Dear....
'For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.'
Ephesians 5:8-9
'My heart wants to sing' is a lovely song that my dear brother Eric cut into a CD to minister to listeners as well as raising funds for His kingdom.
'My heart wants to cry,' that is not a song but that emotional dam that is about to collapse under the relentless weight of the unbearable burdens of life that many find too overwhelming.
'I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper,that He may abide with you forever.'
John 14:16
Christ is the spring of life. He brings us peace, joy and comfort no matter what the world throws at us. God is Sovereign and His ways are always good for us. And He knows our limits much as He put us through the refiner's fire to perfect the imperfect us.
For the faithful who are committed to work on their salvation, who seek the Lord with their all in prayers, in praise and in His Word and in His work, you will know God and learn to be more like Christ. Struggles we will still have, just like Jacob wrestled with God through the darkness of the night, but by His divine grace, we will let go and let Him. And in taking that step of faith, God will affirm. And our hearts will sing with joy as He opens our eyes to see the wonders of His ways and our privilege to be His vessel.
"How can you be sure you heard God right?" or worse, " it might be that of the devil, it's demonic cohorts or even our own deceitful self?" These are doubts that no longer hover over me but was a question a new found friend of great intellect asked me recently.
It is true that my spirit man now sense very much better, the leading of the Holy Spirit residing in my less cluttered heart. It is also true that my mind is renewed and my heart transformed through soaking my all in the presence of our Lord. And God's affirms through dreams and visions, through His word, people and circumstances. And the peace of heart for the Holy Spirit convicts us. "How can you be sure ?" such is the persistent question of the intellect man, who have not surrendered to our Lord and not experienced His sanctifying love and grace.
The opening verse 'Ephesians 5:8-9 is the answer to the same question I used to ponder upon. The Bible says the anti Christ are those who deny Christ as our Lord and Savior. But the devil is a chameleon. It knows how to slant the context of the word of God to its delusionary ways. And there are times where the usual affirmations of God's will for us either do not present itself, or is simply seemingly giving conflicting signals to our confused mind.
'For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.'
1 Corinthians 13:12
Our good Lord reminded me that even if we do not hear from God, Christ has already led by example, the way we should live our life, "the fruits of the Spirit.' This is the spiritual blue print that will help keep us aligned to the will of God, and and not be deluded, much as often, the swirling storms seem to cause us to lose ' clear' sight of Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. And at His timing, He will bring us clarity of the heart.
Jesus said to her, 'Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?'
John 11:40
The joy is in knowing that God's ways are always better than ours. We will see that in all clarity when the storm clears. But our hearts will sing or cry with even greater joy when we realized that God was always there with us, sheltering us with an all weather umbrella, that shields us yet subjecting us to the the right dosage of the seemingly harsh elements, for us to mature in our faith.
Rgds n God blesses
Eng hieang
14th Jan 2012
An afterthought
An indeed as I prepare to lead my very first worship at Sunday service tomorrow, I am thankful to our Lord for this miracle. Miracle not because He has bestowed me with an angelic voice, but rather my being up at the pulpit to lead. One key bondage in my life was this fear of singing in public, for at age 10, my school music teacher told me to clam up as she thinks I cannot sing. That has not just kept me from the karaoke lounges, but for a long time, from wanting to go to church as well.
God impressed upon me today, that true worship is from the heart. Sing from a humbled and grateful heart, that is the sweet offering He desires. Indeed God has prepared me well for this privilege to lead worship. In the past 13 years, from singing with accompaniment to a cappella at the various prayer meetings. To actually going for a basic 3 months believer's music course a few years back, , thanks to the urging of a dear sister in Christ. And being told that I had a voice that resonates and was encouraged to join the choir, by a godly stranger I met, who went home to the Lord a week later. Even down to my buying a hymn book last year because of the Holy Spirit's prompting, not realizing it has now come in useful to prepare for worship.
God is indeed Almighty. I will not ad lip like when I was thrust in front to lead worship in my baptism class eons back . But rather I will sing from my heart. And may He use it to bring about an increase in hearts that are receptive to His leading
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