https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/30/to-do-or-not-to-do

Romans 7:14-25 has been a source of debate because if it describes Paul’s personal struggles with sin, then it contradicts Paul’s assertion that believers have freedom from sin in the Holy Spirit as described in Romans 6:17-18 and 8:1-2. Thus, many scholars now believe that Paul’s narrative in Romans 7 is more a literal technique to dramatically describe one’s general struggle with sin under the law as opposed to our freedom from sin in the power of the Holy Spirit.

But the reality, I believe, as most of us have experienced, is that there is indeed an ongoing struggle with sin, even as believers empowered by the Spirit. We can be driven by emotions and sometimes get disportionately angry with others, especially when driving and confronted with unethical queue cutting drivers. So we display our dissatisfaction with such situations by honking at such drivers when we should be exercising compassion and forgiveness.

Or after paying for a meal, halfway home, we realised that the restaurant had under-charged us by omitting an item. Do we turn back and spend another 20 mins in traffic, look for parking, and go back to the restaurant to pay them for the omitted item? Would we do that if we were over-charged? The thing is, by not doing what is right, we are committing sin. In the earlier case of queue cutting, shouldn’t we have taken photographs and reported such unethical drivers to the authorities? For example, those driving on the emergency lane during packed highway traffic conditions.

Is our struggle with sin in not doing what is right or doing what is wrong when we don’t want to? I believe, like Paul, we have the freedom not to sin anymore in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, we must clearly refrain from intentionally doing evil to avoid the embarrassment of telling God later why we did what we did in our next conversation with Him. I think if we intentionally do evil or hurt others, we will have a tough time explaining ourselves to the Lord. Also, for not doing the right thing, perhaps it will be easier to justify to the Lord; but even then, if we had disobeyed a prompting of the Holy Spirit, we had not only sin but would have missed out on the blessing and experience of responding to His voice in our heart.

I guess the message this morning is that whenever we face sin, we should remember that if we intentionally do evil, we will have a tough time explaining our behaviour to God. What are we to say the next time we face Him in prayer? We can avoid the issue, but for how long can we do so? It is my prayer for myself and everyone that as we journey on with God in this walk of faith that we will overcome sin and our weaknesses more and more, that we will always remain faithful and true to our calling in Christ until the day of Jesus Christ.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/29/god-had-other-plans-2

Every time I read about the story of Moses, I marvel at God and His providence. His miraculous ways are simply amazing. At a time when Pharoah had decreed that all newborn Hebrew babies were to be killed, there were people like midwives and mothers who dared to risk their lives to keep the baby. When the mother could not hide the baby any longer, she put the baby into a basket at the Nile, and of all the people who found the baby, it was Pharaoh’s daughter! She recognised him as a Hebrew baby and asked her servant to get a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby, and it turned out that the woman was Moses’s mother! So now Moses and her mother were reunited but under the protection of Pharaoh’s daughter.

We, of course, know the story of Moses as he fled Pharaoh’s Palace at the age of 40 after killing an Egyptian tormenting a Hebrew and at 80 had the experience of seeing the burning bush and after answering God’s call for his life, went on a subsequent 40-year journey where he rescued and brought 600,000 Hebrew slaves (not counting the women and children) out of Egypt, across the desert into Canaan, the Promised Land. Moses had a life that was a series of miracles fulfilling God’s plans and purposes for His people, including many miracles in confronting Pharoah and during the 40-year sojourn in the desert.

Perhaps our own lives may not be as miraculous or as miracles-filled as Moses’s life, but if we are older now, our parents would have lived through and survived the Japanese occupation of Malaya, where many were killed during WW2. Or the fight between the British and the Communists where many innocent lives were also lost in that tussle or the infamous May 13 racial riots. Or those difficult years in the 70s where Malaysia was still developing and life was much tougher than now. Or even these past few years, where, as of today, around 37,000 Malaysians have perished due to Covid-19.

God has a plan for each and every one of us. We are His square peg for His square hole in the Kingdom of God. All that we are today in our spiritual journey with Him, all that we have become in terms of our talents and giftings and experience in Him and at work, He has a plan for us in His glorious Kingdom. We are where we are today because God has placed us here for His glory. Like Paul, who was uniquely placed to reach out to the Gentiles beyond Judea, having grown up in the Greek-speaking world of Tarsus and yet schooled in Hebrew as he was a rabbi, we are all uniquely placed to fulfil God’s plans and purposes for our lives.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do reflect on our spiritual journey today and ask the Lord what is His calling for us at this season of our lives if we are not already living in the center of His will? The Lord has brought us this far with all of our life experiences and to this stage of our spiritual journey. Are we living out His destiny for us while we are still alive in this world?

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/28/stress-to-peace

If we needed to do something, whether in church or at work, there would be some pressure to do it well and thus there is stress. Naturally, we want to meet the expectations of those around us. There will be pressure to conform and to perform. The key, in my view, to doing well is preparation. The more we prepare and train for it, the better we will become, and that applies to work or ministry like leading worship or preaching from the pulpit or participating or leading a cell group discussion.

I just finished preaching a message in church last Sunday from Acts 9 on Paul’s road to Damacus experience. I had infused my own life experiences with God to illustrate His heart in choosing Paul, who was uniquely placed, to reach out to the Greek speaking world of the Gentiles, and for the first time in preaching, I ran out of time! I usually struggle to fill up the allocated time. Thus, in my spiritual journey in ministry, I have, in my own eyes, progressed in speaking even though as I had shared; I write, sing, and play the guitar better than I speak! In other words, I have now done better in preaching from the pulpit from the day I had to read from a prepared text to nowadays when I still write out my message, but I use the written text more as a prompter. I’m still a long way from preaching off the cuff, but I know I’m getting there! Was there stress in going up to the pulpit to preach? Yes, of course there was. But the more we prepare and the more we internalise, the better we will become. Also, the more we do and practice, the better we will become.

Besides work and ministry, another aspect of life that stresses us out is just the things and occurences happening around us. Life just revolving as we know it, the earth just turning on its axis as it journeys around the sun and as a result a day becomes the next and becomes a week, a month and a year. Life goes on, and time moves on. Thus, we worry about our future, our children and things like when will Christ come again and what are we doing preparing for His coming? Are we ready? Are our children and loved ones ready? If the great tribulation materialises, will we be able to stand firm for our faith like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Or will we crumble under the pressure of life and take the mark of the beast and bow down to the anti Christ?

Do not be anxious over anything – in all things present our requests to God, in prayer and supplication and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. That’s Paul in Philippian 4:6-7. In other words, trust God in every situation and thus, trust God that we and our loved ones will prevail in times of great tribulation that we will remain true to the faith until the day of Jesus Christ.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/27/hes-listening

The life story illustration in today’s ODB is Chuck Norris, the famous martial artist Hollywoood actor and world karate champion, who had worked with Bruce Lee, when the latter was at the peak of his career.

https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/chuck-norris-tells-how-gods-plan-was-bigger-than-his-own/

Chuck attributed his faith to the prayers of his mother, who constantly prayed for him. I also attribute my faith to the prayer of my late mother and later my late father, who both prayed for me and my family, especially those times when I used to travel abroad for work when my children were still young. I’ll say that the constant prayers of my late mum during those times kept me safe during all my travels. During those times, my parents also helped us take care of our boys while we were both busy with our jobs as we used to travel more than 100km daily from our home to the city to work.

As my children now have grown up with my elder one having already graduated from university and working, and my younger one halfway through his studies, I believe it is now the time for us to do what my parents used to do for my family – that is to pray for my children, particularly for my elder child who is working abroad. We need to constantly keep them in prayers as the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective (James 5:16).

Keep our righteousness before God, fulfil His percepts and laws in our hearts, maintain our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ until the day of Christ that we may all be blameless before His throne of grace; in the meantime, pray for our loved ones and those who need our prayers. Our prayers will be powerful and effective as we are righteous before God. The Lord will hear us out and fulfil our prayers in His time. Always pray and don’t give up. Pray for our children that they will keep the faith and remember God in all that they do. Pray for our loved ones that they will know God one day and will be saved.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/24/recognizing-gods-voice

One of the things we learned and practised in my previous church was to hear the voice of God. It is not an easy task, but we start by picking up the obvious from a passage of Scripture. Then we dwell deeper and ask more personal questions like what the Lord is really saying to me now? We try to relate to what we are going through and what God is saying, but in reference to the Scripture we are reading. As we do this daily and thus more and more, we will get better at it, and as we face challenging issues in life, we apply the same method and soon we will be hearing God’s voice speaking into our situation. The proof of the pudding is in the eating! To have the confidence to hear God’s voice in real-life situations that we are facing in real time, we need to start from the basics.

Like wolves being able to recognise howls of other wolves or orcas hearing and recognising the whistles of orcas in their pods, we can recognise the voice of the Lord as we are His sheep and He is our shepherd. As believers, we hold on to John 10:27-28, where Jesus says that my sheep hears my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. If we are His sheep, we will surely know His voice. But it does not come immediately, and neither will it come naturally; as to hear God’s voice, we need to enter into the spiritual realm and connect with God in the spirit. All that requires time and practice. But if we practice hard and do this daily, we will be good at it, and when it really matters, we will know and recognise His voice.

Recognising God’s voice doesn’t mean it is a treasure-hunt game of deciphering clues and knowing the next move. Jesus could tell us to make our own choices in life. He could tell us to follow where our hearts lead us. Or He could say things like if our heart is to serve Him, maybe this is the best decision for us. Maybe it’s not a bad idea to follow the Logos Hope ship around the world for a few years to serve God when we are still young, healthy and strong! https://www.om.org/ships/.

Hearing the voice of God is something real that every believer is blessed with, but it is something we need to develop to be accurate and sharp. As we get better, we can also pray for and help others to hear God’s voice for their unique situations. It can be as easy as the logical answer as per the tenets of our faith or based on a principle from the bible – for example, don’t do what King Saul did or do what Paul did in being determined to go to Jerusalem despite knowing they will likely execute him (see Acts 20). Or it could be grey and thus require wisdom from God or a word of knowledge and spiritual discernment.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/23/why-do-this

When we study in school or even university, we will wonder whether we will ever use the stuff we study. I did law, and thus, when I graduated and started practising, there were, of course, material we used immediately like the civil court rules. In fact, we were drafting pleadings based on court forms. My second son is doing computer science, and I’m sure the difficult maths and programming languages he is learning will be immediately used if he takes up an IT-related job later on.

This brings us to the question of the day – will we ever use the stuff we learn from the bible? When we learn about Paul, for example, how useful will such information be in real life? Or we study about the life of Abraham, will we get to use those facts?

I think when it comes to the Word of God, the approach is slightly different. The information we learnt we could always contribute as part of our participation in our cell group if a similar topic or a corresponding example ever arises. However, with the bible, bible knowledge is learning about God and His heart. Thus, even if we don’t get to reproduce the knowledge we have acquired, we have learnt about how God relates to His people. In the process, we have the assurance and confidence that He will treat us likewise. If He forgives in the bible, we know He will forgive us in our lives. If He intervenes into the natural in the bible, we know we can depend on Him to intervene in our situations. Perhaps He will give us similar chances that He gave Paul or John or David to have a comparable spiritual journey. If we are willing, our road to spiritual maturity and success will not be limited. God will give us all the opportunities that we desire if we want to serve Him and give our lives to Him.

Our faith is very much a relationship with God and Jesus Christ, our Lord, and His Word is the lamp that guides us along. As we read His Word, Jesus speaks to us. The Holy Spirit convicts us. We are strengthened and encouraged. As we read about Paul, we are astonished and admire his staying power and dedication to the cause of the Gospel, and we are inspired to do the same.

Study the Word, read about God and His interactions and love for His people. Nothing will be wasted or not useful. Everything that we have read and learnt from His Word will be useful in His time as all Scripture is God breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training for righteousness that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/22/permission-to-rest

I recall dealing with modern-day religious Jews in contract negotiations. As they hold Israeli passports, they couldn’t enter Malaysia, and thus, our face to face meetings were either held in Bangkok or Singapore. Besides kosher food, these religious Jews were strict adherents to observing their Shabbat, and thus, they will begin their journey back to Israel from Thursday night as Shabbat was from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. They will thus travel back to Asia on Sunday, and we will meet again to finalise the contract from Monday to Thursday. I recall having been fascinated by their exemplary dedication towards their day of rest. Of course, the Shabbat in the Jewish context is not just a day of rest but also a time to read the Scriptures with the family, a time to worship God.

Although as believers we were raised with the same Old Testament laws as the Jews, we do not take the observance of the Shabbat or Sabbath as religiously. However, for most of us, we do dedicate Sundays for God’s work in terms of going to church, worship, cell group meetings, and maybe stealing a moment of rest or two. But rather than rest, we are usually very busy with ministry and churchwork on Sundays. Sometimes, we use Sunday evenings to catch up with friends and family or do visitations.

In our modern-day work, which at times requires us to attend to work matters, even on weekends, it is good whenever possible to just have moments of rest on Saturdays and Sundays to just stay home and spend time with family. It may not be possible to enforce a full day since we are busy on Sundays with church, and usually Saturdays are filled with practices for Sundays; we should nevertheless try whenever possible to just chill at home for some patches of time. Maybe cook a meal together or do some cleaning at home or gardening. For those days without church activities on a Saturday, perhaps Saturday could be our day of rest. A day to spend time with God and family. To recharge before the work week starts again on Monday.

Our Heavenly Father, when He did the work of creation, completed it in 6 days, and He rested on the 7th day. He had appointed one day as a day of rest. We should likewise have our own day of rest, and if our circumstances permit, we should emulate the religious Jews who religiously adhere to and keep their Shabbat. If we can’t, just enforce for ourselves some period of rest, perhaps Saturday mornings and afternoons? Or even Sunday afternoons? Have a time of rest with family and use it to fellowship and worship God within the confines of our homes.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/21/spiritual-renewal

As we grow older, we can not avoid but notice that there are changes to our bodies. We do things slightly slower. We think not as fast as we used to. Also, we have less stamina. When we could spend a whole day packing up and moving house when young, we tire after a few hours now. In addition, we started to have long-term illnesses like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, etc. Some of our illnesses require long-term medication. Our hairline is also thinning, and our muscles are not as strong as they used to be.

But in 2 Corinthians 4:14-16, Paul encourages us that while our external bodies are getting weaker, our spiritual man is getting stronger. We are being renewed daily while on earth in preparation for our eternity in heaven. That’s because as we grow in maturity in the Lord, our spirit man is strengthened and grows likewise. We get stronger by the day. Paul also reminds us that whatever sufferings we go through now can not compare to the glory that awaits us in Christ Jesus. The time will come when we will get to live the Revelation 21 experience in the new heaven and earth and the new Jerusalem. Eden on earth again, as seen by John and recorded in Revelation 22. Hallelujah!

Just a word of caution, though. Will our spirit man grow if we are isolated and only worship God in the privacy of our personal space, whether in church or at home? Whether spending time with God in our quiet time, meditating upon His Word day and night, interacting with Jesus in prayer helps us to grow our inner spiritual being? I’m sure it will!

But I think that actually serving God is equally important. We can not exercise our faith in isolation to our surroundings without meeting the needs of the people around us. Faith without good works is dead, so says James in his book at chapter 2 verse 14. Our personal dedication to God must go hand in hand with our service for Him as ultimately the fruit of the Spirit needs to be manifested in our good works. Salvation is by grace and not by works, but once we are saved, we need to have good works to reflect our gratefulness and thankfulness to God for His salvation and sacrifice for us on the cross.

Worship God, read His Word daily, study, and meditate it. Pray for others. Serve God in church and ministries. Attend our cell group to participate and contribute our thoughts and ideas. Cook a meal for our home fellowship. Help feed the poor and the hungry. Go out there into the streets to give away tracts. Preach the Gospel, help others. Do meaningful stuff for Christ. Even in our old age, serve the Lord.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/20/catching-contentment

Psalm 131 gives us a picture of contentment in the form of a child weaned of his mother’s milk. This means the child has had his heart’s content of his mother’s milk and is now truly satisfied. He is ready for other food. Solid food.

In the spiritual context, Psalm 131 can speak of us having been weaned off spiritual milk and is now ready for the more meaty spiritual stuff. We may need to contend with more difficult questions confronting us or our church or community. Bigger challenges in the spiritual realm. Basically, our spiritual lives are no longer just personal matters. We should start caring for and pray for matters affecting others in general. Health challenges faced by others in our congregation. National issues faced by our country’s leadership. We need to step out of our own private circle and start to pray for bigger matters and issues.

But contentment also speaks of ourselves in our quest for our personal goals and aspirations. Are we happy with what we have? If we want more, does that mean we are not contented? If we are already satisfied, does that mean we are already contented and thus will not strive for more? In order to progress, we need to strive for more, to work harder for the next level, whether in our spiritual lives, in ministry, or our careers.

I think the key to all this is to be contented with what we have and yet want to progress further. We need to continuously improve ourselves, and yet we are contented that if this is the best God has for us, we are happy not to go further. But if God wants us to stretch a bit more, we will nevertheless go ahead and do more. The important thing I believe with contentment is to be happy with what we are and what we have where we are. Be thankful and grateful to God. Sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labour. There is no need to keep on striving and keep on accumulating that we forget to enjoy what we have achieved. Be contented. Yet if God calls, we move on again. We do not want to be lazy and just rest on our laurels and not improve ourselves when an opportunity comes. But perhaps contentment means we don’t work so hard looking for that next opportunity!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/03/19/brother-saul

Are you like Ananias? Are you afraid of your calling? Jesus spoke to Ananias in a vision to go to Saul as Saul already had a vision that a man named Ananias would come and restore his sight. Yet Ananias was afraid and hesitant because Saul’s reputation had preceded him. He was known as a persecutor of the believers and had authority from the High Priest to arrest and bring them back to Jerusalem. But Christ assured Ananias that all will be well. Ananias took the step of faith, and in the years to follow, Saul, also known as Paul in Greek, became the force that propelled the Gospel forth to all Judea and across the Greek-speaking world of the Roman empire. Paul also fleshed out the detailed basis for the theology of the church as he wrote 13-14 of the 27 New Testament books. You will also notice that a lot of the pages in the book of Acts from Acts 9 onwards are dedicated to the missionary exploits and ministry of Paul.

I was also afraid of my calling when I was younger. I was afraid as someone had taught me that I had to choose between my career and my calling. But in the past 30 to 40 years, I had continued working while serving God in parallel. Over time, the fear disappeared and was replaced with the joy of serving. There was a patch of around 6 years when we used to travel 150km a Sunday (to and fro) to serve in music and minister in Word to a small congregation of believers. The thing is that we still own the same car that we used to travel on those days! It is now a 20-year-old workhorse! In those days, when we were travelling for church and work, we used to dream about owning a weekend home in the city. It was only much later that we managed to acquire another place in the city, and from last year, we started using that as our weekday home!

I think like Ananias, we need not be afraid of our calling in God. Just continue at it, and eventually, Jesus will find us an equilibrium that we are comfortable with. Jesus need not force Ananias to go to Saul at Judas’s house on Straight Street. Ananias hesitated for a moment but went ahead anyway and became the first person from the believers then to meet and heal the man who eventually became one of the greatest suferrer and also the most brilliant living testimony of Christ.

Pursue that calling God has placed in our hearts. Do not be afraid. God will give us the assurance and the rest, and we will find our joy in serving Him.

Today also marks the first anniversary of my dad’s passing. He is dearly missed by all of us who are still living, and we cherish those memories of him that are still etched in our minds, especially our last Chinese New Year celebrations together in 2022.