Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Apostasy Occurs Among Christians - Dan Corner

Apostasy Occurs Among Christians

Dan Corner[You are encouraged and permitted to duplicate this article, but only without additions,alterations or omissions, including our ministry address at the end.]

Could this be the Great Apostasy?

Apostasy (departure from the faith) is a definite possibility among Christians, even though it is sometimes vehemently denied by the security-in-sin teachers, better known as eternal security or the perseverance of the saints teachers. In fact, apostasy is taught so often throughout the New Testament that it is difficult to believe that anyone sincerely desiring truth could miss it. To be precise it is found in almost every New Testament book. The only two exceptions are Philemon and 3 John. Sometimes it is clearly shown as much as six or more times in a single book, such as in Hebrews or 1 Timothy. In other books, departure (or its possibility) from the Christian faith is shown four or five times. Hence, there is sufficient evidence in the Scriptures to know with absolute certainty that apostasy can and does occur.

Therefore it is a real, deadly danger among the saved in our hour. To be aware of this fact will help keep a Christian on his spiritual guard for survival’s sake (John 15:18-16:1). Knowledge of this is a preventative. On the other hand, to deny this glaring truth and think you must always stand firm is to set yourself and your listeners up for a spiritual fall. True grace teaching is emphatic on this:

1 Cor 10:12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! (This is reason enough to leave any so-called church that teaches eternal security and take as many out of there with you that you can.)

Below are specific verses showing the possibility of apostasy, or actual examples of such, in 25 of the 27 New Testament books—that is a total of 93% of the New Testament books which cite specific examples or imply the possibility that true Christians can go back to wickedness (and lose their salvation).
Matthew

At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people (24:10,11).
Mark

“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered ....” (14:27). NOTE: Jesus taught it is the sheep, not those never saved, who fall away.
Luke

“... They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. (8:13).
John
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him (6:66).
Acts

“... there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man (24:15,16).
Romans

You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again (11:19-23).

1 Corinthians
No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (9:27).

2 Corinthians
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (13:5).
Galatians

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ (1:6,7).
Ephesians

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them (5:5-7).
Philippians

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me (3:10-12).
Colossians

But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant (1:22,23).

1 Thessalonians
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit (4:3-8).

2 Thessalonians
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction (2:3).

1 Timothy
holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme (1:19,20).

2 Timothy
Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some (2:16-18).
Titus

so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life (3:7).

Hebrews
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame (6:4-6).

James
My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins (5:19,20).

1 Peter
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. (1
Pet 1:14)

2 Peter
If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud” (2:20-22).

1 John
See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us—even eternal life (2:24,25).

2 John
Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son (1:9).

Jude
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day (1:5,6).
Revelation

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death (2:10,11). NOTE: The second death is another name for the lake of fire (Rev. 21:8).

The Present Massive Deception With all of the above Scriptural evidence, which contradicts the security-in-sin gospel (eternal security), one has to wonder how Bible-believers can remain in such denial about this reality. Apparently, the slick-talking, ear-tickling eternal security teachers, with their infernal talents of distorting the Word of God, have been so successful with their lies that multitudes of souls remain in jeopardy. Dear reader, what are you going to do about this urgent need to get this vital truth out, before it is too late?

Once Saved Always Saved? By Dan Corner

1 Cor. 5:1-5 Does Not
Support Eternal Security

Dan Corner

[Permission is granted to duplicate this article in its entirety,
but only without additions, alterations or omissions of any kind,
including the ministry name and address at the end.]

There is nothing in 1 Cor. 5:1-5 or anywhere else in the Bible that teaches the deadly doctrine of eternal security. On at least three counts eternal security is not taught in 1 Cor. 5.

1. The unnamed man of 1 Cor. 5:1 was guilty of sexual immorality. This same person is referred to in v. 13 as wicked.

Expel the wicked man from among you (1 Cor. 5:13).

The same Greek word translated wicked in that verse is also found in Mt. 13:49,50:
This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Hence, the unnamed man of 1 Cor. 5:1 couldn’t be saved and be headed for the fiery furnace at the same time like that man!

2. Also, the same word translated sexual immorality in 1 Cor. 5:1 is found in Gal. 5:19-21:
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Therefore, people such as those mentioned in 1 Cor. 5:1, will not inherit the kingdom of God because of this type of sin. Instead, they are headed for the fiery furnace, as recently proven. (To not inherit the kingdom of God is to be thrown into the fiery furnace.)3. 1 Cor. 5:5 speaks of an action that needed to be done to that wicked man so that he may be saved. (Eternal security proponents with itching ears have been wrongly taught may be saved means is saved at this moment and want to believe it).

Those same words found in v. 5, may be saved are found just 5 chapters later in 1 Cor. 10:33 and clearly refer to those who need to be saved, not those saved at this moment:Even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

This passage in 1 Cor. 5:5 that has been violently twisted, in a deadly attempt to allow for saints (or holy ones) to be sexually immoral, shows the license for immorality that eternal security really is. We can produce numerous quotes from respected and esteemed so-called “Christian” teachers that teach this poisonous doctrine of eternal security. For example, Dave Hunt wrote:

The man who had “his father’s wife”—a terrible sin—didn’t lose his salvation thereby.

All eternal security teachers are very dangerous people, with no exception. Please read our other supporting article on this http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/esteachers.htm

God’s Truth

The truth is: There are not two types of sexually immoral people as the eternal security teachers want us to think—one that is saved because in the past he was regenerated and one that is unsaved because he never was regenerated. There is only one type of sexually immoral person and he is always an unsaved person headed for the fiery furnace and in desperate need of forgiveness.

The eternal security teachers have distorted 1 Cor. 5, which teaches the sexually immoral man was unsaved, into the exact opposite of what it really says. That has opened a door for multitudes of immoral people to think they are still saved even though they are now in this same type of wickedness. Where are the true teachers that will stand opposed to the big names and this doctrine of demons?To be forgiven, turn from your sins and place your submissive faith (trust) 100% in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

MUCH more related information on eternal security is found in our never-to-be-refuted book, “The Believer’s Conditional Security.”


http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/cat1c.htm

Monday, August 4, 2008

Once Saved Always Saved?

I do not and will never accpet the concept of once saved always saved. Why do I say so? Let's look at the word of God.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!

Now let's look another passage also from the book of Matthew.

Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place. 5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now if you cross reference these 2 passages you would notice that the concept of "Once Saved Always Saved" becomes debateable and questionable.

Now let's look at The story of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts.

Acts 4:32 The group of those who believed were of one heart and mind, and no one said that any of his possessions was his own, but everything was held in common. 4:33 With great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on them all. 4:34 For there was no one needy among them, because those who were owners of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds from the sales 4:35 and placing them at the apostles’ feet. The proceeds were distributed to each, as anyone had need. 4:36 So Joseph, a Levite who was a native of Cyprus, called by the apostles Barnabas (which is translated “son of encouragement”), 4:37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and placed it at the apostles’ feet.

5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. 5:2 He kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife’s knowledge; he brought only part of it and placed it at the apostles’ feet. 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of the land? 5:4 Before it was sold, did it not belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God!”
5:5 When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped all who heard about it. 5:6 So the young men came, wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. 5:7 After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, but she did not know what had happened. 5:8 Peter said to her, “Tell me, were the two of you paid this amount for the land?” Sapphira said, “Yes, that much.” 5:9 Peter then told her, “Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out!” 5:10 At once she collapsed at his feet and died. So when the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 5:11 Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things.

What could have caused sudden death in humans? In most cases these deaths are cardio related (Heart Attack) different people interprete this passage differently what was told to me is God somehow allowed this to happen for the sake of other brothers and sisters who whole heartly sow into the Kingdom of God. From the passage above we could clearly see if we do not walk closely with the Lord its gives Satan a chance to come into our lives and leave a foothold there.

Romens 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way."

A sin is a sin there is neither major or minor the punishement of sin is death and Jesus Christ paid for us with His life so that we may live and have a personal relationship with the Lord. Now Ananias and Sapphira can be stumbling block to the community therefore God had somehow allowed them to be cut off from the community. Now the salvation of Ananias and Sapphira becomes questionable and debateable.

I'm a firm believer of Grace yes look unto the finished work Jesus Christ on the cross. The law has been fullfilled. The Grace of God and His gift of righteousness enabling us to overcome sin we can only apply this theory when we truely and fully understand God's character and His uncondition love for us and this is what I call true Grace.

In conculsion we must always walk closely with the Lord and feed on His word so that we stay close to the fire and remain hot! When we are truly on fire for God it will create a protective force against Satan and his devices! Last but not least it is not for us to judge or question one's salvation under any circumstances this is between our Lord Jesus Christ and themselves.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Spiritual Life @ New Creation Church

Today will be my first cell meeting and it so happen to be a cell outing, dinner and board games at Mind’s CafĂ©. New Creation’s young singles working adult care groups operates slightly different from OneLife, basically we will have care group meetings twice a month and arrow service twice a month. New Creation Church’s definition of young adult is below 29 sorry for those above 29

I’m so used to having cell meetings on every Friday and now its been cut to twice a month therefore I need to get use to it but I don’t foresee any problem of adjusting to the new arrangements. I now know the true meaning of the “Heart Of Worship” last Sunday as usual unable get into the auditorium because I was late. I then proceed to the overflowing room now what I want to emphasis is it doesn’t matter where you are it’s the heart that counts and God sees our hearts.

I felt the presences of the Lord even when I’m in the overflowing room, I was worshiping the Lord and I could care less of surroundings when the worship team played the song “Magnificent” I do not why I just fell on my knees and worshiped the Lord and I cried. I have not had this experience for a very long time. The teachings of New Creation lets me look at the Christian faith from the angle of Grace.

I know there are controversial issues issues of the doctrine of Grace but we should asks ourselves are we able to avoid sining by our own efforts? The answer is no and this is because of our sinful nature and our sinful nature sends negative singles to our brains and it causes us to be rebellious thus leading to sin against God. However we can make a difference when we look upon the finished work our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross more than 2000 years ago at 1500 hours. Jesus Christ gave up His Spirit and declared “It is finished”

Yes it is finished therefore we are no longer under law of God instead we are under grace of God. The day we repent and give our lives to Jesus is the day we are set free from the law and received the grace of God. No doubt we are under the grace of God but that does not give us the privilege to fall to the lust of this world to let it temp or control us.

However the good news is when we are under grace we will be connected to God and we will naturally seek after His Kingdom as time goes by well God made mankind this way we at some point of our lives we feel the need of spiritual connection be it whether you are a Christian or not. Lastly we being his children we inherit His righteous and that will keep us away from SIN and that is our goal so we must stop relying on our owe efforts instead we should rely on Him and accept His Grace Amen!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A Short Testimony

I was having lunch my colleagues today and I happen to strike a conversion with this new colleague of mine as usual we then introduced ourselves which includes the faith we subscribed to. He told me is a Buddhist well I always respected Buddha because of his righteousness and his teachings. I then pop the question can you keep the commandments of Buddha? Let say “you should not kill” Quoting from the book what Buddha’s definition is not to take life from all things that has life. You will be surprise the list includes germs, bacteria, viruses and the list goes on and when you are sick and if you do take anti-biotic you have already broken this commandment because anti-biotic not only kills the germs and bacteria, it also kills your own antibodies.

Coming back to the question again are you still able to keep the commandment “you should not kill”? After the explanation was given you can see the convictions in their faces. I personally feel that there is no way for Human Beings to keep these laws it is just impossible due to imperfectness of Mankind. A Buddhist ultimate goal is to escape from the wheel of sufferings and attain Buddha-hood and to do that you will have to keep all the commandments and if you break anyone of them you will not attain Buddha-hood and you will still in the wheel of sufferings. This colleague then smiles and said he was not a very strong Buddhist and did not really practice it from there we can then slowly introduce our Savior into their lives, they may not buy the idea at first but at the very least a seed is being sowed and we may not necessary one that will lead them to the conversion of the Christian Faith.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Uncertain Future

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. This is the verse that I fully subscribe however this verse can be hurting and unfair and we can't do anything about it and who are we to question our creator?

We have this day we owe to Him who died on the cross our SIN He was sinless made SINFUL. My future seems to be uncertain and unclear and I do not know what to do and my track record for relationships is something that I will not talk about and its pointless. This being part of my weakness can cause me of my salvation and drift away from God and might even removed away from the Kingdom of God.

What should I do? Why is it every time when I get to meet someone that I like and I was not given a chance to progress if that is the case why let me befriend them in the first place? Again Romans 8:28 has an answer to it. Lord I'm sick and tired of all this and I can't take anymore of this otherwise I'll go nuts. Thats the reason in my prayers to you Lord I keep saying "Save me Lord, Save me Lord" in English and Cantonese. That happens when I'm sleeping too, why has it always have to be like this Lord? I do not have a clue to it. Lord I'm very tired and I have this request Lord "By all means take me Home if I'm going to turn my backs from you to a point where there is no return in the future, please take me Home before it happens so that I can be part of the Kingdom in Jesus Name Amen"

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Judgment Of God

I'm sure we have watched a lot of movies and dramas with scenes showing the evil and wicked the gets richer and more powerful and the worst thing is they escaped judgment under the Law. We often asked ourselves why has not God's judgment be placed upon that person? The answer is found in Ecclesiates 3:17 I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked;for there is an appropriate time for every activity and there is a time of judgment for every deed.

Yes His timing and we DO NOT NEED to take matters into our own hands just as what the Lord promised in Romens 12:19-21
Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 12:20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The devil is smart he can't force us to do things against our will but he can create opportunities for us to sin and that is what he does best so do not fall into his trap by taking matters into our own hands but instead present it unto the altar and let God handle in the Heavenly fashion and God will gives us His answers in due course!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

God Speaking To Us

Our God the most Highest and He sure does has lots of way to speak to us and that include His words, media or even from people outside our faith. The question is are we able to catch what He says for are we just mere listening? I have a deep desire to Hear God's heart beat and His voice as I'm currently seeking directions from Him.

I know myself very well I'm a hot plate while I'm still hot and burning I really want to do something for God before I run out of heat. Studying of His word academically is one area that I'm looking at. Experiencing missions is also one of my desire the destination is not really that important however the overall objective must be mat.

To be frank God did spoke to me before and its through "Our Daily Bread" and its further confirm by a passage of scriptures. To sum it all up God can speak to us in many different ways and it is up to us whether we want to listen to Him.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

It's For Our Own Good

Life is frail and we should save one more for Jesus that's what motivates me. I know myself very well and I jolly well know that I'm weak in the flash in most area of my life. After seeing lost of my school mate it sets me into a series of thinking and it come to a point that sometime is better for God to take a person home when he still have God in his heart so that he can enjoy everlasting life in the Kingdom of God.

God knows my past , my present and my future and He knows what lies ahead. Due to my weakness and based on past experiences I'm really afraid that history will repeat itself. I don't want to leave God and I cannot for I enjoyed the personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ which I love it.

However due to my weakness and I do not have a clue what lies ahead for me and I always pray this prayer to God if I do fall in the future I have requested God to take me home before it happens. I feel that this is the best way although its painful for those around me but its necessary. This is the only way that I can be sure I'll be in the loving arms of Jesus Christ when I get to the Kingdom of God.

Am I being selfish for what I'm currently doing by shutting myself from the secular world? The answer is yes because of my personal unresolved issues and problems and this is work around solution until God gives me a permanent solution. I feel the sense of peace and I really felt happy being with God's children, serving ministries in Church and attending CE courses and I wish this will go on until my time is up.

However I have to be realistic and I may have to rise up to fulfill the Great Commission until I'm ready and have my personal problems and issues resolved I'm not going anywhere but staying in the House Of God. As for missions I will still go if called upon and also my heart's desire to experience missions and going to the land of Israel at least once in my life time. I always have a backup plan in all areas of my life and my backup plan for my spiritual well being is a prayer.

Here it goes "Dear Heavenly Father I know all things work together for good and for those who love You and who are called to your purpose Rom 8:28 I know I'm weak in the flash and can easily fall into temptations and I do not know what lies ahead of me and I know for myself if I fall I may fall even deeper and I don't ruled out the possibility turning myself away from God. I rather God to take me Home if that is going to happen to me. Father I know you love me and you will not allow me to fall, your mercy endures forever take me home before I fall into darkness this is my prayer and I asked of this in Jesus 's name "

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

God Reveling His Glory

John 9:1-11 9:1 Now as Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 9:2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man or his parents?” 9:3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that the acts of God may be revealed through what happens to him. 9:4 We must perform the deeds of the one who sent me as long as it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work. 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 9:6 Having said this, he spat on the ground and made some mud with the saliva. He smeared the mud on the blind man’s eyes 9:7 and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated “sent”). So the blind man went away and washed, and came back seeing.

9:8 Then the neighbors and the people who had seen him previously as a beggar began saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” 9:9 Some people said, “This is the man!” while others said, “No, but he looks like him.” The man himself kept insisting, “I am the one!” 9:10 So they asked him, “How then were you made to see?” 9:11 He replied, “The man called Jesus made mud, smeared it on my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and was able to see.”

Yes sometimes God allowed certain things to happen not because we or our parents had sinned against Him or whatsoever but instead by allow it to happen paving a way for God to manifest His Glory. Most of us is familiar with the stories mentioned in the 4 gospel books and there a lots of examples why God has allowed certain things to happen in our lives.

Human beings are weak they only believe what they see so God allowed the man in the gospel of John to born blind so that His glory will be manifested when the man is fully healed by God and when that happens there will be lots of witnesses which creates testimonies and these testimonies will be spared all four corners of the earth and many will come to the Lord!




Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Save One More For Jesus While We Can

Today was suppose to be an ordinary day for me unit my buddy broke the news to me that one of my school mate/fellow BB member has passed away. Upon hearing this news it sets me thinking life is so frail and we will never know what will happen to us tomorrow and God might just called us home without warning.

A common phrase "Life is short enjoy while you can" I do not quite agree with that so what if you have the whole world but if you do not have the peace of God I would say what ever you are enjoying is meaningless and temporary it will all come to an end when you are six feet under and you are not taking anythings with you.

However things can be different if you are a child of God you can take His word with you and you will enjoy eternal life in Heaven a place without SIN and death. As for now while we still can we should save one more for Jesus.

God loves all of us including those who rejected Him that's why we have the duty share the good news with others giving them a chance hear to the gospel. Our God is a fair and just God He gives everyone a chance to hear the gospel and He gives us the choice.

I was very close with this schoolmate of mine during our collage days we were from the same uniform group and we are technologies freak we maintain close contact until we gradated. The last time I mat up with him was a few years ago he was having his training in my camp during my NS days and since then we have not see each other and now he is been called home to be with The Lord.

Like I mentioned earlier on life is short, frail and unexpected we should make full use of our time to save one more for Jesus, getting involve in Church Ministry and spending more time with our love ones so that when the unexpected happened we will go Home without worries.... and we can boldly say to our Father we lead a good life and have no regrets .

My prayers to his family members and his relatives " Dear Heavenly we know losing a loved one is painful but life have to go on Dear Father God please help them go through this time of difficulty with strength and courage and they will be able to resume back to their normal lives as soon as possible in Jesus name we pray amen."

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Humbling ourselves

Matthew 23:12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

The above mentioned verse means a lot to me and it means a lot to others as well. Many of times when we acquired new powers we have the tendency to show off to others. If you use your newly acquired power to help others then we will have no problem with that however if you used your newly acquired to put someone down then I would say we have a problem.

Like I always said respect is something that you can't have it by simpling demanding it. Respect must be earned along the way through thick and thin. This is the only way where you can truly gain respect from others and not by simpling throwing your weights around! Our prayers to the Lord is to receive the fruits of the spirit and ask the Lord to teach us to be humble so that we can be right in His sight we will be exalted by Him in due course Amen!

Friday, May 2, 2008

God Is In Control

1 Samuel 25:32-39 25:32 Then David said to Abigail, “Praised be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you this day to meet me! 25:33 Praised be your good judgment! May you yourself be rewarded for having prevented me this day from shedding blood and taking matters into my own hands!

25:34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives – he who has prevented me from harming you – if you had not come so quickly to meet me, by morning’s light not even one male belonging to Nabal would have remained alive!” 25:35 Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, “Go back to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you and responded favorably.”

25:36 When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king. Nabal was having a good time and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing until morning’s light. 25:37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed. 25:38 After about ten days the Lord struck Nabal down and he died.

25:39 When David heard that Nabal had died, he said, “Praised be the Lord who has vindicated me and avenged the insult that I suffered from Nabal! The Lord has kept his servant from doing evil, and he has repaid Nabal for his evil deeds.” Then David sent word to Abigail and asked her to become his wife.

This story tells us how God was in control thus prevented King David from taking matters in his own hands thus sining against God. Many of times we tend to ask does God know what is going on? Yes sure he does just the time has yet to come for Him to take action. What ever we do be it good or evil He knows and at the end of day we are held accountable to Him when we meet Him.

So the questions whether its God's way or Men's way? I felt that is no point taking revenge yourselves because when you got your revenge there will bound to have something that is felt missing. If we present our problems unto the altar God promises us in Romans 12:19-21 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave itto the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Say NO to SIN, get right with God and leave all of it to Him and He will have them taken care of. Isaiah 55:8 “Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your deeds, 55:9 for just as the sky is higher than the earth,so my deeds are superior to your deeds. Amen!


Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Sharing Christ With Others

Romans 10:13-17 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved10:14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them? 10:15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written,How timely is the arrival of those who proclaim the good news.”10:16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”10:17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word of Christ.

Evangelism is the duty of every single followers of our Lord Jesus Christ and every little efforts leading to the expansion of His kingdom counts. Missions do we really need to venture into the foreign lands? The answer can be yes and no depending on God's calling mission can be as simple as sharing the word of God in your respective work place we call that evangelism in the marketplace.

The moment we start evangelizing we had already started our mission and our aim is to save one more for Jesus and to ensure each and every single one gets the chance to hear the gospel. Recently I attended Pastor Benny Ho seminar on evangelism and he point one key area and he calls it the PDA Strategy.

  • Personal Revival
  • Divine Appointment
  • Actions Obedience
Lastly everyone has a role to play when it comes to evangelism and some of you might be asking I have no one to share Christ with but remember what the Bible says? The answer can be found in Luke 11:9 “So I tell you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. Amen!

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Respect

Respect is something that Money can't buy or demand, respect is something that oneself have to earned it for himself/herself. One classic example supposingly a very rich and powerful man and he has the "WORLD" in his hand, people feared him and on the surface it may seems that he gained lot of respect from the people but do you consider that as respect?

Let's take a look at the life of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ the Son Of Man managed to gain respect even from those of rejected Him as the savior of world. WOW how did he do that? I can tell its all about leading by example! This proves one thing respect must be earned and we must always drill this in our minds be considerate just as what the Bible teaches in Matthew 7:12 In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. Amen!

Friday, April 25, 2008

Treasure On Earth?

Is life on earth is all about making money and having the best? These things that we enjoyed are only temporary and it will be gone in a prescribed time. Like I always said you can have the whole wide world but you will never enjoy if you do have the peace of your mind.

For some of us we are so focus at getting the best at times till we have forgotten our first love and that is our Lord Jesus Christ . The Lord said in Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

He also said in Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Everyone loves to be a winner in lives in fact we have tried many ways to get to our goals but for some of us, our minds are so determine to see the results we sort of loss focus and turn away from God and back-slided. The Bible made it clear in Mark 13:31
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

This boils down to one thing and question are we spending too much time to chasing after something that is temporary and if we think that we are the winner after getting what we want then I would say we are very wrong. I can tell you the only winners are those of seek after His Kingdom and they will reward richly when they entered into the Heaven and the rewards he received will be permanent! Amen!


Monday, April 21, 2008

Holy Tample Of God

We are purchased by the Blood of Christ, He died so that we may live. We are no longer our own instead we belong to Christ and we are part of Christ so if we do not take care of ourselves it hurts The One who saved us.Our bodies are the Holy Temple of the Lord and we have our duty to take good care of it.

Christ has paid for our salvation with his Blood and we are his investment. From a investor point of view every investors would want to have good returns that includes Jesus Christ himself. The only way that we can repay his Kindness and Grace is to take good care of ourselves and grow in the spirit and when the time ripes we will be out in the field to do His work for the expansion of His Kingdom!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

God's Answers?

I was once Luke warm and to Sunday church services are just going in motion. All these change when I was touched by the Holy Spirit and I was convinced that I can't be just going in motion otherwise there will no growth at all. I have been visiting other cells and different cells thought me different things.

The question is will I be given an opportunity to bring back what I have learnt to my own cell? If I'm given the opportunity how do I implement it? Well for now I do not have an answer to it because I have not felt the calling. When will God call me then and if He does how would I respond? I'll be praying for this and I believe God will provide me with an answer in due course.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Grace Of God

We know God is always ready to forgives and when he forgives He remembers nothing! However we must not take it lightly otherwise it will become cheap grace instead of true repentance. Our Lord died for us more than 2000 years ago and we should be thankful because of His great love we need not receive as we would deserved.

The penalty for SIN is death but Christ came and take that away and He gave us everlasting lives if we accepts Him as our personal Lord and Savior. The grace of God is still a debatable topic but there is one thing I want to stress is repentance comes from our hearts so long the spirit is in our hearts it creates a force that will guard us from wrong doings.

My prayers to Father God is to invite the Holy Spirit to stay inside my heart to guard me from the evil one , to teach me and to prepare me to go out to the field to do His work for the expansion of His Kingdom!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

The Potter's Hand

We human are like clays and clays needs to be shaped,molded and burned before we can see the end product. God Himself is a potter and a potter sure have some standards for His end product. There will be pains and trials during the process of molding and shaping and pains and trials are sometimes necessary for the birth of a perfect product.

When we go through pains and trials that does not means that God dose not care. God does care He will provide solutions but before He does that He would want us to go through the learning processing for the sake of our spiritual growth.

One greatest weakness seen in human is they do not learn until they have seen the worst. Our prayers to God is open our eyes to see what God desires in us and He will see to our needs thus preventing us from making a detour! Amen!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Defining Moments

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. As usual I was reading the our daily bread and today's topic was on defining moments and it tells the story of Joseph.

Most of you know the story and we all know what Joseph's bothers did to him in the past. Joseph could have taken revenge but he did not instead he responded by grace and forgiveness.
Grace and Hatred is just a thin red line you have a choice.


Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Contentment?

How much is enough? We are always chasing something that we think we need but in fact not. By doing so we worked extra hard and eventually end up being very tired and burned out.

At the end of the day we have achieved what we want but the question is do we still have the energy to enjoy what we always want when we are so tired and burned out?

We have to learn to be contented with what we have and instead of channeling all our energies to achieve our material needs why not channel our energies to achieve our spiritual needs?

At times when we are so focus in channeling our energies for our material needs till a point that we might turn away from God and we will start giving ourselves excuses that we have no time for ministries, cell meetings and even the most basic requirement as Christian and that is to attend regular Sunday worship service.

I have experienced this before and now I pray to God to help me to avoid stepping into such traps. Pastor Benny Ho once shared about living below your needs and I like one of the example that he pointed out "you chose to drive a Toyota when you can afford a Jaguar" he also pointed out to be contented with your Toyota otherwise God take away your Toyota and make you take public transports!

Monday, April 14, 2008

Doubting God?

To be frank all of us will go through or have gone through this stage especially when we are going through a time of difficulties. We all know satan is known as the father of all lies casting doubts in us delights him.

Building up our defenses is the best way to combat such spiritual attacks, I view doubting God and other matters inspired by Satan that does not delight God as spiritual attacks. We have be strong in our word and faith.

I know when the day I started to get myself right with God I'm actually preparing to have a war to combat satan. I'm getting myself armed by staying close to Him through various ways such as attending cell meetings regularly, daily devotion/reflections, Christian education course ect....

The more we know the heart of God the more we are less likely to fall. My prayer to Father God is to keep me strong no matter what happens for I bare the name of Emmanuel and I must live up to it!

Words? - Just a thin red line

A few weeks back I had a heated argument with my colleague and we were exchanging WAR OF WORDS in our email correspondents and it went on and on until one parties stops. I gave in and I called for a truce and establish a dialog with my colleague together with a nurture party.

I came to realized that most of the issues can be resolved by having dialogs. During the dialogs we can trash things out have a heart to heart talk. We can also get to the root of the problem and study it and thus come up with some contingency plans to prevent such things from happening again.

Kind words gives encouragements and confidence boost to a person while discouraging words puts a person down which can result in serious consequences. Sometimes the consequences can be that serious it will literally find yourselves hurt because of guilt.

The Bible tells us that our tongues has the power of life and death therefore we must be very careful with the words that we used and always think before saying the words out. I myself have this problem but I'm working on it and I believe God is with me and He will help me overcome this!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Being Legalistic?

I used to be very negative towards to playing mahjong as I have always associate mahjong with gambling. I really hated gambling and I learned a painful lesson it was during my NS days after our Chinese New Year holidays we suppose book in to our camps and after we booked in one of the camp mate suggested that to have a few rounds of blackjacks.

At first I didn't want to join in but in the end I gave in due to peer pressure and that was the biggest mistake and that very night I lost all my red packets collections and it was a painful lesson. From that onwards my attitude towards gambling was very negative however that did not really stop me from visiting casinos and buying 4D and TOTO.

I only stopped gambling when a brother in Christ knock some sense into me. I used to have this thinking that I'm buying hope when I'm buying 4D or TOTO and Singapore Pools which is Singapore only legal lottery operator. Singapore Pools usually donate part of their profits to charities and I always tell myself if I didn't win I'm indirectly donating to charities.

Brother Alfred challenged me by asking what was the percentage that Singapore Pools is donating? If I really have the heart to donate I could have donated to the charities directly. Brother Alfred words struck me hard and it sets me into doing some soul searching and not long after I find myself completely stopped gambling and it has been 4 years that I have not bought a single lottery ticket.

Today I tried playing mahjong without money involved and I actually find this game interesting and it really helps to stimulate your mind in return its good. Playing mahjong can be considered as a form of fellowship provided that no money is involved.

Put it simple it is a thin red line if money is involved then its consider as a form of gambling otherwise it is just another game. Our walk with God can be enjoyable and interesting if only we could learn see things with a bird's eye view and refrained ourselves from being legalistic.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Listening to His promptings

Franking speaking I have not reached a stage that I can really hear God speaking to me. However at times I do get promptings from Him to take my parents for a nice dinner. I know myself very well it is very unlikely of me to do such things without a reason.

Just that during that time I just felt like buying them a nice dinner and I believe this is a prompting from the Lord judged base on my character.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Worship

Contemporary praise and worship has taken the world by storm and it has broken into the secular world. The question is are we going after the artist or are we going after God? I remembered years back when a famous Christian band came to Singapore to lead us in a time of worship for the Festival Of Praise at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

That was the very night where I saw thousands queuing up to get into the stadium well I have no problem with that however when the worship segment ended I saw lots of people heading for the exit. During that point of time I have not reached a close relationship with God so I cared less about it.

However things are different now, I just came from a praise and worship concert toady I realize it is not really about the worship style instead worship comes from our hearts. No doubt music brings up the mood and it makes us feel great but if our motives are wrong then I would say that we have completely missed the point.

We must always remember worship is only meant for God and no one else and contemporary worship is just one style of worship so long our attitudes are right and it comes from our hearts our worship regardless of any style will be a sweet smelling fragrance to Him!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Forgiveness?

We are dealing with the issue of forgiveness and just as the Bible mention in Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Forgiveness is a challenge it is not easy to forgive someone whom they have hurt you.

Let's look at Joseph's life his very own blood brothers had him sold into Egypt and when Joseph raised to power he could have taken revenge but he did not instead he has shown grace and has forgiven his brothers.

Un-forgiveness can lead to serious health problems, research shows that prolong anger can lead to increase in heart beat rate which can result developing hyper-tension and other heart related illness. Un-forgiveness can also lead to the development of mental problem such as depression ect....

Jesus Christ The Son of Man , The King of kings and The Lord of Lords was sinless made sinful because of mankind's sin. When He was hang on the cross He actually cried out to His father to forgive the roman soldiers. Can you imagine you as the father and your very own flesh and blood asking you to forgive someone who had badly beaten Him.

We must forgive others before our Lord can forgive us and I can tell you we can do it with the power of God. Forgiveness does not means we will forget instead it should be treated as a valuable lesson learned. Lastly let us learn to let go and move on for He is Emmanuel and He is always be with us till we are called home to be with Him forever!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Can Crooks Be God's Agent?

Can crooks do God's work? Why not in fact they are the best because of their experiences and once the experienced the love and grace of God it stirs up their hearts thus transforming them into fishes of men.

God can use anyone to do His work and that includes prostitutes , drug traffickers and the list goes on. These so call social out casted due to their bad deeds had been cut off from the society the only person that is willing to take them in is our Lord Jesus Christ giving them a second chance.

When they got a second chance they are filled with the Holy Spirit and they begin to do God's works and shine in all area thus bringing glory to God. These once called social out casted has became powerful evangelistic warriors of God and their rank rose from being a social out casted to be a prominent evangelistic leaders!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Integrity vs Office Politics

Integrity in Singapore's work culture well as a Singaporean I hardly see integrity being practiced instead we are seeing more of office politics. Office politics can be really damaging and can even causes someone to loss a job or causing the affected person to resign from his/her position.

As followers of Christ we must try our best to avoid getting into office politics but it seems harder than said and somehow unavoidable due to work culture.

I'll always try to take a nurture stand when it comes to office politics and I felt that this is the best way to handle office politics in fact being nurture we can be a bridge to defuse the tension between the affected parties thus bringing peace and harmony. Lastly be strong in our decisions and stick to it for the sake of the truth!

Monday, April 7, 2008

Spiritual Discipline

Discipline? I think we all need to be discipline and it is for our own good for the Bible already said Proverbs 13:24 The one who spares his rod hates his child, but the one who loves his child is diligent in disciplining him. Well this is earthly discipline which teaches us to be a good citizens.

Spiritual discipline is a higher standard and its necessary for Heavenly citizenship. I think I have share this before but would like to share this again as it is line with the current theme. God sometimes uses pain and sufferings to teach us and mold our characters.

God is like a potter's hand always there to mold our characters until the potter Himself thinks that He can come out with a perfect product. However due to various reasons we sometimes disobeyed Him and we wanted to do it our own ways. Take for example at one stage of my spiritual life I was very self-centered and I had a self-reliance attitude despite warnings and advises I turn a deaf ear to them.

God as loving father and He loves His children a lot and could not bare to see the degenerating lifestyle of mine and He took spiritual actions against me. Things were bad and I also losses my job along with 1 month of salary due to the breach of contract and many more.....

Back then I had negative attitude towards cell meetings and I think it wasn't necessary. My church was doing The old testament challenge last year and brother Alfred and Sister Jennifer challenged me to be a part of a cell and take the old testament challenge then without much consideration I accepted their challenge.

I thought I might leave the cell after OTC but it never did happen. It was only until when I joined the cell thus had realized that not all oranges are sour and there are sweet oranges too. If God had not disciplined me I don't I will be seated in front of my laptop blogging for Him and I would not have gotten a job @ Infineon Technologies Asia Pacific! All glory to the Most Highest!

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Save The Planet from God Perspective

Earth is a place where men and beast dwells and we only had one earth and we have play our parts to save it. When God create Adam He commanded Adam to take good care of the garden of eden.

Now lets come back to the modern world and look at the things we do we are basically killing the earth slowly with poison. Due to the effects of global warming we are facing major climate change.

In Dec 26 2006 a major undersea earthquake hits the province of Arch in Indonesia and it triggers a distractive tidal wave across Asia and the south pacific nations. The damages of the aftermath could be minimized if we could re look the problem of deforestation. Trees can act as barriers to take the damage caused by the impact of tidal wave.

God gave us this earth and we have our duties to take good care of it. Here are some of the mirror things we can do to save mother earth. For example switch off your engines while waiting for someone in this way we saved petrol and will not give out greenhouse gases unnecessarily.

We can also do our parts by supporting the use of Green Technologies and renewable source of energies. However due economic reasons the use of such technologies did not really materialized. But I'm confident one day the use of green technologies will become common thus reducing cost.

Lastly what ever we do we are held accountable to God so let us be good and responsible stewards and take of what God has entrusted us with!

God's Love

Yes God's love is without boundaries and he loves all his creations including those who rejected Him. His great love was demonstrated on the Cross more than 2000 years ago. I watching a video testimony forwarded by my aunt.

This video testimony is about a brother in Christ and he was an ex Muslim. He was a very devoted Muslim to a point that he does more than what is required as a Muslim. However things change when our Lord Jesus Christ visited Him and the rest was history.

Does God cares ? sure He does Does God love? sure He does and His love for the human race was demonstrated on the cross more than 2000 years ago. If God can save a Muslim which is kinda of a impossible thing then what about the non-muslims who rejected Christ?

http://www.muslimjourneytohope.com/testimonies/testimony_afshin.wmv

Saturday, April 5, 2008

The Power Of The Media

We live in this age and we jolly well know the power of the modern media such as books, magazines, internet and television programs ect..... We know what Satan can do and we know what he does best. What is seems harmless on the surface can be the most dangerous on the inside.

Satan often package media in a nice way and it looks so nice till we care less whether they are harmful or harmless. Take music for instant no body will ever think that music is harmful but we must not forget what is satan's job scope before his fall.

Satan was the chief musician in the courts of heaven and he knows music inside out. I have recently switched to listening to praise and worship music and I notice that after I do that I find myself to more be calm and it sort of suppress the loud header character of mine.

Listening to P&W music also keeps me connected to God and there is lots of benefits to it. I'm not saying that we should avoid secular music however we must be careful when choosing secular music.

I'm a big fan of Kitaro and I know his music were great however when listening to his music it can sometimes makes me feel spiritual but the problem is that is not from God. That does not stop me from listening to Kitaro's music just that I have reduced listening to it.

Put it this way you will not notice the danger until the music is being played backwards and for satanic inspired music you will likely to hear the satanic encoded message. The problem is our brains picks up these messages without us noticing it and that's dangerous therefore we must be very careful when choosing secular music.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Our Daily Bread - What Should I Do?


Hmm... Making God honoring decision can be tough and you will face lots of challenges and big stones along the way. The bible promises us so long we put our trusts in Him and He will provide a way and He will make a way when there is seems no way.

I refer to the author struggles whether to keep her old car and live its maintenance problems or just get a new car. I don't know what's the implication or procedure when buy car in overseas but in Singapore buying a car is really a major decision considering the taxes , bank loans and the necessary charges and as well as the rebate that LTA is giving.

We have to weigh the maintenance cost of the old car and servicing of the brand new loan for the new car. Most impotently what ever our decision is it must not affect our financial health. Lastly we have to pray hard and pray like never before and seek His directions when making decision whether they are major or minor! Honor Him and He will give you peace thus enable you make a wise decision and the outcome will be the perfect outcome!

2008-04-04

What Should I Do?

READ: Proverbs 2:1-9

The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. —Proverbs 2:6

My friend Krista is struggling with a decision: Should she keep her old car with its continual maintenance problems or buy a newer model? She wants to be a good steward of her finances, and she desires to make a wise decision. And most of all, she wants to honor God.

Financial decisions can be tough to make. Billy Graham even says, "If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life."

Here are a few ideas to consider about wisdom in money matters:

Do a checkup to be sure you're following God's priorities. Are you giving to Him and to others? (1 Cor. 16:2). Taking care of family needs? (1 Tim. 5:8). Not letting money control you? (Luke 16:13).

Research the topic. Consider all the options and the pros and cons of each one.

Ask God for wisdom. Pray, pray, and pray some more. He will direct you (Prov. 2:6).

Trust God and make the decision. Use the knowledge and wisdom you've gained, and commit your decision to Him.

Obedience to God nurtures a growing love-and-trust relationship with Him. What's most important is that we see each decision as an opportunity to draw closer to Him. — Anne Cetas

When you're facing a decision
And it seems a daunting task,
Trust the Lord for true discernment—
He'll give wisdom if you ask. —Hess

The closer we walk with God, the clearer we see His guidance.

You can also read this devotional in full colour.
All contents and materials © RBC Ministries

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Detour?

Many of times when we plan to go with plan A but somehow or rather we end up proceeding plan B. But yet again if we had not gone for plan B we might have missed out something important. Sometimes when we make mistakes it may not be necessary bad and the end results may turn out to be something that we have least expected. We may have our plans but the Lord directs our steps for His purposes!

I used to think this way its not necessary to attend cell group so long I’ll have been regular at the Sunday worship service so I avoided cell invitations for a period of time and lead a self-centered life and the end results was bad. I have my plans to skip cell invitations from friends until God stepped in and made a detour in my life.

I can assure you when God steps in it may not be necessary nice and sometimes He will use pain to make us reflect and to also search ourselves. Before joining Infineon I was with a British Bank working as a IT engineer and things were bad so not too long after I tendered my resignation and also due to the contract that I have signed I also loss 1 month’s salary…..

This incident sets me thinking why has God forsaken me when I needed Him the most? A couple of days later my Church announced that they will doing the Old Testament challenge and the modules will be delivered via daily reading guide, Sunday sermons and in cell meetings. Not too long after my friend asked if I’m interested join a cell just for this OTC and without much consideration I agreed and stayed on till now. If God had not stepped in will I be what I am today?