STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN.... BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

By: Rev. Arnel Tan ". . . Step out of the traffic. Take a long, loving look on me, your High God. Above politics, above everything." Psalm 46: 10 The Message This psalm finds an emotional welcome in many hearts who are in the midst of the noise and complexity of life. So many take time to take notes and in agreement, many wanted to memorize Psalm 46:10. This is good because it will lead to a deeper realization that this Psalm is so impossible to apply without surrendering to God who, alone, can still us from within. To ‘be still and know that I am God’ requires us to ask God to activate the function of our sanctified imagination. Meaning, in prayer, ask God for an image in your mind that will remind you of His command to be still. One painter would picture God's peace in His painting of a terrible storm . . . and in the midst of it, a calm bird resting. What is your picture of ‘be still’. In my busy work in church and broadcast, ‘be still’ for me means being able to unhurriedly enjoy my brewed coffee amidst the demands and pressures of life and ministry. It is being able to set boundaries and accept my limitations. This would mean not taking a tasked that will disrupt the stillness of my heart in communing with God. Let stillness of heart be expressed in the language of prayer. I need to remind myself that my main job in church is to lead people to God, to pray and step out of the way, lest I cause traffic in their ‘stillness’ and pursuit of knowing God. As a redeemed community, we too must enjoy the use of our sanctified imagination and picture what it is to be still and know God. In the midst of our load of ministry, we can have a ‘still’ heart flowing with grace and in God's presence, touching lives of others . . . And those who we encounter are attracted to our unique peace. In quietness of heart, the Lord develops a godly confidence in facing our daily pressures. When we are in prayer as a congregation, it is here that we are most not in control . . . yet it is here that we are consciously close to the One who is in charge. Being still before God is an assault to our pride and busy lives. We would rather do something than be still . . . that's why God commands us to hush, cease striving and bow down to Him, exposing ourselves to His presence in worship and enjoying friendship with Him in prayer. Psalm 46:10 must not only be a therapy . . . it must be a lifestyle that slows us down that we may rest from performance and perfectionism. Being still before God is a royal invitation from God to see things from His perspective. Upon receiving the instruction from God's word, let us exercise a sanctified imagination to picture how this looks like and then let us avail of His grace to apply this into the mainstream of life where stress is overwhelming! Amen.

HEART REVEALING PRAYER

"I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower with inner strength through His Spirit," Ephesians 3:16 Listen to a prayer and you can somehow glimpse what's inside the heart. Take the time to hear your own prayers, maybe you can write them down and then visit them again after sometime. It is here that you will discover your spiritual state. Your prayers unveil the depth of your heart. It is interesting to see that through our prayers we somehow see, not wrong prayers, but shallow prayers. Here we are made aware that the kind of requests we ask God are more often self-serving and not centered on seeking God's glory. If you find that your prayers are too shallow, don't be disappointed . . . we all start here. Keep praying, keep calling, keep enjoying the presence of God . . . soon you will see spiritual depth in your prayers. When prayers are no longer offered to serve our purposes; when praying for others aside from our close family circles are desired; when seeking God is our main preoccupation in prayer, then we are leaving the shallow waters. Paul prayed for inner strength by the power of the Holy Spirit. Honestly, I don't find this in my prayers. To be candid about it, only when I am in an emergency or in dire need do I realize the need for inner strength. A whole lot of my prayers reveal my concern for the external welfare rather than what's really happening inside. Thank God for His tolerance! I think the application to all of the lessons on prayer is to actually start PRAYING! Yes, shallow prayers at first . . . then we enter into God-centered prayers. Whenever we pray, God is doing something that only He can do. Remember, this happens every time you and I pray. God is relating to us, sustaining, cleansing, directing, convicting. Yes, prayer changes things . . . but more than that, God is changing the one who prays! Soon you and I will see some changes in our prayers. Instead of just asking things for ourselves, we now desire to want what God wants us to have! Let us all be fervent in prayers, for when we pray, God is doing a miracle of transformation. Listen to your prayers and see your heart! Prayerfully, Rev. Arnel Tan

What Exactly Did Abraham Sacrifice - Conclusion Part2

The moment you surrender to Him, then you get your surprise, the moment you said “Your will be done,” then you would say “His way are higher than my ways.” How do you think Abraham hug Isaac, before or after they climbed mount Moriah? If Abraham escaped and did not obey God, He can hug Isaac, control on Isaac. A tight hug can mean control, or a tight hug means, liberation from control. Which hug do you do? Do you hug someone with controlling heart? Or hug someone with liberating hug? The days of Abraham are numbered, he did not only see Isaac, He saw his grandson, and his great grandson. How God is so good, when you released these to Him, He let you know that this is the only obstacle why you can’t enjoy these because you are holding this. Blessings are now enjoyed when we are controller no more.

What Exactly Did Abraham Sacrifice - Conclusion Part1

When a controller releases control he becomes calm. When a controller stops controlling and allowing God to do so in His time even to the next one hundred years , in His ways, not in my fast lane ways, that even today like instant coffee, conversion, maturity, discipleship is made instant by long lectures. Not only in His time, in His way, but for His glory. The Last part of Abraham journey of faith, it was a struggle for control and we noticed from the scripture that it was not Abraham that was a controller, Sarah too, it was not also Sarah who was a controller but everyone in the Bible who will do things their ways is a controller.

PRAYING BELIEVERS

“I believed in you, so I prayed, “I am deeply troubled, LORD.” Psalm 116:10 (NLT)

Prayer has its foundation in our faith in God. It is not a message sent to outer space without knowing who will receive it. Prayers are messages believers send to God . . . in faith that God will listen and in His wisdom, answer our prayers. Such is the privilege of those who believe they can pray. It is not a privilege for the few . . . rather, prayer is the privilege that few believers avail of. How sad!

The Psalmist soon realized that being related with God by faith does not at all exempt us from troubles . . . not just troubles, but deep troubles. In general terms he puts them in one category labeled as “deep troubles”. There are no details given to us about the troubles that beset the psalmist. One thing is sure, we are not exempted from it. Rather than digging for details, let us see how he confronted his troubles. The Psalmist PRAYED!

Let our faith in God lead us to commune with Him in fervent prayers. Here, let us see His hand over our situations and His embrace around our fears and His abundant grace overshadowing our failures and inadequacies. No more denying, no more pretending that we are not affected. Send your concerns to the throne of grace where the Lord meets the needs of the helpless! In God’s wisdom, He may choose to spare us or grant us His assuring presence as we go through the pain allotted to us.

If praying does not guarantee the result I desire, why bother to pray? We continue to pray because we are shortsighted and loudmouthed children of God. We pray so we can experience deep faith enriched by calamities that sweetens our celebration. We pray for we are weak in facing the challenges and forgetful to remember God in our success. One can say he believes and miss the privilege of talking to His Savior. On the other hand, the one who believes is daily nourished and, moment to moment, refreshed by his nearness to God using the privilege of prayer.

Praying believers are not only saved . . . they are walking close with the Savior. They hide and run to the Rock of their safety. “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” is the psalmist’s longing. It is not always ‘bail me out’ and ‘spoil me with your blessings LORD’, rather, ‘draw me nearer to Yourself’ is the deep prayer of the believer. Praying believers are mature believers. They have different appetites and attitudes. It is not their perfection that drives them to call on God . . . it is their vulnerability and clumsiness that leads them to desperately call. This is what the Psalmist meant by “I believed in You, so I prayed.”

BLESSINGS FLOW WHEN A CONTROLLER LETS GO

"Don't lay a hand on the boy!" the angel said. "Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son." Gen. 22:12 NLT

The Lord is eager and willing to bless His children. We do not notice, much more, enjoy the blessings of God that is already here because of our addiction to control . . . doing things our way; taking full charge of something only God can do, for a controlling heart is demanding rather than grateful. It nourishes one's wound and is deliberately inconsiderate of the wounds inflicted upon others. Sufficient, superior, silent are some costumes that a controller wears to stay in control.

It is here that spiritual surgery is urgently needed! God is the Surgeon, he cuts so we can be healed. There will be no recovery when surgery is not performed. For Abraham, God asked for Isaac. In order for Abraham to enjoy Isaac fully, he must relinquish his grip on the boy. We don't enjoy God's blessings because we grip (control) too hard. Honestly, it feels good to be always in control . . . at least to the controller. Embrace turns to choke; mentoring turns to spying; disciplining turns to caging when we don't recover from the addiction to control!

Religion takes over obedience. Quickly, it becomes a cadence of legalism at the tune of our marching command. God must intervene without violating our free will. If not for God's intervention, the controller will not even know that he is such. Thank God for His blessings of intervention . . . we find ourselves exposed, naked and for the first time, admitting we are not in control. This is a sweet music of grace, a beautiful dance, not a march . . . an opportunity for the possibility of true liberation.

At the end, Abraham did not lose Isaac the way he was slowly losing him as a ‘Controller’ dad. At Mt. Moriah, Abraham stepped back and God took over. It was there that he finally offered His addiction to control. It was there Abraham savored the blessing he almost did not fully enjoy unless He obeyed God and let go of his version of order into God's Holy Chaos. He found himself humbled and blessed! A disturbing journey to deliverance indeed. Remember, when God disturbs, we become desperately dependent upon Him to deliver us from our own self-set order. It is in this rare moment of releasing control that God’s Holy Chaos becomes a blessing!

What Exactly Did Abraham Sacrifice - Part2

Abraham did not learn to lie but benefitted from his lies, because of the beautiful, supermodel, wife the king began to give him gifts. The God in heaven said ah, ah, the man of faith is a controller, the man of God is shrewd, he’s beginning to like it. It’s beginning to be like a lifestyle. A controller will use any means to stay in control.

What Exactly Did Abraham Sacrifice - Part1

Somewhere in the story is a lesson for Abraham, I would like to believe that the test is not for God but for Abraham. A little information will help, at this point in time Abraham is no longer young. Isaac came to their lives, Abraham was already a hundred years old. Can you imagine for the first time God gave Him, and just when he is enjoying, just when you have concrete plans, just when it looks like forever and just when the same voice who promised the boy, is the same voice who said “give him back to Me”, believe me the struggle is not easy.

Manager or Minister - Part2

Some people use guilt and it may cause people to perform but deep inside it can cause distance beyond repair. Some people use gifts, load someone with gifts and he cannot say no anymore. By the way, what is our motive when we give? Why are we so kind? One time my host and I were eating dinner and my host said I’m always kind to the pastors. Eat, eat, then he said eat, eat so that God will be kind to me. Why are you so kind? Why do you give gifts? If the reason is to bully with the expectation of change, with the expectation that if I give, he will realize that God loves him, stop it. The love of God is the only love that can transform a man.

Manager or Minister - Part1

When it comes with our relationship with God and connected with that is our relationship with others we ask the question, are you acting as a manager or a minister? Peter, with his dialogue with Jesus gets very down to earth, wants to divert the topic and he said to Jesus “What about him?” What is the answer of Jesus to Peter? Very brutally frank, Jesus tells Peter without protocol, direct truth, sharp, pierce to Peter’s heart “Peter if I want him to live until I come back, what is that to you?" Peter your job is not to manage John, your job is to follow me.

The Truth About The Second Coming of Christ - Part2

Worldy saying says “when the cat is away the mouse will play”. Because the Lord's second coming is somewhat long to wait, we'd rather do anything that are pleasing in our sight and enjoy sinning and then at the last minute become holy. Is that true with you? A God-honoring life is not doing good works because you are afraid that the boss will catch you play but, holiness should be our lifestyle.

The Truth About The Second Coming of Christ - Part1

Every new year , every TV station invites people who can predict the future, they told us many predictions on what it will be in each year because you know what, people are addicted on what is ahead, that’s the problem with people, they want to be ahead of what will happen about tomorrow. There are also predictions that days will end on December 2012. But for us Bible believing Christians, the end of the physical world is after the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

SAVED BUT NOT SAFE

“The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.” Acts 9:11

Ananias no doubt is a true child of God who truly believes in Jesus as his Lord. His soul is already delivered from darkness and sin and his destiny is to be with the Lord in eternity. Yet here on earth, the Lord needed to deliver Ananias . . . not from sin but from being a safe and selfish servant of God. To be a Christian in those times required a bold step from your safe zone. Initially, Ananias took that step when he followed Jesus. God needed to push him a little bit more into the water of obedience. It is God’s commitment to lead us to live an obedient life, eventually becoming an obedient church.

The road to obedience is not a safe road. The only guarantee is that God promised to walk with us in this unchartered road of obeying His will. For Ananias, his assignment was to minister to Saul, the butcher of Christ’s followers. This time, Ananias thought of arguing his case before the Lord, which the Lord graciously heard. At the end of his dialogue with Jesus, Ananias chose to obey! The Lord first needed to disturb Ananias’ safe life, then, as he was jolted from his comfort zone, the Lord gave His direction to him. Whenever we ask for God’s direction in our lives, we are also asking for Divine disturbance! Without God’s disturbance, I doubt if we will want His direction?

Unknown to Ananias, God was delivering him from living an uneventful life. As he obeyed God, Ananias crossed his Jordan to the other side. [It is in obeying that we become more dependent on God; more sensitive to listen to His guidance; more walking by faith than by sight.] From the moment Ananias stepped out from his home to step into the apartment of Paul, he was being delivered from the safe life and radically ushered into a God-ordered chaos! And from the moment he stepped out from Paul’s abode, Ananias tasted a deep sense of God’s peace and God’s presence that originally came from God’s disturbance. Disturbed, directed and delivered! As Christ’s follower, you and I have our own assignments from God. Expect a Holy kind of disturbance that you and I might experience a deep Holy fear of God eventually leading us to plunge into the ‘unchartered’ road of obedience. It is not always safe but surely, this is the pathway of the saved! “Oh Lord, from the desire of being so safe, deliver me; from the addiction to always be in control of my life, release me.” Amen.


Prayerfully,

REV. ARNEL TAN

How To Be Thankful

You see as a parent one of the things that I taught my children were words like, please and thank you because I want them to be grateful with God and in life. In our culture, there’s this debt of gratitude, this could be a good practice but what most important is that we learn to be more thankful to God and in life. Why is it important to express an attitude of gratitude? Well it is a sign of contentment.

Ordinance or Obedience - Part2

Every time I see a doctor with stethoscope I want to borrow it once in a while. I had a counseling last week, many counseling those who will be baptized and I don’t know for whatever reason, I put the stethoscope and start counseling people and they took me a picture and I really look like a doctor, I love it. You really want that? Don’t you know the meaning of that? Chaotic life, willing to be disturbed anytime. Are you too safe? That your schedules cannot be disturbed. Are you too private? That you no longer sensitive to the needs of others or are you willing to have a chaotic life willing to be disturbed by God anytime?

Ordinance or Obedience - Part1

Peace, peace, there is no peace. Should peace be purchased for price of change and slavery? Forbid it oh mighty God, give liberty or give me death. We longed for God’s peace but is it the peace that God wants? Or the version of peace that we want. Today we answer the question, which is more important, ordinances or obedience? Are the ordinances of religion not helpful? Not at all, are the structure or the order of worship Sunday morning not needed? No, they are needed, however these things, ordinances of religion are tools, not ordinance. God desires obedience but somehow we hit the wrong balance, because today our Christianity is more of religion, and its rituals and its requirements, rather than freedom in obeying God.

Can God Interrupt Your Schedule

If you say “If the Lord wants” what is the meaning of that? Meaning if the Lord wills or in other translation if the Lord permits. The center of everything is not on what I want but what God wants. That is the core truth of being the follower of Christ. It is no longer about me but it is now about Christ. But to actually apply, we must be reminded that we are unable to do that by our own strength. We need the strength of the Lord which leads to a question, can God interrupt your plans?

IF THE LORD WILLS

“If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that…”
James 4:15


Saying “If the Lord wills” is not only a mere religious expression that wishes for good things to happen . . . it is a declaration of total dependence on God and total distrust to self. Many people can say “If the Lord wills” for many reasons, however, there should only be one reason for saying and living this . . . the desire to Honor God! This is the kind of life the church should also live. Our good planning without consulting God becomes arrogant and evil in His sight. “If the Lord wills” . . . invites us to take time to wait in prayer and when things are clear, it prompts us to obedience.

Can God interrupt your plans? Yes. It is here that we bow down to God especially in the most irritating interruptions that He might allow. God’s ‘HOLY CHAOS’ destroys our sense of false order and false security. Self-centered order is actually subtle chaos, while the seeming “disorder” from God ultimately produces holy calm. The bible is full of stories on how God’s chaos intervened and made His ways known to us. Up to what point can God intervene in your plans? This can be so invasive—leaving no room for our privacy. When God destroys our plans, only then can He fill us with Himself!

In the long run, living the lifestyle of surrender to God’s holy chaos ultimately produces the true holy order that we need. Instead of fear, this is a journey of faith and an endless humbling experience of seeing how our ways are so foolish. It invites us to worship and lessens our worries; intensifies prayer and simplifies faith! A mysterious and yet sacred route to freedom is first to be liberated from our addiction to control and turn this into our devotion to obey God! Whenever you say “If the Lord wills,” welcome God’s holy interruptions into your very ordered life!

Prayerfully,

REV. ARNEL TAN

Timeless Principles for a Godly New Year - Part2

Life is short. My earnest prayer is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ. There’s a lot of deception to go directly serving Jesus without knowing Jesus. Know Him first, surrender your life to Him and then serve. And if life is short, the temptation is to run it my way or to run it God’s way. I would rather have a Holy chaos which is run by the Spirit of God than religious order that is run by men. Believe me, I’m thinking of living a life that is Spirit-filled. Not only Spirit-filled but Spirit-led, Spirit-controlled, Spirit-empowered.

Timeless Principles for a Godly New Year - Part1

My prayer this new year is not to add more resolutions or to pressure you to have one but rather today, being the first day of 2012and first Sunday of the month let us take a timely pause to look at the scriptures and ask ourselves how God would like me to live life for his glory. And the answer, we live life not to please ourselves but pleasing God. Mysteriously the moment a person put God first in his life, I don’t know how it happens, for the first time you are so satisfied inside. But the moment a person put self first with all the wise arguments available, when you’re alone at night, you cannot deny the emptiness inside. Let us realize that our own version of an orderly life is chaos to God, on the contrary what it seems chaotic to God if we only see His purpose is the most orderly life ever.

Straight From My Heart

We started the year with a solemn commitment to be in cadence with God’s will. To do this, we must remember that our plans must be a result of our fervent prayers. Worshipping God will be our preoccupation instead of worthless worrying. Honestly, we cannot do this on our own strength . . . we need help. God is our gracious helper and through His people, we continually remind and stir each other to prayer instead of panic. Congregational gathering for prayer is still a priority of our church. Here we learn to pause when God says wait. It is also in prayer that we learn not to delay when God says `go’.

Like James, we all learn to say “If the Lord wants” . . . not as a dutiful religious chant or cliché but rather from a heart that eagerly desires to do what God wants! This is neither an easy task nor will it be smooth. When we want God’s peace or calm, we will be open to God’s disturbances in our own lives. For us to learn not to trust in our own plans, whether it be in the business world or in ministry, we relinquish to God our addiction to always be in control. We do not put things in our own hands and do it on our own time.

To walk in this direction, we really need the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us in whichever way He wants. When things get so complicated and demanding, we focus on Jesus so we will not drift from simple faith. Promptly, we pray whenever we are tempted to succumb to panic and pressure. We let His word be our guide and not man’s opinion about His words. It is here that I ask you to pray for God’s wisdom for me as I continue to prioritize prayer and the study of God’s word. Along with this is my appeal that we all make time for our spiritual nourishment by taking time to worship and pray more fervently. As we partake of communion today, let us make time to really wait, wonder and worship the Lord that we all may live worry-free lives.

“If the Lord wants” . . . not a slogan but a principle in life living a God-centered faith!

Prayerfully,


REV. ARNEL C. TAN