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Day 320: Psalm 119:129-136, Proverbs 16:25-27, Luke 10, Ezekiel 12-13 Seek God Today God, our Heavenly Father longs to know us and be known by us. However, people have been behaving and acting in such a way that God is ignored and forgotten. In just these 2 chapters of Ezekiel, the phrase, "then they shall know that I am the Lord" was repeated 7 times. It is as if God needs to "shout" to bring the people's attention back to Him. For instance, He needed to scatter the Israelites and dispersed them throughout the countries (v15);  God's hand was against the false prophets (13v9) and the wall that were plastered with untempered mortar was brought down to the ground (13v14). My prayer and hope is that God does not need to resort to these method to bring us back to Him. May we willingly and enthusiastically return to God to seek Him and know Him. Let us pray as Hezekiah prayed, saying, ‘May the Lord, who is good, pardon everyone  who sets their heart on see

Day 319: Psalm 119:111-118, Proverbs 16:22-24, Luke 9, Ezekiel 10-11 Rend Your Heart To Jesus NOW God spoke to Ezekiel that although God had scattered the Israelites, eventually He will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them, take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh that they may walk in His statutes and keep His judgments and do them. They shall be His people and He will be their God. But as  for  those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, God will recompense their deeds on their own heads (Ezekiel 11:19-21). This shows God's loving-kindness, mercy, goodness, grace and compassion on His people at all times. There are at least 188 references of God's compassion in the Bible. However, God wants our HEARTS TO BE RENDERED TO HIM, just as stated in Joel 2:13 "..rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger,

Day 318: Psalm 119:113-110, Proverbs 16:19-21, Luke 8, Ezekiel 8-9 Take Every God's Words as Spoken To Us A story was told of a wealthy Chinese businessman visited England and was fascinated by a powerful microscope. So he bought one and thoroughly enjoyed using it until one day when he looked at some rice that he was planning to eat for dinner. To his shock, he saw tiny living creatures crawling in it. He didn’t know what to do, since rice was a staple of his diet. Finally, in frustration, he smashed his microscope to bits. It had revealed something distasteful to him, so he destroyed the source of the discovery! God's Words are meant to illumine God's ways to us (Luke 18:16) and to expose the sinfulness of the human heart (verse 17). This explains why some reject God's Words and hide from the Light in order not to expose the foulness of our human heart. Let us take heed not to run away from God's Words! The Puritan pastor, Thomas Watson, said concerning the S

Day 316: Psalm 119:97-104, Proverbs 16:13-15, Luke 6, Ezekiel 4-5 Do What God Says Almost 30 years ago, when I was still a new believer, I took to heart the verse in Luke 6:46 which says, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?.." I made it a point to doubly checked, especially during weekly Communion time, as to what further things that I had not done according to what my Lord Jesus had said. I do not want to receive a reply from Jesus that says, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ go away..I do not know you" (Matthew 7:23).  Let us take heart and take heed to ensure we do what the Lord says so that we will be like a house that is built on a firm foundation on the rock as opposed to a house with no foundation. When strong wind comes, the house will fall and the ruin of the house will be great. Let us be like the Psalmist in Psalm 119:100-101 who says, "Because I keep Your precepts, I have restraine

Day 317: Psalm 119:105-112, Proverbs 16:16-18, Luke 7, Ezekiel 6-7 Know How Much You Have Been Forgiven! Ever heard of the question, chicken or egg first? As Christians, the answer is simple. In Genesis, the 1 st book in the Bible, clearly stated that God created living creatures according to their kinds and the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground on the 6th day. Hence, chicken came first! In today's reading of Luke 7, we read of a woman who loved Jesus so much that she gave her best, an alabaster jar of perfume to Jesus. Jesus commended her by saying that her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little (verse 47). It is because she realised her MANY sins had been forgiven, she loved MORE. We do need to create our love for Jesus. START realising what wretched poor sinners we were and how all those terrible, "dirty" sins of ours were ALL forgiven when we repented and put our faith in our d

Day 315: Psalm 119:89-96, Proverbs 16:10-12, Luke 5, Ezekiel 2-3 We are Our Brothers and Sisters' Keepers Ezekiel 3:20 says, "When a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity..he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand." From this verse, it is clear that when believers who are righteous because of what Jesus has done for them on the Cross, commit sins and do not repent, they shall die. If these believers are not warned, those who have the opportunity to do so but fail to warn, are equally liable. This sends a serious warning to all believers to repent once a realisation of sins are detected. On the other hand, warn and restore a brother or sister whom we know are sinning against God (Galatians 6:1). We are indeed our brothers and sisters' keepers! https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC (please click this link

Day 314: Psalm 119:81-88, Proverbs 16:7-9, Luke 4, Lamentations 5-6 Be Cautious From today's reading of Luke, we can learn 3 things how temptations come about. 1. Temptations occur to everyone even to those who are spiritual. 2. The devil took the opportunity when we are weak, just as when Jesus was hungry after 40 days of not eating anything. It means we have to be more alert when we are tired or busy. 3. The devil attacked by saying to Jesus which means by words. Similarly, the devil put thoughts in our mind. We have to be cautious of what enter our mind, hence the exhortation by Apostle Paul to wear the helmet of salvation to protect our mind (Ephesians 6:17). At the same time, we must fill our mind with the Word of God on a DAILY basis as our adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). And on a weekly basis, we must go to church to listen to sermon. Today, let us just do these! https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC (please c

Day 313: Psalm 119:73-80, Proverbs 16:4-6, Luke 3, Lamentations 3-4 God Is Faithful, Be Faithful In today's Psalm, the Psalmist said this, "I know, O Lord , that Your judgments are right, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted me." The Psalmist recognised that the affliction that he suffered was out of God's right judgment and God's faithfulness. Yes, through the Lord ’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not, they  are new every morning. Great is God's faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23). God is faithful to keep us and preserve us and ensure that we go back to Him even though we may have to suffer. He is not willing to let us go and depart from Him. So, let us think twice before we sin! Is it worth our while to go through the affliction when we can live a victorious and trimphant life in obedience to Christ Jesus? But thanks be to God, who IN Christ always leads us in triumphal procession (2 Corinthians 2:14). https://twitter.

Day 312:Psalm 119:65-72; Proverbs 16:1-3; Luke 2, Lamentations 1-2 Be The Mouthpiece It is coming to the end of November and soon it is December. More than 2000 years ago, the angels appeared to a group of shepherd and said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. The shepherds who received the good tidings, travelled and MADE KNOWN what were told to them. With Christmas just round the corner, may we Christians, who are so blessed to receive the Good News, be the mouthpiece to make known the reason for Christma

Day 312:Psalm 119:65-72; Proverbs 16:1-3; Luke 2, Lamentations 1-2 Be The Mouthpiece It is coming to the end of November and soon it is December. More than 2000 years ago, the angels appeared to a group of shepherd and said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. The shepherds who received the good tidings, travelled and MADE KNOWN what were told to them. With Christmas just round the corner, may we Christians, who are so blessed to receive the Good News, be the mouthpiece to make known the reason for Christma

Day 311: Psalm 119:57-64; Proverbs 15:31-33, Luke 1, Jeremiah 51-52 Do Not Arouse the Anger of the Lord Yesterday, we read of how we must have faith to please God. Today, we saw two real incidents that emphasized this point. According to Luke 1:6, Zacharias and Elizabeth were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Wow! They were termed blameless. But, when the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John", he did not believe. The results? The angel said, "behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” On the other incident, when angel Gabriel pronounced to Mary, "behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus, after some clarifications,  Mar

Day 310: Psalm 119:49-56; Proverbs 15:28-30; Mark 16; Jeremiah 49-50 Pray For Faithfulness We know that without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).  In fact, in today's reading in Mark 16:14, we saw our dear Resurrected Lord rebuked the Eleven disciples' unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. Actually, it is not difficult to understand why only through faith, we are able to please God. Which parents on earth will be happy when their own children do not trust them and keep on doubting their parents' love?  David Wilkerson, an evangelist, best known for his book, "The Cross and the Switchblade" once said, “Likewise today, some Christians are content to merely exist until they die. They don’t want to risk anything, to believe God, to grow or mature. They refuse to believe his Word, and have become hardened in their unbelief. Now they’re living just to die.” May we like Mother Tere

Day 309: Psalm 119:41-48; Proverbs 15:25-27; Mark 15, Jeremiah 47-48 Be Watchful & Sober According to BBC news, 129 people were killed, 352 injured and 99 in critical condition following a series of co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris. We mourn for them. We are sad. We are angry. We ask why such things were done by human beings against other human beings.  In today's reading of Jeremiah 48:8, the Lord has spoken, "...and the plunderer shall come against every city; No one shall escape. The valley also shall perish, And the plain shall be destroyed". We know that God is in control of every city. In 1 Thessalonians 5:3-11, Apostle Paul exhorted us that when mojority people are saying “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But we, Christians are not in darkness, so that this Day should NOT overtake us as a thief. We are all sons and daughters of light and children of the day. We

Day 307: Psalm 119:25-32, Proverbs 15:19-21, Mark 13, Jeremiah 43-44 Bible Is An Eternal Treasure At times, we may not have the time to read the Bible. But, Jesus said in Mark 13:30-31 that even heaven and earth will pass away, but God's Words will by no means pass away. This shows how important God's Words are! Imagine heaven and earth can pass away BUT God's Words shall remain. Further, in today's Old Testament reading in Jeremiah 44:29, it says, "This shall  be a sign to you,’ says the Lord , ‘that I will punish you in this place, that you may know that My words will surely stand against you for adversity.’" God's Words will surely stand until eternity! If God's Words shall remain for eternity, I want to spend my time and effort to marvel, meditate and memorize them as they will be my possessions for eternity. Don't you want to spend your time and effort for this eternal and everlasting treasure? https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC (please click

Day 305: Psalm 119:9-16, Proverbs 15:13-15, Mark 11, Jeremiah 39-40 Take Heed : God's Word CLEANSES Us Yesterday,  my beloved daughter became impatient and blurted some unpleasant words. Usually, she would seek for forgiveness but this time she hesitated, and I asked her why. She said what if she lose her temper and repeat the same offence? I guess many Christians do feel the same way. Seek forgiveness from God and then make the same mistakes again and hence, they feel like being hypocrites. The answer I gave my daughter was exactly in today's reading of Psalm, "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You." The only way we might not sin against God is to KEEP ON reading God's Word, meditate, memorize and heed His Word. No short cuts! https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC (please cl

Day 306: Psalm 119:17-24, Proverbs 15:16-18, Mark 12, Jeremiah 41-42 Jealously Guard Unity! Yesterday, when a client came and asked me to draft a settlement agreement, it was a usual course of business. However, when I was subsequently given the particulars of the parties, I was shock to know that all of them were siblings. My client was willing to pay a substantial amount as a settlement to avoid the dispute to be brought to court. On one hand, I felt bad that he had to pay so much money, on the other hand, I praised him for the sacrifice he made just to ensure peace in the family. How true today's proverbs that say, "Better is a little with the fear of the Lord , Than great treasure with trouble. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, Than a fatted calf with hatred." In fact, Jesus prayed for His disciples that they all may be one... that the world may believe that Our Heavenly Father sent Jesus....and have loved them as the Father have loved Jesus. (John 17:21

Day 304: Psalm 119:1-8, Proverbs 15:10-12, Mark 10, Jeremiah 37-38 Obey God So That It Shall Be Well With You In Jeremiah 38:17-20, we read of the account whereby prophet Jeremiah revealed to King Zedekiah to surrender to the king of Babylon in order to save his life and soul and that the city would not be burned with fire. King Zedekiah reply was “I am afraid of the Jews who have defected to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand, and they abuse me.” Despite the assurance from Jeremiah who said, “They shall not deliver you. Please, obey the voice of the Lord which I speak to you. So it shall be well with you, and your soul shall live". This shows that King Zedekiah was afraid of men as opposed to fear God. History told us that King Zedekiah was the last king of Judah and the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes in Riblah and killed all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah’s eyes and bound him with bronze fetters to carry him o

Day 303: Psalm 118, Proverbs 15:7-9, Mark 9, Jeremiah 35-36 Be Faithful Ambassador for Christ In Mark 9:41-42, it says, "For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea." This shows the IMPORTANCE and SERIOUSNESS of bearing Christ's Name. Whatever that we do, Christ's Name must be glorified and people must not be stumbled. We are called to be ambassadors for Christ and as faithful ambassadors for Christ, we ought to bring health, refreshment, and comfort to the people with whom we come into contact (Proverbs 13:17). Let us pray that God will enable us to be the Faithful Ambassodors for Christ at all times, lifting high and exalting the Name of Jesus, which is above every name, tha

Day 302: Psalm 117, Proverbs 15:4-6, Mark 8, Jeremiah 33-34 Dial 333 Ever since the invention of telephone by Graham Bell, the world of technology on telecommunications has gone beyond the wildest dream of the inventor. In fact, today, the New York Times takes a step into virtual reality. NYT VR is a mobile app that can be used — along with your headphones and optionally a cardboard viewing device — to simulate richly immersive scenes from across the globe. There is still one phone device that remains the same yesterday, today and forever and it remains the most powerful phone device ever invented. That phone device is the availabilty of our King of kings and Lord of lords who will never sleep nor slumber and is always available to listen and to answer that call of yours. Just dial Jeremiah 33:3 that says, ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ Have you used this most incredible phone device? Yes, our Almighy God is just a

Day 301: Psalm 116, Proverbs 14:37-39, Mark 7, Jeremiah 31-32 We Are Empowered & Enabled By Grace In Jeremiah 31:33-34, the Lord says: "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord ,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord . For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” This shows the ultimate goal of God is for us to love and obey God willingly and cheerfully from the bottom of our hearts. In fact, this is also the desire of every parent. We want to see our children grow up to love and obey the Lord, respect us, not outwardly to put up a show but sincerely and very willingly on their own accord.  We need the Gospel to help us: the grace of regeneration whereby our hearts are changed and we are empowered and enabled to carry out t

Day 300: Psalm 115, Proverbs 14:34-36, Mark 6, Jeremiah 29-30 Go And Get Rest We hear most people say that they are busy to the extend that they do not have time to rest or eat.  In Mark 6:31-32, we read an account where Jesus' disciples were busy that they did not even have time to eat. Jesus said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. Rest is CRUCIAL. Medically, it is proven that sleep and metabolism are controlled by the same area of the brain. Sleep releases hormones that control appetite. Researchers at the University of Chicago found that dieters who were well rested lost more fat. A study found that C-reactive protein, which is associated with heart attack risk, was higher in people who got six or fewer hours of sleep a night. In Exodus 20: 8-11, even God Himself rested after He completed His work in 6 days. Henceforth, with school holidays coming, plan some rest for your b

Day 298: Psalm 113, Proverbs 14:28-30, Mark 4, Jeremiah 25-26 Let Us Bear Fruit Yesterday, God has reminded us to be God-fearing people. In fact, Psalm 145:19 says that God will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him and He also will hear their cry and save them. In today's reading in Mark 4, the Parable of the Sower states that the seeds that are sown on good ground are those who hear the word, accept it, and BEAR FRUIT up to thirtyfold or sixty or some a hundredfold. The subsequent parables which are Parable of the Growing Seeds and Mustard Seeds have the similarity of expecting the seeds to grow into respectively,  ripen grains and trees with branches that can give shade to birds. Henceforth, as God-fearing people, let us heed God's command to BEAR FRUIT by sharing to others and doing our parts to see growth in the lives of others. https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC

Day 299: Psalm 114, Proverbs 14:31-33, Mark 5, Jeremiah 27-28 Let Us Be Ready When we read Bible, we will know God better. We will know the Author's ways of dealing, His likes and what displeases Him etc. In Jeremiah 27:6-8, God said that Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon was His servant and God had given the beasts of the field to serve him. Further, if the nation and kingdom which would not serve Nebuchadnezzar, that nation God would punish. What do we say after knowing this? Our God IS IN CHARGE! History is truly HIS-stories. David A. Noebel said in his book, "Understanding the Times: The Collision of Today’s Competing Worldviews (Rev 2nd ed), that "For Christians, history is moving toward a specific climax—the Day of Judgment (Acts 17:31; Romans 2:11–16)...Even at this very moment, God is moving human history closer to that End." Let us be ready at all times! https://twitter.com/EstherOngHC