Philippians 2:3-7
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (NKJV)
Dr Bernard spoke at CHC for the first time in 4 long years :) Prior to dat, he was scheduled to speak in our church for about 2 times or so but each time he was due to preach, something impt happened in the States and he could not be available to teach the Word to us. So he actually apologised for dat and i like his opening line. He said something like, "It takes a strong friendship to be gracious." He was refering to Pst Kong being gracious each time he was rejected by Dr Bernard during those times Dr Bernard cancelled on him.
Well, i thought about dat remark and just jotted it down in my notes but i didnt expect to be reminded of it in a rather strong way today. Guess wat, even good friends piss the living hell out of each other every now and then, cos we simply arent perfect with all our different personalities and idiosyncrasies and all.. But just stop to think for a moment, wat if God did the same to us when we piss Him off really bad? I mean, He could strike us dead anytime He wants to.. But i believe God is a gracious God. "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." (Matthew 18:14)
There's always a fine line between joking and insulting :) VERY FINE :) The tongue is the hardest thing to tame. "8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. " (James 3:8-10). Pst always says dat our words form our world. So we got to be very careful how we use them in the presence of others :) Our words can either inject faith or inject the kind of poison that comes with unwholesome speech. We all including myself have got to watch dat. So borrowing from Dr Bernard's wonderful seminar today, let's be reminded to use our words to educate, ENCOURAGE, and empower one another :)
Sometimes, we can be really sensitive to the comments ppl make about us and dat is natural.. it is in our nature to feel good when complimented, praised or encouraged and to feel crappy when insulted, discouraged or reprimanded. No matter wat bad things others might say to us, whether they meant wat they say or not, we gotta be gracious. Taking Christ for example, there were scores upon scores of ppl who were cursing him and insulting him and spitting on him and hitting him and these ppl were the same ppl who welcome him with palm branches while he entered Jerusalem. Talk about a stab in the back! But wat was his response? He said "Father, forgive them for they do not knwo what they are doing."
I mean, HOW CRAZY is dat, Jesus?! You've got ppl doing and saying some really nasty crap about you which is not true at all.. and all you said was 'Father forgive them'?! Well, it could only take someone with that kinda graciousness to forgive like that. And dat's the standard which Jesus set for us to follow.
So come on guys, if you're reading this, you ought to know i'm talking about you. Doesnt matter whether you're a guy or girl ok? We can either choose to be petty or gracious, insulting and insensitive or esteeming. Our direction in life is directly influenced by the choices we make today :) So, it's my prayer, dat we all do the right thing :) May the Spirit of God convict each and everyone of us of our sins :)
Dr Bernard spoke at CHC for the first time in 4 long years :) Prior to dat, he was scheduled to speak in our church for about 2 times or so but each time he was due to preach, something impt happened in the States and he could not be available to teach the Word to us. So he actually apologised for dat and i like his opening line. He said something like, "It takes a strong friendship to be gracious." He was refering to Pst Kong being gracious each time he was rejected by Dr Bernard during those times Dr Bernard cancelled on him.
Well, i thought about dat remark and just jotted it down in my notes but i didnt expect to be reminded of it in a rather strong way today. Guess wat, even good friends piss the living hell out of each other every now and then, cos we simply arent perfect with all our different personalities and idiosyncrasies and all.. But just stop to think for a moment, wat if God did the same to us when we piss Him off really bad? I mean, He could strike us dead anytime He wants to.. But i believe God is a gracious God. "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." (Matthew 18:14)
There's always a fine line between joking and insulting :) VERY FINE :) The tongue is the hardest thing to tame. "8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. " (James 3:8-10). Pst always says dat our words form our world. So we got to be very careful how we use them in the presence of others :) Our words can either inject faith or inject the kind of poison that comes with unwholesome speech. We all including myself have got to watch dat. So borrowing from Dr Bernard's wonderful seminar today, let's be reminded to use our words to educate, ENCOURAGE, and empower one another :)
Sometimes, we can be really sensitive to the comments ppl make about us and dat is natural.. it is in our nature to feel good when complimented, praised or encouraged and to feel crappy when insulted, discouraged or reprimanded. No matter wat bad things others might say to us, whether they meant wat they say or not, we gotta be gracious. Taking Christ for example, there were scores upon scores of ppl who were cursing him and insulting him and spitting on him and hitting him and these ppl were the same ppl who welcome him with palm branches while he entered Jerusalem. Talk about a stab in the back! But wat was his response? He said "Father, forgive them for they do not knwo what they are doing."
I mean, HOW CRAZY is dat, Jesus?! You've got ppl doing and saying some really nasty crap about you which is not true at all.. and all you said was 'Father forgive them'?! Well, it could only take someone with that kinda graciousness to forgive like that. And dat's the standard which Jesus set for us to follow.
So come on guys, if you're reading this, you ought to know i'm talking about you. Doesnt matter whether you're a guy or girl ok? We can either choose to be petty or gracious, insulting and insensitive or esteeming. Our direction in life is directly influenced by the choices we make today :) So, it's my prayer, dat we all do the right thing :) May the Spirit of God convict each and everyone of us of our sins :)
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