"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12 May the word of God speak to you today.
I spent much of this day reading book reviews at Discerning Reader, and emerged with several books to add to my ever-lengthening wishlist (Wish I could/will read these):
My top two priorities in this list would be "Divine Sovereignity..." and "What is reformed theology?". Hopefully, I can find them in local bookstores... otherwise... hello CBD! Or I could just read my other books for the meantime. :)
I found an excellent article by Abraham Piper called "12 ways to love your wayward child". I'm NOT a parent (;p), but I loved Piper's treatment of the subject. I like this short article far better than the ~30-hour seminar on basic life principles I'm currently attending, but that's another story. Though no one will understand this comment, I'm learning to appreciate people like Pastor Gary Gilley a lot better because of the seminar. (Thank You, God.)
Back to the article, its best feature is its blatant God-centeredness, for which I greatly rejoice! This is characteristic of most, if not all, Piper resources, and is the reason why I visit desiringgod.org regularly and love John Piper so much. Oops, I forgot to mention, Abraham is John Piper's son. :)
I especially liked insight #4 "Don't expect them to be Christ-like". Quote: " If your son is not a Christian, he’s not going to act like one." So true -not only of non-Christian sons and daughters, but also of non-Christian parents, friends, colleagues and so on.
I've printed out copies of this article to give to Christian parents I know. It presents a very timely reminder about the whole point of reaching out to your wayward child:
"It’s not so that they will be good kids again; it’s not so that they’ll get their hair cut and start taking showers; it’s not so that they’ll like classical music instead of deathcore; it’s not so that you can stop being embarrassed at your weekly Bible study; it’s not so that they’ll vote conservative again by the next election; it’s not even so that you can sleep at night, knowing they’re not going to hell.
The only ultimate reason to pray for them, welcome them, plead with them, email them, eat with them, or take an interest in their interests is so that their eyes will be opened to Christ.
And not only is He the only point—He’s the only hope. When they see the wonder of Jesus, satisfaction will be redefined. He will replace the pathetic vanity of money, or the praise of man, or the high, or the orgasm that they are staking their eternities on right now. Only His grace can draw them from their perilous pursuits and bind them safely to Himself—captive, but satisfied."
Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead. Yesterday is a promise that you’ve broken.
Don’t close your eyes, don’t close your eyes! This is your life and today is all you’ve got now
This is your life, are you who you want to be? This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be When the world was younger and you had everything to lose
Yesterday is a kid in the corner. Yesterday is dead and over.
This is your life, are you who you want to be? This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be When the world was younger and you had everything to lose
I don't just sing it after work. It's usually the cry of my heart in the middle of a long day, a long week, or a long month at work.
Interestingly, I fell in love with this song while I was bumming around last year! Even then I felt the need to "hide" in Jesus and run away from the noise, the commotion, the endless routine and meaningless cares that bore down on me.
" The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard."
- Psalm 19: 1-3 (NIV)
I was listening to a bunch of Christian songs and "Starspin" by Downhere suddenly got me filled with hope and so much joy I had to "dance like no one's around" (The way I was made - Chris Tomlin).
Most of the time, I feel very frustrated about how far a lot of people are from God. It's a form of pride, I think, I don't trust God enough to save people who are stubborn and apathetic and presumptuous, and I think He left me too much work to do in sharing the Gospel. It's the silliest thought, really, and I'm ashamed to admit it crosses my mind. I mean, God saved me. I'm the epitome of all that is evil and stupid in the world, and He saved me. How can He not save everybody else?
Even if I keep quiet (or am FORCED to keep quiet), all of nature shall testify concerning the greatness of the Lord. I join in their glad refrain,
"People, people! Surely the Lord lives! People, people! Heaven and earth are His! People, people! Lift your souls in wonder!"
What a small voice I am, yet I am not God's only instrument. Far from it! There really is "no language on earth where His praises are not heard". The sky, the trees, the wind, the birds, the rocks, the flowers, the sea, the stars - they are messengers and worshipers that no one can hide. Surely, the Lord has not given His people up for lost. Surely, He speaks to them and calls out to them everyday. Thanks be to God!
"Afflictions, though they seem severe, In mercy oft are sent."
"Although tribulation is thus the path of God's children, they have the comfort of knowing that their Master has traversed it before them; they have His presence and sympathy to cheer them."
- Excerpts from Charles Spurgeon's Morning by Morning, March 8 and March 10 entries.
I'm supposed to be on vacation right now and people think I have all the free time in the world... I thought so too. But if having free time means having nothing to do, then I don't have any of that. I have tons of things to do - some of them I look forward to, some of them I dread. I think I'm busy because there are so many things I want to do with my life - not having homework, projects, exams or full-time work doesn't change anything. Time still flies like the wind for me, and everyday leaves undone a hundred and one things that have to be added to tomorrow's to-do list. Honestly, the only difference between life now and life as a stressed young engineering student is that I now have time to sleep for more than a few minutes each day.
I believe that "free time" is time to do whatever you want without being restrained by certain to-do's dictated by your job or school - to-do's that you don't really want to do but "have" to do. But looking at it from another perspective, I honestly believe that everyone has all the "free time" they need. I believe that every minute and every second is "free time". There are no "musts" in the world of tasks and chores except those that we choose to regard as such: I must take care of the baby; I must study for my test tomorrow; I must finish my C program tonight; I must go to school; I must meet this person; I must cook dinner; I must write my report; I must go to church; I must brush my teeth and so on and so forth.
There are definitely plenty of good reasons why you should prepare for your board exam next week or why you should attend an important business meeting, and that's why you choose to do these things despite adverse tendencies. You might be itching for couch potato time, but your wife insists that you need to spend quality time with the kids so you spend your vacation leave with them on a camping trip. You had to do it. Or you really wanted to watch a movie with your friends this weekend, but Gramma's sick and you have to visit her. Afterwards, you hear yourself saying, "I had no choice!"
But did you really have no choice? Quite the contrary - you have complete freedom to decide how to spend your time. You choose to obey your parents; you choose to do whatever it takes to keep your job; you choose to stay awake and study so you will pass your final exams... You weigh the options and think about what's really important and you choose what you think is best for your particular situation.
Before writing this post, I asked God to give me an example of what the world usually calls a tragedy.
Margaret Wilson died a violent death by drowning at age 18. Her life ended because she would not recant her faith in Jesus. *
Tragic?
A wasted life is a tragedy. But was Margaret Wilson’s life wasted?
John Piper writes, "I will tell you what a tragedy is. I will show you how to waste your life. Consider this story from the February 1998 Reader's Digest: A couple 'took early retirement from their jobs in the Northeast five years ago when he was 59 and she was 51. Now they live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where they cruise on their 30-foot trawler, play softball and collect shells...' Picture them before Christ at the great day of judgment: 'Look, Lord. See my shells.' That is a tragedy." (Piper, Don't waste your life, 2003)
Is it evil to enjoy your life? A vague question, but the simplest answer is no. But is enjoying your life and having as good a time as possible while you're alive all there is to life? If it is so, the couple who retired early to a life of easy luxury would have been completely justified. If it is so. But it isn’t.
Life on earth is a journey away or towards God. In this life, we either decide to stand with God forever or to fall to hell without Him. If we live our lives for any other purpose than to seek God, find Him, glorify Him and point others to Him, no matter how accomplished we seem by worldly standards, we have lived in vain.
"Why don't you bend your knee to Jesus Christ and follow Him?"
The question of who Jesus is and how we are going to respond to Him is the greatest question we can ever ponder in this life.
"Jesus said that He was God and that He understood spiritual matters. He said the choice you make about Him will determine where you spend eternity. It's one thing for a person to claim such a thing, it's another thing for someone to back it up. Look at Jesus. He gave the greatest moral teaching the world has ever seen. He worked miracles. He healed people. He raised people from the dead. When people practice His principles, they transform society for good. In fact, Jesus even predicted His own death, and in fact, died and self-consciously raised Himself from the dead. There's a guy who has some credibility.
What about Buddha? He's still in the grave. What about Mohammed? He didn't work any miracles. What about Krishna? It is not even clear that he even existed. But Jesus did and He changed the world. It seems to me if you are going to put your bets on some spiritual option, it is best to go with Somebody and listen to Somebody who has credibility. That is Jesus Christ." (Read the full article here)
Jesus Christ isn't just a nice biblical character for story-telling purposes. Thinking about Him is not an option. Ignoring Him and putting Him off is a conscious decision with dire consequences.
There is one thing you must do before you die, and it's not to take care of your children, earn a million dollars, visit the Eiffel Tower, find a cure for all cancers or win a Nobel prize. You have to know Jesus and bend your knee, your heart, your soul and your mind to Him. Everything else is secondary.
Too busy to think about God? Consider this article.
I remember reading something like this several years ago...
"Happiness is the goal of each and every man... even of those who hang themselves." (author's paraphrase)
How true.
This article explores "the idea that true happiness isn't the same as immediate happiness" and that true happiness is found in God.
A somewhat unrelated comment: I've been very blessed by the articles in A Slice of Infinity (RZIM) these past few days. I find that reading a short article for about 2 minutes in the middle of the day really helps turn my thoughts Godward, where they should be, and creates a hunger within me to spend more time contemplating God's timeless truths in the Scriptures.
I've been getting this question a lot lately - Why should Christians go to church? While my mind is brimming with answers, I find that my facts are disorganized and in some ways incomplete. This is okay with me since I am already fully convinced of the merits of "churchgoing", but for people who have questions about the matter, my messy explanations won't do, so I am setting out to investigate and write something biblical about the issue. I'm giving myself a month to come up with a short article that will help me satisfactorily answer queries like this from dubious, confused, skeptic or stubborn Christians, whichever might be the case. I am also committing myself to memorize references for all relevant Scripture. I've always wanted to do this; it's about time I started!
I'm writing this commitment down to keep myself accountable. God help me!
If anyone can recommend good reading material for this topic, let me know. =)
I have always appreciated the great truth expressed in this song. As I sit in the office and busy myself with various tasks that *need* to be accomplished, it is wonderful to have mp3's to remind myself why I am here, who is my portion, & what it is I truly long for. My soul is bitter with forgetfulness, but when I remember You, I am most blessed.
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart Be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art Be Thou my best thought in the day and the night Both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my wisdom, be Thou my true Word Be Thou ever with me and I with thee Lord Be Thou my great Father and I Thy true son Be Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one
Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight Be Thou my whole armor, be Thou my true might
Be Thou my soul's shelter, be Thou my strong tower O raise Thou me heavenward, great power of my power...
Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise Be Thou mine inheritance now and always Be Thou and Thou only the first in my heart O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure Thou art
High King of heaven, o heaven's bright sun O grant me its joys after victory is won Great heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be Thou my vision, o Ruler of all...
Still be Thou my vision, O ruler of all O ruler of all
Fighting my tendency for indolence, I am going to blog again. I'm on my second week of work and my body is still adjusting to the early mornings and late nights (as opposed to late mornings and late nights while I was on vacation). Still, God is faithful and His strength is made perfect when I am weak.
I am using a book called "Faith, a holy walk" by Oswald Chambers as a devotional. Let me quote,
Faith that is sure of itself is not faith. Faith that is sure of God is the only faith there is.
(Selah)
Let that sink in for a few moments.
We can draw the same principle from the Lord's answer to His disciples' plea for an increase of faith (see Luke 17:5-6).
Bottom line: It is not so much the size of our faith that matters as the size of our God. Faith does not look at itself, but at its object, the awesome and eternal living God.
I've done it. I've actually done it: I signed a contract for employment next month. (Trivia: I did it on my 22nd birthday.)
I've been thinking and praying, praying and thinking, thinking and praying over my 'next step' these past few months and I believe that this is what God wants me to do.
NOW> I'm still bumming around this entire month though! Work starts on October 1st and I still have some time to culminate my vacation with a bang... whatever that means. I used to think that meant going on a trip to Europe at my dad's expense, but I've long since given up on that thought after seeing how much such a trip would cost. My conscience wouldn't let me badger my dad into letting me go to London even for a few days. End of that story.
END> So how is this long vacation going to end? Inspired by Jonathan Edwards' Resolutions, I am writing my own set of resolutions in keeping with Paul's exhortation to live a life worthy of the calling we have received. Inasmuch as they are in accordance with His will, I know the Holy Spirit will enable me to keep my resolutions to the glory of God's name. Being the forgetful human that I am, it is definitely wise to have a list to check back on once in a while (or every Sunday in my case). I'm actually enjoying the process of finding faults in myself then decidedly writing resolutions to amend my behavior. (I have 21 resolutions so far) The (longer) process of being faithful to what I've written is going to be a much more difficult road to travel. Even now I realize I've broken most of my resolutions. Nevertheless, thanks and praise be to the God who has promised that a victorious end will doubtless be reached.
(I wrote this entry last Sept. 6 but forgot to publish it until today.)
One of my favorite sites, desiringgod.org, has just been redesigned and reorganized. I'm pretty happy with the results.
Exploring the site led me to an article exhorting believers to minister to their pastors. Absolutely right!
Ever since I started thinking about full-time ministry, I've begun to see pastors and church leaders in a different light. I've realized that they are just like me, imperfect, weak, wrestling with temptations and fears and not always winning... they may have an M.Div or a doctorate in theology, but they too struggle with the mismatch between head knowledge and their experiences & feelings. Though looked on as spiritual giants, they are just as helpless, incapable of saving themselves and completely dependent on God's grace as we are. That's one reason why they should be prayed for. They need encouragement, support and prayers as much as (if not more than) the next person.
But I'm full of it aren't I? After reading a book called Partners in Prayer a number of years ago, I courageously went up to one pastor and told him that I wanted to pray for him. I just said that but I was never brave enough to approach him ever again. I occasionally remembered him in my prayers, but not quite often enough. I was always too concerned about myself to pray for others. (I was? or I am?) Disobedient and forgetful little brat that I am, I am grateful for God's patient and gentle reminders, which tell me that He is not willing to give up on me... not yet, not ever.
