Dear....
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of Jehovah In the land of the living.
Wait for Jehovah: Be strong, And let thy heart take courage; Yea, wait thou for Jehovah.
Psalms 27:13-14
Am I foolish, deluded or plain hopeful to talk about a God Whom none has seen in the flesh?
Are my claims of God 's handiwork in my life the stuff of fantasies go awry? And what about 'hearing'
the voice of God? Is my heart confusing my mind?
Just in case
you are a little perturbed by my seeming loss of faith, thanks be to God
I have not. But rather, is this not the perception many who are of the
world including lukewarm
Christians, hold of determined followers of Christ who seek to live and
share their God sanctified lives?
'....for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth.
Ezekiel 8:12
Incommunicado
would be the apt description for the state of relationship many
professed Christians who are believers in name, but non followers in
life, have with the invisible God. God is at best distant, if not non
existent, and it is easier and more compelling for many to worship
things of the natural world than the Spirit God. The creation matters
more than God our Creator.
But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself:
the Lord will hear when I call unto him.
Psalms 4:3
The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped:
therefore my heart
greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
Psalms 28:7
I
believe God hears and answers my prayers when asked in His will. But
the form and timing only He determines. And the imperfect me often
struggles with the spirit of disconcertedness much as I know God will
deliver. For wait and pray we must, much as it is against our very
nature. And while we wait, what about honoring Him by being selfless and
loving others, contrary to the modus operandi for most, which is to be
enmeshed in their own worrisome needs?
Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him:Fret not ...'
Psalms 37:7
Trust
in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily
thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give
thee the desires of thine heart.
Psalms 37:3-4
Waiting upon the Lord based upon our own understanding is difficult for
it means being encircled by the specters of fear and worry. God knows
our limits and waiting upon Him requires a determined response from us
- to come into communion with Him through prayers,
- with a thankful heart that will empower us to look from His perspective
- to meditate upon His Words which will be a lamp through this journey of faith
- to love others for God is love and in doing so, we will know Him better and be willing to trust and obey
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
Psalms 5:3
This
is a new year for all of us. For some, like me, it could mean a new
endeavor bringing with it new opportunities, yet uncertainties. It is in
times like this that one becomes acutely aware of our limitations, yet
bring
us into greater if not total dependency upon our Sovereign God.
'.....The helpless commits himself to You..'
Psalm 10:14
Is the line of communication to God of greater clarity in the freshness
of the early morning? I don't think that is the intent of Psalms 5:3,
but fact is, in normal times, most of us only give God time at the end
of the day, if at all.
By then, our hearts and minds would have been
fully cluttered with the burdens and distractions of our fallen world,
would we be able to discern the will of God, assuming if we are still
interested?
But in a season of change or during times of great
uncertainty and difficulties, somehow we are more desirous to not just
seek God at the crack of dawn, but throughout the day.
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Psalms 8:4
Without the pain of a difficulty, It is nay
impossible for most of us to be still, what with the many arrows of
distractions Satan shoots at us. God knows our limits and He speaks to
me in the stillness of the night, when I enter the realm of restful
sleep. Dreams, it is still a mystery as to its manufactory.
"Dreams
are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur
involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep." ( "Dream".
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition. 2000.)
Dreams all of us will encounter, but most tend to
be fleeting, and once wakened, it is difficult to recall, much as it
was vivid when it was being played out. For dreams die at the crack of
dawn.
The Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, who developed the
discipline of psychoanalysis, wrote extensively about dream theories and
interpretations. He explained dreams as
manifestations of our deepest desires and anxieties, often relating to
repressed childhood memories or obsessions. Dear long departed Sigmund
dealt very much with the human carnality especially of lusts.
What about dreams of the spiritual nature? Or would vision be the more correct term?
The Dictionary.com define vision as
"an
experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or
credibly to the mind, although not actually present, often under the
influence of a divine or other agency: a heavenly messenger appearing in
a vision. Compare hallucination."
Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing;
Psalms 17:3
In my past decade of diligently seeking our Lord, He had given me a couple of visions.
An
early one was that of crocodiles trying to enter my home in Valley
Park. Interestingly
a few weeks after that, there were sightings of crocodiles in our
rivers including the canal adjoining Valley Park. The message then was
to save souls from the devil, the latter as represented by the reptile.
Another
that left a deep impression upon me was the vision I had of being
lifted up by the power of God's voice. As shared previously, the scene
was similar to that as described in the Book of Ezekiel, which only
dawned upon me a few years later when our Lord brought me to sight the
specific verses in Ezekiel for the first time in my life. 'Orison,' to
"pray," was the word given to me, and indeed prayers as a ministry has
been where God has led me to since.
I will bless Jehovah, who hath given me counsel; Yea, my heart instructeth me in the night seasons.
Psalms 16:7
A more recent dream was a series of 3 dreams before the onset of the subprime crisis. And it
stood me on good ground to stay steadfast in not leaving Merrill, much as there were compelling reasons to leave.
"Don't
return to Egypt" to the bondage of a salaried job that was the thought
God placed in my heart, and in trusting and obeying, He not just
sheltered but provided.
Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have
ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The Lord saith it;
albeit I have not spoken?
Ezekiel 13:7
From visions to impressions on the heart, the Spirit of God has truly guided me.
And as shared previously, He has led, but often the reticent me did not fully trust and obey.
For is it my imagination on overdrive or is it truly from the Lord?
-
distribute not cumulate, this was the thought God impressed upon me at
the onset of the subprime. My half obedience deprived others of my
having even greater resources that God provided.
- buy
physical gold. Wish I had bought more of the yellow metal that has
since doubled. Indeed it is not about self enrichment, but how we can be
storehouses of God's provisions to be shared with others. For the true
gold that we must purchase from our Lord is as in our character as
refined by God.
For ye shall pass over Jordan to go in to possess
the land which the Lord your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it,
and dwell therein. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and
judgments which I set before you this day.
Deuteronomy 11:31-32
It
has been past four months since I entered the Promised land. Much as my
faith has grown through the years, having experienced God's
omnipresence in my life, fear and trepidation still look for
opportunities to hover over me. I am learning about dependency upon God
again.
Man looks for conclusion, God asks for our obedience.
"Success"
God's way is a life that seeks after Him. But what often gives way is
our inability to stay steadfast in His presence, hence depriving
ourselves of the very understanding that is needed for walking the path
of victory that God has already laid for us.(do read Psalms 81)
To day if ye will hear his voice,
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation,
and as in the day of temptation
Psalms 95:7-8
But
thanks be to God, His Spirit convicts our straying hearts and He
divinely align us back into focus. But a response is needed from us, and
that must start, continue and end with immersing oneself in His
presence, and doing what honors Him, and not wallow in the quagmire of
our own finite understanding. God will provide.
For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found:
surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto
him.
Psalms 32:6
God blesses
Eng Hieang
31stJan 2013
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