Walking by Faith

This is an except of the message I spoke during a Saturday's service last month in church.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” 2 Cor 5:7 (NKJ)

Our church motto is Forward in Faith. And rightly so, as we have been moving ahead through faith in God  to see the realisation of the church building and its subsequent expansion without borrowing any money from financial institutions.  

Faith makes God possibilities available to mankind.

“ …with God all things are possible.”  Mt 19:26 (NKJ)

“ …all things are possible to him who believes.”  Mk 9:23 (NKJ)

The thing that connects us to the eternal world is faith.  The world says, “Seeing is believing.”  But God says

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  Jn 20:29 (NKJ)

“Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”   Jn 11:40 (NKJ)

We all begin our journey of faith through the various God-encounters in life, culminating in our conversion experience.  Some of the God-encounters could be the following:

·     Influence of family members, friends, relatives or even strangers (to attend church or Christian gatherings); I’m heartened by the wonderful testimony and work of Sis Esther who spoke to 3 persons recently, inviting them to church meetings and they came!

·    Being placed in a mission school; my first encounter with Jesus was in a Christian Brother School, where they used to recite the Lord’s prayer and Hail Mary.  In secondary school, I was invited by a friend to a YFC meeting where I was converted.

How did we exercise our faith? We believed in the promises of God as found in His Word concerning salvation and eternal life such as John 3:16 and Rom 6:23.  It is that same level of simple trust in God and His Word that will enable us to grow in our faith walk. We have to overcome our old nature of being dependent on sight    

Young children, by virtue of the fact that they have just been implanted the spirit of life by God, bears the imprint of God in their lives.  That is why Jesus said that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child shall not enter it (Mk 10:15). In the recent church camp, we were told that children believe what they do not understand.  They are like a clean slate whereby parents and significant others would influence them for better or worse.  As time progresses, children become more self-conscious and aware as they are being exposed to the world through the 5 senses.  Sight takes over child-like faith. 

In our journey of faith, our trust in God is often tested by time and trial/tribulation.  They are God’s instruments to build faith & character in us.  The wise man, Solomon, tells his son to   

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Pr 3:5-6 (NIV)

Trust is an attitude of the heart that submits to God’s ways.  The mind (sight) is often impatient and takes over to override what God has spoken.  This can be seen in Abram and Sarai, where the test of time was used to mould and stretch their faith.  Mind you, Abram already believed God when God showed him the stars of heaven and said that his descendants shall be as plentiful as them.

Then the word of the Lord came to him (Abram): ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’ Gen 15:4 (NIV)

After a period of anxious waiting, Sarai persuaded Abram to have children through her maid, Hagar (Gen 16).  Through human understanding, the Arab nations were brought forth, which resulted in the perpetual conflict we see in the Middle East since time immemorial. It took another 14 years since the birth of Ishmael before Isaac came.  We see that Abram’s straight path became crooked; it became a valley for Sarai to grapple with, especially in contending with her slave Hagar who despised her when she got pregnant.    

The other test of faith is the trial/tribulation that comes to our life.  It can be broadly categorized into 3 big areas: health, possessions and relationships. 

Sickness and ill health is an avenue for us to stretch our faith in God to believe Him for healing.  We have to remember that God also uses medical practitioners to bring healing/health to our bodies.  Sometimes God chooses not to heal some so that we can empathise with others and be a blessing to them or to keep us humble.  Case in point: Paul’s thorn in the flesh; Joni Eareckson (quadriplegic) & Nick Vujicic (born w/o limbs).  Our body is but a jar of clay where the Spirit of God uses to work his love and wonders amongst men.  If we are not healed physically this side of heaven, we will be on the other side.  In the meantime, our real person, the spirit man, can speak life to others.  Be a river that flows, not a reservoir that hoards.

There was period in my life, during my 20^th birthday, when I was hospitalized due to the passing of black stools.  I became anemic and had fainting spells.  My aunt came to pray for me during lunch time almost everyday.  She prayed in tongues for my healing.  Despite being subjected to a battery of tests, the doctor couldn’t find the cause of the bleeding.  I was healed after about a week’s stay in the hospital.  Since then, I have never had a similar occurrence. My eyes were opened to the healing ministry Jesus brings.    

Where possession is concerned, I have in mind assets and loved ones; the Bible tells us that we cannot serve both God and mammon (Mt 6:24).  They have the power to draw us away from the simplicity of devotion to God.  We can be busy making ends meet (not enough) or earning our next million (not satisfied).  The next test that Abraham faced was to offer up his only son Isaac on the altar of sacrifice.  You could well imagine what went through Abraham’s head when the word was given.  However, Abraham passed the test with flying colours.  Let’s read the commentary on Abraham by the writer to the book of Hebrews (11:17-19 KJV):

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

“Just the very act of letting go of money or some other treasure, does something within us.  It destroys the demon god.”       Richard Foster

Jesus said that thief comes to steal, kill and destroy (Jn 10:10a) ie. our faith in God. 

Don’t allow possessions to side-tracked you from the straight path of having intimacy with God. The camp speaker says that the longer we walk with God there is a constant need to get our wheels realigned.    

Relationships or people can test our faith like no one could.  Abraham did not deal rightly with king Abimelech when he lied to him that Sarah was his sister.  Many have been disappointed by Christians; the way they behave and speak. This has to do with giving and receiving offences.  Because of bad experiences, some stay away from joining an oikos or move to another church.  Sure, we tell people not to look at men because they’re fallible; but not everyone is made of Teflon material.  When some get hurt, they hurt badly.  What this means is that we all have to make it our goal to grow towards spiritual maturity and not let carnality have the better of us. 

The apostle Paul says, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” 1 Cor 11:1 (NKJV).  He also mentions that “..you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”  2 Cor 3:3 (NKJV)

How is your faith walk?  There are many things in life that will prevent us from walking the straight and narrow path God has destined for us.  Our paths may be crooked, strewn with obstacles/mountains along the way and there are also deep ravines or valleys we are encountering.  But God has promised:

“I will go before you and make the crooked places straight ..”  Is 45:2

The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert
A highway for our God.  Every valley shall be exalted
And every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.”         Is 40:3-4 (NKJV)

In the near Middle Eastern culture, to prepare for a monarch’s visit, great lengths have to be taken to make a smooth passage to welcome his entourage.

God is in the business of

·         Lifting every valley: depression & low points in your life

·    Leveling every mountain: humbling you & clearing roadblocks in your life

·    Straightening your crooked paths: bringing you back to the goal of having intimacy with Him

Hazy days are upon us

The haze is a reminder that we are living in an inter-connected world whereby what happens to one country will invariably affect others.  In this case, the indiscriminate burning of plantations/ land in Sumatra plus the dry weather and prevailing wind conditions have exacerbated the smog condition we are currently experiencing.  Of great concern would be the health of all people living in the vicinity of the hotspots, especially the very young and the elderly, and those who have heart and respiratory conditions.  The Pollutant Standards Index as at 1pm today in Singapore rose to a high of 371, which is classified as hazardous.  We have never had it so high before over the past 20 years.   Let’s pray for rain and for our political leaders as they work with Indonesia to find a permanent solution to this perennial environment issue.

The haze will certainly affect our lifestyles  as well as tourism.  Tourists would avoid coming to this region or if they do come, would make a hasty exit.  It brings inconvenience to our lives as we have to avoid going out unnecessarily whether for recreation or meals.  Little wonder that surgical masks, including the more expensive N95, have all been sold out.  Yesterday, I was at Courts Megastore (Tampines) to buy an air purifier but discovered that there were no stocks for all brands they carried except for Novita Air Care (about 2 sets left), which was more expensive.   I eventually bought one which came with a free filter package.   As you can well see, it is not just the inconvenience we have to bear but also additional expenses; more so those with health issues.  Compounding this is the dengue epidemic we are also contending with.    

Our rights and liberty to fresh clean air has been infringed!  Maybe the day would come where we would have to buy fresh air just like they do in some countries.  The issue of personal data privacy is also in the news lately whereby a whistle-blower spills the beans with regard to what the American security agency is doing.   I believe it’s happening also in other countries as well, not just in America.  Our lives would never completely be private with technology advancing at such a rapid pace; what’s with the social media.  With the latest web technology, somehow whatever we do on the net could be tracked and monitored.   Financial institutions have also a lot of our information about us if we have bank accounts or credit cards.  It’s no wonder that untold information can be fished out in a court of law.

We all want freedom and privacy.  Indeed, God has set us free from the bondage to sin but we need work at staying free.  
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”  Gal 5:1 (NKJV)
With regard to privacy, we have none.   God our maker is watching over our lives.  That’s where justice would be served eventually, if not in this world then the next.
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”  Heb 4:13 (NKJV) 

The Gift of Pain

The Bible tells us that our body has been fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Ps 139:14).  God has so constituted our body that should there be anything wrong with it, one of the most common signs to inform us is pain.  Headaches and stomaches are common examples to tell us to get our body attended to.  Either we have to take appropriate medication and/or lay off taking certain food or action for the time being.  There are people who suffer from an illness whereby they are unable to feel or have lost their sensation to pain.   Thankfully, these people are in the minority. 

Early in the year, my wife suffered excruciating pain at the onset of her menstrual cycle.  She went to see the general practitioner after enduring several periods cycle with pain.  The GP requested for an ultra scan and subsequently referred her to see a gynae for a more detailed examination.  The gynae's diagnosis was a 5cm cyst in one of the ovaries and endometriosis.  The intercessors were alerted to pray for her.  She was operated on through key hole surgery (laparoscopic) and is now resting well at home.  During the operation, another 3 cm cyst in the other ovary, which was not picked up by the scan, was also removed.  Praise God the biopsy showed that the cysts were non-malignant.   

My point is that pain often signals something is wrong with our body and we have to get it treated, otherwise something more sinister may occur.  That is the gift of pain God has in-built within our body system. My office colleague was sharing with us recently that she was referred to another dental specialist by her dentist to help determine the cause of pain in her tooth.  Through patient examination, the specialist was able to detect the cause of pain was due to a neighbouring decayed tooth which the dentist couldn't detect.  With the root cause identified, the specialist was able to rectify the problem.   

Certainly we can pray for our bodily aches and pain.  That should be the first course of action to take.  But subsequently, we also need to see a doctor to ascertain the extent of our condition, whether it has been healed or medical attention is needed.  We believe that God uses doctors to bring about healing as well.  The gynae who attended to my wife is a Christian who sees his calling as a doctor to help the lives of patients that come to him.  Outside his clinic was a prayer plaque given to him by his patient which goes like this:

A Physician’s Prayer

Lord, Thou Great Physician, I kneel before Thee

since every good and perfect gift come from Thee.

I pray:

Give skill to my hand, clear vision to my mind

kindness and sympathy to my heart.

Give me singleness of purpose,

strength to lift at least a part of the burden

of my suffering fellow men,

and a true realization of the rare privilege that is mine.

Take from my heart all guile and worldliness,

that with the simple faith of a child

I may rely on Thee.

Amen.

May God help us to be sensitive not only to our pain but the pain of people around us.  In such a situation, ask God to give us the wisdom and courage to take the right course of action. 

Pure Food

Over the weekend, I had to nurse a very severe sore throat.  I saw it coming actually but did not do anything to prevent it from worsening.  I am not known to be a great lover of spicy food, preferring to take them in moderation.  My sore throat could have started by me taking a little bit of spicy food here and there (starting off with Mother's Day dinner celebration last Sunday), and adding chilli to my noodles, culminating the week with prata and chicken curry.  On Friday evening, I bought herbal tea to drink and popped a panadol for my headache.  When one has a very severe sore throat, sleeping becomes difficult as the throat tends to get very dry and swallowing becomes very painful.  That was what happened to me on Friday night/Saturday morning where I barely got a good night's rest.  I woke up to gurgle my throat with salt water.   I managed to get some sleep after that.

On Saturday, I was debating whether to see a doctor as I did not feel feverish.  I googled on home remedies for sore throat and discovered that regular gurgling with salt water does help.  So I tried it with warm salt water and avoided food with chilli or hot spices.  I felt much better on Sunday morning; the pain wasn't as intense as the day before.  I continued with my salt water gurgle, suck lozenges, drank water and honey to hydrate and cool my throat.  Now as I write this, my throat is 80% recovered - thank God for the 'anti-septic' nature of salt to bring about such healing.  The morale of the whole story is that there is always a cause and effect to the nature of things that happen.  The apostle Paul instructed his protege Timothy not to drink only water but to use a little wine for his frequent stomach ailments (1 Tim 5:23).  The cause of Timothy's illness was probably due to contaminated water and Timothy, being a godly man, did not want to set a bad example for his parishioners by drinking wine.  Hence the counsel by Paul to drink a little wine.

I was reading a health-related book that says toxic wastes build up in our body when we eat too many impure, processed foods and we don't give our body a chance to rest and get rid of them.  Our body will naturally try to purify and cleanse itself, the way God has made it.  Eating food the way God made it helps in flushing out all the poisons in our body system.  Fruits and vegetables are eliminating and cleansing foods and are alkaline forming.  Starches and proteins are body builders and are acid forming.  We always want a more alkaline body, as too acidic a condition breeds disease.  There must be a proper balance in the different categories of food intake.  Poisons move out of the body when raw or properly cooked fruits and vegetables are eaten.  I always try to have a healthy dosage of fruits and vegetables daily plus plenty of plain water.  As we grow older, we have to cut down on our salt, sugar and carbo intake.  And it does take a lot of discipline to keep our body in check.  May God grant us the wisdom to make wise choices in our daily diet, both for ourselves and our loved ones.  

Sing Shout Clap Your Hands

I spoke at the Saturday's service last week at BC.  Here's an except of what I shared in relation to encountering God through worship based on Psalm 98.

Ps 95 – 98 is part of what is known as the royal psalms, celebrating God as King.  Ps 98 is a celebration of God’s great love and redemption.  It was probably written to celebrate the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity but also prophetically, the redemption of the world by Jesus Christ and its coming judgment.

Worship is an active response to God whereby we declare His worth. We come collectively in response to what He has done for us.  The heart of worship is the worship of the heart; God is actively looking for worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23).  Not that God is lacking anything because He’s complete and sufficient.  When we creatures come before the Creator in worship, we find ourselves in the centre of His desire.

Worship should not be passive but participative.  Heart worship and body worship are not mutually exclusive; God has made us to be both spiritual and physical.  Out of the abundance of the heart (all that is within me), our body responds to God’s initiatives in our live.  The 3 stanzas (3 verses each) progressively extend the call to worship God from the congregants in the temple to the people of the earth and then to the whole of creation; from singing to shouting and clapping.    

We are encouraged to sing to the Lord a new song – a song of praise that celebrates God’s deliverance or blessing; such a song that has not been sung before.  When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen were drowned in the Red Sea, Miriam took a tambourine and sang this song:

“Sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted.

The horse and its rider he had hurled into the sea.”

                                                                                      Ex 15:21 (NIV)

We have in our day many songs of redemption and of the cross.  New songs are also sung in heaven by the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals…” (Rev 5:9) and by the redeemed of the Lord (Rev 14:3).  Do you have a new song to sing to the Lord?   The reason why we can sing praises to God is because of His love and faithfulness towards us (v 3). He is our righteous Saviour whose works of redemption rings across the ages.

The tempo of worship is raised a notch higher (emotions involved) when the psalmist enjoins the earth to shout for joy to the Lord.  Shouting here goes with boastful adoration – jubilant song with music accompaniment of the harp, trumpet and horn.  Shouting is associated with victory. The walls of Jericho fell with a loud shout accompanied by the trumpet blast (Jos 6:20).  Likewise, Gideon with his 300 men defeated the Midianites with trumpet blasts and a great shout, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” (Judg 7:20-22). In heaven, there would be great rejoicing and shouting as well. Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory!”  (Rev 19:6-7).

The second coming of Jesus Christ would be preceded by a trumpet blast and a mighty shout.  “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Th 4:16).

The reason why we can shout with jubilation is because the LORD is our King – He is to be crowned King of kings.

Finally, the psalmist enjoins all of creation – those in the sea and on the earth, animate and inanimate objects to clap and sing for joy before the Lord.  Hands are unique creation of God; they can perform complicated surgical operations and play beautiful music on instruments.  Yet they are instruments by themselves to give praise to God.  Clapping of hands is often an expression of support and gratitude.  It typically accompanies singing and makes a beautiful melody when the congregation is clapping together.  Clapping cheers the spirits and gets everybody involved so that they feel free to move and take part in praising God. 

 

The reason why we can sing, shout and clap our hands is because God is our righteous Judge who would be coming back very soon to judge the earth with equity.  So what are you waiting for?  Begin to praise and worship God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mk 12:30).

Learning to Connect

I am currently reading a book by John Maxwell entitled "Everyone communicates few connect".  It is a useful book for those who would like to connect with people either at the individual level or at a collective level.  The latter is for those who wants to connect with an audience when makinng a presentation, whether at work, church or social functions. 

Let me share some thoughts on how to connect at the individual level based on some pointers in the book.  There are certainly many opportunities in life to talk to people, be they familiar to us or not.  In order to establish relationship with others, there is a need to take the initiative.   Don't wait for others to do so.  Be the first to offer assistance or start a conversation.  People are generally willing to talk to you if you expend energy to converse with them first.  I find this to be true during coffee fellowship after church service.

Once we get past the discomfort in initiating a conversation, the next thing to do is to find common ground for connecting.  To do so, we have to pay attention or listen to the person.  We have to be others-focused or in the words of the apostle Paul "not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others" (Phil 2:4).  One good way to start off conversation is to ask general questions relating to family, occupation, recreation and message (FORM).  The last is to find out from them what they thought of the message they have heard.  This can very well branch off to issues that could be close to the person's heart.

When we are able to get a conversation going, we should be not be judgmental in our posture but seek to really understand and clarify issues raised.  Asking "why" questions would be a good way to seek clarification.  We can proffer our views on issues raised but there is no need to be condescending towards the person(s) we are talking to.  The important thing is to keep the communication channels open so that the next time there is another opportunity to meet the rapport would have already been established. 

Connection goes beyond simply communicating; it seeks ways to make people feel good and accepted.  This takes time and energy, but the effort put in would be well worth it as people would appreciate and remember it. 

Water Baptism

At the recent church baptism service, I encouraged the candidates and the people present to
Be: being precedes doing - Mary has chosen the one thing that is necessary ie. to sit at Jesus' feet (Lk 10:41-42)
A
People: we are a special people because God has chosen us and showered His mercies on us (1 Pet 2:9)
Transformed: in our attitude, behaviour and concern for others (2 Cor 5:17)
Into
Spiritual
Maturity: the writer to the Hebrews remind us to grow up and not be dependent on milk; instead we ought to study and apply God's Word in our lives - through constant use we are able to discern good and evil (Heb 5:12-14)

Goinng through water baptism is not a badge that Christians acquire in their faith pilgrimage but rather a pledge before God and the congregation to live a life worthy of God's calling.  Hence there is a need to strive towards spiritual maturity - to become more like Jesus. How do we go about doing so?

Firstly, like Mary of old, we need to imbibe the Word of God and talk to Him in prayer on a daily basis.
Secondly, as God's chosen people and royal priesthood, we are to worship God regularly and witness to His eternal grace and mercies. 
Thirdly, we need the help of the Holy Spirit to transform us into Christ's image (1 Sam 10:6).
Fourthly, we must not only be hearers but doers of God's Word; it is only through obedience that we grow towards spiritual maturity.

The life of King Saul showed us that one can be anointed of the Lord but yet fail through disobedience (1 Sa 15:22-23).  The words highligted in bold above are all the necessary ingredients for Christian growth and maturity.  May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:18)..