Better is One Day in your Court

Pastor Bryan Ranjan

Senior Pastor of Putera Aman Assembly

God is a good God. I came many years ago under Pastor Geoffrey's time. I'm from the state of Selangor and raised in Selayang. It's a Chinese area even though I'm an Indian. I knew God led me there and God has been good.

Ps Ronald and Ps Jasmine are my spiritual parents. When I had my girlfriend Pastor Ronald was the first person I showed her photo to. He also dedicated my three kids.

This morning I want to do a little stress test to see if you need a holiday.

I'm going to be showing you a slide. I don't know how exactly this works, but it is amazingly accurate. The picture I will show you are 2 identical dolphins and was used in a recent case study on stress levels at St. Mary Hospital, London.

Look at the two dolphins jumping out of the water and the study shows that although both dolphins are identical, a person under stress would find differences in the dolphins. The more differences the person finds, the more stress the person is experiencing.

If you see a difference, you need a holiday.

(Slide of a dolphin and cow jumping out of the water.)

Psalms 84:1-11 (NIV)

For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,

Lord Almighty!

2 My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may have her young—

a place near your altar,

Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you.

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength,

till each appears before God in Zion.

8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;

listen to me, God of Jacob.

9 Look on our shield, O God;

look with favor on your anointed one.

10 Better is one day in your courts

than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold

from those whose walk is blameless.

12 Lord Almighty,

blessed is the one who trusts in you.

My forte has always been worship and this passage is on temple worship. We can meet God anywhere and anytime but going into the temple allows us to step inside and worship the living God.

It is a Psalm not written by David and it talks about the significance of stepping into the house of God. There are now online sermons and people may say you don't need to go to church.

There is something about being in God's house. He has made known the reason why we go into the house of God.

1 How lovely is your dwelling place,

Lord Almighty!

2 My soul yearns, even faints,

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh cry out

for the living God.

3 Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may have her young—

a place near your altar,

Lord Almighty, my King and my God.

Verse one the Psalmist made it known that God dwells in his house. That is the only reason needed for us to be in his house.

The Psalmist is consumed by the intense desire to worship God in the temple.

Even the creatures made their home near to God's altar.

Everybody needs their own home. Everybody had their own activities or their own passion. That is where you'd put your time in. The Psalmist is saying his passion is to be in the house of God. He yearns to be in the presence of God.

The creatures has found the temple their home. What about us? People are a bit restless. Moving from one church to another, especially in KL. But the Psalmist is saying these birds found their home. We need to find a home to belong to. Where we can place ourselves close to God's house. 

It allows the people to come in to encounter God. To worship God in God's house.

My friends in Australia said the Catholics used to have a one hour service while the Pentecostal churches have two hour services. But now it's the other way around. The Catholic Churches are having two hour services while the charismatic and Pentecostal churches has one hour services.

4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house;

they are ever praising you.

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baka,

they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength,

till each appears before God in Zion.

If you are found in the house of God you are blessed. Period.

Then the next verse it shifted gear. The harsh journey to Jerusalem. Along the way some will give up. Some may even die. But then as they pass through the Valley of Baka, means the valley of tears. Physically this journey was draining. This is where they get refreshed and rejuvenated and revived. Because of this pool of water.

And they will go from strength to strength before they go into Zion. We are on a pilgrimage. We are on a journey. Carrying our cross is about suffering. It is not easy. We go through one challenge after another challenge. Life is not easy at times. We are going through this spiritual walk.

Then God brings you to the valley of Baka. Water revives us. This is what the Psalmist is trying to tell us. When we come to the house of God, this is our Valley of Baka. It is not ritual or tradition. God's presence is here and he sees your challenges and burdens.

These Israelites were on their journey to Zion. Our journey is to the New Jerusalem. Some people are making their pilgrimage to Jerusalem but ours is the New Jerusalem.

The house of God is where you get refreshed week after week.

We have a Myanmar service that meets at midnight to two in the morning. Because most of them work at restaurants and they come after work. After working you normally need their rest. But it is where they get their strength. We sometimes say the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, but here they get their strength.

8 Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;

listen to me, God of Jacob.

9 Look on our shield, O God;

look with favor on your anointed one.

10 Better is one day in your courts

than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold

from those whose walk is blameless.

12 Lord Almighty,

blessed is the one who trusts in you.

This is the last part of Psalms 84. He is talking about divine protection, favour and shield. Verses 11 and 12 says those who walk blameless gets divine protection.

I experienced this once. I was sending my son to kindergarten and was on my way to work. As I was driving I saw what was like a landslide. And I stopped and saw a crane crashed down in front of me and when I got out of my car the people told me I was fortunate. So I made a police report. It came out in the papers.

A few days after that I spoke to a Baptist pastor and he asked me if it was me. He asked if I'm okay. And I said I was reading Psalms 91 that morning and was very alert. He said what! Because that morning he was reading Psalms 91 and he wanted to call me. God's divine protection.

I want to end with verse 10.

10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Spurgeon puts it together for us.

"One Day" - Days in God's courts. Days of hearing, of repenting, of believing, of adoration, of communion, of revival.

"in your courts" - To feel his love, to rejoice in the person of the anointed Saviour, to survey the promises and feel the power of the Holy Ghost in applying precious truth to the soul, is a joy which the world cannot understand.

"Door Keeper" - Depicts Humility and the zealousness to serve in the House of the Lord. The lowest station in connection with the Lord's house is better than the highest position among the godless.

• Charles Spurgeon

Young people what are you doing this morning. The elderly what are you doing today. You are making your memories and make them good.

I remember I went to the Doulos ship and I was all fired up. A white man made a call if anyone would want to join this mission.  And I put up my hands but this man behind me tap me and said brother, you are taking your SPM exam.

I loved going to the house of God. What was I doing? I was making memories. We will declare this morning what the Psalmist declared. Better is one day in the he courts of God and a thousand elsewhere.

Super Moms

Rev Jasmine Ooi

Happy mothers day to all mothers, spiritual mums and everyone who honours mothers.

• This is a day set aside to appreciate mothers for all their love and sacrifices. Motherhood is a high calling from God but we often forget due to the stress of caring for our household.  From dawn to setting sun, a mother’s work is never done.
• A busy mother’s psalm goes like this ..the lord is my shepherd. He invites me to lie down but I cant because my laundry basket is running over. My daughter made this mothers day for me which humorously describes the things mothers do

Super Mum has:

• A stomach to eat leftovers (to save money for family)
• Brains to resolve family conflicts, to think what to cook
• Ears to listen to children’s problems and needs
• Shoulder to cry on, carry the weight of the family
• Knees to kneel to pray for family

My daughter Joy sent me this

• It takes so many different people to replace the roles mothers play
• Its easy to see why mothers can get stressed and forget their high calling from God.

Because Motherhood is a high calling from God:

• He calls us to Honor your Father & Mother, which is the first commandment with a promise: that it will go well with you and you will live long (Eph. 6:2)

How to honour mothers?

• to pay attention to her words
• to speak to her kindly
• and respectfully,

What it means to Honour?

• to speak positively about her to others
• tell her whenever you see in her a virtue/quality that speaks of God’s love
• Let me give you an example of what I mean in a mothers day card I received from my son, Joshua

A Mother’s day card from Josh, my son

• I likened you to be a mirror of God’s love
• showing me the true heart of a servant who took what her master invested in her…and unselfishly gave and invested back into His eternal kingdom by serving me and those who need Him…
• “Of all the things I could thank you for, it would be for giving me a  glimpse of how much Jesus loves and cares so sacrificially for me…

If not for your “Jesus loves you”, there won’t be this love I have for the world and for you.

• now that I am physically pulled apart from that spiritual umbilical cord, I have learnt to kneel on my own knees and worship Him…
• My daughter in law recently posted on her Facebook how grateful she was to God for such a loving husband who took care of the kids even while he was busy writing his research paper which was recently published in a top Science journal in the world. I told her how proud I was. And she replied I should be prouder that I have raised a good man, a great husband and father.

Joshua’s PhD Graduation - A Story of a Mother’s Prayer & God’s Provision

• When Josh wanted to pursue his bio medical studies in Australia, he said that he had faith God will provide the finances because he has seen how we had prayed as a family and how has provided for us since he was very young. Thank God for giving Josh a full scholarship to complete his PhD in medicine.
• Whenever josh gets discouraged in his experiments, he would call home to talk to me and ask me to pray for him. I was the one encouraged when he said he knows that God is building his character.

1. A Mother’s Purpose

1. To be fruitful and multiply what? (Gen. 1:27,28)

• To multiply Godly seeds/offspring – (Mal. 2:15).
• How does she do that?
• By being a role model of God’s love
2. A loving Mother Reflects God
• “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you” (Isaiah 66: 13)
• God gives us children so we can understand the capacity of His heart to love, to give, to sacrifice, to teach, to discipline us, …to reproduce all His goodness and love in us, His godly seed

2. A Mother’s Priorities

• Example: Mothers of Moses and Samuel
• Only a few years with them but they were smart to make use of the opportunity to train them to know and love God
• Crucial foundation
• Character-training years
• “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6)

Importance of Spiritual Training in the Early Years

• Researcher George Barna:
• Children age 5 -13 have a 32% probability of accepting Christ as their Savior.
• The rate drops dramatically to 4%, for kids age 14 -18.
• Timothy’s grandmother and mother passed down their sincere faith to Timothy…
  (2 Tim. 1: 5)
• Grandmothers too have a vital role to play. I love to share my testimonies to my grandchildren. “We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power and the wonders he has done..so the next generation would remember His deeds, put their trust in God, keep his commandments… and they in turn would tell their children.(Psalm 78:4-7)

Chloe praising God

• What are some things we can teach our children and grandchildren
• I love to see my children lift their hands when I say “Praise the Lord”
• Chloe sharing her food
• Chloe thanking God for her food

3. A Mother’s Problem

• Meet Eve…the mother of all living (Gen. 3:20)
• And Satan..the father of lies (John 8: 42-47)
• What was she thinking when she bought the devil’s lies? Gen.3:1-7
• Mothers beware cos Satan is still seducing us today that
• “I or my children must know everything”
• “My life/my children must be perfect”
• “I’m my own god-I call the shots”
• “If it looks good, get it”
• Woman (2 Cor. 11: 3; 1 Tim. 2: 14)
• Prone to fall prey to his lies
• Influence the men around us to sin
• Set a pattern for subsequent generations

As a result of Believing Satan’s Lie

• Adam and Eve – loss of esteem, disconnection with their Source 

Meet Mrs. Zebedee

• Matthew 19: 28,29; 20: 20
• What did she do? She tried to pull strings with Jesus to put her sons next to him in position/prestige
• How did she feel? Insecure cos of competition
• What was she thinking? Of her own security, self-esteem, significance
• Matt. 20: 22 “You don’t know what you are asking”?
• What do you want for your children?
• What is being great to you?
• Jesus said if u want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be the servant of all

“Supermom” Today

• Raising children has become an aggressive competition.
• The compulsive woman-have to mentality
• Caught in a performance trap. How many As did u get?

Leah was unloved  (Gen. 29: 16 – 30)
She longed to be esteemed

1. A Mother’s Focus

• Leah named her first son “Rueben”
• It is because the Lord has seen my misery (Gen. 29: 32)
• Leah focused on God

2. A Mother’s Peace

• Leah named her second son “Simeon”
• “The Lord hears” (Gen. 29:33)
• The Lord is near…
• Do not be anxious (Phil.4: 5-6)

A Peaceful & Powerful Mum

• The Lord is near…I do not fret or worry about anything, but in everything and in every circumstance, by prayer with thanksgiving, I let God know my wants. And God’s peace shall guard my minds in Christ (Phil. 4: 5-7)
• I Fix my mind on whatever is true, lovely and worthy of praise…
• I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me = I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses inner strength into me.
• Think= what is true according to God, e.g my children must have straight As to have a secure future? (Phil. 4:8)
•  Feel =Peaceful (God of peace will be with you v.9)
• Do =I can do anything through Christ who gives me strength (v. 13). I am not depressed/anxious

3. A Mother’s Security

• Leah called her third son, Levi=attached, priestly line
• Needs for attachment and security
• To be met in God first 

4. A Mother’s Choice

• 4th son- Judah- this time I will praise the Lord
• Turn your pain to praise, worry to worship
• Judah = kingly line of
• David and Jesus
• Leah became the matriarch of the tribes of Israel.
• She was finally honoured by being buried next to Abraham and Sarah. Jacob asked to be buried next to Leah.

5. A Mother’s Reward & Honour

• 5th son = Issachar = Reward
• 6th son = Zebulun = Honour
• God has presented me with a precious gift (Gen. 30:20)
• An honour to raise child up to please God. We obtain our honour and reward from God.

A Mother’s Reward

• Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. (Prov. 31:28)
• Arise = help to lift up, strengthen

6. A Mother’s Strength & Beauty (Prov. 31)

• She has strength and dignity because of her desire to please God
• Free of worry
• Speaks wisely
• Faithfully instructs

Thank God that all my children are serving God in their church. Ps. 116: 16 “ O Lord I am your servant, I will serve you as my mother served you”

Conclusion: What does God want you to know?

• Motherhood = high calling
• You as a mom reflect God’s character to your kids. Love them unconditionally, not based on their performance but let them know they are loved, accepted and secure in God.

A Mother’s Prayer

Our loving heavenly Father,

We sometimes get so bogged down in the daily battles that we lose sight of where we’re going.

Help & empower us to make the most of opportunities today to love and teach our children.

Yet we feel so inadequate. It’s frightening to realize how much our own example will influence our children in what they do, and what they believe about you.

But we take comfort in knowing that you only expect us to do the best we can with the Spirit’s help..

Thank you for the positive examples you have given us and for the eternal guiding wisdom from your Word.

We pray most of all that our family circle will remain unbroken when we gather to celebrate and praise your name in heaven.

Thank you for the children You have given us.

In Jesus’ Name we pray.

Amen

Arise & Bless your Wife and Mother

• Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. (Prov. 31:28)
• Arise = help to lift up, stir up, strengthen

Please note that these notes are extracted from the PowerPoint presentation used.

The Power of Praise

 

Rev Ronald Ooi 

Let's welcome Joshua and company to TOP. They are with the House of Prayer. 

I was one of those young people in the seventies where I was gripped by the love of God. It was early in the morning when I encountered God and was praying in the Holy Spirit for four hours. I pray the young today will have an encounter with God not because their parents are Christian but they personally have an encounter with God. I was in KL at the House of Prayer and I saw how these young people were praying for you and I. 

In 2 Chronicles 20 we see an impending war. The world today is in a very vulnerable position and that the Third World War may happen anytime with all the nuclear warheads that are there. We call it the end times. But the prophesy is that in the last days there will be an outpouring of God's Spirit. We are seeing that happening and we also see the increase of violence and natural calamities. All have been prophesied in the Bible. 

But we have a God who is with his people even through the difficult times we are in. 

The Power of Praise. I want to talk about that. King Jehoshaphat called for a time of prayer and fasting. 

2 Chronicles 20:3-4

3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 So Judah gathered together to ask help from the Lord; and from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.

The people were positioning themselves to seek God and to hear from God. Jehoshaphat did a very wise thing and we can follow him. 

We have not gone through a World War except the World War 2 and it was a traumatic experience for those who went through it. We may not have gone through this battle but we go through different battles ourselves. Some financial where we have to feed our family in spite of challenges. There are relationship issues. Lost of loved ones. Career and sickness, battles that we go through and some people don't even know what we go through. 

Men, women and children came to seek the Lord. And this was his prayer. 

2 Chronicles 20:12

O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

Have you been I'm a situation where you just don't know what to do? He said but our eyes are on you. When you face a problem, fix your eyes on God. God is bigger than your problems. You get scared and disappointed when you don't fix your eyes on him. 

He is always there even if it seems he is not. God is present. Jehoshaphat said we have no power but our eyes are upon you. He had a serious dependence upon God. 

We are going to come to the Good Friday and Easter event. We are entering the 21 day of prayer and fasting. I had my reservation when Allan said he is coming. He speaks to thousands in India. He is called the Jesus of India but he is a simple man. He is an evangelist, one of the five fold ministry. Once, he raised a person from the dead. He is bared from certain countries because they cannot handle the crowd. 

We are dependent on God because there are obstacles to the work of God. The time has come not just the Intercessors praying but all of us going for a time of prayer and fasting. It can be a vegetarian diet. See the instructions in the booklet. TOP will see a change. When you pray for victory there will be a battle. It can be a scary time. The challenges will come but when I look back in all my years as a preacher, I asked why is there so much trouble in my life and I realised it is a training ground where we get down on our knees to develop our muscles to become like God. And God will use you as an instrument to do exploits for God. 

We have become a very inpatient society. We want everything fast. We want fast food, fast cars. Fast money, fast entertainment. We want everything fast except to fast. 

Penang traffic is getting too fast. It used to be slow. We are losing this spiritual discipline to wait patiently in the Lord. Slowly wait before God. Pray for one hour, two hours, three hours, four hours. Don't be afraid. It's training. It's such a joy to wait on the Lord. It's such a joy when God's people come together to seek God. 

We pray that God will slow us down because we live too fast. With all of eternity before us, let us learn to wait on God. The Psalmist reminds us to wait on God if we want strength to go on. 

George Mueller started an orphanage at Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He prayed for everything he needs in. And that is what I have learnt. Before I open my mouth to ask anyone for anything, I learnt to ask God first. 

“I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk, when I lie down, and when I rise. 
And the answers are always coming. Tens of thousands of times have my prayers been answered. 
When once I am persuaded that a thing is right, I go on praying for it. - George Muller

It is the same with my life all these years. There was one time when my children was so sick in Penang. We had to send him to the hospital one week after my daughter and I asked God what did I do wrong? As I look back now, it was a training ground and when they came out of hospital, all the bills were paid for. 

If you fast and don't pray, it's starvation. If you fast and sleep, it's hibernation. If you fast and pray, it's intercession. 

2 Chronicles 20:15

And he said, “Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's.

When you spend enough time with God you have to wait and wait and wait to get a prophetic word. Why only David get to bring down Goliath? You may say he's the lucky one. No. He's the ready one. You have to be ready. When you are ready, God give his word like he gave to the army. My battles become God's battles. My bill become God's bill. Your children becomes his children. God will fight your battles. And you will receive because his word will be released. When it comes, it is heavens word and not man's word. The battle is not ours. It belongs to God.

We need to be the ready ones. Not the lucky ones. And we will see the breakthrough we are waiting for. 

They then moved forward and praise God. They worshipped. 

2 Chronicles 20:18-19

18 And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. 19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

There is Worship. There was Praise. And there was Thanksgiving. They did all of that. 

Worship in Hebrew is "shachah". Worship is to bow, to kneel to crouch before the Lord. The emphasis is to come before God. 

It's like your puppy. When you come home, it's not the wife that greets you. It's your puppy and it comes to lick you. That's the image. 

Praise is boasting. Boasting of who God is and we give him the credit of what he has done. It's like polishing silver. Then you lift it up for everybody to see. To show your trophy. You lift him up and not shy about showing who God is and what he's done for you. You praise him not just in good times but also in bad times. In the valley you can still praise God. In whatever circumstances of life you praise him. 

Thanksgiving is to communicate surrender. Coming to him with empty hands and surrender to him. You couldn't have done it yourself. 

And blessings is to kneel down and saluting God for who he is in his authority. And you speak well of him. Like an eulogy given when someone died. Eulogia in the New Testament is to speak well of him while he is alive. 

And look at what happened when they praised God, something happened in the heavenlies. Something happened where God's power was released and the enemies killed each other. And they came in and plundered the enemies. There is a spiritual dynamics there that our minds cannot comprehend. God gives victory to his people when they praise him. 

You may not have an answer today but praise God and see the results that will come ahead. 

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you today for accepting me as your child.
I surrender to you all the challenges that I am facing in life.
I understand from your word today, that you will fight the battles for your people.

The Battle is the Lord’s!

I believe victory is mine as I praise your holy name. 

No weapon formed against me shall prosper.

I praise you today from the depths of my heart.

In Jesus Mighty Name!

Bro David Ng being interviewed by Ps Ronald about his experiences as an ex-Thomas Cup badminton player representing Malaysia.

Ps Joshua from House of Prayer leading us in a time of praise and worship at the close of the service.

Ps Ronald praying for all the ushers, and encouraging them on the importance of their ministry.

The Three Calls

Rev Ronald Ooi

Luke 6:12-19

The Twelve Apostles

6:13-16pp — Mt 10:2-4; Mk 3:16-19; Ac 1:13

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. 13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: 14 Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, 16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Blessings and Woes

6:20-23pp — Mt 5:3-12

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

I want to pick up on where Bro Koay ended last week. If you missed it, go download the TOP App.

The Call to Communion v13

There was a particular time in Jesus' life where he was going to call individuals to carry out a mission to save the world. I wonder what happened the night before? How many of you have prayed through the night before.

We used to do that and we call them the overnight prayer. Last night I woke up at 1.30am because of the mat rempits and I decided to pray through the night. I was talking to God and it was wonderful as I was trying to talk about the major decisions in my life.

And here we see Jesus  trying to connect with the Father and he planned to connect with the twelve. He spent the whole night praying to God and it shows us how important it is to pray and catch the mind and heart of God and to align ourselves to him. We cannot live in a world by ourselves and like Cheryl she has connected to a girl in Mongolia and to getting his son to also connect with this child.

Here Jesus is connecting with the Father and he connects to the twelve. We are all connected to one another and the world. But how do we use the life that we have to bring the healing of God, the mind and heart of God to those we are connected to?

He was going to change the world and humanity. He chose twelve imperfect apostles and one even betrayed hm. The first is a call to him, to abide in him. When we draw towards him, we will not be swayed by other voices.

We have one life on earth so how do we want to live it? To live it for ourselves or to live it for the call of God? God calls us as his children. As his servant. The first call is to be with God. That was what Jesus did. The world has lost this communion. It's a clear call. Let my heart be broken with the things that breaks the heart of God.

Jesus said I'm the way the truth and the life and there's no other way. He's trying to connect to us and if we refuse that call we get into trouble. That’s why the world is going round and round and round into trouble out and then into trouble again.

It's breaks my heart that a woman was found tied to her child drowned in Penang. And I heard she's pregnant. Is there a cry in society that we really need him? Can we hear the call of God so clearly that when we walk with him we know what to do. We get that right and everything falls into place.

There is a safely in that centre. Harmony, peace and unity with God will flow into other areas of our life.

I was a diver so at a low point of my life, my wife asked that we do something different. So we dived and it's a marvelous sport. One time the sea was really rough and the instructor told us you must never swim alone. You must have a buddy. And you must know where that anchor line is.

You can lose your bearing down there. I always remember that life line. When you get lost, distracted or you drift away, remember where your lifeline is. My life has been spared because of the instructor's instruction. It was so rough that you struggle and use up your air. We don't call it oxygen but air. It was so bad that I wanted to quickly go up but my instructor told me to go down. And waited for the calm to come then we went up through the lifeline.

Life is like that. We can't predict what the day is. But I know in all the crisis of life, there is a lifeline. Stay as close as you can to God and he will show you when everything is stormy you will be fine because he is with you.

Our busy noise driven world is an obstacle to our pursuit of harmony with God. In Penang now everyone seems to be rushing. I'm surprised because 20 years ago the traffic was too slow for me and now it's too fast for me. We need to make that communion happen.  It's not a law but it's intentional. We need to have that communion.

Can you hear God calling you these days or are you so busy? You bury yourselves in your work so when the Holy Spirit prompts you, will you listen? Find that time because it's so vital.

Jesus made it a habit to seek a solitary place of worship. The early church began with constant prayer.

Acts 1:14

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

And the early church was sustained by prayer.

Acts 2:42

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Prayer is the engine room for the church. That is so vital in these days we live in. We don't take time to warm up, like an engine. The prayer of the Saints are needed. Not just on Wednesday and Sunday but daily. We are a daily church. And if we want to see the fullness of God's purpose in our life, we need that engine room.

The present day generation will remain a powerful force of influence through prayer. We taught our granddaughter to pray before food and sometimes when we forget, she reminds us.

The present day church will remain strong through prayer. There was a group of house church pastors in China who came together to pray. They love praying. These are people who works, as farmers and executives but when they come together, they pray. The house churches are growing in China and the thing why these churches are growing is because prayer always precede revival. Nothing can replace true revival that happens is because of prayer.

And Malaysia, we have to pray. Pastor Raymond is missing. Something is happening and we have to pray. It is so essential for us to understand this. It is through prayer that revival happens.

Without a lonely place, our life is in danger. We need to have that time with God to find our direction. Listen first. Don't be so quick to speak. He gave us two ears and one mouth. Listen carefully. Without listening, speaking no longer heals. What is God saying to you? Listen carefully. The Lord will direct and give you the peace when you consult him first. As we learn to listen we will find that strength. 

Without distance, closeness cannot cure - Henri Nuowen .

The Call to Community v13

Why did he call twelve? Not one. He uses community. He chose Adam and then he chose Eve to oversee the whole creation. Then he chose Abraham and formed Israel. Then came the church through 12 apostles. To commune in unity. It's called teamwork in our modern day.

In the early days, I worked in a rehab centre. Living in community I learnt the acronym LIGHT. Living In Group Harmony through Truth. We are part of a larger community. We are not alone. Can you rest in the calling that God has called us together for a time such as this. That God has gelled us together for his purposes. If you hear that call clearly, then you will find no matter how difficult the work is you will stay true to that call because it is a call from God. You will work through.

In community, we do life together. One heart one mind. We do it together and as a channel for God to change the world.

The Call to Communicate v17-19

The commission. Jesus chose 12 to win and change  the world. Later in my life, I caught this. I will call 12 and pour my life into them. It has been the most fulfilling. If the Holy Spirit impress upon your heart, would you in your lifetime, just find 12 men or women and focus intentionally in raising them up as disciples. I can assure you just as Jesus did with the 12 and Jacob with his 12 sons, you will be like a father and mother in that approach to discipleship. 12 multiply by 12 is 144. That’s a whole new level. We don't play the numbers game but it's a discipleship process. 144 x 144? 1720. Wow.

If we carry his cross we too may be betrayed. How did he responded to Judas? He called him friend and asked him to do it quickly. He use us to make a difference in the world.

There is the call, the community and then the curing. Power was coming from Jesus and healing happens. That's what it's like to be in a community. You touch one another.

Yesterday we went down to earth. We went to the Jelutong market. Suddenly, we had someone who called us pastor! We sat at the drain side by the market and it dawn upon me what is God saying? This is how I came down to your level. From heaven to earth with the sinful fragrance of earth. It is wonderful to be a part of this community. We walk through this world not just by ourselves but in the community he has given us.

We cannot do it without first fulfilling the first two call - to seek the Lord, called to community.

Rooted in God and community, we find life, we do life, we communicate life.

We can make a difference. We can change the world. Never say cannot. You may have had some obstacles but with God all things are possible.

Cheryl shared on World Vision and it's work.

Rev Ronald praying for the Head of Ministries.