“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; and he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.’ Psalm 34:18NLT
Brokenness is a unique work of grace that leads us to cry to the Lord! Such a distress call is not only an acknowledgement of helplessness but an evidence of a surrendered will! It is in this kind of desperation that the stubborn heart is now tender to hear God’s voice and to submit to His will. No boastings; no demands for special treatment (crumbs from the Master’s table are enough); no more embarrassment about one’s desperate situation.
Desperate prayers like these get God’s attention. No one can pray like this without a sense of grace being awakened by God in the heart. Honestly, nobody wants to be in a desperate situation where we all go through the ordeal of being helpless. Yet, it is in this kind of storm that grace is so tasty and flesh is so silent! It is only by God’s wisdom and perfect timing that He allows such moments of desperation. God knows when and God knows how. It is only when one puts his trust in God that desperate times turn to moments of refreshing grace.
Prayers are not, in the real sense, true prayers when they are not uttered in a sense of desperation. By God’s design, lessons of dependence are best learned in times of desperation. How remarkable is God’s answer to desperate prayers…He offers no one else but His Presence to be so close. Think about it what one could possibly need more when God’s Presence is so close? Everything about what God wishes to give is marvelously compounded in His very nearness! In fact, He is not only near, in the person of the Holy Spirit…He resides in us!
When the helpless and desperate call on God, they will have nothing else but God Himself! Let the word of God and the Spirit of God stir hearts and let His work of grace show more unexplored desperation inside and in so doing, knowing God deeply becomes not just a theology but a lifestyle! For the first time there is immense beauty in desperation!
Friday, November 18, 2011
God Answers Desperate Prayer - Part2
What is a desperate prayer? It is a prayer that contains no more boasting. Remember the Pharisee? “Lord I am not like that tax collector” that is not a prayer, that’s boasting. Desperate prayer - no more time to boast because there’s no more to boast. Listen grueling fugitive, afraid like David when he learned to pray. You don’t learn prayer robed, crowned, powerful, high salaried, well sought, you don’t learn anything there. Desperate prayer have no other alternatives. I always smile when I heard that woman bleeding, in the gospel of Mark, 12 years of bleeding and Dr. Luke or Mark said she got worse in the hands of her doctor.
God Answers Desperate Prayer - Part1
Are you desperate? Maybe a lot of you would say yes but let me qualify, some people are desperate but what is actually happening is they are not desperate, they are bitter. There’s a big difference. Bitterness is not brokenness, some people say I am helpless but actually what they mean is I am angry. Anger is not desperation, desperation in the wrong way can lead you to do crazy things, but desperation in the right way to lead you a life that is dependent on God.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
ENDING WELL IN GRACE
“The people of Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua…..”Joshua 24:31NLT
Beginnings may be impressive, it is in how we end that matters the most. The life and leadership of Joshua is a powerful model of a life and ministry that ended in grace. The entrance of Joshua into the arena of leadership was a total shock to him. Perhaps, in his mind, he was only prepared to be Moses’ assistant forever. God, again and again, assured Joshua of His abiding presence as he lead His people to the promised land. Here, an amateur leader starts his leadership and begins his journey of learning grace. It is here that Joshua learns that the lessons of grace are all about being broken before God.
God’s way and his style are totally different from ours. It is here Joshua humbly bowed down to the ways of God more than to his military wisdom. Who could forget the crossing of the Jordan; the battle of Jericho; the embarrassing defeat at Ai; and not to be forgotten, the inclusion of Rahab into the family of Israel! All of these episodes spoke of GRACE! This created a powerful impact in the life of Joshua and was obviously seen in his leadership as well. Joshua ended with a legacy of grace accorded to him by God’s people, while others just sadly faded away.
Joshua respected God’s people and gave them space to choose whom they would serve. Such exercise of grace made such a powerful impact to the nation of Israel that they served God throughout the lifetime of Joshua! This is a rare record of leadership . . . a whole nation serving the Lord! Grace made such a more powerful impact than a code of rules and legalistic monitoring of compliance. Such an impact is never achieved by effort or sacrifice . . . this is absolutely by GRACE! Ending in grace leaves an impact on the leader himself and leaves a legacy that continues to make an impact on others. A life lived in grace and a life that ends in grace leaves a timeless lesson that grace is here so that NO MAN CAN BOAST!
REV. ARNEL C. TAN
Beginnings may be impressive, it is in how we end that matters the most. The life and leadership of Joshua is a powerful model of a life and ministry that ended in grace. The entrance of Joshua into the arena of leadership was a total shock to him. Perhaps, in his mind, he was only prepared to be Moses’ assistant forever. God, again and again, assured Joshua of His abiding presence as he lead His people to the promised land. Here, an amateur leader starts his leadership and begins his journey of learning grace. It is here that Joshua learns that the lessons of grace are all about being broken before God.
God’s way and his style are totally different from ours. It is here Joshua humbly bowed down to the ways of God more than to his military wisdom. Who could forget the crossing of the Jordan; the battle of Jericho; the embarrassing defeat at Ai; and not to be forgotten, the inclusion of Rahab into the family of Israel! All of these episodes spoke of GRACE! This created a powerful impact in the life of Joshua and was obviously seen in his leadership as well. Joshua ended with a legacy of grace accorded to him by God’s people, while others just sadly faded away.
Joshua respected God’s people and gave them space to choose whom they would serve. Such exercise of grace made such a powerful impact to the nation of Israel that they served God throughout the lifetime of Joshua! This is a rare record of leadership . . . a whole nation serving the Lord! Grace made such a more powerful impact than a code of rules and legalistic monitoring of compliance. Such an impact is never achieved by effort or sacrifice . . . this is absolutely by GRACE! Ending in grace leaves an impact on the leader himself and leaves a legacy that continues to make an impact on others. A life lived in grace and a life that ends in grace leaves a timeless lesson that grace is here so that NO MAN CAN BOAST!
REV. ARNEL C. TAN
Friday, November 11, 2011
Ending Well in Grace - Part2
How do you live grace? Grace and the lifestyle of the gracious minimize pressure while guilt heeds up performance. However guilt and graceless servants of God thickens the iceberg and choke the remaining surviving whales. How is Joshua gracious? Respect for others, becoming a friend so you can share the gospel to that person. Give space, for people to think, space for people to decide, space for people to choose. You know solitude is so important not because you want silence but there’s a space wherein God can move and do whatever He wants to do to you.
Ending Well in Grace - Part1
It is comforting to know that the totality of life doesn’t begin on how you start. It all comes to the point on how you end. The message this morning is a timely reminder that more than what you think the end of life is sooner than what you expect. Life is short, it is shorter than what you think it is. Life is no longer measured by years today I measure it by the Sundays, there are 52 Sundays in one year. So if every Sunday you are present in church you just heard 52 messages. My prayer is that when you hear God’s Word, we may be sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit that whenever God’s Word is preached, lives are being transformed by the power of God.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
When Death has Come - Part2
When you die where will you go? Others would say I will know when I go there, too late. You know I’m shocked today when people can entrust themselves to the people that they don’t know. You take a taxi and you don’t even know the driver as you put your life in his hand. You go for surgery the doctor is barely not known to you and he opens you up. You go to a high story building and trust that it will not collapse, you climb up on a mountain with adventurous people, you ride a zip line and you put your life in danger. You trust those things who are not trustworthy! I appeal to you, would you trust Someone who can say I’ve been there? He is Christ our Lord!
When Death has Come - Part1
Is it okay to come to cemetery? What if they pray for the dead? We no longer pray for the dead what should i do? Just be there and don’t contradict and just pay respect for their belief, let them know who you are, but never turn to be a persecutor, it’s still good to be persecuted but not to be a persecutor of anyone else's faith. By that, I assure you that you have a greater chance to share the gospel to them than bulldogging them now. But deeper than that, this morning, I have two things in my mind. Number one, to challenge those of you who are afraid to die and by the way who is not afraid. Number two is to somehow bring back to our minds that, if we don’t think that life is short it affects the way we live. It is on the premise that the more we are prepared for death, the more we understand what the Bible says about death, the more we live life responsibly.
Friday, November 4, 2011
LIVING AND DYING WELL
“And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment.”
Hebrews 9:27 NLT
This short verse provides a lot of details that one needs to know regarding death and living. Here we see that death has already been fixed as an appointment. Everyone has their own appointed time. The time element may not be the same, yet the road to that appointment is common to all. After death comes judgment. We are not given much detail here but we know from the Bible that all who trusted Christ will never be condemned any more (John 5:24), meaning, believers in Christ need not fear this time of judgment. On the contrary, those who rejected Christ in life, though alive, are judged already (John 3:18) . . . unless that person repents while still alive.
These doctrinal issues are important to us because they greatly affect our way of life! The Lord settled everything about death and dying for those who are His. The date and the manner God’s children die is still a mystery to us. I think it should stay that way . . . a mystery. Knowing all the details will not make life enjoyable but horrible. God in His grace only revealed the general details, for God knows how much reality we can tolerate and still live meaningfully. If a person is sure about His relationship with Christ, his concern will not be much on death but on how to enjoy the life God has given him today.
Living well is the result of being prepared for death. It is in this life that we need to live a life that glorifies God! It is here that humility and grace are much needed, for in heaven, all of us will be perfect and pure. It is here that our generosity is best needed and appreciated . . . for what would one need from another in heaven? It is also here that we take the gifts of grace daily given in the form of fresh chances to live life—an opportunity to make godly choices and the grace to be transformed in our attitudes into the ultimate likeness of Christ’s attitude. It is also in this life that the opportunity to serve and make a difference is much needed.
All true believers of Christ need not fear death nor be plagued with the manner of dying. All is already well taken cared of. Yet all true believers must find life as an opportunity to live with fresh joy, and a heart eager to do the Master’s will! Instead of worrying about death, we might as well focus on why God extended our lives thus far. Living meaningfully in grace and praying fervently with God’s people must occupy our time. In other words, the direct application of our assurance of salvation is not only in the future but it sets our life now into a wonderful motion of hope and meaning! We can choose to live well for Christ has conquered death!
Joyfully and prayerfully,
REV. ARNEL C. TAN
Hebrews 9:27 NLT
This short verse provides a lot of details that one needs to know regarding death and living. Here we see that death has already been fixed as an appointment. Everyone has their own appointed time. The time element may not be the same, yet the road to that appointment is common to all. After death comes judgment. We are not given much detail here but we know from the Bible that all who trusted Christ will never be condemned any more (John 5:24), meaning, believers in Christ need not fear this time of judgment. On the contrary, those who rejected Christ in life, though alive, are judged already (John 3:18) . . . unless that person repents while still alive.
These doctrinal issues are important to us because they greatly affect our way of life! The Lord settled everything about death and dying for those who are His. The date and the manner God’s children die is still a mystery to us. I think it should stay that way . . . a mystery. Knowing all the details will not make life enjoyable but horrible. God in His grace only revealed the general details, for God knows how much reality we can tolerate and still live meaningfully. If a person is sure about His relationship with Christ, his concern will not be much on death but on how to enjoy the life God has given him today.
Living well is the result of being prepared for death. It is in this life that we need to live a life that glorifies God! It is here that humility and grace are much needed, for in heaven, all of us will be perfect and pure. It is here that our generosity is best needed and appreciated . . . for what would one need from another in heaven? It is also here that we take the gifts of grace daily given in the form of fresh chances to live life—an opportunity to make godly choices and the grace to be transformed in our attitudes into the ultimate likeness of Christ’s attitude. It is also in this life that the opportunity to serve and make a difference is much needed.
All true believers of Christ need not fear death nor be plagued with the manner of dying. All is already well taken cared of. Yet all true believers must find life as an opportunity to live with fresh joy, and a heart eager to do the Master’s will! Instead of worrying about death, we might as well focus on why God extended our lives thus far. Living meaningfully in grace and praying fervently with God’s people must occupy our time. In other words, the direct application of our assurance of salvation is not only in the future but it sets our life now into a wonderful motion of hope and meaning! We can choose to live well for Christ has conquered death!
Joyfully and prayerfully,
REV. ARNEL C. TAN
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)