https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/31/opportunities-to-shine

Jesus’s teaching on the light and salt of the world in Matthew 5:13-16 should be familiar to most of us. It is basically that salt should remain salty because if salt loses its saltiness, it will be thrown away and trampled on the ground as an illustration that we need to maintain our saltiness to remain relevant and useful to others. As for light, the teaching is that light to be useful cannot be hidden the same way a town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Do you light a lamp and put it under a bowl? No, we put it up high so that it can illuminate the house for everyone. Thus we should let our light shine before others that they may see our good deeds and glorify the Father.

The point Jesus is making here is that we should take every opportunity to let the light of God inside us shine and do good deeds. Help others as much as possible. Be like a scout, do at least one good deed a day. Be nice and kind to others that as we shine for God, our Father in Heaven will be glorified. The thing is how do we glorify the Father and not ourselves in the process as the tendency is for people to identify with us if we are doing the good deed.

I think the best way to glorify the Father when we do good or help people is to always identify ourself as a believer. We must proclaim that we are a Christian and even better, we should say that we are doing this for God. The Lord prompted us to lend our helping hand and so here we are in obedience as well as based on the compassion and love and grace that He has put in our hearts. We are doing good because He has been good to us. He has blessed us tremendously, that is why we are helping others.

As a believer we cannot avoid being good and doing good. Our character is to be Christian-like and that means being good. But always remember to give all glory to the Father, to God. We shine our light as a beacon of hope to others so that the name of our Father may be glorified. Remember that. Don’t take the glory for ourselves.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/30/hope-in-god-2

It is true that in the contemporary context, we want things instantly. Even in television, when Netflix releases a series, it is at one go with 12 episodes or more. There are still TV programmes that are released one episode a week but Netflix has bucked that trend. So if you have 12 episodes released at one go, you may binge watch all over a weekend. Then it’s all over even though it would have taken months for the production crew to make those episodes. Sometimes we forget the effort, work and time needed to make certain things that we just consume in an instant. Or the engineering and effort taken to make the latest mobile phones that we just take for granted the latest features complaining that they are still not good enough etc.

I think the lamentation in Lamentations 3:24 is apt in the context of our current contemporary world. “The LORD is my portion, therefore I will wait for Him”. Translated, “my portion” means my inheritance or literally my part or my share or my lot as in the division of profits in a partnership. In other words, we have a stake, a share or a portion and that stake, share or portion is God Himself, the LORD God Almighty, the creator of heaven and earth. Meaning to say that our inheritance when we pass away and leave this world is God. We will get Him, He will be ours. And this is confirmed in Revelation 22 as heaven and earth will be one and the LORD will dwell among His people. So why would we not wait for Him? Christ’s death and resurrection have placed a seal on that portion, that guarantees as an added assurance that our portion is secured and sealed.

The same way as minutes of a television programme will take hours to conceive, create, shoot, produce and edit – there are certain things even in the spiritual realm that takes time to come to pass. Not just a matter of a waiving of a hand to dissolve or resolve a situation in an instant. Of course God in His supreme miraculous power could do it but there are ramifications in all directions. That is why certain things need time to materialise. I recall recently in negotiating a contract I had this difficult situation with a vendor who didn’t agree with something but just went round deleting chunks and chunks of the language in my draft contract. I had to tell him off that it was not only rude and unprofessional but also creates so much work for me as even a deletion of a defined word in a contract has ramifications in other parts of the document and I would have needed to relook every single sentence and phrase that has that word.

The world has gotten more complex nowadays. A change here may need changes there and there and there. As much as God relates to us directly and personally, there are millions around us and our interactions alone could be in the thousands. Any decision or action by Christ is never just about us alone. So let us wait for Him. He is our portion. He knows exactly what we are going through and will come through for us, in His time as He will make all things beautiful in His time. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. It is renewed every morning.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/28/for-the-sake-of-the-gospel-2

Dr Nelson Bell, a surgeon whose first job was in the Love & Mercy Hospital, Jiangsu – the only hospital then in a city of at least 2 million. He was born in 1894, so the year he started in Jiangsu was around 1916 and he stayed on for another 24 years to just around 1940 or WW2. He is the father in law of Billy Graham as his daughter is Ruth Bell Graham.

Billy Graham as we all know is one of the world’s most influential evangelist and as a couple Billy and Ruth were also well known for their simple and righteous lifestyle and upright and godly character. They are both well respected by many within and beyond the Christian world. One of the few who were never embroiled in any money or sex controversy and yet so well known to have preached to millions for salvation.

I just like to highlight this morning the heritage of Ruth who was born and who grew up in China in the early 20th century whose father was a medical missionary to China for at least 24 years, from the young age of 22 till 46 – basically his peak years as an adult totally given to God for His service.

It is rare nowadays to hear of missionary heritage or families and in my own local church I can only see of potentially only one person and another one who had left. It is rather sad to see that fewer young people are dedicating their lives to full time ministry and missions.

The message today is however on our character as a person as the best means to reach out to others with the Gospel. The message of Christ is not just preaching Christ crucified and resurrected as the path to eternal salvation but living out that life as a person in school, college and at work. Are we a responsible and dependable person? Are we righteous before God and man? Do we practice the Christian values we learn in church? Are we like Billy and Ruth Graham and Nelson Bell? Do spend time reading about these giants of the faith and my prayer for us is that as we read about them, we will be inspired to genuinely and honestly live for Christ every moment of our lives!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/27/sister-to-brother

We all know that in the church and ministry, we are all family with one another – brothers and sisters in Christ whether older or younger men or women. In 1 Timothy 5:1-2, Timothy exhorts us to treat the older men as our father, older women as our mother, younger men and women as our brothers and sisters in purity, meaning to say, we are all co-workers in the Kingdom of God and not objects of desire or love. There should be purity in the church although there is a place for relationships between single unmarried men and women.

Intimate relationships between married and unmarried believers or members of the church is against the fundamental teaching of the church that marriage is a life long commitment between one man and one woman. In ancient times, there were polygamous relationships but that was a different era and time when nations go into wars frequently and men got killed in the battlefield leaving widows and children behind to fend for themselves. Thus there was a need for families to be taken care of when men were usually the sole breadwinner then and most vocations were the domain of men. Thus there were rules then for blood brothers to take over the family of another brother who died. Polygamy was a necessity in those times but no more in these modern times of equal rights and women flourishing in the workforce. In fact women outnumber men in universities and colleges nowadays and in public universities, the ratio can be as high as 60/40 since admission is not based on gender but our examination results.

At the practical level, counseling should be done based on gender and at most between couples and the counselled. This will avoid issues of getting emotionally involved with the person we are counselling or advising or mentoring. This is practiced strictly in my local church – we do not encourage inter-gender mingling unless in a group setting to avoid unnecessary complications which may throw the church into disrepute. But in the end, the best way to avoid wrongful relationships and sin is still to follow 1 Timothy 5:1-2 and to treat every other believer as family like a father, mother, brother and sister. I will add every believer is our partner and co-worker in ministry. Our first and foremost objective is to serve God and fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives and for the church. Relationships may still be important if we are single and unmarried as it may be God’s will for us to have a life partner/spouse but everyone should tread with purity and caution so that we always maintain our holiness and righteousness before God.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/26/walk-on

There is this belief that preachers always hold on to when they preach, that is, the Word of God will not return void, that it will achieve its purpose. It is actually Scripture from Isaiah 55:11, an actual Word from the LORD as proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah speaking on behalf of God. God declaring that His Word that comes out from His mouth will not return to Him empty but will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which He sent it.

Thus when we preach the Word whether from the pulpit as the speaker for a worship service, or as part of a bible study fellowship or in an evangelistic meeting or in a funeral or wedding, know that the Word that we speak on has power and authority and can change and transform, can bring joy and peace to our lives, can guide and encourage us in the situations we are facing and bring us forward in our life struggles and issues. But note that the Word of God in such a context is not necessarily the message we are preaching but the Scriptures we are basing our message on. That is why it is a fundamental rule that preaching should always be based on Scriptural texts or references. We need to expound the Scriptures like Jesus did when He was walking the earth. Expound and go deeper into the Word, teach and reveal what God is saying to the congregation and in the process, the Scripture that is expounded which is the Word of God will accomplish what the LORD desires amd achieve the purpose for which He sent it. Every preacher has his or her own way to deliver a message but message without a Scriptural base spoken like a public lecture on broad topics will not likely meet the criteria in Isaiah 55:11. Preaching must be about the Word of God.

Although witnessing and sharing the Gospel can be just about our testimony and the goodness of God in our lives, how we have been charged by the power of God or His grace and mercy, it is important to witness and share with the actual Word of God. Scripture by itself has power as it is the spoken Word of God and thus we should preach, witness and share using a few Scriptures, for example, John 3:16 or Romans 3:23 or John 14:6. We should share with the Word or share based on the Word and when we do that, we know that the Word as spoken will not return to God void. A seed is planted and the Holy Spirit will nurture and nourish that seed to fruitfulness in Christ.

Be a blessing unto others by sharing the Word of God as the Word of God is full of power and authority!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/23/true-change

When we accept Christ into our lives, He reigns over us and lives in us as part of our lives. We live life with Him leading the way for us. We do not become Christians or only take a Christ-like character and personality when in church or when dealing with Christians. If we are kind to a stranger, we are kind to a stranger whether alone with believers or non-believers. If we live a life where our actions and reactions to our surroundings and people around us are dependent on who we are with, then there is something fundamentally wrong with our beliefs. Being a believer is never just about the faith we profess, not a question of filling up a form and stating we are Christian but living a life that is centred on Christ with Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Lord means He is the person that we obey and put our hope and trust on.

That is why we always need to be changed and transformed as a believer. It’s a life long and continous thing. We live not for our selves and our families only but for Christ and God and for the Holy Spirit.

As much as we will probably not attain perfection here on earth and will likely be work in progress throughout our life here on earth, it is still a question of degree of who we are in Christ. As we look back 5, 10, 20 years, can honestly see the transformative changes we have experienced in our lives? Have we become a better person, a kinder person in Christ. A more helpful and supportive person? A more generous person? Willing to give and let go more of our money and possessions? Do we pray more for people in need? Do we speak to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit more? Do we pray to become a better person in Christ? Do we have more compassion and love? Do we more easily forgive those who hurt and harm us?

As we worship the Lord today in Sunday worship service, let’s evaluate ourselves and see whether we are a better person in Christ compared to who we were 5, 10 and 20 years back. Are we doing more for Him, serving Him more in ministry, giving more of ourselves and our lives?

Have a blessed Sunday, everyone!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/21/choosing-compassion

Obadiah 1:8-15 is a word from the LORD spoken by Obadiah the prophet to the Edomites who were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob. The Edomites had always fought against Israel and Judah and when the Israelites were brought out of Egypt, they refused passage by the Israelites across their land. It was an Edomite who killed 85 of the priests who helped David when he fled from Saul.

When Israel was down and was invaded by other forces and Jerusalem captured, the Edomites rejoiced and watched in glee the defeat and destruction of the Israelites and the LORD warned them against that. This is because often the Israelites are defeated as the LORD allowed to teach them a lesson for their disobedience, to bring them back into obedience and the right path.

Thus I’m not quite sure that a warning by God to the Edomites, who are enemies of the Israelites, is a good example to teach or apply the principle that we ought to love our neighbours, even our enemies. This is because the Edomites are not the people of God although they were descended from Esau.

I do not disagree that we should have compassion for our enemies as Jesus taught us to love our enemies. For example, even as we pray that the previous ruling party who was filled with the corrupted do not return to power, we should not gloat if they were to lose the upcoming general elections. We will rejoice that justice prevailed and yet we need to temper such rejoicing with compassion.

To me, Obadiah 1 speaks of God’s love for Israel even if He allowed their enemies to overcome them and bring them into exile because of their disobedience to Him. The LORD Himself allowed such to afflict His chosen people but He warns their enemies not to gloat or rejoice so much because the day will come when they too will be defeated. Look at Obadiah 1:15. He still loved Israel dearly with all His heart.

God’s heart will always be with Israel and now after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, with us the church as the spiritual Israel. Even if we are to go through intense persecution for our faith in the days to come, our enemies who persecute us should not gloat and rejoice at our predicament as God’s judgment will be upon them for the day of the LORD is near! As you have done, it will be done to you. Your deeds will return upon your own head! Obadiah 1:15.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/20/god-in-the-details-2

There is this phrase we often use, “the devil is in the details”; meaning to say, the challenge is to manage and work out the details of what it entails. It can be something as simple as organising a small church camp or retreat, working on a work project to actually completing a development like a multi storey condominium. It is the details that will ensure that we succeed. Like if our company just won a software system tender, we need to have a strong delivery team to deliver the system to client. The devil is thus in the details – winning is one thing but delivery is another. Winning the tender is half the battle won, the other is still delivery and performance.

God is also the God of details. Sometimes we think God is only big picture. He is high up in heaven and there are millions of believers and people interacting with Him. Surely He cannot pay close attention to every single person and every single detail of what we are going through. But then we are looking at God through our human eyes. God is God. He is one and yet can be one to one with a million at the same time as He is both omnipresent and omniscience. He transcends time too and can move in and out of any timeline.

When I was looking out to leave my former employment after so many years, I got an offer from my present employer. I was willing to just leave and move on. But of course the basic rule of taking up a new job is to first receive the official offer letter before we click on the resignation button (nowadays most companies have HR systems that enable resignation by a click, followed of course by an official letter). I was on the verge of clicking but my new employer was taking its time to prepare the letter of offer. Then the HR person’s computer crashed and needed a few days to rectify. By the time it was ready and they were about to send, my former employer decided to offer me a severance package. It was just a basic package but still valuable. When I first decided to leave, my wife had teared up in prayer, asking God that should it all end like this when I had given my youth to my former employer after spending 27 years there? We committed our decision to the Lord and I can testify that He was fully aware of all the details including possibly arranging for the breakdown of the computer of the HR person! That delay of the few days resulted in me receiving the severance package as I had signed on for my new job on the same day as I had signed on the severance contract. God is indeed a God of details!

I just like to encourage us today that in whatever we are going through, God knows every single detail. He is not just big picture but also into full details. Commit everything to Him, all that we are going through, and He will make our paths straight – His Word shall be a lamp unto our feet! He knows and will support us in every single detail, no matter how trivial or insignificant it may be.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/19/reasons-to-rejoice-2

What do we say in prayer, in our quiet time? Is it always a time for requests and supplications? We pray because we have something to ask God to do, to intervene, to heal, to make a sitiation better or to go away? There is a song that I sing in worship by the Parachute Band, that starts with the words, “I have not come, to ask you for anything. Except for the privilege to glorify Your name”. Sometimes it’s important to just be grateful for the privilege to worship Him, to glorify His name. To just bask in the glory of His presence. To be thankful that we are who we are today because of His grace and mercy. Despite the struggles and storms life brings us. The choppy waters, the headwinds. The injustices we sometimes face in the hands of conniving and evil people with their own ends.

Yet in the midst of all that, we are allowed to be honest with God. To honestly and genuinely tell Him of our concerns and the struggles we go through. The crossroads we face, the hard decisions we need to make. The unfairness of it all sometimes. The workload, the burden, the responsibilities, the expectation, the pressure we carry. Tell Him all that to be real but at the bottom of our heart we must be convinced and confident that the righteous will prevail in the end. Evil will not triumph because the end for evil is the lake of fire where there is gnashing of teeth.

But there is a line in the sand we must draw. We voice our complaints, to ventilate, to air our grief but never to blame God. Job never once curse or blame God. David always held on to the faith and belief with full confidence that God will eventually come through for him, no matter how perilous the situation. Paul never gave up on his hope of glory, the Christ crucified and resurrected. No doubt aided by the inexpressible things he had heard when caught up in the third heaven.

I think it’s unacceptable to blame God because in doing so we are disputing that He loves us and knows best. When we blame Him, we are saying He is not God. Often our predicament is our own doing. We took that path, made that decision and yet in the consequences we still find grace and mercy except that we cannot avoid the consequences. The important thing is that as the Lord allows us to go through the consequences, He is with us and will never depart from us. He will eventually rescue us but in the meantime, He strengthens and encourages us. Sometimes the experience will make us stronger and a better person in Christ to serve Him better for the future.

Be honest with God but with gratefulness and thankfulness always knowing that God is not only God BUT our God. He is with us and will always have our interests in heart even though we would need to go through the consequences of our actions and decisions. He loves us and will never forsake us.

Psalm 64:10 – The righteous will rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in Him, all the upright in heart will glory in Him. Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/18/beyond-words

2 Corinthians 12 is unique and special as Paul shares about his experience hearing inexpressible things, things no one is permitted to reveal. Revelations so great that instead of using them to boost himself, Paul chose to focus on his weaknesses so he remained humbled and reliant on Christ that in his weakness he finds strength in Christ. Thomas Aquinas also had a similar experience and chose not to finish his life long masterpiece after seeing things so great that his work seemed like just straw.

What John saw and wrote in Revelation is meant as a window to the future, to the end of times and a hope for us to hold on that one day we will be part of Revelation 22. Yet what it will actually look like and what an experience it will be is something probably Paul and Thomas had heard about and seen. It is most likely beyond what words could describe and probably something so special that this world has never ever seen or experienced or can even imagine. That is why Paul used the phrase inexpressible things. Something so great and magnificent that words cannot describe. Paul was indeed privileged to be revealed such things but he chose not to boast about it. He had heard things no man had ever heard and he kept those things to himself. He said it was not permitted to be revealed but it did motivate him to go through his life the way he did – through all the trials, tribulations, sufferings and persecution. He never ever gave up because he knew what lies ahead is far exceedingly greater than what he had to endure in his present sufferings as he wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17.

Do we have to have a similar experience to Paul and Thomas to have the same motivation to strive ahead for Christ? No! We need not have the same experience or vision or revelation. If God had revealed that to Paul and Thomas as well as John in the Book of Revelation, it is sufficient for us to have faith in them as well as Christ that what indeed awaits us at the end of our race will far exceed our greatest expectations. When we reach the finish line, we will say it is a good thing we didn’t give up as what we had gone through in life is nothing compared to what we have now at the finish line and if given the chance again, we will do this again a hundred times! No trial or tribulation or suffering man can endure will be able to compare with the glory that awaits us in Christ Jesus. It’s probably like a tiger who had lived his whole life in captivity in a cage to then be released into a wilderness that is thousands of miles in all directions. What lies ahead for that tiger is just so beyond words to the tiger compared to his little cage that had been his home all these while. I know it is not a good picture but I’m trying to illustrate the point. It is just beyond words what lies ahead for us.

So dear brethren, don’t ever give up what God has given us in Christ. It is really like the farmer who found a precious pearl in a field and sold everything he had so he could buy that field to own that pearl. It is that special, that overwhelmingly special!