By Rev.Daniel Yaw

Introduction

We have heard many sayings that we are living in the end of end times.  The signs are simply too clear to ignore that the return of Christ is imminent.  Yes, indeed like a thief in the night and the night is coming soon.
Are we ready to face the challenges of life today in the light of glorifying our Lord?
Daniel 2:10, 13
“There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean…. So, the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed, and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them.”
In chapter 1, the note ended with Daniel and his companions being bestowed with God’s blessing, specifying that Daniel has the ability to see and understand visions and dreams.  It has set the stage already that God is going to do something great in him.

A Ridiculous Situation

We can see how ridiculous a demand the king made on his subjects.  He had a disturbing dream and demanded that the wise men of his courts to firstly reveal the dream that he had and also to explain what the dream meant.  When we read of this account, we too will shake our heads and wondered what this king was thinking.  He has indeed gone bonkers.  How could anyone survive this situation?  It would only mean that the whole council of wise men in his court will be executed.
How then can Daniel survive this?  How would Daniel’s faith stand out?
There is the urgency of time today.  The call of our God is two-fold – to live a godly life that is worthy of His calling and to bring others to Christ.  There has never been a greater urgency that this before.  As a pastor, the challenge is to see a revival of our hearts.  When others are dropping out of their faith or losing interest in the things of God, it is of concern.
How are we going to survive this situation today?   For some it is not going to be easy as we struggle with the changes in life.  The fast pace of life, the distractions in life, the trials that come along are the many challenges today.

A Ready Spirit

The respond of Daniel is one that is willing to trust God.  It says in verse 16, “And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.”
His was a readiness of spirit to trust God.  When he made that request, I wondered if he had already known the dream and its interpretation.  I am sure he had not but his faith in God stood out.  He knew that God has a purpose in giving him the gift of visions and understanding.
He was ready to face “ridiculous” time with faith and courage in God.  He submitted himself to God and embraced the situation he was put into.
I know that it is difficult to be in Daniel’s position but are we ready to face such similar situations?  The church of God has always been challenged to face such situation from the very beginning in the book of Acts.  Persecutions, being ostracised by family and society was something they have learned to embrace and trust God.
 
Conclusion

What is my challenge?  What is yours?  Are we willing to put our trust in God and be ready in His service?  Remember what the Lord put in our hearts in the beginning of the year – to consecrate our lives for Him and then to realize that we are commissioned to the world.
 

By Rev. Daniel Yaw

Introduction
This month we celebrate the next member of the family – fathers!  It is going to be fathers’ day.  While there is much joy that fathers are also remembered and honoured, it is also a reminder of what our role is.
 
As I thought of that, a verse came to me in Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you? In the book of Micah it is clearly written how simple this is. “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”
 
I then also ask the question, “What would the Lord require of us as fathers? Or men in general?”
 
I would like to share what is in my heart as we make our journey of faith with our Lord.  May I summarize a few things as a word of blessing to all the men.
 
To love the Lord
I think the first thing required of us all is to love the Lord our God.  There is already so many distractions in the world.  I remembered the first time I came to know the Lord, when the love of God filled my heart.  I thought of nothing but the Lord.  Every Sunday is a day I look forward to – to enter into God’s house and to worship Him with all other believers.
 
I looked forward to studying the Bible more than studying my schoolbooks.  The love just overwhelmed within me.
 
If that is one thing the Lord would ask of us, it is this devotion to Him.  The greatest command, Jesus said, is to love God will all that we are – our heart, our soul, our mind, our strength, our attention, our pursuit, and others. 
 
To keep us faithful, to enable us to be models, to cause us to be a blessing, it all begins with our utmost love for God.  Is that not what the Lord require of us?  I pray that we will always grow in love and fall in love with our Lord over and over again.
 
To love our loved ones
The next thing I would like to bless us is that capacity to love those whom God gave in our lives.
Naturally, that would be those who are closest to us besides the Lord.  It begins with our spouse, then our children, then our loved ones, and finally our extended family of God.
 
The second greatest commandment mentioned by our Lord is to love one another as Christ loved us. 
 
Examined closely, we know that this is directed to the disciples and applying that, it is directed to all of us who are Christians, to love one another.
 
As fathers or men in general, let us remember that we ought to love those who are close to us first.  Our spouse deserved all the attention they needed.  Our children must be loved and nurtured.  Our loved ones must be loved and taken care of.  Our brothers and sisters in Christ must be loved in all consideration.
 
Afterall, it is also the mark of discipleship as Christ said that by this will others know that we are His disciples.
 
Love is really a process to be cultivated.  It begins with the heart and progresses to our attitudes and mind and then shown in our action.  May our hearts be gripped always with this phrase, “ONE ANOTHER”.  God has made us in such a way that we must live interdependent on each other.  In short, we need each other to journey together successfully.
 
To love the Lost
Finally, if our hearts are to right, we must love the lost.  That is the heartbeat of God – who desires that none shall perish without knowing him, but that all men be saved.
 
This is also commanded of our Lord in the great commission, that we go and preach the gospel, making disciples of ALL nations.
 
The heartbeat of God was illustrated in the story of the lost sheep among the 100.  The shepherd likened to our God, would go all out to search of this one lost sheep (though it seems insignificant and no great loss to the shepherd).  He did that because He loved.
 
In our daily interaction, how do we view those who do not know God?  Do we feel a surge of passion and longing that they would come to know God?
 
Conclusion 
So, on this day, I wished all fathers a very blessed Father’s Day.  I wished you God’s favour as you think of these 3 things – love for the Lord, love for the Loved ones, and love for the Lost.  To all the men, this is what I believe the Lord required of us today.

By Rev.Daniel Yaw

Introduction
The month of May is about remembering mothers. In the US, Mother's Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May each year.

The idea started in America when a woman called Anna Jarvis held a small memorial service for her mother on 12 May 1907.

Soon after, most places in America were observing the day and in 1914, the US president made it a national holiday, celebrated on the second Sunday of May.

Today, most of the world sets apart this day to remember mothers.

What then are we to remember about them?

A Picture of Quiet Strength
Proverbs 31 was written by King Lemuel who wrote down some great sayings about mothers.  The writings were inspired by the utterance of his mother.  In that long chapter, King Lemuel honored women in general and mothers in particular as filled with dignity, wisdom, enterprising, diligent, and many others.  Among them is the aspect of strength and dignity in verse 25 – “She is clothed with strength and dignity;  she can laugh at the days to come.”

Most of the time, by nature we would think of women as delicate, and yet their strength and resilience are unparalleled.  They exhibit spiritual and emotional strength.  We can understand why they are made to bear and deliver babies.  In life, they are those who have greater resilience.  Proverbs 31:25 simply made a profound statement in these words – she can laugh at the days to come.”

A Picture of Nurturing and Relationship.
Another great nature of women and mothers is that they are natural nurturers.  Throughout their motherhood, they occupied themselves with compassion, love, and care.  They care for their husbands, their children, and oftentimes at the expense of themselves.

When God wanted to express his care in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and New, mother‘s are beings used.
When Israel complained that God had forgotten and forsaken them and questioned the love of God, Isaiah the prophet spoke in Isaiah 49:15, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”

In the New Testament, Jesus himself described his love for His people as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings, Matthew 23:37, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

A Picture Purposeful Partners
When God created man, he also created a “helper”, someone who would walk alongside man for the rest of his life.  A partner with purpose, the woman is to share in the work with the man to keep the garden and to multiply and bring up the children in the ways of God.  Though it did not work out in the Garden of Eden, that same role did not stop after the fall.  She is still the purposeful partner to serve together with the man and bring the children up in the fear of the Lord.

Mothers have always been a powerful influence in the lives of children today.  Biblical examples can be seen in Eunice and Lois, the mother and grandmother of Timothy, a great servant of God in the Bible.

Hannah, the mother of the greatest prophet in the Old Testament – Samuel，who offered him at a young and tender age to the Lord to serve Him.

Jochebed, the mother of Moses, somewhat felt that her little boy would be someone used by God one day and later became the deliverer of the people of Israel from the land of slavery. Naomi is another character who became a favorite mother-in-law amidst horrible stories of mothers and daughters-in-law.  Ruth was drawn to her and her God and later though a Gentile, became a proselyte and was in the ancestry line of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Conclusion
I can go on and on in scriptures, great examples who became great inspirations to all mothers.  Once again in 2024, allow me to honor and thank all mothers and wish you all a blessed Mother’s day, and may you be recorded in the bible of our minds.