Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

Dearly Beloved,

In about a week’s time Singaporeans will celebrate the nation’s 46th National Day. Without exception, Singaporeans have been keeping with this year’s celebration as a tradition that has been hallowed by faithful observance throughout the years.

As Christians, National Day reminds us of the manifold blessings that He has bestowed upon every one of us. Like all Singaporeans, we enjoy the blessings of personal liberties, peace and prosperity that may seem to be limitless in scope. The Longman’s dictionary defines the word “blessing” as something good that happens and that which improves life. We like to be blessed, do we not?  We may equate blessings with no one in the family to be taken ill; having enough cash in the bank to settle bills; having a house and a car. However, what happens when our loved ones are faced with serious health issues and our cars and houses are no longer things that are affordable in maintenance?  The rising cost of living is what Singaporeans are most concerned about, based on the feedback gathered by the forum of the Straits Times. Besides bread and butter issues, Singaporeans are looking to a better economy to give them a better life. But as Christians, when we allow the escalating prices of food, fuel, MRT, taxi and bus fares, water and electricity tariffs and a host of a thousand and one things in the physical realm to be matters of concern, inadvertently they block out our ability to see all the wonderful blessings of God. God is blessing us all the time. But if we think in terms of God’s blessing to be something that will benefit us materially, we may misunderstand that we have lost God’s blessings altogether when we are down and out. What we fail to remember is that material blessings are temporal blessings at best but the real blessings of God are non-material and spiritual. And we have more spiritual blessings than material blessings that our hearts could wish.

The Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1:3 begins with a note of praise for the Lord. He says that our Heavenly Father “had blessed us” means that those blessings at some point in the past have continued till today and will continue on in the future. In other words, we can say that we were blessed, we are blessed and we will be blessed with spiritual blessings. And that would mean even when everything that we see with our eyes are gone, we have the best of God’s blessings still. There are three things to learn from Ephesians 1:3 of how we can recognize the best of God’s blessings.

Firstly, the quantity of God’s spiritual blessings can be summed up in one word “all” and that is only in the Lord that we will find everything we need to live the Christian life.

Secondly, the quality of God’s spiritual blessings in the “Blessings in heavenly places”, literally means that all blessings have their origin in heaven.

Thirdly, the qualification of God’s spiritual blessings in “Christ” or to enjoy all spiritual blessings, one must necessarily be found “in Christ” or not at all.

When we see how we have been blessed from the Apostle Paul’s perspective, we would then be able to say from our hearts that we are indeed blessed of God. The Lord has blessed us with blessings that are beyond measure as to their value. The real blessings are things that are unchangeable and will not fade away. We are a blessed people of God and we are blessed abundantly with an abundant life.

Elder Douglas Ho

Pride

Thank God that our church has been faithful till now. Many churches have fallen because of many reasons. I want to share with you that one of the biggest reason is PRIDE. This article aims to serve as a warning and also a reminder to myself and hopefully to exhort others.

Have you ever wondered why some preachers say that pride is the chief of all sins? It is not just because it is the first of all sins that cause Satan to fall, but through this article I just want to bring out this pride so that it is more obvious to us. Pride comes swiftly as nobody can see it except you and God. I want to begin by sharing how pride started with ourselves, then to others, then to the church and finally to the world. This list are not exhaustive, it is just to serve as a guide to let us see how serious pride is.

  • Pride makes me feel that I do not have to pray, I can do things by myself.
  • Pride causes me to think that I have wisdom; I don’t need to read God’s Word.
  • Pride exclaims to tell me that I feel good when others say that I am capable of completing a task. God did not help me.
  • Pride assures me that I can do all things through myself; I am the one who strengthens myself. I do not need God.
  • Pride whispers to me that it is okay to sin because others kept on sinning. Their sins are worst compared to mine!
  • Pride tells me not to forgive others, I know Christ has forgiven me but I just cannot forgive that person.
  • Pride instructs me not to say sorry, because I think that I have done nothing wrong even though it is my mistake.
  • Pride wants me to covet after the abilities that others can do, I want to be like them, and I want power, money and status!
  • Pride deduces that I am spiritually better than the other person. Why do I have to listen to a young chap sharing God’s Word? I have better things to do.
  • Pride coveys to me not to repent even though the preaching of God’s Word is so clear.
  • Pride shows me that I can do this church event better than others; you should do it my way!
  • Pride indicates to me that I can serve God better compared to others, I can relax for now.
  • Pride requires me to disagree with your doctrinal stand, who says that your way of interpreting the bible is the best way! There is only one interpretation but many applications. My way is the correct one!
  • Pride communicates to me that worshipping God is not only in this manner; God wants us to be happy and full of joy when worshipping Him. I must play the kind of music that people likes to hear and feel happy. There is nothing wrong with raising up my hands to indicate that I love God. Come on, it is just a different way to do things. Do not be so sensitive! Pride pats me on the shoulder saying, “The church cannot survive without my service, I am indispensable.”
  • Pride shouts to me complaining how can this person serve better than me. I must work hard to serve better than this person! Why am I not as good as this person?
  • Pride provokes nations to rise against nations. Sometimes it started with verbal attacks, sour relationship, religious dealings or even a shooting incident.

Now I know how serious is the pride of life. If I am not careful, I will fall into Satan’s trap. I must admit them some of the things mentioned above describes me. Many fellowship and churches had fallen because of pride. How about you? Do you constantly check yourself? Let us pray that the Lord will help us to watch the pride in us, as pride is one and the first of the seven abominations that God hates :

Proverbs 6:16-19: These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

Brother Alan Tan