Obedience and sacrifice

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

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

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

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

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

Tears of Joy

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

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

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

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

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

Prayer and God

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

God gave His only begotten Son

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

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

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

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

God is love

https://odb.org/2024/04/30/we-cant-out-love-god

I think it’s a given that we can not out-love God as much as we can not outgive God. It is obviously so because He is the creator, the supreme being who existed before anything at the beginning and will be there at the end of time. He is all-knowing and omnipresent. On top of all that, God is love. He is the personification of love. We also know that we love Him because He first loved us. It was Jesus who called us first to be with the Father as the Holy Spirit convicts.

But some of us may have difficulty accepting God’s love because of our perception of who He is, coloured by our relationship with our own earthly father. We may see Him as strict, fierce, and always wanting to mete out punishment. Thus, we are intimidated in the presence of God. We are afraid and unsure of ourselves. Fortunately, how we perceive Him does not change Him from what He is. He is still love, and He is still the God who gave Israel many, many chances to repent before He allowed their enemies to overpower them. Even after they were taken into exile, He brought them back to Israel to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and the Temple. God loved Israel despite her insolence and disobedience and rebellious ways.

The second thing is that God’s love also empowers us to love others. He heals us of our painful past experiences. He restores us from what the locusts have eaten away over the years. He makes us whole again so that we may love others again. It is He who enables us to trust others again even if we may have been deceived before. The betrayals and disappointments of the past are in the past. We don’t look back, but look ahead to what God has in store for us in Christ. We look towards what Jesus has prepared for us in the future and for the future.

The message this morning is to accept God’s love and begin to love again. Believe in Him. Trust Him. He will transform us. We will once again be that loving and trusting person we were! Praise the Lord, for He is good, all the time! Amen!

Our spiritual battle

https://odb.org/2024/04/29/pray-and-watch

Paul teaches in Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. In other words, our real battle is not against human beings but against dark forces in the spiritual realm whose ultimate aim is to tempt and deceive people to walk the broad path that leads to destruction. It is the path that may be filled with fame and riches where the pride of life and the lusts of the flesh and eyes are celebrated. This is the realm where the minds and souls are imprisoned by beliefs and value systems contrary to Christ.

That is why in Ephesians 6:11, Paul teaches us as believers to put on the armour of God so that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Finally, in verse 18, Paul advocates that we pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests and be alert. Pray in the Spirit all the time and yet, at the same time, be alert. It means that as we pray, we must be watchful, to keep awake. In other words, we need to be aware of our surroundings because when we pray in a heavenly language that we do not understand, we may doze off and be a danger to ourselves and others. This is what happened to the lady in today’s ODB life story where she prayed while driving and closed her eyes and crashed her car!

There is a need to pray as our battle is not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers of darkness. But as we pray, we have to be alert, and may I add also be sensitive to the Spirit and exercise discernment. The latter is nevessary as the Spirit may reveal to us people to pray for that we may free such people from the bondage of sin and the stranglehold of the evil one. Someone may be going through something pivotal in their lives, and the Spirit may prompt us to pray for that person.

Working together in unity

https://odb.org/2024/04/26/serving-together-2

I think congregations serving God together in the context of a local church is normal. For the church activities to run, everyone works together, whether it is Sunday worship services, cell group meetings, bible studies, prayer meetings, or visitations. There could be some minor personal disagreements here and there, but differences will be put aside for the sake of the programme.

What is less common, however, is churches working together for a common cause. I guess individual churches are busy with their own activities. But when churches get together and do things for the community, the impact is greater because it demonstrates the unity of the body. I would say that the latter is not something that comes across clearly. I think the perception in the world is that Christians are a fragmanted lot with many different churches and denominations.

Even less common is probably churches who are well off helping those who are in need financially. Perhaps the principle is that a church must be responsible for raising its own finances. In Philippians 4, Paul exhorts the poorer church in Macedonia for helping him financially more than once, compared to the wealthy but miserly church in Corinth. If the congregation is taught not to hold on too tightly to worldly wealth, shouldn’t churches practice the same and help other churches in need? Sadly, the trend in churches nowadays is to raise funds for buildings. Some mega churches, already blessed with their own buildings, want to build more!

There is power in unity. God is pleased when we work together as a body, putting the needs of others first before ours. It is an excellent way to reflect His glory and goodness upon our church when we extend financial help to other churches. To God be the glory for the things He has done in our lives!

Age is no barrier in serving God

https://odb.org/2024/04/25/god-is-my-helper

In my local church, I see that probably 70% are already elderly or approaching there, and that’s a phenomenon I believe is across most churches except a few well-known mega churches with large younger congregations. Whether my hypothesis is correct or not is irrelevant, as the topic that I am sharing today has to do with our age and our service to God.

Like the guy Raleigh in today’s ODB article, he is 85 and has completed a manuscript and a ministry initiative since retiring. My late dad at nearly 80 before he died was still busy counselling someone in his cell group that morning before his final hospital admission in the afternoon. He passed away the next morning. Indeed, age is no barrier to serving God.

Joshua 14:6-12 is another good example. Caleb was 40 when he and Joshua, together with another 10 spies, were sent off to Canaan by Moses from Kadesh Barnea, and they both returned with a good report that the Israelites could take the land with God’s help. Despite the sons of Anak, the fortified cities, and strong armies. They believed they could prevail as they knew the LORD was with them. By Joshua 14, Caleb was already 85, and he is as strong as he was when he was 40! With the LORD helping him, he knew he could drive out the inhabitants of Canaan as Moses said he would 45 years ago.

Are we already 60, 70, or 80 years old and are already complaining we have no more strength to serve God? Why are we slowing down when we have all the time in the world? We have no work commitments, and we need not plan our annual leave anymore to go on mission trips. We can go as we wish, finance permitting. Actually, the best time to serve God is during our retirement. We can fully focus and concentrate on ministry with no work issues and deadlines distracting us. We are as free as the birds of the air!

Age is no barrier when it comes to serving God. Serve Him until we drop dead. Serve Him while we still can, while we are still mobile. Approach Jesus Christ boldly and confidently on the other side since we have given Him our best while on this side until our dying day! Amen

Indispensable in Christ

https://odb.org/2024/04/24/united-diversity

In 1 Corinthians 12:22, Paul asserts that the weaker ones in the body are indispensable. In verse 23, he said that the parts we think are less honourable, we treat with special honour. Meaning to say all have a part to play in the church, but we give special honour and consideration to the weaker ones.

Having worked for more than 30 years now, the phrase I am more familiar with at the workplace is that “no one is indispensable.” Everyone may be replaced at any time, and if you are weak, you will be left behind. Treating the weaker ones with honour is unheard of as the world celebrates success and the strong and the fittest. Very few organisations give a special place for the weaker ones as the game is to churn out profits. It is not about being charitable.

I think the message this morning is that everyone has a role to play in the body of Christ in the universal church. Yes, it is true that the sovereign will of God will be achieved regardless of our response to His calling. Yet the role that we are to play is indispensable. No one can substitute our unique God-given talents and spiritual giftings. Each and every one of us has a special place in the Kingdom of God. God’s plans and purposes for us were formulated even before the foundations of the earth.

Start discovering what part we are to play. For example, putting in the effort to wake early and write and send out these morning devotional commentaries is my part to play. It is unique as I believe there are not many actually doing this on a regular, daily basis. I have discovered my role, my niche. This is on top of the other things I help out in church. What about you? What’s your unique and special God-given talent and spiritual gifting? Have you discovered, developed, and started serving Jesus with your talent? Everyone of us in the Kingdom of God is indispensable! Take up your role, do your part, onward Christian soldiers!

True peace

https://odb.org/2024/04/23/the-true-peacemaker

Warring nations have been at it since time immemorial. Most of us, I would think, hope for an end to wars and sufferings, having heard of the pain and sufferings brought about by the two World Wars. Most of us are not old enough to have experienced WW2 in Malaya, the cruelty and the many deaths afflicted by the Japanese during their occupation of the Malay peninsula. But we hear stories passed down through the generations of the near genocide of our forefathers, of the need to live deep inside the jungle and on just tapioca. Many Chinese babies then were passed on to Malay families for a better chance of survival, and that probably explains why there are contemporary Malays who are as fair as porcelain besides mixed marriages.

Even as we look at the present-day wars between Russia and Ukraine, or Israel against Hamas and possibly its proxy, Iran, we also hope for the wars to end. However, if there is genuine peace on earth, it will be a lull before the antichrist emerges, and thereafter, the sequence of events revealed in Revelation would unravel, leading ultimately to the second coming of Christ and the end of the world as we know it.

Seek Him, hold on to Jesus, and never ever let go. He is the Alpha and Omega. He was there at the beginning and will be there at the end. He holds the keys to Hades, and He will open the Book of Life to search for our names. Are we sheep or goats, or wheat or chaff as Jesus separates us with his winnowing fork (Matthew 3:12)? 

Jesus warned that there would be trouble in the world, but He would give us true peace. A peace that transcends all understanding. A peace that will keep us steady despite the turmoil of the world. A peace that others can probably only experience when they are in the realm of the dead. But that is the peace Jesus promises us while we are breathing, a peace that indeed transcends all understanding.

Peace on earth is beyond us. There are superpowers on earth and powerful territorial strongholds in the spiritual realm at work. What’s within our reach are our own hearts of hearts, deep within our soul and spirit. In the end, that is what that will matter in the Bema judgment seat of Christ.