#66 Running the race (30th Aug 2011)

Dear…

‘I have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes always, even unto the end.’

Psalm 119:112

Every morning, when sleep slinks away as dawn sets in, my first thoughts are what would be God’s will for me today, and my first prayers are that His grace will enable me to do it well. This desire to put God first is not just a good habit to start the day, but I urge all to make it your imperative. But much as I have got the priorities right(as in Psalm 119:112) in theory, have I in my daily living, truly believed and trusted the leading of the Holy Spirit enough to follow with my all, always?

‘Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.’

Philippians 1:6

Steadfast I must confess sometimes I am not. My excuse, we are only human and to boot imperfect. And as the Bible states, we wrestle against principalities and powers greater than us human form. Adam and Eve had the same excuse, which was not tenable as the Spirit of God was in them, but they chose to disobey.

Today, for us who believe, the Spirit of God has returned and resides in our hearts. There is no excuse for us not to know the will of God and no reason we cannot overcome by resting upon His leading. Issue is, the carnal us are unwilling to submit to the will of God, and rather choose to deal with issues from our finite understanding.

But God remains faithful, much as we often are not. And just last Saturday, I was reminded of His grace and ever presence in my life. A public service bus came barreling onto the back of my stationary car(see picture below), much as the driver should have ample time to stop. Poor guy, he was distracted and apologetic and showed real concern for my kids who were seated at the back seat of the car. Other than two gashes upon my already less than pretty car, thankfully there was no bodily or emotional harm to any of us. A non believer friend of mine when he heard about the accident said that I was unlucky. On the contrary, I count myself very blessed that the accident was not more serious and am thankful not just for that, but that the perpetrator was a decent man who just happened to be distracted.

‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.’

Philippians 1:21

The need for self preservation runs in the psyche of all of us. And that instinct has often been the justification for the gamut of human indiscretions and follies. But is this self survival mode natural to us or in reality, it came about because of Adam and Eve’s act of disobedience?

The fear of mortal death still lingers over me like an unwanted specter. But by the enabling grace of God, the imperfect me has increasingly learn to look to His Sovereignty and that has allowed me to give less credence to the grip of death and its puppeteer, the devil upon my very being. Why mention this now? This latest bus accident reminded me of the whole litany of “what ifs incidents” that I have had the privilege to encounter in my half century in this difficult world. And truth is that we can be snuffed out in one split second with no willing participation on our part. While not in the same league as Apostle Paul, who has been shipwrecked, bitten by deadly snakes, beaten and thrown into prison and many more travails for the glory of God, I am sure all of us have “near misses” in our lives that thankfully was ingrained in our memory but not left us in memoriam.

I have been robbed twice, had a near loss of life twice over, once through drowning, the other as an amateur circus wannabe hanging out from the flung open emergency door of an old school bus staring into a headlights of a fast approaching taxi. I did not see the light of God then, but did felt a sense of peace. And not counting a professional executed slide on an oil slick and two incidents with the behemoths of our public transport, including the most recent. And if this little history is considered paltry compared to some, at least I had a couple of glass shattering events to enhance my record!!

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‘Holding fast the Word of life.’

Philippians 2:16

Would we rather hold on to what is a temporal life or should we not cling on to the Lord our God for eternity?

Seems an obvious choice yet why are many including professed Christians so oblivious to the fact that they are still very much of the world, with nay an interest in the leading of the Holy Spirit nor in the Word of our Lord?

We do not work for our salvation, but we must work on our salvation.

I am thankful that our good Lord gave me time once again to not just serve Him on earth, but more importantly, to make right what I might not have lived right in this present world. In the race of life that I am running(and you too), much as I by the grace of God has been recalibrated onto the right path, with our Lord Jesus Christ as my focus, and while I might not have the compound eyes of a housefly, my heart do often wander off and I run the race less well than the Lord knows that I am capable of. And till He brings me home, He is giving me and you time to walk or rather run right in His will.

“Running the race” was the second series in this ministry of Words, that I embarked on back in July 2008, in response to the Spirit’s on this sense of urgency as End Times intensifies(see link http://hieang.blogspot.com/2008/07/running-race1-from-ashes-16th-jul-08.html )

‘Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.’

Philippians 2:4-5

“Fissure” was the thought that came to my mind as one reads the result of the just concluded presidential election in Singapore. The faultlines are in place, if the voting patterns are any indication. And it will get deeper if all of us continue to judge at issues from our perspective, no matter how right we think we might be. And we are not just the Antioch of the East, many have equated us as the Israel of the East. Is this correct, only the Lord knows. But unity of Spirit is what the Lord wants in His family, unity of country especially a small country is essential for her survival.

As a nation, we have been blessed with good leaders and hardworking forefathers. We have run the race well, but will we continue to do so in the future?

I was also reminded of the prophesy that Rev Francis Khoo of Covenant Vision Center shared from the thoughts that the Spirit of God impressed upon his heart at the tail end of last year( see link http://www.covenantvision.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=268&Itemid=81) And about a prosperous city yet with great disparity in wealth, and despair amongst the have not, and disregard amidst the carnal revelry amongst the haves. And much as many continue in their lusts, not realizing the ominous clouds forming in the horizon.

A friend told me that he heard this thought that the next major financial crisis in the world will start from Singapore. Is this possible? We might have great aspirations(based on our many attempts to garner a quote in the Guinness Book of World Records), but reality is a dot is a dot. Yet, the world’s largess has increasingly come to us like never before due to geopolitics and the changing regulatory environment. It is also a growing trend where the purveyors of the world’s monetary liquidity, the hedge funds, are housing their operations in friendly Singapore. Something to be mindful of.

As Singaporeans, it is good to remind ourselves of what is the focus of our race? As Christians, it is imperative to remind ourselves that Christ is the author and finisher of our life. Are many of us moving off tandem?

Healing starts when we allow the Spirit of God to transform us. Fissures deepens when we seek to change others, be it through the political process or otherwise, instead of letting God do His work. We must no longer be self centered, but Christ centered. And in doing that, we will experience the joy of a self surrender to God, and to a willingness to look after the needs of others, and that is the race of a Christ focused life that all who proclaim to be Christians must run. For Christ is the author and finisher of our faith.

Rgds and God Blesses

Eng Hieang

(29th Aug 2011)

#65 In Spirit and Truth Curry flavor (24th Aug 2011)

Dear…

‘For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.’

Proverbs 4:17

“Curry” is a hot topic in Singapore lately, and it does help spice up the ongoing presidential elections. Think about it, with all four candidates with the common surname “Tan,” might be easier for food loving Singaporeans to tick the right ballot box correctly if they each ascribe a curry dish to their surname. Be it fish head curry, chicken curry, Thai green curry or good old Assam fish head(not really curry, but matters not) or even SanTan("coconut milk).

For my friends from HK and overseas, just in case you are wondering what is the fuss over “curry,” it is the latest symbol of local Singaporean’s resistance to this “foreign invasion” into our little red dot. Come to think about it, my grandparents including my mum were also once foreigners, except they ate Hokkien mee and char siew bao rather than Xiao Long Bao.

(see this link a dear friend sent me on Mr Brown, our resident comic commentator’s tale on the curry war

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhLozqBqPMk)

‘…How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.’

Matthew 23:37

The Kingdom of God is a sharp contrast to our present world. It is the only ‘place’ where all are welcome with no pre-qualifications including culinary preferences. God wants you in His presence, if you are willing to come unto His presence.

Singapore is a blessed land. We are at developed status and inevitably, we will be a magnet to new immigrants looking for a better life. Our forefathers did the same and should we now deprive this new generation of hopefuls? On a secular argument, it is always a moot point for all of us regardless of the spectrum of thoughts will start flawed and have traces of bigotry in us, Christian or not, for we all descend from Adam, the first disobedient man.

‘Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.’

Matthew 5:14

Indeed Singapore was founded on a hill, Fort Canning, where the Prince of Palembang, Sang Ni La Utama had his residence when he stumbled into our blessed land, long before Sir Stamford Raffles. But are we like the salt of the earth that have lost its savor, because we have become too enamored with God’s provisions and plain forgotten about our Provider?

It will be good to take time and hear the Lord’s perspective and respond to His will accordingly?

Singapore is the “Antioch of the East,” and small as we are, the Christian population in Singapore has been active in mission or in funding missionaries globally. But are we truly living to the full potential that God has blessed us with? And is God now bringing the harvest to us with this great surge of foreigners(easily a quarter to a third of our permanent population)? It can be disconcerting as has been for all of us, yet, will it not be good to remember the command of God, which is not just to seek Him with our all, but to love our neighbors as ourselves(Luke 10:27-29)

Mulligatawny, is a curry-flavored soup of Anglo-Indian origin made with meat stock that the old British colonials use to favor as a soup. Not just quite unpronounceable but at least for me not the most palatable. The aroma of curry does pleases me, but to have that lingering smell hovering around one's abode perpetually is understandably not the most pleasing.

But it would be pleasing to our Lord if we could by the way we live and speak, exude the fragrance of God’s love wherever He places us. An aroma that is so pleasing that many will want to know the reason for your faith, and take that first step into the presence of our Lord.

‘…Because God chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.’

2 Thessalonians 2:13

It is God Who will bring about the increase, that belief in your heart when His Spirit resides in the believer, but it is us He will use to encourage non believers to come unto His presence to receive the sanctifying presence of His Spirit.

‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world but ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that is good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.’

Romans 12:2

It is God Who will now bring about not just a belief in one’s heart, but a renewal of the mind that will be transformed from the sinful Adamic understanding, to a mind that is in line with the will of God, a mind that fully knows the experiential truth of God’s will and is willing to believe and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading.

It is again us the believers whom God will use to journey with others as they move from heart belief to a total experiential transformation of the once carnal mind.

These last two paragraphs is an explanation I just shared with a friend on what “Spirit and Truth” meant for me.

It is not a theological discovery but rather a personal understanding that prayerfully will guide you even as the Spirit of God teaches you on the truths that God wants us to know and respond to.

And on truths, God will shake the world as man continues to sin even more. This morning’s earthquake near Washington and its tremors right down the US East Coast including New York is new yet not unexpected. There is no place for men to hide except in the shelter of our loving Father. The recent legalizing of same sex marriage in New York and the continued web of lies emanating from Washington as they flood the world with even more paper dollars are just part of the continued move of disobedience that man have chosen to perpetuate.

Will the curry pot boil(“our world”) over as the heat of carnality in man intensifies, as more sins are thrown into this beleaguered world of ours? Only the Lord knows. It is good to ponder upon the implications should a major earthquake ever destroy both the seats of power(Washington) of the remaining Empire in our present world as well as the monies(New York) that fund this empire. Will that be the impetus for the ugly head of stagflation to fully rear itself, or will it need the accompaniment of an oil crisis in the Middle East to help this hydra monster roll itself out of its slumber?

It is imperative for us all to reexamine our lives till now, has it mirrored the will of God?

‘Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life.’

Luke 12:22

But rather, if Christ is not the center of your life, where will you be in eternity?

God Blesses

Eng Hieang

(24th Aug 2011)

In Spirit and Truth #64 Age of lawlessness (20th Aug 2011)

Dear..

‘I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.’
Acts 9:1-9

The rating agency S&P downgraded US Sovereign risk to AA from AAA and the markets went berserk like lemmings over the cliff. One day later and the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke sheepishly indicated that the US interest rates will be kept low for the next two years, and the same lemmings try to do a kangaroo jump from the deep ravine that they so willingly entered a day earlier.

“When the truth dawns” was the intended title for this sharing. Man plans, God directs and the theme “The age of lawlessness” was deeply impressed upon my being and so here goes as the Spirit of our good Lord leads.

To be in step with the Holy Spirit, that is the command from God.

This morning, the Financial Times wrote about the possibility of the Swiss Central Bank pegging the surging Swiss Franc to the moribund Eurodollar, to try to stem the incessant flight to safety from the Eurodollar to the Swiss Franc. The thought just struck me. Is this the beginnings of the entry of the fiercely independent Swiss, whose Cantons are technically states within a State into the embrace of Mother Europe? “One Europe” is possibly coalescing into a reality with the independent holdouts like the Republic of Ireland, and eventually UK and Norway needing the protective embrace of a bigger ship in Mother Europe from the ramifications of the subprime crisis and its ongoing sequel or in Norway’s case, from the oil rush in the thawing Arctic. And if matters play out, Germany will finally get to rule Continental Europe including their arch nemesis, the dogged British, where their predecessors, Hitler’s Nazi Germany failed?

‘For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.’
1 Thessalonians 5:3

The thoughts above were written about a week ago. Since then I have been to Bangkok and back. And of course, the wealth destruction in the equity markets, after a temporary respite has resumed and gold continue its upward thrust. Where is the world heading some of us might want to fathom a guess? But what truly matters is we know that God is Sovereign, and Christ is Whom we must look to and be like. And God commands us to buy gold as in our character as refined by Him. To be able to stand firm upon Christ our rock, much as the world will intensify in its shaking.

‘….God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.’
2 Thessalonians 2:13

In June last year, the Lord brought me to start a new series entitled “In Spirit and Truth.” And it has been over a year since. I have in all my imperfections, faithfully wrote as He leads on the thoughts He has placed in my heart. Today, our Lord has clarified for me and possibly for some of you, the significance of this term “In Spirit and Truth.”

“2 Thessalonians 2:13” was the verse that spoke to me as I spent time with the Lord in my room at the Hyatt Erawan. This hotel, much as it takes its namesake from the Erawan Wat, a shrine that many of the non believing world flocks to for divine guidance and intervention, is interestingly where God chooses to lift the veil in my heart a decade back, and continues to be one place where He clarifies and guides me in my journey with Him since.

Knowledge is power, for that is what the world believes in and aspires to. It has its grounding in the disobedience act of Adam and Eve taking a bite of the forbidden fruit of knowledge. Our sins have not just been forgiven by the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, but with the resurrected Christ, we are no longer under the bondage of death and the delusion of the devil. What remains then is a willing response on our part to step unto the presence of the Lord our God, for only then, will we receive the faith needed to keep us steady, even as the Lord transforms us, much as the devil will try to claw you back into its fold.

I know all of us who first believed have felt this peace and joy. This sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit who resides in the hearts of believers. And I am sure that we continue to experience this enabling grace whenever we take time to quiet our hearts and be with the Lord. But sadly for many, this is rare for you are rarely with the Lord.

“It takes two” that used to be the opening line in the song that the toothy twosome, Donnie and Marie Osmond used to open their show with. We are not partners with the Lord, but we must be willing to not just come unto His presence to receive the enabling grace of the Holy Spirit, but be willing to believe and live in response. This is the “truth” portion of the term “In Spirit and Truth.” For only in responding will we experience the truth of the Word of God, will we be willing to let go and let Him transform us.

‘And for this strong cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.’
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12

Delusion has been with humanity since the sinful Adam. It is just that the intensity and scale seem to have been ratchet up these past decade. And much as the world wants to believe in the delusions, deep in their hearts is this sense of unease that is now being translated into the lemming like behavior in not just the financial markets, but in the real economy, where businesses are buffeted with changes that are too dynamic for their comfort.

‘Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.’
Hebrews 12:26

Time out from one’s daily routine has always been insightful for me, for it does give one time to be reflective, but more importantly to be still and know the will of our Lord.

'For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work: only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming...'
2 Thessalonians 2:7-8

Let me close by sharing a few observations(previously shared but now expanded upon) that while open to different interpretations, at least for me does point to “bigger things” to come. From delusion on a massive scale, the devil now has moved forth to expand into the arc of lawlessness as it encircles its grip on the world. But it matters not, for God is with us who seek Him with our all.

- A deeper debt quagmire
Extreme austerity measures and strong economic growth are necessary to pull the indebted Western economies out of the debt quagmire. Yet, the political will is not there. And increasingly, it looks like the lost two decades of a Japan like anemic growth is being replicated in the Western world. And as nations move to raise revenue, they are compounding the level of personal debt with countries increasingly looking at casinos and online gaming as a source of revenue. Indeed, a delightful way as the devil will wryly put it, to enslave the masses into a life of servitude.

- Great social divide
Is the UK riots a once off or a harbinger of the manifestation of the destitute moving from despondency to retaliation? The latest Business Week has on its cover, the title "Fascist Russia." Is xenophobia and white supremacy the route that many restless and angry youths will take and be harnessed no better than that of the youths of Nazi Germany? Difference is unlike the past, the web is now a potent and powerful force that has made impotent institutions of stability like the government and the police.

- The Middle East stirs.
The recent bus attack at the Israel/Egypt border portends greater troubles ahead for the Middle East. With its few friends now moving to potential enemies(secular Turkey to Islamic Turkey and dreams of a resurrected Ottoman Empire, with Egypt moving closer to the Islamic brotherhood, and with Jordan recently co-opted into the Gulf States, the latter historically bankrolling past Israel/Arab wars) and worse, an Israel that is morally corrupt and disunited, the days of a Middle East conflagration since the last one, the Yom Kippur war in 1978, seems distinctly nearer. And with the Arab Spring, the Syrians, the Libyans and a whole litany of traditional enemies of Israel would serve to have a diversion of a war to distract and unite their restless populace.

- The devil’s brew
If we believe that the devil is the ruler of our delusory world, it is natural that it would continue to keep the world intoxicated. And crude oil prices though in retreat from the global economic slowdown, is still on the high side. And studies have shown that as a proportion to GDP, crude oil prices are near the critical level beyond it, global economies will enter into recession. Admiral Mullen, the US military chief , when queried by Congress, stated that the US economy was the greatest threat to the nation's well being. Iran and presumably Putin would have cocked their ears, for any conflict in the Middle East will definitely cause oil price to take off from its present high levels, and oil being the life stream of the global economy, will kill off any hopes of the stuttering global economy ever recovering in the short to medium term. And with it, stagflation will rear its ugly head.

Much as I love to postulate and often find myself dangerously moving towards the edge of sinful man defined predictions, what matters is not the future, for only the Lord knows and He is in control. What truly matters is the need for a response from us all, to examine our life till now, and ask ourselves, if God is truly Whom we profess to believe in, is it not time to seek Him with our all? And not the inanimate man made idols that many take to be their refuge, be it yellow gold, or the peckish Swiss franc and our own pallor Singapore dollars?

'If you love Me, keep My commandments.....I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you.'
John 14:15-18

God Blesses

Eng Hieang
(20th Aug 2011)

In Spirit and Truth #63 All that is brittle (8th Aug 2011)

Dear...

‘More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.’
Psalm 19:10

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Much as I know the will of God much better now, I must confess that I am still far from a man of complete faith in my response. Belief, is the bridge that will bring us across to the life that God wants us to live, away from the finite man we are. But it is a bridge that is like those we see in the Indiana Jones movies, a swinging rope type bridge that sways not just with the elements, but our own tentative fearful steps, as we walk across the deep chasm.

Gold is what attracts most today. Just a couple of days back, I finally brought home a half oz gold coin for my son, a co investor in this golden endeavor, to chew on. Either he has watched too many B grade movies or his distrust of governments have translated into that for his dear old dad as well, for he wanted to bite on the gold coin to test its hardness and prayerfully, intrinsic content to ensure that it is not a gold colored chocolate.
Hard to fault him on his lesser faith, given that this was a kangaroo half oz from Australia, and the poor marsupial has lent its namesake to one too many scams. And not forgetting that once true blue governments are a lot less trustworthy than normal.

‘A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.’
Proverbs 16:9

Some might have remembered I shared about my near moment of madness in almost committing to a very expensive apartment back in Jan this year. And as a dutiful believer, I did ask God for a few brief seconds as to the correctness of the decision, and felt the peace, though on hindsight, it was more an adrenalin rush in the head that make me giddy, rather than genuine peace of the heart. But God knows our limits, and as shared in the previous sharing, He will divinely intervene to keep us safe from temptations including ourselves. And having been shaken out of my delusion that morning, our good Lord impressed upon my heart, the same night, this deep sense on the need to prepare for an “oil shock.”

‘They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed, their silver and their gold shall not deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord….’
Ezekiel 7:19

It has been seven months since that heady day. And on reflection the only two things that I felt was the appropriate response to the Spirit's leading to this coming “oil shock,” turned out to be right. And every other investments that I have made since based on my own understanding have been off the mark.

Buying paper gold(something I have not done since my last purchase of physical gold at usd750/oz in response to the Spirit’s leading 3 years earlier) and shorting the S&P stock index(taking a view that the US stock markets will fall significantly) was the responses I took, not entirely illogical but definitely not what I would have done at that point in Jan 2011, if based on my own understanding.

If you sense that I am moving to the “prosperity message” then you are only quarter right. I believe God will prosper the faithful, but not in the narrow definition of what many a misguided flock have been led awry on. It is richness of a life lived walking in faith with our Lord in all circumstances, and not the riches of a worldly life (that brings with it the angst and destruction of one’s soul that the devil tried to lure our Lord Jesus Christ with) that God will bless the willing with.

God knows our needs in this difficult world, and He will and has provided. And for those who are willing to be used by Him to shepherd the flock, He will more than provide us with the means, but are you using well what He has has blessed you with? Monies does help to move things in this sinful world, but the means of achieving it and dispensing it must be led by the Lord and not in co-partnership with us. We are the instrument that the Lord uses, but we are not the co-driver, much as we often like to believe so.

'For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God....'
1 Corinthians 3:19

Is this a correct conclusion? That we move only when the Spirit moves us, and not otherwise? It is very difficult for all of us, who have this fruit of the knowledge imbibed in us, thanks to the sinful Adam. I struggle often and being in the business of financial investments, I guess I am a little more regularly exposed to the twin fork roads of decision making, than most. And to be honest, like Jacob the shrewd and worldly man, I often wrestle with the Lord and the logic of His ways, much as I know His will.

‘He must increase, but I must decrease’
John 3:30

Gold today reached a high of US$1707/oz. This was just past the level that I felt God impressed upon me a couple of months back as the level to sell. Madness it might seem to many including professed Christians. Does God really speak with such precision? I have come to learn that He does show us clearly His will at His timing, not at our asking. Question and struggle for me has always been the willingness to response in total belief and obedience. Am I prepared to put aside my wisdom and do as the Lord leads, much as it might not seem logical?

I sold my gold at US$1620/oz exactly a week ago, after a momentous struggle to hang on. Once again, I have disobeyed, and have deprived others whom God want me to bless with these provisions because of my imperfect and brittle faith.

‘But He knows the way that I take,, when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.’
Job 23:10

Where are the financial markets heading? I might have some inkling. But that matters less. I believe that God has shown me the level to take the profit on my short S&P. It is another 11.6% further fall in the market.
Does this make me sound like that those false prophets that appear with daily regularity in the financial news? If it is so, I am afraid you will be disappointed for I really have no idea. But I do know the impressions that God has placed upon my heart and till He shows me otherwise, I must obey and this is the level that I have placed to take out my present position.

‘More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.’
Psalm 19:10

And here lies the key point that many of us missed. God will use anointed man of faith to speak to us. However, our relationship with Him is an unique and personal one, and such pointers are to help encourage us to look towards Him, as He transforms us. And as to God’s specific approach to refine us in His likeness, only He knows and He will show you and it is God we must look to and not man, no matter how anointed they are.

'...Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.'
Hebrews 12:26-27


Man look for riches of the world and hanker after brittle gold in such times of insecurity.
God wants to give us a richness of life grounded upon our Lord Jesus Christ, that will be unshakable regardless of circumstances. This is the gold as refined by God that we must seek to buy, as the End Times intensify. And the world around us will shake even more, be it the beginnings of collapses of countries, in an intensity and magnitude that will be greater than that experienced during the sub prime crisis when collapses were at the corporate level. The world will not come to an end till Christ returns, but it will be an increasingly unbearable and uncertain world that we are living in.

'Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever.'
Hebrews 13:8

'For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.'
1 Corinthians 13:8

The imperfect me is still learning to follow in total obedience, much as I have come to know His will. God is faithful. Just as I was doing my quiet time this evening, He brought me to lesson number 15 "The sure thing" in my course "The Heart of the Shepherd." The author shared about her own act of disobedience much as she knew without doubt, the instructions God has given her. Yet, God remains faithful much as she erred. But with a heart that in all her imperfections still seek after the Lord, she did not allow sin to creep in too long and in her repentance, God provided and her faith grew. This is what I am going through now as shared today, and this might be what many of you who love the Lord are going through. And for those who have not embarked on this journey to seek our Lord with your all, time is short and the need to "buy gold" as in our imperfect character being refined by God is of the utmost urgency, for the storms are fast building up, and no one can stand steadfast unless our Lord Jesus Christ is their foundation.

'But he that heareth and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth, against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell and the ruin of that house was great.'
Luke 6:49

God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(8th Aug 2011)

In Spirit and Truth #62 Shanghaied (3rd Aug 2011)

Dear…
‘Where I am, there you may be also.’
John 14:3

“Awakened by a close friend,” this was the headline reading for yesterday’s Daily Bread devotion(2nd Aug 2011).

Awakened rudely I was yesterday morning, by the piercing shrill of my house alarm, which was triggered for reasons till now unexplained. God is Sovereign, and in all circumstances, He has His purpose, and it will do us well to always take time to give ear to His promptings.

With the mind now no longer in a state of stupor, I decided that instead of plunging backing into bed, it was better to take time to enter unto the presence of our Lord. And in doing so, indeed God had a message for me. He wanted to remind me that I have plain forgotten about the prayer meeting later that morning. And quite embarrassing for in my 9 years of serving the Lord as a coordinator in the prayer ministry, I have never forgotten a meeting.

‘The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.’
2 Peter 2:9

Last Wednesday I was in torrid Shanghai for a meeting. And after dinner, six of us from the office entered the hotel lift, where a local lady was already waiting patiently, while we sauntered in. The lift works on a card system to restrict access only to hotel guests. Anyway, I was the first one out of the lift, as my room was at the lowest level, and just as I was about to enter my room, I heard the voice of the female who was till recently, in that same lift, making an interesting proposition to me. My carnal desires are still very alive, but by the enabling grace of God, it was a little slow to activate, but the spirit man in me was quicker off the mark to categorically reject the offer of paid companionship. And with the wisdom that God gives me, upon entering the safety of my room, I called the wife to alert her on her potential competitor and with that call, any hope of my mind changing my mind, was now no longer possible, now that the accountability bar has been raised.

‘Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts.”
2 Peter 3:3

The last days are indeed upon us. In the midst of the false vigor in our global economy, lies many a downtrodden with no hope of employment. And amongst the gainfully employed , are many who are weighed down by the demands of work and the deep sense of insecurity with their jobs. The harvest is indeed great and if not for the grace of God, any succumbing to my innate lusts would have deprived me of this privilege relationship with our great God.

And indeed God affirmed the next day when He provided me an opportunity to minister and testify to His love with a dear friend. Had I sinned, I know I will not be able to be used by the Lord.

‘If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us.’
1 John 1:10

“Shanghaied” was the title that God placed in my heart just before my trip to Shanghai last week. Never did I imagine that the devil almost “shanghaied” me in my determined journey of faith with our Lord. The word “shanghaied” is defined as the enrolling of a sailor for the crew of a ship by unscrupulous means, as by force or the use of liquor of drugs and in this case, lusts.

It was understandable that in the days of old, much as the world was no longer perceived to be flat, where ships will totter over into the chasm, living conditions was not great and no good man of right mind will want to be a sailor. But what has “shanghaied” got to do with our spiritual journey?

‘For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?’
1 John 5:4-5

Much as I have professed and indeed seek to live a life that will honor God His way, I know that my carnal self is still very much alive and the devil is like the lion always waiting for an opportunity to pounce upon my weakness. This is the reality of the fallen world we live in till Christ return.

‘Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever, Amen.’
Jude 24-25

Yet, in recent months, I have been reminded and is even more cognizant that indeed God is Sovereign and much as the devil might delude itself, the victory of the cross is a fact. And more importantly, God will and has divinely intervene in my life many times over to ensure that sin is not allowed to creep back.

‘As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.’
Joshua 1:5

The Daily Bread has been a wonderful companion that God used to teach and assure me of His presence since I took that tentative step of faith back into His fold in 1998. And I am touched that our Lord chose to use today’s reading(3rd Aug 2011) to complete and affirm these thoughts that He has placed in my heart in share with all of you.

That He is indeed with us always. And as the author of today’s Daily Bread devotion so succinctly put it “When we are doing God’s will, He will be with us even without our asking…”

Do take time to ponder upon the reason for the “absentee God” in your life. Is it not true that God is never the sole focus of your life, nor do you give much thought to His will, when you are too engrossed with your own will?

A decade back, God brought me into the path that He has long laid for me. A path that I never believed existed because like most, I was backward looking, thanking God only after the fact. Today, in my "Heart of the Shepherd" study, the lesson reminded us all that Abraham, a man of faith was forward looking. He went to Where God leads Him, always looking to Him and not upon his own understanding nor circumstances.

I moved from believer to follower that night in Bangkok a decade back, when by His enabling grace, I decided to thank Him for my circumstances much as the desired conclusion had not occurred. That one step of faith was the opening that God was looking for in my heart, and His Spirit sanctified and filled me up. Life has never been the same for me since.

And life will never be the same for you, if you are willing to take that step of faith, to thank God for all circumstances and go where He leads you.

'A man's heart deviseth his way but the Lord directeth his steps.'
Proverbs 16:9


Rgds and God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(3rd Aug 2011)