In the past few weeks, I kept hearing of this idea from different sources, and as I continue to meditate on it, it does bring fullness and joy to my heart to learn of this realization. It is this: We are Created to Give.
When I surrendered my finances to God, I realized that He will provide all my needs, because He knows what I need more than I do. So when realizing that I am created to give, then I know that He will also bless that which I set aside to give, which gladdens my heart. Because there is a certain joy in being able to give, and it said in Acts 20:35 that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I truly believe that, and so I have started to meditate on how to take what little I can set aside, and multiply it for the sake of increasing what I can give, and not take any penny away from it. And in the process, also explore and learn more about what God has gifted me with, and to embody that in the blessing that He pours through me. Because I feel this is the true directive for Christians, not to just have a job and life and family, but we are so uniquely designed, we should embrace what we are gifted with, and take extra time and effort to share that with the world, and because it is God that gifted us, it is in our very "DNA" to use these gifts for His glory!
So I meditated over what gifts I have developed in the past year of offline soul searching, and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself applying and learning two things: (i) artistic expression, and (ii) plant care and propagating. And so, with confirmation from the LORD, I will proceed to investing in propagating plants with my gifting budget (which I set aside on a monthly basis), and just give them to people as gifts. From my year of plant caring, I have experienced great joy and healing through the experience of taking care of and understanding plants, and I feel that it will become such a blessing for many others, especially as there are a lot of agricultural metaphors used in the Bible. It will be physically, emotionally and spiritually filling for those that I bless through these baby plants that I will grow for their sake. In terms of art, I will create art specific for edifying others, just little tiny pieces of art, through the different forms of sketching, painting, and sculpting that I have learnt in the past two years.
Looking forward into 2019 and onwards, my heart is filled knowing that I can be blessed through giving, and knowing that I will get to see what God does with it.
Be blessed.
Saturday, 19 January 2019
2019
Dear friends,
It's been a while. In the past year, I have been blessed to be offline and had spent time in developing relationships, a reflective and God-centered lifestyle that enabled me to embrace my gifts and to take them to a new level. That enabled me to have plenty of rest, to fuel my heart to connect maturely and grow with other deep-thinking individuals, and to be creative in learning and creating new gifts in life.
I continued my meditation of the Word throughout 2018, and have read/listened/meditated through mostly the first 3 Gospels 15-20 times, and it has given me more wisdom and clarity, especially in exploring and establishing deeper connections with people that are like-minded, and deeper understanding of myself. This year, I will continue to do this and enjoy the fruits that I reap, as promised in Joshua 1:9, a life of prosperity and success. And though I don't particularly ascribe to any prosperity teachings, I do believe that when we follow closely with God, He will bless our hands and our works so that through the prosperity of wisdom and financial management, we can build His kingdom through giving to and blessing others, and creating lasting change in the world.
And so with that, I have stepped into 2019 meditating on how I can use my gifts and provision from God to gift and to multiply it to create bigger and bigger ripples starting by investing in the smallest things, for it is written in Luke 16:10, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much."
Thus, I step into 2019, hopeful for God's gifts to multiply through my creative thoughts and ideas, with the goal of blessing others and building the Kingdom.
Blessings,
James
It's been a while. In the past year, I have been blessed to be offline and had spent time in developing relationships, a reflective and God-centered lifestyle that enabled me to embrace my gifts and to take them to a new level. That enabled me to have plenty of rest, to fuel my heart to connect maturely and grow with other deep-thinking individuals, and to be creative in learning and creating new gifts in life.
I continued my meditation of the Word throughout 2018, and have read/listened/meditated through mostly the first 3 Gospels 15-20 times, and it has given me more wisdom and clarity, especially in exploring and establishing deeper connections with people that are like-minded, and deeper understanding of myself. This year, I will continue to do this and enjoy the fruits that I reap, as promised in Joshua 1:9, a life of prosperity and success. And though I don't particularly ascribe to any prosperity teachings, I do believe that when we follow closely with God, He will bless our hands and our works so that through the prosperity of wisdom and financial management, we can build His kingdom through giving to and blessing others, and creating lasting change in the world.
And so with that, I have stepped into 2019 meditating on how I can use my gifts and provision from God to gift and to multiply it to create bigger and bigger ripples starting by investing in the smallest things, for it is written in Luke 16:10, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much."
Thus, I step into 2019, hopeful for God's gifts to multiply through my creative thoughts and ideas, with the goal of blessing others and building the Kingdom.
Blessings,
James
Saturday, 23 December 2017
How Perfect is His Love for Us
by James Fung (Dec 24, 2017)
Every time I shut my eyes
All I see is His Love
How deep
How wide
How low
How high
How rich
And beautiful
How perfect is His love for us
And it is us that He loves
Not just me or you
How wonderful
How lovely
How sweet
How joyful
This peace
This compatibility
How perfect is His love for us
Wrapped in perfection
We’re perfectly speechless
How free
How true
How easy
How fun
No bullshit
All freedom
How perfect is His love for us
He is the Vine
That entwines our branches
How natural
How nourishing
How filled
How connected
We overflow
This House of God
How perfect is His love for us
Saturday, 7 October 2017
Philia Love
The first love you learn about as a Christian is probably Agape Love, the love for all people, Christ-like love, unconditional love. But a lesser known word for love that Greeks also use is Philia, family love. It is also a word that one would use with friends that they are intimate and vulnerable to one another. And so lately, I've been learning about becoming open, honest and vulnerable in my love for those around me. With family and also with others. And it's been refreshing.
The thing is, most people have an open personality up to a limit. They let you know what they are comfortable with letting you know, and always seem to have a wall, and you can spend years at the wall and maybe never ever get inside, because inside, we're all vulnerable. But that's how misunderstandings, gossip and broken relationships come, when you can't see further than a certain point, and you start questioning, judging, losing understanding for that person.
And so, even though it might hurt initially to open up and become vulnerable to people, it won't hurt as much as not being vulnerable in the long run. Open, honest relationships help you to see, to love and to relate. That is why it's called family love, because you're more likely to have this type of honesty with those that you grew up with, that you have nothing to hide from.
And in the process of becoming more open, I find that after we grow up, we often try to build a wall around our choice of lifestyle and block important people out, people in our family even, and it's a sad choice that I have made in the past, but I've been brought to see that it doesn't help me or anyone to keep these walls, and so I'm tearing them down and investing in family, in philia again. Ultimately, family is a Gift from God, an unconditional source of love that empowers you and supports you to experience more of the world God's created and also helps you to love and live more at ease. It's evident that people with great love with their families are more joyful and have more peace. When you're not at war with someone so close, you don't lose energy in that fight every day in your heart, but rather gain every day that you are loved, and it's where it should be.
Of course, some families are harder to love, but every bit of love is a choice, and an investment, so I would encourage you to redeem and restore your relationship with your family with the love that you receive from God. It's a worthy investment, and it will help you to learn to love even more, and to be able to do even greater things once you have peace inside of your home, the very first community that God gives us, and the closest one at heart even when you don't feel it. Then you can understand even more what it means to love, and it will be a blessing to all your relationships outside the family.
As I'm also starting to take up this quest, to restore the philia in my life to which God intended it to be, I expect to gain much from it, more understanding of love, of God and of what life is all about. I can't wait. I know it will be difficult to restore, but the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is far too bright to not desire it. I want to have open, honest, loving connections with those in my family, and I sure will put in the effort to restore and build them up again. I can't wait!
Side note: I find that I might become a bit more vulnerable on here as well, since I'm being renewed and transformed in that direction. Which isn't a bad thing at all.
The thing is, most people have an open personality up to a limit. They let you know what they are comfortable with letting you know, and always seem to have a wall, and you can spend years at the wall and maybe never ever get inside, because inside, we're all vulnerable. But that's how misunderstandings, gossip and broken relationships come, when you can't see further than a certain point, and you start questioning, judging, losing understanding for that person.
And so, even though it might hurt initially to open up and become vulnerable to people, it won't hurt as much as not being vulnerable in the long run. Open, honest relationships help you to see, to love and to relate. That is why it's called family love, because you're more likely to have this type of honesty with those that you grew up with, that you have nothing to hide from.
And in the process of becoming more open, I find that after we grow up, we often try to build a wall around our choice of lifestyle and block important people out, people in our family even, and it's a sad choice that I have made in the past, but I've been brought to see that it doesn't help me or anyone to keep these walls, and so I'm tearing them down and investing in family, in philia again. Ultimately, family is a Gift from God, an unconditional source of love that empowers you and supports you to experience more of the world God's created and also helps you to love and live more at ease. It's evident that people with great love with their families are more joyful and have more peace. When you're not at war with someone so close, you don't lose energy in that fight every day in your heart, but rather gain every day that you are loved, and it's where it should be.
Of course, some families are harder to love, but every bit of love is a choice, and an investment, so I would encourage you to redeem and restore your relationship with your family with the love that you receive from God. It's a worthy investment, and it will help you to learn to love even more, and to be able to do even greater things once you have peace inside of your home, the very first community that God gives us, and the closest one at heart even when you don't feel it. Then you can understand even more what it means to love, and it will be a blessing to all your relationships outside the family.
As I'm also starting to take up this quest, to restore the philia in my life to which God intended it to be, I expect to gain much from it, more understanding of love, of God and of what life is all about. I can't wait. I know it will be difficult to restore, but the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is far too bright to not desire it. I want to have open, honest, loving connections with those in my family, and I sure will put in the effort to restore and build them up again. I can't wait!
 |
| Here's a prophetic picture of what I feel God is going to do with the hardened hearts and broken relationships in my life. The sword of God is going to strike down on the hardness, and we will all have breakthrough, and glory after glory. Painted by someone in the Incubator Ministries. |
Perfect Creation
After a season of self-doubt, I had a conversation with God in the shower.. Funny how most good conversations with God happen in the shower, but I figure there's something beautiful to do with meditating next to water. So in the conversation, I was processing my problems and God raised a question..
"James, what do you like about yourself?"
Well, I said "Thanks for asking, well.." and it began an unravelling process which was very loving and affirming, and I discarded the lies of the enemy by separating the truths of God. Seeing that I have the mind of Christ, my thoughts will be similar to that of God's for myself. So I started listing out all the things I liked about me..
- I'm a very loving person. I love how I love, I don't look at a person through the specs of the world, but at what I can love about them. Sometimes it's difficult, but I know I will always love because God first loved us.
- I love how I am a humble person. That I always have open ears to listen, and learn from people, even people that I don't always expect to learn from, I will be willing to learn from. And it's helped me grow a lot as a person, as well as in my character. And there is somewhat scarring from an old church saying, that says "if you say you're humble, then you're not." because you should acknowledge yourself in honesty, and humility is neither overvaluing yourself, nor undervaluing.
- I love how much I stick to God's plan and God's will. We all try our best to do that, and so at any point of time, when we are walking with God, we are actually perfect for His plan for us for that day, every single day, we are perfect because we are loved, we are redeemed through Christ, and we are becoming who He made us to be, which means we are who He made us to be now at this present time. Hence, perfect!
It's just how I perceive it. And of course, other people aren't perfect either, and they can have bad attitude or tones, but really, what their role is isn't to push me or shame me or guilt me or cause me to have doubts about myself. Rather, they remind me of the direction I am taking, and help to keep me on the path. What they provide are reminders, and not criticism.
And so, you and I, we all are a perfect Creation.. Not just a work in progress, but perfect in every way, in our spirit, in our body, in our soul, and in each and every day, we are special, we are awesome, and we are just what God intended to use to bless the world today! Sometimes we need to figure things out, but that's how we are made to function, and it doesn't take a penny away from our worth in God's eyes, and definitely we are priceless regardless of what the world thinks.
So embrace who you are today, because you are a Perfect Gift from God to the world each and every day!
Wednesday, 9 August 2017
The Adventure of Love
I recall a little more than a year ago, someone prophesied over me that they saw Jesus like a knight on a horse, holding out his hand, and was going to take me on a new adventure. It's all true! As I continue to use these new gifts of love that God has given me, two things really stand out for me:
"Love the person in front of you."
This has got to be the greatest blessing I have ever received, to not need to choose who to love, or why to love, but just to love the person immediately before me as much as Christ loves me. We love because He first loved us. That is all the condition we need to love with unconditional love! I am so glad to finally reach a point where I can start doing this. It took so long, but I'm so glad to be finally free! I love it, absolutely love it. Because when you can truly love any person that stands in front of you, you already know what God wants to do with them, what God can do with them, and what God will do with them, and all that's left is to let Love do what Love wants, can and will do!
Clearly hearing from God
Whether it is when I pray, when I hear the Word, when I prophesy, the Words of God are crystal clear! Because my desire to love is so strong, and so close to what's in God's heart, that there are no longer hiccups in this.. and because I've been so obedient to seek Him when I pray for others, deliver what He has to say, and meditate to know His heart, that everything is just crystal clear! It's amazing because we are way past bragging rights.. actually doing what God wants, when He wants, and seeing the results of it immediately is absolutely amazing!
I am so excited to love, to go on this Love adventure! I am beside myself with joy and exhilaration! I cannot wait to love, I cannot wait to pray for people, I cannot wait to build others up, I cannot wait to open the Word, I cannot wait to see lives changed, because I assure you.. Lives will change! God wastes nothing! So stoked!
"Love the person in front of you."
This has got to be the greatest blessing I have ever received, to not need to choose who to love, or why to love, but just to love the person immediately before me as much as Christ loves me. We love because He first loved us. That is all the condition we need to love with unconditional love! I am so glad to finally reach a point where I can start doing this. It took so long, but I'm so glad to be finally free! I love it, absolutely love it. Because when you can truly love any person that stands in front of you, you already know what God wants to do with them, what God can do with them, and what God will do with them, and all that's left is to let Love do what Love wants, can and will do!
Clearly hearing from God
Whether it is when I pray, when I hear the Word, when I prophesy, the Words of God are crystal clear! Because my desire to love is so strong, and so close to what's in God's heart, that there are no longer hiccups in this.. and because I've been so obedient to seek Him when I pray for others, deliver what He has to say, and meditate to know His heart, that everything is just crystal clear! It's amazing because we are way past bragging rights.. actually doing what God wants, when He wants, and seeing the results of it immediately is absolutely amazing!
I am so excited to love, to go on this Love adventure! I am beside myself with joy and exhilaration! I cannot wait to love, I cannot wait to pray for people, I cannot wait to build others up, I cannot wait to open the Word, I cannot wait to see lives changed, because I assure you.. Lives will change! God wastes nothing! So stoked!
Thursday, 3 August 2017
From Squire to Knight: My Story of Faith.
I updated some of the information on this blog to better reflect my understanding of my calling and my current state of being. And with that, the title and introduction of this blog have changed, and the description or blurb is now a poem.
From Squire to Knight: My Story of Faith.
by James Fung (August 3, 2017)
My spirit shines and my soul roars in fire,
As I fortify my stance and raise my sword.
But let not the world see me in all this splendour,
And miss the reason for my Cause
This banner of love, this Cross I bear
Points the way out to the Perfect Saviour.
From Squire to Knight: My Story of Faith.
by James Fung (August 3, 2017)
My spirit shines and my soul roars in fire,
As I fortify my stance and raise my sword.
But let not the world see me in all this splendour,
And miss the reason for my Cause
This banner of love, this Cross I bear
Points the way out to the Perfect Saviour.
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