Dear...
'Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!'
Psalm 27:14
'What to produce, for whom to produce and how to produce?' Market systems across the globe save for the last standing communist utopia that is North Korea, are generally a mix of free market with some central planning. But always with profit/self enrichment as a key driver.
'Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.'
Mark 1:12
Satan offered Christ
the riches of the world, in exchange for His subservience. Man since the first man Adam, continues to struggle with this same survival instinct, imbued from the fruit of knowledge. Many sadly have entered into a 'Dr Faustus' type contract with the devil, their soul in eternal damnation, in exchange for the temporal pleasures of the world.
'But others fell on good ground, and yielded a crop; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.'
Matthew 12:8
Difficult terrain of life God can allow us to go through, but He walks with us. And less than utopian circumstances of life allows us to truly know God better. Difficulties of life is the good ground for nurturing one's faith. It is what is often needed to bring us out of the revolving doors of the economic question, to bring us to the only perspective that God intended, that is, how do we honor Him in our every breathing moment? To be a holy and living sacrifice.
'One thing I have desired of the Lord. That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord. All the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord. And to inquire in His temple...'
Psalm 27:4
But will we and our family starve or be overwhelmed by our present burdens while waiting upon the Lord, or even follow His leading which seems counter intuitive to our carnal understanding and need for self survival?
'I would have lost heart unless I had believed. That I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.'
Psalm 27:13
I am not sure if this qualifies as a dream. Our good Lord impressed upon my heart in my sleep this thought or maybe more aptly reminder. That the path for good works has already been laid. But we need to be willing to partake in it. And faith can only come when we are willing to seek the Lord our God with our all. And that compulsion often arises when life is no longer a bed of roses and we are no longer enamored with things of the world.
Tan Soo Inn in his latest commentary 'Graceworks' (a ministry of encouragement through the Word of God) quoted from the late monk Augustine
'You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. (Augustine 354-430)'
The Babylonian economy we live in works on the principle of unlimited wants, finite resources. It indoctrinates in all, the need to strive and if need be strife for that 'unholy grail' of power, prestige and precious materialism. But in God's kingdom, there is only one 'P' that truly satisfies. Peace that can only come from the sanctifying grace and love of our omnipresent God.
But for that big 'P' ie peace to happen , two small 'p' must emanate from our hearts. 'Persistence' in seeking to be in the 'presence' of our Lord. I used to think that this must come from a relentless exertion of effort on our part, on our own wits, come what may.
'Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.'
2 Corinthians 12:10
But reality is, would we be willing to be stripped of what defines us the finite man, and be willing to wait upon the Lord? As I look upon the infirmities that seem to have lately befallen upon men and women of determined faith, is it not incorrect to attribute it to the wrath of the devil upon those who hinder its plans? But like in Job, it is our Sovereign God Who allows it.
Why? Does it make good economic sense? The very question that led to the Jews refusing to accept that their Savior is a lowly carpenter and not a forceful warrior.
'And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.."
2 Corinthians 12:9
'...and work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts. According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you, do not fear!'
Haggai 2:4-5
God blesses
Eng hieang
28th Mar 2012
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