Monday 9 November 2009

Weeks 43 & 44 (09) - Blessings of Divine Guidance

Today (9th November) marks the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. World leaders are gathered in Berlin to celebrate the occasion.
Walls were traditionally built to protect against invading enemies. The most famous example is the Great Wall of China. But in a modern era, walls are often built to separate and divide communities of different ideologies such as the one in Berlin (between communism and capitalism) and the one in Gaza (between Jews & Muslims).

But more and more, walls are coming down. Communities are encouraged to live together in harmony. Through education, the younger generations are more tolerant of differences and they learn to respect people of different racial, social and religious background. It appears to be a good and healthy development. But, behind the scene is a hidden agenda that is subtle and sinister!

Interestingly the “green” agenda has also been used to bring people of different religious background together. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, recently attended a faith-and-ecology celebration in Windsor Castle, where he told an audience of gorgeously attired Bahais, Buddhists, Christians, Daoists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Shintos and Sikhs that “you are the leaders who can have the largest, widest and deepest reach” when warning people about climate change. Religions, he said, had established or helped to run half of the schools in the world; they were among the world’s largest investors; and the global output of religious journalism was comparable at least to Europe’s secular press.

Deception can indeed be very subtle. In the name of saving the planet, good-hearted faithful and unfaithful are joined together to advance an agenda allowed by God and keenly pursued by Satan to achieve what will ultimately be a One World System. Do not rejoice when it happens!

This is why preaching “Jesus as the only way to heaven” will be increasingly unpopular and difficult. Anything seen to divide and alienate communities will be isolated and destroyed (Islamic extremism is one example that the world is joining hands in eradicating). Only the power of God can help the Gospel and His Kingdom advance until the full number has come in [Matt. 24:14 & Rom. 11:25]. The key is to ask God to “……teach me your decrees. Let me understand the teaching of your precepts; then I will meditate on your wonders. My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD; do not let me be put to shame. I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. [Ps 119:25-32 NIV]

For those who are still weary with sorrow, be encouraged to know that one day true peace and harmony will come when we get to heaven. Just like the time when the Israelites no longer had to wander in the desert, "Since the LORD, the God of Israel, has granted rest to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem for ever, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service.”……They were……to stand every morning to thank and praise the LORD. They were to do the same in the evening…..” [1 Chron 23:25-32 NIV] There will be no more wandering (in the spiritual desert) in heaven where we will experience rest in the Heavenly Father.

While we are on this side of eternity, the only division we should avoid is division in the Body of Christ. Apostle Paul did not mince word when he told the Church of Corinth that “In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you….No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval…….For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick…….But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment… [1 Cor 11:17-34 NIV]

Therefore, “pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you. Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge, teaching you true and reliable words, so that you can give sound answers to him who sent you?.... [Prov 22:17-29 NIV]

Amen and amen!

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