Having crossed over Jordon, a great sense of inadequacy came upon me. I had been thinking about how Moses felt and said when God appointed him to deliver the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt. It was the same feeling I had before I went on staff in FCBC in 1990. But God is always a God who is there for us. Through John 6:1-15, He reminded me that He can do with the little that I have, even if it was just like the little boy who didn't have much but just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. He gave Jesus all he had. Little can become much when yielded to the touch of the master's hand. I was reminded not to think or believe like Philip and Andrew.
This morning, God led my thoughts to Paul's pastoral letter to Timothy. Paul reminded Timothy of not only his sincere faith that had come through his family tree, but also to 'fan into flame the spiritual gift of God.' Paul was exhorting the young pastor not to be timid for God did not give us a spirit of timidity/fear but of love and of self-discipline. I felt so strengthened by these inspired words of God. (2 Tim1:7)
Josh and I had been reading the book of James for our devotions together during the school holidays.
Last night, before he went to bed, he told me God gave him wisdom to salvage a favourite toy car that was smeared with oil paint that was used for touching up my car. He cried so badly, so much so that he said it was the saddest day of his life. In desperation, he called upon God. After he prayed, he said God answered his prayer by giving him wisdom to know what to do. God gave him a solution to the problem. He was so happy because the smeared car had its stains removed by almost 90%. He did it by soaking his toy car in a highly concentrated cleaner. Praise God for teaching Josh to pray and call upon His name in such practical ways by applying James 1:5. I pray he will continue to be filled of His presence even when he faces the real challenges of the world as grows up. By the way, Josh has started on a project with me to write a little, 30-day devotional book entitled, "What God says to me", where he compiles 30 of his recorded words from the Lord. I believe hearing God is one of the most important things in this life and therefore, one of my main goals in parenting is to teach Josh how to hear God for himself. Joshua's saddest day yesterday turned to be one where he leaned on God for wisdom through prayer. It really warmed my heart! In fact, few weeks ago, he shared with Whee Ling and I that he had selected a life verse. I pray that it will encourage your heart to seek God for one if you do not yet have one for your owm life.
Interestingly, he chose Deut 20:4 which says, "For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."
To be frank, we did not take him seriously as he is still so young. But Josh shared that the Lord gave him this verse because it has to do with his chinese name. His Chinese is Sheng Hua, meaning victory in Jehovah. So, the verse in its context also talks about absolute victory as the presence of the Lord will go with him to overcome all his enemies. What a joy it is for us to see him maturing in the Lord.
Finally, "Talking the walk" will be out this Friday. It is another blessed journey and declaration of God's goodness. I feel very privileged to be used of God to share about His goodness that others may see and taste of it through the book.
Thank you each and all for walking so far with us,
david.
