Rediscovering Eden

Just want to thank the Lord for helping me finish one of my company's websites. I went home early to do it yesterday but it took so long because I had no inspiration. But I prayed to the Lord and He gave me the inspiration to design it. I just finished testing it on Mozilla and now I just have to wait for my boss to look at it and discuss the contents. Thank You, Lord :)

The Secret

I met God in the morning
When my day was at its best,
And His Presence came like sunrise,
Like a glory in my breast.

All day long the Presence lingered,
All day long He stayed with me,
And we sailed in perfect calmness
O'er a very troubled sea.

So I think I know the secret,
Learned from many a troubled way,
You must seek Him in the morning
If you want Him through the day!

© Ralph S. Cushman

Whew! The last 2 weeks were so busy. Today decided to just take it easy after I came home from church.

This morning, some of us from Campus went to Botanic Gardens. It was nice. Praise God for perfect weather. We saw some of His more interesting creations, such as a black flower! Ever seen something like that? Weird... And orchids with 'horns'! Amazing... Looking at the flowers reminded me of Jesus' words:

"And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! " (Matt 6:28-30)

Wows... working full-time really leaves little time for much else. I think being in school gives us more time to do our own stuff and more freedom as to how to use our time. Quite different from spending some 9-8 hrs in the office everyday.

Quotable Quotes:

• Give God what's right, not what's left!


• To be almost saved is to be totally lost.


• Don't put a question mark where God puts a period.


• Prayer- Don't give God instructions- just report for duty!


• We don't change the message; the message changes us.


• A clean conscience makes a soft pillow.


• Nothing ruin the truth like stretching it.


• Be ye fishers of men, you catch them... He will clean them.


• Deciding not to choose is still making a choice.


• God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called.

Just want to thank the Lord for sustaining me today. It's my first day at work with Lawrence. I've been looking for a job for a long time (about 7 months) but only managed to find a temp job last month, and a new one that started today. Was very tired because I had a really busy week last week but thank God for giving me strength for the day.

I'm very encouraged by Ronald's testimony in the Campus Blog which he posted yesterday about how God was so real. Sometimes we (myself included) say that God worked, He gave strength, He did this and that; but there's nothing like reading about how real God is down to the specifics, and knowing how God worked and that it was only He who could have done these things. Still, more importantly is how real God is to us personally. I want that sense of His reality - that knowledge by experience that mere knowledge of the Bible cannot give.

Also wanna say thanks to Anne who's been popping by my blog and encouraging me to start posting again. I spent most of last night trying to retrieve data from my old hard disks and had so much trouble locating some very important files. Perhaps the reason it took so long is because I forgot to ask the Lord for help. Hope I learnt my lesson. Thank You, Lord, for being so patient with me.

Thank the Lord for a new computer :). Finally got it up and running. Will be a while before I manage to retrieve all my info in the old comps tho'.

Quotes from Tozer

A.W. Tozer is one of my favourite authors. Just wanna share a quote from his book, The Pursuit of Man:

"The experiences of men who walked with God in olden times agree to teach that the Lord cannot fully bless a man until He has first conquered him. The degree of blessing enjoyed by any man will correspond exactly with the completeness of God's victory over him."

God's "Pencils"

All scripture is given by inspiration of God
~ 2 Timothy 3:16 ~

One common question that many people ask goes something like this: How do we know that the Bible is God's Word when it was written by men? Honestly nobody knows the workings of how God inspired the Bible and used men to write exactly what He wanted. The physical cannot fully understand the spiritual. But fortunately there are many parallels in the physical world that help us understand the spiritual realm.

I keep a pen with me all the time. I use it to write notes and stuff. I also have a pencil which I use to draw. Sometimes those drawings are illustrations for what I write, making what I draw with my pencil and what I write with my pen an article as a whole. We may say that in a way that "the pencil drew the picture" and "the pen wrote the words". But what was written and drawn by the pen and pencil was exactly what I intended to write and draw. The pen and pencil were simply instruments in my hand to convey my thoughts.

Likewise when God used men to write His Word, it was God using an instrument (men, in this instance) to convey what He wanted to say. Just as I use a pen or pencil, God uses men. Thus what is written in the Bible is exactly what God wanted to say.

In the same way that a person may use different pens, pencils, markers, etc. writing insruments to write the same story, God used different men from different background at different times to write His Word, the Bible; and the result is the same - it is exactly what God intended to be written.

Thank the Lord for a 1-month job that just ended. My computer at home is dyin so might not be able to use the comp much these days. So much for bloggin'. Not exactly good timing. But hope to go to Sim Lim soon to do some shopping. Blogposts won't be too frequent in the meantime.

I'm taking a week's break before starting to work again. Got so much stuff to do. Not a good time for a computer to choose to die. Oh well... we'll just work around it. Seeya in a while.

Via Dolorosa - The Road of Sorrows

The Lord brought several things to my attention this morning as I read from Luke 22:39 to the end of chapter 23. Since I have no space in my journal to write them all and no time to buy a new one, I'll record them here.

But Jesus said to him, "Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?" (22:48)

As I read this verse, it struck me that Judas must have gotten a terrible shock. He had only told the Jews that the kiss would be the sign of his betrayal. How did Jesus know? Jesus' words must have struck deep and filled him with horror. "Son of Man", Jesus addressed Himself. What was going to Judas' mind when he was told in essence, "Judas, you are betraying the Holy One of God, the Messiah, with a kiss."?

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times." So Peter went out and wept bitterly. (22:62)

This verse struck me that Peter loved the Lord so much. The knowledge that he had denied the one he loved was too much for him to take. Peter loved Jesus and had sworn that he would never deny Him. But when the time came, Peter found that his human energies could not keep him from doing what he never thought he would have done. All it took was a look from Jesus, and it broke his heart to know how weak he was to hurt the One he loved so dearly that he went and wept bitterly.

But the Lord also showed me that Jesus never blamed Peter for the denial. Jesus never brought it up again. Jesus knew that Peter could not have helped it because that was all that human nature had to offer.

And he [Pilate] released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown intro prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will. (23:25)

This is a picture of substitution. Barabbas was a rioter and murderer, but he was released while Jesus was condemned to death. The sinner goes free while Christ was condemned as a sinner.

This man [Joseph of Arimathea] went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. (23:53)

I don't think I have ever really thought about that moment when the people who witnessed the crucifixion realised the mortality of Jesus and what it meant to them. What went through their minds and hearts when they saw Jesus limp and cold, a bloodied pale corpse taken down from the cross? How many tears were shed as His body was cleaned and wrapped in gravecloths? Did they look in his eyes open and staring in death? He was gone. He who was their hope, their purpose, their very lives for the past three years was now cold and motionless before them. Their hopes must have been crushed, and the disciples must have been filled with horror: "They have killed our Master, and now they will come for us!"

When a great man dies, multitudes mourn. Jesus was a widely popular man during His time on earth. But to those who believed in Him, He was more - more even than a loved one or a beloved ruler whose passing they would mourn with great lamentation. He was everything their hopes were pinned on, and now He was gone. He was their King. He was their Friend. He was the One they knew as the Son of God. But now He lay cold and limp like any mortal man who has met his end. What did Jesus' death mean to them? It might be good for us to imagine the sight and place ourselves in their shoes.

Thankfully Jesus did not stay dead like any other man. Jesus said that He voluntarily gave up His spirit and voluntarily took His life up again. His death was no accident. He did not die from the beatings, the crucifixion, heart attack or asphixiation. He died because He "gave up the ghost" (Jn 19:30). Jesus lives today, and that makes all the difference.

I serve a risen Saviour; He is the world today,
I know that he is living, whatever men may say,
I see His hand of mercy; I hear His voice of cheer;
And just the time I need Him, He’s always near.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.

Tonight was one of the most wonderful outreaches I have experienced. We go for outreach at Orchard every Thursday and see the Lord work in many ways, but tonight was marvelous. God was obviously at work, even before the outreach. He called each of those who were present, and used us in ways we never expected.

Before the outreach, several of us were still pondering whether we should go. We had meetings, work, soggy shoes even; not to mention it rained heavily in the afternoon. But one by one God led us to come anyway, and we witnessed His blessings.

There were 2 professions of faith tonight, but it was not the number of professions that amazed us, but rather how the professions came about. Even the witnessing to those whom we who did not make a profession was a real blessing. I paired up with Annie and we spoke to only 1 guy the whole night. Annie spent 90 minutes explaining the Gospel to him, and he was so attentive and even wanted to come to church on both Saturday and Sunday! Praise God!

Time and space will not permit the sharing of tonight's experiences. That you will have to find out from those who went. But you know what? God worked wonders, and He continues to do so. All of us who went tonight were tremendously blessed.

Asking Amiss

This morning, the Lord led me to read from the book of 1 Samuel for my devotions and He taught me a couple of lessons from Israel and its first king - King Saul. Here is the first:

"And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day." (1 Sam 8:18)

Israel wanted a king. Up till then they had no king. God was their ruler. But they came to the point where they said to Samuel who was judging Israel at that time, "Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." Samuel prayed to the Lord, and quite surprisingly, the Lord said, "Heed their voice." In other words, the Lord said, "Give them what they want. Give them what they asked for. Give them a king."

It surprised me somewhat that God would give Israel a king when it was obviously not what He desired for them. It made me realise that sometimes when we reject God's will for us and insist on having what we want, He just might give it to us. That is a frightening thought.

God would, like in the case of Israel, warn us about the consequences of our choice because of His mercy. But if we were to insist on having our own way, we will have to bear the consequences and, catch this: the Lord will not hear us in that day, that is, God will not help us when the consequences of our choice come. God will not hear us in our distress if we have knowingly chosen to put our own will before God's and expect Him to submit to our will rather than the other way round.

How dangerous it is to ask amiss, and to reject God's will. It is not wrong to pray for what we want, but like our Lord, the final desire of our hearts must be: Not my will, but Yours, be done.

He Restores My Soul

This verse from Psalm 23 is one that I love very much. It encourages me during times of spiritual dryness, and gives me the assurance of God's restoration: God is the God who revives me.

Every Christian has experienced dryness at one point or another. It could be a result of sin. It could be a result of drifting from God. It could be a result of ceasing to depend on Him and drinking of His living water. Or sometimes it may be only emotional rather than spiritual, when things are not so exciting, or when we are tired. At those times we might mistake our emotional dryness for spiritual dryness. But God is the God who restores, and He is ever-ready to act on our part.

God will seek us out. Jesus told three parables in a row in Luke 15 about how God does it: The parable of the shepherd finding his sheep, that of the woman looking for her lost coin, and the famous story of the prodigal son. Each emphasises a different aspect. The story of the shepherd tells of God's tender love, and how precious an individual sheep is to Him that He is willing to risk so much in order to search for it. The tale of the lost coin shows us the effort and care with which God will seek us out, and how He will not rest until He does. And the parable of the prodigal son reveals to us God's great longing for us to return to the place and position of blessedness by our Father's side, and how ready and willing He is to receive us when we turn from our ways and return to Him, even despite all we have done and how soiled we are. All three parables tell us that God rejoices when He finds us and we are restored in our walk with Him.

God takes the initiative to seek us. He promises us that He is the restorer of our souls. We can, in confidence of this, simply ask Him to lift us up when we are dry and fully expect Him to do so. No matter how dry we are, or how we have strayed, all we have to do is return to God in humility and repentance and ask Him to do what He said He would - not based on our merits, but on His promise - and we may for ourselves experience the joy which inspired David to say, "He restores my soul."

In The Sweet By And By
(Sanford F. Bennett and Joseph P. Webster)

There’s a land that is fairer than day,
And by faith we can see it afar;
For the Father waits over the way
To prepare us a dwelling place there.

Refrain

In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore;
In the sweet by and by,
We shall meet on that beautiful shore.

We shall sing on that beautiful shore
The melodious songs of the blessed;
And our spirits shall sorrow no more,
Not a sigh for the blessing of rest.

Refrain

To our bountiful Father above,
We will offer our tribute of praise
For the glorious gift of His love
And the blessings that hallow our days.

Refrain


Mr. Webster, like many musicians, was of an exceedingly nervous and sensitive nature, and subject to periods of depression, in which he looked upon the dark side of all things in life. I had learned his peculiarities so well that on meeting him I could tell at a glance if he was melancholy, and had found that I could rouse him up by giving him a new song to work on.

He came into my place of business [in Elkhorn, Wisconsin,] walked down to the stove, and turned his back on me without speaking. I was at my desk. Turning to him, I said, “Webster, what is the matter now?” “It’s no matter,” he replied, “it will be all right by and by.” The idea of the hymn came me like a flash of sunlight, and I replied, “The Sweet By and By! Why would not that make a good hymn?” “Maybe it would,” he said indifferently. Turning to my desk I penned the words of the hymn as fast as I could write. I handed the words to Webster. As he read his eyes kindled, and stepping to the desk he began writing the notes. Taking his violin, he played the melody and then jotted down the notes of the chorus. It was not over thirty minutes from the time I took my pen to write the words before two friends with Webster and myself were singing the hymn.

Sanford Fillmore Bennett (1836-1898)
(taken from Cyberhymnal.org)

Blog Design Tips

Just wanna share some tips on webpage design that could help in the design of personal blogs or webpages. Since we're talking about blogs, I'll just make reference to them.

There are 2 basic rules that one's blog should observe: (1) It should be Navigable and (2) it should be readable. Since blogs are meant to be read, visitors should find the design intuitive, that is, it shouldn't take too much effort to figure out how it works and to read the contents.

Navigability - Visitors should at a glace know where things are found and what those things are. Inframes (i.e. scrolling windows within the webpage) should only be used for posts. I don't think it is a good idea for them to be used for menu bars because the visitor cannot see all the contents of the menu bar at a glance and has to hunt for them. Bad idea. Never let the reader hunt for stuff. Always assume he's a dummy. An easily navigable site is a user-friendly site.

Readability - This includes legibility. I went to a restaurant yesterday and tried ordering food from a menu which was printed in Mistral font (I believe). Mistral font is cool, but it's terrible for content text. I gave up reading the menu and left my dad to do the ordering. Bad typography is bad readability. Stick with fonts like Times New Roman, Georgia, Arial, Verdana which are much more readable. Other fonts may not show on different people's computers anyway.

Readability also involves text and background colours. Black text on white background still works best. White text on black background is ok, but not as effective. The important thing here is contrast. Make sure your text stands out from your background or it will be hard to read. Also make sure your background doesn't draw the reader's attention away from your text. Blogs, after all, are meant to be read, and reading shouldn't take too much effort.

So, the next time you pick a blogskin or design your own blog, it might be helpful to keep these in mind. Good navigability and readability draws visitors and keeps them coming back, and it makes their visit a pleasant one :)

The Passion

Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is coming to Singapore soon. I've seen a few screenshots. We had the Lord's Supper today, and somehow I feel that Holy Communion will never be the same after seeing that movie. Partaking of the bread and 'wine' with the reminder that they are symbols of Christ's body and blood which were broken and shed for us after having seen the suffering that Jesus went through would make Communion quite a different experience.

I've been thinking about the Passion. I believe that at Gethsemane, right after Jesus prayed for God's will to be done, He was given the cup of suffering to drink. It was not only at the cross, but from that moment on. From that moment, the Father began to withdraw His goodness from His Son. We see the inhibitions that keep human malice from exhibiting itself removed. From the betrayal, to injustice, to cruelty, we can see the worst of man becoming evident. God had removed the hedges of human conduct that prevented them from executing such evil acts. Jesus was deprived even of rest, having been dragged around all night. On the cross, God even withdrew the gift of sunlight which He gives even to sinners, and all these culminated with the turning of the Father's face from the Son.

As I pondered these things, I came across a passage in J.I. Packer's Knowing God. I quote:

On the cross, God judged our sins in the person of his Son, and Jesus endured the retributive come-back of our wrong-doing. Look at the cross, therefore, and you see what form God's judicial reaction to human sin will finally take. What form is that? In a word, withdrawal and deprivation of good. On the cross Jesus lost all the good that he had before: all sense of his Father's presence and love, all sense of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, all enjoyment of God and of created things, all ease and solace of friendship, were taken from him, and in their place was nothing but lonliness, pain a killing sense of human malice and callousness, and a horror of great spiritual darkness.

Knowing God's Will

Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."
~ Genesis 22:1,2 ~

I read this passage for my devotions this morning while I was on my way to church. Several portions of the passage spoke to me, one of which was how God spoke to Abraham. When I was younger, I always thought God spoke to people in the Old Testament in an audible voice which we today don't experience. But what struck me was that the Bible did not say how God spoke to Abraham. Did He speak in a voice Abraham could hear? Or did He impress His will upon Abraham's heart? It could very well have been the latter. But one thing we can know for sure: Abraham knew that God had spoken.

What was most remarkable today was that Pastor Paul preached this morning on Abraham, and he too pointed out the same lesson that the Lord had taught me earlier this morning: When God speaks, you will know. You don't have to figure it out. You will just know. You may not be able to explain it, but you will know. People who have told me about this before often say, "When a person speaks, you know; and God is a Person."

I used to have much trouble with this. I think it's something many earnest Christians have faced before. They ask, "How will I know?" and the answer, "You will just know" hardly satisfies their inquiring minds. Perhaps this has to be experienced first hand to be understood, but it is true, and we can know it is true. I am still learning what this means, and it becomes less difficult to accept as I come to know the Lord more. All I can say now is that we need a surrendered heart before we can know God's will, and as we walk with the Lord and know Him more and more, He will reveal Himself to us more and more, so much so that He will be such a reality in our lives that when He speaks, we can say, "I know God has spoken." Jesus said: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (Jn 10:27).

Tips on How to Witness from the Bible

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
~ Acts 8:35 ~

I was reading this chapter this morning and was encouraged by Philip's example. Philip was told by the Lord to go and witness to an Ethiopian eunuch, a very powerful man. What struck me about this witnessing experience is how naturally it flowed. There was no abrupt introduction to the Gospel and no tension in sharing. Sometimes we get so stressed witnessing. Sometimes we get hung up on our witnessing methods - we always start the conversation with "Have you heard of the 4 Spiritual Laws?" or "If you were to die today...?" If we find ourselves in those shoes, well, this passage is for us then.

We find the following tips in this passage:

1. Philip depended on the Holy Spirit's leading (v.29)- Philip recognised the Spirit's leadership and submitted himself to Him. He obeyed the Holy Spirit when He told him where to go and what to do.


2. Philip observed the eunuch (v.30)- Philip listened to what the eunuch was reading, and asked him if he understood it. Philip wasn't there to just give the gospel and go, but wanted to minister to his needs; and the only way to do that is to observe.


3. Philip began at where the eunuch was at (v.35)- Philip wasn't hung up on some key phrases to get the conversation going. No "If you were to die today..." or such things. The Bible tells us that he began his gospel presentation at the Scripture that the eunuch was reading. There are many ways for us to break in the gospel message, but we need to be listening and depending on the Spirit to know how and when.


4. Lastly, Philip preached Jesus (v.35)- Philip did not preach the benefits of salvation or the effects of salvation. He preached Jesus. He told the man about the Person of Christ. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself" (Jn 12:32).

Walking with Jesus

The Lord has recently been teaching (rather re-teaching) me a vital lesson, and that is the priority of walking close to Him. Jesus said in John 7:38, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water." When we stop drinking from the great Fount of living water, the streams will also cease to flow from us.

It is easier to get involved in ministry than to walk close to the Lord. But getting involved in ministry without a close walk with Jesus is no better than going for CCAs or taking part in any other activity, except that it is in church rather than in school or at work. We can do it, of course, but there will be no life, and there can be no fruit: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me."

Without having a close walk with the Lord, ministry is inevitably a struggle. If you are leading worship even in a small group setting, you will be stressed, trying to figure out what song to sing next. If you are trying to encourage someone, you may find that you cannot think of the right words, and may be worried if you are actually encouraging or discouraging him. But if we are walking close with Jesus and depending on Him, we will find much freedom in ministry, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor 3:17).

Everything must come second, third and fourth after our walk with Christ. Our walk with Him must, must, must take precedence over everything else. There is no power, no life, no light and no liberty trying to serve apart from Him. "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (Jn 15:5). It will be a ministry as dry as bones, having sprung from the poverty of man's own soul rather than from the Spring of living water. And it will be a death-dealing ministry rather than a life-giving one.

A thought may be helpful: In the OT, the phrase "serve the Lord" is used many times. Did it mean getting involved in ministry? Or did it mean doing something for God? No, not at all. It means simply this: "Wait on the Lord and obey Him." When asked, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" Jesus replied: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent" (Jn 6:28,29).

From Eden to Gethsemane

I was thinking about gardens, since that's the theme of this page's design and title. Two gardens in the Bible that were the sites of the most important events in history are Eden and Gethsemane.

Eden was the place of the Fall, where the First Adam sinned, and as a result, man lost his fellowship with God.

Gethsemane was the place where the Lord Jesus Christ, the Second Adam, received the cup of suffering from God the Father and went to restore that fellowship.

Eden was a place of perfection and beauty; Gethsemane was a place of darkness and pain.

Eden was a place of separation; Gethsemane, a place of restoration.

At Eden, man died. Because of Gethsemane, man may live, and live forever.

In the Garden
(C. Austin Miles)

I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain

And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice,
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

Refrain

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Refrain

Praise God. God is working in the Campus Ministry.

We have split into 3 smaller groups and fellowship has become much warmer, and we are growing closer in our individual groups. CMers are becoming more burdened to reach out to their friends and to others' friends. God is good.

There is also evidence of spiritual battle. Please pray. Some of the battles are fierce.

The LORD is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.
The LORD keeps all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.

~ Psalm 145:17-21 ~

God Is Real

I am amazed. God works in amazing ways that are often hidden from us. And when He finally reveals what He has been planning all along, the result is a sense of amazement and wonder at our wondrous God.

Over the past week my quiet time has been difficult, but nevertheless profitable. My readings were primarily from John 9 and some of David's psalms, with some additional material from A.W. Tozer's Pursuit of Man. The Lord taught me from John 9 and Tozer the need to know God as a reality. The blind beggar in John 9 knew God. The Pharisees knew about God. There is a world of difference. While the Pharisees were learned in the Scriptures and knew so much theology, they failed to recognise the Son of God when He came into their midst and even called Him a 'sinner' (Jn 9:24). The beggar, on the other hand, didn't know anything about who Jesus was except that He gave him his sight. The beggar had a personal experience of God. Jesus was so real to him that nobody could convince him that Jesus was anything other than what he had personally experienced.

Listen to what Tozer has to say in his book, the Pursuit of Man:

"They who worship the God who is present may ignore the objections of unbelieving men. Their experience is self-verifying and needs neither defense nor proof. What they see and hear overwhelms their doubts and confirms their assurance beyond the power of argument to destroy."

"Nothing can take the place of the touch of God in the soul and the sense of Someone there. Real faith, indeed, brings such realization, for real faith is never the operation of reason upon texts. Where true faith is, the knowledge of God will be given as a fact of consciousness altogether apart from the conclusions of logic."

Following the devotions from John 9, I went on to read the Praise Psalms of David, in particular Psalm 136, 144 and 145. Nothing in particular jumped out at me, but God was silently at work. One thing I could not help noticing in those psalms was how they sprung out of David's closeness to the Lord (see Blog dated Feb 27 04:06:04 pm, last paragraph). David's walk with the Lord was so close, and he knew God so intimately that he was so filled with wonder that the words flowed freely from his heart.

As I pondered that, a thought came to me today that this sense of joyous wonder is a sign of the Holy Spirit's presence in the life of a person. Almost immediately I was reminded that David did know that the Holy Spirit lived in him (see Ps 51:11). But how did he know? The Holy Spirit did not abide in people in the Old Testament, and I did not remember any promise in the OT that allowed anyone to know that he/she had the Holy Spirit. Those in the NT know because it is explicitly stated, but how did those in the OT know? I smsed Chee Keen to check things out.

First, I asked Chee Keen if it were true that the Holy Spirit did not abide in people in the OT. He confirmed my suspicions, saying that the word used in the OT is 'upon', while that in the NT is 'in', for example: "the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him" (OT) vs "do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you" (NT).

Then I posed the second question: "On what basis did those in the OT know that the Holy Spirit was in them (since they did not have an explicit promise like in the NT)?" I quote his reply:

"When a Person comes into your life, you know it! If the Holy Spirit is just a theory, then you've got to argue and prove it."

I was amazed. This tied everything together! It united the 2 seemingly different devotional topics for the past week into one great lesson: God is real, we can know He is real, and we must know He is real. I replied to his sms that "this is very interesting". I didn't tell him how the 2 devotional topics came together. He replied:

"Sure is! Never allow others to talk about God as if he is not REAL, and only exists in the Bible or theology."

Yes, we need to know God for real, like the beggar who experienced Christ for himself and said: "one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see." Lord, let us see You and know Your reality.

A friend recently said: "Big words have small meanings. Small words have big meanings"

He was referring to Bible terms.

Just try defining the following words: Justification; propitiation; atonement; faith; love; fear (of God)

God's Mindfulness of Man

O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You think of him?
Man is like a mere breath;
His days are like a passing shadow.
~ Psalm 144: 3,4 ~

It is humbling to think of how God cares for us when we are so small. The Bible tells us that man has nothing that is worthy of God's care and attention, and yet he receives it. In fact man receives more of God's attention than any of His creations. Look at the cross and you will know. God gave His Son to man.

What is man? David mused. Man is like a mere breath - temporary and transient. Measure that against Eternal God. Man is compared to grass. We don't even consider the grass that we walk on, or even the flowers. They are pretty to look at for a while while they bloom, but soon they die and rot and are gone. Their growing and passing are of no concern to us. So transient is man and his glory. But unlike how we consider the grass and flowers, God cares for man, and He does so more than the flowers He clothes.

The thought of this made David remark, "What is man that You are mindful of Him, the son of man that you care for him?" To recognise one's own unworthiness as compared to the attention received by God is to really know God's grace. And to know that God gives rain and sunshine even to the wicked who rage against Him is to know His mercy.