“I’m absolutely convinced that nothing – nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable – absolutely nothing can get between us and G.d’s love because of the way that J.sus our Master has embraced us.”

The truth is, I am unashamedly enjoying myself this month, being totally refreshed and recharged in the embrace and love of my family back home. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been utterly spoilt with choice dining but far more importantly, I’ve had the wonderful luxury of sharing special companionship with three very precious people in my life. I cannot even begin to put into words the deep love and appreciation I have for my family, but what truly confounds me, is the knowledge that I am loved by them, regardless.

Regardless – this to me, is a seemingly insignificant word that holds in itself a great depth of implications. In spite of. Despite. In any case. At any rate. Nothing. Absolutely nothing, can “get between us and G.d’s love”. Wow. Now that’s an awesome thought! Oh, that we may truly, truly know the incomprehensible love our heavenly Father has toward each and every one of us, regardless! So let us enjoy the riches of His love unashamedly, coming before the throne of grace with boldness and rejoicing! May we be completely transformed and renewed in the knowledge of this love, and hence also becoming gracious in our love and selfless in the giving of ourselves for others. But for the grace of G.d!

“Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, so that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you… nor will I accept an offering from your hands.”

“For men will be lovers of themselves… having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

We had a really good conversation this morning, which reminded us to be cautious against kindling vain fires, offering sacrifices that bring Him no pleasure, being busy with routine, yet having no room for relationship, being polished in our communication skills, yet having no practice in communion…

As we approach the new year ahead and begin looking at our programme schedules, it is indeed our earnest pr.yer, that we seek first HIS will and HIS desire, trusting in HIS provisions and guidance. I am truly so encouraged and blessed to work alongside such humble and G.d fearing leaders, who make waiting on the L.rd a priority in our day!

“This cup is the new covenant in My blood.”

Over the weekend, we watched a short video clip on the breaking of bread and drinking of wine. In olden day Israel (I’m not sure if this practise is still being carried out today), when a man wanted to take a lady as his bride, he would go up with his father to the young woman’s house to meet her and her father. The two fathers would then go into discussion regarding the bride’s dowry, often a very very large sum – the commentary suggested as much as the equivalent of purchasing a new apartment! Anyhow, after the price was set, the young man would offer his soon bride-to-be his cup, filled with wine, signifying the offer of his life to her. As he stretches out his hand, offering her his cup, he’s really saying “I love you and would give my life for you. Do you love me?”. Should she accept, she would drink from his cup, thus signifying her acceptance of his life and in turn similarly offering hers to him, “Yes I love you and would also give my life for you.”

Wow. I was hit by the intimate covenant of love expressed through the drinking of wine. Yes, we often remember the new life we have in Him as we take the cup and drink the wine, symbolic of His shed blood. But how often we forget the intimacy of this new covenant of love for us. And yes, we are eager to receive all the benefits His love lavishly pours out upon us, but do we really mean to love Him and give our lives for Him? Or are we merely making a mockery of His love and the price He had to pay for us?

“This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

“The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness.”

I recently met a couple in their late sixties, early seventies. They are a lovely couple with gentleness in sp.rit that I really appreciate. As we share in a few conversations, their deep love for the Father becomes evident - I love how they are such special testimonies of His faithfulness and their obedience.

I am reminded of a certain lady who had returned from an overseas posting in the Family business when I first got to know her in my early teens. We had several conversations together, but there’s only one that remains etched in my memory. As she put her hand on my arm, she told me very gently, “It is good to believe in religion when you’re young. But when you’re slightly older, beginning in your thirties, you will then realise that the fire will die out and that’s when reality hits you…”, implying what exactly, she never really said. I remember being very shaken by her comments, mainly because I had previously really looked up to her. But now as I look around me, most of the people I work alongside are in their thirties, early forties and above - and as far as I can tell, no one looks like they are anywhere near packing up their bags! So I have come to my own conclusion: it is good to believe in religion when you’re young. But when you’re slightly older, beginning in your thirties, you will then realise that the fire is not enough. It is then, that you will in fact heap on the coals, fan the flames and as a result, end up with a great bonfire of uninhibited and unending celebration – a celebration of the moment your life is forever changed when you exchanged the poverty of religion for the prosperity of relationship.

“You are my portion, O L_RD.”

I have a very, very sad confession to make. Previously, whenever I came across this passage, I would have an attitude perhaps best described as resignation. There I was with my lot, seemingly filled with ‘sacrifices’ and especially stark in contrast when compared to others, for their lots were seemingly filled with everything but painful sacrifice. Sometimes I am a little tempted to think the word doesn’t exist in their dictionaries. “You are my portion, O L_RD.” I would often repeat it to myself, as if after resigning to my lot in life, I would comfort myself that it isn’t too bad. I do afterall, have much to be thankful for…

Oh, great is the cost of deception, for such lies cannot be any further to the truth!! The Most High Gd, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Giver of all good things, has made me an heir to ALL THAT HE IS!! In other words, WISDOM is my portion. RIGHTEOUSNESS is my portion. GRACE is my portion. RICHES is my portion (heaven is paved with gold!). LOVE is my portion. ABUNDANCE is my portion. HEALTH is my portion. And as if I need any more convincing, FAITH is my portion - check out Who the Author is! Surely, this invokes not an attitude of resignation but an inhibited response of pure elation and delight!! For not a single moment longer, do I need to resign myself to human nature and all its lowliness. Forever gone, are the days of wallowing in self-pity, apologetic for my desperate lack of faith and ashamed about my selfish love…

You are my portion, O L_RD.
(I encourage you to read it aloud and savour the sweetness of such a liberating confession!)

“I will run the course of Your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart.”

What a liberating truth, to know that HE ENLARGES MY HEART! Most times when I find myself frustrated or sp/ritually tired, it’s because I’ve chosen instead to habour bitterness, unforgiveness, pride, selfishness, so the list goes on. In times like these, my heart has shrunk with such debilitating diseases, and will continue to do so till my inner man is suffocated of all signs of life and peace…

Unless of course it first encounters the GRACE OF GD. This is where a divine miracle happens - one that our finite minds cannot possibly fully comprehend and our hearts cannot possibly contain.

In the face of grace and all its wonder, there is no ground for logic or reasoning, for there is none. I was blind but now I see, dead but now I live! My shrivelled heart is not only healed of its diseases, but now has far greater capacities to truly live in all the fullness of LIFE. No longer do I lie paralysed with sickness and weakness, but now I will run the course of Your commandments.

Oh but for the grace of Gd!

“The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and his glory is to overlook a transgression.”
人有见识，就不轻易发怒。宽恕人的过失，便是自己的荣耀。

One of my close friends works for a lady who has a quick temper. And today, she got more than the regular dose of venom multiplied by 100 times, since it was directed at her. My friend was so peeved, she was on the verge of tendering her resignation there and then. Till now, I don’t really know what stopped her, but I’m glad she held her tongue anyway. “Why?” She asked, since others had told her she should have gone through with it. Perhaps previous personal experiences have taught me that words said in anger, or actions done in rage were later always, always regretted, even after many years down the road. “But a lack of response would mean that I am an easy push-over”, my friend lamented.

His glory is to overlook a transgression.

I don’t claim by any means to have perfected such grace, but I do confess to desperately desire such g.dly character! And again, through personal experience, I testify to the truth of such wisdom that can only come from Above. Just recently, after my friend’s incident at work, I encountered an occasion that really, really provoked me. It seems insignificant now, but I was ready to explode with a mouthful of unpleasantness myself. I am SO GLAD I refrained from the urge to respond in likewise manner to the person on the other end of the phone, cause 5 minutes later, she called back and apologised profusely. Whatever happened within that 5 minutes must have been a divine intervention! To be honest, I was quite stumped by her second phone call. And all this so happened to take place in my friend’s presence, to which she was firstly annoyed that I didn’t take note of the person’s name so I could submit a formal complaint to her manager, and secondly similarly stumped by the apology I got - WITHOUT submitting any formal complaints!!

A lack of response would mean that I am an easy push-over… perhaps not afterall. =)

“Then Amaziah said to the man of G.d, ‘But what shall we do about the hundred talents which I have given to the troops of Israel?’ And the man of G.d answered, ‘The L.RD is able to give you much more than this.”

The story goes like this… Amaziah was then the king of Judah. He was set to go to war with the people of Seir, but had little faith in the size of his own army. And so what does he decide to do? “He also hired one hundred thousand mighty men of valour from Israel for one hundred talents of silver.” Soon afterwards, a prophet brought a word of caution to the king, warning against the army of Israel, “for the L.RD is not with Israel”.

And so King Amaziah was caught in a dilemma: what about the money I’ve already paid?

There’s probably a number of lessons we can draw from this short passage. But one sticks out to me more than the others, perhaps because I feel I can relate to it better. By the grace of G.d, we rise up to an occasion where He has appointed us to be, but for some strange reason, we seem to think afterwards that His grace has finished its work and the rest is up to us. We start to roll up our sleeves and make our own plans, ranging from simple calculations to complex strategies. But when, at some point, we are reminded that His grace is sufficient for us, instead of being humbled at our own foolishness and at the same time overwhelmed by a sense of great relief, we catch ourselves thinking, but what about all the other plans I’ve already made? What about the money I’ve already spent? How am I going to tell the others? My sneaking suspicion tells me that my real concern lies not so much in the abandonment of plans and unlike King Amaziah, perhaps not even in the loss of money, but what I would find most costly would be the “loss of face” in discharging the troops, or admitting to my team-mates that I’ve made a mistake in not seeking His wisdom first, especially if we were already way down the track in making our own plans.

“The L.RD is able to give you much more than this.” The L.RD is able to GIVE US MUCH MORE success than we can ever achieve on our own. The L.RD is able to GIVE US MUCH MORE finances than we can ever earn on our own. The L.RD is able to GIVE US MUCH MORE wisdom than we can ever attain on our own.

May we be free from the poverty mentality that binds our spirits from experiencing the abundance that the L.RD has given us! The L.RD is able to GIVE US MUCH MORE!!

I love weekends. I love being able to wind down after a busy week with a good book in hand. I love being able to play the guitar at leisure. But most of all, I love being able to turn my mobile phone off!

But I ask myself in all honesty … “why?”

The choice - whatever it may be - is insignificant in itself. But it’s the hidden motivation that challenges me most deeply … and I am ashamed to admit that I sometimes, like this past weekend, find myself being caught up in “r/ligion”. I get caught up in trying to be like a “chr/stian”, rather than being like Chr/st. The moves are all the same, but the motivations cannot be any further apart. The messages are similar if not identical, but their meanings lost in translation – for one uses a language composed of nouns, verbs and adjectives, while the other of grace, love and compassion.

“People will be lovers of themselves… having a form of g/dliness but denying its power.”

Remember what the next verse is?

“Have nothing to do with them.”

That’s harsh… does it mean that finding time for ourselves, be it in reading a good book, playing the guitar, or turning the mobile off are all forms of g/dliness?? No, no, by no means. But it’s in the motivation behind these choices that lie the very heart of the matter. Do we make these choices to somehow, as if at all possible, disconnect ourselves from everyone else… including Him? Do we turn the mobile off to avoid getting calls from people we find very hard to get along with (whom we clearly know He loves and need to hear the message) and for some strange reason keeping calling? Once again, I’m ashamed to confess that I did. Maybe that’s why I appreciate the story of Jonah so much. I can relate. I bet if he had a mobile phone that received automatic news updates of the desperate plight of Nineveh, he’d turn it off! Presuming no one else knew of Gd’s specific directions for him to go to Nineveh, I’m guessing his family & friends would be more than supportive of his decision, albeit sudden, to head off to Tarshish for some “time out” & “personal retreat”. Afterall, he had been faithful in his service for all those years…

“The fear of the Lrd is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

And so I’m tired, but grateful. Grateful for second chances, and even more grateful there are no large fish around to swallow me up for three whole days, only to throw me right up in this person’s living room!! I might as well learn Jonah’s lesson, and learn it well:

“You have been concerned about your own earthly comforts (like personal space!), though you did absolutely nothing to earn it, nothing to deserve it. But there she is in an utter state of confusion, not knowing right from wrong, true from false. SHOULD I NOT BE GREATLY CONCERNED ABOUT HER?” (revised version)

Oh, but for the grace of Gd…

“For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”

I just returned from visiting some friends who are expecting their first child anytime this week. It’s so special to be part of their excitement and anticipation, which also got me thinking about how incredibly awesome our Creator G_d is… how He knows us intimately, VERY INTIMATELY. And, as my dearest Daddy would say, He knows what “triggers our switch”. Teehee. True though, isn’t it? He who designed and created the switchboard would intimately know each and every switch. He would know how to fix it when it short-circuits. Ahh, but why would it short-circuit if He had created it so perfectly? Perhaps the problem lies not so much in its Creator as its operator. Each of us has an active choice to make; only two ways to live. We can live according to our own wisdom, strength and resources – which in my experience inadvertently results in a “short-circuit” when everything stuffs up by inconceivable measures. Or we can live by faith through His grace and redemption, thus handing over the controls and operative authority to the Creator Himself. He promises everything we need for LIFE and G_DLINESS. All that we need (not want, merely to feed our selfish desires) He freely gives us. Do you seem to be experiencing a “short-circuit” in your life? May this be an encouragement to let the Creator “trigger your switch” and make you shine in all the capacity He has created you for!!