CALL UPON ME

19 Jul 2010

“Our bread was hardly enough for the day. After dinner, when I returned thanks, I asked Him to give us our daily bread meaning literally that He would send us bread for the evening. While I was praying there was a knock at the door of the room. After I had concluded a poor sister came in and brought us some of her dinner, and from another poor sister five shillings. In the afternoon she also brought us a large loaf. Thus the Lord not only gave us bread but also money.” This is only one of the testimonies of George Muller the man of faith who saw the faithfulness of God in meeting all the daily needs of the orphanage ministry which he began in 1835, and providing for his own life every time he prayed and called upon Him.

In Jeremiah 33:3 see what the Lord God Almighty says: “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Psalm 50:15 tells us, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” What does God say will happen when His child calls upon Him? The Lord says in Psalm 91:15, “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.” Now its important to note carefully here that God says in all the above verses “…I will answer…” “I will deliver…” Unlike a man’s response of “I may” or “if I can” or “if it is possible with me”, there is no unsurety or indecisiveness with God. His answer is clear. His response is definite. It is sure. “…I will answer…” “I will deliver…” “I will be with Him” How do we know that it is sure? The Word of God in Psalm 99:6 testifies of the servants of God: “Moses and Aaron were among His priests, and Samuel was among those who called upon His name; They called upon the LORD, and He answered them.”

The Word of God, the Bible is filled with numerous testimonies of men and women of God who received answers when they called on the Lord God Almighty. Sometimes we deceive ourselves saying, “O the Lord knows my situation. He can see it. He knows what to do.” Beloved, truly God knows and sees your situation but He wants you to have your miracle by calling on Him. He wants you to see the greatness and awesomeness of His ways when you call upon Him for He will “..show you great and mighty things…”

Psalm 145:18-19 assures us: “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.” When you have such a Great and Mighty God Who waits to respond definitely, answer you surely, deliver you and bring you your miracle, O child of God what stops you from Calling Upon Him? Call to the Lord! Call upon His name for your family! Call upon His name for deliverance in your difficult situation. Call upon Him your Father, Provider, Deliverer, Sustainer, Redeemer and Great and Mighty One. Call upon Him daily into every of your situation and see your miracles. Call upon Him today.

In His love,

Sister Elizabeth Daniel
 

Archived Bulletins

11 Jul 2010

My dearly beloved,

Have you ever wondered why is it that we attend the same church, listen to the same pastor, preaching the same message and yet we see such diversification of results? Maybe the parable of the sower in Matt.13:3-8; 19-23 will help to unfold some of these mysteries.

In the parable of the sower, we have the same sower with the same seed (same pastor preaching the same message) yet it yielded different results. The problem lies not with the preacher or the Word of God but with the soil or the responsiveness of the hearers to God’s Word. This is of paramount importance because we must respond to God’s Word by being a doer of His Word and not merely being a hearer only. Why is it important for us to be a doer of His Word?

1.      No Foundation

In the parable of the wise and foolish builders (Matt.7: 24-27)), Jesus likened someone who is merely listening to His Word but makes no response to it (not a doer), to someone who builds his house upon the sand. So when the rain and the flood came and the wind blew, the house fell and collapsed.

When we are not a doer of God’s Word, we are like a house without a foundation. When the storms and crises of life hit us, we either give up or backslide from our faith.

2.      No Transformation   

James here likens someone who is not a doer of His Word to someone who merely looks at himself in the mirror, notices all his spots and blemishes but the problem is when he goes away, he forgets how he look like (Jas.1: 23-24). As a result, the creases in his shirt are not straightened; his hair remains uncombed and so forth. He is the same person before and after he has looked at the mirror.

This applies to people who come to church to listen to the message only (look at the mirror) and come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit (notice the spots and blemishes in his life) but make no effort to be a doer of His Word—forget the conviction of the Holy Spirit when they leave the church. Therefore they remain as the same persons who come to the church and after they leave the church—there is no transformation in their  lives.

3.      No destination

Jesus said in Matt.7: 21, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven” (that is a doer of God’s Word). Not only is there no transformation of lives in these people who merely hear the Word of God, but they are in danger of losing their destiny and destination in heaven.

In His love,

Ps. Daniel Phua

4th July 2010
 

Why is this happening? Does God have plans for me?

Beloved youths,

I am sure these are some of the many questions you ask yourselves from time to time! Be encouraged! God has a plan for you and He is always leading and guiding you to His perfect plan! Beloved youths, do not miss out His plans for you. God’s plan should be the main goal for your life. Missing out on God’s plan is a tragedy. Your life will be filled with frustrations, confusion and emptiness….. 

The question then is how can you fulfill God’s plan for your life? Start spending time seeking God in fasting and prayer for His plans in your life.

1. You have a race to run to reach your destiny. It is a spiritual race. No one can run and finish the race for you nor can you run someone else’s. As you are not running a 100m dash but a lifelong race, the pressure to abandon God’s will for your life is sometimes very great. You must be determined and mentally prepared to want to complete the race. These are things you need to watch out for:

a) Watch out for the desire to give up when you are tired and weary. Such thoughts do come but you have to throw them away out of your mind as soon as they come. Be on your guard against this since it can beset you easily, especially in your dark hours when the sun never seems to rise in your life and when all things seem to be working against you.

b) Watch out that you will not run off the course, nor falter and stagger through the storms of life because of tests and trials that stand in the path, eg..…boy-girl relationship, disappointments in un-requited love, coping up with studies, materialism…etc

c) Watch out for impediments to your progress in the race.  We need to travel light to walk faster. Burdens are heavy and will slow you down. Do not allow any excess luggage to come into your life like unforgiveness, worries, hatred, ungodly anger, fear, doubt, sin of disobedience and rebellion, etc...

2. A life of obedience with consecration and dedication to the Lord and His Word. Without it you will never be able to fulfill God’s plan for your life. Surrender everything that concerns you to the Lord. Do not hold back anything especially areas of your life where you want to be “lord”. Satan will use these strongholds to distract and tempt you from your appointed destiny. At the cross roads of your life do not make the wrong choice. Choose God’s way and you shall prosper and fulfill your destiny.

Beloved youth, today as you celebrate Youth Day, decide now to consecrate and dedicate your life holy unto the Lord. God has a specific plan for your life and He desires you to fulfill it. Do not despise your youth! Quit believing that your very existence is not important and that your life does not matter. You are His creation for His glory! Amen! God bless you!

Ps Pauline Phua

27th June 2010

My beloved in the Lord,

How can we be deceived? Obadiah 3 reveals, “The pride of your heart has deceived you.” We can easily see it in others, but are not able to discern it in ourselves. That is why we need to constantly ask the Lord to reveal to us our pride that is hidden in our heart. For Jeremiah 17:9 states, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” We are often blind to our impure motives, so we need to pray like Job, “How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin” (Job 13:23).

Be aware that Satan’s ploy is to try to get us to listen to his ideas, while trying to convince us they came from the Lord Himself. The devil’s power to deceive us is overcome by continuously choosing to walk in humility before God and men. The devil’s ways are based in pride and we can overcome him by having a broken and contrite spirit. Our act of openness and brokenness will remove any area from which the enemy can deceive us. Another way to overcome the pitfalls of pride and subsequent deception is to immediately give God the glory in our heart whenever people are impressed about how we receive and recognize God’s voice. Our immediate response is to verbally declare, “It is all by God’s grace. I give Him all the glory!”

The best way to guard against deception is to have a true spirit of submission to those in authority over us. This is affirmed to us in 1 Peter 5:5, “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” Having an independent spirit makes us liable to demonic suggestions. Having a submissive spirit to God’s appointed leaders puts us in a place of protection.

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the Word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7). A leader must walk in the fear of God and be submissive to others who are in leadership to earn the right to be trusted.

Our greatest need is the knowledge of God’s character that will help us to be steadfast in Him. His revelation of who He is, is revealed in Deuteronomy 32:4,

“He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.” Amen.

Shalom in Jesus’ love,

Pastor Brian Chua

20th June 2010

A LETTER FROM OUR HEAVENLY FATHER

My beloved children,

“Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the sons of her womb? Even these may forget but I will not forget you. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.” (Isa.49:15) “I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you.” (Heb.13: 5b)

“For I know the plans that I have for you, plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer.29: 11). “For this reason, I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you shall eat or what you shall drink nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body than clothing? Look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” (Matt.6: 25-26). “Are not 2 sparrows sold for a cent. And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Therefore do not fear, you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt.10: 29,31). “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt.6: 33).

“No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that accuses you in judgement you will condemn” (Isa.54: 17a). “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall injure you” (Lk.10: 19).

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched nor will the flame burn you.” “Do not fear for I am with you” (Isa.43: 2, 5a).

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt.28: 18-20). “Behold I am coming quickly and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done” (Rev.22: 12).       

Extracted from God’s Holy Word, the Bible by Ps Daniel Phua

13th June 2010

My Dearly Beloved in the Lord, 

The Lord God is faithful. He is faithful in equipping us for our walk daily and our service to Him. He wants us to be faithful to Him but does not leave us without help. He has given us His Holy Spirit to be our companion, Helper and guide. How does the Holy Spirit enable us in our Christian walk? We will study a few scriptures to see how the Holy Spirit of God helps us.

Before the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, He promised His disciples that the Holy Spirit would be given to them.

The Holy Spirit is with us forever: Jesus is in heaven now seated at the right hand of God the Father but the Holy Spirit has been given to us and He will remain with us forever. Jesus said, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby), that He may remain with you forever” (John 14:6).

The Holy Spirit is with us and in us: “The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive because it does  not see Him or know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you” (John 14:17). The presence of the Holy Spirit with us and in us reminds us that we need never feel lonely or crave for companionship.

The Holy Spirit teaches us all things: “But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the
Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you” (John 14:26). When we read the Bible and do not understand if we ask Him He will teach us, He will illume our eyes far beyond the words and open our understanding to what the Lord has to say in His Holy word.

The Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus Christ: “But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes from the Father, He will testify regarding Me” (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit has come to testify of Jesus. All He teaches will point to Jesus. He never comes with a doctrine of His own but comes for the Father to testify about Jesus.

The Holy Spirit guides you into all the Truth: “But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth. For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority] but He will tell you whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him] …” John 16:13.

When we struggle with the word of God and do not understand the Holy Spirit is there to teach us. When we are in sadness and grief He is our Comforter and Counselor. When our strength fails and we can’t go on, He is there our Strengthener in God and in our walk. He is there beside us to pull us along on the hard and difficult way. When we do not know what to pray and the words He is our Intercessor. Let us ask the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit in our walk for that is why He has been sent by the Lord that we have a Victorious walk in Christ Jesus. All glory be to God for His presence and provision for us.

In His love,
Sister Elizabeth Daniel

6th June 2010

Beloved,

I’m sure many of us know what a dilemma is. At some point or other in life, one would have experienced this. However, it’s the choice that we make that is important when faced with a dilemma! To do what is right and good regardless of the situation or to compromise and do wrong? 

Deuteronomy 6:18-19 - You shall do what is right and good (not a well behaved conduct) in the sight of the Lord….  Has anybody ever commented that you are well behaved or a good person? Both are totally different comments and have different connotations. Putting on a well behaved front may just be an illusion whereas a good person shows himself as good through his thoughts and actions.  

People who are well behaved may be doing and acting what the society expects to ensure that they have a “good” image; however they might be doing immoral things in the secret. On the other hand, good people have good moral compasses guiding their decisions and actions and it shows. These help them to do what is right and good in the open or in the secret. 

Beloved, today the Lord is calling us to do what is right and good and is seeking such people-One who uses the Word of God as a moral compass in his actions and thoughts. For in Proverbs 21:3; To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. We may have started well, living by the principle of the bible, but now at the present moment have we gone off track? Yes, today God is trying to get our attention to lead us back to the right track and start living right so that we can reflect Him in our actions and allow His promises to be fulfilled in our lives! Just like what God has promised us in Deuteronomy 6:18-19; He wants us to live right and claim the many promises He has for us. 

Beloved, as we strive to mature in the Lord, let us strive to do what is right and good. Continue to walk in the light and by that reflect the goodness of Jesus in our lives. Let us not be tempted by adverse situations which might lead us to a compromise but instead hold on to God’s Word that He will not let the righteous be brought to shame. Continue to run the good race! Fight the good fight of faith. 

God bless you!
Pastor Pauline Phua