Dear…
'And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark…'
Genesis 8:1
"Do you remember…" so goes the line in the popular song by that old crooner, Paul Anka. For those of us who still remembered Kodak films, for it was not too long ago that Kodak and Fuji film dominated the photographic world, before the advent of digital cameras, this song was also the memorable jig that helmed the Kodak advertisements of old. With digital cameras, one can now delete, alter and mass mail via the internet, such is technology, unlike the more cumbersome film, whose saving grace is its yellowed patina, which can bring back a wave of nostalgia for the once young, and a sense of inquistiveness for the present young.
'Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.'
Romans 15:13
Why did most of us who profess to be Christians choose to be so? Maybe this question will be of greater relevance to the first generation Christians. But it could also apply to those who were Christians by birth, who subsequently reaffirmed their faith because of their experience with the Lord our God as described in Romans 15:13.
'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?'
1 Corinthians 3:16
The interesting thing about our Christian faith, is the call to all who believe to go out to share the good news. Unless you are a closet Christian, where only the Lord knows about your claim to faith, the world has come to look upon us believers as performing on the world stage, and like all performers, we are under public scrutiny and judged by all and sundry, based upon a confused casserole of our finite understanding of our faith, and the imperfect benchmarks of the human race.
But is our human imperfections the perfect foil for all of us professed Christians to ignore or conveniently forget the response the Lord our God commanded all who believed in Him?
'If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.'
1 Corinthians 3:17
Our time on earth is to be a living sacrifice to the Lord our God Whose Spirit resides in all who believe. Much as some Christians might want to believe otherwise, we are the church, and as long as you claim to be a Christian, you have to live out your faith, every moment of your life, as the Spirit leads. For God is perfecting us and also using us as the platform upon which the world will see Him in all His glory.
Quite a tall order it is, and one good reason why many are so afraid to consider taking the leap of faith. There are indeed "costs" to be a Christian but like Apostle Paul said, it pales in comparison to what the Lord has promised to all who believe, and God is faithful, not just for the future, but for the present and in the past.
'And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosover will have save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?'
Luke 9:23-25
The Lord placed the thought in my heart yesterday. Will I be prepared to commit the financial blessings that He will surely bless me with these next few weeks. The stockmarkets have entered the rising momentum of hope. Delusion it will be but it will soon suck in many more who are still sceptical but increasingly finding it difficult to continue to resist the lure of the rising prices, and to come to grief again, given that the move up is more attributable to liquidity and man's machinations than a genuine improvement in values.
The time to harvest the "instant growth seeds" that the Lord has led me to plant in the stockmarkets these past few days is not now, but it will not be long.
Will I be prepared to deny myself of hoarding the realized gains of the next few weeks and instead, take up the cross like Christ in using the gains that I will receive to do His work? It might be easy to say yes, for I have not seen the fruits yet, but will it be easy when God honours His promise, and will I obey as I have committed? Or would l in the midst of my blessings have a sudden memory loss?
'He hath made everything beautiful in its time, also He hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end…'
Ecclesiastes 3:11
On logic, I have in all probability done the most stupid thing in my life. Putting monies in a market that has already risen 20% or more, putting more than I will do in such circumstances and buying stocks that I felt led to rather than placing more of my usual rigorous thought to. And every day since, the news continue to affirm what I have understood, that is, the world is living out a lie, propagated by the powers to be and it is a matter of time before the markets go for a bigger whack.
'But if we hope for what we don't have, we wait for it patiently.'
Romans 8;25
I have come to learn that if God leads, we obey. And that we do not measure our relationship with the Lord in terms of dollars and cents or any of our worldly measurements. But we look not at the conclusion, but live to obey His will, to honour Him in the way we live.
'…and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God…...'And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us…'
Romans 5:3-5
I have as of now, not been better off nor worse off with my recent investments of faith. But the Lord is good. He placed the thought in my heart that I needed to invest the future fruits in 4 pillars of work. Just yesterday, He has showed me the first and I am pondering upon the second. I believe that the time to be out of the markets, at least for me, is when the 3rd and 4th pillars are make known to me.
'For whatsover things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.'
Romans 15:4-5
To some of my friends at this stage, I do apologise if it seems that my senses has gone a little off. But I have to speak what I truly believe God has spoken to me on. It is a personal message, why then share this on the public forum, and risk being subjected to ridicule. But like the Apostle Paul professed, he is willing to be a fool for the Lord, if He so wills. But will it not be even more foolish and of great dire consequence, when you have to meet the Lord on judgment day, and be told that He does not know you, for you never knew or remembered His love for you nor did you ever bother to heed His call, for either you were to busy to hear it or you just plain ignore it?
Why not start your recollection of His love by making time to come unto His presence this very moment, in remembering the times you were thankful for God's grace. And to translate that thought into picking up the Bible right now to read His Word or even just prayerfully reflecting upon His Words that exist aplenty in this sharing.
'Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour…'
Titus 3:5-6
'If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness…'
Ephesians 4:21-32
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(17th April 2009)
Note: a health warning
Do apologise for this longer reflection than as normal. But one writes as led.
And more importantly, God speaks to all of us differently. So while I do believe none of you will be as foolish as me, kindly DO NOT invest in the stockmarkets unless truly the Lord leads you otherwise. For there is every reason to be afraid, for this is a treacherous world we live in and lies and deceit abound, ever more than before.
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