Whistle series (290110)

Are we open to the divine? Do we have space for God’s everyday miracles in our life? Is our heart open to omnipotence? Do we accord those things that we cannot explain or understand to the mysterious stirrings in the spiritual realm or relegate it to all things material? Let’s face it…no one in this world is immune from the spellbinding effects of the mysterious, the awe-inspiring and the appallingly hair-raisings. Recently, in our cell group, for the first time in many years, we experienced our every own “unexplainable” or the unfathomable.

In one of our cell members’ house, there appeared red markings on the floor with such frequency and randomness that completely stumped all those who were called to investigate its cause or causes. Many humanly rational theories were thrown into the air and none of them stuck. None of them makes sense. In fact, by the process of reduction, that which remained was nothing short of phenomenal, unparalleled and plainly strange. The funny thing is that the harder we tried to understand the odd red markings, the less we were intellectually satisfied with it. In the end, what seems most rational is to adopt the least rational approach to explain the strange apparitions. We had to raise our hands up to heaven and accept that there is more to life’s mysteries than the interplay of natural laws.

So, what’s the lesson for that night? Well, for a marginal or borderline believer, the lesson is this: that Jesus was not delusional when he engaged with and defeated the devil in the wilderness. Neither was He hallucinating when he went into the synagogue in Capernaum and rebuked an unclean spirit with sheer authority and achieved overwhelming success when the unclean spirit convulsed and left its host with a loud cry (Mark 1:21). Finally, the lesson is that Jesus was not exaggerating when He commanded and cast a horde of demons named “legion” into a large herd of pigs as they rushed down a steep bank into the lake and was drown (Luke 8:27). For your information, a legion normally numbered from 4200 to 6000 soldiers. Imagine the power that can be harnessed in the name of Jesus against the forces of darkness when even thousands of demons were helpless to defend and withstand. I guess that Joel 2:32 declares it well with this victory chant, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.”

Another lesson for that night is that it is a wake up call to all believers, young and old. Beloved, it is time we make room in our lives for the divine. It is time we take the things of God seriously. It is also time we raise the bar or set a standard against the spiritual floodgates that are assigned to our lives or our loved ones’ lives to create havoc in our spirit, instill fear in our soul, and threaten all our fundamental relationships. Isaiah puts it well, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.” So, do we measure up to God’s standard?

You may not know this, but in my primary school, I was quite an athlete. I was a sprinter, a long jumper and best of all, I was a high jumper. The latter sport involves throwing your body in a tactical way over a horizontal bar or beam that is balanced delicately between two poles. Because the bar is so precariously balanced, any slight bodily contact with the bar will topple it. So, focus and discipline are essential to ensure a successful jump over it. Although the training can be hard and at times, frustrating, the reward of overcoming the obstacle set before you is extremely satisfying. More importantly, the reward is made ever so sweet and thrilling each time you manage to scale the bar as it inches higher and higher. And with each successful jump, you unknowingly improve your skills and confidence to meet the next vertical challenge.

Applying this analogy to our Christian lives, I just want to issue you this challenge, “Are we setting the bar for our Christian life?” Or, “where is the level of our bar now?” For some of us, our bar is set so low that little is expected or demanded of us as a Christian. These are lips-paying Christians who profess loudly with their mouths and do little with their lives to live up to Godly principles. These Christians are surely living below the level of their beliefs and convictions. Bear in mind that if you set mediocre standards, you remain a mediocre Christian.

I believe that the recent experience has woken most of us up and it is therefore time to raise the bar or standard against the forces of darkness. And we are not powerless against them. When it comes to sin, we are called to crucify our flesh just as Jesus had demonstrated at the cross. So, a way to overcome sin has therefore been made. As for demons, we are not without any help. We do not enter the realm of spiritual battle armed with a sling while the enemy is strapped to the chin with explosives. In Luke 10:19, Jesus’ assurance is enough to send shivers down the demon’s spine, “Behold, I give you the authority…over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

So, let’s put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13), fill our lamps with oil, purify our hearts, extend our hands of forgiveness, and come to God with a contrite heart. When the bar has been raised, and a standard set for us to live a victorious life, we can then proclaim with irrepressible confidence and resilient buoyancy the powerful words in James 4:7, “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you!”

Whistle series (220110)

Are we living below the level of our beliefs? As Christians, we subscribe to numerous beliefs. These beliefs can be easily found in the Bible. We are called to be slow to anger. We are overcomers of carnal desires; living with a pure heart. We are to resist temptations as we submit wholeheartedly to God. And last but not least, we are reminded to keep our chins up in the midst of a trial and put our faith in Jesus who is the hope of our salvation. These are empowering beliefs that we repeat to ourselves and our loved ones but do we live by them on a daily basis? The difficulty to living up to them is understandable. Many of us are guilty of failing to live up to the standards set by the Bible. There is a saying that goes like this: “When you give advice, you build with one hand. When you give advice and set a good example, you build with both hands. When you give advice and set a bad example, you build with one hand and you tear down with the other.”

It is easy to keep our beliefs verbal. Mouthing out those beliefs takes nothing from us. The true sacrifice comes when we have to live it out. It takes more than just mere discipline to do that. Being consistent with our belief is not the hard part. What is lacking in our lives when it comes to living above the level of our beliefs is passion. I believe that without passion, everything we do becomes a chore, a routine, a rut. Performing a chore will sap our energy, drain our spirit and exhaust our body as time passes. Passion is like fresh water. Without it, your life is dried and parched. Passion is like colors. Without it, your life is flat and dull. Passion is like love. Without it, your marriage is lifeless. We cannot live without passion. At the very least, we cannot live above the level of our beliefs without it.

Passion is the bridge we so urgently need in our lives to take us to where we are destined to go. In the language of psychology, passion is our inner drive, our intrinsic motivation. In science, passion is the burning curiosity that propels us to explore and discover the world around us. In music, passion is our muse, our bewildering inspiration that strikes us when we least expect it. In the lingo of God, passion is encapsulated in this powerful scripture, “…you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) Passion is thus best expressed as “with all your heart”. It comes from inside of you. It is a quality that escapes definition. To the artists, it is almost a spiritual experience, a fire that burns inside of them. So, forget about looking for passion in self-improvement books. Forget about looking for it from the pulpit. Forget about looking for it in the movies, in a concert hall or on top of a mountain. No doubt some beautiful places and encouraging words at the right place and at the right time do inspire passion; but for long lasting, authentic effect, passion has to be self-generated, single-focused and self-sustaining.

I suggest a systematic way to develop passion by examining these simple statements: I get it; I love it; I’ll keep it up.

Do you get it? We have to ask ourselves this first question as a start to the others. A wise man once said that some of us live lives of quiet desperation. This desperation is a result of living below our level of beliefs. This desperation arises because we don’t get it. If we don’t get it, then we may as well leave it and live our lives below our level of beliefs. Getting it means more than just head knowledge. It is more than mere mental agreement to a principle. We can remain agreeable to everything but un-changed by them. A deeper understanding is needed. This requires us to do some deep soul searching. It requires us to take stock of our lives. We need to know where we are now in our lives and where we want to end up when we heave our last breath.

Then, we proceed to ask ourselves: Do I love it? Please do not do something you do not love for the rest of your life. It is painful, not to mention, wasteful. You are created to soar on wings of eagle and not peck and lick dirt. Of course, in this life, we live with a lot of constraints. Our freedom to live a life we want may not be readily accessible to us due to the many obligations we have. But if droplets of water can wear off a huge coral rock, then, may I say to you that every great journey starts with a small, insignificant step. This small step may seem inconsequential. But over time, you will complete your long arduous journey when you add them all up. So, doing what we love is achievable, if we do it one step at a time.

When we get it, and do what we love, we must not waste it all by failing half-way. This is what it means to keep it up. This is where consistency plays a part. Recently, my son, moping about how life is so un-fun, lamented to me with this phrase, “I hope everyday is my birthday.” Well, I hope it is for me too. But life is not wound up like that. It is of course easy to be happy, keeping up the moods and smiles, when everyday is your birthday. To be consistently happy is easy when everybody celebrates your birthday with gifts, well-wishing and a delicious chocolate cake everyday. But life is going to challenge you and discourage you. Circumstances will gang up to trip you and deflate you. Just as everyday is not your birthday; it is also not going to be easy. Your consistent spirit will be challenged. Your moods will fluctuate. Your temper flares up. Your spirit downed. So, it is vital to keep your consistency by keeping your focus. Be single-minded. Keep your eyes on your goals just as a footballer keeps his eyes on the ball.

When you are discouraged, feeling down and out, keep this scripture close to your heart, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the iht hand of the throne of God.”

So when our eyes are on the cross, our steps are surely ordered by the Lord.

Friday's Recap (080110)

Boundaries? Do you have one? Or do you have a few? Boundaries are mental fences you set up to keep you sane. Sometimes these mental fences keep you balanced or successful or even happy. So, do you have any? Have you thought about them? This is a good year to start thinking about boundaries. I guess the gatekeeper of your mental fences is your daily choices. You make daily choices to either protect your boundaries or violate them. Here is one example of a violation of boundary. Heard of Tiger Woods? His scores of infidelity? Well, while most of them are tabloid news, the golf legend has been very cavalier with his boundaries. He made many wrong choices in his marital life recently and is still reeling from the effects.

Of course, his personal life is really none of our business and each of us are accountable for our own lives. I do not want to cast the first stone because I am still struggle with character “logs” in my own eyes. But Tiger Woods is a good example of how vulnerable and easy it is for us to violate our boundaries by making the wrong choices in life’s rather tempestuous ride.

Everyday we are bombarded by ideas and events that threaten to breach our mental fences. Temptations abound in more insidious ways than we can imagine. I have seen and heard of husbands giving in to lust and violating the sanctity of marriage. I have read about corporate managers succumbing to greed and making bad choices that landed them in prison for financial frauds. These are everyday account of human fallibility that can be avoided if we are minded on a daily basis to mend our mental fences, upkeep our boundaries, and take responsibility for our life’s choices. Choices have consequences just like over-eating can lead to obesity.

So, let’s be careful, keep a watchful eye, and walk tiptoed when entering areas of emotional minefields. When I was younger, my mother used to tell me not to play with fire. I was then quite an arsonist and nearly burnt down one side of a wall of my neighbor’s master bedroom. Believe you me, I was severely punished and I cried a river. The lesson that day was as simple as this: Not to play with fire because fire is a good servant (when used for cooking meals) but a bad master (when trapped in a burning house).

So, my advice to you guys is this: Do Not to Play with Fire. Metaphorically speaking, of course. There are fires everywhere we go and some of them can consume us, wholly. That first encounter with our female colleague at work may seem harmless enough. It may even blossom into a productive working relationship. But if we are not careful, we can get burned. For married men (or women), the marriage vows have already drawn up the marital boundaries for you. So, please rein in your emotions. Keep a level head. Stay within sound, biblical boundaries. Your life would be much more rewarding if you loyally obey your boundaries and obey it on a daily basis.

Lastly, don’t forget to keep your boundary opened for good things, sound advice and wisdom bites. Let’s not shut up our mental fences to relationships that will benefit us in the long run. Proverbs 27:17 reads, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

Beloved, there are people in this life that will enrich you in more ways than you can imagine. If you treat them nicely, and with due respect, you will surprise yourself with blessings and good tidings in years to come. Some relationships should be consciously nurtured and jealously protected and your marriage is one of them. Because you are fallible, you can learn from one another, especially your spouse, your children, or your in-laws. Even inconsequential strangers like your neighbors can drop a hint or two about how to live, how to love and how to make a difference. Embrace good teachings, open your heart to biblical guides, and follow sound, good advice. Always remember that your boundaries define how successful you are and will be. Guard it wisely and courageously against the onslaught of bad values and harmful influences. At the same time, give it space to grow by holding on to good, virtuous principles.

In the end, I prescribe to you the serenity prayer to guide you in your life as it is the key to unlocking invaluable lessons for you to keep your boundaries vibrant, strong and protected: “O Lord, give me the courage to change what I can change, the serenity (peace) to accept what I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”