David Recovered All

By Ps. Paul Ang

The robb’d that smiles steals something from the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless (useless) grief.- William Shakespeare,

1 Samuel 30 : 8, 18 – 19
So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.

The story began with the Amalekites invading Ziklag (where David and his mighty men were based) and taking captives of their wives, sons and daughters and belongings when David’s crew were away from home.

David was blamed for the misfortune and his own people even wanted to stone him. In moments like this, David learnt how to come to God and strengthen himself in His Presence. David began to inquire of the Lord what he should do to recover all. David downloaded from God and received the battle strategy on how to recover all.

This passage of scriptures became alive to me in 2015. We were away early May 2015 in Manila, Philippines to speak for a conference. Our return flight back was late at night. By the time we reached home, it was almost mid-night. I took all our passports to be stored in a safe and was shocked to discover that the safe was unlocked! (We secured a fireproof safe to keep our important documents as we are away so much.) We normally keep all cash in the bank and live as simply as we can. We usually do not leave any money or valuables at home because of our frequent travels. However, at this particular period we had some US dollars that we didn’t bank-in knowing that Asher was going shortly to United States. It seemed more convenient and economical at that moment to hold that cash.

Shocking Discovery
Lo and behold, some Malaysian ringgit & US dollars which we saved up for Asher’s expenses in United States were stolen. Our key was left to the part-time maid trusting her integrity and knowing that there was nothing really valuable in our house.

Suddenly, I remembered that when I took the passports for our trip to Manila, in a hurry I forgot to lock the safe. (Welcome to the 50+ years’ club – age of forgetfulness). Without wasting time, I checked all the doors and windows for any break-in. There was no sign of a break-in through the doors and windows. Upon checking more thoroughly, the house and office were in an excellent and orderly condition. Even all the boxes and files in the safe were in a wonderful and neatly arranged condition. It was unlikely that a break in occurred because there was no sign of a break in and the house was in a neat and pristine condition.

Our prime suspect was our maid (We will call her Patsy.) who worked with us for 8 years. We trusted her with the house keys even while we were away for a week. I noticed my mobile had a message from Patsy requesting leave for a week. She explained that she was very sick in that message. I called her immediately and asked her about the missing money. She quite obviously disavowed any knowledge of it and denied vehemently.

My sleep was gone by now, even though I was so tired after a long trip and a long day. I was telling myself that I needed to recover all. “Lord Jesus, what must I do to recover all that was stolen”? If it was Patsy’s doing, the chances were good but what if it was some outsiders? As I was tossing in the bed, I decided to postpone my trip to Kota Kinabalu for another day to confront our maid.

I was supposed to leave for the airport at 6am that morning to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. I called up Malaysian Airline at 3 am to cancel my morning flight and changed it to the next day. At 7 am, I called my maid and asked if she could come in just for a little while to help us since we had too much work. I also wanted to question her. If she did not come, we were planning to confront her at her house.

Surprisingly, she arrived at our door step at around 8 am. We questioned her and pleaded with her to return all that was stolen. She insisted that she was innocent. She showed us the toilet window of our son’s bathroom insisting that the robbers entered by that way, but the window was not opened nor was the window pane broken. I asked her: “how could someone from outside come into the house without breaking the window glass?” At that moment she showed no sign of owning up and pretended to be very sick.

Confronting The Maid
We promised to forgive her and continue to employ her if she owned up to her mistake. Obviously, the soft approach did not work. I told Christina to dress up and that we would take her to the police station and make a report. We could see now that she was rattled by the fact that she could end up in jail. She asked to call her husband – a mistake that she made which caused her to be caught red handed.

I said, “We are accusing you and why did you need to call your husband?” She was caught red-faced and dumbfounded. We told her that we would like all that was stolen especially the US currency to be returned by that day itself or it would be a police case.

Few minutes later her husband called and said that he would tell the whole story when he came to see us in the evening. He was in another town, Ipoh which is about a 3-hours’ car ride from where we lived. Apparently he was on his way back so he asked us to hold on and not go to the police.
I emphasized to our maid that if the loot was not returned by evening, there will be no more negotiation. At 1pm, Christina sent her home. About 5pm, she came with her husband, whom we shall call Jack (not his real name).

Mystery Indonesian Man
Jack began his story that few days ago, he met an Indonesian man asking for some directions. As he wound down the window of his car, this man blew something on Jack’s face. Jack declared that he was under some spell. This Indonesian man asked him to drive him to Green Park. Jack brought this Indonesian man to my house instead and gave him our house key.

Immediately Christina questioned him as to why did he bring that man to our house because Jack was not working with us nor were we living in Green Park. She questioned Jack again as to why Patsy’s key was with Jack because the key was entrusted to Patsy and not Jack. Jack kept quiet when Christina questioned.

According to Jack, he waited for an hour before the man appeared again with a bag of stolen valuables. Under this man’s instruction, Jack drove him to a deserted house that was burned down and the thief hid the loot at the ceiling of this burnt house. Jack mentioned that this Indonesian robber was very stupid to show him the exact location of the loot. Jack continued his story that the robber was going to return someday to collect the loot as he was in a hurry to return to Indonesia to pay for his son’s medical fees.

Without hesitation, Jack, Patsy, Asher my son and I were at that mysterious isolated house. In a few minutes Jack led us into the house and pointed to the location where the loot was hidden. Asher climbed up a beam and took hold of the stolen goods.

I could not believe my eyes as I opened the bag. Everything stolen from the safe was in the bag including the US$4000 cash. Truly the thief was extremely foolish and did not take especially the US$4000 with him to his home country.

Needless to say we celebrated! That day was also Asher’s 17th birthday. Asher got back his US money for his expenses to study in US. We recovered almost all except for the Malaysian currency of RM3000. So the penalty for changing my flight was really fruitful. That night my sleep was so sweet and refreshing.

As I boarded my flight to Kota Kinabalu, I could not help but thank God for giving me the battle strategy to confront Patsy so that we could recover all like David did.

Pr. Christina’s Inquiry
All this while my wife was uncomfortable and knew that Jack and Patsy were lying. She inquired from the Lord to reveal the truth and help us to understand for sure if they are lying. Christina explained that Indonesians would love to have US currency more than Malaysian Ringgit. If that story was accurate the “Indonesian man” would take the US4000 instead of the RM3000. I brushed aside her reasoning as I was happy the US dollars were returned. Let Ps Christina explain how the Lord revealed to her.

The Revelation
By Ps Christina
That night I began to pray and ask God to reveal the truth. In my heart I knew Patsy and Jack were lying all along but there was no way to prove it. I asked the Lord to help me know for sure if my gut feeling was accurate.

I heard the Holy Spirit nudge to search out a link in the internet. This is the link the Lord brought me to :
Signs of Lying: Here’s What Will and Will Not Help You Detect Lies by Eric BarkerApril 26, 2014

‘So lying isn’t necessarily hard in terms of stress. But it is hard in terms of “cognitive load.” What’s that mean?’

‘Lying is hard because it makes you think. You need to think up the lies. That’s extra work.

Looking for nervousness can be a wild goose chase. Looking for signs of thinking hard can be a great strategy.’

(Ah I said to myself, Patsy had lots of unusual and unnecessary pauses in-between her answers. It certainly looked like she was thinking very hard though she didn’t flinch much in the beginning. I was looking for the wrong signals.)

(Oh! Yes of course! I was looking at the wrong indications like unable to make eye-contact but she could look me in the eye without blinking and yet I knew she is lying. She certainly looked like she was thinking very hard)

What do experts at detecting lies do?
– Increase Load
– They don’t passively rely on common signs of lying.
They actively seek to increase the suspected liar’s cognitive load.
They deliberately make the person think harder to magnify the signals to a point where they are obvious.

I knew these links answered some of my questions as to why she didn’t appear to be lying when in fact I knew in my heart she was not telling the truth. I asked God to reveal more. God showed me another research’

‘Former Detective Reveals How To Tell When Suspects are Lying
By Ashley Lutz www.stacydittrich.com

Dittrich has appeared on Nancy Grace,CNN and E! to discuss headline-making cases and explain what happens behind the yellow tape. She told us police can usually tell if a suspect is lying–even if their story seems to line up.

(That is very interesting I thought. Thank God for wisdom God gives the investigators in their research)
Here are the most tell-tale signs, revealed.

‘1,The emotions don’t fit: even if what a suspect is saying on the call appears to be true, their tone is a big tip-off to police, Dittrich said. For instance,

2,a calm demeanor while reporting a home invasion could indicate something is amiss because “most people are hysterical in that kind of situation.’’
(Yes, indeed she kept a calm demeanour. So did Jack when he came to tell us his story)

‘3,Not answering “yes” or “no”: an innocent person will usually answer questions with a direct yes or no. Not so for criminals, says Dittrich. When asked “are you involved in this murder?”

4.they are likely to give a long answer like “I swear on my mother’s grave and all my children I didn’t.” This is a way of stalling: even though they tell themselves to lie, they can’t quite follow through.’

(Yes, Patsy wanted to swear on the bible that she was telling the truth over simple questions whether she knew what happened and whether she was tempted to take the money)

Too many details: A criminal usually carefully plans their story in advance, anticipating that they’ll eventually speak with detectives. A 911 call with too many details about the suspect, such as what they did that day or whether they’re happy with their significant other, is a red flag because it shows the person put thought into his or her story.

(Jack seems to fit well in this point as his story was long with lots of details)

Lying about small stuff: Even the most innocuous statements can reveal 5.inconsistencies..’

(Yes there were inconsistencies in their story from a robbery they didn’t know about to an Indonesian man who cast a spell on them.)

‘Helpfully offering another explanation:
6.a suspect will often try and mislead detectives by putting another suspicious person on the investigation’s radar, Dittrich said. If a person denies a kidnapping but mentions a creepy man in a van, it’s important to see if there’s any other evidence of such a person existing. If there’s not, chances are the suspect made up a story to deflect the blame.

(Now I knew my suspicions were correct, the mystery Indonesian man did not exist. It was a made-up story to deflect the blame.)

Yes, I (Christina), understood that sometimes when God wants to reveal something to us, He uses the available resources so that we are able to comprehend better. In this case the research work in these links opened my understanding and helped me analyze the whole interrogation we had with Patsy and Jack. It was the Holy Spirit leading me to these links, which I didn’t know existed.

Landed in Hospital
(By Pr Christina)
I received a message from Patsy that she was admitted in the hospital. That was Saturday. On Sunday I was speaking in a church in Kuala Lumpur. When the service was over, I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit to visit her at the Hospital Selayang. I obeyed the Lord, as I entered her ward the Lord led me to inquire from the nurse about her condition. I wanted to know why she was admitted in the hospital. I asked the nurse if she was breathless or vomitting blood as Patsy had earlier mentioned she had these symptoms and was very serious. The nurse smiled and said, “No. Her lungs are clear and all is well. She is admitted because she has very high blood pressure.” “Oh she never had high blood pressure before!” I exclaimed, because in all the 8 years Patsy worked with us she was very healthy and strong.

I went to her bed and spoke to her. I said, “Tell me the truth. You are here because you are under tremendous stress by the robbery. Your husband is the main cause of your stress. Am I right?”
She nodded. “He took the money, right? So both of you took the money, right?” I added. This time the fear of God had struck her and she nodded again.
I told her that she needed to repent and ask for God’s forgiveness. I prayed with her and left. The next day she was discharged from the hospital, perfectly well.

That Sunday night I informed my husband Paul Ang that Jack indeed stole the money.

New Life Church
(By Pr Paul Ang)
I, Paul was ministering at New Life Church, pastored by my good friend Pastor Ronnie Liew over the weekends. I shared the whole story of Patsy and Jack and asked them to be the detective. After service, everyone I asked said the same thing that Jack was lying.

Christina called me and told me that she visited Patsy at the hospital. When Patsy came to our house that morning, she told us that she was vomiting blood and could not breathe. She was wheezing throughout the time of interrogation. Quite likely she had Asthma or Tuberculosis, I thought. Christina checked with the doctor and the nurse about her condition which was very good. Her medical record that was shown to Christina was good. An X-ray taken showed that her lungs were in excellent condition. It was obvious Patsy basically had high blood pressure due to the stress of stealing and fear of being exposed! We knew Patsy was lying and pretending to be sick to justify the one week of leave.

After that call from Christina, I decided to call Jack on the next morning (Monday morning) to return back our RM3000. Again Jack insisted that he was innocent. I gave him a choice.
I said, “If the Indonesian man had taken the money then Jack need not return. However if Jack took the money then he should return or else he was a thief and might go to hell if he did not repent.”

I also said that his wife admitted to his taking the money.

I told him that I did not believe his drama and neither did all of my friends whom I asked.
Amazingly, 40 minutes later, Jack came to return the RM3000 to my wife.
Wonderful Jesus! We recovered all!

Tragedy
(By Pr Christina)
God forgives and redeems us if we are willing to repent and change. Unfortunately Patsy in her conversation with me after she was discharged from hospital, was back to the old story of being under the spell, claiming their innocence.

They left for the harvest festival the following day to Sarawak and were supposed to return back by the next weekend. However on the Saturday, they were supposed to return back to KL, Patsy was admitted in Miri Hospital in Sarawak and could not follow her husband back home. That Sunday coincidentally, I was ministering in the church that Patsy’s family attends in Rawang. The Lord put such compassion in my heart and my message was walking in the fear of God. Many came forward at the altar and wept before God. Patsy’s family wasn’t there to make it right with God.

The next day I receive a text message from her Pastor David that Patsy fell off the hospital bed in Miri, Sarawak and died. She was only 38 years old and had never fell ill all the 8 years she worked with us. She had hardly taken a sick leave. Horrified, I inquired further concerning the cause of her death. Apparently, her lungs had holes that led to her sudden death. That was a very queer death indeed!

Asher exclaimed hearing of her death that it seemed like that of Ananias & Sapphira! Who are Ananias & Sapphira?

Ananias & Sapphira
(by Pr. Christina)
In Acts 5:1-ll is a story of the dishonesty of two believers, Ananias and his wife Sapphira. Ananias, is the Greek version of the Hebrew name ‘Hananyah’ meaning “Jehovah is gracious”. Indeed God had been very gracious to him. God had given him a beautiful wife and much material possession. Sapphira means “beautiful”, which is the same name given to a deep purple blue sapphire. God had blessed them both and now with their joy of salvation, what more could they ask?

However, they coveted for more than just being members of the church. They wanted to be the prominent leaders seeing how the Apostles were highly regarded. They coveted the honor and the acclaim. The people, who sold their possessions and gave money to the church, most probably received great appreciation and applause for their sacrifices.

Acts 4: 33-37
33And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all.
34 Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,
35 and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need.
36 And Joses, who was also named Barnabas by the apostles (which is translated Son of Encouragement), a Levite of the country of Cyprus,
37 having land, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

Barnabas known as the “Son of Encouragement” also was one of those who had sacrificed everything not for any carnal reason or did he make a grandstand play.
Spiritually-minded people would not be motivated for the accolades and applauses of men. It was obvious that the acclaim was all that Ananias and Sapphira craved after.

They wanted to make an impression as to how much they too had given of the great possessions God had graciously bestowed on them. To part with their possession was unbearable. How could they give totally to God and trust God absolutely to meet their needs? It could mean they had less money to use for their pleasure. No they couldn’t let go; they had to have that money.
They craved for the acclaim but they coveted their money too. What a ‘difficile’ dilemma! How could they get the accolades of the congregation without laying down everything on the altar? Ah they could fake it!!

This was the root of their issue; they wanted acceptance, accolades and applauses of men but they also wanted to ‘pull wool over the eyes’ of everyone by their deception. In reality it would only be a portion of that possession. Never in their wildest dreams would they
have thought anyone would know or they would be found out. They forgot heaven is watching.

God’s revelation brought the judgment
(By Pr. Christina)
God through the mouth of Peter brought a ‘full-stop’ to the pride and deception of Ananias and Sapphira.
Acts 5:3-11
3But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?
4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.
6 And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.
7 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
8 And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?”
She said, “Yes, for so much.”
9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”
10 Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband.
11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

God judged them not because they gave less but because they lied and deceived the leaders of the congregation. They didn’t lie to man but to God. If they didn’t give, they would not have such a tragic death. Even if they gave a small portion and were truthful about it, they would have been spared. Their death resulted from their lies, deception and dishonesty.

I hope my dear readers, you would take this into heart that we must be careful how we conduct our lives before God and be honest at all times. It is especially so if you are dealing with men and women of God. Lying to them would be equivalent to lying to the Holy Spirit as many times these servants of God are under the direct instructions of the Holy Spirit

I do myself a greater injury in lying than I do him of whom I tell a lie.- Michel de Montaign