https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/10/running-to-our-shelter

Who is the first person we call when we run into trouble or get ourselves into a bad situation? For most people, it will be their loved ones, their spouse, or their life partner. For children, it will be their parents. For some, it could be their sibling or a close friend as there are among us singles, widows, and widowers.

But perhaps the first person we should turn to is our God in heaven, Christ our Saviour and our Lord and the Holy Spirit? Perhaps we should pray and seek their guidance first. It could be a trial from Him, or we ran into a trap set up by the evil one? Or perhaps in our foolishness, our own folly or curiosity, we landed ourselves in trouble. The saying goes, “curiosity killed the cat.”

Actually, at our moment of despair and trouble, I think whoever or whatever is to blame is less relevant than our predicament. We could look back later and see where we went wrong. Even if our own disobedience to God brought us to that place of trouble, we should still turn to Him first for help. In the case of David, it was more the disobedience of Saul and his evil desire to hold on to his throne that led to David being pursued. Saul sought to kill David so that he could remain king, forgetting that even if he kills David, the LORD could raise another David against him since his place as king is God to choose and anoint.

I don’t know what each of us are facing or the mistakes we could have made that could have landed us in the less than ideal situation we are in. But I think whatever may be the origins, we must go to God first, and if we had wronged Him, seek His forgiveness and repent from our sin. Accept whatever consequences that come with our disobedience and then move on. Whatever is lost is lost. There are new adventures to get on to, new exploits to do, new lands to conquer for God. Setbacks are setbacks. Disappointments will be disappointments. Mistakes have been made, but we reconcile with God and strive on for Him. He is and will be the rock of our salvation, our stronghold in times of trouble, our refuge, and our saviour! He is our hiding place. He is our King and our God!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/09/lighten-the-load-2

A church is always a community, a gathering of believers for a common purpose. We don’t just meet for two hours on Sundays, but our lives are intertwined spiritually and socially. When we are in a church, we are part of God’s purposes for our lives as well as His purposes for the lives of our brothers and sisters in that church. We have a spiritual destiny together. A spiritual direction dictated by the Holy Spirit and cascaded down to the pastor and leadership of the church. We seek to do God’s will for our church to align with God’s move amongst us. Spiritually, we must move together as a church. In this respect, my local church’s move for all cell groups to use the same book for study is a good move to drive everyone towards the same direction.

That is why Paul teaches in Galatians 6:1-10 that if someone sins, we should correct that person gently, and he goes on to say that we should carry each other’s burdens. We know that any group or community can progress only as fast and as far as its weakest link. Thus, in order to bring a community of believers forward, we need to make sure no one is left behind. We must move together. Thus, we must always carry each other’s burdens. We are ultimately personally responsible and accountable to God on our own, and yet we are obliged to help each other in our quest for spiritual maturity in Christ. We can’t say to Christ that we didn’t help that brother because he was personally responsible and accountable to Him! Instead, our obligation and responsibility is to say, he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother!

As a believer, it is never a solo quest to reach our finish line. We must always interact with others. We must always be part of a community to help, encourage, and strengthen each other. Our faith is never something only inside us but must be an expression of the goodness and glory of God. The river of living waters flowing within us must flow out to touch the community of believers in our church and the people amongst us – our family, friends, and colleagues. Make it our mission to touch someone’s life today and each day forward!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/08/fast-food-encouragement

I like the phrase “God’s heart is revealed in the stories in Scriptures,” very much. We know these stories we read are of real people living real lives facing real issues in life, and when we see the goodness of God manifested in their lives, we know God’s heart is for His people. These are not make-believe works of fiction but rather documentary-like depictions of past events and occurrences written in the literary style of that time.

Thus, as we read the story of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz; we can see how the widows were provided their subsistence by the generosity of a man, who turned out to be their close relative and guardian-redeemer. The source of their good experience at a time when women depended on men for their livelihood was a Mosaic law that required landowners to leave something behind in their fields for the widows, the fatherless and the poor to glean so that they will not go hungry. It is, in essence, in return for the LORD giving them the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. In them living in the abundant blessings of God (compared to their time as slaves in Egypt), they need to make sure no one in their community is left behind. The law itself is the source of God’s goodness. But the story of Ruth is the reality of God’s goodness and gracious heart materialising right in front of our eyes. The law and the grace of God coming to life in the pages of Scripture. We can analyse and preach sermons on why God was kind to Naomi and Ruth, but the reality is that He was and it is a testament that we as His adopted children in Christ can and will experience the same goodness and grace as His heart is for us.

I think the message today is that while God’s heart is for us and we may be able to live in the shadow of His wings and partake of His goodness and grace, we must never take God for granted. Be thankful and grateful to God. Be appreciative and on our part, be gracious and kind to others like Boaz did to Ruth. Remember this principle of repricocity was taught by Jesus Himself in the Parable of the Ungrateful Servant (see Matthew 18:21-35). As much as we experience the goodness of God, be that goodness of God to others around us!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/07/gods-sure-pursuit

Surely goodness and mercy will follow me for the rest of my days, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever! That’s the confident ending to Psalm 23 as penned by David, proclaiming and affirming that the LORD is our shepherd, who leads us to green pastures and still waters. His rod and staff protect us even as He leads us through the valley of the shadow of death; we will fear no evil. He will prepare a table of feast for us in the presence of our enemies. He is indeed our Shepherd even as Jesus also proclaimed that He is the Good Shepherd whose sheep will recognise and know His voice and who will lead us through the narrow gate and who will go out of His way to find us if we are lost.

The emphasis in today’s ODB reading is that the “follow” at the ending of Psalm 23 is not one that is passive but in its original Hebrew forceful and even aggressive. Meaning to say the goodness and mercies of God will pursue and run after us as we live in the glory of His presence. Exactly as written in the song, Goodness of God by Bethel Worship – the goodness of God will run after us. It is as though we are a magnet that just attracts and pulls the goodness and mercies of God as we live in His will with Jesus as our Shepherd!

In the end, what really matters in life? We want peace, love, and joy. We want to live a good life fulfilling God’s plans and purposes for us. We want to live a long life for the sake of our loved ones so we may be together as long as possible here on earth. Are riches that important? Are we seeking fame and fortune in the world? A name for ourselves in the history books? Ultimately, what really matters is God, and so if His goodness and mercies aggressively pursue after us, we are set for life! We will have the best that anyone can ever have! Be the person God wants us to be, live in the glory of His presence and then surely goodness and mercy will follow us for the rest of our lives as we live in the house of the LORD forever! Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/06/great-expectations-2

Simeon and Anna, the Prophetess in Luke 2, illustrate the point that some dreams and aspirations (in this case to see the Messiah) take years to materialise. Both were very old when they saw the Messiah, but they had been waiting for years in anticipation and preparation. It was so good for them that they finally had their wish cone true – now they can die in peace, satisfied that their life ambitions have been fulfilled. They have now seen the Messiah!

Are we in the same boat? Do we have spiritual aspirations and dreams that remain unmet after many years? Have we left them buried and forgotten? Have we moved on in life, leaving behind these supposed spiritual milestones in our lives? Perhaps we were to plant a church. Or build a church building. Or volunteer for missions in a foreign land? Perhaps we are close to retirement and still want to work, but God is rekindling those past dreams and aspirations. Perhaps now is the time to step out in faith as our children are all grown up. Perhaps now is the time to dig out those long buried dreams and dream them again. Not just dream them but put them into motion. Realise them, rather than still being caught up in the affairs of the world, earning our living to save for our rainy day. Perhaps now is the time to start trusting God for our future, rather than relying solely on our sweat and toil to accumulate our savings for our old age. Perhaps it’s the time to evangelise, to do regular visitations, to pray and minister, instead of just existing day by day waiting for our last day. Perhaps it’s time to truly live for God rather than for ourselves!

Pray for the leading of the Holy Spirit. Now may be the time to dream those dreams again. Now may be the time to dig out those buried aspirations. It may be the right time to fulfil our spiritual dreams and aspirations in God. Simeon and Anna waited for years; 50, 60, 70 years. Our time may be now. Step out in faith. Let God do the rest. Seek Him and trust in His leading. Start being active again in the Kingdom of God despite our age and weakened state. Put whatever remains days we have to good use for Christ, while we still can.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/05/daily-dependence

In raising children and even in training subordinates, our goal is to make them independent from dependent. They start by being dependent on us, especially our children, but as they grow older and more mature, we want them to be more and more independent, capable of making their own decisions and earning their own living.

But with God, our relationship progresses from independence to daily dependence. That is why, in the Lord’s prayer, Jesus taught us to pray that our Father in heaven gives us our daily bread. Bread signifies our sustenance, the food that we require to live life, and it’s a daily thing. There is a sense that we are asking God to help us continue living by helping us to earn our living, or as we toil the land, we get our produce and fruits. But there is also the sense that our relationship with God is one of dependence. The more mature we are as believers, the more dependent we are on Him.

The more mature we are, the more we need to pray for our family, our cell group, our church, our work, our ministry, our city, and even our country. We should start off each day with a prayer, committing our day to Him, that our life will reflect His glory. That we will do His will each day of our lives. There is a sense that we need Jesus every moment of our lives. It’s not shameful to need Jesus because indeed our relationship with Him is one that progresses from independence to dependence, total dependence.

The message today is clearly that as believers, we must be more and more dependent on God. We can not live lives that are independent from Jesus. Jesus must be a part of every aspect of our lives; be it when we wake up, our commuting to work, when we work, our lunch break, our time with our family and we retire to bed. Even in our dreams, we should involve Jesus so that we don’t end up dreaming ungodly dreams! As we grow spiritually, involve Jesus in more and more areas of our lives. Then, the second aspect of our daily bread will become real, which in turn will bring the first aspect into greater tangible reality!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/04/a-labor-of-love

One of the fundamental principles of faith that is often preached is the concept that obedience is better than sacrifice. This is particularly crucial in our service for God. It is very aptly illustrated by Saul when he disobeyed the rule that only the priest may offer sacrifices unto the LORD and lost his throne as a result. At the deeper level, it means we respond to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, rather than we deciding what we want to do even if the latter involves more of a sacrifice on our part. To illustrate, it is better to give RM1,000 to someone God prompts us compared to giving RM2,000 to someone else we ourselves want to give, although it costs us more in the case of the latter.

Another principle in our service for God is that faithfulness is more important than success. So, a minister of God faithfully serving a congregation of 50 over 20 years is better than he moving around until he ministers to a congregation of 1,000. Or looking at it another way, it is better for a minister to be faithful to his calling to a ministry of 50 rather than to strive to grow that congregation to 1,000 as a sign of success. In His service, faithfulness is the virtue we strive for, not success as we want to hear Jesus commend us on that day – come to your rest, true and faithful servant!

Thus, as we know, every one of us has a specific and unique role to play in the Kingdom of God. We are each that brick that makes up that wall. Our goal is to fulfil God’s plans and purposes for our lives. We want to live in the midst of His will for us. Be faithful in what God gives us. We may not be reaching out to thousands and millions, yet to the few whom we minister to, our message is meaningful and crucial. For example, my blog has around 70 views a day, but I continue to do this and send out my commentaries each day that I’m able. Should I cease since I only have 70 daily views? Of course, 70 is better than 5, but it is a far cry from 3,000 or 5,000. In the end, for me, faithfulness to God is still better than success. We do what we can. We do our best within the sphere of influence God has appointed for us. We want to be that true and faithful servant, not necessarily that successful servant of God.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/03/christmas-light

We will notice a few interesting facts as we read Exodus 3:4-10. One of them is that although God is within the burning bush, He could see that Moses had gone to the burning bush, suggesting that God is seeing Moses from a place other than the bushing bush itself. Of course that is possible as He is God. He is omnipresent. So He is at the burning bush and yet has a helicopter view. This is one of those passages in Scripture that demonstrates the omnipresence nature of the LORD. The most striking fact is obviously that the bush is burning, and yet it is not consumed by the fire. Somewhat like the Christmas tree that is lighted by real candles.

The third thing we will notice is that God asked Moses to remove his sandals as the ground where God is is holy. Sandals are dirty as they offer our feet, and thus, our body protection from the ground. Especially so in the desert, which is very dusty, full of sand and dirt. It is thus a good practice that Asians do not wear shoes in homes. We try to keep dirt outside as much as we can.

As we read on the passage, we see God’s heart for His people. He came down to earth because He heard the cry of His people and wanted to rescue them from Egypt and bring them to the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey and inhabited by hostile peoples. His heart remains so today as He still wants to rescue us from the world (Egypt) and bring us into His Kingdom (the Promised Land) so that we can be our best for Him and serve out His plans and purposes for our lives. It is the place where we can find true peace and contentment, living out His will for us.

What’s the message this morning? I believe it is that He still wants to rescue us today from our Egypts and bring us into His Promised Land for us. But remember, as much God is also our friend and brother in our Lord Jesus Christ, He is holy. We need to remove our sandals when we are with Him and sandals in our context, representing our attachment and sometimes obsession with the world and the things of the world.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/12/01/the-power-of-mutual-encouragement

One of the great things of the Kingdom of God is that each and every one of us has a part to play based on the gifts and talents uniquely given to us by God, to fulfil God’s plans and purposes for our lives, preplanned by God for us even before the creation of the world itself when we were all still in the spirit form.

Some of us could have spent years after we have known Christ living in the fullness of His glory and will, just doing what God had prepared for us. Yet there are many still searching for our “sweet spot” in His kingdom, the place where we know we will excel because that is what we were created for. We may serve in a variety of ways before discovering our true calling, based on the needs of our church and community.

One of the ways everyone of us can serve, however, is actually to be a Barnabas, an encourager. Paul encouraged the Jewish believers of Christ in Hebrews, who were under pressure to revert to Judaism. In Hebrews 3:13, Paul exhorted them to encourage one another daily, so that none of them will be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. And that is something everyone can do. Just encourage one another in the faith. Pat someone on the shoulder if you feel he or she is down. Pray and send a Word from Scripture to someone in need. Pray for someone in need. Don’t just forward multiple messages in WhatsApp, but write one yourself and give it to someone as the Lord prompts us. Say and speak positively about the goodness of God and what lies ahead in the future for us, our inheritance in Christ in the heavenly places, our place in the new heaven and earth, the new Holy City of Jerusalem, the mansion Christ has gone ahead to prepare for us and the treasures that we have stored there during our lifetime on earth. There are just so many great things to look forward to, and if we are suffering now here on earth, it can never compare to what we have ahead of us in glory. Paul said this before in Romans 8:18.

Be a Barnabas, my brothers and sisters in Christ and friends. No one hates an encourager. Instead, everyone will appreciate an encourager. Have a great day ahead!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/11/30/warning-sounds

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger – Proverbs 15:1.

I think everyone is aware that we intentionally say all the wrong things in anger, harsh words that are calculated to hurt. Yet, we don’t actually mean what we say, especially to our loved ones. Unfortunately, the damage would have been done, and usually, it takes a long time for the emotional wounds to heal. That is why people advise that we shouldn’t make important decisions when angry. In fact, we shouldn’t also make major decisions when we are very happy and elated as both extremes in emotions do not bring the best out of us. Let things settle down first, then decide so that we do things rationally after praying about it, seeking God and considering all angles and views.

To avoid saying harsh things in anger, perhaps it’s best to walk sway from a heated confrontation or deescalate the situation by talking about something else or just apply Proverbs 15:1 by speaking gently. The idea is to not add oil to fire, and the justification is that words wrongly said would have far-reaching ramifications. So be a peacemaker, not a “batu api” (fire stone in Malay), meaning don’t be an inciter. If we could remain calm, we would be a gem indeed!

As we get older, we will also realise that anger increases our blood pressure unnecessarily and may lead to health complications like a stroke or cardiac arrest. So, being slow to anger is not only a virtue but is also healthy! We could avoid catastrophic consequences.

The message today is thus – be gentle in speech and slow to anger. That will go a long way in preserving relationships and lengthening our life span!