Dear...
'Jesus said. "...Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.'"
Matthew 4:4
December is a great month. By tradition, a time for most of us to take that well deserved rest, from a hard year's challenge. A time of respite before we start a new year, hopefully a better and more rewarding year, resolving to do things better.
But is this temporary hiatus suffice for us before life's concerns and woes in this imperfect world resume its grip upon our very tormented soul as the new work year edges nearer? A news report I watched yesterday stated that one out of every four Taiwanese has insomnia, above the global average of 10-15% of the world.
'Then God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold I have done according to your words...
1 Kings 3:11
The present financial implosions in Dubai, where a spanking new city in bricks and mortars is very real, but the whole mirage of greatness was funded by easy credit, has now come to roost. And though the contagion has now spread to lesser European countries like Greece, and maybe soon to Spain and Italy, self belief or more like self denial, in the effervescence of liquidity keeping things afloat, have ensured that no panic has hit the world in general, though as a Sheikh in fllowing robes in Dubai, watching the camels reclaim its old hunting grounds amongst your still opulent but empty palaces, you might not be as agreeable.
'And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honour.....'
1 Kings 3:13
The world has indeed not resolved its problems. It will come back and haunt all of us a few short years from now. And this continued fiscal ill disciplines of governments will portend a great period of upheaval, not just economically, but across all spectrum of life. The old order as we know it, since the end of World War 2, will change, no different from the animal kingdom, where the new upstarts will want to replace the aging leader. We are moving closer to a new one world, where the values of Judeo Christianity, as epitomized by the Roman Byzantine, the Imperial British and now the declining American Empires, will be replaced by a hodge podge of values, whose only commonality is that they do not believe in the God of Israel.
A bit far reaching this postulation might seem, for most of us will be more interested in the present. And the present is already quite daunting, for we are in a jobless economic recovery. Will God truly give us what we need to survive in this world, even if we do not asked for it as in 1 Kings 3:13?
As we ponder upon this Biblical truth, I will dare say that all of us on this email are well provided for, materially. Yet, as we extrapolate into the future, fear of insufficiency does grip all of us and that is only natural, if we continue to look at life from the natural rather than the spiritual.
Man measures life by its length, be it 70-80 years and how best we can be ensconced during this period comfortably. God wants us to look at eternity and be desirous of being made ready for the day we will have to meet Him.
'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart - These, O God, You will not despise.'
Psalm 51:17
Peace and joy comes to us, when we truly understand that nothing else matters in our till now wretched life, except for the deisre to have the presence of God in our lives always and to live a life that honours Him. All of us will find it hard to give our all to God and like the Apostle Peter, we will continue to deny Christ, thrree times or even more, if it is on our own strength. God understands that and painful as deprivation of the earthly treasures of the world might be, in allowing us to go through refinements, God will help us to look at Him, our Provider and not at His provisions.
'Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness. That the bones You have broken may rejoice..'
Psalm 51:7-8
Like all, I continue to be troubled by too many things. Yet, because I know God, I know where to go to and such fears do not grip me too long. LIke the imperfect men, I often wish for challenges to be resolved quickly and in my ways, based on my finite understanding. I have learned, with God, that I must be patient to wait upon Him, for His way and timing is perfect. The Daily Bread reading this morning is presceint as always, for God knows our needs. Today's reading brings us to the Book of Ruth, and how, despite all her troubles, Ruth chose to honor God through her relationship with her mother in law. It is good to look back at how God has indeed always held our hands all the time and how He has always brought us through, for He is Sovereign. "In all your ways acknowlege Him, and He shall direct your paths"(Proverbs 3:6)
Having just returned from Japan, what strikes me is the compactness of their physcial environment, the generlal courtesy of its people and the presence of many shrines to their gods. Is there a dichotomy that will erupt from the general politeness into brutalness, as in World War 2, when a button in their emotional mix is pressed that transform the civility of Japanese society into a brutal conqueror, that could only be suppressed by the equally horrendic atomic bombs dropped upon Nagasakin and Hiroshima?
Without God, our carnal instinct will come to the fore, once our abiility to meet our needs is no longer possible within orderly society, and this is where the world seems to be going headlong into, as countries compete for limited resources and infintie wants.
O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king, instead of my father David, but I am a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in'
1 Kings 3:7
For all his wisdom, King Solomon eventually fell from grace, because he stopped relying upon the Lord our God. What about us lesser men and women? God knows our needs on Earth, and we must believe in His promise to provide for our needs, not our wants.
But to not rely upon our Provider is to ensure that we will continue to be subjected to the delusions of the devil, whose real purpose is to keep us sleepless and tormented, not just in the present, but in eternity.
The choice is yours,even as circumstances will harden in the days ahead, for End Times are intensifying.
'The peace of God which surpasses all understandng, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus'
Philippians 4:7
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(10 Dec 09)
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