Dear..
'....each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me. Therefore I will cast you out of this land....and there you shall serve other gods day and night, where I will not show you favor.'
Jeremiah 16:12-13
"9 to 5" was the song made popular in the 1980s by Scottish singer, Sheen Easton. Blessed her. Today, most work much longer hours than that, yet are never certain of the permanency of their employ, as the Babylonian economy shows its true colors, and its high priests, the corporates demi-gods look to dress up their numbers through layoffs, excessive risks taking and accounting machinations.
'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Psalm 22:1
For King David, it was a prayerful plea to an Almighty God he knows and trusts.
Today, 'my god!' is a much frivolous used expression of surprise and astonishment, with no consideration of Who God truly is.
Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing?
.....craftsmen are nothing but men.
Isaiah 44:10-11
Is God truly a figment of one's imagination? Physical imagery abounds in many societies of what man deems to be the representation of their perceptions of what constitute the gods.
What about the supposedly secular man? For the communist of the past, man took on the role of God. That is true in the past for the mummified corpses of Lenin and Mao Tse Tung. And the North Koreans apparatchik are working hard on fashioning the recently installed younger Kim as the new demi- god. In the present capitalist world, the neo-secular man's god is himself.
'To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him?'
Isaiah 40:18
But the idol of our lives need not be a physical manifestation, be it a block of carved wood or of more valuable materials. It is what holds our heart, and that could include pride or fear or envy or any of the carnal bad fruit of the devil.
And even for the godly, like King David, our carnality can still surface much as we are walking closely with God.
'lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we are not ignorant of his devices.'
2 Corinthians 2:11
'Do we begin again to commend ourselves?
2 Corinthians 3:1
Just yesterday, my interest as an investor was piqued by the deep dive in the share price of pedigreed listed HK property company, Sun Hun Kai Properties. And our good Lord brought me to focus on the professed Christian faith of Thomas Kwok, one of the two brothers arrested for alleged graft.
(see link http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/30/uk-sunhungkai-idUKBRE82T04P20120330 ).
Like the HK billionaire, Thomas Kwok of Sun Hung Kai Properties(see script of testimony below as well as video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTFcYvDHfuk&feature=youtube_gdata_player ) all of us are moved from lukewarm believer to determined follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the sanctifying grace of our Great God. Faith comes from God, but growth in our faith needs a response from us.
'...But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.'
2 Samuel 11:27
God punished King David for his moment of folly. But God forgave his repentant heart and brought him forth mightily.
All of us are imperfect. It is not for us to pass judgment on the truth of the perceived guilt of the now fallen two out of three Kwok brothers. But we can and should pray for them. For what matters is a repentant heart that is steadfast in looking at Christ the author and finisher of our faith.
There is no trial of failure, but trial of faith that all who profess to seek our Lord will continue to go through, as He perfects the imperfect us.
Would Thomas Kwok, the evangelical Christian in the family gasp out 'my God,' as an act of despair in this moment of challenge or would he eventually attest with all humble confidence, 'my God,' as an acknowledgment of God's continued grace upon his life?
I know God will bring us forth if we are willing, for He draws near to a humble and contrite heart that is willing to draw near to Him.
'And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'
2 Corinthians 12:9
God blesses
Eng hieang
(30th Mar 2012)
TESTIMONY :Thomas Kwok
In 1994, when my wife and I came back from holiday, I tried to sleep that night, and as usual I couldn't, as I felt so concerned, so worried and so afraid. My wife could see what was happening to me and she said to me, "Why don't you read that book?" She was referring to the Bible, which I had had since I was a teenager. When I opened the Bible, the passage I read was John 14:27, where Jesus told his disciples. 'The peace I give to you is very different from the world.' Immediately, it brought a sense of peace to my mind. I knew there was something there, and that God was asking me to do something, but I didn't know what it was. So I asked my wife to go to church with me the next day. We went to a church along Kennedy Road. When I first walked into the church, the music and the sermon brought a great sense of peace to my mind. At that service, an English gentleman by the name of Gumbel preached on the first lesson of the "Alpha, course" which the church was about to start soon. I thought I already knew much about the Bible from my high-school days, so I was reluctant to sign up. As it required me to commit to eleven Monday evenings for three months from seven to ten p.m., it seemed very unlikely. However, as God always has a way to work in us, we decided to sign up and attended each session in the end.
Through Alpha, I learnt that Christianity was not only knowing about Jesus, but it was more like starting and building a relationship. It was like, suddenly knowing your God, your best friend, and someone you can count on. The Alpha weekend in particular, which was probably the most important day of my life, was a day that I will never forget. During that day, there were many times when we encountered the Holy Spirit. Even though we may not know the Bible well, by knowing the Spirit, we know Jesus. My wife and I were so touched on that day that we decided to be baptized the following Christmas.
At times when I lose confidence and hope, and when I am overwhelmed by difficult situations, I always turn to God and learn to trust Him more, for He will cast all doubts from my mind. Probably the best gift I can ever give to my friends, whether they are believers or not, is to give them a chance to know our God better by attending an Alpha course. It is a wonderful experience, an experience I'll never forget.
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