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.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Acts 4:1-22
John and Peter were jailed and put on trial. While there was overwhelming evidence that they were speaking the truth, the Jewish council still did not being their words and instead, feared them. They ordered John and Peter to stop talking about Jesus. This was their reply:
"For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen or heard." v20
I hope to one day have that attitude where I am so in love with and overwhelmed by the Lord that I cannot help but speak about Him to others.
"For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen or heard." v20
I hope to one day have that attitude where I am so in love with and overwhelmed by the Lord that I cannot help but speak about Him to others.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Acts 3
+Peter performs a miracle in the name of the Lord. The crippled man asked for money, he received the ability to walk. We often think we know what's best for us but the Lord gives us what is truly best.
+After he was blessed, the man immediately used his new found ability and praised the Lord while he was walking and jumping. Do we use the abilities that God blesses us with to bring glory and praise back to the Father?
+Onlookers immediately go to praise Peter and John for healing the man. Peter and John have the humble and appropriate response: they give the glory to God and acknowledge that it was the Lord, not themselves, that allowed the crippled man to walk. We shouldn't let our own success blind us of reality. We actually don't do anything. The Lord does everything and thus deserves all glory, honor, and praise.
+Again, in light of the sins of those who wanted Christ crucified, Peter once again calls the crowd to repent. He not only used the healing of the crippled man to praise God and point the glory back to Him but used the opportunity to make Christ known.
+After he was blessed, the man immediately used his new found ability and praised the Lord while he was walking and jumping. Do we use the abilities that God blesses us with to bring glory and praise back to the Father?
+Onlookers immediately go to praise Peter and John for healing the man. Peter and John have the humble and appropriate response: they give the glory to God and acknowledge that it was the Lord, not themselves, that allowed the crippled man to walk. We shouldn't let our own success blind us of reality. We actually don't do anything. The Lord does everything and thus deserves all glory, honor, and praise.
+Again, in light of the sins of those who wanted Christ crucified, Peter once again calls the crowd to repent. He not only used the healing of the crippled man to praise God and point the glory back to Him but used the opportunity to make Christ known.
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