Anger

https://odb.org/2025/04/16/a-pastry-war

Ecclesiastes 7:9 – Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.

Married couples will bear witness that a small spark can quickly become a raging fire if both parties do not back down. That is why for a marriage to last, usually it is better for opposites to attract (like a magnet) than for both to have a similarly fiery demeanour. If the husband is the fierce type and the wife is non-confrontational, the likelihood that the marriage is peaceful is high, but it is also possible that the wife will always be bullied.

However, I think in the present society, it is less common to find non-confrontational women – women are now more eloquent, confident, and smart. Look at the public universities today. The male/female ratio for 2022 in Malaysian public universities was 39/61!

The best way to avoid conflicts, especially between married couples, is to walk away, more so if you’re the man and the aggressive one. This is because the possibility of the man inflicting harm is much higher. Ecclesiastes 3:9 teaches us not to be easily provoked. It means don’t easily get angry. If we are not angry, we need not walk away. We may remain calm and composed even when provoked. It’s a strong character trait we can be proud of in Christ if we are really able to control our anger when provoked.

We have probably read many news reports of how a sudden provocation can lead to dire consequences. A fight or an altercation may lead to someone being killed, and chances are the perpetrator may face the death penalty. Husbands and wives suffer unwanted deaths when a sudden provocation leads to a homicide. In criminal law, the defence of grave and sudden provocation can reduce a murder charge to a charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder; in American parlance, from first to second degree murder. In Malaysian law, the reduction of the charge reduces the penalty from death to life imprisonment (means 20 years maximum). Sometimes, wars even start from trivial matters due to issues of anger and loss of face.

As a believer in Christ redeemed by the blood of Christ, I think the most important point we should remember is not to provoke our Father God to anger. God is super composed and abundantly patient. But even He is capable of anger even if He may be slowest being to ever be provoked to anger. Nevertheless, we must exercise restraint and caution in the way we live!

As we usher in Good Friday and Easter Sunday this week, exercise restraint and not be quickly provoked to anger for indeed anger resides in the laps of fools! Do not live by our emotions but by our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ!

Ruth

https://odb.org/2025/04/15/i-will-stay

Ruth 1:16–17 (NIV):
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

During ancient times, women were largely not given much prominence. They usually support men in most narratives. The bible is no exception as it was written in the literary style of the then existing period of time. Thus, as much as we know Sarah/Sarai was the wife of Abraham/Abram, those chapters in Genesis were more about Abraham than Sarah. It was the same with Isaac’s Rebecca and Jacob’s Rachel and Leah. The wives were supporting characters to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Another example was Joseph. Although the Egyptian Pharoah made him second in command and gave him a wife, Asenath, an Egyptian aristocrat, who bore him two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (who later formed two of the 12 tribes of Israel), little is known of her.

But Ruth was different. A whole book in the Bible is about her, with only Queen Esther being the other exception. What made Ruth special was that she was a Moabite who chose to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Israel and adopt Jewish culture and Yahweh as hers. Her famous and often quoted words are, “Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” It illustrates God’s love and compassion and inclusiveness, way before Jesus commissioned Paul to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. Ruth later married Boaz as the story goes, and she became the great grandmother of David, the most illustrious King Israel ever produced. When Jesus was born, He proudly traced his ancestry to the House of David, and Jesus is thus also a human descendant of Ruth!

The parallel we have with Ruth is that we are also grafted into the family of God as adopted sons and daughters through the blood of Christ shed on Calvary, which we will remember and honour this coming Good Friday. We were not the chosen ones but became the chosen ones through Christ. In a way, we are like Ruth. The God of Israel has become our God, and His people, Israelites, are now our people. We are now a part of the universal and spiritual family of God. Like Ruth, who was a foreigner, we were Gentiles (not Jewish).

God could have chosen to remain God of only the Jews. Instead, He so loved the world that He sent Jesus to the world so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have life everlasting. The irony is that the Jews rejected His Messiah and Son and His message of hope and reconciliation. We as believers and disciples of Christ are the new spiritual Israel.

This week, as we celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday, honour, remember and celebrate Christ’s death and resurrection! The day of His return is not far away. There will be turmoil and chaos. Cling on to Him steadfastly, and we will be saved! Amen!

Gospel resources

https://odb.org/2025/04/14/sharing-gospel-resources

Romans 1:16 (NIV): 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Recently, I had the privilege and honour to help out in a mission trip by a brother and his son to a faraway people in a faraway land. I only gave him some funding, a small amount I can afford. One day, I hope to be able to be a part of such trips that teach, minister, and share the Good News. Different organisations do this differently as some organise city-wide evangelistic healing campaigns. While others do it on a smaller scale, like joining teaching retreats or camps.

This is what the author of today’s ODB article calls Gospel resources. That is anything given by God to spread the message of His love and salvation. The point is that we must get Gospel resources to places where they are needed most. Small communities that are encouraged and strengthened will go a long way to proclaim and bring the message of hope to the larger community there. We must help, in one way or another, to place the spiritual flag of salvation in such needy places that the name of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.

Don’t look down upon ourselves. We ourselves are Gospel resources. Whatever spiritual talents and giftings God have given us, use them for His glory. Volunteer ourselves that we may be a blessing unto others. Focus on our strengths and not our weaknesses. But if we are unable to personally attend, help by giving finance and pray for their spiritual wellbeing. Pray for the power of God to be manifested in their midst and for the spirit of salvation to prevail and reign!

Have a good week ahead even as we prepare to celebrate Easter Sunday! In fact, have a good Holy Week ahead, the week that starts yesterday as Palm Sunday and eases into Good Friday and Easter Sunday! Remember – the Gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes, whether Jew or Gentile.

Honouring by continuing their work

https://odb.org/2025/04/11/good-grief

2 Kings 2:8–14 (NIV): 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

The story of Hachiko waiting for his owner to return despite the latter having passed on is legendary as Hachiko did the same thing, day in day out, for 10 years, whether is summer, spring or winter! Most of us would have watched the movie starring Richard Gere, and I’m sure we would have been touched by Hachiko’s faithfulness.

In life, we also want to be faithful like Hachiko, to the people we love or respect. Like being faithful to our beloved wife. Or being faithful to the cause of our leaders based on their example when they were leading us. When they retire or pass on, we should honour them by being faithful to their cause by continuing their work. Often, when leaders die, their cause die with them. One great example in the bible is that of Elisha with Elijah. Elisha shadowed Elijah for some time as the latter’s disciple, and when Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind by heavenly beings, Elisha saw it and was blessed with a double portion of Elijah’s anointing. In other words, Elisha could do what Elijah did before but better and more powerful. In 2 Kings 2, we see that Elisha parted the Jordan like Elijah did before using Elijah’s cloak. 

If there’s someone we love and respect a lot, and they have departed, the best way to honour him or her is to carry on their work in Christ. If they had been a good and faithful servant of God during their lifetime, we should likewise be a good and faithful servant of God. We honour them by carrying on their legacy, their work like how Elisha did in respect of Elijah. If it’s mission work, we continue that mission. Let the nations be blessed and the name of our LORD be glorified by the work of our hands! Amen!

Helpful brethren

https://odb.org/2025/04/10/the-wright-sister

Romans 16:1-4: I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. 2 I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me. 3 Greet Priscillac and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. 4 They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them.

The magnificent cathedral at Cologne, Germany
Standing tall despite the massive WW2 bombings

We returned last week from our multi-city tour of Europe, with a stopover-stay in the UK to spend time with our elder son. But I couldn’t get back to writing these devotional pages expediently as I have been struggling with jet lag for the past week. My apologies for my tardiness. I only managed to fall asleep in the wee hours of the morning. Thus, it was impossible to wake up at 5.30 a.m. to seek God and write.

The Central European tour was whirlwind quick but tiring yet absolutely enjoyable. The cold was a refreshing change from the hot and humid weather we are accustomed to over here. One of the highlights, there were actually quite a few, was seeing the magnificent cathedral in Cologne, which miraculously survived the bombings in WW2 by the grace of God.

Coming to the topic of today, as Paul commended in Romans 16 the brethren who helped the church and his ministry by name, we know for sure that ministry is a team effort. Everyone needs to play their part. I see that even in my life group, where there are those who are taking the initiative to organise a retreat when the leaders are busy with work and other ministry duties.

In the case of the famous Wright brothers, there was Katherine Wright, who helped them in the background running their bicycle shop that was the brothers’ source of income and also nursing Orville back to health after he suffered a plane crash in their quest to invent the aeroplane. Paul remembered those who were helpful and who contributed to the cause of ministry. Jesus will, of course, remember and will reward and honour them accordingly in their time in eternal life. But will we remember and honour those around us for all that they have done in our midst even as we ourselves serve God faithfully in accordance with the talents and giftings He has bestowed upon us? We must encourage and honour all our fellow soldiers in Christ, all who have worked and toiled tirelessly for Christ all these years. As the Chinese say, from dark hair to grey hair, we have all served God in the church all these years, one way or another.

The LORD God our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ like to commend each and every one of us today for our faithfulness in serving in the church, for our generosity in time and finance and for our kind and encouraging words of exaltation. Despite our challenges in life and at our workplace, in particular, the expected turmoil the world will face with an unpredictable and manipulative president in the US, we will stand the course to complete God’s plans and purposes for our lives!

Have a good weekend ahead, everyone! Be a good and helpful brethren and at the same time appreciate and honour our fellow helpful brethren, in our quest to fulfil the will of the Father here on earth as it is in heaven!

The Son is not a created being

https://odb.org/2025/03/17/making-peace

Colossians 1:15–20 (NIV): 15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him, all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

In Colossae, there were false teachers who were advocating that Jesus as the Son of God was a created being in the sense that He was created by Father God like all other things. But Paul sharply rebutted this by declaring that Christ was the firstborn over all creation. He asserted that in Christ, all things were created. All things were created through Him anf for Him. He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.

John also similarly asserted as follows in John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. The Word was Logos meaning the life force who existed at the very beginning in Greek thought. Through Him, all things were made. Without Him, nothing was made that had been made.

The Jews however could not accept that their Yahweh, the God who led them throughout generations since ancient times, since the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is also Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They could not accept the Immanuel of God having become flesh to dwell amongst His people.

Although rejected by the Jews, Jesus reconciled men to God and extended Yahweh’s Lordship and rulership beyond Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the rest of the world. Indeed, through Abraham and his seed, nations shall be blessed. As God of a small band of people numbering 70 when Jacob settled in Egypt after the LORD sent Joseph ahead to prepare the way, that band had blossomed into a nation of more than 2 million when they left Egypt for Canaan 430 years later with Moses. Still, the Israelites were a small nation compared to the nations around them and the dominant deity then and there was Baal. But through Jesus mankind was reconciled to God, and now Yahweh is the God of millions all around the world, that we as Gentiles are now grafted into the family as adopted sons and daughters through Christ.

Be thankful for this privilege and honour to know Yahweh personally in Christ as much as Christ is Yahweh as He existed at the beginning and created all things. Know that even God’s plans for us as born-again human beings with body and spirit were conceived and prepared even before the foundations of the world. God knows us personally and loves each and every one of us. Give our lives to Him and go for His narrow path. He will lead us to be the best that we will ever be!

Have a good week ahead, everyone! We will be travelling to Europe for a vacation and then meeting up with our elder son in the UK. My postings will be sporadic due to the time difference, and I may be offline until we return to Malaysia in early April. Take care, everyone! God bless and keep on walking the narrow path of righteousness that leads to eternal life!

Created for good works

https://odb.org/2025/03/14/were-made-to-do-good

Ephesians 2:6–10 (NIV): 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

The natural tendency of people is usually to mind your own business. Perhaps it’s a city or urban thing. In the natural, we are not inclined to do evil or to hurt, but we are not obliged to help either. You live your life, and I live mine. I said earlier it may be a city or urban thing as people in the countryside and smaller towns are usually more helpful. Or if you see an accident on the roadside, people stopping to help are usually motorcyclists, ordinary people rather than the elite. In terms of races in Malaysia, the Malays are often more helpful compared to the Chinese, and this could be because of their rural based DNA and upbringing. People in the city are often chasing time, rushing from one destination to another, and are thus less inclined to make pit stops.

Actually, deep inside us, we are created to do good. As human beings, our bodies will naturally release dopamine, a reward hormone that gives us pleasure when we achieve something or do good. Like endorphin that releases feelings of euphoria when we exercise or oxytocin (the love hormone) during feelings of connection, bonding, or intimacy, we are made to do good. But sometimes, when left to our own devices, our fleshy desires take control, and we may want to do harm rather than do good.

However, as born-again Christians and believers redeemed by the blood of Christ and who, by God’s grace, found and accepted salvation from God, we must always remember to do good. In fact, Paul says that we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Therefore, in the natural as humans, we have been created to do good. In Christ, we are now commissioned to do good works as God has prepared in advance for us. It speaks of a list of good works that we are tasked to do and complete in Christ. That is why James emphasised that salvation without works is dead. We may be saved by grace, but as the redeemed, we are to do good works. Jesus reminds us of this in the parable of the ungrateful or unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35.

I think it is a timely reminder that we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Our bodies will help us achieve this by releasing dopamine, which will make us feel good when we have done a good deed. In the process, our Lord, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, will also be happy with us. It is a “win-win-win” situation! Hallelujah! Amen!

Heart of stone vs heart of flesh

https://odb.org/2025/03/13/a-new-heart-in-christ

Ezekiel 11:16–20 (NIV): 16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’ 17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’ 18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

When I read Ezekial 11 above, the first thing that struck me was that although the LORD scattered His people into exile due to their obstinance, He did not forsake them. In verse 16, He said for a little while, He was a sanctuary to them in the countries they had gone to. It is for a little while because He wants to bring them back to Israel at a later stage. But for them to come back, He needs to give them an undivided heart and a new spirit. He needs to give them a heart of flesh and remove their heart of stone. So that they no longer worship the detestable idols. Presumably, idolatry results in them having a heart of stone.

In spiritual terms, a heart of stone speaks of a cold, hardened, unfeeling, and rebellious heart, resistant to God’s grace and incapable of repentance. It is a heart that fights God’s grace instead of receiving it. It is a heart that resists the work of the Holy Spirit. A heart that refuses to see the goodness of God, in fact even denies His very existence. A heart that only sees the natural and relies on the 5 senses and seems to presume that life starts and ends here on earth. One does what one pleases within the norms and laws of society with no regard to the eternal. It is a heart dead to the spiritual.

But a heart of flesh is alive! It is filled with blood from the body, signifying the work of the Holy Spirit that gives us life beyond what’s natural. In Christian speak, it is a born-again heart, revived to sense the spiritual and the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. It is not restricted to the five senses. We trust and place our hope in the unseen. It is a heart that embraces and operates by faith. It is a heart that is appreciative and thankful for the grace of God, for His goodness. It is a heart that believes in life after death, beyond this earth, a life eternal where we will be judged and will need to account for how we had lived our lives here on earth. A heart of flesh beats to rhythm of the Spirit of God! A heart of flesh seeks and longs for our names to be written in the Book of Life, of having a place in the mansion with many rooms and an inheritance in the new heaven and new earth. A heart that seeks to qualify to be rightful citizens in the new Jerusalem, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!

Thank you, Lord, for giving us a heart of flesh! May our hearts always remain a heart of flesh! Amen!

Unity in diversity

https://odb.org/2025/03/12/elephant-helpers

1 Corinthians 12:21–26 (NIV): 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

The amazing thing about the baby elephant in Kenya, who was attacked by hyenas and lost two-thirds of its trunk, was his acceptance by the elephants in the sanctuary. After his rescue, Long’uro fitted well into the community at the sanctuary because elephants innately know they need each other to survive. In the wild, predators like lions or hyenas will prey on the babies because they are the weakest, but the adults in the herd will go all out to protect them, and logically so as the infants are the future of the herd. This is especially so when the gestation period for an elephant foetus is 22 months. Every baby that is delivered is precious.

It was very clever of Paul to use the human body to illustrate the need for unity in the body of Christ in spite of its diversity. There were then Jews and Gentiles, free and slaves, Greek and Israelites, poor and rich, ordinary folks like Peter and John and religious scholars like Paul. Anyone who has lost a little part of his body will know that we are never the same after the loss. Even a small toe will affect our balance in walking. It will be tough to play the guitar if we have lost one finger at either hand. A person who lost his vision in one eye can’t drive anymore as the human body needs both eyes to judge distance. We may survive with one kidney, but our lives will be severely impaired. There is a specific function for every part of our human body, whether seen or unseen. If we go for orthodontic treatment when young, the orthodontist will usually extract 4 of our teeth. But as we grow older, losing teeth will drastically lessen our ability to chew, and as much as advancements in dentistry allow tooth implants, it is still dependent on our jawbone density, which reduces as we age.

In any church, even in racially homogeneous ones, there are bound to be different types of worshippers. There will be the older ones and the very old as well as little ones. In the middle, there will be school going youths, followed by college going ones and young working adults. Then there will be young couples, some who may be having children already, and so on. Some couples like my wife and I, our children, have already grown up and graduated from university and are either looking to enter the workforce or are already working. There are worshippers from various economic backgrounds and sectors. There are doctors, engineers, teachers, and those doing business. The challenge is to be united in our pursuit of spirituality and knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ despite our differences. We all want to fulfil God’s plans and purposes for our lives. We want to live out His calling for our lives at the opportune season. We want to be in the centre of His will and be a part of what He is doing in our midst.

It is my prayer for us today that we will be like elephants who innately know that we need one another to survive and succeed in our spiritual walk. That we will help and encourage each other to remain in our lane in the narrow path of righteousness that leads to eternal life despite our differences in background, social status, and financial capabilities. We are a diverse bunch and yet united in spirit and purpose because the Holy Spirit dwelling in each and every one of us. All praise, glory, and honour be unto our Lord Jesus Christ!

Heirs in Christ

https://odb.org/2025/03/11/heirs-of-gods-salvation

Galatians 4:1–7 (NIV): What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

It is interesting that Paul writes in Galatians 4 that as long as an heir is under age, he is no different from a slave in the sense that although he owns the whole estate, he is still subject to guardians and trustees until he reaches the time set by his father. Under Malaysian law, the Age of Majority Act sets 18 as the age of majority. Thus, at 18, a minor becomes a major, or in the English language, the master of a family becomes a mister. However, under the Guardianship of Infants Act, an infant is only considered an adult at 21. While a major can enter into legally binding contracts at 18 and be subject to full criminal sanctions, the guardianship over a minor only ceases at 21. The latter is usually relevant in custody cases, and once a child reaches 21, the child decides on his or her own whether to stay with the father or the mother.

But Paul is ahead of his time when he wrote that the heir is subject to guardians and trustees until he reaches the time set by his father. In a will, the distribution of the estate is determined by the owner, who has passed. It is not uncommon in the last testaments for a testator to specify the age when an estate is to be bequeathed to an heir. Thus, although the law will apply 18 as the age if the will is silent, the testator may specify 30. Or if the estate is to be sold and proceeds held on trust in a foundation, the foundation could pay a lifetime stipend to the heir.

But for adoption in verse 5, Paul uses the Greek word, Huiothesia, a word used to describe the practice of placing a male from outside of the family to become a son to inherit the estate during ancient times. That is how Paul likens our adoption into the family of God through Christ Jesus, and it is very apt as the Jews, the ones first chosen by God, rejected Christ. It is very apt too as we were slaves to the ruler of the world before we knew Christ, like a minor, but the time specified by the Father has now come through the redemptive work of Christ. We are now sons and daughters of God, with Christ crucified and resurrected!

Christ has provided for us as sons and daughters of God an inheritance in heaven, a place in the Kingdom of God, and most crucially, He has written our names in the Book of Life. Every time we are tempted to sin or drift away from God, remember that Christ has redeemed us with His blood. Remember that we are heirs who have reached the age of majority and may no longer be liken to slaves. The time appointed by the Father has come, and we now rightfully own the estate, no longer subject to guardians and trustees. Act and behave like one in all that we do! Amen!