Police

I'm going to try to tell this story without making it too long-winded. Let me start with a brief explanation of what I call my "police ministry".

• This "police ministry" is the starting of a tiny little mission I have where I want to let police officers know that they're appreciated. It may sound somewhat strange, but it's a desire that I now believe God put in my heart to bless law enforcement.

• Here in Los Angeles, I met a fantastic person whom I respect and appreciate. He, too, is in a police ministry and has enabled me to take my ministry a step further (so now we are standing together in it) by giving me books to give to officers together with my thank you notes.

Enough history. This is what's gotten me excited today:

• I was on my way back home when I reached a red light at an intersection. The car on my left was, you guessed it, a police car. I grabbed one of the books I had been given, opened my window and held the book outside the window (which I now realise might have been a dumb idea, but I needed to be quick because of the traffic light). I made a nice loud greeting and asked if I could give them the book; explained to them that my motives were just to appreciate their services and that they'd find a note of appreciation inside. BOTH officers took one.

Dang cool.

God is good, though very, very random. I've been asking for opportunities despite knowing it was hard for Him to give me any because I stay at home most of the day (yes, my fault). But He gave me that chance tonight and I'm glad I took it!

I must admit, I am ecstatic. Though I can't be sure if either my words, actions or the book I handed to the officers blessed them tonight, that sure was my intention. They will be in my prayers tonight, for sure.

My God, My Shepherd

I am at a loss for words and expression because of the awesomeness of our God. I open my mouth to give praise but all I can do is stutter in amazement.

I think God is laughing at me.

In Ezekiel 34:11-16, I so adored the way God promised how He would personally search for His lost sheep (people). While reading Ezekiel, y0u might assume that He is only talking about Israel but if you really read these verses, you’ll see how relevant they are to us today!

11 I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

12 I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered…

13 I will pasture them…

15 I myself will tend my sheep…

16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.

This is exactly what God does today! He is forever seeking us out, personally, and when he does find us (or rather, when we allow Him to find us), He stays so true to His promise of providing for us, tending to us, healing us and strengthening us!

God wants to be so personal with us, but many times we don’t comprehend.

In v23 and 24, God also says that He will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.

The shepherd was written as God’s “servant David”. Literally, that sounds preposterous because David’s not around anymore, yet God said it. Then I realized that the term "my servant David” could very well mean someone from David’s line. Many, many, many years later, Jesus comes from David’s line and totally, perfectly fulfills this.

Can this, I ask, possibly be simply the work of scholars and authors? I find it impossible because there is no way that even the best minds could have “created” a story 66 books long and been able to sync them so perfectly with one another.

This is the Word of God.

I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.

Hope over Hardship

If I may, I can summarize Jeremiah and Lamentations into a sentence: they talk about the cause and effect of the fall of Jerusalem and all of the Israelites for that matter. The books are filled with anxiety, fear and worry. Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? Yet, in the midst of such, God is still glorious.

In Chapter 3 of Lamentations, the author writes about himself and his own hardships. Clearly his years haven’t been very good ones, yet in verses 19-27, he speaks the amazing truth.

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.

²⁰ I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.

²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

This is how I read the author’s words:

So many things have happened to me – I’ve experienced so much hardship; so much pain and suffering. I live my life aimlessly, feeling empty, feeling lonely. No matter how I run or where I go, I find myself travelling in a circle, always coming back to the same torment. This is what I remember, this is what I live in, and it makes me depressed, distressed and drained. I could easily say right now, that I’m done; finished.

But I know something that keeps me going, that is hope in my God. I know my God’s abounding and unconditional love; I know His ever-lasting compassion and I know His never-failing faithfulness.

I need to hope in my God, to trust Him and seek Him. For He works for the good of those who love Him. I will wait for the salvation of my Lord and I will persevere through this time of trial so that I may triumph through God and with God. I need only to remind myself daily that the Lord is my portion, my provider, my deliverer and my banner; therefore I will wait for Him.

The Lord is my God

I realize that previously I wrote about Romans and I’ve suddenly switched to Jeremiah. It may seem odd but God has been revealing much through Jeremiah and I’d like to use it to bless others. This post is a follow up of Jeremiah 29 I wrote about yesterday.

Recently during a service, while we were talking about good times, bad times; peace and hardship; joy and sorrow, we were encouraged to always reflect everything back to God. Everyone runs the risk of walking away from God; no one is invulnerable to losing the faith somewhere along the path of life. It’s hard truth but it’s truth all the same. But that is why we need to always remember who we are and who the Lord is in our lives. What the Lord revealed to me that night was simple but impactful:

The Lord is my God.

In Jeremiah 30 v10-11, God says:

I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid. I am with you and will save you.

And in v22,

So you will be my people,
and I will be your God.

When I read this, I remembered what God had reminded me, that He is my God. And through anything, He remains faithful and His love is ever-lasting.

Don’t keep in question why hardships still happen to us though God promises peace and security in v10. Further down v11, He also mentions discipline for us.

Hebrews 12 speaks of how hardship is like discipline and discipline isn’t pleasant but it trains us toward peace and righteousness!

When we endure hardship, I am confident that God does not allow us to endure more than we can bear, so that we may persevere and become even closer to Him. Ultimately, whether through promises or peace or easy or hard times, the Lord is still our God.

If we’re walking a straight and smooth path, the Lord is the One who kicks aside stones that may stumble us. If we’ve fallen into a deep pit, the Lord is the One with strong enough arms to lift us out.

Exile and Restoration

God revealed something I wasn’t exactly looking for this morning, but I’m glad He did because I feel it is such an encouraging word for anyone.

During the time of Jeremiah the prophet, Jerusalem was besieged by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and a number of Judeans were exiled to Babylon.

As I read Jeremiah 29, I felt that the Judeans were in exile in more than 1 way. They were:

1. Distant from God,

2. Distant from home,

3. Distant from peace.

We can imagine while they were in Babylon, they probably felt anguish, worry, confusion, fear, uncertainty and/or sorrow.

Perhaps, in the same way, we may be going through trials where we’ve distanced ourselves from God, people we love and who love us and from peace of heart and mind. Perhaps we may feel like the Judeans in exile; one or a whole mess of their emotions.

Despite the fact that the Judeans had forsaken God, He knew His promise to His chosen and remained true to it.

Likewise, God chose every one of us who know Him, or at least, knew Him at a time. And for those He chose, He’s made special purposes and promises. For the Lord says:

“For I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you and will bring you back from captivity.”

Rest assured, God knows and God loves us. Whether we are going through a challenging time or not, know that God has better things in store for us. He is forever faithful and standing by our side, so that the moment we call upon Him, we will find Him and He will bring us close to Him.