Blessed to be a blessing.

I always love to read on the topic of God's blessing. Simply because I have seen the goodness and favor of God in life since my younger days. He is a faithful and a loving Father. Talking about blessing, I believe God has not simply poured out His blessing on us for us to stockpile them. God has called us out, set us apart to bestow His great Love on us. But there is much more than only that.

One of the good example in the Bible on the topic of blessing is Abraham. I believe God has blessed us for the same reason He blessed Abraham, to bless all the families of the earth. One of the promises of God to Abraham was to make a great nation through Abraham. Genesis 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

When we read this passage of Scripture, the first thing that probably comes to mind are all the promises that God gave to Abraham and the nation of Israel. But I realize that there is a bigger lesson that we can from this verse.

We tend to focus on the part of that scripture where God does the blessing — but why did He bless Him? The answer lies in the passage! The Lord told Abraham: “I will bless you — and you shall be a blessing.” Abraham was blessed so that he could be a blessing!

The same is true today. The Lord has done so much for us! He has blessed us with so many things, the most important of which is His mercy in that He died for sinners like us! He has imparted us with so much grace! He has allowed us to come into His Kingdom and be a part of the great things He’s doing! What we have received should not only be for our own enjoyment but for the salvation of a dying world around us!

God gives freely to us so that we may give freely to others! Let’s not be afraid to give out the blessings God has granted us! Share God’s goodness! To whom much is given, much is required!

Be Blessed.

Miracles of Life

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt I’m sure several million people were wondering, “How am I going to be fed? How am I going to survive in this wilderness?” Imagine the logistical nightmare. An incalculable quantity of food and water were needed to survive in the desert. Where would it come from? Yet, in this seemingly impossible situation, God provided!

He provided Manna from heaven. When the people first saw the Manna on the ground, they wondered in amazement saying to each other, “What is this?”, which is exactly what “Manna” means in Hebrew – “What is it?” They were receiving the food of angels, [Psalm 78:24-25] which sustained them the entire time in the desert.

But we know what happened as time passed…the people got used to this miraculous provision, began to take it for granted, and even be bored with it, and, of course…the wonder of God’s supernatural provision evaporated. Israel lost sight of the miracle that God was doing in their lives each and every day.

Each and every day is a miracle from God. Each day of our lives we walk through a world filled with the wonders and glory of the Lord. But we, too, can become dull and lose the wonder of all that He has done and provided for us, even our very salvation. We need to awaken to the daily miracles of life, and to the never ending opportunities the Lord is opening, to pour His love into us, and through us. As we do, may we always be saying to ourselves, “Wow – what amazing love is this that’s been given to me!”

Earth Hour 2010

ViveAlive supports the Earth Hour initiative and suggest that all the readers to observe Earth Hour by switching off all the lights at home at 8.30 p.m. on 27th March 2010.....if you are driving, please don't switch of your car lights. Let's together support this program because we can make a difference.

Ambition!!!

J. Oswald Sanders, a Godly man and former director of Overseas Missionary Fellowship, once wrote about a position he desired. As he contemplated lobbying for the position, at one point, while walking through the city of Auckland, New Zealand, a verse of Scripture came to his mind, “Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not!”

Sanders later said, “The words came just as though it was God speaking. There were crowds all around me, and no one else heard the voice, but I heard it all right!” He went on to say, “I believe that was a real turning point in my service to the Lord.” As a result, he never sought the position, but later it was opened for him, in God’s timing.

The world’s standards of greatness — money, success, power and fame — mean nothing to God. If we truly aspire to greatness, we will learn from Jesus’ example. He didn’t exemplify His greatness by conquest or by riches or worldly success – but rather by humility, gentleness and servanthood.

If we truly want to be great in God’s kingdom, we will decide to transform worldly “ambition” into “Godly ambition”. We will not seek honor, but humility. We won’t desire power to rule, but to become the greatest servant. Beyond everything, we will long to be great in His love…and through His love, influence and transform the world around us. These are “ambitions” worthy of our Lord and Savior, who, because of His great love and humility, was exalted above every other name, and also promised that He will humble the exalted…and, exalt the humble.

Jeremiah 45:5 says "Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the LORD, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.' "

Be Blessed.

The Gibeonite Principles

Gibeon made peace with Israel, and were among them. - Joshua 10:1 NKJV

The Gibeonites were a nation God told Joshua to destroy. Although they were heathens, they were wise enough to know they were on the wrong side. So they disguised themselves and talked Joshua into making a covenant with them, saying, '…We are your servants"… ' (Joshua 9:8 NKJV). When their old allies heard they'd joined forces with Israel, they declared war on them. Because of their covenant, Joshua fought for them and delivered them.

This story teaches us three important principles.

First, in order to follow God, you have to 'make the break' with your past. One of the things that hurts us is that we want to move forward without making waves or upsetting anybody. You've got to get beyond that! '… If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new' (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV).

Second, the Gibeonites were willing to humble themselves and ask for help. No matter how gifted you are, there will be times when you need to reach out to others and say, 'Hey, I'm going through some stuff, I need help, let's get together.' There's power in 'holy communion'.

Third, when you remember where you were you'll be grateful for where you are. The Gibeonites came on board as wood cutters and water carriers; they were happy just to serve.

Forget about being a spiritual celebrity. Just serve! Serving is vertical: 'Serve the Lord with gladness… ' (Psalm 100:2 NKJV). It's also horizontal: '… through love serve one another' (Galatians 5:13 NKJV). When it comes to wisdom for living, you can't improve on 'the Gibeonite principles'.


Note: The article above is taken from daily devotion email from The Word for Today brought by TheVine in association with The Rhema Broadcasting Group Inc, New Zealand and UCB International Ltd

You are not alone.......

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.

Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him . Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he satstoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, Sitting on the stump beside us. When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

I am reminded of Psalms 121. As we read this Psalms, we will discover that we see God in four ways: as Helper in verses 1 and 2; as Keeper in verses 3 and 4; as Protector in verses 5 and 6; and as Preserver in verses 7 and 8. I love verse 1 of this Psalms that says "I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth ". I love this verse simply because it is the only action that I need to take, that is to look up to the LORD in my times of trouble and HE will be there just beside me - being my Helper, my Keeper, my Protector and my Preserver. What a mighty and awesome God we serve !!!!

Be Blessed.

Faith in Action !!!

When the twelve spies were sent into Canaan to spy out the land, ten returned with a bad report. Their assessment was that it was impossible to conquer the land that God had promised them. Forgetting how God had led them with a pillar of fire by night, and fed them manna from heaven during the day, brought forth water out of a rock, and parted the Red Sea, they saw the situation with only their natural eyes, failed to walk by faith, and succumbed to fear.

Joshua and Caleb however, returned with a good report. Refusing to be discouraged by what they saw, they fully trusted that their supernatural God was not going to break His promise to His people, Israel.

We are living in days where the world looks bleak, and the evils seem to grow more threatening and dangerous. How will we react? Will we be devastated and terrorized like the 10 spies with a bad report? Or will we do something extraordinary — will we walk by faith like Joshua and Caleb, trust in the love and power of our God, and seize the opportunities that are at hand?

Let’s walk by faith and stand firm in it, facing every challenge, and laying hold of every opportunity that awaits us. May Joshua and Caleb be our examples of faith and courage in these days. With our God going before us, we also, can take the land, glorifying Him in every battle.

Moral decay...!!!!

We are living in a world today that is going through a state of moral decay. Immorality is becoming so rampant. On Saturday, there was an article in TheStar about a 14 years old schoolgirl who admitted that she was addicted to kinky sex acts after watching pornographic video clips downloaded from the internet. The girl is not from big cities like Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru or Georgetown that is affected by modernization. Instead, she is from a small fishing town called Besut. Besut is located in the state of Terengganu.

We are living in a generation where even small town like Besut is well connected with Internet that makes information and knowledge acquired easily. Unfortunately it is also subject to abuse such as the case above. As I reflect upon what is happening, my heart cries out seeing such moral decay in our nation.

I believe the answer to many of the social problems is for Christian to start practicing to be the "salt of the earth" and "light of the world". We are able to influence values day in, day out through bringing a distinctively Christian approach to the people we come across as we go about our daily lives. This is what we mean by being "salt and light" in the world (Matthew 5:13,14), where by living distinctively Christian lifestyles we seek to influence those around us, and through this the values, decisions and priorities adopted by our communities.

Somehow in the midst of all this social turmoil, the Christian has lost their saltiness. We lost our edge to influence positive values in our society. Many years ago, the missionaries who came to our nation influence good values to our young people through their education program and social concern. But somehow, over time, that impact has diminish. Salt which loses its saltiness is useless. Jesus' teaching is challenging. There is little room for those who are Christians, but who have lost their saltiness, or their "edge". Without the testimony of lives lived out with integrity and consistency with the principles that Christians claim to follow, the testimony of our lips is useless.

It is also timely for us to shine like never before. Stop hiding our light. Stop shining only on Sunday. The light that we bring, is not our own light - it is not who we are in ourselves, but rather the light of God shining through our lives as the Holy Spirit works through them. We hide our light when we fail to confront with behaviors that are not in line with Jesus' teaching. We hide our light when we don't care for the needs of others, and walk by on the other side : since we have missed an opportunity to let the light of Jesus' compassion shine out in acts of kindness. If we let the light of the Holy Spirit at work in us shine through, then we bring glory to God, and there can be no greater joy than being able to give glory to the Father as we go through our daily lives.

When Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth" (v.13) and "You are the light of the world"(v.14), He made a statement of fact. He did not say we should be the salt or we should be the light of the world. He said we are salt and light. The crucial thing is for us, as believers, to function as salt and light are intended to function. That is the purpose of the analogies Christ uses in His statements.

Be Blessed.

Tough Love

Misguided sympathy is dangerous because:

a) it enables someone to feel sorry for themselves, yet take no action to change things

b) it digs the hole deeper, so they've less chance of getting out of it

c) it creates a 'learned helplessness' guaranteeing they'll feel even more hopeless.

Sometimes tough love is what's needed. Although Jesus had compassion for hurting people, He never merely felt sorry for them. Whenever possible He helped them to help themselves. Before He worked on their behalf, He often asked them to do something. And sometimes His instructions seemed radical.

For example, "Arise, take up your bed, and go… "' (Matthew 9:6 NKJV). '"Your daughter is dead."… Jesus… said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe."' (Mark 5:35-36 NKJV). 'He spat on the ground and made clay… He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay… He said… "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" So he went… and came back seeing' (John 9:1-7NKJV). How could a crippled man rise, take up his bed and walk? How could a man who had just received the report of his daughter's death be expected to stay calm? How could a blind man even see to get to a certain pool of water?

Instead of merely feeling sorry for people, Jesus moved them to action. He helped them to get their minds off their problems, and motivated them to do something about them. At times we feel like we're being unkind if we confront people who have problems, when in reality 'tough love' is what they need.

Be Blessed.

Integrity is greater than walls!

The Great Wall of China is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It stretches over 4,000 miles (6,400 KM) and was built to protect China from the barbaric hordes to the north. The designers of the wall made it so high that it could not be scaled, so thick that it could not be penetrated, and so long that no one could go around it.

Yet, during the first hundred years of the wall’s existence China was successfully invaded three times, without the wall having been climbed or breached. So how, you ask, did the invaders raid China? Well, the problem wasn’t the wall – it was the gatekeepers! In each of these invasions the barbarians simply bribed the gatekeepers who opened the gates, so the enemies just walked right through.

The protection of the Great Wall of China was only as secure as its gatekeepers. What a lesson, since, don’t we all also have “gates to keep”…our eyes, and our ears, and our mouth? No matter how strong we may feel, we can never forget that these points of entry will be seen by our enemies and there will be attempts to bribe or seduce us so they can break through. We must not allow the “barbaric hordes” to invade our lives by failing to keep careful watch at these entry points –our integrity and our authority depend on the security of our gates!