Introduction

A few years ago, my sister called me at 1 a.m. She had to go to the toilet every two or three minutes, and she was urinating blood. I prayed with her. To be honest, I was quite anxious. After praying for an hour and a half, all the symptoms of her urinary tract infection completely disappeared. Afterwards, she was sleepy and went to sleep. The next morning, she woke up as if nothing had happened. After a while, the same thing happened again, and I prayed with her again, and she was healed. Many of my family members are blessed because of me. Every time I finish praying with them, I shed tears of gratitude.

God cares for me so much. May the God I serve wholeheartedly bless you, and may you receive great grace and blessings in 2019. Our God is so humane. In the Old Testament, you see God striking down this and that, often causing confusion and bewilderment within us. We might think that our God likes to do this, but we do not know that this is not truly knowing God. To know God is to understand His will. We must know that our God is a very humane God, who remembers our family members for our sake.

Therefore, I encourage the brothers and sisters among us to listen carefully today because your own families are also in great need. Let us all carefully consider that if you and your family are encountering many difficulties, I encourage you today to be a person with Mingding Destiny. If you are a person with Mingding Destiny, God will remember your family for your sake. God remembers my mother for my sake. My mother suffers from dementia all day long and is bedridden, which causes her much suffering.

When I was having dinner with a classmate, he was sitting across from me. While eating, I would occasionally pray and seek God. Then God told me that he had suffered a lot of hardship and pain. After the gathering, I had a casual chat with him. He told me that in the past seven years, his parents had been paralyzed one after another, and one had died after another. He had seen off two elderly people. During these seven years, all his time was spent caring for these two paralyzed elderly people, suffering a lot, so he was full of illness. I grabbed his shoulder and said, May God bless you. The next day, he called me and said, It's amazing! He said, Yesterday when we were eating together, my shoulder was about to fall off, it was so painful. After you grabbed my shoulder, my shoulder was healed. He is my elementary school classmate. We haven't seen each other for 40 years. Our God is very humane.

Today, I want to encourage everyone that if you see someone in need, do not be stingy. Be like me, freely give what you have received. Someone asked, If you have these abilities, will you teach your disciples? I said, I will give it to him completely. He said, You are really amazing. If it were me, I wouldn't. I would definitely hold something back. I said, I received this freely, so I will freely give it away. I encourage all the brothers and sisters among us to remember your families and to know what God wants to bless them through you.

Scripture

and said to them: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father’s house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” So the men answered her, “Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the Lord has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you.” (Joshua 2:9-14)

Prayer

God, You have chosen us from among all nations. We thank You, and we pray that You will raise us up, just as You raised up Rahab. You do not look at our position, but because of the longing in our hearts, You make us people with Mingding Destiny. May our parents, our brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them be saved because we have Mingding Destiny before You. May You remember our offerings before You. May You remember our wholehearted service before You, and also bless our families to deliver them from all evil. Lord, today we ask You to be gracious to us. As You remembered Lot because of Abraham, and remembered their families because of Rahab, and also remembered Joseph's brothers because of Joseph, so also remember our families because of us, so that they may all receive grace before You because of us. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Scripture Background

What kind of person is our God? This is an extremely perplexing question because our God often speaks very sternly. Last week we shared about becoming a blessing to the family, and then I said that our enemies are the people in our own household. Isn't that a perplexing thing? At the same time, God tells us to love our enemies, and He also does not allow us to love our families more than we love God. Are you confused?

Today, I want everyone to know God. God is not saying that because we must love our enemies, and our families are our enemies, and our enemies are the people in our own household, therefore we must love our families. God is not saying that. This confusion is because we think that God wants to harm us. But we must know that our God longs for us and our families to be saved. We must know that our God is a good God.

Today I will tell you a background story. There was a girl named Rahab. This woman was a prostitute living in Jericho. At that time, God had already issued a command to the Israelites, saying that you must kill everyone in this city of Jericho who has breath. As a result, Rahab's understanding of God exceeded our imagination.

You will find that she speaks very clearly about how the Israelites came out of Egypt. She said that when she heard these things, her heart melted. She was silently seeking God. In fact, she was listed among the people to be destroyed, but her understanding of God was more complete than most people. She knew that God is a good God, so she sought God. She said, God, save me and my whole family. God did a very wonderful thing in this woman's life. Joshua inexplicably made a decision. In order to save Rahab's family, God sent two spies from the east side of the Jordan River to the west side of the Jordan River, into the city of Jericho, to stay in Rahab's house and lie there.

The king of Jericho sent people to Rahab's house and asked if any Israelites had come to her. She said, No. The king of Jericho sent people to search everywhere. In fact, these two Israelite spies were staying in Rahab's house. Rahab obviously lied. Do not think that lying is a good thing. I do not encourage people to lie, but in such a situation, do not be an honest person, because if you are honest, your whole family will be destroyed. She saved these two spies, and the spies vowed to save her family, and because of Rahab, her whole family was saved.

Serving Jehovah is the purpose of my coming into this world. I believe Rahab had the same thought. What happened as a result? Rahab was originally listed among all the people to be destroyed, but God sent spies to save Rahab. God killed all the people in the city, but rescued Rahab's whole family. The entire family was saved. Rahab sought God and knew God in this way, which is a very miraculous thing. God's original command was to kill everyone who had breath, and He said a very serious thing:

Then Joshua charged them with an oath at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates.” (Joshua 6:26)

Jericho was cursed, but God does not want people to die. Even if you are in the city of Jericho, God originally wanted to kill everyone, but you will be saved because of your sake. God likes to save those who seek Him, and also saves the families of all who seek Him. If our God saved Rahab but destroyed her brothers and sisters, how sad would Rahab be! On the one hand, she would thank God for saving her, and on the other hand, she would be holding funerals for her family.

Many times when we mention our families, our hearts are cold, and there are many messy and dark things in the family. One of our sisters said that her father told her, Child, I have 10,000 yuan here for you. She said to her father, I don't want it. I have money here. My monthly salary is a lot. Her father said, Then give me some money. In fact, her father wanted to test her. When she treated her father with sincerity, her father turned around and asked her for money. In fact, her father did not need money, but just wanted money and loved money.

God Seeks Those with Mingding Destiny

Mingding Destiny is key; it's why we live our lives, living for God's Mingding Destiny in us. Rahab was a person with Mingding Destiny. Her Mingding Destiny is intriguing—she was David's great-grandmother. Ruth was David's grandmother. It's fascinating that there are several women we must know.

Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah. (Matthew 1:5-6)

This is the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Even Sarah is not mentioned, but Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, and Jesse begot David the king. Some pastors, when studying the Bible, like to talk rubbish, asking why David committed adultery. Because David's great-grandmother was a prostitute? Jesus did not criticize Rahab. We must know that Rahab was a very well-known person. Rahab was originally a prostitute, but she had Mingding Destiny; when God destroyed Jericho, He saved her family.

Rahab herself was quite flawed, but because she had Mingding Destiny, she appears in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Mingding Destiny is key; our God seeks those with Mingding Destiny. One sister said her mother was terrifying, very skilled at discerning good and evil. Many of those born in the 80s are only children. When her mother came to stay with her, she became very nervous. I told this sister: Sister, you must become the salvation of your family. Our family is saved because of our God. Our church highly values those who save their families. If your family is not saved because of you, you must have a Mingding Destiny to become the salvation of your family. Because of the gospel I preach, proclaiming what kind of God our God is, our sisters owe me a debt of gratitude.

Imitate Rahab to Become the Salvation of the Family

Among us is a mother and daughter. Her father, an old man in his eighties, came out of Alzheimer's because of her and her daughter. God was willing to save Rahab's family in the days of Joshua. Rahab was nothing special, also a prostitute. What kind of people Rahab's family were is not recorded. Today, do not underestimate yourself; you have a Mingding Destiny, which is to become the salvation of the family. Serving our family members is a priority. I hope that our brothers and sisters can become blessings to their families. If you cannot become a blessing to your family, I have personally seen families who are not victorious. When their family members pass away, evil spirits operate in them. We either win or choose to be dominated. Can we choose to imitate Rahab? Do not think that your position in the family is insignificant.

The mother and daughter I just mentioned were not significant in the family before. Her grandmother and maternal grandmother's family members actually said that when they pass away, they hope to take care of them. They also said to this sister's uncle: Child, when I pass away, you must bless them and help them. She began to see that this sister was the most capable in the family, because God wants to lift us up to become a blessing to all nations on earth. There are many such examples to list. Know that God's will is for us to become the salvation of our families.

One brother asked me, Joseph was one of Jacob's twelve sons. Why didn't Joseph become the firstborn? Why was it Judah? Judah was ranked fourth. Joseph was the one most pleasing to God in their family. I think this question is very good. I asked: Do you think Joseph is greater, or Judah? Because their brothers all bowed down before Joseph, wouldn't Joseph gain even more status by becoming the salvation of the family? From a carnal perspective, Joseph was not the firstborn, but from a spiritual perspective, Joseph is a type of Jesus. Jesus hopes that all people will be saved. We are people who are pleasing to God, so we must imitate Rahab.

Yesterday, an old lady from Hong Kong called me. She was originally from Beijing and suffered during the Cultural Revolution, so she immigrated to Hong Kong. She has a son and a daughter. The son has a mental illness. She hoped that I could minister to him. I briefly shared theological concepts. They believed in a powerful God as a powerless God, and there was no way to help their son out of mental illness.

I am very moved to see these things. It is very sad to believe in the powerful gospel as powerless! Our God is not a God who leaves us helpless. God wants us to seek Him and believe in Him. Even if we are listed among those to be destroyed, God can save us. The key is whether we are people with Mingding Destiny. She kept seeking help, but no one paid attention to him. She looked for pastors in the church, and the pastors in the church said: We don't have such gifts, we don't do well. God can still perform miracles to save us. The key lies in whether we have Mingding Destiny. This sister from Hong Kong wanted to seek help for her family through various channels, such as finding pastors in her own church. However, her pastor did not do healing and deliverance because he did not have the anointing. This sister told me that it was really too difficult for her to find a church in Hong Kong that could help her. If this sister had a seeking heart like Rahab, she could definitely become a blessing to her family. Today, all of our brothers and sisters must fight this spiritual battle in the family. Rahab originally had no status in the family, but God lifted her up. When the Israelites destroyed Jericho, she and her family were saved.

God Will Remember Our Family Because He Remembers Us

The Bible also mentions that for Abraham's sake, God remembered Lot and rescued him from Sodom. Otherwise, Lot and his family would have been destroyed with Sodom. If you are a brother in our church, you can imitate Abraham and Joseph. If you are a sister, then you can imitate Rahab. If we want to love our family members, we must become their blessing, because they can be saved for our sake. God does not want us to be saddened by our family members, but rather to have our family members saved for our sake. As long as we are people with Mingding Destiny, even if we suffer great grievances in the family, we can still become a blessing to the family. In the New Year of 2019, let us pray and seek God well at this time, desiring to become the salvation of the family. We will surely be remembered by God for our family because of our Mingding Destiny. Today, let us remove all kinds of myths from within us and know that our God is a good God. We don't need to seek this pastor or that pastor anymore. As long as we desire to become like Abraham and Joseph, God will surely remember us and our family.

Let us pray together for our family members. Form a list of family members in our hearts and call out their names one by one. We must become the salvation of our family, and God will surely lift you up and make you an influential person in the family. God will surely save your family for your sake, to rise up in your family, strike the evil spirits behind the family, that the captives may be released, and the oppressed may be freed. God calls us in the world, so we begin to pray for and bless our family members.

In the name of the Lord Jesus, all the evil spirits that corrupt and bind our relatives must retreat, binding all these spiritual oppressions. God, no matter how much grievance we suffer in the family, please personally raise us up in our family to become a blessing to all nations and peoples. In 2019, we must begin to become a blessing to our family, pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen!