junior year = wowwww....
even i wasn't expecting this. i remember high school sophomore year, upperclassmen always told me that i've come to the end of the fun part of high school- from here on, it's study study study!! all work and no play. who thought this would be the same in college.!!
here i am, pulling another all-nighter. my exam tomorrow kind of needs to turn out well..i bombed my last exam and that was my first and last freebie exam. but despite my cross-eyedness and slowly numbing-mushy turning brain, i gotta ask myself- why am i doing this? what is this all for???
one simple answer..God.
all for the glory of God.
i take for granted lots of times that i'm at purdue. i complain day to day about its stinnky smells, problems with financial stuff, and other personal issues..but i never take the time to be really thankful and appreciate all that He's given to me. i don't deserve any of this..i'm one of the worst people out there! in moments like these, i just need to realax, take a step back,..and enjoy this. but more importantly, keep my priorities and motives fixated on Jesus Christ. i'm doing this all for Him...studying for him,..aiming for a good gpa so i can get a good job so that i can serve others. because that's what He wants us to do. not get the jobs that pay so we can benefit and spoil ourselves...no, but rather to serve others.
God loved the world, that he sent his one and only son.
i just need to remember that God sent Jesus to die for us. the least i can do is put all that i am doing for the glory of God.
there, i feel a little bit better and refreshed now.
:)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
brutal but necessary
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. IN that case you would have to leave this world. But now i am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
1 Corinthians 5:9-11
Is this passage saying what i really think it's saying? Don't hang around with sexually immoral people, immoral, greedy, idolaters, etc...basically people who live by the rules of this world, not of heaven. But what if you have lots of "friends" who possess all those qualities? Those qualities that Paul (and most probably God) condemns? It's a little hard to wrap my head around this. I mean i know that it's the 21st century, and practically everyone's done everything,.. and there might only be a few of us who can safely & confidently say, "I've never done any of those" left in the world... and then it makes me question, well what about the command that tells us to love others like God has loved us? So is loving someone and associating with someone different? But how can you love someone if you don't associate with them. i guess there's my question.
It's kinda hard to get to know somebody without associating with them. I'll be first to admit; i have a hard time accepting how some of my friends live their lives. But then, i enjoy their company- we have fun together, we laugh together, and we eat together. Well there's my first problem right there. I'm not trying to be judgmental, because in the end it's God who does that, not me. But all the stuff that they+me (when i'm with them) talk about and do are probably belonging in one of those categories. This has got to be one of the most brutal yet necessary passages i've ever read.
i know that i shouldn't hang out with the immoral because that'd only bring me down. i've already been brought down! I just don't see how we are going to expel those who are immoral away from our lives. so that just means that we are to stay in our comfortable christian circle of friends? But then how are you supposed to survive in the real world? not everyone's going to be Christian where you will end up working, most likely, and then we'll have to deal with non-christian, secular people. i don't know. i really like this passage because it's very clear-cut on what we should do, or in this case what we shouldn't do. i guess i'm just confused about how to live this passage.
1 Corinthians 5:9-11
Is this passage saying what i really think it's saying? Don't hang around with sexually immoral people, immoral, greedy, idolaters, etc...basically people who live by the rules of this world, not of heaven. But what if you have lots of "friends" who possess all those qualities? Those qualities that Paul (and most probably God) condemns? It's a little hard to wrap my head around this. I mean i know that it's the 21st century, and practically everyone's done everything,.. and there might only be a few of us who can safely & confidently say, "I've never done any of those" left in the world... and then it makes me question, well what about the command that tells us to love others like God has loved us? So is loving someone and associating with someone different? But how can you love someone if you don't associate with them. i guess there's my question.
It's kinda hard to get to know somebody without associating with them. I'll be first to admit; i have a hard time accepting how some of my friends live their lives. But then, i enjoy their company- we have fun together, we laugh together, and we eat together. Well there's my first problem right there. I'm not trying to be judgmental, because in the end it's God who does that, not me. But all the stuff that they+me (when i'm with them) talk about and do are probably belonging in one of those categories. This has got to be one of the most brutal yet necessary passages i've ever read.
i know that i shouldn't hang out with the immoral because that'd only bring me down. i've already been brought down! I just don't see how we are going to expel those who are immoral away from our lives. so that just means that we are to stay in our comfortable christian circle of friends? But then how are you supposed to survive in the real world? not everyone's going to be Christian where you will end up working, most likely, and then we'll have to deal with non-christian, secular people. i don't know. i really like this passage because it's very clear-cut on what we should do, or in this case what we shouldn't do. i guess i'm just confused about how to live this passage.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
HUMBLEbee
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I think you that I am not like other men-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Luke 18:9-14
Jesus tells us this story to teach about pride and contempt. These Pharisees, who were known to be such religious leaders and figures of society in that time, were supposed to practically define behaviors of piety. but like in Matthew 23, Jesus scorns them by calling them "white-washed tombs".. those who walk around head held high, all mighty and proud, all the while swearing at the temples, full of greed and acting exactly hypocritically.
The pharisees are supposed to be the epitome of what God calls on his children to be, to be gentle, humble, obedient, and pray in secrecy. In praying in secrecy, i mean to not boast that he prays. But in the scripture, they do just that. They walk around temples boasting that they pray and even fast several times a week. what, it's like they're trying to show off that they're "men of God"?
All the while, the tax collectors- the ones who were deemed to be like the pimps and drug dealers of the day, are praying most fervently and wholeheartedly... completely aware that he is dirty, a sinner, and most unworthy of even begging for forgiveness. This is how we should pray. Not walk around proudly because we're praying like we're supposed to...No, that's not what God wants.
He calls on us to be humble, to realize our human limitations, and that even though our intentions may be good, we're still human that those good intentions are still unacceptable to God. But he still accepts. Why? bcus he is a loving, merciful, and forgiving God. He's compassionate and loves all his children.
It's not that the Pharisees lived in the wrong way, or the tax collectors lived right. The pharisees were supposed to be the priests and ministers of the day, so it's not like they were being bad people.
What God had a problem with was their pride. They took pride in their credentials, in their leadership positions because they thought they were 'higher up'. To make things even better, they looked down upon those who were not nearly on the same level. They looked down on people like the tax collectors, even though in church their prayers were more humble and honest.
One of my devotional books is called When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer, and in it they mention Helmut Thielicke, a German theologian, who says, "Pharisaic pride is one of the most dreadful and also one of the most infectious diseases of Christianity."
How true, but brutal is that??? It's scary sometimes when people say things that hit right at home, but at the same time pierces us.
I speak from experience. I was a church leader in high school, and being the cocky self that i was back then (who wasn't honestly in high school?), took huge pride in being a leader. I can say that i strutted literally,... yes, strut in church. and that was because people looked up to me. when i began, truthfully God was my intention, to do everything that would glorify Him. but along the way, that vision got pushed back by all the praises that adults and youth group gave me.
I should've been like the tax collector, praying while beating my chest crying out that "i'm a sinner, i'm a sinner", because i really am. We use christianity as a step to make ourselves look good by taking various leadership positions. and while many of us (hopefully all of us) start with the intent of truly returning everything to God, we lose sight of that and start glorifying ourselves instead. so instead of a Church with leaders to guide others to Christ, what we have now is just a fellowship of self-worshipping "leaders".
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
Luke 18:9-14
Jesus tells us this story to teach about pride and contempt. These Pharisees, who were known to be such religious leaders and figures of society in that time, were supposed to practically define behaviors of piety. but like in Matthew 23, Jesus scorns them by calling them "white-washed tombs".. those who walk around head held high, all mighty and proud, all the while swearing at the temples, full of greed and acting exactly hypocritically.
The pharisees are supposed to be the epitome of what God calls on his children to be, to be gentle, humble, obedient, and pray in secrecy. In praying in secrecy, i mean to not boast that he prays. But in the scripture, they do just that. They walk around temples boasting that they pray and even fast several times a week. what, it's like they're trying to show off that they're "men of God"?
All the while, the tax collectors- the ones who were deemed to be like the pimps and drug dealers of the day, are praying most fervently and wholeheartedly... completely aware that he is dirty, a sinner, and most unworthy of even begging for forgiveness. This is how we should pray. Not walk around proudly because we're praying like we're supposed to...No, that's not what God wants.
He calls on us to be humble, to realize our human limitations, and that even though our intentions may be good, we're still human that those good intentions are still unacceptable to God. But he still accepts. Why? bcus he is a loving, merciful, and forgiving God. He's compassionate and loves all his children.
It's not that the Pharisees lived in the wrong way, or the tax collectors lived right. The pharisees were supposed to be the priests and ministers of the day, so it's not like they were being bad people.
What God had a problem with was their pride. They took pride in their credentials, in their leadership positions because they thought they were 'higher up'. To make things even better, they looked down upon those who were not nearly on the same level. They looked down on people like the tax collectors, even though in church their prayers were more humble and honest.
One of my devotional books is called When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer, and in it they mention Helmut Thielicke, a German theologian, who says, "Pharisaic pride is one of the most dreadful and also one of the most infectious diseases of Christianity."
How true, but brutal is that??? It's scary sometimes when people say things that hit right at home, but at the same time pierces us.
I speak from experience. I was a church leader in high school, and being the cocky self that i was back then (who wasn't honestly in high school?), took huge pride in being a leader. I can say that i strutted literally,... yes, strut in church. and that was because people looked up to me. when i began, truthfully God was my intention, to do everything that would glorify Him. but along the way, that vision got pushed back by all the praises that adults and youth group gave me.
I should've been like the tax collector, praying while beating my chest crying out that "i'm a sinner, i'm a sinner", because i really am. We use christianity as a step to make ourselves look good by taking various leadership positions. and while many of us (hopefully all of us) start with the intent of truly returning everything to God, we lose sight of that and start glorifying ourselves instead. so instead of a Church with leaders to guide others to Christ, what we have now is just a fellowship of self-worshipping "leaders".
Sunday, November 1, 2009
tomorrows
9 In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.
- Proverbs 16:9
but the LORD determines his steps.
- Proverbs 16:9
i wish i could fast forward to the future, so that i can see this. because right now, i'm not sure of anything right now. my life, my motives, my goals. even God's plans for me. i think i'm going through a mid-life crisis right now. like for example, right now: i cannot go to sleep because i'm worried about tomorrows. i'm worried what i'm doing right now isnt what God wants. i'm worried that i'm not ambitious enough, greedy enough for my own future. i'm worried that what i'm planning right now won't be fulfilling in my life later on.
but i guess that's where the LORD steps in.
i can plan this or that, but ultimately He's in control.
why am i having such a hard time letting him take the reigns.
but i guess that's where the LORD steps in.
i can plan this or that, but ultimately He's in control.
why am i having such a hard time letting him take the reigns.
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