Hair, Thoughts and Heart - What does it mean? Proverbs 23v7

One of the key verse that may impact your life on this earth is Proverb 23:7a For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.  You are the product of your thoughts in your heart. To change your life, change your thoughts. But a study of the full verse reveals other important meanings. Find out more ....

Proverb 23:6-8

• Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:  v6
• For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.  v7 
• The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.  v8

To study the Bible nowadays is very easy and also interesting. We have all the software and internet resources for many different versions of the Bible. the concordances, the cross references, and many commentaries and dictionaries and all at the touch of your finger or a mouse. To lookup and cross reference are extremely easy. It is more about whether you have the time and energy to read them. This is very unlike the past without the computer support. We have to spend much time flipping the pages of Bibles, Concordance and Commentaries. Studying even a short passage well will take a long time. So, we buy Study Bibles instead.  Even then, we still need to flip here and there resulting on torned pages showing how studious one is as a reader of the Bible. But now, we have no excuse for not studying the Bible well. We can spend more time on the content and on meditation rather than flipping pages.

I will use a verse Proverbs 23:7, cited above, as an example for how we can benefit much from a proper study of the verse using the resources available in the internet cloud.

You are the product of your thoughts

“A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.”  ---Mahatma Gandhi 

Proverbs 23:7 is often quoted as the support for the assertion, "You are the product of your thoughts" as in "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he".  However, that quote is only the first half a verse. There is the second half of "Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. ".  With the two halves put together, how are they linked up and still make sense? Does the first half still mean what we claim it means?

Understanding a Verse from Its Context

We must not interprete a verse out of its context. So we need to look into the whole Proverb 23 passage. For a study of the whole chapter, see The Seduction of Man & How to Prevent it - Proverb 23. For this discussion, we can find a grouping of 3 verses, 6 to 8 and they are cited at the top of this post. We can roughly understand the flow of this group of verses. It is warning us not the take the food of the one with an 'evil' eye else we will end up vomitting out what we take in. If we are to summarize it, we can say, "Never accept the favor of an evil person else you will regret it". If that is the case, then what is the real meaning of "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" in this context that will go with the flow?

Looking Up the Other Translations:

If you look up the various translations, you will find 3 groups of translations for 23v7.

1. Group 1 You are what you think ..... The Older Translations
   There are KJV, NASB, ASV, BBE, ISV, JPS, JUB, LITV, RV, YLT etc. e.g.:
   (NAS77) For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you.
   
   (YLT) For as he hath thought in his soul, so is he, `Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart is not with thee.
      
2. Group 2 Keeping Account ...Calculating ....The Newer Translations
   ESV, NIV, HCSB, CEV, CJB, ERV, GW, GE, NLT, NET etc.  e.g,:
   
   (ESV) for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
   
   (CJB) For he is like someone who keeps accounts — "Eat! Drink!" he says to you, but he doesn't really mean it.   
   (NLT) They are always thinking about how much it costs. "Eat and drink," they say, but they don't mean it.
      
3. Group 3 Eating Hairs! ....
   (Aramaic Bible in Plain English) For just as a man swallows a bristle hair, so you eat and drink with him and his mind is not with you.
   (Septuagint by Brenton) so he eats and drinks as if any one should swallow a hair, and do not bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:
   (Lexham English Bible)  For, like hair in his throat, so it is. "Eat and drink!" he will say to you, but his heart will not be with you. 

From 'thinking' to 'calculating' to 'eating hair" ! Which it the right one? Are they in conflict?

The Explanation:

A check with the commentaries give us the answer:

Pulpit Commentary
Verse 7. - For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. The verb here used is שָׁעַר (shaar), "to estimate, ....to calculate," and the clause is best rendered, For as one that calculates with himself, so is he. The meaning is that this niggardly host watches every morsel which his guest eats, and grudges what he appears to offer so liberally. In the Authorized Version the word "heart" occurs twice in this verse, but the Hebrew words are different. The first is nephesh, "breath," equivalent to "mind;" the second is leb, "heart." The Vulgate paraphrases the clause, Quoniam in similitudinem arioli et conjectoris, aestimat quod ignorat, "For like a soothsayer or diviner he conjectures that of which he is ignorant." Eat and drink, saith he to thee. He professes to make you welcome, and with seeming cordiality invites you to partake of the food upon his table. But his heart is not with thee. He is not glad to see you enjoy yourself, and his pressing invitation is empty verbiage with no heart in it. The Septuagint, pointing differently, translates, "For as if one should swallow a hair, so he eats and drinks." The Greek translators take the gnome to apply to one who invites an envious man to his table, and finds him eating his food as if it disgusted him. They go on, "Bring him not in to thee, nor eat thy morsel with him; for (ver. 8) he will vomit it up, and outrage thy fair words." In agreement with the gnome above, we find in the Talmud, "My son, eat not the bread of the covetous, nor sit thou at his table. The bread of the covetous is only pain and anguish; the bread of the generous man is a source of health and joy." 

You can see that while the translations are different, the meaning are essentially the same. 

Gill gives a better understanding of the phrase "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he", 

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he,.... He is not the man his mouth speaks or declares him to be, but what his heart thinks; which is discovered by his looks and actions, and by which he is to be judged of, and not by his words; 

The Chinese Mind Interpretation

The Chinese has a famous saying, "知人知面不知心", you only know a person by his face but not realy his heart, meaning you only know him on the surface and that is not the real him. The real him is his heart which you cannot see.  So we can easily grasp the intention of the author of the Proverb 23v7. He said that a person is what he think inside his heart and [not the external words and actions that he show you]. If we add in the those words in bracket to show the meaning better, than the whole verse make good sense. What we see from the outside, his welcoming smiles, his inviting words, are just but a disguise of his internal calculative and scheming intention. There is no free lunch. He gives you to get more from you. His favors have condictons tied to them. The moment you eat his offer, you owe him. He will one day ask you pay back with interests! So we can see that "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" is a general truth or principle and is being used in this particular context as a warning for us not to take thing on the surface as real. It will be, of course, much better if we can find other verses in the Bible that support this truth. With the easy cross-referencing provided in the internet, it takes me little time to come out with the following mind-map to support the case.

A good book to read on this topic is As A Man Thinketh by James Allen.

May we be deligent in guarding our heart through the thoughts we allow to enter into our mind. May we develop a God fearing mindset and to fill our mind with good thoughts and good thinking mindset. May be confidence to search our thoughts for the UGB Ungodly beliefs that bind us. Replace them with Godly thoughts that we may be freed to live a victorious life that glorify God.

Lim Liat (c) 14 July 2015

The Seduction of Man & How to Prevent it - Proverb 23

A careful study of Proverbs 23 reveals a list of 10 seductions for man. Because they appeal to our appetites, they seem so desirable, but the outcomes are bad for us. Some may eventually destroy us. But there are ways to overcome them. The key is to seek after the wisdom of God and put no trust in our own appetite based wisdom, Proverbs 23 also provides wisdom not just for a man, but as parents and as children too. Dive in to discover the details .....

The General Principle for Victorious and Successful Life:

If you want a short summary for Proverb 23, then it is

Don't let your appetites lead you astray and be killed by your appetites.

The 10 Seductions and the Ways Out:

You can see that the seductions appeal to our appetites and seem so natural. What can be wrong when we even want them ourselves? How can something so desirable be bad? Don't we want:

1. A good dinner?
2. Wealth?
3. Favor? (Foods in the text, extended to means favors given).
4. Showin one's wisdom by giving out advices?
5. Exploit the Opportunities?
6. Not having the responsibility or raising children?
7. Short Cut to Successes?
8. Partying?
9. Sexual Pleasures?
10. More wines?

The solution is simple ... Seek the Wisdom of God, trust and follow His right ways(v12,17b,v19) and not your own appetite based wisdom(v4). For children, we are to listen to our parents who shall teach God's ways. Parents have the responsibility in disciplining their children to ensure they follow God's ways.

The Details

Here is the mind-map for all the details that you can follow and meditate. Hope you learn much from it and put them into practices. Remember, you are the thoughts of your heart. Make sure you put the right thoughts into your heart.

Seduction 1 to 4

Seduction 5-7

Seduction 8-10

Lim Liat (c) 13 July 2015

Heaven on Earth - Meditation on Isa 45:8

 Isa 45:8  Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

Isaiah 45 is an interesting chapter that reveals how the Lord uses the world events, the people, to achieve His purpose. It shows us that no matter what, whether be good or bad in our eyes, the Lord is in charge. We may not like it that we are just one of the dots that when connected fulfill the purpose of God. But when we know the love of God for us, perhaps we are willing to accept the unique purpose and role that God has created us for though this role may be minor in our own eyes.

The key verse in Isa 45 is verse 8,

Isa 45:8  Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

It is the fulfillment of the Lord's prayer Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

When the righteousness from heaven meet up with earth receptive heart, it will bring forth the fruit of salvation and righteousness.

This is exactly what Jesus, the Son of God, did for us. He came from heaven. But His work is only completed when we open our heart to receive Him, the righteousness of God, so that we are transformed and rebirth again in salvation and righteousness.

God has created that we should all be saved and bear fruit of righteousness on earth. We are his righteousness bearing good fruit on this earth. The time will come that the earth will be transformed into heaven-like.

May we be willing to give ourselves in to this transforming process of bring heaven on earth or making the earth heaven-like with His righteousness.

Lim Liat (c) 27 June 2015.

We Have Right and Wrong Built Into our Body!

I find it interesting that our body tells us what is right or wrong without us learning it. Babies without hugging get sick and die. See for example http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/infant-touch/.

Dr Caroline Leaf said that we are wired for love.

Positive words, thoughts and emotions bring health.
Negative words, thoughts and emotions bring sickness and death.

Positive things are love, peace, joy, kindness, patience....
Negative things are fear, worry, anxiety, bitterness, hatred, guilts, condemnation, etc.

How come our body knows what is positive or negative?
Right and wrong are built into us.

To be healthy and to help make the people around us better,
know and do, love, joy, peace.... Forgiveness is a great healer of sickness.

Learn to forgive God, yourself and others.

Not that God needs our forgiveness, but rather our anger with God needs to be released through forgiveness. We need to know the love of God and trust his wisdom for the disappointments that we think God fail us. We think God can and should and yet He did nothing.

Learn to forgive yourself, as God has already forgiven you. You can be demanding of yourself, but never condemn yourself for the failures. Learn from failures. Failures are the ways to greater strength and maturity that God often needs to bring us through.

Lastly, forgive others. Forgiveness is a choice that we can and should take independent of the people who we feel has hurt us. Very often, they are not even aware that they have hurt you or done any wrong. They are happily going on with their lives. You need to forgive and let go of the bitterness and hatred and be freed to live and go on with your life without such burdens and pains.

Smile, you have done well. You are loved deeply by Jesus.

Lim Liat (c) 25 June 2015

Why need repentance when one is saved and forgiven for all future sins? Ps 32

On a superficial level, Christian belief can be very confusing and contradictory. We are told that Jesus died and paid for all our sins - our past, present, and future sins. Now that we are forgiven, why is there a need to confess and repent of our sins? That is because such truth is incomplete and lack depth. I am reminded of the words of Einstein, in the Citation made by Zukofsky:

• There is also the other side of the coin minted by Einstein: “Everything should be as simple as it can be, but not simpler” – a scientist’s defense of art and knowledge – of lightness, completeness, and accuracy.

The purpose of Jesus' death is more than just paying for the judgment for our sins, it is also to rebirth us into God's children by His resurrection through the Holy Spirit. Jesus' great commission to us is:

Matthew 20:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 

The purpose is to be make disciples that exhibit God's behavior through observing all that Jesus commanded. Paul makes it very clear in Romans 8:29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, ... His children must exhibit their heavenly Father's character.

Salvation is the beginning step for achieving His image in us, His children. Immediately after Eph 2:8 that says we are saved by grace, not of works, verse 10 tells us that we are His workmanship, created in Christ for good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. In the simplest form, we are not just saved for salvation purpose, we are saved for good works designed by God; not any simpler, else the meaning is lost.

How do we have the good works designed in each of us by God? 

It is simple, as cited above in Matthew 20:20, to observe all that Jesus has commanded us.

In the process of following, we may err from His ways. It could be our lack of knowledge of His ways as we fail to read the Bible or lack in communion with Him. Or it may be we lack the wisdom to apply His words in our situation rightly. Or it may a deliberate violation of His ways due to our giving it to the temptations of the evil one exploiting our own weaknesses. 

Knowing our Tripartite Nature gives us better understanding

We may understand better when we know that we are a tripartite being made up of spirit, soul (mind, will, emotions) and a body. Someone say we are a spirit with a soul living in a physical body. When we are saved, our spirit is born anew with a connection to God. Our mind changes not except with a new sensitive conscience. Our body also remains the same after the salvation. Rom 12:1-2 tell us to present our body as a living, not dead, sacrifice (ie let Jesus be our Lord and not I), and our mind be renewed with His Words. 

How do all these work out?

Psalm 32:1-5 gives us a good illustration.

1. A Psalm of David, Maschil. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 
2. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 
3. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. 
4. For day and night, thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. 
5. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and my iniquity has I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

Verse 1-2 describes our salvation, where are sins and transgression are forgiven. But notice in v2, it is in the spirit that there is no guile (deceit, treachery). Our spirit is fine.

But verse 3 and 4 tell us our body, in particular, our bones, are not doing well. Our bones are drying up. We are suffering very badly due to sickness. We groan with pains all day long! We felt it was God punishing us but it was actually our transgressions. Our sins cause our sickness. Our body becomes dehydrated, skinny and weak.  The inside of our bone is the bone marrow, which is the production center of our blood, the red and white blood cells. A typical terminal sickness is a leukemia that requires bone marrow transplant for healing. Besides, white blood cells are part of the immune system. If our immune system is damaged, there can be many other kinds of sicknesses too.

So we can see that a common cause of our sickness is our transgression of His ways, either in thoughts of the mind(e.g. worry, fear, stress) or in the body (e.g. excessive eating and drinking).

The good news comes in verse 5 when we acknowledge and confess our transgressions. The original Hebrew for the word confess is H3034 yâdâh contains the meaning of to throw, shoot, cast down. Hence, the meaning is more than just admitting but rather to know, admit, and to cast away or in short, to change. To change our wrong thinking and bad behavior that bring us the sickness.  When we do our repentance, the Lord is sure to forgive our iniquity of our sin that causes the sickness. Verse 6,7 shows the deliverance of the Lord and verse 8 shows that we have learned the lessons to teach others to follow the Lord. Verse 11 declares our righteousness and our rejoicing.

Salvation is the Start of the Sanctification Process of our Growth into His Likeness.
The best teacher for our growth is the real life experience. We tasted the evil of our disobedience or our bad thoughts that we gain a better understanding and of the value of the need to follow His Ways. Of course, the best is for us to follow His Ways and live in victory and health. Nevertheless, some terrible experience may be good teachers for us. Always remember though, to come back to God, for His forgiveness is always available to us. But if we continue in sins, while our spirit may be saved, our mind and our body will suffer. Go back to God for restoration. 

Read and be encouraged by:

Heb 4:15  For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Heb 4:16  Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

Psa 103:2  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 

Psa 103:3  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 

Psa 103:4  Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 

Psa 103:5  Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. 

Lim Liat (c) 17 June 2015

The Right Way to Pray Effectively from the Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer was Jesus' answer to His disciples request (Luke 11:1). Hence, it is the model for our prayer. It provides answers for the 5W1H of prayer. If we want to have effective prayer, we need to follow the model.

This post is a summary and reflection of our group study of the longer post An In-depth View of The Lord's Prayer - Learning from Tim Keller. To help us to understand something better, we can use the
The Basic Thinking Framework 5W1H. The order is Who-Why, What, How, Where, and When. So let's follow the order to discover the treasures hidden in the Lord's Prayer.

Who-Why - From Relationship to Purpose - We do out of the Overwhelming Love within.

Prayer is between God and us. But Jesus told us more about this relationship. It is a Father and Child family relationship. It is not a business transactional contractual relationship. A business relationship is performance base such as your work to earn your salary from your boss; you pay to get the goods. When you pay, your goods cannot be denied. If you don't, you get nothing. In a family relationship, you don't do to get accepted. You get accepted first and you perform as a response to the love you received. You don't perform to earn your love. Sadly, in many families, the parents tend to use love as a mechanism to get obedience and performance from their children. They make a secure and wonderful relationship into an insecure one and create fear, anxiety, and stress. It degrades the purpose and identity of a member of the family. Family members have privileges. It takes priority over business relationships. Your child can call you anytime and can interrupt your business meeting to talk to you.

On what basis can we be sure that our prayer will be heard and answered? Definitely not by performance because God is self-sufficient and does need not anything from us. But as a Father, He has the responsibility to care for our needs. As a child, we have a responsibility to respond to our Father's love and teaching. While we do nothing to earn the love that we already have, the love compels us to do something to bring glory back to Him who loves us. We act out of the overwhelming love inside.

The purpose of prayer is then to be with our Father (Our Heavenly Father), worship Him (Hallowed be thy Name), and know His will (His Kingdom and His Will be on earth).  This leads to the What of prayer.

What - To Worship and to Know His Will
Hallowing His Name is like the first 4 commandments of the Ten Commandments of God .... namely, Only ONE triune God, No other idols, No dishonor of God's Name and Keep the Sabbath of rest and worship of God. Putting GOD as the first priority from which and upon which we organized our parts of life like spouse, family, career, relationship with people, money, and pride, will lead us to a balanced and fruitful life. Disruption of such a priority arrangement will lead to imbalance, stress, sickness, and failure in different aspects of our life. To put our lives back in order, get rid of our idols, and have God in the central and most important place.

How do we put God in the central place of our lives? Seek His Kingdom and His will and His righteousness (Mat 6:33) first. We worship first and then seek His will. If we don't worship and know His power and love for us, it is very difficult for us to want to know and much less obey His will.

His will for us, the general and our specific calling, becomes the mission statement for us. His Kingdom's ways of righteousness become the methods and guides for our 'how' to achieve His will.

How to Pray 
We are NOT to pray for others to see how pious we are; i.e. not to seek our glory in prayer.
We are NOT to blindly repeat in many words as if God is hard of hearing or we can earn our answers by our effort.
Yet, we are not to lose hope but to continue in expectant prayer if we fail to see the answers. Luke 11:8-9 knowing for sure that he who seeks shall find and who asks shall be given.

The sequence of prayer is:

1. Know you are praying to your heavenly Father as a son.
2. Worship & praise for who God is and His love for us.
3. Intercession for His Kingdom and Will to be done on earth and for us in particular.
4. Petitions for our needs to fulfill His will for us. We ask for the following 4 things.
1. Daily Resources - needs for food, shelter, health, and wealth to do His will.
2. Relationships with People - Forgiveness of our mistakes, and failures and harmonious relationships with others through forgiving one another starting with us and drawing upon the Father's love and grace empowerment for us.
3. Overcoming Temptations and trials and Separating ourselves from evil.
4. Protection from Evils and overcoming the evils.
5. Praise and Thank giving for the answers. God is in charge forever and forever.

Most of our prayer begins with our needs first. But that is wrong. We must know His will for us first so that we may know what is really needful and what is not. Of course, we know generally that His Will is for us to be well and Jesus assured us with His words that the Father knows even before we ask. Even so, we need to ask to show our desire and agreement to His will for us. 

Where should we pray?

In a secret place where we are not seen and not disturbed. Yes, we can pray as a group. The admonition in Matthew 6 not in public places, is for us not to use prayer to gain self-glory. As long as we come together as a group to pray purposely for His will, it is OK. 

When should we pray?

The request for resources, and bread, is daily. We are encouraged by Paul to pray without ceasing as in
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV) 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 

So, we can pray anytime, anywhere, and every time. At least, do it daily.

Conclusion:

The purpose of our prayer is to communicate with God, to know His will, and to be empowered to do His will for His glory revealed through our work in Him. Our needs should be evaluated according to His will for us. A large part of our prayer life should be in organizing our lives around Him and His will for us. Since His will is in His Word, careful studying of His Words, the meditation of His Words, is actually prayer too. When we know Him and His will, our intercessions and petitions will be right and we have the confidence that they will be answered affirmatively.

Remember, the right way to pray is

 Father relationship -> Worship & Praise -> Intercessions -> Petitions -> Affirmation with Praise & Thanksgiving.

Lim Liat (c) 8 June 2015

Be Steadfast in Trial - Study of James 1v12

Some friend on Facebook shared on James 1v12. It is a good trigger to study the verse in greater details. Here are some suggestions:

1. Study in Context: Look up the preceding and subsequent verses.
   The preceding verses talk about not being of double-mindedness, riches and humility, and the fleeting nature of life. The subsequent verse tells us temptation is not of God. So we can differentiate between trial that is of God to build us up to reward us vs temptation that causes us to fall and commit evil.
2. Let Bible interpret the Bible: Look up similar verses else in the Bible.
   This is best done using an electronic Bible such as e-Sword to easy search and cross references. We can find that there are many types of Crowns mentioned in Bible (a subject for a separate study). But we can find one Rev 2:10 that mentioned the 'Crown of Life'.
3. Break the verse into related parts. Best done with a mind-mapping software (eg freemind or freeplane).  Here is the outcome:

James 1v12 tells us to be steadfast under trial. Rev 2:10 gives as another description for steadfast, which is to remain faithful to God... sticking to our believe in God and His values, staying in righteousness despite the persecution. 

The reward of the Crown of Life is a promised by God for all who love him. Rev 2:10 repeats the promise. We can therefore be doubly sure of this promise. The blessing is the Crown of Life. 

We may also realise that we who love God, will be blessed through the way of trial to build us up and to achieve the rewards of the crown of life. Not everyone can participate in this race of life where the trophy is the Crown of life. Only those who love God, shown in receiving the salvation of His Son Jesus Christ who died and was resurrected for us.

Salvation is not the end or sole purpose of life. Salvation is but the beginning, the pre-qualification of life for us in this race meant only for the righteous saints of God. We are saved for good works says Eph 2:10 which God has predestined for us to walk in them.

Rev 2:10 tells us not to fear because it will be short (10 days) and God has known and told us before hand. This also implies that He know the victory is ours to take. Even in death, there is the victory. The Crown is given to all who faithfully went through, whether alive or dead, they shall be resurrected in new bodies to wear the Crown of Life.

We do not what the Crown of Life entails. We know two things for sure ... there is honor and there is life. Other verses of the Bible tell us about the sitting on the thrones of God, judging the devils, ruling over many cities etc. Paul tells us that the things that God has prepared for us is beyond our wildest imagination. 

Let us therefore, have no fear, but walk confidently in trials, knowing that He is with us and victory has been won. Let us just remain obedient, faithful and trusting in Him who will walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death. Look forward to the receiving of the Crown of Life.

May the Lord give you the peace, hope and assurance in your time of trial.

Lim Liat (c) 27 Apr 2015

Live Meaningfully - Psalm 90

Death is the sure proof that we are not in charge, even of our own life. We need to know the everlasting One who holds our life in His hands. He foresaw our sufferings and sins and sent His Son Jesus Christ to restore us back to Him. Will we be willing to receive Jesus Christ? Then we can know how to live life meaningfully. Let's look into Psalm 90 for the details....

Here is the mindmap with my reflection on each verse.

Psalm 90 begins with authorship - A prayer by Moses, the man of God.

The Everlasting Creator God

• O Lord, you have been our refuge throughout every generation. Psa 90:1 God is our security. Why don't you seek and be with God?
• Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, you were God. You are God from everlasting to everlasting. Psa 90:2
  The everlastingness of God is compared with the short life of man 

The Mortality of Man

• You turn mortals back into dust and say, "Return, descendants of Adam." Psa 90:3
  Death is the sure proof that man is not in charge, even of one own life!
• Indeed, in your sight, a thousand years are like a single day, like yesterday-already past- like an hour in the night. Psa 90:4
  God transcends time. What is long to man is nothing to God. Our short life on earth is, in fact, a grace of God. Many did not make it out of their mother wombs, Many were taken when young. May we appreciate this life that we have now
• You sweep mortals away. They are a dream. They sprout again in the morning like cut grass. Psa 90:5
  In the morning they blossom and sprout. In the evening they wither and dry up. Psa 90:6 It is God who is in charge, not us. Do we not fear God, o mortal man? 

Consequence of Sin - A Short-Life filled with Pains 

• Indeed, your anger consumes us. Your rage terrifies us. Psa 90:7
  Why is God angry with us? Because we created beings have ignored our Creator and want to do our own things, even evil things against Him and against one another.
• You have set our sins in front of you. You have put our secret sins in the light of your presence. Psa 90:8
  We may hide our sins in our legal systems. We set up laws to justify our sins. But we cannot fool God. We even can't fool ourselves as our guilt arises to condemn us.
• Indeed, all our days slip away because of your fury. We live out our years like one long sigh. Psa 90:9 
• Each of us lives for 70 years- or even 80 if we are in good health. But the best of them bring trouble and misery.Indeed, they are soon gone, and we fly away. Psa 90:10 Even if our own lives are healthy and well. We live to suffer through the sufferings of others, the separation with our loved ones. As we get older, time seems to move faster. Are we prepare for our own death where we leave this world? 
• Who fully understands the power of your anger? A person fears you more when he better understands your fury. Psa 90:11
  God's anger is but a reflection of His love and justice for us. He had to right the evils done by men. He hates to see the suffering that men bring upon themselves. Will we not listen to Him? 

Make Our Short-Life Meaningful

• Teach us to number each of our days so that we may grow in wisdom. Psa 90:12
  Let's live each moment meaningfully. It begins with having wisdom. The wisdom that knows God and understands what are the important things of life. The wisdom that discerns right and wrong and let us choose the right path.
• Return, LORD! How long...? Change your plans about us, your servants. Psa 90:13 This prayer was made by Moses, before the arrival of Jesus Christ. God has indeed answered our prayer by sending His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins. To rescue us from the consequence of our sins. Will we respond to God's saving grace?
• Satisfy us every morning with your mercy so that we may sing joyfully and rejoice all our days. Psa 90:14
  May we begin each day with joy and vitality ---- because we are secured in the love of God. Because we have chosen Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Lord. We will follow Him.
• Make us rejoice for as many days as you have made us suffer, for as many years as we have experienced evil. Psa 90:15
  God will make good what we have suffered. God will restore us. May we be His witness and testimonies of His Love to others and draw them back to God.
• Let us, your servants, see what you can do. Let our children see your glorious power. Psa 90:16
  Yes. Let God's power be shown. Let's experience His miracles.
• Let the kindness of the Lord our God be with us. Make us successful in everything we do. Yes, make us successful in everything we do. Psa 90:17
  Let our work begins with the kindness of God within. It is His love and His purpose that our work begins. It is His love and His power that our work be successfully completed that people may know the goodness of God. God is glorified through us. Mat 5:16 ►... let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 

May you find your calling and purpose in God and live out a life meaningfully, joyfully and without any regrets when the time come. God bless you.

Lim Liat (c) 21-04-15 

Man plans and God gives the Outcome - Proverb 16

Man may plan but the steps and the outcomes are decided by God according to His purpose. So we must follow God's ways to do and live well in life. What are His ways? Lets start with what He dislike, follow by what He like, knowing His wisdom and finally, stay hungry for God that we may be faithful in following His Ways to accomplish His plan for us bring glory to God through us. This is the learning from Proverbs 16.

Who is in charge down hear on earth? Is it man or God? Proverb 16 clearly tells us who is in charge down here.  Verse 1 says that while man make his plan but the answer comes from God. Verse 9 is even more specific, God directs his steps, no matter how man plans and work to side-step God's. If  man is at a lost and seek super-natural means through asking mediums, fortune telling, lots casting or whatever, it is God that decide the outcome of the consultation! Men cannot ignore God though he may not even belief in God.

As we get more educated and successful, there is the growing tendency that we are self-made and need not God. We think we can decide for ourselves and even for others, what is right and wrong. Such pride in self is an abomination to God and God will surely bring forth his fall and destruction.

If we are persuaded that creatures like us should follow our Creator, then we find out more about God, His dislikes and likes and His wisdom. This is how we can live this life meaningfully and well, with honor, long life, safety and wealth. Below is the overview mindmap:

The details of each topic above can be found in this mind-map.
Please go through it carefully, as there are many powerful principles therein.

If you have read through the mind-map, then here are some questions for refreshing your learning.

1. What are the few key points that you have learned?
   Even only one will do. You can come back to this again to pick out another learning point.
2. How can you apply that point to your life? Are there some changes that need to be made to your present plan? Some relationships to build or avoid? The way we talk and handle our bosses, colleagues, subordinates, spouse, and children? 

May God bless your plan after your time with Him. Bless is not about outrighr endorsement of your plan but rather pointing out the right and wrong and give you wisdom to read the ever changing situations as you execute your plan.

Lim Liat (c) 16 Apr 2015

    

The Cross & Resurrection- We Only Just Begun

According to Ravi Zacharias,

"The persuit the Hebrews was light. 

For the Greeks, it was knowledge. 

For the Romans, it was glory.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ."

What is the pursuit of the Chinese?
It is harmony.

From the root of Chinese philosophies, I-Ching, it is about 天地人合一
The unity of Heaven, Earth and Men or more specifically, the unity of God, Nature and Men.
(See Chinese Classics & The Bible)

2 Cor 5:19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling[a] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

The purpose of Christ did not end with the Cross. 
It was the necessary and painful stepping stone for Jesus to pay for the sins of the world.

Neither did it end with the Resurrection.
It was the necessary and glorious victory to defeat death, to give new life to man. That men may be rebirth as new creation and sons of God.

It continues with us bringing the message of restoration of harmony between God and man to world.

Matthew 28:16-20

We only just begun ......

Lim Liat (c) 4 Apr 2015

The God of the 3 Generation Family and The Implications

Reflecting on today message preached by Ps John Liu of Petra Church Singapore:

1 God is the God of 3 Generations of Family, God Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is building family and not army. SunZi's Art of War tells us that if the commanders love their men as their children then their men will be willing to give their lives for the commanders. It confirms that family is stronger than army."

2. Christianity does not last more than one generation. If our next generation is not believers, that the gospel stopped there. Remind me that God has not grandchildren.

3. Then it bags the question, what kind of parent, of spiritual maturity, are we? What good or bad examples are we leaving behind for our children?

Paul mentioned in 2 Tim 2:2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. But real effective teaching is more than just correct doctrines but real living out of the doctrines in front of our children.

Lao Zi DaoDeJing Chapter 2 是 以 圣 人 处 无 为 之 事, 行 不 言 之 教. The saints are to live without violating the laws and to teach without words (by implication by examples. The exhortation is not to teach, but to teach rightly, by being the model for others to follow). This teaching without words is repeated in Chapter 43.

The story of OHare, the nasty gangster lawyer father is convicted one day because of his son and his son became a war hero. Seehttp://www.bereanpublishers.com/easy-eddie-and-his-son/

4. It reminded me of another famous Lao Zi's saying in http://mind-value.blogspot.sg/…/principles-for-greatness-4-…

Confucius told us through the 3-character-bible, the last 2 verses:
人遗子 金满赢 我教子 唯一经
People left great wealth for their children, but I teach my children only one bible: ( learn and work hard to be a useful person - implied from the following verse).
勤有功 戏无益 戒之哉 宜勉力
Hard work brings rewards. Fooling around is not useful.
Be careful and be encouraged to work hard.
A Taiwanese pastor wrote a book titled "So poor that you only have money left！"

What is the best things you can leave behind for your children?
Is it not the knowing and experiencing of our Savior and God Jesus?
Are we living that out for our children to see?

5. One more thing.

For many of us, we bring the Gospel to our extended family. We bring it upwards to our parents, sideways to our siblings too. May we continue our prayers and efforts in bringing our extended family to know the Lord.

Lim Liat (c) 22 Feb 15

The Branding of Believers - The Ten Commandments

Should Believers still follow the Ten Commandments? The answer is No and Yes. No for salvation because Christ has fulfilled it and redeemed us. Yes because it is the branding for believers. The commandments were given after the Israelites were freed from slavery and are for the purpose of differentiating them from the others. i.e. Ten Commandments were for their branding, to show others what their God was like. Jesus in John 13:35 told us that His disciples would be known by their love. Jesus summarised the commandments as 'love God and love others as oneself'. Hence, the commandments are the minimum behavioural standards to let the world that are Jesus' followers.

The Greatest Misunderstanding about Ten Commandments.

It is generally known and taught that the Ten Commandments are the standards for people to achieve to gain righteousness and thereby qualify them to go to heaven. This is justification by the flesh.

Because of this misunderstanding, born-again believers of Jesus Christ, therefore, think they no longer have to follow the 10 commandments because they are already saved by Jesus.

To understand the original and true purpose of the ten commandments, we have to go back to history. When were the ten commandments given? Was it before or after the exodus? It was given after they were freed from slavery, crossed the red-sea, reached Mt Sinai and given to Moses.

The ten-commandment was not given earlier as a test for them to pass and be qualified to be free. They have been passed earlier by the grace of God who performed the miracles then caused Pharaoh to let the people go.

They were freed first and then given the commandments.

So we know the purpose of the ten commandments is not for passing any God's exam. Then what is the purpose? It is a description of the attributes of God and how men can communicate and build a relationship with God.

The commandments were described by James as the Laws of Liberty and not the Laws of Bondage that so many people seem to think. In modern terms, the commandments are the secret keys for success and independence in life.

Because the commandments show us the attributes or qualities of God, the believers, as the children God, should also exhibit such qualities. The commandments are not for our salvation but rather as our testimonies to others, telling others what our God is like. How do others know about our God, through our behavior, that follows the spirit of the ten commandments.

Positive Way of Rewording the Ten Commandments

1. Focus on worshipping one God.
2. Reject counterfeit gods like our self-righteousness, wealth, glory, pleasure/sex, etc. The focus is both yes and no. Saying yes to God and no to all other counterfeits.
3. Integrity to God's brand. Do not abuse or misuse of God's name. Uphold the brand of God's name and bring no shame to His name.
4. Rest and renewal of our spiritual life in God. Dedicate times, especially a day, with God and His people.
5. Honor our elders especially our parents and love our younger ones.
6. Love replaces bitterness, hatred, and murders.
7. Be faithful to our spouse.
8. Be a good steward of wealth to replace stealing.
9. Be honest in our speech to replace lies and gossips.
10. Be generous in our giving and protective of our and others assets

Ten Commandments for Building Lasting Businesses and the ways believers should run their businesses

1. Be focus on your business mission, visions, values. Be sure to adopt biblical values.
2. Reject all other activities that contribute not to the visions and values.  This is the pruning of John 15, to be more fruitful.
3. Build your brands. Make sure you work and deliver according to your Mission, Visions, and Values.
4. Rest and revitalized with innovations to transform and keep up with the external changes.
5. Honor your shareowners and bosses.
6. Love your staff and customers.
7. Be faithful in all your business relationships and your staff.
8. Be effective and lean in managing your resources and assets.
9. Be honest in all your communications and public relations.
10. Achieve and protect the three bottom lines of economic profits, social contributions, and environmental protection.

The Need for Rebirth - Following Commandments does not qualify you only Believe in Jesus

side note: a parrot can speak like a man but speaking like a man does not make a parrot man. So, following the ten-commandments does not make one child of God. A child of God needs to be reborn by the Spirit of God. But a true child of God will exhibit the behavior of his Father, which is shown to others that follow and even exceed the demands of the commandments.

Lim Liat (c) 5 Feb 2015

Chinese Philosophies and the Bible, are they in conflict?

The values taught by Chinese Philosophies and the Bible are the essentially the same --- harmony of heaven, earth and men. The mystery of Christ within is the fulfilment of Chinese' desire of 'Inside Saint and Outside King' by the grace of God. Reading ancient Chinese classics help us to understand the Bible better. Consider the concept of harmony. 

What is the greatest values according to the Chinese Philosophies?

Harmony. Harmony of heaven, earth and men. So harmonious that they become one. 天地人合一。It does not mean they loose their original identities to merge into one. But rather, each maintain each own, but act in unity for everlasting life and growth.

What did Jesus come to do?
To die on the cross to pay for the sins of men so that men can be reconciled to God, achieving peace between God and men. In other words, the purpose of Jesus is harmony between God and men and men living on earth. (recalled Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on EARTH. A new heaven and new earth ...). So, it is actually, harmony between God, Earth and Men!

So, can believers read and understand Chinese Philosophies? 
My answer is obvious --- yes and it is even better to know them well (the philosophies, not the religions). Understanding Chinese Philosophies give me better understanding of world and even of the Bible. Ancient Chinese Philosophies begin with the fear of God. Men should follow the Dao of the Earth(the natural order) and Heaven (the God's order as revealed in the working laws of the creation).

To understand better, tell me what you understand about "Harmony".
What does harmony mean? How do you achieve harmony? What are the results of harmony? I will give you the answers from the Ancient Chinese Philosophies perspective at end of this post. You can compare it to what you know from the Bible about harmony. Hopefully, you can find the teaching from Chinese Philosophies is similar and gives you more.

Coming back, what then is the difference between Chinese Philosophies and the Bible?
The key difference is in the incarnation of God into Man, Jesus Christ and the subsequent rebirth of man into children of God by the Holy Spirit, achieving the Christ in You, the greatest mystery of all.

Ancient Chinese Philosophies also believe men to be transformed from the inside out. Zhuang Zi (disciple of Lao Zi) proposed 内圣外王 (inside saint outside king ... ie. rule out from the saint within to achieve good government). Confucius school proposed the 内修外治 develop inner character and rule outward, from self to family to nation to peace on earth).

So, Christ within Men, is actually fulfilling the dreams and desires of the ancient Chinese Philosophers. What it takes men to try very hard on its own to do, God, through Jesus has achieved it for us. Is not this amazing? The good news of the Gospel. The dream fulfilled.

The warning for HyperGrace

But watch out, the rebirth, the new spiritual seed, have been planted in an old body and old mindset. The seed needs to grow-up to attain manhood in the like image of Jesus Christ. The ultra-grace or hyper-grace preachers like to forget or side-step this grow process of renewal of old mindset to new mindset, and just claim attainment of the blessings that Christ has achieved for us. The end result is making God as a prosperity god of the Chinese, making God as a means, the genie, to get what we want. They produce, not true disciples, but a bunch of entitlement oriented babies in grown up bodies!

Back to Harmony - How much do you know from the Bible?

What does harmony mean? 

• Harmony is the vibrant and smooth exchanges of the unique contributions of diversity resulting in abundant growth for all. The modern day is called "synergy" with 1 + 1 (of another type) = 10, 100, 1000....
• The foundation of Harmony is diversity, not uniformity!
• Harmony is much much more than tolerance of the diversity.
• Tolerance is separation, keeping a distance. In I-Ching, it is called 否stagnation, the very opposite of Abundance 泰. Harmony is vibrant with each one contributing his best to benefit others and the whole.

How do you achieve harmony? 

Three key concepts:

1. 礼 the rules of conduct, good manners, the protocols for exchange.It is built on 仁 love, charity, kindness and 义，righteousness. It ensure no misunderstanding in the exchanges. 礼 li is how love should be expressed so that there is not misunderstanding intention in our actions.
2. 乐 yue Music : the smooth interaction and exchanges and co-ordination resulting in great music, bringing joy, peace, rest, comfort to all. The music of interactions flow and adapt to changes.
3. 中庸 balance of just right, no more and no less. Never going to the extreme, balancing the demands of many and creating win win win for all.
   It is not A or B favouring one party only, but A & B with a dynamic balance that shift with changes from internal or external. There is love in justice and justice in love. Going to the extreme is spoiling kids on the extreme end of love and rebellious and angry kids on the other extreme of just.

What are the results of harmony?

The result is growth for all and abundance wealth for all to share. By exchanging, the economy produces more. This is econ 101. But exchanges of love and care in the right way will bring forth abundance not just in economic wealth, but social peace, harmony and life, the real living.

Chinese Philosophies enrich the meaning of loving our neighbours as oneself so that we may love rightly and abundantly.

Lim Liat (c) 4 Feb 2015

Chinese Classics and the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Enforcement is not as good as Self-Initiate/Self-Directed.

Rule by Laws is typical enforcement to make sure people behave. That's the teaching of Legal School of Han Fei Zi and typical Western Approach. It is effective immediately but you usually get minimum standard of performance and most likely superficial conformance, if not cheating (catch me if you can).

Self-initiated is a better approach. But how to get them to do right? Confucius' approach is the use of shame, social pressure, to enforce right behaviour. Han Fei Zi laughed at the Confucius' approach of education and conduct. What is the effectiveness of educating people not to steal. Just implement the law of chopping off hands if caught stealing and people will obey immediately.

Lao Zi's approach is to follow the ways of Dao, of the Heaven and Earth. Dao way is the way of love. I love first and hence steal not. If only we can internalise the Dao of love, we will automatically do away with all the Laws and everyone can live freely in the world of love. Such is also the dream of Confucius, Da Tong, the Great Community of Unity - you, me and others are all One and the Same. (This is very much like the church of the believers is the body of Christ.)

So we can see the progression, from timeliness to effectiveness, the Laws, the Social Pressure of Shames, and the Way of Dao (of Love).

The inability of man to love others as much as self is solved by having a rebirth with a new life. This is the teaching of Jesus - we must be born again. The gospel is not about making man better but is about making dead man alive. A new man with love for others built-in, with the Laws internalised.

So we can see that the Classic Chinese Teachings point out the Way and the answer is provided in Jesus Christ. The gospels completed the search and desire of the Classical Chinese Masters.

Lim Liat (c) 5 Jan 2014

How to Do Year End Review Well? Shut & Open

The Christmas season is typically a time of reflection and appreciation. In order to move forward well in the New Year, we need to learn to shut the door of the past behind. Our New Year hope should not be dragged down by the past events that slip out from the unshut door. Looking forward and letting go of the past is the key to a better life.

Listing to this morning Ravi Zacharias' pod cast leads me to do a search for the essays written by F W Boreham. Not only did I find the original essay "Please Shut this Gate!" quoted by Ravi, I also find another post by Ravi that is related to this, "Prayer for a Future Me."

I think that these two, shutting the past gate and futuring should be done together. Looking forward helps us to shut the gate of the past. Even so, we should carefully do each stage, the shutting and the opening well.

Shutting the Gate Properly
The following passage quoted from "Please Shut this Gate!" , are important in helping us to do a proper shutting:

• 'When he was on his death-bed a clergyman went to him and asked him if there was anything he would like to say or any message he wanted to deliver. "No," answered the doctor, "except that through life I think I have always closed the gates behind me!"'
• If the decision was sound, why question it? If the decision was doubtful, the sooner it is forgotten the better. Why torture yourself dwelling upon it? The horse is sold; the house is bought; the contract is signed; the situation is declined; the step taken cannot be retraced. A wise man will firmly and finally shut the gate. It is the better way.
• There are thousands of things behind me of which I have good reason to be afraid; but it is the glory of the Christian evangel that all the gates may be closed. It is grand to be able to walk in green pastures and beside still waters unafraid of anything that I have left in the perilous fields behind me.

'What lessons could we learn from this?' is a key question to ask about our past. We may want to write them down that we may have a proper closure. There may be nothing for us to learn as in the example of the acceptance or rejection of seemingly better job offers. We just need to know to trust God and accept that our present situation and our future are in the hands of a loving God. If He allows it, it is good for us and shut the gate (Rom 8:28).

The Chinese has a saying on the eight suffering of life and 'inability to let go' is the eighth suffering of life.  See Eight Sufferings of Life and the Gospel.

Painting the Future

Looking at the future helps take our eyes away from our past. What do I plan to become? What has God lead me to become? In the passage "Prayer for a Future Me.", Ravi wrote that some of the futuring were prayers of anxiety and are still link to the unclosed past ...as in:

• "While I like to think of these mental notes as prayers for the future—and many of them are—many of them more closely resemble a listing of fears, an anxious warning at what I might forget or what might go wrong. Though I am looking ahead, it is as if I am still looking behind me."

Our hope is in the finished work of Christ, as Ravi wrote:

• “It is finished,” forever offering a door to shut, forever promising the strength to shut it. In this New Year, one can say in hope and in light: Christ has gone before us, he walks among us, he is our rearguard, he is our strength.

Paul shows us what are the important things to plan for into the future:

• Brothers and sisters, .... But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. --- Philippians 3:13-14

May we draw strength from the completed work of Christ to shut our past, item by item, and bury them. May we also draw hope that the resurrected Christ is walking besides us into our future to bring us into what He has created us for.

Have a joyful Christmas seasons and a blessed New Year 2015!

Lim Liat (c) 21 Dec 2014

Eight Sufferings of Life and the Gospel

To Chinese, there are the four sufferings of life, namely, birth, aging, sickness and death. Some added four more sufferings for living on this earth, namely, separation in love, long lasting bitterness, unanswered desires and inability to let go. See how the Gospel explains the origin, understands the present and provides the answers through Jesus Christ's cross and resurrection.

Here is the mind-map that summarizes the sufferings and the answers from the Gospel:

Lim Liat (c) 11 Dec 2014

A Positive Reflection on Ecclesiastes - The Meaningful Life & Follow Your Heart

Know the reasons for a meaningless life and then discover the reality and principles for living life to full. With His principles within you, you may follow your heart, enjoy every minute of life and leave for the better world without regrets at your time of departure from this earth.

Ecclesiastes begins with "Everything is meaningless," says the Teacher, "completely meaningless!" (Ecc 1:2 NLT) but ended with "That's the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty." (Ecc 12:13, NLT) and the reason is "God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. "(Ecc 12:14, NLT).

Life is Meaningless when it is just about Me and it ends in nothingness at Death
Life is meaningless when we put ourselves at the center and life is only about us. Then, the biggest problem is that our life on earth is limited. We may be able to stretch it, from 70 to 80 to 90 or even to 120 years as some preacher claimed. But eventually, the end will come and we will be no more. Hence, while the earth goes in cycles of sun rise and sun set, seasons over the year, they will continue on even when we are gone.  The world goes no without us. We are not at all important or meaningful to the world. Even when we are alive, the continue pursuit of wealth, glory, pleasures, knowledge and other external things does not satisfy us. When we have them, we reach the state of so what. Meaning cannot be found in the possession and accumulation of things. And when death strikes, all the great possessions that we worked so hard for will be handed over to others who have not worked for them. It is meaningless again.  The sufferings, the injustice, the unfairness, the sickness all add to the meaninglessness of life. Why should we let suffering and injustice upset us? Because, deep inside our heart, we yearn for good and ever lasting life. We have a strong of sense of justice and love for the bullied. We know that life is more than us and our limited span on earth. The author of Ecclesiastes discovers that there is the Creator God and life is meant to be everlasting after all.

Reality: Life Has Meaning because there is God and There is Life after Death
The last verse, "God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. "(Ecc 12:14, NLT) tells us a few things:

1. There is a God.
2. He will judge everything we do while on earth.
3. There is life after death to face the judgment of God.
4. The outcome of the judgment determines our life after death.

Hence, the recommendation for how to live this life on earth is: 

Fear God and obey His commands, for this is everyone's duty.

with the following implications:

1. Know the God that created us and everything.
2. Know His commands for us.
3. The Purpose of Life is to obey God's commands.
4. Obeying God's commands in this life will bring satisfaction and fulfillment and thereafter a good life after death.
5. What if we fail to obey His commands?
1. We will suffer in this life because His commands are for our good life.
2. We will suffer punishment after this life.
6. Is there a way out of our mistakes in this life? Is there any assurance for our life after death?
1. There is no answer from this book. But we know Jesus Christ came in the New Testament Times to save us from our sins and to give us a new eternal life by His death on the cross and His resurrection from death to give us the assurance. Whoever believe and receive Jesus Christ shall be saved.

Live This Life to the Full especially in your youth

Ecclesiastes started depressively, but it ends with a positive note. 

Young people, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. 

Do everything you want to do; take it all in. 

But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do. 

-------Ecc 11:9  NLT

Hence, all young and old, know God as early as possible. Know His commands well for His commands are the principles and laws for success without regrets. Follow and live out His commands for a fulfilled life on earth. When the day comes to leave this earth, you may have angels to come and escort you to the next world of everlasting goodness with God, our Creator.

The Know-How for Living a Successful Life:
Ecclesiastes contains much wisdom for the young man to learn so as be successful in life. It warns the youth not to waste their life so that there be no regrets when one is old and weak. (Ecc 12 contains a long list of the weaknesses of old age). Here is the mind-map:

Lim Liat (c) 29 Oct 2014

For the full study of the book see 

The Meaning of Life from the Wisest, Richest and Man...

Confucianism and the Temptations of Jesus

The temptation of Jesus Christ can be best understood with the Confucianism's virtue of 礼Li, the right way of behavior for the right time and situation. Devil's power of temptation is to appeal to your right intention but get you do it in the wrong way and situation.

As a young christian, I have much difficulty in understanding the temptations of Jesus as recorded in Luke 4:1-13 and Mat 4:1-10. My point then was why Jesus just don't do what the Devil said to show his power and shut the devil's mouth? I was too foolish to understand the deeper implications of the actions and easily fell into the devil's trap. Here are two posts written in the past to show the true meaning of the devil's temptations. The key point is that our identity should not be defined by external circumstances but purely by faith in the Word of God.

• The Temptations of Jesus
• Happiness and the Temptation of Jesus

Some preacher suggested that the temptations of Jesus can be better understood as "Doing the right thing in the wrong way." or "The right motivation but the wrong method". One must not only have the right intention, but he must do it in the right way so that the intention can be clearly expressed and received. Confucianism has a word, a virtue, that describe this. It is called 礼 Li, meaning good manners, or the right protocols of behavior in the right time and situations, so as to ensure there be no misunderstanding.

It is commonly taught that Confucianism (The Ru School 儒家) have five virtues of 仁 love 义 righteousness 礼 good manners 智wisdom 信 rustworthiness. In going through the literatures, 勇 bravery and 严 strick discipline should also be added. We may have love and want to do them rightly. But how can we express our love to another rightly? The answer lies in Li, good manners or protocols. This is especially important in this multi-cultures world. For a Chinese, giving roast piglet is a gesture of showing great honor and love. However, pig is not accepted in the Jewish and Muslim cultures. We cannot just give roast piglet to them. It would be taken as an insult. Hence, we can see that having the right intention is not good enough. We must look at the receipient cultural and values view point so that we can express our love in the right way. For Chinese, 'do unto others what you want do unto you' is actually overly imposing. How can I presume that he also wants what I want? I need to find out first, subtlely is best. Then I need to find out what is the right way to show it.

Coming back the temptations of Jesus. What is right way to express the right internal intention?

There is no need for Jesus to prove to the devil who he is. Jesus already know who he is. At the same time, Jesus took the opportunity to point out that God's Word is as important as our daily food. There is no need to prove God's Words by doing silly things to violate God's established order. God's protection will surely come at the right situation and time. Jumping from tall tower is not such a right situation. The way to acknowledge our God is to worship Him above all other things. Someone said that if God is not the Lord of all then He is not the Lord at all,

Hence, let us know 礼 Li, the right thing to do at the right time and situation so that we are not easily tempted and trapped by the devil or the world. 

Always ask, yes, it is a good intention, but is it the right way, at the right time, under the right situation?

Lim Liat (c) 10 Oct 14

Christians are Fated too - To be Like Christ

When a Chinese meet up with a tragedy or a great disappointment, his friends will usually comfort him/her with words like 命中注定 translated as fate or predestined. There is nothing you could do about it and it is definitely not your fault. No one is to blame. It is just fated or predesignated. The concept is equally applicable when a great fortune or success happens to others. "They are just born lucky". That's their fate, lucky.

In the Bible, Romans chapter 8, where Paul was comforting the suffering believers. He begins with

• 8:1, there is NO condemnation. 
• 8:14 They are sons of God, 17 heirs of God, 
• 18 the suffering cannot be compared with the glory to be received, 
• the famous v28 ALL things work for Good because v29 they are PREDESIGNATED to be like His Son v30 and be Glorified. 

There is the process to glory, the path through suffering in v17b "if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together".

So, the Bible is very clear, we are not suffering for the sake of suffering but rather, the suffering is but temporary, the path to glorification.

You are destined to be great like His Son Jesus. All things, the good and bad, no matter how bad, cannot stop this process of our growth to be like His Son and enjoy His glory in us. This is the inner hope of faith that gives us peace in spite of the suffering or of the success that our peace is not dependent on external circumstances whether good or bad. Our suffering is that Christ may be formed in us (Gal 4:19).

You are fated or predestined to be glorified in Christ and not for suffering or in riches but to be like Christ.

Lim Liat (c) 15 Aug 14