The Paths less traveled#12 Illumine our hearts (26 Jan 2020)

Dear..

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;27

Wuhan, a place that most of us are not familiar with, is now ratcheted up in the keenly aware segment of many. Coronavirus is quite a mouthful compared to SARS, so in all likelihood, when this present moment of global fear is consigned to the backyard of oneś memories, as new distractions come to the forth, most will vaguely recall this episode as the Wuhan virus rather than the Coronavirus.

They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed but abideth for ever.
            Psalm 125:1

In all circumstances, God has a greater purpose. A friend with close connections in Wuhan told me that Wuhan is not just the thoroughfare of China, geography wise, it is also a vibrant base where Christianity flourishes.
Question is why did God allow Wuhan to be the focal point of this dreaded virus?

For it is time for judgment to begin with Godś household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
            1 Peter 4:17

Like the friends of Job, in times of oneś distress, most tend to put on their blinkered self righteous eyes, and conclude that the sufferings of the person in question must be due to their sinful ways. With social media, such judgmental pronouncements are quickly disseminated in graphic forms, and we get to see the perceived reasons for the present dilemma in Wuhan
- Eating bats cooked in broth and/or
- Eating snakes that ate the infected bats

My Spiritual mentors, Paul and Bunty Collins recently shared an insight as they addressed this same issue in the context of the ongoing great Australian bush fire. A regular fixture yet now in a new normal, where the fire now burns not just much earlier in the year, but with much greater intensity and breath. Literally an entire continent on fire.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
                2 Corinthians 5:10

The Collins reminded us that judgment from God comes when Christ returns. Till then, our sufferings be it the consequences of our own follies or a corrective use of the rod by our Lord, Godś intent is to bring us to our senses and save us from eternal damnation.

Will you agree with this prognosis if you are like the long suffering Job, in the midst of great distress and pain? It seems that you are being punished right now by the unseen God, or at least, He does not seem to be the loving God as professed in the Bible.
I am no theologian. But God gave me parents, and allowed me to be a parent. And as a child, while not too wayward, there are times my willful behavior had led to painful consequences of my own making, and much as my late beloved mum loved me, she had not spared the rod to correct me, to bring me back onto the right path.
The same I have done with my children, for short term pain for them, has important ramifications for their long term good.

Greta Thunberg wants the world leaders to do the necessary to save Mother Earth.
Steve Mnuchin in retort told her to go get an economics degree. I suspect, he is telling her to be realistic. Materialism extracts a necessary cost.
In short, to a large degree, we are often the cause of our own griefs.
If so, why does not the omnipresent and loving God intervene to save us from ourselves?

The Lord longs to be gracious to you.
             Isaiah 30:18

For those of us who are parents, most of us would long to be loving and gracious to our children. Yet, there are many atimes where that love is not reciprocated, nor accepted. The imperfect us translate that rejection into hurt, anger and wrath.
In the Old Testament, the recalcitrant Israelites have often experienced the wrath of God, but yet His forgiving love when they turned to Him in repentance.

With Christ today, God remains patient. He waits for us to repent and turn to Him, for He wants all, if not most to be saved.
Will the consequences of our own follies shake us out of our delusions and cause us to look to God?

The kingdom of God has come near to you. But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you.....I tell you on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.
             Luke 10:10-12

Australia, back in 2017, in a postal vote obtained a majority vote to sanction same sex marriage. Australia is often called the Lucky Country, and indeed she is blessed with  lovely coastal regions, and endowed with plentiful minerals in the harsh interior. The Aussies, at least a significant percentage have decided that there is no place for God our Creator in this wonderful set up.
Yet interestingly, New South Wales(NSW) was the most conservative state when it came to the vote. With only a marginal 57.8% voting yes compared to the above 60% for all other Aussie States.
Like Wuhan, why does God allow this seasonś bush fire to rage first in NSW rather than in the much more liberal places like Australian Capital Territory(ACT) with 74%?

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/gay-marriage/how-australia-voted-on-samesex-marriage/news-story/856052cb744b25f734d04c1714e202e7

China has done tremendously well in lifting in one generation, the material well being of her people. Increasingly, the need for control entails the consolidation of power in one man, and the subversion of anything that could potentially challenge that dominance.
And that is was decided that there is a need to place our Divine God under his control through an intense focus on creating  a Chinese Communist version of Christianity, with the Great Leader seated above God.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/13/china-christians-religious-persecution-translation-bible

You shall not add to the Word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
                Deuteronomy 4:2

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this Book; If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book.
                 Revelations 22:18

As I pen these thought this first day of Chinese New Year, the death tool from the Wuhan virus has risen to 41, with more than 1300 infected worldwide and still increasing. In Canberra, parts of the capital of Australia had to be evacuated in the face of a resurgent bush fire after a short lull.

Are we experiencing the unforgiving wrath of God??

Paul and Bunty in their short writeup shared that much as it might seem to be for many, it is not.
God is making a good thing out of our own transgressions. In being shaken, He hopes that we will awaken from our suicidal stupor towards eternal damnation with the gleeful devil, and reach out to His saving grace before it is too late.
God will not impose His will on us, for Adam and Eve in eating the forbidden fruit have chosen to have the right to exercise their free will based on their finite understanding. But God so loves us that He not just forgave us, He offers us salvation from our sins through the sacrifice of His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Much as He leaves the partaking of this free gift of eternal salvation to us. He is always there, ready to grasp our hands, if only we are willing.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
               Matthew 24:14

In times of great distress, be it tsunami, disease, financial, locusts or the whole works.
Many often take it as a sign of the End of Times, and unfortunately that is when fear takes hold, and soothsayers abound.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/200125090150459.html

The End of Times began the day our Lord Jesus Christ was taken up to the Heavens. The world awaits His return. The signs we are experiencing today is a reflection of the increased sinfulness of men. And we will continue to experience even more the consequences of our poor stewardship of all that God has blessed us with, and disobedience of all that Christ has taught us to be.

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
              Matthew 25:26

But in the midst of the next even greater shaking, we must be reminded and assured that disobedient as we might be, God is not seeking our demise, but rather our attention, and the need for us to take a step back from the abyss and unto His presence, and consider this fundamental truth, is God for real? And if He is, then we have better be ready for His return, while there is still time to do so.

But about that day or hour no one knows,not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
              Mathew 24:36

God Blesses

Eng Hieang
26th Jan 2020

An afterthought- Standing in the gap

Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyoneś chains came loose........But Paul shouted, do not harm yourselves! we are all here.
              Acts 16:26-28

We do not choose our circumstances, but it is God Who chose us and place us where we He will use us for His glory. When the ground is shaken, when once closed hearts are nudged open, a faithful follower of Christ, in the midst of the troubles, journeying together with the non believers, standing in the gap on our knees in prayers, God will bring about a transformation of hearts, as His light illuminates and lifts the veil that once blocked the views of many to His loving grace.
May Wuhan be the main conduit for the infectious love of God our Father.

The Paths less traveled#11 The days going by (3 Jan 2020)

Dear…

So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

A friendś beloved sister just passed away suddenly, after a Christmas lunch.

How frail is indeed the finite human life, much as we often seem to forget, in the midst of our pursuit of the things of the world.

The Russians today proudly proclaimed the commissioning of their hypersonic weapons system, a great achievement in terms of ability to penetrate all present known air defence systems.

A new global power arms race has begun, as the superpowers seek to have dominance over each other, and in the process, having sufficient firepower to destroy our world many times over.

The US stock market is on a bull run, only matched by the winning streak of the Liverpool football team, coached by a God fearing Jurgen Klopp.

News, some attention grabbing for the moment,, some miniscule for many to even notice, life carries on and Father time continues its passage.

For all our days have passed away in Your wrath. We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years. And if by reason of strength they are eighty years. Yet their boast is only labour and sorrow. For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Psalm 90:9-10

The privilege of age with each passing year is the yearning for the past, as one indulges in reminiscence of what was, what could have been and moan on the reality of the present.

Without God, our life is one of chasing after the delusory utopia of what seems to constitute lifeś pinnacle, only to realize that even that provides only temporary happiness, before one needs to climb a higher peak, to try to fill up the continued emptiness in oneś being.

The black clad protesters in Hong Kong crave with increasingly frustration and concomitant violence their five demands. But what comes next even if it is granted?

Is it no small wonder that many a great intellect eventually let their depression succumb to the need to end their convoluted life, for utopia remains elusive.

My days are like a shadow that lengthens. And I wither away like grass

But You O Lord, shall endure forever….

Psalm 102:11-12

Indeed, save for 2 more years, I stand not to far from crossing my 6th decade. With the passage of time, one inadvertently tends to be more sanguine about life, and definitely more cognizance of the fast dissipating sand in the hourglass of oneś life, even as the wear and tear on our physical shell serves to constantly remind us of this truth.

But thanks be to God, it has been a life full of richness by His grace, since the day His Spirit fell upon me when I was 40.

You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men. Clearly you are an epistle of Christ…

2 Corinthians 3:2-3

Economic cycles, just like bushfires in Australia, is a necessary part of the way God ordered His created world.

Bush fires, from what I read, allows the land to regenerate. Economic cycles provide the necessary reset to unfettered euphoria, when greed permeates at the ceiling, and provide a floor for God knows our limits, even as the humbling in an economic downturn is a good sobering experience for the human soul.

But what has changed is the intensity and regularity of both.

Climate change is largely blamed on us irresponsible humans, who since the days of Adam and Eve, no longer seek to be good stewards of the World that God created. We moved from total reliance on God, to seek to rely on our imperfect finite understanding.

Economic cycles are often extended by the desire of politicians to defer the inevitable but healthy corrections to past excesses, and in doing so, we defer and make much bigger the future maelstrom. Will it be a long period of stagnation( like the last 3 lost decades for the long suffering Japanese) or stagflation( as witnessed in the early 80s of high double digit interest rates). Either will cost the world dearly.

Predictions are at best flawed. But to continue to be oblivious to the obvious tinderbox that we are in could be severely damaging to oneś financial well being.

But there is something that is much more important and enduring, in fact for eternity. That is the state of our spiritual well being and where do we stand when it is time to be at the Judgement seat of God?

For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, and even their name is forgotten.

    Ecclesiastes 9:5

Do join me and many of your brothers and sisters in Christ in using the remaining time well. To build a life that reflects Christ in us. A temple that when its purpose is served, we can proudly depart and be in the loving presence of God our Father, knowing that we have been a good and faithful servant.

Now therefore, O God, strengthen our hands.

Nehemiah 6:9

God Blesses

Eng Hieang

28th Dec 2019

An afterthought - Inflamed (3rd Jan 2020)

The sun shall be turned into darkness. And the moon into blood.

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

Joel 2:31

Joel 2:31 was the verse I juxtaposed next to the Facebook posting of a picture showing Sydney bridge with the Sun in blood red, due to the bushfire in New South Wales.  

In my haste to put a visual to a biblical prophecy, I did not  take time to ask our good Lord if I was being judgmental on the spiritual state of Australia, and more importantly, how should that message be conveyed. True enough, it elicited an understandable response from an upset friend, whose house was not too far from the bushfire.

And it shall come to be pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved…

Joel 2:32

It has been a month since, and a large swathe of Australia is burning, with no end in sight.

This time, I am reminded by our good Lord that there is a need to remind all of His love.

No matter the state of sin one has deteriorated too, God loves remains unchanging.

It is better to point another to the love of God, and His saving grace, rather than to throw self righteous condemnation on their wallowing state.

Today, we need to pray for Australia. That many will repent and call upon the name of our Lord, for only God can bring relief to what is likely to be a long hot summer.

And on inflamed, with the death of Iranś top general, snuffed out by the Americans, the world look increasingly precipitous and could this be the trigger to the next major Middle East war? Pitting Israel against a coalition of her Arab cousins, the last being the Yom Kippur war back in 1973, which triggered the 1st major oil crisis, and eventually global stagflation.

There are however three key differences this time

• The Great Satan(as the Ayatollah of Iran call the USA) is a net oil exporter rather than importer.
• Since the State of Israel was founded in 1948, In all major Middle East wars  between Israel(the little Satan, again a termed coined by the Iranians) and the Arab coalition, the last in 1978.

Iran was always on the sideline, being on friendly terms with Israel, until the Iranian revolution in 1979. This time, she could be leading the charge.

• Nuclear weapons can be an option for both protagonists