Look Up To The Sky!

LOOK UP AT THE SKY WHO CREATED THE STARS YOU SEE? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great--- not one of them is ever missing! Isaiah 40.29.

Many a time what I write in my devotionals are my soliloquies (solitary communion) with my God! This is particularly so when the Bible passage I am dealing with is complex and its meaning unfathomable! At other times, it is about some puzzling situation in life for which I am searching for answers from God for myself. When you feel a oneness with me as you read, it is because you are human like me and we are all in the same boat that is threatened by the storms of life. We are looking for an anchor!

How glad we should be that there is an Anchor for us in our great and awesome God, the creator and sustainer of all things! His mighty power is revealed in the Bible so clearly in many places. He manifested this in His many deeds throughout the history of peoples.

Yet, it is a great puzzle to us today as we face ‘impossible situations’ and God’s help does not arrive as we cry out! That is the enigma (mystery) of our present life of faith. Until our faith is turned to sight in eternity and our doubts vanish, we have to cling on to our Almighty God and His Word. In times of severe testing of faith, you need to reassure yourself over and over again by the unchanging Word that you are not alone. That the Lord God Almighty is with you. He is able to deliver you or take you through! You shouldn’t base your faith on your experiences. The foundation of your faith must be established on the eternal Word of God that abides forever!

In the Old Testament God told His people, Israel, “There is no one like your God, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut 33.26,27). In the New Testament our God is described as “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (Jas 1.17).

When you are buffeted by the storms of life and your faith in God is wavering and you are full of doubt, read the majestic description of our incomparably great God, in chapter 40 of Isaiah's prophecy. The words of the prophecy is most eloquent and beautifully poetic, yet extremely truthful. The Lord God knows your problems and pain and he hears your complaints and cry. Here is what He says to you, “Why do you complain that the LORD doesn't know your troubles or care if you suffer injustice? Don't you know? Haven't you heard? The LORD is the everlasting God; he created all the world. He never grows tired or weary. No one understands his thoughts” (vs 27-28).

Dear believer, the next time or maybe even now as you are sorely perplexed and puzzled over your trials and you are wavering in your faith, why not get out somewhere in the open at night and “look up to the sky! Ask yourself, ‘Who created the stars you see? The one who leads them out like an army, he knows how many there are and calls each one by name! His power is so great--- not one of them is ever missing!" Do not come away until you are convinced that 'Your God is great and He knows you and He is able to lead you', and begin to praise Him!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, my problems overwhelm me! But let Your power and love amaze me and cause me to cry out, “Lord, I believe You can help me. Increase my faith. Help my unbelief!” Amen.

Don't Rely On Own Wisdom

TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART. NEVER RELY ON WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW. Proverbs 3.5.

If you need wisdom, read the Book of Proverbs. Even if you do not read it daily, make it a point to read a few chapters now and then! It is bursting with wisdom – divine wisdom. Some say the wise King Solomon collected all the wise sayings of the world and made it into a book. The frequent mention of his son, suggests that Solomon wrote it mainly for his own son. However, as you read through it, you will come to the realisation that it is not merely man’s wisdom but Divine Wisdom! Look for instance at the proverb, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom” (Pro 9.10). No worldly wise man would admit to such a divine statement!

Much of the sayings and teachings are about seeking, acquiring and applying the wisdom of God in one’s life. Solomon was desperate in pleading with his son to listen to him and to his mother, and to learn wisdom from them. Having learned invaluable lessons through real-life experiences, and many of them through mistakes, the anxious father pleads with his son not to repeat what he encountered. The saying that ‘history repeats itself but man never learns’ is very true. But it is utter foolishness for a man to repeat his own foolishness or that of his father!

Have you ever thought why you repeat foolishness, ours or that of others? Consider today’s Bible text – “NEVER RELY ON WHAT YOU THINK YOU KNOW”. Most translations have it as, “never lean on your own understanding”. It is natural that you make your decision based on what you know or what you have heard! But the truth is that the information or knowledge on which your decision is based may be flawed or totally wrong! We live in the ‘information age’ and we get all kinds of knowledge through the media, literature and especially the internet. However, only those who are wise know that the information we obtain may be right or wrong and act accordingly.

But when you read the Book of Proverbs from the Word of God, written by inspired writers, it is distilled and pure wisdom from the mind of God and from the oven of life. It can never be wrong. Hence, listen to Solomon when he says, ”My child, don't forget what I teach you. Always remember what I tell you to do. My teaching will give you a long and prosperous life… “Never rely on what you think you know” (vs 1,2). Instead, he counsels him to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart”.

Dear believer, in an age when there are all kinds of voices calling for your attention and compliance, you need to decide on the course of action you are going to take on any issue. Never let yourself think that you are wiser than everyone, even God's Word. Simply obey the LORD and refuse to do wrong. Relying on the instruction of God’s Word and the wisdom of divine maturity will be your salvation instead of sorrow and disappointment.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to trust in YOU with all my heart and never rely on what I think I know! Help me to daily read and meditate on Your Word so that I will obey it. Amen.

We Are Equal

THE SHARE OF THOSE WHO GO INTO BATTLE MUST BE LIKE THE SHARE OF THOSE WHO STAY WITH THE SUPPLIES. 1 Samuel 30.24.

The text from the Bible that we are considering deals primarily with the soldiers, those on the battlefield and others in the barracks. It was a splendid principle that David set up for the army. But it has a parallel in our modern-day family and society life.

Sometime ago, I was writing the manuscript of my book on “witnessing in the market place”. The work of women in the house and mothers at home seemed to me as important or even more important than the work the men folk accomplish in the offices. But, how do we Christians consider our womenfolk who stay at home and hold that front for us? We men are out working all day and night and we leave our children entirely under the care of our wives. For long, they have been subjugated, doing supposedly ‘a menial kind of task’. They were belittled by the common name we gave them – ‘housewives!’ It is time that we Christians take a radical step toward the proper recognition of our wives and mothers.

A good principle to apply could be borrowed from the rule that David prescribed for his army. We Christians are in the Lord’s army. While the men are on the battlefront our women are holding the fort for us! They are not only the keepers of our belongings but more importantly they are the keepers and trainers of our children. They must be given equal status and more respect than ever.

The duties they perform, the responsibilities they carry and the blessings they are capable of bringing are enumerated in the excerpt from my book given below: “There are few places as strategically important to us as our homes where mothers work. It is their workplace or ‘marketplace’. Hence they form more than half of the world’s workforce. It is there that the lives of our future generations are moulded and their destinies settled for this world and for the next! If only the world had never coined that belittling name ‘housewives’ for that noble and honourable profession of ‘mothers and homemakers”, we would have given them more respect and mothers would have had more self-pride.

Homemakers or mothers should be proud of their profession for it is their divine calling! They should consider their homes their God-ordained domain and thank God for it. Every member of the family is a gracious gift from your Father in heaven to be loved and cherished with utmost care. It is the mother’s divine duty to pray for, feed, clothe, guide, train and help each one to develop to his or her highest potential in God. Together with her godly husband, she must accomplish this.

When her worldly, non-Christian counterparts swear and curse at every chore they have to do, the godly mother must view each task as a deed done unto God and a divine duty performed for the welfare of the members of her ‘home church’. The Lord has made her ‘the lady bishop or pastor’ of her little flock and she must give God an account for each one. In the measure of the gravity and responsibility with which she accepts and discharges her God-given duties, she will be respected by her family members, her church and the society, and richly rewarded by God!”

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, You created us man and woman and gave us our separate functions to perform. Help us to mutually respect and equally share our rewards. Amen.