Living Water

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14 NAS)

Many of us have probably encountered times when our loved ones, our close friends or people we care about, have fallen ill but we were not informed about it. Perhaps this is because they don’t feel a need to trouble us or want us to be upset over their circumstances. By the time we discover the truth, it is usually too late for us to do anything to help them, other than being present to watch them die or crumble under the weight of overwhelming problems that cannot be resolved. Such situations often hurt badly with us as much as with them. Our first thoughts upon realizing the truth would often be, “Huh? Why wasn’t I informed about it until now? Don’t they know I care for them to want to help them at the time of their need?” Sadly though, such situations do happen, and we seldom can do anything about it to improve the situations.

Uninformed surprises and shocks are not always welcomed. We do not like to be unaware of things happening, only to discover it at the last moment when it is too late to rectify, especially when it comes to circumstances like terminal conditions or problems that have been accumulated to the point of no return. As much as we dislike such situations, however, many of us are doing the exact same thing when it comes to reaching the world for Christ. We know the world needs Jesus, yet we fail to tell them about their condition of sin, and we often wait till the last moment to inform them, by which time it may be too late for them to make an intelligent or informed decision. No doubt, salvation is a matter of the heart, but unless pre-believers are informed beforehand about their need and condition, it may sometimes be too late for a dying person to make a correct decision at the last moment.

As believers, we owe it to the Lord and to the world to tell the unsaved of their condition and their need for salvation. How then will they call on the Lord in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher (Romans 10:14)? How can they know we care for them and are willing to help them at the time of their need unless we share with them the joy of our salvation? Let us therefore not be late in preaching the Word of God to our loved ones, to those whom we care, and to those who are lost. Let us not give them any shock or surprise at the last moment, for then they may wonder in their hearts why they have not been informed till now to share in this happiness we have in Jesus, and that can hurt badly with them as much as with us. Sadly, such situations do happen, and many of us as disciples of Christ have yet to realize and learn that the fields are already white for harvest, and the time of salvation is now, not later (John 4:35-36; 2 Corinthians 6:2).

Forgive us dear Lord for failing to seize the moments and times when we ought to be sharing Your Word and Your salvation to the people who are yet unsaved. Move our hearts Lord to know the urgency for us to bring them to receive You as Lord and Savior, sooner rather than later, that they may be able to enjoy a relationship with You while they are still in the condition to do so. Help us Lord to be sensitive to the needs of those around us that we may know how to reach them for You.

But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42 NAS)

A few years ago, my wife and I were in a cab on the way to the airport for our planned holiday trip when I suddenly realized I have forgotten to bring our travel papers. Without a choice, I told the driver to send us back to where we came from.

Many of us tend to forget what is most important when we get too caught up in our planning and preparing for an event. When we plan to travel abroad, for example, we know what is most important is our travel documents. Without our passports, tickets and immigration papers, everything else we do in preparing for our travel is in vain. This, of course, does not mean we need not prepare whatever is necessary, but rather it means we need to know our priorities and what is most important.

As Christians, we have been called to prepare the way for our Lord’s return. Some of us may have labored hard to prepare the way by planning and organizing evangelistic events, by involving ourselves in many Christian activities, and by performing all the things necessary to ensure the smooth running of the greatest upcoming event on earth. All these are worthy and good, but sometimes we may become too caught up with these activities which are necessary, that we neglect what is most important–Jesus.

Busying ourselves to ensure the world is ready for our Lord’s return is perfectly fine. However, if like Martha we become too distracted with all the preparations or too worried and bothered by the many things that need to be done, to the point of failing to see the good part and the one thing that is really necessary (Luke 10:38-42), then all our efforts would have been in vain.

Just as without our passports we cannot travel abroad, so it is the same for us if we do not have Christ as the center of our lives. Everything we do in preparing for His return would have been in vain. We should therefore learn from Mary to set our priorities right by choosing the good part to sit at Jesus’ feet, to put Him first in everything (Luke 10:38-42). If we, after busying ourselves with the necessary, discover we have left our first love for God, we must then remember where we have fallen, repent, and do the deeds we have done at first (Revelation 2:4-5), that we may rediscover our first love.

Forgive us dear Lord for sometimes failing to put You first in all we do, and for failing at times to set our priorities right. Help us always to be mindful Lord to focus on what is the most important even while busying ourselves with the necessary. Be the center of our lives Lord, that all we do may not be in vain, for we know O Lord that without You, we can accomplish nothing worthy of claim.

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me–to keep me from exalting myself! (2 Corinthians 12:7 NAS)

It is perfectly normal for us when in pain to want to remove whatever is hurting us as quickly as possible. That’s because it is instinctive to do so. Not all hurts in life however can be removed just as we wish, and sometimes we may have to live with a scar for the rest of our lives.

Life in the real world is not all a bed of roses. Amid the beauty of flowers like the roses are many thorns. There will always be certain hurts in life that cannot be removed and may remain with us permanently. Physical ailments, loss of someone we loved, or the deliberate hurts caused by someone who dislikes us are some examples of long term or permanent thorns in the flesh.

What then shall we do with such ‘thorns’? Shall we try to remove them or live and bear with the hurt? What if it is something we cannot remove or someone who is displeased with us? Do we curse God and die (Job 2:9-10), or do we like Job of the Old Testament say, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21 NAS)?

If our thorn in the flesh is someone who is unhappy with us, let us work towards reconciling with that someone (Matthew 5:23-25). If it be one who is a messenger of the devil sent to torment us, let us like the apostle Paul implore of the Lord three times to remove the adversity, but if God’s answer is for us to be perfected in weakness through suffering, then let us learn to live by God’s grace in His sufficiency that we may not exalt ourselves, but that the power of Christ may dwell in us (2 Corinthians 12:7-9). If the thorn is physical, mental or emotional, then let us again be like Paul to implore God to remove the hurt or pain, and if God heals us, praise and thank Him, but if not, then let us learn to bear and live our lives victorious in Christ (Daniel 3:16-28).

Help us dear Lord to stay strong in the face of thorns in our lives, not to give up even when we feel our hurts are overwhelming and tormenting. Teach us to be like Job and Paul to take the thorns in our lives in stride, knowing with full confidence that Your grace is sufficient for us. Lead us to the place we can find relieve Lord, and remove from us the thorns, yet not our will, but Yours be done. Comfort us in our pain Lord that we may be perfected in weakness. Keep us from exalting ourselves Lord, that Your power may dwell in us and be revealed through us.

Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers stood united with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah and the sons of Henadad with their sons and brothers the Levites, to oversee the workmen in the temple of God. (Ezra 3:9 NAS)

A house is not a home, and a home is not a family unless its members stand united with God as the Head. To achieve this however is not something easy these days, especially with few in a family unit actually staying together. For a family to stand united, however, is not impossible because distance can never separate the hearts or the minds if a family purposes to stand united.

A family home, in this sense, is not as the world defines, a house consisting of a single family unit, or a single residential house with people living in it, or a detached dwelling of separate house with a family living in. Rather, it is about a family that stays together and stand united in single-mindedness to serve God. This is how a family home should stand for according to biblical principles, and unless the Lord builds this house, we labor in vain (Psalm 127:1).

Jeshua, in the book of Ezra, sets the example of a family standing united to serve God with one mind, and this is what a family home is all about, a family that is able to come together with one purpose to serve the Lord when the need is required.

Who then makes up the family home? Whoever does the will of God; they are the ones that make up the family of God.

… Jesus answered … and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:48-50 NAS)

What then must a family do to make a family home? By serving the Lord whole-heartedly without hesitation or reservation, for such is the call to true discipleship.

And He [Jesus] said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-62 NAS)

A family home in the kingdom of God is therefore more than just a place consisting of Christians who have been born again. Yes, it is true that when we are born again, we receive the full salvation of God and are all born into His family with our real homes in the heavens, but to follow Jesus and be His faithful disciples demand a step further.

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me [Jesus] cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:27 NAS)

In creating a family home that is Christ-centered, every member in the family must stand united with one mind to serve God in total submission and obedience, for in the kingdom of God, a true family home does not just consist of born again brothers and sisters in Christ, but also disciples who have labored and walked faithfully to honor Christ.

Dear Lord, help us to stay and work together with one heart and spirit to stand united as a family to serve you. We know O God that receiving You as our Lord and Savior is good enough to receive salvation, but in order for us to express our love for You and become Your faithful disciples will require more than just mere belief. We desire Lord to honor You and to totally submit to You in obedience because we love You Lord.

For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. (2 Corinthians 5:1 NAS)

On December 25, 2009, the AFP news reported that more than 47,000 people in the Philippines fled their homes to seek refuge in temporary shelters a safe distance from the scalding ash and rocks of Mount Mayon as the volcano continued to spew ash and molten lava. Experts warned that the volcano could explode with major eruption any time, and thousands of evacuees had no choice but to spend their Christmas Day in the crowded camps. Those who lived in the camps were surviving on basic government rations with some of the men raising whatever they could from their farms to supplement food handouts. Some 96 ash explosions reaching heights of up to two kilometers were booming sounds and 871 volcanic quakes had been recorded the preceding 24 hours of that Christmas Day. The 2,460-metre volcano, famed for its near-perfect cone, had erupted 48 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa.

Some of us may have experienced life in the aftermath of natural disasters. Others may have experienced difficult situations which although may not be as drastic as the natural disasters, nonetheless have faced despair and the sense of helplessness. In situations such as these, we often wonder why God permits such crises to happen in our lives. We sometimes even question God’s purpose for placing us in such desperate situations. We despair because we cannot see any hope ahead of us, as all that we possessed are gone.

In situations such as these, our hope and reliance should only be in God, for when our earthly tents, our house and our possessions, are torn down, we know we have each a house from God, one that is not made with hands, but is eternal in the heavens (2 Corinthians 5:1). “For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked,” and “while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord– for we walk by faith, not by sight– ” (2 Corinthians 5:2-7 NAS).

Our future, no matter how smooth or difficult, should therefore be walked according to faith and not sight. If we are in need, we should pray and not lose heart, and ask of God for His providence. If we have plenty, we should not hesitate to give to the ones in need. As believers of the Lord, therefore, let us be willing to share and give of our property and possessions to help the needy (Acts 2:44-45).

Dear Lord, You know our situations and You know our desperate need for You and Your providence. Help us and our families Lord to pull through the difficult situations we are facing now. Still our hearts and minds Lord that we may never doubt Your purpose in our lives, but be always assured of Your care and providence. Stir our hearts Lord that we who have sufficient or plenty, may willingly and generously give to help the needy.

I am my master’s pet, bought at a price to keep him company and to serve him and his family.

My master is a prophet, appointed by God to bless, but sometimes he sways from his calling, and chooses riches over the rest.

The LORD has opened my eyes to see my master’s folly, but my master in his foolishness refuses to see. If only I can talk, I’ll do something to make him see, but who am I for my master to listen to me?

One day, as my master rides on me along a narrow path of vineyards, I saw an angel with a sword drawn in his hand standing in our way, so I turned aside to save my master from the slay, but my master strikes at me with his stick and forces me back the same way.

So without a choice, I trot the narrow path, pressing myself to a wall with my master’s leg pressed against the wall, but my master, unable to see the angel, became angry and strikes at me again and again, and in my pain, the LORD opened my mouth and granted me speech.

“Master, what have I done to you that you have struck me these three times?” said I.

“Because you have made a mockery of me!” my master spoke angrily. “If there has been a sword in my hand, I will have killed you!”

“But master, am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to go against you?”

“No,” my master said.

Then the LORD opened my master’s eyes, and he was able to see the angel standing in the way with his sword drawn and ready to strike, so in fear my master bowed all the way to the ground, and earnestly beseeched the angel.

“I have sinned,” my master said, “for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will now turn away.”

So, Balaam, my master, “who loved the wages of unrighteousness … received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet” (2 Peter 2:15b-16 NAS).

Have a Blessed 2010! (”,)

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. (2 Peter 2:1 NAS)

The New York Times reported on December 27, 2009 that a young man, the son of a prominent Nigerian banker and former government official, was charged for trying to blow up a transcontinental airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day. According to a cousin of the suspect who spoke to the press during an interview, there was no sign of radicalism in the young man while he was growing up in Nigeria, though he was devout.

“We understand that he met some people who influenced him while in London,” where the suspect studied engineering, said his cousin. “He left London and went to Yemen where, we suspect, he mixed up with the people that put him up to this whole business.”

All of us know the dangers of mixing with the wrong people and being under the influence of teachings that mislead or are incorrect or untrue. The Bible mentioned about false prophets and false teachers who in the last days will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves (2 Peter 2:1). Followers of such teachings likewise will face destruction if they unwittingly persist to practice the teachings of such heresies.

As Christians and followers of the Lord, therefore, we must be careful not to fall into the influence of false teachings (Matthew 24:4, 11, 13), be wise to examine the things that are being taught to us (Acts 17:11), and be equipped with the correct and true teachings of God’s Word. Besides studying and learning from the word of God, we must also constantly examine ourselves to look into the mirror with unveiled faces to see if we reflect more and more the glory of the Lord as we are being transformed in the image of God through the listening and yielding to the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Like the dangers of being under the influence of false teachings, destructive heresies and extremism can be used as tools by the devil to misguide us into following ways that lead us to deny the Lord (2 Peter 2:1). We must therefore constantly cultivate a listening and discerning ear towards the Holy Spirit while we learn and study the Word of God. We must also always be on our guard against ’savage wolves’ who will come in among us and not spare ‘the flock’, but will speak perverse things to draw us away from being disciples of the Lord (Acts 20:28-30).

Dear Lord, help us always to listen to Your Holy Spirit to discern the right from the wrong teachings. Lead us Lord in Your ways that we may not deviate from Your teachings or be misled to let down our guard against falsehood to turn away from You. Keep us focused on You Lord that we may not be veiled from the truth into choosing to listen to teachings that sound good, which end however is destruction. Remind us Lord to constantly examine ourselves and look into the mirror to see if we reflect the glory of Your image more and more each day, to listen and to yield to Your Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Reason for this Season!

May God Bless All of You!

Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear. (Jeremiah 5:21 NAS)

Imagine a world without colors. Everything we see is black and white. What would our lives be like? Our lives would be very different and we would only be able to differentiate an object from another through size and weight. Color is therefore an important differentiator that helps us determine whether we live our lives colorfully in vibrancy or in drab lethargy. It is, in this sense, a signifier of the many varieties and differences of every created being, and everything that constitutes a part of our environment.

Although many of us do not consciously think about color apart from how we dress to look good, it is common knowledge that the human eye can see colors only because there is light. Differences in colors as we see them depend on the type of light sent to our eyes, the shades, the reflection, the absorption and the transmission through a spectrum. We are capable of seeing color only because our eyes have light and color-sensitive receptors.

Some people however have trouble discerning colors. Color blindness, for example, is often associated with the ailment of red-green deficiency, which can cause a problem in color perception. According to The Franklin Institute, all of us, even if we are not color blind, can still have the potential to see light and colors in a different light. If a ray of light hits another object before we get to the light source, a shadow present in an area where there is less light can cause a distortion to how we perceive a color. This is because light moves in straight lines and shadows caused by objects blocking the light can block all or some of the light from hitting on the object. Shades and luminance can therefore cause the colors we see to change, and may appear darker if luminance is altered.

Christian living is very much like how we perceive colors. In the Bible, we know of the people who live their lives according to strict rules following the Books of the Law, the black and white of legality. These are the people who by following traditions and customary practices live their lives in the rigidity of legality and failed to experience the vibrancy of living out lives filled with colors, made possible by the gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8). Practitioners of the Law and their followers who do not believe or accept the grace of God are like the people who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but refuse to hear (Jeremiah 5:21; Ezekiel 12:2).

God has created the world with colors, and colors signify differentiation. No single person on earth is created the same and each of us has to go through different experiences in our lives. Just as colors are seen differently in different light, each of us has the potential to experience different depths of closeness with God. If the Light of God hits an object in our lives that we are unwilling to let go, a shadow can overcast us which will distort our perception of God and affect our relationship with Him.

Just as a shadow can influence the way we see colors through the different shades and luminance, our lives can be influenced in part or in whole, depending on the degrees of our willingness to let the light shine through. If we are unwilling to let go of the things we hold dear in our lives that are blocking us from the light that illuminates our walk with God, the draw of the world can gradually change and redirect us toward an alternate route into darkness, away from the luminance of God’s light.

Forgive us therefore dear Lord for sometimes holding on too tightly to the things of this world. Help us to be always mindful not to let the shadows of this world distort our view of You, but be willing to unblock all areas of our lives to let Your light completely shine through. Color up our lives Lord just as You have colored up the world with vibrancy. Open our eyes and lead us in Your light that we may reflect and absorb Your light to transmit it to the world.