The other day when I was in my office, I overheard a conservation from two passing-by colleagues.
One asked, “Haven’t seen you for a while! Are you still there?”
“Not anymore, I changed my job a few weeks ago”. The other responded.

This simple conversation reminds me of a very common phenomenon of job switching. In fact, a recent statistics from Department of Labor indicates that average job changing is as frequent as 4 ½ years. The average length of time is even shorter for young adults – they are on an average of 2 ½ years. If we ponder upon reasons behind the job changing, we could come to two categories. One is due to personal aspiration or ambition and the other is due to involuntary actions. I think most of us would prefer the first category over the second one. And we wouldn’t like to leave our post when we are forced. Oftentimes, an involuntary action equates to losing one’s employment – a victim of company’s resource action. Under such a condition, become “unemployed” is certainly not an enjoyable thing to have. Because not only the feel of betrayal and abandonment by your company, but you may face tremendous pressure and disruptions to life and family too – the stress level created by such situation can be very high. 🙁

If we think of God’s kingdom, a logical question is “Are we employed or unemployed?” This is not mean whether you are a paid staff / pastor or not; rather, it is a question whether you are employed by God to preach His Gospel and to love His people by serving in His church? The crux of the question is “Do you feel the same way as losing secular employment when you are NOT employed by God?” Bible told us that we are called to serve in His kingdom and we are entrusted by our Lord the Great Commission. Therefore, there should be NO sentiment of betrayal and abandonment if you don’t serve because it is by your choice instead of a forced action!

Then, you may argue that “I don’t have any spiritual gift and therefore, I don’t know how to serve”. Well, it might be what you thought, but I would like to point out that it is more important to have a willful heart than arguing whether you have the spiritual gift or not. Because, without a willful heart to serve, you are still unemployed regardless of possessing spiritual gifts or not. In the epistle of 2 Corinthians, apostle Paul challenged the church of Corinth to do good work in helping others in need, he said, “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have 因為人若有願做的心，必蒙悅納，乃是照他所有的，並不是照他所無的。(2 Corinthians 8:12)”The truth is even though the Corinthian Church was equipped with many spiritual gifts and graces, they failed to help brothers and sisters because of their unwillingness.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, are you employing by God now? Hope your answer is “yes” and your serving is joyous. When the day you are face to face with our Lord, I pray that you will receive a praise from our Lord, “You good and faithful servant”!

As spring season is here, tree and flowers again display the wonderful power of God. This reminds me of king David exclaimed in Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands 諸天述說神的榮耀，穹蒼傳揚他的手段”. Yes, it is a beautiful season and the most enjoyable time of the year. In fact, I like it the most because, as a person likes fishing and outdoor activities, this is the time that I can go out fishing. 🙂

To feed my hobby, my wife grants me an opportunity to stop by a local creek last weekend to try my luck of trout fishing. Due to previous rains, water in the creek was high and swift. So, I decided to stay shore-bounded as I don’t want to risk myself to become the food of fish 🙂 The trouble is, as usual, trees and bushes are all around the banks of the creek. As a result, my fishing line would frequently be trapped in the tree branches or bushes before it goes to my desired location. It is really frustrating and annoying, to say the least. After losing several lines and hooks, I finally said, “Forget it, I can’t take it anymore! It is just plainly too many interruptions.”

This headache experience prompts me a question, “Is our life always smooth sailing without interruptions?” “Definitely not”, I said to myself, because Jesus already told us that in this world we will have trouble. Coincidentally, I had a chance to chat with a truth seeker on last Sunday during lunch time, after worship service. She said, “I didn’t realize that there are still difficulties and obstacles lie ahead after becoming a believer in God.” “I thought life would be smooth sailing afterwards as God is protecting us, right?” I smiled and responded, “There are always difficulties and troubles in our life since we are in this world and we are sinners from the beginning”.

The truth is God wants to mold us to become the image of His son, Jesus Christ. Various environments and situations are therefore used by God to train and to mold us. These situations could be in forms of interruptions, difficulties and sufferings to our life journey. When encountering them, we may be frustrated and deeply troubled. However, we can’t say, “I can’t take it anymore!” since it is God’s will to our journey of life. Someone used to say that the moment you say “I can’t take it anymore”, God will give you more until you can take it! Therefore, don’t say that if you don’t want more interruptions. Interesting thought! 🙂

When we study the Bible, we will discover many God’s servants endure trials and sufferings. Apostle Paul is one of them. Actually, in the 2 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul described his sufferings in detail, “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 被猶太人鞭打五次，每次四十減去一下；被棍打了三次，被石頭打了一次，遇著船壞三次，一晝一夜在深海裡。 又屢次行遠路，遭江河的危險、盜賊的危險、同族的危險、外邦人的危險、城裡的危險、曠野的危險、海中的危險、假弟兄的危險。(2 Corinthians 11:24-26)”. To me, they are really too much. 🙁 In light of these sufferings and interruptions to his journey of ministry, can Paul said, “I can’t take it anymore?” I think he can, but he didn’t! From here I can see the reason why God entrusts His ministry of “preaching to the gentiles” to him and sure enough, Paul is our live example in submitting to God’s will.

My dear brothers and sisters, oftentimes we complain life interruptions and sufferings by saying that “I can’t take it anymore!” But, do we discern closely what God’s will upon us is, when situation is against us? “Do we always do things that are pleasing to the Lord?” Hope this could give you a fruit of thought.

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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

Standing in front of a soda vending machine, I was looking for a can of soda to quench my thirst and headache, after a busy day of work. Coincidentally, a colleague also stood next to me warming up his cup of water in a microwave oven. I put in coins and selected a choice, the deliver chute of the vending machine slowly moved up to a position in order to catch the can of soda of my choice. Suddenly, I find that the can of soda dropped in an “odd” way – it slanted incorrectly and stuck on the face plate of the vending machine. At this moment, the deliver chute has no choice but to return to its original position. “Uh-oh”, my colleague and I both sighed.

So, I used the old mechanic’s trick pounding the machine twice to try my luck. To my surprise, the pounding caused the soda wiggle a little bit and then it dropped onto the deliver chute which is at the bottom of the machine. My colleague and I uh-oh again. It looks like I am going to be out of my luck. To our amazement, the deliver chute decided to wake up and moved to its delivery position. And “Voila!” –it delivers the dropped soda. My colleague exclaimed, “Wow, this is good!” “It is like an instruction retry!” I nodded and responded. Apparently the vending machine is smart enough to figure out that there is a weight on its deliver chute and it retries the delivery.

“Instruction retry” is a terminology that has been known for more than 40 years in the computer industry. It is a recovery design feature for high end computer servers. It was firstly published in 1973. The feature is designed when Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the server encounters an error in instructions, due to circuitry malfunctions and workload backup, its recovery circuits would temporarily take out the CPU and reset it in order to prevent any error propagation to the other parts of the server. This is a reliability feature in the server to guarantee “integrity and error-free” completion of pending instructions on the CPU.

In your life journey, have you seen a similar function of “instruction retry” in your life? My answer is “yes”, especially if you have children. In fact in the area of parenting, you probably have already experienced more frustrations than you would have desired 🙂 because you need to repeatedly tell your children to follow your instruction almost constantly, if not daily. If it is not working, you probably would employ a “recovery design feature”, which is called “discipline”, to ensure your “instruction retry” procedure is working, ha..ha..ha..

Maybe you already thought about this, “Isn’t it great if our children would always follow our instruction?” The truth is it is not possible because of rebellious gene from our forefathers, “Adam and Eve” – they disobeyed God’s first instruction for not eating the fruit from the tree of knowing good and evil in Garden of Eden, from the very beginning. Their rebellion results in the fall of humanity and henceforth, we inherited this sinful nature.

Despite of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, God devised an “instruction retry” for us – that is to have His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, in place of us. This washes away the iniquities and transgressions that we have committed in order for us to reconcile with God. In other words, when we decide to believe in Jesus Christ, we are accepting God’s recovery design which enables us to go back to the right path of His plan – to receive the eternal life. What a marvelous grace!

After we have received Jesus Christ, God’s second instruction for us is to conform to the image of his Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). The reality is as we are still in this world with fleshy desires, we continue to have difficulties in following God’s second instruction. Besides, the evil one has also worked diligently to prevent us to do so. All these challenges us to live a style that is in accordance with the Spirit. Of course, God loves His children dearly. His discipline, can be viewed as a mechanism of recovery design, works on each one of us. This is the reason why the author of the book of Hebrews encourages us that we should not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes us (Hebrews 12:5). Because we are the one He loves!!

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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

Last week was a very special week for me because my younger sister came from Far East to visit us. This is the first time she came to the States since we have been here many years ago. As last week was also the week of Chinese Lunar New Year, it is really precious that she could come even though the weather was frigid and snowy. I thank God for His blessing and protection that we can have a joyful family reunion and most importantly, she could have the opportunity to see and to experience what a loving God’s family is. For years, she thought that I was a lone ranger in this foreign country. I have to admit that “yes”, sometimes, if from an earthly family point of view. On the other hand, however, I have to say “No, I am not lonely”, because I have both a great earthly family and a tender and caring God’s family here.

Undoubtedly, “family” is a community that helps us to bond, to fellowship, to learn, to support and to enjoy with others. It is truly a blessing from God. Without the community of family, we would feel lost and lonely in our life journey – it is especially true during quiet nights. In today’s environment, many problems presented before our eyes – crimes, terrorisms, homosexual issues and moral decay problems, etc. If we look at those problems deeper, we would discover that dysfunctional families is a common cause.

When family structure and foundation are eroded by moral degeneration, many problems surfaced, because there is no safe harbor can be provided, from our society, for those distressed, pressurized and frustrated souls, anymore! So, the question is “Can we find a tender and caring place that we can rest, enjoy and fellowship? Yes, it is God’s family – His church. Then, the next logical question would follow is, “How can I enter God’s family?” It is through God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, because apostle Paul indicated, “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. 我們又藉著他，因信得進入現在所站的這恩典中 (Romans 5:2a)” By faith in Christ’s substitution of our sins, we are justified before God. Therefore, we become God’s family members when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal savior. This is a family with love and joy and I sincerely hope that you can join us.

Sitting across my dinner table is a high-schooler who started to stay with us about a week ago. He is from a remote country. I thought this was a surprise gift as we are done for child-caring. He is quiet and courteous and is likeable. However, there is one nuisance I discovered lately – he “can’t let go” of his cell phone! Even when he is eating, he would constantly check his phone to see if there is any message popping up. This is kind of annoying because we can’t enjoy our dinner and conversation at the same time. I call this a “can’t let go” syndrome.

This “can’t let go” syndrome has become very common across today’s younger generation – they “love” their cell phones so much that they can’t let their phones go, even my kids have the same behavior too! Incidentally, I observed a similitude at our church’s dining hall the other day. There was a table with a bunch of teenagers sat together face-to-face eating lunch. Normally, this is an energetic group full of chatting and laughter. But this time is different. They were all quiet and no one is talking. And the reason is….. Everyone is head-down focusing on their own cell phones. What a scene!

To be fair though, this “can’t let go” syndrome is not unique to younger generation only. It is quite common across adult population too. In fact, it would not be difficult for you to see it if you survey any public place such as shopping malls or bookstores, etc. Apparently, modern technology has taken captives of modern society in an unparalleled way.

A connotation of “can’t let go” syndrome is it captivates one’s mind and leads him / her to obsessive behaviors. It may become dangerous if the “object of love” is questionable, for example, cell phone in this case. On the other hand, there is a “positive” side to the syndrome too. It is its persistence in doing without giving up. Therefore, the key question here is: what is the “object of love” for this “can’t let go” syndrome? If it is “God”, then we can’t let go of Him and we will be able to build a closer relationship with Him.

A question raised by Thomas Manton, once a lecturer at Westminster Abbey, still holds relevance for us today. He asked: “Who is the author of Scripture? God. . . . What is the end of Scripture? God. Why was the Scripture written, but that we might everlastingly enjoy the blessed God?” Apparently, God wants us to know Him and to enjoy Him. The way to reach this goal is, as Manton indicated, to read His words and can’t let it go. The author of Psalm #1 told us that blessed is the one who meditates on His law day and night 唯喜愛耶和華的律法，晝夜思想，這人便為有福 (Psalm 1:2). So, we have to learn not to let God go from our life.

Someone has said that the Bible is God’s love letter to us. But perhaps on some days, like me, you just don’t feel like opening it and your heart doesn’t resonate with the words of the psalmist. But we need to be persistent not giving up. Only through the “can’t let go” mindset then we can persevere through our low points. I sincerely hope that in the beginning of New Year, we can resolve to meditate on His words day and night!

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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

Last Monday, on the first day of back to work, it was a chilly day and my mind was still on the vacation mode after weeks of absence from the working place.

While I was on the steps entering a building at my working place, I heard someone behinds me shouted “Excuse me, excuse me!” I turned my head and saw a person, with his hands full, walking quickly towards me. He showed me his badge and said, “I don’t know what has happened to my badge, it is not working this morning, can you let me in?” I hesitated a little bit due to the rule of no tailgating from the company. Then I remembered I saw him a few times in the hallway during last year. So, I let him in and asked him to check into lobby first to validate his badge. After thanked me and he sighed, “It is not good to start a New Year like this!” “Yep!” I responded.

Later of the week, I bumped into another colleague at my working place. We greeted each other with the common greeting, “Happy New Year”. Then my colleague said, “New Year is correct, but ‘HAPPY or not’ is another matter.” I smiled knowingly. At this New Year time, we all wish to have a “good and happy” start because it could energize us during any challenging or difficult times lie ahead of us. The problem is a good and happy start seems hard to find and frustrations seems to follow constantly, however.

The key is we have to realize that we may not be able to change environment that we are in but we can adjust our mindset and attitude. As James indicated to us, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds. 我的弟兄們，你們落在百般試煉中，都要以為大喜樂 (James 1:2)”. James wants us to have an attitude of joy during trials because we can come to the source of goodness – our Heavenly Father – to ask for wisdom, mercies and grace. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, let us resolve to have the attitude of joy regardless of any circumstances, starting from New Year. I believe this kind of attitude is far more powerful than an “unsure” Happy New Year “wish”.

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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

Some of you may be very familiar with Psalm 23 authored by King David. It is one of my favorite psalms. It expresses David’s experience and longing for God’s presence. David in his youth was “alone” shepherding in the wilderness. Oftentimes, he could run into wild animals such as lions and wolfs attacking his herds. Under such condition lacking of other’s help, he can only rely on God’s help in protecting himself and his sheep. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 耶和華是我的牧者，我必不致缺乏 (Psalm 23:1)” vividly depicts his life experience. It also reflect my own experience in the year of 2014. Therefore, let me take the opportunity to elaborate a few things that my family and I have experienced during the year – they represent our fond memories of you, my friends, and most importantly, our thanksgiving to our Lord in Heaven.

In viewing of the ever changing environment and increasing violence and terrorism in this world, I thought the Year 2014 is like a year of “gloomy hope” – we were overwhelmed by shocking news such as the tragic events of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 and AirAsia Airline Flight QZ8501, then, random school shootings and the quick spiraling of moral decay across the country. In addition, within the year, we were told that my working company would spin off her two hardware divisions to minimize her losses. This kind of gloomy news caused tremendous impact to the local area economy and to the country. So, where is hope? How long can we stay in this used to be milk-and-honey land? And, is there still thing of eternal value? They seems to be reasonable questions to ask, I think. However, these questions have an answer. That is God Himself – He is the hope and He is our shepherd to accompany and to comfort us throughout different situations.

In the early part of this year, in my working company, my colleagues and I were shocked to learn that our annual performance ratings are not as good as previous years. Hence, rising worry for resource action had casted all over us for months. Eventually we were spared from the resource action due to various situations. I know there is going to be another round of action waiting but I can only hold down my hope of God’s mercy because He is faithful.

In the middle of this year, my kids had an opportunity to go to the Far East teaching English camps. We know it is not easy but is a good opportunity for them to grow in Him. We asked God for their spiritual renewal, health and safety in that country. Weeks later, they came back safely and shared their excitements and life changing experiences, even though they had encountered pressure from local authority to withdraw. This reminds me of Jesus’ teaching to disciples when He sent them out. Jesus said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. 我差你們去，如同羊進入狼群，所以你們要靈巧像蛇，馴良像鴿子。(Matthew 10:16)” He also taught them that they do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time they will be given what to say, for it will not be they speaking, but the Spirit of their Father speaking through you 你們被交的時候，不要思慮怎樣說話或說什麼話，到那時候必賜給你們當說的話；因為不是你們自己說的，乃是你們父的靈在你們裡頭說的 (Matthew 10:19-20).

Later part of the year, my daughter graduated from her college and we attended her ceremony. It is a joyous event and we were there to observe her moments. I know she has her struggle on both adapting fast paced college life and maintaining good academic works in the past. But she made it. I can only say it is by God’s grace that she can complete her study. We are looking forward to God’s leading on her next step. Psalm 127 indicates, “Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from Him. 兒女是耶和華所賜的產業，所懷的胎是他所給的賞賜。(Psalm 127:3)”. We thank God for His reward and we pray that they can be used by God.

In the past year, our church is stable and we have the opportunity to reach out many new comers to the area through various types of gathering. We saw God’s hand continue to lead us to spread Gospel around the area. Even though the economic environment in the area is gloomy, we don’t lose hope because He is our great shepherd!

Someone once said, “Times of trouble are times for trust”. If we choose complaining and grumbling, like Israelites did in the wilderness, it will definitely make our situation even harder to bear – we will be drowned. On the other hand, if we choose to trust in God and wait patiently, then we can face the situation with peace and strength, because He promised us that “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. 但那等候耶和華的，必重新得力。他們必如鷹展翅上騰，他們奔跑卻不困倦，行走卻不疲乏。(Isaiah 40:31)”. In a similar teaching, Apostle Peter also asked us to cast all our anxiety on our Lord Jesus because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). King David in his psalm 40 also indicated to us his experience of delivery from God. He said, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1) 我曾耐性等候耶和華，他垂聽我的呼求。”

Therefore, my dear friends and brothers and sisters, at the eve of year 2015, “let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (Hebrew 10:23-24) 堅守我們所承認的指望，不致搖動，因為那應許我們的是信實的。又要彼此相顧，激發愛心，勉勵行善。” Please remember that the LORD is our shepherd.

May you have a great holidays and happy New Year!

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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

My colleague stopped by my office last Thursday to chat a little bit. In the end of our conversation, he sighed how fast time has gone – only two more weeks Christmas is coming. I replied to him, “Yes, it is truly flying!”
December is always a month of fast and busy month for my family. In order to be ready for the coming winter, we winterize house and cars, put lawn mower back to storage and refreshed snow shoveling equipment, etc., especially after saw the 8-foot of snow in Buffalo, we felt that we cannot take the preparation lightly. Besides, as Christmas and New Year are around the corner, preparing for church Christmas and New Year celebrations are also part of our busy schedule.

Apart from busying in all kinds of preparations, I do think December is particularly meaningful. I call it a month of blessing – it is the time of year that we celebrate our Lord Jesus’ birth to this world to take away our sin and it is also the time of year to enjoy family reunions and holiday relaxation when kids are off their schools.Thinking about “blessing”, I couldn’t help but to recall many blessings that I have received after 11+ months. To name a few: I am still alive and well; I am having a loving family; I am still being employed; I still have a place to stay; I have a bunch of friends who love me; I have a good and caring church to worship, etc. Aren’t they worthy of my remembering and appreciation? Sure, they are!

Then, a question comes to my mind: “Is there a best blessing of all – a blessing that we would rather give up all other blessings in order to receive it? In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus gave us “Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl”. He indicated that the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. 天國又好像買賣人尋找好珠子，遇見一顆重價的珠子，就去變賣他一切所有的，買了這顆珠子。(Matthew 13:45-46). In the merchant’s eye, the precious pearl is worthy of all his fortune and pursuit. Therefore, the best blessing of all is like the precious pearl to the merchant’s eye.

If we think the question further, we will ask, “What is the source of all blessings?” It is “Jesus Himself” because apostle Paul told us, “For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 因為萬有都是靠他造的，無論是天上的、地上的，能看見的、不能看見的，或是有位的、主治的、執政的、掌權的，一概都是藉著他造的，又是為他造的。 他在萬有之先，萬有也靠他而立。(Colossians 1:16-17). Most importantly, without Him, as apostle Paul said, we are still in sin because there is no reconciliation between us and God – there is no path to redemption (John 14:6).

Therefore, my dear friends, do you like the best blessing of all? In this month of blessing, let me tell you that the best blessing of all is to receive Jesus into your heart, to have Him with you throughout your life.
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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

For most of us, month of November is a season of Thanksgiving. We thank God for His provision and His protection in the past. We also thank God for giving us friends, family and children. It is especially joyous and meaningful when we give thanks together through family gathering. Last Thursday, we had our kids back from college and many friends and families came to join our Thanksgiving night gathering. It is really great to see and to talk with everyone during the gathering. How can we not giving thanks?

 
On the other hand, the day after Thanksgiving, which is commonly known as Black Friday, is also marked the beginning of Christmas shopping for many of us. Last Friday afternoon, we decided to go with the flow by going to a local mall searching for good bargains. While we were strolling around the mall, I discovered that this year seems to be quieter than last year. Thinking it a little bit, a possible reason could due to we missed the traditional door-buster time or due to the fact that many stores had already started their Black Friday shopping time earlier – from Thanksgiving night. Interesting thing is: according to a recent consumer survey, many stores didn’t see their sales increase in this year, even with longer duration of shopping time was offered. So, go figure!

 
While we were walking around, we saw many stores posted “On Sale” signs on their windows. Its intent, presumably, is to draw more potential buyers to their stores. I did observe that those stores with higher % of discounts do attract more visits from deal hunters. Apparently, good bargains are always welcome. In fact, I don’t think there is anything wrong in looking for good bargains. However, from my past experience, we are more likely to buy things that are “non-essential” and / or buy things “with lower quality”, if we are compelled to buy them based on cheaper price solely. Therefore, caution should be taken when searching for “on sale” purchases. How about looking for “Not for sale” item? Should we still get it?

 
In the book of 1 Kings, chapter 21, it details a story that Ahab, the king of Samaria (Israel), coveted a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab and Ahab was very eager to get it. If we think a little bit, we would find that for Ahab, it is really not necessary to add one more vineyard on top of many that he has already owned. However, His obsession of the vineyard eventually drove him to kill Naboth, through using his queen Jezebel’s scheme, in order to take over the vineyard. It is quite disturbing!

 
In this incident, Naboth repeatedly told Ahab that his vineyard is “Not for Sale” because Naboth believes that his land is belong to God since it was allocated to his ancestors by God. For this reason, the vineyard is not supposed to sell or transfer to others (Numbers 26:52-56). For doing so would dishonor God. Ahab, on the other hand, couldn’t give up his burning desire. So, what can we learn from this incident? Firstly, Naboth knows honoring God is more important than personal gains. The question to us is: Can we do the same? Secondly, Ahab’ coveting of Naboth’s possession blinds his conscience and cause Naboth’s life. This is a mistake that we should by all means avoid it.

 
My dear brothers and sisters, as we are entering the month of December, we should examine our minds constantly – Are we honoring our God? Do we shop for good bargains that are only necessary and good for others? May our Lord remember you and keep you as always!
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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.

Last week, I had to take my car to a dealer’s service department for state inspection and tire rotation. On my way to the service department, my tire pressure warning light came on. I wasn’t sure if it is TPMS (Tire pressure monitor system) problem or just low tire pressure. Since my appointment time is cutting close, I couldn’t stop and check it. At the service department, I told a service manager that there is a tire pressure warning light came on. He said he will tell service mechanic to take care of it. After waiting for more than an hour and half, the service manager told me that my car is done and everything is ok. So, I paid the bill and took the key to my car. As soon as I started the car, the low tire pressure light comes up again. I was not happy, so I went back to the service manager and asked for explanation. The service manager affirmed that the mechanic have checked my tire pressure and it was ok. He told me that the warning light will be off after I drive a few miles because car computer needs time to reset it.
Ha..ha..ha.. This was NOT the case, the warning light remains on after I went home. Thinking that the car computer might still not being reset, I continued to drive my car the second day. However, the warning light still on and I started to worry if this is TPMS problem. Finally at night, I had time to check the tire pressure and find out that they are low for sure. So, I pumped more air into the tire and then drove the car. Guess what? The warning light came off right away. This is really a ridiculous experience that I had with car service recently. Certainly I could drive my car back to the service department and asked for repair, however, I didn’t do that because I have lost confidence with the service department.

 
This experience reminds me of a usual sigh, “Finding a good mechanic is sometimes as difficult as in finding a good doctor!” As we know, a good reliable car and a good physical health are essential to our daily living. However, they are not always attainable and hence we need car mechanic’s service and doctor’s service. Last night, we had a great Thanksgiving gathering at my house. Two of my friends shared their recent experiences in seeing physicians. They felt that their doctors are sometimes ignorant and careless in diagnosing their conditions. Of course this is very subjective – The question comes to: What is the measurement of “good” because it could vary from person to person.

 
If we base on our own personal preference and experience, I bet you that you won’t find a universally “good” doctor or a universally “good” mechanic in this world. That is because our personal preference and experience are biased and relative to the best. So, the question is: Is there such person exists? In the Gospel of Mark chapter 10, there is a teaching Jesus gave to a man who ran up to meet Him. The man fell on his knees before Jesus and asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” An answer was given by Jesus. “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 「你為什麼稱我是良善的？除了神一位之外，再沒有良善的。」(Mark 10:18)” Jesus pointed out that we need to turn our focus to God if we want to find “good”, because for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And, James also indicated to us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights 各樣美善的恩賜和各樣全備的賞賜都是從上頭來的，從眾光之父那裡降下來的 (James 1:17a).
In this Thanksgiving season, let’s have a thankful heart toward God’s blessings “For God is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations. 因為耶和華本為善，他的慈愛存到永遠，他的信實直到萬代 (Psalm 100:5)”
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Disclaimer: The sharing is pure from my personal view; therefore, please don’t take it to be absolute. Thanks.