Jesus is the coolest man that ever lived on earth.
John 11: 3 - So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."
John 11:6 - Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
Jesus was so calm despite being told the one he loved was sick (v. 3) and the pressure he might have faced from his disciples and love ones. People might have expected him to go and heal Lazarus as quickly as possible.
Yet, Jesus waited and followed God's timing by staying where he was two more days. He didn't act out of impulse. Jesus gave more glory to God after Lazarus was raised from the dead.
Cool and amazing Jesus.
Are you cool when you are facing pressure? Perhaps you can learn from Jesus on how to handle pressure in life.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Struggling with sins
Hebrews 12:4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
Romans 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Matthew 5:29-30 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Sins bring us spiritual death. When we are spiritually dead, our physical body also decays faster and the feeling of "death" is very real. We must resist sins fiercely even to the point of death. The price for walking in righteousness may be high as we have to give up temporary pleasures. The price for walking in darkness and evil is much higher. We yield to Satan's rule and it leads us to death.
We must obey God all the time as nothing can beat our eternal security in Christ. Is there something if I do (or don't do) will cause our eternity to be at stake? If not, just do it / don't do it. The devil cannot harm us when we obey God's will unless our time is up in God's sovereign plan. God also promised rewards in Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Romans 6:11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Matthew 5:29-30 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Sins bring us spiritual death. When we are spiritually dead, our physical body also decays faster and the feeling of "death" is very real. We must resist sins fiercely even to the point of death. The price for walking in righteousness may be high as we have to give up temporary pleasures. The price for walking in darkness and evil is much higher. We yield to Satan's rule and it leads us to death.
We must obey God all the time as nothing can beat our eternal security in Christ. Is there something if I do (or don't do) will cause our eternity to be at stake? If not, just do it / don't do it. The devil cannot harm us when we obey God's will unless our time is up in God's sovereign plan. God also promised rewards in Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Measuring Pride
Do we know when we are proud?
I found some ways we can measure our pride.
When we are recognized by people for our work performance, do we feel over-excited until we cannot keep our feet on the ground and move on to do the next important thing? If yes, we are proud.
When we are criticized or commented for our poor work performance, do we feel so affected until we cannot keep our feet on the ground and move on to do the next important thing? If yes, we are proud.
When we are worried and decided to dwell in it, refusing to act on something concrete and constructive, we are proud. We do not let go and trust in God's sovereignty over our situations.
James 4:6 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. How true it is.
I found some ways we can measure our pride.
When we are recognized by people for our work performance, do we feel over-excited until we cannot keep our feet on the ground and move on to do the next important thing? If yes, we are proud.
When we are criticized or commented for our poor work performance, do we feel so affected until we cannot keep our feet on the ground and move on to do the next important thing? If yes, we are proud.
When we are worried and decided to dwell in it, refusing to act on something concrete and constructive, we are proud. We do not let go and trust in God's sovereignty over our situations.
James 4:6 God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. How true it is.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Surrendering my life
When pride crippled into our lives, we are blinded and we don't recognize sins in our lives. When he breaks our pride until we become honest with ourselves and with God, we start to see many sins and unrighteousness in us.
How do we respond to him when we recognize our sins? Often time we are tempted to rectify the unrighteousness through our own strength. We try to take control but we still fail to meet God's standard. We feel depressed and stressed. Because it is motivated by self-consciousness rather than God-consciousness.
When we are God-conscious, we surrender our sins and unrighteousness into the hand of God. We let him take control and reign through our weaknesses. In this way, we can overcome our struggle with God's grace and strength.
He will bring us to his destination victoriously.
Lord, help me surrender my life and weaknesses unto you!!! For you are with me. No evil can harm me. Amen!!!
How do we respond to him when we recognize our sins? Often time we are tempted to rectify the unrighteousness through our own strength. We try to take control but we still fail to meet God's standard. We feel depressed and stressed. Because it is motivated by self-consciousness rather than God-consciousness.
When we are God-conscious, we surrender our sins and unrighteousness into the hand of God. We let him take control and reign through our weaknesses. In this way, we can overcome our struggle with God's grace and strength.
He will bring us to his destination victoriously.
Lord, help me surrender my life and weaknesses unto you!!! For you are with me. No evil can harm me. Amen!!!
Friday, April 2, 2010
The Cost of Being a Disciple
Luke 14:28-33 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
"Or suppose a king is about to go war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
If our end goal is to become his disciple, we have to prepare to give up everything of our lives to him. It is very easy for us to lose our focus when the worries of life, pleasure and riches tempt us along the way. It is very important that we make daily decision to surrender everything to Him, even our time and our future.
"Or suppose a king is about to go war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
If our end goal is to become his disciple, we have to prepare to give up everything of our lives to him. It is very easy for us to lose our focus when the worries of life, pleasure and riches tempt us along the way. It is very important that we make daily decision to surrender everything to Him, even our time and our future.
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