Dear…
‘Samuel said to Saul, “you have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord.’
1 Samuel 13:13
The beginning of King Saul’s fall from grace started very early in his reign, when he lost patience waiting for the Prophet Samuel to turn up at the appointed time, and decided to take matters into his own hand. Saul’s justification then was that the situation demanded an immediate response and that circumstances justified his not following God’s command to the letter.
‘But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.’
1 Samuel 12:15
In the light of continued fiscal ill-discipline by major Western debtor countries, physical gold has increasingly taken center stage in the hearts, mind and pockets of many. It was reported that just in May alone, the thrifty Germans and their closest counterparts, the Austrians bought more gold in that month than for any other period. And just a couple of days back, a 100 kg Maple Leaf gold coin was sold for quite a few zeros in US$ terms(not too sure if this is a harbinger of a short term peak in the gold prices?)
Physical gold is something very close to my heart. In the late 1970s, I actually went to the OUB Bank(no longer in existence), to buy some paper gold, as part of my investment plan for my hope for first $1mio strategy. But was rejected by virtue of being underage and truth is I was probably too small a customer, with less than a couple of thousand dollars to my name. I had a more successful second attempt back in the late 1980s, buying both physical and paper gold. But it took me two decades of wandering in the wilderness to be finally right about gold. Doesn’t add much luster to my reputation as a savvy investor, which thankfully I am not, for man plans, God directs.
And if some might recall, gold(at US$750/oz) was the thought God placed in my heart back in year 2008, at the rudimentary stages of the subprime crisis(see Running the race #35 Refiner’s fire at following link http://hieang. blogspot. com/2009/ 03/running- race-35-refiners -fire-20mar09. html ). I did buy some physical gold, no doubt a very, very minute fraction of the tons sitting in Fort Knox(where the US government keeps their gold), but it finally gave me peace of heart, much as I was reluctant to want to obey the Holy Spirit’s three nights worth of prompting, that deep impression upon my heart to buy administratively cumbersome and less efficient physical gold(not paper nor Exchange traded gold funds, nor listed gold stocks). At today’s prices(US$1250/ oz) and present bullishness for the yellow metal, with the wisdom of hindsight, I wished I had bought a lot more gold.
‘And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly, thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which He commanded thee, for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue, the Lord hath sought him a man after His own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over His people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.’
1 Samuel 13:13-14
Fools’ gold I am not after. King Midas I am not aspiring to. But our good Lord has since this little episode of buying physical gold, impressed upon me the need to obey, much as it might seem illogical. But more importantly, the gold that God wants us to invest our all, is gold as refined by Him. That is, our very being, like gold put through the refiner’s fire, that we will come out purified and sanctified, made ready for His work on Earth and for His return. This is the gold that God truly wants all of us to focus on, and this is the gold that will hold steady, much as the sinful world will waver as the world will shake even more.
What about oil, the devil’s brew? Maybe a better name for oil would be “black gold.” It is interesting that most of the world’s known oil reserves are either in less than friendly terrain(as in offshore wells), or in politically challenging countries in the Middle East/Africa and Central Asia.
Israel survived and succeeded very well as a nation in the midst of plentiful oil in its surrounding neighborhood, yet has neither a drop worth shouting about on its own soil. And despite all the oil in their largess, its’ much bigger hostile neighbors have till now not been able to run the much despised Israelites(at least in the eyes’ of its half brothers, the Arabs) off the land.
Crude oil is the addiction of the world. We cannot live without crude oil, for it lubricates our world. Bio-fuel seems like a viable alternative, but till now, it has fallen short of its hype. And not forgetting the damage to our environment as seen in the haze in South East Asia, with the advent of commercial palm oil production, a recent phenomenon of the 1990s in Indonesia. And the haze will no doubt get worse, with Indonesia’s professed desire to be the food basket of the world, or more like bio-fuel supplier of the world. As it is, it seems that the more remote parts of Eastern Indonesia, that is, Irian Jaya(the Indonesian half of Papua New Guinea), virgin jungles are starting to be stripped to be made ready for palm oil plantations.
“Crude oil, or black gold” is the word the Spirit of God deeply impressed upon my heart these couple of days. What does the Lord want to share with us all? Till now, I am not sure, but the words “covenant” and “control” are two terms that He has left with me.
Truth or fiction, some political analysts believed that the World War 2 hero and post war American President, General Dwight Eisenhower made a secret pact(in the 1950s) with the House of Saud, the present ruling family of Saudi Arabia. In exchange for American support of their Sovereignty in Saudi Arabia, the flow of oil to the increasingly thirsty USA was guaranteed. Fact or fiction, only God knows, but fact remains that the energy guzzling superhighways first envisaged in the World Expo in Chicago in 1933 became a reality in 1950s USA. Without Saudi oil, such great growth in energy dependent consumerism in USA would be that much more difficult to sustain, as evidenced by the long queues at the gas station in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the subsequent Arab oil embargo led by the key lynchpin of OPEC, Saudi Arabia.
Was oil or more like the control of oil supplies the real reason for both father and son team of Bush for sending America, twice over to war in Iraq rather than all the beating around the bush excuses that they have parlayed? I am not Michael Moore(of the film Fahrenheit 9/11 fame), so let me not attempt to create a conspiracy theory, for it is beyond my faculties.
But truth of the matter is that oil is the opium of the world, and like all good addicts, nothing else matters as long as we get that fix, even if it means losing control of our sense of values.
Oil helps the world to move along. What about us, the individual? What makes us tick?
‘And the Lord answered me and said, ”Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.....the just shall live by his faith.’
Habakkuk 2:2-4
Interestingly, having just wolfed down a peanut cake for afternoon tea, compliments of my kind hearted colleague who knew of my yearning for comfort food, during our lunch today, and she made the extra effort to procure one for me, this verse in Habakkuk 2:2-4 was the spiritual food I read right after. Interestingly, Habakkuk seems to mirror the same message shared about the 99% man, that is, King Saul who obeyed but not fully(in 1 Samuel). I did not look for this verse, but God brought me here and I believe for good reason.
'What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?"
Job 2:10
I have no idea where the price of oil is heading, though my guess will be that it will be very much higher eventually, as the Iranian and Turks muck around with regional politics in the powder keg that is Middle East.
But that is another story. Let me just end by saying that almost to a tee, most of us are less than 100% in our willingness to obey God’s clear commands. For those who actively seek a relationship with God, your hearts like mine, might be certain, as the Spirit of God impresses upon us His will, but often, our minds start to question and the self deceiving us move to center stage.
'Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God,…..'
Jeremiah 42:6
Patience is the word that underlines my journey with God this year. Patience is what God has deeply impressed upon my heart throughout this year. Patience is what I often do not exhibit in my journey with God, but thankfully, by His grace, I have not degenerated to being a patient or more like victim of my own follies.
'Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.'
Revelation 3:10
Did the Saudis truly have a covenant with the Americans? I am not sure, but fact remains that Saudi oil was a key stabilizer for oil prices, an important ingredient to ensure global economic stability, much as American hegemony has ensured a relatively more stable world. But are we seeing the negative ramifications of this longstanding relationship from the depths of resentment as expressed by extremists like the Saudi Osama Bin Laden, as well as the general populace in the Middle East in the belief that only the privileged benefited from this alliance?
‘With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles..’
2 Chronicles 32:8
As Christians, we have entered into the New Covenant with God, when we believed. God will and has provided. But what about us? Are we truly willing to follow with our all, His leading? Are we all in breach of this Covenant and are seeing the ramifications of our disobedience, no difference from the sinful King Saul?
As I close, let me share some thoughts from an article literally “fresh from the oven” that I read last night, in the just received quarterly magazine of my church. The author, a retired local preacher challenges the reader to move beyond the popular notion of “a purpose driven life” to one of “a cross driven life.” For those who seek to follow Christ, to be like Him, we want to know God’s will for us and how can we live to honor Him in every way. That desire is good, but what about the execution? On this, like many, I have often fallen short, for am I truly able to trust the Holy Spirit’s leading 100% in total obedience or am I like King Saul, who lost patience, when circumstances seem to point otherwise?
“To live to Christ, and to die is gain(Philippians 1:21),” this is what Apostle Paul exhorts all believers. Like Christ in Gethsemane, before His sacrifice, are we, despite our natural instincts of self survival, be willing to truly let go and obey God’s will?
‘..O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.’
Matthew 26:29
I am, but my heart often resists. Only with the grace of God’s Spirit can I be able to translate willingness into reality. Faith comes from God, to ensure we will adhere to God’s command and honor our part of the covenant with Him. But faith can only be received if we, the recipient are willing to come unto God’s presence always.
Will you be willing to enter the crucible of fire for continued refinement by the Hands of our beloved Father?
Boldness is not about asking God for His blessings that we want, much as some have preached. It is not about mouthing out loud our faith, when our hearts are in reality closed to Him.
Boldness is knowing that God has forgiven us through the resurrected Christ, that God has not just make clean our once sinful self, but that He wants to transform us in His likeness. Boldness is about us willingly responding as His Spirit leads, often crossing the chasm of the unknown, with our eyes closed, our hearts certain, trusting that the God we know is Sovereign, He is faithful and honors His covenant with us, that He is in control, much as we are not.
‘Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside You. My flesh and my heart fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.’
Psalm 73:25-26
Rgds and God Blesses
Eng Hieang
30th June 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Reflections for the moment #70 Strangely warmth(22nd June 10)
Dear…
‘For the man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.’
Ecclesiastes 9:12
Age does sober one up, and it was not too long ago that I spent my 30th birthday away from home and of all things, in a two man 6km road race with Bill, my colleague then, an American Chinese in the lovely summer heat of Connecticut. Fast forward almost two decades later, and the only running I am doing lately is together with my son, making a dash for the next available sofa, while the more energetic ladies in my small household soak in the items on offer in the shops in Hong Kong.
A year to go before I cross the magical half century, at least magical if you are a cricketer looking to score a century in a Test match, but for the mortal man, it means that we are much nearer our three score years plus ten or maybe fourscore(Psalm 90:10)
But the passage of time need not necessarily be the sole determinant of one’s length of stay in this world. If God so determine, one could be off in a whiff before that last breath could make its way down one’s bodily passages. So, like some I am taking to heart the exhortations of Ecclesiastes 9:7,9
‘Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth thy works…….Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which He hath given thee under the sun….’
Ecclesiastes 9:7,9
This year, the wife and I had a greater preponderance for short overseas sojourns, honeymoon I am not sure, but good things do come in small dosages. Wife is happy, I am too, but did I really do a good job these past decade of my living as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deserve His manifold blessings?
‘So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.’
Psalm 90:12
This was the thought that crossed my heart, or more like been troubling me these past few days. At age 49 just, have I stayed true to the command of God to seek Him with my all and to love others as much as myself? And with the balance of life remaining, having likely crossed the 60-70% mark, how would God want me to live the balance of my days?
'Behold these are the ungodly, who are always at ease. They increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain. And washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning.'
Psalm 73:12-14
And do I not feel drained from the great exertion of seeking to live out my faith these past decade, that maybe it will be truly good and wise to withdraw from the few ministries I have been actively involved in and take a break and smell the roses of God’s blessings instead, that is, the receiving without the giving.
‘He by His wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.’
Ecclesiastes 9:15
God knows our every heartbeat. And He does not leave us to ponder for too long. For a fertile mind is a dangerous mind. This morning’s Daily Bread reading(June 22nd Tuesday) shares about how often our “good works” are rarely appreciated nor remembered. Guess lying just beneath my inner consciousness, is still my carnal desire to be appreciated and recognized for my “self-sacrifice” these past decade since the Spirit of God lifted the blindness in my heart. And with the bodily shell starting to reflect its age, one tend to engage in some self-pity like a dog wet in its tail.
'When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me. Until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their end.'
Psalm 73:16-17
The Spirit of God quite quickly convicted me of my sinful self, and I have since perked up, and truly remember that it is God Whom I am accountable to, not man and all provisions come from God, and not from my own efforts. And without our participation, God’s plans will still be fulfilled, but with our participation, He allows us to see the wisdom of His ways and appreciate His glory and grace.
‘Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute…’
1 Timothy 6:17-19
Like most, I sometimes wish that God will give me more provisions, and even then, give me a little more time to do my own things before I do His. We often read of the trend amongst some preachers who focused very much on the message of prosperity. A God Who so loves us that we should not be afraid nor apologetic about asking for our wants to be fulfilled. And indeed it is a great message that is more easily digestible, for who will not mind all grace without works, that is, more receiving, less giving.
'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
This was the issue that bothered me these past few days, quite connected to my sense of inequity, that here was poor me, joyfully giving, with less expectation of an immediate material payback from God our Provider(for it is the Provider not the provisions that matter) and here are some of my fellow Christians, lapping in every word from their enigmatic preachers promising that God so love us, that we just need to ask for the riches of this world.
Is not our faith one of seeking and doing the will of God, rather than our own will? And is not prayers always answered when asked in God’s will, rather than ours?
‘And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’
Luke 4:3-4
It is good to ponder upon this verse in Luke 4:3-4 and think in the context of the messages that some of us might be hearing. Is the devil today tempting us to test God again by our asking Him to give us bread – the things of the world because we are told that God so loved us that He will give us anything we asked for.
‘Judge not, that ye be not judged.’
Matthew 7:1
'Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things....Let him who eats despise him who does not eat....Who are you to judge another's servant?'
Romans 14:1-5
What is the truth? Rather than hear from imperfect man like me or anyone else, would it not be better to heed Jesus Christ’s command in Luke 4:4 that as Christians, we must immersed ourselves in the Word of God, not for head knowledge, but rather, the Word is God, and God is the Word and time in His Words will bring us unto His presence, as His Word will transform our hearts and renew our mind, to enable us to move from the carnal to the spiritual man.
‘For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.’
Matthew 24:24
Interestingly, the numerals in Matthew 24:24 in Cantonese means “easy to die, twice over” Not sure about dying, but much as we think we have great intellect and discerning minds, the truth of the matter is that indeed our minds are self deceiving, and none of us by our own strength are a match for the powers and principalities of the devil’s world. And many will literary die for their carnal wants, but not be willing to die to Christ, in letting go and letting Him.
‘Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness, I will cast thee to the ground….’
Ezekiel 28:17
The prophet James reminded us of the need to submit to God first and foremost, then can we resist the devil and the latter will then flee from us. Submission to God’s Sovereignty must underline our every thought and action, quite contrary to the normal human reaction of resistance, pride, self interests and self survival.
'..that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.'
Ephesians 1:17-18
How can we move away from our natural human instinct to the Spirit man that is always ready to let the Spirit of God residing in us who believe lead us?
'Now to Him Who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith..'
Romans 16:25-26
Let me close by bringing us back to the record of our Lord Jesus Christ walking with two of his disciples soon after his resurrection. How these two men disbelieved what the women folk told them about Christ’s missing body and the appearance of two angels and in sharing this story with a stranger who journeyed with them, not realizing that it was our Lord Jesus Christ though out the journey.
‘And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight.’
Luke 24:31
‘And they said to one another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?’
Luke 24:32
The blindness in one’s heart can never be lifted by our own efforts nor that of others. Only the Spirit of God can and it will be at God’s timing and form. But does it mean that as man we do nothing? God indeed wants us to enjoy His blessings both on Earth and in Heaven. He will more than provide. But God commands us to seek Him with our all and to love others as much as ourselves not because it is a legal consideration in exchange for His grace. But rather, in seeking God in prayers, in His words, in praise and in His works, we learn to come unto His presence, we allow His Spirit to minister to us, to teach us to let go and let Him.
'..to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God..'
Ephesians 3:19
Many times, it is not about logic or clarification, but rather, it is about that unexplainable but joyful peace that comes from a heart that is strangely warmth, that feeling that is indescribable, yet, we know that it is God’s sanctifying presence in our very being. It is God’s compassion for us, His fallen children, that reassures and strengthen that passion or desire in us to live a life that honors Him. It is not about how many things of the world that God should give us, but how blessed we are to have the blindness in our hearts lifted by His grace, to allow us to know Him
‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’
Acts 14:22
It is not about material riches or things that the world values. It is not about a comfortable life, but God our comforter. It is about Who God is, and how blessed we are in our short finite life to be able to journey in His presence, and yet knowing that eternity with Him is given, if we are willing. Every day is indeed a joyful day, be it that tribulations may come our way for the pain will be fleeting, but the gain from God’s love is permanent.
‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.’
Ecclesiastes 12:13
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(22nd June 2010)
‘For the man also knoweth not his time; as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.’
Ecclesiastes 9:12
Age does sober one up, and it was not too long ago that I spent my 30th birthday away from home and of all things, in a two man 6km road race with Bill, my colleague then, an American Chinese in the lovely summer heat of Connecticut. Fast forward almost two decades later, and the only running I am doing lately is together with my son, making a dash for the next available sofa, while the more energetic ladies in my small household soak in the items on offer in the shops in Hong Kong.
A year to go before I cross the magical half century, at least magical if you are a cricketer looking to score a century in a Test match, but for the mortal man, it means that we are much nearer our three score years plus ten or maybe fourscore(Psalm 90:10)
But the passage of time need not necessarily be the sole determinant of one’s length of stay in this world. If God so determine, one could be off in a whiff before that last breath could make its way down one’s bodily passages. So, like some I am taking to heart the exhortations of Ecclesiastes 9:7,9
‘Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart, for God now accepteth thy works…….Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which He hath given thee under the sun….’
Ecclesiastes 9:7,9
This year, the wife and I had a greater preponderance for short overseas sojourns, honeymoon I am not sure, but good things do come in small dosages. Wife is happy, I am too, but did I really do a good job these past decade of my living as a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deserve His manifold blessings?
‘So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.’
Psalm 90:12
This was the thought that crossed my heart, or more like been troubling me these past few days. At age 49 just, have I stayed true to the command of God to seek Him with my all and to love others as much as myself? And with the balance of life remaining, having likely crossed the 60-70% mark, how would God want me to live the balance of my days?
'Behold these are the ungodly, who are always at ease. They increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain. And washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning.'
Psalm 73:12-14
And do I not feel drained from the great exertion of seeking to live out my faith these past decade, that maybe it will be truly good and wise to withdraw from the few ministries I have been actively involved in and take a break and smell the roses of God’s blessings instead, that is, the receiving without the giving.
‘He by His wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that same poor man.’
Ecclesiastes 9:15
God knows our every heartbeat. And He does not leave us to ponder for too long. For a fertile mind is a dangerous mind. This morning’s Daily Bread reading(June 22nd Tuesday) shares about how often our “good works” are rarely appreciated nor remembered. Guess lying just beneath my inner consciousness, is still my carnal desire to be appreciated and recognized for my “self-sacrifice” these past decade since the Spirit of God lifted the blindness in my heart. And with the bodily shell starting to reflect its age, one tend to engage in some self-pity like a dog wet in its tail.
'When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me. Until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their end.'
Psalm 73:16-17
The Spirit of God quite quickly convicted me of my sinful self, and I have since perked up, and truly remember that it is God Whom I am accountable to, not man and all provisions come from God, and not from my own efforts. And without our participation, God’s plans will still be fulfilled, but with our participation, He allows us to see the wisdom of His ways and appreciate His glory and grace.
‘Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute…’
1 Timothy 6:17-19
Like most, I sometimes wish that God will give me more provisions, and even then, give me a little more time to do my own things before I do His. We often read of the trend amongst some preachers who focused very much on the message of prosperity. A God Who so loves us that we should not be afraid nor apologetic about asking for our wants to be fulfilled. And indeed it is a great message that is more easily digestible, for who will not mind all grace without works, that is, more receiving, less giving.
'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
This was the issue that bothered me these past few days, quite connected to my sense of inequity, that here was poor me, joyfully giving, with less expectation of an immediate material payback from God our Provider(for it is the Provider not the provisions that matter) and here are some of my fellow Christians, lapping in every word from their enigmatic preachers promising that God so love us, that we just need to ask for the riches of this world.
Is not our faith one of seeking and doing the will of God, rather than our own will? And is not prayers always answered when asked in God’s will, rather than ours?
‘And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’
Luke 4:3-4
It is good to ponder upon this verse in Luke 4:3-4 and think in the context of the messages that some of us might be hearing. Is the devil today tempting us to test God again by our asking Him to give us bread – the things of the world because we are told that God so loved us that He will give us anything we asked for.
‘Judge not, that ye be not judged.’
Matthew 7:1
'Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things....Let him who eats despise him who does not eat....Who are you to judge another's servant?'
Romans 14:1-5
What is the truth? Rather than hear from imperfect man like me or anyone else, would it not be better to heed Jesus Christ’s command in Luke 4:4 that as Christians, we must immersed ourselves in the Word of God, not for head knowledge, but rather, the Word is God, and God is the Word and time in His Words will bring us unto His presence, as His Word will transform our hearts and renew our mind, to enable us to move from the carnal to the spiritual man.
‘For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.’
Matthew 24:24
Interestingly, the numerals in Matthew 24:24 in Cantonese means “easy to die, twice over” Not sure about dying, but much as we think we have great intellect and discerning minds, the truth of the matter is that indeed our minds are self deceiving, and none of us by our own strength are a match for the powers and principalities of the devil’s world. And many will literary die for their carnal wants, but not be willing to die to Christ, in letting go and letting Him.
‘Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness, I will cast thee to the ground….’
Ezekiel 28:17
The prophet James reminded us of the need to submit to God first and foremost, then can we resist the devil and the latter will then flee from us. Submission to God’s Sovereignty must underline our every thought and action, quite contrary to the normal human reaction of resistance, pride, self interests and self survival.
'..that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.'
Ephesians 1:17-18
How can we move away from our natural human instinct to the Spirit man that is always ready to let the Spirit of God residing in us who believe lead us?
'Now to Him Who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith..'
Romans 16:25-26
Let me close by bringing us back to the record of our Lord Jesus Christ walking with two of his disciples soon after his resurrection. How these two men disbelieved what the women folk told them about Christ’s missing body and the appearance of two angels and in sharing this story with a stranger who journeyed with them, not realizing that it was our Lord Jesus Christ though out the journey.
‘And their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight.’
Luke 24:31
‘And they said to one another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?’
Luke 24:32
The blindness in one’s heart can never be lifted by our own efforts nor that of others. Only the Spirit of God can and it will be at God’s timing and form. But does it mean that as man we do nothing? God indeed wants us to enjoy His blessings both on Earth and in Heaven. He will more than provide. But God commands us to seek Him with our all and to love others as much as ourselves not because it is a legal consideration in exchange for His grace. But rather, in seeking God in prayers, in His words, in praise and in His works, we learn to come unto His presence, we allow His Spirit to minister to us, to teach us to let go and let Him.
'..to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God..'
Ephesians 3:19
Many times, it is not about logic or clarification, but rather, it is about that unexplainable but joyful peace that comes from a heart that is strangely warmth, that feeling that is indescribable, yet, we know that it is God’s sanctifying presence in our very being. It is God’s compassion for us, His fallen children, that reassures and strengthen that passion or desire in us to live a life that honors Him. It is not about how many things of the world that God should give us, but how blessed we are to have the blindness in our hearts lifted by His grace, to allow us to know Him
‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.’
Acts 14:22
It is not about material riches or things that the world values. It is not about a comfortable life, but God our comforter. It is about Who God is, and how blessed we are in our short finite life to be able to journey in His presence, and yet knowing that eternity with Him is given, if we are willing. Every day is indeed a joyful day, be it that tribulations may come our way for the pain will be fleeting, but the gain from God’s love is permanent.
‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.’
Ecclesiastes 12:13
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(22nd June 2010)
Friday, June 11, 2010
Reflections for the moment #69 A letter to my son (11th June 10)
Dear….
‘Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.’
1 Timothy 2:4
These few days, I have been bunking with my son in his room, not because the wife has sent me into exile, but rather a time of male bonding or more like an excuse for the wife and daughter to have their pajamas party. Sleep well, I always do, in fact, even more fitfully without the accompaniment of my wife’s favorite Korean serial. But last night, in the midst of my sleep, the Lord impressed upon me to write a letter to my son.
‘Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.For it is, do and do, do and do, rule and rule, rule and rule, a little here, a little there.'
Isaiah 28:9-10
Words at this juncture might not seem so comprehensible to young minds, but the Word of our Lord will, if He so wills. And may the depository of thoughts that the Lord has placed in my heart these past few years be truly more than a legacy, but the lamp upon which His light will shine upon hearts of my children, your children and their children, when God makes their heart ready.
‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.’
Amos 8:11
So without further ado, by the grace of God, may this letter I am about to pen as His Spirit leads, be used to bring forth the blossoming of faith and that desire in our sons and daughters to enter into a loving relationship with our Abba Father. My son might not read it now, but like the proverbial letter in the bottle, thrown into the sea, traversing miles of ocean it might, but at God’s timing, this letter will bob up to its intended recipient, for God is prescient.
Dear Andre
‘..Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. …..this do, and thou shalt live.’
Luke 10:26-28
Distractions there are aplenty. You just told me that mum and you have a deal, you will get your Apple Itouch in exchange for a mere few millimeter reduction in your heft.. Not a bad deal and I can see that glint in your eye to seek that less than holy grail from Apple Land. Is it not possible to have the same enthusiasm for our God in Heaven, whom a zillion Santa Claus in all probabilities are but a very, very pale shadow of His Sovereignty?
You made a rather profound statement(in good humor) just two nights back. You said you are not holy(though I still have that photo of you, at age 8, deep in prayers, that grace our church's monthly magazine), compared to your buddy who attends one of those mega prosperity type church. Is your seeming lack of fervency for God due to your seeing your dad’s less than active clamoring from God, for the material blessings of this present world, compared to what other fathers in and out of church are seeking? Would an Apple Ipad loaded with your favorite Archie comics do the trick compared to the daily ritual of making you spend that few minutes reading the Daily Bread and the Bible?
Come to think about it, maybe I should get an Ipad loaded with the Bible and all things Christian, might help improve the dowdy image of your dad, always with a Bible in hand, and we do have many Bibles interspersed all over the house, and mum will be pleased to have less clutter, not that she mind in the first place?
‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth…’
Ephesians 6:1-3
Not sure if dad and mum are always right, much as we always meant well for you, but Ephesians 1 can be pretty handy (though prayerfully not much abused by dad) in sorting out disputes with you, for God states quite categorically that you must obey your parent. But God never imposes, much as your imperfect dad is sometimes guilty of. God promises a blessed life of joy and peace for those who obey His command, dad more often than not promises a painful experience if you choose to continue to be stubborn and if there is acquiesce from you, satisfaction of your carnal desires. Do forgive your dad, try as I might, ,my carnal self often leads me to being a less than faithful steward of you for our Father in Heaven.
‘Give ye ear, and hear My voice, hearken, and hear My speech.’
Isaiah 28:23
'The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.'
Ephesians 1:18
Our faith is a relationship with a loving Father in Heaven. It is not about head knowledge. It is experiential which means it one must spend time with God directly and not from hearsay, no matter how eloquent the words or speech might be. We plant, but it is God Who will bring about the increase. And much as we cannot change the hearts of another, but we can allow God to transform us, and this is what dad has been desirous of faithfully doing, since the light of God’s Spirit fell upon my very being. In seeking to be like Christ, may your spirit see God in me, much as your natural might still be blinded till the veil is lifted by the grace of God.
‘O that my ways were steadfast in obeying Your decrees.’
Psalm 119:5
My son, you might have heard some brief snippets of your dad’s defining moment with God back in May 2001, that makes your dad tick the way he does today. A certain madness many might think, for dad is still very much in this world(and prayerfully still is when you finally read this letter), but no longer of or rather increasingly less of this world, despite all my imperfections. Psalm 119:5 was the verse that dad read in the stillness of my room in Bangkok at the Hyatt Erawan Hotel, a few moments after a truly exhilarating or more like edifying infilling of the Spirit of God upon my very being.
‘..no eye has seen, no ear had heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who loved Him but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.’
1 Corinthians 2:9
Life has never been the same after that wonderful night in Bangkok.
‘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 4:22-24
In fact, with this move down the path that God has set for all who loved Him, a very different route from the sin strewn path that your believer but not follower ( of our Lord Jesus Christ )dad has been trudging along till then, it did get your dear mum quite worried when she realized that this was serious stuff, and not one of those moments of temporal passion.
‘As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:
‘I didn’t come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. My message and my testimony were not with wise and persuasive, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. So that you faith might not rest on man’s wisdom. But on God’s power.’
Well, it has been nine wonderful years since our Heavenly Father in all His grace, took your earthy father in all in his imperfections into His presence. Dad is still learning, as God molds the wiling me. Dad will more than want to mold you the way that God wills, not the way that dad wants. But dad has come to realize that it is not just what I say, what I do or how I live that matters, but what matters more is that my life must not lead you away from wanting to come unto the presence of God.. And on that, my prayers are that by the time you read this Holy Spirit inspired letter with God given understanding, that truly, God is very much in your heart, for how wonderful it is, for God wants all of us, as a family in His kingdom.
'...our hands have handled,of the Word of life. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us..'
1 John 1:1-2
And come to think about it, dad only wrote you this one letter, but God our Father in Heaven has written all of humanity a whole book of letters, the Bible His living word. But like the lonely bottle bobbing in the sea of distractions, most only take time to commune with God, to read "His letters" when they find their lives shipwrecked and their stranded soul thirsting in the lonely desert of their wretched lives.
‘Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.’
Philippians 1:6
God Blesses you my beloved son
Dad
(11th June 2010)
‘Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.’
1 Timothy 2:4
These few days, I have been bunking with my son in his room, not because the wife has sent me into exile, but rather a time of male bonding or more like an excuse for the wife and daughter to have their pajamas party. Sleep well, I always do, in fact, even more fitfully without the accompaniment of my wife’s favorite Korean serial. But last night, in the midst of my sleep, the Lord impressed upon me to write a letter to my son.
‘Whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.For it is, do and do, do and do, rule and rule, rule and rule, a little here, a little there.'
Isaiah 28:9-10
Words at this juncture might not seem so comprehensible to young minds, but the Word of our Lord will, if He so wills. And may the depository of thoughts that the Lord has placed in my heart these past few years be truly more than a legacy, but the lamp upon which His light will shine upon hearts of my children, your children and their children, when God makes their heart ready.
‘Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.’
Amos 8:11
So without further ado, by the grace of God, may this letter I am about to pen as His Spirit leads, be used to bring forth the blossoming of faith and that desire in our sons and daughters to enter into a loving relationship with our Abba Father. My son might not read it now, but like the proverbial letter in the bottle, thrown into the sea, traversing miles of ocean it might, but at God’s timing, this letter will bob up to its intended recipient, for God is prescient.
Dear Andre
‘..Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. …..this do, and thou shalt live.’
Luke 10:26-28
Distractions there are aplenty. You just told me that mum and you have a deal, you will get your Apple Itouch in exchange for a mere few millimeter reduction in your heft.. Not a bad deal and I can see that glint in your eye to seek that less than holy grail from Apple Land. Is it not possible to have the same enthusiasm for our God in Heaven, whom a zillion Santa Claus in all probabilities are but a very, very pale shadow of His Sovereignty?
You made a rather profound statement(in good humor) just two nights back. You said you are not holy(though I still have that photo of you, at age 8, deep in prayers, that grace our church's monthly magazine), compared to your buddy who attends one of those mega prosperity type church. Is your seeming lack of fervency for God due to your seeing your dad’s less than active clamoring from God, for the material blessings of this present world, compared to what other fathers in and out of church are seeking? Would an Apple Ipad loaded with your favorite Archie comics do the trick compared to the daily ritual of making you spend that few minutes reading the Daily Bread and the Bible?
Come to think about it, maybe I should get an Ipad loaded with the Bible and all things Christian, might help improve the dowdy image of your dad, always with a Bible in hand, and we do have many Bibles interspersed all over the house, and mum will be pleased to have less clutter, not that she mind in the first place?
‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth…’
Ephesians 6:1-3
Not sure if dad and mum are always right, much as we always meant well for you, but Ephesians 1 can be pretty handy (though prayerfully not much abused by dad) in sorting out disputes with you, for God states quite categorically that you must obey your parent. But God never imposes, much as your imperfect dad is sometimes guilty of. God promises a blessed life of joy and peace for those who obey His command, dad more often than not promises a painful experience if you choose to continue to be stubborn and if there is acquiesce from you, satisfaction of your carnal desires. Do forgive your dad, try as I might, ,my carnal self often leads me to being a less than faithful steward of you for our Father in Heaven.
‘Give ye ear, and hear My voice, hearken, and hear My speech.’
Isaiah 28:23
'The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.'
Ephesians 1:18
Our faith is a relationship with a loving Father in Heaven. It is not about head knowledge. It is experiential which means it one must spend time with God directly and not from hearsay, no matter how eloquent the words or speech might be. We plant, but it is God Who will bring about the increase. And much as we cannot change the hearts of another, but we can allow God to transform us, and this is what dad has been desirous of faithfully doing, since the light of God’s Spirit fell upon my very being. In seeking to be like Christ, may your spirit see God in me, much as your natural might still be blinded till the veil is lifted by the grace of God.
‘O that my ways were steadfast in obeying Your decrees.’
Psalm 119:5
My son, you might have heard some brief snippets of your dad’s defining moment with God back in May 2001, that makes your dad tick the way he does today. A certain madness many might think, for dad is still very much in this world(and prayerfully still is when you finally read this letter), but no longer of or rather increasingly less of this world, despite all my imperfections. Psalm 119:5 was the verse that dad read in the stillness of my room in Bangkok at the Hyatt Erawan Hotel, a few moments after a truly exhilarating or more like edifying infilling of the Spirit of God upon my very being.
‘..no eye has seen, no ear had heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who loved Him but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.’
1 Corinthians 2:9
Life has never been the same after that wonderful night in Bangkok.
‘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 4:22-24
In fact, with this move down the path that God has set for all who loved Him, a very different route from the sin strewn path that your believer but not follower ( of our Lord Jesus Christ )dad has been trudging along till then, it did get your dear mum quite worried when she realized that this was serious stuff, and not one of those moments of temporal passion.
‘As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:
‘I didn’t come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. My message and my testimony were not with wise and persuasive, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power. So that you faith might not rest on man’s wisdom. But on God’s power.’
Well, it has been nine wonderful years since our Heavenly Father in all His grace, took your earthy father in all in his imperfections into His presence. Dad is still learning, as God molds the wiling me. Dad will more than want to mold you the way that God wills, not the way that dad wants. But dad has come to realize that it is not just what I say, what I do or how I live that matters, but what matters more is that my life must not lead you away from wanting to come unto the presence of God.. And on that, my prayers are that by the time you read this Holy Spirit inspired letter with God given understanding, that truly, God is very much in your heart, for how wonderful it is, for God wants all of us, as a family in His kingdom.
'...our hands have handled,of the Word of life. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us..'
1 John 1:1-2
And come to think about it, dad only wrote you this one letter, but God our Father in Heaven has written all of humanity a whole book of letters, the Bible His living word. But like the lonely bottle bobbing in the sea of distractions, most only take time to commune with God, to read "His letters" when they find their lives shipwrecked and their stranded soul thirsting in the lonely desert of their wretched lives.
‘Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.’
Philippians 1:6
God Blesses you my beloved son
Dad
(11th June 2010)
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Reflections for the moment #68 Home (7th June 2010)
Dear…
‘Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world, they increase in riches…’
Psalm 73:12
‘But they that are minded to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’
1 Timothy 6:9
Ungodly or not, it is not for me to judge, but clearly, China today is a prosperous place, very much different from the China I know from reading literature written back in the 1970s. Back then, communism was very much more egalitarian in its distribution of deprivation(save for the ruling elite) and one piece of information that stay etched in my memory is this fact that meat, primarily pork was eaten once a month and the basic staple was more into rice, potato and vegetable.
Having not been in Beijing since my last trip right smack into SARs back in year 2003, this recent trip last week is an update for me. The shopping malls are even more plentiful, with a coterie of very high end luxury goods. Though a few short days might not be fully representative, clearly the disparity between the haves and have-nots have greatly widened. And interestingly, a significant number of the wealthy Chinese seem to take their confidence from the flashy branded accoutrements on their body, and less on their own sense of self worth.
‘Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency….’
Psalm 73:13
It is difficult not to feel overawed by the ostentatious display of mega wealth, and even harder not to be envious or at least think about how to jump onto this bandwagon of super normal growth in wealth in our once much maligned and despised motherland. China, as its name implies, is once again the center of the world, at least economically and possibly militarily in the distant future. In my last trip to Shanghai in April, standing in the midst of the mega buildings in Pudong, I was reminded of this giant machine that is China today, incessantly sucking in the world’s resources and its implications for the world at large.
‘ …Who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth…’
1 Timothy 2:4
Can China which seems to be very fixated on worshipping mammon, instead of the once revered demi-gods in its human leadership, truly be the land upon which many Chinese Christians will go forth into the vast and last reaches of Central Asia, to share the gospel to the last of the unreached?
‘One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.’
Psalm 27:4
In this vast land of China, there are many still very materially impoverished, but rich in the spirit, in their desire to know and serve God. Where our treasures are, there lies our heart. And the Lord our God impressed upon me this verse Psalm 27:4 deeply during my brief stay in Beijing. Man seeks the temporal, and comes to permanent grief. We as believers and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ must seek God, and look to the eternity He promise all who seek Him.
‘…I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh when wilt Thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart…’
Psalm 101:2
Beijing, a place I have been to four times these past decade never fails to impress me with its expression of power, be it the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace or the Tian An Men Square, not forgetting the Temple of Heaven. Such ostentatious use of finite resources is only possible in lands where an autocratic sovereign power exists. And it needed a passionate belief to translate that power to exercise the resources at one’s disposal to bring to fruition one’s aggrandized dreams or fantasies.
The Forbidden City, though much aged, still retains a sense of its splendor during the heydays of the Ming Dynasty and its successor Dynasty , the Qing. Today, modern and confident China is out to recapture those glory days, and besides making its presence felt with the no expense spared, coming out parties in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and this year’s Shanghai Expo, China is actively setting up cultural/educational facilities to promote Confucius and his teachings. Increasingly, the rest of the world will feel the presence of a resurgent China, and it need not necessarily be all things nice, for the world has only so much space for its burgeoning population with infinite wants, and something has to give.
‘When thou saidst, Seek ye My face, my heart said unto Thee, They face, Lord, will I seek…’
Psalm 27:8
The home is where once feels a sense of comfort, where one feels a sense of achievement. On an individual level, that means both the material quality as well as the emotional equanimity of our abode. On a national level, that means what a country can count as what it owns and her sphere of influence. In all Empires, this would include projecting one’s power outside of one’s country. The British had their colonies and a powerful naval fleet. The Romans had the centurions and the aqueducts across its empire. The Chinese is increasingly reverting to the early days of Admiral Cheng Ho, when a confident Ming China seek to explore the world and appoint vassal states, which was done with great success before it inexplicably looked inward and closed its doors to the outside world.
‘But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness…’
1 Timothy 6:11
Contrasts that to the life of a believer and follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. We seek not the riches of the material and carnal world, but rather, the richness of a personal relationship with a loving Father in Heaven. His grace is suffice for all, and there will never be a need to compete amongst His children, for the spring of life flows forth endlessly. Home is our very body, a temple upon which the Spirit of God resides, and God looks not for sacrifice but an obedient heart that is faithful.
‘But the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him.’
Habakkuk 2:20
‘Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart, wait, I say, on the Lord.’
Psalm 27:14
Contrast again to the philosophies of the carnal world. Sinful men must always be antlike and warlike in their behavior, always striving and in strife. Witness the usual representation of a nation’s sense of strength, by the massive man made edifices, the military might, and its intent to impose its values on others.
‘Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute…’
1 Timothy 6:17-19
With God, we lean upon Him, and follow as He leads. We think more of His will than ours. We think of the needs of others than ourselves.
Quite a different way of building our ideal home from that of the carnal world.
‘I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it…’
Habakkuk 2:1-2
Last week, I was at the movie “Prince of Persia” with my son and his buddy. A rather run of the mill movie, with the main actor’s agility being the highpoint of the movie or maybe it was the ostrich race that drew some grunts of interest from a sedate audience. Modern day Iran might be working hard on recapturing its past glories as a major Empire, but it is its next door neighbor Turkey(the once mighty Ottoman Empire) that has lately come out of its bridesmaid role.
Long cozy with Israel, the once staunchly secular, military ruled Turkey has now moved to an even cozier relationship with staunchly anti-Israel Iran, with its change to a civilian government, whose religious orientation is more aligned with that of the majority in the Middle East.
Is the recent incident in the seas off the Gaza, just the beginning of more testing of the waters by the enemies of Israel, before they finally decide to take the big plunge of a full scale war with Israel? Is everyone jostling to be the next Empire, under the pretext of defending the cause of the plight of the homeless Palestinians? Is home the personification of the heights of glory and power? If so, then the race to recapture those glory days of the past will not just be restricted to the Iranians(old Persia), the Turkish(old Ottoman Empire), but will include the Russians(Tsarist), the Chinese(Ming Dynasty), the Germans(not Nazi but Bismarck’s Prussia), the Japanese(Meiji Restoration) and now even the Hungarians(from the old Austro-Hungarian axis of pre World War 1).
‘…it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.’
Matthew 13:11
Armageddon I am not sure. Political analyst I am not, enthusiasts maybe. But clearly, politics have become the dominant consideration in our world this year, and on that, the fumbling and bickering Europeans have done a bad job about it. And through the rest of the year, politics could take on an even harder edge, with xenophobia stoking the flames of social unrest in a heavily indebted Western society and throw into the simmering pot, a possible military conflagration in the Middle East, things are indeed going to get hotter and we are not just talking about climate change.
‘When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out, and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. The goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and well there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.’
Matthew 12:43-45
Is this a prediction or a vision that God gave me. It is not but rather a thought that crossed my mind as I pen this sharing. Home is where our heart is, and if God is where our heart has the only place for, the world would be not just a happier but a truly blessed place. Yet reality is, conflicts, strife and subterfuge will continue to dominate our present world, the devil’s world, as long as God has no place in our hearts, and home or homeland continues to be a place that is swept clean for even more demons to take abode in.
'Unless the Lord builds the house. They labor in vain who build it....'
Psalm 127:1
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(7th June 2010)
‘Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world, they increase in riches…’
Psalm 73:12
‘But they that are minded to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, which some reaching after have been led astray from the faith and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’
1 Timothy 6:9
Ungodly or not, it is not for me to judge, but clearly, China today is a prosperous place, very much different from the China I know from reading literature written back in the 1970s. Back then, communism was very much more egalitarian in its distribution of deprivation(save for the ruling elite) and one piece of information that stay etched in my memory is this fact that meat, primarily pork was eaten once a month and the basic staple was more into rice, potato and vegetable.
Having not been in Beijing since my last trip right smack into SARs back in year 2003, this recent trip last week is an update for me. The shopping malls are even more plentiful, with a coterie of very high end luxury goods. Though a few short days might not be fully representative, clearly the disparity between the haves and have-nots have greatly widened. And interestingly, a significant number of the wealthy Chinese seem to take their confidence from the flashy branded accoutrements on their body, and less on their own sense of self worth.
‘Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency….’
Psalm 73:13
It is difficult not to feel overawed by the ostentatious display of mega wealth, and even harder not to be envious or at least think about how to jump onto this bandwagon of super normal growth in wealth in our once much maligned and despised motherland. China, as its name implies, is once again the center of the world, at least economically and possibly militarily in the distant future. In my last trip to Shanghai in April, standing in the midst of the mega buildings in Pudong, I was reminded of this giant machine that is China today, incessantly sucking in the world’s resources and its implications for the world at large.
‘ …Who would have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth…’
1 Timothy 2:4
Can China which seems to be very fixated on worshipping mammon, instead of the once revered demi-gods in its human leadership, truly be the land upon which many Chinese Christians will go forth into the vast and last reaches of Central Asia, to share the gospel to the last of the unreached?
‘One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.’
Psalm 27:4
In this vast land of China, there are many still very materially impoverished, but rich in the spirit, in their desire to know and serve God. Where our treasures are, there lies our heart. And the Lord our God impressed upon me this verse Psalm 27:4 deeply during my brief stay in Beijing. Man seeks the temporal, and comes to permanent grief. We as believers and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ must seek God, and look to the eternity He promise all who seek Him.
‘…I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh when wilt Thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart…’
Psalm 101:2
Beijing, a place I have been to four times these past decade never fails to impress me with its expression of power, be it the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace or the Tian An Men Square, not forgetting the Temple of Heaven. Such ostentatious use of finite resources is only possible in lands where an autocratic sovereign power exists. And it needed a passionate belief to translate that power to exercise the resources at one’s disposal to bring to fruition one’s aggrandized dreams or fantasies.
The Forbidden City, though much aged, still retains a sense of its splendor during the heydays of the Ming Dynasty and its successor Dynasty , the Qing. Today, modern and confident China is out to recapture those glory days, and besides making its presence felt with the no expense spared, coming out parties in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and this year’s Shanghai Expo, China is actively setting up cultural/educational facilities to promote Confucius and his teachings. Increasingly, the rest of the world will feel the presence of a resurgent China, and it need not necessarily be all things nice, for the world has only so much space for its burgeoning population with infinite wants, and something has to give.
‘When thou saidst, Seek ye My face, my heart said unto Thee, They face, Lord, will I seek…’
Psalm 27:8
The home is where once feels a sense of comfort, where one feels a sense of achievement. On an individual level, that means both the material quality as well as the emotional equanimity of our abode. On a national level, that means what a country can count as what it owns and her sphere of influence. In all Empires, this would include projecting one’s power outside of one’s country. The British had their colonies and a powerful naval fleet. The Romans had the centurions and the aqueducts across its empire. The Chinese is increasingly reverting to the early days of Admiral Cheng Ho, when a confident Ming China seek to explore the world and appoint vassal states, which was done with great success before it inexplicably looked inward and closed its doors to the outside world.
‘But thou, O man of God, flee these things, and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness…’
1 Timothy 6:11
Contrasts that to the life of a believer and follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. We seek not the riches of the material and carnal world, but rather, the richness of a personal relationship with a loving Father in Heaven. His grace is suffice for all, and there will never be a need to compete amongst His children, for the spring of life flows forth endlessly. Home is our very body, a temple upon which the Spirit of God resides, and God looks not for sacrifice but an obedient heart that is faithful.
‘But the Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him.’
Habakkuk 2:20
‘Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart, wait, I say, on the Lord.’
Psalm 27:14
Contrast again to the philosophies of the carnal world. Sinful men must always be antlike and warlike in their behavior, always striving and in strife. Witness the usual representation of a nation’s sense of strength, by the massive man made edifices, the military might, and its intent to impose its values on others.
‘Charge them that are rich in this present world, that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, that they do good, that they be rich in good works, that they be ready to distribute…’
1 Timothy 6:17-19
With God, we lean upon Him, and follow as He leads. We think more of His will than ours. We think of the needs of others than ourselves.
Quite a different way of building our ideal home from that of the carnal world.
‘I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it…’
Habakkuk 2:1-2
Last week, I was at the movie “Prince of Persia” with my son and his buddy. A rather run of the mill movie, with the main actor’s agility being the highpoint of the movie or maybe it was the ostrich race that drew some grunts of interest from a sedate audience. Modern day Iran might be working hard on recapturing its past glories as a major Empire, but it is its next door neighbor Turkey(the once mighty Ottoman Empire) that has lately come out of its bridesmaid role.
Long cozy with Israel, the once staunchly secular, military ruled Turkey has now moved to an even cozier relationship with staunchly anti-Israel Iran, with its change to a civilian government, whose religious orientation is more aligned with that of the majority in the Middle East.
Is the recent incident in the seas off the Gaza, just the beginning of more testing of the waters by the enemies of Israel, before they finally decide to take the big plunge of a full scale war with Israel? Is everyone jostling to be the next Empire, under the pretext of defending the cause of the plight of the homeless Palestinians? Is home the personification of the heights of glory and power? If so, then the race to recapture those glory days of the past will not just be restricted to the Iranians(old Persia), the Turkish(old Ottoman Empire), but will include the Russians(Tsarist), the Chinese(Ming Dynasty), the Germans(not Nazi but Bismarck’s Prussia), the Japanese(Meiji Restoration) and now even the Hungarians(from the old Austro-Hungarian axis of pre World War 1).
‘…it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.’
Matthew 13:11
Armageddon I am not sure. Political analyst I am not, enthusiasts maybe. But clearly, politics have become the dominant consideration in our world this year, and on that, the fumbling and bickering Europeans have done a bad job about it. And through the rest of the year, politics could take on an even harder edge, with xenophobia stoking the flames of social unrest in a heavily indebted Western society and throw into the simmering pot, a possible military conflagration in the Middle East, things are indeed going to get hotter and we are not just talking about climate change.
‘When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out, and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. The goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and well there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.’
Matthew 12:43-45
Is this a prediction or a vision that God gave me. It is not but rather a thought that crossed my mind as I pen this sharing. Home is where our heart is, and if God is where our heart has the only place for, the world would be not just a happier but a truly blessed place. Yet reality is, conflicts, strife and subterfuge will continue to dominate our present world, the devil’s world, as long as God has no place in our hearts, and home or homeland continues to be a place that is swept clean for even more demons to take abode in.
'Unless the Lord builds the house. They labor in vain who build it....'
Psalm 127:1
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(7th June 2010)
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