Centre for Transformation and Development

People today want to have more say and more rights. We see people fighting over a seat in the bus or on the train. We see people rejecting an elderly project to be built. There are many more. While it is good that people are voicing their opinions, we must never forget the difference between rights and privileges. Many believers want to seek for their rights without appreciating the privileges. The Word of God tells us that we are saved by grace and not by works. There is nothing we can really boast about. In other words, we actually have no rights in the kingdom of God. We are only His servants or slaves. It is the privilege of the servant to serve the King of kings. It is not a right. The only right we have is bestowed by God. That is the right to become His children. It is needful to know our place in the kingdom of God lest we put ourselves too high up. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Rights cannot be demanded just as grace cannot be demanded. Appreciate grace before we lose it.

People want freedom. They fight for freedom too. But many do so without knowing the true meaning of it. To some, freedom means the right to do whatever they want and like. They think that freedom should not have any boundaries. But they do not know that by seeking freedom they are losing freedom. Pseudo freedom is about gratifications of our flesh. When we pursue it, we become enslaved by our flesh. We end up having problem controlling ourselves. We are what the Bible calls enslavement to our sins. True freedom is not the right to do whatever we want or like. It is being “enslaved” to righteousness. True freedom does have a boundary. But it is not an external discipline about do’s and don’t’s. If so, it would only be behavioral and superficial which is not sustainable in the long run. Sad to say, many people run on this mode, that’s why their lives are not changed and following Christ become a chore to them. True freedom is about redefining the boundary in our conscience through the impact of the Word and the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God convicts us within not just what is sinful, but also what is righteous, thus redefining the boundary within us. It is an awakening call for our marred conscience. When the boundary is redefined, we would act upon what is right naturally without the need to enforce a discipline on ourselves. How many of us need to be reminded that it is wrong to steal or murder? Hardly, because our conscience has already been rightly defined for us those sins. The more the boundary is being redefined, the more freedom we would experience. We become free in Christ and therefore no longer subject to the law of Christ because the law is already written in our hearts! Don’t fight for pseudo freedom that leads to turmoil. Pursue true freedom in Christ and we will have peace within.

Many people look for “perfect ones” among them. But to their dismay, they end up seeing more imperfections of man. They become more disappointed and disheartened. Some even get hurt or become bitter. They did not realize that it is not possible to find any perfect people in an imperfect world. Only the One above is perfect. Only He does not disappoint us. So the question is whether we are still looking for solutions from people or we are looking to God for help. It is therefore necessary that we manage our expectations of people because the more we expect, the more we will be disappointed. It would be interesting to note that the people closest to us are usually the people that hurt us the most. Not because they are more imperfect, but because our expectations of them are higher. It is also surprising to see that the flaws that put us off in others may also be inherent in ourselves. Simply because those flaws are what we hate to see in ourselves too. The Bible tells us that only God is perfect. Therefore we can only look up not look down. The perfection of God must then motivate us to be holy and righteous in our lives. The word of God must be a mirror for us to look at our own imperfections first so that we can pursue godliness. As for the imperfections around us, rather than pointing our fingers at them, it may be better for us to walk alongside them. It is always easier to motivate someone to change by letting him know that we are not better or superior than them but willing to stand by him and do the battle together. It is about iron sharpening iron rather than needle sharpening iron. We must come in our humility and fraility to overcome imperfections. When we are weak, then we can become strong. So before we point finger at the imperfect ones today, look up to the Perfect One and look into ourselves and cry out “Woe to me, for I am a man of unclean lips.”

In our walk with God, there are four aspects that we need to be trained – what I would call the 4Hs of Christian Living here. First H stands for “Head” — to know God personally. This is not just a head knowledge but an understanding and revelation about God. Second H stands for “Heart” — to be devoted to God and be humble before Him. This is about cultivating a right attitude and perspective in God. Third H stands for “Hands” — to serve Him with our lives whether we are talented or not, gifted or not. Though it will be good if we can make full use of our talents and gifts, but God need not necessarily use us in this manner. There are times when He chooses to use us in areas where we are weak in order for us not to boast about ourselves or indulge in our own egos. Fourth H stands for “Holy Spirit” — to depend on the presence and power of the Spirit of God. It is about living in His holy presence and thereby living our Christian life and serving God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In our Christian walk, there would come a time when we find it hard to follow God. This is the time when we know that God means business. He is not just a God who provides everything we need for us but demands a surrendered life from us. We find it hard to obey because we start to count how much we have lost for the sake of following Christ. We see how much we have given up in order to follow Him. We wonder why it is still not enough for Him. Why can’t God just allow us to keep somethings for ourselves? The more we count, the more difficult it is. If we want to live out a life surrendered to God, we must stop counting what we lose and start counting what we gain in Christ. The apostle Paul even went a step further; he also counted what he gained from the world a loss compared to what he gained in Christ. Do we know that what we gain from the world may actually be a hindrance for us to know Christ? It is better to lose them and gain something more precious that we cannot lose.

Many a times when we serve God we can end up feeling dry. We feel that we have sacrificed so much for God but yet the work does not grow or others do not appreciate it. We think that we output so much yet our input from God and others are so little. We feel as though that the kingdom of God and others are indebted to us just that we do not voice it out. We do not see how much we actually learn from God and how God feeds us every day. Honestly speaking, God does not require our service or sacrifice; He can accomplish His work much better and faster on His own without us. But He entrusts His work to us so that we would learn and be shaped by Him. He is actually giving us all the input we need through serving Him so that at the end of the day, we would conform to His image and acquire the heart of God. So don’t always see or boast about how much we have output, thank God for all the input we have received from Him. Let us be more humble and see the true essence of serving God.

We all know that prayers change things. How we hope that this is always true. Things would have been so much easier. But more often than not, prayers is essentially to change us. Ultimately, prayers are God’s instrument for us to build a trusting relationship in God. It is actually a time for us to be aligned with God rather than getting God to do what we want. When we miss out this truth, we can be praying every day but not growing spiritually. Next time when we pray, let us ask ourselves whether we are praying in the will of God or just preying on the things of God.

Our natural tendency is to equate aging to maturing. We assume that as we grow old, we would mature. But in real fact, we can only say that as we grow old, we should mature. However, not every one who grows old, matures. This is all the more true for spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is a deliberate choice which requires discipline and training. It requires deep reflection as we feed upon the Word of God. We should strive to grow our spirituality so that it matches our spiritual age. Many of us, though spiritually old, are still feeding on milk. We thought that we can grow naturally, but we cannot. But the good news is this, just as there are people who mature faster than what their age should be, our spiritual maturity can also outgrow our spiritual age! So as we age gracefully, let us mature spiritually.

Everyone wants blessings from God. There is nothing wrong with it. But the problem lies in our understanding of the word. To some, blessings from God means a life of abundance; it should be trouble-free and smooth sailing. However, blessings from God need not necessarily mean this. We can be poor and our lives can be difficult but still be blessed by God. Blessedness is a state when we become the child of God. It is about living in the presence of God more than the presence of material goods or being free from all troubles. It is a spiritual inheritance of God more than a physical one although it can be accompanied by material goods. Next time when we ask blessings from God, it is good to ask what we are really asking God for. Do not just ask for material blessings, ask God for a spiritual one too.

Many times when we go through some difficulties and troubles in life, we like to ask whether God is testing us or the devil is tempting us. But why are we asking this question? We are actually interested to know who we can blame. But knowing who to blame does not solve our problems actually because the bible tells us it is the evil desire within us that is playing a trick on us. What is more important for us is to find out how we can overcome the trials or the temptations so that we can be built up by God. In every trial, there might be temptations and in every temptation, there might be trials. There is no way for us to know which comes first. Even if we know it, it would not help us to overcome it. Find out instead what God is doing through His trials or the temptations which He allows, and know how to overcome them with the power of God so that we can be built up and transformed into the likeness of our God.