Do Emotions Control Us?

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I observed that many people are ruled by their emotions. Unlike some who advocate "going by their feelings", I personally do not believe it is good to be controlled by our feelings.

The right thing just needs to be done...regardless of how we feel.

I have seen too many cases of people around stop persevering in doing what is right, because they get overwhelmed by feelings of disappointment of past failures or past hurts. I have seen others stop serving because they "don't feel the passion" or are "too tired" to do so anymore. How often do we hear of couples divorcing because "they do not feel the romance" in their relationship anymore?

Imagine the consequences if our Lord Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, decided to follow His feelings at that time and scrapped the plan to go to the cross?

If we are serious about following Jesus, I think it will do us good to inject an additional dose of emotional stability into our lives, so that we will always CHOOSE to do the right thing, regardless of how we feel. The way to do it is to put COMMITMENT before our FEELINGS.

We need to remember that we will have to answer to God for all our choices & actions. Sure, people hurt us and disappoint us, shit happens in life, things don't often go the way we want them to. But in the sight of God, after all that He has done for us, is it a legitimate excuse to be wilful and choose not to follow God's way just because some of our own small (and often petty & selfish) desires are not met?

We need to remember Paul's teachings:

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (2 Cor 9:27)

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5)

We need to be strict with ourselves to control our thoughts & emotions, so that it will not get in the way of our obedience to God. NEVER let our feelings control and determine for us our level of obedience to God.

Remember again our Lord's example in the Garden of Gethesamane:

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." (Matt 26:39,42)

Our Lord did not compromise His commitment and obedience to God, regardless of His state of emotions or the circumstances. It is high time that we, who call ourselves His disciples, to learn to do the same.
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Absolute Values

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Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Tim 4:2-3)

Some values must be upheld as absolute, unchanging. Regardless of the progress in science, commerce & the arts, these absolute values must remain anchored in solid rock. Values and principles clearly spelt out in the bible on sexuality should never be swayed by changing social norms. As Christians, I believe we should make our stand clear. Fornication, adultery & homosexuality have been labelled clearly as sins unacceptable to God thousands of years ago and must remain so today, and till eternity.

We may not be able to impose the same values on society at large, but our stand must remain clear and anchored in the Word of God. Under no circumstances should our stand on these issues waver in the bid to appear more tolerant of pressure groups clamouring to gain acceptance for deviant and perverted lifestyles. We have the difficult task of standing firm against the sins that they are advocating, and yet not targeting them as people that we "hate"; because God loves them and wants them to come to repentance.

Changing social values and the argument that "everyone else is doing" it must never cause us to soften or compromise our stand. Neither should fear that we will be viewed as "intolerant, conservative, non-progressive" drive us towards compromise.

This has nothing to do with tolerance, it is about thwarting the plans of the evil one who wants to degrade the moral fabric of societies.

Absolute values must never become relative. If we allow that to happen, our society will lose its moral compass, and will lead to definite moral decadence. Singapore will become the Sodom and Gomorrah of old. And God's judgement will come.

And we would have to answer to Him for failing in our role as the light and salt of the world.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
(Matt 5:13)
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I WILL Still Praise Him!

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Uncanny...hardly a few minutes had passed after I submitted my previous entry on "Faithful God" last Friday when I received a call from my Mum-in-law that Nicole was down with high fever.

Felt like an open challenge from you-know-who, taunting me with "Go ahead and praise Him....I can still continue to hit them. How many more times do you think your God can protect and heal your kids?"

Intimidation? Definitely. It is not me who gets hit recently, but the kids. Below the belt and underhanded. But then again, do you expect him to fight fair? And right in the middle of the School of Modern Levites Seminar, which my wife is busy running.

Spiritual warefare. This is real stuff. I know I needed to dig in...and fight. So last Friday after work, I immediately brought Nicole to the doctor. Her fever spiked to 39+. She was hot.....yet shivering. But brave girl that she is, there was minimal groaning or whining from her. She was subdued, obviously in discomfort. At the clinic. I sat down with Nicole and prayed with her, for healing, for protection.

I remembered the story of Daniel's 3 friends, and their reply in the face of threat and intimidation:

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:16-18)

What I am facing is much, much smaller in comparison. But the parallel is clear. Shall I be intimidated and be restrained in giving thanks and praising our God for fear that my children may be hurt? Never. I will yet praise Him, my Lord and My God because He is good and his love and faithfulness reaches to the skies. I will still praise Him because if I don't, even the stones will cry out!

So I dug in. My wife had to be home late that night due to the worship seminar, and had to be up early on Saturday again. So I volunteered for the night duty of watching over Nicole, praying, giving her medication, checking her temperature, sponging her regularly to get the temperature down. Did not sleep till 3+ am on Saturday morning.

But as usual, God's faithfulness shone through. By Saturday late morning, Nicole's fever was down to the low 37. Still a slight fever, but she was back to her active and bubbly self. Today, school re-opens and she is well and back in school.

All thanks and glory to God. But the war is not over. Now it is Timothy who is down with a persistent cough and a suspected root-canal infection. At this time of writing, Tim is waiting to see the pedaetrician. Need to continue to pray. Will update as events unfold. But I have full confidence in the faithfulness of my God.

Do keep my family in prayer. For me this is a time to anchor back to our family's bible verse in Joshua 24:15 -"As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

And yes, I will continue to praise Him and give thanks!

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Faithful God

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He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:4)

Indeed His grace and faithfulness protect us always. This was so clearly manifested in the lives of my 2 kids in the recent weeks. Can't tell you how grateful and thankful we are for His protection and unfailing love:

(1) Nicole came down with stomach flu 2 Saturdays ago.....fever and vomitting. 2 weeks before her swimming test. So she actually missed a crucial practice that week. But God's healing came swiftly. She recovered within a few hours after seeing the doctor. ...And she just passed her bronze level swimming survival test this week... :-)

(2) Nicole went through her health screening in school recently and was suspected of having myopia. The threat of having to wear spectacles at age 6 looms. My wife prayed with her and asked God to spare her that inconvenience if it is in accordance with His will. I just brought her for her review at the Refraction Clinic at Geylang Polyclinic yesterday. The verdict: Very slight myopia, but no need for specs.... :-)

(3) Timothy, while running around in the hall 2 weeks ago, knocked against the side table. Somehow, the round glass tabletop broke right in the middle and shatters on the ground all around Timothy. Glass fragments all around him, but Timothy escaped without a single cut..... :0

(4) Last Saturday, Timothy came down with fever and vomiting due to tonsilitis. The pediatrician expected the fever to continue for the next 3-5 days, the norm for such conditions. I suffered regularly from tonsilities in my younger days, so I know. We fed him his first dose of medicine and he slept for the next 3 hrs. When he work up on Saturday evening, the fever was gone...and never came back. He recovered within half a day....and pestered me to allow him to go for G'Kidz on Sunday, which I did.... :-). My theory was that God could not bear to have that cute little boy miss G'Kidz on Sunday so He healed Timothy in double-quick time.

I think it is really true, that even as we tried to bless others during the 100K, God was faithful to ensure that His people received His full blessings and protection as well.

What else can I say, but "Thank you so much Lord, for indeed Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies!" (Psalm 36:5)
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A Tribute to Our Teachers!

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Cor 15:58)

3 of my guys are in the teaching profession. I must say that I admire them for it, because it is a profession that requires heart and perseverance.

As Christian teachers, I believe that teaching is a divine vocation, a position of trust and privilege, an opportunity to influence the lives of the next generation. IMHO, this is not a profession that one should enter into flippantly, for the high starting salary or for the sake of a stable job. One needs to be sure that he/she is willing to be used by God as a teacher to impact lives, and willing to last the pace for the long haul. It is a tough job in a less than ideal environment often bogged down by beauracracy & organisational incompetency. It can be easy to grow disppointed and disillusioed. It is common to be in situations where the realities look so different from the ideals of the teaching profession.

I may not be a teacher, but over the years, I have seen how some have felt so strongly that they are called into this profession, so eager to serve God as a teacher, to mold and transform lives that they come into contact with; but over the years, the imperfections of the environment and the disappointment gradually got to them, causing them to eventually leave the profession in utter disillusionment, some even saying that going into teaching was their 'biggest mistake'.

On the brighter note, I have also seen many teachers in our midst, who in spite of the difficulties and challenges that they face, rose up with the strength of God to shine for Him in their schools, impacting and transforming many under their care. Quite a few are still growing strong, even after many years of teaching; literally 'growing in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.'

So on this Teachers' Day, it is my prayer that the teachers in our midst will continue to grow strong. Remember again the call of God, take time to give thanks for your unique position of influence and privilege. Dwell not on the things that don't go well in your midst, but focus on the presence of God that you will bring to the students because you chose to stay to teach, to serve and bless. And may the good Lord bless you with joy, success and fulfilment as you continue to obey and serve Him.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal 6:9)

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