Dear…
'You are My witnesses, says the Lord. And My servant whom I have chosen. That you may know and believe Me. And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed. Nor shall there be after Me. I even I, am the Lord. And besides Me there is no savior.''
Isaiah 43:10-11
'Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways..'
James 3:1-2
Much as I have professed and seek to be a good witness of the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, I must confess that I have often fallen short, and if not for the grace of God, Whose Spirit that resides in me, convicts and corrects me almost instantaneously, I would have continued to err.
'For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate that I do.'
Romans 7:15
Tripping over ourselves can and will happen, given we, the self deceitful, live in a sinful and delusory world, and the devil is very real and on the prowl, always ready to pounce upon any indiscretions on our part.
'O wretched man that that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.'
Romans 7:24-25
Thankfully, God is omnipresent, and His hands are there for us to grab, before we can fall further into the deep chasm of sins, but how do we "see" His ever present, outstretched hands, if we have been looking everywhere except to God our Father?
'…that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.'
Luke 2:35
The Word of God can and will indeed pierce through our inner thoughts. A purveyor of God's Words I might have been blessed with, but till the Lord show me otherwise, I truly have no idea as regards the thoughts that reside in your inner sanctum. But God will speak to us, through others, through events and circumstances, or straight to our hearts. And these past few days, He has been 'speaking" to me with impressions imprinted upon my inner being, centered around this question "What is the purpose of life?"
'For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please Men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ.' But I made known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught if, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.'
Galatians 1:11-12
Many might have read the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. I must confess I once had the book, by the kindness of a fellow brother, but I have since passed it on to another fellow brother or sister in Christ, without ever going past the first few pages. Putting aside what Rick has wonderfully shared, and it must be wonderful for it to be a bestseller, much as I have no inkling as to the details, the Bible itself is quite clear about our very purpose in this temporal world, if you could just take time to ponder upon the following verse
'I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.'
Romans 12:1
Void, is that vacuum in one's life. A black hole that seems to suck in everything that the world can offer, yet still leaving us with that indescribable sense of loss. It was over the Chinese New Year holidays, that I was reminded of my long discarded state of disequilibrium, long discarded because the love of God has filled up my life, and peace and joy have taken its rightful place in my life, having kicked out the usurper "void" that used to haunt me but might still do so for many, all these years.
'But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His..'
Romans 8:9
I gave a copy of my book "Reflections" to a new friend, and in exchange, I received a copy of another book written by him. In giving, we receive and it is an interesting book on planning one's finances. A well written guide that touches on a basic need in all of us, ie "how to secure one's financial well-being in the finite life that we have. But what struck me was the void that the author talked about in his introduction, that he agrees can only be met by the spiritual, but he figured that is for another time but the book itself can dwell with the present more obvious natural need, our ability to cope financially in this present world.
'And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.'
Romans 12:2
Is age a determinant of one's perceptions of the world as well as one's emotional state of well being? At a touch below the half century in age, have I lost the vigor and innocence and sense of awe that possess and drove me when I was at the quarter mile of my life? Or has the world truly degenerated to such a low point at all levels, ie societal, corporate and personal and even the natural, that the rate of change is not just much more dynamic, but brings with it a sense of detachment in human relationships. Have we begun to lose that human factor that differentiates us from the beasts in the field and increasingly, success mean being self-centered, ruthless, greedy, prideful and all other attributes that will make Satan, the godfather of this present sinful world smirk with joy, to see more in his likeness?
Are we at this abyss because all of us have, in varying degrees, moved from doing God's purpose and instead have been slaves to the desires of the devil??
For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.'
Philippians 2:21
The Grand Canyon is one place that I have not been. But life for most seems to be one of trying fruitlessly to fill up the huge chasm that can never be closed up by the things of the world. Monies, power, status and the rest of Satan's wares can never bring us permanent happiness. Many who chose to disbelieve and entered this pain strewn road always come to grief. "Life is meaningless" is an oft used closing line for many who took the final step from depression to suicide and how Satan loves this conclusion to his honey laid route to eternal damnation.
''…whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame - who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.'
Philippians 3:19-21
Only the Spirit of our Sovereign God can, with His presence in our hearts, fill us up with that indescribable joy and peace, that will not just make void, that emptiness in our hearts, but gives us that deep assurance that will anchor us through what life, or rather whatever the devil can throw at us, even as we await the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
''For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient…..But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior..'
Titus 3:3-6
'If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things on the earth..'
Colossians 3:1-2
Time for God, time with God and all time to God will bring us into His presence. God's Spirit will indeed reside in those who seek Him with their all.
'Return to your rest, O my soul. For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.'
Psalm 116:7
My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.'
Psalm 62:1-2
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(19 Feb 2010)
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