He teaches you to profit!

Isaiah 48:17 (NKJV): Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go."

Notice the word 'profit' here. It is 'yaal' in Hebrew, which means 'to ascend, to be valuable, to be useful, to be benefited, set forward, have profit, be profitable'. Wow! And because you've been redeemed, God wants you to 'yaal' as well!

You know what it means here? He wants to teach you to 'ascend' in your career, business, ministry, etc. He wants to teach you to 'be valuable' in what you do or who you are in your organization! As the redeemed of the Lord, you are meant to 'yaal'! So, if you are working in an organization, He teaches you to 'go up' (ascend) the 'success ladder'. And if you are a team player in your organization, He teaches you to be the MVP (Most Valuable Player)! And He'll lead you by the way you should go!

And today, this is for you to receive as a believer! And as He teaches and leads you to 'yaal', others will somehow take notice or ask the secret of your success, and that's when the name of the Lord is glorified! Because "Jesus has redeemed me!", and because "Jesus taught me and led me so!" Amen!

The way to 'ascend' is to 'profit' others. In Matthew 10:8, notice the phrase 'freely you have received, freely you give'. Here, Jesus was talking to His disciples in the context of His enabling & spiritual gifts (i.e. "and as you go, preach...", "heal the sick", "cleanse the lepers", "raise the dead", "cast out demons"). The disciples were asked to use freely all that He has imparted and given them! Not withholding, but freely give! When I was a schoolboy, a teacher used to say this: "The secret of happiness is to bring happiness to others". Later on, I learned the acronym of the word 'JOY', 'Jesus, others, yourself', in that sequence. To have real joy is to be Jesus-conscious, fixing your eyes on Him and all that He's done for you on the cross, and as you behold Him more and more (& knowing how much He loves you), this will in turn flow out to others.

One example of 'selflessness' I read was about one of Kathryn Kuhlman's healing meetings. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, she began asking the 'less sick' to start praying for the 'more sick', and when the crowd began 'looking away from their own needs' and start praying for others' needs, healings and miracles began taking place all over! Even those who prayed for others got healed themselves! Praise the Lord!

Paul put it aptly when he wrote about spiritual gifts, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all" (1 Corinthians 12:7 NKJV). 'For the profit of all' here is even clearer in KJV version, i.e. 'to profit all', and this word 'to profit' in Greek is 'sumphero', which means 'to contribute, to bring advantage to others, to bring profit to others'. Notice it's never meant 'to judge or condemn' others! Notice also it is 'to bring advantage to others', not 'taking advantage of others'!

People of God, you 'profit' (yaal) by 'profiting' others. The Lord will definitely know how to promote you in due season, for 'promotion doesn't come from the east, west, or south' (Psalm 75:6), but it comes from the Lord. Leave this part to Him. 

So, whatever spiritual gift, talent, etc you have received freely from the Lord, let it flow out to bless others. 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 is a list of spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit. Certain gifts may be expressed more frequently through you, but it is He who distributes to each one individual as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:11). You may even have operated some of these without realizing it in the past! Your blessing others can also be in the area of your acquired knowledge, wisdom, skills, talents, finance, or any other resources you have. All in all, the Lord will definitely teach you to 'yaal'! Amen!

Jesus' agony at garden of Gethsemane, the beginning of your restoration

Luke 22:44 (NKJV): And being in agony, Jesus prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

This verse recorded the physical condition of Jesus just before He was arrested, written by Luke, a physician (medical doctor). Recently, I was reading 'laterally' (side-ways) the records of all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) about what happened at the garden of Gethsemane, and it seemed only Luke wrote about such physical condition (sweat mixed with blood). And if you know Luke's writings enough, you'd know he's rather detailed in his many descriptions, especially on one's physical condition. That's definitely a trait of a good doctor! And I believe he certainly knew what he was writing in Luke 22:44. I checked with a practising medical doctor, and asked if such condition in this verse is possible, and she described it this way: "If this was to happen, there's got to be such intense pressure and agony on Jesus, so much so His blood capillaries burst!"

And that was only the beginning of Jesus' suffering. His agony continued all the way until He died on the cross days later. And through those days, He was 'beaten' in every possible way; spirit, soul, and body. He was insulted, ridiculed, mocked, humiliated, stripped, whipped, wounded, pierced; you name it, and He'd gone through it! People of God, there's definitely no suffering of yours that He can't identify with. He has carried them all, and that's the very reason why He came on earth, just for you!

'Gethsemane' in Hebrew comes from two words, 'Geth' which means 'wine-press/tread the grapes, a vat/container for holding the grapes in pressing them', and 'Shemen' which means 'oil, especially liquid (as from olive)'. Like a fresh olive fruit, Jesus was 'squeezed out' of all His 'oil' till He got 'dried up' at the cross, so you can be 'full' again! And all these began at the garden of Gethsemane. This 'oil' is a 'picture' of His joy and anointing that are meant for you to receive.

Let's now go right back to Genesis 2:1-2, a 'picture' of what God has originally meant for mankind. After six days of creation, God said, "Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day, God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done." And then, Genesis 2:15 says, "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it." You know what that means? Adam and Eve was supposed to enjoy their God-given 'garden'! The Bible says they were to 'tend and keep it', not strive and toil in it! And they were supposed to be filled with joy and blessings in the 'garden'! That's the real thing, the original thing, the perfect, complete, finished work of God for them! In fact, the word 'Eden' in Hebrew means 'delight, pleasure, goodness'.

Beloved, it has always been God's delight & pleasure to see you enjoy the 'garden' He's given you! This 'garden' speaks of His destiny or calling for your life!

However, things went all wrong the moment Adam and Eve began 'coveting' for more. And the serpent ('picture' of satan) was there to imply that God's 'perfect' work for Adam and Eve was not 'perfect' enough! They soon fell into those lies, and eventually got 'cast out' of their Eden (Genesis 3:23). As a consequence, instead of enjoying their God-given 'garden', Adam & Eve finally saw themselves 'toiling & tilling' (outside the 'garden'), and there's also much striving then on, even in their off-spring.

That's why Jesus came.

And His agony marked the beginning of God's restoration for you and me, to a place you are originally meant to be, a place of His blessings and joy. Know that He has already done it for you some 2,000 years ago, beginning from Gethsemane till the moment He said, "It is finished!", and when His head was bowed (a 'picture' of resting) on the cross (John 19:30). The 'door' has indeed been opened again, and in this 'garden' is all His goodness and blessings for you to receive again! Amen.

Count it all joy!

Count it all joy when you face various trials! That's what James 1:2 says. In fact, in Greek, the meaning of 'trials' in this verse here is 'adversity'. So, I can read it this way: "Count it all joy when you face various adversities!" People of God, let me say this: Adversities don't come from God! The origin of 'adversities' is the 'adversary', and he's none other than the devil!

I hear the Lord assuring you that 'He will never leave you nor forsake you' (Hebrews 13:5), no matter what you've been facing recently. In fact, He wants you to know that He has always been with you, and if He is with you, who can be against you? (Romans 8:31)

Let's now go to Daniel chapter 3. Here, you'd see how Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego stood firm on God and not bow down to the gold image as commanded by King Nebuchadnezzar. Yes, even if they knew the risk of being thrown into the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:15-18). The king later became so furious with them he commanded for the furnace to be seven times hotter! And the fire was so hot it even killed the men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego! (Daniel 3:22) Not only that, he ordered for them to be bound with their own clothings before being thrown into the furnace. Now, all these would have caused some to retract and give in. But that's not the case for Daniel's friends! Indeed they have the revelation of Jesus, and they knew what they were doing!

And that's when God showed up! In Daniel 3:24-25, the king was astonished with what he saw, and he said, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" He then said further, "Look! Now I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." And this fourth person was none other than Jesus Himself!

Maybe you are in the midst of a challenge, a trial, an adversity at the moment (even though you know you've been walking in what God has spoken to you). It can be in any area of your life, maybe in your working place, or even in your ministry. But take heart, my friend. As a believer, know that He is still with you right now. In fact, He has always been (and will always be) with you, never leaving you nor forsaking you. And though you may be 'bound' in a 'difficult' situation at the moment, He'll lead you to walk 'loose' again, just as Daniel's three friends were! Will you take Him at His Word? Believing, you'll receive. And will you keep looking to Him in such a time?

And you know what? In the end, the king finally acknowledged the YHWH whom Daniel's three friends served, and they were eventually promoted (Daniel 3:30). People of God, He'll also lead you through every 'adversity' of yours (no matter how/what the devil may have 'thrown' at you recently), and that's why James said, "Count it all joy", because your 'promotion' is also on the way! Praise God!

Finally, let's now go to Mark 4:35-41. Here, Jesus was in a boat (with His disciples) crossing over to 'the other side' when a big storm came, and the boat was about to sink. Notice Jesus was still asleep even when the storm came! You know what? He, the Prince of Peace, was never at all 'affected' by the storm! See? He wasn't even awoken by the storm! Guess what awoke Him then? No, not because the storm got from bad to worse! He was awoken when He heard the 'cry' of His own (disciples). Today, He's the same to you (for He is the same yesterday, today, and forever). He hears your 'cry' too, because He calls you His own!

See? He has never been 'affected' by whatever 'storm' (big or small) the devil may have come up with! That's never a problem to Him at all!

Is there any 'storm' He cannot calm in your life today?

Beloved, like a loving parent to a child, He also 'awakes' when you start looking to Him & calling out to Him! And you know what, the storm calmed down (Mark 4:39) at His words ("Peace, be still!"), and just as the disciples, you'll also reach your 'the other side' (your 'destiny') as well, safe and sound. Amen!