This is the Lyrics for Oh Mighty Cross.

This song never fails to slow me down and worship Abba God.

The words focuses squarely on Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He had to make to give me abundant and overflowing life, undeserving grace and shalom peace.

The song sang of the Lord of life who is raised up on the cross to die. That He knew no sin but took all of mine. That He is so pure yet endured the shame that my impurity caused. The scourging He suffered bought me the peace I can’t get myself.

The cross is mighty indeed. He took my place so that I can take His. And now, as He is, so am I in this world.

The lyrics and music are written by David Baroni and John Chisum.

Click the play sign O Mighty Cross to listen to the song and follow the lyrics.

May it minister life to your soul.

O mighty cross
Love lifted high
The Lord of life
Raise there to die
His sacrifice on Calvary
Has made the mighty cross a tree of life to me

O mighty cross
What throne of grace
He knew no sin yet took my place
His sacrifice on Calvary
Has made the mighty cross a tree of life to me

O mighty cross
Oh Christ so pure
Love held him there such shame endured
His sacrifice on Calvary
Has made the mighty cross a tree of life to me

O mighty cross
My soul’s release
The stripes He bore has brought me peace
His sacrifice on Calvary
Has made the mighty cross a tree of life to me

Oh mighty cross x3
A tree of life to me

Oh mighty cross!

Click this play sign O Mighty Cross for an instrumental version.

The 9 fruits of the Spirit is:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self-control

This list originates from Galatians 5:22-23. The actual verse reads,

Singular Form

Notice the use of the singular form for the word “fruit”. 9 items are listed but they are considered one fruit of the Holy Spirit? Does it matter? If it doesn’t, why did the bible not use the plural form?

I think it does matter. Think about what it means if all 9 attributes belong to a single fruit. Wouldn’t it mean that if you are bearing the fruit of the Spirit, you would have all the attributes? Not just one or the other? I don’t think it means that we have to exhibit all the attributes all the time but they come as a whole package. You can’t accept one without the other.

Function of fruit

Wikipedia defines fruit broadly as “a structure of a plant that contains its seeds“. A fruit is therefore the means by plants disseminate seeds and propulgate themselves. So, the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit is not for our own benefit. They are not our report card for righteous living. It is the means in which Abba God’s good news can be spread far and wide.

This post contains notes I took for Pastor Prince’s sermon preached on 27 November 2011 about how to protect the soul and prosper.

I am a spirit man who have a soul and live in a body. Before I knew Christ, my spirit is dead. When I accepted Him as Saviour, my spirit is born again. It is now righteous and the devil cannot touch it. Jesus has won that from him.

That leaves the soul and the body. 3 John 1:2 says that as my soul prosper, I will prosper and be in good health. Prosperity of my soul brings prosperity to my body. Because of this, the devil attacks my soul or mind so that I may not be well physically. That is the only area that he can attack now for Abba God gave me free will which means this area is under me. How do I counter the devil’s attacks and attempts to rob me of my blessings in Christ?

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NASB says,
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”

1. The obedience of Christ
I used to think that obedience of Christ in this verse is for us to emulate. I win spiritual warfare by being obedient like Christ. I didn’t know that I was setting myself up for failure. For fail I did. I tried and tried and came to a point of realization that I can never be like Jesus. Romans 5:19 defines what the obedience of Christ is. It is Christ’s obedience to God. The key point is that by His obedience I am made righteous. Nothing I do to obey God can save me and nothing I do to disobey God can disqualify me. It is a gift, freely given, paid by the blood of Christ.

Taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ means reminding myself of Christ’s obedience to God’s purpose of saving me by grace and faith alone. Romans 10:2-4 talks about how my effort to achieve righteousness frustrates God’s gift of righteousness.

2. I am God’s beloved

2 Corinthians 11:2 NASB says,
“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

Focusing on the person and work of Christ is simple and pure but the devil doesn’t just throw up his hands and give up. He continues to try to deceive me through subtle and crafty schemes; distracting my mind from focusing totally on Christ. When tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus countered by saying that man does not live by bread alone by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:1-4). What is every word that proceeds from the mouth of God? This isn’t words in the bible but words that God spoke. Incidentally, the verse immediately before Matthew 4:1 in Matthew 3:17 recorded the spoken word of God:

“and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”

I believe that Jesus countered the devil’s temptation with it. In the same way, I believe that by focusing on the truth that I am God’s beloved and that in me He is well pleased, I can counter the devil. Love evokes strong emotions. This connects with the truth of Christ’s obedience to create a strong helmet of salvation.

3. As He is, so also are we in this world
On what ground can I say that I am God’s beloved? Jesus is, no doubt about it. But me? Christ’s obedience has won me salvation and righteousness but belovedness?

1 John 4:17 NASB says,
“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.”

As Jesus is in Heaven, so am I in this world. Whatever He has in Heaven, I have in this world. The blessings of God for me is for now and the present. Not in the past nor in the future.

In conclusion, I am persuaded that to protect my soul and prosper, I must focus on Jesus as the one who was obedient to God on my behalf, focus on God’s great love for me and remember that Jesus is my champion. Every battle He won, I won.

Prayer: Thank you Abba God for simple and pure protection. I know I shall grow, prosper and be evergreen.

Why is the church important?

Psalms 65:4
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple.

The key phrase is “goodness of thy house”. A house is not made out of an individual but of a congregation. The temple too, isn’t for a single person. It is in the congregation that we shall be satisfied with his goodness.

Ephesians 1:22-23
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

God places all things under Jesus’ feet. Yes, he gave authority to Jesus but the main thing is that by doing that, his body, the church benefit. His fullness fills all.

Pastor Prince said that whatever we do is spiritual. The church is not surrounding the world, it is not peripheral to the world although it may look and seem so. In fact, the world surrounds the church. So we shall do everything for the benefit of the church.

Matthew 18:19-20
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

What constitute a church? How many shall there be? The smallest church is made up of 2 people. The fullness of Christ is found in the church. Pray and agree together and it shall be done. Supplies flow when believers gather, and especially so when we talk and think about Jesus.

If God’s eye is on the church, then it make sense that when I serve the church, I amd flowing and in harmony with God and his plans and purposes. When I serve for the benefit of the Lord and the church, my eyes are unto the Lord. Whatever I lose for the sake of the church, He shall restore. For He promised:

Matthew 28:20
Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

See how God supply the needs of the Israelites in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy 8:4
4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

Ezekiel 16:10
10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

Their clothes didn’t worn out. Their feet never swell from all the walking. When God built the tabernacle, the people gave from their belongings. Pastor Prince surmised that the Israelites gave their shoes made of badgers’ skins for the outer covering of the Tent of the Tabernacle and God made sure that their feet never hurt. The bronze of the laver which holds the water that worshippers use to cleanse themselves, came from the bronze mirrors of the women. The mirrors are the women’s tools of making themselves attractive. These are items close to their hearts. Yet, without them, their population still increased .

Deuteronomy 2:7
7 For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

Finally, God is now here. That’s the answer to our needs. Don’t see the church the way the world sees it. They don’t see the gold and splendor inside the Tabernacle. The 12 loaves on the Table of Showbread was in the presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle for a week. Eaten by the priests and one small piece is sufficient. There is no source of nourishment in the world. Jesus is our true nourishment.

Look at Jesus and Jesus will face off the enemies.

Jesus in the midst of the church is powerful.

I wanted to knit a child cardigan for my god daughter. I found a knitted Japanese kimono pattern at Lion Brand and decided to try it.

The pattern is known as the Jasmine Kimono. It seems easy and do-able within a month for my god-daughter who will be visiting with her mum. I wanted to use this bamboo cotton blend yarn that I bought in China.

The picture here shows the yarn in a cheery orange colour but I thought a pleasant yellow is nicer for a young girl.

I couldn’t get the specified gauge though. I swatched with different needles but couldn’t even come close. Fortunately, the pattern came with the diagram and dimensions. I decided to use the gauge I can achieved with my yarn and needles, re-calculate the stitches and rows needed to cast on and knit to achieve the size I want.

My gauge using 3.5mm needles is 26 stitches x 32 rows to 4 inches.

BACK

I cast on 79 stitches for the back and started the stockinette stitch. (For beginners: stockinette is achieved when you knit 1 row and purl 1 row. Keep knitting 1 row and purling the next row until the desired length is achieved.)

INCREASING FOR THE SLEEVES

I knitted a total of 56 rows to reach the length I wanted for the armpits. With the right side facing (i.e. the knit row), I cast on 23 stitches on both ends to create the sleeves. A total of 125 stitches on the needles.

After the cast on, I continue to knit the stockinette until I reach the point where I need to shape the neck which is about 40 rows.

SHAPING THE NECK

With the right side facing, place 46 stitches on a stitch-holder. Bind off the next 33 stitches. Knit across the last 46 stitches. With the 46 stitches left on the needles, continue the stockinette for 8 rows.

STARTING THE LEFT FRONT
With right side facing, start the increase for the left front as follows:

Row 1 – Knit 2, Make 1, Knit all (To make 1, simply add make a loop)
Row 2 – Purl to last 2 sts, Make 1, Knit all.

Repeat these 2 rows 40 times including the first 2 rows. A total of 86 stitches

THE LEFT SLEEVE

With wrong side facing, bind off 23 stitches to create the left sleeve. Continue with the increase even at the row that you bind off. Continue with the increase until there is a total of 79 stitches on the needles.

Continue the stockinette without any more increase for another 56 rows. Bind off.

STARTING THE RIGHT FRONT

Pick up the 46 stitches on the stitch holder and start the increase for the right front as follows:

Row 1 – Knit to last 2 stitches, Make 1, Knit 2
Row 2 – Purl 2, Make 1, Knit all.

Repeat these 2 rows 40 times including the first 2 rows. A total of 86 stitches.

THE RIGHT SLEEVE

With the right side facing, bind off 23 stitches to create the right sleeve. Continue with the increase even at the row that you bind off. Continue with the increase until there is a total of 79 stitches on the needles.

Continue the stockinette without any more increase for another 56 rows. Bind off.

WASHING & BLOCKING
Before sewing the seams, wash and block the kimono. After blocking, I seamed up the sides.

MAKING THE TIES

I modified the pattern again when I was knitting up the ties. Instead of knitting 2 long ties and leaving a hole in the right seam for the tie to go through, I decided to knit 4 ties. 2 ties for the inner right side and 2 for the outside left side. I think it would be easier for mummies to secure the cardigan one side at a time.

Ties were made by picking up 5 stitches at the selected positions using a crochet hook and making a single crochet before placing it on the knitting needle. I used a single ribbing pattern to create a thick flat tie of about 8 inches.

Single ribbing pattern

Row 1 – Knit 1, Purl 1, Knit 1, Purl 1, Knit 1
Row 2 – Purl 1, Knit 1, Purl 1, Knit 1, Purl 1

Continue the single ribbing until each tie measures 8 inches. Bind off.

Weave in all the loose ends and you are done. Ready for a photo shoot to celebrate.

This post contains the sermon notes on Benefits of Tithing preached by Pastor Joseph Prince at New Creation Church.

Tithing is an important ritual that Christians do in the church.

In the past, I struggle with it. It was hard for me to offer my money to God.

Pastor Prince gave me the knowledge to tithe with a cheerful and willing heart with the benefits of tithing.

The key passage for tithing is Malachi 3:8-12

In this passage, God was talking to his people. Although this is an Old Testament book, the passage was referring to the present generation. Malachi 3:1 sets the context of this passage when Malachi refers to the 2nd coming of Jesus which is an event closer to the New Testament generations than the Old Testament generations.

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.
11 Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts.
12 “All the nations will call you blessed, for you shall be a delightful land,” says the LORD of hosts.
13 “Your words have been arrogant against Me,” says the LORD. “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
14 You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the LORD of hosts?

God says to bring ALL the tithes into THE storehouse. This means that the entire tithe should be given to the local church and not segmented into smaller gifts or offerings for different ministries of missionaries. When I tithe my whole portion to the local church, Abba God will bless me abundantly.

He will protect the fruits of my labours from being devoured. Things that I put my hands to work on will always produce a return and not be in vain. I am a delightful land and people find me a worthy investment.

In Genesis 14:16, the bible records the story of how Abraham tithes to Melchizedek, King of Salem and refused to take anything from the King of Sodom.

Hebrews 7:4 explains that Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek and that it was a acknowledgement of how great the receiver was.

The first reason I tithe is to show that Jesus Christ is great. The person I give money to has great stature. In verse 7, it explains that when I tithe to the church, it is as if Jesus received it. My tithe is also a witness that Jesus is alive. If I tithe to a dead person, I would be so foolish. But I believe that my tithe is received by the Almighty who is very much alive and has the power to do big things with little offerings. He is my provider. It also shows that He is alive and active in my life in a practical way.

Hebrews 7:9-10 pointed out that Levi paid tithes to the Lord while he is in Abraham’s loins. This is significant because Levi was Abraham’s great grandson. He wasn’t born yet when Abraham tithed. This can only mean that tithing benefits descendants. Its impact can be felt by generations to come.

If these benefits are not sufficient to convince me that tithing is good, I don’t know what will.

Pastor also addressed some common beliefs about tithing.

1. If you do not tithe, God will curse you

There is a teaching that if you don’t tithe, God will curse you. This is based on Malachi 3:9 where God says “You are cursed with the curse, for you rob me.” This curse didn’t come from God. When Adam sins, the ground was cursed. This is where the curse came from. When Cain killed Abel, God said that the ground cursed Cain. He didn’t say “I curse you” so the curse didn’t come from God.

I need to recognize that there is a curse on the earth and when I receive something such as money from the ground or earth, it is tainted with the curse. The good news is that God can sanctify it by his holy principle mentioned in Romans 11: 16.

For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

This is basically the tithe which is a tenth or the first fruits. The giving of the tenth or first fruit is a consistent principle in the bible. If 10% is given to the Lord, the rest of the 90% is made holy by Him. When something is made holy, the Devil cannot touch it, let alone steal it. This is God’s grace towards me. When I give Him 10%, He sanctifies my 90% and it goes a long way.

2. When you tithe, you honour God

My income represents my blood, sweat and tears. I earned it. It is mine. When I give a portion of it to Abba God, I am giving a piece of my life to God. He knows it and He acknowledges it as my act of honouring Him. As Solomon says in Proverbs 3:8-10:

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops;
then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Tithing is a very practical way to express that you honour God. Saying it or shouting or singing that I honour and love God is just talk. Tithing speaks louder than words.

3. Prosperity is not good

Many christians are suspicious of prosperity believing that it will corrupts. That is not true. The love of money is evil, not money itself. It is clear in Malachi that God promises that when his people tithe, he will bless them. Why do God bless with riches? This is prosperity with a purpose.

The Bible says that Christ is the first fruit of all that slept. Doesn’t this mean that Jesus is God’s tithe. When Jesus died on the Cross, He glorifies God. The blood He shed so release God to look me in the face in all his holiness and me in my sinfulness, and still enables Him to bless me.

So, tithing, for me, is a biblical principle to:

1. Sanctify me and my possessions against the curse of the earth
2. Declare that Jesus Christ is alive
3. Honour and give weight to Abba God

Lyrics for I’m Held by Your Love

This is the first New Creation Church worship song that helps me to fall in love with Jesus all over again.

The video embedded here is a newer version sang by Bob Fitts together with the original singer Adeline Gan. I have no rights over this video. I’m just sharing it here as I found it at youtube and it will be here as long as youtube has it. I hope it blesses you as much as it has for me.

The Lyrics
I’m held by Your love, upheld by Your strength
On your shoulders You bore me, by Your faith I stand
Cherished by You Lord, treasured in Your sight
So close to Your heart, held firm in Your hand [Repeat once]

So awesome is Your love
So mighty is Your hand
On eagle’s wings You carry me
Your grace shall be my strength
So perfect is Your love
You sacrificed Your son
Amazing love reached out to me
With joy to You I come

Not by my wisdom, not by my strength
Gently You guide me, lead me by hand
Total surrender, Jesus I am Yours
Now and forever, in Christ I now stand

So awesome is Your love
So mighty is Your hand
On eagle’s wings You carry me
Your grace shall be my strength
So perfect is Your love
You sacrificed Your son
Amazing love reached out to me
With joy to You I come [repeat 2x]

I’m held by Your love, upheld by Your strength
On your shoulders You bore me, by Your faith I stand