Marbaniang, Domenic

"Nor stands in the path of sinners... For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. " (Psalm 1:1,6) The term "way" in the Bible is always linked to a destination or destiny. To wander from the right way and be lost may invite compassion; but, to choose the wrong way and persist on it invites divine wrath. Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah (Jude 1:11) But, the LORD knows the way of the righteous. Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." (2Tim. 2:19)

"Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again." (Ecc 11:1) One should not fear taking risks. All work of production calculates risks. Risk-taking is key to farming, business, banking. In the Parable of Talents, the boss commended the two workers who went and took risks to do business with the money they received, doubling it by the time their boss returned. However, he was very unhappy with the worker who went and hid the capital depriving the boss of even the interest from the use of it. He rebuked him saying that he should have given the money to bankers if he was afraid of taking risks, for bankers (risk-takers themselves) assure of a set interest amount. Risk-taking must be accompanied by good counsel, calculation, wisdom, and diligent hard-work that explores various avenues of investment. Risk-taking investments forgo the present disuse or use of something for sake of future returns. For instance, the farmer sows the grain instead of eating...

And the children of Israel said to them, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."(Exo 16:3) People in general detest to go through the pain of transition though they immensely desire the Promised Land--they give in to intense complaining, wishing to go back to their previous state of misery, instead of walking through the ordeal of the uncomfortable journey. They, then, begin to despise authority and speak evil of dignitaries (2Pet.2:10), when they are called to cooperate with them, knowing the fear of the Lord (Rom.13:1; Tit.3:1). To citizens of various respective countries, if your government stands in rebellion against the express Moral Law of Heaven, resist it (Acts 4:19; 5:29); but, if it is on the side of righteousness and good governance with a vision to lead the nation to well-being , b...

'When Jacob saw that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?.... Indeed I have heard that there is grain in Egypt; go down to that place and buy for us there..." (Gen.42:1,2) Oftentimes, God uses circumstances to guide us. But, He always guides to only the good, never into evil. In this incident, Jacob is being constrained towards the only logical and practical option left. But, this constraint was what God actually used to get them to Egypt according to His plan. When we trust in divine sovereignty, we can give thanks to God in everything. If we feel confused about some decision, we can ask, "What is the good, practical and God-pleasing final option or solution to this issue?" We don't need to just stand looking for some answer or for someone to do something. Just take a decision.

"I am nothing " (2Cor.12:11) Nothingness is the threshold of a new beginning. Spiritual nothingness is a recognition of the everythingness of Christ and the nothingness of self: in Christ, everything; through Christ, everything; for Christ everything. The chorus of heaven is "God is everything". The dirge of hell is "I am everything". The Throne of God is surrounded by "How Great Thou Art!" The vaults of hell resound with "How Great I Am!" The devil begs and lures for recognition. God commands submission. The meek inherit the earth. The poor in spirit inherit the Kingdom of God. God resists the proud, but exalts the humble. The humble are not those who try to look humble. The humble are those who recognize that they are nothing, but Christ is everything, and they are complete in Christ; and if so, there is left no more room for boasting of any kind whatsoever, no confidence in flesh, no praise of men, no provision for the flesh and its ...

"So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." (Rom.12:5) The Church is not a denomination, for denominations are organizations, but the Church is one body, and the believers, being many, are individually members of one another, irrespective of location, language, nationality, or time period. Unity is organic, not organizational, obviously. Organizations exist for the sake of order and oversight; however, they can often be a hindrance to the individual. But, the Church has no name or human barriers. It is always one body. The deeper connection is undeniable and basic to the body no matter what the external identifiers may be; the Lord only knows His one body.

"But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees." (John 10:12) Hirelings : Pastors who are more concerned about their own respect than the welfare of the sheep, who threaten to leave the flock if they don't listen. Teachers who have no compassion and kindness towards students, but act like terrorists and hi-fi intellectuals. Couples who are faithless and irresponsible and threaten to leave when storms arise. Parents who don't take personal responsibility for the godly upbringing of their children, but commit them to others. Children who neglect their duties towards their parents. Relatives who act in unneighborly manner. Friends who forsake and flee or jump in to only criticize in the time of adversity.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. (Psalm 23:1) This is a powerful declaration of David. There are many inferential connections in the assertion, like "The Lord is my Shepherd; He is an all-powerful Shepherd; He is an all-knowing Shepherd; He is all-present Shepherd; He never slumbers or sleeps; He is good and kind; He is a Caring Shepherd; He is a Rich Shepherd; He is a Loving Shepherd; therefore, I shall never lack anything." When David calls God his shepherd, he recognizes God as his protector, provider, savior, and master. There is nothing more damaging to the Christian life than the thought that "I am lacking something". The devil tried this with Eve and prevailed. He first tried to question if God forbade all the trees of the Garden. When she said, No, not every tree but only the tree of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, he questioned the motives of God as to why He had kept this one tree from them. Have you ever felt like why this or ...

The Psalm contrasts between two kinds of people: One who is blessed, the other who is not; One who is like a strong tree, the other who is like chaff; One who is planted by rivers of water and is well nourished, the other who is driven away by the wind; One who brings forth his fruit in his season, the other who shall not stand in the time of testing or judgment; One whose leaf never withers (he is always in good health and right relationship with God), the other who shall not stand in the gathering of the righteous (he has no place among those who are in right standing with God); One whose every work shall prosper, the other whose way shall perish. The Bible promises prosperity in every act that the one who is blessed does. To be blessed means to be strong, well-nourished, vivacious, healthy, and prosperous in the will of God. This is not prosperity gospel. The Bible is not telling us that the godly will not have trials; however, the Bible does promise that God has given us His promis...

"And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." (Jn. 1:5) "The light shines" is in simple present tense; the darkness did not comprehend it is in past tense (in Greek, aorist). This is a testimony about Jesus Christ. 1. It points to the eternality of Christ, the light, who always shines, has always shone, and will always shine. There is no shadow of turning in Him. Yesterday and tomorrow are as today for Him. Therefore, His voice through the Spirit is always in the today. 2. It points to the defeat point of darkness as in the past. There is no present or future possibility left for darkness. The Scripture does not say " The darkness will not comprehend"; it says that it did not comprehend. In other words, the defeat of darkness is a finished fact. Christians must rest assured that it is impossible for darkness to ever gain the upper hand. Its defeat is over forever. 3. It points to the fact that those who love darkness can ...

In John 2:4, when the mother of Jesus shares with Him her concern that the hosts at Cana had run out of the wedding wine, Jesus replies to her that His time had not yet come. But, then He goes ahead and turns water into wine. So, why did He say that His time had not yet come? What did He mean by it? Again in John 7:6, when His unbelieving brothers suggest to Him to go to Jerusalem and show His works there so that people could see and believe, He answers that His time had not yet come but their time was always ready. Then, He tells them to go up to the feast and that He wasn't coming because His time had not fully yet come. However, when after they go, He secretly does go up to Jerusalem. So, what did He really mean when He said His time hadn't fully come? Did it mean that the time when He went up to Jerusalem was time He was actually talking about? Or did it mean something else? The Gospel of John has strong purposes in highlighting certain phrases and "time has not come...

Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs." (Jn.21:15) Even Jesus asked Peter to verbalize his love for Him. Certainly, if Peter had at sometime denied Jesus saying "I do not know Him", it was more important to confess now his deep love for the Master. Does God need to hear an "I love you" from us? I strongly believe, yes. Not because He is in need of love as such, but because at the essence of relationship lies communication, and communication involves confession and verbalization of thoughts and feelings. Isn't that the reason why worship is not a rite but an act of truth and spirit? If it is important for God to hear us express how much we love Him and adore Him, it is also important for us as humans to verbalize love and esteem for each other. The other must hear our deepest appreciation. Of course, we ex...

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (Joh 4:7) ~This is not the first time when God asks someone for a favor, but actually intends to do great things for that person. We know the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. Elijah asked this widow, who was hoping to only die, to bring him some water in a vessel, and then called out to also bring him something to eat (1Kgs.17:9-11). The widow felt this to be too demanding, but only later realized that she had been chosen by God to be saved in the serving of God's purposes. When Jesus approached Peter in his failure of having caught no fish through the night's vigilant toil, He first asked him to move the boat a little away from the shore so that He could teach the crowd; only after that did He do a miracle that completely transformed Peter's life and showed him the purpose he was created for. Do we recognize Jesus when He comes and asks us, "Give me a drink."?

"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26) ~The chasm between what is of Adam and what is of Christ is abysmal. It is only through hating them apart from Christ that we can truly love them through Christ. Isn't it obvious that no matter how much we love our own present Adamic life, we can't protect it from death when it comes? The same extends to all human relationships. The grave shuts the door on all. There is no hope apart from the Resurrected Christ. He who seeks to save this life will lose it, but he who loses it for Christ's sake will gain it. Thus, anyone who loves anything above Christ is going to lose both self and all, and so is unfit for discipleship, is unfit for the new life. Anyone who prefers to keep the Adamic against the riches of Christ has no part with Christ. He is like the rich young man who became sad because his h...

"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." (1Pet 5:5) ~Humility before God includes humility before fellow humans as well. What matters more is not how much we know or what we have accomplished, but how much we love God. For, "Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him (1Cor 8:1-3). Humility doesn't mean compromise of truth and values. There is something called a false humility that we must beware of. G.K.Chesterton said it well, "But what we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubt...

Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing?" (Job 1:9) In Job 1:9, the devil is for the first time seen accusing anyone in the history of humanity. The accused guy is a healthy, wealthy, holy man called Job. 3 Claims of the Devil: 1. Anyone can fear God if God becomes their protector 2. Anyone can fear God if God becomes their prosperor 3. Anyone will curse God if God withdraws His protection and prosperity The Devil is happy as long as we fear God for something: for healing, for blessing, for good friends, for things going on well, even for salvation... However, the Devil is distraught the moment he sees that we fear God for "nothing" related to us, but everything related to God, even for intense suffering. This the Devil can't bear, for it contradicts his nature; he is thoroughly wicked and he can't believe anyone is capable of being good, of truly fearing God. Job is the story of how God stripped Job of everything he had, ultimately ...

"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. (Mark 13:30) A look at the use of the phrase "this generation" indicates that the phrase doesn't always only mean a historical generation (of a particular time); but, it means "these kind of people" or "this Adamic generation". Thus, Jesus was not telling the crowd that His return would be within 60-90 years from then, or that there would be some who would continue to live on and never see death till He returned. From a study of the use of the phrase, it seems more reasonable to interpret "this generation" or the phrase "there are some standing here" as meaning "this sinful generation". It points to the fact that the end-time appearance of Jesus will be upon "this generation" while they are still alive. It is important to ask why Jesus should appear alive upon "this generation"? What is the point ...

"Let us, as many as are mature, have this mind" (Phil.3:15) 7 MARKS OF MATURITY 1. Having no confidence in the flesh, i.e. with regard to race, tribe, caste, culture, class, position, training (Phil.3:3-6) 2. Christ-mindedness, i.e. to regard relationship with Christ above every other thing in the world (Phil.3:7-8) 3. Pursuing God's righteousness, i.e. neither being legalistic nor being libertine, but pursuing the righteousness of faith. (Phil.3:9) 4. Resurrection-focus, i.e. to fasten the mind on the new creation, the power of His resurrection, with the final glorification being the focus of entire life (Phil.3:10-11). 5. Never considering to have already attained or achieved or reached (Phil.3:12), which is a great hindrance to spiritual growth and maturity. 6. Forgetting the past, i.e. to not be reveling in old accomplishments nor be depressed by old failures, to neither idolize the past nor be victimized by it; to not keep knots, to not hold grudges, to not keep ...

"Then the disciples took him by night and let him down through the wall in a large basket." (Acts 9:25) Christians having access to the wall are responsible to help save lives of other Christians threatened by enemies of the Gospel; if unable to physically help, then at least fervently pray and send relief by any means possible. (Matt.10:23; 2Cor.11:23; 1Sam.19:12; Rom.15:30-32; Acts 12:5; 2Thes.3:1,2; Matt.25:37-40; Phil.4:15-18). When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (Matt.10:23) In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands. (2Cor.11:32-33) So Michal let David down through a window. And he went and fled and escaped. (1Sam.19:12) For if you remain completely silent at this time, re...

"Love the LORD your God with all your ...strength." (Mk.12:30) There is a reason why Solomon tells young people to remember God when they are still young (Ecc12:1); it's because youth is the time when one has great opportunities to love God truly with all one's strength. It's the time when one can choose to use his strength for the Master. To know God at an old age is fine; however, then strength is weak, the keepers tremble, and the grasshopper is a burden (Eccl.12:3-5). But, in the robust vigor of youth, one can truly speak of loving God with all one's strength. In his youth, David could talk of God as the one who trained his hands for war so that his arms could bend a bow of bronze and his feet could run against a troop and leap over a wall (Psa.144:1; 18:29,34). But, in his old age, he could not speak of being able in the same manner. David had the blessing of serving the Lord with all his strength in his youth. There is no sadder sight than a young person...