Introduction (1): What Shall the Righteous Do?
29 May 2024
Recovering from a long and weary trip in China to bring the newly installed caretakers from Singapore and Switzerland on a tour of duty, I found myself surprisingly alert and energised. Prayer, which was once laboured, is now spontaneous and light.
On the trip, I was pained to hear of unspeakable tragedies whilst many battled depression, anxiety and extreme stress. With the Chinese economy in a tailspin, life is hard for the common folks and many, men in particular, were drawn into foolish decisions with their time and money. Without the Lord, and if they had not persisted in worshipping God with the community, I shudder to imagine what would have become of them. At least, for that, I can see that they are thankful.
In every city we visited, they eagerly shared, like little children, testimonies of the power of God working mightily, with incredible results! I was so pleased to see how many have matured and grown in spirit, so different from just eight years ago, when some have even contemplated killing themselves.
“Fruits of your fruit”: V says, as my heart beamed with joy and relief.
When they expressed with great delight how the podcasts and writings have inspired and helped them, I sensed the Lord eyeing me with a playful twinkle. Yes, yes, Lord, all the long hours, all the sleep deprivation, all the investment and all of Kelly’s hard work to get them translated and produced in Chinese, not to mention all the ways we have tried to get them transmitted, have been worth it. Wink wink ☺
Cleaning Up Our House
Midway through the journey, however, V gave me these four Chinese words：
清理门户
I knew exactly what He meant.
It is time to keep the Father’s house in order.
Despite being pre-warned of the troubling times ahead and the coming of the Mother of All Wars, some older members of COBS, Singapore included, got themselves embroiled in unholy alliances, wasting time on mindless words under the veil of godliness. Instead of using their anointing and gifts for good, they faked it and turned one against the other, nearly harming others, and themselves too!
I cannot believe how myopic or forgetful they are.
God has warned us over and over, about the “mouth”, about being mindful of our words, lest we get destroyed. I cannot believe it is happening right before our eyes.
V tells me it all boils down to disbelief. And disbelief leads to disobedience and rebellion, which can open themselves to darkness within their souls. “And rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as the iniquity of idolatry” (1 Samuel 15:23 KJV).
He reminds me of the consequences when sin was allowed to prevail and breed for years in Christian organisations. I cannot look the other way. There is simply no room for compromise. So, I had the unpleasant task of “ruthlessly” weeding out the tares from the wheat from the community (Book of Matthew 13:24-30), while leading the truly repentant to seek the Lord for forgiveness and direction.
What Shall the Righteous Do?
This morning, I heard in my spirit a pained cry, the cryptic question that a learned teacher once asked in the end-time course I attended:
“In the time of shaking, what shall the righteous do?’
This is taken from Psalms 11:1-3 (NIV):
“In the Lord I take refuge.
How then can you say to me
Flee like a bird to your mountain
For look, the wicked bend their bows;
they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
I know at that instant what V wants me to do next. I have to let go of my grief and move forward. These are dangerous and wicked times. Holiness and unity are important. Time is running out.
In the past 18 months, I had relentlessly worked to consolidate my finances and resources, so that we may hunker down to pray more fervently this year; that the COBS people may be ready when persecution, war or troubles arrive at our doorsteps.
So now, I will reproduce in this series, some past posts in bite sizes and also some previously unpublished writings. They are to remind ourselves of the warnings and also the words of assurances that God has given us for such a time, lest we get tired of waiting and forget.
And hopefully if that fateful day should come, we can all readily avail of ourselves and ask the Lord:
“Lord, what shall we, Your righteous, do?”
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