Moved By The Father, Not Moved By Needs

Jesus was not moved by needs.

Jesus was moved by the Father. (Jn 5:19)

Since Christ is in us (Col 1:27) and we are to follow His example (Luke 9:23; 1 Jn 2:6), we must not be moved by needs, but we must be moved by the Father.

In other words, we must say "No" to meeting every need in order to say "Yes" to meeting the Father's assignments.

During the pandemic period, there were many needs. People asked me for help. 

One asked me to transcribe university's lectures (a few lessons) from audio to written words so that she could read them. She's deaf but resisted other forms of help.

Some asked me to transport food and goods to a few people in needs.

One asked me to assist in his job.

Some requested financial assistance.

Many requested healing and some, hospital visitations.

And the list went on.

I'm only one person. I can't meet all their needs. I am not supposed to be moved by needs. I am supposed to be moved by the Father.

𝐈𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬 (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟔:𝟖; 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥 𝟒:𝟏𝟗), 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡.

You don't have to meet a need by demand, regardless of its urgency. You meet the Father's assignment and He will meet that need by His grace.

The Bible says that God knows all the needs and will supply for all the needs. You and I are not God. Neither was Jesus omni-present. Our job is to be moved by the Father, so that He can meet all the needs through us individually and corporately.

P.S: The next time when I say "No" to you, it's not because I reject helping you, but because I choose to focus on the Father's assignment.

Working Hard, Or Not?

Working Hard, Or Not?

It really is senseless to work so hard from early morning till late at night, toiling to make a living for fear of not having enough. God can provide for His devoted lovers even while they sleep! - Psalm 127:2 (TPT)

There is nothing wrong to work hard. The Bible teaches us to be diligent. But the motivation is MORE important than the action.

The fear of not having enough causes one to worry. Worrying means division and distraction. When we worry, our attention and desire for God will be divided and distracted.

In fact, worrying is self-centred. Resting, on the other hand, is God-centred. When we rest, our attention and desire for God will be directed and focused.

Worrying causes us to provide for ourselves as we live in the absence of the Father. This is why you toil from early morning till late at night for fear of not having enough.

Resting causes us to trust God to provide for us as we live in the presence of the Father. This is why a child is always at rest when it comes to finances, because he knows that his father will always provide.

God provides for us while we sleep. Resting releases God's providence, because Grace is received through Faith. You either worry and hinder the grace of God in your life, or you rest and accept the grace of God in your life.

Worrying is self-centred as you depend on yourself.

Resting is God-centred as you depend on Him.

Before your child, be a father.

Before your Father (God), be a child.

A Generation Transformed By Fathering

Nobody expects to sit at a spiritual reading booth hearing about their relationship with their father.

But today's central theme is on that.

A generation is not transformed by signs and wonders, though I love these. A generation is transformed by fathering.

This is why tremendous miracles often take place in Indonesia but there isn't much transformation. Because we are focusing on the wrong area.

Fathering is the key to a transformed life. I believe this is why the enemy focuses on distracting the fathers from their highest call, which is fathering.

To learn fathering, we must first learn to be sons. Sonship is the most important aspect of a Christian.

You can perform miracles, signs and wonders. You can give to the poor and needy. You can move strongly in the prophetic. But the moment you don't comprehend sonship, your actions might appear right but your motivations will always be wrong.

Without sonship, one cannot be a good representation of the Father. Only fathered fathers father.

You can share tons of testimonies to me about the works of God and I will not be moved by you unless you are a father who walks in sonship identity.

The works of God do not prove that you are a man of God. Anyone can be a miracle worker. But only sons can father like Him.

The day you lose communication with your kid is the day you need to re-evaluate your understanding of sonship.

As a father, today is a reminder that I must stay in communion with the Father so that I can stay in communion with my son.

Seeking What You Want

Seeking What You Want

If you seek after something, you desire it. You crave for it. You want it.

For the Gentiles 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 them all. But 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. - Matt 6:32-33

The word 'seek' in v32 is to desire, to crave and to want. The Gentiles WANT material things. God is not saying that we should not have material things. It says that He knows that we NEED them.

If we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, all the material things that the Gentiles WANT will be added to us because we NEED them.

The word 'seek' in v33 is different from v32. The Greek word 'zéteo' means 'to seek with earnestness and diligence, with the intention of finding it'.

I like to read a verse from a 'backward' or an 'opposite' perspective. 

If we seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, but not FIRST as the order of priority, then the material things will not be added to us. If it is NOT ADDED to us, it means that there is NO INCREASE, and our own hard work, toil and labour is fully necessitated to see them.

If we seek (desire, crave, want) the material things, His Kingdom & His righteousness will be 'subtracted' from us.

This is why a Mammon-focused industry has many Christians living in unrighteousness. Not because they intentionally wanted to, but because the order of priority is in a wrong order. Thus, His Kingdom and His Righteousness cannot be manifested. On the contrary, the enemy's kingdom and the enemy's unrighteousness becomes manifested through their lives.

Sometimes, we think that we have the capacity to do both. But He Himself said that it is impossible to serve two masters (Matt 6:24).

The moment we go after material things (in the name of 'for the sake of my family' and/or 'for my retirement' and/or 'for financial freedom'), we choose the Gentiles' ways.

The Kingdom's way is always upside down. It often defies the logic of this world. It often reforms the patterns of this world.

What do you seek FIRST? It is revealed through your priority and your actions, not your words.

The Gift Of Communication

Connecting and communicating with the Japanese uncle about his Rubik cube and trying to use his newly learnt Japanese vocab with him.

On his van journey back, we wanted to give the US guy some rest. So we insisted that J gave him a break.

He was a tad sad, so we let him sit beside this Japanese uncle. You can see him beaming from ear to ear.

This Japanese guy is one of the rare few who grew his own coffee beans in Tokyo (not a suitable climate) using AI and greenhouse effect. Wow!

J simply loves people. He has a heart to connect with people of all ages and countries. God has given him the gift of communication. We pray that this remains permanent for the rest of his life.

A Word for Parents

A word for parents whose kids are entering into the teenage years...

Do NOT deal with their behaviours.

Deal with their identity.

This is especially so for boys, since girls are generally easier in their teenage years.

Their behaviours may frustrate you...

Their behaviours may surprise you...

Their behaviours may confuse you...

But they are NOT their behaviours.

If you deal with them according to their behaviours, you will lose them.

If you deal with them according to their identity, they will draw close to you..

Going Before Your Son

One of the things which a father does is to empower his child.

But empowerment doesn't necessarily mean risking one's safety.

We chose to live near MRT so that J can be empowered to be more independent. We are not going to spoil him by driving him everywhere he goes.

Today's generation has an entitlement mindset. And we do not wish that J walks in that kind of mindset.

He travels to some of his classes on his own, provided that the journey is not too crowded in terms of road traffic (if he has to cross the road), and that the demographic in that area is reasonably decent.

Afterall, he is our ONLY child.

Today, his karate location officially changed. After dropping him by car, I searched for the route to walk to the MRT.

Here I am, doing a recce of the route, checking out the car traffic and the demographic. 

As a father, I'm going before him. Before he goes.

Verdict: Not safe.

In this case, we will travel with him by the MRT until we are ready to let him be on his own.

The Father in heaven always goes BEFORE us. Wherever we go, He was already there. This is why Joshua 1:9 is a timeless principle.

People sometimes ask me to pray, "Can you pray if this place is where God wants me to go? Will He be in it?"

Well, there won't be a place where He wasn't there and there won't be a place where He won't be with you. Since He lives right on the inside, where you go is where He goes.

The Next Generation

The Next Generation

Alot of God-things ended with the first generation. The second generation often dropped the baton.

I believe the main key lies with fathering. This is why the Old Testament ended with the hearts of the fathering turning to the next generation and vice versa.

So many God's generals (Roberts Liardon) didn't have a second generation who walked in the same power or surpassed the first generation.

What is warred and fought for is usually stewarded better than what is simply handed over. Similarly, our first generation of leadership in the nation had to war and fight for the nation. But the next generation of leadership was simply given the power and privileges.

Moses fathered Joshua well, though Joshua didn't have his next generation. Yet we see a similarity. Both Moses and Joshua had to war and fight. It wasn't enough that Joshua witnessed Moses warring. Joshua needed to have his own warring (i.e. Jericho).

Fathering is not merely nurturing. We need to train our child to war and fight in the spiritual realm. We need to prepare them for battles. At times, we will need to let them go through battles without interference so that God-things do not end with the first generation.

Today's kids are given many privileges. These are not going to help them rise above us unless they are put through warring and fighting. 

True fathering is empowerment.

The Law Of First Mention

The Law Of First Mention

The Law of First Mention is not only a powerful principle in Bible interpretation, it is also a powerful principle for parenting.

Yesterday, my wife was talking to J about reckless cars on the road, and her concern for him.

He replied something that shocked me, "Mummy, I have not finished God's assignment on earth. God will only let me go after I have completed His assignment. So I won't die."

This is something that I shared with him long time ago ----- ONCE. He actually remembered it.

It reminded me that the Law of First Mention plays a vital part in the life of a child. If his teacher (apart from Mummy as the main homeschooling teacher) were to be the first to give him a piece of incorrect information, we have a challenging time to help him unlearn it. Even as his own parents.

This places a HUGE responsibility on us as parents. But God sees us "UP AND ON" (though I wasn't a St. Andrew's boy) to entrust us with such responsibility.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. - Prov 22:6

The phrase "the way" in Hebrew refers to "the journey or manner". It doesn't mean that we instruct a child what to do for his life. It has to do more with discipline ("train up") than instructing.

It points to the Way of Righteousness, and since Jesus is the Way (John 14:6) and we are to seek His Righteousness (Matt 6:33), to train up a child in the way he should go is to 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝.

The Law of First Mention has everything to do with knowing Jesus. Each time we release a piece of information on who Jesus is to our child, I believe that the Holy Spirit empowers our child to remember, so that he/she can apply when the situation arises.

It is only through this, that when a child grows old (even if the child goes astray at some point in life), he/she will NOT depart from Christ.

Keeping My Way Pure

Living in this world opens your eyes to the power of Mammon. All of life on earth is designed to distract us, because the prince of the power of the air is still at work.

Within a split second, thoughts can come into our mind and build envy if we do not seize them and take them captive.

"Why is it so easy for others to earn money nowadays?"

"What's the point of living in integrity when easy money comes if we just lie a little?"

"Wouldn't it be nice to earn more money so that my family and extended families can enjoy better as I provide more for them?"

"Why do we have to be prudent with finances here and there when others are spending as and when they like?"

As a real estate agent for coming to 10 years, I am surrounded by people with money and riches. This is the real estate culture. Everybody is pursuing wealth. Every seminar talks about wealth. Every testimony is about how top producers generate tons of commission.

As years go by, I find myself withdrawn more and more from attending all these talks, seminars and events.

Faith comes from hearing and hearing. Our hearing is thus, very important. It is so easy to succumb and fall into the same culture that you are constantly immersing yourself in.

In these 10 years, such thoughts (mentioned above) did try to enter into my mind once in a blue moon, especially in Singapore where the cost of living is high and the future remains unknown. 

This is why I cannot afford to have a day going without the Word of God.

How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. - Ps 119:9 NKJV

While the world tries to contaminate us, only the Word cleanses us.

I find more joy in following what You tell me to do than in chasing after all the wealth of the world. - Ps 119:14 TPT

Whenever I choose to do the Word, I experience the joy of salvation. Why do I do lifestyle evangelism and yet still set aside specific time to do outreaches? Because the joy that I walk in crushes every thought that comes from the pit of hell whispering about wealth.

I have seen so many succumbed to it. It doesn't matter whether you go to church service regularly or not. It doesn't matter whether you serve in church ministry regularly or not. What matters is that we continually pursue to have the Word of God hidden in our heart and growing in obedience in living it out.

Apart from that, there is no way to remain pure in this world.

When The Father Says "No"

If J asked me to get a certain toy for him and I replied, "No", he would approach the other Father for it.

Apparently, he knew that this Father is greater than his father. By track records, He answered every toy prayer ----- the desires of J's heart.

Either this Father spoke to J's father (he had to say "Yes" to this Father) to buy that specific toy, or this Father moved in the hearts of others to buy that toy for J.

J knows that God the Father always answers his prayer. And I'm pretty sure he's using this against his earthly father's "No".

Don't Let Puberty Define Your Child

My son came back with my lunch - Mc Spicy meal. He insisted to pay with his own money, despite that wifey was with him.

He said to his mum, "Papa always buys Mc Chicken meal for himself even though he likes Mc Spicy, because he finds Mc Spicy expensive. But he always gets better meal for me. So I want to buy him what he likes to eat."

It was the best Mc Spicy meal that I have eaten.

My son is going through puberty. Who says that every child must behave the same in their puberty years? Who says that Inside Out 2 should define our child?

I say that Christ defines our child. We are in the world, but not of the world. If we behave as the world, we have rendered Christ of no effect in us.

Puberty does not define our child. But if we think that it's normal, we are the ones who have defined our child. The way we see our child will become the definition of his behaviours.

May we see our child as Christ sees.

Invitation To Church Christmas Service

So my son's homeschooling friend invited him for youth Christmas service at HOGC on my birthday, when we were supposed to have a family lunch. He probably thinks that J has backslided like me 😜😆 and wanna get him to slide back on Christmas.

J immediately replied him, "I can't. It's my dad's birthday on that day." And he told me about it.

I responded, "No. It's okay. I want you to go and experience it. And when the team leader and the people ask you, 'Which church are you from?' You tell them, 'I am the church.'"

My wifey overheard the conversation and interrupted, "You don't teach him to scare people off leh. They will think your son is weird."

Joke aside, I was personally blessed by Ps How when he took time to meet me and my wifey personally (over a period of time) at the early stage of my full-time church ministry work more than a decade ago. I wasn't from his sheep pen, but he had kingdom mentality to empower young ministers regardless of which church they are from.

He gave me the opportunity to sit in his staff meeting, looked at his staff office and learnt from his administration.

When I left full-time church ministry, he sent his pioneer leader to meet with me and find out how I was doing.

While theology might differ, love wins. His humility and genuine empowerment reveal his heart for the younger and the young generation.

So while I'm not into a church institution, I'm for my son to experience what is in an institution so that he can understand the differences when it comes to the Kingdom of God.

Parenting Without Separation Anxiety

Parenting Without Separation Anxiety

When J was born, we didn't allow the parenting school of "separation anxiety" to teach us how to parent a child. In my personal opinion, the heavenly Father does not do that to us, therefore, we decided to steer clear of some good parenting advice.

Many believe in letting the little one cry by leaving him alone, until he learns to be independent and sleeps on his own. But we beg to differ because we must align the physical with the spiritual.

The Father doesn't leave a newborn Christian to cry on his own so that he can be independent. So what makes us think that we should do it on the earthly realm?

J slept with us in the same room and on the same bed since he was born. We wanted him to feel fully secure by our presence.

J was also breastfed until 5 years old. Kudos to my wifey! People are usually concerned that it's harder to wean off at an older age and the withdrawal symptoms would be significant.

Few months before he reached 5, we began to consistently and regularly prepare him by our words. We kept saying, "J, when you reach 5, you will stop breastfeeding."

On his 5th birthday, we stopped on the dot. That night, he cried for a short while, before going to bed. The next day, he was completely normal in his usual self. It didn't take effort for him to be weaned.

When he first went to the childcare and the toddler's service in church, we didn't just 'throw' him into it and left him to cry. We went with him and stayed with him for a few times, ensuring that he could always see us, because we never leave him nor forsake him.

He was eased into the new environments naturally and smoothly without feeling any separation anxiety. This has been the rule of our household: Presence supersedes presents.

Few months before he moved to the new house, at the age of 11, we began to consistently and regularly prepare him by our words. We kept saying, "J, when we move to the new house, you will sleep in your own room and bed."

On the night when we moved in, he gave us a night hug, and went to his own room and bed to sleep. There was no struggle. He successfully did it again.

He's reaching 12 and going through puberty. He still holds my hand in the public. We still hug and kiss, undefiled by the culture of this Asian world between a father and a son.

The Father in heaven never leaves us nor forsakes us. He is Jehovah Shammah. Separation anxiety is not in God's dictionary. The only time it happened was on the Cross when the Son cried out "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

He cried that, so that today, you and I can rejoice, "My Father, My Father, You NEVER leave me NOR forsake me."

And we can do the same to our little ones as we parent them, not conforming to the pattern of this world, but with a renewed mind according to the pattern of heaven.

The Practical Aspects of Homeschooling

The Practical Aspects of Homeschooling

While homeschooling has plenty of benefits, there are some important and practical aspects of homeschooling which are often not discussed or shared by the homeschooling community.

1) Significant drop in household income

Since it is compulsory for the main homeschooling parent to resign from her work, your household income will drop 50% (more or less depends on the partner's income).

It can be even more challenging if the sole bread winner doesn't have a monthly (regular) income. Ahem, talking about myself LOL.

2) Change In Lifestyle

Since your household income will drop drastically, you will need to have discipline, self-control and change your spending habits. You will start looking for what is valuable instead of getting what you like. You cannot afford to live for yourself.

You cannot be going overseas every now and then. You cannot be buying a bigger property due to one income's loan eligibility. More so if you suffer a hairline cut if you are not a salaried worker.

You cannot be going into cafes and restaurants regularly, especially when the overall cost of living in SG is extremely high as compared to other nations.

There is a price to pay for homeschooling. Count the cost and pay it.

3) Loss Of Personal Freedom

As your child is stuck to you 24/7, you won't have much personal freedom. Technically, he doesn't go to school.

The main homeschooling parent will spend most of her time with the child.

If you think of having regular, frequent dates with your partner, you can throw that thought away.

4) Homeschooling Costs Much More

Primary and secondary education in SG are heavily subsidised. Not for homeschooling though. You don't get subsidies for anything.

Not for books and materials.

Not for any course or lesson.

Not for MOE subsidised materials including technology, software, etc.

Not for meals (aka canteen in schools).

You pay for everything. And since a homeschooling child cannot be stuck at home without social circles, you pay for activities. You pay for sports where they are free in schools. You pay for science lab experiments where they are free in schools.

You pay for enrichment classes if the main homeschooling parent cannot cover every single topic / subject. I doubt anyone can cover it all, as it gets tougher in upper Primary.

5) MOE Curriculum

Yes. You can use any curriculum you want for your child, as long as it is approved by the Compulsory Education Department.

However, PSLE is a holy, divine, invisible sacred cow in Singapore that cannot be killed. Because of that, you still find yourself having to do MOE curriculum at some point.

It will be helpful if the main homeschooling parent is a trained teacher (Ahem, talking about my wife). Otherwise, you will need to put in extra effort to learn and teach. Alternatively, you can pay more to outsource further, which will increase your cost even more.

6) Teaching Your Own Child

When the teachers teach in a class, nobody argues with them. But when you teach your own child, he won't see you as a teacher. He sees you as his parent.

In other words, he's going to argue with you. He's going to post you questions. He's going to ask all the why's.

While it's 1-to-1 lesson, you will still lose your patience. You will get frustrated. You will have good and bad days. On good days, you get the work going. On bad days, you don't get anything done.

What you plan in the schedule often won't materialise, because you are not dealing with a robot. You are dealing with your child who can get distracted, unmotivated, etc.

In short, you have to handle all spectrums of emotions.

7) Most Homeschoolers Are Not Academically Excellent

Most homeschoolers (during primary and secondary years) are not academically excellent, as compared to those school kids from top schools. They catch up, however, at a later stage during tertiary years.

The reason is very simple. If your focus is having an academically excellent child, you won't be doing homeschooling in the first place. You will be the typical kiasu / kiasi / FMO Singaporean parent / tiger mum who drills your child in every subject, with plenty of tuition and enrichment classes.

We choose homeschooling because we do not want to go that route. Academics is not everything in life. You can be extremely learned but have no wisdom in life. You can study very well and produce great academic results, but still do not know how to live a purposeful life.

These are some practical and important aspects for you to consider before embarking on homeschooling. Having said that, the benefits outweigh the costs. So please, stay v̶a̶c̶c̶i̶n̶a̶t̶e̶d̶ tuned for the benefits, which I will share again as I did in many posts before.