Meekness

Sorry for such the late post..

Yesterday's passage was kind of hard to understand.. but what I did get out of it is that meekness is not a bad thing. We are supposed to be humble beings and that means being meek in front of others. We are not to act as if we have the authority in the world, or act worldy.. to act meek is like showing the worldly things do not take precedence in your life. Paul says, "We do not fight with weapons of the world." The power of God and the love He is, are our weapons. Being humble is especially one way to fight the things of this world.

I want to practice being more humble.. sometimes i certainly think that i am better than some people in some ways, but i have no right to do that because i am a sinner. we are all the same in God's eyes - His children. So let us not be boisterous and haughty, but humble and meek.

Christ's Character

"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion."

Wow what a humbling verse. I try so hard these days to save up my possessions - money, time...energy (haha) - only to be reminded that these are not my own, nor are they things that I should be hoarding by myself. God gives and provides so that we can share.. and not share just what we're willing to give away.. but be generous and share what God has willed us to give away from the beginning. I've been really selfish lately, and this verse feels like a good scolding =) I need to remember that I am God's, and what is mine is God's, too.

환란속의 하나님의 위로

바울은 마게도냐 지방에서 극심한 환란을 당합니다. 그러나 그는 그 환란속에서도 주님의 위로를 받고 믿음으로 견뎌냈습니다. 그리고는 고린도인도 교인들에게 "봐라, 하나님을 섬기는 나도 환란을 당했다. 하지만 하나님께서는 그 속에서 나를 주님의 은혜로 위로 하셨다."라고 말합니다.

주님께 쓰임 받는 일은 생각처럼 순탄한 것은 아닙니다. 하나님을 섬기는 일은 밑지고 살아야 하는 것입니다. 한나라의 왕이었던 다윗도, 국무총리였던 요셉도, 어찌보면 자기 자신을 의지하며 살법도 한데 그들은 그러지 않았습니다. 그들의 지위를 놓고 보면 고생을 한번도 안했을법 한데, 하나님께서는 기나긴 환란을 그들에게 주셨습니다.

어려움속에서 그들이 택한것은, 슬픔과 애통이 아닌 하나님의 위로를 바란것이었습니다. 환란속에서 고통당할때 우리의 기도를 들어 주시는 주님이 있기에 우리는 더 큰 소망을 더 큰 꿈을 꿀수 있습니다. 모든 상황 속에서 모든 것을 내려놓고 주님의 이끄심을 느끼는 하루가 되길 바랍니다.

Being One With God

The part of today's passage that stuck out to me the most was about opening our hearts. Last night I just found a song that will be added to my favorites list - "You'll Come." In the chorus, there is a part where the lyrics are "flood into our empty hearts again." In order to do that, we must open our hearts. Often times, as our Christian lives go on we tend to harden our hearts because of a dry spot in our relationship with God, or because God is willing for our hearts to be hardened for a revelation when we fills us again. I would say I am still in a pretty dry stage right now.. and listening to that song, I really want to open my heart again to God..

In the second part of today's passage, I agree and disagree with not interacting with non-believers. I understand it is not good to be in a place where you can compromise your Christian beliefs, but I believe if you are strong enough in your faith, you can fight the temptations that come in that setting. It is good to grow up in a community with Christians, but then again, sometimes people become sheltered to what is outside of them, namely non-believers, and possibly will come to think of non-believers as people that are not as good as them. This is all hypothetical, but I think it is okay to be friends with non-believers, just as long as you have a faith that is strong enough to not be influenced by worldly things.

All in God's (good) Time

This was a hard passage for me. I didn't feel like I got anything out of it. But then I realized why - I don't wait on God. Instead of trusting that God is never late, never early but always on time, I try to take my life into my own hands. And if it were on purpose, that would at least say something about my acknowledging God's perfect timing, right? Instead, I don't even realize that I try to make decisions and handle the pettiest and the greatest problems all by my lonesome. That's kinda bad. It says that I rely on Him so little that I forget about Him and how perfect His will and His timing really are.

So what do I do about this? I think it could be really easy for me to choose a vague application and just.. kinda do it (last like time...) but this is something I really wanna fix. I know that prayer is something I'm really really lacking because most of the time, I just don't feel like stopping and praying. It takes a lot of discipline to become a strong woman of prayer, but if prayer can help me rely on God more and just be still and know that He is God (and it can), then I want to be disciplined in prayer. I want to trust that God is faithful in hearing my prayers and in answering them according to His will and His timing, so I'm gonna pray. Keep me accountable!

Looking Heavenward

I have to be honest in confessing that QT hasn't been happening regularly in my life lately, and that I consciously skipped last week after conjuring up a string of excuses not to do it. Obviously, having a strict self-discipline is not at all an easy thing for me... and I probably need accountability more than ever in times like this when I'm spiritually struggling to grow. Nevertheless, I found today's passage really blessing and I thank God for it.

I've always wondered if there will ever come a time when I'll be able to finally settle down somewhere and just live a stable life forever. My life seems to be always on a journey somewhere, uprooting me from the places I found comfortable and placing me at a strange place, only to grow comfortable once again and follow this vicious cycle. First, my family never lived in one house for more than five years. Likewise, I didn't have many friendships that lasted more than five years. And there was no church that I could call my home church for more than five years. I really wish things were different.

But the Scripture tells me otherwise. "Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands." The building from God is where God wants me to call home. It's indestructible, it's always there, and it's open for me - and God tells me that I belong there. I can live in the grandest of all mansions a man could build, but to God, it'd only be as feeble as a tent.

I realized today, that my deepest desire is still set on reaching the utopia of stability and comfort. And I also realized today, that this desire will leave me in a tent, in a desert, without a solid place to call home. Living a stable life is desirable, but it's such an empty purpose for life. Where I am now, whether I'm doing spiritually/materially doing well or not, is only a temporary stopover - but not a permanent dwelling. If I ever desire a home, I want that be in heaven. (And take comfort in knowing that.)

자유함

오늘 주님께서 제게 주신 말씀은 "주의 영이 계신 곳에는 자유함이 있느니라" 입니다.
물질, 학업, 지위, 또는 관계들 속에서 우리는 진정한 자유함을 얻지 못할때가 많습니다. 이런 저희에게 주님께서는 우리 가슴속에 성령님이 임재 하시면 진정한 자유를 얻는다고 하십니다.

우리가 주님안에 거하면 자유를 얻게 되는 이유는 하나님께서 저희를 만드신 창조주이기 때문에 가능한 일입니다. 노예제도가 있던 시절 주인이 그의 노예에게 자유를 주기 전까지 노예들은 평생을 노예로 고통받으며 살아갑니다. 왜냐하면 노예들은 그들의 주인에게 속해있기 때문입니다.

하나님안에 속한 우리들은 종들이 그 주인을 섬기듯 하나님을 섬기며 살아갑니다. 하지만 주님게서는 우리에게 자유함을 주셨습니다. 세상에 얽매이지 않고 살아갈수 있는 자유를 주셨습니다. 주님이 우리를 위해 예비하신 영광의 면류관을 바라보며 세상것들에 치여 걱정하기 보다는 주님의 참 자유를 느끼며 즐겁게 주님을 섬겨야 하겠습니다.

Confidence in the Gospel

I liked the first part of today's passage because I feel it gives us a responsibility. When I think of letters of recommendation, I think of the letters that professors and teacher, etc write for someone to make that person look good. But the Christians back then, as Paul said, did not need them because we were their letters. And even today, there are the letters of recommendation in our hearts, because it is God who sent the Spirit into them. The covenant we have in our hearts is the real letter that shows how good we are. The goodness in our hearts is what is supposed to exude from us. We are the face of God, meaning what people see, so we must be emulators of Him. We are made in the image of God, so let us live up to it. At least try to, and that makes all the difference.

At first I didn't get the second part of the passage because it kind of goes around and around. But the gist of it is that there is glory in God and nothing in law. All that is going to matter is God's law only.. not the law of man. We worry about the world a lot and the things that are in it, but once we remember that those things aren't eternal the stress slightly goes away. School, jobs, friends, money are not eternal, so we constantly need to be reminded that glory is in the ministry that brings righteousness, not condemnation.

The only words that stood out to me in today's QT were "aroma" and "fragrance". The devotional explains that these words are referring to the burnt offerings from the Old Testament. Even though we don't physically give God sacrifices or offerings anymore, we still need to offer things up to Him - control of our lives, our hearts, our money, etc., etc. It's interesting because this past week, my Bible study class looked at how our views change when we consider ourselves offerings to God. It drastically changes everything. What was once easily overlooked in the past can no longer just be ignored - how can we possibly offer something dirty up to God? We should offer up something that will leave a sweet aroma, a sweet fragrance for God. But when our hearts are filled with sin to the brim, then what will inevitably spill out when we stumble.. is sin.

I desire to be the aroma of Christ, a sacrifice in which God is well pleased. In order for that to happen, I need a clean heart, a heart that will spill out Christ's fragrance rather than sin. "It's not that we are good or important enough to be the fragrance that pleases God, but it's Christ in us that gives off the fragrance to the world around us." That is both liberating and humbling. But how I can apply this practically is the real issue. I want to try this one day at a time, so tomorrow I want to try going through the day with Christ in control. I always get so frustrated and irritated with things that are out of my control, but I want to change my mindset and have a prayerful heart so I can be at peace with whatever God throws at me tomorrow. Wish me luck hehe!