Tuhan seperti kawan

Bagaimana kita dapat menjadikan doa kita lebih efektif?

Layanilah Tuhan seperti kawan baik kita. Ciri-ciri seseorang kawan baik:

1. Mendengar nasihat & menerima bimbingan

Seorang kawan baik akan sayangkan kita tanpa keraguan. Kasih sayang seorang kawan baik dapat menolong kita mengubah perangai dan sikap kita. Dia saling meluangkan masa untuk mendengar segala masalah kita dan memberi nasihat kepada kita apabila perlu.Hanya Tuhan sehaja yang boleh menolong kita mengatasi segala kelemahan kita. Nasihat Dia sahaja yang dapat membawa manfaat. Bagaimana kita dapat menerima nasihat Tuhan? Dengan membaca ayat-ayat suci yang penuh dengan pengajaran

2. Masa bersama

Untuk menjadi kawan baik seseorang kita harus meluangkan bersama dengannya. Untuk mengenali Tuhan kita juga harus meluangkan masa bersamanya selama mana yang boleh.

3. Mengembirakan Tuhan

Cara untuk menjadi kawan baik seorang ialah membuat perkara yang memgembirakan seseorang. Perkara yang paling mengembirakan Tuhan ialah apabila kita membaca Kitab dan berdoa kepadanya. Juga Tuhan akan bergembira jika kita menghadiri jemaah dan menyanyi lagu-lagu pujian kepadanya.

4. Berkongsi rahsia

Contoh kawan baik Tuhan - Abram

Abram merupakan kawan baik Tuhan. Yesaya 41:8 Tuhan mengelarnya "Kawan saya".

Yakub 2:23 "..dia digelar kawan Tuhan"

2 Tawarikh 20:7 Raja Jehoshaphat menyebut Abram sebagai "Kawan Tuhan"

Sebelum Tuhan memutuskan untuk menghakimi Sodom dan Gomorrah, Dia telah memberitahu Abram rancangannya. Kejadian 18:17

Abram terus mendekati Tuhan dan merayu bagi pihak Sodom dan Gomorrah kerana saudaranya Lot tinggal dekat dengan bandar-bandar tersebut. Abram dapat membuat demikian oleh kerana persahabatannya yang erat dengan Tuhan. Oleh kerana persahabatannya yang begitu erat dengan Tuhan Abram dapat menyelamatkan 10 orang keluarga Lot.

Pengajaran:

• Doa itu memang sesuatu yang senang. Ia seperti menjalinkan persahabatan dengan kawan baik kita. 
• Kita akan selalu berkongsi cerita hidup and segala peristiwa-peristiwa di dalam hidup kita biarpun baik atau buruk. 
• Jika kita ingin menjadi kawan baik Tuhan kita harus melakukan perkara yang paling disukainya iaitu meluangkan masa bersamanya. Ceritalah segala benda-benda dan perkara-perkara yang berlaku setiap hari kepadanya semasa berdoa. 
• Bacalah ajaran-ajaranya dengan tekun. Patuhilah ajaran-ajarannya dengan segala keihlasan hati.

Akan diteruskan....

What God considers holy

I am glad that I can be holy even as God is holy! I can be holy not just in church but also working in the world. I do not need to shave my head bald, wear an orange robe, beg for food, go barefoot, avoid stepping on ants & other insects & other rituals in order to be 'holy' to reach Nirwana. Whilst Buddhism requires abiding to external rules & regulations, Christianity is about an inward change. So I am glad that I am a Christian! I feel liberated.

Here are some ways to be holy:

1. Follow God's ways

Isa 35:8 "And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil minded people will never travel on it. It will be for those who walk in God's ways; fools will never walk there"

2. Have a clear conscience, be sincere in our dealings with others & be dependent on God

2 Cor 1:12 "We can say with confidence and clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in our dealings. We have depended on God's grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world and especially towards you"

3. Allow the Holy Spirit to develop His fruits in us

Gal 5:22 - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control

4. Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit

Gal 5:25 "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading IN EVERY PART OF OUR LIVES"

5. Reject pride, provocation & jealousy 

Gal 5:26 "Do not be conceited, do not provoke one another, do not be jealous of one another"

If we don't pursue holiness, God will discipline us unto holiness! There is another thing which is not found in Buddhism. There is no discipline which leads to good...there is only judgment.

Heb 12:10 "God's discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in His Holiness"

What God considers unholy

The following behavior can be considered 'unholy' according to God's word:

1. Arguing with God.

I like to argue with God. When He says 'forgive' I say 'I can't'. When He says 'Give thanks' I say 'Its tough'. When He says 'Trust Me' I say 'No thanks, I trust myself'. When He says 'Pray' I say 'I will solve it myself"

Numbers 20:13 "This place was known as the waters of Meribah (which means "arguing") because there the people of Israel argued with God and there He demonstrated His holiness among them"

2. Sins against the body

Sexual sin is sin outside of marriage and it is unholy.

1 Thess 4:3-5 "God's will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin. Then each of you will control His own body and live in holiness and not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and His ways"

3. Anything that defiles the body or spirit

2 Cor 7:1 "Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God'

4. Desires of the sinful nature

Gal 5:19-21 Sexual immorality,  impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, will parties and other sins like this.

To fulfil the standard of holiness required by God I would need to ensure that I do not defile my spirit with any of the above.

God's temple requirements - absolute holiness

I also heard the Lord said something to me in the dream "I require HOLINESS in My Temple" (16/9)

In a way I was relieved because as a previous Buddhist a lot of rituals were involved in the Chinese temple worship: offerings, bowing to the idols, paying homage to the monks, putting joss-sticks, offering food and flowers....yet after doing all these rituals I do not feel anything different inside of me. If anything I just felt a great emptiness & a raging tempest within my heart.

This morning my Bible reading just fell into place. Ez 43:12 confirmed the dream I had the night before "And this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness!"

I got a bit confused when I read further. On the one hand God says He is the only who can make me holy, on the other hand He instructs me to be holy as He is holy!

God is the only one who can make me holy. Lev 22:32 "I am the Lord who makes you holy"
God has commanded me to be holy Lev 19:2 "Be holy as I am holy"

I think they are 2 sides of the same coin. I am responsible to ensure that my behavior & response to life's challenges allows God to work His holiness in me but God can also discipline me unto holiness if I fail to do so.

I am thankful that as a believer I have a relationship with God whom I consider my father. As a father to me He can discipline me when He sees me entering into 'unholy' behavior. But the wonderful thing is: the discipline leads to life & is for my own good!

Flowers everyday

Yesterday after a wonderful prayer concert celebrating Malaysia Day at Stadium Melawati, Shah Alam, I had a dream. I dreamt that God spoke to me saying that He was going to send me flowers everyday.

Bouquet of flowers are sent to loved ones to express our love and appreciation for them. Sometimes we sent flowers for no apparent reason. We just want to make the person happy.

I felt that that was how God felt about me! He wanted to make me happy everyday of my life.

Now what will happen if in real life someone were to send me bouquet of flowers everyday....each day before my day starts whether in the office or at home?

It would thrill me to bits! It would make me feel deeply loved!

I know one thing last night....God wants me to know that I am DEEPLY LOVED BY HIM!

If you are reading this and you are a believer, you are also DEEPLY LOVED BY HIM!

 To be loved by God this way is like receiving a beautiful bouquet of flowers everyday from Him!

Where is God's house?

Before I became a Christian I was a strong Buddhist. The Buddhist temple to me was where I thought God could be found.

After becoming a believer I realized that I am the the temple of God not some physical temple! How mind-transforming is that!

Heb 3:6 "But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God's entire house. And we are God's house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ"

That means God does not dwell in a physical temple but He dwells in me - a spiritual being. And this verse means that Jesus is in charge of me! If he is in charge what is there to fear?

I don't need to go to a smoky place, worship idols/statutes (like I used to do), jostle with people to put joss sticks in the urns/offer flowers to the idols...I just need to quiet myself down and pray.....immediately I will be in God's house!

There are many blessings being in God's house:

1. Blessings of hearing God's voice

Gen 35:15 - Jacob named the place where God had spoken to him Bethel which means "house of God" because God had spoken to him there.

I didn't experience it while praying to idols. They cannot speak or reply me. I used to get angry with them for not answering my prayers!

2. Blessings of spiritual food & drink

Ps 36:8 - "You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights". Just as the physical body needs food and water to live, our spirit can only be satisfied with spiritual food (God's word) and spiritual drink (anointing of the Holy Spirit).

As a Buddhist I don't get fed....more likely fed with frustration & confusion.

3. Blessings of God's unfailing love

Ps 52:8 "But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God's unfailing love"

"Unfailing love" is a concept foreign to me when I was a Buddhist cos Buddhism teaches about good actions & deeds failing which judgment & retribution will follow. To be a Christian is to enjoy the most wonderful love on earth: not the love of man, not the love of people, not the love of our children but the incredible unfailing love of God.

4. Blessings of true friends

Ps 55:14 "What good fellowship we once enjoyed as we walked together to the house of God". True friends will stand by you through thick & thin. I found them when I became a believer

5. Blessings of true joy

There is temporary happiness & joy. I feel happy when I get a fat bonus or a salary increment. I feel happy when I am overseas on a holiday. I feel happy eating crabs with my hands at Hau Kee. I feel happy when I hug my daughter.

But there is a joy which is permanent & it can only be found in God's house. It is a joy that bubbles like a spring of water deep within my heart even when I am being scolded by my boss or bullied by my clerks or criticised by my Division Head/CEO or nagged by my husband or evil things spoken about me by others.....

Ps 84:4 "What joy for those who can live in your house always singing your praises"

6. Blessings of humility

Ps 84:10 "...I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the house of my God"

7. Blessings of honesty & integrity

Ps 101:7 "I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house and liars will not stay in my presence"

8. Blessings of receiving truths from the word of God

Isa 2:3 "People from many nations will come and say "Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of Jacob's God. There he will teach us his ways, and we walk in his paths...."

9. Blessings of unselfish prayers

Isa 56:7 "I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy iin my house of prayer. I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices, because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations"

When I was a Buddhist my prayers were centered on me, my, myself and the 4 Cs - cash, condo, credit card, car! I hardly pray for others let alone pray for the world. Now as a believer I am praying unselfishly for others even for nations!

THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME YOUR TEMPLE & YOUR HOME!