'Be glad the,……..and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He hath given you the former rain moderately……'
Joel 2:23
Even in little things, the Lord takes care of the those who trust in Him. This verse reminded me of how truly, despite dallying and then taking the wrong route, I still managed to make it to my car, without being caught in the looming thunderstorm today. Near the end of my 10 minutes walk, under the ominous dark clouds, I was only briefly watered by tiny raindrops, which took on increasing force just as I reached my car, for that was when the Heavens truly opened forth.
'….Why sleep ye? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.'
Luke 22:46
Granted that God provides, do we take Him for granted?
As I count my blessings, I am very cognizant that a thankful heart and a prayerful one is truly what ensures that we can partake in the blessings that God provides, and that we lose not our focus on the source of all our blessings.
To err is human, but many has never learnt nor repented from the error of their ways.
'…Pray that ye enter not into temptation.'
Luke 22:40
Put three or more souls together and you will get a never ending soap opera of contentious human relationships and it is no different when you are down to just two imperfect human beings.
What about one?
Like the cartoons of a more innocent age eg in Tom and Jerry, we see that when Tom cat was alone, he wasn't truly alone. For he had the company of the devil and the angel, with both going to great lengths to influence him or rather it, negatively or positively.
The reality of life is that it is not between a choice of the devil or the deep blue sea(for some are apt to think that Christianity is too 'deep' a religion for them to comprehend or adher to).
Christianity is not a religion as some are apt to think so. In a religion, one might be inclined to look for physical symbols as well as giants of the religion for us to benchmark our own faith or even to rely upon. In a religion, one would look for depth of knowledge and/or human defined abilities.
Christianity is not about man or his finite and imperfect understanding. It is about God. It is about our relationship with a loving and graceful God, through His only Son, Lord Jesus Christ.
''..Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will but Thine, be done'
Luke 22:42
Like all relationships, it takes two to tango. It takes time to develop, to explore, to understand, to trust and to love.
But Unlike human relationships, Christianity is about a relationship between the imperfect human us, with the perfect God.
Grating, as it might be to the ears and prideful hearts of many, our relationship with God must start with submission on our part, continued obedience throughout and faithfulness always.
But unlike human relationships, God is perfect, He is loving and He knows what is best for us.
'For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain'
Philippians 1:21
Being a believer is a win win situation. We get peace and joy on Earth, and eternal life of bliss in Heaven and God knows and will provide for our needs on Earth.
There is no catch, but rather, the qualifier would be, "would you be prepared to let go and let God?"
'…that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel'
Philippians 1:12
There are indeed times when being a believer and follower of Jesus Christ seems to ensure that we become a magnet for the various woes and weals of the world.
It is possible, but like Paul said in Philippians 1:12, it is for the furtherance of the gospel and it is for our own refinement and salvation.
God knows our limits and we will, if we seek Him, come to understand His love and purpose, and the joy and peace that only the Holy Spirit can sanctify our very being with, will more than transcend human understanding.
Every night, I pray with both my children. Of course, with children, it tends to be rather 'fast food' style, and the usual rhetoric of thanking God for everything and asking Him for everything. Much as I would like them to be very cognizant that they are in the very presence of God, and that they should come with the right posture, right awe and submissiveness and learn to say the 'right ' thing, these are children and are not we all?
Often, we come to God with our imperfections, and carry on that conversation with Him in our imperfect ways. But God understands and He will transform us if we let Him.
How we pray, what we speak to God on, when we do it would change as He transforms us in His likeness. What matters is we must be desirous always to seek Him with a humble and contrite heart, we must obey Him as He leads us, so that when we come into His presence, we come knowing that He is Sovereign, and we are His children.
There was an article some of us might have read about the big uproar in India over the Americans patenting of various aspects of yoga, the increasingly elixir that a stressed up world now look upon as the balm for their emotional and physical imbalances. This is not new. There have been patents filed for Basmati rice in India, and even Internet related processes.
What is interesting though is, "is it correct to file a patent for a religion?" Of course there are also many who believe that yoga is not a religion. For those Christians who are into yoga, rather than depend on hearsay or even intellectual arguments from self or men, it will be good that you should spend some time with the Lord our God to truly understand its origins and its intended practice and let the Lord our God bring you into perspective.
What about prayers?
'And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men…'
Matthew 6:5
A few years back, I recall that the prayer of Jabez was widely available in a pocket book and some Christians were going round passing the idea that you should keep chanting this prayer first thing in the morning and God will honour your incessant claim on His blessings.
'But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking..'
Matthew 6:8
The day will come when some bright spark will file a patent for this prayer(at least in terms of the posture, the degree of intonation and whatever makes his or her process more effective in garnering an answer from God).
G.O.D. is the acronym of a successful lifestlye firm in HK. In this case, G.O.D stood for Goods Of Desire and the presenter of the television interview, stretched both his imagination and tongue a little bit furthur to imply that the initials G.O.D. if pronounced in Cantonese could be taken to read as "living better"
Foolish as it may seem, it is good for us to take time to reflect in the presence of the Lord our God, the manner of our relationship with Him.
Have we gone into a set pattern, a ritualistic exercise in futility, that inevitably ends in disappointment, for we have by our sinful desires and finite understanding, become god, and probably forgotten about our one and only true and Divine Father in Heaven.
God knows and more than provide for our needs. Are we prepared to honour Him with the way we live, and let go and let Him?
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
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