Joey's Journal - August 27, 2006

O Lord, I give You thanks and praise for taking care of us while we were sleeping. Thank You for giving us good rest and protecting us from the evil that is out there. Father God, I offer this Sunday worship service to You. May my heart be moved by Your Word as spoken by Senior Pastor Khong. May the FCBC congregation respond to the message of today and start the revival of Singapore. May my wife be touched by the Word and surrender herself to You as You show her Your awesome power. May the children also continue to be interested in Sunday school and be their stepping stone to knowing more about Jesus. All these in the Name of Jesus.  AMEN.

My reading - Psalm 25 - The Lord is good and does what is right

Lord, I lift up my soul; I trust in You, my God! Don’t let me be disgraced, or let the enemy rejoice in my defeat. Anyone who trusts in You will not be disgraced; but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others. Lord, You are so good and does what is right; show the proper path to those who go astray. You lead the humble in what is right, teaching them Your way. With Your unfailing love and faithfulness You lead all those who keep Your covenants and obey Your decrees.

O Lord, forgive my many, many sins. My eyes are always looking to You for help; for You alone can rescue me from the traps of the enemy. My problems go from bad to worst; O God, save me from them all! Protect me! Rescue my life from the enemy; for I put my hope in You, O Lord.

My reflection – As I read this psalm over and over again, my eyes focus on the line ‘anyone who trusts in You will not be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others’. My thoughts bring me back to a story of a finance manager who made a very major decision in his life. The company he worked for was being sued by two financial institutions. His boss called him to give an affidavit in court. And the affidavit was for him ‘to say under oath that he was threatened by the suing party and its lawyers with personal involvement and legal action if he didn’t divulge knowledge of its deals’. The story went on to say that the manager was very pressurized by the request and unforeseen outcome if he followed it. He weighed all the options of not following and thought of being out of a job as a result and how will he feed his family. He also thought of following the request and the result would possibly be in good standing with the boss and possible financial reward. The manager was confused and troubled when he discussed his situation with a good friend. The friend sympathized with him and said this in parting, ‘ask God to give you the strength and the wisdom to weigh the idea and do what is right.’

The manager did just that. In his quiet time alone with God, he sought His wisdom and prayed for His guidance. That same night he called his boss and told him about his decision of not doing the affidavit. On hearing this, his boss sounded disappointed but respected the choice. The manager felt at peace with himself and didn’t disgrace himself by doing the right thing in the eyes of God. Yes, maybe his boss felt betrayed by him but he would ‘heal later on’ as the company eventually won the lawsuit. God made sure that the manager didn’t disgrace himself in His eyes or the other friends and colleagues. By standing firm in doing the right thing, God’s favor rested with him and his family as He provided sufficiently for them.

My prayer – Dear God, I pray that Your Holy Spirit will be my alarm bell to do what is right and acceptable to You, whether in business or personal relations. Let Your love and compassion for me be in my heart always so that I can follow Your ways. Lord, as I live my days from now on, may the joy of being invited at Your Heavenly banquet be always in my mind. This is what I long for. Guide and protect me on the path towards You. All in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

by : Joey B