Asking God

https://odb.org/2025/11/25/asking-gods-help

1 Samuel 7:7–12 (NIV): 7 When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8 They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the LORD our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He cried out to the LORD on Israel’s behalf, and the LORD answered him.
10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the LORD thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. 11 The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

When I was younger, I thought it improper to ask God to help me meet writing deadlines. Other people have greater needs, I told myself. Family problems. Health crises. Job letdowns. Financial needs. I’ve faced all those things too. But meeting a writing deadline seemed too small to take to God. I changed my view, however, after finding multiple examples in the Bible of God helping people regardless of the challenge they faced. (Patricia Raybon, Our Daily Bread, 25th November 2025)

If you’re a manager, you may face a subordinate who doesn’t ask you anything but just goes on to do things on his own and another who is always asking for help and direction. The latter can be nuisance as over-reliance on you may wear you out instead! But the former may just end up making all the wrong moves and decisions. The goal at the workplace is to have people who are able to work independently and yet keep us updated and coming back to us for bigger decisions. So a lawyer who asks the client or the business unit to confirm every clause in the contract is a pain but one who only picks the crucial clauses for decision is helpful. Which clauses to highlight to the client is thus the skill of the lawyer.

We have a tendency to relate to God in the same way. We tend to think that if we always go back to the Lord, we are a pain to God and as the writer of today’s ODB article pointed out, God has more important needs to deal with than our little problems like, for example, how to reduce glucose in our diet. Of course, there are many more pressing and pertinent needs to deal with in the world. Moreover we are just a speck in the vastness of the universe. Yet, God has an ear to our little and minor issues of life.

The irony of our relationship with God is that He wants us to be completely reliant on Him. In fact, unlike a manager who loves an independent worker, God loves a fully dependent us. He wants us to fully rely on Him – His thoughts, wisdom, guidance and foresight. His plans and purposes for our lives are infinitely better than any of our own man-made fleshly-motivated plans. In fact, the more we speak to Him in prayer, the more we ask Him for our needs, the happier He will be relating to us. His capacity is unlimited.

This morning as we launch out to work or school or start our daily routine, say a prayer and speak to Him in our hearts. The simple issues of life or the heavy issues in our heart – all are good to be committed to the Lord in prayer and supplication, and conversation. It is OK to ask Jesus to help us meet our work deadlines!

Waiting on God

https://odb.org/2025/11/24/hope-in-the-waiting

Jeremiah 25:4–11 (NIV): 4 And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the LORD gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.”
7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the LORD, “and you have aroused my anger with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”
8 Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Seventy years is a long time to keep hope alive. Jeremiah and the people of Judah must have been heartbroken and fearful when God said they would “serve the king of Babylon seventy years” (Jeremiah 25:11). But they hadn’t listened to God and turned from their “evil ways and . . . practices” (v. 5), which had deformed them into “an object of horror and scorn” (v. 9). The people were condemned more than thirty times in Jeremiah for not listening to Him. Seventy years might have felt like forever, but God would be with them, and He promised that the hard season would eventually end (29:10). (Tom Felten, Our Daily Bread, 24th November 2025)

One of the things we cannot avoid in our Christian life is waiting. Like the children of Israel who waited 70 years to be delivered from their Babylon exile and captivity, there are times when we also need to wait on God to deliver us. The Israelites were delivered into the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar because of theor disobedience. When in exile, they suffered greatly while their homeland laid in ruins and God heard their cries of desperation. After 70 years, they were allowed to return home and rebuild their nation.

The parallel in our modern-day faith is that we could be in bad situations caused by our own neglect of our spiritual walk and as we cry unto the Lord, we hope to be delivered although we know we don’t deserve God’s compassion and love. Yet God loves us. He wants to deliver us. But there is still a question of His timing as He has promised to make all things beautiful in His time.

There are also times when the deliverance or blessing comes in a form that may not be exactly as what we had hoped for. As the saying goes, beggars cannot be choosers. We are in a difficult position. Take whatever that comes our way and work our way out of our situation. For example, if we had been laid off at a salary of RM15,000 a month and are now offered a job paying RM10,000 elsewhere, take it because in a worse case scenario, we could only be earning RM7,000 a month.

Waiting is inevitable in life and in God. Most of the times, besides God’s timing, it is our own character and self. Are we changed from within us? Have we allowed ourselves to be dealt with by the Lord? Are we tranformed? Maybe there is a character trait that we need to change first before God releases His blessings and deliverance.

Have a good week ahead, everyone! This coming week is the last week of November and we are now inching towards the closing of 2025 and will be ushering in the new year. Every single one of us will become older and my prayer for us is that we will be spiritually more mature in the Lord as we grow older! Amen!

He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep

https://odb.org/2025/11/21/always-awake-2

Psalm 121:1-4 NIV- 1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

Two pilots fell asleep in the middle of their flight over Indonesia. While the commanding pilot had permission to nap once the plane reached cruising altitude, he woke up to find that his copilot had also dozed off. The two were asleep for about thirty minutes with more than 150 passengers and crew on board and while at approximately 36,000 feet altitude. The plane had veered off course, but thankfully the plane still arrived at its destination safely. Human pilots may snooze mid-flight, but we can rest assured that God never falls asleep. (Nancy Gavilanes, Our Daily Bread, 21 November 2025)

All adult male Israelites were to come to the temple every year to observe three national feasts (Deuteronomy 16:16). The journey was a perilous one, with travelers vulnerable to the treacherous mountain terrain, weather, wild animals, and robbers. As they journeyed into Jerusalem, the travelers sang from an anthology of fifteen “Pilgrim Psalms” or “Songs of Ascents” and Psalm 121, often referred to as “The Traveler’s Psalm,” is one such song. It acknowledges the Israelites’ safety concerns and highlights God’s protection of them. (Insight, Our Daily Bread, 21 November 2025)

The phrase, “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep”, from Psalm 121:4 is one of those phrases in the Bible that remains etched in my memory from my Bible studies and from songs sang in the past although I tend to remember it as “neither sleep nor slumber”. It speaks of God’s protection over our lives akin to the hope and assurance given to Israelite pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem to celebrate the 3 annual festivals. It was not once in a lifetime but 3 times a year, which in today’s context symbolises our constant life’s journeys.

Our own lives may be fraught with risks and dangers. As we earn our living and accumulate savings for our future, there are people out there trying to scam us, to cheat us of our hard-earned cash. Worse there are spiritual forces trying to win over our hearts and minds to believe in things that compromise our faith like faith is man-made to just give some morality compass to humans. Or wrong ideas like heaven and hell and God and Satan are all created concepts for morality and ethics but they don’t actually exist. Nothing is going to happen after we die. We just vanish into nothingness. There is no life after death. So live life to the fullest and do what we think is best for ourselves now. There are forces constantly trying to draw us into the broad road that leads to destruction.

Like the Israelites travelling to Jerusalem, 3 times a year, we need to make that weekly journey to church to worship God with our fellow believers and rejuvenate our spiritual lives. At least keep our minds and hearts focussed on God and allow the Word to teach, encourage and strengthen our faith. Obey God’s Word and He will bring maturity to our spiritual lives.

Have a good weekend, everyone! Take care and may the LORD our God protect you and your loved ones always!

Imposter syndrome

https://odb.org/2025/11/20/imposter-syndrome

Romans 12:3–8 (NIV): 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Do you ever feel like a fraud? You aren’t alone! In the late 1970s, two researchers identified “imposter syndrome” as the condition of doubting one’s skills, talents, or abilities and interpreting oneself as a fraud. Even successful and brilliant people struggle with inadequacy, worrying that if anyone peeked behind the curtain of their lives, they’d see how much they don’t know.

Paul exhorts the people of the first-century church in Rome to be humble: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment” (Romans 12:3). We understand the importance of not elevating our abilities. But when we doubt our own value, we go too far, robbing others of the gifts God wants us to use to serve Him. To think of ourselves with “sober judgment” (v. 3) is to have a sane estimation—a realistic regard—for what we offer. Paul nudges us to overcome our hesitancies, to embrace who we are “in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of [us]” (v. 3). In this way, God’s body of believers may be built up (vv. 4-8). (Elisa Morgan, Our Daily Bread, 20 November 2025)

I struggled with lack of confidence most of my life even though I was a top student in my school in a small town in the East Coast of Malaysia. I knew I could study as evidenced by my examinations results. But I was not living in ancient China where scholars were cherished and highly regarded and guaranteed a good station in life. In other words, academic achievement isn’t the sure road to success in present-day life although it is likely one of the most travelled paths used by those who could study.

Life in reality is diverse and complex. Like most people, I was not good at everything. In fact, I was less good at most things and was and still am a slow learner. As I reflect back over the years, I realise that my lack of confidence came from the fear of learning new things and the psychology of thinking that I will surely not do well. This is mostly reinforced by the reality of me failing at most of my earlier attempts. But over time, I developed certain skills through repetitive doing and gained some self confidence. For example, after 30 years of writing reports and papers, I’m now confident of my ability to write.

There is another group of people who are not afraid of anything. They are confident from start and I think they usually don’t fail as much or failures just don’t deter or erode their confidence. They just keep on doing the things they do and do them well. I’ll say in my immediate family, everyone is like that except me. They all do well quickly, while I’m the slow one in most things.

However, the danger of those who are always confident is that they may, but not necessarily always, think too highly of themselves and forget the Lord behind them. Always succeeding at what they do and doing well may over inflate their own abilities, partly because of their high confidence and the results they see. Far from thinking of themselves as a fraud, they are at the other end of the spectrum.

The message this morning is not to be like me, having a perpetual lack of confidence but neither think too highly of oneself. But think of ourselves with sober judgment as Paul suggests – everyone has their God-given gifts and talents to build up the body of Christ. We are all a peg in a kingdom full of unique openings to fit each of us, each a special brick in the wall to support and carry of the weight of one another. In fact, be confident in the Lord for He has a specific plan and purpose for each of our lives!

Just pray

https://odb.org/2025/11/19/just-pray

Psalm 6:4–9 (NIV): 4 Turn, LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. 5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave? 6 I am worn outs from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. 7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. 8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. 9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.

The freelance project wasn’t working out well. The clients were demanding what seemed to be the impossible, and I was stressed and discouraged. My first reaction was just to walk away from it, which would mean not getting paid for the work I’d done—and also eliminating the possibility of future projects with them. Then the thought came to me: Have you prayed to God yet?

Mentally slapping my forehead, I realized that I’d neglected to ask God for help! And so I prayed . . . and immediately felt better. Nothing had changed—the project remained challenging—but I felt peace wash over me. Now I knew I could rest in God: I’d just do whatever I could and leave the outcome to Him. (Leslie Koh, Our Daily Bread, 19th November 2025)

Sometimes, not always I believe, we get so engrossed in dealing with some issues that we forget that the Lord is right there beside us. Or because we believe that some issues are best resolved between men (meaning human beings) without spiritual intervention. We may think like that because those are not spiritual issues. Like if we face deadlocks in contractual clauses, we tend to just crack our heads to figure out a middle ground language or find arguments to argue our point of view. Of course, there are policy clauses that are beyond our pay grade and thus need to be escalated to higher management or even the Board.

But actually in the midst of all that, God is there in the equation. We should thus pray to commit the situation to the Lord. Maybe nothing actually changed after we prayed. Things appeared to look as bad. However, I believe God would have done something to the hearts of men involved in the transaction. The atmosphere could have become less tense and more friendly and conciliatory. Perhaps something that has been going on for 6 months will now be finally closed in 2 weeks. Ultimately there are always spiritual forces at work. Thus spiritual input in terms of prayer may change things. Not everything is as per what’s apparent in the natural.

I remember that a trait of one of the founding members of my church (now deceased) is his prayer life. He always prays and commit things to the Lord whenever there are difficulties. In other words, he take every opportunity to pray and commit things to the Lord. May His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven.

The message this morning is to pray, just pray when faced with hurdles or difficulties even if the issues are just issues between men. Jesus works in all situations. Take some time to pray, to call out to Him, even in desperation and although nothing appears to change, it has changed with our prayer. Trust God and then work through the issues. It will eventually be closed. Amen!

End of life

https://odb.org/2025/11/18/living-with-christ

2 Timothy 2:8–13 (NIV): 8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
11 Here is a trustworthy saying:  if we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Physician Christian Ntizimira sensed God’s calling to provide end-of-life care in under-resourced areas of his home country of Rwanda. Colleagues often didn’t see the value of such care because “these patients were already considered hopeless.” But Ntizimira found that for patients and their families, his “presence offered a rekindling of hope when all seemed lost.” Ntizimira is grounded in his work by the conviction that Jesus’ death and life can transform how we approach death because “the death of Christ is the source of life.” (Monica La Rose, Our Daily Bread, 18 November 2025)

I think the point on providing end-of-life care or hospice services is that life is to be respected and cherished even at its end stages. Every living creature will face this situation due to the original sin. Our human body will one day die and perish and as the saying goes, from dust to dust – from dust we come (taken from God created man from soil) to dust we return (since once fully decomposed we become a part of the soil).

Life is to be respected and dignified even when we are about to pass because life doesn’t really end when we leave the land of the living. Our soul and spirit lives on. There is life after death. If we are with the Lord, we will be with Him in heaven. But if we had rejected Him, we will be condemned to hell. That’s the hard truth and reality taught by the Bible and it doesn’t change even if one does not believe in it.

Every single one of us is to be loved and cherished because we are living beings, not because of our usefulness to others or what we can bring to the table. We have spirit, soul and body even if we are useless to everyone lying immobile on the bed due to a terminal illness having ravished us or our minds have been lost to dementia. We were once someone who did our best for our family, church and community.

That is why hospice services are important even though the patients are practically gone. That is also why funeral services form an integral part of the church. We want to give the departed a proper farewell and burial even though they are no longer with us. Jesus’s death and resurrection ensure that we will live even though we die (John 11:25) as Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life!

For us who are still breathing, let’s have a meaningful life serving God at our family, workplace, in our church and community. Let’s strive on in our faith. Leave a mark so that others may remember who we were in Christ.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

An eight-minute call

https://odb.org/2025/11/17/christ-based-connection

Proverbs 12: 21-28 NIV: 21 No harm overtakes the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. 22 The Lord detests lying lips, but he delightsi in people who are trustworthy. 23 The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly. 24 Diligent hands will rule, but t laziness ends in forced labor. 25 Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. 26 The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. 27 The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt. 28 In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.

Could eight minutes change someone’s life? In a world where meaningful connections can be rare, author Jancee Dunn proposes the power of an eight-minute phone call. She believes such brief calls can help us connect with family and friends. Studies show that such calls a few times a week help reduce depression, loneliness, and anxiety. And Dunn cites the research of other experts who affirm that minor relationship adjustments can profoundly affect our well-being and that of others. (Marvin Williams, Our Daily Bread 17 November 2025)

Proverbs 12:25 teaches that anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. There is a strong case to be made that as we encourage others with words of comfort and understanding, it will reduce depression, loneliness and anxiety. Perhaps a word of encouragement when in church or if we meet elsewhere. But ultimately, a call works best because our voice is heard and this may be done even if we are far away in another city. In this day and age when people just text, a phone call may work wonders as suggested by Marvin Williams in today’s ODB, an eight-minute phone call.

But if it’s less convenient to speak like in an open office environment which is the norm nowadays, texting is good enough. When we personally text another, we show that we care and that we’re thinking of that person. It could just be a hello message asking about their children. Of course, in texting we meet all sorts of people. Some will reply immediately while there are those who reply only after a few days. At the other extreme, there are the few who never reply. Just pure silence. But even if we wish to call, nowadays the protocol is to text first to call. So we could rarely avoid texting.

As believers, the least we could do for our fellow believers and church members is to pray for them and encourage them in their faith. Church communities don’t exist in a vacuum or in silos. It is koinonia. It’s a fellowship of believers coming together to learn the Word and worship God. In fact as I’ve said before, just attending and showing up is already an encouragement!

Have a good week ahead, everyone! May we dwell in the glory of His presence as we face and tackle issues of life and at work! May the LORD grant us wisdom and discernment always! Amen

P/s

I like to report that after months of negotiations and fine tuning, we are finally scheduled to sign today a key collaboration agreement that forms the core cloud business of my company! Praise the Lord for His goodness and support all this while. Many a times when I was stuck, I prayed and He gave me ideas to resolve impasse situations.

Waiting for God

https://odb.org/2025/11/14/waiting-for-god-2

Lamentations 3:22-24: 22 Because of the Lord’s great lover we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

The book of Lamentations presents the cry of Jeremiah, who waited for God and the end of His discipline for the sins of his people. The prophet remained confident in an everlasting God who he knew could be trusted. “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him” (3:25). God’s people can experience hope even when troubles overwhelm and relief seems impossible. Though they might need to humbly accept God’s discipline, they can cling to the reality that “there may yet be hope” (v. 29). Those who know God can experience a hope that flows from Him. “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (v. 26). (Win Collier, Our Daily Bread, 13th November 2025)

There must have been instances in our lives when we waited for God to help us get through some critical milestones or events in our lives. Not so much asking the LORD to do our bidding but more like we know God will bring us through, but reality is we are still where we are. Perhaps it’s a promotion that we have been waiting for many years. Or we are trying for a child for a few years already or like a friend of mine, she had a child after marriage but the second one took a long time to come. She eventually had her second child 10 years after the first. Or we have been looking for a house at a certain locality at a price that fits our budget. Or we have been wanting to get a better job but have not found anything suitable so far. Or we have been praying for the salvation of our loved ones.

In most things that we pray for, the outcomes are usually not spontaneous. Except perhaps healing where we may experience immediate results. For most things however, it takes time and God’s timing is perfect. He makes all things beautiful in His time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Continue to pray and believe and if it is in God’s will, it will come to pass in due course. The LORD in His compassion and love will work something out for us. For we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). Maybe it is not exactly as we had prayed for and wished, nevertheless it is good and we will be grateful and thankful for His compassion and grace. His blessings are real and they are good because the Lord knows what’s best for us.

Have a good weekend ahead! May we find peace and contentment as we approach His throne of grace this Sunday! Amen!

Edom and Israel

https://odb.org/2025/11/13/kindness-for-the-suffering

Obadiah 4–7, 12 & 13 (NIV): 4 Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the LORD. 5 “If thieves came to you, if robbers in the night— oh, what a disaster awaits you!— would they not steal only as much as they wanted? If grape pickers came to you,
would they not leave a few grapes? 6 But how Esau will be ransacked, his hidden treasures pillaged! 7 All your allies will force you to the border; your friends will deceive and overpower you; those who eat your bread will set a trap for you, but you will not detect it.  12 You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction,
nor boast so much in the day of their trouble. 13 You should not march through the gates of my people in the day of their disaster, nor gloat over them in their calamity in the day of their disaster,
nor seize their wealth in the day of their disaster.

Edom’s betrayal of Israel cuts even deeper than one nation taking advantage of another nation’s plight (Obadiah 1:1-13). The nation of Edom descended from Jacob’s twin brother, Esau (Genesis 25:24-30). The tension between the brothers continued throughout their lives, but it’s epitomized in Jacob stealing Esau’s birthright and blessing from their father (25:29-34; 27:1-41). That family tension continued to plague Jacob’s descendants (Israel) for centuries (see Numbers 20:14-21).

The prophecies in Obadiah condemn Edom for rejoicing in God’s judgment against Judah and exploiting their vulnerabilities (Obadiah 1:12-14; see Amos 1:11-12). When someone is suffering, we honor God when we respond with kindness and generosity instead of exploitation. (Jed Ostoich, Insight, Our Daily Bread 13th November 2025)

I guess in a way it is human nature to gloat over or rejoice over some people’s predicament or misfortune, especially if those are the haughty people we hate. Particularly, wealthy people who were proud and condescending but are now bankrupt and living from hand to mouth. In our hearts, we tend to say, serves them right! Now they got their just desserts!

Alas, that’s not what the bible teaches. In Obadiah, the LORD condemned Edom for gloating over Israel, marching over their predicament and plight, and seizing their wealth. In the modern context, it would be similar to taking advantage of a disaster zone after a forest fire to buy up property on the cheap. It’s an opportunity but if we buy their property on the cheap, it’s a double whammy for the victims as they had already lost their homes. The biblical teaching is that we should refrain from taking advantage of the misery of others, as much as conventional wisdom teaches us to do so. An opportunity lost is an opportunity gained by someone else. Instead, we should offer kindness for the suffering, a very New Testament approach but already present during ancient times in the Old Testament.

Although Lahaina residents saw despicable actions, they also experienced kindness when churches on the island became hospitality centers offering shelter, hot meals, and emergency supplies. (Lisa M. Samra, Our Daily Bread 13th November 2025)

The message this morning is that as believers and children of God, we should always have a good and pure heart. Don’t take advantage even if it is our right. The law and the contract may be on our side, but do we glorify God by doing the right thing instead?

Dreamscrolling

https://odb.org/2025/11/12/beyond-dreamscrolling

1 Peter 1:3–9 (NIV): 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Each fall in my youth, my grandmother got the JCPenney Christmas catalog. With a zealous delight, I spirited it away to ponder its marvelous images.

These days, those images show up on our smartphones daily—the algorithmic distillation of our hopes and dreams, a personalized feed tailored to us. It’s easy to get lost in them. Recently, experts have named this digital phenomenon dreamscrolling. A survey conducted by OnePoll indicates that the average U.S. smartphone user dreamscrolls more than two hours a day! The images that tantalize our hearts invite us to hope, to believe, that if we just had this one thing, it would all be good. (Adam Holtz, Our Daily Bread 12th November 2025)

I think “dreamsrolling” is not harmful if done moderately, like most things. Looking at things and aspiring to own them one day is something that gives us hope as well as joy. Perhaps we want a nicer watch or a better car. Or a more trendy pair of shoes. Or just an aspirational Polo Ralph Lauren shirt or other high fashion branded clothes. As for me, I like to look at camping gear in the hope that one day when I have more time in hand, I could go exploring some campsites in Malaysia. Or maybe do some long distance travelling. Things I will struggle to do when holding a full-time job. I feel that dreamscrolling is OK since it gives us hope and joy to take us away albeit momentarily from the issues of life that we face at home or at work. It’s a temporary distraction for relief from the struggles of the world.

Yet if we are obsessed in dreamscrolling, we risk wasting lots of time doing something unproductive. For example, the time could be spent praying or reading the Word or just doing housework, instead of “dreaming”. Of course it’s most dangerous if we are pulled into those things such that we get disappointed and depressed because we are nowhere near our dreams in reality. Instead of striving us to work harder, we may end up playing victim, blaming ourselves for our perceived “failures” which can be really ironical when we are actually doing relatively well in life. It is a tragedy if our dreams make us perceive ourselves as failures. Fundamentally because in the process we forgot to be grateful for God’s blessings for our lives.

1 Peter 1:3-9 speaks of an inheritance that awaits us in heaven that can never perish, spoil or fade. It speaks of a time when we may need to endure some hardship to test the genuineness of our faith, which is of greater worth than gold. We have not seen Him but we love and believe in Him. We are filled with inexplicable joy and rejoice in knowing Him because in the end we will receive the salvation for our souls.

Someone once taught, and I agree with him, it’s not wrong to have dreams but it is better if we sanctify and align our dreams with God’s plans and purposes for our lives. This is to help us not to be seduced by the bright lights of the world that promote materialism lest we get carried away chasing after such things and compromising our faith.