Thursday, November 27, 2008,8:09 AM
[G]od's [R]iches [A]t [C]hrist's [E]xpense
I have been reading a book by Philip Yancey called "What's so amazing about Grace" ( from Chao yuan) and yup, since i am pretty free in camp. i have decided to share what i have learnt. And first, let me start of with "What's Grace".
GRACE: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.
Grace is the bounty that God offers us and the payment is not delayed but been covered – entirely – by Jesus Christ.
An honest and careful search of our heart will reveal the guilt, shame and emptiness in our heart. And many of the times, people including christians tend to turn towards worldly ways and desires to overcome that barrier, in hope to fill the emptiness within us .By indulging in worldly and sinful desires to satisfy our craving. Such as drinking, smoking or even drugs, or turning towards less sinful and destructive alternatives such as counselling or deceiving ourself to finding self esteem. And usually , at the end of the day, we seldom find the comfort we are all looking for, even if we do, its never lasting.
To be frank, all of us are imperfect and there is no way we can be called fit to enter the kingdom of God, by doing good alone. ((Romans 3:20 ), for if we were to look, and work according to the law alone, we can never enter the kingdom of God, for we are all sinners . But, its through God's mercy and Grace that we are saved. And if we were to compare Christianity with all the other religions in the world, its Grace alone that makes us Christians stand out from the others, and most importantly, its Grace that saves us. (Romans 11:6)
So then, what is Grace? As seen from the acronym above, Grace is God's Riches At the Christ's Expense. Grace is the bounty that God offers us and the payment is not delayed but been covered – entirely – by Jesus Christ as seen in Ephesians 2:8. There is no need to search for it, but by knowing and believing in God alone, Grace have been showered on us. "T'was Grace that taught...my heart to fear.And Grace, my fears relieved.How precious did that Grace appear...the hour I first believed". The means of grace are those things, like prayer or reading the Bible, which appropriate God’s grace into our lives.
In context to the topic bout the shame, guilt and the emptiness within us, (which is inevitable, for we are all sinners). These are actually good things if it leads us to repentance. We have no more ability to pay our debt that it does its debt. Thus, if we try to solve our guilt on our own it will only lead to more guilt and ultimately death and hell but if we turn to Jesus for our help and salvation (saving from the debt) we can lose our hopelessness. When we return God to His rightful place in our hearts then, believe me, our hearts are no longer empty. ( Acts 20:32, 2 Corinthian 9:8).
"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,That saved a wretch like me.I once was lost but now am found,Was blind, but now I see"
This is pretty much what i have learnt ,and know about Grace :) Hope u guys learn something from it too. And remember, always turn towards God, for his grace is far more than sufficient, and since it is God's richness, its something so majestic and rich, and far beyond what we can comprehend. (John 1:16) And heres the mega good news! IT HAS ALL BEEN PAID FOR. But with one conditon, FAITH. and that is simply to believe in God :) (Ephesians 2:8-9)
P.S: haha i know there are quite a few bible verses, but please do take the time to read them =)
-Adrian.
>>and i live just for you my lord.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008,12:58 AM
whiter than snow
Hi all, today's passage is taken from Isaiah 1:18
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you will eat the best from the land;
but if you resist and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword."
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
oh yes, here i go again, you'd almost think i've run out of things to say.
but in the past few weeks i've read this passage 3 times(deliberately using the concordance)
well, i'm not gonna talk about how snow is so white and blah blah blah.
rather i'd just ask all of us to take a couple of minutes from whatever we're doing, and sit(NOT LIE DOWN!) and think about the wonder of the passage.
Colossians 1:21 says
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight without blemish and free from accusation-if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
do you fully grasp the picture?
i don't think i can. contentment usually takes over after a while, and diminishes the awesome significance of the imagery of Salvation that God gives us.
but when i can, i find that it takes my breath away. it really is one of those things that leaves me thinking 'I can't believe i'm here.'
just imagine, from condemned enemies of God(ENEMIES!) to his children!
so this week's prayer pointer is to ask God to keep us aware of the miracle of the gospel.
>>and i live just for you my lord.
Thursday, November 13, 2008,4:26 PM
HELLO!
hello i'm popping over here under an internet blanket so that the big bad wolf cannot see me. sorry ah abit vague, but esther or eugenia will prolly know. anyway i miss you guys ((: see this!
its my desktop now. whee! WHERE IS MY SHIRT! i hope it fits ok :|is judygoh staying till january??? meow ok happy mugging guys. CHAOYUAN. MY BLUE LIKE JAZZ! since you took it for so long, you can lend me ragamuffin gospel. i think we should pool our books and set up a book club or smth for the cg, good good ((:
yawn ok take care. byebye have fun at camp and christmas and newyear! see y'all soon!
lala.
>>and i live just for you my lord.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008,7:51 PM
Elisha, child murderer?
Hi all, today's prayer pointer stems from a rather obscure passage in the bible.
2 Kings 2:23-25
From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. "Go on up, you baldhead!" they said. "Go on up, you baldhead!" He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.
ok, the following is taken from my newest bible.
Was this personal revenge on harmless youths?
Probably not, for the following reasons
1 )Very likely these were young men( the word translated youths often refers to people in their late teens), not little children. To Elisha, the group of at least 42 youths must have appeared a fearsome mob
2)Their mockery represented the irreverance of a generation growing up with increasing contempt for God and his laws (Lev. 19:32)
3)Their insults targeted not just Elisha's baldness but the God whom he represented. In taunting Elisha and rejecting his prophetic authority, the youths were taunting God and rejecting his authority. Go on up may have been a way of saying "get lost!" or perhaps, "If you are really a prophet like Elijah, go on up to heaven as he did."
4)Elisha did not take personal revenge but called on the Lord, who seems to have used the bears to warn a corrupt generation that blasphemy against God would be met with swift consequences.
I hope that upon reading this, you, like me, feel better that one of the most famous prophets in the bible is not a petty and vain man like you once thought he was.
furthermore, there are 2 obvious implications i see from this passage.
1. respect our pastors! i'm sure we have no problem with this, and so, let's take a further step by remembering to pray for them and their families.
2. remember our generation. if you do not have the confidence to save our generation, at least have the commitment to save one person from our generation. pray for your non-Christian friends!
>>and i live just for you my lord.
Monday, November 3, 2008,8:03 PM
Diversions
Hi guys, currently i'm reading a book by my newest favourite author(oh how fickle i am) Brennan Manning, titled The Importance of Being Foolish. so i hope to bless you with an excerpt from it.
There are certain burning questions that every Christian must answer in total candor. Do you hunger for Jesus Christ? Do you yearn to spend time alone with him in prayer? Is he the most important person in your life? Does he fill your soul like a song of joy? Is he on your lips as a shout of praise? Or has he been smothered by distractions, nullified by pride? Do you eagerly turn to his memoirs, his Testament, to learn more of him? Do you thirst for the living water of his Holy Spirit? Are you making the effort to die daily to anything and everything that inhibits, diminishes, or threatens your friendship with him?
To ascertain where you really are with the Lord, recall what saddened you the past month. was it the realization that you do not love Jesus enough? That you did not seek his face in prayer often enough? That you did not care for his people enough? Or did you get depressed over a lack of respect, criticism from an authority figure, your finances, a lack of friends, fears about the future, or your bulging waistline?
Conversely, what gladdened you the past month? Reflection on your election to the Christian community? the joy of saying slowly, "Abba, Father"? The afternoon you stole away for two hours with only the gospel as your companion? A small victory over selfishness? Or were the sources of your joy a new car, a Brooks Brothers suit, a great date, great sex, a raise, or a loss of four inches from your hips?
When all Christians surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within; when we submit to the saving truth that we reach life only through death, that we come to light only through darkness; when we acknowledge that the grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, that Jonah must be buried in the whale's belly, that the alabaster jar of self must be broken if others are to perceive the sweet fragrance of Christ; when we respond to Jesus's call of "Come to me," then the limitless power of the Holy Spirit will be unleashed with astonishing force upon the church and the world.
But that will happen only when we break away from the lives we have grown accustomed to living, lives ruled by our desires for security, pleasure, and power. It is these desires that hold us back from recognizing the truth of our need for God's mercy. It is these desires that prevent us from peeling off the filmy residue of our lives without God and prevent transparency.
well, when i read this, i was pretty shellshocked. i mean, i was obviously guilty. this is not to justify myself, but i think the author's thrust was not for those of us who had the right answers to those questions to gleefully jump up and down and feel big headed, but for those of us who did not have the right answers, that we would see our standing once again.
and still believe that we are forgiven. for commiting evil. for not loving our neighbours. for not loving God enough. for everything.
it's funny how things seem tragic and beautiful at the same time. how we are so helpless by our selves, but how that same helplessness is the opportunity for God's strength to be made perfect. and i cannot say that i understand it all, nor can i ever expect myself to, whether in the near or distant future. but what i do, is that i take a step back, and ask God to take over.
yeah yeah i know this sounds cheesy. but even if it sounds cheesy, i'm not going to let it stop me.
so this week's prayer pointer is that we would desire God.
>>and i live just for you my lord.
Photos From Joel
Hi POP2!
Have been visiting the blog now and then but haven't been editing or doing anything much about it. One thing, you all might want to sign off to say who you are so we know who posted the entry, unless of course you do not wish for people to know it was you.
Anyway, think i should be doing more in future to brighten up our blog and do some little bits of updating here and there. So maybe we can start taking more unglam photos of each other ok!
Those looking to grab the photos that are with me, i have attached them below:
-Jo-
>>and i live just for you my lord.
