"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, i delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.--2 Corinthians 12:9-10
I can do all everything through him who gives me strength.--Philippians 4:13
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.--Ephesians 1:4-6
The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.--Matthew 26:41
For about the past week, I've been focusing on learning how to be completely weak. To submit to this fact that I'm weak, and to know that it's impossible for me to get anywhere on my own. In this weakness, I've been learning to discover that I am truly nothing without God's help. I can do nothing without God's help. Trying to do things on my own, or depending on logical thinking to get me through will NOT provide me the answer I need to have to get through anything.
That's the problem with the human creation. We have free will, and a brain that has the capacity to process complex situations and come to a conclusion. And we think that 's enough. We think we have things under control because we know how to think about stuff to find an answer. Yeah, it may be an answer, but is it THE answer?
Another thing humans like to do is find justification in everything. Why the earth turns, why the sun is hot, why we're attracted to each other...what's really out there? Even the natural inclination to believe that there's something bigger than us that is "in control." The ideal definition of control is making sure everything works in harmony and doesn't collide into a big disaster.
However, God is not just "in control," but he's IN CONTROL. You waking up in the morning? Yeah, you could explain that in science class, but God allowed you to wake up. We're not guaranteed tomorrow. Who knows? you could just have heart failure in your sleep and die. Or you could be bitten by a deadly spider in your sleep. So waking up is a gift from God. Or how about this? Your car starting? Yeah, that's God. Sure, mechanics could explain why a car starts, but what about those times when a spark plug or something sits beautifully in place and then randomly decides to pop out one afternoon as you're pulling into a certain neighborhood, and then you go knock on the door of someone that could very possibly change your life forever--or even you could change their life.
There are too many unexplained variables in life to think that we're all there is. You can call it luck, fate, karma, lucky underwear--whatever it is, it's nothing compared to God. GOD IS IN CONTROL.
Mark 10:27--With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.
The context of this scripture is salvation. A rich young man couldn't sell his possessions to follow Jesus. Jesus's point was to store treasure in heaven, not on earth. Hope and wait for something more than this earth could offer.
But this scripture is relevant for everything. Because salvation is just the start. It doesn't end there. If anything, things get harder. Because there was a war in heaven, once upon a time. Jesus decked the heaven out of Satan, and threw him and his croonies out of heaven. Now, in anger, jealousy, and what-have-you, Satan wants to do everything he can to get you away from God.
But there is hope. There is always hope. Trust in God, depend on God, live for Him and fight to stay living for Him, and you can grow. That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. You don't grow by picking dasies. You grow by chucking rocks across a river--while standing waist-deep in it. It's gonna be rough trying to get it across, but after you do it a few times, it'll be "nothin but a thing" as my dad likes to put it. Why? Because you've been growing in strength, getting that rock across the river.
Just admit you're weak and you can't do it alone. Admit you need God. Do whatever you need to, talk to whoever you need to (including me if you would like) to come to that full realization. From the biggest decision of your life, to even deciding what to eat for lunch--you need God's help. Yeah, you laugh at deciding on lunch, but you never know. Try it sometime. You may just be surprised.
But take a look at Ephesians 1. My bible titles it as "Spiritual Blessings in Christ." Everything under that section is what you can achieve by admitting you're weak and depending fully on God. It may seem impossible--being created to be holy and blameless...can we as humans ever really achieve that? Mark 10:27--it's possible with God.
To anyone who reads this: I love you, and my prayer and wish is that if you don't know God, don't know Jesus and what he did for YOU on the Cross, don't appreciate it, don't live for him, to live to your fullest....my prayer is that you will come to know him some day.
To God be the Glory.
Amen
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
1 Peter 4:1-8
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do--living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Amen. This is a rather large scripture, and there's a lot to dig through, but we can do it :)
So, to start off, let's talk about suffering. A very interesting concept in and of itself, but when combined with the context of this scripture, it takes on a deeper meaning. Jesus Christ--God in the flesh--came down to earth so that we--frail human beings--might have the chance at salvation. He taught us a new way to live, with some non-traditional actions, and then was arrested for teaching these things and performing the miracles he did. He was flogged--39 lashes of a cat-of-nine-tails; a whip with shards of metal and glass and bone at the end of it. He wore a crown of thorns on his head--which caused rather a lot of bleeding: the head is the most vascular part of the body, so bleeds really easily. He had huge nails drove through his hands and feet. And, what I think is the worst kind of suffering he could go through: being separated from his Abba Father, with whom he was very close, because he took on the sin of the world. And Isaiah 59:2 says that our sin separates us from God.
Why did he suffer so? Because he loves us, and because it says in 1 Peter 2: 18-22 that slaves (in essence, us before our supreme master, God) should submit to their masters with all respect--and that goes for the masters who are harsh as well as those who are just. Because (vv19) "it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God." And in the second half of verse 20, it says "But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God." So Jesus' suffering for us on that cross, and in the beating of his mortal body for us, is commendable before God, and thus he rose on the 3rd day, becoming one with God yet again.
And it is the same with us. We as Christians will suffer abuse--as it says in verse 4--for being different than the worldly people around us. But if we stand up under the abuse and the unjust suffering that will come from the persecution we receive--(2 Timothy 3:12--In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted)--we will stand commendable before God, and as a result, we will live a life free from sin.
And not only that. Verse 2 says that as we suffer and live a life free from sin, we will be living for the will of God, and not the evil desires that so plague this world today. What exactly are the evil desires? Well, in verse 3 it says that the pagans--those who are not Christians--chose to live in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. Yep, I can definitely see the non-Christians of today still doing those things. And even today they too think it's strange that Christians don't "plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation." Just the other week this drunk guy came into the dorm building, boasting about some sketch bar of some sort, where the women degraded themselves by barely wearing clothes and served the guys hot wings. He had asked us (a couple of friends of mine and me) if we would go to that sort of thing--even for just the wings--and was astonished at how we all answered no. Granted, at that point there was no abuse going on, but it is the same principle in effect--he thought us strange and, if he were a little more sober or drunk--you can never tell who's more violent these days--he most likely would have heaped insults at us, and attempted to make fools of us for choosing such a lifestyle.
But hey, verse 5 says that people like him will have to give account to "him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." All we can do as disciples is live out John 13:34 and love him as Jesus loved us.
Verse 7 changes gears a little bit and starts talking about the urgency of living a godly live here and now. "The end of all things is near," it says. Not even Jesus knows the day or the hour (Mark 13:32), but we have to be prepared for when it does come, so we can be presented pure and blameless before God. So, to do this, we need to be clear minded and self-controlled to be able to pray--and the importance of prayer is an entirely other can of worms--but the focus here is to be clear minded and self-controlled. The way to do that is to repent of whatever sin that is in your life (and you will receive times of refreshing--Acts 3:19) and to live out God's commands, so you can have control over your mortal body, and you won't give in to its evil desires.
And of course, verse 8 is an echo of John 13:34 when it says "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." Love is another one of those big subjects that is way too big to explain fully in the midst of another focus. But love--especially love like that which God has for us--is much, much stronger than anything creation could possibly come up with (Romans 8:38).
So what have we learned? Suffering in your body--fighting sin--helps you to overcome that sin and helps you to live the rest of your life for the will of God.
Non-Christians live crazy, out-of-control lives and think it's strange that you, a Christian, don't join in, and will sometimes "heap abuse" on you for it. But they will be held accountable for that too--just as we will be held accountable for living lives unlike those that "pagans" are living.
The end is coming. We don't know when it is, but we wanna be ready, so we're gonna be clear minded and self-controlled so that we can pray--which can help in all situations.
Let's love. It's stronger than anything the enemy can devise, so let's use it to drown out his attacks.
I love you all, I hope you got something out of this--I certainly did.
To God be the Glory.
Amen.
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Amen. This is a rather large scripture, and there's a lot to dig through, but we can do it :)
So, to start off, let's talk about suffering. A very interesting concept in and of itself, but when combined with the context of this scripture, it takes on a deeper meaning. Jesus Christ--God in the flesh--came down to earth so that we--frail human beings--might have the chance at salvation. He taught us a new way to live, with some non-traditional actions, and then was arrested for teaching these things and performing the miracles he did. He was flogged--39 lashes of a cat-of-nine-tails; a whip with shards of metal and glass and bone at the end of it. He wore a crown of thorns on his head--which caused rather a lot of bleeding: the head is the most vascular part of the body, so bleeds really easily. He had huge nails drove through his hands and feet. And, what I think is the worst kind of suffering he could go through: being separated from his Abba Father, with whom he was very close, because he took on the sin of the world. And Isaiah 59:2 says that our sin separates us from God.
Why did he suffer so? Because he loves us, and because it says in 1 Peter 2: 18-22 that slaves (in essence, us before our supreme master, God) should submit to their masters with all respect--and that goes for the masters who are harsh as well as those who are just. Because (vv19) "it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God." And in the second half of verse 20, it says "But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God." So Jesus' suffering for us on that cross, and in the beating of his mortal body for us, is commendable before God, and thus he rose on the 3rd day, becoming one with God yet again.
And it is the same with us. We as Christians will suffer abuse--as it says in verse 4--for being different than the worldly people around us. But if we stand up under the abuse and the unjust suffering that will come from the persecution we receive--(2 Timothy 3:12--In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted)--we will stand commendable before God, and as a result, we will live a life free from sin.
And not only that. Verse 2 says that as we suffer and live a life free from sin, we will be living for the will of God, and not the evil desires that so plague this world today. What exactly are the evil desires? Well, in verse 3 it says that the pagans--those who are not Christians--chose to live in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry. Yep, I can definitely see the non-Christians of today still doing those things. And even today they too think it's strange that Christians don't "plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation." Just the other week this drunk guy came into the dorm building, boasting about some sketch bar of some sort, where the women degraded themselves by barely wearing clothes and served the guys hot wings. He had asked us (a couple of friends of mine and me) if we would go to that sort of thing--even for just the wings--and was astonished at how we all answered no. Granted, at that point there was no abuse going on, but it is the same principle in effect--he thought us strange and, if he were a little more sober or drunk--you can never tell who's more violent these days--he most likely would have heaped insults at us, and attempted to make fools of us for choosing such a lifestyle.
But hey, verse 5 says that people like him will have to give account to "him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." All we can do as disciples is live out John 13:34 and love him as Jesus loved us.
Verse 7 changes gears a little bit and starts talking about the urgency of living a godly live here and now. "The end of all things is near," it says. Not even Jesus knows the day or the hour (Mark 13:32), but we have to be prepared for when it does come, so we can be presented pure and blameless before God. So, to do this, we need to be clear minded and self-controlled to be able to pray--and the importance of prayer is an entirely other can of worms--but the focus here is to be clear minded and self-controlled. The way to do that is to repent of whatever sin that is in your life (and you will receive times of refreshing--Acts 3:19) and to live out God's commands, so you can have control over your mortal body, and you won't give in to its evil desires.
And of course, verse 8 is an echo of John 13:34 when it says "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." Love is another one of those big subjects that is way too big to explain fully in the midst of another focus. But love--especially love like that which God has for us--is much, much stronger than anything creation could possibly come up with (Romans 8:38).
So what have we learned? Suffering in your body--fighting sin--helps you to overcome that sin and helps you to live the rest of your life for the will of God.
Non-Christians live crazy, out-of-control lives and think it's strange that you, a Christian, don't join in, and will sometimes "heap abuse" on you for it. But they will be held accountable for that too--just as we will be held accountable for living lives unlike those that "pagans" are living.
The end is coming. We don't know when it is, but we wanna be ready, so we're gonna be clear minded and self-controlled so that we can pray--which can help in all situations.
Let's love. It's stronger than anything the enemy can devise, so let's use it to drown out his attacks.
I love you all, I hope you got something out of this--I certainly did.
To God be the Glory.
Amen.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Romans 12:1-2
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.
My friend Gideon and I have decided that we are going to start getting radical about boasting about our weaknesses--as 2 Corinthians 12:8 talks about. Part of that, we have decided, is reflecting for about 24 hours on a certain scripture. And this is our first one.
And this is my preliminary reflection.
The first thing I notice about this scripture when I read it, is God's mercy. Unfathomable. We as humans screw up sooooo often, many times having to do with the same subject sooooo repeatedly, it's a wonder God doesn't just get rid of us immediately. But he doesn't. He has mercy on us. Or, to make it personal, he has mercy on ME. My life is so screwed up, just because of the fact that I'm human, and God still gives me yet another chance, and then another, and YET another. Why? Because he loves me. He knows I'm trying with my entire being to live for him, and that I have a much larger purpose than wallowing in the everyday mistakes I make, so he sets me up for another chance to do something to show my love.
Which is what he does in this scripture. He sets it up by telling Paul to give this command: be a living sacrifice. But not only be a sacrifice, but offer yourself as a living sacrifice. I don't know about you, but it helps me understand the content better if I know the actual definition of different words that have specific meanings. Like, for instance, sacrifice. To sacrifice means to give up or surrender something for the sake of something else. In this case, you're giving up your body--as the scripture says--for the sake of being holy and pleasing to God. That means that whatever your body feels at any point in time--fill in the blank--it doesn't matter. Because God has mercy on you, you should want to show your gratitude by striving for holiness as best you can. And you know that can't be accomplished on your own--as humans, like I said, we are ridiculously weak. We can't swat a fly without the help of a plastic device to squash it for us. So what we need to do is sacrifice ourselves completely to God--surrender ourselves, give our carnal desires up--to show our gratitude--our worship--to God. Because of what God has done for us, we need to show gratitude. I know I can't help but do that. I know what he brought me from.
Verse 2 goes on to say that we shouldn't blend in with the standards set by the world, and follow its patterns--and by that I mean that anything that separates a true Christian/disciple from anything they would consider "the world"; instead, we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Go back and read that last part again. Transformed. Renewing. I'm gonna be a stickler again and give definitions for each of these words.
Transformed: "To change the nature, function, or condition of."
Renewing: "reviving, restablishing."
Okay, let's put that into context: Change the nature, the function, the condition of your mind by reviving and restablishing it.
Alright. Now what does that mean? Well, it's not put after verse one for nothing. Sacrificing yourself, your body, to God, and living for him will alone transform your mind, and renew it. When I say "living for him" however, I mean truly living for him. Not just saying that you live for him. Nothing transforms if there's only half a plan, or half a heart behind the plan. You can plan to change the nature of the economy, President Obama, but unless your entire heart is behind it, it's never gonna happen. (Disclaimer: I am not making a political statement. I am stating an example of a decision that truly needs a full heart--that needs sacrifice, in order to be accomplished. And for the record, there is no authority on earth that hasn't been established by God, so President Obama, I pray that your plan for the economy is seen through to fruition.)
So anyway, truly living for God, truly sacrificing yourself to be holy and pleasing before your Eternal Father, will find your mind transformed. It will find your mind renewed in its habits, in the normal thought patterns that are formed throughout the day, consciously and unconsciously.
Hmm...interesting thought. Gideon, if you're reading this, you're hitting the nail on the head today with this scripture. Amen.
The rest of the verse goes on to say "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
So after you sacrifice your desires/feelings to be holy and pleasing before God, and after your mind is transformed and renewed as a result of truly living for Him, you will be able to know what to do to, and you'll know how to challenge the knowledge you have and are presented to discern whether or not it is truly God's will. What is God's will though? It's whatever God wants from us--what he wants us to do, where he wants us to go, what he wants us to say...the list of the question words is limitless. As we continue in God's word, studying it out, getting deep to the heart of the matter, the Spirit reveals to us what God wants from us at that time--whether it be more humility, more strength, more trust...it's what God wants from us. Plain and simple.
So amen. Who knew 2 verses could say so much? I certainly never thought about this verse to that extent before...even though I've read it countless times. But God's will is for me to get something from this verse. And amen, I certainly did. There is definitely much to think about, to mull over...to meditate on. So as I meditate on this scripture, and what exactly God wants from me from this verse, here's a challenge. You do it too. Really think deeply about this verse, and what God could possibly want you to hear from the words written on that page. Even if you've read that very verse a hundred times a thousand. I'm sure there's something new there. God still reveals stuff like this to me in verses I've read and even thought deeply about before. But the season is different for every situation. So I have to be prepared, and be able to test and approve what exactly God wants from me.
To God be the Glory!!! and May his grace be enough for you!!!
I love you all <3
My friend Gideon and I have decided that we are going to start getting radical about boasting about our weaknesses--as 2 Corinthians 12:8 talks about. Part of that, we have decided, is reflecting for about 24 hours on a certain scripture. And this is our first one.
And this is my preliminary reflection.
The first thing I notice about this scripture when I read it, is God's mercy. Unfathomable. We as humans screw up sooooo often, many times having to do with the same subject sooooo repeatedly, it's a wonder God doesn't just get rid of us immediately. But he doesn't. He has mercy on us. Or, to make it personal, he has mercy on ME. My life is so screwed up, just because of the fact that I'm human, and God still gives me yet another chance, and then another, and YET another. Why? Because he loves me. He knows I'm trying with my entire being to live for him, and that I have a much larger purpose than wallowing in the everyday mistakes I make, so he sets me up for another chance to do something to show my love.
Which is what he does in this scripture. He sets it up by telling Paul to give this command: be a living sacrifice. But not only be a sacrifice, but offer yourself as a living sacrifice. I don't know about you, but it helps me understand the content better if I know the actual definition of different words that have specific meanings. Like, for instance, sacrifice. To sacrifice means to give up or surrender something for the sake of something else. In this case, you're giving up your body--as the scripture says--for the sake of being holy and pleasing to God. That means that whatever your body feels at any point in time--fill in the blank--it doesn't matter. Because God has mercy on you, you should want to show your gratitude by striving for holiness as best you can. And you know that can't be accomplished on your own--as humans, like I said, we are ridiculously weak. We can't swat a fly without the help of a plastic device to squash it for us. So what we need to do is sacrifice ourselves completely to God--surrender ourselves, give our carnal desires up--to show our gratitude--our worship--to God. Because of what God has done for us, we need to show gratitude. I know I can't help but do that. I know what he brought me from.
Verse 2 goes on to say that we shouldn't blend in with the standards set by the world, and follow its patterns--and by that I mean that anything that separates a true Christian/disciple from anything they would consider "the world"; instead, we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Go back and read that last part again. Transformed. Renewing. I'm gonna be a stickler again and give definitions for each of these words.
Transformed: "To change the nature, function, or condition of."
Renewing: "reviving, restablishing."
Okay, let's put that into context: Change the nature, the function, the condition of your mind by reviving and restablishing it.
Alright. Now what does that mean? Well, it's not put after verse one for nothing. Sacrificing yourself, your body, to God, and living for him will alone transform your mind, and renew it. When I say "living for him" however, I mean truly living for him. Not just saying that you live for him. Nothing transforms if there's only half a plan, or half a heart behind the plan. You can plan to change the nature of the economy, President Obama, but unless your entire heart is behind it, it's never gonna happen. (Disclaimer: I am not making a political statement. I am stating an example of a decision that truly needs a full heart--that needs sacrifice, in order to be accomplished. And for the record, there is no authority on earth that hasn't been established by God, so President Obama, I pray that your plan for the economy is seen through to fruition.)
So anyway, truly living for God, truly sacrificing yourself to be holy and pleasing before your Eternal Father, will find your mind transformed. It will find your mind renewed in its habits, in the normal thought patterns that are formed throughout the day, consciously and unconsciously.
Hmm...interesting thought. Gideon, if you're reading this, you're hitting the nail on the head today with this scripture. Amen.
The rest of the verse goes on to say "Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will."
So after you sacrifice your desires/feelings to be holy and pleasing before God, and after your mind is transformed and renewed as a result of truly living for Him, you will be able to know what to do to, and you'll know how to challenge the knowledge you have and are presented to discern whether or not it is truly God's will. What is God's will though? It's whatever God wants from us--what he wants us to do, where he wants us to go, what he wants us to say...the list of the question words is limitless. As we continue in God's word, studying it out, getting deep to the heart of the matter, the Spirit reveals to us what God wants from us at that time--whether it be more humility, more strength, more trust...it's what God wants from us. Plain and simple.
So amen. Who knew 2 verses could say so much? I certainly never thought about this verse to that extent before...even though I've read it countless times. But God's will is for me to get something from this verse. And amen, I certainly did. There is definitely much to think about, to mull over...to meditate on. So as I meditate on this scripture, and what exactly God wants from me from this verse, here's a challenge. You do it too. Really think deeply about this verse, and what God could possibly want you to hear from the words written on that page. Even if you've read that very verse a hundred times a thousand. I'm sure there's something new there. God still reveals stuff like this to me in verses I've read and even thought deeply about before. But the season is different for every situation. So I have to be prepared, and be able to test and approve what exactly God wants from me.
To God be the Glory!!! and May his grace be enough for you!!!
I love you all <3
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