> Dear….
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> ‘The just Lord is in the midst thereof; He will not do iniquity: every morning doth He bring His judgment to light, He faileth not: but the unjust knoweth no shame.’
> Zephaniah 3:5
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> “How does one hear God?” and “how can one be sure that one heard Him correctly?’ These are two questions I have learned to increasingly asked less of but nevertheless, are still very pertinent questions for many who desire to do the will of God.
'When they heard the king, they departed, and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.'
Matthew 2:9
The wise men who seek Christ had the shining star to guide them. The Israelites of Moses' time had the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, for God led them( Exodus 13:21-22)
What do we, today as believers of Christ and His saving grace have to show us the way, to walk in His way? Would a spiritual GPS like system or it's potential alternative, the Galileo be a solution?
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> With the ongoing European debt crisis, I am not too sure if the planned launch of the “Galileo,” the joint efforts of united Europe to create an alternative to the US controlled Global Positioning System(GPS) will occur as planned? Its namesake, the man Galileo Galilei, an Italian astronomer, was charged for heresy by the Catholic Church back in the seventeenth century, for making claims about science that seemed to contradict the prevalent notion as understood by man’s interpretation of Scripture.
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> I am hopeless at science. And if writing is an art, maybe I can pass off as a decent artist. But in my recent years of sharing the thoughts that the Spirit of God impressed upon my heart, there are times I felt silly to fearful that some of you might genuinely think that I have taken leave of my senses. The good thing is that in modern society, we do not burn “professed heretics” at the stake. But for one who used to take pride in one’s intellectual sensibility, being lumped together with the “wacky and the kookie,’ like the denizens of the Addams Family is not a welcome privilege.
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> What has a global positioning system to do with hearing and following the will of God? The new Galileo system is supposed to be much better than the present GPS, and at its heart lies an atomic clock that is accurate to the nanosecond. As Christians, we are commanded to not just look to Christ, but to follow his example. Christ showed us a few short but manifold years of living in Christ-likeness and He also left the Holy Spirit Who resides in the hearts of believers to guide us. But why do most of us tend to struggle with following? Is it because the “GPS” system from two millennium back is antiquated and not relevant to the modern man?
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> “Peace of heart,” “Word of God,” and the “Conviction of the Holy Spirit” residing in our hearts, these are three key guiding lights that God used to help us follow Him better. This is what my mentors, Paul and Bunty shared in one of their video in the series “Heart of the Shepherd.”
> These biblical truths are not new but it is good to be reminded of such gems of truth, for it is easy for our self deceiving mind to lose sight of God’s guiding principles.
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> As I swam in the closest thing to icy water this morning, and madness it might seem, (but I have always enjoyed the cold but invigorating December waters, our closest to winter in sunny Singapore), for it truly infuse a renewed vigor in one’s being, the words I read in this morning’s Daily Bread(21st Dec 2011) resonated in my heart.( http://odb.org/2011/12/21/rejected-light/). Titled “Rejected Light,” the author brought us to Matthew 6:23, where Jesus described this self-imposed spiritual eclipse of heart and mind when he said, “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
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> Life is a journey. It starts the day we are born and for most, our protector and guiding light for the first few years will be our parents or loved ones, and after that, could be a confluence of people and learned experiences, under gird by our wits and finite understanding. But somewhere on this meandering road that all of us have to take, till Christ takes us home, we will feel the need for something more.
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> Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ, whose death on the cross freed us of our sins, and whose resurrection broke the grip of death upon all humanity. We are now free to reenter the original route that God has set for humanity, that Adam and Eve detoured from.
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> As Christians, we are people who believe in God and His saving grace. The light of His love freed us from the burdens that once overwhelmed us and our grateful response was to accept His salvation, by professing our repentance and committing to follow. But why are many of us professed believers still living life like the disobedient Israelites of Moses time, who walked aimlessly in the scorching desert, much as God had already taken them out of the bondage of Egypt?
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> “Peace of heart” is not a once done, that's it action. Peace of heart comes from a willing heart that seeks to be in the presence of our Great God always. King Saul was a king anointed by God. The peace of God left him when he chose to continue to disobey the command of God. Many of us call ourselves Christians. Some of us worked hard at serving our Lord. But like Martha, are we doing what our finite understanding tells us, rather than what the Spirit of God wants to show us. Mary, the sister of Martha understood the need to stay in the light of God’s presence always, and move as the light leads, and not run ahead of the light of the leading of the Holy Spirit.
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> “Word of God.” The Word is God, and God is the Word. Most of us know that, but leaving aside those who do not read the Bible, what about the few who does? Many are guilty of using the Bible as a sounding board for the predetermined answers that they desire. And many will either end up disappointed for not receiving the “right answer,’ or simply be deluded by their desired interpretation. Come to the Lord in prayers, in worship and in His Word, with no expectations other than a belief that faith and clarity will be given, at His timing, His way.
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> “The Holy Spirit.” Soak yourself long enough in the presence of our Lord, in prayers, praise and in His Word, and I have no doubt that your faith will grow, your understanding of the will of God will deepen. It is like the wonderful picture often circulated to many of us, of the chap seemingly fruitlessly pushing against a huge boulder. Nay an inch the boulder moved, but without realizing it, the chap has grown in physique and strength through this diligent pushing. But what if the boulder actually start to rollover, what should one do?
> We will not walk alone, the Holy Spirit Who resides in the hearts of believers, will convict us of our every action. And like Prophet Isaiah, it is in the stillness of our hearts that we will hear in all clarity the leading of the Holy Spirit.
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> ‘Jesus said, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light…I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.’
> John 12:36,46
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> It is suffice to know that there is hope at the end of our finite life, for death is not the end all. But there is no need for us to ask for a light that will shine all the way to Heaven. For it will be too blinding for us to understand or follow. God knows our limitations. His grace is suffice for the day, much as the day is evil. His light is already with us, enough for us to see the next step. But are we willing to walk the next clear step, much as beyond it the darkness seems overwhelming? Darkness is the absence of light. And darkness past the next step is simply because God knows that till we are all make ready for His return, His light will overwhelm the finite us in His full glory.
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> God Blesses and blessed Christmas
>
> 25th Dec 2011
>
Eng Hieang
An afterthought
As I pen my closing thoughts, the Spirit of God reminded me of this obvious truth yet many are oblivious to. Christmas is when God brought forth the birth of Christ, the light upon which the bondage of darkness upon us the seed of Adam will be lifted. For darkness is the absence of light. As men, our carnal natural self is always looking for guidance, but we look everywhere without realizing that the light is in us, and not in our surrounds, for the Spirit of God resides within the hearts of us the believers.
We are the lamp of God. Take time with our Lord and you will sense the warmth glow of His Spirit. His Spirit will guide our spirit man, and we will know His will, if we allow Him to transform us from the Adamite sinful natural man into the Christlike spiritual child of our Sovereign God.
'For we walk by faith, not by sight.'
2 Corinthians 5:7
And we also see not because we look not for the will of God, but for things of our finite understanding. Attached is a 'fresh off the press' cartoon a dear friend just sent me. How apt it is. I tried to make changes 5 times over to this sharing, as not too sure if too disjointed. But for some strange reason, the the file just self delete whenever I tried to. The only change acceptable to my whimsical computer is this attached cartoon. so do enjoy it for God is Sovereign and His ways are not our ways.
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