AbeLog

The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. They said therefore to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.” (John 19:23-24)

What a strange passage to learn about Jesus! At the final moment of His life on earth, hanging there on the Cross, He was still in control. While everyone thought that Jesus had lost the battle with Satan, and Satan and his devils was grinning away thinking that they had won; but Jesus was still in control. For Jesus to stay up there on the Cross, it was not the work of the devil, but it was because of His love and His willingness to demonstrate such love to us. Jesus was in control.

When I am meditating on this passage, the phrase “the Scripture might be fulfilled” caught my attention. I do not know how other perceives such phrase, but for me, it means Jesus knows what is in the Scripture, and He has the power and obligation to fulfill what is written in the Scripture, for the Scripture is His Holy Word. Jesus will fulfill His Word; Jesus will help us to fulfill His Word too.

The Scripture means different things to different people. For the mystics, the Scripture has some mystical power and if they do according to the Scripture, they will have the power or might be able to experience the presence of God in a very tangible manner. I also believe that the Scripture has the power which I cannot explain in simple term, and it is a mystery to me how the Scripture can convict sins and bring people to salvation. But many mystics are persuading people to forsake logical thinking and just practice the Scriptural discipline and pursue the mystical experience. I think this is overdone. For the evangelicals, the Scripture is some authorized document which has to be properly studied and understood so that it may transform the lives of those who read it. Surely, I agreed that we have to study the Scripture carefully and not misinterpret it and misapply it. But many evangelicals have also forsaken the possibility of mystical power the Scripture posses and only devote themselves in scholarships and academic research. I think this is overdone too. For the liberals, the Scripture is merely some clever writing which is very inspirational and motivational for good living. There is no power in the Scripture and no need for any careful studies as each can interpret the Scripture according to their preference. I think this should not be done, though I agree that the Scripture can be inspirational and motivational, but only when interpret correctly and with the empowerment of Holy Spirit in a mystical way.

Jesus did not come to abolish the Laws but to fulfill them (Matt. 5:17). Jesus came to fulfill the Scripture. He is still fulfilling His very own Word right now. Jesus desires us to also live according to His Word, so that He can continue to fulfill the Scripture through us. Are you living according to the Scripture?

I have made many irritating comments and examples of how one is to live according to the Word of God in obedience. I have gotten feedback that I am being too unrealistic and too legalistic and even too sarcastic. But I am merely trying to faithful to what I understand from the Scripture with my thinking mind and write them down in a practical challenge as the Holy Spirit leads me in a mystical way. I can honestly confess that, I am guilty too for not living up to many of those examples I have given. I just walked pass a beggar at the MRT station near my place yesterday and pretended I did not see him. I have forsaken an opportunity to fulfill the Scripture for Jesus in caring for the poor. I was also angry with my wife for not appreciating me for doing all the housework yesterday, as she commented on how careless I was for not looking into some details. I was really upset, and have failed to fulfill the Scripture for Jesus by submitting to one another commanded by Apostle Paul in his letter to Ephesus. I have failed to fulfill the Scripture for Jesus too many areas in my life and I am even ashamed to write them down here. How about you?

Maybe today I should not give any example but to pray for you that the Holy Spirit will search you and prompt you to fulfill the Scripture for Jesus as you are reading and studying it.

HHS…
Abel…

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
It is already 5pm when I am writing this. I am not too sure if I should even write, but anyway, I still write. I write, not because of obligation, for there is not one checking on me or holding me accountable if I don’t write. I write, not because it is my job, no one is paying me to do it; at least the church is not paying me to write. I write because I need to keep on practicing this spiritual exercise to keep my spiritual life fit. This is the reason I write.

I keep writing devotion is so that I will keep doing my devotion, and spend time thinking through the word of God and letting the word of God penetrates me through and through. Recently I have not been jogging for awhile because I had flu two weeks ago. But when I restarted my routine last Thursday evening, I had my whole body’s muscles aching on Friday. I know that my age is catching up, but I also know that it is because I have not been training for awhile. This applies to our spiritual life.

John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him while he was baptizing people at the Jordon River (v28). John’s spiritual exercise was to keep baptizing people, mine is keep writing devotional journal; and that is where I see Jesus coming to me. John say Jesus coming to him to take away the sins of the world, but I see Jesus coming to me comforting me, confronting me, guiding me and empowering me.

I know that the key to such encounter have to begin with consistence spiritual discipline. There are Christians who don’t believe in practicing spiritual discipline. They believe that they are saved by grace and that is enough. They would consider practicing spiritual discipline is an act of lack of faith. Some would go for special meeting just to have an encounter with Jesus and happy chasing after “anointed” speakers rather than spending time practicing spiritual discipline. I am not saying that we are saved by our practice of spiritual disciple, but rather I am saying that salvation begins by grace and continues by practicing spiritual discipline in faith. I am also not against attending “special” meeting and ignore that fact that there are “anointed” people of God being use to usher in the presence of God. But I am very sure that any of these “anointed” speakers will strongly encourage us to read our bible, spend time praying and do good to others.

Only those who keep doing these things will see Jesus coming to them. If we are not doing good or following the way of Jesus, I am not too sure if we really want Jesus coming to us. I can imagine that we are not keeping the word of God because we have not been reading it and we are in the middle of some sinful acts, we will not want Jesus to come and stand before us. That will not be the best timing. Even if He comes, we will not recognize Him, because we are not familiar with Him.

The bottom line is, keep practicing the spiritual disciplines, and wait for Jesus coming to you. If you have been reading my devotion, good for you, but this should not be your devotion, this is mine devotion. You should also have your own time with God and wait for Jesus coming there. He will takes away sins, and bring to you healing and comfort, power and strength.

Jesus coming…
HHS….
Abel…

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

Recently, I started to learn driving again. For me, to drive a car is not easy; as it is so much bigger than the motorbike I used to ride. I have difficulty estimating the space I need and often get distracted by this. But my instructor keeps telling me the same thing, over and over again: no matter what, when you are driving on the road, fix your eyes on the road ahead of you. Yes, I may have to pay some attention to the things happening around, to see if there is any car tailgates behind me, to see if there is a motorbike at my blind spot areas? But my primary focus and concern must be the road ahead of me.

And this again reminds me when I was learning riding; I need to clear a “S” course swiftly and safely. I was a thirty over year old man when I was learning riding. In order to clear that “S” course, I need to bend my bike low and maintain the speed of the bike. I always have this fear if I bend to low or am I going too fast. I kept looking at the floor and my speedometer. And I kept failing this “S” course and of course kept falling off the bike. Thanks to all the elbow and knee guards provided by the driving center, if not because of these, I will have plenty of injuries. The instructor taught me a “secret” to clear that “S” course. That is, don’t look at the speed or the floor; just keep my eyes fix on the road which my bike is supposed to go. Look far, look ahead. And surely, after applying these truths, I passed my “S” course and passed my riding test at one sitting! What an achievement for a thirty over year old man.

Likewise, we are on our journey to eternity. There are many temptations, distractions and whatever along the ways that will cause us to be detouring from our course, and may even be preventing us from getting to our destiny. But the author of Hebrews said: Fixing our eyes on Jesus. And the word “fixing” is a participle in Greek, which means it is a mean by which for something else to be accomplished. In this case, the context is the journey towards Christ. This simply implies that the only way we can get to the other side of eternity safely, is by fixing our eyes on Jesus.

Fix your eyes on Jesus, not the number of hours you spend on bible study. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not the success in your career. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not the number of A’s you get for your “O” and “A” levels. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not the car you drive or the house you stay in. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not the achievement of your children. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not the number of sermons you preach and the number of invitations to preach (this is for me). Fix your eyes on Jesus, not on the worries of life. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not on your deteriorating health. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not on the giants in your life. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not on the promotion and the pay increment of your colleague. Fix your eyes on Jesus, not on the economic crisis which is coming. Fix your eyes on Jesus.

How to fix your eyes on Jesus? His Word, His World and His Work. This sounds like a three point sermon. To fix your eyes on Jesus is to fix your eyes on His Word in the Scriptures. I am not referring to exegesis or theological study, but simply reading the Scriptures and letting the Word to dwell in you. Abide in the Word and the World abides in you (to be found in John 15). To fix your eyes on Jesus is to fix your position with His World as in the people He has given you. Your world of people is the World He gives you; stay connected with people in small group, in fellowship and in church. Let them hold you accountable and they too need you to hold them accountable. Accountability can be fulfilled if there is a relationship, and relationship needs to be build within the World Jesus has given to you. To fix your eyes on Jesus is also fix your eyes on His Work, the works of the Holy Spirit. You must always try to remember the work of grace in your life, the prayer that has been answered, and the miracles of God in your life; by simply giving thanks. To be a Christian, is to give thanks.

Fix your eyes on Jesus and you are on your way to eternity. The right way. Fixing your eyes on Jesus.

HHS…

Abel…

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. (John 3:17)

The most favorite verse in the Bible for our new age generation is Matthew 7:1 (you go and find out what it is). We live in a world where there is no absolute standard and what are almost like the people living in the days of Judges: everyone did what was right in his own eyes (Jud 21:25). And we Christians, especially the Evangelicals, desire the world to have a standard moral system base on the authority of the Word of God, and we begin to judge others by the way we interpret the Scripture.

I am not against having a standard moral system for the people of God to abide and live by. Unless we live according to the Word of God, we cannot please God. But when we judge others, we are being judged too at the same time. We are judged by the way we judge others. We are judged when we condemn homosexuality while we condone ourselves while we are looking at bikini models in the sports cars magazines. We are judged when we despised those who are not tithing while we are satisfied with our ten percent giving and ignored the beggar whom we pass by day in and day out at the MRT station. We are judged by the way we judge others.

Therefore, we leave the judging to Jesus. But He says that He did not come into the world to judge, but to save. I have problem with such statement in the Bible. How can Jesus let the crook who raped and murdered to get away and not be caught? How can Jesus let the manufacturer who produced tainted and poisonous dairy product to simply get scot-free by simply paying some compensation? How can Jesus allow bailout for those banks and financial institutes while they are living in extravagant at a spa resort but causing the world economic to go into a crisis and many lives will deeply affected? We want justice. We want Jesus to give us justice. We want Jesus to judge them! We want them to be judged severely by Jesus. But Jesus did not come to judge, but to save.

After a long pondering of this truth, I come to realize and understand what Jesus meant here. I think you may already understand; it is just that I am slower in understanding Jesus. We are already judged by our deeds. When we do not believe in Jesus, we are judge (v18). There is no need for Jesus to really judge us again. When we click onto a pornography website, our conscience quicken by the Holy Spirit will tell us that we are being judged; but Jesus saves and forgive when we ask for forgiveness and repent. When we ignore the beggar at the MRT station, Matthew 25:31-46 will inform you that we are being judged; but Jesus saves and bring someone else to demonstrate to you what it meant to love others. When we rather spend tens of thousands of dollars to buy a car than peeling off sufficient parking coupons, the mentioning of “Aunty Fatimah” (a nick name I give to car park warden: I think I am judge for stereotyping) will bring our mind to the realization that we are being judged; but Jesus saves though He will not pay for the fines.

We are already judge. There is no need for Jesus to judge, therefore, Jesus saves. The next time when we want to comment or criticize someone else, check our motives first, we are being judged. The next time we want to say any unkind words to those who are mean to us, hold back our tongues, we are being judged. But the good news is that Jesus saves. We Christians will have this assurance that Jesus who have the right to judge, but does not choose to judge but rather extend His grace to us, so that we can be saved. We judge, Jesus saves. We are judged, but Jesus saves. Are you saved by Jesus? Or are you still under the judgment of your own deeds?

HHS…

Abel…

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. And they stripped Him, and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they kneeled down before Him, saying. “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Matthew 27:27-29)

Have you been humiliated before? What is the most shameful or embarrassed moment in your life? There are many of embarrassing moments in my life, so much so that I cannot pinpoint the most embarrassed moment. Perhaps, I am the embarrassment. I embarrass my Lord. I embarrass His name. I feel embarrassed whenever people say good about me, especially about my preaching, because I know from deep within, I have not put in good enough effort to prepare that sermon. I am embarrassed when I turn my head to look at a pretty girl in the MRT train when I am supposed to be a pastor, an ambassador for Christ. I struggle with embarrassment, I struggle until I am almost immune to embarrassment.

Jesus was not only embarrassed, but humiliated. He was stripped. Most portrays of Jesus humiliation will leave Him with an undergarment, but the Bible says He was stripped, and to me, stripped means stripped to nakedness. Jesus was naked, I supposed. I am not demeaning or blaspheming Jesus, but I just want us to realize how bad Jesus was being humiliated. He was stripped. And then the Roman soldiers dressed Him up like a “king”. Scarlet robe, crown of thorns and a reed in His right hand; these were symbols of a king, but a defeated king. To add on to Jesus’ humiliation, they kneeled before Him and “proclaimed” Jesus as king of the Jews. This is a total mockery. I wonder what was happening on the other side of eternity; what were the host of angels and God the Father doing and thinking.

Probably, Michael, the archangel, would have gathered all the warring angels in battle order. They were all lined up in formation, ready to charge down from heaven to rescue the Son of God. Maybe, Michael was waiting attentively before the throne of God the Father, for the order and permission to activate the entire host of angels who were on alert red standby. They were all ready; all they needed was a word from the throne, a command from Michael after he received the green signal. But nothing happened. Not a single word from the Father God, not a breath from Him, but Michael could have probably notice that tears were flowing down the cheek of the Father and at the same time, He was emitting a sense of joy of approval of the work of His Son.

I was not there, I don’t really know what could have happened in heaven, and these were only my imagination. But why Jesus, the Son of God who can command the entire host of angels and the Creator of the world, allowed Himself to be embarrassed and humiliated by His creation? I know why; because this is the Way. This is the way for Him to demonstrate His love, this is the way for Him to show us the Way, and this is the only way.

Jesus does not need to suffer, to be humiliated and to be embarrassed, but He did. He did so that when we are embarrassed, we know Jesus understands; when we are humiliate, we know Jesus cares; when we are suffering, we know Jesus had been there and also here for us.

I am embarrassed to admit that I have abandoned Jesus when I am faced with trials and humiliation. I am embarrassed by some of the thoughts and feeling I have when someone irritates me. But I am even more embarrassed to come before Jesus and knowing well that He will forgive all my thoughts and deeds. This is grace. I need to response to such grace. I am really working very hard, disciplining myself with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to think right, and behave right. I am not there yet, but I am on my way to feel less embarrassed.

If you are not embarrassed at all but the things you do or the words you say or the thoughts you have, good for you. But do a reality check about your relationship with Jesus who had bore all the humiliation and judgment of our sins, so that we can really live a life of being a true disciple.

I bet that Jesus’ disciples were embarrassed by Him for allowing the Roman soldiers to strip Him and humiliate Him. No wonder they were not there, only Jesus was there. But they turned their embarrassment into an unstoppable force for the gospel to spread across the space and time until today.

I am embarrassed, but I will try and train myself to live a life, worthy to be called the disciple of Jesus Christ.

HHS…
Abel…

Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. (John 16:32)

I am not too sure why I am feeling so sleepy when I am writing this. Maybe it is because I worked full day yesterday and had a long meeting after that and discussing some emotionally draining matters. Maybe it is because my coffee this morning is not powerful enough. Maybe it is because I am simply weak and tired and God just wants me to have more rest. Anyway, I am sleepy.

Sleepy brain does not produce alert mind, and without alert mind, I am not too sure what am I writing. I should know what I mean by now, do you?

Let me try to start all over again.

An hour is coming and has already come. What is this ‘hour’? Of course this is not referring to a specific time as in 4pm or 5am, but rather this hour is a time or season or moment whereby certain event is taking place. So what is this ‘hour’ Jesus is referring to? He is referring to His crucifixion on the Cross. He is referring to the moment whereby He demonstrates God’s perfect love by dying on the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins, the sins of ALL humanity. He will be there alone. He has to be there on the Cross alone.

Though there were two other criminals besides Him, He was there alone; alone on His own Cross. His disciples had scattered as He had predicted. His disciples had gone back to their own homes, doing their own things as He had foretold. Some went into hiding, some went fishing, and one went into the hand of Satan. Whatever and wherever His disciples were, they were not with Him on the Cross, even the Father seemed to have withdrawn His presence from Him. He was all alone on the Cross, but Jesus said that yet He was not alone, because the Father was with Him.

Jesus knows that His Father is always with Him, even when He was on the Cross. Though Jesus might have called out: ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI? Which means: My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? This does not imply God was not presence during the crucifixion. But God the Father had chosen to let Jesus to demonstrate to the world His love by such a painful manner, so that the world might know that Jesus is truly the Son of God when He resurrected from the dead three days later. As for that moment, as for that hour, Jesus was alone on the Cross, even in His fully human form, He sensed the forsakenness of God, but He was very sure that He was not alone on the Cross for the Father was there too.

This is a very difficult truth to grasp. Some anti-Christian theologian accused God for doing what he called: Cosmic Child Abuse. But the reality is that it was we human being, and the bondage of our sins nailed Jesus on the Cross. Jesus never went to Cross alone, God was with Him there.

Likewise, we can never go through moments of trials and pains and suffering without God noticing it. We can never escape the eyes of God even though He seems to us that His back is facing us or rather our back is facing Him. I have gone my moments of darkness in life, I have experienced the forsakenness of God in those moments; God was so aloof and He didn’t seem to be there where I was. But in reality, from the hind side, I know for sure, God has never left me, He was always there waiting for me.

I am not alone, because God is with me. You are not alone, because God is with you. You are not alone when you are going through O or A levels and you don’t seem to be able to finish all you need to study and you may even fail, God is with you at where you fail. You are not alone when you are facing the current financial crisis and your job may be at stake, God is with you even if you are to be axed. You are not alone when your relationship with your love ones turn sour and they seem to be scattering away from you and leaving you alone, God is with you as you reflect and examine your life and those relationship. You are not alone when you are so upset about what is happening in the world and around you for all the injustice and moral failures, God is with you and transformation is taking place starting from you, within you. You are not alone, you are never alone.

The hour has already come. For God, the Holy Spirit is always dwelling within you. Open up your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength to receive the awareness of Him in you. You can never be alone, for the Holy Spirit is in you. This is the hour: you are not alone.

HHS…

Abel…

Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. (John 14:1)

Life can be full of troubles, but may not necessary to have our heart be troubled. Life is full of troubles; financial crisis from the United States of America has hit the European countries hard and coming over to Asia very soon, our jobs can be in troubles. Life is full of troubles; tainted dairy products from China are affecting wide across the world, babies are dying, and we are in troubles. Life is full of troubles; foreign workers are in living next to the rich at Serangoon Garden, no matter what the government tries to do, it does not seem to be able to appease these landed property owners, I can sense troubles stirring up; not by the foreign workers, but the residents of Serangoon Garden. Life is full of troubles; isn’t it?

But let not our hearts be troubled; let not our hearts be overwhelmed by what is happening around us; let our hearts continue to believe in God and in Jesus. Sometime, when I look at the amount of work I have and the amount of time I have, my heart can be troubled. How on earth can I ever complete them? Keep believing in God, and keep believing in Jesus. When your health is giving you problems, your heart can be troubled; but keep believing in God and in Jesus. When your career and future is uncertain and unclear, your heart can be troubled; but keep believing in God and in Jesus. When your marriage and some other significant relationships in your life are straining, your heart can be troubled; but keep believing in God and in Jesus.

By believing in God and in Jesus does not mean that your troubles will disappear miraculously. By believing in God and in Jesus does not mean that I will have more time and my work load will vanish into the thin air, but I can have the right focus and trust that God will be still pleased with me even though I cannot deliver my work. By believing in God and in Jesus does not mean that you will receive healing immediately, but you will know that God still loves you very much as you fix your eyes on Him. By believing in God and in Jesus does not mean that you will know for sure of your future and career path, but you know that God will guide you and lead you as you draw yourself closer to Him day after day. By believing in God and in Jesus does not mean that your marriage will be excellent, neither does it mean that your relationship with other significant individuals in your life will improve tremendously, but you will know that God is molding your characters through these relationships.

Let not your heart be troubled; believed in God and in Jesus. Let not your heart be trouble; read the love letter from God to you everyday to be reminded of His love for you. Let not your heart be in trouble; spend time dwelling in God’s presence every morning or evening, allowing Him to refresh you spiritually, emotionally and also physically. Let not your heart be trouble; meet up with fellow believers who also believe in God and in Jesus for encouragement and accountability. Let not your heart be in troubled; start sharing with others (including pre-believers) how is your journey with God and with Jesus. Only when you have a relationship with Jesus, then you can believe in Him. You cannot believe in God and in Jesus if you do not have a relationship with Him, then your heart will be troubled.

Let not your heart be troubled.

HHS…
Abel…

Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32)

Confession is good for the soul. I am not too sure if this statement is found in the Bible, but certainly, this is a good biblical principle. Confession is more than telling others about your sins and wrongdoing; it is also a verbal declaration of your stand and being truthful to what you believe. Jesus says in today’s verse: If we confess Him before others, He will confess us before His Father (Abel’s paraphrase).

To confess Jesus seems to be an easy task. It is easy to tell others that we are a Christian, we go to church every Sunday, some of us go to church even on Saturday, many of us will also tell our friends that we have small groups meeting on Friday or some other weekday or weekend evening, and some of us either wear a cross to indicate that we are a Christian or pray before we eat or have a bumper sticker on our car saying: Christ lives in us. We have many ways to let people know that we are Christians. When we fill up forms, in the section which asks for our religion, we will write down: Christian; and some who want to be more precise will write either Protestant or Presbyterian or Methodist or whatever denomination we belong to.

Wikipedia tells us that Christians in Singapore constitute approximately 14.6% of the country’s population; 4.8% (32.9% of Christians) being Catholics and the remaining 9.8% (67.1% of Christians) being of other mostly Protestant denominations and traditions (taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_Singapore). Given the population of Singapore is about 4.6 million, this implies that we have about 672 000 of Christians in Singapore. Wow! That’s a lot of people.

But to confess Jesus is more than just a number or a figure among the 672 000 people in Singapore, it is about living a life which reflect and declare a stand about Jesus. Yes, confessing Jesus is to be a distinct representative of Jesus. It is not a declaration of our religion or denomination. Unless we truly confess Jesus with our lives, then Jesus will also confess us before His Father, declaring us to be His children too. What right do we have to be God’s children? Absolutely no rights. If not because of Jesus, we have no rights in God’s kingdom. If not because of what Jesus had done of us on the Cross, we have no rights to salvation. How do you confess Jesus?

I have been preaching about truth lately. And truth is not merely an abstract idea of sincerity or being real or genuine; truth is the word of God, truth is Jesus Himself. Unless we know the truth and live out the truth, we have disobeyed Him. I am also re-reading a book: Choose the Life by Bill Hull, the guy who comes out with disciple-making process, T-Net. He reckoned that being a Christian is to be a disciple; we cannot be a Christian without being a disciple. And Bonhoeffer is quoted again and again: Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. In other words, if we are not willing to be a true disciple of Jesus and live a life which reflects the love of Christ and keep on doing things which is only convenient to ourselves, we are not exactly confessing Jesus, and I wonder if Jesus will confess us before His Father.

If you reading this and think that I am being too harsh, I am not going to apologize. I not saying that you have to immediately give up everything and join full time ministry, but I am asking that we examine our attitude and way of life, and see if we are living in accordance to the Word of God and will other see Christ through us; especially if we have been Christians for more than three years.

I am not invoking us to be extreme radical, but at least being kind to the people around you whom we don’t even like; it is easy to reflect Christlikeness before people who are nice to you, but really a challenge to those whom you really hated for whatever reason. Maybe we should reflect why we have such negative feelings towards other people. Does having such negative feelings and even hatred, reflect Christ?

Confess Jesus with your life, because Jesus has confessed us before His Father by going to the Cross for us. Confession is indeed good for our souls. May your soul go well as you confess Christ by giving a tip to the taxi driver even you sense that he has intentionally cheated you by going a longer way, and you confess to him: Jesus loves you and blesses you. May your soul be well as you confess Christ by helping the colleague or superior who has been very mean to you, and you confess to him: Jesus loves you and blesses you. May your soul be well as you confess Christ by cheerfully buy a cake or some fruits to give it to your neighbor who you have not spoken to ever since you have been living in that neighborhood, and confess to them: Jesus loves you and blesses you.

May your soul be well as you confess Jesus.

HHS…

Abel…

But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray. (Luke 5:16)

It is not good for the man to be alone (Gen 2:18), that was why God created woman and family so that we can be connected with each other. Connectedness is the key to a meaningful relationship and self-identity. We need to be constantly connected with people around us and also with God. These two prongs of connectedness is not an option, it is something meant to be good for our soul.

We are very good in connecting with people; we have the technology to stay in connection. We have mobile phones whereby we can SMS, we have internet whereby we can stay in touch and make friends through Facebook and Friendster, and all sort of other platform in the virtual world to stay connected. But are we really having meaningful relationship with people? We have lost the art of communication. We have lost the personal touch with each other. We have lost ourselves in the midst of the virtual world. We can be with many people, but yet feeling lonely.

Being alone and being lonely are two different things altogether. We can be alone and not feeling lonely. Like Jesus, He would often slip away into wilderness where He could be alone. The Bible says, He Himself, and this indicated that there was no one else going into the wilderness with Him. But when He prays, we know that He is in connection with God, His Father. He did not slip away only when He felt that He was burning out, He often slipped away. I suppose He did it regularly.  And I wonder, how often do we slip away to be alone with God?

When Jesus was alone with God in the wilderness, He prayed. Yes, Jesus prayed. Jesus was in active conversation with God. He realized that He needed to be constantly in connection with God. It was not so much that when He was praying, some supernatural power will come down to Him and recharged Him for ministry. Jesus simply wanted to be with Himself and with God. He wanted to be in the presence of His Father to be reminded: how precious He is to His Heavenly Father.

This is the reason why we need to be alone with God. We are not to be alone by ourselves. We are not to be alone and shut everyone else out, including God, but we are to be alone and pray. As we pray, we are in connection with God, we are in conversation with God, and we are in relationship with God. And at the same time, we are in connection with ourselves again. We need time to reflect our lives, we need time to examine our relationships, we need time to look at the condition of our soul, and we need time to be with ourselves and rest.

If you have not been resting lately, take time to be with yourself and rest. As Jesus went into the wilderness by Himself, you yourself should also often slip into the wilderness and pray. Stay connected. You and yourself.

HHS…

Abel…  

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (John 11:40)

Yesterday was a restful day, it was both the Children’s Day and a public holiday for Hari Raya Puasa for the Muslim. I managed to wake up slightly later which was much needed for me. I had a bit of flu which caused my nose to be blocked and runny at the same time; it was because I had not been resting enough for the past few days. Though I was not able to bring my daughter out for a swim or play with her more, we did have some good time together at home. I just had to take life easy and enjoy every moments given by God.

The problem with us as modern day people, not only for Christians, we do not know how to trust in God by taking life easy and enjoying every moments. This is especially true for a fast-paced society like Singapore. We either has to make things happened or at least to be a happening person, it is not socially acceptable to simply waiting for things to happen. This is all in the name of improvement and advancement. But my questions will be: what are we improving to become? Where are we advancing to? Not many people can give me an answer.

Some will want to improve themselves with more certificates, with more gadgets and with a better image that they see on advertisement and movies. Some will want to advance in their academic pursues, career and their circle of authority. I do not see that there is anything wrong with all these pursues in life, in fact life without motivation to improve and advance will be really meaningless and become stagnant. But in the midst of all these pursue, there is one very obvious central motivation and purpose: that is they have to depend on themselves for having quality life rather than trusting in God to provide for them.

People spend all their resources and energies to go after qualification, career success, bigger bank account, faster cars, larger homes, and even recognitions from people they don’t even recognized. Recently, in the studies of Biblical Finance, I come across this expression about our modern generation of people: we spend the money that we don’t have to buy the things which we don’t need to impress the people whom we don’t even like or know.

This is even true in our Christian circle. We spend so much time in improving our music, but not able to enjoy the moment with God in worship. We spend so much energy in moving up in our leadership in church, but not able to enjoy the moment of being a servant to one another. We spend so much money in upgrading our church building and facilities, but not able to enjoy the fellowship with each others. We spend so much in pursuing Christianity, but not able to enjoy Jesus for a very short moment in our life.

The bottom line of all these is that we believe in ourselves more that we believe in God. We believe that if we have better music, we will be able to worship better; but we only need to believe in Jesus whom we worship in order to worship. We believe that if we have better leadership, we will be able to serve more people; but we are only called to serve as a servant, as the Lord pleases. We believe that if we have a bigger church building and more rooms and facilities, we will be able to have meaningful fellowship; but it is the people of God whom we are fellowshipping with, not the building or the room or the facility. We believe in the Christianity we have created, but not the Christ whom have created us.

Jesus wanted to be in our midst and perform miracles in our lives, but we have been so conditioned by the kind of Christianity we have believed in; we have not really believed in Jesus Himself. Jesus was in the midst of the people who were mourning for the death of Lazarus. Martha and Mary had believed in Jesus, but with their own understanding. They believed that Jesus could raise the dead, only if the deceased was less than three days; and Lazarus had been dead four days (v39), that’s beyond what they believed of Jesus. They had created a Jesus whereby they failed to recognize that the real Jesus was speaking and able to do beyond any human can imagine, if they believe.

If you believe, we can worship God even without music or singing out of tune. If you believe, we can serve one another without even having any title. If you believe, we can fellowship and impact each other lives anywhere and anytime. If you believe, we can enjoy the moments of Jesus in our lives. If you believe, you will see the glory of God.

Is there issue and situation in your life whereby you finding ways or methods to solve and overcome them? It may be an illness which has been with you for years and you have sought medical treatment from doctors and spiritual intervention from some spiritual leaders, but if you really believe in Jesus, you will see the glory and the healing power of God in your life as He unfolds for you, moment by moment. It may be some kind of spiritual fatigue which causes you not wanting to have fellowship with people and you have been reading and praying for a breakthrough, but if you believe in Jesus, you will firstly enjoy your moment with Him and slowly but surely you will enjoy your moment with His people.  It may even be some difficult decisions to be made in life and you seek counsel and advice from leaders which makes you more confuse, but if you believe in Jesus, you will find the peace in the moment you make the right decision.

If you believe, you will see the glory of God. If you believe, you will enjoy the moment with Him. If you believe, you will live your every moment with Jesus in it. If you believe. Do you believe?

HHS…
Abel…