Eyes wide open

(Oswestry, Shropshire, England) Focused on Hebrews 11:1-16, 37-40 We hear that word a lot – faith . Walk by faith. Faith alone. Have faith. Keep the faith. If there’s any chapter in the Bible that makes it exceedingly clear what faith looks like in practice, it has to be Hebrews 11. I won’t be going through each Bible figure mentioned in this chapter, but will just share a few thoughts on what the passage says about faith.  What is faith? v.1 ‘Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.’  This sounds pretty mysterious… what is it we hope for? And what is it we do not see? v.6 ‘And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must know that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.’  It’s starting to sound a bit clearer: Faith has something to do with believing God exists and that He will reward those who seek Him earnestly. v.10 (on Abraham) ‘For he was looking...

I have a few drafts of blog posts scattered across my devices - phone notes, blogger drafts, etc. I've decided, instead of working on those drafts now, to post a reflection about God's faithfulness in the past few months. I'm not going into physical detail about my experience in this post - will do so in a future one, maybe if I feel inspired on my flight back? :) As many of my rather spontaneously written reflections go, it'll probably end up like a prose-poetry kind of thing...... let's see how it goes! :') I just started university in September and it's been nothing short of amazing. God, and God alone, is more than enough. My phone wallpaper reminded me throughout first term - Psalm 73:25-26 "Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." A line from Saviour King (Hillsong) says "And now the poor stand a...

(Refer to: Luke 10:38-41)               Many of us are familiar with this account of Martha and Mary, sisters who were dear disciples of the Lord Jesus. I’ve read this countless times before, and each time I gleaned timely reminders from the story. But today (just a few hours ago) as I reread this account, God crumbled the floor on which I was standing, and revealed to me a deeper, richer, gospel-centred meaning to this account.               The key to this deeper meaning is to realise that this account came in the New Testament, spoken by Jesus, whose every word revealed some truth about the New Covenant He was ushering in. So, perhaps this account reveals to us something about the New Covenant as well. How so? It seems like such a simple practical story with a practical meaning that has nothing below the surface. But with God’s grace we can go...

Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers , that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. Colossians 4:12-13 ESV               A Singaporean pastor spoke in my church several months ago, and he said something that really struck me. It wasn’t a shocking fact that I hadn’t known, nor was it something I had previously disagreed with. It was something I surely knew, but was far from demonstrating in my own life. He said, “ The best thing you can do for a person is to pray for him. ” Too often for me, prayer has become a formality, a stale spiritual grace, a tongue-far-from-heart affair. Although if anyone had asked me about the power of prayer, I would no doubt have answered “ PRAYER DOES GREAT THINGS! Without prayer and co...

Psalm 119:81-88 (Kaph) - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+119%3A81-88             The great reminder of this passage for me is how steadfastly the psalmist holds onto God’s Word. “Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your decrees. … They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken Your precepts.” God’s precepts are a hugely important part of His Word to us: revelations of His character and attributes, through the laws He puts in place. And unlike everything else we know in the Universe, the only knowledge & wisdom that endures forever is God’s Word: everything else is a mirage of value in light of eternity. God’s Word               Some verses ahead in Psalm 119:105, the psalmist writes “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path” . Every step taken, every breath inspired, every choi...

I think a lot of us in Malaysia, who have lived here all our lives, don't really think about what it means to be at home in our culture . We blow our trumpets at our friends across the border about our mamak nights, good food, manglish, exclusively Malaysian jokes, multilingual communication (not 4 separate languages, but all 4 mushed sensibly together in a sentence), and just the general pretty-chill atmosphere of Malaysians among other Malaysians in Malaysia.  A culture has so many quirky, beautiful and undoubtedly unique customs & nuances. That's what makes it a separate culture: distinct from the cultures around us. It inevitably follows, then, that cultures can be exclusive, without even meaning to be. That's the reason culture shock is so real: I'm anticipating a bit of a shock when I move overseas to study. Seeing such different-looking faces around me, different accents, different thought processes & considerations (If you've watched Arrival, y...

Hello, you. I know how you feel. You're so comfortable with the world, comfortable with life. Nothing too great & exciting, but even so, nothing so desperately troubling that you feel the need to humbly pray to God and read the Bible. You're okay with going to church, especially when your friends are there, and you're also okay with saying a quick prayer and maybe reading a small bite of the Bible before you sleep. You enjoy youth camps, you enjoy the emotional highs you come out with, you enjoy the games played, the funny pictures taken, the special t-shirt you get. So yes of course, you'd say you enjoy being a Christian. But if you didn't have friends around you who also go to church, if you get too busy with the world to pray and read the Bible, if youth camps aren't fun and emotionally exciting enough, would you reconsider how much you enjoy Christianity? Is your Christian faith really about God? Is your Christ ian faith really about Christ? Is...