Making the Right Choice for Your Life

Making the Right Choice for Your Life

为你的人生做对的选择

Pr Dr Lim S. N. DUMC, 25/08/2009 1045

We make choices every day. Sometimes a wrong choice can cause a lot a problem. It may take a lot of effort to undo the damage. Young people especially need to make the right choices. Samuel made the correct choice when he was young.

We are often very busy. Are we busy with the right things? If we are working on the wrong things, all will be in vain.

Think of the things we are busy with

1. What results do we get?

2. What results do we want at the end of the life?

3. Does it have eternal value?

CB Samuel asked God what it meant to give all to the poor to store up treasure in heaven. He dreamed he died and went to heaven. He saw a bank counter and he wanted to make a withdrawal in his account. The clerk said he had nothing in his accounts. He was indignant because he worked very hard in charity. The clerk told him he worked hard to get OTHERS to give. Those people who gave stored up treasure in heaven but not CB Samuel. Another person came. This man gave a lot to charity during his life but still he had no money, in fact his account was in debit. He gave a lot but he also told others.

1Sa 2:18 那时，撒母耳还是孩子，穿著细麻布的以弗得，侍立在耶和华面前。

1Sa 2:21 耶和华眷顾哈拿，他就怀孕生了三个儿子，两个女儿。那孩子撒母耳在耶和华面前渐渐长大。

1Sa 2:26 孩子撒母耳渐渐长大，耶和华与人越发喜爱他。

1Sa 2:35 我要为自己立一个忠心的祭司；他必照我的心意而行。我要为他建立坚固的家；他必永远行在我的受膏者面前。

1Sa 3:19-21 撒母耳长大了，耶和华与他同在，使他所说的话一句都不落空。 (20) 从但到别是巴所有的以色列人都知道耶和华立撒母耳为先知。 (21) 耶和华又在示罗显现；因为耶和华将自己的话默示撒母耳，撒母耳就把这话传遍以色列地。

1Sa 7:13-14 从此，非利士人就被制伏，不敢再入以色列人的境内。撒母耳作士师的时候，耶和华的手攻击非利士人。 (14) 非利士人所取以色列人的城邑，从以革伦直到迦特，都归以色列人了。属这些城的四境，以色列人也从非利士人手下收回。那时以色列人与亚摩利人和好。

The fruit of Samuel’s life is very different from Eli’s. Samuel’s ministry transformed the people. They won in battles. While during Eli’s time, the Israelites lost in wars.

Samuel grew up in the tabernacles. His mentor Eli was a man who tolerated sin. Eli’s sons sinned against God. Samuel did not have any positive role models. He didn’t see anyone who loved God or obeyed God. His parents were not with him. Samuel served God silently and obeyed God.

Samuel grew in stature and in favour of God and also with man. Some people grew in age but not in mind. Samuel and Eli’s two sons grew up in the same environment but they turned out differently. This is because Samuel make the right choices.

We need the right choice even in the wrong environment. Making the right choices brings good results. In a hopeless environment, we can choose to remain positive, to have hope, to not complain.

Robert is a famous psychiatrist from US. He saw one man lying at the subway. No one paid attention. He stood in front the man and others started to gather around. One man brought food and drink. One called for medical help. This man spoke only Spanish and he did not meet anyone who could understand him. All it took was a single person to stop and pay attention.

Isa 58:10 你心若向饥饿的人发怜悯，使困苦的人得满足，你的光就必在黑暗中发现；你的幽暗必变如正午。

We are children of God and we are the light of the world. We can shine in the light. We can choose to make a change in the environment instead of letting it change us. 我们不要同流合污、我们不要随波逐流。

Choose to Follow the Will of God

See 1 Sam 2:35. God looks at the eternal. The will of God includes the love, mercy and grace of God.

Mic 6:8 世人哪，耶和华已指示你何为善。他向你所要的是什麽呢？只要你行公义，好怜悯，存谦卑的心，与你的神同行。

To walk with God means to do His will even when we don’t feel comfortable. We are to pray, to talk to people, etc. even when we don’t feel like it. Love those who are not lovely. Jesus told us to love our enemies. When we do the will of God, we choose to walk with God.

Choose to Respect Authority

In church, respect the pastors, leaders and cell leaders In the family, respect the parents and husbands. In the workplace, respect the superiors.

When the husband obeys God then only will the wife obeys the husband. The husband is to love the wife. If we do not listen to man, how can we listen to God?

God told Samuel to listen to Eli. When God spoke to Samuel for the first time he thought Eli called him. He obeyed and respected Eli, even in the middle of the night. Eli was the one who taught him to listen to the voice of God. Eli helped Samuel to build the foundation of his ministry.

Without Moses, Joshua could not bring the Israelites into the Promised Land. Sometimes our mentors are not perfect. But God uses them to teach us. We need to humble ourselves.

Eli was not perfect. He tolerated the sins of his sons. However, he made Samuel. He didn’t hinder Samuel.

Choose the Hard Way

There is a level of difficulty in every elevation.

The first thing that God told Samuel is about judgement on the household of Eli. This is first training for Samuel. He did not tolerate and told a lie. He told it honestly even though it’s tough to tell that to Samuel’s face.

Don’t expect to have it easy. This path brings eternal value. The road God chose for us is a narrow one. We go on by God’s grace.

(I went to the washroom towards the end. Jesse told me the speaker used the eagle life renewal illustration. In the spirit of Act 17:11 and Jude 4, I will approach the speaker (via email) without fear and favour. Truth (and facts) cannot be compromised.

Creating a Community of Care

Creating a Caring Community

C.B. Samuel 16/08/2009

Joh 5:1-15 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. (2) Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. (3) In these lay a multitude of invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed [waiting for the moving of the water;] (4) [for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.] (5)

One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. (6) When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" (7) The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." (8) Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." (9) And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. (10) So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed." (11) But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed, and walk.'" (12) They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?" (13) Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. (14) Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you." (15) The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

We are called to care because

1. 1. we have a God who cares
2. 2. it is a requirement of us
3. 3. that means we are Christlike

What are the characteristics of a person who cares?

1. 1. Seeing eyes that see differently
2. 2. Learning heart
3. 3. Listen ears
4. 4. Hands and feet to respond

The passage described a person who had been invalid for 38 years. We can conclude he was not born that way unlike the man who was born blind. It could be due to something that happened in his life. Jesus told him not to sin anymore. This suggested it was something he did later on his life. He desired to be healed. There was a practice that angels would stir the water and anyone who went into the water would be healed.

This man could have been there for 20 years. When Jesus came into town, this man was near the pool waiting for the time to be healed. There might not have been a lot of people because there was no record of Jesus healing others.

This man was there hoping to get help but no one stop to help, in fact the Bible told us they went ahead of him. Jesus stopped to help.

The first thing we noticed is that Jesus saw the man. This is a remarkable characteristic of someone who cares. They have the time to care. To create a community of care, we need people to see. When we come to a great city, we see billboards trying to grab our attention. They wanted us to see things differently, to see things we don’t have, to see things we can have, to have things to make us feel special, to get the things that if we have we will belong to a different class. But NO ONE advertises the needs around us. This makes us forget about the needs.

In Malaysia, we read a lot about A flu. But in India, there are more people dying from TB, malaria or due to birthing complexity than A flu. But the media doesn’t pay attention to this. The diseases of the middle class got all the coverage. The news of the important people spans 3 pages but the news of the poor got no coverage. Information has been controlled to make us believe what is not real.

We can drive from KL to PJ, we may not see any poor people. All we could see are mobile phone advertisements as thought that is all there is to it. When CB went to US, the people there express sympathy on the poor people in India but they failed to see the poor in their own country.

To create a community of care, we need to teach the church to know the things that break the heart of God. CB has bells palsy in a youth camp. No one noticed except a camp director whose husband had it a few years before.

James told that favouritism in the church. James was not looking at the seat but the setting arrangement. He noticed who sat where and who was greeted. He was trained to see the things that break the heart of God.

Jesus saw. A compassionate person sees. In India, the people get used to seeing poor people. Poverty is not normal. It breaks the heart of God. Being poor is not sin but perpetual poverty is a sin. When the society has lots of money but there are still people starving, it is a sin. We think when we don’t have choices we are poor. We think if we have to walk we are poor. If we have a phone without a camera we are poor even though we hardly take pictures without our mobile phone. This is a crazy world.

The people who care are people who see in God’s perspective.

In verse 6, Jesus looked at the man and knew he had been there for a long time. The Bible doesn’t tell us how Jesus knew. It could be knowledge from God or Jesus spoke to the people around the place. People who care are people who have a learning mind.

The media reports what they are interested in. There is a big difference between a Christian response and a non-Christian response. The former is moved by emotions while the latter is moved by knowledge.

In India there are doctors who function without knowledge (quacks) and doctors who function with knowledge. The quacks may give wrong treatments. The church can sometimes be a quack social worker. We have the passion but we don’t bother to learn.

The church of Jesus Christ see differently and they have a learning mind. Jesus found out that this man had been there for many years.

Jesus then did something incredible. He asked him whether he wanted to be healed. Jesus asked him not for Jesus but for the others around him. People are judgemental. The poor are poor because they are lazy, they don’t give their all and they don’t work hard. The man told Jesus he had tried to be healed. Not only that the people didn’t help but they also got ahead of him. Jesus wanted the people to hear from the needy. Before we jump to conclusion that the needy deserve to be the situation they are in, listen to them. Jesus has a listening heart.

To create a community of care, we need to get the church to go into the community to listen to them.

Jesus responded to the man’s needs. He met the felt need. His response was appropriate. He didn’t carry a tract in his pocket. After the healing, he didn’t give him a tract. The man needed to be healed and that’s what Jesus gave. Jesus met the need completely for that time. Jesus met him the second time in the temple. He told the man to sin no more. He is concerned he doesn’t fall back into the same problem.

Care is more than welfare. It’s not a onetime action. It is transformational. It gets people out from their need problem and ensuring they don’t get back into the same problem. It is both materialistic and spiritual. Care is holistic.

All of us like Christ should show care.

The Secret of God's Presence - Take Hold of God

神同在的秘诀•对神执着
撒上三：19;7:3-13

1Sa 3:19 撒母耳长大了，耶和华与他同在，使他所说的话一句都不落空。

1Sa 7:3-13 撒母耳对以色列全家说：「你们若一心归顺耶和华，就要把外邦的神和亚斯他录从你们中间除掉，专心归向耶和华，单单地事奉他。他必救你们脱离非利士人的手。」 (4) 以色列人就除掉诸巴力和亚斯他录，单单地事奉耶和华。 (5) 撒母耳说：「要使以色列众人聚集在米斯巴，我好为你们祷告耶和华。」 (6) 他们就聚集在米斯巴，打水浇在耶和华面前，当日禁食，说：「我们得罪了耶和华。」於是撒母耳在米斯巴审判以色列人。 (7) 非利士人听见以色列人聚集在米斯巴，非利士的首领就上来要攻击以色列人。以色列人听见，就惧怕非利士人。 (8) 以色列人对撒母耳说：「愿你不住地为我们呼求耶和华我们的神，救我们脱离非利士人的手。」 (9) 撒母耳就把一只吃奶的羊羔献与耶和华作全牲的燔祭，为以色列人呼求耶和华；耶和华就应允他。 (10) 撒母耳正献燔祭的时候，非利士人前来要与以色列人争战。当日，耶和华大发雷声，惊乱非利士人，他们就败在以色列人面前。 (11) 以色列人从米斯巴出来，追赶非利士人，击杀他们，直到伯甲的下边。 (12) 撒母耳将一块石头立在米斯巴和善的中间，给石头起名叫以便以谢，说：「到如今耶和华都帮助我们。」 (13) 从此，非利士人就被制伏，不敢再入以色列人的境内。撒母耳作士师的时候，耶和华的手攻击非利士人。

God is with us when we pray. We read about Eli, his two children and Samuel from 1 Sam 2 to 7. Eli and his children are priests.


1Sa 2:12 以利的两个儿子是恶人，不认识耶和华。

The two sons of Eli are worthless men, they didn’t know God.

They took the portion of the sacrifice without following the law of God. They also committed the adultery with the women who came to sacrifice. This is the same with those who abuse their position in the church today.

Eli admonished his sons but he didn’t stop them. Eli’s attitude is not to do evil but he didn’t try to do what was right. He should have removed his sons from the altar. God took this seriously. God sent someone to tell Eli he honoured his sons more than God.

1. 执着于“神有在” Take hold of God’s presence
1Sa 2:30 因此，耶和华以色列的神说：『我曾说，你和你父家必永远行在我面前；现在我却说，决不容你们这样行。因为尊重我的，我必重看他；藐视我的，他必被轻视。

The Israelites carried the Ark of Covenant into war hoping God would be with them. But God didn’t help them. When Samuel became priest, God’s hand was with the Israelites and attacked the Philistines.

God’s presence brought a change in our hearts, our finances and the church ministries. It’s different when we are in God’s presence.

Why do some Christians feel weak?

Eli’s took God lightly when they didn’t take God’s sacrifices seriously. They didn’t accord to God the honour He deserves. They were not afraid of committing sins.
We need to realize that God is in our worship, the church, the cell group and the family. Be punctual to worship. VIP can come late. We need to be early. We cannot let God wait for us. If we are late for God, He may be late for us. The same applies to leaving a service. The VIP leaves first. We should not be to eager to leave at the end of the service. Don’t be a mere spectator in a worship service. Don’t be affected by others.

A church in Hong Kong has 6000 members. When it’s time to begin worship, the door is locked. Those who came late will have to watch the TV from outside or join the next worship.

A ringing phone in a service can take away our focus. We are only in the church once a week. When we take a call during a service it shows we take the call to be more important than God. When we see someone doing that (taking a call) don’t keep quiet like Eli. Tell them to take the call outside.

2. 执着于神交托你的事 Take Hold of God Given Responsibility
1Sa 2:18 那时，撒母耳还是孩子，穿著细麻布的以弗得，侍立在耶和华面前。
1Sa 2:21b 那孩子撒母耳在耶和华面前渐渐长大。
1Sa 2:26 孩子撒母耳渐渐长大，耶和华与人越发喜爱他。

Samuel started to minister to God when he was young (1 Sam 2). We read that he began to know God in 1 Sam 3. The means he started serving God following Eli’s instructions even before he knew God personally.

God gave us the responsibility to share the Gospel and to take care of our family. We must be faithful to the task given to us. We need to surpass the expectations.

Samuel didn’t just follow Eli’s examples. He exceeded Eli’s work in his faithfulness.

We need to take seriously whatever task is given to us, however insignificant it might seem.

A Korean church asks air stewardess to teach their ushers how to bow to greet visitors.

We don’t need to do a lot of things. Getting 6 100% is better than 10 60%. We must be willing to do less if it allows us to concentrate and do well in what we do.

3. 执着于一心向神 Focus on God

When our heart is with God, the world becomes a battlefield that God will fight for us.
When our heart is in the world, it becomes battlefield where we have to fend for ourselves.

When we only let God take charge of a small portion of our life, then God can only fight the battle for us in this small portion.

A History of Teaching Math

1. Teaching maths in 1970
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 4/5 of the price.
What is his profit?

2. Teaching Maths In 1980
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is 80% of the price.
What is his profit?

3. Teaching Maths In 1990
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is £80.
How much was his profit?

4. Teaching Maths In 2000
A logger sells a truckload of timber for £100.
His cost of production is £80 and his profit is £20.
Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Maths In 2005
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habit of animals or the preservation of our woodlands.
Your assignment: Discuss how the birds and squirrels might feel as the logger cut down their homes just for a measly profit of £20.

6. Teaching Maths In 2009
A logger is arrested for trying to cut down a tree in case it may be offensive to Muslims or other religious groups not consulted in the felling licence. He is also fined a £100 as his chainsaw is in breach of Health and Safety legislation as it deemed too dangerous and could cut something. He has used the chainsaw for over 20 years without incident however he does not have the correct certificate of competence and is therefore considered to be a recidivist and habitual criminal. His DNA is sampled and his details circulated throughout all government agencies. He protests and is taken to court and fined another £100 because he is such an easy target. When he is released he returns to find Gypsies have cut down half his wood to build a camp on his land. He tries to throw them off but is arrested, prosecuted for harassing an ethnic minority, imprisoned and fined a further £100. While he is in jail the Gypsies cut down the rest of his wood and sell it on the black market for £100 cash. They also have a leaving BBQ of squirrel and pheasant and depart leaving behind several tonnes of rubbish and asbestos sheeting. The forester on release is warned that failure to clear the fly tipped rubbish immediately at his own cost is an offence. He complains and is arrested for environmental pollution, breach of the peace and invoiced £12,000 plus VAT for safe disposal costs by a regulated government contractor.
Your assignment: How many times is the logger going to have to be arrested and fined before he realises that he is never going to make £20 profit by hard work, give up, sign onto the dole and live off the state for the rest of his life?

7. Teaching Maths In 2010
A logger doesn’t sell a lorry load of timber because he can’t get a loan to buy a new lorry because his bank has spent all of his and their money on a derivative of securitised debt related to sub- prime mortgages in Alabama and lost the lot with only some government money left to pay a few million pound bonuses to their senior directors and the traders who made the biggest losses.
The logger struggles to pay the £1,200 road tax on his old lorry. However, as it was built in the 1970s it no longer meets the emissions regulations and he is forced to scrap it.
Some Bulgarian loggers buy the lorry from the scrap merchant and put it back on the road. They undercut everyone on price for haulage and send their cash back home, while claiming unemployment for themselves and their relatives. If questioned they speak no English and it is easier to deport them at the government’s expense. Following their holiday back home they return to the UK with different names and fresh girls and start again. The logger protests, is accused of being a bigoted racist and as his name is on the side of his old lorry he is forced to pay £1,500 registration fees as a gang master.
The Government borrows more money to pay more to the bankers as bonuses are not cheap. The parliamentarians feel they are missing out and claim the difference on expenses and allowances.
You do the maths.

Bumped into this here.

To move or to stay?

http://www.dailyjesus.info/i-am-the-god-who-is-more-than-enough/

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Sermons - 21st Century Christians

Pastor Richard shared about the following 4 points:
1. Stand firm in our belief
2. Stay focus as a Christian
3. Start fulfilling God's purposes in us
4. Spawn fruits to confound enemies

I found a series of 6 sermons (MP3s available) on being 21st Century Christians in the Flatland Learning Center (from the Flatland Church.)

1. Being a Christian in This Age of Information
2. Being a Christian in This Age of Plurality
3. Being a Christian in This Age of Tolerance
4. Being a Christian in This Age of Reality
5. Being a Christian in This Age of Bling
6. Being a Christian in This Age of Isolation

They should make for good read (listening.)