The truth

I've noticed that whenever any Christian tries to raise the topic of sin, judgment and the wrath of God, other Christians tend to shut those queries down with something along the lines of "That's very discouraging, you'll hurt their self confidence."

But what if self-esteem isn't Christian? After all, we are hopeless, horrifying, crappy little beings who went against a holy God, and we so well deserve His wrath. It is only by the Cross that we have any cause to rejoice, because it is by Christ's propitiation that we are counted as righteous, even though we clearly aren't. If anything, we don't count on ourselves as worthy. Rather, our confidence is in Christ, who made us count as saints even while we are sinners.

When we talk about sin, we usually address it as just some bad things we need to NOT do, and people who aren't Christian will do those things. But that's not a full picture of what sin is. We cannot reduce the magnitude of sin by transforming it's meaning from lawlessness/rebellion against God to simply moral wrongs. By doing that, we undermine the grace and mercy of God through the Cross and easily determine ourselves to be our own Savior, thinking we have authority and control over our lives. But we don't. Sinners are attracted to sin, we don't do the good we are called to do.

However, as Christians, people of God, we have accepted Christ in faith and have the Holy Spirit within us. We become renewed beings, dead to our old selves and made new by the work of the Spirit. Now belonging to Christ, we are transformed. We don't learn to leave behind our old ways, therefore creating a schism between the supposedly holier than thou preacher and a new believer, we simply leave it behind because we fathom what weight the Cross carries and we pledge our allegiance to Christ. In other words, we become a Christian.

Yes, we still are inclined to fall. We live in very interesting times, where Christ has come and is still to come, between creation and the new creation. But no matter how many times we fall, we know that Christ has paid the price of sin for all time, therefore imputing His righteousness to us. We struggle with sin and are enabled to repent and return to the Cross, counting on God's faithfulness and grace to be our source of sanctification. And we trust that the Lord will complete the work that began in us.

We need to paint the full picture of the gospel. It's not one that leaves us happy and comfortable with our lives, but one that compells us to live in submission to His will which is in accordance to His word. There's no way we can take the "not so desirable parts" out and still preach a true gospel. We would only be so naive to think that. Yet if you think about it, this truth offers us immense comfort. This offensive and radical gospel takes the weight off our shoulders and grants us confidence not in ourselves, but in God. He chose us from the very beginning - not because we are somehow righteous or good (which clearly we're not at all), but because it is for His glory, through His love. He knew we would never be able to acquire it by merit, through the law, so Christ and the Cross was the answer.

This has been as far as I've understood the gospel in the past couple of months. If, however, there has been a mistake or a need to clarify something, please by all means, message me. In the past few months I've met so many people who have been struggling like me with what the gospel really is, as a result of a lack of/complete absence of biblical theology and doctrine education within the church. We don't know what the Bible says, we only know what we think it says. We talk about a loving God, but we don't define what love is biblically. We are unsure of Christ's role in Christianity, and that's grave because everything in the old and new covenants points back to Him. We have confined the Holy Spirit to the supposed displays of power via the supernatural that we forget the Holy Spirit lives within us when we have faith in Christ. We have prioritized social justice to the extent that we forget that evangelism is not merely the doing of good works but the preaching of the gospel where it is unheard.

So how can we blame others who see us Christians as hypocritical? And why are we surprised when we have to suffer for doing what is right, in submission to His will, for His glory? Christianity is countercultural and no amount of frills/hipsterity will ever change that.

If we know the gospel and understand what it is, we see that we only ever had two choices to begin with: 1) To submit our lives under the lordship of Christ, or 2) to continue rebelling against Him.

That's as raw as it gets.

New Year's Resolutions?

Naaaaaaaah.

While we each bring something new to the table each new year with our resolutions and desires, I think sometimes we spend a great deal trying so hard, trying to make this year different. We strive so hard to accomplish something, and halfway through we get demotivated and fail to achieve what we set out to do.

But may I suggest that in order to grow - to narrow that gap between who we once were and are to who we need to become, we must hold on to what is unchanged. We need to grasp that which is greater than we can imagine, steadfast in its nature. What is eternal, and not bound to the confines of this temporal dimension in which we live in.

What is, or who is, is GOD.

If anything, drawing near to God and abiding in His love will suffice for this year, and the years that come after that. It will lead us to respect those whom we serve with and to esteem them highly in their love for their work. It will give us peace among ourselves. It will bring realization to the idle, encourage the fainthearted, assist the weak and allow us to be patient with everyone. It will help us forgive and thus deplete the fuel of vengeance, but look forward to do good to each other and to everyone.

If anything should be constant, let it be this - that we always rejoice, that we pray without ceasing, that we give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. If ever in doubt, don't give up on the Spirit that is in you. Don't just write off prophecies, but test everything and hold fast to what is good. But whatever you do, stay away from every form of evil.

This year, I ask that God, the only provider of peace himself sanctify you completely. I pray your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at God's coming, His entry into this broken world, to us. I'm confident that He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Sounded familiar? 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24. These may be Paul's words, but I mean them all the same. Let's set our eyes on the ONLY constant worth holding onto, and let Him guide us from glory to glory. Be not concerned about finishing the race stronger by what we can do, but let Him be the light that shines through our broken vessels :)

3 days left

When I came to accept the weakness and the inadequacy that lived within me as a result of sin that could not be redeemed and reconciled to wholeness by other equally imperfect human beings, I realized then that there had to be more to being myself than just me; more to being ourselves than just us.

And there is (was and always will be), a God that rules and moves beyond anything that I can ever understand, and yet who chose to love me in the craziest way possible when there was nothing in me worthy of such a great sacrifice. A God who is, to all He designed for His glory and His great love.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." 

- Ephesians 3:14-21

The God of Everyday

But this I call to mind,

    and therefore I have hope: 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

    his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

    great is your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

    “therefore I will hope in him.” 

- Lamentations 3:21-23

This morning, I skipped my devotion. It seemed like a peaceful day where not much could go wrong, and I thought I could manage it with the treasury of already memorized scriptures in my mind. I thought I could do whatever I had to do in the day without concern, without worry, without anxiety. Everything seemed jolly well within my control. I also had some things to pray about, but I wrote them down and thought I'd do it later because there were other things I felt I had to complete first, before I could've done anything else.

From the scripture above, we see that God's mercies are new every morning. After all, each day has enough trouble of it's own (Matthew 6:34), and God gives us enough grace for the day to endure that day and that day alone. The next day, the same thing happens - God's mercies are renewed again, and we receive the grace and strength to endure it yet again. Daily, we are called to trust in the Lord to garner whatever we need to proceed with the next 16 hours (assuming you get your eight hours of sleep), after rise and shine.

Yet today, I put God out of the picture. Sure, I envisioned God and thought about scripture and church and doctrine and theology and searched these things up in Wikipedia and learned more about them, but I had neglected God altogether. I hadn't spent time with Him. I didn't quite talk to Him. I just ignored Him and carried on with the day, without taking in the new mercies He was going to provide me for today.

And I failed. And when I failed to hold things up, I went back to Him. I read His word and cried out to Him and I received His mercies. But my refreshment was now wasted, because I only have about four more hours left to draw from a reservoir of a day's worth of grace (given that I sleep by midnight, if not earlier). There is no doubt - God's faithfulness sure is great and His steadfast love never ceases, but I have been a fool for letting myself miss out on the abundance of His love.

How utterly, stupid, if I dare say so myself.

It also got me thinking about what and how much my faith meant to me.

Is my faith worth everything to me that I would give every second, every minute, every hour, every day - basically, every moment of my life to Him?

Are my bad moments dedicated to Him alone, while the greater and more joyous occasions are left for me to squander freely without acknowledging that they also belongs to God?

Is my God, the LORD over all that is in my life - the great I AM?

I cannot keep on doing this. I cannot only seek the Lord in times of anxiety and trouble, and then stray away when I feel okay and think I can deal with the day on my own. He is the source of my strength in times of trouble, but He is also God over the sunny days of my life where everything looks like rainbows and unicorns (forgive me, I ran out of metaphors).

It doesn't matter how I feel right now, or how I will feel tomorrow. It doesn't matter if I think I feel okay, or I think I don't feel okay. My faith is not based on how I feel about having morning devotions, or how sleepy I feel at night before I slumber. My faith is founded on the Cross, and it needs to be a faith not just of words, but of action - or of works, which complete faith, if you'd like to reference James 2.

And that includes every single day of my life surrendered to Him.

The way of love

As I grow older I'm starting to realize it's not about how much love I can get, but how much I can love.

I'd rather have a heart of flesh, that has been worn, broken and restored than a heart of stone, unimaginably cold and detached from its true purpose - for love.

And if that sometimes means silence even when I am burning in anger and eager to argue, so be it. If it means waiting patiently when the world tells me things are impossible and I should just to give up, so be it. If it means saying sorry even when I'm not explicitly at fault, so be it.

Because the truth is, everything boils down to love. Love is why we were created, are redeemed and have a hope and a future.

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge it will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 

- 1 Corinthians 13:4-13

When I said I would take up my cross and follow Him four years ago, I might not have known the full extent of what this journey of faith entailed. But I made that commitment anyway, a promise to follow Him regardless of anything that would stand in my way.

Today I renew my vows from all those years ago. I made a choice to follow Jesus, and I will stick to it. I have bound myself to Christ, and have denounced my freedom to give up my faith when the going gets tough. I have surrendered every tendency to do things with my own strength, and vow to commit everything unto Him, and only Him. Whenever I stumble, I choose not to let myself fall, but to cling unto the Lord, even in the strongest of my weaknesses.

I love, because He first loved me.

Daddy cool

It really is strange hanging out with the one person I've been known to take after.

My rotten temper, aggressiveness and ability to overthink things have always been attributed to my dad. I've lived most of my life trying to play these vices down, burying them deep within me so they wouldn't show on the outside. People were scared of that, and all I wanted was to be loved, to be accepted.

But I've realized that it isn't fair. There are many great things that I got from my dad. By the grace of God, I inherited his honesty. His intelligence. His ability to rationalize life, and the things around him. And let's not forget his paralyzing sense of humor. I learned to be courageous from him, to dream BIG in life and to never rest on my laurels.

Nevertheless, by shoving the unpretty parts I got my from my dad, I unknowingly subdued the entirety of my father's existence in my own life and denied myself of the person God had created me to be.

As I hung out with him today, it was like looking at a mirror. We were both connoisseurs of introspection, and the way we partook of it was similar. It's uncanny, and it freaks me out sometimes.

Honestly, if you ask me, I'm really scared. I'm afraid of coming to terms with the resurfacing pieces of myself that I've kept hidden for so long.

My dad isn't the best father in the world. He's made mistakes; some of which have rubbed off in my life. And I think it's pretty obvious that he's really not perfect. And so am I.

But he's my dad, and he is in that part of me that God knitted into me when I was created. It is beautiful. It deserves to be acknowledged, it deserves to be embraced, and it deserves to be cared for. God created me wonderfully and fearfully, just as he did with everyone else.

Sometimes I feel like I don't fit in, because these traits I inherited aren't exactly likeable. Admit it, no one likes a know-it-all, which I am frequently found guilty of being. No one is in favor of the Devil's advocate, which I often am, because I like pulling things from beneath the rug and talking about them. Silence is something I have become fond of, because people seem to be afraid when I speak boldly about the things I believe in, or because what ensues is the consequences of my speech.

I wasn't made to be somebody else. I was made in such a way, for an intended purpose.

However, that doesn't mean I stay this way forever. When I became a follower of Christ, I died to myself. I decided to give up the liberty of living my life, my way and let Him shape my life the way He has called for it to be. I don't deny the fact that I have inherited some of the vices my dad, and perhaps even the entirety of my dad's family has held onto.

I have so much more to learn, and so much more to grow.

I need to, and want to grow in the fruits of the Spirit.

I want to let go of the horrendous anger I deal with on a regular basis.

I want to freely love, without fear of what others think about me.

I want to be honest, but say it out of love and not condemnation, or self-righteousness.

I know that in order for these things to be mended and molded by the hands of God, I need to realize that I have this part of me, and it is there for a purpose.

And now I do. I will not deny myself of these things, and let God work through me.

Two things today:

1. My dad isn't perfect, and I have a part of him that is now acknowledged and embraced.

2. I was wonderfully and fearfully made, for a PURPOSE. God will use whatever that is in me, for His glory. Regardless of the good and the bad, He will transform it for the better.

I truly am grateful, for both my earthly and Heavenly Father. I couldn't ask for more.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 

- Romans 8:28

The Seven Thousand

Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

This particular story of Elijah in Chapter 19 of 1 Kings was astonishing, in my opinion. Having read the previous chapter, which underlined the contest at Mount Carmel, where God was faithful to Elijah and put the prophets of Baal to shame when he brought down fire and rain and showed Himself to be real, it amazed me that Elijah could still feel afraid upon hearing Jezebel's threats over his life that he even ran away.

During his period of hiding, God found him and questioned him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?", like TWICE. And both times, he rehearsed the same response; telling God that the Israelites had rejected Him and His commandments. He also mentioned that he was the only prophet left to defend God, and yet he was going to be killed.

Eventually, the Lord anointed Elisha to succeed Elijah as His mouthpiece - His prophet, for Elijah's had put an end to his time, on the account of his fear. God then tells him that there is no way for the people to escape death, stating that those who escape it by one sword would die by another.

However, it was what the Lord said next that really struck me. Though he said that ALL would perish, God chose to preserve the lives of seven thousand in Israel, who have not succumbed to the worship of Baal.

It made me think about my faith, with regards to how I felt about having to stand up for the Lord at ALL times, even if the rest of the world (including my Christian siblings) question the necessity for the seemingly puritanical standards I have set up for myself. It once seemed to me that I was the only one fighting this battle, trying to stand up for Jesus in the midst of all the pandemonium and the madness that has engulfed the earth of His creation. And I became afraid, just as Elijah was, when it all looked as if the world was caving in on me.

That's precisely what Satan wants us to believe - that we are all isolated individuals in this evil world, and that it is a losing battle we are fighting.

Nevertheless, the Lord spoke to me through this passage. While sometimes we may allow that lie to get through to our skulls, the truth still prevails. God does NOT vanish, the moment we become fearful; it is we who allow Him to be diminished in the sight of our fears and discouragement. The question, "What are you doing here?" begs to be answered.

What are we doing here, living in fear, when the Lord has already won the victory and overcome the world?

How is it that our faith wavers so easily that we eventually choose to run away, even after God has been faithful to us so many times, just as He was to Elijah?

There will be times where we feel as if we are the only one left to defend Christ, but more often than not, someone somewhere across the world has already surrendered their lives to God, and are part of the 'seven thousand' who have not given in to the worship of the world. If each of us choose to believe that we are fighting a war that cannot be won simply because those around us have chosen to succumb to this world, I think that God's army can only fall apart. But if we as His people, choose to focus our eyes on our Lord and Savior, regardless of the circumstances, our unity in Him will help us win the battle.

So let us be part of the seven thousand, for our lives will be spared by the Lord and our names written in the book of life :)