1 Corinthians 13 – Love

https://odb.org/2025/02/14/wedded-to-love

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV – Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Happy and blessed Valentine’s Day to all who are celebrating the day of love as commemorated by our popular culture. The business world, of course, took advantage of the day to monetise it. Useful for young courting couples to prove their love for each other by spending lavishly on each other (more the boy for the girl, though!), hopefully culminating in marriage, which in most jurisdictions is still the legal mode for couples to enjoin their lives, to cohabit, have children and start a family. When I got married, I felt more confident facing the challenges of life with someone I love by my side as the world out there was somewhat scary and unknown when we were just starting out from university.

In the Christian context, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is used very much in weddings, whether forming part of the marriage vows or in the sermon. Those verses there were taught by Paul on what constitutes love and is an excellent foundation for a Christian marriage. The reason is simple. Christian marriage is for life. When we marry, we vow in front of God and men to remain with each other till the day we die or until the Lord returns. It is the basis for us to have children and start a new family unit of our own to contribute to society and to serve God. We are to grow old together, to see our children grow up and one day have children of their own. That is why the Christian marriage vows speak of things like through rich or poor, through sickness and good health. As a couple and family, we go through the peaks and valleys of life together. Two are surely stronger than one, and with the Lord as the head, surely there is nothing we can not overcome!

Thus, love is patient and kind as we should be with another. It does not envy or boast, but we are proud of one another’s achievements. We are not self seeking since we always think of the interests of us as a couple and family. We don’t get easily angered so that our days are not filled with arguments and quarrels. Most importantly, we do not keep records of wrongs as much as the female mind has a very good memory! Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. We try something new, we fail, and we pick ourselves up and try again. We are always there to encourage, cheer, and push each other on. We have full trust in each other. Lastly, but not the least, love never fails. In the end, love will prevail, conquer, and win!

Have a good Valentine’s Day celebration to all who are celebrating!

The benediction prayer

https://odb.org/2025/02/13/never-overlooked

Numbers 6:24-26 NIV – 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

The benediction prayer is the common way for the pastor of the church to end the Sunday service. It is a blessing prayer, praying for God’s blessings to be upon the people as they depart for their homes after the service. It speaks of God’s blessings to be upon the people for the coming week as they go through life, and when they congregate again for service next Sunday, the cycle repeats. In a way, it encourages the congregation to meet again in person at the next service, to worship the LORD together, to fellowship, and then to receive the blessing again from God as the pastor prays.

The benediction prayer using the words in Numbers 6:24-26 is called the Aaronic benediction. My pastor at our local church usually uses this prayer. There is also the Pauline benediction, which uses the words in 2 Corinthians 13:14 – May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

The benediction prayer highlights that our God is always looking out for us. We may feel invisible that no one cares about us. We may feel we are all alone. No one notices or bothers about us. But God does. He cares and loves us. Not only will He bless and keep us, but He will make His face shine upon us and be gracious towards us. In fact, He will turn His face towards us and give us peace. All the things we really want in life, the benediction prayer covers it all. This is because, in the end, what matters most is the blessings from our God, His grace, and His glory shining forth in our lives. In the process, we have peace from God. What more can we ask for in our lives? So long as He cares for us and takes care of us, we will be able to go through life victoriously in Christ Jesus! Our future is in His hands. Our destination is in eternal life, the new heaven and the new earth of Revelation 21.

This morning, it is my prayer for you and myself that the LORD our God, our Heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, will bless and keep you. That He will make His face shine on you and be gracious to you, that the LORD shall turn His face toward you and give you peace! May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you! Amen!

For my thoughts are not your thoughts

https://odb.org/2025/02/12/a-change-of-plans

Isaiah 55:8–11 (NIV): 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it
without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Sometimes, in the course of ministry, we do something as a response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. So, like today’s ODB life story, all preparations were already made, and funds were already collected for a mission trip to Africa. But at the last minute, the trip did not materialise. So all the monies they collected for air fares, accommodation, and other expenses, they donated to the people they were going to visit. In turn, those people constructed a building as a shelter for abuse victims. That building became a blessing and tower of strength for abused people. Perhaps the building was God’s plan after all. More so than the mission trip. Something real and tangible emerged from the funds. Or God could turn a disappointment (for those going on the mission trip) to joy (for those abused people). I’m sure the people who missed out on the mission trip would most welcome the news of the impact their funds in establishing that building.

God works in sometimes mysterious ways as His thoughts and ways are higher than ours. His word that goes out from His mouth will not return to Him empty (or void as in the KJV/NKJV). Some little things that we do will have an impact somewhere as God wills it. Like our RM50 offering. It may be small, but God is able to turn it into something impactful. Or our prayers for the nations, for the closed countries. God will work a miracle in their midst. Respond to His prompting and act. Even if our actions do not materialise, our response will have an impact on the spiritual and natural realms. Our response to the Word of God will not be in vain or meaningless. Something tangible will come out of it. Maybe we felt God was calling us to go full-time in the church. Instead, the door was opened for social work elsewhere in an NGO. God’s plans would still be achieved through our work in the NGO.

This morning, even if we feel that the Lord has plans for us elsewhere, know that God is able to make His plans a reality wherever we are now. Perhaps we may go elsewhere later. But for now, while we are where we are, let the glory of God flow through us. Our Lord Jesus Christ is constantly working in our lives, in our midst, even as we are transitioning into another phase. As we move on to another stage in our lives, He will still work in our midst, amongst us. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways! Isaiah 55:8.

The LORD will look for the lost

https://odb.org/2025/02/11/god-runs-after-us

Ezekiel 34:11-13,15–16 (NIV): 11 “ ‘For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements in the land. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

I am a little late today. Since it is a public holiday, we took the opportunity to go for an early morning brisk walk by the lake near our city condo and also had an early breakfast outside.

Looking at today’s topic, I think it’s a little of a paradox that while life is somewhat a test, God will not spare any effort to bring us back to Him. It is a test as at the end of time, we are to give an account to Christ at the Bema judgment seat of Christ. That’s likely one of the reasons why Jesus taught us on the parable of the talents. Did we bury our talent, or did we put it to good use and grow it 5 or 10 fold? Yet if we were to fall away, God would run after us like the song says – “Your goodness is running after, is running after me!” Or another song that says – “You are forever in my life. You see me through the seasons. ” On the one hand, the Lord is testing us. On the other hand, He is giving us a helping hand and is forever in our lives, in all seasons.

Like during the time of Ezekial in today’s Scripture. The LORD allowed the Babylonians to overrun Judah, destroy the Tenple, burn down Jerusalem, and take the Israelites into exile. It was because of their insolence and disobedience. Yet He promised that He would gather them back into their country and seek the lost and bring back the strays. He did it centuries ago when the Babylonians allowed the exiles to return to Jerusalem after seventy years and in recent times when the state of Israel was established in 1948.

Ezekial 34 is a picture of the heart of God when we who had found the light got lost and became strays again. It is a picture of the wanderers amongst us believers who were distracted by the attractions of the world. It reflects those of us who lost sight of our calling in Him, who allowed our circumstances in the natural to deviate God’s plans and purposes for us. Jesus Christ, our Lord, will gather and bring us back to the right path. Back to our own country, the place where He will pasture us and where the Lord Himself will tend to us. We will be strengthened again to live in the centre of His will, to serve Him and fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives! Get back to Him, and don’t remain where we are. Get back on the narrow path of righteousness. We will enjoy His sweetness, His peace and joy in the land overflowing with milk and honey! The LORD will look for the lost!

Fishers of men

Matthew 4:18–22 (NKJV): 18 And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

The first disciples of Christ were called by Jesus from fishermen to become fishers of men. Instead of catching fish for a living, they became instruments of Christ to make disciples of the nations. They were Simon Peter and his brother Andrew, and brothers, John and James. Except for a brief few days where they went back to their secular trade after the death of Jesus on the cross, they took on their spiritual calling with fervour and followed Jesus until the very end. They transited from their secular jobs into full-time ministry seamlessly and did not look back, dying with their boots on the ground.

The point I like to highlight this morning is the immediacy of their response to Jesus’s calling. This was something that intrigued and fascinated me since I was a young Christian. I mean, they dropped everything and immediately followed Jesus. No hesitation. No contemplation. No analysis. Just immediate response. No diversion. There was zero chance for any changing of minds. They made up their minds and took action instantly. They didn’t go home to consult their families. Or, as Jesus said later, let the dead bury their dead (see Luke 9:60).

As drastic as the last advice from Jesus may sound, the point is actually that we are solely and exclusively responsible for our spiritual decisions, and that includes the decision whether to accept the free gift of salvation that comes with a radical transformation of our lives as every believer is expected to carry his own cross. If we want the rewards of the fellowship with Christ, we need to accept the costs that come with me. We become bondservants of God in exchange for the privilege to become pilgrims, merely passing through this world to our eternal home.

As we marvel at the speed and unconditional response of the first disciples, let us not take too long making decisions of faith for Christ. If it is for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, why wait anymore? Just respond to His calling and take the step of faith! Amen!

Being snubbed or excluded

https://odb.org/2025/02/09/peace-when-snubbed

Ephesians 2:11–18 (NIV): 11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to yo,  who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

It is common to be snubbed or excluded from social gatherings by people. Like the current Chinese New Year season. In the past, we may not know at all, but nowadays, with social media, we will see photos of gatherings being posted and thus will find out about such events that didn’t include us. The reason is simple, most if not all of these gatherings have limited capacity. Some are intentionally kept small. These exclusions also occur in the church itself as different groups meet without calling others. It is particularly difficult if you are the pastor or leader organising as some of those who are snubbed may be upset or feel isolated.

In the early church, the issue was between the Jewish Christians and the Gentiles. It was not social gatherings but their place in the Kingdom of God. The Jews felt they were the chosen ones and thus looked down on the new Gentile believers while the Gentiles hated the Jews for being condescending. Ironically, over time, Jewish Christians became a minute minority as nowadays, most believers are Gentiles. It is a good thing. If Christianity had remained a sect within Judaism, it would have been wiped out as there is only a handful of Messianic Jews within the 14 million Jewry worldwide. Paul made sure then that there was only one body through Christ who died for all, whether Jew or Gentile and the irony of it all is that although Christ was Jew and the Apostles and most believers of the early church were Jews, it is today a faith of mostly Gentile believers but who nevertheless support and believe that presentday Jews will one day turn to Christ and be saved.

Coming back to the social exclusion issue by friends and fellow believers, I think the easiest way not to be snubbed is for us to organise our own social gatherings! We then get to decide who attends and who doesn’t! The challenge will then fall on us to ensure no one is snubbed! It’s quite a challenge, actually, as we can’t be inviting the whole church or all of our friends to our event!

I feel that the message today is that there is no need to feel excluded. Everyone has limitations. If we make the move to be inclusive and include more people ourselves, those same people will remember us when they organise gatherings. The logic is real. The more inclusive we are, the more we will be included. In the end, in the context of the church, what matters is that all of us are in Christ and are collectively and individually on our journey to eternity! Social events are not such a big deal, after all.

The LORD looks at the heart

https://odb.org/2025/02/07/not-irrelevant

1 Samuel 16:6–13 (NIV): 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” 12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on, the Spirit of the LORD came powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

The story of David’s anointing as the future King of Israel by the LORD God through prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 16 is a famous and very popular story often preached or referred to on the pulpit. Verse 7 is usually the focal point where God spoke to Samuel, saying that He looks at the heart while others look at appearance. From the eight sons of Jesse, God chose the youngest who was still in his teens and thus the weakest. But it was the right choice by the LORD God as later proven by David’s spectacular and overwhelming defeat of the Philistine giant Goliath. In fact, Goliath became synonymous with giants, and that story is often cited cursorily as an example of someone or something small being able to defeat someone or something much bigger. Cursorily because the real spiritual principle behind that story as we dwell deeper into it is that with God on our side, we can overcome giants or triumph when odds are against us.

An equally important principle I like to highlight this morning is that God looks at the heart. Something people often have difficulty judging because the heart of man can be evil and conniving indeed. Thus, we judge by appearance or reputation or track record. For example, who knows what the heart of the PMX was when he pushed for investments by the hyperscalers in cloud infrastructure. Was it for the country’s good or his own popularity or political self-preservation or a combination? As members of the public, we can only judge by the economic results it brings in terms of jobs or the raising of our standard of living.

As believers, we may take advantage of God looking at hearts by preparing our hearts such that we are always putting Him first in all things. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and  all these shall be added unto you is the right principle of heart to go for. Jesus Christ will evaluate us on the Bema judgment seat of Christ based on the things God had planned for us. Did we respond to His calling for our lives? Did we fulfil His plans and purposes for us? If our heart is always for God and we do things to serve Him genuinely and sincerely always, we should be fine. Remember, it is not what people see that matters but what God sees, and God sees everything, especially our hearts!

We need to cultivate our own garden

https://odb.org/2025/02/06/a-cultivating-life

Genesis 2:4–9, 15 (NIV): 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

In the beginning, when the LORD God created man and the earth, He created a specific garden in the East for man to live in. Up till Genesis 2:15, the man was still alone. It was only in the subsequent verses that the woman was created from his rib to be his companion. But the point is that God had instructed man to work and take care of the Garden of Eden with its plants and vegetation.

Anyone who has had a garden will know that trees and plants, including unwanted weeds and invasive species, will grow naturally so long as there is sunlight and rain. God has made it that way since the beginning. Thus, if we want something specific from our garden, we need to plant and cultivate it, and it will grow and bear fruit. For example, papaya or banana trees. Every other creature in the vicinity of the garden will also want to have the fruits of the trees we plant, and thus, we need to take steps to secure and protect them. If not, in the case of my garden, the birds of the air or squirrels or monkeys will devour them.

The Garden of Eden is a picture of our spiritual life. Like Adam and Eve as the first humans who needed to work and cultivate Eden, we need to do the same for our spiritual life. We need to secure the fruits that come with hearing and obeying the Word of God, or else the evil one will come and snatch it away. In fact, if we are not careful, as Jesus has taught us before in the Parable of the Sower, the Word may be taken away by the devil and his minions. Or if we allow weeds (cares of life) to grow in our garden (spiritual life), the weeds will choke the life out of the plants that are growing. In other words, we will get distracted, and the plans and purposes of God will not be achieved in our lives. Instead of serving God, we will serve our own desires of the flesh. See Luke 8:4-15 for the full details.

As I have written before in these pages, we have a responsibility to work and take care of our spiritual life. In fact, we need to work and take care of the garden (or land) God has given us, our inheritance in Him, and that includes His plans and purposes for our lives. Not just our eternal life but the things He has prepared for us during our lifetime on this earth since the foundations of the world.

Focus on Jesus

https://odb.org/2025/02/05/dont-miss-the-point

John 5:36–40 (NIV): 36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

In John 5:36-40, Jesus was basically telling the Jewish religious authorities then that in focusing on the law, they missed out on the Scriptures that spoke about Him as the Messiah or Christ. They studied the Scriptures to have eternal life and yet refused to go to Him to have eternal life when He is the way, the truth, and the life. In a similar fashion, the writer of today’s ODB missed her highway exit when she focussed too much on overtaking to get to her lane for the exit! Often, when it comes to highway exits, slowing down to change lanes to exit is a much better strategy than overtaking.

Serving God is definitely one of our obligations and responsibilities as a believer of Christ. Not for fame or fortune. But because we love Him and we want to repay Him with gratitude for what Christ did for us on Calvary, resetting us on a trajectory that will end in eternal life. We want Christ to commend us at the end that we have been a good and faithful servant. That having responded to His calling, we have been faithful to His plans and purposes for our lives. Not so much our achievements in ministry, but did we do the tasks we were supposed to do? If, as a soldier, we are to be a sentry at a guard post, are we measured by how many enemy soldiers we eliminated? Surely, the KPI of a sentry differs from that of a sniper.

The point this morning, however, is a little bit more subtle. It is well and good if we are faithfully and diligently serving God and fulfilling His plans and purposes for our lives. That’s our goal and KPI. But is Christian life all about that only? Surely not! Our faith is more about Christ and our relationship with Him. We serve Him, but we also need to relate to Him. In fact, that’s more fundamental. God created Adam and Eve so that He may fellowship and relate to mankind, unlike the beasts of the earth or the birds of the air. In the same rein, Christ saved us, so we may have fellowship with Him and the Father.

Let’s pause for a moment and consider where we are in Christ. It is better to slow down to change lanes to get to the exit than to overtake to change lanes! Slow down a little and enjoy moments of fellowship with Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Saviour!

You have set my feet in a spacious place

https://odb.org/2025/02/04/a-spacious-place

Psalm 31 NIV – 8 You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

The moment we are born onto this earth, we face a narrowing space in terms of our life here on earth. We all have our respective expiry dates as God gives each of us a specific period to live out our lives. During that narrowing space, we will find our place in this world. Some of us get married and have someone close to us for the rest of our lives. As the Chinese say, we grow old together – exploring and discovering life together with its challenges, beauty, and joy. But as each of us are individuals, we have our own narrowing space. It may or may not be aligned even between spouses and loved ones.

We know from the Word of God that our narrowing space is due to the original sin by Adam and Eve deceived by the Devil in the form of a serpent leading to them taking a bite of the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They only had one rule in Eden, and that was not to eat from that tree, and yet man, with his curious and doubting nature, was taken advantage of by Satan.

God loved us so much that He sent His only son to die for our sins, and as a result, we are now reconciled back to God through our faith in Jesus Christ. The Lamb of God, the Son of Man, redeemed our souls once and for all! From the narrowing space, we now have a spacious space as spoken and sung by David in Psalm 31:8. It is spacious because it lasts forever. It is eternal notwithstanding that our space here on earth is narrowing. It gives us joy and hope instead of hopelessness and despair. No matter what we are facing now, some of us may already be in old age, we have the assurance that we will not fade away into nothingness like the flowers in the field that wither and die. We will return to the earth as dust as God made us from dust, but our spirit will live on forever in Christ, and one day, we will be resurrected in our glorified bodies and live in the new heaven and new earth where God will dwell amongst His people once again. It will be like the Eden at creation again!

Let our countenance be lifted up even if we are discouraged by the circumstances of our lives. Life can sometimes be boring as it may be the same old, same old. Discover and fulfil God’s purposes and plans for our lives and live in the centre of His will! I am sure we will face exciting and exhilarating times! It is Tuesday only today! 6 more days of this week is ahead of us! Make full use of our given narrowing time here on earth to serve and glorify His name in Christ Jesus! Always be reminded that Christ has gone ahead to prepare a spacious place for us as His Father’s mansion has many rooms!