https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/09/known-by-god

To me, the most touching thing about the resurrected Jesus’s encounter with Mary as narrated by John in chapter 20 and verses 11 to 18 of his book is that Mary, not knowing she was speaking to Jesus, instantly recognised Him when He called out her name Miriam (which is Mary, in Aramaic). She, in turn, addressed Christ as Rabboni, meaning my Master, my teacher. Physically, the resurrected Christ was unrecognisable as Jesus as He was already clothed in His glorified body. Even when He first spoke, Mary didn’t know it was Him, perhaps because she did not expect Him to be resurrected. But when He called her in a way only He could, she immediately knew it was Him, Jesus.

John 20 establishes that Jesus was resurrected after He died. It is the message of Easter that Christ died for our sins to redeem us and that He defeated the sting of sin, which is death. It gives us the hope of the glory that awaits us one day as we fix our eyes upon Him heavenward. For I know my redeemer lives, and that in the end, He will stand on the earth. Though my skin may be destroyed, even in my flesh, I will see God. Job 19:25-26. That’s in the future, one day.

In the present day, we are assured that Jesus knows us by name like He called out to Mary or like the LORD called out to young Samuel in 1 Samuel 3. Most importantly, we are assured by faith that when Jesus calls us, we will, like Mary and Samuel (after the third time), know that He is Jesus and our God. He will call us by our name that we will instantly recognise that it’s the voice of God as we are His sheep and His sheep recognise His voice. Not just from the way He calls our name, but our spirit and soul will resonate and know that it is Him. Like the special and personal way our spouse and loved ones speak to us that we are most familiar with, we will know.

As I’ve written before in these pages, recognising God’s voice may require practice, but we are assured by faith that we will recognise Him. We will know when He speaks to us. We are His sheep, and He is our Shepherd and sheep recognise the voice of their Shepherd.

My dear brothers and sisters, I pray that as Jesus calls and speaks to us that we will experience the peace that surpasses all understanding. That His peace will guard our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/08/truth-seekers-2

When I was a young Christian growing up, one of the questions I came across was that were there already people (humans or pre-humans?) out there when Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden? This is because when Cain murdered Abel, both Adam and Eve’s first offsprings, and Cain was punished to roam the earth; God gave a warning that whoever kills Cain will be avenged for 7 times by God. How could there be anyone out there when Cain and Abel were the first offspring of Adam and Eve? This could be because it was a literary style of the ancient world to highlight only certain significant aspects of the creation story rather than corroborate the factual accuracy of the story. Or God could be speaking to animals or pre-humans?

Just ten years past, I attended a talk at a local seminary and came across for the first time the debate about young earth during the Q&A time. I asked the speaker what that was all about, and he somewhat condenscendingly answered, “Where have I been all this while that I wasn’t acquinted with this topic?”. I have to admit that I do not make it a point to follow the various debates and controversies explored by the Christian world, most of which, in my view, are academic discourses. I later found out that the young earth theory probably came about to answer the discovery of fossil remains of dinosaurs when the latter was not explicitly mentioned in the bible.

Recently, there have been conspiracy theories on Covid-19 vaccinations as taking the mark of the beast and, as mentioned in today’s ODB, the issue of whether the earth is actually flat. A few years back. I also came across discussions on the Nephilim as being offsiring of the union between fallen angels and humans, perhaps as a way to answer the presence of giants like Goliath of the Philistines. However, I recently watched a video of Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, arriving at KLIA, and his 7 1/2 feet frame indeed made him look like Goliath of the Bible! With advances in medical science, we now know the reasons for these exceptionally tall humans.

While all these discourses may be useful to develop our spiritual outlook and worldview, I think we should not spend too much time dwelling on such things. Ultimately, what really matters, in my view, is our own spiritual journey and walk with God. Are we fulfilling the plans and purposes of God for our lives? Are we being transformed to become more Christlike in our character? Are we serving the Lord in the church and ministry? Are we doing anything meaningful for Jesus in the Kingdom of God? A lot of these questions do not have clear-cut answers in the present time, and some of them may probably be answered only on the day of Jesus Christ!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/07/hunt-for-inner-healing

Everyone goes through traumatic moments, whether in our childhood or even as adults. There are bound to be times we faced dramatic situations at home, in school or college, or even at work. We could have witnessed our parents’ quarrels or seen a road accident, or we ourselves could have been mugged, molested or harassed or we could have experienced bouts of bullying and racism.

In my youth, I had seen before with my very own eyes an arrested person attempting to flee from a police van only to give up when the policeman discharged a revolver into the air as a warning shot. Some memories are vague, and some are as clear as daylight. I guess the more traumatic ones are embedded in our memory. These experiences and memories sometimes resurfaced in dreams when we sleep or are recalled as we witness or read or watch something similar. The more traumatic ones may becone recurring nightmares. One thing is certain, these past experiences shape our personalities and even outlook in life and may make or break some of us. For example, we could become more reserved, withdrawn, or introverted due to a failed relationship or rejection. Or spiritually, we have become too cautious when we should step up in faith more often.

Isaiah, as a book, is sometimes referred to as the fifth Gospel as it is essentially a message from God of warnings to Israel to keep the faith and the destruction that comes with disobedience in the first half, with the other half on the restoration of Israel. The book, however, is intertwined with the promise of the Messiah and how He is key to the restoration of Israel. Thus, if we look at ourselves as adopted children of Israel through Christ, a lot of what God speaks of Israel in Isaiah may apply to us as spiritual Israel. Isaiah is prophetic as it speaks of the future, and Jesus came and fulfilled His Messianic role. In fact, Isaiah is probably the most quoted of Old Testament Scripture in the New Testament, having been quoted 62 times. Isaiah is thus a favourite book of preachers, especially those who like to operate in the prophetic realm.

Isaiah 61:1-3 speaks of the one who will restore the broken-hearted and proclaim liberty to the captives. The opening of the prison to those who are bound and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. To give them beauty for ashes. The oil of joy for mourning and the garment of praise for heaviness.

If our past trauma has held us captive and bound us from fulfilling our purposes in God and shaped us to be fearful of walking in faith in Christ, Christ is there to heal the broken-hearted and set the captives free. Look to Christ, the Messiah, to break us free from our past that is holding us back in God. We need to break free from the shackles of our past and move forward to the glory of God. Allow God to heal us, to restore all that the locusts had eaten. All that we could have been in Christ, we could now be in Him. Allow Him to do a thorough inner healing within our soul, that God may shape and mould us in His fashion into that sculpture of beauty that is worthy of His crown of glory. It will take time, but this needs to start today, now.

Have a blessed Sunday, everyone, basking in the glory of His presence as we worship Him this morning! Hallelujah, for the LORD, our God reigns!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/05/grace-and-change

As Christians, we are familiar with Paul’s writing to the church in Rome – that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, to be received by faith (Romans 3:23-26). It speaks of the original sin by Adam that has plaqued humankind since the beginning of time and was only overcome by the death and resurrection of Christ in Calvary. The original sin also led to mankind having the nature of sin.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon declared that the LORD has put eternity in our hearts, and as we can see from Genesis, when God created man, He created us in His image. Thus, we are, in essence, spiritual beings, although in the natural, we are physical beings. Our physical bodies may die and return to earth, but our spirits live on and return to God until the day of Christ when all will be judged.

Due to the nature of sin in us, we have a natural inclination to sin or or to go against or rebel against God. However, once we are born again, having accepted Jesus in our lives, our spirit has awakened, and as Paul puts it, we have a new self, we are a new creation in Christ. With God living in us and with our new self, we will now be able to overcome our human self who was born with the tendency to sin or go against God.

There is no doubt that the Lord will accept us no matter how wretched we have been, as illustrated by the story of Moses in today’s ODB. And even if we had known Christ and had turned away from God, but if we repent and return to Him, He will accept us with open hearts as illustrated by the parable of the Prodigal Son. The God we know is a God of second and third and fourth chances.

However, I do not think that as believers, we can continue to sin and yet remain in the faith. This is because essentially sinning is going against God, and thus, how can we continue to be rebellious against God if Christ is our Lord and lives in us? Moreover, with the power of the Holy Spirit available to us, we will surely be overcomers! Our old and carnal nature has passed away. We are a new creation in Christ! As we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, we will surely be transformed into the image of Christ that Christ wants us to be! Be that person whom God had prepared and planned for us even before the foundations of the earth!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/04/how-to-pray-2

With Jesus having reconciled us to God, as believers, we have the privilege and the honour to approach God in prayer. Thus, for every seemingly impossible situation we face, help is just a prayer away. As we connect with our Father in heaven, He may unleash forces in heaven to make a difference for us here on earth, in His time, for our petitions and supplications that are in His will.

In this respect, 2 Chronicles 20:1-12 teaches us a posture for prayer in the person of Jehoshaphat that we should all consider when approaching the holy and righteous throne of God.

I think the first point to take note of is Jehoshaphat’s humility in seeking the LORD’s intervention and help. He is seeking help but not demanding. As much as the Israelites in Judah are God’s people and they are all fasting and as much as God should protect His people, it is for Him to decide whether He will and when. If God doesn’t intervene, then He didn’t, and that’s that. He has His reasons, and we mustn’t question or challenge Him, for He is still our creator and Lord as much as He is our friend. It is like at work. We may rationalise and put forth arguments for our point of view, but in the end, the call and accountability lies with our boss. Once he decides, we execute. With God, nothing is as of right since we are relying on His grace and mercy. In fact, grace is defined as being given something that we don’t deserve, and mercy is not being given something unfavourable that we deserve. It is always, in my view, a question of love, compassion, and discretion of God.

Yet as we approach God, we must also be bold and confident because there is now no condemnation in Christ. We may freely approach the throne of God in prayer with the blood of the Lamb covering us, making us unblemished and white as snow before God. In this connection, for our own faith and confidence, we should, like Jehoshaphat, remember the times in the past when we had experienced His goodness, grace, and mercy. Those times when He had answered our prayers in our moments of desperation and hopelessness. Those times when we really felt His love for us. When we remember those milestones, we have confidence but also gratitude and thanksgiving. Thus, even if God, for some reason, doesn’t answer us now, He had answered us before, and we are thankful for His grace and mercy during those tough and difficult times.

Have the right posture within us when approaching God. It is now the era of the church, the new testament time, and yet God is still God, whether in the old or new testaments. He must be given the full reverence that He deserves as it was Him who created the vast universe and all things that are in it. His power, reach, and authority are infinite compared to us. We have no right to demand anything from Him.

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/03/tired-tents

Paul likes to use the expression “tent” to refer to our earthly bodies. I guess tent is a good analogy as it is temporal and moveable. Tents are also symbolic of our faith forefathers, who were nomads who left their permanent abodes by faith for a faraway land in response to a calling from God, for a place flowing with milk and honey where their descendants will be like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore.

As we grow older, we can not avoid the effects of ageing. We are not as strong as we used to be. We are slower in movement. Our eyesight is getting worse. If we could easily do 30,000 steps a day when young; 17,000 steps are challenging now. Now, we will probably take a week to recover from an overseas trip. Even our memory is failing. Our tents do get tired and worn out.

Thus, 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:5 give us that hope that even as our earthly tents are decaying, our spirit man is getting stronger. Our inner being, which was created by God before the foundations of the world to be holy and blameless before Christ (Ephesians 1:4), is getting stronger by the day. One day, our inner man will become our new physical self as we are transformed into our glorified bodies as the spiritual realm merges with the physical in the new heaven and earth, in the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:1-2).

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, do not be dismayed if we are afflicted by ailments and medical complications. Some are due to the years of neglect, and yet some are just unavoidable as we age due to wear and tear. Focus on what is unseen as what is unseen is eternal – the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:18. But note his words again in 2 Corinthians 5:1 – for we know if our earthly tent is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. If we had neglected our temporal tents all these years, don’t make the same mistake with our eternal bodies!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/02/life-everlasting

I always recall the movie Highlander whenever the topic of immortality crops up. It is about a Scottish swordsman who was born in 1518 and lived through the centuries. In a subtle way, a movie like that, although pure fiction, embodies our human desire to live forever. The novel Count Dracula (that has been adapted into numerous movies) is another example of man’s pursuit of immortality. Throughout the ages, we have been known to search for the elixir of youth that cures all diseases. Even in contemporary times, we have stem cell technology to rejuvenate our bodies and preempt diseases so that we may live longer, although not forever. We, as believers, of course, know that we age and die because of sin, and the only way to eternal life is believing in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

The movie Highlander and other movies like Charlize Theron’s Netflix’s The Old Guard highlight a fundamental issue with immortality, and that is, living forever is a very lonely experience. This is because if we are immortal, we will outlive all our loved ones who will age and die, and we have to restart that process of loving someone over and over again, and that also means loss and grief throughout time. It is ironical, but mortality then becomes the quest of immortals.

Is the hope of eternal life promised by Christ immortality? In a way, it also embodies the desire of man for immortality. But the big difference is that although we die, we live as Jesus said in John 11:25. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. We need to die in Christ in order to live.

The other significant difference is that the hope of eternal life advocated by Christ has more to do with being with God than living forever. Jesus’s death on the cross reconciled us to God, and thus, that is why Christians proclaim that eternal life can somewhat be experienced here on earth now while we are living here on earth, in our brokenness and sin. We have a glimmer of eternity as Christians.

Man was created by God to have fellowship with Him as He originally intended in Eden. Sin disrupted that. So God had to send His only Son to earth so that we may not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). When we read Revelation 21 and 22, we will see Eden recreated at the end of time with a new beginning with God dwelling again among His people. Heaven and earth become one. The spiritual realm merges with the physical. With sin and the devil banished forever, we will live forever, but that’s not the point. We will live forever with one another and with God, and that’s really the point of eternal life!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/05/01/multitude-of-maples

I have just returned from my vacation travel to Taiwan, and it was indeed a tiring (we each walked about 17,000 steps most days) but refreshing trip, seeing how advanced and structured Taiwan is, with her efficient high speed rail, metro, inter-city trains and buses. The food was especially good, suited to our Malaysian tastes, and didn’t cost a bomb like in Europe. Although it was already warmer, we had a couple of chilly days due to rain and with humidity at around 10%, it was a very pleasant experience compared to the hot humid tropical weather we are used to over here. I think I’ll make it a point, if possible, to travel in the future to only 4-season countries for vacation – just to experience the cold again!

Peter makes a good point for us to ponder in 1 Peter 3:15, to always being ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. When people look at our lives and the testimony we bear, they may be curious to know why. Why do we live right side up, based on Godly principles that do not conform to the standards of this world? Why do we repay evil with blessings as advised by Peter in 1 Peter 3:9? Why do some of us willingly face persecution because of our faith and principles? Why do we want to do good, instead of evil?

I think as a believer, we must invest some time to formulate and articulate our own answer if anyone were to ask us the reason for our hope. It could be an object lesson in apologetics or just a summary of a few favourite verses, but whatever it is, it must be grounded on our own experience of the goodness of God. As much as we look to the eternal life as promised, we experience heaven here on earth now in terms of the spiritual blessings and the manifestation of His power and glory in our lives. Our faith is not only for eternity but also while we are yet sinners and pilgrims passing through. In our brokenness, we experience His blessings. In our weakness, we find strength in Jesus. In our sorrow, we find comfort in Him.

The takeaway today is not to be afraid to live for God. We will not lose out. We may suffer a little, but in the suffering that we endure, we will see the goodness and strength of God arising from within us to overcome and be victorious. In suffering, we develop perseverance and through perseverance character and character, hope (Romans 5:3-5). We must never be neither here nor there, living in the peripherals. If we are neither hot nor cold, Jesus will spit us out!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/18/future-faithfulness

In this era of the church, we know Jesus will come again. Although no one except the Father knows the exact time, predictions are rife that it will be within our generation. It is predicted that it should be within the lifetime of a human being from the day Israel was established as a nation in 1948. Thus, if we postulate that a human being can live at the most 105 years now, then the prediction is Christ should come again on or before 2053 or thereabouts. That’s exactly 30 years away, max.

If we believe in this prediction, there may not be any use to invest in the future since the second coming heralds the end of times, and places us in a trajectory that will end with the day of judgement.

Yet as much as we know and believe Christ will return, Christ Himself has said before that we will not really know exactly when although there will be signs. You can read what Jesus said about His Second coming in Mathew 24:36-44, but it will be like in the days of Noah.

My view is that we need to be prepared for the Great Tribulation, and thus keep our faith strong and alive so that we will withstand all forms of persecution if and when the time actually comes in our lifetime. That is, in itself, an investment in the future as the foreseeable future itself may include the second coming of Christ. Be faithful in the path of righteousness and serve God. Fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives, and I’m sure He will ensure that we will be protected like He promised in Jeremiah 32:38-39. “They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.” In Jeremiah, God asked him to purchase land even though the LORD knew that Babylon would invade and leave Israel burning and destroyed. Why? Because the LORD will bring restoration in the future. Because one day He will bring His people back to the land.

Life goes on in the meantime. Our church needs us. There is much work to be done in the Kingdom of God. We still need to work to survive. There is still a future to build for we know not when exactly Christ will come again. We still need to build a foundation for our children and our children’s children. Therefore, as much as we invest in the possible coming of Christ within our generation, we also invest in a future that transcends that time. We commit our lives and our future to the Father, who knows what’s best for us and our loved ones.

For those who take the effort and time to read my blogs diligently, I thank you very much for your constant support and encouragement. Having an audience motivates me to keep on writing as much as I’m motivated to fulfil God’s calling for me for this season of my life. I’ll be travelling over the next two weeks and thus may not be able to pen out my thoughts as regularly. Please bear with me before I resume the norm after my travels. God bless and take care, everyone!

https://odb.org/MY/2023/04/17/remembering-to-praise

I led worship yesterday at my local church and had the privilege to play with a talented guitarist who played electric and blended well with my acoustic guitar and my wife’s digital piano, as we intermixed the basic chords of the songs with melodies and harmonies. We also had an up and coming drummer who played his heart out to give us rhythm and keep time for us.

I started the worship by mentioning that although the world also sings, we worship by singing in spirit and in truth. Truth means the proclaiming of God and His greatness and goodness as expressed in the words of the songs, all of which are true as well as declaring that Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We exalt His name high above the earth above all gods.

Yet there is the spirit component in worship. As believers redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, worship is where we see God face to face in the spiritual realm as our spirit is born again. Worship is the moment we enter into His presence and just love and adore Him as we speak our hearts out to Him.

One aspect of worship that forms its foundation is thanksgiving. We enter into God’s presence at His court with thanksgiving in our hearts. We are thankful for all that He is to us, for where He has brought us thus far and for calling us to be His own, into His family. Thus, one of my favourite songs in worship is a song that proclaims His greatness, which declares that when we call upon His name, He will answer us and ends lovingly by declaring His great love and His great faithfulness! Another song I love is the song that says that our Lord is forever in our lives, that He sees us through all seasons and leads us to His righteousness. He covers us with His hand as we look to Him and wait upon Him.

In all seasons, praise Him. Enter into His presence with thanksgiving. Remember all that He has done for us and our loved ones. Remember His grace and compassion for all our loved ones who are now with Him. The future may be unknown, but with the Lord in our lives, we know where we are headed, and it is a place where Eden is recreated! Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!