JD: And what about the third short cut? 

SD: That is the most sinister and subtle, the last trick in the bag, so to speak. The Serpent offered all that could be seen. He dressed it up with glitter and gold. He appealed to human pride and greed, but there was none in the Lamb. But earthlings are different – they readily believe their eyes. You offer them the world and they will offer their souls as payment. The fact is that they worship themselves, and that is the most subtle short cut there is. Even the best of them can fall for this short cut. So you should sharpen your skills in this area. By the way, notice that the Serpent started with physical hunger and moved to spiritual hunger. He reversed the order of priority. He failed with the Lamb because the Lamb had already begun with the spiritual and had worked out the implications in the social and physical realms. The earthlings, however, begin with the physical and therefore are easy prey. At the Garden, the first short cut was enough to trip them up. Be therefore encouraged. It is usually easy. But be careful of those who are close to the Lamb, for they are more resilient. They are more careful about buying our short cuts to happiness, comfort, salvation and glory.

JD: Thank you sir. I must chew on what you have said.   



TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY

The following is a conversation between a senior demon (SD) and a junior one (JD). The conversation is imaginary but the lessons are real.

JD: SIR, thank you for seeing me at such short notice. I have been trying my best to learn as quickly as I can in my new assignment. The Department of Shortcuts is a busy place; there’s a lot to learn and I am on a steep learning curve.

SD: Well, I am glad we can meet JD. What have you been reading lately?

JD: There’s quite a lot to read. I am trying to understand earthlings and their ways by reading the stuff they produce – in fact, I am overwhelmed and inundated by the massive amount of information. How does one get through the flood of information in which earthlings seem to be drowning?

SD: That’s the genius of the Serpent Empire. It has been our policy to overwhelm the earthlings’ world with lots of useless information so that they will fail to notice what is important. Get in touch with Section K586C – they will tell you how to easily identify the trash information that they pump daily into the earthling system so that you can focus on the real facts. Now, what is it you really wanted to talk about?

JD: I have been thinking about the work of my department and trying to understand spiritual short cuts and how to use them to frustrate the efforts of the Kingdom. Can you give me a quick tutorial on spiritual short cuts?

SD: So you want a short-cut approach to short cuts? Well, that is funny, but seriously, this is fundamental stuff. The Serpent himself is a master at this and has been using this for a long time. It is a time-tested method. You see, in the Kingdom (as in the real world), real growth takes time. The King has all the time in the world and He takes delight in seeing things grow and mature in the right season. All this is inbuilt in the world He has created. The same principles apply in the realm of the earthlings. The King has promised to save them and has been working at it, bringing them to maturity and perfection through His own process of nurture. It takes years of training (including suffering) for them to look like the King’s Son. That is the King’s ultimate purpose. Our job is to thwart that purpose. That is the one single obsession of the Serpent Empire.

JD: How do spiritual short cuts feature in this scheme of things?

SD: I like your impatience; you have the perfect temperament to work in your department. I must remember to congratulate the chaps in Staff Assignments. Coming back to the matter at hand, you must read up what happened at the first Garden. The Serpent tricked the first earthlings with a spiritual short cut. He urged them to disobey the King by eating the forbidden fruit, promising them that they will be like the King if they did. Of course, he was lying, but the stupid earthlings fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

JD: You make it sound like it is a piece of cake. I mean it sounds so easy.

SD: Well, it is quite easy. Since the First Trick I just described, we have been having a field day. Earthlings seem to have a built-in foolishness and a craving for short cuts. You can offer short cuts to them and they will eat them out of your hand. But the most important kind is the spiritual short cut for it short-circuits the King’s plans.

JD: In what ways, sir?

SD: You must also read up on the Great Temptation – it was an epic encounter between the Serpent and the Lamb (the King’s Son). We all held our breath when it happened. The other side also watched with great interest. The Serpent used all his skills to sell three short cuts to the Lamb. The sad part of the story is that he failed miserably. That is why we don’t talk about it here very much; the Serpent hates to hear about it. But for your job, you need to read about it and learn valuable lessons.

JD: I am listening sir. You have all my attention for this is very interesting indeed.

SD: The first short cut the Serpent offered was to turn stones into bread. The Lamb was hungry from fasting and it must have been a great temptation. But He rejected the diabolical suggestion, quoting from the Book that man does not live by bread alone but by every word from the King’s mouth. Fortunately, earthlings are different and are easy prey to such suggestions. Many of them are driven by their appetites and they have no control over them. Any short cut that promises instant gratification will be readily grabbed by them. You will have a field day twisting their lives around their quest for material comfort and pleasures. Even those who belong to the Kingdom have problems with their appetites. Like the rest, their miserable bodies are their gods. Walk around their markets and watch their media, and notice that we have already infiltrated almost every corner. The Serpent’s sales pitch can be heard everywhere. It is short-cut galore. Only a few who follow the Lamb are more keenly aware of this and prove to be more resistant than we expect.

JD: I guess it is these we must work on more deliberately.

To be continued ..........

Weifeng

Dahlia was a beautiful woman with a wonderful husband and two adorable children. A family to die for. A family now dead. She had been out that fateful night. Teaching English to a group of neighbourhood kids. When she returned home, she found her husband and children tied up and gagged, dying in a pool of their own blood. Victims of a senseless and violent robbery.

Dahlia's name is borrowed, but her story is true. There are many Dahlias in this world. The details may differ, but the deep sense of unfairness, the anguished questions of "Why?", the aching loneliness and despair - all these are felt by people all over the world. Is this how Dahlia's tragic story will end?

There are two terrible injustices here. The first is the fact that, as far as we know, the murderers have not been caught and punished. Justice has not been done, and the pain is unresolved. But then there is the second and bigger problem. Even if these monsters were caught, their punishment will not bring back to life Dahlia's husband and children. She lives on with the ongoing pain of having lost them in such a violent way. Life isn't fair. It is often most cruel. That was the kind of world that I, Daniel, lived in. A world in which good people - saints, even - were often killed by swords or burnt in flames by cruel plunderers (see Daniel 11:33).

But let your imagination run free. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a fairy tale ending to Dahlia's story? A fairy tale ending in which the poisoned and dead sleeping beauty gets up from the dead and lives happily ever after? Wouldn't it be wonderful if Dahlia's family members are resurrected to life again, with new bodies and no scars whatsoever? And the thugs who did this cruel deed are caught and humbled, punished, shamed and repentant, whilst the woman is reunited with her loved ones and they all live happily ever after? What decent human being would not wish for such a wonderful happy ending for Dahlia?

In the brutal and cruel world that I lived in, God gave me the promise of just such an incredible fairy tale ending. Read Daniel 12:3. `Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.'

Thomas More put it this way: `Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal.' The apostle Paul was convinced of this too. He spent most of his final years in a dark, damp prison cell. Five times he was sentenced to thirty-nine lashes of the cane. He was falsely accused, and his message of love terribly misunderstood. And in the end, he was executed because of it. His was a life of much suffering and little earthly joy. Yet this same man, whilst in a prison cell, wrote to others with these words, `Be of good cheer. The God of love and peace is with us. I consider the sufferings of this present world to be nothing compared to the glory that will be awaiting us.' (2 Corinthians 13:11; Romans 8:18)

Wouldn't it be wonderful if these hopes of a fairy tale ending - of an eternity of living happily ever after - wouldn't it be wonderful if they could actually come true?

The God of the book of Daniel says, `They can come true. I promise. Trust in me. Be faithful. Be patient. Walk on to the end.' (Daniel 12:13)

Do you know of someone who has been helped by the promise of heaven to endure bravely her suffering, illness or bereavement? Pray that God may give you the same kind of rugged faith.



End of seventeen blogs of "I,Daniel ..."

May the message and example of Daniel inspire us to remain Faithful to the End.



(PS  "I,Daniel" is a tiny little booklet written by Dr Gordon Wong, lecturer of Trinity Theological College)

Have you ever stopped to reflect on events in history? Have you ever felt the terror and suffering of civil war? If you have, then when you read my words in Daniel 11:9-13, you will appreciate the unrest and horror of living in such times. Sometimes a ray of hope seems to break into the gloom. Peace is enjoyed for a while as fighting ceases. A treaty is in place and we all rejoice. But then that peace treaty is shattered, and fighting breaks out again, worse than before (Daniel 11:6-8). Hopes are dashed, and despair sets in, deeper than before. That was the world I lived in. A world of suffering, violence and terror. And please don't think that those who believed in God were exempt from such suffering. Many devout and godly friends of mine suffered terribly, dying in flames; others were killed in the sword of battle (Daniel 11:33). Believing in God never saved us from terrible suffering on earth.

Why am I telling you this? Why is Daniel 11 so long and full of distressing descriptions of wars and terrors experienced by people in my ancient time? I am not trying to frighten you. I would be surprised if I had to. I am sure that your world is also full of war and terror. I would be surprised if you did not also understand the fear of unrest and uncertainty. None of us knows the future. But God does. And He asked me to write Daniel 11 to assure you of this. He wanted you to believe that the world is not out of His control. He knows that it often seems like that to us. All the bad and terrible things that happen - how can God be in control? Evil and anarchy, senseless fate and cruel destiny - these are the powers that seem to control our world today.

But God says, "No. I am in control. None of these evil things catch Me by surprise. I cannot explain to you right now why I allow such things to plague My world and your world (see reflection on Daniel 10). But I do want to assure you that this is still My world. And one day, at a time I will decide, I will put an end to the evil ones who rule this world. So don't give up your faith. Trust in Me. In this world you will face much tribulation, but take courage, for I am in control of this world (John 16:33)."

This is my Father's world

O let me never forget

 That though the wrong seems oft so strong

 God is the Ruler yet.

                           (Words by Maltbie Babcock, 1858-1901)

Sharing from Weifeng

Have you ever asked "Why, Lord?" I have. Lots of times. My name is Daniel, and I often struggled, asking God why He allowed such terrible suffering to fall upon us. Our capital city Jerusalem devastated. Our temple destroyed. Why?

In Daniel 10, I recall one such period of emotional struggle. I did not feel like eating or drinking. I was overcome with sorrow (Daniel 10:2-3). I prayed, and prayed, and prayed again. But no answer, no reply. God was silent, or at least I could not hear Him. I often felt like giving up. Why bother to pray when there is no answer? But I didn't stop praying. How would that be any better?

So I kept praying, and kept on crying.

And then it came to me. God spoke. Whether it was a vision, or an angel or a dream - I don't know. I only know that I sensed God speaking to my heart. Reassuring me, reminding me.

He reassured me that He knew what was happening. He saw all the suffering we were going through. His eyes were sharp and did not miss anything (Daniel 10:6). 

He reminded me that He still loved me. He even said I was highly esteemed in His eyes (Daniel 10:11, 19). I didn't feel loved. I didn't feel highly esteemed. I felt abandoned and forsaken. I felt lost and helpless. But He said I was loved.

And then he shocked me. He told me that every single one of my prayers had been heard. It didn't feel like it. But He said the very instant I prayed, He responded (Daniel 10:12). How could that be? He said that there were some important struggles in heaven that had to be resolved first (Daniel 10:13). No details, no explanation. Just that an issue concerning Persia had to be dealt with first. I didn't understand. How could there be any struggles or issues to be resolved in heaven? I could not comprehend. I don't think I was meant to. He just wanted to remind me that He loved me. That even if it seemed as though he had not heard, the truth was that He had.

Have you ever seen a four-year-old child cry? It is heart­rending. He does not want to be abandoned in pre-school. Why must he be taken away from home and Mummy and left in the arms of this stranger called "Teacher"? Why is his Mummy walking away? Why does she not hear his cries to take him home with her? I don't think this boy can comprehend the reasons his Mummy allows this to happen. What kind of Mummy allows this?

Perhaps the boy cannot understand, but the answer is clear. The Mummy who allows this is one who loves him very, very much. And though he does not understand why she is "abandoning" him to school, she hopes that he will still know that she loves him. "Why, Lord?" I still ask that question, every now and again. Whenever terror attacks my life, I cry out to God. I often receive no explanation, no answers. But I do receive His reassurance and His reminder. He reassures me that He sees what is happening, and He knows what must be done. He reminds me that He loves me and hopes that I will "take courage and press on with His strength and peace" (Daniel 10:19). And one day, He will take me home from the school of life's sufferings. Amen.

Can you think of occasions in which you prayed for something, did not receive the answer hoped for, but nevertheless found strength to survive and press on?



Sharing from Weieng