MLworship#5 To be like Joseph(27Aug2003)

A Personal testimony(27 Aug 2003)


1) Revelation of God’s grace is from God

‘And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.’
Romans 8:28

2) We respond as the ‘veil’ blinding our heart is lifted

‘Thanks be to God who always lead us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.’
2 Corinthians 2:14


3) My life till yesterday night

Many of you have known me for many years. My life truly changed 2 yrs back when God spoke to my heart at 4am in Bangkok.

Ever since, as I responded to the Holy Spirit’s prompting, sometimes tentatively, sometimes with doubt, God has always provided me with His reassurances and blessings.

Man is never perfect. As we respond to God’s grace, God ‘strips’ away layer by layer our sinful cover.

Last night, in my dreams,
- I saw an azure blue sky, the kind we see in scenic Christian calendars

- Without warning, emanating from that same calm sky was a sudden intense surge of bright light which shone right into my eyes, unbearable yet peaceful.
.
- A felt myself being pulled right up yet without fear towards the source of the light and

- I heard a powerful resonant voice(like the one of God in the show ‘Moses’) commanding me to ‘rise with the Oriole’

The whole episode lasted probably between 10-15 secs, but its intensity caused me to wake right up(time 5.45am)

Was it just a dream or is this truly God communicating to me?

Having experienced God’s grace and reassurance many times, I will not doubt.
However, one must also obey, discern with wisdom and not speculate nor overreact..

The word ‘Oriole’ is not exactly a common word. Oreo biscuits certainly is but not Oriole.

I checked the dictionary and it is taken to mean ‘ a family of birds with black and either orange or yellow plummage’

Interestingly, the next word below ‘Oriole’ in the dictionary was the word ‘Orison’
Which means ‘a prayer.’

Pray was what I did and in my quiet time today(at 12.30 pm, my fasting day). I read the Word of God and the reading that God gave me was from Proverbs 6

‘Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a BIRD from the snare of the fowler.’
Proverbs 6:5

‘My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teachings. Bind them upon your heart forever, fasten them around your neck
When you walk, they will guide you, when you sleep, they will watch over you’
When you awake, they will speak to you’
Proverbs 20-22

I understood it to mean
- that as we grow with God, God will continue to surface the deeper layers of our sinful nature to cleanse us furthur
- as we received God’s blessings, it is common that we could lose our focus on Him and let our sinful nature creep back in.
- just like Joseph, God let Joseph go through many years of preparation before Joseph was deemed ready to be a vehicle for God’s work. Joseph prospered in God’s grace but he stayed humble and Christlike, characteristics that was never him in his early years, God refined him.

I thank God for the constant refinement and let us all rest in the reassurance that before God let us ‘soar like the birds’ in glorifying His works, we will be properly grounded.*

‘Be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5