God Answers "Why"

Hebrews 11:24-28 (NIV)

24By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. 26He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

Hebrews 11:24-28 (KJV)

Hebrews 11:24-28 (King James Version)
24By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;
25Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.
27By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
28Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
There’s no record in the Bible of Moses having had a supernatural encounter with Christ. Instead, it’s the other way around, Jesus was transfigured in the presence of Moses and Elijah. So, the writer of Hebrews here is writing from his own perspective, not necessarily Moses’. All Moses knew is that God will raise up another prophet like him, among his people, to guide the people of Israel when he is gone. He only had the vaguest idea of Christ though he did have an idea of Him. But this knowledge he only had after they had already crossed the desert into the Promised Land.

As for Israel, the Lord had referred to her as His “first born.” Thus, his word to Pharaoh was, “Let my first born go.” It is also interesting to know that in the New Testament Jesus is referred to as the first born of all believers. Thus, when God looked at the nation of Israel, He actually saw His own Son in that nation because it was through that Nation that Jesus, the Son of God, would come in the flesh. And so, the sole purpose of Israel, it seems, was to bear for the world, the Messiah, the Christ.
This ties up with Revelation 12

Revelation 12
The Woman and the Dragon
1A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
7And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
12Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
13When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

No wonder Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall down from Heaven”
(Luke 10:17-19 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name."
He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.)
and “the prince of this world is coming.”

(John 14:30,31 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.)

A fierce battle actually occurred between Satan and the Lord of Hosts. Whether Jesus seeing Satan falling to earth was a phenomenon He saw in the beginning of time or He was referring to a vision which would still happen, such as the one describing Satan's being hurled to the earth in Revelation 12 above, I do not know.  All I know is that Satan lost the battle and lost his place in Heaven. Then he was hurled to the earth. Apparently, Satan and his activities were quite hidden before Jesus came. It looks like only the anointing of the Messiah could expose his cohorts and their activities. Probably why demons seem to have surfaced only when Jesus started ministering in the New Testament. Whether there is another major hurling down to earth of Satan in the future when we are right at the End of Days to fulfill Revelation 12 is something that remains to be yet seen. There’s actually no record of people having demons in the Old Testament. There sure was demonic activity, but not demons in people. Well, there was a spirit that tormented Saul… but that's about all.

And now the devil, the dragon, is at war with the offspring of the woman Israel. Now we know that the offspring of Israel is the church- “those who obey the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” For the Church came from the nation of Israel. The chief cornerstone of the Church, Christ, is a Jew. And his 12 apostles and the Old Testament prophets, the foundations of the Church, were Jews.

(Ephesians 2:19-21 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
Rev 21:14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.)

Now at least I understand these parts of Scripture. The others remain vague, but now, God has spoken:… “but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me.” (John 14:31) For now, that answers all my questions of ‘Why?” It’s all for the testimony of Jesus.

Moses knew he was just a thread in the fabric of God’s plans. We are all like Moses. And like Moses, we only get to see a vague image of the whole picture of God’s plan. And by faith, we work along with Him to finish that fabric, all for the testimony of Jesus, the glory of God.

Embroidery image from
www.threadartist.com

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Dated 14 Feb 2009

First Love

Here's a beautiful song on first love, movie theme of "Zapped" starring Scott Baio released in 1982. Got to Believe in Magic

Happy Valentine's and enjoy!

Baio's photo from http://www.fortheretarded.com/?p=304
 
 

The Thorny Life

Luke 8

14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

15But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.


Most often we are content with just being Christians - believers. We live a mediocre life without realizing it. We never realize the potential that God intended for us. Only one in every 4 persons who hear the true Gospel message actually bears fruit a hundred-fold. So many of us persist for a long time as believers but somewhere in mid-life we get bogged down by the pleasures of life, its cares and its riches. When God has blessed us with so much it’s so easy to just live like the rest of the world does. But it is a deliberate act of faith to actually strip our life down to bare simplicity, if we are to persist in bringing forth fruit with patience. And it takes a long time, probably a life-time. That’s why the important ingredient called patience is added in.

Sometimes my faith is really tested. Should I carry on? Am I not stretching myself? Didn’t Jesus say I should love my neighbor as I love myself? That means I should take care of myself first. And when I stretch myself physically, how much faith do I have to trust that God will take care of me?

The questions are never easy and sometimes we just have to experiment with life to find the answers. It is not so easy to hear the voice of God especially with the hurried pace of life that we have in this generation. But when we keep asking God, in time, He will give the answers. I know He will, because He has done that before with my other questions.

Photo by my older daughter

Cuts Across the Grain

Luke 3:7-20

7John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

10"What should we do then?" the crowd asked.

11John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."

12Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?"

13"Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told

them. 14Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?"
He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely—be content with your pay."

15The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. 16John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 18And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them.

19But when John rebuked Herod the tetrarch because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and all the other evil things he had done, 20Herod added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.

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God's message to us is still the same - it cuts across the grain of our very nature - the worldly, fleshly nature we are made of. God requires nothing more, or less: We must deny our selfish nature.

John the Baptist's message here can be classified into two categories: Practice charity and practice integrity in our work or in whatever we do. It is so easy for us to enjoy the fruits of our labor and pamper ourselves with more possessions, more holidays, better cars, nicer homes, etc. We say we deserve it because we work so hard. God only asks us to share what He has blessed us with. Share our food and our possessions. When we start thinking of sharing we start asking "with whom?" And then we start looking around and become more aware of the misery and the poverty around us. Sharing is loving. And Jesus said the same thing, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

It's so humanly of us to often abuse our power, especially in the workplace, or even at home or in our community. It's so easy to get blind in this area. When we become popular and influential we tend to overstep the boundaries and limitations that are in place. Often times these boundaries become blurred because of ignorant and consenting people around us. Abuse only happens when there are abusers and abuse-tolerant people. But for one who is in power and in the position to initiate or stop abuse, God expects this: Exercise self-restraint. And we can't do that if we are already blinded by power, influence and popularity. It is only when we remain connected with God that we remain restrained. Self-discipline comes from within and the power within can only come from one who is pure, holy and supernatural - God Himself. We need the presence of God, the Holy Spirit, to fulfill these two basic demands of God: Charity and Integrity.

God's demands do cut across the grain of our very nature. We need to flow with the Holy Spirit to go against that fleshly nature. The Holy Spirit is pure, holy and supernatural. Christianity never comes cheap. It cuts across the grain of our human nature. It demands dying to one's self. And that's the reason why it continues to be refreshing, life-giving, hope-inspiring and beautiful. All we need to do is call on His Name - the Name of a Person called Jesus. If we call long and hard enough we will find help from Him in this seemingly hopeless, ugly and dying generation.

Sadly, not many of us can take the cutting words of John. Yet, he was so filled with the Holy Spirit that he could not help but preach what God told him to preach. And for that, he was imprisoned - cut off from society. Eventually, he lost his head. The messenger of Hope paid with his life to get this message of hope across to us. Christianity never comes cheap.

Photo by my older daughter


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Aggressive People Find the Kingdom of God

Matt 11:12

12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. (NIV)

12And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. (KJV)


Luke 16:16
16"The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.


-----> We need to get "violent" to find God and His kingdom. Put in more effort, that's what it means. Spend more time reading His word, praying, seriously praying, even fasting. This is what others call "spiritual warfare."


Image from www.pbs.org

Do Not Worry

Date: April 2008

Matt 6:25-33
25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.


Luke 12:22-31
22Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[a]? 26Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?
27"Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.


Image from www.wunderground.com

To Receive the Holy Spirit

image from http://www.marengocreekfarms.com


Date: April 2008

Luke 11:9-13
9"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
11"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for[a] a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

-----> All we need to do is ask,... ask persistently!

The Gospel, According to Jesus

Rose plant in a nursery here in Auckland, Dec 08

Date : April 2008

Luke 10: 25-28

25On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

26"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"

27He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'[c]; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'[d]"

28"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

---------> Simple, eh? The trouble with us is, we never put in the effort to know how God wants to be loved and what He says about how to love our neighbor.