...in all circumstances
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Sunday, December 30, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Reflections on 2012
January
"Faith is not an effort, a striving, a ceaseless seeking,
as in so many earnest souls suppose,
but rather a letting go, an abandonment,
an abiding rest in God that nothing,
not even the soul's shortcomings, can disturb."
- Arthur Benoni Evans
February
A Benedictine blessing
May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. Amen.
May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. Amen.
May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection,starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. Amen.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.
March
“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But...the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
April
A.W.Tozer
The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone.
The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.
The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.
He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.
It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.
May
Stop, Breathe, Notice, Reflect and Respond.
June
Felt very ministered at today's worship in church. Our worship pastor was back after a long break, and clearly her love for God has not diminished. Anointed and just so in love with Jesus. And she was so right to say that the presence of the Lord was so strong and God was there asking us to return to Him and to draw closer to Him. Lord, let today and whatever You wish to deposit in me be not a fleeting moment but a loving moment etched in Your timeline of eternity. Let me surrender fully to Your Refiner's fire so that there is purity of heart and all other things, like dross, is burnt away; so that others will see less of me and more and more of the Christ who is in me.
July
If one goes looking for acceptance, recognition and fulfillment from people or things in this world, there is always the possibility of disappointment followed by bitterness and perhaps unforgiveness and a feeling that we were denied something or not given credit sufficiently. And we lose sight of what God regards as important. If we turn our eyes towards Jesus and rest in Him, then there is true contentment and joy because He is the giver of all things. All of us cannot do everything but we can each do something for God, and that is what the global church/fellowship of God is all about. The humility to remember that we are all a small part of God's tapestry and we do not see the full piece that God is weaving. It is interesting in Matthew 24 and 25 that a servant of God is "good, wise and faithful".
August
Where hope grows miracles blossom
September
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
- Dreams, Langston Hughes
October
The past two weeks have been quite eventful for me. I've learnt how transient life can be. I've learnt that there is a time, place and space for us but that beyond a certain point, God's sovereignty resides. I've learnt the poverty of speech and the richness of silence. I've learnt that there will always be more questions than answers. I've learnt that even as we hope for the best, we also have to be prepared for the worst. I've learnt how thinly life hangs on us. I've learnt that sometimes, we have to step up not only because we want to but also because we should. I've learnt how powerful the testimony of Christian fellowship can be. I've learnt that one can get too exhausted very quickly and that one needs to rest. I've learnt that even in the darkest of dark times God is there, even though the outcome was not what we had desired or prayed fervently for. When I reflected on all this tonight, I was reminded of the hymn "It is well with my soul". I went online to look for the story behind the hymn, and it led me to a man and his wife whose trust in the Lord was unwavering and steadfast in the face of personal tragedy. I pray that God will give me the faith that can enable me to sing and declare the words of that beautiful hymn in all circumstances:
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
November
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
- Matthew 11:28 (ESV)
December
What is to give light must endure burning.
- Viktor E. Frankl
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Words that hurt....
And words that heal. What am I speaking daily?
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Monday, December 10, 2012
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