A belated gift, packed with a big promise inside

Re-post from bro Victor CHUA's email dated 17/10/2006

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted. As the Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car.

Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold. Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your money you give me a Bible? and stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father had
carefully underlined a verse:

Matt 7:11, "And if ye, being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenly father which is in heaven, give to those who ask Him?"

As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words...PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged as we expected? I trust you enjoyed this. Pass it on to others. Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for...

IF YOUR GIFT IS NOT PACKED THE WAY YOU WANT IT, IT'S BECAUSE IT IS BETTER PACKED THAT WAY! ALWAYS APPRECIATE LITTLE THINGS; THEY USUALLY LEAD YOU TO ATTACHMENTS!

Psalm 23 Explained

Re-post from Brother YONG Shan Chi's email dated 21/11/2006

The Lord is my Shepherd (Relationship), I shall not want (Supply)
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures (Rest)
He leadeth me beside the still waters (Refreshment), He restoreth my soul (Healing)
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness (Guidance), For His name sake (Purpose)
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Testing)
I will fear no evil (Protection)
For Thou art with me (Faithfulness), Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me (Discipline)
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies (Hope)
Thou anointest my head with oil (Consecration), My cup runneth over (Abundance)
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life (Blessing)
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Security)

The Law works

Rom 8 :2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death

There are spiritual laws that govern everything. They are the law of life and the law of sin and death. We choose which one to operate in our life.

For the law of death and sin, FEAR is the key that allow Satan access to work against us. The law of life [which is in Christ Jesus], FAITH is the force that bring about blessings.

Faith and fear work the same way, but their outcome is very different

1. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God; fear comes by hearing the word of the world
2. Faith is acting on what you believe; fear is also acting on what you believe, negatively
3. Faith is released by the words of your mouth; fear is also released by the words of your mouth
4. God's word releases the force of faith to give you victory over every situation; speaking doubt releases the force of fear to work on creating the problem

Fear is faith perverted.

God created Adam just like Him and as long as Adam was connected to God, he was filled with faith and there was no fear in him. The moment sin was conceived, Adam became disconnected from God and connected to Satan, this caused the force of faith that God put in man to become fear.

Shan Chi

Relationship - Family

One of the greatest inventions to date is the X-ray, it exposes subjects we cannot see with our human eyes. In the medical field, it's an important diagnostic tool to unveil health risks.

God is the author of family. He created Eve to be Adam's suitable helper (Gen 2:18-20) and treated them as one united being (Gen 2:24). They had no sense of shame in nakedness before they ate the fruit of knowledge (Gen 2:25). However, they both felt the sense of shame after they ate the fruit of knowledge (Gen 3:6-7). The sin of the world entered their lives after the bite of the fruit, and thus we carry the same DNA today.

Since then, the man-kind lost the X-ray vision of God's. We struggle to make ends meat or worst, drowning in the seas of corporate achievements. God's is entertained to watch our lives in colour and stereo before His eyes, but many of our families struggle today in mono and silence. In God's eyes, is your family life a mono/silent or colour/hifi movie?

Dear Lord, You are the alpha and omega of our lives and faith. Restore our spiritual X-ray vision to worship You first in our lives. Touch our hearts to appreciate our family, we want our lives in full colour and stereo before You. I bind the scheme of the enemy in our families. Revive our passion for Your calling and restore our lives towards our destiny. In Jesus name, Amen

重生得救的黃鴻敏

黃鴻敏 (Raymond Wong from Hong Kong)

現在的我是一個重生得救的基督徒, 有一位美麗賢良的妻子, 有一個聰明可愛的兒子。可是, 有誰想到這個充滿幸福的家庭如果沒有天父的憐憫和恩典, 大有可能已發生了家破人亡的慘劇呢!

我與太太從86年初戀到99年才結婚,而更讓她在04年產子後不久便知道我搞婚外情。感謝 主! 就在這黒暗時期帶領她信了主, 也從而應驗了 「一人信主, 全家得救｣。認識中的太太是絶對不會原諒我的不忠, 但為何她不單沒有怪我、更變得多麼包容、忍耐、又不自誇、不張狂、不求自己的益處。究竟是什麼力量改變了她? 難道真是有神嗎?

我在1974曾決志信主, 但不到一年已離棄了 神。可是慈愛的天父從沒離開我, 祂的愛是恒久、忍耐; 終於在30年後令到我這浪子認罪重回祂的懷抱裡。

未信主前的我是一個自私、自大、固執、驕傲的人, 只會靠自己努力地去追求名與利, 又不甘心馴服及聽命於任何人。今天, 與 主同在後充滿了大大的平安、喜樂, 人也變得順服及柔和, 而且能輕鬆地立刻戒了煙、賭。什至一向粗口滿天的我, 也自然地連一句粗也不講。主的恩典醫治了我的身體, 讓我一個月內平安做了三次不同的手術。祂又改造了我的品性, 不會再追求地上的名與利,明白到最緊要的是彼此切實相愛。

我已 ｢立定心志、恒久靠主｣, 求主繼續施恩憐憫我! 求 主賜我謙卑的心, 求讓我這充滿天父慈愛的身體可以大大地為主所用, 讓天父的榮耀得以彰顯!

Life Fulfilment Through Courage and Faith

Book of Esther is always a good read when we are in trial and tribulation of life. If not for Queen Vashti's pride, Esther would never had the opportunity to save the Jews - it was all scripted by the hand of God. There are a few important lessons we can learn from the book of Esther.

 

With careful study of the character of King Xerxes, he displays many bad characteristics men still carry today: 1) easily provoked and act upon his rage 2) indulge in drinks 3) poor judgement/leadership. Without God's intervention, his vast kingdom covered from India to Egypt would be short lived - it was an easy job for Haman to issue the decree to annihilate Jews through his hand!

 

Pride leads to man's downfall through arrogance, contempt and deceit. Alcohol leads to poor judgement, self-control and increase risk taking without understanding. Lack of leadership/judgement leads to distrust, poor morale and discouragement.

 

Esther 4:10-17 captures the turning point of the historic event: Mordecai displayed his determination and righteousness and influence; Esther demonstrated her commitment and courage and leadership; Mordecai and the Jews in Susa executed Esther's proposal and placed their faith on God of Almighty.

 

Satan is the master of sin and deceit, there are many men in the marketplace fall into the traps even in the modern time like today. Esther too, had the fear to approach the King Xerxes without realising God was watching her on His stage. What fear do you have to reverse the future of God's people?

 

Proverb 19:21 says "Many are the plans in a men's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails". Without a shadow of doubt, He wants to see men saved and walk toward our destiny with our families in victory!!

 

Jesus asked Peter "Do you love me?" to encourage him to take up his role God authored. May Psalm 27 encourage your heart to make the bold move and take up yours in His play and experience the abundant life He promised.

Father's Love

My family eats out every Saturday evening to give my wife rest. Recently on one Saturday, my daughter decided to stay home and watch a TV show. The rest of the family went to a nearby shopping mall but my mind was all about my lovely daughter's stomach, I went home earlier with her dinner. Later I asked my daughter why she wasn't hungry and called us, she expressed that her father would not leave her hungry.

We were created in God's image. Although we are a sinner, our DNA still flows the seed of love for our loved ones - God is perfect and He is concerned with our (yours and mine) daily needs!!

Our heavenly Father is many times better than our earthly fathers, may Psa 27 be our desire and prayer to trust His perfect timing to provide and deliver us in time of our needs. Hallelujah.

Spiritual Fruits Nurture Secular Confidence

In the midst of life challenges, God performed a check-up on me:

 

Me: I'm frustrated with the status quo, nothing is coming my way to receive the victory. Lord..

God: Don't look at my universe your way. Ask what you can do in my world instead of what I can do in your world.

Me: !!! OK, what can I do?

God: Your fruits of the Spirit

Me: ...

 

What measures have I acquired the fruit of the Spirit? How much I practiced each "fruit" in my daily life with love, joy, patience, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control? Do we think we have the full measure of faith when everything is fine in our secular life? What do we do when our secular world crumples?

 

Our lives revolve constant changes, God uses such changes to mould us and strengthen our spiritual life. Are you equipped with the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, so your world is safeguarded against frequent earthquakes?

 

Prayer: Dear Lord, You are my shepherd I shall not be in want, You make me lie down in green pasture besides the living water while my world seems no hope. You restore my soul and guide me in the righteous path when I see no road ahead, even I walk in the shadow of darkness I fear no evil as You are with me. Your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in You always. Our lives build around people, make us a true practitioner of Your words and reflect the "fruits" in our daily lives. In Jesus name, Amen.

Simple Perspectives, Fruitful Lives

Pastor John Lim's "Trust and Obey" message yesterday reminded my full trust in my earthly father and obeyed him 100% when young. The worldly values and wisdom made me rebellious and distort my perspectives in life (Adam and Eve's sin DNA indeed is in my blood).

Jesus knew our life challenges and sinful practices in Mat 18:3 and 18:7 ".. unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven... Woe to the world because the things that cause people to sin.."

How did Jesus feed five thousand people with two fish and five loaves of bread? He just trust His heavenly Father to provide!!

Dear Lord, restore my child-like "Trust and Obey" faith in you and enjoy your abundant life, I cast my doubts and problems into your hands while wait on your deliverance and enjoy your grace today! Help me to simplify my world and reduce the complexity to enjoy my life to the fullest. In Jesus name, Amen