Three Things About Doves | Pr Stephen Kong

You're listening to a message to go from acts church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

So it's for me.

John Chapter one, verse twenty nine to thirty four. John one,

verse twenty nine to thirty four. If you're there, say yeah, okay,

not many of you yet, so let's all turn our

bibles if you can. John Chapter one, verse twenty nine.

So it says, yeah, thanks for cool. So he says

the next day, John saw Jesus. This John is John

the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, and say, behold

the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of

the world. This is he of whom I said, after

me comes a man who is preferred before me, for

he was before me. I did not know him, but

that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore I came

baptizing with water, and John bare witness, saying, I saw

the Spirit descending from heaven like a nerve, and he

remained upon him him captat Jesus. I did not know him,

But he who sent me to baptizing water, said to

me upon whom you see the spirit descending and remaining

on him, This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit,

and I have seen and testified that this is the

Son of God, the Lord bless the reading of his word.

Amen.

So my first point to you today is half derve's eyes.

Okay.

I'll come back to the scripture in a little while. Okay, well,

let me begin. Let me continue on first. My first

point to you is this half nerve's eyes. They are

not distracted. So one thing I learned about nerves is

that they have very unique eyes.

Okay.

Of course, nerves and pigeons are similar, but yet different. Okay,

if you actually go and read about it, they are

from the same family. Actually, Okay, nerves and pigeons are

from the exact same family by species that are the same. However,

even though they're the same, they're very different in character

and in nature.

Okay.

Unlike pigeons. Pigeons have very wide vision. Okay, they can

almost see three sixty Okay, But nerves, on the other hand, cannot.

Nerves have binocular vision. Okay, you should know that binocular vision.

It's very very small, very sharp. Why neverw Okay, nerves

can only focus at one thing at one time.

Okay.

Their eyes have no distraction, and this is also why

nerves are called love birds because they can lock eyes

with their maid and.

That's all they see.

So Jesus says in his song to his bribe that

she has nerve eyes.

Okay.

This is found in the Song of Solomon's Song of Solomon. Yes, okay,

if you read the Song of Solomon, you know. And

of course is King King Solomon writing uh to his lover,

of course, and of course that that that the church

is the bride, is the bride of Christ.

Right.

And so some of Solomon's for verse one says, behold

you are fair, my love. Behold you are fair. You

have nerve's eyes behind your veil. So if you read

some of Solomon, you will find that many many, many

times we occurring, you will see the word dearth. Okay,

it appears many many times.

Okay.

And so my point is this have dirve's eyes because

they are not distracted, unlike the pigeons. And so even

as we walk into this brand new year of twenty

twenty five, I want to encourage us to focus our

eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,

so that we will not be distracted by the things

of the world. Because pigeons are very easily distracted. Okay, again,

as I told you, same species, but ready for Okay.

Pigeons can tolerate noise. They are they're reckless, you know,

they are very feisty. But doves they are frightened by

noise okay, uh and even sudden movement. So let me

let me just share a quick story. I read this online.

Uh you know of someone how he explained this. And

so this Cindy yuh once had a had had a

bird okay, and let's just call it a parrot for now.

Okay.

And she has a parrot bird and it's in the

house and it flies everywhere he wants to go. And

they they love to have the parrot to sit on

the shoulder, okay. And they would teach the parrot how

to talk and whatnot in the house. And so the

parrot would just fly freely in the house, but it

would never go out.

Okay, it's within the house.

Of course, this family was too scared that the parrot

would fly out one day. And so one day this

family had a gathering in the house and they had

a party and Cindy was carrying, uh, you know, let's say,

a tray of food out of the house to surf

in the party. She didn't realize that the bird was

on her shoulder, and so she carried this uh a

tray of food out and then she went out. The

father noticed the bird and signaled to her that be

careful because the bird is on you. It's not supposed

to be out of the house, so to be in

the house. So she she didn't realize, and so she

gently and quietly put the tray of food down, turned

around and walked gently and slowly back into the house.

And every action that she did was she.

Had in mind the bird there was on her shoulder

until she got back into the house and closed the door.

So where am I getting with that? You see?

The question to us is that what kind of bird

do we have on our shoulder today?

Is it a pigeon or is it a dove?

That's the first thing we ask ourselves whether are we

the kind rebbi were distracted with all kinds of things

like how the pigeon is, or like the derth, which

is very gentle, very loving, and he's very focused. And

the other thing is this because when Jesus came out

after being baptized by John, the Baptists and the derth,

which symbolizes the Holy Spirit said on Jesus, and the

Bible says that he remained on him, right, And that's

how John said, John declared, he's the son of God.

Of course, you and I know that Jesus didn't walk

around with the bird on top of his.

Shoulder like that. Okay, uh is the holy space within him? Right?

But you get the idea, Okay, the bird remain on

him of course, in the Holy Spirit in him right.

And so the question for us today is this, are

we even aware about the presence of the Holy Spirit

with us? Are we even aware if the bird on

our shoulder is a derth?

Right?

Just that's how I told you the story of this

girl Cindy, who when she realized that the bird was

on her, every action that she did was mind keeping

mind of the bird. So the question you and I have,

I mean, the question for you and I today is

are we aware about the presence of the Holy Spirit?

Because if we are aware, everything that we do we

were aligned to the Holy Spirit. Amen, And we would

not want to start a lead, right, you don't want

to scare.

The bird away?

Of course, the Holy Spirit is not scared away. He's

living within us. But the Bible says that we can

grieve the Holy Spirit. Did you know that? So we

don't want to give the Holy Spirit. We want the

Holy Spirit to be living in us, and we want

to align to him. Another difference between the pigeon and

the dirve is that the pigeon can easily adapt to anyone,

unlike the dearth.

The derth you have to adjust to the dearth. That's

the difference.

And so I want to encourage us even as we

take on this year or twenty twenty five, may we

adjust our lives with the awareness that the Holy Spirit

is living within us.

Amen.

So Galatians five, verse sixteen to twenty three says, I say,

then walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill

the loss of the flesh, for the flesh lust against

the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. And these

are contrary to one another, so that you do not

do the things that you wish. But if you are

led by the spirit, you are not under the law.

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultry, fortification, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies,

outbursts of wrap, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murder, drunkenness, baveries,

and the like. This are all works of the flesh, Okay,

of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also

told you in time past that those who practice such

things will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Now listen

to this. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulnes gentleness, self control. Against such

there is no law.

Amen.

And so my encouragement to you and I today, even

as we start year twenty twenty five, for the first

Sunday of year twenty twenty five, may you and I

walk in the spirit, Amen, And we will not fulfill

the loss of the flesh. Just as how I get

you the analogy. Maybe be aware that the Holy Spirit

is living within us, and we want to adjust our

lives to what the Holy Spirit wants us to do.

Amen.

Another verse for you look eleven to retreat it. Thirty

six says no one when he has slit a lamb,

puts it in a secret place or under a basket.

But on a lamb stand that those who come in

may see the light. The lamb of the body is

the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole

body is also full of light. But when your eye

is bad, your body is also full of darkness. Therefore,

take heat that the light which is in you is

not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light,

having no part dark, the whole body you will be

full of light, as when the bright shining of the

light of a lamb gives you light.

Now, why do I share this first with you?

Because as I started off by saying, have dirved eyes?

Did you know that our eyes are actually the gateway

or the window to our soul? Because what goes into

your mind, what goes into the spirit, what goes into

your heart. It's what you see, right, And so if

you don't God what we see or what we hear,

or what we do right, it will affect what goes

into our hearts. So even as we start to entering five, okay,

let me just share you why why I'm sharing this

Because as I was preparing on a message right, I

was home in my wife's hometown in Kuching. Her sister

got married and so I was there and as I

was preparing for the message, I just I just prayed

one one night, asked Lord, uh, you know, can you

just just reveal yourself to me, or reveal what is

the word you want me to share with the church

this morning? And funny enough, I say, funny, I will

show you funny enough. I one of the one of

the night, one of the nights. I had a nightmare, right,

I have a nightmare, so in the dream basically, and

I seldom have dreams at night, seldom, okay uh. And

when I woke up, right, I realized that I forgot

the dream. So I'm like, okay, So I was. I

was praying short the day, short the day. I was

trying to reflect and asked, Lord, what was the dream

that I had the night? Because if it's something important,

you have me to remember it, because maybe there's something

important that you know in the dream. And true enough,

I forgot it completely right and dead morning, when I

opened my Bible to do my quiet time, the Bible

verse that came to me was fear not I have

you know a take heart. You know in this world

you have many tribulations or trials, you know, but take heart,

I have overcome the world. That's what Jesus said, so

I realized right that it was a lot reminding me

to remind all o us here today you and I

do not fear, even do not fear, but trusting the Lord.

And so why am I sharing this with you? Because

I said, our eyes is a gateway right to our soul.

Dead night, when I was sitting in the hall, I

was just doing my own things on my phone. I

think I was replying messages and my brother and law

happened to walk into the hall and he opened a movie. Okay,

I was sitting there already. He came in and he

opened a movie.

Of course. The name of the movie was Quick Game. Okay,

And if you.

Know me enough, I never watched this guy in movies, never, okay,

And so he was here opened the movie. I just

happened to be sitting there, right, and I was just

scrolling my my phone. And as the movie was going,

I think there was a trailer and I looked up

to the screen for only about ten seconds, and then

there was a glory scene, right. And because of that

that night, I had a nightmare. So I have a

question for you. Do you think dreams all dreams that

we have come from the Lord, or is it just

in our own subconscious mind.

Tough question.

Now, may I suggest to you it's a combination of both.

The question is what do you feed your mind with?

What do you feed your subconsciousness with?

Right?

Because if you can purify your subconscious thinking, if you

can purify your heart, your soul, and your mind, then

the Lord can use those dreams for his glory.

Amen.

So that is why that night when I woke up,

I couldn't I couldn't remember the dream at all. That's

how I realized that the dream was not important. It

was about knowing that what you feed your mind really

will reflect in your day. And so let me give

you a very particular tap this year, Okay, very practiclar tip.

Don't watch hour movie. Come on, friends, what is the

what is what good thing can come out?

Horlor movie? Come on? Nothing?

You know, I never I never ever watched how movie

horrord movies, Okay, because you know, and you feed your mind,

you know it's rubbish.

Uh.

You know what, how how do you think they come

up with those movies.

It's because they have some form of manifestations with the spirits, right,

and that's how they come up with those movies. Right,

And I friends last time who love to watch it

because they love being scared. So I'm like, if you

love being scared, no need to go to the cinema.

I can help you with that, you know. So it's

very practicular. So I never, I never, almost never ever

watched horror movies.

Never, you know.

And it's very very practical because what you feed, what

you feed your eyes goes into your soul and it reflects.

And so that's why many of us today are very

scared of the of the evil spirits, very scared of

dark places because of the things we watch, the things

we feed our mind and our heart and our soul with.

Do not fear, fens, do not fear.

I always reminded, you know, not to fear of evil spirits,

although they are there, they're present. Did you know that

they are more angels than demons? Yes, there are, Okay,

only one third of angels follow Lucifer when when when

the Four came? So they're more angels than demons actually,

So don't be afraid.

So I encourage you.

If it can change how we see things, then we

can change what we will see. If we can change

how we see things, we can change what we see

so despite of whatever situation that you're going through, it

depends on how you look at the situation. If you

look at it and you say, poor me, I'm in

a very bad situation. I wish I was the person

next door, and so that's that's how you reflect in

the situation. But if you look at a bead situation

and say, Lord, there's the reason why this has happened.

I ask for wisdom, ask for a strength, guide me,

you know, and every obstacle there's an opportunity.

Amen.

Every testing can be turned into a testimony. So if

you can change how we see things, we can change

what we will see.

Twenty five.

Come on, let's change what we see so that you

will reflect on what we say and what we do. Amen,

So this now past can alluded to it. You know,

what is our priority this year? What are you feeling

a time with? Are you just feeling your time with

doing things that are that are off this world? You know,

I really believe that there's a time for everything. You know,

But the question is what are you feeling your time with?

What is your life? Is your private in life just

doing the things of the world, or are we searching

after the Lord in our hearts. Amen, I hope you're

catching something all right. So that's my first point. Have

therve eyes because they are not distracted. They can really

lock it in. They're very focused. They can focus on

their mate or their partner so called they called love birds,

and so their eyes are amazing binocular vision. Lock in

maybe or fix our eyes on Jesus.

Amen.

Second point is, have therl feathers. They are white and pure.

They are white and pure. So of course thirls might

have different colors, of course, but most of the time

when we associate theirs, we always associate to the white ones. Okay,

because they are the most fitty ones. Okay, So have

the feathers. They're white and pure. How many of you

know that Christs have cleansed us by his factious blood.

If you don't all that, I pray you know today

Jesus Christ, when he went to the cross, he died

on the cross to wash us clean of all of

the scenes that we have ever done, that we are

doing today and whatever do past, present future. I share

that I think some weeks back, so Christ has paid

for the ultimate price for our saints. He has washed

us clean, washed us clean as white as snow in

the subscription the Bible that talks about you know, our

scenes are like scarlet, scarlet, rad but He washes us clean,

white as snow.

Amen.

And so here this thing. Power without purity is corruption.

Power without purity is corruption. And today it's why today

in a lot of our society or in our governments

around the world, you find it. That's a lot of corruption.

Why they have power but not purity. That's dangerous. You know,

that's called corruption, power without purity, and they do really,

really bad stuff. I just realized how how corrupt the

US is today. I was there many many years ago

when I was a student. I went there for u uh,

you know what you call it? Work in travel. USA

is different from today. Okay, it's totally corrupted today. Purity

without power is innocence. Purity without power is innocence. But

here is power. With purity, you get Holy Spirit movement.

Hallelujah.

Power with purity, you get Holy Spirit movement. So let

me say, let me say a few more things about

about doves.

Matthew ten.

Verse sixteen says, Okay, let me, let's alturn to it.

I'm going to read this whole portion. Matthew ten verse sixteen. Okay,

let me just read a couple of verses. Behold, I

send you out as sheep in the midst of in

the midst of rules. Therefore, be wise as serpents and

harmless as deirths. But beware of men, for they will

deliver you up to counselors and scort you in the synagogues.

You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake,

as a testimony to them and to the gentiles.

But when they deliver you up, do not worry.

About how or what you should speak, for it will

be given to you in that hour what you should speak.

Listen to this, for it is not you who speak,

but the spirit of your Father.

Who speaks in you. Amen.

And so this verse reminds us therefore, be wise as

serpents and harmless as doves.

That's the NKHV version.

There's another version, and I would that it says, be

innocent as doves, innocent as doves. And so this is

the principle that my boss, who is a Christian, we

practice in our work a lot, and if you're in

a working world, this principle is very important. Be wise

as serpent and innocent as a dove, because if you're

not wise. Uh, let me put it this way. Innocence

is not an excuse.

Okay.

Of course there are times that we can say we

didn't know, right, that's innocent, I didn't know about it.

But believe me, in the working world, if you only

have innocence but not wisdom, uh, you will be crushed

in the working world. Okay, it's very competitive and so

in in in the company that I work in, my

my boss is a Christian and we actually apply a

lot of public principles in our work.

You know.

We can go into a project or a particular uh

you know, tender or whatever it is, and even as

you weigh all the pros and cons, we realize that

something is not right, and my boss will say, we

rather not take it, you know, because you want to

be wise, you know, be wise as serpent, innocent as

a dirve. And so I want to encourage you if

you are in that kind of season like me as well,

maybe your work has been tough. I want to encourage

you be wise as a serpent, innocent as a dirve,

so that so that they will not be able to

catch you in the sense that whatever you do is clean,

and it's right before the Lord, and so as as

so my company. Because we are believers, we would never

take or give a bribe.

Never.

In fact, we have given up many, many, many projects

because of that reason. And we'll go back to the

drawing table and we'll say it's all right. There's a

reason for everything. The Lord is a provider. We will

not do what's against our principle, and so we will

say no to it. And sometimes people laugh at us. No,

actually they do. But I'd rather them laugh at us

than for us to disobey the Lord. So be wise, serpent,

innocent as a dove. Another thing about being white and

pure about the derves is that they are feathers are

so smooth right that it can easily slide off if

you put something on them. And so here's my point.

In twenty twenty five, let us all refuse to be offended.

Come on, twenty twenty five. Let us refuse to be

offended and let all the offenses slide off our back.

Can we do that?

Come on, church, can we do that? Let us refuse

to be offended. Oftentimes people don't always mean what they say.

I realized that sometimes when people say terrible things, it's

actually a reflection of what they have gone through or

how they have been treated. And so I always I

leave by this principle. If I it's best not to assume,

it's best not to assume anything. But even if I

had to assume, I always assume the best of people,

always the best, not the worst, but the best of people.

And so twenty twenty five, even as we take on

this new year, let us make it a choice to

refuse to be offended and yet choose to forgive those

who offenders. A man, to refuse to be offended is

a choice. Choosing to forgive is not an option. Did

you know that it's compulsibly because the Bible does tell

us that if we do not forgive about us and sisters,

even our father in heaven, we'll not forgive us. It's

very serious. So I pray that even as we walk

into as we step into a brand new year of

twenty twenty five, if you have left any offenses in

twenty twenty four, maybe maybe you've offended someone, quickly go

and ask for forgiveness. Or maybe someone has offended you,

I pray that you will also forgive them. A man,

don't bring your baggages from twenty twenty four into twenty

twenty five. So let me repeat myself twenty twenty five,

Let's refuse to be offended and let's choose to forgive

one another this year, maybe be a community that loves

each other more?

Can we do that?

Can we be a community that love each other more?

And love God more? Don't focus on the differences, focus

on what brings us together. The differences is what makes

it fun and exciting. But let us focus on our

common unity, which is Christ.

Amen.

Let us do all things with purity and sincerity of

hearts as unto the Lord.

Amen.

Okay, my last point, my third and final point for

today is this half derve's feet, one feed backward and

three forward. Can you see in a photo the feed

has one toe behind and three in fun So as

a principle, we can learn from this. Your setback is

a setup for a comeback. If it's not good, then

it's not over yet. So I'll encourage you this year.

Maybe you may say that, look, twenty twenty four has

been challenging, twenty two and four has been tough. You know,

maybe we have nothing to look forward twenty twenty five

I pray that you will be encouraged and that you

will look forward to twenty twenty five, and not to

shy away from the challenges in life, because the challenges

that we go to in life are just natural. All

of us will go to it. In fact, a Bible

already prophesized it. Right, You and I will go to

trials and tribulations. The important thing is to realize that

who is with us? Amen, It's important to realize that

who is with us. That's why I gave you the

energy of having the derve sitting on on your shoulder.

Right.

Made this year every made a lot, turn every testing

into a testimony. This year made a lot, turn every

obstacle into an opportunity. Do not shy away from obstacles

in life, because destinies are often discovered in the presence

of fire, not in the absence of it. Did you

hear that destiny is often discovered in the presence of fire,

not in the absence of it.

And so.

I could I could, you know, spend some time to

share you the many challenges that I've gone through by

time one permit. But one thing I've learned is that

in every of those challenges, those tough times, the Lord

is always glorified because as I go to it, I

told you earlier. It's how you look at it, right,

It's the perspective that you have if you look at

it as an opportunity for God to move in your life.

You look at it an as a opportunity for a testimony.

The Lord will take you to and you will come

up victorious.

Amen.

So do not fear. So that's one thing I caught

you know as I was preparing the message. The Lord

wants to remind you and I today not to fear

about the future, not to fear about twenty twenty five,

because the Lord is with us. And I want to

leave this scripture with you. Isaia chapter forty one, verse ten.

Isaiah chapter forty one, verse ten says, fear not, for

I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am

your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you.

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Amen.

And so once again I'll say it to you. If

your life has it's been challenging in twenty twenty four,

look onto the Lord this year, and I really really

pray that the Lord will strengthen you and will give

you grace to go to this year. Remember I said

it five times, five year of grace, Grace upon grace, Amen,

John sixteen, verse thirty three. John sixteen thirty three says

these things I have spoken to you that in me

you may have peace. In the world you will have fibulation,

but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.

This was the exact verse that I read on the

morning that I woke up after I had a nightmare.

So I don't know who this word is for, but

a sense that there may be people sitting here right

now that you have some form of fear that is

crippling you. And I want to say to you right now,

the Lord's peace be upon you. Do not fear.

Amen.

Christ gives you the peace, not as the word gives,

but only he can give you. He is the Prince

of Peace. John fourteen twenty five says these things I've

spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper,

the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,

he will teach you all things and bring to you

your remembrance all things that I have said to you.

Peace.

I live with you. My peace I give to you

not as the Word gives, do I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Amen. Can he go?

Amen, come on, programs, give you all your life. Amen,

hallelujah the Lord give you peace. So as I said,

I don't know who I'm speaking these to, but I

sense that there are people in this room. You are

in that place. You are looking for peace. Either you

are struggling or you have some form of fear in

your life that has been holding you back. I pray

for the peace of the Lord to guard your heart

and your mind. To Christ Jesus and maybe all live

this this year twenty twenty five being aware about the

Holy Spirit, being led by the Holy Spirit, being fully

aware of his presence. Going back to the same analogy,

when the bird is on you, every action that you take,

you're being aware that he is there, every word that

you say, every movement that you make. So likewise, for

you and I, when we are aware that the Holy

Spirit is in us, every word that we say. We

don't want to grieve the Holy Spirit. We don't want

to say something is bad. We don't want to, you know,

curse somebody. You don't want to say something is that

that will bring a brother or sister down, you know.

Instead, being aware of the.

Holy Spirit, we will every action, every movement, every decision,

every plan that we make. We are aware of the

Holy Spirit and we want to please Him a man.

So I hope that this I leave this message with

you this morning. Let me recapt three things. Have dirve's eyes,

they are focused and not distracted. Number two have dirve feathers.

They are white and peel. This year we shall refuse

to be offended and choose to forgive. And the third

one is half dirve's feet. One foot back, three feet forward.

Even if you had to take one step back, the

Lord's gonna launch you three steps forward. If you believe it,

say amen, do not fear, but have the peace of

God who reguard your hearts and your minds.

Amen, Harlly Lou.

I'm going to invite the worship thing to come up,

so I pray it. Even as we welcome the new

year of twenty let us all run this race with

our eyes focused towards God, our Creator, and towards the

finishing line. One thing that I want to remind us

is that we are not on a spring race. This

walk of life that we're on, and this faith journey

that we're on. It's not a sprint, it's a marathon.

And so it's not about going fast, but it's about

going far with the Lord and in the Lord Hebrews twelve,

verse one, to do. I'm gonna close with this scripture.

It says, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by

so great a club of witnesses, let us lay uside

every weight and the scene which so easily ensnates us,

let us run with endurance the rays that is set

before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of

our who for the joy of the Lord, who for

the joy that was set before him. And you're the

cross despising the shame, and has sat down at the

right hand of the throne of God. Amen, hallelujah, looking

unto Jesus, the Author and furnisher of our faith. Today

I spoke about the dearth, and once again I want

to remind you that the dearth is a symbol of

the Holy Spirit, just like the derth, food descended from

Heaven and set on Jesus after the baptism. The Bible

says he remain on him and of course, the Holy

Spirit remain in him.

The Holy Spirit is also here right now.

And if you and I have accepted Jesus Christ and

welcome him into our hearts, the Holy Spirit also lives

in you and me. Amen, I pray that He will

remain you, and that you and I will be aware

about His presence, aware about his leading in our lives.

Today we can take on twenty twenty five victoriously, not

on our own, not on our own flesh, but by

His spirit, the Bible says, not by power, nor by mind,

but by my spirit, says the Lord.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit as church org. We

are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that

this week is going to be a good week ahead

for you. God bless