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) 

Make time for Food

Malachi 1:11

My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations," says the LORD Almighty. 

 It has been busy two weeks. It also makes the inspiration level lower when I was trying not to download the daily bible podcast into my old handphone because I was planning to upload only in my new handphone. But that never materialised because I needed to sync my bluetooth, get my sim card inside it and heaps of other lazy reasons. As usual and expected, life went on in the midst of busyness and nothing was ever achieved.

2 weeks ago, I was challenged with this point from the pulpit, "If you go up to heaven and the prophet Malachi asks you if you have read his book, what would be your answer". It dawned upon me that I have not read most of the minor prophet's books, so as usual, I challenged myself to do so without hesitation, but.....

Life does move on and there are so many mundane things to do even in the busy, maddening hours. Somehow with the advance of technology and all these social media, there's always a few minutes to check my personal email, facebook account, browse through articles in yahoo..etc. But, never is there time for just reading the bible. What a shame.

No wonder, I find myself either so bored, drained, frustrated or irritable. All the wrong traits that comes from the sinful human in me and nothing of the spirit-led life that I'm called to live. Indeed, without my soul being fed and watered by Godly food, there is nothing that causes me to want to live a good, righteous, and Godly life.

Today, just 10 minutes ago, I kick started the attempt to read Malachi chapter 1. Quite short, able to complete in a short while. I was tempted to read more given the free time and boredom I had at work, after lunch. But similar to eating of real nutritious food, there's no point trying to eat more healthy stuff than the required portion because more does not equate to better.

So, I shall start making time for spiritual food instead of wasting too much time on inane online stuff. I shall also learn to chew slowly on what I read, so my stomach can filled sufficiently and be satisfied. Oh! I also downloaded the podcast into the old handphone until the time I actually get myself motivated to bring the new phone to use at work.

M.

"...For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations." (Malachi 1:14b)

God sees the invisible and does the impossible

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 

Just when everything in life seems to be going back to a sense of normalcy, there's always a disturbing piece of news that crops up. This results in me being disturbed and distracted. I must admit that it takes a really long time for me to deal with bad news and I believe it is because I often end up being told because others feel that I can do something about it, but I find it a bit too much to bear since I don't have a significant other to offload it to.

However, today I am reminded to stay focused on what I am tasked to do because of what Ps Rick Warren says as he expounds the passage above:

"Keep your eyes on the goal, not the problem. Only God who sees the invisible can accomplish the impossible. To be a winner in the marathon of ministerial service, we need trust God even when things don’t make sense. If we run from problems, we’ll never mature into who God wants us to be." 

I must really remember that I am only tasked to do what I can and all the issues, problems and challenges are just temporary and will be accomplished by my great God, not through whatever good I can ever do.

Thanks God that He never slumbers nor sleep!

M.

When we will not submit

Psalms 81:10-12

I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.”

These past 2 months have been spent going to the airport to send off many of my RA's. It's an inevitable thing as they reach adulthood and either pursue their education or careers overseas. For one thing, I'm really a believer that they should go overseas to live it out, see the world and be independent. Rather than stay back home in the safety and kiasu environment that I believe does not benefit them.

But it does brings up a tinge of envy because I always wanted to be overseas to study or work, but never got the go ahead. So here I am, wallowing in envy, stuck back home and sending others off.

However, as I stoically stand and witness their respective departure, a part of me cries out for them to be safe and be covered from any conceivable sin and corruption. The world outside of home is fraught with distractions and possible harm. Afterall, they are old enough to make adult decisions and left alone in a foreign land, I'm concern that I'll lose them should they mix with wrong friends or be tempted to partake in a sinful lifestyle. 

Such is the irony of my emotions as I stand at the airport. Having seen through the life of my ranger kids and being a strong advocate for them to go overseas to gain experiences that would stretch them, yet wondering about the consequences of this act because of the fear for the potential loss of a soul. I can only hope for the best and cover them in prayers. 

As I shared with the Choo missionary family during my dinner with them in Hong Kong, I had a moment of revelation that even though I was unhappy with the fact that I was unable to pursue my overseas aspirations, I am now glad that God did not give in to my stubborn heart and let me go as I wanted. I now know that if I did not submit to His will and He allowed me to do as I desired, I would have never gain the blessing of seeing many of my rangers grow up and to be able to send them off with a blessing. I'm almost sure, if I had gone off in my own will, I won't even be found in the house of God.

Therefore, 16 years later, even with a little tinge of envy, I can testify that the plans of God for me are truly better than what I desired. 

 M.   

Beware the spirit of offense

Matthew 24:10

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 

When you harbor a grudge over what someone has done, it is like eating a bitter pill that refuses to be digested. 

I know because I am one who minds what people say of me, especially when it's personal attacks at me. It replays in my mind and something brews in me. Often it is a dramatic response that I envision will happen if the person next crosses my path.

As a young adult in my early 20s, I was taught that the feeling of offense is such a corrupting spirit because it goes the opposite direction as love. Love envies not, forgives and endures. The feeling of offense is self oriented. All about feeling that we are correct, everyone around us is wrong or we are wronged. 

Just before I left for Hong kong, I received an sms from my secretary to keep my own nasty comments to her to myself and that evoked a range in me. The incident that led to her messaged reply was due to the fact that I asked her, before I left, why she did not note my leave application despite being informed in an email months earlier. Clearly unhappy, I threw a couple of caustic statements at her for not doing her job. Having received this sms, I was clearly more unhappy that she dared to make me the accuser.

However, the last thing I wanted was to ruin my own holiday and brood over the situation. so I told myself again and again to let go and not be bothered because even though I feel I'm in the right, sparring via sms or confrontation would not do anything more than make me feel even more offended.

Everything goes wrong once we allow the feeling of offense into us. It often is the first step of a spiritual decline and also an outward manifestation of aggressive, self-righteous behaviour is an evidence of a person who is corrupted and estranged from God. Sadly, over the weekend, I was told of a nasty incident which spoke so much of the wrong spirit in individuals as they arose in offense instead of enjoying the fellowship with the right spirit of love. 

In these days of the end times, let us not push our rights and entitlements as individuals thoughtlessly. The church is not perfect, neither is anyone of us. But because we are of God, selflessly redeemed by the blood of Christ, we no longer live for ourselves.

 M.

Off for a holiday, but my heart's staying

Luke 12:34

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

In a couple of hours, I do what I really like best with my single life. Fly off to Hong Kong for a personal holiday because I have the long weekend and love to be overseas to enjoy life. In Hong Kong, I'm not doing much but at least I get to wander around in a different environment, eat and drink different stuff and mostly to fellowship with a couple of friends.

The airport is one of my favourite places, especially the inside of it because it makes my heart alive with excitement because it brings about the realisation that I'm going overseas and able to escape to somewhere else and avoid the boring routine of home. I guess I've always had a strong inner desire to travel. The dictionary defines this emotion as "wanderlust".

So, once again I'm flying away. My fourth flight of the year and I'm excited to sit in the plane to watch my TV and anticipate waking up in another land. However, truth be said, every time I burn a long weekend overseas, a part of my heart is left behind.


It is a weird feeling of excited expectancy and yet tinged with a feeling of regret and missing out something important. Time and again, as the plane starts its take-off, I'll mutter a silent prayer of journey protection and in my mind a flash of the teens and kids that I'm not going to be meeting over the weekend. Somehow, they have been such a part of my life that part of my heart wishes I could be there with them or they with me in the holiday. Moreover this weekend, there's a farewell party for one of my RA's before he goes off to France.

I grateful for the opportunities to satisfy the wanderlust in me, but I must say that it also reveals the treasures of my life.So bye-bye for this weekend, teens like YongEn, Jerome, Bennett and Ivan whom I enjoy spending a fair bit of time with and my ever noisy, adorable RKs and of course, my Sunday dinner RA companions.

To quote one of favourite quotes "where my heart goes, it goes with you."

M.