And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32)

Jesus said if He is lifted up from the earth, He will draw all men unto Him. Contextually, Jesus was referring to either the way He would die or His resurrection.

The Apostle John’s interpretation was the former – He said this to show the kind of death that He was going to die (verse 33). Jesus was crucified and crucifixion involved putting someone on a cross (put very simply, perhaps too simply) and standing the cross upright with the person on the cross – the person is lifted up from the earth. We can be very sure that when Jesus was hung on the cross at Calvary, many people were there watching to see what happened i.e. people were drawn to the crucifixion.

I tend to believe that Jesus was referring to the latter, i.e. His resurrection. The main reason for this is due to the second portion of the scripture; it stated that He will draw all men unto Him. I suggest no matter how you interpreted the word “all men”, it should suggest more than a local population/gathering of men in a locality. What I am saying is that Jesus cannot be referring to the crowd that would gather at His crucifixion. He was referring to all people of the world, his present time and future. I believe at least a portion of the past people (with reference to His time), were included [a separate article to come]. It was the resurrection (from death) that was the victory over Satan, Sin and Death. It is by this resurrection that Jesus will draw all men unto Him. If He died and was not resurrected, He would not draw men, would He? So, what Jesus was saying was that with resurrection, He will draw all men unto Him. [to avoid misunderstanding, it is only right to say the Apostle John understood the resurrection power]

How can we apply this verse in our walk with the Lord?
Why would we want to be bothered with this verse?
Isn’t it past or is it not?

It is not past. The power of resurrection is still available and on-going. The actual event is past but the consequence of the event is continuous. The key power of resurrection is the Saving power. This is the power to save people from their fate of eternal deaths in Hell. We should be bothered with this verse because we have been saved (that is if you are already a Christian) by this power, and it is the continuous will of the Father God for mankind – that all men be saved from their fate of eternal deaths in Hell. In Mathew 7:21 Jesus stated that not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of the Father God.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Mathew 7:21)

Of course, God will many things, but we often say we do not know what is God’s will for our lives. But that is not good enough excuse for us not to try to comply with the requirements of entry into the Kingdom of Heaven [a separate article to come]. I know I sounded a little like we have to make an effort but I made no apologies for it. I do not subscribe to “salvation by works” but I believe God grants us grace to perfect holiness [Be holy because I am holy] and to do good works (produce acceptable fruits to God). I am not trying to put fear into us and suggesting that we will not be going to heaven if we die now, just because we are not doing the will of God all the time. I believe God does look at the heart of a person. Nevertheless, it is important that we take note of the explicit wills of God and walk in them. Saving people from the fate of eternal deaths in Hell is an explicit and continuous will of God that we can always walk in. So what must we do then? Tell people about the power – The resurrection story of Jesus and He will draw men unto Himself.

What else can we do apart from sharing the resurrection story? We have to be careful whenever we take a verse out of its context. One possible window of application is when a particular verse is consistent with the general theme of various parts of the Word of God. I do apply this verse in this manner:

I often pray this:
Lord, when I lift your name, draw men unto yourself (basically drawing upon John 12:32)

Father God resurrected Jesus and that resurrection draws men unto Jesus. In this case, I lift Jesus’ name by testimonies, by speaking of his attributes (like greatness, love, compassion, etc), by exercising faith in prayers and in exercising the gifts of the Spirit. I am saying, “Jesus, draw men unto yourself as I do these things.” Because I move in a little way, in the gift of words of knowledge (to a lesser extent, prophecy), I would pray this regularly:

Lord when I lift your name, come and hold up your name.
Let me receive from you clearly and that I speak only what you want spoken.
I rather not lift your name than to lift it up and see it fall to the ground.
My intention is to glorify your name and let people with needs be helped.
Lord, when I release your words, come and hold up your name by doing the necessary – healing, setting people free, convicting people, and ministering to people.
Lord, when I lift your name, draw men unto yourself

I am honored that the Lord honored the motivations of my heart and allowed me to be a blessing to others (some were healed, others felt ministered, still others were encouraged to walk closer to the Lord; indirectly, maybe even others gave their lives to the Lord because of what they see/experienced). I believe I have been a blessing to more people in the last one year than the previous 7 years. When we
lift Jesus’ name with the correct motivations, He will draw men unto Himself.




Anthony Chia -God wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)

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Thank you, Lord. You are still affirming

Preamble
While I must be conscious that this is a public domain so that I do not slander anyone, embarrass anybody and also in general, not get into trouble with the church or the laws, I am hoping this personal blog can also function in some way a record/journal of sort, of some of my experiences in the faith, especially if the “stories” can encourage or help somebody. I also must remind myself not to blow my own trumpet. Actually, sometimes I wondered why I want to write on this blog. I hardly get any feedback, my blog is not being read by many. By writing, I am also making myself vulnerable. Actually, the temptation is great for us not to say anything because by not saying anything, no one will know what we are thinking, and so we cannot be faulted. But in truth, someone knows, and that someone is God. He knows every meditation of our hearts. By putting it in writing, of course, because it can cause another to stumble, the responsibility is even greater – one more thing to answer to God. And if I ended up blowing my own trumpet in the process, God would not be pleased. I also do not want to lose whatever ministry, (if I could even call it a ministry to begin with) that I have, because pride has manifested. [This is not to say that God would not be upset with unexpressed pride in us]. Some of the readers here are members of the same church I attend, so I too must be careful so that what I say do not end up offensive or infringing on people’s privacy or confidentiality. Especially, I hope that my church leaders do not stop me from ministering in church just because I sometimes, write about something I am involved in.

With this, I like to pen down, maybe more of a expression of thankfulness than anything else, the follow through, to the most recent blog entry – More Lord, more (http://high-expressions.blogspot.com/2009/06/more-lord-more.html ).

Desire regularity/consistency
Actually I was concerned and still is (and I think it is not necessarily a bad thing, though fear should not be the basic driving factor), that my functioning in the Lord for a period of one year or so, may come to an end. I think we all could accept that God could use anyone from time to time to minister or perform exploits for Him, wherever and whenever God deems necessary. But I desire regularity, consistency. By way of analogy, we can drink from any cup. When we go to the food-court and buy a drink, we just drink out of any cup that the stallholder used. Likewise, we will drink from any cup used by the host when we visit a home. But at home, we commonly have our own cups which we used when we have our drinks. Dad will have his own cup, mom will have hers, and the children will have their own cups. (There is nothing wrong if in your family you do not have this “practice”. Indeed there are families that do not make any distinctions – they just share the cups). For a moment, think that you are Dad’s cup in the house, would you not want Dad to use you each time he drinks from a cup. You can’t help it if Dad is drinking at a food-court or at somebody’s home, because you are not there (unless he brought you along). Dad may once in a while use mom’s cup when he drinks, but I would be wondering, if he consistently omitted to use me when he wants a drink. I am like the cup, although more correctly not for holding “water” but for pouring out from. I want my master to use me, consistently. By the way, a few months ago, in church when we did a prophetic drawing session, a brother drew a prophetic glass picture for me.

He affirmed again
Again, just as the lapses in the use by the Lord begin to bother, the Lord again affirmed. This time, at last Saturday evening service in church, I was a little late. I was unable to sit anywhere near to the front of the church. The reason for that was really that for that service, many children would be baptized and many seats were marked out for the children and their families and for the “Sunday School” teachers. In fact, I could not even get a seat in the sanctuary after trying for a while. Without a choice I proceeded to the upper sanctuary after being informed by an usher that the upper sanctuary was opened. To get to upper sanctuary, one had to leave the sanctuary through the back (vis-a-vis the pulpit), manage a flight of stairs and re-enter. Likewise if one wants to go from the upper sanctuary to the sanctuary (“ground sanctuary”). I did not expect any time to be allotted for words of knowledge/prophecy. I also did not think any altar call would be made in view of the time required for doing the children baptism. Furthermore a special item was planned, to celebrate Father’s Day that fell on that weekend. Unexpectedly, the children baptism was done very expediently and the Senior Pastor finished his sermon fifteen minutes before end of service time. People were invited to the front for ministry. Initially only one adult went forward, and when he was prayed for, he was slain. But no others went forward. Then the Senior Pastor announced that the children could go forward for ministry. Many children did that. The Senior Pastor also gave a few words of knowledge, and with that more adults went forward for prayer. I was watching from the upper sanctuary, and when I saw more people had gone forward and on the left wing of sanctuary front, quite a few people were there waiting for prayers, I decided to rush down to pray for people, especially for the people on the left wing which were not attended to (because bulk of the pastors/staff were ministering to the children at the centre and on the right side).

It wasn’t so convenient, yet I must
Actually it really wasn’t so nice to leave before the end of service, and that was what it appeared to be what I was doing, at least to the people around where I was sitting, in the upper sanctuary. But I did it anyway, left the upper sanctuary door, rushed down the stairs and re-entered the sanctuary (ground floor) through a door at the back, on the right side (door nearest to the stairs), went down the right side of the sanctuary and reached the front of the sanctuary, on the right side. Realising no seats were available to put my stuff (bible, water bottle and Father’s Day gift, etc), I threw down my stuff against the right wall of the sanctuary, moved quickly between the narrow spaces between the people (ministers and children) and the front stage, right across to the left side where the unattended people were. There were perhaps, 6 -7 people there waiting for prayers, and a pastor had just started to attend to those waiting. Although I was not short of breath, I was not really in the “best of state” to pray for people after the rush. Actually, that was one of my hesitations when I decided to rush down from the upper sanctuary. What happened next was that I prayed for 3 persons. I first prayed for a man with some blood in his stool discovered only in the last day or two. Then I prayed for a young man with pain and discomfort in his arm and shoulder (unable to freely move his arms without discomfort and pain). When I prayed for him, I sensed that he was “swaying” under the anointing of the Spirit. I moved slightly to my left, with my left hand on his injured arm, in attempt to position myself to break his fall should he fall under the Spirit. The moment I done that, he fell backward like a tree, and as he fell, my hand moved from his arm towards his neck and then the back of his head. Finally, he landed on the floor with my hand between his head and the floor. Come to think about it, I should have felt pain when his head crashed my hand to the floor but I just did not feel any pain. He fell without a catcher and my hand broke his fall. He stayed down for maybe 5-6 minutes. The third person was a woman at the front row of seats. She must have seen the young man fell under the power of the Spirit and got encouraged to step forward. I remember I went over to the centre to see if anyone needed prayer before returning to the young man who was still lying on the floor. It was at this moment that the woman stepped forward and asked me to pray for greater anointing and ability to hear God more clearly. While I was praying for this woman the young man got up and went off before I could have the chance to check to see if he was healed of his pain and discomfort in the arm/shoulder. In any case, I believe the Lord must have ministered to him whilst he was down on the floor. Of course, it is not to say that people who are not slain are not ministered/healed by the Lord. It is just that often people cannot tell whether anything has changed immediately after the prayer and we do not get updated subsequently of their conditions. So, I take comfort that from time to time some people I prayed for got slain.

Why am I sharing this?
The main reason for sharing this is to acknowledge God’s honoring of the meditations of my heart, to thank Him for affirming that He still moves through me regularly. I know my life is not without reproach by the Lord’s standard, yet He was so gracious to move through me. It is an honor and privilege to be used regularly by the Lord to minister blessing to others. Secondly, it is to encourage people to press in and be faithful in the little that the Lord is doing through their lives in blessing others.

Not on duty, yet on duty
Those worshipping in the same church will know I am not on duty on any of the services. In fact, quite a number of the members of the church have been qualified as lay Altar Ministers but no one is on roster for duty, we are just supposed to help (i.e. left to the individuals[to help]). All these times, I was not on duty, yet on duty. I was not on duty because I was not on roster, yet I was on duty for the Lord. Because of this, perhaps it was also easier for me to “tune” for words of knowledge from the Lord than some of the pastors, not because they are not more “spiritual” (whatever that means), but because they are preoccupied with their duties to ensure everything turns out nicely for the congregation to “enjoy” the services, whereas I was free to “tune” to the Lord. I tried to discipline myself but I was not without reproach (the Lord knew), yet whatever I did (I mean release of words of knowledge/prophecy and altar ministry) in church services, it was not intended to pressurize anybody in the church. I had a job I needed to do for the Lord, and my son, Andrew often would remind me that I had to do my job, least the Lord gave me the “sack”. If in doing what I did, had come off to anyone as “show-off”, I apologise. I need prayers. Pray for me. Pray that I will always be humble, pray for my protection, pray that I will hear God clearly, and speak only the words of God and not my own when I release words of knowledge or prophecy. Pray that when I pray for others, they will be ministered by the Lord.


Once again, thank you Lord

Anthony Chia -Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer (Ps 19:14)

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More Lord, More

Since May 2009, I had had few occasions where I could release words of knowledge particularly, on healing. Also, along with that, fewer occasions for praying for people for healing (For an idea of how I function, see: http://high-expressions.blogspot.com/2009/04/special-resurrection-sunday-indeed.html ). My main place of ministry currently is really in church, during church services. I regularly attended all the 3 weekend English services of my church in which I function as a lay Altar Minister. A much smaller setting which sometimes accorded opportunities to minister, is the regular Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship weekly meetings. For various reasons, no times were allotted for release of words of knowledge by members of congregation (I am being one) in church for the most of the several weeks since May 2009.

It kind of trouble me a little, because I believe we must try to put into practice the things we learnt in the faith, we should all exercise faith and move in the spiritual gifts that we newly “acquired”. Exercise of faith and faithfulness are pertinent to the growth in the new spiritual gifts. Apart from the gift of tongues which is for self-edification, the rest of the gifts are ministry gifts. This means that we are to minister to people. Power gifts (gift of faith, healing, miraculous powers [gift of working of miracles]), revelation gifts (gift of distinguishing spirits, words of knowledge, words of wisdom), and oral gifts (gift of words of prophecy, interpretation of tongues, [gift of tongues is a self-edification gift]) are ministry gifts. Common sense tells us that we need to use them to minister/bless others, otherwise why would God gives us the gifts. If we are having them and we are not using them, why would they (the gifts) grow in depth and power.

It is really not fruitful if we attend various “power” seminars and afterwards not put into practice at least some of the things we learnt or gifts that we “received”. In my view, churches that organize these seminars/workshops should try as far as possible to encourage the putting into practice of these things. I feel paying lip service to such calls is pointless. The church leaderships themselves must be prepared to take some “risks” and allow members to practice these things in church services, cell meetings and various ministries and settings of the churches. Allowing times for and incorporating these things in the various settings of the churches are important. We must be prepared to change some things in the existing framework of things to accommodate the new things, otherwise each of these seminars would be another “let’s do it and then forget about it” project. I am not saying we cannot encourage people to try out these things in their “marketplaces” but be realistic, how many of us do not need “warm-ups” in these things? How many of us are that gung-ho to exercise spiritual gifts unsolicited in MacDonald, Starbuck or a supermarket?

Nevertheless, I want to encourage people who want to rekindle the “flame” of their faith to firstly, exercise some faith, step out of your comfort zone a little, secondly, worship the Lord more and lastly, instill in yourself a desire to glorify God, by doing things that do not benefit you directly but which glorify God. In this way, may you experience God’s moves through you. A small candle flame that flickered and went out and the acronym, “FWD” was what I received last year at the end of a series of teachings, including seminars, on moving in the supernatural with the Lord, with the renewal of the mind. I believe this is the interpretation of this vision that the Lord gave me (it was meant for the church congregation, but it is applicable to anyone who can identify with the vision of the candle flame) - “That there are those among us whose flames are dying out, to move forward, we need to step out in faith (the “F”), we need to worship the Lord a lot more (the “W”) and lastly we need to have a desire to glorify God (the “D”)”. When our flames are dying out, these 3 things, Faith exercising, Worship and Desire to glorify God, are things that we are reluctant to do/have. Yet, these are the very things that we have to tell our mind to do. We have to repeatedly tell our spirit man that, to move forward (FWD), we must exercise (F)aith, (W)orship God and do something to concretize our (D)esire to glorify God.

I have put into practice what the Lord had shown me, and I believe today my flame has been rekindled. For the few who know my situation more closely, things had not been going well for me for the last few years. Literally, my world crashed on me in early 2008. I hit my “most difficult patch” in my life. Now is still not the time yet to share the details of the “lowest period” of my life. It suffices to say that at one point, I literally did not know whether or not I could ever worship God. What faith was there to talk about? Kind souls then kept telling me to think about Job of the Bible, how he suffered at the hands of Satan and how he refused to curse God. How to sustain a desire to glorify God? For a moment I became like the Rachel (Jeremiah 31:15) of the Bible, weeping and weeping and refused to be comforted.

Today I am still not out of the patch that I had entered, things could never be the same again, yet I have gained – experiencing more of the Lord moving through me. More Lord, more. I want to experience more of you in my life. Thank you Lord for seeing me through, and for the spiritual gift experiences you brought into my life. Thank you Lord that despite the lack of opportunities to exercise the gift of words of knowledge in the recent weeks, you continued to show me that you are still moving through me by letting me experience about two weeks ago, for the first time, 2 consecutive slayings by the Spirit (falling under the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit) of 2 persons I laid hands on, consecutively. Also, another who said she felt great anointing upon her when I laid my hands on her. Thank you Lord for the privilege of leading a man through the Sinner’s Prayer on the 2nd night of that 2-nights meeting.

Lord, I want more; more opportunities to experience your moves through me. Lord, I want to see the gift of the words of knowledge in me used and grow. I want your healing anointing in me to increase, Lord so that more people will be healed or ministered. Lord, let me not take pride in your moves through me but even as you raise me, may your name be raised high and you be glorified.


Lord, may I grow in favour with you,

Anthony Chia – may this meditation of my heart pleases you, Lord

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Jesus’ teachings on prayers (Luke 11:1-13) [Part I]

In Luke 11:1, the disciples of Jesus asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. In the next 12 verses, Jesus taught about:

1. Praying for oneself (Luke 11:2-4) - Lord's Prayer
2. Praying for another (Luke 11:5-10)  [covered in Part II]
3. Praying for the Holy Spirit to be given (Luke 11:11-13) [covered in Part III]


For this first part of a 3-part article on this portion of the Scripture, I going to write on the first item covered by Jesus – praying for oneself (Luke 11:2-4).

Praying for oneself (Luke 11:2-4)

He[Jesus] said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us each day [today] our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.' "

What we should understand:

1. First we address God.
For Jesus, naturally He addressed God as the Father. Jesus is the Son, and God is His Father. I believe we can pray to the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit, or collectively, God. You can even use your own endearing terms like Abba and Father God. Some people use Lord Jesus or Almighty God.

2. Second, we honour God with our greetings.
Jesus said, “hallowed be your name”. I use “blessed be your name or blessed be the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”. You may also want to thank Him for his work in the previous day/your life.

3. Third, we acknowledge God’s desires, before ours.
So I would follow Jesus’ words on this, “your kingdom comes, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.

4. Now we petition for our needs.
If we look carefully at the Lord’s prayer (this is called the Lord’s prayer), we find that Jesus is trying to teach us to look at a day at a time, asking for what we need for the day. Jesus is saying, “Do not worry about tomorrow”, we just need to address this day. We are to address each day as it comes. I am quite sure many of us do not follow this. Almost all of us, and that include me, failed in this, it is not whether or not we failed but how badly we failed. God tells us not to worry (Mathew 6:34), yet almost all of us still do it. To worry is not trusting God. Another reason why we are “covering more than we should”, I believe is that we do not pray daily. And the reason for not praying daily can be one or more of these:

a. plain laziness
b. thinking you can/should handle “your life”
c. “too busy”
d. “too tired”
e. “why so troublesome”
f. so “cartoon”
g. thinking it is hypocritical

We should stop finding excuses for our failure to come before God each day.

There are different views about what “daily bread” mean in the Lord’s Prayer. Whatever the view, the daily bread is a need (not a want, and I know there are those who would like to say, “come on, our God is more generous than that, surely He grant not only our needs! That generosity is spelt out elsewhere, not here. I am also not saying you cannot tell God what you would like to have [a want]).

I also do not see anything wrong with the straightforward interpretation of daily bread as our basic needs – food, clothing and shelter. I know in Mathew 6, God asks that we do not worry about what we will eat and what we will wear, but do you know that our asking for just the daily portion is an acknowledgement on our part that God is provider. Even as we are gathering, we must always remember it is God who gives us the capacity to gather (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). If you want to interpret daily bread to mean more, like it should include His word, wisdom, “presence”, etc, I think it is fine, so long as the list represent your “needs” and not “wishes”.

5. Ask for forgiveness.
I view God’s forgiveness as a need just as I need food. We need food for physical life, forgiveness for eternal life.

I want to say that Jesus is telling us that we need to ask God for forgiveness daily (in fact every time we have sinned). Brethrens, be careful not to believe the preaching or teachings about God loving us so much that He will forgive us (Christians) whether or not we ask for forgiveness, or such things as there is not even the need for repentance since God loves us (Christians), or that we belittle the Blood of Christ when we repeatedly ask Him to forgive us.

Bible is very clear about the consequence of sin – the wage of sin is death. If I may be very blunt, it may be if we do not repent and have our sin forgiven of us, Hell we go, regardless we are a Christian. If the outcome is any different, it is because of God’s grace.

God’s Word says that there is a narrow door (Luke 13:24) for us to enter, yet, what many Christians are trying to do, instead of taking the already narrow door, is to take the chance and hope that they will squeeze through a tiny crack in the wall, greased by the grace of God.

I do not believe in auto-cleaning by the Blood of Christ. If you believe in that, you are implying that the Blood of Jesus is the license to sin. Or do you think that sin committed by you after acceptance of Jesus is any different from the same sin committed before you become a believer? Already many people are not accepting Jesus because they said Christians are so hypocritical – using the Blood of Jesus as the license to sin. So, don’t you go round propagating that Christians can sin and get away with it without even seeking forgiveness from the Lord. Please, if Jesus himself taught it, that we have to ask for forgiveness, it must be necessary; and He was not talking to non-believers, He was teaching the disciples.

I am saddened that “spiritual leaders” do not emphasize holiness and righteous living enough to the flock, and instead drop “contradicting” words/phrases here and there without proper explanations leading people to misunderstand the importance of holiness, repentance and seeking of forgiveness.

For example, a sharing about Christians loving the sinners but not the sin, if not done properly, can mislead people to think that repentance is not required.

Recently I had a first-hand encounter of this. A highly regarded preacher/pastor shared about how he continued to love a person who had sinned greatly against his son and had brought shame to his (the preacher) family. While the preacher’s love was commendable and perhaps when the sharing was done in a different context or done with more sensitivity as to avoid misinterpretation, it would have been excellent, but in this case, it was not. Subsequent to the sharing/preaching, a brethren spoke with me and reiterated that he was right about repentance being not required; he said the sharing confirmed he was correct about his interpretation of a certain parable in the Gospel, in which he said that no repentance was required.

I can agree God can work with very little, that a small step on our part can trigger a big move from God but we really have to be careful to say that God does not require repentance. I did not feel good that this brother's view had been reinforced, although I have to agree, preachers always run some risks that their messages may get misinterpreted.

If you are still not convinced that repentance is required, consider what was the mission of John the Baptist (Mathew 3:2), what were Jesus’ very first sermons about (Mathews 4:17), what Jesus said to the adulterous woman who was spared the stoning (John 8:11), and how Jesus taught about forgiveness (Luke 17:3b-4).

6. Forgive others when we want God’s forgiveness.
There are "requirements" for God’s forgiveness? I think the word “grace” has been overused, so much so that people subconsciously think that they have to do nothing! Christianity is not about doing nothing. Do not say, “It is grace-what, I do not need to do anything”.

I can name a few things you have to do for God’s forgiveness. First you have to ask, that is what Jesus said, the other is repentance, which has been touched on, above. Another is the forgiveness of others. In Mathew 6:15 it is clearly stated you need to forgive in order to receive forgiveness from God (The Lord’s Prayer is also found here – Mathew 6:9-13).

From the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Mathew 18:23-35), it is clear that if you do not forgive others, God will not forgive you. It is that serious, this is what verse 35 says, “So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”(Mathew 18:35 KJV). [The lord of the unmerciful servant delivered the servant to the tormentors]. You can read the whole story at: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2018:23-35;&version=9; [I am giving here the King James Version reference because it still retains the use of the word “tormentors”. Newer translations of the Bible tended to use “torturers” instead. We will look at this word, “tormentors” or its root word, “torment”, in a while].

I propose below the explanation for the seriousness of unforgiveness in the eyes of God:

From verse 32 of Mathew 18, we can see God equate the unwillingness to forgive with wickedness – “O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee…”. Wickedness is direct contrast with holiness. God is holiness. Holiness is the most fundamental attribute of God. Wickedness is unholiness and it violates holiness, God cannot have that. Wicked people cannot enter the Kingdom of God [God cannot have Himself violated] – 1 Corinthians 6:9a (I recommend you read my writings on holiness at: ). But you might say, “What is so wicked about not forgiving someone?”. Let me explain:

When you sinned against another, say, you slandered another. What will happen to you? If the person whom you sinned against, in this case, the person you slandered, does not forgive you, that unforgiven sin of yours hinders you from entering the Kingdom of Heaven, unless you yourself ask God to forgive you directly and He forgives you (Because we do NOT know if someone we have wronged, forgives or NOT, us, the posture is always that we have to ask God for forgiveness for the wrongs or sins we have committed, in accordance to 1 John 1:9). Yah, slanderers will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven – 1 Corinthians 6:10.

If the person whom you sinned against, forgive you, the sin you committed will be forgiven by God. Not enough preachers preach about it or explain this. It ended up so many people do not clearly understand this. I did not say you have the power to forgive, Jesus said it. Jesus told the disciples when He appeared to them after his resurrection. It is recorded in John 20:23 - If you forgive anyone his sins [against you], they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. Understanding this, now can you agree that you are wicked if you will not forgive another - you "are sending" him/her to hell, when in fact, you yourself are asking God to forgive you of your sin so that you are spared from having to go to hell.

[added 17/01/2011: I am aware that there is an alternative rendering to the verse, John 20:23 in which interpretation within the context of the preceding verses could mean that Jesus was speaking of the sending of the disciples, complete with the empowering (indwelling) of the Holy Spirit, to preach the good news, which is essentially is about God’s forgiveness of one’s sins through the faith in the works of the Son of God, Jesus, on the Cross. When we preach the gospel, we preach forgiveness of God (not our forgiveness) for those who believe, meaning we are agreeing with those who would believe, their sins are forgiven them. And when they are not believing, we are in effect, witnesses, to their sins are not forgiven them (their sins stay, and they stay condemned).

But I assert that the alternative rendering of John 20:23 above, is without contradicting the authority to forgive, as coming from God. When a believer forgives, the authority to forgive does come from God, for the Holy Spirit indwells the believer. In any case, it applies only to sins against us.

Furthermore, if God would ask us to forgive one another as He forgave, which is by grace, why He NOT forgive the offender if we have forgiven in the same way that He would like us to forgive - by grace.  Imagine if you have forgiven the person, God would NOT?!]

So if you do not forgive, you are wicked and what will happen to you who will not forgive. God does not forgive you either.  People without forgiveness from God, go to hell, eventually. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant above, what happened to the wicked servant? He was given over to the tormentors, i.e. he ended up being tormented (afflicted with acute and more or less protracted suffering). Think for a moment, what happens to people who end up in hell. Yes, they get tormented. See the parallel?!

Specific to unforgiveness, is it possible that tormenting may happen in this life? Some of what I am going to say in this para. and the next, is little subjective, not (yet) fully referenced to the Word of God but I believe they are valid.

I believe in some cases, people with combinations of unforgiveness, resentment and bitterness may actually be tormented in their present lives. I believe that wicked people, including wicked Christians may not have the full covering of God (by this I mean, as Christians, by default, God always “watches over” us – using angels, the Lord’s army, Holy Spirit, even men; yes, God uses men).

When “God withdraws” (partial/complete) his covering, from say, wicked Christians, the principalities of darkness (Satan, evil spirits, etc.) know and they will attack. It is as if now they have a right to torment you.

It is like when you received God’s forgiveness, you crossed over to God’s side of the battlefield and when you refused to do the very thing that God did for you (to forgive another by grace), you have done a mutiny and the enemy knows it and comes for you. We need to understand that God’s covering for us is a grace from God.

When it is grace, it means we do not deserve it, yet He extends it to us anyway. So, He is completely justified to withdraw his covering at any time. This idea is illustrated in the Book of Jonah, God caused a vine to grow to provide Jonah with a shelter from the heat, even after he (Jonah) was unreasonably angry with God, but only to take the vine away the next day. The specific verses are Jonah 4:5-8, but you really should read the whole Book of Jonah, it is a short book.

Here, I use the words, “God withdraws” but I believe, often we are the ones who “force” the hand of God. I believe that when we read in the Bible that people were “given over” to or “delivered” to (yes, sometimes, this word is used; in fact it is used in the Parable of Unmerciful Servant above), say, the enemies or tormentors (or more modern translations, torturers), it really means God lets go, letting thing takes its course, which often in this fallen world, can be pretty awful.

A man reaps what he sows (Galations 6:7c). Romans 2:9a says, “There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil”. God does not cause you to be tormented. You suffer the consequence of your sin (refusal to forgive).

Always remember God is good, yes, He does chasten but He cannot think and plan evil against you. [By way of mention, it is possible also that wicked people may still enjoy God’s covering as a result of imputed covering (that of righteous husband over wife, for e.g.) - covering accorded to them by God because of intercessions of protection by kind souls (eg. A mother’s persistent prayers of protection for her wicked son). But if they (the wicked) die unrepentant and unforgiven, hell may well be still their destination.].

So, in real life, we do find people, including Christians tormented for years but not able to receive breakthroughs, until the issues of unforgiveness, resentment and bitterness are addressed properly in their lives. Because of failure in this area, some get demonized, saddled with sicknesses that do not seem to have any cures (sickness does not go away or keep recurring), aches and pains all over, emotional instabilities, and loss of effectiveness in living normal lives.

7. The 3rd part of the 4-part verse 4, “And lead us not into temptation” is one of those difficult verses to understand.
Up until now, I really do not know how to interpret this. Even what I am saying now, may not be what you would agree, but I believe enough to think it is an acceptable interpretation.

It is difficult to interpret it on face-value because there is another verse in the Bible that put it very clearly that God does not tempt people.

James 1: 13-14:
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Then why did Jesus ask us to ask God not to lead us into temptation. Yes, God does chasten us and test us, and the Bible explains why God does the chastening and testing. In short, it is to help us to grow and to be refined. So, it cannot be that Jesus is asking us to ask God not to chasten or test us. Also, 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that we will not be tested beyond what we could bear and God will provide a way out. There is no need to pray for avoidance.

I want to submit to you that this part of the verse may simply mean “Help us not to sin”. If you look at 1st 2 parts and the 4th part of verse 4, it would look like it makes sense – in 1st 2 parts we ask God for forgiveness as we forgive others (people sinned against us, we forgive so as to NOT sin [to NOT forgive, is sin], and we ask God for forgiveness for our own sins), then we ask God to help us not to sin and deliver us from the evil one. Jesus knows human weaknesses, and when He said this, He was walking the earth with the disciples; and the Bible said this of Jesus:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy {including forgiveness for our sins} and find grace to help us in our time of need {including the time that we are tempted}. (Hebrew 4:15-16)

8. Lastly, we ask God to deliver us from the evil one.
The evil one here can be simply evil men or principalities of darkness (Satan and evil spirits). The latter often perpetuates their evil schemes or plans through evil men. I often plead with God to hold onto me, not to let go of my hand even if I slip and fall, even as I want to “hold the hand that holds the world”.


God, may you help me to put into practice what you have shown me,

Anthony Chia, high.expressions - to practise what God has shown is high expression unto Him

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More of “O”, less of “I”

Phil 2:4 NIV: Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

The word son is spelt as s-O-n whereas the word sin is spelt as s-I-n. Herein lies the attitude that we should all try to have more – think of others more and less of ourselves.

The Son of God, Jesus has the welfare of others in mind when he walked on the earth. Sin, on the other hand, is almost always about “I” – what I want, what I can benefit, how I can be gratified, how I can have the upper hand, how I can be number one, how I can be richer, mightier, stronger, why am I not the leader, the CEO, the President, why am I not the award winner, why must I give in, why must I forgive, why must I share, why must I let go, where is the honour and prestige I am supposed to have, where is the big house and car that I am supposed to enjoy, where is the power that I am supposed to have, to do what I want. “I” also speaks this way, I am rich what, I am smart, I am gifted, I am strong what, I have many supporters, what can they do to me, I can never be caught, nobody will know, what. It may come as a surprise to you, “I” also speaks this way, I am too poor, I am too stupid what, I am too weak, I am not loved, I have no supporter at all, they will all laugh at me, they are all going to eat me up, it is no use and I might as well give up.

So when you make “I” very big, you are going to attract temptations of all kinds of sin – covetousness, love of money, self-centredness, pervertibility, pride, haughtiness, unforgiveness, oppressiveness, wickedness, lawlessness, poor self-image (does not glorify God), sexual immorality, anger and suicide.

One of the practical ways to counter selfishness is given by Hebrew 10:25 –

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Firstly, we must gather often. A Christian is not meant to live alone. Go to church, go to a home cell, gather with other fellow Christians.

Secondly, when you gather, consciously, try to replace the “I” with “O” often. It defeats the purpose of gathering, if you are going to emphasize “I” all the times (It is not to say you should not address the struggles that you are having or it is wrong for you to want others to pray or help you. In fact, sometimes and in some struggles you really need others to help you for breakthroughs). Putting on the “O” as in Son means having the heart of Jesus, have the welfare of others at heart and encourage others. Often people go to a gathering/meeting only when they have needs. When their needs had been met or currently they have no needs, they will not go anymore. Or some people would stop going to regular gatherings/meetings because they feel they are not benefiting from the gathering/meetings. At times, this is very sad when such attitude comes from supposedly matured Christians and for regular gatherings/meetings which require help from more mature Christians. If we are indeed more mature, we should ask ourselves whether or not it is time for us to serve and help others, instead of leaving a group because we think we are not benefitting from the group, especially we think more can be done to improve the sessions of the gathering. If you do not need an encouragement in the gathering/meeting, encourage somebody who needs it, since God already has encouraged you by letting you to come to a state of not needing an encouragement. By consciously replacing the “I” with “O”, you keep sin at bay. On the other hand, if you emphasize “I”, temptations of sin come clinging to you, and when you commit sin for more times, you will get more and more dull to holiness, your heart will get more and more hardened.

Can you encourage one another without physical meetings? Yes, but it is much more effective if the people concerned have met before. I know physical gathering takes up more time. But making time for others is, replacing “I” with “O”, so please make time.


Just made time, so that you may be encouraged.
Anthony Chia

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Be holy because I am holy

Can we ever be holy?
What does it mean, practically?
What must we do?

Way of Holiness
Isaiah 35:8a - And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness.
I have expounded this on my blog entry:  Way of Holiness - The Way of the Lord. I encourage you to read this entry to appreciate why holiness is so important.

I will just summarise the key reasons for holiness:
1. God is holy and unholy cannot be with holy
2. When we are holy, God will receive us
3. Without holiness , you will not see God

Can we ever be holy?
1 Peter 1:14-16 - As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he[the Lord] who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

I believe that many things are always, either right or wrong, i.e. one way or the other, no two ways about them. For example, for Christians, you cannot worship another god beside the Lord God Almighty.

On the other hand, there are few things that can be viewed in a spectrum kind of way (although, it may be possible to break down the thing into all its components and look at each and every component individually, to decide whether it is right or wrong). Holiness, for example, is one of them. You can view holiness from a scale of say, 0 to 10; where 10 is the holiness of God, perfect holiness. This being the case, one may be tempted to say that it would be alright to score 2, and be contented with that. But for any endeavour, if 10 is the perfect score, would 2 do, especially, if you are going to be contented with that? Where will it lead you to? Another may ask, then can I ever achieve 10 for holiness? For that matter, is it possible for man to achieve any holiness?

I believe if it is not possible for man to achieve any degree of holiness, God would not ask it. I also do not believe once you accepted Jesus as the Saviour, you straightway become holy to the degree of 10 and remain so, all the time, kind of auto-refreshing by Jesus. I accept the holiness of Jesus is 10, and the suggestion that on imputation of Jesus’ holiness upon a person, the degree of holiness imputed is to the degree of 10; but I do not believe the state remains at 10 without maintenance. I can accept that each time all your sins are forgiven you and you are cleansed by the blood of Jesus, your holiness can reach 10, by virtue of the imputed holiness of Jesus but that holiness can fall. Does that then mean, it is not our business or our fault if we are not having a high score? No, God said “Be holy, because I am holy”. That means we are accountable.

What does it mean, practically?
The next gives us the big picture:
2 Cor 6:16 - 2 Cor 7:1
16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." 18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Cor 7:1 - Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

From the above text, we can see God promised to be our God and Father, and be with us, and we, be His people and children on the conditions (v17) that we stay off unrighteousness (be separate from the unbelievers or be no longer of the world, and “touch” no unclean thing), and to have ourselves cleansed of contamination to the body and spirited soul, in our perfecting of holiness in the fear of God (KJV uses "fear of God", instead of "reverence for God").  We need to stay off unrighteousness, and we need to have ourselves cleansed of contamination to our body and spirited soul.

The Apostle Paul was urging us to perfect holiness.  So, we must try to remain in the high end of the spectrum with an eye for perfection, i.e.  stay high and aim for 10.  Ask Jesus for forgiveness, each time we faltered, try again and try harder, with the help of the Holy Spirit.  One important difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is that the former has the Holy Spirit while the latter does not.   I think the more holy you get, the more sensitive to the Holy Spirit you become, and the easier you get a conviction that something is not holy.  But be careful not to hide under the excuse of “I did not feel any conviction” and refuse to repent and leave an unholy situation.  Very often, it is not that you did not feel any conviction but it was that you ignored it when it first came to you.  Believe me, when you did that for another time or two, often you would no longer think the particular situation was wrong; you have numbed your conscience.

Grow, you must
Recently, an itinerant preacher of many years said a very important thing to me, he said that God can even use a person with poor spiritual state to do his work but for continual moves in the Spirit for the Lord, the person must grow. I think he hit the nail right on the head. Jesus came into our lives when we were yet sinners – in poor spiritual state.

Also, from time to time we heard of or even witnessed isolated but unmistakable moves of God through certain individuals (God worked through them) when such persons apparently were not “very righteous”. I think in many cases, such moves remained isolated (i.e. God did not move through the individuals anymore or on a consistent basis) because the individuals did not grow in the areas that God expects.

Holiness is one area, I believe we must grow. That we are not yet perfect, God knows, but Paul is right to say that we are to perfect holiness. I now believe that if we want God to use us consistently in supernatural work (in particular), we have to be perfecting holiness. A person who “does” supernatural work consistently, bears the name of God all over him, do you think an unholy man will be allowed to be the bearer of the name of the holy God?

Also, God does allow us to go through situations which we may not like, to cause us to grow, including in the area of holiness. Hebrews 12:10 - Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

What must we do?
Firstly, we need to understand what falls under the area of holiness. Secondly, we need to know how we could get defiled and guard those gates. So, there will be a 3rd article on this subject of holiness.

For now, let us “chew” on this subject. For a Christian, I am saying there is no-auto refreshing of holiness. If you faltered, repent, get refreshed, try harder to stay holy with the help of the Holy Spirit. God expects us to grow but not necessarily expecting that you have arrived (we all grow at different rates and are at different stages of our growth, God may expect more from certain individuals, but the same is not expected of you, at least not yet). But do not take the grace of God for granted. Do not give up trying either, that is what the Devil wants you to do. You are on the way of Holiness, do not let anyone or anything get you off the highway. If you are not yet a Christian, you need to be one before you can travel on this Way. Talk to a Christian on how to know Jesus.


Not that I have achieved perfection, but that we may all learn and press on (Phil 3:14),
Anthony Chia, high.expressions - perfecting holiness is a high expression to God

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Way of Holiness - The Way of the Lord

Holiness - fundamental nature attribute of God
What is the most fundamental nature attribute of God?
I believe it is holiness.

In the Book of Revelation, last book of the Bible, John, the author, was taken up and brought before God in His throne room in Heaven. This is what he said he saw, “In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle” (Rev 4:6b-7).

What were the creatures doing, day and night, before God? In verse 8, we read, Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

To me, this painted to us, holiness is one of, if not, the most fundamental nature attribute of God. Just imagine, day and night the creatures never stop saying the words, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.

The Old Testament Prophet, Isaiah witnessed the same
In Isaiah Chapter 6, this is what we read,
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:1-3)”

Although, in this case, it may not be in Heaven, all the same, when God is on His throne, the creatures are there saying the same thing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord [God] Almighty”.

Woe to me!
How then must we respond to this knowledge?
Isaiah’s cry gave us the clue. This is his (Isaiah) cry,

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." (Isaiah 6:5)”

What happened afterward was this:
“Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." (Isaiah 6:7)”

[It is interesting to note that before Jesus became the Atonement by dying on the cross, during the time of Isaiah, guilt could be taken away and sin atoned for, in this way. In our time, it is best to leave any other way apart from the atonement by Christ, Jesus, to the prerogative and sovereignty of God.]

Revelation changes life
This revelation changed Isaiah’s life. With this encounter, God commissioned Isaiah as one of the most important prophets of Old Testament times. Isaiah also went on to prophesize about the Messiah (Isaiah 53 for example).

Way of Holiness
I believe Isaiah also prophesized to us the way of the Redeemed of the Lord. This is found in Isaiah 35:8-10

And a highway will be there;
it will be called the Way of Holiness.
The unclean will not journey on it;
it will be for those who walk in that Way;
wicked fools will not go about on it. [a]

No lion will be there,
nor will any ferocious beast get up on it;
they will not be found there.
But only the redeemed will walk there,

and the ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

a. Isaiah 35:8 Or / the simple will not stray from it

It is interesting to see what, some of the Bible scholars said concerning the verses:

Wesley's Notes
A way - The high - way and the way are not to be taken for two different ways, but for one and the same way, even a cause[wa]y, which is raised ground, and a way.  Holiness - The people (walking in it) shall be all righteous.  For those - But this way shall be appropriated to those persons above - mentioned [earlier verses]; the weak, and blind, and lame, whom God will lead and save. Though fools - The way shall be so plain and strait[straight?], that even the most foolish travellers cannot easily mistake it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
highway-such a causeway (raised way, from a Hebrew root, "to cast up") as was used for the march of armies; valleys being filled up, hills and other obstructions removed (Isa 62:10; compare Isa 40:3, 4).

way of holiness-Hebraism for "the holy way." Horsley translates, "the way of the Holy One;" but the words that follow, and Isa 35:10, show it is the way leading the redeemed back to Jerusalem, both the literal and the heavenly (Isa 52:1; Joe 3:17; Re 21:27); still Christ at His coming again shall be the Leader on the way, for which reason it is called, "The way of the Lord" (Isa 40:3; Mal 3:1).

Mathew Henry's Concise Commentary
The way of holiness is the way of God's commandment; it is the good old way. And the way to heaven is a plain way. Those knowing but little, and unlearned, shall be kept from missing the road. It shall be a safe way; nothing can do them any real hurt. Christ, the way to God, shall be clearly made known; and the way of a believer's duty shall be plainly marked out. Let us then go forward cheerfully, assured that the end of this way shall be everlasting joy, and rest for the soul.

This is how I view the Way of Holiness
1. I do not think the word “Holiness” is just a name, i.e. it is not just to name the way. Rather, it tells of how the way is to be, i.e. the way is about holiness.
2. It is the way of the Redeemed of the Lord, i.e. the way of the Redeemed is holiness.
3. It is the way travelled by the Redeemed of the Lord. The unclean do not journey on this way. Neither do the lion or ferocious beast (you can call them, the principalities of darkness) travel on it.
4. Even the simple can journey on it. Everyone just need to (& must) follow Jesus who is the Leader on this highway.
5. Even though the unclean, the lion, the ferocious beast do not journey on this highway, they are trying to get you off the highway.
6. The destination of this highway is the Kingdom of God in Heaven, the New Jerusalem, the everlasting joy.


Holiness is reiterated in New Testament
1 Peter 1:14-16
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he [the Lord] who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

2 Corinthians 7:1
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

What are “these promises”? The preceding verses tell us that if we separate ourselves from wickedness, from darkness, and from idolatry, God will receive us, and God will be a Father to us and we will be his children.

Hebrews 12:14
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 12:10
Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.

Conclusion
Are you journeying on this highway – Way of Holiness? If you are redeemed, you ought to be on this highway. If you have not accepted the Lord as your personal Lord and Saviour, you need to do that first before you can get onto this highway. Talk to a Christian if you have not yet accepted Jesus into your life. Do not let anyone or anything get you off the highway. Always remember, God said, “Be holy, because I am holy”.


Reverently,
Anthony Chia, high.expressions – Not that I have arrived, but that we may encourage each other to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:14). In fact, Lord, help me to be holy as you are holy.

PS1: How come this article is here? I believe the practice of holiness is a high expression to God. If it is in the will of the Father, maybe I will write more on this subject in the future.

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