Punishment to Adam & Eve

(Genesis 3:16-19)
To the woman he said, 'I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.'
And to the man he said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, "You shall not eat of it", cursed is the ground because of you; in toll you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Reflection:
Yes, the bible answer my question. I was wondering why women have to go thru the pain in labour? I am sure some men ask too why they have to work and the wife stay at home? Look at the answers from the scripture above.
Of course in modern days, most of the things changed like men became househusband and woman is at work. Look at the ancient times, the man has more power and rule over woman; man is the breadwinner and woman is the housewife.
Adam & Eve has spoilt the privilege to have free food, and this makes sense that "there is no free lunch". You got to work for it and earn it. And we must die! No eternal life on earth.
But there is a free redemption from Christ. God sent his only son to free us from sins and open the gate of God's house for us to go back to him. Now we know where and how did we comes from and where we will be going after we die.

Let us thank God for revealing the truth and guides us back to him and give us life. May he protects us always from dangers and temptations. Amen

What is faith

What is faith

(Hebrew 11:1-3)
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible. Read more Hebrew 11:4-39: The examples of Abel, Enoch and Noah The faith of Abraham The faith of Moses The faith of Other Israelite Heroes

Reflection:
Have you seen any successful person have no faith at all? Everyone have faith and it depends where they put their faith into. The motivational/ new age books will tell you to put your faith in yourself and believe in yourself. But how does one have confident to say what happens tomorrow when they have no control to the future? In the end, every successful person, there are God's blessings.

As the scripture said, 'what is seen was made from things that are not visible'. God is invisible, but the blessings and graces are clear to us when things come our way. Peace is the greatest blessing.

Faith is important for every person to live a life. Without faith there is no hope, without hope there is no life. People who have no faith are insecure and lost especially in their difficult times. 'Worlds were prepared by word of God' if we have faith and follow Him. Faith brings trust and obedience; and these two values lead us to have follow Him for life guidance.

Let us thank God for the gift of faith and pray that everyone receives the gift of faith so that we can have hope and live in truth. Amen.

Responsible Use of Wealth

(Sirach: 14:3-19)
It isn't right for someone who is selfish to be rich. What use is money to a stingy person? If you deny yourself in order to accumulate wealth, you are only accumulating it for someone else. Others will use your riches to live in luxury. How can you be generous with others if you are stingy with yourself, if you are not willing to enjoy your own wealth? No one is worse off than someone who is stingy with himself; it is sin that brings its own punishment. When such a person does something good, it is only by accident; his selfishness will sooner or later be evident.
A selfish person is evil; he turns his back on people's needs and is never satisfied with what he has. Greed will shrivel up a person's soul. Some people are too stingy to put bread on their own table. My child, treat yourself as well as you can, and bring worthy offerings to the Lord.

Remember that death is coming for you some day, and you havent been told when that will be. Before that day comes, be kind to your friends; be as generous as you can. Don't deny yourself a single day's happiness. If there is something you want to do and it is lawful, go ahead! Some day all that you worked for will be divided up and given to others. So be generous; but also be willing to receive from others.
Enjoy yourself, for you will not find any pleasures in the world of the dead. The human body wears out like a piece of clothing. The ancient law decrees that we must die. Human beings are like leaves on a spreading tree. New growth takes the place of the fallen leaves; while some of us die, others are being born. Everything made by human hands will decay and perish, along with the person who made it.

Reflection:
Most of us know that a stingy or selfish person are usually refers to someone who are only willing to spend on themselves rather than others. But the scripture here talks about "miser"(someone who has strong wish to have money and hates to spend it).

To sum up the above, God advise us to:
1) Don't be too money minded
2) Love yourself
3) Be generous to others too
4) Spend according to your means
5) Must appreciate God's gift

Let us thank God for the wealth that he has blessed us with and pray for those who suffer and trapped with their money business. Amen.

Concerning Children

Concerning Children

(Sirach 30:7-13)
Whoever spoils his son will bind up his wounds, and will suffer heartache at every cry.
An unbroken horse turns out stubborn, and unchecked son turns out headstrong.
Pamper a child and he will terrorize you; play with him and he will grieve you.
Do not laugh with him or you will have sorrow with him, and in the end you will gnash your teeth.
Give him no freedom in his youth, and do not ignore his errors.
Bow down his neck in his youth and beat his sides while he is young, or else he will become stubborn and disobey you, and you will have sorrow of soul from him.
Discipline your son and make his yoke heavy, so that you may not be offended by his shamelessness.

Reflection:
Spank or not to spank? There are many parenting books which can gives different approach or advice on how to teach and discipline a child. Some advice parents be a friend to the child and talk over it but some advice to impose strict discipline and rules. But what does God says? Clearly, the scriptures says we must discipline a child and has warns us what if we dont. Disciplining is a very stressful and difficult task especially when you are guarding the cute little ones who look so innocent and naive. Children is not our property but God's property. They are gift from God which put under our guardian on earth. Therefore, we must appreciate and love them. God has spoke to us through scripture concerning child. Let us pray and ask God to guide us to be a good parent and gives us the wisdom for our day to day lives because He is our heavenly father. Amen.

Stand in Awe before God

Stand in AWE before God (Ecclesiastes 3:13-15) Moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. Reflection: Again, here clearly says that all the pleasures are comes from God and all should stand in awe before Him. Not only we need to be grateful, we should stand in AWE because he is our heavenly Father who provide us everything. I myself depends God to guide me on my day to day life as he is my heavenly father, my boss, my friend and my saviour. May you always find happiness in the Lord. Amen

Always be Grateful

(Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?

Reflection:
Good food, travelling, pleasures are all human being wanted or some are working hard for it. You may think that all these are earned with their own hardwork and efforts. But have you thought that how are all these opportunity comes to you? It is God's grace to us. Think of others that have no opportunity to even think of pleasures, some are working so hard just to feed themselves. Think of the refugees, they are victims no choice for them. The bible reminds us that everything we have, we enjoyed comes from God. Let us give thanks to the Lord everyday for everything that he has given us, food, Job, house, family, friends...etc. Be grateful! Amen

Ask in God's will

(James 4:3)
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

(Jeremiah 29:11-14)
For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.

Reflection:
Sometimes we may wonder why God is not answering our prayers and will start to lose faith. But everything is God's will and not according to our will. The verses clearly stated, He will know what is best for us and provides us the best. Let us pray for God's guidance and listen to him and seek with all our hearts. Amen

Don't doubt but ask in Faith

(James 1:5-8)
If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives you all generously and ungrudgingly and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind, for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Reflection:
If we completely trust God, we will never in doubt of our prayers, God always listens to us. If it is God's will and is good for us, definitely He will answer our prayers. When in doubt, our relationship with God are not strong since there is no mutual trust. Let us trust in the Lord, surrender to him your life and ask in faith. Amen

Consider nothing but Joy

(James 1:2-4)
My brothers & sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider nothing but joy because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complex, lacking in nothing.

Reflection:
Nothing is impossible with God. If you know God who is so loving and merciful, He will walk with us. He doesnt hold our hands but he carry us on his back to walk with us. Jesus carry all our sorrows, sufferings and pains. He already sacrifies it on the cross for us. We just need to surrender to him. Let us, open our heart to allow God to mould us into a beautiful creature as he willed. Amen