Look unto the cross

Look unto the cross

Scripture:- Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Isaiah 45:22-23

Observation:- In this gracious passage of Isaiah, we see God calling to all men to the ends of the earth, Look unto me, and be saved. The image that quickly comes to mind is Jesus declaring “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man lifted up that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:14. Wherever we see a cross in a church throughout the land, it is a symbol to all men, look at the cross which is source of salvation for all men. In this world, there are many things that call our attention away – the worries of life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things as Jesus so clearly described in the parable of the seeds. We need to refocus our eyes constantly to come back to Jesus, to come back to the cross, which is the reason for our life, our existence.

God says that his word is gone out from His mouth in righteousness and shall not return. Where there is preaching for the Lord, wherever there is teaching of the Word, wherever there is any sharing led by the Holy Spirit, there is power released through God’s Word. Sometimes, a faithful servant of God may not see results after years of hard work, but we must continue to believe that God is with us, and He will bless our work all in His good time. Our calling is to be faithful. Eventually, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!

Application:- Turn our eyes upon Jesus, look unto God and do not be distracted by the things of the world. The world and its desires will pass away but the man who does God’s will lives forever, as said in James! Teach, preach, share, believing that the Word of God in us goes forth in power.

Prayer:- Lord, we praise You for Your wonderful works. Indeed, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that You are Lord. Let our eyes always be upon you and let us always consider you in all that we do. Strengthen us that we may serve You and let Your Word speak through us to bless others. In Jesus name, Amen.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Look well and be not idle

Look well and be not idle

Scripture:- She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27

Observation:- This Proverb is taken from the last chapter of the book of Proverbs, and speaks of one the characteristics of the woman of virtue – the godly, perfect Proverbs 31 woman. There are two things that this verse says about her.

Firstly, she looks well to the ways of her household. She is aware of the things that go on in the house – the way the children treat each other, how the maid does the work, how her husband feels when he gets up in the morning and returns from work. She is interested in what goes on around her and thinks and plans and sees how she can help make the household run better.

As I mentioned before in a previous message, we have four houses, our bodies, our homes, our church and our place of work. In each area, we could learn like the wise woman to be alert and look well at it, to see what areas we can improve, what dangers we can avert. In our bodies, we need to be especially concerned about our spirit man. Are we at peace with God and with others? If we make sure our inner man is strong, our physical body will also be strong. That’s why its so important we take time to read the Word, to seek God, to spend time in prayer.

In our families, we need to open our eyes and take notice of how our children are developing. Quite often, we should take each kid out one to one and have a chat. Likewise, husband and wife should make some time to talk and fellowship with one another and keep in touch with how each is doing.

In our church, if we are in positions of leadership, we need to keep our eyes open and see how our sheep are doing. For each member, in church or cell group, it is good to look out and lend a helping hand or ear to others and look for opportunity to do good and be of help. At our workplace, it is also important to look and see which colleague might need a helping hand or kind word.

In all these areas, we are called to be diligent and not eat the bread of idleness, the second thing said of the woman of virtue. Idle hands are the devil’s workshop. Therefore it is important for us to always seek things of worth to busy ourselves in, especially helping others and improving our four houses.

Application: Be vigilant and see how our own selves, our families, our church and our workplace is doing. Be diligent in doing good and improving things around us.

Prayer: Lord, help me be vigilant and open my eyes to see what needs to be done in my life, my family, my church, my workplace. Give me diligent hands to do your work of grace wherever I go. In Jesus name, Amen.

One despised, one lacks bread

One despised, one lacks bread

Scripture:- He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread Proverbs 12:9

Observation:- The author compares 2 men. One is despised, and has a servant. The other honors himself but lacks bread. The first question that comes to mind is why is the first man despised? Is he despised because he is rich and has not treated his workers fairly? Is he despised because he is of a certain race or a certain culture? Is he despised because he does not flaunt his wealth although he has the means to do so?

An image comes to mind. A rich man with great wealth who lives simply, drives a small car, eats simple food and stays in a simple house. Others with big cars and flashy clothes may look down on him, but he has his own servant, and he is content with the way he lives his life. On the other hand, there is another man who honors himself, buys a big car and house he cannot afford, and wears expensive clothes so that others will look up to him. However, in reality, he is in deep debt, and he is more concerned with his image than his basic needs. 

Basically, it is better to keep a low profile and have enough quietly rather than to look rich but not really have enough to feed one’s self. In today’s world, with young people so fixated on the latest cars, handphones, LCD TVs and Hi-Fi’s, many run into deep debt with credit cards maxed out. But those who are rich yet live simple lives should be admired rather than despised. All in, we may not be that rich, but we can still live simple lives and not spend more than we should just to look glamorous. Instead, we should be content with our basic needs, and be happy.

As we ponder this scripture, I believe there is also a prophetic meaning behind it. When Jesus walked the earth, He was despised by the Pharisees and teachers of the law, but He had a very powerful servant, the Holy Spirit. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is very closely correlated with the servant of Abraham going to seek a bride for his son Isaac. Likewise, the Holy Spirit goes out to seek the church as the bride for God’s son Jesus Christ.

Also, Jesus did not gain or pursue earthly riches, but lived simply, without even a permanent place to lay His head. On the other hand, the Pharisees had enriched themselves and lorded having the place of honor at feasts and having men praise them. Yet they lacked the true bread, the true Word of God in their lives. As a result, they were like whitewashed tombs, looking good on the outside, but dead within.

Application: We should learn to be humble and keep low profile and content with basic things in life and avoid trying to impress others by our fame or possessions.

Prayer: Lord, help me be humble and content like You were, and help me turn away from the temptations and desires of the world. In Jesus name, Amen.

Walk with wise men

Walk with wise men

SCRIPTURE:- He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Proverbs 13:20

OBSERVATION:- There are again 2 types of persons mentioned in the Proverb. One walks with wise men, and also becomes wise. Another spends time with fools and is destroyed.

Walk gives the impression of not only listening to someone but doing as he does. Listening without action is pointless, like the man who looks in the mirror and goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. When we talk to the wise and follow the things they do, we also become wise.

But who is wise? King Solomon was wise and wrote most of the Proverbs. Therefore it will benefit us to read the Proverbs and apply it to our lives. Paul was so wise in the Word, so we benefit from reading his letters. There are some whom we know have excelled in their fields. Therefore, it is good to read or listen to what they say if we too want to excel in a particular field.

One general characteristic of a wise person is a positive attitude. The wise do not have scales over their eyes or think things are rosy and well when they are not. However, they have a positive attitude that things will get better, and trust God to help.

A second characteristic is a God fearing attitude. The wise man realizes that life is short, and he must be accountable to God. After all, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So the wise man is careful that his actions do not displease God.

A third characteristic is a Learning attitude. Proverbs 1:5 says A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. The wise realize that one can never really stop learning, and one has never really learned enough. Therefore, they are always eager and happy to keep learning.

How about being a companion of fools? Do we spend a lot of time with people who grumble and complain or talk about unimportant or ungodly things? Or perhaps we spend a lot of time watching silly shows which have no meaning?

APPLY – I must learn to walk with the wise, to seek out those who are positive, who are god fearing, who love to learn and spend time with them or read their writings.

PRAY – Lord, help me spend time with You and reading Your Word that I may become wise. Lead me to good, wise, friends that I may learn from them and follow them.

God bless, Jason

Commit your works to God

Commit your works to God 
Scripture:- Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. Proverbs 16:3

Observation:- We are called to commit our works unto the Lord. What are our works? Works speak of the things that we do, the plans that we have carried out, our visions executed in actions.

The Wise Man calls us to commit all these to the Lord, all that we have done, whenever we have done it, even before we have done it. What does commit mean? To commit means to put in the hands of the Lord. When we commit, we must be prepared to accept the result even if it may not be what we wish for. Sometimes we may have done a lot of hard work, committed it to the Lord, yet still not get the results we have hoped for. Do we get discouraged and fall into despair? No, we accept that God’s ways are higher than our ways, and if He allowed us to get this result, we trust God that it is for the best, even if it is below our expectation. We continue to commit our work to Him, we continue to trust Him.

What comes to mind of someone whose thoughts are established? It speaks of someone with a clear mind, who has peace in his heart. Someone who does not hope in God is filled with worry, and constantly wonders if he has made the right decision, if he has done the right thing. Someone who has committed his work to the Lord trusts God, and leaves it to God.

A farmer plants but yields no crop. A student studies hard but fails. A business venture blessed by God goes wrong. Are our thoughts established? Are we confident that we have done our best before God? Is our conscience clear no matter what the outcome? We are often tested to see if we can remain faithful to God, but if we continue to trust Him and commit our work and plans to Him, we will see that He makes all things good and right in the end, even if we don’t understand at that point in time.

Application: I must remember to commit my work to the Lord, not just my daily job, but my plans for my family, my friendships, my ministry, my investments, even my leisure.

Prayer: Oh Lord, I commit all that I do to you, in every facet of my life. I trust You Lord that You will work out the best in the end and You never forsake those who seek You. In Jesus name, Amen.

A Merry Heart

A Merry Heart

Scripture:-

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Proverbs 17:22

Observation:- The old song based on this Scripture goes – A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, like a medicine is a merry heart, a broken spirit drieth the bones but a merry heart is the joy of the Lord. What does merry mean? It means happy, joyous, cheerful. A happy person tends to be a healthy person, and I believe studies have shown that sick people exposed to a happy environment with a lot of laughter get better much faster. There is also a trend going on these days called Laughter therapy. Apparently, laughing is very good for health. So, some people even force themselves to laugh.

On the other hand, the depressed, the discouraged, the negative-minded, tend to cause health problems both to themselves and others around them. It is dangerous to keep a broken spirit.

The Beatitudes come to mind here, when Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, “Blessed are those who mourn for they are comforted”. Do these two lines contradict the Proverb? I think not. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but it does not mean one must or can be merry all the time. Like Solomon said, there is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There are times to be sad and to weep. If the sinner does not recognize and despair from his sad state of sin, he cannot repent and come to the salvation of God. However, it is not God’s will for us to stay in the condition of sadness and mourning for long. Even in our sadness, we can still have the joy of the Lord, the calm assurance that God is with us and that brings us joy.

Application:- In conclusion, in general, aim to have a merry heart, to keep a generally joyful attitude and laugh easily. In certain times, when we need to mourn, then we should mourn, but keep the joy of the Lord even in our sadness and after the time has passed, come back to our generally joyful attitude. Spend time and laugh with children. I believe Sunday School and kindergarten teachers tend to be generally happy people because they enjoy children. When depressed, think of a happy time, maybe draw it out. Come back to the attitude of merriness.

Prayer:- Lord, help us learn to be merry always in general, and at times when we are sad, to still have Your joy and find strength in You. In Jesus name, Amen.

The humble and the haughty