Weeks 15 & 16 (08) - Blessings of Divine Guidance

I was in Utrecht last weekend ministering in Hope Utrecht. I was met at the airport by Albert Junior (Samuel) who gave me a very nice welcome (see pic.). I was surprised to see Tor & Wanda joining us in the Saturday pm session (see pic). They were in Holland for Wanda's Mum's 70th birthday. What a beautiful divine appointment. It was great to have this opportunity of fellowshipping with them!

God truly blessed us with a wonderful weekend. I praise the Lord for many new people which God has brought to the church. I met 11 of them and, amazingly, 6 of them came to the church through the Hope Utrecht website! I give thanks to God for His faithfulness to a faithful servant Albert and his dear wife Claire. God also bless them with 2 lovely children, Samuel and Salome. It gave me great joy to spend the weekend with them and the church people!

Albert joined Hope after attending a Hope conference in Asia. Hope Utrecht was one man in the beginning. Despite of the challenges of church planting in Europe, we can see the fruits in the life of Albert - a good job, a loving wife, 2 adorable children and a beautiful church family. Only God can make it possible!Despite of what most people think or say about our Lord Jesus in Europe, the psalmist reminded me that He is the Lord over this continent. "How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! He subdued nations under us, peoples under our feet........Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne." [Ps 47:1-9 NIV] Indeed, let us hold onto the promises that He is the King of all the earth and He reigns over the nations. We should continue to sing praises to Him until we see Jesus returning in triumph to fulfil these promises!In the natural, we may not seeing this happening in Europe yet. But in the spiritual, the victory is won.

God is looking for a people who will trust and obey. "'Do not make idols or set up an image......in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God......'If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit......You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand.......'I will look on you with favour and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.......I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the LORD your God,......I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.'" [Lev 26:1-13 NIV]

When we trust and obey, we will see our enemies defeated and experience God's favours in our lives. We can walk with heads held high!This is what faith is all about. "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands........For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we....wish....to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight."[2 Cor 5:1-10 NIV]

Our confidence comes from trusing and obeying a God who is good, righteous and just. "For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones." [Prov 2:6-12, 20-22 NIV]

Amen and amen!

Weeks 13 & 14 (08) - Blessings of Divine Guidance

Last Sunday I had the rare opportunity of meeting Dr. J in London. He had just spent a few days speaking at the University of Oxford Said Business School as their Skoll Fellow. Before flying off to another engagement in Sweden, he stopped by London for a couple of hours to address Thai university students studying in London about various social economic issues back home. I managed to catch a brief conversation with him by accompanying him in the train journey to the airport.

This is the man who inspired me to join Hope 15 years ago. His zeal and enthusiasm about advancing God's Kingdom has not waned after all these years. I sensed an even greater intensity and urgency in his mission spirit. His 2-hour address was only punctuated by a few questions from the floor!

"My heart is stirred by a noble theme .....You are the most excellent of men and your lips have been anointed with grace, since God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword upon your side...... In your majesty ride forth victoriously in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness; let your right hand display awesome deeds......You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." [Ps 45:1-7 NIV] Although this psalm was ascribed to our Lord Jesus, I use it to pay tribute to Dr. J whom God has anointed to do great things for His Kingdom. I believe God has installed for him an even larger role in impacting the nations in the years to come!

God looks for a lasting and unbroken relationship with His people. "The LORD said to Moses,"Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. Outside the curtain of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually. "Take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread......Set them in two rows, six in each row, on the table of pure gold before the LORD......This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant.....". [Lev 24:1-9 NIV] Dr. J's lasting commitment to the Lord is an inspiration to us all Christ followers.

The secret of this longevity is found in Paul's exhortation to the Corinthian church. "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.......All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." [2 Cor 4:7-18 NIV] Indeed as we build God's church, although it is tough going, "the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God" should powerfully motivate us to keep going!

My dear brothers and sisters, let us persevere in ploughing the land and sowing the seeds, because "he who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty." [Prov 28:7-8,10,13,18,19,26,27 NIV]

Amen and amen!

Weeks 11 & 12 (08) - Blessing of Divine Guidance

I thank the Lord for a great Easter Fest. It was certainly our best so far with an attendance of 142, represented by all Hope UK churches in Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, Bristol, Reading, Ealing, Hatfield and London. I also thank the Organising Committee and helpers for doing a fantastic job. We had 3 decisions for Christ, 6 water baptism and many Holy Spirit baptism. There was a tremendous buzz throughout the whole Fest. We also had a white Easter Sunday [see picture]. The scripture in [Isa 1:18] came to mind that morning. "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow......" . Praise the Lord for washing our sins as white as snow!

There is an excitement in my spirit that something great is going to happen in the UK and Europe in the not too distant future. In the Fest, I reminded the people of a prophecy I gave 2 1/2 years ago. I said in 3 years' time, the light of the Gospel will break through the cloud of spiritual darkness and starts to shine in this land again [Isa. 60:1-3]. I have chosen the theme "Enter the Land" for our 10th Anniversary in October. It signifies that our churches will launch forward to take the land in Jesus name!

Easter reminds us of the cross and God's amazing gift of salvation and abundant life. "Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast in the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart." [Psalms 36 NIV]

'"Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering.......He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the Testimony, so that he will not die. He is to take some of the bull's blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover. "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites." And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses.'[Lev 16:11-14, 34 NIV] It still blows my mind to think that the Son of God Himself became the animal that was sacrificed for the forgiveness of my sins (and yours) once for all!

I am also amazed at God's definition of love. It is not pampering; it is not "do whatever you like"; it is not withholding correction either. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." [1 Cor 13:4-13 NIV]

A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength;....if you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength! [Prov 24:5,10 NIV] May the Lord grant us the power and strength to take this land for Jesus!

Amen and amen!