I fell for a scam not too long ago.
I was tricked into signing up with a non-existent trading company through an illegal, fake news article, and made a fund transfer. The news article had the news channel’s official logo, photos of the interview, and use of national financial institutions’ names in the article., even claims about police arrest and lawsuits by Singapore’s banks. Before I could verify the news, the scammer called me and convinced me to try their AI-based trading platform.
I knew not much about trading and it was never of my interest. I have read about deep fake, how AI could create a photo or video that looks so real only that it is not, but I did not expect someone would be so blatant to create such a fake and illegal news article using our national news channel’s identity and making claims about our national institutions.
I realised it was a scam minutes after the scammer hung up. The identification document they asked me to upload got stuck (I believe it was the Lord’s intervention) and the platform remained stuck (even until two weeks later). When I tried to contact them, there was no avenue, their number could not be reached and their so-called live chat was off. So, I called my bank to report this, cancelled my card, and made a police report – and thus my three-week journey of seeing the Lord came to my rescue started.
When your faith is put to real
I believe God’s word with all my heart. I know that when I spend time in His Holy Scripture He imparts to me through His word. It is as though He put His finger on that word and says, “This is for you, love, write it down.” So I do. I would write down word by word even though I could easily highlight it in my Bible and write the date of when He spoke it on the page. Each time I write the word down in my journal, there is a tangible presence in my heart and over me bearing witness that I now possess that word.
But having the word in you will bring challenges that will test your faith for that word, to see if indeed you truly believe His word and His promise:
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
James 1:3-4
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:6-9
It is easy to believe when things are good. But the real deal is when things go wrong in your life, what is your faith? And why did James and Peter ask us to rejoice when we are tested? Read through the Scripture above again and you will find that it is nothing to do with you, but it is everything to do with your faith for the word of God you have or just believed. The Lord warned us about this (Mark 4). He said that tribulations will arise because of the word sown that you received. So if you have believed God’s word and His promises and things go wrong in your life, behold, you are in the right direction, keep believing, hold onto the word and do not let go.
14 The sower soweth the word.
15 And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
In my case, I am grateful that when the scam happened, the Lord had been strengthening my root (that is my faith) in His word for a few years, so it was deep. I knew He loved me and He was for me. Nevertheless during the realisation I was just scammed, I felt a jolt of panic and my heart was troubled. But I knew enough to seek His heart in this case.
As I was praying, I saw a picture of me, wearing a cape that had two parts, the top and the bottom. On the top part was the logo of my bank and on the bottom part was our national police force. I sensed that the Lord was telling me that I had the bank and the police force behind me for this case. I saw that on the same day the scam case took place. Did I mention the whole episode took twenty-one days?
For the entire three weeks, the Lord was faithful. I did not let go of my quiet time with Him because of the case. If anything, I pressed in even more. I was not always bringing up this case to the Lord during those times, but often He was the One who gave me the word about the situation and taught me how to pray.
Every day He would assure me through the Scripture that He was on my side because I am righteous through His blood and that the whole of Heaven and its host were for me. More and more I saw His heart for me and His word that I had believed before came to life! Knowing for certain that the Lord was for me made it so easy to stand on His word and declare it.
The situation started to turn.
The evidence
On day eight, we found a trading website that had exactly the same content, logo, contact information, but using slightly different domain name. We managed to access it using VPN. We realised that the scammer had two websites! We knew it was a scam because the so-called news article did not exist when we searched it. The bank and police also knew it was a scam – the police could even tell me there were many victims by this company. But we had no proof. Until I saw the duplicate site and that it was blocked in Singapore by our government agency! That was the proof we needed.
Using that evidence, I asked the bank to do a chargeback and the bank agreed but they still were somewhat reluctant. I also shared that evidence with the government agency and the police and asked them to block the other website, since it was one and the same. The other website was blocked a week later and I showed the screenshot to the bank. The bank immediately reversed the whole transaction for me. Praise the Lord!
The Lord asked me to share this as the prophetic truth of His perfect work at the cross.
In my case above, the evidence was the very thing that changed the whole course until the end result of reversing the transaction was done. Because with the evidence the case is indisputable in my favour and justice prevailed.
The cross is the indisputable evidence of our perfect health and righteous standing with God! That is why God told Paul to only preach one thing: the cross of His Son. This is the gospel, there is no other gospel. The power of salvation is in the preaching of the cross.
When we talk about the cross, we are talking about the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ:
His broken body
Jesus was righteous, there was no sin in Him and He knew no sin. He was the Word that became flesh as witnessed by John in His gospel:
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
As the righteous, there was no sickness in His body, His body was perfect right from His hair down to the sole of His feet, because sickness is the result of sin and Jesus had no sin. Yet His body was broken at the cross because Jesus was our sin offering, He was the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.
When we eat His body, we are accepting the payment for our sins, we are accepting that Jesus took our place to be punished. That is why in Isaiah 53 it is said that by His stripes, by His broken body, we are healed (made whole):
53 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
You might say: but the pain is still there, the symptoms are still there, I can see it! We need to go with the evidence and the evidence is the Lord’s sinless body broken for us. As we focus on the proof, the fruit (healing) will follow suit because His Holy Spirit in us bears witness to the truth.
His precious blood
Do you know why the Scripture calls the work of Jesus at the cross as perfect and complete work? Here’s why.
After the Lord took all the sins of the world and put them on His flesh, having His body broken as the result, it was inevitable for Him to die.
He died, hence His blood. His blood is the payment that all of the sins of the world, including your sins and my sins. When we drink His blood, we are accepting the payment for all our sins. His blood is the payment and the evidence of our being declared righteous.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21
We are of the bloodline of Jesus
We are of the bloodline of Jesus for whosoever that believes in Jesus, he had been crucified with Christ and he is a new creation, one with Christ. What He is we are. What He has we have.
16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I believe and I know, as you stand on these evidences, the Holy Spirit shall bear witness to the truth that you are whole, you are blessed, you are complete, that you are prosperous in your soul and your body and in all your need. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
23 If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to shew unto man his uprightness:
24 Then he is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.
25 His flesh shall be fresher than a child's: he shall return to the days of his youth:
26 He shall pray unto God, and he will be favourable unto him: and he shall see his face with joy: for he will render unto man his righteousness.
Job 33:23-26
THE I AM OF THE JESUS' BLOODLINE MUG