Things you can learn from the Bible

Sometimes there are subtle things we can learn from the Bible.

A boy approached his father who was a minister and asked him "Dad can I use the car ?" The father replied "Sure once you have improved your grades, read the bible more and cut your hair."

Few weeks later the boy approached his dad again and asked "Dad can I use the car ?"
The father replied "I'm very proud of you, your grades have improved tremendously and I noticed you were reading the Bible more. Only thing is you still did not cut your hair"

The son replied "Dad, when I read the Bible, I noticed that most of the people had long hair, Moses, Elijah, Absalom even Jesus has long hair"
 His father replied "Yes and did you noticed that most of them walked every where !"

1 Corinthians 11:14, "Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?" 

Ignoring the warning signs...

Some people just do not heed warning signs.

Recently in the route I use to go to work, they have implemented a new traffic flow which stops drivers turning right during the peak rush hour at the end of day between 5pm to 7pm. This allows a smoother flow of traffic out from the industrial zone where I work. There are signs indicating this at all the traffic light junctions and the lights have been set to red during this time for traffic that are affected by this.

Previously the police have placed cones to block off the junction to force the traffic flow into the one direction. Now that they have not placed these barriers, drivers either do not notice the signs or are ignoring them altogether as they wait at the junction and will inadvertently try to dash across the traffic flow if there are any gaps in the traffic. This endangers not only their lives but lives of others as they persistently ignore the warning.

Similarly in our spiritual lives, there are danger / warnings. It is up to us to see them and act on them. If we choose to ignore them then we will need to face the consequences of our actions which may not only affect us but people around us.

Isaiah 53:3-4 He was despised and rejected by mankind

Isaiah 53:3-4 (New International Version, ©2011)

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.

Are we always more critical and hard on those who should be closer to us ? Seem like we have been doing this for a long time. Inflicting pain on those that sought to help us.

In this age of massive consumption and credit cards...did you realised that the most important credit card was given to us all so long ago ? Best of all there is no bill at the end of the month, no over due payment and no minimum repayment. This is a real CREDIT card which has been topped up with the blood and sufferring of Jesus Christ on the cross. Your account has been paid for and your statement has been cleared. No more statements ! Did you get your JC card already ...?

Peter 2:2-3 Like newborn babies...

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”


- 1 Peter 2:2-3

Some times we come accross a passage in the Bible that really boggles the mind. We all know the benefits of milk and the importance in the first few months of a newborn baby diet. The spiritual milk that is being refered to here is the word of God. We are what we eat both physically and spiritually. So if we are putting good things into ourselves, then we will be better. If we are putting junk into ourselves then the end product will not be good.
 

The pureness of milk gives us the helps to put this in perspective of what the word of God gives to us in body and soul.
 

Have you had your milk today ?

God's wonderous way...

Was wondering around youtube and discovered this wonderous testimony. There are a lot of debates on God's love and what more then the forgiveness of someone who is not a Christian ...yet.

A most amazing testimony which depicts God's love and mercy. View this only if you have an open mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz-Wy65i2No

The love and mercy of God the truth the way the light...happened here in Malaysia.

Joshua 3:15-16 Leap of faith

Joshua 3:15-16


"As soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away."

God always teaches us about faith and trust by directing us down a path we think is too hard to travel - into circumstances we don't understand. After all, if we could clearly see and understand, there wouldn't be a need for faith. But we often miss the opportunity to experience the true glory of God because we fail to obey and take the first step.

Sometimes we get plunged into a situation far beyond our control, just like the people of Japan these few days with the earthquake and tsunami devastating the country. We may not need such an extreme event. It may be a new job, a new investment ...but faith means trusting in God to lead us to some where safe, some where good. Are we willing to get out of our comfort zone and to take the first step...the leap of faith.

Japan 8.8 Earthquake and Tsunami

Our thoughts are with the people of Japan as a 8.8 earthquake and tsunami hits Japan today.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/09/japan-quake-idUSTOE72802A20110309

http://www.newshawker.com/japan-earthquake-today/article-6818

Our thoughts and paryers are with them in this trying time.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, God

Psalm 139:23-24 (New International Version, ©2011)

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

No matter what you feel, think or do,
God knows what lies deep in your heart.
Your deepest thoughts, fears or longings
There is nothing that you can hide
From the one that made you
Your God
And Creator

Being human
We are full of weakness and temptations
There is nothing that we can do by ourselves alone
So we need to call upon help from our Father above
To help us over come our weakness

Pakistan's only Christian member of government is assasinated

Was to sad to hear of the assassination of the only Christian member of government in Pakistan, Shahbaz Bhatti. It is unfortunate that a minority's actions bring about a bad reputation for the Muslim world as they use violence for anything that they disagree with. Unlike normal rational people who can argue with words and look for compromise in any situation, these people prefer to maim and kill through the rocket, bombs and gun. They do not do their religion any favours by advocating hatred in the name of religion and target people based on their religious views.

Although God teaches us to turn the other cheek, our human side sometimes bears a huge weight and struggle to forgive and offer the other cheek. Guess this is the eternal struggle that we must endure to show the world that there is a better way to resolve issues and that the love that God gives us over comes all.

1Corinthians 13:1-3 that we might understand how we can always act as Christ would have us too

I know many of our Muslim friends who have been shocked and outraged at these people who have hijacked the headlines and perverted the image of their religion, have also struggled with the reputation that has been thrust upon them.

We can only hope the the more well balanced and rational majority will prevail against these minority.

For our part we will continue to pray and perservere in the knowledge our God is an Almighty and Loving God and his plans our beyond our comprehension. How these events play out in the bigger picture, only time will tell.

God works in mysterious ways !

'God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform'. These are the first two lines of the Hymn by William Cowper (1731-1800)

This is truely a wonderous statement and if you take a moment to reflect, you can see this happening every day in your life. Look not for big miracles but observe the small treads that lead you to where you are. It happens without you even realizing it is happening.

For example yesterday I decided to pop out during my lunch hour to pick up lunch and some grocerries. Now with the green initiative, business are charging for plastic bags. So while picking up lunch for myself and my colleague, I brought along my re-usable bag. Normally I would have only brought 1 reusable for the grocerries.

When I reach back to the office, we were informed that the room that we were using had to be vacated and we needed to move to a new room. Fortunately I had the extra bag which was used for carrying the lunch to use to move my things. Everything was moved in 1 go. Sure this is just a small item in my life but looking a the treads that bind, you can't help but wonder...

If he takes care of the small things in your life...should you worry of the bigger things ?