Dear…
'For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.'
Nehemiah 6:9
I am not sure about you. But like some, the world seems quite different from the one I used to know. Of course, time and tide waits for no one, and things will evolve, but there seems to be an escalation not just in the pace but in the whimsicalness of change as well, that can be pretty unsettling for many.
Nature is not just more temperamental, but very tempetuos in its wrath. Financial markets have not just more extreme mood swings, but most if not all have and will continue to be caught wrongfooted. What's worse is, the rule of the law looks increasingly like being replaced by the law of the jungle, and any pretentiousness at equitability and integrity, once bedrock of civilized and progressive societies, have been literally thrown overboard, in the bid by many desperate to right their sinking ships. The end justifies the means, and if one can look beyond the hype and misinformation, assuming one is properly grounded on once core values of kindness, uprightness, love, contentment, one would be not just be very disheartened, but very concerned.
'For many are called, but few are chosen.''
Matthew 22:14
What we are experiencing today is not new. The Lord has stated that as End Times intensifies, men gets more evil and indulges in all kinds of debauchery and unnatural lusts. False prophets will abound, and the natural world will shake even more. Be it a privilege or not, all of us are the generation that is experiencing what has been prophesized, but our reassurance is in the Lord, and upon Him our Rock can only one stand steadfast and unwavering, in the face of the rifs, rafs that are coming out of the closet into the mainstream.
'For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son….'
Romans 8:29
It might be a mystery as to when God will lift the blindness in your heart, but God wants to bring all unto His kingdom. Faith is given by Him and Him alone. But we must want to come unto His presence, and this is the ongoing struggle between the desires of the sinful world, and the truth of God's salvation.
'But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.'
Acts 1:8
Not just in today's context, but has always been since Christ came as man, to bear our sins, that a Christian cannot have a dual personality. One for the public glare of the secular world, and the other in the private domain of his or her personal relationship with the Lord our God. Our relationship with God is indeed a personal and unique one, but it must be lived out in the harvest grounds that God places us in. For how can the "blind at heart" see the light of God's grace if we the lamps stay hidden in the shadows? Those who profess an alternative lifestyle are not just coming out of the closet, but are working hard to mold mainstream thinking, but what about us believers, are we to remain selfishly contented in the darkness of this world, and not let the light of God shine forth through us?
'…for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not Me, saith the Lord.'
Jeremiah 9:3
For many believers, after the initial tentative steps out into the hardened world, would quickly scurry back into the safefy of anonymity, for evil men abound, and no one in their right mind wants to be bedeviled by the unrepentant hordes. The Apostle Peter, to be known as Peter the Rock upon which the church will stand, at the beginning, was a mere shadow of his future status. He denied Christ 3 times but he repented. What about you? Have you denied God throughout your daily life, in so many umpteen ways and times? Not giving time to God, a seemingly innocuous action, to many justifiable in the face of the many needs of their daily lives, is no different to Peter denying Christ.
'Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit, through deceit they refuse to know Me, saith the Lord.'
Jeremiah 9:6
Time is something that grips all our hearts. Timing is everything and many in today's bullish markets are increasingly frustrated at never getting the perfect timing, in terms of maximum profits, but always prescient in terms of maximum losses. But time for God and with God, that is another matter, to be reviewed when time permits, which is never or rarely.
But the time to be what God wants us to be is now.
'So the wall was finished….And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes, for they perceived that this work ws wrought of our God.'
Nehemiah 6:15-16
A booklet that I am in the midst of publishing, using art ie man's creations to reflect my journey with God, my Creator, has amongst my various sharings, two little epitaphs, that might mean something to some of us.
Would you prefer the marker of your entrance into eternity to be written as:
"Here lies…., a wonderful man, with a wonderful collection, but we are just wandering where in yonder is he?'
Or should it read as
"Here lies… a godly man, who strive to be like Christ, but never is Christ, but now is with Christ.'
'…for he was a faithful man, and feared God above many.'
Nehemiah 7:2
Just as evil on one end of the spectrum is manfesting itself fully, we who love God, must now live out the Spirit filled life that God has blessed us with. Coming out of the closet is not about the carnal man defying God in terms of what the traditional family mean't. It is about us Christians living out our faith
'Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?'
Habakkuk 2:7
But sad to say, for most, as the days pass by, it is likely that in this month of June, many half dead bears will finally find themselve no longer capable of ignoring the siren call of the rising markets, and will jump out of the closet of self control, with all four claws onto the runaway train. Will there truly be the emanating brightness of that proverbial pot of gold at the end of the tunnel(or rainbow) or will it be the hazy lights one see when one hits one's head onto a solid wall of delusion?
'Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me….'
Jeremiah 9:23-24
I am not sure, but I do believe the Lord's call to me still stands, ie to "take my monies" that was once lost, but now being regained by the market exuberance. . To each his own, but for me, it is the Lord whom I must obey.
'Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised….the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.'
Jeremiah 9:25-26
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(3June09)
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