Dear Friend, How are you today? I’m well. Today, I would like to share with you my experience in spiritual warfare. Do you like the words, “spiritual warfare”? I don’t, but I know we as His children must live with it, as the enemy won’t leave us alone. And more importantly, as the Scripture talks about “The Whole Armor of God” in Ephesians chapter six, we are not alone, but we have the Armor from our Father, and He is always with us. One day, when I listened to Derek Prince’s sermon, he shared one of his episodes. When he asked the audience “What is the evidence of receiving the Holy Spirit?”, expecting the answer “Tongue”, he heard someone answer “Pain!” I was amused when I listened to it. And I couldn’t agree with it enough. I still recall that I was full of joy, and my face was glowing after I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. One day, my colleague said to me, “Yunee, you look so happy these days! What happened to you?” And one day during my visit home, my sister said, “You’re different this time. You look so blessed!” She noticed some changes inside me, after the baptism in the Holy Spirit. But I can say to you, “Honeymoon was over!” As I shared in my previous blog, “Hearing the Voice of God”, I felt somehow that the Lord would give me the gift of healing. And I started to be interested in listening to Derek Prince’s sermons on healings, and I also took the class “Supernatural Healing” in one church in Singapore after work at night. Then, I also had the chance to read Derek Prince’s book, “Lucifer Exposed: The Devil’s Plan to Destroy Your Life” and it illuminated the spiritual forces under Satan. The book was extremely helpful to me. I knew that there are demonic spirits from the Bible, and I also could hear and see the manifestation of the evil spirits in some people during the church service in Korea and China. And I also learned about deliverance which ministers to those who are under the demonic influence to set them free. But I was afraid of knowing this area and wanted to avoid it, if possible. Yet, I learned that deliverance and healing could not be separated and some diseases, not all, came from spiritual issues such as unforgiving hearts, demonic spirits and so forth. Then, when I read the book “Lucifer Exposed”, I realized that my mom was under demonic influence and I could see some evil spirits such as manipulation (witchcraft), the spirit of fear, the spirit of control, the spirit of lies, self-pity and so forth. And I also got to understand from many preachers’ teachings that even Christians can be under demonic influences, and I heard some preachers share their own experiences that they were delivered from evil spirits. Derek Prince also shared his own experience that he had been delivered from depression. And I think I was delivered from evil spirits when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and cried out loud uncontrollably. I felt such freedom after the baptism, and I found myself changed. Then, I heard from my sister that mom used to say to her, “Yunee became weird since she went to Singapore. I think there is something wrong with her church.” I think it was not her, but the evil spirits inside her that made her think that way. Then, fierce spiritual warfare began in 2017. Indeed, the Devil wants to steal and kill, and destroy. My mom was a good mom. She was affectionate, sacrificial, diligent, kind, smart, generous, and strong. Her neighbors respected and liked her much. And I was very close to her, and I was her favorite youngest girl. In October 2017, my mom stayed with me in Singapore for a couple of months, until I left the country for good. One day, she and I went to a church book store. On the bookshelf, I saw a Derek Prince book, “They shall expel demons”. Long ago, I had conflicting thoughts as to whether or not I should buy the book. I thought I should learn more about this spiritual realm, but on the other hand, I was a little bit scared to know much. But on that day, I finally made up my mind to buy the book and learn more about it. Right on that very day at home, I felt that spiritual warfare was just for real. My mom became so violent to me at home for the first time in my life, and it left me a trauma. Since that day, she started doing some things that I could not totally understand. When I worked in the office, I got calls from unknown numbers. I usually didn’t answer the numbers I did not know, but I picked up the repeating calls from the unknown numbers. Sometimes, it was from a security lady or neighbors. They said my mom got out of my place and asked them to give me a call. She already had a phone in my place, and she used to call me on my home phone. But she made me so nervous, leaving home alone and asking strangers to call me. And one night, she woke me up and said her body was so itchy. She never woke me up when I fell asleep, no matter how sick she was. I felt she wasn’t herself, but the evil spirits wanted to destroy me both physically and spiritually. And her weird acts continued and got even worse when we came back to Korea. She had this delusion that I would give away everything she owns to churches. And I knew it was from the evil spirits in her, and it made her lose peace and sanity. In the middle of the night after 2:00 am when I fell asleep, she opened the door of my bedroom, and turned on the light, barging in. She said, “Where is my bankbook? And where is my passport?” She wasn’t herself, and her eyes looked very different. She left my room in a mess in the middle of the night, like a thief that searched for something. And whenever I went out for grocery shopping, or a prayer meeting, or errands, she called the police to report me missing. But she never called me on my mobile phone, but directly called the police. One day, a policewoman called me and asked me whether I could stop my mom from calling them, as they understood that she was not normal, but she continued to disturb them from their priorities. My mom’s insane mode continued for about six months, since I bought the book, “They shall expel demons” in Singapore. And to make a very long story short, now, I want to declare that I came out more than victorious by His love. It has been almost three years since I looked after mom alone. I feel that I passed through the test as if I passed through a burning fire, and now, I’m in a new season. Looking back at the difficult times, I’m still so grateful for His loving-kindness. One Sunday in Singapore, a pastor who ministered in a Muslim country preached as a guest speaker. It was my second time of listening to his preaching, and every time, I was so blessed. On that Sunday, after his sermon, he made an altar call for those who want to be prayed for. I was so weary and desperate for mom that I came to the altar. When he prayed for me, I saw him smile at me, and he said to me, “He says He loves you, and all of your family will be saved.” What comfort! How sweet our Father is! His words that my family would all be saved gave me hope. Even when the night looked so dark, I kept His words in my heart that He would save my mom. He would save her by the same grace as He saved me. Dear friend, If you are passing through fire now or have been in a difficult season so long, being weary, I would like to encourage you. He is faithful, and He is always with you. You are more than a conqueror through Him who loves you. He will turn your season of mourning into a season of dancing. You’re not alone. I will share more stories. Please, stay tuned. Have a bliss! Yunee Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Dear Friend, How are you today? I would like to share a story that took place back in 2017. I think it was the summer in Korea. I was on my way to the airport to go back to Singapore, after spending some time with my mom at home. On a shuttle bus to the airport, an old friend of mine from the university came into my mind. I lost touch with her for the past few years. She was busy raising her only daughter most of her time home. And I also didn’t have much time to meet my friends whenever I came to Korea to see my mom. I wanted to spend as much as possible with her after work so that I didn’t call my friends nor arranged any meetings during my visit home. But this old friend of mine came into my mind out of the blue on the way to the airport. I texted her to say hello and ask how she is doing. Interestingly, I got to know she had a plan to travel to Singapore with her daughter, her younger sister, and her niece in that autumn. I was pleased to know her plan and I shared some information on places to go and so on, as she asked. And we continued to exchange texts for her trip to Singapore. Then, one day, I made a proposal to her. Since I would go home again in Seoul in September away from my place in Singapore for about two weeks, I suggested to her that she and her family stay in my place during my visit to Seoul. It would be small for the four ladies, but they could save some money. I thought to myself that I would share His love with these unbelieving friends by generosity and hospitality. I know my friend well and she feels scared when it gets dark so that even home in Korea she doesn’t want to go out when it gets dark. Knowing her character, I thought it would be good for her and her family to stay in my place and I said to her, “Rest assured that my place is in a safe area and Singapore is safe.” She was happy with my proposal and agreed to stay in my place. So, on the same day when I leave for Korea at night, she came to Singapore very early in the morning like 4:30. In that morning, my friend and her family were supposed to come to my place on their own, taking a taxi from the Singapore Changi airport. I got up early in the morning and prayed in my room. I said to the Lord, “Father, please protect them while they travel to Singapore. And please, let them know Your Presence with them when they are here in my place.” Soon after my prayer, my friend and her family arrived at my place safely. I welcomed them in my living room. It was still quite early like before six in the morning. While I talked to my friend and her younger sister over my dining table for a while, my friend’s little daughter and her niece were so happy, looking around my place. Then, my friend sniffed in the living room, sitting in front of me, and said, “What a nice fragrance in your home! You really keep your place sweet!” I sniffed, but I smelled nothing. I had a room diffuser in my bedroom, a lemongrass fragrance and I almost threw it away, as the liquid inside the bottle was all gone. And we were all in my living room so that I thought it couldn’t be from that diffuser. But I said to her, “Is it like lemongrass? How is the fragrance?” She said, “No, it’s not lemongrass, but it’s sweet. And it’s very nice. And it’s all around here in this room!” Then, her younger sister said, sniffing, “Yes, I smell the same. Something sweet and nice.” And their little girls all said, “Yes, I smell something very nice here in this room!” I smiled. I still smelled nothing, just like the occasion I wrote about in my previous blog “Wonder 1,” but I knew where it came from! So, without any hesitation, I took the moment to share all the wonderful stories and His majesty in my life since I was baptized in the Holy Spirit. My friend and I have been friends since the age of nineteen. And I said to her, “I’m not what I was anymore. I was changed since I became a born again here.” And I continued to share how He changed me and how graciously He showed His love through many different nice fragrances. And I also said to them that in His wonder and humor, I couldn’t smell anything at that moment, but I prayed that He would let them know His Presence in my place. My friend found it interesting, still sniffing. Dear friend, I would like to encourage you today. He hears our prayers and shows His love for His children in His wonder and in His humor. His Presence will go with you and He will give you rest! Praise and Glory to our Awesome and Almighty God! Have a bliss! Yunee Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. (2 Corinthians 2:14~15) Dear Friend, How are you today? I’m well. Today, I would like to share with you my experience of hearing the Voice of God. In December 2016, I took a two-week class on “Hearing the Voice of God” by Sister Margaret Seaward in Asia Theological Center in Singapore. It was a half-day class for two weeks and I could use my annual leave to sign up. I’m still grateful to the Lord that I could take the class and learn how I could take up the journey to hear the voice of God daily. And I’m also grateful for the teacher, Sister Margaret Seaward. In the class, I learned that He speaks to His children in many ways such as the Bible Scriptures, dreams, visions, prophecy, sometimes even audible voice, and so on. And His voice is many times still small voice. As in the natural realm, there are five senses in the spiritual realm. And anything that is contradictory to the Scriptures is not from the Lord. And the voice of condemnation is not from the Lord, but from the enemy. And the Lord repeats and confirms things when important. And prophecy is not something new to us, but it’s confirmation on what we already knew. As usual, I loved to listen to Sister Margaret’s real stories in her life and others’ testimonies that were shared for teaching. Today, I would like to share my story from the class. In the class, after many teachings were shared, Sister Margaret gave the students the time to practice. It was a group exercise. Each group must consist of members who don’t know each other. It was to make sure the students don’t mix their own thoughts or take them as the voice of God, in case they know any member in the group. So, the group was totally made of strangers to each group member. And each person shared what was seen in vision, what was heard, or any other about the member who became an object in turn. I found it challenging to me when I tried to hear His voice in that setting and I shared what I felt was from the Lord with my group members without confidence. Yet I was very certain that the Lord would speak to me through my group members when it was my turn to be made an object. Interestingly, a lady said to me, “The Lord said you are His fragrant offering.” I was so amazed to hear that, after smelling all the nice fragrance from the Lord. And just the night before, I could receive a painting from Irene Wong, a Singaporean artist who has a prophetic gift. I got to know of her from my Christian colleague and had an opportunity to see her beautiful works on her website. I got to know that she paints for her clients after she prays for them and the Lord shows vision and gives her words for them. Many times, she doesn’t know anything about her clients except for the names given to her for prayer. After seeing her works online, I wanted to get a beautiful artwork for me together with His words. So, I ordered one for me and it was supposed to be available sometime in January the next year. But surprisingly, it came earlier so that I could receive her painting the night before my group exercise in the class. When I saw her painting with His words, I was even more surprised. The theme of the painting was “Healing Aroma” and the verse was one of the verses that I took in my heart since I could smell the nice fragrance from Him, “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” from 2 Corinthians 2:15. And I love the painting with a big golden leaf together with small little golden flowers as if they spread the sweet fragrance. In addition, the artist wrote more words about healing and I was surprised to read it. While taking the class, I thought to myself, “Maybe the Lord will give or already gave me the gift of Healing.” Then, I received this prophetic word with the painting way earlier than the target delivery date. I felt it was His confirmation, just as I learned in the class. Later, on the last day of the class, I read the Scripture from Exodus 15:26 early in the morning at home, keeping it in my heart that probably the Lord put healing anointing in me. Then, in the class, Sister Margaret read the same Scripture out loud as I just read at home “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.” I was amazed and kept it in my heart. Dear Friend, I think I would write more on this in my future blogs, but in the meantime, I would like you to join me in the journey to walk with Him and listen to His still small voice. I always find it so amazing and wonderful to see how He speaks timely in many different ways. And I also pray that my writings would be one of the ways He uses to speak to you in person just in time. Have a bliss! Yunee My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:27~28) Dear Friend, How are you today? I’m well. Today, I would like to share how faithful He is through my finance. Tithe! It might be the most interesting subject to one, but the most uncomfortable subject to the other. Ever since I learned I should give ten percent from my income to the Lord, I started to tithe. I think it’s not giving mine to Him but giving His back to Him. And I got to learn that tithing is the only occasion where the Lord allows His children to try Him. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My House, And try 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 such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10 NKJV) I heard some believers say they are not under Moses’ Law anymore so that they don’t have to tithe. But I learned from the Bible that tithe was even before Moses’ Law, and more importantly, our Lord Jesus put more emphasis on our hearts. He said, “Whoever looks at a young woman to lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart” in the book of Matthew. And I think we should even give back more than ten percent to Him, in Jesus’ standard. When working for the two employers in the past, I tithed. Especially in the very first payroll day in each company after the employment, I gave Him one hundred percent of my income as the first fruit. Yet, I never lacked anything when working for the two companies for almost 20 years. Not only lacking, but I found my blessings overflowing to others. And I could get to know from the interview with Human Resource Department and with one of my bosses that my salary level was top for my tier in the two companies. And I knew it was because the Lord opened the windows of heaven to me. I was seldom tempted in giving back to Him what I received from Him, but there was a challenging moment in my life. When I was in Singapore, I asked my mother to find a buyer for me who would buy my apartment in Seoul. As part of the blessings from Heaven, I could earn a lot from selling my apartment in Seoul, after owning it for over a decade. But, after realizing the earnings, I never thought that I should tithe from it. Then, one day, I was reminded of the teaching that we should tithe from “all” that we earn. Yet, I did not have the faith and courage to give it back to Him, thinking I would need the cash to pay for a new house to move to in Korea later, and I should be in budget as I would leave the corporate world for good soon. Then, right before I left the company for good, I could have a chance to go to YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Kona in Hawaii for an aquaponics workshop for about ten days, using my last annual leave. I was interested in farming and still think it is in His will. So, back in Kona, my teachers in the workshop invited me to their church on the one and only Sunday during my visit. And the pastor in the church used to be a lawyer before he became a pastor and he shared his testimony about tithing. And he specifically mentioned that he tithed from every earning from the investment on real estate, but not out of the motive to be blessed. And He always blessed him when he obeyed Him. Immediately, I felt that it was His answer to my question, as I still debated at that time as to whether I should tithe from my earning from the sales of my apartment. Coming back home in Korea, I repented to the Lord of my lack of faith and I did tithe. Actually, He gave me some wisdom as to how I could also manage my budget. A few months after that, I logged in to my Singapore bank accounts online that were still active, just to change the passwords. Then, in one of the bank accounts, I found something strange. The number in the balance looked quite different from what I remembered the last time I checked. I noticed the number of the digit was actually bigger than what it should be. Being curious, I clicked the button for details and I burst into cry. I found the huge amount of money came from my previous employer and seeing the date, I assumed it might be an annual bonus. But, before I left the company, I had a few exit interviews with the Human Resource department and my boss. Each time, I was confirmed by them that I would not be eligible for the annual bonus, given the date of my exit. I also understood it from the company’s policy. I think I was confirmed about it three times by the company. But, when I saw the amount from the company, I emailed the Human Resource team who confirmed that I would not be eligible for the bonus. I asked them whether it was the company’s annual bonus or whether it was a mistake. Shortly, I got a reply from them that it was my annual bonus, but they didn’t explain how I could get it. And I didn’t ask them how, as I knew nothing is impossible with our Lord. I just cried with a thankful heart. The bonus amount in my Singapore bank account was bigger than the amount I offered to a church in Singapore as part of my tithe. He just blew me away unexpectedly. Since I’m writing about tithing and giving, I would like to share Derek Prince’s teaching. I think it was from his book “Receiving God’s Promises: Inheriting Our Earthly and Heavenly Blessings in Christ.” He wrote about the Scripture “He loves a cheerful giver.” And he explained that the word, “cheerful” in Greek is “hilaros”, which means “hilarious” in English. Isn’t it interesting to know He loves a hilarious giver? Do you want to be the one? I want to. A friend of mine used to say that we can’t out-give Him and I can’t agree with her more. I often imagine a father and a son. The father gave his little son one dollar. One day, he wanted to see how his son would react if he would ask him to give ten cents back to his daddy. He knew his son had been collecting every coin and note in his small box to buy a toy in his mind. When the father said to his little boy, “Son, can you give back to me ten cents out of the one dollar I gave you the other day?” he didn’t need ten cents seriously. His little son was hesitant for a second, but he chose to give it back to him cheerfully. The father was happy to see his little son give ten cents back to him. Soon, he brought a box and handed it over to his little son. When the son opened the box, he found the very toy that he wanted to buy. He hugged his daddy with a thankful and joyful heart. The father already had hundreds of dollars in his wallet and he even bought a house to give his son in the future. Seriously, he didn’t need the ten cents from his little boy. So does our Heavenly Father. He possesses all things in Heaven and on Earth, and He is preparing mansions for us in New Jerusalem. He doesn’t need any dollar from us, but He wants you and me to be hilarious givers. I pray that you and I would give Him back, not grudgingly but hilariously, as we love Him so much. Have a bliss! Yunee Honor the Lord with your possessions, Dear Friend, How are you today? I’m well. Today, I would like to encourage you to join my club. What is this all about? After the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I could see changes in me. I started to have no interest in soap opera, pop songs, and so on but wanted to read His Words and listen to pastors’ sermons. And I knew it was not out of duty, but I started to have a hunger for Him. One day, when I had fellowship with my Shanghai church homegroup members who came back home in Singapore for good, they encouraged me to study the Bible and introduced David Pawson and his book, “Unlocking the Bible.” Thankfully, I could buy his book in a church book store in Singapore and also could find all his teachings from “Unlocking the Bible” available online. And I also could know of Derek Prince and his teachings when my Christian colleague handed over one of his booklets to me. Since then, I became a big fan of both teachers and found something in common between them. Both of them were from the United Kingdom and their initials are D.P. And they were great and faithful teachers of the Bible. While they worked in the power of the Holy Spirit, they never neglected the importance of knowing Him through His Words, and more importantly, the importance of living out the Words. And now, both of them are with the Lord. One of my dreams is that after completing my journey faithfully or when Jesus returns, I could run to them in New Jerusalem and say thanks to them in person for their faithfulness and their teachings. They made a huge impact on my life. Thanks to David Pawson’s teachings, I could learn that we should read the Bible, book by book, not a few verses from here and another few verses from there. So, I tried to read book by book and the Bible in chronological order that David endorsed in one of his teachings. Looking back at my life before being born again, I liked to read Christian books, which were mostly written by pastors. Yet I didn’t read through the Bible but picked up some shortest books in it and preferred reading the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. But, imagine you were in love with someone, you would spend some time getting to know more of him or her. You would like to know who he or she is, and what he or she likes or dislikes. And you wouldn’t want to do what he or she dislikes. And you would try to find out what you share in common with him or her. And you would rather listen to him or her than keep talking about yourself. Yet, I found myself not interested in knowing my Father and my Bridegroom in the past, while I said to Him that I love Him. By His grace, though, I could take a step to know more about Him through the Bible. I do not have any intention to boast about my reading the Bible nor want to be proud of it. But I would like you to have the bliss to know Him, His character, His heart, and His love, and to enjoy more with Him in New Jerusalem when He returns. Many times, I found Him having a sense of humor in the Bible as well as in my life. Especially when I read Him saying to His people “Is My arm too short?” And I still don’t forget the moment when I first read “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:9~10 NKJV) Getting to know His heart, I just couldn’t help dropping tears. And you would know the story of Abraham’s interceding for Sodom in Genesis 18:16~33. He repeated the same question to the Lord, “Let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”, counting down the number of the righteous in Sodom all the way from the number fifty to ten in his assumption. I once thought to myself, “Father Abraham, is this some kind of joke? You are asking it six times to the One sitting on the Throne! And you’re adding more verses into this chapter!!!” But I realized the Bible had to describe all of this. I think it shows our Father’s character. He is very kind to His children. And He is merciful enough to save Sodom, if only there were ten righteous men. And I also see Him like to communicate to His child and show what He will do. “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?” (Genesis 18:17) Dear friend, Do you want to take some time today to grab your Bible to know more about Him and love Him? I wish you would. More to come! Have a bliss! Yunee How sweet are Your words to my taste, |
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