Hosea

Who can explain the insanity of true love? Love is of God, and it is infinite. Love is sovereign. Love is apart from reason; love exists for its own reasons. Love is not according to logic; love is according to love. Thus it was for Hosea, for he was playing the part that God has played with you, all of your life, and with me.

The pursuing love of God is the greatest wonder of the spiritual universe. We leave God in the heat of our own self-desire and run from His will because we want so much to have our own way. We get to a crossroads and look back in pride, thinking that we have outdistanced Him. Just as we are about to congratulate ourselves on our achievement of self-enthronement, we feel a touch on our arm and turn in that direction to find Him there. “My child,” He says in great tenderness, “I love you; and when I saw you running away from all that is good, I pursued you through a shortcut that love knows well, and waited you here at the crossroads.” 

We have torn ourselves free from His grasp and rushed off again, through deepest woods and farthest swamp, and as we look back again, we are sure, this time, that we have succeeded in escaping from Him. But once more, the touch of love is on our other sleeve and when we turn quickly we find that He is there, pleading with the eyes of love, and showing Himself once more to the tender and faithful One, loving to the end. He will always say, “My child, my name and nature are Love, and I must act according to that which I am. So it is that I have pursued you, to tell you that when you are tired of your running and your wandering, I will be there to draw you to myself once more.”

When you see this love at work through the heart of Hosea we may wonder if God is really like that. But everything in the Word and in experience shows us that He is.

He will give man the trees of the forest and the iron in the ground. Then He will give to man the brains to make an axe from the iron to cut down a tree and fashion it into a cross. He will give man the ability to make a hammer and nails, and when man has the cross and the hammer and the nails, the Lord will allow man to take hold of Him and bring Him to that cross; He will stretch out His hands upon it and allow man to nail Him to that cross, and in so doing will take the sins of man upon Himself and make it possible for those who have despised and rejected Him to come to Him and know the joy of sins removed and forgiven, to know the assurance of pardon and eternal life, and to enter into the prospect of the hope of glory with Him forever. This is even our God, and there is none like unto Him.

-Donald Grey Barnhouse

Read To Love

I found these ads recently and thought they were funny.

I especially liked the one about the family.
Even though the answer should be the happy family in the bottom row, I couldn't help to think perhaps it could be the family on the top row for our day and age.

I'm not sure if these ads would spark a reading craze if they were used today, but it did make me realize we all need a push in regards to reading. Not just reading any book, but especially THE book (a.k.a. the Bible).

I asked our group a week ago why we struggled to pray and I was really glad a lot of us shared different things that hindered our prayer lives. Honestly, I wanted to rattle off answers that seemed pretty simple to me in response, but I had to stop myself because if it were really that simple, wouldn't we all have already discovered it? We wouldn't have needed that discussion in the first place because we would have known the answer.

Perhaps that's what led me to start reading, "Christian Basics: An Invitation to Discipleship", by John Scott, which is pretty much a Christianity 101 kind of book for new believers. The chapter devoted to "Bible Reading and Prayer" caught my attention and he does a great job explaining how those two disciplines go together:

"If these times of quiet waiting upon God are to be balanced, they will consist of Bible reading and prayer - in that order. First, we listen to what God may have to say to us through His Word. We ask Him like the boy Samuel, "Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening" (1 Samuel 3:9-10). And we seek to imitate Mary of Bethany, who "sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said" (Luke 10:39). Then second, we speak back to Him. There will be much to talk about, especially after He has spoken to us. It is like the swing of a pendulum. It is a two-way conversation, by which our relationship (even friendship) with God matures." (pp 86-87) 

After reading that I realized why there wasn't a simple "do this and you'll be fine" kind of answer to the struggles with prayer.What John Scott says in the end pretty much sums it up: we do all of this in order to build relationship with God.

Meaning we don't do these things because we know it's just the right thing to do and just simply "do it" won't solve the issues that we all face. If we were to just focus on praying, it would be clearly a one-way relationship in which we just say a bunch of things to God and hope for the best but that's not a relationship.
We need to know the God we speak to and we need to hear from Him.

I tend to be a listener, but if a friend told me, "Ok, so you're just going to listen to everything I have to say and grant whatever I want since you're my friend and by the way, you're not allowed to talk back to me."
I wouldn't think that would be much of a friendship, let alone any kind of relationship with another person.
God made a way for us to hear from Him and the best and surest way is through His Word.

If we're serious about having a relationship with God, there's really no way around it: we have to read His Word.

After reading the Word to hear from God, then we can speak to Him through prayer. Eventually that will start looking more like a relationship than us just thinking that we've done our Christian duty.

I know I struggle to keep up in all both areas of Bible reading and prayer, but I've come to realize when I read the Word more, my prayer life is strengthened because I come to know God's ways and His Word confirms and gives me hope for the things to come.

We read His Word because we desire to know the One who has saved and redeemed us.

Read to build and fortify that relationship of love.

You Complain That You Cannot Believe?

I was talking with a disgruntled youngster this week after one of his friends shared their testimony and the Gospel with him. He refused to accept it because of the usual arguments: religion is a crutch, how can you be so sure, etc.

However, after speaking with him, he admitted that the real reason why he didn’t want to accept the Gospel was because he wasn’t ready to leave the worldly life he’s been living. Many times, the reason we have such a hard time believing is because we don't want to accept God's commands to forsake a certain sin in our lives.

This reminded me of something I read from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and I believe it applies to believers and unbelievers alike. He said:

You complain that you cannot believe? No one should be surprised that they cannot come to believe so long as, in deliberate disobedience, they flee or reject some aspect of Jesus’ commandment. You do not want to subject some sinful passion, an enmity, a hope, your life plan, or your reason to Jesus’ commandment? Do not be surprised that you do not receive the Holy Spirit, that you cannot pray, that your prayer for faith remains empty! Instead, go and be reconciled with your sister or brother; let go of the sin which keeps you captive; and you will be able to believe again! If you reject God’s commanding word, you will not receive God’s gracious word. How would you expect to find community while you intentionally withdraw from it at some point? The disobedient cannot believe; only the obedient believe.

Even with all the doubts this young one had, he still knew the responsibility of being a believer of Jesus Christ. He knew that surrendering your life to the Master meant you had to live in obedience to Him. He knew that he had to undergo the Lord’s discipline. He knew that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17). He knew the cost of being a believer and he didn’t want to be another person who fakes it till they make it. He knew if he’s going to give his life to God, he’s wants to go all in. He wants that fruitful faith.

So, even though he did not accept Jesus as his loving Lord and Savior that night, I was comforted to know that God is not finished with him. There will come a day when he’ll realize there’s nothing more satisfying than being in the hands of a good and loving Master who probably isn’t the God he originally envisioned.  

Though he only had a partial understanding of what being a believer costs, it challenged my own walk with the Lord.  And I was glad that God used him to spark that desire to get back into the Word. 

Cajoning

So I was at the Guitar Center today with Jane to check out cajons.
For those who aren't familiar with what a cajon is, it's a percussion instrument that pretty much looks like a wooden box, seen in the picture.
I've heard others play it during worship services and seen videos of people using it and I thought it would be nice addition for our worship times.
Of course, someone would have to learn how to play it and Jane kindly volunteered to do it but she wanted to test it out first before purchasing anything.
Thus, that's how we ended up at the Guitar Center but neither of us knew how to play the thing.
She was youtubing and seeing if she could learn on the spot but alas, it sounded like someone just hitting a hallow box. (No offense, Jane.)
After a while Jane ended up saying, "I wished there was someone here to play it so they can convince me to buy it."
And that statement made me pause for a moment because she wanted someone to come and show her how this instrument can be used to it's fullest potential and with that, give her the hope that one day she would be able to play like that.

Sometimes, our lives are like the cajon.
There's nothing special about it and we hit it a couple of times but all we ever get is dull sounds that make more noise than music.
But then we realize there was the Master Musician who came before to show us how our lives should be lived and heard the music can be produced through it.
If we only allow Him to teach us through knowing who He is, our playing will create more than we could have ever possibly imagined because we will sound like Him.
Perhaps others watching will take note and contemplate if they should allow the Master to play their cajon's after they see and hear the potential through our lives.
I don't know about you but I'm going to practice playing the cajon and I don't mean just hitting a wooden box ;)

Did You Hear That?

I watched a YouTube video of an 8-month old baby who was born deaf hearing for the first time. His response to the first time hearing anything, let alone his mother, was just delightful wonderment and joy. He stopped sucking his pacifier, looked at his mother and beamed with bliss.

Looking at his response, I wanted to see what other people with cochlear implants did when they heard the world for the first time. It was amazing. All of the people I saw smiled and laughed, and some of them even wept in pure joyfulness. They were in absolute awe because they could actually hear themselves breathing, talking, and laughing for the first time. They could finally hear the sounds of the world and the voices of their loved ones.

I couldn’t help but think about what we were like before we met God, and what it’s like during those silent seasons we sometimes journey in thereafter.

There are moments in a Christian’s life when we feel deaf. It’s like the world goes mute. We can’t hear our Father's voice or the cries of the people around us, and the sound of praise just doesn’t seem to have any effect on us anymore. Or even more extreme, we are deaf to our own breathing, laughing, and speaking. 

What I found interesting was that even though WE may be deaf to God, the sounds of the city, and the voices of our loved ones sometimes… THEY will ALWAYS continue to resound and speak regardless of our deafness. It would be incredibly foolish to believe that someone would just stop talking to their deaf child or friend just because they knew they couldn’t hear. The world goes on! The cars, the police sirens, the sound of wind and rain, of people walking, shouting, talking, laughing… it all goes on.

It was a reassuring reminder for me that God is always speaking to us even if we don’t look and respond back to Him. He waits. He hopes. And He finds a way for us to hear again. I believe it is God’s desire to unstop our ears to hear His sweet voice again. I know that whoever experiences that loving touch will look up to God; stand up in complete awe and become floored with an overwhelming joy.

I'm praying that the Lord touches you in this way today brothers and sisters!

“People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said. ‘He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’” Mark 7:37

Would You Love Me If...

I recently read an article from Justin Buzzard's blog (www.justinbuzzard.net), and wanted to share parts of it with you guys:

I recently overheard a middle aged woman ask a middle aged man a profound question:

Would you love me if I was fat?

It immediately struck me that this is a theological question, a question at the heart of what it means to be human.

We all live under a sense of judgment. We fear judgment. I don’t just mean ultimate judgment by God, but also the judgment that pervades our everyday lives. Would you love me if I was fat? Do I have what it takes? If people knew the real me, would they still love me? There are judges all around us, in heaven above, and in our own heads.

Life trains us to escape judgment through performance. If perform well enough, stay in good enough shape, study hard enough, etc., then maybe we can receive the gold medal, the A+, or acceptance into the club that would finally remove the fear and the judgment and allow us to rest.

Only Christianity gives an answer of relief to the big question we’re all asking:

Would you love me if _____?

What’s your “if”?

The gospel is a message that brings peace, not pressure. Because of the supreme performance of Jesus, God’s answer to our question (Would you love me if ____?) is a big fat “YES!”

God’s love is unlike anything we’ve experienced (though perhaps we’ve tasted a bit of this kind of love in an unusually healthy family or marriage or friendship). God’s love doesn’t have to do with our performance—our goodness, our badness, our fatness, or our thinness—God’s love instead hinges on God’s performance for us.

This is news from someplace else. This isn’t native to us. This comes from Outer Space—from heaven. Jesus came to us from heaven to initiate this new way of living where sinners, and failures, and people who grow fat may be unconditionally accepted and loved all because someone else, a perfect someone else, was judged in our place.

Christianity is about the Innocent One being judged so that guilty men and women would no longer be judged, would be set free, and longer ask questions like, “Would you love me if I was fat?” You don’t have to ask these questions anymore. It is finished.

This kind of love changes everything. Everything.

(http://www.justinbuzzard.net/2012/08/08/would-you-love-me-if-i-was-fat/)

"Lord, Cut Me Open"

I just wanted to share a chapter from K.P. Yohanan's book Reflecting His Image:

Why haven't we yet fulfilled the Great Commission? Why are we so ineffective in building God's kingdom?

Is it because we lack money or literature or because the Bible is not translated into all the world's languages? No, I don't think so.

The deepest reason is this: We who form the Church- that's you and me- are not real in our walk with the Lord and in our obedience to God's Word. Unless our hearts change and we become genuine, transparent, open and humble in our faith (and through that, in all areas of our lives), we will never make an impact on the lost world!

Many of God's people have felt a deficiency in their Christian lives, especially when they read God's expectations for them in the Bible. In order to fix this problem, they have gone from one seminar, book, conference or convention to the next, always looking for a formula or recipe to become a powerful, effective Christian overnight.

Churches have also recognized that something vital seems to be missing. In hopes of reviving their people, they constantly come up with new plans and activities. They invite the best music groups they can find, the most eloquent speakers and even prophets to breathe new life into their congregations. But after all the excitement is over and everyday life sets in once again, nothing much has changed. So they search for new plans and new speakers, hoping for better results next time.

David had a deep longing to be close to God and to be used of the Lord. He too felt he wasn't all God intended for him to be. However, his approach to meet this spiritual need was entirely different from most of us.

David was a man who didn't go to one of the prophets- Samuel, Nathan or Gad- to ask for a formula. He didn't invite them to hold a seminar at his palace with the hope that some of their anointing would fall on him.

David simply went into the presence of his God with a prayer that shows he knew exactly where his root problem was.

He cried, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).

David wanted to be real, not only with his outward actions, but beginning with his innermost thoughts. He recognized that his words and actions were only a reflection of his thoughts, and his thoughts were simply the evidence of what he was really like in his heart.

Therefore, David prayed and asked the Lord to try him and to cure those wrong tendencies of his heart that showed up in his thought life.

Many years later, Jesus said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts..." (Mark 7:21), In other words, we reflect the true reality of who we are by what we think. Everything first happens in our thought life before it is translated into words and actions. What we speak or do is only what has been going on inside of us for a long time. 

Our problem is NOT that we lack Bible information, speakers, or opportunities. Rather, our problem is that we don't want to face the truth of who we really are. We don't want others to know it either, and we even try to fool God. We never ask him to search our heart and reveal our secrets. Instead, we pretend with a spiritual life we don't live, a peace we don't experience and a holiness and commitment we don't possess. 

We will never make any progress in becoming more like Jesus UNLESS we permit God to cut us open, search our hearts, try us, know our thoughts and then change us from the inside. Only then an we become real according to the Word of God.

The reality will make us powerful witnesses for Jesus, even if we don't say a word. We will be so transparent and so genuine that if the world around us tries us with fire, we will come out as glittering gold.

If you truly desire this reality, stop looking to plans and activities as your solution. Begin today to call out to the Lord as David did. Say "Lord Jesus, cut me open. Please search my heart, try me, know my thoughts, reveal to me who I am, and change me, at any cost, to become what Your Word says I ought to be." Believe me, there is no prayer the Lord delights to answer for His people more than this one!

There is no anesthesia for this radical surgery.

All Good Things...

The closets are empty, seats are folded, and the boxes are neatly packed and labeled.

Our church move has finally happened.

I think one of the temptations believers face when they are with one body for so long is that “familiarity breeds contempt.” Yet, when I think of this place I've been worshipping at for the past 8 years, I cannot be more grateful to God and His people. I'm really going to miss this place. It's where I fell in love with the Lord. I'm so glad church isn't defined by a building, but by a body of believers.     

This whole church move is kind of a bitter sweet moment for everyone it affects, but at the end of the day I can say it is a good moment. I take a few steps back just to consider how faithful God has been to those who sought after Him all these years while coming in and out of the doors of this sanctuary. It's been one adventurous walk, but it totally delights me to know that we’re still singing the same song the ancients sang before us: “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy” (Psalm 126:3) I am so excited for this next chapter in our journey.

Presently, our ship is faced toward uncharted territories and new ground, but it is my hope and prayer that God may tune our hearts to sing of His grace again and again; that we would never lose the wonder of His generous love for us. That come what may, trying weather or pirate, we will not be shaken because the only thing drowning in that deep sea will be our fears and trepidation. When Christ is our anchor and His Spirit our bearer of hope, so by faith I know He saves.

The Lord gave me two passages to cling to while praying for this ministry:

In Joel 2:25-26 He promises, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten… You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God who has worked wonders for you.”

And in Psalm 126, the psalmist describes the people of God rejoicing when the Lord brought them out of captivity. They “were like men who dreamed,” men “carrying seed to sow, [singing] songs of joy, [and] carrying sheaves with them.”

Praise God! What a refreshing word! God is determined to restore and use this church to reach out to those who need to hear a good word. So, I pray this promise encourages you to open wide your hearts to God, press on, enjoy His goodness, and bear His goodly fruit.

Though it may be an uncomfortable ride for a short while, onward we'll go singing into eternity.

All good things, are yet to come :)

Hallelujah! Glory to God!


Wholly Yours,
Jane

Two Extremes

“There are two extremes in this and both of them are just that, extremes. There are men over here who have no knowledge of the Word whatsoever and they claim to be led of the Spirit. And the spirit that is leading them contradicts the Word. We know that is false.

But then there are men who say, “We will have nothing of that.” And everything is just a proposition and a figuring out and correct exegesis and that is all. And the know nothing of being led and directed by the Spirit of God who will sometimes make men do unusual things to accomplish his end, never things that contradict Scripture, but nonetheless unusual things.

We must be in the Word and grounded in the Word. We must also cry out for the Spirit to reveal God’s will through his Word, but we must be sensitive in all things to follow Him, not only to start our journey into the wilderness, but to be led throughout the wilderness by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

- Excerpt from Paul Washer‘s Sermon, “Pray And Be Alone With God”

Spiritual Atomic Bombs!

They overcame him [the devil]

by the power of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony;

they did not love their lives so much

as to shrink from death.

-Revelation 12:11

It's always an interesting experience going back to our old diaries or journals. A lot of times, i'm sure we embarrass ourselves or wince thinking about everything that happened. But, at the end of the day, I think we all come to a point where we become thankful for where we are & more sure that God will forever be with us.

I encourage you guys to check out EM's 3 year Anniversary Testimonies. I know everyone that is in EM now may not have been there, but it's a blessing to see how far we've come through God's grace. One of Israel's greatest sins was forgetting everything God had done for them. Let's not do the same!

http://picasaweb.google.com/tobibobes/EM3rdYearAnniversary?feat=directlink

Now let's blow up some demonic strongholds!

That big project.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28

Prayer is what makes this Christian walk ______.

a. difficult

b. easy

Prayer seems tiring sometimes. There are so many needs around us, and every day brings new challenges. Eventually, the idea of wrestling through all of the issues is so dreary that we just put off our time in the prayer closet. It's like we have a huge grocery shopping list in front of us, and we don't want to have to carry all of that, so we procrastinate. Prayer ends up being a burden that we dread. But remember, God is not out to dump all of His peoples' problems on us once we come to meet with Him. God doesn't burden our backs; time with Him, the Bible tells us, is refreshing. It's that time that, after a long day of being pummeled by the difficulties of everyday life, we can spend with our Healer. If ever you become weary of praying, and look for distractions to run from the prayer closet, examine the way you perceive prayer, and the way you perceive God. It may be that one [or both] of them has wandered from the truth. God wants to take our burdens and worries away, so that we can focus fully on Him. Then, we will see clearly to pray effectively. Then, prayer will become at once joyful service and profound, life-giving intimacy for and with Him.

Giving All

Christ says ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’ -C.S. Lewis

Not to claim I've arrived in giving my all but things are put into perspective when I know God isn't looking for me per se but to eventually see His Son in me. That there's nothing I can do to become like Christ because I simply can't in my own strength or understanding. Only the supernatural can give birth to the supernatural. However, that doesn't mean I wait until something happens but living each day wanting Christ to live in me and allowing Himself to form within me by obeying and heeding His voice.

Opportunities for Christ

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." - 2 Corinthians 4:8-10

This verse was spoken to us during the prayer meeting this past Tuesday. It didn't make much sense to me at first; I understood the first two verses... but the last verse about carrying around death in our body so that life might be revealed... didn't really click. But I just realized that God clarifies what He meant later in the same letter:

"But He said to me, '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." - 2 Corinthians 12:9

Why do we need so many humblings? Why do we need so many valleys? These struggles are God's way of showing us our weaknesses. And He doesn't do it just for the sake of rubbing it in our faces; it is when we realize what we cannot do on our own that we look to God for grace. There are so many hardships in the Christian walk-- many that nonbelievers do not have to endure. But God's grace is sufficient for His people! Every weakness, fear and pressure is a venue for God's grace to prove sufficient.

Let's even rejoice that we are deemed worthy of such suffering, that God would provide so much opportunity for Christ to be revealed. God's grace is sufficient for you!

Ray Comfort on Abortion

http://www.180movie.com/

Prayer Meetings

I just started to read a book entitled, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala, the head pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle and something got my attention while reading it. It's the story of how Brooklyn Tabernacle came to be the Brooklyn Tabernacle we all know it to be today. It really began with Pastor Cymbala emphasizing on the Tuesday Night Prayer Meetings they would have where they would just come to pray and to simply cried out to God. Before this, the church was struggling and Pastor Cymbala was not sure what else to do but God impressed upon him to just cry out to Him and He will take care of the rest. And so they did and God began to work. In the book, Charles Spurgeon is quoted to explain the reason behind this:

The conditions of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.

So this started to make me think of how I viewed our prayer meetings and whether it was something of utmost importance or just of drudgery and routine. Do I see it as the lifeline of our church or just a gathering to feel good after I've done my duty? The way that God moved through this simple act of faith by Pastor Cymbala really challenged the way I viewed prayer meetings because I would fall into the second category a lot of the times because it seemed so hard and I wanted to just get it over with. But to see God so willing to work in those who are obedient to pray, I wanted to see God do that in our church especially when I meet others to pray.

Hungry for something ...

Our nature hungers for God even when it broke with Him long ago, perhaps the more intensely the longer ago it was. It experiences a sort of famine. But the devil rides it and spurs it on, to distract it from its own need. he changes its hunger into haste. That is why people today are in such a hurry. Their speed is to distract their hunger. -Louis Evely

Do we feel the hunger pains? Or are we finding constant distractions to alleviate the striking pangs that come our way. As Tozer puts it, the world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God, and the Church is famishing for want of His presence. The cure is simple. It is the experienced fullness of God. In that moment, when all anxieties of tomorrow and whirlwind of voices subside, then we are satisfied. It is no longer broken. He has repaired us together.

"Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like men without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.

See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and His glory appears over you.

you will drink deeply
and delight in her overflowing abundance." (Isa)

"Blessed are those whose strength is in You,

who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs;

the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion." - Psalm 84: 5-7

I believe these verses speak one message: "God will give you the strength to seek Him, if you will do so with all of your heart." It makes the intentions of the believer so clear: he has set his desire on God, and he will follow through with this journey by the grace of God. Even when they pass through a place of dryness and tribulation, by the time they are through, it will be a blessing. But what I love the most is verse 7: to go from strength to strength... it doesn't say from strength to weakness to strength to weakness again, repeat.... It says strength to strength. I sure don't feel like I go from strength to strength all the time... yet the Bible contradicts that, which means only one thing: the things that I perceive to be stumbles and weaknesses are being used by God to be made into strengths. But it's not just for the sake of being strong. These things are happening because God is making sure that I will appear before Him in Zion; not only when I die and am taken to heaven, but in this life. This is my confirmation that God is working everything out in such a way that when I look back, I will see a series of quickenings and disciplines that led me to see Jesus in the here and now.

Let's be "confident of this: "[We] will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." (Psalm 27:13)

Examining & Controlling the Heart’s Desires

JESUS:
My son, you will have many things to learn which you have not yet fully grasped.

DISCIPLE:
What things, Lord?

JESUS:
You must conform ALL your desires to My good pleasure and stop loving yourself, and earnestly desire that My will be done.

You frequently burn with desires that powerfully impel you to action, but what is the motive behind your actions? Is it My honor or is it your own self-interest? If I be the motive, then you will be satisfied with whatever I decide for you; but if it be your own self-interest, then this is what puts the brake to your progress and slows you down.

2. Therefore, be careful not to rely too heavily on your own desires without first consulting Me. You may later on find that you are sorry and displeased with what once pleased you and what you once thought the better thing to do.

Not every desire that seems good has to be carried not, nor is everything feeling contrary to your desires to be avoided. Even in good desires and endeavors it is sometimes necessary to hold yourself back; otherwise, overeagerness may result in dissipation of energies. At the same time, your lack of self-control may give offense to others and their opposition, in turn, may dishearten you and cause you to give up.

3. You sometimes have to resort to strong measures and manfully go against your sense appetites, disregarding what your flesh wants or does not want, and endeavor to subject it, though unwilling, to the spirit. The flesh has to be chastised and held down until it learns to give obedience in all things, to be satisfied with little, happy with what is simple, and not grumble about any physical discomfort.

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I read this chapter in Thomas a Kempis' book The Imitation of Christ and it really made me examine the motives of my own heart. Is everything I do, say, and act upon really for God's honor and glory, or is it in my own self-interest? Kempis says, "if it be your own self-interest, then this is what puts the brake to your progress and slows you down." This is exactly how I feel sometimes. I feel stunted, stagnant, and spiritually starving. I'm still in the race, but I feel like i'm crawling, dragging myself along the narrow road instead of running with endurance. I believe God will still use and speak to the struggling believer, but I want to be more effective & grow daily in Christ.

It made me think of Jesus' life here on earth. He always consulted His Father before doing anything and selflessly did His Father's will. Consequently, the people around Him were healed & full of hope. You look at His ministry here on earth, and even as He's the Intecessor in heaven, and it's a ministry of building up and breathing life into the broken and dead.

I mean, the title of the book says it all, no? This is the way to imitate Christ. We must examine our heart's desires, but also need to ask the Lord to try to reins of our hearts to put them under His submission.

Lord, we have many things to learn which we have not yet fully grasped. But, give us teachable hearts and a spirit of understanding. Give us the courage and strength to see the truth in ourselves so that we can turn and follow You. It's not in our nature to want the things of God, this is a supernatural working of your Holy Spirit. So, fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we may obey and serve You selflessly.

Home-Sickness

When I was in Korea for a week, I missed everything. From American bathrooms to hamburgers, to home and just knowing where I was. I'm a type of person who likes to know where they are, whether it be a city name or just knowing I'm heading north, south, east or west but in Korea, my sense of direction was completely off. So when I finally knew I was on my way to the airport to go back home, I was excited to know that I was heading in the right direction..that is I was going back home to New York.

But these thoughts crossed my mind while I was slowly approaching the airport, "Why do I want to go home so much?" I did miss things that could only be found at home but I started to ask myself, "Why do I want to leave so badly?" Simply, because Korea wasn't my home. This wasn't the place I was meant to be in. If I had to live in Korea, sure I could survive because it had the things I need to live but I did not belong there. My life was in New York.

I couldn't help but connect this to Narnia because C. S. Lewis does a great job portraying this sense of not belonging and desire for home in The Horse and His Boy. This is similar to the longings within all of us for heaven but I started to realized it was actually for the presence of God. I think we often get confused with what heaven is suppose to be because we see it portrayed with pictures of clouds, angels, a lot of light and halos but heaven is simply being in the presence of God for eternity. That here on earth, as we spend time in His presence, the longing for heaven grows because we get a taste of it and know what it will be like. And just like when I was in Korea and wanted to be back home, so will we start seeing we weren't meant to live here on earth but we were meant to be in heaven, in the presence of God.

I'll finish this post by borrowing something else from C. S. Lewis: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy because they were there to arouse, to suggest the real thing. That real thing is heaven.”

Prayer & Faith

Faith is more than belief. The devils believe and tremble, but they do not trust. Faith is TRUST. It is not an opinion, not a fiction, not a supposition. Faith is a faculty of vision, a process of verification, an assurance of knowledge, a logic of life. Faith demands an honest and impartial mind, a pure and disinterested motive, a loyal and steadfast obedience. This is the faith that works to the justification of the ungodly, the sanctification of the unholy, and to the mighty power that prevails in prayer. -Samuel Chadwick