“What About Me”?

“And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:27-28

Humility is the vein in which Christlikeness flows; however selfishness is a severe spiritual blood clot. Whenever we preoccupy ourselves with what we want to do or what we want to see God do for us, we hinder his work in developing us and leading us to his purpose.

Jesus’ disciples had a big argument. The cause of the argument was when John and James’ mother requested from Christ that her sons sit with him in heaven. It was inconceivable (and impossible) demand but it made the rest of the followers jealous. It was sad that all this occurred right after Jesus predicted his death. They cared more promoting themselves than what Jesus wanted to tell them. Like the disciples, we are too focused on ourselves that we lose focus on God.

Someone once said that God cannot fill an empty soul when he is full of himself. Selfishness halts spiritual progress. It puts yourself in a center in which everything orbits around you. You are too busy listening to the “what about me?” melody in your head to observe the need of others or God’s direction.

Paul encourages believers to adopt the same attitude of Christ when entered our planet. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8).

The only Person who deserved the whole universe’s attention, lived life empty of his reputation as God Almighty. How much should we just forms from dust should also adopt the same attitude.

Christ’s response to his disciples was if they desire to be the greatest they must learn to serve.

His Mercy Endures Forever! Psalms 136

At the brink of midnight, I thought I’d share a favorite psalm to close the day. A psalm of reflecting and praising God’s mercy towards us. O How He loves us!

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
         For His mercy endures forever.
 2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
         For His mercy endures forever.
 3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
         For His mercy endures forever:
         
 4 To Him who alone does great wonders,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 5 To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 6 To Him who laid out the earth above the waters,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 7 To Him who made great lights,
         For His mercy endures forever—
 8 The sun to rule by day,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 9 The moon and stars to rule by night,
         For His mercy endures forever.
         
 10 To Him who struck Egypt in their firstborn,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 11 And brought out Israel from among them,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 12 With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 14 And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 17 To Him who struck down great kings,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 18 And slew famous kings,
         For His mercy endures forever—
 19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 20 And Og king of Bashan,
         For His mercy endures forever—
 21 And gave their land as a heritage,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 22 A heritage to Israel His servant,
         For His mercy endures forever.
         
 23 Who remembered us in our lowly state,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 24 And rescued us from our enemies,
         For His mercy endures forever;
 25 Who gives food to all flesh,
         For His mercy endures forever.
         
 26 Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
         For His mercy endures forever.

False Advertising and You

Does how you live match what you say and believe in your faith? Someone once said that the greatest hindrance to Christianity today are Christians. We acknowledge God with our mouth but deny Him in our lifestyle.

Titus 1:16 says,”They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” this passage used by Paul was to paint a profile of a false teacher. There are hypocritical, two faced and deceiving. While we may not be a false teacher doctrinating lies, we can be a false advertisment to others of how Christians should act.

I know this past week, on my profession of being a kind person, I ignored a student sitting alone in the cafeteria. What message does that now send to unbelievers? I love my neighbor only to the extent where my reputation in campus is not endangered or that my comfort is at risk with someone I feel doesn’t match my “coolness”.

Luke 9:23: “..take up his cross daily and follow me..” John Bell must die. You must die. Die to our pride, our ideas, our own selfish ambitions or whatever that hinders us to illustrate God’s love to the world. Profess God by the way you live.

God’s Glory to Keep Secrets

At this Bible study that I attend on Saturdays, we looked at Proverbs 25 and the verse that came at me was verse two: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” What does God mean when it is His glory to hid things from us? Surprisingly, God there at the study answered me.

During our study session, a friend received a text of some sudden unpleasant news from home. We immediately stopped and prayed for him. While my eyes were closed, God opened them to what He said in that verse.

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter (Prov 25:2).”

God hides things from us to exalt Himself. You say He keeps answers to my problems to make Him look good? Yes! Let me ask you if you knew what was to happen in every situation would you ever come to God with your problems? If we knew everything coming at us we would not need to depend on God.

When my friend got that bad news from home and if he knew the outcome of his crisis, he would have relaxed back in his seat, never seeking or worshiping God at his time of need. God intentionally keeps things from us so whatever stake we find ourselves in we would always come to Him for help, knowing that He knows everything about the situation and how to handle it.

We can apply what God said to the Prophet Jeremiah when we face something we have no idea we are getting into. Jeremiah 33:3 says,”Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Ask God; He can give you the best solution to the matter and show you what you cannot see.

On Our Knees For Reunion!

The Department of Reunion

For my little brother’s birthday, I bought him a book called Operation World Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk. This book is a prayer guide to help people for our world. It has every country of the world recorded and each feature has background information of the country and more importantly their urgent prayer needs. I carried the book with me to our regular evening prayer group held in our dorms and us hall mates prayed for the country of Reunion.

Reunion is a small island among a chain of several islands in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeast Madagascar. Nearly 800,000 people reside on this French colony where over half of the population profess allegiance to the Catholic Church. There is also a strong presence of tribal witchcraft on the island. But Christ is in Reunion and churches continue to grow despite occult conflicts and government anti-legislation rulings. We can save Reunion to the knowledge of Christ by bringing them to God on our knees in prayer. From the book, here are some ways we can lift Reunion in prayer:

>Pray for the people of Reunion who were descendants of African slaves. Many of them make up the 40% poverty population. Pray God will bring freedom to them by healing them of spiritual bondage and by bringing then liberty of sin through faith in Jesus.

>Pray for the Church of Reunion. It still continues to grow but its weak. They suffer spiritual maturity from lack of proper church leadership and conforms to immorality.

Praise God, His grace is for every man, women and child on the face of the earth.

Getting the Right Focus

“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” -Matthew 6:55

Among the several topics Jesus covered while he spoke His sermon on the mount, he touched on the waste of worrying. I said waste because worrying is pointless to person whose trust is the LORD. Jesus said,“And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” Worrying solves nothing. In fact its offensive to God, for when you worry, you are saying that God can’t help my need. Christ noted that nonbelievers have anxiety over what they need, so we shouldn’t copy them for we have God who will supply us. Philippians 4:6 says,”Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Take your problems to God.

Rather than Christians waddle their time worrying over things they cannot change, they should change their minds to focus on a higher things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” -Matthew 6:55. Jesus here told his audience to look to God. Prioritize your time seeking his face rather than stressing over circumstances.

“And all these things will be added to you”. God adds to it: when you seek Him, he will bless you. He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). So tomorrow start the day setting your mind on Christ and not on your day’s to-do list. You can taste and see that the Lord is good.

Casting Stones

So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7 NKJV)

We think we can cast stones at people, but we are just as bad as they are and with no excuse.

Sophomore year brought in a colorful person that wore his life on his sleeve- not positively; however, his shortcomings shadowed his good traits.

He seemed to be one of those people whose weak points appear to surface more than anything else. So it became a pastime for my friends and I to sit together and share in scorn what new mishap our new colleague created. It hadn’t been too long until recently God confronted me on my “stone casting”.

He brought to me the event of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Used by the Pharisees to lure Jesus into their trap, they hoped to foil him in an accusation.

Christ saw through their scheme and silently as they demanded his judgment, he scribbled on the sand. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them,

“He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7).

Christ exposes them for who they are: guilty sinners in the hands of an angry God. All mankind stands at his mercy. For by grace we are saved. No man is more value nor greater. The accusers were so full of disgust of the woman’s sin, that they were oblivious to their own transgressions.

“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7 NKJV)

Rest Found

At one of his public speakings, Jesus reveals himself as the only means to the Father, therefore ending the work of the law the people lived under. Jesus came to bring freedom and our Savior stretched out his arms to the weary- inviting those strained under the burden of the yoke of the law- to find rest in devoting themselves to his grace that brings salvation.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.“ (Matthew 11:28).

Christ then adds to take his yoke. He wanted the people among him to give up trying to live by the law. It was useless: no matter how good they were at keeping it they would never be faithful to keep it. It would be by grace they will be saved from their sin through faith in Christ and his work on the cross; not on their power for they would only return to the endless cycle of trying to work out salvation by doing good deeds. So by this trusting no one can boast for we are all enter by the same way, believe the same truth and receive the same life found only in Christ Jesus.

But Christ does have a load for a new for his followers and that would be taking of the cross and following him. The yoke is not easier but it is light for Christ bears it with us.

On my floor we did AB Ripper X workouts every Monday Wednesday and Friday. This workout is tough, but I found relief and strength to continue from the guys around me. The exercise doesn’t get any easier only that I was strengthened and encouraged to endure and complete. Christ comes along side us and gives us the strength present in our weakness. He gives the words to say in word less prayers. He accompanies us in the valley. That’s why we should cheer in tribulation for within it we are more than likely to be thrown closer to our Master.

Jesus wanted to give his audience more than what he had. He also extends the same invitation to us. He simply ask to come and find rest for our souls.

I Can Be Grateful

I was talking to a friend name Chris. He was in Haiti during the quake. His youth group was there on a mission trip when it all happened. He talked about smoke clouding the entire city and filling the air with darkness. He told me the place where his team was staying was entirely wiped out. He said across the street, there were three children who lied dead under some rubble of a wall that had collapsed on them from what was their home. As he shared more of all the distress that he witnessed, he kept repeating,”God is good.”

During his testimony, I struggled fighting back the tears. I felt the grief and I also felt convicted. Here he was in the midst of a national devastation and I recall complaining of just stupid matters that day. Sometimes we just don’t know how good we have it sometimes. I thank God for hearing Chris’ story for it reminded me that I need to be more grateful and content with what God has blessed me with.

Continue to have Haiti in your prayers as she recovers from this massive disaster.

Could also pray for a couple in my church who has just lost their twins at childbirth.

Normal

“Have you ever found yourself wondering whether or not the goal of life should be normalcy?”

I saw this question on a website.  It made me remember someone complimenting me that I was normal.  To be honest I don’t know what to say to that. My idea of normal is finding myself in the monotony of life, such as: get a car, get a girlfriend, get a good-looking click of people to hang with, get some reputation for yourself.  But is that what we are to live for? We are meant to live for so much more. Christ provided a prosperous new life found in his will. Why does reclining in the confines of my comfort zone seem so much safer than banking on relentless dependence on the power of almighty God? Do I prefer trusting what I can see over living by faith? I believe any trust outside of faith in Christ deliberately doubts God’s strength. If I believe what Christ says and what he has said in His Word and if I believe that by His grace I have everything I need, than what do I have to lose in abandoning myself totally to Christ?

“Set your affection on things above and not on things of this world” Col 3:2.  To give our utmost for the highest place of knowing God while on planet Earth, we need to shift our mind sets from indulging in the temporary affairs  around us. Seek the treasure of the Kingdom.