Lightness of Boeing #43 Meeting our Maker (31 May 2014)

Lightness of being#43 Meeting our Maker (31 May 2014)

Dear....

Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
                  Matthew 16:28

Death is the sting of sin. If we believe and follow Christ, should death no longer be a scourge upon us? Indeed the Bible says some will not see death until Christ returns. But till then, for most of us, our bodily shell will eventually crumble and our God given spirit brought home. Question is, to be with God or to be in eternal damnation?

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.
                       Matthew 16:26-27

Through the brevity of life, all of us will experience the loss of people around us, some from a distance, a few a hair's breath away. And for some, a personal near snuffing out of the flickering wick of life.

Jesus wept.
              John 11:35

It has been a decade since I was intimately involved with a fellow human being going through the throes of death. Tears, that wellspring of an expression of emotional grief has become a stranger in the past decade. Christ wept for the deceased Lazarus, but Christ brought him back to life after that.
What about the people we loved? They remained dead cold. Why does Christ not bring them back to life now? Christ will, when He returns, but not into a fallen world, but rather into a new world where God and Christ will dwell in our midst.

靠主恩典，安全不怕 ，更引道我回家

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God:and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
               1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

A wonderful truth. A hope that all who believe can cling to, much as pain and grief will permeate our very being in this moment of loss.
And God understands our limits. And much as He allows the spirit of our loved ones to depart from their bodily shell, and much as we who believe know that this separation is temporary, God knows we need His assurances.

A decade ago, when half a dozen of my colleagues left this present world, the untimely deaths from heart attacks or cancer over eighteen months was an emotional drain for those who remained. Yet the grace of God was never far from us who seek Him, and He truly walked with us, grieved with us, and yet He brought us forth, both the deceased and the living to His realm.

Memories do fade with time. Searing the experiences might have been, but like a scar peppered over many times by the distractions of the delusions of Satan's world, it is easy to misplace life's priorities.

Will you be ready when your next breath could be your last?
"Signs of death." I took a quick look on the internet to refresh my observations from a decade back.
The bodily system begins to shut down, but one's spirit is still very much alive, waiting to leave the crumbled physical shell.

But will you
- or rather your spirit be ready to let go? Is there a multitude of unresolved issues that needed to be resolved?
We are all imperfect, living in a fallen world.
Yet, if we truly seek to let God be Sovereign in our lives, experience tells us that one will have a much lighter burden restraining our ability or willingness to leave the present realm. For God is love, and if love had permeated our life and relationships with others, our countenance will be carefree.

- be looking forward to meeting the parties waiting to greet your liberated spirit.
Christ says He has prepared rooms in His Father's mansion, and while I have not had the privilege of verifying this truth as yet. But as shared previously from those who had gone down that road albeit for a brief interlude, Christ is there for you if you know Him. But if you don't, then the denizens of Hades will be your dreadful soul mates.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom:the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
                 Luke 16:22-23

God blesses

Eng Hieang
31 May 2014


An afterthought - Walking dead

Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks:for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
                 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Life for most of us is like one long wake. Buffeted by the constant storms of life, we often carry the countenance of the grieved. Perking up only on the temporary respites which we  want to believe is utopia.

"Onward the victorious Christian," a clarion call of a promised life of victory fashioned from the risen Christ. Yet why does it seem to ring hollow for most of us?

So he said to me, ‘This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord Almighty.”
                     Zechariah 4:6

The power of God emanates most powerfully from a surrendered life. God dependence rather than self dependence. We will walk more purposefully the path that a God has already laid when we are willing to lean upon Him.

God is truly omnipresent and He knows our needs. Below are a couple of thoughts from (http://www.marketplaceleaders.org/tgif/) which He used to bless me with, even as He continues to renews my mind and transform my heart.

"Learning not to act until God shows you to act is a sign of maturity in God."

"What does God have to do in our lives to remove the controlling and manipulative nature that so often is part of a workplace believer’s life? Perhaps it will require a time of immobilizing, loss of a job, loss of income, loss of health, loss of a close relationship. These are His methods of preparation. Your new nature will not be complete until you’ve stopped striving with God through your own self-efforts. If God is taking you through this process, be encouraged; it is because of the inheritance He has prepared for you. However, the inheritance can only be received when God brings us to total dependence on Him."

"First, when God decides it is time to move you into a larger place of His calling, He has the ability to provide the resources you need to support the call. God gave Jacob a dream that resulted in a strategy never used before to build wealth. It was totally from God’s hand. It was creative and new. God called Jacob to move out after he had demonstrated his faithfulness in 20 years of serving Laban. He learned to live under authority and served Laban faithfully, even though he knew he was being taken advantage of."

Think about it. All of us struggle in varied degrees in our willingness to trust the "invisible" God. But when it is time for our spirit to leave our shell, is the choice to decide still yours? The deceased who preceded us will know, but will not be able to tell us.

And he said, Nay, father Abraham:but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
                Luke 16:30-31

Lightness of being #42 In Him (13 May 2014)

Lightness of being #42 In Him (12 May 2014)

Dear....

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.              
              Matthew 5:16

Should the above verse be taken to imply that it is through our efforts that will allow the world to witness the glory of God?
Mother Teresa was famously quoted, at least in the papers she left behind after her death, to be plagued by moments of doubt and haplessness. A very different perception from that of the romanticized image the world chose to attach to her - an indomitable spirit come what may.

Would it be more correct to read Matthew 5:16 as

'It is His light shining through our lives that glorifies God and draw others to Him.'

We are but the lamp, upon which the light of God shines forth.
A bit of a letdown for some of us who dream of being a go getting doer for God. No different from the disappointment the Jews expressed when their long hoped for Savior from the oppressive Romans turned out to be a mere carpenter, instead of a warrior king.

Is the Christian walk one of waiting upon our Lord?
Quite contrary to the ways of the world, which seeks to will her way to a conclusion, God wants us to wait upon Him, come what may. For a surrendered life is where the victory of the risen Christ resonates most powerfully.

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

Every new day that our good Lord blesses us with
- we must come unto His presence to offer the first fruits of the new day. Our time, our all to Him, to be still and know His will for us today.
For He is Sovereign, nothing else matters more than seeking Him.

I have set the Lord always before me:
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth:
my flesh also shall rest in hope.
            Psalms 16:8-9

Every circumstances that we find ourselves in,
- we must be determined to set aside our own understanding no matter how compelling it might be, and take time with our Lord in prayers,  to "see" from His perspective.
A thankful heart is the key to unlocking the wonders of God's ways for us.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places;
yea, I have a goodly heritage.
 I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel:
my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.
             Psalms 16:6-7

And in the many snatches of time He will bless us with every day, we must take time in His Words, for the Word is God. For in doing so, we will know His will, and know how to let His glory sine forth from us.

For in Him, our spirit man will if we are willing, move in tandem with the Spirit God.
And we will always enjoy the peace and joy that God promises to all who believe and seek to follow Him.

"Let my heart personally experience and display Your care."
( Daily Bread 26 Feb 2014)

Thou wilt shew me the path of life:
in thy presence is fulness of joy;
at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
            Psalms 16:11

God blesses

Eng Hieang
12 May 2014

An afterthought - Without Him

Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
              Psalms 139:7

Most of us tend not to want to wait upon God. Our carnal self seeks to grapple with our circumstances, with its angst and all. By not waiting upon our Lord, are we not running away from Him and into the arms of the waiting devil?
Is it no small wonder that our Christian life is not the walk of victory that God intended, and our day seems to lack the peace and joy that God promises to all who believes and follows Him.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect;
and in thy book all my members were written,
which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
                     Psalms 139:16

God has set every new day He gives us to be a blessed day.
Take it. Enjoy it. And bless others with our blessings.

Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
              John 11:40