A friend at midnight

https://odb.org/2025/07/30/a-friend-at-midnight

John 15:14–17 (NIV): 14 “You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name, the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

I can count a handful of friends whom I could call at midnight if I were in trouble. Under normal circumstances, it would be our parents or siblings, but in my case, my parents have passed on, and my only sister stays in a town two hours drive away. The next person will be my pastor, whom I think will be the first person every member of my church will call when they get into trouble! I do have a few close friends beyond my church social circle, some who are ex-colleagues that I still keep in touch. But basically, that’s about it.

We know that we can call upon Jesus and, more specifically, the Holy Spirit. He is just a prayer away. He is a friend as much as He is a brother and our Lord. He is the person who carries us when we see only one set of footsteps at the beach. He is a shoulder we can cry on, and our friend, whom we may rejoice with, when we reach a milestone in our physical and spiritual lives. He is after all the Alpha and Omega, the author and finisher of our faith. He may be our judge at the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ, but He cheers and encourages us to give our best for God!

Jesus actually spoke in Luke 11:5-8 on the parable on a friend at midnight, but in a different context, to illustrate a different point.

The question this morning is, can we be the friend at midnight our friends may call upon when they are in trouble? Can we be Christ to those around us as a reflection of Christ’s glory and image in our lives? Will we take up the call, get dressed, and go out and help our friends, although we are in the midst of our adventures in dreamland? Our day at work tomorrow will likely be ruined, but will we spare the moment, sacrifice our beauty sleep to still help?

Have a great day ahead at work today, and may the LORD our God bless and provide us with wisdom to manage our time effectively to do our best!

Sustained by God

https://odb.org/2025/07/29/sustained-by-god

Psalm 55:16-23 NIV – 16 As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me. 17 Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice. 18 He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old, who does not change— he will hear them and humble them because they have no fear of God. 20 My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant. 21 His talk is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn swords. 22 Cast your cares on the Lord, and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous be shaken.
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked into the pit of decay; the bloodthirsty and deceitful will not live out half their days. But as for me, I trust in you.

There are times when we are overwhelmed with multiple issues occurring in parallel in our lives. Usually, it’s when an elderly loved one falls ill and needs constant care. Our lives could, in an instant, be turned upside down. From dealing with demanding bosses or clients at work to running the household to caring for our loved ones, we could be overwhelmed. At the core of all that, there could be the question of money and expense and a significant strain on our savings and investments.

In Psalm 55, David was hunted, of all people, his own flesh and blood, Absalom. He was greatly distressed and feared for his own life as much as he was king and had led numerous victories for the LORD. He was older now and was not the David of his youth, yet he still trusted God to deliver him. He cast his cares unto the LORD and believed that God would sustain him. He held on to the strong brief that the LORD would not let the righteous be shaken.

As much as we are shaken and overwhelmed, cast our cares unto Him, and He will make sure we are not shaken. Put our trust in Him that He will work things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Somehow, things will work out. Heaven and all the spiritual forces therein will help us go through our moments of great stress. There will be some toil on our body and our resources, but everything will turn out well. Like Karen Huang of today’s ODB needing to suddenly take care of her bedridden and ill father amidst her ongoing issues at work, God saw her through all that. Fourteen years later, she is still taking care of her father! Praise the Lord!

Cast our cares unto Him. Commit our situation to Him. He will take care of us, He will protect and preserve our faith and spiritual life as we push through despite all that we are going through! Amen!

God sees and hears

https://odb.org/2025/07/28/to-see-and-to-serve

Lamentations 3:58–59 (NIV): 58 You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life. 59 LORD, you have seen the wrong done to me. Uphold my cause!

Often, we go through miserable times. But there are people who go through worse, much worse. It’s so bad that some things, once seen, can not be unseen. Yet we have seen examples in Scripture where God saw and heard the cries of those who were mistreated like Hagar in the case of Sarah or the oppressed Israelites in Egypt. Hagar was an Egyptian slave girl to Sarah and thus a foreigner. But God heard her and saw her plight: Genesis 16:13 NKJV: Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here seen Him who sees me?”

The message this morning is whether we are the ones facing miserable situations or others. Know that God sees and hears. He will, in His time, bring us relief and alleviate our circumstances. There may be times when He will choose us to be the vessels of His grace. Go and see someone to comfort and encourage. Send some money over for them to tide over their difficult times. It could be just RM100 like PMX’s SARA aid. For those without any money at all, RM100 will be helpful for them to buy some basic necessities.

I don’t know what each of us is going through. We all have our struggles in life. Struggles at work or in our spiritual life. Or just not having work and needing to deplete our savings. God sees and hears. He knows exactly what we are going through. His justice is on the way. He will redeem us as He has seen the wrong done to us!

Have a good week ahead, everyone! May His infinite blessings be upon us in His grace and mercy! Amen!

Spiritual gifts

https://odb.org/2025/07/25/god-given-gifts

1 Peter 4:7–11 (NIV): 7 The end of all things is near. Therefore, be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides so that in all things, God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

As believers in Christ, the Holy Spirit gives us spiritual gifts, in addition to our natural abilities, for us to serve others and build up the church. Peter divides these gifts into speaking and serving gifts (see 1 Peter 4:11 above). In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul lists nine gifts: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, tongues, and tongues interpretation verses 8-10). He lists additional gifts elsewhere (Romans 12:3-8; Ephesians 4:11).

Thus, practically, we will all be equipped by God’s grace, on top of our natural abilities, to serve the brethren and build up the church, wherever we are worshipping. That is also why we must make every effort to attend services on site and join a congregation. Worshipping online in isolation from the body of Christ is self-serving as our physical attendance itself is an encouragement that is a form of service to the body of Christ. There is no point getting saved if we practice our faith within the four walls of our room, unless, of course, if we live in a closed country. If we are not in the latter situation, we must join a church and be part of a community of believers to serve and build up the spiritual lives of each other.

I have been serving in music since my teens. In fact, my repertoire comprises mainly church songs. As much as I play both acoustic and bass guitars, my musical abilities are not much of use outside the context of church services. I only know a few pop songs, and they are so old that the younger generation may not even have heard! Do I wish I had learned some good non-church songs so I can show off some nice riffs? I actually do wish so. Haha. But it doesn’t matter to me because I learned to play the guitar to serve the needs of the church then that worshipped only in a capella, and perhaps God had always wanted me to be good at only church songs so I may serve Him this way for the rest of my life!

Whatever spiritual gifts we are given and whatever natural abilities we have, and that includes administration and book-keeping skills and counselling and listening skills, use it to serve others in the body to build up the church. Be happy so long as God is happy, even if our skills may only be useful in church!

Right time and right place

https://odb.org/2025/07/24/right-place-right-time

Esther 4:10–16 (NIV): 10 Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, 11 “All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king.” 12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

Sometimes, God places us at a certain place at a certain time for a specific purpose. We may wonder why? It may not even be a pleasant place. For example, due to circumstances prevailing then, we had to leave our former workplace and ended up where we are now. We are thankful we found another job, but it is somewhat discouraging as it’s a lower grade position with less pay. Is there a specific reason that God had placed us there? Is it because the Lord wants us to reach out to a specific person? Or have more time to serve Him? Or perhaps God wants to humble us to deal with issues of pride in our lives?

In the case of Queen Esther, she was placed at the court of the King of Persia for a specific purpose. There was a plot by some people within the palace to annihilate the Jews and Queen Esther was at the right time and right place to expose the plot and appeal to the King on behalf of her people. The LORD had enabled Esther to be chosen as the Queen for a purpose. Similarly, Joseph became the Prime Minister of Egypt through an arduous journey for a specific purpose, which was to save the clan of Jacob of 71 from the coming great famine. It is from those people that the near 2 million strong Jewish slaves were rescued by Moses from Egypt 430 years later.

But there was a catch. Queen Esther has not been summoned to see the King for more than 30 days. If she goes to see him uninvited, she will be put to death if the King does not excuse her by extending to her the gold sceptre to spare her life. Sometimes, being at the right place at the right time by themselves may not be enough. We may be called to take certain risks. We may need to exercise our faith and move out in boldness. Then, the purpose is achieved.

We may question and wonder why we are at this place of work? We may even be asking why we are serving in this local church? Trust that God has a bigger purpose for us. Listen to His still small voice as He speaks to us through the Holy Spirit. Pray and seek Him. Then, move out in boldness. Take the step of faith to do the things He has called us to do at the place or the church. We will thus know and confirm that His will is indeed good, pleasing, and perfect! Be at the right place at the right time!

The Holy Spirit

https://odb.org/2025/07/23/led-by-the-holy-spirit

John 14:15–20 (NIV): 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world can not accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit are 3 distinct persons, yet they are one in the Holy Trinity. That means when you see Jesus in the flesh, you also see God the Father (see John 14:9). Yet as a distinctive being of God in the flesh, Immanuel, it is Jesus the Son who walked the earth and preached the Good News of Salvation 2,000 years ago. In the same rein, it was Jesus Christ the Son who died on the cross for our sins and defeated sin and death when He rose again 3 days later.

But on the 40th day after His resurrection, He ascended to heaven to be with Father God and has not been seen again in the flesh ever since, until He comes again to later rule the world and usher in the new heaven and new earth at the end of time. But Jesus did not abandon His disciples or us His present-day believers when He ascended to heaven. He promised that in John 14:15-20 and on the 50th day after His resurrection (10 days after His ascension), the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and all believers.

Thus, when we say God lives in us or Jesus lives in our hearts, the distinctive being is actually God’s or Jesus’s Spirit, and He is the Holy Spirit. He is not actually Jesus or God the Father, although they are one in the Holy Trinity. This is also something unique in our faith as no other faiths have the concept of an external diety who lives in us as a distinctive person.

Not only does the Holy Spirit live in us, but He guides us in our faith. He prompts us to obey God’s Word and to apply the rhema Word as spoken to our hearts. He speaks to us to trust God in faith in the things we do and to serve Him. He empowers us to pray for the sick and cast out demons. He helps and strengthens our spiritual formation as a child of God, in our transformation into the image of Christ. He helps us to fulfil Romans 12:2 that we do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

This morning, as we get ready to work, pray that the Holy Spirit will grant us the discernment to make wise decisions that will glorify the name of God and Christ. That we will have the diligence to do our part at our workplace and give our best to God. Amen!

Unceasing prayer

https://odb.org/2025/07/22/persisting-in-prayer

Luke 18:1–8 (NIV): 18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town, there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time, he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

I feel Luke 18:1-8 illustrates more of God’s love and compassion rather than just pure persistence in prayer. Even though an unjust judge will give justice when continually bothered, it does not mean that if we keep on bothering God, He will likewise do the same. God is God. He is sovereign. He is love. As much as He is a God of justice, I dont think it is right that He is to be bothered in this manner. He will serve His justice in His time, and it may not be in the form or substance that we are looking for. For instance, if we are so unfortunate to have been scammed of RM50,000 by scammers, our persistent prayers will not likely bring back the money lost, and we will never know even if we constantly pray that the scammers be caught and sent to jail. Moreover, we are to love our enemies and forgive those who have sinned against us.

When we pray, we ought to pray with thanksgiving in our hearts and the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7). Prayer brings peace that will keep our hearts (spirit) and minds (soul) to remain true and faithful to God, that we will not abandon our faith or lose the hope of our salvation because of a tragedy or bad thing that happened to us. I have seen people lose their minds (become mentally unstable or enter into deep depression) because of failed relationships or during the Asian financial crisis, people took their lives due to mounting debts.

Having said that, we have also seen in the bible of God intervening when the Israelites were subject to acute suffering in the exodus of the Jews from Egypt to Canaan. The LORD proclaimed that He heard the cries of His people. You can see this in Exodus 3 – 7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Ultimately, it is not the persistence of our prayers that will lead to tangible results in our lives, but it is God’s heart for us, His love and compassion. Similarly, it is not the measure of faith itself that can move mountains, but the faith itself (even as small as a mustard seed) that can make changes or bring transformation. Pray unceasingly but always with thanksgiving and not vengeance (or anger or evil) in our hearts and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard and protect our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus! Amen!

Shelter from storms

https://odb.org/2025/07/21/shelters-of-gods-care

Isaiah 32:1–4 (NIV): 32 See, a king will reign in righteousness, and rulers will rule with justice. 2 Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land. 3 Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 4 The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.

The picture of trees lining up open spaces to protect homes and people from storms is a good picture of how God and His Word protect His people from the storms of life. If you live in open spaces, you can not avoid storms when they come your way. That is why planting strong trees is an excellent idea to shield homes from strong winds. Of course, if not properly maintained, trees can pose us danger when uprooted during storms.

That reminds me of the genius of the Sydney harbour, the world’s largest natural deep water harbour. It is naturally deep that the biggest of ships may moor. I have personally seen a warship anchored at its wharves right there in the city! Yet Sydney harbour is protected from the open seas and storms! An amazing natural creation of God! See below:

Sydney habour’s natural topography

This also reminds me of Psalm 1, in a somewhat different context. Blessed is the man whose delight is the law of the LORD and who meditates upon it day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruits in season and whose leaves do not wither. One who spends time reading and studying the Word is someone who is properly and strongly planted in the faith like a healthy and flourishing tree planted besides streams of water.

The message this morning is to spend more time reading and studying His Word. Read about the ancient times in the Old Testament of how God delivered Israel from her enemies, of how He taught His people lessons in life when they disobeyed His law and worship other gods. Spend time reading and analysing Paul’s teachings and exposition of spiritual principles in the New Covenant under grace in Christ. Don’t just take famous verses literally, but look at the context they were written.

The Word is the spiritual equivalent of trees planted to shield homes from storms. It protects us from the attacks of the evil one or the temptations of the world. As shared by Pastor Bernard yesterday in our local church, the Word will help us redeem our soul to overcome and defeat old strongholds in our mind (the most dominant part of our soul) to make it obedient to Christ. The Word is one of the keys to transforming our minds that it no longer conforms to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2).

2 Corinthians 10:5: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Have a good week ahead, everyone! Spend more time with God and His Word. May the LORD our God grant us wisdom, discernment, and patience as we deal with issues and personalities at work! Amen!

The poor and us as believers

https://odb.org/2025/07/17/loving-jesus-most

Deuteronomy 15:1–11 (NIV): 15 At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts. 2 This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people because the LORD’s time for cancelling debts has been proclaimed. 3 You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. 4 However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you, 5 if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today. 6 For the LORD, your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations, but none will rule over you.
7 If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. 10 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then, because of this, the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. 11 There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

I have always remembered Jesus’s saying, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me” (John 12:8). Thus, it was OK to pour a pint of perfume worth a year’s wages on Jesus instead of selling it to give the proceeds to the poor. It doesn’t mean that helping the poor is not important. It’s just that honouring Jesus is more important at that point in time. The reason is God in flesh, the Immanuel is with us for a fraction of time, and He will soon sacrifice Himself for the sins of mankind.

Furthermore, as Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 15:11 above, the context is there are already provisions in the Mosaic law dealing with the poor. As the LORD will bless everyone in Israel, there should not be, in the first place, poor people. But if there are, the law provides for the year of jubilee to free them of their debts while mandating the well off to help the needy, not really expecting to be repaid. Instead, the LORD will bless those who lend for their generosity.

In applying these principles to modern times, I believe the correct approach is that it is not our responsibility to resolve societal issues. These are macro and structural issues to be managed and rectified by the government of the day that collects income tax, duties, and other taxes from the general public and corporations. In other words, these issues are just too big and are way beyond us. Even if we are billionaires, what more when we are just ordinary wage earners. That is why Jesus said you will always have the poor among you.

Having said that, it doesn’t mean that we mustn’t help the poor or needy among us. We must still help them. Deuteronomy 15 compels us to if we have the means. Yet there are times when other priorities are to be pursued as in the case of the pint of perfume for Jesus. In other words, if it is time for the church to invest in a new 88-key portable digital piano, we shouldn’t say that the money should instead be given to the poor. There are priorities that need to be pursued, and yet we should help the poor and needy in our midst at the same time, for example, by creating a fund to facilitate those in need to attend the church camp.

Be transformed by the renewing of our minds

https://odb.org/2025/07/16/habits-and-the-holy-spirit

Romans 12:1–3 (NIV): 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then, you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing, and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Romans 12:1 is preceded by verses and verses of what Christ has done for us. God’s grace and mercy towards us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, because of such grace and mercy, we ought to, in appreciation of God’s love and mercy, present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Meaning to say, our lives are a sacrifice towards God in terms of our persona, our character, and who we are as human beings. How do we relate to God and the people around us? Do we come out as someone kind, humble, easygoing, forgiving, accommodating, and generous? Or are we egoistic, mean, difficult, vengeful, and selfish?

Paul suggests that to be a living sacrifice, we ought to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We are not to conform or follow the pattern of this world, which basically exalts the self against the needs of the body. Thus, we ought to be selfless and put others first and let the Lord bless and reward us instead in His own timing and will. For example, practising delayed gratification instead of instant gratification is one way to be transformed. This is because the quest for instant gratification will tend to cause us to compromise our faith and principles in life.

If we are transformed and do not conform to the pattern of this world, we will then be able to test and approve, as in experience, God’s will for our lives. We will then see that His will is good, pleasing, and perfect! In the process, we will willingly discard our own will in favour of God’s. We will find that instead of restricting and restraining us, He blossoms us into such a beautiful butterfly that brings good cheer and joy to those around us while glorifying the name of God! We will gladly exchange the richness and fame we were previously chasing for a life lived in the house of the LORD as surely goodness and mercy shall follow us for the rest of our days! See Psalm 23:6. We will indeed experience a glimpse of heaven here on earth as we allow the supernatural power and goodness of God to penetrate into our natural lives.

All these earthly spiritual rewards and experiences start when we decide to transform to become a living sacrifice by renewing our minds so that we do not conform to the pattern of this world! We refuse to bow down to the Baals and Asherahs of this modern times, but instead only worship the one and only true living God, Yahweh of the ancient Israelites and our heavenly Father and that our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen