God knows me

https://odb.org/2024/12/03/god-knows-me

Psalm 139: 1 You have searched me, Lord, and you knowg me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, know it completely.

As Christians, we believe in God being omniscient. In the sense that He knows everything and that includes us, inside out. As David mentioned in Psalm 139:4, even before a word is uttered on my tongue, you, LORD, know it completely. In fact, He knows us better than ourselves. Like a third-person narrator of a story, God knows everything about us, every single detail of our past, every single motivation whether we did something sincerely or out of self interests or out of ill will or envy or anger.

The question this morning is that when we say God knows us, what actually does He know? What is our perception of what He knows about us, and what is our response? Is what He knows our conniving and deceitful ways? Does God know us as though we are Jacob? Is the person He knows us as someone who is selfish, hypocritical, or greedy? You see, no one knows who we truly are deep inside us except God Himself or His Son Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit.

Or does God know us as one transformed? Transformed in our mind per Romans 12:2, having not conformed to the pattern of this world. One who is well on our journey to eternity, walking the narrow path despite our past, despite our fleshy desires. One who has left our old man baggage and burdens behind and has taken the offer by Christ, where His burden is easy and His yoke is light for He is gentle and humble in heart. Have we become the Israel of Jacob as Jacob was renamed after his encounter with the angel?

Perhaps we should ask the question in another way. When we say God knows us, do we want God to say we have transformed to become much more like Christ, compared to the day when we first knew Him? That we have a good measure of the Fruit of the Spirit and we are a good and faithful servant, a living sacrifice that is a sweet incense of worship unto Him? Who we are today and in the days to come? Not so much who we were in the past or even yesterday.

Barnabas the encourager

https://www.odb.org/2024/12/02/people-of-encouragement

In the bible, the most well-known of believers who encouraged is Barnabas. You can read about him in Acts 4, and in Acts 9, you will see that it was Barnabas who brought Paul to see the Apostles and advocated Paul to them. The rest is history as the church was greatly impacted with Paul among its midst even though he had earlier persecuted the followers of the Way. While the believers and Apostles were afraid of Paul, Barnabas saw his true potential. In Acts 11, Luke described Barnabas “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith,” adding that because of him, “a great number of people were brought to the Lord” (v. 24). Paul started his ministry in Antioch, and it was in Antioch that the believers of the Way started calling themselves Christians (from the Greek word, Christanos, meaning followers od Christ.)

It is always better to be an encourager than a destroyer of faith, albeit for the latter unintentionally. Maybe our demeanour is strong and our words sharp. Or perhaps we like to sting rather than heal! Always for the good, but the encouraging approach is always better, especially with the current crop of millennials/Gen Y and Gen Z. At the workplace, people will say that the current batch of young people is quite different from our time. It’s the age of AI, smartphones, and Chat-GPT. For some, even Insta is passe. If you are still on Facebook, you are confirmed old!

No matter where we are in Christ, there are bound to be many who are younger in faith than us. If not now, if you are a new believer, the time will come. It is thus good to encourage than to tear down. Watch our words as we grow in maturity in God and develop our character in Christ. Leaders and pastors also need encouragement as much as they are the Barnabites of this world! A nice word, a pat on the shoulder, a word of appreciation – goes a long way as they are always serving and doing their best for God.

As we embark on a new week today and the last month of the year in December 2024, let’s become that encourager to all who are around us! Amen!

Good reputation for Christ

https://odb.org/2024/12/01/a-good-reputation

Once we believe in Jesus Christ and become a believer and disciple of Christ, we will embark not only on a journey of faith to eternal life, but also a journey of transformation. We discard our old habits and put on new ones even as Christ impacts and works in our lives through the Word of God that we read, the Holy Spirit working in us, our communion with Christ and God the Father in prayer and supplication and, through praise and worship. The fellowship with our fellow believers and our interaction with our church leaders and pastors as well from the meeting together in cell groups, attending Sunday worship services and listening to the Word as it is preached. We cannot avoid a change in our life to reflect His glory. It is impossible to remain in our old fleshy desires. Over time, even our ambitions will be transformed and sanctified by Christ to align with God’s plans and purposes for our lives.

As we develop our character in Christ and become more and more like Him, what is our reputation to others around us? Do we have a good reputation? Are we dependable, trustworthy, friendly, approachable and responsible? Are we generous and like to bless others? Are we a gracious and humble person? Are we known to follow principles that transcends those of this world? For example, do we only look out for our own interests or also that of others too? If we always want the best deal for ourselves, will we not be sacrificing the best deal for others? Think about that. Are we content to always have a “win-win” situation, or do we always look for a “win-lose” one? Sometimes it is even wise to allow a “lose-win” situation if the Holy Spirit prompts us. Surely it is OK to lose for the sake of Christ if it advances the cause of the Kingdom of God? No doubt the blood of Christ and the grace of God have set us on a course for eternity. Nevertheless, we will still live in this world until Christ returns or calls us home. Therefore, we must have a good character in Christ and a good reputation to others. All those things we have learnt in church like don’t be just a Sunday Christian, an angel in church but a devil the moment we step out of church are true! Only a Christian on Sundays but of the world every other day in the week!

A good reputation is helpful as pointed out in today’s ODB article – it helps us to speak or even correct bad behaviors around us. People respect our point of view because of our good reputation. We are not only to others a Christian or deeply religious person, but a generally good and respectable person. Our words carry weight. We have a sphere of influence. Others listen to us and respect us. Our reputation goes beyond our achievements in life, our wealth or education. It is who we are regardless of our station in life. It is something totally within our control.

Have a good Sunday worship service today, everyone! I pray that each and every one of us will have a personal encounter with God as we meet Him face to face in worship! May our knees be strengthened and may we be encouraged to persevere through our walk of faith while honing our character in Christ, always preserving our good reputation to the world!

Frailty of life

https://odb.org/2024/11/29/restraining-order

We just heard yesterday the sad and unexpected news of the passing of Mr T. Ananda Krishnan. Known as AK to the outside world, but TAK to us in his group of companies, he maintained a low profile throughout his life. The statement on his passing was issued by Usaha Tegas, which I joined way back in late-1995. I left Astro for a telco in 2022 after 27 years. In my whole career in the UT Group, I only met the old man (as we used to call him among ourselves reverently) 3 times, twice in Moscow when we were looking at a potential M&A target. We were in awe just speaking to him over breakfast! I remembered Mr Krishnan to be a small eater, just cereals and milk, but with a sachet of honey added on. His passing is unexpected as his mentor, our Dr M, is very much alive and kicking at 99, and one of the persons he admires a lot, Robert Kuok, is 101.

Life is indeed fragile. AK is known to be very health-conscious. For example, he is known to only eat either Japanese or steamed stuff and used to swim every day. Yet when death comes a calling, even billionaires can not escape the call.

This brings us to the topic of the day. Should we tell the Lord, please stop inflicting me? In the case of Job, it was Satan, but God allowed it to test Job. To his credit, Job never once blamed or cursed God. His faith was unwavering despite his misfortunes. He may have grumbled and complained a little, but in the end, he knew that God had a purpose, which he did not understand.

Job 42:3 – “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know”.

Whatever troubles or issues we face in life, surely nothing compares to being alive? Appreciate and be thankful we are still breathing, that our time is not yet up. We don’t know what tomorrow lies, but we have today. Live today to the fullest for God! Fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives! An eternity is waiting for us because of the grace of God and the blood of Christ, but that’s a totally different reality altogether. Make the best of today, of our present situation and life! Today will pass and will never reappear again.

Who is a God like thee?

https://odb.org/2024/11/28/pardoned

Micah 7 NIV-

18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.

Having grown up in an environment where my father’s side of the family were Catholics while my mother’s side were Taoists, I recall that God was perceived more as a protector and benefactor than a forgiver. I was not familiar with sin and the forgiveness of sin until I accepted Christ and got to know my Saviour and Deliverer. In fact, it was a fundamental and foundational tenet of the Christian faith that God first loved us because He first forgave us our sins and accepted us into His family, His Kingdom of Grace.

The message this morning is that even in the Old Testament, ancient times, God is compassionate and is the one who forgives. Even before God, in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, came to live with us and died on the cross for our sins. Is there any God who is like you, oh Lord? No, there is none like thee! You are the only one and true living God, and you pardon sin and the trangressions of the remnant of your inheritance, your people. You will not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy! Micah, whose name means “Who is like the LORD,” prophesied this many, many years ago. The message was true yesterday and remains true today and in the days to come.

Repent, if you have sinned against God. Seek His forgiveness and return to Him. Do not persist and continue in your rebellious ways! Remember, the LORD our God delights to show mercy! He is a gracious and compassionate God! Who indeed is like thee, O God, the LORD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and our very own Heavenly Father?

Light of the world

https://odb.org/2024/11/27/his-light-shines-bright

1 John 1 NIV – 5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him, there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

When we were growing up, I’m sure every household stocks up candles in case there is a blackout. It was fairly common in the sense that there was an outage every now and then, usually for a little while, but sometimes for longer. Sometimes, it affected neighbourhoods only. Yet there were a few times when the National Grid itself tripped. Nowadays, we have more advanced ways to deal with blackouts like petrol generators and battery power sources, including solar power, powerful enough to continue to power the household during outages. In Delhi, power outages were so common that nearly every household has a generator that powers up automatically moments after power from the grid is lost. I had experienced this many times during my trips there to work on an M&A project.

The main issue with blackouts is not the shutting down of modern amenities, like air-conditioning, the refrigerator, or the television. The thing that impacts us the most is the absence of lights. We can not see in darkness. Hence, the candles in the old days. This is particularly so in the night. In fact, darkness in the night is scary to most.

In the spiritual realm, we are the light as God is light (1 John 1:5). We are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), and as the world is in darkness, we as believers are the main source of light to them. The light and darkness here speak of the revelation of the truth of Jesus Christ as the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:15-15) and that He died for our sins and was resurrected on the third day and defeated death and sin. That is why our lives need to reflect Christ and God’s glory. God will reach out to their hearts in darkness through us, His lights for this world. The world is in darkness and will not see the light except through us. The evil one will want to keep everyone in darkness, to be completely oblivious to the truth. It is for us to shed the truth to them and shine our light upon them that the Holy Spirit may lift the scales from their eyes to see, understand, and accept the truth.

Be the light that illuminates the way to the truth in our workplace, in college, in wherever we are. Despite our flesh and human weaknesses, we are still the sons and daughters of God! Do not be afraid to be the light of the world and do our part for the Kingdom of God! Amen!

Praising God despite our trials

https://odb.org/2024/11/25/being-thankful-despite-trials

Psalm 100 – 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the Lord is good, and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations

There will be patches of difficult times as we go through life. Sometimes, it is just the rigours of living. Like those times when we were younger and saving every extra penny we could, and something unexpected happens where we needed to spend RM800 when our savings had just reached a milestone of RM1,000. Such a disappointment! Of course, it is much worse if we need to spend RM2,000 when we only have RM1,000 saved! It is even worse if we had come into the predicament from our own doing. It is important for us to have savings and some capital as we work. For the rainy day. No matter how little or how much we earn, a little should nevertheless be set aside.

The question this morning is, could we praise God in good and bad times? Or, more pointedly, could we praise God in bad and difficult times? It is easier said than done. We rejoice when our needs are met, our bills are paid, and we have leisure time to indulge in our favourite things. We rejoice when we have achieved something, a milestone like my second son’s 21st birthday yesterday. But if we are struggling to pay our bills or have to prioritise our payments and defer some, it is not easy to praise God. In fact, we may be questioning why God’s blessings are not with us?

Everyone’s needs and wants are different. Some people are good eating one meal a day, while to some others, not eating 5 meals a day is hardship and a trial! While to others, eating mixed rice for every lunch is such a torture when there will be many who are happy to even have a decent and proper meal.

It is between us and God what is hardship, what are trials and tribulations. But it is essential for us to be able to praise God like the Psalmist in Psalm 100, no matter our circumstances.

Shout for joy to the LORD, worship Him in gladness and joy. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise! Give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the LORD is good and His love endureth forever!

Have a great week ahead, everyone! Praise Him and give thanks to Him, no matter how bad our day is! For we still have breath to fight another day! Amen!

Once a disciple, always a disciple of Christ!

https://odb.org/2024/11/24/character-change

2 Peter 1:5-9 NIV –

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is near sighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

In today’s ODB article, the writer highlighted the story of Dominique Bouhours, a 17th century grammarian who on his dying bed said – “I am about to die, or I am going to die; either expression is correct.” Once a grammarian, always a grammarian. Or I recall my son, who loves to do business, has a tendency to want to estimate or work out the cost of running a business when he enters a place to have a meal. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur.

The emphasis this morning, however, is on our character that is honed over the years. Are we by “nature” generous or stingy? We use the expression “nature” – but that character trait was actually developed over a long period of time. It could have been driven by our humble beginnings or circumstances in our past, but anything done repeatedly over time will become a part of us, good or bad.

That is the thrust in 2 Peter 1. Make every effort to add to your faith goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love. With these qualities, we will not become unproductive or ineffective in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. As much as obedience is better than sacrifice, what we become tops them all! Who we are in Christ matters more than what we do for Him.

The point is that we must add on positive Christian values and character traits, and the earlier we do it and the more intensely we do it, the more it will stand us in good stead in the long run. These values and traits will become a part of our character. Thus, instead of always criticising and tearing down, we are always encouraging and building up. We are friendly and approachable, instead of cold and distant. We are helpful. We pray for others. We serve God and contribute to His Kingdom. Perhaps we could one day say, once a disciple of Christ, always a disciple of Christ! Amen!

Have a great and fantastic Sunday worship basking in the glory of God as we reach out to Him in worship and see Him face to face in the spirit!

Your Word is a lamp unto my feet

https://odb.org/2024/11/22/making-wise-choices

Psalm 119:101-105 NIV –

101 I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word. 102 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me. 103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore, I hate every wrong. 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105 is a well-known verse that speaks of the power and wisdom of Scripture illuminating our pathways in life. God’s Word helps us navigate through the pitfalls of life, the snares of the evil one, as well as the temptations of the world. The bright lights of the world, more often than not, will challenge our faith, and we will often allow the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life take control and overpower us. We compromise and sometimes rationalise that we are just going for the experience, but instead, we get ourselves entangled in our own self-made miry clay.

That is why we need the Word of God as a lamp and a light for our paths. As we read the Word and commune with God, we are strengthened in our spirit. This strength enables us to overcome the desires of our flesh to allow us to walk by faith and by the Spirit. We remain walking in the narrow path that leads to salvation and not get distracted unto other paths. Sometimes, these other paths may appear like the narrow path, but they are not. They are the deception of the devil. For example, prosperity gospel teachings may cause us to be unable to take hardship and persecution. Is a believer’s calling to be wealthy and prosperous all the time? If we are inflicted with misfortune, mishaps, or a debilitating illness, will we think that we need to pray ourselves out of it? While the bible has Abraham, it also has Job. Paul and the Apostles were certainly not living in wealth and luxury. Jesus Himself worked as a humble carpenter.

As the world is coming to an end; in these end times, false teachers will increasingly be rampant. Deception will be subtle. To stand firm, we need to be grounded in the Word. That is why the Psalmist sang that Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light for my path. Always return to the Word. Check the Scriptures when we encounter strange teachings. Like sin, don’t allow half truths and doubt to creep in and have one leg into our hearts. The Word will be our shield and our stronghold in times of trouble and confusion. Seek God always, and He will surely be found! In all our decisions, seek the Lord, and He will show us the right way. Even if we misread God’s counsel, He will make all things good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

Have a good and fruitful weekend, even as the work week comes to an end today!

Our appointment with death

https://odb.org/2024/11/21/the-appointment

Hebrews 9 NIV: 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed oncei to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Romans 6:23 NKJV:
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Every human being, in fact, every living creature has an appointment with death. Some may die of old age, some by illness and even some by accidents or mishaps. Some animals sadly are food for predators. There are still many who die due to war, like those in the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war or those in Gaza and southern Lebanon. There have been many wars waged throughout the ages, and many have perished. In modern times, the most devastating being the two world wars, and we know from biblical prophesy that as many as 1/4th of the world’s population will be wiped out before Christ comes again (see Revelation 6:8 on the rider on a pale horse).

No matter who we are, we can not avoid death. Whether we are king, president, prime minister or a normal pheasant, of nobility, or just a plain middle-class professional or a business owner. Whatever our station in life, we will die one day.

As brilliant as Einstein or Steve Jobs were, they couldn’t escape their appointment with death. Every single one of us is destined to die and face judgment (Hebrews 9:27), and the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). Only teo persons are recorded in the Bible of not facing death – Elijah and Enoch and the only person who managed to postpone his appointment was King Hezekiah. Even Lazarus, who was raised from the dead by Jesus, died eventually.

Only Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, was ever resurrected from death and, in the process, conquered sin and death. He is the hope of our glory that one day we will be resurrected with Him in our glorified bodies and live for eternity in the new heaven and new earth.

So what must we do pending our appointment with death? It is certain, just that we do not know when. Accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. That will secure our destiny with eternal life. Then, live our lives for Christ, for His plans and purposes for our lives – this will assure us of our place in the Kingdom of God. Salvation is a gift from God in the sense that we can not work for it. We are saved by our faith in Christ Jesus. Nevertheless, we could lose our salvation if we live our lives recklessly or in wilful sin, contrary to the will of God or if we choose to walk the broad path that leads to destruction or if we were to denounce our faith or deny Christ. We must do all we can to make sure our names remain written in the Book of Life!