A Reality!

In the past few days I have been contemplating about the notion of grace in abundance. This also led me to think & focus on the cross in a more practical way taking into account my life right now..

I have learnt some simple truths...I have heard some real stories that make so much sense...I have had the privilege of churning out thoughts with Kenny Gan over the weekend....

The cross in reality is a place where our sin & guilt can be unloaded. Its like a big rubbish dump depo....Throw all the things that you don't need and that are of no use! But as someone puts it, you need to part with things (just like when u throw out old stuff or unusable things). Some of them you will part with gladly cos its been around far too long. But others you leave it or part with it reluctantly....though it had no more value, though no one would pay for it, though no one would even want it but yet we part with it reluctantly....why?

Conversely, its quite the same isn't it when it comes to us...We are quite ok and happy to part with the many things we know our obvious sins as such - that's easy. But what of those precious habits we love or the personality traits we really enjoy or our love for possessions or our pride or even our own righteousness (now, that's a tough one!).

As I mentioned yesterday, I've been studying the life of Paul. I find him quite a super human sometimes. How could he make statements with such confidence that I count everything in my life as loss for the sake of Christ or my life is not my own or for me to live is Christ and to die is gain? Paul faced a loss of cherished things.His gains became losses and his precious things became rubbish to be taken to the Cross ( this sounds really weird but i guess we can view the cross as this great big rubbish dump where we unload all of ourselves!)

I was reading a book and there were these 4 lines of lyrics to a hymn whcih my mom used to sing me to sleep almost every night when i was young :

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Kenny Gan challenged me at the OCF retreat about our worship in song to the Lord. Do we actually take count of the lyrics we sing? How mucn emphasis do we actually place on the lyrics? Its all very well to sing it but in reality does it really mean anything to us...

For a hymn like that above, one can ask but what happens when my will is crossed? Can i still sing it? If my pride is compromised or i i have to admit fault or take blame ? What if I am wrongly accused or my reputation is tarnish from no fault of my own? ( this last one really hit me like a great ball of fire!)

How will I respond? Do I get annoyed, justify and defend myself at all cost or sink myself into self pity? Or would I do this - do i come to the Cross, a place I know from young called Calvary and sacrifice them to His blood "all the vain things that charm me most" ( as the song continues) You know what that means? That means I may have to take to the Cross not only waht I know is vile but what I regard as precious.

I repeat...It means I may have to take to the Cross not only what I know is vile, nut what I regard as precious - especially my own self righteouness!

The Cross is also a place of liberation. When we unload, we become lighter.

Let's think about the big rubbish dump again....Do you guys ever wonder where all that pile load of thrash goes to after we dump our unwanteds in the big rubbish collection dump? Well, all we know is that it often gets diposed but no one actually really knows where it goes and no one ever sees the trash ever again. Guess its the same for us - when we leave things at the Cross and unload there - where it goes we never know and no one would ever see of it again!

Its liberating for me now as I now in practical reality I am free to admit my failures and come to cast everything at the Cross. Man, we should be frequent visitors! Never let our garbage stay within us - go unload! Just go to the Lord Jesus is how simple it is but sometimes our own self righteouness and pride gets the better of us...and we easily conveniently ignore the rubbish...then when it really truly piles up, smells and attracts the fly, only then we want to start cleaning...sad isn't it?

You know - there is a comradeship at the Cross for all of us. We do not know the many others who come but we know we are all doing the same thing - open and honest and made one in God's loving forgiveness..

Let us not displace the Cross :)

FB Meyer said "I used to think God's gift were in shelves one above another, and the taller we grow in Christian character the easier we could reach them. I now find that God's gift are on shelves one beneath the other. It is not a question of growing taller, but stooping lower. We have to go down, always down, to get the best gifts."

How true isn't it?

U know - I truly believe Encounter Weekends is this generation's key to understanding God's love & forgiveness at the Cross :)

Its good to hear testimonies after testimonies about the power of the Cross that convicts hearts and lives of people after they experience the Encounter Weekend!