#166 Round the bend (7nov07)

..Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision'
Daniel 8:16

Dreams and thoughts are the closest thing that I have to a vision or rather more like a near vision, but God is good. He brings us past understanding and gives us that indescribable peace and joy.
Conclusion is what most of us look for, commitment is what the Lord desires from all.

Believers or non-believers, it is almost to a tee for most of us that we desire to deal with life with a degree of certainty and how often we wish that we could tell what comes next after the latest turn or twist in one's life journey.

'…pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do….'
Jeremiah 42:3

My eyes was not deceiving me two days back, when I glimpsed to my left, this huge long bendy public bus fast closing upon what was just a few seconds ago, a nice little gap in the heavily congested road I was in. My wife tells me that I could now fully empathise with those smaller critters who were whipsawed by the hugh powerful tail of the now long gone big lizard or dinosaur. Having experienced first hand, the full force of the swinging tail end of this humongous bus scraping against my puny little car, it was truly with thanks to God that it was the tail and not the head that decided to cuddle up close to my car.
In adversity, there is always something to be thankful for and to learn from the Lord our God.

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ'
1 Corinthians 3:11

Truly, we can never tell what lies in our path the next very second and any attempt to do that often brings us unnecesary grief and opens up the pandora box of opportunities for the lying and deceitful.

'..Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many'
Matthew 24:4-5

These past few years, the Lord our God has brought me to the understanding and knowledge that truly while life is uncertain, thankfully, the love and grace of our omnipresent and Almighty God is steadfast. A life that rest on the bedrock of faith in God does not mean no storms in our lives, but a God centred life allows us to channel so called 'adversities' into opportunities to experience His grace and love.

'…whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we send thee, that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the Lord our God'
Jeremiah 42:6

Having spent most of my life in our nice sun-soaked tropical island, I always wondered why the English seems to have this extra cheery spiff in their temperament, whenever the sun is out and it was very much later in my life that I realized that sunny days, while not as rare as the blue moon, is still indeed a bit of a shy damsel in cold, clammy, dull and dreary England.

'..O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?'
Matthew 16:3

On the same topic of weather, forecasting seems to have become a more exact science, or at least in the visually impressive presentation that we take for granted on television today. But nature does have its incomprehensible mood swings, be it due to global warming, but truly like the weather, life is at best a guess.

'Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists' whereby we know that it is the last time'
1 John 2:18

A recent survey indicated that increasingly, Singaporeans subscribed to the belief that the game of chance is a good way to riches. Has advances in man's knowledge narrowed the twilight zone of chance to a more exact science?

"This is the last time", is probably what most of us will hear a hopelessly addicted gambler tell us, when they lay the consequences of their ill-discipline upon our door-steps, expecting everyone else to clean up the mess after them. And with the increased avenues for many to indulge in their carnal desires, this will not be the last time, but rather the beginning of many more times we will hear the familiar lies soaked appeals of a woe begone but far from repentant gambler, who believes that his or her next throw of the dice will bring forth untold riches.

'And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come'
Matthew 24:14

Life is indeed a gamble, but by not even considering the possibility that God is real, that His words are true, are we all not taking the biggest high stake gamble in our finite and fragile existence?
This thought is a reality for many, but with the gamut of endearing things of the world, most of us are too enamoured by our sinful desires to even want to take time to consider what comes after life.

'What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah'
Psalm 90:48

A friend whose bodily shell is ravaged by diseases has turned the corner. He has turned to the Lord our God and accepted the salvation of eternal life. His soul is saved, but what about his body?
For most, time on this temporal world is more important, than time in eternity with the Lord. I am reminded that time on earth should be spent being made ready for no one knows when the next turn we take could be our last turn in this sinful world.

'Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed Thy strength unto this generation, and Thy power to every one that is to come'
Psalms 71:18

'…Remember that I stood before Thee to speak good for them, and to turn away Thy wrath from them'
Jeremiah 18:20

'…return ye now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good'
Jeremiah 18:11

'Now therefore saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways'
Haggai 1:5

God Blesses

Eng Hieang