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!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/17/god-spoke

As much as the first words of God is significant both literally and metamorphically, to me the more significant fact is that the spoken words of God actually created all things out of nothing! As humans, we create using our hands whether we are wordsmiths, artists, musicians, scientists or designers or a potter. Of course we can speak and sing and create speeches, messages or songs but nothing physical may be created by just our words. We cannot just say it to make a guitar, for example. A lot of craftsmanship is required to make the guitar. But God could and He did that when He created heaven and earth and all the living and non-living things and beings in there. He created things out of nothing! Through His spoken word, the whole system of how the natural and spiritual world operate was created and made into existence. Laws of physics, chemistry and biology were created simultaneously as He created the earth and all things in it. The marvel of Genesis 1 is the power of His Word. He spoke things into existence for He is God.

The phrase, “let there be light” is significant as they were the first spoken words of God as recorded in Genesis 1, the chapter that chronicled the beginning of heaven and earth, the seas, the creatures of the sea and land and air, the plants and humanity. Before there was light, the earth was just darkness -formless and empty. After light came, darkness was overwhelmed. It speaks symbolically and metamorphically of the power of light over darkness of how light represents God and His people and darkness represents the evil one. Scientifically darkness is defined as the absence of light as it is through light that we can see and everything we see is actually a reflection of light and colours as we them is also a reflection of the colour combinations of light. Thus natural light emanating from the sun consists of colours of the rainbow and all colours are a combination of those colours.

At the personal level, I think the encouragement for us this morning is to be thankful and grateful that the God that created heavens and earth is our God. He is our heavenly Father, our Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. He is one and yet three as the Holy Trinity.

This morning as we come before God in worship and devotion, lift up our troubles and issues at work, in college, school or in the family or church or ministry. Commit our cares and burdens unto Him. We have deadlines to meet and yet we are going to be on scheduled leave. Or we have multiple deadlines to hand in stuff; projects and assignments to complete. Contracts and tenders to close. Transactions to run and finalise. Living life itself is not always smooth.

Commit our hearts to God. Commit our issues and troubles to God. As He created heaven and earth and everything in them, He is the creative one to help us out of our predicaments and difficult situations. Seek Him in prayer and ask that He reveals His will to us for the situation we are facing. Pray that He will help us find a solution to resolve our issues and troubles. After all, in the whole earth and heaven and the entire universe, only God is able to create something out of nothing with just His Word!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/16/the-indwelling-christ

After Jesus died on the cross of Calvary for our sins, He rose again 3 days after and was victorious over sin and death. He appeared in His glorified body (that is the hope of our salvation) to His disciples and believers for 40 days before He ascended to heaven to be with the Father. 10 days after His resurrection, the Holy Spirit came on earth on the day of Pentecost. His second coming to mark the end of this age is highly anticipated by all believers throughout the ages where He will come again in His glorified form to rule the earth.

Until His second coming, He had promised and had sent us another advocate, the Spirit of Truth to be with us. The Holy Spirit thus lives and dwells in all believers and will transform us from within more and more into the image of Christ. That is why it is impossible for a believer not to be transformed after receiving Christ in their lives. No doubt we have our own will but if we resist the changes brought by the Holy Spirit all the time and if our heart is always unrelenting and hard, why do we even accept Jesus in the first place? Surely if Jesus is our Lord and Saviour, we will let the Holy Spirit work in our lives. In fact, we want to be transformed. We want to give our fullest cooperation to fulfil the Father’s and Christ’s aspirations, plans and purposes for our lives.

Christ via the Holy Spirit dwells in us. There is power and might. The Holy Spirit made the Apostles bold and filled them with power although they were initially discouraged and were fearful of their fate after Jesus died on the cross. But after the day of Pentecost, they became bold to proclaim Christ crucified and resurrected and many more were added to their midst daily as they themselves moved in signs and wonders. Millions and millions of lives have been touched throughout the generations over the past 2,000 years.

I think I am as guilty as the next person. We may not have been fully cognisant and may not have actively and purposefully allowed the Spirit in us to change and transform us. We know God and yet we resist His attempts to make us more like Him. Shall we make a change in our heart this morning as we go to church to worship Him? Make it our resolve to be more like Christ and to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work within us like the seed of the egg transforming itself into a chick. Allow the seed of faith in us to grow like a tree who is planted by streams of water that is fruitful every season! Blessed Sunday, everyone!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/10/14/baby-boy

When Moses recalled God’s love for the ancestors of the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:15, he spoke about the broader scope of God’s love covering the orphans, widows and foreigners. This extent of God’s love has often also been highlighted in the pages of this blog that God loves those who are weak and oppressed in society. Even Jesus illustrated this when he told the story of Lazarus the beggar and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. The beggar who ate off the crumps from the table of the rich man when he was alive was in a much more comfortable position at the bosom of Abraham after he died while the rich man was in such torment in Hades that he just wanted a drop of water to quench his thrist.

I think when it comes to the heart of God, He is always for those who are poor, weak, under privileged, oppressed and marginalised. A life lived well and comfortable on this earth is not always a good thing for eternity. That is why Jesus also said before that it is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Wealth and prosperity have a tendency to cloud the judgment of man and lead him astray and away from God.

However, in the era of the church after the death and resurrection of Christ, it is not so much a matter of whether we are poor or rich in life but whether we have Jesus in our life to lead us onto and along the narrow path to eternity. Will we remain on that path? Perhaps if we are comfortable and wealthy, we may become complacent but if we are poor and oppressed, we may be more inclined by our circumstances to depend on God and thus remain on the path of righteousness. Also as God’s heart is for the weak and oppressed, perhaps He is more compassionate to those of us who are poor, weak and oppressed.

I think the lesson today is for us to make the effort to understand the heart of God more and more, and to then fashion our lives to be in sync with Him. We live for God as we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. What better way to live for God than to understand His heart more and the lesson today is that His heart is always for the poor, weak, oppressed and marginalised. So if we are a minority in a society and have to bear with all the injustices that come with it, know that God’s heart is with us.