#146 Hiatus( 20 jul 07)

'….now we know that You have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the prophets, and You say,
'If anyone keeps My word he will never taste death'
John 8:52

In Jesus Christ's time, for spewing what seems like statements of fallacy, the Jews would not put you in a brick and mortar mental institution, but they would rather stone you,
Of course, stones(and we are not talking about blings blings) or rather stoning are back in fashion in selected parts of the world but you should be fine, unless you happen to be in Taliban territory.

This morning, there was an article in the local papers about the varied standpoint that a pluralistic and multi-racial society would have on issues like homosexuality. The writer's view should be that most of us would look upon the issue from the standpoint of our religious beliefs and that in itself leads to an entrenched position from which most would start with. Her suggestion should be that we should leave our religious beliefs aside, and look from our own understanding, as a thinking man, without being hemmed in by our religion.

Is man infallible??

Much as the secular man might want to believe otherwise, that human intellect rather than some greater being should be the logical arbiter and driver of their thought process, rest assured he is not alone. For Hitler with his concept of a superior Aryan race and Nazism, was jostling with the then earlier established Marxists thoughts and Communist ideology of Lenin and Mao Tze Tung to play 'god' much as they might claim otherwise.

'And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life'
John 5:40

A view transforms into a controversy, when we either spend too much time in dalliance with our favourite idea, or we start to believe that others will have to believe us.
I am not particularly into this human thing of donning on a cape or mask be it Batman or Spiderman and going out there to save the world.
It is true that God wants those whom has been blessed to have the veil lifted up in their hearts, to go out there to share the gospel of peace, love and hope but He never asked us to do it on our own strength, efforts and judgment.

'….a man after My own heart; he will do everything I want him to do'
Acts 13:22

Hiatus, need not necessary mean furlough, or siesta or vacation, but it is a word that evokes thoughts of truly taking time off, for recharging, for some reflections.
I am a little lazier. I take time to be still with the Lord our God first thing in the morning and throughout the day, for it is good to remind ourselves that we are a finite being, and God is omnipresent.

'Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy..'
Psalm 33:18

When was the last time, if all, that you took time to be with God??

A four-letter word it might be, but WHEN is not as colorful as some of the more racy words the world uses today to add that oomph to every expression, nor is it as pallid as the word DOUR.

On the plane last week, I happened to read an article on the father of minimalists advertising, this German chap who started with a fairly detailed painting for an ad-print for a tobacco company, and by the time he was satisified, it was down to 2 matchsticks in a plain vanilla background.
Simplicity does have its virtues, and his career virtually took off on the coat-tails of an uncluttered message.

'…It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles'
Acts 13:46

Not too sure if this indictment would have mattered to many whose minds and hearts are everywhere except with the Lord. For many, the common frame of reference would be this belief that when the day of reckoning arrive(and even then, for many, it is more about their mortality rather than meeting the Divine God), then will they think about it, for they believe that they do have time).

For many an aspiring evangelists, which all who believed in Jesus Christ and God are are called upon to share the message of joy, peace and love, WHEN is likely to be expressed more as an utterance of exasperation and despair with the unmovable in heart.
God never commanded us to despair as to the timing ie when an unbeliever cross over to believing and following. But rather, He wants us to make ourselves right by letting Him right us and as regards others, the right thing we can do is to love them as much as ourselves.

'Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy'
1 Peter 1:16

Since we first believed, troubles never seem to go away, yet, whenever we let God and not let ourselves deal with the issues facing us, when we truly are broken in spirit, so that He can now proceed to remold us in His likeness, when will what troubles us go away matters not anymore, for when the Spirit of God sanctifies us, when the indescribable peace and joy makes irrelevant what had mattered before, truly when we realized, acknowledge and submit to His sovereignty, our only fears should be the fear of God, the fear of not doing right in His eyes.

.'…..pass the time of your sojourning here in fear'
1 Peter 1:17

The fear of the Lord our God is the beginning of wisdom.

But when would want learn to be still and know His will?

When one is privy to the miracles??
Man want to see the result before they believe, but God wants us to trust Him, for faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things unseen.

'Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be,seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee…..'
Luke 1:34-35

When I am convinced.
When man sees miracles. The skeptic in them leads them to discount it as some explainable phenomenon, which they just has not got it figured out yet. Yet, there are also some whose conviction is shorter than the time that Paris Hilton would serve in prison.

'For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord'
Luke 55:8

It is time to move out of the hacienda of sins and lust. It is time to be awaken, for God beckons.

'Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord;
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse'
Malachi 4:5-6

John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister was quoted recently in the news, as asking Australians to pray to God for rain. The drought in Ozzie land is indeed severe. The fringe of what is really a very dry land, the habitable coastal lands where most Australians are located is in very real danger of looking like the Middle East, but without the oil.

'…when the heavens was shut up 3 years and 6 months, and there was a great famine through out all the land'
Luke 4:25-26

The kangaroos might not be able to stone me, but they could sure stomp on me for such preposterous thoughts. But truly, God will answer all prayers asked in His will.
But how do you know His will when you have never desired to know Him??

There are many God fearing Australians who do know God, but like the entire human race, there are also many who do not and don’t want to know Him.

With God, there is no middle ground. Do ponder upon it.

'But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian'
Luke 4:24-28


God Blesses

Eng Hieang

Note
Suppose you who till now had no desire to believe or to follow somehow feel that urge to go on the contrary. Will God know your desire to know Him?
This verse that a Sister in Christ shared today truly reminds us all of the omnipresence of the Lord our God. Trust Him and let Him

'And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear'
Isaiah 65:24

And indeed, like John Howard who experienced a real drought in Australia, I was bereft of God given inspiration to pen His Words today. However, unlike the Australians who literally got their prayers flooded with a great outpouring of rain, the Lord reminded me that it was indeed time after a 2 mths hiatus, to shake the dust off this latest sharing that was completed 2 mths back, but never circulated.
There will be another time for Him to flood me with His thoughts for another sharing but just yet.