Heart to heart #33 Changing landscapes(28th July 2012)

Dear...

'So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel: therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.'
        Ezekiel 33:7

A dear friend recently told me that my messages reminded her of the Prophet Jeremiah. That thought never occurred to me, but it led me to do a more thorough read of the book of Jeremiah. "A broken book written by a prophet with a broken heart from preaching a message of repentance for forty years to a stiff necked disobedient people of Judah.
Through his sermons and signs he faithfully declares that surrender to God's will is the only way to escape calamity.

'Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!
...Then I heard another voice from heaven saying;
"Come out of her, my people , so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues...'
          Revelation 18:2,4

I have by the grace of God been writing the thoughts and experiences He has placed in my heart these past eight years. Not too sure if I can do it for another thirty two years, but much as it seems to be sending words forth into the wilderness, I have been more than blessed in serving our Lord and I know you will too if your heart is willing to be watered by His words.

'Then the Lord said to me: "Out of the north calamity shall break forth. On all the inhabitants of the land...'
        Jeremiah 1:14

The 'messages' that I received from our Lord through the years have always been of a personal nature. I am not anointed with any prophetic ability but clearly, if one cares to take time soaking in the living word of God, one will not just be very aware that the world is increasingly disobedient and evil, but more importantly, be imbued with the peace and joy and the reassurance that He will lead and shelter you come what may.

'Blessed is the man who listens to Me. Watching daily at My gates. Waiting at the posts of My doors...'
          Proverbs 8:34

How many of us are truly living out the commands of Proverbs 8:34.?
We are continuously inundated by the arrows of deceit and delusion that Satan, the prideful liar shoots at us. If not for the grace of God, I know I will struggle in vain with the Prince of the air. Imperfect as I am, by His grace, I continue to cling on to Christ our Savior.  What about you?

Is the  very oppressive weather of the past three days a symbolic foretaste of what is to come?

In Jeremiah 1:16, God says

"I will utter My judgments against them concerning all their wickedness. Because they have forsaken Me. Burned incense to other gods. And worshiped the works of their own hands."

Greenland lost a significant portion of its ice cover in a very short period. A literal meltdown. U.S.A the food basket of the world is blanketed by severe drought across a large part  of its landmass. The upstart heir apparent to its mantle as the next superpower, China has seen its capital flooded over in an unprecedented manner. And Syria looks increasingly like the next battleground for diverse geopolitical interest, and Damascus its capital could possibly be destroyed in the clumsy dance of the superpower elephants. And even the once squeaky clean clinical little red dot of ours is increasingly tainted in so many ways, where morality and integrity will soon lose its familiarity in our society if we are not careful. But maybe lust and lies are ok for Scotland and Milan just recognized same sex marriages as part of the trend in the Western world, not forgetting the captains of Western society are increasing adept at lying without blinking an eyelid.

Christianity is increasingly under siege and it is a matter of time that we will be not just on the peripheral of society, but persecuted for our steadfast faith, though the world rather term it uncompromising stubbornness.

'For behold, the day is coming. Burning like an oven.....Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. And the hearts of the children to their fathers. Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.'
        Malachi 4:1-6

Is it implausible that our children could be the final generation before Christ returns?

None of us can be certain, but what is definite is that as parents, we are prepared by God to shepherd not just our next generation, but also our parents to turn to Christ our Chief Shepherd. The tide of godlessness is moving inexorably but the faithful will not be overwhelmed.

'Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on the rock.'
        Matthew 7:24

I struggled with penning any meaningful sharing these past two weeks. With my change of employment, I was figuring very hard as to how to adjust my varied ministry life. Is it not the same for most of us, where we lean on our finite understanding to cope ineffectively with the changing landscape around us?

Can one then survive in this fallen world if one does not adjust to it?
The world is controlled by the devil, for Adam has given up his birthright. Who are we to wrestle with principalities? We can overcome the devil only if we learn to submit to God.

'Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes. And I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding and I shall keep Your law. Indeed I shall observe it with my whole heart...'
      Psalm 119:33-34

Victory  has been won with our Risen Christ. To take what is already won, our hearts must see beyond the delusion of the devil. And that can only happen if we allow the light of the Spirit of God to not just reside in our hearts, but to shine forth into the darkness.
It is not about adapting to or even changing our circumstances, but rather about letting the Spirit of God transform us unto His likeness, to the point that it no longer matters the condition of our circumstances. For a heart transformed, and a mind renewed is indomitable in all circumstances. To do that, it is about our willingness to let go and let God every moment of our life. Vastly different  from the human manner of living upon our wits. It is about our determination to seek God with our all, to look to Him always and away from the world. To be holy for God is holy.

Today I finally felt at peace to complete this latest sharing. Let me close with  this 1931 quote from His faithful servant, John Sung,

"Seek your own spiritual revival and revival will come to others"

God blesses

Eng Hieang
28th Jul 2012

Heart to heart #32 Back to our spiritual compass (14th July 2012)

Dear...

'With many other words he....pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.'
          Acts 2:40

The simple life, now I get to avail myself of, being a transient unemployed.  I  was with the wife at Daisho, and was busy scrutinizing an IPhone compatible cable for the price tag.
The sales person whom I seek assistance from on the price must be thinking I was either from out of this country or a mere simpleton, for who, except I do not know that all items in Daisho goes for a fixed price of $2. Daisho is an inflation free utopia!!

In stepping out of my comfort zone to follow the Lord's call, it has been both energizing and liberating. And our good Lord continues to show me His plans and 'open' my eyes to new insights.
Just yesterday, I had the privilege of attending a talk by an eminent Christian speaker, who affirmed the vision God has shown me, that is, to fully lived out our faith wherever He places us,  to be in this sinful world, yet not of this fallen world. To let the light of God shine through us into the fast encapsulating darkness of this world. To be a positive spiritual influence, much as the world confluences towards evil and godlessness.

"Everyone chooses either a biblical or worldly philosophy as his or her source of truth--and that choice shapes the mind and spirit. "

But more interestingly, the speaker Mr Dennis  Peacocke provided a snippet of information that was common to many, but not known to me. That the giant of modern economic theory, and key proponent of leveraged consumption, John Maynard Keynes was gay. Lifestyle is a matter of one's choice, but do take time to read this article which I thought gives a new perspective to our present economic woes.

(http://www.tkc.com/resources/resources-pages/keynes.html")

Some snippets from the article

"A homosexual lifestyle is, in essence, a choice to focus on the present rather than the future, and a decision to live for oneself rather than for others."

The message is clear: for Keynes, self-denial is bad and self-indulgence is good.

In the first chapter of the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul describes the path a man travels if he is consistent in his rejection of God. Professing to be wise apart from God leads to "futile" thinking and "darkened hearts" and ultimately culminates in "a depraved mind" and "unnatural" sexual relations. There is an integral connection between a man's thinking and his sexual life. Keynes, along with many other members of the Bloomsbury group, was a homosexual.
(read Romans 1:18-31)

"We have, primarily the Western world, to put it very bluntly, practiced homosexual economics, but we have not, as Mr. Keynes expected, spent ourselves into prosperity."

Will I be accused of overdramatizing if I were to conclude that  the beast as described in the Book of Revelations 13:1 will surface soon, for it's precursor, One World politically is fast becoming a reality, much as economically we have been moving in that direction on the slippery road of Keynesian economics. The latter being the mantra of many Central Bankers today.

'Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said.....what shall we do?'
          Acts 2:37

The news last night highlighted a remote possibility of the UN imposing a wealth tax on the rich globally. It seems a 1% tax will raise US$450 billion p.a. A more immediate possibility is the surrender of a large part of their  sovereign rights by the EU member states to a European Council in exchange for debt relief.

'...and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world marveled and followed the beast...'
                      Revelation 13:3

Maybe in the next few years, the day might come when an equalization of wealth will occur, a reset, where the savers will be forced to bail out the indebted, and the world will have only one currency.  Profligacy ( homosexuality) is rewarded, thrift ( Judeo Christianity) is penalized.

'He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.'
      Revelations 13:16-17

One religion the world might not have, but coercion to compromise one's beliefs for purported religious harmony, will eventually ensure that man will be the arbiter of what constitutes faith. And being carnally gay is the preferred choice compared to heavenly joy, and the once Christian nations of the West are now paradoxically pushing gay rights as part of their foreign policy on the rest of us, where their forefathers once spread the gospel.

'But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.'
        Acts 10:35

There is a need for us who brand ourselves as Christians to respond. But this call to respond is not the start of a modern day Crusade to push back the new heathens. However, the swirling undercurrents in our midst, is a reminder of the failure of generations of Christians to live out their faith as commanded by the Lord our God.

'Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'
        Acts 2:38

"Repentance" is more than just mouthing the sinner's prayer. It requires a change in direction in our life. We must look away from the fallen world to the risen Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.

"Baptism"  is more  than the symbolic cleansing with water of our outer shell. Our "old man" the carnal self must die, and the "new man" our spirit self" must rise. We must soak our very being  in the sanctifying presence of the Lord our God, in His living word, in prayerful communion,  in praises that must come from a thankful heart, and in His works. Only then can our hearts be transformed and our minds renewed.

"Sanctification of the Holy Spirit" Holy man some of my non believing ex colleagues termed me in jest. Reality is much as I am desirous, imperfect I still am, and if not for the grace of God in ensuring that His Spirit that is in residence in me, often convicts me at the rudimentary stages of my follies, I will have been a fallen man enough times over.

But how many of you who classify yourself as a Christian know if the Spirit of God is truly in residence in your heart? I was a believer at age 15, but it took me till age 40 to experience the complete sanctification of the Holy Spirit upon my very being.

Does it mean that I was not saved till age 40?

When Adam sinned, this blight of eternal damnation was upon all, irregardless of one's culpability.
Similarly, when Christ died on the cross, our sins are forgiven again irregardless of one's effort or lack of it.

Faith comes from God. We cannot work for our salvation, but we need to work on our salvation. Belief is an acknowledgment of the unqualified forgiveness of our sins by God.
Faithful obedience is a willingness to step out from mere belief, to a response to renew that special relationship that Adam had with God our Father, before he chose to disobey.

But much as salvation is given to all, transformation into Christ likeness is dependent upon you, the free will exercising imperfect man. Will you  be like Abel who gave the best of his first fruits to God, which pleases our Heavenly Father. Or are you like Cain who gave God from a heart that has other priorities, and whose offering displeased Him?

Today, if you were to truly take time to reflect and assess objectively your life as a Christian, would you be more like Abel or Cain?
Do you have the desire, the determination and the diligence to seek Him with your all, and to love others as much as yourself? And in doing so, God will imbue you with that indescribable joy and peace, but at His timing and not ours.

'I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. I have broken your yoke and made you walk upright.'
        Leviticus 26:13

One World will demand your absolute loyalty. Would you give up not just God, but your very soul, just like what Dr Faustus  did with the devil, in exchange for meeting your selfish present needs without regard for eternity? Or would you let go and let God because you know He is Sovereign, and He has a personal relationship with  you?

Much as the tide of evil and godlessness seems to be creeping inexorably with Christianity increasingly marginalized, despair not. For victory is a reality, with the risen Christ. Question is, will you submit to the Christ, our victorious King? Will you now obey with your all His commandments to seek Him with our all, and to love others as much as ourselves?

God blesses

Eng Hieang
13th  July  2012

Heart to heart #31 What if today is your last? (9th July 2012)

Dear...

"The best is yet to be" This is the clarion call that all who are associated with the ACS family of schools will be very familiar with. My own take from this is that it is an encouragement to strive to be a better child of God, as His Spirit transform us, if we are willing.

'God....has fed me all my life long to this day.'
      Genesis 48:15

Israel, the ex Jacob, in his last days, as he blessed the children of his son, Joseph, acknowledged the Sovereignty and grace of God upon his life.

What about us?

If tomorrow is no longer an option, the best has to be today, for you will be put to rest come "2359 hours," ( ie a minute before today ends), what will you do?

Would you banish such thoughts as the  superstitious elders of our pre believer days would do, for death is not exactly the most palatable food for thought.  But reality is, we are all but one breath away from the inanimate.

'I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will also give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.'
      2 Timothy 4:7-8

Would it be a time for reflection with a thankful heart, or would be one of inconsolable sorrow and regret, or like what the movies portray, a mad dash to make up for lost time?

'Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.'
    Joshua 1:9

I can only speak for myself, much as it applies to all, this pertinent question "what if today is your last?" that our good Lord impressed upon me even as His Spirit awaken me to a new morning today.

In the "delusory wonderland" that is our finite world, I would have many deep regrets. I could have taken many of the thrilling but clearly sinful joyrides be it lust, debauchery, sloth, greed....that our fallen world proffers. But on the other hand, maybe there were some thrills that I should have given a miss, given the collateral damage it has brought upon me and my loved ones. Could I have been happier if I was wealthier, or is what I have already burdensome enough?

But has being a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ made a difference?
If I had stayed as a gangly believer, still a stranger to the omnipresent God I doubt it. But thanks be to God, I am not a mere believer but a determined follower as His Spirit leads and I know Him,

'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.'
    John 3:16-17

How do I know this statement in John 3:16-17 is true?
One commonality amongst determined followers of our Lord Jesus Christ is the wonderful testimonies flowing from experiencing His Divine intervention in every moment of our lives. And in ways so prescient that we can only but be thankful much as the circumstances of life would demand otherwise. Our spirit man dance in joy and peace much as our carnal self would prefer to moan and groan.

'I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself to me.'
    Galatians 2:20

To live is Christ, to die is gain. Man is born to trouble, but the spirit man that seeks to be in the presence of our great God, will through experience, realize that God is indeed the potter, we are but the clay, and all things are for our good.
We learn by His empowering grace to let go and let Him, and our old carnal  man recedes, our new man, the spirit led man comes to the fore. This process of facets of our old carnal self dying and our new spirit man rising is a daily process.

Mortal death is just but a mere marker that we are going home to be with our Lord for eternity. For if we were to live every day knowing that the grace of God  is indeed suffice for the day, wherever He is bringing us, should not this reassuring truth still hold?

'I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified .'
    1 Corinthians 9:27

Death's grip upon my inner psyche has loosened. The fear of it has lost its sting. What I fear most is much as I have run the race of faith well, will I in my folly falter?

' Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.'
    Hebrews 12:1-2

Thanks be to God, He knows my limitations, yet He appreciates my desire to look to Him, warts and all. And tonight, as I struggle with the issue of temptation, in His inimitable way, through three verses, my beloved Father has shown He cares. If God is with me, it matters not where He takes me.

You should only worry if your heart was never with God.

'Those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.'
      Acts 8:4

God blesses

Eng Hieang
9th July 2012