https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/23/this-is-grace

We know that it is by grace that we are saved, not our good works although as a child of God, we are made for good works and thus will inevitably do good works for God. Grace is undeserved forgiveness and love. We deserve to die for our sins but God chose to forgive us and gave us eternal life instead through Christ. It’s like we have been convicted of a crime and was pardoned. Up to there it is mercy but instead of only being pardoned, we are also given a new lease of life, like we are given a piece of land in another place to start a new life. Now that’s grace. God gave us something new, eternal and meaningful life instead of endless misery and suffering in hell that we deserve because of our sins. The blind beggar was not only forgiven his sins (eternal life) but was also healed of his blindness (meaningful life).

The question this morning is that while it is well and good for us that God has shown us grace and mercy, are we showing grace and mercy to others? The Chinese has a saying, don’t kill him off, give him a new road to walk on. Actually what that really means is to let him find his opportunity again in life in another way. That is why when people do wrong at work, employers seldom make it into a police case. The employee will be terminated but usually to the extent that he may get another chance somewhere else. Or he may be forgiven and given another chance without losing his job. As we are not God, it will probably be tough for us to go the extra mile to find an errant employee who had committed wrong another job somewhere else. That’s the true extent of grace but it is unnatural and we will perhaps be overdoing it. I think for us to be gracious is really to be forgiving and to give others another opportunity, another chance. If it’s not a disciplinary issue but just a clash of working styles or work cultures, then perhaps we could take the additional step to help him or her find another place that he or she will fit in better. That’s the essence of grace and mercy. We are quick to forgive, to support and slow to punish and condemn. Like God is able to turn us around by showing us grace and mercy, we will likewise be able to turn those around us by showing grace and mercy. Thus grace and mercy are not just values we practice only because God had shown us grace and mercy but these are values we adhere to because there are also positive consequences. Often the values we are instilled through Christ, by being Christ-like, like having love and compassion, being generous, being kind are not just moral standards that we need to adhere to as Christians. It’s not a compliance regime. God is actually teaching us to be better persons, persons that we ought to be as creations made in His image but all these values have good and positive consequences and vibes. When we treat people better, people will become better people and that can only be good in whatever context, whether it’s in our church, our family, our cell group, our company or our department. Treating people with grace and mercy is always good!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/22/still-seeking

Isn’t it an oxymoron to say we are hiding from God? We can’t hide from God basically because He is all seeing and all knowing. David proclaimed this very clearly in Psalm 139. No matter where we are, at the farthest ocean, up in heaven, in total darkness – God is there. Even our deepest thoughts, God knows. That is why although we may fool man, we can never fool God as He knows our heart, our motivations. He knows whether we are sincere or we have an ulterior motive or an evil plan in the things that we do.

Yet, we do hide from God. Just like Adam and Eve, we want to think that God is like us humans. We can hide from people and thus we can hide from God. We are ashamed of ourselves. We have done wrong. We didn’t do our best. We allowed our flesh to take charge, we gave in to the temptations of the world. We compromised our standards. So we hide.

Don’t hide. God knows where we are. He is compassionate and forgiving. When the LORD met up with Adam and Eve who emerged from their hiding, God for the first time took the life of an animal and made them clothes from the animal’s skin. You can see that in verse 21. The LORD is compassionate and forgiving and cared for Adam and Eve even though they had sinned and disobeyed Him. The consequences of their sin led to Man being banished from the Garden of Eden and as a result was denied access to the Tree of Life and He had to send His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins and by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and seeking God’s forgiveness for our sins, we will one day be able to partake of the Tree of Life again, as promised to us in Revelation 22. The Tree of Life makes it possible for Man to live forever. It is the key to eternal life.

The other notable thing I like to point out today from Genesis 3 is that the serpent is a very crafty creature. He twisted the commandment of God and created doubt and desire in Eve and Adam. They were deceived and mankind suffered the consequences. The deceiver is still very much active in the present age especially in these end times. Thus we must always be on guard against all the deception that is in the world and not allow ourselves to be unwittingly misled. Always refer back to the Scriptures and the accepted interpretations and not form any views of our own in isolation. Allow the Spirit of God to speak to us and guide us in the correct path and may His Word indeed be a lamp unto our feet! Amen

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/21/give-while-you-live

I think it’s a good proposition to give while we are still alive. Of course if we are barely making ends meet, it will be tough to do so. However as believers we also know that when we give sincerely, it does open up the heavens in terms of the outpouring of blessings. This is something for us to experience ourselves but the logic is that if the Lord prompts us to give, perhaps it is likely that the Lord will not want to see us go hungry as a result of us responding to Him. We should experience it ourselves.

But if we have more, we should perhaps not think too much when it comes to giving except that we also need to prepare for our retirement and old age. Perhaps we could also prepare ourselves by going into self sustaining practices like growing vegetables, rearing poultry and livestock, using ground water and solar energy. We will then need less capital to sustain us in our old age. Those practices will also help us in preparing for the coming great tribulation that is expected in our life times.

I think the principle remains that we give while we can, while we are still earning and have some excess. We save up for the future but we should also help others. That also applies in the area of serving. Serve while we are still able, when we are still strong and have energy. Don’t wait until we are retired and old. Serve God now in whatever way we can as we respond to His call upon our lives. What happens if we are striken down by an illness later on? We might be incapacitated. Then we will not be able to serve God much or anymore.

Give while we are still alive. Serve while we are still strong and have breadth in us. We don’t know when will be our day to depart from here, life and death is in the hands of God. Give and serve while we still have time here on earth. Don’t wait any longer. Do it now and unto the Lord. He will help us fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/20/love-of-learning

I had a similar experience growing up reading newspapers as a source of knowledge. In fact I patted myself on the back that I could read in Std Two after learning words and spelling and pronunciation for 2 years since preschool through to Standard One. And the test was the ability to read what’s in the newspaper. Of course my vocabulary and understanding were limited! But the fact that I could read sentences meant that I could read! Then the more I read, the more I learnt the meaning of new words from the context or through the dictionary. I guess children nowadays could probably read and write since preschool as they are exposed to education from as young as 2 or 3.

The lesson today is that learning and acquiring knowledge as advised and taught by Proverbs 1 is a life long pursuit. General knowledge, specific knowledge based on our interests and hobbies, computer knowledge, systems and processes, internal controls, cooking, gardening, camping etc. There is so much to learn and much to be gained. But most importantly our knowledge of God, of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the mysteries of the Kingdom as God reveals them to us is as wide and broad as the universe appears to us as limitless and infinite. There is just so much of God that we may learn and apply and appropriate.

Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance (Proverbs 1:5). Knowledge is meant to guide us, to steer us through life. If I may add – if acquiring knowledge is the engine that drives our boat forward, the fuel to motivate us to move forward in life, then knowledge is the steer to guide us, our boat through life. What knowledge will thus benefit us most if not the knowledge of the Great I Am, the Almighty God, our Heavenly Father who created the heavens and the earth? May we all grow in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ as we add to our learning by listening to His voice and through all that be guided through our life that we always remain true and faithful to our Heavenly Father and not be deceived and swayed by false and dubious teachers or tempted by the various attractions and fancy life of the world! I pray that we will all be knowledgeable in the things of heaven that we are able to discern the times and recognise the seasons of the move of the Holy Spirit in our midst that we may partake of what God is doing in our church, community and nation! Have a good day ahead, everyone!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/19/stay-awake

Accessibility has its advantages. With the Internet and YouTube, we can now experience worship services from all over the world without needing to physically travel there. In a way it is like teleporting although not quite. What happened in Acts 8 to Philip after evangelising the Ethiopian eunuch gives us the vision and hope that perhaps one day that is how we will travel the world in our glorified bodies.

Accessibility however also has its drawbacks. Without actually taking a flight, we could attend conferences and listen to preaching and teaching from practically anywhere in the world. That opens us up to all sorts of strange teachings and may inadvertently shape our spiritual thinking and cause us to make decisions in a certain way which may have long term harmful effects on us. For example, we could be so much taken up by the conspiracy theories spun by anti-vaxxers that we start to believe them to the extent that we ourselves resist and fight against vaccination. Perhaps it is possible that the vaccines have long term negative effects that are unknown right now. But oral medications also have long term negative effects on our liver and kidneys. Does that mean we do not take our medications? The risk of short term effects outweigh the long term impact and that’s the basis that medical science operates. We live to fight another day. Thus, to me, the same principle applies to vaccination – except that if we decide not to vaccinate, we are also endangering those around us and society at large. Unless of course if we self-isolate and completely cut ourselves from the world.

Therefore, be vigilant and pray constantly that the Holy Spirit will guard and protect our faith and hearts. During the end times, there will be a profileration of false teachers to deceive and draw believers away from the faith. Perhaps even the false teachers themselves may not be aware that their teachings are wrong. At the end of the day, check everything against the Word. Check every interpretation. Consult our elders and pastors and leaders. Check with the Holy Spirit in us. Does the teaching sit well within us, do we feel convicted and at peace? Pray and ask God to reveal to us if we are on the wrong track but at the same time, don’t make hasty decisions. Fast and pray, meditate, contemplate and do our research. What is God speaking to us? What is Jesus saying to us? Ask for the spirit of revelation and the word of knowledge to be upon us by the power of the Holy Spirit that our minds and hearts are open to the genuine move of God among us and help us to be vigilant against the wile, devious and cunning schemes of the evil one!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/17/brave-your-storm

This picture given by the writer of Hebrews (believed to be Paul due to the writing style although he was not credited for it) in verse 1 chapter 1 is a strong encouragement for us to persevere on with our faith. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses cheering us on as we run the race of faith that is marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith. We may feel we are alone as we run the race but the reality is that there is a cloud of witnesses, akin to the thousands in a stadium cheering us on to finish the race. Every runner has his or her own race to run, every runner has his or her own finish line. We are not competing with anyone, but we run in our own lanes, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. If our burden is heavy, we pray for Jesus to help us carry it, for His yoke is light. If we face storms and squalls, we ask Jesus to calm them down like He did in the lake with the disciples. Whatever happens, we don’t get off our lane, we don’t drop out of the race. We keep on running, walk if we have to. Ask God to strengthen our feeble legs and knees but we keep on going.

Know also that there is no condemnation in Christ as He had made us clean, as white and even whiter than snow. Leave our past behind. The cloud of witnesses only see us running the race and they are cheering us on. They are not armchair critics picking on our every fault as they know that we can never be perfect here on earth. Our old self, our flesh needs to be crucified daily. But it is still part of us. Don’t give up and keep on running although we are not perfect, although we have not fully obtained the character of Christ. As long as we allow Christ to transform us daily, as long as we do as His Word says, as long as we are fulfilling His plans and purposes for our lives – we are on track, we are running the race. The devil will try to deceive us to slow us down and make us give up, telling us it is too difficult, too tough. Just look at what the world offers. The temptations of the world and the desires of our flesh – the devil will use to distract and hinder our race. He will try his best to get us to cease running, to give up and just turn back to the world and our flesh. But we will not be distracted or deceived as our gaze is heavenward towards Jesus, our focus and motivation is our Lord, the Lamb of God that was crucified and resurrected and had already defeated the sting of sin.

Let us all be encouraged to persevere on in our walk of faith. We are not alone. There is indeed a cloud of witnesses! God the Father, Jesus our Lord and the Holy Spirit will spare no effort to make sure we continue on the race. All the resources in heaven are at our disposal. Race on, push on and finish the race, my dear brothers and sisters! Never give up!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/16/darkness-and-light-2

When we look at brokenness and despair around us, marriages that end in divorce, siblings estranged from one another, parent and child not speaking for years, we ask ourselves why do people let hurt, bitterness and revenge get the better of their situation? We could see for ourselves how the Wang LeeHom divorce saga became bitter, destructive and acrimonious. Sadly, such brokenness are not limited to those who do not know Jesus Christ as Christians are not immune from failed marriages, family fueds and sibling discords.

There is also a lot of unfairness, oppression and injustice in society. Unfortunately, these had existed since ancient times, in fact since time immemorial. Communism tried to bring social justice to the masses but we know that it brought widespread poverty, instead of wealth and prosperity. Look at North Korea as a clear example of failed socialism.

We know that the origin to all these brokenness is sin that came into the world after Adam and Eve were deceived by the serpent. The knowledge of good and evil somehow brought evil into the picture and we only need to look at a child to see the virtue of innocence. There are things in this world once opened up is difficult to turn back. Like the myth of Pandora’s box.

Fortunately, God so loved the world that He sent His one and only son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Eternal life is brought back into the picture through Christ. There is already victory over sin and Jesus proved it through His resurrection that the sting of sin that is death is now defeated.

I think that the root to all these brokenness is the human nature and tendency to be selfish and self serving. We are always wanting to count, calculate and evaluate whether we have the best bargain, the best deal, the outcome that favours us the most. It is fair so long as we get equal if not better treatment. We are always looking for the long end of the stick. That is why when Jesus appeared on the scene, He taught us to turn the other cheek. He was like asking – so what if the other person gets the better deal, the better treatment? So what if our father loved our brother or sister more? So what if we work very hard but others get the glory and recognition? Is our reward not in heaven? Is our treasures not stored in heaven where moth and rust will not destroy and thieves will not steal? Is our life and destiny not in Christ? Is our inheritance not in Christ? Is not our plans, purposes and dreams those that God had planned for us since the beginning of time even before we were physically formed in our mother’s womb? Are we not like Paul; to die is gain but to live is Christ?

We are the light of the world, the children of the Light. If our eyes are set on things above, if our gaze is towards heaven, I think all these bitterness and despair will evaporate if not in an instant, then surely over time. Such things like unfairness, hurt, bitterness, envy, justice are no longer that important to us. No longer our core concerns. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is like a man who found a treasure in a field and sold everything to buy the field. Nothing else really matters once we have God in our lives. If not, then the principle of turning the other cheek will be super tough to take to heart. We will always hit back, demand our fair share, insist on a better deal and if we do not get our way, we become resentful and bitter. Darkness is the absence of light. So how can we light up darkness if we are in the shadows? Step out from the cover of darkness and be the light of the world that we are as children of the Light!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/14/practice-what-you-preach-3

I think a challenge every believer probably faces is to live in accordance with the Word. As James said Chapter 1 of his book we are not to just hear the Word but to obey or apply it in our lives. The illustration given was apt. If we do not apply it, we are like someone who looks at a mirror and immediately forgets what we look like, meaning to say, we have forgotten who we are in Christ. We must be conscious that as children of God, we carry the glory of God in us. Our actions must therefore reflect the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord as we as Christians have sought to place our identity with Christ. To the world, we represent Christ. That is why we need to practice what we preach. Even if we do not consciously or actively preach Christ by our words, we preach Christ by our lives. Thus our lives must put into practice the values and character of Christ. Not so much of not having sin or weaknesses but more a spirit to always want to take the character of Christ in all that we do. Will Jesus do this or that? How will Jesus react in such a situation? And we do likewise.

Perhaps as a way to motivate us to do as the Word says than just be hearers, we may want to consider why it is good to apply the Word. Besides our identification with Christ as Christians or “Little Christs”, applying the Word activates the goodness and blessings that the Word itself brings. In reality, we do not lose out when we do good, when we help someone else in need. If we give away RM1,000 we will have RM1,000 less with us. That is true. But we also open up the blessings of God upon our lives and at the same time we are storing riches in heaven. I’m sure the blessings we will have and the riches we will store is very much disportionate to what we give away on earth! That is why people who give almost always experience much more in terms of blessings from God. The more we give, the more we receive. It is a principle that is reversed – right side up and something that will confound the wisdom of the world. It may be ironic that for people in the world, the more they have, the tighter they hold on and perhaps that’s how they had more – by being frugal and tight fisted. But we as Christians, we will apply the Word and do the opposite and we will instead experience that the more we give, the more we will get and thus the freer we are to give even more.

Applying the Word not only opens up the blessings of heavens to us but it also strengthens our character in Christ and transforms us to be more like Christ and the more we are like Christ in our actions and words, the more we will reflect the glory of God. It’s an unending cycle of goodness and blessings! At the same time we are also storing up our riches in heaven! Isn’t it then wonderful and marvelous to be doers instead of just hearers of the Word!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/13/a-ludicrous-investment

Today’s post in ODB is interesting and a little astonishing to me for two reasons. One, the LORD actually told Jeremiah to buy a field from his cousin at a time when Babylon was besieging Jerusalem. The whole Scripture reading concerns that episode. Secondly, the LORD actually spoke to Jeremiah at a personal level for a personal action when in most cases God’s message through His prophets is to the nation of Israel.

When it comes to investment, the rule is simple and nearly everyone knows – buy low, sell high. Except that at the moment of decision, we do not know whether our price is really low or high as the price could go either way the next moment and this is especially true when it comes to shares. Thus investment experts teach to just focus on the tail or head and let others take the body or meat with more precise prediction techniques. As long as we make some money, that’s good enough. Doesn’t matter that we didn’t buy at the lowest or sell at the highest. Sometimes we hesitate and wait out for the price to go higher but the market turned the other way and we are back to square one.

But I think it is pretty marvelous that God was actually concerned with the affairs of His servants to the extent of asking Jeremiah to purchase a piece of land at the time when Jerusalem was under siege. It seemed like a ludicrous investment but it proves that He is interested in our personal affairs even if those affairs are not related to ministry or His Kingdom. It goes to show that God is sincere in loving us, not just so that we may serve Him or be of use to Him in His work here on earth. That is why there are people who prayed for God to help them find a parking slot and have had their prayers answered! He wants the best for us even if it’s just something trivial like buying something difficult to get at the supermarket or something important to us but not directly related to His Kingdom like our investments. His care and concern and love and compassion extend beyond just the spiritual aspects of our lives but everything that touches us. We can seek His counsel when we face tough situations at work, or when we messed up or when we face difficult colleagues or demanding customers or uncooperative suppliers. So who can be against us if the Lord God Almighty is for us? Isn’t it a better strategy in life to get the LORD on our side than to fight battles on our own?

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/12/hearing-us-from-heaven

There is no doubt that God hears us when we pray because we know by faith that through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, we are now reconciled to Him as individuals and not as a nation or a people. Because God is God, He is able to deal with billions one to one and that includes each and every one of us who has accepted Jesus into our lives. He may also hear those who have yet to know Him the same way Solomon prayed that He hears the foreigner in Israel. He will hear our prayers, our plea and uphold our cause. That was Solomon’s prayer to the LORD.

Yet we also know not all of our prayers get answered. Is it our right that God upholds all of our causes? Is that our entitlement as a child of God? Do we have the right to demand? Surely not! Our salvation itself, which is the biggest thing ever to happen to us, is by the grace of God! That was also not our right based on our works but by God’s grace, mercy, love and compassion.

There could be a variety of reasons why God sometimes do not or have not yet uphold our cause although He hears us. There could be unforgiveness in our hearts. There could be sin in our lives. We may have doubts. Our faith is not strong enough. It could be His timing or His will. But ultimately it is still His grace and mercy. Our role is to pray, to make that request, that plea. Our faith must be based on that fact that if we were to humble ourselves and turn from our wicked ways, He will hear us and heal our land. Have faith that God hears us from heaven and that He will uphold our cause, our prayer and our plea in His grace and mercy, love and compassion. The day will come when we will see that come to pass. In the meantime, continue to trust Him and walk in His ways, read and meditate on His Word and serve Him with all our heart, mind and strength, and be thankful and grateful that we have Jesus in our lives. We would not have had the chance to seek the face of God if it was not by His grace and mercy that we have been called to be His sons and daughters in Christ!