Monday, March 31, 2008
March 30 Bible Reading.
Got myself a One year bible today (I swear pple shd just keep me in my hse when I have money. I overspend.) Anyhows, I shall attempt to write something about what I read everyday. We will see how this one last. I swear my discipline SUCKS.
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The Deuteronomy passage spoke nothing much to me except for the 14:2, "For you are are people holy to the Lord, your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treaured possession out of the peoples on the face of the earth". The first thing I thought was that it echoed the verse in 1 Peter (or was it 2) about us being royal priests for Him. I guessed it also echoned something that Pastor Edmund said today about Man. God created man to be significant, to be purposeful and that is one thing that is consistent in both the old and new testament. It's also a good reminder of who I am in God too.
However, I don't really see much point in the rest of the passage besides rules and more rules governing the people. I don't even really reconciliate the fact that a loving God would set so much rules for the people. Anyone care to enlighten this for me?
The Luke passage stood out more to me though. A few things that stood out in the passge and even more stood up when I consulted my study bible.
Luke 8:48 : And he said to her, "Daughter, your faith had made you well, go in peace". The study bible I have stated that this is the only time Jesus called someone by this designation. Yes daughter. And it got me thinking. we are called sons and daughters of God, isn't it? Then wouldn't this be a guide of what He wants us to be? So i referred back to the story. Apparently, this unnamed woman was the one who touched Jesus's coat in a crowd and was healed. When Jesus felt the tufg, He turned and asked who was the one who touched Him and she admitted. What stood out for me was the fact that the woman trusted Jesus. Well, her healing wasn't even spectacular if you ask me, she just touched Jesus, end of story. No proclamations, no rar rar, but a silent trust that maybe if she touched Jesus she would be clean again. And she reached out, within the multitude that was surrounding Jesus, she reached out and touched and was healed. And Jesus called her daughter.
If we, were to be like this woman, to just reach out to Jesus in silent trust, trusting His power to heal us, would we not be called daughters of God as well?
So, the criteria of being His daughter was simply faith.
Maybe because I am slightly more aware today, I realized something interesting about the Luke passage. A starking contrast. The 1st story was a quiet demonstration of Jesus power and Jesus wanted to single her out and make a statement for the people, on the other hand, the following incident which is the bringing of a dead man to life (which to me seems like a more WOW event. Life and death vs Clean and Unclean) was told to be kept hush hush. And unlike the previous incident where no proclamations were made by Jesus, this one, Jesus said something pretty dramatic in my opinion, "Child, arise". very powerful,
So while I can understand, from my precious study bible that, Jesus did not want to announce the latter because of a few reasons like, he did not want to be seen as a miracle worker (which I agree. Jesus wouldn't want people to flock to Him because of his miracles. The whole point of Jesus would be missed. His primary purpose wasn't to be a miracle worker. His purpose is for man's salvation and that made a whole lot of difference) and another reason was that He did not want unwanted publicity and thre last that the bible offer3ed was that He did not want to bring forward His death until He had done all that was needed to do.
All perfectly sound reasons if you ask me, but what I have a little problem with was that , why did He announce the woman's healing from hermormage but not a dead child's rose to death. This time my study bible didn't prove helpful. All it said was something on the lines of Jesus found it approiate. Well, I am not God, so I would never know why, but it seemed to me that this kept reminding of something that was said on the Sermon on the Mount. "The weak shall be strong," COuld it be that Jesus wanted to show us that what we feel as unimportant, unpubliclity worthy are those things that are worth publicising? Or could it be that, Jesus honoured the faith of the woman so much to single her out as a living example for all of us? or was it that Jesus was full of compassion for the woman and that He wanted to know who was the one that He had healed so that He can give her a blessing for her faith?
Well, I guess we can never find out why because we are not God. But the truth, I guess, is that, God honoured the woman and her faith. And if we are as faithful, we would be honoured someway as well.
Towards the end of the Luke chapter talked about how Jesus sent his Twelve out, giving instructions on how they shouldn't take much - ie Depend on the people, stay in other people's houses - ie don't go around looking for better lodging and stay within the community to serve the others. This second point actually reminds me of something that I learnt in JC that is best captured in the verse that is loosely rephrased as We are in the world but no of the world. I mean, if we don't make friends with non Christians, backslidded believers, how are we going to spread Christ to them? If we don't mix with them, like Jesus eating with the tax collectors, how are they going to find out about God's everlasting love? And speaking of which, have I been a good Christian role model for the people around me? Why is it that I have such a nagging feeling that I am not? They don't even know I am Christian. Not only that, have I been showing God's love to the kids? Well, I feel that I have been too easily angered by them, more obsessed with the fact that the class was too noisy and complaining how my throat hurts. Maybe God did know me enough, that's why He gave me a sore throat so that I would not scream. But in any case, sorry Father, so the times where I could have shown your love more and did not, for the times that I had possibly forgot that you once said, "Let all the little children come to me" and that those who received those kids are eqivalent to recieving you.
The last line of my Luke passage intrigued me as well. It said that whenever people did not recieve Him, the disciples were to shakes off the dust from their own feet as a testimony against them. And I consulted my darling study bible again only to realize irt meant SEPARATION. It was like God saying, if you don't want me, I would have nothing to do with you. This felt like a symbolism for revelations to me. If we do not admit Jesus as Lord, He would not admit us as children as well and we would be judged on the the Second coming. What really captured me besides the link to the 2nd coming was the tone of it. The harshness that reminded me that God is a just God. He wasn't just a Grandfather God. He meant business as well.
I think I spent quite a bit on the Luke bit. On to the Psalms.
Pslam 71:19-21
O God who is like you
You who have made me see
many troubles and
calamities
will revive me again
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again
you will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
It is ironic that this spoke me to me that the verse they bolded for the day. I see the emphasis of WILL and AGAIN signifying that He was a God of hope and a loving God. He will pick us up AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN. It is not He MIGHT but He will. And He keeps His promise. I like the 1st 2 line sa well, reminding me that pain inevitable (quote Pastor Edmund) and the thing is, it is INEVITABLE but God will lead us out.
I am reminded that I was time and again far away from God and He still brought me back time after time. Just take the recent turnback from God. After MONTHS of ignoring Him, He took me back and continued to love me and bless me and still showing me new things about Himself day by day. My life story is indeed filled with the fingerprints of God. I fall time and again but yet I rise by the grace of God and everytime I fall, and rise again, I realize I grown, I realize I learn mroe about Him, I realise I have more to share to people around me. The feeling of falling is horrible, but God returned me threefold? Thousandfold? When I decided to go back to Him.
Even when things around me seem collapsing, allow me to quote from one of my fave songs by Natalie Grant called Held. " And the promise was that when everything fell we will be held" Indeed, I was always held. I can fall, but I fall into His embrace (I think it was from a Jaci Valeque song) and when everything else around me fell, I would be held into His embrace.
Amazing, So amazing to know that, He was indeed always there. He was, He is and He will catch us when we fall, love us when we are lonely, fill us when we are empty.
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Something that Pastor Edmund said today stuck. Well, Pastor gives splendid sermons.That was something about a janitor's interpretation of the revelations (one of the hardest book of the bible). When asked about what she understood from the book of Revelations, she said simply, "Jesus has won"
How simple.
How amazing.
To be a victor already. Not in the process of fighting but already the winner.
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I need to be more disciplined,
I need to be more disciplined.
Innocence
12:02 AM
