#144 Running the race (4jul07)

'And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart…'
Deuteronomy 6:5-6

'….so My spirit remaineth among you; fear ye not'
Haggai 2:5

As I rested in the presence of the Lord this morning, He brought me to revisit the days of my rudimentary efforts at sharing my journey with Him. It has been just past 4 years since He used me to shine His light upon, to be used as an encourager, as a mirror for all to reflect in the sanctum of your private thoughts and needs, to clarify and not mystify, to diffuse misconceptions and hopefully, not confuse. And most important, to live a life, as an imperfect human, warts and all, yet with a perfect and loving Father. His grace is indeed suffice for the day.

Time does make vague what once seems like indelible experiences. As I glimpse through my own thoughts of 4 years back, how the Lord our God spoke to me in dreams and in His words. How He brought friends along my path to make straight my thoughts, truly I have been blessed and has always been.
http://www.hieang.com/word_of_god.html
(If you care to delight in my dreams then, do read Word of Lord #12 and #14 in the above link)

If you had a best friend from your primary school days(ie at ages 7-12), someone whom you shared joyful moments, quiet moments and woeful times as well, would you still be able to recollect with great vividness, those moments well, recognize that same friend the next time you happen to cross paths, even should length of absence run longer than the beard on those year end Santa Clauses?

'How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?'
Proverbs 6:9

Most of us in Singapore would have read about the promising young athelete who died after completing a trialathon race. I don't know him, but like many, we sympathize with his loved ones and logically, would question the loss of such a promising youngster, who by the written accounts, seemed to have walked in a very Christlike manner.

The Lord our God does take some of the godly into His kingdom early in their life, to spare them the trials and tribulations of this sinful and dark world.
But only the Lord knows why and when.

'Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live…'
Isaiah 38:1

The Lord our God wants all of us to be with Him in Heaven, in eternal life. Question is, are you ready, when He calls? The Lord is patient with us. He will not impose His will on us but when will we awaken from our sinful stupor?

Familiarity breeds contempt. Absence makes the heart grows fonder. These are not unfamiliar phrases for most of of us learned them in school. But it might warrant a little bit more exploration and dissection and let me now enter into unfamiliar territor by choosing to differ with these age old myths. For with men, these conventional beliefs do have some validity for men is fleeting by nature, but with God, familiarity does bring joy and peace, absence brings in itself a cold and hardened heart

…Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men………..'
Acts 1:24

In Singapore and most of the developed world, accessibility to the Bible and to church is not difficult. Contrast this to the days of the old communists regime in the Iron Curtain, where time in the cold reaches of Siberia, in the Gulag is a real possibility for anyone expressing a clear interest in God, for such inclinations would be perceived to threaten the very tenets of communism, where atheism reigns, and members of the ruling politburo are effectively the demi-gods.

It is no surprise then that present day Poland(from ex communist Eastern Europe) is a key bastion of the Roman Catholic faith in Europe, while Italy and France(the developed Western part of Europe), the past defenders of the Christian faith, are an empty shell of its committed past.
The clothes replaces the courtier, and it is no surprise that it is often in the midst of our blessings, that our whole relationship with the Lord our God, often moves onto a different plane, ie we ride on the euphoric pride of our successes, and conveniently forget the source of all our grace and blessings; the Lord our God.
God is faithful, we turn faithless.

'If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful; He cannot deny Himself'
2 Timothy 2:13

Time with God, will sober us up, it will ensure that we do not get caught up by the intoxicating and sinful wiles of the devil, that we do not enter into delusory fantasies, that we are so often capable of, for to err is human.
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Jogging is one of the things most of us leave till last, if at all. The first few attempts at starting our runs, are the worst, for our long sedentary bodily structure is literally jiggled up and down, as we pound, or rather scrape the pavements, with our heavy legs. So why are there still so many enthusiastic joggers?

Once we are onto a certain momentum, in terms of regularity of jogging, our body begins to move better, our legs start to have that little bit more spring, and there is that adrenalin high, that we have become accustomed to, whenever we finish an invigorating run.
Truly, absence does make the heart grow fonder, as those regular joggers will attest to. On days that we stop torturing our bodies and legs, we actually feel lethargic, as the withdrawal symtoms set in.
Yet, the longer we delay the resumption of our regular jog, our bodies revert back to the old ways, and our beds in the early hours of the morning does look alluring, and it will reach the point where it is not just our body that is no longer be willing, but so does not our hearts and mind.

'…for no godless man would dare come before Him!'
Job 13:16

What has this long and winding discourse got to do with our relationship with the Lord our God?

If it is by man's efforts, be it, pursuasion, guile, intimidation, good old logic or whatever seems feasible, most will find it hard to convince a non believer to take that first step of wanting to believe and know God. Even for the few who does, those first few steps usually do not last more than a few steps and believing, for the devil does too, does not go beyond into following in obedience.

The will power, the desire to stay the course, to want to learn more about the Christian faith, to want to know God better, has to come from our innate self, for God gives us all a free will.

'Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ…'
2 Timothy 2:3

'…what persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me'
2 Timothy 3:11

What is that silver bullet that will allow us to pierce through the layers of delusion and illusions that are keeping many from 'seeing' God clearly?
And what will that super glue that will keep our very hearts and soul clued and glued to the will of the Lord our God?

It is a mystery of God, as to when, where and how a person will ever have the veil in his hearts lifted, so that he can truly 'see' God?
(But God has promised that all will know Him, before Jesus Christ returns).

But when it does, ie when we 'see' God, as it has been for many of us, how will we respond, and are we willing to stay the course and how can we stay the course?

'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works'
2 Timothy 3:15-16

Be it 1 km or 42km, any of us who have taken part in a race, knows that physical conditioning is good, but it is the emotional strength, our will-power that ultimately determines the completion of our run.
In the old days, when the cross country runs were held along the roads leading to MacRitichie Reservoir, the most agonizing part for me was the long and undulating stretch along the main road, where the end never seems in sight, except the next crescent of a tortous road. I used to keep myself going by visualing how the finish point would be like, with its lush greenery and calm clear waters. To satisfy my innate desire for short term gratification ie to finish like now and spare myself the seemingly unending torturous grind, I would often set short term goals of achievement by aiming for the next 4-5 electricity poles as the pegs for my absorption.

With God, we know what eternity means when Jesus Christ returns. With that certainty enshrined in our hearts, we need not look beyond the day, for the Grace of God is indeed suffice for the day. Every new day, is like that next lamp post. The difference is that we can live that new day with the Lord our God , on His grace and love, and not on our own understanding, for if it was the latter, then indeed, life would be terrible.

'For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind'
2 Timothy 1:7

'To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints'
1 Thessalonians 3:13

Some of us are taken up a little earlier to be with the Lord our God. Our race ended a little earlier, some could be for a longer distance. Only the Lord our God knows when we are ready or when He is ready for us to leave His calling on earth. The world is indeed small. The boy who died in the trialathon. His dad was my lower secondary school mate. It has been 32 years since we met and indeed if not for that information from another closer ex schoolmate, he would have remained a stranger who I happened to jog pass in the passage of time.

'….Lord, are there few who are save?
Luke 13:23-24

God Blesses

Eng Hieang