https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/02/set-apart

Be kind and compassionate with one another, forgiving each other just as in Christ, God forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).

As much as we want to be like others, to burst into anger and rage when we are wronged and to seek justice (sometimes that’s just an euphemism for revenge or getting even), we are actually quite constrained as a child of God. The rule for us is that first and foremost we must be kind and compassionate – meaning to say, we take things calmly even if we are wronged. It also means that like what John Wesley did in defence of his brother Charles Wesley, we meet anger and rage courageously with calmness and serenity. In fact, we can be like Jesus of yesterday’s commentary, and calm and quiet down a raging storm by being soft and serene. I recall seeing a video of a vet patting down an angry and aggresive dog to serenity. Thus even a potentially dangerous situation can be contained and controlled if we are calm and composed.

That’s why some people have used this phrase, right side up, to describe our Christian life. We are different from the world because we are now born again. It’s an upside down world or right side up as far as we are concerned. We are still in the world but we are no longer of the world. We live by a different standard as we are now a child of God. Salvation is not only about our eternal life but also eternity living in the present. We live now like we would in eternity. We bring Kingdom living down to earth as the Kingdom of God is where we are, where we work, live and interact. We are to be compassionate and kind and forgiving. It may be unfair but we must still be kind and compassionate and forgiving. That’s the standard we live by nowadays as a child of God.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds – Romans 12:2.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/06/01/coffee-and-a-muffin

What is the basis of Christian giving? I guess at the foundation of it all is the principle that our money, possessions and assets are not fully ours in the first place. Legally ours yes but not fully ours in the sense that we recognise the provision and grace of God in us acquiring our money, assets and possessions. We earn an honest living and few are very rich although some may be blessed with an earthly inheritance. But nevertheless we are able to give willingly for worthy causes because we ourselves experience the goodness of God in our own lives. We see how God preserved and protected us despite the clinical and often unsympathetic ways the world works. For example, I’m starting a new job today after so many years with my previous organisation and experienced first hand how God moved in special and I would say miraculous ways for me to experience what the Israelites experienced when they were leaving Egypt for the Promised Land. It is true that Christisn life is not a bed of roses but it is really a life living in the goodness of God working in us and among us.

I was on garden leave for a short while and at the tail end of it, had the privilege to join in the 15th anniversary celebrations of an organisation that is committed to providing accommodation for church and Christian retreats and camps at operating cost prices (zero amortisation of capital costs) so that the poorest of churches are able to afford the place, with full board and meals. I saw with my own eyes how many of those who attended have been wholeheartedly supporting this organisation for years as they grew old together with the founder. They soldier on serving God faithfully despite being in the 60s to 70s and even 80s.

Give whenever is necessary and as required. We save for our old age and yet when God prompts us, just give. We can give anonymously or give knowingly but we should not publicise our giving as Jesus taught don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. We give out of the thankfulness and gratefulness of our hearts. We give because God first loved us and we are now His children and servants in His kingdom of grace. We give our money, time and talents for God and for the furtherance of His kingdom and I believe in the process we are storing up riches or treasures in heaven where the thief may not steal and where neither moth nor rust may destroy (Matthew 6:19-21). The wisest thing we can do on earth, in my humble opinion, besides our decision to accept Jesus in our lives, is to use whatever influence and wealth we have here on earth to store up riches or treasures in heaven as the latter are things we can and will enjoy for all eternity! See the parable of the shrewd manager as taught by our Lord Himself in Luke 16:1-8.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/31/hope-cuts-through-storms

As seen in Psalm 107, the tempest lifted high the waves which mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths. Thus in their peril their courage melted away, they reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end. They then cried out to the LORD in their trouble and He brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper and the waves of the sea were hushed. I don’t think it’s an allegory but a real life experience repeated and publicised for the glory of God, to give thanks to God for His mighty hands for rescuing the merchants who were at sea.

Many years later, when God appeared on the scene as Jesus the Son, the disciples actually experienced Jesus calming the storm and this was recorded in the Gospels of Mark, Luke and Matthew. Jesus spoke and the storm just subsided. Kristene DiMarco of Bethel Music uses this refrain in the bridge of her song It Is Well – “the waves and wind still know His name”. You can catch the song here – https://youtu.be/YNqo4Un2uZI.

Calming the storm physically demonstrates that God is God and Jesus is God. If we were to face a physical storm, we know that the Lord can calm the storm if we were to call out to Him. But I guess the more practical application of Psalm 107 is in the realm of the storms of life that we face as believers living out our faith. Are we able to call upon the Lord like the merchants at sea when our life situation threatens to overwhelm us? Do we trust God that He will calm our storms of life as we cry out to him at out wits end, in our despair and desperation? Whatever turmoil we are going through right now, lift it up to the Lord and commit it to Him. Pray that the Lord our God will find a way for us when there appears to be no way. Humanly, we are at the edge of the cliff but in the Lord, Jesus can and will be the bridge for us to cross over to safety for He is our refuge, our rock and our salvation! Give thanks to God for His unfailing love and praise Him for His wonderful deeds in our lives! Amen!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/30/healing-for-the-whole-world

As God reconciled mankind to Him through Christ, we are likewise called to a ministry of reconciliation to also reconcile our family, friends and relatives to God and between them as well. It is a role that we can never avoid since our Heavenly Father Himself is very much into reconciliation as He aptly demonstrated by sending His one and only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins and defeated death by His resurrection and in the process gave us all the hope that we too can defeat sin and death by accepting Jesus into our lives. We ourselves as specific individuals, not generic mankind, now have a hope of glory that one day we will stand before our Redeemer although our skin may already be destroyed. On that day, we will all be with our loved ones again, those who had departed this world earlier than us. It will be the day of joyful reunion with God in flesh and our loved ones and our fellow saints in the ministry and kingdom of God. We will also get to meet all the prophets and apostles of old that we read about in the bible. The new heaven and new earth and new Jerusalem in Revelation 21 will be the permanent dwelling place of God among His people, recreating Eden that God originally intended for mankind.

What’s our takeaway this morning? I believe as our Heavenly Father is a reconciler at the much bigger picture and the universe macro level, we must at the micro and personal life level be a reconciler at heart. Between colleagues and management, between our friends, between our siblings and our parents or among our siblings or among our parents – we must be the one with the reconciliatory heart to mend and heal wounds. If we are the salt and the light of the world, then we must always be the peacemaker. Make peace, rather than war. Thwart the evil intentions and plans of the devil. Don’t be the hotbed for the devil to divide and destroy the unity in families and among the brethren. Even in church or at our workplace or colleges and schools, be the one to heal and restore, be the one who brings reconciliation like our Heavenly Father did for us. If we are the ones wronged, forgive and move on in the Lord. Don’t dwell in the past and on our past hurts and disappointments. Let the Lord handle in His time. Let the Lord minister and heal us and make us whole again. He is our God and Father, He knows what’s best for us. Even if some consequences resulted from our own wrong decisions or incompetence, let God restore and heal us.

Let us thus reconcile others among us and reconcile ourselves to God if we had in some ways strayed from Him. Let’s all be ministers of reconciliation that God’s will may be done on earth as it is in heaven, in our lives and the lives of our loved ones, friends and our brethren!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/28/narrow-door-cafe

When we read Luke 13:22-30, we tended to read it that Jesus meant the narrow door there is the same as the narrow gate He spoke about in Matthew 7:13-14. I guess in the broader sense, we could equate the teaching to be similar and its application to be also somewhat similar, except that in Luke 13 there is no equivalent wide door like in the Matthew 7’s wide gate.

The narrow door in Luke 13 actually refers to Jesus Himself as the only way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and once the Master of the House (God Himself) closes the door, they will not be able to enter anymore. Although Jesus ate and dined with them and taught at their streets (in Jerusalem and Israel), He will not know them when God closes the door as they had rejected Him. They will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the other prophets but they themselves will be thrown out. Instead people will come from the East, the West, the South and the North (people from all over the world, the Gentiles) and will take their places at the feast (meaning the day of judgment) and indeed those who are last (the Gentiles) will be first while those who are first (the Jews) will be last.

As Gentiles or non-Jews, we have been afforded the privilege to know God and be a part of His family although the Jews were given the first invitation. Instead, the Jews rejected Christ when He came to them two thousand years ago and until today they still reject Him. There are remnants that have turned and accepted Jesus, but their numbers are in the thousands and thus minuscule among the 14-15 million Jews worldwide. In fact if we go into the studies and watch the videos of Jewish rejection of Christ, they really humiliate and despise Him equating Him to faeces although Jesus Himself came to earth as a Jew. It is really sad and heartbreaking because Jesus is God in flesh (Immanuel) and He came to save mankind, in particular, the Jewish nation.

I think the message this morning is that the rejection of Christ has consequences whether we are Gentile or Jew. So long as we do not attempt to enter through the Narrow Door (Christ), we will not be able to enter. Once the door closes, it is the end. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. God is patient and compassionate and His love is unconditional but once the time is up, the entry is no longer available. The invitation to the wedding feast has a time limit for RSVP. It is not an open invitation in perpetuity. We will not live forever and neither will we know when will Christ return again. Enter through the Narrow Gate now. Accept Christ today while we still have breadth and while the Master of the House has not closed the door!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/27/the-forecasters-mistake

Today’s ODB highlights a pertinent point especially in these last days, these end times of whom do we listen to? Through Jeremiah, God told the Israelites that they must stop listening to prophets who proclaimed peace and prosperity but they were not sent by the LORD for they proclaim peace despite the disobedience and rebellion of the people. They proclaimed no harm will come although the people had switched their allegiance to Baal and worshipped Baal and other gods, clearly an abomination in the eyes of God.

We, in these modern times, live in perhaps less crude and blatant circumstances. If we are worshipping other gods, then we are no longer believers and we are who we are. But there are probably among us believers who are genuine and sincere in our hearts but may be led astray by false prophets and teachers like in the days of Jeremiah. These modern day prophets claim they prophesy and teach in the name of the LORD and thus there lies the complexity and subtlety of the false messages they may be proclaiming. How do we tell the difference between lies propagated by these false prophets and truths proclaimed by true men and women of God who hear and listen to the heartbeat of God?

I think at the basics, we should be wary of people who carry big titles like prophets or prophetess or apostles as though they are somehow special before God and thus much better than us, normal believers. I find those titles strange and out of place in the Kingdom of God as Jesus had taught that those who are first shall be last and those who are last shall be first (Matthew 20:16). Always check the fruits of their lives. Are they living out their words?

Going deeper, whatever these people proclaim, prophesy or teach – always verify their words against the Word of God, contextually and as a whole. The Bible must form the basis of any teaching or prophecy as it is the Word of God. Whatever that is not there in the Bible, we should not accept and whatever is not clearly spelt out in the Bible, we should take with a pinch of salt.

Ultimately, we know that the end times will be filled with false teachers and prophets proclaiming things for their own selfish reasons in the name of God. So be conservative and super cautious lest we lose our way in the process. Nothing is more valuable than our relationship with God and our salvation, thus protect them at all cost! Keep our faith intact as in the end, we want to be able to say like Paul, I have fought the good fight, completed the race and kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7)!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/26/turn-up-the-heat

When we order a nice cup of gourmet or local coffee, we like it pipping hot. We know that the aroma and taste of the coffee fully comes out when it is properly heated with boiling hot water. However, when we actually drink it, we don’t mind if it’s lukewarm or it becomes lukewarm over time because it is quite difficult to drink anything boiling hot!

Just that when it comes to our faith, lukewarm is not the preferred choice. Jesus specifically warned the Christians in Laodicea. He wished they were either hot or cold because if they were neither, he is about to spit them out of His mouth! Actually what He really meant is that they need to be hot and not cold or lukewarm. Cold is definitely not good as that means we are totally out of the game. We are with the world. Our allegiance is either to ourselves or the world. We serve only our own selfish needs and desires.

The problem with lukewarm faith, unlike coffee as we are drinking it, is that we are not fully with God. We give some but not all. Our heart is with God and yet we are not. We will probably run at the first sign of trouble, good in terms of self defence but not when it comes to our faith! Any temptation coming our way, we just relent and give in. We compromise our faith, our principles when pressed. We lack the backbone to stay put. We lack the courage to stand our ground. We don’t have the perseverance to push through.

So with lukewarm faith, we are stuck in the past, probably have not moved much from our baby Christian days. We never did grow much in our experience with God. As we somehow didn’t exercise much faith in our journey of faith, we never acquired the faith to know God better and deeper. All the things God had planned for us, we only did some. So we are just a fraction of what we could be in Him.

Note that Jesus said that He was about to spit us out of His mouth. He didn’t say that He has. We still have the chance to make amends, to change our ways, to repent.

We cannot put off settling this issue of fully giving our lives to God. It cannot be continually postponed. We have to make the decision now. There is much to do in the Kingdom. We need to quickly find our niche and do our part. We need to be that brick on the wall. We have been uniquely and fearfully made for that role. The time is now, it is today, at this very minute. We must either dedicate or rededicate our lives to God. The infinite blessings and power and authority from heaven are just waiting to be poured out for us. But we have to be hot for God, not lukewarm! We have to be 100% for God, fully surrendered to Him, not half heartedly. Give our all for Him for He is worthy of our worship. He is our Lord, our God and King!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/25/run-away

When I was in my teens I joined in to listen to a conversation between my dad and his brother (my uncle) who was a martial arts instructor. This uncle shared that the purpose in learning martial arts and to train is not to prove who is the better fighter but to be able in a life threatening situation to throw the fastest punch and run. Not to stand your ground and fight. I remembered that advice till today even though I have never personally trained in self defence. In the course of my life I had however heard of two real life stories of people getting into fights and got killed. One was a black belt holder confronting a few armed robbers and was in the process slashed and killed.

The best defence in self defence is to run. Thus it is good to be always physically conditioned to run in terms of our fitness and attire – better to wear shoes than slippers when going out and for ladies, be prepared to discard your heels.

In fact, the best defence even in a verbal argument is to retreat and lose the argument. This is counter intuitive and I need to practice this more when it comes to my wife but it’s the truth. The principle is that it is OK to lose the argument to preserve the friendship and the relationship because in the heat of the moment if we continue arguing, we may end up really quarrelling with heated words exchanged and bad vibes flowing. We may not be friends again after that. Why? Because we wanted to win the argument, because we wanted to be right, because we wanted to show we are better and cleverer. But is our self assertion worth the relationship at stake? It is thus better to retreat and revisit the issue if it’s important enough when cooler heads are present. Logic do not usually go hand in hand with anger and hurt!

I think when Jesus taught for us to offer the other cheek if someone were to slap us, He meant that we should always think of the bigger picture. What’s at stake and what’s more important? Not that we should never fight back or stand for justice or righteousness. Not that we must always retreat and surrender. Our principles are “right side up” but there is always a deeper meaning to what appears superficially. As believers, we are not cowards but are bold and courageous but for the right reasons. If Jesus had fought back, He would not have been arrested and crucified and would not have died for our sins. The events were allowed take place so that what was written in the Scriptures previously may be fulfilled. Ultimately in all that we do, our intent must be for the will of God to prevail, here on earth as it is in heaven!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/24/generous-giving

One of the things we can never avoid as people of the faith is to emulate the character of our Heavenly Father. In other words, we cannot avoid becoming more Christ like if we truly love Christ as God’s goal for us is for us to be more Christ like – see Romans 8:29.

Thus if God is loving and compassionate, we cannot say that we don’t want to be loving and compassionate. Since God is forgiving and very patient, we likewise need to be patient and forgiving. If we are not, then we need to ask ourselves whether our acceptance of Christ is real? Whether our relationship with God is real or make believe? Is Christ really with us? Is God living in us through His Holy Spirit? Are we getting the prompting of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Are we being transformed by the renewing of our minds not to be conformed to the pattern of this world?

It is undoubtedly true that God is generous. It can clearly be seen in the law requiring farmers not to be too efficient in harvesting their crops so that the inefficiency may benefit the poor, the widow and the foreigner, basically, the under privileged segments of society then. The principle is that as the various clans and tribes are each given land, and fertile ones at that to cultivate at the Promised Land, no one that are living in their midst are to be left behind. This principle include the law for those given land to tithe their harvest to the Levites that are dedicated only to take care of the temple.

I think for our application we must likewise be not too efficient in managing our finances that we count every ringgit and sen. If our food order comes up to RM17.20, nothing wrong to give the Grab rider a RM20 note amd for him to keep the change. There is no need for us to be so efficient as to help him manage his finances by giving him the exact amount so that he has the exact amount to account to his bosses. It is OK to tip the waiter generously. It is OK not to bargain too much at the wet market. Let the vegetable seller earn a little more to feed his family. Being good stewards of God’s money means for us to be generous too.

Do we need to be well off to be generous? So long as we have income, we can be generous. In fact even a dog can be generous. I saw a video on YouTube recently where a dog when given a choice between a bigger and smaller piece of food, chose to take and give the larger portion to his friend while taking the smaller portion for himself.

Be generous whether as individuals or as a church. Because that’s a characteristic of the God we live, worship and serve. If He is generous and His heart is with the widows, the poor and the foreigners, why aren’t we the same? Giving is better than receiving and we know that God will always bless a cheerful giver! Those who preach the prosperity gospel manipulate this principle to their benefit but the principle remains. No matter how much we give, we can never outgive God. In fact I believe that if we are determined to help out others, I’m confident that He will make sure our pots are never dry. Look at how the widow could continue to feed Elijah and her son and herself with just a little flour and oil and for months!!!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/05/23/in-the-end

It is every believer’s aspiration to be able to sincerely and genuinely say at the end that we have fought the good fight, we have finished the race and have kept the faith. We will know ourselves where we stand with God as over the years we would have communicated and interacted with the Lord and thus will by then be able to feel His heartbeat. We would have developed a relationship with God that is both unique to us and God with our own nuances. A relationship that is intimate and close. We understand and know Him as He knows us inside out. We would have been able to put our trust fully in God, totally reliant on His prompting for the major decisions in our lives, even minor ones. We would have been always guided by the Holy Spirit on who to reach out to, who to speak about the goodness of God. We would have had a deep sense of knowledge and appreciation that we are all wonderfully and fearfully made and we know deep in us that God will complete His good work in us as we place our yoke on Jesus Christ our Lord and draw upon Him as our bread of life and the river of everlasting waters that we will never go hungry and thirsty again.

Stephen Covey’s 2nd habit of his 7 habits of highly effective people teaches us to begin with the end in mind. In whatever we do, we imagine and envision what the end result will be as we start our work or project. In terms of life, we want to always journey with the end in mind – what will our eulogies be like? What will be written on our tombstone? Will it be 2 Timothy 4:7, the literal last written words of Paul?

Unlike how the world perceives things and evaluate success, our race in God is always something between us and God. The fight is always one with spiritual forces trying to distract and draw us away from God. The race is one where we are racing in our own lane to our own finish line. The treasures in heaven we are storing are all our own. The plans and purposes God has for us are unique to us the same way we are uniquely made. There is no question of looking at what he did for the Lord! The many churches he planted, the many lives he touched, the many powerful messages he preached or the many people healed through him. Our fight is our own and our race is our own to complete. The only question is, at the end, have we kept the faith? Have we remained true and faithful to God and His cause for us? Only we alone can answer that question on that day, not our parents, not our pastor or our cell group leader. Jesus will be our advocate. But if we had been close to Jesus all these years, will He even need to ask us the question? Will He not straight away welcome us with open arms and say well done, my good and faithful servant, come now into your rest?

Begin with the end in mind, and we will be able to plan our lives accordingly – making the right choices, putting God first in all things, making God’s plans and purposes for us our fundamental goals in life. Cast our eyes on things eternal even as we carve a slice of this world for ourselves. Begin with the end in mind!