I'm not faithful, fortunately God is

2 Timothy 2:13

If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.

Much as tried to make it a daily routine to read and pray through the 40 day prayer and fasting booklet, I simply can't seem to keep to it on a 100% basis.

Today as I showered, it dawned upon me that I did not read nor pray through yesterday's portion. Even worst, I also did not do likewise for Sunday's as I only browsed through it as I told myself that I'll spend a bit more time reviewing the article when I was back.

Somehow, somewhere along the "I hope to do it", it was all abandoned. Frankly, you see me spending more time reading newspapers or playing Plant Vs Zombies on my iPad more faithfully than I do on the 40 days booklet.

Being faithful is really something hard to be. Sadly, I'll never be 100% faithful to any cause because I am human. But the fact is God is always faithful and even though I can never pursue the cause of mine with continuous prayers, I revel in the fact that God never slows down and give up.

Thank you God and I'll continually strive harder for you.

M.

 

Same Same

Romans 12:3

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Dr. Lamar Vest preached at times square church when I visited the church in NYC some 2 weeks ago. I was really zapped that day because we had slept late, having spent the entire day roaming about NYC and heading back to the hotel, we spent much time packing the bags and getting ready for check-out.

It is a terrible thing to always go to the house of God tired and sleepy, more so when you are overseas and attending a church you are not familiar with.

I don't remember 50% of the message, but the one thing that he had shared about which struck me was the need for us to recognised that we are all saved by grace. Not just a simple truth that we often read and take lightly, but we, who are sinners unworthy of saving grace, were redeemed by a Holy God.

Don't be deluded by pride that we who serve actively are holier than those who sit about idly. Even if you can preach better than me, it doesn't make you any better than me in the eyes of God. Even if you are more talented with skills that could astound anyone, does not make you any better in the eyes of God. For by grace, we stand before God the same. Covered by the same blood of Christ, covered by the same love and showered by the same amount of grace. 

For that reason, we stand before God, neither better or worst compared to the person beside us in church because nothing that we do can elevate us to be superior to another.  

For by grace we have been saved and we serve out of our own heart, not looking to the person on the left or right in judgement or comparison.

M. 

Treasure in clay jars

2 Corinthians 4:7

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Inside this frail, unstable, emotional, ever decaying, ever sinful body is a treasure which is worth more than any treasure.

For in me and you lies the precious gift of salvation that has been freely given and not something that we had deserved. When we die, someday, all the pleasures and treasures that we encountered and collected will be worth nothing. Yet, at that moment, all we'll hold on dearly is the treasure of eternal life that lies if we hold faithful to our calling in Jesus Christ.

We may be disappointed by people, devastated by situations, stressed by life. But it's all temporal. The devil would love if we abandon all hope in God so we can walk away from the treasure of eternal salvation.

If we always view life from the grave, perhaps we'll wise up to how to see how much our days are worth.

M.

Redeemer

Isaiah 44:6

“This is what the LORD says- Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

Search out a dictionary on the definition of redeemer and you inevitably get the explanation "Christianity: Jesus Christ".

 Today it hit me as I was on the bus to work and pondering over something. Christ is my redeemer. In every miserable situation, any tragic piece of news that is heard, He has allowed me to overcome and be set-free.

How easy it is to forget that in life, there's only one redeemer for us. ONE! If the dictionary could be allowed to quote the source of the definition, this verse above should be it.

Apart from God, there is no other. Our God reigns.

M.

Think, don't feel

Philippians 4:8-9

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

As I sat in the B747 with no personal entertainment, I thought to myself that the 2.5 hours flight heading back would be a nightmare because all I had was a small overhead TV above to entertain me. Worst still, it wasn't going to be showing a movie, but a live concert event of Adele in the Royal Albert hall. After a while of being overly bored, I finally decided to plug in my headphones to hear what the show was all about and boy was it a moment for me to be ministered.

Many years ago, a friend told me how God had used a TV show that he was watching speak to him and as he spent his quiet time after TV, the events of what he saw became analogies of lessons that God used to talk to him.

So what did Adele sing that hit a nerve in me? "Chasing pavements". That to me was one of the dumbest titles for a song, and I was just wondering what on earth could inspire someone to write something as mundane as chasing a pavement. But when the song lyrics  "should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements, even if it leads nowhere" repeated itself, I realised that I had a choice in life but I was refusing to acknowledge it.

Somewhere in the depths of me, I'm prepare to give up doing what I have been doing all my life because when your heart breaks, your faith falters, and life seems to be plagued with problems, you feel overwhelmed as if you are just pointlessly chasing pavements that lead nowhere or have no purpose.

When our emotions get the better of us, and we navigate through life via what we feel, everything about what we see and do is unstable. But faith is not about what we feel, it is about how we focus on the surety of God's truth. This is not positive thinking, neither is it some mind-over-matter new age theory. Faith is when we allow our mind to hang on to the things of God and whatever limited encounters/promises we had with the holy spirit.

If, I allow my feelings to rule my life, I'll throw in the towel, walk away from who I've invested in to-date and elect to abandon my life's calling. But, if I think about what God has promised me, and the call of His for me to respond to, I'll never give up because He will never either.

Along the journey home, God ended the encounter with me with a final Adele song despite its secular nature. Ignore Adele's inspiration or who this is written for. For all it's worth to me, God used the lyrics of the song to remind me of His love, a love that made Him send His one and only son for me and you.

 

When the rain Is blowing in your face
And the whole world Is on your case
I could offer you A warm embrace
To make you feel my love

When the evening shadows  And the stars appear
And there is no - one there To dry your tears
I could hold you For a million years
To make you feel my love

I know you Haven't made Your mind up yet
But I would never Do you wrong
I've known it From the moment That we met 

No doubt in my mind Where you belong

I'd go hungry,
I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawling Down the avenue
Know there's nothing That I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love

The storms are raging On the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change Are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing Like me yet

I could make you happy Make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends Of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love, To make you feel my love

Thank you God. 

M.

The day of truth

1 Corinthians 13:13-15

their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved - even though only as one escaping through the flames. 

Someday we will all stand before God and be judged for the work that we profess that we have done for Him. This happens after the great white throne judgement where believers will have their works tested in the fire of God.

The test of the quality of our service for God is going to be judged with absolute standards. What others think of the work that we do for God could well be revealed to be deemed unworthy if it was done with our own selfish, wrong motives. 

As I read the above verses, it is a good reminder to tell myself that I cannot be found standing on that day with nothing to show. Even if I have works to show, in this life I need to be mindful that whatever I do should be worthy unto God.

For now, I'm not ready for the works of my hand to be tested, but I'll make haste to correct that. What about you?

M.    

Don't give up hope

1Kings 19:5 

while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”

I've often questioned myself why things are the way they and it's so easy to agree with Elijah's response because we just want control over life, our ministry, our dreams. Our emotions take the better of us and life gets bleak because we lose our vision and forfeit the goals. All we just want to do is give up because all hope is lost.

In a recent post by Ps Rick Warren, he says "Don’t you dare give up. Don’t give up on your family, on your church, on your dream or on your life." 

He goes to encourage that we are responsible for proclaiming the truth and leading people the best we can – but not the responses of others. We are only responsible for our own response. We’re responsible to teach God’s truth but not what they do with it.

Just don't allow "you" to become the issue in your own mind!  God is the issue.  Christ is the gospel.  We have received this ministry as we received grace. It is not merited and it is not ours.  It is a stewardship lent to us, but belonging to our Master.

May we learn to stay on course in God and find restoration in the Lord, whom I serve.

M.