I Don't know but I Know & Trust Him

There are many things that happened in the this world that we don't know why and how come. But as believers, we do know Him, and know enough to trust Him, and to follow Him. In this VUCAD world where nothing is for certain and everything so confusing, it is very important that we go after things that are of eternal value, follow values that changes not, stick to a guide that is wise and that is Jesus Christ.

The Sunday message preached by pastor Jack was "Don't Know". There are many things in life that we have no answers for. We don't need to prevent that we know. We just have to trust the One who know all and is in charge of all. It triggers further reflections and thoughts. They are shared in the mind-map below:

As Paul said in 2 Tim 1:12, when in was in prison, suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ, he knew about this Jesus that he believed and was fully persuaded that He would ensure the work committed to stand in the judgement day fire... 1 Cor 3:13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.

Hope you can go through the mind-map carefully and be encouraged and to know the way to live in this challenging times.

Lim Liat (C) 29 Oct 2012

Angry with God? Know that He is with you

We are angry with God when He disappoints us - He could have saved, prevented, provided but He did not. We thought He was not there when we needed Him most. But the Bible clearly tell us that whenever we are in trouble, He is there with us to be ready to deliver us. We need to see that and co-operate with Him. A simple act of co-operation is just to wait quietly and watch His deliverance. Our anger is really a triggering point for His presence with us. Don't let the devil instigate us to think He is not there. Cast your faith on Him because He is faithful.

We are at times angry with God because He could have and He did not. Such times as bereavement, bad accidents, lost of job, sickness, betrayals, failure, rejection, etc etc.

In the many places of the Bible where we find "God is with us" kind of verses, we also noted that those were times of great difficulty and challenges. Here is a mind-map that list those verses of God with us and the difficult situations.

Joseph was sold as a slave to an Egyptian master. Gen 39:2 recorded specifically that at such at time, God was with Joseph and Joseph became a successful man, taking charge of his master total business. In Gen 39:23, this time Joseph was in prison though falsely accused. Joseph should be most angry with God because he was not only innocence but because he acted righteously according to God's laws and for God! Nevertheless, Joseph held on to God and trusting Him to deliver him. It took years. But in the meantime, God was with Joseph and Joseph, though still in prison, took charge of the affairs of the prison! Ishmael was a boy struggling with his mother in the wilderness.

Gen 21:20 recorded for us that God was with the boy and the boy grew up to be a somebody.

When the young man Joshua took over the leadership from Moses to lead the more than two millions of people, Jos 3:7 assured Joshua that God would be with him as He was with Moses.

When the Jews were in exiles in Babylon, God sent His words that He was with them in Isa 41:10. God assured them that He would bring them through water and fire without harm.

Paul assured us in Rom 8:28-37 that nothing bad that happened to us was beyond God's love for us. God will be with us through the troubles victoriously as more than conquerors.

Peter assured us that if we ever suffered for righteousness sake, such as Joseph, we will be blessed and we needed to fear not. Any suffering because of Christ is blessed because the Spirit and the glory of God rests upon us, 1Pet 3:17, 4:14.

In John 16:33, Jesus assured us that His presence in us gave us peace. He had overcome the tribulations of this world.

The pattern is very clear :

Troubles -> Presence of God -> Deliverance -> Glory to God

Our anger is really a triggering point for His presence with us. May we come to God even in our anger to pour our heartaches, frustrations and bitterness to Him. Know that He is there to listen to us. Know that He is able to take us through our troubles and enable us to stay with it and come out of it victoriously. But the key for all these to work is to trust and co-operate with Him. Our co-operation with God may just be simply abandoning ourselves to Him and just keep quiet and watch His deliverance. He may also give us the peace, give us the guidance, send forth His people to help and guide us. Whatever, put our trust in God and may His peace, even beyond our understanding, keep us focus on Jesus our Savior and Deliverer.

Don't let the devil instigate us to think He is not there. Cast your faith on Him because He is faithful.

Lim Liat (C) 10 Oct 12

i-Ching or YiJing and the Bible

Is i-Ching biblical? It depends on the version of i-Ching that you read. In the original and undistorted version of Zhou Yi, it is very close to the Biblical Teachings: in terms of objective - harmony with God, men and nature; in terms of values - righteousness, love and blessings. In terms of repentance - to follow the right path to blessings and much more. i-Ching teaches us the how to have peace and Bible gives us the answer - Jesus Christ through whom heaven, earth and men get the harmony.

What is i-Ching (易经 YiJing)?
i-Ching is an ancient book compiled over the centuries starting from as early at BC3000 and finalized at roughly BC1000, 周易, the generally accepted and commonly referred to version. It is the classic of the Chinese Classical Books of wisdom. It is the foundation of Chinese philosophies.

The Meaning
The title, literally translated, is the "Change Bible", or the "Bible on/of/for Change". It is a thinking mindset with a data base of change-patterns for enabling people to live in harmony with heaven, earth and with one another. It is purpose is the unity of heaven, earth and men.

The Objective of Unity of God and Man
Heaven (天 tian) to the Chinese, means more than just the sky, but also means God, the Creator God of all things in heaven and on earth. So the objective of i-Ching is unity of man with God and with the environment. This is exactly the same objective as the Bible of uniting everything in Christ. Ephesians 1:10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth in Christ, the God incarnate in man and for man.

i-Ching shows the How and Bible gives us the Answer - In Jesus Christ
So we see that i-Ching tells us the how to achieve harmony with God and the Bible gives us Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of harmony that man could not do so by himself.

The Values of i-Ching

I-Ching begins with the recognition of the God of Creation and give it as the 1st hexagram of 乾 - also known as 天  God of Heaven, creative power. i-Ching principles are derived from the working of God as exhibited in the creation. The 2nd hexagram is called 坤, also known as 地 earth and represent the mother earth of love and care for the growth of all things.  From this Creation and Love comes the different combinations of virtues that make up the total of 64 Hexagrams.

A quick overview of i-Ching is shown in the mind map below:

 

We know its highest value is harmony of Heaven(God), Earth(Nature) and Man(People). It aims to achieve good fortune or bless represented by the Chinese word 吉 ji. It means abundance flow of and interaction of diversities. Its values are righteousness, purity, fairness, justice, balance, faultless as can also be seen in the word-cloud in Word Cloud of I-Ching.

Repentance and Good Fortune
In Outcome Based Strategies from Ancient Chinese-The Principles from I-Ching, we can see that i-Ching teaches us to seek after truth and righteousness. Repentance 悔 is a key concept and value of i-Ching. Any deviation from the righteous path will lead to fault, a cause for remorse, a danger, or a worst case of disaster. Hence, repentance and a correction will help us to avoid the disaster or the danger and bring us back to benefits, progress and good fortune or blessings. If we just be remorseful and blame our faults on others, it will bring us to danger and to disaster. With such teaching, we get a better understanding of repentance of the Bible. Repentance is not just being sorry for one's wrongful act or sin, but need a change of behavior and attitude into the righteous way.

For more articles on i-Ching, please look up Ancient Chinese Wisdom.

I hope you get a good understanding of i-Ching and be opened to its teachings. You can read it with the Biblical perspective and be enriched in wisdom.

Lim Liat (C) 9 Oct 12.