Precious moments

Dinner with two friends. Familiar, comforting and relaxed. Conversation touched on faith, life, retirement, haze, property, jobs, South America, walking, exercising, Japan, Muji's HQ, Siem Reap, foreign aid, PR, storage, boundaries (ha ha ha!) and a lot more other things. How rich. How deep. How binding. How meaningful. So life. :-) 

Abandoned to God

The one thing that remains is looking in the face of God for ourselves.
- Oswald Chambers

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The fruit of the spirit

How does the Spirit of God manifest itself through us? Often we think that to witness means to speak up in defense of God. This idea can make us very self-conscious. We wonder where and how we can make God the topic of our conversations and how to convince our families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues of God's presence in their lives. But this explicit missionary endeavour often comes from an insecure heart and, therefore, easily creates divisions. The way God's Spirit manifests itself most convincingly is through its fruits: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22). These fruits speak for themselves. It is therefore always better to raise the question "How can I grow in the Spirit?" than the question "How can I make others believe in the Spirit?"
- Henri Nouwen

Grace in action

When God's grace appears, it could be in a lunch where only one's faith is shared; in a frank and direct exchange that makes one more self-aware; in a light session at the end of a heavy week; in two fellow sojourners entering one's room for a while; and finally, in many trusted souls who weighed in with wisdom. Thank you, Lord. 

Not my will but Yours be done

Always a joy to hear Pastor Benny Ho preach at COOS. Bought a book study on Haggai (Heart for the House) by him at the book table, although most others were scrambling to buy his latest teaching on Elijah. Some food for thought from his sermon this morning:
+ Are we seeking a God that we want or seeking a God who is?
+ Do we define God or does God define us?
+ Commitment produces cultural Christians who set their minds on and worship the God they want. Surrender produces biblical Christians who set their minds on and worship the God who is.