Thursday, March 16, 2006
When its easier to bring an elephant to church than a stubborn ant!
Christians never give up trying to bring an outsider to church. It's one of those
Saturday, March 11, 2006
God, Can I Borrow Your Hammer
Can sinners do anything good? Can dust live without the breath of God, the Creator? Can clay mould themselves without the Potter? Could Jesus be nailed on the cross if God had not driven those nails with His hammers? Without the power of the Holy Spirit, can man who are sinners and was created from dust glorify the Living God of Israel?
Genesis 22:8, and Abraham said, my son, God will provide Himself a Lamb for a burnt offering. Genesis 22:14, and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh (God Who Will Provide).
And a very beautiful prayer from King David thanking the Lord for the Temple that Solomon was asked to build. 1 Chronicles 29: 14, but who am I and who are my people that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you and we give you only what you have already given us! and verse 16, O Lord our God, even these materials that we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your Holy name come from you! It all belongs to you! In the earlier verses King David acknowledged before his people that God is the source of everything.
We may be rich with lots of money, but if God did not gift you with His riches of a generous heart, you could not give anything out of your riches. The riches of God is in the giving and not in what you have. We may have all the nails, but we need to borrow the hammer from God.
If God don't build His Temple, we cannot build it for Him. God remember that we are dust, but apparently we have forgotten that we are dust! If it is not God's will, whatever you do, you labor in vain. Jesus himself reminded us in John 15:5, for apart from me, you cannot bear fruits on your own.
Jesus death on the cross was God's will that His Son die to reconcile God's sinful children to Himself. We may have all the nails, without the hammer you cannot complete the job.
If you have lots of money and wanted to have a charitable heart, ask God to gift you with His riches of a generous heart.
Remember that we are but dust. If we chose to live apart from Jesus, we can do nothing on our own. If it is not God's will, you labor in vain. If you wanted something done, ask your heavenly Father to put it in His will.
Genesis 22:8, and Abraham said, my son, God will provide Himself a Lamb for a burnt offering. Genesis 22:14, and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh (God Who Will Provide).
And a very beautiful prayer from King David thanking the Lord for the Temple that Solomon was asked to build. 1 Chronicles 29: 14, but who am I and who are my people that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you and we give you only what you have already given us! and verse 16, O Lord our God, even these materials that we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your Holy name come from you! It all belongs to you! In the earlier verses King David acknowledged before his people that God is the source of everything.
We may be rich with lots of money, but if God did not gift you with His riches of a generous heart, you could not give anything out of your riches. The riches of God is in the giving and not in what you have. We may have all the nails, but we need to borrow the hammer from God.
If God don't build His Temple, we cannot build it for Him. God remember that we are dust, but apparently we have forgotten that we are dust! If it is not God's will, whatever you do, you labor in vain. Jesus himself reminded us in John 15:5, for apart from me, you cannot bear fruits on your own.
Jesus death on the cross was God's will that His Son die to reconcile God's sinful children to Himself. We may have all the nails, without the hammer you cannot complete the job.
If you have lots of money and wanted to have a charitable heart, ask God to gift you with His riches of a generous heart.
Remember that we are but dust. If we chose to live apart from Jesus, we can do nothing on our own. If it is not God's will, you labor in vain. If you wanted something done, ask your heavenly Father to put it in His will.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Don't Judge The Inner Spirit By The Outer Physical Being
Each time someone open its mouth and spewed out the wrong thing, I found myself something to write about.
A friend came by and took me out for coffee. He was relating to me about his recent thorough medical check up and the thumbs up result from the report! He was bubbling away about how healthy he was and how he had gone at length to keep it; exercise and diet and sex! I stunned him with a question and stopped him from more bubbling.
My question: How about your spiritual health? The healthy one is going back to dust someday no matter how healthy it is.....its the one that's going to heaven or hell you need to worry. There was complete silence. I drove the next 15 minutes peacefully to our destination.
Aren't most of us the same as this friend of mine; Christians or not. We are concerned over the wrong things in life. We are taught to disconnect ourselves from a relationship with the world.
Some smart alec will answer that we need to keep our body healthy to serve God. Its that so? Or vice versa that we should instead keep our spiritual being healthy and strong first to protect the physical body from being disintegrated. Yet, the smart alec will still defend that the physical is more important. No wonder it is said you never win in an argument.
However healthy and strong, the physical body dies and return to dust.
So don't judge the inner spirit by the outer physical being. And don't forget that we are but DUST!
A friend came by and took me out for coffee. He was relating to me about his recent thorough medical check up and the thumbs up result from the report! He was bubbling away about how healthy he was and how he had gone at length to keep it; exercise and diet and sex! I stunned him with a question and stopped him from more bubbling.
My question: How about your spiritual health? The healthy one is going back to dust someday no matter how healthy it is.....its the one that's going to heaven or hell you need to worry. There was complete silence. I drove the next 15 minutes peacefully to our destination.
Aren't most of us the same as this friend of mine; Christians or not. We are concerned over the wrong things in life. We are taught to disconnect ourselves from a relationship with the world.
Some smart alec will answer that we need to keep our body healthy to serve God. Its that so? Or vice versa that we should instead keep our spiritual being healthy and strong first to protect the physical body from being disintegrated. Yet, the smart alec will still defend that the physical is more important. No wonder it is said you never win in an argument.
However healthy and strong, the physical body dies and return to dust.
So don't judge the inner spirit by the outer physical being. And don't forget that we are but DUST!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
If you don't die, you cannot live Part 2
Believe me! The power of the Holy Spirit is awesome in its power.
Immediately after posting my blog, the Holy Spirit was upon me to show me what I have left out in my previous message. Now you are reading part 2............
The Holy Spirit guided me to Paul's letters to the Galatians in chapter 6:14b-17, because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world's interest in me is also long dead. It doesn't make any difference now whether we have been circumsized or not. What counts is whether we have been changed into new and different people. May God's mercy and peace be upon all those who live by this principal. They are the new people of God. From now on don't let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
I love the way Paul expressed how his earthly life is dead to the world and everything that's in it. When Paul fully trusted Jesus to live for him, his interest in everything that is of the world died. And when the world realised that it could not work its charm on Paul, attracting him to its lies and deceptions (the evils of the world), it also gave up on him.
The truth of God must be present in our Christian lives. The significance of God's truth is present in our transformation ; from the sinful Adam to the perfect Christ. The Holy Spirit is always protecting us, God's children, redeemed by Jesus Christ His Son, on the cross.
Paul's evidence that he truly belongs to God was the scars he bore on his body. The scars identify him to sharing the same suffering our Saviour suffered. The scars on Paul's body identify him as one who truly is worthy to be called a son of the living God. We know that this is true because Jesus himself confirmed it in John 15:18-19, when the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you. The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don't know God who sent me.
Do you bore any scars on your body as evidence that you belong to Jesus? Did you suffer shame and humility because you stood up for Jesus? Were you ashamed to confess that He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God that was born into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all men, resurrected on the third day to assure us of a hope that someday he will return to bring us all safely home to be with the Father?
Are you one who is worthy to be called a son of the living God? Do you bore any scars that he can identify you as his very own?
Finally, reach out for your Bible and open to the Gospel of according to John chapter 17 and read how much Jesus Christ loves those who belong to Him.
Immediately after posting my blog, the Holy Spirit was upon me to show me what I have left out in my previous message. Now you are reading part 2............
The Holy Spirit guided me to Paul's letters to the Galatians in chapter 6:14b-17, because of that cross, my interest in this world died long ago, and the world's interest in me is also long dead. It doesn't make any difference now whether we have been circumsized or not. What counts is whether we have been changed into new and different people. May God's mercy and peace be upon all those who live by this principal. They are the new people of God. From now on don't let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
I love the way Paul expressed how his earthly life is dead to the world and everything that's in it. When Paul fully trusted Jesus to live for him, his interest in everything that is of the world died. And when the world realised that it could not work its charm on Paul, attracting him to its lies and deceptions (the evils of the world), it also gave up on him.
The truth of God must be present in our Christian lives. The significance of God's truth is present in our transformation ; from the sinful Adam to the perfect Christ. The Holy Spirit is always protecting us, God's children, redeemed by Jesus Christ His Son, on the cross.
Paul's evidence that he truly belongs to God was the scars he bore on his body. The scars identify him to sharing the same suffering our Saviour suffered. The scars on Paul's body identify him as one who truly is worthy to be called a son of the living God. We know that this is true because Jesus himself confirmed it in John 15:18-19, when the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you. The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me, for they don't know God who sent me.
Do you bore any scars on your body as evidence that you belong to Jesus? Did you suffer shame and humility because you stood up for Jesus? Were you ashamed to confess that He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God that was born into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all men, resurrected on the third day to assure us of a hope that someday he will return to bring us all safely home to be with the Father?
Are you one who is worthy to be called a son of the living God? Do you bore any scars that he can identify you as his very own?
Finally, reach out for your Bible and open to the Gospel of according to John chapter 17 and read how much Jesus Christ loves those who belong to Him.
Monday, March 06, 2006
If you don't die, You cannot live!
Hard to digest this really because it is not sensible at all. But then this is simply a preview of how God think and work.
If we don't die to the world and everything that is of the world, how can we prove we belong to Him? Yes, God knows and examine our hearts but when our heart is not dead to the world, we can never prove ourselves to be His. And now I very much understand what it really meant that we need to die with Christ in baptism (a symbolic commitment to acknowledge our faith that Jesus is the Saviour born to us).
We need to die to the law that was given to rule us so that we can live by grace in the power of Christ.
We struggle a lot in our earthly life because of the control that the world and the Holy Spirit wanted in us. Every time when we give in to sin, the world gets stronger in us. Each time when we sin, we allow the world to live again in us. We were supposed to be dead. Each time we sin the world grows back stronger because our decision to sin give life to it. When we continue to live in sin, we walk backwards to Adam instead of moving forward to Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Let us study and ask the Holy Spirit to grant us understanding of God's word in Roman's 6:2-4 and then read the entire chapter 6. We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We share his death in our baptism. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can have a new life.
Galatians 2:20 speaks to us even more clearly when it says, I was put to death on the cross with Christ and I do not live anymore....it is Christ who now lives in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself to save me. Rightfully we are supposed to be dead to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our earthly life. When we accepted Christ as the Saviour, we gave ourselves to God....we returned ourselves to God. Our baptism means we sent the sinful man back to dust and live a new life in our Saviour, sharing His ressurrection.
Yes, we must be dead to our old life so that we can be alive in the new life. The Holy Spirit is in the new life, and that is on provision we have given up our old life. The Holy Spirit do not share his indwelling in us with other spirits. The glory belongs to God and we are His creations which make us rightfully His. God will never share us with anyone because our God is a jealous God. We either belong to Him or we are not! There's no two ways about this ownership rights. The only way is to die to everything that is of this present earthly life to prove purselves that we really desire to be exclusively His.
When we submit obedience to the Holy Spirit, gifted by God to help us with our earthly lives, Jesus grows a little in each with each obedience. In due time, we will experience total transformation from Adam to Christ. Every obedience from us in the power of the Holy Spirit brings honor and glory to our heavenly Father in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
In conclusion, you need to be dead to be alive. This may not be the desirable terms and conditions of man, but they are God's conditions.
May your choice be wise.......
If we don't die to the world and everything that is of the world, how can we prove we belong to Him? Yes, God knows and examine our hearts but when our heart is not dead to the world, we can never prove ourselves to be His. And now I very much understand what it really meant that we need to die with Christ in baptism (a symbolic commitment to acknowledge our faith that Jesus is the Saviour born to us).
We need to die to the law that was given to rule us so that we can live by grace in the power of Christ.
We struggle a lot in our earthly life because of the control that the world and the Holy Spirit wanted in us. Every time when we give in to sin, the world gets stronger in us. Each time when we sin, we allow the world to live again in us. We were supposed to be dead. Each time we sin the world grows back stronger because our decision to sin give life to it. When we continue to live in sin, we walk backwards to Adam instead of moving forward to Christ, our Lord and Saviour.
Let us study and ask the Holy Spirit to grant us understanding of God's word in Roman's 6:2-4 and then read the entire chapter 6. We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We share his death in our baptism. When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can have a new life.
Galatians 2:20 speaks to us even more clearly when it says, I was put to death on the cross with Christ and I do not live anymore....it is Christ who now lives in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself to save me. Rightfully we are supposed to be dead to allow the Holy Spirit to take control of our earthly life. When we accepted Christ as the Saviour, we gave ourselves to God....we returned ourselves to God. Our baptism means we sent the sinful man back to dust and live a new life in our Saviour, sharing His ressurrection.
Yes, we must be dead to our old life so that we can be alive in the new life. The Holy Spirit is in the new life, and that is on provision we have given up our old life. The Holy Spirit do not share his indwelling in us with other spirits. The glory belongs to God and we are His creations which make us rightfully His. God will never share us with anyone because our God is a jealous God. We either belong to Him or we are not! There's no two ways about this ownership rights. The only way is to die to everything that is of this present earthly life to prove purselves that we really desire to be exclusively His.
When we submit obedience to the Holy Spirit, gifted by God to help us with our earthly lives, Jesus grows a little in each with each obedience. In due time, we will experience total transformation from Adam to Christ. Every obedience from us in the power of the Holy Spirit brings honor and glory to our heavenly Father in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
In conclusion, you need to be dead to be alive. This may not be the desirable terms and conditions of man, but they are God's conditions.
May your choice be wise.......
Saturday, March 04, 2006
A Passion Driven Heart
Our Christian lives must be driven by passion; a passion to be after God's heart and His will. Without passion we can never discover our purpose for Him.
Let me boldly say this out loud that it is pure nonsense that we discover our purpose for God because of a book. You can read all you want in the book and in a puff, all is forgotten. You may gain knowledge and awareness of your ignorance but without passion, you labor in vain. You must develop a passion to pursue something. When our heavenly Father came to save man from eternal death, it was passion for His own created children that motivate Him to die for us on the cross.
So is it an acceptable fact that God sent someone to write a book to remind us of the purpose for the life that He gave us? Allow me to caption a reminder that the sinful man is not capable of anything without the power of the Holy Spirit. Our earthly life is tainted with sin. We are lost. We must be reminded that it is God who came to look for us and not the other way. We cannot discover our purpose for God if God did not send the Holy Spirit to help us grow a passion to pursue Him. Because the Spirit of God is passionate after God.
So now you have read the book and discover your purpose. What have you done with your discovery? Did you already lost the purpose? Don't you agree that it is pathetic of you to discover your purpose for God because of a book? Where is your passion now? What happened to it?
A few years ago when The Passion of Christ was shown in the cinema, many Christians expressed how guilty and unworthy they were for Christ to suffer and die for them in such a cruel death. When temptation show up at our door, we forgot everything; our guilt and unworthiness.
When you love God, you do anything for Him at whatever the cost. Jesus Christ came and showed us. Our Saviour went to the cross not because of us. We are not worthy of Him to suffer and die like that. Jesus Christ was doing it for the Father. He came to do the will of the Father. Because Jesus tasted the Father's love, Jesus will do anything at whatever the cost to Him.
So we must learn to respond to God's commands the same way. "Love our enemies" , He told us. So if we really love God, we should do just that. We must discard our way of viewing things from our own eyes. We must now see things from God's heart. People are no longer people because when you see from God's heart, they are now children of the Living God. Only difference is they are still lost and need our help to tell them how much the Father loves them.
Without love it is impossible to please God. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
I can't possibly understand why we need to go to Bible college to study and know more about God. Christianity is about a relationship with the Living God. It's about a Father's love for His lost children. It's not how much we know about God; it's how close we are with God. It's about being passionate after a relationship with God. I guessed not many people may agree with me. Because on my mind I was wondering whether I will be allow into the Kingdom of God if I am an illiterate and know nothing about the Scriptures yet live with reverence and fear of God. By the way fearing God was interpreted as hating what God hates. (Proverbs 8:13)
So I conclude by quoting Ecclesiastes 12:13......Fear God and obey His commands for that is the duty of all man.
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