Ronnie's Thoughts

Shelter from storms

https://odb.org/2025/07/21/shelters-of-gods-care

Isaiah 32:1–4 (NIV): 32 See, a king will reign in righteousness, and rulers will rule with justice. 2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. 3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

The picture of trees lining up open spaces to protect homes and people from storms is a good picture of how God and His Word protect His people from the storms of life. If you live in open spaces, you can not avoid storms when they come your way. That is why planting strong trees is an excellent idea to shield homes from strong winds. Of course, if not properly maintained, trees can pose us danger when uprooted during storms.

That reminds me of the genius of the Sydney harbour, the world’s largest natural deep water harbour. It is naturally deep that the biggest of ships may moor. I have personally seen a warship anchored at its wharves right there in the city! Yet Sydney harbour is protected from the open seas and storms! An amazing natural creation of God! See below:

This also reminds me of Psalm 1, in a somewhat different context. Blessed is the man whose delight is the law of the LORD and who meditates upon it day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruits in season and whose leaves do not wither. One who spends time reading and studying the Word is someone who is properly and strongly planted in the faith like a healthy and flourishing tree planted besides streams of water.

The message this morning is to spend more time reading and studying His Word. Read about the ancient times in the Old Testament of how God delivered Israel from her enemies, of how He taught His people lessons in life when they disobeyed His law and worship other gods. Spend time reading and analysing Paul’s teachings and exposition of spiritual principles in the New Covenant under grace in Christ. Don’t just take famous verses literally, but look at the context they were written.

The Word is the spiritual equivalent of trees planted to shield homes from storms. It protects us from the attacks of the evil one or the temptations of the world. As shared by Pastor Bernard yesterday in our local church, the Word will help us redeem our soul to overcome and defeat old strongholds in our mind (the most dominant part of our soul) to make it obedient to Christ. The Word is one of the keys to transforming our minds that it no longer conforms to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2).

2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Have a good week ahead, everyone! Spend more time with God and His Word. May the LORD our God grant us wisdom, discernment, and patience as we deal with issues and personalities at work! Amen!

The poor and us as believers

https://odb.org/2025/07/17/loving-jesus-most

Deuteronomy 15:1–11 (NIV): 15 At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people because the LORD’s time for cancelling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. 4 However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the LORD, your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations, but none will rule over you.
7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then, because of this, the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

I have always remembered Jesus’s saying, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” (John 12:8). Thus, it was OK to pour a pint of perfume worth a year’s wages on Jesus instead of selling it to give the proceeds to the poor. It doesn’t mean that helping the poor is not important. It’s just that honouring Jesus is more important at that point in time. The reason is God in flesh, the Immanuel is with us for a fraction of time, and He will soon sacrifice Himself for the sins of mankind.

Furthermore, as Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 15:11 above, the context is there are already provisions in the Mosaic law dealing with the poor. As the LORD will bless everyone in Israel, there should not be, in the first place, poor people. But if there are, the law provides for the year of jubilee to free them of their debts while mandating the well off to help the needy, not really expecting to be repaid. Instead, the LORD will bless those who lend for their generosity.

In applying these principles to modern times, I believe the correct approach is that it is not our responsibility to resolve societal issues. These are macro and structural issues to be managed and rectified by the government of the day that collects income tax, duties, and other taxes from the general public and corporations. In other words, these issues are just too big and are way beyond us. Even if we are billionaires, what more when we are just ordinary wage earners. That is why Jesus said you will always have the poor among you.

Having said that, it doesn’t mean that we mustn’t help the poor or needy among us. We must still help them. Deuteronomy 15 compels us to if we have the means. Yet there are times when other priorities are to be pursued as in the case of the pint of perfume for Jesus. In other words, if it is time for the church to invest in a new 88-key portable digital piano, we shouldn’t say that the money should instead be given to the poor. There are priorities that need to be pursued, and yet we should help the poor and needy in our midst at the same time, for example, by creating a fund to facilitate those in need to attend the church camp.

Be transformed by the renewing of our minds

https://odb.org/2025/07/16/habits-and-the-holy-spirit

Romans 12:1–3 (NIV): 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then, you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Romans 12:1 is preceded by verses and verses of what Christ has done for us. God’s grace and mercy towards us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, because of such grace and mercy, we ought to, in appreciation of God’s love and mercy, present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Meaning to say, our lives are a sacrifice towards God in terms of our persona, our character, and who we are as human beings. How do we relate to God and the people around us? Do we come out as someone kind, humble, easygoing, forgiving, accommodating, and generous? Or are we egoistic, mean, difficult, vengeful, and selfish?

Paul suggests that to be a living sacrifice, we ought to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We are not to conform or follow the pattern of this world, which basically exalts the self against the needs of the body. Thus, we ought to be selfless and put others first and let the Lord bless and reward us instead in His own timing and will. For example, practising delayed gratification instead of instant gratification is one way to be transformed. This is because the quest for instant gratification will tend to cause us to compromise our faith and principles in life.

If we are transformed and do not conform to the pattern of this world, we will then be able to test and approve, as in experience, God’s will for our lives. We will then see that His will is good, pleasing, and perfect! In the process, we will willingly discard our own will in favour of God’s. We will find that instead of restricting and restraining us, He blossoms us into such a beautiful butterfly that brings good cheer and joy to those around us while glorifying the name of God! We will gladly exchange the richness and fame we were previously chasing for a life lived in the house of the LORD as surely goodness and mercy shall follow us for the rest of our days! See Psalm 23:6. We will indeed experience a glimpse of heaven here on earth as we allow the supernatural power and goodness of God to penetrate into our natural lives.

All these earthly spiritual rewards and experiences start when we decide to transform to become a living sacrifice by renewing our minds so that we do not conform to the pattern of this world! We refuse to bow down to the Baals and Asherahs of this modern times, but instead only worship the one and only true living God, Yahweh of the ancient Israelites and our heavenly Father and that our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen

Jesus prays for us

https://odb.org/2025/07/15/the-prayers-of-jesus

Luke 22:28–34 (NIV): 28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. 29 And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, 30 so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

I think we know that Jesus prays for us even now as He did for Peter when He walked the earth as Immanuel, God in flesh. Paul said that He is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for the saints (Romans 8:24). This means that in His heart, He really wants us to do well in our walk of faith despite our human weaknesses, despite the temptations that the devil will throw at us or what the world may entice us with.

That is why in my bible study yesterday with my Young Adults group, I emphasised that everything good that we have done throughout our life will not be wasted even if no one sees or appreciates. This is because Jesus sees and He will show them all to us when we meet Him at the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ. As much as Christ will judge us, He is also our advocate. He will seek to give us the best reward that He could give us based on the good works that we did while on earth.

2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Even if Satan seeks to test us, Jesus will pray for us that we will be strengthened and emerge victorious. Jesus prayed for Simon Peter, and as much as he denied Jesus three times, Simon Peter was nevertheless the driving force of the Way’s movement and the leader of the Apostles evangelising the people from the start.

Pick ourselves up if we fail. Try again and do better the next time. Again and again. The road to victory may be arduous, but we persevere on as Jesus prays and intercedes for us. We will eventually make it if we don’t give up. No matter how difficult the road ahead may be, we keep at it. In a way, the key to keeping the faith until the end is never to give up! As long as we push through, we will make it across the finish line one day! Amen! Praise the Lord!

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for interceding and praying for us!

Our own broken cisterns

https://odb.org/2025/07/14/digging-for-meaning

Jeremiah 2:13 – “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

The background to Jeremiah 2 is that the Israelites had forsaken God and worshipped the prevalent dieties of the lands surrounding Canaan notwithstanding Yahweh having brought their ancestors out of slavery in Egypt, through the wilderness for 40 years and into Canaan, the land promised to their forefathers. Despite the miracles in Egypt, in the wilderness and their victories in Canaan led by Joshua against all odds (the cities were fortified, they had strong armies and some were descendants of Anak), the Israelites forgotten God and forsook Him for mere idols. Idols that are dead and do not speak. Or so it seemed.

The reality of the situation is not that simple or as it seemed. This is because Baal and Asherah were the prevailing dieties of those lands. They were not just idols made of stone that are dead because behind them are real spiritual power of the air. They were the reigning spiritual force of the lands – what we in modern Christian speak and times call “territorial spirits.”

Yahweh, the one true and living God, instead of choosing one of the prominent tribes of the land, chose one person from a faraway land to build His own tribe. He chose Abraham from the Ur of the Caldeans, believed to be near the city of Nasiriyah in modern-day Iraq. It likely took Abraham months of travel to reach Canaan. That is probably why when God rescued the Israelites from Egypt (from a clan of Jacob of 71 becoming 600,000 men not counting women and children), He showed them countless miracles. From the 10 plagues in Egypt to the parting of the Red Sea to the water from the rock and manna from heaven, God demonstrated that He was and is the true and living God.

However, after years having passed by, the Israelites forgot about their past and God and worshipped Baal and Asherah. They forsook the living water and dug their own cisterns that are broken and can not hold water. They broke the first and most important of the 10 Commandments.

This morning, we may be far away from the supernatural experiences of our past. Most of us are nevertheless still faithful following Jesus and God’s Word in our lives. A few of us may have drifted far away along our own path of glory and may have achieved fame and wealth, but as proclaimed in Jeremiah 2, cisterns that are broken and cannot hold water. But for the majority of us still with God, attending church and serving Him faithfully, we must be careful that the spirit that is reigning and prevailing in the world do not seduce and draw us away from God. The same way Baal and Asherah overwhelmed the Israelites despite their miraculous past experiences with Yahweh, the spirit in the world can cause our spiritual senses to be dulled. Instead of pursuing God’s plans and purposes, we get carried away with our own dreams and fleshy desires or even just to survive in this world.

These are the end times, and our Lord will return anytime. The schemes of the evil one are subtle to ensnare and deceive us. Like the Israelites, after some time, it became natural to worship Baal and Asherah like everyone else was doing. Be alert and be on guard that we don’t end up digging our own cisterns instead of going with the living water. Our own cisterns can never be good. They are broken and can not hold water properly. Remember that and have a good week ahead! May the LORD our God grant us wisdom to deal with the challenges at work! Amen!

Life in Christ

https://odb.org/2025/07/11/life-in-christ

Amos 5:4-6: 4 This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live; 5 do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba. For Gilgal, will surely go into exile, and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.” 6 Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

Just a few days ago this week, I attended the wake of the youngest brother on my mother’s side of my family. My maternal uncle was 67 and was diagnosed with stage 3 urethra cancer in early August 2024 and passed away in less than a year. He underwent chemotherapy immediately after diagnosis and surgery, and by around the end of October last year, the cancer had receded after 3 rounds of chemotherapy. However, later, we heard it came back and spread in February this year, and a few weeks back, he was admitted to hospital and then hospice as he was not eating much. Just two and half years ago, I lost a cousin on my father’s side to colon cancer about a year after diagnosis.

The thing is, although there are cancer survivors, cancer patients can leave us within a year of them finding out about their condition. Chemotherapy is a difficult process and makes recipients susceptible to other illnesses. Yet there are cancer patients who survived through divine healing even at stage 4. But generally, the prognosis is poor at stage 4 and even at stage 3.

I wish we could say to those afflicted with cancer to choose God and live or “seek me and live” as in Amos 5:4. If God has a continued plan and purpose for that person’s life, there is a good likelihood he or she will survive. Indeed, God can heal!

Having seen the fragility of life, I just like to remind us this morning to treasure the time we still have. Spend more time with our loved ones as we or they will not live forever. Marina Mahathir was overjoyed to celebrate Tun Dr Mahathir’s 100th birthday yesterday, and yet she admitted that she must brace herself for the inevitable. We will all die and leave this world one day. While here, do our best to fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives. Serve the Lord in the Kingdom of Heaven. Live in the centre of His will. When the inevitable comes, we have no fear or regrets. We have done our best for God. We have fought the good fight and have finished the race (2 Timothy 4:7).

With that, I like to take this opportunity to wish my eldest son, Ivan, a blessed and happy 25th birthday! May the LORD our God bless the work of your hands even as you pursue your dreams in a foreign far away land! We do miss you here at home even though you call almost daily. Do your best in all that you do, and always remember Jesus and act on the prompting of the Holy Spirit. God bless and take care. Pa and Mi love you dearly and always.

God is there

https://odb.org/2025/07/10/god-is-there

Psalm 139:7–12 (NIV): 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

Psalm 139 above is a well-known Psalm by David that speaks about the omnipresence of God. God is the only one in the entire universe that can be at multiple places at the same time. Thus, although there is only one God in the Holy Trinity, He can relate to billions of us all at once at the same time. That’s the marvel of who God is and one of the mysteries of the Kingdom. I guess that at the end of time in Eden Recreated, He will relate to us one by one like He did with Adam and Eve in Eden at the beginning of time. But let’s see when the time comes how that reality will pan out.

But if we look closely at Psalm 139, David was not actually trying to run away from God as in wherever he tries to run, whether it in the depths,the heights, or the other side of the sea, God is there. He is actually saying that wherever he is, God is there for him. He is echoing what the LORD said to Joshua that He will be with him wherever he goes. Meaning to say the LORD’s presence, glory, protection, provision, and providence will all be with Joshua and David (in the case of Psalm 139) wherever he goes. That includes His vast army of angels led by Jesus Christ as the Lord of Hosts or the Lord of Angel Armies. The same heavenly army that was shown to Elisha’s servant in 2 Kings 6:15-17.

As an exaltation and encouragement to all of us who believe and confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord, know that He is there for us wherever we are. Even if we were to flee to the furtherest place on earth, He is there with us. Seek Him when we are fearful and scared. Call out His name when we are discouraged and sad. Speak to Him when we faced disappointments and bad news. As children of God, the Lord is always just a prayer away. Even if we are staring at death, be bold and confident that Jesus is at the other side to bring us to the better place, to be with Him and fall into the embrace of His loving arms. God is there. Indeed, He will always be there for us! Amen!

Do not quench the Spirit

https://odb.org/2025/07/09/panic-in-a-cave

1 Thessalonians 5:16–24 (NIV): 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

Once we accept Christ, we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and the Spirit prompts and guides us to do things or act or think in ways that are pleasing to the Father. Things that are aligned with His Word. Thus, sometimes, the Spirit will lead us to bless someone. Or pray for someone. Or even preach the Gospel or pray for healing. It is important that we respond to these promptings so that we don’t end up quenching or denying the Spirit. The more we follow and obey, the more He will lead us to do things that are pleasing to God, and we will live in the centre of His will. Remember, nothing good that we do will ever be forgotten. Even our bad experiences can be turned by the Spirit for good, for the glory of God!

The Spirit will start with small things first, like to speak to that person or help him or her or just be kind. Then, as we progress with the Spirit, He may lead us by giving us word of knowledge so that we have insight into what’s going on in the life of the person we are ministering to. Akin to Joseph or Daniel interpreting the dream of the Egyptian Pharoah or Persian King. Later on, the Spirit may even reveal areas of sickness to us so we may pray for healing. It is the spiritual insight that will attract attention and bring glory to God. Because it shows that God loves and cares for that person. That is why we must never quench or limit the Spirit. Allow Him to do His work in our lives.

In addition, always pray with gratitude to God. In all circumstances, give thanks. We may not live until a ripe old age. A sickness may just take our life away within a year, or we may suffer an illness that cause us to be immobile. Do what we can for the Lord while we can as the Spirit leads, while we still have time. Always pray with thanksgiving in our hearts and give thanks that we still have breath. That our vital organs are still functioning. That we are not bogged down by major illnesses.

Ultimately, we want to be presented as blameless before Christ. We have done and given our best based on the mandate given to us. We have fulfilled His plans and purposes for us for all seasons. We have never quench the Spirit.

The mysteries of the Kingdom

https://odb.org/2025/07/08/prayer-of-desperation

John 11:17–25 (NIV): 17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

This morning, as I read the ODB article (see link attached) on prayers of desperation, I fully agree with the writer Kenneth Petersen’s assertion that God neither heals everyone nor brings all dead people back to life. But sometimes, He does raise the dead, like in the case of Karey as well as Lazarus in the bible. That’s part of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

Fundamentally, we need to accept that life and death are in the hands of God. Thus, as much as the LORD determines when we will die, He may also postpone our death. Besides resurrection as in Jesus with Lazarus or Elijah with the widow’s son (1 King 17:17-24), another example recorded in the bible was King Hezekiah being granted by Yahweh an extension of 15 years of his life although he was terminally ill and was about to die (see 2 Kings 20 and Isaiah 38).

The significant difference between the ancient Jews of the Old Testament and we believers of Christ is that although both believed in the resurrection of the dead, we will experience resurrection that will last for all eternity. The Jews of Old believed in resurrection based on their ancient beliefs while we believe based on Jesus’s teachings that He is the resurrection and life and the one who believes in Him will live although they die (see John 11:25 above). It is founded upon the death and resurrection of Christ Himself having defeated sin and death. The resurrected body of Christ is our hope of glory as we look forward to the day when we will have our glorified bodies and live forever in God’s and Christ’s presence in the new heaven and new earth.

Thus, in my view, we should never approach healing or resurrection as of right as it is by God’s grace, mercy, love, and compassion that we are healed or live again after we die like Lazarus. If God has a purpose that we live on even though we had died, then He will raise us even from the dead. That’s part of the mysteries of the Kingdom! The point is not that He is able or not, but whether it is part of His will for our lives. In some cases, God’s name is glorified in our weakness or sickness – that is, despite not healing us. In Lazarus’ case, his resurrection gave much glory to God and turned many unbelievers into believers during his time.

In all that we do, always seek God as to His plans and purposes for our lives. Always strive to live in the centre of His will. Whether we live or die or we are healed depends on His will. For example, whether we continue working after 60 if given a chance or whether we should be more involved in ministry or embark on a career change or quit our day job to go into business or even go full-time for the Lord, seek out His plans and purposes for us for that season of our life. If we align ourselves with God’s will, we will live with peace and joy for as Paul said before; to die is gain, to live is Christ! And as we live, we will discover more of the mysteries of His Kingdom!

A diligent worker for Christ

https://odb.org/2025/07/07/growing-up-in-god

2 Timothy 2:14–16 (NIV): 14 Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarrelling about words; it is of no value and only ruins those who listen. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.

What’s our objective in serving God? In essence, we want to please the Lord, to repay Him for His sacrifice on the cross for our sins. We serve God to appreciate His grace and mercy. We live our lives and present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto Him, that it may be an acceptable and pleasing worship to Him. Like the Psalmists pray that God will dwell in the praises of His people, we ask that God will dwell in the midst of our service.

The other aspect of serving God is to fulfil God’s plans and purposes for our lives for every season. As we serve God, we meet God’s plans for us, and we live in the centre of His will. As believers, we will always be servants in the Kingdom of God. That is why Paul encouraged Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:14 to do his best to present himself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. We are always workers for God even though we may be co-heirs with Christ as children of the living God.

This week, as we go back to work or to school, if we are still students, remember that we are always workers in the kingdom of God. In fact, we are soldiers and warriors for Christ in the spiritual realm. We are always serving God, fighting spiritual battles as we pray and intercede for the saints. Thus, let’s do our very best to present ourselves to God as approved ones, with no shame as we always do our best for God, in full diligence! Never falling short as we always give our best for God!

I pray that each and every one of us (myself included) will have an effective and fruitful week ahead, fulfilling all our work tasks responsibly, in excellence and diligence, exceeding the expectations of our bosses! May the LORD our God bless the work of our hands and grant us wisdom and discernment to deal with all situations that arise! Amen!