we do not share our fruits in our lives, then we may wither like a fig tree when a fig tree doesn't produce any fruits to share.

"But they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." A lot of us tried to change someone into a "goody-goody person" so that we may rejoice in how that person changes. But is that person really transformed inside-out? We got to be cautious in how we tried to change those people by our own flesh! We aren't led by the Spirit when we tried to change a person on our own, but to share the love with someone. We are here to share His testimony of love and allow Him to give His grace upon that person, so that he/she may be transformed! Transformation doesn't take one or two days, but takes years. We want our newly friends to walk under the grace rather than under the laws don't we? Then stop telling our friends what he/she can do or cannot do under His grace! Let them search His heart and find His grace and change through His grace not through our flesh.

Are You Too Political? (Gal 1-3)

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Are you being influenced by the people around you, by their beliefs? Well, Cephas (also called Peter) was influenced by the Jews' circumcision party once even though Cephas probably saw many miracles and how God poured down the Holy Spirit upon the Gentiles! Why was he influenced by them? Because he became a bit too political even though he was probably just a common men! Maybe he was influenced after years of leadership, which caused him to forgot who he was and how God had brought him up! Let's take a look at what Cephas had done:

"He was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy." That's what I call RELIGIOUS not RELATIONSHIP. Instead of remaining under the Spirit, they are led by the law. So they were afraid and they step aside to act as if they followed the religious law. They wanted to be one of those prominent leader figures or rather like those Barbie we used to play with.

I love how Paul confronted them! Paul was like an outsider because he didn't know any of the apostles except James the Lord's brother. He wasn't influenced by the other prominent leaders at all, so I think this gave him the ability to be tough about this issue and so he confronted, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" The circumcision party took over and forced the Gentiles to circumcise themselves like a Jew because Peter and others became a bit too political as they step aside into the circumcision party.

Are you following Jesus' example like Paul did? Are you willingly to be less political by becoming a better advocate for the lost and broken people?

Unworthy of Eternal Life? (Acts 13-15)

"And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourself unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles." Sometimes we are so focused on how cruelly those religious people judged the sinners that we forgot about how cruelly they may judge themselves for their own sins! Maybe some of you feel filthy that you are not worthy of eternal life, then you must stop feeling that way! Stop being cruel to yourself.

'"David, here is what you need to know about my life," Mark began. "I was incredibly lonely. I hated myself. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me, and it was eating me alive. I almost dropped out of school. It was awful. I know guys who have committed suicide because of the deep conflicts that exist between who they are and what religion says is right and wrong."' -UnChristian

Mark was desperated because he struggled with the issues of homosexuality, but by talking with David he finally found nobody was worthy of eternal life. But everyone is worthy of eternal life because of the cross! Why must we put yoke to ourselves by trying to change ourselves rather than loving God and let Him change us? Some of us judged those who took the drugs when we are taking a dose of medication. Some of us judged those who are whores while we had a moment of sexual fanasty. Some of us judged those who are addicted to lying while we refused to admit our past failures. Some of us judged by seeing the plank in someone's eye while we refused to see a speck in our own eye.

Do not judge others or yourself unworthy of the eternal life because Jesus died for us! Stop judging and receive! The gift of Hope and Future is free! Grab it!

The Holy Spirit Moves! (Acts 11-12)

Something unusual happened, so the brothers and sisters gathered around Peter, asking him why did he went among the Gentiles to feed them His Words. Peter said, "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning." They all realized that they cannot deny His works! If He sent the Holy Spirit upon them, then who are we to stop Him! They knew they cannot judge those people if God had decided to move upon His behalf! They cannot control God's hands. God may sent the Holy Spirit to whoever He wants. "If then God gave the same gift to them as He gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"

And He also may sent the Holy Spirit in His own timing! "While Peter was STILL saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all [Gentiles] who heard the word." It's amazing how God didn't wait until Peter finished his own speech, but the Holy Spirit moved before he finished! Sometimes the Holy Spirit may move before the speech, through the worship team. Sometimes the Holy Spirit may move through the prayer, or even before the prayer has begun. The Holy Spirit may move in anyplace, anywhere! Are we anticipating His move anywhere and anyplace, and be willing to move as He moves? Because He can!

Prayer: Lord, I want to thank you for sending us the Holy Spirit to help and guide us here so that we may live our life to the fullest! We believe that You may move anywhere You want to move! Even when I'm sitting upon the top of my bunk bed typing this blog. Even when I'm outside running the 5k race. Even when we are in the church. Even in our waking. Even when we are eating. Even when we get aboard on the plane. Everywhere and anytime! Thank you, Lord, for this revelation and may it stays with us throughout the day daily! =)

A Voice Beckoning? Insane!? (Acts 9-10)

'Falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul. why are you persecuting me?"' Imagine yourself falling to the ground, hearing the voice without seeing! Or imagine youself seeing something without hearing. Those things are insane right?! But Saul knew that the voice was from God because he cannot deny it. He was blinded and something like scales blocked his ability to see for a while. Saul probably refused to believe while he was blind, but God refused to give up on Him, so Saul was blinded for three days and he didn't either eat or drink. After three days of battling, his eyes were restored and the scales fell off. So he rose and was baptized and ate! Saul learned that he got to stop fighting against Him and His ways, so he started to follow Him boldly!

'The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damacus." After those men led Saul to Damacus and Saul met disciple named Ananias. I don't know what the men did after that! Maybe they decided to believe, or thought that it was insane and left since they don't know what to do with Saul. It is their choice, but Saul found Him! Sometimes we have to do something insane by believing that a voice came from Him without seeing like Saul did!

Do you want to be like Saul or like those men who may choose to doubt as they leave? It takes only one step. Which step will you make? If you want to take Saul's step, then the next step is to find a disciple like Ananias who will teach you. Who is your Ananias?

1st Martyr Kicks! (Acts 7-8)

A martyr is when someone is holding onto the faith so much that one is willing to die for the faith, like how Stephen holds onto the truth and beamed when he died as he glanced upward toward the heaven! Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit so he proclaimed, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." It's amazing how he got this kind of grace and peace from God! But through this event, God used Stephen to kick the many! I think I would like to have that kind of death: seeing the heavens opened with Him standing above and seeing how my death had impact on the many! It's probably one of the most peaceful death! With His glory upon us, we may forget about our sufferings!

What did our First Martyr kicked? "They were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles... Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word." The disciples began to preach boldly everywhere! The disciples stopped staying comfort in a big group of Christians, they are willing to venture into some villages and jungles! Go disciples!

Peter once said, "Truly, truly, I say to you when you were young [spiritually immature], you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old [spiritually matured], you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go (this he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God)" - John 21:18-19

Yeah! The disciples were young, but once the First Martyr showed them how the true death glorified Him, they quickly matured! And since they are matured by Stephen's example, they are willing to allow Him to stretch them and go whatever He wanted them to go! They wanted to glorify God.

It is tough for us to start something without seeing any Martyr in our lives to learn from, but Jesus said, "Blessed are those who believed [act] without seeing". We have our stories in front of us and some testimonies out there. It would be better for us to have Him kicking us directly as we keep growing and receive more grace from Him and go!

Be Naked Before God (Acts 5-6)

When I wanted to rededicated myself wholly instead of partly to the Lord again during the New Year Eve in 2009. I wanted to give all of me to Him, but I made a small request from Him on that night. I told Him that I wasn't ready to give up motorcycle since I owned it for only three months at that time! Several months later, I finally told Him that I am willingly to give up anything, even my own motorcycle if He wanted me to! My heart is willingly. I am blessed with this two wheel vehicle!

So I was asking Him for a permission to withhold a bit! Imagine how hard it is for Ananias and Sapphira to give everything away without withholding something back! So Ananias "kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet." And his wife knew about it.

The big difference is that Ananias didn't tell the apostles that he was withholding something back! Would it makes a difference if he told the apostles that he wanted to withhold something? I think it would! The apostles told him, '"You have not lied to men but to God" When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.' His wife also said the same thing without knowing that her husband had fell down dead. So, "immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last" as well.

It is okay for us to be honest with Him about our humanly nature. God is all-knowing God and all-loving God with some disciplinary for us like a true Father! But it is not okay for us to lie to Him! We all came here naked before God and we will always be. Don't try to disguise yourself before Him.

Got a Mantle of Humility? (Acts 3-4)

A mantle is a loose sleeveless cloak or cape or something that covers, envelope, or conceals. Why a mantle? It is a covering for all of our Holy Successes that came from His Hands that had rescued you from falling. But when we get a mantle off, we may become blind to our prideful nature by seeing the glory in us, then His glory in us will start to dim. When it does, we started to realize that we are blinded by our pride, and it is when we might start to beg for a mantle again and for His glory to resume in us. It's not about us, but it is all about Him!

It is one of our greatest temptation! It is easy for us to be prideful when we forgot what He had done for us and to tell the people about how God had carried us into this Holy Successes! I seriously need to keep a mantle like how Peter and John kept theirs when they walked around to heal a lame man, got into prision after 5,000 more were saved, and how the people saw their boldness!

When they recognized that the people are staring at them walking with the lame, they spoke, "Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this or why do you stare at us, as through by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus"

When the rulers, elders, and scribes gathered together to ask them in prision, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and told them that it is, "by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead- by him this man is standing before you well." Then the rulers, elders, and scribes 'saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.'

Don't ever forget that it is all about Jesus Christ who saves us! Jesus is the Anointed One who brought us out of bondages. Let us all remember to glorify Him daily!

Tower of Babel Reversal Begun (Acts 1-2)

It's tempting to make a sermon-length blog out of those two chapters like how Luke recorded Peter's sermon at Pentecost! Those chapters are all about the Church, the Body of Christ that had begun! Luke said that in the book of Luke he have "dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach". I love how Jesus came here to begin everything and then passed on His teaching and deeds to us as the Body of Christ continue to do what He had done!

BUT the birth of the Body of Christ didn't begin until 10 days after Jesus descended into heaven. Before He left, He promised them that they will receive the Holy Spirit to be a witness to the end of the earth, everywhere! So they took this promise as they went into the upper room to the "deafest life". There are two different definition of deafness, one is the inability to hear the sounds, and one is the action of refusing to listen or unyielding. Imagine yourself walking with Jesus for three years, hearing and seeing what He had done, and then He left! So they went back to the dark, but they continued to shut down to any deceiving spirit completely by devoting themselves to Him through prayer and borrowed faith. During those ten days, I am sure they were straining like the horses and 'when the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And He said, "Go, patrol the earth." So they patrolled the earth.' (Zechariah 6:7)

In the same way, when the wind gushed into the room and then like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit filled them. They began to speak (few of them may sign too, who knows!) in different languages as the Spirit prompted them! "We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." They glorified God through other tongues! Here's what I think they committed to something like Paul will commit to: "For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience" (Romans 15:18). So the reversal of the Tower of Babel had begun!

Now they went out of the upper room and Peter preached at Pentecost. 'Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles. "Brothers, what shall we do?"' They finally saw His glory and "so those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls." It's amazing how they were griefed by what they had done and now "all who believed were together and had all things in comon. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need." They probably joyful gave away everything to distribute! What a change of heart!

I'm so overwhelmed! His love is so overwhelming that sometimes all we can do is to sit down and stare up the ceiling to be in His presence! There are two things that seem to be connected here: the more their spirit of generousity increased and the more they continued to glorify Him everywhere they go! It's time to take a risk by being generousity! "DONORS TIME!"... (got this idea from facebook security check!) HA! Love this!

Why the Name Changes? (2 Kings 24-25)

"And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, king in his place, and changed his name to Zedekiah."

So now Zedekiah regins in Judah, but why did Babylon decided to change his name? What does his name means? The name Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu means "My righteousness is Yahweh [God of Abraham]". Wait a minute, did the king of Babylon fear the Lord? Even the king of Babylon respected their true God, and I think he even encouraged Zedekiah by changing his name!

The irony is that Zedekiah "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. according to all that Jehoiakim had done" and even he "rebelled against the king of Babylon"! It's a double rebellion! He rebelled to God and to the king of Babylon who respected their God! And the worst consequence came! "The famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land... and he [king of Babylon] burned the house of the Lord and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem."

Zedekiah is still Mattaniah! He earned the second chance from the king of Babylon, but he doesn't deserve this name! Do the people know your name as your name reflects God? But your name can only reflects God in your obedience.

Emotional vs Spirit Attachment

Most of us should know that the emotional attachment are dangerous. That kind of emotional attachment can lead us to something wrong such as dependence on one another rather than dependence on God. We may become dependent on one another in physical touch, quality time, gifts, act of service, or word of affirmation. We naturally need those five languages from each other, but being dependent on those language is completely different. We may turn them into five wrong-love languages such as lust, too-programming, greed, self-serving, or approval addiction if we are too dependent on the people we are attached to.

How do we avoid those five wrong-love language? We need to be attached to one another through the soul attachment. The Spirit attachment is when we are attached to each other through His glory. When we got those five languages from each other, are we receiving those to glorify His name? Do we see Him better through those five love languages? If we do, then we are attached to each other through the soul attachment! We, the Body of Christ, need that to keep us going in our battlefield!

We all will need to discern the difference between the emotional attachment and the Spirit attachment everyday in order to sacrifice our fleshy desires. So that we may bring the glory to Him!

Upside Down (2 Kings 21-23)

"I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down."

It reminds me of a newly sand-time watch that I found! Ever seen it? It's almost like a hourglass, but it is something that we wear on our wrist! It tells you time when sand falls from above, in the same way, God is changing the amount of blessing and protection. When we turn aside from Him, then the hourglass is being upside down, and things began to get worse, we began to hear Him less and less as the sand go down the wrong way.

But when God said that He will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, He didn't just turn the hourglass upside down, but He cleans the sand out to make it completely empty. When He turned it upside down, there is no sand to keep flowing His protection. So they will be wiped clean and remain empty! In Manasseh and Amon the son of Manasseh reign, they did what's evil in the sight of the Lord, so their hourglass remained empty and upside down in the wrong way. They all remained in the darkness.

Then came Josiah after Amon, who reigned Judah when he was 8 years old and he did everything right in the sight of the Lord! So the hourglass was filled with sand again and it was turned into the right way. So His protection began to come upon them! They repair the Temple, find the Book of the Law, reform, and restore the Passover! They began to do what is right in His sight! They are getting out of the cage! There is hope!

Which side of the hourglass are we on? Are we going upside down in the wrong way or the right way?

God's Our Active Listener (2 Kings 18-20)

It's amazing how God actually listen to us like how He listened Hezekiah! Hezekiah was deadly sick, so God sent Isaiah to visit him and tell him to set everything in order because Hezekiah won't recover from his illness and he will die from it. So Hezekiah turned his face to the wall to pray to the Lord in humility.

'And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of Lord came to him: "Turn back, and say to Hezekiah... I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold I will heal you... and I will add fifteen years to your life.... I will defend this city for My own sake and for my servant David's sake.'

God listened and responded in a last-minute manner! Yeah sometimes He does that! He called Isaiah when he had gone out of the middle court to turn back! God didn't tell Isaiah to stay, but waited until he had gone out! So Isaiah returned. It's like how things may have gone out of our hands, but sometimes God allowed them to get out of our hands so that He may hear us praying. I think God waited because he wanted to listen to Hezekiah's prayer before He called Isaiah back!

Why does He respond in a last-minute manner? I think He loves to be an active listener! Even more He decided to give Hezekiah two greatest gifts. He gave him an addition 15 years to see how God will defend this city for the sake of His name and David's name. He also allowed Hezekiah to decide which miracle he wanted to see, "shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or go back ten steps?". So Hezekiah choose 'ten steps backward', so the sun was reversed by ten degrees according to the sundial!

God listened at a last-minute manner, but He is the biggest responder!

King Ahaz's Delusion (2 Kings 16-17)

Since Ahaz decided to walk in the way of the kings of Israel rather than in the way of the Lord as King David had, Ahaz becamed one of the delusion figures in the Bible! Out of his disobedience to his God, he decided to do way more than necessary to the gods! In the Old Testament, it is designed for the people of God to sacrifice an animal to the Lord, but when someone decided to follow the gods they began to offer something unnecessary and extreme that violates God's laws!

"He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel."

"And they did wicked things provoking the Lord to anger... So Israel was exiled from their own land to Assyria until this day."

On the other side, Jesus, Moses, and Elijah did the extreme total 40 days fasting- day and night. It is absolutely unnecessary, probably very suicidal! But it was necessary for them because they did it out of obedience to their true Father so He carried them through. It amazes me that Elijah and Moses later appeared to Jesus in The Transfiguration on the mountain when they all had done something in common, a total 40 days fasting! BUT I'm sure that there are many others who tried to copy Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, even today! Crazy, uh? Yeah it is crazy, especially when we don't do it out of pure obedience! A big NO! Moses, Elijah, and Jesus died to themselves everyday for God.

Yeah it is all messed-up! It's all about the true obedience to the true God...

Obedience to yourself or others = everything become a delusion... STAY FOCUSED ON HIM in any big or small things!

Don't Hold Others' Guilts (2 Kings 14-15)

We naturally felt some pang of guilts when some of our relatives or friends did something wrong! Sometimes we may try to do something to earn the forgiveness of the others. But we cannot do that! We cannot earn the forgiveness for the others! So what do we do? Sometimes all we can do is to be blunt honest with our friends or relatives who did something wrong and then get our hands off after we had done our part! Sometimes all we can do is back off and pray!

'According to what's written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the Lord commanded. "Fathers shall not be put to death [blamed] because of their children, nor shall children be put to death [blamed] because of their fathers. But each one shall die for his own sin [guilt]."'

Oh boy! It's hard thing for me to do! I once struggled with this, I hate it when I knew something about a situation while the others doesn't! I wanted to be protective, but I had to keep my integrity! I once was mad at my friend for picking the seats behind rather than beside those two wounded wonderful couple, I think she was curious and wanted to watch them as a couple (some young adults!). But my friend didn't know that they were wounded by a lady at the church out of her jealousy! Because she was jealous and scared, she accused them of being some control freaks. I heard about it, but I had to keep my integrity and acted as if I knew nothing about it although I wanted to jump in. I was amazed by how God took this into His hands as He delivered the right message into the preacher's mouth to encourage them: Joseph was once sold into slavery out of jealousy, but later he was blessed! So, I knew that God is handling this! All I had to do is to pray! Yeah it was one of my toughest night after seeing how this message affected those two! I'm wounded as well, but I cannot jump in to earn a forgiveness for the others or I will block God's healing process! It is easy for us to jump in and become a distraction for the others.

Sow + Reap = Zero Policies (2 Kings 11-13)

The author of 1 and 2 Kings is unknown, but it is traditionally for us to say that they are written by Jeremiah around between 560 and 540 B.C.

"Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah [Deceased King of Judah] saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land."

This story reminds me of Shakespearre stories! But his stories were written 2,000 years later (so Shakespearre is probably the copycat!), and one of them is called "Macbeth":

Macbeth killed Duncan and his wife framed Duncan's servants, so Duncan's sons Malcolm and Donalbain flee to England and to Ireland. But after Macbeth earned the kingship, but he lived in fear under the three witches' prophecy [sow and reap policies] until he died! Macduff, who opposed Macbeth, later flee to be with Malcolm and then he led the armies to victory against Macbeth, so that the crown had returned to Duncan's son, Malcolm!

Wow if Macbeth lived under the fear of the "sow and reap policies" until he died, then I wonder if Athaliah lived in fear until she died. I think so! I usually lived in fear when I am stealing my roommates' food when they are gone! Then I found myself jumpy whenever I saw the door open wide and glanced over my back! Yeah food sure comfort me, but fear ain't! Stealing + Fear = Zero Benefit! Imagine Athaliah living in fear, glancing over her back while she reigns! Her kingship (sowing) + her death (reap) = ZERO (policy)!

What Did This Uncarnality Fellow Say? (2 Kings 9-10)

Sometimes we, the people, can be funny! The people of Israel are funny! Or should I say follies? Why are they the follies?

When the young servant of the prophet came to Jehu and pulled him out of the crowd into a room to anoint him king over Israel in private, the people began to inquire him about it. The young servant of the prophet departed quickly without lingering, so Jehu was left to face the inquiring so he responded, "You know the fellow and his talk" in an effort to set it aside.

The people of Israel are the follies because they called this young man a madman (uncarnality) when they asked, "Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?" Yet they wanted to know what the madman had said, "That's not true; tell us now" after Jehu tried to set the talk aside! Even more when they found out about the crazy anoint talk, 'then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on bare steps [to honor him], and they blew trumpet and proclaimed, "Jehu is king."' CRAZY!

But Jehu and his armies actually killed Joram the king of Israel, Ahaziah the king of Judah, Jezebel (grossy scene here), Ahab's 70 sons and his many close acquantiances, and all prophets of Baal! He just swept almost every sins and even discipled Jehonadab by taking him into his hand to show him his zeal for the Lord! BUT he missed one thing, the golden calves! He did everything to do things right, but he forgot to acknowledge God as a big God! He reduced God into a golden calves like Aaron did! He "boxed his God"... Our God is way bigger than our humanly thoughts! One sin here: our carnality thoughts! Man, tis TOUGH!

Do Not Delay! (2 Kings 6-8)

Honestly, I didn't plan to blog today, but I couldn't not blog today after reading those three great chapters! DO NOT DELAY! Okiee!!!

"This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us" Those four ugly lepers said so!

Three huge good news of those conquered prayers:
1. Show us, the Church, where the axe head submerged, so that we may discern the axe to be able to toss the stick and make the iron float!
2. Let those Syrians flee, so that those four ugly lepers may claim the camp. Then the Israel will enter those camp and enjoy the feast!
3. Let this Shunammite mother who left the land of Philistines during the seven years of famine return the land and let the king appoint an official to restore everything to her!

They are conquered prayers because the Bible says so! Those are the stories of around 3,000 years ago, but they are still stories today!

Bible is Full of Metaphors

A friend claimed that it might snow tonight in DC even though it is May! Another said that the low for tonight is supposed to be 48, it must be colder than 48 for snow to come upon DC! I told them that maybe he is being metaphorically! Maybe he isn't, but I am!

In Isaiah 55:10-11, it tells us that His Word is like the rain and the snow that come down from heaven and don't return there, but water the earth! What a great promise for us who kept reading His Words! In the end of the verse, "for which I sent it" shows that He sent the anointing upon us to keep His Promises for His Promises will never go back to Him empty!

The Bible is full of metaphors, which meant we must switch our "Holy Metaphors" on before we read! How do we do that? We must ask the Holy Spirit to be our metaphors, just like how we asked our mothers (or dads) to read us a story when we were a child. We need to ask the Holy Spirit, our Nurturing Mother, to read our Bible for us!

All Is Well, All Is Well! (2 Kings 3-5)

What did the Shunammite woman do when her unasked-for promise child died? She rode straight to Elisha without telling her husband and without telling Elisha what the problem is! Why did she refused to tell them? I think it is because she believed in this unasked-for promise!

She said, "All is well" to her husband when he asked her why she needs to her donkey and set out for Elisha. She said, "All is well" when Elisha asked her if there is any problems. Then she said, "Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, 'Do not deceive me?'"

I love this courageous mother! She believed that God won't give her a unasked-for child if that child will die. She fought against the issues of life that may shape her thoughts, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." (Prov 4:23)

In the end, she is still a mother! A conqueror!

There are some promises in our lives that we didn't ask for or asked for. Are we like the Shunammite woman who believed that His unasked-for promise remains? Let's say, "ALL IS WELL, ALL IS WELL" to dump those issues of life as we saddle our donkey and keep on riding til we get there!

Ask a Hard Thing (2 Kings 1-2)

Elisha's loyalty reminds me of many heroes or heroines in the Bible! He stayed with Elijah although everyone told him that Elijah will be taken away from him to heaven. He told them to be quiet so that they won't distract him from following Elijah! Like how Ruth refused to depart her mother-in-law Naomi. Like how David refused to dishonor Saul as a king. Like how Joshua refused to depart Moses' commands and laws.

Because he refused to depart Elijah, he received a HARD blessing like the others! Elijah asked him what he should do for Elisha before he will be taken away. Elisha decided to ask for a HARD thing, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me." Then Elijah said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so."

So Elisha saw how the Lord had taken Elijah away and received a double portion, and now HARD thing came. Elisha realized that Elijah isn't with him anymore, but he kept believing that he had received the double portion. He also faced a pressure from the people, 'And he said, "You shall not send." But when they urged him till he was ashamed, he said, "Send." They sent therefore fifty men... and he said to them, "Did I not say to you, 'Do not go'?"' Now he walked among the people alone physically, carrying the weight of the double portion of Elijah's spirit.

Elisha and many other leaders were followed and admired by the many, but they all asked a HARD thing! Are you willing to ask Him a HARD thing? It is honorable for us to ask a HARD thing that will come with a huge responsibility, but it's worthwhile!

No Escape (1 Kings 21-22)

Once we step up, sometimes we feel like we are going through a terrible battle with fear and we want to turn back to go into our comfortable zone again. But when we turned to look back, we realized that everything is dark, the door is shut, we are trapped! So we have stay on the straight path and fix our eyes onto the light and keep moving forward!

With fear, Ahab decided to go another way around, he tried to avoid the fact that 'Israel are like a scattered sheep that have no shepherd' by disguising himself to avoid the death! Ahab said, "I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes." So he went into the battle. 'But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel [Ahab] between the scale armor and the breastplate.' So he died even thought he tried to go another way around! God's words always remain true! There is no another way around, except to listen and obey.

Abraham once tried to get another way around by sleeping with his servant Hagar to give a birth to Ishmael, it is what the most called a "Plan B". Yeah it is another way around, but the "Plan A" always exist, for His promise never fail! So the "Plan A" arrived when Sarah finally conceived Issac, and Hagar and Ishmael had to leave.

Why should we try to escape His plan when we are going through the seasons when there is no escape, keep moving forward!

It's Too Much, I Wanna Die!!! (1 Kings 18-20)

Whoa, it's a big switch from fearless Elijah to Elijah living in fear!

Elijah once overcame and mocked 450 false prophets who called on Baal with God on his side! He sang around 450 false prophets, "Your god is probably resting, sleeping, or go out on a journey!" Yeah he is making fun of them because he is over confident in God! He even confronted the people: "How long will you go limping between two different opinions [lukewarm]? If you follow God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him." He also poured four jars of water upon the burnt offering and on the wood three times, so that they are in the trench and then the Lord consumed everything when Elijah called Him!

But the switch came when he heard the threat from Jezebel and flee in fear, "I WANNA DIE!" Why did the switch occured? Now Elijah entered a different environment, he just entered into an environment of constantly living in danger and rejection. He had two choices, to follow the worldly ways or to keep following God's ways. So he shouted, "I WANNA DIE!" because he wanted the third choice, which doesn't exist yet and never did! But our God is all-knowing God, He knew and understood that Elijah felt overwhelmed, so He ministered to him and took him on a 40 day journey to be with Him! Then on the end of 40 day journey, He told him to stand on the mount before Him and He passed by! Here came strong wind that tore the mountains and broke the rocks into piece, then the earthquake, then the fire! After He showed him His power to show him that He is a lion, He then whispered in a voice like a kitten to Elijah, telling him what to do!

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
- 2 Corinthians 12:9

Elijah story reminds me of the story of Bruchko that I used to listen to when I was a little girl in Youth With A Mission training with my family. Bruchko is about "a young nineteen years old boy who heads into the jungles to evangelize a murderous tribe of South American Indians. For Bruce Olson (the author) it meant capture and torture, but what he discovered revolutionized the world of missions." I listened to that story once, but someday I will read it firsthand myself!

Clouded Mind (1 Kings 12-14)

1 Corinthians 14:33 "For God is not a God of confusion but of peace."

Sometimes we may be confused by many voices or prophets or even voices in our head! It is like how a man of God was confused by other man's lies: "I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, 'Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.'"

He chose to believe in this false prophet's voice rather than keep following God's voice. But I am sure he felt like his mind is being clouded. It is one of ways we can discern the spirit. When our minds are clouded, then something is not clear. It is a good time for us to stop everything we do and sit back to pray. Sometimes He just want you to be able to relax and listen and allow Him to clear the cloud in your mind for you! The cloud in your mind doesn't come from God. We will need to filter our clouded mind through reading His words and meditating as we pray to Him.

Just sit back and relax in Him!

Worldly Distractions (1 Kings 10-11)

"You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart."

Martin Luther said, "I have so much to do today that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer"... I think Solomon did the opposite! He married to many wives, which made him busier than ever! So by marrying them and his business, he was strongly influenced by his people rather than God! Unlike Martin Luther, Solomon began to turn away from God!

I love how Andy, one of other Proteges at National Community Church, mentioned this in his blog, "This week I was on the phone with one of our pastors at NCC, and when I was talking to him, I kept moving my arms as if I was explaining something to him face to face. I also recently caught myself laughing similar to someone else. Both are mannerisms I've picked up from people on-staff here. Does everyone do this, or just me and my brother? I think it's something that happens naturally when you observe someone and spend a lot of time with them."

Ta-Da!

We may not realize what we picked up from the others! It is much more than mannerisms, we may pick up the spiritual attitudes from the others even some good Christians, such as disbelief, which may limit our image of a true God! Or even cause us to stop battling in a spiritual warfare, causing us to turn away from His promises like Solomon did!

What do we do? We need to stay in His presence because it will prepare our heart to know which direction we should go. Stay in prayer and watch because the enemy is trying to distract you, so that you may be trapped into an unhealthy cage! Keep watch and pray, then prayers will direct you and protect you as well in your journey up the mountain!

Praying Into a New Victory! (1 Kings 8-9)

"Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice."

Solomon makes a plea that God will keep His eyes open night and day toward His house and listen to the prayer that His servant will offer toward this place. When he makes that plea, he knelt with his hands outstretched toward heaven! When we plead with our whole heart, we will find ourselves kneeling with our faces bowed toward the floor, or kneeling with our arms outstretched toward heaven, lying down with face down, or even stand tall with our arms outstreched toward heaven. We can plead Him in any different ways, we will plead Him in our own "prayer mantis" posture! But it is up to you to believe in Him and plead Him with you whole heart like Solomon did. When you really want to plead Him something in your own room or closet, to plead Him in private, you will know what kind of praying posture you want to set yourself to be in His presence. You will know. You got to set yourself into an act of surrender, to believe!

After his act of surrendering, he stood up to bless all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice! It shows that he followed this, "Let Go, Let God"! He surrendered, and allowed his plea to go to Him and then he stood up to bless Israel in a loud voice because he lifted those up to Him! "It is finished!" (John 19:30) Jesus said when he gave up his spirit and bowed his head to die physically, then God raised him up into a new victory! Sometimes we need to find a time to fall down in surrender to Him, to die to ourselves. So that it will be finished, and He will raise us up into a new victory and we will stand up and shout our victory in a loud voice like Solomon did! An act of surrender will lead you into a renewed life, into a new victory!