Listen to People, O Government

1 Kings 12:1-15 (New International Version, ©2011)

1 Kings 12

Israel Rebels Against Rehoboam

¹ Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had gone there to make him king. ² When Jeroboam son of Nebat heard this (he was still in Egypt, where he had fled from King Solomon), he returned from^[a] Egypt.³ So they sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly of Israel went to Rehoboam and said to him:⁴ “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”

 ⁵ Rehoboam answered, “Go away for three days and then come back to me.” So the people went away.

 ⁶ Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked.

 ⁷ They replied, “If today you will be a servant to these people and serve them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.”

 ⁸ But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. ⁹ He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”

 ¹⁰ The young men who had grown up with him replied, “These people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. ¹¹ My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.’”

 ¹² Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” ¹³ The king answered the people harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, ¹⁴ he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” ¹⁵ So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

Israel rebelled against King Rehoboam because he not only did not listen to the counsel of the elders but also his people. As I pray for the government of Singapore to be truly leading under the Lordship of Christ, I also hope that it will heed the voice of the people before it is too late. May LORD Jesus watch over the results of the Singapore’s Polling Day on May 7.

Chee's Hor Fun Mee

Time - A Finite Resource

Living in a time and space dimension as human beings, time is a resource and also a common asset to every single one of us. Every one of us is given 24 hours each day and it is up to individuals to use it.

Having attended some time management courses earlier part of my life, I learnt about the analogy of managing time like money. Every one is like given a new load of $24 each day. It really depends how you will like to spend this $24. How much are you willing to invest on certain things like on Facebook, Television programs and even mandatory stuffs like eating and sleeping? For example, I am probably likely to spend thirty minutes of my life presenting this argument to you.

Every morning, I am reminded of God’s Mercy and Grace again. Every time I wake up, I am given yet another day of His Grace and thankful for another day of opportunity for my family to come into knowledge of Jesus Christ. However, I do not know when I will not be given this day of Grace. I really do not know when the curtain of this stage will be drawn and Jesus is back to judge mankind. I am really glad that Jesus waited for me to know Him and I am praying real hard that He will also give this opportunity to my family to know Him too.

If you are reading this post and thinking about getting to know more about Jesus Christ, please feel free to logon to this Global Media Outreach website: http://www.jesus2020.com/. You can also email me if you will like to correspond with me on a one to one basis. I pray that as you wake up each day; know that you are presented with another valuable resource to get to know the Savior. Please do not waste this resource. Invest this resource into finding out more about Jesus Christ today.

The Sign of Earthquakes

Matthew 24

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

 ¹ Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. ² “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

 ³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

 ⁴ Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of birth pains.

   ⁹ “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. ¹⁰ At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

   ¹⁵ “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’^[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. ¹⁸ Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. ¹⁹ How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ²⁰ Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.

   ²² “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. ²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.

   ²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.  Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;  the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^[b]

   ³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth^[c] will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.^[d] 31And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

   ³² “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it^[e] is near, right at the door. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

The Day and Hour Unknown

    ³⁶ “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[f] but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

   ⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

   ⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷ Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ ⁴⁹ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰ The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. ⁵¹ He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So… excuse me, where do you see an exact date for Jesus’ return? Please just stay faithful in your walk with Him.

Pray for Work-Life Balance

Some prayer pointers from "Pray for Singapore"

Singaporeans have the longest working hours in the world, beating the South Koreans who previously held the top position.

According to the Singapore Census of Population 2010, a total of 579,884 persons (below 65 years old) worked at least 50 hours. This is about 31 per cent of all workers in Singapore:

Hours worked Number of workers (below 65 years old)

50 – 54 228,856

55 – 59 73,761

60 – 64 134,716

65 hours and over 142,551

Hours worked Number of workers (65 years old and above)

50 – 54 hours 3,553

55 – 59 hours 1,931

60 – 64 hours 2,609

65 hours and over 4,709

Those working for less than S$500: 

Hours worked Number of workers

40 – 44 hours 4,023

45 –49 hours 1,688

50 – 54 hours 1,329

55 – 59 hours 849

60 – 64 hours 1,095

65 hours & over 2,289

* Pray for policies that will help promote work-life balance.

* Pray for policies that weigh quality of life against economic pursuit.

* Pray for mental health of workers.

* Pray for health state of the workforce; that health would not be compromised.

* Pray for wisdom among state leaders to know how to increase productivity and not work hours.

Watch

Matthew 25:1-13

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

 1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

   6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

   7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

   9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

   10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

   11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

   12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

   13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

This parable has constantly reminded me that because I do not know when the day or the hour will be for Jesus to be back, I need to keep watch. Going into this deeper, it is not up to me to figure out the exact day or the hour but my utmost responsibilities are to be continue to stay faithful to my LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ, trusting in Him, obeying Him and waiting upon Him. I am His ambassador and being so, it is my duty to be living out the Gospel which He paid using His Blood and do my part in fulfilling the Great Commission!

i am older... again...