 Dear Friend, How are you today? In October 2019, I went to 9 am service in my church in Seoul. The other night, I went to bed very late, but strangely, I was able to get up very early on that Sunday morning without any difficulty. So, I arrived in the main sanctuary at 8:20 am. Then, I put my Bible, and Kleenex on a seat, to mark “Occupied”, and I went to the bookstore in the basement floor of the church. I enjoyed going to the bookstore, having a look at books and sometimes, shopping there. On that Sunday, I wanted to buy a book written by a Korean missionary in a Muslim country. As soon as I entered the bookstore, I had an amazing moment. There were a few employees in the bookstore, and one of them was a tall young man with glasses; perhaps in his thirties. Whenever I talked to him at the cashier’s, he was quite blunt or very matter-of-fact. He never smiled, nor was he kind. I thought to myself, “Isn’t this church bookstore? Isn’t he working for brothers and sisters in Christ?” But, one Sunday, I also thought that probably he could be so tired with the crowds in this megachurch, from early morning till night on every Sunday. I could recall my earlier days when I volunteered in the church library more than ten years ago. When I worked there for an hour or two, I met a lot of people who came to borrow or return books, and I had to repeat the same answers to the same questions from many. It was very boring many times. But I also thought that if I had been filled with the Holy Spirit at that time, I could have felt different and done it in a different way. So later, when taking some time for intercession, I couldn’t recall what made me think of the employee in the bookstore out of the blue, but I think it was the Holy Spirit. I just said to the Lord, “Lord, I pray that the man in the church bookstore has joy in working there and in serving others.” Then, on that Sunday in October, when I just stepped into the bookstore, he literally walked toward me and said, “What can I do for you?” I could never imagine that he would welcome me and voluntarily ask me what I would need! I said to him that I was looking for a book by such and such, but I couldn’t recall the book title at that time. He searched for the database in the computer, and he listed up the titles of the stock. In addition, he kindly led me to the bookshelf where the books were. I was really amazed, knowing his attitude in the past. And I said to myself, recalling my prayer for him, “Indeed, nothing is impossible with the Lord.” I felt Him teaching me to pray for those that I'm not happy with rather than dislike them or complain of them in my heart. Later, when I went back to my seat in the main sanctuary, I got to know that Pastor Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in New York was invited as a guest speaker and would preach in 9 am service only. In other time slots of Sunday service, he wouldn’t preach. So, I thought: that was why the Lord woke me up early that morning, though I went to bed very late the other night. I felt there must be something in his sermon that I must listen to on that day. And his message was on Jesus’ first miracle to turn water into wine at the wedding, and it spoke to me a lot. He said that we should analyze what made Jesus work miracles in the Scriptures and said that first, Jesus was invited to the wedding, and we should invite Him in every matter of our lives. Second, mother Mary said to Jesus that there is no wine. And Pastor Jim said that we should talk to him when we are angry, sad, disappointed, or in need, just like we talk to family, friends, and so on. Third, the servants did what He told them to do. And Pastor Jim said that we should obey Him and do whatever He tells us to do. It includes not only what He tells us through the Bible, but also includes the words in person like “Teach in Sunday school.” or “Go to such-and-such a country.” And he shared his testimony that his dad was an alcohol addict, and beat his mother and him. In order to avoid his father, he spent a lot of hours playing basketball, and he became a good basketball player in his high school and college. Later, he was in the business world, but the Lord said to him “Preach!” But he said to the Lord, “How can I preach? I didn’t study in seminary.” He didn’t share details at that time, but I recalled from his previous visit to my church that there were so many miracles in his church that many drug addicts or outcasts in the society came to the Lord. While I listened to his sermon, I thought of the latest miracle that I had just seen in the bookstore a while back! That night at home, I knelt down and said to the Lord, “Lord, I invite You to every aspect of my life. Please, help me talk to You first, whether I should vent my anger or whether I'm tired or sad. And I want to obey You. Let me surrender to You, Lord.” Now, I look forward to seeing more miracles in my daily life that turn water into wine. Dear friend, Do you believe Jesus turned water into wine? And do you believe the same Jesus can overturn your situation, if you ask Him and choose to obey Him? Nothing is impossible with Jesus. I pray that you and I go to Him, invite Him in every aspect of our lives, and surrender ourselves to Him. Have a bliss! Yunee One generation shall praise Your works to another,
Dear Friend,
How are you today? One morning in 2019 in California, when I spent a winter break with mom in my sister’s place there, I prayed alone in a dressing room. In the middle of the prayer, I felt Him touching my face with His very big and warm hand. I felt Him saying “Even if your mom forgets you, I will never forget you. Your name is carved on the palms of My hands.” Then, I was reminded of the verses in Isaiah. Immediately, I opened my eyes and grabbed my Bible. I couldn't remember in which chapter or verse it was written at all. But when I just opened the book of Isaiah, I couldn’t help dropping tears. I just opened the very page where the verses from Isaiah 49:15 onwards exactly showed the Words I had just heard. And I felt it was really Him who touched my face with the very big and warm hand. And when I read further to verse 17, “Your destroyers and those who laid you waste shall go away from you.”, I just cried, assured that He would set me free and bring breakthrough and the enemies wouldn’t destroy me. I felt it was His confirmation earlier that year that He would set me free. Then, later in the afternoon, I searched for a Korean pastor’s sermons online for mom and was amazed when his sermon “I will never forget you” popped up in the list. I was curious as to whether it was the message from Isaiah 49 and got to know it was. I felt Him repeating His message to me. When I listened to that sermon, I was also encouraged to keep Him in my mind every moment, just as He inscribed me on the palms of His hands. After I listened to that sermon, I wanted to search more for the Scripture, and I was amazed again to see a picture of a very big hand with a little girl leaning on it. It was the song, “I will never forget you - Isaiah 49.” The song was new to me, and I had never seen that video with that picture before. I couldn’t thank Him enough for His comfort and love and stood amazed to see how He communicates in the secret place. Just recently, while I was handling a matter, asking His help, I was a little bit discouraged by the recent circumstances. Yet, I chose to keep on trusting the Lord, and I was reminded of the memory from the last year on this verse. I thought I must write and post “I will never forget you.” Then, just a while back, I got a message from my home group leader in Singapore church, and it was on Isaiah 45:16 with the title, “You Are Never Forgotten.” It was timely confirmation and affirmation. I know He will never forget me and I'm in His big and warm hand, even when I don’t see the breakthrough yet, and I don’t see His promises fulfilled yet. I am not forgotten. You neither! Dear friend, You may feel lonely or weary. But our Heavenly Father says even if our mothers forget us, He will never forget us. Your name is inscribed on His Almighty Hands. He is touching your face with His warm hand, and He looks after you. Please, don’t give up. His breakthrough is on your way. His promises will be fulfilled in His time. Have a bliss! Yunee “Can a woman forget her nursing child,  Dear Friend, How are you today? Today, I would like to share my journey to read the Scriptures. While David Pawson encouraged reading the Bible out loud in his teachings, I sometimes find it difficult to keep reading the Bible out loud, so, there came the need to find a way to help me keep reading for a long time-It’s reading the Bible in audio Bible. When I took a bible class after work in Singapore, my teacher in the class said that usually early in the morning, he listens to an audio Bible due to his dim eyes. And I tried to turn on the audio Bible at home when I tried to read through a book in the Bible. I actually had a great memory of my youth when it comes to an audiobook. When my sister and I were little, mom bought us a box of juice, and it had a promotional gift, a set of cassette tapes, and they had a story of Peter Pan. (If you are too young to be familiar with cassette tapes, you might want to find some images in Google. Thank God, Retro is in!) So, my sister and I were so happy to listen to Peter Pan through the cassette tapes, and we imagined in our minds Peter Pan, Wendy, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, and so on. And we sang along together till we memorized all the lyrics and the order of the songs in the story. With memory, I found it interesting to read the Bible through the audio Bible. This time, I read the Bible with my eyes following Scriptures that were being read through the audio Bible. Especially when I listened to a dramatized version, it would sound even alive, and I could feel how He felt toward His unfaithful children. Then, in 2018 I was able to buy the book “The Hiding Place”, the true story of Corrie ten Boom who helped save the Jewish, and was imprisoned with her family during the World War II. I could hear Derek Prince, David Pawson and R.T. Kendall mention her in their sermons and I became so curious about her and the book. And when I bought and started to read the book, I couldn’t put it down. Now, it became one of my favorite books. When I read it, I was impressed by his father, and his mature character, and his walk with the Lord. And I took into my heart his daily reading of the Scriptures together with his employees and his family in his watch shop at 8:30 every morning before work. I felt that it must have had a great influence on Corrie’s and her family’s faith to live out the Words. Then, one day in this January, I watched an interview on Communal Reading of Scripture that featured my pastor in Korea church and Bill Hwang. Before this interview, I never heard of Bill, but I got to know that he introduced a communal reading of Scripture into his workplace in Manhattan. And I searched more on it, and I was very impressed by one of the video clips I found. And in my church’s broadcast network, it also shared more interviews with those who facilitate the communal reading of Scripture, and one of them was a professor’s story who had been reading the Bible with his students weekly. And my church started to release 20 minutes of communal reading of the Scripture on TV network. It’s even more helpful, as I could see illustration together with the Scriptures that help understand them. Dear Friend, I hope that you and I could start communal reading of the Scripture in our families, workplaces, small groups of church and so forth. Perhaps, you might want to start at your home this period that social distancing must be kept. When things get back to normal, you might want to invite your neighbors and friends. I believe the unprecedented revival would come when we honor and fear Him. I pray His words change us, our families, our communities and our nations in Jesus’ name. Amen! Have a bliss! Yunee All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16~17)  Dear Friend, How are you? Hope you had or are having a good day, today. I would like to continue from my previous blog, “Spiritual Warfare”. When my mom acted half-insane daily, I was so weary. The trash bin in my bedroom was always full of Kleenex I threw away day and night. I literally cried out to the LORD. Sometimes, I wailed to Him. I didn’t know what I should say, but I felt I couldn’t even breathe. When my mom kept torturing me in her delusion, not even sleeping a wink, I once said to her, weary, “Mom, can you just kill me? I think it would be better to die than to live like this.” I meant it at that time. I almost handed over a knife in the kitchen to her, but I thought I should be careful both in my mouth and act, not to open the door to any evil spirit. Then, one day while praying in my room, His words “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” came into my mind. At that time, I couldn’t recall in which book, chapter and verse in the Bible it was written. But I knew it was His words for me in person in that difficult moment. In a day or two, I prayed at night. In the middle of my prayer, I was reminded of a picture in my photo album on my computer, so that I went searching for it. Then, unexpectedly, I found a picture of my hand-writing in my notebook in the photo album. Surprisingly, the verse I wrote in my notebook in that picture was that verse that came into my mind the other day, and I got to know it was written in Jeremiah 29:11. And I was reminded of the lesson from the class, “Hearing the Voice of God”, that He repeats when it’s important. I felt that He was repeating this message to comfort me and to give me a future and hope, though I was in the fierce spiritual warfare daily. And it didn’t end. Whatever sermons I listened to and whatever messages I read, I was amazed to hear this Scripture from Jeremiah 29:11. One day, when I tried to google Korean calligraphy, the first blog that popped up had a picture of Korean calligraphy with this verse from Jeremiah 29:11. Each time I saw or heard this Scripture, I just burst into a cry, feeling as though He continued to say to me, “Yunee, hang in there. I have a plan for you. It’s not harming you, but prospering you. Your future is bright!” When I went through the valley of the shadow of death, and I cried out to the LORD daily, I couldn’t smell His nice fragrance, nor feel His presence at all. Yet, He repeated these words to comfort me and to give me hope. While I kept on clinging to His Words, I brought my mom to many prayer meetings where she could receive prayers for deliverance from pastors who have a gift in healing and deliverance. I was so desperate for mom’s deliverance and prayed for His miracles. But nothing happened. Then, I started to fast after I felt it was His will for me to fast and pray. While fasting and praying, I felt that He would not cast out the evil spirits in mom, but He would bring her to Him in peace in His time. I didn’t ask the Lord why, but I knew He is sovereign and is always right and good. So, on one morning, I said to the Lord, “Father, if it’s Your will not to cast out the evil spirits in mom, but bring her in peace to You, please help me do my best to take good care of her and honor her till that day. I want her to thank You for the days she has spent with me. I want her to thank You for me.” My eyes got wet while I prayed. A few hours later, I went to a Wednesday morning service in a church near my house in a suburb of Seoul. I didn’t belong to that church, but I was so blessed by that church. The senior pastor was Spirit-filled, but never neglected the importance of knowing the Words and living out the Words, so that he made classes on Torah, the Pentateuch, and encouraged his church members to take the classes. In that Wednesday morning service, the senior pastor preached on honoring parents with the Words in the book of Proverbs. Then, he exactly made the same comments I made when I prayed to the Lord a few hours back. He said to the audience, “I want your parents to thank Him for the days they spent with you. I want your parents to thank Him for you.” I couldn’t stop my tears. And I felt He was confirming His will toward me through the pastor’s sermon. Since then, I had a peace that I would not sweat over casting out the evil spirits in mom any more. I didn’t bring her to prayer meetings for the purpose of deliverance anymore unless she wanted to join me to go to church. But I became certain that all I need to do is honor and love her. Then, one day, my mom became seriously ill. She even called my sister in the United States to come to Korea as soon as possible, to see her, and my sister paid a short visit to see her. I took mom to a doctor, worried that she may have caught pneumonia, but there was nothing wrong with her according to the test. She was just very sick for about a week. Since then, she changed quite a bit. She didn’t torture me out of the delusion, and she could sleep well at night. Then one night, I went to a prayer meeting in the church near my house alone. While I prayed, I heard His still small voice, “You have won the victory with Me!” And He reminded me that the name of the hall I bought for my mom’s future cemetery was “Victory” Hall. Then, I opened my wet eyes, as the worship leader started to sing a hymn “The Bright, Heavenly Way”, which was never played in that church before. The worship leader repeated the lyrics “But the blood of Christ our Lord puts them wholly to the sword, while we trust the grace of Jesus and shall ever VICTORS be”. I felt Him repeating His words that I have won the victory with Him. Dear Friend, If you’ve been weary in spiritual warfare or feel like you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, please don’t give up. He has a plan for you. Trust that His plan is to prosper you, not to harm you. He will never forsake you, nor will His words fail you. And He always keeps His Promise. You will come out more than victorious. How do I know? I know that our Lord Jesus has already won the battle. He has won, and He is the risen King! And we will reign with Him. Have a bliss! Yunee Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: |
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