Proverbs-

As I endure a season of suffering, I am coming to terms of God's answer to my plight. It's not a soft and comforting answer but a humbling revelation of God's truth and the truth of the reality I'm living in now. After I read pastor James' entry about Job, I was reminded of how little comfort Job received from God when God first answered Job's cries. As a man of extraordinary faith, perhaps Job was comforted with God revealing and asserting His authority and His all-powerful reign over everything and every situation. As for me, I begin seeking comfort in the lines of sympathy and empathy-God acknowledging my pain and my right to be indignant. I would want God to let me know that He understands what I'm going through and that He will guide me through it. I think Job certainly was a man who deserved this kind of comfort especially in the light of how little he deserved his time of suffering. I was puzzled at how God did not approach Job with a soft hug but a powerful revelation of who He is.
I think a soft hug can do a lot of good at the right time and place but I realized that for me to seek a soft hug at this particular time of hardship is to seek what you can call cheap grace. It feels good while it lingers but it will fade sooner or later. I think the process of being humbled by God is what helped calm Job's inner turmoil and allowed him to fix his attention on what really matters. It is a process of turning from focusing on one self to focusing on God. I think this is the process of repentance. Incidentally, I think God is leading me to repent from being a sluggard.
As I was lamenting my job at my aunt's cleaners I came to reflect on how I got stuck in this awful situation. I came to realize that indeed, this must be God disciplining me for being a slacker. Ti's true, for when my uncle passed away this pass summer, I was the only slacker that was free to help my aunt. I was immediately obligated to help her out. At first i was very willing because I was very sympathetic. I even defended her request against disapprovals and warnings from my close friends and family. But now, I'm crying out to God to please deliver me! I truly am suffering; God please save me! I grow impatient and resolve to act on my own behalf. But then, I am lead to reflect on Christ's love. I then lament on how I really don't know enough about Christ's love. I "know" because I've learned and felt happy about it in church but I don't "know" how it can help me as I suffer through this particular situation! I cry and continue lamenting my lot of suffering. Then from one small thread of thought blooms a truth about how God loved us without expecting anything in return. I know this truth could not have come from my mind. I am fully convinced and testify that this was God's answer to my plight. It's not the answer that I was hoping for at the time but now, I can't imagine anything else better. Christ gave His life, His all. No one can match that price-ever. Yet He paid the price for my eternal salvation, eternal forgiveness. No one can return the favor and nor does He expects us to. He gave so freely and willingly so that we can freely recieve- only if we are willing. It humbled me and it stomped out my lamenting and made me focus on being more like Christ. To be honest, I never thought about Christ's love this way. Perhaps i should say, i never experienced the power of Christ's love this way. The doctrine of Christ's love is very deep and complex to me. I am often too lazy to even dip my toes in it. (I use to say I was too intimidated but I learned today that irrational intimidation and fear is like the sluggard that lamented about a lion outside his house.) And God, knowing my woeful state, rebuked my whiny heart by revealing Christ's love to me in a new way. It enabled me to do what I was unwilling or unable to do on my own.
But it's still so hard working there! This week was even harder to bear! Much like last week, the end of this work week was the most stressful but this week, I keep my ears open and wait on God to speak to me again. Before I reminded myself about today's blog, I was again lamenting what I was suffering through and I reflected on the slacker theory again and decided I was suffering God's poetic justice. Be caught being a slacker and get pulled into slaving your days away. Ha ha very funny God. I think the humor was suppose to help me deal with not having a clear message from God. But i think it was God preparing me for the poetry in Proverbs. The verses i read were not soft nor lovely-nor were they funny. Last week my will was rebuked and humbled but I was comforted because God spoke. After I read the blog on Job, I realized I was waiting more for the aspect of comfort than for the fact that God spoke. God spoke and He revealed His Glory. I realized it is in this revelation we can find comfort and joy for God does not speak to give out cheap grace. In light of this, I was able to hear God say in response to my lamenting this week, "this is what happens if you live in the ways of a sluggard." It's a hard blow to my pride. I'm still digesting it but i accept it as true.

Job's Comforters

The story of Job has always intriqued curiosity. He went from having everything to nothing then back to everything. But through it all his relationship to God has always remained the same. Even in the midst of great pain and sorrow, he did not blame God... although he was close to doing that or maybe he did "indirectly" when he questioned God's wisdom in creating him. But there's no doubt that Job knew his place in relation to God... that God was God and he was a mere creature! Whether good or bad, he would worship God. I wonder why we worship God?

What always amazes about this story is the story behind the story... the main story (God vs. Satan) behind the lesser story (Job and his three friends). And what the main story is about is the wager between God and Satan. God believes that Job will worship him even if it involved the greatest suffering. Satan doesn't think so! God believes that Job loved him because He was God and not for some lesser, self-interested reason, like saving his skin or getting material blessings. I suppose nothing brings out the true intentions of our hearts like suffering does, especially unjust suffering like Job experienced. When we go through suffering whether as a result of someone's decision or our own, will we worship God? Suffering exposes us to where we are weak and shows us where we need the grace of God the most. Our weakness is where God wants us to concentrate our effort. Let us all stand fast on the true grace of God

Posted by Pastor James

the wisdom of solomon

in the light of the upcoming election, i find solomon's request for wisdom to rule over his people with justice particularly interesting. when God tells solomon in a dream to ask for whatever he wants, he asks for neither wealth nor fame, neither long life nor victory over his enemies, but wisdom to govern rightly.

God is very pleased with this request, and it is noteworthy that not only did He grant solomon his request, but "all the other things were added" as well.

thinking about this gave me a clue as to how to pray for our political leaders, most especially the current president and the incoming president.

we ought to pray for the president that God would give him "the wisdom to govern the people rightly". i know our current political system does not allow for the absolute power that solomon enjoyed.

but God's justice and righteousness are the foundations for any successful government. we should pray that the president would have the heart of solomon and desire the wisdom to govern rightly and justly, whatever his religious convictions might be.

i wonder then if "all the other things" (military victory over our enemies, national wealth, and fame (that is, international renown) would be added to him and to the country as well.

a president who has the humility to recognize that he can't do it alone is the kind of president this country needs in these troubled times.

The Covenant God

From today's reading, I learned several things. First, the God of the Bible is a covenant making God. He comes to us, he seeks us, and offers to make a covenant with us. We did not seek God, but God sought us and offers his promises. Second, a covenant is accompanied with a sign. For the Jews it was circumcision, but for us it is baptism. The sign (baptism) points to the reality of the covenant and outwardly displays that we are part of the covenant people of God. Third, every covenant involves obligation. For the Jews, it was the Ten Commandment; for the Christians, the Ten Commandment is reduced to two, loving God with everything and loving our neighbor as ourselves. And finally there are blessings and curses. If we kept God's command, the Holy Spirit will so work in our lives to bless us, but if we break the commandment, the Holy Spirit is grived and discipline is inevitable.

Posted by Pastor James

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