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?

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.

 

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.

God’s Perfect Judgement

14-4-2008

1 Samuel 16:7b reads “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart.”The first section of 1 Samuel 16 tells the story of the anointing of David by Samuel as King of Israel. David was personally chosen by God through Samuel.God chose to anoint the most unlikely of candidates in the eyes of man. David was the youngest son of Jesse Bethleham who was the servant of Saul. He took on a minor role in the family, which was to look after the sheep. On top of that, David was considered so insignificant in the family that he was not even required to turn up to let Samuel determine if he could become king. David was young, inexperienced and had no status in society. He was judged by man to be a “small fry”, incapable of greatness. But it was this servant of servants who was king of kings in the eyes of God. Sure enough, God’s judgement was spot on and David went on to do many great things.The story of David’s anointing glorifies the perfection of God’s judgement as well as exposes the weakness of man’s flawed judgement. Through David, God has humbled man by blatantly showing them that they are in no position to judge one another. For man is unable to look deeper than the outward appearance of things. But God looks deeper within and judges beyond appearance and most of the time, beyond your comprehension. David’s anointing serves as a strong reminder that it is wrong for you to judge.

Do not, therefore, judge the people God has put into your life. For God has already judged for you when He provided you with these people.

Embrace all people you encounter, for God has placed them in your life for a reason.

Judge them and you judge the God who gave them to you.

Every one in your life is God-send and serves a purpose.

Do not judge who God provides, but let God judge who to provide.

Trust God’s judgement, because it can only be perfect.

 

 

 

 

The Power of God’s Will

13-4-2008

1 Samuel 14:6b.

“Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”

The story of “Jonathan attacks the Philistines” in 1 Samuel 14 tells of an incredible testimony of victory with God. In summary, Jonathan defeated a whole army of Philistines together with one armour bearer. All because He followed God.

In the story, Jonathan made decisions which completely defied logical thinking and reasoning.

Firstly, he ventured deep into Philistine territory with his armour bearer being his one and only companion when he could have had 600 men to back him up. Why bring along 1 when he could have taken 600?

Secondly, he did not inform anyone else of his decision to enter enemy territory, putting himself at a greater risk than he already was in. As if the risk was not big enough. It meant that nobody would come to Jonathan’s rescue if he got into trouble.

Thirdly, to get to the enemy required a lot of physical effort. Jonathan and his armour bearer had to climb up a steep cliff (as can be shown from the fact that Jonathan had to climb up using both his hands and feet). It is exhausting to even reach the enemy, let alone engage them in battle. Furthermore, it is a basic military concept that being on higher ground gives one an unfair advantage over the enemy. Yet Jonathan and his armour bearer, knowing this surely, chose to give the enemy this advantage by approaching from lower ground.

As son of the great Saul and born into a family of status, one would not expect Jonathan to make such choices that a fool would probably have made. Every thing Jonathan did was absolute stupidity by human standards. However, he not only survived the handicap battle but emerged victorious. The question is, how could he do it?

The answer lies in 1 Samuel 14:6. “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.” Jonathan followed the signs and followed God’s plan eventually. He was not afraid to go ahead, because he knew it was God’s will for him. He was already assured that God would save him from anything before he went ahead.

God demonstrates the sheer might of His will, in that whatever He means to happen is bound to happen and whoever has faith and does His will always be victorious. If it is possible for one man can defeat an army with God, then surely you can defeat the problems of in your life with God. God wants to remind you that with Him, there is nothing too big to accomplish.

And when you choose to follow God and His plan, He will be there to provide for you. He will ensure your victory. He will save you if you need to be saved. Did God not shake the ground and send panic to the Philistines to help Jonathan win the war? Did Jonathan not emerge victorious despite being grossly outnumbered?

No matter how high the odds, how impossible the situation, if you do God’s will you can overcome the world because God acts on your behalf.

God’s will be done, and be done in victory. Such is the power of God’s will.