Year-End Spiritual Spring Cleaning

As we transition into the new year, it is perhaps timely for us to take stock and do some spring cleaning of our hearts.

For in Hebrews 12:1-2, we are admonished to "lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher [perfecter] of our faith".

However, as the late Derek Prince noted, "it is not sufficient that we deal with things in our lives that are actually sinful. We must also eliminate weights—things that are not sinful in themselves, but yet would hinder us from concentrating every effort on our service for Christ."

"A runner in a race strips down to the bare minimum. He does not carry one ounce of unnecessary weight. We must do the same. Here are some of the things that we may need to eliminate: social obligations that have no spiritual significance – sentimental attachments to people, places or pets – excessive concern with the stock market, sports or women’s fashions – window shopping – worries about money, health, family or politics."

"Concerning each thing to which we devote time and attention, we need to ask two questions. Does it glorify Jesus? Does it build me up spiritually?"

P/S:  The above quote can be found in the book Rules of Engagement: Preparing for Your Role in the Spiritual Battle.

A Prophetic Exparable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins

In a recent blog, Kevin Mirasi, a prophet, revealed what the Lord is showing him concerning the parable of the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).

1-They both took their Lamps and went out to meet the Bridegroom:

-Meaning that they both desired to worship and to serve The LORD, as they heard the message of the coming of The Messiah (The LORD Jesus Christ). They thus even attended Church services and fellowships, including even Bible Studies.

2-The Foolish Ones Took Lamps but no Oil, while the wise Ones took Lamps as well as Oil:

-Meaning that the foolish ones heard the message but they were superfluously excited and so did receive the message shallowly and so it quickly “evaporated”. The devil actually came and took it away from them.

The Wise ones heard the message and received it deeply i.e. they opened their hearts and allowed the message to sink very deep within them and to be firmly rooted within them. The wise ones thus yielded to and allowed The Holy Spirit to sanctify them and to firm them up. The Foolish ones on the other hand resisted The Holy Spirit and they relied on their own human wisdom, human doctrines and Self-Righteousness.

3-The Wise ones had vessels while the foolish ones did not even have vessels:

-Meaning that the wise ones allowed The LORD to Purify them, Refine them, Wash them, Cleanse them and Sanctify them so that they became Vessels of Honour; worthy and acceptable before The LORD and Ready to be used by The LORD for the Glory and Honour of His Mighty Name..

4-Both of them Slumbered and Slept as they both felt that The Bridegroom Delayed:

-Meaning that they both grew weary of waiting for the coming of The Messiah.
-Both of them were eventually awakened from their very deep midnight sleep (slumber).

5-At Midnight a Cry was Heard:

-Meaning that very late in the night (when already the birth pains and the distresses of the hour) had heavily taken its toll on the darkening earth, and evil and wickedness had increased tremendously on the earth, The LORD sent forth His Servants to proclaim the imminent arrival of The Messiah and the need to Prepare The Way in earnest for the Coming of The Messiah.

These were very bold Servants of The LORD whose Primary proclamation was: “Prepare Yee The Way of The LORD, and make Straight Path for The LORD!!!”

Normally at night, the sound is very clear, very loud and travels longer distance. Meaning that the Shouts (Cry/Proclamation) covers far and wide and all corners of the earth. Literally everywhere then hears this “Final” proclamations, because it was made at "midnight." Many people are normally very deep asleep at midnight, and only a shout or a Cry can wake them up from their very deep sleep (slumber) at midnight. So both the Wise Ones and the Foolish Ones were thus very deep asleep at midnight as well, and only a Great Spiritual awakening could wake them up from their very deep slumber.

6-Both of them Arose and Trimmed their Lamps:

-Meaning that both of them heard the proclamation by the Servants of The LORD about the imminent arrival of The LORD and so the need of Preparing The Way for The Coming of The LORD and making Straight the Path of The LORD.

It is very important to note that The Wise Ones (Virgins) awakened and Prepared in earnest for the coming of The LORD by making Straight path for Him. The Foolish ones awoke as well but did not Prepare the way for the coming of The LORD.

7-The Lamp of the Foolish Ones Was Going Out, while the Lamp of the Wise Ones was Shinning Very Bright:

-Meaning that the form of worship by the Foolish Ones was defiled and laced with the lusts of the flesh, and the garment they put on was soiled, darkened and full of spots and wrinkles.

They had veered off the Road of Purity, Faithfulness and Humility before The LORD and so had allowed Impurity (The Worldly lifestyles) and Pride to enter them.

That same Worldly lifestyle and a compromised way of life that they had been so much used to is the one the wise ones teased them into; because essentially they had chose to serve the world.
“Choose Yee whom you will serve, but for us we will serve The LORD!!!”

The Wise Ones had embraced Repentance for the forgiveness of their sins and thereby walking in Righteousness, Holiness, Truth and Complete Surrender to The LORD Jesus Christ.

8-The Foolish Ones went to Buy Oil for their Lamps that were Going Out:

-The Foolish ones in their foolishness confirmed their foolishness status and stature because they unbelievably actually went to the World to get the oil for their Lamps. They were essentially attempting to buy their way into the Kingdom of The LORD God Almighty in Heaven, as they had been so used to the Corruption, False Miracles and Prosperity gospel to the extent that they now believed that they could bribe their way to Heaven.

9-The Bridegroom Came and Found the Wise Ones Ready, while the Foolish Ones were nowhere to be found:

-The wise ones were Ready as their Garment was Bright, White and Spotless having submitted themselves before The LORD for Purification, Cleansing, Washing, Refining and Sanctification through the Blood, The Holy Fire and the anointing of The Holy Spirit.

“Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

10-Those who were Ready went in with the Bridegroom to the Wedding and the Door was Shut:

-Meaning that the Bridegroom took the wise ones to the Wedding Supper of The Lamb and shut the door, as it was now “Invited -Guests Only”, “Private Members Only” Grand Ceremony, hence no room for intruders, trouble-makers and non-invited guests.

SHALOM!!! SHALOM!!! SHALOM!!!

Are you a Wise One (Virgin) or a Foolish One (Virgin)? Let Us make every effort through the Help of The Holy Spirit (The Oil for the Lamp) so that we be Watchful and be Ready for the Coming of The Messiah Jesus Christ to take to Heaven His Faithful Sons and Daughters (The Bride of Christ/The Invited Guests). This is the hour of Spiritual awakening; may we yield to the awakening of The Holy Spirit and Prepare the way for the coming of The LORD.

PREPARE THE WAY FOR THE COMING OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN ABSOLUTE REPENTANCE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, HOLINESS, TRUTH AND COMPLETE SURRENDER TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (YESHUA/YAHUSHUA HA MASHIACH). TIME IS ABSOLUTELY OVER; THE MESSIAH JESUS CHRIST IS IMMINENTLY COMING TO PICK HIS BRIDE!!!

REPENTANCE PRAYER:

Precious Jesus,
I acknowledge today that you are LORD and savior of all mankind,
and today I have recognized my shortfall,
I repent and turn away from all sin.
Please cover me with your precious blood,
and establish your word in my life,
that I may be found in righteousness and holiness
and write my name in your book of life
and baptize me with the power of the Holy Spirit
in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
AMEN.

The Lust of the Eyes -- Lessons from the Life of Samson

By and large, all sins can be categorised into one of three types:  the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16, NIV).

From the story of Samson, we perceive that he struggled with the lust of the eyes. We first infer this from the account of Samson asking his parents for a Philistine wife:

One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.” (Judges 14:1-2; NLT; with emphasis added)

His father and mother objected. "Isn't there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?" they asked. "Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?" But Samson told his father, "Get her for me! She looks good to me." (Judges 14:3; NLT; with emphasis added)

Samson got his wish, but it ultimately led to his grief:

When Samson did not explain his riddle to her, the bible says that she "tormented him with her nagging" (Judges 14:17; NLT) until she got her way.

Later on, Samson's father-in-law gives Samson's wife away, and when confronted by Samson, interestingly, Samson's father-in-law's reply was: "But look, her younger sister is even more beautiful than she is. Marry her instead." (Judges 15:2; NLT; emphasis added), suggesting that he was well-aware of Samson's weakness for beautiful women.

Shortly after, Samson's lust of the eyes is once again exposed when he visits Gaza, and "where he saw a prostitute" (Judges 16:1; NIV; emphasis added), and was apparently so smitten by her beauty that he spent the night with her.

Subsequently, Samson meets Delilah, and the bible does not provide details over how they met, but as in the case of his Philistine wife, Samson seems to have focused on Delilah's external qualities, rather than her inner ones, which eventually brings him grief, as Delilah is just as capable as his previous Philistine wife of "tormenting him" and the bible says that she "tormented him with her nagging day after day until he was sick to death of it" (Judges 16:16; NLT).

The bible warns that "your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23), and perhaps one might infer from the fact that Samson got his eyes gouged out (Judges 16:21) that this was his ultimate penalty for repeatedly yielding to the lust of the eyes.

Many men in modern society have a weakness for the lust of the eyes just as Samson did. This is reflected by the popularity of Internet pornography among many males.

While the lust of the eyes is often considered as a male issue, are women exempt from its temptation? Perhaps not. Some women can spend hours browsing Internet shopping sites, eventually buying things they want but don't really need -- is this not also an example of yielding to the lust of the eyes?

That said, if one has a propensity for the lust of the eyes, the best way forward would be to confess it to the Lord, and to ask Him to save one from it "through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5, NIV), rather than to ignore the problem and someday have to face up to its tragic consequences.

Picture Depicting The Blinding of Samson by Rembrandt

The Hidden Spiritual Meaning of the Nazarite Vow and How Samson Might Have Avoided His Untimely Death

The bible encourages us to meditate on God's word day and night (Psalm 1:2), and I think it is not without reason that we are instructed to do this. For one, I think (and this is also based on m own personal experience) that as we meditate on God's word, we uncover hidden, spritual truths, that are not apparent on a cursory reading.

I find it painful to read about the story of Samson (Judges 13) and have often wondered if he could have avoided his untimely death.

Indeed, I do not think it was God's plan for Samson to have died the way he did. Rather, I speculate that his fate is the outcome of the bad choices that he had made over a lifetime.

Samson's birth was an extaordinary one. An angel of the Lord appeared before his mother to instruct her that her would-be born son was to be a Nazirite for life, "dedicated to God from the womb" (Judges 13).

Therein lies the secret of how Samson might have avoided his untimely death.

You see, nazarites were prohibited from three things (Numbers 6:1–21):

• Wine and other fermented drink
• Shaving their hair
• Proximity to a dead body

Whey were nazarites prohibited from things? Ah, this is precisely the question that Samson should have asked, and if necessary, to have spent an entire lifetime meditating on these things, rather than on chasing after women and other wordly pursuits.

Beneath the religious practice of the Nazarite vow lies, I believe, a hidden and deeper spiritual meaning of each of these three things.

Let's start with avoiding wine and other fermented drink. Why? I believe it was to prevent the Nazarite from being involved in drunkedness or rowdy behaviour and unnecessary trouble. Proverbs 20:1 (International Standard Version translation, with emphais mine) says: "Wine causes mocking, and beer causes fights; everyone led astray by them lacks wisdom."

Now, in the bible, it is never explictly mentioned that Samson had drunk any wine, but in Judges 14, we read that "Samson threw a party. (This is what young men used to do.)" (Judges 14:10; God's Word translation), and I think it wouldn't be too unreasonable to imagine that alcohol was served.

Later, we read that Samson challenged his guest with a high-stakes riddle, and if you read further, this challenge lead to a host of trouble, and even the eventual death of Samson's prospective wife and father in law (Judges 15).  Perhaps Samson was inebriated by alcohol when he made that challenge and could have avoided "loose lips" had he been more sober.

Next, we move on to the Nazarite's prohibition from shaving their hair.

In the bible, hair, is an emblem for "covering" or "protection". We see this principle in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 (NIV):

¹⁴ Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, ¹⁵ but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.

That said, I believe that for the nazarites, their long hair was the emblem of God's "covering" or "protection" over their lives.

Indeed, in Judges 16, we see that shortly after his hair had been shaved (verse 19), "the Lord had left him" (verse 20) (implying that the Lord was no longer "covering" over Samson's life). At the same time, Samson's amazing strength left him (verse 19).

Herein, it should be apparent that Samson's strength was not physical, but supernatural (from the Holy Spirit).

Finally, we discuss the Nazarite prohibition from getting close to dead bodies.

Why the prohibition? Well, the New Testament tells us that the Lord Jesus had a disciple who promised Him that he (the disciple) would follow Him but needed to bury his father first (Matthew 8). Instead of commending this disciple for his filial piety, the Lord Jesus seemed rather harsh when he replied: "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." (Matthew 8:22; NIV)

What did the Lord Jesus mean by "let the dead bury their own dead"? How can a dead person bury another dead person? Have you ever seen such a thing?

Well, the NLT version enlightens us by translating Matthew 8:22 this way: "But Jesus told him, "Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead."" (emphasis mine).

In other words, it seems like the Lord Jesus Christ was instructing this disciple that he (this disciple), being spritually alive, had more important things to attend to (namely, "to preach about the Kingdom of God"; see Luke 9:60), and that he should leave non-spiritual matters into the hands of the spiritually dead.

Coming back to the Nazarite prohibition from getting close to dead bodies, I believe that the deeper spiritual meaning behind this prohibition was for the Nazarite's to separate themselves from the spiritually dead.

The tragic irony in Samson's life is that he seemed to have spent most of his time associating with the spiritually dead and so little with God's children (the children of Israel). Lest we forget, Samson was judge over Israel for twenty years (Judges 15:20 ), but how much of his leadership do we learn about in the bible?

Eventually, Samson died with the Philistines. Note that this was something he had prayed and requested God for (see Judges 16:30, NLT translation, which reads: "he prayed, "Let me die with the Philistines."")

Why did Samson have to die this way? I mean, had Samson requested God to allow him to die elsewhere, couldn't have God granted his requested and delivered him from the Philistines' captivity? I would think so, but wish to bring you back to my point that God had answered Samson's very request. It seems to me that even at death, Samson could not dissociate himself emotionally from the spiritually-dead Philistines.

Perhaps had Samson trained his mind since young (by meditating on the Word of God) to stay away from the spiritually dead, his life could have taken a very different turn, and could have avoided all the tragedies in his life, and lived a ripe old age, instead of dying in such an untimely manner.
Is there any relevance of this to modern-day believers? There is; like the Nazarites, we are not to establish close relationships with the spiritually dead: "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" (2 Corinthians 6:14; NIV)

The Secret of Samson's Strength; It is About the Hair, But It's Also Not All About the Hair

What is the secret of Samson's strength?

In my view, it is about the hair, but it's also not all about the hair.

Sounds confusing? Ok, let's start with the basics.

Samson was a nazarite (Judges 13). The word 'nazarite' comes from the Hebrew word nazir meaning "consecrated" or "separated"; consequently, the nazarites were the "consecrated ones" or "separated ones". The condition for being a nazarite is described in Numbers 6:1–21, and in particular, nazarites were prohibited from these three things:

• Wine and other fermented drink
• Shaving their hair (therefore, they were required to let their hair grow long)
• Proximity to a dead body

Now, I believe each of these three things had a deeper spiritual significance behind them (just as when Moses gave the children of Israel prohibitions over certain food, the prohibited food were meant to convey a deeper spiritual truth; for details, please view my earlier blog).
In particular, hair, is an emblem for "covering" or "protection". We see this principle in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15 (NIV):

¹⁴ Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, ¹⁵ but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering.

That said, I believe that for the nazarites, their long hair was the emblem of God's "covering" or "protection" over their lives.

Indeed, in Judges 16, we see that shortly after his hair had been shaved (verse 19), "the Lord had left him" (verse 20) (implying that the Lord was no longer "covering" over Samson's life). At the same time, Samson's amazing strength left him (verse 19). Herein, it should be apparent that Samson's strength was not physical, but supernatural (from the Holy Spirit).

So, if you have been wondering "what's the big deal about Samson's hair", it wasn't really wasn't about the hair per se (which is why males typically do not lose significant hair on shaving their hair), but about the spiritual emblem that it represented in Samson's life. We know that God does deal with emblems seriously -- even in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 11), we find that believers who partook of the Holy Communion in an unworthy manner came under God's judgment (verse 29), leading to sickness or even death (verse 30).