Jun 7, 2022 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone
The colour of the Gospel. Recently, a friend showed me a photo of himself as a little boy that was previously black and white which had been converted into colour. The photo had been through a colourisation process and the image was transformed. Colourisation involves the expert artist remastering the old photo by removing the defects and imperfections, sharpening the image to remove any blurriness, increasing the contrast, and layering the image with colour. Whilst the original image remains, the colourisation is a complete process of renewal. The new remastered coloured image attracts the attention of the viewer, allowing them to relate to the image in a new and more meaningful way. The details of a photo that were once lost or obscured in the shades of grey, become visible in striking colour as the image is seen from a new perspective. Colourisation is like the master artist has breathed new life into the old black and white photo. It is like the colour of the Gospel when Jesus renews us through His redemptive work as He breathes new life into our lives.
The colour of the Gospel is the transformation that happens in us when the master artist, God remasters or re-creates our lives from the blackened, charred effects of sin. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Before God changes us, our lives can be seen in the shades of grey and blurriness. The truth is obscured. God’s original image remains in all human beings, but it is marred by sin. God then takes our lives and removes our defects and imperfections, re-colours our lives with the crimson red blood of Jesus and brings Jesus into sharp focus in our lives. We become the colour of the Gospel which not only transforms the picture of our lives but allows those who view our lives to see the story of the truth through a new lens as we authentically live out the Gospel before them. As the world lives on in black and white because of the effects of sin, we become the living expression of Christ to a lost world as the details of truth become visible in us and we stand out as colourful new creations of Jesus. We are the colour of the Gospel.
So, what does the colour of the Gospel look like when our lives are on display in the photo galleries of life to those who are looking for the life-changing colour that only Jesus can offer? It looks like love, forgiveness, acceptance, kindness, gentleness, mercy, servanthood, peacemaking, goodness, hospitality; it looks like Jesus. It cost God everything to re-colour or to remaster our lives. The question becomes whether we will be genuinely on display and reflecting the colour of the Gospel to our fellow humans who don’t yet know Jesus or will we take our re-coloured lives and put them back in the family photo album and shut the covers. It’s a great privilege that God has given us to be the colour of the Gospel; not as airbrushed Christians but as authentic representatives of Jesus.
So, friends, get your “Gospel colour” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
Jun 1, 2022 | Wens Pen
The God who sees. As a consequence of living in a fallen creation, there are times where we can feel unseen in the world, as though we are walking around in a cave of concealment where our life lamps seem like they’ve been trimmed, and no one really sees us. Sometimes we can be walking around in plain sight, yet we can feel invisible. Other times we think we’ve been seen until someone gets out their measuring tape of comparison and we are overshadowed by the top scores of others. We feel unseen.
To feel unseen can leave us feeling insignificant, disheartened, and disregarded. Whilst God has designed us as relational beings who should see each other through the lens of dignity, worth and significance, humans don’t always give recognition to the inherent value of others and make them feel seen, acknowledged, and validated. At this juncture, it is critical to stop and embrace the truth that it is not finally about being seen by others but seeing God and knowing we are seen by Him. That lens changes everything. It is only God who can determine our significance and we must never exchange this truth by placing a premium on the need to be seen and affirmed by people first. God is the God who sees and His validation of who we are and what we do is what ultimately counts.
God is the God who sees, and He sees us as if we were the only ones in His creation. Even though on occasions we take the slip road and buy into the lie that maybe God doesn’t really see us, the reality is God is never a disinterested old man up in heaven sitting on a royal rocking chair, periodically peering over His ‘Eternity News’ newspaper, taking an uninterested look at us, or feeling bothered when He hears our screams for help that may irritatingly interrupt His day. No! We are continuously on His radar. Psalm 34:15 says, “the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and His ears are open to their cry”. His eyes are locked on us, and we are never out of His gaze. The God who sees watches us every moment. He sees us masked and unmasked. He sees us in the desert lands of distress, in the sunrays of splendour, in the shadowlands of sadness, in the hills of heartache, in the closets of shame, in the abyss of betrayal and abandonment, in the light of laughter, on the platforms of performance, in the storms that saturate our souls, in the cervices of crisis, on the plains of plenty, in the gravel of grief fighting with grit, He sees us as the rare diamonds we are, shining in the magnificent mines of life. He is the God who sees. He saw you before you were formed in your mother’s womb, He sees you now and He sees you into eternity. The God who sees sees all of you in all of life.
So, friends, get your “God who sees” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
May 25, 2022 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone
God doesn’t need us, but He wants us. CS Lewis noted that “God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them.” Acts 17:24-25. When we contemplate God who is so magnificent, ultimately, we realise it is impossible for us to fully comprehend the magnitude of our breathtaking God and the depths of His heart of love. His creation is so majestic that to take a moment to contemplate just one aspect of God’s handiwork would take us on a million detours as we explore the elaborate details that God has shaped into creation and into making us. We as human beings are exquisitely crafted and are not the result of some random cosmic experiment on the part of God. We are the dream and expression of God who authored us; each of us unique. We are the centrepiece of His creation, intricately and marvellously made. Amazing! So, what is rather curious is the fact that God did not need any of what he created. Yet look at the brilliance of His artistry and creativity. The very fact that God doesn’t need us, but He wants us is a humbling experience for us as His creatures.
It is quite confronting that God doesn’t need us, but He wants us because it shows His true heart for us. As the great architect of every living thing, God had such a grand vision for the created world and particularly human beings that He imagined us, designed us, and formed us to enjoy Him and all He made. Only God could have thought up our creaturehood and personhood to be made in His image. Ha, so, can you imagine the imagination of God? In my finite mind I envisage God in His creative gallery; a room that has multi-dimensional design spaces because one room could not contain His master plans for all He envisioned to make. And then God spoke and formed the whole universe out of nothing; all of creation fashioned by His mighty hands including human beings who He breathed His very breath into, and who He put on display as the jewel of His creative work. This is the magnificent work of God. Yet He created something He never needed. Why? God doesn’t need us, but He wants us, and His unfathomable, unimaginable, uncontainable, love compelled Him to make us so He can love us and know us. He bears us in His heart. How extraordinary is that?
It is even more significant that God doesn’t need us, but He wants us, when we realise that God knew all along what this act of love would cost Him. He knew people would reject Him and spoil His good creation. God could have looked upon His broken artwork and simply pressed His destruct button and in an instant, we would be obliterated. Yet He made us anyway, never needing us or the world. He loved us before we broke everything, and He loved us after. That is the expression of supreme love, and it was outworked as a supreme gift when He gave His only son Jesus who paid with His life to perfect us rather than destroy us. As you read this today, know that you have life not because God needs you, but He wants you and loves you.
So, friends, get your “God wants you” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
May 17, 2022 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone
Cancelled. We live in a post-Christian culture that has progressively sought to de-throne and remove God whilst constructing a new kingdom where humans elevate themselves as monarchs of the earth. The world is marching to a different drum as it seeks to cancel God and marginalise Christianity. We even have a “cancel culture” that once danced on the edges of society but now rides confidently on the back of these anti-God warlords. So much is being cancelled. Things we hold dear and things that really count are being cancelled. The foundations of God as the pillars of our society are being cancelled. Our history and story as a Christian Nation are sitting under the judgement arm of the appointed leaders in our Nation who are proposing a rescript of the narrative of our Christian heritage, removing it from school curriculums. Freedom of religion is currently under the gavel of cancellation, where the powers to be assume the right to determine the way humans thrive. The more the world seeks to cancel life as God designed it the greater capacity there is for the hungry hounds of destruction and devastation to ferociously maul and devour the capacity for humans to flourish. God never intended life to be on the leash of meaninglessness with a studded collar squeezing the breath out of us as the chain gets tighter.
Whilst the cancel culture appears to be a movement that is gaining momentum, the reality is it is not new to God. It really all began with Adam and Eve who tried to cancel God’s right to be God in their world. God has been dealing with the idea of humans on a cancellation mission since then. Isn’t it an enigma that humans in their finiteness have tried to cancel God and ultimately have no capacity to do so? Isn’t it equally an enigma that God who does have the capacity to cancel life, doesn’t? What a gracious, all-powerful, loving, good God to permit the arrogance of any human who believes God can be cancelled and attempts to do so. God can never be cancelled. That is one huge relief that breathes hope into the lungs of our souls. God’s throne is established forever and can never be cancelled. His power and authority are supreme and can never be cancelled. His light can never be extinguished or cancelled. His voice can never be silenced or cancelled. His truth can never be rewritten or cancelled. Nothing can or ever will cancel God. Psalm 93:1-2.
God is ahead of our times because He also cancels things but what He cancels becomes a gift to His repentant children and opens the door to a renewed life. Colossians 2:14. So, what things are cancelled by God? God cancels our sin, and we are no longer held accountable for our disobedience. Our debts have been cancelled and we don’t pay what we owe, thanks to Jesus who has paid this on our behalf. Our status as rebellious sons and daughters has been cancelled and we are restored to the status of heirs. Our failures are cancelled and remembered no more–sent as far as the east is to the west. God has cancelled the darkness of our rebellion and places us in the light of Jesus. The ruins we once stood in are cancelled as God raises us and calls us to Himself. Our eternal destination of separation from God has been cancelled and He creates a seat for us at his heavenly table. Whatever God cancels is restorative rather than ravaging. Why would anyone want to cancel a God who loves us this much?
So, friends, get what God cancels and God restores on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
May 4, 2022 | Wens Pen
Hello Everyone
It is written. Some of my godsons loved to play the role of warrior lords, wielding their mighty little swords on their imaginary battlefields, defeating, and slaying their enemies. Every time their swords struck something with a winning blow, the victorious sound effect of clashing steel would ring out and the imitation ruby gemstone on the handle would light up red signalling their conquests. They had a little saying “long live the King”. Triumph was consummate in those words as they fought in the authority of their imaginary king and by the power of their wielded swords. In the life of faith, we are called to consummate triumph, as we step on to the spiritual battlefield proclaiming it is written, using the sword of the Spirit, God’s Word that has divine power to strike a victory blow and demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
So, what is written? Every authoritative word of Scripture, forged into the mighty Sword of the Spirit. When we speak out the words of Scripture, declaring it is written we are making a declaration about who rules over all things and who has ultimate authority. That person is Jesus. He is supreme, victorious and is the final word on all things. Every word in the Biblical story points to Jesus. He was the Word from the beginning, the Word incarnate, and His written word enables those who belong to Him to imbibe His words and embody His power and authority as we wrestle against the powers of this world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Jesus is also the living Word and we find him in the centre of this fight, where He stands with us and in us, before us, behind us, beside us and through us, empowering us to take up our swords; the Sword of the Spirit and declare it is written as we speak out the designated scripture verses over the battle we are facing. Jesus did the same when the enemy tried to engage Him on the battlefield of great temptation. Jesus did not engage but simply said “it is written” and exclaimed the powerful words of Scripture to disarm and defeat the enemy.
The enemy also uses words, but those words are not ultimate. His words are birthed from a kingdom of rebellion; a fallen kingdom that is built on lies and deception. The battle strategy of the enemy is to borrow God’s words, putting an untruthful spin on them as he tries to lure us into fields, supposedly full of gold. But no nugget of gold will ever be found in those fields of false promise. In fact, when these fields are uncovered, they are nothing more than lethal spiritual battlefields full of landmines designed to defeat us. Jesus leads us into fields of truth and arms us with the invincible Sword of the Spirit and reminds us to declare it is written, as we draw on the Word of God, bringing Jesus to bear on all things and Jesus always wins.
So, friends, get your “it is written” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
Apr 26, 2022 | Wens Pen
Crowned.
Psalm 103:2-4. Today as we approach the throne of the most high God, we recall a special coronation that took place where the King of Kings reinstated us as His royal sons and daughters. Undeserving, Jesus walked across the room, and He called us forth. He spoke our names, summoning us to bow our knees to Him, the one and only reigning King. Lifting our heads, He crowned us and robed us in garments of His holiness. He took our hands and invited us into a dance of grace, leading us around the grand ballroom of His kingdom. His glory and majesty filled the room. As we gaze into the eyes of our loving Lord and Saviour, we weep with thankfulness, knowing it cost Him everything so we could be crowned.
How did He do it? How did He give up His heavenly crown, exchanging it for a cruel crown of thorns made by defiled human hands, intended to humiliate Him? How did He endure the mocking, the spitting, the beating, and the suffering; the poisonous fangs of sinners sinking their vicious teeth into the very One who could save them? Would you do that? I wouldn’t. Yet, He saw our worth woven into the vile crown of thorns, and He wore it unto death to reclaim us and remind us we are treasured at the greatest possible cost and freed to live crowned. He calls us royal, and it almost hurts, for we know we have been unworthy servants. Yet, He crafted our new crowns with His holy hands, decorating them with the jewels of His love: rubies of redemption, diamonds of dignity, sapphires of significance, opals of opulent love, pearls of purpose, and emeralds of eternal value; all precious gemstones of His grace and goodness. Were any of us qualified to wear the crowns He made for us? No! Not one. We were all guilty of trading our original crowns and leaving them on His kingdom floor to go off and dance with the wolves of lies, deception and disobedience. We left our Master. Yet here we are reinstated and restored to Him, crowned again and again by Jesus, our King supreme.
We will never really know what it cost Jesus, our King of valour to purchase and personally make the crowns He has given us, but He didn’t hesitate to come for us, purchase us and ensure we are once again crowned.
So, friends, get your “crown” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen
