We hope you’ve enjoyed the spirit of the season – hearing voices from all denominations, church and parachurch, male and female, young and young at heart.

What do you do at the end of every great endeavour?

Once you graduate, what do you do? You work. The real work begins. School was just preparation for the work.

Once you finish a marathon, what do you do? You build on it. You have reached a certain level of speed and fitness – so that the next time, you will be faster and fitter.

So what do we do, now that we’ve hit Day 41? There are 325 days to go until 40.Days 2025. We can’t down tools till then. Now the work begins; now we build on what we have come through.

Here are four things for you to prayerfully consider as we reach the end of this season of united prayer:

1. Don’t just pray about Turning Singapore Godward. Evangelise.

The late, great evangelist Reinhard Bonnke – founder of Christ for all Nations, which just celebrated its 50th year – said: “Praying for God to work is fine, but praying for Him to do what we should be doing is pointless.”

Another great evangelist, Leonard Ravenhill, said: “Prayer is the battle in the spiritual realm. It must be followed by action in the physical realm.”

When it comes to evangelism, yes, it is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict a sinner to salvation. But it is the work of the sinner’s friend to share the Gospel. How can anyone believe in one of whom they have not heard? How can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Romans 10:14)

Church, we heard from many speakers over the 40 Days emphasise that the fields in Singapore are ripe for the harvest. Don’t just talk and pray about evangelism. It is time to do the work. Get out there and share the Gospel!

2. Don’t just pray about Winning the Youth. Engage.

We heard about how churches must form healthy communities for the next generation.

We heard about how they are in need of mentors and role models in the faith.

We heard about how winning the youth starts at home here, here and here. 

My wife and I have learnt that, as parents, the best thing we can do for our children is to pray for them – but that alone won’t win their hearts. Same goes for the church. 

To keep our youth in church, the church must engage them in a manner that excites them about the faith. To win the youth beyond church walls, the church must adapt to become loving and lively communities where children and youths want to come and want to stay.

Without engaging the youth – be it through conversations, friendship, sports, recreation, whatever it takes! – we will never win the youth. Pray for the opportunity, then do it.

3. Don’t just pray about Blessing the Nations. Explore.

Singapore used to be a missionary-sending nation. In the early 1990s, we were the number one missionary-sending nation in the world! 

We sent out more than a thousand missionaries across all the continents. But by 2020, however, the number of missionaries had dropped by half, to about 516. And many of these are now in their 50s or older.

Two famous passages often cited in church remind us that we are called to bring our work of evangelism not just to our nation, but to the nations – to every people group.

In Mark 16:15, we are told to “go into the world and preach the Gospel to all creation”. 

In Matthew 28:19-20, we are told to “go and make disciples of all nations”. 

So … go! And you don’t have to wait until God downloads a specific nation. As Pastor Bill Wilson, who runs the global Metro World Child ministry reminds us, “the need is the call”. Find out where the needs are and explore the possibilities. 

Let the Antioch church arise! 

4. Don’t just pray for 40 days. Endure.

Honest confession: My monthly church prayer meetings were in a sad state up to a couple of years ago. Less than 5% of our adult congregation would show up to pray.

Aggrieved, we were stirred to do whatever we could, whatever it took to help church members make personal and corporate prayer a priority. We pleaded from Scripture; we shook up the prayer format to make the idea of prayer less daunting. Fan the flames! 

After more than a year of investing in equipping church members to pray, we’re seeing it bear fruit. During this past 40.Day 2024 season of prayer, we held weekly prayer meetings in which, for the first time ever, we had to open our extra section of seats for a prayer meeting.

We don’t want numbers for numbers’ sake. But we know that everyone attending chose, at least for that evening, to make prayer – our connection with God – their top priority.

But what happens at the next prayer meeting? After the rush, after this season? We’re hoping for more.

Because we have come to learn that everything else we do as Christians and as the Church is of secondary importance to prayer. Without prayer, we are essentially telling God that we want to do church and do life without Him in the picture.

The famed evangelist John Sung died 80 years ago, in 1944. In the 1930s, he came through Singapore 7 times, seeing thousands saved. 

He was known as an evangelist, but this is what he said about prayer in his last years:

“I deemed evangelism the most important work, but now I see that prayer is more important than anything. If there were 100 evangelistic teams in Southeast Asia that have tasted of the sweetness of prayer, the whole of Southeast Asia would turn to the Lord. If every church could have one of these teams, it would receive revival.” 

Prayer precedes the revival!

Don’t stop at Day 40 of prayer, said Ps Edric. Let Day 41 be the first day of a new, lifelong season of prayer.

So, to recap, this is what the 40 Days of prayer have taught me:

Pray. But don’t just pray. On top of prayer, we must:

• Evangelise right where we are, in Singapore.
• Engage the youth.
• Explore how to bring the Gospel to the nations.
• And finally, Endure – Persist – Devote yourself to prayer.

Don’t stop at Day 40. Let Day 41 be the first day of a new, lifelong season of prayer for you. And as you see God moving in prayer – may it move you to action, too. 

Dear God,

This is our prayer, just as it was the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ: To do the work of Him who sends me.

In prayer, we speak to You, and You speak to us. You tell us not just about ourselves, but also about others – especially the many others who have yet to know You as Lord and Saviour.

We hear You, God. Break our hearts for what breaks Yours. Help us to not merely be hearers of the word, but doers also.

Here I am – send me, Lord.

In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

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The post (The unofficial) Day 41 Devotion: What now? appeared first on Salt&Light.

Bible reading for Day 24  | Revelation 12:11

“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

Learn

Did you know that God is raising up young people who will scare the devil? 

The Bible says in Revelation 12:11 that this generation will defeat the devil by: 

• The power of the blood of Jesus.
• Speaking the truth about Jesus and sharing the Word of God to others.
• Being brave to live for God.  

The Bible says God will give the power of His Holy Spirit on all people, and that includes you! 

So be bold and courageous to share the Word of God. The Gospel has the power to save. 

Then those who hear the Word will love and serve the Lord. They will let the Holy Spirit guide their lives. They will respect God. 

Let us pray especially for young people like you and your friends to grow up learning and obeying God’s Word. 

Let us also pray for those who do not yet know God to be ready to believe when they hear the Gospel. 

Discuss

1. What are some ways you are learning about who God is today?

2. What are 3 things you would like to share with other young people about God?

Pray 

1. Pray that God will show you and other young people how to live for Him. 

2.  Ask God to prepare the youths in your generation to receive His truth and to see Him in their lives. Pray that young people will be sure of God’s love and will be eager to share it with others. 

3. Pray that God will help parents guide their children according to God’s ways and teach their children about Jesus clearly. 

Follow Salt&Light on Telegram, Facebook or Instagram for more of LoveSingapore’s daily family devotions until August 9, 2024.

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In a nutshell, the weekly chapel service that started on Wednesday, February 8, has … not yet ended. For days, students have filled the halls of the seminary in Kentucky state, day and night, in prayer and spontaneous praise, marked by repentance and salvations.

It didn’t take long before this ongoing episode was dubbed the Asbury Revival.

“What’s been happening here since Wednesday is there’s a young army of believers who are rising to claim Christianity, the faith, as their own, as a young generation and as a free generation, and that’s why people cannot get enough,” student body president Alison Perfater told Fox News.

Surely all this is a good thing, right?

Students confessing their sins in the spirit of repentance, eschewing every Gen Z distraction to instead prefer to seek God’s face. Their peers at other university campuses catching that fire, which has spilled over even onto TikTok (search #AsburyRevival) and YouTube, where the events from Asbury are being livestreamed to millions worldwide.

The next generation drawing near to God – surely that is high on every church’s list of prayer items!

And yet … it seems that wherever Asbury is mentioned, for every emoji posted in support, there’s at least the same number of emojis.

It seems there are a lot of Christians who would rather this not be taking place. Ours is the age of cynicism.

Here’s another account of revival, both personal and en masse. A little while before Asbury.

“David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

“… David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.

“As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

“… David said to Michal, “(My dancing) was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord.

“I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes.”

Recognise that? It’s excerpted from 2 Samuel 6:5-22. The celebration was for the Ark of the Covenant being brought to Jerusalem, the City of David. If anything, the worship then was rather wilder than at Asbury, which seems to be marked by spontaneous worship that is surprisingly peaceful and orderly.

To be fair to Michal, daughter of Saul, she had all sorts of reasons to be angry towards David, the man who succeeded her father as King. The more David celebrated, the more embittered she became, to the point where she confronted him to condemn his behaviour (2 Samuel 6:20).

It seems no matter the era, no matter the situation, there’s always someone looking to pour cold water and pull the handbrake on someone’s eagerness to seek God.

The bitterness would eventually poison, not David, but Michal herself.

As 2 Samuel 6:23 notes: “Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.”

To the Michals out there: I know there are many questions, many doubts in your mind. But before going through the long list of questions one by one, I instead have just one plea: If someone is celebrating before God – especially someone from the next generation – let them.

Writes Dave Chamberlain of the Kainos Project: “We would do well to cultivate the discipline of withholding judgment. Cynicism says, ‘I know how this ends: the same way it always ends—and it’s never good.’ But humility says, ‘I don’t know the motivations and intentions of others, and while I may have some critical questions, I choose to withhold judgment until I learn more.’

“We would do well to refrain from providing authoritative commentary in the meantime.”

There certainly are questions that will need answers in the long game.

What are the lasting fruits of this repentance? How will the lives of those at Asbury be transformed? When will their personal encounters translate to ministry beyond campus and church? Will this prove to be a pivotal moment or merely a meaningless footnote on the history of the church, American and global?

But that is the long game. For now: Every believer’s journey starts when they are born again. Every backslider’s redemptive story starts at a place of rededication. Dead faith needs to be revived.

It all needs to start somewhere. For some, why not Asbury?

It may not be how you would worship, it may not be your setting of choice. But anyone drawing close to God is always a good thing.

Celebrate with those who celebrate God.

And to those at Asbury – or more likely to those who see what’s going on in Kentucky and are now curious, or optimistic, or hopeful, or stirred, or inspired, or seeking for a touch of God yourself: 

When you finally come that close to the Ark of the Covenant, so to speak, possibly after an extended separation – your celebration is before the Lord, not men. Some may invalidate your experience, some will find it contemptible.

Better contemptible before men than before God. Better to be abased in the eyes of cynical, critical man, than to be abashed in your celebration of God.

https://saltandlight.sg/news/as-asbury-community-is-commissioned-malaysian-pastor-shares-i-kept-praying-daily-for-this-revival-to-be-fulfilled/

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The post King David, Michal and the Asbury Revival appeared first on Salt&Light.

It was the deadliest tsunami in history. But while such a death toll is rarely matched, I came to realise that massive disasters are not uncommon.

In the 18-plus years since then, we have seen the Kashmir earthquake of 2005 (87,000 dead), Myanmar decimated by Cyclone Nargis (138,000 dead), the 2010 Haiti earthquake (more than 300,000 dead by some estimations) and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (almost 20,000 dead), which led to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

Then there are unnatural disasters – the ravages of war. Iraq, Darfur, Syria, Yemen, Ukraine. Millions dead.

After a while, working in the newsroom – just as it may be for the newspaper reader or TV viewer at home – death tolls can easily become mere numbers, distant statistics.

I saw the jaded journalists around me and knew how easy it would be to slip down that path. Every disaster becomes just another front-page headline that would be page 12 news within a week, and within a month it’s not even worth putting on newsprint.

And so in December 2004, I resolved not to allow that to happen to me. As soon as my newsroom shift ended – or in the day before my late shift started – I went to wherever people were responding, and instead of being among the news ranks interviewing the volunteers, I swapped roles and became a volunteer myself, packing shipments meant for the tsunami survivors.

Move your hands, and you will slowly move your heart.

Open hearts, open eyes

I paused after writing that previous paragraph to watch another video making its rounds via Whatsapp – a compilation of buildings collapsing due to Monday’s earthquake.

“The earth is broken up,
the earth is split asunder,
the earth is violently shaken.”
– Isaiah 24:19

The visual is so difficult to watch. Does not compute. Buildings should not behave that way.

But we cannot avert our eyes from those in need. “He who shuts his eyes to the poor shall have many a curse.” (Proverbs 28:27)

“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” (Proverbs 21:13)

Then a different visual comes to mind. An hour ago I was at one of the collection centres for public donations, watching near-arguments ensue as volunteers and members of the public jostled for space about an overflowing and still-growing heap of diapers and other donations.

Friction aside – this is a good thing. Big-hearted people finding time in the middle of a busy day to pack or buy the needed items, sacrificing time and money. We are far removed from the Middle East, and for now we do whatever we can do.

There is another collection of medical supplies coming up this weekend, organised by Relief Singapore. As a member of the church which is the collection centre, already I am seeing requests coming through: 

• “I have thousands of spare blankets, do they need them?” 
• “I work in a pharmacy, how much can the organisers take?”
• “I work as a helper in Singapore, but I have a few boxes of medicine expiring in April, will they be accepted?”

If these are the worst in times – let them bring out the best in us. Volunteer. Donate. Stay updated. Look for ways to help. (See the sidebar on “How you can help” below.) And above all else, pray.

Open hearts, open hands

And what next, after this disaster? Shut down our hearts and wait for the next earthquake to stir us?

There’s a verse I’ve been meditating on, Deuteronomy 15:11. It starts: “There will always be poor people in the land.” 

I’ve heard this used as justification for not being generous. There’s no end to the need, so there’s no point trying to meet every need.

Of course, we can’t give everything to everyone everywhere all at once. Stewardship – discernment – wisdom.

But embrace the heart of the verse, which continues: “… Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.”

Because there is need, we must open our hands wide to them in compassion and charity. Because there are poor among us, we need to learn to keep on giving, and ever more generously – the worst of times bringing out the best in us.

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The post Let the worst of times bring out the best in you appeared first on Salt&Light.

When they do, like in 2023, it gets hectic. Out with the old, and in with new resolutions, new furniture, new clothes. In seasons where the economy is better and COE prices are lower, throw in a new car, too.

It’s like a mad, compressed season of renewal.

The idea of renewal is more than merely being made new.

It is re-newal. The re- signifies that it once was new, before somewhere along the way, the newness is lost.

Like how a new car stops smelling new after a while. Like how your new shoes no longer feel new once they take the first scuff. Like how the notes you score in your Chinese New Year angbaos no longer feel newly-minted once they’re put back into circulation.

It is the same with our faith. We are all, at some point, new. For converts from other faiths,  we are born again, new creations in Christ.

Those who were born into Christian families may not know that feeling. But ideally, we all have a moment of epiphany – a personal encounter and revelation of God that makes Him more than mere tradition or family habit. And we see Him anew.

But … life, you know? So many distractions, discouragements, diversions. And before you know it, you’re the car that’s lost that new car smell.

Everyone misses that new car smell. Go to any petrol station, find the shelf selling fragrances, and the ones that promise you your car will smell like new are always among the best-sellers. You could be driving a beat up, 18-year-old COE car, but load up enough car fragrance and – close your eyes, breathe in deep – you could maybe recapture that new car feeling. And you’re happy driving it again (please open your eyes first though).

Our faith needs that renewal. And our God is so good He tells us how, in Romans 12:3, where the Apostle Paul spells out the 3 things that we need to do to keep renewed.

3 Ways to stay renewed in faith

1. Rein in your body

Romans 12:1 – Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.

Daily, we are tempted to sin.

Sometimes we find victory. Sometimes we fail. If the body is the Temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), there are times that Temple is desecrated.

And so we bring that body into the workshop.

Confession and repentance to once again be painted with a coat of His righteousness (1 John 1:9). Then tapping into the Spirit to help keep from sin (Galatians 5:16).

The verb offer – read it as an ongoing, continuous action word. It’s not a once-off, never-again thing. The renewal of the body is a process of daily renewal, daily obedience, daily surrender.

2. Renew your mind

Romans 12:2 – Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

As believers, the way we think can go down three paths.

The first is to have a mind that is culturally-influenced. The way of the world – as informed by the prince of the world – who John 12:31 reminds us is Satan.

The second is to have a mind that is carnally-influenced. The way of the flesh, as informed by the desires of our sinful flesh (Galatians 5:17).

And the third is to have a mind that is Christ-influenced. The Way, the Truth, the Light.

We seek renewal by rejecting the pattern of the world – culture and carnality – and accepting that God’s Word and Will are better. No, not merely better – good and perfect.

Not only that, they are pleasing. Think and act God’s way. We are blessed with the great pleasure of pleasing Him.

3. Restrain your ego

Romans 12:3 – For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

Your body and your mind are hard enough to sacrifice and surrender. But your ego is the hardest of all.

Your ego is the pride in you that wants to believe that you know better than God.

“God, you say this … but I think this other way is better.”

“God, you want this … but I want this other thing instead.”

“God, you command me to do this … but I’d rather do that.”

Once the ego wins these internal debates, there is little hope for renewal of our body or mind. As long as we think we know better than God, we will go with what we want for ourselves.

And so the key to truly being renewed in Christ is losing our ego – our pride, our self-importance, our self-love. We need to love God more than we love ourselves.

How do we do that? The answer is right at the start of the chapter. Before Paul starts to talk about what needs to change, he talks about why it needs to change. Motivation before methodology.

Romans 12:1 – “Therefore, brethren, in view of God’s mercy …”

This is after 11 chapters of talking about how everyone, Jew and Gentile, deserves eternal damnation (Romans 3:23), and yet because of the gift of God through His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23), there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1) for those of us in Christ Jesus!

We will never fully see the need to surrender body, mind and ego until we see the weight and truth of what Jesus has done for us.

He should have seen us as unholy and unworthy of His love. But instead He sees us through a new lens – the lens of love, the ultimate demonstration being at the Cross of Calvary, where the Son of God died for our sins.

And then He gives us another lens to see ourselves with – the lens of renewal, as we understand that the same resurrection power of Jesus (Philippians 3:10-11) is now ours to be more than conquerors in Him (Romans 8:37).

So, it’s a new year – twice over – this January. It’s time for renewal. Beyond the new clothes, where does renewal start?

It starts by reminding ourselves again of the mercy of God.

Make this your resolution as you start the new year, angmoh (western) or lunar: Every day, start by remembering and declaring the mercies of God in your life.

And then give Him your body, mind and ego as a lifelong, thanksgiving sacrifice.

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“He was buried, now He’s here,” one disciple whispers to another in wonder.

In the 40 days since His resurrection, Jesus had appeared to the disciples, inviting them to feel His physical body, complete with the marks in His hands and His pierced side (John 20:26-29).

But there is something still greater to behold.

After a short exchange with the disciples, we read in Luke’s account that He is lifted up to the heavens and shrouded in a cloud. Jesus’ departure from the physical world culminates in this epic moment.

Picture with me the stupor on the disciples’ faces. Who wouldn’t be stunned?

The Ascension of Jesus is as significant as it is glorious. It is a pivotal moment in the biblical salvation narrative and has been commemorated since the 4th century.

On the Christian calendar, it is typically marked on a Thursday, 40 days from Resurrection Sunday. Today, the event is still observed by Catholic and Orthodox churches, but Protestant churches have largely abandoned the tradition.

Here are five reasons why the Ascension deserves our attention as a major biblical event.

#1 Jesus’ Ascension signified the completion of His work on earth

The mission was clear: Save God’s people by being the ultimate sacrifice for their sins. 

Jesus entered our world fully God and fully man, and He departed from us in the same way.

While the Bible is peppered with accounts of individuals being brought back to life from death, they eventually died a second time.

Jesus, however, ascended in His eternal, resurrected body.

The Ascension was a fulfilment of Jesus’ prophecy before the Jewish council on the night He was betrayed: “… you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:62)

Our Saviour accomplished the work that He was called to do (John 17:4), and it was indeed time for Him to be enthroned with His Father in heaven.

#2 Jesus is now accessible to us all

In taking on human flesh, Jesus was bound by space and time. Had he remained on Earth in His physical body, He would not have been able to minister to His disciples as they embarked on missions in various continents.

Instead, Jesus departed from the material universe and entered the heavenly realms.

He is now accessible to us all.

Defying the time-space continuum, He ministers to us lovingly and intimately through the Holy Spirit’s presence.

#3 Jesus is now King and High Priest

As the ascended King, Christ is now sovereign over all creation. All authority has been given to Him (Matthew 28:18).

We can live our lives with profound peace, knowing He directs the past, present and the future.

As a heavenly High Priest who experienced humanity, Jesus displays divine compassion as He intercedes for us.

Theologian Ian Paul says this of our great intercessor: “In the incarnation, God entered into human existence. In the Ascension, that humanity is taken up into the presence of God. We have a High Priest interceding for us who is not unable to sympathise with our challenges, dilemmas, suffering and weakness.”

We are able to worship Him and pray to Him with confidence.

#4 The Ascension paved the way for us to be Christ’s body

“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Wide-eyed and convinced that Jesus was the messianic king, the disciples were desperate to get in on His big plan.

In their earnest but partial understanding, they might have thought that the “plan” was to finally restore the kingdom of God to Israel, elevating the nation to its former glory and political stature.

Little did they know, Christ’s mission of restoration would be carried out on a universal scale.

Jesus’ parting words with His disciples were: “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Soon after His Ascension, the day of Pentecost arrived.

Thus began the Church’s God-given mandate to represent Him to the ends of the earth.

#5 The Ascension leaves us yearning for Jesus’ victorious return

When Jesus ascended, two angels assured the disciples that He “will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven”. (Acts 1:11)

The Ascension reminds us of the “already but not yet”. While He now reigns in heaven, we are still looking forward to His return, when death will be swallowed up in victory and all things will be made new.

In the same way He lives in His resurrected flesh, we too will have perfected bodies. We are awaiting the sound of the trumpet, when the dead will be raised imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

What do these truths mean for us today?

Everything changed

The Ascension is an important event in Christian history. The disciples witnessed the phenomenon and thought it imperative to account for it.

So why don’t we accord it as much significance as we do the Crucifixion and the Resurrection?

Could our reluctance stem from how classic Western artists have portrayed the scene? In many interpretations, Jesus is depicted as travelling vertically to heaven, positioned to be right above Earth. For example, Rembrandt’s interpretation of the Ascension is epic, and rightly so. It is dramatic and exuberant, quintessential of 17th century Baroque art.

Rembrandt’s “The Ascension” is dramatic and exuberant, but does this depiction inspire us or disturb our logic-driven notions of the heavenly realm? “The Ascension”, Rembrandt, 1636, Alte Pinakothek, Munich. Picture from public domain.

Do our minds process these paintings – and the Ascension – with apprehension? Modern science has long disproved Ptolemy’s geocentric model, in which Earth is at the centre of the universe and heaven is directly above us. This would explain Jesus’ Ascension to heaven quite literally, alas, we no longer believe the model to be true.

But in wrestling with the minutiae, I wonder if we are limiting the grandeur and significance of our Saviour’s coronation. Jesus is sovereign over all creation. Shouldn’t we look up to Him figuratively and oftentimes literally?

Jesus’ Ascension changed everything. It transformed the way He relates to mankind. It clarified our precious calling in the already-but-not-yet.

We now have the definite expectation that He will one day return.

Until then, we look up and ahead – not in stupor, but with confidence.

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In those moments you see the person your child will grow up to be and feel pride swelling within you.

But parenting is also tough.

And being a dad may well be the toughest. Dads do not get as much recognition or thanks as mums. They engender less warm, fuzzy feelings.

Mother’s Day comes with plenty of publicity and gift options. Father’s Day, in comparison, tends to be a more muted affair.

Tougher still is the fact that Godly dads are held to the highest standard of all – that set by our own Abba Father. Like God, dads have to be equal parts tough and tender, a balance not easy to strike.

As we take the day to honour the fathers in our lives, let us also take heart by looking to the example of five biblical fathers who knew both the heartaches and happiness of fatherhood.

1. Noah: The righteous heritage (Genesis 6-9:17)

If we think we live in tough times, wicked times, unprecedented times, Noah lived in times even worse.

The Bible tells us that, in the days of Noah, the wickedness of the human race had become so great that “every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time”. In fact, it was so horrific that it broke God’s heart.

If you think these challenging times make it hard to live right and raise your family to do the same, Noah must have thought it, too.

Yet, he did it. The Bible tells us that Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, who walked faithfully with God. 

He demonstrated faithfulness with obedience in action. Against tradition (there had been no boats till Noah built the ark), common sense and societal conventions, Noah embarked on the gargantuan task of building the ark. He obeyed God to a tee and “did everything just as God commanded him”.

It was that faithfulness that led God to spare, not just him, but his whole family – wife, three sons and their wives.

Fathers, we live in a wicked, broken, sin-soaked world. It is difficult to raise children while going against the tide.

But you have the testimony of Noah who hung in there and walked faithfully with God, and left for his family blessings “for perpetual generations”. Is that not the best legacy any father can leave behind?

2. Abraham: The ultimate sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-19)

Fatherhood did not come easily to the father of many nations. He was promised a son (Genesis 17:19). But it would be nearly three decades before that promise came to pass (Genesis 21).

Imagine the wait. Then, imagine the joy when Isaac came along. Now, imagine the anguish when Abraham was told to “sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain”.

We know God was testing Abraham. Abraham did not. He took God seriously.

So, Abraham loaded up his donkey and went. He took the wood for the burnt offering and put his son on it. Then, he “took the knife to slay his son”.

Abraham spared nothing.

In the great debate of child-led parenting versus parent-led parenting, the Bible has given us another model – God-led parenting – where God’s will and way triumph over all.

Abraham lived that. Between the son he loved and the God he worshipped, he chose God and released his son.

Would you do the same? Would you release your own hopes and dreams for your child and embrace God’s vision for him instead?

3. Moses: The importance of discipline (Exodus & Numbers)

The Bible says little of Moses and his relationship with his biological sons, Gershom and Eliezer. But the books of Exodus and Numbers are dedicated to Moses as the father of the Israelites because was he not their father?

Like a father, he led them, provided for them, interceded for them, disciplined them and protected them. Like a good father, he pointed them to God and taught them His ways.

In turn, the Israelites did what children do. As they traced and re-traced their steps in the wilderness, they complained, quarrelled and rebelled.

They would not eat what was put before them (Numbers 11:4-6). They would not do as they were told (Exodus 16:27-30). When dad was away, they partied wildly without permission (Exodus 32).

But Moses the Lawgiver held the line. He gave them the rules to live by and would not budge even though it meant earning their displeasure. 

Fathers are called to be disciplinarians (Ephesians 6:4). It is not an enviable task playing bad cop. You will win no popularity contests and get no thanks. Moses did not.

But when the day is done and your children are ushered into the Promised Land, you will know that you have done right by them. Moses did.   

4. Joseph: The faithful steward (Matthew 1:18-25)

Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, had fatherhood thrust upon him. Even before his betrothed became his bride, he was asked to be father to a child he did not father.

Joseph was a good man. He did not want to publicly shame his fiancée, though it was well within his right to do so.

He was a Godly man who was “faithful to the law”. So, when God eventually set him straight, he obeyed without question and “did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him”.

After the account of Jesus being left behind in Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-52), Joseph does not appear in the Bible anymore.

But he must have continued in obedience to raise Jesus right because Jesus did grow in wisdom, statue, and favour with God and man (Luke 2:52) and He did fulfil His earthly ministry as the angel of the Lord had revealed to Joseph.

Joseph was the ultimate steward. He understood deeply that, though the Child was not biologically his, he had been entrusted to care for and guide Him.

As believers, we are called to be stewards of many things – money (Luke 16:11), gifts (1 Peter 4:10), the Gospel (1 Corinthians 4:1-2).

As believers, we need to be keenly aware that we are called to be stewards of our children, too. We do not own them. They are God’s own.

Instead, we have been entrusted to care for and guide them to fulfil the destiny God has laid out for them just as Joseph did for Jesus.

5. The royal official: The promise holder (John 4:43-54)

The man had no name. Though he had authority as a royal official, he had no power, certainly none to save his dying son.

What he did have was hope. He must have, because he travelled a four-day journey from Capernaum to Galilee just to beg Jesus to heal his son.

He did not get a “yes” to his request. Instead, he got a test.

Jesus rebuked him – was he there to be a sign-seeker like the rest or was he a Saviour-seeker?

And he passed the test.

Though he did not see the healing take place, he took Jesus at His Word and believed that as Jesus had promised – “your son will live” – so it would be done.

And it was.

God has many promises for you as a father and for your children as believers. You may not see all of them come to pass in your child’s life. Yet.

But would you believe that as He has spoken, so it would be done? Will you trust God to be the promise keeper in your children’s life?

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