Stay with God

24-4-2008

Matthew 11:6

“Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

Jesus’s promise to you is that if you stay with Him through thick and thin, He will bless you.

Life has its difficult moments. And God wants to be there for you, to go through it together with you. It is easy to forget about God when everything seems to turn against you. Remember Jesus Christ, whose disciples forsaken Him in his final moments before He was painfully crucified. He has suffered much more than you are ever going to suffer. Take heart, God knows your limits. He will not give you more than what you can bear.

God loves you so much, He respects your free will and always gives you a choice. You, therefore, have to permit God to come to you by seeking Him fervently in prayer.

Do not desert Jesus Christ, for He did not desert you. Instead, He faithfully paid for your sins with his flesh and blood. During tough times, you should all the more seek God and cling on tightly to your faith. Do not forget, your salvation came through that very same faith. It takes two hands to clap, and God is willing to lend you His mighty hand anytime and anywhere.

God is always here for you. Always tell yourself that.

Do not deny your faith or be ashamed of it. Is it so difficult to lay down your sinful pride? It is nothing compared to being crucified, humiliated and going through hell all alone. It is the least you can do for a great God who deserves much more than praise.

Put in your good word for God, and proclaim His greatness.

Let your faith in God stand firm and deeply rooted to the ground regardless of the circumstances. He created the circumstance for a purpose. God is definitely not a sadistic God who delights in suffering.

Be joyful in all circumstances, for God is with you and in you.

Stay with God, always.

And God, who sees your heart in faith, will bless you for being His obedient child.

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Life for Christ, Christ for Life

23-4-2008

Matthew 10:39

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Jesus wants to assure you that committing your life into the hands of God will not leave you shortchanged. God promises that if you take pains to live a Christ-like life, He will certainly make sure that you live a truthfully worthy life. Put down your life for God, He will definitely bless you with spiritual wealth and prosperity.

Whatever you give to God does not make a difference to Him. Neither does it affect His well being. But God sees your heart. And when the heart of God is moved, so will His mighty hand to work things for your good.

God does not forget the good things you do for Him, however insignificant.

Jesus says in Matthew 10:42 “If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

God already ensures your reward even for the little things you give to Him. Why would He not reward you much more handsomely and shower you with blessings for giving Him your precious life?

What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God. You do not have to present perishable offerings to God. God does not need that. What pleases Him more is that you strive to be Christ-like and do His work in His name, glorifying Him in the process. The best gift to give God is surrendering your life to Him willingly and sincerely. And it is a big sacrifice on your part, for it takes courage and humility to let God use you. God will of course store up great treasures for you in heaven for that.

Being a Christian is a life long commitment to God, to do His work and follow His word. And God will give you a fulfilling life on earth on top of a great eternal life with Him in heaven, for your devotion.

Life as a Christian is hard, no denying. But it definitely is a better life.

Make your life your gift to God, and God will make life His gift to you.

Submit your life to God, and God will submit life to you.

And why should you not be blessed by your Father in Heaven himself, when you do as such?

Do God’s work and do not worry about your life. God will grant you much more than life.

Live God in you, so that God lives in you.

Make the best exchange with God, for you stand to gain more than what you give.

Life for Christ, Christ for life.

 

 

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More than Miracles

22-4-2008

The story of “Jesus Heals a Paralytic” in Matthew 9 tells of a simply brilliant teaching by Jesus Christ.

Jesus made use of a paralytic who was brought before Him for healing to show everyone that He had the absolutely authority to forgive the sins of Man.

Jesus asked the crowd “Which is easier to say? ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say ‘Get up and walk (to the paralytic)’?”

The truthful answer would definitely and only be ‘Your sins are forgiven’. Which human has the ability to make a crippled man walk again, other than God in human form (Jesus Christ)? Then Jesus told the lame man to get up and walk. Amazingly, the paralytic got up and started walking at that instant. And Jesus Christ proved to all people that He was not only the son of God, but also He came to cleanse all our sins. He did more than what was needed of Him, and that was what made His miracle more than a mircale.

The perfect miracle indeed. And the way Jesus performed it was extremely witty. He did more than required, as evidence that He could do what was required. To show that He could forgive sins, He performed the act of healing a paralytic to show that He could actually do much more. Jesus proved that He could attain a grade of 90 marks, by scoring 100. When all He had to do was move a big rock, He moved a mountain to belittle the act of moving a rock. What sheer brilliance!

Jesus is a miracle maker and not only that. He performs His miracles for a purpose. Not to show off His power, but to enlighten the souls of Man and give them hope. All amazing things Jesus does comes with a lesson that He wants us to learn from.

The important thing is to not be in awe of God, but to learn from His teachings. God is not an idol or a superstar. He is a teacher, a guide, a Father.

Learn well from His word, the Bible, and receive it. No matter how perfect the teacher is, it is pointless unless the student is willing. And it is not enough to know and understand the word of God, it has to be applied in daily life.

Have the mentality that there is always something to learn, and be ready and willing to change. For the Bible is the book of change. And this change brings you closer to and more similar to Jesus himself.

May the Bible come alive in your life.

 

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Fear Not, while following Jesus

21-4-2008

The story of “Jesus calms the storm” in Matthew 8 is a very short story. But it contains a very powerful message that God wants to convey.

This is how the story goes. The disciples of Jesus followed Him into a boat. While Jesus was sleeping in the boat, there came a furious storm which threatened to drown them all. The disciples were afraid, woke Jesus up and cried to Him to save them. And sure enough, Jesus calmed the storm but not after saying “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Jesus is telling all Christians, who want to follow in His footsteps and be like Him, not to be afraid. And in this story, He shows us why. The fact that He could command the winds and waves reveals to us that Jesus is the almighty divine, superman of supermen. And that is the reason not to fear. Jesus is powerful, so powerful that He can reverse the balance of nature. He can of course, save you from anything.

The raging storms symbolise the difficulties and obstacles you have to face in Christian life on earth. God does not promise a trouble free life. In fact, the storm suggests that being a Christian is not easy. Being a follower of Christ means entering through the narrow gate and taking the more difficult path. You have to sail through the mighty waves and winds in your quest to do the work of God. But Jesus assures you that He will help you overcome the raging storms of your Christian life when you follow Him. Why fear? Jesus is in the same boat as you (literarily based on the story), and He has overcome the world.

Another interesting observation of the story is that Jesus put across the point that fear is an unnecessary human feeling. Jesus indirectly told His disciples that He would have calmed the storm even if they had not desperately pleaded Him to do so. You only need such little faith and Jesus will go as far as commanding the forces of nature for you. Jesus will never let you drown while you follow Him. He is a saviour who has saved you from your sins, which separates God and man. Surely, He can save you from anything and everything.

No storm is too fast, furious or frightening for Jesus.

Do not fear anything when you fulfill God’s will and do His work. Fear is but a wasted emotion.

Rather, take courage and rejoice in knowledge that with God you will emerge victorious over every storm in your Christian life.

 

 

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Asking God to give

20-4-2008

Ask, seek, knock. God wants to remind you that He is the provider of all good things and all you have to do is to ask Him to provide.

Jesus says in Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask and it WILL be given to you; seek and you WILL find; knock and the door WILL be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; knock and the door WILL be opened.”

The word “will” is used four times. God put it in definite terms, that He is there to provide. Always, all the times, forever, surely. It is His promise to you that He will give you the best gifts based on His perfect judgement.

And God is faithful. He keeps His promises to you. For He himself says in Malachi 3:6, “I the Lord do not change.”

God wants to give good and perfect gifts to you. James 1:17 reads, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

And above all that, God has already given us His one and only son Jesus Christ. Romans 8:32 reads, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”

God did not even spare His own Son. He can of course give you anything you need.

The Bible even draws a comparison between God and Man in terms of providence. The Bible says in Matthew 7:9-11, “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!”

Different books of the Bible, in different ways, state that God is the greatest provider who gives you the best and He is more than willing to give you the best.

God, surely, wants to convey the message that He loves you more than enough to give you more than what you ask for. And whatever you seek or ask for, God promises to deliver.

Do not be hesitant to ask God for anything, even though it is something very minor. “Maybe I should not trouble God, it is not very nice” is a mentality you should get rid of. Not that it is not good to be considerate, but God would rather you bother Him about everything. Truth is, God wants you to trouble Him. You are His family, and as your Father He wants to provide for you. God knows your heart and when you come to Him sincerely in asking, you will receive Him.

Pray with faith, in the knowing that whatever God gives to you will help you be victorious.

Never doubt God, He is more powerful than you can ever imagine but more importantly, He is willing and able. Trust God. Have faith in Him.

Have the attitude that God’s priority for you is to walk with Him, not to make you happy. There will still be difficult times, testing periods and lessons God wants you to learn to mould you. You may not necessarily get exactly what you ask for, but take heart. You can be assured that in such a scenario, what you receive from God himself is better and more that what you have asked for.

The message to take away is that God is always here to provide, whether you ask Him directly or subconsciously. He will never shortchange you or give you more than you can bear because He is a perfect giver. What is more, He wants to give. God loves you as His family, how will He not give you the best?

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Forgive to be Forgiven

19-4-2008

A message from God – Forgiveness has to be earned before given.

Matthew 6:14

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

The message is clear, direct and cannot be more straightforward than it already is. Seek to forgive, then be forgiven.

You are in no position of condemn others who have sinned against you. You are a sinner yourself, are you not? If God had not sent Jesus to be crucified to pay for our sins, you would not have been given life.

God is a forgiving and merciful God. And if God himself forgives His children, then why should you not practice forgiveness? As a Christian, it is your desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, is it not? To have more of God and less of you. People might break your heart when they sin against you, but do remember that the heart of God was shattered for the sins you commit. And you will break His heart even more if you do not forgive, like how parents will be heartbroken when their children have something against one another. Do not, therefore, break the family of God.

When you are angry with your parents, friends, siblings, random strangers or even your enemies, remember God is crying to you to bring His family back together. And you being part of the family that God recognizes, should all the more fulfill the wishes of your Father in Heaven who loves you.

Forgive, for it brings the family of God together.

Forgive, for God has first forgiven you.

Forgive, for in doing so you glorify the God of Forgiveness.

Forgive to be forgiven.

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The Importance of Kingdom Mindedness

16-4-08

1 Samuel 18 tells of Saul’s jealousy of David and how Saul strayed away from God because of his jealousy. The famous verse in 1 Samuel 18:7 goes “Saul has slain by this thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” The people sang this on the streets, clearly giving more credit to David for the victory of Israel over Philistine. Saul, knowing this, grew envious and plotted to kill David instead of fighting alongside him for the kingdom of God. His mind was no long on glorifying God, but glorifying himself.

We all play different roles and achieve different levels of success when serving God and helping to build His kingdom. Indeed, some people will receive more recognition than others because Man judges by appearance. The rewards of the mortal world are unjust. It is only human to give a person who brought 100 people to church more credit than another person who only brought one other person to church, though both might have put in the same amount of effort. It is only human to appreciate a musician more than a door keep who greets “Welcome!”, though both might have put in the same amount of effort. But man’s judgement is imperfect and if you let it get the better of you, you might just forget that your priority is to serve God and His kingdom. You might end up being like Saul whose desire for worldly things outweighed his desire for God.

The story of Saul’s jealously of David reveals the stark contrast between one who is kingdom minded and one who is not. Saul, whose heart was with the flawed and sinful world, only lived in fear and in rejection of God. David, whose heart he so willingly gave to God to do His work, triumphed in everything. In fact, David desired to serve God so much that He surrendered in marriage to Saul’s daughter just to contribute a little more to the work of God. And marriage in those days were considered a sacred and unbreakable vow. David as good as gave up his life for God.

Whether you put God’s kingdom first or not makes a world of difference as can be shown by David and Saul. And no one can serve two masters. You either serve the everlasting God, or serve the perishable things of the Earth.

Being Kingdom minded and placing the work of God as number one in terms of importance is essential to being a Christian and having a personal relationship with God. Because if you do not have Kingdom mindedness, you lose out in this most important relationship with God.

Make the kingdom of God your first priority. For that strengthens your relationship with God. God will then always be with you, like how He was with David.

Do not be affected by emotion or worldly desire when serving God. Such human feelings are hindrances to your faith.

Rather, strive to do God’s work to the best of your ability regardless of your emotional status.

Do not turn against God’s people. Do not hinder them from contributing to the kingdom of God. You are no better than Saul who hindered David, if you do so. Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined. By going against God‘s people, you destroy a part of God’s kingdom. You destroy your relationship with God. You destroy your identity as a Christian. Like how Saul destroyed the part of God that was in Him.

Rather, give your brothers and sisters encouragement and affirmation so that they can better build the kingdom of God.

Do not compare your roles or success with other people who are, too, working for God. For God does not care if you are a pastor, care leader, musician or usher. He looks at your hears and stores heavenly treasures for each one of you accordingly. Why bother about short lived worldly rewards? And does it matter who has done more or better as long as the kingdom of God grows in strength? Whether you have slain in thousands or in tens of thousands, the most important thing is that you have given it your best shot. The numbers are secondary.

Be Kingdom minded always, for it is being faithful to and glorifying the one and only God.

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Being the Salt and Light

18-4-08

Matthew 5: Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

Similarly, a believer of Christ who is un-Christ like is as good as not being a Christian. You can have faith in God but this faith is of no significance if you do not translate it into actions, if you do not practice the ways of Jesus Christ.

What really defines a Christian or “Little Church” is living out God’s commands, not going to church regularly. In face, Jesus himself did not attend service. There is no meaning in having faith, if this faith is not put into action. And this is what being a Christian is all about. Salt has to be salty, before it can be truthfully called salt. Christians have to be like Jesus Christ himself, before they can be truthfully called Christians.

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” God’s calling for you to be salt and light falls under the same chapter in 4 verses. Being the salt is mentioned in only 1 verse, while being the light in 3. The hidden message is that it is not good enough to just be the salt or to be the good Christian who is devoted to Christianity. Being the light and letting the world see the goodness of God in you is just as important, if not more important, in your life on earth as a Christian.

The term “light” suggests that life as a Christian involves being noticed and observed by others. But that does not mean star status. It simply means openly and unashamedly revealing the part of God that is inside you, so as to glorify God and permit others to see for themselves the goodness of God. Are you not discounting God’s greatness by hiding it in yourself? Your qualities and spiritual gifting are God-send. Why not use them to glorify God? Why not use them to do God’s work?

Being the light not only serves as a reminder to other believers of Christ that God is in you and with you. It also allows the non-believers to overcome their unbelief. What better way to outreach to people and bring them to church, than to be the church itself?

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Living on the Word of God

17-4-2008

Matthew 4:4 contains a widely known but vaguely understood verse. “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

The choice words is very specific, change one word and the whole point of the verse changes.

Man lives ON the word of God, not with the word of God.

Man lives on EVERY word that God has spoken. Man does not live on God’s word in general.

The emphasis on the verse is in the second part – “but on every word that comes from the mouth of God“, not the first – “Man does not live on bread alone”. How so? The second part explains the first. “Man does not live on bread alone” is the statement. “But on every word that comes from the mouth of God” is the explanation. To put it simply, the verse conveys the message that Man needs both bread and the word of God to live. But the word of God is of much greater significance in life. And the fact that Jesus himself said this after 40 days of starvation makes the word of God all the more essential to life.

“Bread” symbolises the necessities of the mortal world. Food, air, water and for some – DOTA. It is what you require to continue living as a human in a life that lasts only so long.

“Word of God”, on the other hand, represents the essentials of God’s heavenly world. It is what you require to continue living with God in a life that lasts for as long as eternity.

Which of the two is better?

The word “live” therefore has a double meaning. Life in the world, life in heaven. And the fact that life in heaven is what matters more makes the structure of this verse in Matthew 4:4 as such. God wants to live your life with you. God wants a relationship with you. God wants to make your existence worthy enough to be called a life. This is why living on every word of God is more important than living in any other way. It is God’s calling for you, because He loves you, so that you can spend eternity with Him.

Live a life in accordance to the word of God. And the best way to learn the word of God is to read the Bible word for word and digest it. For every word in the Bible is God breathed. You can never go wrong following the Bible.

Obey God’s commands and submit to His authority. For they are not there to restrict you. They are there because God loves you and wants to give the best to you.

Do not worry about worldly things. Worry, first, about your relationship with God and whether you have given your best to Him. Jesus himself says in Matthew 6:33 “First seek his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things (food, clothes etcetera) will be given to you as well.”

God promises to provide you sufficiently in the mortal world, if you put His word first and foremost.

Live on God’s word and He will provide you with your bread. Be the wise builder who hears God’s word and puts them into practice.

 

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Courage in Faith

15-4-2008

The Story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17

Literarily, the story of David and Goliath is one about true courage, drawn from faith in God.

Figuratively, it is the story of our very own personal relationship with our Father in Heaven.

In the story, the Israelites were intimidated by the titan Goliath, so much that his mere presence made them suffer a major blow in morale. They feared him so much that they momentarily forgot about God, as can be shown by the fact that their king offered material reward for the slaying of Goliath instead of seeking God. Nothing was mentioned of God in the face of fear. Only David remembered God and rose up to the challenge of facing the God-defying Goliath.

“You come against the sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord”, said David to Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:45. With his faith in God, David drew courage from it and defeated a 3 metre tall fully armed giant with only a sling and a stone.

The seemingly small and weak David represents you while the supposedly high and mighty Goliath represents the hindrances to your relationship to God. Hindrances include sin, pride, heart still with the world, no time etcetera. Such hindrances can overwhelm you and affect your relationship with God. Just like how the Israelites were so overwhelmed by Goliath that they failed to seek God.

We are weak against the obstacles preventing us from maintaining our relationship with God, if we do not seek him enough. When the barrier to knowing God becomes too overwhelming to overcome, you cannot possibly do it alone. Can you imagine a little naked boy with five stones single handedly defeating a fully geared Godzilla twice his size and strength? Honestly, it is more likely for Singapore to beat Brazil 5-0 in the World Cup. But if you courageously and faithfully cling on to your faith and constantly seek to better your relationship with God, He will give you strength to kill every Goliath that lies in your journey with Him.

Be faithful to God, because He is a faithful God. Possessing faith the size of a mustard seed already empowers you to move a mountain. How little faith is required of you to defeat the Goliaths of your life when you seek God. How little faith is required of you to overcome the hindrances to seeking God.

Always seek God first, before any one else. For you alone are too feeble to defeat Goliath. Nor is any one else.

Fear not, as God will never forsake you when you seek Him.

Any relationship, including that with God, requires knowledge and understanding which has to be built upon a long term basis. Read the bible frequently and seek to understand the word of God. As you grow in understanding of God, you become closer to Him.

What really strengthens a relationship is overcoming the hindrances to that relationship and what is most challenging about a relationship is maintaining it.

Commit to this relationship with God, and always desire to be close to Him who is more than willing to give you nothing less than the perfect love.

Relationships are two way, and God has already done His part by being faithful despite your imperfections. It is up to you to complete this wonderful relationship with God. And when you do, not even a million Goliaths can stand in your way.

Faith is such a powerful weapon. Do not be afraid of any thing that threatens it.

Rather, draw courage from faith. For God is bound to you by relationship.

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