https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/11/escape-or-peace

When I was young, I used fantasy as a form of escapism. Not that I was trying to escape the hardship of life as the only stress then for me was to study hard and do well in public examinations. With the quota system in place and not having the means for an overseas education, the only way to get into the top courses in local public universities then was to score straight As at the pre-University STPM level. It was stressful for a teenager but not the kind of stress that a working adult faces coping with demands of life.

I guess different people have different coping mechanisms for stress and some of these are our personal escape mechanisms. But fantasy I guess should be one of the better ones as our limit is only our imagination. We can dream whatever we want and create our own personal worlds. Some people are able to turn their fantasies into creative works, using their imagination to write and create their own make believe universe of things. Like Alice the Wonderland, Avatar, Star Wars, the Marvel Universe, the DC World etc. One may create one’s own universe of things or write fictional stories within the world as we know it. For example, most TV sitcoms are based on the latter although the stories they carry are fictional. Of course, fantasies can be as dangerous as substance abuse (alcoholism, drugs), another form of escapism – if we ended up living in our fantasy world, out of touch with reality or worse, actually living out our fantasies to disastrous consequences.

The question today – is it escapism or peace in Christ? Do we want temporary relief from the pressures of life and demands of the world through escapism or do we want everlasting peace that can only come from knowing Jesus Christ? Jesus didn’t promise life will be a bed of roses for us (sorry, a too oft used phrase that has become somewhat a cliche). In fact, He warned that there will be trouble. The world will persecute us because although we are in the world, we are not of the world. We do not conform to the pattern of this world and neither is our Master the Prince of the World as greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.

As Christians, it is undeniable that we are faced with both the challenges that the reality of living life itself presents as well as living within the rules and liberty of the Kingdom of Heaven. Except that as citizens of heaven, we have an inheritance in the saints, a hope of glory with all authority and power of the heavenly realm accessible to and by us. Jesus warned us of trouble but He also promised He will be with us, that His peace that surpasses all understanding will be upon us. He promised us a Helper, and the Holy Spirit is with now living in us; guiding us, convicting us and affording us supernatural powers from above.

Do we escape or do we face reality with Jesus at our side?

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/10/etch-a-sketch-forgiveness

It is well known that the love and compassion, grace and mercy of God as recorded in the Old Testament are all phenomenal. His forgiveness is both outstanding and astounding. David writes, “He removed my transgressions from me as far as the east is from the west and His love is so great that it is as far as heaven is from earth”. In essence, God’s love and compassion, patience and forgiveness know no bounds and are practically infinite. Never ending. New every month morning as the dew is refreshed at the break of dawn, so long as the world we know now remains.

As much as David speaks for himself in his Psalms, the LORD mostly refers to Israel when He speaks about His love and compassion through His prophets like Isaiah, Ezekial and Jeremiah and even Daniel. His first love remains the nation of Israel. He may banish them to be exiled for a few hundred years and yet longs to rescue and restore them. But it is the nation, as individuals would have perished before His rescue and restoration a few hundred years later.

It is only when Jesus came and walked the earth among those He created, among His creation that we see the more personal side of God. Jesus wept when He came back to Bethany to see Lazarus, who had by then beed dead for 4 days already. He saw the emotional Mary and Martha and the crowds, and He was moved with compassion for them. He was often moved by compassion to heal multitudes of people, to drive out demons tormenting people. He was moved by compassion to feed the 4,000 and the 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and fish. He was moved by compassion to turn water into wine at one of His first ministry tasks.

The message this morning I believe is to be compassionate ourselves as God was, is and will be compassionate to us. We must likewise allow ourselves to be moved by compassion following the perfect example of Christ. We must do our part as much as we can, as limited may our resources are. We help and empathise out of all we have, no matter how little that may be. Jesus made that clear in the Parable of the Ungrateful Servant.

The second point I believe is as much as the love and compassion of God appears to be infinite, it is not. Even as He may forgive us and Jesus taught us to forgive 70 x 7 times, it is actually finite. We must therefore not take God’s love and compassion, grace and mercy for granted. It will most likely be there when we turn back to Him and repent from our sins, transgressions and rebellion but we have to repent while we still have breath here on earth. There is no second chance once we have crossed over to the other side; always remember that, my beloved brethren. As much as His compassion is as far as the east is from the west or as far as heaven is from earth, it doesn’t extend beyond that.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/09/washed

If we are already a believer, we will understand the significance of this simple act of faith in confessing and repenting of our sins and seeking the forgiveness of God and accepting Jesus into our lives as our personal Saviour and Lord, in the most precious name of His Son, Jesus Christ. That in essence is the sinner’s prayer, the start to the world of the Kingdom of God, where as a child of God we stand to inherit the richness of His glory in the heavenly realm, where Christ is our benefactor and we the beneficiary of His bequest to us with the Holy Spirit as our executor and advocate, who also acts as the deposit given by God of the exceeding riches of glory that awaits us in eternity. A foretaste of what is to come.

The sinner’s prayer may be simple and it is by God’s grace that we may be saved, not of our own effort lest we boast of our accomplishments before God and man. But the saving grace of God required an ultimate sacrifice in the form of the Lamb of God, the Holy One of Israel. So that we may be washed clean of our sins and be sanctified and justified before God and that in essence is the “born again” experience of every believer of Christ. We may have been born of man in the flesh, but in order to know and be reconciled to God, we need to be born in the spirit, and thus born again. With the acceptance of Jesus Christ into our lives as our Lord and Saviour, the scales are lifted of our eyes and we can now see God and Jesus and experience the Holy Spirit with the mysteries of the Kingdom opened up to us through the Word of God and the revelation of the Word that comes with the Holy Spirit in our lives. Things that were hidden from us when we knew God not are now revealed to us; the mysteries, wonders and power of the spiritual and heavenly realm as whatsoever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever we loose on earth shall be loose in heaven and we pray each day that may the will of God be done here on earth as it is done in heaven.

I identified as a Christian from a very young age without knowing what it entailed but my life only changed for real after I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour, after professing the Sinner’s Prayer and thus being born again into the Kingdom of God and becoming a child of God and a citizen of heaven, as co-heirs to Christ to the inheritance that we can now claim in Christ while still on earth.

If you haven’t been born again or are doubtful of your status as a child of God and a citizen of heaven, please confess before God, our Heavenly Father, that you are a sinner and ask Him to forgive you of your sins as you repent from your sins and accept His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, into your life as your Lord and Saviour. Profess and confess that you believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose victorious over sin and death, and it is only through Him that you will have life everlasting as He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Amen and all glory and honour be unto Christ, our Lord and Saviour!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/08/drawn-near

Today’s post concerns the protocols established in Leviticus for the Israelites to enter the Most Holy Place (also called the Holy of Holies) to meet God at the Tent of Meeting during the 40 year period when they were in the wilderness after departing from Egypt. This was after Aaron’s two sons died after doing so and God told Moses that Aaron will suffer the same fate unless he observes the protocols. At that time the tangible presence of God was present at the Most Holy Place. Even at Mount Sinai, the LORD gave instructions to Moses on how to approach Him lest he also dies.

Consequently, the same protocols were implemented when the Temple was built and only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies with a specific offering once a year to offer the sacrifice for the atonement of the sins of the people of Israel. During those times, a rope was tied to the High Priest in case he didn’t make it in front of God. The reason why a human could not stand in the presence of God then was that humankind was sinful due to the sin of Adam but the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago changed the status of humanity when Jesus as the Lamb of God took upon Himself the sins of mankind and became the ultimate sacrifice to atone our sins once and for all. Now, you and I could approach God if we have accepted Jesus in our lives as our Lord and Saviour. This is because we are seen as sinless before God due to Jesus Christ in our lives.

However, as much as the protocols of the Old Testament are no longer relevant today in the era of the Church, there must still be reverence and respect in approaching God. We could speak to God, Jesus and Holy Spirit like a friend and yet they are still the same God of Genesis and Leviticus. In this post Jesus era, the reverence and fear of God I believe extends beyond just approaching Him once a year like during the days of the Temple, but continually as to how we live our lives and interact with others. It’s now all encompassing since God lives in us nowadays. Our lives are to be sanctified daily and our thoughts and actions are to be in line with His thoughts and actions. It’s a daily thing as we are now a living sacrifice unto Him, in Christ where the glorious riches of our inheritance are now accessible by us. The consequence of non compliance may no longer be death but as it is now all encompassing, we will miss out on the infinite blessings and empowerment of the heavenly realm that our inheritance in Christ as a child of God affords us. The letter of Leviticus protocols may no longer be relevant but the spirit of those protocols lives on in our redeemed and sanctified lives as a living sacrifice in Christ unto God. The curtain was torn into two and we can now enter in, but as we enter we now carry the responsibility and accountability of the High Priests of old as a royal priesthood and a holy nation. All praise and glory be unto God!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/06/dealing-with-disagreement

With profileration of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, we tend to give comments quite freely and publicly. I’m not familiar with Twitter but for Facebook our comments may be limited to a wall of a friend but it is nevertheless accessible by whoever the friend allows access to his wall and most Facebook accounts are defaulted to public viewing. Even if limited to the friend’s friends, it is still “public” as there are bound to be people we ourselves do not know among the friend’s friends. That is why most companies have policy on what an employee could write on such sites. This is because if people know where you work, your comments may have implications on your organisation or employer.

The issue today is how do we write on such social media platforms as believers? Do we get carried away with the prevailing sentiment? Using curse words to curse and scold is definitely out of bounds as that so wrongly reflects us as bearers of the Light. But beyond that, how do we conduct ourselves?

I think it’s necessary that we write with decorum and respect. Even if the prevailing sentiment is to condemn and rage on, we should exercise restraint and write with compassion and understanding, forgiveness and love. We may be anonymous in the sense that few may know us publicly (unless we are a public figure ourselves). But anonymity must not be an excuse to hide our true self as a son of God. Just because we are in the shadows doesn’t mean we are not or don’t have to be children of God. As believers, we carry the same face, in private, in public, at work or in church, outside or in the security of our home. Even as an anonymous keyboard warrior, we must never forget who we are in God, a child grafted into the family by the blood of the Lamb. As Christ has love and compassion for us and in His love has forgiven us, we must likewise be loving, compassionate and forgiving on others, in the physical realm as well as in cyberspace. Our words should reflect our identity in Christ. We stand against injustice, unfairness, incompetence and mediocracy but always taper it with love, compassion and forgiveness. Others may swear, curse, condemn and shout with rage and anger but we must write and respond with cool heads, knowing who we are in Christ, taking the character of Christ as guided by the Holy Spirit.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/05/back-to-the-basics-2

Today’s post is another slant on New Year resolutions. In my post just 3 days ago, https://ronnielim.com/2022/01/02/fresh-start/, I wrote about the need to hear God’s Word for us and make that our New Year’s resolution. What is God speaking to us for 2022? What’s Christ message for us for this new year?

But I guess not everyone is good at hearing from God or perhaps we are in the process of still learning how to do that accurately. So basically we are a little fuzzy as to what God is saying to us. Maybe we need more time to get this right. Or maybe the grind has started and we are busy back at the grind, catching up on work as our colleagues and bosses start to return to work. Is there a viable solution out of this quagmire, this predicament?

One solution is to perhaps put up achievable New Year’s resolutions like smiling more or wave at people more or be gentler on the road. While these are certainly achievable – these are perhaps just cheeky bordering on sarcasm. Maybe it is good to fill up words in a blog but I think quite meaningless in the personal context. Why? Because an easily achievable goal is not a goal. We are just doing what we are doing. It cannot be a resolution to wake up at 8.00 am if we are already doing so? There is no stretch and thus no progress. No improvement. It’s status quo.

However, from another perspective, an achievable goal is perhaps still acceptable if couched as going back to basics. This is what Ezekial is talking about in chapter 45 of his book – “give up your oppression and violence against the people, offer your burnt offerings, observe the festivals”. In our present context, read the Word daily (instead of resolving to finish the whole bible in 2022), pray and spend quiet time with God (instead of allocating 1 hour a day to pray and worship God), serve God in church and doing social work (instead of putting in 5 hours weekly to do ministry and welfare work).

Perhaps a good New Year’s resolution for us is to do the basics first as we, in parallel and concurrently, seek God’s Word for us for 2022. I believe the return to basics will help us hear Jesus better and thus help us to receive our “commission” for 2022 from the Lord of Hosts. With that, I wish everyone all the best in hearing from God and in your fulfilling of God’s plan for you in 2022!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/04/resilient-faith

If we watch documentaries on TV or YouTube on deserts, we will see that the desert sand will shift by day or even by the hour. As the wind blows, the sands shift and the whole landscape may even change if there is a sand storm, sometimes burying things under the sand or revealing and uncovering things previously hidden under the sand.

It is thus impossible to build any permanent structure in a sandy desert environment as Jesus rightly pointed out, a house built on sand will not stand. When the rain comes down, streams rise and the winds blow and beat against it, it will come crashing down. We saw this during the recent floods in the Klang Valley and surrounding areas. As much as the furniture, electrical equipment and other belongings were destroyed and made unusable, the brick houses stood their ground amidst the flood waters. But we can’t say the same thing of the wooden holiday chalets at the edges of the hills around Bentong. Some were literally swept away when the water from the hills came down and overflowed rivers and swept everything in its path. In fact, we saw how the waters brought down thousands of cut timber from the hills to the valleys in Pahang.

The spiritual application of this analogy as explained by Jesus is simple. If we just hear His words and don’t put them into practice, we will be like houses built on sand. Our faith will come crashing down when tested. But if we hear His words and put them into practice, then we will be like a house built on rock. The rain came, streams rise and winds blew and beat against it, it will not fall as its foundation is built upon rock.

There is thus a need not to just read the Word but to apply it. When we apply the Word, we will experience God in our lives. God becomes real to us and His glory is manifested. The Word itself is God and thus applying it will both encourage and strengthen our faith. We will know for sure God is with us and we know and recognise God in the process. So when a crisis comes, we go to God instead of relying on others or ourselves. We pray and seek God’s guidance before we act. Our faith is unchanging as it is built on solid foundation, on the rock that is Christ. We will still be strong and unwavering. We will be focused and will still trust God despite the crisis we are going through. If we had not applied the Word and had not experienced God, we will not dare to trust God. We will then rely on others or ourselves. We will act without praying. Our faith will thus be like shifting sands and if we are not careful may come crashing down.

A strong foundation in Christ is necessary and essential to stand the test of time and crisis, especially during these end times when we can expect to go through trials and tribulations. The best way to avoid shifting sands is to hear the words of Jesus and apply them. I think we should take this literally by reading through the Gospels and hearing and applying the words of Jesus as He had said them before. Our faith will then be on a strong and solid foundation.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/03/when-love-never-ends

I think the act of a grandfather taking off his watch to spend time with his grandson at the beach was touching as he just let time go by. Didnt keep tabs on time, something some of us may unfortunately find impossible to do, even for a few hours. In the current context, that would also more likely to mean just spending time with someone without checking our handphones. Just put our phones away during those 8-12 hours, and just chill and hangout.

When my boys were younger, I used to take leave and spend the day with them on their birthdays. I think I started this when Ivan was around 2 or 3 years old. We will just go somewhere and chill like hanging out at a park. When they were older, I brought them to eat, then we will go to catch a movie and then go to play games like at a mini amusement park at the Aeon Mall, S2. Basically, just hang out together the whole day just Ivan and I or Daniel and I and some years with Huey Mian too – a day for them to fully enjoy themselves whether at a park or a mall. Have their favourite ice cream like Baskin Robbin or Haagen Dazs. It is a time when time didn’t matter or time just stood at a standstill as far as other matters are concerned. I don’t know whether my boys still remembered those days but I do.

We should perhaps dedicate a day to do that with God, just take leave and chill. To worship and study His Word. Spend the whole day just praying and reading His Word, fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit and just dwell in His presence. Don’t look at our watches or phones or tablets or computers or watch TV. Give the whole day to Christ. Let Jesus come and engulf us in His presence. I’m sure we will be refreshed snd strengthened and maybe become a different person in Christ!

I think the lesson today is that the Lord is compassionate and slow to anger. He sometimes just let time goes by when dealing with us as we can just be so slow in responding to Him or His call. We take our time but the Lord just chills. It is like God just takes off his watch or just put aside His mobile phone and let us do what we are doing. We should cherish those pause moments from the Lord but know that such moments cannot go on forever. There is much work to be done in the Kingdom and our time on earth is limited. As much as God lets us chill, we must not take too long to respond to Him, to His calling. The grandfather took off his watch but it was only for that time at the beach with his grandson. I gave my sons a day out with them but it’s only on their birthdays. It is never and can never be like that day in and day out. We need to look at our watches and mobile phones again the next day. God may let us chill. But we need to get serious with Him very soon.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/02/fresh-start-effect

In Colossians 3:1-10, Paul speaks about the need to discard our old self and set our hearts on things above since we have been raised with Christ. For we have died and when Christ appears, we will also appear with Him in glory. Our old self has died and must remain dead, crucified, banished.

Yet we know that we are living with our old self. As much as it is dead, it is not really dead. There is a constant need to keep it crucified as we battle with sin and our own impurities and weaknesses, our anger issues, our pride, selfishness, desires etc.

As a New Year starts, we have a clean sheet of paper, a new journal with 365 days of blank pages. We write our own journal, our journey in life, our journey in the faith. We make New Year resolutions, a fresh start to things. What do we want to do this year, 2022? What’s God’s Word for us for 2022? Is God’s Word for us that we lose more weight and focus on our health issues? Eat less and exercise more? Reduce our calories intake and burn more at the same time? Eat two meals a day only and no more snacks? Fast 16 hours and only eat normally for 8? Exercise more – cardio vascular and weights? The physics of it, once we get it right, will ensure that we lose weight. Or perhaps God’s Word for us is to read His Word more, to finish the Bible this year? Instead of starting at Genesis and getting stuck at Leviticus, why don’t we start at Joshua and come back to Genesis later?

New Year’s resolution almost never succeed for a variety of reasons. But mainly because we depend on our own will power or we had set unrealistic goals like wanting to lose 20 kgs! It is always a fresh start but ending it well is what matters! Often we give up after just a few steps. But if it’s a fresh start from God, we know we have a better chance to cover more ground, to achieve more, to succeed or at least achieve much more. Why? Because with Christ on our side, we have the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Christ, we can always make a fresh start because of His abundant love and compassion that is renewed every morning. There is no condemnation in Christ. If we fail, we pick ourselves up and start again. Perhaps that will be the way we could achieve what God has spoken to us? This year, we will not give up. We will persevere on, we will push on. If we fall, we rise up again and we go on. If the cross is too heavy to bear, we let it go but pick it up again and walk on. Don’t retreat and run the other way. Pray for strength and endurance each day. If we fail, have a fresh start again but keep on moving. Let’s see at the end of 2022 where we are! Have we not progressed? Have we not fulfilled God’s Word for us for 2022? Spend some time this week seeking God for His Word for us for 2022 and stick to the programme!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/01/01/saved-by-the-word

Blessed New Year, everyone! 2021 was challenging, we pray that 2022 will be better for all.

As we reflect upon 2021, let’s thank God for His protection and grace upon our lives, that despite the difficulty and challenging times, we managed to pull through and we are now in 2022! Thank you, Lord for your grace, love and compassion!

Today’s Word is about the Word. In addition to the Holy Trinity and the Virgin Birth and God coming to live among us (Immanuel) and dying for our sins and that the various books in the Bible are written by ordinary people upon the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the same way as we preach messages, lead bible studies or write articles today, the Word of God is actually Jesus and was with God at the beginning before anything else even existed. In fact, Jesus is God and He was present when everything that was made were made and that’s the beauty of the Holy Trinity who is the same yesterday, today and the days to come. The fact that the Word is Jesus and God Himself, as well as a host of other things about our faith, is something so special and unique that it can only be the genuine truth since it is not something that a human can think of and thus postulate. Our faith is real because just too many aspects of it could not have been humanly created.

Since the Word is God Himself, every single word in the Bible can only be true and there is a reason why certain events are remembered and why certain aspects of certain events are recorded. Many things will happen in a person’s life as there are thousands and thousands of seconds in one life and there are many lives in the bible! So why some events are recorded and some not and why only certain perspectives are recorded and preserved for eternity? It must have been that God Himself decided which is which and He crafted it in such a way through the many writers of Scriptures to make sure what He wants recorded is recorded. So when we read the Bible, we should always bear in mind that God had willed that this aspect of a narrative is to be written down. Of course some happenings and some people are more notable than others and that is probably why some people are mentioned by name and many remain anonymous but regardless, every person in the Bible is a real person who had lived and died (besides Enoch and Elijah), whether named or not.

As we go into 2022 and as we get ourselves into gear again for our work and ministry, at our personal interaction with God, let’s spend more time reading the Word and praying. The more we read and pray, the more will Christ be revealed to us through His Word as Christ is the Word and He is God. Remember, there must be a reason why a piece of Scripture is written in a certain way and why certain aspects or perspective is highlighted. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and we will find that reading the Word will be such an adventure in opening us up to the mysteries of God! Blessed 2022!