Jonah & Whale

It has been a while since my last article. I have been very busy. Sorry.

Anyway, sometime in November 2009 I led a group of tourists to South Africa. To my surprise South Africa is a very beautiful, developed and scenic country. It reminded me so much of the countries of New Zealand and Australia. There are places after visiting once is just enough; South Africa is not one of those.

During my tour from Cape Town to Johannesburg, we had an opportunity stop at a small town known as Hermanus. It is a major tourist destination in South Africa because it is simply the best place in the world to watch whales there. It was amazing watching the whales at such a close distance. I could not resist but thought of the story of Jonah in the Bible.

The story of Jonah and the whale is too important to be left as just a children’s story. There are lots of life lessons in the Book of Jonah for children and adults. Jonah’s story teaches us about obedience, willingness of spirit, gratitude, compassion and God’s patience and mercy.

God wanted him to preach to the Ninevites but he hopped on a boat headed for Tarshish instead, attempted to run away from God. During the night, a huge storm came and rocked the boat wildly. The crews were very afraid and beginning to pray to their gods. They started to draw lots to determine who was causing the uproar. The lot fell on Jonah and he requested to be thrown overboard.

As Jonah was sinking, a big fish (whale) swallowed him. Jonah sat in the whale’s belly for three days and nights. He spent that time in prayer, thanking God for saving him. He realized the miracle that God has effected to save him and he was truly grateful. Here we see God’s great mercy and compassion. He could have let Jonah suffer the consequences of his actions and drown. Yet, God intervened and spared Jonah’s life.

This same issue is with us today. We often complain to God about the consequences of our sins but do we ever wonder how often He has spared us from consequences? I rarely ever think about that. There are times where we even doubted God’s guidance in our daily living. We question God’s existence and power. We begin to lose the first love. How wretched we are!!!? “For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.” (Rom 7:19).

May God have mercy on us and may we be revived in Christ daily.

Not Good Enough

Relevant Bible Verses:-

1) Rom 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

2) 2 Cor 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness

3) Phil 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.
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For centuries now, Satan has been using religion, philosophy, and culture to possess people and to keep them from experiencing Christ in fullness. Although the majority of the simple people (Christians included) are influenced strongly with material things, the more thoughtful ones are hooked by religion, philosophy, culture and self-righteousness.

Overcoming the influence of material things is easier. But overcoming religion, philosophy, culture and self-righteousness are more complicated as these are ingrained within our soul and inner being.

I am sure many Christians would have experienced Christ to a certain degree in their walk with God, but sadly our experience has been severely impeded and constantly blocked by our own philosophy and domestic logic. Satan’s cunning ways and persistency in instilling thoughts in our mind that we are not worthy enough to serve the Holy and Gracious God, thereby making us to think of the “not good enough” position or self-condemnation within our own very heart.

We should be reminded that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

The next time you feel like God can't use you, just remember:-

Noah was drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womaniser
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ, 3 times
The disciples, fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
AND...Lazarus was dead!

We have no more excuses to blame on our inferiority complex and inability to be used by God.

Isn't doing nothing is another form of death?

He Made The Stars Also

Relevant Bible Verses:-

1) Genesis 1:16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.

2) Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

3) Phil 2:15 so that 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 universe.
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I find it really interesting and facinating how the following pictures are presented:-

Picture 1


Pictures 2


Picture 3


Picture 4


Picture 5


Dr. John Polkinghorne is one of the greatest living writers, theoretical physicist and thinkers on science and religion. A truly renowned world-class scientist turned priest.


In one of his university lectures he presented a cosmic slide in a physics class. He mentioned that there are billion of stars in the sky and if you chose to count them at one per second, it will take you 2,500 years just to count those stars.

I couldn't help but think of a verse in the Bible that says, He made the stars also!

Dr. Polkinghorne mentioned further that when we look at the earlier days of the formation of the world and universe, the expansion and contraction rates had to be so precise and the margin of error so small that it would be like taking aim at a one square inch object at the other end of the universe twenty billion light years away and hitting it bulls-eye!

Simply by just looking at the pictures above and what were mentioned by Dr Polkinghorne, one cannot deny the great power behind the creator of the universe. These have reminded me of the greatness of God. And Bible says that by the mere utterance, God created the universe! How great and poweful God truly is! And we humans think we are all powerful by our little supremacy here on earth controlling a little tribe of nation given to us.

Remember, we don't have authority and power if we surrender all our principles, we merely have an office.

Sitting on a Gold Mine

Relevant Bible Verses:-

1) Luke 10:39-41 Martha had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!". "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

2) 1 John 2:16 The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.
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There is a particular firearm presently being exhibited in a Canadian provincial museum. The story behind the display is quite intriguing.

The firearm was used in a bank robbery in 1990 by a 24-year old man, named Curtis. It was the biggest mistakes of Curtis’ life that caused him eight years behind bars for his crime. On the night before the intended and well plan robbery, Curtis went to his father’s home for supper. While the parents were busy in the kitchen, he sneaked into his parents’ bedroom and stole his father’s gun.

The next day he used the gun to hold up a bank and managed to leave with two canvas bags filled with $6,000.00 of cash. The police was able to identify him after reviewing the recorded video camera tapes. He was eventually arrested in his apartment and the holdup weapon was seized as evidence.

You see, Curtis had no need to rob the bank. He stole $6,000, but paid a very high price for it. He had his dad's gun that he used to hold up the bank. That was no ordinary gun. It was a .45-caliber Colt semi-automatic made by the Ross Rifle Company back in 1918. This limited edition antique firearm was valued at $100,000, more than 16 times the value of the stolen money. He was sitting on a gold mine without even realizing it.

In the above passage, we can see two sisters with two different sets of character; Martha being busy and distracted by all the preparations that had to be made, while Mary did nothing but only sat at the feet of Jesus listening to what He has to say.

Many a time we are like Martha, always wanting to do things and ended up being distracted with the preparations that had to be made so much so we forgot to appreciate the real Christ within us. We worry and desire for the material things of the world, which do not belong to the Father.

Although we may have all the energy and capacity to be patient and hardworking, but soon our natural body shall eventually be exhausted. Our natural patience and strength are limited. When our patience and strength begin to deplete, we can easily be provoked and quick to anger as did Martha – blaming her sister Mary for not doing anything. As the result with the lack of wisdom, Martha had lost the opportunity to be with the Lord and thus impeded her growth in God.

Christ’s patience is inexhaustible and immeasurable. He is our refuse, ability, power, patience, love and wisdom, all with unlimited greatness and without measure. If only we are willing to humble ourselves sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to Him. It is so important to know what has been installed for our lives with the blood of Christ in eternity - our stance, position, vision, purpose and destiny in the divine God’s great plan and economy.

We do not want to be working so hard and fighting aimlessly, to the extent of robbing the banks yearning for the finer temporal things of this world where we already have in our possession the “crown jewel” or “pot of gold” right under our nose. Let us not failed to realize that we are in effect sitting on a gold mine in the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ provides the answer to the dying soul and He is the life beyond the grave.

Humility

Relevant Bible Verses:-

1) 1 Cor 8:1 We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.

2) Phil 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

3) Matt 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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I stumbled upon some very encouraging sermons of an apologist by the name of Dr Ravi Zacharias in my iPod. I did not know that this friend of mine who gave me the iPod had actually downloaded Dr Zacharias’ sermons on it. I truly enjoyed his words and I am thankful that God is using people of such great minds in our time to reach out to the lost as well as to the believers. One particular sermon that prompted me to write this article is entitled “Character Counts from the Leadership and the Political Arena”.

The higher we climb in the corporate world, the more resources we shall possess, the more power and authority we shall be given, the more liberty we shall become, the more respect we shall command and more pride shall emerge. These finer “things” in life are what most people yearn for in this world. Therefore it is really not surprising to me when I read about people who are prepared to cheat and even kill, stooping themselves down to the lowest self esteem point in their lives in order for them to have these finer “things” in life.

Where is God among all these so-called “finer things” in life? My understanding of the word “poor” in Matt 5:3 is simply being empty or nothingness. When our hearts are filled with all these finer things in life, there is simply no room for God. We need to empty ourselves so that God can come in and be blessed. Leaders of all spectrum of life are most vulnerable, no matter how immensely gifted they are. We must live up to the truth in God in the pursuit of life where we embrace humility and recognize His Grace is sufficient for us. Always consider others better than ourselves.

Therefore...

“The greatest mark of a great leader is humility, one who recognized his or her poverty of spirit. Not untamed passions or wanton power or unteachable temperament.
The greatest mark of a great leader is humility, willing to accept that he or she is a sinner saved by Grace standing before God.” (Dr. Zacharias)

Christ came and exhibited his humility by serving the people. Remember, in this world, we are judged by how many people serve us. But in that world, we will be judged by how many people we have served.

Manna our Daily Bread (Part 2)

Relevant Bible Verses:

1) Matt 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.

2) Matt 6:31-33 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (KJV)

3) Phil 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (NIV)
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To be fully constituted with God, we need to continue to partake Christ as our daily bread.

In God’s salvation, He desires to work Himself into us to be everything to us. God intends to be our everything so that we can be built up as His dwelling place on earth. God has a purpose in His salvation, there is no need for us to beg Him to have mercy upon us and to rescue us. All the hard works have already been completed by Christ on the cross of Calvary. In Exodus, we see that the children of Israel were not to be anything or to do anything. Whenever they did something, the Lord was offended, even when they did something good. The Lord simply wanted the people to be in His hand so He could work Himself into them.

Matthew 6:11 shows us that we have to look to God and pray to Him every day. The Lord teaches us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread". We do not pray weekly, but daily. Just as we cannot eat for the rest of the week or month, likewise we cannot pray for weekly bread or monthly bread; we have to pray for bread daily. How much trust in God is required here! The Lord is not ignorant of our daily needs; He does not tell us to forget about praying for these needs. Rather, He tells us to pray daily. It was the same reason why the manna was provided for the Israelites in the wilderness from the heavens on daily basis. Actually, the Father already knows the things that we need. The Lord wants us to ask God for our bread day by day because He wants us to learn to look to the Father day by day; He wants us to exercise our faith day by day. The Lord wants us to depend upon Him in all things.

God is working in us and for us, and He knows all our needs. If we know the Lord and His ways, we shall not complain or murmur whenever we have a need. Instead, we shall say, “Praise the Lord! He knows our every need. He knows our need, and He will send the supply at the right time. He knows what is best for us. Let us accept with a grateful heart whatever He gives us and not be anxious in anything.

We often extend our worries too much into the future, and we stretch our prayer too much into the future. Brothers and sisters do not worry about tomorrow; sufficient for the day is its own evil (Matt 6:34).

Praise the Lord! Christ is our Redeemer.

Manna our Daily Bread (Part 1)

1) Exodus 12

2) John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

3) Matt 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.

4) Matt 6:31-33 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (KJV)
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Wishing you a Happy And Wonderful New Year! Bye Bye 2008, Hello 2009...

I took my family to Jakarta recently for a short holiday and stayed with a friend whom we have not seen for almost 8 years. She was a student at Monash University and attended the weekly Bible study meeting at my apartment in Melbourne.

We insisted for local Indonesian food as we wanted something than our usual diet. The local food was different and I enjoyed it - initially. But after a few days of those food, I begin to long for Malaysian food. This has prompted me to think about the Isaelites in the wilderness when they were led out of Egypt. There were murmurs and complaints that Moses and Aaron had to deal with the Israelites, particularly of their desire for Eqyptian food.

In the previous article, we have seen the importance of the Passover which implies redemption and regenerated life in Christ. In this posting, however, we are going to see God’s intention to change our constitution; that is, He intends to reconstitute us through change of diet.

Although the children of Israel had been redeemed and delivered, they were still Egyptian in their constitution. As far as constitution is concerned, there was no difference between them and the Egyptians. They were a composition of the Egyptian element, for they grew up in Egypt and were raised on the Egyptian diet of cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. Everything they ate was Egyptian. Like the children of Israel, we today have been delivered out of "Egypt", out of the world, but in our nature and constitution we are still worldly. Therefore, it is necessary for us to grasp the concept concerning the change of constitution.

Over a period of forty years in the desert, God gave the children of Israel nothing to eat except manna. No one knows the essence or element of manna. We only know that it daily came from the heavens. In John 6 we learn that this heavenly manna is a type of Christ. Christ came from God to be our diet, our daily bread. We need to eat Him, drink Him, and breathe Him. We need a change in our inward constitution, not merely a change in our outward behavior. If we would have such an inward change, we need to have a change of food supply, for the food we eat is the source of our constitution. The more we eat Christ, the more we are like Christ. As God’s people today, we need to be reconstituted with Christ as our very element. In this way, we shall become Christ as far as our constitution is concerned. Through the change of diet, we receive the heavenly essence that reconstitutes us with Christ.

Praise the Lord! Christ is our daily bread, similar to the manna in the wilderness which was provided by God to the Isrealites on a daily basis.

Nicodemus - E=mc²

Relevant Bible Verses

1) 1 Cor 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God

2) John 3:1 But there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

3) John 3:4 Nicodemus said....."How can a man be born again when he is old"?

4) John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you. Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God".

E=mc², is an equation derived from the general theory of relativity discovered by the well known genius Jewish scientist of German descent, Albert Einstein. We can see that the equation is very simple and easy to solve. Basically, the theory of relativity equation says for even a very small amount of mass (m) a huge amount of energy (E) can be released if the mass is accelerated close to the speed of light (c).

There were many more genius scientists and mathematicians. Most of their inventions or discoveries have surely eased and up-lifted standard of living way beyond one can imagine. To name a few examples; Thomas Edison (light bulb), Wright Brothers (airplane), Alexander Graham Bell (telephone), Alexander Fleming (penicillin), and Isaac Newton (gravity). I would consider these are people with great wisdom.

However, the bible says that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. It does not really mean God looks at the world's wisdom as being foolish. But it is saying that God's wisdom is so much greater that the world's wisdom becomes so insignificant. It is describing the enormous contrast between God's great wisdom and the world's wisdom.

Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews. He was a well respected leader with vast knowledge and wisdom among the Jewish community. Unfortunately, he did not understand the concept of being born again. He considered Christ to be the teacher come from God and he needed some better teachings to further improve himself. Due to his position and pride, he was also afraid of the people to know that he seeked some understandings from Jesus. That was probably why he came to Jesus by night, so that no one would see him.

Nonetheless, Jesus answered him that he needed to be born again to enter into the kingdom of God. To be born again in this context is to be regenerated with the divine life, other than the human life one received from natural birth. Thus, Nicodemus' real need was not to seek some better understanding of teachings to improve himself, but the regenerated divine life. He was so consumed with the desire to seek for earthly knowledge (tree of the knowledge of good and evil) that he completely neglected to take on the divine life of the tree of life.

Let's embark on the divine tree of life, our Lord Jesus!