Monday, April 30, 2007

Learn From Discipline

WE DON'T ENJOY BEING DISCIPLINED. IT ALWAYS SEEMS TO CAUSE MORE PAIN THAN JOY. BUT LATER ON, THOSE WHO LEARN FROM THAT DISCIPLINE HAVE PEACE THAT COMES FROM DOING WHAT IS RIGHT. Hebrews 12.11.

Indiscipline is the mark of the age! Today’s parents have stopped disciplining their children like their parents did to them. The reason: ‘Disciplining will only harm children and inhibit the natural development of the child!’ “Who said that”? The psychologist who probably doesn’t believe in God and thinks that his theory is better than God’s command!

Hence children from infancy are growing up undisciplined and unruly. Visit homes, supermarkets, restaurants or playgrounds and watch the children. They yell, shout, run around wildly and fight with one another. The parents either watch them unconcerned or stand helplessly as the children blatantly disobey their instructions.

Today’s Scripture passage clearly teaches us that whether we discipline our children or not, God will not stop disciplining you and I, His children. Hear what the Lord says, "My child, pay attention when the Lord disciplines you. Don't give up when he corrects you. The Lord disciplines everyone he loves. He severely disciplines everyone he accepts as his child. Endure your discipline. God corrects you as a father corrects his children. All children are disciplined by their fathers. If you aren't disciplined like the other children, you aren't part of the family / you are illegitimate (some versions)” (vs 6-8).

Dear child of God, be sure, the Lord will discipline you! He is not a doting father! He said, “He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him” (Pro 13.24). He practises what He taught us to do! God doesn’t read today’s psychology magazines from around the world. He doesn't listen to man’s theories whether Christian or secular! God plainly tells us why He disciplines us and allows us to suffer. “God disciplines us for our own good so that we can become holy like him” (v.11). God disciplines us when we do wrong. Suffering causes us to search ourselves to see if we have gone wrong. It drives us to confession and repentance if we have sinned. Sometimes God disciplines us so that we will keep close to Him and not go astray.

I would to God that you and I may use our trials, no matter what kind and how hard, to seek God and draw closer to Him. If we do that, no suffering will be meaningless or unprofitable! So take heart! Just as you are disciplined by God because you are His child and He loves you, discipline your children as parents who love them! If you do not do to your children what God does to you, don't blame God for their indiscipline!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to find meaning in my suffering and pain. May they be the means to draw me closer to you. May they make me more holy. Help me to discipline my children just as You discipline me. Amen.

Friday, April 27, 2007

We Are God's Servants

IN EVERYTHING AND IN EVERY WAY WE SHOW THAT WE TRULY ARE GOD'S SERVANTS. 2 Corinthians 6.4.

A church music leader, a pastor's wife who is a popular singer, appeared on a Hollywood stage in a ‘revealing low neck’ outfit. The press photographers as usual took great mileage out of it and flashed the pictures all over the place. A big storm rose in that city and its ripples reached every shore in Asia and beyond. The general protest from the Christians was that ‘she shouldn’t have worn such a revealing dress that brought shame to the Christians and the church!’ It caused a split in the church!

What is this uproar about? It is all about the way a Christian lady appeared in public in an offending and outrageous dress. Thank God there are enough sensible and sensitive Christians left in our churches who are concerned about our testimony before the world. If only this lady, a pastor’s wife, had heeded what the apostle taught, she wouldn’t have made this mistake!

But why blame her? Christian women all over the world are aping the latest Broadway 'sexy fashions'! A Christian magazine from India in its recent issue devoted a full article on women’s dress in the church and in public. It has become a global problem as we live in a global village today. What Hollywood dictates, the rest of the world imitates! Sadly, Christian ladies too dress as though they do not want to be left out. As the Indian writer commented, ‘they wear too little, too tight and reveal too much of their shape and flesh!’

Even our children do not want to be left behind in fashion. “They dress like Brittany Spears”, someone said. I read in a Christian newsletter from Australia that a popular singing group drew over 15,000 youngsters all dressed and decked like that ‘rebellious little brat’. The group had them singing meaningless ‘hallelujahs’ and dancing in the air!

In the church and in fellowships where men, women, boys and girls gather and where the Lord is present, how indecent and unbecoming it is for sisters to expose their nakedness! An outsider would think that we are having a fashion show of legs and thighs, pretty or not! Have they ever gone to a temple or mosque and seen such obscene vulgarity among women who come to worship their god? The Muslims would have stoned them to death for Allah’s sake!

Listen sister! Apostle Paul commands, “I want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God” (1 Tim 2.9,10). Dress code is only about the outward aspect of our Christian life. The apostle goes deeper than the skin and cautions us about every aspect of our lives that are exposed to the world!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You have taught me, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Mt 5.16). Help me by my dress and conduct to bring honour to You. Amen.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Teach Me How To Worship

THEY OFFERED GREAT SACRIFICES THAT DAY AND REJOICED, FOR GOD HAD MADE THEM REJOICE WITH GREAT JOY. Nehemiah 12.43.

An e-mail is before me, written by a sister who is asking my comment on the situation she is facing in a church where she is forced by circumstance to worship presently. She obviously comes from a ‘traditionally quiet church’ and is now caught up in a ‘lively charismatic church’.

There has always been much contention among the Christians with regard to the pattern of worship of our God Almighty in our churches. The old timers, especially in the ‘mainline churches’ who follow the age-old liturgical pattern, are for continuing in solemnity and sobriety. They detest noise and any kind of physical activity in worship. They won’t trade the old sacred hymns from ‘Songs and Solos’ or ‘Church Hymnals’ for today’s choruses. In their support they have many a Scripture as in Psalm 46, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge” (Psa 46.10,11).

Against this scenario, we have an up and coming younger generation that has found a new freedom of the Holy Spirit in worship. It has broken the tradition and followed a more active style of worship of God. They trace it to the pattern they see in the Old Testament. Here in Nehemiah we have such a manner of worship. Nehemiah and his colleagues found precedence in the pattern of worship ordered by king David and others!

The other day I was contemplating on Psalm 47, “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. God has gone up with a shout, The LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” (Psa 47. 1-6).

It is interesting that both the psalms were written by the sons of Asaph. More interesting is that while at the end of Psalm 46 they ask everyone “To be still and know that the Lord is God”, Psalm 47 begins with, “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph!”

Dear believer, God is teaching us different ways to worship Him from these precepts and examples in the Scripture. There are times you may be still and silent before your God in worship. There other times when God Himself causes His people to rejoice so much that none can remain silent or still. Such rejoicing will be so Spirit-led that no one can stop shouting or singing or crying out to God in true worship! But whether silent or boisterous, reverence and fear of the Lord God Almighty who sits enthroned in heaven and worshipped by the angelic hosts should never be lost.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, teach me how to worship You in spirit and in truth no matter whether it is loud or silent, for the Father accepts only such worshippers. Amen.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

After Death

O DEATH WHERE IS YOUR STING? O GRAVE, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? 1 Corinthians 15.55.

No one considers death seriously, even as a remote possibility! But the truth is that people like you and I are dying everyday!

There are countless people all over the world who are facing the grim prospect of death due to one reason or another while their distressed loved ones hopelessly watch life ebb away. It is a great pity that most of these dying ones will have no clue of their eternal destiny beyond the grave. The bereaved relatives are left to wonder where their dear ones have gone to and whether they would ever meet them again!

But the Bible, the Word of God, clears all doubts and proclaims emphatically what the future holds for those who trust in God. Listen to the apostle Paul, “I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep (die), but we will all be changed -- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet of God. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. … when the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" … thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15.51-57).

Dear child of God, you and I will surely die one day, sooner or later. You may die at a ripe old age or by sudden illness or calamity. But God has numbered your days as He has an account of the hairs on your head! He has determined your destiny. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son (John 3.16-18). You may be uncertain about your death or may not have even thought about it. But you can be certain that you have eternal life with God when you die!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You are the Son of God who died for me and rose again on the third day. Because You live, I know I too shall live even after I die! Grant hope to the dying and comfort to the distressed. Amen.

Monday, April 23, 2007

Your Life Will Be Demanded

YOU FOOL, THIS VERY NIGHT YOUR LIFE WILL BE DEMANDED FROM YOU. THEN WHO WILL GET WHAT YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR YOURSELF?' Luke 12.20.

Here was a successful farmer. His farm produced in abundance. He enlarged his barns. He stocked his produce for years. He looked forward to a bright future, and a good life of eating, drinking and partying! But he was not prepared for the shock that awaited him. God suddenly spoke up: ‘Tonight you will die! You will leave everything and go. Who will own all that you have stored up?’

This man will fit into today’s perfect picture of a ‘yuppy’. Business is prospering. Gains are staggering. He converts most into property, bungalows, holiday villas, luxury cars, yachts , stocks and shares, friends, parties and all the rest. But none of the yuppies are prepared for the shock they might suddenly face.

The other day I heard this about a wealthy businessman. He lived a hectic life expanding his business, building his empire, amassing wealth and property. He had little time for even his family. One day in the office he suddenly had a severe heart attack. He was taken to the best hospital and saw the best cardiologist. His verdict: ‘Dear friend, you had a serious heart attack. I don’t even know if you will pull through!’

In the intensive cardiac unit, attached to many tubes, he had some time to think about his life. Like the poor farmer, he too was not prepared for what he heard! Most of today’s generation is passing through a life of ‘make believe!’ They think they will live forever. They hope that health and wealth will last eternally. They consider their forefathers fools who worshipped gods. They know nothing more than the material. They have no time for God or eternity.

It is a great pity that not only non-Christians but even church-going Christians live very much the kind of life of the foolish farmer and the thoughtless businessman. God in His mercy has spoken to you and me through His Son Jesus Christ. It is He who told us this story of the rich farmer. In the eyes of the local businessman, he was an object of envy. To all, he was the epitome of hard work, shrewdness and success.

But God views differently! He sees people and things in the light of eternity and heaven. He has allotted for man a life-span of 70 or 80 years on earth! Everything he has accumulated here he must leave and go. Nothing has he brought and nothing will he take! God has determined eternity for men. Whether he gets to heaven or not is decided by his life here on earth. If our concern on earth is only wealth and health and we have no thought or time for God, heaven will be lost forever. But if we love God and fear Him and believe in His Son Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we will live eternally. Our treasure in heaven is measured by our service and sacrificial giving to God and man! You can be the richest man on earth but the joy of giving exceeds all earthly joys!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to live wisely and die in hope. Let me always trust in You and do Your will. Help me to store my treasures in heaven! Amen.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Being Poor

BETTER TO BE OF A LOWLY SPIRIT WITH THE POOR THAN TO DIVIDE THE SPOIL WITH THE PROUD. Proverbs 16.19 (LITV).

In any society we have the poor, the middle class and the rich. Mostly, each group keeps to itself. The poor by nature are humble. But the rich tend to be proud and arrogant! This may be the reason the wise King Solomon said, “It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud”. It is good for the rich to mix with the poor. They will know the misery of the poor and be grateful for their riches! But often it is to the detriment of the poor that they mix with the rich. It doesn't make them rich but they tend to imitate the rich. They even begin to grumble about their poverty and envy the rich.

When children make friends and keep company with the rich, it only spoils those poor kids. Even adults are ensnared by keeping company with the rich and proud. Their association with the rich causes them to pretend to be rich! The end result is tragic. King Solomon knew this well enough to counsel us not to be tempted to do it!

There is nothing wrong with being rich. But the rich must obey the Word, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Tim 6.18,19). The rich should always remember what the scripture says, “But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower” (Jas 1.10).

It is by sharing their wealth generously and with a kind heart that the rich nations and people can help out the poor of this world. Nations that are poor are sick and suffering too, from diverse causes. The poor nations can never rise up and take care of themselves unless the rich and becoming-rich care to share their wealth. While billionaires and millionaires can give of their abundance, all of us who have enough and more to meet our needs and enjoy life must not forget our obligations. Begin to give to any one in need and you will begin to enjoy giving! God loves a cheerful giver (2 C0r 9.7).

While there are millions who are poor in the world, the good thing is that even their lot is improving! Thank God for it. But the poor on their part should not feel pity for themselves. They should be proud and confident. They should stand on their own feet and trust God. God loves the poor. Jesus came to preach the gospel to the poor. It was the economically poor and the humble that received Him. The Bible says, “The Lord raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap” (Psa 113.7). King David testified, “This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles” (Psa 34.6). Dear believer, to have God as your helper is all that you need! Without God you are nothing and what you have doesn't satisfy!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You were rich but You became poor for my sake. Let me not envy the rich or try to imitate them. Help me to better myself with Your help while being content with what I have at any given time. Amen.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

We Have Different Gifts

WE HAVE DIFFERENT GIFTS, ACCORDING TO THE GRACE GIVEN US...LET US USE THEM. Romans 12.6.

A friend of mine, a Christian worker from Kerala, S. India, was on a visit to Malaysia. On a bus on the way to a Mall he noticed that he had lost all his belongings including his wallet and passport. He got a taxi to go to the police station. The driver knowing his plight was very kind. The taxi man refused payment and wished him god-speed. At the police station he met a constable and told his story. The officer told him, “I too am a Christian (most officers are Muslims in this country) and my name is Michael. I will give you all the help you need”.

One day, I was trying to get a friend on the phone at his office. A man’s voice greeted me but it wasn’t my friend. So I told him that I was looking for my friend. The man was very kind and polite. He told me that he would help me locate him and he did do his best.

A colleague of mine was away from surgery for a few days. A patient of his came to see him. She had some swelling and pain after a surgery. Because he was absent, I offered to see her. I took care of her and did my best to alleviate her suffering and pain. A very old friend of ours was admitted to the hospital in an acute condition. In spite of our busy life, we made several visits to him. We helped the family to get the best medical attention and treatment.

The reason I am writing about these incidents is to show how easily we can use our different gifts for the benefit and blessing of others and bring glory to God. God has graciously given to each one of us, Christians and non-Christians for that matter, varying and differing gifts - natural and supernatural. We all are to use our gifts for the common good of all. It must be the most natural thing for us Christians to do it as we go through our day.

Dear believer, do you have difficulty in finding out how to live your daily life as a practising Christian? Many have! For the past few years I have been devoting all my time teaching, preaching and writing to help believers to find their God-ordained 'place in life – at home, in the church and work place!' I counsel honestly puzzled Christians on 'how to combine the secular with the spiritual' and 'how to walk daily with God while moving with the people in the world'.

The apostle Paul taught us how to do it a long time ago. He said “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us, let us use it”. Churches introduce 'Christian programmes' to members while the Word of God introduces them to 'Christian lifestyle'. Programmes end. But lifestyle will continue to the end! Lifestyles are more caught than taught!

Our selfishness makes us preoccupied with ourselves. We have no time to mind about others and their needs. Paul’s caustic criticism about the believers is: “everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ”. But he found young Timothy different, “I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare” (Phil 2.20,21). You can be like Timothy! Paul instructs, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” (Phil 2.5). You are not called to be a 'superstar' converting all, only an ordinary Christian walking with God!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, forgive me for my selfishness and insensitivity towards others, especially to those I come across daily. Give me an attitude like Yours – concerned and caring towards those in need. Amen.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

For The Sake of Others

I COULD WISH THAT I MYSELF WERE CURSED AND CUT OFF FROM CHRIST FOR THE SAKE OF MY BROTHERS, THOSE OF MY OWN RACE. Romans 9.3.

Everyone is interested in their own things. It is good in many ways. Our world is becoming more and more affluent and people's lifestyle is becoming increasingly lavish. The pity is that at the same time there is no dearth of poverty and no limit to misery. When no one cares what happens to his neighbour or even relatives, it is terrible!

What is material is seen and what is not seen is eternal. Therefore we are led to ignore and neglect the spiritual poverty and misery of millions of people around the world. Sadly, it is worse in the most affluent nations. The church may have programmes but the members, the Christians who ought to be concerned about the souls around them, do not seem to care seriously enough to witness and minister to them as representatives of Christ.

There was a newly converted ordinary Christian, Saul, who had a deep passion for the salvation of souls, especially those of his own people! His concern for the Gentiles made him their apostle with the name, Paul. All his life he was persecuted by his own people, the Jews, for preaching Christ. But he was willing to be cut off from Christ for their sake!

True, Paul had a dramatic conversion and a definite calling from the Lord. But you and I too had conversions that were no less a miracle and indeed life-transforming. We too were called to be followers of Christ and to let him make us 'fishers of men'. Why then, are you lacking in your passion and zeal to see souls saved from eternal damnation?

Many today are first generation converts. Most of your relatives still live as pagan idol-worshippers. There are unsaved relatives even in Christian families. The Bible is emphatic that if they do not acknowledge God the Father and receive Jesus Christ His Son as Saviour, they shall never inherit eternal life. You know God's love that sent His only Son for them and His love that sent Him to the cross to die for their sake.

But your unsaved dear ones need to hear that ‘good news’. They need to be convicted by the Holy Spirit of their sin and the need for a Saviour. I once heard the somber testimony of a young sister at a camp meeting. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she told how she had failed to testify about Jesus to her own Buddhist parents. She had been a Christian for over five years and was very active in her church. God in His providence guided her parents to step into her very church one day. They heard the gospel for the first time and were saved! It doesn’t happen that way often. Let people see your good works - love, concern and care and come to experience God’s love.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, give me a measure of the zeal and passion of the apostle Paul for the lost souls in my family and among my friends. Help me to pray for them constantly and persuade them to know God and Christ by my deeds and words. Amen.

Monday, April 16, 2007

Don't Flirt With Sin

IF YOUR RIGHT EYE CAUSES YOU TO SIN, GOUGE IT OUT AND THROW IT AWAY. Matthew 5.29.

Nobody takes sin seriously today, not even we Christians! The problem is with our society. It has allowed the greedy entrepreneurs to churn out all kinds of evil and immorality for the consumption of the gullible public. They dish out filth and immorality in various forms to the innocent audience, like you and I and our children, in the name of news and entertainment. Our consciences are seared and numbed. We learn to laugh at them because they have made sin a laughing matter for all. We tolerate those degrading immoral and crimes scenes, allowing them into our homes and worse still, our minds! Yet, the other day I was surprised by the reaction of our oldest grandson, a teenager, who quickly clicked his remote and changed the channel because it was showing an explicit sex scene! He had more sense than the producers and even we parents!

Slowly, you begin to think that after all, ‘what is seen by everyone everyday cannot be so wrong!' It cannot be as bad as the Bible says! You are assuming that God doesn’t care if' we watch and relish immorality in words and actions! Hence, slowly, you begin to flirt with those sins, first in sight and in thought! Soon you too begin to indulge in 'innocent' sins which have become part of our everyday life. You excuse yourself. They lead you on to blatant sins! You do not confess your sins any more. You have conceded in your mind that they are not sins. You continue indulging in those sins with no guilty conscience. Unless you go back to the Bible and find out how serious God is about sin, you will get deeper and deeper into sin.

Let us take a look at two familiar situations we face everyday: 1) “I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. ..anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell” (v.22). 2) "I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell" (v.27-29).

Sin is so serious that Jesus said that it is better to cut off a part of your body rather than commit a sin which will take you to hell! Sin is so dangerous that Jesus equated anger with murder and looking with lust to adultery! All sins will become habits. Let us begin to call sin, SIN. Let us separate ourselves from today’s flirting with SIN, whether by watching it on TV and relishing or laughing at it! God save us from sitting and watching it with our little children, exposing them to adult vulgarity! Let us stop considering the SIN of anger, malice, envy, hatred and hurting others etc. as ‘small sins’ and indulge in them.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to see ALL SIN so grave as to take me to hell. If it brought death to You, it will bring death to me too. Since You have died for my sin, help me to die to my sin too. Let me not consider any sin ‘small’ and stop flirting with it! Amen.

Friday, April 13, 2007

How I Love Your Law

OH HOW I LOVE YOUR LAW! I MEDITATE ON IT ALL DAY LONG. Psalm 119.97.

King David of Israel loved the Word of God very dearly. How do you and I know that? Not because he kept saying, “I love God’s Law!” It is because he meditated on it ‘all day long’ and ‘at night too!” “My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises" (Psa 119: 148).

If you love someone, you would spend a lot of time with that person! I love my wife very much. We got married in 1955 at the age of 27 and 23 respectively. I am a typical Asian who is averse at overtly expressing my love to her in words! The Westerners freely call their wives and children ‘honey, sweetheart or darling’ and sometimes or often it means ‘little or nothing!’ But about my love to my wife, even she cannot deny or complain. It is because every waking moment when I am at home, I want her to be with me! Often her complaint is that she cannot even go to the kitchen to cook because I won’t let her!

Dear friend, how is your love for your God and His Word? Your Bible may be always under your pillow! But that’s not how God wants you to show your love for Him and His Word! God wants you ‘to read His Word ‘day and night and meditate on it to observe it without turning from it!’ (Jos 1.8). That is the way to love God and His Word!

By the way, lovers never throw away their love letters soon after reading them. My wife and I kept on reading our letters many times, especially when we were not together. We started to throw away our ‘love letters’ only after our children learned to read! Many wives sadly complain that their husbands are spending less and less time at home with them and their children. That is the time they suspect that they have some other love in their lives – hobby, work or women!

But do you know that our God is a ‘jealous God?’ (Exo 20.5). He wants us to read or meditate His love letter to us – the Bible - all the time. God has a way of measuring our love to Him. He measures the time we spend with Him and His Word to know how much we love Him! By the way, the Bible says, Enoch and Noah walked with God'. Yet, both were family men who worked all day and did a ‘fair’ bit of preaching too! The other day in one of my devotionals, I wrote “the secret of successful Bible reading is to have ‘a definite time, place and plan’”. I was thrilled when I got an e-mail from my own son to say that he is going to read the Bible at least 20 minutes a day!

I know you love the Lord and His Word! Won’t you prove it to God and yourself by reading the Bible for at least 20 minutes a day? All of us are busy from the time we open our eyes in the wee hours of the morning and until we close them late into the night. Even in King Solomon's days life was so! He said, "In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to those he loves (Psa 127.2). Believe me, it was so for David, the king of Israel for forty years and Daniel, the Prime minister of the Babylonian empire for seven decades! But as they did, if you make the time for God's Word you will see the miracles that follow - the Lord’s presence and power, success in all your ways and prosperity too! (Jos 1.8).

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You know that I love You even though I haven’t been reading Your Word every day. Help me to start today, fixing a time, place and plan! Amen.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Need For Encouragement

AT THE SIGHT OF THESE MEN PAUL THANKED GOD AND WAS ENCOURAGED. ACTS 28.15

One of the greatest needs in our modern world of complexity and perplexity is encouragement. If you are like me or the people I know of, then you too need it. Even Christians, the children of God, need encouragement. As long as we live in this fallen world, we have to go through all its trials and woes. To us, it a great comfort that we have our God on our side as our helper. The Lord Jesus Christ is our constant friend and companion. We have His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13.5). The Holy Spirit is our comforter and encourager (Jn 16.7).

But often we feel the need for a human being to be at our side to give us support, encouragement and comfort. Often we need good and wise counsel too. God knew this need of human beings even before man ever felt it. That is why in the Garden of Eden, the Lord declared that, ‘It is not good for man to be alone. Therefore I will make him a helper, companion or encourager’ (Gen 2.18).

The Church, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ is a fellowship of believers in Him. The way the Lord expects His church to function properly is mentioned clearly for us. "Christ gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4.11-13). We are to minister to "one another" by the various gifts the Holy Spirit has bestowed on us. In many places in the Bible we are exhorted to “encourage one another”. The expression "one another" appears more than 80 times in the epistles! 'Encourage, stir up, spur, exhort, teach, share, bear, forgive, comfort, be hospitable to "one another" ' are but a few of these!

In my book on ‘Discipleship’, I have devoted a full chapter on this subject as I consider it important in the lives of believers. Below is an excerpt: “Mutual encouragement is most essential for our well being, even survival. We need encouragement and we owe it to one another. How often we get discouraged and how soon we are ready to give up when we are faced with difficulties in life. The path of discipleship of Christ is never easy. It is a hard uphill task and a long haul of a lifetime”.

I have always found that when I pray for believers in trouble with laying of hands, reassuring them of God’s love, they feel greatly relieved, comforted and encouraged. The other day, my wife and I visited a dear old Christian widow admitted to the hospital with heart trouble. We sat beside her and comforted and encouraged her. The mere sight of us pepped her spirit up and she appeared revived! Before we left, we committed her to the Lord and His mercy for healing, anointing her with oil. Who cannot do such simple things? You can do it! It will be a great ministry to God and His people!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to open my eyes and see those who need help and encouragement. Help me to be an encourager to my fellow believers and even to others. Amen.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Prophesy To My People

BUT THE LORD TOOK ME FROM TENDING THE FLOCK AND SAID TO ME, 'GO, PROPHESY TO MY PEOPLE ISRAEL'. Amos 7.15.

I love prophet Amos’ simplicity, forthrightness, honesty and humility as he plainly tells every one about his humble past, especially to those who confronted him. He said, “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet's son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees” (v 14). I admire his conviction and boldness in declaring to them about God’s call on him – “But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, 'Go, prophesy to my people Israel'.

Amos was a farmer and a shepherd. He didn’t know how to talk to people, let alone prophesy. There were no prophets in his family. But when God called him, he was willing and ready. The message and the enablement were from God. Amos stood before the people, the priests and the king and declared the Word of God without fear or favour. He was willing to be ridiculed, contradicted and even persecuted for the sake of bringing God’s message direct to the nation.

I feel a oneness with Amos, though I come from a family of preachers and pastors. Because, there ends our contrast. The rest of the story is somewhat similar. I was a young doctor. Never in my life had I stood before a group of people and said ‘ba’ or ‘boo!’ I didn’t have the nerves. I trembled. My knees shook. I couldn’t even pray in public! Once my grandfather put me down to preach in a ward in the mission hospital I worked at. I got up and excused myself and gave the pulpit back to him! Never again did he try to force me to become a preacher!

But increasingly, I felt the burden to testify about my Lord Jesus Christ to others. Missionary friends and other leaders encouraged and even pressed me on. I told the Lord, “I want to, but I cannot, unless you empower me by Your Holy Spirit”. Once the Holy Spirit came upon me, I received power and words began to tumble!” (Acts 1.8). I knew the Lord’s call was on me, 'Go, prophesy to my people!' I have never stopped. I seek increasing opportunities to testify, preach, teach, and write, to take the message of God to the people.

Dear friend, what about you? Do you know that you too have the same calling of God like the old prophet Amos and much later, the disciples, Peter and Andrew, James and John and all the others? If you think you are not called, read the gospels and hear the Lord say, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last" (Jn15.16). If you do not have the boldness, keep praying and wait on the Lord and receive the Holy Spirit's power. That is the promise of God and of Jesus Christ (Act 1.8). It is for you to act today and claim the promise and receive what is promised! Dear believer, this is not fiction but fact – eternal and divine, proved in my life and that of countless others throughout the ages.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, let me hear Your call afresh and help me to respond. Let Your Holy Spirit come on me, I pray, in power and boldness to let others know You through my life, actions and words. Amen.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Do Not Merely Listen

DO NOT MERELY LISTEN TO THE WORD, AND SO DECEIVE YOURSELVES. DO WHAT IT SAYS. James 1.22.

When I was a youngster, I used to read the Scripture Union Bible notes, ‘The daily Bread’. I took interest in distributing it to my church members, encouraging them also to read the Bible daily. On its opening page were tips to get the maximum benefit out of the readings. I remember well two of them: 1) Observe whether in the passage there is a commandment to obey; 2) Is there any sin that you should avoid?

These are two very practical things that you and I should be careful to observe as we keep reading the Word of God daily. Make them your prayer to God that He may give you the strength during the day to practise what you have learnt. I have been careful to follow this advice often. It has helped to mould my life according to the Word of God. But there were days when I was busy or lazy and did my devotion hurriedly. The result was that I missed the things that God wanted to teach me.

The same diligence is necessary as we go to church on Sundays and listen to the preaching. We must go prepared and with the expectation to hear God speak to us from His Word through His servants. For a half an hour sermon, they prepare for weeks and months, waiting on God and searching His Word. We should at least take the trouble to listen attentively. Keep awake. Do not play with your phone or keep chatting with your fiancé! Open your Bible and look up the references. Write simple notes or scribble the points. It will help you to concentrate. If you jot down some notes, it is not easy to forget the message totally. Some important points will remain not only in your notebook but in your mind also. Don’t feel shy to write, thinking that others would consider you a fanatic or super-spiritual. My church has been distributing diaries for writing sermon notes and many other churches also are doing the same. They want you to mean business with God!

The truth is that most of what is preached on a Sunday is forgotten by most people even before they get out of the church and go for lunch! Consider it seriously. Is it God’s desire and purpose for you to hear and forget what He teaches you Sunday after Sunday? Jesus was very concerned about how people responded to His teachings. He told His hearers, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Mt 7.26,27).

James the apostle, having been similarly concerned about the believers who were like us, said, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (Ja 1.22,23). Stop deceiving yourself!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord Jesus, You have warned me and Your Word cautions me not to be just a listener of Your Word. Help me to take note and practice what I hear. Amen.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Nothing New Under The Sun

WHAT HAS BEEN WILL BE AGAIN WHAT HAS BEEN DONE WILL BE DONE AGAIN; THERE IS NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN. Ecclesiastes 1.9.

Poor King Solomon, though he was the wisest of all men, when he had lost touch with God and His Word, he also lost his vision and divine prospects! Now, he could only say, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”. Put in today’s jargon, it would be something like, ‘Life is a meaningless chore!’ It is no surprise that people feel that way about life. Many times, we Christians too feel the same way. That’s when you and I need to change our perspective through God’s Word and make our lives exciting!

Recently, I was preparing to preach the Sunday sermon. My topic was ‘God’s Word Transforms’. I was truly excited about the power of the Word of God to change our lives. I had been reading some of the most remarkable testimonies of people whose lives were miraculously and sometimes spontaneously transformed by the Word of God. These were people who happened to read the Gideon Bible they found in a hotel, motel or even a prison! As I drove to the church early Sunday morning, I was really overwhelmed by the thought of ‘what great things God’s Word could do to my hearers and myself’!

Soon, I was on an elevated highway and I witnessed one of the most spectacular sunrises I had seen for months! I thought to myself, ‘What a glorious sunrise! What a bright new day! What great possibilities there are before me and everyone else to open ourselves to God, to seek His face and His will.’

Later during the worship, a pastor spoke a word of prophesy or exhortation for the edification of the church. He said something to this effect, ‘Today, you may have a new beginning in God. The opportunity is there for you’. Another member encouraged the believers, ‘Rise up and soar high to reach for heaven’s best for you’.

It was an easy task for me to speak after God had spoken to the congregation. I only had to fill-in the gap! I did that by narrating stories of people’s lives touched, transformed and made new by the power of the Word of God! I challenged God’s people not to stop reading the Word that once changed their lives. They were encouraged to read on daily and be made anew day-by-day!

Don’t be like Solomon and say, ‘There is nothing new under the sun’. God says in His Word, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isa 43.18,19). The apostle Paul said “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5.17). With each new day, you and I as children of an Almighty God and Father should aspire and apprehend all that God has in store for us. Read God’s Word. Know God’s power. Embrace His love. Experience His compassion. Receive His blessings. Feel his healing and strengthening power. Receive wisdom from above. Find direction in life. Pray and receive God’s answers. Intercede for others and let them know God’s mercy and grace.

Pray with me: Dear Lord, never let my life in You be a chore. Get me excited through Your Word each day, showing the possibilities and potentials before me, and help me to achieve them. Amen.

Friday, April 6, 2007

Full Extent of His Love

JESUS HAVING LOVED HIS OWN HE NOW SHOWED THEM THE FULL EXTENT OF HIS LOVE. JOHN 13.1.

Today is Good Friday. How could anyone imagine that the most horrible and unjust day of all times would become the Good Friday to Christians and to the world!

It all started with the love of God to all people of the world and His greatest gift of love to all people. The Bible says, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3.16).

When the Son of God came to earth, He said, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost" (Lk 19.10). Jesus handpicked the twelve but many more followed him and became His disciples because of His love and concern for them. When He was with them, they lacked nothing! He healed all those came to Him and performed signs and miracles to meet their needs. No one who came to Him returned empty or disappointed!

But Jesus knew that the extent of His love would lead Him to the cross and ultimate death. He began early in His ministry to explain this to the twelve disciples. But they who trusted and anticipated Him to be the Deliverer of Israel, could never understand Him. "Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life" (Mt 16.21). The utter ignorance of the disciples of the purpose of Jesus coming into the world was revealed by Peter. We read, "Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" (V22).

The gospels record, "Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love"(Jn 13.1). Most translations say, "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end". What great love Jesus showed to His disciples whom He loved and who loved Him!

Dear Believer, this Good Friday, would it be too much for you to take a little quiet time to appreciate and even experience the love of our Lord Jesus for you? There is a beloved hymn that says, "Was it the nails that kept you on the cross, NO! It was Your love for me!" How true! "He could have saved Himself as He saved others", as the rulers and the people teased Him on the cross. But He didn't! Remember Jesus said, "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels" (Mt 26.53). He didn't! It was His love for you and I to the very end, that kept Jesus on the cross! It is for you that He endured the persecution.. It is for you that He bled and died!

Jesus said "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (Jn 15.13). That is what the Lord Jesus did for you on Good Friday! How will you show your love for Him in return today? Good Friday service, drama and celebrations by themselves are only collective outward responses. May I suggest that you do what the Lord pleaded Peter, James and John to do, while in Gethsemane, "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" (Mt 26.40). Reciprocate Jesus' love on the cross for you by spending "one hour" with Him this Passion weekend. Continue to spend some time each day henceforth with Him who loved and died for you on the cross. If you don't, it wouldn't be a great surprise if you too will deny Jesus like Peter – not three times but for all time! The cross forever poses the question, "Do you love me more than everything else?"

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You loved me and gave Your life for me. Help me to love You and show that love by giving my life to You in return, in practical ways. Amen.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Christians In This Generation

YOU MAY BECOME BLAMELESS AND PURE, CHILDREN OF GOD WITHOUT FAULT IN A CROOKED AND DEPRAVED GENERATION, IN WHICH YOU SHINE LIKE STARS IN THE WORLD. Philippians 2.15.

When you read these words of the apostle Paul, you may wonder whether he was prophesying about our days and our people – 'a crooked and depraved generation!' Read the daily newspaper and the junk and filth that are spewed out boggle your mind. But they are only reporting what people are doing! That is what life has become in our world today. The other day, there was a report in our daily about the worst kind of incest one could think of! My daughter tore off the page because she didn’t want her teenager son to read it!

Our Prime Minister wants to wipe out bribery and corruption. He is looking forward to having a clean government and an efficient civil service. The police want to cut crime and violence, drugs and prostitution. The schools and universities are battling indiscipline and bad behaviour. Abuse, battering and incest need to be stopped.

Who said that we Christians have no place in the present-day world and no purpose in life? Today, the world needs more fervent and committed Christians than ever before. Sometime ago, a Christian went for a job interview. The moment the boss knew the candidate was a Christian, he was very interested to hire him. The reason the non-Christian boss gave was that he trusted Christians! He said that he has some Christian friends who are known for being honest, punctual, diligent, hardworking and faithful. What a shining testimony to have in the market place that knows none of these things!

In a sense, it is good for us Christians to be living in a crooked and perverse world like ours today. It shakes us up a bit to realise that such were we but God in His mercy saved us through His Son Jesus Christ. When we read about all the evil in the newspapers or see them on TV, it will make us more grateful to God. It will stir up our conscience to be different from the people of the world and live up to our calling from God. The Lord has called you and me that we may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in this world!

It is a very high and heavenly calling. It is a difficult call. You may need to stand up against all odds like injustice, ridicule, ostracising and even loss of position or gain. But it can be done and should be done because the Bible promises, “it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose” (v.13). We need to do it to keep the good name of Christ and the Christians. Our government and nation expect that of us as Christians in our society.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to face my tomorrows with a firm commitment and determination that, 'I will shine for Christ today in some way that people will notice and know the difference!' Amen.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

I Will Give You Rest

COME TO ME ALL YOU WHO ARE WEARY AND BURDENED, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Matthew 11.28.

Some years ago, our large family had a reunion at a seaside resort. We were all hoping for a much needed rest from our daily burdens and responsibilities. Some are busy doctors. Some, professionals with commitments. The mothers needed a break from their endless chores of housekeeping and minding the children day and night. Kids, young and old, were looking for a welcome break from their homework and school assignments. It was fun and relaxing, spending lots of time with our grandchildren and children on the calm beaches and among the rolling waves.

That particular stretch of sea opens towards South China and the waves were high and often rough. I was amazed at the might and magnitude of the endless waves that came in crashing one after the other. Day and night for four days we could hear the sound of the wind and the sea! We left the sea but it will never stop roaring or making waves!” I wondered, “Does the sea ever rest? Do the waves pine for a break? No! The sea, I believe, finds its rest by being in the hollow of the hands of its Maker, doing His will and fulfilling its destiny!

We all need a break sometimes from what we are doing and a change from where we are toiling. But if we are looking forward to holidays for rest and relaxation these days, believe me, most people need a “rest” after their modern holidays! We need to realise that like the endless roar of the sea, our work is part of life and our destiny ordained by our Maker. Even in the Garden of Eden, God wanted Adam to keep tending it. Things got worse with sin. Now all have to sweat and slog for food! It will never change until life ends on earth and heaven begins for us.

However difficult and burdensome your work may be, you will not find rest by complaining or cursing. While many today die working, all of us have to work to live! The apostle Paul said, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat. We hear that some among you are idle. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat”(2 Thes 3.10-12). True, some people may make easy money but few are they and it never lasts!

Dear believer, what then are you to do, you who long for rest and lesser burdens! Go to Jesus who calls us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. . Learn to work with Him. Make Him your partner! Hand over your burden to Him – literally and not as a gimmick, mind you. When you are yoked with Jesus and both together carry out the job, He will bear the brunt of it! You will find the yoke easy and the burden light!

Wake up in the morning not cursing but praising God for a new day to do whatever your hand finds to do with all your might, may be the same as yesterday (Eccl 9.10). Take God with you where ever you go and whatever you do. That is walking with God. That is what Enoch, Noah, Joseph, Daniel and Jesus did! Look forward to opportunities to do good to others and be a witness for Christ in your market place. Until you learn to do it day-by-day and experience this new way of walking with God, you will never have true joy in work and rest while you work! It is being witnesses for God in your home and place of work!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to come to You each morning and find not only strength and happiness but also the rest that You give as I do the task You have ordained for me to do! Amen.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

I Will Take Refuge In You

I WILL TAKE REFUGE IN THE SHADOW OF YOUR WINGS UNTIL THE DISASTER HAS PASSED. Psalm 57.1.

Recently, I counselled and prayed for some dear believers who came forward to the altar with their needs. One young sister was in tears. She said, “God has disappointed me and I am very hurt!” The others too had needs that were not fulfilled yet, though they had prayed. They came hoping that a pastor’s or leader’s intercession would help! How intensely we pleaded to God to come down and touch these dear people with His ancient power and with His compassion that never fails.

A little later, I was at a Bible class. There were two Christian lay-leaders giving testimony about how God blessed them tremendously with millions of dollars because they began to tithe faithfully. I sat there in the pew of the church wondering what would have been the reaction of those needy people I prayed for earlier, about God and His dealings which were so strangely different from theirs!

Our Almighty God and Father in heaven deals with each of His children differently and at different times. His ways are incomprehensible and ‘often confusing’ to a child who goes through disasters and diseases like King David in this psalm. Thank God for quick and timely answers.

But the truth is that the ways and dealings of God with His children are not always the same or so simple! As you grow in the faith and knowledge of God, you will soon find that God in His mercy and grace quickly answers most of your prayers for your daily needs. But many other requests do take time. Some are not even answered and others in different ways! It is God’s prerogative. The Bible says that God’s will is good, pleasing and perfect (Rom 12.2).

What then are we to do? How is that dear young sister I prayed for, supposed to go on living with her dire and crushing situation? In somewhat similar words of the psalmist David, I told her to keep clinging to God praying, “Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed”. It took years, but deliverance came for David. The calamity passed! God did not leave him helpless. He became the greatest king of Israel!

Dear believer, what other choice do you have in your distress and calamity than taking refuge in your God, though He lets you suffer for reasons He alone knows? Don’t be like old Job’s wife who told him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!" I would be like Job "He got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised" (Job 2.20,21). I would rather die with God than live without Him, come what may!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You have seen me and known my distress. It is too unbearable. Satan tempts me to distrust You and give up! But whom have I on earth apart from You and who have I in heaven if it is not You to receive me at last! Amen.