A Call to Malaysian Youth

Received through email today: "prayer partners...thanks for your continual prayer...Pray for Malaysia is on Godtube...Sharing with you what the Lord did on July 4, 2008 as we prayed for our beloved nation together with 40 nations..." - watch the videoclip

A nation-transformation, history-making call is being sent out:

Malaysian Youth Prayer Gathering 

I strongly urge that all Malaysian youth participate in this prayer movement, regardless which city you come from. From every city across Malaysia, come ON! This is a nationwide call, God is raising up a generation for revival. A generation of young radicals who voluntarily go to the extreme to be set apart for His use in these dark times and train with devotion and diligence - a Nazirite generation. Young people, consider this a trumpet call for PREPARATION for noble use (2 Tim 2:20-22), CONSECRATION of lifestyle (Num 6:1-8) AND SATURATION of the Word (Eph 5:26-27).

It is a serious window of opportunity to pray for Malaysia as if history hinges on it. Because in essence, it does. 

And to my beloved Sabahans, Sabah is on Berita NECF's state spot this round.

Meek? Me?!? Yes, Lord, make 'meek' me.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt 11:28-30)

Jesus died on the cross and demonstrated resurrection life so that we who believe in Him not only have resurrection as our hope but are empowered to live the crucified life. That requires that we take up our cross daily and follow Him. Add to that the point that Jesus said those who humble themselves will be exalted, on the contrary those who exalt themselves will find a rude awakening in store for them (in my own words). 

It struck me (not suddenly, but during some hours of meditating on Matthew 5:5) that Jesus deliberately lowered Himself to a life that had no glitz or glamour, fully intending that we follow in His footsteps - put our feet into His leather sandals, so to speak. We are to lug our cross likewise through life "...for the joy set before [us]." Because Jesus was lowly in heart, He could relate totally with people who were 'sick' and 'needy', because those who were healthy didn't need a doctor. He came to seek and save the lost. The depraved, the condemned, the broken, the filthy, the unlovable - that's us.

He made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness...humbled Himself and became obedient to death... (Phil 2:6-8)

WE are His inheritance. He did all that so He could pay our ransom. So that WE would belong to HIM. Imagine that...

The Lord of Hosts, fully divine and fully human, clothed Himself with meekness - for YOU.

Forget riches of the world.

Forget having kingdoms at your feet (Satan taunted Him with this).

Forget position, power, political leverage.

Forget reputation.

Forget popularity.

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." (Matt 5:5)

We are Jesus' inheritance.

And in His leather-sandals footsteps, "[our] attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus"

(Phil 2:9-11).

Holy Spirit revealed some things to my heart concerning true meekness, how Jesus embodies that, and how it relates to how we carry our hearts before God and men. Very humbling. And it's so sweettt! It's dope :) 

As we seek to walk in His attitude of meekness, not seeking rights, riches or righteousness of our own, what do we inherit?

The Lord reminded me of (1) Ps 2:8; and (2) when you become more and more like Christ in your walk, anything you ask of your Father in heaven He delights to give to you. When your heart's desires cleave onto to His heartbeat, what He wants becomes what you want, and vice-versa - that is mind-boggling and totally awesome to me! (3) and we learn to love unlovables like ourselves.

Lord, may my heart be postured in meekness before You, against the landscape of truth, mercy, justice and righteousness, let this reign. Above my rights, principles, beliefs, understanding, thoughts, reign over my stubborn and proud heart to be lowered under the weight of the revelation of Your crucifiction. Awe me so much with how You can be so humble in heart as God of the universe, yet are so strong and powerful, that I may learn to find rest in that, in knowing I need only to come to You, my inheritance is found only in You. 

He was the Truth

This reliable real-life story broke my heart. 

[SEEKER STORY]

There was a man living in Tehran who had always wanted to find the truth. He never had any contact with committed Christians. He never heard the Gospel.

At death's door

Old age approached and he had a very serious stroke. He was rushed to the hospital and was semi-conscious for three days. His family was by his bedside most of the time and his son was there day and night. The son longed for his father to say a few words.

The father never spoke, and after three days he died. From the human point of view he had known nothing about Christ. He was seemingly a 'lost' soul facing a Christless eternity.

The Jesus dream

A few days later the son had a vivid dream. His father came to him and spoke about those last days in the hospital. 'When I was in the hospital I saw Jesus. He told me He was the one I'd always been looking for. He told me He was the truth, and the only way to meet God was to believe in Him.'

So there, semi-conscious, this old man became a believer. Jesus didn't let him enter eternity alone.

The father went on in the dream to say sorry for not talking to the son - 'But for those three days, I was all the time with Jesus - that's why I couldn't talk to you.' The father's final words were - 'Go and tell the family about Jesus.'

The next morning the son was very excited but very nervous. What would the rest of the family say if he asked them to believe in Christ? With apprehension he sat down at the breakfast table. He noticed his younger sister wasn't there. When he asked where she was, they said she was upset.

So he went to get her. She was sitting on her bed, knees up, head down. As he knocked, she looked up, her eyes glistening with tears. He sat down and gently took her hand - 'What's the matter?'

'I've had a dream - but you'll be upset...' She looked at her brother, a little frightened...

'Don't worry - I won't get angry.' So she told him her story. They had both had the same dream!

All the members of this immediate family are now believers.

(taken from Briefings - The Silk Road by Glenn Meyers, pg 57)

Did you know that there are thousands of stories like this, maybe more? It's true, there can't be smoke without fire. And where many in the Middle East face darkness and total loss of hope and livelihood, they find Jesus.

"Now as we look to the future, it looks even brighter. We expect tens of thousands of Iranians and thousands of Afghans to be added to Christ's church annually. We now pray for 500,000 Iranian MBB.s and 25,000 Afghan MBB.s by 2015. This prayer is not just based on our imagination, but on how God has demonstrated that with Him all things are possible..." ~ Abe Ghaffari (excerpt from website Iranian Christians International)

Do you have Christ in your life? 

You need to know the Truth.

Then Moses said, "Now show me Your glory."

it's been a good 2 weeks in LA. flew over to  kansas city 2 nights ago - the heart of the USA. on occasion i ask the LORD, "what am i doin here?". it is good to ask. because you'll know when the answer comes.

yesterday i found myself seated with people from all over the world, congregating at a service by IHOP which they call Forerunner Christian Fellowship. couldn't believe my eyes. or my skin. or whatever way you wanna term it. i saw, i felt, i just couldn't believe that i was seated there. a sense of awe washed over me as i lifted my voice in worship. and for a split second, i go, "wow! i'm actually here..."

as the service went on, the answer came. 'cause those split seconds of disbelief, they occurred multiple times. put together, they probably make up one minute. so, yeah, as i was saying, the answer came.

see, i was supposed to be in kansas city for a summer training lasting 6 weeks that is an integral part of my learning in america. then the training got 'shrunk' to 4 weeks. i had the choice of either stayin in LA during those now-free days, or still fly over to kansas and see how i can occupy my time (at the lowest possible cost!). God, i wanna make the utmost best of the time i'm here, every single day. while i breathe and stay alive here, i ask for divine appointments/connections. lead me beyond human plans and finances. i refuse to waste the time away. kindle the fire, Lord. show me what You have in mind with this change. You brought me here, so what gives...?

mike bickle began sharing a bit abt the history of IHOP, and how the Lord moved him through transition after transition. "transition is not just a change in your position, title, or qualifications, or role. that's too narrow a definition. when God leads you through transition, He's positioning you to carry your heart before Him in a new way." woah. that hit me...

and the message went on to say, "maybe you're here wondering what you're doing here." bingo.

"maybe you're going through a transition in your life, a burden in your heart that no one else knows about or people don't seem to understand." yup.

"during these coming 6 weeks, you're hoping God would reveal Himself in a greater glory." yes!

the phrase 6 weeks kept getting repeated, and the challenge to set apart this time to seek His face like Moses did (Exo 33:18). my heart responded to Holy Spirit in a deep stirring. yes, Lord. You brought me here...i wanna see You.

may God give grace for a season of consecration, grace for deeper intercession and fasting, of seeking His face. positioning myself as He leads me to carry my heart in a new way before Him.

as Moses Your servant dared to ask, Lord, show me Your glory.

i encourage you to dig into the Word and see what God says about the Nazirites, and how we His chosen ones are to be set apart for His use, for His glory. may God give you grace to seek His face day and night, up on the mountain of God but facedown in worship.

that's what i'm made of.

love what the paper bag that contained my breakfast this morning says, a la Ryan Lochte (a US olympic swimmer).

if you can't read the print, here it is:
my dad gave me the fundamentals.
my team gives me the support.
i give it everything i've got.

we all need that reminder of what we're made of...
Dad's basic principles + dream team + ALL of YOURSELF.