My wife and I attended the 17th installation ceremony of a social club this afternoon. Yes, the same club which, a group of young men and women (including me) started, and became its charter members. The only breakfast club that met in the early morning hours of the day, at 7:00am. This is its uniqueness, a commitment that not many human beings could keep, that is, waking up at this unearthly hour for a social cause.
My various commitments, during the 3rd or 4th year in this club, forced me to reprioritize my choices of engagements and this social activity had to give. The mission statement, printed in the program, reminded me of the many worthy causes we were engaged in and how it impacted the community. And a big part of it was doing life together.
What is more startling is the warmth of renewed comradeship, despite the years I had not "connected" with them. The sincerity of this unpretentious behavior caught me by surprise!
This thought brought my mind racing back to a man named Cornelius. In Acts 10:22 (Amp) "And they said, Cornelius, a centurion (captain) who is just and upright and in right standing with God, being God-fearing and obedient and well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, has been instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house; and he has received in answer (to prayer) a warning to listen to and act upon what you have to say".
Let me continue the scene after Peter had come to visit Cornelius. "And Cornelius said, This is now the fourth day since about this time I was observing the ninth hour (3 o'clock in the afternoon) of prayer in my lodging place; (suddenly) a man stood before me in dazzling apparel. And he said, "Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and harkened to, and your donations to the poor have been known and preserved before God (so that He heeds and is about to help you).
I believe many of my friends are like Cornelius and they a very near the Kingdom of God! I am praying that they will have a "Damascus experience" and ask the same questions, Paul did, "Who are You, Lord? and Lord, what do you desire me to do?
God continues to reveal Himself to many who are seeking the True Living God. Like Cornelius, I believe everyone is seeking the Truth and The Way is seeking them out and together as I (or laborers, we) engage them, we can do The Life together (both on earth and in heaven)!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Passion breaking through!
An amazing depth of conviction, this thing called "passion". What comes to mind? Yes, the movie - The Passion of The Christ. The proof is this, at some point of the movie (if not most of it) you will find nobody without tears in their eyes! This same determination Jesus had to complete His task on earth, should be ours!
Wow! this is the feeling most of us, if not all, had as we streamed out of the meeting room, where a visiting speaker shared on this subject. All of us had a "stirring" within us which if we obeyed will lead us to this "passion".
Nehemiah was the Book the speaker expounded on, as we considered how we too can catch this element called passion. He was a cupbearer before the King and so he had a "good" life. He was a prayerful man in captivity and he prayed for his homeland. Nehemiah heard how bad things were, in his homeland and became consumed with sorrow. The walls of his former gated community was broken down and the gates destroyed by fire.
Defying the culture of his time he stood before the King, sad. But the King who was concerned for his faithful servant asked, "Why do you look sad, since you are not sick?". Nehemiah despite being afraid, told the King the reason for his demeanor.
The King granted him favor to be send back to his city to rebuild it. When Nehemiah arrived to his community his passion became stronger, as he witnessed the devastation face to face. He galvanized the support of people of the community, encouraged them and went about the business of rebuilding the walls and gates of the city.
As God had empowered Nehemiah , He empowered this community too, to complete this great task in 52 days, an impossible feat by any human standard. This venture was even more amazing because the men had to both build the walls and be ready to fight off the surrounding enemies. Nehemiah burning "passion" to complete this task was fulfilled and he returned back to the King.
This example can be the same for us. We too need to find out what is God's purpose for us and develop the passion for that cause and obey Him. Like Jesus, (despite the trials and persuction ahead of Him) let us push through, to fulfill the will of God for our lives.
In conclusion, I must remember what the Word read in 2 Thessalonians 3:13 ...And as for you, brethern, do not become weary or lose heart in doing right (but continue in well-doing without weakening).
Nehemiah name was recorded in the Hall of Faith, so too can ours be, as we stand before our Master who will say to us, "Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things, Come and share your Master's happiness!" Amen!!
Wow! this is the feeling most of us, if not all, had as we streamed out of the meeting room, where a visiting speaker shared on this subject. All of us had a "stirring" within us which if we obeyed will lead us to this "passion".
Nehemiah was the Book the speaker expounded on, as we considered how we too can catch this element called passion. He was a cupbearer before the King and so he had a "good" life. He was a prayerful man in captivity and he prayed for his homeland. Nehemiah heard how bad things were, in his homeland and became consumed with sorrow. The walls of his former gated community was broken down and the gates destroyed by fire.
Defying the culture of his time he stood before the King, sad. But the King who was concerned for his faithful servant asked, "Why do you look sad, since you are not sick?". Nehemiah despite being afraid, told the King the reason for his demeanor.
The King granted him favor to be send back to his city to rebuild it. When Nehemiah arrived to his community his passion became stronger, as he witnessed the devastation face to face. He galvanized the support of people of the community, encouraged them and went about the business of rebuilding the walls and gates of the city.
As God had empowered Nehemiah , He empowered this community too, to complete this great task in 52 days, an impossible feat by any human standard. This venture was even more amazing because the men had to both build the walls and be ready to fight off the surrounding enemies. Nehemiah burning "passion" to complete this task was fulfilled and he returned back to the King.
This example can be the same for us. We too need to find out what is God's purpose for us and develop the passion for that cause and obey Him. Like Jesus, (despite the trials and persuction ahead of Him) let us push through, to fulfill the will of God for our lives.
In conclusion, I must remember what the Word read in 2 Thessalonians 3:13 ...And as for you, brethern, do not become weary or lose heart in doing right (but continue in well-doing without weakening).
Nehemiah name was recorded in the Hall of Faith, so too can ours be, as we stand before our Master who will say to us, "Well done good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things, Come and share your Master's happiness!" Amen!!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Serving despite pain for His glory
We had an excellent conference over the past one and a half days with 3 experienced speakers from Australia. The main speaker is a father of a cancer stricken son.
Despite this personal pain that he is currently going through he has still taken the time to travel the world to bless the Kingdom of God. He did not take time off to only spend with his son (which he does when he is back home) but deliberately pursues after God's purposes. He is doing everything by the empowering of the Holy Spirit to redeem the time for a world which is eroding into lawlessness!
Paul wrote with the same sense of conviction in his second letter to the Thessalonians church....."This is positive proof of the just and right judgment of God to the end that you may be deemed deserving of His kingdom (a plain token of His fair verdict which designs that you should be made and counted worthy of the kingdom of God), for the sake of which you are also suffering. (it is a fair decision) since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with distress and affliction those who distress and afflict you. And to (recompense) you who are so distressed and afflicted (by granting you) relief and rest along with us (your fellow sufferers) when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire, To deal out retribution (chastisement and vengeance) upon those who do not know or perceive or become acquainted with God, and (upon those) who ignore and refuse to obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2 Thes 1:5-8 Amp version).
There is no time to be idlers or shirkers in His kingdom. The lost world out there needs all of us to work to redeem the times we live in. Lawlessness is increasing and everything else is deteriorating in our society.
Let us work whilst it is still day!
Despite this personal pain that he is currently going through he has still taken the time to travel the world to bless the Kingdom of God. He did not take time off to only spend with his son (which he does when he is back home) but deliberately pursues after God's purposes. He is doing everything by the empowering of the Holy Spirit to redeem the time for a world which is eroding into lawlessness!
Paul wrote with the same sense of conviction in his second letter to the Thessalonians church....."This is positive proof of the just and right judgment of God to the end that you may be deemed deserving of His kingdom (a plain token of His fair verdict which designs that you should be made and counted worthy of the kingdom of God), for the sake of which you are also suffering. (it is a fair decision) since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with distress and affliction those who distress and afflict you. And to (recompense) you who are so distressed and afflicted (by granting you) relief and rest along with us (your fellow sufferers) when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in a flame of fire, To deal out retribution (chastisement and vengeance) upon those who do not know or perceive or become acquainted with God, and (upon those) who ignore and refuse to obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2 Thes 1:5-8 Amp version).
There is no time to be idlers or shirkers in His kingdom. The lost world out there needs all of us to work to redeem the times we live in. Lawlessness is increasing and everything else is deteriorating in our society.
Let us work whilst it is still day!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Calm before the Storm
The labor pain that Jennifer, my wife endured before our daughter, Laura was born lasted for more than 12 hours. The "pains" came in cycles and the intensity got worst with every new cycle. This is liken to the coming Day of the Lord. The cycles will get worst and worst and eventually the calm utterance of "Peace and Safety" will denote its last cycle and the birthing forth of this Day.
The Thessalonian church got this message first hand from Paul in his first letter to them. The Scripture spells it out this way in Chapter 5, "Now as to the times and the epochs, brethern, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape
I may not know the actual timing for the End but certainly I am not in darkness that I cannot read the signs. Like the sons of Issachar, I need to understand the times and know what to do, with the discernment of the Holy Spirit. I believe that it is no coincident that the nation is celebrating its Jubilee year and I am also celebrating my Jubilee year.
Like Esther of old we are called for a time such as this and her resolve was "if I perish, I perish". This is the same challenge we hear in Revelations 12:10-11, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."
Lord Jesus, I want to be alert and discern the calm before the storm and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what is needful. Amen!
The Thessalonian church got this message first hand from Paul in his first letter to them. The Scripture spells it out this way in Chapter 5, "Now as to the times and the epochs, brethern, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape
I may not know the actual timing for the End but certainly I am not in darkness that I cannot read the signs. Like the sons of Issachar, I need to understand the times and know what to do, with the discernment of the Holy Spirit. I believe that it is no coincident that the nation is celebrating its Jubilee year and I am also celebrating my Jubilee year.
Like Esther of old we are called for a time such as this and her resolve was "if I perish, I perish". This is the same challenge we hear in Revelations 12:10-11, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."
Lord Jesus, I want to be alert and discern the calm before the storm and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do what is needful. Amen!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Rise up
I woke up early this morning thinking about the plight of the poor. A large population of the Christians in Malaysia live in the island of Borneo. How do these "brothers" of our rise above their current circumstances. I eagerly wanted to know what was God's view of the poor in spirit.
The longest recorded sermon preached by Jesus describes the traits He looks for in His followers. The Beatitudes, as this sermon is referred to, counts these followers blessed. These traits will challenge the way we live: poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, righteousness, mercy, pure in heart, peacemaker and persecuted.
Jesus started His sermon by saying, " Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.". The contrasting and clashing world values would be living with pride and personal independence. Humility is often found in the poor although not all of them. The poor and the poor in spirit are two different issues but there are some characteristics which are found in both.
Reflecting back to my own life I could see how God moulded me from the "poor" settings I was raised in. My parents and siblings accounted for 8 souls on this planet earth. We were brought up laboring off the land for our daily provision. Living in this big city, in a one bedroom government quarters, we were fortunate to live in a corner lot. In this plot of land there was space enough to rear chicks and ducklings. Their eggs were bartered for the provision we needed everyday. We planted tapioca and sweet potatoes and grew other vegetables as well. Fruit trees on this plot of land provided mangoes, jackfruits and jambus, in its season.
It was a simple but hard life and we toiled every waking hour of the day without any frills in life. The poor, I believe don't have a voice or "connection" and so it was with us. I received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in my last year at school, the same year my dad retired from government service. I started working to help finance my two younger brothers through school so that they too could complete their Form 5 education.
This morning's devotional verse seemed to have taken over my life, at that point. The Word I meditated on today states, "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Rom 8:11 KJV). This "resurrection powered" transformation was gradual and I worked hard and peaked at my career in the late 1990s. This success was possible only because I had followed many of God's principles, especially tithing.
But in life I have heard of many more challenging and victorious stories then mine and these individuals have become very rich and are also in the Kingdom. So the question which I always ask myself is why are our "brothers" in Borneo still living in such poverty. I can see our struggle and I believe it is obeying His command, in the area of tithing.
For example, when I was earning RM1,000 it was "easy" to tithe RM100 but when I took out my EPF recently, and it is a reasonably large amount like RM100,000, could I tithe RM10,000? So the question really is how much do I receive as wealth and how do I classify it. Do I say this is my life savings or do I say everything belongs to God and thus don't even discuss gross or net earnings......I simply delight in giving.
Therefore if His resurrection power gives me the ability to make wealth then my very breath belongs to Him... is there anything more for me to discuss. He is able to take care of the birdsof the air and the grass of the field, so am I not more valuable to Him then those.... He will surely take care of me.
If we all did what the Book of Acts tells us to do, that is, take care of all who have need then our "brothers" don't have to worry. The "rich" who earns RM1,000,000 a month is wages will be happy to tithe RM100,000 per month and the Kingdom will be able to expand faster every year. A revival will spark off and the nation will be won for Jesus Christ.
As long as we are not living beyond our means, we should be happy and secure. I remembered the first car that I bought as a bank teller. It was a second hand Kadet which I purchased for cash, all of my RM6,000 savings! It is a liberating feeling to live within our means and needs. So if God specifically tells me He wants the balance of my savings that I have put away for a holiday, I must delight in giving it to Him for it is His in the first place.
Now, for our "brothers" in Borneo I proclaim, "Rise up, in Jesus name!"
The longest recorded sermon preached by Jesus describes the traits He looks for in His followers. The Beatitudes, as this sermon is referred to, counts these followers blessed. These traits will challenge the way we live: poor in spirit, mourning, meekness, righteousness, mercy, pure in heart, peacemaker and persecuted.
Jesus started His sermon by saying, " Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.". The contrasting and clashing world values would be living with pride and personal independence. Humility is often found in the poor although not all of them. The poor and the poor in spirit are two different issues but there are some characteristics which are found in both.
Reflecting back to my own life I could see how God moulded me from the "poor" settings I was raised in. My parents and siblings accounted for 8 souls on this planet earth. We were brought up laboring off the land for our daily provision. Living in this big city, in a one bedroom government quarters, we were fortunate to live in a corner lot. In this plot of land there was space enough to rear chicks and ducklings. Their eggs were bartered for the provision we needed everyday. We planted tapioca and sweet potatoes and grew other vegetables as well. Fruit trees on this plot of land provided mangoes, jackfruits and jambus, in its season.
It was a simple but hard life and we toiled every waking hour of the day without any frills in life. The poor, I believe don't have a voice or "connection" and so it was with us. I received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in my last year at school, the same year my dad retired from government service. I started working to help finance my two younger brothers through school so that they too could complete their Form 5 education.
This morning's devotional verse seemed to have taken over my life, at that point. The Word I meditated on today states, "But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Rom 8:11 KJV). This "resurrection powered" transformation was gradual and I worked hard and peaked at my career in the late 1990s. This success was possible only because I had followed many of God's principles, especially tithing.
But in life I have heard of many more challenging and victorious stories then mine and these individuals have become very rich and are also in the Kingdom. So the question which I always ask myself is why are our "brothers" in Borneo still living in such poverty. I can see our struggle and I believe it is obeying His command, in the area of tithing.
For example, when I was earning RM1,000 it was "easy" to tithe RM100 but when I took out my EPF recently, and it is a reasonably large amount like RM100,000, could I tithe RM10,000? So the question really is how much do I receive as wealth and how do I classify it. Do I say this is my life savings or do I say everything belongs to God and thus don't even discuss gross or net earnings......I simply delight in giving.
Therefore if His resurrection power gives me the ability to make wealth then my very breath belongs to Him... is there anything more for me to discuss. He is able to take care of the birdsof the air and the grass of the field, so am I not more valuable to Him then those.... He will surely take care of me.
If we all did what the Book of Acts tells us to do, that is, take care of all who have need then our "brothers" don't have to worry. The "rich" who earns RM1,000,000 a month is wages will be happy to tithe RM100,000 per month and the Kingdom will be able to expand faster every year. A revival will spark off and the nation will be won for Jesus Christ.
As long as we are not living beyond our means, we should be happy and secure. I remembered the first car that I bought as a bank teller. It was a second hand Kadet which I purchased for cash, all of my RM6,000 savings! It is a liberating feeling to live within our means and needs. So if God specifically tells me He wants the balance of my savings that I have put away for a holiday, I must delight in giving it to Him for it is His in the first place.
Now, for our "brothers" in Borneo I proclaim, "Rise up, in Jesus name!"
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Book of Remembrance
Everything we do in our lives will be recorded in a Book of Remembrance which will be reviewed on that final Judgment Day!
This is possibly the same view Paul shared with the Thessalonian church which was dictated at the end of chapter 2. The Word reads, "For what is our hope or happiness or our victor's wreath of exultant triumph when we stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is it not you? For you are (indeed) our glory and our joy!
During our morning staff prayer our Senior Pastor spoke about Hezekiah's prayer to God to remember what he had done and how he lived....... "Remember, O GOD, who I am, what I've done! I've lived an honest life before you, My heart's been true and steady, I've lived to please you; lived for your approval. And then the tears flowed. Hezekiah wept. Isaiah, leaving, was not halfway across the courtyard when the word of GOD stopped him: "Go back and tell Hezekiah, prince of my people, 'GOD's word, Hezekiah! From the God of your ancestor David: I've listened to your prayer and I've observed your tears. I'm going to heal you. In three days you will walk on your own legs into The Temple of GOD. I've just added fifteen years to your life; I'm saving you from the king of Assyria, and I'm covering this city with my shield--for my sake and my servant David's sake.'""
This prayer clearly shows that God does remember all that we have done, all that we are doing and all that we will be doing. This is the only prayer in the Bible, I believe, that God granted 15 additional years to a man's life and turned the sundial back 10 degrees. For us, even though our works are not remembered on earth, it will certainly be remembered in heaven.
Salvation is a free gift and it doesn't require us working for it but certainly works is required of us, after we are saved. Jesus quoted Isaiah about the task He needed to do.....God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!" (Lk 4:18-19 Msg).
The past is gone and God can forgive us of our misgiving, the present is here and we need to act on the needs we discern. But our future requires both the investment in our future generations and humility to not stop going about our Father's business.
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.....And remember, that all of our works are recorded in the Book of Remembrance!
This is possibly the same view Paul shared with the Thessalonian church which was dictated at the end of chapter 2. The Word reads, "For what is our hope or happiness or our victor's wreath of exultant triumph when we stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? Is it not you? For you are (indeed) our glory and our joy!
During our morning staff prayer our Senior Pastor spoke about Hezekiah's prayer to God to remember what he had done and how he lived....... "Remember, O GOD, who I am, what I've done! I've lived an honest life before you, My heart's been true and steady, I've lived to please you; lived for your approval. And then the tears flowed. Hezekiah wept. Isaiah, leaving, was not halfway across the courtyard when the word of GOD stopped him: "Go back and tell Hezekiah, prince of my people, 'GOD's word, Hezekiah! From the God of your ancestor David: I've listened to your prayer and I've observed your tears. I'm going to heal you. In three days you will walk on your own legs into The Temple of GOD. I've just added fifteen years to your life; I'm saving you from the king of Assyria, and I'm covering this city with my shield--for my sake and my servant David's sake.'""
This prayer clearly shows that God does remember all that we have done, all that we are doing and all that we will be doing. This is the only prayer in the Bible, I believe, that God granted 15 additional years to a man's life and turned the sundial back 10 degrees. For us, even though our works are not remembered on earth, it will certainly be remembered in heaven.
Salvation is a free gift and it doesn't require us working for it but certainly works is required of us, after we are saved. Jesus quoted Isaiah about the task He needed to do.....God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!" (Lk 4:18-19 Msg).
The past is gone and God can forgive us of our misgiving, the present is here and we need to act on the needs we discern. But our future requires both the investment in our future generations and humility to not stop going about our Father's business.
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.....And remember, that all of our works are recorded in the Book of Remembrance!
Monday, June 23, 2008
His desire is none should perish
Since the fall of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the "perfect" Garden of Eden, God has been tirelessly proclaiming His salvation plan.
Adam and Eve, who disobediently ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, was also free to eat from the Tree of Life and live like "God" forever. God therefore had to remove them from the Garden and stationed cherubim to guard the Tree of Life. This same Tree's leaves will be for the healing of the nations (all people groups from all the nations of the world) which is in the Holy City as described in Revelation Chapter 22.
The whole Salvation Plan is centered around the Seed which will be Spirit conceived in a virgin's womb. This Seed, Jesus Christ, born to a virgin Mary will become our Kinsman Redeemer. Curse, pain, death came into the picture after the fall of mankind and everything that was "perfect", started to deteriorate. This state, as we read about in our newspapers, will continue until God's Salvation Plan is completely fulfilled at the End.
But after so long, the End is not yet and it seems like nothing is happening! This is when we need to know God's nature which Peter captures in his second letter in chapter 3. We read Peter's account about God's timing............ "God isn't late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn't want anyone lost. He's giving everyone space and time to change."
The word there is "everyone", (wow) what a God!
Imagine this, we cannot in our own mind "see" the person we "hate" become our friend again because of what the person did to us. And yet God wants this person in heaven and what more, we are all going to be worshiping Him, as a family. That is, if we ourselves, do manage to get in....don't see how, with this"hate" in us. Paul talks about this very thing in Galatians 5:19-21 (Msg) It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.
God does not change and we can be completely confident about this. So do I know where I am going to spend eternity? If the answer is "no", let me encourage us in childlike faith to prayer to God our Father and believe that He will accept our prayer and thus become certain that we will be saved, with Him in heaven, as one big happy family!
Please pray this prayer to receive God's salvation:
Father, I confess that I am a sinner; please forgive me of my sin. I accept Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead so that I can now have eternal life through faith in Him. Come into my life, Jesus, and be my Savior and Lord. Thank You for saving me. Amen
Adam and Eve, who disobediently ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, was also free to eat from the Tree of Life and live like "God" forever. God therefore had to remove them from the Garden and stationed cherubim to guard the Tree of Life. This same Tree's leaves will be for the healing of the nations (all people groups from all the nations of the world) which is in the Holy City as described in Revelation Chapter 22.
The whole Salvation Plan is centered around the Seed which will be Spirit conceived in a virgin's womb. This Seed, Jesus Christ, born to a virgin Mary will become our Kinsman Redeemer. Curse, pain, death came into the picture after the fall of mankind and everything that was "perfect", started to deteriorate. This state, as we read about in our newspapers, will continue until God's Salvation Plan is completely fulfilled at the End.
But after so long, the End is not yet and it seems like nothing is happening! This is when we need to know God's nature which Peter captures in his second letter in chapter 3. We read Peter's account about God's timing............ "God isn't late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn't want anyone lost. He's giving everyone space and time to change."
The word there is "everyone", (wow) what a God!
Imagine this, we cannot in our own mind "see" the person we "hate" become our friend again because of what the person did to us. And yet God wants this person in heaven and what more, we are all going to be worshiping Him, as a family. That is, if we ourselves, do manage to get in....don't see how, with this"hate" in us. Paul talks about this very thing in Galatians 5:19-21 (Msg) It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.
God does not change and we can be completely confident about this. So do I know where I am going to spend eternity? If the answer is "no", let me encourage us in childlike faith to prayer to God our Father and believe that He will accept our prayer and thus become certain that we will be saved, with Him in heaven, as one big happy family!
Please pray this prayer to receive God's salvation:
Father, I confess that I am a sinner; please forgive me of my sin. I accept Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died and was raised from the dead so that I can now have eternal life through faith in Him. Come into my life, Jesus, and be my Savior and Lord. Thank You for saving me. Amen
Steps to Freedom
Early this morning I was off to set-up for our first session of Steps to Freedom classes which we conduct at least once every year. These classes had helped me work on some of the areas of bondage I have had in my early years at our church. For me it was a deliberate decision to work on the strongholds in my life which kept me in a roller coaster ride of defeats and successes over my sin nature.The first thing I had to realize about my situation is that God is Creator and every other creature, good or evil, is His creation. Both men and angels, God created, with a free will to choose. So in the very beginning a host of angles (one third) made a choice to rebel against God and in that process they formed the enemy kingdom which belongs to satan (aka serpent, devil, evil spirits and demons ....etc).
The fall of man (Adam and Eve) was serpent's cunning ploy. The devil beguiled Eve with doubts about God's good nature. These doubts moved Eve to be consumed with the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and pride of life. They too(Adam and Eve), God creation, both choose to disobey Him and this brought about the spiraling decay that both humankind and the world is going through, today......till He comes again.
This was the same ploy used by satan on Jesus and so there is no reason for us to believe, we will not go through similar traps, laid up by satan. But like Jesus we can expect the angles to minister to us when we overcome! The Message Bible reads thus..."The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus’ needs". (Matt 4:11 Msg)
I have to always remember, that it is not two equal powers, fighting each other ....God is Creator and He has no equal. Satan and his demons are fall angels and we as Christians have angels assigned to watch over us, like Jesus had! So like Jesus we have to believe God's Word and use God's Word to resist the devil and he will flee from us. Like Adam and Eve, we must not doubt God's good nature and fall to the doubts thrown at our minds by the god of lies, satan.
For us believers, we also have the Holy Spirit who resides in us and empowers us, to overcome all the challenges we have to face, in our life.
In steps to freedom training we cover the following sessions:
Step 1 - Counterfeit vs Real (wrong gods)
Step 2 - Deception vs Truth (wrong beliefs)
Step 3 - Bitterness vs Forgiveness (wrong feelings)
Step 4 - Rebellion vs Submission (wrong authority)
Step 5 - Pride vs Humility (wrong worth)
Step 6 - Bondage vs Freedom (wrong habit)
Step 7 - Curses vs Blessings (wrong inheritance)
Freedom in Christ can be a choice which happens as soon as we say, "yes"...at least with most of our strongholds, but maturity is a process and it takes a lifetime... to bear fruits.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Seeking His Kingdom and His Righteousness
In 1995 when the Lord Jesus Christ brought my wife and I back to Him, He impressed a Scripture verse unto me, which has since become my life's foundation. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" Matt6:33. I had by this time, become very successful in my career, rising up from a sale representative to Sales Director for the MNC that I worked for. I had also backslidden to a state, where I thought I could do everything in my own strength and "positive" thinking.
This attitude compelled me to work long hours and this had a negative impact on my family life.
The age old reply that most fathers give when asked this question of, why they work long hours was my reply too! "I am working for my child's future and our early retirement plan, so that we can enjoy life in our early 50s. Strangely this ploy of the enemy is the same throughout all ages. By the time I reached my career's peak (was in the succession plan for the post of Country Manager), my family was in shambles.
God in His mercy pulled the brakes and helped me focus back on my family. As I shared in my earlier blog, my wife was very ill during this period and so I had a decision to make, whether or not to bother about her condition and continue to focus on my successful career, or to pull back and take care of her. My decision, praise God, was to pull back on my career and care for my wife.
This started the process of seeking God and that meant looking to the supernatural healing power of the Living God! We had seen all the specialist and they could do nothing for her. Despite being heavily dosed with drugs she was still not better and was in a depression. Our evenings and weekends was a frantic rush to attend one church meeting after another, where we would seek for God's mercy and divine help for our situation.
As we sought God and His righteousness, we too began to be convicted by the Holy Spirit to confess our deepest secret sins to each other. This we did, and it brought about a release from the grip of the enemy, as he had no more hold over us in those areas of our lives. This exhilarating feeling of being set free from our bondages and this transparency between us, helped us to completely trust each other. This liberating experience had poised us to face the challenges which since had come our way and which will continue to come our way into the future... till He come again.
Let's us continue to meditate on God's goodness as His Spirit continues to minister to us in His Word which we find before verse 33!
"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both. "If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. "Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion--do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen--don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. (v24-33 - Msg)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Real vs Counterfeit
I was intrigued with Craig A Evans' response to Lee Strobel's question on the different perspectives about Jesus in this modern age. Craig's reply to this question about Jesus clearly states the times we live in. Quoting from that conversation about Christianity or Christianities, he insisted, "This is a product of a modern agenda - a politically correct, multicultural agenda motivated by sympathy for marginalized groups. It's the attitude that says diversity is always good, truth is negotiable, and every opinion is equally valid. The question is: What really did happen in the first century? What's the evidence? What are the facts?"
This response contrasted with my reading from Paul's epistle to the Colossians church as day is to night, where his prayer of thankfulness for the saints' spiritual attainment was recorded. Let's pick it up in verse 3, We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth.
We see in this first century epistle from Paul the deep faith the people of his time had for Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior. These Colossians knew the grace of God in reality, deeply and clearly and thoroughly, becoming accurately and intimately acquainted with Him.
Early in my working career (about 25 years ago) I was a bank teller and this is where I learnt the difference between the real and counterfeit bank notes. The difference sometime cannot be noticed with our naked eyes. It is the consistent daily counting and spending time with the genuine bank note that helped me differentiate the fake one from the real. I didn't even have to look at it when I was counting, by the sheer feeling of my thumb I could discern and know the difference.
This also parallels my experience in knowing the real Jesus. There is no short cut to knowing Jesus but the consistent daily reading and meditating on His Word. At least 10% of my day, when possible...it belongs to Him yeah?
I pray I will continue to discern His grace and not fall into the trap of being lured into the counterfeit - of political correctness, multicultural agenda motivated by sympathy for marginalized groups. And a sheared conscious and attitude that says diversity is always good, truth is negotiable and every opinion is equally valid!
This response contrasted with my reading from Paul's epistle to the Colossians church as day is to night, where his prayer of thankfulness for the saints' spiritual attainment was recorded. Let's pick it up in verse 3, We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, Since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth.
We see in this first century epistle from Paul the deep faith the people of his time had for Jesus Christ, their Lord and Savior. These Colossians knew the grace of God in reality, deeply and clearly and thoroughly, becoming accurately and intimately acquainted with Him.
Early in my working career (about 25 years ago) I was a bank teller and this is where I learnt the difference between the real and counterfeit bank notes. The difference sometime cannot be noticed with our naked eyes. It is the consistent daily counting and spending time with the genuine bank note that helped me differentiate the fake one from the real. I didn't even have to look at it when I was counting, by the sheer feeling of my thumb I could discern and know the difference.
This also parallels my experience in knowing the real Jesus. There is no short cut to knowing Jesus but the consistent daily reading and meditating on His Word. At least 10% of my day, when possible...it belongs to Him yeah?
I pray I will continue to discern His grace and not fall into the trap of being lured into the counterfeit - of political correctness, multicultural agenda motivated by sympathy for marginalized groups. And a sheared conscious and attitude that says diversity is always good, truth is negotiable and every opinion is equally valid!
Knowing how to abase and abound
Coming home from a well deserved break I clearly understood God's principle of wanting us to be contented in all things, whether we had plenty or little. It is liken to the tree in the picture which is bare in winter. This same tree will flourish again in spring and summer and the cycle starts all over again in autumn, when it sheds its leaves. Our cycles may not be predictable like the tree but it is certainly important to be contented, in all the seasons of our lives
Message version captures this thought in Philippians 4:10-14 I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.
The planning for this holiday was decided for us by friends, who had a timeshare apartment which they want us to utilize. We had to quickly plan the timing and the logistics (as both Jennifer and I had almost full schedules every week) so that the room could be booked. The best option for us seemed to be after our wedding anniversary, which was last Saturday. Since Monday was my off day I only needed to take annual leave on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I then happened to be on a counselling course together with a friend, who had a transportation company, and she quickly got the booking done for me. She then surprised me by saying, "This is free because we want to bless pastors and their wives". Wow! we had both a place to stay and transportation finalized, for free. We also spoke to some friends in Penang whom we wanted to catch up with, whilst we were there.
Monday came and we went early to collect our tickets and because it was too early we decided to have breakfast with a friend. This friend called another church member who had been transferred to Penang and he volunteered to pick us up at the bus terminal. This saved us the taxi fare and helped us get to the timeshare apartment quickly without any hassle. I met his later after his work and fellowshipped with him. This was a good time for me to catch up on his new work life in Penang, while Jennifer stayed back to plan the dinner activity with our other friends.
Our other friends picked us up at the apartment and took us for dinner. Before dinner started we were blessed once again with "pocket money" for the stay. The dinner was great and we planned to meet again the next day. The next morning we decided that we would go to the office to pray there after breakfast. This was what we did! We had a wonderful time of worship and catching up with their company's growth and their own personal growth in the Lord. The rest of the day we spent resting, and when dinner time came we went out to venture on our own and tried the many stalls which served some great Penang food. We went into a Christian book shop to check out some items, on the way back to our apartment.
The next day we had breakfast and checked out after noon. Our church member once again took us to lunch and then the shopping mall before sending us off to the bus terminal. By the time this trip was over both Jennifer and I had decided that we should try to match make the couples we met......shhhhhh don't tell anyone (but they are reading this blog too, I think!)
Oops.... forgot to mention another of God's principle, what we sow we will reap! Can you imagine the fruit which is to their credit (see v17)?
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Do not provoke your children
As a family we went out for a meal, to celebrate both our wedding anniversary and Father's day. It was a time to catch up on what was happening in our daughter's life at university. Time has flown by so quickly and she has grown up..... to be a "model". I guess that is what every parent say of their child.
This was not my view, not too long ago. The verse "not to provoke your children" came flooding back to my mind, as I penned this down.
Ephesians 6: 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. 4 And fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (MKJV)
Being brought up in a typical Asian cultural context I didn't know how to raise our child any other way. This is despite knowing the Bible and the verse above well. It highlights our inability for affective learning, that is, to translate the Word of God into application which we can then implement for our lives. But praise be to God who never fails us He taught me the hard way to handle my relationship with my daughter. Through many personal insecurities and unpleasant encounters, I learnt to let go and let God.
I learnt to deal with my own issues and released my daughter into the able Hand of the living God and He came through for both of us. Although I must admit we have a ways to go but it is being built up on solid ground.
Much of my change had to do with adjusting to the lifestyle of children living in the twenty first century. For this reason I have ventured more into the cyberspace to "connect" to the current world that we live in.
Being a PK was not easy for my daughter too and she had to learn to cope with the many changes that was taking place in her life as we journeyed with God through the last 13 years. I eventually told her it was alright for her to be with her friends as long as she kept the faith and fellowshipped with and in the Body.
This experience is unique with every parent and so this don't apply across the board nor is it the same with every child. God needs to direct us in our handling of each situation as they will be unique. As we see in the Bible no two battles were fought the same way and King David enquired of God all the time. We too, need to do that and enquire of the Lord Jesus Christ, for everything, as we journey through this life together.
Something just dawn on me earlier today which I realized sometime ago, when I see my family in heaven we will all be brothers and sisters in the family of God. No father and mother, husband and wife, son and daughter....we will all be in a heavenly party worshipping our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We will all become as one family with our Father and Brother!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
Journeying together in God's grace
29 years ago this relationship started! To be exact 7 years of courting and 22 years of marriage. God has been faithful and good and He has sustained us through many seasons in our lives. This 29 years of experience has helped us advice and prepare some pre-marriage couples, as they venture into marriage themselves. Our life stories have helped many a couple avoid the pitfalls we had suffered. God put us through these experiences and has also burdened us, to help others avoid the pain we went through both in our courting and marriage life.
At some wedding ceremonies, I have come across this wonderful marriage scripture verses which have helped us understand our roles better:
Message version Ephesians 5
29-33No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.
There are many truths in this passage that are important which I pray my wife and I will continue to observe:
1. The vows we pronounced between ourselves is a covenant with God and in ultimate submission to each other it says "till death do us part"! This is the basis of all Christian marriages, there are no option in a marriage. We have to work at it and make it happen with lots of prayer and trusting God to keep His end of the covenant. We have a choice to make!
2. Becoming "one flesh" is a mystery and I can only describe it as, completely intertwining - as one. Imagine knowing your spouse's thoughts, desires, likes, wants, and everything! We advocate enjoying each other's uniqueness too, and forsaking all other persons, who will come in the way to destroy this union. Physical pleasure and enjoyment in marriage is also an important part of this oneness as it eventually reproduces a happy family.
3. Leaving father and mother and cherishing our wife is sometimes very challenging in an Asian cultural context. This discipline is to help us develop our own vision, style, financial management and also to blend our gifting together. This will help us run our own home in a biblical sense, and work out the partnership between husband and wife in raising our own family. The parents are still to be honored as this commands a blessing... so learn to be wise.
3. Leaving father and mother and cherishing our wife is sometimes very challenging in an Asian cultural context. This discipline is to help us develop our own vision, style, financial management and also to blend our gifting together. This will help us run our own home in a biblical sense, and work out the partnership between husband and wife in raising our own family. The parents are still to be honored as this commands a blessing... so learn to be wise.
4. Respect, honor, trust are all recipes for success! Learn to treat the other as you would like to be treated and you will not go wrong. Do away with all the comparing and competing to see who is smarter, brighter, better and in the process even get the children involved. If we are "one flesh" then it is like spitting skyward and having the saliva land on our own faces...... shame on us!
The question to ask then is, "Is it easy?" Not at all, we still struggle in some of the areas of our strongholds. They rear their ugly heads every now and then and we have to choose to overcome it, so we covert your prayers.
Saying "I am sorry" and "please forgive me" easily and quickly are right ingredients to this happy marriage recipe. I want to be able to remember this always, so please pray for my male ego!
Words can be a snare
Like the inscet traped in the spider's web, words can be a snare! This was something I deliberately wanted to commit to do yesterday but was not completely successful. In our anxiety to make things happen for our loved ones we may inevitabily foul up in "pressing" circumstances. Time always tests our level of patience and resolve. Again as a reminder this morning, I read this ancient Chinese proverb, which drove home the point clearly:
Three gatekeepers are commanded to halt
and ask a question of every word
that passes through your mouth
If the word cannot answer "yes" to each question
It cannot proceed.
The first gatekeeper will ask, "Is it true?"
The second gatekeeper will ask, "Is it kind?"
The third gatekeeper will ask, "Is it necessary?"
Wow! Isn't this the world we would like to live in... peaceful, truthful, kind, gracious, and I can go on and on with these positive superlitives and virtues! Unfortunately or fortunately I don't live in that type of a world because of me! As long as I have the wrong attitude in my heart about any issue, out of its abundance my mouth will speak. This is especially true of our "brothers" whom we think critically of, on many grounds. Putting this in context of the Scripture passage you will find Matthew chapter 12 verse 34 very interesting!
Mat 12:32 If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you're sawing off the branch on which you're sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.
Mat 12:33 "If you grow a healthy tree, you'll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you'll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.
Mat 12:34 "You have minds like a snake pit! How do you suppose what you say is worth anything when you are so foul-minded? It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words.
Mat 12:35 A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard.
Mat 12:36 Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously.
Mat 12:37 Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation." (Message version)
I am more determined now, especially since we are praying for our "brothers" in Malaysia, to know the heart of our Father for them. More so now then ever since the season is changing from winter to spring...a revival wind blowing over this nation! Let's continue to pray for the gatekeepers who guard our lips so that we will not be tool of strife in the hands of the enemy!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Captives freed!
Driving on my way to UHKM Emergency ward early this morning, where my dad was taken in by my 2 brothers, I reflected back on what I blogged yesterday. I ended yesterday's blog with a salvation prayer for my parents who are not saved.
"Things surely moved fast in the spiritual dimension", I thought. But the assurance of today devotion kept me calm, that is, "trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Prov 3:5KJV).
I arrived to find my mum and brother waiting in the lobby area of the Emergency Room. The diagnosis of the ER doctor after performing a scan on my dad was that he had a mild stroke. I got permission from the guard to go in to visit with my dad. Immediately I prayed, for the readings reflected on the monitors to come back to normal, in Jesus name! I had informed the appropriate parties at work and the prayer team whilst driving to the hospital. And therefore the monitors responded positively as God answered all our prayers.
I then spent the rest of the day waiting for the assigned doctor to come to admit my dad to the Intensive Care Unit. He came after a few hours and questioned both my brother and me about my dad's history, what lead to him having the stroke and recorded this information on his writing pad. He then told us our dad will be admitted as soon as a bed is available. Patiently I waited, inquiring every other hour on what was happening. Apparently, the patient who was to be discharged had not left so I had to wait for that to happen first, before my dad could be wheel up to his bed in the ward. Finally it all happened at about 5pm!
This was a good time for me to recollect the victory Jesus won on the cross, especially as He went up to the highest heavens! The Message version of Ephesian 4 had this to say about it:
7-13But that doesn't mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,
He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.
Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
Jesus died for the souls of men and God will surely bring to pass the things He has promised us. We must continue to trust in the unseen things so that the impossible can take place in our lives.
This will be a saga which we will all witness together, as a Body, so please pray along with me to see His supernatural miracle of salvation come to pass! Amen.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Salvation for my household!
I have paryed for the salvation of my loved ones for many years and sometimes they have acknowledged Jesus Christ, but not as Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ to them is one of the many roads to their "heaven" - wherever they believe they will end up!
In my attempt to move them closer to the commitment stage and then onto salvation I have focused on sharing the Truth of His love and His purpose for all of us. We are only to sow the seed and water it and God will give the increase. It is the work of the Holy Spirti to bring about the conviction of sin and repentance. We are to consistantly pray for them, for God to move them from one level to the next to make that final decision. Then, one of us, the "perfect laborer", will share His love and the Holy Spirit will cause the prebeliever to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Guess what, all of us will then rejoice together (possibly in heaven) and be rewarded for this soul.
Today I came across the verse..... verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matt 18:18 KJV
In her book "Give me 40 days" Freeda Bowers alluded to the fact that the Jew of that day understood this in the context of Deuteronomy 6....
Deu 6:4 Attention,
Deu 6:5 Love GOD, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!
Deu 6:6 Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you
Deu 6:7 and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.
Deu 6:8 Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder;
Deu 6:9 inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.
(The Message version)
Therefore we are to bind the Word of God to every person and their circumstance in their life and then, loose the opposite, everything that didn't line up with the Word!
The practical example I enclose as I sign off is a prayer for the salvation of my parents!
Father, I bring Mr & Mrs Gopalan before You today, and I bind him/her to righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. I bind his/her mind to the mind that is in Christ Jesus, and I say that Mr & Mrs Gopalan will think clearly and be able to see the truth that will set him/her free. I loose Mr & Mrs. Gopalan from all lying spirits and deceiving voices. I ask You, Lord, to bring seasoned laborers into Mr & Mrs. Gopalan's path to minister the truth and life of Jesus. In His name I pray, Amen.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Convictions to die for and live for!
Today was an interesting day in understanding God's goal for me...."remaining in Him" because nothing significant can happen when I don't. Yes, our charisma (if we have any) can take us to a certain level but before we know it, we will be running on "empty".
Jesus is both the BREAD OF LIFE and the LIVING WATER, who satisfy our hunger and thirst. His Word and His Spirit will take us through all of life, if we consume enough of these essential diet needed for our lives. Two examples of when Jesus discussed these ingredients are highlighted below.
When Jesus was tempted by the devil after having fasted 40 days and nights, He answered satan by quoting the Scripture He studied throughout His living existence (30 years). He too as a Son of God needed to read and memorize Scripture, the Old Testament, the Bible of His time. He then when tempted could say to the devil the following reply, as it is outlined in the Message version of Scripture:
Mat 4:1 Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it.
Mat 4:2 Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger,
Mat 4:3 which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread."
Mat 4:4 Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth."
If Jesus, the Son of God, needed to do that it became obvious to me years ago that I too needed to be in the Word.
The next example was when He dialogued with a Samaritan woman at the well. She came there at an odd hour to have a divine encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Filled with "guilt" she wanted to receive from Jesus "living water" so that she need not come to the well again to draw water. This conversation is captured in the gospel of John below, for our observation:
Joh 4:13 Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again.
Joh 4:14 Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst--not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
Joh 4:15 The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
This woman filled and empowered with both the Bread of Life and Living Water returned to her village and shared the good news with them. She got all them to meet Jesus and receive eternal life as she did. Revival came to a whole village,
My day just ended after our prayer meeting an hour ago. We had a speaker, who like this woman, is totally convicted to proclaim the name of Jesus at all costs! The question I must now ask myself is, will I do the same? In other words, do I have the same convictions to follow after...... the heartbeat of the Living God?
Monday, June 9, 2008
Preferred Will
"Preferred Will" is an exciting word and in some sense it means "to take delight in His will, whatever He does or even allows".
Last Sunday's sermon had got me thinking about this phrase and our approach to God's will. It is not the pursuing of God's will but the preferring of God's will that is important. It is taking delight to do His will as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane... Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but [always] Yours be done. (Amplified version Luke 22:42)
Today's devotion futher emphasized this truth........
13But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future].
14He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.
15Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you. (Amplified Bible John 16:13-15)
At the end of the day, it is not the mysteries that God reveal to us that are important .....it is the delight in preferring to do His will. Today meditation brought me back to more then 10 years ago when I was "cold storaged" at the place of my employment. It was a tough period which spaned more than 365 days, actually I should measure it in seconds, that how pronounced the time was when you were going through it. Those who have gone through a major upheaveal in life may know what I am talking about! I struggled many a days to understand what God was doing in this trial but He spoke clearly....Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth! (Amplified version Ps 46:10).
As always God has His plan and purpose which is always good! And I used this time (and I had lots of it) to pray over the names in my Company Directory for God to bless everyone of them. All the names of the individuals who had caused me this problem were there. The victory came over a period of 1 year (6 months apart) when 2 individuals came to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. The Lord then allowed me to leave this employment and I immediately tendered my resignation and left within 24 hours. The vindication came about 6 months later when I got compensated on the grounds of constructive dismissal.
Looking back, if I had on the first day of my trial left this employment, God could not have worked on me and through me. His name was exalted and people began to realize that there is power in His name. Obviously I am not God and so I don't know the impact of this action on others but for the 2 individuals who received the Lord it was clear. We are all now friends and both of them are serving in different way, our Lord Jesus Christ.
As for me it was the beginning of a new season to be more confident in our Lord Jesus Christ and His ability to save and mold us to be more like Him. I am learning now to prefer His will...........
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Partial knowledge will lead us into confusion
Throughout a sumptuous dinner (my brother-in-law's treat) last night and into the early morning hours of today I was fellowshipping with my brother-in-law and his family, who had come up from JB to attend their annual church camp event. We were caught up with many things including the trip my wife and I had taken, early this year to Israel.
Our conversation focused on the Jewish guide who revealed to us the truth about the "Last Supper" which was the last meal Jesus had with his disciples. This experience really highlighted to me the importance of knowing the whole truth and not partial truth as the verse of the Bible below reflects:
1Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (KJ2000)
Many times throughout our lives we know only in part and not the whole, on any subject matter. Much of our knowledge is second-hand and or after passing to many hands and some even totally distorted for the original "horse's mouth" as it were.
This is what I learnt, that it is always a good idea to check everything out. We can't be sure of the truths we hold on to because it can be partial. Let every truth be confirmed with two or three identical references and in context of what we are researching. Hopefully our source of reference is good or it is from the TRUTH . I know, even Pilate asked Jesus the question "What is truth?"
Two examples of what was claimed to be truth was shattered by what our Jewish guide related. One, was the portrayal by a famous artist of the last supper that Jesus had with His disciples. The Jewish guide explained, (at the time of His death about AD 33) the custom and culture during the Passover feast (The Last Supper) which He ate with his disciples. This scene was painted by this famous painter and he probably didn't know the custom and culture of Jesus time. The custom and culture dictated that they had a seating order and they reclined in a specific posture.
The feast of the passover was an important celebration where the story of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt was remembered and recited to the youngest person in the meal. Therefore this dictates the order of the seating position. The seating is in a U shape form and the first person will be the youngest person who will ask the "guest of honor", who is usually the oldest, the question of what happened during the passover. These positions were taken by John, the youngest disciple and then Jesus, the guest of honor. The next position is for the host and ranking in the order of importance to the least important person sitting in the last seat.
The posture was a reclining posture and therefore they had their feet washed before the came to the meal. This will enable them to lean over as John the youngest person did, on Jesus bosom. The feet was clean and did not smell as they ate together.
A popular book disciphering some secret code had both the reclining position and seating order wrong. Yet most of the mystery in this book was based on this famous painting. I also like to echo Pilate here and ask the question "What is truth?"
My conclusion as we headed to bed was that we have to know the truth and keep at it, till we know the whole truth. And where do I go to do this, if not the WORD of GOD, discerned by the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Sounds very spiritual .........do we have an option or a choice?
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Life's trials are designed to give us a future and a hope
No matter what trials are thrown at us in this life you can be certain of one thing...God is not surprised! God's plan is that all things will work together for our ultimate good. This trust in Him is our only hope and it will allow us to praise Him even when we don't feel like it.
My wife's favorite scripture verse is Jer 29:11. The "Message" version is great to read as it provides us another vantage point because much of the meaning from the original Hebrew could not be clearly translated into English.
Jeremiah 29:10-11 (The Message)
10-11This is God's Word on the subject: "As soon as Babylon's seventy years are up and not a day before, I'll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
These verses talk about the children of God who were captured by the enemy. For 70 years they lived under the rule of the Babylonians but God knew and had through His prophets told this to His children. Yet many didn't read about it or believe it but some did and Daniel was one of them. He lived under 4 different Kings and served them all faithfully despite difficult circumstances. He never once complained because he knew it will be 70 years before God will return them back to their home. He prayed at the end of 70 years for God's plan to come to pass. And it did!It is the same for all of us! Although we would not behave like Daniel, we can trust God's word which says He has it all planned out for our good. My wife's testimony is about her miraculous healing which took place in 1995. She suffered excruciating pain throughout a 7 month period and was only able to sleep for 2 hours every night. This is despite taking heavy doses of medication which the doctors prescribed. We sought God and she got this verse which she held on to, till He healed her instantaneously on the seventh month. It was so supernatural that, one morning she woke up and the pain disappeared. This was a desert experience but necessary for our growth.
I would like to leave you with this quotation from Dan Allender's The Healing Path
The healing path must pass through the desert, or else our healing will be the product of our will and wisdom. It is in the silence of the desert that we hear our dependence upon noise. It is in the poverty of the desert that we see clearly our attachments to the trinkets and baubles we cling to for security and pleasure. The desert shatters the soul's arrogance and leaves body and soul crying out in thirst and hunger. In the desert we trust God or we die.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Anger is a choice?
What a shock both my wife and I had yesterday night, as we headed out to fetch our daughter from her friend's place. The traffic outside our housing estate was like a huge "carpark" and it took us an hour to travel a mile. The reason for this is obvious....the prices of petrol was going up today and so almost everyone was filling up their tanks!
This got me thinking...we are caught in a traffic jam and there could be a 100,000 cars in this traffic, if not in KL, surely through out all of Malaysia. The cars that were heading to the petrol kiosk may not all be reading empty on their petrol gauge. We are caught in the bad traffic jam...angry and frustrated because of the hike in petrol prices.
How much would it cost us sitting in this traffic, both our time and the petrol that we are wasting and the bad feeling of anger, which will eventually, if not controlled, will cause ill health. If this calculation amounted to RM5.00 for each of us then for 100,000 cars it would have been a waste of RM500,000! This is "simple me" working it out in my head and I am not an economist.
How much would it cost us sitting in this traffic, both our time and the petrol that we are wasting and the bad feeling of anger, which will eventually, if not controlled, will cause ill health. If this calculation amounted to RM5.00 for each of us then for 100,000 cars it would have been a waste of RM500,000! This is "simple me" working it out in my head and I am not an economist.
For each of us, it will mean going through traffic, ending up in a queue and buying a very limited amount of petrol (for usually our petrol tanks are not empty). Was all that trouble worth the 40% increase we had to pay in the next few day? It will be good to do the calculation so that we can be convinced ourselves.
Anger come in many forms and towards many things and people but Scripture tell us, and rightly so:
Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
I want to now choose to do this as often as I can, praying that the Holy Spirit will enable me to do it, when this anger thingy happens to come my way. It is all about how we think and the right decision we make. Anger is a choice!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
40 years in the wilderness of murmuring and complaining
Much of our lives we are tempted to take on the burden of others. This is one of the things that cause us to murmur and complain. God has not called us to carry the weight of someone else's burden but only to pray for them. Our prayer causes God to send divine intervention to ease their load of those offended.
The Bible say "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I recalled Paul's admonishing the Corinthian church leaders to put away an individual who had openly sinned (worst behavior than most prebelivers - incest) and how this person had then after a season repented and turned back to God. Paul in his next letter to the Corinthian church requested that this person be brought back into fellowship because satan will hold us guilt of the sin of not being in fellowship with a repented brother or sister.
I believe that all the prayers of the saints (even when they were not in fellowship with the disciplined person) may have caused the divine intervention of God to stir the heart of this Christian to repent and return back to God's grace and forgiveness. The saints did not murmur or complain but just obediently followed Paul's Godly instruction and prayed for the change to take place in this person's behavior.
Our God is a God of second chances (many second chances) and He came through for this brother that sinned when he repented and He will come through for us too. The most important issue is to recognize that we are living in that state of sinfulness and repent of the sin and turn away from doing it again and again. This is a very specific case and so it can't be generalized into every of our situation!
Therefore let us not be like the Israelites, who complained and murmured for 40 years, going around in circles in the wilderness and where most of them even died but let us find rest in Jesus Christ - our Rock. Let us take on His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light (whatever He wants us to do because He will do it for us!). We are instructed to take His yoke and learn to be meek and lowly in heart and we shall find rest in our souls.
Today let us hand our burdens, especially other people's offenses, to the Lord Jesus Christ and in its place take on His yoke and be yoke to Him for He is well able to carry us through this journey called life! Remember to pray for all that are offended, as His Body must be healed and be united again, so that He can return for His Bride, the church.
The Bible say "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
I recalled Paul's admonishing the Corinthian church leaders to put away an individual who had openly sinned (worst behavior than most prebelivers - incest) and how this person had then after a season repented and turned back to God. Paul in his next letter to the Corinthian church requested that this person be brought back into fellowship because satan will hold us guilt of the sin of not being in fellowship with a repented brother or sister.
I believe that all the prayers of the saints (even when they were not in fellowship with the disciplined person) may have caused the divine intervention of God to stir the heart of this Christian to repent and return back to God's grace and forgiveness. The saints did not murmur or complain but just obediently followed Paul's Godly instruction and prayed for the change to take place in this person's behavior.
Our God is a God of second chances (many second chances) and He came through for this brother that sinned when he repented and He will come through for us too. The most important issue is to recognize that we are living in that state of sinfulness and repent of the sin and turn away from doing it again and again. This is a very specific case and so it can't be generalized into every of our situation!
Therefore let us not be like the Israelites, who complained and murmured for 40 years, going around in circles in the wilderness and where most of them even died but let us find rest in Jesus Christ - our Rock. Let us take on His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light (whatever He wants us to do because He will do it for us!). We are instructed to take His yoke and learn to be meek and lowly in heart and we shall find rest in our souls.
Today let us hand our burdens, especially other people's offenses, to the Lord Jesus Christ and in its place take on His yoke and be yoke to Him for He is well able to carry us through this journey called life! Remember to pray for all that are offended, as His Body must be healed and be united again, so that He can return for His Bride, the church.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The Lost, the least and the last
Eulogy spoken by loved ones at memorial services always brings back to mind, what on earth was our life all about. In a lifetime of opportunities we had on earth, which will we be remembered for by them. More importantly in our lifetime on earth what was the opportunities we fulfilled that came up to God as a pleasing memorial before Him.
Undoubtly we will stand before Jesus Christ one day to be judged on the works we have done for Him, as it is stated in the Gospel of Matthew 25:34-40. Imagine 3 major religious faith believe in this judgement!!
The lost, the least and the last as stated in the above verses can be classified as follows:
1. hungry, you gave me meat
2. thirsty, you gave me dirnk
3. stranger, you took me in
4. naked, you clothed me
5. sick, you visited me
6. in prison, you came to me
Then verse 40 reads...Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
What would I leave as a legacy for my loved ones to remember me as and for My Lord and Savior to judge me for?
Monday, June 2, 2008
Out of the storm a new light dawns
1Cr 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
This morning as I read the headline of the back page of the NST - 'Lightning' Bolt, it set my mind thinking of the above verse. The world record for the 100 meters was broken by a Jamacian named Usain Bolt with a time of 9.72 seconds. Well, if we twinkled our eyes it will be much faster than the world record timing set by this Jamacian. That how fast we will be with Jesus when He comes again!
This initial thought process actually started when I was setting up for the last Sunday's Grief Seminar which we have been holding at our church premises for the last 5 weekends. One of the trainees called back to inform us of the death of the father of a staff member.
The teaching for that session helped me understand a few important points. One, different ones grief differently and we have to let them grief individually and also collectively as a family. More importantly the family members especially children should not be neglected during this process.
Actually the most important question everyone ask during this time is, "Is my loved one in heaven?". Our assurance is in the following verses...
1Cr 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Cr 15:57 But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have a Good God who loves both us and our loved one who has passed on and we will see them again on that day when we are "caught up" after the dead are "caught up" to Him first. This is the order of "caught up" if we remain here still when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again for His Body (Bride), the church.
Till then we have to labor doing the work of the Lord, steadfast unmoveable as was Paul's conclusion of that chapter in the letter to the Corinthian church
1Cr 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Shalom, may the Lord of Comfort be our portion today and always. Amen.
This morning as I read the headline of the back page of the NST - 'Lightning' Bolt, it set my mind thinking of the above verse. The world record for the 100 meters was broken by a Jamacian named Usain Bolt with a time of 9.72 seconds. Well, if we twinkled our eyes it will be much faster than the world record timing set by this Jamacian. That how fast we will be with Jesus when He comes again!
This initial thought process actually started when I was setting up for the last Sunday's Grief Seminar which we have been holding at our church premises for the last 5 weekends. One of the trainees called back to inform us of the death of the father of a staff member.
The teaching for that session helped me understand a few important points. One, different ones grief differently and we have to let them grief individually and also collectively as a family. More importantly the family members especially children should not be neglected during this process.
Actually the most important question everyone ask during this time is, "Is my loved one in heaven?". Our assurance is in the following verses...
1Cr 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Cr 15:57 But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have a Good God who loves both us and our loved one who has passed on and we will see them again on that day when we are "caught up" after the dead are "caught up" to Him first. This is the order of "caught up" if we remain here still when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again for His Body (Bride), the church.
Till then we have to labor doing the work of the Lord, steadfast unmoveable as was Paul's conclusion of that chapter in the letter to the Corinthian church
1Cr 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Shalom, may the Lord of Comfort be our portion today and always. Amen.
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