" Teach me, LORD, the way of your decrees,
that I may follow it to the end.
Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.
How I long for your precepts!
In your righteousness preserve my life."
~ Psalm 119:33-40 (NIV)
Monday, September 19, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
It's Been Long, My Friend
That might sound like a weird title, but I miss journaling. It's been about 6 months since my last entry into this space of thoughts and minds.
Much has happened since I'm away. I had gone through a tumultuous period at work where pressure seems to be the only atmosphere I felt. I had gone for a business trip in Beijing for about a month and come back in Mid October to Mid November 2010. I had spend family time with my parents when they came over during Chinese New Year 2011. I had taken a sabbatical from work since 21 March 2011. I had visited my hometown for just over 2 weeks in April and now had just come back from a fruitful mission trip to Cambodia, Baray and Phnom Penh just 2 days ago.
Much has gone by without penning down any thoughts, I feel like I have lost a part of me deep inside the recesses of my brain. At least they should still be there. But one thing for sure, God has been faithful! He has always been faithful! That's my testimony through the time span past. There has never gone a day when I looked back, God has not been faithful!
He has seen me through and through! God be praised!
Much has happened since I'm away. I had gone through a tumultuous period at work where pressure seems to be the only atmosphere I felt. I had gone for a business trip in Beijing for about a month and come back in Mid October to Mid November 2010. I had spend family time with my parents when they came over during Chinese New Year 2011. I had taken a sabbatical from work since 21 March 2011. I had visited my hometown for just over 2 weeks in April and now had just come back from a fruitful mission trip to Cambodia, Baray and Phnom Penh just 2 days ago.
Much has gone by without penning down any thoughts, I feel like I have lost a part of me deep inside the recesses of my brain. At least they should still be there. But one thing for sure, God has been faithful! He has always been faithful! That's my testimony through the time span past. There has never gone a day when I looked back, God has not been faithful!
He has seen me through and through! God be praised!
Monday, October 11, 2010
Lord, You Will
It's so refreshing to simply spend time in prayer with my dear sister in the comfort of home. I always enjoyed such a time as this.
Thank You Lord for this sweet refreshment of Spirit. It's from You. I look to You with wide open eyes to see your great deliverance, to give you all glory through and through, for You will bring me through this season of challenges especially at work, ministry. You will Lord, I believe and I trust.
Thank You Lord for this sweet refreshment of Spirit. It's from You. I look to You with wide open eyes to see your great deliverance, to give you all glory through and through, for You will bring me through this season of challenges especially at work, ministry. You will Lord, I believe and I trust.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Begin and End In Christ
"Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.""
~ Luke 18:31 (NIV)
"In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?”. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . .” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”"
~ "My Utmost For His Highest", Oswald Chambers
We begin and end with Christ. That also follows that we remain in Christ. Following God's will to our Jerusalem is what matters in our daily goal of life as Jesus had examplified.
~ Luke 18:31 (NIV)
"In our natural life our ambitions change as we grow, but in the Christian life the goal is given at the very beginning, and the beginning and the end are exactly the same, namely, our Lord Himself. We start with Christ and we end with Him?”. . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . .” (Ephesians 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be. The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost. A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.
In our Lord’s life, Jerusalem was the place where He reached the culmination of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go there with Jesus we will have no friendship or fellowship with Him. Nothing ever diverted our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned our Lord even the slightest degree away from His purpose to go “up to Jerusalem.”"
~ "My Utmost For His Highest", Oswald Chambers
We begin and end with Christ. That also follows that we remain in Christ. Following God's will to our Jerusalem is what matters in our daily goal of life as Jesus had examplified.
Monday, September 20, 2010
God's Life In Your Life
"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
~ Matthew 5:48 (NIV)
"The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
The verse is not meant for us to take human effort in trying to live perfectly. It is in fact impossible. Only by God's grace. The outworking of God's grace in producing perfection in us. God's life manifest.
~ Matthew 5:48 (NIV)
"The true expression of Christian character is not in good-doing, but in God-likeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit divine characteristics in your life, not just good human characteristics. God’s life in us expresses itself as God’s life, not as human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian’s life is that the supernatural becomes natural in him as a result of the grace of God, and the experience of this becomes evident in the practical, everyday details of life, not in times of intimate fellowship with God. And when we come in contact with things that create confusion and a flurry of activity, we find to our own amazement that we have the power to stay wonderfully poised even in the center of it all."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
The verse is not meant for us to take human effort in trying to live perfectly. It is in fact impossible. Only by God's grace. The outworking of God's grace in producing perfection in us. God's life manifest.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Scripture Vocabulary
As I was travelling home tonight from a regular meetup with my brothers and sisters, I was prompted by the Spirit to refresh the scripture memories that I have committed to my mind. I started to recall in my heart one after another. Here is a list of what I would like to commit. I would like to refer to this particular entry as a reference page for my Scripture vocabulary.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
~ 1 Corinthians 13:!3 (NIV)
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails."
~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7a (NIV)
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
~ 1 Corinthians 10:!3 (NIV)
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. "
~ Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)
"so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."
~ Romans 12:5 (NIV)
"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen."
~ Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
~ 2 Corinthians 5:!7 (NIV)
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"
~ Romans 3:23 (NIV)
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
~ Romans 5:8 (NIV)
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
~ Romans 1:20 (NIV)
"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will."
~ Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,[a] who[b] have been called according to his purpose."
~ Romans 8:28 (NIV)
"You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks."
~ Matthew 12:34 (NIV)
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."
~ 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)
"being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
~ Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
"Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress."
~ 1 Timothy 4:15 (NIV)
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
~ 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."
~ John 10:28 (NIV)
"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."
~ John 16:24 (NIV)
"You are my friends if you do what I command."
~ John 15:14 (NIV)
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
~ John 10:10 (NIV)
"The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit[a] and they are life."
~ John 6:63 (NIV)
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Defense of the Gospel
"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
~ Acts 4:12 (NIV)
Peter and John boldly presented and defended the Gospel as they faced persecution from the leaders of their time, the Sadducees and Pharisees, even the Roman rulers. It's very interesting to note that the Sadducees, Pharisees and the Roman rulers are not exactly in agreement in a lot of matters, but yet they stood in united front against the Apostles as they went about ministering the Gospel unto the people they encountered.
"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say."
~ Acts 4:13-14 (NIV)
~ Acts 4:12 (NIV)
Peter and John boldly presented and defended the Gospel as they faced persecution from the leaders of their time, the Sadducees and Pharisees, even the Roman rulers. It's very interesting to note that the Sadducees, Pharisees and the Roman rulers are not exactly in agreement in a lot of matters, but yet they stood in united front against the Apostles as they went about ministering the Gospel unto the people they encountered.
"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say."
~ Acts 4:13-14 (NIV)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
One Body
"so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others."
~ Romans 12:5 (NIV)
I suppose this explains the reason why I felt rather disconnected and estranged when I was away from church. We are all formed for God's family and are called to belong to one another. We are the branches stemming from God, being the Vine.
~ Romans 12:5 (NIV)
I suppose this explains the reason why I felt rather disconnected and estranged when I was away from church. We are all formed for God's family and are called to belong to one another. We are the branches stemming from God, being the Vine.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sovereign God
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
~ Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
"For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all."
~ Romans 11:32 (NIV)
It's the old classic question on God's will and the autonomy of man. But These verses remind me again that the sovereignty of God goes beyond all things.
~ Genesis 50:20 (NIV)
"For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all."
~ Romans 11:32 (NIV)
It's the old classic question on God's will and the autonomy of man. But These verses remind me again that the sovereignty of God goes beyond all things.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Usefulness
"Jesus Christ is saying here, “Don’t rejoice in your successful service for Me, but rejoice because of your right relationship with Me.” The trap you may fall into in Christian work is to rejoice in successful service— rejoicing in the fact that God has used you. Yet you will never be able to measure fully what God will do through you if you have a right-standing relationship with Jesus Christ. If you keep your relationship right with Him, then regardless of your circumstances or whoever you encounter each day, He will continue to pour “rivers of living water” through you ( John 7:38 ). And it is actually by His mercy that He does not let you know it. Once you have the right relationship with God through salvation and sanctification, remember that whatever your circumstances may be, you have been placed in them by God. And God uses the reaction of your life to your circumstances to fulfill His purpose, as long as you continue to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7 )."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
"However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
~ Luke 10:20 (NIV)
It's not hard to be distracted by our usefulness in ministry especially when we have been serving in it for some time and we have gained a certain measure effectiveness in it. But God reminds me once again even on this birthday, that the fruitfulness that I may have is because of Him, overflowing from my relationship with Him.
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
"However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
~ Luke 10:20 (NIV)
It's not hard to be distracted by our usefulness in ministry especially when we have been serving in it for some time and we have gained a certain measure effectiveness in it. But God reminds me once again even on this birthday, that the fruitfulness that I may have is because of Him, overflowing from my relationship with Him.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
That You Don't Fall
"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"
~ 1 Corinthians 10:!2 (NIV)
"Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life."
~ Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
"There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death."
~ Proverbs 14:!2 (NIV)
"Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless."
~ Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)
3 statements today that lingered in my mind.
Guard against "small disobedience"
Guard against indifference
Guard against success
~ 1 Corinthians 10:!2 (NIV)
"Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life."
~ Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
"There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death."
~ Proverbs 14:!2 (NIV)
"Whoever loves money never has money enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income.
This too is meaningless."
~ Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)
3 statements today that lingered in my mind.
Guard against "small disobedience"
Guard against indifference
Guard against success
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Sacrifice of Worship
It was a frustrating saturday morning. One of the more terrible starts of day in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. I had to make a wasted detour to a bookshop which was not opened yet. Proceeding from there, I went ahead to my target destination, which was the church sanctuary. While on the way, I received a phone call, checking whether I had with me the church office keys. I hung up the phone to realise that I actually had left the keys at home, and there was noone in the church office at the moment. I was almost losing my sense of emotional stability. I had my sister who could easily be a victim of my lashing out of words of criticality and bluntness. It was a rather emotionally stretching moment as I learnt to exercise self-control and composure under such frustration.
I remembered thinking, "how in the world could I lead the music team to worship God this morning?" It certainly was challenging to challenge my own thoughts. But it was a sacrifice and cost to me to bring my offering of praise and worship, in service of the Almighty God. I learnt that "worship is worship still regardless of my circumstances." Whatever settlement of emotions, pain, struggles is my sacrifice too small to be compared to the magnificence of God who is worthy to be praised.
I remembered thinking, "how in the world could I lead the music team to worship God this morning?" It certainly was challenging to challenge my own thoughts. But it was a sacrifice and cost to me to bring my offering of praise and worship, in service of the Almighty God. I learnt that "worship is worship still regardless of my circumstances." Whatever settlement of emotions, pain, struggles is my sacrifice too small to be compared to the magnificence of God who is worthy to be praised.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Disobedience
"The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD's command. So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.""
~ 1 Kings 11:9-13 (NIV)
The sequence of events built up towards this juncture in the Scripture marked Israel's history with such indelible scar. Israel was to be torn into two and taken out of Solomon's hands. Such national crisis that resulted from disobedience to God's commands. Our disobedience likely has impacts on others around us. It may not be clearly reflected in the present but in the future.
~ 1 Kings 11:9-13 (NIV)
The sequence of events built up towards this juncture in the Scripture marked Israel's history with such indelible scar. Israel was to be torn into two and taken out of Solomon's hands. Such national crisis that resulted from disobedience to God's commands. Our disobedience likely has impacts on others around us. It may not be clearly reflected in the present but in the future.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Idolatry Diagnosis
"We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."
~ 1 John 5:20-21 (NIV)
"What do you most highly value?
What do you think about by default?
What is your highest goal?
To what or whom are you most committed?
Who or what do you love the most?
Who or what do you trust or depend upon the most?
Who or what do you fear the most?
Who or what do you hope in and hope for most?
Who or what do you desire the most? Or, what desire makes you most angry or makes you despair when it is not satisfied?
Who or what do you most delight in or hold as your greatest joy and treasure?
Who or what captures your greatest zeal?
To whom or for what are you most thankful?
For whom or what great purpose do you work? "
~ "13 Questions to Diagnose Your Idolatries", Kenny Stokes, "Keep Yourselves From Idols: Part 2", Sermon, 22 Aug 2010
Two or three questions somestimes may not really suffice in digging deeper into our souls regarding the idols in our lives. But 13 questions certainly ensure that you really thought through every question and a number actually provides second chances to the earlier questions. I pray as God reveal, may we learn to acknowledge His revelation and repent.
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."
~ 1 John 5:20-21 (NIV)
"What do you most highly value?
What do you think about by default?
What is your highest goal?
To what or whom are you most committed?
Who or what do you love the most?
Who or what do you trust or depend upon the most?
Who or what do you fear the most?
Who or what do you hope in and hope for most?
Who or what do you desire the most? Or, what desire makes you most angry or makes you despair when it is not satisfied?
Who or what do you most delight in or hold as your greatest joy and treasure?
Who or what captures your greatest zeal?
To whom or for what are you most thankful?
For whom or what great purpose do you work? "
~ "13 Questions to Diagnose Your Idolatries", Kenny Stokes, "Keep Yourselves From Idols: Part 2", Sermon, 22 Aug 2010
Two or three questions somestimes may not really suffice in digging deeper into our souls regarding the idols in our lives. But 13 questions certainly ensure that you really thought through every question and a number actually provides second chances to the earlier questions. I pray as God reveal, may we learn to acknowledge His revelation and repent.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
As How God Loves
".. Love for God is not something sentimental or emotional— for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable.
“I have called you friends. . . .” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."
~ John 15:15 (NIV)
"for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable." This statement challenges me to consider my loving. Loving as how God loves. That is the ultimate example to follow.
“I have called you friends. . . .” Our friendship with Jesus is based on the new life He created in us, which has no resemblance or attraction to our old life but only to the life of God. It is a life that is completely humble, pure, and devoted to God."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."
~ John 15:15 (NIV)
"for a saint to love as God loves is the most practical thing imaginable." This statement challenges me to consider my loving. Loving as how God loves. That is the ultimate example to follow.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Defiance For Devotion
"We mistake defiance for devotion, arguing with God instead of surrendering. We refuse to look at the evidence that clearly indicates where we are wrong. Have I been asking God to give me money for something I want, while refusing to pay someone what I owe him? Have I been asking God for liberty while I am withholding it from someone who belongs to me? Have I refused to forgive someone, and have I been unkind to that person? Have I been living as God’s child among my relatives and friends? (see Matthew 7:12 )."
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?"
~ Matthew 7:9 (NIV)
This comes down to the root of pride and rebellion against God. When we refuse to submit to God's sovereign wisdom and seek His ways, it tends to be masquaraded as a desire to follow Him. But in essence, it is refusal to obey. Nonetheless, God uses even our refusal to obey to teach us obedience and surrender.
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?"
~ Matthew 7:9 (NIV)
This comes down to the root of pride and rebellion against God. When we refuse to submit to God's sovereign wisdom and seek His ways, it tends to be masquaraded as a desire to follow Him. But in essence, it is refusal to obey. Nonetheless, God uses even our refusal to obey to teach us obedience and surrender.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sin Seizing Opportunity
"What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet." But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.
For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. "
~ Romans 7:7-13 (NIV)
"[The] reason why man has the more strong inclination to moral evil when forbidden, is because obedience is submission and subjection, and the commandment is obligation. But natural corruption is against submission and obligation, but loves the lowest kind of liberty as one of those apparent goods that it seeks; and when he disobeys, he looks upon it that he has broke the obligation.
When he thinks of the perpetration of such a lust, and thinks how he is strictly upon pain of damnation forbidden, tied by such strict bonds from it, it makes him exceeding uneasy, the consideration is so against corrupt nature; which uneasiness takes away all liberty of thought, and makes the mind dwell upon nothing but the contrary and supposed good, the liberty, causes [him] to meditate upon the pleasantness of the act, and makes it appear much greater than otherwise it would do."
~ "The Miscellanies" #79, Jonathan Edwards, Adapted from "Why the Law Makes Us Want To Sin More", Tyler Kennedy, Desiring God Blog, 23 Aug 2010
Sin has a certain powerful draw of apparent good that scopes the vision of the one enticed to simply focus on it. By nature, submission and obligation seems to be a deficient part of our DNA of character to begin with. We seem to be oppressed by it instead of redeemed.
For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. "
~ Romans 7:7-13 (NIV)
"[The] reason why man has the more strong inclination to moral evil when forbidden, is because obedience is submission and subjection, and the commandment is obligation. But natural corruption is against submission and obligation, but loves the lowest kind of liberty as one of those apparent goods that it seeks; and when he disobeys, he looks upon it that he has broke the obligation.
When he thinks of the perpetration of such a lust, and thinks how he is strictly upon pain of damnation forbidden, tied by such strict bonds from it, it makes him exceeding uneasy, the consideration is so against corrupt nature; which uneasiness takes away all liberty of thought, and makes the mind dwell upon nothing but the contrary and supposed good, the liberty, causes [him] to meditate upon the pleasantness of the act, and makes it appear much greater than otherwise it would do."
~ "The Miscellanies" #79, Jonathan Edwards, Adapted from "Why the Law Makes Us Want To Sin More", Tyler Kennedy, Desiring God Blog, 23 Aug 2010
Sin has a certain powerful draw of apparent good that scopes the vision of the one enticed to simply focus on it. By nature, submission and obligation seems to be a deficient part of our DNA of character to begin with. We seem to be oppressed by it instead of redeemed.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
But Will God Really Dwell On Earth
"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, 'My Name shall be there,' so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. "
~ 1 Kings 8:27-30 (NIV)
Solomon in His God-given wisdom asked a real question. "Can anything contain God?" It seems like it's contradicting his initial decision to build the Temple for God, which he knew full well, that nothing can contain God. Yet he went on to build it. Why? I'm no exactly too sure as I reflect. But if I were to give my best shot to wonder why, I believe that it is a reflection of a deep desire to bring pleasure to God, as a consistent visible reminder that God is God, of all Israel, of all His people. The remarkable observation that we can make on the very first thing Solomon did, was to pray in dedication of the temple that had been built to the purpose of God's Worship.
~ 1 Kings 8:27-30 (NIV)
Solomon in His God-given wisdom asked a real question. "Can anything contain God?" It seems like it's contradicting his initial decision to build the Temple for God, which he knew full well, that nothing can contain God. Yet he went on to build it. Why? I'm no exactly too sure as I reflect. But if I were to give my best shot to wonder why, I believe that it is a reflection of a deep desire to bring pleasure to God, as a consistent visible reminder that God is God, of all Israel, of all His people. The remarkable observation that we can make on the very first thing Solomon did, was to pray in dedication of the temple that had been built to the purpose of God's Worship.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Test of The Age
"Is it possible to glorify God through the enjoyment of music, movies, literature, etc. produced by secular artists?
Yes. I assume the computer you are holding there was probably not built by Christians, and I hope that you are glorifying God as you tap away at it. And of course out from there, there are a 1000 things that we use all day long, and God says, 'whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God.' And he knows that you are eating this meat that may have been sacrificed to idols, so that means it was probably butchered by an unbeliever, or handled by an unbeliever, shipped by an unbeliever, it may have been cooked by an unbelieving cook. And here you are savoring the product of all those unbelievers' work because you are in that moment giving thanks to God for it, recognizing that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and taking the strength and the joy that comes from it to render back to him.
Now with the arts and with media it is more morally complex than with food. But it is the same principle. The complexity of it is, in those moments what do you do with the moral elements of it that are so contrary to your faith?
I'll just point out one principle because we can talk about this forever. What concerns me is the distinction between entertainment and cultural analysis. To watch something, to study the culture, learn from the culture, be more able to interact with unbelievers for the sake of the glory of Christ is one thing. To just sit and bask in nudity, or bask in fifty f-words, or bask in a world view that is shot through with arrogance to the core, and enjoy it? Hmm. That seems to point to something going on in the heart. And frankly, I have tasted it big time. I think today we are going to have to work at not being shaped by the world because the world has made its world view so scintillatingly attractive.
Movie after movie after movie has come out and most young reformed people are, I would say, indiscriminate. "Let's go to a movie tonight." OK, and then we just choose the best. None of the movies in that theater at that night are any good, probably. But you are just going to do it, because that is what you do. You go to the movies on Friday night, or whatever. And then of course you think, we've got to Christianize this thing somehow.
I just think we need to test our hearts big time. Big time. Why are we able to enjoy hell bound, God ignoring, Christ dishonoring, false world views because we can give it a little twist at the end that it taught us this or that about the world? So, I think the main thing I'm saying there is, test your heart as to whether entertainment is defaulting to the world, or to something more wholesome. We live in an age where we tend to default to the world for entertainment."
~ "Do You Glorify God in Your Movie Watching?" John Piper, "Ask Pastor John, Desiring God
This article challenged my watching attitudes. What exactly goes on in your heart while you watch a certain movie or show?
Yes. I assume the computer you are holding there was probably not built by Christians, and I hope that you are glorifying God as you tap away at it. And of course out from there, there are a 1000 things that we use all day long, and God says, 'whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God.' And he knows that you are eating this meat that may have been sacrificed to idols, so that means it was probably butchered by an unbeliever, or handled by an unbeliever, shipped by an unbeliever, it may have been cooked by an unbelieving cook. And here you are savoring the product of all those unbelievers' work because you are in that moment giving thanks to God for it, recognizing that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and taking the strength and the joy that comes from it to render back to him.
Now with the arts and with media it is more morally complex than with food. But it is the same principle. The complexity of it is, in those moments what do you do with the moral elements of it that are so contrary to your faith?
I'll just point out one principle because we can talk about this forever. What concerns me is the distinction between entertainment and cultural analysis. To watch something, to study the culture, learn from the culture, be more able to interact with unbelievers for the sake of the glory of Christ is one thing. To just sit and bask in nudity, or bask in fifty f-words, or bask in a world view that is shot through with arrogance to the core, and enjoy it? Hmm. That seems to point to something going on in the heart. And frankly, I have tasted it big time. I think today we are going to have to work at not being shaped by the world because the world has made its world view so scintillatingly attractive.
Movie after movie after movie has come out and most young reformed people are, I would say, indiscriminate. "Let's go to a movie tonight." OK, and then we just choose the best. None of the movies in that theater at that night are any good, probably. But you are just going to do it, because that is what you do. You go to the movies on Friday night, or whatever. And then of course you think, we've got to Christianize this thing somehow.
I just think we need to test our hearts big time. Big time. Why are we able to enjoy hell bound, God ignoring, Christ dishonoring, false world views because we can give it a little twist at the end that it taught us this or that about the world? So, I think the main thing I'm saying there is, test your heart as to whether entertainment is defaulting to the world, or to something more wholesome. We live in an age where we tend to default to the world for entertainment."
~ "Do You Glorify God in Your Movie Watching?" John Piper, "Ask Pastor John, Desiring God
This article challenged my watching attitudes. What exactly goes on in your heart while you watch a certain movie or show?
Friday, August 20, 2010
Christ Awareness
"A complete life is the life of a child. When I am fully conscious of my awareness of Christ, there is something wrong. It is the sick person who really knows what health is. A child of God is not aware of the will of God because he is the will of God. When we have deviated even slightly from the will of God, we begin to ask, “Lord, what is your will?” A child of God never prays to be made aware of the fact that God answers prayer, because he is so restfully certain that God always answers prayer.
If we try to overcome our self-awareness through any of our own commonsense methods, we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness tremendously. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest,” that is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest— the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
This is what I would call the paradox of Christian living. The unconscious reality of Christ in our lives in complete union with one another. It's interesting how when one thinks that he's got it all, he's actually quite some distance away from it.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
~ Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
If we try to overcome our self-awareness through any of our own commonsense methods, we will only serve to strengthen our self-awareness tremendously. Jesus says, “Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest,” that is, Christ-awareness will take the place of self-awareness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest— the rest of the completion of activity in our lives that is never aware of itself."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
This is what I would call the paradox of Christian living. The unconscious reality of Christ in our lives in complete union with one another. It's interesting how when one thinks that he's got it all, he's actually quite some distance away from it.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
~ Matthew 11:28 (NIV)
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Begging To Praising
"One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him."
~ Acts 3:1-10 (NIV)
The transformation is so powerful in the crippled man that he went with Peter and John to the temple courts, praising God. Something fundamental and deep changed within him. From begging (out of misery, hopelessness and helplessness) to praising God. I could hardly imagine possibly if he would actually go back to begging. It's not mentioned anywhere perhaps, but it was just a theoretical imagination. Thus, it brings me to mind of how transformed lives will certainly result in radically different nature than before. Redeemed sinners must not go back to begging (old nature).
Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him."
~ Acts 3:1-10 (NIV)
The transformation is so powerful in the crippled man that he went with Peter and John to the temple courts, praising God. Something fundamental and deep changed within him. From begging (out of misery, hopelessness and helplessness) to praising God. I could hardly imagine possibly if he would actually go back to begging. It's not mentioned anywhere perhaps, but it was just a theoretical imagination. Thus, it brings me to mind of how transformed lives will certainly result in radically different nature than before. Redeemed sinners must not go back to begging (old nature).
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Instrument and Fruit of Justification
"One of the concerns that I have about justification, and in particular the biblical understanding of imputation (being counted righteous as distinct from actually becoming behavioral in our righteousness—which are both crucial), is that those who are jealous like I want to be for our holiness, our love, our justice and our mercy in the world can begin to build those fruits into the instrument of justification to make sure that it is not separated. But in the process they undermine the very goal that we are both after.
Here's what I mean. I'm arguing, as I think historic protestant Christianity and the Bible argues, that the imputation of Christ's righteousness to me is through union with Christ, where he is for me all that he is, and I am attached to him in that union through faith alone. The only instrument by which I am made a participant in Christ's righteousness is God's acting through my faith. I am born into that relationship through faith alone, not through any of its fruits, like mercy and justice and love and patience and kindness and meekness and so on, which turn me into a useful person in the world.
Now what some people feel, I think, is that if you conceive of justification that way, as being imputed with Christ's righteousness so that you stand perfect before God by faith alone, you have disconnected it from love and mercy and goodness and justice and kindness, such that you can begin to become indifferent to those things. You can begin to think of yourself as holy and let the world go to hell. So to solve that problem, to make sure that justice and love and mercy are all kept closely connected—as they should be, as the fruit of justification—they begin to bring it into the instrument by which we are attached to Christ and they don't make faith clearly distinct as the sole instrument.
The reason I say this undermines what we are both after is because I don't think we can make any progress in holiness if we don't have a profound, deep, powerful assurance that we are accepted by God by faith alone. If you try to make the fruit of justification part of the root of justification, the fruit itself is destroyed. Because I think God has ordained that it is out of a sense of wonder and marveling that God is patient with me through faith alone that I am able to be patient with another person.
If I try to make becoming patient with my wife part of the instrument by which I am attached to Jesus, who then becomes my righteousness and acceptance with God, so that it is mostly his work but still partially my work, then my whole sense of assurance by which I make progress in that patience begins to go down the tubes.
So I'm giving this little video clip just to say that I really believe that Christians have to be loving, they have to be just, they have to be caring. In other words, the fruits of the Spirit really matter. We are not born again if we are not living differently than we would if we weren't born again. I just want to say that the doctrine of justification by faith alone, or imputation through union with Christ along the instrument of faith alone, is the best way forward in that."
~ "John Piper's Concern In The Justification Debate", John Piper, 18 April 2010, Desiring God Blog
Let us not be misled to consider the instrument of justification as part of the root of justification.
Here's what I mean. I'm arguing, as I think historic protestant Christianity and the Bible argues, that the imputation of Christ's righteousness to me is through union with Christ, where he is for me all that he is, and I am attached to him in that union through faith alone. The only instrument by which I am made a participant in Christ's righteousness is God's acting through my faith. I am born into that relationship through faith alone, not through any of its fruits, like mercy and justice and love and patience and kindness and meekness and so on, which turn me into a useful person in the world.
Now what some people feel, I think, is that if you conceive of justification that way, as being imputed with Christ's righteousness so that you stand perfect before God by faith alone, you have disconnected it from love and mercy and goodness and justice and kindness, such that you can begin to become indifferent to those things. You can begin to think of yourself as holy and let the world go to hell. So to solve that problem, to make sure that justice and love and mercy are all kept closely connected—as they should be, as the fruit of justification—they begin to bring it into the instrument by which we are attached to Christ and they don't make faith clearly distinct as the sole instrument.
The reason I say this undermines what we are both after is because I don't think we can make any progress in holiness if we don't have a profound, deep, powerful assurance that we are accepted by God by faith alone. If you try to make the fruit of justification part of the root of justification, the fruit itself is destroyed. Because I think God has ordained that it is out of a sense of wonder and marveling that God is patient with me through faith alone that I am able to be patient with another person.
If I try to make becoming patient with my wife part of the instrument by which I am attached to Jesus, who then becomes my righteousness and acceptance with God, so that it is mostly his work but still partially my work, then my whole sense of assurance by which I make progress in that patience begins to go down the tubes.
So I'm giving this little video clip just to say that I really believe that Christians have to be loving, they have to be just, they have to be caring. In other words, the fruits of the Spirit really matter. We are not born again if we are not living differently than we would if we weren't born again. I just want to say that the doctrine of justification by faith alone, or imputation through union with Christ along the instrument of faith alone, is the best way forward in that."
~ "John Piper's Concern In The Justification Debate", John Piper, 18 April 2010, Desiring God Blog
Let us not be misled to consider the instrument of justification as part of the root of justification.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sell Everything
"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth."
~ Luke 18:22-23 (NIV)
"Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
It has been quite a natural inclination to interpret the way the rich man responded with negativity, in that, it seems like he had been lost. No fruit came forth out of that sorrowful realisation. However, if we really think about it, that seeming discouragement is actually a good sign of repentance. It started with the awareness of his current state of affairs and condition of heart. Here, Lord Jesus demonstrated what we call patience and trust in God's timing for harvest.
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth."
~ Luke 18:22-23 (NIV)
"Have I ever heard Jesus say something difficult and unyielding to me? Has He said something personally to me to which I have deliberately listened— not something I can explain for the sake of others, but something I have heard Him say directly to me? This man understood what Jesus said. He heard it clearly, realizing the full impact of its meaning, and it broke his heart. He did not go away as a defiant person, but as one who was sorrowful and discouraged. He had come to Jesus on fire with zeal and determination, but the words of Jesus simply froze him. Instead of producing enthusiastic devotion to Jesus, they produced heartbreaking discouragement. And Jesus did not go after him, but let him go. Our Lord knows perfectly well that once His word is truly heard, it will bear fruit sooner or later. What is so terrible is that some of us prevent His words from bearing fruit in our present life. I wonder what we will say when we finally make up our minds to be devoted to Him on that particular point? One thing is certain— He will never throw our past failures back in our faces."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
It has been quite a natural inclination to interpret the way the rich man responded with negativity, in that, it seems like he had been lost. No fruit came forth out of that sorrowful realisation. However, if we really think about it, that seeming discouragement is actually a good sign of repentance. It started with the awareness of his current state of affairs and condition of heart. Here, Lord Jesus demonstrated what we call patience and trust in God's timing for harvest.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Salvation
"And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”"
~ Mark 10:23-31 (ESV)
"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”"
~ John 3:19-21 (ESV)
"True and saving faith in Christ is not a thing out of the power of man, but infinitely easy. 'Tis entirely in a man's power to submit to Jesus Christ as a Savior, if he will; but the thing is, it never will be that he should will it, except God works it in him."
~Jonathan Edwards, from Miscellanies #71
These passages clearly talk about the monergistic nature of salvation. It begins, continues and persists in God. Praise be to God!
~ Mark 10:23-31 (ESV)
"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”"
~ John 3:19-21 (ESV)
"True and saving faith in Christ is not a thing out of the power of man, but infinitely easy. 'Tis entirely in a man's power to submit to Jesus Christ as a Savior, if he will; but the thing is, it never will be that he should will it, except God works it in him."
~Jonathan Edwards, from Miscellanies #71
These passages clearly talk about the monergistic nature of salvation. It begins, continues and persists in God. Praise be to God!
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Conscious Repentance, Unconscious Holiness
"No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God."
~ 1 John 3:9 (NIV)
"The answer to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born when he is old?” is: Only when he is willing to die to everything in his life, including his rights, his virtues, and his religion, and becomes willing to receive into himself a new life that he has never before experienced ( John 3:4 ). This new life exhibits itself in our conscious repentance and through our unconscious holiness.
“But as many as received Him. . .” ( John 1:12 ). Is my knowledge of Jesus the result of my own internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned through listening to others? Is there something in my life that unites me with the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior? My spiritual history must have as its underlying foundation a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. To be born again means that I see Jesus.
“. . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” (John 3:3). Am I seeking only for the evidence of God’s kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? The new birth gives me a new power of vision by which I begin to discern God’s control. His sovereignty was there all the time, but with God being true to His nature, I could not see it until I received His very nature myself.
“Whoever has been born of God does not sin. . .” ( 1 John 3:9 ). Am I seeking to stop sinning or have I actually stopped? To be born of God means that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning. The Bible never asks, “Should a Christian sin?” The Bible emphatically states that a Christian must not sin. The work of the new birth is being effective in us when we do not commit sin. It is not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have actually stopped sinning. Yet 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin— it simply means that if we will obey the life of God in us, that we do not have to sin."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
John 3 and 1 John are passages of the Bible that never fail to bring me afresh towards a consciousness of the reality of sin and a heightened awareness of how helpless one is without that power. The power in the new birth. "We do not have to sin." that sentence really struck me as not just a command, but a preference, a distinct desired preference with such drawing strength for it to be chosen. We do not have to sin. No one who has been born again is slave to sin, none of them would be duty-bound to sin.
~ 1 John 3:9 (NIV)
"The answer to Nicodemus’ question, “How can a man be born when he is old?” is: Only when he is willing to die to everything in his life, including his rights, his virtues, and his religion, and becomes willing to receive into himself a new life that he has never before experienced ( John 3:4 ). This new life exhibits itself in our conscious repentance and through our unconscious holiness.
“But as many as received Him. . .” ( John 1:12 ). Is my knowledge of Jesus the result of my own internal spiritual perception, or is it only what I have learned through listening to others? Is there something in my life that unites me with the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior? My spiritual history must have as its underlying foundation a personal knowledge of Jesus Christ. To be born again means that I see Jesus.
“. . . unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God ” (John 3:3). Am I seeking only for the evidence of God’s kingdom, or am I actually recognizing His absolute sovereign control? The new birth gives me a new power of vision by which I begin to discern God’s control. His sovereignty was there all the time, but with God being true to His nature, I could not see it until I received His very nature myself.
“Whoever has been born of God does not sin. . .” ( 1 John 3:9 ). Am I seeking to stop sinning or have I actually stopped? To be born of God means that I have His supernatural power to stop sinning. The Bible never asks, “Should a Christian sin?” The Bible emphatically states that a Christian must not sin. The work of the new birth is being effective in us when we do not commit sin. It is not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have actually stopped sinning. Yet 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin— it simply means that if we will obey the life of God in us, that we do not have to sin."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
John 3 and 1 John are passages of the Bible that never fail to bring me afresh towards a consciousness of the reality of sin and a heightened awareness of how helpless one is without that power. The power in the new birth. "We do not have to sin." that sentence really struck me as not just a command, but a preference, a distinct desired preference with such drawing strength for it to be chosen. We do not have to sin. No one who has been born again is slave to sin, none of them would be duty-bound to sin.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Right Standing
"And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,"
~ Hebrews 12:5 (NIV)
"Do not quench the Spirit” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19 ), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, “Don’t be blind on this point anymore— you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I’m revealing it to you right now.” When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God.
“. . . nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.” We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, “Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything.” Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!"
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
"Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God." That sentence stood out much as I asked the Lord what He is speaking to me about tonight.
Lord Jesus, please help me, I want your right standing relationship before God. Moment by moment, may your power and Spirit at work bring me back from my poor standing with You.
"My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,"
~ Hebrews 12:5 (NIV)
"Do not quench the Spirit” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:19 ), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect, “Don’t be blind on this point anymore— you are not as far along spiritually as you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but I’m revealing it to you right now.” When the Lord disciplines you like that, let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God.
“. . . nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.” We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then say, “Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything.” Just think what would happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!"
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
"Allow Him to put you into a right-standing relationship before God." That sentence stood out much as I asked the Lord what He is speaking to me about tonight.
Lord Jesus, please help me, I want your right standing relationship before God. Moment by moment, may your power and Spirit at work bring me back from my poor standing with You.
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Present Wonder
"Beware if in sharing your personal testimony you continually have to look back, saying, “Once, a number of years ago, I was saved.” If you have put your “hand to the plow” and are walking in the light, there is no “looking back”— the past is instilled into the present wonder of fellowship and oneness with God ( Luke 9:62 ; also see 1 John 1:6-7 ). If you get out of the light, you become a sentimental Christian, and live only on your memories, and your testimony will have a hard metallic ring to it. Beware of trying to cover up your present refusal to “walk in the light” by recalling your past experiences when you did “walk in the light” ( 1 John 1:7 ). When-ever the Spirit gives you that sense of restraint, call a halt and make things right, or else you will go on quenching and grieving Him without even knowing it."
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
Tonight's devotion came as a fresh perspective of past oriented reflection. If we continually look back at the same things that have once been such a wonder and amazement to us, one such as a perhaps our conversion experience, we might have been suffering from a deficient fellowship with God. In that, our past should continue to propel us into wonder in the present of our fellowship and oneness with God. If our focal point continues to wander in search and recollection of some past experiences, we may have be in need of a serious reflection of our present condition as a life pilgrim. This would likely surface up some aspects of life in which we are disobeying.
~ My Utmost For His Highest, Oswald Chambers
Tonight's devotion came as a fresh perspective of past oriented reflection. If we continually look back at the same things that have once been such a wonder and amazement to us, one such as a perhaps our conversion experience, we might have been suffering from a deficient fellowship with God. In that, our past should continue to propel us into wonder in the present of our fellowship and oneness with God. If our focal point continues to wander in search and recollection of some past experiences, we may have be in need of a serious reflection of our present condition as a life pilgrim. This would likely surface up some aspects of life in which we are disobeying.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Reason and Mysticism
"The one created thing which we cannot look at is the one thing in the light of which we look at everything. Like the sun at noonday, mysticism [belief in mystery] explains everything else by the blaze of its own victorious invisibility. Detached intellectualism is (in the exact sense of a popular phrase) all moonshine; for it is light without heat, and it is secondary light, reflected from a dead world. . . . But that transcendentalism by which all men live has primarily much the position of the sun in the sky. We are conscious of it as of a kind of splendid confusion; it is something both shining and shapeless, at once a blaze and a blur. But the circle of the moon is as clear and unmistakable, as recurrent and inevitable, as the circle of Euclid on a blackboard. For the moon is utterly reasonable; and the moon is the mother of lunatics and has given to them all her name. (pp. 17-18, paragraphing added)"
~ "Orthodoxy", G.K Chesterton, Adapted from Desiring God blog post, "The Irrationality of Pure Reason, and Mystery's Victory", Tyler Kennedy, 12 Aug 2010
It's a heavyweight article in the category of philosophy and thought, but I affirm what Tyler shared in his blog post. Reason cannot be the only way, much less the final filler of things we will accept in our theology. However, we will go as far as reason takes us. It's owing to God's supremacy as being that mystery is mystery to us and not to Him, for nothing is mystery to Him. He is the uncreated One, whence the superset of all things exist. The article reminds me that ultimately our supreme authority is the Word of God.
"O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy..."
~ 2 Samuel 7:28a (NIV)
~ "Orthodoxy", G.K Chesterton, Adapted from Desiring God blog post, "The Irrationality of Pure Reason, and Mystery's Victory", Tyler Kennedy, 12 Aug 2010
It's a heavyweight article in the category of philosophy and thought, but I affirm what Tyler shared in his blog post. Reason cannot be the only way, much less the final filler of things we will accept in our theology. However, we will go as far as reason takes us. It's owing to God's supremacy as being that mystery is mystery to us and not to Him, for nothing is mystery to Him. He is the uncreated One, whence the superset of all things exist. The article reminds me that ultimately our supreme authority is the Word of God.
"O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy..."
~ 2 Samuel 7:28a (NIV)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Jordan, Jericho and Bethel
"As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them apart."
~ 2 Kings 2:11-12 (NIV)
"He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. "
~ 2 Kings 2:14 (NIV)
"The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him."
~ 2 Kings 2:15 (NIV)
"From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!"
~ 2 Kings 2:23 (NIV)
There will indeed come a time or probably a point in time thereafter when my Elijah may not be with me anymore. This is part of the overall intention of God in spiritual growth. We must learn like Elisha to journey through our own Jordan, where there is noone else but ourselves, and we must do it ourselves, our own Jericho, where we have witnessed Elijah do things that are powered by God, and we are reluctant to bear the responsibility and yet we must still do it, his own Bethel, where we would come to the end of our resources and the beginning of God's resources, where we must truly depend on Him.
~ 2 Kings 2:11-12 (NIV)
"He picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. "
~ 2 Kings 2:14 (NIV)
"The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him."
~ 2 Kings 2:15 (NIV)
"From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!"
~ 2 Kings 2:23 (NIV)
There will indeed come a time or probably a point in time thereafter when my Elijah may not be with me anymore. This is part of the overall intention of God in spiritual growth. We must learn like Elisha to journey through our own Jordan, where there is noone else but ourselves, and we must do it ourselves, our own Jericho, where we have witnessed Elijah do things that are powered by God, and we are reluctant to bear the responsibility and yet we must still do it, his own Bethel, where we would come to the end of our resources and the beginning of God's resources, where we must truly depend on Him.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Coming Together of Ideas
I had a wonderful time of catching up with my fellow ministry leaders over dinner this evening. I had come from a rather stretching day of work and was wondering if I could indeed last through the fellowship. But I thank God that He strengthened me and allowed me to listen and be sharpened in our minds as we share the burdens, dreams and visions that the Lord impressed upon our hearts to share. I am humbled to see how God is pulling our ideas and dreams together through our words simply verbalised. I look forward in anticipation to what God has in store for all of us and will lead us into together.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
~ Isaiah 55:9 (NIV)
"As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
~ Isaiah 55:9 (NIV)
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