On Right and Good, on prayer.

Two things happened today when i was in church.

The first was on prayer. We were praying for some people and i asked what was the purpose of prayer.

We all know the purpose of praying for ourselves is so that we are aligned to God's purpose, or to be aware of God rather then having our prayer requests honoured. Phi 4:6 says it that we present our requests to God and the peace of God will come on us. Jesus says we pray but the Father knows what we need even before we ask (Matt 6:8). So prayer purpose is really for God's will to be in our lives, or that we draw nearer to God. To pray that we will obey God.

But then i asked how about praying for others especially if they are not around. How about if we pray for them when we are beside them, we lay hands on them? What is the purpose? That we aligned ourselves to God by knowing His purpose for them? Sounds iffy....

Then God said this, You pray for others that you may show love to them. Boom. That changed it all. That reversed my entire thinking. We pray for others that others know that God loves them enough to send little angels. We pray for others that others know we love them. We pray that we may show the love we have for others. We pray that we may love others.

That idea springs about so many different dimensions of prayer. Prayer is not about that the person learns anything new about God, or about affirmation (although it can be). Praying for others at the very core is really praying to show love to the person. Praying for others is at it's core loving others.

The other idea i learnt today was the doing what is good is not necessarily what is right. It is good to help my students clarify understanding, it is good to teach them step by step. But it may not be right if it cripples them in the sense they no longer bother to study on their own. It may not be the right approach if we as educators do not make them do the discovery of knowledge on their own, but we deliver all they need. Educators purpose is that the students have the love for the subject to pursue it on their own. We need to pass on that love to the students. The good thing is to teach. The right thing is to pass on the love.

In a stagflation, governments must not pump in more money to boost the economy. Stagflation is almost always a supply side problem. Keynesian economist argue that in a recession, government spending has to come in. In a stagflation, the government's best bet is to let the economy cool down, suffer higher unemployment for a while and a lower price level, before the economy moves back to origin. The good thing is to spend, the right thing is to suffer.

Jesus did not heal every one who came to Him. There was a man whom Peter healed. this man according to acts laid at the temple gates everyday. Now Jesus entered the temple several times, yet He never healed that man. Because it was not Him who should do the healing, but the Father had ordained that Peter would heal that man. It was good to heal, it was right not to.

Why do i write this? For christians, we must be careful. Do the right thing, not the good thing. Too many times we want to deal with sin and everything. That is the good thing. The right thing is to come to God and cry out for help. The good thing is to rebuke people who say the wrong things. The right thing is to ask why. The good thing is to pray for others. The right thing is to walk with them. The good thing is missions. the right thing is asking God when.

The right thing is to admit we are useless sinners who deserve nothing but hell, that apart from God we are worthless. Our value is that God loves us enough to give His life for us. That is the right thing to declare.

Do what is right. Not what is merely good.

letting the values we know become the values we live by

Someone said values are caught and not taught.


On first instinct, i believed in that argument.


But yesterday something happened that made me realise that that is not true. When people know the values but do not put them in practice.

Many times, we know values. We know what is right and wrong. They were taught to us. Whether in school, by the media, by parents, or however, values were taught to us. We are taught values.

However, living out the values, letting the values we know become the values we live by, knowing in the head and knowing in the heart, that is the part that we as people have to do. We need to put into practice that which we know in our heart that we may be able to go from knowing to doing.

The final step is being. When we finally realise that people around us are picking up from our habits, when the values we hold true and live by are being caught, then we have gone from doing to being.

Check our hearts. What are the values we hold to be true? What are the foundations of those values? Do we grasp the urgent need to hold those values as true and do the actions that exhibit the values? And then do we cross the line to allow those values not just to shape us but also to be our life?

What if

Talked to my friend about what ifs. She mentioned that she was afraid of the what if, of the what if she made the wrong choice.

I came to the conclusion, we must never entertain the what if once we have made the decision. The what if's must be dealt with at the start of the decision making. We need to get that out of the way. Once we made the decision, hold in our heart the conviction that based on the information put to us at the point of time, we made the right decision after going through all the steps.

The what if questions are crucial to help us paint the appropriate picture of our choices. The what if questions will highlight our opportunity cost, or the real cost of choice. We need that.

This applies even if God calls us to a place. We need to evaluate the choices set before us, and decide if we want to obey. Luke 14:28 urges, no instructs us, to count the cost. And part of the cost is to consider the what if.

After that, do not look back. After that, do not hesitate, turn from left or right. But press on. Once we decided, do not live a life of regret.

You have one life. Live it fullest. No regrets.

Return to innocence

These few days, God's been telling me, come home. Like the prodigal son in the bible, come home. Stay no longer away from your father's embrace. Come home.

I am fighting to come home. Fighting to get my house in order. And I know it is hard, uphill task. To love someone whom we do not see, nor feel. Not to fabricate love, but to utterly give your heart to one. To be fully devoted to Jesus is not easy, but necessary. We fight to love God unconditionally. We need to fight to love Him unconditionally, to guard our time with God. To guard our heart with God.

This is the heart cry of a christian gone off. To come back to innocence.

The scariest issue

Can man live without God?

My answer is Yes. That answer scares me.

It scares me because that means i do not need God to live a full life. It scares me because it means i can run wherever i want to do whatever i want to be whoever i want, and live life to the max.

It scares me because that means I am in control. It means that the consequences of my actions are fully borne by me. It means that i need to make decisions and be totally in charge. It means that all responsibility for my life is mine. It means I have to make this life count based on my own efforts. It means i have to play a game of rules i do not know nor fully understand, because the maker of the game is on vacation.

Yet i know I can. Am i losing my faith? I do not think so. Even worse, my faith is evolving to that of one who says that i believe in God but i somehow do not need Him. What makes it painful is i know that is not true.

I want to want God. I want to need God. I want to be in a relationship with God. I want to know Him.

Listening

Day before was the first in a long time that i returned to the arms of God.

It is hard to return to Jesus. Because you know you do not deserve a return embrace but a shun aside. A rejection of any sort is sometimes better than blind acceptance.

The love of Jesus is exactly that. Blind acceptance. It is nothing more or less than blind acceptance. Jesus is standing there with arms wide open, waiting for us to return to him. Yet we opt to run away from him.

But the first thing was God said was this,
What have you lost?

You strip away all that I am, you will find the only thing worth removing from me is my talent of listening. The gift of listening deep into the hearts of people, the cries of broken hearts. Yet even this i have lost, perverted and discarded. The sensitivity i had to Jesus is another thing i have lost, ignored forgotten.

To listen is my gift, and that i have discarded. In do ing so, i have rejected my use for God. I have rejected my gift God gave that i may go my own way. In the same way, i have rejected God.

In that vein, God asks, How then can i bless those to whom the blessing will be a curse to. How then can i send blessing to whom it will kill.

I want to run after Jesus, to run hard after God. To be still in the wind and the waves, to be calm after the storm, to be collected in the fires, to hear the still small voice of God.

In the wind, the rain. Storms and fire. God is there but he will not be found.
But in the silence, He is waiting to be found.

My son, are you ready to live in your father's home as His son?