Dear...
'But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.
For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak.: for it is not
you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.'
Matthew 10:19-20
This morning, in church, my mind wondered off a little in the midst of the
sermon as my thoughts were captured as regards this sense of inadequacy. I have
been asked to consider a task which I was not sure if I was truly ready to
handle. And on a similar vein, I have also asked a couple of brothers in Christ
to take on a totally unrelated task which for reasons, they might not feel too
ready either.
But God is good. He affirms our desire to serve Him much as we are imperfect,
and as I turned the Hymn Book without any thought, it was exactly the page
that the Pastor was preparing to sing for the close of the service a minute
after my action. God is prescient and what struck me more was that this
particular page had two hymns of great relevance to my present thoughts.
"Lord, Whose Love Through Humble Service."
"Whom Shall I Send?"
The words of the first hymn "Lord, whose love through humble serve" urges us the
believers to not just live out our faith in words, but in works. And to move
from words to works can indeed be daunting for many a professed believer.
But the command from God is clear, we who have received the sanctifying love of
God in our lives, must translate that blessing into blessing others God places
in our lives.
And it is never on our own strength but upon the grace of God, and it is never
about who we are, but
Who God is.
The second hymn "Whom shall I send?" is the call from God to all of us to go
forth to the world, to share the gospel of love and salvation. All of us who
take time to be in the presence of our beloved Father will be cognizance of His
will. Yet, like me, we often let our fears or sense of inadequacy or even pride
hinder us from doing the what we know is the will of God. But we are also
reminded that God is Sovereign and He not just stands with us in battle, but the
victory is already His and our participation is for our own spiritual growth as
we will allow Him to show us His ways, which are always good.
'...Did you receive the Spirit by the works of law, or by hearing of faith?'.
Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect
by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain - if indeed it was in
vain?'
Galatians 3:3-5
A friend of mine just came back from a trip to Mount Wudang in China. It seems
that it is now possible to spend a few days up in this once forbidden grounds to
meditate as well as learn some fine Tai Chi moves for a fee. Guess even Shaolin
Temple has gone commercial, so why not Wudang?
As a determined follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, we desire to be refined, to
be transformed from the carnal man to the spiritual man, for God is Spirit. And
much as the Spirit of God resides in the hearts of us the believers, as the
Spirit of God leads, are we prepared to climb the mountain of faith and be
ambivalent when descending down the valley of despair?
This is quite unlike the swashbuckling tales of the Chinese "wuxia" or
pugilistic genre that I quite enjoy watching on television, where the heroes or
heroine after a period of intense honing of their
pugilistic skills, descend to the plains of mainstream life, from whichever
mountain their teacher is ensconced, ready to be all conquering,
'But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord. I say "You are my God." My times are in
Your hand...'
Psalm 31:14-15
'There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, but God is
faithful, Who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will
with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.'
1 Corinthians 10:13
Much as I have by the grace of God gone through the fire of refinements many
times over, and have gained a little more luster in my spirituality, I am far
from the spirit man that God desires me to be. My imperfections will continue to
surface at every test that God allows me to go through. Difference is, my
willingness to move from self to God is much more certain and the momentary
sense of hesitation is not allowed to sink any roots that will hold me back from
submitting to His will. I have matured in my spiritual growth because I have
learned to be willing when I am clear about the Lord's will. And I do know the
will of God, because His Spirit will impress upon my heart that has learned to
be sensitive to His prompting, for I am determined to stay in His presence
always.
'Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her; for she is life.'
Proverbs 4:13
As I close this sharing, I am reminded and also like to remind you my brothers
and sisters in Christ to take time to be with our Lord and this need not have to
be in a mountain retreat.
And when you sense His calling, to take time to let His Spirit clarify that
calling. And to respond in faith, much as doubts might set in not as to what we know as His will, but our sense of inadequacy of meeting God's expectations or even our questioning the rational f that call from God. God understands our human frailty. His only expectation from us is not what we can do, but are we willing to obey and He will give us that peace of heart immediately, much as we might not get the conclusion that we are looking for, for all things are at God's timing and in His way.
'Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.'
Psalm 119:105
Peace is what man desires and seeks. And peace is what God gives to all who seek
Him, wherever we are, if we are willing to come unto His presence. And God often
imbue that peace in us through His affirmation through "coincidences," and let
me just share two more snippets of His hands at work.
The hymn right after the above two hymns is my favorite "Sois la Semilla" This
was the theme song of my baptism class and also the name of my first small
group. I am reminded truly how from a small seedling
of faith all of us were when we first believed, God will nurture and bring us
forth. But we must be willing to believe in Him as Abraham did.
And I was just at the supermarket this evening. And after almost 12 long years,
I bumped into a couple, friends whom I have not met for that long, but just
happened to see their photos in this morning's newspaper. If life is one of
coincidences, than truly we better be fully honed in our skills to cope with the
unexpected.
But life is a tapestry of God's handiwork and truly we must learn to trust in
His grace and obey as He leads. And our faith is a continued process of refinement till Christ takes us home, but can we be the lamp that the light of God shines forth into the darkness of this world?
'But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more
unto the perfect day.'
Proverbs 4:18
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
When His Spirit affirms
'Then said I, Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the
Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall
send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
Be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the
Lord.'
Jeremiah 1:7-8
Not too sure if anyone detected a longer gap of silence since my last sharing
"back to school.' It might not be a bad thing for deluge of words, even if with
good intentions can be overwhelming. I was not up in some mountain retreat but
close. The word that our good Lord gave me this year was to "pace it" and the
two weeks break might not have improved my writings significantly, but may the
words and thoughts shared be truly reflective of the will of God for you. And
God is also prescient as to His timing and ways, and this verse from Jeremiah
1:7-8 which He lead me to this morning, as I prepared to complete this message
mirrors the opening verse above from Matthew 10:19-20 and indeed it is a
reminder and assurance that we never walk alone and all grace are from our Lord
and all glory is to Him.
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