Radience

Radience
Originally uploaded by MatthewKoh

Do Not Worry

Matthew 6:25-34

"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? Look 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If 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? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I worry a lot naturally. One of the key reasons that I worry is that the trust in God is unreal. In this season, God is dealing with one of the major hurdles in my life, which is to trust Him. On the surface, all things look spiritual but on the inside the reality is that trust is reserved only on the tangible.

This season, God has done a marvellous work of undoing that. Trust is becoming a increasing attribute in my life. Confidence in the goodness of the Almighty God is built up. Sharing is based on true experience rather than head knowledge.

As Matthew 6:33 says, the key is to seek Him first, and then all things add on.

Again, seeking Him ALWAYS entails an element of risk. More of that in later posts.

Standing Firm

StandingFirm
Originally uploaded by MatthewKoh

I like the feel of this photo. While all might look gloomy, there is a certain sense of calm and peace to this setting. The strong stone structure speaks of strength and the light ray of sunlight at the background speaks of hope. Although the trees are withered, it is still standing strong, holding on.

Dice - Not a matter of luck

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. Proverbs 16:33 (New International Version)

In Jesus plan for us, there is no such thing as "luck". Even a higher probabilistic result of throwing of dice is subjected to the Lord's control.

That's speaks a lot about our situations.

Satan has to ask God for permission to test Job, and even so clear guidelines are given to Satan. Satan has to play by God's rules!

Take heart, our troubles are all in the good hands of God.

Renew your mind today, focus on God, not the problem.

God bless your day!

Mission

Your ministry is your service to believers and your mission is your service to unbelievers.

What is you mission?

Pondering over this question has made me realised one thing. The desire to reach out has slowed over the years compared to the times when I was just a new covert more than 10 years ago.

What has changed?

I am older now, more responsibilities, becoming more socially aware of human emotions, human pride or looking good has sometimes become more important than looking foolish for Jesus. Social achievement becomes far more important than just talking about Jesus and I believe one of the most damaging lies is that it is absolutely mandatory to become successful to be able to talk to others about Jesus. People don’t listen to “unsuccessful” people.

By successful, I meant “a certain social status” in financial terms.

Indeed, my mindset has been clouded dramatically.

While Jesus did not say that it is wrong to be successful, it is important that we remain focused on the “mission” of reaching out even in our successes.

Addressing the earlier issue of needing to be “successful” prior to reaching out, a mindset change is required to know that it is by genuine love and concern; a heart can be changed, regardless of social status. Without the equivalent of a social status, the initial might be difficult but as time goes by (as it is still true that being successful has certain leverage), these surfaces can be chiselled away by the sincere heart.

Also, we need to be aware that the biblical model of prosperity can be in many forms, not just financial. You can be poor and still prospering in your Spirit or you can be so rich financially but still feel empty inside.

Rick Warren’s dad lifetime mission was to “got to save one more for Jesus”; I believe that this should be our primary mission in life too.