Jangan Menipu Diri Sendiri (Renungan tentang 1 Yahya 1:8-9)

Ada orang yang memanggil diri mereka ‘Kristian’ tidak pernah atau mahu meninggalkan dosa mereka. Mereka terus hidup dalam dosa seperti tiada apa-apa yang berlaku. Kepada orang seperti mereka inilah Rasul Yahya menulis: “Sekiranya kita mengatakan bahawa kita tidak berdosa, ertinya kita menipu diri kita sendiri dan kebenaran tidak ada di dalam diri kita” (1 Yahya 1:8, KSZI, Kitab Suci Zabur dan Injil)

Alkitab ada mengatakan bahawa: “[Semua] manusia berdosa dan tidak dapat mencapai kemuliaan Allah” (Rom 3:23). Dosa, apa itu dosa? tanya mereka. Mereka tidak melihat dan sedar akan dosa mereka. Masalahnya bukan kerana mereka berpendapat bahawa mereka sangat jahat untuk diselamatkan, tetapi kerana mereka menyangka bahawa mereka sangat baik untuk meminta penyelamatan dari Allah. Kebanyakkan mereka mungkin tidak akan masuk penjara sepanjang hidup mereka, tetapi ‘kebaikan’ mereka tidak cukup untuk menjauhkan mereka dari hukum dosa, iaitu neraka.

Saya berfikir, bagaimana seseorang boleh menjadi sangat buta akan dosa dia? Jawapannya ialah, dia tidak pernah melihat realiti diri yang sebenar melalui “cahaya” kekudusan Allah (1 Yahya 1:5-7). Selagi dia tidak datang kepada-Nya, selagi itulah dia tidak dapat melihat kebenaran itu. Orang seperti ini hanya akan dan suka membandingkan diri dengan orang lain yang secara luarannya lebih jahat daripada dirinya. Oleh itu dia berpendapat bahawa dia layak berdiri dihadapan Allah. Menyangka bahawa dirinya sudah menerima keselamatan, padahal dia masih jauh dari kebenaran. Kekudusan Allah tidak pernah terlintas dalam fikirannya.

Tiada seorang pun yang boleh diselamatkan dari dosa kecuali mereka terlebih dahulu sedar bahawa mereka ialah seorang pendosa dan harus diselamatkan. Isa al-Masih mati bagi orang berdosa bukan bagi orang yang menganggap dirinya benar. Hanya “darah Isa, Putera-Nya, menyucikan kita daripada segala dosa” (1 Yahya 1:7). Mereka yang mengaku bahawa dia seorang yang berdosa terhadap Allah dan menerima Isa al-Masih sebagai Penyelamat akan disucikan-Nya. Rasul Yahya menulis: “Tetapi jika kita mengakui dosa kita kepada Allah, Dia akan menepati janji-Nya dan berlaku adil. Dia akan mengampunkan dosa kita dan menyucikan kita daripada segala kesalahan” (1 Yahya 1:9, KSZI).  

Orang Kristian sebenar yang berjalan dalam cahaya tahu bahawa apabila mereka melakukan dosa mereka akan terus meminta pengampunan dari Allah dan dia akan menyucikan mereka. Sedar bahawa jika kita benar-benar seorang yang percaya kepada Isa al-Masih, kita pasti akan mendapat pengampunan dari-Nya apabila kita mengakui dosa kita. Apabila kita “hidup dalam keakraban dengan Bapa dan Putera-Nya Isa al-Masih” (1:4), ini tidak bermaksud kita akan menjadi seorang yang sempurna dan tidak akan jatuh dalam kegelapan sepanjang hidup kita. Tetapi, kita akan lebih cepat untuk mengakui dosa kita dan cepat bertindak apabila kita berada dalam pencubaan dan bangun semula melalui pertolongan Roh Kudus yang ada di dalam hidup kita. Oleh itu, orang Kristian walauapapun keadaan mereka, mereka tetap bersukacita kerana melalui Isa mereka benar dihadapan Allah.

Terima kasih Isa al-Masih. Amin.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus is Worth Losing Everything For.

In Matthew 13:44 Jesus tells his disciples, “The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

I love this picture. Imagine walking in a field and stumbling upon a treasure that is more valuable than anything else you could work for or find in this life. It is more valuable than all you have now or will ever have in the future. You look around and notice that no one else realises the treasure is here, so you cover it up quickly and walk away, pretending you haven’t seen anything. You go into town and begin to sell off all your possessions to have enough money to buy that field. The world thinks you’re crazy.

“What are you thinking?” your friends and family ask you.

You tell them, “I’m buying that field over there.”

They look at you in disbelief. “That’s foolish,” they say. “Why are you giving away everything you have to buy that field?”

You respond, “I have a hunch,” and you smile to yourself as you walk away. You smile because you know that in the end any risk that others perceive is nothing compared to the reward you will receive. So with joy – with joy! – you sell it all. Why? Because you have found something worth losing everything else for.

This is the picture of Jesus in the gospel. He is something – someone – worth losing everything for. When we really believe this, then risking everything we are and everything we have, to know and obey Christ is no longer a matter of sacrifice. It’s just common sense. To let go of the pursuits, possessions, pleasures, safety, and security of this world in order to follow Jesus wherever he leads, not matter what it costs, is not sacrificial as much as it is smart. In the words of Jim Elliot, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

[Taken from David Platt forward for John Piper’s Risk is Right: Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It (Crossway: Wheaton, Illinois, 2013) page 9-10.]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Both Jesus and Criss Angel walks on the Water, but the One is the Lord of Miracle and the Other is only a Magician (Reflection on Mark 6:45-52)

After the miraculous feeding of the multitude, Jesus “made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida, on the other side of the lake, while he sent the crowd away” (Mark 6:45, GNB). I wonder, what was the reason behind this sudden decision? Apostle John gives the answer: Jesus wants to avoid the people who intended to take him by force and make him a king (John 6:15). Jesus is not like any other religious leaders. We cannot “make” him a King, he “is” the King. The people’s idea of Jesus is totally wrong because they were desperate and need king to overthrown the Roman government, a political and military leader king. But that is not what Jesus came to do. So Jesus hurried his disciples away to prevent them from being influenced by this mistaken enthusiasm. I think if Jesus “went away to a hill to pray” (6:46), withdrew himself for an extended time of solitary prayer was an indication of how seriously he viewed the situation.

“When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, while Jesus was alone on land. He saw that his disciples were straining at the oars, because they were rowing against the wind; so sometime between three and six o'clock in the morning he came to them, walking on the water. He was going to pass them by, but they saw him walking on the water. “It's a ghost!” they thought, and screamed. They were all terrified when they saw him” (Mark 6:47-50, GNB)

When you read Mark chapter 1 to 6, just six chapters, you’ll noticed that Jesus is showing his power and authority over the evil spirits and demons, over sicknesses and diseases, over the Sabbath and religious rules, over life and death, and over the nature – waves and storms – and particularly here, over the sea. All of these supernatural power reveals Jesus’ divine identity, his Lordship. I read, for the Jews (as most ancient peoples), the sea was considered to be the dwelling place of demons. Plus, some of the commentators writes that there was a local rumour that the last thing a boatman saw before drowning in the lake Galilee was a ghost on the water. Now I know that when the disciples ran into a storm and saw something or rather someone walking on the water, they screamed, “It’s a ghost!”

I once watched a video on how Criss Angel, the Mindfreak magician, demonstrates his ability to walk on water. It was amazing. But magic is magic, no matter how amazing it is, it can be explain. Of course he didn't literally walk on water. I then watched another video of Val Valentino, the Masked Magician, performing his own version of walk-on-water illusion and explaining it at the end. He used plexiglass. Jesus walks on the water. How to explain this away? That Jesus also used plexiglass? Funny. Ha ha. That Jesus actually walked on ice? Nonsense. That Jesus was simply walking by the seashore, it was dark and the disciples mistook him to be actually walk on water? Now, the disciples are slow in learning but they are not stupid. They were terrified, remember? (If Jesus walks by the seashore, why would they be terrified?). Thus, Jesus is walking on water.

“Jesus spoke to them at once, ‘Courage!’ he said. ‘It is I. Don't be afraid!’ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind died down” (Mark 6:50-51). The lesson in Mark 4:35-41 relearned again here. The disciples’ terror here shows their lack of faith. Once more Jesus had to rescue them when their faith failed. They have seen Jesus commanded the wind and the storm, now they saw Jesus trampled the sea underfoot. They have heard Jesus’ questions “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (4:40), now they listened to Jesus’ assurance statement, “Courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid!” They were “completely amazed, because they had not understood the real meaning of the feeding of the 5,000; their minds could not grasp it” (Mark 6:50-51), now If they do, they wouldn’t have been so amazed at Jesus walking on the water and calming the wind.

Here are some questions for us today:

Jesus is King, but is he the King and Lord of your life?

Jesus have power and authority over everything, have you entrusted your life to him?

Jesus is the Lord of Miracle not a magician,

are there any ‘storms’ in your life that you want Jesus to calm down?

Jesus is God, do you need more courage and faith to face trials and temptations in your life?

Jesus feed the five thousand, walk on water and calming the wind,

do you still don’t understand His divinity as the Son of God?

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Good Bye Religion

Jesus said to the Pharisees, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17, NIV). When Jesus says he is not coming for the “righteous,” he does not mean that some people don’t need him. The clue to what Jesus does mean is his reference to himself as a physician. You go to a doctor only when you have a health problem that you can’t deal with yourself, when you feel you can’t get better through self-management. What do you want from a doctor? Not just advice – but intervention. You don’t want a doctor simply say, “Yes, you are sick!” You want some medicine or treatment.

Jesus calls people “righteous” who are in the same position spiritually as those who won’t go to a doctor. “Righteous” people believe they can “heal themselves,” make themselves right with God by being good or moral. They don’t feel the need for a soul physician, someone who intervenes and does what they can’t do themselves. Jesus is teaching that he has come to call sinners: those who know they are morally and spiritually unable to save themselves.

Because the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ, said, “It is finished,” we can rest from religion – forever.

The renowned British minister Dick Lucas once preached a sermon in which he recounted an imaginary conversation between an early Christian and her neighbour in Rome.

“Ah,” the neighbour says. “I hear you are religious! Great! Religious is a good things. Where is your temple or holy place?”

“We don’t have a temple,” replies the Christian. ‘Jesus is our temple.”

“No temple? But where do your priests work and do their rituals?”

“We don’t have priests to mediate the presence of God,” replied the Christian. “Jesus is our priest.”

“No priests? But where do you offer your sacrifices to acquire the favour of God?”

“We don’t need sacrifice,” replied the Christian. “Jesus is our sacrifice.”

“What kind of religion is this?” sputters the pagan neighbour.

And the answer is, it’s no kind of religion at all.

[Reference: Jesus the King: Understanding the Life and Death of the Son of God by Timothy Keller (Riverhead Books, 2011) Page 50-51]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Berjalan dalam Cahaya atau Kegelapan? (Renungan tentang 1 Yahya 1:6-7)

“Sekiranya kita mengatakan bahawa kita hidup dalam keakraban dengan-Nya sedangkan kita melangkah dalam kegelapan, maka kita berdusta dan tidak mengamalkan kebenaran”

(1 Yahya 1:6, KSZI, Kitab Suci Zabur dan Injil)

Jika seseorang mengatakan bahawa dia seorang Kristian tetapi tidak melakukan apa-apa tentang dosanya, maka kata Rasul Yahya, dia seorang yang belum menerima keselamatan daripada Allah lagi. Dia tidak memiliki “keakraban dengan Bapa dan Putera-Nya Isa al-Masih” (1:3). Dalam percakapan, mereka mendakwa bahawa mereka orang Kristian, tetapi sebenarnya mereka masih lagi hidup dalam kegelapan. Sekiranya mereka tidak mentaati Bapa dan ada lagi dosa yang tidak diakui, maka mereka masih lagi sesat. Oleh kerana mereka hidup dalam kegelapan, mereka tidak dapat melihat dosa mereka sendiri dan tidak sedar bahawa mereka sebenarnya jauh dari-Nya. Kegelapan telah membutakan mereka tentang realiti dan keadaan sebenar mereka.

Jika kita tidak berjalan dalam kebenaran dan cahaya Allah, maka ianya jelas menunjukkan yang kita sebenarnya belum percaya sepenuhnya kepada Isa al-Masih. Jika kesaksian dan kelakuan kita tidak sama dengan percakapan kita, maka pengakuan kita adalah dusta.

Mereka yang benar-benar telah diubah oleh Allah pula akan menunjukkan bukti tentang kebenaran itu dalam kehidupan mereka. Mereka berjalan dalam terang cahaya Allah (1:5) dan ini membolehkan mereka melihat dosa sendiri dihadapan-Nya. Kesedaran dan pengetahuan tentang dosa inilah yang membimbing mereka kepada Isa supaya Dia boleh menyucikan mereka daripada kegelapan. Rasul Yahya menulis: “Tetapi jika kita melangkah dalam cahaya, sebagaimana Allah wujud dalam cahaya, maka benar-benarlah kita hidup dalam persaudaraan satu sama lain, dan darah Isa, Putera-Nya, menyucikan kita daripada segala dosa” (1 Yahya 1:7).

Berjalan dalam cahaya Allah bermaksud carahidup dan kekudusan keperibadian kita dipimpin oleh-Nya. Gambaran “berjalan” atau “melangkah” disini menujukkan bahawa ianya merupakan suatu proses yang mengambil masa. Ianya memberi gambaran tentang pergerakkan, tujuan, sikap dan pemikiran kita. Berjalan dalam cahaya Allah menggambarkan seseorang yang hidup dalam kebenaran dan kekudusan-Nya. Sentiasa dan konsisten. Saya tidak bermaksud bahawa kehidupan kita mesti sempurna, tetapi tujuan, keinginan dan hala tuju hati dan pemikiran kita harus tertumpu kepada Isa al-Masih.

Berjalan dalam cahaya maka kegelapan akan dinampakkan.

Dosa yang dilihat dan diketahui akan membawa kepada pengakuan.

Pengakuan dosa akan menerima pengampunan.

Darah Isa akan menyucikan kita daripada segala dosa.

Oleh itu, berjalanlah dalam cahaya, kebenaran dan kekudusan-Nya.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

5 Important Lessons I Learned from Jesus (A Reflection on Mark 6:30-44)

At first Jesus intentions was to take his disciples away for a brief “staff retreat”. They had just returned from their preaching mission and “met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught” (Mark 6:30, GNB) and they were tired. Jesus understand their fatigue and said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest for a while” (6:31). So they started out in a boat by themselves for a lonely place. But the crowd followed them by land and arrived ahead of them. Then Jesus was filled with compassion. So he gathered them around and taught them.

By late afternoon the disciples interrupted Jesus to tell him that “It is already very late, and this is a lonely place. Send the people away, and let them go to the nearby farms and villages in order to buy themselves something to eat” (Mark 6:35-36). How considerate his disciples were to their Master and the people’s welfare. There was no food available, so it is practical to let the people go and find something to eat. But Jesus commanded them a very unpractical command, “You yourselves give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37). Doesn’t he knew that they were tired, a bit irritated by the people, and broke? Why would he asked them to give the multitude of crowd something to eat? What was in Jesus’ mind?

I think Jesus want to teach his disciples some lessons here. First, as it is also apply to us, that sometime we have to sacrifice our rest in order to attend the immediate needs. My number one priority in student ministry is to teach students to read and to live out the Gospel. There were time when I was very tired that I want my personal quiet, solitude and rest, then suddenly student leaders asked me to share God’s Word in their camp or Christian fellowship at campus (obviously because the initial speaker doesn’t turned up). What should I do? Say no and let the opportunity goes by? Never! First thing first. God first, personal second. People first, program second. “Sheep without shepherd” (6:34) first, be alone and rest second. Sometimes it’s the other way round. Use God-given wisdom and conscious.

Secondly, Jesus wants to teach them and us that success in the ministry (and life!) is dependence on Him. I think when they “met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught” (6:30) there was some proud moments involved. During the mission, they were casting out demons and healed people. What can be more excited than that? Sometime accomplishments and successes in ministry can intoxicated us with pride and sense of superiority. Overtime, if we’re not careful, we will think that all the things that we have done and achieved are due to our own efforts and independent from God. That’s why Jesus said, “You yourselves give them something to eat.”

Since they can’t do miracle on their own, to feed more than 5,000 men, they gave the most practical and calculative respond, “Do you want us to go and spend two hundred silver coins on bread in order to feed them?” (6:37). Peter and the gang why so cynical in your response, since you all had casting out demons and healing the sick, can you all perform some miracle here? No, Jesus will. He will show them and all of the people and us who the Boss is. Who is the source of success in God’s Kingdom and the Person in whom should we dependent upon.

So Jesus asked them, “How much bread have you got? Go and see” They told him, “Five loaves and also two fish” (Mark 6:38). Forget about logical thinking, mathematic equations and the law of physic, Jesus the Lord of all creation will defy all of them. “Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, and gave thanks to God. He broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people… Everyone ate and had enough… the number of men who were fed was 5,000” (Mark 41-44). Thirdly, Jesus teaches them and us that nothing is impossible for God. It doesn’t matter how much we have but how much we know who our God is. Even the situation may seem hopeless and impossible – 5 loaves and 2 fish vs. 5,000 hungry men – God of the Bible can make thing happen! Here Jesus also showed (forth lessons) that God not only cares for our spiritual needs (Jesus taught God’s Word) but also for our physical needs as well (Jesus feeds his people). Just like Jesus, we should care for people’s spiritual and physical needs around us too. Awesome Jesus! Thank you Lord.

Fifthly, by performing this miracle, Jesus showed himself to be the Messiah.

The Jew expected the Messiah to bring manna down from heaven

just as Moses had done in the wilderness. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Teaches the People First, Dinner Later (A Reflection on Mark 6:30-34)

After Jesus sends out the twelves disciples for a mission, “the apostles returned and met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught” (Mark 6:30, GNB). The disciples must be excited but tired, and so they wanted to have a refreshing rest, away from the crowd. Jesus told them, “Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest for a while” (Mark 6:31). “We” said Jesus. Jesus in his humanity also felt the need for a rest. They worked very very hard, don’t you think? God’s calling is not for us to sit back, relax and hoping for the best, right? We must “go” (Matthew 28:19) and work hard, then, only then we’re deserve to rest.

But “many people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went from all the towns and ran ahead by land and arrived at the place ahead of Jesus and his disciples. When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:33-34). Jesus heart was yearned for the spiritual needs of the crowd flocking to him. Jesus was “moved with compassion” (NKJV). It is a feeling of strong-deep emotion acted with positive action. It is a costly, self-giving compassion. Why? Because Jesus saw them as a starving flock of sheep without a shepherd. They were like orphans with no one to care for them. They were leaderless. This is why, I convince, Jesus wasn’t annoyed but showed compassion.

There were a lot of religious teachers during Jesus time, but why they were still leaderless? Same as today, the people are “like sheep without a shepherd.” When I read this, I’m thinking of how many young people that I know of went to this and that event, jumping and singing, having fun and ‘empowered’ by almost hysterical prayers, come back home empty and their hearts and minds still hallow. There is something missing – God’s Word. Someone missing – Lord of the Word – in their lives. When the supposed teachers should feed the flock, they care more about church attendance, personal spiritual growth and success, defending the faith with all might and power, emphasising on musical worship, teaches church history and doctrines, and even doing social work – everything – everything (secondary) but feeding the people with God’s Word (primary). Where are the teachers who supposed to teach people the Word of God?

For a shepherd, a teacher, a leader the main thing is God’s Word. When I asked most people, which book of the Bible are you all studying now, they blurred. When I told a story of Jesus (basic) and asked do you remember reading this, I get silent treatment. When I read this one church mission statement: “Untuk mempersiapkan jemaat dengan Firman TUHAN” (To equip the church with God’s Word), I was so excited until I heard the preacher talked about his endless journey of accomplishments and successes. Teachers, if you read this, we need you to feed us with God’s Word. Sheep without a shepherd, and so the first thing Jesus does was “he began to teach them many things” (Mark 6:34). Not complaining and whining about having no rest (or salary) but seeing people as God’s answer to our revival prayer. Not irritated by them but having a deep compassion with action like Jesus. Not feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish first but feeding the people with God’s Word first. Jesus teaches the people first.

Let continue Mark 6:35-44 in another article.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.