Somehow, this morning, it brought me thinking way back in my life where I come a long way understanding what the Promise of God meant to be. It wasn’t easy for me to be contented with life and to be truly dignified about what God made me to be. It all boils down to one word in my Christian life: “Am I Covenanted in Christ Jesus?” I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about how to be a better person, a more successful worker, a more perfect husband, a more responsible father, a more powerful minster, etc, without understanding what exactly is “Covenanted”.

Many Christians only know abt God abstractly and theoretically, but they are clearly not empowered as a Christian. And that is becoz they are ignorant about the Covenant. The Covenant (or Promise of God) tells us what God says about us as Christians. And we have to see and feel the right way about ourselves through the Covenant, if we wanna understand what is empowering Christian living.

The Covenant tells us how glorious we are in Christ Jesus, how different we are with the World, and how blessed and powerful we are as people living in this Era. In short, the Almighty God is with us to bless this whole Era and all people around us! It was what God has told Daniel <Dan 1:1-8> and Joseph <Ge 39:1-6> about even when they were in captivity or slavery. It was what God has told Abraham <Ge 12:1-3> about when he went as an alien to the Land of Canaan. It is what God tells us every morning regardless of how insignificant or ordinary we feel abt yourself. Without the Covenant, we’d never know our FULL WORTH and live our FULL POTENTIAL.

But many Christians are ignorant to what the Covenant says. They’re constantly being deceived by their own feelings or worldly standards. That’s why they looked at man’s condition, success, positions, ideals, looks, etc. Be it so, God still never leaves His pple. God never leaves His chosen ones. Yet, it is absolutely the will of God to make His Covenant clear to a few in every Era, so that they could rise up to restore a Godly culture and impact this Era. And these pple who could understand the Covenant of God are known as the Remnants.

If you’re interested about who the Remnants are, you could hear this message: Who are the Remnants?

What impresses upon me more is that David is exactly a reflection of his name. He grew up simple, quiet, kind, seldom cries (he din even cried when he was first brought into this world. The delivery nurse has to hit his butt to make sure he’s normal!). He has an adorable simplicity that captivates me, gets naively crazy at times, not competitive, and definitely easy-going with other kids. (Probably these are attributes I didn’t have…haha…). That’s why David has good and compassionate friends around him. Even the ‘notorious ones’ in class (kindergarten) can be his best of friends.

Yet, God through David has taught me the power of believing (to be simple yet powerful in spirit), to captivate through the power of believing (simplicity) instead of winning (wanting to be the best in everything).  And I give thanks to God that yesterday was another stage of David’s life and for me and my wife. We saw him to Primary School. It juz feel proud when you see your child wearing a set of formal uniform and learning to live independently in school with other children. I guess it’s the genes of Fatherhood. The more your child grew with new sets of experience in life, the more senior you felt about yourself. But it’s a glorious and gracious feeling in the Lord altogether.

I wish all parents in the Lord Jesus Christ an experiential day seeing your precious ones entering School.

Upon a graduation comes a new experience!

Yea, stay together and you’ll keep yourselves warm and dry + Adequate Food!

Hey, dun wander off alone! Its a dangerous world out there!

And recently, I happened to bring my kids to a spidery obstacle at Pasir Ris Park. There again, brethren living insights…

Its always happy and secure to stay together…:)

Its tough to hang on when you’re alone…

Together, we’ll make it to the Top!

Juz realized September is over, and I hadn’t the time to write anything about his birthday. But i thought these 2 photos look great.

And I believe with all my heart that the Lord loves him more than I do…:)

Now, when we say, ‘Spiritual’. What do we mean? Its not the typical understanding of ‘looking holy’. ‘Oh the way we look, talk, dress, behave, or fulfill a certain standards or responsibilities of Christianity, etc.’ Spiritual is something internal first. When we are ‘internally’ right, it flows to everything and everyway outside. And it MUST flows to the outside.

So what exactly is ‘spiritual’? I would summarize with 2 points.

First, its the inclination of our spirit. A spiritual person has this inclination in his heart to seek God. Be it first thing in the morning, or when he/she has an encounter, or when one is carrying out his usual routines, the inclination to seek God is there. In short, that is when you have God in your heart. Its not something material or pro-active to begin with, but its the ‘heart’ first. And this is the heart which the Holy Spirit will reveal to (as Jesus said in <Jn 14:21>: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me…and I too will love him and show myself to him”). And over here, Jesus is not talking abt obeying certain commands, carrying out certain acts or reasonable behaviors. Our Lord is in fact talking abt having His Words in our heart and possessing the heart to listen to Him. And it is also this very heart (spirit) which man has lost with his first fall.

Second, being spiritual has gotta do with factually knowing the spiritual realms. And the whole spiritual realm works on the fundamental of God’s pre-determined will, and HE has His perfect will in everything in our life. Our studies, our work, our relationships, everything we do, everyway we react, and everything we are, didn’t exist without Him. So the spiritual person seeks and understands the Lord’s will in everything and let the Lord reign through him. It is as if Jesus said <Jn 5:19>: “I do nothing by myself. I do what I see my Father is doing. I listen to my Father’s voice, I follow my Father’s will.” (Paraphrase). It is as if our Lord Jesus saw the Heavenly Father live through him fully. Similarly, the spiritual person sees how the Lord lives through him and follow suit.

Over the years, I’ve come to know what exactly ‘true spirituality’ is. Its never abt portraying how great my faith is, and what I can do or sacrifice for the Lord, and thus motivate others to follow suit. I’m not in anyway a great figure or star of this world, seeking to portray good for others to follow suit. As in fact, if anyone sees me doing good, I understood perfectly its not from me. It stems from seeing the Lord Christ is already in me and to let Him lives through me (Yes, even the ‘weak and imperfect’ me). When someone deemed me a loving hubby and caring dad, I am quick to realized its not me. But it was the Lord living through me doing it. It was as though the Lord living through my personality to love my wife. It was the Lord living through my fatherly instinct to love and nurture my children. And if words of criticism and accusations come,  I quickly surrender it to the Lord inside me (who reassuringly knows my imperfection), thus there was no need for defensiveness or inferiority on my part. And for that, I felt the full tranquility of listening to Him. And with that, the self-centered and earthly spirit whose voice is usually, ‘oh this is my wife, my children, my family, I’ve to protect them, I’ve to give them the best in everything, I want the best of what I want for them, or I’ve to protect my reputation, I’ve to prove myself right to others, etc.’ has no hold on me. The ‘listening to the Lord’s voice’ does not tolerate such spirits (earthly desires), yet arose in me stronger assuring thoughts of my every well-being in the Lord. 

So, to sum it up. Spiritual healing is abt: Whose voice are we inherently following? Are we following God’s voice, or the world’s voice, or our own voice? The more spiritually healed we are, the more we wanna hear His voice, could hear that voice, and live through that voice. Yet when we are spiritually intruded or disturbed, that’s when Satan’s voice overwhelmed us. Then we’ll find ourselves listening to our pride, our fears, our anger, our ideals, our motive, and we’ll quickly lose the serenity of life.

To get insight into Spiritual Healing, you can listen to the below message.

Spiritual Healing – Eliminating Spiritual Interference (English)

属灵医治 – 除去灵里的干扰 (Chinese)

Was thinking of finding my knack for writing back…

Hopefully, there’ll be some English messages I could share.

Juz trying to start out again here…but no promise, and definitely no promise of consistency…:)

Mary turns 7 today. She has given me quite a lot of surprises recently. Turning 7 saw certain traits of her personality changes, esp when she first went to Primary One. She turns bolder, crazier, smarter, and of course more spiritual in ways that gotta be detected.

“Mary, though Daddy has given you occasional challenges in your growing up years, Daddy knows your spirit, even as how your Lord Jesus has fully known you.”

Maybe I’ll relate something that happened late last year during Mary’s final K2 (Kindergarten 2) concert. This is something still fresh on my mind. On one of the children’s performance, she was chosen to be the narrator, to say a short note (in English) to greet the hundreds of spectators and introduce the presentation. My wife and I were of course excited and anticipating to seeing her speaks on stage, knowing that she was chosen among her peers to do the job. Standing on stage together with her was another little gal (2 years her junior, chosen by the teachers from another class to narrate in Mandarin). Coincidentally, I happened to know this little gal’s parents who were Christians also. Mary was told to memorize her 30 seconds speech which she did so effortlessly. However, her teacher also asked her to learn the Mandarin version (which I supposed that the teachers wasn’t too confident abt her junior, and wanted Mary to assist her, in case that little gal forgets her lines). Mary however took the task lightly, as she didn’t see the need to do so. I kinda guessed the teacher intention and told Mary to learn the Mandarin lines seriously also. Mary however took my words with a pinch of salt.

There comes the concert. It was a day for the children and the parents, esp for those whose kids are graduating from K2. It was a joyous and anticipating day, with every child looked their best, some dressed up in graduating gowns while others in their performance suit. Parents were beaming with pride and joy, upon seeing their child on stage, and cameras were shooting everywhere. The concert hall was filled with a kinda mood, where every parent is for their own child; only wanting to see their own child perform, and enjoy that proudest moment which their child could bring them.

Everything in the concert went well, till….it was Mary and her friend’s turn to narrate. Mary did it confidently, without hiccups, sounding more confident than what I would presume her to be. Then the little gal beside her took over and started to stammer in Mandarin. I guess the crowd was too overwhelming for her, with the cameras and hundred pairs of eyes looking at both of them. After one or two liner, she stammered and paused, and obviously she forgotten her lines. I could feel the crowd’s anguish for her, hoping somehow that embarrassing moment could be rectified. Knowing that little gal lost her lines, Mary (who was standing beside) wanted to help her with it. So she helped her with a few lines, but as expected, Mary couldn’t help her with her entire speech, becoz she didn’t take the learning of the Mandarin lines seriously. So the teacher has to embarrassingly emerge from backstage and lead the child in reciting the rest of the speech. The rest of the program later on went fine, but I felt in my heart a sadness for the child and her parents, which I later on saw it on their expression. Though it was a small matter, but somehow I could feel how the little gal’s parents felt, where every other child recited well, except for their own. So I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the concert, even though the concert went really well. There were 12 performances by 4 Kindergarten centers, and Mary and her class has indeed given the best performance with their high level of difficulty of bamboo dance, drawing the loudest applause. However, the excitement didn’t get into me as much as it did to other parents.

On the way back in the car, I recapped the concert with Mary: “Dear, did you know you’ve done well, and everyone was amazed? She said: “Yes, I know.” I went on  to asked: “Were you afraid when you were on stage reciting?” “Not really”, she responded. “But you weren’t able to help your friend right? Didn’t you? She replied: “I can’t remember mah…” “Then do you think she’s sad and embarrassed?” Mary shrugged her shoulders, seemingly to tell me that she’s not sure. Then I told her resonantly: “That’s why daddy told you to memorize the Mandarin version, so that if your friend forgets, you could help her. Do you understand now?” Then she responded with her infamous two words: “Not fair!” (Ha, my kids always end with that note, when they couldn’t resonate with me, or felt its not their fault for some things that happen). Having brought across my point, I didn’t press on. I left that in her heart for a thinker, trusting that the Holy Spirit will work.

Actually, deep down in my heart, I knew how blessed my daughter is within her. I didn’t want to leave a guilt nor blame in her heart for a wrong that happened. In fact, it was not directly her fault either. However, I wanted to imprint upon her spirit abt God’s heartbeat (loving God and men), which far extends beyond the spirit of self-sufficiency or self-prosperity. To me and my wife, we’ve come to understand ‘Grace’ so much that to be the best in this world is not what we wanted anymore, but to live for the Gospel, and to bless those around us with it. We’ve gotten here thru Christ, knowing ‘Success’ with a different definition from the rest of the world. In fact, I wanted Mary to know that all her dad’s miseries and conflicts with so many people in the past stemmed from thinking and living for himself only. Even till today, I have to consciously remind my spirit to live selflessly for Christ and His people. Yet, I didn’t want Mary to see this as self-sacrificial also, becoz there is simply nothing in us to sacrifice. But what I am trying to bring across to her is to listen to Christ in living for others, and how to let Christ live through her in all ways.

Actually, Mary is a child whom I’m always proud of. She has the greatest potential among the three, so that could be the reason I demanded the most from her. She seems to have a typical girlish personality (petty, jealous and grievous easily…sorry gals), but there is something really spiritual that lies beneath her spirit. All these years, I’ve seen her grown and transform from her innate nature. She cannot accept hard truths immediately, but it has gotten into her over the years. I saw how she learned to love others subtly, without my instructions, and sometimes without showing too much of her compassionate side, yet being full of compassion within. She is the one who can feel the pain when I cane her brothers, and was affected most if dad and mum were to have a little bit of differences. Sometimes, knowing my wrath is gonna come upon her brothers, she will ‘coax’ her brothers into obedience. In spiritual matters, she amazingly surprises me at times. When I taught her how to test the will of the Lord, she will get it, knowing that prayers must not be ritual, but must really be lively in seeing things that happen around her. Not bad for a seven year old, I would say. Having confirmed that frequently, I knew it is the Lord who will teach all things, beyond what her father could.

Recently, there was an incident. There was a boy (whom my wife taught in K2 last year), attending the same Primary 1 with Mary. He was a  consistent renowned trouble-maker in K2, but somehow has great difficulty adjusting to Primary school life. He has lost his appetite and was frequently seen reacting emotionally in class. He has lost so much weight that his mother was even thinking of withdrawing him from Primary One, and putting him back to K2. His teachers also suggested to his mother to bring him to a child psychiatric. My wife ministered to that boy’s mother (who was a back-slided Christian). We felt convicted and actually challenged Mary to buy food for this boy during recess time since he is reluctant to eat. Initially, Mary was quite reluctant to do so, thinking that it was none of her concern. Nevertheless, she still followed our instructions to do so, keeping a look out for the boy during recess time, saying ‘hello’ to him, and making sure he buys food. Somehow this gal of mine seems to have a stubborn front when told to do things sacrificially, but will somehow submit to God in the end instead of following how she felt. I guess blessed and upright people are like that, and we’ve lots of such people in our Church…J

For Mary’s birthday this year, my wife and I bought her a picture Bible, with a more comprehensive content than the usual children Bible. She was overjoyed. Yesterday, I had a good talk with her, telling her how to seek all her answers in life through God-given word. She listens attentively, and I could see her being drawn to read the Holy Book in the morning, spending substantial time doing so. In fact, nothing beats seeing my child revere God, learn abt Him and converse with Him in his/her own way. “Mary, Daddy has demand of you, becoz Daddy knows your spirit and what you’re made for. One day, you will look back and see that is not from Daddy actually, but from your Lord Jesus who truly loves and calls you.”

When Caleb saw the blog post I wrote for his elder brother, he asked me umpteen times: “How abt me? How abt me?” I painstakingly assured him: “You’ll have your turn boy. Its not your birthday yet. Good things must wait.” And there it is. Today, he got the best. He got his whole childcare centre to celebrate for him, with a beautiful cake and much finger food for everyone. And he got beautiful presents for all the friends in his class, something that his elder sister and brother never got to do before. (In fact, my wife and I didn’t want our children to have elaborated birthday parties after their first year, becoz first the preparation work is really time consuming. And more importantly, we wanted our children to grow up humble, and contented with whatever they have in life. We wanted them to receive things from what the Lord given them thru grace, rather than they keep on desiring for them. I guess this is one great lesson I’d learned in my life. Evidently, what the Lord prepared is always the best, beyond my imagination. But what I kept desiring for, ultimately didn’t turn out as good as it seems to be, and I’ve confirmed these many times in my life).

However, my wife and I decided to have this birthday celebration for several good reasons.

First, it is becoz we wanted to thank the childcare centre for taking really good care of our 3 children these 4 years. Coming next year, Mary is moving to Primary 1, and my 2 sons are transferring to their mother’s childcare centre, with their mother as one of their teacher. We wanted to bless and thank the school (The Tampines Salvation Childcare Centre). Its an ordinary school, with ordinary teachers, but we see it as the best with full appreciation, coz it is God’s provision for us and our children.

Second, I wanted Caleb to see that God had actually generously provided for him when he asked. But he must come to realize that God’s provision is always better than what he desires. The biblical principle that holds me all these while is: Never focus on what you desire physically, desire the Lord Himself and you shall never be deprived of the best. So with my children leaving this centre coinciding with Caleb’s birthday, it signifies God’s provision after all.

Maybe I’ll share something about Caleb over here.

Caleb is my youngest child. He is born with a beautiful appearance, yet a ‘weak heart’. Surprisingly, he is the most emotional among the 3. He compares easily, feels lousy easily, gets angry easily, turn unsatisfied easily (he could receive something now, yet the next moment saw his siblings with something, he’ll turn jealous). If he wants something, he wants it now. And he loves to eat. If he is given his choice food (namely, cookies, chocolates or sweets he likes), he’ll not share with his siblings, finishing all with one gulp once his siblings ask for them. And he craves attention, and he is pretty sticky with his mum. To me, Caleb seems to have the best of everything, had a beautiful face, capture the attention of people easily, being doted as the youngest also, yet he seems to have overwhelming ‘flesh’ in him. However, I saw the purpose of the gospel in him. Only the gospel can change his nature, and even make them beautiful testimonies in his life. If he grows up knowing the gospel, and overcome his flesh with it, he’ll be a strong witness for the Lord. So the whole idea of God is to have the gospel work thru his nature, and makes this boy truly beautiful.

And to do that, I realize I gotta really see the uniqueness in this boy’s personality. Honestly, though this boy is sticky and demanding, he is close to heart. He is one unique boy who has no interest in watching TV programs. While his siblings could get so carried away with TV shows, he juz desires the cuddle and attention of his parents. It makes us feel so warmth at times. Though he’s weak emotionally, God has certainly compensated him with physical capability. In fact, he has the best motor skill among his siblings and could balance and ride a 2 wheel scooter when he was 3. He loves soccer, and is a powerful left-legger. He picks up sports and ball games easily, to my surprise. I bet he’ll be an all-rounder of sports next time. Everything abt him juz becomes unique when I view him with an extraordinary Christ-like eyes, assuring how God made him in his own class. And educating him is abt giving this spirit to him which could really change him to become one truly useful for the gospel.

Today, I woke up in the morning, overwhelmed by this boy’s adorability. In fact, he came into my room feeling frustrated becoz he couldn’t find something, but he turned sweet when I reminded him abt his special day, and went on to kiss his chubby cheeks. For a second or two, he stares into me with his sweet face, bright eyes, beaming with joy. I wish I could give the whole world to him at that moment. Then I said: “Boy, do you know Jesus really loves you.” Then he got mischievous and tossed around on my bed, without paying attention to my words. Nevertheless, I believe God spoke thru me, in accordance to how I felt for him in my heart. Then I recalled, when my wife had him in the early stage of pregnancy, I somehow knew this would be my last child. So I asked the Lord, “Lord, let this be a boy, so that he could be an impactful pastor for your kingdom.” My wife surprisingly prayed likewise too. After that prayer, I was pretty assured in my heart that this will be a boy. And true enough, it turned out to be after the 4^th month ultrasound scan. And even truer was Caleb is both a dynamic and ‘emo’ boy, who could respond to people boldly, yet also gets emotional and insecure easily. Once people dun see eye to eye with him, he gets defensive and sometimes even throws a big fuss out of it. Pretty unreasonable, I felt. I told my wife many times: “If this boy could manage his heart, then he could be effective for the Lord.” So I carefully give him both the carrot and stick during his growing up years, though he is the youngest. I give him lots of encouragements so as not to embitter him. Yet I make sure he doesn’t get away when he turns unreasonable and let loose his anger/tantrums easily.

So today, he’s into his 4^th year. Caleb no doubt gives me lots of memories. Even the name itself has a significant meaning. Actually, few people know. The name Caleb was given me becoz of the faithfulness of my second man, Deacon Wengang. Wengang has fought the most battle with me, since the start of our real Christian walk. He shared the same vision as I; claim the same promise as I. He was by my side, silently assisting me as with all his strength and might as I lead the church all these years. The Church and I prosper becoz of him by my side. Yet Wengang was designated by God to be my ‘Caleb’, while I took on the role of ‘Joshua’. (If you know the story of how Land of Canaan was conquered by both of them as leaders of Israel). Wengang played that role beautifully, and in my heart I know he will get the best inheritance in his life. Yet this is a hard fought battle with much continuous trials and tests, which could only be won without turning to the right or left. And the reaping of that best inheritance (best land) comes after the whole of Israel has more or less got their own land. So the saying goes: “Good things must wait.” But its not a wait for nothing, but the wait for the BEST. I wanted my little boy to share this sentiment too. I wanted him to be assured: God didn’t want to give him other people’s best, but God always wanted to give him his best, coz he is chosen by God in his own class. So I named him Caleb, so that he will someday come to know the significant role played so beautifully by Uncle Wengang.

While I wrote this blog, it is juz so significant again. While Caleb juz cross his 4^th Birthday, Uncle Wengang and family are fighting another battle for their love one, i.e. his dad who is still in Hospital, ICU. I wanted this to be penned down so that Caleb could read it someday. You want the best? Then you must believe the best, and fight the real battle, like a real man!

First, he is a middle child. Some says middle child has its so-called middle child syndrome. Neither here nor there. Not given the authority of the eldest, nor dotted as the youngest. Sandwiched by all. Neglected. Feel less appreciated and loved. But in my family line, its somehow the other way round. I think my dad had given me the most attention as a middle child. Why? Its God-arranged time factor I would say. My growing up years saw my dad energetically pressurized my elder brother to fulfill many of his expectation, yet when my younger brother was born, my dad had grew old and lack the stamina to get involved in meaningful fatherhood. So I enjoyed my father’s favor in his prime years, where he brought me around for good food, fun rides and exclusive excursion. I do still remember those moments. And I think I’m doing the same to David, for reasons I dun realize consciously at times.

Second, I think as many pple would have known, like me, David is a dreamer. He dreams in school, dreams at home, dreams when he does schoolwork. And he gets mesmerized by things easily. He is the only child who gets mesmerized by TV programs, by toys, by beautiful things, by toy cars esp. He carries toy cars in his pockets, when he goes to school. And if he likes a movie, he can watch it over and over again for 20 over times, feeling excited abt the storyline as if it’s the first time he watches it each time. “He juz by nature gets mesmerized by things”, I always tell my wife. (Though I hope he dun get mesmerized by girls easily…J) Well, at least I think he is very focus (in the good sense). Sometimes, being focus and dreaming is juz one thin line away. It depends whether you’re taken charge by the Holy Spirit or Evil Spirit.

And I believe the thing that capture my heart most abt David, is his shyness towards outsiders and boldness towards his father. He is totally not good with getting the attention of outsiders (or pple he doesn’t know well enough. He can never perform boldly in front of a stage as proven through the previous 2 years of his pre-school concerts). Quite ‘stony’ in fact, when u get him to dance and sing. But with his father, he tells his inmost thoughts. Even if he lies, he would give me a grin and honestly admit he lied. He tells me how he feels, but of course he does have difficulty bringing his full feelings across to me, as he is not good in expressing himself. (But no sweet-talks, no packaging of words, what I hear from him is what I get. Sometimes when I carry him firmly with my shoulders wrap around him, he’ll juz blurt: “I love you daddy becoz u are my daddy. Even if u dun buy me toys, I’ll still love u”). Knowing he is someone who doesn’t sweet-talk, that really ‘melt’ my heart. Occasionally, when he heard a story abt Jesus and felt the Lord’s awesomeness, he would naively mumble to himself, “I belong to Jesus, I wanna follow Jesus.” And his shyness and sincerity is what really drew me to him. There is a yearning in me to take him seriously and value him, even though he may be somewhat slow to learn at times.

But like every child who grew up, I know David is faced with the ‘enemy’ within him. The good and lovable nature in him is never adequate enough for him to overcome the adversity in his life (or in this world). I have come this far, and I know what David truly need to grow from boy to man.

Let me share a recent story abt David:

Abt 3 months ago, our whole family watched Toy Story 2 together during one of our relaxing night. David was mesmerized by it. So we subsequently went on to watch Toy Story 1 and 3. (If you’ve watched Toy Story, you’ll know there’re 3 episodes to it). I watched the movies with amusement, but David was captivated. Since then, he was in love with ‘Buzz’, the second main character in this story. (In fact, ‘Woody’ (the cowboy) is the first main character in the show, but David has no eyes for it). Reason being: ‘Buzz’ has wings and he thought it could really fly. The  unique thing abt David is: When he likes something, it doesn’t matter even if that is not the primary main character, he JUZ LIKES IT. Since then, my lovable boy was pressing me day and night to buy that big, bumpy ‘BUZZ’ for him. So last month, our dear sister Huijun was going to China, and I asked her if she could buy me some cheap Toy Story characters from there (they cost a bomb in Spore!). So our dear sister came back with those few characters, and David was overjoyed. The toys arrived when David was down with a fever. His excitement quickly overwhelms his fever. And being sick, he was given the privilege to stay home with the toys all for himself while his siblings have to be at school. He plays with them, eats with them, sleeps with them, even watches TV programs with them. The toys juz cannot be out of his sight! Sometimes it is amusing to observe how little kids cherish their toys so much. It really brings back memories.

Juz when David was feeling the full satisfaction of his new toys, I called him over and engaged him in some father-and-son cuddling talks. “David my boy, are you happy with the toys God has given you?” He nodded and blurted out naively: “Jesus knows I love ‘buzz’, that’s why HE asked Auntie Huijun to buy it for me” (something I have inculcated into him for the past few days). “So Jesus is the one who loves you most, knows you best and give you the best, right son?” I reassured. He nodded readily. Then I took a twist and asked him firmly, “Yes my son, Jesus always gives you the best. So what if Jesus say now: ‘David, now I want to take this ‘buzz’ away from you. Can you give it to me?’ Can you let Jesus take it away then?”  Then my son’s expression took a turn from an assuring one to a meek one: “Huhhhh…dun want lah…I want this toy leh…” Then I give him a mild challenge: “Dear son, didn’t you say Jesus always give you the best? Jesus will never go wrong. If HE asked you to give Him this one, HE will definitely give you a better one. Right?” “Huhhh….But I want Jesus to give me this one leh….I want this one. Can daddy?” He passively retorted.

I tried a few times to convince him mildly, trying to see if he would let go of his ‘most-loved now’ for Jesus. Then I saw that he is not ready. So I took this opportunity to assure him: “David, of course since Jesus has given this to you, HE will not take it away for no reason. And Jesus is definitely happy when HE sees you enjoying the toys HE has given you.” Then I went on to share one real incident with him: “David, u know, when daddy was a little kid like you, daddy’s favorite toy was transformer. Daddy longed to have one transformer, and one day daddy’s aunt brought me a transformer (robot), which I love so much. Daddy was so mesmerized by that new toy, that daddy would eat with it, sleep with it, and even bath with it. Daddy was playing with it all the time so much so that I would be playing with it from the moment I woke up till sleep, skip my meals, deaf to grandparents instructions, etc. A morning came when granddad was calling me to have breakfast umpteen times, and I simply turn a deaf ear. Granddad came with a wooden stick, give a hard knock on my robot, and its legs broke! I was sooooo sad after that, coz I love the robot so much. I carry the broken toy around for a few days, and gave it up eventually. When I grew up, I begin to understand why God broke it, becoz I was putting my heart in it above everything else. Then daddy begins to understand that if God never take it away, it will do more harm to me. Moreover, God can always give me a better one, anytime. And Daddy indeed had a lot of better ones.”

David listened attentively, seemingly to empathize with the loss of my robot more. But I know he is still young, and it will take many more years, experiences and hardship for him to realize the meaning of letting go, see God Himself as the best, and enjoy the EVER-BEST which HE has already given us in Him.

Ha…Guess what. A few days later. I saw David has kinda cool down in his interest with ‘Buzz’ and the rest of the toys, though he was still playing with it frequently. So I asked him that same qns again: “Dear son, if Jesus wants ‘Buzz’, can you give it to Him?” To my amazement, David said: “Yes daddy. If Jesus wants it, I can give it to Him.” I was ambivalent. So I asked: “Oh, how come? I thought you love this toy so much? Wasn’t ‘Buzz’ yr favorite?” David responded with a pure-hearted claim: “Becoz I want to give it to Jesus. He loves me mah.”  “Really?!” I reaffirmed, almost wanting to give him a big big kiss and hug. Then my dear boy let out an equally honest respond, “Becoz ‘Buzz’ cannot fly. It is only a toy, it cannot fly!” Haha…my lovable boy, how honest and sincere. So its becoz u realize it couldn’t fly, not becoz u love Jesus more…haha….But I stop short there. I’ve been thru, and I know the toughest hurdle for a person is not his ability to sacrifice, but to overcome his flesh. Flesh is always there in us. This only happened to be one incident where I could relate to David abt letting go of his flesh. But flesh has many different faces in different situation. In fact, flesh is the real spiritual hurdle, that turns us our way, our desire, our pride, our opinion, our way of offering to God, our way of living a Christian life. Knowing what is flesh, dying to it and being made alive in Christ Jesus is the very thing I would want David to comprehend since young, and throughout his life.

As I ponder, I realize something did get into my boy. Yes, he may have felt less for ‘Buzz’, and that’s what seemingly made him give it up for Jesus. But unknowingly, he has also internalize the loving-kindness of Jesus, that Jesus always meant it good for him, and it is never a loss to respond/submit to Jesus. The struggle he had shows he is upright, the willingness to give something he still like to Jesus shows that he didn’t forget his loving God, and His demand from him. In the spiritual sense, we would wanna note that sometimes it may be difficult to tell pple to let go (die to self and resurrect in Christ). Most men (in fact all) wouldn’t be able to respond to it initially. (At different phrase of our lives, there will be something that is so impt to us, that we could neither let go nor submit to the Lord immediately). But we should never stop short of teaching the mystery of ‘dying and resurrecting’ to our loved ones and children. There will surely come one day, the Holy Spirit will convict them to overcome the impossibility of flesh. And this is the essence of our Christian faith that could overcome the world, and would be passed on to subsequent Generations.

For the record, Jesus is still in David’s life while ‘Buzz’ is almost in the storeroom now. And David is moving on to new challenges in life, where he is approaching five.

* When you are anxious or frustrated, you dun know why things juz doesn’t go well for you.

* When you’re feeling discontented, and you desire material well-being, strangely it doesn’t come. And if it comes, it will bring you into bondage.

* And ladies, when you are unhappy and inferior, you cannot be attractive physically, and you’ll attract the wrong kind of love even. You see, this is the whole operation of the spiritual realm (i.e. the state of yr spirit), and it practically affects yr physical lives.

Its no use if you are juz smooth-sailing and successful now, yet are ignorant abt the spiritual realms. Becoz every of our problem comes from the unresolved root cause of our spiritual state. Likewise, true success/prosperity must stem from a healthy soul. This is the link where many church-goers miss.

To be truly empowered to live victoriously, you gotta first open yr eyes to the spiritual realm. You must first understand the workings behind the spiritual realm and grasp the ‘feel’ of it. With that, you can match God in His doings, and enjoy exceeding victory.  And that is what prayer is all about.

Honestly, I’ve seen many Christians pray, but they dun know prayer brings abt the mobilization of the spiritual realms! They are ritually doing prayers without knowing that true and successful prayer is one that impacts the state of their spirit. As I deliver my last write up on this series, here are few truths abt prayers, which Christians have always been fundamentally ignorant of.

1) The Spiritual realm moves, the angels are mobilized when you pray with a Child of God (COG) spirit.

It is no use doing fervent and routine prayer. What really move God is the assurance and attitude of a COG (Spirit of Sonship). What do I mean by the ‘assurance and attitude’ of a COG? U see, as a COG, you already have everything. You’re already successful. You’re already in abundance becoz the God who creates the whole universe is yr everlasting Father. However, we are prompt to entertain insinuation like, “I’m not so blessed, I’m not so successful, becoz I dun have a good career, I dun have a good education, I dun have a blissful marriage, I am not so recognized or valued by people, I have dun a dynamic ministry like so and so minister.” When you start feeling like that, you must sense that the evil forces are working in yr spiritual realms. And without intervention, you’ll be deceived further, and sink deeper into yr problems. Yr assurance, yr attitude must stem from the fact that you are a COG, and HE who creates the whole universe is with you. With that, you will be assured that there are some things u need not be too concerned of. You need not be too overly concerned abt finances, abt daily necessity, abt yr future, etc. These are in fact things which yr Father God is more concerned than you. You should in fact be concerned abt whether you are living with a genuine COG attitude everyday of yr life, following yr Father’s will, and enjoy the blessings that come together with it. Always remember: When things are not going well, dun focus on it. That is a changing situation. But the spiritual realms (heavenly host) move to resolve that situation when you restore a COG attitude.

2) The spiritual realm moves esp when the people of God hold on to the COVENANT of God to pray NOW.

Take note: When you are troubled abt something. Say finances, jobs, studies, relationships, or even some weaknesses you have…. Dun keep praying for yr problem to be resolved, becoz that is not the ultimate objective. God is mightier than yr problems. There are surely greater blessings behind for the people of God. So, hold on the covenant: “Lord, you promise: you will use my studies, my career, my poverty, my weakness. Juz like Joseph, he was a slave, and you used him as a slave. Juz like Paul, he was in Prison, and you used him to glorify you and edify many. Even David who sinned horrendously, but you lifted him up and used his repentance to comfort many <Psalm 51>” Pray like that (with the covenant) and receive the greatest peace. This is the spirit that moves God. You see, God knows yr pain (need), but HE wants u to restore that covenant in yr present circumstances, not a ‘better’ one. If you cannot find hope in His covenant NOW, you cannot find hope later. The promise of God is always NOW! God has a plan for you NOW. God is using you NOW.

3) The angels in the spiritual realm move when you follow the will of God.

You see, we always face trials of one kind or another. But when the will of God is made known to us, that is the time we see our problem in a whole new light. Then we can be empowered to move on. You see, the spiritual man knows the will of God, he dun juz follow God blindly. He dun juz follow a pastor blindly. He knows the will of God, what God is telling him, what God wants him to do in his life.

I know a sister who read the books of Rev David Cho from Korea. U see, Rev Cho is a highly revered Pastor in the Christian arena. He leads the biggest church in the whole world, has written many books on his spiritual encounters and trained many disciples. He spoke abt tongues, laying of hands, and many other spiritual gifts/encounters. But the centrality of his msg is always abt God, abt His promise, abt hearing His will. But I notice many of his disciples don’t learn these things from him. They only learned his methodology, his strategy, how to manifest gifts, how to grow their church, etc. So this sister was having a problem with her son, who is not concentrating in studies. And she met believers (who learned from Rev Cho). They always try to give her methodological solutions for her son, like going around his school to pray, standing in front of his bed to pray, pray in tongues, recite certain ‘bombastic’ terminology to cast out disturbing spirit, etc. But these Christians don’t bother to understand the mother and child in depth, don’t know what God has been doing in their lives, and dun advise them with the promise of God in mind. All they did is to give answers thru some methodology or formulas they copied as ‘quick antidote’. Obviously, it never work. This sister begin to understand: Many disciples of great pastors learn the ‘wrong’ things. They dun get the pastor’s spirit, they only learn his outward manifestation, hoping for great results. And they end up more mystical than spiritual. They are often more humanistic than realistic. So my advice: Dun juz rely on a physical experience or methodology in seeking spiritual solutions. What works for him may not work for you. Learn to grasp the will of God for yrself thru His Word. And that is what moves the angels to work.

4) The spiritual realm is ready to be mobilized when you feel the need to pray.

So when the need to pray comes, dun put out the spirit’s fire. Have you ever experience waking up in the morning, feeling the need to pray? Or you heard something unpleasant, feel no peace, have the urge to pray? Or there are some godly anguishes or sorrows that overwhelm you when you are reminded of something/someone? Well, dun ignore that spiritual conviction. When God give you that urge to pray, God is in fact telling you “I’m gonna do something incredible thru yr prayers”.

Spiritual language can only be felt thru yr spirit. Sometimes, you may not be able to explain certain convictions. But if you have been living a life which walks with God, it is not difficult to know God is driving you to seek Him, or to intercede for something or someone.

5) Submission to God is a dynamic spiritual force that crumples the spiritual enemies.

Once you know the will of God and submit, the forces of darkness will crumple down. That stronghold in yr life will go. It will never bother you again, or it will not bother you so much again. Some pple have ‘strongholds’ in their lives, and they dun know how to deal with it. They’ve hatred (or bitterness) in their lives, they’re living promiscuously, they’re living in greed, they cannot forgive someone in their lives. they’ve addition, e.g. gamble, drugs, womanizing, they’ve extreme low self image, etc. Now if you’ve been in this for sometime, its not easy to come out of it. I know. And the moment u think abt stopping all these things in yr lives, either you will get angry with God, or you’ll get angry wif pple who tries to help you. That in fact shows how strong the spirit within is controlling you.

But no matter how great yr stronghold is, dun ever think God will not help you. The moment you realize, u must deal with it. You may not be able to get rid of it immediately. But surrender to God’s dealings. Take in words of correction, and accept discipline willingly as both His love and consequences. Until a point of time when you know you couldn’t live with it anymore, let go, submit to God, and you will realize its like ‘going out of prison’. Its a new life for you afterwards. So dun ever think that submission is cruel and hard. Submission is the thing that sets u free in fact. Its as if the main crux of the forces of darkness departs from you.

6) And when yr spiritual state is right, u will realize that evangelism, ministering to pple, discipleship is so much easier.

Dun be afraid of darkness (problems). Darkness are meant for light (solutions). When you have understood how to move the spiritual realms through prayers, you will ride the tide of darkness and minster to pple relevantly and convincingly. Brethrens, I want you to live victoriously. God is already on yr side. HE has every kind of happiness for you in the gospel. If you live for the gospel, every kind of happiness will follow. When a person lives his life in God’s concern, no concerns can overwhelm him.

You see. Jesus said: The world hates you. This world hates you becoz you already belong to God. And becoz it hates you, it will wanna take away the thing that will give you the most happiness and blessings, i.e. evangelism, the concern of God. Becoz Satan knows, once you live for that, you will prosper. Yr family, yr career, yr relationship, even yr descendants after you will prosper. Everything prospers without you having to seek after it. This is the principle of the spiritual realm. Becoz the whole spiritual realm exists for the kingdom of God. So if a person lives for the kingdom of God, with Jesus as His King, he will enjoy every good and perfect gift from above. So Church, I want you to be clear abt the workings of the spiritual realm, so that you can always be empowered.

Enjoy this last conclusive message on Prayers: To Live a Victorious Life