Ronnie's Thoughts

Speed of joy

https://odb.org/2024/10/16/the-speed-of-joy

“Speed of joy” is a phrase coined by Sheridan Voysey, a writer based in Oxford, United Kingdom, who regularly writes for Our Daily Bread. It speaks of the pace of working, a pace that brings us joy instead of too much pressure and anxiety.

At work, we either work frantically, complete our tasks as soon as possible, or work at a more leisurely pace. In privately owned enterprises, the tendency is the former. While for government linked organisations, it is more the latter. Of course, a lot depends on the urgency of the work. Even for GLCs, if it is to respond to an outside tender, the pace is still frantic as tenders usually have very tight deadlines. But when the timelines are in our hands, GLCs don’t rush because there are many things to consider, and thus, a more conservative approach is taken. There are a few layers of bureaucracy, and compliance is emphasised rather than commercial expediency.

A work pace that is quick is actually quite necessary in the real world. Opportunities come and go, and don’t wait around for anyone. So, if we are slow to respond or fail to plan well in advance, we will be left behind. The aerotrain situation at KLIA is one example as well as the current predicament faced by MAS, which failed to periodically refresh their fleet. But a fast-paced work-life does bring unwanted pressures and anxieties that may lead to health issues. For example, long hours may tire us so much that we have little leisure time leading to little family time or lack of exercise, causing mental as well as physical issues.

If it is possible, we should all work at the speed of joy, a pace that brings us joy, especially the joy of the Lord that comes from loving Him. In John 15:9-11, Jesus taught us the following:

NIV 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Perhaps it is not possible when we are starting out in our career when we are learning the ropes. Let’s pray that the day will come when the Lord will open the door for us so we may work at the speed of joy, with a worklife balance that safeguards our health, our family relationships, our mental state and our spiritual walk and service to God.

Discipline in our walk

https://odb.org/2024/10/15/the-disciplined-life

If you’ve been to a gym before, you will know that one can go there for cardiovascular exercises. In other words, the gym is not only about doing weights to build muscles. For me, I go there to just walk and run and maybe do a few rounds of simple weights. More to strengthen than to build. The rule of exercise, however, is that we need to put in a minimal amount of time. We can not go and run for 5 mins and then go home. Whether we brisk walk, slow jog, or sprint, it’s up to our fitness level, but we need to put in at least 20 mins of effort. The good thing is that if we are on the treadmill or other machines, they have a calorie count, and thus, we can set targets like 200 or 300 cal. But fundamental to exercise is the need for discipline. For exercise to be effective, we need to do it regularly, like perhaps 4 to 5 days a week, rather than 4 to 5 days a month. There is always a start, and we can keep things slow at first, but we need to keep at it.

The use of the imagery of athletes by Paul in 1 Corinthians 9 to describe our spiritual walk was apt as Corinth hosted the Isthmian games on the years before and even after the ancient Olympic games. Thus, the early Christians could relate to the imagery the same way we could in modern times. We need discipline to maintain self-control. We need discipline to keep a regular quiet time. We should pray every day and not only when in church or occasionally. In other words, in the “busyness” of our daily routine, we need to allocate time for worship, prayer, and reading of the Word. Basically, to inoculate basic spiritual tasks that require discipline for regularity. If we do not have discipline, we may do all these once or twice a month when we should be doing it every day.

As this week progresses, besides all the things we need to do in college or at work or at home, be disciplined and set up a time for God and keep at it on a regular basis. Like an athlete, keep at it until the very end! Make it our routine until our dying day! Amen!

Try a little kindness

https://odb.org/2024/10/14/simple-acts-of-kindness

There is a Glen Campbell song I sang quite often when growing up, “Try a little kindness.” https://youtu.be/MvswocNN-g8?si=CE9uWhwApWZ7R-Dt

Verse: If you see your brother standing by the road. With a heavy load from the seeds, he sowed. And if you see your sister falling by the way. Just stop and say, “You’re going the wrong way.”
Chirus: You’ve got to try a little kindness
Yes, show a little kindness.
Just shine your light for everyone to see.
And if you try a little kindness.
Then you’ll overlook the blindness.
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets.
Verse: Don’t walk around the down and out. Lend a helping hand instead of doubt.
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way.

As Christians, we can not avoid being kind. Not only is it one of the 9 attributes of the fruit of the Spirit, but our Lord is by nature kind and compassionate. As we carry His name as Christians (Christianos in Greek, meaning “little anointed ones” or “little Christ”), it is impossible for us not to be kind. It is not unusual to hear about nasty Christians as we are still human, but it is uncommon. A nasty Christian is actually quite an oxymoron. It is an incompatible statement as there should only be kind believers of Jesus Christ.

When Ruth asked Boaz why he was so kind to her that he asked her to only glean exclusively at his farm, and he had instructed his workers to purposely leave behind more for her, Boaz answered because he heard of her kindness leaving her land and people to be with her mother in law in a foreign land after her husband died.

Ruth 2:10-11 NIV –

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?” 11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.

The thing is, as demonstrated by Scripture, kindness begets kindness. If we are kind, people will be kind to us too. God will be happy with us for properly reflecting His glory in our lives, and we, in return, receive kindness from others. That is surely a win-win situation! Why then would we want to be a nasty Christian?

Try a little kindness. Show a little kindness. Just shine your light for everyone to see. Then, you’ll overlook the blindness of the narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets. Praise the Lord!

Two is better than one

https://odb.org/2024/10/13/conquering-mountains-together

“If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together.” The saying is apt to describe our Christian walk as our walk of faith is never about going fast but far. We want to last until our dying breath or until the Lord returns, loving Him and serving Him. Living a life worthy of His name and calling, a living sacrifice dedicated to His Kingdom and His purposes.

The friendship of David and Jonathan exemplified the strength of friendships in Christ, bringing us far. Despite being heir to the throne of his father, King Saul, Jonathan stood with David and looked to David as the true heir ordained by the LORD. He forged an unwavering friendship with David. When Saul wanted to kill David, Jonathan defended David and nearly got himself killed by Saul’s spear. It is unfortunate that Jonathan died in battle with Saul and did not help David rule Israel. But David remembered Jonathan, and when he became King, he took care of Jonathan’s crippled son, Mephibosheth. David restored to Mephibosheth his father’s house, lands, and servants and gave him a permanent place to dine at his table.

Two is better than one indeed! Mountains look smaller and less insurmountable when you have a partner. Often, my darling wife spurs me on to greater heights in my faith and makes certain tasks or responsibilities manageable because she is there supporting and encouraging me. I tended to believe in myself more when I knew she was with me.

But this is not restricted to our spouses. We should also have a friend or mentor to encourage and spur us on to greater expoloits in the Kingdom of God. Someone to help us achieve God’s promises, plans, and purposes for our lives together. Most churches are started, planted, and established by the joint efforts of like-minded brethren working together for the glory of God.

Have a good and wonderful Sunday worship today, everyone! As we worship God, ask the Lord to partner us with someone so we may serve God together for His sake!

Pray continually

https://odb.org/2024/10/11/pray-always

As parents, we occasionally get that phone call from our sons telling us about the milestones in their lives. Like the day my elder son received his UK skilled worker visa after he and his employer each had invested substantial sums to apply for it. Or when my second son felt he had messed up one of the questions in his exam paper or he was relieved having done well in his Maths paper. As Ivan is working in a fintech and running a small online business, he is very busy. He usually calls us during his lunch time (our dinner time in Malaysia) on his way home to send out deliveries for his customers or to take delivery of his own stock purchases from the concierge of his apartment building. Contemporary telecommunication advancements have enabled inter-continental voice and video calls at the price of a broadband subscription, unlike the prohibitive ISDN or fixed line calls of the past.

Similarly, we may want to give thanks to God for certain milestones in our lives. Or even for more mundane stuff, like having completed a draft of a document for the client or having closed a transaction.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16, Paul exhorts us to: 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

It can only be good for our spiritual life if we maintain constant contact with the Lord in prayer as we rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks in all circumstances. Even when something bad occurs, we still give thanks to God for preserving our lives that we may live to serve Him another day. We live to fight another battle next time. Constant communication keeps us close with God, like with our sons, despite Ivan, my elder one, living thousands of miles away. We will still miss doing things together, but at least we could speak to him and see him in video calls.

The message this morning is to pray continually, having constant communication with our Lord. In terms of attitude, rejoice always and give thanks for all that we are going through, good or bad, happy or sad. God always has a purpose for the happenings in our lives. Put our trust in Him that He will make all things good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Forgiveness and God

https://odb.org/2024/10/10/love-beyond-boundaries

A believer husband, in a sudden onset of severe mental illness, took the life of his own 4-year-old daughter. Although the plea of insanity may absolve a person from murder and the possible resulting capital punishment, he will be committed to a mental institution, and the incarceration may last for decades. It is not prison, but he will be living among the mentally ill. Despite such pain, agony, and grief, his believer wife was able to forgive and visit him, and in the process, their love grew despite the heartache. God helped her forgive as much as He commanded us to forgive, for He first forgave us.

Matthew 6:14-15 NIV – For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Mark 11:25 NIV – And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

There are no conditions or prerequisites to forgiveness. It is not dependent on whether the wrongdoer became repentant or whether he or she sought our forgiveness. The command is to forgive, failing which He will likewise not forgive us our sins. If we keep unforgiveness in our hearts, we will become separated from God again despite the redemptive blood of Christ. Unforgiveness may lead to bitterness and resentment and hate – all characteristics contrary to love. That is why we must forgive, no matter painful reality is, as God is love.

Harsh as it may sound, the Lord will not leave us as we are, most fortunately. For He knows our pain and sorrow. As much as His command is to forgive, He will help us forgive. For nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). That is the key to true, sincere, and genuine forgiveness. Our Lord Jesus Christ will help us. The Holy Spirit will strengthen our resolve and heal us of our pain and sorrow. Our Heavenly Father will encourage and support us to forgive.

We may have experienced betrayals by our loved ones. Some terrible things may have been perpetrated against us. We may have lost much in the past due to some evil plot affecting us for certain people’s convenience or progression. Do not look back, but look ahead towards our Lord Jesus Christ, to the things He has planned and prepared for us. Forgive and move on. Grief and shed our tears, but forgive. Don’t allow our past to become a yoke that weighs us down in our spiritual endeavours. Take up Jesus’s yoke, for His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. He is gentle and humble. See Matthew 11:28-30.

Patient endurance

https://odb.org/2024/10/09/lessons-in-patience

James 1:12 NIV –

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

I believe one of the byproducts of our life of accessible and vicarious entertainment is instant gratification. We want to see something, we get it instantly. Just a search and a click of a button, and we are transported into an adventure in the world of movies, sitcoms, travel, and exotic places and animals. We may watch professionally produced or user generated content, and although quality is important, it is not a dealbreaker. In fact, this is the most significant challenge faced by traditional pay TV operators who transmit in HD to 4K and even 8K. Due to YouTube and social media, we want to watch stuff instantly, and we care more for the content than the broadcast quality.

However, real life is not instant. While we may just drive to a restaurant or walk down the street to have a good and reasonably priced meal, most things need time. In fact, the meal we just had needed hours of preparation in terms of sourcing of the ingredients and years of perfecting the craft. For example, a roast duck shop may start selling at 6.30 am, but his work starts at 3.00 am. This means he needs to wake up at 2.00 am, to start sorting out the raw ducks that are delivered at that time and then travel to his shop to start roasting at 3.00 in the morning. His work life is thus a “3 to 3 6 days a week,” similar to the 996 as practised by the workforce in China. He needs patient endurance to do his work, day in and day out.

In James 1:2-4, he encouraged us to rejoice when we face trials in life as believers. This is because the testing of our faith produces perseverance, and if we let perseverance finish its work, we will become mature and complete. Perseverance may be defined as having patient endurance. We patiently endure or wait (if we are praying for something). Very few things in the Kingdom come instantly. Most only come to pass after months or even years of praying and waiting and practice. Our own character in Christ only emerges after many years. Our hearing of God’s voice and the Holy Spirit prompting only comes more intuitively after years of obedience.

Persevere on and stay the course. Having stood the test of the trials of life, we will one day receive the crown of life that the Lord promised to those who love Him!

Bearing fruit in old age

https://odb.org/2024/10/08/running-for-jesus

Psalm 92:12-14

12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,

At the workplace, people do not work until they die unless it’s their own private practice or business. There is a retirement age, and in most jurisductions nowadays, it is 60 or more. If a jurisdiction practices security of tenure (meaning an employer can not remove you from your position without a good and valid reason), it ends at the retirement age. It doesn’t mean you can not continue to work after that. It just means that beyond your retirement age, you will be on a contract basis for a fixed tenure, usually one or two years and renewable on mutual agreement. Once past retirement age, most people work for a reduced remuneration package with fewer responsibilities. Some remain as advisors and come to work, perhaps two or three days a week. This enables them to travel a bit more or pursue other interests like gardening or hobbies like fishing or camping. However, Hock Tan, a Malaysian at birth, at 72, is still the CEO of Broadcom and is one of the most successful CEOs in the world!

The journey is quite different when it comes to our walk of faith and service for God. The moment we accept Jesus into our lives, we embark on this lifelong journey of faith with Him. Not only in our development of the character of Christ in our lives but particularly in our service for Him. There is no retirement age for ministry. We have our boots on the ground until our dying day. We serve until we are called to be with the Lord in our heavenly abode.

Psalm 92 is a good reminder that the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They will be like the cedar of Lebanon, huge trees that can grow to hundreds of feet and that live on for hundreds of years. The righteous will flourish in the courts of God and will still bear fruit in old age. They will stay fresh and green.

Age is just a number in ministry. So long as we keep ourselves healthy and mobile, we may continue to serve God. We can do hospital visits. We can do house visits. We can lead house fellowships and cell groups. We can continue to preach and lead in worship. Play music for God, run outreach works, participate in missions, help out at shelters, or cook for others or pastor a church. Just remember there is no retirement in ministry as the righteous will still bear fruit in old age, and they will stay fresh and green! Amen!

Open Doors

https://odb.org/2024/10/07/bibles-in-the-back-seat

I learnt about Open Doors nearly forty years ago, a year or two after I accepted Christ. At that time, I was attending a Methodist outreach in my small town of Pasir Puteh in the East Coast state of Kelantan. This outreach work was started by a group of outstation Christian teachers, and the amazing thing was that the Methodist church actually sent a fresh seminary graduate to pastor the work full-time. Later, the outreach moved to the neighbouring Trengganu town of Jerteh, and the work that was established 40 years ago stands tall today as the Jerteh Chinese Methodist Church, catering to the needs of local Christians in the small town of Jerteh.

Jerteh Chinese Methodist Church in the midst of a village

Open Doors was an organisation that had left a deep and lasting impression on me, and I distinctly remember them for the work they did for the underground church in closed countries, especially for the house church in China. I would think the availability of the bible is less of an issue nowadays with the proliferation of bible apps on the Internet and mobile phones. I do recall that in those days, believers in closed countries would rejoice in having just a few pages of Scripture, which they treasure like gold, quickly committing to memory all that was written! It was both astonishing and outstanding!

The foundation to organisations such as Open Doors is Scripture like Zechariah 4:6 NIV –

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

It is not by might nor power but by the Spirit of God that countless bibles could cross borders through numerous volunteers who brought along a few when they visited such closed countries. The network ensured that the bibles reached the right people, but it is by the power of God that people who were checking at the borders were blinded or turned the other way. A reverse indeed of Jesus opening the eyes of the blind to see!

If we face seemingly impossible situations in our lives, don’t give up hope. The LORD our God is able to work things out for us through Christ Jesus our Lord. Not by might or by power, but by the Spirit of God indeed! Trust and put our hopes in Him. He is a God of miracles and the supernatural! May He part our Red Sea as we commit our paths and future to Him! Amen!

God and the ordinary

https://odb.org/2024/10/06/no-ordinary-tree

In the world and at the workplace or even in school and university, people always look for extraordinary and exceptional talents. The ordinary are not looked upon because that is the masses. He is the average Joe, or John or Jane Doe, as the average male and female is known in the United States. Thus, in a class action, it is either John Doe or Jane Doe against the state. When we first start out at work, we want to get noticed by senior management so we have better chances to climb the corporate ladder. Or some may just want to break out and try to make it as entrepreneurs in the open market. In which case, you may want to either create your own niche or stand out for the masses to reach out to you.

In the spiritual world, it is slightly different in the sense that God takes the ordinary to make them extraordinary in Him. This means that you don’t have to be an exceptional believer for God to notice you. God actually notices everyone and relates to each and every one of His children directly. Humans can’t do that because we are humans. In the case of Amos, he was not called to be a prophet from birth like Isaiah, Ezekial, or Jeremiah. For example, see Jeremiah 1:5 NIV – “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Amos, as he said, was not born a prophet, and neither was he a son of a prophet. He was just a shepherd who also tended to sycamore trees in Judah, and then the LORD called him to prophesy to the Israelites. See Amos 7:14-15 – Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the Lord took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go,prophesyt to my people Israel.’

God can and will take ordinary people like you and I and make us great in Him, in His Kingdom of Grace. We can do great and mighty exploits in Him as we respond to His calling for our lives. He can and will make us influential in our own corner of the world and give us a sphere of influence utilising our God-given talents and giftings. Jesus taught us before in Matthew 20: 28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” and in Matthew 20:16, “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen“.

Have a good Sunday worship today, everyone! Always remember that in all that we do, God will take the ordinary in us and make us great in Him! Persevere through, and we will find contentment, peace, and joy in Christ Jesus!