Dear Friend, How are you? Hope you had or are having a good day, today? I think it was late February or early March this year. I listened to the sermon of Pastor Joe Sweet in Shekinah Worship Center in Lancaster, CA in YouTube. He shared his wife’s testimony from a few decades ago. When they were newly married, she moved in to Pastor Joe’s house. Then, she felt so uncomfortable on Pastor Joe’s used bed. But, Pastor Joe couldn’t afford to buy a new King size bed. She said to him, “My Father is rich. Let’s pray.” And she asked Him to provide them with a new high-quality King size bed. Next day, when she prayed, she didn’t ask it any more, but said, “Thank you, Father, for giving us a new high-quality King size bed.” She believed her prayer would be answered and she thanked for His provision, even before she saw it. She did that prayer, thanking Him, for 14 days. Then, Pastor Joe got a phone call from their friend. She said to him, “Do you happen to know who needs a new high-quality King size bed?” Then, she went on to share the background that her rich neighbor have one and asked her whether she knows anyone who needs it. When I listened to the amusing yet amazing testimony, I was reminded of some other testimonies that people received miraculous healing, even when they didn’t receive it yet, but declared it by faith, thanking the Lord. Those testimonies together with Pastor Joe’s wife’s encouraged me. Then, I started to apply it to my situation. I have a house in a suburb of Seoul and I’ve had a tenant for the past 4 years. The rent contract was supposed to be expired in late March this year. Last year, our leftist government established a regulation that is unfavorable to landlords. If tenants want to extend rent contracts for another 2 years, landlords should accept it, which makes it hard for them to sell their properties. Last year, I wanted to sell my house but was not sure whether my tenant wanted to extend the contract or move out. Then, I decided to lay my cares upon the Father, as He knows the best timing for everything. And I also didn’t want to work around the scheme to kick out my tenant, to sell my house, as she is a believer, another child of Him. And I had peace. Then, last October, my tenant reached out to me to say she planned to move out when the contract would be expired this year. I was really glad to hear that, feeling He makes a way. This February right after the Lunar New Year holidays, I got to know from her she planned to move out on Feb. 19th, while the contract ends on March 28th. She misunderstood the time on the contract. Anyway, she moved out early and I contacted a real estate agent, whom I got to know online. I was very grateful, as she is very nice and supportive. Then, when I asked her how the market had been, she said, “There has been no sales transaction at all. No buyer at all. Only rent transaction once in a while.” It was a discouraging report, yet I was not worried. I believed my Father would send me a buyer in His time and He wouldn’t let my house empty, not being sold nor being rented. I was very certain that my tenant's moving out is His first arrangement to sell my house. Thus He will make a way. When I shared this with my Christian hairdresser, she also encouraged me, sharing her story. She moved to her new flat in this Feb., after she made a contract in November or December last year. In making the contract with the seller, who is a Christian, she got to know from the agent that the seller listed her flat only in that month and she found out the buyer, my hairdresser, within a month. But, there were many sellers whose flats had been on the list for over a year, as they didn’t find buyers. Her story encouraged me much. And she said, “I will also pray for selling your house, together with you.” Later, when I heard Pastor Joe’s wife’s testimony, I was encouraged and started to pray, “Father, I thank You for sending me a good buyer. I thank You, as it was sold at a good price.” Not only I said that prayer, but I gave a love offering to a minister, really believing my house will be sold and I would receive money soon. Interestingly enough, within 2 weeks after that prayer, I had two missed calls and one text message from an unknown number. Much to my surprise, the text message said, “I’m interested in buying your house, if it’s not been sold yet.”, mentioning my house address. I was thrilled and surprised and I asked my real estate agent to contact this person. And she reported back to me, after calling the potential buyer, saying he knows the town very well, as his friend lives there. So, it sounded like his friend let him know my house seemed empty, after my tenant moved out and he got my phone number from the person who managed the community contact info. The potential buyer tried to lower down the price way too much, though. Then, the next Friday, I just felt in my heart that I would hear the good news on my house from the agent that day. Last year, when the long-awaited answer of my prayer came, the Holy Spirit also gave that feeling in my heart earlier on the day and I got a call, to my amazement. Soon enough, on that day, my agent called me to say she got an agreement on the price which was actually higher than the price I said to her. She was good at negotiation and I was able to make a contract the very next week. Praise God! I was simply overjoyed and amazed at how awesome our Father is! He is a Way Maker and a Miracle Worker. My agent said to me again, “There was none who visited us to buy a house at all. No sales transaction at all.” I couldn’t thank Him enough and I felt I could even fly! I texted my hairdresser to share this good news, as she had been praying for me. And she said, “I got goose bumps! I didn’t expect the prayer to be answered so soon! I can’t wait till I hear from you more!” She simply rejoiced with me. What a joy intercessors have when prayers are answered! So, my agent arranged the contract date for the next Friday and I was supposed to receive 10% of the sales price as deposit on that day. Out of gratitude, I transferred another love offering to the minister, even before I would receive the deposit in a week. After I transferred the money and texted the minister, she said that it was a real answer to her prayer and only God knows what it meant to her. And she thanked me for being obedient to the Lord. After that, I was amazed again. My agent said that she requested the buyer to transfer “pre-deposit” which is not a standard in the procedure, and the amount I got as pre-deposit was a little bit higher than the love offering I just transferred. I’m grateful for His faithfulness. Later in the evening, when I listened to Shekinah Worship Center’s worship meeting, the first song they sang was “O Taste and See that the Lord is good!” I couldn’t agree with it enough! I sang along, overjoyed. Since then, I made an adjustment to my prayer. Instead of saying “Father, please baptize so and so in Your Spirit. Father, please save so and so and bring them to eternal life,” I began to say to Him, “Father, I thank You for baptizing so and so in Your Spirit. Father, I thank You for bringing salvation to so and so.” And I believe He will make a way and He will do miracles in His time. I trust His faithfulness. He will answer my prayers when they are all in line with His will. Friend, I hope my testimony as well as Pastor Joe’s wife’s encourage you. It’s my desire and prayer that when we ask Him, we don’t get double-minded, but trust Him. He supplies all our needs and He knows the best for each one of us. In His way and in His time, He will make a way. Yes & Amen! Have a bliss! Yunee Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Dear Friend, How are you? Hope you had or are having a good day, today? In mid of June this year, I had an incident that made my heart sink. Since my mom went to the emergency room and was hospitalized twice in May, I found her dementia got worse. One day, at around 8pm, she was taking a nap and woke up from the sleep, to go to the bathroom. Well, I thought she would go to the bathroom, as she used to do, awaking from her sleep. But I only got to realize she went out of our place! I think I realized it perhaps 10 minutes after she went out. I was mopping the floor of our room and I started to wonder why she didn’t come out of the restroom. Finally, I found out the light switches of the restroom were all off and the room was empty and dark. Only then did I realize a pair of slippers in front of the main door were gone. I felt my heart pounding and I tried to calm down and grabbed my door key, before going out to search for her. When I got out of our place, I bumped into a young lady and she said to me, “Are you looking for an old lady? She went down to the lobby floor.” I thought she read my facial expression and knew I was desperately looking for someone. When I went down to the lobby, I looked around, but couldn’t find her. I went to the security guard who knew my mom and asked him to check the security camera, saying I lost her. And I called the police to report her missing. While I was on the phone, the security guard and I saw the video from the security camera that took my mom and the young lady in our floor being in the elevator. After I finished reporting to the police, they said they would send a policeman to our accommodation soon. While I was at a loss, the security guard said to me from the main gate, “Come here! Your mother is here!” I ran and went out, following where he was going. My mom was in the crowds at the bus stop in front of the main gate of our accommodation at dusk, surrounded by two tall men. I couldn’t describe how I felt at that moment. I was simply thankful, yet my heart was still pounding. The two men said they are policemen (seemingly in private attires) and they held her, as they would think she has dementia. They said she was trying to take a bus, saying she would go to our hometown. I said thanks to them and I brought my mom back to our place and called the police to let them know I had found her. Only after I came back home with her, I realized someone put a surgical mask on her face. In Seoul, we still need to wear masks for the pandemic, but mom didn’t have any, as she simply got out of her sleep. I couldn’t thank God enough, as she was still in the good hands of the two policemen and she was given the mask, even when she left home in dementia. And she didn’t fall at all, even with the slippers. She had to always hold my hands and needed my support when she walked in her loafers. Even on the flat floor, she tended to stumble. Though I couldn’t still calm down from the shock, I felt so thankful for His protection. Then, the two men who claimed to be the policemen kept lingering in my mind. I said to myself, “Could they be His Angels?” It dawned on me that both of them didn’t wear masks. And they were very tall and big, compared with the policemen I usually saw. I know we as His children are always surrounded by our guardian angels. They could have been mom’s guardian angels and they held her till I found her, and they protected her from stumbling. In 2020, I heard many prophecies that God would release many angels who would partner with His children. They are not our day-to-day guardian angels, but the angels to work with us for the missions especially in the last days. One day in December, I listened to Pastor Mark Johnson’s teaching on seeing Jesus and His Angels. I was encouraged by his teaching that we should ask Jesus, “Jesus, what are You saying? Or what are You doing?” instead of asking ourselves, “What Would Jesus Do?” He is with us 24 hours and we begin to ask Him directly what He is saying and what He is doing. And he also encouraged us to ask Him to show where the Angels are. After listening to his teaching, one day when I took a walk, I said to the Lord, “Lord, where is the Angel? Please show me where he is.” Interestingly, after the prayer, I found one homeless man appear on the street. I never saw any homeless people on that street for the past few years. Then, I thought to myself that if he is His Angel, I must not pass by. I checked my wallet. I didn’t have much cash, as I didn’t have any plan to shop during my walk. I collected all the small notes of cash I had from my wallet and held them in my right hand. And I inched closer to him and thought to myself, “What if he is not homeless? Then, he would be offended, if I give this money to him.” So, I looked at him closely and was quite sure he is homeless. Still believing he is His angel, I approached to him, and nodded at him and gave him all the cash I had. Then, I simply turned around and walked fast. I just hoped that I entertained the Angel, aware, instead of unaware, and I pleased the Lord. Then, the next day, I took a walk along the same street as the previous day. And I said to the Lord, “Lord, please show me Your angel.” Then, I looked around and I saw the clouds in the sky. The two clouds with a building in the middle of them looked just like the wings of His angels. I smiled. I believe it was His sense of humor and He indeed showed me the angel’s wings through the clouds. But for the last few months, I didn’t really think of the angels and I didn’t have many dreams that I think were from the Lord. My sleep was simply light and broken, since my mom had hospitalization and some other surprising night events. As she was wide awake most of the nights, my sleep life was not really good, and the dreams were rare. When I had some dreams, they were like nightmares. And I didn’t really long for the Lord’s visitation as much as I did in the past. Chronic fatigue simply made me want to survive rather than thrive in this season. Yet, the Lord is gracious. Recently, I got to listen to Pastor Michael Van Vlymen’s Seer School series in his online channel. In one of his teachings, he encouraged not to have an attitude such as “Oh, I just need Jesus, not angels.” And he encouraged us to earnestly seek the spiritual gifts. And in the very next day, when I read the Bible, the Scripture from Luke 22:43 was highlighted to me, “Jesus called for an angel of glory to strengthen him, and the angel appeared. (The Passion Translation)” It was the scene of the garden of Gethsemane before He was betrayed by Judas. It came into my mind that if Jesus called for an angel of glory to strengthen him, how much more we would need His angels. While the thoughts on the angels and seeing in the spirit realm kept lingering in my mind, I was surprised to receive an email from Lana Vawser’s ministry on the very next day. As usual, her blog was just timely as the Lord’s confirmation. Her blog was way short, compared with her usual blogs, but I became certain that she had to simply share the short message from the Lord on time and the title of the message was “Major Increase of Angelic Assistance”. Friend, I believe He orchestrated everything. And I felt that I must write on this to share His plan and to encourage you to expect His angels to be released to partner with you for His Kingdom. I like to share what Pastor Michael Van Vlymen recently shared in a conference in the USA. He said when he saw a few angels in the spirit realm, one of the angels said to him, “We want to go with you.” Then, he was caught up back to his prayer room and the Lord appeared and said to him, “The provision of Heaven is available.” Pastor Michael said that the angel said, “We want to go with you.”, not “We are going with you.” And he continued, “If you are not going to do the Kingdom things, there is no need for you to have the angelic army to go with you. You’re going to be equipped to do the tasks at hand, if you say yes to Him. And the provision will come.” Friend, do you like to say yes to Him and expect His provision for the Kingdom works? Friend, I’m sharing the Lana’s short words below. I pray it may speak to you and we expect to have significant angelic encounters in the days to come, in Jesus’ name. Have a bliss! Yunee “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14 ESV) Over the last few weeks I have had a number of encounters in vision and dreams where the Lord has showed me a MAJOR increase of the angelic being released onto the earth and a major increase in angelic activity. I have seen so many angels being sent from the Lord into the nations and to assist His people. The presence and visitation of the angelic is significantly increasing. The Lord continued to speak the words “I am releasing greater angelic assistance”. Be encouraged and expectant right now and as we move further into this new era to see, encounter and experience a significant increase in angelic assistance. These angelic encounters will not only bring supernatural provision and assist God’s people, but open up greater understanding of the supernatural realm. Many are about to have significant angelic encounters that are landing in the lives of many believers on assignment of the Lord, that will shift and commission many into new assignments by the word of the Lord. Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” (Acts 5:17~20) Dear Friend, How are you? Hope you had or are having a good day today? Do you have Holy Communion at your home? Before the pandemic, my church in Seoul used to have a monthly Holy Communion. I’ve heard many servants of the Lord talk about Holy Communion. Especially when the pandemic is around, taking His body and blood is essential, more so as we are living in the last days. In some Korean churches, they don’t allow those who were not baptized in the water or children to take Holy Communion and I think it is based on the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 11:27~30: Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. Yet I learned that taking His body and blood in an unworthy manner is not to believe the bread and the vine juice we take is really His body and blood, but to think it’s just normal bread and vine juice. I agree with it. If we take a tiny bit of biscuit and one sip or two of vine juice, believing the Lord’s body and precious blood would heal and deliver us, we take it in a worthy manner. After hearing many preachers’ encouragement to take Holy Communion with family at home every day, I tried to do it for a while. But I was not consistent. Then, one day when I had my haircut, I talked about Holy Communion to my Christian hairdresser. She shared a testimony that she read. A Christian lady had a husband who was in hospital for lung cancer. His doctor said “No hope.” On one Sunday, she took her portion of bread and vine juice during the Holy Communion in her church, not taking them for herself, but she brought them to her husband on the hospital bed. After he took the body and the blood of Jesus, he was miraculously healed! And my hairdresser continued with another testimony. Her pastor ministers to those who are under demonic influence and casts out demons. One day, the pastor had the Holy Communion with a person under demonic influence. After taking the Lord’s body and blood, the evil spirit inside the person said, “Ouch! It’s so hot. I feel like I’m scorched to death!” At the end of the day, the evil spirit didn’t come out, but it said out loud that the blood of Jesus gave it burning feeling! Do you believe the power of His body and precious blood? I was so encouraged to do the Holy Communion regularly at home and most importantly to believe the resurrecting power of His body and blood. Soon enough, my mom had a tooth ache which came and went regularly. As she didn’t want to go to dentist, I used to get her medicines from pharmacy. This time, it lasted quite long even with the medicine. So, I had the Holy Communion with her, asking Him to heal her and believing He would do. Thankfully, a few days after we did the daily Holy Communion, she was healed. Praise the Lord! Friend, I know the Lord sometimes heals us through doctors in His sovereignty, yet I pray that you and I do the Holy Communion in a worthy manner, remembering the Lord and the new covenant in His blood, in Jesus’ name. Have a bliss! Yunee that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Dear Friend, How are you? Hope you had or are having a good day today? In addition to my previous blog, “Financial Blessing,” today I would like to write more on finance. Have you read a George Mueller book, Answers to Prayer? I’ve not read it yet, but I wish I would read it this year. I’ve heard of him and his book, Answers to Prayer many times through sermons and other authors’ books, but I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I heard and read that he never reached out to people to be able to feed the orphans he looked after but only prayed to the Lord. And miraculously he was provided for daily living. I remember a story of him and Preacher, Charles Spurgeon, but can’t recall the source for now. One day when Charles Spurgeon got to know that he didn’t get the fund he had been praying for, he visited George Mueller, knowing George got it, and saw his cushion he had been using for prayers, which was worn out. Charles Spurgeon said to George Mueller, “Now, I know why the Lord gave the fund to you.” In 2019, I read a Korean missionary’s book and listened to his sermons online. He shared his testimony in his book on the time when he needed around US$5 million for the project to build an international university. He thought of George Mueller and decided he wouldn’t share the need for the money with anyone and any church. He chose to trust in the Lord to provide for the project He Himself initiated. Later, bills continued to pile up on his desk, but he had nothing from the outset. Many volunteers who gathered to partner with him looked at him and waited for him to find some ways. Yet he kept on praying for it, not disclosing the need to anyone. Miraculously, some people he knew came to him and gave him offerings, not knowing his need. He started to see miracles, yet he still had a lot to pay for. One day, a man came to him and said, “Brother, does the number 113 mean anything to you? When I prayed, the Lord gave me a heart that you are in financial need. My wife and I prayed together over it and we got the number 113.” And the missionary said to him, “Yes, I need US$1,130,000 dollars for a bill.” It was the Lord’s miraculous provision through His children. Later, the last bill for the remaining US$1 million was also provided by the Lord and he said, “We had no debt for the project, not even US$1. It was all provided by the Lord.” And he also wrote about His perfect timing. The fund started to be provided when the currency of the country where he worked got weak. I believe the Lord provided it at a later, but perfect timing, to test the missionary’s faith and to make the best use of the exchange rate of the currency, as He is the God of economy too. I believe it would require great faith for George Mueller and the missionary to totally trust in Him in finance. I think Pastor Robert Morris mentioned about manipulation in his book “The Blessed Life.” He wrote something like some people use manipulation, not trusting the Lord on material provision. And he wrote the people who have the gift in giving can discern who uses manipulation. A few days ago, I happened to read Dr. Kevin Zadai’s article, “The Heavenly Mechanics Behind Christian Giving” that I saved in my mobile phone back in 2019. I would like to share part of his message which I think is so important in our giving: Before any meeting where an offering might be collected, the best thing to do is to pray ahead of time before that meeting. One good strategy is to simply inquire of the Lord, "What am I going to be giving tonight?" Asking this question before attending a meeting helps ensure that a person will follow the Scriptures. It also helps circumvent any manipulation that may come from those in the meeting through the offering message or any other situation. A Believer needs to take precautions so that he or she is not being manipulated into giving. In Corinthians, Paul spoke concerning preparation of the offering before a meeting took place. If a Christian will determine ahead of time what he or she will give, then he or she will feel comfortable with the gift that is given. He or she will already have heard from the Lord concerning the offering to give, and then the giving will be done in faith. I follow this strategy. The Lord will speak to me concerning the offering, and then I ask my wife, "What is the Lord laying upon your heart to give?" Her response is almost always exactly the same figure that I have heard from the Lord. Almost one hundred percent of the time, the amount that I am led to give and the amount that my wife says we are to give are identical. Therefore, in that manner, the Lord confirms the amount that we are to give completely! And that confirmation gives us freedom and the opportunity to rejoice in our gifts! A Christian is to enjoy giving and not allow anyone to take that joy by making a gift compulsory. In other words, a Believer must not allow the pressure from others to take the joy of giving from them by submitting to that pressure to give. … Christians must never give offerings when there is pressure to comply. One's purpose to give must not be a response to pressure, but rather a response to the Lord and an expression of love toward Him. As I shared in my previous blog, “Unmasking the Witchcraft,” Derek Prince wrote in his book, “The Coming Revival” that unmasking the witchcraft in church is one of the keys to the coming revival, and manipulation is witchcraft. I’m sharing again what he wrote in the book on the definition of witchcraft the Lord gave to him: Witchcraft is the attempt to control people and get them to do what you want by the use of any spirit that is not the Holy Spirit.’ Then He gave me an additional insight: If anyone has a spirit that he or she can ‘use,’ it is not the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is God, and no one uses God. Sadly, even in churches, there are people who are under the witchcraft spirit. We must discern the voice of the Holy Spirit and obey the Spirit of truth, not the witchcraft. Not only churches, but individuals can use manipulation to get what they need or want. So, I think we should ask for discernment and give to the Lord out of cheerful hearts. I would like to share another story of the missionary that I wrote earlier in this blog. He and his family had a sabbatical year in the US, after serving the Lord in Mongolia. When he left Mongolia, the Lord told him to give everything he earned and had in there to the people in Mongolia and he obeyed the Lord. When he spent a sabbatical year in the US and was about to leave the country soon, a young male student in a Korean church in there who knew his story in Mongolia came to him and said, “I heard the Lord speaking that you must give your car away to me when you leave here.” And I think the missionary’s answer to him was wise. He said to the student, “Brother, if it’s the Lord’s will for me to give away my car to you, He would definitely let me know too.” And he wrote that his car was given to another person, before his departure from the US. Personally, I had some good and bad experiences related to giving. I gave offerings a few times to a ministry, not being voluntary or out of a cheerful heart, but out of pressure. The minister approached me in person, “Please pray and do according to what the Holy Spirit spoke to you.” In all honesty, I gave the offering to the ministry, fearing the minister. Of course, I don’t respect those who use manipulation and I’m not part of the ministry anymore for other reason. I repented of giving out of pressure. Yet, I had good testimonies when I was truly led by the Holy Spirit and gave to those who never used manipulation. I got to know from them only after my giving, that their needs were miraculously and timely met and they all said, “You were led by the Holy Spirit. Thank you for obeying the Lord.” In giving without being manipulated, there was always joy and thanks and praise to the Lord in both giver and receiver. And I do respect those who completely trust the Lord like George Muller. Friend, I wanted to share the story of George Mueller and others to encourage you to put the total trust in the Lord when you are in need, and also to give to Him out of a cheerful heart, not out of pressure or being manipulated. I pray that you and I ask the Lord for discernment, and we are always led by the Holy Spirit and become cheerful, hilarious givers, in Jesus’ name. Have a bliss! Yunee Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. (1 John 5:14~15) Dear Friend, How are you? I’m very well. Are you blessed in finance? Since the pandemic, we hear on the news or around us that people suffer from losing jobs or small business owners have difficulties and some of them closed their business. I heard from my sister in California that some of her church home group members suffer in finance since the pandemic. My heart aches, when I see and hear some Christians have difficulties in finance. I’ve heard many pastors and prophets prophesy that there would be global economic collapse. Then, it would be even worse than now. Yet, I believe that our Heavenly Father wants His children to prosper in all things, including finance. Today, I would like to humbly share my testimony and others’. Since I started to blog in 2020, I think I wrote on finance only once in my blog, “Hilarious Giver.” I had reservation in writing my testimonies on finance, though the Lord was always faithful to me and often surprised me with unexpected financial blessings. I didn’t want to share them, as I wanted to be rewarded for anything that pleased the Lord, by the Lord Himself, when He returns. Another reason was that I wanted to be cautious on this subject, especially in this difficult season when even Christians have much difficulty from this pandemic. But when I listened to Pastor Neville Johnson’s teaching on Keys to the Kingdom and unexpectedly listened to his teaching on finance in the last days during his teaching, my heart was stirred up to encourage the Lord’s children to obey the Lord and to receive financial blessings. Later, when I read the Scriptures, I felt it would be in His will to write on this subject. So, I’m writing this from the intention to glorify His name and to help His children, not just to survive, but to thrive in the difficult time and in the more challenging times to come. In 2020, I listened to Neville Johnson’s teaching on Kingdom Finance. I chose to buy his audio teaching in The Academy of Light website and listen to it, as I have been feeling that the Lord would use me to provide for the remnants of His people in the last days, whether they are Jews or Christians. So, I wanted to be prepared in finance in the last days. In his teaching, he mentioned that receiving financial blessing would need something very radical, which would in turn require faith. I found out the very radical thing he was referring to is to give offerings to the Lord, in addition to tithe. He said tithe is actually mandatory. It sounded to me that tithe is actually the very minimum that every believer should give to the Lord at default. So, in order to receive financial blessings, we would need to first step out in faith, to give more to the Lord in our offerings. I think some would say, “How can I give more to God, while I’m suffering now, and I don’t have enough?” That’s why faith is needed. Faith is to believe the unseen. Even when we don’t see any extra money to give, in our own mind, we need to believe it will be filled, when we give Him first. Not only the late Pastor Neville Johnson, but Pastor Robert Morris also wrote in his book “The Blessed Life: Unlocking the Rewards of Generous Giving” something most people who don’t tithe always say, “I can’t afford to tithe. I only barely make my ends meet.” But the reason that they never afford to tithe is that they never tithe with faith in advance. They only make ends meet because they can’t trust the Lord, thus they don’t tithe. If my memory serves me right, I think Pastor Robert Morris wrote in the book something like “Those who don’t tithe actually end up with having to spend the amount of tithe on something else that could be avoided unless otherwise.” I agreed with it. In the early February 2020, I went to my Christian hairdresser. It was when the pandemic began to spread in Korea, but not so widely yet. People started to be careful in going out and having contacts with others. I asked my hairdresser during my haircut whether her business was affected negatively by it. She said it was not, thankfully, and she said the Lord continued to provide and prosper her, as she had been giving special offerings to her church for a project. I knew it was on top of her tithe and I also knew she was so zealous for sharing the gospel with her unbelieving customers and the kids in the playground. Then, after the coronavirus cases spiked, I chose to be careful in contacts. Though I didn’t live in fear at all, I wanted to be careful especially for my mom. So, almost for a year, I had my haircut at home, and my mom helped me for the haircut at the back. In a sense, it was fun experience to both of us. Then, in January 2021, when my pastor in Singapore encouraged the members in our monthly online meeting to connect with a likeminded brother or a sister and to fellowship with one another, I felt I must go to my hair salon to have a monthly fellowship during my haircut, as I used to do. I really missed it. So, I went to her salon in February and I got the professional haircut in a year. As I expected, her business continued to thrive even during the pandemic. I found her appointments with her customers were all booked one week earlier. Yet she was humble and thanked the Lord for the successful business in the hard times. Looking back at my circumstance in 2020, I also couldn’t thank the Lord enough. I’ve been managing my mom’s commercial property due to her dementia, since I left Singapore and the company for good. One day, a tenant in her property who had his business in there for more than twenty years said to me, that his business flourished since I took over. And he said other business owners in the property seemed to have good business as well. I thanked the Lord Who made our tenants’ businesses prosper. And I believed He certainly opened the storehouse of heaven as I tithed from the rent income, while my mom didn’t, previously. Then, our country economy didn’t really go well, even before the pandemic came. So, vacancy in commercial properties increased and it was often reported on the news. When I had a vacancy in mom’s property, the Lord gave me the heart to provide the vacant place to a self-funding missionary for North Korea who used to be one of mom’s tenants. After a certain period of time I granted her a space for free, the Lord sent me a new tenant through her at a higher rent. During the pandemic, sadly, one of our tenants had to close her business and yet another decided to retire from his business. However, the Lord sent new tenants at a higher rent. And our property has 100% occupancy rate with higher rents in the midst of the pandemic, while I see so many commercial properties with empty rooms in Seoul look for new tenants. I still think it is miracle and our Lord is indeed faithful when we give Him first in faith. Not only the rent income, but I unexpectedly received money from here and there after giving to Him. After I listened to Pastor Neville Johnson’s teaching on Kingdom Finance, I was prompted by the Holy Spirit and sent some money to a minister in the very next morning. Then, I was amazed to receive her testimony. She said she had sent some money to a missionary two days ago. And now, she received the exact same amount of money from me. I was stunned and encouraged to hear that. And you know what? In a few days, I received more than what I sent to her, unexpectedly. Later, when I gave offerings somewhere, I unexpectedly received around US$9,000 as a gift. What a gift! I couldn’t thank Him enough for His faithfulness. James Durham wrote in his book, “Keys to Open Heaven” that one of the keys to open heaven is giving. He shared his testimony. He wrote that the Lord put something new in his and his wife’s hearts. He wrote that they made a decision to stop working so hard to make a living and to begin to work hard to make a giving. He also shared a similar testimony that I shared on the minister who received the exact same amount of money as she gave. He wrote: The Lord began to do some amazing and inspiring things which we received as signs and wonders…. On one occasion, the Lord told me to sow all that I had. I usually keep money in two separate compartments in my wallet. One section I call seed and the other section I call bread. This choice is based on Paul’s teaching in 2 Corinthians, chapter nine. … After I sowed all the seed in my wallet, the Lord spoke to me and said, “Now sow the bread!” The Lord had never asked this before. When I heard this, I knew the Lord was going to demonstrate something, but I didn’t have any idea what it would be. I obeyed the Lord and sowed the bread. Later, as we were getting ready to drive home from the conference, my wife asked me if I wanted to stop and eat on the way home. I told her that we could do that if she had some money, but I had sown all I had. I opened my wallet to show her. To my surprise, I had five crisp new one hundred dollar bills in the seed compartment and triple what I had previously had in the bread section. I couldn’t wait to sow that five hundred dollars again and see what the Lord would do with the seed. [Durham, James A. Keys to Open Heaven. Xulon Press. Kindle Edition.] Isn’t our Father so faithful and marvelous? Friend, Again, I humbly shared the testimonies including mine, as I would like to encourage you to continue to or start to obey the Lord and give Him first in faith, even when you don’t see any source to be filled after giving. Our Father is the Creator and Possessor of all things in the universe. He can print notes and send His Angel to put them in your wallet, if He is willing to. If not, He would use other ways. Please put your trust in Him. Having said that, I also would like to mention that poverty could come to some people for a season, as a test from the Lord, just like Joseph had to be imprisoned without any wrongdoing. Another reason for poverty could be from the curse or the spirit of poverty. If you or your family members or friends kept suffering from poverty even after tithe and offerings, I would like to encourage you or them to read a Derek Prince book, “Blessing or Curse: You Can Choose” or listen to his teaching online. I believe we must understand the source of ongoing poverty and find a right solution. In our Heavenly Father, there is always a cure and remedy even for the cursed. As Father, He wants to see His children prosper. Friend, if you are a parent, you would know the heart of father or mother very well. You wouldn’t even want your child to wear shabby clothes. Our Father is love and He wants us to thrive even in the challenging times to come. I pray that you and I know His heart and we trust Him and give to Him first, with our love toward Him, in Jesus’ name. Have a bliss! Yunee Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 1:2) |
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