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"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." -- Matt. 5:3 From The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer Before the Lord God made man upon the earth He first prepared for him by creating a world of useful and pleasant things for his sustenance and delight. In the Genesis account of the creation these are called simply "things." They were made for man's uses, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him. In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come. Within him was God; without, a thousand gifts which God had showered upon him. But sin has introduced complications and has made those very gifts of God a potential source of ruin to the soul. Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and "things" were allowed to enter. Within the human heart "things" have taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned there no longer, but there in the moral dusk stubborn and aggressive usurpers fight among themselves for first place on the throne. This is not a mere metaphor, but an accurate analysis of our real spiritual trouble. There is within the human heart a tough fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets "things" with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns "my" and "mine" look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do. They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God's gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution. … There can be no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in the life. Because it is so natural it is rarely recognized for the evil that it is; but its outworkings are tragic… We must in our hearts live through Abraham's harsh and bitter experiences if we would know the blessedness which follows them. The ancient curse will not go out painlessly; the tough old miser within us will not lie down and die obedient to our command. He must be torn out of our heart like a plant from the soil; he must be extracted in agony and blood like a tooth from the jaw. He must be expelled from our soul by violence as Christ expelled the money changers from the temple. And we shall need to steel ourselves against his piteous begging, and to recognize it as springing out of self-pity, one of the most reprehensible sins of the human heart. If we would indeed know God in growing intimacy we must go this way of renunciation. And if we are set upon the pursuit of God He will sooner or later bring us to this test. Abraham's testing was, at the time, not known to him as such, yet if he had taken some course other than the one he did, the whole history of the Old Testament would have been different. God would have found His man, no doubt, but the loss to Abraham would have been tragic beyond the telling. So we will be brought one by one to the testing place, and we may never know when we are there. At that testing place there will be no dozen possible choices for us; just one and an alternative, but our whole future will be conditioned by the choice we make. Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival. Then shalt Thou make the place of Thy feet glorious. Then shall my heart have no need of the sun to shine in it, for Thyself wilt be the light of it, and there shall be no night there. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Thus says the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed… For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me… (Is 45:1,4-5 ESV) More than a hundred years before the great Persian king Cyrus the Great was born and rose to power, Isaiah through the Spirit of God, made this prophecy about the king who would one day be born and conquer much of Asia. Although Cyrus’ primary ambition in conquering the world lay in his own desire for power and to expand his kingdom, we learn here in Scripture that the plans of even the mightiest monarchs are under the authority of God who is in heaven. God appointed this king to be his servant, though Cyrus did not love him. God gave him the power to conquer and rule, even though Cyrus did not worship him. Yet, despite Cyrus’ radical devotion to his own ambitions, the God of heaven used him to rebuild the Temple at Jerusalem and to restore the worship of his great Name! How true the proverb is that says, “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Prov 21:1). Believer, do you realize that the mightiest, most ambitious, most corrupt, and most self-centred leaders of this world are all under the authority of a sovereign God? What they may mean for evil in your life, God intends for good. Though they think themselves to be mighty sovereigns, they are at the same time unwitting servants of the Most High though they do not acknowledge or know him. The arm of our God is mighty and he empowers not only the hands of those who love him, but also of those who do not, to ultimately bring him glory and serve his purposes. Therefore, let us never be overly crushed by the rise and fall of political leaders in this world. For the kingdom of God is not of this world, and even the mightiest in this world are his servants. And our God who named them before they were born, will use them for the good of his people, for the upbuilding of his church, and for the glory of his Name. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God (Rom 13:1). Article by: Samuel Chua

But as concerning these days which we are passing now, the Apostle says, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Are not these days indeed evil which we spend in this corruptible flesh, in or under so heavy a load of the corruptible body, amid so great temptations, amid so great difficulties, where there is but false pleasure, no security of joy, a tormenting fear, a greedy covetousness, a withering sadness? Lo, what evil days! Yet no one is willing to end these same evil days, and hence men earnestly pray God that they may live long. Yet what is it to live long, but to be long tormented? What is it to live long, but to add evil days to evil days? When boys are growing up, it is as if days are being added to them; whereas they do not know that they are being diminished; and their very reckoning is false. For as we grow in up, the number of our days rather diminishes than increases. Appoint for any man at his birth, for instance, eighty years; every day he lives, he diminishes somewhat of that sum. Yet silly men rejoice at the oft-recurring birthdays, both of themselves and their children. O sensible man! If the wine in your bottle is diminished, you are sad; days are you losing, and are you glad? These days then are evil; and so much the more evil, in that they are loved. This world is so alluring, that no one is willing to finish a life of sorrow. For the true, the blessed life is this, when we shall rise again, and reign with Christ. For the ungodly too shall rise again but to go into the fire. Life then is there again, but that which is blessed. And blessed life there can be none but that which is eternal, where are good days; and those not many days, but one day. They are called days after the custom of this life. That day knows no rising, it knows no setting. To that day there succeeds no tomorrow; because no yesterday precedes it. This day, or these days, and this life, this true life, have we in promise. It is then the reward of a certain work. So if we love the reward, let us not fail in the work; and so shall we reign with Christ for ever. Quoted from Augustine

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. (1 Ki 19:5-8 ESV) The prophet of God, Elijah, had just accomplished a most remarkable feat on Mount Carmel, decisively defeating the 450 prophets of Baal that had led the people of Israel into apostasy. At Carmel, the true God of all the earth, rained fire from the sky and consumed the offering on the altar, leading the entire assembly of Israel to fall on their faces and confess, “The Lord, he is God.” But despite this incredible victory, the wicked queen Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life, and in fear and exhaustion, the prophet fled. But though the weary prophet felt into despondency and wished for death, God in his mercy, sent an angel to care for his wounded child. There in the loneliness of the wilderness without another soul in sight, the prophet was treated to a warm, cooked meal and enough water to slake his desert-induced thirst. And after he had been allowed a good rest, the prophet was given yet another meal from the kitchens of heaven that gave him such strength that he traveled for forty days without any additional sustenance. Believer, is it not wonderful to know that the angels of God are ministering spirits who have been sent out to serve those of us who are to inherit the salvation of God (Heb 1:14)? These angelic warriors guard the very lives of God’s precious chosen ones and our feet will never slip and injure themselves against a pavement stone if the Lord dispatches them to our aid (Ps 91:12). They roam the whole earth with tears in their eyes of love that are directed towards the people of God, longing for God to unleash his justice for the sake of his chosen people (Zech 1:11-13). They rejoice over the repentance of sinners (Luke 15:10), they observe the worship services of God’s faithful (1 Cor 11:10), and they gaze with longing and wonder at the salvific works of God amongst Adam’s race (1 Pet 1:12). The angels of God serve us with joy and pleasure, for they are ministering spirits, servants in the house, but they are not born-again sons and daughters. When they sinned, God cast them into hell with no hope of redemption, but to Adam’s race, he gave the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. For now, we are made a little lower than the angels, but one day in glory, we will rise, and they will take their rightful place below us. What a wonderful thing it is to be touched by an angel of God who has been sent to our aid when we as children have cried to our God in prayer! To be touched by a heaven-sent angel, is to be touched by the hand of God, but we should also remember that to be touched by an angel is a tangible reminder that the greater is always served by the lesser, and that we alone are the heirs of God’s great and precious promises. Believer, thank God for these angelic servants who have defended you from terrible harm and ministered to your needs. But most of all, let us thank our Lord and Saviour for the precious gift of becoming his children through his death on the cross. Article by: Samuel Chua

On Jordans stormy banks I stand, And cast a wishful eye To Canaans fair and happy land, Where my possessions lie. All oer those wide extended plains, Shines one eternal day; There God the Son forever reigns, And scatters night away. No chilling winds nor poisonous breath Can reach that healthful shore; Sickness, sorrow, pain and death, Are felt and feared no more. When shall I reach that happy place, And be forever blessed? When shall I see my Fathers face, And in His bosom rest?

"…The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (John 10:3-5 ESV) Sheep milling about in a sheep pen look remarkably the same and it is extremely difficult for the untrained eye to distinguish them from one another even after careful scrutiny. Yet, good shepherds who love their own sheep can distinguish them from one another with a mere glance. They are so familiar with their individual movements, the manner in which they toss their head, and the subtle differences in weight and figure, that they do not hesitate in identifying their very own. But just as shepherds know each of their very own sheep by name, so also does the Good Shepherd know his own. And the implication here is not just that Christ knows the name of the sheep and nothing else about them, but rather that he has intimate knowledge of them. Christ does not know the sheep of his pasture in just some general sense, but they are individually known to him and each are precious in his sight. As a good shepherd would know if a single lamb has wandered away from the other ninety-nine, so also does Christ Jesus know when we are wandering away into the wilderness of our own sin. Nothing in our lives—no tragic circumstances, trials, or snares—escapes the notice of our Good Shepherd who knows us by name. But, though he knows his sheep, but they know him as well. They recognize him even if they cannot see him because they hear his voice calling out to them. The sheep of his pasture know the Good Shepherd’s voice, and those that belong to their Master will not listen to a stranger’s voice. What a blessing it is to be one of God’s sheep! To be marked as his very own and to be lovingly taken care of by the Good Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep! How familiar we are with the sweet voice of the shepherd of Israel! Believer, do you not remember the numerous times that the Lord has spoken to you throughout your life? Do you remember when the Lord first called you with the message of your own depravity and how you received it in brokenness and humility? Do you remember how our Lord Jesus searched for you and called your name when you fell into the mires of depression and the deserts of sin? Do you remember the days when you were overwhelmed by your own sense of unworthiness, how the Good Shepherd spoke to you and reminded you of his steadfast love that cast your sin from you as far as the east is from the west? What a joy it is to serve a God who cares for the individual needs of every single one of his precious lambs! How quickly the Good Shepherd rushes to the side of his crying lambs! So, when you are tempted this week to think that you are alone or that the difficulties you face are insurmountable, remember that the Good Shepherd knows your name. Do not fear, little sheep. For it is your Master’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And if our Father gave his very own, precious, and spotless Lamb to die on the cross for our sins, how much does he love and care for you, little lamb? Article by: Samuel Chua

From chapter 9 of Power Through Prayer by E.M. Bounds "I ought to pray before seeing any one. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, it is eleven or twelve o’clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is unscriptural. Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says: “Early will I seek thee”; “Thou shalt early hear my voice.” Family prayer loses much of its power and sweetness, and I can do no good to those who come to seek from me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then when in secret prayer the soul is often out of tune, I feel it is far better to begin with God—to see his face first, to get my soul near him before it is near another." — Robert Murray McCheyne THE men who have done the most for God in this world have been early on their knees. He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, he will be in the last place the remainder of the day. Behind this early rising and early praying is the ardent desire which presses us into this pursuit after God. Morning listlessness is the index to a listless heart. The heart which is behindhand in seeking God in the morning has lost its relish for God. David’s heart was ardent after God. He hungered and thirsted after God, and so he sought God early, before daylight. The bed and sleep could not chain his soul in its eagerness after God. Christ longed for communion with God; and so, rising a great while before day, he would go out into the mountain to pray. The disciples, when fully awake and ashamed of their indulgence, would know where to find him. We might go through the list of men who have mightily impressed the world for God, and we would find them early after God. A desire for God which cannot break the chains of sleep is a weak thing and will do but little good for God after it has indulged itself fully. The desire for God that keeps so far behind the devil and the world at the beginning of the day will never catch up. It is not simply the getting up that puts men to the front and makes them captain generals in God’s hosts, but it is the ardent desire which stirs and breaks all self-indulgent chains. But the getting up gives vent, increase, and strength to the desire. If they had lain in bed and indulged themselves, the desire would have been quenched. The desire aroused them and put them on the stretch for God, and this heeding and acting on the call gave their faith its grasp on God and gave to their hearts the sweetest and fullest revelation of God, and this strength of faith and fullness of revelation made them saints by eminence, and the halo of their sainthood has come down to us, and we have entered on the enjoyment of their conquests. But we take our fill in enjoyment, and not in productions. We build their tombs and write their epitaphs, but are careful not to follow their examples.

There is a bridge over the Niagara River. It is one of the great highways of the nation; trains pass over it every few minutes of the day. When they began to make the bridge, the first thing they did was to take a boy’s kite and send a little thread across the stream. It seemed a very small thing, but it was the beginning of a great work. So if we only lead one soul to Christ, eternity alone may tell what the result will be. You may be the means of saving some one who may become one of the most eminent men in the service of God that the world has ever seen. We may not be able to do any great thing; but if each of us will do something, however small it may be, a good deal will be accomplished for God. For a good many years I have made it a rule not to let any day pass without speaking to some one about eternal things. I commenced it away back years ago, and if I live the life allotted to man, there will be 18,250 persons who will have been spoken to personally by me. That of course does not take into account those to whom I speak publicly. How often we as Christians meet with people, when we might turn the conversation into a channel that will lead them up to Christ. --D.L. Moody, To The Work! To The Work! Exhortations to Christians (p. 63)

"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal 6:14 ESV) On this day, November 7th, 1918, the great evangelist Billy Graham was born. Throughout his lifetime, it is estimated that Mr. Graham preached to more than 200 million people in over 185 countries. One his favorite verses was Galatians 6:14. Nothing else was more important to Graham than to boast in and preach the cross of Jesus Christ. But what exactly does this phrase mean? The idea of “boasting in the cross,” is so familiar to Christian ears that we sometimes forget that “the cross” was a bloody instrument of torture designed to prolong suffering. Perhaps a loose modern equivalent would be the knives terrorist fighters use to behead their victims. People would consider you insane for wearing a necklace of a miniature decapitating knife. So why does Paul declare that he boasts in the cross? It cannot be because the apostle was masochistic and reveled in physical punishment. No, Paul’s boast was not in the AGONIES produced by the cross, but rather in the sum total of what was ACCOMPLISHED on the cross by Jesus Christ. Christ’s shed blood on the cross paid the debt of our sins. Christ’s body was broken on the cross so that we would not have to be broken before God. The cross restores those who believe in Christ to a right relationship with God. The cross is the means by which millions upon millions of souls can be snatched from the fires of hell and ushered into the kingdom of heaven. The cross is the very reason why we can be born again to a living hope. We are no longer dead in our trespasses and sins but alive in Christ because of the cross. And because the cross crucifies the world to us and us to the world, it means that the believer’s life is ultimately as unattractive as a corpse to the world and vice versa. There is nothing the world ultimately desires about us and there is nothing we ultimately desire about the world. The Gospel is not primarily a minimum amount of information that you need to get forgiveness and escape hell. That’s part of it, but it’s so much more than that. The Gospel is the power of God that causes us to be born again to a living hope. It gives us new desires and affections and transforms us from our wicked selves into the very image of the perfect, glorious, Son of God! We no longer walk in sin, but in the good works that God has prepared for us and we LOVE it. The true Gospel is not just informational, but transformational. Believer, have you experienced this? When you look at what this world has to offer you, the things others chase after in this world, do you find yourself attracted to them? Are you tempted to sin by choosing comfort over Christ’s mission, hoarding over giving, dishonesty instead of integrity to get ahead at work, relationships with friends over bringing up the truth? Or are those fleshly practices as attractive to you as a corpse? Billy Graham once said, “I have often said that the first thing I am going to do when I get to heaven is to ask, ‘Why me, Lord? Why did you choose a farm boy from North Carolina to preach to so many people, to have such a wonderful team of associates, and to have a part in what you were doing in the latter half of the 20th century — and beyond?” I think the answer to this is apparent. God chose a farm boy to show that the surpassing power of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ belongs to God and not us. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (2 Cor 4:7, 1 Cor 1:27-29) Brothers and sisters, we give thanks to God for men like Billy Graham. But more importantly, we give eternal and ultimate thanksgiving to God for the infinitely valuable and incomparably glorious work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Article by: Samuel Chua

Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. 17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. (Is 59:15 ESV) We live in a world of violence and injustice. Though there may be regional pockets of peace or even decades of stability that tempt us to think that humanity is bettering itself, so long as we refuse to bow the knee to God and confess our sins, we continue in our state of spiritual intoxication, waiting for our world’s next drunken outburst. There is not a day that goes by in which a child is not trafficked, an innocent is not murdered, or a dictator does not persecute his own people. Who will avenge their blood? Who can pursue the criminals who have defrauded others and vanished into the shadows of corrupt governments and systems? How can we stand against the power and principalities that rule over this present darkness? God’s Word answers the question for us—only by equipping ourselves with the armour of God. The famous passage in Ephesians 6 commonly referred to as the “Armour of God” does not find its origins primarily in the combat gear of the Roman military, but rather in the Old Testament imagery of God as the divine warrior. Here in Isaiah 59, we see the divine anger of God against the evils of this world. Seeing none who will set things right, the God of heaven prepares himself to wage war and execute his perfect justice. He dons the breastplate of his perfectly, righteous conduct and straps the helmet of immortal salvation around his head. He clothes himself with a uniform of vengeance so that all who gaze on him will know that there is no escape from the divine warrior and his supreme justice. Furthermore, Isaiah 11:5 tells us that the divine warrior will wear faithfulness around his waist as a belt. Revelation 19 tells us that he is called the “Word of God,” and that the very words of his mouth will be a sharp two-edged sword that will strike down the nations. Who is this divine warrior? None other than the long-awaited Messiah, the Anointed One—our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And on that last day, the Messiah who is Christ will return in full battle gear and all that is wrong with this world will be righted. Now although our Lord Jesus in the days of his flesh veiled his glorious appearance with human flesh and chose to ride a donkey rather than a white warhorse, he nevertheless wore the divine panoply. All of his words and deeds hung off his belt of truth. His breastplate of righteousness gleamed for those with eyes to see in his perfect and holy conduct. His mud-caked feet were beautifully adorned with Good News of peace that he preached in all the towns of Israel. His head was protected by the might of his Father’s salvation, and his unwavering faith in God shielded him from all the flaming darts of temptation that were launched at him by the devil and the evil men of his generation. Each time he was attacked, he struck back with not with his fists, but with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God as he declared, “It is written…” What wondrous armour this is! Strong enough for the Holy One of heaven to wear! And though the forces of hell unleashed the full weight of their wrath on him from every conceivable angle, not once did the heavenly armour fail! And this armour—this divine armour—is the very armour our God offers to his children who are good soldiers of Christ Jesus. The armour that our loving Master offers is not just the Father’s gift to his people, but the very armour his one and only Son, our brother in redemption, invisibly wore as he faced his earthly trials in the days of his flesh, and that one day, all the earth will see him displaying when he returns in glory. Believer, do you realize that the very armour God offers you is the same armour that the precious Son of God wore as he ran his race on this earth? It is not an untested piece of equipment but one which has been lovingly crafted, tested, and tried. The God who purchased us out of the slave market of sin has not left us as orphans in this world to fend for ourselves but has clothed us in the beautiful righteousness of Christ and also equipped us with divine armour that is strong enough to last the war. It will never wear out, nor will it ever break. And though our battle against our flesh and trials may seem long and wearisome, the armour that our Christ wore is now ours and will never fail us as it never failed Christ. Even though Roman soldiers stripped our Lord of all his clothing, the Son of God was never completely naked or defenseless on that cross, for no amount of human cunning or demonic strength can remove or shatter the divine armour that guards the souls of God’s beloved. Christian, as you wage spiritual war against your disappointments, trials, afflictions, and difficulties in your pilgrimage to your heavenly home, rest in the unparalleled protection that the armour of Christ grants you. Remember that it is not only God’s gift to you, but that the Captain of your salvation proved its matchless strength and power through his life, death and resurrection. Therefore, put on our Lord’s armour, dear Christian—the full of armour of Christ. Article by: Samuel Chua

14 And Elisha said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. 15 But now bring me a musician." And when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him. 16 And he said, "Thus says the LORD, 'I will make this dry streambed full of pools.' 17 For thus says the LORD, 'You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.' (2 Kings 3:14-17 ESV) In the beginning—God created music. Now, although Genesis does not document the creation of music, it also does not detail for us the creation of angels nor Satan’s fall into sin. Yet, we read that when God created the earth, all “the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy…” (Job 38:7) In other words, when the angels saw God’s immense creative power, calling into existence out of nothing the earth, sea, and the sky—they shouted for joy! As the mighty mountains and dry land burst out from the depths of the sea and God sank the foundations of the earth into place, anchoring the continents of our planet into the earth’s mantle, the angels were absolutely awestruck and these “sons of God” burst out into songs of praise though they had never attended a school of music! Now if music is rightly defined as sound ordered in time, it is understandable why music should be a medium for praise to God. Notes in harmony, not dissonance, organized in a rhythmic fashion to create a sense of melody and counterpoint, transcend human language and speak directly to our souls that were made to worship our Creator at the very core of our being. Music by its very nature lifts our spirits and evokes in us a sense of utter wonder that reflects the fact that our God is not a God of confusion but a God of peace and order. Just as the Garden of Eden was meant to be cultivated by man to declare the brilliance and orderliness of God to our eyes, so also is the careful cultivation and arrangement of musical tones meant to declare the brilliance and orderliness of God to our ears. It is no wonder then that the Lord has chosen on a number of occasions to use moments of musical worship for the revelation of his perfectly harmonious and good plans. Here, a curious scene unfolds as Elisha the prophet advises the Israelite king with a word from the Lord—but not before calling for a musician. Now, the Israelites were in serious trouble. They had no water for their army and their very existence as a nation hung by a thread as a Moabite army threatened to obliterate them. But in spite of this very immediate danger, the prophet reacts, not by calling for a counsel of war, nor by offering a sacrifice, but by calling for a song. And although not explicitly stated, given the miraculous response, what was played could only have been a song of worship to God. Now if music is a medium by which the heart pours out its worship and draws near to God, is it not then fitting that the hand of the Lord would reveal God’s merciful plan in response? The Israelites had no hope whatsoever, but God in his mercy observed their deferential posture and chose not to just give life through the water that miraculously appeared, but also used the very same water to bring death to the enemies of Israel. All this because one man prioritized the worship of God. There is a lesson for us here. Believer, in life’s most difficult circumstances, have you ever thought to face your difficulties with a song on your lips? Not just a merry tune to please your ears, but a new song of praise from your heart to God? Even though your circumstances might be dire and you are overwhelmed by grief, the greatness of God, his beauty and his splendor, and his sheer mercy in saving an undeserving sinner like you will never change. Christ died under God’s wrath, so that all that we might face in this life is but a light momentary affliction compared to the cross. Therefore, never forget that crisis is not a time to stop and sit in despondency, but rather, a time to stand and sing to your God and king. And as you make music to the Lord with your heart and lips, may you have the joy at seeing his mercy as he fights for you. He who did not spare his own Son for you will surely do it. Article by: Samuel Chua

[2] It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. [3] Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. [4] The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. (Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 ESV) We live in a culture that is terrified of death, for death represents the utter termination of everything that our carpe diem (seize the day) culture urges us to do. The life of wine and cheese dining, relaxation on white sand beaches, and riveting entertainment at the click of a button has no ability to grapple with death and therefore denies its existence. What we cannot handle, we abstract from our lives to nursing homes and hospices, impoverishing ourselves of biblical wisdom in the process. Death is truly “the end of all mankind,” and we would be fools not to heed God speaking to our hearts through our own mortality. But it is not to say that feasting of any sort is inherently bad. The birth of a child, the marriage of a man and woman, the beginning of a new year of life—these are all causes for celebration! Our Lord himself made wine at Cana and ate with tax collectors and sinners (Matt 11:19). There is a time and place for the festivals of God’s people, for indeed there is a time for every matter under heaven (Ecc 3:1). There is also a time to die, and greater wisdom to be gained at the graveside. The joy of a wedding feast lasts only a moment, but sober reflections at the funeral of a dying saint who has run their race well for the Lord has the silent ability to preach with overwhelming compulsion to those who would never listen to a living voice. The reason that the sadness of a funeral can gladden the Christian heart is because the sorrow of the grave frees the heart from the daily chains of worldly cares. When faced with death, we are reminded that our days are not our own, but written for us in His book. When we see the final rest of a valiant saint who has fought the good fight, we are reminded of the brevity of life and that we should cast our daily burdens upon the Lord who cares for us! And if we are to live a God-honoring life in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for us (Phil 1:22). In the house of feasting, we delight in hearing the laughter of the voices of others. But in the house of mourning, we delight in hearing the voice of God who alone can comfort us in our pain, and reminds us that to live is Christ and to die gain. Therefore, the heart is gladdened in the house of mourning not by ignoring death but by gaining a heavenly perspective. Believer, do you realize that because of your Christ the sting of death has been swallowed up in victory? Do you think daily about how you are running your Christian race? Is your life characterized by a striving to do God’s will each day from the moment you rise in the morning? Is it your joy to pour out your very life as a drink offering in service to your Master? Do you fear death? Or, when you are faced with the end that comes to all mankind, do you hear the voice of Jesus who speaks wisdom to your heart about how to redeem the time, knowing that the days are evil? No runner can run well to win the prize without studying where the finish line is. And no Christian can run well to win the ultimate prize without studying the finish line of death. In the words of C.T. Studd, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” “Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life’s busy way; Bringing conviction to my heart, and from my mind would not depart; Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. Only one life, yes only one, soon will its fleeting hours be done; Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, and stand before His Judgment seat; Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last. …Only one life, yes only one, now let me say, “Thy will be done”; And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”; Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” C.T. Studd (1860-1931)