I want to be at Holy Places 2
This text is the transcription file of the podcast “Kiki and Ingrid – a young chinese woman meets Ingrid the singer”
One day I heard His calling.
Sinners repent.
I have heard and received Jesus Christ,
and now I am a child of God.
From the kingdom of evil and darkness
He has brought me into the kingdom of God.
I am happy about my salvation,
that I can call God my Father.
I want to be in holy places,
singing the glory of God,
singing of all His wonders,
giving thanks for what He has done on the cross.
I never deserved so much grace,
which He has given to me on the cross.
I am a new creation,
through the water and the Spirit in God.
God remembered me,
that I am lost without Him.
I lived in the dust of the world,
and now I am living in the light.
And now I am walking with Him.
He transforms me every day.
The flesh is dying, but the spirit is living.
Sometimes it costs to die,
but soon I will see Christ.
When He returns on His day,
I want to be in the union of the saints,
praising the King eternally.
Reflection / Teaching
How did you hear God’s calling and why did He call you?
God promises in the book of Job that every human being on earth is called at least three times to come to God and repent.
28 He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.
29 Lo, all these things God works oftentimes with man,
30 To bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.
Job 33
God calls each of us through different situations.
Paul saw a very brilliant light and heard the voice of Jesus:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Acts 9
But this does not happen often. More often it happens through questions that come into our mind — questions about where we will spend eternity when we lose a loved one. Or we hear a preacher on the street or on the radio. Or someone gives us a little tract or a Bible that talks about Jesus.
In my case, my grandfather died, and I missed the love he gave me. I asked myself: Who can give me as much love as my grandfather did? My cousin died very young in an accident, and I asked myself: Where will I go one day?
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Hebrews 9
And then God called me when I heard people talking about Jesus while I was on a journey.
I prayed to God: If You exist, and these preachers in the street are telling the truth, give me a sign. And then God showed me a huge rainbow — the sign of Noah in the book of Genesis. So I was sure that the Bible is the truth. I repented and became a child of God.
Why does God call us to repent?
To repent means to change my life. Before, I did not have a sensitive conscience and did whatever I wanted. But when I repent, I change my way of life. Jesus says: Enter the narrow door and walk on the small way that leads to heaven.
Before, we were on the wide road that leads to hell, but after repentance we are on the narrow road to heaven.
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7:13–14
Why do we become children of God through repentance?
In John 1 we read that Jesus came to His own people, but they refused Him. Yet those who received Him were given the right to become children of God.
Before repentance, we are only God’s creation. There is still in us the desire to do good and be like God. But after repentance, we are directly connected to God — like a child who has been adopted by new parents.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John 1
You talk about the kingdom of evil and the kingdom of God in your song. Where are they?
The kingdom of evil is everywhere on the earth. God gave the earth to human beings, but they handed it over to the devil. The devil even said to Jesus in Matthew:
8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Matthew 4
The kingdom of God came near when Jesus came to earth, but it is not visible. The kingdom of God is in the heart of each person who has repented and received Christ.
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Colossians 1
What is a holy place for you?
A holy place for me can be anywhere on earth. It is not necessary to go to a temple or a church.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
John 4
When I sit down and pray or sing to God and feel His tender presence in my heart, then I am in a holy place.
We can enter heaven with the new nature that Christ has given us — different from our flesh, which is our earthly body that still desires to sin.
When I am with my Father in heaven, I am in a holy place, no matter where I am with my earthly body.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
John 4
Are you afraid to die?
No, because I will go to heaven.
Many people are afraid of dying because they fear being punished for their sins on earth.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 5
Before I go to heaven, I will sleep for a time, but then Jesus will come and raise all who died in His name.
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4
Heaven is a wonderful place. The streets are of gold. There will be no heat or cold. We will never be hungry or thirsty. And we will see God face to face.
This will be my final holy place, where I long to be — together with God and with the friends who have gone before me.
