CHILDREN OF THE LIGHT
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Children of The Light#5 Safe Habor (18 Nov 2014)
Dear....
Can a woman forget her sucking child,
that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
yea, they may forget,
yet will I not forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;
Isaiah 49:15-16
Expressionless I might not be, but for the past one month, I did not feel led by the Holy Spirit and produced thoughts so insipid that it did not warrant them seeing the light of day.
Everything is indeed at God's timing, and as I showered this evening, He reminded me of His prescient provisions from the moment I responded to His call to produce my art book( using art to share the Gospel) back in year 2009. He had indeed availed everything that was necessary for me to complete the tasks He had called me to. And the only thing that came from me was the willingness to be steadfastly obedient, and in Christlikeness. God has indeed brought me far, using the books I published to minister to the people of the lands He has foretold for me back in year 2009. Never did I imagine giving books on Japanese art to the non believer Japanese 5 years later. Nor did I envisaged that Thai Buddhists would be the first recipients of my art book back in year 2009.
Indeed, when God moves, everything falls into place. I wanted to pen the above thoughts right away,but His Spirit impressed upon me to first start with a worship song.
"I want to follow You" (我要跟住你).
This is a new song to me. And interesting, a one liner song with the same words as the title.
And with one compelling verse from Isaiah 49:16 "See, I have not forgotten you, I have carved you on My palm."
"Safe harbor," like most, that was what I have been seeking from our good Lord.
We want no troubles, be given plenty of roubles, and the only wobbles in our blissful life should be lapping waves in our life of leisure by the beach.
But is that not what Satan promised Jesus Christ when he tempted Him?
"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."
Matthew 4:8-9
In our fallen world, there is no safe harbor. At least not that which is based on how man envisaged it. Adam and Eve thought that they did not need God. With the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, they can be God. Today, we the seeds of the fallen couple in seeking our own comfort zone, is not just not trusting God, but is seeking the devil. No wonder we are not at peace.
"How does one die so that Christ can be our all and all? It usually takes a crisis of significant proportions for most people to relinquish the control of their lives. It means we come to the end of ourselves and our striving to control the events in our lives and we finally come to the place where we can say, "Lord, I surrender. Please take full control of my life."
( 2 nov TGIF Os Hillman)
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord;
Psalm 33:12
Let go and let God. Only when we totally cut lose whatever is anchoring us to the delusions of the devil, will we truly receive the peace and joy that God promises all who believe and seek Him. Rudderless in the great ocean might seem daunting. And it is. But God not just provide the sun and the stars to guide the seafarers of past, but as Christ has shown, even the stormy waves are subservient to Him.
'..... that my hope comes from You, not from my circumstances.'
(Daily Bread Nov 14, 2014)
'The anchor of God's faithfulness holds firm in the strongest storms'
(Daily Bread Nov 14, 2014)
God not just have us graven upon His hands. He has authored for each of us a wonderful journey of getting to know Him, as He prepares us for His return. The nice gentle breeze is quietly nudging us to set sail. Or do we need a strong tempest to blow us out of our misconceived safe harbor?
除你以外，有谁能带给我安慰?
God blesses
Eng Hieang
16 Nov 2014
Sent from my iPad
Children of The Light#7 Tomorrow (30 Jan 2015)
Dear....
'For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.'
2Corinthians 5:1
2Corinthians 5:1
What does tomorrow holds? For the slained NYPD police officer Ramos, he is now with our Lord.
'I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
John 12:24
John 12:24
Indeed his seed fell onto the ground, and from it springs forth new shoots of faith.
His Christlike life has sowned wonderfully, his death has brought forth an outpouring of tributes that will bring about an increase in the number of faithful.
His Christlike life has sowned wonderfully, his death has brought forth an outpouring of tributes that will bring about an increase in the number of faithful.
'For we are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.'
2 Corinthians 5:8
2 Corinthians 5:8
The Apostle Paul categorically stated his desire to go home to be with our Lord.
What about me? What about you?
What about me? What about you?
Much as I find the world burdensome, and much I as I believe being taken out of it would be wonderfully blissful, I cannot let go. And in fact, I often remind and plead with our good Lord that it
is not time yet.
is not time yet.
Is it because of our treasures(including our loved ones) on Earth? Or is it because we are not ready to face the judgment seat? Or simply because we trust not the promises of our Lord?
Christ as man struggled at Gesathame.
But he at the end of it submitted in total obedience.
But he at the end of it submitted in total obedience.
To give up our last breath voluntarily might be a bridge too far for most of us to just leap across, much as the wonderful realm of eternity awaits us.
God understands and knows our limits.
God understands and knows our limits.
But He wants us to take and continue to take the small steps of faith. To seek to be in His presence now. To be willing and desirous to let His Spirit transform us.
Focus on Him now. Tomorrow will take care of itself, for come tomorrow, God will still be with us, be it on Earth or in Heaven.
Focus on Him now. Tomorrow will take care of itself, for come tomorrow, God will still be with us, be it on Earth or in Heaven.
Let God decide when we are ready.
But we can and must now decide on wanting to let Him made us ready.
But we can and must now decide on wanting to let Him made us ready.
Then can only we be willing to go where He wants to bring us, because we know and trust Him.
Every story has an ending. Every life lived is like a book. For us who believed, God gave us a new blank book of life to start with.
In seeking to live a Christlike life, we are allowing the Holy Spirit to pen for us a living testimony of God's grace and love upon our lives.
In seeking to live a Christlike life, we are allowing the Holy Spirit to pen for us a living testimony of God's grace and love upon our lives.
A legacy that the watching world can read and mirror against their own lives.
And that God will use our lives to shine forth into the darkness encapsulting their lives. So they they can also rewrite their journey of life His way.
And that God will use our lives to shine forth into the darkness encapsulting their lives. So they they can also rewrite their journey of life His way.
And no matter whether our book of life is a one pager or runs into several thousand pages, happiness does not just start at the end of our story. But rather, joy and peace is what we wear with us now, and always, when we seek to follow our Lord.
但願使人有盼望的神，因信將諸般的喜樂、平安充滿你們的心，使你們藉著聖靈的能力大有盼望。
因為神的國不在乎吃喝，只在乎公義、和平，並聖靈中的喜樂。
因為神的國不在乎吃喝，只在乎公義、和平，並聖靈中的喜樂。
God blesses
Eng Hieang
28 Dec 2014
Eng Hieang
28 Dec 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Children of The Light#4 The new Nehemiahs (20 Oct 2014)
Children of The Light#4 Present day Nehemiahs(20th Oct 2014)
Dear....
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build.
Nehemiah 2:18
The day God lifted the veil upon your heart, and whether you tentatively or gladly accepted the long unopened gift of salvation, it is just but a progression to the next phase of the path He has set for you.
A compelling reason there must be for us to come to the faith, but just like the Israelites of Moses's time, miracles alone, and they had plenty, still wasn't good enough to capture the full attention and confidence of them nor us.
How does one grow in the faith?
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.
Exodus 13:21
Time in the desert, learning to follow God. For the Israelites, it was the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. For Christians, it is the Word of God working in tandem with the Holy Spirit residing in the hearts of the believers.
The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites....
Deuteronomy 1:6-7
Behold The Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
Deuteronomy 1:21
As we mature in our faith, the time will come when God will deem us ready to claim the land for His kingdom. Our next upgrade. When God calls, we will know His will, much as we often struggle to want to respond. For it will mean moving out of our comfort zone. And let's not make the same sinful mistakes as the Israelites who did not want to enter Canaan, because they were more afraid of the enemies resident there than our Sovereign God.
And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
Nehemiah 4:8
I, like some of you have obeyed God's call to claim the land. It has been difficult because God needed to first move me from self dependent to God dependent. Like Nehemiah who encountered challenges from the enemy, all of us who seek to do God's will must face the same. And how did Nehemiah still manage to complete the wall in such a short duration?
Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
Nehemiah 4:9
That is only possible by the grace of God. What about me? It has been 14 years of diligently seeking God since His Spirit fell upon me that wonderful night in Bangkok.
Have I completed my walls that God has set me to? Will there be new walls to build even as we work on the existing ones?
A review of my walls
1. Prayer ministry
祷告因为你的❤️我需要
The power of prayer. You might have read about America's great spiritual revival in the 19th century, which started when one faithful man, Jeremiah Lanphier by faith started a lunchtime prayer meeting in NewYork City.
(http://www.intheworkplace.com/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=51927&columnid=1935)
"Orison" - which means "a prayer,"that was the word God gave me in the vision He showed me a decade back.
From this word, God has since led me into a wonderful decade of involvement in prayer ministry. But for the years of building this prayer wall, have I fallen short? I have not achieved the same magnitude of revival as witnessed in New York. In fact, we seem to be in the minority when it comes to actively seeking God in prayers as a corporate body.
And after so many years of active involvement in the prayer ministry, I am still far short of a virtuoso display when it comes to praying in public.
But it matters not what we or our detractors think. What matters is the will of God.
God looks at our hearts. Imperfect as it will be, is it a heart that seeks fully after Him?
2. Faith at work
The impossible indeed is true to its word. But thanks be to God, He makes it possible His way. Its been two years since by faith response to His call, I embarked on laying the foundation for a path where corporate life need not have to take on the incarnation of the beast. Living a Christlike life in the present corporate jungle will not lead to one's early demise.
I can better empathize with Nehemiah and his fellow Jews now. The challenges from within as well as without, yet they were never left to fend for themselves, for God was always omnipresent. This Mandarin worship song ”有一天” ( http://youtu.be/7OAkr_Flq6A)
is indeed God send. May it bless and spur you on as you labor in faithful obedience, brick by brick.
Will I complete the wall in the remaining one year of the three years that I have set from day one?
Will God place me on to other new walls or will He prolong my stay in this present wall?
Nothing is certain in life. But thankfully God is faithful
3. Watering the profusion of green shoots sprouting in Japan
http://jforjapan.com/
A very hard ground, that is the general consensus amongst the faithful who have seek through the years to bring the faith to the Land of the rising sun.
Back in year 2009, in the worst days of the subprime crisis, our good Lord impressed upon me that Japan will be my ministry. How is that possible, for other than loving Japanese food and a taste for exquisite Japanese art, Japan is totally disconnected with me?
It has been two years(Nov 2012) since God told me to get going in Japan.
It has been two miraculous years for He has brought to life His blueprint for revival Japan.
It has been a privilege to witness His hands at work.
Indeed till the ends of the world has the chance to know the Gospel, then will Christ return.
Japan is a spiritual desert since the near full stamping out of the short but intense flowering of the Christian faith in the seventeen century. Not many are aware that at its peak, 10% of the Japanese population were Christians. And that cruxification of the faithful was not the sole domain of the Roman Empire. For 26 Christians were martyred on the cross in present day Nagasaki in the 16th Century. And interestingly Nagasaki was not the city of first choice for the atomic bomb during the closing days of WW2. If not for cloudy days in Kokura, the targeted city, Nagasaki would not have had the dubious honor of being one of two cities in the world to have suffered the horrors of an atomic bombing.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/bombing_of_nagasaki.htm
Tomorrow, I leave for my 3rd trip to Fukuoka City. The capital city of Kyushu Island, the southernmost part of mainland Japan. Kyushu Island was where the Christian faith first entered Japan in the 16th century. The Portuguese has since long left this land.
Today, God is using Singaporeans to be the lamp upon which His light will displace the once seemingly impenetrable darkness that encapsulates Japan.
And how apt it is, for Singapore was once renamed "Syonan-to" ( Light of the East) by our then WW2 Japanese masters.
Where will this wall lead to? I know it will lead the sheep to our waiting chief shepherd, Christ our Lord, the gate to the promised Land.
And like all other walls that God embarked us on. He is there with us always.
And unlike the Great Wall of China which was built with much grief and pain, and yet failed to achieve her intended purpose of keeping out the barbarians on China's borders. Walls ordained by God will bring to her builders, great joy and peace, independent of our circumstances. And what God built, no men nor Satan can cause to fall asunder
God blesses
Eng Hieang
20 Oct 2014
Dear....
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build.
Nehemiah 2:18
The day God lifted the veil upon your heart, and whether you tentatively or gladly accepted the long unopened gift of salvation, it is just but a progression to the next phase of the path He has set for you.
A compelling reason there must be for us to come to the faith, but just like the Israelites of Moses's time, miracles alone, and they had plenty, still wasn't good enough to capture the full attention and confidence of them nor us.
How does one grow in the faith?
And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.
Exodus 13:21
Time in the desert, learning to follow God. For the Israelites, it was the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night. For Christians, it is the Word of God working in tandem with the Holy Spirit residing in the hearts of the believers.
The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites....
Deuteronomy 1:6-7
Behold The Lord thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
Deuteronomy 1:21
As we mature in our faith, the time will come when God will deem us ready to claim the land for His kingdom. Our next upgrade. When God calls, we will know His will, much as we often struggle to want to respond. For it will mean moving out of our comfort zone. And let's not make the same sinful mistakes as the Israelites who did not want to enter Canaan, because they were more afraid of the enemies resident there than our Sovereign God.
And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.
Nehemiah 4:8
I, like some of you have obeyed God's call to claim the land. It has been difficult because God needed to first move me from self dependent to God dependent. Like Nehemiah who encountered challenges from the enemy, all of us who seek to do God's will must face the same. And how did Nehemiah still manage to complete the wall in such a short duration?
Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
Nehemiah 4:9
That is only possible by the grace of God. What about me? It has been 14 years of diligently seeking God since His Spirit fell upon me that wonderful night in Bangkok.
Have I completed my walls that God has set me to? Will there be new walls to build even as we work on the existing ones?
A review of my walls
1. Prayer ministry
祷告因为你的❤️我需要
The power of prayer. You might have read about America's great spiritual revival in the 19th century, which started when one faithful man, Jeremiah Lanphier by faith started a lunchtime prayer meeting in NewYork City.
(http://www.intheworkplace.com/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=51927&columnid=1935)
"Orison" - which means "a prayer,"that was the word God gave me in the vision He showed me a decade back.
From this word, God has since led me into a wonderful decade of involvement in prayer ministry. But for the years of building this prayer wall, have I fallen short? I have not achieved the same magnitude of revival as witnessed in New York. In fact, we seem to be in the minority when it comes to actively seeking God in prayers as a corporate body.
And after so many years of active involvement in the prayer ministry, I am still far short of a virtuoso display when it comes to praying in public.
But it matters not what we or our detractors think. What matters is the will of God.
God looks at our hearts. Imperfect as it will be, is it a heart that seeks fully after Him?
2. Faith at work
The impossible indeed is true to its word. But thanks be to God, He makes it possible His way. Its been two years since by faith response to His call, I embarked on laying the foundation for a path where corporate life need not have to take on the incarnation of the beast. Living a Christlike life in the present corporate jungle will not lead to one's early demise.
I can better empathize with Nehemiah and his fellow Jews now. The challenges from within as well as without, yet they were never left to fend for themselves, for God was always omnipresent. This Mandarin worship song ”有一天” ( http://youtu.be/7OAkr_Flq6A)
is indeed God send. May it bless and spur you on as you labor in faithful obedience, brick by brick.
Will I complete the wall in the remaining one year of the three years that I have set from day one?
Will God place me on to other new walls or will He prolong my stay in this present wall?
Nothing is certain in life. But thankfully God is faithful
3. Watering the profusion of green shoots sprouting in Japan
http://jforjapan.com/
A very hard ground, that is the general consensus amongst the faithful who have seek through the years to bring the faith to the Land of the rising sun.
Back in year 2009, in the worst days of the subprime crisis, our good Lord impressed upon me that Japan will be my ministry. How is that possible, for other than loving Japanese food and a taste for exquisite Japanese art, Japan is totally disconnected with me?
It has been two years(Nov 2012) since God told me to get going in Japan.
It has been two miraculous years for He has brought to life His blueprint for revival Japan.
It has been a privilege to witness His hands at work.
Indeed till the ends of the world has the chance to know the Gospel, then will Christ return.
Japan is a spiritual desert since the near full stamping out of the short but intense flowering of the Christian faith in the seventeen century. Not many are aware that at its peak, 10% of the Japanese population were Christians. And that cruxification of the faithful was not the sole domain of the Roman Empire. For 26 Christians were martyred on the cross in present day Nagasaki in the 16th Century. And interestingly Nagasaki was not the city of first choice for the atomic bomb during the closing days of WW2. If not for cloudy days in Kokura, the targeted city, Nagasaki would not have had the dubious honor of being one of two cities in the world to have suffered the horrors of an atomic bombing.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/bombing_of_nagasaki.htm
Tomorrow, I leave for my 3rd trip to Fukuoka City. The capital city of Kyushu Island, the southernmost part of mainland Japan. Kyushu Island was where the Christian faith first entered Japan in the 16th century. The Portuguese has since long left this land.
Today, God is using Singaporeans to be the lamp upon which His light will displace the once seemingly impenetrable darkness that encapsulates Japan.
And how apt it is, for Singapore was once renamed "Syonan-to" ( Light of the East) by our then WW2 Japanese masters.
Where will this wall lead to? I know it will lead the sheep to our waiting chief shepherd, Christ our Lord, the gate to the promised Land.
And like all other walls that God embarked us on. He is there with us always.
And unlike the Great Wall of China which was built with much grief and pain, and yet failed to achieve her intended purpose of keeping out the barbarians on China's borders. Walls ordained by God will bring to her builders, great joy and peace, independent of our circumstances. And what God built, no men nor Satan can cause to fall asunder
God blesses
Eng Hieang
20 Oct 2014
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Children of The Light #3 God's unfolding tapestry (11 Oct 2014)
Children of the Light#3 God's unfolding tapestry? (11th Oct 2014)
" For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2:10
God has already laid the route to Christlikeness for each and everyone of us whom He has called to the saving grace of the Risen Christ. But instead of being amazed by His prescience and the wonders of His ways, most of us end up in the maze of of our own making, confused and possibly disillusioned, that the peace and joy that God promises all seems to elude us.
'......,.,but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.
Isaiah 5:12
Like most, I often mouthed God, but my heart is not always solely for Him alone. I find it a struggle to discard my Adamite roots and be like Christ who obeyed God with His all. The path of life that God has laid for me will not be illuminated, unless I am willing to follow His footsteps, on His terms, and not mine, with His Spirit that resides in my Heart being the candle that leads me. Not by sight, but by faith.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6
Oswald Chambers advises, "Whenever God gives a vision to a saint, he puts the saint in the shadow of His hand, as it were, and the saint's duty is to be still and listen... When God gives a vision and darkness follows, waiting on God will bring you into accordance with the vision He has given if you await His timing. Otherwise, you try to do away with the supernatural in God's undertakings. Never try to help God fulfill His word."*
In the book of Proverbs, Solomon warns us not to rely on our own fallible wisdom while trying to do God's perfect will. God wants us to wait for His deliverance. His means of bringing us to spiritual maturity requires us to wait on His deliverance through adversity so that we will be able to discern the difference between our own self-deliverance and God's authentic deliverance in our lives.
( TGIF Os Hillman 29 Sep 2014)
'Be still and know I am God.'
Psalm 46:10
The lingering minutes I spent in bed, upon being awakened by our good Lord has always been the most enlightening. Fruitful because I have been able to be still and wait upon Him. And indeed God does not tarry long. He illume.
And this willingness to let go and let Him is very different from my days of past, when after a less than fitful sleep, one awakens to ponder and wrestle with unsettled issues that continues to darken our countenance. But is this not what is prevalent amongst many today, where restful sleep not just eludes, but inner peace and joy?
The carnal man is always in a hurry. Determined to see the conclusion their finite understanding desire. Like Adam, this sinful desire to be in charge brings upon one much grief and angst.
"Wait upon The Lord always. Be sanctified, let's our wandering hearts be realigned to Him and Him only. Move and move only when He leads, for then we will move with the full empowerment of His glorious Spirit." For then will we experience the power of the Gospel at work, for the watching world will witness the Light that leaves no place for the darkness that once encapsulates their lives.
....Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
Mark 4:38
It's not what we think, nor what others believe, but it is what is the will of God?
But how do we know what is God's will? Scripture, prayer, worship, works and a thankful heart, spiced heavily with love.
"Waiting upon God," is a deliberate and determined discarding of what Adam and Eve took in disobedience of God's command. The flawed right to decide independent of God.
Forgo this compelling but illusory right, and surrender to the omnipresent God now, and in all circumstances. And be amazed by His plans for each of us.
Every day will be full of refinement but the certain peace and joy that God promises to all who is willing to entrust their all to Him, that like our steadfast and faithful Father in Heaven, changes not.
God blesses
Eng Hieang
11th Oct 2014
" For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
Ephesians 2:10
God has already laid the route to Christlikeness for each and everyone of us whom He has called to the saving grace of the Risen Christ. But instead of being amazed by His prescience and the wonders of His ways, most of us end up in the maze of of our own making, confused and possibly disillusioned, that the peace and joy that God promises all seems to elude us.
'......,.,but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands.
Isaiah 5:12
Like most, I often mouthed God, but my heart is not always solely for Him alone. I find it a struggle to discard my Adamite roots and be like Christ who obeyed God with His all. The path of life that God has laid for me will not be illuminated, unless I am willing to follow His footsteps, on His terms, and not mine, with His Spirit that resides in my Heart being the candle that leads me. Not by sight, but by faith.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6
Oswald Chambers advises, "Whenever God gives a vision to a saint, he puts the saint in the shadow of His hand, as it were, and the saint's duty is to be still and listen... When God gives a vision and darkness follows, waiting on God will bring you into accordance with the vision He has given if you await His timing. Otherwise, you try to do away with the supernatural in God's undertakings. Never try to help God fulfill His word."*
In the book of Proverbs, Solomon warns us not to rely on our own fallible wisdom while trying to do God's perfect will. God wants us to wait for His deliverance. His means of bringing us to spiritual maturity requires us to wait on His deliverance through adversity so that we will be able to discern the difference between our own self-deliverance and God's authentic deliverance in our lives.
( TGIF Os Hillman 29 Sep 2014)
'Be still and know I am God.'
Psalm 46:10
The lingering minutes I spent in bed, upon being awakened by our good Lord has always been the most enlightening. Fruitful because I have been able to be still and wait upon Him. And indeed God does not tarry long. He illume.
And this willingness to let go and let Him is very different from my days of past, when after a less than fitful sleep, one awakens to ponder and wrestle with unsettled issues that continues to darken our countenance. But is this not what is prevalent amongst many today, where restful sleep not just eludes, but inner peace and joy?
The carnal man is always in a hurry. Determined to see the conclusion their finite understanding desire. Like Adam, this sinful desire to be in charge brings upon one much grief and angst.
"Wait upon The Lord always. Be sanctified, let's our wandering hearts be realigned to Him and Him only. Move and move only when He leads, for then we will move with the full empowerment of His glorious Spirit." For then will we experience the power of the Gospel at work, for the watching world will witness the Light that leaves no place for the darkness that once encapsulates their lives.
....Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
Mark 4:38
It's not what we think, nor what others believe, but it is what is the will of God?
But how do we know what is God's will? Scripture, prayer, worship, works and a thankful heart, spiced heavily with love.
"Waiting upon God," is a deliberate and determined discarding of what Adam and Eve took in disobedience of God's command. The flawed right to decide independent of God.
Forgo this compelling but illusory right, and surrender to the omnipresent God now, and in all circumstances. And be amazed by His plans for each of us.
Every day will be full of refinement but the certain peace and joy that God promises to all who is willing to entrust their all to Him, that like our steadfast and faithful Father in Heaven, changes not.
God blesses
Eng Hieang
11th Oct 2014
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Children of The Light#2 The new Josephs(29 Sep 2014)
Children of the Light#2 The Josephs of today ( 28 Sep 2014)
Dear....
"A preamble"
The life of faith is not about showing only our good side. It’s about exposing our dark side to the light of Christ through confession to God and also to others. In this way we can receive healing and live in the freedom of forgiveness.
(Our Daily Bread, 20 Sep 2014)
How true this is. Being a Christian is less about the gloss of the "good life," but more about our warts and all, and how our Faithful God stays faithful to the imperfect us.
And inevitably, vestiges of our old self do rear its ugly head, and I do get the necessary rap on the head when that happens.
And as you join me in this new season of prayerful thoughts, whenever I err, do forgive me, admonish me but with love, and always keep me in your prayers, as The Light of God penetrates unto my inner recesses, where remnants of my once dark self still resides.
"The Josephs of today"
As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
Ecclesiastes 5:15
Much as there might be some who thinks that wealth can help them attain the elixir of life, there do exist in the main, sensible people who knows that life is finite. And they want to ensure that the fruits of their labor are passed on and sustained well by their next generation. But can they avoid the curse of the third generation? For the first built, the second maintained, and the third is the wastrel!!
Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:18-20
It has been two years since I obeyed albeit with much struggle the call of our Lord, to step out of my perceived comfort zone. To live by example a life in the marketplace where one need not carry upon oneself the "mark of the beast," but rather walk in Christlikeness, to be in this world, yet not of this world.
Foolishly, I spent most of my first year struggling to cling onto Christ with one hand, and the other onto what the world holds dear. Thankfully I did not drown for God held onto me with both His hands. God must increase, I must decrease. And at the depth of our weakness, the light of God shines most gloriously.
The quivering has ceased. I am ready to claim the victory of the cross on the predestined path of success that God has laid for me. But success brings one to a new temptation. God might no longer have sole right of place in my heart.
For all who I am blessed to journey together, do pray for me, and more than that, do correct me when I forget. For blessings can blind one's sight of Christ.
Today, I attended a seminar on Business Families. It was insightful to listen to the concerns and aspirations of present and future generations of wealthy business families.
How does one ensure a proper generational handover of one's business, and how does one ensure that the legacy will not just be sustained, but possibly expanded upon?
An Ivy League education, business mentoring since young and exposure to professional guidance, these prerequisites to equip the future successors are good, but not suffice.
And they are not what God has in mind when He blessed us with the fruits of the womb.
"Train the heart," that's what I envisaged as the key element missing in the generational preparation of many not just business families, but most families. And the use of philanthropy as a experiential tool was to borrow a phrase from "Abenomics," the "third arrow" of my new ministry.
The "first arrow," to live out my role in the market place in Christlikeness.
The "second arrow," to manage one's wealth on the principles of stewardship and contentment as defined by God and not by men. And definitely not the prevalent greed and fear.
God brought me to a new dimension in my understanding. Should we be preserving our temporal earthly provisions or focus instead on what truly matters, working on our salvation for eternity?
It is not about building, growing and preserving earthly businesses, but rather it is about living out the Kingdom of God in whatever platform He places us in.
This legacy of a life lived in total obedience to our Lord will be good for eternity
Ephesians 2:10
" For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
God blesses
Eng Hieang
28 Sep 2014
Dear....
"A preamble"
The life of faith is not about showing only our good side. It’s about exposing our dark side to the light of Christ through confession to God and also to others. In this way we can receive healing and live in the freedom of forgiveness.
(Our Daily Bread, 20 Sep 2014)
How true this is. Being a Christian is less about the gloss of the "good life," but more about our warts and all, and how our Faithful God stays faithful to the imperfect us.
And inevitably, vestiges of our old self do rear its ugly head, and I do get the necessary rap on the head when that happens.
And as you join me in this new season of prayerful thoughts, whenever I err, do forgive me, admonish me but with love, and always keep me in your prayers, as The Light of God penetrates unto my inner recesses, where remnants of my once dark self still resides.
"The Josephs of today"
As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.
Ecclesiastes 5:15
Much as there might be some who thinks that wealth can help them attain the elixir of life, there do exist in the main, sensible people who knows that life is finite. And they want to ensure that the fruits of their labor are passed on and sustained well by their next generation. But can they avoid the curse of the third generation? For the first built, the second maintained, and the third is the wastrel!!
Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured, and wherein I have shewed myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity. Therefore I went about to cause my heart to despair of all the labour which I took under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:18-20
It has been two years since I obeyed albeit with much struggle the call of our Lord, to step out of my perceived comfort zone. To live by example a life in the marketplace where one need not carry upon oneself the "mark of the beast," but rather walk in Christlikeness, to be in this world, yet not of this world.
Foolishly, I spent most of my first year struggling to cling onto Christ with one hand, and the other onto what the world holds dear. Thankfully I did not drown for God held onto me with both His hands. God must increase, I must decrease. And at the depth of our weakness, the light of God shines most gloriously.
The quivering has ceased. I am ready to claim the victory of the cross on the predestined path of success that God has laid for me. But success brings one to a new temptation. God might no longer have sole right of place in my heart.
For all who I am blessed to journey together, do pray for me, and more than that, do correct me when I forget. For blessings can blind one's sight of Christ.
Today, I attended a seminar on Business Families. It was insightful to listen to the concerns and aspirations of present and future generations of wealthy business families.
How does one ensure a proper generational handover of one's business, and how does one ensure that the legacy will not just be sustained, but possibly expanded upon?
An Ivy League education, business mentoring since young and exposure to professional guidance, these prerequisites to equip the future successors are good, but not suffice.
And they are not what God has in mind when He blessed us with the fruits of the womb.
"Train the heart," that's what I envisaged as the key element missing in the generational preparation of many not just business families, but most families. And the use of philanthropy as a experiential tool was to borrow a phrase from "Abenomics," the "third arrow" of my new ministry.
The "first arrow," to live out my role in the market place in Christlikeness.
The "second arrow," to manage one's wealth on the principles of stewardship and contentment as defined by God and not by men. And definitely not the prevalent greed and fear.
God brought me to a new dimension in my understanding. Should we be preserving our temporal earthly provisions or focus instead on what truly matters, working on our salvation for eternity?
It is not about building, growing and preserving earthly businesses, but rather it is about living out the Kingdom of God in whatever platform He places us in.
This legacy of a life lived in total obedience to our Lord will be good for eternity
Ephesians 2:10
" For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
God blesses
Eng Hieang
28 Sep 2014
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Children of The Light#1 When darkness encapsulates (19 Sep 2014)
Lightness of being#49 Children of the Light ( 13 Sep 2014 )
Dear....
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
John 1:8-9
God brings us to different seasons in our journey in His presence, even as He continues to refine and transform us unto Christlikeness.
The silence of the past month from me, has been due to a bit of traveling in China, but also a time of personal reflection. China, a vast land of extremities, unfettered materialism yet dire poverty. For the latter, not just in the physical, but very much in the spiritual. There is an emptiness that is the inevitable consequence of a long repressed and impoverished society that sought to make up for lost opportunities by seeking feverishly the wealth of this finite world, to the neglect of family and values.
And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?
Mark 4:21
"Light," this is the word that our good Lord has subjected me to these past few days. Be it in last Sunday's sermon in Church, a reading from Our Daily Bread, and an impression upon the heart that precedes the former two affirmations.
Interestingly, darkness or rather the creeping temptations of the forces of darkness was what I was more subjected to in the past one week. The evil spirits of lusts, pride and self righteousness were jostling to take centre stage in my heart, now that by the grace of God, the spirit of fear that has hovered over me for the better part of the past two years in this new ministry that God has called me to has been finally dispelled.
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Romans 13:11-14
"Like Saul (who became the apostle Paul), all Christians have been exposed to God’s mighty light—Jesus opened our spiritual eyes when we were saved (John 1:9-13). And God’s light is at work in our hearts today. When we struggle with sin, fear, or confusion, we can remember what Paul said: “[The Lord’s] light within you produces only what is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:8-9). These inner blessings assure us that God, who began His good work in us, will continue it until His Son returns (Philippians 1:6)."
( from "Our Daily Journey Sun Sep 7, Jennifer Benson Schult)
Followers of Christ are more than mere pretty fireflies that glow in the pitch dark swathe of evil that blankets our fallen world. God will use us as His beacon of hope for the hopeless. A mobile fireplace where the downtrodden can seek solace, where the weak and humbled receives sustenance and shelter from the harshness of Satan's world.
"Lightness of being," this present blog#7 might connote Christian living as one of living without cares or concerns. That is not the life God envisaged for those He called. We are called into the battlefield against the forces of evil. Wounds and bruises we will receive. Downright oppression from the realm of darkness we will be subjected to. But through it all, our burden will be light, because the Spirit of God is within us. And indeed buffeted I have been, but thanks be to God, the grip of evil has no permanent hold upon my countenance.
And down sometimes I might be, but out never, but in fact, always back up even more stridently in His service, for evil cannot take away the victory of the cross.
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:9-10
"Life of the overflow," it is apt my men's small group completed today the 30th and final lesson of this wonderful course "School of the Shepherds." A 30 months journey, time that was well spent amongst men who seek after our Lord, as a community of brothers.
We struggled through not just the need to not doze off from the soothing balms of the half hour video lessons as each of us prepared for the Saturday's discussion from the comforts of our individual abode. But for the past 30 months, each of us wrestled with God, like Jacob, in the nights of our life, when the issues of daily living is brought to bear upon us.
We have committed to repeat the same 30 lessons. Not because we were abject failures in our coursework, nor were we totally way off in our walk with the Lord.
But rather, we want to be even more fully equipped by our Lord, as He uses us to be
the lamp upon which His light will shine forth, we want to be "children of His Light."
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13
That the world will witness the overflow of God's abundance upon our lives, that the wilting world will want to be led to come to Christ our Chief Shepherd, the door upon which all who enter will experience the abundance of God's grace, not in material prosperity alone, but in the inexplicable joy, inner peace and reassured hope granted to all who believe and follow Him.
And with this sharing, it is time to move to a new focus in my journey with our Lord.
"Children of The Light," this will be my new blog series#8( eng-hieang88.blogspot.com).
The days of wavering is over. It is time the watching world must see Christ lived out in us, for the End of Times are indeed nearer than we think.
The Islamic Caliphate chose the color black rather than the standard green that one often associate with the Muslim faith. They have deliberately chose to bring back the cruel practices of the dark days when society were more barbaric. Darkness has indeed taken on an even more ominous tone.
Scotland in UK, Catalonia in Spain, and many more nations within nations are seeking to breakaway from past enforced marriages. Yet while vying for independence, they want to seek the solace of the European Union. And with the Russian bear starting to be overbearing again, her nervous neighbors in the Baltic States and Scandinavia must be feeling the need to be coddled by Mother EU. The reality of One Europe and the anti-Christ is inching towards fulfillment. And what better ground than Continental Europe , a land mass where the worship of self has long displaced its once Christian roots.(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9589732/Mass-rally-in-Venice-to-call-for-independence-from-Italy.html)
Recently, the former President of Israel, Mr Shimon Peres proposed to the Catholic Pope to initiate a new United Nations of religion. For it is his belief that diversity in religions is the cause of the present world's conflicts. If there is only one voice for the world to listen to, on issues of religion, religious based conflicts will have no room to move( http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Israels-Shimon-Peres-Proposes-Creation-of-a-UN-of-Religions-20140904-0082.html).
A man of peace, this Nobel Peace laureate, is also purported in some reported sources to be the father of Israel's nuclear program.
Are we moving towards the notion of one world religion?
God blesses
Eng Hieang
13 Sep 2014
Dear....
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
John 1:8-9
God brings us to different seasons in our journey in His presence, even as He continues to refine and transform us unto Christlikeness.
The silence of the past month from me, has been due to a bit of traveling in China, but also a time of personal reflection. China, a vast land of extremities, unfettered materialism yet dire poverty. For the latter, not just in the physical, but very much in the spiritual. There is an emptiness that is the inevitable consequence of a long repressed and impoverished society that sought to make up for lost opportunities by seeking feverishly the wealth of this finite world, to the neglect of family and values.
And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?
Mark 4:21
"Light," this is the word that our good Lord has subjected me to these past few days. Be it in last Sunday's sermon in Church, a reading from Our Daily Bread, and an impression upon the heart that precedes the former two affirmations.
Interestingly, darkness or rather the creeping temptations of the forces of darkness was what I was more subjected to in the past one week. The evil spirits of lusts, pride and self righteousness were jostling to take centre stage in my heart, now that by the grace of God, the spirit of fear that has hovered over me for the better part of the past two years in this new ministry that God has called me to has been finally dispelled.
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Romans 13:11-14
"Like Saul (who became the apostle Paul), all Christians have been exposed to God’s mighty light—Jesus opened our spiritual eyes when we were saved (John 1:9-13). And God’s light is at work in our hearts today. When we struggle with sin, fear, or confusion, we can remember what Paul said: “[The Lord’s] light within you produces only what is good and right and true” (Ephesians 5:8-9). These inner blessings assure us that God, who began His good work in us, will continue it until His Son returns (Philippians 1:6)."
( from "Our Daily Journey Sun Sep 7, Jennifer Benson Schult)
Followers of Christ are more than mere pretty fireflies that glow in the pitch dark swathe of evil that blankets our fallen world. God will use us as His beacon of hope for the hopeless. A mobile fireplace where the downtrodden can seek solace, where the weak and humbled receives sustenance and shelter from the harshness of Satan's world.
"Lightness of being," this present blog#7 might connote Christian living as one of living without cares or concerns. That is not the life God envisaged for those He called. We are called into the battlefield against the forces of evil. Wounds and bruises we will receive. Downright oppression from the realm of darkness we will be subjected to. But through it all, our burden will be light, because the Spirit of God is within us. And indeed buffeted I have been, but thanks be to God, the grip of evil has no permanent hold upon my countenance.
And down sometimes I might be, but out never, but in fact, always back up even more stridently in His service, for evil cannot take away the victory of the cross.
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John 10:9-10
"Life of the overflow," it is apt my men's small group completed today the 30th and final lesson of this wonderful course "School of the Shepherds." A 30 months journey, time that was well spent amongst men who seek after our Lord, as a community of brothers.
We struggled through not just the need to not doze off from the soothing balms of the half hour video lessons as each of us prepared for the Saturday's discussion from the comforts of our individual abode. But for the past 30 months, each of us wrestled with God, like Jacob, in the nights of our life, when the issues of daily living is brought to bear upon us.
We have committed to repeat the same 30 lessons. Not because we were abject failures in our coursework, nor were we totally way off in our walk with the Lord.
But rather, we want to be even more fully equipped by our Lord, as He uses us to be
the lamp upon which His light will shine forth, we want to be "children of His Light."
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13
That the world will witness the overflow of God's abundance upon our lives, that the wilting world will want to be led to come to Christ our Chief Shepherd, the door upon which all who enter will experience the abundance of God's grace, not in material prosperity alone, but in the inexplicable joy, inner peace and reassured hope granted to all who believe and follow Him.
And with this sharing, it is time to move to a new focus in my journey with our Lord.
"Children of The Light," this will be my new blog series#8( eng-hieang88.blogspot.com).
The days of wavering is over. It is time the watching world must see Christ lived out in us, for the End of Times are indeed nearer than we think.
The Islamic Caliphate chose the color black rather than the standard green that one often associate with the Muslim faith. They have deliberately chose to bring back the cruel practices of the dark days when society were more barbaric. Darkness has indeed taken on an even more ominous tone.
Scotland in UK, Catalonia in Spain, and many more nations within nations are seeking to breakaway from past enforced marriages. Yet while vying for independence, they want to seek the solace of the European Union. And with the Russian bear starting to be overbearing again, her nervous neighbors in the Baltic States and Scandinavia must be feeling the need to be coddled by Mother EU. The reality of One Europe and the anti-Christ is inching towards fulfillment. And what better ground than Continental Europe , a land mass where the worship of self has long displaced its once Christian roots.(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9589732/Mass-rally-in-Venice-to-call-for-independence-from-Italy.html)
Recently, the former President of Israel, Mr Shimon Peres proposed to the Catholic Pope to initiate a new United Nations of religion. For it is his belief that diversity in religions is the cause of the present world's conflicts. If there is only one voice for the world to listen to, on issues of religion, religious based conflicts will have no room to move( http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Israels-Shimon-Peres-Proposes-Creation-of-a-UN-of-Religions-20140904-0082.html).
A man of peace, this Nobel Peace laureate, is also purported in some reported sources to be the father of Israel's nuclear program.
Are we moving towards the notion of one world religion?
God blesses
Eng Hieang
13 Sep 2014
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