https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/11/seize-the-opportunity-3

I recall nearly 35 years ago after helping out in a Reinhard Bonnke evangelist meeting at the then Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur, we were all on fire to be an evangelist. We didn’t even have 1% of his anointing or charisma or oratory skills or his knowledge of and experience with God, yet all of us wanted to be like him. Of course, those were just fantasies and idealism of youth. Bright and starry-eyed, we were ready to conquer the world for God!

Actually, from today’s ODB, spending some time in a Christian youth mission before we go to university is such an excellent idea! Rather than go into full-time ministry permanently, we could spend some time doing full-time ministry by serving in missions locally or abroad. Or we could serve in our local church’s office and follow our pastors around doing pastoral work during our semester breaks. While some would earn money holding a part-time job, we could serve God. Or if we are more daring, we could join the Logos ship and travel the world while serving and working there. We could do these ministry works while waiting to enter university or during our year-end breaks or take a gap year, or we could take a 6-month sojourn after graduating and serve God full-time in some capacity. Most will take the opportunity to travel if they have some means, but if we sacrifice that opportunity to serve God in missions instead, I’m sure it will enrich our lives further.

Thus, in the same vein, for those of us retiring from the workforce in the near future, we could consider joining a mission organisation or work full-time for the church doing pastoral and ministry work. Of course, after working for 40 years, it is time to travel a bit without needing to worry about our limited annual leave, but after all that, perhaps we should dedicate our remaining years serving God in some full-time capacity. If you are one of those like me who had gone into the world to work and missed our chance to serve God full-time when young, this is our second chance to go full-time.

But the message today is still very much for us to use whatever time we have to serve God in some full-time capacity. Not just serving in church by playing music or as a usher. Not necessarily on a permanent basis as a full-time worker or pastor, but in between breaks in our study or between jobs. Instead of working part-time in the world, work part-time in the mission field or in some youth or Christian organisation. Ultimately, we want to preach Jesus crucified and resurrected and spread the Good News for more to hear! We could well be Reinhard Bonnke in our own way!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/10/strength-in-weakness-3

Judges 7:1-9 sets out a story that I heard preached quite some time back, but which I have forgotten. The beauty of ODB is that if we read it regularly, it brings to remembrance all these familiar stories from the bible, and once in a while, also a few obscure and less known ones. It just enriches our knowledge of God through His Word.

In this story, Gideon was out to do battle with the Midianites and had 32,000 men. But God wanted to cut down the army so that Israel would not boast that the victory was theirs. So God trimmed down the army until there were only 300 men to conclusively prove that victory is His alone. Thus, a perceived human weakness (very small army) was turned into strength (won the battle, nevertheless).

What does this story illustrate for us to apply in our real-life living? Does this story point to turning our weakness into strength? No, not so much. In my view, it illustrates the point that sometimes God may bring us to a position of weakness so that we will 100% rely on Him. That was exactly what Gideon had to do as the LORD had reduced his army of 32,000 men to 300 to fight a Midianite army of 120,000! It is hopeless and impossible! Yet if we continue to read Judges 12, the LORD delivered the victory to Gideon, the same way the LORD delivered Jericho to Joshua with a group of trumpet blowing men.

There are times when God brings us to a somewhat hopeless and impossible situation. Our only recourse is to pray and depend on Him. The Lord may take it to the extreme, to show us His love and compassion for us. It is undeniably Him working in the background.

For example, I had a difficult contract to close in a direct award transaction with the vendor having the upper hand. Every negotiator will know that done deals are impossible to negotiate. But it was turned around when the strategic direction became to tender out the whole project. This contract was outstanding for 6 months and would have been put on me if not for God working in the background, changing the direction of the project at the highest level. Or we could be sick and hopeless with Covid or in hospital due to an illness or for treatment for days, and our work at the office can not get done by us. But somehow, the Lord could arrange it such that work is continued and progressed. We are at our weakest and most vulnerable, and God came through for us. Sometimes, like Gideon, God brings us to the place of weakness so that His glory may shine forth. Therefore, trust in Him even if we feel we are hopeless and weak. He will see to it that the victory is His!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/09/deeper-healing

In yesterday’s ODB post, they wrote about the empty tomb and how John outran Peter to reach the tomb first, only to discover Jesus’s body was missing after His death. See the link below:

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/08/running-to-jesus

The empty tomb is, of course, significant in establishing the resurrection of Jesus Christ as it would be impossible for Jesus to be resurrected if His dead body was still in His tomb. Jesus later appeared to the 11 disciples (sans Judas Iscariot since he would have already been dead by then and his replacement only appointed much later), and many others and, ascended to heaven 40 days later. In fact, in some countries like Indonesia, they celebrate the Ascension of Christ with a public holiday! Later in Acts 9, the risen Christ also appeared to Paul.

For today, we would like to focus on Isaiah 53:5, where Isaiah spoke about the death of Christ many, many years before the event. The verse reads – But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on Him. By His wounds (stripes), we are healed. Peter repeated this in 1 Peter 22:4 where he wrote, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we having died to sin, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed”.

In the context of Isaiah 53, verse 5 and the verses around it were speaking about the spiritual healing that comes to our spirit by the death of Christ, meaning to say, He had bore our iniquities, and thus, we are now reconciled to God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ. Some charismatic Christians have, however, taken this verse one step further, claiming it from God that as He has healed us of our physical illnesses, we are free from sicknesses that may afflict us. We can claim healing by calling healing from heaven to heal us.

We are all afflicted by viruses and bacteria and a neglect of our bodies or just old age may lead to high cholesterol, hyper tension, diabetes, kidney and heart diseases, and for unexplained reasons, also various potentially deadly cancerous growths. That is why there is a whole profession and industry dedicated to healing us. In fact, the pandemic laid bare the vulnerabilities of the human race.

While I agree that contextually, Isaiah 53:55 speaks more of our spiritual healing, we also know that Jesus healed and the Apostles also exercised healing as a ministry tool. Many Christians have prayed, and many have been healed throughout the ages through divine healing. We also see that in ancient times during the time of Elijah and Elisha.

Pray for healing when we are unwell or afflicted by serious illnesses. God in His grace and compassion will heal us in His time. In the meantime, rely on our health professionals, for the advances in medical science are able to do much to our imperfect and decaying bodies.

Blessed Easter and Resurrection Sunday, everyone! The crucifixion and death of Christ has delivered us from sin to freedom, has reconciled us to God, and the resurrection of Christ has defeated the sting of sin. In His glorious resurrected body, Christ was at first unrecognisable, and yet the disciples and His followers later knew it was Him when He appeared to them. The resurrected Christ gives us that tangible eternal hope that one day we will get to be resurrected with all our loved ones who were in Christ when Christ returns as King! Thus, as Paul has so beautifully pointed out before, all our sufferings here pales in comparison to the glory that awaits us on the day of Jesus Christ!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/07/drops-of-red

Today is Good Friday, and as believers, we celebrate this day in remembrance of Jesus’s crucifixion and death on the cross of Calvary. The death that enabled our sins to be forgiven by God once and for all to break the sting of sin, which is death itself. Because of the cross, though we may die, we will live (John 11:25). Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Thus, Jesus is the basis for our eternal life. He is the one and only begotten son that was sent by God because He so loved the world that we may have life eternal in John 3:16.

But just before Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, arrested and led to be judged and later punished to death with crucifixion, He spent his last night praying at the Mount of Olives. This was right after the last Passover meal He had with His disciples (which originated our Christian tradition of the breaking of the bread). At Mount Olives, Jesus prayed and asked that the cup be passed from Him, but if that is the Father’s will, then may His will be done. An angel came down to strengthen Him, and as He prayed so intensely at those moments, His sweat was like blood.

This account of Jesus’s last moments before being arrested is recorded in Luke 22:39-44, which highlights that while Jesus is God, He is fully human. While He is one with God in the Holy Trinity, He is nevertheless distinct as Jesus Christ the Son of God. His pain and suffering on the way to the Cross and at the Cross are the most extreme of human suffering. At the spiritual level, those were the moments that the Father turned His face away because of the sin of mankind that Jesus was carrying, and that was the most painful moment ever experienced by Christ before. He the Son of Man became the Lamb of God for our sake that we may have communion with the Father again, something we couldn’t have since the day Adam and Eve sinned against God.

As we celebrate Good Friday today and Easter this Sunday or some call Resurrection Sunday, let’s remember that Jesus died for our sins as a man. He had to die as a man as an unblemished sacrifice for our sins. He who was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin woman was born a man but without sin and was thus the only human possible to die for our sins. The only human born a human and yet unblemished by the sin of Adam as He was from God and conceived by God by the Holy Spirit. God incarnate, the Immanuel, as God had lived among mankind, the creator among His creation. Eden will be recreated again at the end of age, as we see in Revelation 22, and that is only possible because Jesus died for the sins of mankind 2,000 years ago!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/06/the-challenge-to-serve

In my post yesterday, I mentioned that although salvation is by the grace of God and not by our works, our lives need to be transformed and there is much work to be done in the Kingdom of God after we accepted Christ. https://ronnielim.com/2023/04/05/giving-our-lives-to-christ/

In today’s Scriptural reading of John 13:3-15, Jesus spoke about what it means to serve. He showed us by His example of washing His disciples’ feet although He is their Lord and Master. To understand the significance, we need to know that washing someone’s feet is the most menial of jobs of a servant during those times. Meaning to say, in the hierarchy of a household then, the lowest rung person will be given that task. This is because they wear sandals to move around in very dusty and dirty environments. It is somewhat equivalent to running around photostating or scanning documents that interns are asked to do in the modern office, although nowadays, with PDF and digital signatures, we do less photocopying. In John 13, Jesus, the Immanuel, our God incarnate, washed the feet of His disciples. Peter was the first to refuse, but he relented when Jesus told him that he would not be a part of Him if he refused.

As Jesus had mentioned before in another context, to be first, we need to be last first and servant of all (Mark 9:35). Leadership in the Kingdom of God is thus a servant leadership. As leaders in the church, we are there to serve the needs of the congregation. We are not there to ‘lord’ over them or to use them for our goals and purposes. We are there to meet their needs and not the other round.

The crux of serving God is thus servanthood as Jesus had demonstrated. We are servants in the Kingdom of God. We are to serve one another, help each other become better people in Christ. Help each other manifest our attributes and character as new creations in Christ. If we see a brother or sister with an issue or a weakness, we need to help not condemn them as everyone is a ‘work in progress’.

That is why the fruit of the Spirit is important. In dealing with various characters in the church, we need to exercise lots of patience, compassion, and love. It is easy to get angry and agitated, but we need to refrain from doing so. Everyone must do their part, and much can be achieved if we are all in this together. As we all strive together in serving God, we will all enjoy together the blessings and goodness that come with serving God. The heavens will open up, and God’s heavenly blessings will be poured out to all of us as a congregation of believers! But remember, in serving God, we are servants of God and one another!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/05/more-than-a-little-piece

One of the things we don’t usually emphasise when we share the Gospel is that Christian life involves leaving our old self behind and starting afresh in Christ as a new creation. When we preach the Gospel, we tend to focus on eternal life, on the wages of sin being death. That salvation is a free gift but costly as Jesus needed to die for our sins. Ultimately, Jesus offers salvation and heaven, compared to destruction and hell. We rationalise that we get them across the line first (although we know that it’s actually the Holy Spirit) and then let God work on them to mould and transform them to become vessels worthy of His glory.

There is no right and wrong in the approach, in my view, because for some people, too much analysis becomes paralysis. We think too much, we hesitate and we don’t move. So we freeze and are at standstill. Also, believing in Christ is by faith, and faith is believing in things unseen as things unseen are eternal. Thus, accepting Christ is as much of the mind as it is of the heart.

Notwithstanding the approach at the start, the fact remains that once we are in, there is no chance we can go anywhere in Christ if we are unwilling to give up our old life. It is a work in progress, there is no doubt. It is a journey, true. But it is nevertheless a journey to perfection in Christ. Not lip service. Not pretence. Not make believe. Our Christian life can not be a fake one.

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus made it clear that if anyone desires to come after Him, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him. For what profit it is to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul (verse 26)? Christ elaborates on in verse 27 that the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father, with His angels, and He will reward each according to his works.

As much as salvation is freely given by grace and by faith, we need to deny ourselves, and Christ will reward us according to our works. Salvation is not by works, but once we are saved, there is much to do – in the transformation of our lives and our service for Him. There are no freeloaders in the kingdom of God as much as Jesus is kind and compassionate. Everyone needs to pull their weight and work out his and her salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12), in accordance with His plans and purposes for our lives.

No one is saying we need to be perfect from day one. But it is undeniably a journey. Are we on that journey? Are we walking on the narrow path that leads to eternal life? Or are we still on the broadside, wandering around in our own green pastures, with Christ in the distance?

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/04/at-home-in-jesus

We keep our pet cat in a room with an ensuite bathroom. Over here in Malaysia, bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms are common, unlike in more advanced countries, where plumbing is premium and very costly. For our cat, the bathroom is a less messy place for her potty as it makes cleaning easier. Although she will want to come out of her room at every opportunity, to be with us and roam around the house – at any sign of danger, she will run back to her room, for example, if there are strangers in the house. Her room thus becomes her place of refuge, her hiding place. Not only her feeding place and where she manages her bodily functions, but really her permanent ‘home’, her safe haven.

As believers, we have given our lives to Jesus the day we accepted Him into our lives as our Lord and Saviour. As much as we already have a permanent home in heaven which we will get to go to one day, we also have a ‘permanent’ home while we are pilgrims in our temporary home here in our present earth. This earth in its current state (as opposed to the new heaven and new earth in Revelation 21) is only our temporary home, and yet we have a permanent home in Jesus. A home where, like my cat, we find refuge, a hiding place from evil, a place of comfort and joy, of peace and compassion. It is a place where we can truly be ourselves, with no pretence but only our genuine self – where all our ugly hurts, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities are exposed for our Lord to see. Instead of condemning us, Jesus comforts us and helps us to be perfected in our weaknesses. That we will be victorious in our struggles against the desires of our flesh, where we will be overcomers for Christ. The place where we will be transformed as Christ moulds us into the person He had called us to be before the foundations of the world.

Do not wander about in search of another home in our pursuit of the things of the world as we, like everyone else, are attracted by its flashy lights. The world is seductive as it is deceiving. We know it is temporal, and yet sometimes we are too engrossed in the temporary. I agree there must be a balance as we still need to live this life. A lifetime here on earth as much as it is a pilgrimage is still a lifetime in human terms. As much as we are only passing through, it is many years. But no one in heaven is accusing us of being selfish for wanting to pass through this life as comfortably as possible. It’s just that we must not neglect what is eternal and must always remember what really counts in the end so that when push comes to shove, we prioritise God and His causes, and not our own fleshy desires. If we have an excess RM500 this month, do we indulge in a new bag, shoes, or clothes, or do we help a brother in need?

Today’s message is a reminder to keep our permanent home in Jesus as we pass through this temporal home on a pilgrimage. The Lord is, after all, our Shepherd whom we will not want as He will lead us to still waters and green pastures, and give us rest, and even if He leads us through valleys of shadows of death, we will fear no evil, for His staff and rod comfort us. Ultimately, surely goodness and mercy shall follow us throughout our days as we dwell in the house of the Lord forever!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/03/finding-strength-in-god

In relating with God, there is always this tension between relying on our own strength and gaining God’s strength in our weaknesses. When do we rely on God, and when do we use our own talents and gifts as the latter are also God-given?

Two Sundays ago, I had preached a message on Paul and Acts 9, and a comment I received was that God usually uses us based on our availability and not so much on our talents and giftings. That is true, and availability must be a prerequisite in our service. If we don’t make ourselves available, God can never use us. And yet, when we say availability, it means more. It means that despite our weaknesses, if we are available, God will perfect us our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 9:12).

However, when we compare Paul against Peter, John and James, we will see that Paul was uniquely positioned to reach out to the Gentiles being a learned Hebrew person raised in a Greek-speaking world immersed in Greek thought and culture. Thus, we can be called and chosen based on our strengths and giftings and experience in the world and ministry, and also, most of all that we are today were knitted together by God Himself to create a unique ‘you’ that will be the square peg to the square hole in His Kingdom of Grace.

However, as we read 2 Corinthians 9, we realise that Paul himself is not without weaknesses. That is not unexpected as we are all humans living in a broken world. The world to come as revealed in Revelation 21 is our ultimate destination, but until then, we need to accept and deal with our own imperfections. That is why we are made perfect by God in our weaknesses. It is in our weaknesses that we can see God working. Despite our weaknesses, God can use us.

For example, there are many preachers who are gifted in expressing words and in presentation; funny and entertaining and yet enriching. But I’m neither all that. Yet I have been called to preach from the pulpit. I can only be myself with my own weaknesses in speech and presentation. But the beauty of all this is that God can perfect me in my weakness, and it works the best in the context of preaching because ultimately, after all the theatrics, it is the message from God that really matters. The life of God that we bring to the pulpit, our sincerity, our effort, and our preparation – that will count for more in the spiritual realm than the human talent and skill of a preacher.

We all have weaknesses. But if we wait until we are perfect to serve God, we will not get to start. The idea is to serve God despite our weaknesses and see God perfecting us in our weaknesses. In fact, as we rely on the Lord in our weaknesses, Jesus will transform us from within and make us a better person in the process – a person with more love, compassion, grace, and forgiveness.

Start today, and do something for God. Take up a role in church or a ministry. Volunteer our time and service. Play music in our cell group. Lead worship. Be an usher. Get involved in the audio-visual ministry. Help out in Zoom. There are lots to do in the Kingdom of God!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/02/bluestone-church-bells

As we celebrate Palm Sunday today, the day that signified the entry of Christ into Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, let’s appreciate that the truth of the Messiah is not hidden from us. In Luke 19, it is recorded that Jesus wept over Jerusalem even as His disciples rejoice as He made His way into the city. In verse 41, Jesus said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day, what would bring you peace – but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

It is most unfortunate, but until today, the truth on the Messiah and the salvation of Christ are still hidden from the Jews. Israel has a population of about 9.3 million, of which 7 million are Jews and yet there are only a handful of Messianic Jews – estimated to be between 10,000 to 20,000. Thus, at most, it is only 0.28% of the Jewish population.

Most fortunately for us, after Paul was commissioned by Christ to reach out to the Gentiles in Acts 9 and trained by Christ personally for 3 years (see Galatians 1), the Gospel has travelled across the globe out of Judea and Samaria and the message is not hidden to the millions of us throughout generations.

On this Palm Sunday, we remember Christ’s entry into Jerusalem to prepare for His work and sacrifice on Calvary. We rejoice Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem as His sacrifice on the cross had a profound impact on the sins of mankind and had changed the course of history.

Let’s be thankful that the scales of our eyes were removed to see the truth and that we had the presence of mind and the desire to accept the truth into our lives and become a child of the Almighty God through Christ Jesus. No doubt we did this voluntarily out of our own free will. But be grateful that we are able to enjoy a fellowship and relationship with Christ with minimal persecution, although some of us may have to go through hardships in order to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Praise the Lord for His steadfast love endureth forever, and it is renewed every morning like dew. Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/31/rest-assured

I recalled just a few weeks back I was down with a serious cold, had a bad sore throat, and was running a temperature up to 38.5 degrees Celsius. With the fever, I only wanted to sleep. Didn’t want to do anything. I had no appetite to eat. I only ate to take my medicine. But as I lay down on the bed, I wanted to sleep only but couldn’t. Not only in the daytime but at night as well. In the night, I was drifting in and out of sleep. Didn’t really rest. Didn’t have any dreams in my sleep, which to me indicated a restless sleep.

Now that I have recovered. I sleep early and wake up early. But in my sleep, I have dreams, and although I can’t remember the details well, I knew I had slept well.

Sometimes, in life, our awake times mimic our sleep time. Although we are not sick, we are restless. We are very busy at work chasing deadlines, clearing one document after another. There are just so many tasks to attend to. Now it’s the end of March approaching April. In Malaysia, this is the tax filing period for individuals. So we are busy compiling our EA forms, looking for our receipts for tax deductions. In the midst of all that, some of us may be facing a family crisis. Or we may be moving house. Or we may be in between jobs or are retiring from a full-time job. Or someone in the family is facing a health emergency or is hospitalised.

In the midst of all this turmoil, it is good to have God in our lives. Why? Because we know that despite the bleak outlook in the economic situation and the turmoil we are facing, we have Romans 8:28 that we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. In other words, even if something devastating happens like the passing of someone dear in the family, the ending will still be good. Like King Hezekiah during Isaiah’s time, we need to put our trust in the Lord and find our peace in Him amidst all this turmoil and whirlwind of happenings.

Do pause in the midst of our busy schedules and pray. Seek out God that He gives us an understanding and some meaning to the things we are going through. Even if we feel we are so alone in a new environment, a new city, a new neighbourhood, or a new workplace, God is with us. Jesus Christ is in our lives, in our midst. Seek Him out for our rest, our peace in the midst of turmoil. Trust him that He will give us rest!