Showing posts with label presence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label presence. Show all posts

Sep 11, 2010

Salt & Light: His story.

Matthew 5:13-16

"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.

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people
light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

Have you ever wondered what people would say about you when you leave the world?


I have often wondered if my presence in the world would be missed when I left it. Whether I would have made any impact on the lives of others and whether the impact was any good. Would people actually remember and miss me? And what would they remember and miss?

I was talking to a friend yesterday and the topic turned to my late uncle. She told me that she had never cried so much during a memorial service before even though she had only met him twice or three times. It struck me how deeply his life could touch people, even those who did not know him that well.

Even after so long, I am constantly reminded of him. He was one of those people who did not judge anyone, who was always kind and concerned and caring no matter what. He didn't try to be someone he wasn't and he lived his life for the Lord. Even in the final months of his life when his health was getting worse, he still lived for the Lord. He fought his battle hard and never gave up.

We never know when we will leave this earth. So don't take life for granted. Live your life to the fullest. But not just for anyone but for God.

Of course it is extremely difficult to live lives completely for the Lord. But is that any excuse for us to stop trying? One of our speakers Mr Julius Evanson said: just because something is difficult, doesn't mean that it is bad. Not every trial and temptation is a bad thing.

James 1:2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

I just want to encourage us to do our best for the Lord. To live for Him, for no one and nothing else. Always remember that we belong to Him. We have no right to live the way we want to. We do not own our talents, possessions etc. Everything belongs to Him. So, don't ever give up when trials come. Because in the end, it will all be worth it ;D

Have a great week! God bless :)

- Phoebe Lim

Sep 8, 2010

Salt & Light of the world

It is true while the Christian reads the Bible, the Non – Christians read our lives. We as Christians are always called to be salt and light of the world, as this is what God has commanded us to do. Now as we dwell in this topic, what does being Salt and Light means? To first understand, we must know what does salt and light does.

In older days, people do not have the advantage of the electricity, so, they have no light. Life is 12 hours of light, and 12 hours of extreme darkness. So when they are in the dark, they feel afraid, they have a sense of fear. I mean, lets face it, we don’t like being in the dark, simply because the darkness holds a lot of unknowns to us, we might ask, what if a ghost pops out, what if this / that appears? But when Christ has instructed us to be the salt and light of the world, He
has ask us all to be let our lives shine before them. Jesus wants to fill us with His presence, and as light, our lives should provide them the direction to go that is to Jesus Christ, the light that shines, the comfort and the hope that we bring to those who are weary / sad / even to those who are searching for the meaning of life. Think about the people we can encourage today, and while we are at it, we must always keep in check our walk with God. Because as light provides direction, we need to ensure that we are the light, and this can only be done, when we keep a good relationship with God. We need to pray and ask God to give us the consciousness not to live our lives carelessly.


Being the light also depict that we should be transparent to each other. Simply put, we should share our lives with one another and to allow our friendship to go beyond just the physical / emotional areas of our lives, but rather the spiritual part that we cannot see. A good way of doing so might be checking on each other quiet time, and the struggles we face day by day in our lives. In contact with people day by day, we should appear as who we are to the people we see. Simply because, our friendship/ our family with them should be as genuine as Christ has asked us to be, to love one another as Christ has loved us.


Salt has many functions, amongst such is to enhance the taste of the food, to kill bacteria, and to preserve food. In this world of brokenness, are we doing our best to preserve God’s truth and His message of LOVE, are we standing up for the values that God wants us to uphold in our lives? Along these lines, I would like to share that the one thing that truly separates us Christians and others is the fact that we are united in the blood of Jesus Christ, try to think about it, although people can be friends, but their friendship has only relations of friends, but when Christ has called us together, He has called us to be His Children, to be in the family of God, to preserve His truth even in a dying world. Are we doing it? An easy implication to draw from here is that, are we standing up for the right things God has commanded us to do? Are we making a stand for God when He is mocked? An even tough challenge I have to throw to myself too, are we mocking God with our lives because of the things we do sometimes? Are we enhancing and preserving what God wants us to?

Being Salt and Light also does not necessarily be to the world, we should also be aware that we are to be salt and light to the Christians we come into contact our lives. Because a true salt / a true light is one who allows God to be at work in their lives. We as Christians are called to be modest in our approach, to be sincere in our actions. Jesus has called us to be the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden. Being the salt and light is ultimately important because that is the essence and the core of being a Christian, because only by being transformed and filled by the Holy Spirit, we can have the fruit of the Spirit, and when we have these attributes, only can we be Salt and Light to the world, only then, our testimony about Jesus Christ and His work on the cross will be effective.

We should always thank God for choosing us into His Presence, while we live and breathe, may Our Lives be an offering to The LORD.

- John Khor

Images taken from:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2008/apr/14/betweenarockandahardplac
http://www.emmanuelnazarene.com/?p=252