Speak only what God says

https://odb.org/2024/05/13/a-solitary-voice

“I can only tell him what my God says.” That was what the prophet Micaiah said when advised by an aide of King Ahab to align with what the other 400 prophets were saying on Israel’s impending victory against the Arameans. Micaiah was the lone solitary voice prophesying doom for Israel and the only true voice representing God. He could only proclaim what the LORD spoke to him despite it not being in line with popular thought then. You can read this in 2 Chronicles 18.

In the church, we face this issue all the time when speaking from the pulpit. There is perhaps no need to always be scolding people for their lackadaisical attitude towards spiritual matters and service for God. Yet we must not sugar-coat our message to make it presentable to more people. If it’s merely a question of presentation, that’s an art form by itself. But the truth must be told as it is. For example, eternal damnation is a reality for those who professed the sinner’s prayer but continued in life as a believer only in name.

In the world, popular thought is that all faiths teach good things, and thus, as there are many roads to Rome, there are many roads to heaven. But Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him” (John 14:6). Jesus also said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25).

Or in the West now, agender acceptance is popular and politically correct, and Scriptures  have been reinterpreted by some to align with such acceptance. In fact, same sex marriages are increasingly becoming the norm and legalised in more jurisdictions. Jesus also predicted that as in the days of Noah were, so shall the coming of the Son of man be (Matthew 24:37). As people go about living life with little regard for God and His percepts, but only with their own preoccupations and their own way of life, Jesus will come again to herald the end of time and usher in the day of the Lord.

We must always speak the truth only, even though sometimes the truth may not be pleasant or something others want to hear. Whether in ordinary conversations or preaching a sermon, we can only speak of what the LORD says to us.

Blessed Mother’s Day!

https://odb.org/2024/05/12/leaving-a-spiritual-legacy

2 Timothy 1:3-5 is well known for the exaltation and salutation given by Paul to his protégé Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice, for Timothy’s faith. Paul recognised the roles played by mothers and grandmothers in the development of Timothy’s faith over the years. The legacy of their faith.

Even though I didn’t become a Catholic, I could see the strong influence my own paternal grandmother had on the family when it came to the faith. In fact, in my youth, I had followed her to church a couple of times, and there was a time when I contemplated joining the Catholic church. That didn’t materialise as I only stayed with her briefly in Ipoh during school holidays, and later, when we moved to Kelantan, we only went back to Ipoh once a year or less.

I could see in my own darling wife how she is always praying for our sons and how the spiritual lives of our sons are always of utmost concern to her despite the many things occupying her attention at work. She is always speaking and praying about their faith and where they are in God, whether they will survive the Great Tribulation when it comes, with God’s grace and mercy.

My own late mother was always praying for my sister and I when she was alive, especially when I was travelling abroad. In fact, I believe my walk in the faith was always covered by her in her prayers. She was indeed a faithful, devoted, and strong intercessor for God!

Mothers are different from fathers, I guess, because they are more intense on things and have a faithfulness to God that is unrivalled. Their love and devotion are steadfast, like how the love and faithfulness of God never ceases. There is a steady devotion in all mothers, and today, we want to celebrate and salute them for who they are and who they are in Christ!

Blessed Mother’s Day to all mothers! Jesus sees the desires of your heart for your children, and I pray along with you that our Heavenly Father will make those desires come to pass in His time! Amen!

Saved by grace

https://odb.org/2024/05/10/trying-to-save-ourselves

A fundamental tenet of our Christian faith is that salvation is by grace, the grace of God through faith as a gift from God, not by works – as expounded by Paul in Ephesians 2:8-9. In verse 10, Paul continues that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for us to do.

This is in sharp contrast to the weighing scale method of good deeds versus bad, propagated by other faiths where an evaluation is performed on judgment day to determine salvation or damnation. Although logical on the face of it, its inherent weakness is that its practitioners may commit even atrocities and still be saved if they have done enough to atone for their sins.

The Christian’s view, however, is akin to that of a man caught in a quicksand. There is nothing that man can do to avoid drowning as the more he moves, the deeper he sinks. We all know that only someone above and beyond the quicksand can save that drowning man, whether to throw a tree branch or a rope. In this context, God, in His love for mankind and His grace, sent His only Son to be that rope to pull mankind out from the downward spiral of eternal damnation.

Ephesians 2:10, as taught by Paul, is key to understanding justification by faith. Once saved, we are primed to do good works, as the same has already been prepared in advance by God for us. It’s not a combination of good and bad deeds on a scale, but only good works.

Thus, in Romans 12:1-2, Paul teaches that, in view of God’s mercy, we are to become a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. We should no longer be conformed to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we may test and approve the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

By His grace, God has saved us through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. The death and resurrection of Christ have reconciled us to God and place us on the trajectory to eternal life, the narrow path of “right side up living” in an upside down world. Strive on and persevere towards the goal God has prepared us in Christ Jesus. Don’t give up. When the going gets tough, the redeemed of Christ gets going!

Blooming deserts

https://odb.org/2024/05/09/blooming-deserts

I recall that in my religious pilgrimage trip to Israel, more than 10 years ago, there was a remarkable contrast when we travelled from Egypt into the Holy Land. Egypt was perhaps like Malaysia 30 years back, but Israel was a thoroughly modern state equivalent to any Western city. But more amazingly, it was desert lands to blooming deserts with lots of cultivated greenery. The key was, of course, irrigation, and Israel has perfected the science of chanelling water from the Sea of Galilee to its sparse, arid, and dry desert lands.

But in Isaiah 35:1-7, the LORD speaks of blooming deserts in a different context. It is the Day of the LORD when God would judge the other nations and rescue and deliver Israel. It is the time when the misery and suffering of Israel will be turned to joy. From exile and enslavement to freedom and liberty. In a way, the blooming deserts of modern-day Israel is a reflection of Isaiah 35, although the latter beckons to a future when God will dwell with mankind again.

However, taken spiritually, there is a sense that if there are arid and dry desert places in our lives, God with His transformative power is able to change and transform those areas into blooming deserts filled with Jesus’s overflowing river of life, where as we drink of it, we will never thrist again. The Lord is able to transform our barren situations and make us whole again, despite what the locusts have devoured over the years. We will once again be filled with life, with greens, with fruits and flowers in full bloom as we live in the centre of God’s will and glory! We will not be barren anymore but will bear fruit ten-fold, twenty-fold, even hundred fold! There will be a new beginning in our spiritual life, a breakthrough in our walk of faith! We will become blooming deserts in the Lord!

Spiritual discernment

https://odb.org/2024/05/08/eyes-to-see-4

In ministry, a prophetic slant is good to have, not so much to predict the future but more to convey what God is saying, which ironically usually involves the future! This is very useful if we were to speak from the pulpit as a sermon should convey the Lord’s message to His people for a particular time or season. A prophetic slant in worship leading is also useful to align the worship with the message to add further conviction to the Word that is being preached. These are all part and parcel of the move of the Holy Spirit in our midst.

In addition, having spiritual discernment together with a prophetic slant is like a double portion of anointing. Thus, we speak God’s Word for the people, and yet we discern what is happening in the spiritual realm. We may not see an army of angels like the servant of Elisha in 2 Kings 6, but we may see the key to the root cause to break spiritual bondages over a person’s life. For example, we may have been praying very hard for someone but didn’t see much results. But with spiritual discernment, we will be able to pray more effectively. This would prove particularly useful and effective when we are counselling people as the Holy Spirit may reveal the key to unlocking some mental block or even the key to a person’s full potential in the Lord.

It is my prayer for all of us, including myself, that the LORD will grant us spiritual discernment so that our ears may hear His Word, our eyes may see what He is doing in our midst, our minds will understand the mysteries of His Kingdom and our hearts will obey His Word to us. With discernment, we just need to flow along with what He is doing. I believe much may be achieved for Him and His Kingdom.

Spiritual gifts

https://odb.org/2024/05/07/the-god-of-our-personality-and-gifts

Romans 12 is the turning point in Paul’s writings in the book of Romans that targeted both Gentiles and Jews in Rome, as distinct from the Jews living in Jerusalem. Paul started by teaching on the salvation brought by Christ first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. Of the Son of God already spoken for by His prophets in the Scriptures, who was a descendant of David and through His resurrection from death that Paul with the grace and apostleship from God calls the Gentiles to the faith.

But in chapter 12, Paul’s teaching turns to the way the Gospel is to be lived out by those redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross where we in the faith are to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable and pleasing to God as our true and proper worship. He follows by teaching how we can be useful to God in the lives of others and then lists out the spiritual gifts given out by God for our service to others. There is another list in 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 and a list of spiritual roles as gifts to the church in Ephesians 4:11.

The essence of the book of Romans is that as much as salvation is Jesus’s work on the cross for us, we have a consequent role to play in response to His salvation for us. There is the moral character in Romans 12:1 to live out our salvation as a living sacrifice. There is also the equal, if not more important, aspect of our salvation that is to be of use to God to serve the needs of our congregation in the church and where we are placed whether at our workplace or in our schools or colleges or in our communities. Every one of us is gifted in spiritual gifts in the context of our own unique personality traits intertwined and mixed together with our other God-given talents to create a potent mix that is able to breakdown spiritual barriers and bondages in the lives of those around us. As much as we can not live in isolation, we can not also live out our faith without serving God and others around us.

The message this morning is that we need to work out our spiritual gifts and how we may use our God-given talents and personality traits to better serve the needs of the church. The church is not a building but a community of believers coming together for God. We need to encourage one another to strive onwards to the finish line as we look to Jesus as the rock and hope of our salvation. Everyone needs to be on the boat and row like everyone else. We are not spectators just witnessing a performance. Effort is required from all. The sooner we actualise this, the better it is for us!

Obedience and sacrifice

https://odb.org/2024/05/06/loving-obedience

If you have been a believer for a while, you would have likely come across this principle being taught – obedience is better than sacrifice. A good example to illustrate this spiritual principle is the case of Saul when he offered the sacrifice to God without waiting for the prophet Samuel (who was the appointed one to do so). His troops were clamouring to leave for battle, and although he was not the rightful person to do so, he nevertheless did for the sake of convenience. He not only received a rebuke from Samuel but ended up losing his throne as King of Israel when God chose, and Samuel anointed David to be the next king. See 1 Samuel 15:22.

As an example and merely for illustration purposes, let’s say we have RM10,000 in our bank account, and we decided to give RM2,500 to a worthy cause in church like a charity for orphaned children. This is a significant sacrifice on our part. At the same time, God also prompts us to give RM1,500 to a brother in need. Of course, we could give to both, but if we are limited by our rather scarce resources (we only have RM10,000 and not RM100,000) and if we could only afford to give to one, which would we choose?

The first is the sacrifice, but the second is the obedience. Some of us may argue that the larger amount is better in the eyes of God because it involves a bigger sacrifice, but based on 1 Samuel 15:22, it may not be so. Usually, obedience is the better way to go as a gift, which is in response to the Holy Spirit and is discernful, achieves a better result in the Kingdom of God. At that point in time, the brother needs the money more than the charity, although on the face of it, the charity may be more deserving. Many a time, timely giving achieves more, particularly, when we ourselves as the giver do not have much.

Have a good week ahead, everyone! May our Lord Jesus Christ through His Holy Spirit, the other advocate (parakletos) given by the Father, grant us the spiritual discernment to know when and how to do the right thing to those around us that we want to love and help! Amen!

Tears of Joy

https://odb.org/2024/05/05/tears-of-joy

It is paradoxical that sometimes, over the course of our lives, we shed tears of joy. This is because we normally cry in response to sadness and not joy. Yet there are occurrences that make us cry even though it was actually a happy occasion. For me, I tear up when I see my boys achieve a milestone in their lives. For example, they did well in their exams despite the tough and challenging times preparing. Or there was a school sports day, I found out my eldest won many athletic running medals when he was 14. Or just witnessing them performing their part on stage when they were in kindergarten. I know I will definitely shed tears of joy when I see them on their wedding day! Weddings are always touching, and I have teared before just seeing young couples get married, especially those I knew had gone through quite a bit to get to that point.

In the prophetic books of the Bible (including Jeremiah), two prevalent themes are discipline/punishment and restoration. Of course, before disciplining Israel, the LORD would have given them ample encouragement, exhortation, and warnings. Despite all that, they still persisted in their disobedience, and, as a result, God allowed the Assyrians and Babylonians to defeat and capture them and bring them into captivity back to their own countries. Their lives were spared, but they ended up enslaved, and Jerusalem and the Temple were in ruins. Nevertheless, the LORD later, through His prophets, spoke about restoring them and bringing them back to Israel.

In Jeremiah 39:9, the LORD said, “Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I will lead them home with great care.”

It is my prayer and hope that if we have strayed away from the Lord or His calling for our lives that we will soon experience tears of joy as the Lord brings us back home to Him, to the place where we should be. The place where we belong. Confess our sins and rebellious ways before Him in repentance. He is quick to forgive but slow to anger. Put our trust in Him, and He will make our paths straight!

Prayer and God

https://odb.org/2024/05/03/prayer-matters

I think the example of King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20 proves that prayers do move the hand of God. The LORD may do something out of ordinary when we pray, with the supernatural penetrating into the natural which should not, in the ordinary scheme of things, be a common occurrence. The world is supposed to function in accordance with the laws of nature as prescribed. So if one falls and scrapes one’s knees, one’s skin will get torn and lacerated. If we clean the wound and treat it to prevent infection, the body will slowly but surely heal itself.

Many a time, medical science just needs to help the body rest and do its job with its immune system and self-healing. This is especially so when we are faced with a virus attack. But if we have not kept our bodies in optinum condition or we have aged (our natural bodies have a limited lifespan due to the fall of mankind), we may have weakened and thus may take longer to recover from illnesses.

But there are illnesses that are beyond our body’s capabilities, like cancer. We would need expert medical intervention whether to remove the cancerous tissue or prevent the destructive cancer cells from spreading. This is perhaps where the supernatural intervention of God is needed, and prayer is the key to moving the hand of God. Or, with the authority conferred us as believers by our Lord, Jesus Christ, we could release the divine healing of God.

But if we look at 2 Kings 20, we will see that in verse 3, Hezekiah reminded God that he had walked before the LORD faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and had done what was good in His eyes. In other words, Hezekiah had lived a righteous life before God. God then answered that He had heard his prayers and seen his tears and will add 15 years to his life and will defend him and the city from the Assyrians for His sake and for the sake of David. In other words, it is not just prayer that moved the hand of God.

The message this morning is that as important as prayer is, the lives we live are equally, if not more important. God is not moved just by our prayers but who we are and who we have been before Him. Christian life is holistic. It is all-encompassing.

The effectual fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much (James 5:6).

God gave His only begotten Son

https://odb.org/2024/05/02/a-creator-we-can-trust

John 3:16 is probably the most well-known verse in the bible in the sense that if there is a verse that believers can memorise, it is likely John 3:16. It is the verse that was introduced to me by a friend who was preaching Christ to me when I was just a child, and after nearly 45 years later, I still remember and cherish this verse.

John 3:16 is special because it speaks of God’s love for mankind. It was not the spoken words of Jesus but a conclusion made by the Apostle John following Jesus’s encounter with a well-educated Pharisee who is a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus. As it turned out, Nicodemus was the man who dared to identify with Jesus after His crucifixion by taking His body to the tomb together with Joseph of Arimathea to give Him a proper Jewish burial. The rest is, of course, history as Jesus rose again after 3 days and 40 days later ascended to heaven. He is alive, and His death and resurrection are our hope of glory. God gave us His only begotten Son so that we may not perish but have life eternal. Salvation is a gift from God. It is free to us but cost Jesus His life. It’s not something that we could attain with our good works. Nevertheless, once saved, we are to do His will and fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives.

If there’s any verse in the bible we should always remember, it is John 3:16. It is the essence of our faith. It is the basis of what we believe in. We are who we are today in Christ because God took the trouble and made the sacrifice to give His one and only begotten Son so that humankind may be reconciled back to Him. The first Adam was deceived by the Devil and committed the first sin that led to the fall of Man. The second Adam, Jesus, restored the original status quo that whoever believes in Him will live forever. One day, we will be resurrected like Christ in our glorified bodies and live in the new heaven and new earth with God dwelling amongst His people and the Tree of Life fully accessible to us, whereupon we will live for all eternity!