https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/02/lighting-candles

As believers, we know that the world as we see it today will one day come to an end. Christ will return and usher in a new era before judgment day comes and before the end of time as we know it arrives. There will be the great tribulation as revealed in Revelations which is expected to run for around 3 years. There is a debate whether we will be raptured before or after tribulation but the end is that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, a new Jerusalem and God will dwell among His people. The Kingdom of God will be established physically on earth following the Second Coming of Christ.

The question today is are we ready to face Christ if He comes again today? He will come when we least expect like a thief in the night, yet are we ready and prepared for Him like the servants that are fully dressed, ready to serve the Master? Jesus spoke about this in Luke 12:35-40. Are we ready?

How do we want to be when Christ returns? Perhaps like Abraham Davenport, we want to be doing the thing God appointed us to do? Perhaps we want to be serving God in church when Christ comes again? Leading worship, leading a bible study or preaching a message or sharing Christ with someone? To be ready like that we need to be doing the thing God had planned for us and comtinually serving God in church and ministry.

I think the lesson and message today is that we will never know when exactly Christ will return although we know He will. The best we can do is to be ready and that means we do what He has called us to do and serve Him in His Kingdom of Grace. Continue to do those things and do not neglect meeting with one another. Keep our lives upright. Live in the glory of His grace. Then whenever He comes which He certainly will, we are “dressed” and ready!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/09/01/hygge

The pandemic had caused churches to close their doors with services going online. There are pros and cons, the obvious being that with online services, prayer meetings and bible studies, attendance is not restricted by distance or space. We can attend despite being thousands of miles away or even in another time zone. Zoom is probably the next best thing to teleporting, which I believe some of us are looking forward to as one of the perks of our glorified bodies!

There is however a strong case to be made for actual physical attendance, notwithstanding the reach of online platforms. That is probably why there will be tekeporting in the end of days even with the advent of technology! Seeing each other in the flesh brings a different experience and binds us together in a stronger way. WhatsApp messages, telephone or video calls are good for communicating but the bonds of human relationships are better built when we see each other in the flesh. The TV or mobile screens are still 2D and thus lack the depth and clarity of actual 3D breathing human bodies. Somehow although we are communicating, online interactions do not genuinely feel like we are meeting together. That’s also probably why companies and businesses are insisting that employees come back to office while retaining the flexibility to work from home for some days. While we can work from anywhere with technology, explanations and discussions are still the best when done in person face to face.

Therefore, like the writer of Hebrews (believed to be Paul) encouraging the mainly Jewish audience (who came across as somewhat wavering in their faith) to come together to worship God as a group, we must likewise not neglect meeting up together as churches open up and encourage physical on site services. Ultimately, physical meetings also serve as checks and balances to help each of us to remain strong in the faith. Our presence is also an encouragement to the others of their faith. Moreover, it is part of our society’s migration to the endemic phase of the pandemic to turn the Covid-19 virus into something like the common cold. People will get it eventually but they will also get over it with vaccinations and strengthened internal immunities achieving herd immunity.

Let’s meet together in church or outside for meals or at our homes in fellowship to foster and grow our relationships with one another for the betterment of the community of believers!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/31/when-knowledge-hurts

It is true that knowledge brings sorrow as there are certain truths when discovered would make us sad. Like the case of a famous Christian apologist, it was shockingly discouraging. Or there could be family secrets buried deep in history when finally discovered or made known to us that made us cringe in shame. While knowledge may bring sorrow and misery, the truth reveals the stark reality of our human nature. We are humans after all, not angelic beings. We are capable of committing sin and evil. We can and will do wrong.

The other thing about the discovery of certain past truths is that we need to realise it was a different world back then. While some may be in pursuit of the finer things in life, most I believe, were just struggling back in the day to put food on the table for the family. Most families were relatively large and some men even had a few wives and I’m not talking about Solomon! That compounded the struggle. Just go back in time to 100 years past and we will see life back then was very different. We will then understand why certain things could have occurred in our families, things kept as dark secrets over the years.

The book of Ecclesiastes is strange as the book of Proverbs is familiar. There is a sense of despair and life being meaningless. We are just a fleeting moment in time. We exist for a while and are gone like the flowers in the field. Of course, time is relative – the flowers live for a few weeks but we live for an average of 80 years but to God, thousands of years is also just a moment, a flicker of the eye.

The concept of eternity and eternal life didn’t really come into play until Jesus appeared on the scene, yet the conclusion from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes is that true wisdom is to know God and follow Him. Cling to Him. Then we will realise that life is not meaningless because we don’t exist for a fleeting moment. God has put eternity in our hearts. We live forever in the spirit, our souls are eternal. Then we realise that what we do while on earth while we are still breathing matters! Life is indeed not meaningless. The meaning to life is actually to know God and be in fellowship with Him through Christ! Amen! Praise the Lord indeed! Hallelujah!

A hotel leaving its porch light on in a sea of darkness as a sign to show that guests and travellers are always welcome is an apt illustration of a Christian being a light to the world. As a light of the world, we are the “go to” place for the lost to find the way to eternal life. We are the stairway and bridge to Christ. We point the way to Jesus and God as Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. The Kingdom of God is where we are, we are the light of the world.

As a light for the world, we are not only the entrance and pointer to God’s kingdom but we ourselves also illuminate the way for others, for the world. We are the source of God’s wisdom for the world, a place of counsel and good advice. We illuminate the path like the Word of God is a lamp unto our way. We have the Word of God in us as Christ and the Holy Spirit are within us, living in us. We are thus Christ to the dying and broken world, the source of joy and comfort, of encouragement and edification, the place of counsel and wisdom.

Practically, in Matthew 5:3-10 aka the Beautitudes, Jesus had listed the attributes of those who are in and thus the Kingdom of God. Good deeds, humility, meekness, showing mercy, righteousness, a pure heart and peacemaking. These are the attributes of us as children of the light, besides our countenance that displays the glory of God. Thus being the light for the world is certainly not a mere assertion but an attitude of wanting and being the person pointing others to God the Father, Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is also the attitude of wanting and being the person with wisdom and counsel of God and most crucially it is having the character of God with good deeds, humility, meekness, mercy, righteousness, pureness of heart and peacemaking. As we display and have the attributes of God in our lives, others will look to us as a beacon of hope in the dying and broken world, and thus a light in the sea of darkness! Therefore let’s go out there into the world today and start being that light that shines forth in and for the darkness!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/29/seeds-of-time

The Parable of the Good Soil is easy to understand because Jesus explained it clearly, spelling it out blow by blow, somewhat like parentheses by parentheses. The point made is we must be good soil in our hearts in order that the Word that is spoken will take root and grow in our lives, that we will grow in maturity and in the grace and countenance of the Lord. The point applied however is that it is for us to sow the seed and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Just share and preach the Gospel in whatever way or form we can, one day the seed will germinate like the seeds buried in a bottle for 142 years as was done by William Beal in 1879. Some of those seeds still bloomed after so many years buried. Likewise the seeds of faith that we plant may bloom many years from now in someone’s heart.

But I like to just say a bit more about the good soil that we should be, not just for salvation but for our own spiritual growth over the years in the faith. There are two aspects to a Word as spoken or preached. The logos as it was written and serves as knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom as it is revealed to us. The other is the rhema which is the living Word spoken to us directly for us to apply and live out. Every time we read the Word or hear the Word being spoken or preached, reach out to the Holy Spirit for both the logos and the rhema. It doesn’t matter that the speaker is not so good at presenting or is not funny. What matters is what we may learn from it and what God is speaking to us about our life. Both will help us grow in the faith. Our role is to be that good soil that Jesus spoke about. A heart that embraces and puts into action the Word spoken to us and not mere knowing. Not always an easy task but certainly one that will strengthen and grow the faith within us! Be that good soil!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/28/love-and-lean

I attended a conference on counselling some years back and learnt that depression is not merely a feeling but a medical condition. It is not just feeling down or being depressed as we probably commonly thought but a serious medical condition of continually feeling down or depressed. People having depression usually can’t help it. So just telling them to snap out of it or cheer up will not really work. It is dangerous as depression induces suicidal thoughts and there would have been those who had taken their lives because of that. It is a mental health issue and because it is a medical condition, the best people to deal with it are health care professionals.

However, as believers I think a key to avoid going into depression is to lean on God and others. If we allow ourselves to go into depression, we will not be able to avoid the downward spiral where we will then require medical intervention. I believe that as much as things may not be going well for us like losing our job or a loved one or being bypassed for a promotion, trust God that He has His plans for us. Trust that God wants the best for us despite the seemingly adverse situation. Have faith that God will turn things around for us in time to come. If we had lost a loved one, we cannot reverse that. That person is now in a better place if he or she was a believer. God loved him or her more to take him or her away from the miseries of this sad and broken world. We who are still here will have to deal with what the world brings us, storms and all and yet we know we can go through all that because we have Jesus in our lives and God is with us.

Lean on the Lord as we have Him with us like Ruth had leaned on Naomi and clung to her instead of returning to her people. She followed her mother in law and determined in her heart that although she will be a foreigner in Israel, Naomi’s people will be her people and Naomi’s God, the Great I Am, the Almighty One of Israel shall be her God. God honoured Ruth as a result, that although she was not born Jewish, in tracing the lineage of Jesus, Matthew in his Gospel, mentioned Ruth.

Lean on the Lord as well as His people. Fellowship with those who are in the Lord so that we will celebrate the goodness of God amongst His people that instead of sadness and tears, we will experience joy and love. Allow the presence of God to engulf and heal us from our pain and sorrow. Serve Him, keep ourselves busy with work and ministry and soon we will discover and know that there are more things in life to come from the the grace and goodness of God. He is indeed our God and our salvation, our Rock and our Stronghold!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/26/just-ask

Paul’s advice in Philippians 4:6 is really good advice. Do not be anxious about anything but in all situations by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Whatever we are going through, present it to God in prayer and supplication but with thanksgiving. What Paul basically means is that we pray and communicate with God no matter what is the situation we are going through? We talk to God, we pray. Don’t let our situation overcome us, beat us down no matter how depressing it looks like. But also with thanksgiving. We are thankful for who He has been for us all this while. For how far He has brought us in our faith and ministry. From a little baby in the faith to a grown and matured man in the Lord. We are now strong although we were weak. We are now an encouragement and an encourager when we needed to be encouraged in the past. We are now a pillar of faith, steadfast and faithful when we were wavering and unsteady in the past.

Paul’s advice is excellent because when we go through crises and storms in life, as human beings, we have a tendency to focus on the present, forgetting the past and in a way, being ungrateful for what God had done before and all this while. While this is common at work and in the world where the focus is always on the present numbers and not our past contributions, as followers of Christ, we must never be like the world only looking at the present and forgetting the past. That is why Paul says in all situations pray and petition God but with thanksgiving. Be thankful to God for all that He had done and been to us while presenting our present situation to Him. Acknowledge His grace and mercy all this while. We wouldn’t be where we are today without Him by our side, in our life, without Him being in the boat with us.

God is not obliged to continually be good to us all the time but He actually is and will. We must therefore be thankful and grateful to Him for all that He has and had done in the past, for us and our family and loved ones, blessing our work and ministry. We don’t know what will lie ahead; in the next week, the next month and the years to come but we are confident that we will ultimately be with God in the end as Jesus had already died for our sins and is resurrected. The death and resurrection of Christ is our hope of glory!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/25/when-you-need-help

Indeed where does my help come if not from the LORD? The LORD watches over me, over my coming and going, and will keep me from harm. It is He who will watch over my life, now and forevermore, the maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121 is one of those songs sang by the pilgrims as they go through a dangerous and ardous journey to Jerusalem 3 times a year to celebrate and offer sacrifices to the LORD at the Temple. The 3 festivals were the Passover, the Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles, two of which have special significance to us Christians as our Lord celebrated the first before He was crucified and the Holy Spirit came to us during the second.

I have written before, our journey of faith is a life long one and that we are in a Covenant relationship with God, the basis for God’s protection and watching over us is that like the Israelites were His people, we are also His people. It is not a relationship between God and the human race as a whole but a relationship between God and a chosen people, the Israel of old and the spiritual Israel of today, the followers and disciples of Jesus Christ.

There will be storms in life like the dangers the pilgrims face as they journey to Jerusalem as illustrated by the parable of the Good Samaritan taught by Christ. There could be casualties and trouble will not just disappear. But we know that ultimately the Lord will keep us safe and watch over us. We will survive through the storm as Jesus is in the boat with us, as He is with us in our life. Cling on to Psalm 121 and know that the maker of heaven and earth watches over us, whether it’s our safety, our jobs, businesses or our families. He who watches over Israel never sleeps nor slumbers! Praise the Lord!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/24/landing-spot

It is interesting to note that while the impala can jump 10 feet high and 30 feet away, it is kept in a zoo in an enclosure with only a 3 feet wall. It will not jump the wall because it can’t see what’s ahead of the wall, unlike in the open field in the wild.

The above example also illustrates what most of us will do in the natural. We will not move ahead unless we know where we are going. We need to plan our next move or next decision knowing exactly the consequence and result. We usually live by sight, actual sight backed by hard facts and evidence. Thus we will only change jobs, for example, for the obvious benefit of a less stressful environment or more dollars or for better career prospects or easier commuting.

But when we come to the faith, we learn that in the faith, we live by faith and not by sight! What that means is we respond to situations based on the Word of God as received or as prompted by the Holy Spirit in our hearts. In other words, we may decide or respond as God calls or speaks to us. The Bible has excellent examples in Abraham and Moses who responded to God’s call despite not knowing exactly what lies ahead. Simon Peter, James and John just dropped everything to follow Jesus when Jesus called and they became from fishermen to fishers of men. Eventually they became the pillars of faith for the early church and laid the foundations for the growth of the faith.

Walking by faith is beneficial because God loves us and will make sure we are well taken care of. Because God is God, we will never lose out as some of us may fear. We cannot outgive Christ. Jesus will always be at our side, in the boat with us and will make sure we survive and thrive in the voyage despite the storms.

You see the Impala could jump 10 feet. So what’s the wall of 3 feet! If it had the faith, it could easily overcome that obstacle and that is faith in its own ability alone. When we step out in faith in God, the Lord will not only help us realise our true ability and potential (remember the Impala can jump 10 feet) but because it is the Lord being with us, we can surely outdo even our own abilities as we allow God to mould and transform us and use us for the furtherance of His Kingdom. We can become the person God wants us to be, no, actually the person He made us to be in the first place before even the foundations of the earth! We just need to step out in faith and let God do the rest. Hear Him for His still small voice calling us, prompting us – respond and step out in faith, the world will indeed be our oyster!

https://odb.org/MY/2022/08/23/the-course-of-a-lifetime

We all know salvation is by the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Christ. We all also know that salvation can be at the last minute just before we breathe our last. The criminal who was crucified with Jesus who believed in Him was saved by Christ. While it is not for us mere humans to question the wisdom of the last minute acceptance of the grace of God, it is certainly fraught with risk as we don’t know when exactly is our last breadth and we may not be in full control of our faculties as we approach the last stages of our life. For example, we could be mentally incapacitated or in coma. Perhaps we could still repent of our sins then or perhaps it’s too late already.

The bible actually teaches the other way, that is, as much as grace is available at anytime, it is the lifetime of dedication that is admired and recommended. The reasons could be a few but the most notable I think is that living is not about eternal salvation but about living life with God. We need to survive in this world and yet if we have God, we get to enjoy and partake of His presence in our lives. With Christ in our lives, the heavens and its mysteries are opened to us. The spiritual realm is within our reach as we pray and healing and miracles and signs and wonders follow by the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. Like King Joash during the time of Jehoiada, we could live in the grace and mercy of God like King David expressed in Psalm 23 that surely goodness and mercy shall follow him for the rest of his life as he dwell in house of the LORD forever and ever. We thus become the Kingdom of God. Where we are whether at home, at work or in the church, we are the manifestation of the glory of God.

My dear brothers and sisters, we are all not perfect and sinless and yet we must aspire to live a life of dedication and faithfulness to God, a lifetime of service and dedication. God can take our imperfections and make them good. Christ can turn our weaknesses into strength for His Kimgdom. Let’s look long term, say the next 30 to 50 years to those who are younger – will we live a lifetime of dedication like Jehoiada that the King himself was faithful to God while he lived?