https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/11/the-source

A fundamental teaching that Jesus introduced which is logical to us now but considered radical at that time was the question of what defiles us. The Jews have the concept of not eating certain food as these are considered unclean. Till today, religious Jews only eat Kosher food and have separate kitchens for diary and non-diary food. Like the Muslims, they are particular about food, just more particular.

However, as believers, Jesus taught that what defiles us is not what goes into our bodies but what comes out. While that is true in the spiritual sense as taught by Jesus, we have to be aware that what goes into our bodies may still physically be harmful to us although it doesn’t defile us spiritually. So drugs can kill us. Alcohol will affect our liver. Red meat is bad for our heart and blood stream. Sugar may lead to diabetes. Smoking will destroy our lungs.

The source of our defilement lies in the fact that we are sinners due to the first sin by Adam. But as Jesus died for our sins, we are now free from the sting of sin which is death. We will still die and yet we live because we have eternal life in Christ. As God has put eternity in our hearts, we will have eternity in Christ Jesus. We have an inheritance in God that we can realise even here on earth as we go deeper into Christ and His Word as we fulfil His plans and purposes for our life.

Thus, at the most basic level, we are sinners and yet as wretched a sinner we are, God saw it fit to call us His own through His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the end, we are the ones that will defile ourselves. What lies within us will defile us. Our evil thoughts, vengeance, hatred will defile us. What comes out of our hearts and not what we eat that will defile us spiritually. No matter what rituals we perform (in the olden days) or how many church services we attend (in the present context) can redeem us if we don’t allow the blood of Christ to cleanse and His Holy Spirit to transform our hearts.

“Create us O Lord a clean heart each day that we may see Your face as we worship You and bow before You”. Being a believer is the real deal. Pretense is useless, it will divert us from the narrow path. Our faith must be real and genuine. Our hearts must be for God. That’s the crux of the matter, the raison d’etre of our faith. It must stand the test of time and life!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/10/legacy-of-friends

Even if we are living in an isolated place deep in the jungle away from civilisation, we will in most likelihood still have a friend in the form of a pet cat or dog. But if there are nomadic or jungle living people near us like the Orang Asal, they will likely then be our friends. As human beings, we cannot avoid having friends no matter how insular or how an introvert we are. Friends come with life. In fact it’s a necessity in life.

Thus wounds from a friend can be trusted, while an enemy multiplies kisses (Proverbs 27:6), speaking that ultimately it is the sincerity of the heart that matters. Your enemy is the one who speaks with sweetness of honey but wishes evil and misfortune for you. As a believer, we may not believe such people exist but they do. A friend is thus someone who may correct not with sugar coated words, but in his heart wishes us progress, peace and happiness. A friend will be happy for us to see us succeed in life. No envy or malice, just pure and sincere joy and pride that someone we know has done well.

What’s interesting in today’s ODB message which I like to highlight is not only the importance of friends but the importance of being a friend. As we know the goodness of having friends, we must in turn be that true and sincere friend to our friends. Be someone our friends can trust and count on. Be a friend that will want to see the success and victory in our friends. Be that someone who will be a shoulder to cry on in times of sadness and disappointment. A comforter in times of grief. An encourager in times of failure. Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice (Proverbs 26:9). And thus it is “better a neighbour nearby than a relative far away” (Proverbs 26:10).

This morning remember to be that neighbour friend to our friends and speak with sincerity of heart wishing the best for our friends. Be a good friend that others may see the glory of God shining forth from within us.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/09/wise-or-unwise

When I first started out as a believer we had this issue of whether we should listen to secular music. Not just pop music but any genre. Of course as a musician, I didn’t quite take that to heart but neither did I get seriously into pop or other music. Over the years I found the genre I liked most – and in the end, I still play and sing mostly worship songs. Not because I have anything against secular music, it’s just that my role and calling in the church necessitated that I play worship songs and thus that’s what I ended up doing the same way as I play and sing mostly in the key of G and A, with the occasional C, D, E or even F keys. Do I have anything against Bb or Eb? No! But as a guitarist, those are more difficult keys to play although a capo will solve the problem quite easily. A pianist will not understand this struggle of a guitarist but throw a pianist the key of B or even C# and they might run all over! 😀😀😀

After going through those Charismatic movement aspersions, fears and even prejudice towards anything worldly, we now realise that we are very much part of the world and we need to know the world to relate to them. Not listening or playing worldly music, or watching TV programmes or going to the cinema or even reading secular books is actually quite self defeating. We are just limiting the scope of our perspective, knowledge and skills (in the context of a musician). That’s quite unimaginable in the current world of YouTube and Google! Although it is true that the world and television and other media have a powerful negative subtle influence on us, we should always hold on to the Word that, “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world”. Jesus in us is stronger and as we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us by the renewing of our mind, we will not conform to the pattern of this world. We will eventually develop our own world view and move in faith instead of sight. Believing and trusting in the power of prayer to move mountains as even faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain, which figuratively speaking, means that if we have faith, little or more is less important, we can do wonders in both the spiritual and physical realms!

Still at the end of the day, there is the question of whether something is wise or not. It may be permissible but may not be wise. Nothing wrong to drive a Porsche 911 but is that a wise use of our money and is being flashy the image we want to portray? We might like to collect watches but seriously, should we go round wearing a Richard Mille or a Patek? Should we eat Japanese kobe beef steak or the finest abalone or lobster every weekend? Or drink only the finest and rarest wine? Look at Jesus. Was He the flashy or the simple and moderate type?

I guess as we mature in the faith, we will know and realise that the debate on whether to listen to secular music is trivial. There are many more pertinent things and issues in life that we will need to ask ourselves whether it is wise or unwise. Ultimately we need to ask whether it will glorify the name of the Lord or not, will Jesus be pleased or upset? Will God say well done or will He say, “C’mon what’s happening there?”.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/08/loving-our-neighbors

It is interesting to note that as we dwell deeper into the Word, we learn the rationale and background as to why certain instructions or commandments were instituted. For example, love your neighbour. It was meant to instill unity in the community so that there is harmony between the people who were closely knitted and depended on one another for protection against attacks from outsiders. In that context, we will harm ourselves if we have hatred or ill feeling towards another person within our community, the same way everyone should be together in an infantry platoon fighting a battle or a team playing football.

The point is our action against a neighbour will harm ourselves. We see this clearly in the recent pandemic where it actually affected the whole world. If indeed it is true that it was an intentional US biological warfare deployment as China had contended or it was a failed Chinese biological warfare experiment as the US had contended, it certainly affected everyone including the alleged perpetrators themselves! Covid was the perfect example of how something if it had been done on purpose did not only affect the intended person but everyone as well as the perpetrator.

The LORD set rules for our own good. We don’t see it immediately but often times our adverse actions will come back to bite us. In actual situations like disunity in a community may bring about defeat in a battle or purely divine retribution like some sort of punishment for sin as in the case of David. There is and will be justice whether we see it or not and whether it is now or later. Thus the best way forward is always to do good and not evil. There is much wisdom when the LORD instructs us to love our neighbour. Likewise there is much wisdom and good for us when Jesus taught us to love our enemies. If we plot to destroy our enemy, we may end up harming ourself. Worse, as in most cases, we can’t do much as the person who did us wrong is much more powerful than us but our hatred and resentment within us just eats us up. By hating our enemy, we ended up killing ourself slowly but surely. We become a worse person. Moody and angry and easily offended when Christ wants us to be joyful, compassionate and loving. So there is a good reason why we should love instead of hate.

Covid has proven that our lives are intertwined as the world is now global. The NATO action against Russia via Ukraine had led to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and as the US and the West continue to fuel the war, the consequences are felt across the world including the West themselves with rising inflation and inflated energy costs. The US in waging a proxy war from far away may think it is insulated but globalisation has made that impossible. Harming others has the effect of harming ourself. That is why it is always better to love and care for others as it will be overall better for everyone. A community where everyone is doing well is much better than only some are doing well while others are left behind. God is God, He is the wisest among any of us. So let’s follow His law and His Word. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom indeed!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/07/thankful-for-monday

I used to dread Mondays. After the spiritual high of a Sunday worship service, it’s back to the grind on a Monday. Or after a weekend of a short holiday somewhere, we are back to face reality on Monday. Mondays bring us back to earth so to speak, from our weekend daydreams to the harsh reality of life. We are back to facing and resolving issues at work, documents to clear, transactions to close, deadlines to meet. Sometimes on Mondays I feel like the ox that needs to go round and round again with heavy yoke around my neck. I guess Jesus also understands our Monday blues when He asked us to cast our burdens on Him for His yoke is light and He will give us rest – see Matthew 11:28-30.

I used the past tense at the start because since I started at my new job, I don’t dread Mondays anymore or rather, I dread it much less! My wife and I have developed this routine where we stay in our condo in the big city during the week and return to our abode in our smaller city during weekends. In addition, I also return home once in the middle of the week and work from home for a day. It’s not that far away, just a little over an hour’s drive during off peak periods. I’m thankful to God for my new job. I’m much happier here and although the future remains uncertain as my new employer is a start up and the economic outlook is gloomy over the next few years, I believe that the Lord is and has been implementing His moves to make His plans for my life come to fruition. It’s really exciting to see Him working in me as I wait upon Him and discover what He has in store for me for my next chapter in life. Perhaps the time to serve Him in a different way will come.

Although work can be meaningless to some of us in the sense that we are only earning a living and perhaps not doing something meaningful like helping the poor – as pointed out by Solomon who wrote Ecclesiastes in chapter 2 verse 24, it becomes meaningful when the LORD is present in our midst. All that we toil for, we can’t bring with us. We must leave it to the one behind. Yet we find meaning in all that in God. Work becomes meaningful when we relate to God in all that we do although we may not be in full time ministry. Secular work can be meaningful if we treat it as working unto the Lord. Jesus is our Master and Lord and we do it unto Him, for His glory.

Monday blues may be less of a dread if we find the presence of God amidst the chaos, the deadlines and assignments. Find the meaning of our job in God and we will find fulfilment in the things we do although superficially our work may not be directly beneficial to society. Of course ministry and charity work are the most meaningful but if we have God in us and we relate to Christ in our work, our work can be meaningful too although mundane and boring. Perhaps our labour of love and our faifulness to the “land” given to us by the Lord will be one of our subtle ways to build up our treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not destroy! Have a great week ahead as we look forward towards Christmas! 😀😀😀

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/06/hope-from-gehenna

Topheth or the Valley of Hinnom in Jeremiah 7:30-34 was described as “Gehenna” in Greek by Jesus and used by Him to compare hell in Matthew 5. It is a place of atrocities not committed by the Canaanites but by Israelites themselves, a place where they sacrificed even children and burned incense to idols, in total defiance to the LORD. So bad that Jesus compared the fires burning there to hell. So bad that the LORD via Jeremiah vowed to destroy them in future, which happened when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem and killed many and burned their bodies at the same place. Yet in the midst of all that fury and prophesy of disaster, someone had the confidence to carve out the blessings of God in an iron scroll declaring Numbers 6:24-26 that “the LORD bless and keep you, the LORD make His face shine on you and be gracious to you, the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace”. That iron scroll from the time of Jeremiah is presently the oldest bits of discovered Scripture today.

We know the story of the Babylon invasion, the punishment it wrought on the Temple, on Jerusalem and its people and how they were exiled and yet 70 years later they returned to Jerusalem and began to rebuild the Temple. Yet about 100 years before the invasion in 597 BC, someone in the seventh century BC was already proclaiming the blessings of God, the protection of God which foretold what happened when the Israelites returned from exile, about 200 years in advance! His Word is all about His goodness despite the insolence and wicked disobedience of His people, His punishment and yet His redemption and mercy.

What’s the message today? I believe if we are suffering the consequences of our rebellion towards God or our stubborn disobedience, know that despite the punishment, He loves us. David suffered the consequences of his action towards Uriah due to his lust for Bethsheba as he lost a few of his sons (including his first son with his union with Bethsheba) and yet the LORD preserved David’s legacy and bloodline to Jesus via Bathsheba’s later son, Solomon. Jerusalem was invaded by Babylon and the Assyrians and yet in both instances, He later rebuilt the Temple and Jerusalem.

Be like the sculptor who etched those blessings of God in the iron scroll. Despite our sufferings which are our own doing, know that the LORD will nevertheless bless us and shine His face upon us. The time will come when the period of punishment is over and we will have His peace and countenance. His punishment will not be forever!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/04/he-redeems-our-pain

The story of Naomi in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament is a story of how the LORD God redeemed an Israelite woman living in a foreign land (they reloacted to Moab when severe famine hit Judea) after her husband died and her two sons who married Moabite women also died. From a wife to a widow to a childless mother because her sons died, Naomi was in dire straits.

She had two Moabite daughters in law, Orpah and Ruth. She thus returned to Bethlehem in Judah and although Orpah remained in Moab, Ruth chose to follow Naomi back to Judah to live the rest of her life as a foreigner in a foreign land, the land of her husband and mother in law. But the LORD saw their plight and provided Ruth with a kinsman-redeemer, a close relative to take over the responsibility of a husband, in Boaz and Boaz married her. Ruth who was childless bore a son named Obed for Boaz. Obed became the father of Jesse, the father of David whose line came the baby boy named Jesus through the Virgin Mary.

A shattered dream and yet God transformed it by providing a kinsman-redeemer whose line bore the saviour of the world, of mankind. How many of us have lived a life of shattered dreams? Dreams that were buried and died because of circumstances we were in. For example, the quota system in the public universities and families who just made ends meet. In my generation, we had to excel in the public examinations to qualify for the choice courses in the public universities if we wanted to do engineering, medicine, dentistry, law or even economics. There was only one route and it was STPM and we all strived to score 5 As or at least 3As 2Bs. If we didn’t do as well, then we need to take whatever course was offered as our families then couldn’t afford us a foreign university education, not even a private twinning programme. Of course it was prior to the days of the government education loans called PTPTN and in those days we also didn’t have so many local private foreign-affiliated universities and generally families were also less well off than now.

There could have been other dreams that we had missed like an opportunity to serve as a missionary for Christ due to the need to earn a living. Or to pursue our own career choices due to our unique circumstances.

Whatever was our situation, Naomi is the example of God redeeming us of our shattered lives, our broken dreams. It’s a real life story in the Old Testament preserved in perpetuity as a reminder and testament to God’s people of His grace and mercy, of His redemptive power to change and transform lives despite our adverse circumstances or unfavourable “make do” situations. The LORD can and will help us break free and provide us a new life, a lifeline into a promised land like He brought out 600,000 Israelites and their families out of Egypt into Canaan in fulfilment of His Covenant with Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish nation. Naomi is a wondrous testimony of God’s goodness, grace and mercy, of His everlasting love and faithfulness. He is indeed a God that we can cling on to and put our entire faith and trust on. He is our LORD Redeemer, the redeemer of our faith and soul!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/03/hearing-christ-not-chaos

John 10:1-10, 27 are famous teachings of Christ that centred on Christ being the shepherd and we as believers His sheep. The main thrust of the teaching is that we as sheep recognise and know the voice of Christ as our shepherd. This illustration is taken from real life as real sheep in general are trained from young to recognise and listen to the voice of the shepherd and will not respond to the voice of strangers. As part of their life, sheep are brought to grazing grounds to roam and feed freely but they need to be gathered together to return to the pen when the time is up. Thus they need to stop grazing and return when the shepherd calls.

So some of us may ask – how can I be sure that I’m able to recognise the voice of Christ, the voice of the Holy Spirit as He calls to guide me in my life? Well the simple answer to that is that Jesus says so! If Jesus says that His sheep knows His voice, then we as His sheep know His voice. It is true because Jesus is God and God never lies.

But we ourselves know the actual reality of our situation. Are we really able to recognise His voice? Or are we listening to our own voice or that of the devil?

Once we have accepted Christ, we can hear Him as our spirit man has been born again and made alive. This means our spiritual senses have been awakened. We become aware of the spiritual world and since Jesus is our Lord and the Holy Spirit lives in us, we will know His voice. But practically, we need to practice this and fine tune and hone our ability. Like a musician or an artist, we need to practice to be good at our craft. Same goes with hearing the voice of the shepherd. We need to consecrate ourselves, seek the forgiveness of the Father for our sins and as we seek Him, we will hear His voice as we pray and read His Word. God speaks to us when we pray and meditate, when we read His Word. We will know when He speaks as we will recognise His voice but we can confirm His spoken rhema word with His written logos Word or from the agreement of others who pray with us or from signs that He may give us.

Christian life as a believer is a journey with God, with Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit. As we journey on and strive to achieve His plans and purposes for our lives, follow and listen to His prompting in our heart. Listen and obey. The more we listen and obey, the clearer will we be able to know when He speaks. Practice makes perfect! Be assured this morning that as believers we will know His voice when we hear it! We are His sheep and as His sheep we recognise the voice of our Shepherd, the Shepherd of our soul.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/02/grasping-gods-word

One of the fundamental things we learn as a believer in Christ is to read the Word of God, the Bible. There are direct teachings there as in the Old Testament law, the actual teachings of Christ in the Gospel as well as instructions and exhortations of Paul and the other Apostles contained in the various letters to the church and also the revelation of the future given to John. And yet intertwined between the lines are also stories of the LORD interacting with His people in the Old Testament and New including Christ walking on earth as a full fledged human being. As we read, we also glean spiritual principles and learn about the person of God Himself. As we read and pray, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit in us, we also communicate with God. We hear Him speaking to us through the pages of the Bible, we see Jesus coming alive before our eyes as we read and we see the Apostles and the great men of God living for God as we continue to read. Truths are manifested. Hidden mysteries of the Word are revealed to us. There is thus both the logos and the rhema, the historical context and the present reality of Christ in our midst. The written as well as the spoken Word.

Thus having a line between the rings of the barn and house doors as a means not to get lost in the blinding snow is an excellent illustration of what the Word can do for us in our lives. The line of sight to the Word and God Himself will make sure we don’t get lost living life as life throws us blinding snow, sand storms, hurricanes that destroy and disrupt. But if we have the Word of God in us we remain steadfast in our faith and trust in God.

That is why Paul also taught us in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armour of God as we march on to take back physical territories and those in our lives from the evil one. Put on the belt of truth to protect against the lies and deception of the devil. The breastplate of righteousness to protect against the taunts and accusations of the devil. The shoes of peace to protect against the confusion and division sowed by the devil. The shield of faith to protect against discouragement and fear. The helmet of salvation to protect against doubt and unbelief with the assurance of salvation. And finally take on the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God, which Paul uses the word rhema here, to penetrate strongholds in our lives and other places as it is sharper than a two edged sword.

Take time each day, no matter how busy or stressed we are, to read the Word. It is indeed the lamp of God to guide our paths and our life line to the everlasting peace that only God can give. 10 mins or more, read and reflect, pray and let the Almighty God, our Father in heaven and His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit to speak to us in our hearts of hearts.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/01/better-together

The book of the Acts of the Apostles written by Luke who also wrote the Gospel according to Luke, documents the journey of the early church and how its people were empowered by the power of the Holy Spirit and spread the message of Christ in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. It was community living devoting themselves to the apostles’ teachings, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer. They sold their possessions and had everything in common, helping those in need and the Lord added unto their number daily.

In history, there have been communities who had emulated the common living of the early believers but most did not flourish after some years or at most lasted one or two generations. I guess the demands of modern living makes it difficult for large communities to continue living in common indefinitely.

But I think the life example of today’s ODB devotional reading is something every modern church community can emulate with different ones among us chipping in to help a struggling family to live a normal life. Someone giving the mother a job, another renting them a home with reduced rent and yet another lending them a refurbished car to use. I witnessed that before in my own life when the lay pastor of my former church passed away leaving behind a widow with 5 growing children. It has been 12 years since and the family is doing well with two of the elder children having finished college and already working now.

Chip in to help a brother or sister in need. That’s the spirit of the community living in Acts. We don’t need to do it exactly how it was done as the world then and the world now is quite different. But that doesn’t mean we can’t emulate the spirit of togetherness and community giving that they practised. Maybe we could help a family with a small monthly allowance of RM300. It is small but could help them buy groceries for a week or two. Do what we can to help each other especially if we have the means as that is us storing up our treasures in heaven where moss or rust will not destroy or where the thief will not break in and steal. Every good deed that we do, every helping hand that we extend no matter how small is growing our riches in heaven that will be our inheritance in Christ. We should use as much as we have on earth that is within our power and influence to help others as ultimately it is our treasures in heaven that we will have when we leave this world behind.