Parable of the Talents
5th SeptSo familiar yet we don't think much about this parable of the talent. What is a talent, as we know it it could be talent or money or any gifts that is from God. In fact, all gifts are from God but I am sure a lot differs with this. What ever it is, it's really not as important as the message that Jesus want to proclaim by telling this parable.
So straight to the meaning of this parable. God gives talents to everyone, some more and some less. The servants never question why the different amount, never complain nor compare. With the talents that each one has, we have to invest in it and to grow it. So here I am sitting on my talents, having a great time in Canada and now I am thinking of what to write and how to justify what I am about to write. I am writer and I don't have to write anything, hahaha.
Seriously, I thank God for all the talents He has given me. I have enjoy all that he has given me and I trust I will continue to use the talents to serve Him in days and years to come.
Faith
3rd SeptWhat is faith? This question has been asked and answered probably a zillion times by Christians. When non Christian used the word faith, it is normally directed to having faith in another person, as in having faith in men. Our faith in mankind is perhaps just a cliché that is spurned by mere luck that this world will in some ways balanced itself and will not self destruct no matter how much evil is around.
Having faith in God is way beyond having faith in men and I seems to be more apt to take that route. Can it be so easy to have faith in God or is it just mere fatalistic demure that one embraces? God, the Creator who spoke and the world came about, epitomizes the very cord of our believe. Without this, we cannot go on to believe that God sent his Son to die for our sin. As we behold the beauty of this earth from the vast sky to beautiful snow capped mountain, from
captivating scene of a fiery volcano to powerful fast spinning hurricane, how can we not have faith in this God whom we believe made this universe.
What is Faith? "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1 KJV
End Times Prophecy
1sr OctWith all the excitement of Blue Moon - Tetrad, I can't help but indulge in a reading myself, thanks to Unlimited Kindle. One thing for certain, September 28 came and gone and nothing earth shattering has taken place. So much so for Christ's return, rapture, end of the word and etc. It has been an interesting read but it's certainly has been a lot of conjecture put into the so called prophecy.
In Psalms 46:1-3, it talks about earthquake, volcanoes eruption, tidal waves, tsunamis and great floods, yet there is nothing to fear because God is our refuge and strength and always ready to help.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.
3 Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!
A Lovely Poem
27th SeptBeautiful words stir my heart
I will recite a lovely poem about the king,
for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet
Psalm 45:1
I have seen the beauty of our Lord
In the creation spoken to pass
He has declared it to be good and I bear witness to it
Molded by the course of nature
Through fiery volcanoes and icy glacier
Rainbow by day and northern lights by night
I have behold the vast heaven knowing that
nothing can contain a great and mighty God
Confusion over Theology
8th Sept
Lately I have been hearing and reading that it's not about what we do, it about how much God loves us. God does not love us any less or any more and it's not dependent on whether we are good or whether we are bad.Does it mean I can be as bad as we want to be and it doesn't matter, God still loves me. God's love will never run out. Doesn't seem quite right, right? Perhaps if I slowly rationale it out, I can be less confused.
I am not saved and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I confessed my sins and all my sins are forgiven based on the blood of Christ that was shed on the cross. So now I am a child of God. I can now behaved anyhow I like cos God still loves me. Yes He still loves me, but there are always consequences to our actions. Like the prodigal son, he chose to stay outside of his father's hand of protection. He didn't get to enjoy the father's riches in a place provided for him. His father never stop loving him however, his father was not able to bless him cos his son chose to stay outside of his father's will. Similarly, we cannot be blessed by God if we chose to stay outside of His will.
So we need to be stay within the reach of the Father for Him to be able to bless us. Otherwise, we are on our own, if we chose to make choices that put us out of reach from the Father's arm.
Okay I feel better now...I just hate sweeping statement made by preachers.
I have not found so great a faith
26th August
Jesus spoke of how great the centurion faith...the centurion was able to see the greatness of Jesus well in advanced of who Jesus has declared himself to be. Today we have a full revelation of Jesus through the written word of God, yet we lack the faith to believe what Jesus can do, what a shame indeed!I am always saddened when believers would tell me, hai, it's not your will but it's God's will as I often said I want God to grant me a peaceful death, ie. to die in my sleep. What happened to our faith and believing that God will answer our prayer? Often, we hear about presumptions prayer and all kinds of argument which tear us away from our faith in God.
I pray that I would never discourage others when they have faith in God cos without faith we cannot please God and besides only God can determine if it's our faith or our own wishful thinking.
By their fruits you shall know them
24th August
Earlier, Jesus had said "Judge not, that ye be not judged" and then later, we are asked to be careful of false prophets and we will be able to tell them apart based on their actions. Indeed it's a fine line between having to interpret the actions of some one and yet not having to judge their actions.So how can we conciliate this two saying of Christ? There is no doubt that prophets/teachers are held at a higher esteem and a greater standard is required of them, after all they are hand picked by God to be a mouth piece of God. Hence they are subjected to greater scrutiny or judgment by others. So if we see bad fruits, what are supposed to do especially if previously they were bearing good fruits. This point, however, Jesus did not cover. So....I have to ponder about it some more. I know what Pastor Jason always said, but I still have to figure this one out by myself.
Ask and ye shall received, Seek and ye shall find, Knock and it shall be opened
23rd August
How often have we asked and not received, seek and not find, knock and was not opened. How then? Are they just empty promises or was it spoken to deserving few and not for the general public. The power of prayer spoken so often on pulpit and probably many books written about it.Do I have anything to add to sermons and books? Of course not, perhaps just a simple observation about a child and father relationship. A child will ask for lots of things, but not all things are appropriate and necessary but a father knows best. Certainly all relevant asking will be given without a doubt and all inappropriate asking will be deferred or not given. A child may not always knows what is relevant or not relevant and therefore asking may or may not be answered. We definitely need wisdom in our asking, our seeking and our knocking.
P/S Likewise a child does not have to worry about where their food or clothing is going to come from. He or she knows that the Father will provide.
Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness
22nd August 2015
All Christians are familiar with this verse, having confidence in God that He will supply all our daily needs, of food, clothing and a roof over our head when we seek first His kingdom. So Christians really have nothing to worry about. Of course, today we worry because we cannot differentiate between needs and want.
But what is the Kingdom of God? Is it the Christiandom on earth consisting of the local church with the call to evangelism, and the keeping of the sacrament of Holy communion along with the exercising of our spiritual gift?. The kingdom of God has to be ruled by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He will return to rule for a 1000 years and we will rule alongside our Saviour. But before this happens, we need to live this life in obedience to His word, in preparation for the Kingdom to come.
P/S I like the NLT version, Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
God and Money
15th August 2015
Hmmm...definitely needs a lot of pondering on this matter. Jesus said not to lay up treasures on earth as moth and rust will destroy and thieves will steal but instead lay up treasures in heaven. Consistently, Jesus asked his listener to look beyond this life. We definitely have lots to worry about tomorrow, what to wear, what to drink and what to eat however, we have to realize that life is more than all these.Jesus summed it up by saying it all about our eyes, if our eyes focus on the light ie. God, then everything we do is of the light whereas if we focus on evil, everything we do it is of darkness. Worst off is when we think we have light but instead it is actually darkenss, then the darkness is even greater. A reminder of the verse, Lord Lord, didn't we do all this in your name and the Lord said, I know you not.
There is no compromise as light and darkness cannot exist together. We can only serve one master as the two masters are so different (God and Satan). To serve God is to hate Satan, to be devoted to God is to despite Satan. In practical ways, its either to serve God or to serve money (Satan world system).
A reminder that money is not the root of all evil but the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Do I love money, definitely not! Najib does!
Your Father Knows What You Need Even Before You Ask Him
13th August 2015
Do I believe this statement? Whole heartedly, 1000 pct believe, beyond the shadow of doubt I believe. God our provider - Jehovah Jireh!So what do we need -
Our Father in Heaven, hallow be they name
1) We need - A Father in Heaven, A Father whose name makes the world trembles
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven
2a) We need - to be part of that Kingdom
2b) We need - to be in God's will
Give us this day our daily bread
3) We need - daily sustenance
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
4a) We need - our sins forgiven
4b) We need - to forgive others
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
5a) We need - guidance from God so as not to fall into temptation
5b) We need - to be delivered from the evil one
For thine is the kingdom and the p0wer, and the glory, for ever Amen.
6) We need - to be engulfed by the presence of God Amen!
It's really awesome, it just about me and God!
Sermon on the Mount
10th August 2015
Another "profound" (for lack of a better word) teaching of Jesus. Be ye perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Perfection is expected for who? For all mankind? Jesus was definitely speaking to the general public. But who is able to be perfect, surely none. The only perfect man was Jesus Christ and He alone was the perfect man. I figure that as long as we are in our sinful flesh, we can never be perfect and do all that God expect us to do nevertheless we must have the desire to obey. And t0 go through each one of "action and reaction" we can debate till the cow comes home. But I believe that when we are faced with a situation and if we ask God to show us what to do, He will give us the wisdom. However, consistency is key, what we say and what we do, needs to be consistent and needs to reflect the God in us. Saying is so much easier than doing, that's for sure and may God not only give us the wisdom to know what to do but the strength to carry it out.
My opinion as to marrying divorce man / woman: it's a no cos it's adultery either ways.
My opinion as to marrying divorce man / woman: it's a no cos it's adultery either ways.
The Beatitudes
4th August
Many books have been written to explain the 9 versus of Blessed is he...so who am I to even dare to pen anything on this subject.
I can imagine the crowd sitting there wondering what in the world was Jesus talking about. Perhaps, their thoughts were on the no so long ago miracles that they just witnessed Jesus performed. Some probably nodding agreeing yet not fully understanding those deep and profound words.
Is this a morale education for the general public? Is it possible to be the person that God wants us to be; morally upright, broken in spirit yet purposeful in living. We should desire to be that person that is described in the beatitudes. We can start by taking baby steps, 2 steps forward one step back and 3 steps forward and a few steps back...soon we will get there! Hahaha....no its really not that hard cos we all know what is right and what is wrong! Eh, I hope so! We also have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us provided we don't crowd him out by the many distractions this world has to offer. Yes...distractions...
Jesus Healing the Sick
3rd August
Jesus began His ministry with the preaching of repentance followed by the good news that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. A great part of his ministry was to heal the sick; He healed every kind of diseases and illness, demon processed or epileptic or paralyzed.Why did Jesus healed the sick? Why not only preach the good news? The Bible taught us that:
1) He is compassionate
2) The fulfillment of prophecy needs to take place
3) It glorifies God
4) Authenticate who Jesus is
5) To destroy the work of the evil one
If Jesus is here today, people will still be asking for healing too...less would be the diseased, epileptic, paralyzed or even demon processed. Definitely more cancer ridden people, bad heart, diabetic and mental. Now that Jesus is not no longer here on earth, would He still heal the sick.
Going through to the list:
1) Yes, he is still compassionate
2) Done; accomplished
3) Yes, healing can glorify God if it's pointed towards God
4) Done; accomplished
5) Done; accomplished
So we are left with 1 and 3. Is it enough to heal us? yes and no. Perhaps a more compassionate act would be to take us home to eternal glory. And more than often, glory goes to the doctor instead of God. I am okay if God chooses not to heal me, it's His prerogative cos it never changes how much He loves me. No lah, I am not sick.
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