Getting the message in my condition

With the miracle of Thursday night, I was expecting full recovery by weekend. So I went to work on Friday. However, my flu-like condition plagued me all Sabbath, despite the absence of the fever and headache. I was left with coughing and sneezing. I felt extremely cold and put socks on my feet, and warm clothing. I even covered my head. Each time I felt that I was getting better, some symptom or the other reminded me that I was not yet "out of the woods".


I missed church (did not want to carry my germs into a public gathering, especially where there are infants and newborn babies.) To keep up with my spiritual food, I decided to visit Chabad.org just to read from their website anything that would impact my Torah understanding.


In one article, I read about a Chassidic practice, "set forth by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, that "From everything that a person sees or hears, he should derive a lesson in his service of G-d"" (Bolton "Tightrope"). In another article "The Chase" with a consistent belief similar to the aforementioned statement also reminded me that I need to look into my everyday life situation and reflect on them for spiritual lessons. I have not done that all day. Both articles however reinforced that I needed to extract spiritual meaning from my temporal life, so that I can reconnect[or connect] with God. (On this viewpoint, I will need to write an blog entry by itself).


I also viewed Taub's vlog, where a stick man in the video walked up to a ladder with a sign that read "Free Awesome stuff at the top of this ladder". The stick man did not want to climb the ladder, but stepped back, ran up and tried to jump to get to the top of the ladder.


These articles and the video clip that I watched, however, did not become alive with meaning for me until later in the night whilst my wife and daughter were asleep and I was up alone.


It is in this quiet time of solitude that God revealed to me that this illness was a way of getting my attention. He wanted me to reflect on my illness and get the spiritual lessons that he placed in it for me. The illness was indeed my opportunity to pause and do spiritual accounting. God did not just want to heal me immediately, so that I could go back to my extremely busy routine, where i kind of sidelined personal time with God in order to achieve "more urgent and pressing" career goals and objectives.


He wanted me to stop me and get my attention, so that he could get me to refocus. Thus, the first step to doing this was for God to reveal to me the need to focus on the spiritual issues in my condition, and extract from it. It is God's desire that we all look for spiritual meaning from the mundane and temporal. After we do this, we open ourselves to realms of revelation about God that we were previously closed to.


So when I began to look for the lessons in my condition, God was able to reveal to me that I just wanted instant healing to get MY work done and meet temporal deadlines. However, God wanted me to stop and refocus my priorities for him and HIS work. God wants me to take each day at a time, build character day by day and to go through my life by drawing on my relationship with him.


Heavenly Father,
I hope I got the lesson or message right.
And I share this now that someone else will get the message.


References:

Bolton, Tuvia. "The Tightrope." Chabad.org Stories. Shabbat, Kislev 11, 5770. November 28, 2009. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3146/jewish/The-Tightrope.htm

Taub, Dovid. "The Ladder." Stick Figure Vignettes Chabard.org Shabbat, Kislev 11, 5770. November 28, 2009. http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/stick_figures/default_cdo/aid/773649/jewish/The-Ladder.htm

"The Chase." Chabad.org Stories. Shabbat, Kislev 11, 5770. November 28, 2009. http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/1043183/jewish/The-Chase.htm

Another healing testimony

On November 26, 2009, I was sick with flu-like symptoms. I was very weak that I left work half day, as I was just sleeping away and could not get any work done.

When I arrived home, I had a fever, eye ache and a head ache. I was bed ridden for the rest of the day into the night.

By the night fall I was fed up of my condition, and prayed, calling on the name of the LORD (as revealed in Exodus to Moses in Exodus 34:6 as commpasionate, merciful, long suffering,). I knew that God would have mercy and extend mercy to me, as I have personally been extending mercies to others (for Jesus teaches us so in Matthew 5:7). In addition I just came out of studying Matthew 8 and 9, where God's character being revealed through Jesus was merciful unto all that called on him for help.

After prayer, I received instant revelation that my headache and eyeache had nothing to do with my flu-like condition, but were caused by anxiety and worry. Subconsciously, I was worrying about the deadlines and the entire gamut of tasks that I needed to accomplish for December. These things weighed unconsciously on my subconscious mind.

Immediately after that revelation, I began to sweat. Then my fever came down.

With that revelation I began to try to relax and think about how I could take it easy. This helped as later, my headache and eyeache was gone, and I felt strong again. With this new found strength and joy of receiving an answer to my petition, I got up and went into the kitchen to cook bean stew to eat with the food that my wife cooked earlier in the day. It was delicious. I left some for my wife and continued to sweat while pondering about how I could relax and worry less.

Enjoy the goodness of God in Matthew 8 and 9

I have been reading Matthew with a group on Facebook, and in the process have been feeding my intellect and hopefully my spirit with a greater awareness of who God is, what he is like and how he operates.

Last week, I just completed and really enjoyed Matthew 8. Quintessentially, this chapter focuses on God's goodness. Nobody's prayer or request in Chapter 8 was denied. All who asked, even when they doubted God's favour got what they wished, including those who asked Jesus to leave their coast.


I loved that entire passage, as through it, we see a God who answers prayers through the intercession of his son and the will of his son. Here, Jesus not only granted people what they desired, but he also granted demons their desires as shown by him giving them permission to enter into swine.

As such it was a lovely passage of revealing the royalty, kingship and authority of Jesus, whose mission was and is to be entreated of and petitioned by people for favours.

The revelation and representation that Jesus gave of his Heavenly Father, God the Father, reflects one of God being a God of goodness, wanting to be entreated of and petitioned by people for favours. It also reflected that God wants to help and satisfy the needs and wishes of all his human subjects for improvement of their condition.

I also want to pull out some puzzling ideas based on Jesus' interaction with demons. Jesus was seen by the demons as being their tormentor/punisher. They asked him if he came to torment them before their time (Matthew 8 : 29).

Then they requested that Jesus send them into swines and used the bodies of the swines to go into the sea.

This act made an entire village forbid Jesus to enter into their city, as these people were perhaps afraid of losing their livelihood. The whole event made it seem as the demons used this prevent the people from being willing to listen to Jesus.

Jesus being the gentleman that he is, gave them their request and left their coast.

Chapter 9 exhibits the contrasting levels of faith by people in God. Some persons believed that they could just touch Jesus without asking him to get their miracle. Others believed that Jesus need to come into their house and touch them in order to get their miracle.

What this tells me is that God is so good to us no matter what our level of faith is. Some of us do not have to ask/petition God before our wish is granted. We just believe in our hearts, and God acts on that belief without us asking.

Others want to audibly ask God.

While others want God to work in a certain way before they are satisfied that he answers their prayers.

May you be like one who has a high level of faith, recognising that God is inherently good and wants to grant you favour today and every other day. May you know that he awaits for your petition and faith to do something spectacular for you to improve your condition. If he granted the wishes of rebellious demons and people who had little faith, what would make him not want to grant your wishes for a betterment of your condition.

God's blessings.

Cross or Candlestick Part 1

For years now, a seed sowed by the Jehovah Witnesses has been germinating in my spirit, until for the past months it has borne fruit.

I have received the revelation that the cross, the symbol that the church always uses to represent Christianity is not a Biblical accurate symbol.

I faintly remember where I read in a Watch Tower an argument that Jesus died on a tree or a crucifix and not a cross. I do not even know which Watch Tower I read it in or which Awake Magazine.


However, while I will not entertain arguments on whether or not Jesus died on a cross or crucifix, the message is clear to me that the symbol that God would have his church be represented with is not a cross. The correct symbol of the churches is the candles stick or menorah which is a Jewish symbol, especially for Hanukkah.



For instance in Matthew 5, Jesus uses the symbol of a candle stick. Matthew 5:15 (King James Version) says:

Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Even in the book of Revelations, the churches are represented by candlesticks and not crosses. Revelation 1:20 (King James Version)states:

The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

With this evidence, why is it that we Christians today do not use the candlestick, but use instead the cross to symbolise Christianity? Is it because the Jews use the menorah or candle stick as symbol of their religion, that we feel the need to differentiate ourselves by taking up a symbol that is also associated with the pagan God - Tammuz? (Ezekiel 8:14)

The crucifix and cross is tradition of men, and not based on Biblical symbolism. It comes from Roman Christianity, which is tainted with corruption and paganism. It comes from Constantine, who was told in a dream/vision, "in this sign, conquer" ("In hoc signo vinces").

Today, evidence of the paganism of the sign of the cross is coming to fore. I see people wearing black crosses, or upside down crosses or the death rune (which is a broken cross), or the ankh, the crosses with the pointed edges. Some even wear crosses with images of a man on it suffering. Some people think that these crosses are even Christian, but they are all cursed, and symbols of idolatry. (Which is why Satanists wear them and witches use them in magical rituals.)

The Bible in contrast, uses the candlesticks to represent the church and the people of God. The cross is not a symbol of the Church. It is a symbol of suffering or burden. So I am not saying that the Bible does not use the cross as a symbol. The Bible does use the cross, but it is as a symbol of humility, suffering and self-denial.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.(Matthew 16:24)

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14)

So if we want to observe tradition of men and use a symbol that the Bible does not use to represent God's people, the cross is fine. However, we should use it appropriately and truthfully to represent what it really means - suffering, shame, humility, and self-denial.

However, our God wants his people to see themselves as light in a dark world, reflecting his glory and the candlestick is his symbol of choice as a symbol of his people, his nation or community of priests.

References:

"In hoc signo vinces." (2009, October 28). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:14, November 1, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=In_hoc_signo_vinces&oldid=322615205

Discussion on the Christian Passover and the Exodus

I got one of those rare opportunities to lead the discussion during Sabbath School on the "Passover" and the Exodus at Andrews Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church. Knowing what I believe and not sure of the readiness of my class to receive what I had to share, I had to tread a very thin line of not making my presentation too radical or controversial.

The discussion I lead was with a small group of mostly mothers, many of whom seem to have not been prepared for a discussion. As usual, I wanted interactivity and not just for me to talk, and decided to begin with question asking. So I began with a discussion the scripture text of the week's lesson:

"Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7).

I asked the question about the symbolism of the leaven. One mother from the group established the symbolism as being sin and its power to pervasively infect and contaminate. Then I asked about why is it that if leaven is sin, that the next line from the scripture links leaven to Christ being our passover and his sacrifice for us. The answer - that Jesus came to die for our sins and to remove it.

I then asked the question, that if Jesus is responsible for removing our sins, then why is it that the Apostle Paul starts out by stating that it is "we" or "us" that must purge ourselves of the old leaven.

The response - that Jesus removes sins, but we too have a part to play in putting away sin from our lives.


I then went on to discuss the Passover and how the Jews in keeping this Passover, observes it in remembrance of their ancestors and the deliverance that God gave them over their oppressors. I also mentioned that Jews try to imagine during this ceremony what it was like to be an Israelite on that night. I mentioned that the Jew personally puts himself in the shoe of his ancestors during the Passover to get the meaning of this tradition and ritual. Then after laying this background, I went on to the question of the Christian Passover, where I asked the question:

How are the followers of Jesus to commemorate the Passover today? What is this service to remind us of?

The response - The Lord's Supper. Communion Service. I probed for a deeper answer, and got the response that we must use the Christian's Passover to commemorate the Sacrifice of Christ to remove our sins.

I then went on to suggest that while we will focus on Christ's sacrifice, that the Passover should not neglect the past, and should not forget the story of the Exodus, in which God birth the nation that was to give the world its Saviour and the Scriptures (the Word of God). I encouraged the class that this festival or religious observance is to commemorate the purpose of God in his intervention in humanity, and it began at the first Passover celebrated by Israel. So while we reflect on Jesus suffering on the Cross for our sins, we must not lose sight of our spiritual ancestry and heritage. For the story of the Exodus is the story of Jesus.

I then told the group - that I am going to shock them, knowing that my statements would raise eyebrows and generate interest in what I would say next. Then I declared that the Lord Supper or Passover will be observed in the future, and the meaning of the Passover may transcend the current meaning of Christ's sacrifice for our sins. I thus reminded them that Jesus himself declared in Matthew 26:29 (King James Version):

"But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

The same is also recorded in Luke 22:18 (King James Version):

"For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come."

I then went on to discuss the following points raised by Ellen G. White:

The quickest way to Canaan from Egypt lay through the coastal area along "the way of the land of the Philistines." But God knew Israel was not ready for war (Exod. 13:17). Consequently, when the pillar of cloud signaled the tribal march, it led the nation east and north into the wilderness of Paran (Num. 10:11, 12), a journey of three days (vs. 33). "As they advanced, the way became more difficult. Their route lay through stony ravine and barren waste. All around them was the great wilderness. . . . The rocky gorges, far and near, were thronged with men, women, and children, with beasts and wagons, and long lines of flocks and herds. Their progress was necessarily slow and toilsome; and the multitudes, after their long encampment, were not prepared to endure the perils and discomforts of the way."(—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 377.)

I declared that God did not let the Israelites go through shortcuts, because he knew they were not prepared to deal with the challenges that the shortcuts provided. Nevertheless, he took them through a rough, rocky and rugged terrain, so that he could test them. He did not give them more than they could bear, but selected trials and tests for which he knew they could pass.

Someone in the group also raised the point that because they (the Israelites) kept failing the tests and trials, they had to wander in the wilderness for forty years, longer than God had intended. This is familiar to most of us, who have to be faced with the same tests and trials until we are able to overcome them, before God move these test and trials from our lives.

As usual with programmed church services such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the limitation of time cut such a fruitful discussion.

References:

White, Ellen and Gould Harmon. The Story of Patriarchs and Prophets : As Illustrated in the Lives of Holy Men of Old Mt. View, Calif.: Wiretap, 1994.

The Christian Passover

This week in the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, the question is asked by Frank Holbrook:

"How are the followers of Jesus to commemorate the Passover today? Luke 22:15, 19, 20. What is this service to remind us of?"

To this question, I would like to voice my own views. I must begin by stating that I believe that the current Christian Passover service is woefully inadequate because we divorce it from its Jewish context.

We keep it when we feel like and justify the time that we keep it by saying that Jesus said - "whenever you do this, do it in remembrance of me." Or " For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come" (1 Cor. 11:26).

I believe that we should keep the LORD's supper on the LORD's chosen time period. Not 4 times a year. Or any amount of times that we choose. God has already set up his calendar in Leviticus 23, of his appointed times and seasons. The Christian Passover should be observed in keeping with that calendar.

Also, I want to raise another controversial point. The Christian's Passover utilises real red wine and not grape juice. Otherwise Apostle Paul would not state that "For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken." (1 Cor 11: 21). People do not get drunk on grape juice.

Finally, I believe that Christians must also observe the Passover by focusing on its dual meeting. The historical deliverance of Israel from Egypt and the present day meaning of the new covenant.

How beautiful this service would be if it was once a year, and the format of church services were different.

1. We watch a video clip of Moses and Pharaoh, then we pause to reflect and discuss in small groups the spiritual truths that have come home to each of us individually.



2. Then we proceed to watch a video clip of the Passion of Christ or the Lord's supper and his death.



3. Then we gather in small groups to discuss the spiritual truths that have come home to us.



4. Then we partake in Matzah - unleavened bread and red wine with the normal liturgy.

This I believe would be a more spiritually meaningful and truthful observance of the Christian Passover.

May I also shock you by suggesting that there will be a future observance of the LORD's Passover in the New Jerusalem (or new earth).

See: Matthew 26:29 (King James Version):

"But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

In fact, Jesus made a promise that he will no longer partake in the Passover supper "until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God" (Luke 22:16), implying therefore that there is a future meaning to the Passover that we have not yet come into.

God's love and blessings.

Reference:

Holbrook, Frank B. "In Remembrance of Me."Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide October - December 2009, p. 31.

Finding Meaning in Sabbath: Part 2

Last week Sabbath, in the general spirit of meditating on what spiritual benefit I could attain from Sabbath observance, I reflected on Exodus 35:3 (New International Version)

"Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

From this I drew the conclusion that fire represents destruction. However, on the Sabbath day, God wants us to reflect on creation. Destruction is obviously creation's opposite.

I also pondered a secondary meaning. Fire represents anger, wrath or rage. I believe God also wants us to observe a spiritual principle of avoiding anger on that day or avoid making others angry especially through our words.

I also see a third principle in this text of scripture. Wrath or anger came after sin was introduced into the earth. Thus by not lighting fires on the Sabbath, we get to really focus on the state of the earth before sin.

Another thought

My daughter and wife has 24 hours access to me on the Sabbath, except when I am sleeping or they are sleeping. The Sabbath is a time that I make myself fully available to them.

I concluded that because of my position as male and head of the house, this must reflect something about God and his relationship with humanity. I concluded that the Sabbath at creation allowed humanity to have 24hour access to God. After sin, we lost physical access to God. However, the Sabbath in picturing future reality (see Hebrews 4:9 and 11) represents a time when all humanity will have restored 24 hours of access to God, as he will be our God and dwell in our midst.

As Isaiah 66:23 states:

And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one SABBATH to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.