Honor your father and your mother, ...

There was a time in my life when I was able to lift my parents up on a high pedestal and look up to them as I would look up to God. They held a position very similar to what Stott described: people that "stand in the place of God and mediate His authority to us. When I was young, this was true. They were the highest tangible source of authority of which I wanted to obey. So much so that I was convicted by the idea that I loved my parents more than I loved God. I was troubled but later comforted by the realization that I am not called to love my parents less but that I am to grow to love God more. So much more that my love towards my parents would seem like hatred compared to my love for God. That was the ideal I began to look up to. Unfortunately, what followed was not a greater love for God but a greater love for myself. What is worse is that my love for my parents had not merely remained as it is but had diminished. I attributed this change of heart to growing up. I had grown mature enough to view my parents objectively-as human beings. And, as you get older, you grow to know more and more how faulted and imperfect human beings are-even your beloved parents. I began to question their judgements, criticize their ways, and even began to dislike certain parts about them. As I grew to become more and more independent, I grew more and more disobedient. I realize now what a long journey it has been growing so far from my parents. I have forgotten what it is like to lift them up on that high pedestal.
I guess change is inevitable. My view of the world, myself, and my parents have changed a lot since I was a minor and I don't think it is always wrong to change. What is important is that I remember what I am commanded to do by God. I may no longer lift my parents up on a pedestal but I should also keep from being so critical or judgemental. Though I no longer adore them, I can honor my parents by approaching them with a loving and compassionate heart. And though we are all grown adults now, I am convicted to never forget that I came from my mother's womb and it is by the food my father put on the table that I have grown up on.

The Call of Moses

"so go now . . . I am sending you". (exodus 3:10)

the call of moses reminds every one of us that there is something God is calling us to do. we all know in the back of our minds what it is.

it could be something big or small. it could be helping out someone who needs help; it could be witnessing to someone; it could be showing kindness to someone who is lonely; it could be some kind of reconciliation with an estranged brother or sister; it could be some unfinished business to tend to; it could be taking care of our finances. whatever the case, we all know there is something God is calling us to do.

but like moses, we have endless excuses. we are afraid of failure, reluctant to start, or just too self-consumed with our own lives to obey. very often, the bottom line is that we don't want to do it.

in the case of moses, God accomplished the liberation of over a million people through his obedience, however reluctant.

it makes me wonder how much God could accomplish through our own obedience, however imperfect, however small the task.

the story is a great reminder of the importance of obedience. God knows what He is asking of us, and He knows our weaknesses and limitations better than we know ourselves. whatever our reservations are, we ought to trust in the One who "will make our paths straight".

Birth of Isaac: A Promise Fulfilled

The most incredible fact about Isaac's birth was that it was promised 30 years before it happened. It took thirty years! This is no short period, seen from the human perspective. Abraham was 70 years old when God made the promise. What does that tell us about God and about his promises? It tells us at least two things. First, God keeps his promises period! God has never broken to come through on his promises and that should be encouraging to all of us as we read of his promises in the Bible. Second, God's promises are not always fulfilled 'right away'. And this tells us that God's plan, particularly in terms of timing, is not our way. God has a plan to fulfill his words of promise at a specific time and it won't happen until then. So if it seems that God is 'slow' in fulfilling his words, just wait, be patient.

Posted by Pastor James

Where are you?

The most amazing aspect of our text in Genesis 3:8-9, is the voice of the Almighty God calling out to Adam and Eve, "Where are you?" Here we are given a portrait of the heart of God for sinners. It was God who was seeking out Adam, calling out to him. And this act of mercy on the part of God is the most compelling reason why God is worthy to be loved and worshipped.

God has all the reasons to reject us and judge and condemn us and yet despite our disobedience and rebellion, like a father, he is calling us to come back to himself. 2 Peter 3:9 puts it this way, "He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." This call of God, "where are you", is like an open door, an invitation by God to find mercy and grace, when we come to him.

"Where are you?" is the first word of grace that came from God when Adam disobeyed and fell in the Garden. When Jesus said, 'the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost', he was doing just what God did initially in the Garden, calling humanity to himself... "where are you... stop hide from me... come back to me." May these words help us to remember that we are serving a most gracious and loving God!

Posted by Pastor James

the first necessary step to salvation

"then the eyes of both of them were opened".

today's passage comments that adam and eve's eyes were opened to their guilt the moment they sinned against God. mr. stott puts it this way: "they now saw with clarity the folly and wickedness of their rebellion against God".

as terrible as that moment must have been for adam and eve, how much better to feel guilt and "the folly and wickedness of our rebellion against God" than to have such a hardened heart as to feel nothing at all!

it is the first necessary step to our salvation.

all our lives, even as we acknowledge in some general way that we are sinners, we make endless excuses and rationalizations for our sinful behavior,

but it is truly a horrific moment the very first time our "eyes are really opened" and we see with clarity the extent of our "folly and wickedness of our rebellion against God."

guilt, shame, remorse, failure, fear, terror are inadequate terms to describe the person who for the first time realizes in a personal way their sinfulness before the living God.

that moment is as terrible for us as it surely must have been for adam and eve. like them, all we want to do is to hide, to forget, to run as far away from His presence as we can.

but it is only when we realize the extent of our sinfulness that we are driven to Jesus Christ, to plead with Him for mercy, grace, forgiveness.

i fear that too many times these days, when we sin against God, we feel nothing at all, ingenious as we are in rationalizing our behavior and shifting blame to others.

having "our eyes opened" is an unpleasant and wretching experience, but how necessary if we are ever to come to the Lord and receive His salvation! would we come to Him otherwise?

if you sin against the Lord and feel nothing, pray for "eyes to be opened", a tender conscience and a broken heart.

as terrible as it is, it is a gift, a mercy of God, this ability to feel.

Denying God's "Otherness"

This age old trick that the devil uses to tempt man to be "Like God" originates all the way back to the Garden. It is scary how this "lie' has manifested itself through the ages and today we find ourselves right there facing the same lie and refusing to acknowledge the 'otherness' of God... as Stott puts it.

Today's new age message like books from Eckhart Tolle, connecting with you inner 'spirit' and all of the other things that are blasted on television and fill the shelves at Borders or Barnes may look like a harmless, self-help messages...a message of self cultivation but it is really the same "lie" told by the serpent in the garden and man falls for it again and again.

Even as I profess to be a Christian, I am constantly having to guard my very proud, weak and sinful heart because I can easily find myself immersed or begin to turn an ear to these messages out there that are masked so well...and then the mind begins to think... and that can lead to scary things. Makes me so thankful for the GRACE of salvation.

Man as Male and Female

"The Lord God Said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him" [or "as his partner" Genesis 2:18

Hello all,

I've thought about this a bit today after reading today's study. I was trying to see what creative things I could share here but I came to a conclusion that it might actually cause more issues. Therefore, I'll just share that... I thank God almost every day for my wife Kwi Jung Grace Ryu. Definetely, my life will not be complete without her so I'm very grateful for God's blessings in our marriage.