"...And you will refute every tongue that accuses you." (Isaiah 54:17)

Last Thursday and Friday was a challenging week for our family. 

David was not his usual chirpy and talkative self unlike other days. He was unusually quiet throughout the car journey from school to home. Daddy sensed something might have happened to him in school, while I simply brushed it off since David said he was having some discomfort in the tummy. 

Little did I know that Daddy was right. 

Close to snooze time at night, I received a message from David's school parents' chat group. A mother heard from her son about an incident that occurred in school that day -- a boy threw a female classmate's wallet at her and her key-chain was detached and broke. The teacher told the girl to have her father fix the toy for her at home and she cried as she had no father. The mother ended her message suggesting that "the culprit" should return the girl a new toy. 

Out of curiosity, I asked David who the boy was. And to my horror, David said the boy was him. (Imagine my shock!) 

A few seconds later, I tried to compose myself and asked him to relate the whole incident to me. That's where I found out it was a mere accident, and the message sent by that mother was not the truth at all. I was very angry over the mother's allegations, which was circulated in the open chat group comprising of over twenty to thirty other classmates' parents. 

I had difficulty sleeping that night. And I composed a message reply to respond to her allegations. 

After sharing the incident with my husband, we decided there was an urgent need to meet up with the teacher of that lesson the next day before I forward my response. So we wasted no time, and went down to the school personally. Unfortunately, the teacher during that lesson happened to be a relieved teacher and was on medical leave. David's form teacher and co-form teacher were also on leave.  I was flabbergasted when I thought no one was going to help us. But thank God for the kind staff at the school's general office. They activated the Level-Head to speak with us. We related the whole incident to her and she did a prompt investigation with the students involved. 

While waiting for the teacher to investigate the matter, I was praying for the Lord to show His justice and enable the truth to be told. 

About two hours later, she confirmed that David did not throw the wallet at his female classmate. David was merely shifting her skirt as he felt squeezed. Not knowing her wallet was in the skirt and due to carelessness, David dropped the skirt instead of placing it all the way to the floor. As a result, the girl's key chain fell off and was detached from the chain. 

David had apologized to the girl immediately and the girl expressed her forgiveness to David. 

When the Level-Head enquired why she had cried, the girl said she was afraid her mother would scold her for not taking care of her belongings. And she did not cry because she had no father, as she went off to dribble balls happily after the teacher examined the toy. 

Having the teacher's clarification, I went ahead to send my respond in the chat group.

My message listed the facts of the incidents and also informed all parents in the chat group to be discerning when our children relate school incidents with us at home. Children may not be able to relate every thing accurately and as parents, we should not be quick to judge and circulate or gossip over such unverified matters.

Praise the Lord, for enabling us to triumph over our accusers. While she had meant to discredit my son and my family in public, I know my response has regain the credibility of my son and our family to the praise of our Lord Jesus.  

From this incident, I have gained some true friends as well. Another classmate's mother was thankful for my response because her son was similarly accused of bullying the son of that same mother, which wasn't true at all. 

I also received a personal apology from another mother, who responded to the allegation without much thought. 

It was a great challenge to know our son was falsely accused. But I thank God it happened such that we were openly accused, so that David and our family's reputation could be openly reclaimed!  

We need not be afraid of those who try to harm us when God is our shield and Defender. Those who intended to harm us, God turns it all for good when we learn to respond according to His ways! 

Praise the Great and Awesome God, through His Son, Jesus Christ!

To your own Master, you stand or fall

Mark 14:1-11

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard.

She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. 

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, 

“Why this waste of perfume? 

It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.”

 And they rebuked her harshly. 

“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? 

She has done a beautiful thing to me. 

The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. 

But you will not always have me. She did what she could. 

She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 

Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, 

what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

This passage from Mark 14 was preached in my Church on 12 February 2017. It is a very familiar passage as my Pastor would preach on this at least once a year. It is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful stories in the Gospels, as we hear of such beautiful commendations Jesus said of someone. Indeed, it is one of my favourite Bible passages. Often times, I hope that I will be able to do something in my lifetime that Christ can remember and commend me for, just like Mary. 

On this day (before attending the afternoon worship service), I received some discouraging news that there was someone who did not seem very pleased about my entry to a particular ministry. I was given this opportunity to serve as a stand-in, because the sister-in-charge will be giving birth to her first child soon. My heart sank to hear of such unpleasant remarks and I felt really discouraged to the point of tears. 

Like Mary, I just wanted to answer the call of God to serve Him. It was God who called me. I did not volunteer to take up the role. I just knew God had laid upon my heart I needed to stand-in to serve Him, despite my already hectic and busy schedule. Taking up this one more area of ministry was a test of my tenacity for time. I was simply obeying the call of God, hence receiving such a disheartening news was a rather great blow to me. 

But in that particular sermon on Feb 12, God showed me one important truth as servants of God who choose to do His will --- When we sincerely serve the Lord, there will always be critics around us. 

Mary was criticized by Judas for wasting the jar of pure nard, pouring it out freely on Jesus' feet instead of helping the poor.  Nevertheless, Mary focused on doing what she knew she needed to do for Jesus Christ --- anoint Him with oil before His burial. 

She remained completely silent throughout and it was the Lord Jesus who defended her. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me. 

Mary gave her best and her all to Christ and was not looking to the disciple's approval or seeking the opinion of others for what she did. She did all she could (for Jesus Christ alone). She did not pre-announce her intention, neither did she choose to explain her actions after doing it. She simply did it for Christ. 

Charles Spurgeon wrote, 

"You should rise above such idle dependence upon man's opinion; what matters it to you what your fellow-servant thinks? To your own Master you stand or fall. If you've done a good thing, do it again."

Mary sat at Jesus' feet for long hours, hearing His teachings and she caught His words and what He was going to do for them. She even took hold of the kairos (means 'perfect') timing of God, to do such a beautiful act for Jesus. 

That lesson made me realised, there'll always be "Judases" around us when we want to serve the Lord. Critics will tell us we are doing it wrong. Satan will instigate people close to us to discourage us from fulfilling the will of God. But we have a God who sees through the hearts of men, who sees all things and knows all things.  

During Quiet Time on 13 Feb 2017, God spoke to me literally as I read the day's comments in my devotional guide:

"God does not give up on those He has chosen, even when they want to give up on Him!"

Then on 14 Feb 2017, God continues with His assurance: 

"Dear friends, don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body... Fear God...so don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows." (Luke 12:4-5, 7)

I am learning that nothing needs to be important except the pleasure of my Master and Lord. The opinions of man should not stand or matter to me when I want to serve my Master, Lord Jesus.  It is only His pleasure, His Will, His delight that shall be my call. 

Thank you, dear Lord Jesus. May it be so in my life. 

"...You Shall See Greater Things Than These" (John 1:50)

Since Christmas 2016 right into the new year of 2017, there were nine trying moments that happened one after another. It included at least two accounts of false accusations against me, spousal disagreement, family disputes, children falling sick (on the same day and lasted five days), misunderstanding, receiving complaints from school teachers about the kids (on two consecutive days), etc,

I must admit, I could hardly have smiles on my face during this period. My heart was weighed down by many discouragements and heartaches, as some of those closest to me were the ones that brought me pain. Besides that, I was confronted with my own weaknesses, how I've failed in my responses, and struggled much with guilt and forgiving myself.

Nonetheless, it is in seasons like these, God seems evidently closer. Devotional passages during my Quiet Times became relevant to my circumstances and it brought me comfort and hope as I learnt to apply the lessons for the day.

The greatest encouragement came from the Bible verses in Zephaniah 3:14-17,

Sing, O daughter of Zion, 
shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment
and will disperse the armies of your enemy.
And the Lord himself, the King of Israel,
will live among you!
At last your troubles will be over, 
and you will never again fear disaster.
On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be,
“Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid!
For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.[b]
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

In addition, God spoke out one phrase several times during this season - "you will see great and unsearchable things". I must admit, I had thought it was my own thoughts initially.  Perhaps, I was trying to self-motivate. But those words kept coming to my ears every time my thoughts were on what I was going through. "You will see great and unsearchable things".

It came to a point, I finally prayed a silent prayer last week --- "Lord, if theses words really come from You, please reveal to me the same words through a verse in the Bible".

That was last week. Guess what??

I went to Bible Study Fellowship on Monday morning. At the lecture, the Teaching Leader went through John 1:19-51. Until she came to verse 50, the words jumped right at me, and I gasped in amazement. The very words I was asking God to show me appeared in John 1:50 -- "...you will see greater things than these." WOW!....... I almost broke down in tears right in that lecture hall.

God, my God, truly amazes me with His answers!

I never thought God would really answer that prayer, actually. Not that I didn't believe He could. But I never expected God would answer an insignificant request such as this.

I am still in amazement at God's working.  I can only surrender to His will right now.  I know He surely has a plan for me, a plan to prosper me, and not to harm me, a plan to give me hope and future (Jeremiah 29:11). I can't see the full picture yet, but I know He is going to do a work in me.  Many may beg to differ, some may despise my abilities, some may feel I am not going to be good enough for the work.  I know I need to learn to go beyond those judgments and expectations, and simply rest and trust in God's providence and leading. It will be trying, but God will fight the battle ahead for me, I need only to trust in His Sovereign will and plan.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. And come, Lord Jesus.

Where will grumbling take us?

The day did not start well.

 

As our family was getting on the car, my husband started grumbling that the car was in a mess because the umbrellas were not kept properly. He started putting the blame on me and blamed me for the mess, blamed me for not keeping the car tidy when I drive. But in fact, he was the driver for the past 1-2 weeks because he was in town. Moreoever, whenever I drive, I send the car for wash once a week. He doesn't.

 

As I get on the car, my son was grumbling. I insisted he put a jacket into his school bag because he was having extra-curricular science (make-up) lesson after school today. The air-conditioned classroom could be cold as he had come out of the class with frozen hands previously. He was upset because he had packed his bag and unloaded unnecessary things out from the bag the previous night. He had felt good that his school bag was feeling light today, but putting in the jacket would make the bag bulky again. Hence, he was grumbling non-stop for a while.

 

Yupz, both father and son, were grumbling against me early in the morning before it turned 7am. It really upset me. I took the jacket away from my son, said a few words to let them know they were getting too much their verbal and unjustified rumblings.

 

Both had since apologised to me. But I still feel the hurts and I can hardly put on a smile on my face. Their grumblings, especially from my son, made me felt my love and concern for him were very unappreciated.

 

It dawned on me that this is the way our Heavenly Father felt too, whenever we grumble. When we grumble about anything (it can be a person, the weather, our job, etc.), it reveals that we do not fully appreciate God.

 

The study of the Book of Exodus and Numbers in the Bible Study Fellowship this year has one important lesson I learnt - God hates grumbling.

 

1. We sin the moment we verbalise our unhappiness, without regard for the feelings of others and God.

 

2. When we grumble, we lack faith in God.

 

3. We incur God's anger and judgment on us. God responded to the grumblings of the Israelites with fire (Numbers 11), leprosy on Miriam (Numbers 12), earthquake (Numbers 16), plagues (Number 16:42-50; 21:4-9),  and finally judgment that the first generation of Israelites, except Joshua and Caleb, would be wiped out and they would not enter the Promised Land (Number 14).

 

Does it mean we cannot complain?  No.

 

The name of our God is "slow to anger, abounding in love and compassion,... He will not leave the guilty unpunished".

 

God takes our complaints very, very well when we go to Him ONLY and pour out our unhappiness and hurts to Him alone.

 

When we bring our unhappiness and complaints to Him in prayer (not to anybody) and complain silently to Him, we are showing to our Heavenly Father that we trust His goodness that He will work all things good for us (Romans 8:28); we trust His grace to enable us to carry the easy yoke (Matthew 11:28-29) and His justice to vindicate us (Romans 12:19).

 

Something that happened just these two weeks to me, has proven that God hears our complains when we do it silently and only to Him. There was some decision made that I would have preferred otherwise. Instead of complaining or showing my happiness, I kept silent (absolutely silent). I did not show a tinge of my unhappiness in any outward expression. I only brought my concern silently to God, repeatedly and very frequently.  In the end, things gradually worked out the way I had asked of God. Yes, I am very thankful. He taught me yet another valuable lesson about trusting Him.

 

Our God is completely dependable and trustworthy. When we choose to trust Him in our way of life, He will prove His faithfulness.

Arrogance and Grace

Bible Reading: 2 Kings 5:1-14

A. CREDENTIALS OF NAAMAN:

1. Commander of the army of the King of Aram;

2. A great man in the sight of his master;

3. Valiant soldier;

4. Highly regarded in view of his war victories.

B. CHARACTER OF NAAMAN:

1. A man of pride - Naaman was a man with power and authority over a strong army. He commanded thousands and was a capable leader. He enjoyed high standing among people and was regarded as a man of high position.

This resulted in him having an inflated view of himself when he came before God and the man of God. As he came to Elisha's house, he brought with him his horses and chariots to show that he was a man of great power and authority.

But God doesn't need our credentials, qualifications when He wants to do His work in us. All God wants is our heart to seek Him. Naaman had the heart to seek God's healing and restoration, but he did it his way by bringing with him what he had.

2. A man of arrogance - Naaman said, "... I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy."(v. 11)

Naaman expected Elisha to come out of his house and greet him, and he expected Elisha to preform the miracle there and then, the way he expected.

Naaman came to seek God's healing, but he came with his preconceived ideas and methods how God was supposed to heal him.

God is a God of all wisdom and He is sovereign. He is a wonder-working God who is not confined by human ways and methods. His ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8). It will be foolish of us to think God only has one or a few ways of working His miracles.

Hence, we must be ready to put off all preconceived ideas of God and be open to any thing He wants to command us to do. And as we lay our requests humbly before the All-wise and Sovereign God each time, we should not tell him how He should work.

3. A man of impulse - "Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed? So he turned and went off in a rage."(v.12)

Apparently, Naaman was not prepared to listen and do what Elisha told him. Naaman could not understand why it must be River Jordan and not any other rivers that he was geographically near to. Going the extra mile and having to dip himself into the River Jordan seven times must have been a real humbling experience for a man of such high standing. Finally, unable to comprehend God's ways, he stormed off in a rage.

Don't we behave like Naaman at times? We are unable to understand certain instructions given to us by God's servant, and in a moment of impulse and anger, we storm out and leave the ministry or church?

 

C. COMPLIANCE OF NAAMAN:

Naaman experienced complete restoration only after he did exactly what the man of God told him to do:

1. dip himself,

2. in the Jordan River,

3. seven times.

Most people are willing to seek and listen to advice but not many actually adopt the advice and do something to change. Do we hear and hear, week after week through the same sermons about what can change our lives for the better in Christ, but never really following it with a heart of obedience?  This is probably the main reason why many Christians have been unable to experience God's complete promise(s), personal growth and restoration.

Secondly, Naaman's servants played a very important role in encouraging his obedience to the man of God. Are we also encouraging our fellow brothers and sisters to obey God's servants even when the instructions seem ridiculous and difficult? Or do we flow along with the crowd and agree with their short-sightedness.  We must be careful how we encourage one another in the Lord. Our encouragements must bring someone into obedience to the Lord in order for it to be pleasing. Otherwise, the Bible warns that we are like tying stones around the fellow brethren's neck and causing him to drown in the water to die in peril.

D. COMPLETENESS OF NAAMAN

"...Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel..."(v.15b)

Finally, as we read the story of Naaman... one might unintentionally pass judgement on Naaman - that he does not deserve God's complete healing in view of his arrogance and pride - but you know, this is Grace. This is God.

Grace is unmerited favour. It is receiving God's eternal goodness we don't deserve and we did nothing to earn it.

God gave Naaman more than physical healing. He also healed Naaman of his pride and arrogance to recognise his own spiritual need - the need to know the True God. When God gives, his gift of healing makes us whole and complete, to see our own lack and to discover His love. He gives us more than what we actually deserve.

Today, we receive God's Gift of Eternal Salvation purely by Grace. We have fallen short of His glory and our righteous acts are like filthy rags. No amount of our good works, credentials, qualifications can make us look any good to deserve heaven. It is solely by God's loving grace, He sent Jesus Christ to pay with His one and only life, for our eternal salvation, to redeem us once and for all, so that ultimately, God may once again dwell among us.

When we realize how much God has done for us while we were still undeserving sinners, do we have any right to pass judgement on Naaman, or any person (for that matter) for who they are or how they are behaving?  Does their arrogance towards God now become an excuse for us not to share Christ's love and grace to them?

"What does God require of us? 

To act justly, show mercy and walk humbly before our God."

(Micah 3:8)

I Will Be Their God

Bible Passage: Ezekiel 37:15-28

"...for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God." (Ezekiel 37:23b)


When God says something, He means it and will fulfil it. God says in this verse that HE will be the people's God. I wonder how you feel when you read these words. For me, it excited me tremendously to know that the God of the Universe is willing to come down to me, to where I am, and be a personal God to me.

What do I deserve that He should desire to be my God? What have I done to deserve His love and favour? Nothing. Just a sinful person, who have made many mistakes in the past and never will be perfect enough before His Holy eyes.

Yet, He is willing to save us from all our sinful backsliding, cleanse me from my sin and be MY God. In fact, God has already fulfilled His Word in this verse, both to the Israelites and to us, Gentiles.

Through His begotten Son, Jesus Christ, He has fulfilled His promise of salvation from sin and death on the Cross at Calvary.

But what is next for us then, after receiving Christ as our personal Saviour into our lives?

Apostle John in Revelation 21:1-3 tells us,

" Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. "

God is preparing a new heaven and a new earth - the Holy City. This is going to be the place where God will dwell with His people eternally. You see, God is ever so eager to dwell with us. He was in the time of Moses, now through the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and in the age to come. He is the same God yesterday, today and forevermore!

 

The Holy City is where the Holy God is, i.e. a place where sin cannot exist. Hence, the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral and those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and liars cannot dwell with God. The warning is stated in Revelation 21:8,

" But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” "

Only "Those who are victorious will inherit all this [the Holy City], and I will be their God and they will be my children."

What a privilege and honor to have the Sovereign God dwell among us, where there is fullness of joy and pleasures forever, where we will be filled and satisfied. Thank you, Abba Father.

Reflections:

Do you desire to be filled by God's presence today?

You can pray and ask God to fill you with more of His love and presence today.

A Preamble

This blog is started today as I wanted to pen down my spiritual journey with God, and what I am learning about our loving Heavenly Father each day.

This year has been quite a busy year as I am taking more time to study the Holy Bible with the Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) on the Book of Exodus,  prepare God's Word for Children's Ministry and Sunday School.

Since taking up these areas of opportunities to study the Bible, I have learnt two vital lessons.

1. Similar, if not more, amount of time should be spent (or invested) in intimate, personal prayer time with God. This will enhance and deeper our knowledge of God through His Word. This will prevent us from storing up head knowledge about God. Through prayers, the Word is translated to our hearts and our spiritual eyes will see deeper lessons to learn, beyond the lines we read from the pages about God.

2. God loves to dwell with us (read Revelation 21:3). Even before our response to love Him and know Him more is acted upon, God honors that heart to know Him more. He will encourage you as you begin this journey to walk intimately with Him.

As I share my spiritual journey here, I pray that it will encourage you (and excite you!) to take the step to deepen your knowledge of God through His Word and in prayers.