https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/21/living-water-3

God through Moses provided the Israelites with water from the rock as we saw in my devotional commentary yesterday. But instead of speaking to the rock as instructed by God, Moses used his tried and tested method of his staff. His disobedience displeased the LORD and as a result he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land. Nevertheless the provision of God throughout their 40-year sojourn in the wilderness is celebrated by the Jews through the Feast of the Tabernacles and one of the things they do is to have a water pouring ritual to remind them of God’s provision of water through the rock.

Like the water drawn from the well by the Samaritan woman for Jesus, water refreshes and quenches our thirst. The same way water from the rock sustained the Israelites, water makes sure that our bodies remain hydrated. Besides the air we breathe and the food that we eat, living creatures need water to live. Animals sometimes travel for miles in search of water during a drought and wildebeest brave crocodiles to drink water from the edge of the river.

Yet as essential is water to humans, Jesus talks about us having living waters flowing from within us. If we were to drink from Him, we will never become thristy as He is the living water. The source of eternal waters which is the Holy Spirit given after Christ was glorified and thus fully accessible by us as believers in this post-Christ era of the church.

With the Holy Spirit living in us, practically our spirit is revived and refreshed daily as we wake and get ready to face the world again every morning. We shouldn’t be down or discouraged as we have the source of living waters flowing inside us. Like water refreshed a bouquet of Ecuadorian flowers in today’s ODB’s life story, the living water inside us will revive and refresh our spirit and empowers us to soar with wings like an eagle. Like an eagle, we will able to see far into the horizon of an exciting future full of exploits for God. Jesus has much more in store for us than the job we hold and the life we live right now. More adventures from and for God await us as we allow the living waters to flow freely within us!

Life can be dreary, boring and lifeless but with the living waters of the Holy Spirit, life lived for God will surely be a sparkle, exciting and even a spectacle! Hallelujah! Praise the name of the Lord forever and ever!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/20/reckless-decisions

Driving fast in the rain is dangerous even in these modern times with ABS brakes and a host of advanced driving assistance (ADA) systems like adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, lane change monitor, driver attention alerts etc. Thus if we chose to drive fast in the rain, we could be regarded as having driven recklessly.

In the heat of a moment when emotions run high, we may make decisions or take actions we may regret later. In the case of Moses, for some reason, he chose not to listen fully to God’s instructions and instead relied on his time-tested method of using his staff on the rock to bring forth water for the community. Some say it could be he wanted to be like the magicians of old showing off his powers. But I think it’s more like he was under tremendous pressure then and thus relied on what worked in the past, forgetting that God is holy and God is God. Since the LORD had said to speak to the rock, why did Moses misinterpret it to mean to use his staff like he did in previous times? In retrospect, it may look silly to disobey, but at the heat of the moment in the split second, Moses chose the status quo, the tried and tested method. A similar situation was experienced by Saul, and he entered the Holy place and offered the LORD the burnt offering without waiting for Samuel, the high priest, who was the only one authorised to do so at that time. He acted hastily as he was under tremendous pressure to appease the troops. Saul’s case, though, was not to rely on the status quo but to take matters into his own hands, which, unfortunately for him, he was prohibited to do.

I think there are two lessons here. One is don’t act or decide in a rush or at the heat of the moment. Our decisions or actions will most likely be emotionally and unduly influenced and will not be the best. Take time to withdraw to pray and consider carefully. Seek God for guidance and wisdom. Don’t decide and act hastily.

The other lesson is that we must trust God at His Word. If He calls us, we must respond as He says. We mustn’t rationalise and put our own spin and interpret His Word in a safe and conventional manner, which is our human tendency. Dare to move out of our comfort zone and step out in faith and do new things. Embrace fresh ideas as God instructs. We will notice that the consequence of the reckless decision was far worse in the case of Saul compared to Moses. Moses is still revered as the person appointed by God to bring the Israelites out of slavery and bondage in Egypt into the Promised Land, although he himself did not enter. Saul, on the other hand, is known as the person who took matters into his own hands and lost the crown as a result.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/19/imaginative-faith

Isaiah 55:6-13 is very interesting as it speaks about the time when the hills and the mountains will burst out in song and the trees shall clap their hands. A time when even nature will express their joy because the end of age has come and there is then a new heaven and a new earth. It is the time of the new Jerusalem, with God dwelling among His people again. The new Eden! A time of joy with no more tears and sorrow. A time when we will live for eternity and the time for us to be reconciled with our loved ones who had died in the Lord.

The mountains and the hills will burst forth in singing and the trees shall clap their hands. Reminds me of the song that I used to sing when I was growing up as a young believer. Certainly a song written using the words in Isaiah 55.

But note that Isaiah 55:6-13 starts with a warning and exaltation, “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call on Him while He is near”. As much as everyone is given the opportunity to know the LORD, we as humans created in His image must nevertheless take the step to reach out to Him in faith like little children that we spoke about yesterday. Seek the LORD while He may be found is not speaking of Israel then only during the time of Isaiah. It transcends time and is still applicable in this present age, the era of the church after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord. If you have yet to come to faith, it is time to seek God and find Him now. It is time to accept Jesus into our lives. It is time to call on Him while He is near. Meaning to say, while we still can and that applies to even believers who have drifted away or left the faith. It is not that God will disappear but because we will not live forever here on earth. The time will come for us to depart from this earth and we need to decide before we leave this realm. Life and death is in the hands of the Lord, but not everyone dies of old age like QE2.

Seek the LORD while He may be found so that one day we will hear the mountains and the hills sing for joy and the trees clap their hands. Thus when the end of time as we know it comes, we will be resurrected like our Lord Jesus and meet Him as the triumphant and victorious Lord of Lords and King of Kings. That privilege is only extended to those who are in the Lord. So call on Him while He is near, while He can still be found!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/18/learning-and-loving

The value of children is indisputable and it is at all levels. They represent and are the future. No doubt it is end times now and the second coming of Christ is imminent. Yet we don’t know whether we will really see the end in our generation or the generations that come. That is why it is important to invest in children. We need to invest in children whether at the church level or at the family. We need to mould and start cultivating the next generation of leaders to guide and bring the congregation to greater heights like Moses passing on the baton to Joshua and Caleb or Elijah to Elisha or David to Solomon or Abraham to Isaac to Jacob.

At the family, we pass on our legacy to our children that they may carry on God’s work in our lives and continue that work in their lives, their children’s lives and their children’s children. As a country, an ageing population is a worry as there will be less people in the future if people do not reproduce to a minimum of two to replace themselves. It is worrying policy makers if people don’t marry and have children. That is why same sex marriages and relationships are wrong as same genders cannot naturally reproduce and the primary purpose of sexual relations is reproduction. The preservation of species is thus inbuilt in the DNA of every living being with mothers naturally and by instinct bringing up their young – and we know that larger mammals including humans have their offsprings sticking with them until past adolescent ages.

Yet when Jesus welcomed children in His midst when He was teaching, He went deeper than the symbolism of the next generation being the future. The disciples thought the children will be a bother as they will not understand Jesus’s teachings and yet Jesus was happy to have them with Him. Jesus went a step further and praised the innocence of children. He emphasised that the Kingdom of God belongs to children. Anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it. The simplicity of faith and innocence of a child are prerequisites for entry into the Kingdom of God.

It is true because we need to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God and yet how can a man having been born be born again? Can he re-enter his mother’s womb? These were questions asked and answered even in the day of Jesus. Believing in things unseen in fact placing our hope and life upon the eternal requires simple faith that is only possible if we approach such things like a child. If we ask for proof like an adult, then we will forever be on the fringes of the glory of God. Our life will then be clouded and hindered by unbelief and a hardened heart. That is why Jesus already said that if we are not like a child, we cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.

The message to us today is that in the matter of our faith, we need to have faith and we can only have faith if we are like a child no matter how advance in age are we. Christ will always challenge us to step out. He promises to catch us if we were to fall or stumble. Will we trust Him enough to step out in faith? Will we be like little children or will we always be counting, calculating and weighing the risks and odds adult? Will we suspend unbelief and trust God? David was confident that God will rescue him because he knew God was delighted with him. Can we say the same thing? That the Lord is delighted with us like He is with little children?

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/17/deep-water-rescue

I remember two occasions falling into the water and my father pulling me up. Once when I was barely 5, probably around 4, when I fell into a drain leading into a river and my dad was quick enough to pull me up. The other was when I fell into a pond after I took a wrong step and my dad was also quick enough to pull me up. I think I was probably around 7 or 8 then. The first was particularly dangerous as I could have been swept into the river and drown. The second was less dramatic but I went all the way in before resurfacing. Needless to say I was totally drenched as I was not wearing swimming clothes!

In Psalm 18:19, David exalted the LORD by proclaiming that the LORD rescued Him because He delighted in him. David was confident at that time that his conduct before God then was impeccable. He was true and faithful to God and it was the LORD who got Samuel to anoint him as King and now he had the present King Saul chasing after him to kill him. So David sort of know and was fully confident that God will be his salvation and rock since it was his obedience to the calling of God upon his life that led him to his predicament then.

The question today I think we should ponder in is not so much the deep water and storms and floods of life that we may face. But more of what is our standing before Him. Granted we have the blood of Christ covering us and our sins, making us white as snow and unblemished before Him. But strip all that, who are we before God? Beyond our human frailty and imperfections, is our heart pure and true to Him? Is our conduct impeccable? Are we faithful to Him and His cause? Have we responded to His calling upon our life? Dare we say like David that the LORD rescued me because He was delighted in me. Or can we only say God rescued me because Jesus paid the price for my sins?

I think it is imperative that as much as Jesus has cleansed us of our sins by His death on the cross of Calvary, we must be able to stand before God and testify of His goodness and that we have been true and faithful to Him and His Word as much as we could humanely do so. We have been and are giving Him our all, our best. Beyond that it is the blood of Christ but up to that point, we have done our best. If we fail or fall, we pick ourselves up and start again. We are always striving ahead. Pushing on in our Christian walk. Always responding and stepping out in faith, knowing that if we were to fall into deep water, Jesus will rescue us and pull us up like my dad did for me when I was a child and as Jesus did for Peter when the latter walked on water to meet Him in the sea. Will the LORD rescue us because He is delighted in us?

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/15/where-i-belong

It is unusual but not surprising that ODB repeats a theme. It is unusual because we just spoke about unity of the body in yesterday’s post. But I guess the angle is different and there is still much we can learn and apply.

The unity in today’s post sets the background for the real message to emerge which is about people having a sense of belonging to a local church. I recall in my own spiritual journey that the year after my mum passed, the lay pastor of my previous church also passed away to be with the Lord. As I was one of the elders of that small community of believers, I tried my best to keep the community going. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough continuing support from the remaining core leaders and thus we had to disband the fellowship.

After that, I joined a local church in the city I was staying which I have been attending till today. Before that, we used to travel to that small church every weekend, making the journey early in the morning and returning in the late afternoon after a lunch fellowship and till today my children fondly remember that weekly Sunday experience. It was the church they grew up in during those formative years.

I am glad to say that in that previous small church as well as in my current local church that I joined after that, there is a strong sense of belonging. In both instances, there is a sense that we are all together in this journey of faith as we grow in the glory of God and in the image of Christ. Like the life example in today’s ODB story, I have this feeling that this is my family now. This is my community. I have found somewhere where I know I can love and be loved…. where I belong. These are the places where I had raised my family over the past 20 years and my boys literally grew up in these two communities.

We all need to find that place, that community that we belong to. We need to be anchored in a spiritual family and community that we may raise our family, grow spiritually, serve God in ministry; a place that makes the best of our God-given talents and gifts – that we may become the person God always wanted us to be. A place where we can fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives. We cannot live alone as a Christian, worshipping God alone. Our faith is both personal and communal. Yet we cannot be travelling church members, visiting different churches every weekend whether on site or online as a guest always. Church is never just about attending a service or enjoying the worship. It is a sum of everything that goes into the life of a church and most importantly it is a family, a community. Anchor ourselves somewhere and participate and contribute and we will find true peace and fulfilment in the Father, in Jesus Christ our Lord and in the Holy Spirit!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/14/a-house-undivided

I think the topic of the unity of the body of Christ, the church, is a difficult one as the universal church is a fragmented lot with numerous denominations and many independent churches, not only worldwide but even at the local church level. In every city with many Christians, there are many churches. But I guess in the end even though there are many, we are still a part of the universal church united as a body of Christ, the bride that Christ will come to receive when He comes again.

At our respective local church level, we are united as one body because we are a community of believers who have got together to worship God as a congregation as well as to share our lives and embark on this spiritual journey together. So it’s a community not just of meeting social needs of fellowship and relationships but also of a “shared” experience in spiritual growth and spiritual maturity. Thus we help each other in our Christian walk, giving and receiving pointers on how to face challenges and issues of life while maintaining our standards of Christian living. Ministry tasks are one thing but just keeping our stand as a light and salt of the world is not an easy task and can sometimes be ardous as we are constantly bombarded with temptations to throw our values to the wind and follow the world. That is why the church is a community of not only believers but of a shared experience on how we overcome the world and our flesh with the strength from God, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and the guidance and support of our fellow believers.

It is thus a fallacy and lie to think that we may worship God alone and be a lone Christian since faith is personal and between us and God. It is personal and yet it is communal. We need each other and our action or inaction affects others among us. Just our presence at the sanctuary encourages the same way our absence discourages. In my view, we are united if we worship together, if we come together to experience God as a congregation. Unity does not mean we cannot have disagreements or divergent views on things. We may hold our individual views and yet we conform and follow the lead when we worship together as a body.

My encouragement to us today is to make that effort to wake early, freshen and dress up for church. We look to the Lord in prayer and supplication. We worship Him together as a congregation and we meet up with one another to encourage and edify that we will strive on towards the goal that Christ has placed before us to be more like Him and to fulfil God’s plans and purposes for our lives. We are all running our individual races towards our own finish lines but let’s all run together in one direction in tandem and heavenward towards the glory of God, looking forward in great anticipation to our crowns of glory!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/13/whale-of-a-story

I have been to New Zealand once and that was 11 years ago. My boys will testify that it was one of the best travel experience we had as a family. Unfortunately after Ivan did the bungee jump at Queenstown, we didn’t continue on to the west coast of South Island towards Milford Sound as we needed to be in Auckland by a certain date to catch our return flight home. Thus we didn’t see the glaciers or take a boat out to sea to try to catch a glimpse of a whale. But during that trip we did see and touch little penguins that flew in from Antarctic covered with a slight layer of ice. We told ourselves that we will do that in our next trip to NZ. It has been 11 years since and we have yet to plan another trip there.

A large fish or whale in the context of the Bible is the story of Jonah in the book of Jonah. The narrative is simple. God instructed Jonah to preach repentance to the Assyrians and because they were evil people, Jonah rebelled against God and took a ship in the other direction. God then caused a big fish to swallow up Jonah and in those 3 days he was inside the belly of the fish, Jonah repented and proclaimed that salvation belongs to our God. Whether the story of Jonah was an allegory or historical fact, it is a debate but as Jesus mentioned this story Himself, it must be true. See Matthew 12:40. As to how a man could survive 3 days in the belly of a whale, see this:

https://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-t004.html

What’s the message to us this morning? Is God speaking about whales to us? Perhaps for some of us. 😀😃😄😁😆… But I think for most of us, the message is more general and it is to remind us that salvation belongs to the LORD. He decides who should be given the message of salvation and not us. We must whenever possible preach the message of salvation to those around us even those we dont like so that everyone is given the chance and the choice to decide whether to accept Him or not. We will never know the real truth until we die and depart from this world but I just need to say that the Bible has overwhelming evidence that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have life eternal. We must be thankful that we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour and we are saved. Salvation indeed belongs to God and we are on the right boat to salvation. Thank you Lord for Your grace and mercy! Amen

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/12/trust-in-his-name

I just heard a testimony of my local church preacher yesterday of his experience after accepting Christ of being able to call upon Jesus and thus have no more fear of the dark or of roaming spirits during the Chinese Ghost Festival. Christ made the difference!

I myself had a similar experience. As I was growing up, we had watched the movie Exorcist, one of the scariest of movies ever, and although I only watched through the cracks of my fingers as I closed my eyes and covered my face with my hands, it still terrified me so much that I had nightmares every now and then when I was growing up. Then at 14, I accepted Christ and miraculously the nightmares disappeared. I don’t recall whether they went away immediately or over time but they did go away.

When I was growing up I also learnt a ritual on how to pray through my late mum’s family’s Taoist background. The difference was that it was a prayer made in hope of reaching a diety rather than a confident prayer knowing God hears me. After I accepted Christ, I know that when I pray, my prayers reach God in the heavenlies because the Holy Spirit now lives in me. In fact God Himself lives in my heart! I can call upon the name of Jesus and I am assured He hears me. It’s a name I trust knowing my destiny in life is in Him. He will listen and make my dreams come true as I align my dreams with His plans and purposes for my life.

Trust the name of Jesus. Even the wind and waves listened to Him. The wind and waves still remember His name today and forever more. Demons will flee at the name of Jesus. Resist the devil and he will flee from us. Call upon the name of Jesus in times of trouble, and frustrations and dilemmas. He will help us resolve our issues of life. The name of Jesus can be trusted as He is the way, the truth and the life. He has the words of eternal life and holds the keys to Hades. As believers, on the last day of the time as we know it now, we will see Him to receive our respective crowns of glory. Trust in the name of Jesus as we face the various hurdles and storms of life. As Jesus is in the boat with us, don’t despair or panic or be anxious, He will carry us through as we put our trust and hope on Him!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/11/compassion-over-bitterness

When some injustice happens to us, it is usually difficult to avoid getting angry, bitter and vengeful. I experienced that before in my previous employment, and as I look back I realised that it is unreasonable to expect everything to be good for over 27 years. There are bound to be times when people would have thought that I was too long at a certain role. So, in a way, it is true that as far as work is concerned, it may be better if that’s God’s will for us, to move out say, every 7 to 10 years.

Bitterness also comes when there is a breakdown in relationships. Certain expectations are shattered and that leaves us hurt, vulnerable and alone. Thus it is difficult sometimes not to get angry, bitter and vengeful. Most lawyers prefer not to do divorce cases as such cases are usually messy and very emotional with lots of bad vibes and negativity going back and forth. Sometimes we also get bitter when we lose someone we love.

Can we avoid anger, bitterness and revenge? No, I doubt so. But time heals. In particular, God heals. Like today’s ODB’s life illustration, the meeting between the mothers – of a person killed in the 9/11 attack and of one of the perpetrators of that attack. There was compassion flowing from the mother of the victim to the mother of the perpetrator. Both lost their sons and it is tragic and heartbreaking for both mothers.

At our personal level, perhaps if we had compassion for the person who caused us such pain. Perhaps he or she was under tremendous pressure to meet certain KPIs. Perhaps it was never personal. Perhaps what happened was to achieve a certain objective. Still difficult but I guess with compassion it helps to alleviate the situation. In the case of the mothers, the perpetrator’s mother also lost her son and mothers always find it tough to get over the loss of their children. Compassion helps I agree and believe. With Christ helping us along, we will be able to forgive and move on and remove all anger, bitterness and revenge. In time to come, we don’t even want God to be our vengeance. With compassion, we will pray for the goodness of God upon the life of our “enemy”, pray for their well being instead of their destruction. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control are attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit. If we have compassion, surely we will have forgiveness and thus will surely be able to nurture the attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Pray for and love our enemies, and bitterness and revenge will not take root in our hearts and poison our soul!