The Six-Day War Miracle

God created the Six-Day War Miracle.

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great and prosperous nation with millions of people.

But Israel had its people living in slavery in Egypt for generations, had its people wandering in wilderness for years, had its people with Jewish identification decimated and dispersed by the Roman Empire, and had its 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust by the Nazis during World War II.

But God had not forgotten His chosen people, as evidenced by His many modern miracles, including the Six-Day War Miracle.

On June 5, 1967, a war broke out between Israel and Egypt and other Arab countries in the Middle East. The Egyptians had two times more soldiers, four times more aircrafts, and five times more tanks than the Israelites. The objective of the war was annihilation of the Jews—the “Second Holocaust.”

Given that there was no involvement and no support from Great Britain and the United States, while Egypt was backed up by the Soviet Union, the anticipated annihilation of Israel was certain and imminent.

But a miracle happened. The war lasted only six days. By the end of the day on June 5, Israeli pilots had won full control of the skies over the Middle East. Israel had destroyed 450 planes of Egypt while Israel lost only19 of its 100 planes.

Due to many mistakes and false reports of victories reported by the Egyptians and their allies, the war ended in lightning speed of victory for Israel within six days.

The miracle of the “Six-Day War” continued like the fig tree: Israel not only survived but also thrived, and eventually it was recognized as an independent nation by the United Nation.

Living by faith: God is timeless.  Humans must have patience and perseverance with faith, trust, and obedience in God. Human expectations only distance themselves from God. 

Stephen Lau

miracles

A Fast Lifestyle

A fast lifestyle is often focusing on excitement, extravaganza, and risk-taking. This mindset is based on doing more and much more, such as daily multi-tasking, constantly going forward, always moving from one place to another, and even eating fast. Fast living has little or no consideration of the consequences.  

Yes, a fast lifestyle may give you only instant pleasure and intense excitement, but it is also stressful and even dangerous, such as car racing, car speeding, and reckless driving.

Freedom

A fast lifestyle is often “not thinking through before acting or doing.” You have your freedom not to choose it. Instead, always give yourself your freedom to slow down to reflect on your “being”—who you truly are—and why you have your non-stop “doing” to get what you want from your life. 

Bondage  

A fast lifestyle often involves drug dealing, gang banging, and even prostituting. Do not let yourself be shackled to your bondage of a life of crimes and violence.

The bottom line

Your lifespan may cover decades, during which many things, both positive and negative, might have happened to you that require your changes—changing you into a better person doing all the right things instead of the wrong things. Yes, you have your freedom to change what can be changed, as well as your freedom to wait with your patience and your perseverance for the outcome of your changes.

Living by faith: A fast lifestyle is not right for a believer, who should spend more time in prayers and reading the Words of God. Yes, God's presence is everything in your everyday life and living.

Stephen Lau

yourself be shackled to your bondage of a life of crimes and violence.

    

The bottom line

 

     Your consolidation phase spans over decades, during which many things, both positive and negative, might have happened in your life that require your changes—changing you into a better person doing all the right things instead of the wrong things. Yes, you have your freedom to change what can be changed, as well as your freedom to wait with your patience and your perseverance for the outcome of your changes.

No Separation No Divorce

The rate of divorce is skyrocketing in the United States, and the U.S. Census estimates about half of marriages end in divorce. According to relationship experts, the number of long-term relationships heading toward separation is now becoming more frequent with a longer lifespan and a growing acceptability of divorce by society. What some experts are saying is that people divorce because they’ve a longer lifespan, and that divorce is no longer a social taboo. The breakups of couples married for several decades are “cold divorces.” The characteristics of these divorces are disengagement, distancing, and isolation from each other. These kinds of divorces are often the products of a gradual buildup. The problems might have festered for years, if not for decades, to the point where neither of the marriage partners cares any more. According to many marriage counselors, there’re benchmarks in a typical marriage where divorce is more apt to occur. 

First, divorces often happen during the initial two years of a marriage when the expected honeymoon period is replaced with the reality of having to get accustomed to each other's attitudes and living habits. 

A second point for divorces is around the five-year to the seven-year mark, when children are typically born. 

Divorces can also happen when the kids leave their parents’ homes. Many empty nesters divorce because they no longer have their children around to hold them together. Without their children, marital love disappears. 

Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the University of Washington, once said: “Staying in exactly the right relationship to one another is a very hard thing to maintain every decade. People think you only get closer over time, but that's not necessarily true.” Living by faith and following God’s advice, you choose to “fix” your marriage instead of letting separation happen. You do not throw away your dress before it no longer fits you; instead, you "change" your body or have it "altered" to fit your body once again. Buying a new dress is just like looking for another person. 

The bottom line: You do not just walk away from a marriage you no longer like. A marriage is a "lifetime commitment" for thick and thin, for better and worse that God has destined for you. 

Remember: Failed marital relationships are painful, often causing depressive episodes and mood disorders, not to mention other health issues. A divorce precipitates many custody, financial, and legal matters, and problems that’re often lifelong. 

Living by faith: God gives you your marriage, and He will bless you with wisdom to fix it when problems occur. No separation, and no divorce. With faith, you put your trust in God.

Stephen Lau

Conflicts and Aggressions

The complexity of human relationships is the source of conflicts and aggressions. 

Your actions, especially the negative ones, are often based on your knowledge of self and of others, which is often incomplete and inadequate. Many people hardly know themselves, let alone the emotional needs of others.

So, always be mindful of the needs of others first, instead of just those of your own, and that is always the way to avoid all human conflicts.

Self-specialness

Contemporary culture focuses too much on self-centeredness that fosters the belief that “I am special” or reinforces the “mine-is-better” attitude. The net result is that you now begin to believe that your own convictions do carry more weight than those of others, who should then listen to you. So, be mindful of your self-centeredness, which is the root cause of your bias, prejudice, and non-acceptance of others.

The reality

All conflicts and aggressions—both internal and external—will arise from time to time, and they are all unstoppable, unless you deliberately and purposely let go of them. So, all conflicts and aggressions can be resolved, and sanctity can be restored if you are always soft and flexible, instead of being hard and resistant.

Freedom

You have your freedom to overcome your fear of being rejected by others. Your freedom is your choice to accept the good and the bad in yourself as well as in others around you. Remember, nobody is perfect, and you just cannot take the good and reject the bad.

You have your freedom to avert your conflicts with others through your awareness to seek and validate the so-called “truths” perceived by your distorted thinking mind living in your flesh.

Bondage

Not accepting the imperfections in others will hold you in your bondage of your incapability of growing and developing good relationships with others.

Your “distorted” perceptions of self and of others is your bondage to your conflicts and disharmony with others.

1.5. Harmony

Knowing the importance of internal balance and harmony holds the key to having good relationships with your family, your friends, your colleagues, and, most importantly, your loved one or your marriage partner.  

The ancient Chinese philosophy of life and living may throw some light on the role of balance and harmony in good human relationships.

The Five Elements

Thousands of years ago, the Chinese began to use the Five Elements to describe interactions and relationships between things that happened in human lives.

According to the ancient Chinese wisdom, the Five Elements were wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, and now they are still believed to be the fundamental elements of everything in the universe, between which interactions occur, and thus creating the balance and the harmony.

The Five Elements balance and complement one another to create internal balance and harmony. And this is how:

Water nourishes trees or wood.

Without wood, there will be no fire (which burns wood).

Without fire burning wood, there will be no earth (the ashes from the burnt wood).

Without earth, there will be no metal (from the earth itself). 

Likewise, your relationships with others should also need internal balance and harmony.

A natural cycle

These Five Elements also create a natural cycle of all things, both visible and invisible:

Fire heats metal to produce water; without metal, there will be no water; without water, there will be no tree or wood; without fire, there will be no earth. Fire melts metal; metal cuts wood; wood separates earth; earth absorbs water; water smothers fire. 

The wisdom is that all things follow a natural cycle: what goes up must also come down.  That is, success is followed by failure, just as life is inevitably followed by death. The wisdom is to accept and embrace anything and everything without any resistance.

The truth is to learn valuable lessons from them, such as letting go of your past failed relationships, and to develop your resilience to survive and thrive in your present marriage or love relationship.

The characters and characteristics of the Five Elements are as follows:

Fire: charismatic; eloquent; energetic; passionate; and volatile.

Wood: aggressive; ambitious; always challenging; and competitive.

Earth: caring and loving; compassionate and empathetic; reliable and resilient.

Metal: brave; faithful; intellectually sharp; methodical; organized; righteous; and self-disciplined.

Water: adaptable; determined; forceful; self-sufficient; and strong-willed.

Self-help

So, if you believe in the balance and harmony of the Five Elements, and how they may affect your relationships with others, then find out which Element you and others may belong to so that you may have a better understanding of others’ characters and their personalities.To find out on the Internet, you need to know the year that you and others were born, as well as the animal that you and others belong to.

There are altogether 12 animals:

Wood: Tiger and Rabbit.

Fire: Snake and Horse.

Earth: Ox, Dragon, Goat, and Dog.

Metal: Monkey and Rooster.

Water: Pig and Rat.

Think about your own nature with reference to the Five Elements. Are you strong and independent like metal, bold and pioneering like wood, soft and flexible like water, fiery and passionate like fire, or nurturing and receptive like earth?

The reality 

No matter what, internal balance and harmony is the essence of any good human relationship.

What you see in everyone and everything around you reflects you, or what is inside you. Neither is internal peace a myth, nor are internal conflicts a condition of existence. Inner peace is an acquired state of the mind that recognizes the importance of internal balance and harmony.

So, how do you have internal balance and harmony within yourself?

Look deep inside you to have a better understanding of what you really seek in your marriage partner, or from other individuals, including your children and close members of your family. Always use your consciousness of breath to go deep into your inner being with your mindfulness. Practice meditation every day.

When your mind is quiet—in absence of the fear of the sound of silence—your mind can then experience your clarity of thinking  to enable you to know yourself better to develop your good relationships with others.

Freedom

Your freedom to use your understanding of your own personality and that of others may maintain your internal balance and harmony to avoid many conflicts and disagreements. 

Bondage  

Your bondage to your everyday stress is often a result of the lack of internal balance and harmony in yourself.

Living by faith: God gives you love and peace. Your faith provides you with strength to suppress your anger and negative emotions.

Stephen Lau

Money Fantasies and Money Miseries

Money Fantasies

Not being rich and yet wanting to live richly is one of the most common money fantasies. 

An Illustration  

There was the story of a beautiful and sophisticated woman in her mid-twenties who wrote to an investment counseling company looking for a list of eligible bachelors with earnings of at least $600,000 a year. That woman had money fantasies in her mind. According to experts, using marriage as an investment is a money fantasy, and no more than a "bad" investment bargain—just like investing into a shrinking currency. Just imagine the beauty of that woman would shrink over the years, while the $600,000 might grow over the long haul. So, marrying into money, buying the lottery, and winning at the casino are all money fantasies that are not approved by God because they come from greed and gluttony.

Money Miseries

Money miseries happen to many who always feel dissatisfied, frustrated, insecure, and insolvent. This mental condition suffered by many is often a result of their constant exposure to media news of the rich and the famous, as well as their own perceptions of “possessions equal satisfaction.” Spending more than earning and living from paycheck to paycheck (70 percent of consumers, according to The Wall Street Journal) often lead to struggling with money miseries that ultimately end up in going broke. 

Even wealthy celebrities went broke, such as Mike Tyson, a famous boxing champion earning over $300 million dollars, ended up in bankruptcy in 2003; and Michael Jackson, a recording artist, dancer, singer, and songwriter, earning over $500 million dollars, was heavily in debt when he died in 2009.

According to the Harvard Business Review, money and happiness are not positively correlated, because wealth may make people less generous and more domineering. In addition, money may not bring out the best of an individual: the more money that individual has, the more focused on self that individual may become, and so the less sensitive to the needs of people around, as well as the more probable to doing all the wrong things due to the feeling of right and entitlement.

An Illustration of Going from Riches to Nothing

Barbara Woolworth Hutton, also known as “the poor little rich girl”, was one of the wealthiest women in the world during the Great Depression. She’d experienced an unhappy childhood with the early loss of her mother at age five and the neglect of her father, setting her the stage for a life of difficulty in forming relationships.

Married and divorced seven times, she acquired grand foreign titles, but was maliciously treated and exploited by several of her husbands. Publicly, she was much envied for her lavish lifestyle and her exuberant wealth; privately, she was very insecure and unhappy, leading to addiction and fornication.

Barbara Hutton died of a heart attack at age 66. At her death, the formerly wealthy Hutton was on the verge of bankruptcy due to the exploitation of her husbands, as well as her own lavish and luxurious lifestyle.

Barbara Hutton was the unhappy poor little rich girl! She was widely reported in the media, and her story was even made into a Hollywood movie: “The Poor Little Rich Girl.”

The bottom line: Many Americans earn plenty of money to live a great lifestyle but end up in money misery with their money blown away.

Living by faith: Believe in a powerful God. Beware of money—or rather the love of money, which is idolatry obsessed with “money-lust.”

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (I Timothy 6:10) According to the Bible, money is the second most powerful god. So, beware of money—or rather the love of money, which is idolatry obsessed with “money-lust.”

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (I Timothy 6:10)

Stephen Lau

Loving Others

Loving Others

Loving others leads to the understanding of “oneness with all life”—humans are inter-connected with one another. Understanding this basic law of nature that “no man is an island” and all humans are somehow "connected" with one another enables the alignment of the body, the mind, and the soul to live in this complex and complicated world.

“Oneness with all life” leads to the love of others around and to the awareness of the presence of God or that of a Higher Being. Genuine love of others is the first step toward spirituality.

Empathy and Sympathy

Empathy is more than just sympathy. It’s a deep understanding of the painful experiences of another individual that are as meaningful as one’s own because either one has experienced them, or one can somehow realistically put oneself in that individual’s shoes. Sympathy, on the other hand, is only an acknowledgment of another individual’s tragic and traumatic emotions and feelings, as well as an offering of comfort and assurance to that individual.

Empathy is inherent human goodness that may not be easily expressed as sympathy due to lack of courage. 

Sympathy involves only an understanding of another individual’s problems, such as what it’s like to be poor without a job or to be abused physically by someone, while one may still somehow "distance" oneself from that individual. But empathy, on the other hand, involves one’s feeling that individual’s heart in one’s own heart and seeing that individual’s problems with one’s own eyes. Empathy is not a natural human habit; it must be cultivated and developed before it can exist in the heart and the mind.

An Illustration

There was a Jewish story of a man who died and was shown two images in both heaven and hell, in which people were sitting at both sides of a long table with a meal before each of them.  He noticed that the people in hell were starving, because each of them had a spoon that was "much too long" to fit into his or her own mouth. However, the people in heaven were well-fed, because each was using the same long spoon to feed the person across the table.

Compassion and Loving-kindness

Compassion means “suffering together.” It’s an emotion or a feeling that arises when one is seeing another individual’s intense suffering, such that one feel motivated to relieve the suffering from that individual.

Loving-kindness is an act of kindness, motivated by love, and expressed to one’s fellow human beings. Loving-kindness is expressed in human behaviors. To optimize this behavior, one develops a mindset for love and care, which should become a habit or second nature.

Loving-kindness is also an act of love that one consciously expresses to another individual simply because that individual has the same desire to be happy and to avoid suffering. Accordingly, one’s response reflects one’s own love for that individual, irrespective of the misbehavior of that individual toward one. However, that doesn’t imply that one should accept, approve, or even condone the inappropriate behavior of that individual.

Loving-kindness is an attempt to change the inappropriate behavior of that individual, irrespective of the outcome, because the attempt is out of one’s compassion and love for that individual.

Follow the practice of Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader. According to Dalai Lama, on the very first meeting with any individual, he trains himself to feel that the individual is simply “a fellow human being with the same desire to be happy and to avoid suffering as myself.” With that oneness-of-all mindset, Dalai Lama then becomes immediately “connected” to everybody, without any exception.

Also, follow in the footsteps of C.S. Lewis, author, and intellectualist, who shows how one can “discipline” any negative emotions by giving another person “a big smile” and behaving as if he were a “loving” person.

Living by faith: Showing empathy and sympathy, as well as compassion and loving-kindness to those around you is a strong testament to your faith and obedience to your loving God. 

Stephen Lau

Timeless Transformation

With faith in God, transformation can happen right away, or it may take many years.

An illustration

Esther Chan came to Hong Kong from China. She had lived an unhappy childhood: her father was abusive and alcoholic, driving her mother to several suicidal attempts. Esther was expelled from her high school due to her compulsive stealing and her drug abuse and addiction.

At age 19, Esther married her first husband and had her baby girl. But her life was meaningless and worthless, giving her hopelessness, when she broke up with her husband who took custody of their daughter. Esther’s adult life began to spiral out of control when she became involved in drug trafficking and was subsequently sentenced to prison four times.     

In the prison, Ester heard for the first time from the pastor about the love of Jesus and His forgiveness. But Esther was unable to express her faith in the hope of unconditional love and forgiveness from God.

Then, Esther was reconnected with the family of a boyfriend she had grown up with. His mother took Esther to church. At one time, Esther even made a public stand to declare her belief in Christ. But Esther had no true repentance or genuine obedience to Jesus as her Savior and Lord.

So, Esther continued for years her life of addiction and indulgence in sins and wrongdoings.

However, one day, a miracle happened in her life that ultimately turned her around completely.

Esther was renting a room in an apartment lived by scoundrels and prostitutes. One evening, after taking her drugs, she took to the street where she countered a man, and they talked for a while. Later, she awoke in her bed and found that she was naked. She had no recollection of what had happened to her. Then, to her surprise, Esther found a hundred-dollar bill lying beside her.

At that very moment, Esther suddenly recalled a companion of her youth who broke her addiction through a gospel program. At that very moment, Esther, too, somehow wanted to use her hundred-dollar bill to turn herself to God to break her addiction.

After more than three decades of addiction, Esther finally went to Barnabas Christian Love Service for drug addicts in Hong Kong. She became a “born-again” Christian, who forgave her father, her ex-husband, and all those who had abused her in the past.

At Barnabas Christian Love Service, Esther met her future husband, Andy, who was also an addict but a believer. Later, they got married. After her rehabilitation, Esther was recruited as a “Sharing Minster” at Barnabas Christian Love Service. With the blessings from God, Esther continued with her theology studies, graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry. In 2021, she began her full-time ministry at Barnabas Christian Love Service.

Esther Chan’s long and winding belief journey is a strong testament to the miracle of hope from God that might take years, if not decades, to become a reality.

Living by faith: Believe in God with hope that demands patience and perseverance. Yes, God can and will transform any believer with trust and obedience.

Stephen Lau

 

Lifestyles of Living by Faith

There are several different lifestyles in your life for you to choose from. The way you choose to live determines how well you will live for the rest of your life, and how close you will be to God.

A Simple Lifestyle

A simple lifestyle—which is deleting all the trimmings of life—is your key to unlocking the door to your happiness.  

1.1. Less for More

Live in simplicity, which is living less for more.

You will need your mindfulness to become aware of the essentials of your life, that is, your needs and not your wants. Mindfulness provides you with your daily meditation to give you your clarity of thinking through relaxation of your body and your mind.

So, doing less may give you more. For example, today many work seven days a week, doing two or more jobs, to earn more money to get more of what they want, and not what they need. But doing less may give you more time to enjoy what you need and desire.

1.2. Now for Future

In the now, with your clarity of thinking, you will see the ultimate truths of yourself, of others, as well as of everything around you. In the now, you may look more objectively at the realities of everything happening to you.

The now is for real, but the future is uncertain and unpredictable.

So, live in the now, with no plan for the future, and no expectation of profit from the past.

1.3. Effortless for Over-Doing

All your daily endeavors require your efforts, but not your over-doing, which is over-exerting your efforts. Too much of anything upsets the balance of the Laws of Nature.

The wise have always believed in effortless effort.

1.4. Down for Up

Everything in life follows a natural cycle—what goes up must eventually come down; success is followed by failure. The natural cycle of all things teaches you to be patient of the outcome of all things happening in your life, so you do not need to do more to get more.

So, what is down may go up again, and what is up will come down. That is the spontaneity of the cycle of all things in life. So, you have no fear and no worry in your life.

1.5. No choosing for Picking

Picking this or that is often the sickness of the human mind and the futility to control what is essentially uncontrollable. That often leads to the bondage of stress.

Accepting and embracing whatever that has happened to you and then learn your valuable lessons is the way to go.

So, stop your choosing and picking this or that to control your life.

Letting go

Living in simplicity is letting go of all your attachments to the material things in this secular world that demand your over-doing, such as wearing a designer’s dress, driving an expensive car, living in a rich neighborhood, and many others to gratify your wants and desires in your flesh.

Letting go is living a stress-free life. Remember, all your attachments are only your wants and desires in your flesh.

An Illustration of Humility and Letting Go

Ann Russell Miller, a celebrated socialite from San Francisco, also known as Sister Mary Joseph, with ten children and nineteen grandchildren, had grown up in luxury and privilege. For decades, she’d been living a life of incredible wealth.

Instead of shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue, and decorating herself with jewelry from Tiffany, she suddenly decided to give up everything, and became a nun devoted to living in poverty for the rest of her life. That unbelievable event happened decades ago, and it was then widely reported in the media across the country.

Why did she make such a drastic and incredible change in her life? She said she’d a calling, a true vocation that was very hard to understand for the public, even for the close members of her family.

The bottom line: Living by faith and believing in God, you focus less on your attachments to the material world, and more on others around you. 

Living by faith:  Faith changes your lifestyles, making you do just the opposite. All you need is your trust and your obedience to God, who can "transform" you into anyone.

Stephen Lau

 

The 3Ds in Faith

Faith demands 3Ds from anyone who wants to live by faith. To believe in God and to live in faith, the 3Ds are denial, devotion, and doing. 

When Jesus called men to be His disciples, one of the fundamental qualifications was a "single eye"--the single vision that sees nothing other than the total commitment to achieve that single goal in life, which is to serve God and to spread His Word. In the Bible, when the disciples followed Jesus, they left everything behind and followed Him immediately without second thoughts.

"And another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home." But Jesus said to him, 'No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'" Luke 9: 61-62

Looking back is a distraction, and no one could follow Jesus as a "distracted" disciple. Likewise, to believe in God, you no longer live a life of convenience but a life of denial, devotion, and doing. 

So, you must show your denial of attachments to the material world; you must demonstrate your devotion to your faith by reading and meditating His Word every day; and you must indicate your doing to prove that actions are louder than words. 

"Allow the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." Luke 9: 59-60

Denial means "dying to self" and allowing God to take complete control of one's life. Denial, which is the willingness to "obey" God, engenders devotion that entails loving God with one's whole heart.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment." Matthew 22:37

With denial and devotion, one can then put one's commitment into actions, choices, and priorities through one's doing.

"I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me." John 5:30

Living by faith: Just follow the 3Ds all your life, and God's Spirit will help you all the way.

Stephen Lau

Living By Faith Is Living In Miracles

 

Self-Reliant and God-Dependent

Living by faith is the "tallest order" in life and living in this secular world. Why? Because faith is not only in God but also in ourselves. In addition, we need to strike a balance between the two. 

If we become too "God-dependent", and we don't do anything ourselves, we may become "fatalistic"--thinking that whatever happens in our lives has to come from God. On the other hand, if we become too "self-reliant", we may become too self-centered, thinking that we can do just about anything to get what we want without God. So, we need to strike a balance between "God dependent" and "self-reliant." 

First of all, we need to believe that God has absolute control and power in this world, and that at the same time He has given us the gift of free will, which means that we, too, have to play a pivotal role in God's sovereignty in this world. 

"Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been freely given to us by God . . ." Corinthians 2:12

Yes, God has given us the salvation, but we need to work at our salvation with faith, trust, and obedience, just as Apostle Paul said: "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Philippians 2:12

So, we need to rely on ourselves, through faith, to become obedient with fear and trembling.

Living by faith: Believing in God is a tall order; having faith in God is a taller order; living by faith is the tallest order.

Stephen Lau

Living By Faith Is Living In Miracles

The Importance of Life Experiences

The life experiences of an individual are "everything" to that individual because they inform that individual how to "think" and what to do with those experiences. Yes, your life experiences are uniquely yours because they’re the byproducts of what happens to you throughout your life journey, which is determined by two pivotal players: your choices and your 

·       Your choices result in your actions or inactions, which often bring about consequences as well as circumstances that may affect your life in general and in specific.

·       Your circumstances are the events that happen to you and around you. There’re two types: self-inflicting internal circumstances, such as your procrastination, affecting the subsequent events and happenings in your life; uncontrollable external circumstances, such as accidents due to no fault of your own.

To illustrate, you had to complete a project and submit a report on that. You had sufficient time to do what you were supposed to do, but you chose to procrastinate until the last minute. An unforeseeable event happened and made it impossible for you to finish your work on time, thus creating a "self-inflicting" circumstance of frustration and undue stress that might affect your other choices you subsequently made.

Personal choices may not be able to alter uncontrollable external circumstances, but they may still play a primary role in one’s reactions and adaptations to those external circumstances that’re beyond one’s control. For example, in the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in 2011, the Japanese people demonstrated their remarkable resilience in their reactions and adaptations to the uncontrollable external circumstances inflicted on them by nature.

Remember: Living is all about choices and consequences from those choices, and that has much to do with causes and results—they often become the components of life experiences.

Perceptions and Five Senses

The five senses form the basics of human sensations: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. These five senses can best be epitomized in sex (the “s” stands for “senses” and the “ex” for “experiences”)—all the five sensual pleasures experienced in the very act of sex.

Here are two questions for reflection: Are sensual pleasures synonymous with your happiness in life? Does happiness come solely from sensual pleasures?

The truth is that the five senses don’t tell you everything; as a matter of fact, they often give you only the half-truths and even nothing but the truths.

The person who uses only the vision of his or her eyes is “conditioned” by what he or she sees. It’s the intuition of the spirit that really perceives reality. The wise have known for a long time that what you know through your eyes is not the same as the intuition of your spirit. If that’s the case, sadly, most people rely too much on what they see, thinking that “seeing is believing” and thus lose themselves in the realities of external things. 

An Illustration 

In 1997, Richard Alexander from Indiana was convicted as a serial rapist because one of the victims and her fiancé insisted that he was the perpetrator based on what the victim and her fiancé claimed that “they saw with their own eyes.”  But the convicted man was later exonerated and subsequently released in 2001, based on new DNA science and other forensic evidence. Experts explained that a traumatic emotional experience, such as a rape, could “distort” the perception of an individual. That explains why the woman and her fiancé “swore” that Richard Alexander was the rapist, but, evidently, he was not.

Living by faith: Believe in God, who gives you the truths in anything and everything that happens in your life. The other so-called "truths" in the secular world from the media, from others, and even from the self are often deceptive and delusional.

Stephen Lau

Living By Faith Is Living In Miracles

Living By Faith Is Living In Miracles

The Paradoxes of Living by Faith

Living by faith, you must first become a believer in God. To do that, you must have your intent to believe, which begins with your thinking mind to believe the unbelievable—that is, understanding the many paradoxes of life and existence.

Well, what is a paradox? A paradox is a statement with two totally opposite meanings that seem contradictory to each other, and yet when they’re together, they not only are true but also make sense.

Believing in God has many paradoxes: the Creator becomes a human being; the Infinite becomes finite; the Eternal One enters limited time; and death is the only way to eternal life. The Presence of God is another paradox: sometimes humans see God’s love, forgiveness, mercy, and justice; other times humans see only His indifference, condemnation, and even injustice. So, knowing and understanding the presence of the many paradoxes of life is your recognition of your own imperfections, and thus turning yourself to seeking God.

Seeking God requires your humility, which is the opposite of pride. God is above, and you’re below. Humility opens the door to God, who never changes Himself but who forever changes those coming to Him with humility. 

So, your belief becomes your becoming, which is your self-transformation. Believing in God comes with free gifts—eternal life, hope, joy, and peace—and your free will—your freedom of choice to receive or not to receive those free gifts from God. Your freedom of will is based on three essentials:

Faith: Believing in the existence and the presence of God is your obeying His Commandments with your own accountability to God.

Trust: Trusting God is your believing in the veracity of His Word.

“so is my word that goes out from my mouth. 

It will not return to me empty

but will accomplish what I desire

and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah: 55:11

Obedience: Obedience is your doing all the right and the righteous things in your everyday life. This daily task is most difficult, if not impossible, while living in your flesh, already corrupted by your sins. But God provides a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to guide you along the difficult journey of obedience.

Living by faith: Believing in God requires understanding the paradoxes of life, which requires spiritual wisdom.

Stephen Lau

Living By Faith Is Living In Miracles

Money and Faith

Money comes from doing, earning, and saving. Money wisdom comes only from God, and not from the financial wisdom of the church.

So, if the pastor of a church lives in an expensive house, drives a luxurious car, or even flies a private plane, the attendants of that church will probably be inundated with "secular truths" of money, rather than the holy truths of the Bible.

An Illustration

The "prosperity gospel" (also known as the "health and wealth gospel") rewards those with an increase in faith with their increase in health and wealth. But that's a perversion of the gospel of Jesus, who said, "You cannot serve both God and money."

The "prosperity gospel" has increased its popularity among many American Christians because it teaches that God blesses those whom God favors most with "material wealth" and "good health."

Joel Osteen, the head of the Lakewood Church in Houston, has a tv ministry that reaches more than seven-million viewers. His 2004 book Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Best Potential has sold millions of copies. Osteen's message is: "God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to have the destiny He has laid out for us."

The "prosperity gospel" focuses on "storing up treasures on Earth as a primary goal of faithful living" and "God will make you rich if praying the right way."

Living by faith, you remain a true believer, and you let go of many misconceptions of money and live a life of humility.

Stephen Lau

Living By Faith Is Living In Miracles

Road Rage

Anger is one of the most-damaging human emotions. Anger or rage is an ineffective and inefficient way to resolve any issue or to make any problem in your life go away. Instead of anger, ask God to help you with your negative emotion of anger.

Remember: Anger is a disruptive and destructive emotion that may often lead to mental depression, the breakup of a marriage or a love relationship, and, worst, physical violence, if the anger is not properly addressed and controlled.

So, how to change your emotion of anger or rage?

Take a deep breath, and just feel your anger as you breathe in.

Look at your anger in your mind. Then review the situation, and ask yourself one simple question: Can your anger somehow “change” the situation or anything at all, such as solving the problem?

Accept that you are now angry, and then slowly breathe it out. If necessary, use your arm like a sword cutting through your feelings of rage, while saying: “I can see my anger: it is as it was!”

Don't hold your anger in; instead, let it go, by breathing it out completely. Don't let it go as pain but as your own acceptance not as a sign of your weakness but as a statement of your own communication to yourself.

Then, remind yourself that anger is always present to serve a purpose to release some of the deeper issues, problems, and internal conflicts that you might be carrying in your own bag and baggage all these years. It is always better to release your anger or rage than to turn it around to destroy yourself completely. Anger or rage is an ineffective and inefficient way to resolve any issue or to make any problem in your life go away.

Remember: Anger is a disruptive emotion that may often lead to mental depression, the breakup of a marriage or a love relationship, and, worst, physical violence, if the anger is not properly addressed and controlled.

So, how to change your disruptive emotion of anger or rage?

Take a deep breath and pray to God to help you.  Hopefully, your anger is present to serve a purpose to release some of the deeper issues, problems, and internal conflicts that you might be carrying in your own bag and baggage all these years. 

Road Rage

Near the end of 2016, a road rage occurred in Arkansas that ended in tragedy.

A woman, with her 3-year-old grandson sitting at the back of her car, stopped at a stop sign. A man, in the car right behind, honked her for not starting "immediately," but the woman honked back. Thus, the road rage began with the man firing a gunshot at the back of the woman's car. 

Not stopping too long at a stop sign or wanting to get to a place on time might have been anything and everything for the man, who expressed his anger by honking at the car in front. Having the right to remain where she was might have been anything and everything to the woman; so, her anger made her honk back.

Unfortunately, that anything-is-everything incident ended in tragedy: the death of the woman's grandson being shot dead at the back of her car. 

In life, anything-is-everything could make you angry.

Living by faith: Faith in God will help you make the right choices and decisions, even when you're angry. With trust and obedience, God will guide you in your steps and walk with Him.

Stephen Lau

Living By Faith Is Living In Miracles

 

     

Choice and Pursuit of Careers

Living is all about “doing” through actions and decisions that are defined and determined by the “being” of an individual—a learner to acquire skills; a mentor to help others get what they want; an expert to broaden insights in a special field.

So, “being” and “doing” go hand-in-hand throughout the careers of any individual. All grown-ups require change and acceptance—changing any pre-conceived mindset about what they can or cannot do; and accepting what they think they cannot or are unwilling to change. For example, if they don’t want to learn and acquire skills, they must accept a low-paying job, such as working at the checkout of a grocery store. Unfortunately, not accepting a low-paying job while doing nothing to change themselves is the "bondage" of many to committing crimes, such as stealing, burglarizing, and robbing.

Living without faith and in the flesh, many grown-up adults become vulnerable to sins and wrongdoings. For example, while climbing the career ladder, they may even push someone over so that they can get to the top.          

With faith, you get God’s wisdom to help you do the right and the righteous things in your choice and pursuit of your careers, such as becoming a professional with expertise backed by related training to earn a higher income; or starting a business with your own innovative ideas inspired by God in your passion, your motivation, and your perseverance.

An Illustration

In the early 1980s, Christopher Paul Gardner was very poor and homeless; he often slept on the floor of a public toilet. Gardner never dreamt that he would become a multi-millionaire one day. His very inspiring life story was even made into a hit Hollywood movie, starring Will Smith: “The Pursuit of  Happyness.”

Gardner was brought up with the belief that he could be anything that he wanted to be with his “doing.” He was homeless, but not hopeless. He often dreamed of wealth and success, and his dreams were not mirages. Because of his right doing, he made his dreams come true.

Initially, Gardner made his living by selling medical equipment. He didn’t make enough money to make both ends meet, and his poverty made him homeless for a year.

Then, one day, Gardner met a stockbroker in a red Ferrari, whom he asked for an internship. Gardner’s incredible drive and sustained enthusiasm finally got him his internship.

After his internship, Gardner applied for a position in that investment firm. On the day before his interview for that position, Gardner lost his shirt and clothing. Nevertheless, he still attended the interview even though he was not “appropriately dressed” for the occasion. It was Gardner’s “determined doing” that got him his job.

Gardner had a successful investment career, and he finally opened his own investment firm, Gardner Rich & Co.

More than two decades later, after the death of his wife who challenged him to find his own true passion and fulfillment in the remainder of his life, Gardner then made a complete career change. He "transformed" himself into a philanthropist and a remarkable motivation speaker traveling around the world, focusing not on his own wealth, but on humanity and helping others to get their happiness through their “doing” of what had to be done.

“People often ask me would I trade anything from my past, and I quickly tell them NO, because my past helped to make me into the person I am today.”

Gardner demonstrated what God had destined for him through his faith and his own transformation.

Living by faith: You believe that God is in charge of everything in your life, including your careers. So, your choice and pursuit of your careers should be your God-driven trust and obedience.

Stephen Lau

Living By Faith Is Living In Miracles