Sin --Psalm 51

For a while I was battling with headlice with my kid. Psalm 51 really reminds me of that experience. Sin is like headlice, but the hardest part is those hidden nits, those eggs of the headlice. Sometimes we deal with the sin, we think they're all gone and have got rid off. But sin had also produced lots of nits, the hidden sinful thoughts while it was present. Those sinful thoughts seemed to be harmless for a while, they're hidden, hard to detect, but then after a while, whey their time's right, they'll hatch and the head will be full of lices again. So, we need to get rid of both live lices and the hidden nits. We need to deal with both outward sin and also every sinful thoughts that's hidden inside of us.

Dealing with lice is easy. All you need to do is brush them out. But dealing with nits is hard. I tended to just let go of it. It takes hours of work:searching, pulling out, going over and over, can't miss one. Cause if you miss even one egg, then that egg will hatch, and then the hatched lice will lay more eggs, and the eggs will become more lices... Some people go through this lice problem for years, just because they can't be bothered to do what it takes to completely cleaning up the nits. But actually when you set your mind to it, when you're determined enough, the job can be done, just needs a bit extra effort than you'd normally willing to do. When you're so fed up with this problem, when you're so sick of kids keep being sent home, when you're so tired of having to do this over and over and over every day, you actually make up your mind one day and say, ok, this is it, I'd just have to do it today and get rid the whole lot, no matter what it takes. Then actually it's done before you know it. Searching inside your heart and mind, and finding all the secret sinful thoughts are painful, but when you're determined and are willing to crush them and get rid of them, that's the time when you can really be set free.

Sacrifice of thanksgiving--a leaven for grace - psalm50

Ps50:14 "sacrifice of thanksgiving" Brian Houston preached a best message of the year this past Sunday, which he talked about two different kinds of leaven. Which leaven you have leads to what kind of a lump you are. I think ps 50 actually explains about these two leavens, one's our offerings by law, which leads to self righteousness, the other one's sacrifice of thanksgiving, which leads to a whole new realm of grace and blessings.

The glory of Jacob - psalm 47

Proverb 14:13 "Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief." This speaks to me a prodigal son's heart at the end of his journey. And Psalm 47:1-4 reminds me the reward that God has stored up in waiting for the return of the prodigal son(Jacob), and as Jacob returned and discovered the glory inherited from faith(Abraham), his life became shouts of praise(v5-9).

Tree of life - Proverb 13

I love this verse: pr13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Waiting in hope is painful, but the joy of fruitfulness and fulfillness ahead when God brings the promises to pass is worth every bit of pain that's in the process. No pain no gain.

As the deer -- Psalm 42

Ps42:1"As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, o God."

When we're in distress, despair, when our hearts are troubled and disturbed, when the enemy's trying to rob our hope away, we need to run as fast as the deer to find the presence of God so our troubled soul can find peace and be satisfied and renewed.

Thanksgiving and praise will lift us out of the misery valley and transfer us to the glorious mountain top, like a troubled baby finds her mother's embrace.

Listen to Him -- Mark 9

Mark9:7 "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!"
The presence of God is available to everyone of us now. We can all have that mountain top experience in places like conferences, praise and worship sessions in services, prayer times, or personal devotion times,etc. A lot of the times like in a conference, we feel so wonderful, and all we want to do is to build a tabernacle and stay there. We enjoy the feelings, the emotional highs, as they're wonderful experiences. But if all we have is good feelings, we'll leave the mountain top without any change. The Lord says, listen to Him. Mountain top is a place where we listen to Him, not only to feel good for ourselves. He has words to say to us in His presence, and if we miss His words, we miss the point. The words He has to say individually to us are the things that will change our lives, not only the good feelings. Too many times I find myself too busy enjoying the good feelings and too busy singing the songs, watching the singers that I forget about listening, which is the most important thing.

Leaven...Watch out --Mark 8

Mark 8:15 "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod." When we're in lack and need a miracle, it's very tempting and easy for us to fall into the trap of the Pharisees, which to me is selfrighteousness and human attempt. It's like Abraham trying to fulfil God's promise in his own way and produced Ishmail. Faith has to be simple, it cannot be contaminated.

However, if Jesus asked us "how many loaves do you have?" and we only gave him 3 instead of 7 (Mark8:5), we will be reminded of Prob10:5"He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely, But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully."

His calling, listen again! -Mark 8

Sometimes the calling of God or the task He puts in our hands is too big for us to comprehend, like finding enough food for 4000 people in the desolate place. But actually all Jesus was asking is "How many loaves do you have?" When we find out how many we do have and give them to God, then the rest is all fun.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom- Prob9:10

Prob9:10"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Wisdom is about making choices. Every single choice will result in everything we do or say, which takes us to different destinies where we'll experience either God's blessings or wrath. Every choice we make has it's consequences. And without a revelation what that consequence will bring to us, we can't care less what kind of choices we're making today.

Working smart - Joshua 23

Josh23:10"One of your men puts to flight a thousand for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you. So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the Lord your God." Do you realise that if you spend time loving the Lord, it's like employing 1000 winning workers to work for you at the same time? interesting hey.

Wisdom is a person -Prob 8

pr8:34"Blessed is the man who listens to me, Watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts." Wisdom is a person, He has a personality, He's a spirit, spirit of wisdom. I don't know if this is right, correct me if you don't agree: it's like a person can have lots of demons, demon of alcohoh, demon of lust, demon of smoking, demon of anger, jealousy, hatred.... each demon has it's personality. Holy Spirit can be many as well, a spirit of dancing, a spirit of worship, a spirit of wisdom, spirit of songwriting, spirit of teaching....each spirit has a personality and character. We invite another person into our lives. For example, we first start out having one cigarette, thinking that it's not gonna cause any harm, just for fun, then the next time it's easier to take another one, gradually the demon of smoking found a place to stay, and all this person wants is smoking, it's like we're living with another person within ourselves, and this person gets stronger and stronger each time we give in to smoking, and in the end it gets very hard to get rid of the habit, because it's hard to get rid of the demon that wants smoking all the time. Is it the same way with spirit of wisdom? We yield it one time and invite Him to come in to our lives, then the next time we might find it a bit easier to listen to Him, and He gained His place stronger and stronger in us, gradually He lives in us, and He becomes a personality within us? The difference is the Holy spirit is a gentleman, He won't come in by forcing our will, but the demons will take any chance he can to squeeze in. It stuck to me while I read this proverb chapter, how many times it mentions "I" or "me", "her"...? just a thought.

Wisdom again - Proverb 8:1-21

I've been thinking what is wisdom, as it seems that it's the key to almost everything we want in life.

So far the thoughts are, wisdom is a rhema word, it's a fresh revelation and insight toward things. It can be a prophesy, a word of wisdom. We know suddenly who to talk to and how to talk, how to handle things,etc.

It's like Peter in the NT trying to fish for the whole night, and couldn't get anything. And wisdom said, now cast your net, and he drew a net that's more than he could handle. Without wisdom we can be exactly like that, stress out and flat out in the sea trying to catch something but could find little. But with wisdom we know exactly when the opportunity is coming and how to catch it without stressing out.

Wisdom keeps things in balance as well. So many people try to achieve something by working overtime, at the cost of family and imbalanced lifestyle. But wisdom enables us to use time wisely and economically.

Wisdom says, "I love those who love me, and those who diligently seek me will find me."(v17) If we want to have a blessed life("Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness...to endow those who love me with wealth, that I may fill their treasuries..."v18), then we need to put seeking wisdom in the rightful place and priority.

Wisdom is not working hard, it's working smart.

Wisdom brings creative ideas, sometimes people around you, or even you yourself don't like the sound of it. It can be something unusual that contradicts normal way of thinking.

Wisdom comes supernaturally and it brings supernatural results.

To follow wisdom it needs obedience. Sometimes there's great obstacles. Sometimes it looks ridiculous in our human eyes.

Wisdom is about making the right choices(v2) and coming up with the right strategies(v3).

If you're in a business, wisdom will make it a kingdom business. Which means, the Lord is the boss and He decides and give orders of what needs to be done. And wisdom is the ear to hear all the instructions.

Wisdom requires a clean heart. A contaminated heart can not perceive true wisdom. v11"all desirable things cannot compare with her(wisdom)." If we value something over wisdom, then we're likely to miss her.

v12 "I, wisdom dwell with prudence"
and prudence in the dictionary means
1 : the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason
2 : sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs
3 : skill and good judgment in the use of resources
4 : caution or circumspection as to danger or risk