The Measure Of A Man

Brother Yun came to speak in our church 2 weeks back. He is known by many as the Heavenly Man. Beaten, striped, crippled and thrown in jail, he kept His faith in the Lord.

He is an inspiration to me. I aspire to be like him. To be a man completely surrendered to the will of God. To be used by God for a greater measure.

When I went back home after the service, I began to study the book of Job to see what God had to say about pain and suffering. After all, we will face it in this lifetime. Not once but many, many times over.

The bible records Job to be a man blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. He maintains integrity despite losing everything He has. His health is taken away. He loses his children. He is plagued by diseases. His wife mocks Him. And his three good friends only bring him grief.



Yet Job's word in chapter 9 pierce my heart and humbles me.
It records of Job's intense cry to God.

(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=job%209&version=31)



As I reflected on the lives of these two individuals of different times: Job and Brother Yun, I know that purity and holiness comes with a price. Integrity is costly. God values it so much. All through the ages I have seen and read how God has used men who were pure to build His kingdom: Joseph, David, Enoch, Daniel, Jeremiah, Billy Graham, Brother Yun, Elder Ang, Dr. Koh. Many more will come after these names.

I desire so much to please God and to be called one of God's faithful men.

I desire holiness. I seek to have a pure heart. But I miss the mark many times. I struggle with desires that corrupt. I battle with pornography, I fight against masturbation. There is no pride in revealing my weaknesses. Its acknowledging that I am a sinner saved by grace. No matter how much I try, I will never rid myself from this sinful nature but for the Grace of God.

So how then can a mortal be righteous before God?

Psalms 119:9-16 gives hope. It answers my hearts cry.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Praise be to you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statues as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.




Purity begins when we choose to live for Him. We just want to please Him. It is a surrender our weaknesses. Our selfishness. Our pride. All these must go! Only God can strip away these things that bring death to our lives. Only by His promises can we be pure. Romans 12 reminds us to renew our mind daily. To transform ourselves to be like Christ rather than conform to the ways of the world.

I list below a few of the many convictions I have choosen to follow. I have found them to help keep me away from impure thoughts. These struggles I lay before the alter, trusting that God will honor my sacrifice. Some may seem legalistic but I desire to please my Maker with what I do. May you be encouraged and built up by this sharing...


1) Watching television
I refrain from watching the television. I especially dread watching MTV because of all the sexuality that it exposes me to. I would rather not have myself exposed to scenes that only provoke my imagination and cause me to compromise. I am blessed with the gift of sight so I can marvel at His creation. Sun. Moon. Stars. Yes, even girls. But to lose sight of His glory and the work of His hands, would be to compromised my purity and grief the Holy Spirit.

Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial, my friends. (1 Cor 6:12) These days, many shows aired fail to bring wholesome entertainment to the family. Sitcoms make "entertainment" out of dysfunctional families. (Everybody Loves Raymond). Real life dramas bring out the best and worst in human "values". (Fear Factor, Amazing Race) TV broadcasting companies now have a quota of gay actors in their shows to appeal to their gay viewers. ( ER, Mad About You, Dawson's Creek) Not everything on television appear as what the seem. It may wise to choose what is good for our soul.

2) Listening to romantic/sentimental music
If you’ve heard or watched “Phantom of the Opera” you will know that music can sway your emotions. Music make me soar. It can also make me down. Music heightens senses. They play with thoughts and emotions. Messing me up sometimes. Music with lyrics especially, toy with how I feel. These feelings can cause me to have impure thoughts. If music is a means of entertainment and only gives us a good feeling, then we need to be very careful. Cause the Devil wants us to believe that it matters more how we feel than how God feels. Music must glorify God and bring us closer to Him. Music was created so that we can worship Him.

3) Reading "guy" magazines
Our God is a creator of beautiful things! But magazines take God's masterpiece and say its okay to exploit woman. Its a "cheap" "easy" "entertaining" way of understanding a woman. These magazines are filled with pages of the obvious: her beauty but never revealing the wonder of her character, emotion and purity. I would surely kid myself and mock God if I say that I can read these magazines and respect my sisters in Christ.

Reading magazines that reveal the "secrets" of sex, dating and marriage would not make me a great man. Did you know that God never intended for man to know everything? He wants man to depend on Him for wisdom, not the knowledge of a PhD holder. No magazine can out-teach what God already knows. These magazines only hinder me from finding myself in Christ and knowing my true purpose as a child of God. Only the bible can reveal the secrets of a woman. Only the bible can reveal the secrets of the heart.

4) Going to nightclubs
Music and dancing is not wrong! I love dancing and I love music. There is always a time and place for everything, though. I refrain myself from being among the drunk and perverse to have a good time. There is nothing that interest me in Zouk, 12SI or Nouvo. To dance in a seductive manner only draws attention. To be intoxicated with alcohol only clouds ones sense of logic. It would only reveal my selfishness and recklessness in handling my body, God's intricate design.

In the company of people who are not filled with the Spirit, I will begin to conform to their ways. Bad company corrupts and it corrupts completely. I have been down that road to know that it was not God's will for me. Certainly not His good, acceptable and pefect will! With haunting eyes, I would violate what God has created to be sacred and perfect and view her as only an object of desire. How can God be glorified in a place of selfish gain and recklessness?





Purity and holiness comes with a price. Integrity is costly.
These are just 4 areas of my life that I have been able to submit and surrender to God. There is so much more to be sacrificed. God desires men and women who are holy. Will you heed His call?


Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8)


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Change My Heart

Change my heart Oh God
Make it ever new
Change my heart Oh God
May I be like you

You are the potter,
I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray.

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Father, may you raise me up as a man who is blameless and upright, a man who fears you and shuns evil. May I live a life of integrity, Lord. Change my heart, oh God, make it ever new. May I be like you. This is my heart's cry. Please do not pass me by. I pray that you will use me for your purpose, for this generation. For this time and place. Lord, you know how we need more men and women who will count the cost and give of themselves to you calling. May you continue to challenge each believer to a deeper, intimate and selfless desire to know and serve you.

Lord, like Isaiah, I cry.. "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King!".... Here am I.. Send Me! Lord, I give myself to you nevertheless because I know that in you I am made whole. In you, I am made new. Amen.

Romans 12

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

For awhile now, God has been challenging me with Romans 12.

Last year, as I began working with advertising agencies, I kept Romans 12 very close to my heart. I memorized it. Prayed it and lived it the best I could. When I went to Miri for a mission trip, Romans 12 was a reminder of my service to Him. Its intereting that last Saturday my CG leader ended our meeting with the reading of this passage. On both Sunday services, the pastors quoted these verses and last night as I spent time with God, I was led to the very same chapter.

Was there something I needed to relearn? Rethink? Renew my mind?

Why do we surrender to God? Why do we offer our bodies as sacrifices to Him? Why must my life be holy and pleasing? Why must I renew my mind everyday?

The answer lies in this truth: I surrender to God my life so that I can enjoy His good, acceptable and perfect will.

As I examine these three words: "good", "acceptable" and "perfect", I begin to realise that they did not have the same meaning. Instead, they graduate upward in value. Consider some of the meanings for these Greek words:

Good - fair, valuable, and of benefit
Acceptable - well-pleasing, agreeable
Perfect - complete, mature, finished

Many christians ultimately carry out God's good will, others His accpetable will. But all too few fulfill God's perfect will. Satisfying God's perfect will requires a lifetime of faithful obedience to Him. It requires a life totally surrendered and yeilded to Him.

God's will is not a mystery that is hidden from us. It is for us to discover and to diligently seek after. We do that in our daily prayer, in the reading of His word and in the fellowship with fellow christians.

I have only begun to understand His will for my life. Some start off as personal passions and end up as ministries. He has given me a love and passion for people. Blessed me with a creative mind. Given me a love for music. I need to be a good steward of all these gifts and talents.

I need to be a yielded sacrifice.


"Dear Lord, I pray for more of You and less of me in my life. I ask for a deep desire to know you intimately. For Your voice to silence the voices of the world. For me to be sensitive to Your Holy Spirit. I pray that this year, You will continue to lead me and guide me in all that I do. For I know that your will for my life is good, acceptable and perfect. Amen"

Passion

What is the one thing in your life that consumes you?

Is it wealth? Is it recognition? Your work? Is it your family? Your life partner?

My life is consumed by the reality that I serve a God who loves me, who walks with me and who talks with me.

Last year was an amazing year that shouted "PASSION" in all that i did. From my work in advertising agencies to ministry work in church, everything was driven by a passion of excellence for my Saviour. I do not think it was a coincidence when a close friend of mine, on the first day fo the year gave me a poster with this quote:

" Nothing in the world has ever been accomplised without passion "


2005 continues to be a year to passionately serve Him. I sense a deeper need to surrender more of myself to Him. Yes, surrender! To release and let go of every aspect of my life to Him. Its not about trying hard in life, its not about my talents and abilities anymore. It is about God. It is about what God can do with my life when I surrender it to Him.

So Lord, I surrender myself to You this year. Even more.

Fear grips me, Lord. Please don't let go of me. Everything I hold dear to, I am letting go...
I'm releasing my career in advertising to you.. I'm trusting you for a life partner. I'm giving you my family.. I am giving you my life, take it and use it whatever way you want to...


I love You, Lord... more than life...


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More Than Life

Stand by everything You said
Stand by the promises we made
Let go of everything I've done
I'll run into Your open arms
And all I know

I love You more than life
I love You more than life

Fall back on everything You've done
Fall back on everlasting arms
When all the world is swept away
You are all the things I need
You're the air I breathe

(Hillsongs - More Than Life)