https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/17/accepted-and-approved

I think this issue of acceptance and approval by our fathers (or mothers) is probably more prevalent than we think. I never had this issue with my own father. Although he didn’t praise me much when I was growing up, I never had that feeling that whatever I did was not good enough for him. I was the top student in school albeit a school in a small town in the East Coast of Malaysia, the less advanced and less prosperous region in West Malaysia. I was also fairly good in badminton, having finished runners up in doubles in the state under-15 schools competition.

However, I did have a friend who always had this issue with his father. His father was a non Malay and yet a head of department in a government ministry, some DG and thus was very accomplished. My friend graduated with first class from my law school, scored 5As full in his STPM, was a chess champion and yet through it all, he always felt that his father never did acknowledge his achievements. He used to complain to me about this and I thought it strange that he was so “hard up” for praise and acknowledgement from his dad when it was obvious he was very successful.

But it is true that the acceptance and approval of parents are a big thing for children, especially when they have achieved a certain measure of success. I have a first hand experience seeing this in the life of my friend and how it affected him although he was so successful.

When I became a father myself, I made it a point to always let my boys know that I’m with them come what may. So I used to hug and kiss them back after punishing them to make sure they know that despite the punishment, my love for them was unwavering, and neither was it evervconditional. Whether they do well or badly, I still acknowledge their efforts. They must give their best and that’s what matters most. When they do silly things or make mistakes, I will scold and reprimand them but we move on after that.

When it comes to God, we know that His love is always unwavering and unconditional as the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. It is renewed every morning like dew. His love is not dependent on our actions. Our salvation is not reliant upon our actions since salvation is by grace and not by works. It is God’s gift to us.

As much as God accepts us, I always feel that we must give our best to Him in all that we do whether in our studies, work, ministry, walk of faith or our calling. He accepts us even if we did not give Him our best but because of what He did for us through Jesus on the cross, we must give Him our best. We must give Jesus our best because that’s the least we can do for Him. Already our salvation is by His grace – what can we give in return as our gratitude and thanksgiving if not our best? There is nothing that we can offer in comparison with what He offered us in the same way that whatever suffering or trial or tribulation that we go through cannot compare to the eternal glory that awaits us in Christ (2 Corinthians:17-18).

So my exaltation to us today is as much as some of us may have issues of acceptance with our fathers or mothers and as much that can and never is an issue between God and us because His love for us is always unconditional as far as the east is from the west, are we in return giving our best to God in all that we do? Is our life a true reflection of our gratefulness and thanksgiving for all that He had and is and will do in our lives? Food for thought for today!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/16/fishing-with-jesus

When I read Jesus’s early encounters with Simon Peter in Luke 5, two elements stand out for me. One is that as experienced and skillful Simon Peter is as a fisherman, Jesus was still better at identifying the right timing and fishing spot to lay out the nets! Simon Peter tried all night but caught nothing whereas Jesus just tried once and they caught so much that their nets began to break and even two boats struggled to contain the enormous and overflowing catch!

The second thing that stood out for me is that Jesus could turn the skill, expertise and experience of Simon Peter in the natural into something spiritual for the Kingdom of God. From a fisherman into a fisher of men! Similar principles apply – need to cast out the net at the right time and place.

Thus, the message for us today I believe is that even in the areas where we are good at in our work, God is better and thus can make us even better. Like what I’m now doing as a trained and experienced lawyer and contract negotiater handling strategic procurement in the areas of contract, lifecycle and innovation management among my strategic vendors. It’s a new and wide encompassing role that will capitalise on my core skills harnessed over the years. However as it is a broad and very strategic role, you could say that I’m either set up to fail spectacularly or succeed sensationally. If there is no breakthrough gains or significant values secured for the next 3-5 years horizon, I would have failed. Despite the enormous task ahead, I’m quietly confident that there will be something distinctive out there that I can carve out for my organisation by just looking at the example of Simon Peter. He caught nothing but with Jesus’s help, he caught too much! His catch was too abundant and overflowing! If God is with us, who can be against us indeed!

More pertinent however is the point that Jesus can also turn our skill, expertise and experience into something relevant, useful and effective in and for His Kingdom of Grace. What we gained in the natural in our studies, at work, in managing projects and people, and in interacting with vendors and personel at various levels – all could be used for His glory, for His purposes as we sanctify our hearts and dedicate our skills, expertise and experience to Him. Give them all unto Him for His glory and He will find a way for us to be like Simon Peter – fisherman turned fisher of men! In the process, we will find our true calling in God as His plans and purposes for our lives are revealed to us and we live out them out in our lives. We will then be like the Israelites in the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey with fortified cities, strong armies and giants to conquer and defeat for God in the name of Jesus! We will be living out our destiny in God like David’s deepest desire to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of his life! Surely goodness and mercy will follow us as we live in the shadow of His wings, in His loving embrace enlarging His territory here on earth, ensuring that His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven! Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/15/let-me-stay

As I read Psalm 27, one of the key takeaways I get is that there is nothing to fear if we have God and the thing which David desires most is to spend all the days of his life dwelling in the house of the LORD. In the present context that means spending time in the presence of God. God’s presence used to reside in the Temple, at the Holy of Holies or earlier at the Ark of the Covenant. But now, His presence is where we are. As we call upon His name, He will hear us and answer us. As we call upon Him and worship Him, He will be with us in His presence.

I think if we just dwell in His presence, not only will strength and healing flow whether to our physical but also our emotional, mental and spiritual beings. We will be refreshed and strengthened. If we are down, the Lord will lift up our spirits. If we are sad, the Lord will cheer us up. There is power in His presence. That is why David was not fearful of anything after spending time in the presence of God. We get the assurance that God is with us and we could conquer and overcome any thing that comes our way.

My exaltation and encouragement for all of us today is that if we are fearful of the world, of the many tasks that we need to do today that appear to overwhelm us – spend time in God’s presence. The Lord will give us a sense of perspective and strengthen our resolve to handle things one at a time, one by one. We will not be paralysed by fear and procrastination. As we begin to do the tasks ahead of us, something we thought may take a few days could well be accomplished in a few hours. Some things we thought needed a few hours could well be done and dusted in 30 mins! That paper we need to write – open a new Word document and start writing and change and revise it as we write. 5, 4. 3, 2, 1 – start. Just do it! We don’t need to have the perfect introduction to start that paper. Start it by putting pen to paper. As we write, our thoughts will be naturally organised and we will have a flow. We need to start those tasks that are ahead. Spend time in the presence of God, He will give us rest. He will give us the boldness and the confidence to achieve much whether for Him, for His kingdom, for our ministry or our work. That is why it is always good to start our day in the presence of God, like David said that he may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of his life!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/13/nothing-can-separate

The logic of Romans 8 is that if God had gone through so much trouble, to the extent of giving up His Son for us, for Him to love us, what then will stop His love for us? What then can separate the love of God from us? Who then can condemn us? God who did all that for us? Surely not! Jesus who died for our sins? Surely not! In fact He is now seated at the right hand of God advocating for us.

From our perspective, whether we are poor or rich, have much or not much, going through difficult times, have illnesses or in the pink of health, what’s important is to remember that God loves us. He will not forsake us. He will always remember us. Just like He did not forget Israel and redeemed and liberated Israel throughout her history from the Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians. We must always remember that He liberated us from the clutches and sting of sin and death that now we may communicate and interact with Him directly without going through priests as we are now a holy nation and a royal priesthood.

Practically we are as human as our neighbour and we go through life with its ups and downs, struggles and challenges, joy and tears like any other human. However since we have Jesus in our life, we know that we have a destiny and a calling. We will put God first, His kingdom and His righteousness. We are on the right path to eternal salvation. We store up our treasures in heaven as we focused more on eternal riches. In the process, we know that our lives here on earth will also be better over time as we grow in Christ and experience of His transforming power over our mind, as we develop the character of Christ that will help others trust us more whether at work or in ministry. Our lives will be better with God because we will have more and more positive traits for a successful life even here on earth with Christ transforming us from within even though our destination is heaven. As we are changed, our families will change for the better. As much as our focus is heavenward, our lives on earth will change for the better over time, over the longer term, say over 20, 30 or 50 years as nothing can separate us from the love of God! If God is for us, who can be against us? So long as we seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, all these shall be added unto us whether us or our family, whether in this generation or the next or the generations to come. It will never be sunny ever after as there will thunderstorms and rain but the general and overall outlook will be bright and sunny, not dark and gloomy any more! How can it be otherwise since nothing can separate us from the love of God? Amen

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/12/nature-walk

An oft repeated theme in ODB is this thing about creation and its creator. As we look at creation, we cannot avoid seeing God in the picture. Scripture also bears testimony to the greatness of God in this respect. As we can see in the book Job, the LORD described how He had set boundaries for the sea and sky and the stars and clouds and the rise of dawn.

Even as we looked our own physical bodies, we can see how intricate and complex it is, from our lungs to our hearts and the various arteries and veins amd capillaries to the digestive system involving our stomach and the various organs processing food and chemicals like the liver, pancreas, our intestines to our kidneys and bladder. The thing is everything in our body must work perfectly and in harmony or else there will be problems. If the pancreas has issues producing sufficient insulin, we will have excess sugar in our blood and that by itself will cause problems to our blood vessels, kidneys etc.

I think if ever we are down and feel God is far away, a walk in nature will help us put perspective back into our lives. When we see the wondrous beauty of nature and how God has put everything together, we can see how vastly powerful God is. There are millions of things and beings working amd existing independently and yet harmoniously, and every single one of them were created and put in place by God. The magnitude, scale and immensity of it all – only God can do and will once again lead us to acknowledge, bow down and worship Him that only God can be God! Yet He is also our God, our LORD. He is a prayer away, a few sentences uttered in the name of Jesus, His beloved Son and we are in touch with Him. As we faithful to turn away from sin and confess our sins and do not harbour hatred and unforgiveness in us, as we do not let our hearts be hardened – He will surely hear, listen and answer as we speak to Him in prayer and supplication. Always be thankful and grateful for His love and compassion for us that despite the millions and millions out there in the present and past, He has called us to be His own. Only He is God and can be God and only He alone can be our Lord and God!

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/11/good-news-3

I first read about the Good News when I stumbled upon a Malay-English translation of the New Testament in my home library when I was very young. It was one of those books I first read when I started to know how to read in Std 2 to 3. It pinged my interest and although I didn’t quite understand its contents, it started my search for the truth and my quest to be a genuine born again believer. My father’s side were Catholics and thus we identified as Christians. But as we didn’t go to church, I wasn’t sure what being a Christian meant then. Somehow I knew that I was missing out on something big and significant as there was fear in me of the unknown. I also had nightmares every now and then after watching the movie Exorcist (I missed most of the scarier parts; I was watching it through the cracks of my fingers as I cowered in fear). At that time I felt hopeless as we seemed powerless against a powerful ancient demon. After knowing Christ when I was 14, my nightmares disappeared. I was no longer afraid of the unknown. It was like a dark cloud or something lifted from me. It was only later that I learnt about our authority over evil forces and how we could as believers cast out demons like Jesus did in the Gospels.

The point I’m trying to make today is that we must not underestimate the power of the Word in changing lives and thus we should support all efforts in making the Bible (even the New Testament only) available widely like what the Gideons are doing or as undertaken by organisations like Open Doors. I was a by-product of the availability of an old 70s Malay-English translation or version of the New Testament and the memory of reading that book is forever etched on my mind.

The Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, having died for our sins to reconcile us to God but whose body never saw decay as He was raised in a glorified body is the hope of glory that awaits all believers who remain true and faithful to Him to the end of days. We are saved by grace and not works, and by Jesus fulfilling the law on our behalf as with God nothing is impossible.

Share the Good News whenever we are given an opportunity. It could be the testimony of the goodness of God in our lives, the blessings of God in our generation, of God having elevated our social standing and standard of living compared to our forefathers who most probably arrived in this land with only the clothes on their backs. It could be our testimony of us experiencing the power, love and compassion of God healing us of our fears, our past, our infirmities and sicknesses. Share the story of salvation through Christ as we share our life testimony and give away the Bible whenever we can so that more and more lives may be touched and transformed by knowing Christ as He is the living water where we will not get thirsty if we drink of Him – He is the way, the truth and the life, no one goes to the Father except through Him! Amen

https://odb.org/MY/2021/11/10/youre-not-alone-2

As much as we are zealous for God, on fire for the business of the Kingdom, we might feel we are all alone in our quest for Christ. We feel we are alone maybe because our friends are not like-minded like us or even our church or cell members are all more nominal than zealous. We want to do more for God, maybe go full time, but our family and church are not tagging along with us. They are just looking on, some not even willing to lift a finger to help out, too occupied with the worries of the world or just only interested in their own spiritual experiences.

Elijah, one of the most powerful prophets ever to live, felt the same after defeating and killing 450 prophets of Baal. When Jezebel vowed to kill him after that, Elijah ran for his life for more than 40 days and nights but at the end of that journey, God met him in person and comforted him. The LORD encouraged Elijah that He had reserved 7,000 others who were of the same mind as Elijah, who had not bowed down to Baal, although Elijah felt that he was all alone. After Elijah did as instructed by God to anoint the new Kings for Aram and Israel and to anoint Elisha as his successor, God took Elijah up to heaven and thus Elijah became the second man recorded in the bible who did not die a natural death but was taken straight up to heaven to be with the LORD.

I think we all know that we are never alone in our quest for God as church history has shown and demonstrated time and time again from the era of Jesus and Paul that no matter how hard the persecution, there will always be a remnant that will remain true to the faith. Even when monasteries dedicated to prayer for the nations are destroyed, the monks are dispersed into the general population. We may feel all alone in our quest because of those around us or those in our church, but know that there are others like us that we do not know or have not met. God’s cause is such that there are actually many behind it and for it although for various reasons, they could be hidden from the limelight. The power and miracles of God are manifested daily in the lives of believers, some we are aware but most we do not read about.

The question today – are we the remnant, the mostly hidden and silent believers who stay true to Jesus come what may. We may not be prominently shouting the cause but our hearts are totally for God, not bowing to the spirit of Jezebel of the world, not conforming to the pattern of this world with its excesses but allowing ourselves to be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may test and know the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. The remnant will always be there to ensure that the sovereign will of God gets done here on earth as it is in heaven. God will always reserve a remnant for His ultimate causes. Are we the remnant or are we the majority who conform and bow down to the world?

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!!!