Friday, May 30, 2008

Do your best, God will do the rest!

For centuries, man has tried various ways and countless effort to reach God and to seek life’s answer. However, no matter what we did or tried, we are doomed to failure. You many come across people who say that all religion is the same because they teach people to do good. However, does doing good promise salvation? Do we have the wisdom and strength to determine where we go after we die?

In God’s eye, we are all sinners. We carried sinful blood passed down by our ancestor Adam & Eve. No matter what we do, our contaminated body will not allow us to enter God’s kingdom.

God knows our limitation, but still He loves us. As promised in John 3:16, instead of man reaching to God, God Himself came down to earth as Jesus, so that whoever believes in Him may seek Him and have eternal life. Through Jesus’ blood, we are cleansed from sin. We don’t have to do anything; we just need to believe in Him.

In everyday life, we might wonder what God’s will is for us. A lot of us mis-interpreted that we will not do anything until God speaks to us. This is not true.

In God’s kingdom, we live by faith. For everything we do in life, we need to be sensitive to God. No matter where we are, in workplace or at home, we strive to do our best in our designated role. We need to spend quality time in prayer, to meditate on His word, and to improve our relationship with God accordingly. Things might not be in favor to us sometimes, but we can take this as an opportunity from God to mould us into a better person, like what God did to Joseph during his slavery times. He did his best, but God did the rest for him. Without God’s wisdom and promise, no matter how well Joseph performs in his daily work, do you think he has the strength to deliver his people?

We did our best to perform well in our daily job. However, in certain situation we could be helpless. We might face challenging situation where crucial decisions has to be made which will probably lose our position, and we don’t know what the next step is. We are exhausted, tired, and lost. But rests assure, as long as we give our best to what we did for God, we believe God has his plan to do the rest for us.

Have faith in our Almighty God. Do your best, God will do the rest!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Humble Ground

I was leading a bible study in a cell group last Friday. The discussion ends at 11pm and we had a closing prayer to thank God for His guidance. All the while I taught that I’m doing a good job in executing the flow and managed to convey most of the message. I knew I have spent a lot of time in preparing this, and no doubt all the hard work will not go in vain. And yes, I was proud of myself.

I was holding my pride for some time, doing things my way and undermine what other people have done.

It didn’t take long until someone comment about the bible study that I conducted. I was expecting good answers like ‘wow, you are great’ or ‘hey, thanks for your effort on the bible study’.

Instead, what I heard is ‘you need to be more flexible’, ‘there is not enough sharing’, ‘and you missed out some point’ etc. I can feel my pride being crushed into little pieces. At first I was rebellious, and was defending myself through by giving some excuses and by explaining my own ‘perfect’ way. The pride has shielded me away from God, and all the while it is me, me and me only.

I calmed myself down during midnight, thinking about the past, present, and future. It is funny that often when we said that we can accept any comments from others, but in the end we defend against their comments. I was ready to listen to the comments, but not ready to accept it. The stumbling block is non other than pride itself.

I prayed to God for forgiveness, and to grant me strength to be humble-wholeheartedly. Indeed, the next day I was able to view things differently, and thank God I was saved from the sin that has long affecting my life – pride.

Pride is a sin. It controls our emotion and will pull us away from God if we are not aware of it. It is like a cancer that spreads throughout your whole body, leading to other sins like greed and hatred. Pride makes us think we are God, in fact we are not. It is because of pride that Adam & Eve ate the forbidden fruit. In pride there is no love, no care, and no mercy.

We serve God not because we are good at anything. We serve God because He loved us first. He took His initial step, to become one of us, as Jesus, and teach us how to love one another, and to serve others who are in need.

Let us humbly come into His presence, and follow His foot steps, towards righteousness, glory and honor.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day

A Mother is God’s love in action. She looks with her heart and feels with her eyes. A mother is the bank where her children deposit all their worries and hurt. A mother is a cement that keeps her family together and her love lasts a lifetime. Happy Mother's Day!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

The Sauna Effect

I woke up 2.30am midnight, feeling very uncomfortable due to the hot weather and extended heat. My whole body was sweating like just coming out from sauna. I couldn’t sleep anymore... The temperature has been 30C ++ or so lately. I scratched my arm outside the window; there was no wind at all.

Thank God there was the air conditional. All the while I was reluctant to turn it on because I wasn’t used to sleep with it. I always think that no matter how hot the weather is, I still can sleep peacefully without air conditional. I have refused to install the air conditional in my room although Ruth’s sister insisted to. I advise her to install in the living room instead. Well, I was wrong.

I turned on the air conditional, and the cool breeze fills the room. It was great! After awhile, I slept comfortably whole night like a baby in his mother’s womb. If the air conditional wasn’t there, I couldn’t imagine how I’m going to go through the whole night.

We might not understand God’s way of doing things, like why the air conditional is installed when you think you wouldn’t need it. When the right time comes, God’s plan will be revealed, and we will be amazed of what He has done in our life. Yes, the air conditional is ready to be used.

Mold Me

Genesis 45: 3-7

'Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still living?" But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.
Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Come close to me." When they had done so, he said, "I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance'.

In Genesis 45 when Joseph met his brothers who sold him to Egypt. He could have taken revenge on his brother but he chose not to. Instead he forgives them for their wrong doings and thanked God for what He has prepared for his people.

What makes Joseph such a person? God has molded Him through slavery, temptation, 13 years of suffering in jail for wrong accuse, and also the 7 years of serving under Pharaoh. God prepares all this in advance so that Joseph can become a faithful and righteous person.

It is for our own good that sufferings and temptation is inevitable. It is the perseverance, patience and faith that mold us into a better person to serve in His kingdom. Are we prepared to be molded by God?