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!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/09/a-heavenly-reunion

As human beings, we know that we are mortals. In the early days of humanity, we could live past 500 years as leading biblical figures lived long lives as per the record in the bible. Noah, for example, lived to a ripe old age of 950 and Adam the first man lived for 930 years. But in Genesis 6:3, God had sort of shortened human lives to around 120 years – not in an exact scientific way but more like stating that the days of humans living hundreds of years were over. Nowadays people living to even a hundred is very rare. In fact this morning we just heard of Queen Elizabeth the Second, the world’s longest living monarch, has passed away at 96.

I’m well aware of our mortality having lost my mum 13 years ago and my dad recently in March 2022. Because of the fall of man, our human bodies are dying away and thus we will be overcome by illness or old age in time to come.

But as believers we have a hope that when Christ comes again, the dead in Christ will be resurrected with Him. There will thus be a reunion between those still living then and those who had passed earlier in the Lord. Read Paul’s exposition in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. That’s the hope we all hold on to knowing that the day will come when we will get to see our loved ones again, we and them in our glorified bodies as demonstrated by Christ’s resurrection in His glorified body visible and apparent to all who saw and met Him in those 40 days after His resurrection. Christ wanted to reassure His believers then as well as us in the present day, that it will be a privilege we will all enjoy one day if we are to hold on to our faith until the end of days or the end of our days.

I think as we are reminded of our mortality and our future immortality, we must make good use of the limited time we have here on earth to do the things that matter for eternity. That is the logical way forward. Live in the present. Yes. But live in the present for the future. Don’t jeopardise our eternity by living recklessly and ignoring God. Respond to the Lord’s call for us. Fulfill His plans and purposes for our lives. Then when the time comes for us to live eternally, we will not say that our time during our mortality was lived in vain, chasing after only the bright lights and fanciful things in life. We could say we had led a meaningful life in the Lord, serving Him in His Kingdom of Grace!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/08/building-the-house

There is debate as to Matthew 16:18 on what the Lord meant when He said that He will build His church on this rock and the gates of Hades shall not overcome it – is the rock referring to Simon Peter and if not, what does it refer to? There is an interpretation that the rock refers to Simon Peter as Christ was speaking to Peter when He made that statement. Christ said, “You are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church”. Coincidently Simon Peter’s name “Peter” also meant the rock and it was Jesus who changed his name from Simon to Peter.

However, Scripture must always be read in context and the context was Jesus asked Peter who does Peter think He is? Peter’s answer was that Jesus is the Son of the living God. Jesus in fact said to Peter that he was blessed because the fact that he could answer that Jesus is the Son of the living God was not revealed to him by flesh and blood but by Jesus’s Father in Heaven. Thus the more accepted and also more theologically logical interpretation is that “the rock” is the revelation that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. That revelation is the rock or foundation that Jesus will use to build His church.

As much as the church is large and spans the whole world fulfilling God’s promise to Abraham that his generations shall be like the sand at the seashore and the stars in the sky, the larger house in my view is the house that Jesus had gone ahead to prepare for us, His brothers and sisters in Christ. In John 14:2, Jesus said that in His Father’s house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you so? You see Jesus is God and God do not and cannot lie. Surely that’s the biggest house ever as there are millions and millions of believers not only worldwide but over generations since the time of Abraham to the time of Christ, the time of Acts, across the ages from the Old to the New Covenant and in time to come until the end of age.

I am thankful and grateful that Christ called me to be a part of His church and that He had gone before me to prepare a room for me in our Heavenly Father’s mansion of many rooms. Thank you Lord Jesus for Your grace and mercy and for dying on the cross for me and my sins that I now have eternal life! Amen! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! God is good indeed! He is the only one and true living God!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/07/finding-refuge

I woke up this morning to heavy rain beating the windows at my balcony (which we had installed to close it off as an internal space) and despite the double glazed sliding doors and the windows at the balcony, I could hear the rain pouring down. Not loud but loud enough to know that it was heavy. Fortunately, for me it was a storm. Like the writer of today’s ODB at an old seaside hotel which faced a strong storm, I know that it will pass after a few hours. At certain places, nowadays a few hours of very heavy rain may bring flash floods and landslides and in Pakistan like Germany a few years back, the heavy rains brought disastrous consequences. Unlike Germany, Pakistan is in a worse situation with nearly 1/3rd of the country under water, inundated.

However, as much as natural rain and storms may bring us harm, it is surely not as scary and terrifying like the attack of the Assyrians on Jerusalem during the time of Isaiah the Prophet. In those ancient times, the defence of a city against an invading army is its city walls and if we are inside the city under siege, we will be praying hard that the walls will hold. Jerusalem had city walls. Castles had their own castle walls. China built the Great Wall over years across thousands of miles to ward off the invading Mongols.

Greater than the wall of Jerusalem itself is the God of Israel. Thus they pray not only that the walls will hold but their God the Great I Am will protect and repel their enemies. But if we read Isaiah 25 carefully, as much as Isaiah proclaims that the LORD will bring them victory, the LORD through His Prophet alludes to that day when He will prepare a feast of rich foods for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine, the best of meats and the finest wines and He will destroy the shroud that covers all peoples and will swallow up death forever. The sovereign God will wipe away the tears from all faces and will remove the disgrace of His people from all the earth. Jerusalem may fall to the Assyrians (which it did) and yet the day will come when they will have victory.

As much as we want to survive all storms that come our way as Jesus is with us in the boat, history has shown that there are storms that will overcome us. Jerusalem had fallen to the Assyrians and the Babylonians but today it is still alive and thriving as a nation. As believers we know that there are storms in life that will overcome us and yet like Isaiah had proclaimed, we know that the day will come when there will be that great feast of the best meats and the finest wines. If we survive the storms, well and good but if we don’t, don’t lose heart as the day of redemption and glory will come! The important thing is our faith in Christ remains intact and strong!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/06/a-hole-in-the-wall

It’s mooncake season now in Malaysia and as it comes once a year, I tended to eat too much at one go. Mooncakes are getting more and more expensive these days. So fortunately some places make them smaller at the same price. Fortunately, because then I will be eating less! I had just finished one whole piece yesterday night and then was relieved that it was a smaller one! ☺️

Proverbs 25:16 advises that if we find honey, eat just enough or else we will vomit. Anything that is nice and rich, we must exercise self control and eat in moderation. That is why Proverbs 25:28 teaches like a city whose wall is broken through, so is a person who lacks self control. It reminds me of the many movie stories of people finding treasure and dying with it. Like a cave full of gold and instead of just taking a bar and run before the cave closes, most will want to cart a whole case. But the point is a bar of gold alive is better than a cart of gold dead!

There is wisdom in the Proverbs because it is based on observations on human nature over time but most importantly it is the Word of God. Surely as wise as Solomon is, God is wiser. There is thus no need to always take the maximum. In negotiations, if we only go for the maximum, it is unlikely to be win-win. It is much better to cut a deal for ourselves with the other side thinking that we were dumb and had left too much on the table than have the deal deadlocked for months. Robert Kuok was willing to fund an entire venture, and own and take less than half of the profits because that was the only way to do that business in that country. The major shareholder of my former company once remarked to me in person that for some ventures we must never go in alone but as a consortium.

I think it is wise to always exercise self control and be contented. We get some of the pie, that’s good enough. No need to get all of the pie. Like a small hole in the wall that will compromise the entire city during ancient times, greed and always wanting the most will one day destroy us. Greed has caused many to risk the whole barn and lost! Cultivate self control and contentment and we will go far in life as God will see our heart and honour us as we honour Him in our lives.

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/05/lego-lessons

One of the traits we must all have as believers is perseverance. We have heard of the phrase and we know that Christian life is not a bed of roses. In fact, in a question we discussed at our Young Adults bible class just yesterday, we realised that there is more trouble after we come into the faith. Not that God brought more problems to us but with Kingdom principles to follow, some things become more complicated than before. For example, we may be able to hold a grudge for a wrong done to us previously, but now we need to forgive and sometimes these situations add complexity to our relationships as forgiving others is not an easy task. Yet we know that we could do it because greater is He who is in us than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). We are able to overcome our weaknesses and follow the way of the Kingdom because Christ is with us, the Holy Spirit lives in us and empowers us.

It is nevertheless not an easy task to become more like Christ each day, to cultivate and reap of the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives. It is a process and a life long one. We are transformed and changed from glory to glory. Bit by bit, we need to allow ourselves to be transformed to the image of Christ. It needs perseverance. We must toil through to become who God wants us to be in Him. Not an overnight thing and will certainly take a lifetime but we must start somewhere and progress on. We cannot be a believer and disciple of Christ if we remain our old self for too long. Christ needs to be real but He will not force us. We need to respond to Him. We need to persevere on.

Life with its many toils and struggles, storms and upheavals will not make it any easier for us to be a better Christian. Not that anything is on purpose but the world is never neutral. It is exacting and not forgiving. Everyone is after his own interests, his own KPI. So if we are a casualty or in war-speak, collateral damage – the world will not bother. The wheels of life will turn. But Christ cares, God cares and that is why we must persevere on in our faith. Events in life will unfold but it is how we respond in our faith that matters. Will we hold on to God? Will we cling on to our Lord Jesus? Will we hang on to the boat as it battles the waves and storm? Will we not let go and persevere on? James is right, only with perseverance will we build character. See James 1:4. We need to let perseverance finish its work so we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Persevere on and we will one day receive our crown of life (James 1:12)!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/04/rediscovered

The rediscovery of the Book of the Covenant comprising of the first 5 books of the Bible hidden away in the Temple is a significant event that defined the reign of Josiah as one of the few kings of the Southern Kingdom of Judah who followed, obeyed and honoured God. Unlike the Northern Kingdom of Israel with its capital in the city of Samaria, Judah’s capital was in Jerusalem, the City of David. The Temple was repaired and restored during Josiah’s reign and idol worship undone and broken up.

The rediscovery of the Book of Covenant is the discovery of hidden treasures as there is so much wisdom and insight to be gleaned from the Word of God and thus we are so privileged as modern believers to have full access to the 66 books of the Bible and all accompanying materials and commentaries written over the centuries! So much wisdom and knowledge contained in the Word is now open to us.

But I think the rediscovery of the Book of Covenant is also a picture illustrative of the revelation and insight that we can get as we read His Word. As we read and go deeper, we rediscover hidden truths in the Word. As we study the Word more, the mysteries of the Kingsom are revealed to us. It is a process of rediscovery of what God had placed in Scriptures.

So every time we read the Word, ask ourselves why God allowed that passage of Scripture to be there and why was that fact or perspective presented in that manner? Why certain events were recorded and why others were not? Why a certain perspective or a certain person’s viewpoint was written down but not others? At the same time, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what God is speaking to us at that moment of time – what is the rhema word that He is saying to us, something of direct personal application that may perhaps be a lamp unto our feet?

But in reading and understanding the Word, I think the fundamental principle all of us must hold on to, no matter how young or old, how advance we are spiritually or who we are in ministry or the church – the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). Meaning to say we need to love and want to follow and obey Him in order to understand Him and His Word. We are always in pursuit of the wisdom of the Bible, not just the knowledge, and the wisdom of the Bible is to always point us toward following and obeying the LORD, His laws and His percepts and Jesus Christ, His Son. Follow that lead and we will never go wrong!