Tuesday 26 April 2011

John 3:16 - The Story of Love


"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"John 3:16

WHOSOEVER! WHOSOEVER! WHOSOEVER!- Adulterer, murderer, cheat, thief, liar, gossiper... believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus died just so we might live. He died to prove to the devil the extent of His love for us. He suffered for us. He was mocked, he was beaten, he was spat on. A thief's life was worth more than His. He was hurting, but He was not going to get sidetracked. But he had a plan to deliver us out of the hands of the devil and give us the choice to choose life. He loved me, He loved you so so much.
He died! Decisions decisons decisions.

BUT
when the devil thought he had won,

He rose! He conquered the grave. He conquered sin. He conquered death. He conquered sickness. He conquered pain. He conquered disease.
He rose to give us victory. He rose to give us authority. He rose that we might have life and life abundantly.
Why do we still keep on throwing it right back in His face? Why do we still keep on ignoring His call of love to us? Why do we think He's not that important to take first place in our lives? Why is education, money, career, family so much more important than He is in our lives? Why do we wake up in the morning and just walk away without so much as a "Good morning" or "Thank you for giving me another day"
We find it easy to call our boyfriends/girlfriends/husbands/wives first thing in the morning, but the person who has given His life for us, well, He doesn't really mind does He?
He does. He hurts everytime we ignore Him. He hurts everytime we turn away from Him. He hurts everytime we do something wrong and we know it's wrong but do it anyway to make ourselves feel good for one minute, make others feel good BUT at His expense.

Dear Lord Jesus, help me not to throw away so great a salvation. Help me not to keep on hurting you in what I say or do or how I act or think. Help me make you the King of my life. I give you the my heart to rule over. Help me to keep on believeing in you even when it feels so hard because there is nothing, absolutely nothing on earth that compares to what you've done for me. Help me, give me the grace to always believe in you and give you the place you deserve in my life.
Thank you dear Lord. In Jesus name. Amen

Thursday 21 April 2011

What to do

Have you ever felt so far away from God?
Have you ever felt like no matter how much you try to "connect" with Him, there's just this emptiness?
I suppose we (I) should stop TRYING so hard to connect with God and just ask Him for help- ask Him to make Himself known in our (my) life. Then again, it feels too simple sometimes to just pray and leave it all in God's hands.

*It's so funny that we as humans (or maybe just me) find it hard to accept things as real and authentic when it comes easy.
Same way I question anything that's cheap. Hmm...*


Anyway, back to the main subject, what do you do when you feel so far away and disconnected from God?


I'm soooo excited because of the Easter break. No waking up early, no lectures, no nothing... Well, there's reading. Got exams soon *sigh*
Feels great not to have to wake up after half an hour of sleep to go in for 9am lectures. I'm still considering if it's sensible to go home for the next one or two days or just stay here. If I go home, I'll just be lazy and spend my time goofing around with my siblings, been a general nuisance and a bum. I do get free nice home cooked meals and a lovely huge bed though :/
Decisions decisons decisions.


I just have to say this, I LOVE SKYPE!!!
I have become closer to friends. Well important friends now and life is just so much fun with it. I've been talking with bestie (sister from another mother really) and her post for today - http://thebiblesblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/through-it-all.html has really lifted me up.


Through It All, Through It All,
I've Learned To Trust In Jesus, I've Learned To Trust In God.
Through It All, Through It All,
I've Learned To Depend Upon His Word.

Lord, help me to stop trying to do your job for you. Help me to just leave it all at the cross and accept that You are in control and even when I don't feel you around, you are still there and will never leave me alone.
Thank you Lord, in Jesus name. Amen.


 God bless :) XoXo

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Learn the Secret of Gutsy Guilt


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Part of our Christian confidence is that even when we fall into sin and experience God's Fatherly discipline, we will rise again. John Piper calls this "gutsy guilt":
To the fallen saint, who knows the darkness is self-inflicted and feels the futility of looking for hope from a frowning Judge, the Bible gives a shocking example of gutsy guilt. It pictures God’s failed prophet beneath a righteous frown, bearing his chastisement with broken-hearted boldness—
"Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light." (Micah 7:8-9)
This is courageous contrition. Gutsy guilt. The saint has fallen. The darkness of God’s indignation is on him. He does not blow it off, but waits. And he throws in the face of his accuser the confidence that his indignant Judge will plead his cause and execute justice for (not against) him. This is the application of justification to the fallen saint. Broken-hearted, gutsy guilt.
For further thought, see John Piper's 2002 article "Justification by Faith."