https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/14/the-power-of-love-4

As Christians, we sometimes think of love as something that is beyond just human love because of Jesus’s love for us. We know that the ultimate love is one that is willing to sacrifice one’s life for another and Jesus died for all humankind so that we may be reconciled back to God. Willingness to die fir another is not a standard that is achievable by many but at the very least introduces the concept of sacrifice as a prerequisite of love. The willingness to sacrifice and go the extra mile. Those are the elements of love. But the agape love of God goes beyond all that as it is unconditional and He loves us despite our iniquities. It is proactive and doesn’t depend on our reaction. God loved us first and called us first to Him. He knocked on the door of our hearts first. He loves us even if we reject Him. His love remains true, faithful and unwavering until the end.

Human love is usually described as eros (erotic love) or philia (brotherly love) but I think what’s more relevant to us as Christians is koinonia love which is the intimate spiritual communion between us as believers and Christ, that we are a community that is also the body of Christ with Christ as head, as Lord and King.

Sharing from my own experience, I knew that I loved my wife the day I was willing to sacrifice for her and go the extra mile. Before that what I had was mine alone but when I loved her, I told myself that what I had was hers as well. We will have a shared life together, a shared destiny, a commitment to support each other in everything until the very end. When I had children, I could see that I was willingly able to sacrifice and go the extra mile for my two boys. They may or nay not be able to do so but by being an example to them, they will learn to reciprocate and to emulate.

I have seen and I know that non-believers can equally love whether in romantic (eros) or platonic (philia) relationships, but perhaps what will distinguish us as people in the faith is the willingness to sacrifice and go the extra mile with one another and others as koinonia love. When Jesus taught us to love our neighbour, it extends beyond those in the faith and thus if we are willing to sacrifice and go the extra mile for people we interact with (not limited to those in our church), we will be reflecting the agape love of God that is in us.

Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! As the world celebrates the love between couples, let us improve upon our koinonia love within our community of believers and body of Christ, and extend that to others we know and interact with. The more we love others, the more of Christ’s love will be manifested through us.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/13/not-forgotten-3

I have written before in this Blog or perhaps earlier that there are times when we do God’s work that the results are not immediate or apparent. Some results are only seen in the longer term or in years to come or even in next generations as often seen in the work done by missionaries in the past in then closed or dark territories. But a touched local or two and at the next generation, villages and cities are turned to God because that local was a catalyst to the Holy Spirit bringing revival to that land.

Thus, no matter how insignificant our work may look right now, God is able to use us to bless many others now and in time to come. As we respond to God’s call, we just do as called from our own sphere of influence, from our corner of this big, big world, from our home, our desk at work, from our computer screen, from our handphone, from wherever we are – God can and will use our work and reach many, and transform lives! Even if we are just ushering people into the church or cleaning the floors or toilets of our church, God will find a way to bless someone with our work and that someone may be the catalyst to a revival in our church and land.

So never look down on ourselves and say our work for God is insignificant. We don’t need to be Billy Graham and reach millions directly; we just need to be ourselves, be who God made us to be as we are all uniquely made by God – for I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)!

Besides the fact that God can use us no matter how insignificant we think we are or how little we think our work for Him is, it is my belief and confidence that God remembers every single thing that we have done for Him before, no matter how long ago or how recent. Paul exhorts us in Hebrews 6:10 that the God that we serve is not unjust, He will not forget our work and the love we have shown Him as we have helped His people, and continue to help them. God and our Lord Jesus Christ will not forget what we have done for Him. Our work will never ever be in vain. God will use us to turn things around way beyond us and He will not forget what we have done. One day we will receive our crown of glory and one day we will see and get to enjoy our treasure in heaven and remember whatever is ours in heaven is for all eternity! That is why Paul always reminds us that whatever suffering we go through here on earth pales in comparison to the glory that awaits us – our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18).

Have a good Sunday celebration today whether at home via Zoom or other means or on site! Bless the LORD for His goodness upon our lives! Let our hearts overflow with a good theme as recite our verses for the King as we bow before His throne! Bless the Lord, bless His holy name, forever I will let his praises ring!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/12/living-by-faith

A fundamental aspect of our belief system as a Christian is faith. We are justified by faith, not by works. Our salvation and our place in heaven is a gift from God, made possible only by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection thereafter. Therefore, our faith in Jesus Christ believing that He is the Son of God, the Lamb of God is the basis upon which we will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

It is by faith that Abraham heeded the call of God to depart from the Ur of the Chaldeans to the Promised Land, upon which God made a Covenant with him to make his descendents as numerous as the sands on the seashore or the stars in the sky, that some of his descendents may even be kings.

We believe in God even though we can’t see Him. We believe in Jesus Christ based on what was written in the bible, which we believe is the Word of God and God Himself. All those stories and narratives written in the various books of the bible, we believe every single one of them to be true even though we were not there to witness them when they occurred or there currently might not be available independent coroborative support like the story of creation, the fall of man, the great flood or the parting of the Red Sea.

We heed the voice of the Holy Spirit convicting us of our sins and turning us to God eventhough we can’t see Him. But we know He lives in us, and as we pray He strengthens and empowers us and enables our fullest potential in God to be realised since God raised us up with Christ and we are now seated together with Christ in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 2:6). We are now partakers of the riches of His glorious inheritance (Ephesians 1:18).

With such fundamentals, therefore, how difficult it is for us as believers to live by faith and not by sight? The very foundation and basis of our belief is faith and faith is believing in the unseen. In Hebrews 11:1, Paul elaborated that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Thus, it is true that living by faith is trusting in God’s character and power. We know that if we live by faith and not by sight, God will be there to support us, to help and guide us. He will not let us rot or die and neither will He allow anyone to throw us under the bus.

I think a good illustration is that of a blind man that is familiar with the surroundings of his home. He knows that as he walks straight from his bed, he will meet the door of his room and a few steps away will be the staircase and as he walks down, he will have his sofa on the right and this dining table on the left. With God, it is more than just that familiarity because as the blind man moves around his house and if someone had repositioned his chair, God is like a person looking after the blind man and will put the chair where it was originally, so that when the blind man reaches out for his chair, it is there. As he reaches out for his mug, God is like the person who will place the mug at his hand. He will not struggle to find the mug as God is like the person who is there for him, constantly watching over him so that he doesn’t stumble or fall and who will watch and guide him as he steps out of his house to the outside world even though he has no sight.

I believe that as we respond in faith to God and His call upon our lives, He will work all things together for good (Romans 8:28). When we move out in faith, we will then be like Abraham who trusted in His power and character. His power that can make all things possible and His character that loves us and will thus protect us. Walk in faith and not by sight, and we will realise our fullest potential in God because by doing so, we will be fully dependent on God and God being God, He will never fail or abandon us for we are all special and precious to Him. He is our God and our Lord and our Heavenly Father.

He who watches over Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The sun shall neither harm you by day nor the moon by night. The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore (Psalm 121:1).

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/11/the-voice-of-the-father

I guess it was necessary for God to proclaim and confirm Jesus as His Son at the start of Jesus’s ministry on earth – so that people will know then and by reading the Gospels, people like you and me will know now too. For the sake of the mission to redeem humanity from sin and for the sake of the ministry of Jesus on earth, which will go against the Jewish religious norms and authorities at that time. Sadly even today, many in Israel still do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, two thousand years later. In fact like during His time on earth, Jesus is vilified by the Jews today.

I recall a close friend of mine who was possibly the smartest person I have ever personally known. Scored full As at SPM and STPM and when he went to law school, he topped his class and graduated with first class and subsequently also topped his class at Cambridge when he did his post graduate studies on a scholarship. Yet despite all that, he still felt his father didn’t think he had achieved much. Or rather there was a lack of affirmation from his father despite his obvious success.

I think if we are fathers, we must always affirm our children whether they are doing well or not. No matter what, they must know that they are our children and we will always love and cherish and tressure them. They will always be the apple of our eye. We may think it is not necessary or that they are already doing so well but the strange thing is the affirmation of their father and mother is something a child will still crave for despite their obvious success and more so if they are not doing so well. They want to see us being proud of them. In fact some children want to do well just so that their parents are proud of them. But if they are not doing so well, they want to know that we still love them. Even Jesus needed that and God did that twice – at the start of His ministry and during the transfiguration. When the Father had to turn away His face at the Cross because Jesus was carrying the sin of humanity upon His shoulders, that was the most heartbreaking moment in Jesus’s life. For once, He lost the affirmation of the Father.

The takeaway today I believe is that if we had accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour, God will always accept us as His children after what Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary. If we seek hard enough, we will be able to hear that still small voice in our hearts reassuring us as believers that He always love us and will take care of us. If we have drifted away, He is there waiting for us to welcome us back into the fold.

Likewise, let’s affirm our children and our loved ones and the people we interact with that we love them, and care for them and always have their best interests at heart. That God loves and cares for them too and want all of them to have everlasting life for all eternity. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Have a good and fruitful day ahead, everyone!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/10/his-amazing-help

Today’s ODB story is about God intervening with a Godsend snowfall up to a feet thick to slow and in some places stop the 2020 raging fire in Colorado, which by then had burned down to the ground 100,000 acres of forest and 300 houses. The fire was in the fall and the snow came early, thus Godsend – after hundreds of thousands or even millions of prayers were lifted to God for help.

It proves that prayers can move the hand of God as we can see how God had previously intervened in times of famine like how He brought rain down after Elijah prayed when he challenged the prophets of Baal. Or we see how Jesus, being the son of God and part of the Holy Trinity of God, stopped the storm in the middle of the Sea of Galilee or how Jesus was moved by compassion to heal the sick and to feed the multitudes.

We were disappointed that despite our ardent prayers, we didn’t see the then all powerful political regime fall in 2008 or 2013. However, they eventually fell in 2018 and now are making a comeback after a betrayal in 2000. Will our continued prayers help? Yes, I believe so! If we continue to pray, I believe that God can intervene and one day enable a just and upright regime be established in our country that will drive our country successfully into the next century, ushering a new era for our children and future generations. An era where everyone will put in their fair share of effort and hardwork into the nation and be commensurately rewarded and recognised.

Pray as much as we can in our quiet time. Pray for the nation, for our city, our community, our church, our family and our cell group. Pray for our loved ones. Fill heaven with our prayers. Prayer can move the hand of God. The Lord our God is compassionate. He loves us. He can and will intervene when necessary as seen in the 2020 Colorado fire. Pray that His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven. Amen

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/09/mortality-and-humility

Recently I watched a clip of the TV series Grey’s Anatomy on Facebook. It was about this busy guy who had bought tickets to watch a live baseball game with his son; something they had both been looking forward to as he led a busy life. He was in the hospital with some chest pain, nothing serious but he felt that he should have himself checked. It should be quick. He wanted them to hurry up the tests so he could make the game with his son. He called the son and told him that it will be done in an hour or so and he will be home soon to pick him up for the game.

But the results were not so good and he had to go for a CT scan and further tests and thus had to call to tell his son that they would be a bit late or maybe even need to take a rain check. Unfortunately, quite soon after the scan, his aorta ruptured and the doctors tried but could not save him. The attending doctor now has to call his son to tell him that his dad is not coming home at all. The show ended by saying that in just a matter of a few hours, life changed dramatically and drastically. One moment you are there talking, making plans, looking forward to things – next moment, you are gone, no more breadth, your soul has left your body, you are no longer among the living.

This could happen to any one of us at any moment. During the early days of Covid, we saw how seemingly healthy people got admitted and came out straight to the cemetery or crematorium under strict protocols. Families weren’t given the chance to see them face to face to say their final goodbyes, to hold or touch them. At most the nurses would arrange a video call before they were put in an induced coma for intubation. Many did not make it past that.

It is good that the situation has improved tremendously now with vaccination and boosters and with more practicing face masking and social distancing. But it remains that life is fleeting and frail. We are indeed like mist – here one moment, gone the next.

We don’t determine when we die; it could be the next moment or we could live for many more years to come. Thus it is good to be reminded of our mortality. We are no Highlander immortal. We have a life span and that is in the hands of God, our creator but who is also our Lord and Father in heaven. It is thus good I feel to whisper to ourselves ‘memento mori’ – ‘remember that you will die’, like the servant did to the victorious Roman general basking in the adulation of the public. Always remain grounded even if we are doing well. Always be humble before God and man! Remember God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble! Always remember our days are numbered, so always keep our pride in check. Fulfil God’s plans and purposes for us while we still have breadth. Do the things God wants us to do now, rather than later as tomorrow may never come. As Paul said before – to die is gain but to live is Christ. Live for Jesus and we will not regret our days!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/08/success-and-sacrifice

I just heard a sermon last Sunday on how the Christian world is sadly similar to the secular world whether it’s the church, a mission organisation or a seminary. There are opportunistic people in high places, there is politicking, manipulation and people looking for sensational things like supernatural encounters, angelic or spiritual visions and big titles (like apostles, prophets) and academic qualifications like doctorates. The criteria for success has become somewhat similar – the flashy, the high flying rather than the humble and the down to earth. The focus is still on the externals and the performance aspects of a person (speaks well with signs and wonders), rather than the character and what’s inside so much so that when someone is gifted and anointed, people will close an eye to his or her character flaws or manipulative or opportunistic ways.

That is most unfortunate. At the personal level, I am always wary of people who like to be called apostle or prophet as though they are Elijah, Ezekial or Peter, Paul or John. Also I cannot understand the paper chase when we know that head knowledge although good to have is not critical or something that defines our relationship with God. Furthermore, all these emphasis on titles and Christian education comes across as seeking to glorify the self and not God. Isn’t self-glorification against the very core of the Christian virtue as the LORD hates the proud and exalts the humble. Are Christian leaders not servants first, and didn’t Jesus Himself teach that the first shall be last and the last first? Can we all dismiss and justify all this down to just human frailty and the weakness of the flesh? Hasn’t the case of Ravi Zacharias taught us anything?

I think we must relook our criteria for success in the Christian world more to stuff like how much a person is willing to lay down his life for others? How much someone is willing to go out on a limb to help others? How humble someone is in character? How forgiving someone is of others who had hurt or harmed him or her? How much suffering one is willing to go through for Christ? I think these are the things that Christ will judge us for our reward on that day, whether we deserve our crown of glory? Furthermore, these are the things that will store up our treasures in heaven, not how many members our church had or how powerful our ministry or how big our title was? Food for thought for today!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/07/getting-what-we-want-2

History is filled with people getting what they wanted and those who didn’t. The bible itself records such instances as in the case of Adonijah and Solomon, or even Saul and David. We also see what happened between Jacob and Esau or Cain and Abel. People react badly when they didn’t get what they wanted. But fortunately in the case of Jacob, God turned Jacob around when he wrestled with the angel and he became Israel. He got what he wanted by deceit and craftiness and God had to change and transform him and put him through a period of 20 years with Laban to fully turn him around before using him for His glory.

But the point today is what do we do if we don’t get what we wanted or had aspired for? This could mean that promotion, that position, that house, that car, that million dollars, that pastoral office, that leadership status whether at work or in the church or ministry. It could mean that large department or that large church or that large mission organisation that we used to lead. We might have worked very hard all these years for that but unfortunately it is not meant to be. We see that very clearly in our present local political scene of old politicians trying to relive their past, trying to achieve their dreams even in their old age.

I think we have got it all wrong if we had been pursuing our own dreams and desires. Even if we had got what we wanted, it wouldn’t be good enough to satisfy our most innermost needs. It becomes worse when we didn’t get what we wanted. We are filled with disappointment, anger, bitterness, hatred and even revengeful desires – all negative elements that will eat us up and make us only a shadow of what we could have been in God. I recalled a founding pastor of a church who dreamed about having 100 churches in cities in Malaysia and abroad and in the end, could not even build a simple church building for the church even though they were given the land and had raised the finances. Why? Even the building itself had to be a grand affair!

In the end, I feel it’s best we pursue what God wants for us than what we want ourselves. Go for God’s plans and purposes for us that He had planned for us since the beginning of time. That is what matters at the end of the day or should I say at the end of time. What if we achieved what we wanted or didn’t achieve what we wanted? Will that matter in the scheme of things? What matters is did we achieve what God wanted for us? Did we fulfil what Jesus wanted us to do? What is it that Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit had earmarked for us to do as part of the many tasks for the Kingdom of God? We know that Christ is the Head of the body and we a part. Which part is ours? Which brick is it ours to lay in the building that is Christ? No point laying our own brick at another building. We do our part and that’s what matters in the end.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/06/sweet-sleep

There are instances where the bible uses the term ‘sleep’ to denote death and for the righteous (justified by law or faith), it is an apt description as our ultimate destination is heaven and death is temporal as there will come a day when all those who are righteous before God will be resurrected to be in the presence of God for all eternity.

However, the sleep that we are talking about today is not that kind of sleep but the sleep that we are all more accustomed to. This is the sleep when we rest and close our eyes and drift into a world of dreams. A sleep that is necessary for most if not all created living beings because the physical body needs a downtime for its systems to perform what we call in the working world periodic maintenance, except that for humans and most mammals, it is a daily affair. We need to sleep once a day and if we push ourselves by denying sleep over a prolonged period, our body may break down. In fact I believe that is the reason why God made day and night and provisioned that there are 24 hours to a day.

But to some, sleep is difficult to come by. There could be a variety of reasons but mostly it is our worries that usually cause us sleepless nights. The latter expression to me is a misnomer as people usually use it to mean difficulty in sleeping i.e. insomnia rather than no sleep at all.

So in a way ease in falling asleep is indeed a blessing. Some could even do genuine ‘power naps’. Intentionally dozing off for just short periods and allowing the body to go into its ‘rest and repair’ mode. It’s a gift from God if we sleep easily. Of course not unintentionally, especially when we are at the wheel! Then it becomes a serious problem with major consequences! There are also people who developed a habit to drink in order to sleep and that is a dangerous slope as it will almost certainly lead to alcoholism! If we exercise and workout so we can have a good sleep, then that’s an excellent approach to the issue at hand so long as we don’t overdo it and end up forcing our body to go into overdrive at its rest and repair phase!

A clear conscience and a heart of gratitude to God are things that will help us get a good night’s sleep. May I add a forgiving heart so that we are always reconciled with God and man every night? Settle our worldly affairs and be at peace with the world at large. Then we can dream in peace and joy with no worry in the world bothering us in the background. Then, I believe our dreams will be sweet and joyous.

My prayer for all is that we will all get our deserved rest every night and dream good and sweet dreams, perhaps doing God’s work and helping people like we do in real life! Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/05/not-for-our-comfort

The life story of Dan in today’s ODB is similar to that of the well known Toni Eareckson who became a paraplegic after suffering a spinal cord injury. They both sought healing from God but it never came. Instead, in their suffering, they persevered, from their perseverance, they had character and from character, they had hope. They both recognised and saw what God was doing in their midst and accepted the fact that it is through their sufferings that the glory of God will be manifested. Paul also likewise suffered loads of hardship in order that the glory of God may shine through his life in fulfilling his calling to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.

I believe everyone goes through sufferings one way or another. Some sufferings are self evident like paralysis. But most sufferings are hidden and people suffer in silence. We may seek healing and we may command healing but it is also a fact that not everyone gets healed despite the authority given to believers to command and pray for healing. Healing is still a matter of God’s grace in my view although some may disagree.

The question today is do we glory in our sufferings (Romans 5:3) knowing that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance produces character and character, hope? Do we rejoice inspite of our condition or situation? For example, if we are diabetic, it’s a life long preoccupation to control our diet, weight and take our medication. If we have cardio vascular issues, it’s a life long affair dealing with blood thinners and anti cholesterol medication which has long term implications on our liver. Or if we have had a colectomy, we need to live a life carrying a stoma bag with us.

If we are in such a long term situation of suffering, I think we must always remain positive and see the glory of God working in us. Glory in the fact that God is working through us through our sufferings. Remember the story of the beggar at Abraham’s bosom in paradise (Luke 16:19-21)? He laid at the rich man’s gate and longed to eat the crumbs that fell off the rich man’s table. But when they both died, it was a very different scenario.

As believers redeemed by the blood of Christ, having been reconciled with God the Father, we have an inheritance in the riches of His glory. Our destiny and inheritance in the kingdom of God are the things we should guard against and be protective. What we go through and suffer now here on earth pales in comparison to the glory that awaits us (Romans 8:18). No matter how great our sufferings are now, always see the glory of God that is in our midst, what God is and plans to do through our sufferings while focusing our eyes on the glory and inheritance that awaits us one day in heaven. See John 9:3 – neither he or his parents sinned. This happened so that the works of God may be displayed in him. In that particular situation, the blind beggar was healed but in other cases, it is through our sufferings that the glory of God may be manifested!