THE WATERFALL OF GRACE

EPHESIANS 3:19 … know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.  If you were to thank God for something today, what would it be? For me, it would be thanking God for giving me Jesus. For when I see Jesus on the cross, I see the love of God overcoming everything for me. It causes me to say, “Thank you, Jesus! I love you, Jesus! I worship you, Jesus! Bless you, Jesus! Hallelujah!” And as we worship and celebrate the love of Jesus in our lives, we will find ourselves changed, and we will see the mighty power of God displayed for us and through us. This was the case in the life of David. His personal times of worship, of being absorbed in God’s love for him, changed him from a mere shepherd boy to a lion killer, bear killer, giant killer and finally, a king over Israel. Now, no one on earth, no matter how strong he is, let alone a youth, can come against a lion and pry open its mouth to snatch back his sheep which the lio...

HEBREWS 13:5 ESV 5 . . . he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Jesus understands. He knows how it feels to be betrayed, abandoned, hated. Jesus knows what it feels like to hurt. He lived in a body just like you have. He was just as human as you are. HEBREWS 4:15 ESV 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Some people hurt so badly that they feel it might give them some relief if others felt what they felt. Probably many people hurt others in an unconscious attempt to at least have someone understand the pain they are feeling. But you are NEVER alone when you are feeling hurt. Jesus promised He would NEVER leave you or forsake you. He is there with you, and He understands. He is not there to condemn you, but to help you as much as you will allow Him to help you. Too often when people are hurt they mistakenly blame God instead o...

All of us have probably wondered, "If God loves me . . . then why did this bad thing happen to me?"  But for this question to have any real meaning, we must assume God controls everything -- every single detail of life. To help you get the right perspective, consider this question, "If my mother loves me, then why did this bad thing happen to me?" If you are an adult not living under your mother's control, you will instantly see the folly of such a question. We don't believe our mother controls everything happening in the world. We understand that other people are making decisions.  To determine whether our mother loves us, or not, we mainly consider what she has done for us. We should do the same in evaluating God. Has God done anything which demonstrates He loves you? YES!  JOHN 3:16 ESV 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  Would a soldier on the batt...

PROVERBS 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.  Most people, when they desperately want something, will say things like, “I am dying for that piece of cake!” Few will say, “I am living for that piece of cake!” What is worse is that we are quick to mention death when things go wrong. We Singaporeans are quick to say things like, “Die lah! Die lah!” at the drop of a hat. Nobody says, “Live lah! Live lah!” Yet, the truth is that every word you speak has power—to build or destroy hopes and dreams, to restore or cause loss, to heal or break the spirit, to bring delight or despair, to bless or curse—for God’s Word says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. So stop lining your words up with the negative circumstances. Instead, start lining your words up with God’s Word and release the power of His Word to work for you.  For example, instead of speaking lack and poverty, say, “God’s Word tells me that t...

GALATIANS 4:27 … “Rejoice, O barren, you who do not bear! Break forth and shout, you who are not in labor…  Barrenness. What a painful and frustrating condition. Yet, in Isaiah 54, God’s Word to those who are experiencing barrenness is to rejoice — “Sing O barren”! Why? Because in the previous chapter, it tells us that the chastisement for our peace fell upon Jesus. (Isaiah 53:5) The word “peace” here in Hebrew means completeness, soundness, health, safety and provision.  In other words, all these benefits are yours today because Jesus has already been punished at the cross for your peace. That is why you can start rejoicing. So God wants you right now, in whatever area you are barren, to start rejoicing as if the fruit or yield you want to see has already come. He wants you to start thinking, speaking and acting as if the barrenness is no more.  If you are financially barren, start planning for what you would do when your finances increase. I am not saying th...

MATTHEW 18:18 CEV 18 I promise you that God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth, but he will not allow anything you don't allow. (Many translations use the words "bind" and "loose" in this verse. Binding and loosing is a Hebrew idiom for exercising authority. It means to prohibit and permit.)  When God created mankind He gave us authority to rule on earth. GENESIS 1:26 NKJ 26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." That means we have the right and the responsibility to make choices. Our choices are expressed through the words we speak. So through our words we express our will and exercise our authority.  It is important to understand that God has given us choices. We MUST choose. DEUTERONOMY 30:19 NKJ 19 "I call heaven ...

2 TIMOTHY 2:15 NKJ 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  All of God's Word is truth, but we must rightly divide the Bible, or we will be confused and misled. ALL Scripture is written FOR us, but it is not all written TO us, nor is it all ABOUT us. Every verse in the Bible is a message of truth we can learn from. But every verse is not specific directions for us. For example, instructions to offer daily animal sacrifices show us a truth of the need for a payment for sin, but those verses are not written directly to us. After Jesus' final sacrifice we are no longer instructed to offer daily animal sacrifices. The whole Bible is the inspired Word of God, but only the letters in the New Testament are specifically and directly written to us. While we can learn many things from reading a letter written to someone else, reading one written directly to us is much more meaningful. T...

PHILIPPIANS 4:8 NKJ 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things. The devil wants us to feed on bad news. God wants us to feed on good news. Which will you choose? Bad news promotes fear. Good news promotes faith. We live in a society addicted to news. What we get is mostly entertainment packaged as news, designed mostly to keep you watching, not to actually inform you of truth. Through it the world offers its views designed to manipulate your thinking and believing. Our news program's most glaring fault is that they leave God out. God is at work around the world. But when do you ever see a report on the good things God is doing? Commercial news programs, of necessity, focus on sensational and bad news items, simply to keep people's att...

PSALM 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made. Let's rejoice and be glad today!  God does not want us to be sad and depressed. God intends for us to enjoy life. Of course, this life is not the end. Eternity with God is most important. And there is nothing wrong with sacrificing something in this life for the purpose of obtaining something better in the next phase of our life with God in Heaven. But that should not stop us from enjoying this life. You may be in prison. But you can still rejoice in God's goodness. You can study and learn. You may even be able to see more clearly mankind's need for a Savior, and so appreciate God's plan of salvation even more. Learn to rejoice in and enjoy what many would call the small things in life. Smell the flowers. Enjoy the colors God created. Marvel at the complexity of God's creation and His great ability.  1 TIMOTHY 6:17 NKJ 17 . . . God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Enjoy the diversity of people God ...

 REVELATION 19:7-8 NKJ 7 "Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.  These verses hold an answer to the question often asked by humans facing difficulties and troubles: "Why?" Since Jesus has already defeated the devil and gained for us all the blessings the Bible tells us about, why is the devil allowed to continue to attack us and steal those blessings?  Does any bridegroom desire to marry a bride he cannot communicate with? Certainly not! Surely, no highly educated person would prefer marrying a spouse who cannot even read or write. No one would prefer marrying someone unable to speak their language. Jesus is no different in this regard. His desire is also to have companionship with those who understand Him. So you are being prepared to be a f...