20131123: Matt 4 : Haiyan Destruction : And the shadow of death light is sprung up

Matt 4:13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light;and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17 From that time Yeshua began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew - one of the 4 gospels in the NT - written by a tax collector revealing that Yahweh is the coming Messiah King.  Mainly written for young believers.  Whereas Mark and Luke written mainly for the unbelievers and John for the matured believers.

4 Gospels - Yet depicting Jesus from the 4 different angles - King, Son of Man, Son of God and Saviour. Three from the outside looking in at Jesus with only JOhn written from inside on his past.

About 2 weeks ago, the powerful Category 5 typhoon swept past the many islands of Phillipines.  Destroyed almost the whole island in Leyte and Talcobahn.  Can you imagine ? All material homes gone in a second.  People lost their lives and loved ones . Now you see them and now you don't.

These little islands by the sea were beautiful islands with great clear sea water. But today, as homes were shattered, many sat in the dark as darkness fell before international aid came in. 

Prayer for Philippines:- Couldn't help but to draw a parrallel to what Isaiah quoted and also in Matthew.  It brought comfort. Incidentally the comet ISON is passing through this end of Nov. (but for many this comet is supposedly a harbinger)  v 16 the people which sat in darkness saw great light...and shadow of death , light is sprung up.

The Filippinos are a resilient lot of people.  They have great voices.  They are talented in the musical instruments.  Just as Jesus started his ministry in Capernaum - He is the Light of the world. Just as He preached repentance for the kingdom of heaven is near, we pray that the Filippinos in this land would rise up and look up and receive the King in their praise  & worship admidst  the chaos and destruction.   Arise and shine. For the light has come. Oh yes, we will sing! (Song @ 36:40 and Song @ 56 min : I will sing)

20131122 : Matt1-3 The Real Messiah / Boney M!

Matt 1:20, 13 & 19 "..behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream....."

Something unprecedented happened in this red dot in the month of Nov. A hacker claimed to be known as "The Messiah" threatened to hack into the red dot's government infrastructure on the infamous date 5th Nov 2013. And it came to pass with the "intrusion" of both the PM and President's web page. And days later , TM was "caught" by the authorities. But it seemed that it did not just end here. In fact on 21st Nov, about 13 schools websites were again 'compromised" such that it had to undergo some supposedly "scheduled maintenance"

Interestingly for me, I have seen that mask before. But I did not know its "name" until this incident of hacking ! LOL . Guy Fawkes :)

David Lloyd, V for Vendetta illustrator and co-creator, is quoted as saying^]

"The Guy Fawkes mask has now become a common brand and a convenient placard to use in protest against tyranny – and I'm happy with people using it, it seems quite unique, an icon of popular culture being used this way. My feeling is the Anonymous group needed an all-purpose image to hide their identity and also symbolise that they stand for individualism - V for Vendetta is a story about one person against the system. We knew that V was going to be an escapee from a concentration camp where he had been subjected to medical experiments but then I had the idea that in his craziness he would decide to adopt the persona and mission of Guy Fawkes – our great historical revolutionary."

As I decided to embark on reading the book of Matthew this month, the opening chapters 1 -3 struck me.  The book of Matthew is about our long awaited REAL  "Messiah"! - the introduction or presentation of Jesus Christ as the King of the Jews! 

What is the meaning of "Messiah"? -basically it refers to the savior or liberator of people groups.

Lessons from Matthew:-
Matthew records the genealogy of Jesus Christ . 14 generations from Abraham to David and another 14 generations  from David to Christ.  Like Joseph in Genesis who had dreams, this Joseph in Matthew - the earthly father of Jesus , too had his fair share of dreams regarding the birth of Jesus Christ even before his consummation in marriage to his wife Mary!
The Boney M songs below summarised this so well! Have a dance to the beat of the 1970s pop !


What Joseph 3 dreams tell us about this "Messiah":-
1. Dream #1 : The Proclamation of the King 
V21 "And he shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins"
What a Savior! What a liberator ! To people like you and me! Even John the Baptist declared in Matt 3 :11 that he that came after him was mightier than he, whose shoes he was not worthy to bear and he shall baptise us with the Holy Ghost and with fire!

2. Dream #2 :The Preparation and Progressive Rejection of the King
V13 " Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him"
Right from the start of his birth, he was already rejected and feared by the earthly kings like Herod.  And we see the continuous rejection of him throughout Matthew subsequently.

3. Dream #3 : The Presentation of the King
V20 " Arise and take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel for they are dead which sought the young child's life"
V23" And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets , He shall be called a Nazarene"
The world has been presented with Jesus, raised as a humble carpenter.  He began his ministry in his 30s leaving his carpentry vocation. He was the Powerful King through his many miracles He performed in Matthew.  The climax in this book is at the cross as this servant King willingly gave up his life to redeem the sinful people. He died and He rose again. The empty tomb is the proof of this humble King. JESUS Christ - indeed He is the prophesied MESSIAH - He is coming back again for sure.

Reflections
The bible is a collection or library of 66 books. Matthew presented to us the real long awaited messiah who came to earth about 2013 years ago. He was born - not really in the month of December which happened to be just round the corner where the commercial Christmas is celebrated. 
The "beget" genealogy showed that Jesus is the historically revolutionary Man of our life. He is not a hidden anonymous man. His ancestral roots is traceable.  He is not hidden behind a mask. He is real. He died and yet His spirt is still very much alive today. He is with us even now.
V23" BEHOLD A VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BRING FORTH A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is God with us." Is 7:14


By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down 
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion. 
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down 
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion. 
When the wicked 
Carried us away in captivity 
Required from us a song 
Now how shall we sing the lord's song in a strange land 
When the wicked 
Carried us away in captivity 
Requiering of us a song 
Now how shall we sing the lord's song in a strange land 
Let the words of our mouth and the meditations of our heart 
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight 
Let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts 
Be acceptable in thy sight here tonight 
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down 
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion. 
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down 
Ye-eah we wept, when we remembered Zion. 
By the rivers of Babylon (dark tears of Babylon) 
There we sat down (You got to sing a song) 
Ye-eah we wept, (Sing a song of love) 
When we remember Zion. (Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah) 
By the rivers of Babylon (Rough bits of Babylon) 
There we sat down (You hear the people cry) 
Ye-eah we wept, (They need that ???) 
When we remember Zion. (Ooh, have the power)

20131108:信心－ 忠心 Heb11：1 vs Luke 16：10 "FAITH"

Heb11:1 " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen"
Luke16:10 : "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.."

希 伯 來 書 11:1
信 就 是 所 望 之 事 的 实 底 ， 是 未 见 之 事 的 确 据 。

路加 16：10 人在最小的事上忠心， 在大事也忠心

Revelation

Was at the Chinese morning prayer yesterday. The AVA guys must have overslept - no projector . So sang accapella. This song was an old song that I used to sing in chinese church.  Beautiful song. Well, the AVA men came later :)

Think about life without the techno equipment. No electricity. No power. All songs committed to memory.  Same for the Word of God - need to internalise and then cough it out in times of need. That's what happened on this Fri morn. Worship leader has no mic. Some cannot remember the lyrics. Yet the beauty of it all is a good reminder that worship comes from the heart - we worship in spirit and in truth. Not about the music or even words which we cannot utter. But out the heart, we make that melody unto Him.

The pastor in charge shared the above 2 simples verses. 

One thing caught my eye.  The Chinese expressed it in such a wonderful manner. Different Xin心 diff heart. But both in the English is rooted from the word FAITH.信心 FAITHFUL.忠心

Quote from this pastor：

信心可以帮助你开始。

忠心让你继续并完成。

Reflection 

First - Faith信心

Couldn''t contain the morning overwhelming awe of the word Faith in chinese.

How true indeed, we need the faith in the beginning to believe even when we cannot see with our naked eyes. But it is the first step to seeing the unseen things of the Spirit. 言 - and it is with our mouth we speak or confess / to simply believe to birth faith. Not blind faith. But a faith that requires a hell of a trust such as in the pilot's ability to fly that fat A380 to send us from one red dot to another. Jesus is that pilot. It is what I called the blessed Hope in what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1. According to his abundant mercy has begotten us agin unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. To an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for us.  Who are kept by the power of God through FAITH unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Then - Be Faithful忠心

In 2 Pet, since according to his divine power which has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, we learn to be faithful in all that we do. Must be 忠心.  Notice the Zhong中 on top of the heart心. Yes.

May we continue to offer a wholehearted heart, not half hearted one, faithful filial undivided heart to the Lord always. 2 Pet..adding tho the faith virture and to virtue knowledge. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience and to patience godliness. And to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity.

v8 if these things are in us- we will not be barren but fruitful in the knowledge of Christ. V10 if we do these things, we will make our calling and election sure.

So indeed, faith can help us as a kickstart.

But it is faithfulness that will help us to completion.

Be faithful even in little things. Let us pass the little tests that the Lord place on our life journey. So that when we come to major exams - no sweat. JOb23:10 WHEN he has tried me, I shall come forth as GOLD!

Faith. Hope. Love.

Keep falling in Love with HIM

Devoted. Committed. Unwavering . Heart

He is the author and perfecter of our faith.