Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Devotional 020609

Dear brothers and sisters,
Good morning. I did not sleep well last night. It could either be my serious reading before bed or concern about my dental appointment in the morning. My mind was so active with different pieces of images flashing in and out. I wished I were meditating on the words of God in my dream instead. Just like the way our Lord encouraged Joshua, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night…” (Joshua 1:8). I wished my mind were active in reading the Words of God. In this way, I would be conscious of His presence even in my sleep, and my mind would do unceasing prayer in my dream. Right?

Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord? (Psalm 25:12) What are you haunted by? You will say - By nothing, but we are all haunted by something, generally by ourselves, or, if we are Christians, by our experience. The Psalmist says we are to be haunted by God. The abiding consciousness of the life is to be God, not thinking about Him. The whole of our life inside and out is to be absolutely haunted by the presence of God. A child's consciousness is so mother-haunted that although the child is not consciously thinking of its mother, yet when calamity arises, the relationship that abides is that of the mother. So we are to live and move and have our being in God, to look at everything in relation to God, because the abiding consciousness of God pushes itself to the front all the time.

If we are haunted by God, nothing else can get in, no cares, no tribulation, no anxieties. We see now why Our Lord so emphasized the sin of worry. How can we dare be so utterly unbelieving when God is round about us? To be haunted by God is to have an effective barricade against all the onslaughts of the enemy.

"His soul shall dwell at ease." In tribulation, misunderstanding, slander, in the midst of all these things, if our life is hidden with Christ in God, He will keep us at ease. We rob ourselves of the marvelous revelation of this abiding companionship of God. "God is our Refuge" - nothing can come through that shelter.

Indeed, we need to kick the habit of worry and fear. It is so human that our immediate respond to problem was either fear or worry. We seldom react by casting it to God as Paul suggested us to do, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7). Somehow we need to train our mind to react in the Biblical way. This is what spiritual discipline comes into picture. We can train our brain to handle stress or anxiety in a positive manner. Yes, we still need to encounter or solve our problems at work or at home. But we don’t need to consume so much energy to worry the uncontrollable future. Let our brain remind us that we are not God. But we do have the Holy Spirit stand by within us to guide us through our difficult times. Our attitude should put God in the highest priority of which He deserves in our lives. If not, we will suffer in our own consequence of trying to play God, though we said we believed in God.

Have mercy on us O Lord! We cast ourselves into our own fear and worry instead of into your hands. Help us to stay focus on You no matter how big or small our problem may be in life today. Amen.

Love you in Christ,Lawrence

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