Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you…And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:8-9; 11-13)

That was what Rahab the prostitute said to the 2 spies from Israel. She has heard of what the God of Israel was capable of doing. She came to a conclusion that He is “God of heaven and earth”. In the ancient polytheism society, such a declaration stood out. It propelled Rahab to do the next logical thing – to choose to worship this God alone and no other.

Rahab was a prostitute. How she became one, we can only speculate. But once a harlot, her moral standing in her society is determined. Men will not respect her. Women would despise her. Her future was predictable. Her descendants will carry that stigma with them, if ever anyone who be serious enough to want to marry her. But that one decision to worship and submit to the God of the Bible initiated a whole process of shifting – shifting of her destiny. So much so that she was counted worthy to be mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus, the Saviour of the world. Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. (Matthew 1:5-6). By choosing to worship the God of the Bible, Rahab’s destiny was realigned to that which is from God, to be part of the ancestry of the Saviour of the world!.

We have no choice nor control over our ancestral lineage. But our ancestral lineage does not determine our destiny. Our destiny is in the hand of Jesus. If you find yourself struggling with the entanglement of generational curses due to iniquities, take heart. That is not the end of the matter. The God of the Bible is powerful. He has His eyes set on you. Not to destroy you nor your descendants. But to shift your destiny in alignment to His perfect will and purpose. Come to Jesus today, above all else. Choose to worship Him and enthrone Him as King and Lord of your life. Let Him take you through the process of “Destiny Shifting”. For He is indeed your Destiny Shifter!

Prayer Focus

So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. (Exodus 33:11)

The Bible describes Moses as “the friend of God”. He talked to God face to face. Moses had an intimate relationship with God. Joshua the son of Nun, was the assistant of Moses. He was to succeed Moses to lead Israel into God’s Promised Land. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. (Deuteronomy 1:38)

Joshua was man full of the Spirit of God: So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. (Numbers 27:18) What actually set Joshua apart? I believe it is his hunger for the presence of God. He was in attendance when God talked to Moses face to face. He had a longing to be in that kind of intimate relationship with God, as Moses had. He longed for and desired intimacy with God.

In order to develop intimate relationships, it requires us to invest time into those relationships. Whether in human relationships or relationship with God, there is no exception. Intimacy does not develop automatically just because we want it. It does not come about just once, then we can leave it unattended, no longer spending time on it. Intimacy in marriage, for instance, ensure a strong husband-wife relationship. It is necessary to build emotionally healthy family. Intimacy with God, as we observe from the life of Joshua, attracts the Spirit of God upon him, fills him and empowers him. Intimacy with God connects us to God’s heart and to His purposes. Intimacy with God causes us to enter into God’s destiny in our lives. As we walk in God’s destiny, we then have the power and authority to usher those whom God entrusted to us into their destiny. “for he shall cause Israel to inherit it (the Promised Land of God)”

Developing intimacy with God is so essential and central in a Christian life. We cannot afford to neglect it. Intimacy with God deserves our time!

Prayer Focus

Read Psalm 103 and 104. Spend time worshipping God, talking to Him. Pray according to these Psalms.

The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. (Psalm 25:14)(NIV)

Most of us, if not, all of us have someone we can talk to and confide in something personal. When we are the confidant, we feel privileged to have the trust of our friends. Especially when that friend is someone important and respected by us. We have a sense of being valued, to be considered trustworthy. It also means that we have a responsibility to decide how to deal with that piece of information or “secret”. The intimacy of that relationship depends on our accountability to that piece of secret entrusted to us.

David was described as “the man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14). He was a man who fear God. In Psalm 25:14, David the Psalmist, tells us that God “confides in” or “share His secrets with” those who fear Him, those who revere Him, take His words and holiness seriously. God honours those who honour Him. He consider those who fear Him worthy to be entrusted with the secret things of His heart and His Kingdom.

If we fear God, God would confide in us deep spiritual revelation, the truth of His Kingdom. He would make known to us His Covenantal blessings, that we might lay hold of. David also said, “Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.” (Psalm 25:12). When we receive spiritual revelation, we then know how to make godly decisions and pray according to God’s heart. He leads and guides those who fear Him.

When we are entrusted with the secrets of God and the truth of His Kingdom, God values us and considered us trustworthy. What an honour and privilege! It also means that we have the responsibility to deal appropriately with those revelations. When we have received the good news of God’s salvation, our responsibility is to share it with others. When we have received truth of God, we are to live it, share it and pray through it. We are accountable to God for what He has entrusted to us. Let us be good stewards of the things of God.

God has no favourites. For we are all His beloved.  He only has intimates. Blessed are you who fear the Lord, for He will surely guide you and direct your path!

Prayer Focus

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3)

When the trees on the empty plot of land next to our house were fell during hot weather season,the leaves from the fell trees turned dry in no time at all. We perceived it potentially a fire hazard to our house, so we watered the dry leaves everyday. But the water dried up quickly because the leaves have already turned brown. They had no life in them.

Harvest brings joy to the farmers, the planters and the harvesters. For crops to yield a bountiful harvest, the basic assumption is that they must have life! The Psalmist in Psalm 1 describes a person who refuses to walk in the way of the ungodly, but chooses to draw near to God in intimacy, day and night meditating on His words, as a tree that yield fruits. Only our spirits can connect with God 24/7. Only in intimacy with God that we receive life – renewing, restoring, rejuvenating, healing from the source of life. Stay alive in the life of the Spirit, than we can bear fruits and be a blessing to others.

Just like leaves and trees that have been cut off from life, they cannot even retain moisture, let alone bear fruits. In fact, they themselves become a hazard to others, because they can easily catch fire and bring widespread destruction. By putting water on them does not give them life. In fact, it just causes them to rot even faster, which is another health hazard.

Doing the “Christian things” or the “Church things” does not necessarily ensure we are spiritually alive. If you have the notion that as long as I go to church, speak the Christian lingo, attend conferences and even get involved in ministries, that should make me a Christian, think again. Are people around you blessed by the fruits of your life? Do they see your life bearing fruits that glorify your Heavenly Father? That should be the litmus test of whether we are connected to God, the source of our lives. If our lives are dry, void of life in the Spirit, we might be a potential hazard to others around us, potentially hurtful and destructive.

Make staying connected to God your first priority. You cannot afford not to if you wish to see a harvest of joy in your life!

Prayer Focus

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. (Psalm 29:3-4)

In the midst of many turmoils, uncertainties and disorder, the situation is crying out for guidance and leading. Unless the Lord intervene through His servants, agents or spokesman appointed by Him for the situation and in the season, this chaos will continue to grow and multiply their influence over the situation. This could be the description of the inner life of a person, a relationship (marriage, family, etc), a community (church, cell groups, town or city) or a nation.

At times such as this, we need a voice of wisdom, voice of reason, voice of guidance, voice of comfort and assurance. A voice that is not just merely sounds and words, but a voice that can make a difference in the situation. A voice that is powerful to change things and move them forward in godly directions.

The Psalmist describes the voice of the Lord as powerful. The nature of voice is that it can be heard. The voice of the Lord thunders, it cannot be ignored. The voice of the Lord which comes out from His mouth carries the breath of His Spirit, His unfailing words into the situation. It is always practical and effectual.

Are you in a situation which is in turmoil, uncertainty and disorder? Do you see this chaos in you or in your surroundings, your city and your nation? It would be caused by past sins or present mistakes. It would be a result of generational iniquities or past issues which you have never addressed and faced, which you know you should. Do not tarry. Ask from the Lord His voice to infiltrate into your situations. Ask for the voice of the Lord which will effectively transform the situation, heal relationships, break strongholds of the enemy.

Ask. Expect the Lord to thunder.

Prayer Focus

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

"For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

When our family went on a guided hike to Murug Turug, one of the very well conserved waterfalls in the West Coast of Sabah, like any good hikers, we were prepared with the right gear and water bottles. Water in water bottles depleted as we journey on. We needed to ration our consumption of water. Our guide assures us that the water flowing from the fountains in those mountains is clean and safe to drink. Then I realized why our guide was traveling very light. Because he knows he has ample supply of water from the fountains, and need not bring heavy water bottles!

When we are confronted with scarcity of resources or options in life, the survival instinct in us would seek to fill up that deficit. God’s people Israel was sometimes confronted with such deficits. God has been manifesting His faithfulness, grace and mercy to them on numerous occasions to show them that He is their source of all their resources. However, when in a panic, Israel turned to man’s wisdom and sometimes even other gods who are actually no god to source for what they needed. God compared the two like “fountain of living waters” and “broken cisterns that can hold no water”.

Jesus in His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, says He would give us living water to drink. And Jesus went to describe this living water: "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:13b-14). This living water once we drink of it, will bring life and resources. Water itself is not necessary the very supply of the resources we need in life. But water begets life. Living water begets everlasting life. This Jesus who is alive and lives forever, once we make Him our source, He will be the everlasting source of all that we need in life – fountain of living waters!

For your journey ahead in life. Look upon Jesus as the fountain from whom you can drink. Walk with Him, journey where He leads. You will surely find that you can travel light, without burdens and burdensome concerns. This living water once in you, will become a fountain of living waters flowing out from you, blessing many.

Prayer Focus

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. (Mark 10:18)

God is good. That is the truth of who God is. If God is good, He is good all the time. He is good throughout, and there is no evil in Him. He is not the originator of evil. The devil is, taking advantage of man’s sins, to bring evil into the world. But God is a master opportunist. He can turn what the devil intended for evil into good.

“I believe that God can and wants to create good out of everything, even evil…I believe that God provides us with as much strength to resist as we need. But he does not give it in advance…We trust Him alone. In such a trust, all anxiety about the future must be overcome.”  - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

Because God is good, He is the source of all things good – love, peace, joy, etc. He is consistently good. His love for us is also unchangeable, everlasting. He has our best interest in His heart and on His mind, all the time. He is trustworthy whenever we are in need, at all times.

The truth is we were built to last, our lives sent by the Lord, the success of our mission assured inside of boundaries crafted by Him. Whatever comes, His plan will last. He will stay the course if I will. There is every reason to trust Him, especially now. Reasons to trust Him far outweigh trendy provocations to doubt. We were built to last—for eternity. – (Adopted from Shirley Weaver’s Devotional “Built to last”)

Whatever challenges you may be facing today, know that we have a good God whom we can trust and lean on. He wants to see us succeed. He wants to see His children walking in their destiny and living out their true identity and potentials. Look to Him and keep crying out to Him. He will not fail.

Prayer Focus

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones. (Proverbs 3:5-8)

The pandemic has been very unnerving for all of us. Perhaps, more for some than others. For one who believes in Jesus, I know my one sure hope is in God and His salvation. Looking at the various challenges ahead, only God’s supernatural intervention and His wisdom and mercy can rescue us from this present trouble.

Though I know I need to trust God in all circumstances, it is often more easily said than done. Once there is a deficit in trusting God, I tend to trust in my own wisdom and understanding. We all need to trust someone or something in life. Some trust in man, in politicians, in knowledge (unaware at times, trust in the knowledge of God rather the person of God), in connection, in worldly wisdom, in whatever that is logical and rational to us (“own understanding”), and even any spiritual power other than God! All these “trust deficits” will lead us from one wrong decision to the next. It modifies our modus operandi. It transports us into a different world of reasoning and rationale. In short, it just plunges us into a downward spiral to a bottomless pit of destruction and despair.

Psalm 37:5, the Psalmist says, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.” Before we could walk into this journey of trusting the Lord, we need to commit our way to Him. We need to be willing to let go of our best wisdom. Then we can truly trust Him with all our hearts. Only then we can see Him act in our favour, intervene in our lives and situations.

As we approach an unprecedented post pandemic era, faced with unpredicted future and having to navigate through uncharted waters ahead: trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not lean (depend) on your own understanding, and He will surely lead you onto the path of righteousness and life!

“Trust and obey”, for there is truly no other way!

Prayer Focus

There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless the LORD's counsel—that will stand. (Proverbs 19:21)

And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. (2 Kings 5:10-12)

Naaman the Syrian army commander had leprosy. A disease without cure in his time. He came to Elisha on the reputation that he was an anointed servant of God known for performing miracles. He was expecting healing from the God of Elisha, believed whole heartedly that he could be cure from leprosy. But when he heard Elisha’s instructions to him to go and wash in the River Jordan 7 times, he was hugely disappointed and became furious. Though he believed in Elisha’s God, he was also expecting Elisha to heal him in a particular, spectacular manner. Until Naaman’s servant girl persuaded him to leave his expectation, and followed the unexpected instructions from Elisha, then he was healed.

It may sound odd to some of us that Naaman should focus on the tree and missed the woods. Human expectations are shaped by past experiences, conventions and sometimes a pinch of our pride. Human expectations at best give us a focus, but mostly are obstructive to God’s way. You see, God cannot be put in a box. He cannot be expected by us to work in a particular way of our preference. He is God, and we are not. Human expectations, from ourselves, from others, real or perceived cannot lead us into God’s best because they form unreal picture of our all-powerful, all-wise God.

Are you expecting a breakthrough, a miracle, healing in the spirit, soul or body, healing of relationships, restoration from losses, freedom from bondage, spiritual growth? Set aside your human expectation (even if you can somehow back up those expectations with Scriptures verses). Seek to listen to the Holy Spirit. Seek the Lord’s way earnestly. Do not let convention and popular ideas hinder you from walking in obedience to the guidance and voice of the Lord, even if it means stepping outside the box of human expectations!

Prayer Focus

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry…Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. (Luke 4:1-2, 14-15)

After having been baptized in the River Jordan, Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Bible records that He was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus was tempted by the devil in that 40 days, when He fasted the whole time. The account of the devil’s temptation on Jesus as detailed in Matthew and Luke, was the final blow the devil dealt on Jesus at the end of that 40 days. Jesus in fact, was tempted throughout the 40 days.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit does not exempt us from the devil’s attempt to derail us from the pathway of God’s righteousness and His destiny for us. In fact, being filled with the Holy Spirit does not automatically empower us to have victory over sins and power of darkness. That power of the Holy Spirit needs to be activated. Fasting activates the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Fasting deals with those things that obstruct, block the power of the Holy Spirit from being unleashed. Fasting is to overcome and subdue the desire of the flesh, the pull of the world, and the sweet alternatives suggested by the lies of the devil. All these three work together as “accomplices”, to keep us walking in the flesh, away from the way of the Spirit. If we walk in the flesh, it leads to death – powerless. Fasting is seeking God’s heart, God’s mind, and God’s revelation how we have, perhaps, been walking in the flesh, i.e. allowing the desire of the flesh to rule over us, following the world (instead of Jesus), and believing or buying into the lies and deception of the devil.

Jesus the Son of God, the Son of Man, though being filled with the Holy Spirit, needed to overcome these three accomplices through fasting. He has set an example for us, and He has shown us the way to move from “being filled with the Holy Spirit” to “returned in the power of the Holy Spirit”, to live a victorious life over sins and darkness.

You too, can embark on this journey to a victorious life. Ask the Lord to fill you with His Holy Spirit. Activate that power of the Holy Spirit in you in fasting!

Prayer Focus