Embrace the dawn of hope

When was the last time the headlines of the newspaper was about something good? Nowadays, the majority of front page newspapers are often bombarded with tragedies, wars, credit crunch etc. One of the main sources of media that we all excess to feeds our eye and ear gates with all kinds of rubbish and depressing news. It has a psychological effect on the people, therefore we succumb ourselves to unnecessary panic, blame the government for everything under the sun (to the point that the government pays those who don’t work), rumours and gossip or better known as coffee shop talk. The world is being painted to be a picture of turmoil and suffering with a never ending chain of problems. The media seems to give the impression of, ‘If you can’t stop it, live with it’ attitude. Steps are taken to try and curb the problem or seemingly taking a course of action to help the public. Often things need to be politically correct and manipulation seeps in.

What has become of our world? End of times? Is there still hope?

As Elron, Lord of the Elves once said: ‘As the darkness grows in the east, the fate of man lies in the balance, but all hope is not lost yet.’

2009 is a year to be hopeful for. This is going to be a year of acceleration. A year of consecration of God’s people.

The number 2 speaks of division and separation.

The number 9 speaks of judgement.

3+6=9
The number 3 represents God.
The number 6 represents Man.

There is going to be conflict between God and Man. It will either be God’s way or Man’s way. We will have to choose. No more lukewarm-ness. No more grey areas. No more ‘just sit and wait’. God is looking for the nation changers and people willing to answer His call. Its time for us to wake up and press in.

2008 may have been a good or bad year for some. Whatever it is, 2009 is a new year!

Memories of yesterday, Challenges today and Anticipation for tomorrow.

Analogy of the Farmer:
'The farmer had a bad year of harvest. There was not enough rain, the seeds were not planted properly and there were prowlers who damaged the crop. He does not curse the gods for not providing enough rain. He does not fault the ground for being infertile. Neither does he blame the prowlers for being the spoil spot.

Yet, he picks up his tools and puts his hands to the plough once again. He gathers the failed crop not to throw them away, but to bury them. He turns the failed crop under the soil and plants the new seeds on top of it. The failed crop is used as fertiliser for the new harvest. He works hard, not knowing what season lies ahead. The ecosystem is messed up and he cannot predict anymore.

Nevertheless, when the rain comes, the farmer and his field will be ready. He is putting himself in preparation for the abundance.'

The farmer let the failed crops be the compose for tomorrow’s harvest!

Barack Obama, the new American president was lauded for his campaign slogan of ‘CHANGE we can believe in’. In his victory speech, he reiterated his stand and stated: ‘Today, Americans can HOPE once again’.

Joshua chapter 5 speaks of the Israelites preparing and strategizing to conquer Jericho. Jericho seemed too strong a fortress to subdue. Joshua is then confronted with a Man whom is the commander of the Lord’s army. The Man draws his sword against Joshua, not to engage but to challenge him to HOPE for the task ahead. The Lord will fight the battle on behalf of us, but we must do our part. Joshua laid his HOPE in the Lord for He has promised. He then goes back to his generals, scraps and CHANGES all the plans and applies God’s strategy. The Israelites did what seemed absolutely ridiculous by marching round Jericho city. I’m sure there was certain moaning and doubt of such an insane plan as they marched for 6 days. The Jericho-ites must have been laughing at the Israelites of what looked like a little ‘merry-go-round’. But on the 7th day, Jericho fell. Joshua was fixed on the dream and goal of taking down Jericho.

Don’t worry about the 6 days of marching, fix our eyes on the 7th day of triumphing!

God is our hope. Hope is the assurance for the future. Hope is the glimmer of possibility in the wake of uncertainty.

Let us bury our failures, prepare ourselves for the harvest and fix our eyes on the goal!

'Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’ Philippians 3:12-14

A home or merely a house for the Holy Spirit?

As far as my still able memory serves me, in my just over 2 decades of life do i not remember a holiday period that i felt bored. But i always remember and still get people telling me about how bored they are during their holidays. Not that they don't like it, but they just do not know what to do with it. So all they usually do is stay at home watch tv, play computer games, go out yamcha with friends, sleep for 18 hours a day, laze around like a bum etc. After 2 months (normal break), 6 months (SPM and STPMers) or for some 9 months of holidays. They look back not knowing what they have actually done. How sad..

On the other hand, i have been hearing about how busy some people are after their exams. They got a long list of things that they want to do. So many that many have told me that they feel more stress and busier than during exam periods. How nice for a change..

I have been more like the latter. I had a plan of a whole list of things that needs to be done. The very moment i handed in my last assignment for the semester i only had a moment for a sigh of relief. I had crossed the finished line, but now the real work begins.

One of my very first tasks was to attend a very much dreaded 'makeover' session which i was duped into on a recommendation by a friend. I shan't go into much detail but it was like torture to me. One of my friends even tried to encourage me by saying:' Maybe, it is a necessary grooming session.' Ah well, what comfort. But, it was an experience i would never forget for a lesson had to be learnt. Maybe not quite the grooming i had expected.

I was astonished at the magnitude of deteoriorating moral in the society that we all live in. Outward appearance has been place on such a high emphasis that we have somehow embarrassingly allowed ourselves to be influenced by it. Our judgemental mindsets eventhough never truly spoken in words (because Christians are supposed to love one another) has created a division of worlds, and people are trying to be someone else they are not. Forced to use phrases like 'Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder' to comfort themselves that someone out there, some where actually loves them. Then they spend all their time trying to emulate and copy models, celebrities or even popular classmates. I was also a judgemental person. I shamefully admit to the times even by a flicker of a second, sometimes unintentionally judging people based on appearance and using the standards of the world as a bencemark. Such is the impact of media and what we allow into our ear and eye gates.

Later, i read a section of the book, Prayer by Philip Yancey. A heart piercing reminder and follow up to my recent experience and conviction. And this is what was written.

'In the Last Supper conversation in which Jesus dequeathed his peace, he also promised a far greater gift; the presence of God, who would live not in some faraway heaven but inside us, in our very souls. He promised us the Holy Spirit, and the title he chose, the Counsellor, itself indicates one of the Spirit's main roles. The 'sense' of God's presence may come and go. Yet, the believer can have confidence that God is already present, living inside, and need not be simmoned from afar.

I have seen the evidence of God's presence in the most unexpected places. During our trip to Nepal, a physical therapist gave my wife and me a tour of the Green Pastures hospital, which specialises in leprosy rehabilitation. As we walked along the outdoor corridor, I noticed in a courtyard one of the ugliest human beings i have ever seen. Her hands were bandaged in gauze, she had deformed stumps where most people have feet, and her face showed the worst ravages of that cruel disease. Her nose had shrunk away so that, looking at her, I could see into her sinus cavity. Her eyes, mottled and covered with callus, let in no light; she was totally blind. Scars covered patches of skin on her arms.

We toured a unit of the hospital and returned along the same corridor. In the meantime this creaure had crawled across the courtyard to the very edge of the walkway, pulling herself along the ground by planting her elbows and drgging her body like a wounded animal. I'm ashamed to say that my first thought was:' She's a beggar. She wants money.' My wife, who has worked among the down-and-out, had a much more holy reaction. The old woman rested her head against Janet's (Philip Yancey's wife) shoulder and began singing a song in Nepali, a tune that we all instantly recognised:' Jesus loves me, this i know, for the Bible tells me so.'

'Danmaya is one of the most devoted church members,' the physical therapist later told us. 'Most of our patients are Hindus, but we have a little Christian chapel here, and Danmaya comes every time the door opens. She's a prayer warrior. She loves to greet and welcome every visitor who comes to Green Pastures, and no doubt she heard us talking as we walked along the corridor.'

A few months later we heard tha Danmaya had died. Close to my desk I keep a photo that I snapped just as she was singing to Janet. Whenever I feel polluted by the beauty-obsessed celebrity culture I live in, i pull out that photo. I see two beautiful women: my wife, smiling sweetly, holding in her arms an old crone who would flunk any beauty test ever devised except the one that matters most. One of that deformed, hollow shell of a body, the light of God's presence shines out. The Holy Spirit found a home.'

Oh Lord, I pray for the times that i have shamed your name with my thoughts and have allowed myself to succumb to the world. Forgive me. Give me the strength and wisdom for my days ahead. That my life would shine the light of Your awesome presence. Being the true light among the darkness. Amen

The Pit

This is quite an interesting read. Simple but strong message on how man has complicated society when life is sometimes actually quite straightforward.

A man fell into a pit. These were the reactions of the people:

A Subjectivist type of person said, 'I feel for you down there' But did nothing.
An Objective person wandered by next, and said, 'It's logical that someone would fall down there.'

A Pharisee said, 'Only bad people fall into a pit,' and put his nose in the air and kept walking.
Then, a mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit.

A news reporter wanted the exclusive story on his pit, but was too busy interviewing everyone in sight to help.

A fanatic fundamentalist shouted, 'You deserve your pit!'
Then a government tax-man asked if he was paying taxes on the pit.

A self-pitying person then whined, 'You haven't seen anything until you've seen MY pit!'
Then a Christian Scientist came by, and said, 'Just believe that you're not in a pit.'

An optimist said, 'Things could be worse!'
But the pessimist disagreed, and said, 'Things -will- get worse!'

A New Ager jumped into the pit to share the experience.
A conspiracist rubbed his hands together in glee, and said,'-They- threw you into the pit! I -knew- it!'

A Jew said, 'Why are we -always- in a pit?'
A Communist shouted 'Why are you in the People's Pit without permission?'
An Alcoholic muttered to himself, 'It's not -my- fault you're in the pit.....'

A Liberal said, 'Those Conservatives must have dug this pit!'
A Conservative said, 'See where Liberalism has gotten you?'

A TV Evangelist came by and promptly took up a collection from the bystanders.
A television news commentator shouted, 'Man in a pit! Why is the government responsible?'"

But then, a Good Samaritan came along, looked at the man in the pit and at all the others standing around pursuing their own agendas,and said, quietly, 'Here are two shovels. Let's get you out of the pit.'

Taking a short break.. but i will be back!

I will be taking a short break from blogging. Too many things on my hands now. Priorities! Coursework due next week and also the week after. Assessment day and interview for my placement job next year. Getting started on John Maxwell's materials to prepare for leadership training for next year. And a whole list of things that if i continue to list out, it will become another long blog post. haha.. Will start blogging again on the 17th of December, which is when my last assignment is due and my holiday starts. Woohoo.. till then brothers and sisters..

Blessings
Isaac

Ask and you shall receive.. but what do we ask for?

People have been congratulating and reminding me about how old i am because of my birthday. 21st birthdays are usually really big, because of a few things.

1. You are official legal (therefore, all under 21s are illegal)

2. You are eligible to vote

3. You can do practically anything you want without any legal objection from anybody

4. You can drink(alcohol) and watch(PG and X rated) stuff without risks of being arrested

The 4th one is usually the most popular.

Another question people have been asking is what did i wish for my birthday? I don't know who came out with the wishing thingy during birthday cakes. If you wish for something before you blow the candles, you will get whatever you wished for. To me that is total nonsense, it is just a myth to give hope to the hopeless. If that were really true, why would there be poverty? or sick people? So it is either untrue or people have been making stupid wishes.

I know my God promised in Luke 11:9 'So i say to you, ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.' I don't need to wish for things only on my birthdays, i can ask my God anything, anytime. Even the word 'wish' seems uncertain and not confident of actually getting something. But i am going to ask and believe that i am going to get what i asked for.

So, what do we ask for then? Will we get anything and everything that we asked for? Or do we only get what is in God's will? Let's take a look at Numbers 22: 5-21

'And Balak the son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at that time. 5 Then he sent messengers to Balaam the son of Beor at Pethor, which is near the River in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying: “Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! 6 Therefore please come at once, curse this people for me, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the diviner’s fee in their hand, and they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, “Lodge here tonight, and I will bring back word to you, as the LORD speaks to me.” So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 Then God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 So Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me, saying, 11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the face of the earth. Come now, curse them for me; perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.’” 12 And God said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam rose in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Go back to your land, for the LORD has refused to give me permission to go with you.”

14 And the princes of Moab rose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refuses to come with us.” 15 Then Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than they. 16 And they came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me; 17 for I will certainly honor you greatly, and I will do whatever you say to me. Therefore please come, curse this people for me.’” 18 Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the LORD will say to me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

Balaam was a prophet of the Lord judging by the statement from the king that 'whoever he bless is blessed and whoever he curse is cursed'. But, he had a weakness, which was greed for wealth.

1. Israel was God's chosen people

Balaam knew that Israel was God's chosen people and God would never allow His people to be cursed by their enemies. But Balaam ignored that because he was enticed by the amount of wealth he would get from just a few spoken words. He chose to ask God just to confirm. Alright, fair play to him.

2. God said NO! but hear Balaam's excuses

Balaam told the Moabites in vs13,'... the Lord has REFUSED to give me permission to go with you.' Using the exact words that he has just said, he is trying to act holy by telling the Moabites that the only reason he can't go with them is because God said so. Well, at least he got that right by obeying God. But i am pretty sure that it was eating him on the inside. The work 'REFUSED' shows reluctance and only because of authority, he resisted. The sentencing shows that he didn't really believe it himself. Balaam's reply suggests that he was hesitant and unwillingly complied.

The Moabites now returned with even more wealth and people with even higher status to deliver the offer. And this starts to get interesting. Instead of denying the offer straight away, Balaam chose to ask God again. Ridiculous!

3. Do you think God will change His mind because of more wealth?

That was a total insult to God. Who does Balaam think God is? He doesn't need wealth nor praises of man, He is the Kings of kings. But because Balaam was blinded by his own greedy desires and still wanted to seem 'obedient' unto to God. He nagged God.

4. God said Yes.

Incredibly, God gave in to Balaam's nagging. He allowed the desires of Balaam's heart.

Ask and you shall receive. Balaam asked and he received. He received the desires of his heart. In Ecclesiates 8:11 it says:'...therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.' That is the difference between God's perfect will and His permissible will. We still have our free will but unless we ask of what is in His heart, we are going down the wrong path because the hearts of men are evil.

Sometimes we are just exactly like Balaam. We don't want to disobey God because we fear Him. But we desire and are tempted by certain things that we know God clearly disapproves. We still try it anyway, in case He changes His mind. We still stubbornly nag Him about it so that we get the satisfaction without claiming responsibility for it. Then, when things turn out badly we just blame God and claim that we were just following His 'will'.

We need to constantly ask of God for wisdom. Be careful of what we ask, for it shall be given as promised. Guard our hearts and always ask for His heart. Don't try and act smart and question God. When He says 'Do it', just do it. When He says 'Don't do it', don't do it. Period.

Change has come! But is it for the better?

The American people yesterday demonstrated their unique capacity for self-renewal by electing the first black man as head of state, not that many years after the country’s African-Americans were accorded full civil rights.

In electing Barack Obama president by a solid margin, accompanied by a congress with the biggest Democratic majority since the 1970s, Americans have signalled a dramatic change in the direction of the world’s sole superpower.

Two years ago, Barack Obama identified that the overwhelming sentiment in this presidential election would be a desire for change. His election campaign was based on the motto of 'Change we can believe in'. Throughout the campaign, he emphasised the urgency of this desire. The fact that he was a candidate with less experience in national office than any of his opponents in either the Democratic primary or in the general election, was turned from a potential liability into an asset that worked in his favour. The colour of his skin, regarded by many as an impossible obstacle to his ambitions, in the end served as the principal guarantee that he was a different kind of leader for a nation in crisis.

America’s yearning for change focused most closely on dissatisfaction with the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With their historic decision yesterday, the American people should certainly get change. Two questions however hover over the new president elect and his team.

The first is whether the new president will choose to rein back the economical and social agenda of the large Democratic majority in congress. Though they threw out the Republican party yesterday it is not at all clear that the American people endorsed a Democratic party policy that is committed to big tax increases on wealthier Americans and corporations, restrictions on free trade, renewed empowerment of trade unions and the appointment of judges likely to rule in favour of more liberal laws on abortion and gay marriage.
The second challenge is simply the massive task of restoring America’s stature and the country’s economic power and global political standing.

The country faces challenges on a scale no incoming president has had to tackle in a very long time. The economy is in a recession likely to be as deep as the deepest in the last 50 years.
President elect Obama’s first task will be to do whatever the government can do to lift the US and with it the global economy out of its slump. A programme of reform will be necessary to begin to restore trust in the institutions of American leadership.

Americans made history yesterday. Some may argue that it was on grounds of pure desperation or smart tactical campaigning on the side of the Democrats. Nevertheless, it was the 'right' man at the right time and an opportunity well taken. What type of change will be instigated in the coming months? Will it be for the better? Well, lets pray that it will be. God bless us all!

Link to Barack Obama's victory speech:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/06/us-elections-barack-obama-lincoln

Courage my son, courage!

I have finally gotten my internet connection. I know its no excuse for not updating my blog, but it played a big part though. I have been really getting extra exercise with the 20 minute walks to university even though I don’t have lectures on that day. I go to university just to use the internet.

I have been struggling with quite a lot of things for the past few weeks. It’s basically about the path ahead. I am a planner, I plan things. If bits and pieces are lying around, I will put them together so that they don’t go wasted. The habit of planning has been heavily influenced by my dad, who used to get us to plan for the year ahead every year. First I have a master plan, which consist of major events blocked out throughout the year. The 2nd stage is the weekly planning, where I usually get my daily routine in place and I know what I have to do for the days of the week. The 3rd part is the planning, where I plan out nearly every single thing I would do for the day to the minute. It sounds crazy, but it can be done and I never waste time.

So what happens to people like us when we can’t plan? Or when we don’t even know what to plan?
We get stressed out. We panic. We go bonkers.

Unfortunately, that’s what I had to learn. God told me to do something, He gave me the confirmation to do it and I acted on it. I planned it all out, in the ideal sense at least. BUT, everything started to collapse. One by one, it all fell like dominos. It didn’t progress like I expected, not even a little. I know that the world is far from ideal, but still… I had the most difficult 3 weeks in my life that I could remember. Nothing seemed to be going right. So when the grand plan fails, all the added potholes show up in front of you, plus the Big guy up there stays worryingly quiet, I was totally LOST.

I started to lose confidence in myself. I lost faith. Did I hear God wrongly? After all that was said and done, maybe im not the right guy for the job after all. I doubted and questioned many things. I feared because everything seems to be in a mess. That’s where the evil one has triumph.
It was very emotionally draining as I struggled and tried to pull myself out of it. I shared with a couple of people where they encouraged me but it was still lingering around. That was until I went for CG yesterday night. It was a teaching on ‘Hearing the voice of God’. It was really a good session, but I was a little distracted. Then the leader led us into a practical session.

The 1st part was to pray and then be silent to hear from God. I have done this many times but it felt a little different this time round. I got the word JOSHUA. I had no idea what it meant so I flipped my Bible to Joshua 1:1. This is what it read:
"After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, it came to pass that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying: 2 “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them—the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory. 5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and of good COURAGE, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and VERY COURAGEOUS, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of GOOD COURAGE; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

I was astounded. The words where hitting my face. But, I still sat in the room emotionless and trying to just let everything sink in. Nobody in the room had any idea what was going on with me, at least that was what I thought.

The 2nd part of the exercise was to continue. We prayed and ask of the Lord for words of encouragement for others in the room. When it was time to share, one of the said: ‘Isaac, I have something for you. The Lord wants you to have BOLDNESS and be COURAGEOUS for the things He has in stored for you.’

I was stunt and completely speechless.

The 3rd was to be continued as we paired up to pray for each other. As we prayed, my partner said:’ Isaac, be COURAGEOUS. For the Lord is with you wherever you go. Do not worry about the things ahead but stay strong and be COURAGEOUS!’

The 4th part, we switched partners and continued the exercise praying for each other. The 1st words that came out of his mouth were:’ Isaac, I have 2 words for you. FAITH and COURAGE.’

I WAS DUMBFOLDED. The word ‘COURAGE’ was directed at me 7 times in one night by different people. I repented and slapped myself right and left. It was pure foolishness to doubt God.

We serve an awesome God. He is our comforter and friend. He is our fortress and our strong tower. NEVER ever doubt Him. For He is with us, all the days of our lives. Amen.