Lightness of being #34 Clutter (2 Feb 2014)

Dear...

Be still, and know that I am God:
I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
             Psalms 46:10

For most, the only time when one is truly still is when you breathe your last. By then it will be a mite too late, for you can no longer avail yourself of the salvation and the concomitant transformation unto Christlikeness that God offered to all.
A sober truth it is, much as most will prefer to delude themselves with whispers of fulfillment of their carnal desires. Satan was the first perpetrator of such messages of deceit, and Adam and Eve have set the precedence as gullible recipients for all of us after them.

For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
                    Genesis 3:5

"Clutter," I spent the past few days spring cleaning. Never bemuses me to see the amount of junk one can accumulate over time.
What about spiritual clutter? These has kept us from sensing the prompting of the Holy Spirit , thus depriving us of the joy and peace of walking with our Lord.
And for many who do seek to be in the presence of our Lord, we do know the will of God but what is keeping us from following fully in obedience?

For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.
                    Philippians 1:23-24

Apostle Paul knew that being with Christ in Heaven was the better option. But as God wills, he remained in the fallen world to minister to people God placed in his path.
For many of us, Christians included, our dilemma is less about being desirous of Heaven, but more about an unwillingness to let go of our temporal treasures on Earth.

I am the vine, ye are the branches:He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit:for without me ye can do nothing.
               John 15:5

How can we revert to the relationship that God intended before Adam and Eve sinned?
"Let go, and let God," the Bible is clear about the way forward.
But why do I and I believe most of us who know this truth find it so difficult to let go, not just of our earthly treasures and desires, but also in leaving our troubles with our Lord?

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
               James 4:7-8

Most of us come to God with our needs and our desired solution.
On the contrary, James 4:7-8
- tells us to take time with our Lord to know His will.
- to focus on doing what honors Him

But wait a minute. Is God not going to listen to my petitions?
God will listen to our supplications. In fact, He already knows our needs.
But will we wait upon Him and trust in His solution, His way, in His timing rather than cling on to ours?

But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
                  2 Kings 5:11

Like the mighty Syrian General Naman, who felt compelled to question the logic of God's command, we cannot let go because we are not willing to let God.
The Adamite approach is to be in control and only let God into our lives when we feel in control.
The way of Christ is to go to God in prayers, to know His will, not ours and to do as He leads. We focus on God rather than on our needs.

I continue to struggle with letting go. A brother in Christ, an anointed man of God who God has used to speak to me at critical breakthroughs of my spiritual journey, had this truth for me. I must put God in front of me, as I continue to move forth in His work, and not put God in my rear.

And in plain speak it means
- every new morning, to come unto His presence, to be sanctified and to know His will
- to do what honors Him, be it a specific prompting or often, when He is silent
- to be thankful and be at peace in all circumstances, for we know God is Sovereign.
We can draw upon His words and enter into His rest in prayerful communion always

Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
                 1 Peter 4:19

An after thought - 4 horses and red blood moon

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
                  Revelation 6:12

This being the year of the horse, all of us are inundated with positive messages built around it. And in Revelations 6, we not only have one, but four horses in four choice colors - white, red, black and deathly pale. But these horses are not purveyors of glad tidings but correction for a depraved world.

Is the nonchalant attitude of the world towards the emerging market crisis no different from the lax attitude of the early days of the subprime crisis or that of the Asian crisis?
Is it not the same in terms of present men's attitude towards the return of Jesus Christ.

http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/blood-moons-expert-watch-2014-and-2015/

The intensity of God's shaking will increase. Revelations 6:12 talks of the moon being red.
According to an article a friend sent me, this year and next will witness a rare phenomenon.
A cycle of 4 blood moons,  that is, 4 lunar eclipse with a solar eclipse in between.
The article claims that whenever this occurs, the Jews will be involved in a earth shattering event. The last being the 1967 six days war in the Middle East where the outnumbered Israelites defeated the combined Arab armies. And in 1492, when the Jews were expelled from Catholic Spain, the predominant power in the Old World, the same year America, Israel's present protector, was discovered by Columbus, who was funded by Spain.

Nice such snippets of information. But what matters more is
- the realization that Christ can return anytime
- the need to be made ready for His return
- the awareness of the fulfillment of God's reminders of His return, to keep us focused on Christ and not be distracted by an increasingly disorientated world.
- the need for a determined response our our part to live out 1 Peter 4:19

Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
                 1 Peter 4:19

Lightness of being #33 Are you ready? (24 Jan 2014)

Lightness of being #33 Are you ready? (24th Jan 2014)

Dear...

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
                Romans 10:15-16

Many years back, I visited, on a morning, a dear friend who was on the throes of death. Her bodily system was shutting down, and much as the look of death was on her face, she was struggling to stall for time, to wait for the resolution of an unresolved family matter, that has marked her entire life. Thanks be to God, she left in peace later that same day, having witnessed her long wished for family reconciliation.

It has been more than a decade since I watched my friend enter her last day in this fallen world. But our good Lord gave me the privilege of saying goodbye to a dear brother in Christ just last Thursday. Though both my now departed friends were committed believers, the scene was quite different. This brother was at peace, and he seems to be waiting upon our Lord, in his quiet manner, for Him to take him home. He has run the race well and was ready.
I believe the reason God changed my visit to my friend at the Hospice from the planned Friday morning,  to Thursday morning, was not just to allow me to say goodbye to a dear brother in Christ( who departed on Thurs night), who has been a mentor to me, but to use me to pat him on the back twice,
I had patted him because his condition had left him with little ability to converse. But now as I pen this, our Lord placed the thought that the two pats were to assure my dear brother that his life was lived well in the service of our Lord, even as it was time to go home to be with Christ.

'.....you have hoarded wealth in the last days.'
         James 5:3

Mortal death, an inevitable but often conveniently subsumed reality. As shared, it has made its presence felt in my circle of human contacts just these past 3 days. I am not referring to the wealthy Chinese billionaire who died in a helicopter crash while on a celebratory flight to inspect his newly acquired vineyard. Though it does bring to mind the parable of the rich man with his overflowing barn.
But to people whom I have relationships with who either suffered a fatal heart attack, was diagnosed with late stage cancer or was near terminal phase in their illness.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
                Romans 13:11-14

Our good Lord is always prescient. He not only

- impressed upon my heart the sense of urgency on the need to focus on today, to be made ready, as shared in the previous sharing "Surrendered life,"

- He has brought to close quarters, 3 people I know where the end is nigh, much as Christ has yet to return. And this is the reminder that we must be prepared not just for our Lord Jesus Christ's second coming, but the possibility of our being called home prior to that.

'But the end of all things is at hand, therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.'
             1 Peter 4:7

- and today, He has brought me to 3 verses ( Romans 13:11-14, 1 Peter 4:7, and Malachi 4:5-6) with the same message on the need for all of us to be ready, for the times are near. And for added affirmation, the 3rd verse, from the Book of Malachi, was the exact verse I was sharing with a brother just this afternoon. And Malachi was the verse that stared at me, when I first randomly penned the Bible this evening for my time with our Lord.

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
                Malachi 4:5-6

生命有限，时光也会走。如果你不珍惜，机会难留

Life is not just finite, but fickle. All of us often forget that every breath we draw is by the grace of God. For my departed brother in Christ, every breath he took was precious, for he need the aid of an oxygen tank.

What is needed to get us all cognizant of the need to look beyond the temporal and instead, pay serious attention to and be very determined to prepare for eternity?
We often only react when we believe and may the words shared be used by our Lord to awaken the many who are spiraling towards eternal damnation, for God loves us all, and He wants you to grasp His outstretched hands, before it is too late.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
                  Romans 10:17

God blesses

Eng Hieang
24 Jan 2014

An after thought : Of horse heads and bull heads

Many of us grew up somewhat traumatized( at least for me) from watching too many Chinese dramas where the newly deceased are escorted by the guards from Hades, to brought to the different levels of hell, depending upon one's sins.
I am not sure if every escort from the less desirable  realm is either a horse head with the torso of a man, or that of a bull head on human torso, but I do believe when we breathe our last, there will be someone waiting for us. But who??

According to a dear sister in Christ of mine, her now departed father had this experience to share. Her father was a non believer who was in the ICU at the hospital, when he went into a spasm. Throughout the period that the doctors were frantically trying to save him, he found himself, presumably his soul in a different world, where sinister looking beings were pulling him with them. Her father in his desperate struggle cried out to Christ for help. A man in all morning glory appeared, and the forces of darkness vanished.
At this moment, my friend's father was revived. He lived a few more months but became a believer before he returned home to our Lord.
How did he know that he should call on Christ? It was because my friend lived her life as a believer, talked to him about the gospel, and she read the Bible and sang hymns to her dad even when he was in a state of semi comatose.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
                  Romans 10:17

Indeed, in our being determined to be made ready, God will use the faithful to help make ready our loved ones as well as whoever He will place in our lives.
Then can we be confident, when the sands in the hour glass of our life or that of our loved ones peters out, that we know Christ awaits at His Father's mansion.

Lightness of being #32 Surrendered life (18 Jan 2014)

#32 Lightness of being Surrendered life (18 Jan 2014)

Dear....

It is always interesting how being cooped up in the confines of an airplane brings one clarity of thought. "Be still and know I am God," indeed God speaks to the desirous when we rest in His presence.

"Letting go and letting God," this thought I have been mulling upon these past three weeks.Like many who read the Bible and strive to live a Christ like life, we will have a sense of what this meant, albeit incomplete and often, unable to be truly at peace for we struggle with its application.

Every new morning, as I gear up to face what life will throw at me, I draw strength from my quiet time with our omnipresent God. I remind myself of these truths
- that every breath I draw is by His grace.
- that He is Sovereign
- I am an imperfect and finite being, living in a fallen world, and arrayed overwhelmingly against me are the principalities and angelic(no doubt fallen) powers.

Without God, I am a goner.

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
            Proverbs 3:5-6

An inconvenient truth, that most of us choose to deny, by the way we conduct our lives.
It is no small wonder our lives are troubled, and we are deluded to hanker after oasis of relief that turned out to be mirages of Satan's concoctions.
We cannot live on our own strength or understanding nor that of others.

Christ is the spring of life.

Our good Lord called me into new ministry ground back in Dec 2011 when I was on vacation in Munich. I thought I needed two more years to build up my provisions, but in His prescient manner, He told me in clear terms, via a verse in the book of Psalms that I have enough for His grace is suffice!
I figured that I needed to start my own little firm to ensure the freedom to run my work on Godly principles. Instead, our good Lord brought me back into the ambit of corporate life, albeit an unique proposition.

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
                   Jude 1:24

God not just lays the paths for us, He will guide us and divinely intervene when we start to deviate. But our relationship with God is unlike that of a passenger on a travelator, where we stand pat till the destination is reached. The end is clear, to be made ready for eternity with our Lord. And the route to Christlikeness is set, for we will be steadily transformed unto Christlikeness. But to be able to move forward, we have to be determined to be in His presence, and be willing to respond, with no qualms, regardless of all circumstances, as the Spirit of God leads, guides, corrects and empowers.

But what is exactly the response that God requires?
The Bible leaves no room for doubt on this question
- to seek God with our all, to acknowledge Him in all things and to love our neighbors as much as ourselves
- to be holy for God is holy
- to love justice, be merciful and live a life of humility

 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
                 Romans 12:1

There is nothing in the Bible that indicates that we must be academically brilliant, be a corporate success or achieve the things the world values as criterion that God desires.
God wants us to give Him our all now, with what He has blessed us with, and not what we think we should have, His way, not ours.
But to not give thought to and prepare for the future, does that not make us irresponsible like the proverbial grasshopper? But is it not even more irresponsible to delude ourselves on our ability to predict even the next second?
God wants us to be like the industrious ant, but His way not ours. The ants set aside provisions, for they followed the seasons, and are not the seasons determined by God?

Swimming upstream, it was a privilege for me to see the salmons in Alaska display God's handiwork in motion. Like all who are called to the faith, and who are willing to obey God's call, to be His lamp in the darkness of our world, sacrifice is imperative.
But before one conjure up images of heroic proportions that the communists regimes are adept at, though this self glorification is unique to all in the human race, sacrifice in "Godspeak," is the determination on our part to move from self to total dependency upon the grace of God. At this juncture, I do pray that this understanding as well as the closing thoughts are truly from our Lord, for if it is, it will not just speak to you, but multiply forth.

I often worry about how things will turn out? But in truth, My concern should be how I will turn out now. That is, have I truly lived a life that seeks to please God today, not tomorrow, for tomorrow might never come?

Do I please God by great achievements at work, in Church or in whatever I think will be what He is measuring me by?
The grace of our God is sufficient for the day. Tomorrow's troubles will take care of itself.
God wants us to focus on Him now. But like all, the disobedient us tend to extrapolate into the future and the end result is a whole specter of perceived fears encapsulating our very being.
And when small successes pops up, in all our pride, we grab it!

Lord,we are so prone to be fearful when we face opposition, yet so often we want to take credit for every little success. Help us see that You are the One Who blesses and builds Your church."
( Daily Bread Jan 13, 2014)

A heart that is focussed on God does not mean living a life of a slouch. But rather, it means our willingness to wait upon our Lord, and in abiding in Him, we revert to God's intended relationship of God dependency, rather than self driven self interest mode that Adam chose when he in all disobedience, he and Eve ate of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.

I often worry about the success of this ministry that God has placed me in. But in truth,as God has clearly convicted me of in the 4 months ( in first half 2012) of dithering as I struggled to want to obey His clear call to step out of my comfort zone, it was more about my pride.

But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
                2 Corinthians 6:4

As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
              2 Corinthians 6:10

The past 15 months have been a humbling yet wonderful process, for as God continues to shift me from a perceived position of my own strength to learning to depend fully upon Him.
He must increase, I must decrease.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
                Romans 8:28

I am still a work in progress, as all of us will be till Christ returns or He brings us home.
In spite of my jittery faith, God remains faithful and as shared in my meanderings these past 15 months, it has been a wonderful journey that God has provided. A journey of impacting peoples' lives that in ways that I will never experience if I had stayed in my old ministry grounds. And on a personal level, a deepening of the roots of my knowing our Abba Father, a privilege that He has granted me.

But this walk of victory on the wings of our great God will be even more impactful if I truly learn to live in total submission to His will today, it is my resistance that is depriving me of the fullness of God's empowerment.

Rest in our Lord every moment. He has already shown us the fruits of the Spirit, which must gird our every thought and action. He will lead us today, and tomorrow as well when tomorrow becomes today. It is never about conclusions,but only about obedience.
Have a blessed today, today.

God blesses

Eng Hieang
18 Jan 2014

What today means?

Conflicts and selfishness underlines human relationships. Is it because of the need to prepare for an unpredictable tomorrow? Is the present Japan China spat just about past acrimonies or more about securing future provisions.
Is your whole countenance troubled because of concerns over tomorrow?
To give is to receive.
When we submit our life to God now, we will overcome, for concerns for tomorrow is no longer the tool available for the devil to have a grip upon us.






Sent from my iPad

Lightness of being #31 Fruits of faith (1st Jan 2014)

Dear....

You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
                  Jeremiah 29:13-14

What makes faithful obedience different from blind obsession?

One of the rare occasions that I watched a movie was when I am ensconced in the confines of the airplane. On the way back from Japan, I watched two movies. "The Man of Steel," otherwise better known as "Superman." His calling was to lead a distrustful world on the path of goodness. But can Superman do what Christ does, transform hearts?

"Fruits of faith," this was the other movie that I watched. The prefecture of Aomori, in the Tohoku region( where the tsunami hit)  of Japan is most famous for growing apples. And this is a movie set in 1970s Japan, whose main character, is obsessed with tinkering with mechanical appliances since young. He loves to take things apart to understand and make them better. When called back by his parents, from his job at a factory in Tokyo, to start a family in the countryside, he decided to revolutionize the growing of apples without the usage of pesticides. This man and his family endured near poverty, disappointments and the wrath of the entire skeptical community for an entire decade before finding success. His parting words were, "obsession will eventually lead to an answer.

Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
                    Colossians 1:6

Will a life lived with our all after the Lord our God entail this similar journey of angst and sacrifice? Is perseverance dependent on our self will, on our ability to dig in or in truth it is simply total reliance on the omnipresent God? Is eternal life too distant and unfathomable for most of us to want to embark on this journey of faith, of seeking and following Christ?

”寄异恩典," Amazing grace
Peace and joy in all circumstances is what our Lord promises to all who seek Him with their all. Unlike the chap from Aomori, who finally felt gratified after suffering for ten long miserable years, determined followers of Christ will experience His grace throughout, and not only at the end of their journey of faith with God.

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
                Jeremiah 29:7

As we closed the year last night, and heralded in a new calendar year today, would the past 365 days have been more joyful if we had heeded the words of Jeremiah 29:7. Tomorrow always seems better, but every day we do have the grace of the Sovereign God upon us, Who uses all circumstances to mold us. Let go and let Him. This is more than a New Year resolution. This is a command from our Lord.
To partake in the God given faith, we must be resolute in our willingness to turn to Him always, and follow as His Spirit leads.

That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
                Colossians 2:2-3

God blesses

Eng Hieang
1st Jan 2014

An after note : Christ in Japan!!

The prefecture of Aomori, Japan is also where the discovery of purportedly ancient Hebrew scripts in 1933, led to the belief that Jesus Christ fled Jerusalem to Japan, had a family, and the person who died on the cross was his brother.
(http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Little-Known-Legend-of-Jesus-in-Japan-183833821.html?device=ipad)

If this is true, there is no risen Christ, nor will there be a second coming. This miserable world will indeed remain an enfant terrible, leaving us all in despair!
Thank God faith is not a function of human knowledge, for we live in a world of delusion, for lest we forget, Adam sold his birthright( to be a steward of Earth)  to the master of deceit, the devil.

O give thanks unto the God of heaven:
for his mercy endureth for ever.
                  Psalms 136:26

Faith comes from God. But we must want to come unto His presence to receive it.
The more we seek our Lord in total obedience, the greater our faith will grow.
The willingness to seek our Lord can only come from a thankful heart.
As we begin a new work year, most of us will have some sense of trepidation, for the restful month of December of last year is over. I have the same fears through the years. And even more since I stepped out of my comfort zone these past two years.

As I begin year two of my ministry in the workplace, it is not about how long I will be in this place God has placed me, but how will I live out every new day He gives me, His way.
As people of faith, we must live like daily rated workers, yet with a permanent employer, the Lord our God.

I read the daily bread first thing in the morning. It is very necessary for my discipleship to start the day with our Lord. This morning, I resolved to work even harder on my Mandarin, for there is a ministry in China God has placed me in.
I have a book of Chinese Idioms, and interestingly, the idiom that I read this morning, while not new to most of us, is very meaningful as we all begin this new day of this new year.

盲人摸象 “Blind men touching an elephant."

Each of us see our circumstances in the context of our finite understanding. We like circumstances to be within our perceived comfort zone. It is time we learn to rest in our Sovereign God, wherever He places us, for He not only sees the greater picture, He is master of all. That reality is suffice for us to let go and let Him, even as we focus on living a life that seeks after Him. Every new day will be restful, if we rest our all upon our Lord.

'Be not afraid of the King of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid, be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.'
                      Jeremiah 42:11-12

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