Dear….
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him, he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
Luke 15:20
This evening, as I attended service in Church, after being absent last week, a sense of peace enveloped my being. It is a privilege and blessing to be able to come unto the presence of our Lord. And the thought struck me. I felt like the prodigal son who came to his senses and was warmly welcomed home by his waiting father.
On returning home to our Lord, I was saddened to read the eulogy of a Church worker. A lady who I have had the privilege to be served by even as we served our Lord in His ministries in Church. A friend who I know on the many fleeting occasions when our paths crossed, yet her cheerful attitude of servanthood has left this indelible imprint upon my heart and that of many others.
A heart that felt this pain to see her gone, much as we know she is with our Lord.
Come this Monday morning, for some, there is a different kind of pain. The pain of financial losses from an over exuberant stock market that might be finally coming to its senses or maybe not!!.
What will it take for us to look and act beyond the temporal to eternity?
That our time on Earth is finite. And God gave us that finite time to be make ready for His return.
Not to seek the alluring but temporal riches of the world, but to have a richness of life lived knowing Him.
Today, my Pastor shared about his recent experience with the spiritual forces of evil.
Lying in bed, feeling an ominous presence encapsulating his very being. His flesh could not react, much as he struggled to push back the evil presence.
But his spirit man could, and in seeking our Lord instead of on his own strength, he could overcome the oppressive evil presence.
I had the same experience back when I was in military service. Not much of a Christian then, I was pressed every night at 9.30pm. I could sense the evil presence approaching me, when the lights were out, lying on the upper deck of my bunk in an ex British era army camp. Of the six of us in the bunk, I was the designated one for this unwelcome and unholy tete a tete.
It lasted for a week, and much as my bunk mates tell the terrified me that the insignia of our beloved nation on our beret will ward off all evil, truth is it did not.
What I did was in my desperate moments, the immobilized me, called to Christ from my heart. Christ, someone I have heard of, professed to believe but was in truth a stranger to me. But God loves us too much to hold that against us. And by His grace, the evil presence left me and I regained my bodily functions including my vocal cords.
I never ever had that experience again saved for one occasion many years later when in pointing a devout adherent of another faith, to Christ, guessed the bad guys weren’t too pleased and decided to make their presence felt. But the same dread came upon me as it approached, but this time round the immobilized me knew Who to turn to immediately instead of trying to push back on my own. And the evil presence ended up as a passing moment unlike the past experiences.
Just yesterday, ie Saturday, I participated in a cultural exchange with Japanese citizens(non believers) who have made Singapore their present home. And the purpose was to share with them aspects of Singapore as well as let them practice their English as well as experience the love of Christians in their midst.
It was enjoyable for everyone. For me the opportunity to share about the country we love.
For my new Japanese friends, the joy of discovery of a new environment.
Much as our paths might not cross again, in all its brevity, it was a great experience for everyone.
I wonder. Would it be even greater joy if I could share my greatest love, Christ our Savior. And if my Japanese friends can partake in the joy of knowing Him as their personal Savior.
That knowledge will not be fleeting, and but indelibly imprinted upon their hearts.
As I close these thoughts as prompted by our Lord. May it speak to your heart. And if so, come Monday, when the world beckons, you must never be the same again, in the way you use the new day that our good Lord has given you.
Work on your salvation, much as we cannot work for our salvation.
Life is fleeting. My dear friend Peggy left an indelible imprint upon my heart of what a faithful servant of God is like. But more importantly, she is now with God in eternity.
But what about you? Will God remove your name from His Book for He does not know you?
Don’t think about it, but do something about it before it is too late.
For what one does now will determine if it is Christ Who meets one’s departed soul or it is the once unseen evil presence but now very visible one waiting to have you join them in eternal damnation.
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Matthew 7:21
God Blesses
Eng Hieang
4 Feb 2018
An afterthought
This verse in my reading next day. God truly affirms
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
John 10:28
Often a physical manifestation of the evil one we will quickly run to God
When evil is packaged as other things like anger, lust, envy
We tend not to want to submit to God as quickly
No comments:
Post a Comment