往前冲不是生活的方式

这个假期。。 似乎在为别人而活。。 看似为别人，但其实，是自己的胆怯，使我停止了脚步。。很想做些什么。。很想。。看些什么。。生活的节奏。。好不搭哦。。
完美的梦想，怎么，
在这世界就完美不起来了呢？
破碎的希望，却一片一片地被捡起又弃。。
是我太得空了？
得空得用忙碌掩盖？
忙碌中又明白自己的不安，空虚。。
好想找到平衡的中心。。
总找不到。

烦

绿。

Devotion for the week

13/10/2012
Mark 12- 27: ²⁷ He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

What does it mean to my life?
- That our God is a living God -
Eternity, our citizenship is in heaven.

15/10/2012

Mark 12- 28-29 .......“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[e] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^[f] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[g] There is no commandment greater than these.”

What does it mean to my life?

-To love God first and love others-

Heart: Heart is the centre core of our body, to love Him with all our Heart is to place Him in the centre  

           of our being.

           Motivation behind the things we do, will be to obey His will, Obedience to Him is a reflection of 

           our hearts turning to Him (Will)

Soul: Affection- Emotions

         Strong's concordance defines it as: "a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite,   

         emotion."

         http://www.cloquetchurch.com/loving-god-all-your-soul

         The choices you make.

Mind: Be transformed with the renewing of the mind, To renew our mind with the truth, with reality, 

          with what the bible says. 

          Bible Study, Reading Scriptures and Understanding it, Memorizing scripture, Believing in it   

          (Mind)

Strength: To be Passionate, All our energy be devoted in doing His good work, physically, mentally

               To live is Christ, to die it gain. Devoting every moment doing His good work. 

-Why love Him first?-

Because He is love

-Who is my neighbour?-

Everyone beside me is my neighbour.

For example - Tin, Wen, YT, Es, Fy, People in church, People I encounter everyday.

16/10/2012
Today is a day of prayer, through fasting and prayer, not only the reality of God, the truth in this life is being painted out, there is a inexplainable connection that happened when we prayed as a church together. 
I would like to jot this down as a reminder of how AWE some God is. How pure,  how Holy, how righteous and merciful. He IS Love. And how real this message that is presented in the bible is. So many times, we settled for less. I settled for less. When there is something greater and beyond our enjoyment and pleasure. God. God is most glorified when I'm most satisfied in Him. This is true. While praying together with other people, it is just amazing that how, even though we are different individuals, but as we pray, we seem to be one. Even though I don't even know them, I feel part of this family, as brothers and sisters in Christ. It's amazing that how, when I have the urge to pray for this for example the youth pastor, someone would prayed it out as if we can read each others mind, we are all praying the same thing. I was utterly shocked by what is going on in that small room. This doesn't just happened once but each time, when I am about to pray for something, someone else would have the same thoughts and minds. Amazing. We are ONE body in Christ. unspeakable. unexplainably amazing. And I don;t want to be ignorant in this, but God has shown me that how pure and clean He can make our relationship when we fix our eyes on Him, even when we are sinners. He has washed away our sins with His precious blood. This is an ultimate truth and an amazing one.

17/10/2012
Poem
Dear Lord, today is a day that is full of activities, but least of You.
Less in the prayerful heart,
and in the coming bac to Your truth.
Laziness, creeps in with slothfulness,
With contented, that is not in You.
Wow.. You have opened my eyes to see,
what great danger this can be.
A moment not spent with You,
is a moment less worth living.
For You alone are worthy O Lord,
You alone are God.
Replacing You can mean by anything,
From the way we think and the reason we sing.
From the way we talk to the navigations of our talk.
How far more our stubborn hearts can be away from You.
How far more our malices reject the hope in You.
Lord, as this prayer becomes a devotion, a poem, a song.
May You be the author and writer of this heart,
And You alone the centre of the Universe.

Romans 12: 9-13
Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.
Honour one another above yourselves.
¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 
¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction,faithful in prayer. 
¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.Practice hospitality.

^^

其實， 坐在窗前，看著樹的擺動，有種難癮的幸福～

A taste of spice :)

Interestingly this has been kept in my draft for more than a year~ hahahz! thought it's still interesting to post it out~ :)

wow.. been quite some time since I last posted something on my blog. :) Time flies doesn't it? :D but yet, sometimes we find that it moves sooo slowly.. guess this is what is said: seeing it from a different perspective (from wicked" lolz!!!) :P oh well.. this morning, I went for grocery shopping in Coles after work, and we push the trolley back after asking for a worker's permission. So happily, we bring all the things home. When we reached home, something happened. Haiz.. once again, got scolded by uncle.. it was really really discouraging this time.. as always, he wud brought up the issue of : you are a christian, but you are not thinking as one. He scolded me for bringing the trolley back to the hostel, and said that if others saw it, they will report to the police and got a few thousand fine.. and they will blacklist the hostel etc. and he started talking about people smuggling durgs into some country or stg and got caught.. oh well. that's not his main point anyway. But what hurts me most is everytime he started to scold me for the things I did, he wud start saying: u'r a christian.. I felt the strong burden everytime he said that, but of what my friend says, filter it out. As I guess, it's just normal for people to have expectations of a Christian, and that expectation is expecting us to be holy and flawless. and every opportunity to find our faults is a way to prove to themselves that Christianity is not worth it. Following Christ is not worth it, u see! that person claims to be a Christian but did all these things etc etc. I admit that Christians do make mistakes and sometimes like me, made terrible mistakes, but it's because of our nature, our sinful nature, that made us realize that we need our Saviour more.

Being Christian doesn't mean u'r perfect, but it means that we are just normal human beings like anyone else, who have come to know the truth and have been graciously given a new life by Christ. There are many holes and loops in this sharing that might cause misunderstanding, but I pray that God will open up the eyes of the heart of anyone who reads this sharing and of anyone who reads the poem below. This is who Christians really are. I am sorry for the mistakes that sometimes we Christians made that hurt you but I do hope that this doesn't stop you from knowing and experiencing the true joy in life and I challenge you that when u hate Christian, what are you really hating?

When I Say "I Am A Christian"...

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I am saved"
I'm whispering "I get lost!"
"That is why I chose this way."

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need someone to be my guide.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
and pray for strength to carry on.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
and cannot ever pay the debt.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
my flaws are too visible
but God believes I'm worth it.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartaches
which is why I seek His name.

When I say..."I am a Christian"
I do not wish to judge.
I have no authority.
I only know I'm loved.

Reflections on the Concept of Self-Worth

October 15, 1976 | by John Piper | Topic: The Unwasted Life

What does the term “self worth” mean to you?

It means first a humanistic effort to solve man’s problems by helping him make peace with himself so that he ceases to be displeased with anything that is truly him. Since this is the overwhelming meaning of the term in our society, I find it unprofitable to use and I oppose it with a radically God-centered anthropology which aims to preserve a proper and profound appreciation for the mercy of God.


But if I am forced on certain texts like Matthew 6:26 (Luke 12:24) “You are of more value than the birds.” I will use the word worth or value and define it like this: man is valuable because he is created in the image of God and is therefore an expression of God's glory. Humans have value in that they unlike all the animals have the unique potential to consciously honor God by thanking him and relying on his mercy alone.

What is your concept of man’s depravity?

I believe that man apart from the regenerating work of God is totally depraved. That is, he is capable of no holy act or thought. Romans 14:23 says, “What is not of faith is sin.” Therefore the unbeliever only sins, even if he gives all his good to feed the poor and his body to be burned (1 Corinthians 13:3). Reason: good, value, worth, etc., can only be properly defined ultimately with reference to what honors God. Things done with no reference to God and from no trust in his mercy are not good. “There is no one who does good not even one!” (Romans 3:12).

What does it mean that man is in the image of God?


The imago dei is that about man which gives him the potential to be redemptively loved by God and to consciously depend in gratitude on God’s mercy. It is cited in unbelievers only in Genesis 9:6 (to justify capital punishment) and James 3:9 (where the implication is that we ought not curse man). It is not an important concept to the writers of Scripture, for they were not nearly so concerned as our age with what inheres in man. They were concerned not with who man was but rather whom he loved, obeyed, lived for. Man was fully man not when he fulfilled or expanded anything inherent in himself but when he ceased making claims for himself and took his refuge in God.

What significance should self-acceptance have for the Christian?


The closest biblical notion I can think of to “self-acceptance” is Paul’s statements that he can be content in all circumstances and that we should rejoice always. In the amoral sphere of looks, health, wealth, prestige, etc., God’s people should be content (Hebrews 13:5–6) and the specific ground for this contentment is the promise, “God will never leave you nor forsake you. . . What can man do to you?” In the moral sphere of character, i.e., how patient, humble, kind, generous, gentle, diligent we are, I see no room for self-acceptance until we are changed into the image of Jesus.


Our joy in this sphere comes not from self-acceptance but from our intense sense of the mercy of God accepting us into his fellowship. It is wrong to say: If God accepts me, I should accept myself. For God is against us in our sin and for us only in Christ. We should thus loathe our sinful self and magnify the mercy of Christ in whom alone we have acceptance and joy unspeakable.


John Murray, in his excellent book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied makes these pointed remarks:


Indeed the more sanctified the person is, the more conformed he is to the image of his Savior, the more he must recoil against every lack of conformity to the holiness of God. The deeper his apprehension of the majesty of God the greater the intensity of his love of God, the more persistent his yearning for the attainment of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, the more conscious will he be of the gravity of the sin which remains and the more poignant will be his detestation of it. (145)
What is your concept of man?


Man is a bodily creature (as distinct from angels) whom God made to image forth God’s own glory by thinking, feeling and acting in a way that befits one who is wholly dependent on God for everything. Man ceases to be wholly man when he does not walk in faith, i.e., when he does not glorify God by a life of reliance on God.

That is why it is almost impossible for me to use the term humanism, since the only true humanism is theocentric and thus is not a humanism at all in the usual sense of the word.

How does your concept of man reflect your concept of God?


God is the first and greatest of all beings, eternal and infinite in righteousness, power, wisdom, love. In the perfect and ineffable fellowship of the Trinity he is the most joyous of all beings. It is precisely his infinite fullness that gives rise to creation and redemption. He cannot be added to but only overflow and thus all his ways are just and merciful (Psalm 145:17). The nature of man then is that his being is the fruit of mercy since nothing of it is owing to himself. So man’s being should be realized in joyous contentment in the true love of God.

Given this concept, what do you say to the student overwhelmed with his lack of self-worth? What about the person who is kept from functioning as he should by his real or imagined “club-foot?”


If it is an imagined “club-foot,” you shatter the imagination so the person has a true self-assessment. If they are good in math and think they are bad, you may show them the evidence of their God-given skill and urge them to stop desecrating his gift by acting as if it is not there. In this way you change their mistake and you focus their attention on God and their duty to gratefully use his gift.


If it is a real “club-foot,” you distinguish between the moral and the a-moral.

With the a-moral you urge them to be content, because of the promises of God to give us a good future (Psalm 23:6; Jeremiah 32:40–42; Romans 8:28).


With the moral “club-foot” (i.e., sin) you do not want them to be content and you condone their sense of guilt and urge them to confess the sin and change, pointing them for relief and joy to God’s merciful forgiveness (1 John 1:9).

How do you help a student to achieve genuine self-knowledge?

Since the heart is deceitful above all things, one can’t be left to mere introspection. And ultimately true self-knowledge can only come by divine revelation because true God-knowledge can only come by divine revelation. My own means of assisting self-knowledge is thus to assist God-knowledge, i.e., to teach theology and biblical exegesis and to strive to do it in such a way that the reality of God really impinges on the students’ heart and mind revealing his inmost thoughts and attitudes.

How do students become content so that they can be free for others?


The way a student comes to be content with the limitations in which God has put him is by coming to trust his Father’s wise and merciful bestowment more than he trusts the radio and T.V., which claim he can’t be happy unless he experiences X number of pleasures — fame, beauty, power, wealth, intelligence, etc. To be sad because one lacks these things is a mark of unbelief, because joy and peace come through believing that God is forging for us a better future than Madison Avenue can.


Therefore, the path to contentment is only through faith: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” (Romans 15:13). When we are thus at peace we are in a position where we do not have to “seek our own” (1 Corinthians 13:5); that is, we are in a position to love. (See the relation between hope and love in Colossians 1:4–5.)

Dum Dums

by Christine Hoover | March 26, 2012

My bank teller must be a dad.


Every time I go to the bank, he gives my children the exact same colored lollipops. I’ve never asked him to do this, but, without fail, he digs through the lollipop basket until he finds a matching set of Dum Dum lollipops.


He must be a dad because he knows about the fight he is saving me. The one where each of my boys are eyeing the lollipops they don't have rather than enjoying the one they do. The one where they whine for their favorite color. The one in which they are not satisfied until they have what their sibling has.


As I drive away from the bank’s drive-through window, I inwardly thank this man, and I think about this picture of human jealousy: envious, controlling, domineering, possessive, and self-focused.


God is a Dad, but he is not like my bank teller.


He gives lollipops out to everyone, but he does not give them equally or similarly. He gives them perfectly, however, and until we trust that, we’ll be dissatisfied with what we’ve been given.


As a Father, God knows his kids’ tendency to want what their siblings have. It's hard not wanting the bright pink lollipop when we’re given the brown one. But unlike our spiteful jealousy, God’s jealousy for us says, “I absolutely know what is best for you and I want you to have it. Because I love you, I will not give you anything less than my best. However, what I give you is going to be different than what I give that person you are comparing yourself to.” He lifts our eyes up to him and away from watching others and reminds us that he has perfectly and strategically given us our gifts, talents, and ministries.


Romans 8:28 reminds us that God is always working things for good on our behalf:


“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”


“What a power would be unleashed in your life and mind if we really believed that the almighty God, whose counsel cannot be frustrated, is this very minute, busily at work making sure that what happens to us this afternoon and tomorrow at home and at work is only what is best for us!" (Source)

Letter to an incomplete, insecure teenager by John Piper

Four years ago a teenager in our church wrote to me for advice about life in general, and identity in particular. Here is what I wrote, with a big dose of autobiography for illustration.


Dear ________,


My experience of coming out of an introverted, insecure, guilty, lustful, self-absorbed adolescent life was more like the emergence of a frog from a tadpole than a butterfly from a larva.


Larvae disappear into their cocoons and privately experience some inexplicable transformation with no one watching (it is probably quite messy in there) and then the cocoon comes off and everyone says oooo, ahhh, beautiful. It did not happen like that for me.


Frogs are born teeny-weeny, fish-like, slimy, back-water-dwellers. They are not on display at Sea World. They might be in some ritzy hotel's swimming pool if the place has been abandoned for 20 years and there's only a foot of green water in the deep end.


But little by little, because they are holy frogs by predestination and by spiritual DNA (new birth), they swim around in the green water and start to look more and more like frogs.


First, little feet come out on their side. Weird. At this stage nobody asks them to give a testimony at an Athletes in Action banquet.


Then a couple more legs. Then a humped back. The fish in the pond have already pulled back: "Hmmm," they say, "this does not look like one of us any more." A half-developed frog fits nowhere.


But God is good. He has his plan and it is not to make this metamorphosis easy. Just certain. There are a thousand lessons to be learned in the process. Nothing is wasted. Life is not on hold waiting for the great coming-out. That's what larvae do in the cocoon. But frogs are public all the way though the foolishness of change.


I think the key for me was finding help in the Apostle Paul and C. S. Lewis and my father, all of whom seemed incredibly healthy, precisely because they were so absolutely amazed at everything but themselves.


They showed me that the highest mental health is not liking myself but being joyfully interested in everything but myself. They were the type of people who were so amazed that people had noses—not strange noses, just noses—that walking down any busy street was like a trip to the zoo. O yes, they themselves had noses, but they couldn’t see their own. And why would they want to? Look at all these noses they are free to look at! Amazing.


The capacity of these men for amazement was huge. I marveled and I prayed that I would stop wasting so much time and so much emotional energy thinking about myself. Yuk, I thought. What am I doing? Why should I care what people think about me. I am loved byGod Almighty and he is making a bona fide high-hopping frog out of me.


The most important text on my emergent frogishness became 2 Corinthians 3:18 —


And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.


This was one of the greatest secrets I ever discovered: Beholding is becoming.


Introspection must give way to amazement at glory. When it does, becoming happens. If there is any key to maturity it is that. Behold your God in Jesus Christ. Then you will make progress from tadpole to frog. That was a great discovery.


Granted, (so I thought) I will never be able to speak in front of a group, since I am so nervous. And I may never be married, because I have too many pimples. Wheaton girls scare the bejeebies out of me. But God has me in his hand (Philippians 3:12) and he has a plan and it is good and there is a world, seen and unseen, out there to be known and to be amazed at—why would I ruin my life by thinking about myself so much?


Thank God for Paul and Lewis and my dad! It’s all so obvious now. Self is simply too small to satisfy the exploding longings of my heart. I wanted to taste and see something great and wonderful and beautiful and eternal.


It started with seeing nature and ended with seeing God. It started in literature, and ended in Romans and Psalms. It started with walks through the grass and woods and lagoons, and ended in walks through the high plains of theology. Not that nature and literature and grass and woods and lagoons disappeared, but they became more obviously copies and pointers.

The heavens are telling the glory of God. When you move from heavens to the glory of God, the heavens don’t cease to be glorious. But they are un-deified, when you discover what they are saying. They are pointing. “You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy” (Psalm 65:8).


What are the sunrise and sunset shouting about so happily? Their Maker! They are beckoning us to join them. But if I am grunting about the zit on my nose, I won’t even look out the window.


So my advice is: be patient with the way God has planned for you to become a very happy, belly-bumping frog. Don’t settle for being a tadpole or a weird half-frog. But don’t be surprised at the weirdness and slowness of the process either.


How did I become a preacher? How did I get married? God only knows. Incredible. So too will your emergence into what you will be at 34 be incredible. Just stay the course and look. Look, look. There is so much to see. The Bible is inexhaustible. Mainly look there. The other book of God, the unauthoritative one—nature—is also inexhaustible. Look. Look. Look. Beholding the glory of the Lord we are being changed.


I love you and believe God has great froggy things for you. Don’t worry about being only a high-hopping Christlike frog. Your joy comes from what you see.


Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.


There is another metamorphosis awaiting. It just gets better and better. God is infinite. So there will always be more of his glory for a finite mind to see. There will be no boredom in eternity.


Affectionately,


Pastor John