Esau and Jacob

https://odb.org/2024/05/21/a-warm-embrace

The ancient bible story of Esau and Jacob was interesting because the antagonist appeared to have prevailed against the innocent. Esau was tricked into giving up his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup, and later, their father, the Patriach Isaac, was tricked by Jacob and his mother, to give his blessings for the elder son to Jacob, the younger one. Isaac’s blessings, which are the blessings of the father, had natural, spiritual, and prophetic significance.

https://www.gotquestions.org/fathers-blessing.html

As the story goes, Isaac had Joseph, and the whole clan was subsequently saved from the great famine and settled in Egypt. Over 400 years, they became slaves to the Egyptians, and the LORD raised Moses to bring them all out from Egypt back to Canaan across the Red Sea and the wilderness. Thus, from the antagonist, Isaac became the protagonist because it was his line that led to the birth of King David, and many years later, our dearest Lord Jesus Christ.

But the story of Esau and Jacob was not actually a story where the bad guy had won the day. This is because in Genesis 35, Jacob wrestled with an angel (it was actually God Himself) and emerged as Israel. The cunning and conniving Jacob became Israel (“let God prevail”). In other words, Jacob, like us modern-day Christians, had a life transformation moment and became someone of use to God. Additionally, in Genesis 33, Esau, although he was deprived of his birthright as well as the father’s blessings, was kind and merciful enough to accept Jacob’s deference and peace offering and forgave him. All the key virtues that we were taught in our faith were present in the life story of Esau and Jacob, which goes to show that there is redemption in God despite our past.

We might have done some terrible things in the past, like Jacob. Nevertheless, if we repent from our sins, the Lord will forgive us. Most importantly, if we relent and let God prevail in our lives, we can become like Jacob transforming into Israel and will be of much use to the Almighty God, the Great I Am. It is a moment everyone of us need to go through for the spiritual breakthrough that we may have been seeking!

The good old times

https://odb.org/2024/05/20/longing-for-the-past

Sometimes, we like to reminisce and dwell in our past memories. I think not so much in our past successes but more to the nostalgic era where time was not moving as fast as the present. Times when we were younger and still discovering the world. Our early working days, feeling our way in the world. My chambering days and early practice years after graduating from university. Perhaps God was more real then – as we were relying more on Him? In our innocence, we looked more eagerly to God in prayer, in desperation. We were going through what perhaps our children are going through now.

The Israelites in exile in Babylon also longed for the past. But when they were in Israel before they were captured, they believed in the sweet messages of all the false prophets prophesying good times and prosperity despite their disobedience to God. They just couldn’t see that their lives were incompatible with the message. They ignored Jeremiah, who bore the message of doom and threw him in prison into a pit. Jeremiah suffered greatly to bring God’s true and genuine message to the Israelites.

Whatever may have been in the past, it’s in the past. Those times are long gone. They may not be relived again. We are nearer to the grave than 30 years ago. If we were at the start of our careers then, we are now at the tailend. We should be planning for our retirement. Should we be living in a small apartment in the city or on a piece of modest land in the country? How will we be continuing our service for God? Do we go for mission trips to help out God’s work in other places since we are no longer bound by the constraints of full-time employment? Or should we make our local church our mission field?

I think the message this morning is to look ahead to the new things God is doing in our midst through Christ. We are much older and about to retire. Ask and seek the Lord as to His plans for us for the next 30 years. What does He want us to do? How should we serve Him? Should we be a missionary in a foreign land or to East Malaysia or rural Malaysia? Should we write a book? Should we build a farm to prepare for the Great Tribulation? The answer may not be apparent immediately, but as Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Better to be with Christ

https://odb.org/2024/05/17/a-change-of-venue

I was down with a cold and a bad cough with fever the past few days and thus was not able to write. I am now recovering with antibiotics and some good cough mixture.

2 Corinthians 5:1-10 is a well-known passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth. It speaks of him prefering to be with the Lord than remain in this earthen tent as the former is in heaven, the place where God dwells. Also, being with the Lord means that we will one day be clothe with our glorified body, which is incorruptible, unlike our current earthly body. Yet he knows that if we remain in our earthly tent, we are to please the Lord because a time will come when we will need to give an account of our lives at the judgement seat of Christ (also known as the Bema seat of Christ), whether good or bad.

That to me, verse 10 is the crux of 2 Corinthians 5. It is not for us to decide when we are to leave this world and enter into the heavenly realm to be with the Lord, but in the meantime, we must please God with our lives. Unlike some faith, perhaps some among them wrongly teach their adherents that one may die for God by killing enemies of the faith as a kind of backdoor entry into heaven. As our fight is never against flesh and blood, people indoctrinated this way will be horrified to learn on the other side that taking the life of another human being can never be the basis of salvation. Jesus said before -“I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

We don’t know for sure when the world will end, although many believe it will not be too far away before Christ returns in all His glory. If we leave earlier, our loved ones will miss us because once we depart, we will no longer be a part of this world. We will, of course, be happy to be with the Lord and leave the worries of life and the struggles of living behind us. Until that day comes, we need to do our part to please God to ensure that we are able to give a good account to Christ whether we had lived a life fulfilling His calling for us, His plans and purposes for our lives. Have we been that brick, He had specially chosen and prepared as part of the universal church with our unique talents and giftings? Once our earthen life ends, we can not do anything more for God in this world, even if we want to. Remember that…

Enjoying life

https://odb.org/2024/05/14/savoring-the-moment

When I was a young believer, I was taught to serve God and not enjoy life. This teaching came across as though both are mutually exclusive concepts, like war and peace can not exist at the same time. But as I grew older, I realised that we could actually find a balance in most things. For example, nowadays, people speak of work-life balance. Thus, even in pursuing our career goals, we can find time to serve God and pursue our other interests in life.

Time is, of course, a limited commodity. Everyone only has 24 hours to a day. There is just so much we can do within the hours, and we still need to rest and sleep for our bodies to recuperate and recharge. Therefore, in our many pursuits, we need to let go of some to focus on others. For example, if we are a national badminton player or a full-time professional athlete, certain ordinary things like enjoying a mug of beer and eating junk or unhealthy food would have to wait until we retire from competitive sports as we need to continuously train and maintain ourselves in the most optimum physical condition. Similarly, if we are saving up to buy a house or to pay off our mortgage, we may need to postpone holidays abroad or drive an older car. I recalled that when our boys first arrived, we stopped going to the movies. We only restarted going to the movies when they were old enough to go with us, and it became a really enjoyable weekend family outing with popcorns, soft drinks, and other snacks!

In Ecclesiastes 8:15, King Solomon advocates that life is to be enjoyed. He wrote, “I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and be glad.” He had written that life is vanity or meaningless. Nevertheless, Solomon advocated that life becomes meaningful when lived for God. We don’t just cease to exist after we perish as there is life after death. The question is whether we will live a better or worse life after.

The message this morning is that we must always find a balance in all things. It can be found. The enjoyment of life may be pursued without guilt as the good things in life itself are created by God. We should eat, drink and be glad! It’s just that as believers, we also need to serve God and fulfil our calling in Christ and God’s plans and purposes for our lives. Therefore, our aim in life can not be to enjoy life only. There must be a balance in the same way we pursue work-life balance.

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!