Dear....
Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an
hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Matthew 24:44
Time
literally flies when you are up in a plane. For much as we are in
motion across space, the only thing that seems to move is the
agonizingly silent but steady
ticking of the second hand on one's timepiece. A sense of fear used to
hover over me in the past, for being up at high altitude, with no
control over one's fate, reminds one not just of of the brevity of life,
but our haplessness. But thanks be to God, He is Sovereign and I now
spend a useful part of my 13 hours in the
mechanical bird in conversation with our Lord?
And I was reminded
that every new day given to us must be used well to make ourselves ready
for His return or should we be called home. For there is eternity after
death.
They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their
gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to
deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall not satisfy
their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling
block of their iniquity.
Ezekiel 7:19
I used
to have a dear friend, in fact a very wealthy and powerful man. He came
out of the sub prime crisis relatively unscathed, but nay did he have a
proper night's sleep, worrying about which bank was secure for him to
place his monies.
Regrettably, all that hyper restlessness was to no avail, for he was laid to rest when our Lord called him
home.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow
shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is
the evil thereof.
Matthew 6:34
Is it not
just a refreshing thought, but a real liberating experience if we were
to accept that the day is beyond our finite abilities to cope, but the
grace of God is more than suffice to see us through? And not forgetting
that the day itself is a gift from God for we are but one breath away
from eternity.
The world looks at His provisions for the future, men and women of faith trust in God our Provider day by day.
As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
1 Peter 4:10
How
can we then not respond with a thankful heart, and be generous with the
generosity that comes entirely from our Lord? And should we not be
willing to share, for tomorrow might not come, and even if it does, God
will and has provided? And a thankful heart is the balm for a fearful
heart.
See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16
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 to God from a
heart that has other priorities, and whose offerings displeased Him?
'...And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect....'
Genesis 4:4-5
Do
you have the desire, the determination and the diligence to seek Him
with your all, and to love others, not just in words but in
works, as much as yourself? And in doing so, God will imbue you with
that indescribable joy and peace every day of your life, that both Kings
and the common men seek, but never attained, for they seek all other
gods, but our Sovereign God.
'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
Much
as we all know that our Risen Christ has unlocked the prison gates of
sin and death that once encapsulated us the seeds of Adam, yet sadly,
many are afraid to step out.
Letting go and letting God is a step of
faith into the chasm of the unknown. Yet many disciples of Christ have
done that, because they know and trust Him.
And we have known and
believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:16
And the key to a personal relationship with God is through the act of loving our neighbors, for God is love.
There
is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear
hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18
In
giving, we receive. And what we dispense, be it monies, our talents or
time, we will more than get back, not in the myopic narrow concept of
more worldly riches. But rather, we will be blessed by the richness of a
life lived knowing and following Christ.
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny thee,
and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
Proverbs
30:8-9
And think about it. Extrapolated fear is what hovers over
most of us. Love is the antidote to the dispersing of this insidious
cloud that lead many to strive and strife with great angst, for the
fleeting joy, that the temporal riches of this world can provide.
Much
as love from us for our neighbors is often tentative and qualified and
mercurial, love from God our Father for us is unconditional.
As I
stand on the cusps of entering a new ministry tomorrow, a literal
promised land in the workplace, the 'giants' of fear and uncertainty
hovers over me. But I am reminded of the love of God for me and my
family, not just in the way He has provided for my daughter in her new
nesting place in London, but for us in Singapore. Last night, I was
parked at the highest level ( floor 12) in Shaw Center. And much as I
sensed the car was not right, it was only after leaving the car park
did I realize that my brakes were not
working too well.
It is not pure luck but rather by the grace of God that nothing untoward befell us as we drove downhill.
Every
day that God gives us, His grace is suffice. And every breathing moment
we have, we must be like Christ, for He is preparing us for His
kingdom. And knowing that His love for us is truly down to His knowing
every strand of our hair, we should let our hair down literally and
savor the new day He has blessed us with today, by honoring Him always.
Obedience today comes from us, conclusions today, tomorrow or never is His to determine.
'Let
him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with
his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that
needeth.'
Ephesians 4:28
God blesses
Eng hieang,
30th Sep 2012
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