Dear...
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
I am zealous to share the Word of God. It is a living Word, in fact the Word is God and God is the Word. The first good news of the Bible is that God has granted us salvation.
It is His unmerited favor upon us, the sinful seeds of the disobedient first couple, Adam and Eve. This unmerited favor is by the grace of God, for we cannot work for our salvation.
And when does one hear of, believe in and is willing to in repentance accept this gift of eternal life with God, it is also by the grace of God.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
But grace is more than unmerited favor. Grace of God includes His enabling power.
Much as we cannot work for our salvation, we must work on our salvation.
Believing is just the beginning. There is a need to follow as the Spirit of God leads, a journey of transformation into Christlikeness.
And increasingly as I sense with greater clarity the Holy Spirit's leading, I have learned to follow in obedience the next small step, and in doing so, it has been with great joy and assured peace to experience God's prescient hands at work, His enabling grace which make possible what I thought was impossible. Faith is our response to God's call. Grace is God's response to our obedience.
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1 Peter 1:7
From the moment you call yourself a Christian, you begin a journey of refinement through the crucible of God's refining fire. We will need His enabling power for us to go through this journey in victory, for waiting to pounce on us is the devil and its demons. And of greater threat is the enemy within, our old carnal self, that wants to be deluded.
'Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful....'
2 Thessalonians 3:1-3
I first believed at age 15. It was an "on call" relationship with the unknown God for the next twenty three years. "On call," meaning I call on God when I needed something, and beyond that, He has no place in my cluttered heart.
I don't read the Bible, rarely pray and never like going to church, for I dislike singing.
They are of the world:therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1 John 4:5
At age 38, I started going back to church as part of my 6 Cs, and only started to read the Bible when I was confronted by a gospel spewing couple who clearly were crooks, but knew the Bible well and use that knowledge to mislead the less well grounded in the Christian community.
And at 40, by His grace, God decided that it was time for me to have the veil in my heart fully lifted, and when His Spirit fell upon me, there was no longer any doubt in my once wandering and wondering heart, as to His divine existence. And after coming back down to earth, after that heavenly experience of indescribable joy and peace, the command God gave me was as straight as an arrow ie to stop questioning and start following.
It has been twelve years since that defining moment. I am far from perfected, but I know I have grown in my faith. I grew in Christian maturity because I was willing and determined to walk with Christ. And the key was my diligence and discipline to immerse myself in the Word of God, and to let it be the lamp through my journey in this fallen world. And through it all, the Spirit of God has always been there to teach, guide, correct, uplift and enable me in my life of surrender to God my potter.
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. Behold, I have told you before.
Matthew 24:24-25
We live in the natural world. But running parallel is the spiritual world where few are aware of nor sensitive too. There is a battle for our souls, much as Satan has been defeated on the cross. Till Christ returns, much as the non believers still have the opportunity to accept the free gift of salvation, the devil is also granted the opportunity to lead you to eternal damnation.
I first started this sharing with the focus on the prosperity gospel. Not a new phenomenon, for the USA had its fair share of controversial television evangelist with their feel good messages and concomitant commercial largess.
I have in the past but more diligently yesterday listened in to the past sermons of some of the more prominent proponents of the prosperity gospel.
I am very concerned with this question - is the flock being fed correctly???
An alternate gospel. Or rather, the shrewd use of appropriate nuances and contextual landscaping to deliver a desired message. I ask that at this juncture, that you take time to read Mathew Chapter 4: The temptation of Christ by the devil.
Many professed long time Christians see nothing wrong with the sermons from the messengers of the prosperity gospel. I would ask that it will be good for you to
- first do an honest self examination. Have you truly seek God with your all in your daily living. If you have, you will know God well, you will be able to have clarity of thought as to the correctness of the messages spewed by supposedly anointed man of God.
- that you ask the Lord how can we help ground the flock be they from the mega churches or the traditional churches in the living waters of the Word of God.
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. Behold, I have told you before.
Matthew 24:24-25
Why bubble tea as the title? God put this in my heart this morning.
Not too sure why, but to fathom a guess. Bubble tea, has at its core base, tea.
Beyond that are a whole spectrum(250 and still counting) of combinations to cater for diverse needs. Is this why the mega churches are growing exponentially?
For the carnal man, it is nice to have this idea of unmerited favor from God.
But it is definitely much more alluring if unmerited favor goes beyond salvation to diverse possibilities like material wealth, good health, status in society and a wish list as broad as the insatiable human greed.
But the biblical truth is God wants to bring man back to their original relationship of dependency upon a God of grace. It is obeying His will, and not satisfying ours.
The traditional churches are "brewing" the correct message but has a problem with its packaging. Christ sat down to eat and mingle with the sinners, but He never compromised God's Words. Christ was able to connect with His flock. This is the failing of many of the established churches, where the unbridled faith and worship of God has now been cluttered by our blessings and our set ways. Have we become like the hypocritical and legalistic Pharisees?
I will encourage you to take time to watch this half hour video( link above) on what God's grace means, by my spiritual mentors, Paul and Bunty Collins. Having served God faithfully for more than 50 years, they continue to grow from strength to strength in His service, and their faith grew even deeper, much as God brought home their son David, a faithful servant of our Lord, in his 40s.
It will give you a much more balanced view of what grace truly mean
In closing, it is not which church you should go, but where God places you.
But it is important to ask God, why did He place you here? And wherever you maybe, it is imperative that you must be determined to ground yourself upon His Word, and the only true teacher of our faith is not man, no matter how anointed they are, but the Word of God in concert with the indwelling Holy Spirit.
God blesses
Eng Hieang
7th July 2013
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