One man's Journey in the Holy Spirit

November 29, 2013

(Revised 11/29/13) Christmas visions and dreams of green trees, my little brother,Isaiah 61

Further notes on 11/29/2013: Times passes. We each have an appointed time. Many of us left home after the first few years of our lives. But the Lord brought back our loved ones to us one in His seasons for each of them. Our paths crossed. Appointed. The Lord’s Visitations too. Don’t miss yours. Lives are too short on earth for us to miss the Lord’s appointments.
Notes on 11/29/2013: This post was originally written on December 27, 2009. Today this emerged as I looked at this website. Yesterday I posted the 1111th of my posts. Today I looked at this compilation of dreams and visions and realized how many of them had come to pass! One event was about my little brother. In the dream he was very young and I had to hold his hand and together we walked through pitched darkness in the open field (like wilderness), crossed the ditch (like the River Jordan), and entered into light (like the promised land). A year after this dream, my brother came back to Jesus, a broken and tired, worn man. He repented and spent one year plus completely restored to fitness in a country home with a group of brethren, living a physically, mentally and spiritually healthy and godly lifestyle, worshiping God, reading the Bible, praying and praising God day and night, doing farm work in the afternoon and eventually resuming his long forsaken profession as a cook. On the day of his sudden journey to go back to his home in heaven he led the morning worship, led the brethren (old and young) singing 8 favorite praise songs all God-Jesus focus. After the worship he listened to the pastor’s preaching God’s words. He then took a rather long nap, during which he spoke to his younger friends who shared the living quarters that he did not need lunch. In the afternoon, he passed on peacefully to be with the Lord. When we looked through his note books we realized how closely he had walked with the Lord Jesus during that last year on earth! Like Enoch he merely walked on with the Lord…
Read on: http://kzlam36.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/chapter-fifty-eight-christmas-visions-and-dreams-of-green-trees-and-isaiah-61/

November 27, 2013

"Let us" hold fast the promises of God

Today's faith in action is "Let us" align with the perfect purpose of our God.

Hebrews 4:1

[ The Promise of Rest ] Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

Hebrews 4:1-3 (in Context) Hebrews 4 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 4:11

[ The Word Discovers Our Condition ] Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

Hebrews 4:10-12 (in Context) Hebrews 4 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 4:14

[ Our Compassionate High Priest ] Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

Hebrews 4:13-15 (in Context) Hebrews 4 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 4:16

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (in Context) Hebrews 4 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 6:1

[ The Peril of Not Progressing ] Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Hebrews 6:1-3 (in Context) Hebrews 6 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 10:22

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Hebrews 10:21-23 (in Context) Hebrews 10 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 10:23

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:22-24 (in Context) Hebrews 10 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 10:24

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

Hebrews 10:23-25 (in Context) Hebrews 10 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 12:1

[ The Race of Faith ] Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:1-3 (in Context) Hebrews 12 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 12:28

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Hebrews 12:27-29 (in Context) Hebrews 12 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 13:13

Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

Hebrews 13:12-14 (in Context) Hebrews 13 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

Hebrews 13:15

Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Hebrews 13:14-16 (in Context) Hebrews 13 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

November 26, 2013

Chanukah — the eight-day festival of light

The festival falls on Thursday, November 28 this year of 2013, same day as the Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated in US and Canada.
The following is an excerpt quoted from http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102911/jewish/What-is-Hanukkah.htm
Chanukah — the eight-day festival of light that begins on the eve of the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev — celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materiality.
More than twenty-one centuries ago, the Holy Land was ruled by the Seleucids (Syrian-Greeks), who sought to forcefully Hellenize the people of Israel. Against all odds, a small band of faithful Jews defeated one of the mightiest armies on earth, drove the Greeks from the land, reclaimed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and rededicated it to the service of G-d.
When they sought to light the Temple’s menorah (the seven branched candelabrum), they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks; miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of ritual purity.
To commemorate and publicize these miracles, the sages instituted the festival of Chanukah. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah (candelabrum) lighting: a single flame on the first night, two on the second evening, and so on till the eighth night of Chanukah, when all eight lights are kindled.
On Chanukah we also add the Hallel and Al HaNissim in our daily prayers to offer praise and thanksgiving to G-d for “delivering the strong into the hands of the weak, the many into the hands of the few… the wicked into the hands of the righteous.”
Chanukah customs include eating foods fried in oil — latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (doughnuts); playing with the dreidel (a spinning top on which are inscribed the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hei and shin, an acronym for Nes Gadol Hayah Sham, “a great miracle happened there”); and the giving of Chanukah gelt, gifts of money, to children. (Click here for the complete story of Chanukah)

November 23, 2013

Journey to see God: how He treats our tears...

God will wipe away every tear from your eyes

2 Kings 20:5

Turn back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of My people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your [forefather]: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
2 Kings 20:4-6 (in Context) 2 Kings 20 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Esther 8:3
And Esther spoke yet again to the king and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to avert the evil plot of Haman the Agagite and his scheme that he had devised against the Jews.
Esther 8:2-4 (in Context) Esther 8 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Job 16:20
My friends scorn me, but my eye pours out tears to God.
Job 16:19-21 (in Context) Job 16 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Job 31:38
For if my land has cried out against me and its furrows have complained together with tears [that I have no right to them],
Job 31:37-39 (in Context) Job 31 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Psalm 6:6
I am weary with my groaning; all night I soak my pillow with tears, I drench my couch with my weeping.
Psalm 6:5-7 (in Context) Psalm 6 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Psalm 39:12
Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears! For I am Your passing guest, a temporary resident, as all my fathers were.
Psalm 39:11-13 (in Context) Psalm 39 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Psalm 42:3
My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, Where is your God?
Psalm 42:2-4 (in Context) Psalm 42 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Psalm 56:8
You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle—are they not in Your book?
Psalm 56:7-9 (in Context) Psalm 56 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Psalm 80:5
You have fed them with the bread of tears, and You have given them tears to drink in large measure.
Psalm 80:4-6 (in Context) Psalm 80 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Psalm 116:8
For You have delivered my life from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from stumbling and falling.
Psalm 116:7-9 (in Context) Psalm 116 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Psalm 126:5
They who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing.
Psalm 126:4-6 (in Context) Psalm 126 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Isaiah 16:9
Therefore I [Isaiah] will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vines of Sibmah. I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for upon your summer fruits and your harvest the shout [of alarm and the cry of the enemy] has fallen.
Isaiah 16:8-10 (in Context) Isaiah 16 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Isaiah 25:8
He will swallow up death [in victory; He will abolish death forever]. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; and the reproach of His people He will take away from off all the earth; for the Lord has spoken it.
Isaiah 25:7-9 (in Context) Isaiah 25 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Isaiah 38:5
Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add to your life fifteen years.
Isaiah 38:4-6 (in Context) Isaiah 38 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Jeremiah 9:1
Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a reservoir of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!
Jeremiah 9:1-3 (in Context) Jeremiah 9 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Jeremiah 9:18
Let them make haste and raise a wailing over us and for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush with water.
Jeremiah 9:17-19 (in Context) Jeremiah 9 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Jeremiah 13:17
But if you will not hear and obey, I will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
Jeremiah 13:16-18 (in Context) Jeremiah 13 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Jeremiah 14:17
Therefore [Jeremiah] you shall say to them, Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease; for the virgin daughter of my people has been smitten with a great wound, with a very grievous blow.
Jeremiah 14:16-18 (in Context) Jeremiah 14 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Jeremiah 31:16
Thus says the Lord: Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord; and [your children] shall return from the enemy’s land.
Jeremiah 31:15-17 (in Context) Jeremiah 31 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Lamentations 1:2
She weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears are [constantly] on her cheeks. Among all her lovers (allies) she has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies.
Lamentations 1:1-3 (in Context) Lamentations 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Lamentations 1:16
For these things I weep; my eyes overflow with tears, because a comforter, one who could refresh and restore my soul, is far from me. My children are desolate and perishing, for the enemy has prevailed.
Lamentations 1:15-17 (in Context) Lamentations 1 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Lamentations 2:18
The hearts [of the inhabitants of Jerusalem] cried to the Lord. [Then to the congregation, I, Jeremiah, cried, addressing the wall as its symbol] O wall of the Daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no rest, let not your eyes stop [shedding tears].
Lamentations 2:17-19 (in Context) Lamentations 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Lamentations 3:48
My eyes overflow with streams of tears because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
Lamentations 3:47-49 (in Context) Lamentations 3 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Ezekiel 24:16
Son of man [Ezekiel], behold, I take away from you the desire of your eyes [your wife] at a single stroke. Yet you shall neither mourn nor weep, neither shall your tears flow.
Ezekiel 24:15-17 (in Context) Ezekiel 24 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Malachi 2:13
And this you do with double guilt; you cover the altar of the Lord with tears [shed by your unoffending wives, divorced by you that you might take heathen wives], and with [your own] weeping and crying out because the Lord does not regard your offering any more or accept it with favor at your hand.
Malachi 2:12-14 (in Context) Malachi 2 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Mark 9:24
At once the father of the boy gave [an eager, piercing, inarticulate] cry with tears, and he said, Lord, I believe! [Constantly] help my weakness of faith!
Mark 9:23-25 (in Context) Mark 9 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Luke 7:38
And standing behind Him at His feet weeping, she began to wet His feet with [her] tears; and she wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed His feet [affectionately] and anointed them with the ointment (perfume).
Luke 7:37-39 (in Context) Luke 7 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Luke 7:44
Then turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
Luke 7:43-45 (in Context) Luke 7 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations
Acts 20:19
Serving the Lord with all humility in tears and in the midst of adversity (affliction and trials) which befell me, due to the plots of the Jews [against me]; Acts 20:18-20 (in Context) Acts 20 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations

November 21, 2013

This hope we hold as the utterly reliable anchor for our souls

Hebrews 6:9-20

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)

We want you to make God’s promise real through your faith, hope and patience

^9-12But although we give these words of warning we feel sure that you, whom we love, are capable of better things and will enjoy the full experience of salvation. God is not unfair: he will not lose sight of all that you have done nor of the loving labour which you have shown for his sake in looking after fellow-Christians (as you are still doing). It is our earnest wish that every one of you should show a similar keenness in fully grasping the hope that is within you. We do not want any of you to grow slack, but to follow the example of those who through sheer patient faith came to possess the promises.
^13-15When God made his promise to Abraham he swore by himself, for there was no one greater by whom he could swear, and he said: ‘Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you’. And then Abraham, after patient endurance, found the promise true.
^16-20Among men it is customary to swear by something greater than themselves. And if a statement is confirmed by an oath, that is the end of all quibbling. So in this matter, God, wishing to show beyond doubt that his plan was unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath. So that by two utterly immutable things, the word of God and the oath of God, who cannot lie, we who are refugees from this dying world might have a source of strength, and might grasp the hope that he holds out to us. This hope we hold as the utterly reliable anchor for our souls, fixed in the very certainty of God himself in Heaven, where Jesus has already entered on our behalf, having become, as we have seen, “High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek”.

J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS) J. B. Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition by HarperCollins

November 19, 2013

I’ll share my heart with you

PROVERBS ONE: verses 20-33

Wisdom Shouts in the Streets

²⁰Wisdom shouts in the streets.
    She cries out in the public square.
²¹She calls to the crowds along the main street,
    to those gathered in front of the city gate:
²²“How long, you simpletons,
    will you insist on being simpleminded?
How long will you mockers relish your mocking?
    How long will you fools hate knowledge?
²³Come and listen to my counsel.
I’ll share my heart with you
    and make you wise.

²⁴“I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come.
    I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
²⁵You ignored my advice
    and rejected the correction I offered.
²⁶So I will laugh when you are in trouble!
    I will mock you when disaster overtakes you—
²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
    when disaster engulfs you like a cyclone,    and anguish and distress overwhelm you.

²⁸“When they cry for help, I will not answer.
    Though they anxiously search for me, they will not find me.
²⁹For they hated knowledge
    and chose not to fear the Lord.³⁰They rejected my advice    and paid no attention when I corrected them.
³¹Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way,
    choking on their own schemes.
³²For simpletons turn away from me—to death.
    Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
³³But all who listen to me will live in peace,
    untroubled by fear of harm.”

November 14, 2013

Psalm 91: positive voice amidst confusion and fear

This psalm speaks of four positions. I have divided the verses according to these positions with my notes in brackets. This is for today and all the days when you see the descriptions of this psalm around you. You will not be afraid when you know what happens in the spiritual realm and that our God has made a provision for such days for His people, those who are called by His name.

The four positions are: God; the psalmist witness; you and I (those who have believed in Jesus and are now in God's Kingdom); the wicked (those who are still outside God's Kingdom) in God's eyes.

___________________

Psalm 91

New King James Version (NKJV)

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

(the witness speaks and testifies of what God shall do for His own children in His Kingdom)

91 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

(God has a place called 'secret place' under His protection. He wants you to live in that place. Where is it? It is right under His shadow, in His presence.)

2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

My God, in Him I will trust.”

(We have absolute security there. But we need to say to ourselves, and proclaim this truth. This spoken word shall be our shield and buckler, the armor that we must put on at all times.) 

_______________________

3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler

And from the perilous pestilence.

4 He shall cover you with His feathers,

And under His wings you shall take refuge;

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

(The dangers are real. But God is real and can be trusted. Surely He shall do as He has said. These words of deliverance from actual trap and potential harm are real. God has spoken through the psalmist witness, who knows God and has experienced God. God will do just as He has promised. How shall we receive the protection?  By believing in and proclaiming His words, which are truth. The truth will set us free from any dangerous situations we may be in.)

_______________________ 

5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,

Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

And ten thousand at your right hand;

But it shall not come near you.

8 Only with your eyes shall you look,

And see the reward of the wicked.

(The threats and attacks are real. They can come in any forms, intensities, impacts, times. They cause massive destruction, fears and even death. But our position in Christ is secure. We can even witness the physical damages to people around us.)  

_______________________

9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,

Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

10 No evil shall befall you,

Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you,

To keep you in all your ways.

12 In their hands they shall bear you up,

Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,

The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

(How do we receive such supernatural protection? The psalmist witness spoke again. Only one condition is needed; that we make God our dwelling place. In God's presence, no evil spiritual forces or the use of any forms of physical attacks can come near our location, because we live and position ourselves before God in Christ. Our daily movements will be guarded by God's mighty angels, spiritual guards. We have our protection in the spiritual realm. Who are the enemies? a 'stone', something to stumble us and make us fall. 'Serpents and lions'. Spiritual beings. 

 There are two scenario here: when we rest, we are safe in God's presence. When we need to move and carry out our assignments in life, mighty angels will assist us in the spiritual realm.) 

 _______________________

¹⁴“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
¹⁵He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
¹⁶With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

(God has spoken here. He tells us why He is pleased to deliver and even honor us. he expects us to love Him and know His name, having a close relationship with Him. He has assured again He is pleased to give long life and salvation to us.)

___________In conclusion:

Psalm 92:1-2