LIFE ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD

Psalm 119:25-32 - My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes! Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! 

We can hear the cry of the Psalmist here: my soul clings to the dust (v. 25). The Psalmist is experiencing the lowest point of his life; his soul metaphorically clinging to the dust – his life comes into contact with dust, comes into contact with death itself, with the rubbish of life. He is at his lowest point. In verse 28 he exclaimed: my soul melts away for sorrow. There is something obviously painful and causing some sort of grieving. Not only is he grasping at a straw for life his heart is pained by deep sense of sorrow – sorrow that melts his soul. I have been there and I know how it feels like. The sharp pain that stabs at your chest repeatedly can send shivers up your spine and causes you to cling to the dust literally. In verse 31 the Psalmist pleaded to the Lord to let him “not be put to shame.” Shame is the most debilitating (devastating) thing that can happen to a person. It hurts a person’s dignity as a human being; it hurts a person’s sense of significance, self-image, and self-esteem.

We are not sure what he was going through in his life at this point of time but we certainly can know that he was hurting, he was in deep pain, and he was crying out to the Lord. The psalmist appeals to the Word of God, probably the revelation of God’s Word, so that he can gain life again. He was appealing to the revelational Word of God to strengthen him; strength to overcome his grief, his shame, and his sorrow. He wanted so much to run into the Word of God – the word that comforts, the word that assures, and the word that is YES and AMEN!

EXPERIENTIAL GRACE OF GOD

“The profundity of the experiential grace of God is ever present in the banality of our existential living.”

This statement fully describes to a great extent the mystery of the working of grace in all its complexity and intensity seen in our mundane everyday living. What might be passed off as trivial may actually be the working of the grace of God in our lives.

The grace of God is not the glossing over of our sins, failure, and bad decisions by God but a gracious and compassionate heart of God that is big enough to pick us up and to brush off the “dirt” off us and to bandage up the “wounds” we have inflicted upon ourselves. It is like a father who said to his child who run and fell and hurt himself just minutes after a firm instruction not to run around in a particularly dangerous area: “It’s okay. Let me clean you up. There, you’re alright. Get going but remember not to run there again!”

The grace of God can also be seen in the quiet confidence within us as we come face to face with situations in our daily lives – a kind of calmness and peace that defies understanding as we put our trust in Him. We may not always see the results we expected but certainly we still sense that quiet confidence of restfulness in His presence.

In the last two weeks I am confronted with a new challenge as reality hits me when my wife had to go through chemotherapy. Out of the ash heap of calamity comes the voice of God assuring my heart that He is here with my family as He always has been. That’s the power of the grace of God. It is not some kind of supernatural, heaven-open, earth shattering divine manifestation that zaps away my calamity. Strangely, it is the quiet confidence that came over me as I rest in His presence and listen closely to His soothing voice, “I am here with you, by you, and for you!” That, to me, is the profundity (the complexity, intensity, and greatness) of the experiential grace of God manifested in the banality, the ordinariness, of everyday life on this earth! 

BLESSING GOD, BLESSING OTHERS

This one week I have changed my outlook of life. I used to think a lot and in the process let anxiety, doubts, and fears loom over my mind. After last Sunday’s message by Pastor Cheng Kin I have decided to take Genesis 12 seriously – I am blessed to be a blessing! Therefore, I began to open my mouth and bless my family – bless my youngest son every morning as I drive him to school, bless Joyce and Judson in my prayers. But I have begun to bless my wife not just once a day but throughout the day.

First, I bless God for life. I bless God for provision. I bless God for loving people around us, helping us and really caring for us. I bless God for my family who stood by me in prayers and frequent phone calls. I bless God for the strength to lift my head up in worship. I bless God for saving me, for transforming me, and for giving me the opportunity to serve Him in FGA Centre. Yes, I cry out to Him when my heart is overwhelmed BUT I quickly turn to my soul and said, bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name!

I bless my wife with the strength of the Lord. I bless my wife with the peace of God that passed all human understanding. I bless my wife with the faith that can move mountains. I bless my wife for the faithfulness she has in Christ. I bless her with health. I bless her with overwhelming good cells to be multiplied. I bless her with the Word of God – Christ comes with healing in His wings, and by His stripes we are healed. I bless her with the promises of God because God’s promise is YES and AMEN! I call her BLESSED because she’s a daughter of the King of kings and Lord of lords. She is the beloved of the Lord. She is the bride of Christ. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. Yes, that’s right! She is blessed because she has a wonderful Saviour, a glorious Redeemer, and triumphant King who have overcome sin and death on her behalf.  

I believe 100% what Pastor Cheng Kin spoke last Sunday. The little tongue can be used to curse or to bless. Paul exhorts us to speak words that minister grace to the hearers. It is not whispering in our hearts BUT verbalizing the blessings, the love, the grace and mercy, the purposes, the greatness and goodness, the healing, and the promises of God to those who need words of encouragement. It also means to ourselves too!

I am not advocating positive confession. I am advocating blessing God because it is right, it is the truth. God is love and God is Truth with the capital “T”. I am advocating blessing people around us with the Word of God, words of encouragement, and gracious words because that’s what the Bible teaches.

THE GENTLE TOUCH OF THE BREEZE OF GOD'S LOVE

From next week onward I cannot dash through life anymore in a 100 meter spring feeling the breeze brush against my face and hoping to catch the adrenaline rush of fulfillment in my labor. I have to learn and perhaps, relearn many times or unlearn sometimes I guess, to slow down and take a stroll - one step at a time - evaluating, reflecting, and pondering on life, and once again regain the gentle touch of the breeze of God's love brush against my breast. Oh, how I need once again to gaze into my Father's face of approval, of mercy, and tender compassion!

Oh, how I long for a miracle to happen once again in my life that I had long forgotten how it feels like and how it is like because it was in a very distant past. The faint memory of miracles eluded me ever so often. I wondered sometimes how I  could grasp it beyond the horizon. Faith, my child, faith. The Word of God is sure. Jesus comes with healing in His wings. I believe I can recall the miracles by faith from the distant shore and see it, touch it, and experience it. Father, I believe, help my unbelief!

My prayer is this: Lord, help me one day at a time, that's all I'm asking from you. Lord, teach me today, show me the way, one day at a time.

My heart is filled with many empty spaces waiting for the right answers to fill in the blanks. I will continually look up to Jesus and fixed my eyes and my heart upon him, the Author and Finisher of my faith. Father, draw me with your furious longing of love and I will run after you. In your presence is fullness of joy. Nothing, yes nothing, could or should separate me from your love.

GOD CAN MOVE THE MOUNTAIN

It's 1.30 am and I am wide awake. It is one thing to bravely say that my HOPE is in Jesus but another thing to have the actual fact of a huge mountain in front of you! I am not going to pretend to feel alright, I am NOT. But I am also not going to stay under - I will say to my soul, "Bless the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever. He is my ROCK, a shelter in times of troubles."

Yes, the negative news about my wife's health pulls me down to the bottom of the sea of disappointment, discouragement, and even despair, yet, I will be like the Prophet Habakkuk who look to God and proclaim: "Tho the fig tress shall not blossom, yet I will rejoice in my God - I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." This evening Keat Cheong and Cheng Cheng came over to my house and ministers to my wife and I. I felt a great relieve though the task ahead is still a task ahead - whatever it may be!! But while they were praying for Ean Beng I was brought to remembrance the life story of Job - everything that can be thrown at him he got it. He was in a very depressing situation. I felt the Lord encouraging me with the still small voice: "Out of the ash heap of despair I will raise you up and people will be amazed at the glory of the Lord." I am not going to try to interpret what that means in every detail but this one thing I know deep in my heart - the joy of the Lord will be our strength and it will defy every fiery darts of the evil one or brickbats that he tries to throw at us. God be praise and be blessed. He is worthy. He is good and He is great!

The facts may be negative but the truth is God heals and victory is in the hands of God! He is faithful to the end. Recently I just learned that "the just shall live by faith" in the Hebrew language can be translated as "the righteous shall live by his faith and his faithfulness." I will tell my wife and my children - we serve a faithful God, therefore, we must remain faithful! God be blessed!

I HAVE PROBLEM WITH THE PROBLEM OF EVIL

I have problem with the problem of evil, do you? Actually, I don’t have problem with not understanding everything there is to explain about the existence of evil. I don’t question why evil is everywhere. I certainly would not question God. Some I understand, with the little that I know, concluded that because there is evil therefore God doesn't really exist. Their ‘logical” argument goes like this: If God is love. We see evil in this world. How can a loving God allow such evil in the world? But the atheists forgot to ask this of themselves: If everyone in the world is an atheist (believing sincerely that there is no God; material world is all there is and we are a product of evolution) would there still be evil? Would men be any better morally today - no violence, no crime, no natural disasters, etc.?

So I don’t have problem with the existence of evil. I have problem with the problem of evil because it is the direct result of SIN. Sin is not just about doing the wrong thing but in rebellion with his Creator and choosing to replace God with himself. I have problem with the problem of evil in people who thought it is their right to choose how they would live without taking responsibility of what might happen to people around them. I have problem with the problem of evil when men take hold of power over another by hook or by crook (sounds familiar, right?) and therefore violating human rights and democracy. They would also try to justify themselves with nice sounding political rhetoric. Clowning? “Sandiwara”? Monkeying around? Maybe that’s why the country that they control would become a banana republic pretty soon!

I have problem with the problem of evil in men who are full of greed because they have power and authority (most of the time illegitimately). where their billions were stashed away in Cayman Islands and yet won’t call it quit, foolishly thinking that all the illegal wealth that they gain at the expense of their fellow countrymen could go with them to the grave and beyond!

Yes, I have problem with the problem of evil!

TRIBUTE TO MY DAD

It’s been more than 15 years since my dad has gone home to be with the Lord. Today I want to pay a tribute to this great man. For the past one week my memories of my dad came back to me. My wonderful memories of my dad were not when I was growing up but when I was in my late teens. The earlier part of my life I did not have much time with my dad, in fact, I didn’t know him because he was working all the time and was seldom home.

Today, I am not going to rehearse about those days but the part of my life when I saw an entirely different dad. The first wonderful memory that I had of him was when I was taking care of him during his kidney operation in University Hospital, KL. It was those times, at his bedside that he told me stories about his life. That was, incidentally, the most my dad converse with me since I don’t know when! In between those stories you could almost felt that he was very proud of us. He was a man of few words; quiet but talented (he sing, he paint, and he’s a good photographer), hardworking, a man of principle and non confrontational. Though he’s not expressive like hugs and words of endearment but in his own way his life was a life of much sacrifice for his family.

At the hospital I asked him whether he’s in pain and he said that if he could endured the torture in prison during the Japanese Occupation this pain was nothing in comparison. He said that to my other siblings too. He’s indeed a tough man.

My father was also a very generous, friendly, and hospitable man. Many of his long times friends spend a significant time in our photo shop in Malay Street meeting up for chit-chat and friendly games of cards. But I think he was loyal in his friendship.

But the best of all memories that I have of my dad is his love for my children as well as all his other grandchildren. I remember him climbing four stories up to my flat many of the afternoons and placed a packet of Sugar Cane water on my grill door. He hardly called my wife. He just placed the drinks there for us. Like I say, he’s not very expressive but this little act of him speaks louder than words could ever express of his love. I know he loves us. I know he loves my children. Little things like this may not mean much to some people but it means a lot to me and my family.

Once a week we took him to supermarket and he would be carrying Joyce the entire time. Many times we asked him to let her walk by herself and he would insist on carry her – at least for half-hour or more. Asked all my brothers and sisters and they would tell you that he loves his grand-daughters to the socks (I’m quite sure he does loves his grandsons, just that he shows it more to the grand-daughters!)  My father was a loving man. I know he was at times hard and bitter when I was growing up but since his first operation he became different; in fact, he quit smoking and drinking, and came to church regularly. He was a changed man. I knew it and I saw it. All this happened not too long before my marriage. That’s more than 28 years ago. I really do have tremendous memory of him.

Let me relate one last recount of my father. I believe with all my heart that he is not only loving but very, very proud of his family (children and grandchildren). I believe that one of the reasons my family (my brothers and sisters) are close-knitted up till today and also very blessed is because my father was a faithful man – he was faithful to his wife, faithful to his own siblings, and faithful to the Lord. Every Chinese New Year reunion my entire family will meet at my elder brother’s home. The most touching part of the evening was the gathering of the family to pray before we feast. My father would pray before we begin. Every time he prayed he would be in tears – not tears of sadness – but tears of gratitude for the blessings of the Lord upon the family. It was faith building. It was heart-warming to feel the love of God for the family and the man of the house truly was appreciative of the blessings of the Lord. I am proud of my dad. My father was a BLESSED man. We have carried this tradition till today – grand children gotten married and now a latest addition – the first great granddaughter for my dad and a grand niece added to the Lim family!

DAD, I LOVE YOU DEARLY!