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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

https://odb.org/2023/10/23/i-surrender

A phrase that we often hear is that God will help those who help themselves. There is wisdom in that in the sense that we need to act in order for God to act. We need to put in the work to see the results. It is conventional wisdom, but it is not biblical. This is because our faith in God is a relationship. Who we are in God is by His grace. We can not work for our salvation. The Psalmists knew this as they advised: trust in the LORD and do good (Psalm 37:3) and commit your way to the LORD (Psalm 37:5). Thus, it is biblical to say that the Lord will help those who trust and put their faith in Him. As we commit our lives to Him, He will protect and take care of us.

In addition, I will say that the Lord will help us because we belong to Him. In the days of old, the LORD protected Israel because they were His people, and He was their God. He helped them win their wars and battles because they were His people. We just heard during yesterday’s sermon that the key to victory for Israel is to put their trust in God, to cling to Him. That was the advice given by Joshua in his old age, having been given the task to take over from Moses at a young age to spearhead the Israelites’ entry into Canaan, incidentally the site of the current Israeli-Hamas war. Joshua had led Israel to many victories by placing his trust in God.

In present times, what we call the era of the church, we have been redeemed by Christ and are now seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6). Our spirit is born again, and in the spiritual realm, we have a place with Christ. We have now been given the privilege to be called sons and daughters of God, co-heirs with Christ. We belong to God. We are family to Him. That’s why Jesus Himself taught – will a father who loves you give you stone when you ask for bread? Or a serpent when you ask for fish? See Luke 11:11-13.

Rest assured, my dear brothers and sisters. The LORD our God, who created the heavens and earth, will help and protect us if we put our faith and trust in Him. He will make our paths straight as we commit our lives unto Him. He loves us, each and every one of us, dearly. We are His as we belong to Him. Redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. He is our shepherd and we His sheep. He is our God, and we are His.

https://odb.org/2023/10/20/in-the-garden-3

Most of us would have heard about the Garden of Eden even if we were not yet in the faith. There is a creation story in most cultures and civilisations. Except that in the biblical one, perhaps the difference is that it shows what it would have been if sin had not crashed in. It is a picture of perfection where humans lived in complete harmony with nature, only to be later shattered by sin. In Eden, man need not toil the ground. The ground itself produces all man needed to live – food for nourishment, beauty for the senses, and peace for the soul.

While sin and Satan broke that beautiful picture and led to man being banished out of Eden, Jesus Christ, the second Adam, mended our relationship with God and reconciled man back to God. He broke the veil.

We still live in this broken world with war, tears, and sorrow, and where the ground is still cursed. We need to toil hard for its produce, but most importantly, we are denied access to the tree of life. Our human bodies will die and rot away, returning to earth – from dust to dust. But the day will come when we who are in the faith, who believed in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Lamb of God who died for our sins, will get to live in Eden recreated in the new heaven and new earth. We will be in our glorified bodies and will then be able to partake of the tree of life. The ground will no longer be cursed. No more tears and sorrow and death. No more wars. Our souls will be at peace.

It’s not a dream or a fantasy. It’s a reality that we will possess one day if we hold on tightly to the faith and live a life of righteousness. We who already have our names written in the book of life need to make sure our names remain there until the end of time. Salvation may be by the grace of God by faith, meaning that we can not on our strength and virtue work for our salvation. But as humans with free will, we may lose it if we persistently ignore or go against Him. Don’t be Adam reincarnated.

https://odb.org/2023/10/19/first-on-the-list

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus tells us to seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. If you read the preceeding verses, Jesus’s argument is that if God takes care of the birds and the flowers and the grass, will He not take care of us, His children whom He loves. So don’t go chasing after all these earthly riches like the non-believers do, but instead put God first, and He will make sure we will have the things we need to survive this life. He knows what we need.

In my view, what Jesus meant is not for us to not work and let God bring manna down from heaven to feed us. Life challenges are real. We need to work hard at our jobs and be the best that we can be at what we do. Put in the hours, learn the business, or trade and acquire the skill to do well. Do not be calculative over work. The more we do, the more we will benefit. Practice makes perfect. Exposure gives us experience and discernment and wisdom.

But in all that we do, put God first. Have integrity and do what is right. Focus on God and His righteousness even as we go through our list of tasks. Ask Him for His strength. A couple of days ago, someone consulted me about what to do. He was organising a trip and has collected all the money already. It is a few weeks away. Just to take his chance, he asked the AirBnB owner for a discount, and totally unexpectedly, the owner agreed. So he asked me, “Should he pass on the discount to his friends?” If it’s all confirmed and he actually receives a refund from the owner for the discount, that should be the right thing to do. Later, he texted me that he passed on the discount to everyone.

The above was not a work example but a real-life example that I experienced recently. But it’s illustrative of what we should do at work. For example, if we come across some information that could help our colleagues in their work, should we tell or keep it to ourselves? Maybe we do not want to tell so that our colleagues do not outshine us?

Put God and His righteousness first, and all these things shall be given unto us. The principle is real, and as we practice it, we will see it come to pass. Amen!

https://odb.org/2023/10/18/use-what-you-have-2

When I read Acts 9:36-46 of Peter raising Tabitha (or Dorcas in Greek) from the dead, I felt there were similarities with the story of Jesus raising the little girl from the dead, the 12-year old daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:35-43). In fact, this similarly occurred in ancient times when Elisha raised the Shunammite’s son from the dead in 2 Kings 4:18-37. Certain events are repeated throughout generations to the glory of God to demonstrate God’s power, compassion, and grace. Thus, it is true that as His disciples, we will be able to do what He did, in fact more (John 14:12).

But when we look at the story of Tabitha, what comes forth is also her dedication to the poor and widows with the clothes and robes she had sown for them. She used her talents for the good of others. When she died due to illness, they were really sad and grieved for her. The disciples sent for Peter, hoping he could do something, and lo and behold, he raised her from the dead!

I feel the message this morning is that as much as we may be able to do greater works than Jesus Christ (except, of course, His redemption of the sins of humankind on the cross), we should first use our talents and gifts to benefit others, especially the poor and the widows. Do what we can to help people in need or at least support charities or organisations that do so. The spiritual principle is that as God showed us mercy and grace by calling us to be His children, we must likewise show mercy and grace to others as a measure of our gratitude to God for giving us the gift of salvation. Current events point to the imminent second coming of Christ. Do good works and live a life of righteousness while waiting for Christ to return and take us with Him.

I like to end today’s devotional commentary with John 9:4 where Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him who sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”

https://odb.org/2023/10/17/our-anchor-2

The longstanding conflict between the Palestinians and Israel, in a nutshell, is basically the former clinging on to a hope of returning to the 1947 borders and land despite the passage of 76 years with more than 7 million Jews already settled in and having developed Israel into one of the most advanced countries in the world. The Muslim world, in particular, countries backing the militants in Gaza and the West Bank and those based in Lebanon, could not accept the status quo mandated by the United Nations in 1948 and thus any peace that emerges once the current Israeli-Hamas war ends, will not last. This chain of events has been predicted in the book of Revelation and will herald the return of Christ, which, like the current expected ground invasion of Gaza, may be imminent, perhaps over the next 20 years or so, or as some predict within the human lifetime of the birth of the nation of Israel.

The Palestinian hope that fuels the uprising and the militant groups is unrealistic and not likely achievable. This is because, as declared by Iran, it involves the total annihilation of the state of Israel.

However, we have a hope that is built upon Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, having already pierced the veil and have become our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek – see Hebrews 6:20. Our hope is real and eternal.

No one except the Father knows when Christ will come again. The events of the past week in Israel, however, suggest that this may not be too far away into the future. He may come and rapture us as believers (together with those who died in Christ before us) in accordance with 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, or we may have to go through the great tribulation prior to the rapture as some believe.

As much as we need to work to continue to live and to plan for our future and old age, don’t ever forget the Lord and be prepared for a change in human history that we all know will come. It may well be within our lifetimes! Place our hope in Jesus Christ, our rock, and our salvation! Our hope is real, genuine, and realistic. Amen!

https://odb.org/2023/10/15/gods-unexpected-ways

I can relate very well to Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 1:27 that God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. The truth is that in the Kingdom of God, one may be eloquent, articulate, and funny when preaching the Word, and that works well with most congregations. But even if we are not like that, we can still preach the Word because the Spirit of God can still work in the congregation through a less eloquent preacher. This is because in preaching, what really matters is the message we bring. Is the Word the Word of the season? Is there some prophetic slant to it? Is God telling us something that can make a genuine change in our lives, transform us, cause a paradigm shift in the way we look or approach God? An eloquent speaker will, of course, bring forth the message better, but a simple and plain speaking one can also do so as ultimately our reception to a Word depends also on the heart of the listener. In fact, what we do with the Word depends on the condition of our hearts – Jesus taught a whole parable on this point.

Thus, as believers, we need not look at our weaknesses or inadequacies or natural limitations when doing God’s work. Prepare and put in time and effort. We will get better over time as we do it more. Like sharing the Gospel. It is intimidating at first. We are unsure how to broach the topic. We are probably unprepared for all the difficult questions. But if we just start by sharing our testimony, it’s already an excellent start. Even in preaching or sharing from the pulpit, our personal experience and encounters make our message real. Not just an exposition of Scriptures but a living out of the living Word of God, our faith in action in the real world.

Don’t despise ourselves if we think we are one of those foolish things of the world. Be humble and respond in faith as God calls us. Move out in faith. Pray for the sick. Pray out loud for our friends when they face challenges. Pray to our Heavenly Father for them. Uphold them to God that they may also experience His supernatural interventions into the natural.

In my recent overseas trip, a friend gave me a bottle of red wine. At the check-in counter, I realised that I couldn’t bring it through immigration. So I had to check it on or finish it all before going through immigration! Of course, the only choice was the former. We were worried that the bottle would break and ruin all my clothes. Then, someone among us who is yet a believer said, “Pray, pray that the bottle will not break.” That’s the obvious answer. Why worry when we can place our hope in God? In the end, praise the Lord that the bottle made it through intact!