Last night: A fictional story allegorizing the power of words and the destruction of silence

There he stood and she stood too, husband and wife, blissful and in love – until the battle trumpet sounded and the war of words broke out. His bitter words shot forth like the bullets from an AK. He shot her … with power of his words, and the bullet pierced deep into her soul.

As I looked in horror, I suddenly understood what the king Solomon meant in Proverbs 12:18 when he said, There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts…

But I could not help, for I witnessed the battle in a vision.

I watched her standing before him, bleeding, hand on her heart, with a look of utter surprise and horror at the words that proceeded out of his mouth, but he was too enraged to notice the damage he had caused to her heart.

Then I saw her head spinning, then she stopped and put a bandage on her heart and pulled out the biggest, shiniest and sharpest sword that I had never seen, and she aimed the sword of words straight for his heart. He knelt before her, bleeding, hand on his heart, but she was too enraged to notice the damage that she had caused to his heart.

And just as she had done, he got up and bandaged his heart and the war of words flew back and forth. Each time the words dropped from their mouth, it was as though they had dropped bombs and created landmines in their home. Strangely enough, the only spectators that cheered on the battle, were the spiritual forces of evil, they circled them and watched as in the days of the Roman Colosseum fights.

She yelled, and he yelled … and they yelled over each other. They yelled so loud that neither could hear the other, and still, they yelled. The louder they yelled, the more they sharpened their words for the slaughter, polished to flash like lightning.  They slashed to the right, with their words, then to the left, and wherever their blade turned, they slashed (Excerpt taken from God’s sword of judgment in Ezekiel 21:15-17).

In the horde of words spoken, damage was done that could not be remedied, except through the restoration of the Cross.

Oh how my heart bled for them!

In their battle, I witnessed the power of a tongue untamed, and the destruction that words can bring. Finally, I understood what James 3:2-10 meant,

 Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.  And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

The battle I witnessed troubled me in the spirit, so I asked the Holy One if the damage would have been averted if they fought their war with the art of silence?…

Last night Part II: A fictional story allegorizing the power of words and the destruction of silence

As I pondered on the battle of words, suddenly, I had another vision and witnessed the long-term effects of the silent cold war.

I saw him write in his diary, ‘last night, with the silence you slayed me, and today, you dug the knife even deeper. How did we get here? How did we allow the enemy to penetrate a love that was “as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave and burnt like blazing fire, like a mighty flame?” (Song of Solomon 8:6).

Then I saw her write in her diary, ‘Last week, with the silence you slayed me. I tried to reach out to you, but you built the wall of Jericho before us, and each day that passed, the wall grew taller and distanced us even further. You said you wanted to cool down, but the only thing that cooled down was our love. The wall suppressed the love from growing, and last night when you wanted to talk, I could not find my love for you. The silence had built a wedge so deep that I found myself, alone with my thoughts and drifting further from you at sea’.

Alas! When I saw the damage that the war of silence had caused, I cried. I asked the Holy One if there was any hope, seeing that there seemed to be no middle ground – words destroy and silence destructs.

Too often many of us either use our words too liberally and don’t realise the damage we cause to others, and sometimes we make the mistake of using no words for so long that by the time we’re ready to talk, in the silence the enemy has whispered lies and solidified them with a ridge so wide that it cannot possibly be repaired, except through the cross.

God said there is a reason why He gave us the Ephesians 4:26-27 word, it’s a lifeline. God knew that not every day would be sunny days in relationships, family, friendships, workplaces and so forth, but He knew that we would overcome anything through His word and His son, Jesus. In particular, Ephesians 4:26-27 says, “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold”.

Therein lies the answer … the critical key to solving any conflict, especially if there is to be any hope for reconciliation, is not to let the sun go down on in anger, for we do, we give the devil foothold, to lie and deceive and put ice on the love that once burnt fiercely.

On the face of it, it may sound wise to say we’re not talking because we need to cool down, but caution is given, for when the sun goes down and your relationship is not repaired, it may also go down with your relationship.

Words are good, but in moderation, as is the silence in the right circumstance.

God has equipped for those times when we wage against others, and He has explained this perfectly not only in Ephesians 4:26-27, but also in the ‘Parable of the Unmerciful Servant’ in Matthew 18:21-35. In that parable, Jesus said when we let the sun go down while we’re still angry and cannot forgive one another, even our worst enemy, then we become like the man in the parable who was forgiven of his debt, but could not show the same mercy to his fellow servant that owed him money, and instead he choked him and threw him in prison. Thus the king who had forgiven the man of the great debt, got angry that the man was unmerciful and handed him over to the jailers to be tortured (Matthew 18:32).

It is for this reason that Jesus said  that when someone offends us, we should forgive them not seven times, but seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:22), meaning ad infinitum.

Better yet, Jesus went on to describe an offence against anyone as being worse than murder! Matthew 5:21-23 says,

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

If we need to take a few minutes or hours to cool down, by all means we should do so, but to be effective during those times to ensure that the devil does not get a foothold of the relationship, we need to utilise those moments in prayer and meditation on God’s word.

Yes, it will not be easy, and prayer and meditation may be the last thing we feel like doing, but just like medicine is horrible, yet it is also good for the soul, so shall they be also. We have to train our flesh to operate in the reverse of Romans 7:19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

God’s way is the right way. If God says we need to pray and mediate on His word to rid of the offence, then that is what we need to do. We do not know better than God, and if we ignore His advice, the only ones that will lose will be us: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 16:25)

So the solution is pray, worship and meditate on God’s word, and as Jesus said,

Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny (Matthew 5:25-26).

Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out (Proverbs 17:14). Give people the silent treatment long enough, they’ll use it against you, or by the time you’re ready to talk, the little flame that was in the argument, will have grown into a wild uncontrollable fire.

The Sword

If only we knew what the enemy thought of us. If only we saw ourselves not only the way God sees us, but the way the enemy sees us, we would rise up and fight for our dreams, and conquer them.

When the enemy looks at us, he does not see our mortal, weakened flesh, rather he sees God in us, because we are made in God’s image. And not only does he see God in us, but he also sees the same mighty Power that defeated death and him, in us. Romans 8:11 says, And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.

If only we knew that we were ‘it’!  We are all searching for a hero to save the world, to fight injustice and end poverty in our neighbourhood, across nations and right at the doorstep of our families, but while we’re looking, the enemy laughs because he knows that we’re ‘it’ – we’re the solution and the answer that the world is looking for.

The devil is not called the deceiver for nothing: And the great dragon was hurled down–the ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him (Revelation 12:9).

The enemy has been the master deceiver from ancient of times, deceiving by making the mighty warriors see themselves through false eyes, and therefore, see themselves in the opposite light of how he sees them.

We need only to visit the Old Testament to see how far back the enemy’s deception runs.

In the Old Testament was a man called Gideon. God saw Gideon as a warrior, as did the enemy. The only one who did not see himself as a warrior, was Gideon, and the reason was because the master deceiver had put a veil on Gideon’s spiritual eyes so he could not see the great power that lay within him.

The enemy did this by getting Gideon on focus on his family history, background, upbringing, education and so forth, and by looking at these factors, Gideon settled for the way things were and believed that he could never be a great man, let alone be able to carry out anything to help save his nation from the enemy’s hand.

The way Gideon saw himself is displayed in Judges 6:15, after God told him that He would use him to deliver the Israelites from the Midianites hand, Gideon replied,^“Pardon me, my lord,”…“but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Interesting to note that Gideon jumped to the reply and ignored the conversation before, when God told him that he had the strength to complete the task, and more importantly, Gideon failed to discern that if God sent him, then God would help him, something which God had already informed Gideon: The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (Judges 6:14).

But even when we go back to the prelude, we discover that right from the get-go when the angel first appeared to Gideon, Gideon had already missed the vital word that the angel used to describe him: …“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12).

Because Gideon did not see himself as warrior, he did not hear what the angel said, and instead went straight into quizzing the angel asking where God was, and if indeed he was with them and why had Israelites not seen all of God’s wonders (Judges 6:13).

The enemy’s deception, camouflaged in fear and doubt causes us to overlook the truth that stands before us. Gideon’s truth that stood before him was that he was called and equipped by God (Judges 6:12 and 14), and not only was he called and equipped, God had also confirmed Gideon’s calling and showed off His mighty power in Judges 6: 19- 25 and 36-39), and still, Gideon doubted and feared the enemy.

God knew that Gideon feared and thus said to him, If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp” (Judges 7:10-11).

Sure enough, Gideon was afraid and so he took God up on His offer and went down to spy on the enemy camp with his servant (Judges 7:11). As he spied, this is what he heard the enemy say, ^…“This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands” (Judges 7:14).

The important thing to note, is regardless of Gideon’s doubt and fear, he was still obedient and went down to the enemy’s camp as God had commanded. The hope is that regardless of the enemy’s lies, God will always bring someone to remind us of the truth and remind us who are in Christ, and remind us of the mighty power that lies within us.

God showed Gideon not to fear an enemy that actually feared him more. Just like Gideon, we should not fear that which we have power over or the enemy who fears us more, and thus uses schemes to keep us in fear so that we do not retaliate and attack him.

We need to see ourselves the way God sees us and the way our enemies see us…powerful and untouchable.

They attack us not because they hate us; they attack us not because they think we’re weak, but they attack us because they know what a threat we are and they know how strong we are, and if they can get us live oppressed lives, then they would have won, or if they can destroy us before we realise our strength, then they would have hope for survival.

In war, if they can get rid of the leader, they know that the rest of the soldiers and the people will soon surrender, and control will be within their grasp. If the enemy can get us to dispose of our mind through evoking fear in order to replace it with a mind not our own, for our own from God is a mind of courage and sound mind and can do all things, then the enemy has won.

Many of us like Gideon, have been lied to for so long that we’ve adopted the lie to be truth, and the truth to be the lie. We need to see ourselves the way God sees, and when we see ourselves the way God and the enemy see us, we’ll see the great power that lies within us, and we’ll realise that we are warriors, and in particular, you are the warrior that can make a difference!

We’re all looking for heroes and God says we’re ‘it’. The sooner we realise; the sooner we’ll start working on bringing the change.

The Sword II

If we give our lives and our problems to God, we’ll encounter victory without even lifting a sword.

The greatest lesson from Gideon’s victory, is that we need to comprehend that the battle is not ours, but is the Lords: This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s (2 Chronicles 20:15).

Understanding that the battle is not ours, is putting God first in everything, from our relationships, our family, to our work. Matthew 6:33 says, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Gideon gave his battle to the Lord and made sure that it was known by all and throughout that it was not his battle, but the Lords. He had his soldiers shout, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” (Judges 7:20).

Because Gideon gave the battle to the Lord, God caused confusion in the enemy camp, and when they heard Gideon and his men’s sounds, they attacked each other!

Judges 7:21-23 says, While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.

The key to victory in every area of our life is in realising that the battle is always the Lords, He is the one who gives us unmerited favour and victory in battles not even fought: The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive” (Judges 6:16).

Prior to this victory, the Israelites had been living oppressed lives. They lived oppressed lives because they never put God first. The cry of their heart was always, ‘a sword for me and another one for me’.

Because it was always a sword for themselves, in end the Israelites had no back-up and could not protect themselves from their enemy’s. So each time they got a bit of wealth, it disappeared before they could spend it. Each time they got a little bit of happiness, the clouds swept in  and swallowed it up before the happiness could even show through their teeth. Judges 6:3-6 says,

Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.

Sometimes when we are impoverished, we need to check if we have a back-up-right-hand-wingman, and if you do, then we need to check who the back-up is, and if the back-up-right-hand-wingman is Jesus, we need to check if we honour Him and put Him first in everything and first by shouting ‘a sword to Jesus’ through seeking first the kingdom of heaven.

If we feel like we can’t seem to capture joy or can’t capture it to stay long enough, then it might be time to evaluate if Jesus is the captain of our ship. We need to put God first in our lives, and in every celebration or battle, like Gideon, we need to shout a sword for the Lord … both in tithing, relationships and our lives, when we do this, we will command the back-up of heaven and the protection of Jesus.

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honour at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 1:19-20).

I’m not ashamed I

I am not ashamed of Jesus  –  proclaiming my relationship and love for Him; not only because His word is like fire shut up in my bones and I cannot not speak about Him (as Jeremiah said in Jeremiah 20:9 ‘But if I say, “I will not mention His word or speak anymore in His name,” His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot…’ )  –  but I am not ashamed of Jesus because when He took my place for my sins and my shame that I should have carried alone…never once did Jesus consider the shame and pain that He would face on my behalf.

Jesus was not ashamed right from the journey from the Garden of Gethsemane, to the cross, and to everything that He endured in-between. Jesus never once felt ashamed for Himself because He knew that I (you and I) would be worth every ridicule, every humiliation and every horrible foul name that the world would call Him. Had Jesus been ashamed for Himself, He would have given up and quit before the cross.

While we may never truly know what Jesus went through, we can however try to imagine.

If you can picture yourself at an operation table for a surgery (perhaps a liver surgery) – you have been administered an anesthetic and the surgeon believes that the anesthetic has kicked in, but in actual facts, the anesthetic that was administered was only enough to render you unconscious.

As the surgeon begins, suddenly you can hear him speak and ask for the scalpel. At this stage you are frantic and terrified…you try to move and scream to alert the doctors of your awareness, but the muscle relaxant prevents you from controlling your movements.

As the surgeon begins to cut you open with his scalpel…right in that moment you see death flash before you…and you pass out in shock. Anesthesia awareness would be any human beings worst nightmare.

If you can envision how terrifying it would be to find yourself awake on the operating table as the surgeon slices you open; and with each slice you feel the cut, but no one can hear you scream …multiply the feeling and the pain of that, times an infinity to be the pain that Jesus went through when He took our place on the cross.

How much pain could Jesus have gone through?…As darkness closed in, Jesus could see the darkness and the pain that He would go through from the coming events and said, ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer’ (Luke 22:15).

So great was the forthcoming darkness and pain that Jesus saw, that He went to the Garden of Gethsemane (Mount of Olives) to pray and ask God if there was any other way to redeem the world than through the road that He had to take.

As the pain and anguish of the coming events increased, Jesus began to sweat profusely and His sweat from the pain of the coming events is described as being like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22: 42-44 ‘Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not my will, but Yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.  And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.’ Matthew 26:38-39 says, ‘Then He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death… He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will’ .

When Jesus finished praying, soldiers came to arrest Him armed with swords and clubs as a crowd watched on. He was arrested, bound and chained like a common criminal and dragged through the streets to the house of the High Priest.

In His cell, Jesus was mocked by the guards and beaten – Luke 22:63-65 says, ‘The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating Him. They blindfolded Him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit You?” And they said many other insulting things to Him.’

Yet so humble and focussed was Jesus to finish the task ahead of Him, that while the they accused Him of lies and things that He had not done and mocked Him further; still ‘…Jesus remained silent and gave no answer’ (Mark 14:61). ‘The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing Him. Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Him. Dressing Him in an elegant robe…’ (Luke 23:10-12). All the while Jesus remained silent and did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

And as Jesus stood the rigged trial on our behalf, the crowd chanted for Jesus to be crucified and cried for the release of a known murderer in exchange for the innocent Saviour to be crucified (Luke 23:18-21).

I’m not ashamed II

And just before the soldiers took Jesus to be crucified, they stripped Him down to His under garment; whipped Him and mocked Him further, before making a crown of thorns and forcing it on to His head.

The thorns from the crown pocked and pricked Jesus, and the blood gushed down from His head to His eyes and face. And all Jesus could do as He lay helpless on the ground from the chains binding His hands, was watch the blood drip from His head blinding His eyes. Mark 15:16-20 says, ‘The soldiers…put a purple robe on Him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on Him. And they began to call out to Him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck Him on the head with a staff and spit on Him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to Him.  And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him out to crucify Him’.

Finally, as noon approached, Jesus could not take it anymore and He cried ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me)… With a loud cry, Jesus breathed His last’ (Mark 15:33-37).

As darkness closed in, and Jesus cried the cry ‘my God my God’  –  I can only imagine the excruciating pain that He must have gone through – a Holy pure Man with no sin;  all of a sudden carrying the sins and the weight of the world in His perfect pure and Holy body. In that moment, I believe Jesus carried every sin mankind has ever committed and every sin that mankind would ever commit.

When Jesus breathed His last breath, I know He committed His soul to God, but still I picture Him going to hell and for two straight days fighting the hardest battle ever known to mankind; finally defeating the devil once and for all, and taking the keys of death from hell – ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’  (1 Corinthians 15:55).

My Jesus…went to hell and fought for me…my honour, redemption and freedom. How then can I be ashamed of one who went to hell and back for me? How can I be ashamed of the very One is the reason for my living, being, moving, success and my only ticket to heaven?

I’m not ashamed of Jesus because He was not ashamed of me when He took my place on the cross. He took my shame that I may never be ashamed. He took my pain that I can exchange my pain for His peace; my sorrows for His love; my darkness for His light and my imperfectness for His perfectness.

Isaiah 53: 3-12 ‘He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Himm, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to His own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And who can speak of His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of My people He was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.  Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand. After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by His knowledge My righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He poured out His life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors’.

Next time you think of being ashamed of Jesus, think of what He went through for you and never once thought of His shame.

‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes…’ (Romans 1:16).

Reasons why I believe I

To some degree we are the product of our environment, and often will only know as much as what we are exposed to, what we are taught or what we learn ourselves.  Once the earth was flat and now the earth is round – but throughout the flat and round earth debate; one thing remained true and constant…the word of God has never changed. Jesus has remained the same yesterday, and today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Wars came and they went. Wars will come and they will go – and yet this one thing will remain true and constant, God will always remain the ‘…Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending’ (Revelation 1:8).

Many have said that the bible and God will soon be forgotten – and yet the reverse has occurred…more bibles are printed in every language and spread across the nations, and the saints keep increasing in numbers – Matthew 24:35 says ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’.

It has been said that the French philosopher Voltaire, who was an atheist, in an attempt to destroy the faith of many people, boasted and said that ‘one hundred years from today, the bible will be a forgotten book’…and yet…Voltaire died in 1728, and the bible still lives on. And in the irony of history – it is said that fifty years after Voltaire’s death, the Geneva Bible Society moved into his former house and used his printing presses to print thousands of bibles.  And needless to say that the bible is still the most read, most published, and most translated book in the world.

With a world constantly changing and never remaining constant; with so much uncertainty in life and the future – how can I not choose to trust and believe in a constant, true ad never changing God? What fool would I be for the word says ‘only a fool says in his heart, “there is no God”’  (Psalm 14:1).

How can I trust in myself when I do not know what tomorrow holds and do not possess the power within myself to dictate the events of tomorrow? How can I trust in myself when I do not have the power to heal myself?

It is because I do not hold the future, that I chose to give my life to the One who knows tomorrow and the future…the One who can give peace and hope unfailing.

This is why I choose to believe:

• I choose to believe because Jesus healed me, when nothing and no one else could.
• I met Jesus at my lowest point and discovered beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is real. Those that knew me then, can testify as to the change that Jesus brought into my life. Mark 8:23-25 ‘He (Jesus) took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything? ”He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.’ Like the blind man in Mark 8:23-25; once I walked around blindly trying to find purpose, meaning and hope in life until I met Jesus, and when I met Him, He opened my eyes and changed my life. John 9: 39 ‘ Jesus said, For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.’  Without Jesus in ourselves, we walk around with sight and yet remain blind to see. Isaiah 59:9-11 ‘We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;  among the strong, we are like the dead.  We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves’.

Reasons Why I believe II

• I choose to believe so I can live a limitless life through a limitless God; where the impossible and miracles are an everyday thing. Before Christ, I had no hope and lived a limited can’t do life. Now I choose hope to know that God can turn up in the final hour when the enemy laughs checkmate and there seems no way out…hope to know that God will turn up and make one more move on my behalf. I choose hope that that though they may be a Red Sea ahead and an enemy chasing behind and no ship in sight…yet having no fear, knowing that there is a God that can part the Red Sea and drown the enemy. I choose hope that though the enemy may be celebrating like he celebrated when Jesus was crucified, celebrating that we may have been in grave for two days; but little does he know that on the third day, like Jesus, like Lazarus…we will rise.

• I choose to live a life without fear of life and tomorrow. Fearing nothing like Sampson (Judges 14:6), knowing that I can face the lion of life and not be fearful as long as the Spirit of the Lord is with me, I can be confident to rip the lion of life apart with my bare hands. Hope to have confidence to know that I can face life and any trial not because of my own strength, for human strength will always fail, but because I know that I can face life because of His power and strength working in me.
• I choose to live a life of hope, knowing that the battle of life is not mine. My job is to trust Jesus and surrender my life into His hands, and He will fight the battles for me. All I have to do is cast all my burdens upon Jesus and trust that He will take care of me as He promised. 2 Chronicles 20:15 ‘This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.’ Chronicles 32:7-8 ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.’ 2 Kings 6:15-18 ‘When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.  “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike this army with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked’.

• I choose hope to know that this too shall pass because God can turn anything around for me and make all things (good and bad) to work for my good (Romans 8:28) – all things from what I intended to harm myself with, to what the enemy intended to harm with me (Genesis 50:20).
• I choose hope to believe that God is a supernatural provider and will supply all my needs according to His riches and glory. Hope to know that God will provide for me like He provided for the widowed woman. Hope to know that God will provide for me like He provided the manna and the meat to the Israelites in the desert.
• I choose hope to know that God designed and created me for greatness, and whatever I put my mind to, I can achieve through His name.
• I choose to believe because only Jesus can give hope and peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). If God is on the throne, why should we worry? But if He is not on the throne, then we have every reason worry our lives away, for we will surely be doomed knowing that nothing and no one can rescue us. But if He is on the throne, then we have no need to worry for Philippians 4:6 says ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’.
• Above all, I believe because I choose the ultimate hope to know that I will see all my loved ones in the afterlife. Hope that those that suffer now will be made perfect and whole in heaven with new bodies, no pain or sorrow. It would be terrible to imagine a world that those that suffer in this life will gain no justice in the afterlife…that those that are crippled, lame, and deaf and so forth will never know any other life than the one that they have now. I choose hope to know and believe that there is justice and better in the afterlife.
• I choose to believe because I am not a product of the big bang or ape theory, but rather, I am the product of a loving Creator who took time to fashion me and knows the number of hairs on head, and loved me so much that He decided to take my place on the cross that I may be redeemed.

I choose to believe because I choose hope.

Dreams & Meanings I

When night time falls, and the dark presses in, and the eyes fail…often a series of thoughts and images soon follow, often known as dreams. The dream can turn into a beautiful fairy-tale getaway, a great adventure or a dreaded nightmare.

Dreams can generate excitement or cause extreme fear of nightfall or sleep.

Job’s friend Eliphaz said ‘Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, dread came upon me, and trembling, and made all my bones shake. “then a spirit passed by my face; the hair of my flesh bristled up’ – Job 4:13-16.  King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:5 said of his dream, ‘I saw a dream and it made me fearful; and these fantasies as I lay on my bed and the visions in my mind kept alarming me.’

I’m sure most of have at one stage or another have experienced a scary dream that has left us shaking or trembling with fear; and sometimes the dream appears to be so real that we wake up screaming or crying. Scientist call this sleep paralysis, and say that it ‘is simply a sign that your body is not moving smoothly through the stages of sleep…’ (Webmed.com).

Sleep paralysis is said to be ‘a feeling of being conscious but unable to move. It occurs when a person passes between stages of wakefulness and sleep. During these transitions, you may be unable to move or speak for a few seconds up to a few minutes. Some people may also feel pressure or a sense of choking’ (Wedmed.com).

Whilst I do not dispute the sleep researchers finding on sleep paralysis – I seek to look at it from the biblical perspective; mainly that although we live in the flesh or natural realm (whether we know it, believe it or not), we operate in the spiritual realm (Ephesians 6:12 ‘For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places’).

We operate in the spirit realm because according to the bible, we exist through three entities; being body, soul and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23), with the spirit being the most important to God. The spirit is the most important to God because God exists in the tripartite being Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hence why Hebrews 11:6 says, ‘without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him’.

As God is a Spirit being, we too believe in His existence having faith without physically seeing Him; and Hebrews 11:1 says that ‘faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen’.

God deals with our spirit because He knows that the spirit will never perish. The body can be destroyed (Matthew 10:28 ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell’), but the spirit lives forever (John 11:26 says, ‘…and whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.’ John 3:16 says, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.’ 1 Peter 1:23 says, ‘For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God’).

Thus, if the spirit realm exists (see the blog titled ‘Why was He born’ to understand the battle of good and evil) and God and the devil operate through the spirit (Ephesians 6:12 battle), then it is correct to say that only in sleep are we actually most awake, because the doorway to the spirit realm is through consciousness of the spirit realm or through subconsciousness to the natural realm (Matthew 18:3 ‘…Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven’ (meaning having blind faith and trust in God as children do with their parents); see Hebrews 11:6).

Therefore, during sleep, the spirit of a person comes most alive as it becomes more aware of itself. The reason the spirit comes most alive during sleep is because during normal waking life, our spiritual person is normally suppressed by our flesh being reason, logic and so forth; and when our bodies are resting, our spirit is often free to flourish or is activated.

In establishing the existence of spirit realm and our spirits coming alive during sleep (rest); the next question would be, what are all the meanings to our dreams or what do the dreams that we have symbolise? Should we take the dreams literally? Or is the dream just nonsensical activities of the sleeping brain that we need to pay no attention to?

It is true that some dreams may be meaningless and are just the result of the brain processing the events of the day, conversations, movies and so forth. But sometimes there is meaning to our dreams.

Sometimes there is meaning to our dreams because of the Ephesians 6:12 spiritual battle that we face.  As we our spirit man is most active during sleep, it is true to say that the enemy is also most active during the period that we sleep because he knows that we would be powerless or off guard during sleep (if we are not aware of the spiritual battle).

It takes wisdom from the Lord (James 1:5 ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you’; Proverbs 2:6 ‘For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding’) to understand, interpret and differentiate between a normal dream that has no meaning, to a dream that symbolises something – either being a sign, a warning or an attack from the enemy. Daniel asked for the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream from God and when God interpreted the dream to Daniel, Daniel said in Daniel 2:20-22 ‘Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons…He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning…He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him…’.

Continued….See Dreams & Meanings (my dream) II

Dreams & Meanings (my dream) II

Some dreams are real in the sense that they serve as warnings or signs from God because God, the Spirit being, sometimes interacts with us through dreams. God spoke to His people in the bible through different forms, including dreams, and He still uses dreams to speak to mankind. Job 33:14-16 ‘For God does speak–now one way, now another– though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings…’; Joel 2:28 ‘I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions’.

I grew up with Christian beliefs and just after high school I ran away from the Lord for about five years. In the last year of being away from the Lord, Jesus started pursuing me through dreams and showing me signs of what would happen if I kept heading the direction that I was heading towards. On two different occasions before I came back to the Lord, I had two exact same dreams, detail for detail but experienced in different months. On the two occasions, I would dream that the world would be ending through a flood. I would start running from the flood with the crowd, but somewhere in the midst of me running, I would stop running and start praying, ‘Lord forgive me of my sins and save me a place in heaven’…but then, in the midst of my prayer, I would stop praying because I felt like I was being a hypocrite as the only reason I was praying and asking for forgiveness was because I knew that I was dying.

In my dream, the world would end and I would be the only one left and it was pitch dark and I would be standing on top of a mountain. I can truly say that I somewhat know the feeling of what it would feel like on the day of rapture or the end of the world. Joel 2:1-2 says, ‘Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand – a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness…’

I feel like I know the feeling of what it would feel like at the end of the world because, just as Joel 2 describes the darkness at the end; each time when I woke up after the dreams, the strangest thing would happen…there would be no electricity (there is rarely a power outrage in Australia, and the first night I had the dream, was the first time I experienced a power outage in Australia and in early mornings, probably between 3-4am) in the house and it would be pitch black; and for a split second I could not tell whether the world had ended and I was the only one left, until I fumbled around and realised that it was merely a power outage.

After the second dream, I had no doubt that it that was God warning me, pursuing me through the dreams because He jealous for me to return home into His loving arms and He longed for me. The dream was merely God’s many attempts to catch my attention. After the second dream, I could feel God’s presence tangible everywhere I went and in everything I did. I felt His love real and tangible like a warm blanket on me and I gave my life back to Him and have never looked back since.

Continued….See Dreams & Meanings III