Memories

August 12, 2010

I am overwhelmed with sadness.
It has been an emotional week since I found out about a passing of a good friend.
How can it be?
Is it real?
Is it true?
I carry on my regular routine, but memories of him appears in my mind and in my sight.
What happened?
Is he gone?
What is death?
Why is it sad?
Why is it physically painful even though there is no physical contact?
Why is it emotionally painful even though there's nothing around?

Memories.

Good memories.

John 11:1-44

I cannot help to think and remember the love and compassion that Jesus has. As I read that passage again tonight, as much as Jesus was the Son of God, and everyone knows that he is the Son of God:
"But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." - v.22.
"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." - v27.
"Jesus wept." - v35
Feelings are real.
Memories are real.
Jesus is real.

Be real.

Living

Titus 3

1. subject to rulers
2. to authorities
3. to be obedient
4. to be ready for every good deed
5. to malign no one
6. to be peaceable
7. gentle
8. showing every consideration for all men

"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

"those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds..."

To God be the Glory.

Teach

Titus 2
"¹You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine."

Older men are to be:

1. temperate
2. worthy of respect
3. self-controlled
4. sound in faith, in love and in endurance

Older women:

1. reverent in the way they live
2. not to be slanderers
3. not to be addicted to much wine
4. teach what is good

Younger women:

1. love their husband
2. love their children
3. self-controlled
4. pure
5. be busy at home
6. be kind
7. be subject to their husbands

Young men,
self-controlled.

"In your teaching show integrity, seriousness ⁸and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us."

Slaves:

1. be subject to their masters in everything,
2. try to please them
3. not to talk back to them
4. not to steal from them
5. show that they can be fully trusted
6. in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive

" ¹¹For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. ¹²It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good."

We shall wait patiently for the blessed hope.

To God be the Glory.

Hold firmly

Titus

"...Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. ⁹He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it."

1. be hospitable
2. loves what is good
3. self-controlled
4. upright
5. holy
6. disciplined
7. hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught
8. encourage others by sound doctrine
9. refute those who oppose the sound doctrine

To God be the Glory

Be Merciful

Jude

"²²Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." -NIV


"²³save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh." - NAS

" ²² And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. ²³ Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives." - NLT

Be merciful:

1. compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.
2. the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy.
3. the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, esp. to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.
4. an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.
5. something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened.

Very interesting.

To God be the Glory.

3 John

"Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God."

To God be the Glory

Love

2 John

"...I ask that we love one another. ⁶And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."

"⁸Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully..."

Ultimately, stand firm, endure and stand up against the oppositions.
Be concerned, be focused, be loving, just as God loves us and gave us directions or instructions to love deeply those who believe.

"If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. ¹¹Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work."

Confidence in approaching God.

1 John 5

"¹⁴This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him."

Do not speak against God or the Holy Spirit. It is the sin that has no return.

To God be the Glory.

Real Love completes us.

1 John 4

"...This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

We, as humans, never knew or had love in us until God loved us first.

"¹¹Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

"Whoever loves God must also love his brother."

In order to understand love, and which we established is from God and is God, we have to love one another.
In order to love one another, we mush "acknowledge" or in ASV, "abides" in him. Both description indicates that it is an action, a respond, to endure in the knowledge of God.

To God be the Glory.

The world is passing...

1 John 2

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

" ²⁴See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you..."

"...continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. "

1 John 3
"¹¹This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another"

"²³And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us."

He is a coming.

2 Peter 3

"¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief..."

"...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen."

To God be the Glory.

2 Peter 2

This chapter looks to serve as a warning to those who chooses to disobey. It gave many examples including Balaam, son of Boer, who was fortunate enough that a donkey saved his life by not moving and speaking out to Balaam in his language.

Often, I recognize warning signs and often I see God's miracles and his handiwork.

To God be the Glory.

2 Peter 2

"⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; ⁵if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; ⁶if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; ⁷and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men ⁸(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— ⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.¹⁰This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority."

I wonder what "gloomy dungeons" are? For a second I thought it was purgatory, but it's not. It is a holding cell, not a purification process. Almost forgot what purgatory was, a farce.

The good thing is, God knows how to rescue godly men from trials, and not only are they accountable on judgment day, they are in continuing punishment.

To God be the Glory.

Back in the land of the Free

Back with a present from India, the stomach bug.
2 days I was laid up. Had my first meal yesterday and it was as if I have not eaten for weeks.
However, the bug is still here, but not as bad.
I wonder if Jesus was ever sick? My guess is no, and I guess it is not that important.

2 Peter 2: 1

False prophets and teachers.
( On a side note, I was tempted by a delicious Italian looking coffee stand had a cup of cappuccino at the Indian airport that turned out to be false which resulted in days stomach issues. )

We are told, and is warned here regarding false prophets and teachers. Yet, like the coffee I had, as much as I know it was a risk, I took it because I was looking for this comfort.
How much more is this religion that despite what the truth says, we are looking for the "right" religion that fits into our appetite.

Despite all the warnings, how do we arm ourselves to do what is right?
The war rages on, and we keep fighting.

To God be the Glory.

India still

India has been quite a trip and experience.
I have never witness such poverty in person.
The people seem to arm themselves with the attitude of Gandhi.
However, God is still missing in their lives.

2 Peter 1
"³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness..."
After all these year of knowing and living the scriptures, that statement is the absolute truth.
The challenge to that statement is living it out completely. It is not we, as humans on this earth, that is lacking anything when we fall or fall short, but it is based on a decision that which it allows us to put forth the effort to see it through.
Jesus himself went through the same struggle, yet he did not succumb to the temptations of the evil one.

"⁵For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins."

Because:
¹⁰Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, ¹¹and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

To God be the Glory.

India

2 Peter:

v2-3
"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

If we do not know the scriptures, we do not God as he really is.
So how do we come to know God's scriptures?
I believe craving spiritual milk first, and that is to learn from Godly men and women around us. Examine them and apply them to our lives, therefore we will know.

Because through the knowledge:
"Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."

It is only through the knowledge of the scriptures, we may than over come the evil desires of this world.
Rest assure, that it is a promise, a precious promise, that he has offered it to us, through his precious son, that we may be able to participate.
As we know from 1 Peter 4:18 and Proverbs 11:31 -
"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

With my testimony, this is true.
If we live, we are challenged everyday by the spiritual battle of this earthly dwelling.
By just reading, knowing the scriptures just does not cut it. We have to obey, do, and follow through with was was taught.
1 Peter 1:22
"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart..."

It is call to respond to God's offering, his precious gift, his power.

To God be the Glory.

Re-connect

Reconnecting, and re-learning.
May 2nd 2010. It's been a while.
Getting back into it.
Funny to see my last blog was about gratitude... than I stopped?
Getting it back on track!