Dear..
'I was too troubled to speak. I thought about the former days, the years of long ago'
Psalm 77:4-5
The only thing troubling me today is the hot and humid weather, for while life is still full of troubles, time with God has ensured that the tentacles of troubles have very little grip upon those who know that God is Sovereign, and who knows God, because we seek Him.
'Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands.'
Psalm 78:7
Today's Sunday Times has an article on a very entrepreneurial gentleman in his 30s, who started an on-line tyre business, and one niche he served is the many damsels in distress, who needed a change of tyres for their four-wheelers. This same chap has aspirations for a life of ease and he thinks that $2mio cash in the bank, with home paid for and no debts is the gateway to nirvana.
I was like him once, and with the kids down with flu, I had a little time to do my own stocktake of my worth, in dollars and cents, and not as in the eyes of the beholder. A cusory examination of my past follies and what could also passed off as intelligent decisions then, would surely have sent me to the poor house.
But God is good. Even as i chose to ignore him the first 4 decades of my miserable life, He never left me adrift, and while Eve was not good for Adam, my wife was truly good to and for me, for without her, I would have moved off keel many times over.
'But they continued to sin against Him, rebelling in the desert against the Most High. They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved..'
Psalm 78:17-18
Life after 40, knowing and acknowledging the grace and love of God for me has been a bliss, even though life is not always a breeze. I have come out of the desert and prayerfully, the only desire in my life is to be holy, for God is holy. Needs I still have, but I know that God has and will provide, including lunch.
And so, if you care to read the same Sunday papers today, there is another article entitled "Food for thought.'
The writer talked about the joy of being able to move from what was a clinical lunch with an acquaintance to one of greater connectivity, when his lunch partner shared about her renewed spirtuality as a Catholic.
The writer thinks that he can no longer be a Catholic given his present lifestyle choice. As what alternatives it is, best for us to keep our guesses to ourselves, but God is everpresent and ever-ready to hold our hands, if only we are willing to turn to Him and away from the devil.
'I am the Lord, and there is no other.'
Isaiah 45:6
For me, the first 4 decades of my life was what should have not have been. But it matters not, for what is now is a life of joy and peace, for i no longer walked my own way and lived to regret it, and life is now one of thankfulness and joyous anticipation, as God brings me on a new yet not daunting route, for He is the same God, today, tomorrow and when Christ returns
'You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron'
Psalm 77:20
'O My people, hear My teaching.; listen to the words of My mouth.'
Psalm 78:1
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(11oct09)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, October 3, 2009
SundaySnippets#3 Stirring (4 Oct 09 Australian time)
Dear...
'Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee, Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee.' O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.'
Psalm 118:28-29
If you were in Manila this evening, will you not continue to wallow in the watery misery of the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana or will you look to the rain drenched sky and thank God for His mercy, in shifting at the last minute, the full brunt of the even more devastating super-typhoon Parma, away from you?
This is not yet Sunday in Singapore, though it is in the Antipodean countries. But there is this stirring in my heart, that I must put pen to paper, or more like fingers to the keyboard, to express the thoughts that the Lord our God is placing in my heart right this moment.
By now, the proof for the Sunday papers tomorrow should already have been set to go to print, and we will likely read more of the woes our neighbors are being subjected to, be it typhoon and floods in Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos and faraway Sicily - Italy, or the equally impactful earthquakes in Padang- Sumatra and Samoa. And not forgetting an almost a day new earthquake the past one week, in Gansu - China, California - USA
Are the stirring of the seismic plates a hint of things to come in the economic and social spectrum of global society?
'Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the Lord is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.......
This is what the Lord Almighty says: Babylon's thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the people exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations' labor is only fuel for flames.'
Jeremiah 51:55-58
Much as one's sinful self would love to stand on the high moral ground and castigate the sinful world on their impending doom or even possibly join David Letterman in the late night show to talk about the juicy details of his affairs of the heart, and while it is indeed about our heart, it is not about the flesh, but the spirit that must capture our full attention, like now.
Just as Babylon might be present day Iraq, and Israel the present homeland for the once Jewish diaspora. In a different context, Babylon is the sinful lifestyle we indulge in when God is no longer the centre of our heart and where we, believers or not, are all God's chosen people, choose not to follow Him, but rather like the disobedient Israelites of old, wandering in the desert, drinking in lustfully the mirages that the devil happily feed us.
'But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?'
John 11:37
Many of us believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, for you call yourself a Christian. But why are you still like the blind man, who though you have seen the grace of God, continue to harden your heart, knowing that eternal damnation awaits the disobedient?
Have you consigned to history that wonderful sense of joy and peace, when your heart and very being stirred in response to the sanctifying love of God?
Tomorrow's news in the Sunday papers will already be history by the time you read it. And would you rather be part of the future news should the shaking intensifies and you find yourself no longer a spectator but in the midst of the cauldron?
'Now this is what the Lord Almighty says, "give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little...'
Haggai 1:5
The good news of the gospel is ever fresh. And it remain valid till you meet God on judgement day
But will it be bad news or good news for you? Christ is the author and finisher of our faith, and if you are willing to be still, you will know God, for He is stirring in your heart.
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(Sat Oct 3rd Spore time)
'Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee, Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee.' O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.'
Psalm 118:28-29
If you were in Manila this evening, will you not continue to wallow in the watery misery of the aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana or will you look to the rain drenched sky and thank God for His mercy, in shifting at the last minute, the full brunt of the even more devastating super-typhoon Parma, away from you?
This is not yet Sunday in Singapore, though it is in the Antipodean countries. But there is this stirring in my heart, that I must put pen to paper, or more like fingers to the keyboard, to express the thoughts that the Lord our God is placing in my heart right this moment.
By now, the proof for the Sunday papers tomorrow should already have been set to go to print, and we will likely read more of the woes our neighbors are being subjected to, be it typhoon and floods in Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos and faraway Sicily - Italy, or the equally impactful earthquakes in Padang- Sumatra and Samoa. And not forgetting an almost a day new earthquake the past one week, in Gansu - China, California - USA
Are the stirring of the seismic plates a hint of things to come in the economic and social spectrum of global society?
'Waves of enemies will rage like great waters; the roar of their voices will resound. A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the Lord is a God of retribution; He will repay in full.......
This is what the Lord Almighty says: Babylon's thick wall will be leveled and her high gates set on fire; the people exhaust themselves for nothing, the nations' labor is only fuel for flames.'
Jeremiah 51:55-58
Much as one's sinful self would love to stand on the high moral ground and castigate the sinful world on their impending doom or even possibly join David Letterman in the late night show to talk about the juicy details of his affairs of the heart, and while it is indeed about our heart, it is not about the flesh, but the spirit that must capture our full attention, like now.
Just as Babylon might be present day Iraq, and Israel the present homeland for the once Jewish diaspora. In a different context, Babylon is the sinful lifestyle we indulge in when God is no longer the centre of our heart and where we, believers or not, are all God's chosen people, choose not to follow Him, but rather like the disobedient Israelites of old, wandering in the desert, drinking in lustfully the mirages that the devil happily feed us.
'But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?'
John 11:37
Many of us believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, for you call yourself a Christian. But why are you still like the blind man, who though you have seen the grace of God, continue to harden your heart, knowing that eternal damnation awaits the disobedient?
Have you consigned to history that wonderful sense of joy and peace, when your heart and very being stirred in response to the sanctifying love of God?
Tomorrow's news in the Sunday papers will already be history by the time you read it. And would you rather be part of the future news should the shaking intensifies and you find yourself no longer a spectator but in the midst of the cauldron?
'Now this is what the Lord Almighty says, "give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little...'
Haggai 1:5
The good news of the gospel is ever fresh. And it remain valid till you meet God on judgement day
But will it be bad news or good news for you? Christ is the author and finisher of our faith, and if you are willing to be still, you will know God, for He is stirring in your heart.
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
(Sat Oct 3rd Spore time)
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