Running Your Race

Running Your Race

Life is not fair, but God is good. God is not fair, but He is just. He loves all of us equally, because the value of His love for each one of us is measured by the value of His Son. Jesus gave up His life for humanity.

When we understand His love for us 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, we will understand that His plan for us is also 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥. You and I have our unique assignment/race to run and fulfill in this life on earth.

𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥 for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - Phil 3:14

As a marathon runner, you do not look behind at how the runners are running. Neither do you look at your sides to watch how others are running. You are to fix your eyes on the goal (the finishing line) and keep running your own race.

This is the same in the Kingdom. Once you discover your God-given assignment, you keep running after it. You don't look around and compare your assignment with others, because everyone's assignment is different. Only you can fulfill yours, and only they can fulfill theirs.

Envy and jealousy take place when we take our eyes off our assignment and start looking at what others are doing. You cannot do what others are doing. Others cannot do what you are doing. We are assigned to reach different people according to our assignment.

God is not looking at the quantity of the crowd or the sphere of influence (because the prince of the power of the air works through people to have massive influence too). 𝐇𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. At the end of the day, He will say, "Well done, My good and i̵n̵f̵l̵u̵e̵n̵t̵i̵a̵l̵ faithful servant."

Having said that, there is one thing for sure. 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 Mark 16:15-18 (Matt 28:19-20; Luke 24:46-47; John 20:21-23). It can be different expressions of the Great Commission, but it must encompass it.

This is the reason why the Bible doesn't mention which course you should take, or which job you should do. Because you can choose any as long as you fulfill the main thing ----- preaching & demonstrating the Gospel of the Kingdom. But if your job is preventing you from doing the main thing, then you need to re-evaluate if this is the right job, since it's not God's will for you to depart from the Great Commission.

Running your own race and going after it keep your heart at the right place so that you can start to celebrate other people's God-given assignments. 

Criticising other people's God-given assignments only reveals that you haven't discovered yours. Hence, it might be worthwhile to get into the secret place of communion with Him to know His heart for you.

Divine Encounters in Business

Saw this screenshot as I was clearing some photos/videos on my phone, due to insufficient memory space.

One of the things that I do when I reach an owner’s place early for viewing is to pray in tongues, if the owner is not around. I want to be so aware of His presence that His manifest presence can flow through me into the atmosphere in the house.

Sometimes, I minister to the buyers. Sometimes, I minister to the sellers. To me, there is no separation between secular and spiritual. The Kingdom is either all or none.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but I trust in the name of the Lord our God. - Psalm 20:7

The non-believers can sense the manifest presence of God when they are around you. Sometimes, it’s in the form of peace; sometimes, comfort (since the Comforter lives in you and me); sometimes, with manifested form of feelings, etc.

It should be natural to walk supernaturally because we are people of the Kingdom. The way we do things may defy logic and human wisdom; it may be different from experts’ views & practices, but God’s way is always powerful and effective. There is power in trusting Him.

In the end, the buyer decided to take up my seller’s unit with no reason except the feeling of comfort. Many people will actually avoid the view of the unit.

Human wisdom is about trying harder. God’s wisdom is about trusting deeper. It’s not about how capable I am. It’s about how good and amazing He is. I love to be surprised by His goodness.

I desire to have many supernatural encounters of doing my business, so that the Kingdom is manifested and the King is glorified among the non-believers. I don’t want them to say, “Wilson, you are so good!” I would rather they say, “Wow there is really a God in your life!”

Good Friday Thoughts Part 2

Good Friday Thoughts Part 2

In Him we live and move and have our being.

Union with Christ was made possible when He died our death and destroyed the power of Death.

Sin reveals who you are not meant to be. The Son reveals who you are meant to be.

Jesus took our sin’s identity on the Cross so that we can take His sonship identity.

When Christ was crucified, the sin of humanity was not just covered, but removed. He reconciled the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them. It was a sin’s issue. Now it’s a faith issue.

Good Friday is not about mourning over your past sins. It's to remember your sonship and the mystical union with Him, for which the principalities and the earth did not comprehend.

It is so mystical yet simple that we miss the very essence of Christianity —— Christ is not just in heaven; He is not just in the atmosphere; but He is IN you.

Good Friday Thoughts Part 1

Good Friday

Jesus, born as a Jew, was sent to the Crucifixion by His very own people ----- the Jews.

The compassion of Christ is flawless because it is unchanging in every location. He loved His own people, even His disciples (including Judas the betrayer) to the very end. His first message of Love was preached and demonstrated to His own race and local people.

Most of us would have avoided reaching our own people. We find it way easier to go into a different nation and culture to preach the Gospel. Suddenly, boldness and courage arise in a different land. We do things that we have never done before by faith. Being a stranger in a different country somehow empowers us to do things differently. We start to have scores of testimonies in a foreign land.

Very often, we hear of many stories from missionaries, etc. Those stuff are great, since the Bible always tells us to 'GO into all the world...' We do need to go into nations.

In fact, if God didn't tell you to go, it's because He already commanded in the Word to 'GO'. We don't need any prompting of the Holy Spirit if it's already pronounced in the Word. Sometimes, we can be so 'charismatic-ally led' by the Spirit that we don't even obey the Word. 

It actually takes a specific word to 'STAY' like Isaac had. Many of us will agree that it is actually harder to stay and preach the same Gospel to an audience we are so familiar with. Because familiarity breeds contempt.

Staying is a test of flawless compassion like Christ had for His own local people. If you are a Singaporean, will you have the same compassion for fellow Singaporeans as you have in the missions fields overseas? Will you have the same boldness and courage without fear to preach and reach out to fellow Singaporeans, as you have in the missions fields overseas? Will you pray for your own local people as much as you pray for the people overseas?

If we can handle rejections and criticisms from our very own people, we are stemming from the right place to go into all the world without the need for any praises of men. We are rooted in the right place of compassion which is unchanging in any location.

It is a test of the deep-seated identity on the inside of us. Since He is unchanging, our identity is unchanging. Identity must flow from inside out so that changing circumstances cannot change our responses and actions.

Jesus started from the right place and ended His life in the same place. May I grow in having the same compassion for our local people as I do whenever I travel for missions. It's the purest form of true compassion.

Dominion In The Promised Land

Dominion In The Promised Land

For the believers, the Promised Land is not heaven. There is nothing to fight in heaven. It is right here on earth.

Taking dominion is the way to the Promised Land. In fact, everything has already been given into our hands. It's the Promised Spirit in the New Covenant. But we still need to resist, fight and tread upon serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy.

Every territory has already been given to us. We just need walk into it. The refusal to take another step is why we don't see the Promised Land in our lives.

Complaining does not improve the earth. Neither does obeying wrongly improve the earth. Jesus, in the Lord's Prayer, said, "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

This is the model of His original intent. Heaven on earth. In other words, heaven is where we obey and submit to, so that we can walk in that authority to take dominion on earth to enter the Promised Land.

The context of the whole counsel of the Bible is more supreme than just the context of a passage in the Bible. When we don't understand the model of Heaven on earth, we will submit and obey blindly even when earth does not reflect heaven.

Kingdom submission has heaven in mind and earth in action (dominion).

Being Exalted & Humbled

Being Exalted & Humbled

There are two kingdoms that can lift you up or keep you lowly.

God can exalt you (1 Peter 5:6). So can the devil (Matt 4:9). On the other hand, God can keep you lowly (Luke 14:11; 1 Peter 5:5). So can the devil (2 Cor 12:7).

It takes wisdom to know the difference. Since the wisdom of God falls on the side same as the love of God, you can be certain that 𝐢𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞. 

Humility is not, "Oh it's not me, you know... It's God. Give Him glory!" That is fake humility.

True humility means that you will honour the least and the great the SAME way even though you have been exalted (1 Peter 5:5; Mark 9:37).

Some give thanks to God because they have been exalted in position and the like. Actually, it could be the devil who is exalting them. And he can exalt you, whether in the secular or in the religious setting.

Elevation does not equate to God's exaltation.

Yes, God wants you to be the head and not the tail. So does the devil, so that he can scatter more people with a proud head.

When you try hard to exalt yourself in a short time, be it in business, sales, work or ministry, you can be sure that it is not God.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 (𝐤𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐬) 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 He may exalt you. - 1 Peter 5:6

The Love Of God

Re-reading 1 John challenges me again and again on Love. And no... I'm not referring to sensuality and humanism. But the kind of love that God has instituted, demonstrated and represented.

You cannot read 1 John and avoid the confrontation of truth and love. It is so rich and powerful. And it points to the fact that there is room for growth and perfection.

The proof of loving God is loving fellow brothers and sisters (1 Jn 4:21).

The proof of loving fellow brothers & sisters is loving God (1 Jn 5:1).

The proof of loving God is obeying ALL His commandments (1 Jn 5:2).

The proof of obeying all His commandments is true FAITH in Christ (1 Jn 5:3-4).

Because His commandments are not burdensome (1 Jn 5:3) if we really put our faith in Christ ----> faith empowers us to overcome the world (1 Jn 5:4), which includes the power to obey all His commandments. 

The opposite is true. If we find it challenging and burdensome to obey any of His commandments, it shows that we haven't put our faith in Christ in that area.

Love in itself requires faith. The way to walk in love is to walk in faith. You love people BY FAITH. That's God's standard of love. We love because He first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). The more we know His love, the more love casts out all fears, resulting in us walking in pure faith (1 Jn 4:17-18). For faith works through love (Gal 5:6).

Love drives out all fears, except the fear of God, because the latter does not involve torment (1 Jn 4:18). Since the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10), the love of God is on the same side as the wisdom of God. Any fear that masks itself as the wisdom of God is NOT the love of God, because the wisdom of God is the love of God without fears. The love of God results in boldness, confidence and faith.

To love people wholly, we must love God wholly by obeying His commandments fully. And to obey His commandments fully, we need to walk in faith fully. To walk in faith fully, we must know His love perfectly. To the degree that we know His love, to that degree we will walk in faith (without fear) to love His people.

We have no excuse either way. There is no nitpicking in the Word of God. It is so explicit in 1 John that there is no grey area to live in. What a privilege it is to grow unto that perfection.