https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/22/abundance-meets-need

In 2 Corinthians 8:13-15 Paul expressed a concern on the difference between the church that has and the church that has not and yet he commended the church that has for helping out the church that didn’t. Thus equality is achieved when the one with more blesses the one in need. In my own local church, we have a better off congregation blessing the less well off one and this has been going on for years as the latter is like an outreach. But I think it is uncommon and rare for a church to bless another totally unrelated church to achieve some semblance of equality between churches.

But a deeper message from 2 Corinthians 8:13-15 is that the church that had more actually didn’t get their abundance effortlessly. They were hard pressed too. They had to strive in giving to achieve the abundance and yet they were willing to share their abundance with the church with the lack. Due to limited time, I am unable to dwell deeper into why this whole situation arose and the background as to why the abundant yet hard pressed church was prompted to share with the church in need. But suffice to say that for this morning’s message, that is what happened – that abundance met the lack although both were hard pressed.

I think the message today is that even if we are hard pressed and perhaps struggling, we can still give and bless others. The quantum of giving may not be much but to the person with the lack and the need, whatever help is welcomed. RM10 can buy a simple meal and RM20 can buy us more than a tray of eggs. Some people can get buy with a meal a day. I guess at the end of the day, it is the sincerity of the heart that matters. Giving and blessing others, whether as an individual or a church, can never be a bad thing and need not be in large sums as every ringgit or dollar can make a difference to a person in need. Use whatever resources God has blessed us with to bless others and we will reflect the glory of God in our lives. That is genuine love in action!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/21/god-fights-for-us

What is the reason we accepted Christ? What attracted us to become a Christian, a believer, follower and disciple of Christ in the first place?

There could be a variety of reasons why we accepted Christ and one of them would definitely be the promise and hope of eternal life. The Holy Spirit had lifted the scales of our eyes to see the truth and we having exercised our God-given will to choose, had decided to follow Jesus, the same way Peter, John and James dropped everything and followed Him. In a way, God had predestined us to be His children, sanctified by the blood of Christ and yet as humans, we always have the choice to say yes or no.

Another reason or an additional reason we accepted Christ is probably because we sought His grace, refuge and protection. As much as we know our destination is eternal, we still have to Iive here on earth even if we are pilgrims passing through this temporal life. We have responsibilities and obligations as a human being to provide for ourselves, our family and loved ones. In fact, as a believer now we are also obliged to help the poor, the needy and the downtrodden, the fatherless, the widow and the foreigner.

In that sense, God declares today that He is our protector. As much as we place and put our trust and faith in Him, He will be our refuge and fortress. He will cover us with His feathers and under His wings we will find refuge. His faithfulness will be our shield and rampart. The promise in Psalm 91 is that whoever rests in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. We will not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies in the day nor the pestilence nor the plague. A thousand may fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand and yet it will not cone near us. The LORD is indeed our refuge, our fortress, our protector! Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/20/trustworthy-love

Romans 12:9-21 is another exposition on love by Paul eventhough I think most of us are more familiar with 1 Corinthians 13. The slant appears to be the love that we should have as we serve God together in church and in ministry. To hate what is evil and cling to what is good. To be devoted with one another. To keep up our spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. Sharing with God’s people who are in need and practice hospitality. It goes on to exhort us to bless those who persecute us and not curse them. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone and do not repay evil with evil and if possible live in harmony and at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge but leave that to God.

There is a lot in Romans 12:9-21 but note that it is grounded in sincerity. Love must first be sincere. Sincere in the sense that it is honest, genuine and real. Not make believe or a show. Not just a mask or to pay lip service. When love is real and sincere and God driven, it is unlikely that we will betray the ones we love. We will instead stand firm with them. Stand on their side in times of need. We will always want to do the right thing, do the honourable thing. We will place the needs of others above ourselves. Our love is hence trustworthy.

Ultimately, in ministry and church, our love has got to be real and genuine. The world looks up to us and at us. The devil looks to us to punch holes in our testimony. We must always be on guard to make sure our love is trustworthy, that others can depend on us.

Let’s all serve God together in love and harmony with the peace of God enveloping us as we minister to one another and reach out to others around us. Live in peace and harmony. Live responsibly, always doing what is right and do not repay evil with evil but pray for and bless those who are against us. Good sense will prevail eventually and in the end, I believe we will achieve much, much more for God if we are united and serve in sincere and trustworthy love!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/19/fatherless-no-more

Happy and blessed Father’s Day, everyone!

I realised that with the recent passing of my earthly father, I’m now also fatherless. In fact, my ex-boss mentioned that we are now all orphans having already lost our parents.

As much as at our age, we would prefer to have our fathers still with us perhaps to bounce ideas off him, to relate, interact and socialise things, to do things together or just to live life as father and son – the concept of God being the Father to the fatherless and widows is more pertinent to those who became fatherless when younger. God being the protector of the weak and poor, He is thus also the Father to the fatherless.

I think for some of us who are no longer young and still trying to find our place in the world, it is time that we also become a father to the fatherless or at least help God become the Father to the fatherless. This is because being a protector of the widows, the fatherless, the poor and foreigner is what is dear to God’s heart. Helping the weak, the desolate and poor is close to the heart of God.

It is therefore time for us to step out to mentor, nurture and cultivate not only our own biological children but also othets around us including perhaps having spiritual children of our own. In fact, it is time for us to begin to be that shelter for those around us like God is to us. As God is the cedar of Lebanon to us, we should start to be that cedar of Lebanon to those around us – a place of shelter and shade from the blistering heat and the sun, a place of refuge and comfort.

Thus, even if we are single or still childless, we can be still be a father to others. We can adopt and foster like in today’s ODB life example or we can be a spiritual father to those around us, our cell group, our church, at our workplace, school or college.

Happy and blessed Father’s Day, everyone! Have a wonderful day ahead!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/17/planted-in-him

Jeremiah 17:5-8 contrasts those who trust in the Lord as those who is like a tree planted by the water whose leaves are always green and who bear fruit in season with no fear of drought, compared to those who don’t who are like a bush in wastelands, who live in parched places of the desert and in a salt land that no one lives. In other words, a life of prosperity vs a life of desolation. Greenery, flowers and fruits versus dry, abandoned and waste land.

Noah built the ark on instructions from God and waited for the rain. Caleb and Joshua waited for 40 years before entering the Promised Land. Rebekah waited 40 years to have a child. Jacob waited 7 years to marry Rachel. Simeon waited and waited for many years before he saw baby Jesus. Moses was 40 years old after he left Egypt but only heard the calling of God from the burning bush when he was 80. Even Jesus waited until He was thirty before He begin His ministry.

Trusting God and waiting upon Him is very much part of our walk of faith. Things will occur and unfold in His time. But we know that He will make all things beautiful in His time.

The message today and my encouragement to you and myself is that we must keep on trusting God as we wait upon Him. Don’t give up hope and abandon His call for our lives. We will soon see His plans for us unfold. As we pray for certain things, wait patiently for those things to come to pass. If God had impressed upon our hearts for those events to happen, continue to pray and trust in Him. It may take 10, 20, 30 or 40 years or it may come to pass in 3 years. Let’s continue to wait and trust the Lord and look to Christ heavenward even as we serve Him with all our heart, mind and strength. Christ is and will always be our Lord and Saviour, and our Heavenly Father will always be our God and Father!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/16/new-dna

I think today’s ODB life example of a bone marrow transplant patient’s DNA is a perfect illustration of what happens to us when we accept Christ. I have verified this and the truth is that once someone takes a bone marrow transplant, he will exhibit the DNA of both himself and that of his donor. He will thus have dual DNA or even the DNA of his donor. I guess the reason is that our DNA is produced by our bone marrow.

Thus when we accept Christ, we are now a new creation in Christ. Physically we are the same but spiritually our spirit has been awakened and we now have Christ in us. We are a new creation, our old self is gone in the sense that we may now overcome our old habits and behavioural traits that make us selfish to become selfless in Christ. Instead of only thinking of ourselves, we now think of others in our actions and decisions. We care for others as much as we care for ourselves. We are willing to give away our money and use our time and talents to bless others as we know our purpose in life is to be a blessing to others and not to keep or hoard things for ourselves only. Our mission in life has now changed to be a blessing to our neighbour. We live for God and His plans and purposes for our lives. We no longer live to only achieve our own plans and ambitions. In everything we do, in all decisions we make, we pray and consult God on what’s best for Him and His kingdom.

The reality however is that like the bone transplant patient, our DNA will always remain with us. As much as accepting Christ makes us a new creation, our old self is still present with us. We need to constantly influence and transform our old self so that our new self in Christ will always dictate our lives. In fact not only make our old self conform to our new self in Christ but transform our old self into our new self in Christ! It will take time but it is possible with Christ strengthening us by the power of the Holy Spirit as we immerse ourselves in prayer and reading of His Word and dedicate our lives to serving God in ministry for His kingdom! It’s a constant and daily affair – never give up on this transformation from within us!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/15/the-pudding-guy-2

Luke 16:1-12 the Parable of the Shrewd Manager is perhaps a more difficult parable to understand if we were to just take it at face value. It is somewhat controversial as it appears to glorify dishonesty when a manager who is about to lose his job started discounting the debts of his employer’s debtors to gain a favour from them so that they will treat him well after he is no longer the manager. Jesus did not elaborate on why it was not wrong to do what the manager did (perhaps the debts were grossly inflated by outrageously high compounded interest upon interest in the first place) and we also do not know why the manager had such authority to reduce debts unilaterally, but the point made by Jesus was to use our earthly wealth for eternal purposes.

As a shrewd believer, we should not hoard our wealth in the sense that we should not hold it too tightly even though we need to save for our old age. The reason is obvious. Earthly wealth do not last forever and so is our position and status in life. So why don’t we use our earthly riches, social position and influence to sow into the Kingdom of God and in the process store treasures in heaven where the thief may not steal or the moth or rust will not destroy? Sowing into the Kingdom could mean giving to missions and Christian causes but could also mean just pure charitable organisations that help the needy, poor and downtrodden. It could also mean just helping out our neighbour who is in need or using our influence to help someone out, perhaps someone who had just been laid off and is jobless. We will see more and more of such cases as the economic woes caused by the pandemic and Russian-Ukraine war as well as the Western sanctions against Russia and the US trade war against China all start to kick in over the next few years. The world will go into greater turmoil.

At the most fundamental and basic level, we ought to use as much as we can for the glory of God. Our time and talents and giftings. Our wealth, money, influence, position and status too. That’s the clever and shrewd thing to do. Use them all for the glory of God, for eternal everlasting purposes. It is a privilege to be able to work and earn a living. Just remember that as we earn and have money (and we need not be rich!), we are given the privilege to sow into eternal purposes. Use that privilege to invest into eternal treasures while we still can. We will not live forever here on earth and neither will our jobs and position be ours forever. I believe that is the essence of the Parable of the Shrewd Manager – be a shrewd and smart believer and use all that is within our control for Christ and the glory of God!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/14/deceived

John cautioned us to be aware and to beware of 3 things in life – lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). All are equally bad but I think it is the last one that afflicts most of us and have the potential to deceive and destroy us.

I think it is to a certain extent understandable if we do not know God and thus attribute our success to our hardwork, talent and ingenuity. We worked hard to be where we are today, bending the rules whenever it is necessary to achieve our goals as the end justifies the means. No matter what, we want to achieve that position, accumulate that wealth, own that house, drive that car. We did that all on our own and thus it is difficult not to be proud of ourselves or our achievements. Even then, even if our success has nothing to do with God (as perceived by us) pride can make us overconfident and becoming too sure of ourselves that we might overestimate our own capabilites and take on more than we can chew.

But if we know God, there is really no excuse to only pride ourselves for our own successes. For surely Jesus was in the equation, carrying our burdens, rescuing us when we fall, protecting us from the pitfalls of life. And yet we do see Christians being so full of themselves that they forget that God was a major factor in who they are today. Sadly this affliction is not limited to believers who are successful in the world whether business or corporate but also those in ministry. A famous Christian personality can be proud because he believes that he is so special before God that he didn’t need God anymore. He feels he can function and do well in fulfilling God’s plans for him by just relying on the gifting and anointing God gave him when he actually should still be depending on God all the time.

I just saw this phrase in a movie – as extraordinary as everyone else. We may be special before God, so is everyone else. God gives us special talents, gifts and anointing – He also gives the same to others although in differebt measures. Whatever successes we have achieved, always remember that it is by the grace of God. He is the one who put us where we are today to achieve His plans for us. Always go back to the Lord for guidance so that we are able to hear His still small voice all the time. If we go wrong or have strayed, repent and admit it before God and change our ways. Don’t let our own pride come between us and Christ. Let’s be the most humble before God and man as pride of life deceives and destroys.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/13/divine-tenderness

We know that God lives within us by the Holy Spirit if we have accepted Jesus in our lives as our Lord and Saviour. Yet there are times when we feel that the LORD is far away in another dimension or in some far flung galaxy. We feel we are all alone going through crisis after crisis in life, tough and difficult situations as though our God is a fierce taskmaster seeking always to train us and make us a better person through the life situations that come our way, from work problems to family issues to children’s future, even to the cleanliness of our homes.

One solution as preached in yesterday’s Sunday service in my local church is to pray and communicate with God. Talk to Him and tell Him all that we are going through. Cast our burdens on Him even as we unload and share with different ones among us that we know like our spouse, our children, family members and pastor.

If you read today’s ODB on how the angel of the LORD woke up Elijah to eat after having prepared and cooked bread for him over burning coals, we know that God in His divine intervention in our lives is gentle and caring. Many believed that the angel of the LORD is the LORD Himself who took the trouble to care for His prophet in times of His prophet’s lowest point of life. Elijah was so afraid of Jezebel that he ran for his life after killing 200 of Jezebel’s prophets of Baal. Elijah had won a great victory demonstrating God’s power and yet when Jezebel vowed to take his life, he was overcome by fear and ran and ran. He was exhausted and told God that he is only one left that was true to God and asked God to take his life (of course Elijah was mistaken as the Lord had prepared and reserved 7,000 who had not bowed down to Baal).

Look to the Lord, look to Christ when we face life issues that appear overwhelming. Look to Jesus in prayer. Like in the case of Elijah the Lord will not abandon us but will come and take care of us. He will feed us to strengthen us so that like Elijah, we may continue with our journey, our walk with Him. God took the trouble to cook two meals for Elijah!

Just recently I had the privilege and honour to experience God’s tenderness and love. Like I shared yesterday, in the Acts of God in our lives, we will know for sure it is God when He intervenes in our lives. When we experience it, we will have the full assurance that He is right behind us watching our backs to make sure that if God us with us, who can be against us? We can then be like Joshua and Caleb, we can be strong and courageous and not be afraid and conquer our Promised Land. Cling on to Romans 8:28 – know that God will work all things good for those who love Him amd are called according to His purpose. Know that the LORD our God will make sure that we will be able to fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives. As we cling to Him, He will not let us go as He is forever in our lives, in all seasons! As we call upon His name, He will hear and answer us!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/12/gods-moves

In legal and corporate parlance, when we use the phrase acts of God, we mean Force Majeure which are unavoidable situations beyond the reasonable control of a party absolving the party from fulfilling its obligations under contract. Force Majeure is however broader and is not limited to only acts of God like natural disasters as it covers things like wars, labour strikes and nowadays pandemic and even trade wars as people begin to redefine the term for their contracts in light of contemporary events.

But in the case of the Feast of the Passover, it is celebrated by the Jews to commensurate the passover by the angel of death over the homes of the Israelites when they were Egyptian slaves. On that day, the angel of death took the life of every first born in every family in Egypt whether human or livestock if they didn’t have the blood of the unblemished lamb at their door posts. The significance of the Passover feast is that it was substitutory death, the unblemished lamb became the substitute for the first born’s life and many years later, Jesus Christ became our substitute Lamb of God in exchange for our eternal life in God. As Christians, we now observe the Holy Communion to remember Jesus’s sacrifice as the Lamb of God as Jesus Himself broke bread with the disciples on the Feast of the Passover and commanded us to do likewise in future to remember Him.

The message this morning is that there are acts of God in history that we celebrate and remember as believers in general but there could be past specific acts of God in our own lives that we want to also celebrate and remember. We want to give thanks to God for His grace and mercy in rescuing us in those times, for vindicating us and for standing up for us. We want to give all glory to God for His miraculous work in our lives, for His goodness. God moves and He moves in miraculous ways. Maybe some people will say those were just coincidences but we know deep within us that God was present amidst our situations. We know that Christ had planned it so meticulously so that all the steps just fell into place so perfectly that as we reflect upon it, we know that it was God’s love for us that made the difference, that made it all possible. We can see the Lord’s fingerprints all over the place! It was His handiwork. When God moves, He moves in a spectacular fashion that we will surely know it is Him and no one else!

When we face crossroads or tough or seemingly impossible situations, not only know that He is with us in all seasons (You are forever in our lives) but know that as we look back to the past acts of God in our lives, we stand assured that there will be more acts of God in future in our lives as we live our lives for Him and for His glory! God is good all the time!