Thank you all for your prayers and messages of love when dad was hospitalised.
The past 2 weeks had been a stormy experience for my parents and I. On a Sunday morning, my dad fainted while tending the garden. Mum saw that something was not right and rushed to his side. After seeing specialists, had blood tests done, received a blood transfusion, underwent colonoscopy and gastroscopy, my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer on the following Monday. Arrangements were made and he had an operation to remove the colon. He is now resting at home, getting stronger day by day. His appetite is slowly returning. When he talks, his volume was loud, like thunder, just like how he used to (and yes, he is now strong enough to nag me). All these happened within the span of 14 days.
I praise the Lord for letting us detect his cancer while it was still at an early stage, although it came with a frightening experience for us. Life is short.
“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)
This episode reminds me the importance of cherishing my loved ones while we still have the chance. There were many words I had left unsaid if God took dad Home the moment he fainted in the garden. I am glad I have been giving this extra opportunity to tell him now that he is loved and appreciated by our family and friends. I praise God that I still have the opportunity to serve dad at his old age (I admit I roll my eyes once in a while at his requests). I realise that I had taken these simple moments in life for granted. As a friend said to me a few months back, it is indeed a blessing to care for our parents in their old age, as some do not have this privilege to do so.
I give thanks to the Lord for family and friends who walk with us and pray for us during this time: for the friend who give us love gift, for friends who took turns to bring us food when dad was hospitalised, for messages of love and support from friends and family near and far. A big heartfelt thank you from us! May God reward you for your kindness and love to us!
The title of this Psalm is: A Psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day. This psalm was the only one that was titled as such. Perhaps it was meant for the Israelite community to meditate and sing on the Sabbath day. In Old Testament times, the Sabbath was a day of rest. Not only that, it was also a day of corporate worship.
Today, we worship the Lord corporately on Sundays but we can use this psalm in our private prayers and meditation. The pandemic may create mixed emotions in us, but let us find hope and rest in God. There are still so many reasons to give thanks to God.
Psalm 92:1-2, NIV
Give Thanks to the Lord because of Who He is (vv 1-3)
1It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, 2 proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, 3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.
It is good to give thanks to God. These verses tell us:
Because He is the Lord Most High. He is the supreme Being. He was not created. He is the Creator, the Maker of this universe. There is none above Him. As created beings, it is right and appropriate to give thanks to our Creator.
We give thanks to God because of His lovingkindness and faithfulness. The psalmist urges us to declare the Lord’s lovingkindness in the morning, and His faithfulness every night.
Day and night, God is right there with us. He does not forget us. He showers us in the morning with His lovingkindness. And at night, He remains faithful. The night time is the best time to recall how He has been with us and helped us throughout the day.
Declaring God’s love and faithfulness is one of the ways to give thanks to God.
Give thanks to the Lord because of His Work (vv4-5)
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
The psalmist is rejoicing because of what God has done. It is never about us, but it is about God. The Bible frequently talks about the right hand of God. When the Bible talks about God’s right hand, it is referring to His strength. It also refers to these things: protection of God (Psalm 44:3, Psalm 17:7, Psalm 18:35; Psalm 20:6-7), the promise of God (Psalm 110:1, Acts 2:32-33), God’s provision (Psalm 16:11, Isaiah 41:10).
We can rejoice at the works of the Lord: His purpose, His protection, His promise, His provision and His wisdom.
5 How great are your works, Lord,
how profound your thoughts!
Give thanks to the Lord because He delivers us (vv 10-11)
9 For surely your enemies, Lord,
surely your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.
10 You have exalted my horn like that of a wild ox;
fine oils have been poured on me.
11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.
The Lord is great. There are no powers greater than His. And His love for us is so great. We give thanks to the Lord because He delivers us. It always seems that evil people are flourishing and can escape their punishments. But they can not escape God’s punishments. As verse 11 says, the evil and the wicked will be defeated. God’s enemies will perish. Evil people will not be able to escape from God’s punishments.
And, we give thanks to God because of the salvation we have through Jesus Christ. 2,000 years ago, God sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ into this world. He lived a perfect life—He was without sin. Because of His great love for us, Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself. The punishment that was supposed to be ours was upon Him. Jesus was crucified on the Cross for us, died and rose again on the 3rd day to give us eternal life. Whoever believes in Him will be with Him in Heaven. Because Jesus died and rose again, He has the final victory.
In Old Testament times, the horn was a symbol of strength and might. When the psalmist says that that his horn will be exalted (verse 10), that means he will be strengthened. Evil people will perish but the righteous will be exalted.
Fine oil refers to anointing. We need God’s anointing to serve Him. If not, we will lose our joy or get burned out very quickly. Ask for God’s anointing daily.
Not only does God give us strength, he gives us stability too.
Give thanks to the Lord because He will cause the righteous to flourish (vv 12-15)
12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree (verse 12). The palm tree here is the date palm. The tree grows up to 120 feet and the branches extend out to a circumference of 30 feet. These were tall and majestic trees! These trees produce fruits and the leaves were used to make fence and roofs. This is the description for the righteous! They will be strong, stable and fruitful.
The cedar trees of Lebanon were known for their size, beauty, stability, usefulness and they last long. The blessings for the righteous will be like that too: strong, stable, useful, and last for a long time.
For the righteous, they will still bear fruit in old age. Age is not a factor that stops us from serving God. As the psalmist says, the righteous will still be fruitful in their old age. They will stay fresh and green. The righteous will be so connected to God that they are always fresh and will not dry up. I would like to think that their spirit is vibrant, active and alive although physically, they may be wasting away due to old age.
The righteous are always flourishing and fruitful. Their roots are deep in the ground and yet, like the branches of the tree, they branch out to bless others.
What will the righteous do? They will proclaim the goodness of God (verse 15).
May each one of us not cease to give thanks to God. May you be like the palm trees, sinking our roots into God’s Word and reaching out to bless those around us. May you be like the palm trees, flourishing, growing strong, bearing good fruits, blessed so that God will be magnified in your lives.
This morning after breakfast, my good friend and I decided to roam around the neighbourhood. She showed me the various plants and vegetables the neighbours had planted. It was early in the morning and I was amazed at how beautiful the landscape was! The air was fresh and the view was breath-taking!For three months, the country had been in a lockdown. I had more screen time due to this too. Now that I am back at work, i rushed through the day without really paying attention to my surroundings.But, what a wonderful change of pace this morning! Being in the morning sun and its rays brushing against my skin bring healing and joy to me.Each bird has a song to sing. Each flower blooms in God’s time. Each fruit from the tree tells us that our God is a creative and faithful God. The creation sings of God’s glory! The creation tells of God’s greatness!“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities —- his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20, NIV)“for in him all things were created: Things in heaven and on earth, voisible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16, NIV)Praise be to God! His love for us is demonstrated by His creativity in the nature!I am a city girl: born in the bustling city of Hong Kong and spent the majority of my childhood there until my family migrated to Malaysia. In Hong Kong, my family, like most city people, doesn’t plant things. What a joy for the city girl to harvest Ladies’ Fingers (okra), this morning!Being in nature does wonders to my soul. It amazes me to see plants.Why don’t we intentionally slow down our pace and let nature rejuvenate us!
Perhaps at one point in our life, we want to know about our relationship with God. How close are we to God? How do we know if our relationship with God is a growing and healthy one?
We have to understand that it is not by doing good deeds that makes us close to God. God is not like a human person. Human beings are fond of the people who love us and help us in times of needs but it is different with God. No good deeds we do will make God love us more, because He already loves us. We do good deeds in response to His love and it will please His heart but we don’t do good deeds just to gain His love. He loves us so much that He sent His one and only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for our sins so that whoever believed in Him will be saved, as written in John 3:16. We are loved by God and are saved into His Kingdom because of His grace for us. Grace is given when we do not deserve it. It is God’s grace, and not because of the good deeds we do.
If we know we are loved by God, we are welcomed into a relationship with Him. We can draw near to Him. The Bible has a beautiful promise about drawing near to God. James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (ESV).
As Christians, please remember that we are on a journey until we meet Jesus face to face. We continue to grow, we continue to walk with God day by day. Heaven is our final destination. Each of us walk at different paces, some faster and some slower than the others but we are not to judge others. Each of us should focus on our own journey in our relationship with Jesus and enjoy it.
How can you tell if you are walking closely with God?
1.There are changes in you
There are changes in you. You are not who you used to be. You are now bearing the fruits of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV).
May be in the past, you had anger issues, or an addiction issue but now that you have a relationship with Jesus, you have been changed for the better. You are now patient and a person of peace and gentleness.
Perhaps in the past, you are a worrier. But now, you learn to trust God and surrender your worries to Him. You are now a joyful person. In short, you can feel there is a change in you as a person. The people around you will notice this change too: that you have peace, are more joyful, more caring and more loving.
2.You show love and mercy to others
Our God is a God who is merciful and compassionate. When you are walking closely with Him, you will know His heartbeat for the lost, the poor, the marginalised, the outcast and the unseen of the society. You are now more willing to show love and mercy and care about what is going on in the society and the world because you have experienced God’s love and mercy towards you.
3.You surrender everything to God
Once you go deeper into a relationship with God, you realise you can trust Him and that He knows what is best for you. Sure, there are struggles in you to want to listen to Him or to yourself but as you take the leap of faith and follow Him, you will know that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). He is able to do so much more than you can ever imagine for His glory (Ephesians 3:20-21).
This is when you begin to surrender everything to God. You surrender your dreams, your desires, your ambitions, your future to Him. You will be much more interested to listen to His guidance and accomplish the agenda He has for you.
4.You love to spend time with God
In the past, when you are a new Christian, you feel that reading the Bible is a boring thing to do. But now, you have fresh eyes to see the gems in God’s Word! You find God’s Word life giving. You desire to know Him more intimately. You desire to be in His presence, read His Word, worship Him with songs and pray. You love spending time with Him that you block aside time and make it a priority just so to make sure you have time alone with God daily.
5.You trust in God’s goodness
You no longer “decide” on God’s love for you by the circumstances in your life. Even when there are some unexpected challenges which cause you to grief, you still trust that God is good, His plan is the best and you can still worship Him for who He is.
This verse will be so real to you “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”(Romans 8:28, NIV).
If you have been hesitating and doubting about life as a Christian, come and see for yourself. Come and experience His love and power. May His peace and love be upon you.
This is my 9th year of full-time pastoral ministry. There is nothing else I would want to do with my life than to serve the Lord.
Of course, the “working” hours are longggg! We work in the office during the day and we have ministries at night (visitation, small groups, prayer meeting, teaching, etc). There are also urgent things: church members admitted to hospital, etc. There are times when I am envious of friends who hold office jobs and are working from Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm and then they are free for the rest of the evenings.
My office in the church. Not much in my room yet— just a desk, a good chair and a desktop computer to work on at the moment. Oh yes, there is the McDonald’s coffee. I need coffee to start the day!This is my home office set up. A big, comfortable desk, a Xiaom Yeelight Indoor Lamp that changes colour, a “blink blink” pink notebook and a Wonder Woman mug.
But, to me, it is such a great blessing to serve the Lord and His people. I read from somewhere that pastors get paid to read God’s Word. How great is that!
There are challenges, frustrations and difficulties along the way too but God is so faithful.
During this MCO period, my family and I have been experiencing blessings and so much love from our church friends. Some of them sent us delicious cooked food: curry chicken, pork, rice dumplings, Kentucky Fried Chicken, three layered pork belly, sweet and sour pork. Someone sent free range chicken. Yesterday, a church friend sent me a feast! Some of these were made by her, with love.
What a feast!
All that I can say is, “Thank you, Lord, You are so so good to me”.
“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They can not be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!” (Psalm 139:17-18)
The God that we serve is a God that enjoys giving us wonderful surprises. May you experience His love and blessings today and everyday!
For three months, the country had been in a lockdown. I had more screen time due to this too. Now that I am back at work, i rushed through the day without really paying attention to my surroundings.But, what a wonderful change of pace this morning! Being in the morning sun and its rays brushing against my skin bring healing and joy to me.
Each bird has a song to sing. Each flower blooms in God’s time. Each fruit from the tree tells us that our God is a creative and faithful God. The creation sings of God’s glory! The creation tells of God’s greatness!
Being in nature does wonders to my soul. It amazes me to see plants.Why don’t we intentionally slow down our pace and let nature rejuvenate us!
