What does it mean when God says arise and take the land?
In Joshua 1, we see the famous passage where it starts by saying Moses died and now, the place of leadership is passes on to Joshua. He is given the command by God to take the people and cross the River Jordan so that they will be able to enter the land the Lord is about to give them. Mighty task. And God says that He will be with Him, that He will lead Him and no enemies of Joshua will be able to stand againts him, and wherever his feet takes him, God shall give it to him. Mighty mighty promise!
They had to send spies into Jericho to survey the land. The people then crossed the Jordan, led by Joshua. In Gilgal, the men underwent circumcision. At the end of the event, they celebrated Passover, when it was recorded the nation ate the produce of the land, instead of manna. For when they ate the food of Canaan (they land they're about to inherit), manna stopped. There is a time when God provides but there is also a time when God wants His people to inherit the land and all that is in it.
In Joshua 6 in recorded the famous event where the walls of Jericho fell. A week before the miracle was witnessed by the eyes of the men, God gave a command and a promise to Joshua. In verse 2 of chapter 6 God says to Joshua "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men." It goes on with intructions from God on how He wants the army organised. For six days and six nights, the men which includes prophets, the whole nation and the army of God marched around Jericho, without a word. But on the seventh day, the people of God shouted and the mighty walls of Jericho fell in front of them. And the people entered the city of Jericho.
What is interesting in the passage is how God gave the command to Joshua in verse 2. He started the sentence with the word "See". God wants us to see before we plan and do anything else. He doesn't want us to see with the eyes of the natural but the supernatural. How can we possess the land if we don't see? How can God use a man who can see in the natural but in blind in the supernatural? For he doesn't know where he's going! It goes on saying "See, I have delievered Jericho into your hands". wow! We are talking about the nation that is nationless. We are talking about a people who are used to eating manna and wandering in the wilderness for what seemed like all their life. Now, almost at the end of the journey, a flicker of a second before the Promise is fulfilled, God says to Joshua, He has already given the whole city and everything in it into their hands! I wonder what is going on in His head "Like, how on earth, God? The last time I checked their walls, it's made of stone!" I don't know what in going on in his head, but when God spoke, I'm sure Joshua felt a surge of adrenalin rising up in him. He is bloodthirsty and every part of him is eager to bring the nation into the land the Lord promised.
There are times when God says take the land, for I have given it to you. It doesn't mean take a walk in the park, look around, and take a few pictures. But when God says take the land, He means fight for it. For it belongs to you. Fight with every ounce of strength in you. Don't lay back and relax, 'cause now is the time to gird yourself for the fight of your life. Put on the armour of God and claim the land the Lord God has given you. It is yours if only you could do one thing: See.
Can you see the land He's given you?
"I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses... As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them." - Joshua 1:3-7
Yes, you read right. I've never thought I'll say that. But there I go. I miss everything about it. The MRT, the HDB, the CTE/PIE expressway (don't you just love acronym-ville!) heh! I love and miss walking into SPH, miss the bak chor mee nearby. Miss walking to the nearby HDB coffeeshop where I had BBQ roast pork rice smothered in rich, black sauce - like lots of them! haha. and my girlfriend having rojak. Miss walking from the bus stop to S k y e's apartment. The night air, how we saw Orion's 4 nights in a row. I miss the many shopping malls, including Novena Square - where they had lavendar cookies and Mexican wedding cookie :) Miss Causeway Point. And miss the random moments of spotting Yakun Coffeeshop! It sure tickled my fancy. I miss talking to S k y e's mom and dad. Her mom's laughter is so contagious! hehe. 3 of us did spend some super-cracked-me-up moments hey? She's a great person. I miss hearing S k y e's dad reciting deep Chinese poems and his humour. I miss coming home after a tired day and rest in the bedroom of my certain someone. It's lovely of her to let me have the whole bedroom. Thanks gorgeous.
But after having said all these, I miss being in Singapore with S k y e :)
It has been a totally awesome 12 days spent with my lovely S k y e.
A full 6 days and 5 nights were spent in Singapore, where I had the amazing honour of meeting S k y e's parents and her brother and also being welcomed to stay at their place. I love Woodlands! I really do. From where the house is, one can see Vista Point - this double storey community mall and a short walk from there is Plaza 888 :) hehe. I love how serene and quaint the community is. There's no loud traffic, no jams, everyone gets their own space and it's a lovely neighbourhood where travel to the city or wherever is easy. You see, I can keep going on and on about how amazing and marvelous the trip in Singapore was. We spent the last 3 days and 2 nights at a Changi chalet/bangalow with S k y e's folks and relatives. It was an awesome place! It's a 6-room bangalow, majorly spacious and one can see the coast from where your room is! It was such an honour to meet the relatives who drove and bussed all the way down from town after work for a family BBQ. The food was great, the atmosphere was amazing, but the best part is just being able to be there with her folks and her relatives. I wouldn't be doing enough justice by saying this, but they were an absolutely amazing family!
One of the moments that I'll never forget is when S k y e and I walked down the Changi beach boardwalk with her folks. Just being there to hear the waves crashing, walking as the sun set in front of us was amazing. And being Valentine's Day Eve, the sight of S k y e's mom and dad walking together and both of us holding hands, enjoying every moment touches my heart so much. Being there at the Changi beach chalet with S k y e during Valentine's Day was beyond words. It was our first Valentine's together after being with each other for 8 months plus now. I'll never forget every moment of that day, from the second when the sun rises till the moment when we walked by the beach boardwalk at night. I love you, S k y e :)
On February 15th, we bussed to PJ where S k y e met my family and stayed over for 6 days. How sweet it is to have a girlfriend that amazes me and makes me think about how God so wonderfully orchestrated our love and relationship together. Both of us had a wonderful time together but also when we went out as a family for dinner. S k y e was really loved by the folks. I'm beyond glad. I've never seen my mom being so excited buying stuff for her at the pasar malam and my dad who kept asking her to stay longer if possible and even asked her family to come over! hehe :) I like that. PJ became even more beautiful when you were here, love.
Yes, we finally did the 3-country thing.
How God made us find each other in Melbourne, fall in love and got together on the 15th of June 2005. How God led S k y e to work in Singapore when I was in Melbourne. How God showed His favour when she came over in June and December till January this year. How God led me to come back here when she was still in Singapore. And now, how all this unfolds before us.
We don't know how things will work out. All we have is a promise. All we hold is His words spoken over our lives. We know we got Him. And with that, we'll move on, we'll put one foot in front of the other, we'll march on. I'm already blown away by how God worked everything through in our relationship thus far, and it's only been 8 months. How much more awesome it will be if we keep on living and loving in Him! Again I'm reminded that He is a God that can do exceedingly and abundatly more than all we ask or hope for. You are our God and King and upon this Rock we will stand, upon this Rock we will be rooted and build.
Now, we'll prepare our hearts for the next step. God, speak for Your children are listening. Better days are ahead. We still believe there is more.
Show me a vision like Isaiah saw Where the angels touched his lips And he sinned no more
Show me a vision like Ezekiel saw An army of light From a valley of bones Breathe life into these lungs of mine So I can scream and shout Of Your love divine
I'm in Jacob's dream seeing heavens gate Let me climb all night On my ladders of faith Wrestle with the angel Till my body is weak Dislocate my bones For it's You that I seek
Show me the light Paul Apostle saw When he fell to the dust And he could see no more Open my eyes, Open my eyes Open my eyes, Open my eyes
- Here I Am Send Me, Delirious?
I need to see as how these people saw. God mentioned they were people like us. The difference was these people stood the test of faith. The test requires you to see, when you saw, it requires you to pay, when you have decided to pay the price, it requires you to do some things the world would laugh at, scorn at, and seem foolish. But who gets the last laugh?
What is sacrifice?
David understood that it was not gonna be something that costs him nothing. Isaiah understood that it meant being cleansed of all impurities and living a life that is worthy of the calling. The ultimate sacrifice, our Lord Jesus understood that it meant laying down His power and authority as God and submit to the will of the Father. He could say no anytime, but He didn't. He had legions of angels at His side ready to fight for Him, but He laid that aside. Instead, He chose the crown of thorns, suffered at the hands of sinners, whipped to a bloody pulp, all for you and me.
So, question at hand: Why is it so hard for men to sacrifice some things in our life when we know God is asking us to go to the next level? How could new wine be poured into old wineskin? No, unless the old wineskin is dumped, the new wine won't come. For it is no good for God to give a new revelation to an old mindset that will not comprehend the things of God. Would we be happy with baby food, or should we eat the solid food of the spirit? Now that I am an adult, I put the childish ways behind me, and I move on.
Imagine you're having a disabled leg at the moment. Every where you go, you need a crutch. Everytime you move, it hurts. One day, a doctor told you he's gonna perform a surgery on you and everything will be taken care of, you won't need to pay a cent and you'll be able to walk freely after that. Would the 'sacrifice' of throwing the crutch away seem a lot when you know you have a promise waiting ahead? Would it seem like a huge price to pay compared to the freedom you'll experience? I don't think so.
Don't let the price scare you away from the promise. There is no bigger price to pay than the one that has been paid by Jesus. What's a sacrifice when you know and has been promised that you're paying the price so that you can be moving on to better things, greater things, bigger things.
Been back from Midvalley Megamall. Haven't been back there for more than 2 years but nothing much have changed. The drive there was particularly enjoyable, 'cause 2 years prior, I was driving my Malaysian-pride - Proton Wira, which come with a cassette player. I know what you're thinking 'whoaa.. high tech! wished I had that too!' hahah. Today, I'm drive a mettalic lime green Hyundai Getz that comes with a CD Player! *applause* hahahah.. our family traded in the Proton for the Hyundai too! *applause*
Alright, haven't been blogging much 'cause been quite busy settling the basic stuff here in Malaysia, you know, reestablish the Malaysian ways again :) and also I'm currently on dial-up. yup. Anyway, sent my brother, Des to the airport yesterday. He's now at Gippsland, Melbourne as we speak, hopefully settling in well with the greenary all over and the over-abundance of cows. Well, my girlfriend was saying, look at the bright side, at least he's got fresh milk everyday! I say true, true.. and bring on the porterhouse steaks too.. haha! Miss him a bit, you know all that noise, he's guitar strumming... since I came back, I think I heard him play 'where the steets have no name' more than 5 times and that's when I get up in the morning too. But I reckon, he's a good guitarist. Learns fast. He'll do fine in Melbourne, learning how to wash, cook, travel, do the bills, etc will all do good for him. So, looking forward to see the version 2.0 of Des when he comes back here in November.
TOMORROW, I shall be in the Little Red Dot! :D and am looking forward to that! I'll be there till the 15th February which means that I'll not only spend almost a week there with S k y e but we'll be celebrating our first Valentine's too. Nice. and it'll be at a beach resort. Very nice :) Am looking forward to it more than just a holiday because we'll be making major steps in where to be planted and after that which local church to serve and be commited in. It's all very happy-scared. But there's nothing like being and chasing after the call of God. I'll be meeting S k y e's family and her relatives too, which is awesome. We've been talking about them for the longest time and now, I could see who they are and connect with them. Exciting, I say!
This journey with Dad is sure one interesting one and we know that He will take us to another level, establish the vital foundations in our life, amplify the call, continue teaching us the art of water-walking, and He'll never let us go. For He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And we serve a God that holds the universe in His hands.
It's been 10 days since I came back from Melbourne.
Some of the things that I noticed when I landed in Malaysia 10 days ago was how the air feels different. How there were so many Protons around instead of Holdens. How there were so many mamak stalls instead of Aussie breakfast. Ooh! Speaking of Aussie brekkie, you guys should try the big brekkie at Atomica Cafe along Brunswick Street. Skye and myself decided to go there for brekkie a few days before she went back and man! did we discover gold. They serve the best mushrooms around, and compliment that with freshly brewed coffee made by the Atomica coffee maestros... it's magic right in front of your five senses.
Being home is good. Been speaking Mandarin and Cantonese everyday, which is great 'cause I need the practice before I head to Singapore for a short trip! :) I still thank God for bringing me back to Malaysia, there are so many times when my eyes were opened to things and people around me. I look at where I live, where I have my dinners and where I hang out and I start thinking to myself, people should not settle for a mediocre life and think that it is as good as it gets. There is so much more out there. So much more than just waking up at 7am everyday, get stuck in traffic, work and come back at 5.30pm. There is so much more than earning 3 meals a day, pay the mortgage, sit at the table whining over credit card bills and then toiling day and night trying to not go in debt. There is so much more than that.
The first step of faith is the hardest. You don't know if you're going to sink or stay afloat. I was reading the passage where God calls Peter out of the boat and he started walking on water. Now, for the longest time, when I think of that picture, I have the image of Jesus standing in a distance and Peter stepping onto calm waters. Quite a serene picture. But when I read it again, God gave me a revelation of how when Peter stepped out of the boat, it was a rough stormy night! The wind were created waves not ripples. I reckon when Peter took the first step out, there were a thousand and one thoughts going over and over in his head like how should I place my feet onto the water? Should I step on the tip of the wave or maybe wait for the wave to pass? But I suppose, Peter knew who Jesus was. Instead of focusing on the waters, he looked straight into Jesus' eyes that says 'You can do it, Peter. Just walk. Keep looking at Me.'
The miracle of Peter walking on water was futher amplified when it wasn't just still water he walked on. Instead he showed the world how we can still walk on stormy waves right in the darkest night, when there's no one watching, but it is just between you and Jesus Himself. It is often said, Jesus isn't in the boat. He is out there waiting for you, for me, for someone with some faith.
As how Mal Fletcher puts it simply in the daily recharge today, is your faith in the power of the storm or in the One who has the power over the storm?
Jesus, I can see You out there. Help me step out of my boat into Your arms.
