JURONG OUTREACH - APR 05

DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?
3 Apr 05

The following story is told about a United Airlines gate agent in Denver , Colorado who was confronted with a passenger who probably deserved to fly as cargo:

During the final days at Denver's old Stapleton airport, a crowded United flight was cancelled. A single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travellers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight AND it has to be FIRST CLASS."

The agent replied, "I'm sorry sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these folks first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out." The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "Do you have any idea WHO I AM?"

Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone. "May I have your attention please?" she began, her voice bellowing throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at the gate WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to gate 17."

I would like to ask you a similar question that the angry passenger asked that is much more important: Do YOU have any idea who God wants you to be?

The answer: God wants YOU to be His child! He wants to adopt you into His family (Galatians 4:4-7).

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

He wants to take care of you (Matthew 6:25-34) and give you an inheritance that is “out of this world” (Romans 8:14-17).

In order for God to adopt us, a great price had to be paid. At just the right time, God sent His Son to redeem us, that we might receive the adoption as children (Galatians 4:4-5). The price of redemption was the death of God’s Son, Jesus, who died as payment for our sins and for our admission into God’s family. "How GREAT is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

(1 John 3:1) Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

The provision for your adoption into God’s family has been made through Christ. The FINAL decision is yours! You can accept God’s offer by :

believing in and trusting Christ (Acts 16:31), And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house,

repenting of your sins (Acts 17:30-31), And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

confessing Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 and being baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Then, God wants His children to continue to be obedient to Him. Jesus said, "Not everyone who SAYS to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will of My Father in heaven."

Confused about your identity? Realize who God wants YOU to be: His child.

Accept His offer today!

UNFAITHFUL AND UNCONCERNED WATCHMEN
10 Apr 05

The words Isaiah spoke some 750 years before the birth of the Saviour are as true today as they were then. The prophet boldly stated, “His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds that cannot understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, a day great beyond measure” (Isa. 56:10-12). A loyal watchman is quick to alert his people of the dangers of the enemy. God’s faithful prophets of old did not hesitate to distinctly identify threats from without and indifference from within. Faithful elders and preachers today will do likewise. May we profit from the lesson to be learned from Isaiah’s inspired statement!

What will be the eternal fate of the congregation whose preacher and elders are charged by the Lord with BLINDNESS (v.10)? Can you imagine building a fortified city upon a hill and then deliberately choosing “blind” men to serve as watchmen for the enemy? How is one who is physically blind capable of warning folks of the approaching enemy? Likewise, how are the spiritually blind capable of warning brethren of spiritual disaster?

Likewise, how are the spiritually blind capable of warning brethren of spiritual disaster?

Ezekiel warned, “When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thy hand” (Ezek. 3:18). It is no laughing matter to be blind to God’s Word. Elders and Gospel preachers will give an account in the Day of Judgment for not having “their senses exercised to discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).

What will be the eternal fate of the congregation whose preacher and elders are charged by the Lord with IGNORANCE (v.10)? Matthew Henry comments that these so-called watchmen “had no sense or knowledge of their business. They were wretchedly ignorant of their work, and very unfit to teach, being so ill-taught themselves (Commentary on Isaiah). Can not the same thing be said today about so many who profess to be elders and preachers?

God’s watchmen do not subscribe to the thinking that declares, “what one does not know will not hurt him.” One who does not recognize the enemy cannot warn of the presence of the enemy. One who does not recognize the enemy’s tactics will eventually become ensnared in his foe’s traps. Thus, Peter sounds forth the warning , “Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Many who call themselves elders and preachers are not students of the Bible. One cannot teach what he does not know! Neither can he warn of that which he is not aware! So many today imbibe from false teachers at our so-called Christian universities and are as Paul says, “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7).

The reason they do not possess a knowledge of the truth is because they have denied that which is godly and right (2 Tim. 3:5). One is a failure and a stumbling block who is ignorant of God’s will (Matt. 15:14). True watchmen can say as did the Psalmist, “Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).

What will be the eternal fate of the congregation whose preacher and elders are charged by the Lord with COWARDLINESS (dumb dogs who will not bark, v.10)? A cowardly dog will not growl or bark! Instead of barking, such an animal quietly hunkers down while the damage is done. Who would choose such a dog to guard a flock of sheep? Who would want a cowardly preacher or elder that refused to reprove those guilty of sin and consistently failed to warm the flock of wolves (false teachers) and destructive doctrine?

What will be the eternal fate of the congregation whose preacher and elders are charged by the Lord with being DREAMERS (v.10)? Some folks are not content to have the entire Word of God regarding doctrinal matters (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:3; Jude 6). They dream dreams and speak of “visions” received from the Lord. They speak of their “dreams” for the Lord’s church while ignoring the pattern the Lord gave regarding His body. Such visions and dreams do not come from the mind of God but the mind of men!

Godly elders and preachers will reject and loudly warn against anything and everything that does not “befit the sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). May it never be said of God’s watchmen that they are unfaithful and unconcerned!

PERMISSION TO FAIL
10 Apr 05

She was young and pretty, and she loved children. My pupils, Donnie included, adored her. But even enthusiastic, loving Mary Anne was baffled by this little boy who feared he might make a mistake.

Then one morning we were working math problems at the chalkboard. Donnie had copied the problems with painstaking neatness and filled in answers for the first row. Pleased with his progress, I left the children with Mary Anne and went for art materials. When I returned, Donnie was in tears. He'd missed the third problem.

My student teacher looked at me in despair. Suddenly her face brightened. From the desk we shared, she got a canister filled with pencils. "Look, Donnie," she said, kneeling beside him and gently lifting the tear-stained face from his arms. "I've got something to show you." She removed the pencils, one at a time, and placed them on his desk.

"See these pencils, Donnie?" she continued. "They belong to Mrs. Lindstrom and me. See how the erasers are worn? That's because we make mistakes too. Lots of them. But we erase the mistakes and try again. That's what you must learn to do, too."

She kissed him and stood up. "Here," she said, "I'll leave one of these pencils on your desk so you'll remember that everybody makes mistakes, even teachers." Donnie looked up with love in his eyes and just a glimmer of a smile - the first I'd see on his face that year.

The pencil became Donnie's prized possession. That, together with Mary Anne's frequent encouragement and unfailing praise for even Donnie's small successes, gradually persuaded him that it's all right to make mistakes - as long as you erase them and try again.

Some people are so afraid that they are not good enough for God to love.  They feel they have to be able to practise perfectly what the Lord expects, before they dare to become Christians.  They are in constant fear of “What if I can’t live up to God’s expectations?”  We need to know that it is because we are imperfect, because we are sinful and because we are failures, that we need the loving grace of our Heavenly Father.  Christ has promised us that (1 Jo 1:9) “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Our precious Lord understands that we will falter, but the Importance is, what are we going to do after that. Remember how the apostle Peter failed the Lord by denying Him three times?  Our Lord’s words to him tell us a lot about what Christ hopes for us to do if we have sinned.  He expects us to recover and move on.  He expects us to repent and grow in faith. He doesn’t want us to remain down. (Lu 22:31,32) And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Our Lord does not want us to be so fearful of failure that we become immobilized and do nothing. We’ve learnt from the scriptures that the one-talent man was so afraid of failure that he hid it in the ground and did nothing with the talent that was given to him. In the end, he lost even the one talent that was given to him. (Mt 25:25 –29)

Let us rise up and work for the Lord. Do not be afraid of failures because we are not alone, Christ is with us.

(Phil 4:13)I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me !!

HIS ARCHERS COMPASS ME
24 Apr 05

Job was being tested by Satan. God had given Satan the freedom to give great distress to Job. Satan told God that when he got through with Job, that Job would curse God. God knew differently. He allowed Satan to do whatever he wanted to Job, except kill him.

Job's children were killed. All his riches were stolen. His body was covered with sores. His bones ached. His wife asked him to curse God. But Job never did curse God.

Job was sure that he had not sinned to deserve such treatment. Yet, he believed God was the one who did all these things to him and his family. In Job 16:13, he says, "His archers compass me round about, he cleaveth my reins asunder, and doth not spare; he poureth out my gall upon the ground."

Job pictures God as sending archers to shoot arrows at him. These arrows pierce his body and mind. But Job was wrong. It was actually Satan who was shooting the arrows at him. In Ephesians 6:11-16, we read about the armour of God that the Christian is to put on. In verse 16, we are told to take the shield of faith, so that we may turn away the 'fiery darts' of the wicked one, Satan.

In Ephesians 6:11-16, we read about the armour of God that the Christian is to put on. In verse 16, we are told to take the shield of faith, so that we may turn away the 'fiery darts' of the wicked one, Satan.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

While Job thought that the arrows he was suffering from came from God, they actually came from Satan. Job's faith kept him from ever cursing God. Even though he was confused, even though he had lost everything, even though he was suffering he never lost faith in God. And his faith in God defeated Satan.

Let us, in the face of sufferings and trials, not give up our faith in God. He only allows us to bear what we are able. 

(1Co 10:13) “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

He leadeth me

He leadeth me: O blessed thought!
O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whatever I do, wherever I be,
Still ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me.

Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom,
Sometimes where E-den’s bowers bloom,
By waters still, o’er troubled sea,
Still ‘tis His hand that leadeth me.

Lore, I would clasp thy hand in mine,
Nor ever murmur nor repine;
Content, whatever lot I see,
Since ‘tis Thy hand that leadeth me.

And when my task on earth is done,
When, by Thy grace, the victory’s won,
E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee,
Since God thro’ Jordan leadeth me.

He leadeth me, He leadeth me,
By His own hand He leadeth me:
His faithful follower I would be,
For by His hand He leadeth me.