20120414: HeBrews 13:Last Coffee with Tea & Potter

Heb 13:20-21 "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory for ever and ever .Amen"


Yesterday, we went to the zoo with our nieces and grand nieces and nephews.  It was an exciting and educational trip for myself as I had not been there for umpteenth years! Above was the photo of the stately lion I took from just a moat of water in between us.


This last chapter in Hebrews ended a thought. In v9" Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.  For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have occupied therein"


Diverse and strange teachings are the "in" thing in this age. As I gazed at the lion - the king of the jungle , I was reminded of  1 Pet 5:8  "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour"  The devil too roars like a lion but he is the counterfeit. There is only one Lion of Judah - Jesus Christ. But the end times would be a turbulent period- the rise of the unholy trinity - The devil, the anti-christ (not against - but "instead" of Christ) and false prophet.


As Hebrews reading come to a close, we who know YHWH, we thank God for the great shepherd of the sheep who is worthy to open the book and the seals in Rev 5. Rev5:4" Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof...v6 stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having 7 horns and 7 eyes which are the 7 Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth...V 9 for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nations ...v12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing.


This is the Lion of Judah whom I know. With His blood we have this everlasting eternal covenant. Heb13:6 He promises never to leave us nor forsake us. He is our helper. v8 He is the same yesterday today and forever. V13 reminded us that we do not have an enduring city here but we seek one to come.


Reflections
The end times that is coming.  We as believers ought to know and be sober and vigilant and be on our guard always - never to be devoured by the devil - the other roaring lion.
Like the Chronicles of Narnia - we will have our little adventures on earth. Before the world began, we were on His mind. As we were born into this world, He is in the process of perfecting us for His own pleasure. 

• Can we endure? Can we hang in to the supernatural hupomeno?
• Can we continue to offer the sacrifice of praise to Him continually, giving thanks to His name?
• Can we have a good conscience & in all things willing to live honestly?

After He Brews series of making over 13 cups of coffee since Jan this year...Here is a tea story! Let's have coffee and tea with our Potter!
"There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups.

Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that. I don't like it! Let me alone," but he only smiled, and gently said, "Not yet."

Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was made to suit himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, "Not yet."

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought.
But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Oh, please, stop it, stop, I cried." He only shook his head and said, "Not yet."

Then suddenly he puts me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering, "What's he going to do to me next?"

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That's not me. That couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!"

Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember. I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you."

The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. (Isaiah 64:8) He will mold us and make us and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect.

So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", try this.

Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Potter!"

20120410 HeBrews12 "Mdm M - Iron Lady :The Endurer & Overcomer"- The Story of my Life

Heb 12:2" Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith"
THE STORY OF MY LIFE

Today as I mediated on this last but one chapter of Hebrews, I liken myself to be a book whose author is my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I decided to entitle this book as "Mdm M - Iron Lady : The Endurer and Overcomer"
God, the Father is my publisher of my book. The Holy Spirit is my illustrator.  Before the world began, I was already on God's mind. He had laid down the precise number of chapters of my life story.  He alone, knows when my last chapter would be. For some, He wrote only a first few chapters and then the book closed. For others, the book was rather thick. As for me, He has written more than half way through . Ha Ha. I am blessed.

A	B
Title	Name of the book
Author	Person who writes the book
Publisher	Company who prints the book
Illustrator	Person who draws the picture for a book
Preface	Introduction to the book
Table of Contents	List of chapters with their page numbers

I may not be the Iron lady , like Margaret Thatcher or Aung San Su Kyi.  I am just a Mdm M, known by my heavenly Father. He wants me to be a woman of endurance on this earthly race - to run with patience the race that is set before me.  He wants me to lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset me.  He wants me to be like Jesus who endured the cross.  He wants me to be like Abraham in Heb 6:15 who patiently endured and then obtained the promise..


In my earlier blog, the Greek word for endurance is "hupomeno" meaning the hanging in power. In Revelation, the phrase "He that overcomes..will I grant to sit with me in my throne" If Jesus mentions the need to endure and overcome to the end, that means that could be seasons where some pages of my book may be torn out!  Mark 13:13 "but he that shall endures unto the end, the same will be saved" Pray that this will not happen! That He will glue back those torn pages if ever some got torn for some reason?



Reflections
Pray that Phi 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which has begun a good work in me will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ!
He is the finisher of my faith!
Perhaps Heb12 sums up :
The chapters of my life would include His chastening at times, His exhortation to have peace and holiness, to be diligent and be reminded of His grace and forgiveness and to remain steadfast and unshakeable when He shakes the earth and heaven and to serve Him with reverence and godly fear.


The bible is HisStory.
But this unique book is my story.
A song by Neil Diamond - the story of my life indeed. It begins and ends with You. May each chapter sings of You. May it share the story of our times - never letting go.......until the day I die, a close chapter of my life. May my name be found in your Book of Life. And then into a new city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem I come -  to see You face to face.

20120403 HeBrews 11 A 'plane' Faith or belief

Heb11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"

Heb 11 is a well known chapter commonly known as the Hall of Fame of  God's honour roll of men and women of faith - from Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses's parents, Moses himself, Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, David, Samuel, many prophets and many other heroes of faith.


Here in this Heb 11, I noticed that 
Through faith - 5x
In faith - 1 x
By faith - 15 x
Without faith - 1x 


Faith in Greek has the same meaning as Belief.  The definition is in the opening verse in Heb 11.  There were so many different prepositions before the word "faith" : through, in , by and without.  What exactly is faith or belief?

Someone wrote "Faith is trust in the UNSEEN and not the UNKNOWN for we may know by faith what we cannot see with the eye"

Plane Faith or Plain Faith??

On route back to Singapore few days ago from Cambodia, I deliberately chose a window seat instead of my usual aisle seat this time.  I huddled by the window, having little glimpses of the clouds as the plane flew at such a great speed of more than 600km per hour.  But as I gazed outside, it seemed that my plane was not moving at all! Strange but true. right? Try driving at 110km/hour on the road. But here up in the sky, the plane was flying many times more carrying more passengers! Would you have imagine that such a heavy plane is able to lift up and fly off at such a speed? Unimaginable, right? But that is the science of aerodynamics!

I cannot see the workings of the engines and mechanical parts that controlled the wings etc. I trusted in the pilot who had undergone years of training to fly this mass of steel. I took a step of faith to enter into this plane and I trusted the pilot to bring me from Phnom Penh to Singapore safely. I simply believe. 

Like Abraham in V10, for he looked for a city, which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith Sarah received strength to concieve. Not only did she believe, she acted out in obedience by lying with Abraham and delivered a child when she was past age.  Faith is an active word. Not only do we believe. But we have to take that step of faith to prove it. While it may be unseen in the future to us, but the known fact is something that we have to keep on trusting. 

Many heroes of faith through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions (v33).  Faith needs to be acted upon. V6 For without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. The character of Yeshua never changes! Question is - do we seek Him- yes and seek Him diligently??

Reflections

Our Lord Jesus is liken to be that pilot of the plane. He is in control of all situations.  He is the One who will bring us from this earthly temporal home to the eternal city in the New Jerusalem.  Only question is that this ticket has already been purchased through His own blood shed on the cross for us.  The choice is for us to accept that ticket. In simple trust of what He proclaimed "He is the only way, the truth and the life"

However, while we are still grounded here on earth, we ought to constantly "examine ourselves, whether we are in the faith, prove our own selves" 2 Cor 13:5.  Why? Because in 1 Tim 4:1 " Now the Spirit speak expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils."

Be on our guard to diligently hold fast to the faith we first believe in simplicity. 

May the very God of peace sanctify us wholly; and we pray that our whole spirit, soul and body be preserved BLAMELESS unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thes 5:23).

Faith. The author of our Faith is Jesus Christ.

Faithful is he that calls us, who will also do it. 1 Thes 5:24

Jesus is Faithful. He is and was and forever will be.

Will we remain faithful unto Him till we see Him face to face? A plain question for us to ponder.


Some Pilot's View:
Subsequent to this posting, I had a very 'educational' chat with a pilot friend C who flies with SQ. In this short course of conversation,  I learnt that pilots trust their eyes on the instruments. The reason is that they fly by instruments instead of flying by visual.  There is such a term know as spatial disorientation and hence feeling cannot be trusted.  During WW1 there were a lot of major aircraft accidents because of spatial disorientation.  Until the industry started inventing instruments for aircraft instead of visual flying.  So the terms IFR (Instrument flying) vs VFR (fly by visual)


According to him, if they enter clouds and the aircraft is upside down -they won't know.  As there is no visual horizon from the earth to tell them.  So unless they rely on instruments to tell them if they were upside down. Today they use laser gyros. So pilots cannot trust their feelings during flying.  They trust their eyes on the instruments called the attitude horizon indicator..  C told me that their bottomline is to trust their eyes with the instruments. If instruments also fail - he trust God! LOL.  We went on to discuss Einstein theory of relativity. Que: If aircraft is flying at a speed and it turns - will the cup topple on the table?  Also, pilots dislike clouds.  They blocked their vision in flight.


Plane flying in relation to our spiritual plain faith?

The above little chat led me to understand that indeed, 'Faith" is truly not about 'feelings".
Our faith is anchored in the Word of God. John 1"in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God"  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.  He is Jesus Christ - unchangeable, immutable. He was He is and is to come.


If pilots cannot trust in their feelings during flying but had to rely on instruments to guide them for a smooth and safe flight, how much more for us as believers to remember where to put our faith in ? Definitely not on our feelings (which is changeable according to mood swings and circumstances, right?) but on the Word of God - On Jesus Himself alone.


There is a great debate now on Word vs Spirit. I guess we have to have a good balance on both.  Not that experience or encounters with God in things of supernaturals etc is not required, but an understanding of the guiding principles of His Word is as important, if not more. Because the latter is definitely unchangeable and firm whereas the former is not.  But the latter would bring us to a better understanding of who He is definitely. So that we will remain in awe of what He has done for us and is still doing on this universe.