Come when invited

Luke 15:15

Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.' 

If you know me, I've a mean rebellious streak. I'm never one for traditions and would question rationale and reasons of why things are being done. I guess the years of attending so many church meetings and having returned with nothing has resulted in me being very closed minded when it comes to attending events I perceive have no value to me.   Everything is really about me, my time and myself. 

Therefore, I'm really grateful for God's willingness to not let me be and spiral into a life of self-destruct. Instead, He works in my life through gracious promptings of His intentions for me, often it goes past my hardened, stubborn shell and I nudge myself to submit.

These 2 nights, church re-organised its annual leaders retreat from an overseas camp format into 2 nightly seminars. I've never felt the need to attend the annual retreat so when the invitation for the 2 night seminars was delivered to me via post, I groaned. It did help that the speaker would be Ps Naomi Dowdy, someone esteemed and is really hard to secure.

Somehow, I knew in me that I needed to let go of all my biased thoughts and feeling to attend, in-spite of the nagging feeling of dread. Even in the time as I walked to church, I struggled with the act of obedience. Times like this, being a matured christian really isn't a good thing as we have too much 'baggage' and aren't as hungry for God as new christians.

As the revelations of God spoke to me through the teaching of the word, each sharp and clear, I knew I was predestined to come. God and me needed that simple, but important session. 

Sadly, many of my fellow commanders weren't there and it convicted me that we who serve actively, often forget to return back to God's presence to feed. That's why, we end up serving the ministry in our own competencies and without new revelations of how to break the challenges facing our lives and ministry. Simply because if we can't be bothered to go back to God for new directions and to be renewed at significant milestones, there is little reason why God will want to give us more tasks and increase the works we do for His kingdom based on our old understanding. 

As you read the parable of the wedding banquet in Luke 14, may you and I learn to be sensitive to obediently RSVP to the invitations sent out by our church leaders and God.

M.

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13)

Much fruit

John 15:5

He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit

The word "abide," means "to stay in a given place, to maintain unbroken fellowship and communion with another."

As earlier posted, the ANTC gave us a lot of time to reflect on John 15 and allow the Lord to minister to us individually. Personally, it was really physically tiring despite the fact I wasn’t a camper, but every day I somehow found the strength and mental alertness.

In the simple honesty of the word of God, I was challenged to bear much fruit. Not bear some fruit, but much. If you love durians like me and have seen a real durian tree in season, you get really excited to see a tree that is bursting with so many huge, spiky durians. I’ve even witnessed many clusters of durians growing in low level branches that are shorter than my height. What a treat it will be for the owner of the tree when all the fruits are ripe and ready to be sold.

It’s a simple promise. Remain in constant fellowship with God and we will bear much fruit. Much fruit! However, the challenge is always to be single minded and faithful to abide in God. Honestly, it isn’t a very challenging thing to remain, but somehow it’s just so easy to be distracted and unfaithful. No thanks to this corruptible sinful nature in us. However, enough with all the pathetic excuses, with God’s help, nothing is impossible.

M.

"How excellent  is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings." (Pslam 36:7)

God is truly God.

Psalms 91:1-2

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust."

I received this insightful explanation of Psalms 91:1-2 from my email devotion from Ps Greg Laurie. It's so clear about how God is explained that I shall officially quote and lift what he explained (in a lighter shade of colour) and hope you'll revel in the truth to describe God and His great character.

"The words used in Psalm 91:1–2 include ‘Elyôwn, Shaddai, Jehovah, and ’Elōhîm. First, we have "the Most High:" "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High. . . ." The Hebrew word used here for Most High, ‘Elyôwn, speaks of possession. It is the idea of owning something. It simply reminds us that God owns and possesses everything, and that includes you and me.

Then there is the word "Almighty:" "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty. . . ." That is the word Shaddai. The thought here is of provision. It is wonderful to know that God owns everything. But it also wonderful to know that He wants to provide for us. Not only is He a living God, but He also is a giving God.

Then we have "the Lord:" "I will say of the Lord. . . ." That phrase "the Lord" is Jehovah, a unique name God called Himself before His own people, the Jews. It speaks of covenant and His promise to them.

Finally, there is "My God:" "My God, in whom I trust." That is the Hebrew word ’Elōhîm, which tells us there is one God who is triune, or three in one: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It also reminds us of the power of God.

So when we put it all together, we see that the all-knowing, all-powerful God who possesses heaven and Earth, who has entered into a special covenant with us, wants to provide for our needs."  

Are we blessed to be accepted by such an amazing God? I know I am.

M.

Abiding in Christ

John 15: 4

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.

I'm off to ANTC (advanced national training camp) today. It starts tomorrow but today is the pre-camp set-up. 

The chapter of john 15 is the key spiritual theme and we are expecting God to bring us to have a great encounter with Him as we revisit the reason of why we serve Him.

The conditions of the campsite may not be ideal and in the midst of the sun/heat, physical exhaustion and bugs, it's also a chance to declare our willingness to abide in Christ.

This will be a great camp. :)

M.

Teach a child

Proverbs 22:6 (Amplified bible)

Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Today is Teacher's Day and even though it only officially recognises teachers in the official educational scheme, I would like to wish a Happy teachers' day to my fellow commanders who tirelessly teach boys and girls in their various outposts.

There's this infamous awful quote from Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956), an American writer, that goes "Those who can-do. Those who can't - teach". As insulting a quote it is for anyone who is in the teaching line, its was something true for me.

Having grown up with talented musically talented friends, I felt I could not contribute anything else but to help out as an assistant teacher. However, that journey of a teacher has been incredibly fulfilling.

The bible reminds us to train a child (below the age of 12) by pointing them to the right path and as per their gifting because when they grow up as adults, the fundamentals built into their lives won't be forgotten.

Over the years, I've witnessed many cute, nice kids growing into ugly, nasty youths and thereafter, leaving the church. I used to wonder at the truth of this passage.  But I have come to accept that the fact that everything we can do to impart into a child's life will never be forgotten, even if they choose to go awry in their teens or adult life. The work that we build in their lives can never be removed and someday, by the very grace of God, all those whose hearts have grown cold will return to God because they'll remember the lessons imparted to them of the love of Jesus in their childhood days . 

M.

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 3:14-15)