Dear....
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.'
Luke 24:49
New
skill sets, that was what I have acquired during this restful
sabbatical. My repertoire of homely tasks have broadened from washing
the toilet, to plucking bean sprouts and peeling garlics, and knowing
which wet market has the better fruits.
Onions caused one to tear, and garlics evoke a burning sensation in one's hands.
Being
at home for a period of time truly makes one appreciate the sacrifices
of our better half, and be grateful for the escape corporate life
provides.
Not
too sure if Apostle Paul had to do housework while he abideth in our
Lord before being sent out to minister to the Gentiles, but he must have
immersed himself totally in the presence of our Lord. And indeed God is
good. It has been a wonderful time of rest, refreshing, refinement and
realignment.
'And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.'
Matthew 10:38
A friend asked me 'How did God speak to you, when I said He called me to step out?'
'....Surely I will pour My Spirit on you. I will make My Words known to you.'
Proverbs 1:23
I
know because I seek Him in His Words, praise, prayers and in His work,
and in doing so, His Spirit speaks to mine. And if it is truly from our
Lord, when we respond with that small but sure step forward, He will
bring us forth as He did for me.
And this is where I am now, waiting on our Lord for Him to show me the next plank to step on, even as He readies me.
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.
Exodus 33:15
Following
Christ is to be like Him. It means to wait and abide in God. And to go
forth only when He leads, and with the confidence that He will go with
us. And wherever God brings us, it will always be about total dependence
on Him and Him alone. For His Light shines brightest in the darkest
places, much as the finite us will rather be in ministry where one can
loll in the sun.
( click to listen to this song Abba Father )
Contrast this with the approach that many of us adopt when seeking to follow God.
1) we do not rest in the Lord long enough to know Him and His will.
"Be
still and know I am God" for most is involuntary rather than a
deliberate act of obedience. Serious illnesses, job losses, family
breakdowns are often some of the elements that derail our busyness with
the world, to cause us to start to pay attention to the omnipresent God.
2) knowing the will of God and the willingness to follow are two different hurdles.
Faith is aptly defined as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.
Another friend asked me "what is God's call to you?"
In truth God's call to all who seek to follow Him is the same. The difference is in the platforms He will place us on.
God two greatest commands to us who call ourselves Christians, ie followers of Christ is
"To seek Him with our all, and to love our neighbors as much as ourselves."
"And in doing so, we can be the lamp upon which His Light will shine forth into the darkness encapsulating this fallen world."
3) Willingness based on our understanding when it should be simply on the wings of obedience.
Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.
1 Samuel 7-1
I
can empathize with King Saul. Answering God's call after much struggle,
one will expect a clear road ahead. Truth is God does not give us the
master plan at one go.
Every
new journey He calls us to will bring us to a new level of dependency
upon Him, and a further stripping away of our worldly ways. And each new
journey is comprised of a series of planks where visibility is limited
to the one just ahead of our present plank.
Every next plank we step on is an act of trust and obedience, and how can we be sure that it is
- the next right step?
- that we will be alright?
'Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.'
Psalm 127:1
Seeking our Lord entails a firm commitment to
- immerse oneself in His Word, for the Word is God
- be in communion with Him in prayers. And prayers is not a wish list, but about letting His Spirit minister to our spirit
- praise God with a thankful heart, independent of one's circumstances. For we know and acknowledge His Sovereignty,
Abiding in our Lord is
- this conscious determination to honor Him in our thoughts, words and our actions.
Joseph fled from temptation and ran to God. We must do the same.
Joseph
continued to minister to his fellow prisoners even when things did not
seem to pan out the way he thought his vision showed. We must do the
same.
- to go forth wherever He places us
It is not
about what we think or prefer, but what is the will of God. It is not
about our provisions but it's all about God our Provider.
Seeking God must be proactive, following Him is reactive?
'Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.'
1 Thessalonians 5:15-18
I
thank our great God for this enlightenment. He knows my heart is for
Him. Yet he knows the imperfect me struggles to follow, and we are all
subjected to the delusions thrown at us by the devil working in
conjunction with our deceitful heart.
As I ponder upon the next set of planks placed in front of me, which is the right one?
In
the story of Lazarus, most of us focussed on the miracle Christ
performed on the once dead Lazarus. But our Lord showed me two equally
important aspects.
"The disciples of Christ out of good intent but based on their finite understanding tried to dissuade Christ from going to Judea to see Lazarus. For the Jews will stone Christ.
But Christ says He will go where God leads Him, and not based on men's understanding."
( from John 11:8-9)
And
indeed, we will never be able to go where God leads us to if we lean on
our finite understanding. For what is impossible for men is possible
for God.
"....Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
John 11:32
Like
Mary, we often missed the woods for the trees. Without the delay, there
would have been no miracle for the resurrection of the dead Lazarus.
I am learning that the "waiting" is a prelude to God's greater plans.
God blesses
Eng Hieang
16 Jan 2016
An afterthought - Is the Holy Spirit in you?
The above thoughts talk about following the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit within our hearts.(1 Corinthians 3:16)
But why does many believers not sense the presence of the Holy Spirit within their very being?
Is not believing suffice for us to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit?
Is it possible that you think that you are a Christian but in the eyes of God you are not?
Even Satan believes in the existence of Jesus Christ, but he refuses to submit to His Sovereignty.
Or
it it possible the gift of the Holy Spirit is indeed bestowed when one
believes. But the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is never activated
because one never moved from belief to following?
Note the key word in the two verses below in Acts 2:38 and Acts 5:32
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38
'Be baptized"
Baptism
to many is a public profession of one's belief. But it is more than
mere mouthing. It must entail a willingness to let our old man die, and
put on the new man of Christlikeness.
Have you truly been willing to live a life like Christ?
We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
Acts 5:32
"Obey"
What is God's two greatest command to us who claim to be Christians?
"To seek Him with our all and to love our neighbors as ourselves"
Have you truly obeyed?
Are
my thoughts correct? I am not sure. But may it provoke you to think
about your faith and what a relationship with God truly means and
entail.
