King Jehoshaphat's prayer in 2 Chronicles 20:12 "... For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you"
In times of danger, pain, sorrow, injustice, uncertainty... i.e. when things are not going the way we had wanted them to go, our response reveals where our eyes are upon - God or self?
The sermon on Sunday was a great reminder for me: "Jesus is the one for me to focus my life's eyes upon"
Hebrews 12
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 ways to keep our eyes upon Jesus:
remember that even godly forefathers (Heb 11) are still only man!
realise that unbelief will only distract you from God's plan - at the root of every sin is unbelief!
reflect on the pattern of Jesus' life - 4 patterns:
delayed gratification - joy in a distance and not right now for Christ
patient endurance - enduring the cross, Christ created even the hands that nailed Him to the cross!
humble obedience - not My will, but the Father's will
righteous exaltation - He is now seated on the right hand throne of God - the most exalted position!
Philippians 2
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I must fix my eyes on Jesus, and continually remind myself of what He has done for me - the exemplary life He lived, the death He died, the victory He has given.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Me and my darling - the cutest, sweetest, and most loving guy on earth! :)
One of the rare times we have a nice picture taken :) Thanks to Vicky. She's a freelance photographer who's recently joined the church and is kind of taking over my husband's role as photographer for Tri-City.
We're thankful for the many opportunities to serve in Tri-City's many different ministries. I thank God truly for helping me see that no one is indispensable in His work, no matter how important I think I am or someone else is. God's work will always be done when He wants it done. He is inviting us to be in His work, a ready instrument and vessel for His work. What a privilege and I pray I'll never be distracted by the affairs of this world.
I hadn’t intended for my first 2009 blog to be this. There’re just so much to write about: things I learnt in 2008 and my resolutions for 2009. But I really do not want this precious lesson to slip by me just like that…
Went out to lunch with my friend today. It has been 4 weeks or so since Rebekah and I last spoke. Started because she was going through a very trying time, and we had spend quite some time talking. She reminded me about the night when we were talking, and I had honestly told her about how she wasn’t trusting the Lord about her situation. Looking back, she shared how the Lord had used that conversation and other stuff that came along to change her.
I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I remember it was very, very, very hard for me to be honest with her and tell her that she was not doing right and that she needed to trust God. I mean, she was already very heart-broken and was seeking comfort from her friend. And I am not very good at being honest because, very often, I come off as being blunt and mean, and the last thing I want to do was to make her hate me for not being ‘nice’. I dislike confrontations. I really just want to be the nice person, not offend anyone or worse, or lose my friends. But I was deeply concern with my friend and her need to trust God for her situation, and I really cared about her well-being. I finally talked to her honestly.
God knew what I needed to understand. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about “speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4:16) and what it really means and how to do it. A situation occurred this week and I have been so troubled by my reaction – I spoke the truth, and I know the receiver did not like the truth, but I thought I did everyone some good by telling the truth… Problem: but I am not sure if I really did it in love… basically means, I DID NOT ! I have been totally unable to justify my action. I kept thinking about how I can avoid such situations again – RUN AWAY? But I am my brother’s keeper! How can I claim I love God, and that I live to glorify Him and then not love those (in word and in deed) He has put in my path!
Lessons learnt:
·The real problem is a heart issue, not the behavior that we see (Prov 4:23; Matt 12:35)
·Truth guided by the Holy Spirit, seasoned with the same grace we have and are continually receiving will change hearts
·Motives - I have spoken the truth and it sounded right because the person was doing wrong. BUT, my motive? He needs to know what he has done is not biblical, it is SIN, he needs to know, he needs to be told. This is NOT speaking the truth in love.
·Do I really care about the person I am confronting? The well-being of my brethren?
·Speaking truth in love has the intention to RESTORE, to build up, not to hurt or tear down, or worse, PUBLICIZE someone else’s sin.
·Speak to edify!
·God’s word applies to ME every moment of my life, and I don’t read it for another person
·Applying Ephesians 4 to my own life, Paul urges ME (not him, her, they, them, ...) to…
“walk in a manner worthy of the calling… with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace... no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds… But that is not the way I learned Christ!... to put off my old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, … speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, … Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Rebekah has taught me a precious lesson. I was genuinely concerned, I wanted her to feel better! She could have hated me for telling her she was not pleasing God when she was already feeling miserable. When she said she was praying and reading her Bible, I kind of doubted her (sorry, my friend!), because I just thought she would read into what she wanted Scriptures to mean. But she did not. I believe that because she was truly seeking God’s comfort and will for her situation, the Holy Spirit worked in her heart to reveal to her the areas to simply trust and obey. Sweet victory the Lord has given her, and there is indeed true joy in her heart now.
We kept saying ‘thank you’ to each other as we were parting. But we know, it is the Lord’s doing.
Thank you, Lord.
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Ok.. i must now go and study for my test tomorrow! Arghhh…. How did I take so long to write this??? Haiz..
[Romans 5:1-11] Therefore, since I have been justified by faith, I have peace with God through my Lord Jesus Christ. Through him I have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which I stand, and I rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, I rejoice in my sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put me to shame, because God's love has been poured into my heart through the Holy Spirit who has been given to me. For while I was still weak [lost in my sins], at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person I might dare even to die-- but God shows his love for me in that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me.
Since, therefore, I have now been justified by his blood, much more shall I be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while I was an enemy I was reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that I am reconciled, shall I be saved by his life. More than that, I also rejoice in God through my Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I have now received reconciliation.
Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul, Thank you, Lord, for making me whole; Thank you, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation so rich and free.
Mark 5: 18-20 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis[c]how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed."
It was the last day of Youth Camp held in an old school building. Pastor Mike preached a sermon from Mark 5 and I remembered the invitation went something like this (probably not exactly!), "You have heard that Jesus died for your sins, and you know that Jesus is the only Way. You may be the only one in your family to hear this good news. If you really love your family, you need to tell them this good news, but you can't till you have received it yourself." Right after that was some singing and an invitation to give praise to what the Lord has done in each one’s life. Though my eyes were closed, I remember the pressure when I felt when I everyone around me could give thanks for what God has done or have been doing in their lives. I didn’t have any. But I was actually praying! I prayed that God would give me more time to ‘consider’ this gift of salvation. Then, I remember my best friend, Grace, taking her bible and literally running out of the room. She was sobbing. I was really puzzled because I thought I had made my friend upset. JoAnn came along and I remember telling her that I don’t know what happened to Grace, she ran off sobbing. And I think JoAnn said something like, “Maybe I know!” She took me to the school hall and we sat on the stage, in the dark (and fed mozzies!). We talked for a loooooong time. Can’t recall most of the content, but I was struggling in my heart, I mean, there was a tugging that was within me and I knew that it was God. The words “I believe, I want to be saved!” was repeated many, many times, but I just couldn’t say it out. But I finally did.
The moment I said I wanted to be saved, the burden that was in my heart ‘miraculously’ lifted! It was almost impossible to express that feeling of joy.
Sometime later, I found out that while I was gone, God had used all those at camp to pray for me! God does hear & answer the pleading of the righteous.
This is the paper topic I've chosen for my General Epistles' assignment. It's due in approximately 20 hrs. I'm at 6 RAW pages - The last 4 that I have written this past semester have been written & re-written at least 5 times each. This is so crazy...
I'm seriously in need of GREAT conquering faith! arghhhhh.....
