End Time Assignment to all Christians: Witnessing

The Holy Spirit gives power to witness Jesus to all nations
Acts 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus gave importance to witnessing: John 8:14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. John 8:18 I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.” John 10:25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. John 12:17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. John 15:27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

Jesus is the true witness: Revelation 1:5 from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, Revelation 3:14 [ To The Lukewarm Church ] “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness,'
God (Holy Spirit) also witness: Heb. 10:15 "But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before," Hebrews 2:4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? Hebrews 10:15 But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,

1 John 5:6 [ The Certainty of God’s Witness ] This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 1 John 5:7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 1 John 5:8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one. 1 John 5:9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. 1 John 5:10 He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.

Disciples accepted the importance of witnessing: Acts 1:22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” Acts 2:32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Acts 3:15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 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. Acts 5:32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 10:43 To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” Acts 14:3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. Revelation 1:2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

Paul's witnessing: Acts 22:15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. Acts 23:11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” Acts 26:16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. Acts 26:22 Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—

Many witnesses: 1 Tim.6:12 "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." 2 Tim.2:2 "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Heb. 12:1 "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,"
Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Peter and John: 1 Peter 5:1 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: 1 John 1:2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—

Old Testament witnesses (the prophets):
Hosea 12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, And have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.”
Isaiah 43:10 “ You are My witnesses,” says the LORD, “ And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. Isaiah 43:12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the LORD, “that I am God. Isaiah 44:8 Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one." Isaiah 55:4 Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people.

Origin of witnessing: Genesis 31:44 "Now therefore, come, let us make a covenant, you and I, and let it be a witness  between you and me.”
God's words witness: Numbers 17:7 And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. Acts 7:44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen," (the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments referred to as the witness/testimony contained within the ark of covenant). Deuteronomy 31:26 “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you; Deuteronomy 31:28 Gather to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

Chapter Ninety-seven: "Urgent, go back to your original calling!"

He woke with time urgency on his heart. He knew time is running out fast. When he opened the Bible he was led to read Nehemiah 8-9.
Nehemiah Chapter 8 was all about Ezra the scribe reading the Book of the Law to the people (the children of Israel). The people gathered as one man in the open square in front of the Water Gate at Jerusalem. When Ezra opened the Book, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. Then all the people answered "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. The priests and Levites also assisted by reading distinctly from the Book, gave the sense and helped the people understand the reading. All the people wept when they heard the words of the Law. (Nehemiah 8:1-9)
As Jack pondered on this powerful and touching passage, he wondered why the people responded with their whole hearts to the words of God. The answer was in Nehemiah Chapter 9, in the contents of a song sung by the singing Levites. The song narrated how God had chosen Abram (later renamed by God to Abraham) and made a covenant with him to also include his descendants (the Israelite). God remembered and kept the covenant. Despite His great mercy, deliverance and blessings upon them, the nation of Israel rebelled against God and turned to wicked ways. However, as God had promised, after seventy years of bondage in foreign land, they were again set free to return to their homeland.  God had never imposed any requirement on them except heeding His voice and carrying out His Book of the Law.
When the Book of the Law was read, the people wept. Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."
What sort of a man this Ezra was? When Jack read Ezra Chapter 7, he found that Ezra was thus described, "7:6 this Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him. 7:10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel".  7:11 "Ezra the priest, the scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the LORD, and of His statutes to Israel."
Ezra was a captive just like other Israelite. But he maintained his original calling: a priest, a scribe, an expert of the words of God. He maintained his standing among his country men. He also established himself in that capacity among the foreign rulers. It was amazing how the foreign king could concede to his requests and gave him all the things he asked for. His trip back to Jerusalem was sponsored and financed by the foreign king!
What was his only goal? He just wanted to teach his people the Law of their God so that they know the true God and obey His words.
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Reading this passage, Jack recalled his first vision about Jesus. In the vision, he saw in his spirit Jesus walked towards him in a hurry on a busy road, holding something in His hand. When he came near, He handed the thing to Jack. It was a rolled up scroll. In a subsequent vision, he saw Jesus handed him a quill pen. Much later he had another vision of Jesus holding an open scroll, reading the contents to him. Often in his visions, Jesus is teaching, demonstrating, showing to him or others as in a teaching and discipleship situation.
Last Sunday's sermon reminded him the passage in Matthew 13:12 "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him." Indeed, he has been given a number of gifts and one which he has often been asked to utilize is teaching gift for which he has received confirmations. He also heeded the godly advice that God does not look at the numbers of how much/many we have accomplished. But He will want to see how faithful we have been using that gift and how we have improved our skill every time we use it to edify others.
Today he examined his blogs and found that he had been too engrossed in describing his experiences in the Holy Spirit to the neglect of teaching God's words!
This wake up call confirmed his previous day's discovery (led by the Holy Spirit) of the key role given to every Christian for end time living, "witnessing" God's Word.
To be continued...

Chapter Ninety-six: more on manifestations of The Holy Spirit

As Jack continued to seek God and wait upon the Lord, he brought the class to ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit by faith based on the following verses:
1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
Romans 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
Galatians 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—
For the first lesson on this subject, the class practiced their faith by asking the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through His gifts as described in 1 Cor. 12:8, "for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit". The class then divided into two persons per team and took turn to practice the gifts.
The goal of the class was to edify and encourage each other to build up the body of Christ in the most holy faith. The participants were encouraged to pray in the Spirit while waiting upon the Lord to reveal His word of knowledge and word of wisdom. Where they did not receive any specific revelation in the form of Bible verses, they could follow the leading of the Holy Spirit to speak words of comfort and encouragement.
At the end of the practice of faith in action, there were some encouraging feedback. The Holy Spirit responded to their prayers and revealed His knowledge and wisdom to the encouragement and edification of the participants. Some participants were able to receive verses from each other which confirmed their specific situations.
The exercise helped the participants to experience the faithfulness of God and the reality of God's words.
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Personally, Jack has been blessed with a family who share the same zeal in seeking God and wanting to know God and His will with the heart to obey. When they gather together, they could pray and intercede together. They prayed in the Spirit and listened to the still small voice. Recently they met and prayed for a number of people (mostly family members not present) and it turned out to be a Spirit-filled meaningful session.
They took turn to name someone to be prayed for. Then they prayed in the Spirit. When the prayers in tongues stopped they took turn to report what they had seen or heard from the Holy Spirit and what they were led to pray for, or what Bible verses they saw. There were four participants. Each one saw a different mode of presentation of the same message! For example, one saw a verse, another saw a vision, yet another sang a hymn, and another received word of knowledge. When they compared notes they found that the same message was imparted to them. They continued to intercede for people in need as well. It was a wonderful time interceding as led by the same Holy Spirit in them.

Management for Christians (3): how are you managing?

How are you managing? We always ask others this way. Often, the reply is, “Just/barely managing.” A Christian will reply, “Praise the Lord, we are managing.” (Often the reply does not reveal the real situation. Managing has become a cliche.)
1. The word ‘managing’ refers to ‘living’. Managing is synonymous with living.
2. There is no other word which so boldly claims its importance in daily living. We therefore need to learn effective management in all aspects of life.
3. Management is all about living your life. How you want to live your life will affect how effective your management will be.
4. Your values impact your management of life. Do you know your values? Why do you live?
5. Management is based on the ‘why’ and then works on the ‘how’. When you know why you live, you can then work on how to live an effective life.
6. How to manage effectively? You need a management road map.
7. A Christian management road map includes the following navigation tools:  a Bible, a heart that is willing to listen to the Holy Spirit, an attitude that is open to learning.
A. Bible: you need a New Spirit Filled Life Bible -Kingdom equipping through the power of the Word (Thomas Nelson Bibles)
B. Holy Spirit: you need to pray to be filled by the Holy Spirit.
C. Open attitude: An attitude that submit totally to God and resist the devil daily.
8. Be prepared to receive revelations daily from the spiritual realm. Your road map is a living reality. A dynamic force.
9. Be adventurous as you will be required to sail into uncharted waters and break into new territories.
10. Be hopeful for a life that will not be the same once you are on course on this new management journey!

Revised February 2013: towards ‘the end of a journey’ in the Spirit

Revised 2013 February: It is always with good purpose a man ends a major episode or starts a new episode of his life with a resolution.

At the time this blog was written on May 20, 2010, the spiritual man was at a cross road not really knowing where to go next but he believed he would follow the Holy Spirit. Now that quite sometime had passed, he realizied that the Spirit of the Lord did lead him through management-God's Way, but not exactly in the way he thought he would be doing. It transpired that he did not go beyond a few episodes on this subject. The major discovery he found was God's Way is the only way. God does not need man's input in any ways at all. So he abandoned his quest to write a management manual. On the other hand, he was led through end times visions, dreams, and words in the Bible. He became a prolific blogger in the things that matter to God during the last two years. Life in the Holy Spirit means sailing onto deeper waters, living a life which hitherto was deemed impossible in the flesh.

The revelation shows how little he knew the Lord before and how far more he needs to go in his new journey to see God!____________________________________

Original Blog on May 20, 2020: Indeed, as Jack approaches the end of the series on ‘One man’s journey in the Holy Spirit’ which he intends to end by the 100th Episode, he asked the Holy Spirit what his next assignment would be. Of course, it does not mean that he will no longer be walking by the Spirit, it would only mean that he would no longer write so much about his experience in seeing visions, dreaming dreams or hearing God through His words.

He had no clue until yesterday when he was urged to write a bit about management. After he got down to writing two blogs it dawned on him that he was led by the Spirit to write about ‘Management -God’s way’ (Management by the Holy Spirit)!
There had been a number of similar occurrences lately in his own household. A close one (a medical professional) had been led by the Holy Spirit to ponder on and now teaches ‘Healing -God’s way’. Her sister (a professional mental health counselor) was led to ponder on the topic ‘Counseling -God’s way’. And now it is his turn to look at ‘Management -God’s way’. He also knows of many Christians business men doing business -God’s way. The list of practical living -God’s way is practically endless.
It is indeed a very full life living by the Holy Spirit! It is like sailing in uncharted waters, fresh, revitalizing, renewing, transforming!

Management according to Jack (part two)

What are some essential requirements for effective management? Here are some tips:
1. Effective management works on the assumption that resources are scarce and limited and valuable.
2. Effective management's success does not depend on the dead know how (systems, records, files, figures, practices). Effective management's success comes from the availability of and effective use of dynamic living things: e.g. people who manage and are being managed, and other essential resources (tangible and non-tangible: opportunities, time, money, premises, equipment, technology, creativity, relationship, distribution channels etc.) that can produce, create values and contribute to desired growth.
3. Effective management means using available and limited resources in optimum combination to produce maximized results/targets as expected.
4. A primitive man with the basic essential resources can still produce something even when he has to start from zero with no figures, no files, no records, no established system etc.
5. In a modern organization, management system is created or adopted to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of management, often with the objective of maximizing and optimizing the use of limited resources for improvement and expansion of desired results (in quantity and quality).
6. Management system changes overtime like a live creature, adapting to various forces (internal and external environment) working for survival. It therefore requires to renew and often transform, to keep up if not move ahead of its competition for scarce resources.
7. Effective management system aims to be ahead of the pack, based on the assumption that desirable resources are scarce.
8. Christian management system is different from others. The main distinction is the management manual (the words of God).
9. When Christian manager follows God's management manual, he can only succeed. This is guaranteed by the ultimate Authority Himself.
10. Effective Christian management practice requires: faith in the unseen God, supernatural belief in all His promises, knowledge of and adherence to the words of God, submission to His will and being led by the Holy Spirit in all aspects of decision making and operational execution.

Management pearls for Christians according to Jack

Background
Jack has been practicing management since 1970s. He has been through many facets of various management fields. To him, management is like a part of life and indeed encompasses many daily living aspects whether one knows it or not.
After his career as a corporate employee he has branched into training and coaching others (business owners and employees). He also did postgraduate studies in health (physical, emotional and mental) and social behavioral management. All this while, he has been active in church (organizational and spiritual) and other similar non-profit organization management counseling as well. Due to the nature of his job, he has had numerous encounters with public sector management/administration practices.
He has now sensed an increasingly urgent need to put down some of his thoughts (in bullet form) on the management of life in view of such a lot of management messes out there even for Christians. 

 Management according to Jack (part one)
1. Management is part of daily living. You can live on comfortably by managing effectively.
2. You manage effectively by identifying values, setting goals and priorities, and act on them accordingly.
3. The most important thing is to identify your values. If tomorrow is end day what would be the one thing you do today? Give top priority to do that one thing.
4. Focus your resources on doing the one thing that guarantees to bring you to your goals.
5.  Do not manage by documentation or theory. Manage by practice (e.g. act on your faith, be doers of the Word, walk by the Spirit.)
6. Manage lives (people) and not dead things (system).
7. Admit that there is no perfect plan or program or man (woman). There is only one perfect Savior (God).
8.  Build on solid foundation. Who is your foundation (your real Rock)?(Don't be like the foolish man who built on sand).
9. Use one management manual that lasts, the Word of God.
10. Be accountable (to yourself, family, human authorities, and the ultimate Authority in heaven).