Be still and know that I am God

https://odb.org/2023/12/14/appetite-for-distraction

In the present world of mobile apps, we spend an inordinate amount of time on our phone or tablet, just browsing, whether on social media, YouTube, or just catching the news. This is particularly so with the younger generation so much so that pay TV as a business model is now well past its prime. In other words, if you’re still in the business (I was for more than 20 years), you have no choice but to plough on. It is still profitable, but profits have reduced drastically to less than 20% of what it used to be. Thus, if they used to bring in RM500 mil for their shareholders, they now struggle to even make RM100 mil. Partly due to boring content and partly due to competition from global players, with the most significant impact coming from the change in content consumption habits due to the advent of social media and handsets getting more and more powerful by the day. There is still a place for the big screen whether at home or at the cinema but it is limited. Thus, in Malaysia, would you trade your Astro for Netflix? Most likely, if you are not a live sports fan.

This change in content consumption habits may also impact some of us in relating to God. For example, we may not be able to get away from our phones or tablets to just be quiet before God. Or spend our free time meditating on the Word when we are more inclined to browse, to find out what’s happening, say in the Isareli-Hamas war, or whether the US is still funding Ukraine or how far China is progressing in making 5nm chips without advanced topography tools or have they started making the latter on their own? Or we may just turn on the TV and watch YouTube or Netflix or Astro.

The world is very busy, and a lot of information is disseminated every moment, much of which is accessible by us one way or another. When we catch a breather, can we somehow pray and meditate instead of jumping on our phone or tablets or TV? Can we pick up our guitar or play our keyboard and worship God for an hour or two, and pray and meditate upon His Word? Our hearts have to be genuinely still and rested to be able to hear that still small voice of God speaking to us. We need to be still to know that God is God and Jesus is Lord – Psalm 46:10 – Be still and know that I am God.

Perseverance triumph trials and tribulations

https://odb.org/2023/12/13/overcoming

The story of Anne Sullivan, the subject matter of today’s ODB, bears similarities to Joseph son of Jacob of the Bible. Despite one misfortune after another, they prevailed in the end. In the case of Anne, she developed a method to teach deaf and blind people how to read, especially Helen Keller, a well-known blind activist for the blind. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Sullivan

For Joseph, from being sold to slave traders by his own brothers to being thrown in jail for at least 11 years for a crime he didn’t commit, he rose to interpret dreams for the Pharoah and became the second in command in Egypt. In the process, through God working in him, Joseph saved Egypt from famine and eventually saved his own family. The Jacob household, the remnant of the descendants and family of Abraham then, remained in Egypt for 430 years and became slaves to the Egyptians after Joseph passed on. By the time God raised Moses to free the Israelites from Egypt and bring them to Canaan as the land promised to Abraham (present day Israel), their adult men already numbered 600,000.

I doubt anyone would have suffered the misfortunes of Anne or Joseph (except Job). But even if we did, if we know the Lord, He is able to achieve His plans and purposes for our lives notwithstanding all that we had gone through and are going through. Like Joseph, even though his brothers intended him harm, God brought salvation to the children of Abraham and preserved the line and nation for Jesus to come to the world to save mankind. As many as 6 million Jews were massacred during the Holocaust in WW2, there remained approximately 14 million Jews in the world today. The Jews preserved on despite attempts and professed plans to end their existence.

We are assured of a life in eternity if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father except through Him. Yet if we hold on to Him, He is able to bring us out of our present day trials and tribulations and sufferings and achieve His plans and purposes for our lives. Perhaps our situation is not like that of Joseph, which led to the survival of a nation. Nevertheless, our response to God will determine the faith and direction of our own family, children, children’s children, and generations down the line.

Strong tower

https://odb.org/2023/12/12/strong-tower

Proverbs 18:11-13 teaches that: the name of the LORD is a fortified tower, the righteous run to it, and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale. Before a downfall, the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honour.

It is ancient and Godly wisdom that although wealth is something tangible that we can rely upon to sustain us – even for generations, it has a tendency to snare us falling into the pride of life, the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh. With wealth, we are more likely to fall, particularly in pride and then into debauchery – living a life driven by wealth and worldly pursuits with no or little regard for the LORD. That is why God teaches us from Proverbs that our fortified tower is only the LORD. Choose God over wealth, and with wealth, we still choose God. Make sure our heart is not haughty as the LORD teaches – humility comes before honour. In other words, being humble is more important than saving face.

There have been people who have lost all to maintain their pride and ego to prove; for example, they can lose that much. It is a silly pursuit because God is the real safe harbour, the genuine fortified tower. He is the ONLY path to eternity. That is also why Jesus taught us to store up our riches in heaven where moth and rust may not destroy, and thieves will not steal. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?

There were some who pursued wealth so that one day they would have financial freedom, and yet when they have wealth, the wealth possessed them to acquire more and more. Like the ring in the Lord of the Rings. It is ironic and yet true; the rich are stingy and hold on tightly to their millions, some even embracing their money to the grave rather than blessing others. Alas on the other side, earthly wealth is of zero consequence. Naked we came, naked shall we go.

God is the real strong tower. Not our career or position in life. Definitely not our wealth. Choose God over wealth and when wealthy, still continue to choose God. Solomon did the former well but faltered in the latter. His conclusion in Ecclesiastes? Life without God is meaningless.

Naomi and Ruth

https://odb.org/2023/12/11/more-than-enough-4

The story of Naomi and Ruth really shows off God’s grace and compassion that despite the misfortune of losing her husband and two sons in their sojourn to a foreign land due to famine, Naomi persevered on in life and returned to Israel. Ruth, a Moabite, followed her mother in law to the latter’s home country to start a new life as a foreigner. Naomi and Ruth didn’t have anything except their clothes on their backs.

But God had a law that required land owners to leave something behind for widows, orphans, and foreigners to glean some leftover wheat to live. In the process, Ruth met Boaz, and he married her, a widow, as her guardian-redeemer. They had a child named Obed who became the father of Jesse, who in turn had David as one of his sons.

Ultimately, it was from the family line of this union of Boaz and Ruth, a foreigner, that Jesus Christ, the saviour of the world, was born. It is an amazing story of God’s compassion and love in challenging times. But in Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz, we find a life lived with integrity and adherence to the law. For example, Boaz, as a wealthy landowner, did not mistreat or take advantage of Ruth, a poor and desolate widow, but treated her with honour and dignity. God, in turn, honoured him.

As much as this is a message of the LORD’s love and compassion, it is also a message on conducting oneself with honour and integrity. We mustn’t take advantage of other people’s dire situation and vulnerability for our own gain. But always conduct ourselves with integrity and honour before God. Do what is right and pay what is rightful. The honour that comes from God is worth much more than the best bargain we may extract from a misfortune.

Living sacrifice

https://odb.org/2023/12/07/giving-like-christ

Continuing on the Christmas theme of generosity, one of the distinctiveness of Christmas is the giving of gifts. We can trace this tradition to the Magi – the 3 kings of orient land – who travelled from afar following a star bringing gold, incense, and myrrh (symbolising kingship, deity, and death) to baby Jesus in Bethlehem. The birth of Jesus foretold years ago to virgin Mary is God’s ultimate sacrifice and gift for the world so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Giving of gifts denotes a measure of sacrifice by the giver as the 1905 Christmas story of The Gift of the Magi goes. O. Henry penned a story of an impoverished wife selling her beautiful hair to buy her beloved husband a gold chain for his pocket watch and the husband selling his pocket watch to buy his beloved wife a set of combs for her beautiful hair. It was a great sacrifice by the couple for each other, but unfortunately, it was mismatched. As much as it was touching, it was also sad, particularly so when they didn’t have much to begin with.

In Romans 12:1, Paul exhorted us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God as our true and proper worship. Paul then continues in Verse 2 that we do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may test and approve the good, pleasing and perfect will of God. To live our lives as a living sacrifice that does not conform to the pattern of this world is our rightful gift to God in view of His mercy and grace. We offer all we have although He deserves more as the song Alabaster Jar goes.

This Christmas season, let’s spend some time to ponder on how we have been a living sacrifice for God and how we may get better at this as the days go by. Our time to live for God is limited – we will not live forever on this present earth. We may have the gift of eternal life, but how we live on this earth will determine how we will live in eternity. Remember, Jesus taught us to store up our treasures in heaven. Following the Christmas tradition, perhaps we could consider giving sacrificial and meaningful gifts to our loved ones this Christmas that will reflect our generosity in God.

The true meaning of Christmas

https://odb.org/2023/12/06/st-nick

The tradition of Father Christmas or Santa Claus is reputedly based on a generous person named Saint Nicholas of Myra who used his wealth and inhertance to help the poor and needy. Thus, the fable is that he goes around dropping presents via chimneys to children who were good throughout the year. He stays in the Arctic circle and uses a bunch of flying reindeer as his main mode of transport. It’s a tall tale but nevertheless a good one based on a very important attribute of Christ – generosity, which in turn speaks of God’s grace, mercy, and compassion.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas

Of course, we know the true meaning of Christmas is Christ’s birth and God’s love for mankind as Jesus reconciled man to God by His blood shed on Calvary. Christmas is essentially John 3:16 in action, personified. It is certainly not about Santa Claus, but I think there is no need to condemn Santa or avoid him like a plague. Instead, we should, as believers, if we could, uphold Christmas traditions like the decorated Christmas trees while affirming the true meaning of Christmas. Take Santa with a good cheer! These traditions are good to be preserved as they are our link to the world. The world sees Christmas as Santa, presents, and Christmas trees. We should thus use these traditions to connect with them and convey the true meaning of Christmas in the hope that John 3:16 will become real in their lives one day. The great thing about these traditions is that they are universally accepted, and many embrace these symbols, and some even celebrate Christmas even though they are not Christians!

Make it a point to reach out to someone with God’s love this Christmas season. Make use of Christmas symbols and traditions that people are familiar with. Use them to preach Christ. Saint Nicholas’s generosity is to be applauded and celebrated. Most importantly, he himself was a believer who took to heart God’s love, and the world knows him as a good man. Hopefully, through our own good deeds and generosity as we preach Christ, the world will also know us as good people and see Christ reflected.

Be strong and very courageous

https://odb.org/2023/12/05/gods-most-comforting-commitment

Because they doubted and rebelled against the LORD, all men of twenty years and above who left Egypt were not permitted to enter into Canaan, the Promised Land. The edict originated from the bad and doubtful report of 10 of the 12 spies. Joshua and Caleb, the other two spies, were exempted, for they believed that the Israelites could conquer the land of giants, fortified cities, and strong armies with the leading of the Almighty God. Moses and Aaron as the leaders were initially also allowed to enter the Promised Land until the incident at Kadesh Barnea – instead of speaking to the rock for water to come out as God had commanded, Moses used his staff like he did years back. As a result, Moses and Aaron died in the wilderness like all the other Israeli men of 20 years and more, except for Joshua and Caleb.

Joshua 1 is the start of the adventure of the Israelites’ conquest of Canaan during ancient times, incidentally the origin of and the background to the current Israeli-Hamas war. Ancient Canaan is present day Israel, and this is the land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants. The conquest was led by Joshua, Moses’s aide since his youth, who was thus around 60 years plus then (as the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness, mostly at the oasis area of Kadesh Barnea). Joshua was thus well prepared to be the leader, from his training following Moses but also his faith in the LORD leading them despite their lack of fighting skills and weapons as an army (they were after all only slaves in Egypt). You could say Joshua was not one who placed his trust on chariots and horses but on the Word of God.

The LORD thus reaffirmed His commitment to Joshua and declared that He would be with him wherever he went and that he need not fear but be strong (or bold) and very courageous. But the caution and condition remained that Joshua needed to follow and keep the book of Law to meditate on it day and night so that he may be careful to do all that is written on it. Then Joshua will be successful and prosperous – something most of the kings of ancient Israel and Judah failed to do in their lifetimes.

The message today is that God is encouraging us to be strong and very courageous to respond to His calling upon our lives. He will be with us wherever we go as we give our lives unto Him. But we are to keep His law in our hearts and to mediate upon His Word day and night. Don’t take the front, but forget the back. God and His Word go hand in hand. Christ and the transformation of our lives go hand in hand. As we embrace the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we must manifest and live out the fruit of the Spirit. Power and authority come with responsibility and love and compassion. Get this right, and we will achieve much for the glory of God, for His Kingdom – if God is with us, who can be against us!

Psalm 23

https://odb.org/2023/12/04/shadow-and-light

Psalm 23 is perhaps one of the most beautiful of David’s Psalms. It starts off by proclaiming that God is his shepherd, my shepherd, and thus, he immediately establishes a direct relationship with God. It was yet the time of Jesus Christ, and God’s relationship with Israel then was with the nation, the people. It was a corporate relationship and not as individuals. But then David was King, the sovereign and could be said to represent the nation of Israel. Be that as it may, the point is David saw the LORD as his shepherd, and he then backs up that assertion by the attributes of God that some he had probably experienced first hand and some perhaps still aspirational. Scholars believe that he wrote Psalm 23 when he was much older and likely when he was pursued by Absalom, his own son that had executed a coup d’etat to overthrow him although shortlived.

As shepherd, God brings us to places of nourishment, green pastures, and still water, meaning safe and secure places for our daily bread, physical as well as spiritual. Most importantly, we shall not want as we will have no lack in our needs. Jesus assured us that as God takes care of the birds of the air and nature, He will take care of us. As God leads us through valleys of the shadow of death, we fear no evil for his staff and rod comfort us. But more pertinently, in this era of Jesus Christ having died for our sins, our final destination is assured and secured. Our heavenly shepherd will set a table for us in the presence of our enemies (similar in my view to what David did for Mephibosheth earlier) and make sure that our cup overflows (signifies abundant grace). Thus, surely goodness and mercy will follow us the rest of our days, and we dwell in the house of the LORD forever. The latter foretells our days to be lived in eternity with God.

I guess we need to be reminded every now and then that we have a heavenly shepherd caring, protecting, and providing for us each day. Even if we have to go through valleys of the shadow of death, we are not afraid of evil as the Lord’s covering is upon us. Evil has no hold or power over us anymore. We are able to break free from sin. We have a place at His table, and His blessings and anointing upon us are overflowing. Life and its challenges are unavoidable, but with God as our shepherd, we know that we will overcome and come up tops. We refuse to be cowed down. We are not downcast and will not be defeated. With God as our shepherd, we know that we will emerge victorious whether it is our career, our business, our children, or our health condition. Ultimately, we will win and finish this race as Jesus Christ’s good and faithful servant!

Listening to the voice of truth

https://odb.org/2023/12/03/zedekiahs-dilemma

The LORD told King Zedekiah in Jeremiah 38 to surrender to the Babylonians, and he and his household would be spared, and Jerusalem and the Temple would not be burned down. But he was afraid that those in Judah who were captured earlier and were then already in Babylon would mistreat him. The truth was staring him in the face, and yet he refused to listen to the voice of God as conveyed through the prophet Jeremiah. Instead, he had Jeremiah imprisoned. Ironically, Zedekiah, who was the last king of Judah, was enthroned by Nebuchadnezzar, meaning to say that he was a proxy of Babylon who had turned against the Babylonians. In the end, they killed his sons, took his wives and other children, blinded him, and destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem.

We may or may not have the privilege of the truth speaking to us through God’s voice, but sometimes we ignore the truth even when it is staring at us as clear as night and day. If, for example, we have health issues, best we take heed of the doctor’s advice. Medication may help us now, but if we continue to rely only on medicine, we will face other issues 20 years from now. Or some organisations whose business model may have been overtaken by time. From 4,500 staff strength, they may need to trim down to 2,500, failing which their revenues will only be able to pay their costs and salaries.

The truth is real and may have devastating effects. Ignoring it will not make the implications go away. Instead, we may hasten our demise. Face it and deal with our issues, and we will live to fulfil God’s purposes in our lives. The sooner we face the truth, the more time we will have to live for God. The time we have left is all we can offer, although we know He deserves more. Don’t make it even less.

God’s heart for all

https://odb.org/2023/12/01/his-heart-for-all

Instead of highlighting (again, sigh…) the racial divisions within the church, which usually often boils down to people just prefering to congregate among their own kind, I should just focus on God’s heart this morning.

God is for all, whether we are Chinese, Malay, Iban, Kadazan, or Indian. God has no preference in race, although He chose the Jews first as a nation to showcase His love and grace. Jesus Christ, after all, came to the earth as a Jew. God’s only son who saved humankind as the second Adam was of Abrahamic descent. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is now also the God of the Gentiles, as it was meant to be.

The question this morning is how are we responding to God’s heart. Are we putting Him aside as we wrestle with our own burdens and issues of life? The human tendency is to settle things on our own, although as believers and children of the Light, we are taught otherwise. Jesus already said before that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. For He is gentle and humble. See Matthew 11:28-30, meaning to say, if we were to go to Him, He would not give us more stress and grief! Instead, He would de-stress us and give us peace of mind. Will our problems and issues go away? Prayer will help, but it is more likely for us to see and accept that most things are not life and death situations. But if we are so stressed out, it may slowly bring about our early demise!

The other thing is that issues or matters close to God’s heart are things we should focus more on as we travel life’s journey. Jesus Christ is, after all, our Lord and Saviour. If there is anyone we should honour and please, it should be God. Not only our spouse, our children, or our bosses but Christ of all people! It’s a daily transformation, and we are always work-in-progress but progress we must. Fuss over issues close to God’s heart. The poor, the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners. The downtrodden and the oppressed. Pray against spiritual forces deceiving people into unbelief, that we don’t fall prey to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Pray for the softening of the hearts of those we are reaching out to. If possible, and if their hearts are willing, we want them to join us on this narrow path to life eternal.

Cast our burdens on Him for His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Remember. He is both gentle and humble.