Reading this Psalm, I am reminded of 2 things:
1. Life is precious. Some people die in their sleep like one of my colleagues who had a heart attack in his sleep. Some people just die after a strenuous activity. Our life is in God's hands thus while we live we must praise the Lord.
Seeing a church member lying in the coffin, I realize that once death comes we have to stop working. All our plans come to an end. In the embrace of death how do we praise the Lord among the living?
Thus while I am alive, I must praise the Lord for anything, big things, small things.
The word "live" in Hebrew is "chay" and it means alive, growing, renewal, revival. To really "live" is to fully embrace this life that God has given us.
2. No matter what I am going through I have to praise the Lord. Life has its ups and downs. Life has its mountain-top experiences and its valley. Life is not a bed of roses. While we live, we will face difficult people and face difficult situations. How should we react? The best antidote is to praise the Lord while we have our being.
God wants us to enjoy our life. He wants us to deliberately and intentionally praise Him despite the trials we go through daily!
Monday, February 24, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Psalms 146: 1 - How should we praise the Lord?
I was attending life group with the young adults and sharing how I memorize scriptures by writing lines. Sometimes up to 10 lines a day I will write one scripture yet I will still struggle to remember the scripture the next day!
Why is this so? I think that my soul is rather stubborn and unyielding like a horse or a mule. I would need to keep writing lines (perhaps up to 20 or 30 times) before the verse become a part of me or embedded in my soul!
This morning during worship the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me "Ruth, there is one way you can try to memorize the scriptures and that is by doing a Bible study line by line, verse by verse. When you analyze it and do biblical research you will remember it better"
Hmm...perhaps the Holy Spirit is right. I do remember things better after I have done in-depth research on it, teach it, preach it and pray it!
So as I like to memorize Psalms and use it in my prayers I will start with Psalms 146 (I have memorized Psalms 150, 149, 148 and 147).
Psalms 146:1 "Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord O my soul"
This Psalms seems to be like an order to the soul to praise the Lord!
What does it mean to "praise" the Lord?
The word "praise" here is "halal" in Hebrew and it means 2 things "To shine, to flash forth light" and "to praise, to be boastful"
So whenever we praise the Lord we are shining like a torch-light, releasing God's light to the world around us and this light is going forth from our mouths to destroy the darkness around us! There is thus a substance that is released from our mouth when we praise the Lord aloud!
The word "praise" also means "to be boastful".
When we praise the Lord we are actually "boasting" of the Lord!
So feel free to be extravagant in our praises of the Lord as we are not boasting of ourselves but boasting of God!
We praise the Lord by acknowledging Him for His might acts and giving thanks to Him for what He has done for us.
With what do we praise the Lord?
We praise the Lord with "our soul".
The Psalmist seems to be ordering his soul to "praise the Lord" as though if he did not do so the soul would be too lazy to do it or just could not be bothered to praise the Lord! The soul's tendency would be to seek a comfortable zone or a zone that just could not be bothered with such an activity.
It is interesting to note that in Hebrew, "soul" means "nephesh" or "appetites, mind, inner being of a man, desire, emotion, passion, breathing substance or being".
The soul is also
- the seat of emotions
- the seat of appetites
- the seat of passion
- the seat of the activity of the mind
- the seat of activity of the will
- the seat of activity of character
It would appear then that if we do not order our soul to praise the Lord (this seems to be what the Psalmist is doing in Psalms 146:1) then the soul wold probably not be praising the Lord but could be seeking ways and means to praise itself!
Think about it for a moment! Our soul is by nature selfish, self-seeking, self-indulgent. We need to verbalize our praise to God so that the soul will have no choice but to bend and bow and align itself to this activity of our will!
Why is this so? I think that my soul is rather stubborn and unyielding like a horse or a mule. I would need to keep writing lines (perhaps up to 20 or 30 times) before the verse become a part of me or embedded in my soul!
This morning during worship the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me "Ruth, there is one way you can try to memorize the scriptures and that is by doing a Bible study line by line, verse by verse. When you analyze it and do biblical research you will remember it better"
Hmm...perhaps the Holy Spirit is right. I do remember things better after I have done in-depth research on it, teach it, preach it and pray it!
So as I like to memorize Psalms and use it in my prayers I will start with Psalms 146 (I have memorized Psalms 150, 149, 148 and 147).
Psalms 146:1 "Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord O my soul"
This Psalms seems to be like an order to the soul to praise the Lord!
What does it mean to "praise" the Lord?
The word "praise" here is "halal" in Hebrew and it means 2 things "To shine, to flash forth light" and "to praise, to be boastful"
So whenever we praise the Lord we are shining like a torch-light, releasing God's light to the world around us and this light is going forth from our mouths to destroy the darkness around us! There is thus a substance that is released from our mouth when we praise the Lord aloud!
The word "praise" also means "to be boastful".
When we praise the Lord we are actually "boasting" of the Lord!
So feel free to be extravagant in our praises of the Lord as we are not boasting of ourselves but boasting of God!
We praise the Lord by acknowledging Him for His might acts and giving thanks to Him for what He has done for us.
With what do we praise the Lord?
We praise the Lord with "our soul".
The Psalmist seems to be ordering his soul to "praise the Lord" as though if he did not do so the soul would be too lazy to do it or just could not be bothered to praise the Lord! The soul's tendency would be to seek a comfortable zone or a zone that just could not be bothered with such an activity.
It is interesting to note that in Hebrew, "soul" means "nephesh" or "appetites, mind, inner being of a man, desire, emotion, passion, breathing substance or being".
The soul is also
- the seat of emotions
- the seat of appetites
- the seat of passion
- the seat of the activity of the mind
- the seat of activity of the will
- the seat of activity of character
It would appear then that if we do not order our soul to praise the Lord (this seems to be what the Psalmist is doing in Psalms 146:1) then the soul wold probably not be praising the Lord but could be seeking ways and means to praise itself!
Think about it for a moment! Our soul is by nature selfish, self-seeking, self-indulgent. We need to verbalize our praise to God so that the soul will have no choice but to bend and bow and align itself to this activity of our will!
Saturday, February 8, 2014
God's ang pow - only 1 condition to be met but 5 blessings to be enjoyed!
This message was shared on Feb 8 as part of the offering exhortation (my first for 2014).
God's ang pow
What does CNY make us think of? The young people will think of ang pow but the older folks like me will think of deep pockets....digging deep to find the money to put in the ang pow!
For the baby boomers generation of which I am a part, 100% of our ang pows had to be given back to our parents to be recycled and given out to others! Of course we later bargained down to 70%, then 50%....but the fact is that we always had to pay a tax - the ang pow tax!
So blessed is our Gen Y, Gen X and Gen Z. They are able to keep their ang pows!
Who do you think is more blessed? The giver or the receiver of the ang pow?
The giver of course! According to Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive"
Of course God has given us the biggest ang pow of all times for this lifetime and in the age to come for all eternity.
JESUS who gave His life for us on the Cross!!
Yet on this earth for our short lifetime on earth God has promised many ang pows if we obey His word on giving.
God's ang pow for our short life on earth is in Luke 6:38 "Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure you use, it will be measure to you."
There is only one condition that will result in 5 blessings for us. A good deal indeed!
The one and only condition is for us to give to God.
1. The first blessing is that rewards will be given to us. "Give and it shall be given to you...."
2. The second blessing is the blessing of rewards coming back to us in unexpected forms. We will receive back our giving back in rewards in unexpected forms. For me, I am expecting a good increment and a good bonus. Who knows our company may send us somewhere for a paid working vacation or someone in the family may bless us with a free holiday or air ticket or our children may get a scholarship or we may get the house we want at the price we want or we may be able to buy the car we want at a very special price!
I had an LG member who was suffering financial lack. I told her to give 10% of her income to the Lord. She started tithing 10% of her weekly income to the Lord. When she started doing this she began receiving her blessings in various forms. Her husband got a job, a car was given to her son, her sons got scholarships/study loans, she was able to buy new sofas and TV. She also got 2 jobs - one as a tea lady and the other as a baby sitter! The last we saw her she even got herself a designer dog!
Have a thankful heart when you give and expect unexpected rewards from unexpected sources!
3. The third blessing is that it will be "running over". In Greek this word means the "overflow". The various forms that our reward is going to come is going to overflow in our lives.
4. The 4th blessing is that God's unexpected rewards is going to come from a third party. The KJV is the only version with the promise "shall men give to your bosom". No other versions have this word "men" giving to our bosom.
"Men" can be a friend, a church member, a family member or even an organization! Be on the lookout for God's surprises along the way!
5. The 5th blessing is that the rewards given to us by others is going to warm our hearts. "Bosom" is a place close to our hearts. John rested on Jesus's bosom signifying how deeply he was loved by the Lord. When men give to us as a result of our giving to God it is going to make us so happy that our hearts are going to be warmed by it. No matter if I do not get my promotion. I do not want a promotion if it is going to make my heart sad and sick! I want a promotion that will warm my heart.
Indeed God's ang pow is a terrific deal - only one condition to be met but 5 blessings to be enjoyed!
God's ang pow
What does CNY make us think of? The young people will think of ang pow but the older folks like me will think of deep pockets....digging deep to find the money to put in the ang pow!
For the baby boomers generation of which I am a part, 100% of our ang pows had to be given back to our parents to be recycled and given out to others! Of course we later bargained down to 70%, then 50%....but the fact is that we always had to pay a tax - the ang pow tax!
So blessed is our Gen Y, Gen X and Gen Z. They are able to keep their ang pows!
Who do you think is more blessed? The giver or the receiver of the ang pow?
The giver of course! According to Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive"
Of course God has given us the biggest ang pow of all times for this lifetime and in the age to come for all eternity.
JESUS who gave His life for us on the Cross!!
Yet on this earth for our short lifetime on earth God has promised many ang pows if we obey His word on giving.
God's ang pow for our short life on earth is in Luke 6:38 "Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure you use, it will be measure to you."
There is only one condition that will result in 5 blessings for us. A good deal indeed!
The one and only condition is for us to give to God.
1. The first blessing is that rewards will be given to us. "Give and it shall be given to you...."
2. The second blessing is the blessing of rewards coming back to us in unexpected forms. We will receive back our giving back in rewards in unexpected forms. For me, I am expecting a good increment and a good bonus. Who knows our company may send us somewhere for a paid working vacation or someone in the family may bless us with a free holiday or air ticket or our children may get a scholarship or we may get the house we want at the price we want or we may be able to buy the car we want at a very special price!
I had an LG member who was suffering financial lack. I told her to give 10% of her income to the Lord. She started tithing 10% of her weekly income to the Lord. When she started doing this she began receiving her blessings in various forms. Her husband got a job, a car was given to her son, her sons got scholarships/study loans, she was able to buy new sofas and TV. She also got 2 jobs - one as a tea lady and the other as a baby sitter! The last we saw her she even got herself a designer dog!
Have a thankful heart when you give and expect unexpected rewards from unexpected sources!
3. The third blessing is that it will be "running over". In Greek this word means the "overflow". The various forms that our reward is going to come is going to overflow in our lives.
4. The 4th blessing is that God's unexpected rewards is going to come from a third party. The KJV is the only version with the promise "shall men give to your bosom". No other versions have this word "men" giving to our bosom.
"Men" can be a friend, a church member, a family member or even an organization! Be on the lookout for God's surprises along the way!
5. The 5th blessing is that the rewards given to us by others is going to warm our hearts. "Bosom" is a place close to our hearts. John rested on Jesus's bosom signifying how deeply he was loved by the Lord. When men give to us as a result of our giving to God it is going to make us so happy that our hearts are going to be warmed by it. No matter if I do not get my promotion. I do not want a promotion if it is going to make my heart sad and sick! I want a promotion that will warm my heart.
Indeed God's ang pow is a terrific deal - only one condition to be met but 5 blessings to be enjoyed!
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