#84 Look who is talking(12apr06)

..there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming?'
for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation'
2 Peter 3:3-4

The world looks for instant gratification. I fell in love with the great American consumer society, when on my 1st trip there in 1990, you could literally get the usage of most things advertised on television, for free, for a limited trial period.
If one is disciplined and shrewd(or conniving, depending upon your moral fabric), you truly can get many free lunches in the land of plenty.

Christians are asked to be long-suffering, patient, to exercise kindness and perserverance, to love even the unlovable, for such virtues will help transform and renew us, to be made ready when Jesus Christ returns.

'And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given unto thy hand, Jericho.............
..........go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days...'
Joshua 6:1-5

To the uninitiated, having waited for over 2000 years, with not even a wisp of an appearance, patience does wear thin.
On top of the ignominy of having waited for a guy who has not turned up the way we expect, we are also commanded many times, in the Bible, to do many things that seem contrary to rational logic and goes against the very grain of self-survival in the real world we live in.

If you have watched the 'Lord of the Rings,' those defensive walls on the parameters of any great city are pretty daunting. Joshua if he was of lesser faith, would have rightly disregarded the command of God, for who can bring down a wall just by marching round it a few times and bringing the 'house' down with their voices.

'but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway'
1 Corinthians 9:27

For those who truly seek God with their heart, soul and mind, and who diligently desire to obey His commands to love Him and others, will attest to the fact that God is a living and responsive God.

'Thy Word is true from the beginning...'
Psalm 119:160

As we experience God's loving presence in our walk with Him, the passion to respond to His love with our obedience in showing compassion to others is a natural outworking of the knowledge that Christ is Our Messiah.

Is this suffice?? The sinful men that we all are often regress to our own understanding. We want to move from following to leading God.
This week being Holy Week, the run-up to Good Friday; the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins, the National Geographic is running a series of programmes related to Christianity, the first yesterday was titled 'Gospel of Judas.'

'For many shall come in My name, saying I am Christ and shall deceive many'
Matthew 24:5

Next to Hungarian Golash, the Rubic Cube is probably the next most well-known product to have originated from Magyar land. Many worldwide during the feverish craze then, spent countless hours trying to solve the color coded box-shaped puzzle. Quite unproductive but stimulating to one's intellect and pride.

Today, while not a new ailment, the world continue to seek to unravel the hidden meanings of God's Word. The more enthusiastic go that one step furthur to examine the validity and legitimacy of the Word of God.

The Gospel of Judas is supposedly an ancient text discovered not too long ago in the caves of Egypt. Torn and tattered, it has been painstakingly pieced together by experts, and while not complete, one key discovery was the possibility that Judas, the betrayer of Christ, was asked to do so by Christ himself!!

But are the long dead author(s) of this ancient text speaking the truth?? The documentary did not address this.

Men(ie all genders) loves controversy and intellectual dissertations. Men loves to feel self-righteous and pompously intelligent. Imagine, if this is true, the long despised Judas Isacariot could now be exonerated and in fact, be given angelic status!!

'Thus saith the Lord of hosts;
If thou wilt walk in My ways, and if thou wilt keep My charge. Then thou shalt also judge My house.....'
Zechariah 3:7

God does not need us, mere mortals to defend, justify or to put Him under scrutiny.
God commands us to follow Him. To love is to know God, for God is love.

The Word is God, God is the Word. The Word of God is a living Word.
To know God, is not a matter of aptitude, scholastic ability or documentary proof, but rather, one has to come to Him with a humble and contrite heart, a desire to truly want to seek Him and follow Him.

'All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness.....'
2 Timothy 3:16

Sometimes I am asked, "How do you know it is God??"
I know because He is God, His Spirit speaks to me.

'.....My gospel .......now is made manifest.....according to the commandment of the everlasting God..."
Romans 16:25-26

To know a person beyond the superficial level, we have to spend time, show care and concern to encourage them to open up.
With God, we have not just to spend time with Him, but be willing to let Him lead and speak to us.

In the movie, "Look who is talking" John Travolta(Yes, Mr Saturday Nite Fever) took on a decidedly new role. He spent an inordinate amount of time trying to talk to a baby, instead of babes.
To him, the baby has to be led by his(ie John's) understanding and thoughts, when in actual fact, he is on a totally different wavelength and is considered rather foolish and off-track in the eyes of that baby.

'I have no greater joy than to hear my children walk in truth'
3 John 1:4

God's commands are clear. Love Him with our all and love our neighbours as ourselves.
The Athenians of old philosophies themselves to obscurity, the Spartans deprived themselves to oblivion.
The Romans lusted their blessings away and the Russians fell flat on their idealism of egalitarism.

God Blesses

Eng Hieang

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, ...but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance'
2 Peter 3:9