“Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error.” – Thomas Jefferson
A few years back, I was searching for an important document. After a couple of attempts, I was very puzzled because I remembered it was kept in that particular file. After combing all the files we had both in our office and home, I started to get worried because we needed the document very soon.
Again, I searched for that file, which I believed should be there. Alas! It was not there. In my desperation, I began to cry out to God and ask the Holy Spirit to show me where that document was placed. All of a sudden, I saw a picture in my mind and the file was in a particular place that I had already checked so many times before. I said Lord, “It is not there.” Nevertheless since You showed me that the file was there, let me search one last time. Sure enough it was found sandwiched between two other documents. What a relief and joy as we journeyed to the lawyer’s office to hand over the documents in order to facilitate the sale.
Holy Spirit
Precious lesson learnt. According to John 14:16-17, the Sweet Holy Spirit was sent to us on earth to be our Helper and Counselor. As we journey in this life, learn to cultivate an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit Who will guide us into God’s perfect will for lives. He knows and holds our future. He will show us things to come as written in John 6:13.
Joshua was deceived
We need to learn to inquire of the Lord and download from Him to deliver us from embarking on good ideas that are not God’s ideas.
In Joshua 9, we read an account on how the Gibeonites who were the enemies to the children of Israel deceived Joshua and the elders into cutting a covenant with them for protection. Their blunder was that “they did not ask counsel of the Lord.” Joshua 9:14-15.
We have met and counselled quite a number of people who are suffering today because of wrong and hasty decisions made without consulting the Holy Spirit. Many are too busy to seek God in order to download from Him. Many are like Martha who went around busy serving and doing more than what God requires of them. Many ‘Marthas’ have ended up worried, distracted and stressed. Let us learn to rest and sit at the feet of Jesus to listen His counsel, direction and wisdom.
David inquired of the Lord.
Psalm 27: 4
‘ One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.’
King David was a very wise king to seek God all the days of his life. He found the secret in the secret place with God in the holy Temple. He wanted to encounter God personally and walked in His ways and His will. As he cultivated a wonderful attitude and lifestyle of prayer and worship, he mastered the art of inquiring of the Lord in many issues and during crisis.
In 2 Samuel 5, after David was crowned king over all Israel and Judah, the Philistines in battle array confronted him. David did not go to the battle immediately even though the old enemies deployed themselves for battle. First and foremost, David inquired of the Lord if he should engage in this battle. When God gave the green light, King David downloaded the battle strategy and broke through the enemies’ camp.
In a short while, the same enemies in the same venue confronted David again the second time. Again David did not presume or assume anything but inquired of the Lord for His leading and counsel. Interestingly David received from God a different battle strategy. What works the first time may not necessarily work the second time. Wisdom dictates us to seek God in all matters and not take God for granted.
Handling Crisis
Many times when we are emotionally involved in a matter, it is kind of difficult to hear or download from God accurately. That could be the reason a surgeon is never encouraged to operate on his own family members. We were at a crossroad many years ago to lay down our travelling ministry to pastor an ailing church. In the natural wisdom of man, it was highly unwise to take up the Senior Pastor position of the church in deep crisis.
I needed to hear from Heaven. There were too many conflicting and confusing voices. We needed the pure and unadulterated counsel from God. Who were we to go to? We needed someone with a proven track record of hearing God without any prejudice of the matter involved, to help solve my dilemma.
An Extract from PROPHETIC ENCOUNTER
Prophecy can play a vital role as an anchor in time of storms. If it is a shipwreck, prophecy may be a lifeboat. The year 1996 was both such a memorable and traumatic year. The church where we were based in and also our home church experienced a spiritual earthquake of great magnitude. My wife, Christina and myself were in Perth for a ministry trip. One morning at 5.45 am, we received a dreadful call from Malaysia. A familiar voice, my senior pastor and spiritual father for the last 8 years briefly mentioned that he had fallen into immorality. The purpose for the call was to ask me to take over the leadership and pastor the church. I told him that my calling was not to pastor a church and furthermore, I had meetings arranged throughout the year. After discussing with Christina, we decided that we would help the church, the senior pastor and his family in whatever way we could but certainly not by taking over the pastoral role.
First Prophecy
The following Sunday morning as we walked into the church service in Perth, a young man met us at the door. He said that God awakened him early that morning and God gave him a message for me. The Lord said that He was going to give me more responsibility in my local church. My reply was that we already had enough on our plate.
This first prophecy from an independent source did not convince me to accept the greater responsibility in the church. My wife also felt, that we shouldn’t make a decision based on one prophecy for ‘in the mouth of two or three witnesses every truth is established.’ If this is God, it will be confirmed again.
Other Prophecies
On our way home, we transited in Singapore to speak in a Prophetic Conference. I was preaching the first night and getting ready to leave the very next day. Just before I started to preach, one of the speakers, a Nigerian, took me aside and gave me a prophecy that there was a gap in my church and the Lord wanted me to fill in the gap. This second prophecy from an unknown source still did not convince me. Another prophet from Australia received prophetic words “rescue mission” for me while I was ministering that night. A
third prophetic word and I still doubted if this was really God. After much prayer and consideration, I bargained with the Lord for one more confirmation. I highly respected a prophet of God from India who had a tremendous track record on personal prophesies. When I called him in India, I was informed that the man of God was taking a rest in Malaysia. He was at my doorstep – what perfect timing!
I explained to him the complexities of the situation and the calling of God upon my life and that to pastor the church at this point with the present set of circumstances was just beyond me. The man of God told me to see him in 3 days’ time.
“It is God’s will for you to pastor the church. I inquired 3 times and Jesus said the same thing,” said the great man of God.
In obedience to God, I reluctantly took up the pastoral role for 5 difficult and challenging years. The church had a RM 3 million debt, and 2 legal suits against the church. There were 6 months of RM28.000 per month rental not paid. I still remember my hands shivering as I opened up the lawyer’s letter addressed to the church. She was once a famous church in the city and nation, but now a reproach and a disgrace.’
Mistakes are costly but sins are deadly.
To this day, neither the fallen pastor nor the church has fully recovered.
We were blessed to have someone to hear God on our behalf. As we followed Heaven’s counsel, God trained us in the 5 years of pastoring for our next phase of life in the travelling ministry. God rewarded our obedience by blessing us with a son and great open doors to the nations after He released us back to the itinerary ministry.
God had favored and blessed us beyond what we could ask, think or imagine.
It pays to download from heaven’s headquarters – Pr. Paul Ang