When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt….'
Hosea 11:1
'He shall not return into the land of Egypt…And My people are bent to backsliding from Me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt Him'
Hosea 11:5-7
'How shall I give thee up….?'
Hosea 11:8
Does this sum up for many of us believers, the sorry state of our relationship with God?
It is not about how regular you are an attendee in church(for many are there in body, but the soul is somewhere else). It is not about how many kind words, thoughts or even actions you have planned to share(for everything is theoretical till you lived it out). It is not about how much monies you have given nor what wonderful public service you have done(for even the non-believers are doing that).
But it is about how determined you are to live out the life that God has now made possible for you, with the salvation He gave to all, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives and with the knowledge that for all who are called out of the blindness in their hearts, the need to response as God leads is imperative. Is your heart truly moving in beat with the Lord's?
'Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit.
Psalms 51:10-12
Lust, will turn into rust, at least in terms of that once shimmering gleam of a past wonderful human relationship, that has now lost its lustre, as one begin to experience the imperfections of our human emotions. What about with God. Have you lost that joy and peace which you first experienced in coming into His presence? Some have plain forgotten what it was like, some are still searching for that higher hill of emotional release before they are willing to move furthur with God and some just decided that God does matters, but their worldly desires matter even more.
'Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee'
Psalms 51:13
Out there in this world of ours are plenty more who are literally still in Egypt. Still weighed down by the bondage of this present sinful world. Enslavement can take on many forms, for the devil is not just a master of deceit, but has a whole repertoire of tools for the willing slaves, for whatever that you think that you have mastered, will master you.
How then do you, the freed man, stay not just free from the now loosened grip of Lucifer, but be used by the Lord our God to be the messenger to all that the locks on their lives have already been opened and that they are free to walk out of Egypt a free man?
Like the devil, you can believe in the existence of God. But unlike Satan, we must be prepared to let God work in our lives, to make us ready for His return. In following the leading of the Holy Spirit, we wiil ensure that we do not find ourselves drawn back to the mire of a sin encapsulated life of bondage and drudgery.
'Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways'
Haggai 1:5
If one is told that one only has 6 months to live, would not all of us, assuming you are not those on the fringe(ie in terms of your sanity or state of irresponsibility) , be very diligent to go about setting our affairs right. And this would oft include making right all the wrongs in our relationship with others.
Once you truly believed, when the Spirit of God sanctifies your heart, you die to sin and live to Christ. Your old sinful ways have been nailed upon the cross of salvation and you are now free to start life anew. Truly a marvellous difference from the scenario of the previous sentence, when time is finite to make right many wrongs. With God, for all who believe, time is also finite, but difference is we are preparing for eternity and time is suffice enough if we let God make us ready.
'For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts'
Haggai 2:6-7
Like the reformed prisoner who is given early release from a long sentence. The free world can look dangerously unsettling. For many, the initial joy of freedom quickly dissipates and many do feel a strong compulsion to run back into the gloomy, restricted confines of a familiar cell. In the past, during the Cold War years, many who risked life and limb to escape repressive Communist regimes, found themselves wanting in their new found freedom and longed for a return to the repressive but known life that they have just fled from. The capitalistic society had the wonderful materialism, but what many found lacking was the souls that comfort. I guess often when one is bereft of most materials things for a prolonged period, the basic humanity towards our fellow stragglers, shines forth better.
When one first believed and accept Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives, the intial euphoria will not linger too long, and one will become more aware of the gravity of one's dash for freedom. The world is still depraved, obsessed and evil. Difference is that we begin to see beyond the illusory lights, the real darkness of our surrounds and that we have now become the focal point of attention of the dark side. We are now in the world, but not of the world.
'And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve Him…..
…Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel'
Joshua 24:22-23
Like the beginnings of Spring, it will still be some time before the remnants of Winter fades away and the lovely warmth of Summer keeps the darkness away. Thankfully, to move away from evil is to come unto the presence of God. There can be no better alternative. We are now willing "slaves: to a Sovereign God, who is perfect, just as we are imperfect, Who is omnipresent, just as we are ominously finite, Who is love, while we are narcisstic. To give up the keys to self determination for a God led life of peace, joy and eternal bliss is no loss at all.
'So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before Thee. Nevertheless I am continually with Thee, Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory'
Psalms 73:22-24
'
Unlike the typical happy ending of the movies we watch, where the main characters end with a twinkle in their eyes, a bounce in their feet and the closing credits with the line, "and they live happily ever after"
The latter is true, but from the first tentative steps of freedom from the grip of the devil to God's kingdom still entail a journey of faithful obedience. There is still a need to bring us all the believers, now desirous followers up to speed.
With God, it is a journey of refinement, as the Lord our God strips away, with great care and love, the layers of our sin encrusted imperfections. Only the Lord knows our heart and much as we might often resist and desist, only in letting go and letting Him, can He complete us in His likeness.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise'
Psalms 51:17
Like the beautiful but untamed stallion, we need to be reigned in, so that we will allow God to reign Supreme in our lives. The journey you take from never having heard of the gospel to having some tentative idea to believing in the existence of God, and then to believing as in wanting to put your trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, and then on to wanting to follow His every leading and finally to always letting God lead is one long undulating journey. Like a typical run we take, it is tough to start, even tougher to run alone and the end is seeminlgy never in sight. Yet, like a road race, the first few steps are tough, but as we work on building our endurance, as we will ourselves to focus on the end(or in our case on the Lord our God) and as we have friends who run alongside us, the urge to end it all without ever completing the race loses its appeal to us all..
'Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end'
Psalms 73:17
With God, grief comes to us not because He is never present, but because we often dither and fritter away, instead of coming with all desire into His presence and staying in His presence always. To be out of the light is to be back in darkness.
But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Thy works'
Psalms 73:28
Like the slave of one of those southern plantations of old in Carolina, when told by His master that he is free, the slave finds it hard to comprehend, for slavery is all his life. God has set us all free all these years. Yet, He is never far from us, for we walk not alone. Is this true? Do take time to ask the devil, who loves a returning prisoner.
'Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy mouth….'
Jeremiah 1:9
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(1 Aug 2008)
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