Dear…
'He saith unto him the third time, Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou me?' Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? and he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him. Feed my sheep.'
John 21:17
Isaiah was the Book from the Bible that I had wanted to open this sharing with. But for the world of me, I cannot remember which specific verse I wanted to reference to. But thanks be to God, He still will make things right for a desirous heart. The “I” letter has lately been ingrained in my thought process. Just over dinner on Saturday, a friend shared about how one can buy a much cheaper “Iped” from China, if one can forgive not just the incorrect spelling for “Ipad” but is inclined to see it self destruct within a couple of months. And much as the Spirit of God is leading me to share about the idiosyncrasies of the letter “I,” He also affirms and lo and behold, a book that I had just received from the Trinity Theological College has its entire focus on the IT(Internet Technology) generation and today’s newspaper published a result of a study that showed that the Ipad, Iphone and Itouch dominate the bulk of non commercial internet traffic.
I wonder where I am wandering to with these thoughts and may what is shared today be truly in tune with the leading of the Holy Spirit.
‘Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath the world’s goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how doth the love of God abide in him? My Little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.’
1 John 3:16-18
This will be one sharing in all brevity? But the verse used is a little longer than normal, for 1 John 3:19-24 is the verse our good Lord deeply impressed upon my heart this past few days. Be careful what you ask for, for God will answer our prayers asked in His will, and the reticence is not because we do not like answered prayers, but rather, the timing and form that God answers our prayers can often be radically different from our finite intent. God often looks for not just words from us, but a heart that is willing to join Him as He works in the life of others whom we have been praying for. And that response from us will often bring us out of our comfort zone, for only in our weakness will we see the grace of God in His full power and glory.
‘Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before him: because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; and whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight…’
1 John 3:19-22
In my prayerful response to the leading of the Holy Spirit this past one year, I have asked that He teach me to response to His leading to invest in His Kingdom, rather than in the riches of this world. God has indeed answered my prayers to be not just an encourager in words, but as a “plank” in works, and has given me increasing opportunities to lead the sheep in faith through the chasm. And often, for many of us, the question arises as to "if we not just heard Him right, but are we doing it right His way?"
Time in the presence of our Lord, in words, in praise and in works will ensure that the spirit man in us will strive to live out the fruits of the Spirit and we will be able to sense any deviation from His will. And God will affirm a decision made, that step of faith, often with that peace of heart that no human rational can attain.
‘And this is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as He gave us commandment. And he that keepeth His commandments abideth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He gave us.’
1 John 3:23-24
For indeed, all of us who are blessed to have the blindness lifted in our hearts are called upon to shepherd many more Whom God will touch. And the Spirit of God, Whom Christ our Chief Shepherd has sent in His place, Who resides in our hearts, will lead us and provide for us well, if we are willing.
And in closing, what are the three attributes(lesson learn from my Bible Online course) that the Lord will imbue in us if we are willing to shepherd His sheep
- Richness of a life lived in intimacy with our Lord. Riches the sinful world looks for, but richness of life is what God will bless us with, and it is quite myopic to define our relationship with God on the basis of material wealth, for to do so is to limit ourselves from enjoying the abundance of life that God wants to bless us with when we learn to look at Him our Provider, and not His provisions.
- Authenticity of our daily living. The world must see Christ in us, and no words can replace the countenance of a life lived in the presence of our Lord. And if our loved ones can see the miracle of changes in our idiosyncrasies that few believe is humanly possible, than they will be more receptive to looking in the same direction to the Lord our God.
- Look from the perspective of God. “Third eye” I am not sure it applies to Christians. But what applies to all of us is the learning to let go and let God. Only when we begin to learn to look at all issues from God’s perspective will we no longer be burdened by our own limitations nor be weighed down by the burdensome world. Just yesterday, I made a new acquaintance, an older and much more successful person in the corporate world. He found it quite disbelieving when I told him I was happy wherever I am and I found it quite sad to see a clearly harassed, overworked, well paid person but clearly tired out and sickly looking individual. Indeed the Lord our God cries out to His sheep.
The letter “I” that is attached to the descriptive tag for the many popular Apple products is not just hip sounding, but it characterizes the sense of individualism that has now come to mark the self centered attitudes of our society. But if one were to add the word “shepherd” next to the “I,” does it not bring us to a different perspective. An affirmative statement of one’s willingness to look after the interest of others or is it still for many fence sitting Christians, the equivalent of an incredulous,"what me Lord, cannot it be someone else or some other time?"
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God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(30th June 2011)
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