Weeks 39 & 40 (10) - Blessings of Divine Guidance

I have been observing the nations of the world on the issue of “the temple and the land”. The two are intimately linked. If the temple (the church) is strong in a nation, the land will also be blessed. The opposite is true if the church is weak and poor!

China, since 1949 when Chairman Mao established the Peoples Republic of China, has undergone some amazing changes. Chairman Mao has done China a favour by destroying all idol worshipping. In the midst of the Cultural Revolution, God moved through the underground churches. A conservative estimate put China in front of many western Christian nations in terms of its Christian population. A figure of a few hundred millions of born again Christians has been mentioned. These are mostly in rural China.

Although China is still Communist in name, she is a social capitalist in reality. Economic growth at double digits will make China the largest economy in 10 years’ time. I can see God blessing the land through the temple!

When God moves, Satan is there also to try to hinder the move.

I was in Shenzhen last weekend for 3 days, teaching and ministering in a Shenzhen church retreat. The city is becoming richer after 30 years of open-door policy and economic growth. You can hardly see a bicycle on the street. I would say there are more expensive European cars than bicycles.

I see the same 3 areas of temptation in the city (sex, money and power) that Satan deploys since the beginning of mankind. Many will fall and be destroyed if they do not find Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

The retreat was in a nice beach resort in Dapeng Bay, where many Chinese swam to Hong Kong to escape Mao’s Cultural Revolution in the 70s. The programme had a lot of fun time – games, BBQ, swimming and frisbee on the beach. I was asked to speak on “balancing church/work/family in a busy life”. We also had a long Q & A session, including difficult questions on business ethics and unbelieving business partners.

I also see many challenges in the church I ministered in – broken families (divorces) and children growing up without good male role models. One good thing is that the people are all hungry and eager to learn!

I know many have and many will come to the Lord. But there is a lack of shepherds and spiritual leaders, esp. male ones in China. There is real urgency to train up more of these leaders. There is a great need to plant vibrant and Biblical churches in the land!

I am excited about the prospect of church planting in China. I often wonder why there are so many Chinese in the world. What is God’s plan for them? Yes, “How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures…….all look to you to give them their food at the proper time. When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works — he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD. But may sinners vanish from the earth and the wicked be no more. Praise the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD.” [Ps 104:24-35 NIV]

One day many people on this planet earth will wake up to the fact that the end is near. It will be a time of tribulation. “In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. In that day their strong cities……will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation. You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.” [Isa 17:7-14 NIV] Let us pray that it will be short.

I pray and hope that many will respond to the Gospel, just like the time of John the Baptist. “…….so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." [Mark 1:1-13 NIV]

The time has come for us to fear one thing – the Lord. Do not fear those who kill the body. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. [Matt 10:28] “He whose walk is upright fears the LORD, but he whose ways are devious despises him……A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless………He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. [Prov 14:2,16,26-27 NIV]

Amen and amen!