20120428- Consider the 66 books - awesome summary!

From the beginning of the world to its end, there is no place you can

look and not see Jesus. He is everywhere. He is everything. "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

  - Colossians 1:17

Consider the themes of the sixty-six books:

In Genesis, He is the Creator God.
In Exodus, He is the Redeemer.
In Leviticus, He is your sanctification.
In Numbers, He is your guide.
In Deuteronomy, He is your teacher.
In Joshua, He is the mighty conqueror.
In Judges, He gives victory over enemies.
In Ruth, He is your kinsman, your lover, your redeemer.
In I Samuel, he is the root of Jesse;
In 2 Samuel, He is the Son of David.
In 1 Kings and 2 Kings, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords
In 1st and 2nd Chronicles, He is your intercessor and High Priest.
In Ezra, He is your temple, your house of worship.
In Nehemiah, He is your mighty wall,  protecting you from your enemies.
In Esther, He stands in the gap to deliver you from your enemies.
In Job, He is the arbitrator who not only understands your struggles,
   but has the power to do something about them.
In Psalms, He is your song-and your reason to sing.
In Proverbs, He is your wisdom, helping you make sense of life and live
   it successfully.
In Ecclesiastes, He is your purpose, delivering you from vanity.
In the Song of Solomon, He is your lover, your Rose of Sharon.
In Isaiah, He is the mighty counselor, the prince of peace, the
   everlasting father, and more.  In short, He's everything you need.
In Jeremiah, He is your balm of Gilead, the soothing salve for your
   sin-sick soul.
In Lamentations, He is the ever-faithful one upon whom you can depend.
In Ezekiel, He is your wheel in the middle of a wheel-the one who
   assures that dry, dead bones will come alive again.
In Daniel, He is the ancient of days, the everlasting God who never
runs out of time.
In Hosea, He is your faithful lover, always beckoning you to come
   back-even when you have abandoned Him.
In Joel, He is your refuge, keeping you safe in times of trouble.
In Amos, He is the husbandman, the one you can depend on to stay by
your side.
In Obadiah, He is Lord of the Kingdom.
In Jonah, He is your salvation, bringing you back within His will.
In Micah, He is judge of the nation.
In Nahum, He is the jealous God.
In Habakkuk, He is the Holy One.
In Zephaniah, He is the witness.
In Haggai, He overthrows the enemies
In Zechariah, He is Lord of Hosts.
In Malachi, He is the messenger God.

In Matthew, He is king of the Jews.
In Mark, He is the servant.
In Luke, He is the Son of Man, feeling what you feel.
In John, He is the Son of God.
In Acts, He is Savior of the world.
In Romans, He is the righteousness of God.
In I Corinthians, He is the rock that followed Israel.
In II Corinthians, He is the triumphant one, giving victory.
In Galatians, He is your liberty; He sets you free.
In Ephesians, He is head of the Church.
In Philippians, He is your joy.
In Colossians, He is your completeness.
In I Thessalonians, He is your hope.
In II Thessalonians, He is your patience and discipline.
In I Timothy, He is your faith.
In II Timothy, He is your stability.
In Titus, He is the truth.
In Philemon, He is your benefactor.
In Hebrews, He is your perfection.
In James, He is the power behind your faith.
In I Peter, He is your example.
In II Peter, He is your purity.
In I John, He is your life.
In II John, He is your pattern.
In III John, He is your motivation.
In Jude, He is the foundation of your faith.
In the Revelation, He is your coming King.



-- Author Unknown

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20130426: Rev 2 -3 Compromise Vs Conviction - Cancer and Chemo

Interesting questions someone raised about the underestimation of man's  lusts (money and woman) & issues of Commandment #10 on coveting  and how to guard against it.

I was reminded about the word "overcome" in Rev many times. 

I was reading the 7 churches mentioned  in Rev again today.  All 7 except one pass the test.

Of which the first church in Ephesus - God mentioned that he also hate the practice of the Nicolaitans. (Rev 2:6) The thing Jesus hated about them was their "deeds." The word "deeds" is the Greek word erga, which means works.   This word is so all-encompassing that it pictures all the deeds and behavior of the Nicolaitans - including their actions, beliefs, conduct, and everything else connected to them. 

It is all about 2 main Cs.

1. Compromise

2. Conviction.

At the end of the day - will we be a CARNAL Compromising Christian or Christ-Centred Christian who will receive the other C later in life on the other side? ie the Crown of Life?

The capital C also connotes the main freedom which we as humans have in life - it is called Choices!

Many a times in life milestones we will be presented with this one C - Crossroads decisions (Be it career, family ones since we have passed that of the structured education phase of our life) And I am reminded of the wonder verse in Jer 6:16 each time we stand at crossroads " Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths , ask where the good way is, and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls" But you said ,"We will not walk in it"

So there again, the choice of freewill from the King above is that for us - "mere subjects"  to choose. All we need to do is active stuff. The life of a christian is not just the floaty faith of cheap talk. It is actually a rigorous 'heartwork' process.  And also very "hard work" indeed as one struggles with the "I know what to do yet I seem not able to do it" because Paul in Romans already forewarned us about it. The Bible teaches that Christians are supposed to "die" to sin and the deeds of our "flesh": "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1-2)  "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." (Romans 6:11-13) The truth of the matter to guard against the deceitfulness of our hearts and not to fall into diverse temptations is also more than what Ps 119:9-11 exhorts us to do - "to hide the word in our heart so that we may not sin against the Lord"?

In fact the hiding of the word in our heart requires more than that. We can go for bible classes from one to another , recite and memorise verses, dutifully perform our QT. But is that it? What do you think?  Well, I think It requires more than all mentioned earlier.  It requires one to act upon it. Without that active action, The "walking in it " as Jer puts it as we stand, ask ourselves those heart questions during crossroads times of our lives - we may not be able to find the rest for our souls! That is why in James , he said "Faith without action is dead". So we still have a restless spirit and not that of a spirit of "restedness"!

The Challenges we christians today faced is that of Compromise and Conviction in such a fallen world.  Compromise is indeed a spiritual Cancer.  Conviction is the Chemo for killing that cancer.

When we got to know the Lord in the beginning of our spiritual journey, we can promise almost anything to our Saviour!  But as times goes, the carnal enticement of the world crept in. Like the Laodicean church which became lukewarm, like the Ephesus church which lost its first love, like the Pergamum and Thyatira church which allowed Balaam and Jezebel false teachings to be crept in and like the Sardis church which went into a slumber!  We are supposed to to the "called out ones" - the ones set apart for the Lord. He is Holy. Be Holy as He is Holy. The righteousness inputed upon us thru the blood of Jesus Christ becomes wishy washy. We forgot that no one is righteous except the Lord Jesus Christ. Man began to find fulfillment in work-centred church or community charitable activities.  Nothing wrong with that but the carnal church of today at times behave so much  as a corporation that she also invited nicolaitan standards into it. The KPI is numbers as measurement of souls saved, increasing number of attendances in outreaches or seminary classes as a yardstick of one's charism in gifts of teaching, evangelism etc.  We become a self serving christian in the church too. We start to allow compromise to engulf the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  So that which we earlier "promise" to the Lord has now added a new dimension of "Com-promise"  The community of the world had come in and edged out that awesome promise. We worship the work of the Lord more than that of the Lord of the work. Deeds. 

Jeremiah was a prophet who spoke around 580BC. IN Jer 1:5 He was assured by the Lord " Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born , I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations" He spoke of repentance , righteousness , return and  restoration.

The word Nicolaitans : The name "Nicolaitans" is derived from the Greek word nikolaos, a compound of the wordsnikos and laos. The word nikos is the Greek word that means to conquer or to subdue. The word laos is the Greek word for the people. It is also where we get the word laity. When these two words are compounded into one, they form the name Nicolas, which literally means one who conquers and subdues the people

. It seems to suggest that the Nicolaitans were somehow conquering and subduing the people. 

So why we do feel being conquered and subdued? Why cannot we rise above the situation? We must learn to overcome as exhorted in Rev.

God only promises "to him who overcomes" - the right to eat from the tree of life, not to be hurt by the second death, the hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it, know only to him who receives it, the authority over the nations!  given the morning star! Be dressed in white and will never be blot out from the book of life, be acknowledged before His Father and his angels, , be made a pillar in the temple of our God, has the name of our God, the name of the city of our God, the new Jerusalem written on us, and be given the right to sit with Him on His throne! Oh Wow Oh Wow Oh Wow! This last words of the late Steve Jobs - he must have seen something awesomely glorious to leave such an exclamation as his last breath! And these promises to an overcomer in the hall of faith with great men in Hebrews and that promise in Revelation - wouldn't you want to overcome? and be a conqueror rather than be conquered? And to rule rather be subdued other than that to submit to our King of Kings and LOrd of Lords?

Reflection

Crossroads are not uncommon to us. In fact they are there for us to build bridges to learn to crossover  as we made those choices.

So what kind of spiritual cancer of compromise are you having? Different cancers require different chemo drugs . Convictions in life are liken to those of the types of chemo drugs. And mind you, many a times today, such chemo drugs can be hell of a expensive! And Convictions are costly matters. They are formed after one goes through the fiery furnace of life journeys. And as one goes through them, either you are fallen into the sinkhole and be dead or you managed to crossover and be an overcomer . And when we detours or avoided the right bridge ie we made a wrong choice at certain times of our lives, it does not matter so long as we return back to Him and allow that deeper work of conviction of hold us up even higher. Crossover and Overcome. "Not by my might nor by power, but by my Spirit"  (Zech 4:6). His Spirit is in us. So we submit. And not that we are able, but He is.

I have adopted a principle of Life Conviction which can be found in Jer 9:23-24.

This is what the LORD says:

"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom

or the strong man boast of his strength

or the rich man boast of his riches,

but let him who boasts boast about this;

that he understands and knows me,

that I am the LORD , who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,

for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

Learn not to compromise or covet for the things of the world but to be convicted and boast about the only one thing : We understand and know Him - one who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth. Listen to this song "OUR GOD" - the bridge in this youtube says it all. What could stand against us if our God is for us? Be a convicted Conqueror for the King of Kings of this universe.

2013March: EXtraOrdinary March - Who can compare with You Lord?

March 2013 - A month of happenings. But the rainbow covenant of our Lord remains in my heart.  (A little rainbow gal birthday gift from a beloved faithful prayer partner above...we chase after rainbows!)

Had some problem logging in to blog in March 
and time passed by in a twinkle of an eye.
12 March - Number 48 birthday came and I bid it goodbye.
Celebrated not just once but in multiples of four
May the Lord bless my loved ones, family and friends and all

Had a rude shock to hear of my niece's news of cancer
and that jerked us all in first week of March
To add matters worse was that more friends & their loved
ones too were similarly strike to the number up to four and more
May the Lord bless my loved ones, family and friends and all

Had a wild of  time running from doctors to doctors
and faced with conflicting lab test reports
Squamous, small cells of lung cancer to that of germ cell of choriocarcinoma
Oh what a time of turn of events that flipped and flopped
But  thanks to the Lord for all the God-send docs He slot

Read this book in Hokkaido by Mary Forsythe "A glimpse of Grace"
- her pregnancy which turned out not? Indeed who can compare with you Lord?
25 March Eze 12:28 "There shall none of my words be prolonged any more 
but the word which I have spoken shall be done"
Do you pray and not believing? Do you lock in posture of asking but not expecting?

Oh what a glorious Month of March!
Remember Peter imprisoned and transported to the church doors where people prayed
Remember Paul and Silas in prison cell as they praised
Let praise arise, let expectation fill your heart and let the Lord move on your behalf
Indeed "all delay has ended; He will do it now" - just keep praising Him with your mouth

Amen.