Agree with your adversary quickly, .... lest your adversary deliver you to the judge

Matthew 5:25
Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

Jesus taught the above just after the Beatitudes, while He was explaining that hatred is regarded as murder. Rather than having conflict with our adversaries to the point of going to court over certain matters, it may be more prudent to agree with the adversary and move forward. We tend to regard our rights as all-important and would defend our rights. When our rights are violated, we try to seek justice including in the most civilised manner. However, despite the injustice of His arrest, Jesus asked His accusers to promptly carry on with the unjust trial and sentence. When we come certain trials and tribulations, unlike Jesus who is perfect, we have to examine ourselves and repent. A commentary said: "as long as there is disobedience in any point of His teaching, He will allow the Holy Spirit to use whatever means necessary to bring us back into obedience"

If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off

Matthew 5:30
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Those who know Yshua well would know that He is not advocating people to maim themselves nor is there other evidence to suggest that He likes people to hurt themselves. On the contrary, many of His miraculous deeds include healing people, which means Yshua loves to heal and make others whole. This particular verse in Scripture is written in dramatic fashion to specifically highlight the seriousness of sin. We are supposed to treat sin as such a danger that it is better to lose a limb if that can help avoid us from sinning. It also spells out the consequence of sin quite clearly and it is a dire warning indeed.

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected

Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 

Paul started this verse recognizing the reality that we will never be perfect in this life, although we are in the process of sanctification. It is humbling and it is the reality, that God does not call on perfect people to do His work. God is using us the way we are and it is God who calls us for His work. Our own abilities may or may not be a factor, after all it is God who gives us all of our abilities. But we are never qualified in ourselves, for it is God who chooses any of us to do His work for His glory, not ours.

Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you

Jeremiah 1:8
Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord.

The Lord reminded Jeremiah of His presence and protection. We too need to constantly remember this. Whatever situation we are in, pay no heed of what we may lose but solely remember Yshua. One aspect that may get to most of us is when we are being treated unfairly. If we seek justice for ourselves, there is a danger of falling into self-pity and being diverted from our devotion to Him. A commentator said "Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it". So continue in what Yshua told us and He will guard us.

Not to receive the grace of God in vain

2 Corinthians 6:1
We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain

Receiving the grace of God should be happening all the time. It is not that we pray for the grace or we come to God to ask His grace during our prayers when we are in trouble. God, Yshua, has already poured out His grace. It is for us to receive daily to replenish ourselves. We need to be soaked in His grace so we operate and walk in His grace. A commentator said that the proof of being absorbed in His grace is that we are in a total humble state before others, with nothing we can think of to put ourselves better than others, and be happy about it.

But for this purpose I came to this hour

John 12:27-28
“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify Your name.”

Our Lord Yshua is pouring His heart out to God the Father. He knows the trials that He will go through soon. As a man, the thought of saving himself must have spark his mind as the electrical impulses in his brain fires up the possibility. However, He is the perfect example that although unholy thoughts enter our mind, we have the free will to fight those thoughts and be fully devoted to God. Living on earth, we face all kinds of temptation - we just have to will it away by focusing purely on God. There is no other way, there is no in between, there is no tasting a little of the forbidden fruit. It has to be all out rejection of the things that we know would not be pleasing to God. Only then can we glorify God's name.

Luke 22:53
But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.

Our Lord Yshua was speaking to the priests and elders who came to arrest him. He recognized that the evil is dominating many aspects of human life. In particular the Evil One uses humans to do his dirty way and the way this is done is through the sins of humans. All humans sins as Paul mentioned that we all fall short of His glory. However those who belong to Christ know what sin is, acknowledge when they sin and confess it to God in total repentance. How many times would God keep forgiving us, as Yshua implied, it is for as many times as we come back to Him.

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief

Isaiah 53:3
He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

This describes our Lord when He was on the earth. He faced rejection and being despised more than many of us could imagine. The sorrow and grief that He faced was not so much on His family or disciples on earth, but rather with the fallen humanity. Our state of sinfulness on earth is so opposed to God's Holy nature and Yshua experienced the conditions of sinfulness all around the society while He walked the earth. Are we at the point like our Lord, to recognize and grief about the conditions of our world today?

For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged

Matthew 7:2
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.

This is truly a scary statement. The consequence is great, yet the sin itself is so common that everyone of us have done it. We have judged others, often we don't even know we are doing it. The objective problem is that we too are guilty of various offenses, hence we are in no position to judge. Yet it is human nature to judge. The best thing is simply not to judge others at all. Note however, that there is a distinction between judging people and criticising the work or deeds of others. Sometimes there may be a fine line - so we just need to be careful. Ultimately, our focus should be towards God.

You are ... a royal priesthood

1 Peter 2:9
You are ... a royal priesthood

Many have the impression that priests are super-holy, a separate class of human beings, that no one else have the ability to live like them. It is right to think that they are a separate people and that is in fact what God calls us to be. Through Yshua the Messiah, those who believe and walk with Him, are in fact a royal priesthood. Whether we feel adequate or not, God has determined that is who we are. We only have to focus on Him, and serve others without constantly looking at whether we are worthy.

Job, Lord, losses, prayed, friends, twice, restored

Job 42:10
And the Lord restored Job’s losses[a] when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 

We know the story of Job of how he lost everything, and Job persevered and refused to curse God. Finally God restored more to Job more than what he originally had. But the interesting thing from the verse above is that God restored Job's losses after he started praying for His friends. God had intended to bless Job. However, God's timing was that the blessings would be released only after Job prayed for his friends who had been critical of him. Praying for others have absolutely no disadvantage to us, and the time we spend doing so, will be more than recompensed by God. 

Do you love me..... feed my sheep

John 21:16
Do you love me..... feed my sheep

This verse has been used to teach on the need to care for the ones whom Jesus our Lord care most deeply about. They include the disadvantaged in our society and those who believe in Him. It is more than doing and taking care of our Lord's sheep, because if we do simply that, we could wear out soon. Underlying this obedience must be a sense of devotion to our Lord. He needs to be our sole focus and so all these things will follow after.

Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:35
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As long as we are on this earth, hardships and tribulations come to all people when they live long enough. The important point is no matter what we go through, God has not abandoned us. However, there is a danger that we could walk away from God thinking that He has abandoned us in the first place. Paul listed the different kinds of hardships in the verse, and there are more that are not listed. It is ever more important to realise the fact and cling on to God, as many heroes of the Old Testament has done, such as Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah and so on.

Feast of Weeks - Shavuot - Pentecost

This is a comparison of the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) and Pentecost:
- celebrating end of the barley harvest and the first fruits of the wheat harvest
- fiftieth day of counting the harvest after Passover


God gave the Torah through Moses to the Jewish people <> God sent His Holy Spirit to the early Jewish believers

Celebrating the anniversary of God's covenant with Israel <> God fulfilled His promise to send the Holy Spirit.


God appeared to Moses on Mt Sinai in the form of fire (Ex 19:18-19) <> Tongues of fire descending on disciples (Acts 2:3)

Jewish traditions associates multiple tongues with events at Sinai "every word proceeding from God's mouth divided into seventy tongues" (b Shab 88b)

Josephus mentioned strong winds that became a mighty tempest on the third day of Israel's stay at Sinai (J.Ant. 3:80) <> A sound like the "blowing of a violent wind" (Luke 2:2) 

Peter's proclamation of the gospel resulted in 3000 new believers (Acts 2:41) <> 3000 individual died when the nation rebelled against God by worshipping the golden calf at the bottom of Mt Sinai (Ex 32:1-29).


Shavuot is the day the Israelites offered God the first fruits of the harvest <> The Spirit begins God's work of redemption.


Ref: L Hirsch

But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid

Matthew 14:29-30
So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous,[b] he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

Peter could walk on water. There is no reason to doubt that this is true. In fact, it was more than Jesus asked Peter and Peter obeyed; because the verse before this, it was Peter who asked Jesus to call Peter out to the water. We don't understand what made Peter said that - probably Peter did not think about it too. It was probably has his impulse driven by faith that he somehow knew Jesus is divine, that led him to prompt Jesus to call him.

We know the rest of the story well. Peter paused to consider his physical reality and that fleeting moment of questioning destroyed the power of faith. The clear lesson for us is to step out in faith, and not focus on the reality that holds us back. One commentator said that "You will only recognize His voice more clearly through recklessness - being willing to risk your all".

Judge not, that you be not judged

Matthew 7:1
Judge not, that you be not judged.

This is one of the very basic thing that we need to obey. It is in our natural tendency to judge. However judging others results in hindering our own spiritual life and maturity. It is especially painful when others get hurt by believers who judge them. There is also a danger in this as God clearly warns us not to hurt the little ones - that is, those who are new to the faith. If we think about it, God is absolutely right with this command. We are simply not in a position to judge other because of our own sinful nature, which cannot help sinning from time to time. Only thing we need to be concerned with is getting right with God, and then help others with their situations instead of judging them.

A servant does not know what his master is doing

John 15:13-15
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 

This is one of the various passages that debunk the myth that God works in mysterious ways. All through history, from examples with Abraham, to Moses, David and Yshua, God has revealed His plans to people. Previously it was to the prophets, but after Christ, where we have the Holy Spirit in us, we too have been revealed His plans. So for any believers who still think God's plans are mysterious, it is time to walk closer with God and have more frequent communion with Him.

add to your faith

2 Peter 1:5
Also .... add to  your faith

There are times in between our work for God, that we are just participating in our normal lives. Many times, we may feel spiritually down or not motivated. Perhaps it is these times that the Scripture above may be applied to. Those are the times that we can learn and work out our faith.

Abide in Me.

John 5:14
Abide in Me...

Our Lord Yshua asked us to live in Him and the greatest example of all is How He lived in His Father. He surrendered His will to His Father. On this earth, we are all busy people, but perhaps the first thing on this journey to Abide in Him is to Pause.....

Come, follow Me

Luke 18:22
So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Our Lord Yshua requires us to come to Him and follow Him. The situation surrounding the verse above is that the rich young ruler was asking about how eternal life. Yshua requires nothing less than our whole selves. He was not against the wealth that people have. Rather, things like wealth and other worldly pursuits can hinder our relationship with Him. His requirement is very simple in a sense, just let go of our worldly things and follow Him.

Where are You staying? Come and see

John 1:38-39
Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”
They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”
He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).

The context of this is that John the Baptist's disciples had just turned to follow Jesus, and the above conversation began. This illustrates people who desire to follow Jesus and they are interested about Him, and where He stays so they too may stay with Him. For most cases, our Lord Yshua is very inviting and freely let the people to be with Him. It also shows that following Yshua, is not just about reading and understanding, but it is a way of life. We are to eat with Him, drink with Him, sleep with Him; our whole lives dedicated to live as He lives - that is the challenge.

Come to Me

Matthew 11:28
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

A simple invitation from our Lord Yshua. A simple action from us to obey and give our troubles to Him, will be truly beneficial for us. But there are many things holding us back from taking up this simple request - thought it does not need to be that way. Firstly, to respond, one would naturally be a believer in Yshua, or believe from that instant on. Secondly, we need to believe in Him enough to take hold of this particular kind of promise. Thirdly, He is trustworthy, so we will be rested when we respond to Him.

Seek, and you will find

Luke 11:9
seek, and you will find;

God wants His children to ask. But we may grow tired of asking because the things we ask for, are not given back to us. Instead of giving up, it is then that we should examine our motives. God has never meant to fulfill just our own selfish needs. Even so, we should not rule out asking things for ourselves, because He is Jehovah Jireh the Provider, and He will provide for our needs. On the other hand, there are also many things that we can ask about, including the salvation of others, the provision for others, the resource to continue the work for His Kingdom.

For everyone who asks receives

Luke 11:10
For everyone who asks receives...

This is one of the promise of God. Many disciples of Yshua know this. However how many of us take it seriously or take this to heart and apply it in our everyday lives. The phrase is simple to understand, but it is hard to practice because subconsciously we don't believe it. We don't believe it because it does not seem to match with our experience - can anyone just ask and receive what they ask? The answer is no. But God's Word cannot be wrong. So it seems something is missing here.

Firstly, God and His Word is right for all time. And it says everyone, so it means everyone. The key is that the phrase does not mention the object being asked for. What is not being written is that the object should be according to God's will. So it clearly rules out all kinds of selfish requests or requests from lusts, envy, covetousness and so on. On the positive side, we should humble ourselves as we work in the Kingdom, and ask God's help for matters related to this work and for those that God cares about.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them

John 13:17
If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

When we are given revelations by the Holy Spirit, we are expected to act on them. Obeying is an active pursuit rather than a set of laws about "Do nots". In prayer and in communion with God, He will reveal that things that we ought to do. The motivation may sometimes elude us and can only be understood by God. However, to those who obey and carry out the tasks, they will be blessed by God in return.

Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do

John 14:13
Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do...

As with the other recent passages, it is clear that the thing that God expected us to ask here are not just the things for our own needs. In fact, it mostly deal requests which are in God's will. This is not like God is making us ask what He wants. When the believers mature in Christ, and become more like Him, then their needs are also aligned with that of God's. A few of those needs will be to spread the gospel, to minister and to help those who are in need. For these, God will not hold back.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you

Philippians 2:12-13
 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

This passage brings two teachings together, one is to "work out our own salvation" and the other is to align our will with God's will. We more commonly hear about having to learn to align our will with God's will. This also include submission of our own will if they are oppose to God's will. Our Lord Yshua is a good example of one whose will is perfectly in tuned with God's will.

The part about "working out our own salvation" is not about acquiring or gaining salvation. Salvation has already been given by God and received by His followers. Yet they still have to work it out so that in their own lives, in this still sinful world, they would live according to God's ways. That means they would have to constantly check that their desires are not opposed to God's will. As they continue to walk with God, the Holy Spirit is already working to shape their will to align with God's own will.

The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Hebrews 5-6
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”[a] 6 So we may boldly say:
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Having taken the promise that God will never leave us or forsake us, then we have to respond according to our belief in that promise. We know God is true in His Word, and if we truly believe in God, then this promise should motivate us into boldness. Peter and the other apostles were bold after Pentecost, in preaching about the Kingdom of God. With the Holy Spirit in us, we too can act with this boldness. Fear will put thoughts into us, but it can be overcome by remembering this promise and that the Lord is my Helper.

I will never leave you nor forsake you

Hebrews 13:5
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you."

This assurance of God is truly wonderful, if only we can grasp the entirety of it. There is no conditions mentioned here; it just says God will not leave nor forsake us. God knows our shortcomings, that we will continue to sin, that we can never be perfect as His Son Yshua, yet we have the guarantee that He will never leave us. Our respond can be none other than total devotion to Him.

The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him

Psalm 25:14
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant.

A famous phrase is that "God works in mysterious ways". Hopefully a true disciple of Yshua will never mutter these words. Those are the words of people who don't know God. Many instances in both the Old and Testament showed God telling His people about His plans. The more intimate the relationship, the more He reveals. Examples include Abraham, Moses and the prophets. Yshua also reveals many secrets to His disciples then and now.

For us, if we don't feel that God has revealed anything to us, then that is a good test that perhaps we need to spend more time with God. We are supposed to know Him so well that we just walk in His will via the Holy Spirit. We will not need to pray or ask for His will most of the time if we continue to walk ever more closely with Him.

Who is the man that fears the Lord?

Psalm 25:12
Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.

The psalm has got various definitions of the "fear of the Lord". This verse is focused more on the results of having that fear of the Lord. God sees those who fear Him as people that He can teach and mould. Those who fear Him will put their trust in Him and depend on Him. Their lives would revolve around God. This is the closeness that many have spoken and written about.

Son of man, can these bones live?

Ezekiel 37:3
And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”

Can something that is decayed ever have life again? This question is well put to our spiritual lives as well. In fact, we are born sinners but can be saved. Indeed it is God Himself who is able to save us and turn our lives around. There is nothing that we can do ourselves to change or improve us. It is only up to God who can save us and lead us to a better place.

Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men

John 2:24-25
But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, 25 and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

Our Lord Yshua knows us well. So we too should know ourselves enough not to place our full confidence on each other. All humans are fallible, even the best of us. The best solution is to put our trust in Yshua Himself who never fail.

Lord, I will follow you, but

Luke 9:61
Lord, I will follow you, but...

The Lord requires us to follow Him wholeheartedly. This must not be based on any conditions of our own. Neither can we always use our own understanding to try and judge God's motives before following Him. Perhaps this is what is so amazing about Abraham's faith that we all remember; Abraham left his own country to journey with God to an unknown destination, much later on he was willing to sacrifice his only son even though his promised generation is supposed to come from that son.