A sign from God

https://odb.org/2026/07/14/cant-explain

Judges 6:36–40 (NIV): 36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Jay owned a Gideon Bible, yet his analytical mind didn’t permit him to accept its miracles. One thing haunted him, though: the genuine faith of his friend. So Jay offered a strange prayer. He told God, “If you want me to believe in You, then do something I can’t explain.” One day, something drew Jay to look for his Bible. It was gone. How could that be? He never lost track of things.

He drove in the rain to his teaching job at the University of Zurich. Stepping out of his car, he spotted a Gideon Bible on the wet pavement. That’s strange, he thought. Picking it up, he noticed the Bible was totally dry despite the rain. Something he couldn’t explain!

Gideon Bibles are named for an Old Testament hero of Israel. When God chose Gideon to lead Israel into battle against a vast army, Gideon had huge doubts. He told God, “I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece . . . , then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand” (Judges 6:37). God answered Gideon’s challenge not once but twice (vv. 39-40). (Tim Gustafson, Our Daily Bread 14th July 2026)

Gideon asking for a sign is perhaps the most famous account of a mighty man of God seeking something supernatural from the LORD to confirm his calling. Our human nature tends to make us doubt, rather than believe and trust blindly, especially when it comes to life-changing decisions. Gideon of course asked for more than just a confirmation of his calling but also the success of God’s calling that he will indeed lead Israel to victory.

In the case of Moses, he saw a burning bush with fire but the fire did not consume the bush. That’s the supernatural reality of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. YHWH will go to great lengths to prove that He is God. Even in the case of Paul, Jesus appeared to him in a vision on his way to Damascus and later brought him up to the third heaven and Paul heard inexpressible things. Jesus also to teach him the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 NIV I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.

If we have been in Christ for some time, we will know that the supernatural is never an impossibility in the faith. It is one of the ways God reaches out to man to do His will and to fulfil His plans and purposes for man. But what I like to highlight here this morning is that the LORD will go to great lengths to convince us His calling for our lives. If we were to ask for a sign, chances are He will oblige. I recall more than 40 years back a young pastor fresh out of seminary was sent by the Methodist church to pioner an outreach in my small town in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan. I asked Pastor Chiam how he confirmed his calling to go full-time for God. He told me before going to seminary he asked the Lord to show him 3 signs. I forgot what those signs were but he saw all three! It proved that His calling was divine and Pastor Chiam later returned to continue his service in Penang and I heard that he only retired a few years back, after many years of full-time service in His church.

If God has placed in us a burden to do something for Him or to go into full-time ministry or to be a missionary in a far land or just a calling to serve Him in some way, you may ask for a sign to confirm and afford your calling. With the supernatural confirmation, we will have the courage and boldness to step out in faith into an unknown future safely in the shadow of His migthy wings!

God’s unconditional love

https://odb.org/2026/07/13/drastic-measures-2

John 3:16–21 (NIV): 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

Daniel was born into a Romanian orphanage. For seven years, he only left his crib to go to the bathroom. When he turned eight, a family from another country adopted him. They knew about attachment disorders—that Daniel could have difficulty attaching to them as his parents. Slowly, Daniel started to trust them. Over time, though, he began to rage to the point his parents hired a bodyguard to protect them from Daniel’s outbursts. They decided on a controversial therapy: For the next five years they were never away from Daniel even if he had a meltdown. On his thirteenth birthday Daniel broke down and, for the first time, told his parents he loved them very much. His mother summarized the experience: “Creating love is not for the soft and sentimental. Love is a battlefield.” (John Blase, Our Daily Bread 13th July 2026)

Many people are familiar with John 3:16, which describes the scope of God’s love for the world: “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Many, however, misinterpret this verse. They think that if God’s love is so great, no one will “perish.” The critical phrase is “whoever believes in [Jesus].” John also writes, “Whoever does not believe [in Jesus] stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (v. 18). (Tim Gustafson, Insight, Our Daily Bread 13th July 2026)

A difficult child is something every family dread but some cannot avoid. Some families have a child with disability or a debilitating neurological illness. Or there are families with physically normal children but anti social behaviour like youths who withdraw from society and can’t function in the community or those who mix with the wrong company and ended up on the streets in crime and drugs. I know of someone with a child who is destructive, abusive and out of control against her parents but behaves normally in a psychiatric ward.

The thing is all these families with less than ideal children will not abandon their child. They will love their child come what may and sacrifice their time, money and even vacations for their special needs child. I have a friend who is a business owner but has never been abroad for a holiday as a family because their second child has a neurological disease that needs constant care. They want to be constantly at his side to feed him and attend to his needs.

Thus, John 3:16 demonstrates God’s love in the sense that no matter how horrible we may be as human beings created by Him in His image (like we may totally ignore Him in our haughtiness), He still loved us by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, to die for our sins that whosoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have life everlasting. God’s love is akin (but much more) to those families and parents who loved their child and sibling regardless of his or her special needs. As difficult as they may be to love like those who are abusive and violent, they are still loved. We may be an atheist and do not believe in the existence of God, yet God still loves us. You may believe in other gods and not the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but God nevertheless loves you. Salvation however is only through belief in Jesus Christ, His one and only Son.

Have a good week, everyone! Every day brings its own set of challenges and struggles. Seek Him and pray that His grace and mercy be upon us that He will grant us wisdom and discernment to deal with issues at work and in our family! Amen!

Spiritual gifts

https://odb.org/2026/07/09/sharing-our-spiritual-gifts

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.

“You’re good at playing the guitar,” I said to a new friend at church. “Thanks,” he said. “That’s my ministry.” There was that word again. Ministry. I didn’t know what that was or how someone “got” a ministry. But my friend was simply using the musical ability he’d been given to serve others. When I later discovered that one of my gifts was exhortation, or encouragement, I was a bit disappointed. It felt too plain. But soon I realized that as the care leader of our small group, I delighted in writing encouraging notes or calling our members. I’d been using one of my spiritual gifts without even knowing it. As believers in Jesus, we’re each given spiritual gifts to serve in the church (1 Corinthians 12:6). Sometimes we don’t know what they are, so we simply serve where there’s need. The Holy Spirit will do the rest (vv. 4-6, 8-11). (Nancy Gavilanes, Our Daily Bread 9th July 2026)

Spiritual (grace) gifts are listed in Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; and 1 Corinthians 12:28. No two lists are identical, which indicates they aren’t exhaustive. The purpose of listing the gifts isn’t to enumerate how many types of gifts there are but rather to teach us to use them in a loving way that promotes growth and unity in the church (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; 13:1-13; 1 Peter 4:10). Spiritual gifts equip God’s people to do His work, to edify and build up the church (Ephesians 4:11-16), and to serve others and bring glory to God (1 Peter 4:10-11). To achieve this, Paul tells us not to think too highly or too lowly of ourselves but to use our spiritual giftedness in humility (Romans 12:3). (K.T. Sim, Insight, Our Daily Bread 9th July 2026)

Personally, I got to know Christ through learning how to play the guitar. A group of outstation (an expression common in Malaya since the British days to denote people who are from elsewhere but stationed in a particular place, usually used for government servants) teachers opened their home in Pasir Puteh to us local students and introduced us to musical instruments. 3 of us went there to fellowship and learn to play the guitar and in the process, we eventually accepted Christ. A few years later, I joined a church in Kota Bharu and started playing the guitar for their worship services and that’s how I started my “ministry” or one could say, my involvement in church ministry. I still lead in worship and play the guitar but that’s no longer my main ministry.

We could stumble upon a ministry based on our God-given talents like some of us are more encouraging in words and demeanour. Like K.T. Sim said, the lists of spiritual gifts are not meant to be exhaustive and thus it could be our own God-given talents. Or we could also work towards them like teaching or discipleship where training or knowledge may be acquired informally or even formally by enrolling in a seminary. Recently, a leader in my local church started a Greek class, no doubt leveraging on his theological studies in a bible college.

I have been in the music ministry for more than 40 years now. Most ministries are a life long thing. We serve using our talents and spiritual gifts until our last breath. Start somewhere and over time we will discover our spiritual gifts. For example, as we get involved more in ministering, we  may gain the gift of discernment and word of knowledge. Some in the process learned they have the gift of healing, meaning when they pray, they have a higher chance of invoking God’s healing power. We will only know what are our spiritual gifts when we step out in faith. When we trust the prompting of the Spirit and trust perhaps in a picture we see as we pray. The more we operate in the spiritual realm, the better we will get. Don’t be afraid but step up in faith!

The Holy Grail

https://odb.org/2026/07/08/the-holy-grail

The Holy Grail prop from the movie Indiana Jones

Matthew 26:26–30 (NIV): 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” 30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

For centuries, people have been fascinated by the Holy Grail—the cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper. The legends surrounding King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table detail their obsession over the search for the cup. They believed it had magical powers. In film, Indiana Jones and his father, Henry, fulfilled Henry’s lifelong pursuit of the Grail.

While this makes for fascinating storytelling, the truth is much more straightforward. The cup itself has no special powers. The real power is found in what it represents. Matthew describes the scene in the upper room the night before Jesus went to the cross: “Then [Jesus] took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ ” (26:27-28). The cup is a picture of the blood that Jesus would shed on our behalf. (Bill Crowder, Our Daily Bread, 8th July 2026)

One of the most fascinating aspects of Christian life that was a sharp departure from my life as a non-believer is the practical absence of physical objects of power. Thus even as movies portray vampires being afraid of crosses and holy water (and garlic!), the Christian faith itself does not believe in its own objects having any sort of special powers. The same way that the cup that Christ drank from during His last Passover meal had no supernatural powers (contrary to popular culture on the Holy Grail). Even the Holy Bible as a book in itself is not an object of special powers.

However, the words from the written Word spoken out aloud by a born-again believer is powerful as the spoken Word of God is able to drive out demons and release the power of healing. Remember that the LORD God created the world and everything in it from His spoken word. It could change the spiritual atmosphere of a place. Ultimately the spiritual power of a believer lies within the believer’s life – redeemed, sanctified and lived for the glory of God. Objects in the Christian world is not the source of power, it is the Holy Spirit living within a transformed and sanctified believer’s life who has.

There is one exception despite this overall generalisation and that is the sacraments of the Holy Communion. In this respect, notwithstanding that the elements are just ordinary food items like a piece of bread (or nowadays it’s more common to use cornflakes) and the drink is just ordinary grape juice and not some drink flown in from Jerusalem (although some churches serve real wine), there is belief that the sacraments have power to heal when taken as part of the Lord’s Supper. Not in the items themselves but in the body and blood of Christ they represent and in the context of the ceremony itself. Ultimately, it is God who heals as we partake Holy Communion or the Eucharist.

Having said that, it is important to note that objects outside the faith and relics used by others to pray and worship other gods especially those involved in the dark arts have spiritual powers. That is why believers are discouraged from bringing such items into their homes as these items could lead to the proliferation of demonic and other spirits into the home.

What’s our application for this morning’s message? Rather than inanimate objects, we ourselves are the actual and real source of supernatural powers as Christ and the Holy Spirit live within us and our hearts animate the glory of God. We have the power of prayer from the words we utter to bring down supernatural powers from the heavenly realm into the natural to break demonic bondages for our fight is not against flesh and blood but against principalities of the air as per Ephesians 6:12. Our power as sanctified and redeemed believers lies in our prayers – we are just a prayer away from the supernatural realm in the heavenlies. When confronted face to face by demonic forces or evil spirits, pray against them in the name of Jesus and by the power of His blood, James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

The Godly wisdom of King Solomon

https://odb.org/2026/07/07/the-way-wisdom-works

1 Kings 3:24–28 (NIV): 24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”
28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

The people in Israel learned a lesson on wisdom from King Solomon. Two women had delivered babies. One baby died when his mother accidentally “lay on him” (1 Kings 3:19). This mother then tried to claim the living baby as her own. The women went to Solomon to ask who should keep the baby. When he heard the complaint, he ordered that the living baby be cut in two so both women could have a half of the child (v. 25). The woman who was not the mother agreed to this order, but the true mother said, “Give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” (v. 26). When she spoke up to save the child, Solomon ruled that she was the mother and said to give her the baby (v. 27). Solomon’s God-given wisdom was on full display. (Katara Patton, Our Daily Bread 7th July 2026)

As King Solomon began his reign, “The Lord appeared to [him] during the night in a dream” and told him, “Ask for whatever you want” (1 Kings 3:5). He asked for “a discerning heart to govern [God’s] people” (v. 9). God granted his request (3:10-14; 4:29-34), and he began well (3:28). Yet his personal life became a shambles due to his habit of marrying women who practiced other religions (11:2). He “loved many foreign women” (v. 1) and “as [he] grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods” (v. 4). Despite what God had given him, he disregarded his own wisdom. Today, we can ask God to direct our paths and help us walk in the way of wisdom. (Tim Gustafson, Insight, Our Daily Bread 7th July 2026)

One of the most famous story about King Solomon was the choice given to him by God to choose either wealth or wisdom and he chose wisdom. I learned this when young, years before I knew Jesus. Actually the true account was that God asked him to ask for anything and he chose a discerning heart to tell right and wrong. God commended him for choosing a discerning heart to administer justice, and not for wealth or long life or the destruction of his enemies. But because he chose wisdom and not wealth or long life, God granted him all three!

In the history of the kings in Israel (including the divided kingdom of Northern Israel and Judah), many kings were considered as bad. Solomon was however regarded as good although his passion for marrying foreign women brought foreign gods into Israel and caused Israel to drift away from God. Nevertheless in his book Ecclesiastes, as much as he dismissed much of life as meaningless (vanity), he concluded that life is meaningful only when we have God in our lives. That’s the true wisdom in life! If not, we would have lived and faded away like flowers across the meadow. After Jesus came into the world, we now are made more aware that there is life after death, and following and accepting Christ as our personal Lord and Saviour leads us to eternal life. A life after death with a resurrection one day that will usher us into the new heaven and new earth of Eden recreated, to be lived with God in all His glory. That is why we don’t just exist for a fleeting moment to fade away into nothingness.

If we trace the lineage of Solomon, we will discover that he is the second son of the adulterous relationship between David and Bathsheba (as mentioned in my yesterday’s post – King David’s sin and repentance – Ronnie’s Thoughts https://share.google/EhvlhMaU5Ca1ztkCU). It is tangible evidence of the forgiveness of God following David’s repentance of his sin.

Nowadays I always pray for wisdom and discernment for my wife and I and our children as we go to work each day. Not to administer justice like Solomon (haha) but to handle our work and interact with the people at work so that we are effective and successful in achieving our KPIs and goals. Wisdom is still the most valuable compared to wealth or long life because in the end, true wisdom is actually being able to choose God over all other things and that’s the right choice that will lead us to eternal life!

King David’s sin and repentance

https://odb.org/2026/07/06/turtle-dancing

2 Samuel 6:9–15 (NIV): 9 David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household.
12 Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

David lost the joy described in 2 Samuel 6:12-15 and instead found himself estranged from God because of his sin (see Psalm 32; 38:1-4; 40:12). After he committed the double sin of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah, he was unrepentant for close to a year until the prophet Nathan confronted him (2 Samuel 11-12). Psalm 51 describes how David confessed his sin (vv. 1-7) and longed for renewed intimacy with God. He prayed, “Oh, give me back my joy again; . . . Create in me a clean heart . . . . Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you” (vv. 8-12 nlt). Like David, when we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can ask Him to “unseal [our] lips” (v. 15 nlt) so we may praise Him again and “joyfully sing of [His] forgiveness” (v. 14 nlt). (K.T. Sim, Insight, Our Daily Bread 6th July 2026)

One of the things I admire about the bible is that it didn’t cover up the sins and iniquities of its stars. David is definitely its brightest star, a king who personally led Israel to many battles. He was chosen by God from a young age to be the next king to replace Saul, faced an ardous journey to be king when Saul tried to assassinate him twice. At his youth, he defeated Goliath of the Philistines with only a sling, an event so famous that it came to symbolise and represent that underdogs may triumph when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds whether it’s a campaign against established players in the industry or even governments. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, YHWH incarnate in human flesh, took pains to trace His lineage to the house of David, Israel’s most illustrious son. In other words, Jesus Himself is proud to be associated with David. This is more so when most of the kings after David in the divided kingdom of Northern Israel and Judah were bad rulers.

David was not without blemish as he sinned against God when he committed adultery with Bathsheba and in his quest to possess her, sent her husband Uriah to the frontlines and was killed. Fortunately he didn’t defy God when Nathan confronted him, nearly a year away. Four of his sons died including his first born with Bathsheba as divine retribution of his sins. He nevertheless repented and is well-known for his heart that is after God’s heart. God forgave him and his consolation was despite his sin, God allowed Bathsheba’s second son with him (David had four more sons with Bathsheba after the first died of illness shortly after birth), Solomon to succeed his throne – Solomon became the wisest and wealthiest king Israel ever had having credited with writing three books of the Old Testament, namesly, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs.

The most important lesson we could learn and apply from David in our lives as believers is that indeed the LORD our God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we confess our sins before Him (1 John 1:9) . We will suffer the consequences of our sins but Jesus as He forgives us restores our relationship with Him and the Father. He will restore us the joy of our salvation as David prayed – “O Lord, give me back my joy again…”

Salvation is a free gift given us by God’s grace. We can’t work for it. But sanctification and righteousness are to be pursued and require work and effort on our part. It’s a continuous effort to be close and to remain close to God and His presence. If there’s sin, that bond is broken. Confess our sins and repent, and we will restore that bond of intimacy with our Father God. Temptation will always be there. So long as we do not entertain it, we will not sin. Pray that God will lead us not into temptation but instead give us our daily bread as we forgive those who trespass against us. May Your will indeed be done here on earth as it is in heaven, for our lives and those of our loved ones! Amen!

Have a good week ahead everyone as we chase our deadlines! May we dwell in the joy of His presence and glorify Him as He bestows us His wisdom and discernment!

One step at a time

https://odb.org/2026/07/03/step-by-step-2

Isaiah 40:25-26,29-31 (NIV): 25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
      26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
      29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
      30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
      31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

The woman walked gingerly up each step to the church’s sanctuary for that night’s prayer service. As she paused because of her pain or breathlessness, a man passing by said, “One step at a time. That’s the only way you’re going to make it. Take it easy.” His words were meant to encourage the woman and may have given her the boost she needed to reach the top. They certainly encouraged my weary soul during my visit that evening.

In our faith journey, we may feel tempted to quit when the path seems too long or difficult. Yet in these moments, we can find solace in the words the prophet Isaiah spoke to comfort the Israelites. He told them God would eventually redeem them from their decades of captivity in Babylon, and He reminded them that God wasn’t like powerless idols (Isaiah 40:18-20). Almighty God, who created the heavens and earth, “will not grow tired or weary,” and He strengthens the weak (vv. 28-29). “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (v. 31). (Nancy Gavilanes, Our Daily Bread 3rd July 2026)

One of the fundamental things I learned as a Christian for more than 40 years is that our Christian life is indeed a journey. There are ups and downs not only in life in general but also in our spiritual walk. There are times when we are spiritually edified but at other times we may just be on a plateau – not to say boring but nothing exciting is happening. There are also occasions when we may have fallen or backslided, perhaps distracted by the bright lights of the world or in somewhat blind pursuit of our career goals. Or something tragic could have happened in our lives like the loss of a loved one that brought us into a season of depression.

That is why when it comes to our journey of faith, we must always keep in mind that it’s always a marathon and never a sprint. It is a long distance cross country run, never a track and field race. The route goes through many paths and obstacles, through the countryside and the forest with its streams of water and canopy of trees and undulating terrain. It is not on a purpose built track made of special materials to ease our run. The route is as unforgiving as it gets, as nature has made it over its thousands of years of existence.

My motto in my spiritual walk has always been – one step at a time. We take small steps of faith in accordance with our confidence, capability and belief, rather than leaps or runs of faith. Yes, there are times we speed things up as prompted by the Holy Spirit. But mostly it’s a step by step walk led by Christ, hand in hand, moulding us in the process. One step at a time, but moving forward towards the goal set ahead for us by Christ. We set our own pace but we nevertheless move forward. Never pausing too long at any place and neither going backwards. It must not be one step forward, two steps back as that simply means we are not making progress.

I have seen high flyers of the past faded into oblivion while those of us who had been trudging along faithfully are still at it 40 years later. Consistency is the key, not flashes of brilliance. There are still days, weeks, months and perhaps some years to come. We are definitely nearer to the grave than a decade ago, but nevertheless we are still at it in this business of following Christ and serving God. One step at a time but never giving up!

I like to end this week with this exaltation from Paul in Philippians 3:13-14 NIV:

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”.

Have a good weekend and do make it a point to freshen up, get dressed and attend church physically to worship God and to fellowship with our fellow believers as we all make our way forward in our respective journeys of faith!

Two are better than one

https://odb.org/2026/07/02/team-effort

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 (NIV): 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

In 1869, construction began on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. Soon after work commenced, chief engineer Washington Roebling became very ill. His wife, Emily, pitched in to help. She studied his plans, revised specifications, and gave instructions to his assistants. Emily assisted her husband in any way she could, and when the bridge opened in 1883, she rode in the first carriage across it. Her husband praised her “remarkable talent” and “her thorough knowledge of the work and plans.”

Such teamwork is beautiful and the secret to the most meaningful work of our lives. Solomon explained the basis of teamwork in Ecclesiastes: “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: if either of them falls down, one can help the other up” (4:9-10). And Paul said we should view teamwork as a key to the work of the church: “There are many parts, but one body” (1 Corinthians 12:20). He further explained that there should be “no division in the body” (v. 25) as everyone serves together, caring for each other. (Dave Branon, Our Daily Bread 2nd July 2026)

I was tasked with chairing the organising of this year’s church family camp for our local church. We have planned for it for the upcoming Merdeka break. By the early bird closing date of 30 June, we already have 95 registrations, which is a little more than our projection of 80. Initially, I wasn’t quite keen to lead as I have a heavy workload at work. But as others have already led before, it is my turn to contribute to the cause. Fortunately, the team that are used to organise our camps are still very much there to help out including our elder and senior pastor. So, in the end, it’s a team effort that will make this upcoming camp a success!

It’s the same with other ministries in the church. Two are better than one. Even the band is a combination of a few musicians hearing each other and playing in sync with the worship leader and the AV team working in the background on sound and video for Zoom. Every Sunday worship service, the highlight of a church, is a culmination of efforts from various people – preparing the place, ushering in the congregation, in some places parking arrangements are essential, taking care of the children and youths, preparing the elements for Holy Communion and in some churches, the lunch that follows after the service. It usually starts early in the morning and ends late afternoon. That is why full-time workers of the church usually have Mondays as their rest days. They are mostly exhausted after Sundays!

In terms of the family unit, parents are usually a partnership in the modern context. While it was more common for families with sole bread winners during my parent’s generation, it is more common nowadays for married couples to be double-income units. The economics is such that it is tough not only to survive but also to provide a better future for our children if only one spouse works. That is why when it comes to marriages, two is better than one. Both are equal partners although the husband is the head of the family with Jesus being our ultimate head. In reality, the wife has the final say in most things anyway!

As a believer, we should ask ourselves – why do it alone when we can do it together? Solomon advised in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. That’s God’s wisdom from heaven indeed!

Bring to remembrance our memories

https://odb.org/2026/07/01/full-grown-pleasure

Luke 22:14–23 (NIV): 14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” 17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.

A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered.” These words, uttered by a character in C. S. Lewis’ book Out of the Silent Planet, depict the joy one has in reminiscing over cherished experiences in life. Though we rightly delight in the breathtaking scenery along the path of a hike or in sharing an important milestone with a loved one, what we feel might be merely the initial pleasure. Often, later reflection on such moments (and those like them) compound the joy of having experienced them.

Perhaps this is another reason Jesus instructs His disciples to regularly share in the Lord’s Supper. As He shared the Passover meal with them the night before His death, He infused it with a new layer of meaning. When partaking of the unleavened bread and “fruit of the vine,” Jesus described them as representing His body and His blood (Luke 22:19-20). His disciples were to share this meal regularly, doing so “in remembrance of [Him]” (v. 19). (Kirsten Holmberg, Our Daily Bread 1st July 2026)

God commanded the Jews to observe the Passover to remind them how the blood of the lamb saved them from death. The Passover, a family meal, commemorated their new beginning as God’s redeemed people (Exodus 12). Jesus gave the bread and wine new meaning when He celebrated the Passover with His disciples before going to the cross (Luke 22:15-20). He instituted the Lord’s Supper or Communion as a reminder that He’s “the Lamb of God” (John 1:29), “our Passover lamb” (1 Corinthians 5:7), who was sacrificed to take away our sins. (K.T. Sim, Insight, Our Daily Bread 1st July 2026)

One of the many talents naturally bestowed us as humans is the ability to remember and bring into rememberance things of the past. I’m sure we are not unique as a species when it comes to memories as we know elephants have excellent memory. I have seen a documentary on the matriarch of a large elephant herd, usually the oldest, being able to bring the family back to places of habitation and water over many miles time and time again over years. It was like a pilgrimage etched deep in her memory that ensured the survival of the herd over changing seasons year in year out. Crucial as elephants have very large appetite and require lush vegetation to survive, especially in savanna lands.

Our memories serve as gateways into our past, into things we enjoy and love and cherish. The times we were so happy, our childhood days, when we had few cares except perhaps finishing our homework! For me who have lost both parents, memories bring back moments we spent together as a family – traveling from the East Coast back to Ipoh or those times we spent at home in cool weather looking at the flood waters in front of our Malay style raised wooden house in Pasir Puteh. Basically, just living life. Or those times we spent worshipping God and hearing sermons preached at our home as a church outreach and house fellowship.

There were many happy moments and as we remember them by replaying them in our mind, we reinforce and etch those happy moments permanently into the recess of our minds. We could recall those moments to cheer us up when we are sad and every now and then, those memories are even replayed in our dreams when we sleep albeit in different forms. In our dreams, we have little control but for me, I get to relive those moments very much as though my parents were still alive and living with me.

Similarly, Jesus turned the Passover meal which the Jews celebrated year after year to remember the time their ancestors were delivered from slavery in Egypt. The Passover meal that Jesus had just before His death has now become the Holy Communion although the early church practised it as part of a larger meal taken together by everyone in the community. It is now a ritual that we practice as part of our worship service whether once or twice a month or every time we meet. In my previous church, we prepare and serve Communion at every service and we spend time praying with and for one another in small groups.

The Holy Communion is a good practice as it brings into rememberance Jesus’s atoning death on Calvary, which secured us a place in the new heaven and new earth at the end of this age. We remember and reinforce the memory of what Jesus did for us so that we are always reminded of our salvation and what led to it. In the process, we are strengthened and encouraged to persevere on in the faith as we face life with its trials and tribulations. Maybe the next time we partake of the elements, we should recall and remember those times we first accepted Christ, the pure joy of knowing our Saviour, of being introduced into this wonderful family of God! Those memories should serve us well to encourage and strengthen our faith for the present and the days to come.

Have a good day ahead, everyone! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

Praying to grow

https://odb.org/2026/06/30/praying-to-grow

1 Corinthians 3:1–9 (NIV): 3 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

After Lam Wai Chan moved from his native Singapore to pastor a church in Japan, he panicked. The church had barely twenty members. In a nation known as a “missionary graveyard,” where about one percent of the nation’s people are Christian and many churches sit empty, Lam felt “like I was taking over a sinking ship.” Crying out to God, he sensed the answer: Offer the church back to Me.

Rather than “update” worship or music, Wai Chan asked members to pray—for their needs, family members, and friends who didn’t know Jesus. Slowly, the church doubled in size. (Patricia Raybon, Our Daily Bread 30th June 2026)

The Corinthian church was plagued by a partisan spirit that threatened to divide it. Each group exalted their favorite teacher over the other teachers (1 Corinthians 1:10-17). Paul warned that leaders like himself were merely God’s servants whom God had assigned specific tasks to help build up the community (3:5). He stressed that it’s God who makes the church grow (vv. 6-7). It doesn’t matter which tasks we’ve been assigned—“what’s important is that God makes the seed grow” (v. 7 nlt). Those entrusted to build up God’s people are “servants of Christ,” and all servants “must prove faithful” (4:1-2). As “co-workers in God’s service” (3:9), God will help us be faithful in building up each other. As we persevere through prayer, He’ll grow His church and reward His faithful servants “for their own hard work” (v. 8 nlt). (K.T. Sim, Insight, Our Daily Bread 30th June 2026)

In ministry, we strive to show tangible results to justify our position and in some situations funding. So if there’s a budget allocation (for example, from the church’s coffers which are usually tithes and offerings), we need to show results. This unfortunately is very much like the world in terms of the key performance indicators (KPIs) of our secular job. We understand the rationale for KPIs, even in the church context. But in ministry and church work, 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 is an important principle to always bear in mind:

6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

If there needs to be KPIs, it should be in terms of the planting and the watering of the seed, not the growth itself. So if there is an outreach, the people tasked with that outreach should be evaluated based on their faithfulness and diligence doing the work there. For example, conducting worship services, preaching, bible study classes, visitations and evangelism. Whether there is spiritual growth in the lives or an increase in numbers, that’s the work of the Holy Spirit. We can only teach the Word and guide. In the end, it is for the congregation to apply the Word for their own spiritual growth. Salvation is a free gift from God by grace, and thus accepting Jesus is not something for us to engineer or manipulate. It is always a battle between spiritual forces influencing the heart with a free will to decide.

As taught in today’s ODB life example of Lam Wai Chan, we pray for God’s intervention. We give back His work to Him. We pray and let Him prosper and grow the work. It is His outreach, fellowship or cell group. Sometimes God’s work may be confined to the handful of people in our midst, the 8 to 10 faithful people in our cell group or house fellowship. That’s our sphere of influence, our field. That is where we water and plant. But it is God who grows and nourishes as we apply His Word in the challenges we face in life. We grow spiritually as we rely on God and walk in faith. We remain stagnant in our faith if we are always fearful to trust God and instead walk by sight and our own understanding, and not in faith or in God’s wisdom. We need to step out of our comfort zone and trust Him.

Have a good week, everyone! May we live in the wisdom of His overflowing grace and achieve much for His glory this coming week!

P/s – I was not able to write yesterday as I needed to leave my home in a smaller city for our city home 70 kms away early in the morning to avoid rush-hour traffic. It took us 45 mins to reach our city home, instead of the usual 90 mins plus.