Child of God, it’s time to triumph over sin-consciousness and possess the blessings and breakthroughs that are rightfully yours in Christ!
It’s important for us
to move with the Lord,
be in sync with the Lord.
Just like the analogy
Jesus used:
“Take My yoke upon you.
My yoke is easy.”
Now, the people of Israel
were under the heavy
and hard yoke of the law.
Jesus is saying:
“Take My yoke.”—grace.
Amen.
And the picture of the yoke
is an older ox that is
yoked to a younger ox.
And the younger ox will
learn from the older ox.
Okay?
He will mature as
he works with the older ox.
When the older ox
moves to the right,
the younger ox
will have to follow
or else he will have
a neck ache.
Sometimes the Lord will
have to force us,
almost compel us to rest.
We are such
creatures of activity that
we do not know how to rest.
And when you think about it,
the months that we were
confined at home,
were actually moments of
what the people of Israel
experienced on a regular basis.
Every “shabbat”,
they would spend time
with their family,
they would not go out.
Amen.
There would stay at home and
they would spend time with their families.
Now, I know in some cases,
you have people who see
the worst of each other.
And marriages sometimes are
challenged during this time.
But for the most part,
it’s still a time of being together.
A time that the Lord wants us
to really focus on our
loved ones and our families.
There is an event
in the Bible that talks about
a time like this, when
the children of Israel
were taken captive by
King Nebuchadnezzar,
the King of Babylon.
And the Bible gives the reason.
The Bible says:
“So that the land may rest.”
Because of all the 7 years,
every 7th year,
the land was supposed to lie fallow,
supposed to rest. Okay?
This was for further productivity.
But the people of Israel,
because of the love of money
and because they
disobeyed God in this area,
they would harvest the land
and they would keep on
working the land.
Just like the Dust Bowl
that happened in America,
many years ago, where
there was like a rolling dust
and farm land became destroyed.
They were not able to sow.
They were not able to harvest.
It was a terrible time.
And people had to
move away from their farms.
Why?
Because they didn’t
allow the land to rest.
So for every 7th year
that Israel did not allow
the land to rest,
God says:
“I’m going to allow
the land to rest.”
“And for every 7th year,
it will be your 70 years”
“in captivity in Babylon.”
And that’s why you have
the 70 years of captivity.
And the Lord says:
“The land will rest
to fulfill her Sabbaths.”
Why was God so concerned
about the land?
Don’t forget, friend.
Our soul and spirit
comes from God.
God breathed into Adam,
the first man.
And man became
a living soul.
But his body, prior to that,
before God breathed into him,
was like a mannequin.
He was lifeless.
God made him from
the dust of the ground.
So your body is made from
the dust of the ground because
you are a spirit.
You are not a body
but you live in a body.
Amen.
That part of you
that has a spirit and soul
comes from God,
the breath of God.
So our bodies, being that
it comes from the
dust of the ground and
God wants the dust to rest,
God is saying to us:
“You need to rest.
You need to learn to rest.”
“And not just rest physically,
but rest, mentally.”
“Rest in every part of your life.”
In fact, the Christian life begins,
salvation happens when
we learn to rest in
what Christ has done.
You cannot be saved
as long as you are trying
to save yourself.
You cannot be saved
by doing good works.
You must learn to rest
and then you can be saved.
Amen.
You cannot save
a drowning man,
as long as he still has
strength and energy.
Amen.
So we got to learn.
And I believe that God
is saying not just to us
here in Singapore,
but to all the world.
Amen.
Rest.
And there must be
a purpose for that.
We are compelled to rest.
Just imagine what Noah
experienced for all
those months that
he was in the ark.
Amen.
He got to adjust to his family.
And think about it,
during that time,
there was no Netflix.
Nothing. Alright?
They just had to get to
know each other better.
Amen.
Study the animals.
Amen.
And most of the animals
were hibernating anyway.
But during that time,
it was almost as if
he felt confined
in time and space.
But then, God was
preparing a new world.
A brand new world
and Noah and his family
were the immediate beneficiaries.
The Bible says
through Prophet Amos
that in the end times
there will be a famine.
Not a famine of water,
not a famine of food,
but a famine of
“hearing the words
of the Lord.”
So the Word of the Lord
will become rare
and precious in the end-times.
Amen.
But, friend.
You are hearing
the Word of the Lord.
You are truly blessed
compared to a lot of people.
It’s not a famine of
God’s Word is not available.
It’s not a famine of
the Word of God.
It is a famine of hearing
the words of the Lord.
Amen.
So it’s a famine of hearing
the words of the Lord,
not a famine of
the Word of the Lord itself.
The Word of the Lord
is abundant everywhere.
So I’m glad for those of you
who are tuning in.
Keep on tuning in.
Praise the Lord.
You need the Word of God.
Amen.
Of all the things
that you think about.
“What should I cook
for my family tonight?”
“And what shall I do
for my family tomorrow?”
“And what kind of food
shall I order online?”
All that is important
and has its place,
but not as important
as the Word that you
receive on a daily basis.
“Give us this day,
our daily bread.”
When the Lord leads you
to drink from His Word—
there are moments you
might be watching television
or you might be doing something
and the Lord just
tells you to go to His Word?
There’s a hunger
for God’s Word?
Go!
That’s the time when
you open the Bible,
and it is like pure,
refreshing streams
that will quench your thirst.
And you might tell yourself:
“Well, you know what?
I want to watch this show.”
And you know you can always
pause the show, right?
“But I want to
watch this show.”
And when you go back,
after you finish the show,
it’s not the same anymore.
It doesn’t speak
to you anymore.
So those are moments.
I’m just giving an illustration,
a specific illustration
that has happened to me.
And many a times,
when God tells you to
pick up the Bible
or just look at the Word
in your smartphone,
If He says: “just look at the Word.”,
then look at the Word.
Amen.
God has something for you.
When God wants to drink,
when the older ox
wants to drink,
we better learn
to flow with Him.
Amen.
When He rests, we rest.
When He moves, we move.
Amen.
Sometimes, He moves quickly.
Then we have to
move quickly with Him.
Praise the Lord.
But don’t forget.
Jesus said:
“My yoke is easy
and My burden is light.”
Amen.
The children of Israel were
under a heavy yoke of the law.
But Jesus says:
“Take my yoke upon you
and learn of Me.”
“For I am meek and
lowly in heart.”
“And you shall find rest
for your souls.”
Amen.
As the Word goes forth,
don’t wait until
I pray for you.
Amen.
I will pray like I always do.
And I will give words
that the Lord will give to me.
But don’t wait for
moments like that.
Just expect.
As the Word goes forth,
when you sit in
front of your screen
or however you’re
receiving the Word,
be expectant!
Be alert!
Make yourself undistracted.
Don’t allow anyone to
rob you of that time.
Not a Martha,
not a cousin,
not anyone else.
Not anybody! Okay?
Just say that:
“This is my time.
I will attend to that later.”
“But this is my time
with the Lord.”
Amen.
And focus
with a hearing heart.
The Bible says that
all these blessings
will come on you
in Deuteronomy 28,
if you will “hearken hearkening.”
That’s how it is
in the Hebrew.
It’s like: “Listen to My Word.”
And the word “hearing”
is mentioned double.
Twice.
And God says:
“And all these blessings”
“will come on you
and overtake you,”
“if you harken.”
So we have,
in our English language,
“hearken diligently.”
But in the original language,
in the Hebrew,
it is literally
doubling the word.
“Hearken, hearken.”
Listen with your
outward ears and
listen with your
inward ears.
Amen.
And do not allow
distractions to come in.
Amen.
And you will receive
the full benefit.
And as the Word goes forth,
the Lord wants me
to tell you this.
Expect to be healed.
Expect!
The word
there is “sozo.”
God has ordained that by
the foolishness of preaching,
the simplicity of preaching,
to save, to “sozo”, to heal.
And the word “sozo”
there is also to heal.
Amen.
To make right the
areas in your life that
are out of sync.
To bring wholeness
in your mind,
in every area of your life.
If depression is trying
to creep into your mind,
into your emotions,
the Word of God
will save you from that
Amen.
It will save your mind.
It will save your relationship.
It will save.
So not only are we saved
when we receive Jesus
and we believe on Jesus
as our Savior and Lord,
but we are saved
on a daily basis.
The Bible talks about it.
“Receive the engrafted word.”
In James 1, it says to:
“receive the engrafted word,”
“which is able to
save your souls”
Now, that’s written to believers.
God says:
“receive the engrafted word”
Like how you would
engraft into a tree, right?
Receive the word.
And the engrafted word,
“which is able to save
(“sozo”) your souls.”
Amen.
That’s our emotions.
And a lot of people today need
saving in their souls.
They are depressed.
They are having
panic attacks,
anxieties, worries
and cares.
God’s Word is able to
save your souls.
Amen.
Now I want to share with you
and continue from last week.
We talked about the
ministry of condemnation
and the ministry of death.
I want to continue that
because there’s so much
in my heart
and whatever that is left,
the Lord will always have
12 basket-full leftover.
Amen.
We’ll just continue
in the weeks to come.
Amen.
So continue tuning in
and receive that “rhema” food,
that “rhema” Word
that God has for you.
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