Recently, I have been pondering how Jesus led His life on earth as I seek to know Him more personally. I was then brought to my remembrance an interesting observation from a book I read in the past. During the cross examination of Jesus by Pilate just before His crucification, Pilate asked Jesus who He was and He answered in the manner recorded in John 18 : 37.
John 18:37, “Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.””
Jesus knew the purpose he was born and this struck fear to Pilate. Thereafter, the scriptures mentioned repeatedly that Pilate clarifies that he seek no fault in Jesus. Men may declare that they are being called to the ministry while God leads their way. However it is a different paradigm when a person knew what he was born to do. Jesus knew WHY He was born. To be sacrificed and to die for mankind’s sin. Not only that, He knew WHEN His execution would happen as He gave His last words to His disciples during the last supper; and HOW He was going to die as He prayed out sorrowfully with blood of sweats at the Garden of Gethsemane.
Luke 22:44, “And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Recently I saw a documentary which states that the crucification of criminals on the cross is exhibited in every Roman city as a reminder to the people of the sovereignty of the Roman Empire as well as to strike fear into any dissidents who attempt to disrupt the peace. It must have been a terrifying sight to behold.
This is also a sobering thought to me. I can imagine if a cancer patient was given the report that he would not live beyond the next 3 months, I could almost guarantee that there is no single day he would go by without thinking of when that day would come. Even for a healthy person to know that he would die 3 years later due to whatever reasons, he would probably stop working and spend all his savings and time to enjoy his remaining years but the thought of that day would doubtlessly linger with him every single day. In such situation, depression could creep in easily. I would reckon Jesus will be highly challenged in such circumstances too.
Although it was not mentioned in the bible at which stage of His life did Jesus know His purpose and kind of death He will experience. Jesus started His ministry at the age of 30 and crucified at the age of 33. This means that He knew He would die young. Nevertheless, Jesus, who possessed a divine nature but living in flesh, was able to live His life with joy and even impart life to the people around Him as He preach, teach, heal and socialize with the people around Him. Even though Jesus is anointed beyond measure, He is essentially operating as a human being and this is truly amazing and beyond comprehension.
Personally I believe one of the many reasons Jesus prayed so much was also to draw strength from God through the Holy Spirit. To keep Him focus on His ministry and to keep fear and thoughts of depression away.
Jesus source of joy, strength and perseverance is a lesson that we can draw parallel to as we go through our challenges in life. We need to learn to draw strength from God, to fight the good fight of faith. With the challenges we face in this modern society, can it get any worse than knowing you will experience a suffering death and at a young age like what Jesus went through?
2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Steve
Monday, March 1, 2010
Taking small steps in life to establish holiness in our hearts
1 Peter 1:16, “… “Be holy, for I am holy.””
During one of the meetings, one of our leaders shared with us on how he faithfully obeys the law of the land and uses the car park coupons as it should have been. If he parks in a parking lot that requires the use of parking coupons, he would tear the coupons according to the time he parked and the period of time he will be occupying the lot. Meaning, he would not give the pretext that he started using the parking lot 10 minutes later or would he use a half an hour coupon to compensate for 2 hours of usage. Even to the point that his car is only a few steps from where he is dining.
This is hard saying and can easily be an offense to some people. A common reaction to this would be, “Please don’t act so holy and get so religious. Tearing car park coupons are small matter.”
My leader brought up one good point. It is not him trying to act holy but rather it is the holiness of God which was imparted to him the moment he became a Christian. The same thing happens to us Thereafter God leave it to us to cultivate the holiness in our lives through our decisions.
The bible tells us to take note of the small areas of our life that need adjustment.
Song of Solomon 2:15, “Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines …”
Starting making such small adjustments in your life for God wants you to grow in more and more into holiness. Perhaps God might be preparing you to be in positions that require such a high level of integrity.
I remembered very clearly when I was dating my wife and even after we were married, one of our pet peeves was to trod down to Borders (a book shop that offers free browsing) at Wheellock place to browse through all the magazines and books that interest us. Her World, Cleo, Men’s health, Times, Newsweek, Home and Décor, National Geographic … you name it. We would do this almost weekly and sometimes soaking in there for hours with no intention of buying a single piece of item in the bookshop.
For years we enjoyed our time in Borders like this until we started to ask ourselves if we should be doing this. Oh yes we can argue that, “The book shop offers free browsing and even provide arm chairs for their patrons.” or “Come on, every body is doing it.” or “Aiyah, otherwise how to save money? One magazine costs S$5. If I buy every single magazine wouldn’t I be broke?” or “I am only reading the fashion section of the magazine and not the whole magazine.”
However we knew that the Holy Spirit is already starting to convict us. We ask ourselves truthfully and we knew it was wrong. If I am running the business, I would prefer only interested buyers to browse my magazines and books. Not free loaders.
It was hard decision for us especially when it has sort of became a habit or part of our lifestyle. However we eventually obeyed and decide cut off this hobby. We turned to patronizing National Libraries instead, which also offers some of these magazines even though they were past editions. Not only that, we also found out that there were tons of highly educational videos available for loan which we benefitted tremendously from watching them. Praise God! In a sense, we are cleared of our conscience of “robbing” Borders.
Let’s strive to embrace holiness in our daily living and live more and more like Christ. Like what 1 Peter 1:16 says, “… “Be holy, for I am holy.””
JY
During one of the meetings, one of our leaders shared with us on how he faithfully obeys the law of the land and uses the car park coupons as it should have been. If he parks in a parking lot that requires the use of parking coupons, he would tear the coupons according to the time he parked and the period of time he will be occupying the lot. Meaning, he would not give the pretext that he started using the parking lot 10 minutes later or would he use a half an hour coupon to compensate for 2 hours of usage. Even to the point that his car is only a few steps from where he is dining.
This is hard saying and can easily be an offense to some people. A common reaction to this would be, “Please don’t act so holy and get so religious. Tearing car park coupons are small matter.”
My leader brought up one good point. It is not him trying to act holy but rather it is the holiness of God which was imparted to him the moment he became a Christian. The same thing happens to us Thereafter God leave it to us to cultivate the holiness in our lives through our decisions.
The bible tells us to take note of the small areas of our life that need adjustment.
Song of Solomon 2:15, “Catch us the foxes, The little foxes that spoil the vines …”
Starting making such small adjustments in your life for God wants you to grow in more and more into holiness. Perhaps God might be preparing you to be in positions that require such a high level of integrity.
I remembered very clearly when I was dating my wife and even after we were married, one of our pet peeves was to trod down to Borders (a book shop that offers free browsing) at Wheellock place to browse through all the magazines and books that interest us. Her World, Cleo, Men’s health, Times, Newsweek, Home and Décor, National Geographic … you name it. We would do this almost weekly and sometimes soaking in there for hours with no intention of buying a single piece of item in the bookshop.
For years we enjoyed our time in Borders like this until we started to ask ourselves if we should be doing this. Oh yes we can argue that, “The book shop offers free browsing and even provide arm chairs for their patrons.” or “Come on, every body is doing it.” or “Aiyah, otherwise how to save money? One magazine costs S$5. If I buy every single magazine wouldn’t I be broke?” or “I am only reading the fashion section of the magazine and not the whole magazine.”
However we knew that the Holy Spirit is already starting to convict us. We ask ourselves truthfully and we knew it was wrong. If I am running the business, I would prefer only interested buyers to browse my magazines and books. Not free loaders.
It was hard decision for us especially when it has sort of became a habit or part of our lifestyle. However we eventually obeyed and decide cut off this hobby. We turned to patronizing National Libraries instead, which also offers some of these magazines even though they were past editions. Not only that, we also found out that there were tons of highly educational videos available for loan which we benefitted tremendously from watching them. Praise God! In a sense, we are cleared of our conscience of “robbing” Borders.
Let’s strive to embrace holiness in our daily living and live more and more like Christ. Like what 1 Peter 1:16 says, “… “Be holy, for I am holy.””
JY
In Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being
Acts 17:28, “for in Him we live and move and have our being …”
I have been pondering over the above scripture for quite a number of years. Never really understood what it meant literally.
During one of the worship services, I thank God for revealing it in my heart. I was not even expecting Him to bring this verse back to my remembrance.
Ephesians 1:17, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,”
Jesus is the Word of God
John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Therefore we can read Acts 17:28 as In Jesus we live and move and have our being Or Based on the Word of God we live and move and have our being.
“Based on the Word of God we live” means that we develop the character of Jesus in our life such as we say what we mean, we do what we commit, we do not sprout nonsense or non edifying words out of our mouth or we develop the compassion that Jesus had for the people etc
“Based on the Word of God we move” means that we make decisions based on the Word of God.
I remembered there was an occasion when I found out that a colleague of mine wrote an email to my higher management behind my back, citing I was partly responsible for a mistake committed by another person when I have already clarified the matter with him. I was very unhappy with regard to his ungentlemanly act and this was not the first time. However after thinking through, I decide to let the matter rest and not confront him but chose to continue working with him as if this matter has never happened.
Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
“Based on the Word of God we have our being” means we know who we are and we know who we represent.
Jesus knew who He is and when Pilate tried to threaten Him, Jesus was not moved for He knew who He is.
John 19:8-12, “Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” From then on Pilate sought to release Him …”
We can see that there is substance in Jesus. We too should learn to develop this substance within us in various areas of our life. I remembered during the economic recession towards the end of 2008, my company was going through mass retrenchment. However I was bold enough to say in my heart that because I have been faithfully tithing and giving to the kingdom of God, this pipeline of finances will not be cut off. Hence even if I happened to be retrenched, I am sure God will lead me to another better job.
Acts 17:28, “for in Him we live and move and have our being …”
Steve
I have been pondering over the above scripture for quite a number of years. Never really understood what it meant literally.
During one of the worship services, I thank God for revealing it in my heart. I was not even expecting Him to bring this verse back to my remembrance.
Ephesians 1:17, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,”
Jesus is the Word of God
John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Therefore we can read Acts 17:28 as In Jesus we live and move and have our being Or Based on the Word of God we live and move and have our being.
“Based on the Word of God we live” means that we develop the character of Jesus in our life such as we say what we mean, we do what we commit, we do not sprout nonsense or non edifying words out of our mouth or we develop the compassion that Jesus had for the people etc
“Based on the Word of God we move” means that we make decisions based on the Word of God.
I remembered there was an occasion when I found out that a colleague of mine wrote an email to my higher management behind my back, citing I was partly responsible for a mistake committed by another person when I have already clarified the matter with him. I was very unhappy with regard to his ungentlemanly act and this was not the first time. However after thinking through, I decide to let the matter rest and not confront him but chose to continue working with him as if this matter has never happened.
Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
“Based on the Word of God we have our being” means we know who we are and we know who we represent.
Jesus knew who He is and when Pilate tried to threaten Him, Jesus was not moved for He knew who He is.
John 19:8-12, “Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” From then on Pilate sought to release Him …”
We can see that there is substance in Jesus. We too should learn to develop this substance within us in various areas of our life. I remembered during the economic recession towards the end of 2008, my company was going through mass retrenchment. However I was bold enough to say in my heart that because I have been faithfully tithing and giving to the kingdom of God, this pipeline of finances will not be cut off. Hence even if I happened to be retrenched, I am sure God will lead me to another better job.
Acts 17:28, “for in Him we live and move and have our being …”
Steve
Anointing is for the people
Elder Timothy was sharing his experiences in doing mission work in Myanmar when he brought up a very good point. He mentioned that the anointing of God is for the people. Because God loves the people, He will use anyone appointed to preach or teach to reach the hearts of those who are humble in the spirit and hungry to hear from God. To the extent that He could even use a donkey to minister to the people.
Numbers 22:28, “Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?””
However it does not mean that God will not deal with the speaker personally regarding areas of his/ her life that require change. Hearing this will allow a minister to understand the meaning of servanthood. Not only that, this understanding will also relieve him/ her from the pressure of giving a good sermon based on his/ her own strength but rather believing that the anointing will come as long as him/ her gives God the full dependence on His grace to operate as an oracle of God. This of course does not mean that the minister can skip the preparation of his/ her sharing.
Exodus 4:12, “Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.””
In addition, the minister need not be overly concerned about hindering God’s purpose to minister to the audience despite of knowing that he/ she still has areas in his/ her life that need correction. This will also only stem from a pure motive of the minister in letting the Word out and blessing the audience.
Steve
Numbers 22:28, “Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?””
However it does not mean that God will not deal with the speaker personally regarding areas of his/ her life that require change. Hearing this will allow a minister to understand the meaning of servanthood. Not only that, this understanding will also relieve him/ her from the pressure of giving a good sermon based on his/ her own strength but rather believing that the anointing will come as long as him/ her gives God the full dependence on His grace to operate as an oracle of God. This of course does not mean that the minister can skip the preparation of his/ her sharing.
Exodus 4:12, “Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.””
In addition, the minister need not be overly concerned about hindering God’s purpose to minister to the audience despite of knowing that he/ she still has areas in his/ her life that need correction. This will also only stem from a pure motive of the minister in letting the Word out and blessing the audience.
Steve
I witness how God has touched my China friends during my recent business trip
During my recent trip to China, I was greatly encouraged by what God is doing in the country through 2 persons whom I attempted to share the gospel with them.
The first one was my Beijing colleague who had been my companion for the whole of week. On the last day of our customer visit in Wuhan, our local host wanted to bring us to pay a short visit to the most famous temple in Wuhan. I was not keen on it but I had to follow along. Our car arrived on site first and I managed to spend some private time with my Beijing colleague while waiting for the rest to arrive. I have been asking God to show me the right opportunity to share Christ with him throughout trip and I sensed that this is the right window of time to do so. I asked him if he believes in the temple idols and eventually led the conversation to Jesus and His salvation plan.
During our conversation, I found out that my Beijing colleague was not a Christian. However he told me that recently he watched a movie called Fireproof because there was some element of Christianity in it and he wanted to find out more. I was pleasantly surprised! Fireproof was an English Christian movie which talks about how God restored a broken relationship. I have seen it myself but I have never expected my Beijing colleague to have watched it too; definitely not in China. Praise God! This work of God has definitely travelled far. My colleague also shared with me that he was particularly touched by how the male lead pursued his wife despite the challenges that he faced.
Not only this, he also mentioned to me that he remembered a fellow female colleague, a Christian, left a good impression on him through her work attitude, character and ways of dealing with people. Overall he feel good about Christians.
1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”
The above scriptures became very real to me in this event. I was very encouraged when I learnt that God has used different people and channels to reach out to my Beijing colleague and I am so happy to be part of His plan. Eventually I left my Beijing colleague with how he can received Jesus into his life when he is ready.
On the second occasion, I managed to share the gospel with the taxi driver on the way from my hotel to the airport in Wuhan. During overseas trips, travelling from one place to another normally takes more than an hour and I had ample time to chat with the driver to know him better. During the conversation, I asked the taxi driver, “Have you hear about Jesus?” He replied, “He read the bible a couple of times but he did not understand the scriptures.” I was again pleasantly surprised! I asked again, “Are you a Christian?” He replied cheerfully, “No, but I just had a bible at home.” He later shared with me that one of his passengers, a young China lady, passed him the bible and asked him to read if he had the time. Praise God! I never expected someone had reach out to him before too.
One of the reasons why I was so excited was it was the first time I witness the gospel had reached my China friends. I cannot imagine people in Wuhan to know who Jesus is due to its remoteness from the big cities. After the Cultural Revolution, a vast majority of China people do not follow any religion and Mao’s ideology still prevails in their hearts. Although China has gradually starting to open up its society to Christianity in recent times, so far for the past few years, most of the China people that I have met have never heard much of who Jesus really is until now. Praise God! Let His will be done on earth!
Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Anonymous
The first one was my Beijing colleague who had been my companion for the whole of week. On the last day of our customer visit in Wuhan, our local host wanted to bring us to pay a short visit to the most famous temple in Wuhan. I was not keen on it but I had to follow along. Our car arrived on site first and I managed to spend some private time with my Beijing colleague while waiting for the rest to arrive. I have been asking God to show me the right opportunity to share Christ with him throughout trip and I sensed that this is the right window of time to do so. I asked him if he believes in the temple idols and eventually led the conversation to Jesus and His salvation plan.
During our conversation, I found out that my Beijing colleague was not a Christian. However he told me that recently he watched a movie called Fireproof because there was some element of Christianity in it and he wanted to find out more. I was pleasantly surprised! Fireproof was an English Christian movie which talks about how God restored a broken relationship. I have seen it myself but I have never expected my Beijing colleague to have watched it too; definitely not in China. Praise God! This work of God has definitely travelled far. My colleague also shared with me that he was particularly touched by how the male lead pursued his wife despite the challenges that he faced.
Not only this, he also mentioned to me that he remembered a fellow female colleague, a Christian, left a good impression on him through her work attitude, character and ways of dealing with people. Overall he feel good about Christians.
1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”
The above scriptures became very real to me in this event. I was very encouraged when I learnt that God has used different people and channels to reach out to my Beijing colleague and I am so happy to be part of His plan. Eventually I left my Beijing colleague with how he can received Jesus into his life when he is ready.
On the second occasion, I managed to share the gospel with the taxi driver on the way from my hotel to the airport in Wuhan. During overseas trips, travelling from one place to another normally takes more than an hour and I had ample time to chat with the driver to know him better. During the conversation, I asked the taxi driver, “Have you hear about Jesus?” He replied, “He read the bible a couple of times but he did not understand the scriptures.” I was again pleasantly surprised! I asked again, “Are you a Christian?” He replied cheerfully, “No, but I just had a bible at home.” He later shared with me that one of his passengers, a young China lady, passed him the bible and asked him to read if he had the time. Praise God! I never expected someone had reach out to him before too.
One of the reasons why I was so excited was it was the first time I witness the gospel had reached my China friends. I cannot imagine people in Wuhan to know who Jesus is due to its remoteness from the big cities. After the Cultural Revolution, a vast majority of China people do not follow any religion and Mao’s ideology still prevails in their hearts. Although China has gradually starting to open up its society to Christianity in recent times, so far for the past few years, most of the China people that I have met have never heard much of who Jesus really is until now. Praise God! Let His will be done on earth!
Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Anonymous
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)