God's Vaccine Of Joy

 God's Vaccine Of Joy

“But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-‬19 NLT

Before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Jews were waiting for a Messiah to deliver them from the oppression of the Romans. But God had a far better, wonderful and amazing plan - to give the world that is infected by sin and evil, a Messiah to heal us of our sinful nature so that we can live the fully human and fully divine life as the beloved of God.

Likewise, in the grip of the COVID 19 pandemic, humanity is looking for an effective vaccine to set them free from the tyrannical fear of the COVID 19 virus. The focus on the eradication of the COVID 19 virus blinds us to the truth that it is but just one of the vast number of viruses that we need to learn to live with. What we really need is the liberation from the fear of death - the fear that makes us slaves of sin and keeps us from living in the kingdom of heaven here and now. 

The world has been turned upside down (or rather right side up) by the COVID 19 virus. It has opened our eyes to the harsh realities of the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death. Sigmund Freud had drawn attention to the truth that we are living psychologically beyond our means when we do not face the reality of death and give death its proper place in our thoughts and in life. The good news of Christmas is that death has been conquered because Jesus Christ was born to taste death for everyone:

“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” Hebrews 2:14-‬15 NLT

The miracle of Christmas is seeing God doing something new by making a highway of holiness through the stony and thorny soils of my heart. Christmas is a time for the Holy Spirit to fill my heart with the love of God and renew my thoughts with the mind of Christ. God’s thoughts are nothing like our thoughts and His ways are far beyond anything we can imagine (Isaiah 55:8). The ways of the world leads us to seek happiness by being healthy, rich and famous. Jesus came to show us that we can find “joy unspeakable” in sickness, poverty, the mundane and even in the face of suffering and persecution.

 

Jesus taught his followers that they will be persecuted for the sake of righteousness when they live in the kingdom of heaven. For the righteous will always be a threat to the evil ways of our egos and the world. We will face suffering, tribulation and persecution when we seek to live our lives for God. Hence, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus who is the author and perfecter of our faith. He endured the cross and disregarded its shame because of the joy awaiting him (Hebrews 12:2).

In one of the Christmas stories, we read of the gift of myrrh given by one of the three wise men and the prophecy of Simeon to Mary, the mother of Jesus that a sword will piece her very soul:

“This child is destined to cause many in Israel to fall, and many others to rise. He has been sent as a sign from God, but many will oppose him. As a result, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul.” Luke 2:34-‬35 NLT

COVID 19, like these stories, is to teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalms 90:12 NKJV). And in the information age, we are to remember that “true wisdom starts with a heart full of faith, not a head full of facts.” At Christmas we celebrate the wonder of God coming into the world and into our lives as a helpless infant who needed to be cared for and to be loved. 

Christmas in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic challenges us to go on a journey of “creative care” - to unpack the mystery and power of love by caring for one another. Anne Basting found creative care to be the profound and life-changing act of healing. She saw creative care as an invitation to shape the world together when there is an agreement between people to come together to imagine themselves, each other, and their worlds a little differently.

Creative care involves the use of “ a beautiful question.”  “A beautiful question" always shapes a beautiful mind” and it is an invitation to both selfhood and to community. The beautiful question leads a person into contemplation without having to worry over finding the right or wrong answers but to begin a journey to live into the answer. Life will throw disturbing and difficult questions at us. Rainer Maria Rilke advises us not to seek the answers but to love the questions and to live the questions now. Then without noticing, we will gradually live into the answer some day.

A beautiful question for Christmas 2020 may be “What is Joy?” especially in the midst of the doom and gloom of COVID 19. Perhaps joy is God’s vaccine for the pain and suffering that we will face in the new year. In the season of Christmas over the next twelve days, we can unwrap the beautiful question that God has for us. Let us encourage one another to live into the answer by drawing closer to Jesus and to one another so that we can truly sing:

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

 

Love Came Down At Christmas

 Love Came Down At Christmas

“The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him the complete gifts of undeserved grace and truth have come down to us.” John 1:14 CEV

Living in heaven on earth in the here and now is not a pipe dream but God’s dream for all of us. This is the good news - Love Came Down At Christmas. Jesus Christ came to incarnate the love of God that we may understand, appreciate and share the unfailing grace and mercy of God. Jesus came to show us the way to live a life that is fully human and fully divine - by being totally filled with the power of love:

“Love shall be our token; love be yours and love be mine;

Love to God and all men, love for plea and gift and sign.”

Advent is a time to see how God is at work in me when my life is totally surrendered to Him. Advent is a time to prepare myself to pray as Mary did, ”be it unto me”:

“And be it unto me
According to Your word
According to Your promises
I can stand secure
Carve upon my heart
The truth that sets me free
According to Your word O' Lord
Be it unto me”

The truth that sets me free is God’s wonderful promise that when the Lord is my Shepherd, I do not have to strive to seek God’s goodness and mercy. In fact they follow me all the days of my life when I follow Christ:

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” Psalm 23:6

To follow Christ is to let all that I am wait quietly before God:

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.” Psalms 62:5-‬6 NLT

It is in resting and waiting on God, that I am trusting the Spirit to change the soil of my heart from a path, a stony or thorny soil into a fertile soil. God is the gardener of the garden in my heart and when the seed of God’s love take root in my heart, I will be filled with the joyful blessing of the fifth beatitude:

“God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” Matthew 5:7 NLT

We are not called to be merciful in order to receive mercy. We do not received mercy because we have placated God with our worship. We are merciful because we have received mercy as we follow the supreme example of Jesus Christ who prayed on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34 NLT

It is the sin of Sloth, the “noonday sleeping sickness” that keeps us from living the forgiven and forgiving life. Sloth leads us to forget God’s mercies that we have received. Our hearts are hardened and we struggle to forgive others. Love came down at Christmas to help us overcome the sin of Sloth. The silent and holy night of the birth of the Christ child moves us to search our hearts. In the face of God’s amazing love we can be fully human by confessing our weaknesses and failings. As we do so, we receive God’s mercy to embark on the journey to be fully divine - forgiving others and to be a channel of God’s mercy and grace. So let us pray that the Christ child may be born in us this Christmas:

“O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel”

Fourth Sunday of Advent: Fertile Soil

“Say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you.” And when he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy! Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland.” Isaiah 35:4-‬6 NLT

As I approach Christmas in the fourth week of Advent and reflect on the fertile soil of the heart, I am challenged by the truth that it is only when I truly hear and understand God’s word, that I will be able to produce “a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.” The words of one of my favourite carol came to mind:

“Christmas isn’t Christmas till it happens in your heart. Somewhere deep inside you is where Christmas really starts.
So give your heart to Jesus,
You’ll discover when you do,
It’s Christmas, really Christmas for you.”

I need to “fertilize” the soil of my heart in the season of Advent to live a fruitful and not fruitless life in the new year. The season of Advent in the past three years have been most meaningful and fruitful. In late 2017 I first discovered  the lived experience of the truth of the above passage from Isaiah. It was a time when I was “lame” - confined to a wheelchair as I was having severe backache while I was visiting my daughters in London. On my flight to London from Singapore, I had to spend 10 hours in the wheelchair in Amsterdam airport waiting for my connecting flight. My wife and I had to abandon our plans to go on a sight seeing day tour in Amsterdam. But it turned out to be a fruitful time as it gave me time to write the last chapters of my book, Living With Our Shepherd of Love. It felt like “the lame will leap like a deer!”

Just before Advent 2019, my ENT surgeon “sentenced” me not to speak for two weeks to rest my vocal cords. This provided me with the experience that “those who cannot speak will sing for joy!” I empathised with Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, to prepare for a new birth - the gestation period for my book “Living In God’s Loving Embrace” - my reflection on the Beatitudes.

In this last week of Advent, I am drawn to reflect on the be-attitudes of mercy and perseverance - to bear the fruit of forgiveness and to recognize the sin of sloth which leads to indifference and keeps us from the joy of our salvation. Jesus Christ came to show us what a life that is fully human and fully divine is like so that heaven can come on earth. Heaven is more than a place we go to when we die - it is a state of being that begins with our life here on earth. Our attitudes and actions, according to Richard Rohr, determines whether we are in heaven or hell:

“It’s Heaven all the way to Heaven and it’s Hell all the way to Hell. We are in Heaven now by falling, by letting go, and by trusting and surrendering to this deeper, broader and better reality that is readily available to us. We’re in Hell now by wrapping ourselves around our hurts, by over identifying with and attaching ourselves to our fears, so much so that they become our very identity. Any chosen state of victimhood is an utter dead end. Once you make that your narrative, it never stops gathering evidence about how you have been wronged by life, by others and even by God.”

Jesus came to change the negative narrative of our lives with the promise that goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives for He is our Shepherd of Love. Christmas is more than the celebration of the birth of Christ - it is God’s invitation to follow Christ in the adventure to bring heaven to earth. Let us be God’s vaccine of contagious love in the pandemic of fear infecting the world. Let us share the good news that we have been set free from the slavery of living under the rule of law. We are to dwell in the house of the Lord forever - living as citizens of heaven here on earth under the reign of the Prince of Peace as we sing:

“Hail the Heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! the herald angels sing:
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Spiritual Hunger or Spiritual Gluttony

“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink - even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk - it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.” Isaiah 55:1-‬2 NLT

With the discipline of silence, I am awakened to the danger of my heart being a path making it difficult for the gospel of God's love to bear fruit in my life. As I learn to rest in peace in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit revealed the stones of pride, fears and doubts and turned them into a highway of holiness. It is a highway through the wilderness of my soul and I need God's Word to be a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path (Psalms 119:105 NLT).

The season of Advent is a time to whet my appetite for God’s Word for I cannot live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4 NLT). Instead of craving for possessions, positions, power and pleasure, I need to hunger and thirst for love, joy and peace. I have the  assurance that my spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst will be satisfied for He has prepared a feast for us:

“You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.” Psalms 23:5 NLT

The COVID 19 pandemic has revealed the inequalities and injustices of the economic as well as health care systems in the world. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. The rich are overfed with unhealthy food and the poor are starving for a decent meal in this world. When we enjoy and desire junk food, we will not hunger and thirst for healthy food. Likewise, if we desire fame, wealth and power, we will not hunger and thirst for righteousness. In God’s kingdom it is those who are hungry and thirsty for justice who are joyfully blessed:

“God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 NLT

Spiritual hunger comes from a desire to do God’s will. Spiritual gluttony is the temptation to study the scriptures with the goal of satisfying our love for power. When the wise men from the East went to King Herod to find how they can find the newborn king of the Jews, he was deeply disturbed and he asked the leading priests and teachers of religious law, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?” They told him:

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote: ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’” Matthew 2:3‭-‬6 NLT

King Herod told the wise men that he wanted to worship the newborn king but God knows his true motive and the wise men were warned by God in a dream not to return to King Herod. (Matthew 2:8-12)

Holy Scripture reveals the spiritual dimension of life which is filled with the weeds of the forces of evil as well as the wheat of God’s grace. The sacred stories of the bible are, to quote Brian McLaren, bottomless wells of meaning.   We are to meditate on them to guide us in the predicaments of life - to help us understand our identity as a child of God, to find meaning for our lives especially in times of grief and sorrow, and to be the channels of God’s love, joy and peace in a world of hate, despair and fear.

The bible is the written Word of God to lead us to Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God. The Pharisees searched the scriptures to seek eternal life but they were blind to the truth that Jesus is the source of eternal life:

“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life." John 5:39‭-‬40 NLT

The bible is the Sword of the Spirit to destroy the strongholds of evil and to help us overcome the temptations of the world and the forces of evil. It is also  a two-edged sword to purify our hearts:

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 NKJV

Spiritual gluttony only fills my mind with biblical facts but leaves my heart untouched. It is spiritual hunger that will lead me to feed on God’s Word so that my heart can be purified and my life transformed with the spiritual DNA of the resurrected Christ. Only then can I glorify God as I follow Christ in the journey to become fully human and fully divine.

In this season of Advent, I am learning to listen to the voice of God as I meditate on the sacred scriptures by opening my mind and heart to the Holy Spirit with the discipline of silence. As I sing the carol, “Once in Royal David’s City, I pray that the words will take root in my heart:

 “And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that child so dear and gentle,
Is our Lord in heaven above,
And He leads His children on,
To the place where He is gone.”

 

 

Life Beyond Death

"The people who walk in darkness will see a bright light. The light will shine on those who live in the land of death’s shadow.” Isaiah 9:2 GW

A dark shadow has been hanging over the whole world in the year 2020 as the COVID 19 pandemic rages on. The grim reality of death has touched many lives in the past year. Although I am acquainted with death in my work as a palliative physician, death came up close and personal this year as I mourn the deaths of a nephew in law, an uncle in law, an aunt and three dear friends. With the specter of COVID 19, Advent 2020 is a time to reflect on the precious comfort and forgiveness of God:

“Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.” Isaiah 40:1-‬2 NLT

In the second beatitude, Jesus assures us that we will have God’s comfort when we are living in the kingdom of heaven here and now:

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4 NKJV)

In the midst of the pandemic, it is timely to confront our fears about death and dying. Our fears drive us to seek the meaning of life. The good news is that the light of Christ is shining on us as we live in the land of death’s shadow. Death is but the dawn of eternal life. And we have peace of mind when Jesus is our Shepherd of Love guiding us through the valley of the shadow of death:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4 NKJV)

We will all face losses in life sooner or later. Our human nature leads us to respond with anger when we are attached to what we have lost. We may feel guilty when our loss is a result of our actions. Sometimes our loss lead us to be fearful of our future. The good news is that through the Holy Spirit we can mourn our losses by bringing our anger, guilt and fears to the Lord:

“For the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments  and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4‭-‬5 NET

Sin and death are the weeds that choke the seed of God’s love in our hearts. Jesus came to set us free from our slavery to sin and the fear of death:

“Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” Hebrews 2:14‭-‬15 NLT

When we are separated from God by sin, we see and feel our losses as God’s punishment and we feel condemned as sinners. But as a child of God, our losses in life are transformed into experiences of God’s discipline. As a child of God, we do not feel condemned but we are convicted by our need for God’s discipline and for more of God’s grace. Weeping may last for the night but joy comes in the morning (Psalms 30:5) as we rest in the power of Christ’s resurrection.

In her book, “The Gospels Speaks,” Dorothy Lee reminds us of the good news - that “Jesus gives a life beyond - though contiguous with - that of nature; this life now transcends death. It is life in the midst of death and life on the other side of death: life in spite of death.” The forces of death have been overthrown by the power of the resurrection of Christ and we can have a foretaste of eternal life in the here and now. 

Sarah Randall, a writer of an Upper Room devotional, shared her experience of identifying with God and knowing that Jesus understood her every feeling and had given His life for her. This led her to get outside of herself and to learn to “see” Jesus as her Shepherd leading her, to “feel” the Holy Spirit refilling her each day, to hear God through a verse of Scripture or through a friend’s words, and to “see” God in everything around her and in nature.

Our human mind tempts us to question the Scriptures. But such an attitude only generate futile and fruitless discussions. We need the Holy Spirit to convict our hearts by the Word of God - to experience the “truest” forgiveness which comes from understanding the nature of sin and to see the truth that those who have been forgiven much will love much (Luke 7:47). Let us hunger and thirst for God’s Word so that we can truly appreciate and celebrate Christmas with grateful joy and anticipation as we sing, “Joy to the World”:

“No more let sins and sorrows grow
Nor thorns infest the ground
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found
Far as, far as the curse is found”

 

Third Sunday Of Advent: Our Thorny Hearts

“So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” John 1:14 NLT

After our stony hearts have been turned into fertile soil, there is battle for our fertile hearts. In the parable of the sower, Jesus compared the act of a farmer planting seed with the sowing of God’s word in our hearts. This is to teach us how difficult it is for God’s seed of love to bear fruit in our thorny hearts:

 “The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity.” Luke 8:14 NLT

We are living in a turning point of human history - an unpredictable, anxious and confusing time. It is a time of darkness. A time for God’s light to shine even more brightly. A time to “live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” (Philippians 2:15 NLT). Advent 2020 is a historic season to reflect on the condition of our hearts especially in the midst of the COVID 19 pandemic:

“My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:20-‬23 NLT

After being awakened to follow Christ and being led by the Spirit to be aware of our sinful desires, we  are to feed on God’s Word for the healing of our griefs, hurts, anger and addictions to the pleasures of life. We need to go beyond Bible study to know God’s Word for information as this may lead to spiritual gluttony and pride. We need to meditate on God’s Word - to listen to the voice of God with our hearts. As we do so, the Holy Spirit will rewire our brains and renew our minds and lead us to humility and the transformation of our lives.

Silence opens our hearts to the Holy Spirit - to have “an awakened heart with wisdom to hear God’s Word of promise” in the season of advent - that the Word became human and made His home among us. Jesus came to fulfill the purpose of God’s laws:

“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.” Matthew 5:17 NLT

To follow Jesus is not to obey the letter of the law but to obey the spirit of God’s commandments - that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are called to an obedience that is based on our relationship with God as our Heavenly Father and not the blind obedience to a written code of conduct:

 “Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Philippians 2:7-‬8 NLT

Jesus came to turn the narrow path of the law into the highway of holiness through the way of the Cross. The valleys of our sorrows with be filled when the hills of our doubts and fears are levelled.  Like John the Baptist, we are to be the voice in wilderness to share the good news:

“The valleys will be filled, and the mountains and hills made level. The curves will be straightened, and the rough places made smooth. And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.’” Luke 3:5-‬6 NLT

The way of the cross is in stark contrast with the ways of the world. The cares and riches and pleasures of this life are the weeds that keep us from bearing the fruit of God’s seed of love. The parable of the wheat and weeds is to draw our attention to the predicament of our human condition -  there will be both wheat and weeds in our lives. However, instead of trying to get rid of the weeds, we can trust that God will remove the weeds in due course:

“Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew. “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’ “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked. “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.  Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’” Matthew 13:24‭-‬30 NLT

The battle for our hearts belong to God. Our responsibility is simply to live out God’s promises in our lives. As we meditate on the scriptures, we can ask the Spirit to show us if there is a sin we need to confess, a temptation we need to overcome, a commandment to obey or a promise to remember. The good news of Advent is that in our watching and waiting for our Lord, we will find comfort in the dark valleys of life and our hunger and thirst for God’s love will be filled:

“Saints, before the altar bending, watching long in hope and fear,

Suddenly the Lord, descending, in his temple shall appear:

Come and worship, come and worship,

worship Christ, the newborn King.”

 

 

The Highway Of Holiness

“And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there.” Isaiah 35:8 NLT

The wonderful story of Christmas about God coming into the world in Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger is to awaken in us the wonder of a new birth and to reveal our need to be reborn again to be a child of God:

 “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” John 3:3‭-‬8 NLT

Without a spiritual birth, we will live as human beings seeking spiritual experiences with sinful desires. We may even worship God like Cain but our sinful nature will lead us to evil just as Cain murdered his brother Abel. The tragic Christmas story of the massacre of the children by King Herod shows us the horror of the sin of envy:

“Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance.” Matthew 2:16 NLT 

We need to be born again through faith in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God. Then our Shepherd of Love will guide us along the right paths to bring honor to God’s name. He willl renew our strength and purify our hearts so that we can have an intimate relationship with God in the kingdom of heaven here on earth:

 “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8 NLT

 Through the Holy Spirit we can live as the children of God - spiritual beings who are the human channels of God’s love, joy and peace. Without the Holy Spirit, we are unable to see, hear, touch, taste and smell the transforming presence of God in our daily lives. We will be tempted to turn the stones in our hearts into bread instead of feeding on the manna of God’s Word:

 “For forty days and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:2‭-‬4 NLT

It is by the Holy Spirit that we will be able read the bible with our hearts to transform our minds. We will find wisdom and not mere knowledge:

 “And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.  But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.” 1 Corinthians 2:12‭-‬14 NLT

God has given us a Highway of Holiness in the wilderness of our stony hearts - when our hearts are purified and our minds are childlike. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to transform our struggles in life into stepping stones. May we grow spiritually in Advent 2020 and be empowered to love and serve others. Let us rejoice with our Emmanuel on the Highway of Holiness as we sing:

“O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

 

 

The Voice Of Peace In The Wilderness Of Anxiety

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:26‭-‬27 NLT

Advent 2020 is a very special time in human history. We have been thrown into the wilderness of anxiety by the COVID 19 virus. This miniscule virus is, at the same time, the voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way for the Lord. We are forced to redirect our attention from the festivities of Christmas and to reexamine and reflect on the reason for the season - the birth of Christ in our hearts. It is a time to ponder on the absence of God in our mundane and hectic lives so that we will be drawn to the wonder of God’s presence in the beauty of creation and in one another as the Spirit opens our spiritual eyes to see and spiritual ears to hear.

Reflecting on the parable of the sower, I found pride reigning in my heart and turning it into a stony soil. I am tempted to idolatry and to worship money and power just as Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after his baptism:

“Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” Matthew 4:8‭-‬10 NLT

The best antidote to pride is to let our Shepherd of Love lead me beside peaceful streams and to rest in green meadows (Psalms 23:2) - to spend time doing nothing with God so that God can do something in and through me as I trust Jesus Christ to be my everything.

We celebrate Christmas because Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead to give us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with the love of God (Romans 5:5). Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1). And so we can live in the wilderness of anxiety with the wonderful promise of Jesus:

 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 NLT

 The season of Advent is to make room for God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. To do so, I have found Christian meditation most helpful. The tradition of silence and stillness in prayer is to observe our thoughts and feelings in a noncritical and nonjudgmental way as we invite the Holy Spirit to search our hearts. Dorothy Lee noted that although it helps us to relax and to deal with anxiety, the more important value of meditation lies in increasing our awareness of God’s presence:

 “It is nothing other than the presence of God and being entirely in the present moment, which, though it may not seem productive during the meditation, is ultimately transformative for the whole of life. It is not a matter of wrestling with anxiety but rather of resting in the transforming presence of God beyond our egos.”

 The COVID 19 virus has dealt a mighty blow to human pride by forcing us to face our “inability to control emotional responses to perceived threats” - a definition of anxiety. It had also enforced God’s Sabbath rest on humankind and had turned our cities into a wilderness for a time.

The challenge of Advent 2020 is to transcend our egos by resting in God’s transforming Presence that we may receive the gift of peace of mind and heart. We need the Holy Spirit to turn the stony ground of our hearts into fertile soil. Then we can reap a harvest of righteousness and sow the seeds of peace:

 “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9 NLT

 It is our identity as a child of God that gives us a true understanding and appreciation of the significance and purpose of our apparently short and insignificant lives. As children of God we are called to live together in love and peace. When we live together in peace as the family of God, we are in heaven on earth.

Let us, with a poverty of spirit and in meekness, reflect on the gift of the Holy Spirit during this second week of Advent:

 “How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven
No ear may hear His coming
But in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still
The dear Christ enters in."

Second Sunday of Advent: Our Stony Hearts

“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20 NLT

 After the “path” of our hearts has been broken, our hearts becomes a stony ground without much soil. A seed sown in the stony ground sprout quickly but wilted rapidly when the sun came up as it had no roots. Likewise, we may receive the gospel with great joy only to fall away when we face trouble, suffering or persecution. The real test of our salvation is seen in our responses to tribulation, suffering and persecution. God does not save us from the problems in life but promises to be with us in our struggles through life.

When we have stony hearts, it is so easy to break God’s heart when we are blind to God’s love. The words of the song “Wooden Hearts” led me to a  higher truth:

 “Can’t you see God loves you   
Please don’t break His heart in two    
That’s not hard to do
‘Cause we all have such stony hearts

Jesus came to be our Shepherd of Love to lead us beside peaceful streams so that we can rest in green meadows. He renews our strengths and guides us along the right paths so that we will bring honor to God’s name. Jesus came to give rest to our souls and to change our stony hearts into tender hearts. Then we can be firmly rooted in God’s love. Jesus identified himself with our stony hearts by going through the “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4):

 “One day when the crowds were being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. As he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit, in bodily form, descended on him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” Luke 3:21‭-‬22 NLT

The baptism of Jesus by the Holy Spirit highlights our need for repentance and forgiveness. It is through repentance and forgiveness that we can be born again and have the hope of new life as a child of God. Dorothy Lee makes the insightful observation that “as a human being, Jesus descended into the waters of sin and suffering in order to quench them.” Baptism is an act of identification with sin and to prepare us for suffering that is part and parcel of our human life. When James and John, the sons of Zebedee, asked to seat in the places of honour next to Jesus on the throne of God, Jesus told them:

 “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?” Mark 10:38 NLT

 Our response to our struggles and suffering in life reveals the condition of our heart and how deep are the roots of our faith in the love of God. In a stony heart where lust, greed, pride and envy reigns, the seed of God’s grace cannot bear fruit with shallow roots. It is therefore so important for us to be aware of our sinful desires through contemplative prayer. After his baptism Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted by the devil with God’s promise in Psalm 91:11-12:

 “Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, ‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’” Matthew 4:5‭-‬6 NLT

 In times of difficulties we are tempted to put God to the test to remove them instead of asking the Holy Spirit to use our difficulties to reveal our sinful desires. Advent is the season of spring cleaning our hearts so that the Holy Spirit can fill them with the love of God. It is a time to rejoice in our identity as the children of God and ambassadors of our Prince of Peace:

 “Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!”