Traveling

~All or nothing~

Today’s sermon touched me today. So I decided to share a bit about what happened. We had a guest speaker come in today, Reverend Lam from Cali. He spoke about this bible verse:

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

John 15:4 (NIV)

He spoke about what it means to have God as the vine and us as the branches. If you are a branch, and you have been taken away from the main part of the plant, you will eventually die. Even if it is a flower, essentially, the flower which is not attached to the plant is dead. So if you want the blessings that God gives, you must remain with God. Your goal, your focus, is upon Jesus. Not money, not power, not our pleasures.

But somehow through Rev. Lam’s sermon, my heart heard something different. Perhaps God is speaking… I don’t know… This is what I heard, “It is all or nothing…” An echo of what Lily said at a previous sermon. If you choose God, you must be with God all the way, or not at all. Either God is the LORD over your life or He isn’t. There doesn’t seem to be much middle ground. Do you listen to God’s commands? or do you listen to your own “good sense” ? If your focus is upon following Jesus, then it will show. You will bear fruit. In Christ, you cannot hedge your bets. If you choose to follow Christ, then you will sacrifice this life, for the promise of the eternal life to come. If you choose to follow your own path, then you will live this life pursuing your own desires. So with every choice we make, we are going down the easy and wide path… or we are going up the narrow and hard path. Choose wisely my friends.

~Mourning the wages of sin~

I prayed to God to choose a part of the bible to touch me today. Then I opened the bible and this is where it opened up to:

How deserted lies the city, 
     once so full of people!
How like a widow is she,
     who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
     has now become a slave.

Bitterly she weeps at night,
     tears are upon her cheeks.
Among her lovers
     there is none to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her;
     they have become her enemies.

Lamentations 1:1-2 (NIV)

This is a poem by the prophet Jeremiah. He speaks about Jerusalem. Jerusalem which was a city of God. But her people chose to stay in their stubbornly sinful ways. And so, punishment comes after sin. Turn away from sin. Turn away. It speaks to me now and it tells me to turn from my sinful ways and turn towards God. God is patience personified. But sin will still have it’s price regardless of God’s love. I must choose God. If I do not, the wages of sin await me. Thank you Lord.

Sorry, no sharing this time… It is too personal. For now, it is just between God and me. God bless.

~Setting An Example~
(WWJD?)

Wounds that don’t bleed,
Scars that don’t show,
But I cannot help but forgive.
Seventy-seven? or was it Seventy times seven?*
Seeking to forgive as God forgives you.
Seeking to love as God loves.

*Matthew 18:21

More to follow…

~Samson and Delilah~

Judges 13-16

     Samson was a very strong man. But all that super-human strength did him little good. In hindsight, we can see that he made some bad decisions in his life. He was greedy, full of anger, prideful, lustful, and it wasn’t until he made a big mistake and had to pay the consequences that he finally came back to God.

     This is a man that I identify with the most. For all the gifts I have, do me very little good. I choose to ignore God’s Word, and everytime I have turned my back, I discover how wrong I am. For each decision that goes against God’s guidance will have reprecussions. Greed and money can take over your life. A life lived without forgiveness in anger and constant retributions is barely worth living. And having a overinflated picture of yourself… yeah, I think we all know what that’s like. Lust… thinking with the wrong head. Yeah, lust can get you into some real trouble. Sex is like fire… play around with it, and you’ll more than likely get burned. I know this because I have been burned by both. But that’s another story.

     I think the moral of the story is this: “It is never too late to turn back to God.” Despite all the bad things you have done, or the evils in your heart. God still loves you. 
For all those Samson’s out there, there is still hope. Myself included. Thank God. Can I get an *~Amen~* to that? ^_^

That’s all for tonite folks, God bless and good night/morning/afternoon….

~Yuck, don’t do that…~

Dumpster diving. Trash picker. My friends insist upon deterring me. Is there a particularly good reason that I should abstain? Anyone? I think lots of people disapprove. It’s not cool in the least (Duh~!). But besides for that. What holds you back? And for those who look down upon trash pickers / dumpster divers. Why?
Completely random thought pattern today. oh yeah…

Wonder how many of my friends would be like: “Ewww…. you picked up trash… I don’t know you…”

~Down go the shields~

Have you ever watched someone sleep? Their personal defenses go down and their real selves come out. Their faces become serene and all the troubles and problems are forgotten for the moment. Our personal defense mechanisms go down and our subconscious goes to work… dissecting our day… what happened? was there a logic to it? solutions come to us… we think of things we want to do.. our dreams, our goals, our best kept secrets come out to play….

I think this is what God sees… God sees beyond our everyday face. Beyond our actions and to the motives behind them… God sees US. The real US that doesn’t always show to the world. The soft side of a gangster. The pressures of the rich in material things. The tortures of the silent suffering. The love in the harshest of words. The reason, the emotion, the things that prod us through life. The freedom that can be found by a prisoner. The chains which tie down the most powerful. The evil in our hearts and minds. The things left unsaid. God knows. Yet God still loves us. Sometimes, we take that for granted… no… maybe I should rephrase. I take God for granted. I take forgiveness for granted. I take many blessings for granted. such lack of gratitude still persists… will I forever be fighting myself? Will I ever crucify and deny myself? I don’t know. But God will be here… one day at a time.

P.S. I went through and added a whole bunch of people to my xanga list… I read way to quickly… and getting other christian perspectives is kinda interesting. So everytime I read something interesting… I added a person. So if anyone has a xangian log to suggest… suggest away~! For those who have been added randomly to my list… welcome. Feel free to come and stay awhile if you like.

~Hard times~

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I have read over this verse many, many times. And have not understood. I don’t consider myself a genius, but surely I can dissect a simple bible verse right? But alas, such is not the case, It takes understand that is not my own. The point being made here is this. When we are weak, we seek out God to help us. When we are strong, we tend to be proud of our abilities (perhaps forgetting they were given by God to begin with). When weakness or our own abilities are not enough, we depend upon God. When we depend upon God, God works miracles. So when you are weak, God’s power shines through.

     It is not to say, we should not seek to become more Christ-like, but when difficulties come along, we should see them as times to become closer to God. To experience in a small part, what Jesus went through. Don’t be discouraged, because when you are not enough, God is more than enough.

A scene that runs over and over in my mind:

*Pastor finishes reading some Scripture aloud*
Pastor: “This is the Word of the Lord.”
Congregation: “Thanks be to God.”

Churchs have so many different flavors, yet we are all one in the body of Christ. What body part are you? I think I’m a middle finger sometimes… haha, ok random thought… enough for today.

God bless and a good day/night/evening to you… wherever you are.

~Got Jesus?~

Now if there is no resurrection, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? I die every day – I mean that, brothers – just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” Come back to your sense as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God – I say this to your shame.

1 Corinthians 15:29-34

If there is no God. If we do not believe, then it shows us very clearly how we would spend our time. “…eat and drink, for tomorrow we die..” If the only things we seek are fun, partying, celebrations and such, then we are veering from the path Jesus walked before us. The bible speaks truth, if only we would seek it out. This is followed by a stern word of guidance. Take it to heart that who you hang out with will mold and shape you. I can attest to that fact. Paul finishes off with a rebuke. “…for there are some who are ignorant of God..” Seek out God. Learn who God is. From this relationship, comes many blessings both visible and invisible. God is always here. Always watching, waiting. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite verses… Have a good day/evening/morning… ^_^

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
   And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
   and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

~- Prayers -~

God, PL needs some guidance in his life. He thinks that perhaps his life may be used in a certain church, in a certain position. You know what I’m talking about. Lord, I pray that you will speak to him and if this is the right place for him, I pray that you will give him strength and guidance for this position. God, you are the pilot. Fly the plane~

I pray all this in name of Him upon whom our hopes are placed, ~Amen~

~Ironies~

I was thinking about things that make so little sense… Why is it that we can fear those who protect us? Be blessed in so many ways, yet be so wretched? Find so many things “normal” when they are really extraordinary… Find pain from those who give us comfort? Have so much fun, yet so little happiness? Why is it that science can answer so many questions, but not answer the questions most important to us? How come even though our technology is so advanced, and work progresses so much quicker, that we still don’t have enough time?

So I searched for an answer, and I think this is the only one I can come up with.

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgement including ever hidden thing, whether is it good or evil.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

 Interesting answer, gonna have to go and ponder that one….

~Counting your Blessings~

It’s much easier to count your blessings, right after they’ve been taken from you. You don’t know what you have, until you’ve lost it. Taking so much for granted. Such a lack of gratitude. God, am I forever going to fight against contentment, always want something more, when what I have is more than enough? Greedy selfish ungrateful… *sigh* I am my own worse enemy. There is no doubt of that. There is evil in my heart, my mind, in my body.

My prayer for today:
God… help. In Jesus name, Amen.

(Don’t wanna babble like a pagan, and God already knows what I need before I ask. So this prayer is short, simple, and to the point.)

~~–==–~~

For those who care to know, I’m sick as a dog today. There will be no mini-sermon or preaching, just some good old introspection. My sinus’s are stuffed, my grey matter is mush, coughing, sneezing, tired… enough moaning for today. Lacking in human contact… My social meter needs to be fed. Anyone got any quarters? :-p