The Lord will never abandon you!

I was praying the other day when the Lord spoke these words:
"I will not abandon you. I will not abandon My plans and purposes in your life."

Indeed, these are His words of assurance for you too. The word 'abandon' is defined in Oxford Dictionary as 'to go away from a person/thing/place not intending to return', or 'to leave somebody/something to be taken away'.

Good parents will never abandon their children. And even in extremely difficult situations (e.g. war time), when parents have no choice but to 'abandon' their children, it breaks the hearts of the parents to leave their children with someone else.

But your Abba Father in heaven will never abandon you, and will never abandon His plans and purposes He has started in your life! Philippians 1:6 says, 'Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ'.

Let's see what the Lord had spoken to Jacob as he embarked on his journey to the east, the land of his mother's father (Genesis 28:1-2). When he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it (Genesis 28:11-12). The Lord stood above it and said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants." (Genesis 28:13) The Lord then spoke further: "Behold, I am with you and will keep (protect) you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." (Genesis 28:15)

See the words "I will not leave you" here? The word 'leave' here is 'aw-zab' in Hebrew, meaning 'fail, leave, forsake'. In other words, the Lord was saying to Jacob that 'He will not fail him'.

Let's now see what Moses said to all Israel and Joshua, just before they began their conquest of the land the Lord had given them. Deuteronomy 31:1-8 (NKJV) says, 'Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel, "I am one hundred and twenty years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, 'You shall not cross over this Jordan,' The Lord your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you, just as the Lord has said... Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, "Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."'

The word 'leave' here is 'raw-faw' in Hebrew, meaning 'to slacken, to cease, to faint'. Indeed He is the Lord who never slackens, ceases, and faints in your life!

Interestingly, the word 'forsake' here is 'aw-zab' in Hebrew (exactly the same Hebrew word for 'leave' in Genesis 28:15 when the Lord spoke that He would not leave Jacob). As you can see here, these words 'leave' and 'forsake' have been used interchangeably, and both can be translated as 'aw-zab', meaning 'fail, leave, forsake'. In fact, in King James Version (KJV), it is written this way: 'He will not fail thee nor forsake thee'.
Note: The sentence above is a 'double negative' statement, and it puts a strong emphasis that the Lord 'will never ever, not by any means' fail you nor forsake you!

So, take heart, people of God, because the Lord is saying the same to you that He 'will never ever, not by any means' fail you nor forsake you. Keep looking to Him, and keep trusting in Him. Be strong and of good courage, whatever you may be facing at the moment. I pray the Lord shall grant you the strength that you need, and I pray for your breakthrough as well.

For some of you who have been abandoned before, be it by your own parents, your spouse (for another man or woman), your family, or even those friends whom you used to trust so much, this article is especially dedicated for you. The Lord is opening His arms to embrace you today. Receive His love and embrace that only He can give. Take heart also that He knows how to turn things around for good to you.

Job experienced the same. He was abandoned by his spouse (Job 2:9) and his pitiless friends (Job 16:20) at one time or another. But do you know that the Lord had never abandoned Job? It was the people around him who abandoned him! In fact, the Lord had already in view of Job being restored and blessed! When Job began to turn away from his own self-righteousness and began acknowledging who the Lord God is, the Lord restored Job's losses and gave him twice as much as he had before, and the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning (Job 42:10, Job 42:12). And you know what? Job then went on to live another one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations! (Job 42:16) Speaking of happy ending!

The parable of the prodigal son: "Who abandoned who?" (Luke 15:11-32)
Jesus told of a parable where the younger son took the portions of goods given by his father, journeyed to a country far away, and there wasted all his possessions with prodigal (wasteful, wild) living. But when he had lost everything, and came back to senses, he returned to his father, ready even to be made like one of his father's hired servants. But when the father saw him from afar off, he had compassion, ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him. The father then said to his servants, "Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
The 'father' here speaks of 'our Abba Father in heaven', and the 'son' here speaks of 'someone who abandoned Him'. But the moment the son returned to the father, the father was so glad that he celebrated his return with a banquet, and with music and dancing!

People of God, this is the heart of your Abba Father in heaven, who will never abandon you, nor will He abandon His plans and purposes in your life. Will you receive His love and embrace afresh and anew today? He promised Jacob (who later became Israel) and Joshua that He would never leave them, and that He would bless them. Both went on to do great exploits for the Lord in amazing ways. And He is saying the same for you today. As you look forward to a brand new year, I pray that you too will experience the goodness, the power, and the lovingkindness of your Abba Father in many more amazing ways. In Jesus' name. Amen.

A lifestyle of worship

I heard and released these words from the Lord on December 4, 2016:

"This is a month to dedicate yourselves to Me in worship. A lifestyle of worship! A lifestyle of worship! In all that you are, and in all that you do, worship Me!"

Don’t get me wrong. Not that at other times, you don’t worship. But this is a key month to dedicate yourselves to Him again in worship.

In John 4:23-24, Jesus says, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 

The word 'worship' here is 'proskuneo' in Greek, and according to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, it means 'to kiss (like a dog licking his master's hand)'. Other definitions of this word 'proskuneo' are 'to prostrate with a kiss' and 'to prostrate oneself in reverence and adoration'.

By the way, 'to prostrate' can be defined as 'to lay oneself flat on the ground face downward, especially in reverence and submission'.

Two times the Lord said, "A lifestyle of worship!", and I knew He had wanted me to write about this today. And so here am I, O Lord, at Your service!

I am fascinated by this particular definition of 'proskuneo': 'to kiss (like a dog licking his master's hand)'. If you have a pet dog, you'd know what this means. To the dog, you are like the world to him! To the dog, you are 'the leader of the pack', 'the master', someone whom he would look to and put his fullest trust!

With this illustration above, we can now understand better the very essence of what 'worship' ('proskuneo') is, in the context of your relationship with the Lord your God: Like a dog licking the master's hand, you look to Him (your Master) and put your fullest trust in Him (your Master) in all that you are, and in all that you do! 

Contrary to what many people think, worship isn't just in songs and melodies. Worship is a lifestyle! For those in worship ministry, your lifestyle reflects your ministry, and not just in your singing of songs, or playing of musical instruments. As someone who has been involved in worship ministry, I must admit that no doubt musical skills are important, but without a heart and lifestyle of worship, all these skills will become nothing before God. People may be impressed by your musical skills/talents, but God isn't.

Note: The Oxford Dictionary defines 'lifestyle' as 'way of life of an individual or group'; and Dictionary.com defines it as 'a way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group'.

Today, I want to introduce two words for 'worship' that you can find in the New Testament. First, 'proskuneo' (which I have explained above), and second, 'latreuo'. The second word is found in Philippians 3:3 written by the apostle Paul: 'For we are the circumcision, who worship ('latreuo') God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh'. The word 'latreuo' here in Greek means 'to minister (unto God), to serve God, to render service (unto God)'.

The apostle Paul then continued writing: '...If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eight day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith...' (Philippians 3:4-9, NKJV)

In the context of the verses above, 'latreuo' can therefore be defined as 'to minister (unto God), to serve God, to render service (unto God), without putting confidence in the flesh'. In other words, not by one's own ability, but God's ability!

The apostle Paul (who was entrusted by the Lord to write half of the whole New Testament) understood what true 'worship' is! He was living a lifestyle of worship through and through! The Bible never mentioned him playing musical instruments! But that doesn't mean he wasn't a worshiper of the Lord! Singing songs? Okay, the Bible mentioned that before! Not in a worship conference, or on stage in a worship service, but you know where? Inside the jail, together with Silas, and in the midnight hour! (Acts 16:25-26) Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he sang hymns to God! It just came naturally to him, even in the 'darkest' of hours! He was living a lifestyle of worship from the inside-out! Not a facade, not for show, but a 'proskuneo' and 'latreuo' before the Lord!

You see, you don't have to be in worship team/ministry to be a worshiper! But if you are in worship team/ministry, all the more you are to live a lifestyle of worship! Not just in songs and music, but in every facet (aspect) of your everyday life!

In all that you are, worship Him!

'Proskuneo': Looking to Him and putting all your trust in Him.

'Latreuo': Ministering unto Him and rendering service unto Him, putting no confidence in your own flesh.

For instance, my writing ministry is a form of worship unto the Lord. I did it upon the instructions (blueprints) given by the Lord, and just wanted to bless the Body of Christ unconditionally. I have never expected people to start writing to me and ask if they can use my materials. But many did!

People of God, in all that you are (i.e. 'called to be'), 'proskuneo' and 'latreuo' Him!

In all that you do, worship Him!

'Proskuneo': Looking to Him and putting all your trust in Him.

'Latreuo': Ministering unto Him and rendering service unto Him, putting no confidence in your own flesh.

The same it is with those many years of sowing seeds of God's love and kindness among the youths/college students in our (my wife and I) earlier years in full-time ministry. We did it upon the instructions (blueprints) given by the Lord, and just wanted to avail ourselves to care for these young people unconditionally. It was done as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23). We have never expected anything in return, and we have never expected these young people to remember us later in their lives. But some did!

People of God, in all that you do (i.e. 'called to do'), 'proskuneo' and 'latreuo' Him!

The Lord knows how to reward you! 

Yes, even if you have not expected it, and you just wanted to render your unconditional service unto Him as a sweet aroma of worship (Philippians 4:18), be it in your time, your energy, your giving of finance, etc. Because He is a good God, and He loves to give you every good thing (Romans 8:32, Psalm 34:10), even in ways you have not imagined, or even if you never realize it. Colossians 3:23-24 says, 'And whatever you do, do it heartily (with an abounding heart), as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ'. Ephesians 3:20 says, 'Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us'. 

And just as the Lord had spoken to Abram those days in Genesis 15:1, He is also saying these words to you who 'proskuneo' and 'latreuo' Him: "Do not be afraid, ... I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." Let it be so! Hallelujah!