The Relevant Word

I read Peter Truong's blog just now, and was very encouraged by his sharing on Psalm 145:1-10.

Recently, I was reminded that our God is an unchanging God. Many things may change around us but God will remain the same. The economy is being affected by the Global Financial Crisis. People are losing their jobs. The swine flu is spreading around the world. However, God is still present. God is still in control. Let us not lose sight of God in the midst of troubled times. God still cares and has the power to intervene in our lives. Look to God. I found great assurance of God's love and power by reading Psalms 145:1-10.

Think one thing I was learnt from Peter Truong's example is that I can use the Scriptures to help me make sense of what is going on in the world today - and not just my everyday living, but the world at large.

It's refreshing 'cos I've been ploughing through the Psalms and trying to make sense of what the Psalms say to me. I guess I've been feeling a bit dry, but still I plough on, reminding myself to keep my desire for God central. To seek Him with all my heart through reading his words.

Hee. I think God's Word is like an infrared camera. My uncle last time showed me his digital SLR (Huaqiang, SLR... haha...) and its infrared ability... cool! I was surprised to see how even in the darkest areas, everything glowed in grayscale as though it were daylight!

So just like how an infrared camera can help bring out even the most well-hidden objects in the darkest night, it's the same with learning to view the world's current affairs and my own daily circumstances through God's Word. This is part and parcel of learning how to meditate on God's Word (Psalm 1).

Personally, I think though experiences and careful human wisdom can help us appreciate and understand God's Word so much better, ultimately, our worldviews should never interpret God's Word no matter how benign they may be. On the contrary, God's Word is to be the ultimate basis of all our understanding and interpretation of the world and our daily affairs.

I know it sounds circular, what I wrote just now. William Cowper put it so much more eloquently and concisely:

Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.

:)

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Btw I read in the Straits Times today about the Euphrates River drying up. The writer mentioned that the Bible says that one of the signs of the end-times is that the Euphrates River will dry up.

Read what the New York Times says: Iraq Suffers as the Euphrates River Dwindles

The shrinking of the Euphrates, a river so crucial to the birth of civilization that the Book of Revelation prophesied its drying up as a sign of the end, has decimated farms along its banks, left fishermen impoverished and depleted riverside towns as farmers flee to the cities looking for work.

Gosh! It's really happening before our very own eyes... Jesus is coming back very soon! :)

Revelation 16:15
"Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."

I remember reading Revelation when I was a young boy in primary school... And those words made me feel afraid. Thank God! "'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear..." 'Cos it made me realise the need to repent of my sins and receive Christ into my heart. :D

Yup... Jesus came so silently and innocently in His First Coming, as a helpless baby in a manger... that only a few lowly shepherds and some pagan wise men were able to recognize Him as the King of Kings. And I guess, even now, He's coming very silently, but the signs are there already. So let's prepare our hearts to welcome Him back... and let's hurry to tell others about Him!

'Cos while we talk about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ... half of the world has never even heard of the First.