Archive for the ‘Devotional’ Category
14 May 2009
Walking in the Light
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Devotional; Guest Writer.
GUEST WRITER: Selina Lim
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1: 5, NIV)
The atmosphere was somewhat romantic with candlelight. Ah hah…not fine dining with my beloved husband. That would be a luxury.
It was the last Saturday of March. We were doing our part as good citizens of this beautiful world.My daughter and my sister made their statement to fight global warming by casting their votes for Earth Hour, a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature or World Wildlife Fund) annually. We were gearing up for that hour by ensuring dinner and dishes and showers were done by 8.30pm. Excitement filled the air as the children talked about what they would like to do during that hour. What an opportunity to bring out our beautiful scented candles and let them shine! The simple dwelling became exotic just with candlelight.
What an adjustment even for just an hour! Every time I entered a room, my hand automatically reached out for the switch on the wall, only to remember I was observing Earth Hour just before my finger made a quick tap. Baby Ashton was busy as usual crawling and exploring the house. The darkness did not deter his exploration. My eyes had to be keener in following his active movement, ensuring his safety. Then I smelled a stinky diaper. As much as I was tempted to switch on the light so that I can do a good job in washing his bottom, I wanted to follow through our vote without “cheating”. One of my little helper had to shine the candlelight while I washed him. The shadows cast upon the toilet wall entertained this super wriggly baby. Extra checks were done to ensure he was thoroughly cleansed. It was such hoo-ha over this daily norm.
I was really thankful for proper lighting. I am even more thankful for the Light of God and living in the Light. In fact, the verse says God IS Light. Darkness has a representation of hostility and aimlessness in life. It exudes a creepy and evil feel. It speaks of the enemy. The interesting point is, when light comes, darkness has to flee immediately. Light, no matter how small instantly overcomes darkness. It never fails to give direction even if it may be just one step at a time. It orders our steps. The power of light erases the works of darkness (Romans 13:12). There is absolutely no room for darkness when light enters.
Walking in the Light gives us confidence and peace simply because we can see, and knowing that our steps are sure and the destiny in God is certain. Harm and dangers may seek to threaten us but surely cannot touch us. We are protected (Psalms 34:7). What a comfort to know that even in the valley of the shadows of death God is with us (Psalm 23:4).
Having lived in the light, any form of darkness will surely cause us to be uncomfortable. The brief one hour without light for me affected my activities. How much more negative impact it would be for our lives if we do not have the Light of God? Or should I say, “if we do not have God?”
Give thanks for his deliverance and let’s remember the lost.
God of Light, Thank You for delivering me out of darkness into Your Light. It is so good to know we can walk confidently and peacefully in our daily lives and towards our eternal destiny. I ask that You will be gracious and merciful to many who need Your Light. Shine, Jesus shine! Fill the land with Your Glory. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
About the writer: Selina Lim is a homeschooling mother of four. Selina and her family lives in sunny Penang. This post originally appeared in her devotional blog, Gems For The Heart
29 November 2005
Ambition
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Devotional.
“All that we call human history – money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery – is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
C.S. Lewis
Detractors sometimes accuse homeschoolers of abandoning convention for fear of losing out. Homeschooling parents want so badly for their kids to be No. 1 their competitive streak is symptomatic of an adult kiasu* mindset, so they say. They insist that these same parents have turned their homes into a hothouse and their children into trophies to show off.
Yet few parents homeschooling or otherwise, expect nothing but the best from their children and that is not necessarily a bad impulse. I happen to believe that they are poor parents who do not encourage their children to aim higher or do better when they have the means and resources to do so. It is a great disservice when we are too easily pleased, delight in low expectations, and excuse mediocrity as spiritual contentment. No parent ought to stand for laziness, and neither does our heavenly Father.
But ambitious children may be shortchanged if we do not also teach them that capabilities or qualifications by themselves do not translate into more usefulness. The Bible records individuals whose ambitions were thwarted (by conflict, injustice or moral failure) although that did not stop God’s will from being done. It goes against the grain of common understanding but Paul reminds us that the foolish, the weak and humble, remain God’s favourite subjects to further His greater glory, for their boast would not lie in their abilities but God’s enablement (1 Cor 1:27-31).
It pays therefore to remember that the desire to excel, like all other passions of the flesh, is similarly tainted by the Fall, making it a vehicle that either draws a person towards God or away from Him. Ambition becomes selfish when we define ourselves according to achievements instead of character, or when our sense of worth is tied to a pat on the back or a framed certificate on the wall. So Paul’s letter to the Galatians warns against selfish ambition, which is another way of saying that neither ambition nor its attainment is to be sought as an end in itself (5:20).
John Sung (1901-44) on repenting of his backsliding threw his diplomas and awards (he had 3 academic degrees) into the sea and became one of the greatest evangelists China had ever known in the last century. Like Paul before him, he counted all his achievements as a liability compared to the greatness of knowing Jesus.
The lesson here is not that ambition or the pursuit of excellence are incompatible with being a Christian, but that they need to be redeemed and placed under the lordship of Christ if they are to mean anything. It starts with recognizing that we are no longer our own. We belong to our Creator; our gifts and potential are a trust whose use their Giver will hold us accountable. It’s not that we have arrived – how well we run the race matters just as much. At the finishing line, the ultimate honour is hearing God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
* local Hokkien dialect meaning,”afraid to lose”
28 January 2005
Letting God be God
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Devotional; Parenting.
Anyone starting out on a journey from A to B wants to know what’s in it for him or her, what to bring, what to expect. We want a map, some assurance from those who have gone ahead. After all is said, it’s easy to forget there’s only so much one can do or anticipate. In fact, the longer I homeschool, the more I realize how much lies outside my control. That’s not comforting to hear in our “take charge” society, but it’s exactly why it has to be said.
Take the growth stages of our children. I am just learning how to change and adapt my teaching and parenting styles as our children grow and adjust to changes in their bodies. What works with a child of 5 is not the same when he is 15. Just because we were fifteen once does not make us an expert. Then, as a girl or boy reaches the age of majority, the dynamics of parent-child relationship enters yet another phase.
Something happens in a child’s development from dependence to independence and before long, you realize how quickly your influence is diminishing before your eyes. Whether you have done a good job is not the issue. You learn – perhaps painfully – that a child’s self-awareness and spiritual awakening are matters beyond your schedule and direction.
The components of physical, emotional, and intellectual growth in children may be tied in part to genetic disposition and social conditioning, but our kids are individuals who alone must chart the course of their future. You can point the way but you can’t walk down that road on your children’s behalf.
I was reminded of this as I tried to make sense of the killer tsunami that wiped out almost 200,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands more. The heart-wrenching scenes of destruction in the papers and on our screens spelled this out to me: our lives are not ultimately in our hands.
The same applies to parenting and homeschooling. Things do go awry as good intentions sometimes do, and you’re overcome by a tsunami of conflicting emotions: is it my failure as parent, or is it the curriculum? Did not God promise me His favour, or did I not pray enough?
We may have been caught by surprise, but not our sovereign God. Indeed, all life is really in His hands. That includes our children. Like everything else we do, our heavenly Father asks only that we do the best we can “as to the Lord,” and He will take care of the rest. Someone once said that trusting God is like driving at night – you see just as far as your headlights, but it’s enough to take you to your destination.
That’s a good thing to remember as we homeschool this year. It’s also the easy part. The hard part is letting go of our need for control, letting go of our children, and letting God have His way with our family and us. Yet in letting God be sovereign, are we not placing ourselves in hands far, far, more able than our own?
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;you are exalted as head over all. 1 Chron 29:11 (NIV)