#91a Crossing the chasm(26jun06)

‘….after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise….’
Ephesians 1:13

The deranged murderer is oft quoted as saying that a voice told him to commit that heinous crime. The phrase devil in us might hold some credence after all.

As believers of Jesus Christ, God will reside in us, something that for the secular world, is hard to believe or even fathom.
Imagine if Clark Kent became Superman, not because he came from Planet Krypton, but rather it was due to his conversion to the Christian faith, then maybe, many unbelievers might make a beeline to the church to be imbued with the same powers that God must have given him.

‘The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will bring my people……back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess, says the Lord.’
Jeremiah 30:1-3

Some sow wild oats, thankfully, I, on those shimmering blue moon days like now, do let my imagination go a little wild, and thankfully, nothing more lustful beyond that.

God has always delivered what He promised.

He brought the Israelites out of the extreme hardships of their life of bondage in Egypt to the promised land. What was but possibly a short journey, took a 40 long 40 years, not because God dithered, but rather the disobedient Israelites bickered.

The modern Israel today is a nation(created in 1948) when just not too long ago, no Jew in their right mind could imagine how their widely scattered diaspora(starting from the fall of Jerusalem in 586BC) in the far-flung reaches of the world, could ever come together, after centuries of dispersion.

‘This is what the Lord says :
‘Cries of fear are heard – terror, not peace’
Jeremiah 30:5

How many will try to out-leap the ex-Olympian Carl Lewis, over a deep ravine, where a misstep will mean the reality of knowing prematurely, the truth about Hell and Heaven, if we are only told (but have not seen)that across the other side of the great divide, lies unimaginable wealth and riches.





In my adolescence, “Merry Melodies” was and still is one of my favorite cartoons. One of those indelible scenes etched in my memory was that of the toothless great white hunter, taking a mighty leap across the deep ravine with nothing of attraction ahead, except for what lies behind. For coming close to his back was a great fierce well jawed lion, looking for a change of diet, from dark meat to white meat.

Noise tends to carry itself with much greater resonance in the stillness of the night.
In the darkness of our world, it is very difficult for many to see the light of God’s promise of salvation in Heaven, and peace and joy on Earth.

For most of us, we will only begin to recognize and acknowledge our vulnerability in this very difficult world, in the lows of our lives, when our heads are in the jaws of the lion.

‘……It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.
In that day, declares the Lord Almighty, “I will break the yoke off their necks and will tear off their bonds.’
Jeremiah 30:7-8

A chasm is often pictured as something deep and unknown, something that no one in their right mind will want to leap over, for fear of falling in.

In my few years of sharing my walk with the Lord, I have been blessed to share the joy of friends who have come to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Unlike the German blitzkrieg used in World War 2, which was a strategy that involved a fast and open war(President Bush’s shock and awe is the present day equivalent), where the enemy is heavily pounded for a short sustained period, and than attacked by rapid active forces, the people who crossed over to the kingdom of God tend to go through the following personal observations :
a) the preparatory phase
- a start and stop exposure to the knowledge of God
- a resistance to knowing God, for life as it is, seems fairly decent without Him

b) the active encouragement phase
- a friend or family member who is a follower of Christ and who not just share by words and work, but faithfully prays for him or her


‘…they will serve the Lord their God….’
Jeremiah 30:9







c) the tipping over, a time of real fears yet joy unexplainable joy and peace
the knowledge of Christ’s love has been quietly ingrained in the mind of the non-believer. His heart has been softened by the love of God and His followers. The crossover often comes when a lion called ‘crisis’ grabs the poor soul by the neck, and suddenly, the now very terrified non-believer breaks free of the devil’s flimsy shackles and take that unbelievable great leap of faith, into the loving grace of God
‘I am with you and will save you…..’
….I will discipline you but only with justice,
I will not let you go entirely unpunished’
Jeremiah 30:11

What lies after??
Waking in the bright morning of life as a believer is not just a wonderful experience, but a new beginning. Yet, Christians will still have to journey through this dark world, difference being their hearts can now let the love of God lead them through, till Jesus Christ returns.
‘So you will be My people and I will be your God’
Jeremiah 30:22

Only by a daily life of obedience to God, will we not let the very darkness of Satan’s grasps encapsulate us ever again.

‘I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me?” declares the Lord’
Jeremiah 30:21

Most believers are willing to obey. But to obey correctly, we have to know well our Master. Only by always placing God as the center of our lives, our heart and soul can we truly be able to live a life of obedience.

What about the quasi believers and the determined non-believers??
The devil wants your soul, but God will not allow it if you are willing to obey Him

‘The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until He fully accomplishes the purpose of His heart…’
Jeremiah 30:24

Look upon upheavals as a joy, for your soul is at stake

In days to come you will understand this’
Jeremiah 30:24

God Blesses
Eng Hieang