Devotional Journal (DJ) – January 2021

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Searching for Significance

In this world, significance is often about prominence, position and power. In short, it was the kind of significance that James and John were seeking from Jesus, that is, to be seen with Him in His glory, seated beside Him and to be served by others. Yet in the Kingdom of God, significance is ultimately […]

Don’t Mistake Surplus for Security

Have you ever been betrayed by earthly treasures? Or by material promises that vaporise overnight? It happened to my family during the 2009 financial crisis. Through that incident, I was awakened to my confusion of surplus for security, and my misplaced trust in earthly treasures. A few months before the financial crisis, my wife and I agreed that I would leave my corporate job to work full-time in church. We made a firm commitment. Up till the moment of our decision, there […]

Coming To and Becoming Like Jesus

Jesus welcomes anyone to come to Him. Even the small and insignificant members of society. Even those who feel unworthy of God’s blessings or are deemed so by others. Jesus’ invitation is issued to all. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish […]

Covenant Not Contract

“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

Greatness Redefined

In the Gospel of Mark, the Lord Jesus taught His disciples what following Him really entailed. Surprisingly, even Jesus’ hand-picked twelve apostles struggled to understand this in their early days of following Jesus. Let us embark on a brief journey together to better understand what following Jesus Christ is about. Jesus predicted three times (in Mark […]

The Transfiguration of Jesus

The account of Jesus’ transfiguration in Mark 9:2-13 makes a good script for the movies: dazzling lights, well-known personalities suddenly appearing out of nowhere, a mysterious cloud descending and a booming voice declaring Jesus as the “beloved” of God. Any observer would have been awed, frightened by the numinous scene unfolding before one’s very eyes.  The three […]

Have All of My Heart

“So blind and adulterous is my heart! Lord, have mercy on me!” I want to love Jesus fully, but feel like I can never make it. Jesus gives me hope. The Gospel according to Mark has become ever more a deeply cherished sacred biography that speaks into the brokenness of my life. I am half-blind […]

The Whole Church in Missions

What if missions, like discipleship, is for the Church – the whole Church – to be involved in? Matthew 28:18-20 records for us: 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy […]

Useful to God

The person the world would consider an elite would be someone with sterling academic qualifications from a university of renown, widely recognised professional achievements and many important associates in high places. Subconsciously, many of us also hold this view – that our personal worth depends on what we possess, what we have achieved and who […]