Dear…
‘Put them in fear, O Lord; that nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.’
Psalm 9:20
If you are in Singapore or Hong Kong today, or for that matter Shanghai , Beijing, or Mumbai, and if you happen to be on the right side of the pecking order of society, you might feel smug, what with your appreciating net-worth, as ‘hot’ monies chased after the finite(at least for now) real assets(primarily in properties) leading to a recalibration in perception of what constitutes an acceptable bubble. And on that, even tea is bubbling as an investment class, and we are not referring to the once popular bubble tea amongst the mass consumers.
‘But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.’
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
But is your smugness contributing to the present smog once again enveloping this part of town. With bio-fuel becoming fashionable again, with rising price of fossil fuel and demand in China, the haze is back, and is it more than coincidental that the last serious case of haze was back in year 2006 when stock markets were booming, prior to the onset of the sub-prime crisis.. The haze emanating from the fast receding green lungs of Indonesia is with us again. Slash and burn is a practice of the Dayaks and other tribal people of the Island of Borneo and other erstwhile parts of the sprawling Indonesian Archipelago.. But it was never a problem till the past decade or so, when commercial exploitation of once virgin jungles turn a large part of Indonesia into plantation land. And much as most can see the long term damage to the environment and personal health, the powers to be seem not to give much of a care, be it for strategic reasons or possible person benefits. And much as we can clearly see the haze, the unseen creeping damage it is doing to one’s long term well being is insidious but certain.
'The idols of the nations are silver and gold. The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak....So is everyone who trusts in them.'
Psalm 135:15-18
And as I look out of my window into the altar like Marina Sands casino, from the cool comfort of my air conditioned room, insulated from the acrid smell and oppressive warmth of this smog, the wetness of the floor outside from the rain did mislead me at least on the first day of this new season of haze into thinking that Singapore did look pleasantly misty like, no different from Europe in late Autumn. Of course, there is no longer any illusion that this is haze from ashes from once vibrant green trees, and not dew from the same green trees. But in one’s moment of wistful thinking, it did look like the cool ambiance of the Genting Highlands, and here, we also have the casino to match.
An idle afternoon this is, and till China raise interest rates again, or something nasty erupt to frighten the markets, this is a great time for reflection. And the thought did strike me this morning on how Christianity can be fairly difficult for many to comprehend, for it is a relationship with a living God and through Him with fellow men, and relationships take time to develop and requires commitment. And like a maze, there are many twists and turns, albeit always pleasant when we let go and let God. But often, the carnal man needs certainty or at least vestiges of certainty as they understand it or perceive it to be, and this is often represented by visual symbolism that they can feel, see or touch. Is this why man find it easier to acknowledge idols of their own making, be it represented by the varied materials available in this world or simply a concept based on their finite understanding, where man determines the god or gods he is comfortable with? God is Spirit cannot be understood or accepted or even visualized if man remains carnal.
‘…for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’
Joshua 1:9
But God is not a detached nor distant God. He is omnipresent. It is that the carnal man is at a different plane from the Spirit God. But God wants us to move to the spirit man, and He will strip us of our carnality, the shroud of sin we wear, if we are willing to let Him. A God that let us decide is not a God Who does not prompt us, for even the finite and sinful father that we are, we will never let our children blindly go down the suicidal path. Question is, as we stumble through the maze of life, are we paying attention to the very clear guidance of God, yet to many, they are oblivious to? How do we get people God placed in our lives to recognize and reach out to the ever loving hands of God our Father, for when they do so, they will be amazed at how real is the presence of the Living God? You and they need to take that first of several steps into faith, always looking only towards God, for faith comes from God and not from us, but we can receive faith from Him.
‘He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias’
John 1:23
From maze, to amaze, guess it is time to come back to the haze. Singapore has never had it so good. Wealth is flaunted, and most have never felt richer, at least asset wise. And indeed, we are probably the only country in the world that seems to lower the drawbridge to welcome the flood of monies looking for a home. But beneath all this gloss, are there issues that God wants to attract our attention to? Is our calling as a nation to be the depository for the carnal world’s wealth and its attendant sins, a safe haven in a world that is increasingly dangerous or have we forgotten that God bless us in our weakness, to go forth an bless our neighbors with the plenty He has given us?
The haze is like black soot that spoils the lovely party dress one had just put one, and it does remind all of us in Singapore that there are things beyond our control, for we can be pristine, but if our neighbors are spewing ashes all over, it affects the neighborhood. No different from Hong Kong and her environmental woes from what is happening in mainland China.
What about food? Three years back, we might have all the gold in the world, but had the food crisis exacerbated, and even a king’s ransom we might be willing to pay, might not guarantee us certainty of food supply, as our traditional food sources either hoard to extort a bigger price from us or simply because of the need to appease their hungry population, even if they can ill afford to pay. Are we about to see a deja vu?
Amazing isn’t it, how a haze filled lazy afternoon can do to one’s fertile mind. Dazzled I don’t think you are, but daze might be the state of mind for many in a world that is increasingly difficult and harsh. And much as many still seek to attain what the world values, increasingly, the reality is beginning to sink in that nothing in the world can truly satisfy that lingering hunger in one’s heart.
‘Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow.’
Isaiah 50:10-11
Can we as people who profess to believe in God continue to laze at a leisurely pace, ignoring the command of God to all who claim to believe to follow Him, to live a life that will be more like Christ and less like the devil? The world can only fathom the good news of the gospel message, when they see the message lived out in us the messenger. Then only will they consider the possibility of trying out this relationship with the ever present God, this small but very important step into the presence of God, from Whom faith will be given to all who seek Him.
‘Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves, be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves…’
Matthew 10:16
Craze I am not, for being in this world but not of this world, does create situations where we no longer behave with and within the norm. And when I continue to write and talk about God speaking to me, and when one begin to speak with love but boldness the truth, one do stand the risk of not just ridicule, but being included in the bonfire to be razed for many do not like the light of God’s truth to shine through their cloak of darkness.
‘Fear them not therefore, for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed, and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house tops….’
Matthew 10:26-27
A prophet Stephen my cowardly self plan not to be, for even if you were to replace stones with gold coins/gold bars, it serve no purpose to a dead man, for the prophet Stephen was stoned to death. But like him, we must be steadfast in our gaze towards God, come what may, even if the PSI measure on the haze jumps from the present undesirable 102 to the previous peak of 212 back in year 2006 or double that to the 400s.
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(21st Oct 10)
Of tigers and lions
A little snippet of historical fact I thought might be interesting. A book I picked up showing prints and old photographs of Singapore recorded the presence of many tigers in Singapore, the last was shot in the mid 1800s. So much for us being a lion city, when reality is pussycats did once abound in abundance. But that is the carnal, but Christ is the Lion of Judah, and myth it might be about the sighting of the lion by Parameswara, the Palembang prince who founded Singapore and name us after his sighting of the lion or ‘Singa,’ as a country, we are anointed to be the place where the Lion of Judah will roar into the darkness in our hinterland. And God is graceful. The tigers have long been associated with evil, at least in Malay tales of the man eating tiger or Harimau, which transforms into harmless old ladies to lure unsuspecting children into its lair. Not just the tigers are gone, but the abject poverty that our forefathers lived with is now replaced with great material wealth. But what about our Spiritual riches that is still latent and not fully surfaced if not long subsumed by our pursuit of material success??
'Truly these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.'
Acts 17:30-31
No comments:
Post a Comment