https://odb.org/2023/10/13/yielding-to-trust

That the LORD is our rock and salvation, and deliverer is a common phrase used by the Psalmists to describe God as someone whom they place their hopes on. Isiah 26: 1-4 is no different.

Thus, seeing an icy fog turn into a sunny morning looks like an impossibility, but nature has a strange way of surprising us. In Malaysia, we could experience a gloomy, rain filled day turning into a bright sunny day too, although usually once there was rain the temperature is slightly lower and thus once in a while, we in tropical Malaysia could experience a cool breeze despite the sun shining brightly. It’s not a common occurrence like in a cold climate country but nevertheless it happens.

Even as nature, created by God, points to changing weather, we whose spiritual father is our Heavenly Father can trust in the LORD that our lives will not be hard and difficult all the time and all the way. The gloom will turn bright. There will be a rainbow 🌈 that reflects God’s glory in our lives, and one day, we will find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Strive on and work hard. Put our trust in the LORD. The day will come when we may put our struggles behind us and be thankful that we persevered on in the LORD. Don’t give up hope or trust in other gods or look to other spiritual forces. Put our full and complete trust in Jesus Christ and continue our walk in this journey of faith that will lead us to a life of eternity with God.

I like to end today’s message with Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.“

https://odb.org/2023/10/12/knowing-and-loving-2

I heard the story of Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:1-10) preached once in my local church by a senior pastor and was very touched. I found it fascinating and was very impressed that David, after becoming king, sought to bless the grandson of the previous king, who was all out trying to stop David’s ascension. In fact, Saul was out to kill David just because the latter was already anointed by Samuel to be the next king. David had two opportunities to kill Saul himself, as seen in the Scriptures, but didn’t want his own destiny sealed by his own hands. David was the one who coined the famous phrase, “Do not harm the LORD’s anointed.” In other words, David was saying, if I am to be king, I will be king in accordance with God’s timing and will, not through my own doing.

The kindness and compassion shown by David towards Mephibosheth can be traced to a pact made by Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan, with David to stand with him despite his own father’s desire to kill David. In fact, in one episode, when Jonathan defended David in words, Saul threw a spear at him. David remembered all this, and when Jonathan was killed in battle with Saul, David mourned his death and was filled with deep sorrow.

The story of David vis-a-vis Mephibosheth is a beautiful picture of how God remembers us and redeems us despite our wretchedness and sin. Despite all we lost spiritually as we remained outside His Kingdom, God, in His grace and compassion, restored to us our inheritance in the saints. Christ is able and will restore all that the locusts have devoured. We who were crippled by sin like Mephibosheth will find restoration in God. Like Mephibosheth and David, we will always have a place at the table with Christ. We are now sons and daughters of God, co-heirs with Christ.

I think the lesson for us this morning is to be like David and show those around us kindness, grace, and compassion, especially those who were with us or stood with us in the past. I think the worst thing we could ever do as a believer is to forget those who had helped or supported us in the past. Seriously, we don’t want to be rebuked like the ungrateful servant Jesus spoke about before (Matthew 18:21-35). If Jesus took the trouble to teach that, it must be something very dear to His heart.

https://odb.org/2023/10/11/open-the-eyes-of-my-heart

Whenever I lead my Young Adults Group in bible study, I will start by praying that our Heavenly Father will open our minds to understand His Word and open our hearts to receive what He is teaching us in our spirit. Ultimately, as He reveals the mysteries of His kingdom to us, we will work with Him to fulfil His will for our lives.

Paul sought something similar for the Ephesians when he asked God to give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they may know Him better. He prayed that the eyes of their hearts may be enlightened that they may know the hope to which He had called them, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people (Ephesians 1:18).

We got to know Jesus Christ and accepted Him into our life when the Holy Spirit removed the scales in our eyes to see and understand Him. It is by the revelation of the Holy Spirit that we embraced His salvation and understood the power of His death and resurrection. Thus, it is only through the spirit of wisdom and revelation that we will be able to dwell deeper into the truths of His Word and know Him better. In the process, we will learn and discover His will for us, the plans and purposes that He had prepared for us before the foundations of the world. The mysteries of the Kingdom and the knowledge of the power of His resurrection can only be opened to us with the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Seek out and ask God, like Paul did for the Ephesians, that He grants us the spirit of wisdom and revelation that we may understand more of the spiritual realm, how to apply spiritual principles in our natural life and through it all, know Him better. His Word is a treasure trove filled with the riches of the mysteries of His Kingdom. May we immerse ourselves in the study of His Word and discover more of Him and enrich our lives with His glorious inheritance for the saints! Surely, in the process, we will be storing our treasures and riches in heaven in preparation for our life in eternity to be lived with God one day!

https://odb.org/2023/10/10/hope-for-the-hurting

Everyone has been hurt before. That’s part and parcel of human interactions. In fact, we get hurt more by the people who are close to us – our parents and siblings, our work colleagues. So we carry scars. Sometimes, these hurts lead to the buildup of resentment and anger. Coupled with external stress from studies, work, and peer pressure, as well as the need to sometimes keep up with the Joneses, all these can lead to a recipe for disaster.

I was just speaking with a major software supplier yesterday who is based in Singapore. He mentioned that it is not publicised for obvious reasons, but youth suicides are increasingly prevalent there. In his apartment complex in the East Coast, there is like one case every 6 months, and he even knew one family who had to go through this ordeal. Our conclusion is that as parents, we can not lock up our children in their rooms, and perhaps a key to alleviating the situation is to communicate with our children more so that pent-up frustrations and hurts may be surfaced and talked over. I personally think that this is particularly crucial for women who generally like to speak up and should be given all the opportunity to do so. As for men who are more reserved, they should be encouraged to talk about their sorrows and disappointments and hurts.

As believers, we have God whom we may cry out to. Psalm 6 is a perfect example of David venting his fears and frustrations unto the LORD, knowing and believing that God will deliver him from his enemies and predicament.

For the sake of our mental health, speak to someone and to God in prayer. Vent our frustrations. Don’t let our hurts fester. Forgive and be compassionate with others, and move on with life. There is much to be done in the Kingdom of God!

In my discussions with my supplier, we both agreed that it only takes a minute of madness, and it’s all over. We must do all we can not to allow that minute to ever come by.

https://odb.org/2023/10/09/slow-fashioned-grace

Have you ever bought a genuine Polo Ralph Lauren shirt or t-shirt? I bought one at a factory outlet at a significant discount 15 years back in Sydney during a company trip. Recently, in my family trip to Melbourne, I dropped by a Ralph Lauren factory outlet and saw the same shirt there! The thing about Ralph Lauren is that their fashion remains the same throughout the years and seasons. There are definitely changes in terms of colours and materials, but they are slow and gradual. This means that a Ralph Lauren shirt bought years back will not go out of fashion today.

That reminds me of Jesus and God as they are the same yesterday, today, and in the days to come. The LORD of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament.

The second thing about the slow fashion of Ralph Lauren, as highlighted in today’s ODB, is that it reflects Jesus’s grace and the transformation power of the Holy Spirit. When God works in our lives, if we let Him, it also takes time. Change comes over months and years. It is never forced or make-believe. Genuine change takes time, and it becomes second nature, part of our life and personality and character. Over time, we have become our new self, a self sanctified by the blood of Christ and refined and purified by the Holy Spirit. We are spiritually empowered with authority in the spiritual realm. While we were selfish in the past, we are more selfless now. We are able to forgive and love our neighbours more than before, much more than in the past. Our tolerance for wrongs towards us is much higher. We have now come to terms with our destiny in Christ. Our dreams and ambitions are now alligned with God’s plans and purposes for our lives. We are actively pursuing good works and storing up riches in heaven where rust and moth can not destroy or the thief is not able to steal. Our inheritance in the Kingdom of God is intact, and one day, we will get our crown of glory from our Lord Jesus Christ!

Keep up the good work and continue on this path of righteousness. Continue to allow God to mould and transform us. One day, we will indeed be like Christ!

https://odb.org/2023/10/08/wisdom-we-need

Proverbs 4 teaches that we should follow the path of wisdom as it is like the morning sun, shining brighly till the full day of light. Contrast with the way of the wicked, which is like deep darkness for they do not know what makes them stumble. In the way of wisdom, our paths are straight – when we walk, we will not be hampered, and when we run, we will not stumble.

Thus, when left to the wickedness of humans, the cost to human lives and property might become irrelevant. World War I was a good example that despite knowing that wartime will unleash a new wave of diseases, the western nations went to war, and as a result, it is estimated that 50 million died from the ensuing epidemic on top of the 20 million killed as a direct result of the war. In our present context, we witnessed Hamas unleashing nearly 5,000 rockets into Israel yesterday, killing 250 Israelis, and when Israel retaliates, thousands more will die. So what do Hamas and the people behind them seek to achieve by starting this war? Do they intend to chase the Jews back to the ends of the earth? Or why is the US conducting a proxy war with Russia by prolonging the war and causing turmoil in the world economy the same way it has caused havoc in the chip industry by sanctioning China to prevent the latter from advancing further in technology. They promote free trade when it benefits them. Otherwise, they will destroy you like they did to Iraq.

When Jesus came, He postulated different terminology for the same thing. Instead of wisdom and wickedness, Jesus used the narrow and wide paths. The former leads to eternal life, while the latter leads to destruction. It is less about prosperity in this life but more of what awaits us in our afterlife. Be afraid of He who is able to destroy both body and soul – Matthew 10:28.

In whatever we do, always choose the narrow path that leads to eternal life. The other way is the way of the wicked that is like deep darkness. It is a way that we will not know what stumbles us. It’s a downward spiral that leads us deeper and deeper into sin and destruction that after some time, we will not be able to distinguish right from wrong. It is a slippery slope to an abyss of deep darkness that will eventually destroy our soul if left unchecked.

https://odb.org/2023/10/06/what-could-be-better

Indeed, what could be better than serving the one and only living God? He is after all the creator of heaven and earth and everything in them. He was there at the beginning and will be here at the end of time.

We all know that the Christian faith can not be practised in isolation. Yes, it is a relationship between you and God. Yet, it is also a relationship of service for God that involves interaction with others. That is why every believer should attend church and get busy there in whatever capacity, whether as an usher or a musician, in the AV department or in follow-up or hospital visitations or even in grieving ministry or as an intercessor. Or if we have a calling, we can be a missionary while holding on to our full-time job. In fact, for closed countries, the best way to be a missionary for Christ is to apply for a job and work there in those closed countries.

There are bound to be sacrifices when we allocate our time, especially weekends, to serve God. We may not have enough time left to pursue certain hobbies. But it is common for believers to mostly revolve their lives around their family, work, and church. Nothing spectacular. Most believers have been doing that for years. It is in serving that we see our faith in action. It is in our service that we see God inpacting the lives of others. As others are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, we likewise get transformed ourselves.

I will end with 1 Timothy 4:16 – “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. ” Clearly, when we serve God, both we and the people we serve will benefit. In the process, our Lord Jesus Christ will be pleased with us. Thus, what could be better than serving the one and only living God?

https://odb.org/2023/10/05/ready-to-go-2

“For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” is one of the most well-known sayings of Paul (Philippians 1:21), which, to me, is probably the epitome of what our faith is all about. This is because when we pass on, we know that we will be with Christ in heaven, and one day, we will be resurrected with our glorified bodies (like Christ on His resurrection 3 days after dying on the cross for our sins). We will also live in the new heaven and new earth as revealed to John in Revelation 21. That is why in Christian funerals, although we grieve, it is actually a joyous occasion for the departed as they will be with their Saviour. For those of us in the faith, that’s our ultimate goal in life – to be with God and reunited with our loved ones who had departed earlier in Christ.

But in all honesty, not everyone is possibly as confident as Paul of their ultimate destination. We know the spiritual principles of Christ having saved us. We know that we are justified by faith. We know that salvation is by grace. Yet we might be afraid to see Christ face to face. Maybe because we feel we are not ready. We may feel that we have not done enough for God to fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives. Or we may worry about the people we leave behind, our loved ones, our sheep, our congregation, our work and colleagues, and friends. That is also why in Christian funerals, we minister to those who are left behind, the friends and family grieving for those who had passed on.

Thus, I think, as much as we want to be able to say, like Paul, that “to die is gain,” we should focus on “to live is Christ.” If to live for us is indeed Christ, then the time will come when at our dying breadth, we will genuinely be able to confidently say to die is gain. We are confident approaching Christ on judgment day at the Bema judgment seat of Christ that we have done all we could to fulfil His plans and purposes for us and to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul and mind, and love our neighbour as ourselves. Remember, James had already warned us before – faith without works (good works) is dead (James 2:17). Salvation is by grace and may be free, but our Saviour has to sacrifice His life for us. Therefore, we need to carry our cross and be a living sacrifice unto God that is holy and acceptable to Him (Romans 12:1).

https://odb.org/2023/10/04/finding-life-2

I was fascinated by Jesus the day I started reading the English-Malay New Testament that was on the bookshelf of my home. I think I was probably around 9 or 10. It was only when I was 14 that I started taking classes on Jesus Christ that I finally accepted Christ into my life. I have now known and served God for 40 years, and I can testify to His goodness in the well-being of those dearest to me, my beloved wife, and my two boys who are now young adults. My family is indeed testimony that with God in our lives, we have indeed become better from a socio-economic perspective. For example, both my boys have enjoyed stints overseas for their studies when I myself only barely scrapped through entering a local university, something that would have been impossible if not for some government assistance. Back then, my family just had enough for our daily living.

It is also true that after I accepted Christ, my sister, father and mother followed suit, thus affirming Acts 16:31 – believe in the Lord Jesus, you and your household will be saved. Since those days, my family and I have served God in various capacities, and I can testify that both my parents have done so until their dying breadth here on earth.

This journey of Godly blessings in a life lived for God, and His purposes however begins with a personal confession of turning away from sin and accepting Jesus Christ into my life as my personal Saviour and Lord. It is personal to me and is personal to everyone in the family, and yet the blessings of God flow to all. It is my prayer and hope that my two sons will likewise perpetuate this legacy of faith that the hand of God will continue to be with our family for generations to come.

If any of you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ into your lives and you want to do so, pray and confess the following sinner’s prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’s name, I pray.

Make it personal as it has to be a personal confession and prayer in order that we may indeed find life in God, living for eternity with God one day.

For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him shall not perish but have life eternal (John 3:16).

https://odb.org/2023/10/03/i-can-see-you

While it is great to aspire to see Jesus face to face one day and live with Him in the new heaven and new earth at the end of time, we should be thankful that the Holy Spirit has removed the scales from our eyes that we are able to grasp and understand spiritual truths and the mysteries of the Kingdom. It is because of the latter that we are now professed children of God, seeing Jesus through eyes of faith and seeing Him transform our lives for the better even while we are still on earth in this earthen vessel.

We may not be Moses, who had the privilege of knowing God face to face or even the 12 disciples and those whom Jesus had ministered to in person during that era. We may not have the same privilege like Paul learning from Jesus personally in the spirit for nearly 3 whole years and has seen things in the spiritual that can not be spoken about. Or even John, who was given the honour to see and write down things to come at the end of time. There would have been many who had seen Jesus or Father God in dreams and visions. In our simple faith, we are able to believe and put our hope and trust in Him.

The truth is that our faith is simple but is not blind. It is not without basis. We do experience Jesus working in our lives. We experience His reality as we cast our cares and anxieties upon Him. As we pray and commit our work, He gives us ideas and solutions. He blesses the work of our hands. He is compassionate to forgive us for our transgressions and sins and helps us overcome the consequences of our mistakes. Because of God in our lives, our future generations will be better off in this world as has been proven all over the world. There are real and tangible benefits in the natural knowing God, although the greatest is still our life eternal.

As we get off to work or college or school today, be thankful and appreciative that our eyes have already seen Jesus, even if it is only in the spiritual realm. Thank God for opening our eyes and revealing to us Himself, His Son and His Holy Spirit, and the mysteries of the Kingdom. May our faith and spiritual life be strengthened each day as we allow Him to mould and transform us into the masterpiece He had created in us before the foundations of the world!