Blessed to bless others!

Pray Away Your Anxiety

2012-01-30T08:00:00.009+08:00

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Philippians 4:6 (NIV)

One week into this year, I experienced the onslaught of an anxiety attacks. Yes, anxiety visited me and tried to run me down!

The enemy exploited a change in my business situation which required me to change course and direction. It was not an unexpected change although it was a major one for me. In fact, it is to be a change for the better.

However, I felt restless, worried and inadequate. I became more and more anxious. Despite having constantly tasted God's goodness and plenteous blessings, I was imagining the future negatively. The bombardments were for real.

What is amazing is that throughout that period, Abba Father sent His encouragement through so many ways that His assurances and instructions were much louder than anxiety's blasts.

Through a few unrelated quiet time articles from different writers, pulpit messages and scriptures, Abba Father spoke to me gently and assuredly. His message was simple:

"Bring your complaints to Me like David did." Psalm 39

"Wait upon Me, I care for you." Psalm 40:1-3

"Call to Me, I will answer you." Jeremiah 33:3

"Pray for all things and at all times." Philippians 4:6

"Renew your strength." Isaiah 40:31

I literally went up to the mountain in solitude to pray to Him. I went to Kent Ridge Park one afternoon, plug my iPod playing worship songs into my ears, sat in quiet contemplation and simply waited upon Him.

When I was just about getting into His presence, raindrops started to fall. I complained to Him, "Father, I came here to be with You, surely You can hold the rain and let me come in to Your presence." It was an instant answer. The drizzle stopped.

After about 10 minutes, it began to rain. I felt disappointed. I took my stuff and started to walk towards my car, wanting to just sit in it to wait for rain to stop. On my way, I complained again, "Father, I came here to seek You, and I am determined not to leave this place even if it rains."

With that, I walk towards the highest point in the park where there was a shelter. I wanted to continue my seeking there. As the reached the shelter, the rain stopped abruptly. It did not rain again throughout the solitude time I spent with God.

Not only did Abba Father met me, He totally assured me of His presence and gave me the peace of waiting on Him and trusting that He cares for me.

I attended Saturday's church service and a visiting speaker from Vietnam shared a simple but pertinent message; "In all things, under all circumstances big or small, pray to God." It was another confirmation for me.

Anxiety visited me and tried to run me down. Praying drove it far away. Hallelujah!

Dear beloved, we all ought to pray always.

God bless.

Steven

A New Year, A Refreshed Vision

2012-01-02T17:13:00.002+08:00

^"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you...."

Matthew 28:19-20a (NIV)

At my church's New Year's day service, my senior pastor cast the vision for the congregation - "Live Life Missionally." In a nutshell, this means to shift our focus outward to win souls and to disciple them to grow deeply in love with Abba Father.

I believe that it is not just a vision for my church. It should be a vision for all believers! Because that is exactly what our Lord commanded us to do.

Matthew 28:18-20 records this clearly. It is the most important command for us as it was the Lord's last command before He ascended to the Father's side.

"Living" is a continuous present tense. Therefore, it means to do it in every living moment in our life. Is it possible? Is it easy? Or will it be another airy-fairy "no-action-talk-only" statement?

I know that I will fail if I depend on my human strength. Even if I ask for help from the Holy Spirit, it will still be difficult. But I will make a start and let the Holy Spirit fuel my spark and turn it into a fire.

I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me to make every opportunity to share the good news of Christ's salvation offer. I will ask His help to be more like Jesus, to love like Him and to walk according to His ways so that I can help another brother or sister to "live life missionally" as well.

It will not be easy but I will constantly ask the Holy Spirit to help me fulfill this desire, one step at a time, in His time. My Lord says to me, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." John 15:16 NIV.

Lord, I ask you to help me to "Live Life Missionally" from today!

God bless.

Steven

Christ-like Sense

2011-12-19T08:00:00.004+08:00

"I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death..."

Philippians 3:10

I used to think that it is important to always apply common sense in our daily life. I felt that in today's society, "common sense isn't common any more."

God corrected me. What I need is Christ-like sense!

Common sense is for the natural realm. Christ-like sense is for both the natural and spiritual realms. Common sense is from our human mind. Christ-like sense is from Him.

The only way to have Christ-like sense is to know Christ intimately. And that was the central cry and desire of Apostle Paul.

When united with Christ, we experience the power that raised Him from the dead - that mighty power from Abba Father. That same power will sanctify us, renew our thinking and regenerate our life so that we can walk in His likeness. Only then, can we become more like Christ. Only then, can we be of use to Him, who saved us for His holy purpose.

In response, I am re-ordering a few things in my life. I am asking God to help me to always:

Have Christ-like sense over common sense.
Put grace before justice.
To love without condition.
Give praise instead of criticism.

I wish you Christ-like sense for this Christmas and always!

God bless.

Steven

His Power in My .Weaknesses

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001+08:00

"That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Cor 12:10

Paul described himself (and us) as merely jars of clay (2 Cor 4:7). According to Dr Tan Siang Yang of Fuller Seminary, jars of clay in Paul's time were the cheapest of the containers used. They were akin to the styro-foam boxes that we use for take-aways today.

He used it to aptly describe us! By our self, we are like dirt. But more importantly, Paul used it to magnify our weaknesses, that we have no power whatsoever in us. But the moment we acknowledge the presence of the Lord and allow Him to have His way in us, we are transformed.

Jesus is the "treasure" that Paul referred to. With Him in us, the power of God shines through and triumph in very situation. We may be "hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Cor 4:8-9)

Paul realized his weaknesses. More importantly, he realized that when he acknowledged his weaknesses, he allowed God's power to manifest. That conviction led him to say “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Beloved, ask the Holy Spirit to help us to constantly realize that we are like jars of clay, that which can and will be transformed by the in filling of the Holy Spirit. And when that happens, we will reflect God's power and glory.

God bless.

Steven

The heritage of the servants of the Lord

2011-11-21T08:00:00.001+08:00

"No weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD."

Isaiah 54:17

For hundreds of years, the nation of Israel suffered greatly through the many wars and humiliation and being exiled from Jerusalem.

While still in captivity, Isaiah made this powerful prophesy over Israel as a declaration of the promise of the Lord to the nation that was being redeemed. It was another 150 years before Cyrus of Persia liberated Israel and helped to rebuild Jerusalem.

This promise of the Lord stands today for His children. Hallelujah!

For all who serve Him, this assurance must be the motivation for continued service and loyalty to the Master. The Lord never promised a conflict-free life for His servants. In fact, the only sure thing when we enter into servant hood for the Kingdom is that we will face difficulties and challenges in the ministry. These are opportunities given that will strengthen our resolve, increase our faith, raise compassion and expand our love for Him.

Indeed, as Isaiah declared, "This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD and this is their vindication from me (the Lord)."

Let's soldier for His glory!

God bless.

Steven

New Schedule and New Blog

2011-11-14T16:26:00.000+08:00

Dear readers

Starting from today, I will be updating "Blessed to Bless Others" on Mondays on a fortnightly basis. Please continue to visit this blog.

I have launched a new blog, "Great Lovers Make a Great Marriage" today. It is dedicated to firing up the relationship between the spouses, rekindling romance and strengthening marriages. It will be updated on Mondays on a fortnightly basis. Go and check it out at http://begreatlovers.blogspot.com.

God bless.

Steven

Blessings for those who fear the Lord

2011-11-07T08:00:00.012+08:00

"Blessed are those who fear the LORD,
who find great delight in his commands.

Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
who walk in obedience to him."

Psalm 112:1, 128:1

Kenneth Copeland said, "The man who makes a habit of delighting in God's Words will have a heart that's fixed! He can make it through disastrous situations without losing his balance. His mind's made up before he ever gets to the disaster. He's victorious before he ever gets there."

Abba Father clearly delights in every one who delights in His words and obeys them. He promises abundant blessings as a reward. And just to name a few, they include:

Riches and power (Psalm 112:2-3)
A secured heart which has no fear of bad news (Psalm 112:7-8)
Enduring righteousness and honor (Psalm 112:9)
Success and prosperity(Psalm 128:2,9)
A blessed family and long live (Psalm 128:3,6)

Dear beloved, Abba Father speaks so clearly. Need I say any more?

God bless.

Steven
Starting from next Monday, I will be posting once every two weeks as I will be starting a new fortnightly sharing on marriage and family based on my book "Eight Keys to Family Power." Come and share your experience at http://BeGreatLovers.blogspot.com

The Blessing of Giving

2011-10-31T08:00:00.051+08:00

" ... Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’" Acts 20:35 (NIV)

My cell group was discussing Chapter 4 of Romans last week.

An interesting question which generated an exciting debate was "how would you feel when you received an unexpected gift from someone and would you have rather worked for it instead."

Quite obviously, Paul was telling the Roman Christians and the Jews that salvation was a free gift from God and no amount of work from men would ever bring us reconciliation with God.

However, the cell's debate took a deviation. It centered on the feeling of the giver on what the receiver did with the gift. The issue was whether the receiver had the right to do what he liked with the gift. Both proponents and opponents presented their arguments emotionally.

The opponents say that they will be offended if the receiver gives the gift away to someone else (even if it was to bless another person). They argued that by so doing, the receiver did not respect their intention and feeling.

The proponents said that since it was a gift, the receiver becomes the rightful owner and therefore has the right to do what he deems appropriate, including giving the gift to another person.

In my humble opinion, it has to do with the attitude of the giver. This attitude will drive the way we give (or not give) to His kingdom.

Think hard over this statement - "one who has truly given is he who has given the full rights of the gift to the receiver."

Think again - who has the rights to use our tithe, offerings and donations to missions? Do we fully leave the decision to the appointed stewards or do we give conditions for the usage of the our "gifts"? Or do we refrain from giving when we feel that the stewards do not meet up to our standards?

When God gave His Only Son, He knew that there will be those who accept and others who reject His Gift. He rejoices whenever one accepts His gift and He longs for each who has yet to do so. And for everyone who rejects His gift, He has no joy in pronouncing judgement over them. Still, He gave.

The father in parable of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32), gave to his son his part of the inheritance. The father did not intervene on how his son spent the money; the son squandered it all. Neither was he offended. Instead, the father welcomed his prodigal son back into his loving arms when the son came to his senses and repented.

No wonder Jesus says, "it is more blessed to give than receive." And when Jesus says "give", He knows exactly what it entailed!

As for me, I will give as the Lord directs me. My responsibility ends with my obedience. How the receiver decides what he does with my gift is none of my business any more. I have given up the rights of the gift to the receiver! I shall not be offended. It is more blessed to give...

God bless.

Steven
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Why pray?

2011-10-24T08:00:00.007+08:00

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

Philippians 4:6 NIV

Philippians chapter 4 tells us of many good "wants".

We want "to stand firm in faith" (v1), to be able to "rejoice always" (v4), to have the "peace of God that transcends all understanding" (v7), and we also want to think of "things that are excellent or praiseworthy" (v8). These are great and noble desires.

Yet in our daily life, many of us do not experience these. Instead, when we are faced with difficulties, we doubt, grumble in despair, feel irritated and unsettled, and we think of numerous negative thoughts.

"Why so?"

This question answers the question, "Why pray?"

Unfortunately for many of us, prayer is the last thing that we do when we encounter challenges. And because of this, we have to labor through the anxiety and pain of the situations.

Clearly, Paul advocates that in order to have all those desirable wants he mentioned, we should first pray. "In everything..", he says, pray and that we "do not be anxious".

God assured His redeemed (us!) in Isaiah 65:24 "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear."

The Lord is speaking to me. I am committing all my cares to Him, including anxiety. Oh, what a relief that is!

"Is it possible not to worry?", you may ask.

My answer is, "Try it as prescribed by Paul." And see the result for yourself.

Praise the Lord.

Steven
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Why is Jesus the Good News?

2011-10-17T08:00:00.012+08:00

"He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." 1 John 2:2

Paul taught that "there is no one is righteous, not even one ... all have turned away ..." (Romans 3:10,12). This led to his famous proclamation that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Humankind was doomed at that very moment when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit.

A Holy God cannot tolerate sin. His sovereign character requires that He has to judge every sin. Every sin elicits a penalty.

Why is Jesus Christ central to the Good News?

Simply because He imputed righteousness to all sinner by taking upon Himself the punishment for ALL sin (1 John 2:2). We are justified freely by His grace through redemption that came by Jesus. (Romans 3:24).

As we preach the gospel, don't just quote Romans 3:23 which condemns us all. Remember that the most important part of the story is the good news in Romans 3:24. It gives us the only hope for redemption and reconciliation to our Abba Father.

And one more important point.

Most, if not all, other religions demand that their followers perform specific tasks to appease their gods. Christianity is the only one for which God does everything for His followers to be redeemed.

There is absolutely nothing that we can do to get right before God ... "there is no one righteous .. not even one.." There is then "no boasting" (Romans 3:27) because our salvation comes solely through Christ's effort, not ours.

Jesus is indeed the Good News for mankind.

Hallelujah, praise the Lord! So let's go out there to preach the Good News as it is.

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God bless.

Steven

The Simplicity of the Great Commission

2011-10-10T08:00:00.007+08:00

"He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..."

Mark 16:15-16a (NIV)

Dr Christopher Alam preached in my church recently. He said that he was sharing a simple message. It was indeed a simple but yet poignant one!

What is the great commission that Jesus gave before He left for His heavenly throne? As I re-examine the text of Mark 16:15-19, the command was in three simple words - " preach the gospel."

Dr Alam reminded us that the gospel is really the story of God's love for mankind in that He sent Jesus, His only Son, to suffer and die for us, and after three days, He rose to His glory. And only for that reason, man's salvation is assured.

It is that simple!

How often do we miss the opportunity to simply "preach the gospel" to those whom God put into our path? Some give the excuse that "I do not know how to preach", others say, "I am waiting for the opportunity..."

I am guilty at times of simply saying, "God loves you". It is easy to say these words to friends, family and even strangers. But this is NOT the gospel. The star, Jesus, is missing from the picture.

A sinner knowing and even acknowledging that God loves him does not receive salvation. There is only one way; by accepting that Jesus came, suffered, died and rose again for him.

And how would a sinner know that? Only if we preach the gospel!

Contemplate this my brothers and sisters ... and get ready to simply "preach the gospel".

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God bless.

Steven

We need each other

2011-10-03T08:00:00.002+08:00

⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:¹⁰ If either of them falls down,one can help the other up....

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 (NIV)

Paul said that "since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others..." Romans 12:5b (NIV).

God made us to have a need for each other. We need to admit to this fact. But why do some of us have a problem with this? Ps Rick Warren, in his book "Better Together", gave a two reasons for us to ponder over:

1. Our culture glorifies individualism.
2. Our pride makes us feel that this is an admission of weakness.

But when we start to turn towards God's way to build this "togetherness", we will begin to see a new perspective of love and service. When we begin to accept that we have a need for each other, consideration for others' welfare takes a prominent position in our life.

Selfish desires fade. Selfishness gives way to love and care. We begin to love and support each other more. We want to be there for one another in good and bad times. We feel for one another. We respect each other and become understanding and not demanding.

I have been convicted. You can be too.

Let us clearly know that we belong to each other in Christ and let's start to act like so!

God bless.

Steven

What does He really want of us?

2011-09-28T08:00:00.004+08:00

“Be wise in the way you act with people who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity.”

Colossians 4:5 (NCV)

Many years ago when I first gave my life to Chris, I had the wrong understanding on how to deal with people who were not believers. I misunderstood God’s word and tended to keep myself away from them.

“Do not be unequally yoked …”(2 Cor 6:14) seemed to make sense then. It took me a while before I realized that I was simply being legalistically religious – how sad!

But what does the Lord our God really asks of us? Let's check out Deut 10:12-13, 18-19:

^"12 And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? ....He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. ¹⁹ And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. "

Foreigners (people who are not believers) hold a special position in God's heart - He loves them and wants them saved too.

Our Abba Father says it as He wants it - that we are to deal with those who are yet to believe with love as He loves them too. In doing so, we sow the seed of reconciliation to them. One day, they will come to know of God's love for them.

So, let's ask the Holy Spirit to help us to "make the most of every opportunity, to reach those who are not believers."

God bless.

Steven
(My apologies for not posting my sharing for the last two Mondays - I was in China and all blog website is blocked).

Living out the Gospel

2011-09-05T08:00:00.006+08:00

⁵ Be wise in the way you act with people who are not believers, making the most of every opportunity.⁶ When you talk, you should always be kind and pleasant so you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should.

Col 4:4-5 NCV

A pastor once said, "You may be the only gospel that your neighbour may read in his entire life."

What did he mean?

Those around us may never read a bible to know of the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. Many will see the way we, who profess Christ, live and love.

If the love of Christ is demonstrated through us in what we do daily,the pre-believers will get to "read" of Christ's love for them too. This is why we are exhorted to "be wise in the way we act.." with the people around us.

On Sunday, over 20 members of my cell group hosted dinner at a HDB void deck in Henderson Road to over 50 disadvantaged elderly ones. These folks have no children or relatives to take care of them. Each one stays with another similarly disadvantaged person assigned by HDB to live in a subsidized one-room apartment blocks.

As I interacted with some of these folks, it was obvious that they long for someone to care for them and are willing to engage them in conversation. They simply need people to show love to them.

We did not preach the gospel to them, not yet. We intend to. But we believe that we need to connect with them first and show that we love them. The time will surely come when they will ask us why we are doing this. That will be the time we tell them about the love of God for them.

Let's reach out to pre-believers by being a living gospel of and for Christ!

God bless.

Steven

Love Proves Discipleship

2011-08-29T08:00:00.007+08:00

"Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen."

1 John 4:20 NIV

We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:21 NIV).

This is the compelling reason for us to love our brothers and sisters and those who have yet to come into the family. In fact, we love God by loving others.

Ps Rick Warren remarked, "The essence of love is not what we think or do to provide for others, but how much we give of ourselves."

Humanly we will find it difficult to do so at the beginning when we are full of "self". But as the Holy Spirit works in us as we bid Him to, a transformation takes flight.

I am naturally a self-centered. In my early years as a believer, son, husband, father and friend, I have been looking after my own needs above everyone else. Not that I did not care about others, but I did not side aside my own needs in order to meet the needs of others.

My wife on the other hand is a generous person, always putting the needs of others, and most of the time, at her own expense. I began to see the joy that she holds which comes from the ability to give generously.

I desired the same joy and thus embarked on my own journey with the Holy Spirit's help. I must say that my experience has been nothing but satisfying.

Once a cell member asked me, "Are you disappointed with those whom you spend time with and yet you get nothing out of them?" Without a second thought, I replied that I have learned to go pass that as I put no expectation of people whom I give my time to. Without expectation, there is no disappointment. I am merely giving my love as Jesus commanded me (John 15:12 NIV).

Christ set the example when He put aside His glory in heaven to give Himself fully for you and I. Join me to obey Him. Our love for others proves that we are truly the disciple of Christ (Gal 6:2 NCV).

God bless.

Steven

Compelled to love

2011-08-22T08:00:00.024+08:00

"Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another."

1 John 4:11 (NIV)

I am currently going through Saddleback Church's 40 Days of Community program. The program helps me to understand what am I on earth for?

Journey with me as I explore the answer to this very basic but important question.

Apostle John said it simply - we are compelled to love one another! Ps Rick Warren of Saddleback Church opens his message in the "Better Together" devotional book with, "Life is about learning to love."

Jesus called love the "greatest commandment" (Matthew 22:38 NIV).

There is only one reason - because God is love and He wants you and I to be more like Him, to love like Him. He loves us deeply and wants us to love Him back in the same way.

But loving others is unnatural to our fallen state. Satan has tricked us to selfishly love our self. Everything is about I, me and myself. Self-centeredness is practically the cause of all problem!

But it should be all about Him instead.

Our love for Him is demonstrated by our love for others, especially our brothers and sisters in faith. Jesus clearly said, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:35 NLT.

Let's start our journey to love like Him today.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Finale)

2011-08-08T08:00:00.000+08:00

God's Amazing Love!

“His father said to him, ‘.... We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’” Luke 15:31-32 (NLT)

Thank you for journeying with me in the last six weeks through this story of God's amazing love for you and I.
There is only one reason for Jesus to tell this parable - to reveal the amazing love of God to us.

He is a perfect God, but yet His sons (you and I) are imperfect. How can it be since we are created in His image? Shouldn't we be as perfect as the Creator is?

To me, the answer lies exactly in that we are created in His image; all of us have a freedom of choice. We can choose to be His or to belong to the world. We can choose to follow Him or to go our own way. We can choose!

But the amazing thing is that whatever our choice may be, Abba Father still loves us. Even when, like the sons in the story, we stumble and fall, hurt him as we go our way, yet as soon as we repent, He will "celebrate this happy day...for he was lost but now he is found."

For this, God makes us "... a chosen people.. royal priests... God’s very own possession... (to) show others the goodness of God, for he called us out of the darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9 (NLT)

So beloved, let's respond to God's biding and become the person He wants us to be!

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 6)

2011-08-01T08:00:00.020+08:00

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

The Older Son Was Lost Too!

“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, ²⁹ but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you ... And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. "

Luke 15:28-30 (NLT)

In most bibles,this passage is headlined "Parable of the Lost Son" or " Prodigal Son." It seems to point out that only the younger son was lost. After all, he dishonored God and his earthly father and squandered all his inheritance.

But my sharing has been titled, "Story of the TWO Lost Sons".

While the younger boy was physically and spiritually lost (away from God and his father), the older one was in a similar boat. Even though he never left his father physically, he was far away from the father's heart. He did not appropriate his status as the father's son!

He complained about his brother instead of celebrating his repentance and return. He contented that his father did not reward him for his years of faithful and hard work for the family. He complained!

Why did he have such thoughts?

I believe that it is because he did appropriate his status as the father's son, and behaved like a slave (Luke 15:29 NLT). The father told him "...you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours."(Luke 15:29 NLT). Wow, everything the father had was his! And yet, he live the life of a slave. What a "poor" guy he was? All because he did not appropriate his son-ship.

Notice that the son complained, ".... And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends." (Luke 15:29 NLT). The truth is that he never asked! Jesus implied that the father would give him anything and everything that he asks for. After all, the younger son asked for his inheritance and the father gave him.

Beloved, "... we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.." (Rom 8:17 NLT). Let's behave like one.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 5)

2011-07-25T08:00:00.002+08:00

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

The Father's Love

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
Luke 15:20 (NLT)

This week, let's examine the father's response.

He must have longed for that day; the day that he will see his son again. Despite all that his son had done to him, he was filled with love and compassion.

The father did what were socially unacceptable of a dignified Jew in those days. He ran to his son. He embraced him. He kissed him. He did this for a son who went wayward, demanded inheritance before his death and squandered all his money!

The loving father did more. He never allowed his son to execute his plan of asking to be just a hired servant (Luke 15:10 NLT). Instead, he immediately puts the finest robe on his son, gave him a ring to signify that he is accepted as his son again, puts sandals for his feet. He orders the prized calf to be slaughtered to celebrate his home-coming. (Luke 15:22-24 NLT).

Wow! Such is our Father's love for us. Some of us may think that we are different from that son as we did not do all those horrible things. Really?

This is a parable. Jesus tells parable to explain God's love for us. This parable tells us how much Abba Father loves us. This is a message of good news for those who have back-slided. The good news is that as soon as we come to our senses and repent, Abba Father forgets our past sins, welcomes us with His embraces and kisses and restores us to the status of son-ship. Glory to God!

Let us be constantly reminded of His love for us. Let this then be our principle of love to those whom God puts around us ... not just our family, but other believers in our heavenly family. Let us carry it further, let's love pre-believers in our community too.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 4)

2011-07-18T08:00:00.006+08:00

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

Coming to our senses

"When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, ¹⁹ and I am no longer worthy of being called your son....”’ Luke 15:17-19 (NLT)

What caused the son to come to his senses? Was it hunger? Was it the humiliation of being with the pigs?

I believe that hunger and humiliation were the physical manifestation of something spiritual.

It was repentance that made him come to his senses.

We are created to be in fellowship with God. The void in our godless life can only be filled to our satisfaction when we return to that relationship. God provides a way for all sinner to return to that position - repentance.

Repentance is a response - the God-given but human-controlled ability to say, "Father, I was wrong, please forgive me." Godly sorrow leads us away from sin and results in salvation. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death... 2 Cor 7:10(NLT).

The Holy Spirit is the One who can light that fuse that brings us to our senses and bring us to repentance. God does all these so that we can respond to His love for us.

David experienced it and cried out in repentance, "For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight." Psalm 51:3-4 (NLT)

We cannot repent by planning good works (the son wanted to be a hired servant of his father). We can only repent if we allow the Holy Spirit to convict us, in-dwell us and empower us to true repentance.

We are all the work-in-progress redeemed people. We must allow the Holy Spirit to in-dwell and empower us. Whenever we walk out of line, the Holy Spirit will bring us to our senses and to repentance.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 3)

2011-07-11T08:00:00.050+08:00

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

The Consequence of Sin

¹⁵ ... the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.” Luke 15:15-16 (NLT)

The son eventually came to the state that he had to beg to be hired to look after pigs but yet no one fed him. He became so hungry that even the pods for the pigs looked good to him.

We must understand that Jesus was speaking to the Jews. So what is the significance of this part of the story?

Jews and pigs never mixed. The swine is considered an unclean animal and no Jew will even go near one, let alone be in their midst and feeding them. Worst of all, Jesus said that even the pods that the pigs eat looked good to the hungry son.

What an insult it was to the Jews!

The lesson here is this - to put the son (a Jew) into a pig sty is to show that when one leaves the Father and indulge in sin, he will finally go down to the worst of situations.

Sin always pay its dividend. Sin leads only to death.

The sinful nature is always hostile to God and it will never yield and obey God - Romans 8:6-7(NLT).

We must die to sin so that in Christ, we can live for righteousness - 1 Peter 2:24 (NLT).

Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us to die to sin daily that we might live for His glory.

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 2)

2011-07-04T08:00:00.043+08:00

Read Luke 15:11-32 (NLT)

The Stupidity of the Son

“... this younger son ... wasted all his money in wild living ... and he began to starve ... became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything."

Luke 15:13-16 (NLT)

Against his own wishes and bearing heartache, the father sold his assets and gave to his wayward son what he had asked for.

With money in his hands, the son wasted no time to live it up. He did not invest for his future. He did not think of the consequences. Before long, he lost all his money and his fair-weather friends.

It is easy for us to see and say that he was plain stupid. But do we not do similar things ourselves?

His stupidity stemmed from only one source. It was not greed for the money. Neither was it the temptation of the world. No. It was simply disobedience!

By disobedience, I mean his decision to discontinue with the relationship with his father. He wanted to live his own life, apart from the father!

As we reflect on the stupidity of the lost son, let us also reflect if we acted stupidly in our relationship with our Abba Father. Are there times when we want our own way and tell Him that we rather live the life we desire instead of being with Him.

If we have, let's confess our stupidity before Him and return to His side, before we end up in the pig sty. Let's ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us where we have gone wrong and seek God's forgiveness.

Abba Father will forgive ... praise the Lord!

God bless.

Steven

Story of the Two Lost Sons (Part 1)

2011-06-27T08:00:00.001+08:00

Read Luke 15:11-32

A Father's Heartache

"The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting until you die.’"... Luke 15:12 (NLT)

Over seven sessions in five days, the Holy Spirit-led teacher, Sam Farina expounded on the Story of the Two Lost Sons. I learned many valuable lessons, which I like to share with you over the next few weeks.

Let's begin with how the father felt when the son demanded for his share of the inheritance.

In the Jewish custom, for a son to ask his father to dispense the inheritance meant more than just money. It would really be saying, "Father, I wish that you would die now so that I can lay hands on your wealth!"

In those days, the wealth of a family is measured by the amount o assets they hold; land, sheep, cattle and the like. In order for the father to give the inheritance to his son, he would have to sell away those assets.

As a father, I can imagine the tremendous heartache and deep sorrow that any father would feel when that happens. Let's reflect for a moment how you and I might have reacted.

I would probably be so angry that I would severe my relationship with my son. Then, I would be in deep anguish, wondering where I had gone wrong in the up bringing of that wayward son. These seem to be the "right" reactions.

But how did the father in the story react?

"So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons." (Luke 15:12).

What a blow it must have been to the father. He had to sell his properties to give the wayward son what he asked for.

Jesus tells us this is how our Abba Father is. As painful as it may be for Him, He would honor His "design specifications" of us, that is, our free will.

For this week, let's consciously reflect on how much He loves us and how painful it is for Him when we move out of His plan for us.

Next week, I will share "The Stupidity of the Wayward Son."

God bless.

Steven

Do we ask enough?

2011-06-20T08:00:00.020+08:00

"You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."
John 14:14

Our church recently revived an important ministry - the ministry of intercession. It is called J333, a weekly 1-hour prayer meeting. J333 stems from Jeremiah 33:3 and is not just about the revival of a ministry. It is about a revival of the individual.

Week after week, I see the Holy Spirit moving and touching the lives of those who attend the prayer sessions and the lives that are being prayed for. A revival is clearly coming. Praise the Lord!

These happenings stem from what the Lord has promised His children in the first place....."I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." (John 14:13)

If we are willing to "call to Him, He will answer us and tell us great and unsearchable things we do not know." (Jer 33:3)

Praying and asking in Jesus' name brings forth fruits that will glorify Abba Father. It gives us wisdom to live our lives in the way the Creator has planned for us.

Are you willing to spend 1 minute every hour to talk to Him?

Join in the revival; start to pray and ask in His Name!

God bless.

Steven

Be obsessed by God

2011-06-13T08:00:00.004+08:00

"In you, LORD my God, I put my trust.... Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose."

Psalm 25:1,12

Obsession - "the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image or desire" (dictionary.com)

Whatever obsesses me gets my attention. In fact, it dominates me. Same for you!

There are so many things that I can and do spend immense amount of time (that is obsession) daily. Many of them are supposedly legitimate and pressing issues that have to do with my family, work, ministry and even just for myself.

And the truth is many of us can be (or are) obsessed with such "needs". We let ourselves be sapped of our energy, joy and in doing so, miss the purpose that Abba Father has planned for us.

If we are ready to allow God to instruct our ways, we can live a meaningful, significant and purposeful life- John 10:10.

"Where does my help comes from? My help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let my foot slip..." (Psalm 121)

Let's decide to put our "trust in the Lord .... He will instruct us in the ways we should choose."

If we are not obsessed by the Lord, we will be obsessed by something else. So, be obsessed by our Abba Father.

God bless.

Steven

No need for questions

2011-06-06T08:00:00.006+08:00

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me... In that day you will no longer ask me anything.Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name."

John 14:1, 16:23a

When I was a younger Christian, I was taught (and I believed) that there are many questions about God and about life that I will have no answers for. I was told to "write" all such questions in a "little black book" and so that I can remember to ask the Lord when I am finally in heaven.

How immature that was!

Jesus clearly gave us the assurance that we should not let our hearts be troubled when we believe in Him. We are to totally believe what He says. Many people, including Christians, say that would be blind or childish faith. But this is exactly what the Lord needs of us (Matthew 18:2).

When is "that day"? Certainly it is not when we are in heaven.

I believe "that day" is the day when I fully let Christ ascend to the throne of my heart and make me one with the Father. That day happens when I allow the resurrected life of Jesus to fully inhibit my own life, bringing me to total reliance and dependence upon Him.

John 14:20 says "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you."

"In that day", Abba Father will answer all my question but those questions I have written in the "little black book" become insignificant and irrelevant. "In that day", I will be one with the Father. "In that day" My Father will give me whatever I ask of Him because I will be asking according to His will.

That day came when I invited Christ to be my Lord and Savior. I am living "in that day" now. You are too, if your have invited Him into your heart. Do not live your life with any doubt and do not let your heart be troubled. There is no need for troubling questions!

God bless.

Steven

Abandon - Jesus' Command to us

2011-05-30T08:00:00.001+08:00

". . . do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on" — Matthew 6:25

In his article, Our Careful Unbelief, Oswald Chambers says that "the greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon."

Indeed, Jesus taught that it is "the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word.." (Matthew 13:22). That, I believe, is the main reason that many of us struggle in our faith walk with God.

Occasionally, some issues keep me awake at night. They are usually worries of this life that try to rob me of the peace of the abundant life that God has promised.

Satan does not need to lift a finger to harm us if we continue to allow worries to choke God's word.

I have learned not to entertain them anymore. When they come, I quote God's promises. I remind myself that His word is truth and my thoughts are not. I do it consistently and constantly and now, it has become a instinctive defense against negative thoughts.

No wonder Jesus asks His children not to worry about our daily needs. His word truly, is abandon ... Let's abandon our life and worries to Him. Only when we lose them, will we gain abundant life in Him.

God bless.

Steven

My Ego

2011-05-23T08:00:00.010+08:00

^"You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."

Philippians 2:5 (NLT)

Ego is a Latin word that means self, the “I” of any person.

I cannot and do not want to suppress my ego nor pretend that I do not have one. Neither do I want to let my ego become bigger than it should be nor to be selfish and self-centered. What can I do?

Paul tells me that I should not look out only for my own interests, but take an interest in others too (Phil 2:4 NLT). He further said that I must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus has (Phil 2:5-8 NLT).

What this means to me is that I must surrender my ego, the "I, me and myself", totally to my Lord. Only then, will I have a Christ-centric ego that can be useful for His Holy purposes.

As I continue to work out my salvation, I lay my ego at Jesus' feet and remind myself to "Do everything without complaining and arguing, .... shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people." Philippians 2:14-15 (NLT)

God bless.

Steven

Working out my salvation

2011-05-16T08:00:00.000+08:00

^"3His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life ....⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness ...." 2 Peter 1:3,5-7

Oswald Chambers said, "We are in danger of forgetting that we cannot do what God does, and that God will not do what we can do. We cannot save nor sanctify ourselves ... but God will not give us good habits or character, and He will not force us to walk correctly before Him. We have to do all that ourselves. We must “work out” our “own salvation” which God has worked in us."

I am reminded that my desire to be more like Christ is not and cannot be a prayer. I have the responsibility to work on it to be more like Christ.

Like all men, I do not possess the strength and ability to do it myself. That is why God assured us through Peter that He has given us "everything we need" for a godly life. Hallelujah! I love you,Dad!

Join me to appropriate His divine power and to allow Abba Father to help us work out our salvation to fulfill His holy purpose (Philippians 2:12).

God bless.

Steven

Beliefs - Right or Wrong?

2011-05-09T08:00:00.005+08:00

²Take now your son . . . and offer him . . . as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. . . ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out . . ., “Abraham! Abraham!” . . . ¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said.
— Genesis 22:2

How I react and respond to God's voice is a function of my knowledge of Him. My interpretation of His instruction can be colored by my own traditional beliefs. These beliefs can be wrong.

I am not alone with this short coming. Even Abraham had to go through the lesson.

Abraham interpreted God’s command to mean that he had to kill Isaac. That was his traditional belief. When God said, "offer Isaac as a burnt offering ...", He did not say "Kill Isaac". However, Abraham interpreted that with his traditional understanding. The Jews had practiced burnt offering only in one way, that is, by slaughtering the sacrifice.

But if Abraham were to consider God's character of love and also His promise to make him a father of all nations, he might have responded differently. He had to go through that tremendous ordeal so that God could purify his faith.

But the great lesson to be learned from Abraham’s faith in God is that he was prepared to do anything for God. He was not devoted to his own conviction. He was ever ready to obey God and as such, when the angel called him to stop, he did not reason that it might have been the voice of the devil. He simply obeyed.

I must always be willing to give up my own convictions and traditional beliefs and simply obey Him.

Join me in asking the Holy Spirit to help us just do that.

God bless.

Steven

Rejoice - Right and Wrong Ones

2011-05-02T08:00:00.008+08:00

"However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you... "

Luke 10:20

The word rejoice is almost associated in positive phrases entirely throughout the new testament text. There is only one verse that says, "do not rejoice"; that which is found in the passage above.

Last week, I shared about my learning on right and wrong burdens. I shared that there are certain "burdens" that God has put upon me and I work towards fulling them.

While willing and wanting to complete those tasks, I want to remind myself that I shall not rejoice when I successfully achieve these "spiritual successes".

It is one thing to complete God's assignment. It is yet another to rejoice that I (yes, capitalized and in bold) have been successful. My brother, Jesus, clearly tells me that I should not rejoice even when the spirits are subjected to me, but that I am His (Luke 10:20). I must seek the Giver and not the gifts, the Builder and not the buildings, Abba Father and not a religious god-head!

And so, I shall rejoice for the Lord is good, for all that He has done for me on and beyond the cross. I shall ask Abba Dad to help me not to rejoice in my spirituality.

God bless.

Steven

Burdens - Right or Wrong?

2011-04-25T08:00:00.001+08:00

"Cast your burden on the Lord, He shall sustain you . . ."
Psalm 55:22 (NKJV)

What is a burden?

A web dictionary defines it as "that which is carried - a load,

that which is borne with difficulty - obligation, an oppressive one."

The original Hebrew word in this verse is "bhy" which is translated as a "lot". The Greek word is "meÑrimna" which means "care or anxiety".

Whichever the word used, Abba Father is telling me to "throw away, shed off" any oppressive load that I am carrying. Peter reminded that I must "cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7).

I will not want to carry any burdens of sin and doubt, these are wrong burdens which only serve to drag me down in my relationship with Him.

However, there are "burdens" that He places in my heart, for example, for the lost, for the husbands and wives and families who are in trouble, for the ministry, etc. These are burdens that He has assigned me; tasks that I want to put in time and effort to complete.

Still, He says to me, "cast your burden upon Me...", because He will sustain me when I am carrying out these tasks. These, I cast not away but cast unto Him so that I can find the strength to complete my service to Him where He has led and placed me.

Oswald Chambers aptly wrote "Commit to God whatever burden He has placed on you. Don’t just cast it aside, but put it over onto Him and place yourself there with it. You will see that your burden is then lightened by the sense of companionship. But you should never try to separate yourself from your burden."

Join me to do just that!

God bless.

Steven

Sin MUST die

2011-04-18T08:00:00.008+08:00

"... count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ...do not let sin reign in your mortal body ..."

Roman 6:11-14

I have a confession to make.

I am not without sin. I want to. But I am not yet.

Apostle Paul reminds me that my old man was crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be done away with, that I should no longer be a slave of sin. (Romans 6:6)

He further admonishes me not to offer any part of myself to sin but rather, to God and offer every part of myself to Him as an instrument of righteousness. (Romans 6:13)

So I am challenged to make a decision that sin MUST die in me, not simply restrained or suppressed, but completely crucified!

It will not be an easy path ahead. Temptations will still come, and I expect them to be even more as I make this commitment. I will not have the strength to overcome these attacks. This leaves me to only one way ahead; I shall call upon Jesus to identify me with His crucifixion and death, until I am certain that sin in me is completely dead!

Let me close by quoting Paul again, "sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

Join me.

God bless.

Steven

Today is the day!

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000+08:00

".... Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God ..." Phil 3:13-14

I was playing at our church's Quarterly Golf Fellowship last Thursday . My buggy mate hit a lousy stroke at one of the holes. He duffed the shot and the ball ran just a few metres ahead. He took the next shot. It was a good stroke. The ball flew far and straight.

When he came onto the buggy, he let out a loud sight, lamenting that he had hit a lousy shot. Suddenly, the word of the Lord came to me.

I told him that he just hit a fantastic shot and should rejoice in that. The last lousy shot was gone forever. No amount of lamenting, sighing and unhappiness will bring it back. I asked him to "hit forward" instead.

Golf can teach us many practical lessons in life. This is one poignant one.

As the Apostle Paul clearly articulated to the Philippians ... "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead ..", let us not live life with baggages from the past.

Incidentally, my pastor preached a similar message on Sunday. He advised that we must "put the past in the past". God told the faithful ones to forget the former things and do not dwell on the past. He said that He is doing a new thing for them! (Isaiah 43:17-19)

Indeed, let us be constantly reminded that God is doing a new thing in our life. Let us strain toward the goal to win God's prize. Let us live for His glory!

I will end with a quotation my pastor used on Sunday:

Yesterday is a cancelled cheque. Forget about it.
Tomorrow is a promisory note. Do not depend on it.
Today is cash. Use it!

Live every day for Him.

God bless.

Steven

Don't think about faith

2011-04-04T08:00:00.007+08:00

Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”

John 11:7-8

Have you ever told God that He should not do certain things?

I did. So did Jesus' disciples. We all thought that we knew better.

As you read John 11:8, do you wonder what were in the mind of the disciples? I gathered the following possibilities:

1. The disciples truly meant it for the good of Jesus; they wanted to protect Jesus from the Jews who hated Him and were going to harm Him.

2. They were afraid of accompanying Jesus into Judea where they feared that they would be stoned by the Jews.

3. They thought that Jesus could not see the danger that lurked ahead and so sought to "remind" Him.

4. They forgot that He was the Son of God.

Whatever the possibility may be, like the disciples, often times I thought that I knew better than God. I forget that He cares for me and has a good plan for me, and I lack the trust that He knows best!

Faith, I learnt, is not intellectual understanding. Faith is a deliberate commitment to the Person of Jesus Christ, even when I can’t see the way ahead. Faith in Jesus demands that I lay it all out at His feet and let Him do as He pleases.

Faith does not need me to think about the "consequence"; it needs only my total surrender to Him.

Indeed, "... faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

Don't think about faith. Simply believe!

God bless.
Steven

Know who the bridegroom is

2011-03-28T08:00:00.006+08:00

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

John 3:30

I am reminded that Jesus must always be the center every one's life - and particularly when I am helping or counseling a person in need.

Too often I have been impatient and want to offer "a solution", based on my experience in life and human understanding. Too often I ended up making myself to be the dependent leader or counselor. That, I realized, is wrong and offers no help to the person in need.

John (the baptist) fully understood that he was merely the messenger. A messenger for the Counselor, Prince of Peace, Savior and the true Bridegroom. He constantly pointed people, who came to him, to Christ (John 3:28) and refusing any glory for himself (John 3:29).

Oswald Chambers taught that "as a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a “friend of the bridegroom”. When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ."

I want to remind myself constantly that truly, "He must increase, but I must decrease" so that those I want to help will get the true help from the rightful Bridegroom. I want to just be the "friend of the Bridegroom".

I hope that you will consider this too.

God bless.

Steven

Love in Action

2011-03-21T08:00:00.002+08:00

"If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need ..... let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth" 1 John 3:17-18

Natural disasters abound in the present times. Many people are affected all over the world. Japan is coping with not just the earthquakes and tsunami but also the nuclear crisis.

Beyond the politics, many Japanese are severely affected. They need food, water, warm clothing, shelter and encouragement to get on with life.

Many of us have witnessed the spirit of the Japanese people. While feeling the pain and grieve, many of them show a fighting spirit and the resolve to get over the crisis. The civility of the people, shown by their orderliness in queuing for food aids, is admirable.

This is the time that Christians must rise up to show what God's love really is.

John clearly taught that we must not just pray for them, but show our love through tangible actions. Last week, I encouraged my cell members to pool in monetary contributions so that we can send it to a relevant organization or a church in Japan to buy what is needed for distribution to the victims.

Let us not have any excuse but move ahead to let the love of Christ shine through us. Let the people know that Christ loves them in very tangible ways.

Do your part.

God bless.

Steven

Land of the Risen Son

2011-03-14T08:00:00.000+08:00

"There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven."

Luke 21:11

My wife and I returned to Singapore from Japan last Wednesday - the day the first earth quake (7.2) hit the country at around 11am. Our flight left at 10.10am. We all know that a second one hit Sendai and Tokyo catastrophically on Friday, causing extensive damages and lost of lives.

While we thank God for His protection upon us, our hearts go out to the millions of Japanese who were affected by the earthquakes and the resultant tsunami.

One of my cell member made a correct observation though - he said that we should not be surprised by such catastrophes; Jesus had warned us and they should be expected in this fallen state of mankind. Earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, AIDS, H1N1 and the likes are the direct consequences of a world that have rejected God. The world is cursed since the day that Adam fell into sin.

Deuteronomy 28:15-68 lay out all the curses for those who disobey God. In particular, verse 59 says that "the LORD will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses."

But God is merciful and gracious to those who turns to Him and repent. Deuteronomy 28:1-14 declare God's abundant blessings upon those who obey Him. Verse 12 says "He will open the heavens..... to bless all the work of your hands."

My wife and my prayer is for the people of Japan to come to know the love of Jesus for them. The Japanese are wonderful people and God loves them.

Join us in praying that they will believe and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Join us to pray that the Land of the Rising Sun will become the Land of the Risen Son!

God bless.

Steven

Am I of any use?

2011-03-07T08:00:00.001+08:00

"She has done a beautiful thing to me."
Mark 14:6

Oswald Chambers remarked that "If what we call love doesn’t take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love."

The woman in Mark 14:6 did something that was not accepted during her time. Different people then saw different angles to her did (Mark 14:3-4).

Some saw the earthly value of the perfume - it costs a handsome amount (more than a year's wages).

Others thought that Jesus did not deserve the perfume ("Why waste this perfume (on Jesus)?"

Yet there were those who were critical and judgmental (They rebuked her harshly.)

What the woman did seemed so useless. But Jesus did not think so.

Jesus put it in perspective ("Leave her alone ... she has done a beautiful thing for me.")

True love for Jesus drives us to do things for Him that the world does not understand. When we begin to do something for God not because we felt dutiful or in expectation of a reward, but simply because we love Him, we begin to understand and demonstrate true love.

The woman in Mark 14 did just that. Unknowingly, she anointed Jesus for His death. Did she expect anything in return? I don't think so, she did it because she loved Jesus.

Did Satan ever taunt you by asking if you were of any use to Jesus?

Have you been driven to do something for the Lord simply because of your love for Him? Decide now, how you will react when that happens!

God bless.

Steven

Dare to Persevere

2011-02-28T08:00:00.006+08:00

" ...... the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

James 1:3-5

The dictionary explains "perseverance" as:

1. Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

2. Theology - continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.

My attention is drawn to the second definition .... perseverance is the continuance in grace, believing in Christ, which leads to eternal salvation.

Throughout the new testament, perseverance is mentioned many times.

We are directed to persevere, as suffering produces perseverance and then character (Romans 5:3-4).

We are to run the race marked out for us with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1).

We are to let perseverance finish its work so that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:4)

We are to add perseverance to self control and thereafter, godliness (2Peter 1:5-7).

Revelations 2:2,19 tell us that the Lord will specifically "know" our perseverance along with our love, faith and hard work.

Let us dare to persevere because of the grace of God.

God bless.

Steven

Arise !

2011-02-21T08:00:00.002+08:00

“Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD rises upon you."

Isaiah 60:1

Isaiah 60 listed God's promises for the future kingdom. It starts with the command "Arise".

Arise is a verb; it is a command that demands an action. When God says to us, "Arise", it is a spiritual initiative. He will not help us or make us to rise. We must take that first step as though God was not there.

There is no point in waiting for God to lift us up. He simply won't. But if we obey and take the first step to rise up, He will be there with us immediately.

I learned this truth last month when I was deliberating on a decision. My wife and I pondered on the pros and cons and between selfishness and righteousness. Finally, we made a decision when the Lord spoke to us through an article written by Kenneth Copeland. The title of that was "Just do it!"

We did just that. We took the first step. We arose. And God took over and we were ushered into His plan for us. Hallelujah!

So, let us take the first step to allow God to usher us into the plan that He has prepared for us.

God bless.

Steven

Be weary of worry

2011-02-14T08:00:00.004+08:00

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthews 6:34

If I say to you, "Do not worry", some of you will reply, "I can't help it, I am just overwhelmed!".

But if I were to tell you not to entertain the thoughts of the Devil, you will probably say, "Yes, I do not want to entertain his thoughts."

Do you know that worrying is mediating the thoughts of Satan.

The Devil wants you to worry and worry lots because worrying is the opposite of faith in God. One worries because he is not sure if God would take care of his needs.

But our Lord clearly assured us that God cares for us totally and there is no point in worrying (Matthew 6:25-31). Instead, He said that we should seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) and all our needs will be taken care of.

It is our decision; to trust God at His word or to worry as Satan wants us to.

To overcome Satan's trick, let's start by strengthening our position in Christ by reading and knowing His promises. Every time that you have a thought that is contrary to God's will and word, cast it down immediately. Simply refuse to worry by committing your needs to God. Read His word to counter Satan's thoughts.

You can stop worrying. Decide for your self. Be weary of worry and you will be set free.

Praise the Lord who is faithful and is able to keep us all from the fiery darts of the Devil. Indeed, God has won and Satan has lost!

God bless.

Steven

Dare to believe

2011-02-07T08:00:00.027+08:00

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered..... Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:22,24

Kenneth Copeland, in his article "Four Words That Work", shared that "Believing .... is the key to everything in the kingdom of God. It's the way we tap into the very power of Almighty God.....It's as simple as saying, 'I believe I receive.'"

The issue many of us grapple with today is simply the lack of trust in God. We are tempted over and over again to doubt the authenticity of God's love for us. "Did God really say ..." (Genesis 3:1) and "... your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.. " (Genesis 3:5) are the Devil's age-old trick, which unfortunately still traps many Christians today.

Selwyn Hughes said that, "..the root of man's sin is not rebellion or disobedience but a failure to trust. Rebellion and disobedience are, in fact, symptoms of a profound lack of trust."

His children's lack of trust in Him breaks Abba Father's heart.

As my wife and I trek through our spiritual path recently, we are being taught to move from "We must know that He knows" to "Dare to wait" and now to "Dare to believe" in Him.

His words are clear; ".... when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." (James 1:5-7)

The story of my house hunting is still unfolding. God is indeed performing His work in "strange" ways but I must say that my wife and I know the conclusion already.

We believe we receive!

Praise the Lord and God bless.

Steven

Dare to wait

2011-01-31T08:00:00.069+08:00

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7

When I penned my thoughts for "We must know that He knows" last Tuesday, my wife and I were waiting for the buyer of our house to exercise his option on Thursday.

The buyer did not exercise. You see, after we sold our house, we immediately bought another a few days later. With the transaction falling through, it meant that we would also not be able to exercise our option; our 1% option money, which a large sum, would be forfeited.

However, what followed was a clear and undeniable demonstration of God's faithfulness because "God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."(Rom 8:28)

My wife and I were at peace even though the transaction fell through. A number of friends who were praying for us felt disappointed though.

One even remarked that "such a thing should not have happened to you". I affirmatively replied, "If you know Him like I do, there is no disappointment because I know that He knows. This incident may have happened so that you and others may know that we all can trust God like this."

Later that evening, my wife and I were ministering to a couple who had just made a major decision - moving back to their home country. They were leaving that weekend but had yet to receive a firm answer for the husband's job application there. They were naturally concerned as the move impacts the whole family.

We shared the peace that God gave us as we walked through our own situation. We reiterated that if we really believed that He knows, then we must "dare to wait" for His plan to unfold.

The wife messaged me the following day to say that her husband had just received a call, informing him that he was not offered the job. However, they were at peace instead of being disappointed; they were encouraged that we can trust God and so they did likewise.

Indeed, God ways are higher than our ways. While we must know that He knows, we must also dare to wait upon Him.

To end this sharing, I want to give God praise and glory - my house was sold again within a week and for the same price.

I encourage us all to dare to wait upon a faithful and loving God.

Praise the Lord and God bless.

Steven

We must know that He knows

2011-01-24T08:00:00.034+08:00

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8

The NIV bible tags Hebrews 11 as "Faith in Action".

I recall an incident over 5 years ago when I was at a major cross-road in my spiritual life. Michelle and I had to make one of the most crucial decisions; we heard from God that we were to move to another church. Unlike my earlier experiences where He was "specific" in His instructions, for that decision He did not tell me "where to" but "to simply go".

Have you ever "gone out" this way?

There was no logical reason or justification that we could put forth to the church leadership. Humanly, they questioned if we had heard God correctly. One even said, "God cannot be doing this...He sent you here!" This was in spite of having given them a one-year notice of our impending move.

But Michelle and I are glad that we heeded His call to "simply go". Our spiritual life and service to Him have since gone up many notches. While we were "loved, wanted and needed" in our previous church, God has His own sovereign plan for us.

We did not know which church He wanted us to go to until the very day when we officially leaving our "home" church. It was only at my very last Sunday service where I was still leading worship, that we received a confirmation.

We had to step out of our "home" before He told us "where" to go.

Although it seemed to be a frightening experience, it really is a faith-building one. God helped us build our faith in Him through that decision which then allows us to make many more important decisions that required faith. We learned not to question Him about what He is going to do. Instead, we learned to see who He is.

We must know that He knows, always.

God bless.

Steven

God's amazing love for me

2011-01-17T08:00:00.004+08:00

"If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast."

Psalm 139:9-10

Psalm 139 is a psalm of assurance. No child of God should not know it.

To me personally, this psalm declares, with definite certainty, God's amazing love for His own. I chewed on the words and found the following assurances:

1. He has intimate knowledge of me - even my sitting down and standing up, my going out and my resting time, He knows all those moments. (Psalm 119:1-3)

2. My thoughts are always known to Him; before I utter a word, He already knows. (Psalm 119:2,4)

3. He protects me completely - what a wonderful God He is! (Psalm 119:5)

4. He skillfully created me in my mother's womb and had ordained my days at that moment. (Psalm 119:13-16)

5. He is always where I am or will be - even if I am trying to escape from Him, He love reaches out there to me. (Psalm 119:7-12)

Indeed, I exclaim with the Psalmist "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain."

Praise the Lord for His amazing love!

God bless.

Steven

Amazing Grace

2011-01-10T08:00:00.000+08:00

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—" Ephesians 2:8

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

I start this year's blog by touching on the amazing grace of God. In fact, this will be my new theme for my sharing for this season.

Jesus Christ did not suffer, die and resurrect for God. He did it for me! What would have happened if He did not do so? ... we would have burned in hell for eternity.

But God demonstrated His own love for us. He punished His Son, who has no sin, for all the sins that I carry. By Jesus' dedicated act of love for me, I am redeemed and reconciled with God. I have eternal life. Hallelujah!

It is a simple and yet profound act and fact. But I must remind myself that I will not take this for granted. It would be easy to forget because I was "converted" close to 40 years ago. I must commit myself to be "continuously converted" (Matthew 18:3 NKJV). I must decide and act to become more like Jesus daily.

Chris Tomlin rendered an updated version of John Newton's hymn Amazing Grace. The chorus added by Chris rings true for me:

My Chains are gone; I've been set free

My God my Savior has ransomed me.

And like a flood His mercy reigns,

Unending love, Amazing Grace.

Praise the Lord for His Amazing Grace!

God bless.

Steven

My Three Most Important Lessons in Life

2011-01-03T08:00:00.014+08:00

^"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'.....'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-32 NIV

At the close of 2010, a young and successful businessman friend of mine asked, "Steven, tell me the three most important lessons that you have learned in your life so that I may also learn?"

I paused and gave a hard thought before affirmatively replying, "Loving God, loving my wife and loving myself."

The reason is simple and direct. It is God's command. When asked which is the most important commandment of all, Jesus clearly said that it is to love God, and to love my neighbors as myself (Mark 12:30-32).

The first commandment is clear. So is my first lesson learnt.

What about my second and third lessons; loving my wife and loving myself.

My wife is with me most of the time. She lies in bed next to me almost every night since we were married. So I must love her. I want to love her because she is God's chosen soul mate and lover for me. She is my closest neighbor. Therefore, to love my wife helps me fulfill the second commandment.

On New Year's day, we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. We courted for 7 years before we tied the knot. We knew each other casually for 2 years before we courted. That makes 38 years of being with each other. By God's amazing grace, we are still very much in love with one another (Proverbs 5:17-19). That is my second lesson for success in life - to love my wife!

I love myself (Ephesians 5:29). If I don't, how can I love my neighbor as myself? I learnt that loving oneself is not the same as being self-centred. To love myself is to keep my mind, spirit and body healthy for my wife, my children, "my neighbors" and my God. Only if I am healthy, then can I fulfill God's plan in my life.

I want to start 2011 reminding myself to continue in these three most important decisions in life; to keep on loving God, my wife and myself.

God bless.

Steven

No complaint, no explanation

2010-12-27T08:00:00.001+08:00

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,. . .” Roman 8:28 (NIV)

In my last blog entry, I related my learning about wrestling for God and not against Him. Continuing, I learned that wrestling for Him would mean that I need to absolutely trust Him.

It is easy to say that "I believe that God is in control of my life..." Do I really believe it? If I do, then I will not waver or doubt when adversity strikes. I will not worry about the flood when the thunder storm comes. If I truly believe that He is in control of my life, then I must believe that the adversities and storms of life are part of His refinement plan for me, and that I will come out of those a better son ..... "everything, yes EVERYTHING, works together for the good of me..."

Oswald Chamber remarked that "Being faithful to Jesus Christ is the most difficult thing we try to do today.... Many Christians become very impatient when we talk about faithfulness to Jesus. Our Lord is dethroned more deliberately by Christian workers than by the world. The goal of faithfulness is not that we will do work for God, but that He will be free to do His work through us. "

Being truly faithful to Jesus means that I will give up my rights to complain about Him and the circumstances that I am placed in. It also means that I will have no expectation of receiving any explanation from Him. After all, God is sovereign.

It is hard to be faithful to Jesus. But He will help me to be if I asked Him to.....I am a work-in-progress project of God.

God bless.

Steven

Permissive or Perfect Will - Our Choice

2010-12-20T08:00:00.026+08:00

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,. . .” Roman 8:28 (NIV)

The ". . ." in the verse above are very important to complete the meaning. The phrase is "whohave been called according to His purpose".

To be called according to his purpose is to live in His perfect will. But given that I am created in His image, I can decide to or not to yield. Many times, stupidly, I wrestled against Him and insisted to have my own way. The Lord permits, but I did myself a disfavor; I was not allowing God to work for the good of me.

God's perfect is unchangeable. But He allows me to function in His permissive will. Either way, He wants to achieve His divine purpose in my life. The difference is that the formal produces better results and in a shorter time, while the later takes me through an excursion to reach the final point.

It has to do with the wrong concept of wrestling with God. I must remind myself never to wrestle with Him. When Jacob did that, God put him out of joint(Genesis 32:24-25). Jacob was still blessed, but he limped for the rest of his life.

Instead, I must learn to wrestle for God. I must wrestle against the temptations and distractions of this world so that I can be in His perfect will. If I chose not to submit to His perfect will, it will be in this wrestling arena that God will use His permissive will to reveal His perfect will. But, if I persevere and surrender to Him, I triumph for His glory.

We can always live in His perfect will. After all, we are "more than conquerors through Him who loves us" (Romans 8:37 NIV).

To live in His permissive will or perfect will? It is our choice!

God bless.

Steven

Repentance is Christianity's foundation

2010-12-13T08:00:00.003+08:00

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death." 2 Cor 7:10

Repentance is not to be mistaken for simple sorrow for making mistakes, which is a usually a reflex action caused by self-disgust.

Most of us will react at and/or for the moment when we discover that we have made a mistake. Some may feel the pain of failing oneself, others may simply be disgusted that they had not live up to their own expectation. The best one could do is to resolve not to make that mistake again. Some succeed, most don't. This is not good enough.

Repentance comes only with the conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-11). When we are stirred and convicted by the Holy Spirit, we will realized that our sins are against God and no one feels more hurt than God does because He loves us. It will cause us to struggle between the godly values and the world's values. The Holy Spirit creates this struggle so that we can truly come to a point of humbly declaring, "God I have sinned against You, forgive me..."(Psalm 51:4). That will be the beginning of the formation of a "more like Jesus" life in His children.

Only repentance, being a result of godly sorrow, changes life. And for this reason, repentance is the foundation of the Christian faith.

Let the Holy Spirit lead us to a deeper relationship with Him so that we can become more like Jesus!

God bless.

Steven

Give me, give me, give me

2010-12-06T08:00:00.026+08:00

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. Luke 22:42-43

Sewlyn Hughes taught that "Demandingness is the attitude that says I want what I want when I want it. It is quite different from intercession, perseverance and wrestling with God in prayer. Demandingness demands rather than pleads, insists on one's own way is right...."

It all boils down to the disease of self-centredness - the refusal to give up our rights and subjecting it to Him. It is about putting our agenda before God's agenda in our walk.

This is a tough one for many of us. Our fallen nature demands that we put our self as the center of all things. An ancient Chinese saying, "人不为己，天诛地灭", reflects this attitude. Translated, this philosophy says "If man does not live for himself (or put self as the center), even the heaven and earth will be destroyed."

Jesus proved otherwise. He gave up His royal rights as the Son of God to become the Son of Man. He could have miraculously come down from the cross, free Himself from all the sufferings and show that He is indeed God. The Jews and Romans were expecting that; "if only He could save Himself, we will believe that He is indeed the Son of God." (Matthew 27:41-43)

But for our sake, He didn't, hallelujah. As a human, He pleaded with God to let HIm bypass the suffering. But His love for us prevailed. He gave up His own agenda to let God's agenda of salvation prevail. As the song goes, "You (Jesus) took the fall, and taught of me, above all."

We can be like Jesus too ... as the angel came and strengthened Him, God will also send His angles to strengthen us whenever we make the decision to abide by His will instead of demanding ours.

For God's glory, it will be a transformation from "Give me, give me, give me" to "Use me, use me, use me."

God bless.

Steven

Walking the Gospel Talk

2010-11-29T08:00:00.003+08:00

Because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.

You became imitators of us and of the Lord...... And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.
1 Thessalonians 1:5-7

After planting the first church in Thessalonica, Paul and his traveling companions had to leave in a hurry because their lives were threatened. Despite their short stay, Paul's group must have lived out the Gospel in the daily lives, so much so that the Thessalonian believers stood firm when they were persecuted even after Paul had left.

Paul attributed their faithfulness to a few factors.

Firstly, the Gospel he brought to them came with power from the Holy Spirit to convict and change lives.

Secondly, Paul and company led by examples - they walked their Gospel talk.

Thirdly, the Thessalonian believers imitated Paul and hence, Christ.

Reading this passage made me reflect on my own life.... How have I lived it so far? Have I walked my Gospel talk daily? Does my life show the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit? Do those around me see me as an imitator of Christ my Lord?

Someone once said this, "You may be the only Gospel that your neighbour or family may read in their lifetime."

It made me sit up and decide to act.

How about you?

God bless.

Steven

The Idol

2010-11-22T08:00:00.008+08:00

¹⁶ Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”... ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:16-20

I learned that Jesus gave this parable to address one primal issue - will I give up my idol to daringly believe in Him?

What is an idol? Anyone or anything that takes my attention from God!

That young man in the story qualified to be in the list of the "most favorable person to be a great follower of Christ." He was well to do, had a good social standing and had sincerity in wanting to seek after God.

But Jesus hit the most pertinent issue that was stopping him from really following God. In asking him to give up his wealth and then to follow Him, Jesus was really asking him if he could give up his earthly security for the blessed assurance of the Heavenly Kingdom ("Seek first the kingdom of God..." Matthew 6:33).

But to be able to give up that earthly security, the young man needed to daringly trust that Jesus will provide and take care of him thereafter. The young man could not see that promise of God; his earthly idol blinded him and thus "he went away sad because he had great wealth."

Let's ask our self, "What is the idol that is keeping me away from wholly seeking God?" Got it? Let's give it up for God.

Is it possible? Jesus gave us this assurance in the same passage, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26).

God bless.

Steven

It is finished !

2010-11-15T08:00:00.012+08:00

If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life — Romans 5:10

I am not saved by my faith in God. Neither am I saved by my repentance. It is also not my obedience, consecration nor my desire to be reconciled to God that saves me.

I am saved only by the death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

He died that I might live!

He did not let death overcome Him. He did not die like us human, wherefore death is not in our control. He chose to die for the cause. When the time came, as He uttered, "It is finished!" , He gave up His spirit to God (John 19:30). He was in total control because He is God.

Join me to continually thank our Lord for all He has done, without which, we will burn in hell. And let us tell the gospel as it is.

It is finished! Satan has lost and God has won.

Praise the Lord.

Steven

He found me, He chose me

2010-11-08T08:00:00.002+08:00

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:6

I remember when I gave my testimony as a new convert, I followed the cliche that many Christians used then...."I found God ..."

Although it was not meant to be taken literally, it seems that God was the One who was lost and I, the sinner, finally found Him. It connoted that I was the one earnestly looking and seeking for a god who deliberately hid Himself from sinners.

Thank God that as I read His loving words, I "found" the truth!

All along, it was me, like the flock of sheep that have gone astray, who was lost. It was Jesus Christ, my good Shepherd, who gave up His glory to reach down to earth to sacrificially seek me out and led me back to His safe pastures. He came for me, the lost sheep.(John 6:37-39)

In the same way, I learned that I did not choose to serve Him. He chose and appointed me instead (John 15:16). This revelation drives me daily to look forward to what He wants me to do. This is a marked contrast from my past struggles as I served Him by my choice (and my own intellect). That resulted in fruitless and frustrated labor.

I am liberated in my service to Him because He chose and appointed me. Praise the Lord!

God bless.

Steven

To be His Captive

2010-11-01T08:00:00.008+08:00

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor 10:5

I aspire to be a captive of Christ.

While on this earthly pilgrimage, I have many battles to fight. But I am instructed not to fight as the world does because the weapons I fight with have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Cor 10:3-4)

I will fight in the Victor's army, where all the battles had been won. But to be in the Victor's army, I must first be a captive of Him. I must take captive every single thought to make it obedient to Christ. Indeed, then I will be living in His will and will glorify Him in all that I do.

I will become the channel in whom God will spread the sweet aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing (2 Cor 2:14-15)

Join me in asking the Holy Spirit to make us captives of Christ so that we are in the Victor's army.

God bless.

Steven

Do you love Me?

2010-10-25T08:00:00.002+08:00

The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time.... Jesus said, "Feed my sheep." John 21:17

I have always seen this encounter that Peter had with the Lord as Jesus' way of reaching out to Peter at his lowest level to restore him. A few days before this meeting, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times before he realized that he was "betraying" his Master. It was made worst as he had boldly declared that he would even die for Jesus.

The resurrected Lord asked Peter three times if he loved Him. Peter's three renewed declaration, "Yes Lord, You know that I love You" erased his three denials. Peter was restored.

I recently learned that more than just helping Peter to restore his true love and confidence, the Lord wanted Peter (and us) to declare and mean that if we truly loved Him, then we must identify our self with His interest and hence He said, "Feed my sheep."

How often in our prayers do we ask for Him to bless us, lead us, reward us, protect us .... aren't we simply insisting that He identify His interest with our self-centered desires? And even when we are praying for others, we often pray according to our knowledge and assumptions.

Oswald Chambers said, "The duty of a faithful missionary is to concentrate on keeping his soul completely and continually open to the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Wow, what a difference?

So I am learning to pray, "Lord, what is it that you want me to pray for and what is it that you want me to do for you?" This is my interpretation of the Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:8-10).. "your will be done."

God bless.

Steven

My Shepherd's Voice

2010-10-18T08:00:00.008+08:00

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."

John 10:27

I have been asked many times how do I hear God speaking to me.

Jesus said that we are His sheep, given by His Father and no one can snatch us out of His hands (John 10:28-29). As our Shepherd, Jesus constantly calls out to us. The Holy Spirit helps by making our spirit sensitive to hearing His voice.

Then how come there are many who say that they are unable to hear God?

Selwyn Hughes puts it aptly, "The ability to distinguish....God's voice...comes largely by long practice in the art of listening to Him. It is something that has to be cultivated by sitting quietly in God's presence..."

Like many other believers, I have developed the habit of hearing God's promptings, guidance and loving words. I did spent many years practicing the "listening" part during my prayer and quiet time.

While God welcomes and even delights in me bringing my petitions to Him daily, I find it so very crucial, that I must spend time listening and not just asking.

This process includes the cultivation of the constant reading of God's Word. It is after all, His love letter to those who believe in Him. 2 Tim 3:16 says it all,

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So, don't be surprised if you do not hear God's voice if you have not been diligently spending time in quietness to listen and to delve into His word.

But if you do, you will be continually amazed how clear His voice is to you. Remember, we are His sheep.

Let's do out part to hear when our Shepherd calls.

God bless.

Steven

The Heredity of Sin

2010-10-11T08:00:00.000+08:00

^"Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned-" Romans 5:12

We had no choice - we inherited sin!

When Adam chose to disobey God, he laid claim to the right to himself. Sin's core is not immorality or wrongdoing but the idea that "I am my own god" that resulted in man's separation from God. This is the core nature of sin.

I have this heredity which makes me unholy, and I cannot ever be holy on my own. So, if all Jesus Christ can do is tell me that I must be holy, it would be useless.

But praise be to God that He sent Christ "to appear once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself." Hebrews 9:26-28

What does this actually mean to me?

He puts His heredity of holiness into me, imputing His righteousness for my sinful nature so that the heredity of sin is eradicated completely! This is redemption by His mercy and grace. Hallelujah.

I am regenerated; pure and righteous before God because of what Jesus did for me. It makes me forever grateful to Him.

What about you?

Steven

Surrendering earthly relationships

2010-10-04T08:00:00.002+08:00

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. - Luke 14:26 NIV

This is a difficult statement. Did Jesus really mean that my desire to be His disciple requires me to hate my loved one?

Not so. The Contemporary English Version gives a clearer picture ...

"You cannot be my disciple, unless you love me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot come with me unless you love me more than you love your own life."

Rather than asking me to hate my father and mother and other loved ones, my Lord is challenging me to be unconditionally identified with Him. In effect, He is asking me, "Are you so surrendered to Me that you truly love me more than any one else, including yourself?"

Jesus' major consideration is whether I have given up my right to myself and if I have already done so, then if my relationship with Him is above every other relations.

Mark 10:21 (Message) goes deeper. "Jesus looked him hard in the eyes - and loved him! ..." When the Lord look hard in our eyes, He expects a response which requires us to give up our loyalty to any other person or possession.

Oneness with Him means nothing in between. This is good in His sight.

Is there the "one thing left ....." for us to do before we can truly follow Him?

God bless.

Steven

Surrendered, then what?

2010-09-27T08:00:00.007+08:00

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself . . . ”

Matthew 16:24

Last week, I shared that I needed to surrender my will to God. Is that all there is for me to do?

The Lord says that after I surrender my will to Him, I have to take another step to demonstrate that my surrender is indeed genuine - I must deny myself.

The transliterated Greek word for deny is Aparneomai (ap-ar-neh'-om-ahee), which is defined as "to forget one's self, lose sight of one's self and one's own interest."

Another dictionary explains it as "to withhold the possession, use, or enjoyment of ..."

Whichever the definition, it simply means that I have to give up the right of ME to HIM! And once this is done, Oswald Chambers remarked that "the remainder of your life will exhibit nothing but the evidence of this surrender, and you never need to be concerned again with what the future may hold for you. Whatever your circumstances may be, Jesus is totally sufficient."

When I truly surrender myself to Him, I will be on my path to be more like Jesus as He truly surrendered Himself to the will of His Father. I must examine myself daily to see what of me that I will have to deny. Is it my pride, my ego, my "works", my plans, my possessions, my idols, or simply me?

Surrendering to Him is not easy, but is reward is far greater than the "sacrifices".

God bless.

Steven

A Surrendered Life

2010-09-20T08:00:00.006+08:00

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:28-29

Surrender is a difficult word to accept.

Oxford dictionary explains it as "to hand over, relinquish; submit, especially to (the) enemy; yield to habit, emotion, influence." It connotes the idea of loosing one's power and rights to another person.

But true surrender does not stop at the giving up of our external life. It goes beyond that. True surrender is the giving up of our will to another person. How miserable it would be if we surrendered our will to another human being; we become his slave!

But that is not the case if we surrender to God. He will never force us or beg us to surrender our will to Him. However, He welcomes and abundantly blesses those who voluntarily surrenders their will to Him. He gives them peace and rest.

That is why Jesus said, "Come to me ... and I will give you rest."

Therefore, a life surrendered to God, is a life that is truly free.

God bless.

Steven

Well Kept by Him

2010-09-13T08:00:00.014+08:00

"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" Matthew 7:11 NKJV

Using the example of an earthly father's love for his children, Jesus urged us to absolutely believe that God loves us absolutely.

There have been many times in my walk that I had to deal with circumstances that, from a common sense's perspective, tell me that God did not love me as much as I had thought. But common sense isn't as common nowadays. More importantly, common sense isn't faith.

Jesus' words in Matthew 7, urges me to have it settled in my heart that God is in control over everything. He wants me to fill my mind with the assurance that when something untoward happens, I am sure that "My Father knows that this is happening." This means that I must maintain an attitude of complete trust in Him and dare to seek and ask Him for strength and help.

With that settled, I can then go before God and seek His help unreservedly, whereas in the past, I would go about finding my own solution. This level of trust requires my commitment to believe that He loves me absolutely, despite the circumstances I face.

I can then truthfully and assuredly say, "I am well-kept by God."

Are you?

God bless.

Steven

My Usefulness

2010-09-06T08:00:00.002+08:00

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven —Luke 10:20

Last week, I gave my thought on my unworthiness. I will continue with my learning about my usefulness.

It is human that we often feel close to God when we have "achieved" something for Him, especially something "great" spiritually.

The Lord reminds me, as He reminded His disciples, that I should not rejoice even when the spirits are subject to me. This is especially poignant to me as I have cast out demons before and I have seen miraculous answers to my prayers. The spirits and elements had obeyed when I commanded them in Jesus Name.

Now, what then did Jesus mean when He said that we should instead be rejoicing because our names are written in heaven.

What really counts is not what I do for Him but what God does in and through me. Only when I have the right relationship with Him through salvation and sanctification, will I ever qualify to be useful for His kingdom. Praise the Lord that my name is written in heaven because of the saving grace of God - I can count myself to be usable by God!

Many believers (and churches too) put emphasis on service. They "serve" the church, the congregation, the poor and others earnestly. Yet many burn out and others felt that they have not been truly useful.

Never serve just because there is a need. Instead, serve only when there is a lead (from the Holy Spirit).

My usefulness is realized only when my direction and guidance come from God Himself. My relationship with my Abba Father is not measured by my usefulness. But when I am sensitive and obedient to His guidance and when my relationship with Him is intimate, I become useful wherever and whenever He chooses to work through me.

Get close to Him so that we can be used truly by Him for His glory.

God bless.

Steven

My unworthiness

2010-08-30T08:00:00.000+08:00

" It is He who, coming after me .... whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose ..... He must increase, but I must decrease." John 1:27 (NKJV), John 3:30 (NKJV)

Oswald Chambers said, "Jesus cannot come and do His work in me as long as there is anything blocking the way, whether it is something good or bad."

What he meant is that until I come to the full realization of my unworthiness before Him, He cannot do His work in and through me. I may be even doing something "good", such as serving in a church ministry, helping someone in need and even leading a cell group, but yet as long as I think that I can do it myself, Jesus stops His work.

I stop God from coming into my life whenever I consider I am able to make it by myself and thus do not need to depend on Him. But God is there whenever I realize that I can only depend on Him.

To grow spiritually, I must lose my self-awareness and gain Christ-awareness. As John understood, He must increase and I must decrease.

Christ-awareness brings about repentance, renewal and restoration to my life.

Repentance still has its place in a born-again child's life. It is not about going over and over again on an old sin, fearing that God has not forgiven me. It is about knowing deeply how worthless I am without Christ. It is about losing myself and gaining Him.

When I go before God, I must go with the righteous state that Christ has placed upon me (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). Yet, I need to go before Him with the Spirit-given knowledge that I am absolutely helpless by myself, so that I can apply my total dependency in Jesus Christ.

Let's deliberately lose self-awareness and seek to gain the awareness of Christ in our life.

God bless.

Steven

Stopped sinning yet?

2010-08-23T08:00:00.007+08:00

1 John 3:9

"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God."

The verse needs no further explanation. It is as clear as can be written.

The Word says that we, who are born again, cannot go on sinning. Yet many of us struggle with sins at some point in our born again life. In such times, Satan tempts us to question if we are indeed born again; he is good at condemnation.

Even the Apostle Paul struggled with it (Romans 7:7-25). His words that many of us identify with are ".... For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing." (Romans 7:18-19)

Let us examine God's Word again.

Is John speaking against believers who are struggling against sins? No he wasn't. Otherwise, Paul would have been condemned.

The fact that we struggle with some particular sins shows that we are fighting against them, even if we seem be unable to overcome them for a while.

Do remember that we are "work-in-progress" projects for the Holy Spirit. We have old habits that we have yet to conquer and where temptation in these areas is strong. While the Holy Spirit works with us on these weaknesses, Satan attacks us relentlessly to wrestle us away from Him.

The truth is that John was referring to those who make a practice of sinning and look for ways to justify it. They not true born again believers and so do not have God's seed in them. But for us who truly believe, the Holy Spirit lives in us and gives us the strength and power to stop sinning.

I have learned that there are three steps to find victory over prevailing sins:

1. Seek the power of the Holy Spirit and God's word.
2. Flee from situations where temptations thrive.
3. Ask for help from the body of Christ.

Paul finally proclaimed as wretched as he was in his struggle, he was liberated through Jesus Christ (Romans 7:24-25).

God has given us the power to stop sinning. Are we merely seeking to stop or are we depending on Him and have "stopped" sinning?

We can stop sinning. Let's do it!

God bless.

Steven

Set apart for His purpose

2010-08-16T08:00:00.002+08:00

1 Thessalonians 5:22

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Though I am saved by confessing Jesus as my Lord and Savior and have asked for and accepted His forgiveness for my sins (1 John 1:8-10), I am not yet perfect.

While I am now righteous before God through His Son (2 Corinthians 5:21), I am not yet holy in my earthly state.

But when I am sanctified through and through, my whole spirit, soul and body will be blameless. I will be holy.

Sanctification means being set apart for holy use.

Sanctification is God's plan for us. It is His way of getting us to do what He has purposed for our life. Unless we are made holy, we cannot be effective for Him.

On our own, it is impossible to achieve holiness. On the other hand, the Holy Spirit cannot do His sanctification work in us unless we allow Him to. He wants to bring us to the point where we desire to be sanctified. And when that happens, the power of the Holy Spirit will help us to obey.

Be open and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to that point. And when you are there, make an affirmative decision to obey.

God bless.

Steven

s

Have no purpose of our own

2010-08-09T08:00:00.001+08:00

Luke 18:31

Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.

For Jesus, going to Jerusalem was for only one purpose - to fulfill all things that were written by the prophets concerning Him. Put it plainly, He was going to set Himself up to be sacrificed as the Lamb that would cleanse the sins of the world.

From man's perspective, Jesus was walking into a trap that would take His life.

But God's purpose is always higher than man's.

Our Lord did not come to earth with a purpose of His own. In everything that He did while on earth, it was for fulfilling the purpose that His Father had sent Him for. He knew it right from the beginning and He was determined to fulfill it.

In His human capacity, He struggled. On the Mount of Olives, He prayed in agony, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." (Luke 22:42).

Oswald Chambers taught that, "What God calls us to cannot be definitely stated, because His call is simply to be His friend to accomplish His own purposes. A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God."

What do we consider as our purpose in life?

Let's make it to be a yearning to be obedient to God's calling for us to fulfill His purpose. Let's make this our one and only purpose as we continue on our pilgrimage.

God bless.

Steven

Believe it or not

2010-08-02T08:00:00.011+08:00

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

An atheist denies the existence of God, and more specifically, the monotheistic Abrahamic God (Wikipedia). Despite evidences provided, he will not believe in our Heavenly Father.

A follower of Jesus Christ must believe that God exists and He rewards those who sincerely or earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:5-6 NLT).

These are the two extremes - total unbelief on the one end and an earnest and sincere belief on the other. Hear me, these are the only two points - there is NO IN-BETWEEN! It is unfortunate for those who frequently and continuously hover in their own realm of "in-betweens".

The Devil's relentless pre-occupation is to make man doubt God. He is clever. He does not always shout, "There is no God!." Instead, he frequently comes gently and whispers into our ears, "Did God say ...., did He really say ...., no, He does not want the best for you .... and you will not surely die ....!" And he appeals to our common sense, which is not so common after all.

The only way to overcome such "bombardments" daily (check it out, the Devil whispers when we watch TV, read the papers, when we are engaged in mindless talks, gossips and the lot), is to take heed and practice Proverbs 3:5-6 seriously.

Whenever a doubt or an inappropriate attraction (which is really a distraction), comes along our way, let us trust that God is good all the time. Despite the circumstances surrounding us, let us always acknowledge His Sovereignty and Lordship. Let's not lean on our limited understanding!

Oswald Chambers remarked that "We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts." So, if we have to choose between what seems to be common sense, but which goes against His words, let us choose obedience to Him.

Believe it or not, there is nothing in between these two points.

God bless.

Steven

Jesus gave up His rights

2010-07-26T08:00:00.000+08:00

John 13:3,5

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ...... After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

I would like to spend one more week on the the issue of rights.

As I study John's record of Jesus washing His disciples' feet, I learned many things that I had not seen in the same perspective before. There is the background, the context, the implications and His teaching for us. As always, Jesus demonstrated God's word instead of merely speaking it.

What did I learn?

Firstly, even though Jesus, being the Son of God and, knowing that "the Father had put all things under his power..." He humbled Himself to do the lowliest of tasks known at that time. He took on the servant's duty to wash the feet of His own disciples.

He had all the rights, not just as their Teacher, but as the Messiah, Lord of lords, King of kings and God, to require His disciples to wash His feet. They would have gladly complied. But no teaching comes close to Jesus'. He said that while no servant is greater than their master, yet He served His followers because He wanted to show the full extend of His love for them (John 13:1).

Jesus taught us with examples of how we are to serve one another (John 13:14-15 NIV). In this regard, Paul exalted us to do the same, that is, to have the same attitude of our Lord (Philippians 2:1-11 NIV), to serve each other in humility.

There is another lesson that I have learned. That Jesus had to deliberately decide to give up all His heavenly rights in order to give us this example. He "who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:6-7 NIV)

Dear beloved, if Jesus gave up His rights for us, let us be determined to give up our rights for Him.

God bless.

Steven

My rights!

2010-07-19T08:00:00.001+08:00

John 12:23,27-28

²³Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

²⁷"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name!"

At my daughter's wedding last Saturday, my senior pastor who was solemnizing the matrimony asked, "Who gives this woman to be married?"

I stood up, raised my hand and with conviction, replied, "I."

I realized that I made a major decision in my life that day - I gave away my rights to my lovely princess to her husband, Darrell. From that moment on, Darrell became the head of Natalie; he will be responsible to God for her. As much as I desire to, it is no longer me who has that responsibility - I have indeed given up my rights over Natalie.

The trouble with men is that many of us struggle with our rights, or rather, the giving up of our rights.

Satan used that to cause Adam and Eve to fall - he deceived them into deciding that they had rights to be equal with God. Since that fateful day, mankind struggles with pride - the pride of human rights!

Jesus struggled with that thought too as He was fully human when He was on earth. But praise be to God, Jesus resolved His struggle within Himself quickly. He remembered His mission and thus gave up His own rights to avoid the pain. He let the Father's will prevail over His own.

When we decide to make Jesus our Lord and Savior, we need to give up ALL of our "rights" to Him. He said that those who want to follow Him must give up his life (John 12:26). Only when we do that (give up the love of the things of this earthly life), can we then really receive the joy of our fellowship with God.

Dear beloved, let us remind our self daily to give up our rights to Jesus and let Him rule in our life!

God bless.

Steven

An Unreasonable Commitment

2010-07-12T08:00:00.001+08:00

The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." John 10:24

2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples ³to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Matthew 11:2-3

While I was consulting my ENT doctor on Saturday, an interesting conversation ensued.

"Are you afraid to die?" Doc asked.

Without hesitation, I answered, "No, I am not because I am certain that if I die, I will be in heaven."

Doc continued to query, "Are you sure that there is a heaven? I don't believe that there is one and there is no such thing as heaven on earth. Have you seen heaven? How do you know?"

"I am sure that there is a heaven because I believe in God and Jesus His son," I answered, "and because I do, I am certain about about heaven and hell. I am also certain that I am going to heaven when my time comes to leave this earth."

Doc continues to be doubtful. But I am convinced.

Many people want proofs before they believe Jesus is the Son of God who came to save us. Many still do not believe after seeing the proofs (the Jews in John 10:24). Even John the Baptist asked his disciples if He was the Christ.

At my bible study fellowship last Monday, I was asked what proofs have I found in reading John 10 that show that Jesus is the Son of God. I shared that I did not need any proof because the Holy Spirit convicted me of this truth long ago. Yes, once we allow the Holy Spirit to convict us, we know that we know that we know that He is Christ, the Messiah, our Savior.

Jesus said in John 20:29 "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Dear beloved, we must have an attitude of unreasonable commitment in our belief that Jesus is the Messiah and Savior of the world....a belief that needs no reasoning because it is a belief based on the Holy Spirit's conviction.

God bless.

Steven

God Consciousness

2010-07-05T08:00:00.002+08:00

Isaiah 6:1,5
¹ In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. .... ⁵ "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

As a sinner saved by God's grace, I can go boldly into His holy presence.

While He does not take my sins into account because He had put them all on Jesus, my consciousness of God will drive me to the realization of specific sins in a particular area of my life that are still yet to be surrendered. It is a conviction by the Holy Spirit, not to condemn me but for my sanctification.

Being God conscious does not mean that I am holy. Instead, it is a realization of who I am still. After all, I am a "work-in-progress" sanctification project for Him.

The conviction will be specific. Just as Isaiah realized his unclean lips when he saw the Lord, so it will be for me. As I remain conscious of God, I will be directed to realize which part of my life still needs correction. I will to be sensitive. I will to ask the Holy Spirit for help to submit and surrender that part to God.

If the Holy Spirit convicts you of specific sins in your life, it shows that you are God conscious. And God is watching you with love and care. Be sensitive and be obedient to His prompting and latch on to the Holy Spirit to move forward.

God bless.

Steven

Sin killed Jesus

2010-06-28T08:00:00.004+08:00

Isaiah 53:5-6

5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

When Jesus came to earth, He left behind all the glory that He shared with the Father and was determined to obediently fulfill God's plan for reconciliation with those who chose to disobey Him. The burden of the sins of the entire human-race, yesterday, today and as long as when another human is born, was carried on His back. It was not something that Jesus, in His human form, could bear.

Yet, our Lord took that path toward Calvary. With His body pierced for our rebellion, beaten and whipped so that we can be healed, He never took His eyes off the cause. At that very moment when He exchanged His righteousness for our sins, He suffered the penultimate pain of being separated from God. Sin killed Him!

In his devotional entitled "Acquainted with Grief", Oswald Chambers wrote the following:

"Sin has made the foundation of our thinking unpredictable, uncontrollable, and irrational.

We have to recognize that sin is a fact of life, not just a shortcoming. Sin is blatant mutiny against God, and either sin or God must die in my life. The New Testament brings us right down to this one issue— if sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed.

There is nothing more fundamental than that. The culmination of sin was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and what was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine— that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. We must mentally bring ourselves to terms with this fact of sin. It is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth, and it is the explanation of the grief and sorrow of life."

Sin killed Jesus, that is, your sins and mine. If we do not keep our sin in check, it will also kill God's life in us!

Let's ask the Holy Spirit daily to rule in our life so that sin will have no place. As a reader from Philippines, Bro Pedo commented two blogs ago, "Let's keep the faith!"

God bless.

Steven

What would Jesus want me to do?

2010-06-21T08:00:00.012+08:00

2 Corinthian 10:5

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

When Paul wrote these words to the Corinthian church, he was defending his ministry against those who questioned his authority. He was clear that he could not use human plans and methods to overcome such slandering words against him. Instead he needed to depend on God's mighty weapons to demolish the Devil's stronghold. In the end, it was and still is a spiritual battle for the souls that the Devil wants to blind from knowing the love of God.

Therefore, Paul encourages us to use spiritual weapons with the help of the Holy Spirit to fight these battles. The weapons available to us include prayer, faith, hope, love, God's word. Without these, we have no way to meet the battles, let alone triumph over them.

Ps Zane Anderson, the speaker of my church's annual retreat two weeks ago, emphasized that when we next pray for someone, we must ask God as to what and how we should pray for that person. This makes effective prayers as we are then praying according to His plan. After all, it is spiritual warfare.

Verse 5 tells us the very important decision on our part to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

This, I believe, is the KEY to our daily victory, mentally, physically and spiritually, over the fiery darts of the Devil.

The psalmist wisely asked to turn his eyes away from worthless things; preserve his life according to God's word. (Psalm 119:37) Paul was merely echoing what this psalm exalts - that we must make every thought of our obedient to Christ.

May I suggest for us to practice this instruction daily, by asking our self this question whenever we have to make a decision, whenever we pray ..."What would Jesus want me to do?" This act is the beginning of taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Him.

God bless.

Steven

Stay always assured in God

2010-06-14T08:00:00.000+08:00

Hebrews 13:5-6

“For He Himself has said, ’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ’The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ ”

His words of assurance are clear and direct. He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. To me, this means that He will never, ever leave nor forsake us, even though we leave or attempt to leave Him.

Oswald Chambers in his article "The Never Forsaking God", remarked that :-

“I will never leave you . . .”— not for any reason; not my sin, selfishness, stubbornness, nor waywardness.

“I will never . . . forsake you.” Sometimes it is not the difficulty of life but the drudgery of it that makes me think God will forsake me. When there is no major difficulty to overcome, no vision from God, nothing wonderful or beautiful— just the everyday activities of life— do I hear God’s assurance even in these?

So, it is very clear that God will keep His side of the promise not to leave or forsake us. The question we must ask our self is "do we trust His words and live in His assurance?"

Think deeply about this.

Steven

Establishing godly habits

2010-06-07T08:00:00.002+08:00

2 Cor 4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

As a follow on to my last blog on our duty to be generous as Jesus is generous to us, I would like to share another important duty that we must fulfill.

It is not good enough that we know God's grace upon our life. It is not good enough that we tell others of His grace and love. Instead, we must develop godly habits that constantly and undoubtedly express what His grace has done in us.

Paul asked Timothy to warn some widows of the bad habits of idling, gossiping and saying things that they ought not to (1 Timothy 5:13-15). He also warned about believers who had a habit of not wanting to meet with other believers (Hebrews 10:25).

So what are some of the godly habits that we need to express to glorify Him?

How about always looking out for opportunities to do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers (Galatians 6:10).

And how about constantly considering how we may spur each other on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

Being temperate and self-controlled, being considerate and careful in what we say so that we are not slandering others will certainly be needful (Titus 2:2-4).

Praying instead of being anxious and grumpy will certainly be a testimony to others (Philippians 4:6).

There are so much more but let us not get carried away with what we can do. Instead, let us remember that it is Him who gives us the ability to glorify Him with godly habits.

I pray that each day, His children will spend time reading His word and have the desire to be brought to a level where no matter how difficult things and circumstances may be, we can confidently say "Lord, I am assuredly yours and I will obey you without questions."

Then, we can truly express what His grace has done in us. His Name shall surely be lifted up!

God bless.

Steven

His generosity, our duty

2010-05-31T22:30:00.001+08:00

2 Cor 9:6-11

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver......... ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Jesus gave His all to us. Though it is God's mercy to mankind, Jesus fulfilled God's salvation plan through His generosity. One who is willing to sacrifice his life for another demonstrates the epitome of generosity.

We are duty-bound to our Savior to be generous.

Many of us, at some point in time, struggle with this notion and practice. We feel that we do not have enough and thus cannot be generous. Some say that they will give when they receive. But the bible tells us that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Proverbs 11:24-25 clearly say,

"²⁴ One man gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

²⁵ A generous man will prosper;
he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

I am thankful that my parents, parents-in-law were generous folks; always ready to help those in need. My wife still influences me deeply in her selfless giving. Over the years, I have learned precious lessons from them. Giving is about what comes from the heart and not the pocket. Giving is about compassion and love.

When we learn how to truly give, it will not be in monetary terms alone. Our time, our interest, our love become intertwined. We will have time to listen to someone's cry, we become interested in their struggle, our hands and heart extend to touch their hands and heart.

Giving is Christ-like!

We can be generous only if we can fully realize that God is our source. He is a never-ending source from whom we can draw from to give. What is needed is our faith that He indeed is our Provider and an obedient spirit to His prompting.

I learned from Oswald Chambers that "before God becomes satisfied with us, He will take everything of our so-called wealth, until we learn that He is our Source; learn to lavish the grace of God on others, generously giving of yourself. Be marked and identified with God’s nature, and His blessing will flow through you all the time."

It is indeed more blessed to give than to receive. It is our duty. Start today.

God bless.

Steven

Listening to and obeying God

2010-05-24T08:00:00.000+08:00

Hebrews 8:10
¹⁰This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

At my last cell group meeting, some one asked how we could listen to God's instruction and be sure that it is His. A few others shared their experiences.

In summary, their experiences converged to a few points. God wants to speak to us always. To listen, our heart must be still for Him to speak. But hearing God is not enough. We must obey what He tells us. To obey, we must totally trust Him. Only in this way, then can we live according to His will and not ours.

Cho Yong-Gi says his prayer is 90% listening and 10% asking.

Ps George Westlake related his own experience. During a service, there was a message in tongue. He was waiting for someone in the congregation to give an interpretation. There was none. He felt that the Lord wanted him to give the interpretation but the words that came to him was "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall." There wasn't even a second line!

He reasoned to himself that this surely cannot be from the Lord. But he felt the Lord urging him on. He argued with the Lord that surely as the Senior Pastor of that church, he cannot say that the Lord says "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall." But the Lord persisted.

Ps Westlake finally obeyed. As he spoke the first line, the Spirit led him to continue with the whole rhyme which went like this:-

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall;

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses
And all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again!

The Holy Spirit ended the interpretation with, "Someone here today feels just like Humphty Dumpty. You feel that you are so broken that nobody can ever put you back together again. But the Lord says that He can and He will..."

After the service, a man came forward and told him that the message was for him. Thirty seconds before Ps Westlake spoke, he told his wife that he felt just like Humpty Dumpty, so broken that no one can put his life back together again. He was ministered to. Praise the Lord that Ps Westlake obeyed what he heard from the Lord.

Oswald Chambers remarked that "We have to get into the habit of carefully listening to God about everything, forming the habit of finding out what He says and heeding it."

It is so important that we find time to be still before the Lord. To listen and not to ask. To obey and not to rationalize. And when we hear what He is telling us, we must have the resolute to believe totally without questioning. The Lord says that His children will all know Him (Hebrews 8:11) - this is His covenant to us.

Praise the Lord!

Steven

Moving forward

2010-05-17T08:00:00.005+08:00

Philippians 3:13-14

¹³Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

I was trying to find out what Paul was thinking when he penned those verses. Why did he say that the one thing he did was to forget what was behind him? Why did he have to strain toward what was ahead of him?

Well, Paul had to forget a couple of things. He had persecuted the Christian relentlessly. He approved of stoning Stephen. After all, he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen to death.

The Lord convicted him of his wrong doings on the road to Damascus. The Devil would constantly remind him of his guilt so as to slow him down. As such, Paul had to deliberately forget the past and push ahead towards winning the goal of serving Christ.

We are no different. We have done things for which we are ashamed of. We have committed sins and wrong doings. But because our hope is in Jesus Christ, we can and must let go of the past guilt because He has forgiven us.

His death on the cross was a great exchange. Jesus, who is totally sinless, gave His life to save man who is totally sinful. Through that act, we have become "the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). He gave us His righteousness for our sinfulness.

We must not ever forget that Jesus has reconciled us to our Heavenly Father. No sins, past, present or future, can change this glorious fact. Our Father said, "Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more" (Hebrews 10:15-18) .

Never let Satan tell you that you are guilty of your our past sins. He is a liar! Instead, let us be determined to allow the Holy Spirit to do His sanctification work in us. Never allow past guilt to hamper our progress to become the person God wants us to be.

Let's move forward for His glory!

God bless.

Steven

Let's pray

2010-05-10T08:00:00.000+08:00

Eph 6:18

¹⁸And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Prayer is the essence of a believer's relationship with God. When Paul said that we should "...pray continually..." (1 Thes 5:16-18 NIV), what did he actually mean? Did he mean that we should spend many hours in prayer?

When Paul instructed us to pray in the Spirit on ALL occasions, how can we? Did he mean that we should make quick, brief prayers as a habit and daily response to our every situation? If we do that, we will be very busy all day long praying. We may have to isolate our-self from people and work in order to pray continually. By so doing, it does appear that we are dependent upon God for every situation. Or does it?

It is not so much as how long we pray, but how we pray. And again, I do not mean the method of praying but the attitude of it. While it is good and important to spend a regular "quiet time" with the Lord to recharge our spiritual life, how then do we do pray continually with the rest of our waking hours. Is it possible?

We don't necessarily have to isolate our-self at any particular time and pray. I don't think that is what Paul meant.

Looking at Paul's own prayer life, praying continually mean that we should order our life around God's desires and His words so that we become a living prayer. Our very life becomes our prayers. We can make prayer our life and our life a continuous prayer by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Paul further exalted that we should always be praying for the saints (all believers in Christ).

In the article Vicarious Intercession by Oswald Chambers, he wrote that we should "Beware of thinking that intercession means bringing our own personal sympathies and concerns into the presence of God, and then demanding that He do whatever we ask. Our ability to approach God is due entirely to the vicarious, or substitutionary, identification of our Lord with sin. We have “boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.....Vicarious intercession means that we deliberately substitute God’s interests in others for our natural sympathy with them.”

As an example of how we pray for the saints, let's learn from Paul's prayer for the Ephesians in Eph 3:14-21.

Dear beloved, let's pray as we ought to....let our life be a prayer and our prayer be our life!

God bless.

Steven

Help me to be a good son!

2010-05-03T08:00:00.002+08:00

Matthew 26:39, 42-44

³⁹Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

42 Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

44 So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again.

Jesus' last prayer at Gethsemane revealed that He struggled with His impending crucifixion. He was the Son of God when He revealed that He was to die for the sins of mankind. Now that the hour drew near, the burden and weight of His mission began to take its toil on Him. After all, He was all human at that point.

Noticed that He prayed the same prayer thrice. He pleaded God to let the suffering pass Him.

But Jesus was an obedient Son. Though He desired not to have to suffer the pain, He also wanted to do God's will. He struggled but at the end, He let God rule.

What about us? How often do we insist on our way despite knowing clearly that it is not God's way? How often do we leave God out of our decision? I regret that the answer for me is, "too often".

One of my cell member recently shared that he stopped praying to be a good husband. He also stopped praying to be a good father and a good Christian. I was puzzled and pushed him for a clarification. What he said changed my perspective.

"I now pray for God's help to be a good son (of God), for in doing so, I will then be a good husband, a good father and a good Christian!", my cell member said.

How true! If only we can become more like Jesus, God's obedient Son, we will be doing God's will every moment.

Consider your next prayer - ask the Holy Spirit's help to be a good son to our Heavenly Father!

God bless.

Steven

Lessons from the temptations of Jesus (3)

2010-04-26T08:00:00.000+08:00

Luke 4:9-13

⁹The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; ¹¹they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

¹²Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

¹³When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Satan's third temptation was aimed at inciting Jesus to use God's power for a sensational but useless display. He knew God's word well too and quoted Ps 91:11-12 (Luke 4:10-11). He misinterpret those words and challenged Jesus to prove God's worth.

Very often we are also tempted in the same manner. When we are in need, while we say we want to trust God for His timely supply of grace to meet that need, we are tempted to "blackmail" Him with His own words.

There is a major difference between claiming God's promises and using His words for our own benefit. When we claim God's promises, we must leave it to His timing for the fulfillment. We must know that He is faithful and in His time, He makes all things beautiful.

When we insist on receiving the answer right away and pray, "this is what your word says and therefore it must come true for me, right away!", we are blackmailing Him.

The Lord showed the penultimate answer to this kind of temptation - "Do not put the Lord your God to the test". This is a demonstration of true faith - we know what our God can do for us but we do not need for Him to prove it. Satan left Jesus after those words. He must also leave us if we employ the same defense against him.

There is one more important verse to consider - v13 which records that Satan left Jesus until an opportune time (NIV). The other versions record this verse as follows:

The Message -".... The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity. "

Amplified - "...he [temporarily] left Him [that is, stood off from Him] until another more opportune and favorable time."

NLT - "...he left him until the next opportunity came."

NKJV - "Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time."

That opportune time happened in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night that Jesus was betrayed. But praise God that Jesus won and Satan lost!

So, do remember that even as we overcome the temptations that Satan throw at us, it does not mean that there will be no more temptations in the future.

I would like to conclude this sharing with the words from Oswald Chambers from his devotional article, "Beware of the Least Likely Temptation" :-

"Beware of thinking that the areas of your life where you have experienced victory in the past are now the least likely to cause you to stumble and fall. We are apt to say, “It is not at all likely that having been through the greatest crisis of my life I would now turn back to the things of the world.” Do not try to predict where the temptation will come; it is the least likely thing that is the real danger. It is in the aftermath of a great spiritual event that the least likely things begin to have an effect".

Dear beloved, let us remember that Jesus has won and Satan has lost. Let's put on the armor of God daily as we live for Him so that we may withstand all the fiery darts that the Devil may throw at us and we will come out victorious, by the power and grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

God bless.

Steven

Lessons from the temptation of Jesus (2)

2010-04-19T08:00:00.001+08:00

Luke 4:5-8

⁵The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. ⁶And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ⁷So if you worship me, it will all be yours."

⁸Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'"

The second weapon Satan used and continue to use today is the lie that he owns the world and he is prepared to share it with us. He strikes at our ego - "I can give you power over the world!"

Firstly, we must know that God is in control, even of this fallen world. Satan cannot offer any thing as he does not own any of it. He has NOT been given anything as he claims. He is simply lying.

Secondly, Satan is very willing to offer rewards if we sell our soul to him. What he offers - power, wealth, pleasure and so on, may be real but are temporal. The end that awaits those who worship him is eternal death!

How did Jesus rebuke Satan?

Jesus did not attempt to argue with Satan about who owns the world. It didn't matter. Jesus simply refused to validate Satan's fraudulent claims by worshiping him. Jesus had only one thing in His mind - to fulfill the mission that He was assigned. Similarly, we must also remember that we are to worship and serve our God only.

Many times, we spend too much time taking to Satan .... remember Eve's conversation with him. Nothing good will ever come out with a conversation with father of all lies. So instead, let's follow what James 4:7 says - "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

God bless.

Steven

Lessons from the temptation of Jesus (1)

2010-04-11T08:00:00.000+08:00

Luke 4:1-4

¹Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, ²where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

³The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."

⁴Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'

The Son of God was thoroughly tempted as the Son of Man. I would like to share the many valuable lessons that I learned when I read through the account of the temptation of our Lord.

Let's start with the weapons or temptations that Satan used. At this point, I would like for us to remember that to tempt Jesus, Satan had to use his full arsenal of weapons, the best that he could muster so that he can truly tempt the Son of God.

The first lesson here is that Satan has no other weapons than those that we already (or should already) know. He uses these same temptations on us everyday. That means, we have been forewarned! And more importantly, the word says in 1 Cor 10:13 that "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

But unfortunately, history and our own experience show that many of us still fall prey to the same tricks.

Let's examine his first weapon - he appears to want to fulfill our needs but the motive behind it is to cause us to doubt God.

Jesus was physically exhausted after 40 days without food. He had a strong and legitimate physical need - hunger. So Satan presented to Him a seemingly good solution - bread. Turning a stone into bread was not necessarily a bad thing. However, his real goal was to make Jesus doubt God and His identity. He said, "IF you are the Son of God ..... "

Now isn't this familiar - he used the same trick on Adam and Eve ..."Did God REALLY say ...."

Satan tempted Jesus through His strength. If Jesus wanted too, He could have easily turned the stone into bread. But to do so would tantamount to doubting God since Satan had challenged His identity. Satan will tell us that we CAN do it without God and there is no need of God. We must realize that all our strengths are from Him and we must dedicate our strength for His use and not ours.

Jesus wisely rebuked Satan. There is a lesson even in this rebuke. Jesus did not waste His time to explain or affirm His identity. Matthew 4:4 recorded it as, Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Jesus simply taught us that we must totally depend on God's word.

Let's spend this week to ponder over these lessons. I will continue with the lessons learned from the second temptation in my next posting.

God bless.

Steven

Focusing daily on Jesus

2010-04-05T08:00:00.000+08:00

2 Cor 5:6-10

⁶Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷We live by faith, not by sight. ⁸We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Not service, not sacrifice but our daily focus on the Conductor of our life is the most important and primary goal of the redeemed.

Making it our goal to please Him requires deliberate effort and determination in our walk with the Lord.

Oswald Chambers in his devotional article, "The Servant's Primary Goal", said that " It requires a conscious decision and effort to keep our primary goal constantly in front of us. It means holding ourselves to the highest priority year in and year out; not making our first priority to win souls, or to establish churches, or to have revivals, but seeking only "to be well pleasing to Him."

My attention was particularly drawn to Oswald's warning that we could allow the thoughts and acts of very legitimate and seemingly God endeavors to take our attention from seeking only to be well pleasing to Him. I reflected on this and soon realize that it is so very easy for us to be distracted from simply focusing upon the very reason for our existence; we are made for His pleasure.

In this day and age, we have so many things that we need to do. Many of such things are "for the Lord", and are so very "proper". We can become so obsessed with such works that we loose the primary goal of simply offering our daily focus Him.

This week, I would like to encourage us all to keep our focus on Jesus daily. Make the effort to put Him into every moment that we breathe. Only then, will be receive the strength and wisdom to do what we are called to do.

Let's make it a goal to please Him.

God bless.

Steven

Jesus' scared hands

2010-03-29T08:00:00.001+08:00

John 20:19-20
¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

The resurrected body of Christ is not like the flesh-and-blood body of Lazarus whom He brought back to life. It was unique. While His body was no longer subject the laws of nature as before His death, it still bore the wounds of the spear on His side and the nails through His hands. His resurrection was both literal and physical - He was not a spirit without a body!

However, did you, like I, ever wonder why His resurrected body still had wounds and scars. Shouldn't a resurrected body be whole and perfect?

Some say that it was to show Thomas who said, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." (John 20:25). I believe that this is not the main reason as He had first shown His pierced body to the other disciples before Thomas made that statement.

Amongst many other things, Jesus' hands caressed the heads of the little children; touched the dead daughter of Jiarus and brought her back to life; touched the lepers and made them whole; stopped the fever of Peter's mother-in-law. His hands demonstrated His love and tenderness towards us. Then, His hands were horribly crippled and twisted when the nails were driven into them. His side and hands were pierced.

When He showed His side and hands to His disciples, He wanted them to know that for mankind, He suffered!

Selwyn Hughes wrote that for those who are sad at heart and sorely needing the touch of Jesus, He will touch them with His tender hands.

The hardest part of suffering or when we go through hurts and pains is the temptation to believe that God is not with us. Satan often tells us that God doesn't care and is untroubled by our woes. This is not true! The wounds on Jesus' resurrected body remind and reassure us that He too had suffered. And because He did, He truly understands and can empathize with us.

The next time we go through a difficult time, just remember His pierced side and hands. He will be alongside of us as we go through the trial. His tender hands will the upon us. Praise the Lord!

God bless.

Steven

Go boldly before Him

2010-03-22T08:00:00.000+08:00

Hebrews 4:14-16

¹⁴Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. ¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Why is it that we can approach the throne of God with confidence?

Selwyn Hughes remarked that there are some who teach that we can come boldly and confidently before God because the veil has been torn away and there are no obstacles on our path to the eternal throne. While there is no doctrinal issue with this teaching, he advocated that the true reason for Hebrews 4:16 is not that the throne of God has been opened up for us, but because Jesus who sits on the throne knows exactly how we feel. He knows because "He was tempted in every way, just as we are and yet without sin."

What difference does that make?

Because Christ came in flesh, He experienced all the pains, grief, joy and doubts of humanity and was tempted in every way possible. Selwyn further said that He asks us not to stand timidly, fearfully or hesitantly outside the throne room and wondering if God really understands what is going on inside us or not. Instead, we are to come boldly before Him because He understands us completely.

We are so blessed to have a God who is holy and yet merciful and gracious. More importantly, because Jesus came in the flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), we can now "approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Beloved, this is blessed assurance indeed. Praise the Lord!

God bless.

The joy of the Lord is our strength

2010-03-15T08:00:00.000+08:00

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:29

Indeed, Apostle Paul expressed the source of his joy clearly in Rom 8:28-39 and also concluded that nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." His deep knowing that God loved him absolutely gave him confidence and pleasure even when he had to go through persecutions. For which he declared that "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

As joint heirs with Christ, we ought to be sure of God's love for us too. Following this blessed assurance, we will be able to echo Paul's words too. And when we do, the joy of the Lord will flood us.

The joy of the Lord has to be most apparent not when the sky is blue. Rather, when we go through our difficult times, trials, illness and any unpleasant circumstances, by a deep knowing that God works for our good, then we are able to go through victoriously and joyfully.

Oswald Chambers in his posting - The Source of Abundant Joy concluded with the following statement:

"The undiminished radiance, which is the result of abundant joy, is not built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can change. And the experiences of life, whether they are everyday events or terrifying ones, are powerless to 'separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'"

So, beloved, let us then wake up each morning assured of God's unceasing love for us. Let us truly believe that our Abba Father works all things for the good of us, His redeemed children. Joy will surely follow us through the day, despite the circumstances we would be in.

Let the joy of the Lord be the flag flown high in the castle of our heart.

God bless.

Steven

No explanation, just obedience

2010-03-08T08:00:00.001+08:00

John 16:29-31 (Amplified Bible)

²⁹His disciples said, Ah, now You are speaking plainly to us and not in parables (veiled language and figures of speech)!

³⁰Now we know that You are acquainted with everything and have no need to be asked questions. Because of this we believe that you [really] came from God.

³¹Jesus answered them, Do you now believe? [Do you believe it at last?]

In the text above, verse 31 can be interpreted either as a glorious proclamation or as a disheartened exclamation from the Lord about His disciples' state of faith.

The context of the passage is the Lord preparing the disciples to understand and accept His impending crucifixion. The Israelites were expecting a king who would deliver them from the Roman masters. Yet Jesus was going to become the King of kings through His obedience to the cross. Even the disciples could not understand His mission.

Now that our Lord has risen, we need not be in doubt. His resurrection, as witnessed and recorded by both believers and historians, confirmed the story of His mission of reconciliation. We need only to believe.

In the same vein, God has taught me to move ahead in any decision by trusting in Him. When I have to make a decision, I commit it to Him in reverence. Then I listen to the Holy Spirit for His guidance. The peace from Christ will fill me as I am prompted towards His decision for me.

As I continue to do this, I eventually come to a position where as I commit my decision to the Lord, I do not need an explanation from Him. I need only to believe and obey. After all, He is a Sovereign God.

It is enough that He has shown me that He absolutely loves me and has only plans for my success, not to harm me but to give me a hope and a future (Jer 29:11). And God has never failed me. Praise the Lord!

May I encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to help you to be just obedient and move as He leads you.

God bless.

Steven

Joint heirs with Christ

2010-03-01T08:00:00.001+08:00

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Galatians 3:13-14

Joel Osteen said that "The curse is behind any kind of defeat - sin, mistake, wrong choices, fear, worry, constant sickness, unhealthy relationships, or bad attitudes. Please understand that those are all thing from which you have already been set free......but if you don't appreciate and take advantage of your freedom, if you don't get your thoughts, your words, your attitudes going in the right directions, it won't do you any good."

I totally subscribe to this view. For indeed, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.Being totally sinless, He bore all our sins so that even though we have no righteousness, we were instantly made the righteousness of God through Him. He made that great exchange on that day He hung on the cross.

By His obedience, we were made joint heirs and sons of God (Rom 8:15-17) - reconciled to our Heavenly Father so that we may continue in fellowship with Him. The curse of the law due to Adam's sin is perpetually broken for those who believe. But like Joel said, we must decide to take advantage of this fact and affirm our belief constantly.

Let's remind our self daily of the blessed assurance that we are sinners saved by the loving grace of God. Let's live as joint heirs with our Lord Jesus.

God bless.

Steven

Acceptance

2010-02-22T08:00:00.003+08:00

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

My cell group had a discussion about accepting one another in the family, in the church and in the world. A member asked if acceptance may sometime means avoidance. Specifically, if another person does not want to accept us, will our avoidance of the other person equal our acceptance?

I told her that we are not responsible for the other party if he or she chooses not to accept us. However, like God, we must continue to show love and acceptance to him or her so that one day, he or she may respond positively.

God gave us the supreme example in that when we were most unacceptable to Him, He accepted us. Anything less than that unconditional acceptance by God, we would burn in hell through eternity.

Last Sunday, our church demonstrated this God-inspired acceptance. Our pastor presided over a child dedication service. But it was an extra-ordinary one. The baby boy, hardly two months' old, was brought on stage by his grandparents, his aunt and his mother. Let's just call the mother by the pseudonym Jane. Why was it extra-ordinary? Jane is a young and unwed mother, who looks hardly eighteen.

The pastor explained to the congregation that Jane used to be in the Youth Service but was unfortunately led astray. She committed a mistake but is repentant and wants to re-align herself to walk with the Lord. As such, the family wants to dedicate the baby to the Lord.

The congregation responded with great acceptance. Many went up to the family after the service to offer their encouragement. I did too. I thanked Jane's father for demonstrating his courage, love, acceptance and leadership that led to this reconciliatory move.

Let us remember that while our loving Father hates sin absolutely, He absolutely loves the sinner and wants them to be reconciled to Him. And that is why that while we were still in sin, God sent His Son to die for us.

Friends, let's open our hearts to accept one another, for the glory of the Lord.

God bless.

Steven

Royal bloodline

2010-02-15T08:00:00.001+08:00

We must know and be very assured that from the day God formed us, even before we were born, He has chosen us to be one of His own. And because of this, we are no ordinary subjects in His kingdom. Instead, we are join heirs with His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

The psalmist recorded this wonderful fact in Psalm 139:15-16 :-

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me
were written in your book before one of them came to be.

The Apostle Peter further affirmed our stately status in 1 Peter 2:9, saying:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Dear beloved, we are of a royal heritage. The blood that runs in us is royal blood. We are His chosen people. This is a mysterious but powerful and wonderful revelation.

Think about it deeply.

The same blood that ran through Jesus, Abraham, Moses, David and other bible heroes, now runs in use. Those were champions of God. By the same token, we are also a champion of God.

Sadly, many Christians do not know or believe in this great lineage. If they do, they will live victorious lives. Read what Paul said in Ephesians 1:3-5:

^"3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will"

His words are clear. I believe that I am chosen of God, belonging to Him and created for His glory. I urge you to also believe this blessed assurance and henceforth, move forward daily from a position of victory. There is power pulsing in our royal blood! Praise the Lord.

God bless.

Steven

Did God really say ....

2010-02-08T08:00:00.001+08:00

Last week, I shared that anxiety kills faith. This week, let's discuss how we can strengthen our faith.

Let's first establish what the Bible says about this:

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." Rom 10:17

It seems pretty clear to me that our faith in God comes from hearing (reading) His words - the Bible! And because this is God's instruction to men, Satan knows that if he can make men neglect God's words, they will be weak spiritually.

Let's revisit the scene of the first temptation which happened in the garden of Eden. Let's scrutinize how Adam and Eve fell so that we may learn to avoid that trap. As you read, keep Rom 10:17 in mind, and you will clearly see that the spiritual battle took place on the word of God.

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." Gen 2:16-17

He (Satan) said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' ""You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.
Gen 3:1b-4.

I have highlighted several pertinent phrases so that we can break down the situation into a few manageable parts:-

1. God gave a command to man (His word).
2. The command and the consequence were clear - "You are free to eat.... you will surely die".
3. Satan came along and twisted God's words - "Did God really say,'You must not eat...'".
4. Adam and Eve were not exactly sure of what God had instructed and so added, "and you must not touch it".
5. Satan exploited the gap and distorted God's words further, "You will NOT surely die."
6. Adam and Eve believed the distorted words of the Tempter and fell into sin.

The good news is that Satan has not changed a bit. He still uses the same trick on men.

The bad news is that many of us still fall into his trap because we are NOT sure of what God has told us. For many, this is a result of not spending enough time reading and digesting God's love letter to us.

The best news is that our Lord, when he was tempted as a man, sent Satan packing by quoting exact words from Deuteronomy (Matt 4:1-11). He showed us the way to stay victorious over the fallen archangel. Praise the Lord.

So dear beloved, we have a decision to make, one that will determine if we are able to live life abundantly as promised in John 10:10 or to "make it to heaven by the skin of our teeth" as Rev David Lim (Grace AOG Singapore), puts it.

I pray that you will ask the Holy Spirit to help you make a determined effort to delve daily into His words.

God bless.

Steven

Anxiety kills faith

2010-02-01T08:00:00.003+08:00

This week, I want us to imagine that we were there with the disciples after the Lord was crucified.

Mary came running to us, full of excitement, and shouted, "He is alive, Jesus is alive. I saw Him with my own eyes." (John 20:18).

All the disciples were skeptical and perhaps even thought that Mary was mad.

Then Jesus appeared before them. By this time they were convinced that indeed, He had risen. Then came Thomas who was not with the rest when the Lord appeared. They swore to him that they had seen the Lord, risen and alive. He said that he would not believe unless he puts his finger on the Lord's nail-marked hands. (John 20:25).

Thomas had seen Jesus performed miracles when He was alive. Still, he did not possess the faith to believe what the Lord had told him earlier about His resurrection.

Finally, when the Lord graciously showed Thomas His nail-scared hands, Thomas proclaimed that he truly believe. And the Lord made a big statement on faith. He said, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed." (John 20:29).

Hey, the Lord is talking about you and me!

It takes faith to believe what we have not seen. After all, " ... faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Heb 11:1

But hang on a second. We need to examine ourselves and asked if we have truly believe; truly believe that He is the Son of God, that He is risen, that we are saved by simply believing in Him and giving our lives to to Him.

We say, "Yes, we have." Good for us. If we truly believe Him, then we must not doubt His words. We must not doubt His promises and plan that are for our good. We say, "We believe. We do not doubt." But then again, do our actions demonstrate our belief?

Do we let worry and anxiety rule our lives? Do we worry that we do not have enough for tomorrow? Are we anxious over our future? Are we anxious of how our children will grow up?

If we are, then we are "not sure of what we hope for and uncertain of what we do not see! "

So, I leave it to you to decide if you will let worry and anxiety fill you or not.

God bless.

Steven

God has died!

2010-01-25T08:00:00.002+08:00

The great German Reformer, Martin Luther, was a worrier. He was prone to worry and anxiety.

One day when he was in his usual worried mood, his wife appeared in black mourning clothes. He was surprised and asked if someone had died.

"Yes, God has died .... God is dead !" responded Martin Luther's wife.

"Don't be ridiculous, " Luther retorted, "how can such a thing be?"

His wife explained that in the way Luther was behaving and showing so much worry, he was showing that God has died. Luther saw her point and from then on, he began to praise God for all the good things that were happening in his life instead of being anxious and worried frequently.

Worry and anxiety are heavy loads that Satan puts on our back. He knows that worry is the opposite of faith, anxiety demonstrates our lack of trust in God's ability and goodness. He knows. Do you?

It is for a good reason that the Apostle Peter wrote the following instruction in 1 Peter 5:7-9 :-

⁷Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Selwyn Hughes wrote that his father penned the following lines in one of his bibles:

Worry is an old man with bended head,
Carrying a load of feathers he thinks is lead.

As we begin on a journey of Blessed Assurance this season, let us determine to resist the Enemy's attack on our emotional life. Resist his lies, overcome worry and anxiety by being assured of God's love and promises for the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. Don't carry the feathers as if they were lead.

God bless.

Steven

Let faith drive you

2010-01-18T08:00:00.003+08:00

Hebrews 11:1-2

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ²This is what the ancients were commended for.

Let's learn from the patriarchs of faith.

Abraham was called to go out to a place the God said would be his inheritance. He simply "obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." (Heb 11:8). He demonstrated his faith in God through many other incidents that will continue to defile human or natural logic.

Faith works on the supernatural. It is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Many times, the Enemy will whisper or shout into our ears that what we are hoping for in God will not come to pass. His words are "Did God really say...and you will not surely ...." (Gen 3:1b, 4). He plays the same trick today and goes around like a toothless lion, prowling and deceiving those that he may devour.

As we constantly remind ourselves not to listen to his crafty voice, let us also determine to fill the void with our Shepherd's words of assurance and promise.

Oswald Chambers advocates, "Continually examine your attitude towards God to see if you are willing to "go out" in every area of your life, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in constant wonder, because you don’t know what God is going to do next. Each morning as you wake, there is a new opportunity to "go out," building your confidence in God. ". . . do not worry about your life . . . nor about the body . . ." (Luke 12:22). In other words, don’t worry about the things that concerned you before you did "go out." ( Utmost for His Highest)

So I say to you, resolve to let faith drive you daily......for the glory of Him!

God bless.

Steven

Who told you that you were naked?

2010-01-08T14:58:00.003+08:00

^{Genesis 3:9-11

9} But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
¹⁰ He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
¹¹ And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

What an interesting question that God asked Adam. Did He, an omnipotent and all-knowing God, not know the answer? Of course He did.

Joel Osteen remarked in his devotional article, "Designed for Better", that what God really wanted to say to Adam was "Who told you that something was wrong with you, Adam?" God was trying to point out to Adam that he had just spoken to the great condemner, the enemy, the devil himself. And he should not be listening to the father of all lies.

As I start the year with the theme "Be Thou my Vision", I am reminded that my ears must only listen to His one voice and not the voices of the world, which echo Satan's lies. Those voices are loud, distracting and mostly condemning. They are intended to distract us from the fact that we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, that there is no condemnation for us who are saved through Jesus Christ and that God HAS forgiven us.

Let's ask a few questions:

Who told you that you don't have what it takes to succeed in your business, study, personal relationship?
Who told you that God will not bless you and that the desires of your heart will not be met?
Who told you that God hates you because of your sins?
Who told you that you will not get your promotion or a pay raise?

To be able to reject such voices from the enemy, we need to fill our minds with the word of God.

Try the following for a start:

Rom 6:37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."
Rom 11:29 "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable."
2 Cor 5:21 "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Ps 37:4 "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Phil 4:13 "I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

So, let's determine to hear only that One voice daily .... Who told you .... ?

God bless.

Steven

Confidence in God

2010-01-04T08:00:00.003+08:00

^{1 John 5:14-15
14}This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

I woke up on New Year's day praying on bed. It was Michelle's and my 28th wedding anniversary. Praise the Lord!

I greeted the Lord with praise and proclaiming that this is the year of spring showers and autumn rains. I felt convicted in my heart that it is going to be a year with abundant blessings, for His glory. Hallelujah!

I was thinking hard on what to share on my first blog for 2010. Then I remembered Selwyn Hughes' devotional article entitled "Blessed assurance". I decided that it would be so appropriate and wonderful that the children of God start their day and their new year with this....Confidence in God.

Indeed, we have the blessed assurance from our Heavenly Father that through our Lord Jesus, we have the confidence, when we approach Him, to ask Him anything and He will hear and answer us.

Of course there is a caveat; that we ask according to His will. Selwyn said, "We pray with our lives as well as with our lips, and when our lives correspond to what our lips say, heaven stands ready to give us what we ask. God hears you, not just what you say."

So, let's walk boldly into 2010 with the confidence that the Lord has given us the confidence to approach God and for His will be done on earth.

Have a smashing and blessed year!

God bless.

Steven