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Wednesday, November 30, 2005 Did I Miss Anything Tom Wayman
Wednesday, November 23, 2005 Think about His Love;Think about His Grace; Think about His Goodness; That brought us through How Great is our God; How Great is our Father's Love; How Wonderous is His Grace; How can I forget Even when I strayed away, His Love has sought me out and found me. "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Thursday, November 10, 2005  Claiming our inheritanceLuke 15:25-32 (New International Version) 25"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 28"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 31" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' " ___________________________________________________ the parable of the prodigal son. a parable that christians are all too familiar with, but i think it really speaks about the heart of God, His passion for the lost and unsaved. the earlier part of the parable from Luke 15:11-24 talked about how this younger son left his father after demanding his inheritance, which is btw a downright infilial act cos usu inheritance is given only when the father passes away. the younger son, after runnin away from his father, squandered his inheritance and came to be in need during a great famine. so he 'came to his senses' (Luke 15:17) and decided to go back to his father to seek forgiveness. in another words he repented of his wrongdoing; the Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which means changin of perspective or, renewal of the mind. often we commit sins and come to our senses, thereby taking on a new point of view, that of God's. when we hav a renewed mind, we are transformed (Romans 12:2) and this is true repentance. the father celebrated when his younger son returned, which is remarkable, considering the younger son's act of ignominy. the father even 'put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet', thereby restoring his son's authority and sonship. amazing, isn't it? this certainly speaks of God's wondrous grace. i m not certain if our biological parents will be able to emulate this act of grace under the same circumstances, but let's be very sure that this is God's character. meanwhile the older son hears of his brother's return and becomes angry because of his father's apparent preferential treatment. however the father reacts by saying that, "'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. " i think the parable is portraying the enormous love and grace of God, that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from (Romans 8:38-39). indeed the epitome of our faith lies in His immeasurable compassion for us. "But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." (Psalm 86:15) in comparison, our hearts are often narrow and unable to show as much grace, and be as forgiving as God. so let's ask from God to make all grace abound to us, so that in all things at all times, having all that we need, we will abound in every good work (2 Cor 9:8). Monday, November 07, 2005 IT IS WELLWhen peace like a river attendeth my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say I t is well, it is well with my soul It is well (It is well) With my soul (with my soul) It is well, it is well with my soul Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come Let this blessed assurance control That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate And hath shed His own blood for my soul My sin, O the joy of this glorious thought My sin not in part but the whole Was nailed to the cross and I bear it no more Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul And Lord, haste the day When my faith shall be sight The clouds be rolled back as a scroll The trump shall resound and The Lord shall descend Even so it is well with my soul For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live; If dark hours about me shall roll No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul. ~Horatio G. Spafford Friday, November 04, 2005 had a much-needed break from school the past few days but alas, i did not exactly spend time fruitfully. not much reflection was done for the past few days though much of the time was spent in solitude(my family's overseas). it struck me that though there's a sense of freedom arising from independence, i still felt like i m slave to something else..in more ways than one, my desire to be master of my time is a microcosm of the fallen nature of man. we want to take charge of our time, finances, relationships, studies, and even (in my case) how much we want to give to God. 'dying of self' becomes a far-fetched concept which our minds can't seem to fathom cos it's hard to submit when there's nothing beneficial in sight. instant gratification. yes, that's we want hold on to dearly, even though we know faith in Him means pressing on to take hold of that one thing we can't see in this lifetime. that one thing which separates us into sheeps or goats (Matthew 25:33). yeah above all else, if we can't submit with our hearts, we can submit with our minds. well obedience to God is nothing more than recognising His sovereignity and develop this fear in Him. this fear is not so much about incurring His wrath but has everything to do with reverence. Christ embodied this obedience: "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:8) this's the gold standard of obedience that we strive for ain't it? the apostle Paul exhorts: "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. " (Philippians 2:12-13) oh yes i m still working out my salvation in this present life even though my future salvation, in His Words, is finished. for all of my frailities, i can only be overjoyed that He will not give up on us. just liken our life to be a car on a slope. God is the one pulling the handbrakes up, keeping us from slippin down into the abyss. so i pray that He will never let go of me as i work up my way into the gates of His kingdom. pray that for everyone u know, will ya? Tuesday, November 01, 2005 I received this sms yesterday:_______________________ "Please pray for Pastor Ferdie Flores, a missionary in East Timor to be executed by beating today (Monday). Please forward to all Christians." _______________________ checked with my christian friends and a substantial no. of them got this sms too. i did uphold this brother in prayer but did not proceed to fwd to my frens. http://www.fbc-misawa.org/missionaries/Flores.htm as i googled 'ferdie flores', i found his homepage. was kinda relieved with the message: ________________________ "Recent reports of the impending execution of Bro. Ferdie Flores are inaccurate. Prayer is requested for this family as they continue to deal with persecution from other religions on the island." ________________________ thank God the sms circulating ard was a hoax and i did not fwd it to my frens which might hav caused even more distress among christians. but this very incident just serves to tell us that God can indeed use technology for His purposes. gone were the days when the Gospel could only be spread by word of mouth and writings. in light of frequent disasters and recent terrorist attacks, and even the recent beheading of 3 teenage christian girls in central sulawesi, we certainly can pray more for God to use these events to cause more unbelievers to be enter the gates of His kingdom. lest that we r unable to find in our hearts to pray for the world, perhaps we can even start in the local context. for a start lets pray for more Godly men and women to rise up to influential postitions in our govt, defence forces, media, statutory boards, financial services, etc. |
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seems like salvation
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salvation (noun) The saving of the soul; the deliverance from sin and its consequences, and admission to eternal bliss, wrought for man by the atonement of Christ. |