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!

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!