https://odb.org/2023/11/05/welcome-home-3

I lost my father about one and a half years ago, just a couple of weeks shy of his 80th birthday. My mum passed on 14 years ago. I miss both of them very much, and I am technically now an orphan, having no parent still alive on earth.

Of course, an orphan is really someone who grew up without their parents and thus had to figure out how to live life on their own, whether in their faith, their studies, or relationships. That is why some mentors can become father figures to “orphans” – including those who grew up with “absent” parents – fathers, and mothers who were too busy with their careers or those from single parent families. You may read about my father in the following article: https://ronnielim.com/2022/03/21/obituary-mr-michael-lim-5-may-1942-19-march-2022/.

As my parents were both in the faith when they passed on, I have the assurance in Christ that if I remained in the faith, I would see them one day on the day of resurrection, the day when the dead in Christ will rise up to meet Him in the air (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). One day, we will all live together again with Christ and our Heavenly Father in the new heaven and new earth as per Revelation 21.

Besides real-life father figures and spiritual fathers, as believers, we have an added advantage of having a Heavenly Father. The God that we worship and relate to is also our Father in heaven. He is the Almighty God, the Great I Am, and yet He is also our Father through Christ Jesus. We may call upon Him, and we are His people, and He is our God because of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Saviour. In fact, Jesus had gone ahead of us to prepare for us a place at His Father’s mansion, which is now also our Father’s mansion. In Christ, we have an inheritance in haeven, a place where we can store our riches while still on earth, a place where our treasures will not be destroyed by rust or moth and the thief cannot steal. A spiritual vault to keep our things for eternity. See Matthew 6:19-21.

The message today I believe is that God is saying to us that He is our Heavenly Father and will take the place of our earthly father. He will be the father we never had. He will be our father figure and mentor and help us through our life here on earth. Reach out to Him and speak to Him. He will guide and teach us and protect us even as we live in the shadow of His wings!

Blessed Sunday and have a good worship service today worshipping God, our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit!

https://odb.org/2023/11/03/reflecting-the-light-of-the-son

Couples’ quarrels are common even after years of marriage. A lot of harsh words may be uttered in the heat of the moment. Fortunately, for most couples, they argue within the strong foundation of their marriage, which, because of their undying love for each other, is usually a safe harbour in the midst of stormy weather. Even then, it is still good practice to pause before we respond and remember we are the light of the world in Christ Jesus. How are we projecting Christ if harsh words always come out of our mouths as our words may be perceived as our real intentions? It is through our lips that the intentions of our hearts are known as much as we don’t mean most of what we say when angry. But Proverbs 18:21 says life and death are in the power of the tongue.

Pausing before responding is, however, crucial when it comes to relating with others outside of marriage and even family. Siblings have been known to cease speaking to one another for months and even years for hurts caused by words uttered in the heat of the moment. Arguments and querrels may have lasting consequences. At work, it could be a matter of career progression or even job survival. Being vocal helps us to be constructive to contribute ideas and thoughts, but we must choose the appropriate time and place. Some people are always condescending and haughty. Critical thought is necessary, but the forum and audience are equally important. There are places and times when we should only speak when asked.

The message today is to pause before we respond. Our reaction, if in anger, will not be our best in most cases. Emotional words can sometimes be like a runaway train destroying everything in its path. Pause before responding, especially in writing. Why put our emotions on record? We are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). We illuminate the darkness around us. There is already too much sadness and misery in the world; let us not add on to that!

https://odb.org/2023/11/02/everybody-worships

When I was growing up, before I became a Christian, I’ll say a prayer to God through a family ritual taught to me by my Taoist-believing uncle. So whenever I have a request, I’ll say a prayer in that fashion, calling out to God who, unfortunately, I didn’t know then. At that time, I knew that I was powerless against spiritual forces as we were taught that if we messed with them, we could get harmed. Like urinating at a tree that may have a resident spirit. Also, when I prayed, I wasn’t sure that I had actually made contact with the higher being. I sometimes feel that I may just be speaking to myself. I didn’t have any basis for my relationship with God – for interacting with and calling upon Him.

Nowadays, I know that Jesus died for my sins, and as I have accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour, He became the basis of who I am in God. When I pray, I know that He hears me. I know I am not speaking to myself but to my heavenly Father. He is God, yet He is my Father. I end all prayers in the precious and mighty name of Jesus Christ, a name that demons will tremble. A name that even the wind and waves still know today. I know that when I call upon the name of Jesus, evil spirits will flee. There is power and authority in the name of Jesus. There is healing and redemption. There is salvation.

The Athenians may worship many gods, but as Paul declared in Acts 17, the God that made the world and everything in it does not live in temples built by human hands. He is not served by human hands as if He needed anything. Rather He Himself gives everyone life and breadth and everything. For in Him, we live and move and have our being. We are His offspring.

Who is God to us? Who is our God? Do we have other idols? Are we preoccupied with our job and career? Do we really know our God? These are questions we should constantly ask ourselves as we progress in life. Remember who we are and who our God is. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Be afraid of Him who could destroy your body and soul.

https://odb.org/2023/10/31/under-gods-wings

I think the picture of a mother geese protecting her little goslings from people or animals that come too close to them is an excellent picture of God protecting His people. In Psalm 61, David describes the LORD as a rock that is higher than him, a shelter in His wings, a tent, and a strong tower against his enemies.

As believers, we believe that God assigns guardian angels to protect us from harm. Accidents do befall us, but it could have been worse if not for our guardian angels. Also, with guardian angels around us, we will be less prone to fall into sin.

But another aspect of God’s protection is that although people may harm us through their evil schemes because of jealousy or just plain self-interest or even just as a number in a spreadsheet, the LORD will prepare a table for us in the presence of our enemies as David wrote in Psalm 23:5. In other words, He will deal appropriately with those who had harmed us, who treated us unfairly or brought injustice upon us. Let vengence or divine retribution be His, up to His discretion in accordance with His grace and mercy. We commit our enemies or those who had brought us harm unto Him.

As believers, it is important and necessary that we remain in the spiritual covering of the church, like the goslings within the sight and the distance of the mother geese’s protection. That practically means living in righteousness and in His general and specific will for our lives. That is why David describes God as a tent, a strong tower, and a shelter in His wings (elsewhere the Psalmists used the expression, “in the shadow of His wings”).

Live within the shadow of His wings, and He will keep us safe from the attacks and vile schemes of the evil one.

https://odb.org/2023/10/30/smartphone-compassion

Nowadays, it is more common to have ratings after a stay, a meal, or after using an e-hailing service. In fact, I watched a movie about people’s lives in the future being determined by their ratings on social media to the extent that it affects their credit, where they could stay, and even their jobs. Thus, it led to the creation of a social media persona that may well be different from real life. Yes, we are not at the stage as portrayed by the movie, but having a more hype-up social media persona, especially via Instagram, is already present and real. Some even go to the extent of doctoring their posts to look prettier and more appealing to gain more followers and likes. In fact, there is now a new profession called influencer, which may indirectly even come with product endorsements.

Personally, I don’t like to leave ratings, but if you buy from Shopee or Lazada, they do remind you to do so. Unless something happened to the delivery, I’ll usually give 5 stars. Although it is not customary in Malaysia to leave a tip after a meal, I have made it a point to tip after taking an e-hailing ride or food. I feel that I must support the gig economy, for it has provided jobs to people who otherwise would have struggled to live in these challenging times. Round up an RM7 ride to RM10 or just pay RM20 for an RM17.80 meal. Leave a tip for the driver as they all work hard for their families.

As God is compassionate and He relates to us with compassion and love, we must do likewise, and that includes in our social media and ratings management. Give a good rating if we want to give or else just skip it. Unless it was a disastrous experience, don’t be hard, but be compassionate. If we are stickers for honesty and transparency, then just don’t leave a rating. Leave a bad rating only if it is absolutely necessary. We don’t have to lie, but we need not destroy just to be truthful as our LORD is a compassionate God. Always remember that Jesus taught us of the parable of the ungrateful servant. Surely He was making an important point! If God is completely honest and truthful of who we are, we will not stand a chance facing His judgment. But He is compassionate and sent Jesus to die for our sins so that there will not be condemnation in Christ Jesus.

https://odb.org/2023/10/29/you-can-trust-god

As a believer, the issue of trusting God doesn’t really arise since we can see from the Psalms and the history of Israel throughout the pages of the Old Testament that He is trustworthy. He punished the Israelites for their unfaithfulness and insolence, and yet He rescued them when He saw them suffering too much. Like He brought them out of slavery from Egypt or the times He brought them back from exile from the Assyrians and the Babylonians. In modern times, after the Holocaust, He helped them set up the state of Israel and brought home all scattered Jewry from all over the world. Today, if you are of Hebrew ancestry, you will be welcomed in Israel with a host of benefits for you to start your life afresh there. Just google Aliyah to Israel, and you will see a range of benefits from income-tax breaks, rental assistance, allowances, property tax incentives, free health insurance, free one way flight, transport from airport etc.

In addition, as believers, we believe and put our faith on the unseen as the unseen is eternal. Thus, it is part of the natural makeup of a believer to be able to trust God. Faith is about trusting God as He is unseen.

The true test comes when the tyre hits the road. When we face life issues as we know, life can be a roller coaster. Unavoidably, so, actually. Are we able to trust God when we go through our “valley” experiences? When we are reprimanded for making a mistake at work or sacked because we couldn’t meet the sales targets. I heard before of a company putting their entire sales team under a performance improvement plan because it was not bringing in the numbers. In challenging times, can we put our trust in God?

I always believed in starting small before we progressed into bigger things. So even in the actual experience of trusting God, start somewhere relatively small. As we find His reality working in our lives, we can work towards greater things like praying for others or praying for healing. God is real. Jesus is alive, having been resurrected 3 days after His death on the cross. His Word demonstrates His faithfulness.

Each of us is unique, and thus, we will have different experiences of Him and His miraculous power. The point is we need to move out in faith, trust Him in order to experience Him. Start small, start somewhere. Move out in faith, respond to His call, and we will know that He knows us personally and cares for us dearly as individuals, as His children. He treats and relates to each and every one of us uniquely. Trust Him for He is our rock and our salvation.

https://odb.org/2023/10/27/three-kings

If we read the Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Kings as well as 1 and 2 Chronicles, we will see that most of the kings of Israel and later Judah (after Israel was divided into the Southern and Northern kingdoms) were either unfaithful to Yahweh or did evil things. It is both disappointing and depressing. The golden years of Israel were at the beginning during the reign of David and perhaps the early years of his son with Bethsheba, Solomon. But after that, it was downhill with only a few kings who turned against the tide and worship Yahweh and followed His percepts. The notable good kings were Hezekiah, Josiah, Jehoshaphat, and Jotham, and sadly, they were a small minority.

I may be wrong, but Jehoram, the subject matter of today’s ODB, may well be the worst of the lot. The first thing he did when he became king was to kill all of his brothers and some officials – presumably to solidify his reign. Contrast this with David, who restored the lands and servants of the grandson of his predecessor, and gave Mephibosheth a permanent place at his table. But in the case of Jehoram, God did not overlook his evil ways and afflicted him with a terrible and painful abdominal illness (could be colon cancer) and because of his cruelty, no one grieved for him or gave him a funeral.

I think the message this morning is that power corrupts and power makes one selfish and self-serving instead of benevolence, selfless, or sacrificial. We may not be kings, but everyone has a sphere of influence and a certain authority. Do we make decisions based on our self-interest or the good of all? Do we think of our parents and other siblings when we act in a certain way? As people in the faith, if we are leaders, we must lead for the good of everyone, and most importantly, as we read about the bad kings in Israel and Judah, we must follow God and His percepts. As followers of Christ, we have the law written in our hearts and thus must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in all that we do. Always pray that the Holy Spirit grants us wisdom and discernment to do the right thing all the time, even if it’s not always to our benefit or interests. Do what the Lord impresses us to do, not what our flesh desires.

https://odb.org/2023/10/26/beauty-for-ashes

Under Mosaic law, the Israelites were to tend and cultivate their fields for 6 years and then let it rest for a year as a sabbath. It’s a good law that allows the soil to recover its fertility naturally. In geography, we know that most large river deltas like the Mekong or the Irrawaddy have a major flood every 10 years or so. Or a volcano will erupt every now and then, like in the Javan island, spewing its ashes and larva. That’s nature’s way of fertilising the soil.

But Mosaic law takes it further because after seven cycles of cultivating and resting the land, after 49 years, it’s the year of the jubilee. That’s the year when prisoners are released, slaves are freed, and land bought are returned to their original owners. It seems that there was no evidence in the bible that this law was ever practised because if land sold needed to be returned after 49 years, the sale was practically only a long-term lease.

Notwithstanding the actual application of the law in the lives of the Israelites, Jesus fulfiled that law when He died for our sins. He proclaimed the good news of the year of jubilee and set the captives and slaves free. He gave us a crown of beauty for ashes. In other words, He became the year of jubilee.

There is freedom and redemption in Christ. A prevailing theme in the Word of God is that He will restore what the locusts have devoured (Joel 2:25), like exchanging a crown of beauty for ashes in Isaiah 61:1-4. There is always restoration in the kingdom of God. From our time prior to our time in it and even things lost due to our foolishness when we are already in the faith. The Israelites were exiled twice, and the Temple and Jerusalem destroyed. Yet, in 1948, the state of Israel was established. The Temple remains buried, but one day, it will be restored in the new heaven and new earth. Trust in the Lord, live in accordance with His will – He will give us a crown of beauty for the ashes in our lives!

https://odb.org/2023/10/25/one-door-for-all-2

At the human level, we find that although churches are at the core multiracial, people do congregate based on language or creed. Thus, in West Malaysia, we have Chinese churches (language) and Chinese dominated churches (race) and Indian dominated ones as well as Tamil churches. In Sarawak, churches are largely of 3 types – English, Chinese, and Iban speaking. This may come across as racist but, in actuality, driven more by language or commonality of upbringing and culture. I had been to a Cantonese speaking church in Bangkok, which was mainly comprised of people from Hong Kong or of Hong Kong origin. The preacher, however, was a Malaysian pastor married to a local Thai pastor. But admittedly, congregating among our own race do speck of racism and may sometimes even lead to racism in our hearts. We thus need to examine our hearts and be careful not to fall into this trap.

But I think the message this morning is less about racism but more of the common front door for all. Unlike the past era, where blacks can order food but can not dine in and have to take their food at the back door, now all are welcomed at the front. The point is that in the faith, there is only one entrance for all. There are no backdoors or side entrances. It is certainly not all doors that lead to God like all roads lead to Rome. There is only one way, and that is by confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead as Paul wrote in Romans 10:9. Any other way, and it will not lead to eternal life but destruction. Even the Jews are not saved if they reject Christ as Paul declares.

In these end times, when there is a proliferation of false teachers, we must always check with the Holy Spirit what we believe in and put our faith on. There is an overload of information and teachings, whether on the web or YouTube, or even Facebook. Not everyone interprets the Scriptures correctly. We may be led astray following a false teacher. Always refer back to the Word and keep to the tenets of our faith. Consult our elders. Most fundamentally, all believers only enter through the front door through our Lord Jesus Christ as He Himself had declared that no one goes to the Father except through Him. He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

https://odb.org/2023/10/24/dont-lose-heart-2

They say two things are unavoidable in life; death and taxes. Another is perhaps ageing and its impact on our lives. When we age, we start to have a myriad of illnesses from high cholesterol to hypertension to diabetes to heart ailments. We need to start taking long-term medication. When we travel, we take a longer time to recover. We tire more easily. Even in sports, we don’t hit as hard as we used to, and our reflexes are slower. Just a few weeks back, when we returned to Malaysia from Melbourne, I lifted two large luggages together to enter the shuttle bus to the long-term carpark and pulled a ligament. It has been nearly 3 weeks plus now, and I still can’t bend down like normal. I think this will probably take 3 months to heal.

From our teens to our adulthood to middle age and into our golden years, the passage of time and ageing can not be avoided. We see our pets as puppies and kittens, and they go before us. We plant a little tree, and they are now giants. Trees, of course, will outlive us if they are not cut down for development. We attend weddings and funerals, witness the birth of children, and the next generation. One day, we will be the past generation. We will have our own funeral.

But if we are in the Lord, we are not fearful of the future, whether in this life or the life to come. We know that the Lord loves us, and as we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be added unto us. He will make sure we survive this life. But most importantly, the one who is able to destroy both our bodies and our souls will preserve our soul. We have a destiny and a home in eternity. Thus, although our body will weaken as we age, our inner man is renewed each day, and as we seek His face, our inner man will grow from glory to glory when we fix our eyes on the things unseen. Eternal life is our final destination. We have that hope. We carry that hope in us. We are assured of our place in our Father’s house as His mansion has many rooms, and our Lord Jesus Christ has gone ahead to prepare a place for us.

Do not lose heart that we have lost the beauty and lustre of our youth, its strength and virility. Our skin is not as smooth, and perhaps we have less hair now. What matters is that our inner man is growing in maturity and stature in the Lord. We will be bringing our soul into eternity. So make sure that it becomes what it should be in the Lord.