“NAKED I CAME … NAKED SHALL I RETURN”

 “NAKED I CAME … NAKED SHALL I RETURN”

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

The above sayings had been quoted often as the sayings of God when in fact it was the sayings of Job in the midst of his misfortunes and sufferings as he was trying to make sense of everything that was happening. Is it true that the Lord gave, and the Lard has taken away? Is it true that naked we come and naked we shall go? We need to understand just because someone said something and it is being recorded in the Bible does not mean it is the saying of God. We have need to differentiate between what is of God and what is of man. What God said, what man said and the conversation between God and man or man with God must be taken into content. Otherwise it is easy to mistake man’s thoughts as God’s thoughts and man’s sayings as God sayings. A lot of damage had been done because we do not take things in its context. That is why when reading the Bible, we need to keep in mind WHO, WHAT, WHEN, HOW and WHY. Coming back to the sayings of Job above, here is what I think.

What God had given, can be lost if we are not careful. Unlike us, God is generous. Everything He made for Adam and Eve in Eden were “taken” away not because God was vengeful or disappointed with them. God simply cannot allow sinful (fallen) man to have access to the Tree of Life in Eden. God gave man everything and man lost it all. We reap what we sow, and this is the universal law of cause and effect. As for “naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return” this is what it is. First of all, we are not returning to our mother’s womb. That is not a possibility.  Secondly it is not true we shall return naked. We will in fact return with all our works, our deeds whether good of bad. There will be two future judgments awaiting humanity. The Great White Throne Judgment and the Judgment Seat of Christ. The former awaits the unbelievers and rejectors of God and the later is reserved for followers of Christ. At both judgments, Books will be opened, and each will be judged by works. The degree of sufferings and rewards will then be determined.

At the Great White Throne Judgment:

Romans 2:5-6

5But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”

 

At the Judgment Seat of Christ:

2 Cor. 5:10

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

 

How we live our lives today matter.

Ecclesiastes 12:14

For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

Let us therefore not have this notion that “Naked I come ... and naked I shall return. The Lord gave and the Lord had taken away”. We will all leave one day with our works. And what God had given, being stewards, we either gained more or we had lost it. Our salvation too is a gift from God. Let us not lose it for the sake of temporary pleasures and lust. Think eternity. And remember, as believers and followers of Christ, even though we are saved by grace, we are judged by our works. Jesus do not wish that we return to God empty handed. He said it is important TODAY that we store up for ourselves treasures in heaven.

 

Matt. 6:19-20

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

So yes, naked we come but when we leave, let us not go empty handed. Let us store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Why? Because one day, we shall migrate to heaven. Our treasures will give us a head start. God bless.

If God has a hand phone ...

When God revealed Himself to Moses in preparation for delivering the Israelites out of Egypt, God revealed Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Moses was then instructed to present God to the Israelites as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to remind them of the covenant He had made with Abraham which had since passed down to Isaac and Jacob.(Ex. 3:11). Now is the time for the fulfillment of the promise.

People love to name-tag. "I am a friend of so and so". I don't carry name cards but if I do, it will not be about my credentials following after my name. Rather it will be something like this: "Leslie Low - friend of _______". But I have learned long time ago to avoid name tagging. It may get you somewhere but there is a price to pay. It's natural for people to want to name tag. To be identified with someone great is not only leverage but also an ego boost. But careful. In the end you may have to sell your soul. 

When I read about God taking upon Himself to "name-tag" with man, I was dumbfounded. How can God identifiy Himself with fallen men? I suppose David too felt the same for he wrote: "What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? (Ps. 8:4). Man was in fact made a little lower than angels and angels worship God! God is majestic in all the earth. He has set His glory in the heavens. Yet He chose to be known as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Like David, all I can say too is: "Lord, our God, how majestic is your name in all the earth". If there is any doubt that God loves and cares for us, let this be put to rest today. God loves us. Full stop.

IF God has a hand phone, I pray my name will be in His contact list. Have a God day.

Sincerely,

Leslie Low - friend of God

What you need to know about healing

Whenever we think about miracles, one of the first thing that popped into mind is physical healing. All the rallies you had attended, the emphasis was on the healing ministry. Many would come out early hoping to get the attention of the preacher and hoping against all hope for the miracle of healing. The reality is, at the end of the day, many are not healed. And so popped the age old question: “Why did God healed some and not others?”. Today, I am not endeavoring to take on this question. Suffice to say for now, IF God heals, it will be a miracle. Most of the time, healing comes from our faith in believing in God. Jesus said: “Your faith has made you well”. Other times, it's God's divine intervention where your faith may or may not be in play. So for today, I want to help us focus on a bigger picture. To begin with, miracles of God are not primarily about physical healing. Miracles do happen in every day life and routines. Many just don't see it. Coming back to the subject of physical healing, I think here is something you need to know.

 When God created man in Eden, man was immortal. Meaning, the human cells cannot degenerate. Adam and Eve cannot grow old or fall sick through time. This reality changed following the Fall as a consequence of straying from God. Since then mankind succumb to illnesses and diseases and unavoidable, death. Being saved in Jesus doesn't mean our bodies will stop aging or spared from illnesses or immune to diseases. Our spirit is regenerated and God had promised an immortal body to those who remain faithful to the end. That's for the afterlife. In the mean time, we do what we can to cope with this mortal body. For those who succumb to illness and disease, there's medical help and there is also the option to healing by faith or by divine providence. Either way, eventually, the healed body will succumb. Healing is but a temporary relief and for a very specific purpose. The real miracle is in the GRACE of God!

Mankind is built resilient. We are built with strong instinct and drive for survival. We surprised ourselves time and again when we did what we couldn't do because we had to. When we are sick we seek to heal. But when healing is naught, we turn to other means. As Christians, we turn to prayer. But not all are healed. What then? How do we survive the harsh times ahead? How do we survive the days, months and even years ahead? Simply by God's grace. “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor 12:9). God's grace is like a light at the end of a tunnel. It's like “a lamp to my feet, a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105). To my understanding, God's grace is the miracle in life. Let me explain further.

Healing is a temporary relief and for a very specific purpose. You can be supernaturally healed today but that doesn't immunize your body from further degeneration. You will still grow old (sign of degeneration), fall sick, take medications and die. So what then is the point of healing? Again, like I said, it's for a temporary relief and for a specific purpose. That's why some are healed while others are not. It's like praying for wealth. God is never going to answer every prayer for wealth. It's never wrong to be wanting wealth but the issue is, not everyone can handle wealth. You may not have thought about this but God alone knows how wealth can affect and change a person. Therefore, many prayed for wealth but God had to say no. When it comes to healing, apart from the obvious reason of wanting to get well, what is your purpose of living long and healthy? So if God heals you today and prolong your life, what's the purpose in all these? Perhaps the reason why many prayed for healing and God will had to answer, “my grace is sufficient for you”. I have seen Christians made more money only to give less. I have seen Christians healed through prayer only to disregard God later in life while remaining healthy. We need to know the purpose in all these. Wealth is fleeting and being healed today is to die another day. To be wealthy doesn't make you a better person. To be given a second lease of life doesn't guarantee you'll be a good person in the future. I am happy for you if you are healed. I am happy for you if you prospered. But if none of these are forthcoming, does it mean you fall short of a miracle? Far be it. Truth is, a miracle is right at your doorstep. It's the miracle of God's grace. Here's how it works.

 I will never forget the struggle of my friend battling cancer. She was young, full of faith and hope for divine healing. She was in constant pain for she opt out of treatment. In the end, too weak to even talk, she flashed me a weak smile. I know that smile. It took effort. I walked with her partly in her illness. That smile was exactly what she told me before: “It's alright pastor. I am happy and ready to meet the Lord. Don't be sad for me”. When she passed, people would have thought God did not heal her. They were right.She wasn't healed. BUT what they fall short of seeing is the miracle that God performed on her .... the miracle of God's grace. She didn't die with resentment in her heart. She experienced the supernatural joy and peace of God that passes all understanding. In fact, at one point, she was excited knowing soon she will be with her Lord and Savior Jesus, her beloved. I will never forget her and that moment in the hospital. Her assurance of the reality of God who did not abandon her but walked with her throughout those hard and trying times is something I saw for myself. Like Paul, I am sure she too heard God's voice saying: "My grace is sufficient for you". I will never forget her.

I have prayed for many for the miracle of healing and most of them passed instead. Do I give up praying for the sick? No because I will not deny them the miracle of God's grace. I wish all who seek healing will be healed. I really do. But I also believe having God walk with us through thick and thin is just as important and needful as in getting healed. What's temporary is temporary. What's eternal is the eternal. In my walk from the temporary to the eternal, I do not want to walk alone. I want God to be walking alongside me all the way in good times and in bad times. Along the way, I will be blessed with miracles, with seeing God at work. I am well aware not all my desires and prayers will be answered but as long as He walks with me, I will be alright. His grace is sufficient for me. That's my miracle. I wish preachers will be more careful and mindful in “promising” healing and prosperity in their gospel presentation. For those seeking the miracle of healing today, I pray you will find your miracle in God. Keep believing. Keep hoping in the Lord. In the meantime, lean of God. His grace is not only sufficient for you, His grace is the miracle you need. God bless.

Why Oh Why?

For almost two years now I am on a journey on rediscovering church. When I look at church the way it is today, somehow it doesn't add up. Something is amiss. We are just not the church that Jesus intended for us to be.

Church is supposed to be a movement, not an institution. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood entrusted with a mission. We have been designed for the mission (Matt. 28:18-20) yet we are doing the opposite. Instead of nurturing others, we want to be nurtured hence we look for better churches, better facilities to fill that want. Instead of reaching out, we seek to want to be "collected", to belong, and so we shop around for a better brand of church where we feel we can belong. Instead of reaching out to the lost, we are gathering saints into our churches. Oh how far have we strayed from our Master's original intent!!!

When you were born again, you had a personal encounter with Jesus. Someone may have told you about Jesus but the experience of being born again was a direct connection between you and Jesus! Oh the joy that floods your soul. You were fired up for Jesus. You read His Word like your life depended on it. You shared the good news. You attended church services with joy and great expectations. Today, is the fire still burning? Or are you singing to a different tune? I see Christians changing church like their spiritual health depended upon it. This is but a delusion. Our growth, like our experience of being born again, is directly linked to Jesus. There is no middle man. Here's the truth ... I can preach a thousand sermons, we can all sing a thousand hymns, and together we can attend a thousand church services, but apart from the Lord it will do no good. It’s not outer change we need, but deep, inner transformation by the Holy Spirit.

Why oh why do we feel we need to change church to maintain our spiritual vitality? Why oh why are we always putting our self before God? Can we too not pray, "Lord, not my will but yours be done?". And can we not just the Name of God to justtify our self indulgences?