My Cup Overflows

King David teaches us the formula to handle any crisis; listen to the voice of the shepherd and wait for His leading. 

The Lord Jesus said; “I am the good shepherd.  My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me; they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand'.

When my world is threatened, my eyes can deceive me.  My understanding can mislead me.  My past can taint my outlook and my future can frighten me.  The Lord Jesus says if I hear His voice and follow Him I will not be destroyed.  

King David says when my Shepard is around, no matter what goes around me I will be able to rest.  He will lead me to green pastures through the crisis and He will restore my soul.  I may walk through the valley of death, but I will walk in security because He is walking beside me.

Lord, give me the grace to find rest in hearing your voice and following your leading.  Give me the wisdom to trust you more than I trust my circumstances, my weaknesses and my enemies. When I am too caught-up with myself may I hear voice clearly so that I may not perish.  Awaken my spirit Lord, so that I may see and understand your truths; that if you have a say about my life and family, my cup will ALWAYS overflow.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even 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.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

"Adam, where are you?"

'Adam, where are you?' This question is charged with all the sorrow of a Father who has lost his child.

The Father knew the risk of freedom; he knew that his children could be lost… yet perhaps not even the Father could imagine so great a fall, so profound an abyss! Here, before the boundless tragedy of the Holocaust, that cries – “Where are you?” – echoes like a faint voice in an unfathomable abyss…

'Adam, who are you? I no longer recognise you.'

Who are you, o man? What have you become? Of what horror have you been capable? What made you fall to such depths? Certainly it is not the dust of the earth from which you were made. The dust of the earth is something good, the work of my hands. Certainly it is not the breath of life which I breathed into you. That breath comes from me, and it is something good.

“No, this abyss is not merely the work of your own hands, your own heart… Who corrupted you? Who disfigured you? Who led you to presume that you are the master of good and evil? Who convinced you that you were god? Not only did you torture and kill your brothers and sisters, but you sacrificed them to yourself, because you made yourself a god.

“Today, in this place, we hear once more the voice of God: “Adam, where are you?”

“From the ground there rises up a soft cry: 'Have mercy on us, O Lord!' To you, O Lord our God, belongs righteousness; but to us confusion of face and shame.

“A great evil has befallen us, such as never happened under the heavens. Now, Lord, hear our prayer, hear our plea, save us in your mercy. Save us from this horror.

“Almighty Lord, a soul in anguish cries out to you. Hear, Lord, and have mercy! We have sinned against you. You reign forever. Remember us in your mercy. Grant us the grace to be ashamed of what we men have done, to be ashamed of this massive idolatry, of having despised and destroyed our own flesh which you formed from the earth, to which you gave life with your own breath of life. Never again, Lord, never again!

“'Adam, where are you?' Here we are, Lord, shamed by what man, created in your own image and likeness, was capable of doing. Remember us in your mercy”.

(Pope Francis' reflections at the Jerusalem Memorial for victims of Holocaust)

The Eternal Flame at Yad Vashem

During his visit, the Pope signed the Yad Vashem Guest Book in Spanish.  English translation of his message:

"With shame for what man, who was created in the image of God, was able to do; with shame for the fact that man made himself the owner of evil; with shame that man made himself into God and sacrificed his brothers.

Never again!! Never again!!

Francis

5.26.2014"

My Son, The Officer, The Gentleman and The Man of God

Nine months ago when you entered OCS as an Officer Cadet, we all knew the challenges ahead of you would be greater than what they would be for others.  Over and over again, we saw you reaching out to the one who is above all when things got humanly impossible.  Over and over again we saw you rising above your circumstances in the power of God.  To me, you are the perfect example of the Eagle Christian, who rides on the wind of the Holy Spirit and reaches the peaks no one could ever reach by themselves.  The lyrics of “Up where we belong” from An Officer and a Gentleman speaks exactly of your journey through OCS, and the presence of God seeing you through it all, to this day;

Love lifts us up where we belong

Where the eagles cry

On a mountain high

Love lifts us up where we belong

Far from the world below

Up where the clear winds blow…

You know what really fills my heart?  It is your inner journey with the Lord during the last nine months, which got stronger with every passing day… listening to your JCC experience was like witnessing the Exodus of the Israelites  through the desert; when He parted the red sea, fed them with manna from heaven and quenched their thirst with water from the rock.   HE made sure you were in the company of men of God during the nine months in OCS and during JCC…  What you experienced is too good to be coincidences!!! 

I thought when you enlisted it would be my job to support you spiritually, but guess what?  You nourished me spiritually instead!!!  I watched you putting HIM first in your life, even when you came home for the weekends.  Pleasing the Lord comes naturally to you, and how I wish I was more like you.  You inspire me more than you would ever know…   Yes, we do celebrate your commissioning as an Officer of the SAF, but my real reason for celebration today is you not losing your identity as a Man of God.  I strongly believe it is because of soldiers like you that God’s hand would be upon this nation.  As I look to the future, I can only be excited about what HE has in store for you. 

So what do I say to a real man of God on a day like this?  Nothing much, except that you have taught me more than I could ever teach you…  that your faith, your trust in God really challenges me every day, that the fire in your heart for God makes me hunger to have the same fire in my heart as well… That reminds me, I do have something to say to you… please don’t change, ever… you are perfect the way you are. 

Super proud of you 2LT Subodha Perera.  Love you loads.  Stay Blessed and a Blessing.

Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them.

The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you,

as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the wilderness.

There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son,

all the way you went until you reached this place.

(Deuteronomy 1:29 -31)

Ruth

Ruth’s family was certain, Ruth had lost her mind! There was no other explanation for her taking over that dead-end job.  No amount of reasoning, arguing could change her mind… 

She was going to leave her family, her friends, her country and move to a foreign land... to take care of her mother-in-law? Her dead husband’s mother?  A woman who has nothing to offer in return?  It is confirmed, Ruth had lost her mind!!!

Ruth knows what this is going to cost her… Naomi knows the sacrifice Ruth is about to make and discourages her, but Ruth is determined.  Ruth begs her mother-in-law; “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”  In the midst of a thousand protests Ruth begins her journey with Naomi to Bethlehem. 

The foreign woman's story slowly reaches the ears of Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi.  When he offers to help, Ruth can't believe her “luck”.  Boaz explains; "I've been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before.  May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

Ruth’s life gets better when Boaz asks her hand in marriage.  They live happily ever after, but it's not THE END!!!   Ruth and Boaz have a son who they named Obed, who happens to be the Grandfather of King David. 

The young widow who put her security and comfort on the line to take care of her mother-in-law has entered the line of Jesus Himself!  She has been rewarded by the God of Israel under whose wings she had taken refuge, and her name has made it to the Holy Scriptures!!!

As I reflect more on the life of Ruth I begin to realize how self-centered and self-obsessed I am.  If I am in Ruth’s position, I am certain I would do the exact opposite…  I do not think I am capable of such a sacrifice... I do not think I will ever put my comfort and security on the line for another person... and I realise how weak, how small I am before Ruth.  As I started to look at myself in disgust, the Lord put a song into my heart and I realise I have hope... 

No not by might, nor even power

But by your Spirit O Lord

Healer of hearts, Binder of wounds

Lives that are lost restored…

To my Son the Soldier, on your Graduation

From the moment you were born you managed to steal everyone’s hearts with your cuteness, your sense of humor and unbelievably loving and caring nature.  When you were little, you had the ability to make me laugh, cry, scream all at the same time.  Come to think of it… you still have that effect on me!!!

As you grew up we realized nothing came easy for you.  You had to work really, really hard.  But from the smallest days you had the “never say die” attitude.  The more you failed the more you tried, and the more you worked hard.  Your breakthrough came when you gave your life to the Lord; you went crazy for HIM.  The fire in your heart was so alive, it challenged us so much.  And then suddenly, the student who was in the bottom 10 of the class went up to be the top 10 in school.

You realized you are no longer a grasshopper but an eagle.  You took every challenge as an opportunity to ride on the wind of the Holy Spirit.  One day, I discovered your secret written on the first page of your Bible; “to know you, as you know me”…  Sometimes I wish I had the same passion, the same fire that you have for God.  Putting God before everything else comes naturally to you, and you have no idea how it had challenged and pushed me to do the same in my own life.

It became more and more clear to us that the hand of God is upon your life.  When you enlisted in the Army I was concerned that you would lose your journey with God.  I was wrong; your journey became stronger and your thirst for HIS presence became greater.   In the midst of all that was going on around you, your heart was lost in the Lord.  In HIS faithfulness, HE made HIS strength yours; you went from Bronze to Gold in IPPT.

When everything seemed going for you, the “crisis” came.  I have always thought the biggest crisis a person could go through is when a problem appears to be bigger than God.  So we prayed for you; that you will not to lose HIM in the midst the crisis.  That Sunday, just before leaving for camp I heard you singing

“Precious Jesus, I am ready to surrender every care.

Take my hand now; lead me closer, Lord I need to meet you there”.

That moment I knew the “crisis” is over; HE has visited you in your Ground Zero.

God’s heart and hand are moved by men and women like you, who choose to live in the centre of HIS will, surrendered to HIM.  I knew you had moved HIS heart when I saw the SMS from you saying that your arm is almost back to normal, that you will take part in route march and the Passing out Parade.  

When SAF presents you guys as "Trained Soldiers" I am sure God will point you out and shout from Heaven “that guy over there, he is my Son; he makes me proud”.  As you go forward remember HE is your strength, your rock and your King who took your place so that you could walk free.

So now it is your turn soldier; Go, Live for HIM and make HIM proud!

Dealing with our lack of faith - by Jaques Fesch

Faith is not a means but an end, and your formal refusal of it comes only from a lack of humility.  You are refusing the most powerful help that can be given!  All the same, I understand this very well, because I used to have the same reactions.  We do not want to see.  We need to take only a little step, but it means leaving behind bitterness and pride and surrendering to the will of the One who can do everything.  You especially… who are so unhappy and so alone!

“Come to me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest…”

What more do we want? What are we chasing after, if not relief from our misery?  O Creator, have pity on your creatures.  Consider that we do not understand ourselves, that we do not know what we want, that we have no idea what we are asking for.  Lord, give us light. 

How hard it is to love someone who does not love you, to open to someone who does not knock, to give health to someone who enjoys being sick and cultivates illness! “Have pity on those who have no pity for themselves!”…

You see, when I did not believe, I imagined that faith was merely autosuggestion, and that a person could come to belief simply by saying “I believe”.  My reasoning was based on my feeling that understanding was impossible, and on the contradictions I thought I had observed.  I was sure that this reasoning was logical and true and so it strengthened my conviction that God did not exist.

Now, I no longer understand how I ever managed not to believe.  It all seems so far away.  The most judicious reasoning and deductions, which used to attract me, now seem vain and above all “highly Improbable!”

Because of this, I can see that faith is truly a gift of God.  One believes with the heart, without knowing why or even seeking to know.  The intimate certitude that fills one is enough.  Of all things, love is the most powerful.

Jaques Fesch ( + 1957) was a murderer who experienced a profound conversion before his execution in a French prison. 

When God Disappeared

I knew something was not right… there was an empty feeling deep inside of me.  When I sat down to pray it felt like I was there all by myself; when I read the scriptures I could not hear His voice.  I started to miss Him, missed hearing His voice and feeling His presence.  Has God disappeared from my life?  I started to panic, but I did not know what to do except going about my daily routine. 

Slowly I started to realize that I was turning into a different person…  

She was bitter, selfish and drawn to things that were not pleasing to the Lord. She was self-centred, put her own needs before God. She had hidden agendas in what she did, yet felt empty.  She was spiritually paralysed.  

I did not like that person at all, and I panicked! 

They say “desperate times need desperate measures”… I decided to do what Jacob did; wrestle with God till I begin to hear His voice again and feel His presence again… until  I have that intimacy I once had with Him.

Later that day I was led to read the Acts of the Apostles, suddenly everything made sense... 

After the resurrection, Jesus promised His Disciples the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  He says “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1: 8)

And THEN, He disappears!!!  

When Jesus disappeared, the disciples went into the upper room and joined together constantly in prayer.  It was then, that the promise was fulfilled…   

There will be moments in our lives when we will lose Him, but the good news is, we can find Him. 

In Jeremiah 29:13 God says “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart”. 

The secret to find Him is to seek him with all your heart.  I am surround by people who are in a deep journey with God.  They are not people who seek Him half-heartedly, or when it is convenient.  They seek Him every morning, every moment, about everything they choose to do and not choose to do. They do not seek Him to get something; they seek Him to find Him and Him alone.

Seeking God and His leading is serious business.  It is not a task we can delegate, or put on hold.  God wants to be found by those who seek Him, and if we are not seeking Him with all our hearts we may never find Him.  When we seek Him with all our heart we not only find Him, but receive power from on high... a power that we do not have in us, to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.