Dear…
'Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me, then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great trangression.'
Psalms 19:13
There are days for me when one feel this great sense of discontented discomfort, be it a mix of fear, envy, resentment and all things bad. For woman, the excuse could be menopause, for men, a little bit of a stretch there unless one subscribes to alternative lifestyles, but it is times like this that I have learned not to resist on my own strength nor understanding, but instead come unto the presence of the Lord our God. And indeed, God will keep us from sinning furthur, and made upright our tilting faith, as He just did for me.
'Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.'
Psalm 19:14
Now that my swaying heart has been re-anchored upon the Rock our God, may the following words be truly reflective of the leading of the Lord our God, and may He speak to your heart and bring you forth into His presence.
'For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people….neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself, and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread. And He shall be for a sanctuary…'
Isaiah 8:11-14
Sashaying is till recently the predominant description of one's bodily movements in the many social ocassions where group dancing is a fixture of corporate social gatherings. But buildings swaying, that is a new phenomenon in Singapore, for long, a place that take pride and comfort in being shielded from what fickle nature in its bad and terrifying moods, can concoct. I only rolled in my chair once, a couple of years back,when a tremor hit town, a consequence of an earthquake in Indonesia. Not a great feeling, unless one loves being dizzy and tizzy, but swaying is here to stay, given the more regular earthquakes in our neighbourhood, with the most recent on the island of Sulawesi. But by and by, most of us in Singapore and most of the world are not too concerned, whenever tremors hit, for the attitude is that it should not hit us directly, but that is now an increasingly moot point. But there is another more insiduous swaying that is beginning to encapsulate most of us.
'Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possess.'
Luke 12:15
It is not just a question of how much material blessings( or more like curse) is enough, but how much time does one truly have in this finite life? I would love to dwell into a more in depth discourse on the present delusory financial markets which can really sway our sense of prudence and common sense, but more compelling issues are a calling. It is suffice to say that most of us know it to be comparable to the treacherous Sirens on the Rocks in Greek mythology, when the returning victorious Greek army, led by King Odysseus(of Trojan Horse fame) sailed passed this treacherous graveyard of ships, many of whom have been lured to dash their solid ships against the even more solid and unforgiving rocks by the alluring singing of the sirens, seated on the rocks. The Greeks in all wisdom, did not dare depend on their willpower, but instead stuff their ears with beewax to keep out the call of the sirens, and for double safety, tied themselves to the ship's mast with thick ropes to ensure that they do not dash to their demise.
The understanding of stewardship(dependency upon our Sovereign God) and contentment(thankfulness to God for all circumstances) must be reinforced by our responding as God leads, to invest our all in His kingdom. This is the invisible rope that will tie us to the Lord our Rock and ensure that we do not be swayed by the alluring call of intensifying greed,fear and frustration, that are very much in our midst now.
Who can resist cheap and plentiful US$, and increasingly, the world looks like making the same mistakes of the nascent beginnings of the Asian crisis, on this belief that the fuel of speculation, the US$ will remain cheap in perpetuity. Man were right in their understanding in Oct last year, but tremendous wealth was lost through the unfathomable.
'And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.'
Philippians 1:14
The thought on the word "swaying" that the Lord has placed in my heart, is the shifting of our focus away from God, our non-reliance on His grace, our disregard to the need to be faithfully obedient to His will and instead we move to one of dependency upon our own understanding and the call of the sinful world. Many Christians today are believers of our Lord Jesus Christ, but followers of the ways of the devil!!
"How can it be?" many will no doubt retort with great indignance to such an indictment, but only your heart knows, for God resides in those who truly believe and seek Him.
Have you truly worked on your relationship with the everpresent God? Or is your mind, heart and interests with things of the world, and like many Christians, you hardly read the Bible(and even if you do, it is the New Testatment only), and when you pray, it is only when you needed something from God, and rarely do you pray for others nor do you engage in the spirit with our Sovereign God.
And your praises and thankfulness to our God you rarely mouth, and even if so, your prideful heart takes precedence over Him Who is Sovereign. And what about work? Is there not enough to do already, that one truly has no time to do the unprofitable things in men's eyes, but the imperative matters in God's will.
And what about your diligent church attendance? Are you there for the pastor of great charisma or are you there to be in the presence of God?
But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel.'
Philippians 1:12
If you managed to read this sharing till now. congratulations, for you will be amongst the minority. Just like time with God, most of us believers or not do have other more pressing interests than to spare Him a 2nd thought. And even if we were willing to 'give time with God a try, those who seek God seems to have more challenges in their lives. It is not just because the devil(with God's permission) wants to "beat" up anyone who dare cross the line to God's kingdom, but rather, God is Sovereign and He will allow correction to start with God's people, for in refining the imperfect us, there will be pain, yet gain.
God is not looking for sacrifice but obedience and I am oft reminded in my "self-pitying" moments, that truly, in every storm, lies the same faithful God upon Whom I am already anchored upon. If there is to be any swaying, it will be for my observers to see the steadfastness of my God given faith, and the equally responsive God Who will not just carry us through, but Whose glory will shine upon upon us His lamp, a resonance that no thicker than thick dark clouds can ever blanket.
These thoughts might not be suffice to encourage you to shift your focus back to God. But increase comes from our awesome God, and almost all indeed "see" God when the very foundations of their self serving life are shakened to the core, for God looks for a humble and contrite heart.
'For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.'
Philippians 1:21
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(7 Sep 09)
Note
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The word that came to my heart this morning as I reflected upon this latest thought that God has showed me was the verse as below. And God always affirms and as I read the Bible this morning, this was the same verse that stared me in the face. How can we ever be uncertain, when God is certainly here with us, always.
'For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,'
Romans 8:38-39
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