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!!!

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!