CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BE ALIGNED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT

The last thing that Jack wanted was to be a judge. He never wanted to umpire anything. This does not mean he does not judge people. Being judgmental and critical of others was part of his character and professional training. He now found that he had to imagine himself being judged too. He did not like being judged. Jesus said, you choose. Judge not and you will not be judged. There was really no choice, he admitted. Ether he chose to follow Jesus or he chose to go the opposite way and be judged! He was learning fast through being obedient to the Holy Spirit. Judge not, reflects God’s heart. Who is he to judge if God says not to judge?
Jack is now learning to apply what the Holy Spirit has been teaching him in his daily living.



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Journal Day 20: Only God can decide the acceptability of man.
Matthew 7:1-2 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”

This requirement is cross referred to two seemingly contradictory passages. In Romans 14, we are asked not to judge our brothers in Christ (fellow Christians). The Apostle Paul used a number of examples to illustrate this requirement. Eating/not eating specific foodstuff, the behavior of another (including other’s servant/worker), observing a holiday, fasting etc. whether they impress man or not, external shows of piousness in physical living style, do not necessarily impress God. Besides, when one is preoccupied with finding fault with others he would not have time to rectify his own mistakes, and mend his own way, thereby resulting in a worse off scenario when the chips are down. (Often we project our own problems and mess onto others!)

However, God has received the weakest as he is. God is able to make the weakest stand before Him. Why? God is sovereign over all creations. He calls the shots. He wants us to accept His sovereignty.

In short, as Paul said, we live to the Lord; we die to the Lord, we are the Lord’s.
In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul has shown his authority over the church members in Corinth. He stipulated a severe sentence on an erring and unrepentant member. He stated his reason, that is, he did not want the others to be polluted morally and socially. Here Paul is exercising the delegated authority entrusted to him. Paul later forgave that member and urged the church to welcome him back to their fold when that man repented. Paul is clear about God’s concern, that is, the matter of the heart. Repentance means a change of heart. Paul has demonstrated that in godly justice there is mercy and forgiveness, reflecting God’s heart.

My application: Read the Bible with the goal to know God and to change myself to be more aligned with the spirit. Stop thinking that the verses refer to so and so (thereby judging others). Start thinking that the verses apply to me. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to me the plank/telephone pole in my eyes. Also be comforted that God loves me and has accepted me through His Son Jesus Who has died for me. Let God decide my standing. He calls the shots for my life.

AAA Jack
March 15, 2009

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE INNER EYE

It had been a month since Jack started this quest of seeking God. He had learned to look at things from an inner eye - spiritual perspective. He realized that God is asking him, “Are you controlled by the spiritual realm or the physical realm?” So far he had done two important things: seek God through worship and prayers, and listen to God through reading the words of God and meditating. Both endeavors had produced results.

The following is his Journal record.
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Journal Day 19: No One Can Serve Two Masters. Who is in control? The Physical or the spiritual?

Further to what I found out yesterday, that Jesus is more concerned with where I place my heart, on earth/the worldly system or on heaven/the godly system, I realized that Jesus is also concerned with what I put in my heart.

The things of the world are all subject to the natural law of aging, decay, corruption, depreciation of worth and usefulness, loss of attraction…etc. Even when the things (or even your wife, your husband, your best friend, your best pastor or other human support etc.) are new and fresh and interesting and useful, they are subject to uncertainties like theft, accident, destruction, sudden losses, and are here today and gone tomorrow. The circumstances, the devil, man-made errors or even a simple swing of mood could cause the losses overnight.

The only safe place is heaven. The safe treasure is Jesus. No natural disaster. No man-made mishaps. No depreciation of value. No losses. The treasure is guaranteed by God. Heaven is not subject to the world’s system. No wonder God keeps telling us to be separate. Come out.

Matthew 6:22-23 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad your whole body will be full of darkness.”

Here Jesus wants me to analyze my locus of control. Who or what controls my body? My physical senses? By what is seen, heard, smelled, touched and thought of? If this is the case, then I am subject to the worldly trend of perspective. All that I can see is dictated by the whims and fancies of the world. Someone has pressed the panic button and every body panics. Someone has pressed the commercial button and every body buys. Someone has invented a new toy and everybody plays. Someone has pressed the stress button and everybody is stressed out.

Jesus wants me to see with my inner eye, the eye of the spirit. The spirit sees into the spiritual realm and knows about the truth. The spirit draws wisdom and insight from the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ). Despite the physical darkness outside, the spirit sees the light inside, the Light of God. With His light I can see better and more accurately and form the right decision and make the right move.

Matthew 6:24 “no one can serve two masters…you cannot serve God and mammon.”

This verse gave me headache previously. I thought it meant not to love money or have anything to do with money. On the other hand I have been given the resources and am expected to be a good steward of God so how can I not handle money? Reading this today I saw that it relates to all that Jesus has said in the context. He is asking me, “Are you controlled by the spiritual realm or the physical realm?”

Jesus said that God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Jesus also said that eternal life is to know God and Jesus. For this purpose, God has put in me (and every believer of Jesus) the Holy Spirit so that I could relate to the spiritual realm and connect to Him through the spirit.

Matthew 6:25-31 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.” “Look at the birds of the air…are you not of more value than they?” “Consider the lilies of the field…will God not much more clothe you?” “Therefore do not worry.”

6:27-28 “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?” “So why do you worry about?”

Do not worry about my physical life. Accept the fact that I cannot control it completely. I am not in complete charge. Stop worrying in vain!

So who is in complete control? The answer here is God. In verse 32, Jesus reminded me that God is the One Who created and sustained life. Surly He knows our needs.
How do we let the Spirit take charge? Jesus has given us the one essential key. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33) In short, seek first Jesus. How do we seek Jesus?

Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63) Yes, read His words.
Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow.” Jesus thus assured us. The physical body has its limitations. It can only take care of the present moment. It cannot go beyond its present senses. Why waste energy and ruin health? The uncertain future lies in the realm of the spirit.

Yet, future is important to everybody. That explains why everybody worries about the future. It is frightening to think that no one takes charge. On the other hand, as Christian, I believe that God takes charge. I believe in what Jesus has said. I would also like to know as much as my spirit knows.

The Lord says, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

My application: continue to rise early, spend time worshipping God, reading His words, meditating on His words, praying, and waiting in His presence. I am still not good at worshipping God and singing praise songs. I need to practice more. The waiting part needs improvement too. I am too easily distracted. Today I slept late and did not get up early. However, as I drove I sang praise and worship songs, and prayed in tongues (a habit while driving). I managed to read ten psalms aloud at night. I look forward to tomorrow’s early morning session.

AAA Jack
2009-03-14

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SEEING GOD IN MY HEART

After a spate of seeing God in visions, Jack went back to reading and focusing on the words of God, the Bible. Indeed, the Word of God is life and Spirit.
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Journal Day 18: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…put your heart in the right place!

Matthew 6: 19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Again I am reminded of my heart today. In the past when I read this passage I always thought it meant I needed to donate more money or make less money and spend more time serving in the church etc. Over the years as a Christian, I had indeed tried to comply with this requirement. I enjoyed such activities for a long time. Yes, I enjoyed giving freely, chauffeuring neighborhood children to Sunday school and church camps, forgoing all comforts (washing church toilets, sleeping on hard wooden floor in hot stuffy mosquito infested rooms with no air-conditioning in camps), teaching and training young and old believers, serving God’s people in a number of roles voluntarily.

Yet, however much I thought I gave or served, there was no way I could match the righteousness of the religious Jews in Jesus’ time. So where do I stand in God’s kingdom? What hope do I have serving God even through my best efforts? Not a bit.
Man tends to look and focus at self because it is a survival instinct. It is also because of ignorance. We look at the world which has us at the center. We even look at God that way. For example, previously when I read what Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew, I thought of God being a God who asked me to do this and do that or not to do a lot of things.

Thank God for changing my perspective. I now realize that Jesus is concerned with the condition of my heart. Yesterday I touched on the issue of debt cancellation. It was not the physical cancellation that Jesus was interested. He was more concerned with the state of my heart. Is it still harboring hurt as a result of loss? Is my heart not being free to trust and love again? Is my heart filled with doubt and anxiety? Is my heart full of worries and heavy burdens? In short, is my heart filled with unbelief?

Today I am again reminded to put my heart in the right place. Anchor my heart on the solid rock of Jesus and His kingdom of heaven!
Again and again Jesus is saying, “Look away from yourself, look at Me!” “Look away from your things, look at My things!”

Indeed, when I start looking at Jesus and the grace (undeserved favor) of God, I realize that the matter of the heart is what counts.
“Christ in us, the hope of glory!”

My application: I am determined to put my heart at the right place. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) By Jesus’ authority, I cast out the workaholic spirit in me!

AAA Jack
2009-03-14

chapter eleven: seeing God, hearing His words

After the first breakthrough Jack began to see pictures/visions often when he sought God in the early morning on his own. He often woke before the alarm rang. He sometimes woke way before, an hour or two, the alarm was supposed to ring! He tried to interpret such pictures at times. When he though he got the clear message, he would pray over it. For example, when he saw his loved ones in an unusual situation, he would pray for the situation to clear and the problem resolved. He also became quite excited as it was like the Bible coming to life and he could now ask God to show him things to come. He got up every morning with eagerness to see or receive personal messages from God.

He recorded the following visions in his journal on March 10, 2009.

Hearing from God –golden field with one worker
Everyday I spent time before God and asked Him to show me what to pray for or what to attend to. So far I have seen a number of pictures, some of which reminded me of verses I have read before. I could understand some as the meaning was clear and supported by immediate recall of verses. But I could not figure out some. So I have decided to record down all or as many as I recall the pictures that I saw daily when waiting upon the Lord in the early morning. This morning I woke around 3am and worshipped God. I saw the following vision:

1. Jesus put His hand into muddy water. I could not see whether the water was in a river but I thought it was.

2. A living spring or brook with clear, clean water. I could see the pebbles underneath the water in the river bed.

3. Fruit trees bearing fruits by the river side. I did not exactly see them clearly but in my mind I was reminded of the trees which bear fruits and leaves with healing faculties.

4. Jesus holding a bowl which He had emptied (through a pouring motion), green shoots in the ground, followed by grown wheat plants in the midst of thorns and thistles. I was reminded of the verses about the enemy sowing bad seeds at night among the good seeds that God had planted. On harvest day the bad plants (weeds, thorns etc.) will be gathered and burned by the angel of God. The good ones will be gathered unto God.

5. A vast field of golden wheat and only one man/worker stooping down cutting the wheat. I was reminded of Jesus saying the harvest is plenty and workers are few, and that we are to pray for God to send more workers to harvest the ready field.

Praying for the nation
While praying for the nation, he was led by the Holy Spirit to see and read the following words from the Book of Psalms (reading from 53-57):

55: 9-23: “Destroy, o Lord, and divide their tongues” Next to this, he wrote: ‘_________’(the name of the ruling party) – NIMROD? “For I have seen violence and strife in the city”, iniquity and trouble, destruction, oppression and deceit, broken covenant, smooth words with war at heart (drawn swords), bloodthirsty and deceitful men. Jack saw that the verses aptly described the situation of the country.

He did not know its spiritual link yet. Months later when he attended a series of spiritual lessons given by a master who had spent nearly two decades studying the spiritual matters and the history of the land, Jack discovered that what the Holy Spirit had prompted him to pray for were indeed the situation as reflected in the verses and they were linked to the blood shade, violence, gangsters, piracy, and secret societies background of the founding masters of the land!

However, he was positive in his one line summary of Psalm 57, “As David saw the troubles he was in, he exalted God. Caught in between two types of dangers, direct attacks by weapons and secret snarls, David praised God. Clue to success!”

Jack also saw another truth, the reason why people could not see or hear God was because of their rebellious and defiant hearts against God. Even a donkey could see the angel with drawn sword by the road side, but the prophet Balaam who loved money more than God could not see.

CHAPTER SIX: MYSTERY REVEALED ON THE JERUSALEM SHEEP GATE

This morning Jack woke to a question, “Who is Jesus?” He thus wrote in his journal. There was no further record on this question. Then he proceeded to read Matthew 5:11-14. At this point of time he was still ruled more by his head knowledge than his spirit. He was self-focus. He was concerned about having to suffer others’ daunting. Unaware of the power of the Holy Spirit, he had to rely on his human ability to ‘endure’ when it comes to being persecuted (or rather, inconvenienced) for Jesus’ sake.
The Holy Spirit led him to ask the question on who Jesus was. If Jack had pondered further on that subject, he would have discovered that the Sermon on the Mount was talking about Jesus and His mission on earth. He would have realized Jesus came to fulfill what had been prophesied. Yes, the persecution and all.
Psalm 2:1-3 declared: Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us.”
‘Who is Jesus’ was prophesied in the Book of Nehemiah (which Jack was led by the Holy Spirit to re-read much later as this quest progressed). The surrounding nations went into uproar when Nehemiah tried to re-build the walls and gates of Jerusalem.
The first gate that was re-built was the SHEEP GATE. Nehemiah 3:1 “And Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brothers the priests. And they built the Sheep Gate. They sanctified it and set up its doors. Even to the Tower of Meah they sanctified it, to the Tower of Hananeel.”
Through the Sheep Gate, lambs and sheep were brought to the temple, as offerings. Jesus Christ is the High Priest of the New Covenant, who is the Lamb of God, who was offered for the redemption of many for the forgiveness of sins. The high priest was setting up doors of the Sheep Gate, which means that Jesus is the Door of the sheep, (John 10:9) through Whom all who enter will be saved.
Yes, incredible as it was, Jesus was indeed both the sacrificial lamb and the door/gate through which a believer can go through and be saved!
DAY SIX: WHY REJOICE EXCEEDINGLY WHEN BEING PERSECUTED?
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
“If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.” (1 Peter 4:14)
As a Christian who speaks out for Jesus we are ridiculed and even reproached. I usually avoided such occurrences. But my wife is a brave woman and she is determined to share the Gospel with her ailing father. Her brothers scolded her and even threatened her. At times it was so bad that she cried. Of course she felt hurt under the insult and ill treatment from her siblings. She became sad and miserable.
If being persecuted results in unhappy feelings, then what did Jesus mean when He asked us to do the opposite? How can one rejoice exceedingly when one normally feels hurt and being unfairly treated?
Today when I read these two verses spoken by Jesus and their cross reference to 1 Peter 4:14, I realized that Jesus was right. Being persecuted for Jesus’ sake is a good thing and is a sign of forthcoming of a lot of good happenings!
1. You are raised to the status of the prophets.
2. Great reward immediately comes from heaven.
3. The Holy Spirit rests on you.
4. God considers you glorifying Him.
Of course, the evil person (bully who persecutes you) cannot get off scot free, as he has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit! Jesus has warned that those who blasphemed against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:31-32)
Application: I share with my wife about what I read and she feels comforted now. As for me, I pray that I will not be afraid to stand up for my faith too. Again, it is a matter of whether I care about living before God more than living before man. I need to really ponder on this.
AAA Jack
2009-03-03

CHAPTER FIVE: SEEING THE NEED TO BE GOD-FOCUSED

The powerful Sermon of the Mount got Jack into thinking. Previously he assumed it was meant for strong
Christians to follow the footsteps of Christ and served the world like saintly Mother Theresa. Then he also thought it was meant for Jews to wake up to a new reality of belief which was to be purer in quality and higher in morality than Moses Laws in the Old Testament. Whatever it was, the requirement on a Christian was out of this world and impossible for an ordinary man to apply in daily life.
However, this could not be. Why would Jesus waste time in speaking the ideals to the multitude? He was puzzled. Thus he wrote in his journal.
“It is not for me to turn to the world and see its needs (social, political and economic) and be self-righteous. Does that mean I would lose my salvation, disqualify me from my inheritance, seeing God (appreciating His presence), being filled with all good things, be comforted and obtaining God’s mercy? Certainly NOT!” (He cried)
“I discovered yesterday that the blessings requirements stated therein by Jesus were for us to minister to God, be God-focused, know God’s heart and identify with God.” He declared.
This was indeed a breakthrough revelation. Jack was no longer bound by what he had learned previously. Was he led by the Holy Spirit? Or was this deduced from his rational mind? His rational mind would have led him to follow the broad and easy road to destruction (like any man not led by the Spirit of God). The Spirit of God led him, however, on a difficult and narrow way to Life, the Life of Jesus.
He was led by the Spirit of God to focus on God, no longer on his own human effort.
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DAY FOUR & FIVE: LIVING BEFORE GOD OR BEFORE MEN?
I took two days to review what I learned on the previous days. I realized that it was not as simple as I had thought and written on the first three days. My heart was not at peace when I wanted to proceed further. So I read the eight important verses again and again in Matthew 5:3-10. Why was Jesus saying these to the crowd on that mountain at the beginning of His ministry? Why were they recorded at the beginning of the first book of the New Testament?
What was the most important thing Jesus had to say before He could carry on to other matters? Jesus Himself provided the answer. He came to save the world (Jews and non-Jews). He brought salvation. The above verses were His declaration of purpose and method of achieving the purpose. The purpose is salvation to all who believe. The salvation content include: eternal life for the present and the future, meeting our needs for food, security, belonging, and social, emotional, mental (self-esteem, actualization), and spiritual goals.
Yes, salvation brings the believer citizenship in the kingdom of heaven, membership in the household of God, inheritance of property, fulfillment with all good things, comfort and peace with God (and with men), receiving mercy and compassion from God (and forgiving relationship with other men), intimate relationship with God (having the reality of God’s presence in life).
What are the requirements? Yes there are things each one must do to receive all the above.
1. Be humble (acknowledge not just in one’s mouth, but in one’s heart too that one really needs God)
2. Be real about one’s miserable condition (without God and without hope) and wants a change desperately.
3. Be gentle and thankful that God is willing to free one from all the miseries and give one a more abundant life.
4. Be truly yearning (as in hunger and thirst) for Jesus and the righteousness He brings!
5. Be merciful and forgiving to others (grateful that God has forgiven you).
6. Be God-focus in one’s heart (not distracted or diverted by things of the world, including financial/business/marriage/relationship failures, sickness etc.).
7. Be helpful to others, lead them to reconcile with God too!
8. Be dignified as the citizen of the kingdom of heaven (not afraid of others’ ridicule or even persecutions).
Application: Now that I know it is all about God’s plan, I find it easier to think of application. On the other hand, the requirements are not a one off act, but an ongoing process, a life-long process that demands consistency in actions and steadfastness of the heart. It is not easy at all!
AAA Jack

CHAPTER THREE: AS DIFFICULT AS CAN BE FOR A MAN

chapter three: as difficult as can be for a man
Jack was into the second day of Biblical living when he discovered it was not as simple as he thought. A modern intellectual man with no spiritual experience whatsoever who tried to put the Bible knowledge in his head into practice was doomed to failure from the start. As he started on the Beatitudes (the Sermon on the Mount) of Jesus he found that it was impossible to practice them.

As we can see from the following record in his journal, he was struggling with his head knowledge. There was no mention of him seeking the help of the Holy Spirit. He just did not know how. However, he was trying and seeking to practice what he believed. All was not lost.

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Day two: not as easy as it seems to be: humility, mourning, meek, righteousness
On this day number two, I continued to read further chapters in the Gospel of Matthew. Yesterday I thought the task was difficult as I would need to really ponder on what Jesus meant when He spoke those words. On the other hand, as what He spoke were not that many sentences, I thought it easy to summarize and perhaps even grouped some together as one action point. However, today’s readings were more difficult. In Matthew Chapter Four, I plunged into the Sermon on the Mount (which is considered an ideal as opposed to practicality in some Christian circle)!

I list below the eight crucial statements made by Jesus on the Mount of Olive.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matthew 5:4)

3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 5:7)

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8)

7. Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matthew 5:9)

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)

Application today

humility (poor in spirit)

In my younger days I thought blessing requirement number one referred to those who were poor materially. I was relatively poor as a young student with rather tight budget, and I thought it was easy to fulfill this blessing requirement. However, I later realized that it referred to a person who was humble enough to acknowledge that one was not qualified to enter the kingdom of heaven by one’s own efforts.

Without humility it is impossible to become God’s family members. Humility is difficult to learn and practice as by past training I tend to consider highly of myself. My wife said I still have a long way to go in un-learning my past arrogant self-talk. The good news is I accept my inability to save myself. I need God’s grace and undeserved favor. Whilst I can be assured of a place in the kingdom of heaven by faith in Jesus Christ, I need to work on being more humble so I can enjoy heaven on earth too.

mourning (for nations)

There was nothing to mourn over personally today so I have to skip statement number two. However when my mother passed away last April, we were comforted as we knew that she merely left for her favorite place, heaven, after ninety long years on earth. When I carried out chores for others’ parents I still thought of my mother and felt sadness and regret as I thought I had not paid more attention to my mother as I would have wanted to do in retrospect. Recently when my wife’s uncle passed away we mourned and were comforted too as he had also chosen to believe in Jesus whom we believe had come and led him home.

On the other hand, the original Biblical context was referred to Israel mourning over their captivity by foreign nations. Is there anything to mourn over for our nations? Plenty, I was told. I have recently joined a group (formed on the basis of Isaiah 62:6-7) of watchmen and watchwomen from various churches who decided to pray for our nations every Friday morning 6am to Saturday 6am. I participate in the Friday 6-7am watch and pray. We pray for nations’ deliverance from being held captive by all the vices (blasphemers, idolaters, violence, greed, corruptions, hatred, strives, pride, abuses of power by people in authority, immorality, children rebelling against parents, love of selves and money, waste of resources, unthankful and unholy etc) that had increased as the world progressed. I pray for my city. The more I pray the more I sense a commitment to this city and its total (physical, mental and spiritual) health and well being for the present and future generations.

In the Book of Prophet Isaiah (Chapter 61: 1-3), God has promised healing for the broken-hearted, liberty for the captives, comfort for all who mourn. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus confirmed what He had come to accomplish. Yes, those who mourn shall be comforted.

the meek (mild, patient, long-suffering)

This is a very desirable blessing requirement. Who does not want to inherit the earth/land and property? The meek shall inherit the earth. Two scenes come to mind, both present and future. In the present the meek shall not worry about having no share in a property. If that is what it means, it is good news to the landless and homeless. Al they need to do is to learn from Jesus as He urged in Matthew 11:29: “take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” In Psalm 37: 9, 11, it clearly stated that “those who wait on the Lord”, “the meek shall inherit the earth and they shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace”. Regardless of the present circumstances, as long as you wait on the Lord and follow Jesus, you are assured of your share and peaceful ownership of the earth at a future date.

How do I apply this requirement? Being truly meek is tough. Jesus said it is meekness in the heart, not outward show. Who sees the heart? Only God can see. Was I meek in heart today? To be honest, I do not think I was. I was in fact just the opposite when I read of positive comments about some of my blogs. (Repent!)

righteousness (being made right with god)

Was I hungry and thirsty today for righteousness? As I have mentioned earlier, I believe by believing in Jesus and accepting Him as my Savior and Lord, I have received His righteousness in my standing with God.

Today as I discussed with someone about the downright unfriendly (even to the point of being wicked) behavior and attitude of some non-believers, I felt indignant that they do not seek righteousness and are determined to oppose righteousness. How could anyone oppose such a wonderful gift? I thought. They probably considered me as a self-righteous person. How could I ever explain to them that the righteousness that we thirst for is that of Jesus, given by Jesus, not earned by anyone’s own effort? No-one can boast, indeed, not me. Come, be filled with all good things!

end of day review

I continued to provide company to my wife’s relatives: parents-in-law, two maids and an aunt, spending the whole morning in the hospital. I had to tolerate one and half hour driving in heavy traffic. The pluses came from my reading the Bible regardless the circumstances, being friendly and civil and thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with the aunt (in her mid-sixties but still fit and healthy), and the “worship” in the car listening to old worship and praise songs and saying amen to them. The minuses came from my grumbling and saying negative words or harboring negative thoughts against relatives who ill treated Christians. On the whole I scored rather badly as I was not meek or humble like Jesus was even when He was subjected to great humiliations and persecutions for being the Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah! On the other hand, the roof leaked badly and water poured down into the master room. I was not mad at the contractor who tried to fix the spot recently. I did not ask for refund and even agreed to pay him again to do a better job this time. So it appeared I could learn to be meek after all.

AAA Jack

CHAPTER TWO: HOW ONE MAN’S JOURNEY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT BEGAN

CHAPTER TWO: HOW ONE MAN’S JOURNEY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT BEGAN
On the commencing Friday Jack woke early as he set his alarm clock to ring at 5am not realizing that he was supposed to pray only at 6am. He got up around 5.15am and thought he was late. He rushed downstairs to the sitting room which would henceforth be his prayer room. He was determined to perform his duty as committed despite the sleepiness due to attending a late night worship service the previous night.
However, he had the habit of pottering around in the kitchen a bit and by the time he emerged from the kitchen he found that it was 5.30am. So he thought he was half an hour late and rushed into prayer to make up for lost time. He read through the little booklet like a school boy doing his assignment. He could not sing any of the songs so he read some of the lyrics. He remembered that the pastor in charge told them to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and not read the booklet mechanically. But he did not know how to follow the Spirit as no one had taught him how to apply this theory. He decided to leave the subject. However, the experience was interesting to him and he felt he was closer to God this way. The next morning he decided to do the same thing even though he was only required to pray once a week on the time slot allotted to him.
After Jack had carried on for a few days, he read one book called, “Living Biblically for a year” by a non-believer. He was amazed at how an agnostic Jew not believing in a supernatural God or the Creation, for the mere purpose of writing a book, went ahead and lived out some of the Biblical teachings or commandments (mainly Old Testament) literally. The man demonstrated how one could be legalistic without God, without Jesus, and without the Holy Spirit.
The man practiced religion, through performing legalistic rituals over prayers, attending Bible studies, dressing up in old Palestinian costume, diet, tithe/charity, Holy Land, circumcision, ten commandments, controlling the mouth, anger, even inner thoughts (honesty), not watching movies or pictures with sexy scenes etc. the man did experience some religious/spiritual euphoria while performing some Jewish dances, setting free a pigeon, helping an old lady (as fulfilling his charitable work).
One morning Jack woke up thinking that if an unbelieving man who for the sake of making a living, could devote a whole year to seek God, how could a Christian believer, who purported to know God, believe in Jesus, and have the Holy Spirit, not live Biblically? He spent the whole day thinking and planning. He made out a list that he resolved to carry out as a Christian believer.
He duly recorded the following list in his journal:
“I decided to start today:
1. Pray, seek God’s guidance.
2. Read the Bible for guidance, starting with the Book of Matthew.
3. Follow guidance, practice living Christian way.
4. I will make a list of what I read and pray over them, for the Holy Spirit to guide me living them.
5. I will record down my daily finding and experience.”
He further noted in his journal as a way to motivate himself of his new quest, “I believe that God has guided me in a process progressively, through learning the Gospel of Grace, Word of Faith, spiritual realm, watchman/intercessor, overcomers etc.” He summed up what he had been exposed to during the last five years. His exposure to the last three was very recent (about three-six months ago) through seminar and reading. Reading the above mentioned book was not a coincidence, he believed.
His first day’s experience was thus faithfully recorded as follows:
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DAY ONE: A NOVICE START ON THE RED LETTERS: WORSHIP, WORD, GLORY
After reading a non-believer’s quest of living one year biblically (regardless of his motives), I got down to thinking hard about my own daily living. Am I really taking God seriously? Am I living according to my belief in the Bible being God’s words? Is my faith real? Is my God real?
I decided to start my own quest to live Biblically. Today is my first day of attempt.
I started by clarifying my goal and action plan. As an Evangelical Christian, I believe in the Bible being God’s words. In view of its size and complexity, I would start by being a Red-Letters practitioner. That is, I start by reading all those words spoken by Jesus Christ (marked in red in some Bibles) and try to follow what He said.
I shall read the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, two or three chapters daily, understand the meanings of what Jesus said, referring to the cross references if any, and pray for the Holy Spirit’s guidance as I read. Then I shall write down His intentions and actions required of me to practice what He said/commanded.
Today I read Matthew Chapters one-four (up to verse 11). I summarize below my understandings of what Jesus had spoken.
It is indeed no coincidence that the first sentence spoken by Jesus was relevant to what I purposed in my heart to do. Jesus said: “permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (That is, do the things that fulfill all righteousness at the right time.) I acknowledge that Jesus has already made me righteous and reconciled me to God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) So I am not trying to earn my righteousness by acting right! My motive of living Biblically is because I want to be real.
All the rest of today’s sayings from Jesus were spoken at the time when He was in the wilderness (having gone through forty days and forty nights of fasting).
The devil came to tempt Him as the devil was not sure of what Jesus could do. The devil thought it could tempt Jesus with the usual indulgences disguised behind seemingly genuine needs like food, safety, status, power and possessions. But Jesus was outside such a paradigm. Jesus spoke the following words, all quoted from the Bible (God’s words).
1. Matthew 4:4 “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Action for me: pay attention to God’s every word. (Be careful what I say too, as cautioned in the Book of Proverbs 18:21 “death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”)
2. Matthew 4:7 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
Action for me: really trust God and not negate my faith in God by my un-belief through action (which is an insult to God).
3. Matthew 4:10 “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve.”
Action for me: give God priority in terms of my resources (especially time to worship Him instead of pursuing other interests/ambitions).
4. Matthew 4:10 “Away with you, Satan!”
Action for me: do not be distracted by or waste time in friendly discussion with the devil. Just tell it to go away by the authority of Jesus!
The above sound simple but not easy to do or follow through. How am I going to start practicing them?
My plan:
1. Wake up early to worship God (learn to seek Him, appreciate His presence and give thanks).
2. Read God’s words daily, meditate and pray (be careful what I think and speak).
3. Focus on God’s glory (stop looking at the world’s or my vain glory) (more spiritual reality).
4. Rebuke the devil.
End of day review: I spent most of my prime time (morning) reading the Bible and talking to God about my new plan and praying for His help. I spent the rest of the day providing transport for my mother-in-law (and sister-in-law) to see an ophthalmologist and controlled my tongue and thought pretty well, with mostly positive words (I think). I ended the evening by giving my wife a relatively expensive dinner treat at her favorite restaurant (after she insisted) and my thoughts were neither positive nor negative. Well, after all it is only the first day.
AAA Jack
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CHAPTER ONE: PROLOGUE- IN THE BEGINNING

One man’s journey in the Holy Spirit
chapter one: prologue- in the beginning
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and The Word was God. (John 1:1)

Jack was a man who loved reading and could spend all his time submerged in the ocean of knowledge without knowing other desires. After all he had reached an age the conventional world called retirement and had time in his hand. He was new to this city and had kept a low profile, living like a hermit. Not because he was very religious, but because by nature he was a detached man and socializing was not his favorite word. Neither was any pastime that did not have any meaningful purpose able to draw him. To him, meaning could only be derived from the depth and breadth of knowledge. Socializing or engaging in anything superficially, however satisfying to the emotion, was meaningless. To him, the mind ruled. Anything not of the ration was to be viewed with suspicion and skepticism.

He performed his religious duty alright, including attending a church weekly and giving whatever small sum of money he could to charity. He read the Bible and duly treated other brethren with respect and kindness. He lived humbly with his wife and kept a mongrel dog as a guard dog. He liked to have trees around as a green shield that blocked off the dust and noise from neighbors and traffic that passed by. So he maintained a small garden with lush green trees lining its outer walls. The garden was modeled after an English courtyard for practical purpose so it would not demand much time and effort to up-keep.

Having no good library around, he relied a lot on buying seasonal discounted books in bulk so that his appetite might be satiated for a season. However, his all time favorite was the Bible. He collected not less than ten Bibles and had spent scores of years as far as he could remember reading the Bible daily without fail. He read books on religions, politics, philosophies, literature, economics and management (which happened to be his first occupation), health psychology (his second occupation), medicine (his wife’s occupation), classic children stories, classic detective stories, classic science fictions, lastly, poetry and fictions written by a few favorite writers.

However, this book was not about Jack. This book was based on what Jack had recorded in his journal when he was taken over completely by the Holy Spirit along a journey in the Holy Spirit.

Jack was in the habit of keeping a journal about ideas that interested him from the reading he made daily, mostly from the Bible. Sometimes he recorded some passages from other books too when he found them interesting to remember. Perhaps he was thinking of using them as quotations later. Sometimes around the middle of the second month of the ninth year after the second millennium, Jack started a new religious venture. He signed up as an intercessor for the churches of the city where he resided.

He happened to attend a worship service one Sunday morning and he was asked to sign up for a 7/24 weekly Friday-Saturday 6am-6am prayer chain. He only needed to choose one hour slot out of the 24 hours. He chose to pray at 6am-7am every Friday. It seemed easy enough as he was an early riser. He was given a little guide booklet to read and prayed the model prayers if he ran out of words of his own. So armed with the booklet and a little pamphlet of songs he felt ready to embark on this noble project on his own in the comfort of his home.

Of course, he was mistaken. That was how his amazing journey began.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

July 9, 2009