The Blessed Mother is recorded as speaking only seven times in Sacred Scripture. These seven words are here used to illustrate the seven laws of love.

1. - Love Is a Choice - Every act of love is an affirmation, a preferment, a decision. But it is also a negation. "I love you," means that I do not love her. Because love is a choice, it means detachment from a previous mode of life, a breaking with old bonds. Hence the Old Testament law: "A man, therefore, will leave his father and mother and will cling on to his wife..." -Gen. 2:24 - Along with detachment, there is also a deep sense of attachment to the beloved. The desire in one is met by a response on the part of the other. Courting love never asks why one is loved. The only question love asks is, "How?" Love is never free from difficulties: "How shall we live? How can we support ourselves?"

God loves man even in his sin. But He would not intrude upon human nature with His Love. So He woos one of the creatures to detach herself, by an act of her will from sinful humanity, and to attach herself to Him so intimately that she might give Him a human nature to begin the new humanity. The first woman made a choice which brought ruin; the New Woman is asked to make a choice for man's restoration. But there was one difficulty standing in the way: "How shall this be, seeing I know not man?" But since Divine Love is doing the courting, Divine Love shall also supply the means of embodying Itself: He that is born of her will be conceived by the Spirit of God's Love.

2. - Choice Ends in Identification with the Beloved - All love craves Unity, the supplying of the lack of the self at the store of the other. Once the will makes the choice, surrender follows, for freedom is ours only to give away. "My will is mine to make it thine," is on the lips of every lover. Freedom exists for the sweet slavery of love. All love is passing from potency to act, from choice to possession, from desire to unity, from courtship to marriage. Since the very beginning, love was spoken of as making man and woman "two in one flesh." One soul passes into another soul, and the body follows the soul to such unity as it can achieve. The difference between prostitution and love is that in the former there is the offering of the body without the soul. True love demands that the will to love should precede the act of possession.

After God had courted the soul of creature, and asked her to supply Him with a human nature and when all difficulties of How her virginity could be preserved were cleared away, there came the great act of surrender. 'Fiat.' "Be it done unto me..." - In another sense, there were now two in one flesh: the Divine and human natures of the Person of Christ lived in the womb of Mary, God and man made One. In no person in this world was there ever such unity of God and man as Mary experienced within her during the nine months in which she bore Him whom the Heavens could not contain. Mary, who was already one with Him in mind, was now one with Him in Body, as Love reached its peak in mothering the wandering word.

3. - Love Requires a Constant De-egotization. - It is easy for love to take the beloved for granted and to assume that what was freely offered for life needs no repurchasing. But love can be treated either as an antique that needs no care, or as a flower that needs pruning. Love could become so possessive that it would hardly be conscious of the rights of others: lest love so degenerate into a mutual exchange of egotism, there must be a constant going out to others, an exteriorization, an increased searching for the formation of an "us." Love of God is inseparable from love of neighbour. Words of love must be translated into action, and they must go beyond the mere boundary of the home. The needs of neighbour may become so imperative that one may have to sacrifice one's own comfort for another. Love that does not expand to neighbour dies of its own too-much.

Mary obeys this third law of love, even in her pregnancy, by visiting a pregnant neighbour, an old woman who is already six months with child. From that day to this, no one who boasts of his love of God may claim exemption from the law to love his neighbour, too. Mary hastens-'Maria festinans'-across the hills to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Mary is present at a birth at this Visitation, as she will later attend a marriage at Cana and a death on Calvary: the three major moments in the life of a neighbour. Now, no sooner does an angel visit her than she makes a visit to a woman in need. A woman is best helped by a woman , and the one woman who bears Love Divine within her casts such a spell over another woman with child that John the Baptist leaps with joy in her womb. The bearing of Christ is inseparable from the service of Christ. God the Son had come to Mary not for her sake alone, but for the sake of the world. Love is social, or it ceases to be love.

4. - Love Is Inseparable from Joy - A woman's greatest joy is when she brings a child into the world. The father's joy is changing a woman into a mother. Love cannot endure without joys, although these are sometimes given as prepayments for later responsibilities. The joy of love goes out in two directions: one is horizontal, through the extension of love in the family; the other is vertical, a mounting to God with our thanks because He is the source of all love. The miser is devoured by his gold, the saint by his God.

In moment of ecstasy, lovers ask where their love will end. Will it run as feeble drops of rain upon the parched sands of the desert without joy, or will it run likes rivers to the sea, and back again unto God? Love must seek an explanation for its ecstasies and joys; it asks, "If the spark of love is so great, what must be the flame?"

Where the ecstasy of love comes from God, it is only natural that its joy should break out into song, as it does in the 'Magnificat of Mary'. Somehow Mary knows that her love will have a happy ending, even though there will be revolutions dethroning the mighty and unseating the proud. This Queen of Song now sings a different song from all other mothers. All mothers sing to their babes, but here is one mother who sings before the Babe is born. She says only a 'Fiat' to an angel, she says nothing to Joseph, but she chants verse of a song to God. Who looked down on the humility of His handmaid. As the infant leaped in the womb of Elizabeth, so a song leaped to Mary's lips; for if a human heart can so thrill to ecstasy, what joy did she know, who was in love with the Great Heart of God!

5. - Love Is Inseparable from Sorrow - Because love, which demands the eternal for satisfaction, is compassed by time, it always knows some inadequacy and discontent. Trails, bereavements, and even the changes and rhythms of love itself prove a strain even to the most devoted love, Even when love is most intense, it often throws the lover back upon himself, and he becomes conscious that, despite his desire to be one with the beloved, he is still distinct and separate. There is a limit to the total possession of another in his life. Every marriage promises what God alone can give. The saints have the Dark Night of the soul, but all lovers have the Dark Night of the body.

If Mary is to feel the sorrow of love, she must feel the separation from the Beloved which comes during the three days' loss. Despite the will to be one with the Christ-love, there comes an estrangement, a separation, a change in moods as she asks: "Son, why hast thou done so to us? Knowest  thou not that we have sought thee sorrowing?" The course of true love never runs smooth. Not even the most spiritual love is exempt from aridity, spiritual dryness, and a feeling that one has lost the Divine Presence. In humans the superabundance of love sometimes destroys love, so that after a while love becomes a duty. In Divine Love the richness of Divinity and its superabundance creates a need, so that the absence of God, even for three days, causes the soul the greatest agony it can endure in this vale of tears.

6. - All Love, before It Mounts to a Higher Level, Must Die to a Lower One - There are no plains in the kingdom of love. One is either going uphill or coming down. There is no certainty of increasing ecstasy. If there is no purification, the fire of passion becomes the flicker of the sentiment, and finally only the ashes of habit. No one is thirsty at the border of a well. There is no such thing as loving too much; one either loves madly or too little. Some wonder, in their satiety, if love itself is a snare and a delusion. The truth is that the law of love must always operate: love that does not mount perishes. The joys and the ecstasies, unless they are freshened sacrifice, become mere friendships. Mediocrity is the penalty of all those who refuse to add sacrifice to their love, and thus to prepare it for a wider horizon and a higher peak.

At the Marriage Feast of Cana. Mary had an opportunity to keep the love of her Son only to herself alone. She had the choice of continuing to be only the Mother of Jesus. But she knew that she must not keep that love for herself alone under the penalty of never enjoying love to the fullest. If she would save Jesus, she must lose Him. So she asked Him to work His first miracle, to begin His public life, and to anticipate the HOUR- and that means His Passion and Death. At that moment, when she asked water to be changed into wine, she died to love of Jesus as her Son, and began to mount to that higher love for all whom Jesus would redeem when He died on the Cross. Cana was the death of the mother-Son relationship, and the beginning of that higher love involved in the Mother-humanity Christ-redeemed relationship. And by giving up her Son for the world, she eventually got Him back-even in the Assumption and the Coronation.

7. - The End of All Human Love Is Doing the Will of God - Even the most frivolous speak of love in terms of eternity. Love is timeless. As true love develops, there are at first two loves facing each other, seeking to possesses each other. As love progresses, the two loves, instead of seeking each other, seek an object outside both. They both develop a passion for unity outside themselves, namely, in God. That is why, as a pure Christian love matures, a husband and spouse become more and more religious as time goes on. At first the happiness consisted in doing the Will of God. True love is a religious act. If I love you as God wills that I love you, it is the expression of love.

The last words of Mary that were spoken in Sacred Scripture were the words of total abandonment to the Will of God. "Whatsoever He shall say to you, that do ye." As Dante said: "In His Will is our peace." Love has no other destiny than to obey Christ. Our wills are ours only to give away. The human heart is torn between a sense of emptiness and a need of being filled, like the water pots of Cana. The emptiness comes from the fact that we are human. The power of filling belongs only to Him Who ordered water-pots filled. Lest any heart should fail in being filled, Mary's last valedictory is: "Whatsoever He shall say to you, that do ye." The heart has a need of emptying and a need of being filled. The power of emptying is human - emptying in the love of others - the power of filling belongs only to God. Hence all perfect love must end on the note: "Not my will, but Thine be done, O Lord!"

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN ( 1895 to 1979 )

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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

Tongue - the movable fleshly organ in the mouth, used for tasting, moving food around, and, in human beings, for producing speech. In addition to its many references to the tongue in a literal sense, the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible also uses the word tongue for a particular language or dialect. - Deut. 28:49; Acts 1;19 -

The word tongue also refers to a people or race with a common language. "I am coming to gather the nations of every language. They shall come to witness my glory." - Is. 66:18; Rev. 11:9 - People may use the tongue to sin or to speak of the Lord's righteousness and sing praises to God.

Figuratively, speaking, the tongue can be sharpened like a sword or like a serpent - a reference to its ability to utter caustic, poisonous words. Like a bow, the tongue can project lies or like an arrow, can be shot out, striking down with its deceit. The tongue can be used as a weapon for attack, wounding like a sharp sword. The tongue can be used viciously for flattery, backbiting, deceit, unrestrained speech, lying, strife, cursing, destruction and craftiness. - Ps. 5:9, 15:3, 18:8, 31:20, 50:19, 52:2, 57:4, 64:3, 73:9, 109:2, 140:3; Prov. 25:23,  28:23; Jer. 9:3, 8; Hos. 7:16, Job 15:5 -

The tongue of the righteous is a treasure. The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible speaks of keeping the tongue from evil, of guarding the tongue, and of bridling the tongue. In the classic New Testament passage on the tongue, Saint James warns specifically against the evil of an uncontrolled and uncharitable tongue.

Nobody must imagine that he is religious while he still goes on deceiving himself and not keeping control over his tongue; anyone who does this has the wrong idea of religion. - James 1:26 -

Only a few of you, my brothers, should be teachers, bearing in mind that those of us who teach can expect a stricter judgment. After all, everyone of us does something wrong, over and over again; the only man who could reach perfection would be someone who never said anything wrong - he would be able to control every part of himself. Once we put a bit into a horse's mouth, to make it do what we want, we have the whole animal under our control. Or think of a ships: no matter how big they are, even a gale is driving them, the man at the helm can steer them anywhere he likes by controlling a tiny rudder.

So is the tongue only a tiny part of the body, but it can proudly claim that it does great things. Think how small a flame can set fire to a huge forest; the tongue is a flame like that. Among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a whole wicked world in itself: it infects the whole body; catching fire itself from hell, it sets fire to the whole wheel of creation. Wild animals and birds, reptiles and fish can all be tamed by man, and often are; but nobody can tame the tongue - it is a pest that will not keep still, full of deadly poison. We use it to bless the Lord and Father, but we also use it to curse men who are made in God's image: the blessing and the curse come out of the same mouth. My brothers, this must be wrong - does any water supply give a flow of fresh water and salt water out of the same pipe? Can a fig tree give you olives, my brothers, or a vine give figs? No more can sea water give you fresh water. - James 3:1-12 -

The tongue is an indicator of a person's spirit: it reveals what is in the heart.

'Make a tree sound and its fruit will be sound; make a tree rotten and its fruit will be rotten. For the tree can be told by its fruit. Brood of vipers, how can your speech be good when you are evil? For a man's words flow out of what fills his heart. A good man draws good things from his store of goodness: a bad man draws bad things from his store of badness. So I tell you this, that for every unfounded word men utter they will answer on Judgment Day, since it is by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words condemned.' - Matt. 12:33-37 -

Jesus replied, 'Do even you not yet understand? Can you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes through the stomach and is discharged into a sewer? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and it is these that make a man unclean. For from the heart come evil intentions: murder, adultery, fornication, theft, perjury, slander. These are the things that make a man unclean. - Matt. 15:16-19 -

There is no sound tree that produces rotten fruit, nor again a rotten tree that produces sound fruit. For every tree can be told by its own fruit: people do not pick figs from thorns, nor gather grapes from brambles. A good man draws what is good from the store of goodness in his heart; a bad man draws what is bad from the store of badness. For a man's words flow out of what fills his heart. - Luke 6:43-45 -

                                                                   Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

God's kingdom has its beginning in the history of creation together with humankind. It has a long history. At the summit of this history stands Christ. "The reign of God is at hand" He spoke of it from the beginning of His messianic teaching and He perseveringly, tirelessly, announced this Kingdom to be chosen people.

"After John  had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. 'The time has come' he said 'and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.'" - Mark 1:14-15 -

The message Jesus began to proclaim in Galilee after John the Baptist's imprisonment was the good news of the kingdom of God.When Jesus appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, He continued speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

"In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the beginning until the day he gave his instructions to the apostles he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God." - Acts 1:1-3 -

What did Jesus mean by the kingdom of God? When Jesus announced that the kingdom of God was drawing near, many of His hearers must have recognized an echo of those visions recorded in the Book of Daniel [Old Testament] These prophecies declared that one day "the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed." - Dan. 2:44 - Jesus' announcement indicated the time had come when the authority of this kingdom would be exercised.

The nature of this kingdom is determined by the character of the God whose kingdom it is. The revelation of God lay at the heart of Jesus' teaching. Jesus called Him "Father" was "Abba" - Mark 14:36 - the term of affection that children used when they addressed their father at home or spoke about him to others. It was not  unusual for God to be addressed in prayers as "our Father." But it was most unusual for Him to be called "Abba." By using this term, Jesus expressed His sense of nearness to God and His total trust in Him. Jesus taught His followers and believers to look to God with the trust that children show when they expect their earthly fathers to provide them with foods, clothes, and shelter.

This attitude is especially expressed in the Lord's Prayer, which may be regarded as a brief summary of Jesus' teaching. In this prayer the disciples were taught to pray for the fulfillment of God's eternal purpose (the coming of God's kingdom) and to ask Him for our daily bread, forgiveness of sins, and deliverance from temptation.

In Jesus' healing of the sick and proclamation of good news to the poor, the kingdom of God was visibly present, although it was not yet fully realized. Otherwise, it would not have been necessary for Jesus to tell His disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come" - Matt. 6:10 - One day, Jesus taught, it would come "with power" and some of them would live to see that day. "And he said to them, 'I tell you solemnly, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.'" - Mark 9:1 -

The children of the kingdom of God should not insist on their legal rights but cheerfully give them up in response to the law of love. In the kingdom of God the way to honour is the way of service, with all our soul, heart, mind, and strength. In this respect, Jesus set a worthy example, choosing to give service instead of receiving it.

                                                                     Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The moment we desire anything too much, we lose God's gift of peace. The proud and the covetous are never at peace. The poor in spirit, the humble person, enjoys a heavenly peace of soul. To set our life in perfection, we must begin from within. True perfection is based on God's word and His grace. With God help, we can gain a self-control far beyond anything dreamed by worldly peoples. It is necessary even in things which are good and holy in themselves.

Therefore, we must look first to our duties and obligations. Any holiness which makes us neglect these, is not from God. Over eagerness brings anxiety, fear and nervousness. It makes us less able to do our duties. It diminishes our recollection and interior peace, and makes us more subject to impatience, anger, and rash judgment. Uncontrolled desires and intentions can makes us fall into sin.

Besides, everybody likes to follow his/her own way of thinking, and prefers to associate with those who always agree with his/her ideas. Yet, it is foolish for us to think highly of our own opinion only. Nobody knows all the answers. The person who is always talking does not advance much in knowledge. A good listener will always learn more than the one who talks too much. In another word, it is not always necessary to point out the mistakes of others. Even when we know better, we need not always express our opinion. The key word to practice is self-effacing, think highly of others too. In fact, many discussions are unnecessary and unimportant. So often, too, opinions depends on people's likes or dislikes.

To those who know how to control their tongues for God sake, God's grant the grace of interior peace. It is better not to love our own opinions too much. Be humble enough to seek proper advice when we need it. Do not try to be independent of all other opinions. Different opinions may bring us a broader understanding of ourselves as well as of others. At times we must hold our tongue for the sake of love, peace, because it is always our pride that makes us want to correct people at the slightest opportunity.

Of course, corrections are necessary in many things, but we should not place too much confidence in our own sentiments and opinions. By keeping silent and listening to opinions which do not agree with us in petty matters bring us no harm. It takes a deep humility and a delicate charity to act in this way. Thus, think before we speak, and we were never regret our words because spoken words cannot be recalled. It is not always possible to undo the harm caused by thoughtless talk.

Many saints have avoided the company of people whenever possible in order to enjoy a closer union with God. One of them once remarked: 'As often as I have gone among peoples, I returned less a man.' Isn't this true of us when we talk too long and did not think before we speak? It is easier to keep silence altogether than to stop talking when we should. In silence God shall speak to us with less distractions and interruptions. God's words will come in the form of ideas, desires, intentions, and resolutions within our soul. Love silence and learn to use it well. Then will we draw closer to God, as He is close to us.

Silence is truly a virtue and in developing a love for silence, we experiences a deeper wisdom, a broader outlook on everyday life, and a brighter vision of God's nearness and love. During human conversations, we were learn more and make fewer mistakes. People will respect our judgments more because we think first before speaking. Each time we open our mouth, we should do so for a definite purpose, a good purpose. God's wisdom will take the place of our human folly, and our words will help those who hear us.

Dear Holy Spirit, our God, Lord Jesus Christ, teach us to talk well and wisely. Let us avoid useless conversations. Help us to speak often for You. Grant that our words may never hurt people of goodwill. May our words always bring consolation to those in sorrow, guidance to those who are confused, light to the ignorant, hope to those who despair, comfort to those who are troubled, and good advice to those in need. Take our lips and make them Yours. Take possession of our mind and make it an instrument of Your goodness and a channel of Your truth. We hope to become, that is, one who prefers the kingdom of God. In our human conversations, may we always bring You closer to them and them closer to You. Amen.

                                                                   Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The unique knowledge of God which enables Him to know all events, including the free acts of mankind, before they happen. Thus, God's foreknowledge is much more than foresight. God does not know future events and the actions of mankind because He foresees them; God knows them because He wills them to happen.

Who can bring the clean out of the unclean?
No man alive!
Since man's day are measured out,
since his tale of months depends on you,
since you assign him bounds he cannot pass,
turn your eyes from him, leave him alone,
like a hired drudge, to finish his day. - Job 14:4-6 -

'Look, you have given me an inch or two of life,
my life span is nothing to you;
each man that stands on earth is only a puff of wind,
every man that walks, only a shadow,
and wealth he amasses is only a puff of wind-
he does not know who will take it next.'
Look away, let me draw breath,
before I go away and am no more! - Psalm 39:5-6, 13 -

You know me through and through,
from having watched my bones take shape
when I was being formed in secret,
knitted together in the limbo of the womb.

You had scrutinised my every action,
all were recorded in your book,
my days listed and determined,
even before the first of them occurred. - Ps. 139:15-16 -

Who are you, to put God to the test today, you, out of all mankind, to set yourselves above him? You of all people to put the Lord Almighty to the test! You do not understand anything and never will. If you cannot sound the depths of the heart of man or unravel the arguments of his mind, how can you fathom the God who made all things, or sound his mind or unravel his purposes? No, do not provoke the anger of the Lord our God. - Judith 8:12-14 -

How rich are the depths of God - how deep his wisdom and knowledge - and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods! Who can ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything? All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen. - Rom. 11:33-36 -

After all, the depths of a man can only be known by his own spirit, not by any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. - 1Cor. 2:11 -

Thus God's foreknowledge is an act of His will.
'Who is the author of this deed
if not he who calls the generations from the beginning?
I, Yahweh, who am the first
and shall be with the last.' - Is. 41:4 -

'I am the Alpha and the Omega' says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. Do not be afraid: it is I, the First and the Last; I am the Living One, I was dead and now I am to live forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and of the underworld. And then he said, It is already done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water from the well of life free to anybody who is thirsty. - Rev. 1:8, 17, 21:6 -

The apostle Paul's use of the word foreknew means "to choose" or  "to set special affection on." The electing love of God, not foresight of human action, is the basis of His salvation. This happened and used to express the nation of Israel's special relationship to God.

Men of Israel, listen to what I am going to say: Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God by the miracles and portents and signs that God worked through him when he was among you, as you all know. This man, who was put into your power by the deliberate intention and foreknowledge of God, you took and had crucified by men outside the Law. You killed him, but God raised him to life, freeing him from the pangs of Hades; for it was impossible for him to be held in its power since, as David says of him:... - Acts 2:21-28 -

They are the ones he chose specially long ago and intended to become true images of his Son, so that his Son might be the eldest of many brothers. He called those he intended for this; those he called he justified, and with those he justified he shared his glory. After saying this, what can we add? With God on our side who can be against us? Since God did not spare his own Son, but gave him up to benefit us all, we may be certain, after such a gift, that he will not refuse anything he can give. Could anyone accuse those that God has chosen? When God acquits, could anyone condemn? - Rom. 8:28-33 -

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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in the fifth century B.C., identified the Magi as a caste of Medes who had priestly function in the Persian Empire. In the Old Testament, in the Book of Daniel the 'astrologers' (magoi) are grouped with magicians, sorcerers, and Chaldaeans as advisers to the court of Babylon with responsibility for interpreting dreams. The Greek word for wise men in this account (magoi) is rendered as astrologers, magicians, and enchanters where it occurs in the SEPTUAGINT, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

Daniel had the gift of interpreting every kind of vision and dream. When the period stipulated by the king for the boys' training was over, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king conversed with them, and among all the boys found none to equal Daniel, Hananiah, Misheal and Azariah. So they became members of the king's court, and on whatever point of wisdom or information he might question them, he found them ten times better than all magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom...Nebuchadnezzar had a series of dreams; his mind was troubled, sleep deserted him. The king then had magicians, and enchanters, sorcerers and Chaldaeans summoned to tell the king what his dreams meant. - Dan. 1:18-21, 2:1-2 -

The definition for the word of 'Wise' is having or showing good sense and judgment, and the ability to  understand and decide on the right action. The New Testament mentioned the visit of the Magi. [the three wise men] After Jesus had been born at Bethlehem in Judaea during the reign of king Herod, some wise men came to Jerusalem from the east. 'Where is the infant the king of Jews?' they asked. 'We saw his star as it rose and have come to do him homage.' - Matt. 2:1-2 -

Having listened to what the king had to say, they set out. And there in front of them was the star they had seen rising; it went forward and halted over the place where the child was. The sight of the star filled them with delight, and going into the house they saw the child with his mother Mary, and falling to their knees they did him homage. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh. - Matt. 2:9-11 -

Herod was furious when he realized that he had been outwitted by the wise men, and in Bethlehem and its surrounding district he had all the male children killed who were two years old or under, reckoning by the date he had been careful to ask the wise men. - Matt. 2:16 -

The role of the star in Matt. chapter 2 suggests a connection with astrology. These astrologers, pursuing  their observations of the stars in the heavens, encountered a sign of God. The universal significance of the Lord Jesus Christ coming. - Matt. 24:29-31 - God broke through their misguided system to make the great event known. The joy, rejoicing, worship, and gifts which mark the response of these wise men to the birth of Jesus is quite contrast to the troubled state and murderous intent of Herod and his Jewish advisers in Jerusalem. Sorcerers, magicians, and the false prophets in its other occurrences in the New Testament. - Acts 8:9-25, 13:4-12 -

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If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

Bad Habits are evil inclinations acquired through repeated bad acts. Unless we overcome these bad habits, they were gradually become our masters. They come between Our Lord and us, and they can cripple our good will. Therefore, we must refuse to be the slaves of our bad habits. In God alone will we find true love, joy and peace.

Be patient with the defects and weakness of others. They have to put up with our defects. If we fail so often in making ourselves what we desire to be, how can we expect to change others in a short time? We always have this habit that we want to see others to correct their faults, yet we are no fighting half enough against our own. We are strict in correcting others, but we are not as strict in the correction of ourselves. The lazy and easy going ways of others irritate us, still, we resent it if anyone tries to interfere with our own self-indulgence. We want others to keep the rules, but we are aroused to anger against anyone who mentions the rules to us.

The habit of how seldom we judge our neighbour with the same love and understanding with which we judge ourselves, and we are often disturbed by others because their faults and defects interfere with the routine of our life. We think that we are being zealous for what is right and proper, but if we look honestly into our heart, we will often self-love at the bottom of our impatience and anger. At times we delude ourselves into thinking that we are virtuous in matters where we are actually displeasing God!

People often judge their fellow-men with prejudice because of the habit in believing everything which we hear about others, especially when those who told us are our friends or people we likes. Thus, their judgments frequently depend on their temperaments, tastes, moods, ambitions, and self-love. Many a man is condemned when he/she is absent and cannot defend himself/herself. People generally have a habit of feeling superior when they criticize others. They are apt to exaggerate the faults of their neighbour. If we show interest in their criticisms, they may be encouraged to continue their uncharitable talk. To be impartial in all matters, show disapproval of all back-biting, at least by our silence and try to change the subject as tactfully as possible.

Everyone makes mistakes, whether it is intentionally or inadvertently. Remember, too, that we may well be the object of the speaker's criticism when we are absent. One of the worst faults of human nature is that of condemning others. A true God's believer, and a disciple of Jesus Christ is more ready to think well of others than to think and do evil. 'So always treat others as we would like them to treat as.' ( Golden Rule )

The question now is, How are we to deal with bad habits? Habit is overcome by habit. By working to form good habits, we will slowly replace bad ones. God's help will not be wanting. It is more of the question of how sincere we are when we say that we love God, is seen in our daily effort for perfection. God will not judge us by our failures, but rather, by our efforts to practices good habits, and sincerely would try to eliminates bad habits. God wants us to try, and to keep trying, to become the kind of person He wants us to be. But over confidence shows our pride and presumption. Discouragement in time of failure, shows selfishness. Only a humble, determined, and persevering effort can prove genuine love for God.

Therefore, we deals only with outstanding habits which keep us from a full generosity with God. By overcoming these, a person quickly advances along the road to true holiness. Above all, we must remember that God's help is most effective with those who keep on trying, no matter how often they seem to fail. The true love of God is not a mere sentiment. It is an intelligent conviction that we owe Him everything. It is a firm persuasion that He deserves the very best service which we can offer. With this realization God offers us the strength to do what is right and good, even when our feelings, moods, and desires, would prefer to act differently. Generosity with God means loving His Will / Commandments more than our own imperfect inclination and desires.

                                                                   Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

It has been said that the new faith is the "religion of reassurance." The tag has come from the great variety of books assuring man that he can escape fear, anxiety, dread, melancholy, depression and want of self-assurance by large injections of psychological vitamins concocted in the laboratory of his own mind. There is really nothing very new about this kind of religion; it is called new only by those who do not know what is ancient.

The "Religion of Reassurance" was originally taught by an Englishman called Pelagius who lived around 400. He too held that man could lift himself by his own bootstraps; that he had no need of outside help; that broken mainsprings in clocks could fix themselves; that hands could be cleaned by rubbing them against one another and without the need of anything outside man, such as water; that the body needed no medicines besides those which its own blood could mix, and that the mind needed no knowledge of truth beyond that which it could generate within itself. The only difference between ancient Pelagianism and Psychologism is that Pelagianism  presented stronger arguments for the self-sufficiency of man than do the Psychologists.

It is true that, within certain limits, man can help himself: for example, his body cooperates with medicine given by the doctor; his will responds to love proffered by another; his mind digests knowledge from the information gleaned through his five senses. But, it is to be noted that he is here responding to what comes from without. So, too, for the greater ills of life, help must come not only from without, but from above; not just from humanity, which is only the mass form of our personal problems, but from God, to whose saving influences we respond.

It is very legitimate for the Religion of Reassurance to call itself a psychology, for man does not need to have a little more assurance in his dignity as a creature of God, and less assurance in his indignity as a featherless biped. But it is not legitimate to call the Religion of Reassurance, Christianity. Because a Hindu recommends a crunchy, crackly cereal, eating the breakfast food does not make one a Hindu.

Psychologism is basically a couch-mysticism in the sense that it believes life should be free from crosses. Christianity is, on the contrary, a cross-religion. Psychologism says: "Follow me and avoid a cross." Christ, the Son of God said: "Take up your cross daily and follow Me." Psychologism denies that defeat, frustration, trails, discouragement and suffering are the make-up of life. Christianity, on the contrary, says that they are; but they can be accepted, transmitted, spiritually by union with Christ on the Cross, as a dirty drop of water in a gutter is transfigured into a snowflake, thanks to the purifying power of the sun. Christ never hid from His disciples what it would cost them to follow Him; again and again, when there were signs of defection, He gave them the opportunity of leaving Him, if they so desired.

It is one thing to promise man that he can be free from crosses and defeats, and it is quite another to do it in the name of Christianity. The Christian law is unmistakably plain: "Those who suffer with Christ, will reign with Christ." This does not mean that there is no assurance of peace and hope: "I will give you a peace the world cannot understand." "Come to Me, all of you who labour and are heavily burdened, and you will find rest for your souls." Christ points out the constant antithesis between the "world" and "Him" between the religion of self-assurance and the religion of Divine assurance. Psychologism asks: "Which is the most pleasant and the easiest thing for my ego?" Christianity asks: "Which is the Divine Way - regardless of what it does to my ego?" This alone brings peace of soul.

BY ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN  ( 1895 to 1979 )

                                                                   Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

Enemy refers to one who opposes or mistreats another. This word occurs more frequently in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. The reason for this is that the Old Testament is concerned primarily with the existence of Israel as a nation over against the other countries of the ancient world. Before Israel could serve as the channel of God's grace to the world, its existence as a nation had to be securely established. The enemies of the Hebrew people were thus regarded as God enemies, and the reverse was also true.

You must not make false assertion. You must not support a guilty man by giving malicious evidence. You must not take side of the greater number in cause of wrong doing nor side with the majority and give evidence in a lawsuit in defiance of justice; nor in a lawsuit must you show partiality to the poor.
If you come on your enemy's ox or donkey going astray, you must lead it back to him. If you see the donkey of a man who hates you fallen its load, instead of keeping out of his way, go to him to help him. You must not cheat any poor man of yours of his rights at law. Keep out of trumped-up-cases. See that the man who is innocent and just is not done to death, and do not acquit the guilty. You must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds clear-sighted men and is the ruin of the just man's cause.
You must not oppress the stranger; you know how a stranger feels, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. - Exodus 23:1-9 -

God, if only you would kill the wicked!
Men of blood, away from me!
They talk blasphemously about you,
regard your thoughts as nothing.

Yahweh, do I not hate those who hate you,
and loathe those who defy you?
I hate them with a total hatred,
I regard them as my own enemies.

God, examine me and know my heart,
probe me and know my thoughts;
make sure I do not follow pernicious ways,
and guide me in the way that is everlasting. - Psalms 139:19-24 -

Do not lurk, wicked man, round the virtuous man's dwelling.
do not despoil his house.
For though the virtuous man falls seven times, he stands up again;
the wicked are the ones who stumble in adversity.

Should your enemy fall, do not rejoice,
when he stumbles do not let your heart exult;
for fear that at the sight Yahweh will be displeased
and turn his anger away from him.

Do not be indignant about the wicked,
do not be envious of evil men,
since there is no morrow for the wicked man;
the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out. - Proverbs 24:15-20 -

In the New Testament, by contrast, the enemies to be overcome are primarily spiritual in nature. While the Old Testament does refer to charity toward one's enemy, the New Testament goes further by commanding love for one's enemy.

You have learnt how it was said: You must love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you; in this way you will be sons of your Father in heaven, for he causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike. For if you love those who love you, what right have you to claim any credit? Even the tax collectors do as much, do they not? And if you save your greetings for your brothers, are you doing anything exceptional? Even the pagans do as much, do they not? You must therefore be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect. - Matt. 5:43-48 -

But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To the man who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek too; to the man who take your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and do not ask for your property back from the man who robs you. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what thanks can you expect? For even sinners do that much. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks can you expect? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. Instead, love your enemies and do good, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. - Luke 7:27-35 -

Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. - Luke 8:1 -

As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.' Then he knelt down and said aloud. 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them'; and with this words he fell asleep. - Acts 7:59-60 -
Saul entirely approved of the killing. - Acts 8:1 -

However, Saint Paul [Saul] goes further in the New Testament by practicing and teaching us to resist evil, and conquer it with good deeds and compassion. The New Testament looks forward a day when all enemies of good and righteousness will be overcome because of the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bless those who persecute you: never curse them, bless them. Rejoice with those who rejoice and be sad with those in sorrow. Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor. Do not allow yourself to become self-satisfied. Never repay evil with evil but let everyone see that you are not interested only in the highest ideals. Do all you can to live at peace with everyone. Never try to get revenge; leave that, my friends, to God's anger. As scripture says: Vengeance is mine - I will pay them back, the Lord promises. But there is more: If your enemy is hungry, you should give him food, and if he is thirsty, let him drink. Thus you heap red-hot coals on his head. Resist evil and conquer it with good. - Rom. 12:14-21 -

Just as all men die in Adam, so all men will be brought to life in Christ; but all of them in their proper order: Christ as the first-fruits and then, after the coming of Christ, those who belong to him. After that will come the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, having done away with every sovereignty, authority and power. For he must be king until he has put all his enemies under his feet and the last of the enemies to be destroyed is death, for everything is to be put under his feet. Though when it is said that everything is subjected, this clearly cannot include the One who subjected everything to him. And when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will be subject in his turn to the One who subjected all things to him, so that God may be all in all. - 1Cor. 15:22-28 -

                                                                   Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, explicitly told, and it is believed that only the Lord, not the pagan gods, had control over the rain. This belief is strikingly confirmed several times in the Old Testament. Rain is a liquid precipitation that provides essential moisture for plants, animals and human beings.

Yahweh said to Noah.......For in seven days' time I mean to make it rain on the earth for forty days and nights, and I will rid the earth of every living thing that I made. Noah did all that Yahweh ordered. - Gen. 7:4, 10-12 -

Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He stretched out his hands to Yahweh and the thunder and the hail stopped and the rain no longer poured down on the earth. When Pharaoh saw that rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned yet again. - Exodus 9:33-34 -

Stand here, then, and watch the great wonder Yahweh will do before your eyes. It is now wheat harvest, is it not? I will call on Yahweh and he shall send thunder and rain. - 1Sam. 12:16-18 -

Elijah said to Ahab, Go back, eat and drink; for I hear the sound of rain. While.......'Go back seven times.' Elijah said, The seventh time, the servant said, 'Now there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, rising from the sea.' Elijah said, 'Go and say to Ahab, "Harness the chariot and go down before the rain stops you." And with that the sky grew dark with cloud and storm, and rain fell in torrents. - 1Kin. 18:41-45 -

In addition to these special occasions, God promised to send rain at the proper time, a promise which applied to all nations. The rain was a sign of God's blessing, although He could also hold back the rain, either as a warning or as an expression of His judgment. - Lev. 26:4; Deut. 11:14, 28:12; 1Kin. 17:1; Jer. 3:3; Amos 4:6-7; Matt. 5:45 -

We are only human beings like you. We have come with good news to make you turn from these empty idols to the living God who make heaven and earth and the sea and all that these hold. In the past God allowed each nation to go its own way; but even then he did not leave you without evidence of himself in the good things he does for you: he sends you rain from heaven, he makes your crops grow when they should, he gives you food and makes you happy. - Acts 14:15-17 -

Belief in God's power to send the rain was not easy in a area like Palestine, where the timing, quantity, and distribution of rainfall were uncertain. The rainy season was synonymous with winter, but it could begin any time from mid-October to January. It generally ended in April or early May. The early and latter rains were especially significant in the Old Testament period. The people longed for the rain and waterless clouds were the source of frustration and irritation. - Song 2:11; Prov. 25:14, 26:1; Deut. 11:14; Joel 2:23; Jer. 14:4; Jude 12 - This truth is reflected in Jesus' parables - Matt. 7:25, 27 -and in the experiences of Elijah - 1Kin. 7:25 -and Ezra - Ezra 10:9-13 -

The Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible sometimes speaks of the rain as a sign of God's judgment, when He might rain down hail, fire, or brimstone. Rain is often considered of abundance. This abundance is compared with the effectiveness of 'God's Word' with the righteousness and peace of God's kingdom, and with God's provision of food in the wilderness. But rain could also be destructive.

The flood lasted forty days on the earth.......Everything with the breath of life in its nostrils died, everything on dry land. Yahweh destroyed every living thing on the face of the earth, man and animals, reptiles, and the birds of heaven. He rid the earth of them, so that only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. - Gen. 7:17-24 -

After the great flood, God blessed Noah and his children, saying to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth.......' 'As for you, be fruitful, multiply, teem over the earth and be lord of it.' God spoke to Noah and his sons, 'See, I establish my Covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; also with every living.....
There shall be no flood to destroy the earth again.' God said, 'Here is the sign of the Covenant I make between myself and you and every living creature with you for all generations: I set my bow [Rainbow] in the clouds and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between me and the earth. When I gather the clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the Covenant between myself and you and every living creature of every kind. And so the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all things of flesh. When the bow [Rainbow] is in the clouds I shall see it and call to mind the lasting Covenant between God and every living creature of every kind that is found on earth.'
God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the Covenant I have established between myself and every living thing that is found on earth.' - Gen. 9:1-17 -

Rainbow is an arch of colours in the clouds/sky, where it serves as a sign of "God's Covenant." This Covenant was a promise by God to the world that it would never again be destroyed by a flood. The rain clouds and the rainbow were never again to be regarded by man as a threat of ultimate judgment, but as an unchanging indicator of God's mercy. The other references to the rainbow in the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible occur in passages where judgment is to be announced, notably in Book of Revelation 4:3-4 and 10:1 in connection with God's judgment of the world. - Ezek. 1:28 -

In all these cases, however, the rainbow is a sign of the glorious presence of God. It is a reminder that His mercy and grace will finally triumph.

                                                                      Page 1

If you wish to donate. Thank You. God bless.

By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -

According to Saint Paul, all promises of God are "Yes" and "Amen" in Christ. - 2Cor. 1:18-22 - Paul's used the metaphor of the temple to express the unity of the new people of God that God is bringing about through the preaching of the Gospel. The believers and followers of this new race are Jews and Gentiles who formerly were separated by the 'middle wall of separation' and the 'ordinances' that forbade them to mix. Jesus abolished those ordinances in order to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God.

I say, that you had no Christ and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise; you were immersed in this world, without hope and without God. But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of Christ. For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, actually destroying in his own person the hostility caused by the riles and decrees of the Law.

This was to create one single New Man in himself out of the two of them and by restoring peace through the cross, to unite them both in a single Body and reconcile them with God. In his own person he killed the hostility. Later he came to bring the good news of peace, peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near at hand. Through him, both of us have in one Spirit our way to come to the Father. So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors: you are citizens like all the saints, and part of God's household. You are part of a building that has the apostles and prophets for its foundations, and Christ Jesus himself its main cornerstone. As every structure is aligned on him, all grow into one holy temple in the Lord; and you too, in him, are being built into a house where God lives, in the Spirit. - Eph. 2:12-22 -

In a similar way, Saint Peter used the word house to describe baptized Christians as of a new spiritual temple. Once you were not a people at all and now you are the People of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have been given mercy. - 1Pet. 2:4-10 -

In addition to understanding the Church as the new spiritual temple of God on earth that replaced the temple of Jerusalem, the New Testament alludes to a heavenly temple in whose life the Church participates. - John 1:51, 14:2; Gal. 4:26; Phil. 3:20 - Saint Paul and John, both allude to the heavenly temple, can be found, and it is the most developed in the Book of Hebrews and Revelation.

The author of Hebrews was concerned to demonstrate that Christianity is better than Judaism. Among other things, Christians have a better Covenant, a better Sacrifice, a better High priest, and a better temple/Church. The Temple in Jerusalem was only a copy and shadow, a type, of the true temple which is in heaven. Therefore the true, heavenly sanctuary into which Christ has entered on our behalf is better than its earthly copy. Because Christ our High Priest dwells in this heavenly sanctuary , we can enter the heavenly Holy of Holy and participate in the worship of the heavenly temple. The author appears to define the heavenly temple as 'the Church of the first-born.' 'But what you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a 'first-born son' and a citizen of heaven.' - 

According to Saint John, the author of the Book of Revelation, there is a celestial Mount Zion, a heavenly Jerusalem, and a heavenly temple. Christians who overcome temptation and trails are made pillars in the heavenly temple of God. From this heavenly temple God will issue His judgments on the nations during the Tribulation. The martyrs of the Tribulation will serve God day and night in His [heavenly] temple. The temple in Jerusalem will be measured and judged during that time.

In the New Jerusalem there will not be a temple because 'the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.' In that perfect city [The City of God] nothing will come between God and man, and we shall see God face. In the new heaven and earth 'the tabernacle of God' will be 'with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.' '

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared now, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, and the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, as beautiful as a bride all dressed for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice call from the throne, 'You see this city? Here God lives among men. He will make his home among them; they shall be his people, and he will be their God; his name is God-with-them. He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness. The world of the past has gone.'

Saint Paul identified the new temple with the Church, but Saint John identified it with the heavenly realm where Christ dwells. [The City of God] Further more, just as there was no temple before the fall, so Saint John anticipated a new heaven and earth without a temple. These different ways of understanding the relation of the temple to the new 'People of God' are complementary, not contradictory.

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Sunday, May 24, 2009

I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -