ashwinmram's Xanga

The Zig Zag Way

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 01:32:17 GMT

Today God spoke to me through the sermon “The Zig Zag Way – God’s Divine Detour” by Nicole Conner. In brief the sermon discussed how God orchestrates detours in the journey of our lives to expose our heart, and to make us depend on Him more, which ultimately transform us into who HE has called us to be. Since God’s ways are higher than our ways, we can’t see the purpose for the detours, but they are in fact acts of divine mercy and grace because God acknowledges our frailty a lot better than we do ourselves. HE knows taking us from point A to point B directly will destroy us! In spite of the detours, however, we must never forget that HE is always in control and will ultimately lead us to fulfill our purpose.

Psalm 138

8 The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

God is more interested in who we are becoming in the journey than getting us there. Many times the detours lead us to come face to face with ourselves and our sins, and how desperately we need a Savior. Nicole compares the belief system of the Israelites during the Exodus with that of Job during the hardships he faced. Both complained about the hardships they faced, but Job nevertheless chose to believe in God and his goodness. The Israelites never did, however, and thus tragically came under the judgment of God:

Numbers 14

21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, 22 not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.

The enemy of the promised land of the Israelites was not Pharaoh, but themselves! Nicole then goes on to compare the sins of the Israelites with the sins of King David. The difference between David and the Israelites, however, is exemplified when David, after sleeping with Bathsheba and is confronted with his own sinfulness by the prophet Nathan, chooses to confess his sins and repent.

The zig zag way of the LORD has two components:

1) God’s providential care

2) Our response to the dealings of God

We are meant to confront the issues and failures that God brings before us, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 2

12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

Cycles of Temptation by Rev. Dr. A.R. Bernard (Parts 1-2 of 5)

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:53:23 GMT

Cycles of Temptation (Reverend Dr. A. R. Bernard)

Dr. Bernard opens up the sermon by sharing how it is the mission of his ministry to teach people how to live by seeing life from God’s point of view; to get God’s perspective on life. He continues that the Bible for us is not a religious book, but rather a practical book. When God delivered the people of Israel from Egypt it was a miraculous event, but He gave them a value system in the form of The Law, which will teach them how to conduct themselves on a daily basis. He did not invite them to heaven; He taught them how to live here on Earth. Jesus’ prayer was to let them remain in the earth realm, protect them from evil, and teach them how to live. It is when the Word of God becomes flesh - alive and working in a human being – it is then that that Word is able to be seen by the rest of the world and the glory of God is revealed.

Luke 4 – The Holy Spirit leads Jesus Christ to the Mount of Temptation in the desert before He revealed Him in the fullness of His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration. In order to get to the Mount of Transfiguration, we must first experience the Mount of Temptation, because life is about testing, trials, and tribulations. The Bible reveals an age old conflict between good and evil – good culminating in a person Jehovah God (Jesus Christ), and evil culminating in a person called Lucifer, better known as Satan. The Bible presents both God and the devil as persons, not as concepts or ideas. Although these persons are diametrically opposed to each other, there is no shadow of a doubt that it is Jehovah God who is in power and authority over Satan. Jehovah God has allowed this conflict to be played out here on earth with one universal objective, which is to exemplify before all creation that any rebellion against His authority will be crushed, and that life can only be experienced to its fullest when creation is in harmony with its Creator God.

We as Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. We believe that through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we identify with the sacrifice on the cross and become acceptable to the Lord Almighty in Jesus Christ. The Book of Hebrews reveals that Jesus is the expressed image of the Father. It is this aspect, the humanity of Jesus, out which we can learn how to deal with life. He is our example, because in Him, dwelled the fullness of God bodily. He was the embodiment of God for the purpose of expressing the nature of God in human society. His disciple Phillip once asked Him, show us the Father God and we will be satisfied. Jesus replied, “Have I been so long with you, that you haven’t recognized me”. Jesus said again, “He that has seen Me has seen the Father.” All four gospels reveal the deity of Jesus Christ, but also the humanity of Jesus Christ.

Luke 4 (Amplified Bible)

1THEN JESUS, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit

2For (during) forty days in the wilderness (desert), where He was tempted (^[a]tried, tested exceedingly) by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, He was hungry.^(A)

3Then the devil said to Him, If You are the Son of God, order this stone to turn into a loaf [of bread].

4And Jesus replied to him, It is written, Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone ^[b]but by every word and expression of God.^(B)

5Then the devil took Him up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time [^[c]in the twinkling of an eye].

6And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will.

7Therefore if You will do homage to and worship me [^[d]just once], it shall all be Yours.

8And Jesus replied to him, ^[e]Get behind Me, Satan! It is written, You shall do homage to and worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.^(C)

9Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on ^[f]a gable of the temple, and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here;

10For it is written, He will give His angels charge over you to guard and watch over you closely and carefully;

11And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.^(D)

12And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, You shall not tempt (try, ^[g]test exceedingly) the Lord your God.^(E)

13And when the devil had ended every [the complete cycle of] temptation, he [temporarily] left Him [that is, ^[h]stood off from Him] until another more opportune and favorable time.

The devil comes and then leaves, but only for a season. Jesus came that we may have life, and have it abundantly. God is not out to get you, to destroy you, or to hurt you. God is not looking for the moment you sin to beat you over the head with a baseball bat! Jesus said that I came not to condemn the world, but through me the world might be saved. I came to give life. It is that abundant life that Satan desires to steal from us through a basic pattern of temptation. Paul constantly prayed for us believers to be sharp at discerning the strategies of evil in its desire to consume and destroy our lives.

The first thing the devil hits Him with is these words, “If you are the Son of God…” The first line of attack has to do with your identity. The resolution of the identity crisis is common to all human beings. Most people are off track in life, because they are trying to be somebody other than who they really are. They haven’t discovered who they are. Your self image comes out of the resolution of your identity. Who are you? It is out of who you think or believe yourself to be that you will operate in life. Your self image is the foundation for life. You will build your life based upon the image you have for yourself. If you have a poor self image, you will accept a poor life and poor relationships, and will never rise above that image you have of yourself. My self image is the foundation upon which I build my life. Out of my self image comes my self esteem. Out of my self image comes my sense of worth. Out of my self image comes my sense of value to myself and to others. When people don’t think much of themselves, they will live like it and allow themselves to degenerate in their lifestyles. We will never accept our purpose in life until we are clear as to who we are. We may have that purpose, but not accept it until we know who we are in Christ Jesus.

Jesus had a clear self image. We know this because of how He described Himself. John 8:12 (NIV) When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." He sees Himself as one who was empowered to illuminate the understanding of others. John 14:6 (Amplified Bible) Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me. He also said of Himself, “I am the Truth”. In other words, He represents ultimate reality and consistency. He also said, “I am the Way”, which means He saw Himself as the ultimate path that leads to life. He said, “I am the Life”, which means that He is what every human being seeks to be. It speaks of health, prosperity, and a high level lifestyle. John 15:1 (NIV) "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He also said “I am the vine”. He nurtures and brings health and life to other people. He is a resource: John 6:48 I am the bread of life. Throughout the scriptures He moves from one image to another of what He though of Himself. His self knowledge is what gave Him validity. He did not need validation from anyone else. If others recognized Jesus for who He was, it was simply confirmation but not validation. We live in a society where everybody is seeking for someone else to validate them. The moment we give someone else the power to validate you, you also give them the power to define you. And you may not like the definition that they give you. They may call you lazy, and if you accept that you have allowed them to define you and thereby they are your validation. What we think of ourselves is clearly reflected in everything we say and everything we do. It is reflected in the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the books we read, the entertainment we engage in, the places we visit, and the people we associate with.

The clearer the images that we have of ourselves, the greater the influence these images will have on our thoughts, our motives, our words and our actions. The images Jesus had of Himself were an expression of that image God has of Himself. Genesis 1:26 God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness God had an image of Himself, and out of that self image, He created Adam. You can tell the kind of home and living environment that God likes by the beauty of the garden. If He was cheap and poor, and had a poor self image, the Garden would look like a junkyard; but it was beautiful. The same image God planted and expressed in Adam was also expressed in Jesus Christ, because the original image of God in Adam was corrupted the moment Adam sinned. When we celebrate Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, we are also celebrating the restoration of the image of God in humankind (any human), that is willing to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and as the representative of God in the earth. Whenever the new birth takes place, God is restoring to us the image He has of Himself. The new birth is called a miracle. We are a new creation! We are not reformed by God, we are transformed! He does not fix up the old self; He eradicates it and brings up a new force to go to work in the human life. You must reject all the low things of life and begin to embrace the higher things of life. If you do not, and you call yourself a Christian, then you are despising the power and work of God in your life and you need to repent.

Deuteronomy 28:13 And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day and are watchful to do them. God told Israel, I will make you the head and not the tail. I will place you above and not beneath. I will cause you to become the lender and not the borrower. The Jewish people who have embraced the law and the promises have experienced the benefits of it worldwide. They are a people that have been dispersed through all the nations of the earth, and no matter where they are, they begin to rise up in any given society. The same promise for Israel has been given to us in Jesus Christ! There is no reason in this world except laziness, unbelief, and fear that the Christian should not be economically and spiritually viable and an influence in their society.

Interpretation on the Dream of the Lord

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 16:58:04 GMT

After discussing my dream with a close friend at One Eighty the other day, I am now convinced that the dream I experienced with a little bit of pornography was indeed from the Holy Spirit. HE did not give me the dream to accuse me, but rather to convict me of my sin.

The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment.

John 16:8-11 "And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."

Shoes of Peace

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 03:06:28 GMT

Eph 6:11-12 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Dawn began last night's sermon with the above verses from the scripture on "The Armor of God". We are in a war against a very real enemy and must stand firm against all the strategies of the devil. In order to succeed we MUST put on armor of God.

Eph 6:13-15 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

Pastor John preached on the belt of truth and Pastor Derek on the breastplate of righteousness, therefore Dawn's sermon focused on how we must put on Shoes of peace of the Good News to be prepared fully.

WHY DO WE GET STRESSED? Turn to God for peace in times of stress. ONLY GOD CAN GIVE US PEACE.

Phi 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Dawn stressed that in all the times we face persecution and turmoil in our lives we should pray, not worry. We must ask God and HE will answer.

Jn 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Peace is a gift. We are responsible for maintaining it. GOD LOVES US UNCONDITIONALLY, SO WE SHOULD HAVE PEACE ABOUT OURSELVES. We can then plant peace - reconcile situations - in life and reap righteousness, which is to have a right standing before God.

WHAT ARE THE AREAS IN MY LIFE WHERE THE ENEMY ATTACKS ME? I MUST TRUST THAT GOD IS WORKING GOOD IN ALL OF THEM. I am struggling with work at the moment because Front Desk operations at the hotel is very new to me. Interacting with guests comes naturally to me and thus is not the source of my struggle, but rather it is just the routine policies and procedures that sometimes cause me to stumble. I am aware that making mistakes and stumbling is all part of the learning process, however, I am almost always persecuted when I stumble. The enemy seizes every opportunity to accuse and criticize me through my coworkers and friends when I make a mistake. I understand this is simply because greater is HE that is in me than he who is in the world.

1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

I am aware that GOD is using all these events to stretch and strengthen me. At times I feel I am falling short of the mark and failing the Lord in my efforts, but this is not true. The Holy Spirit encouraged me last night by reminding me to trust God; trust that my boss will recognize my efforts and abilities in due course.

When I am accused and persecuted by the enemy in the spirit realm, I feel the wounds caused by the enemy in my spirit body. I cannot describe this pain to you in words, but it hurts terribly! One time I tried to hold on and endure until the pain got so unbearable that I cried out desperately to the Lord and HE was with me in a heartbeat! I locked HIM out of my heart just for a short while until I could lock myself in a bathroom stall and then burst into tears as I opened my heart and received HIM in the fullness of HIS awesome love and glory. HE took all the pain away and restored me to overflowing once again. (Usually I sneak off to pray when I am hurt in the spirit before the pain becomes unbearable)

I thank the Lord for these lessons on the armor of God. I believe I have been fighting either with some armor missing, or not fastened properly by the belt of truth, and as a result the enemy has hurt me incessantly in the exposed areas of my spirit body. I pray in Jesus' mighty name that we will soon learn to properly put on the full armor of God and be able to truly stand amidst all the attacks of satan.

The Purpose of the Holy Spirit

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 18:09:08 GMT

I found this list on the following website: http://www.truthandgrace.com/Spirit.htm

1) He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment.

2) He transforms us in the sight of God.

1 Corinthians 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

3) He helps us to remember the word of God.

John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

4) He helps us to lead a godly life.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit (evidence) of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

5) He gives us spiritual gifts for the edification of believers.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:

1 Corinthians 14:12 Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.

6) He is our guarantee of eternal life with God.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

7) He empowers us to be witnesses for our Lord Jesus Christ.

John 15:26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me."

Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Acts 4:33 And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.

1 Corinthians 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

An Evil Spirit / Dreams from the Enemy

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 04:17:28 GMT

I wrote a blog a few days ago titled "A Dream from the Lord". After last night, however, I am convinced this dream was from the enemy. I will explain the reasons for my change of heart shortly, but in order to do this I must first illustrate last nights events.

I had another strange dream last night where I was "evangelizing" to one of my colleagues. I have included the definition of evangelism below.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

e·van·ge·lism [i-van-juh-liz-uhm] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	the preaching or promulgation of the gospel; the work of an evangelist.

2.	evangelicalism.

3.	missionary zeal, purpose, or activity.

Evangelism means to preach or promulgate the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore true evangelism must have Jesus Christ in the center of focus. The preaching in last night's dream was not focused on the Lord, but was very twisted and rather accusatory of my colleague. I then awoke to the presence of an evil spirit around me, although I first mistook it as the presence of the Holy Spirit. The spirit I felt was not gentle and comforting like the Spirit of the Lord, but was instead forceful and arrogant. My first reaction upon awakening was to think the Lord was angry with me because of my warped evangelism (since I also felt wrath from this evil spirit), but as my mind cleared I remembered that the Lord will never accuse His children.

I then thought about the "Dream from the Lord" I had a few days back, and concluded that that dream was also in fact from Satan. Why on earth would the Lord give me pornographic images in a dream??? Why would the Lord accuse me of sin in a dream??? By HIS blood our sins are forgotten, not highlighted!

Realizing that this spirit was not the Spirit of the Lord, I began to praise Jesus. I began worshipping the Lord with my hands raised, although this not help dispel the evil spirit. I then thought to myself "why am I lifting up my hands to this cursed thing!", and then proceeded to roll over onto my stomach with my back towards the spirit, while continuing to praise and worship the Lord. I am sure my utterances and actions made this spirit both angry and jealous, because it pressed down on my even more forcefully as a result. I continued to pray and worship in hope that it would leave and the Lord would take its place, but instead I fell asleep.

I woke up this morning and recollected that this was not the first time I experienced an evil spirit. I recollected that quite some time ago when I was laying in bed enjoying the Holy Spirit all around me and the pleasant thoughts and images coursing through my mind, there was a abrupt change in the spiritual atmosphere as the Holy Spirit was replaced with an evil spirit. Not only did this spirit FEEL completely different, it also gave me strange thoughts and weird sensations in my body. When this happened I was incredibly confused until I realized that the Lord may have allowed this complete and abrupt change in the spiritual atmosphere of my bedroom in order to highlight the vast difference between the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit. I remembered how I had encountered the same evil spirit in Yangon while I was fasting, and how I had mistaken it for the Lord at the time.

I truly believe that Jesus is training and equipping me with the gift of discering of spirits as described in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. Just as learning to differentiate the Lord's voice from the other voices we hear daily is a process of trial and error, so is the process of discerning the Holy Spirit from the other spirits out there.

Belt of Truth / Breastplate of Righteousness

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 13:45:36 GMT

The enemy has been attacking me for quite some time in the spirit realm; literally wounding me in my spirit over and over again. My response after being wounded is either to continue fighting for as long as possible until the pain is too much to bear, or to run to the Lord immediately for His love and healing. Either way the only remedy is to seek Daddy God!

HIS timing is always perfect, especially since we are now studying the armor of God in the "Prepare for War" series at The Vine/One Eighty. I am certain that I have been fighting this war without the complete armor of God on, and the enemy has been shooting me in the areas where I am exposed in the spirit.

Pastor John spoke a couple weeks ago about the belt of Truth, which as you know is part of the armor of God. He explained how we must know the truth in 3 areas:

1) Truth in word and deed - We must be honest in everything we say and do. It is best to hold our tongue ratger than to blurt out falsely.

2) Truth in heart - We must not be hypocritical and/or arrogant, which effectively unbuckles the belt of truth in other people! We must also listen to others with sincerity and humility.

3) Truth in God - Jesus is the Truth, the Way, and the Life. Jesus is also the Word, which is also the Truth. The Holy Spirit will also lead us to the Truth.

Pastor continued to explain that if and when the belt of Truth cracks, we must not attempt to cover it up or fix it ourselves. We must confess the mistake before God and let HIM fix it. Pastor John suggested that we make it a daily habit to put on the belt of Truth through prayer and confession each morning. We must not let the devil deceive us, therefore we MUST put on the Belt.

We must confess the truth about our sins before the Lord, otherwise we are giving the Accuser of the Brethren ammunition to attack us with. We must also praise God and confess the Truth about the Lord as proclaimed in the Bible. We must also confess the truth about our identity in Christ Jesus. How we are overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony (Rev 12:11). Pastor reminded us to thank the Lord for our answered prayers.

This sermon on the belt of truth is linked closely to the sermon preached by Derek yesterday on the Breastplate of Righteousness. The belt actually helps to keep the breastplate in place, otherwise we are fighting unprotected.

The first thing Derek shared about the Breastplate of Righteousness was that it is God's righteousness that protects us, not our own righteousness. Self-righteousness is like filthy rags to the Lord and allows for sin to enter our lives. If we are self-righteousness, we are no longer protected by the Breatplate of (God's) Righteousness and are exposed. Derek continued that as a result the most vulnerable and vital area exposed is the heart. A direct hit to the heart can possibly kill us in our Spirit.

As I said towards the beginning of this blog, I am certain that I have not been wearing the full armor of God. I have not been putting on the belt of Truth, and as a result Satan was able to feed me a lie (which I swallowed) about the wounds I am feeling in my spirit. I believed the Deceiver that the wounds were actually permitted by the Lord to highlight sinful areas in my life. Of course the truth, however, was that the enemy had caused the wounds due to my lack of spiritual armor.

Because I believed Satan's lie that the wounds were allowed by God to highlight to me areas of sin in my life, I began to operate in self-righteousness and attempted to avoid these sinful areas own my own strength. As a result not only did I not have the Belt of Truth fastened properly, but the Breatplate of (God's) Righteousness fell off as I replaced it with the filthy rags of my own self-righteousness. As a result my heart lay exposed and satan shot me directly in it. I then began resenting the Lord as I felt the Lord was too harsh and expecting too much from me by allowing me to bear the weight of my own sin (which had actually entered as a result of the filthy rags I was now wearing). It even got to the point that I struggled to worship Him, which is my absolute favorite thing of all because it takes me into His awesome presence!!!

At the 6pm service the Lord ministered His love to me through Tom and JP and healed my broken heart! HE restored me and it became clear to me how easily I had been decieved in one area of my Christian faith, and how this resulted in a downwards spiral!

I love and praise the Lord for always being there for me as I cried out to Him as I suffered these past few days. HE is so amazing! His grace and mercy has no end.

A Dream from the Lord

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:59:17 GMT

Today I woke up with the Holy Spirit by my side at 7am sharp after having a dream from the Lord. It was not a pleasant dream, although I am nevertheless grateful to the Lord for giving it to me, because its purpose was to lay bare a sin in my life that I did not recognize for what it was... a sin. Below I have included the definition of the word "sin" from dictionary.com

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

sin1 [sin] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, sinned, sin·ning.

–noun

1.	transgression of divine law: the sin of Adam.

2.	any act regarded as such a transgression, esp. a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle.

3.	any reprehensible or regrettable action, behavior, lapse, etc.; great fault or offense: It's a sin to waste time.

–verb (used without object)

4.	to commit a sinful act.

5.	to offend against a principle, standard, etc.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to commit or perform sinfully: He sinned his crimes without compunction.

7.	to bring, drive, etc., by sinning: He sinned his soul to perdition.

I, however, prefer the definition that is in DictionaryToGo on my PDA (which is a combination of definitions 1 and 2 above):

Sin - Any act that is regarded as a transgression/violation of God's will

The Dream

The dream began with me waking from a bed and walking to a living room. My dad was in the living room watching a movie, so I sat down to join him. To my shock and surprise the movie he was watching was a pornographic movie. I did not get to watch the movie for very long (only a few seconds... praise God) because my mom then rushed into the living room and approached me. She was livid with anger at me for what I was doing. I then awoke.

The Interpretation

Upon waking I immediately knew this was a dream from the Lord because I felt a strong presence of the Holy Spirit around me. I was confused by the dream, especially because I had stopped watching pornography for good. Why would the Lord allow me to participate in the sinful act in the dream if I was not guilty of it any longer? I then assumed that perhaps the Lord was trying to tell me my dad was into pornography, which (thankfully) is not true. It's never good to assume. I then happened to do something very wise, and proceeded to ask the Holy Spirit what the dream meant.

The Holy Spirit simply said, "HE is angry." I then realized that my mom in the dream was not really my mother per se, but was actually an angel of the Lord sent to personify the Lord's anger and judgement to me. Then the Holy Spirit supernaturally revealed the entire meaning of the dream to me because I suddenly understood exactly what the dream meant.

My dad and I often watch movies and TV together. Although there is nothing wrong with this, we very seldom do so with my mom. Many a times my dad and I will be watching TV or a movie in the theater together, and we would leave my mom alone in the bedroom or the mall. The Lord Jesus Christ, our heavenly Father, was not happy about this. Actually HE is angry and adamant about it. The TV shows and movies were as detestable to HIM as pornography! I then saw my seemingly innocent entertainment activities with my dad from the Lord's perspective.

HE does not enjoy my mom being left alone, especially given the nature of her current situation. She is usually alone in the house here in Hong Kong and does not have many friends in this city. She spends most of her day on the internet surfing around or hoping to catch a friend online to chat with. She is lonely and desperately hungry for some human interaction, and waits for hours each day until my dad and I return from work, so that we can spend time with her. But what do we do? Either we watch TV together and leave her alone... again. Or my father does his own thing and I do my own thing in my bedroom. Meals are the only time we enjoy together as a family, but there is often not much conversation until the end when we are full and satisfied. It is a very rare occasion that we spend quality time with my mom, and I have witnessed the joy she gets from this... her spirit soars!

Mama, if you read this I would like to say that I am so sorry! The Lord loves you so much and I have failed to demonstrate His love to you. HE is always keeping His watchful and loving eyes on everything you do, and only wants to see you happy and encouraged! HE wants to spend time with you more than anything in this world!!! HE loves you so much that there are no words in any human langauge to describe HIS love for you. Papa and I also love you Mama, but our love cannot compare with the love of Jesus!

Our God Reigns

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 15:14:18 GMT

I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and body. Truly.

I pray that we as Children of God share our love for the Lord and our walk with Him here in this Blogring.

I pray that this Blogring helps us identify and hone our spiritual gifts, as we share our experiences - both our successes and failures.

I pray that we are more excited about how the Lord is working in each others' lives than some of the other stuff out on the internet these days.

I pray for God's grace.

I pray for Jerusalem.

I pray for the Lord to return and set things right.

Praise the Lord!

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:47:44 GMT

Early this morning the Lord took some sinful part of me and nailed it to the cross! I am not sure exactly which sin He killed in me, but something definitely feels different (better... praise the Lord!) today =) This time it was in a dream unlike the last time He took me to His cross. Last time I was lying in bed in worship and had a battle with the part of me that was in sin and rebellion that refused to put Jesus first and in the center. The Holy Spirit has lead me to realize how important putting Jesus first is, and how it is fundamental to being a Christian! How can we consider ourselves Christians if we do not put the Lord first and foremost!!! Glory be to Him forever and ever!

While I was lying in bed the other night, struggling with the sin within me to put Him in the center, the Lord suddenly took my soul to the cross. I felt like my soul was in Hell for a while and was wondering what I had done wrong!!! The Lord then in the fullness of His glory carried me out from that place in His lovely arms and I was weeping, thanking Him, and rejoicing in complete joy and bewilderment. It is hard to put into words this experience.

Today was another awesome day as I am able to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit more and more! I am certain this is a result of the sins He has (in the fullness of His grace) nailed to the cross for me. I pray that He has mercy on me and nails the sin of blasphemy (I still curse in my head sometimes... almost involuntarily) and all other sin to Calvary's cross, although I have controlled my tongue and chosen not to swear out loud anymore.

Today the Holy Spirit taught me about how important it is to thank the Lord for ever morsel of food that we eat. We should be thanking Him continually, but we fall short of this and are forgiven in Christ Jesus. He is the source of all that is good in our lives. Jesus thanked the Father in heaven before He broke bread as an example for us to follow. Today the Holy Spirit convicted me of how much this means to daddy God!

The Holy Spirit also taught me about confessing the truth. Today I decided to quit drinking coffee and coffee products for good. I love coffee, but I love God more. When I got home the Holy Spirit prompted me to speak out in front of my parents that I have given up coffee. As a result they could not used by the enemy to tempt me with the coffee cake that I had bought, because they love me. The Truth sets you free! I think this example works for those people struggling to quit cigarettes. Once you tell all your friends and family that you have made this decision to quit, if they truly love you and support your desire to quit, they will not tempt you. I would be weary of those "friends" who tempt you and try to keep you from doing the right thing.

The Holy Spirit spoke to me during my lunch break through a Word of Knowledge: "Bible Study" He spoke. The day before yesterday I had missed a God created opportunity to share with my mother why I tithe and donate money. I instead got agitated and spoke some harsh words to her, which I regret and apologized for saying. I could have used the opportunity to share the Gospel of peace with my Mom and enlighted her about God's views on tithing.

I have promised the Lord to study about tithing and have been blessed by Him already for doing so! When the Holy Spirit leads me to share this knowledge with my mother again, I will be prepared.

I also desire to share this Truth with my Christian colleagues in the workplace; especially the bellboys who are earning very little each month. I am certain this financial curse will be broken once they start bringing their tithes into the Kingdom of the Lord! After deciding to pursue this course and share this Truth with my colleagues, the Lord, in His grace, allowed for Satan to attack me (through other people) so that I may know I was on the right track. I honestly was quite agitated by the enemy's attack, until it dawned on me that my decision to share the Truth of the Word with my Christian colleagues was the reason behind the anger of the enemy! Praise the Lord! HE is allowing me to help Him set the captives free! How great it is to serve the Lord our God!

On a more personal note... HE knows how much I have been wanting to buy a new Palm based PDA phone, and I now am certain HE has been leading me to purchase a new model that just came out which my father told me about but I did not pay attention to. I ignored the voice of the Holy Spirit that time, but HE never gives up... hahaha! Today HE spoke to me through Patrick this afternoon to let me know where to buy the phone, and this evening HE lead me to the website where I saw the phone (its pictures and features) for the first time =) Due to the sequence of these two events I was a little perplexed... but now I know what HE wants for me. I already know, in Faith, that HE has arranged a Palm Centro for me, although I have never even seen this model in HK or even on the web until today!

God loves us so much and created us for having a relationship with Him. He wants us to love Him with all our hearts, soul, mind, and body... but it will never compare to how much HE loves us in Christ Jesus!

On a final note, I finished reading a book titled "The Final Quest" by Rick Joyner, which opened my spiritual eyes in an amazing way. The Lord had given me the book a while ago, but I was not ready (spritually speaking) until now to read it. I pray that you read it; and pray that you will be Blessed by it. It is available on the following website:

http://www.spiritlessons.com/Documents/The_Final_Quest/the_final_quest_vision_rick_joyner.htm