Your Best Is Ahead Of You

There are times when the battle seems too overwhelming, you are just too tired or too stressed to carry on; when things keep rolling down hill, wave after wave; when there never seems enough of supply and the needs keeps growing; there are times when you get so dejected and want to throw in the towel. You want to give up and surrender.

You are at the right place.

But we are not to surrender to the world. The turmoil and troubles will never end; remember the world is cursed, nothing good will ever come out of it. People who sow their seeds of their lives into the world, putting faith in their investments, whether time, money, hope, health, etc. into the world will reap what the world produces. There may be some good but mostly bad returns. There is, however, a better place.

For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you. Galatians 3:28-29 (NLT)

When we surrender our lives to Jesus, then that is where all the difference begins. When we are at our wits-end and when there is no more road ahead of us-only a steep cliff, we will then know our vulnerability and our weakness. It is good many does not need to stand at the cliff before surrendering to Jesus. But for those who do, upon surrendering to Jesus, have a good expectation in faith that a mountain will uproot and fill the highest cliff in front of you (Matthew 17:20), such that you can continue to walk high up above the clouds and not drop down to your death.

This is because once we belong to Christ, we are heirs to God’s promise to Abraham. It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.  Hebrews 11:8-10  

 

If we can instead sow our seeds of our lives into the best investment there will ever be, then have a good expectation in faith that our returns will be greater than our imagination, even if we cannot see it immediately. Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.  Hebrews 11:1   But the time will come, and at its best, it will come.

All these are not because we can pep talk ourselves into it, grill ourselves into super-performers or manipulate the world with our minds or hands. We are because not only has Christ redeemed us from the curse, we also inherited the blessings promised to Abraham though the reconciliation work of the cross (Romans 5:11).

There are amazing things yet to be experienced by all who surrender their lives to Christ, born again through repentance and faith in Jesus. All our best is still ahead of us because our earthly mind cannot grasp the greatness of what lies ahead for believers. But we get glimpses of it by God’s revelation. And we see that the best is yet to come! Your best is ahead of you!

 

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9

 

 

A Psalm Of Repentance

The New Convenant
Repentance is a change of thought and action to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from the one wronged => GOD!
For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Ephesians 5:8-9

Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.

Purify me from my sins,and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me—now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.

You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

Psalm 51

Quote Of The Day

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the unlimitable superior who reveals Himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds. That deeply emotional conviction of the presence of a superior reasoning power, which is revealed in the incomprehensible universe, forms my idea of God.”

—  Albert Einstein

I Am Everything I Am… Because You Loved Me

I always like this song and was listening to it this morning. It is “Because You Loved Me” by Celine Dion, recorded eons ago. Suddenly it occurs to me: “Wow, this is a great worship song to God, to Jesus. Because, come on, nobody is that great! Of course only Jesus!”

I know I posted a praise and worship in the last one, but well, it is such a joy to fall in love with Him all over again, because He first loved us!!

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. John 17:24

For all those times you stood by me
For all the truth that you made me see
For all the joy you brought to my life
For all the wrong that you made right
For every dream you made come true
For all the love I found in you
I’ll be forever thankful baby greatly
You’re the one who held me up
Never let me fall
You’re the one who saw me through through it all

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn’t speak
You were my eyes when I couldn’t see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach
You gave me faith ‘coz you believed
I’m everything I am
Because you loved me

You gave me wings and made me fly
You touched my hand I could touch the sky
I lost my faith, you gave it back to me
You said no star was out of reach
You stood by me and I stood tall
I had your love I had it all
I’m grateful for each day you gave me
Maybe I don’t know that much
But I know this much is true
I was blessed because I was loved by you

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn’t speak
You were my eyes when I couldn’t see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach
You gave me faith ‘coz you believed
I’m everything I am
Because you loved me

You were always there for me
The tender wind that carried me
A light in the dark shining your love into my life
You’ve been my inspiration
Through the lies you were the truth
My world is a better place because of you

You were my strength when I was weak
You were my voice when I couldn’t speak
You were my eyes when I couldn’t see
You saw the best there was in me
Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach
You gave me faith ‘coz you believed
I’m everything I am
Because you loved me

I’m everything I am
Because you loved me

We love because he first loved us.  1 John 4:19

Sing – Hillsong

I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.   Psalms 89:1-2

 

It used to be darkness
Without you I
I lived my life in blindness
But now I am found

And I’ll sing, sing I love you so
And I’ll sing
Because the world can’t take away
Your love

Found me in weakness
Broken
You came to me in kindness
And now I live

I’ll give my life for you Lord
For all you’ve done

Losing To Gain

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,

   “They share freely and give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God.

 As a result of your ministry, they will give glory to God. For your generosity to them and to all believers will prove that you are obedient to the Good News of Christ. And they will pray for you with deep affection because of the overflowing grace God has given to you. Thank God for this gift too wonderful for words!   2 Corinthians 9:6-14

 

A farmer who is sowing seeds on the his field seems like he is throwing it away. He throws the seeds seemingly unsystematically and without care. To the unqualified, the seeds seems lost and unrecoverable, but the farmer knows he will get back and get back with much much more.

When we give up ourselves to follow Christ, to the uninitiated, it may seem that we are throwing our lives, our time, our money and devotion away. But like the farmer, we know with great confidence we will get it back-with much more. Jesus promised in the Bible, Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  Matthew 10:39  In essence, we are losing to actually gain.

The way of the cross is very different from what the world perceives, The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:5  Jesus teaches us to measure our lives by seemingly losses than by gains, by sacrifices than by self-preservation, by give than by hording, by giving love than by demanding love.

 

The truth of life is this: God provided us with everything in the first place. Every breath we take; every move we make; everything we own is God given. And if we cheerful give Him our little, God will also in turn generously provide all you need. And so much so generously that plenty left over to share with others.

Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. We have a generous God who wants His people to be generous as well. At the end of the day God like us to joyfully express our thanks to Him.

So are you ready to lose it?

God Series 30 – Talk

a simple conversation from God

A Simple Prayer For You

 

Father, we thank You that You have given us this great privilege to come before You as Your children and call You Abba Father. We thank You for Your love and Your sacrifice on the cross, Lord Jesus. Your hands bear the very marks of Your love. You have engraved all our names on Your flesh.

We pray that You bless our friends, families and all that we care deeply for, who are reading this right now. Show us a new revelation of Your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask You to minister to all our spirits at this very moment.

Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence through Your grace. Where there is need, we ask you to fulfill their needs. Where there are uncertainties, show them Your sovereignty and that You are always there. Give them Your divine wisdom to see to their lives that they will bring glory to You. Bless their health, homes, families, finances, their goings and their comings.

You are the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. Only You have the final say in our lives and situation, because You are our God and we are Your children.

In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

Home Sweet Home!

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.   Revelation 21:1-7

The Financial Firestorm: Stay On My Wings and Watch My Wink

With the collapse and a carnage left behind by the two famous US financial institutions, the 158-years-old Lehman Brothers and the 94-years-old Merrill Lynch, shockwaves can be felt throughout the world. Global stock markets and commodity prices plunged in reaction. Some analysts are calling this the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s. Fear, uncertainty and panic abounds. Suddenly September 14, 2008 is the new black Sunday. See here.

When I read the report, I was quite overwhelmed by the love of God instead. Please allow me to share my testimony of His goodness. You see, due to some unforeseen commitment my wife and I took up recently, we decided to liquidate all our shares and unit trusts. What we have done was quite financially foolish because we bought them while they were quite high and we had to sell when the value has dropped. Nevertheless, we prayed and trusted God for His direction, although it wasn’t easy parting with our losses, we are stepping out of our comfort zone in faith. If you looked that the chart which I crudely put up, the chart has been in a downward trend for a way long time, but I zoomed in at the “blip”. At that time when we finally disposed of it, it sits on a small upward pimple before it contine its normal downward trend again, and needless to say, it would probably be a cliff drop after 14 September 08. (We would have sold at peak, if we haven’t procrastinated for a while)

No one can predict the financial markets, not even the experts. The entire fallen world is driven by pride, greed and fear; some say this is what Wall St is made of. For novices like us, we have nothing and knows nothing, some see us as blind-ducks. But don’t be afraid, we have the Shepherd as our guide. Sometimes when the storms of life rams into you, just like Peter, we are shaken and starts sinking too. However, we just have to remember The Hand In The Storm.

 

Personally, the reason I am writing this testimony is that I felt the whole episode is not a coincident. Like ancient King David, I experienced the “your rod and staff, they comforts me” in Psalms 23. There will surely be many who will have their lives severely affected by these incidents, where will they seek refuge and help? For those who believe, although treading in uncertainty, know that God is giving out His visible nuggets of assurance along the way, we just need to know where to look, where the Holy Spirit nudges. God will demonstrate His Hand in our daily lives and we are comforted because we know He is there always there for us, and in control. I call this Jesus’ little “wink”.

I used to quietly frown upon people with their testimonies about their deliverance from financial difficulties or divine-prosperity-blessings. I used to think God would have more important and “holier” things to do like ministering and healing people, running the universe than throw money at them. However, I now learnt God is concern about our needs and daily lives, anything that affects us, even small ones, that may affect our rest and relationship with Him. All He is concern is that we stay close at His wings and rest.  So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest.  Hebrews 4:9-11

The world’s economy is not God’s economy. The world’s economy takes but God’s economy give. The world’s economy is always about loom and doom but God’s economy is always about life and abundance. The world’s economy strives on fear and greed but God’s economy strive on faith and rest. Which economy do you want to belong to?

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 4:19

 

Every Good and Perfect Gift Is From Heaven

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.  James 1:17-18

The Good News of Jesus- So Simply Simple

There is this book written by Max Lucado called 3:16. While I have not read it, I did with Max’s other book, He Chose the Nails, and I must say he is good – simple and humourous with good insights; very good light reading material. Coming back, it is amazing that a book can be written with just one verse from the Bible. What’s so much there to write about? Then again, John 3:16 is no ordinary verse; it is said to be a condensation of the entire of God’s story in one verse, the gospel in a nutshell. Another amazing feat! Not writing a book here, but let’s discover the beautiful and simple truths in John 3:16.

“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.   John 3:16 

Surprisingly, in Wikipedia there is quite a good presentation on John 3:16 , see here. Allow me to lift the original Greek and direct translation from there, this will enable us to see the weight of the original script. The verse in the original Greek is as follows (associated Strong’s Number in superscript):

Οὕτως³⁷⁷⁹ γὰρ¹⁰⁶³ ἠγάπησεν²⁵ ὁ³⁵⁸⁸ Θεὸς²³¹⁶ τὸν³⁵⁸⁸ κόσμον²⁸⁸⁹, ὥστε⁵⁶²⁰ τὸν³⁵⁸⁸ Υἱὸν⁵²⁰⁷ τὸν³⁵⁸⁸ μονογενῆ³⁴³⁹ ἔδωκεν¹³²⁵, ἵνα²⁴⁴³ πᾶς³⁹⁵⁶ ὁ³⁵⁸⁸ πιστεύων⁴¹⁰⁰ εἰς¹⁵¹⁹ Αὐτὸν^846[3] μὴ³³⁶¹ ἀπόληται⁶²² ἀλλ᾽²³⁵ ἔχῃ²¹⁹² ζωὴν²²²² αἰώνιον¹⁶⁶

Which could be translated literally to mean:

For in this way God loved the world: that he gave the unique son, so that all the ones trusting in him would not perish, but have eternal life.

After Jesus’ clearing the temple in Jerusalem, Nicodemus, a high-level Pharisees came to talk to Jesus in the cover of the night, addressing Jesus as “Rabbi” or teacher. Nicodemus is convinced by Jesus’ miraculous signs and believed that He is from Father God subsequently (evidenced by his involvement in Christ’s burial).

Most of Nicodemus’ peers would have probably be offended by Jesus in the temple earlier in the day. It is also not common for a member of the ruling council and teacher of the law to be so humble and willing to learn from someone else who was little known still. Jesus then explained to everyone from then onwards, the very foundation of The Good News; the very heart of Father God and the very cross Jesus will have to bear.

Jesus declared in reply to Nicodemus that unless one is born again, he will not see the kingdom of God. To further explain “born again”, Jesus spoken on and was recorded in John 3:16 summarising the 5 simple truths:

The Simple Reason: Because God the Father, so loved the world. Remember in the beginning, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31  God love His entire creation, especially His children. As a loving Father would, he loved us all so much.

The Simple Ransom: With such incomprehensible love, Father God gave His other great love, His only Son, Jesus Christ as a ransom to redeem us from the Fall of Adam. A simple ransom; by His one sacrifice the curse of creation is reversed, once and for all.  Life began by Him. His Life was the Light for men. The Light shines in the darkness. The darkness has never been able to put out the Light. John 1:4-5 (New Life Version)

Nevertheless, it cost Jesus everything, including His life. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13

The Simple Condition: That whosoever believes in Him (Jesus). There is no simpler condition than that! People tends to have the habit of complicating simple things. It is a fallen world concept that does not want to believe that something so good and precious can come so simply, easy and undeservingly. You see, human pride wants to somehow pay or work for it.

It is disheartening that even some christians themselves think that “christians” can still go to hell, if they are not careful. Some even think that the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” are pointing towards Christians. Allow me to set the record straight: “weeping and gnashing of teeth” are not meant for Christian who believe in Jesus simply because Jesus in John 3:16 says so!

The Simple Rescue: Shall not perish. For the wages of sin is death, Romans 6:23  We are deemed for the pits of the fiery furnace for eternity by the fall of the first Adam. But God had other plans; The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. 2 Peter 3:9   And with the last Adam-Jesus, we not only have the natural body but we also inherited a spiritual body, see here.  Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man. 1 Corinthians 15:49  Because of Christ, we came out better than when we first started.

The Simple Conclusion: The beauty of it all, not to perish but have an eternal life; not only living forever but with a beautiful future!  “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”  Revelation 21:3-5

Notice that in John’s account, this is Jesus first major purposeful teaching session. This is very significant because it set the introduction to the ultimate climax of God’s plan: Jesus death and resurrection; the fulfillment of God’s grand promises; the total redemption of mankind and all other creation; the final reconciliation between man and God! Hallelujah!