Tuesday, December 16, 2008,10:52 PM
Hi all! a lot of copying and pasting in this post! but here goes
2 Corinthians 12:7
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 18:27
You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
humble in greek is 'aniy'. NO i did not misspell our friend's name. and its meaning is as shown below
1) poor, afflicted, humble, wretched
a) poor, needy
b) poor and weak
c) poor, weak, afflicted, wretched
d) humble, lowly
I think God was trying to tell me that he values our humility. remember the tax collector who confessed his sin? the canaanite woman who said that even dogs eat the scraps from their masters' table?
and on both occasions, Jesus' compassion went out to them!
maybe pride was the original sin; pride caused Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, and Adam to listen to Eve. Why else does God detest pride so much? Jesus shunned no sinner, but could not stop criticizing the pharisees.
when we are humble, we acknowledge our needs. and hence this makes us rely on God. no wonder Paul delights in his weakness! Can you imagine a day when we feel we have reached a point where we no longer need God? God forbid that day will ever come.
is it wrong to conclude that God loves it when we need Him? that He loves to provide for us? imagine the depth of God's love!
so for this week's prayer pointers, it is that we will see our need for God more clearly.
God bless!
>>and i live just for you my lord.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008,11:16 PM
so i guess we've all heard about the mumbai blast, and the disturbingly hurting news that one of our fellow country(wo)men died. and i say it's disturbing, because i'm guessing none of us know her, but somehow as singaporeans(not all of us are fond of being one, i can surmise) we do feel affected do we not?
i think it's good if from time to time, we take a pause and ask ourselves whether it's all worth it. i think i was talking bout this with a few people. animals are horribly abused in labs, and china, people are abused everywhere, perhaps even in our neighbourhood, where a maid is treated as a lesser human being.
do you feel like you wish you never had to be on earth? that sometimes, you could have got away as being one of the angels, whom we assume are already holy and righteous? i have, quite a few times. this 3rd (or 4th, i'm not too sure) rock from the sun is getting more depressing as the years go by.
the bible says that this life on earth is a transition(i'm very sorry i dunno where the verse is but it's in one of the new testament letters). and in other places, it tells us not to worry about the things on earth, to focus on heavenly treasure.
yes, the pain is temporary. but pain hurts. let us not be apathetic towards the plight of others. next year's theme for AMKMC is ministry. let us reach out to those whom we know are hurting. let us lose the fear of being perceived as outstanding, 'extra', weird, but instead, let us remember their hurt over our reputation and ego.
prayer pointer:
for God to prepare us, as we strive to be doers of His word
>>and i live just for you my lord.
