https://odb.org/MY/2023/06/01/in-gods-hands-2

Raising children has its own set of issues, especially in these times. As we expect Jesus to come again in this lifetime, some of us may think that it may not be such a good idea to bring more people to the world to face and go through the coming great tribulation. We can’t be sure that the children of our children will even know and accept Christ, or they are able to withstand the trials and testings of those upcoming times.

Back in the day of our grandparents, people in general had many children. As those times were hard times, it was not uncommon for children to die for a variety of reasons. Even in my own maternal grandparents’ family, they had an elder son who died in some accident when young. As those times in Malaya spanned WW2 with the Japanese occupation, many had also died during those times. I guess in the olden days, children were a resource for the family farm or business, and less thought are put into their future in terms of their education and future careers, faith, and family. If a family had 12 children, you basically need to carve out your own path in life. Your dad and mum were probably too busy just putting food on the table.

While in present times, we spend so much thought and even expense building strong foundations for our children, back in the day, children are mostly left on their own or in the care of nannies for those who can afford. The point is that life goes on and with and without those early preparations, children will nevertheless grow up and carve their own destiny. I believe that as believers, as much as we try to give our children the best based on our cability and wealth, ultimately, we need to commit them to God. We try to put them in the best kindergartens, best schools, arts and maths classes, swimming, dance, and music lessons, sports like badminton or football, in the hope they will become the best that they could be. We make sure they go to Sunday school to believe in God and have a strong foundation in their faith. How they will eventually turn out as they reach adulthood and enter the working world, the career and spouse they choose, the family they will build – those are matters we best leave to God’s hands. As the Lord has been with us all this while and brought us to where we are today, He will likewise do the same for our children and our children’s children.

As for the second coming of Christ, if it happens within our lifetime, it will happen; but life goes on. If our children have children, it should be good even if they may need to live through the end times and the great tribulation. Trust that God will give them the kind of faith and strength that will withstand all trials and testings. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and in the days to come. Trust God for our children and our children’s children.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/31/sorrow-and-joy

Ezra 3, which was the first wave of the return of 80,000 Jews in exile, chronicles the joy of rebuilding the Temple of the LORD. Ezra and his fellow Levites worshipped and praised the LORD with their cymbals and vestments (robes) as the builders laid the foundations to rebuild the Temple. But the older Israelites wept aloud when they saw the scene as they remembered the Temple in its glory while others shouted for joy. It was a mixture of sadness and tears of having lost but the joy of a new beginning. In the modern context, this scene reminds me of a funeral of a faithful believer – as his loved ones and fellow comrades in the faith mourn his passing, they also rejoice in him being with Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith knowing that if they keep to the path, they will see him again one day.

We just spoke yesterday about God restoring what the locusts had devoured, https://ronnielim.com/2023/05/30/god-who-restores/. Ezra 3 speaks of the same in that while our hearts are broken by the loss, we rejoice in the new beginning. It may or may never be the same as old, but we are thankful and grateful to rebuild something new. Most importantly, it was the Lord who gave us a fresh start at another place, a new canvass to draw and paint our dreams and aspirations as the Lord guides and directs. It was the Lord who gave, and that’s special because that means He loves and cares for us.

Today marks the first anniversary of my last day at my former workplace, the organisation I had given my early adulthood to for nearly 27 years. I had fond memories, and even as what is happening to the matters I used to handle still interests me, I am not looking back. I am focusing my gaze ahead to the fresh path the Lord has carved out for me.

If we look back, we sometimes cry at the loss as we remember the past in all of its glory. We are heartbroken by the fleeting memory and expediency of people. But thank God, God and our loved ones love us not any less, and neither do they think any lesser of us. We are still heroes in their hearts. There are new horizons to look at, new sunsets and new sunrises. New roads to explore, new beginnings to rebuild and regrow. We shall be like that sunflower growing in the middle of a desolate highway. With God standing with us, we will stand tall for His glory!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/30/the-god-who-restores

As we all know by now, Christian life is not a bed of roses. We go through life like any other. In a way, it’s akin to the fairy tale living happily ever after with Jesus because there is true happiness and peace with God in our lives. Yet there are ups and downs, valleys and mountain peaks. Most valleys I think are caused by our own indiscretions, our own folly and insolence. Yet even if we are 100% obedient to Christ, I believe we can not avoid the storms that come our way. Why? Because that’s life. The beautiful sunrises and sunsets on the horizon come with the stormy seas and dark clouds.

Having Chirst in our lives however ensures that we come out of valleys and storms with our faith intact and unscathed. Our heart is still strong in God because suffering produces perseverance and perseverance character (Romams 5:3). The storms will come, but like a strong ship, we will sail through the storms as Christ has, throughout the years, moulded and strengthened our faith to give us a character to always cling on to God come what may.

But Christ does more than that. He also restores what we had lost in the past. He gives justice to the weak, the disadvantaged, and the trampled. He upholds us and keeps our honour before men. As David has said before, He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies (Psalm 23:5). Like the dry bones in Ezekial 37:5, the LORD will give flesh and sinews and breath to make them come alive again! He will restore to us what the locusts had devoured (Joel 2:25). When we see all our hard work coming to nought, God will restore us what was taken away from us. He will give us a new beginning, a new life somewhere else.

The message this morning is that our God is the God who restores. Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/29/hope-that-holds

As believers, we hold on to the hope of glory heavenward that one day we will be at a better place even as we put our trust and hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. We hold on to the hope that He had gone ahead to prepare a place for us at His Father’s house, a house with many mansions (John 14:2-7). That is why we store our treasures in heaven because a day will come when we get to enjoy those spiritual riches.

How do we credit our bank account in heaven? By doing good works here on earth. As believers, we will be judged at the judgement seat of Christ for the good works that we have done while on earth.

70 years is the average lifespan for male humans (75 for women), and that’s a long time because it spans a lifetime and yet we know that it is like, for illustration purposes, only 12 inches of an unending rope, when compared against eternity. Our faith, therefore, needs to be enduring as Paul rightfully pointed out before in Romans 8:18 that our sufferings in the present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed to us. In other words, whatever we go through in our lifetime can not compare to what awaits us in heaven one day.

Yet there is hope here on earth as we have seen the LORD’s prophets speaking of restoration in the midst of destruction and ruin. Even as Israel is invaded and its people taken into exile as prisoners and slaves due to their own insolence and disobedience, the LORD promised to rescue and restore them. We could see this in Habakkuk 3, and we know historically that despite the Israelites having been scattered all over the world, they were reunited in their homeland in 1948 with the creation of the state of Israel in Canaan. The land promised to Father Abraham during ancient times, the same land to which Moses delivered the Israelites from Egypt, which Joshua eventually completed for the whole new generation born and bred in the wilderness during their 40-year sojourn.

Hold on to the hope that God has put in our hearts and has given us for fulfilment during our lifetimes here on earth. The hope of His plans and purposes for our lives. The hope of Him moulding us to be the person that He wants us to be, that will bring the best out of us to achieve great exploits for Him, for His glorious kingdom. The hope of living in the centre of His will. The hope of being that person in Him that He had planned for us even before the foundations of the world. Are we swimming in the little pond in our own backyard or in that vast open ocean far into the horizon? It doesn’t really matter as long as we are living in the hope of His glory, in the centre of His will, fulfilling His plans and purposes for our lives. As long as we are becoming the person He wants us to be! Hold on tight to that hope, the hope that holds!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/28/what-only-the-spirit-can-do

It is interesting to note that Jesus timed His death and resurrection with the Jewish calendar of festivals, celebrating the Passover with the disciples just before His death on the cross. The Passover then became a model for our own Holy Communion ceremony as believers of Christ.

More interestingly, the Pentecost, which is the Jewish celebration of the first fruits of the wheat harvest, became the day the Holy Spirit first descended upon the early believers of Christ in Jerusalem, thus signifying the first fruits of the resurrection of Christ and bringing with it the supernatural power of God, which embolden the believers to proclaim Christ among the people. In the early days of the church, many were added daily! I had mistakenly thought all this while that the Pentecost is a day unique to Christian culture as the day of the Holy Spirit!

I was filled with the Holy Spirit the day I was baptised in water by the beach 2 years after I had accepted Christ into my life. With the baptism of the Holy Spirit, my past fear of the demonic disappeared. The nightmares I used to have every now and then about the movie Exorcist and other horror movies vanished. I could move in the spiritual realm and sense what’s happening, although I’m probably not the most sensitive or the sharpest around. I believe the infilling of the Holy Spirit gives us that edge in the supernatural realm. We have more boldness to move in signs and wonders and pray for healing or some believe to have the confidence to command healing. But as powerful is the Holy Spirit in our lives, we still do things in the name of Jesus Christ as that’s the name that is above all names, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

Blessed and happy Pentecost Sunday, everyone! Praise the Lord if you are already filled with the Holy Spirit. If you have not, pray that the Holy Spirit will fill you and His power manifested in you that you may be bold in Christ to proclaim the Good News to the lost, the broken hearted and the desolate. The signs and wonders may demonstrate the power of God, but these are still peripheral compared to the plans and purposes of God in our lives and those we are ministering. Ultimately, may His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/26/jesus-is-the-answer

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s response to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in Daniel 3 is the standard that we all aspire to as believers when confronted with situations in life that test our faith. If we read Daniel 3, we will see that the 3 friends of Daniel believed and trusted that God will rescue them from the furnace of fire. But their faith was so exemplary that they said that even if their God did not rescue them, they would still not bow down and worship the golden image made by Nebuchadnezzar. Their stand was not dependent on God delivering them. Their stand was that no matter what, they would not worship other gods except Yahweh.

So we give tithes and offerings to the church. We still give even if we do not see any tangible direct return from God. Are we giving because of the 10-fold blessings as some prosperity Gospel preachers had preached and advocated before? Surely, if we were to give RM1,000 to God, we don’t expect God to give us back RM10,000? We give because we love God, and we know that we need to support His work. We give because all we have was from Him anyway, out of His grace and mercy upon our lives. The RM1,000 is only a fraction of what we have, which was ours because of His goodness upon our lives.

Having established the above principle that we will give to God and worship Him alone regardless of His deliverance of us in the unique situations of life that we face, the fact is God will stand with those who stand with Him. There was a 4th person in the furnace that was lighted 7 times hotter. Many believed that He was Christ Himself comforting and protecting Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego so that they could quench the fury of the flames (Hebrews 11:34).

Daniel 3, as well as Daniel’s own escapade in the lions’ den in Daniel 6 with King Darius of Persia, are all examples of faith displayed and how God stood with Daniel and his 3 friends. And if we faithfully give to God our tithes and offerings, surely He will open the floodgates of heaven to bless us in return (Malachi 3:10), especially if we give not out of abundance but of whatever little we have.

We can not deny that the end times are just around the corner. Increasingly, we will see more signs and witness more of the events foretold in the book of Revelation. The day will come, perhaps even in our generation, that we may need to choose taking the mark of the beast and worship him in order to buy and sell. Daniel 3 and 6 will be our examples to follow. We will stand with Jesus and Yahweh even unto death, but I believe that God will stand with us even as we stand for Him. But even if He doesn’t deliver us, we will nevertheless not bow down to the beast!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/25/all-for-jesus

As I’ve said before in these pages, I grew up as a believer in a church that emphasises the core group, believing that a church should be 80% core rather than 20% as is the norm. The church had aspirations to plant churches everywhere, I think by then we already had around 20 branches nationwide and was looking at 100 churches. Thus, quite a few of us had aspirations to serve God by going into full-time ministry. By then, we already had 20-30 full-time workers (most already commissioned and a few still in training). Theoretically, it was possible to support such a large pool of pastors as the financial structure was that tithes were exclusively for full-timers fashioned after the Levites of old. Thus, if we were to dedicate our lives to serving the Temple of God, the people of God would be the source of our support. Corollary to that, there was an expectation that the congregation who are working in the secular world will give 20% of their income to the church since it is a congregation that is 80% core. It was the era of the powerful move of the Holy Spirit in Malaysia circa late 70s and early 80s which led to the establishment of many independent churches, and many believers were inspired to give their lives to God, to serve Him fully in the church and ministry.

Over the years, however, the universal church realised that we will actually be a more effective witness if we are in the world rather than exclusively in the church. Colossians 3 is one of those teachings that support the contention that we should give all to Jesus wherever we are. In whatever we do, whether in word or deed, we do it all in the name of Jesus (Colossians 3:17). We are serving Jesus full-time even in our day jobs, in our career in the secular world. If we are ambitious in our career, we are ambitious for Christ, and it is not giving God second priority. It is not putting our job first and ministry second as our day job is our ministry for Christ. We are the light of the world. So, how can the world see our light if we are only in the church? Remember always that though Paul is an apostle, he was a tent-maker. Although the church supports him, he also has his own source of income to live on.

The other thing is that from what I have gathered from the experiences of those in full-time ministry; working in the church is not radically different from the world. They face the same issues like politics at the workplace. There are KPIs and sometimes favourites among the leaders and power struggles. They deal more in the issues of life and general administration than spiritual matters. Of course, the motivation is never the P&L, and yet finance and support is a big topic in any church. All of this is not surprising as the people running the church in full-time are all humans, too. Pastors are flesh and blood like you and I.

The message today is thus Colossians 3:17. Whatever we do, we do it for Christ. At work, in school or college, in ministry or church, we do it for Christ. We need not give up our day jobs to serve God. We can serve God fully in our secular day jobs. But if we have a calling to go full-time, by all means, go ahead. Just that it is not for everyone and we need not feel we are lesser in the Kingdom of God if our calling us to remain in the secular world, toiling at the “land” God has given us. Whatever our “land” – we must allow God to flow it with milk and honey for His glory!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/24/blessed-routine

As humans, we can not avoid getting into a routine. We wake up, pray, do our morning devotion, take a bath, get ready for work, go for breakfast, and then off we go to work. In our daily commute, it’s either that bus or train ride or in Malaysia the usual drive and rush hour traffic. Like for me, every morning, I face the same congestion just a km away from my condo. At least 5 mins to clear before we enter into the LDP highway, and then it’s about 7-10 mins more to the parking lot of my office. Then, it’s work, emails, and documents to review before we break for lunch until we come back in the afternoon. Maybe an MS Teams meeting or two before we are back on the road to go home. Later, it is dinner, and maybe we watch a bit of Netflix or Youtube or catch up on some other work before we go to sleep to prepare for the next day. Weekends, it’s more relaxed back home at our house in the smaller city with household chores to do, and Sundays are just packed with churchwork before we return to our city condo for the next work week. Every 6 months or so, we try to break the routine with a vacation, or we chill if there is a bank holiday (what we call a public holiday in Malaysia). In every work week and weekend, we try to incorporate some exercise by walking or hiking as much as possible.

Is our routine boring? It can be as it is repetitive. Even if we are retired, we will fall back on a regular daily routine. So some complain about our daily routine as boring. Is there a meaning to this life? Is all this meaningless as Solomon asked before in Ecclesiastes 2? We are made to eat to survive, and for modern humans, that just means work in order to have money to put food on the table and meet our other needs.

If we find our daily routine boring and meaningless, what is it that we want? Live a life that is devoid of any routine? Wake up as we please, sleep as we please. Spend one whole day playing video games, one whole day shopping, and another day hiking up the hills? Is that our goal in life? To break free from these self-imposed daily routines?

For me, I’m good with boring daily routines because I’m able to break them during weekends with my service to God. I also have a daily routine writing morning devotional commentaries. In fact, I start my day with God’s word, and it refreshes and gives meaning and purpose to my daily routine. I know my life is fulfilling God’s calling for me for this season of my life. I know that I’m living out His plans and purposes for my life. Yet I have my own dreams and vision of what I like to do once this phase of my working life is over. Perhaps be more involved in missions and helping out the work of God in other places. Perhaps travel a little more without limitations on annual leave, just that when we are not working, we will have less money. But when we have more money because of work, our time is tied down. That’s life!

If we read Ecclesiastes 2, the conclusion is that everything is meaningless unless we have God in our hearts. God has put eternity in our hearts, and thus, if we have an eternal plan, our boring daily routine becomes meaningful as it is part of our fulfilment of what God wants for us. All that we work for and toiled will be left for someone else to enjoy (Ecclesiastes 2:18, 21). Actually it is OK if those who will enjoy the fruits of our labour are our loved ones and their loved ones. That’s the reason we have family. But it is always better if we work hard and toil in parallel for things eternal and to store riches in heaven, as those things we will get to enjoy when one day we live our eternal life with Jesus and God.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/23/not-a-dream

The story of Peter’s escape from jail described in Acts 12 happened approximately 3 years after Paul’s conversion. The Apostle James, the brother of John, was already put to death by sword then by Herod, and Peter was awaiting trial in jail being chained with two guards at his sides and with two others standing guard outside his cell. Peter was, of course, inside a prison building with various other locked doors and gates.

Despite such security and locks, an angel appeared before Peter and brought him out of the jail safely, opening but not breaking, all the chains and locks along the way until he was out in the street, miraculosly without alerting any of the guards and sentries.

Peter described it as if it was a dream or vision. Reading the story, it felt as though everyone in the prison was under a kind of spell, except that it was not of occultic but heavenly origin.

Sometimes, when we go through some very good times, we want to pinch ourselves to see whether we are dreaming or if we are really experiencing those times? This experience is called “derealisation” or “depersonalisation” and, if chronic, is regarded as a disorder. But it is quite a common mental health condition usually induced by stress. I recall that I had experienced this before when I was involved in preparing my previous company for IPO twenty years back. The long hours made us feel as though we were living in a dream.

As believers, if we are experiencing good times, praise the Lord and thank Him for His goodness. When the heavens open, His blessings can be tremendous and overwhelming as His grace is overflowing from the brim. Even kings and rulers of old sought such divine intervention in the lives of their nations. The LORD was with Joseph, and He prospered Joseph, and the Pharoah who sought his counsel benefited from God’s wisdom in him and saved his nation from the 7-year severe famine.

Christian life is not a bed of roses, as we often hear. There are trials and tribulations, hardship, and suffering. Many had faced death and torture, and many had been martyred for the faith. Therefore, if we are going through a patch of goodness, rejoice with joy that the LORD is opening the heavens to us! But even as we enjoy the glory of His presence and bask in the abundance of His blessings, always remember that to God, His work always comes first. Continue to serve Him with all our hearts and see how we may, in turn, bless His work and His faithful and fervent servants.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/22/tell-the-story-2

To prove something, we need corroborative evidence, meaning to say, something additional to support our assertion of a fact. So if you assert that A had punched you, you could support that by showing the effects of the punch like a blue black or swollen mark on your body. Still, it’s actually not good enough as the injury could be self-inflicted or that it could have been caused by someone else. But because you had asserted that A had punched you, the court may believe you. The defence will then try to cast aspersions on your testimony. For example, if you had recklessly accused other people before or had a habit of making false accusations or you have a reputation of lying. This will likely result in the judge discounting your testimony, giving less weight to your evidence. That is why, in court cases, the best evidence, if available, is the account of an eyewitness – another person who actually saw what happened. The testimony of an eyewitness is very strong corroborative evidence. In modern times, laws of perjury are to ensure that the eyewitness tells the truth. Even during during ancient times, there were already laws against perjury. For example, the 9th Commandment of Moses’s law was not to bear false withness against your neighbour.

Thus, John, in writing the Gospel of John, asserts that he testifies to these things and wrote them down and that they (the people then) know that his testimony is true. John witnessed the last supper, Christ’s agony at Gethsemane, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. On top of that, he also witnessed the transfiguration with Moses, Elijah and Jesus, representing the Old Covenant, the Prophets, and the New Covenant. And at the last book of the Bible, John wrote down what was revealed to him in a vision of the last days from the second coming of Christ, the judgment of both believers and non-believers (the judgment seat of Christ vs the Great White Throne judgment) as well as Eden recreated in the new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21).

As believers, we must have our own “eyewitness” account of God’s goodness in our lives, especially His calling for us and His plans and purposes for our lives. If we are unsure, the clue is that they are all usually aligned with His Kingdom purposes and His work – God’s sovereign will. Abraham was called to uproot his family and move to a foreign land so that God may create His people out of His descendants, and the LORD made the First Covenant with him where his people will be God’s people and He their God. The first 12 disciples were called to be Apostles of Christ, and 11 of them went on to proclaim Christ crucified and resurrected. From being the fiery persecutor of the people of the Way, Paul became the torchbearer to bring the message of the Gospel out of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Can we like John and the countless others in the pages of the bible and beyond and throughout the ages, testify as eyewitnesses to the goodness of Christ in our lives? How our lives have been transformed, how He has blessed us and our families, and how the Holy Spirit has convicted and guided us to serve Him in His Kingdom with our talents, time, and finance? How the more we give of ourselves to Jesus, the more we are blessed with His everlasting peace and comfort as the living waters flowing from Him overflow from deep within us? We are forever grateful for His gift of eternal life and for His continued presence in our lives. We are always thankful for the Holy Spirit convicting and guiding us along the path of righteousness.