Children of The Light#41 In tandem with the Holy Spirit ( 25th April 2017)
Dear…
Then the Spirit said to Philip, Go near and overtake this chariot.
So Philip ran to him……
Acts 8:29
God spoke to me. Is this a figment of my imagination or He did?
Today I speak with conviction whenever I share a thought that the Holy Spirit placed upon my heart, much as my audience who hear this pronouncement from me might be doubtful of the veracity of my thoughts. I like to believe that they at the minimal know my faith journey well enough to not attribute such pronouncements to the use of LSD!
….You always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did, so do you.
Acts 7:51
There are many a time that I felt strongly the prompting of the Holy Spirit, compelling enough for me to take a step back into the presence of our Lord to know His will.
I realized that cognitive sense came about from a diligent seeking of God in His Word and in prayers and in my daily living. And it has become imperative for me always to take time with our Lord where decisions need to be made. And even in non decision times, time with our Lord is as important.
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even to Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Acts 10:44-46
I was at a dinner with some dear friends. And amongst the dinner party was an acquaintance who shared about his youthful looks. One of his mainstay in life was the practice of qigong ( with Taoist influence) and reiki ( a Japanese Buddhist monk originated healing technique).
The ability to control the spiritual force within oneself leading to calmness and health.
What one subscribes to is the prerogative of the individual.
But as a Christian, do we need to exert control over our spirit man or should we surrender our all to the indwelling Holy Spirit residing in the hearts of believers of Christ?
Can we trust the finite and imperfect us to control and lead our spirit man?
Worse, will we in moving away from the leading of the Holy Spirit, that God grant to us to teach, guide, correct and empower us, end up inviting evil spirits into our holy temple?
And on holy temple, our good Lord impressed upon my heart in my sleep last nite on the need to be holy, for we who believe are the temple of God and His Spirit resides in us. Imperfect I know I am, but I know there are many things that I should not have done that has affected the sanctity of my being, as a place where the Spirit of God resides.
This morning, with this new resolve, I felt a realigned sense of purpose in my walk with our Lord.
And indeed the Holy Spirit that Christ bestowed upon all till His return is imperative to our life as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:
Today, if you will hear His voice. Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion……
When God calls, many
- Missed His call because their hearts were somewhere else with the world
0r
- Heard the call but is unsure if they heard right
Or
- have no doubt they heard the call, but are reluctant to follow
For we who have believed do enter that rest…
Hebrews 4:3
Rest and abide.
- Take time to rest in our Lord so you will hear the clear resonance of His call to you.
- Take time to rest in our Lord as you wait on Him to understand the call He has given you
- In entering His rest, God will sanctify, prepare, embolden and empower You to move as His Spirit leads. And on His strength and no longer on ours.
For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.
Hebrews 4:10
As I closed these thoughts, interestingly, the Book of the Bible that I just read is the first chapter of Jonah. Jonah heard loud and clear the call of God. But he chose to disobey and ran away from God.
Like Jonah most of us will run away either by doubting if we heard right, or telling God to come back another time when we are more ready or questioning if we are truly able to do what God has called us to do.
You shall not enter My rest. That is what God told the disobedient Israelites who did not want to enter the Promised Land.
God expects our obedience. Let us do that and not worry ourselves with the conclusions. For God is Sovereign and He more than provides.
And faith as my mentors Paul and Bunty shared, is about
- Knowing and believing the Word of God
- Trusting in the character of God
- Acknowledging the Sovereign power of God
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
25 April 2017
An afternote : Yokohama
Last week, in my sleep, our good Lord impressed upon my heart, the City of Yokohama twice over.
Yokohama, a city just half an hour away from Tokyo was never in my road map for property investments in Japan.
Yet I know I had to follow through on this prompting.
Interestingly, from an investment perspective, property prices in Yokohama had two attractive points
- Its at 60% of prices in central Tokyo
- Prices in Yokohama has risen only 12% past 4 years compared to Tokyo and other major cities.. And Yokohama is the 2nd largest city in Japan.
What about the spiritual rationale? A factor that has always been the basis of my investing since I started in Japan past 4 years, as our good Lord shows me?
If you recall, Japan had a first spurt of growth in the Christian faith to 10% of the population back in the 16th century, only to have it snuffed to officially 0% Christians.
But when the persecution of Christians officially ended in the Meiji Period in the 19th century, a revival started, and the 3 most significant cities where the Christian influence was strongest was in
- Kumamoto : where our good Lord led me to much against my finite understanding in my first purchase in Japan
- Sapporo : the next place I bought in Japan after Kumamoto again as led by our Lord
- And Yokohama.
If it is truly from our Lord, He will provide and guide my every step.
The only thing I can be sure of is to wait and rest upon Him, and take the first step
in that direction.
