Sunday, 03 May 2015
Rev. Daniel Poon
May is nearly half year gone, so we must acknowledge that time passes very fast, and we have to seize the day. For the last two weeks, we have been talking about living a life of blessings, and becoming blessings to others.
“And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him… And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” (Luke 2:40,52)
1. Health
From the life of Jesus, we learnt that being physical healthy is very important, and Rev. Daniel reminded us that God has already instructed us to look after ourselves in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”
Sometimes Christians can focus too much on the spiritual life and forget that God also wants us to have a healthy body. Our body is the temple of God because God wants to live inside us. So we must ensure that God’s temple is in good condition, just like when people welcome their guests, they would clean their houses nicely.
2. Spiritual Life
The Spiritual Life is about our internal lives. As a human being, we have 3 parts: body (visible), soul and mind, and taking care of our spiritual life is taking care of our soul.
a. The Word of God – we need to have God’s words to feed us everyday, because it directs our lives and gives us strength in the spirit.
b. Prayer – only prayers can bring joy and peace, and through praying, we build up a relationship with God.
c. Positive Friends – “walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.” (Proverbs 13:20)
3. Wisdom
Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. (Ecclesiastes 7:12)
In order to maintain a healthy body and a good spiritual life, we need wisdom. Jesus went to temple, for he wanted to get wisdom, and it’s just like how we came to church to get wisdom from God.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
When we invest money in something, we need to know when is the right time to do so. Wisdom can help us to do the right thing at the right time. It keeps us safe. The world tells us to follow fashion, but the truth is, Jesus is a fashion for us. We don’t need to worry about how people look at us or think about us. Only people who are lack of confidence look at mirrors very often. If we are healthy persons, we are strong and know that God has made us the best.
Wisdom is also meant “knowledge”. We also need to invest our time in reading the Bible, having fellowship, going to prayer meetings, etc. God created us to be a light and salt in this world, and this is the purpose of us in this world.
4. Inter-Personal Relationship
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38
Jesus was a kind person. Wherever he went, he always has the best interest for people around Him. Relationship is defined as people use same language to communicate. When we said we have a relationship, it should work from both ways and not only one way.
What is a successful internal life? When you need someone to pray for you, then someone will pray for you. So Bible tells us don’t stop fellowship. Jesus also taught us if two or three persons pray together, he will be with us. God wants use us to bless others. If you don’t have a good relationship with others, how can you preach gospel to people? Jesus already set a wonderful model for us.