Joshua + Ten Spies = ?

I wonder if you had realised the following two highlights when you read Numbers 13-14?
1. Caleb said something when the ten spies gave a bad report of their mission (13:30) and God declared that Caleb had a different spirit (14:24). Comparatively, Joshua said nothing so God also said nothing about him. (Well, God did say that both Caleb and Joshua were exceptions!)
2. The ten spies died immediately of a plague because they had incited rebellion against God by spreading the bad reports (14:36-37)!

The Truth

Scenario #1:

Jesus before the religious leaders. Accusations. Allegations. Half-truths. All were hurled toward Jesus. None stuck. Jesus remained silent.

Scenario #2:

Jesus before Pilate. Again, nothing they said could be agreed to by even a minimum of two or three witnesses. And Jesus also remained silent.

Scenario #3:

Jesus before the crowd. Same scenario as both the above. The difference? Jesus spoke. He spoke the truth and he was condemned based on his own confession.

Conclusion:

It was as though Jesus framed Himself. If he had kept silent, then he could not be condemned. But he chose to do his Father's will.

He chose to speak the truth in love even though it will kill him. He loved us THAT much to give his all for us. Let us love him in return, both in spirit and truth.

Names

One thing about names: they are all God-given. Somehow, God influenced our parents to give us the names we now have. Our names are not an accident nor were they picked or created at random.

My own name means "rock, stubborn, pure, straight, honest". And I find that my personality seems to reflect my name. Could my parents have known how I would be like in the future when they registered my name?

Question: How true are we to our names? Are we living up to our names? If we aren't, it's not too late. With God's help, we can begin today to change so that God may be honoured each time our names are called or mentioned.

Consider how God named the first man, and the patriarchs named their children. Also Jabez whose prayer God answered so his name will be a blessing instead of it's actual meaning or significance.

One last thing: my friends were just blessed with a baby boy whom they fondly christened: Josiah "Jed", which prompted me to blog this. And I like that name because of the Biblical record.

I'd like to name my future son "Jedidiah" and daughter "Jemimah". Both names are mentioned in the Bible. Look them up if you'd like to know why I chose these names...

Incidentally, my nephews are named: Joshua and Jonathan. But I had these names in mind when I came across them as I read the Bible cover to cover, timed way before both my nephews were born.

Predestination

I believe that in God's Kingdom, everything will happen according to His plan.

Years ago, He impressed upon my heart the two Greatest Commandment: Love God, and Love People. Today, I see that He had prepared me on the first two purposes outlined by Purpose Driven Life (PDL) program in my current "home" church.

In 1998, God revealed the meaning of true worship to me: that worship is "everything I do, everything I say, everything I think, everything I am". Today, He has again reminded me of that truth through the PDL program.

That same year, God also taught me the importance of doing good works to prove my faith in Him. Today, He used the PDL program as a reminder of this fundamental truth.

In 2002, when I was thirty (the same age when Jesus started his ministry), I received an impression that, no matter what happens, I will survive the next three years. No accident or incident will take my life away, for like Jesus, "my time had not yet come". Today, I testify that He's true.

That same year (2002), I also received the impression that in three years' time (2005), I would experience death like Jesus, for he died when he was thirty three years old. Today, my testimony reveals that I had experienced a few deaths in 2005 (when I was thirty three): my ministry (after seven years with a Christian organization), my relationship (of seven years), and my leaving (my home, my parents, my home-town, and my home church where I lived and served God almost my whole life).

God has prepared me, and is preparing me for something. Whatever that is, He knows best. I'm grateful that He has chosen me and predestined me to fulfill His specially designed purpose. I am indeed very privileged to be of use to Him, and to be called a partner of God Most High. To God be all glory. Amen!

God Heals!

Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed myself at futsal last Sunday (4-6pm 19 March 2006). I played non-stop, one hundred minutes, match after match, goal after goal :p And this after three weeks of self-imposed rest from the game, all because I had played too much during my second futsal game of my life.

I can only thank God for the great time, for the stamina and energy, the skills He had helped me pick up in my teen years, and especially for healing me during my rest.

God Answers Prayers

I was involved in a multi-vehicle pile-up yesterday. Well, actually, almost! I thank God for answering the prayer(s) of a friend that I would arrive safely.

I was returning to KL in my loaded Proton Iswara AeroBack 1.3S at 110kmph on the outer lane when I noticed the car in front started to slow down. As usual, I followed by slowing down. Before I knew it, I had instinctively applied emergency break because that car had just suddenly stopped.

As my car continued forward, and hearing screeches, I thought to myself, "I'm a goner. This time I've had it. I'm going to hit that car." I then felt the steering wheel jerked slightly and my car stopped without a crash nor being hit by another car. The car in front was only about 2-3 metres away. Talk about close shaves!

My car's engine had stalled. A whiff of black smoke came out from under my car which was then sucked in by my air-con blower. It smelt of burnt rubber. As the cars in front of me started to move again, I restarted my car and accelerated slowly.

Praise and thanksgiving to God flowed from my lips. I was truly amazed that there was no accident. Not one single car was dented nor knocked into. I called my friend to thank her for praying for me.

Moving on slowly together with the other vehicles, I realized that my car was rolling along with regular bumps eventhough the road was smooth. I believe it's because of the mark left road by my tyres during the emergency stop. Guess I may just have to replace them sooner than planned (mid-year).

I want to testify that, in God's Kingdom, He answers the prayers of His children.

Perfect Timing

Yesterday was an unusual morning. I left for work earlier than usual. It was only about 8.05am when I left my house to drop off some "No Bribes" stickers at my former head office. I was done in less than 5 minutes.

Then as I drove to work, I realised why it was not usual: I would usually arrive at my office within fourty minutes of departure. But the traffic at Puchong was unusually bad yesterday. It was also unusually smooth the two days before. If I had decided to leave the usual time of 8.20am, or based on those past two smooth traffic days' experience, I would have been late for work. But thankfully, I arrived just in time about 9.00am.

Today, however, I left for work the latest since I started work the first work day of the year. I left at 8.30am but still arrived at work on time!

These are one good example of God's timing. He's just perfect. I couldn't have known of the situation ahead of time. And it couldn't have been a mere coincidence because I had an unusual feeling. Furthermore, I felt that eating just oats was sufficient yesterday morning (I usually have heavy breakfast, of which oats is about halfthe total volume.)

To me, God works in small and everyday moments. He also works big and special ways. If I failed to recognise His handiwork in the minute detail, then how am I to recognise his works in the bigger picture? It is the small individual pieces that make up a larger jigsaw puzzle. And I wouldn't trade this wonderful personal experience for anything else in God's wonderful Kingdom.