The Apple and the Cross

We live in a world that is obsessed and addicted to knowledge. We are feeding from the Tree of Knowledge and becoming spiritually malnourished. In her book, The Four Levels of Healing, Shakti Gawan described spiritual emptiness as the root cause of most of our social, political and environmental crises. When we lose contact with our Creator, we become alienated from one another and from the beautiful world that God has created. We pollute, overconsume and destroy the natural resources God has given us. The story of Adam and Eve is a picture of our human condition – like Adam we are alienated and afraid of God. We hide from God and need to hear God calling out to us, “Where are you?”

We are in need of spiritual healing for we are spiritually dead. In Christ, God has invited us to return to the Tree of Life and to feed our souls with the Living Bread so that we can begin a new life through a loving relationship with Him. We have been reborn again in Christ and we are to grow into the likeness of Christ. Unfortunately, many of us may have begun a new life only to remain in spiritual infancy as we seek only spiritual milk instead of solid spiritual food (Hebrews 5:11-14).

We need to grow up in order to live as citizens of heaven and shine like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. But we cannot live in God’s Kingdom in the here and now if we see heaven only as a place that we will go to when we die. Solid spiritual food is feeding on God’s Word that has been revealed through Jesus Christ.

But there is a big difference between seeking biblical knowledge and feeding on the Bread of Life. The bible is but a map to guide us in our quest to live in God’s Kingdom – it is not our destination. We are to apply the spiritual truths from the bible in our lives so that we will not conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds in order to know God’s will for our lives.

We need to make the choice between the apple and the cross – to feed on the Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Life to find the answers to spiritual questions such as “What am I here for? How can I make this world a better place? How can I turn the ordinary events in my life into great opportunities to use the gifts that God has given me?”

Let us hold fast to the truth that we are new creations in Christ and that we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. Og Mandino made the following observation:

"We expect mastery without apprenticeship, knowledge without study, and riches by credit. Born in an age and country in which knowledge and opportunity abound as never before, how can you sit with folded hands, asking God's help in work for which He has already given you the necessary faculties and strength?”

The good news is that we are not to work FOR our salvation but to work OUT our salvation with the excitement of having God’s power working in us.  We need to cultivate new habits of paying attention to God in the world around us, to practice the awareness of the Holy Spirit working in us and to be a better “Mary” by abiding in Christ so that we can become more effective “Marthas.”

As we do so, let us share how God is working in the mundane events of our lives for His glory to encourage each other and to be accountable to one another.

Living A Life Of Significance

Many of us are struggling to live a life of significance. It is part of our human nature to seek meaning for our lives. Unfortunately, in a materialistic society, significance is often equated with money, status and power. Success is measured in terms of what we possessed rather than in the love and care we have given to others. Even in the church, success is seen in terms of how big the church is and the size of the congregation rather than the difference the church is making in caring for the poor and marginalized in society.

Many Christians try too hard in their own strength to be a blessing to others. Time and again we fail and we are discouraged. Some are successful but unfortunately human based success invariably leads to the sin of pride. Yet others feel guilty of not having done enough to be a blessing to others.

It is therefore critical to understand what it means to live a life of significance. A life of significance is not a life of success but a life of service to those whom God has brought into our lives. It is not what we have done but how we have lived in this world as the children of God and as ambassadors of God’s Kingdom.

Jesus came to show us how we are to live a life totally emptied of self so that the fullness of God’s love can be seen in us. It is a life that is totally submitted to God’s will – a life that is humble and obedient.

But our human nature is to seek control over our lives and those of others. Our addiction to control drives us to seek knowledge rather than God’s wisdom. As a result, we fail to create “miracle spaces” for God to work in our lives. A miracle space has been described by Matthew Barnet as the gap between what we can accomplish on our own and what can be accomplished when we allow God to work through us.

Unlike the Olympic Games, we do not have to compete with one another to be significant in God’s sight. Each and every one of us is unique in God’s sight. He has created each one of us for a  special purpose in life which only we can fill. A life of significance is simply becoming the person God has created us to be – to be fully human and fully alive for the glory of God.

A life of significance is a simple life that is rooted in the Lord’s Prayer. It is a life lived as a child of God seeking to honour God. It is life with a mission to bring God’s Kingdom to earth. It is a life that is totally surrendered to the will of God. It is a life living on God’s promises of providence, purification and protection.

It is a life that is prepared for suffering. It has been said that suffering is inevitable but misery is a choice. When we embrace suffering as an opportunity to experience God’s love and grace we can choose to rejoice instead of being miserable.

Life can be exciting when we are freed from living up to the expectations of others and filled with the expectation of God’s power in our lives. And such a life will be a life of significance to God even in the face of suffering and death.

The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Earlier this week, I attended the memorial service of Dr. Lim Hock Siew. In the prime of his life, he was imprisoned for 20 years. Dr. Lim was rightly acknowledged as a freedom fighter of Singapore. He sacrificed his personal freedom to uphold his moral conscience in his fight for freedom and democracy for Singapore.

Though he was physically in prison, his spirit was free. In contrast, many of us may be physically free but we are emotionally, psychologically or spiritually, in the prisons of pride, anger, greed, lust, addiction to power and the desire for control.

We try to live in a world in freedom from our Creator but only to find ourselves enslaved by our primitive emotions. It is thus not surprising to read Chris Hedges’ most perceptive analysis of the current state of our world:

“We now live in a nation where

      doctors destroy health,

           lawyers destroy justice,

               universities destroy knowledge,

                   governments destroy freedom,

                        the press destroys information,

                            religion destroys morals,

                                and our banks destroy the economy.”

All the bad news of political, religious, financial and sexual scandals reported in our mass media are but symptoms of our increasingly spiritually impoverished world. When we lose our faith in our Creator as our Heavenly Father, we live in a Fatherless world. We forget that we are creatures of a Creator of Love. Everyone seek to do what is right in their own sight and worship their own idol.

We have no answers to the devastating illnesses such as cancer, natural disasters like tsunanmis, horrific tragedies of war and the suffering of the innocents. But we can choose to respond to all the difficult situations we face in life as an invitation to draw us back to the embrace of our Heavenly Father or to use them as an excuse to draw away from God and to live our lives in our way.

We need to seek the Truth for it is the Truth that will set us free. Jesus told His disciples that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. But what does it mean to see Jesus as the Truth?  During his trial before Pilate, Jesus responded to Pilate’s question, “so you are a king?”  with the following answer:

“You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”

Unfortunately, Pilate was unable to understand what Jesus was trying to tell him and asked, “What is truth?” Henry and Tom Blackaby made the point that in the presence of Christ, the truth of every situation differs from the purely human perspective. They noted that the world’s perspective on any situation is suspect because the world does not understand the truth. Furthermore, the world cannot understand our faith in Christ who is the Truth.

The cross of Christ echoes the lament of the prophet Jeremiah and shows us the heartbreaks of our Heavenly Father:

“I hurt with the hurt of my people.

I mourn and am overcome with grief.

Is there no medicine in Gilead?

Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?”

At the same time the cross of Christ brings us the good news that we can be freed from the prisons of our egos. When we crucify our egos on the cross and enthrone Christ in our hearts we will live as new creations with Him as our King. We will then understand that to live is to love and to love is to lose but to lose is to live. Only then will we will be able to get our priorities and values right.  Only then will we be able to get our priorities and values right. Only then will we be able to see God’s ways in the events of life that seem so unjust or does not make sense. Only then will we rise up to the challenge to be the light and the salt in a messy and decaying world.

Help us, Lord! There is not a good person left

“Help us, Lord! There is not a good person left; honest people can no longer be found. All of them lie to one another; they deceive each other with flattery.”

This cry of King David in Psalm 12 seems so relevant for our world today. We are living in a world that is becoming not only economically bankrupt but one that is increasing in spiritual poverty. World leaders are struggling to stabilize shaky economies, religious leaders and high ranking civil servants have been charged with corruption and sex scandals. We are all still infected by pride, greed and lust that threatens to drag us down into moral bankruptcy.

Henry and Tom Blackaby have described the world as being in “desperate need of those who can stand in the gap and prevent its destruction.”  They noted that God has put His Spirit in our lives to guide and teach us so as to give us the power and wisdom to serve Him each day. As Christians, we are called to represent God as His ambassadors to a people who no longer hold to absolute truths. They espoused the view that “if we are not preventing the deterioration of the world, the problem is not with the world, it is with us.” We cannot blame the darkness for acting like darkness for that is its nature. But darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. And we called to shine as bright lights as children of God in a world full of crooked and perverse people. (Philippians 2:14)

We are living in a time of crisis and in need of repentance. We need to cry out for revival. But revival must begin with us. As the Blackablys rightly noted, revival is for those of us “who have once experienced life but are lifeless or wasting away.” Instead of seeking to “save” others, we need to first turn back to God to purify ourselves of pride, greed and lust.

Let us follow the example of King David’s prayer in the psalms by putting God first in our lives and to affirm His justice and sovereignty in all the events that is happening in the world.. Let us pray to ask God to open our eyes to see what He is doing in our nation rather than praying for God to do what we think needs to be done. We can stand on the promise of Psalm 12:6:

“The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace,

                 purified seven times over.

             Therefore, Lord, we know You will protect the oppressed,

                 preserving them forever from this lying generation,

                 even though the wicked strut about,

                 and evil is praised throughout the land.”

In these times of struggle, challenges, anxiety and confusion, let us encourage one another by holding tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, trusting that God will keep His promises. For our fellow Christians who are going through difficult times, let us seek our Lord’s wisdom to provide comfort and support as well as to speak the truth in love.

When Dark Times Come

When we hear about missionaries being afflicted by cancer or killed by terrorists or when Christians who have been faithfully serving God are struck by unexplainable tragedies, we are tempted to ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” When our own lives are darkened by the storms of life, we are also prone to ask, “Why me?”

The tribulations and trials of our lives make sense only when seen through our relationship with God. We are living in a "cuckoo culture" in which we are encouraged to seek power over other people in order to be successful in life. We live in a godless world where power is abused by selfish desires; where people are motivated by money through their greed; and where sex becomes an addiction through lust. We become heartless, mindless and addicted to pleasure. We need to recognize  that there is a judgment against the evil of selfishness, greed and lust. We live in a world that is darkened by evil and in need for the light of God's mercy and grace. When we live godless lives and troubles come our way, it is not unexpected that we will see our misfortunes as God's punishment.

But when we see life from God's perspective we will understand that life is not about our happiness but the joy of living in God's presence through our faith in Christ. Such faith is not mindless, heartless or fearful. True faith is a covenant relationship with God which involves our mind, heart and soul, expressed through a trustful obedience to seek and do God’s will, as a grateful response to God’s amazing grace that is revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Only then can we count it all joy when the dark storms of life come upon us. When we are straying away from God, we will see our problems as God’s way of keeping us from evil and drawing us back to Him. Problems are then not seen as God’s punishment but as God’s discipline.

Then as we seek to be God’s instruments of love, we need to be equipped to handle the blessings of fame or fortune. God may need to lead us into difficult times to refine our character flaws so that we will not fall into the temptations of the evil one. Jesus was led into the wilderness for forty days to face the temptations of Satan. Our minds need to be renewed and we need to be more tender-hearted. We need to learn to see our life challenges as God’s refining fire to purify our hearts.

Finally, as we surrender our lives to be soldiers of Christ, we will be the targets of the evil one. But the good news is that the battle belongs to the Lord. We have the victory because Christ is in us. And as we die to our selves, others will see more of God in us. So we need not be afraid of dark times for they are God’s ways to protect us, to equip us and to use us for His glory. Let us thank God for the wonderful gift of His Holy Spirit:

“So we can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. “  (Romans 5:3-5, NLT)

Reflections on Psalms 1 & 2

The psalms have been described as the prayer book of the Jews for 3000 years and the Christians for 2000 years. Dr. Bill Creasy noted that “in the Psalms we encounter every possible response one can have to God, from profound love to deep disappointment, from great joy to heartbreaking sorrow, from soaring praise to quiet adoration. In the Psalms we probe the depths of our own hearts as we seek to understand both God and ourselves. In the Psalms we look into a mirror and we see reflected back the very depths of our own souls.”

Psalm 1 had been described by St Jerome as the ‘gateway of the psalter” with the “blessed man” forming one pillar and the “godless man” the other. The rest of the psalms capture the experiences of man’s relationship with God in the grey area between the blessed man and the godless man.

The most important lesson of Psalm 1 is the warning not to walk in the counsel of the godless but to walk by the Spirit. Instead of standing with sinners, we are to be singing with the saints. Instead of sitting and grumbling with scorners, we are to delight in the Word of God and fill our hearts with gratitude.

It is foolish to ignore or underestimate the reality of evil. In John 10:9-10 Jesus tells us he is the gate to the sheepfold to keep the sheep safe from thieves who steal, kill and destroy. From her experience with her husband's addiction to pornography, Laurie Hall found that evil is not “an abstract intellectual concept but a bone chilling reality which more real than intellectual.”

Many people do not understand that the bible is a record of the spiritual warfare between good and evil. It is a story of God's love for mankind who has rejected Him. It is not a book of rules that we must follow in order to please God. It is a treasure of the principles of truth to live by so that we will not live according to what we feel is right. Hence it is a delight to meditate in the law of the Lord day and night.

The written Word of God is to also to draw us to Jesus Christ the Living Word and the Shepherd of our souls. We are to feed on the Word of God to grow in our relationship with our Heavenly Father so that we will be transformed from inside out.

We will then be evergreen trees planted along the river of life which will beat fruit in all seasons of life. For God will be the Gardener of our souls carefully watching over our paths. We will not be blown away like chaff in the wind of God's judgment.

In Psalm 2, the psalmist warns against the futile rebellion of those who see life as slavery to God and seek to live without God. When we turn away from God, we will face the anger and fury of God against evil. But God’s anger and fury is from the depths of His compassion as He seeks to deliver us from evil. We read in Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome of God's anger against evil:

"But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness." (Romans 1:18)

There is also a warning to rulers and kings for them to act wisely. In the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth, she was described as a queen who reigned as a servant of God. She is not a figure head of Parliament but the symbol of God's sovereignty of the lives of the people in the United Kingdom as well as the Comnonwealth.

Laurie Hall has drawn attention to the important difference between positional authority and functional authority. Those in positional authority have the responsibility to earn the respect of those who are under them and to avoid the temptation to abuse their authority. At the same time those under authority needs to choose to honour those who are in positions above them - their parents, bosses and leaders of government. We will not be able to subject ourselves to the sovereignty of God if we do not learn to honour our human leaders by seeing their position as being ordained by God. They will be accountable for their actions to God just as we will be accountable to God for ours.

But more importantly, the psalmist points us to the Kingdom of God where Jesus the Son of God reigns. In God's kingdom we all have the functional authority of servant leadership. This is the authority, to quote Laurie Hall, that comes through act of caring and kindness we do for others. Jesus has given us a very clear picture of true leadership:

"You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. “ (Matthew 20:25-27)

True leadership is inspiring people to want to do what their selfish human nature do not want to do. Hence everybody in God’s Kingdom is “a leader without a title” for we will be encouraging one another to be kind to one another. As we live in God's Kingdom in the here and now we will find refuge and unspeakable joy. Our lives will be filled with songs of praise that will lift the hearts of many to God and deliver our nations from evil:

                                 "We have a song to be sung to the nations,

                                  That will lift their hearts to the Lord

                                  A song that will conquer evil

                                  And shatter the spear and sword

                                  And shatter the spear and sword.

                                  For the darkness shall turn to dawning

                                  And the dawning to noonday bright

                                  And Christ's great Kingdom shall come on earth

                                  The Kingdom of love and light.

Hearing the Voice of our Shepherd

Many of us struggle to hear from God whom we cannot see, hear, feel or touch. But the good news is that we have a Risen Saviour who is our Shepherd and that we can hear His voice. Before we can hear our Shepherd calling us, we must first recognize that Jesus is our Shepherd. We need to choose to direct all our desires and aspirations to honour God. When we do so, we will be led to the pasture of the abundant life of God's pasture.

John Kramp shared some of the ways by which we can hear our Shepherd's voice which I have found to be true and relevant in my life. Firstly, we are created as emotional beings and so we can experience God's presence through our emotions. Our feelings and emotions about certain situations is one of the ways God can speak to us. The Psalms provide us with a model of prayer in which we can vent our feelings to God. We can use our feelings to draw us closer to God instead of listening to our feelings and allow them to draw us away from God.

Secondly, we will learn to see the opportunities and roadblocks in our lives as the ways by which our Shepherd redirect and protect us. We will then to be able to discern more clearly God's direction in times when we need to make important decisions in our lives.

Thirdly, our weaknesses and failures are often the means that God uses to communicate truths that we can hear more clearly when we fail than when we succeed. John Kramp rightly reminds us that "many times God leads us into difficult situations so that He can get our attention and guide us in new directions."

Fourthly, we need to reflect on our abilities and successes and offer them as our sacrifice of praise to God.  To discern God's plans for us in the future, we need to see our capabilities as God's gifts to prepare and equip us for what He is calling us to do.

Finally, God's will is accomplished only through the Church which is the Body of Christ. It is essential, according to Henry and Richard Blackaby, for Christians to find the place in the church body that Christ has assigned for them so that they and those around them can hear and respond to God’s voice. They are of the view that facets of the Christian life can be fully experienced only in the midst of God’s people – “believers who choose to set themselves apart from an interdependent relationship with other believers will not be in a position to hear all God has to say.” They will also be holding back a blessing from other believers when they isolate themselves.

It is a struggle to understand and even appreciate the viewpoints of other Christians but John Kramp pointed out that we cannot isolate ourselves from them as we may lose a perspective we need in order to understand what God is doing around us.

But the above subjective experiences must be tested against the teachings of the Bible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer believed that “the Bible alone is the answer to all our questions and that to receive an answer from it, we only need to ask with persistence and a little courage. Dietrich Bonhoeffer gives the following wise advice:

“Only when we once dare to read ourselves into Bible as though it really is God who speaks to us here, the God who loves us and will not finally abandon us to our questions, only then will reading the Bible become a joy.”

The truth is that we often asked the questions that we don’t really want to hear the answers. But when we listen to the voice of our Shepherd, we will be able to live through the questions in our lives - our lives will then be our psalms of praise - our poems and songs of God's love and care for us.