Colossians 3:23-24 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
I'm definitely feeling the effects of the quarter system. I'm 2.5 weeks into school and my first exam is tomorrow at 7:30 AM! I remember hearing this verse during Vacation Bible Club this past summer and I feel like its no coincidence that God reminded me of it just now. Even though we're students, we're working for the Lord. We're here to do His work and to make Him glorified. An A is always nice but an A isn't eternal. Bringing glory to my maker is so much greater. Now...to learn how to do that. Pray that I can find what it means to serve God through my studies.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Christ is My Cofactor
It's 12:35 AM and I'm sitting here studying my physiology lecture. Keep in mind I'm really tired but I thought I would get a quick blog in. I'm absolutely fascinated by it all. PTL for creating such intricate systems!
While I was sitting here learning about neurotransmitters, I came across an interesting component - the cofactor. I wasn't quite sure what it is so I looked it up:
Cofactor - A cofactor is a non-protein chemical compound that is bound to a protein and is required for the protein's biological activity.
So in the case of NMDA, a ligand gated ion channel, a neurotransmitter can bind to a receptor on an ion channel but without subsequent binding of glycine, a cofactor, nothing can occur. The protein can't function as it should.
My life is largely the same way. I can crazy, trying to produce fruit with my deeds but without the presence and hand of God, all of it is worthless. Each and every day, I need God.
Strange comparison? Yeah, definitely. Regardless of that, God met me where I was and spoke to me.
While I was sitting here learning about neurotransmitters, I came across an interesting component - the cofactor. I wasn't quite sure what it is so I looked it up:
Cofactor - A cofactor is a non-protein chemical compound that is bound to a protein and is required for the protein's biological activity.
So in the case of NMDA, a ligand gated ion channel, a neurotransmitter can bind to a receptor on an ion channel but without subsequent binding of glycine, a cofactor, nothing can occur. The protein can't function as it should.
My life is largely the same way. I can crazy, trying to produce fruit with my deeds but without the presence and hand of God, all of it is worthless. Each and every day, I need God.
Strange comparison? Yeah, definitely. Regardless of that, God met me where I was and spoke to me.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Rejoice!
Matthew 5:3 - Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This verse has been on my mind for awhile. While sitting in class the other day, I began to think about my future and inevitably, my future income. As much as a pharmacist's salary is, such a thing is not what will make me rich. I am convinced that I am already rich, not because of anything that I own or have gone but rich in the grace of God.
I am poor in spirit, although that is not to say that I have mastered this. I acknowledge that I have a long way to go. However, I know that my heart is poor in that I am depraved. Each and every day, I need God's grace, mercy, and love to cover me. In times of darkness and times of light, I am nothing without God. As a result of my faith, I am an heir of God. This is something that we should all rejoice in daily.
This verse has been on my mind for awhile. While sitting in class the other day, I began to think about my future and inevitably, my future income. As much as a pharmacist's salary is, such a thing is not what will make me rich. I am convinced that I am already rich, not because of anything that I own or have gone but rich in the grace of God.
I am poor in spirit, although that is not to say that I have mastered this. I acknowledge that I have a long way to go. However, I know that my heart is poor in that I am depraved. Each and every day, I need God's grace, mercy, and love to cover me. In times of darkness and times of light, I am nothing without God. As a result of my faith, I am an heir of God. This is something that we should all rejoice in daily.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
James 4:13-17
James 4:13-17
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, do you not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? you area mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
At the start of this passage, James is fairly straight forward and blunt. It's not that James advises us not to plan. It would be foolish not to. In v13-14, James is talking about an attitude of ownership and arrogance, one that as college students, we are all too familiar with. Time is a precious thing so we see it as our own, to use it as we please for our own personal benefit. We make plans and try to control them as tightly as possible, not erring for anything. To think that our time is our own is the first crucial mistake - time doesn't belong to us. We're living on borrowed time as recipients of the Lord's mercy. The next mistake is to believe that we have control over our lives. Our lives are also gifts from the Lord. To believe that we are in control - as opposed to God - is to live a life of arrogance. In v16, James captures this idea by stating that such boasting or bragging is evil.
James quickly contrasted such an attitude with one of humility in v15, stating that we ought to live the Lord's will for us. This is an act of submission, lifting our lives up to the Lord and living according to His plans, His timing, and His will rather than our own. This is consistent with what James wrote earlier in the chapter, calling Christians to "submit themselves before God" and to "humble [ourselves] before the Lord". Our lives our not our own. We should continually strive to submit to the Lord's will and to become more like Him in our nature.
With this act of humility in mind, James concludes this portion of his writing by proclaiming in v17 that "anyone...who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins". This idea is not new in the book of James as it is seen in earlier chapters. To know is one thing. To know and follow is another. A humble heart that is submitted to God should be one that is walking with the Lord and growing in the knowledge of His ways. As James stated in chapter 2, works will be a natural outcome of such a growing faith in the Lord. Knowing what God wills and continually resisting is an act of arrogance - by doing so, we are essentially saying that while we acknowledge God and His will for us, we know better than God and will do as we please instead of as He pleases.
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, do you not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? you area mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.
At the start of this passage, James is fairly straight forward and blunt. It's not that James advises us not to plan. It would be foolish not to. In v13-14, James is talking about an attitude of ownership and arrogance, one that as college students, we are all too familiar with. Time is a precious thing so we see it as our own, to use it as we please for our own personal benefit. We make plans and try to control them as tightly as possible, not erring for anything. To think that our time is our own is the first crucial mistake - time doesn't belong to us. We're living on borrowed time as recipients of the Lord's mercy. The next mistake is to believe that we have control over our lives. Our lives are also gifts from the Lord. To believe that we are in control - as opposed to God - is to live a life of arrogance. In v16, James captures this idea by stating that such boasting or bragging is evil.
James quickly contrasted such an attitude with one of humility in v15, stating that we ought to live the Lord's will for us. This is an act of submission, lifting our lives up to the Lord and living according to His plans, His timing, and His will rather than our own. This is consistent with what James wrote earlier in the chapter, calling Christians to "submit themselves before God" and to "humble [ourselves] before the Lord". Our lives our not our own. We should continually strive to submit to the Lord's will and to become more like Him in our nature.
With this act of humility in mind, James concludes this portion of his writing by proclaiming in v17 that "anyone...who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins". This idea is not new in the book of James as it is seen in earlier chapters. To know is one thing. To know and follow is another. A humble heart that is submitted to God should be one that is walking with the Lord and growing in the knowledge of His ways. As James stated in chapter 2, works will be a natural outcome of such a growing faith in the Lord. Knowing what God wills and continually resisting is an act of arrogance - by doing so, we are essentially saying that while we acknowledge God and His will for us, we know better than God and will do as we please instead of as He pleases.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
That Was Easy
Matthew 8:23-26
23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Worried. That's how I would have described myself at this point last week. Last week, I was deathly afraid of what was to come. Orientation was the next day and I knew no one at Midwestern University. I came before the Lord and asked Him to be with me constantly and faithfully. I asked that He would provide, in His time, a Christian group or even just a brother to walk with over the course of the next four years. My prayer was one of little faith - full of words and ideas along with a great deal of doubt.
The next day, the unexpected happened. In my orientation group was a guy from Wheaton College. Praise the Lord! Fast forward to this week. I had lunch with this guy and we spent a good hour talking about our testimonies - how in our times of weakness, God provided Himself to be loving and faithful. I thought that finding a brother on campus would be a daunting task. To God, it was easy. Pray boldly. Pray with faith.
23Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Worried. That's how I would have described myself at this point last week. Last week, I was deathly afraid of what was to come. Orientation was the next day and I knew no one at Midwestern University. I came before the Lord and asked Him to be with me constantly and faithfully. I asked that He would provide, in His time, a Christian group or even just a brother to walk with over the course of the next four years. My prayer was one of little faith - full of words and ideas along with a great deal of doubt.
The next day, the unexpected happened. In my orientation group was a guy from Wheaton College. Praise the Lord! Fast forward to this week. I had lunch with this guy and we spent a good hour talking about our testimonies - how in our times of weakness, God provided Himself to be loving and faithful. I thought that finding a brother on campus would be a daunting task. To God, it was easy. Pray boldly. Pray with faith.
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