Dear...
'When I kept silent, my bones grew old. Through my
groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon
me. My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.'
Psalm 32:3-4
Feverish
as in running a temperature I was these past few days. The fragility of
life is brought closer to home, when sickness befalls one's once
sprightly self. Delirium marks one's state of consciousness and the
capacity to galvanize that once easy strength to seek our Lord in His
words and in prayers seems to fall asunder.
'...But the Lord will be a shelter for His people. And the strength of the children of Israel.
So you shall know that I am the Lord your God...'
Joel 3:16-17
Thanks be to God, I have survived this mini epic battle with the nasty flu bug.
An over dramatization of the common flu bug it might seem, but my sense is that they have got more potent through the years.
No different from financial crisis of recent past which are increasingly difficult to be resolved.
'My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone
snatch them out of My hand.'
John 10:27-28
'Rest in the Lord.'
Psalm 37:7
In
the feverish pace of our daily life, it is easy indeed for most of us
to be distracted by the 'noise' of Satan's delusion, and missed the
quiet but certain promptings of the Spirit of God residing in our
hearts.
Imperfect as I
am still very much, events last two weeks have been a wonderful
affirmation that indeed God draws near to those who are willing to draw
near to Him, not just in words but in works.
Two Friday evenings
back, while waiting in the office for a perpetually late client, I felt
prompted to text a dear friend on the need to not lose sight of God. And
a couple of minutes after that, I left the office to meet the client
who had finally arrived. And lo and behold, my path crossed with this
dear friend whom I had just messaged. Affinity we indeed have for God
has always connected us at the key moments of my friend's journey from
non believer to believer.
'.....Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.'
Psalm 2:12
Coincidence
of life is one of the hallmark of a faithful life. It tends to occur
often enough in the walk of the faithful to put to rest the secular
man's definition
of
coincidence as an an event that might have been arranged although it was really accidental.
'Trust
in the Lord, and do good. Dwell in the land, and feed on His
faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord. And He shall give you
the desires of your heart.'
Psalm 37:3-4
The
Bible reminds us that the path of good works has already been laid for
all of us. When we believe in the saving grace of the gospel, we have
entered the one and only correct path that God has laid for all who seek
Him to walk not just safely but in victory through this sin strewn
fallen world of ours. But like the many lovely but invisible light
bulbs that lit up as we step on them, there is a need for us to be led
as to where to step. The natural man will look intensely on the ground
to search for clues, and use his finite understanding to analyze his
next step. The spiritual man of God looks up
and focus his all towards Christ our Lord. As he take His steps not by
sight but by faith, as the Spirit leads. And the Spirit leads by the
conviction upon our hearts as we honor Him.
'...you have known
the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by
inspiration of God...'
2 Timothy 3:15-16
But let us
also be reminded that a heart that is transformed, a mind that is
renewed will sense the Spirit better, and will know what pleases God
without the need for the Spirit to tell us every step. And that
alignment can only come from a determined discipline to be discipled in
His word, in His work all the time.
'The steps of a good man are
ordered by the Lord. And He delights in His way. Though he falls, he
shall not be utterly cast down. For the Lord upholds him with His
hand..'
Psalm
37:23-24
Was my recent illness a result of my having sinned or
was it due to the state of our fallen world? Could be both, but God will
uphold the heart of the man who is fervent in his faith, for fervency
like the word feverish implies an intensity of spirit. Difference is
feverish is unfocused, fervency is about clarity of pursuit and in our
case, may it be a single minded seeking of the Lord our God.
And
Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and
troubled about many things. But one thing is needful: and Mary hath
chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
Luke 10:41-42
Would
feverish be the appropriate word to describe the very busy Martha who
was running hither tither getting things ready for their honored guest
our Lord Jesus Christ? Compare this to the single minded Mary who sat
quietly at the feet of Christ.
'But know this, that in
the last days perilous times will come.....'
2 Timothy 3:1
Are
the days approaching where many will be stopped dead in their feverish
tracks, and instead be in a frenzied state of fear and dread, as
calamities of a scale and speed befall all globally. And only truly,
the Christlike will be able to not just stand firm in our Sovereign
Lord, but be used by Him mightily, to release the storehouses of faith
to feed the once disbelieving but spiritually hungry?
Let me close with this extract from an article I just read.
( see link for full article. http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/profiles-faith-mary-martha-lessons-two-sisters)
What did Jesus mean when He spoke of "that good part, which will not be taken away from her"? (Luke 10:42)
The
apostle John answers this
question: "All that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the
world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who
does the will of God abides forever" (1 John 2:16-1; compare 2 Peter
3:10-12
God's truth and laws will abide forever. Our bodies won't
last forever, for they must be replaced with spirit bodies. The
spiritual knowledge we accumulate in this life will be ours forever,
never taken away from us. But we must not allow physical needs and
duties to consume us.
God blesses
Eng Hieang
27th May 2012
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