A late acquaintance of mine was in the news recently, unfortunately for less than glorious reasons. He is gone, but the family is in dispute over whose deep pockets should be billed for his grand sendoff!! Ignominy is often the sour cream on the perishable fruits of a lifetime of strive and strife.
We, insufferable humans, go through great sufferings both real and perceived, in our fruitless trek towards garnering the things that are supposed to bring certainty to our finite life. We are so caught up with our fears of not being able to have enough of the devil's lies, that many of us are just afraid to let God walked us across the chasm of faith and take Him for His Word, that He will and has provided for our every need on Earth.
If we cannot let go and look beyond the trees to the forest, than it is hardly surprising that many will pay scant attention to what comes after.
If you take time to know God, you will not just be reassured by the knowledge of what comes after, but by your very daily experience of His grace and love, you know that you walk not alone, but are in very good Hands. The Hands that made us, the world, here and after.
May the rest of this sharing, not meander along aimlessly, but truly speak to you the way God wills.
'Don't boast about tomorrow. For you do not know what a day may bring forth.'
Proverbs 27:1
The caveman of old literally lived by the day. They were as good as the day's hunt, though sometimes, a more bountiful catch like a dinosaur might last a couple more days, and than it is back to the daily grind and struggle to put food on the table.
Fastforward to our present generation of connectivity. The personal gadgets like PDAs, mobile phones and the internet have ensured that we are always kept up to date wherever we are and more significantly, it keeps us all collectively on a dynamic and relentless pace towards the future.
Information is power. Control should bring certainty, yet, why are there still seemingly the same number if not more hyperstrung people on planet Earth than before. Key variation from earlier days is that stress and fears today, are transmitted at nanospeed to a broader audience, unlike the low key, snail pace days. Stress today also seems to be more uniformly collective than individualistic.
As man progresses from starting the first fire with a flint, to an agrarian culture to industrialization to a knowledge based industry, paradoxically, we seemed to have brought greater uncertainty to our lives.
I was on the plane recently and as is my usual routine, while some devour the free flow of food and wine on the plane, I like to consume inordinate amounts of whatever available reading materials I could lay my eyes upon.
One article that piqued my interest was that regarding an interactive website on the net, that allows participants to create their own desired persona, called avatars.
Literally, everything can be traded including your avatar for virtual points or even real greenbacks.. Selling our soul is now possible in the virtual world. One could also set up a religious institution or a psychiatric clinic on this site. The invisible 'man-god' is now a virtual reality.
'The fear of man brings a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe'
Proverbs 29:25
Unless you are a video afiociondo, who devours every movie that is available, if not, you must be in the autumn of your finite life to recollect, like me, with fond memories, the movie "Crocodile Dundee."
The main actor suffered thankfully, not a life ending heart attack while doing weights in real life. But in reel life, he is best remembered for bringing the old charm of the Australian outback to the screen.
'Happy is the man who is always reverent....'
Proverbs 28:14
In a sequel, Crocodile Dundee found himself transported to the concrete jungles of New York, instead of the rural Australian outback.
But the raw energy was the same, the sideplayers did changed from the crocodiles to the drug dealers, but down to the core, it was still a jungle.
Today, many of us continue to deal with daily living like the many denizens of the jungle. We use our wiles, our wits and wistful thinking to help us navigate through the minefields of life. For some, their inner demons surfaced to haunt them, that death becomes a relief, for others, they throw in their lot with the world and find that the world is indeed truly ugly and yet, it ends not there, for eternity in hell still awaits.
'....for thus says the Lord. "They shall eat and have some left over'
2 Kings 4:42-44
For the Early man, food on the table was the major focus of their life. Of course, it still applies for a significant percentage of the world's population.
Yet, for many of us more materially blessed, if the basic needs are already met, what then grips us??
Maslow and his hierarchy of needs was what some of us learned in Behavioural Science. Man have different level of needs and as each gets satisfied, he or she move on to the next level. The highest level being self-actualization.
Of course, for some, their need stays at the basic level of food, notwithstanding that one has since upgraded both in attire and abode, unlike the caveman of old.
'I am the Lord, and there is no other!..'
Isaiah 45:18
But truly, are all these things most of us worked for a great white lie from the master deceiver of all, the devil himself.
'...Go sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons live on the rest'
2 Kings 4:7
Truly, God will and has provided for us on Earth and in Heaven.
We need not be a slave to our environment as determined by the imperfect world.
'Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest...'
Matthew 11:28
Hard to believe for many, yet truly, God will and has provided for our needs in this imperfect world.
Monies do not grow on trees, unlike the struggling social welfare systems of the developed world, but truly all blessings come from the Lord.
We must take the first step of faith and let God lead, instead of letting our fears and sinful needs drive every moment of our finite life.
We must truly focus our energies and soul on being the child that He wants us to be, and not pine to be the sinful man that we or the devil strived to be.
'..Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.'
Matthew 11:29-30
It is by faith and not on our own strength or understanding, by the unfathomable power and grace of God that we will have the bondage of the world's benchmark of what constitutes living lifted and see that truly, man will live by every Word of God, and not on bread.
'So teach us to number our days. That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom..'
Psalm 90:12
You can start by obeying the command of God
'If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray ,and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and wil forgive their sin, and will heal their land....'
2 Chronicles 7:14
'..The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters....'
Psalm 93:4
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
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