Imitating Christ

The angels must have carried her

Type the word "miracle" into the search box of this blog, and you will see miracles of all kinds recorded over the years in my walk with Christ. There were miracles in the lives of loved ones, miracles of healing, miracles of broken relationships restored, and miracles at the workplace.

Tonight, we witnessed yet again a miracle for our family. Our second daughter Rachel was minding baby Grace in the bedroom while the rest of us were pre-occupied with our own things. I was at that time thinking about what to share for a devotional session this Thu at my workplace, while Veron was preparing the bath water for Grace. Suddenly, Rachel came out to tell me what happened moments ago.

While Grace, who is 10 months old and is able to crawl rather fast by now, was left on the bed, Rachel turned to switch on the fan. When she turned around, she saw Grace on the floor. Grace had fallen off the bed, which was half a metre high, onto the tiled floor! However, she was unhurt and she did not even cry or seem flustered. She had landed on her hands and knees, instead of the head. Praise the LORD!

Veron said, "Angels must have carried her."

I should know.

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circa 2000.

I was in the bedroom minding my eldest girl, Deborah, who was born barely months ago. She was on our bed, which was about half a metre high, while I kept watch over her by the side. Moments later, the unthinkable happened - I dozed off!

I was a busy young executive then, working long hours, and often overnight. This was a Saturday morning, a time with the family, which I looked forward to each week. But I was also an overworked person, and by weekend, I was a spent cell.

And so it happened. I dozed off while minding my daughter on the bed on a Saturday morning. After what seemed like eternity, I awoke to the sound of a baby's cries. It took me a while to even figure out what was happening. When I saw Deborah on the floor, and realized that I wasn't dreaming, I was horrified! She had apparently rolled off the bed and landed on her back, and I presumed she hit the back of her head on the floor, which was thankfully covered with parquet rather than tiles. I held her up and prayed for her. I was hit by pangs of a guilty conscience. She was just a tiny baby, and only learning how to turn. How could I, the father, be so careless and unreliable? Can't I even summon enough energy to keep watch over a helpless tot?

But praise GOD, Deborah was just fine! She had no bump on her head, and did not vomit or appear unwell. In fact, she stopped crying after a while, and was back to her usual self. I was crying for joy! Despite the fact that Deborah was well within my reach, I wasn't able to prevent the fall, but GOD, who is ever so faithful, intervened in the nick of time and let us experience this miracle.

"The angels must have carried her," I told Veron, and I whispered another prayer of thanks.

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Miracles, signs and wonders, are for an unbelieving generation.

Pharoah and the Egyptians were shown signs and wonders more powerful than what they could conjure up before they released Moses and the Israelites to worship GOD. The Israelites witnessed the parting of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, the pillar of cloud and fire in the wilderness, GOD's provision of drinking water, manna and quails in unlikely places, among many signs and wonders. Jesus healed the man with the shriveled hand, caused the blind to see, healed the 10 lepers, raised Lazarus from the dead, calmed the storm, walked on water, cast out demons, fed more than 10,000 people on 2 occasions with bread and fish, and performed many other miracles.

Signs and wonders point us to The Almighty GOD. In the process, some believed but not all. Many experienced the miracles recorded in the Bible, many ate the manna, loaves and fish, but few believed upon the LORD or kept the faith.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 6:20-25:

And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

Miracles are for us to remember, and to strengthen our faith in GOD. Writing down and recalling miracles help us remember the LORD's faithfulness.

The Israelites were instructed to take GOD's commandments seriously, to "lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:" - Deuteronomy 11:18-20

Why shouldn't we do likewise? Because "your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did." - Deuteronomy 11:7

Don't let GOD's miracles go to waste. Remind yourselves of His faithfulness. Share the miracles He has done for you with others to build up their faith. Tell of the greatest miracle - the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and GOD's gift of salvation in Him, to those who have yet to believe upon the LORD Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

Thomas

Potter's Hand

Beautiful Lord, Wonderful Saviour,
I know for sure, all of my days are held in Your hands,
Crafted into Your perfect plan.

You gently call me, into Your Presence,
Guiding me by, Your Holy Spirit,
Teach me dear Lord,
To live all of my life through Your eyes.

I'm captured by, Your Holy calling,
Set me apart, I know You're drawing me to Yourself,
Lead me Lord I pray.

Take me, mould me, use me, fill me,
I give my life to the Potter's hands.
Hold me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me,
I give my life to the Potter's hands.

Times when we don't, He knows. Days when we can't, He can. Nights when
we worry, He understands.
And until you get alone with Him, you wouldn't be able to hear. Until
you are ready, you wouldn't be able to be. But He will give you rest.
May not come from a change in circumstance. May not come from removing
those who persecute you. May not come from turning the hearts of those
who have hurt you.
But it can from a change in how you perceive circumstance. It can come
from praying for those who persecute you. It can come from giving
yourself over to the One who knows best.
That in itself will usher in rest. Brings a refreshing into life.
Prepare you for the next phase in your life. One seen, understood and
lived through His eyes. Trustingly, boldly, freely, calmly.

He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never
perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are
shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is
ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice,
though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all
kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth
than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved
genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ
is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even
though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with
an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of
your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Peter 1:3-9 NIV.

(Shalom) Peace be with you,
Sv ".+

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No room for failure, no room for God

"Singapore is a very capable nation with a good work ethic. We can easily program God out. We plan well. We work well. We do our budgets well. We don't leave a whole lot of room for God to deliver us because we have it under control." Don Moen, IMPACT, Vol 33 No.22 Apr+May 2009.

I agree with Don, except that I suspect this happens to the Christian in practically every modern and successful society. We either plan and execute well, or we are stamped with the word - "FAILED". It's just not acceptable to say "we don't know what's gonna happen next" or ask "what contingency plan?". If Moses were to live today, he would have been ousted right from the start, because he brought the Israelites out of Egypt without a budget or even an itinerary. What was he thinking? He was anything but a leader, according to modern day business schools.

We, Christians (oh, thanks to Moses, by the way), are supposed to be more enlightened today with the benefit of hindsight and lessons learnt recorded in the Bible. We should have understood God better, that He supplements our weaknesses with His strength, and that without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Sadly, we only became more narrow-minded spiritually as men's words from the marketplace and everywhere squeeze out God's.

We slap KPIs on God's work and appraise performance using metrics influenced by the business class. We get obsessed with measurable results and faithfully apply methodologies, templates, and frameworks. We do budgets and analyze variances in the name of better governance and transparency. We expect instant justification and evidence. There's no room for uncertainty, no room for failure, no room for that intangible thing known as "faith" which characterizes men of old, such as Abraham, Jacob and Moses. We will never be like the widow who just about used up the last drop of oil and flour before her encounter with Elijah. Doesn't she plan ahead? We certainly would not have followed Moses out of Egypt without first seeing his master plan or getting satisfactory answers to our tough AGM-style questions. We know better, or so, we think.

The problem with man since the days of Adam is that we like to know and have the answer now, and the devil knew that all along. Somehow, waiting in the face of uncertainty seems like a bad thing that doesn't square with our pride or reputation, and again, the devil knew that. For us, it's only good if it is now or never, 100% or nothing. There's no room for "maybe".

Well, maybe it's time we ask: Have we planned or programmed God out of our lives? Have we left no contingency for God to show up?

Make no mistake. I am not advocating reckless and irresponsible living, so that God can clean up our mess. I am certainly not suggesting that we don't plan at all and simply drift along. Planning, good stewardship and faith can co-exist. The key to that is learning to listen to and wait upon the Lord, even at the planning stage.

Many of us are only too eager to get the planning done and start executing. Even the calendar is mechanically filled up without so much as asking God whether that's what He wants. If only we learn to listen more and be patient. God doesn't make mistakes like we do. He is perfect. If we don't see His plan unfolding after we have heard Him clearly, we don't have to activate Plan B, like Sarah and Abraham did with Hagar. Faith simply means trusting God to do His part, and that means setting aside room for God, not just to stand and watch, but to do something significantly more.

Thomas

In the Eyes of The Forsaken - Through The Master's Eyes

Jesus, we lift You on our praises,so every eye can see Your face, Your power and grace, behold You as You really are.

Brighter than all the stars of heaven, our worship is for You alone, we build You this Throne of Praise, we build You this Throne of Praise.

A soulless emptiness occupied the eyes of the forsaken; an unwavering look that neither offend nor intrude. Blank, void of any sign of life.

Sorrow welled up in His heart. His love for her uncaused, compassion for one marginalised. He desires to restore wholeness in her life.

A woman who had suffered a condition of hemorrhaging for twelve years - a long succession of physicians had treated her, and treated her badly, taking all her money and leaving her worse off than before -

had heard about Jesus. She slipped in from behind and touched his robe. She was thinking to herself, "If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well." The moment she did it, the flow of blood dried up.

She could feel the change and knew her plague was over and done with. At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, "Who touched my robe?"

His disciples said, "What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you're asking, 'Who touched me?' Dozens have touched you!"

But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story.

Jesus said to her, "Daughter, you took a risk of faith, and now you're healed and whole. Live well, live blessed! Be healed of your plague." Mark 5:25-34 The Message.

This woman would have been shunned by people in her society as anyone having contact with her would have been made ceremonially unclean.

When a woman has a discharge of blood for many days at a time other than her monthly period or has a discharge that continues beyond her period, she will be unclean as long as she has the discharge, just as in the days of her period. Leviticus 15:25 NIV.

Having exhausted all her wealth and being treated badly by those whom she had turned to for help, she was left with nothing but faith that Jesus would heal her. So she reached out to him.

When Jesus felt that power had gone out from him, he was graciously determined to commend the woman of her faith and affirm wholeness and healing in her life.

On the contrary, it was the disciples' disbelief that Jesus had asked such an oxymoronic question and their disrespectful retort that totally exposed their ignorance on matters of faith and who Jesus was;

and the value of a person to him, especially the overlooked ones. Are we today displaying similar lack of faith and understanding in who Jesus is? In how a person is valued in His eyes?

Jesus, we lift You on our praises,so every eye can see Your face, Your power and grace, behold You as You really are.

Brighter than all the stars of heaven, our worship is for You alone, we build You this Throne of Praise......because in Your eyes, we have found what we are really really worth......all Your love.

Sv ".+