https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/09/the-same-vine

Are we a fake Christian if we do not consistently display Christian like behaviour? Are we a hypocrite if we have still have anger issues to deal with? Are we fake because we still have ego and pride and have not totally given our lives to God? Are we not a genuine believer if we are still holding back some parts of our lives from Christ or we sometimes indulge in the desires of our flesh? We know that we shouldn’t be eating high cholesterol food and yet we still eat siew yoke, for example. Or enjoy mutton curry every now and then. Or we can be provoked and can burst into a rage sometimes. Or we have this dark experience in the past and still have difficulty forgiving those people that did that horrible thing to us. There are many examples but suffice to say, we are far from Christ-like although we have known Christ, some of us even for many years. Or we always wanted to do more for Christ, but always ended up procrastinating and we are still procrastinating although we are getting older and older. Or we always wanted to step up in faith and be a soldier for Christ but still ended up as a spectator at the sidelines, looking at the action and not rolling up our sleeves and getting involved directly.

I think we are not fake if we are work in progress because we will always be work in progress. Salvation is by grace and not by works. Nothing we could have done or could do for us to save ourselves. Only the love and grace of God can save us and bring us to the road to eternity. So long as we abide in Christ, Christ abides in us. He is the vine and we are His branches. His Spirit guides and empowers us even as we remain with Him and in Him.

So long as we have Christ in us, we cannot be a fake believer. This is because as long as Christ is with us, He will mould and transform us to be more like Him. Over time, others will see the change in us even if we sometimes judge ourselves more harshly. As long as we have Jesus in us, we pray and commune with Him, interact with Him, we cannot be fake because He is the vine and we are His branches and if we abide in Him, He will abide in us.

However, as much as we are not fake, it is not good if we have not progressed much since we knew Him, in terms of our behaviour and character. There must be progress even as we are work in progress. If there is no progress, then perhaps we are not work in progress? Perhaps, we are a piece of abandoned work, set aside a while until we come to our senses? Perhaps we are too resistant to change. Perhaps we fight against the moulding and correction of Christ. WIP means we are not there yet, but we are getting there – we are on the way, we are on the journey. We are on the narrow road, the correct and right path. Is there progress in our Christian walk? We are still genuine stuff, not fake, but if we are not progressing we may end up being left behind, being further and further away from God’s plans and purposes for us, further and further away from His calling for us. And before we know it, we will be staring at Jesus with the talent He gave us to start with – what have we done to that talent? Did we multiply it or kept it hidden with us all the time? Salvation may be by grace, but that doesn’t excuse us from not giving a good account of our lives. We are still accountable and responsible. Have we been a good steward of this life that God gave us?

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/08/sing-praise-to-god

I guess worshipping with all our heart is something most of us are familiar and have done or are doing whether corporately or in person on our own. We can worship God on our own by singing while playing an instrument like a guitar or a piano or together with our church congregation or cell group. Of course congregational singing is more difficult via Zoom or Facebook live as we only hear ourselves and the worship leader singing. There is thus a strong case to be made for on-site congregational worship services to start as soon as possible as a physical congregated worship service facilitates both congregational and individual praise and worship. It is much easier to sing with all of our heart when we do it with others in our midst!

But the point that I like to emphasise today is slightly different. If we look at what David did in 1 Chronicles 15 and 16 is that he praised and worshipped God and offered burnt offerings to God after bringing the Ark back to Jerusalem having inquired of God and defeating the Philistines in chapter 14. There was great rejoicing and celebration before the Ark which represented the presence of God. David decreed that the priests and Levites consecrate themselves to bring up the Ark to Jerusalem and had them appoint their own to be musicians in the celebration.

I think instead of only celebrating with a nice meal with family and friends if we had achieved something in our lives like a promotion or a child entering university or having been given a good bonus or a business opportunity or after closing a deal or a baby born into our family, we should also set aside time to worship God as part of our celebration. Maybe have a time of family worship to thank and worship God for His grace and mercy and provision for our family. We don’t offer burnt sacrifices anymore in this post-Jesus era but we can certainly worship God by singing to Him with all our heart! Our lives are now a living sacrifice of our gratefulness to Him for the gift of salvation and eternal life, having redeemed us from darkness into light. Have a celebration with nice food and fellowship with family and friends to mark milestones in our lives but set aside time to also praise and worship God for His goodness, grace and mercy, and His love and compassion and for His abundant blessings! He is our God and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/07/the-jesus-label

I learnt in a counseling seminar a number of years back that thankfulness and gratefulness, especially towards our creator God, produce endorphins in our brain that make us happy I guess the same way doing something good or helping someone in need makes us happy inside us. There is a sense that we are made to be thankful to God and to do good although by nature, due to the fall of man, we are sinful and prone to be self serving. Thus, it is undoubtedly true that we are created in the image of God. That’s probably why by nature too we are also thankful and grateful to Him.

Thus, I think one of the best ways for us to have the label of Jesus, to carry the name of Jesus well in all that we do is to always have thankfulness to God in our hearts. We are already made to be thankful to God so why don’t we do just that – be thankful every day, every moment that we have breath, that we are alive, that we have the whole world before us, that we have a calling in God, that God has a special purpose for our lives. Be grateful to God that we are on this journey to eternity, that we are on the right path to salvation as Paul said singing to God with gratitude in our hearts (Colossians 3:16), bear with one another and forgiving others as the Lord forgives us (verse 13) and in whatever we do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Therefore, carry the name of Jesus well in our actions, deeds and words that the glory of God shines forth through our lives. Always bear with one another and forgive others who have trangressed against us. Always have a good testimony so that the name of our Father in heaven may be glorified in all that we do, that others may see our Lord Jesus in us as we thank God the Father and are grateful to Him for who He has crafted and moulded us to be in Christ! All glory on earth and in heaven be unto God our Father, Jesus Christ our Lord and the Holy Ghost! Praise the LORD indeed for He is worthy of all out praises amd worship! Have a blessed Sunday worshipping God this morning!!!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/05/finding-joy-in-the-meaningless

I think everyone probably has experienced this phenomenon – you put in so much effort to research and then save up to buy something, perhaps a guitar or a camera or a tablet, then after we get the thing, the feeling of accomplishment is fleeting. It was just a short moment of euphoria and then it’s gone – we want to pursue something else, we want to move on to the next thing – another guitar, a prime lense or something else. I guess it’s the same with acquiring wealth or savings – the first house, the first RM10,000 and we want more and more – a nicer house, a nicer car and RM100,000! There is no end to it and after all that, what we have can still be meaningless and the feeling is usually fleeting. The fairy tale concept of living happily ever after is just that, a fairy tale!

Solomon spoke about this in Ecclesiastes 2 and as a king, he was unrivalled by anyone before him in Jerusalem in terms of possessions, slaves, buildings, projects, enjoyment of the finer things in life and yet after all that, he found everything he had done and enjoyed meaningless in the sense nothing had any lasting effect.

In the end, Solomon concluded at the end of Ecclesiastes 2 that possessions and achievements are only meaningful when we have God with us, when done for God, in relation to God. Even Solomon’s great wisdom is meaningless if God is not in it.

I think the conclusion is that whatever we go through here on earth is only temporal. It’s a pass through, everything is fleeting. It could leave us with memories but everything is still fleeting, for a moment only. What’s everlasting is God. As He is spirit, a spiritual being and as we are also spirits and spiritual beings, what’s everlasting is what’s eternal. Store up treasures in heaven, they will last for eternity. Thus, in everything that we do, have eternity in mind and those things will become meaningful and will no longer be meaningless. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these shall be added unto you – meaning to say, for earthly things, seek eternity first, then all the things we need to live here on earth will be taken care of by God. That’s Solomon’s conclusion, the wisest man ever lived. Earthly pursuits are all meaningless and fleeting, unless we have God in them, unless we have eternity in mind! In the end, for things on earth, only God can give true meaning to such things. Seek God, seek eternity, then all will be good.

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/04/rainy-days

I remembered the founding pastor of a church in Thailand many years back spoke at a conference at my previous church and talked about how he gave away his building fund for a needy cause when God prompted him. It certainly caused a stir among those who heard it! But the point was that generosity breeds abundant blessings and since the building fund ultimately came from God, he could give it away when prompted by God. The same attitude Abraham had when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac.

Everyone if they can save, will save for a rainy day. Individuals and churches are no exceptions. We save what we can, not spend all we can. We also invest for the future, hoping the ROI will offset inflation which reduces our purchasing power, the value of money. Some of us make riskier investments for better returns while most just stick with the good old FDs. Yet there are some who don’t believe in banks and prefer to invest in gold or Rolex watches or property or even US Dollars!

So we have saved for the rainy day. We have worked hard to save up. But it’s not yet raining at our end. I think the metaphor originated from agricultural settings as farmers can’t work on rainy days and thus if we had saved up some grain from previous harvests, we will have some to eat today. In our modern world, we are talking mostly of liquid assets and the most useful is cash.

So it is not raining at our end, but it is raining elsewhere or perhaps there is a famine somewhere else that prevented any harvesting at all. What do we do? Do we help out? Do we sell the food that we had hoarded as per Proverbs 11:26? The point is a generous person will prosper. He who refreshes others will be refreshed. See Proverbs 11:25.

From giving away our building fund, to giving out some money we saved for our rainy day to people in need, to lending our money to those who need (equivalent to selling the grain we hoarded), there is a wide range of things we can do. These are rightfully ours to keep, legally and morally, but should we be selfless and generous instead? The bible teaches that if we are generous, God will reward us. Do we believe God or do we trust just ourselves and our money?

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/03/comfort-shared-2

When we are going through a period of suffering, we may ask God why? Why is this happening to me? Why me? Why didn’t you shield me, protect me and shelter me from this pain? Sometimes we pray for the entire environment to change so that our pain will be no more. But more often than not, the pain and suffering remain and we will be forced by the circumstances to face it, to confront it, to go through it. We may withdraw from the world or go on self destructive habits like drink – to drown our sorrows, so to speak. But, sorrows cannot be drowned! Such behaviour is self destructive as the pain and suffering remain. Drinking doesn’t change anything except the condition of our liver!

Paul speaks of comforting others in 2 Corinthians 1:4 with the comfort we receive from God. In the scriptural background page of today’s ODB, the writer talks about paraklesis or parakletos. Perhaps there lies the key to overcoming our despair and doom over our pain and suffering? There is a purpose in our suffering. Paul went through a lot in his journey as an apostle to the churches then. He said it was more than he could bear so that he despaired over life itself, meaning to say, it was so bad that he even lost hope in living. Yet through it all, Paul endured and He received his comfort from God who understands all things, who is caring and compassionate like no other. He received his comfort from the Holy Spirir, our parakletos, our comforter.

When I went through the difficult patch in my life 4 years back, my wife fully supported and comforted me. God also did that but He did more. He helped me to forgive myself and the various antagonists in that chapter of my life. Have I forgotten them? No. Have I forgiven them? Yes, through the comfort from my wife and God. Was God real? Yes, He was. His prophesies for me during those times came true to the letter. I knew and experienced Him. Did I blame Him? No. Do I know His purpose for me going through that pain? Yes, so I may share with others the comfort I received from Him.

Seek out the Lord and the Holy Ghost. They are the parakletos of our lives. As we receive their love, compassion and comfort, we will be able to share the same with others. More importantly, we are able to forgive and sincerely from the bottom of our hearts. We can truly say, never mind, we can live another day. God has a purpose for me for going through all this. I’ll be stronger and I will be able to help others in future. Thank you, Lord for your love, compassion and comfort, my true parakletos!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/02/the-critical-link

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus asked us to reach out and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Not just people we know like our family and friends but people who may never have heard of the Gospel, about the gift of salvation by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, His Son. The verse speaks of making disciples and not just preaching. It goes beyond just delivering the Good News on a “take it or leave it” basis, but it involves training, supporting and nurturing a community of believers over a long period of time, perhaps a lifetime or for generations.

My cousin Sharene and her hubby Ricky are directly involved in this ministry and just last Sunday, two days ago, she spoke on the pulpit at my church (via Zoom from my home) and preached a message on making investments into this ministry that reaches out to unreached people groups. In private, they spoke about their vision of one day establishing trust funds and foundations for unreached people groups so that this ministry may be perpetuated beyond their years here on earth.

I think there is a serious need for us to be involved in such a ministry as all communities should have the opportunity to not only hear the Gospel but also be part of the outpouring of the blessings of God through Abraham. When God comes into our lives through our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, we not only gain eternal life but His heavenly blessings. As mentioned yesterday, the life transformation that comes with knowing Jesus and the blessings of heaven will surely lift up our lives and our generations to come.

There are still many unreached people groups scattered across the world especially in dark or closed countries and there could be communities within our own nations too who are yet unreached. The work is ardous and long and the gestation period may span a lifetime of a missionary. We have heard of past stories of missionaries toiling the field for years and years only to see fruition in the next generation. Maybe they only managed to disciple two to three faithful believers over their lifetime. But these few who were discipled, went on to lead villages and provinces for Christ! The key to sustainable mission work is discipleship – teaching, training, support and nurturing – not just in spiritual matters or theology but often necessarily with life skills to earn a living or run a business. A disciple of Christ who is self sufficient and successful earning his or her keep for their families is a beacon of hope in such closed communities and as much as they may face severe persecution, they will gain the respect and admiration of their communities if they emerge successful in their own right. The glory of God shall indeed shine forth as they triumph despite such odds and adversity!

I urge you, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to be involved directly in such ministries as a missionary while carrying out our vocations in such dark or closed countries if that is our calling from God. Plan our lives such that we may secure gainful employment in such nations so we may reach out and make disciples out of such unreached people groups. But if that is not our calling, consider seriously to invest into such ministries with our money and prayers. As this is a lifelong commitment, we can start by investing some money and praying for them. But the key to this ministry is consistency and fervency whether we are directly or indirectly involved. The work spans generations. Thus we should support such initiatives in the long term – in the investment of our money, in our prayers and also our physical efforts in the field whenever the opportunity arises. Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:20). To me, investing our money, time and efforts in unreached people groups is surely an investment into our treasures in heaven!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/01/ring-the-bell-2

Ringing the bell is an act to signify victory over cancer after going through bouts of radiation. It marks the end of chemotherapy, having conquered the cancer cells. It’s a practice that started in the US but has spread across cancer centers across the world. I saw this once on the medical TV series, New Amsterdam.

The sons of Korah, the writer of today’s ODB Scriptural reference Psalm 47, had a dark past. Their ancestors were part of a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. They were Levites set aside for full time service but only the descendents of Aaron were allowed to serve as priests. The Kohathites had the ardous task of transporting the implements of the Tabernacle but they had to do it on their shoulders and were not lowed to transport them by carts unlike the other Levites. So it was really tiring for them when the Israelites moved camp. Remember they were in the desert then. So this led to a rebellion by 250 men led by Korah and two others, Darren and Abram. In a show of divine power, the rebels and all they had were swallowed up by the earth and a fire came out from the LORD and consumed all of them. The children of the rebels were however spared and out of that remnant arose the sons of Korah who in the subsequent years became warriors for God and during David’s time became musicians in the royal court of David and composers of Psalms, a life dedicated to worship and song for God. A remarkable rise indeed from the ashes for a group of people!

No matter how dark our past was or the past of our descendents, we can all have the “ring the bell” experience of having victory over our past background as we accept Jesus Christ into our lives as Lord and Saviour. Like education having raised the standard of living of a whole generation of Malaysians from more humble beginnings to middle class trappings, Christ is able to turn our lives around like He did with the sons of Korah. From a forefather of a rebel who was severely dealt with by God, to a whole generation of composers and musicians at the Royal Court of David. Maybe it is not immediate, maybe it will take a generation or two, but surely God is able to transform us for the better, for His name’s sake that His glory may shine forth through our families and descendants. Over time and generations, our spiritual awakening and discovery in Christ will definitely lead to an uplift of our lives and it is a logical result as Christ brings the blessings of heaven upon our families and if we know Christ, it is less likely we will indulge in the vices of women, drink and gambling or be involved in criminal activities.

God can turn us around no matter how dark our past was. There is always a new beginning from God, a fresh start that will not only lead us onto the path to eternal life but will bring our families and loved ones to a better future here on earth as surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow us for the rest of our lives as we dwell in the house and the presence of the LORD forever (Psalm 23:6).

https://odb.org/MY/2021/10/31/redeeming-the-season

Autumn is remembered in the States as a period of decorating pumpkins that turned into Halloween in the 1800s as they harvested the pumpkins during autumn and made the harvesting into a community celebration. As a result, autumn seemed to celebrate death and its macabre and gruesome ways which the author of today’s ODB spoke about. Thus an attempt was made to celebrate autumn with gratefulness for God’s work in nature.

While we generally do not celebrate Halloween here, I think the effort to redeem a season should be commended. Chinese Christians here have traditionally replaced the All Souls Day of going to the graves of our departed ones to pay our respects and pray to our ancestors with a similar practice at about the same time but to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ as that period is also the Good Friday and Easter season to us here. So we have redeemed that season with a practice that is relevant to us as believers in Christ without needing to comply with the tradition of praying to our ancestors which goes against the beliefs of our faith. Basically, we do not believe that the living can communicate with the departed in any way or form and we believe that the only way we can see our departed loved ones again is when Christ reunites us all who believed in Him on the day of the Lord.

Is there something in our lives that we can redeem and transform into something meaningful in Christ? Perhaps a habit of going to clubs at weekends to a Christian fellowship of worship and sharing? Maybe attending church worship service on a Sunday morning rather than a round of 18 holes at the golf course or joining prayer meetings on a Saturday evening than a few hours at the badminton courts? Not at the level of replacing All Souls Day or trying to give a better meaning to Haloween but a change in our own personal habits and practices for Christ. Remember that we will all live for all eternity and thus anything that is not of eternal value will not be of use to us in eternity. Set our eyes on the eternal as the temporal will pass and wither away.

https://odb.org/MY/2021/10/30/a-new-calling

Some of us experienced a dramatic and radical change in our lives after knowing Jesus like from a hard core criminal to a lifetime witness for Christ in today’s ODB life illustration. Or from a leading persecutor of believers of Christ to the preeminent theologist for Christ whose thoughts formed the fundamental and foundational tenets of our faith in the case of Paul. Some of us might have been fully indulgent in the 3 vices – women, drink and gambling but turned a new leaf when we got to know Christ. Yet some of us might have only seen a less dramatic but still significant change in the sense that we now have a new purpose in life, we are developing a new worldview of things, we know our final abode is heaven, we live a life of service and sacrifice – a paradigm shift indeed after knowing Christ!

The point I like to make this morning however is that this new calling that we find as we know Christ may or may not be as dramatic and life changing – but I believe it is not a one off only thing at conversion. I believe God may still have a new calling for us after years of serving Him in what we would have thought was our calling in Christ. We are all work in progress and as we grow maturity and faith in Christ, Christ may have a new calling for us.

Just last week my boss discussed with me a new role that I could play in our department at work, doing more strategic stuff which is in phase 2 of our transformation road map but hastened due to the current developments in the chips industry. As what we do at work continues to evolve to the ever changing business and global environment, our calling in Christ may also evolve as situations change and we change in maturity, anointing, experience, skillsets and character.

In church, I have always been involved in music. Started as a guitarist, then went on to play a bit of bass and then worship led. I have been doing this for more than 35 years now. But over the past 5 to 10 years I see my role in Christ evolving to be a shepherd taking care of a group of young people in a cell to perhaps shaping the spiritual mindset of a congregation through the pulpit. I believe that God has more for me in future and that should be the same for all of us.

Are we content in doing the same thing in church day in day out for the past 20 years? There is virtue in consistency and yet the world and the spiritual realm is ever evolving. As believers and as a church, we all need to evolve and do more. For example, if we are retired and have all the time in the world, we could form teams to visit members of our congregation or open up our homes for fellowship, rather than leave that to a few people. In the process, we will touch the family members of those we visit or those who visit us. More could be done among us and others if we believe that we ourselves can do more, instead of doing nothing much staying at home. Spiritual life cannot surely be a life of self enrichment. Faith without good works is dead and so is spiritual growth without service – it is meaningless.

In summing up, I think we may have a new calling in Christ even as we advance in age. Respond with action and I’m sure we will all see the glory of God manifested through us as we embrace our new calling!