In times of trials...

This devotions is a continuation of what I brought up a couple days ago. We discussed about where to draw the line and what kind of actions are "good" and what kind of actions are "bad". We also talked about ways to deal with "big" sins and "little" sins. It's not always easy. Sometimes, it's easier to give into a million little sins than it is to give into one big sin. I've been reading through Romans just like some of you and I've got a few answers you might want to pay some attention to.

In Romans 6:12-14 it says:

"Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give into sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace."

To me, there is no such thing as "grey" when it comes to my faith in Jesus. Jesus didn't say, "some of you will go to heaven." He said, "all of you who believe in me will go to heaven." In the same way, I want to be able to proudly tell Him that all my actions praise Him. Sometimes, it's hard to have faith in God when he feels so distant and seem to ignore us in our prayers. It's hard to believe at times and you're wondering, "why do I need to watch for my little sins when he feels so far away?" In those times, instead of just having blind faith, I do this. I remind myself where I am and who took me this far. And also, I remember that even if God wasn't here, I'd rather give to the poor than be greedy; I'd rather honour my parents than to dishonour them; I'd rather learn about becoming a better person than ignore any teachings for myself; I'd rather help change people's lives through my actions and words than not. I remember that Christianity isn't just a religion to me, but my lifestyle. If you can't prove yourself sometimes, just prove everything else wrong and you'll be right. The only way to go about fighting the little sins is to tackle it and be radical about it, instead of giving yourself loop holes around it. The more you give yourself leeway, the more you are susceptible to fall into the same sins again.

And sometimes, when you're trying to fight for Christ and live the right way, you may face trials. I've had times where I felt that God was 200% on my side and then realized that everything started to fall apart and suddenly I felt far from He who loves me. But remember this from Romans 8:28: "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them." Persevere. You may not know why you're going through such tough times now. You may look around and feel that it's so unfair. But just hang on tight, because once you stick with God and ask him for help in your toughest times, when you give it a few months, God's going to open your eyes to see things that He's been seeing the whole time. He will have you understand everything. Persevere.


Roh

yes yes i agree with what Roh said!

Proverbs 1:15 "My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path"
From what Rohan was saying about little sins, i read this. As many of you know, Proverbs is one of my favorite books in the Bible. This passage at first is like "yeaaa common sense" right? Thats what i first thought. But if you dissect it word for word, and ask why it was phrased like that then it make so much more sense to me personally. Like walk with "them" is obvious who "them" are. Its different for everyone, for some it could be your friends who talk you into sin, it could be sin itself. And the main point is "refrain thy foot from their path". It COULD have just said "dont do it" and it would have said the same message but to me when it says dont even STEP on the path, like dont even move your FOOT CLOSE to the path of sin makes more sense. Like its son easy to walk down that "path" right? realllll eassy sometimes. But if we dont even touch the road we ll never walk down it.

Thats what i got from this passage. At times Proverbs may seem "out of date" or "straight forward" but if you dissect it carefully you get a lot more out of it. Then again its all personal, i got a lot from the path analogy but some of you may not.

DONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEEEE EXAMS!!!!

E-Sek OUT!

Roh and issac brings out a good point about sin. We are not made do be servents for evil, were are here so we can serve our God, to follow his commandments.. There are times when satan would want to control us, but we have to fight it. Also when roh said we all wonder why we go through tough times. I think its because we christians should sacrifice our selves so we can serve our God. Just like how Jesus came down to earth to sacrifice himself on the cross. And thats a huge sacrifice. When we go through tough times, later the lord will give as a great gift that no one can imagine.

I read a verse that i wanted to share that is similar with this discussion.

On psalm 121:1-8
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip, he who watches over you will not slumber. The Lord watches over you the Lord is your shade at your right hand, the sun will not harm you by day nor moon by night, The Lord will keep you from all harm, he will watch over you coming and going both now and forevermore.

In this passage Gos is telling us not to worry. If we believe in God, the Lord will always be with us. So if we worry about tests, family issues, etc. God says not to worry. The Lord will make miracles happen to you. He will guide you to the right path. And also this verse reminded me the Song "Remain" when the chorus says "When trouble comes my way, you guide and you sustain" This is a message from God telling us not to worry. When ever we are in trouble the Lord will Lead our way.

So thats what i wanted to share with you guys today, member the Lord will always be with you..

AMEN..................

Have a good day guys and may God be with you..........

Hey guys,
I'm so sorry about all these late posts. I'll try to get them in before 6 from now on.

And I won't be here this weekend, because I've been hooked into an extravagant '18th birthday getaway' to Niagara Falls for a friend, since months ago, and I'll be back Sunday afternoon. While I'm excited, I really wish I was able to worship my heart out with you guys this Friday and Sunday...In any case, I'll miss you all ridiculous amounts and already can't wait for the next week!

Today's passage came from Deuteronomy.

v.9 "Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps His covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes His unfailing love on those who love Him and obey His commands."

In the big bible Sam gave us, at the beginning of Deuteronomy, it explains the book to us. Apparently, Deuteronomy is derived from 2 Greek words which mean "second law", because Moses wrote this book as an explication of God's laws to the children of the Israelites that had originally escaped from Egypt and heard these laws the first time when Moses came down from Sinai. Those Israelites had perished in the wilderness because they didn't listen to God's words, but their children now, were about to finally enter the Promised Land, and Moses wanted them to hear the laws, as well.

I really like this verse and the context of the entire book, because I feel like when you're going through difficult times and you're in the absolute dumps, sometimes it feels like God has abandoned you and you can't understand the method to His ways. But as Roh said, with time, He always reveals Himself. As I read this, I felt like sometimes God places trials in front of you to give you a "deuteronomy", to give you a second chance - to give you a second chance to revisit His laws, and remember all that He's said to you, all that He's ever promised you and allow you to hop back on board, better than ever. He could have allowed these Israelites to enter the Promised Land first and figure all this out afterwards, but He wanted them to be as prepared as possible (because they are His children) and gave them the benefit of hearing the laws once more so they could guard them in their hearts before they proceeded, and so it's never out of anything but love that God does this.

I love this verse because it shows just how great a God our God is. He is one that will keep His personal covenants with us through the ages, through the hardships, etc. If He has promised us something, so long as we carry on with our wholehearted love for Him, He will never fail us.

God is good.

- H

Hey guys! Sorry this is late I havent been home for like. a good day and a half but here goes!
Btw before we start. Today when I got home I went to sit on my bed and it broke. and im afraid i just might be fat. haha

Kk so I'm going back to John, because today I went to to the art gallery and I saw this one painting of Jesus washing his disciples feet. And I fell in LOVE with it. I dunno what it was, i think it was looking at how the artist depicted Jesus, he just looked so. I don't know how to describe it..it showed a lot of humility.. and he was very humble and.. happy while he was doing it.. And it just really reminded me of this verse again so i thought i'd go back to it.

John 13:13-16 "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

This verse really shows how much of a serving attitude we need to have towards others. In the beginning Jesus makes it clear that he is the teacher and the Lord, and that a servant is not greater than his master. ANd yet despite this, he, the Teacher washes his disciples feet. This really shows that no matter how much greater someone is in status, or holiness or whatever. No one is below serving. That we shoudl approach our lives and our relationships with other people in a very humble weay, in which we week not our own satisfaction, but seek the happiness of the other. Or in other words, bringing heaven into other peoples' lives.
I think i really learned a lot about atht this week. You guys know how i always suck up to my mom for a good day or so so she'll let me go out iwth my friends. So after exams I was really helpig out at home and really took the time to converse with her.. And I realized how nice it was to have a relationship like that. And I know in the beginning, I totally h ad really selfish motives.. But after I saw the vast improvement in our relationship in just a couple of days, my perspective switched and it turned into a more serving heart than a selfish heart. And I'm actually really happy that this happened

have a good night, allz!