Children of The Light#43 When God speaks (8th July 2017)
‘...when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?
Luke 18:8
Strangely warmed, that was the epiphany moment for John Wesley. Imbued by the Holy Spirit, he was a transformed man of God.
Strangely silent, for most of us, we rarely if ever converse with God.
How does one conduct a conversation with God? For me the modus operandi my Father chose has been
- A thought He places in my heart
- An affirmation of that same thought often via way of His Word.
This morning, our good Lord placed the thought “what if,” upon my heart as the early light of the new morning started to creep in. An hour later, the Daily Bread reading today(Mon 5 June 2017) ran along the same theme. The author talks about the need to focus on the present God than the things that we think we missed.
God always affirms and for good measure, this afternoon as I was doing my regular Bible reading, this was the Word He gave me.
Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!
Proverbs 23:4
Almost like a stop work order from our good Lord. Today, I was running a little more than usual, trying to squeeze a little more blood out of a very meagre returns from the financial system.
My regular Bible reading was delayed till about now, and even then my mind was distracted.
God knows and He sets me right.
Like baby steps, when I first came to the faith at age 15, and when I returned to the faith at age 36, having plain forgotten about the omnipresent God in between the years, God conversed with me through His Words primarily.
But at age 40, He figured I was ready for a more profound experience with Him in order to move me forward in my walk with Him.
‘...through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.’
Titus 3:5-6
I was moved from believer of our Lord Jesus Christ to a determined follower at age 40. It is truly by His grace that 16 years back in Bangkok, that His Spirit fell upon me, sanctified me and brought me across the chasm of faith that I could never do on my own strength or understanding. God spoke to my heart directly.
In the years since this defining moment for me, when my heart heard Him loud and clear, I have seek to follow His leading. It has been a wonderful relationship through the many upheavals of life that He has led me through yet walked with me and sheltered and empowered me.
In the past 8 years, He has broadened my communion with Him to impressions upon my heart, often in the quietness of the early dawn, and lately, through the day.
It has and continues to be a wonderful relationship with my Father in Heaven.
But there are times when we err without fully realizing it or being unwilling to correct our wayward ways.. And just today, God decided I needed a rap on the knuckle. And indeed it was necessary to save me from my errant ways.
The still soft voice of our good Lord often resonates in a heart that seeks to rest and abide in Him.
But there are times when God will speak loud and clear to us when our hearts needed a more intense wake up call.
Prayerfully, you have not dozed off in your communion with our Lord, for He will awaken you for your sake. Painful but gainful.
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
8th July 2017
An afterthought - When man speaks
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:5
This evening, I happened to watch on youtube a CCTV program in Mandarin, with the title “When China speaks.” The speaker was a senior general from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
It was a stirring speech, at least it seems by the reaction of the youthful audience who lapped in vivid pictures of a rejuvenated China and her military prowess and the sense of national pride and patriotism, and the need to correct the injustices suffered when China was weak.
Yet, it jars my heart for one can sense the war mongering and selfishness that emanates when man speaks from his own pedestal rather than from that of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Without Christ, our world will continue to degenerate towards the inevitable. A war of attrition to decide who will be the next god on Earth. But the next World War could be the last, what with the destructive weapons of mass destruction. But more importantly, the intense and deliberate degeneration of human society towards sin will eventually evoke a response from our omnipresent and omnipotent yet patient God.
