Ronnie's Thoughts

A soldier for Jesus

https://odb.org/2025/05/26/from-the-deadly-sword

Psalm 144:1–2 (NIV): 1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.

As soldiers, it is unavoidable dealing with death when at war. I would think most of us alive today never faced war, whether as civilians or soldiers. I, for one, was born after WW2. But in WW2, many Chinese in Malaya were masacred by the Japanese and their genealogy died with them although those who survived likely were those given away as babies to Malay parents and thus are now fully assimilated as Malay Muslims in modern day Malaysia.

But for some, participation in war is inevitable because the nation is at war, like Israel today against the Hezbollah and Hamas and Iran or Ukraine and Russia. More and more young men and women ended up on the battlefield as conscripted soldiers to fight for their country, and many will lose their lives doing so. In a war, the bombs and the bullets are real and are designed to kill just like the swords and arrows of the ancient world. David, for one, had blood in his hands from the time he defeated Goliath with the sling to the countless battles he fought, leading Israel against her enemies. A soldier on the field can show no mercy as if you don’t kill, you will be killed. It’s your life against the others. It is not a sport like badminton where if defeated, you can go back and train and fight another day. If you are defeated, it means you are dead, and the Indo-Malay word tewas aptly describes this macabre condition.

Fortunately for most of us, when we read Psalm 144:1-2, we can spiritualise it. If we read on in Psalm 144 to verses 9 to 15, we see David imagining a time when the young may live well, with barns filled with every provision, sheep in the fields by thousands and tens of thousands, oxen drawing heavy loads, no more captivity, no more cry of distress on the streets, as blessed is the people whose God is their LORD.

We are living in verses 9 to 15. We are not directly involved in war. Our nation is at peace. Yet as servants of Christ in the Kingdom of God, we are nevertheless soldiers for Christ in the spiritual sense, doing battle in the spiritual realm against principalities and powers of darkness in the high places (Ephesisns 6:12). ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We will not have blood in our hands. We don’t use real swords or arrows or guns and bullets, but the power of prayer in Jesus’s name, pushing back the influence and the deception of the devil so that more and more hearts and minds will be open to the Word of God and His salvation. We lessen the power of darkness over people, breaking bondages and strongholds, allowing the supernatural power of God to penetrate through from the heavens into the natural, healing the sick and pivoting lives to the narrow path that leads to eternal life. Onward Christian soldiers! Marching as to war. With the cross of Jesus, going on before.

Have a good week ahead, everyone! May the LORD our God and our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit bless us with the wisdom and knowledge to do our best in our work, bless the work of our hands, that God may be glorified in all that we do! Amen!

Love the truth

https://odb.org/2025/05/23/love-the-truth

2 Thessalonians 2:7–12 (NIV): 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

One of the main means Satan uses to draw God’s people away from God and into his path of destruction (the broad gate), besides the bright lights of the material world, is spiritual deception. So, lawlessness may come in the form of false teachings, and such teachings could go from one extreme of liberalism to the other extreme of radical conservatism. Just because a strict approach is taken towards Christian values doesn’t mean it is on the right path. As I mentioned yesterday, there is the cross to the crown and is thus not suffering and hardship all the way. See the link below: https://ronnielim.com/2025/05/22/the-crown-with-the-cross/

No matter whether it is one or the other extreme or the middle ground, ultimately, the true determining factor is the truth. We need to know the truth to separate the chaff from the wheat or the lambs from the goats. What matters the most is not the form but the substance. Any teaching must adhere to the core tenets of the faith as enumerated in the bible. If, for example, we derogate Paul’s letters and teachings as an offshoot of his own slant of the faith and only follow the teachings and traditions of the Old Testament, we are clearly in dangerous territory. The Old Testament is a good foundation, but Jesus Christ is very much in the Gospels and the various letters of the Apostles as He is prophesied in the Old Testament. That is why Christianity is a culmination of the prophets of old and the teachings of Christ and that of the Apostles about Him. Don’t forget that also we have the apocalyptic Revelation that points us to the end of time.

The ODB writer today spoke of love as the motivator to learn. Therefore, the love for Christ is a great catalyst for us to know Him deeper, especially through the pages of the bible. As we read descriptions and narratives of Him in the Gospels, imagine Him walking and teaching in Galilee and Jerusalem. In the end, it is our love for Christ that will push us to study to increase our knowledge of Him and the mysteries of the Kingdom. The truth that we pursue and the knowledge of the truth will ultimately safeguard our soul and mind from being deceived by the evil one and his cohorts.

The crown with the cross

https://odb.org/2025/05/22/love-worthy-of-our-life

Matthew 16:21–28 (NIV): 21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. 28 “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

Christian life is as much about suffering as it is about enjoyment of life. So much so that in the early days, the charismatic movement looked at enjoyment of life as a form of sin. Enjoying life was compromising our standards. It felt wrong then. So we didn’t watch television or dwell into worldly pursuits.

Later, like some sort of backlash, the pendulum swung all the other way. We started to embrace prosperity and begin to enjoy life to the fullest while remaining in the Kingdom of God. It became so bad that there were new believers who came into the fold to become prosperous! Yahweh inadvertently became the God of Prosperity like in Chinese culture!

While there is truth that becoming a child of God brings the blessings of heaven upon us, and we face life protected under His wings, we are nevertheless not shielded by the rigours of life. We face challenges and issues of life like everyone else. Just that with God, we approach things with Godly principles, sometimes denying our self interests for the good of others. We have an eternal calling, and no matter how we may suffer here on earth, we will one day be with Jesus and our Father God for eternity and receive our crown of glory.

But the crown comes with the cross. Just like Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father now, He had to go to the cross first and die for our sins. He rose victorious and was resurrected, but He had to endure the cruel punishment of the cross, the humiliation from His creation. He was wounded for our transgressions. For it was by His stripes that we are healed of our spiritual condition and reconciled back to Yahweh.

There will be some sort of suffering and sacrifice we need to go through not only as part of life but as a true believer. If we refuse to compromise our faith, we sometimes need to take the longer route to our desired destination. Don’t take the easy way and become just a nominal believer, paying lip service to the faith. The easy way is usually filled with more easy ways, and in no time, we will be adrift in our faith, giving in to the bright lights and the luxurious trappings of life.

Love the foreigner

https://odb.org/2025/05/21/loving-the-stranger-3

Leviticus 19:9–10, 33-34 (NIV): 9 “ ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God.

33 “ ‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

God’s love for the underprivileged has often been cited in these pages. The Mosaic law, as enumerated in Leviticus 19 today, covers the foreigner and the poor, although its full breadth extends to the widows and orphans. Basically, the rule is not to be too exacting in collecting our harvest but to intentionally leave some behind for the underprivileged to collect so that no one goes hungry in ancient Israel.

But who is the foreigner or stranger during those times. People who were non-natives and as much as that definition cover the residents and the passersby, the law is more for the long term residents who are not Israelites or what the bible calls non-natives. One example will be Ruth, who was a Moabite but became the great grandmother of David through her marriage to Boaz. In fact, it was this same law that enabled Ruth to first meet Boaz, a wealthy landowner who fell in love with her. Of course, we know that it was Naomi, an Israelite returning home, who taught Ruth the local customs and encouraged her to meet Boaz.

While we may naturally think of the foreigner as the foreign workers we have in our midst, the Indonesias, Burmese, or Bangladeshis but a foreigner can well be anyone who is not yet in the kingdom of God, in the same way, the stranger is someone who is not a part of the Israeli nation. In our faith, we love our brethren like ourselves, but the actual teaching by Jesus is to love your neighbour as yourself. This means anyone else out there, including our brethren, as well as the non-believer. Will we, for example, give an RM5 note for an RM3 print broadsheet without insisting on the change? Or pay RM10 for an RM9 coffee? That, in my view, is what it means in the modern context of “not reaping the harvest to the very edges of the field.” It’s OK to leave some change behind for the street vendor or to buy a plate of hot meal for the homeless.

Have a good week ahead! Look for opportunities to be a blessing unto others, especially the underprivileged in society, the poor, the widows, and the orphans as well as the stranger! Our acts of small generosity will put a smile in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ!

A grieving God – vengeance is His

https://odb.org/2025/05/20/a-grieving-god

Isaiah 41:10–13 (NIV): 10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 11 “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. 12 Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them.
Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all. 13 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you. “

God grieves with us when we sin, and similarly, He grieves when His people are bullied or oppressed. In Isaiah 41, the LORD spoke about those who wage war against Israel will surely be ashamed and disgraced. They will be as nothing and perish. Because He is their God and will take hold of their right hand – “Do not fear; I will help you.”

At last night’s young adults’ bible study, we discussed how we could forgive those who had hurt us intensely. We all agreed that time would heal even as our memory fades. Of course, we must not constantly replay and relive those moments in our memory. We agreed that we would forgive as much as it is difficult because we must forgive, for God to forgive us our sins.

Another way we could forgive, which we did not traverse last night, is to know that vengeance is mine, says the LORD (Romans 12:9). Leave it to God to deal with those who bully and oppress us, like in Isaiah 41. In some cases, the LORD may even save them and bring them into the Kingdom of God! Leave it to His discretion. He knows what’s best. He knows the human heart more than anyone else.

Our role is to forget the past and look to the future to the missions, tasks, and responsibilities in the Lord that lie ahead. Our future in God is a land overflowing with milk and honey, but there are fortified cities, strong armies, and sons of giants to conquer and overcome! Nothing comes on a silver platter, not even the promises of God for our lives. We need to work at it, placing reliance on Jesus, the Lord of our lives, the author, and the finisher of our faith.

The LORD our God is indeed our God. He will protect and help us in times of trouble. He will deal with our enemies if we are oppressed. He is our rock and salvation, our fortress and stronghold. Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Jesus the Son of God

https://odb.org/2025/05/16/for-the-record

Mark 1:1–8 (ESV): 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”. 4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

As believers, particularly long-time ones, we take it for granted that Jesus is the Son of God or the second Yahweh in the Holy Trinity. But during His time, that was a big challenge, especially to the Jewish audience. Yahweh was sacred and was always known in the Old Testament as a monolithic God. When Jesus claimed He was Son of God and God Himself in the flesh, it was thus sacrilegious and a major blasphemy to the eyes of the Jew. Even today, Jews look at Jesus with disdain. If you’re in Israel trying to preach to a Jew, it’s really an uphill battle.

The Gospel writers, therefore, took pains to emphasise that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. Like Mark referencing John the Baptist and that the Messiah (Jesus) whose sandals he (John) is unfit to untie. While John baptised with water, Jesus would baptised us with the Holy Spirit (the third Yahweh in the Holy Trinity). John, on the other hand, started his Gospel by proclaiming that Jesus was at the beginning and was the Word or Logos, the supreme force in Greek thought.

Our response to today’s message should be thankfulness and gratefulness to God for giving us the faith to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. We were not saddled with the theological baggage of who Yahweh was like the case of the Jews or who Allah is like the case of Muslims. We were able to accept that Jesus is the Son of God and, more importantly, that He was crucified for our sins and resurrected to give us the hope of glory.

The question remains this morning: Who is Jesus to us? Is He a piece of information like Trump is the crazy American who caused global trade turmoil? Or is Jesus the second Yahweh that we know personally? Or even better, it was through Him that we personally know God the Father and the Holy Spirit? More than head knowledge but as a friend, a brother, and a Lord. Someone we could talk to and convey our deepest thoughts to. Someone who walks with us as we face issues of life and the struggles of living headon? When we confront the demons in our lives, Jesus is right there with us, helping us clean up the skeletons in our cupboards.

Have a good day, everyone, and a good weekend ahead to rest and serve God as we take a break from work!

Thorn in the flesh

https://odb.org/2025/05/15/such-glorious-knowledge

2 Corinthians 12:1–10 (NIV): 12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body, I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Although the Apostle Paul was given visions and revelations of the Lord and saw and heard inexpressible things, he remained humble because the Lord also gave him a thorn in the flesh, to prevent him from getting conceited (extremely proud). As humans, we may become proud or even conceited when we feel we are special and as believers, especially when we feel God treated us so special and gave us out of the ordinary gifts or talents. When the glory of God shines on us, we bask in the glory. Even powerful and famous speakers may suffer from this ailment. In the case of Paul, the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh, a weakness to keep him humbled and for him to place his reliance on Christ as His grace is sufficient for Paul.

There are things in our lives that make us weak or vulnerable or limit our capabilities in the natural. For example, some people find it tough to sleep in a strange bed or without air conditioning and thus may not be able to travel to the interiors of the country to minister or do missions. Or despite our eloquence and powerful messages, we may walk with a limp, or we may not be as tall or beautiful as we wished. Maybe we have a darker complexion or suffer from psoriasis (autoimmune condition leading to skin issues) or scoliosis (spinal condition) or anxiety attacks or mental health issues. Or we are glad to preach at the pulpit because the revelations God gives us as we prepare but do not have the gift of the gab. Very few are perfect and good at everything as usually if we are a jack of all trades, we are masters of none.

Celebrate God’s goodness in our lives. As we dwell deeper into His Word, we will gain better insights into Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Some of the knowledge we will gain may be like Paul’s – indescribable. There may be things that God reveals that we may not even be permitted to say. Yet like Paul also, we may have a thorn in the flesh that refuses to go away despite the thousand times we have prayed or been prayed for. Take it that the thorn is there for us not to be conceited. That we remain down to earth and not puffed up into the clouds!

Hezekiah and the LORD

https://odb.org/2025/05/14/bring-it-to-god

2 Kings 19:14–20 (NIV): 14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, LORD, and hear; open your eyes, LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. 17 “It is true, LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, LORD, are God.” 20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria.

King Hezekiah, when he received the letter from his messengers, spread it out before the LORD and prayed. Hezekiah was King of Judah (the Southern Kingdom with its capital in Jerusalem after the split with Israel, which was the Nortern Kindom with its capital in Samaria). Hezekiah reigned for 29 years from the age of 25.

Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of God. This included removing the high places where the Israelites offered sacrifices to pagan gods; cutting down Asherah poles used in the worship of Asherah; and destroying the bronze snake made by Moses, which the Israelites had begun to worship. He trusted in and held fast to God and kept His commandments.

In 2 Kings 19, after Hezekiah laid out the letter in the Temple and prayed, he received word from Isaiah that the LORD Zhad heard his prayer and God later destroyed the Assyrians who had taken over a few cities and was about to invade Jerusalem. The Assyrians later overrun and captured the Northern Kingdom of Israel under King Hoshea, and this was seen and witnessed by Hezekiah during his reign. About 75 years later, during the reign of King Jehoiakim, Judah fell, and this was to the Babylonians when Jehoiakim and the people did evil in the eyes of God, disobeyed His laws and commandments and worshipped Baal and Asherah, the dominant deities of Canaan.

When we are distressed and face difficult situations in life, we may like Hezekiah, spread out our issues before God, and ask our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus, to intervene and help us. But note that Hezekiah was a righteous king before God, unlike Hoshea or Jehoiakim, who were evil before God. Remember – it is not just our prayers but also our matching lives. The prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16).

Have a good week ahead, although it is already Wednesday! May the LORD our God bless us with wisdom and knowledge in all that we do and cover us in His protective arms, and may we be blessed in the shadow of His wings! Amen!

Help the foreigner

https://odb.org/2025/05/13/a-helping-hand-3

Leviticus 25:35–38 (NIV): 35 “ ‘If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and are unable to support themselves among you, help them as you would a foreigner and stranger, so they can continue to live among you. 36 Do not take interest or any profit from them, but fear your God so that they may continue to live among you. 37 You must not lend them money at interest or sell them food at a profit. 38 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

May 13 is a watershed moment in Malaysian history in which politics coupled with power fueled the first racial violence in post-independence Malaya that led to the National Economic Policy. The NEP was justified on the basis that racial inequality led to racial riots, but over the years, it has most sadly been used as an excuse by politicians to enrich themselves and their cronies. The truth of the matter is that with the economic status of indigenous and native elevated, you will not simply throw stones at an urban home like in the days of old as you could well hit a Malay home. In other words, any disruption of economic activities in contemporary modern Malaysia will likely hurt everyone – Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dayak, or Kadazan!

In ancient Israel, as recorded in the Holy Bible, the issue was the opposite. Instead of the foreigner enjoying economic prosperity like early Malayan migrants, the foreigner struggled in their lives. This is because Israel then was very much an agricultural society, and practically every Israeli family was a land owner since God gave everyone a piece of the Promised Land after Joshua led the Israelites into Canaan. But if you’re a slave or a foreigner, you don’t get a piece of that land and thus will end up as labourers in the field working for a wage.

Without land, the foreigner will also need to rent their own home and thus the wage which put food on the table and a roof over their heads may just be enough for them to survive day in day out. This, unfortunately, is reminiscent of most of our journey in life until we have saved enough to buy our own place. And if we had been careful with our wages while we were still working, we may have enough as we retire and grow old.

The point is that throughout the ages, there will always be people and families who struggle. In the case of ancient Israel, it was the foreigner, the orphans, and the widows. In the present world, it will be those starting out and those from underprivileged families or those caught in the web of crime or substance abuse. In as much as the LORD bequest that we help the foreigner during ancient times, we must, whenever we can, help those who need help in our midst. No one should starve to death, and neither should anyone be denied an education because of lack of finance. As a fast developing prosperous country, everyone who lives in Malaysia, whether a foreigner or a citizen or a native, should enjoy a reasonable and respectable standard of living. So long as we are willing to work, we should be able to make a living by the grace of God! Amen!

Blessed Mother’s Day

https://odb.org/2025/05/11/a-mom-looks-back

Genesis 29:31–35 (NIV): 31 When the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32 Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben, for she said, “It is because the LORD has seen my misery. Surely my husband will love me now.”
33 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, “Because the LORD heard that I am not loved, he gave me this one too.” So she named him Simeon.
34 Again she conceived, and when she gave birth to a son she said, “Now at last my husband will become attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” So he was named Levi. 35 She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son, she said, “This time, I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then she stopped having children.

When we read the story of Jacob and Laban, we often overlook the treatment Leah received because of Laban’s trickery. We are more indignant of Laban’s deception but likely see it more as God’s retribution to him for his own deceving ways vis-a-vis Esau. Laban promised Jacob Rachel’s hand if he worked for him for 7 years. But when the time came, the daughter Jacob married was Leah. The “justification” was that it was customary that the elder be married off first. Laban did give Jacob Rachel after his bridal week with Leah, but he needed to work another 7 years for Laban.

It was difficult for Leah since Jacob loved Rachel. But the LORD looked out for Leah (as He did for Hagar, the maidservant of Sarah in Abraham’s case) and blessed her womb. She bore him 7 children – 6 sons and 1 daughter. But most significantly, her son Judah is the tribe from which Jesus descended. Thus, despite her unloved status, the LORD honoured her.

A mother’s love knows no bounds. Leah persevered on by bearing Jacob sons after sons even though Jacob loved Rachel. Later, the LORD opened up Rachel’s womb, and she bore him 2 sons, Benjamin and Joseph, and they became Jacob’s favourites. It is likely that family politics led to his brothers (other than Benjamin) selling Joseph to slavery. But we all know how God later turned that tragedy into a pivotal moment of salvation for the Jacob clan.

In real life, a mother will love her children even if they are naughty and rebellious. It is an undeniable fact that my dearest wife thinks about the well-being of Ivan and Daniel much more than me and prays for them constantly. For example, despite her busy schedule and workload, she makes it a point to cook for Daniel at least a few days a week. As her husband, I will, of course, benefit when she cooks! But between us, we are good to have a few slices of bread for dinner. She has done much more for the boys than I as their father, but these pages will not be enough to list down her deeds.

Blessed and happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there! Know that your children will always appreciate and remember your love and efforts, as your husbands will certainly testify to the same! Amen! Praise the Lord!