A soft answer turn away wrath. But a harsh word stirs up anger.'
Proverbs 15:1
"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense," Jesus Christ the Righteous One'
1 John 2:1
What is sin??
- One man's meat is another's poison.
Idi Amin, the old dictator from Uganda, as he feasted on the human flesh of his enemies, believed that by eating them, the dead will not come back to haunt him. He furthur justified his delusory actions as a question of preservation of his tribe.
Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, when he sequestered the Elgin Marbles in 1806, from the ruins of Parthenon, a relic of Ancient Greece, clothed his commercially drivened actions with the self righteous belief of saving an icon from furthur ruin and neglect.
From the first bite of the apple, Adam and the rest of us, have played judge, using our knowledge and benchmarks of what is right or wrong.
But it is not men, but God who is not just the final arbiter, but the only arbiter.
'O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
O Lord, correct me, but with judgement; Not in thine anger, lest Thou bring me to nothing..'
Jeremiah 10:24-25
How can we be so certain that we are walking right with God??
'How precious is Your loving kindness, O God!
....Let not the foot of pride come against me...'
Psalm 36:7-11
The closer we think we are moving with God, the greater the spiritual challenges from the devil, the more likely, if we are not careful, will we go off tangent and fall from our pedestal of sinful self righteousness
'Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven...'
Matthew 7:21
God gave me a new perspective on this yesterday.
As I was about pick up the banner of righteousness, and take on the cudgels of a good fight against the perceived forces of evil, being a diligent Christian, I asked God for a Word to be sure I was on track.
He gave me this verse
'...for which I am an ambassador in bonds; that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.'
Psalm 6:20
Based upon my finite understanding, He must be condoning my actions.
As I bring to a completion, my nuclear tipped prose, all ready to be launched, to bring to surface the light of truth, the despicable darkness of my protagonist, experience and wisdom told me to hold back while I spend time with God in my regular Worship.
Worship was great and I truly encourage all to come to the presence of God, as He leads.. I did feel good but still there was this lingering unsettled peace.
Peer reassurance would be good especially from a fellow brother, but in all his goodness, how would the brother know the deceit in my subconscious.
Back in the comforts of my inner thoughts, like the misguided crusaders of old, I was raring to go, to clear the world of the 'infidels' and I chose to ignore this still persisting troubled feeling to hold back a little furthur. I pressed the launched button but the rocket didn't take off. Probably some minor technical problem.
A dear friend walked in just at that point and after some very honest conversation, God finally got my attention and thankfully, the rocket was never launched and now remains dismantled.
'...and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel...'
Psalm 6:19
Psalm 6:19 which comes before my call to arms in verse 20, truly reminds us all of our calling.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is one of forgiveness, salvation, peace and love.
It is not about judgement, not about correcting a perceived wrong(at least not by us mere humans).
It is about love, the love of God and our response to Him. It is about our obedience to His command to love our neighbours as ourselves.
'....Yea,Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed My lambs...'
John 21:15
Spirituality in the context of human understanding takes on many different forms.
To each his own and these could include
- the need to adhere to strict uncompromising rules and the imposition of those rules on anyone, with the threat of violence, ostracisation, fed by self righteous anger and selfish judgements, hidden behind the self effacing cloak of a supreme being.
or
- dependency upon the existence of a man defined super being(s), which can be a fellow human, an object or whatever figment of one's delusionary imagination and that which satisfies one's carnal needs
or
- a detachment from the world. The drive away from the world also leads one to an almost selfish attitude of irrelevance and disregard for the world and the heart rending needs of many. Can one truly isolate oneself from not just the sinful world but also the self-deceitfulness of ourselves??
'We implore you on Christ's behalf. Be reconciled to God.....'
2 Corinthians 5:20
Christianity is truly about a belief in a Divine and loving God. Our repentance of our sinfulness, our willingness to trust and obey the leading of our God.
God is love and His commands are simple. To love Him with all our heart, our soul, our mind and to acknowledge Him in all our ways.
He understands we live in a dark world and He gives us an easy reference point. He commands us to love our neighbours as ourselves.
God has never asked us to impose our standards on others nor to try to live by standards we set.
'Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers the heart'
2 Corinthians 3:15
'Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged....'
Matthew 7:1
He doesn't need us to do the saving of souls. He just wants us to allow others to visualize what a loving God He is, by the love and compassion we show from our hearts, always looking unto God.
'Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away............
...But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord'
2 Corinthians 3:16-18
Today, the world talks about the danger of silos amongst different religions. The world's solution is towards a breaking of that silo by a beget thy neighbour approach.
I give up my symbols of my faith and you give up yours. A secular oriented world, without any traces of religion, is in itself a religion.
But can there really be a common ground where all are agreed, based on the flawed human??
Christianity is not a religion. It is a belief, that we can share but must never impose on others.
Christianity is about a loving relationship with a Graceful God. A relationship that God wants us to share with others, not only by words, but by our works of obedience, humility, love and compassion.
'....let us keep in step with the Spirit'
Galatians 5:25
Love is that common binding factor that can cross barriers of beliefs.
'.....therefore put on love, which bind them all together in perfect unity'
Colossians 3:14
It is not about a horse trading of key tenets of each others' beliefs inorder to reach a common but heavily diluted compromise. Communism was a result of men's desire for that utopic world of unselfishness, where all are equal. Reality is it remains an idealism, like other man initiated ideals.
'...for they do not practice what they preach..'
Matthew 23:3
As Christians, we must never compromise on the will of God. But it is a personal faith. A faith that we must not impose on others, but share by the life we lead, the love and compassion that God wants us to live by, as He leads and we response.
'Dorcas...was full of good works and charitable deeds'
Acts 9:36
'Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not.......but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.'
2 Corinthians 4:1-2
It is God and not men, that each and everyone will have to address their fears, concerns, doubts, disagreements, grievances and disobedience with.
My brothers' keeper, was one of my favorite British sitcom in the early 1980s. It was a weekly comedy about the escapades of two brothers, one a law abiding British Bobby(ie policeman) and his conniving feline of a brother(ie cat burglar).
Life is indeed a stage. We come into the world, and in time to come, we depart into the yonder. But it could be a tragi-comedy if we take the chance, as most is apt to do, that God is wrong and we are right.
Unlike the dry wit of the British, and the canned false laughter of the Amercan comedies, the only one laughing as you enter the gates of Hade, will be the devil.
We as mere humans, who believe and are desirous of following God, are to devote our lives to ushering others into the presence of God.
But the ushering starts, when they are made ready by God and not when we think they are.
'...I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God. Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness'
Psalm 84:10
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
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