> Dear……
>
> ‘Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in the heavens. We have transgressed….’
> Lamentations 3:40-42
>
> It might be cruel to judgmental to tell someone who is undergoing trials that just maybe they had a part in their predicament. But with oneself, it will be good to start from that premise that we have erred. But the mirror of reflection should not be our flawed understanding, but rather that of the leading of the Holy Spirit residing in the hearts of us who believed in our great and Sovereign God.
>
> ‘To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not…’
> Lamentations 3:36
>
> God does not tempt us for that is the job of the devil, who loves us to sin. But God will test us, to bring forth our imperfections that He will then refine, if we are willing to stay the course in His presence.
>
> ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassion fail not. They are new every morning, great is Thy faithfulness.’
> Lamentations 3:22
>
> The Greek Prime Minister might seem quite ungrateful to spring a sudden surprise on his new political masters, the Germans and the French, after having just been forgiven 50% of their outstanding debts. Like the ex Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir, who at the height of the Asian Crisis in the late 1990s, rather go his own way than be subjected to a “life of servitude,” - the price for debt relief, he might eventually be vindicated, but in the meanwhile, passionate anger rather than loving compassion will mark the mood in the European Community leadership with this act of ingratitude.
> But are the Germans and the French truly altruistic or they are just saving their own banks?
>
> ‘It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteh alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him..’
> Lamentations 3:27-28
>
> If to be young again, one has to suffer a little more, maybe it is not that bad or maybe not? At just a whisker past 50, I am still young at heart, but guess the wear and tear are clearly more manifested. But is it fair at clearly past mid life to be bearing a yoke that is decidedly heavier that that experienced in my youth? And worse, unlike the Greeks and in reality most of the Western world, many of us are not a party to their “reckless champagne days of drunken binge,” for which the world continues to suffer from the hangover.
>
> Is it possible for Asians to ring fence themselves and jettison the rest of the world from our still stable ship than be brought deeper into their malaise? And more importantly, is it possible for God fearing men and women, who “have been good” to be spared the storms of life which is getting more frequent and in greater intensity?
>
> But how can one minister to the flock as a distant bystander?
>
> ‘But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.’
> 2 Timothy 4:5
>
> It always bemuse me how God knows our very precise thoughts and affirms it. Or rather, how God places a thought in our hearts and when we are cognizant of it, how He affirms often with a verse as in 2 Timothy 4:5,right after His reminder to me that empathy and credibility can only come in ministry when we are in the same storm as our sheep.
>
> ‘Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.’
> 2 Timothy 3:12
>
> “Perspective,” that was the word God impressed upon my troubled heart this morning. Man are born to trouble, for we live in a fallen world. No doubt, faithful Christians will draw a disproportionate share of the arrows from the livid Lucifer, whose poison coated sweet nothings have failed to delude us. Our good Lord reminded me that to overcome our “troubles,” we must learn to submit to His will, and to look beyond our circumstances to His promises, for He will deliver.
Triglycerides is a term of recent familiarity to me. And too much of this fat in one's blood increases the odds of a heart attack.
Triptych is a term less familiar to most. I formed an acquaintance with this word because of my interest in Ukiyo - Japanese woodblock prints. Triptych refers to a trilogy - a 3 panel art.
A picture might speak a thousand words, but a few more pictures literally makes a book .
Often in the midst of our present burdens, our finite self desires to give it all up and crumble under. Yes like what the Apostle Paul advised his fellow shipmates in the storms, to jettison everything overboard. But he also told them to take food to strengthen themselves for God will save them all. Things of the world we must discard. But the spiritual feeding from our Lord we must cling on to. For the finite man can only see what is in front of them. The Spirit man trust that God's handiwork in our lives will always end well for us. It is in the remaining panels that have been lovingly painted by Him, but not revealed to us as yet. God never forsake us. Should we not do the same.
God blesses
Eng Hieang
6th Nov 2011
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