First Budget Flight

Yesterday, I went to Kuala Lumpur via Air Asia, my first budget flight. I was impressed. It was not uncomfortable, in fact, the same as any economy class flight. LCCT is of course much less luxurious than KLIA and the bus trip between LCCT and KL Sentral was about 60 to 90 minutes long. For the same trip between KLIA and KL Sentral, KLIA Express took only 28 minutes. When I was going back to LCCT, I wanted to try KLIA Transit to Salak Tinggi followed by the shuttle bus at to LCCT, but they told me that the shuttle bus was not operating yesterday because they ran out of diesel!

Walking By Faith Pleases And Glorifies God

God created all things for His own glory
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:16 NASB)
The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. (Proverbs 16:4 KJV)
"Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." (Isaiah 43:7 KJV)
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. (Isaiah 48:11 ESV)
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11 KJV)
God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. (John 1:3 NLT)

Salvation by faith glorifies God
Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. (Romans 4:20 NLT)
Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. (Romans 3:27 NLT)
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. (Romans 3:27 KJV)
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

Faith pleases God
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NASB)

God Hardened Pharaoh's Heart

And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this. (Exodus 14:4 NIV)

When I read this to my son yesterday, he explained it in this way to his sister, "It is like mummy wanted to display her punishment to a friend, so she purposely cause you to make a mistake and then punish you to show her friend."

Food And Raiment Guaranteed

And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. (1 Timothy 6:8 KJV)

So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. (Matthew 6:31-33 HCSB)

God's Delays

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. (Habakkuk 2:3 ESV)

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)

God's delays
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt." (Exodus 13:17 ESV)

He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. (1 Samuel 13:8 HCSB)

So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. (John 11:6 NASB)

"How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9-10 NASB)

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20 ESV)

Jesus Offends By Working Too Slowly

"And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." (Matthew 11:6 NASB)

This website gave three reasons why Jesus offends Christians. I am struck by one of the reasons given, Jesus works too slowly (the third reason). How true this is. Sometimes, we wonder why God took such a long time.

And Jesus said, "Who is the one who touched Me?" And while they were all denying it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You." (Luke 8:45 NASB)
Jesus was on the way to heal Jairus's daughter. But there was a crowd and He could not move fast. On top of that, He felt that power has gone out from Him and stopped to find out who touched Him. If you are a doctor attending an emergency, already delayed by traffic jam, would you allow other events to delay you further?


So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. (John 11:6 NASB)
Here, similarly, we see Dr Jesus delaying again, after hearing that Lazarus was sick.

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Revelation 6:9-10 NASB)
God has not show His wrath for so long that many think that He either does not exist or is dead.

Here is the quote from the website on the three reasons why Jesus offends.


QUOTE
Reason 1: He demands too much. In John 16:1, Jesus tells His disciples that He’s sharing “all these things” so they won’t be offended by Him. Some of those “things” were stern warnings that they would be hated by the world and persecuted (John 15:18ff.). Jesus made clear that following Him won’t lead to a bed of roses. Suffering and loss are involved.

Unfortunately, some present a gospel that leaves these parts out. The result: Christians get offended when they realize what they’ve gotten into. But Jesus lets us know up front what following Him entails. Even in His own day, some of His followers stopped walking with Him because they regarded the cost too high (John 6:53-59).

Reason 2: He doesn’t meet our expectations. The Lord often works in ways that we don’t understand. I’ve heard some Christians say, “My life would have been much better today if I didn’t follow Jesus in my youth. Look where it’s gotten me.” In Finding Organic Church, I talk about the Catch-30 crisis. There comes a point in all our lives where we reassess the major commitments we’ve made in early adulthood. And we either dig in deeper or we abandon ship.

Isaiah says that God’s ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). The Lord works on levels that we cannot fathom. Paul says that God works all things for our good (Romans 8:28). “Why hasn’t God answered this prayer? Why didn’t He fulfill this promise? Why did He let this happen to me? Why did He let this happen to him/her? Why is God silent when I need to hear Him most?”

These are the questions that plague the mind of the serious believer. If you’ve not yet met the God who refuses to meet all your expectations, you will. And how you react in that day will reveal whether you are worshiping Jesus Christ or Santa Clause (see John 6:26). It will show whether or not you love God more than His promises (or really, your interpretation of those promises).

Jeanne Guyon once said, “I will still serve Him, even if it sends me to hell.” Job said, “Shall we receive good from the hand of the Lord and not evil?” Recall the three Hebrew children. They had lived a life loyal to their God. And the pagan king said to them, “Worship my golden image or else you’re going to die in my fiery furnace.”

Their answer is telling: “We’re not going to worship this image or serve your gods. The Lord is able to deliver us, and He will deliver us from your fiery furnace. But even if He doesn’t, we’re still not going to bow down to your false gods.”

What an attitude. What a posture. What faith. “God will deliver us. But even if  He doesn’t, we will still follow Him.”

Those words contain thunder and lightning for every child of God.

If I can use an illustration, we mortals are living on pages 300-400 of a 2,000 page book. Only God can see the whole book. And He’s only given us the ability to see pages 300-400. We have no capacity to understand what’s in pages 1-299 or pages 401 to 2,000. We can only speculate and assume what’s in them (hence we create all sorts of intricate theological systems to explain mysteries we don’t understand).

Here’s a lesson to learn: Life always comes down to trusting in the Lord rather than trying to figure out His ways via our finite, limited understanding. Yet together, we can better discover and understand what’s in pages 300-400, and thereby learn to live more effectively within them. (I hope blog posts like this contribute to that goal.)

Reason 3: He doesn’t show up on time. He works too slowly. He reacts too late. His deliverance takes too long. God’s clock is a lot slower than ours. We can text or email our prayer to God, and He doesn’t text or email back when we expect. In fact, sometimes we never hear back from Him at all. The screen is blank.

Sometimes we’ll pray for an important matter in our own lives . . . . or we’ll pray for someone else . . . for years. And the dial doesn’t move. Waiting on the Lord can become weary. And it can lead to offense. But God always keeps perfect time.

To sum up, here’s how NOT to offended by the Lord:

• Remember that He demands everything, and He has promised suffering and tribulation along with blessing and eternal life. So don’t sell out for a cheap, easy gospel. Such is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. He told us what we were getting into and exhorted us to count the cost ahead of time (Luke 14:26ff.).

• Remember that His ways are higher than ours, and He doesn’t always show us what He’s doing or why. We may not always understand what He does or allows, but He can still be trusted. This is the nature of walking by faith rather than by sight. Even when His grace isn’t sufficient, it is always sufficient.

• Remember that God is always on time, but His clock ticks differently from ours. He’s a Lord who sometimes shows up long after the hour of healing has passed and we are dead for four days. Just ask Lazarus.

• Being offended by God is a choice. You can choose to take offense at the Lord and stumble over that which you don’t understand. Or you can “trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

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Barber

At today's Sunday worship, Brother Henry shared this story about a man and his barber.

QUOTE
A man went to a barber shop to have his hair cut as usual. He started to have a good conversation with the barber who was cutting his hair. They talked about many things and various subjects. Suddenly, they touched the subject of God.

The barber said, "Look man, I don't believe that God exists!"

"Why do you say that?" asked the man. "Well, it's so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist. Tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be no suffering nor pain? I can't think of loving a God who permits all of these things."

The man thought for the moment, but he didn't want to respond so as to cause an argument. The barber finished his job and the man went out of the shop. Just after he left the barber shop he saw a man in the street with long hair and beard. It seemed that it had been a long time since he had his hair cut and he looked so untidy.

Then the first man again entered the barber shop and he said to the barber: "You know what? Barbers do not exist!"

"How can you say they don't exist?" asked the barber. I am here and I am a barber."

"No!" the man exclaimed. "You don't exist because if you did there would be no people with long hair and beard like that man who walks the streets."

"But, I do exist, and that is what happens when people do not come to me."

"Exactly!" - affirmed the man. "That's the point. God does exist, and see what happens when so many people don't go to Him and do not look for Him? That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
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