"Never look for righteousness in the other person,
but never cease to be righteous yourself"
"Never look for justice, but never fail to give it"
but never cease to be righteous yourself"
"Never look for justice, but never fail to give it"
It is the Lord's honour that is at stake in our lives, not our own.
I have been really challenged personally, and tested on these writings I blogged a few days ago about suffering afflictions and going the second mile. It is very tough. I do cry out "Oh well, I can't do anymore". But to chew on the same words, do what is not your duty. In effect it is not a duty to go the extra mile or to keep giving to others, but Jesus said, if we are his disciples, we will do these things.
Hang ups and mess ups are a process of life that God takes each one through, and Christians are not without it. Far more, Christian leaders are not without it. But as human beings we don't understand the hand of God and how God works. They key is how we respond in our hearts to the hang ups. I had many breaking moments, and by far probably my hang ups are more evident to others than they are to me - naturally. Guess the thing is we equate our hang ups only to the past life, and that in our Christian journey we ought to not have any more hang ups, and just live a perfect beautiful life. In the development of christian chraracter, I unreservedly believe that there comes moments when the soul declines, when there is barreness and when everything seems lost, including ourselves. Some people, as human nature - myself included observe and see a life like that as something that we grin distastefully as to whether one can actually recover, and put right. How little we think of our Lord when we do that. GOd never gives up on us..and with that right theology in place, I find it comforting to know God doesnt give up on me either, despite what is overwhelming outward - and the chatter surrounding all that only seek to see a lost cause, negativity and totally misunderstand.
God's timing is always perfect. It is His job to mastermind and orchestrate things.
I find it so amazing and so much more bearable to know the truth about my life as God reveals my hang ups and deals with me compared to living a life where I am going through the motions of a Christian. It is comforting to know that no matter how unplesant it may be, I understand and see myself, and the "mess" in me so that I can prayerfully access and consider what is takig place in my heart as a process of a shaping my character.
I used to just run from it. I just tell myself ok, so just dun do it again. But that's not dealing with it really. Or the other thing is to run into escapism. Focus on something else. Maybe doing something serving Him, etting Him use me to make up for that hang up. Nah, not true either.
My journey these few months have been so hard pressed that my theme song is I am crushed persecuted not abandon, struck down but not destroyed. :) Testing of faith comes in different forms. For me, I had that breaking point moment that sinking beyond all hope experience. Oh, I needed it man. I needed it to understand and grasp the basic fundamentals of understanding the cross and the power of the resurrection so real in my spirit man. God reminded me that my faith is always tested so that He can ultimately accomplish His purpose for our lives in a way He could never do if the path was always just so smooth. Its just always been like this for me I guess. The enduring of one experience to another, to be strengthened. It is through these dark moments of the barreness of my soul that seemed so overwhelming that I learnt the most crucial lessons that I could never learn otherwise.
The key really isn't cos I know my bible so well or I am serving God or even just cos I am in the company of Christians that brought me back to that compass in God. The key was me. I needed to open up my soul to be healed inwardly. No one. No time could do that. Only His spirit could restore. The help of God doesn't come when we are indifferent. It only comes to us when we are depending on God in the thick of this battle for our souls. And that's something I carry with me now everyday of my life, in everything I do and in every relationship I have. Learning to dwell in the presence of someone and to learn what waiting truly is upon God also opens our eyes to the way Scripture impacts and comes alive, cos personally it really helped me rest on the promises of His word.
Guess maybe that's why these thoughts on going that extra mile is so precious to me. I see my own life and I am aware of how bad it has been, and how bad it still can become if I don't guard my soul and my heart. And it experiencing the taste of his grace and love and the joy of his salvation so real in my life especially these 3 months, I can truly appreciate the hang ups in everything I get upset about because just as God was patient with me, and others who were patient with me - God himself is also giving me a conviction to be paitent with others knowing and appreciating that it is Him doing a work with them and me. Love knows no limits. God knows no limits. 1 Cor 13 is very precious to me, so is Galatians 5 :22. Whenever I read these passages now, my heart changes and melts in the awesome awe of the Lord, and I wonder if I can demonstrate that daily.
Its liberating in my spirit man to have come through that season of refining and bringing a desolate declining soul back to its origin where God reigns completely and is not withdrawm from me. The difficulty sometimes is still having to cope with maybe the shimmers of the past which some have not forgotten, and it is the toughest thing really to ask for forgiveness of grievances caused to others - to release and accept forgiveness. The clouds of the hanging grievancesboth caused to others and others done to me can creep in at times if true healing has not been complete. Its quite hard to bear really but its a daily constant crucifying of that self and surrendering again to the foot of the cross. Of course, I still do have moments of calculated anger that tempt me to just wanna throw a reaction often provoked especially if my rights come first..and everytime my rights to certain things are insisted upon, I fail to see and hear or even demonstrate a glimpse of the indwelling of Christ in my life.
These are the ideals. But I still have hangs up and I still mess up. It is how I respond to that in my heart that determines if I stay stuck or if I move, grow with God through the hang ups and let Him work thru it with me. If I mess up, I go back to Him the right way.
Do pray with me and pray for me. Thanks again for helping me to be real. I read something on transperancy today and I thought my fears of blogging here of my own self consciousness is something that I should not give in to. So I hope in sharing this journey, you'll continue to pray for me and to sing a song of joy and gladness to the Lord.
Submission to Christ is a choice. I have learnt a crucial lesson these past few months through my reading of 1 & 2 Samuel and Psalms. Submission and the decisions we make are always conditioned upon a man's heart's response. It is not about a perfect heart that is free from wondering or sin. It is about a restful, rested heart eternally fixed on Him - and that is the work of the Spirit, not the work of man or our head's response.
"If our Lord insisted on our obedience, He would simply become a taskmaster and cease to have any real authority. He never insists on obedience, but when we truly see Him we will instantly obey Him. Then He is easily Lord of our life, and we live in adoration of Him from morning till night. The level of my growth in grace is revealed by the way I look at obedience. We should have a much higher view of the word obedience, rescuing it from the mire of the world. Obedience is only possible between people who are equals in their relationship to each other; like the relationship between father and son, not that between master and servant".
I have been really challenged personally, and tested on these writings I blogged a few days ago about suffering afflictions and going the second mile. It is very tough. I do cry out "Oh well, I can't do anymore". But to chew on the same words, do what is not your duty. In effect it is not a duty to go the extra mile or to keep giving to others, but Jesus said, if we are his disciples, we will do these things.
Hang ups and mess ups are a process of life that God takes each one through, and Christians are not without it. Far more, Christian leaders are not without it. But as human beings we don't understand the hand of God and how God works. They key is how we respond in our hearts to the hang ups. I had many breaking moments, and by far probably my hang ups are more evident to others than they are to me - naturally. Guess the thing is we equate our hang ups only to the past life, and that in our Christian journey we ought to not have any more hang ups, and just live a perfect beautiful life. In the development of christian chraracter, I unreservedly believe that there comes moments when the soul declines, when there is barreness and when everything seems lost, including ourselves. Some people, as human nature - myself included observe and see a life like that as something that we grin distastefully as to whether one can actually recover, and put right. How little we think of our Lord when we do that. GOd never gives up on us..and with that right theology in place, I find it comforting to know God doesnt give up on me either, despite what is overwhelming outward - and the chatter surrounding all that only seek to see a lost cause, negativity and totally misunderstand.
God's timing is always perfect. It is His job to mastermind and orchestrate things.
I find it so amazing and so much more bearable to know the truth about my life as God reveals my hang ups and deals with me compared to living a life where I am going through the motions of a Christian. It is comforting to know that no matter how unplesant it may be, I understand and see myself, and the "mess" in me so that I can prayerfully access and consider what is takig place in my heart as a process of a shaping my character.
I used to just run from it. I just tell myself ok, so just dun do it again. But that's not dealing with it really. Or the other thing is to run into escapism. Focus on something else. Maybe doing something serving Him, etting Him use me to make up for that hang up. Nah, not true either.
My journey these few months have been so hard pressed that my theme song is I am crushed persecuted not abandon, struck down but not destroyed. :) Testing of faith comes in different forms. For me, I had that breaking point moment that sinking beyond all hope experience. Oh, I needed it man. I needed it to understand and grasp the basic fundamentals of understanding the cross and the power of the resurrection so real in my spirit man. God reminded me that my faith is always tested so that He can ultimately accomplish His purpose for our lives in a way He could never do if the path was always just so smooth. Its just always been like this for me I guess. The enduring of one experience to another, to be strengthened. It is through these dark moments of the barreness of my soul that seemed so overwhelming that I learnt the most crucial lessons that I could never learn otherwise.
The key really isn't cos I know my bible so well or I am serving God or even just cos I am in the company of Christians that brought me back to that compass in God. The key was me. I needed to open up my soul to be healed inwardly. No one. No time could do that. Only His spirit could restore. The help of God doesn't come when we are indifferent. It only comes to us when we are depending on God in the thick of this battle for our souls. And that's something I carry with me now everyday of my life, in everything I do and in every relationship I have. Learning to dwell in the presence of someone and to learn what waiting truly is upon God also opens our eyes to the way Scripture impacts and comes alive, cos personally it really helped me rest on the promises of His word.
Guess maybe that's why these thoughts on going that extra mile is so precious to me. I see my own life and I am aware of how bad it has been, and how bad it still can become if I don't guard my soul and my heart. And it experiencing the taste of his grace and love and the joy of his salvation so real in my life especially these 3 months, I can truly appreciate the hang ups in everything I get upset about because just as God was patient with me, and others who were patient with me - God himself is also giving me a conviction to be paitent with others knowing and appreciating that it is Him doing a work with them and me. Love knows no limits. God knows no limits. 1 Cor 13 is very precious to me, so is Galatians 5 :22. Whenever I read these passages now, my heart changes and melts in the awesome awe of the Lord, and I wonder if I can demonstrate that daily.
Its liberating in my spirit man to have come through that season of refining and bringing a desolate declining soul back to its origin where God reigns completely and is not withdrawm from me. The difficulty sometimes is still having to cope with maybe the shimmers of the past which some have not forgotten, and it is the toughest thing really to ask for forgiveness of grievances caused to others - to release and accept forgiveness. The clouds of the hanging grievancesboth caused to others and others done to me can creep in at times if true healing has not been complete. Its quite hard to bear really but its a daily constant crucifying of that self and surrendering again to the foot of the cross. Of course, I still do have moments of calculated anger that tempt me to just wanna throw a reaction often provoked especially if my rights come first..and everytime my rights to certain things are insisted upon, I fail to see and hear or even demonstrate a glimpse of the indwelling of Christ in my life.
These are the ideals. But I still have hangs up and I still mess up. It is how I respond to that in my heart that determines if I stay stuck or if I move, grow with God through the hang ups and let Him work thru it with me. If I mess up, I go back to Him the right way.
Do pray with me and pray for me. Thanks again for helping me to be real. I read something on transperancy today and I thought my fears of blogging here of my own self consciousness is something that I should not give in to. So I hope in sharing this journey, you'll continue to pray for me and to sing a song of joy and gladness to the Lord.
Submission to Christ is a choice. I have learnt a crucial lesson these past few months through my reading of 1 & 2 Samuel and Psalms. Submission and the decisions we make are always conditioned upon a man's heart's response. It is not about a perfect heart that is free from wondering or sin. It is about a restful, rested heart eternally fixed on Him - and that is the work of the Spirit, not the work of man or our head's response.
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