I’m always so floored when I’m on the receiving end of God’s astounding kindness! I’ve been having a really difficult season. Mind you, amidst the “difficult” season, I’ve simultaneously been experiencing His amazing answers to prayer. I’ve experienced His blessings of answered prayer to so many key events I’d been involved in as a workshop facilitator, preacher at a Sunday worship service, and various other occasions. And yet, because of my lecturing schedule, class prep, challenging student audiences, and a steep administrative and software learning curve, and relentless marking of student assignments all thrown into the mix, I’ve experienced such stress that the Spirit was “drained” from me.

Busy weekends following busy week after week. As much as I was still having my “devotions” with the LORD every morning, yet I could experience the Spirit being drained from me. My experience of “dryness” usually involves me becoming steadily serious from day to say as I allow the stress to get a hold on my whole being. As my thoughts, and my consciousness, and even sub-conscious get into a “vicious cycle” of the “flesh”, or I “drift” into the “carnal” part of my being. Becoming so earthly, sensual and even demonic (Jam 3:13-18).

What am I talking about? As believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, and having experienced John 3:3 and what the Lord was teaching Nicodemus about the absolute necessity of being “born-again” of the Spirit, we through His grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, have the word of the truth of the gospel of Christ preached and spoken into our hearts, and are regenerated or made new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17).

We are thrust into a new orbit of living life in the Spirit which is only possible by faith alone. It is what the Lord said in Deut 8:3 about man “living not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD”. Just as Jesus also says so clearly and explicitly in John chapter 15 about abiding in Him being about abiding in His words, and His words abiding, or dwelling, or remaining in our hearts.

This life of the Spirit is only facilitated by faith alone, nothing else. Jesus said as much in John 6:63 when He said, “It is the Spirit which quickens, or gives life; the flesh profits NOTHING! The words I speak are Spirit, and they are Life.”

There is something truly “magical”-the right word of course is “divine revelation”-about meditating upon God’s word, the Scriptures. Jesus said to the Jews in chapter 5 of the gospel of John that it is in the Scriptures that we will find Him. And find Him we do, when we persevere in meditating upon Scriptures, just as Joshua was instructed to by God in Joshua chapter 1. Entering into a new adventure of conquering the Promised Land, Joshua was given the secret; “meditation upon God’s word”. Nothing passive about this exercise. It was a robust engagement of speaking out, muttering and “drinking” deeply of God through His word and allowing His word to enter into our psyche as we hear His words spoken by our meditation. Nothing passive or quiet about this exercise. Personalizing, Verbalizing and Internalizing God’s Word, God’s DNA into our own!

Things came to a head the past few days. I realized that I had become “dry”. As much as I was still having my devotions, still, the breakthrough hadn’t happened. I attended Sunday Worship at HTTB yesterday (https://www.htbb.org/home), was blessed by worshipping the LORD and hearing His word spoken so well by Sis Priscilla, and yet, ended up going home in defeat after a “tiff” with Jessie, my wife of 38 years.

But this morning, I spent quite a bit of time praying in the Spirit (or praying in tongues-1 Cor 12) and simply speaking to the LORD out of my heart, and He graciously heard me. That’s the secret; He listens to the heart cry of His children when they are in distress, even though it’s their “own fault”!

And I was floored by His kindness and grace! Of Him drawing near because of His astounding grace and mercy to His flawed children but perfect in Christ’s righteousness.

Thus the reason for this post. He is truly “near the brokenhearted”, Isaiah 66:22. The secret of the LORD is with them who walk before Him (“coram Deo”) in humility, brokenness and faith. Faith is the non-negotiable element. However else we approach the LORD, we must come to Him with faith, in faith. Heb 11:6 rings resoundingly clear, “Without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to PLEASE HIM; for he who comes to Him must BELIEVE that HE IS, and that HE IS a REWARDER of them who DILIGENTLY SEEK HIM.”

I begin this week now with renewed faith and hope in the LORD my GOD. I know He’s got my back, and front, and top and all around me! His banner over me in Christ alone through grace alone by faith alone is LOVE. He is my Banner of Triumph. He is my Lion of the Tribe of Judah, who roars against all that the enemy throws against me. He is my Defender (Microsoft is no match!). He is my VICTORY, always!

(Franklin Morais lives in Taman Templer, Rawang, a suburb about 26 kilometers north of the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. He is crazy about Jesus and the kingdom of God, and lives to seek first the kingdom in all of his life. He is a lecturer in psychology with a private university in Malaysia. He is a couples’ coach, a social worker with the refugee community serving through HTBB’s Social Action ministry, and he absolutely loves conducting workshops and seminars and meetings to empower people through the glorious grace of the LORD Jesus Christ. He can be contacted at frankmlhelp@gmail.com)