After attending the monthly fellowship and bible study for Young Dads And Young Mums, I realized with renewed intensity how important my role is as a man, husband and now, young dad.
2 And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter. 3 And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” (Esther 5:2-3)
In my devotion time today, this passage offers some insight to the following points for reflection in this role:
11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”
A simple “Thank you” is what a thankful spirit is. I for one am so thankful whenever someone hold the lift door for me, and now, for me while I push a baby stroller through. So, what are the things to thank for this year?
First we should be thankful to God for He created us for eternity except our forefathers Adam and Eve sinned and death entered into the world. But Jesus Christ loved and saved us through His willing sacrifice on the cross that now “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). We can believe on the name of Jesus Christ as our savior and have eternity assured!
Second, for my Mum and Dad who brought me into this world and not just that. They had cared for me from infancy to adulthood, many times even now. (so how can we say we arrived at success on our own?) Having our newborn John and taking care of him 24/7 (24 hours, 7 days a week – i.e. without break), Daisy and I can now understand why God told us to “Honor your father and your mother” (Exo 20:12) We will not be here if not for their 24/7 care. So, we wish to thank Daisy’ s father and mother too.
Thirdly, we should thank our church leaders, members and many others in church who had supported and encouraged us with their care and prayers. We are also thankful to Lawrence’s two sisters and other church members who extended extra support and care during Daisy’ s confinement period.
Lastly, thanks to faithful reader(s) of this blog, that we can post this. You are the reason why this blog continues to exist. God bless you!
It’ s not exactly the best English Bible translation out there, but it’s really great for reading aloud and getting a contemporary understanding..
Nothing can prepare a father-to-be for the joy and excitment of beholding and then actually holding your newborn. Together with a midwife, I saw first-hand Baby John came out into this world. God was so good in granting us a smooth and safe normal delivery. It was also short (8 hrs) compared to the average of 16 hrs first child normal delivery.
Daisy and I read quite a bit of pregancy and baby caring books but nothing compares with getting to know your baby and keen observation. And Baby John has and will keep changing I gather in the weeks to come. At the start, we had to get up 3 to 4 times a night as Daisy breastfeed him. But now, he usually has a feed 10 – 11pm and will sleep till 3 or 4am, so we are doing 1 to 2 times. Night shifts are tough but we adapt. Daisy sleeps more during the day but I don’ t so I respond slower during the night..
Being a new father during your newborn’ s 0 to 4 weeks is also a tough time because your wife is doing her postnatal confinement. Being in-between jobs help and I wonder if that is why God allowed me this period of free time at home, with the purpose of looking after my wife and baby! Besides cooking (together with my mum) for her [special confinement food, 4 recipes I tried all with sesame seed oil and ginger], I also do the laundry, washing, cleaning, etc. I wonder how a new mum without sufficient help can survive this first month if not for supportive family members? Thank God for them, and they come in the form of my mum, my YOUNGER sis Lena, and visits from a very busy but SO HELPFUL church aunty. God is good and being a new father is enjoyable because of support!
Policies, red tape, requirements, restrictions and regulations all seem nice for corporate governance BUT when it comes to judging people, God’ s word tell us in John 7:24 NOT to judge by appearance, but judge with right judgement.
Just what constitute right judgement? In the context of this passage, we should study from John 7:14 to 22, the preceding account of what happened during the Feast of Booths. We note the following useful points in answer to how to judge rightly:
1. Not attributing wisdom to self but to God (John 7:16).
a) Jesus did not say, “Of course I am so smart, I have studied this, done that, etc. Instead, he mentioned that his teaching is not his but of God the father who had sent him!
2. Not seeking self glory but God’ s glory. (John 7:18)
a) On whose authority am I seeking to do these things? Teach, minister, preach, judge, etc? For self-glory or God’ s glory? The point about “real” care and love manifested in helping someone on the Sabbath is further revealed.
3. Not judging by the outside but look to the inner intentions. (John 7:19-23)
a) Jesus was outright and straightforward to proclaim the “deadly” intentions of the Jews who kept not the law and sought to kill him (John 7:19). Perhaps when persecuted, Christians should be forthright to stand up and say, “Hey, why do you persecute me when I am doing right?!!”
b) Jesus was using a good logical argument from what the Jews deem right according to the law of Moses to circumcise on the Sabbath. His point, if you can keep the Sabbath by breaking the Sabbath and in removing part of a man’ s body, then what he did was also right for he made a man’ s whole body well. Christians need to know how to use logical arguments to their cause. Hence, one should pick up good Christian defensive apologetics!
c) Point b) above rightly leads to the conclusion in John 7:24 in which the Judging Rightly objective can be met if one goes beyond the outward appearances of things, do this only during when, where, how, with what… But one does right and should be judged right because his intentions were right and with right consequences. This is no easy feat but people judged wrongly all the time, BUT, Christians should endeavor to do better!
“I will give her justice” said the unrighteous judge who was overtly bothered by the persistent widow seeking “justice against adversary”. This justice came from an unrighteous judge who “neither feared God nor respected man” (Luk 8:2) Now, people who read this short account may think that since this is a parable and not as applicable for use in today’ s context. But as Luke (the author) pointed out quite clearly (Luke 8:1), Jesus gave this parable to his disciples as they “ought always to pray and not lose heart”.
Do we lose heart in prayers and why? Perhaps we think (too easily) that things do not change with prayers? Or that prayers move too slow? Or the justice what we seek is just too impossible? We and (I especially) should pay heed to Luke 8:6-8a which Jesus replied that Christians (the elect) who “cry to him day and night” will obtain justice from Jesus (God) and without delay. Verse 7 expressed this rhetorically with verse 8a (beginning of verse 
explicitly “he will give justice to them speedily”. Oh, such comforting words surely for many who had suffered injustice in their Christian lives.
But do not overlook the close of this passage, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Oh, how sad this ending! This hints at the end, when Jesus comes, the small number of faithful, prayerful Christians to be found. Perhaps I should trust God more, in faithful, persistent prayers to ask for justice which He will be pleased to deliver speedily. May God help us in this regard!
Compared to taking public buses in China, our local buses do not announce the bus stops. I was recently finding my way somewhere and had on two occasions had to “look real hard” out the bus windows to identify the HDB block number or the shopping complex where I will be stopping. A simple per-stop audio accouncement will solve this problem with a “next stop, Blk 120, passengers going to… pls get ready to alight”.
By the way, the Chinese version had a shorter English version too. So perhaps our local buses can add a Chinese one too.. This helps foreigners to better find their way around our island ya?
What do you guys think?
It’ s good to arrive back home, we came back early Sunday morning (2am) and will be looking to deliver our firstborn in mid Nov! While plans are not quite firmed yet, we expect that our Almighty Lord will take care of (soon-to-be) all three of us! Let us know if you are meet up for a catch-up session! 
My handphone no. is still the same!