Dear….
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God……
Psalm 14:1
As I laid on the cool floor, my favorite spot in the warm Sunday late afternoon, to catch my forty winks, while listening to an hour plus sermon from my favorite Mandarin Church in Taiwan, the message shared on Abraham, refreshed my memory of the time God spoke to my heart, back in 2011 in Munich, to leave my comfort zone in Merrill Lynch, where I spent 17 fruitful years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNirROd1-_g&list=PLrp4RjzX317TyTqaZxUgbHHZOCaTb1MLA
Abraham was faithful, He believed that God would bless him with manifold heirs.
I was reticent, telling our good Lord that at 50, it was not very compelling to start afresh, much as the call to create the path for the next generation His way resonates with me.
And our good Lord addressed immediately, in that same hotel bathroom where I was ensconced doing my quiet time, my concern of insufficient resources with this rebuke from the Book of Psalms - that I have enough, for He is with me.
The simple believes every word. But the prudent considers well his steps.
Proverbs 14:15
For me then, God spoke to me in all clarity, much as there was no burning bush.
But was I foolish to just drop everything and just move forward?
Experience has shown us that God knows we are finite children of His.
He will give us time to pray, to seek counsel, and most importantly, to experience His affirmations that truly we heard Him right. And at His timing, He will help us step out in faith.
It might seem like a time of struggle. And it is, but beyond it, God is preparing us and our loved ones.. He is realigning our hearts to Him. He is moving us from dependency upon ourselves, to total dependency upon Him. From seeking conclusions to simple obedience
Then truly will we be the instruments of His love. Then will we and the world see His glory through us, and know that it is God and not us.
When I remember You on my bed. I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help.
Psalm 63:6-7
It has been 9 years God brought me out of my comfort zone. It has been challenging and humbling, yet it has been the most blessed time of my life. Take up the cross, one must, but it has never been burdensome, for Christ is with me, be it in the early dawn when His Spirit speaks to me, or throughout the day, I know that I can just take time out to be in His presence, or the Holy Spirit will divinely intervene when I moved off center for God knows our imperfections and our needs.
Following Christ often entails giving up what we think is important, but in doing so, we more than receive, for the plans of God are very much better than our finite understanding.
Less riches of wealth, but more richness of life.
Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him. I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him. I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him. And show him My salvation.
Psalm 91:14-16
In the time of Moses, God spoke directly to Moses from within the burning bush.
Are we all waiting for our burning bush moment before we will believe that God is speaking to us?
And even then, will we dither to believe that it is God Who is speaking to us?
And even if we know it is God, will we be willing to trust and obey?
Instead of the many doubtful ifs, why not start by taking time to be still in the presence of our omnipresent and omnipotent Father in Heaven.
When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, Moses, Moses! And Moses said, Here I am.
Exodus 3:4
A prompting often we might be unsure. God speaking to us directly it often happens in a vision or for most in the form of a dream. Even that, most are unsure.
What about God speaking to us by allowing us to be in a situation out of our comfort zone?
Do we look to scurry back to where we were, or do we take a step back unto His presence with a thankful heart for the situation we find ourselves in?
If God is Sovereign, then we should focus on Him and what pleases Him rather than what pleases us.
I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith……..to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19
Or would you be like me and a few hard cases, where our good Lord knows we need a defining moment to not just pay attention, but to follow. The Apostle Paul had his on the road to Damascus. The financially insecure me had mine that early morning in Bangkok at the Hyatt Erawan Hotel. It might seem wonderful to experience God in the Spirit, but why begrudge yourself a wonderful life lived following Christ just to wait for that moment before you will take up your mantle of faith?
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
5th Oct 2020
An afterthought - not listening rather than not hearing
...Today, if you will hear His voice. Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion…..
Psalm 95:7-8
Does not listening and hearing mean the same thing? They do but yet when placed in a different context, each word has a subtle but distinct difference.
In Psalm 95 above, God admonished the disobedient Israelites, because they not just heard His commands, but experienced His awesome grace, yet they chose to disobey, not listening to our Sovereign God.
Does not the same apply to most of us? If we take time with Him in His Words, in prayers and praise, and in His work that Christ has led by example, we will know our Father in Heaven, Who is omnipresent, we will hear and know His will.
Many do not hear God because they chose not to obey His command to seek Him with our all.
And even if they heard in all resonance the will of God, they choose not to listen in obedience.
However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth…..and He will tell you things to come.
John 16:13
What about us who do seek Him imperfect as we are?
We will hear the soft but resonant prompting of the Holy Spirit. Our hearts will be convicted to ensure that any deviation from His will can be corrected quickly enough.
Again, we hear, but when we choose not to listen, our deceitful self claims that we did not hear God.
But God is good. He will correct us with a literal knock on our being, yet with love and a way truly out if we repent.
And to end off these thoughts with another burning story. My place, or at least the clubhouse had an electrical fire. Thankfully, the only inconvenience was a mass evacuation, and damage was contained.
You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the fire….
Deuteronomy 4:11-12
We had plenty of black smoke. But there were no big flames of fiery fire, and the estate was brighter than its usual near darkness as many turned on the lights to access the scene.
But did God speak to any of us out of the billowing smoke?
Perhaps. And as for me, I believe He is addressing a question that I have been asking Him.
And not conclusive as yet, but a significant next step.
What about you? Is God speaking to you in the midst of your fiery circumstances?
