'Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved'
Romans 10;1
The Rock of Gibraltar, located on the Iberian Peninsular, is a quirk of history, harking back from the days of intense rilvary between the Spaniards and the British Empire.
It is Crown property since 1713, meaning, British owned, and the only place in Europe where monkeys still roam wild.
Till recently,(but no longer the case since the old Spanish dictator General Franco died in 1982)) Spanish sensitivity has ensured that accessibility to Gibraltar is one long circuituos route, as the Spanish ensured no short cuts through their territory, and occassionally, the once mighty British Navy had to cobble together a couple of ships to assert British Sovereignty.
But this circus of human pettiness and guile is not new. The Argentinians tried to pull a fast one over Her Majesty's far flung possessions in Falklands Islands, and got a little black eye from the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher who decided that it was justifiable to incur great costs to save a few sheep on that even more barren piece of wind blown land.
What has this little snippet of history got to do with my desire as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ to obey His command, which is,
to love Him, to seek Him(through prayers, worship, His Words, and to do His work) and to love others as much as myself.
'For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth'
Romans 10;4
If we truly believe that it is Jesus Christ whom we should look unto, not men or our own understanding. That, it is God's will that we must obey in faithful response, as led by the Holy Spirit, who resides in all who truly believed, would the long running and often tragic soap opera of human dissension and petty disagreements need to be still played out since the days of Adam and Eve?
It would have been curtain call long ago.
'For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God'
Romans 10:2-3
Many have come to hear about the good news of the gospel, and indeed many have believed in Jesus Christ. But how many truly seek to follow Him and even fewer have that intimate relationship with our Father, the Lord our God
'Little children, it is the last time and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now ar there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time'
1 John 1:18
In simplifying history a little( but prayerfully, without changing the factual truths), one of the great schism in the Christian world, had its roots in the declining days of the Roman Empire and the corruption that comes with too much power placed in the hands of a few men(no matter how anointed they might seem to be) in the Catholic Church.
Martin Luthur is often associated with the nascent movement that led to the renaissance of the Christian faith in the breakaway Protestant church, where by God's grace, the availability of the printing press(a new fangled technology breakthrough) then, allowed many to have for the first time, access to printed copies of the Word of God. Men no longer had to depend upon the understanding of the privileged few, who till then, literally held the keys to the Word of God, and by questionable extension, to knowing God. Of course, the sinful desires of one King Henry VIII of England(being angry with the Roman Catholic church for not sanctioning his divorce) who threw the mighty weight of the English throne behind the flegdging Protestant church ensured that it does not die a still birth.
God provides.
Today, the church continues to be challenged by men's sinful tendencies and questionable interpretations. But as always, God is sovereign and He will make right what is wrong.
'So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase'
1 Corinthians 3:7
When man is comfortable, God is often left on the mantle of disregard, to be given an occassional cursory glance and man replaces God with His blessings or even fellow man.
Churches in many past strong Christian nations of Western Europe have become mere empty historical buildings, admired more for their architecture and even then, mainly visited by tourists.
In places of material deprivation, man have a less cluttered opportunity to see God, but even then, that hunger is often satisfied by wolves dressed as shepherds.
But this tendency to mislead or be misled is not a function of material deprivation. In places of plenty, there is a deep unsatisfied longing in many a materially blessed soul, where peace and joy is often a fleeting experience and where many are not willing to let go and let God. These barren hearts of godlessness are fertile grounds for the illusions of the devil and his miscreants.
'Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son'
1 John 2:22
If the devil and his cohorts come all dressed in their standard red, topped off with the two horned cape and a swishing tail, life would be a lot easier for us all when it comes to knowing who to believe.
But the devil is a master of deceit and great wile, and as history often shows, men continue to be great pupils of all that is wrong with the devil, be it greed, malice, pride, impatience, cruelty, selfishness, lies and everything bad.
'And this is His commandment. That we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. And he that keepeth His commandment, dwelleth in Him and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us'
1 John 3:23-24
As sinful and judgmental men, we often like to change others and imposition often degenerates into inquisition when our prey dithers or fends off our advances.
The buck or rather, the rabble rousing must stop here with ourselves.
Much as we might desire to do otherwise, change has to start and end with us. God wants to transform us in His likeness, And the change agent is God and not us.
But we must be willing to let go and let Him.
So, do take a step back and instead of channelling one's energies on defending one's flawed interpretation of our faith or spent endless hours on semantics gymnastics or even doctrinal discussions(which is important, but lets get the basics right first), why not ask yourself if your daily living truly reflects your belief in Jesus Christ and you are living a Christ-like life?
'My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth'
1 John 3:18
Is your life lived out the way the following verses describe what Jesus Christ wants us to live like
'I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace'
Ephesians 4:1-3
'And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath an danger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice and be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you'
Ephesians 4:30-32
'Do not repay anyone evil for evil,but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Bloeved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord'
No, 'if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good'
Romans 12:17-21
In the days of old, way before the emergence of the British Empire, the times when the world was perceived to be flat, the Rock of Gibraltar marked the point beyond which, the known world ends and no one knows what lies below the deep ravine other than myths of sea monsters and hell.
Most of the world today know that the world is round, many have heard the good news of the gospel, and many more would know Jesus Christ personally if they truly seek to live a life like Him, as led by the Holy Spirit.
As men who are blessed to have the blindness in our hearts lifted by the grace of God. As men who knows God because we seek to obey His commands every moment of our lives, we pray for the same for the many whom God places in our paths.
Much as we hope to change a person, much as we want to set the misguided or the willingly misled back onto the right path and focus, much angst and anger will befall us if we do it our way, and not the Lord's way. We are mere mortals(and also imperfect). Lets leave it to the Lord, but lets live like the Lord Jesus Christ.
'For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ'
1 Corinthians 3:11
By how we live, as led by the Holy Spirit, God will transform and renew us and we can be that beacon grounded on Jesus Christ as our bedrock of faith, upon which many will sight us as they sail in the calamitous and treacherous seas of lies and deceit of this sinful world. God's loving hands is always there for those who are willing to take His hand. Many will not, and many will choose to sail past us, the markers of a transformed life, into the realm of the unknown, often blinded by promises of great things that lie beyond, and compounded by their own unwillingness to seek God and to let Him lead them.
Be it the presently popular single faceted grace only message. Be it the ritualistic entrenched practices of old. The world will continue to be misled by others or themselves, if man is unwilling to be led by the Lord our God.
'For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness'
1 Corinthians 3:19
The Rock of Gibraltar is one of two mythological Pillars of Hercules, the other in Morocco. Hercules by his great strength and wit, connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea by creating the Straits of Gibraltar. Yet, many chose to ignore the markers of safety and sailed past the Rock of Gibraltar, possibly to be dashed into pieces by the dangerous rocks that lie beyond?
We who are blessed has to live the life of love that God has commanded us to, within the boundaries that God has set for us and following as He leads.
'…but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into His sanctuary, which He hath sanctified forever; and serve the Lord your God…'
2 Chronicles 30:8
And what about those who choose to push past or redefine those boundaries of Godly living and ignore the many promptings of the Holy Spirit?
'But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon everyone. That prepareth his heart to seek God…..
..And God hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the people'
2 Chronicles 30:18-20
All is not lost. . God is a loving God. But unlike the brave or reckless mariners of old, who discovered the New World by not following the popular belief(that turn out to be misconceptions) of their times.
Rest assured that the Lord will return to bring us to the promised land. Why not start anew with the Lord our God now, and let Him lead you to the new land.
We can seek to change ourselves in the likeness of God as led by Him, we cannot change you, only God can. But we can pray for you, for the prayer of the faithful avails much
'Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved'
Romans 10;1
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
An afterthought
'It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way'
Proverbs 19:2
This is one sharing that truly daunts me. The Lord did give me many markers to guide me along, but somehow, my thoughts could barely stay afloat or coherent.
As I pray about bringing to a close this 5 days of pondering and wondering if truly, I write as the Lord leads or have I fallen short, because my thoughts are clouded by my fears and biasedness towards fellow believers, the Lord brought me to Proverbs 19:2. As always, God is interesting in the way He leads and you might notice that this verse deals with the same issue as Romans 10:2-3 above
Do reflect and ponder upon what the Lord our God's will is for you in the way we deal with ourselves and others.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment