My Favourite, Psalm 23, expanded for u...

Psalm 23

A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (Amplified)

9 For you are becoming progressively acquainted with and recognizing more strongly and clearly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (His kindness, His gracious generosity, His undeserved favor and spiritual blessing), [in] that though He was [so very] rich, yet for your sakes He became [so very] poor, in order that by His poverty you might become enriched (abundantly supplied).

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

Matthew 11:28 (NKJV)

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

John 4:14 (NKJV)

14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Ephesians 4:21-23 (NKJV)

21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

Luke 5:32 (NKJV)

32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

John 8:12 (NKJV)

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 14:18 (KJV)

18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

Luke 22:21-22 (NKJV)

21 But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. 22 And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”

Hebrews 1:9 (KJV)

9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

Romans 5:20 (Amplified)

20 But then Law came in, [only] to expand and increase the trespass [making it more apparent and exciting opposition]. But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God's unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded,

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.

Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

John 14:2-3 (KJV)

2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Hallelujah, Thank you Lord Jesus, for you ARE my Good Shepherd and without you i can do nothing.

Your beloved son,
Emmanuel

The Joy of The Lord!

Hi everyone...

You know, how we can get so caught up with our day to day goals and targets to reach at work and blah blah blah.

Well, yesterday was really a great day for me at work. The goal that we set for ourselves, we managed to achieve. But the icing on the cake was when my friend decided to come to church with me on Sunday, which was today. I was elated!

And you know what, God doesn't just answer your prayers (i prayed that my friend would come to church with me); He superabounds it! To cut the story short, my friend was saved today! Pastor made the altar call and my friend was the first one to stand up and walked to the front. My wife and I was beaming! I said, Hallelujah! Praise the Lord because He is soooo Gooood! I'm so happy for my friend! This is the Joy that no money can buy, no meeting goals or sales targets, no other thing in this world can give me this joy seeing another brother coming back home to the Lord.

I tell you man, i love it when Pastor preaches about the Prodigal Son. It is exactly what happened today. Once we were all lost but now we are found! It is also a conscious wanting to go home that helps. Because the moment we start turning home looking for our Abba, be it good intentions or even ill intentions, our Abba will hike up His stately garments and run to us and welcome us with a big big HUG and loving tender kiss to welcome us Home! And what happens afterwards? A HUGE party man!

Luke 15:25
And his elder son was in the field. And as he came and drew near the house, he heard music and dancing.

So, the elder son came back, which symbolises our old self, our law and works ridden self, he was angry! Our old selves will never accept what Abba has done for us.

Luke 15:28-31

And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and entreated him.
And answering he said to his father, Lo, these many years I have served you, neither did I transgress your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a kid so that I might make merry with my friends.
But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you have killed for him the fattened calf.
And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.

So, the final truth is that, no matter what we do on our own to deserve God's favour, it will never be better than accepting the Truth that He is always with us and all that He has is ours.

Hallelujah, Praise God and our wonderful Saviour Jesus. We thank you and we magnify you and the sheep of the world will be in one flock with one Good Shepherd!

Does Christianity make any sense?...

Hi dearly beloved of God,

Some of us might want to make sense of everything in life. But for most parts, our senses are limited to the five basic senses that we have; the sense of Sight, Sound, Taste, Smell and Tactile Feel. So, where are these five senses governed in? It's in our brain right. So, our mind governs the five senses that we have, and if we try to make sense of God, it will become non-sense. Because God is in the Spiritual Realm. Our five physical senses are unable to reach him. The moment we intellectualize His Grace and Majesty, especially of His Son, Jesus Christ, the further we'll get from understanding Him.

So, i urge many of my beloved brothers and sisters to approach Him through our hearts. Go to Him with an open heart. Say, "Lord, i seek you. Please help me. I'm lost. How come you always feel so far away from me? How come i don't feel that you love me? Please Lord, i'm lost like a sheep waiting for his Good Shepherd."

We intellectualize God's saving Grace for us. How can we intellectualize LOVE? Impossible!
Ask yourself, how did you feel when the last time your mum or dad forgave you and let it slide something which you know you've done something absolutely horrible. Notice i said, how did you feel. If i had asked, what did you think? How different would it have been. I'm sure you can't think through that moment. It must have felt absolutely ridiculous that they forgave you. But they did.

Now, that was Love on a human scale. What about LOVE on a GOD scale? Unimaginable, absolutely non-sense and downright unbelievable. But that's Him! He loves us so much!
So, dear brothers and sisters, take the courage to read the Word of God in the Bible. Read the 4 Gospels. Jesus comes to you through His Words in there. In fact, the entire Bible is the culmination of the Revelation of Jesus Christ!

We might think that we are trying to seek the Truth, but most assuredly i say to you, The Truth is Seeking You!

Matthew 18:12-13

12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying?

13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.

Let's appreciate this verse for a moment. Jesus is referring to Himself as the Shepherd. No ordinary shepherd would seek 1 lost sheep out of 99 which he has at the moment. But Jesus will.
So, more often than not, it is HE who is searching for us than us searching for Him.
Hallelujah... Praise you Jesus!

I thank you, i exalt your name up on high for you ARE THE RISEN LORD and the King to come.
Your beloved son,
Emmanuel

I Make All Things New...

Hi everyone,

I was sharing with a dear brother about how one scene in The Passion touched my heart so much. To my surprise this scene was his favourite too. This scene was when Jim Caviezel as Jesus was struggling along the streets of Old Jerusalem, and his mother Mary, was running parallel to the streets. Jesus fell, gazed to His mother, she looked back and He said, "Mother... Look, I make all things new...!" It was so heart wrenching for me to see that my God did that for me, went through all that pain and suffering for me. It is a love that is unlike any on this earth.

We ARE New now because our Lord Jesus has made all things new 2000 years ago. How Great is our God! Without Him, how can we live in this fallen world and when we do leave this world, where do we go? We are assured a mansion in His Father's House. Because why? Because He loved us first...

That scene if replayed in my mind, brings tears to my eyes. I feel so loved by our Lord Jesus. There are no words to describe what i feel but a sense of reverence, awe and worship. I'd just say, "My Lord, My God... I thank you for what you've done. Jesus, why do you love me so much? I really don't know why sometimes but i know you love me... You make me new, you make me lie down in green pastures, you make the living waters in me flow but most of all, i feel so loved... I feel so like a child in your arms, being hugged, being kissed as a father would to his baby. In you Jesus, i see my Father in Heaven."

He that numbers the very hairs on our head, he that wipes the tears away from our eyes, He that takes away our sorrows and He that takes away death. Jesus takes away the man that is dead in me and substitutes it with the New Man that is so Alive!

Thank you Lord Jesus. You ARE the Lord of my Life, You ARE my Saviour and You ARE my Good Shepherd.

Your deeply beloved son,
Emmanuel

He's no historian, He's no teacher... He Is RISEN!

Shalom Brothers & Sisters,

I've been in conversation with someone lately who has been asking me questions about our Lord Jesus Christ... I believe in exalting Jesus and preaching the Word from the Gospels itself. The Good News is really the Good News and there's no need for me to make any comparisons with any other books. So, below i am just fielding some of his questions. There's nothing sensitive in this email, so i thought this might help somebody else out there.

Praise the Lord. He IS the GOOD Shepherd.

Amen & Hallelujah!

'Hi Brother,

I believe all your years in a religious school has given you some solid ground in theology and the concept of God... Right now, let's approach God as our friend. I'm not too sure whether you are able to do this right now, but that's the first step anyway. We are all lost sheep. And we need a Shepherd... So Jesus is our Good Shepherd. I'd also like to express myself again, that what i believe in now is not a religion. Because religiosity binds but spirituality sets you free.
What we have now is a renewed relationship with our Abba Father and it's so glorious to know that we can approach God anytime, anywhere and know that our prayers will always be received in it's total wholeness and perfected prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ.

From your comment that the bible has so many versions. Yes, that is true. That's to help mankind understand God. Our God is so good he does not require us to learn the Hebrew language (Old Testament Books:Torah, Nevi'Im & Kh'Tuvim) and the Greek language (New Testament Books, Evangelion) to know Him. HE has kept His WORD true to its substance in all the versions of the Bible that's available for all Mankind and translated into thousands of languages for the world to know their God.

With regards to your assessment about the bible and it's many versions and why you think it's inaccurate and flawed, i have something for you to consider...

Take yourself as a judge in a courtroom. You have a case presented to you. To have a fair trial and true judgment on your part as a judge; would you just look at the prosecution alone? or look at the defense alone? or do you have to look at evidence presented by both parties, have an impartial decision made, based on the evidence presented, to give a fair judgement. I believe you need to use the last approach to be a good judge. So, have you looked at both sides of the coin yet? Many of us fear the obvious... Just a little info for you. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew and until today you still can find the Hebrew Old Testament in its original entirety, in it's same perfect form dated all the way back to the times of Moses. These are the books that the Jewish people still use for their Jewish faith.The Dead Sea Scrolls have proven that the Old Testament we read today is the same as the one that Jesus used during His time. God is so good, He uses His own words to teach us. He gives us revelation of His words each time we read it and hear it. And during Jesus' time, He was fulfilling bible prophecy written hundreds and thousands of years before He came. So, what about the New Testament? During Jesus' time, the people in Judea, Israel spoke a few common languages. Primarily Koine Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew. Just like us in Singapore, we speak primarily English, Mandarin, Malay and Tamil. So, the most commonly used language in Singapore now is English. So, most media is either written or broadcasted in English. So, during His time, the Greek language was commonly used and therefore most of the communication during His time was written in Greek. And the primary version that we have now is from the Textus Receptus. There are many good Christian books out there that will help you answer this question. Obviously if you walk into a "preferred" bookstore you'll not be able to get this information. So, as i mentioned earlier on... What would a good judge do? Would you allow an innocent man to go into the gallows? or would you let a criminal walk back out amongst the innocent? I'm sure you'll do what's right... Check out this book by Lee Strobel: The Case for Christ.

So far, your approach to God has been pretty intellectual. Use your heart brother... In your daily practice now, do you feel loved by God? Do you know that God loves you so much? Do you know that Jesus loves you so much? Yes you! Not the collective world but YOU. We tend to generalise God. We can say, "Yeah... God loves all of us." But can we say, "Yes! GOD LOVES ME!" Are you in love with God? But do you know that He loved you first from the beginning of time until the time we see Him in Heaven eternally? Do you believe you are in a position where you can ask God for anything and He'll give it to you because He loves you so much? Do you know that you are assured a place in Heaven? John14:2 says,

John 14:2 In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so , I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

What we must appreciate is, who is doing the talking here? Is it John the disciple?.. is it another rabbi?.. it it any other man on the street? No. It's Jesus Himself! God Himself was talking to us. How beautiful and endearing the thought that my God is so good He does such a thing for me... : )

I love Him so much... But that doesn't beat His love for me...

With your reference to I-Robot, it is very interesting to note that the author of I-Robot, Isaac Asimov is actually an atheist. He does not believe in God. Not like you and me... A person who has not encountered God will always feel that He is a distant force, set apart all else. Do you believe that God is omnipresent? Is He beside you now? Do you know that God walked with Abraham, God walked with Enoch and many other beloved people of God. He is there with you now. But the awesome truth now is, because of what Jesus has done for us, God is now IN us and we are now IN Christ. Meaning we are constantly IN God's presence. This is the personality of the Holy Spirit. : ) Holy Spirit is GOD IN us. Maybe you're uncomfortable with the terminology of Holy Spirit. Let me give you the Hebrew equivalent, the Holy Spirit is actually Ruach HaKhodhesh. The living breath of God in us. How did God make the first man Adam?

Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

He is in us. This is true. But to know Him in us, we must first know Jesus. Because after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, He gave us the Holy Spirit as our Comforter.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Once you have come to know who Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) is, then will you come to know the Comforter. He teaches you all things, bring all things to remembrance of our original position with God that we are His beloved children and not His servant. You will also get the Peace not as the world gives you but the Peace that God can give in your soul, your spirit, your mind and your body. After knowing this, what is there to fear? So, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Jesus is no longer a teacher for me. HE is My Lord and my Saviour! HE IS the Prince of Peace, "Sar Shalom" in Hebrew. No one in this world can give you the peace that you are looking for accept Yeshua Hamashiach.

Last of all, you mentioned that God should be really perfect, a 100% perfect. Well, He IS perfection! More than 100%! He IS perfection itself! The beginning and the end, HE is the Alpha and Omega! How does this perfection come to fruition? It will have to be the finished work of the cross... His undying love for us, led Himself (Jesus Christ) to the cross, being beaten, scourged, whipped to His bones, His Perfect Blood being spilt and finally finished at the Cross of Calvary... and for what? To be the final sacrifice(korban), the perfect sin offering so that no more such sacrifices(ie. animal) need to be done anymore for the Eternal Remission of our sins, past, present, future, forever... and for the total healing of our body, mind and soul, today and forever!

I have to say this right now... HALLELUJAH! - Praise to ye YHVH! (That's what it means in Hebrew.)

And why do i celebrate? Because He is Risen!

Finally, i know all of us seek The Truth. But what defines Truth?

TRUTH is ETERNAL, Fact is temporal.

The world was once known to be flat and taken as fact. But now we obviously know it's round!

So my brother, walk in truth. Seek the God that gives you Truth. And the fruits of this Truth is Peace not as this world can give, Love that you have lost but now have been found and Joy everlasting that people of this world will think you're crazy to be this happy all the time!...

Amen brother... God be with you and the Truth will seek you!

God bless,
Emmanuel. '

Our Shield and Hedge... Divine Protection for us.

Hi all,

Dearly beloved of our Lord Jesus...

I was inspired to write this post by a recent encounter i had this past week.

How many times have we as believers been discouraged by negative words by people around us? How many times have we been told by some of our own Christian believer friends that what we are doing is not Spirit led and we are using our own self effort or that the outcome of the things we do will lead us into trouble and danger for ourselves and our families?

With Pastor's teaching, i have learnt that, we as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, have all the authority in the world to reject any negative thoughts that's being put into our head, reject all evil that will come against us and our loved ones.

I believe many of us have not come to the point of realising that God's love for us is perfect. Abba's love is eternal and perfection to the very end. A dear beloved brother was sharing with me his personal encounter with God, where God asked him whether he knew that God's love for him is perfect. This was such a revelation for me. Many of us limit His love according to our knowledge and experiences. Instead of rejecting all that is bad and evil for us, we start to except it as part of the toil of our Christian walk. Many believe that when they start to serve God, they will be challenged by the devil through the authorities that be. What we have known becomes unknown again, that the truth is, satan has been defeated at the cross of Calvary.

It is a state of knowing, that our Abba Father loves us so much that He does not want us to suffer in any way. THIS has to become our daily reality. Then whatever we may do; evangelizing, preaching the Word, sharing our testimonies with people around us, will always be done from Victory ground well knowing that satan has been defeated. And the negativities we experience and see around us are just lying symptoms to get us out of God's perfect love for us.

Let's look at scripture, Job 1:10
Have You not made a hedge around him, and around his house, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land.

So, let's look in context who was speaking to God right now... Job 1:9
Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for naught?

It was satan who spoke to God and satan knew that Job is protected by God. If Job had the Lord's hedge around him, the works of his hands are blessed and his livestock increased... What more us?! Aren't we the righteousness of God now? So, why do some of us still allow fear of this world to creep into our lives?

Deuteronomy 33:29
Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

Isn't He our sword and our shield? His Word is our Sword, Faith is our Shield and we put on the rest of the armour of God in Ephesians 6:11-17. The beauty about this is the consistency of God's Word.

Words in the OT are consistent with the NT. God wants us to know that HE is true to His word and His Word will cut through any enemies that come against us and our Faith shields us from all the lies in this world.

I reject and refuse any words of condemnation that come against me. We become the partakers of the feeding that He gives us and therefore we give back to His service from Victory ground and from abundance. That we have freely received, therefore we freely give back a portion of our lives to Him from the overflow we have received from Him. Anything we do and say that exalts Jesus is service to Him. Such Glory, Such Victory, why should there be any condemnation? God's hedge is around us, God has formed a protection of restraint around us and we have the shield of Faith to repel any evil that is stupid enough to come near the believers of Christ!

Thank you Lord Jesus for you have ensured us eternal protection through your mighty work at the cross of Calvary.

Blessings Brothers & Sisters,
Emmanuel