"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Recently in the local newspaper, a religious man was charged in court for raping his own daughters. He proudly said, "I own my daughters and I have the right to do as I like". His view of life is reflected in most people, including some Christians. Notice the repeated letter "I" in the sentence, "I have the right to do as I like." Its source is from Lucifer. The Christian's right is to "do what is right" not "what I like". In a sense, he has no right for he does not belong to himself. He belongs to the Lord who have bought him at a price, that of "His own blood" (Acts 20:28).

The Bible tells us that God the Father created our bodies; God the Son redeemed them and made them part of His Body; and God the Holy Spirit indwells our bodies and make them the very Temple of God . How can we defile God's Temple by misusing our bodies for immorality?

The word 'Your' is plural in Greek but the words 'body and temple' are singular. Paul is not describing the individual believer but the corporate body, the local church. All the believers form the "Body of Christ". There is no such thing as a solitary believer for we are all "members of the Body" (see Rom 12 & 1 Cor 12). When a believer sin in the body, he sins not only against his own body but also the local church which is the Body of Christ.

Believers are commanded "to honor or glorify God with your body". The Holy Spirit is given for the purpose of glorifying Jesus Christ (John 16:14 ). He indwells and uses our bodies to glorify and magnify Christ (Philippians 1:20 -21). We are not to grieve the Spirit by allowing anything to master us. The believers in Corinth allowed "food" and "immorality" to master them. They treated sexual desires like food to be satisfied at anytime. Many fornicators, adulterers as well as homosexuals may try forgetting their sins but their sins will not forget them. All who ever committed sexual sins live with guilt and torment. Those who practice immorality are warned by Paul that there are eternal consequences - "They will not inherit God's kingdom". A believer may fall into such sins and be forgiven like David, but no believer will continually practice such sins (1 John 3:1-10). Let's "be holy", for God is holy. (1 Peter 1:16).

"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:16-17).

Today is a very special day for us as we witness the water baptism of three of our new members. It is also the Day in which the whole of Christendom commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus from the grave. We serve the Risen Savior who conquers sin, sickness, world, death and the Devil.

Even though Jesus was sinless, he went through water baptism "to fulfil all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15 ). He identified with sinners and was made "sin" for us. Paul said, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21 ). The cross was in Jesus' mind at the beginning of His ministry. From the beginning, Jesus knew he "must suffer many things and be rejected... and that he must be killed and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31 ).

Watchman Nee said, "The greatest negative in the universe is the cross of the Jesus, for with that God wiped out everything that was not of Himself". At the same time "the greatest positive in the universe is the resurrection, for through it God brought into being all He will have in the new sphere." In the baptism today, we witness that these three candidates have "died" to their old nature when they are buried in water and they are "alive" to their new nature when they emerge from the water. From this day forward, they live for Christ by faith in the resurrection power of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in them (Romans 6:4-5).

Today, we warmly welcome Tan Yu Lin, Lim Wei Tian and Patrick Lim into the Family of God at ROLC Church .

"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he adopts as a son." Hebrews 12:5-6

No church is perfect because the church consists of imperfect people. The Church at Corinth was not spared of this imperfection. Instead of grieving over sin, the Corinthians were boasting about it. Paul says that tolerating sin is like putting yeast into a whole batch of dough. He strongly urged the Corinthians to "put out of your fellowship the man who did this" (v2); "hand this man over to Satan" (v5); "get rid of the old yeast" and "expel the wicked man" (v13). Before we accuse Paul for being unloving and harsh, we must realize that in 1 Corinthians 4: 21, he asked them which they preferred ¨C a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit? He had demonstrated the latter but now he had to use the whip. Like parents who have to discipline children in love, the church must discipline in order to restore the erring members.

Discipline is a love language. "God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness" (Hebrews 12:10 ). Holiness is the trait of every Christian home and church for without holiness, no one will see God. The church of Corinth had compromised on morality and discipline was essential. Paul was not only shocked at the grave sin of immorality being committed but he was even more shocked by the attitude of the Corinthian church towards the sinner. They should mourn for such sin and deal with it and not live as though nothing had happened. The cancer must be removed before it is allowed to spread.

Sin in the life of a believer is far worse than sin in the life of an unbeliever. An immoral believer must be separated from the fellowship of the local church so that God can discipline him. The phrase 'deliver such a one to Satan' in 1 Corinthians 5:5 suggests that there is spiritual safety within the fellowship of the local church. To be disciplined and be dismissed from the church fellowship makes us vulnerable to Satan's attacks. Thus, it is far better to take responsibility to confess our sins, be forgiven, and be restored to fellowship with the local church and with God.

"I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God" (1 Corinthians 4:4-5).

Paul listed 3 judgments we need to face.

The judgment of fellow men.

Paul said that he cared very little that he was judged by men because his life and ministry was above reproach. Paul lived and ministered with a clear conscience. He dared even to say, °Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). He suffered so much for the gospel yet he was considered "the scum of the earth" and "the refuse of the world" (v13). As long as we live in this fallen world, we cannot help being judged by our fellow-men. However, we must imitate Paul to live blameless lives before men. At the same time, we must be careful not to pass criticisms and judgments on others.

We must judge ourselves.
Paul knew that "self-judgment" could be clouded by false humility, self abasement or self-satisfaction, pride and conceit. "Man, know thyself" is practical wisdom for living (Greek philosophy). We must have a healthy "self-judgment" in order to have peace with ourselves. The principle of self-judgment is reiterated in 1 Corinthians 11:23-32 when we come before the Lord's Table to partake of the Body and the Blood of our Lord. Paul warned us: "a man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup" (v28). When we fail to judge ourselves correctly, we drink judgment upon ourselves.

The Judgment of God.
This is the only real and final Judgment. Only God knows all the circumstances and motives of our hearts. Man sees the deeds but God sees the intentions of our hearts At the Judgment Seat of Christ, every Christian has to give an account of the "what" and the "why" of all that we do here on earth. There will be much surprises and revelation on that great Day. We may escape the judgments of men but we can never escape the judgment of God for God says, "As it is appointed unto men once to die, after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27 KJV).

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful" (Matt 26:41; Col 4:2).

For the past few weeks, the Lord has been prompting my wife and me to pray more for the church. We encounter some delays in the renovation. Our members also face some spiritual attacks. Two families encountered deaths in their homes, Several others are stressed up because of difficulties and challenges in the home and work. Surely, we need to humble ourselves and repent before the Lord for lack of victory in our personal and corporate lives.

Let's us seriously seek God's face and "devote ourselves to prayer and being watchful and thankful" at all times. On the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus summons His friends to "watch and pray". He said, "could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" (Matthew 26:40). A Jewish 'watch' is 3-hour duration but Jesus was prepared to reduce that to 1-hour for the disciples to "watch and pray."

Watching and praying, though related, are quite different. In Matthew 26:41 and Luke 21:36, Jesus implied that watching is as important as praying. The words "watch, watchman, watchful, see or observe" occur 300 times in the Bible. The words "pray, prayer, praying, prayerful" occur 295 times. In other words, we should be alert and watchful in our prayer knowing that we are living in the end times where upheavals, shakings like earthquakes and all kinds terrors like plagues, diseases, wars, and conflicts are taking place. (Mark 13).

We tend to talk more but pray less. This is detrimental to our personal and corporate victory. The saying, "No prayer, no power; little prayer, little power and more prayer, more power" is very apt to describe our prayer life. As a church, we will set aside the whole month of April "to devote ourselves to prayer". We will take a special hour per week to pray as a family. See what God will do in your lives and family when we will set aside this ?°hour?± to keep watch with Jesus. Some of us may use the 7/11 timeslots to pray. There is so much to be done but we cannot do much if we don't watch and pray. Would you ask the Holy Spirit to prompt you to pray? Like the disciples, would you ask Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray." (Luke 11:2)

Annual General Meeting is a Government requirement. However, it is also a time to evaluate what God has been doing in our corporate life and ministry. If 'it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment' (Hebrews 9:27 ), we ought to keep short accounts and be found blameless before God and men. Let's prayerfully consider the following:-

Attendance. If our weekly attendance is between 120 and130, we should have an increase of about 12% since the last year. Pastor Kong Hee ( City Harvest Church ) says that a healthy church should grow by 20% annually. We have a shortfall here and we make every effort to grow.

Building. Though the Church of God is universal, it has to express itself locally. Hence, a church building is a vital witness in the community. Praise God, He has given us a new building as a base for expanding His kingdom in Ponggol.

Cash. How we give towards God?ˉs Kingdom indicates the level of our commitment to God and His church. True love expresses itself in sacrificial and consistent giving. We thank God that He has enabled us to raise over $2 million. When we 'increase' in our love for Christ, cash for His ministries will also increase.

Discipleship. We must grow in discipleship. Discipleship is seen when we hold on to the teaching of His Word (John 8:31 ); loving one another (John 13:34 -35) and bearing fruit. (John 15:8)

Evangelism is soul-winning. Our Lord commands us to go out and share the Gospel to all. (Acts 1:8; Matt 28:19-20). No church or Christian can ignore this mandate. Like Paul, we must "testifying to the gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:24 ). We can win our loved ones and friends to Him.

Follow up is consolidating and strengthening new believers. We should not bring them in by the "front door" but let them leave by the "back door". Our OIKOS (home BS groups) are catered to build one another up in the Most Holy Faith. Praise God that about 90% of us are in Oikos. What about the 10%?

Glory to the Lord for He alone is worthy of all praise, honor and worship. When the Lord is reflected in our lives and ministries, believers and pre-believers will be drawn closer to God. (1 Cor 10:31 ; Col 3:23 ) Let us glorify Him by our lives.

"Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 1:20 ; 2:2).

The apostle Paul was qualified to utter the above statements. He himself was a learned man, schooled in the " Oxford University" of those days and sat under the feet of a renowned theological and religious professor, Gamaliel. He was of "the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee, as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless." Philippians 3:5-6

After his conversion, Paul said, "I consider everything loss for the sake of Christ. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:7, 8). I believe that Paul was chosen to be an apostle not because of his education or intelligence but because of his zeal and sincerity. After he became a Christian, he was zealous and sincere for God. He "resolved to know nothing...except Jesus Christ and him crucified". Paul said, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21 ). Christ was the centre and passion of his life and ministry.

What is our goal in life? What are our pursuits? What does 'success' mean to us? If we think we can pursue the highest education and attain the highest knowledge by our own human strength and wisdom, we are fools in the sight of God. Jack Deere said that "an Omniscient Being is not impressed with intelligence". What can finite mind impress the Infinite Mind? Let us learn from Paul: let our finite minds pursue the Infinite Mind. May God grant us grace as we resolve to know and experience Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Wise men still seek Jesus and embrace the Cross of Calvary!

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

For the next five months, we will be studying First Corinthians. Paul founded the Corinthian Church during his second missionary journey (Acts 18) and he ministered there for one and a half years. After he left, serious problems developed in the Church and Paul responded with this letter. Corinth was a proud, philosophical city with many itinerant teachers promoting their philosophies. This had crept into the church defiling and dividing them into different sects. There were sins of immorality; drunkenness, lawsuits and other worldly lifestyles. In this letter, Paul teaches the need to know what is right (teaching); know what is not right (rebuking); know how to get right (correcting) and know how to keep doing right (training).

Warren Wiersbe said that in studying 1 Corinthians, we will be wise about the Christian Calling (Ch 1); the Christian Message (Ch 2); the Local Church (Ch 3); the Christian Ministry (Ch 4); Church Discipline (Ch 5-6); Christian Marriage (Ch 7); Christian Liberty (Ch 8,10); Personal Priorities (Ch 9); Church Order (Ch 11); the Church Body (Ch 12, 13); Using Spiritual Gifts (Ch 14); the Resurrection (Ch 15) and Christian Stewardship (Ch 16).

We trust you will make every effort to read these 16 chapters. It takes us about 30 minutes to read the 16 chapters with understanding. What the apostle John said of reading the Book of Revelation is also true for any book of the Bible - "Blessed is the one who read the words of this 'Corinthians', and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it" (Revelation1:3).

"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called, "Where are you? (Genesis 3:8-9).

Is God looking for sinners? Yes. Jesus said, "The Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost" (Luke 19:10). Are sinners looking for God? No. Like Adam and Eve, sinners are hiding... from God. We hide behind religions, good works, philosophies, education and every conceivable thing from the loving God.

The guilty one always hides. When a thief sees a policeman on the road, he will run away though the policeman does not even know that he is a wanted man. The Bible says "be sure your sin will find you out". Our sins will usually show up in strain relationships and diseases.

When the Omniscient God came to seek for the first couple, He did not come to condemn them but to restore them into fellowship with him. God came at the right time- "in the cool of the day" and He gently asked "Where are you?" This first question showed that the loving God knew their lost condition. He wanted them to recognize their condition and take responsibility for what they had done. Then God asked, "Who told you that you were naked?" The second question showed that an enemy had deceived them. Their relationship with God was broken. God further asked the woman, "What is this you have done?" God was gracious and forgiving and He wanted to restore them to fellowship with Him when they repented. Then God covered them with garments made of skin (Genesis 3:21). The word "skin" implies that an animal was sacrificed for the forgiveness of sin. Adam too forgave his wife for he did not name her "Blame" but he named her "Eve" which means mother of the living.

The Bible says that when we come to God with a humble and contrite heart, He will grant us forgiveness and a new lease of life. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, says that He came to give us abundant life? (John 10:10b). Are you experiencing it? When God asks you, "Where are you?" can you say, "I am in Christ?" The safest and most secured place is found in Christ, our Lord.

The donkey said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times? Am I not your donkey which you have ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" (Numbers 22:28b, 30).

In Numbers chapters 22- 24, we read of a talking donkey. God used a donkey to confront the prophet Balaam of his error. Balak was the king of Moab. The report of the victories of the Israelites brought fear to him. He knew that the army of Israel could never be defeated by human means because the Israelites were under God's protection. But he was determined to get rid of the Israelites who were in his land; so he hired the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. Balaam knew that he could never destroy Israel with his curses. He should not have gone with Balak but he went and "the angel of the Lord" appeared before his donkey to stop him from going further. Balaam could not see the angel and he beat the donkey. On the third time, the donkey spoke. Then, Balaam's eyes were opened and he saw the angel of the Lord. He was then allowed to go to speak for God. Every time, he opened his mouth to curse the Israelites, he ended up blessing them and it was from Balaam's lips that the coming of the Messiah (Jesus) was prophesied.

Though Balaam could not destroy the Israelites with his curses, he taught Balak to get Israel to sin against God so that they would be out of God's protection (Numbers 31:16). He came up with the idea of tempting the Israelite men with the Moabite girls (Numbers 25). Guess what? They committed sexual immorality and pagan worship. The curse fell on them because there was no longer any protection from God. 24,000 Israelites died in the plague. Moses had taught them to separate themselves from the paganistic and abominable practices of the nations but they compromised and abandoned their special position in God.

2 Peter 2:15 warns of the "way of Balaam"; Jude 11 describes the "error of Balaam" and Revelation 2:14 exposes the evil "teaching of Balaam." "The way of Balaam" is deliberate disobedience. The "error of Balaam" is using 'religion for personal gain'. The "teaching of Balaam" is compromise. Like the Israelites, we are God's covenant people. We should never take God's grace and protection for granted for God will punish us for our sins.

Those who dared to live by this verse will live to experience God's Divine protection. Moses and his rod overthrew Pharaoh and drowned six hundreds of his best chariots (Exodus 14). Behind Moses and his rod was the Almighty GOD. Though the Israelites had witnessed miracles of God's Divine protection, they could not believe that this same God could defeat the giants. They were gripped with fear and the whole assembly murmured against Moses and Aaron, "If only we had died in Egypt ! Or in the desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt ?" (Numbers 14:2-3). By their own mouths, they cursed themselves and sure enough all of them died in the wilderness. "The tongue has the power of life and death...." (Proverbs 18:21)

Only Joshua and Caleb lived to possess the Promised Land because they had a different spirit. They declared, "The land.....is exceeding good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into the land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them" (Numbers 14:7-9).

Ten men, who failed to see God, saw cities impregnably high;

Two men, "looking off" unto God, saw doom for those cities draw nigh

Ten men, who failed to see God, saw giants affrightingly tall;

Two men, "looking off" unto God, saw giants as grasshoppers small.

Ten men, who failed to see God, reported, "We're certain to fail";

Two men, "looking off" unto God, cried, "Up! for with God we prevail."

Ten men who failed to see God, Discouraged their brother men;

Two men perceived God everywhere; Are you of the two ¨C or the ten?

"These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" 1 Corinthians 10:11-12.

History repeats itself because no one listens! For this month, we are surveying the book of Numbers in the hope of learning from the failures of the Israelites so that we do not commit the same sins that have prevented them from entering into the Promised Land and enjoying God's blessings. History is good for the present generation provided we choose obedience over disobedience, life over death and blessing over curse.

The book of Numbers is an honest book. It records the failures and successes of the Israelites. Two thirds of the book of Numbers should never have been written for they were never intended. The journey from Egypt to the Promised Land of milk and honey would take only 11 days but because of their disobedience, it took them forty years.

God is only responsible to us, not for us. We are to be responsible for ourselves. We can choose to be wise when we learn from the failures of others. We will save lots of wasted time and wasted opportunities in our Christian walk. We enjoy God's blessings sooner than we expect when we choose obedience.

In weeks ahead, we will learn from the Israelites how they were:-

1. Faithful to do God's Will (Ch 1 ¨C 10)

2. Fearful to do God's Will (Ch 11 ¨C 19)

3. Faithless to do God's Will (Ch 20 ¨C 25)

4. Fearless to do God's Will (Ch 26 ¨C 36)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Every Lunar New Year, I look forward to exchanging old notes for new ones to be put into "Ang Pows". Human nature tells us to put away the old and welcome the new. Before the Lunar New Year, Chinese spring-clean their houses. Old furniture, utensils, clothes and many other things are discarded and they are replaced with new ones. Some do so at a great cost like buying a new car or a new house.

Isn't God wonderful? He knows that old things do not satisfy us. He wants us to have new things. He is in the business of making old things new by His creative and redemptive works. God begins to make old things new from within us, that is from our heart (spirit-man). He then transforms our soul and finally He fully redeems our physical body at the Second Coming of Christ.

Man, on the other hand, tries to look new from without. We put on new clothes, new shoes, new hair styles; drive new cars; live in new houses and so on. However, we do not realize that what "is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Cor 4:18b). We, who are God's people, ought to "fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen" for our body is temporary and Paul calls it "the earthly tent" which will be replaced with "an eternal house in heaven not built by human hands."

Praise God, we are a new creation in Christ. Something has happened in our spirit-man. We are "born-again" or rather "born above". Our mind (soul) is in the process of being renewed and our "earthly tent" (our body) will give way to a new and glorified body when our Savior Returns. With this glorious Hope awaiting us, we want to wish you all a blessed Lunar New Year and a glorious new You in 2006.

"As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus." (Luke 9:29-30).

As Jesus was praying, His appearance was changed. He must have been in deep anguish and concentration, pouring his heart to God. On one occasion before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed so intensely that "his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44 ).

Prayer is costly. It involves effort to get up early, 'climb the mountain' to spend time with God. Prayer is powerful for it can move 'mountains' in our lives. The lazy will not want to get up to move 'mountains'. Matthew and Luke tell us that Jesus was on the mountain with his disciples. The Master had made it His habit to rise up a great while before day, to this solitary place to pray. (Mark 1:35 ). If Jesus took time to pray (to be refreshed and re-fueled), we certainly need more. No wonder, He had accomplished so much for the Father in His three and a half years ministry on earth.

Prayer changes and transforms not only things, but the "pray-er" (that is, the one who prays). Jesus' appearance shone and so was Moses when he came down from the mountain after he had met with God. The glory of God is manifested when we earnestly seek God in prayer. In short, "no cost, no 'transfiguration' and no glory".

In the January 2000, we attended our first LoveSingapore Pastors' Prayer Summit in Malacca. At that Prayer Summit, we joined with 700 other pastors and leaders to pray for ourselves and our nation. For three days, we sat and knelt on the floor in prayer and repentance. Since that Summit , my prayer life was no longer the same. Before that, I could not even pray even for an hour.

This is our 7th Prayer Summit. We thank God for such opportunities to be away to seek God's Face and hear from Him so that we can be changed from one glory to another. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

"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. 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)

God's call to Isaiah to the prophetic ministry came in the year when the king that he served had died. But the real KING lives. The throne of Judah had changed occupants, but Jehovah God was still on the Throne. He saw angelic beings worshipping and proclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory". It was so awesome and powerful that the doorposts and thresholds of the temple shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

Isaiah was never the same after that encounter with the Thrice Holy God. When one sees the glory of God, one also sees his true self. In deep humility, Isaiah cried, "Woe to me, I am ruined." The Thrice Holy God then touched him and cleansed him. Before he could pronounce "woe" to others, he had to deal with himself. Then he was able to answer God's call by saying, "Here am I. Send me!"

Thereafter, Isaiah served God even in very difficult situations. He remained true and faithful to the One who had called him. The glory of God was upon him and he was able to accomplish all that God had for him to do.

Do we see the Lord as we worship Him in the beauty of His Holiness? Do we see the need to be cleansed and forgiven? Have we knelt before Him in repentance and risen in gratitude to serve Him each day?

8 Jan The Glory of the Lord and Moses

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee." Isaiah 60:1-2

Four months ago, the Lord had placed upon my heart that we should learn more about the glory of God in January 2006. I was excited as I anticipated the completion of our new building (God's house and glory). His glory would be manifested in lives transformed, souls saved, sicknesses healed and much more when we purpose to pray more, seek His face more earnestly and witness for Him. I believe that in 2006, God wants us to be open - put our own "house" in order for the glory of God to fall and fill our Iives, our homes and our church.

What God has been telling me is confirmed through the new issue of EDWJ and a letter I received from Pastor George (Kenneth Copeland's Ministries) at the last week of 2005. It reads as follows:-

Dear John,

Brother Copeland delivered a word from the Lord at the 2005 Washington , D.C. Victory Campaign. He said, "There will be times when the glory cloud falls and completely fills a church. It will boil out of the doors of the church and go all over the neighbourhood. People will be standing out in the street and won't be able to see one another. It will glisten and be so glorious that people will see sickness and diseases running off their bodies." He also said, "It is a time that we've all been praying for. So rejoice and enjoy it saith the Father, because I do all things for you to enjoy. So have fun in glory and heal the sick and raise the dead and go with Me and see if you can stay up with Me saith the Lord."

During the month of January, I will be ministering about the glory. I invite you to join us as we walk in this glory that has been prophesied.

It's time for the Glory,

Signed by Pastor George...

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws?± (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

God, Satan and Man said "I Will". According to Isaiah, Lucifer said "I will" five times (Isaiah 14:13 -14). Because of his rebelliousness. God brought Lucifer "down to the depths of the pit" (Isaiah 14:15 ).

Man (Adam) also said "I will". In Genesis 3, Adam chose his own will rather than God's will and that led to the Fall. On the contrary, Jesus said, "Not as I will, but as You will" (Matt. 36:39) and God was pleased with Him.

By God's grace we are now moving into 2006. We have new expectations, hopes, plans and resolutions. In less than a month, we would have broken all our resolutions. Why? The answer is obvious. They are made by the wrong spirit (our old and sinful spirit). Unless we allow God's Spirit to bind with our human spirit and we evict the evil spirits out of our lives, we would remain captives of Satan.

God knows our weaknesses. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says that He will do three things in our lives. First, He will give us a new heart and put a new spirit into us. Next, God will remove from us a heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. Finally, God's Spirit will enable us to obey all His laws. On the Cross of Calvary, Jesus accomplished all these for us. His Victory Cry was, "It is finished!" (John 19:30 ). Everything for full salvation, sanctification and service are done on the Cross of Calvary. Will you believe God? Will you walk right with God and walk into the freedom of His Love and Forgiveness? Will you confess daily, "Not my will but thine be done" The Lord promises that if you will fully obey Him, you will walk in His perfect will of life, health, wealth and ministry (Deut 28).