https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/14/justice-and-jesus

Even in ancient times during the time of Micah, the LORD God had emphasised the need to temper righteousness with justice and mercy. Religious adherence to the law was necessary to maintain the people’s relationship with God and yet it is meaningless if there is no justice and mercy. God Himself was just and merciful.

When Jesus came onto the scene, He rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees for their religious adherence to the law with no regard for justice and mercy. Their emphasis was on the external acts and omissions when Jesus spoke about what’s more important is what’s inside them. Although men (and women) can’t see, God can. So one could know the law very well, is very pious on the outside fulfilling all his or her religious obligations and yet harbour evil, hatred, revenge, spite, resentment and unforgiveness inside.

Jesus liberated us by dying on the cross for our sins. He broke the veil at the Temple into two. He fulfilled the law and put the law into our hearts. So we are now justified by faith in Christ and not by law. Our righteousness is by our faith in God covered by the blood of the Lamb. Jesus also brought righteousness to mankind as a whole, to us Gentiles at the far ends of the world, no longer restricting it to the tribes and people of Israel and Judah.

Yet the age old issue of externals have reared its head again even in our present church age. People are still impressed by our outward religious credentials, churches still adore our seminary achievements, congregations are still obsessed by labels like prophet, apostle, evangelist and reverend. Have you heard someone being introduced as teacher X or singer Y or helper Z or encourager A or edifier B or counselor C or usher D?

Righteousness must always be tempered with justice and mercy, love and compassion, grace. The church must not be like the world. We cannot be obsessed with the externals. In fact, if we can claim to be righteous and yet cruel and cunning and conniving and manipulative – are we even righteous in the first place? Righteousness and evil cannot reside and co-exist in the same person. We cannot be righteous and yet not just and merciful, gracious, compassionate and kind. Righteousness in the Spirit must be accompanied by the Fruit of the Spirit. There are just no two ways about it.

https://odb.org.uk/MY/2022/03/12/love-song

About 2 years after I accepted Christ many years ago, I joined a church that emphasised a lot on being the remnant of God’s people. I was in that church for 8 to 9 years and a lot of who I am in God today was shaped by my experiences then; the good, the bad and the ugly. We were taught to be soldiers for God’s army – when other churches were 20% core, 80% periphery, we were 90% core. A complete laying down of our lives were required, in fact, expected and demanded. Tithes and offerings were set at 20%, for example. Of course, in foresight, the extent of the requirements in relation to the world was questionable although the approach of being a remnant of God’s people could not have been incorrect. We were taught not to read Christian books unless sanctioned by our leaders. Not to read secular books and magazines. To only listen to Christian music as pop songs were worldly and of the devil. The church never needed to hire cleaners for their buildings as we all chipped in to clean toilets, vacuum floors and arrange chairs. The senior pastor didn’t need nannies as the leaders took turns to babysit and care for the first family’s five children.

In times of great moral depravity, there will always be a remnant of God’s people who will be true to Him regardless of the situation. It can be seen in Israel and proclaimed in the book of Zephaniah despite the continous deterioration of the people’s faith in God since the highs during the time of David. In fact God allowed the Babylonians and Assyrians to overrun Judah and bring everyone into exile amd over time brought back the remnant to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.

After the Acts of the Apostles and following severe persecution during the early days of the church age, the devil tried to destroy the faith after failing to prevent the birth and later the ministry, death and resurrection of Christ. But the faith persevered on despite severe persecution with many martyred. When the state became the church and went into the dark ages perpetuating evil, there always remained a remnant who were true and remained faithful to God. They went underground or into the shadows.

The time will come for the Great Tribulation to engulf us as revealed in the book of Revelation. It is predicted that this may come during our lifetimes and with the volatility of the situation in the West with the Ukrainian war still raging, the events revealed in Revelation may arrive much faster than we may even expect. Perhaps in the next 4 to 5 years instead of the next 20 to 30 years.

The question today is will we remain as the remnant of God’s people who will keep the faith pure and holy before God and not bow to false gods or the anti Christ. Will we resist the mark of the beast without which we will not be able to buy or sell or trade or participate in economic activity? The time is not in our hands, it may or may not come now. But if it does, will we be the remnant for God or will we stand with the rest of the world?

https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/10/revelation-and-reassurance

It is natural and human to worry. Mothers fret and worry over their children, even when they are already adults. Children worry over their parents as their parents get older. I recall when I was young I worried about how my mum, my sister and myself will carey on with life if something were to happen to my dad as he was our sole bread winner. He was in his early 30s then and he will be 80 this year. God has indeed preserved, bless and kept him safe all these years. As working people, we worry about our work like now, I worry about the supply of equipment to my company with the global volatility of chips supply and the Ukrainian war. With the pandemic, businesses and the government worry about the future while politicians worry and fret over the coming elections in Johor.

While we know worry doesn’t help or change anything, we can’t help but worry. It’s human nature. However, in Philippians 4:6, Paul offers a good solution out of this human predicament and quagmire. He exalted us not to be anxious over anything but in all situations, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God. He precedes that with rejoice in the Lord always in verse 4, meaning to say, we rejoice in God no matter what we are going through and instead of worrying, we present our supplications to God, believing and trusting that He will take care of us and our family, that He has our best interests and our future at heart which sort of brings us back to Romans 8:28 where Paul had said that God will work all things together for good to those who love Him and who are called according to His purposes. In the end, all things will work out for good. We will go through trials and tribulations but we will prevail with God at our side strengthening and encouraging us on.

In all situations, instead of being anxious and worry, give thanks to God and pray and commit them to Him, pray and commit our children’s future to Him, pray and commit our church to Him knowing that He will work out what’s best for everyone. Pray and commit our work, our job and our career to Him. Pray and commit our ministry and future plans to Him, He will be the lamp to light up our paths. In all things, present our requests to Him with thanksgiving and the peace of God, which surpasses and transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus! Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/09/all-creatures-great-and-small

It is undeniable that the LORD loves and cares for both humanity and other living beings. Although animals do not have soul that live forever and thus there is no afterlife or heaven and hell for animals, they are nevertheless created to live alongside us. Animals live based on instinct and not conscience and although they can be trained to behave a certain way, they don’t really have a moral sense of right and wrong. For example, in the wild, any other animal that is smaller is a potential meal, whether between a leopard and a cheetah or between leopards. Just because you’re a predator or a carnivore doesn’t make it unlikely that you may be killed and eaten by another meat eating predator. The hunter can become the hunted in an instant!

Two points I just like to say this morning. The first is that as God loves both people and animals, we should likewise love people and animals. There is no way we can profess the faith and yet be cruel to or mistreat animals. They exist to complement us and some to provide us with food. Thus it is good for children to have pets, to teach them love and compassion, to give them a companion to love and cherish, to have a playmate to care and nurture while young.

Secondly, as much as God can and will take care of the animals in the forest, the birds in the sky and the creatures that live in the water and the sea – God can and will take care of us as humans. There are wars, famines, natural disasters, calamities and diseases (pandemics), and people and animals do perish in the process, but in general everything that wants to live is given every opportunity to continue living. We all have an in-built tenacity to live, to survive, to strive for our next meal, to catch our next breadth.

So, if God cares for people and animals, what more will He care for us as His children and chosen people? We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called us out of darkness into His wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). We are God’s people, we belong to Him, redeemed by Christ with His blood for His purposes. Will He not preserve, protect and keep us safe that we may serve Him and fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives? For God will work all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Let’s worry less of the future but put more thought to the present. We have the inherent ability to move forward, to live on. Live our lives to the fullest in the present for the glory of God that we truly become the light and the salt of the world! Proclaim His goodness and His love and compassion for people and animals alike! He is great and His mercies endure forever. His steadfast love never ceases. He is indeed our God and our Father and we are His people! Amen, to God be the glory, forever and ever!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/08/beautiful-feet-2

Isaiah 52:7 describes as beautiful the feet that bring the good news of Yahweh liberating the exiled Israelites from Babylon. The feet are beautiful as seen from the mountains, meaning to say, heaven rejoices that Israel will be set free from exile and will be able to return to the Promised Land and rebuild Jerusalem that laid in ruins. In the spiritual sense those who bring the good news of salvation, the Gospel, to the lost are rejoiced in the heavenly realm as Christ wants as many as possible to be saved and not swept into eternal damnation by the deceit of the devil and the fancy trappings of the world. For those who are yet saved, there is a new path to travel while on earth that leads to salvation and eternal life.

Coincidently, Paul also uses feet to described the sharing of the Gospel when he spoke of putting on the armour of God in Ephesians 6: 10-17 to stand against the schemes of the devil as our fight is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore we must put on the full armour of God comprising of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation taking the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and with our feet fitted with readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

While the armour of God is essentially defensive, the sword of the Spirit is both defensive and offensive, protecting us and yet may be used to attack the devil and his evil forces. The feet however speaks of readiness to go out there into the world to share the Gospel as a means to make inroads into and to penetrate enemy territory. To go on the offensive, we cannot remain passive but must move forward and with full armour of God we may stand firm and with the Word of God (sword of the Spirit), we can fight and tear down evil forces.

Preaching Christ crucified and resurrected is active and requires us literally moving our feet. It is a positive action. It is proactive and not reactive. Sending out a message of encouragement, a testimony of God’s goodness, a witness of God’s miracles, signs and wonders and healing grace and power all require us to either push a button or speak out. If we are silent, it is just not done. We cannot remain passive all the time, withdrawn into our own affairs alone or just revolving around our work, ministry and family. We need to start going out again and share the Gospel. Let the world know the message of the goodness of God. All of us are guilty one way or another; it’s time to move out again with our feet as He is coming again very soon. May our feet be also described as beautiful from the mountains!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/07/willing-to-wait

I guess for believers who came into the faith after seeing Jesus in person or after witnessing the signs and wonders that manifested after Pentecost or interacting with people who saw Jesus in the flesh, the wait for the second coming of Christ was more difficult and agonising. The belief and hope then must be that Jesus will come again in their lifetime to right the wrongs they were suffering then especially the intense persecution they had to endure, many to the point of death. The reality of Christ means that the reality of Him coming again then was more real and intense and yet they were waiting patiently for the Lord to return.

Nevertheless, the faith spread on from Jerusalem, out of Judea to the Gentiles and across the world as many stood firm in the faith while waiting for the Lord to come again despite the long-suffering, despite that evil being abound. They made the difference that made it possible for us to know Christ thousands of miles away, more than two thousand years later. Generations have passed and yet the faith was not extinguished one bit.

For us believers in the present age who had never met Jesus in the flesh or interacted with the Apostles or believers who had seen Him face to face, we are somewhat in some ways stronger in faith because our belief is entirely founded on faith, believing in things unseen as faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Meaning to say that despite not seeing and we can still believe and follow Jesus means that it can only be true and real. We ourselves became and are the evidence of things unseen.

We like the believers of the first century are also waiting patiently for the Lord to return.

No one know when He will return, only the Father. The Father wants to give everyone a chance to repent of their sins, He wants to give every tribe a chance to hear the Gospel before Christ returns to usher in the end of the world. The events revealed to John in Revelations will come to pass one by one. Perhaps if the present war in Ukraine is not contained and managed properly, there is a chance that it will escalate beyond its borders and spark a new world war?

Many have been teaching recently and are predicting that Christ will come again this generation, this age in time. When we look back 2,000 years and how humanity has progressed and grown, it’s hard to believe all will come to an end soon. Yet the signs of times are there for all to see and deduce. The global pandemic and the speed it spread across the globe is a first in human history, and yet ironically that for once after many years that green was given a chance to catch a breadth and rejuvenate when human activity paused and emissions ceased momentarily for a few months with factories shut and vehicles forced to stay home. The pause caused human misery in lost GDPs, economic activities, jobs and businesses but the jungles and oceans were given a reprieve from human ambition and greed. Thus it is clear that the coming of the Lord is near.

The message today I believe is please wait on patiently and stand firm against the temptations of the evil one, against the misery brought about by the pandemic with rising prices and less job and business opportunities. Do not lose the faith so freely given us at a high price of our Lord’s life on the cross. Let us all wait and prepare for the coming again of Christ as the next few weeks and months are crucial for the future direction of the human race. Christ may come again sooner than we expect, rather than later as experienced by generations before us. We may well experience and witness the rapture and the great tribulation that were spoken to John and written out in Revelations. Repent from our sin and follow Jesus with all our heart, mind and soul! He is indeed coming again! Please be prepared my beloved brethren and wait patiently!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/06/tongue-tied

We are usually able to express ourselves before God in adulation, adoration, worship, gratefulness and thankfulness. Telling God about our day should not be a problem as that is just plain communicating. Interceding for people and their needs should not be an issue either as we usually will have a prepared list of items to pray for. Finally, making requests and supplications that are our own needs should be easy as that are our own struggles and challenges that are usually dear to our hearts.

Having said that, we still sometimes find it tough to express ourselves; as mentioned in today’s ODB – we get tongue tied. It occurs in normal conversation with people and also in prayer. We are at a loss of words or ideas, we don’t know what else to say or what to say at all.

In prayer, if we are tongue tied, at least we know God knows our heart’s desires. He can read our thoughts and what lies within us even if we are not able to express ourselves well to Him. He already knows what we want to say even before we say it. In prayer, our inner thoughts are as important as what we verbalise. It is important to say it out, to verbalise our prayers but I think not fatal if we don’t say it too well or express it less eloquently as God knows our heart intentions and our thoughts.

Secondly, we have the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us through wordless groans when we do not know what to pray for. So we can pray in tongues and allow the Spirit to express our thoughts and intentions to God as we verbalise our prayer in tongues rather than just human words. That is why if we are loss for words, pray in tongues and let the Spirit carry through our prayers.

The message today I believe is that we must never let our loss of words or fluency in prayer or lack of eloquency to ever prevent us from praying. Speak to God in our language in our own way. In the end, God already knows our intentions and thoughts. Nevertheless speak out and verbalise our prayers to Him. Be open, do not hide for He knows all things. Verbalise our prayers. Confess our sins and iniquities before Him. Seek His forgiveness. Pour our hearts unto Him. When we run out of words, speak in the Spirit and let the Spirit speak for us.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/05/safe-hands

I don’t know about you but when I was young and started reading Enid Blyton novels like the Famous Five, I always dreamt of having my own tree house. A place away from my own room or house that is mine to hide out with my gang or just I alone. A place where we are hidden away from the world where we can be alone by ourselves – our hiding place.

Just a few days back I watched a Japanese drama series on Netflix where the story was that the wife of a senior judge required her to maintain a low profile so that he is perceived as humble, fair and objective. She wears old shoes to move around but she actually rents a small storage room somewhere in the city where she keeps her nice shoes and fancy bags and goes there daily just to wear and see them within the confines of her storage room. That room was her hiding place to enjoy her passion for her designer shoes and bags.

Do we have a hiding place, a place of refuge where we can truly be ourself? A place where we can pursue our deepest interests unhindered. Some people have a farm for that, like a cabin in the woods. Some people go camping in remote places using 4WD vehicles with camping and cooking gear, just to enjoy the serenity and peace of the deep forest. Yet there are some who go fishing just for that, at a fishing farm or out at sea. Or some ladies go for spa for indulgent self pampering.

Psalm 32 teaches us that the LORD our God is our hiding place. Jesus Christ had broken down the veil for us and made God accessible by us directly without needing to go through intermediaries like the priests as we are now a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9). In Psalm 32, David described the Lord as someone who will protect us from trouble, surrounding us with songs of deliverance, instructing us and teaching us on where to go and counselling us with loving eyes.

But the key to understanding Psalm 32 lies with what David meant by his bones. It means his health and his physical well being. David said when he kept silent his bones wasted away. He felt God’s hands were heavy on him, his energy being sapped away in the heat of summer, his groaning is all day long. Then David acknowledged his sin and did not cover his iniquity. He confessed his transgressions and the LORD forgave the guilt of his sin.

As much as our salvation is assured by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, sanctification is a constant affair. Confess our sins before Him, acknowledge our transgressions and iniquities. Forgive those who have sinned against us. The LORD thus will then be our true hiding place; a place of refuge, a place of rejuvenation, a place of strength where our physical and spiritual well-being are energised, a place where our bones will come alive and not be wasted away. Make the LORD our God our hiding place, for indeed He is good and faithful, His love endureth forever! Amen

https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/04/two-small-boxes-2

The teachings of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-20 on storing up treasures in heaven is probably one of the more well known verses in the bible and concept in the faith that most of us have probably heard of as a Christian. Instead of gathering riches on earth, Jesus teaches us to store up treasures in heaven.

But how do we actually do that? We could buy a gold chain and keep or invest in shares or bitcoin or have fixed deposits or buy land and houses or basically have a credit balance in our bank account. These are all earthly riches and treasures that we can see and feel, that are tangible and the truth is – much easier to pursue, keep and store.

Treasures in heaven is a totally different creature altogether. We can’t send our gold chain to heaven and neither are there investment schemes or bank accounts that we can credit to here on earth for heaven. Or is there? Or can we actually do that? So I think what bible commentator Craig Bloomberg said is very interesting. Treasures in heaven means spiritual wealth and that means the compassionate use of material resources to meet others’ physical and spiritual needs. Isn’t that such a wonderful interpretation of the concept of storing up riches in heaven?

If we read Matthew 9 carefully, we will see that Jesus in teaching the storing up of treasures in heaven contrasts it with storing up treasures on earth that moth and rust can corrupt and thieves can break in and steal. He speaks about what motivates our hearts and what we serve, whether God or money (mammon).

My cell group member once asked me this question and my answer was that it means doing the things God asked us to do, doing good for others, serving God – these are all the things that will store up our treasures in heaven. But today I will add, use the material resources that we have to help the physical and spiritual needs of others. It doesn’t mean that we do not pursue material resources at all as such resources help us to live and make the world go around (makes human activity possible). But whatever we have, whatever we have gathered and stored; be generous about it, be willing and compassionate to share and help others with it. In the end, it doesn’t matter if we leave this world with only two small boxes of earthly possessions but what matters is have we stored up a room full of treasures in heaven from the many that we have blessed by the generous giving of our money, service and life while we were still alive?

https://odb.org/MY/2022/03/03/encouraged-in-god

I think most of us are familiar with the phrase “be a Barnabas”, meaning to say be an encourager. It is better to encourage than to criticise, better to encourage than to tear down or destroy. We edify, we lift someone up, we give kind and assuring words when that person didn’t do a good job or failed at his task or was nervous or afraid. Never mind, you tried your best, work at it and do better the next time. I guess with practice everyone will get better over time. So being an encourager means believing that people should be given second and third chances, believing that people will get better over time.

But I think we should draw the line at flattery, of not facing the real situation but giving a false impression of excellence when there was none. That is not an encouragement but a lie and is rather dangerous as it paints a false picture and inflates the ego when in reality he did a poor job. We should tell it as it is, not being critical or over bearing but tell the truth and yet believing that things can and will be improved if more effort is put into it.

This morning however the message takes the encouragement one step further in the sense that it exalts us to encourage people in the Lord. Jonathan went to David to help him find strength in the Lord. Not only believing that people should be given a chance and that things will get better over time with more practice but that God Himself will make things better. That God will be the ultimate encourager; to exalt, support and propel us forward. We need to find our strength in God, our purpose in God. So being an encourager means we encourage others to find their strength in God, like Jonathan did for David, to find their strength and purpose in God. The Lord will always be the best source of strength as He is our creator and heavenly Father. He loves and cares for us, for our well being, for all that we are doing for Him and for His Kingdom.

Thus be a Barnabas to encourage and lift up others but also be a Jonathan to help others find their strength in God. David remembered what Jonathan did many years down the road and showed undue kindness, grace and mercy to the crippled Mephibosheth, Jonathan’s son and Saul’s grandson, by giving him a permanent place to dine at his royal table and restored his house, land, possessions and servants despite Saul having lost the throne to David, despite Saul having tried to kill David a few times to try to prevent him from ascending to the throne. David had no hatred but love for Mephibosheth on the account of Jonathan when kings of old would have eliminated the bloodline of their rivals. You can read about Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel Chapter 9.