In The Will Of Another

"In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes."

~ Judges 17:6 (NASB)

For a brief moment, my heart was racing to think, how free it is to be able to do anything, as an Israelite at that time. Then I began to see the grim implications of that. That would mean that no one is accountable to any higher authority. Everyone is uninhibited to do whatever they like, anyway they wish to, without bearing the responsibility of their actions or even considering what consequences they effectually result in.

A newspaper article was reporting about a suicide of a teenage girl who was pregnant, and apparently was helped by her boyfriend. It was mentioned that the boyfriend was acquitted of murdering his girlfriend but was found guilty of aiding a suicide and "inadvertently murdering the fetus during the commission of a felony". There is an appalling statement of reality that the newspaper reported. "The law makes it murder to kill an embryo or fetus intentionally, except in cases of abortion."

Apparently, in a great number of society in the world, it is not illegal to kill a fetus through some legal means. We can quickly spot the inconsistency of the law in this instance. While we can see the difference, we need to understand the underlying basis of what makes it legal in a particular scenario and not in the other. In the case of abortion, it is perceived as legal because the killing is done according to the will of the mother/guardian. We see that the law has been provisioned in such a way that a killing is justified not on the basis of rights or crimes of the one killed, but only on the basis of another person's will. This is rebellion against absolute truth of right and wrong and ultimately against God. This also expresses a very real illustration of subjectivism and relativism, 2 of the pillars of godlessness.

"When the will of man becomes the criterion of right and wrong, your life is only as precious as your enemy thinks it is."
~ "A Godward Life", John Piper

Tweety World

I'm so glad to discover that John Piper is on Twitter. He is the only one I'm 'following' in twitter. And I don't intend to use Twitter for any other purpose but to continue to extend my funnel of God's Truth flowing. I'm also careful to say 'following' as to not mean that he is the one I'm exactly following, ultimately. No, John Piper has been instrumental in teaching me God's Word and helping me to see the deeper truths of God. So, No, I'm not following him because he is my favourite author, book-writer, philosophically inclined thinker, and certainly not, idol.

I must agree with him on the fact that in this media-saturated world, there are 2 kinds of responses that we may have with regards to the rising emergence of media. Media have such extensive influence on how we live and shape the way we think. The first kind of response is to avoid it as it is heavily contaminated with worldliness. The second kind of response is to fight, as in the world, but not of the world, to contribute efforts to increase the saturation of God's Word in media. My lean of response, echoing John Piper, is towards the second.

"The sovereign Lord of the earth and sky
Puts camels through a needle’s eye.
And if his wisdom see it mete,
He will put worlds inside a tweet."

~ John Piper on Tweeter

This is one of the primary reasons why I have been putting effort to form this habit of journaling, especially on this medium of blog. More importantly, journaling is NOT the end of this blog, but rather, it is to make much of Him (to glorify Him) as I become more intimately acquainted with Him each step of the way.

Being Made Much of

What an important question it is:

"Do you feel more loved by God because he makes much of you, or because, at great cost to himself, he frees you to enjoy making much of him forever?"

It is true that God makes much of us! There is nothing wrong with that. But our answer to the above question reveal the basis of our happiness, the foundation of our joy. Being made much of reveals our self-centeredness, while making much of Him reflects God-centeredness. Some paraphrase to the question above that would help in our reflection are:

"Are we more satisfied praising Him or being praised?"

"Is the deepest basis of our joy God's greatness or our greatness?"

"Are we God-centered because of His surpassing value or because He highlights my surpassing value?"

"Is my deepest desire to see God or to be God?"

"They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, "

~ Galatians 4:18 (ESV)

The above translation as I learnt with the help of John Piper is that the phrase "made much of" is not really accurately translated from the original Greek manuscript. The more appropriate translation carries the meaning of "being sought after".

"They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you."

~ Galatians 4:18 (NASB)

The whole point of Paul talking about "being eagerly sought" is not to proclaim our own greatness but rather, to be attractive, appealing, magnetic, contagious as to be imitated, as we imitate Christ.

"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."
~ 1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)

Love "Limits"

There are some philosophy in my thoughts tonight as I approach them. We are living based on choices we make. We think and take on decisions. There are virtually innumerable choices in life. To choose one course would mean to leave other courses un-choosen. To take a path of decision would mean to leave the other paths un-taken. To do also mean to leave others un-done.

There are limits in love, namely 2 to be broadly categorised biblically. The first is by clashing claims. there exists limits to which love can do when doing good to one person would mean not doing good to another person. For example, imagine if we have captured the greatest terrorist of all time, Osama Bin Laden, and we know that the Bible teaches us forgiveness and we certainly need to forgive. However, we know that by not punishing the principles and acts by which this person has committed, we are by far ignoring the violence, hurt, destruction and pain that had been caused by the crimes that had been committed. We also know that the very purpose why a government exist is to restrain and uphold justice and order within the society. Hence, in this case, we know that the civil act of punishing criminals is an act of tender love to many people through severe justice of a few people.

The second kind of limits, is the limit Jesus spoke about the unforgiveable sin: "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." ~Matthew 12:32 (NIV). It is the threshold beyond which God's love would not pursue any further and the point where subjects of love become objects of wrath upon which judgment in time would pour. This also speaks of incorrigible sinners who blatantly oppose the spirit's work. There could be a rare instance where this would cross unforgivability. "If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that." ~ 1 John 5:16 (NIV). However, having said this, we are to continue to do good as far as we can and hope that the person would see our good deeds and glorify our Father in heaven.

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

~ Matthew 5:16 (NIV)

You Cannot Serve The Lord

I was having a drowsy afternoon this day and I was asking God to help me. The Lord then led me to a devotional for today from "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. The title was alright for me, it says "Will You Examine Yourself?". But just right below the title is the verse "Joshua said to the people, ’You cannot serve the Lord . . .’ ~ Joshua 24:19.

I was suddenly awakened! My sleepy eyes widened as I gazed at the verse. It left a deep impression on me this devotional. The following is an excerpt that made me pause for some time in reflection.

"Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, "I cannot live a holy life," but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy."

~ "My Utmost For His Highest", Oswald Chamber

As I read and attempted to answer the embedded questions within, I could indeed reply "Yes" to all the first 3 questions and it took longer to answer the 4th and finally the 5th with the answer "Yes". These words crashed on me like the mighty ocean waves that slams the seaside beaches, stripping me bear with my naked heart confronted by the ocean of God's truth as the waves subside. It is frightening to hear the statement, but we have a choice to make.

""You cannot serve the Lord . . ."— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you? ...

"The person who is still relying and trusting in anything within himself is the last person to even come close to saying, "I will serve the Lord.""

~ "My Utmost For His Highest", Oswald Chamber

Surrender All

The following hymn has been purging the fleshly desires of my heart. It confronts me with my utter need to depend on my deliverer.

"All to Jesus I surrender;

all to him I freely give;

I will ever love and trust him,

in his presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender;

humbly at his feet I bow,

worldly pleasures all forsaken;

take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender;

make me, Savior, wholly thine;

fill me with thy love and power;

truly know that thou art mine.

All to Jesus I surrender;

Lord, I give myself to thee;

fill me with thy love and power;

let thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender;

now I feel the sacred flame.

O the joy of full salvation!

Glory, glory, to his name!

I surrender all, I surrender all,

all to thee, my blessed Savior,

I surrender all. "

~ "I Surrender All", Words by J.W. Van Deventer, Music by W.S. Weeden

"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.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

fear the LORD and shun evil.

This will bring health to your body

and nourishment to your bones."

~ Proverbs 3:5-8 (NIV)

May I trust Him ever more..

Mountain of Shame

"Shame tries to cancel our missions commitment in two ways. We can feel that we are not good enough for missions, or we can feel that missions is not good enough for us. Being ashamed of sin can keep us away, and being ashamed of God can scare us away. We can feel crushed beneath the shame of sin, or we can feel comfortable above the shame of the cross. In either case, shame wins and we lose.

This is not the will of Christ for you. "Your sins are forgiven... Your faith has saved you; go [forth to mission!] in peace [not in shame!]" (Luke 7:48, 50). Do not fear the world's shame. God's honor makes all the difference. "If anyone serves me, ... the Father will honor him" (John 12:26).

So let us go on from strength to strength in the courage of God's promises: "He who believes in Him will not be put to shame" (1 Peter 2:6); "No one who believes in Him will be put to shame" (Romans 10:11)' Therefore, "Do not be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord" (2 Timothy 1:8)"

~ "A Godward Life", John Piper

Today's devotion spoke to me in 2 points. Firstly, shame is shattered by the bombshells of God's promises. Secondly, sin's shamefulness is sin as it does not trust in God's promises. Shame can only be overcome by the truth-washing of God's Word, which will thrust us from misplaced shame to mission's flame. How many a times, we feel ashamed of the Gospel because we think we have sinned, or just unworthy? or even indeed embarassed for what we believe in, which in our opinion, probably made us think that we are not really changed by the Gospel indeed? How many a times, we feel shy and powerless because we have succumbed to sin again?

If ever we feel this way, surrender and ask the Lord to direct that misplaced shame to mission's flame through the washing of His truth in our shy hearts.

Live and Die

"[Learning] to live so that I may learn to die"

~ Anthony Yeo, Counseling Pioneer, Singapore

There is something about this statement that demands reflection. This came from a man who has inspired lives in Singapore to help others especially homosexuals, divorced families, and single persons. This sentence seems to have an end in itself. Terminal as it sounds. It bids us to consider that eventually, it is true that we live and we die. We learn to live and learn to die.

But we know that death is not the end. There are better things that accompany faith. Salvation. The eternal communion with the Lord himself for those of us Christians. Beyond life on earth, the here and now, there is hope of eternity.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

~ Galatians 2:20 (NIV)

The Man With the Iron Spade

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him...

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created."

~ James 1:12, 18 (NIV)

It's a simple but powerful analogy that I learnt today as I sat on the pew. The man and the iron spade. It's based on a real-life sighting of a man who collects empty used drink cans and recycle them. Before bringing them to the recycling centre, the man would line each one of these cans in a row and using the iron spade, striking it down to the ground to flatten each one. Within 3 blows each can is fully flattened. If the can itself has life, what could it have been thinking/feeling? It must have been a very painful experience to be flattened. but that would be the negative part of the story. However, if the can keeps in mind the eventual purpose why it is flattened, to be recycled, it might appreciate the joy of the pain, the eventual higher purpose of the pain.

Much is the same with us as Christians. The life of the can is in the hands of the man with the iron spade. The life of the Christian is in the hand of the one who calls him to purpose. God ensures that His purpose for which he has called the Christian would certainly come to fruition.

Faith, Trust, Obedience

I thank God for this night. For it is one night I have been looking forward to. To be fully reconciled back with my sister. We have had quite some disagreements and perhaps even small squabbles over some things the past week or so. It has been a burden that I have been carrying that I wanted to let go and resolve ever since.

I also want thank God for inspiring us with this statement. That I sensed much Godly wisdom in it and at the same time with as much respect to the weaknesses of our humanity. We had a good extended talk over our struggles in our journey of faith and The Spirit impressed upon our hearts very much on faith, trust and obedience. Indeed, the obedience that God calls us to is not one of partiality, but totality and completeness. We often are convicted of certain impressions upon our hearts, but the conviction is not fully realised unless we act upon it to obey, the will of God.

The statement that was inspired was this, it is one of the best one-liners that I have heard in a long time. "Conviction is a call to obey".

"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

~ John 16:13 (NIV)

Amen Lord Jesus, I hear your calls to obey you increasingly in my life.

Perfected Once For All Time

A question was raised in tonight's CG session regarding the verse, "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." (Hebrews 10:14)

What does it mean to have been made perfect forever and being made holy? The following contextual references are significant in helping us understand the meaning of the above.

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins."

~Hebrews 10:1-2 (NIV)

From here, we know that the consequences or effects of being made perfect is being cleansed once for all, and no longer having guilt and/or feelings of guilt.

"And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

~ Hebrews 10:10 (NIV)

"But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

~ Hebrews 10:12-14 (NIV)

From here, we also can draw some parallel relation regarding "being made perfect", which is by one sacrifice, referring to the the priest (Jesus) offering for all time one sacrifice for sins.

So we can draw the distinction between "make perfect" and "make holy" from the above deductions. To put in other words, "make perfect" means to cleanse and to forgive once for all, completely, resolutely, such that nothing else is left to forgive and nothing else is needed to be done. "make holy", as is also commonly known as "sanctification", is the process of being set apart, the process of being made to become like Christ, the process of regeneration and renewing of our entire being towards Christlikeness.

There is a tendency to misinterpret the coherent meaning of these concepts when we put together verse 10 and verse 14.

Verse 10 says "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Verse 14 says "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

There seems to be the potential of incoherence in meaning here. I find the following sermon excerpt helpful in my understanding of these 2 verses when put together.

"Verse 14 tells us plainly: "By one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." So notice, secondly, for whom Christ has done this perfecting work on the cross. You can put it provocatively like this: Christ has perfected once and for all those who are being perfected. Or you could say (and the writer does say as much in verse 10): Christ has fully sanctified those who are now being sanctified. Or Christ has fully accomplished and guaranteed the holiness of those who are now being made holy.

What this means is that you can know that you stand perfect in the eyes of your heavenly Father if you are moving away from your present imperfection toward more and more holiness by faith in his future grace. Let me say that again, because it is full of encouragement for imperfect sinners like us, and full of motivation for holiness. This verse means that you can have assurance that you stand perfected and completed in the eyes of your heavenly Father not because you are perfect now, but precisely because you are not perfect now but are "being sanctified", "being made holy", that, by faith in God's promises, you are moving away from your lingering imperfection toward more and more holiness. (See Hebrews 10:32-35; 11:24-26 etc. for examples of how faith in future grace sanctifies.)"

~ "Perfected For All Time By a Single Offering", February 16, 1997, John Piper

Verse 10, rather, is an affirmation of the final result of the perfection.

Sensuality, Banality and God-Absence

One day I opened my email and was captivated by the subject of a newsletter. It was John Piper addressing a Q & A session that he had at the last conference just recently. The title goes like this "Why I Don't have a Television and Rarely Go To Movies".

That certainly aroused my curiousity and ensured that I should remember to read it. So tonight was it, I read with anticipation that newsletter. Below is an excerpt.

"I think relevance in preaching hangs very little on watching movies, and I think that much exposure to sensuality, banality, and God-absent entertainment does more to deaden our capacities for joy in Jesus than it does to make us spiritually powerful in the lives of the living dead. Sources of spiritual power—which are what we desperately need—are not in the cinema. You will not want your biographer to write: Prick him and he bleeds movies.

If you want to be relevant, say, for prostitutes, don’t watch a movie with a lot of tumbles in a brothel. Immerse yourself in the gospel, which is tailor-made for prostitutes; then watch Jesus deal with them in the Bible; then go find a prostitute and talk to her. Listen to her, not the movie. Being entertained by sin does not increase compassion for sinners.

There are, perhaps, a few extraordinary men who can watch action-packed, suspenseful, sexually explicit films and come away more godly. But there are not many. And I am certainly not one of them."

~ "Why I Don't have a Television and Rarely Go To Movies", June 25 2009, John Piper

What an exhortation to behold the glory of Christ. Reflecting on my life, I'm glad to be able to say that I do watch little TV, but more of movies. This is to me but a reminder that this world is no friend to Godliness. Almost everything in this world has been re-designed by sin to distract us away from Christ.

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)

May His Glory continually compel us to behold its infinite wonder and awe in spite of this increasing world of godlessness

"I Don't Ask For Forgiveness"

I'm sure by now the world is well familiar with the name "Madoff", a person who has been arguably the biggest swindler in world financial history. I read with a heartfelt compassion the story but as well as with much firmness and resolution that justice must be done. The article caused me to self-reflect. Below is an excerpt.

"The tough sentence came even after Madoff, the former chairman of the Nasdaq, made a courtroom apology to his victims. "I am sorry," he told them simply. "I don't ask for forgiveness."

"I leave a legacy of shame to my family. I am responsible for a great deal of suffering and pain. I live in a tormented state," said the disgraced 71-year-old financier who now faces spending the rest of his life in prison.

"I cannot offer an excuse for my behavior," he added. "How do you excuse deceiving investors... and 200 employees?

"How do you excuse lying to my sons and two brothers? How do you excuse lying to a wife who stood by you for 50 years and still stands by me? There is no excuse for that.""

~ Adapted from AFP, 30 June 2009, "'Evil' swindler Madoff jailed for 150 years",

Yahoo News.

There are 2 statements that Madoff made that captured my attention. "I am sorry" and "I don't ask for forgiveness". I wonder what could be going on in his mind when he said these 2 statements one after the other. These are 2 conflicting statements. How can one be sorry and not ask for forgiveness? I thought to myself. There can be 2 meanings that I could imply when placing these 2 statements together.

1. "I am sorry" - I know that I'm wrong, "I don't ask for forgiveness" - I'm not going to do anything about that

2. "I am sorry" - I know that I'm wrong, "I don't ask for forgiveness" - I am beyond forgiveness/I cannot be forgiven.

It sounds like, what could be on his mind was the second. Either way, these 2 statements and 2 possible implications caused me to realize how prideful I can be. These 2 implications are strong indicators that pride resides well deep within.

I'm reminded by the question, "Is God's hand too short?", "Can I ever be beyond forgiveness?".

"as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

~ Psalm 103:12 (NIV)

In man's eyes, there can be sin that is beyond forgiveness. However, that's not for God. There is no sin that is beyond God's forgiveness.

Bound To Jesus

"If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us. —Numbers 14:8

Eugene Cussons rescues chimpanzees. Orphaned by those in the business of bush-meat trade and taken from the jungle as infants, many have lived their entire lives confined in a space smaller than a prison cell. When Cussons arrives to take them to the game reserve he calls “Chimp Eden,” he often finds them hostile and untrusting.

“These chimps don’t realize that I am one of the good guys,” Cussons says. When he tries to put them into a smaller crate for the trip to their new home, they put up quite a fight. “They don’t know that I’m going to take them back to Chimp Eden and give them a life so much better.”

On a much grander scale, God’s offer to liberate us from the slavery of sin is often met with resistance. When He rescued the children of Israel from Egypt, God took them through difficult places that caused them to doubt His good intentions. “Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” they cried (Num. 14:3)."

On our journey of faith, there are times when the “freedom” of sin that we left behind is more appealing than the restrictions of faith that lie ahead.

We must trust the protective boundaries found in God’s Word as the only way to get to the place of ultimate freedom.

~Julie Ackerman

Sin’s lure may look like freedom

But in its grip we’re bound;

It’s when we’re bound to Jesus

Real freedom will be found.

~ D. De Haan

Obedience to God is the key to freedom.

~ Adapted from Our Daily Bread, "Chimp Eden", June 25 2009

This devotion in many ways remind me of the great temptation of going back to my old sinful nature, where there seems to be much more freedom, less accountability. There are times when those pleasures are just so alluring and seductive that I fell. We know that this fight of faith is definitely not easy but not impossible. We succumb to sin not out of our inability to choose, but rather the loss of sight on where our real freedom is, only to find that we are gripped and bound to the wages of sin. We incur debts to that grip that keeps making us pay our deposits. Only being bound to Jesus that these debts are cancelled and ransomed. Obedience thus results in real freedom in the truth.

Water and Spirit

"Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. "

~ John 3:5 (NIV)

By now we know very clearly Jesus wanted to drive home the point that something must happen in order for a person to enter the kingdom of God. But, there are 2 words that caught my attention. What could Jesus have meant by "water" and "spirit". The latter can be quite obvious as we can further read on within the chapter. "spirit" simply refers to God's very own being of spirit. But "water"? Some have inferred to this as Christian baptism. However, this passage demands a deeper digging under its roots.

First of all, we need to understand that the context of this passage is, Jesus having a conversation with Nicodemus, a Pharisee. If we read on to the rest of the passage, we would realize that there is very much an emphasis on faith, and nothing on baptism. If Jesus really wanted to mean baptism by the word "water", wouldn't he have drilled in to it instead of nailing on "belief", "faith".

Secondly, let us read on the following passage.

"Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

~ John 3:6-8 (NIV)

if Baptism is to be inferred, which represents a physical activity done upon a person, and we know clearly that Jesus is talking about "being born again", essentially, the new birth, then, wouldn't that mean that only upon baptism, that the new birth happens? Now how does that go hand in hand with 'The wind blows wherever it pleases... so it is with everyone born of the Spirit.' That doesn't give much freedom to which how the new birth happens just like the wind.

"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?

~ John 3:9-10 (NIV)

What could be even more puzzling is this, if baptism is indeed what Jesus was referring to, that Nicodemus was challenged upfront by Jesus that he should've understood this, since he was a teacher of the Law. He would have known the Old Testament very well. Reading this, you sense strongly that Jesus was pointing to somewhere in the Old Testament. We need to look for references of water.

The following passage provides one of the clearest insight into what Jesus meant. This is one passage that very likely was in Jesus' mind when He was challenging Nicodemus of his knowledge and understanding.

" 'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God."

~ Ezekiel 36:24-28 (NIV)

Here we could see clearly the same 2 references of "water" and "spirit" that Jesus was making. The result "you will be my people, and I will be your God" (that's God speaking). This passage talks about cleansing of sin, which is symbolic in the meaning of "sprinkle clean water". God had said that He will cleanse us of all sin and put in us a new heart and a new spirit.

Hence, from the passages that we have studied, "water" that Jesus was referring to was not Christian baptism, but rather, the cleansing of sin.

Shepherd The Flock

"Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."

~ 1 Peter 5:2-4 (NIV)

Today's exhortation urges me to remember why in the first place I'm serving in the ministries. Being a shepherd is essentially being a role model, a consistent example of Godliness. Not because out of compulsion or duty, but because of the willingness of heart to partake of God's work of bringing people to a right relationship with Him and building them up towards full maturity in Christ.

There are 2 noteworthy quotes that I learnt today.

"The devil climbs over the fence where it is the lowest"

~ Martin Luther

What a simple but powerful reminder of how easy it is to be giving in to the devil's attack, to be caught unprepared. This statement specifically calls for the attention towards our specific weaknesses, which demand our utter dependence on God to manifest his power through our weaknesses.

"Where God builds a cathedral, there Satan builds a chapel"

~ Martin Luther

This is no small reminder that wherever God is at work, satan is also prowling and waiting to devour, seizing every opportunity that is available and unguarded.

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen."

~ 1 Peter 5:10-11 (NIV)

Faithfulness Above Fruitfulness

This is God-send. It must certainly be. Not that the other passages or devotions in other days are not! But, this particularly sends me the chills to realise once again that God cares for me in the most intimate of details. Here is His Word for me this day.

"rendering service with a good will
as to the Lord and not to man,
knowing that whatever good anyone does,
this he will receive back from the Lord,
whether he is a slave or free."
~ Ephesians 6:7-8 (ESV)

I hear His voice loud and clear, reminding me to serve wholeheartedly regardless of my circumstances at work, home, family, ministry, everywhere. This is a radical call to God-centered living. He is my supervisor and boss at work. He is my head at home. He is my Father in my family. He is my master in ministry. He is my owner in all.

"knowing that whatever good anyone does, ...
...

this he will receive back...
...

from the Lord"

Nothing is done in vain! Praise the Lord! No insignificant is amiss if it is done for His sake.

"Whether he is a slave or free"

Regardless of our status! Our position! Our standing!

"An employee at the Billy Graham headquarters told me once that Dr. Graham gave a devotional for the office staff and said that he believed some of them would be ahead of him in line for the Lord's rewards. They chuckled with skepticism. He became serious and said that he really meant it because the Lord rewards faithfulness above fruitfulness, which puts us all on the same footing, whether famous for our effectiveness or unknown in our faithfulness."
~ "A Godward Life", John Piper

Seasoned With Salt

The past 3 days have been quite a stretch for me at work. I needed to deal with demanding requests from the customer that I'm serving. It was rather annoying at first that it was meant to be a goodwill gift of service, and then there was the additional request on top of it. I personally felt that it was rather beyond what we should be doing as part of goodwill. I need to work on this aspect, of handling demanding requests from customers, without offending them. Not that I offended them, but I think I did just marginally alright, being more functional in my tone of speech and more objective. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm sure there is always room for improvement.

God be my help.

"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."
~ Colossians 4:6 (NIV)

With the One I Love

"Soon and very soon
My King is coming
Robed in righteousness
And crowned with love
When I see Him,
I shall be made like Him
Soon and very soon

Soon and very soon
I'll be going to the place
He has prepared for me
There my sin erased,
my shameful garden
Soon and very soon

I will be with the One I love
With unveiled face I'll see Him
There my soul will be satisfied
Soon and very soon

Soon and very soon
See the procession
The angels and the elders
round the thrown
At His feet I lay
My grant, my wishing
Soon and very soon

I will be with the One I love
With unveiled face I'll see Him
There my soul will be satisfied
Soon and very soon

Though I have not seen Him
My heart knows Him well
Jesus Christ the Lamb, the Lord of heaven

I will be with the One I love
With unveiled face I'll see Him
There my soul will be satisfied
Soon and very soon
Soon and very soon
Soon and very soon"
~ "Soon", Hillsong United, "Across The Earth"

This song has been singing in my head and heart all through this day. I have been feeling homesick in recent times, especially in the past months. The thought of this passing world just makes me long for my eternal home. I have nothing I want really, in this earth. All is fading, all is degenerating, all is wasting away. I feel so misplaced at times, that I just want to be still and bask in the fact that God still wants me to be here for His purposes. There are some unfinished business that I'm tasked for. That is the only strength that push me to live each day from the objective sense of perspective.

I thank You for this longing deep in my heart. Just to return home, to be where You are. Where with unveiled face, I will be with You, the One I Love. Keep me here till You come or call me home, for as long as You want me to. Let this longing grow all the more stronger that I may not forget that this shore of life is but a temporary one.

Unmerited, Conditional Grace

"Good and upright is the LORD;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
For the sake of your name, O LORD,
forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD ?
He will instruct him in the way chosen for him.
...
Turn to me and be gracious to me,
for I am lonely and afflicted.
...
Look upon my affliction and my distress
and take away all my sins.
...
Guard my life and rescue me;
let me not be put to shame,
for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness protect me,
because my hope is in you. "
~ Psalm 25:8-12, 16, 18, 20-21 (NIV)

Reading the passage carefully draws my attention to the fact that there are conditions to which God showers his grace. This however, does not negate the unconditional, unmerited, election and regeneration that God's children experience. The Bold statements are the conditions and the underlined statements are the blessings. There are times, that I live with the attitude that God would bless me no matter what. Although there is truth in that, but one must not proceed the days of their lives with a cavalier attitude that, regardless of our obedience, God blesses. That is twisted theology, which underscores many attitudes of taking-for-granted, mediocrity, being easily-satisfied, compromising behaviours, unguarded thoughts, uncontrolled mannerisms.

May the Lord once again re-align our thoughts and minds on Godliness, of which purity, truth and love flows.

Trust or Treason

Pursuing obedience to God is of paramount importance in our Christian journey. It is Godliness in practice. It is faith in exercise. Pursuing obedience can however be warped in our corrupt nature by working instead of trusting. We must pursue obedience by faith (trusting) and not by works (our efforts). There is the other side of danger to this, if misunderstood. It doesn't however mean that we do not work, as in exercise our faith muscles, disciplining ourselves for the purpose of godliness. Trusting without exercising amounts to nothing. It'd be a misunderstanding to think that we could simply sit around and not do anything, and ... Voila! obedience! That's a thorough misunderstanding! Trusting God for the provision of his grace as we exercise our discipline, we would eventually reap obedience that results in righteousness.

Never even think that we could earn obedience. Nothing in the first place belongs to us, not even obedience. Earning simply means giving something to get another.

"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen."
~ Romans 11:35-36 (NIV)

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."
~ 1 Corinthians 15:10 (NIV)

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
~ Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)

There can only be 2 things with regards to our obedience to God, Trust or Treason.

The Paragon of Religion

I am starting to follow a series that has been bugging me for the past 1 year or so. I prayed about it on challenging my theology together with John Piper.

This series of lessons is by far one of the most important studies that a Christian should grasp. It's entitled "The New Birth". It has everything to do with Salvation. Faith. Jesus Christ.

2 days ago marked the start of this journey of learning for me. I pray most earnestly that the Lord Himself un-blind me to the beauty of His truth, and that I may experience the infinitely glorious reality of the new birth.

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
~ John 3:1-3 (NIV)

The above passage forms the baseline of the series. Let us start.

The passage above appears to be an ordinary passage that is oftentime taken to be historical in nature. But read it slowly and carefully again, how the passage begins.

Apostle John brought our attention to a seemingly innocent detail which certainly has full of intentions. We are introduced to Nicodemus. A Pharisee. A member of the Jewish ruling council. We've got to understand that the circumstance in those days. The pharisees (Jewish ruling council) are the most respected, most disciplined, most influential ruler among the society of the people. This man, Nicodemus, came to Jesus and began a conversation that would soon challenge the core of his being. He began by acknowledging the signs and miracles that Jesus performed, and acknowledged that He is from God.

The next event that was recorded could probably be listed among the most turned-around statements in the Bible. Jesus bluntly and honestly replied, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." (John 3:3 NIV). Huh!

What a strange answer! But precisely the point Jesus wanted to drive across.

Here is a summary of what we could learn in 3 points of which I've just learnt 2.

1. The new birth does not give us a new religion but a new life.
2. The new birth does not merely mean affirming the supernatural in Jesus but experiencing the supernatural in ourselves.

The very reason why John intentionally included that detail is to clarify to us that even the most manifest of religious are not saved apart from the new birth. Religion cannot save us. Not unless something is done by God to us, that is the new birth.

Notice how Nicodemus answers were also recorded. He acknowledged and affirmed Jesus of His divine power and being. To which, Jesus did not affirm his answer, but rather gave that strange reply that we read about just a while ago. In other words, it is possible that one acknowledge and affirm who Jesus is and never really experience who He is. It is possible that one goes through the motion of fellowship among fellow Christians, participating in serving in the ministries, being convinced of who Jesus is, but never really got to know who Jesus is intimately. Now, even the demons and fallen angel acknowledge and affirm Jesus of who He is, they are not saved!

We need to really grasp the fact that reality of the new birth does not happen unless the Lord causes it to happen.

"The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit"
~ John 3:8 (NIV)

"Imitate Me"

"I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. "
~ 1 Corinthians 4:14-16 (NIV)

That is Paul's writing. One whom has been a great role model in the early church. This day this passage spoke to me in a self-examining manner, to check myself and to measure myself in regards to the above of Paul's writing. I'm not to check myself or measure myself for the sake of comparison, or to endeavour to find and craft feel-good feelings of myself, but to reflect within on how I've been living my life.

This Scripture challenged me to say that same thing by Paul unto others around me. Am I able to say that? I shudder at the thought. Those statements invite people's scrutiny and examination, which many a times can be rather critical and very objective, taken to the extreme, judgmental.

But the Lord challenged me to consider how my life has been an influence unto others. Have I been a worthy influence to my neighbours? Have my life been a good example if one were to sit down and watch and observe my every behaviour, discern my thoughts? I hear the Lord urged me fervently,

"But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
~ 1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV)

Honoring the Guest of Honour

Something struck me anew as I re-read an article on worship. Punctuality. Oh, how it has not been a strength particularly for me. I'm still bordering on marginal in this aspect. Here is the thought I would like to record down.

Being punctual and early to come for worship and fellowship gatherings honor the presence of the Lord, with expectant hearts, that look forward to the meeting up. The focus then shifts from me to God. That God is the guest of honour and not me. The next time we think of letting our guard down to be careless on how we plan ahead and provision time for our various tasks, consider how we may provision adequately in such a way that we would be punctual at the very least.

The Old and New Covenant

"For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another."
~ Hebrews 8:7 (NIV)

A question was raised during tonight's CG session about the old and new covenant. Essentially, the question is asking about the differences between the two. We went on to discuss why the Bible mentioned the above. It seems to imply, that there is something wrong with the old covenant. So we shared what we learnt from our own personal study. Here I'd like to note down some of those things.

1. Limited atonement - continual sacrifice for the atonement of sin has to be made. This can only be done at a fixed appointed time. Sacrifice is imperfect.

2. No direct access to God - the interaction with God very much revolves around the levitical priests and the physical temple of God. There was no intimate personal relationships with God.

3. Dependence on people - people fail and are bound by limitations and imperfections. Even the high priests were imperfect.

4. Legalistic practices - approval and blessing from God is conditional upon the obedience of the people

The above are some of the main points that we've discussed. However, having said that, I also want to note that no matter how different the 2 covenants are, there is an intrinsic similarity of the 2. That is, sacrifice for sin must be carried out for atonement. Hence, when the Scripture said, "By calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." ~ Hebrews 8:13 (NIV), it's not implying to mean that the Old Covenant is to be thrown away. In effect, it means that, the New Covenant has fulfilled what the Old Covenant is essentially meant for. It doesn't mean that we should ignore learning about the Old Covenant.

The Revelation of God

"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. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
"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."
Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!""
~ Isaiah 6:1-8 (NIV)

The Scripture shows us the account of Isaiah's meeting with God. Here is a brief outline of what happened, applying to our life context.

v1-2: Recognising God’s majesty and that he is in God’s presence
v3-7: Realizing God’s holiness and acknowledging one’s unworthiness, then receiving forgiveness
v8: Hearing and Responding to God’s word
v8-9 :Giving of oneself to obey and serve

This serves as a good reference of the main components for our fellowship meet-up such as church service, cell group session, personal study groups.

May our conscience be quickened to acknowledge the Majesty of the One Awesome God and our heart be bent towards the freedom of His obedience

Worship is a Response

What do we do when we go to church service? What do we do when we serve in the various ways within the ministries? What do we participate in at work/school? What do we engage in at home? What do we do every single moment of our life?

There is only one over-riding activity. That is worship. One might wonder what worship is. The following is what the dictionary says.

wor⋅ship 
noun, verb, -shiped, -ship⋅ing or (especially British) -shipped, -ship⋅ping.

–noun
1.reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.
2.formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage: They attended worship this morning.
3.adoring reverence or regard: excessive worship of business success.
4.the object of adoring reverence or regard.
5.(initial capital letter) British. a title of honor used in addressing or mentioning certain magistrates and others of high rank or station (usually prec. by Your, His, or Her).

–verb (used with object)
6.to render religious reverence and homage to.
7.to feel an adoring reverence or regard for (any person or thing).
–verb (used without object)
8.to render religious reverence and homage, as to a deity.
9.to attend services of divine worship.
10.to feel an adoring reverence or regard.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.

Worship is primarily a response. It is the appropriate response to the revelation of God's Glory. This is the essence of what it means to worship. It must not depend on our ability, our circumstances, our feelings, our emotions. The ability to worship itself is a gift from God. There is only one and only subject and object of our worship. God.

Worship must not be done in a self-serving manner, as to invoke some mystical feelings or religious experience. It is done solely with the attitude of focusing on the subject and object of worship, bringing praise and adoration.

The Momentary

I had been looking forward to get myself a new media player which has the convenience of a touch screen capability and as well as to play videos. It didn't take me long to discover that the device I had wanted to purchase for months now is still not released yet. For a moment, when I got to know that, I was disappointed by the fact that they were not true to their promise, in releasing it as how they advertised. Those thoughts lingered for a while, until I realised how I had so easily shifted my focus to momentary pleasures of the world. This is just a passing time and material.

May the passing pleasures of the world fade in the light of His glory and grace.

A Journey In the Head

I woke up this morning from a dream. I'm not sure how I should interpret it. It's unique in its own settings, strange as how normally a dream is in the misplacement of details, and weird as how a dream usually is hard to believe. I could vaguely recall all the details by now. Here's how it goes in a much summarized form.

There was a man who has been searching all through his life for that one personal relationship that would be his for his whole lifetime. He has been faithfully attending a community of faith for at least more than half his lifetime, and has since been enjoying much of the warmth and care from that family of friends, brothers and sisters of the same faith. There was a friend that he got to know closely even learnt more of her through the activities that were shared and even through extended personal times together. However, after some time, he realized that perhaps she is not the one whom he should pursue for that lifetime of personal relationship. This went on for some time until one day came. There was yet another friend who was a friend to both and he knew all along the history of this relationship. He then rallied together other friends to share with them this story and came up with a plan to simply get these 2 persons to come together. There are 2 details that I can't put quite together: the girl had written 2 special greeting cards on which she wrote some very affectionate feelings and emotions for the man, and the man was invited to the dean's office where he used to study and his name was entered into the Dean's list. Finally, the day came, when the man saw the 2 special greeting cards which he didn't really have the courage to open and take a look. It took him another day to consider and to finally open and read it. That was how he knew the truth from the girl's heart. He didn't open the second and threw it away.

I just felt I should record the above down and am not sure what to make of it. Sometimes, it's mind-boggling what goes on inside our head when we sleep and that continues to amaze me. Either way, I want to continue to hold on to that promise of God,

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
~ Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Surrendering It

"Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." "
~ Genesis 22:2 (NIV)

I stared at the 3 words for some time, and finally understood the focus of this verse. This verse, as it seems, brings so much focus on the object of the sacrifice. But that is not it. The actual emphasis is not at all on the object of sacrifice. It is on the very 3 words that I stared at. "Whom you love". The essence of this short phrase drives home the point of who the object of love is. If it could be broken down to simpler terms, the sacrifice is love. This short phrase is the very foundation of God's voice to Abraham. If I were to put it in other words, God was simply asking the important question, "Do you love me more?"