About Ecclesiastes!

Knowledge or Wisdom

So I said in my heart, "As it happens to the fool, it also happens to me, and why was I then more wise?" Then I said in my heart, "This also is vanity." For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool! Ecclesiastes. 2:15,16.

Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 9:23,24

Pleasure

"All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied" Ecclesiastes. 6:7.

Many people will say, "You only live once, so grab all the pleasure you can get." Solomon tried it. He grabbed for all the pleasures of life; but he realized that all were less fulfilling and didn't taste so great.

Whatever the pleasurable pursuit, the end result is the same--it doesn't give lasting fulfillment.

Work

For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun? For all his days are sorrowful and his work grievous; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity Ecclesiastes. 2:22,23.

There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God."For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment without Him? Ecclesiastes. 2:24, 25

Loving

The lesson we can learn in Ecclesiastes is that sharing your love for other is noble, but your love should be primarily be given God to have everlasting significance.

Loving others, as good as it is, falls short of giving the foundation on which to build our lives. We need a reason to love that goes beyond this life, a love that is rooted in the love of God 1 John 4:7--5:3.

As the Scriptures tell us, the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength; and the second great commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. God is primary; others, secondary.

God's Permanent Home!

Adam and Eve's Folly

Adam was created by God in His image; and God walked with him and Eve in Paradise. Adam's was God's first home.

They were given dominion over all things. But to their folly, they rebelled against God, so God walked out of Adam. Generations upon generations of man are now reaping the consequences of Adam and Eve's sin of rebelion.

A Believer is God's Permanent Home

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;...1 Corinthians 6:19

Now, God is trying redeeming men, so He can have a permanent home again in them.

He lost them through sin, so He devised a plan to restore them as they were. He sent Jesus, His only begotten Son, to be carry sin for all of us. He died and lived, so shall we.

Shall all men be God's permanent home? No, only those who believe in Christ Jesus.

Really Believing Christ!

Our Text: John 4:46-53

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."

The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
[The man took Jesus at his word and departed.] While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."

Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.

You Must Will and Act to Believe

"The man took Jesus at his word and departed." A verse in our text said. The man, after seeking Jesus attention and having his word of healing for his child, turned toward home. He rested on the word of Christ and was rewarded.

Are you willing to do that? I have almost four years ago and I am being rewarded!

God's Plan for Man Includes Sin

Predestined to be Holy

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. [For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.] In love he[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. Ephesians 1:3-6 NIV

For God's Glory

There's no mistake what these verses say - that before man was created, God has known that we would sin and suffer its dark consequences. In others words sin has a part in our lives. For what purpose would you ask?

The reason can be gleaned from our text [Ephesians 1:3-6]. The ultimate purpose is "to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

It's God will that at the Day of our Lord, we, who believe in Christ Jesus, be presented to God the Father as pure and blameless. It is to His pleasure that we be conformed to the image of His Son.

To be sure, the pain, sorrow and suffering that we feel during trials and troubles here on our temporary abode, which is Earth, can only mean that He is shaping and molding us for this ultimate purpose.

Anchors In My Life

I am on the last leg of reconciling the family to its whole self, and most important to God. This is a tall order nowadays. It entails big character traits, not a small amount of money, as well as, time; and a narrow focus of the goal.

Anchors to Cling to

It's fortunate that almost four years ago, I got to know Christ, the Son of God. He is the source of the three anchors I want to tell you about.

First, God is with me! I had come to believe in Christ; and have committed my whole life [and of the family] to Him. Through Him I was made a son and co-heir of God Almighty. Indeed, my whole life has changed radically with this knowledge and belief.

Freed from guilt of past wrongs, I am empowered [by Christ's Spirit, who lives within me] to live within the limits of God's sovereign and moral will. This is the hardest task a man can do, what with the pull of his fallen nature, evil opposition, and the great and numerous temptation offered by the world we live in.

Second, I am serving God. I believe I am in God's protection because of this fact. Also, I am being equipped [by Him] to handle whatever activity I am tasked with at the moment. The greatest help is that He works all things, good or bad, for my own good. What greater assurance I can get hold of to accomplish the good things I am called to do.

Third, I am God's property. So, I am in His safekeeping. He would not forsake me, not for any cause. I am certain that He has set other Christians and me apart from the unbelieving part of humandkind, for He has a specific purpose for me to do, for His praise and glory.

I Am Certain of Eternal Life

With these three anchors, I am certain I will be perfected and preserved by God till I have accomplished the task of reconciling the family.

Musings: Serving the Lord

Chances to Witness

At this time, I have a concern that I don't have the chances - to witness to people - that I had hoped or as called for by my present level of spiritual maturity. There are a couple of reasons.

First, we are new migrants in Canada; and being a part of the Asian minority has its inherent disadvantages. The Canadians [and all other Caucasians, for that matter] normally would take almost all you say with a grain of salt.

Second, the utter lack of money completely prevents me from going around, or even entertain at home, even for a small home bible study. You can read in the previous piece, in this journal, I had written that we are in transition; and that we are scraping almost the bottom of our financial resources. In other words we have not really settled in this foreign soil to undertake any witnessing in a grand scale.

Serving the Lord

Excerpt: Hopefully the American players will discover that humility is a virtue and not try and simply cover up these loses with excuses. And this is a good lesson for us all. Whatever we think we have accomplished, we can never sit back on our laurels. Even spiritual highs need to be tempered with reality. The disciples were always arguing over who would be greatest in the kingdom of God and who would get to sit next to Jesus in heaven. Jesus responded by reminding them that they were all servants, and it is always for servants to take the lower place. If God wants to usher us to a higher place, that's up to Him. Our place is last place. That's what we should choose, and in so doing, lift up all those who are ahead of us. (1)

This excerpt, which talked about serving the Lord, encourages me a lot. Indeed, Nora, my wife, and I are serving at the moment my daughter and husband. They are working to make a living while Nora and I stay home to take care, first and foremost, their months old son, and, secondarily, the daily household chores.

It's good that I have time to do my devotion to our Lord; also, get the time, alone, talk with Him and get intimate. Therefore, my spiritual growth is assured and can only bring good things.

Sources: (1) John Fischer at Purpose Driven Life | Published March 15, 2006

Great Blessings Amidst Some Trials!

I just learned that I am an ambassador of Christ on earth. That's here and there, as I have more glorious blessings to tell. In fact, my whole life seems to have evolved from events, circumstances, and from a mix of good and bad things that were under the workings of God.

Getting the Family Together in a Foreign Land

Since conversion into being a Christ follower almost four years ago, I have had great blessings from Our Lord Jesus, these amidst great or big trials. First, He has started to bring my family back together, which is not the norm for almost all family, which breaks apart as a new generation comes into ascendancy. My married daughter, 32, who is now residing in Canada and working as a nurse has taken my wife and I under her care. It was very timely for Nora, my wife. She has been working abroad for years on end, mainly in the Middle East, also as a nurse; and she has been telling me that age is creeping up on her that she may need to retire.

I, on the other hand, was stuck in a losing business, which I put up upon separation form the company I have last worked. It was forced on me that time - I mean putting up a business - for I was too old to get another job. The family had this business for two and a half years before we were hustled of to Canada. I was just too happy for this new opportunity in a faraway land, escaping the burden of worries of an unsecure financial future, due mainly to lack of work and diminished capacity due to old age.

Back to the family reconciliation. I have another adult child, a boy who is 28 years old, who had not gotten a job since graduating from college. He is presently at our old home country as we left him to mind the business when we left for Canada.

In a way, the family business was advantageous - my boy had a instant job. Although not to his preference, he had the good sense to help me operate it, while looking out for a job to his liking.

Just last week, we had on our hands on the last set of documents needed for him to migrate to Canada, to complete the family reconciliation. All these activities related to our migration is causing us a big sum of money, needless to say. We really had to scrape the bottom of our resources, not to mention embarrassment when we borrowed money from relatives.

Uncertain Future?

Now that we also have sold the business, we are left with whatever my daughter and her husband can provide. And that's for the rest of our lives. Normally, this could be a cause for concern; but I have none whatsoever as I have committed all things to God.

That's the good thing about my conversion to Christ. Without Him in my life, the uncertain future would have really broken my spirit and resolve to move on and live. For example, could I be writing this piece? Without the strength I am getting from Our Lord, I doubt it.

In fact, instead of being defeated by all the negative circumstances, I have more hope, now, than when I had a self-sufficient life before I got called by Christ.

Praised and Glory be to God!