Monday, June 7, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Fearless !
"Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul" Matt. 10:28
The disciples needed this affirmation. Jesus had just told them to expect scourging, trials, death, hatred, and persecution. v. 17-23 Not the kind of locker room pep talk that rallies the team. To their credit none defected. Perhaps they didn't because of the fresh memory of Jesus' flexed muscles in the graveyard. Jesus had taken his disciples to "the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, where two man who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out, saying, 'What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? " Matt. 8:28-29
The most dramatic and immediate reactions to the presence of God on earth emerged from demons like these - the numberless, invisible, sexless, fiendish djinns of satan. These two men were demon possessed and, consequently, "extremely violent." People walked wide detours around the cemetery to avoid them.
Not Jesus. He marched right in as if he owned the place. The stunned demons never expected to see Jesus here in the devil's digs on the foreign side of Galilee, the region of pagans and pigs. Jews avoided such haunts. Jesus didn't.
The demons and Jesus needed no introduction. They had battled it out somewhere else, and the demons had no interest in a rematch. They didn't even put up a fight. "Have you come to punish is before our time?" v.29 Backpedaling. Stuttering. Translation? "We know you will put it to us in the end, but do we get a double trouble in the meantime?" They crumpled like stringless puppets. Pathetic, their appeal: " Please send us into those pigs!" v. 31
Jesus did so. "Move," he exorcised. No shout, scream, incantation, dance, incense, or demand. Just one small word. He who sustains the worlds with a word directs demonic traffic with the same.
And through this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
The contest between good and evil lasted a matter of seconds. Christ is fire, and demons are rats on the ship. They scurried overboard at first heat.
This is the balance on which Jesus writes the check of courage: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul" Matt. 10:28 You indwell the garrison of God's guardianship. "Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can troubles or problems or sufferings or hunger or nakedness or danger or violent death? ... Nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Rom. 8:35, 39
Evildoers have less chance of hurting you if you aren't already a victim. "Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety" Prov. 29:25. Remember, "his angels ... guard you" Ps. 91:11. He is your "refuge" Ps. 62:8. , your "hiding place" Ps. 32:7, your "fortress" 2Sam. 22:2-3. " The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Ps. 118:6. Satan cannot reach you without passing through him.
Then what are we to make of the occasions Satan does reach us? How are we supposed to understand the violence listed in Hebrews 11 or the tragic end of someone? Or, most supremely, how are we to understand the suffering of Jesus? Ropes. Whips. Thorns. Nails. These trademarked his final moments. Do you hear the whips slapping against his back, ripping sinew from bone? Thirty-nine times the leather slices, first the air, then the skin. Jesus clutches the post and groans, battered by wave after wave of violence. Soldiers force a thorny wreath over his brow, sting his face with slaps, coast it with saliva. They load a beam on his shoulders and force him to march up a hill. This is the condemned sharpening his own guillotine, tying his own noose, wiring his own electric chair. Jesus shouldered his own tool of execution. The cross.
Cicero referred to crucifixion as "a most cruel and disgusting punishment." In polite Roman soldiers were exempt from the crucifixion except in matters of treason. It was ugly and vile, harsh and degrading. And it was the manner by which Jesus chose to die. "He humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!" Phil.2:8.
A calmer death would have sufficed. A single drop of blood could have redeemed humankind. Shed his blood, silence his breath, still his pulse, but be quick about it. Plunge a sword into his heart. Take a dagger to his neck. Did atonement for sin demand six hours of violence?
No, but his triumph over sadism did. Jesus once and for all displayed his authority over savagery. Evil may have her moments, but they will be brief. Satan unleashed his meanest demons on God's Son. He tortured every nerve ending and inflicted every misery. Yet the master of death could not destroy the Lord of life. Heaven's best took Hell's worst and turned it into hope.
What man meant for evil, God, yet again, used for good. (:
-- Fear of violence; Fearless by Max Lucado
The disciples needed this affirmation. Jesus had just told them to expect scourging, trials, death, hatred, and persecution. v. 17-23 Not the kind of locker room pep talk that rallies the team. To their credit none defected. Perhaps they didn't because of the fresh memory of Jesus' flexed muscles in the graveyard. Jesus had taken his disciples to "the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, where two man who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. And they cried out, saying, 'What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? " Matt. 8:28-29
The most dramatic and immediate reactions to the presence of God on earth emerged from demons like these - the numberless, invisible, sexless, fiendish djinns of satan. These two men were demon possessed and, consequently, "extremely violent." People walked wide detours around the cemetery to avoid them.
Not Jesus. He marched right in as if he owned the place. The stunned demons never expected to see Jesus here in the devil's digs on the foreign side of Galilee, the region of pagans and pigs. Jews avoided such haunts. Jesus didn't.
The demons and Jesus needed no introduction. They had battled it out somewhere else, and the demons had no interest in a rematch. They didn't even put up a fight. "Have you come to punish is before our time?" v.29 Backpedaling. Stuttering. Translation? "We know you will put it to us in the end, but do we get a double trouble in the meantime?" They crumpled like stringless puppets. Pathetic, their appeal: " Please send us into those pigs!" v. 31
Jesus did so. "Move," he exorcised. No shout, scream, incantation, dance, incense, or demand. Just one small word. He who sustains the worlds with a word directs demonic traffic with the same.
And through this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
The contest between good and evil lasted a matter of seconds. Christ is fire, and demons are rats on the ship. They scurried overboard at first heat.
This is the balance on which Jesus writes the check of courage: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul" Matt. 10:28 You indwell the garrison of God's guardianship. "Can anything separate us from the love Christ has for us? Can troubles or problems or sufferings or hunger or nakedness or danger or violent death? ... Nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Rom. 8:35, 39
Evildoers have less chance of hurting you if you aren't already a victim. "Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety" Prov. 29:25. Remember, "his angels ... guard you" Ps. 91:11. He is your "refuge" Ps. 62:8. , your "hiding place" Ps. 32:7, your "fortress" 2Sam. 22:2-3. " The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Ps. 118:6. Satan cannot reach you without passing through him.
Then what are we to make of the occasions Satan does reach us? How are we supposed to understand the violence listed in Hebrews 11 or the tragic end of someone? Or, most supremely, how are we to understand the suffering of Jesus? Ropes. Whips. Thorns. Nails. These trademarked his final moments. Do you hear the whips slapping against his back, ripping sinew from bone? Thirty-nine times the leather slices, first the air, then the skin. Jesus clutches the post and groans, battered by wave after wave of violence. Soldiers force a thorny wreath over his brow, sting his face with slaps, coast it with saliva. They load a beam on his shoulders and force him to march up a hill. This is the condemned sharpening his own guillotine, tying his own noose, wiring his own electric chair. Jesus shouldered his own tool of execution. The cross.
Cicero referred to crucifixion as "a most cruel and disgusting punishment." In polite Roman soldiers were exempt from the crucifixion except in matters of treason. It was ugly and vile, harsh and degrading. And it was the manner by which Jesus chose to die. "He humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!" Phil.2:8.
A calmer death would have sufficed. A single drop of blood could have redeemed humankind. Shed his blood, silence his breath, still his pulse, but be quick about it. Plunge a sword into his heart. Take a dagger to his neck. Did atonement for sin demand six hours of violence?
No, but his triumph over sadism did. Jesus once and for all displayed his authority over savagery. Evil may have her moments, but they will be brief. Satan unleashed his meanest demons on God's Son. He tortured every nerve ending and inflicted every misery. Yet the master of death could not destroy the Lord of life. Heaven's best took Hell's worst and turned it into hope.
What man meant for evil, God, yet again, used for good. (:
-- Fear of violence; Fearless by Max Lucado
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Meditation for the Day
Hi Southies:) Praise the Lord for His mercies are new every morning! I just felt the desire to start posting back at our blog, and i think that it will also help me in my daily walk as it will give me the opportunity to reflect on His word, as well as to decide on what verses to meditate on for the day. It will be like a game and it will be fun! After all, God speaks the most when the bible is open, and I need all the help I can get to consistently read the bible.. haha.. Not that I have to, but i want to:)
Today's Daily Devotional is fabulous. Not only has God forgiven you and me, Jesus also took the punishment, so that we are also free from the consequence that sin has on us, as well as total forgiveness of sins. If God has said that He will no, not ever, remember my sins and lawless deeds, how can I still be punished for sins? It is not possible. Hence, the verse I will choose for today is
Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
I just feel so contented, knowing that He will never leave me, and never forsake me. May God's heart be revealed to me and you more and more.
Love,
Wuxin
Today's Daily Devotional is fabulous. Not only has God forgiven you and me, Jesus also took the punishment, so that we are also free from the consequence that sin has on us, as well as total forgiveness of sins. If God has said that He will no, not ever, remember my sins and lawless deeds, how can I still be punished for sins? It is not possible. Hence, the verse I will choose for today is
Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
I just feel so contented, knowing that He will never leave me, and never forsake me. May God's heart be revealed to me and you more and more.
Love,
Wuxin
Thursday, January 14, 2010
year of restful increase
Dearest southies :)
this year, as pastor said is the year of restful increase.
my thoughts for it is that this has always been 'applicable' all the years,
but for this year, it's special because the rewards for this 'application' is x100000000 and more.
this year, as pastor said is the year of restful increase.
my thoughts for it is that this has always been 'applicable' all the years,
but for this year, it's special because the rewards for this 'application' is x100000000 and more.
so do YOU personally want it ??
THEN FIGHT VERY HARD FOR IT !!
and be amazed by the results that super abounds your expectations.
Be very blessed this 2010 (:
Be very blessed this 2010 (:
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