The Story of an Indian family, some Arabs and the Fragrance of Christ and our Favour-filled Life!
I’m going to write about the story of an Indian family.
Okay, I’m not racist. At least I try not to be.
Well, there’s just this Indian family that happens to be my neighbour. Only a staircase separates my apartment from theirs. I just have one problem with them. I really don’t know what they cook or what kind of oil they use but there’s just this intensely strong odour (they can beat Hugo Boss’s Intense for the longest lasting scent) that emanates from their flat.
And not only does the scent or smell emanates, it diffuses and every time the wind blows (and since we are having the Northeast Monsoon right now), the smell just smacks into your nose.
It’s really too over-powering!!!
I have had nasty thoughts flashing across my mind before - like: should I write a complaint letter to the Town Council, or should I just confront them about it.
The other day I was dressed very well, perfume and all, to go to church. And in stepped the mother and her daughter from that family while the lift door was about to close. You can imagine the expression on my face.
Okay, again, I’m not racist. But some things do try my patience.
Then last week, while I was reading the first chapter of the book “Finding Favor With The King” by Tommy Tenney, a small excerpt just caught my attention. Basically the author described his experience while staying in a London hotel. He wrote: “When I stepped into a hotel elevator…the full power of the fragrance instantly flooded my senses. That was when I realized it wasn’t the hotel that smelled so good. The elevator was already occupied by two veiled Middle-Eastern ladies and their husbands. They were the source of the indescribable fragrances.”
The author than commented on the fragrance to a hotel staff member who was with him inside the elevator after the Middle-Eastern couples have stepped out.
To which he was told: “You should see inside their room! They bring the fragrances from the Middle East to their rooms.
“The women lay out their clothes on a little latticework device before they wear them. They light trays of fragrant incense burners underneath the latticework frames so the fragrance saturates their clothes while they bathe or tend to other duties.”
And the author later went on to relate his experiences to the story of Esther.
Remember how she beat more than a thousand women to become Queen of Persia, and later we know, she helped save the children of Israel from an evil plot to annihilate them. She spent an entire year in preparation before she was allowed to meet King Xerxes, then King of Persia.
And the culture in Persia is such that the women were known to place spices and fragrant oils in incense burners and let them saturate their clothing. And it is a known historical fact that fragrant oils and spices were major exports of Persia.
Can you imagine what Esther, who, for one entire year, bathes, clothes and walks around in fragrant oils will smell like?
Just like the Indian family mentioned earlier, okay, maybe not, the Middle-Eastern couples described above!
After reading that chapter, I proceeded to shower and change for an appointment later.And God asked me this question during the shower: “Do you know favour also works like that?”
“Works like what, Father?” I asked.
And He said: “What you have just read…” My attention was brought to a verse I recalled reading about before in the Bible which says: “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:14-15).
Praise God!!!
We are the fragrance of Christ, among Christians and non-Christians, the verse says.
It is the fragrance of Christ that attracts the favour, that gives us favour with the people surrounding us. And we know that when we accept Christ, He is in us and we in Him.
The Bible says in Ephesians 5:2 that “And walk in love, as Christ has also loved is and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
Christ qualified us for all the favours, the grace and the blessings of God. He becomes our fragrance, the Bible says, that reaches to God as a sweet-smelling aroma.
I remembered Pastor’s teachings on fragrances in the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament.
I’m sure you guys know that in the Old Testament, the ordinary people cannot enter the Holy of Holies because they will die. Only the Most High Priest, that is Aaron, will enter into it, and the Bible says in Exodus 30:7-8: “And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations.”
Do you realize that your parents are doing the same thing to their gods every morning and every evening but they do not know what they are doing?
Because to them, it is but a ritual, that they saw their parents practice when they are little children, and therefore they now do.
But Praise Jesus, that today, he is our continuous incense, the sweet-smelling aroma that reaches to God’s throne, and qualifies us for all His blessings by His one-time offering on the Cross.
If you continue to read from Exodus 30, you will come across the passage about how Aaron and his line of priests should be anointed with fragrant oil and incense. And then it goes on to describe the fragrance that God instructed Moses to make to put in the Tabernacle where Moses will meet with God.And this is where Pastor taught on the compositions of the fragrances. They are a blend of sweet spices, stacte, onycha, galbanum and pure frankincense, seasoned with salt. And these are the root word (in Hebrew) and the meanings of the ingredients.
Ingredient: stacte
Root word (in Hebrew): nataph
Literal meaning: aromatic gum resin drop
Figurative meaning: to ooze in drops
Ingredient: onycha
Root word (in Hebrew): shacheleth (derived from “shachal”)
Literal meaning: an ingredient used in making incense
Figurative menaing: to roar, like a fierce lion of Jehovah
Ingredient: galbanum
Root word (in Hebrew): chelbanah(derived from “cheleb”)
Literal meaning: fat of humans or animals
Figurative meaning: choicest or best parts
Ingredient: frankincense
Root word (in Hebrew): labownah
Literal meaning: white resin burned as fragrant incense
Figurative meaning: pure, without blemish
Can you see the characteristics of Christ in all the ingredients just described above?
If we are indeed, as 2 Corinthians 2:15 says: “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.”
This means we ooze of Christ – He is the Lion of Judah, the Son of God, His Most Beloved Son, pure and holy without blemish.
Yet he became a sacrifice, an offering for us, that we might also become children of God, that we might come boldly before the throne of God with the righteouness of Christ.
If only secular Christian religiosity and Roman Catholicism have not depicted priests as the essential interceding authority between God and his children, many Christians nowadays are not aware of their priesthood status, and not just priests, the Bible calls us, but ROYAL priests.
Because the Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
But there are some of you who may ask, why then do we not necessarily have favour with everyone?
Since according to what I’ve just described, we oozed of Christ, we are a walking fragrance of Christ. We always have this perfume called Christ splashed on ourselves.
For two reasons – one, that we constantly lose awareness or consciousness of our priestly status in Christ as mentioned above, and two, the Bible says, continuing from 2 Corinthians 2:15-16: “To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”
In the New Living Translation, the same verse reads like this: “To those who are perishing we are a fearful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved we are a life-giving perfume.”
It’s the life of Christ in us, that is the life-giving perfume, which convicts sinners but gives life to those with a receiving heart.
For our Lord Jesus says in John 10:10: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
Blessed people, we exude Christ, we ooze Christ!
Because we have the life of Christ!!!
And it’s His life that gives us favour with all around us. It’s not magic nor supernatural. It’s Christo-natural! You shall find favour everywhere you go, blessed people, because you are constantly carrying the perfume of Christ as sons and daughters of God!!!
Hallelujah!!! Praise Him!!!
In His Fragrance,
weiwen
Run, Wee Boon, Run!!!
I hate running. Friends who have known me long enough all know that. You can ask me to play any kind of ball games, and run around the pitch or court or whatever for 2 hours, and I will gladly join you. Ask me to go run 2.4 km? Sian ji bua (Hokkien for "bored by half") Oops...I think that's the best I can translate this. And I have a buddy from my university days who kept saying to me: "You continue like that sure fail IPPT one...Never exercise. Go and run la, for goodness' sake."Well, fact is, he's right. I did fail my IPPT, and I had to go for RT. Anyway, so today I suddenly felt a desire to go run. Don't ask me why. Maybe something inside my big fat lazy brain is waking up his idea.Sigh, staring at the "United Nations" in front of me, it's not exactly a choice. And no, I didn't linger around and ask: "Is it God?"I just changed into my gear and went. The dark clouds in the sky were not very encouraging but I made up my mind, and walked resolutely to the Bishan stadium.On the way there, I just felt the desire to pray in tongues. Prayed for a while, and stopped. I actually missed the short-cut to the stadium. So I turned back, and suddenly, saw this wooden directional sign in front of me, in the shape of a cross. I don't know. These days I've been seeing crosses everywhere. Whether it's twigs on the ground, the lines between the square tiles in the toilet at the Overflow Room - just crosses everywhere. Passing the wooden sign, I just said: "Thank you Jesus" under my breath.Started doing my warm-up when I reached the stadium. And by the time I was done, it had started drizzling. But I decided to just run. And I was thinking to just complete 6 rounds and go home for dinner.The rain got heavier as I ran but in a way, it was cooling too. I guessed it helped me sweat less. At the 5th round, I was thinking to myself: "I wonder if I can do 8 rounds...well, see how la".By the time I came to the 6th round, I thought: "Lord, run with me. I don't think I can make it past the 6th round, not mentioning running 2 more rounds."And you know what, I did manage to get past...and outrageously, after completing the 8th round, I felt inspired to run 2 more rounds. I just told God: "Run with me, Lord."Amazingly, to my own astonishment, I did.I ran 10 rounds!!! I felt so elated after completing it. In fact while I was doing the warm-down, I felt I could go 2 more. I think I must be mad but that's how I felt at that point in time.Well, I actually ran until the rain stopped. It might seem like nothing to others but to me, it was a mammoth task, an incredible accomplishment. And I felt so fresh after that and I started praising the Lord on my way home, singing: "I press on towards the goal, I reach for the stars...That I may know You more, fulfil Your call on my life.....May Your hand always guide me, guide me to the very end."It was the greatest feeling in the world. I felt so fresh.And I felt so ya-ya that I ya-ya-ed to my friend about it. She said to me: "Angels must have carried me!"You know what, I do not doubt her words at all. It had to be God. There was no doubt in my mind after I was panting away after the 10 rounds. I hope this is the start of things to come. I'll have the stamina that is built up supernaturally! Thank you Lord.Shalom.
A Life of “Bo-chup-ness” is a Life of Rest
I think in the wake of Pastor’s message on leading a “carefree, totally Bo-chup” life that question marks are ringing in some brothers and sisters.
“Can we really lead a bo-chup life? Is it possible? Is it even desirable to do that?”
I believe they are missing out on what Pastor is really saying, and what the Bible is saying in Luke 21:34: “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.” (NKJV)
Does leading a bo-chup life means you just sit at home, shake leg, don’t go to work?
Does that mean you don’t study, because end-times liao mah, you think to yourself, what’s the point of studying anyway?
Does “bo-chup” means you don’t care?
NO!!!
What Pastor is saying is that all of us should have the revelation that in Christ, all things have been taken care of.
Why do we sing songs with lyrics like “I cast my cares before you, your peace shall reign in me…”
Why do we have verses in the Bible, Jesus’s words, that tell us: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.” (Matthew 6:25)
“Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature,” Jesus said. (Matthew 6:27)
When we lift up our hands and say: “Lord, we cast our fears, our doubts, our worries before you”, what are we doing?
What are we doing?
We are saying “Lord, you handle it, I can’t.”
Why, then, many a times, do we take those worries back with us when we have just told God five minutes ago that “Nah, help me Lord, that’s your problem.”
Then after the worship ends, and everyone walks out of the Rock auditorium, those same worries which we have just committed to the Lord, seeps back into our consciousness.
John 14:1 says “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.”
It’s simply what you believe. When you were lifting your hands and crying till your eyes were swollen and your throats hoarse, and in that spiritual moment with God, you completely believed everything and anything.
The Lord wants you to know that everything has been taken care of - by Him.
Be restful. Keep that peace which you had with Him just now.
So we study in the knowledge that our results have been taken care of.
We work in the knowledge that our projects, our lesson plan will go according to plan; our promotions, career, success have been promised.
Jesus says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
When you have cried out all your worries to God, believe, therefore, that He has taken care of them. Because our God is one who even hears the slightest groans.
When God’s people were ill-treated with hard labour in the land of Egypt, their cries and groans reached the Heavenly Father. They didn’t even pray in proper words! Not even praying in tongues!
Today we have so many channels – praise and worship, praying in tongues, whatever works for you.
But at the end of it, know that YOUR cares have been taken care of.
Imagine yourself sitting down to dinner with your father or your mother or both. I don’t know if you do that because I’ve done this myself a lot of times. The waiter comes and serves you something you don’t like, say, asparagus or broccoli. What do you do automatically? You pick the asparagus from your plate and dump it on your parent’s plate. And you go: “Maaa, nah, I don’t like. You eat this.” It’s so natural.
Do you then take it back from them and try to bite and chew and then swallow it with your face looking like a kiam-gana? You don’t right? After we finish dumping those things we don’t like to eat, we happily chomp away the rest of the food, our hearts delighted.
That’s the same with our Abba Father. Eh, by the way, it’s rude to take back the food that you’ve just ‘dumped’ on someone else ok!
So there, our Heavenly Father does likewise, and you know what He does in addition, He empties His plate of good things – prosperity, health, peace, a new sports car, that Zara top, whatever blessings – from His plate to yours.
It’s really how much you dare to ask from Him. And what happens after you know that your cares are taken care of?
You rest.
Why can you rest? Because there’s no conflict, no problem, no worries.
You know in the Old Testament, God was so angry with the children of Israel that he swore that “they shall not enter my rest.”
Do you know something?
Today, God desires us to remain in His rest. To rest while He works everything in our lives.
Because Christ is in us, in our hearts.
He abides in us. He works through us. And He works for us.
When Jesus appeared to the church after He resurrected, the people were scared – terrified and frightened, the Bible says, as if “they had seen a spirit”. And the Lord Jesus said to them: “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
Notice the Lord asks “Why do doubts arise in your hearts?”
Why not your brain? Why not your mind?
Because that’s where your cerebral intelligence and your thoughts are, isn’t it?
But why your hearts?
Because your thoughts arise from desires in your hearts. Your heart is the one that sends signals to your gray cells, whether consciously or unconsciously.
And this peace that Jesus says He will give us, you know what, it’s a peace that “surpasses all understanding, and will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. (Philippians 4:7)When the peace of God guards your hearts, your mind will not wander because it’s the hearts that produces cares in the brain, in the mind.
So the peace of God not only guards your heart, it also keeps your mind. The meaning of the root word “guard” and “keep” here is to “phroureo”, to protect against hostile invasion. When our hearts are at rest, filled with the peace of God, it is guarded, guarded from what?
From anxiety, cares, worries, temptations, any “fiery darts” that the Devil seeks to throw at us.
Today, Christ is the one who works in us, through us, for us.
And that rest in us prepares us for the things to come. The Bible says, continuing from Luke 21:34 which we saw earlier, that Jesus says in the next verse: “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:35-36)
You know something, just recently I was talking to a Christian friend of mine, who is not from our church. It was New Year’s Day and so I sent her a “Happy New Year” greeting through msn. You know what she replied? She said: “What’s there to be happy about?” I know immediately that she’s referring to the Asian Tsunami. I said to her: “Hey, but it’s the New Year. We can look forward because if the tsunami is a sign of the end-times approaching, then we are going to see Jesus soon.” She replied simply: “But are we prepared to see Him?” And then she quoted Matthew 24:40 to me and said: “Matthew says.... out of two in the field one will be lifted up into heaven. It says not all who calls upon the name of the Lord will enter into heaven. Have you been accountable for your actions and in your service to Him?” She’s trying to tell me about the rapture. I told her that the Apostle Paul made it so clear to us in the Book of Romans that Christ has justified us. But she insisted: “But that doesn't mean we can do anything we want without being accountable to God.. for the day of JUDGEMENT will come.”
By the way, I didn’t purposely type the letters “JUDGEMENT” in caps – I copied and pasted it exactly as it is.
Those of you who have attended last Thursday’s Bible Studies will know that Pastor taught on the verse “Remember Lot’s wife.” (Luke 17:32)
And Pastor said that Lot’s wife, as is consistent in the Bible, the ‘wife’ refers to the church. And Lot’s name, in Hebrew, means “veil or covering”. And what did Lot’s wife do? She was escaping with her husband Lot from the city of Sodom because God has marked the city for destruction.
But Lot’s wife, while running away, turned back to look at the destruction and the raining of fire and brimstone from heaven. She turned back to look at God’s judgment.
Brothers and sisters, a veiled church will always focus on the JUDGEMENT that is to come with the second coming of Christ. And today, there are still Christians who are busy preparing themselves with good works to enter God’s Kingdom. And every time they are not prepared one. They always question you: "But are we prepared?"
And that is so sad.
Because Christ is so anxious to meet us, His bride – the church. But the bride is still asking: “But are we prepared? Judgment will come. We must be accountable.”
We are accountable because we are justified and we can enter the Kingdom of God not by ourselves but by Christ and the complete finished work He has done on the Cross.
And you know what, if you observe what Pastor has preached for the whole of 2004 and this year, you’ll notice that his messages mainly touch on rest and peace, and the complete totality of Christ’s works.
He preached on making Christ the centre of our lives in early January last year. Then he touched on the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said: “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feeds them…Therefore do not worry, saying “What shall we eat? What shall we drink….but seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6: 26-34)
Be conscious of Christ’s complete work, Christ in your life because He has qualified you, justified you and made you righteous.
Then Pastor stressed on leading a stress-free life and we can do that because we are too blessed to be stressed. He went on to say “Go with the peace, have the peace.” When someone curses you on the road, be at peace.
The peace of God, of Jesus, when he walked on Earth, amidst all the people, the noise, the incidents that happened around Him, He’s always at peace, always the sane one.
We all know we are in the end-times. Because that has been preached to us over the last ten years, no matter which church you attend.
But what’s the preparation? Is it by searching ourselves inside out, questioning ourselves whether, I quote from our dear friend earlier “Have you been accountable for your actions and in your service to Him?”
NO!!!
Because we already are – Christ has purchased our souls with His blood!!!
Then how? What are we supposed to do?
DUH!!! Cease doing.
Just rest, be at peace. God is working, Christ is working.
Our part is to rest in Him.
And Pastor has been preparing and is still preparing us for that.
Rejoice! Because we will not be apprehensive about the Day the Lord comes on us unexpectedly as Luke 21:34 says.
And shouldn’t we? Because a bride always has butterflies in her stomach as she waits with exceeding joy and anticipation for the bridegroom to arrive. And when He finally does, the bride gets up, rushes to the Bridegroom and kisses Him passionately.
Or does she still sit there combing her hair and wondering: “But are we prepared?”
Which one would you rather be?
Notes: I actually wanted to share this during caregroup yesterday (14 Jan 2005) but since we ended at about 10.20 pm. I thought it's better to just pen it down and spare my CG mates the torture...Hahaha...
"My Peace I Give To You, Not As The World Gives," says the Lord...
Yesterday, the choir celebrated my birthday, or rather, I should say, the choir celebrated the birthdays of all the January babies. 13 January is my birthday.
It's also my last day with Singapore Airlines.
Come to think of it, it wasn't long ago when I received the letter that said "Welcome and we hope you will have a rewarding career with us..", something like that. This time, the letter read "I would like to thank you for your service and to wish you well for the future".
Okay, I think I'm writing in a very sad tone. I'm not sad actually.
Relieved is the word I should think. Though I've made some fantastic friends, I guess I never really did quite fit in. I've shared with a few brothers regarding some events that happened.
But that's not the main reasons why I chose to leave. I think the series of events that occured in the last two months, how everything so uncannily fits together, at least to me personally, made the picture clearer for me by the day.
I know and I know and I know that it's time.
I felt so much peace when I tended my resignation on Monday. And many people around me have been bombarding me with questions like "Why did you resign?", "What do you plan to do?", "Have you found a job yet?", "Do you have another offer somewhere else?" or "Why don't you wait until you have found another job?".
It's surprising how peaceful I felt that I told them all these questions do not bother me at all. I know it's against conventional wisdom but hey, God leads all of us with unconventional wisdom - it's his supernatural guidance that exposes fools who proclaimed themselves wise.
And I also notice that some of those questions mainly dealt with issues of monetary compensation - like "Why don't you stay longer, then the company can compensate you a full month's salary?" or "So will you get a bonus?"
I can't explain the feeling when I heard those questions.
I think basically because I felt nothing.
Just a calm, and knowing that God is my provider, Christ is my centre, and the Spirit is my leader.
The peace of Jesus - that he says "Peace I give to you, not as the world gives." - I guess that is the peace He is referring to.
Many of us started 2005 with different emotions. The events happening around the world has certainly not been a cause of wild celebration. I myself had a quiet New Year's Eve, no count-down, nothing.
I slept through it - till 11 am on New Year's Day.
But I know it's going to be a new beginning. A new lease of life. A year of divine favour that surrounds us like a shield everywhere we go. You know, it's such a wonderful feeling talking to the Lord and listening to Him reply.
Just a quick concise one - during the recent Christmas show at Orchard, I remembered it was the second night. We were singing and praising the Lord in the heart of Orchard Road. And I was priviledged to be serving Him in the choir. And the Lord's presence touched me during one song and I said, in my mind: "Lord, you're here!"And He said,"Yes I am, Son, yes I am." He's always with us because He's in us. He surrounds you and engulfs you totally.
A brother shared after choir yesterday about a Word he heard from the Lord. He said: "Do you know why you feel so 'shiok' when you are praising and worshipping?" It's like all systems go-ahead, a sense of release.Because God is all over you, around you, He engulfs you.
Imagine Him hugging you as you worship Him. (Okay, the last sentence is my own input. =Þ ). Another sister shared that whenever she started singing, she noticed her baby boy stop playing with his toys and start looking around the house. And she tried it a few times just to test. And it happens each time. It's the presence of God, and the baby boy knows. The boy felt Him, I will go even further and say that I believe the boy saw Him, and angels surrounding his mum. It's the awesome presence of God!
Last Sunday, another brother from choir shared this with me: "You know, personally, I believe that God is a 'sucker' for relationships. He desires to have a relationship and to communicate with you more than you can ever think of.
That's why He creates so many channels of communication - through His Word, through the Holy Spirit, through praise and worship, through speaking in tongues, through preachers, pastors, etc. "I truly believe that with all my heart. If you open your heart, He'll be there, He can't wait for you to do that.
Let me share this song with you that the Lord impressed on me while I was typing this.
Dance With Me
O...Lover of my soul...
To the song of all songs...
Romance Me
O...Lover of my soul...
To the song of all songs...
Behold You have come
Over the hills, upon the mountains...
To me You have run
My Beloved, You've captured my heart
Dance with me O...(Repeat)
With You I will go
You are my love,
You are my fair one,
Winter has passed...
And the springtime has come...
So everytime you sing this song, imagine yourself dancing with the Lord. Just enjoy His sweet sweet presence, let Him waltz you, let Him romance you. Truly truly spring-time has come. And Lord Jesus, I thank you. And I know 2005 is the year You will greatly manifest Yourselves more and more in our lives, and we will be transformed from glory to glory, bathed in divine supernatural abundant favor, that we may all be children of God overflowing with your blessings, and a blessing ourselves for others.
Shalom.
