NEVER ALONE WHEN ALONE WITH CHRIST

In today’s world of inexpensive, high-tech spy gadgetry, total privacy has become a bygone word of yesterday. So rare it has become a rare and precious longing to many. Innovative cameras are used to record and monitor people’s movement in public as in an ATM booth, malls, banks, watch shops, goldsmiths and traffic intersection. 

In one of my walkabouts along the streets of Jalan Pasar, Pudu, I was astonished to learn of the tiny wireless recording video gadgets retailing for less than RM100.00. 

Accounts of these being used indiscriminately by some irresponsible quarters for purpose of entrapment and exploitation is common news. Less than honorable I’d say.

But King David in Psalms 139 contrast all of the above depiction on the subject of privacy so much longed for. There is a mood of revelry learning that his every movement is monitored.

After all the One who keeps watch over him is the Almighty God who neither sleep nor slumber.Verse 6 speaks how God knows every thought, word and deed, even before they take place, prompting him to declare gladly; “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it”.

Did you think there was this place so dark, remote and deep that is beyond the presence, guidance and protection of the Almighty God? Did you entertain thoughts  you will walk  the remaining years of your life in solitude, inconspicuous, devoid of love, attention, then think again.  Verse 2 proclaims He has you in mind, when you sit down, and when you rise up, He discerns your every thought from afar. 

Grasp this truth, your fortunes are about to change, even as you let belief flood your heart, like that of a little child. 

Consider the Psalmist’s declaration in verses 7-10. No darkness could withstand the overpowering light that radiates from the Almighty. 

Just as the Almighty God knew every thing about King David, likewise every hair on your head, thought, desire, longings, difficulties you can possibly think of is known to Him. Yes, even the habitual mistakes that often gets you in trouble, to the point you stop trying to make amends, thinking all is lost.

It is recorded in verses 17 & 18, the number of times God thought of David could not be counted, for it is far more vast than the sand.

It is to your advantage to know you will never ever walk alone again, for Christ walks beside you. Such a dear Friend you will ever know and cherish, ever willing to guide and comfort you all the days of your life

No walking alone, you never will again, for He is with you from the womb to the tomb, and thereafter in eternity.


He possesses your innermost parts and did weave you in your mother’s womb.


You are never alone, when alone with Christ!

SOAR LIKE AN EAGLE

" For as he thinks within himself, so he is" Proverbs 23:7

The first principle for success is to begin to soar in your thinking. The keynote scripture Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as you think within yourself, so you are."

There is an imminent link between how you think in your mind and how you perform as a person. As you see and perceive yourself, so you become the person that you see yourself to be.

People with low self image, people who continually put themselves down, rarely achieve anything great in life because they have deemed themselves unworthy and have robbed themselves of the crative capacity to see themselves as God does.

True humility is not putting yourself down, but seeing yourself from God's perspective, His Word. As Christians, you've been bought with a price, you have been justified, you've been made in right standing with God. 

Therefore, you are in a position to think about yourself in a correct manner, as an achiever, as one with potential, as one who is able to do all things.

The bible in Ephesians 3:20 says that God wants "to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think."

What a dynamic thought! God wants to do in and through us even more than we can think or comprehend! Therefore, think about what can be, not what cannot be. Major on the possibility, not on the impossibility.

When you were born again as a new christian, you were born into a land of opportunity.

New frontiers of aplenty is now your playing field. It is exciting to be a Christian because you can realise your desire. You can do anything and be anything. 

Many, because of confusion and being misinformed, vacillate between two possibilities, not knowing which one is God's will. But regardless of how spiritual either possibility is, if you're not sure which one is God's will, you're not doing anything thus resulting in stagnancy.

The bible has something to say about people who are torn between choices; 

"UNSTABLE IN ALL YOUR WAYS AND ARE DOUBLE MINDED". James 1:8God's will is what you want to do. This sounds shocking at first; it does not sound spiritual enough, nor does it sound tangible enough to possibly be God's will. 

But the bible explicitly says in Philippians 2:13 that "It is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." There it is. God Himself is working in you to will. As you pray, read His Word, fellowship with His people, and are open to His counsel, He is working in you to will. 

His will is entwined with yours in tandem, and your will is becoming His. So taking this verse' mystery aspect out of the equation, one should now confidently embark wholeheartedly on the will and desires of the heart that was placed there by God, in the process seeking to please Him always.

Yes you can do anything and be anything. Grasp it in your spirit as you soar. Begin to see yourself as God does. And catch the vision of a life of fulfillment. Begin to soar in you mind right now. Allow God to drop that vision in you and give you a goal, a dream, a new desire. Your vision, dream, goal and desire evolves into reality when you begin to SOAR, when you begin to think "I don't have to be sick," "I don't have to fall into bankruptcy," I don't have to be depressed," and "they're not God's plan for me." It's a simple act of faith; yes simple as a toddler's early steps, faith of a mustard seed.

SOAR like an eagle on the wind of God's Spirit, wherewith from the heights you get a clear perpective.

"A man's worth is no greater than the worth of his ambitions." Marcus Aurelius

"To break the stalemates in our lives and begin to think and act creatively, we must first recognize that although the body is doomed to decay, this is not so with the mind. 

Your mind and thoughts are capable of infinite growth and development. Right up to the moment you die, your thoughts can be alert and growing." Selwyn Hughes

"SHUT THE DOOR WHEN PRAYING"

A visitor to London entered a phone booth in Central London to make a call. This was round about dusk and he was obviously having difficulty finding the digits on the dial. There was a light in the booth but he didn't know how to turn it on. 

A passer-by noticed his predicament and stopped to say, "Sir, if you want the lights on, you need to shut the door". I am sure you know how this works.

The embarrassed visitor was however delighted to find the booth filled with light and the call was made.

Similarly, when we come before the throne of grace to pray, we need to 'shut the door'. This is to block out the hustle and bustle of the busy world that could hamper our thoughts and emphasis to pray diligently.This act of shutting out the trappings of a busy world, turns on the light of His wisdom as we withdraw to our closet and pray in solitude.

Jesus often withdrew to be alone with the heavenly Father for strength and guidance, sometimes at the end of a busy day (Luke 5:12-16), or prior to making an important decision (Luke 6:12-13).

1 John 5:14 assures us that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us and answers us., but we must remember to "SHUT THE DOOR", by getting alone with the Lord.

Matthew 6:6

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.


'SECRET OF AN EFFECTIVE PRAYER IS TO PRAY IN SECRET'.


Other scripture reference:


Luke 5:12-16

12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy.[a] When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

14 Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”

15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.



Luke 6:12-13

12 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.


13 When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.


1 John 5:14

14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

Growing Old

June 8 often gets me thinking the inevitable- Growing Old.

Dissappointed wth a Harley Cake.
Should've been a Bike

Recently, a  friend in a similar situation, was relating of the time spent dividing between visiting children abroad or awaiting for that call from a loved one for that annual travel companionship. 

Another I know of, is often in despair, putting up with the belated financial support from his now grown up independent children, all of whom live  comfortable lives with families of their own. 

Yet another widowed, is resigned to an old folks home, having endless days fighting loneliness in a crowded home. 

One or all of the above could be a reality and its nightmarish in the case of a widow, widower, bachelor, spinster or a divorcee in the twilight of their years.

Psalm 71:17-21: 

17 God, You have taught me from my youth, And I still declare Your wondrous deeds. 18 And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to thisgeneration, Your power to all who are to come. 

19 For Your righteousness, O God, reaches to theheavens, You who have done great things ; O God, who is like You? 20 You who have shown memany troubles and distresses Will revive me again, And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth. 21 May You increase my greatness And turn to comfort me. 
Our senior years can be viewed as a pleasantly hapless era when we qualify for retirement benefits,

exhaust our EPF savings, senior discounts, hopeful for that invite from our children for visits, or frantically pre-plan travel itenary to suit another's and have a lot of time doing little. 

Or we can see them as a time of great opportunity to be used for God. There's so much left to do.

We can serve as mentors, teaching wisdom and virtue. Seniors can point to the ancient paths of holy living, okay lets not term it as that, perhaps the lessons learnt used to encourage young believers  (Psalm 71:18 & Jeremiah 6:16)

There is power in the example of an ordinary life lived with an awareness of God's presence - seeing Him in everything and doing all things for Him, in Him and through Him. 

This is the mark of the mature soul, quietly and humbly going about ordinary tasks, living in joy, and leaving behind the fragrance of Jesus' love.

Should our journey lead to illness and weakness, and we're confined to a wheelchair, our homes and eventually our beds, our years of fruitful service need not end here. We can still PRAY which is one of the special privileges of infirmity, or may be its greatest benefit.

Above all else, we can LOVE, our last and best gift to God and to humanity.

Mentoring, being a godly example, praying and loving are the opportunities of growing old with God.

A new found friend does just that with prayer texts at the crack of dawn. I am delighted. Time to pass the torch.

"We never retire from being useful to God"!