Dream  3- March 23:  This bride was seated on a chair in a room getting dressed.  She was surrounded by her maids who were diligently making sure she looked the best. She had a long white wedding gown, make up, and a beautiful tiara with white flowers on them.  Her maids were making the final touches and they placed some white candles on her tiara.  But she looked tried, weary, and impatient because it was taking too long.

An unyielding bride is an impatient bride (Esther 2)

Esther was one of the virgins who was being prepared for King Xerxes.  She found favor in the eyes of Hegai who was in charge of the girls who were brought into the citadel of Susa.  He provided Esther with special food and immediate beauty treatments, but that was not enough (Esther 2:8,9).  She had to complete 12 months of beauty treatments, six months with oil of myrrh, six months with perfumes and cosmetics, and had to wait for her turn to meet the king (Esther 2:12).

Are we getting upset, impatient and weary because we are still being made up?  Are we tired of the lengthy process and wanting to be done with the preparations?  As Bride of Christ we must patiently wait for Him to finish the beauty treatments, the sanctification process.  God wants The Bride to be the best for Jesus. Don’t be weary and lose the joy because we have to go through the storms of life to complete the beauty treatments.  He is adding lights (candles) to the tiara so others can see the radiance of His Bride.  The more lights that are on our crown the more glory and honor it brings to our Lord Jesus.

Dear Bride of Christ, let us yield to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit as He transforms us to be a beautiful Bride for Jesus.

In March of 2004, Trinity Christian Centre, the church I was attending in Singapore, had a week of prayer as the church was preparing for leadership transition. The senior pastor was stepping down after 30+ years serving as a shepherd and wanted to hand over leadership to the next generation.  I was excited to attend because I could walk to the church. We had prayer meetings from 7:00am – 8:00am, Monday through Friday. I had these dreams from Sunday night to Tuesday night.

Dream 1- Sunday, March 21:  A bridal procession was going on and there were many spectators lined up along side of the road and I was one of them.  There were four bridesmaids, two in the front and two in the back and the bride was in the middle.  She was dressed like an ancient Greek bride with a simple below-the-knee white dress with a rope style belt around her waist. Her tiara was made of grapevine stems decorated with leaves and white flowers. The bride and her maids were singing, dancing, and enjoying as they went.  Then I saw a guitar, about 100 feet high in the sky above them, and the bride went up in the guitar as if it was a vehicle.

A serving bride is a worshiping bride (Genesis 24)

Abraham’s servant met Rebecca, daughter of Bethuel, at the spring where she came to draw water.   As she came up with her jar, he asked her for a drink and she quickly lowered her jar and served him.   She ran back in to the spring and drew water to serve his camels without being asked (v 20).  She also welcomed him to stay and told him that there were plenty of straw and fodder for the animals.  Abraham’s servant explained the reason for his trip to her family.  Her father Bethuel and brother Laban agreed to give her as a bride to Isaac after hearing how the Lord directed him to them.  Though her brother and mother wanted her to remain with them for ten days, Rebecca was ready to go with him immediately (Genesis 24:55-58).

Are we quick to obey the Holy Spirit when we hear the call for service?  Are we able to discern the need and go the extra mile like Rebecca?  Do we invite the Holy Spirit to stay with us and allow him to communicate the Father’s desires?  When we hear the Holy Spirit and quench Him, He will reveal the Father’s plans and will take us to our Bridegroom.  As we worship through serving, we are ready to meet the Bridegroom and fulfill our heavenly Father’s desire.

Dear Bride of Christ, let us serve the Lord with urgency, joy, gladness and walk into our destiny with Christ.

John the Baptist’s voice was heard  on this earth and it prepared the way for Jesus and ended when he was beheaded.  But Jesus’ voice still speaks to us and for generations to come.  His voice (WORD) comforts those who hurt, heals the sick, gives hope to the hopeless, and saves those who call on him.

His voice is continuing in intercession for me even now.  He is praying that I will be protected from the evil one (John 17:15).  Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God interceding for me when the voice of condemnation from the enemy comes up (Romans 8:34).  I have the perfect person to partner with in prayer.  Lord, thank you for praying for me.

Reflection on 2011

I am thankful for the way He is leading me in my spiritual life.  The storms, challenges, and worries of life have lost the power it use to have over me.  It is so much easier and lighter to give everything to the Lord.  Jesus’ voice is being recognized more and is getting clearer and clearer.  I also thank God for my girls who encouraged and set up the blog for me.  It helps me to write and keep a record of the way I hear Him and the way I am strengthened.

Jesus’ voice of promise is resonating in my heart as I enter 2012.  It leaps within me as I hear the voice of God through the written word.  Excited to enter into the New Year with the hope of many of the promises being fulfilled and delivered.

Lord, I pray that in 2012 your children will hear Your Voice through the word and the spirit within them will leap with joy, faith and expectation.

Wish you all a blessed New Year, a year to hear HIS VOICE.

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God (Psalms 50:23 NIV)

God encouraged someone in my ladies fellowship with this verse as she was facing some challenges.  She is honoring God with thanksgiving and He is seeing her through those situations.

*Have you heard of Bushwhacking?

Bushwhacking specifically refers to difficult walking through dense forest, undergrowth, or bushes, where forward progress requires pushing vegetation aside.  In extreme cases of bushwhacking where the vegetation is so dense that human passage is impeded, a machete is used to clear a pathway (Wikipedia).

A walking or hiking trail with lots of foot traffic is usually clear and wide.  More challenging trails have narrower paths because fewer people go on them.  But to make a new trail in a dense forest you will have to do some difficult walking or bushwhacking.  You will have to do some parting of tall bushes, some stomping and breaking of shrubs, and even some whacking with the machete to remove things that are in the way.

*Are you ready for difficult walking or Bushwhacking?

When we have to go through a “forest of” challenge, unanswered prayer, sickness where there is no hope, or the narrow hope you had suddenly comes to an end, it becomes a “difficult walking”.  When we are surrounded by fear, fatigue, uncertainty, confusion, discouragement, or sickness, can we push though these challenges that seem overgrown and out of control?  When we are able to thank God in the midst of a trial, it is a sacrificial thanksgiving.  It honors God and prepares the way.   It is up to us to create the trail by giving the sacrifice of praise.  Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of our lips that confess his name (Hebrew 13:15).

I pray that we will able to whack the bushes of anxiety, fear, doubt, or impatience out of the way and hike up to God’s presence with a backpack full of thanksgiving.   Let us honor God with our sacrifice of thanksgiving and continue this difficult walking over and over until the way becomes clearer.  

Lord, forgive me for my doubts, anxious thoughts, and impatience regarding the  prayers for my children.  With thanksgiving and your promises (Isa:59:21, Isa:44:4-5, Isa:34:16,17) I am stepping in to make new trails for you to send the answers.  For all who are going through a difficult season, give them strength to thank and praise you.  Thank you Lord for showing all of us the way as we honor you through our thanksgiving. 

The talk about 11-11-11 reminded me of my college days trying to get familiarized with another numbering system – Binary Numbering System.

Counting in binary is similar to counting in the decimal system. Decimal counting uses the digits 0 – 9, while in binary counting only 0 and 1 are used.  The positioning of these digits make the difference in the values.

111111 in binary = 63 in decimal

God has placed us in Christ and made us valuable.  Ephesians 2:6 says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”  He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end (10000000…………….0000001).

There are 9 manifestations of the spiritual gifts for the common good of the church (1Corinthians 12). The last verse in this chapter encourages us to have an eager desire for greater gifts and the way to achieve this is the way of love (1 Corinthians 13).  Revelation 3:16 says, “So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  God is encouraging us to be turned on all the time, to be the light in this world where darkness is increasing.

Is this the beginning of the end, the last stretch in our race?  Is everything going to be turned on and all the 9 spiritual gifts working together to finish the race strong?  Are we willing to let the spiritual gifts manifest through us?

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.  “May it be to me as you have said.” (Luke 1:38).  Lord, I yield to your ways and forgive me for my lukewarmness.  Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

1. Awesome                              11. Kind                                  21. Understanding                  31. Supporting

2. Beautiful                               12. Loving                              22. Vexing

3. Caring                                   13. Murmuring                      23. War-ming

4. Demanding                          14. Nurturing                         24. X-citing

5. Enjoying                               15. Overcoming                     25. Yes sir (dear)

6. Funny                                    16. Patient                              26. Zesty

7. Giving                                    17. Quarreling                       27. Selfish

8. Happy                                    18. Rewarding                       28. Serving

9. Irritating                                19. Snoring                           29. Lonely

10.Joyful                                    20. Tiring                               30. Forgiving

Mama Celebrating “A Baskin Robbins” Anniversary

The secret of Mama’s 31 years of success is staying faithful to the “original flavor“ of God’s Love.  Some of the flavors are not tasty but the original flavor keeps her going back for more.  This flavor is sacrificial, unconditional, uncompromising, everlasting, sweet, unlimited, overflowing and healthy.  She is also thankful to have a  great, loving, funny, hard working partner who took care of her all these years and is proud to have him in her life.

Pile up a triple scoop of God’s love and enjoy your marriage!

Jesus our Shepherd is coming to take his Bride back home.

See previous post on “Returning Home with a Harvest”:

Jesus was sent to earth to get his Bride, the Church. He had to leave the majesty, the splendor and comfort of heaven to get his bride like Jacob did to get Rebecca.  He suffered and paid with his life because of his love for us.  Jesus was obedient to the Father’s commands and purposes even though it was overwhelming (Matthew 26:39,42,43).  Jacob had to work 14 years for his beloved bride and a few more years to gather his wages from his uncle Laban.

Jesus finished his work completely and has been waiting patiently over 2000 years for his Bride, the Spotless One.  When he died on the cross and rose again victorious, the process of his gathering started.  Whoever believes and confesses with their mouths that he is Lord will be saved and added to his fold.  He has removed every spotted, speckled and dark colored sin that stained us with his precious blood.  His Bride is being prepared, perfected, and beautified through the work of the Holy Spirit. The enemy is trying hold back many but our Shepherd is going after the ones that are lost or held back.  What a comforting thought to know that no one can snatch us out of His hand because we are engraved in His hand. We are his harvest, his Bride and  He is coming soon to take us home!!!!!  

In honor of clergy appreciation month –   Thanking God for our Shepherds

Lord, I thank you for the pastors you have placed in our lives and for their love and care for us.  Thank you Lord for their commitment and love for You. Give them strength to work for the kingdom and bless them with heavenly blessings. Thank you for seeing their heart and their hard work (Genesis 31:12b).   Bless them with dreams, visions, ideas, insights, directions and hope for the next season. Release everyone from the enemy’s hold and let there be plenty of new births in their folds.  I pray that they will be able to see and enjoy the fruit of their labor.  Lord, help them to bring a big harvest of souls and may each one be able to hear “well done, good and faithful servant”.