A New Song: 日日夜夜 by 赞美之泉
Sunday, November 4, 2012
I recently read a devotional from
Our Daily Journey, which struck me quite hard, so I'd just like to share it with you all. It's titled
The Little People:
Read Matthew 5:13-16 first.
They had gathered on the lush, rolling slopes to hear Him. And He
stood there on the hill, looking into the eyes of as many of them as He
could.
It was a motley group gathered before him. Some were sick and
diseased, others suffered seizures and chronic pain, some were paralyzed
and a few were even demon possessed (Matthew 4:24). “You are the salt of the earth,” He told them (Matthew 5:13).
Hundreds had gathered there, rushing from all corners of the region to
receive His blessing—Jews from Jerusalem and Judea, Gentiles from the
Decapolis. “You are the light of the world,” He declared (Matthew 5:14).
Perhaps he was just being nice. Seriously, what effect could a bunch of peasants have on the world? Timid, insignificant peasants. The Teacher had already “blessed” them as being poor, meek, merciful, humble, sad, and downtrodden (Matthew 5:3-11).
What kind of influence could such people have on a world that favored
power and status? But that’s what He said. They were the salt that
preserved and flavored society. They were lights that drew people to
God. They would soon turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6).
In our quiet moments of despair, when we feel like nobodies and
underachievers—lacking popularity, political power, public profile,
thinking we wield no influence on the world and have little to offer
God—let’s remember who Jesus proclaimed as the world’s reformers: the
little people. Common folk. Farmers. Not the elite or powerful or the
brightest in the class. All these little people had was the blessing of
Jesus, a holy distinctive they were not to lose (Matthew 5:13), and luminescent deeds of love (Matthew 5:16).
The currency of influence in God’s kingdom is not position, but
glory—the glory of God shining through your life, bringing the world to
its knees.
Reflection Questions:
- How are you prone to think of yourself as less than Jesus sees you?
- To what degree are you pursuing a holy, distinct life?
So I read this on the day before my project submission, and at that point I had only slept like 3-5 hours a day for 2 weeks. And despite all my hard work, I still felt like I wasn't doing enough; my classmates are 10x more pro and their projects were 10x better than mine.
But I read this devo, and I felt it speaking to me - "
In our quiet moments of despair, when we feel like nobodies and
underachievers ... isn't that what I'm feeling right now?"
And it reminded me:
- God is in control.
- God will use me for His glory, if I glorify Him in the things I'm doing now.
- What I'm doing now is only temporal & earthly, for God's kingdom is where I should store my treasure in.
- Therefore, whatever grade I get for my project doesn't really matter - compared to whether I have used my life (and how I live) to glorify Him.
- And that includes just giving my best in this project, whilst not getting down on myself for 'underachieving' - for God sees the heart.
I hope my train of thought wasn't too confusing, haha. But anyway, at the end of this train of thought, the song 日日夜夜 from 赞美之泉's new album came on my iPod, and I felt God's presence. God is really worth all our praises & glory, and worth glorifying through our lives. And we should - very much - choose to glorify Him through our lives, for He chose us first - common people who don't really have much to offer. So here's the new-but-not-so-new song:
我受造是为了敬拜你
我受造是为了荣耀你
你是我们的神 你与我们同住
因你荣耀我不住敬拜
Labels: A New Song, Christian Life, faith
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A New Song: Whom Shall I Fear by Chris Tomlin
Thursday, October 25, 2012
I've been super busy recently since the start of school, and haven't had the time to come and blog :/ But amidst this period of busyness for me, I've been listening to
K-Love, a Christian radio station you can listen to online, which I find encourages me to go on and on when I'm still doing my project at 3am, instead of giving up and going to sleep.
So I was just listening to it as I continue on my rush to finish in time, and totally stressing out at the lack of time, when this new song by Chris Tomlin came on:
(The audio is quite bad cos the song is not officially released yet :P)
It's even more cool when you hear about the story behind the song:
Just wanted to share this song that encouraged me, and I hope it encourages you too, whether you're doing your Os, waiting for your exam results, or struggling with whatever you are facing. We know who goes before us & stands behind us; and because of that, we do not have anything to fear!
The God of angel armies, is always by my side
Labels: A New Song, strength
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Free
Sunday, October 7, 2012
This is my last post that's linked to the book I've been talking about in the past 2 posts, a book titled
Slave, by John MacArthur. Scroll down and read them if you haven't! :)
Honestly I had zero ideas for today's post, thought I'd just do A New Song post again. But as I was finding videos for praise & worship for today's youth service, I came upon this video at
Worship House Media that I find so very apt in concluding my recent posts about being slaves of Christ.
After talking about the slack attitude that we have towards God (which comes from thinking we are
servants of Christ instead of
slaves of Christ), we need to come back to why we are slaves of God in the first place. The Bible quite clearly repeats the idea of (1) how a slave cannot have two masters, and (2) that we who were once slaves to sin have been set free:
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:15-18, emphasis added)
Anddddd, here's this video I was talking about earlier: (Turn your volume up)
To end off, we have to question ourselves:
1. Who are we slaves to? Our studies, popularity, our relationships, sin, or God?
2. Have you been set free from sin, and gave yourself to God to become His slave?
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To read/listen to a sermon that John MacArthur gave on this whole concept of Slaves,
click here.
Labels: Christian Life, video
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Lord - of What?
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Hello, today's post will be a sort of continuation from
last week's post, which was based on a book I was reading,
Slave by John MacArthur. (You kinda have to read that post to understand more about what I'd be saying in this post, so do so if you haven't! Heh.)
Last week, I talked about how the relationship between God and us, is like the Master and Slave of ancient Roman times; the Slave was the property of the Master and did the bidding of the Master wholeheartedly without complaint. And in the New Testament, the Greek term '
doulos' (slave) is used repeatedly to refer to the early Christians because they understood the context of what being called a slave meant - to submit themselves to the '
kyrios' (master), aka Christ.
But unlike slaves, Christians have another motivation to obey God other than 'mere duty'. Jesus tells his disciples in John 14:23, "
If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word." When you really love someone, you will automatically do what he/she pleases; so in the same way, if we really do love Christ, we will seek to obey Him and to do what He pleases - one of which is to worship Him.
We often use the term 'Lord' in our worship and our prayers, but let's think about it: How many times have we really meant what we were saying? When we say 'Lord', do we mean 'God you are Master of everything and I submit all to you', as it should be? I think that 'Lord' is one of the most commonly used name for God that we use, so much so that it becomes a habit and it loses its true meaning. When we say Saviour, we consciously know that we are referring to Jesus' sacrificial and saving character, but we don't often link God's omni-powerful, 'Master' character when we say 'Lord'. This is some food for thought - are we willing to be like a slave, submitting ourselves to our Lord?
If you're having some doubts, I want to point out that God deserves our surrender and wholehearted worship. Back to 2 paragraphs ago: If we really profess to love Christ, we will seek to please Him and worship Him, and that alone is good enough reason to want to give ourselves to Him. As MacArthur writes,
The only response to Christ's lordship is wholehearted submission, loving obedience, and passionate worship. Those who give verbal assent to His deity, yet live in patterns of unrepentant disobedience, betray the hypocrisy of their profession. To them, the terrifying weight of Christ's question, 'Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord', and do not do what I say?' (Luke 6:46) directly applies.
As the God who created the Universe, yet sent His Son to die for our sins, does He not deserve all our praise?
Back in the Roman days, slaves also had 'rank' in society according to their masters. If their master was powerful and high-ranking, his slaves would be known for that. If you were a slave of Caesar (the Emperor back then), it was considered to be an honour and you had certain privileges that other slaves didn't have. One of the things we often unconsciously downplay is our privilege of being the slaves of Christ, of being Christian:
As slaves, believers have no intrinsic glory in themselves. But as members of the Lord's household, we are distinguished simply by our connection to Him. To be His doulos is an incomparable honour. (Slave, MacArthur)
With that, I leave you to ponder once again your relationship with the Lord: Are our attitudes aligned with what God wants/likes? What does being a Christian mean for you? Why do you worship the Lord?
And ending off with a not-very-new-song (therefore this post not being labeled
A New Song), I hope you sing this song with fresh eyes:
Labels: Christian Life, Serving
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A New Song: Like an Avalanche by Hillsong United
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Hello, let me first say that I shall try to post weekly (as was originally intended!), but I'll be posting every Sunday instead of Friday from now on. Not that I think anyone actually noticed and followed the posts diligently every week...... Haha.
I've been reading this book called
Slave by John MacArthur. (Because of my laziness haha,) allow me to use
this Amazon book review to summarize what the book is about:
In his book "slave" John MacArthur uses a plethora of scripture to expose a "cover up" in the modern translations of the scripture. Retuning to the original languages and writing MacArthur shows how often the word slave is replaced by softer more autonomous phrases such as servant. While servant is a good word in does not convey the original message that scripture intended. To be a servant allows you to maintain a certain amount of uniqueness that allows me to be myself while still serving God. When I become a slave suddenly I am nothing but what my master wants me to be and that is all. This is a candid unapologetic look at our Identity in Christ and how we have allowed culture to dictate how nonchalantly we approach our life in Christ. This is a challenging book that is packed with scripture so the point has to be considered carefully. MacArthur asks you to view your life in Christ differently and transition from willing servant to sold out slave.
Basically, it talks about how the Greek word '
doulos' in the Bible has been mistranslated. In its original terms, it meant 'slave', but most of our English Bibles now translate it as 'servant' (as in, being a servant of God, or serving others, etc). Erase all your preconceived notions about slaves now. The 1st Century slaves were not what we think about slaves now, not the cruelty and chains and whips and whatnot. Slaves were very much a normal part of Greek/Roman culture, and it simply meant that the person belonged to a master, something like how cows and chickens belong to a farmer.
So when you compare a slave and a servant, the difference is that the servant still has some independence, whereas a slave wholly submits to a master. And that's what Jesus and the other Bible writers calls Christians to be: To belong completely to our Master. One part of the book says,
We have been bought with a price. We belong to Christ. We are part of a people for His own possession. And that understanding changes everything about us [our identity in Christ], starting with our perspective and our priorities.
True Christianity is not about adding Jesus to my life. Instead, it is about devoting myself completely to Him - submitting wholly to His will and seeking to please Him above all else. It demands dying to self and following the Master, no matter the cost. In other words, to be a Christian is to be Christ's slave.
Sound abit scary, eh? But when you think about it... It's something that we've known all along, that God wants us to give
all of ourselves to Him. Maybe, because of that switch of words ('servant' instead of 'slave'), we see the sacrifices as options, and not commands. We complain, doubt, and distract ourselves, instead of obeying God and carry out the wishes of our Master. God calls us to be the faithful servant (or slave) because we have been
bought with a price. Like slaves (as we know it), we have been bought over from the slave trader into God's possession with Jesus' blood on the cross. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "
whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
Think about it. The New Testament repeatedly talks about how we cannot serve 2 masters, and that "now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to
God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal
life." (Romans 6:22) What does this mean for you as a Christian? Are there priorities that need to be realigned? Does this change your attitude towards 'serving God'? And most importantly, are you willing to make the sacrifices that comes along with following Christ?And if you are, this song is for you:
Take my life
/ Take all that I am
/ With all that I am / I will love You
Take my heart /
Take all that I have
/ Jesus how I adore You
And I find myself here on my knees again
Caught up in grace like an avalanche
Nothing compares to this love, love, love
Labels: A New Song, Christian Life, Serving
yapning
3 Comments:
Thxx Ning! (:
Beautiful sharing and song, a wake-up to truly live as christians (christ's slave). Just wanna share something tt I've heard b4, in bible time's context, being a slave is not like those torture stuff like you said hahahahas, it's not like sg maids trying to earn $$ n serving you unwillingly. When they r slaves, the only purpose of their lives is for the good of the master, so is not must whip n stuff then they will go work. In a normal relationship, slaves desire to work for the good of the master. Hope that's something additional that we can ponder abt with regards to our relationship with our Master!
*wake-up call
Thanks YJ for the comment! Yep that's right, 'slaves' as defined in the 1st Century AD in Roman times was definitely not all about torture, but rather submitting to their masters. And another point to note (which I forgot to add in) was that slaves didn't really have a bad life all the time because they were provided with life's necessities like food, clothes & shelter.
Just like how God is our Provider. Hmmmmmmmm.
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A New Song: Not for a Moment by Meredith Andrews
Sunday, September 16, 2012
It's been a long time eh. But this song has been bugging me since I first heard it a couple of days ago, so I want to share it with you guys:
I've not touched this almost-defunct blog since Christmas last year - that's 9 months now! Perhaps I was tired, from those few months of rushing out FYL (if you even still remember it, hurhur). Perhaps I was busy, applying for uni and working. Perhaps I was discouraged, from the lack of readership. Perhaps I lost faith, my lack of a daily connection with God resulting in the lack of motivation and content to contribute to this blog.
Well I'm going to be honest, and tell you that the first 3 reasons are mere excuses, and that the last reason was, and is, probably the biggest reason. I'm going to be honest and tell you that my spiritual life has been very bleak and dry in those months. But unlike my abandonment of this blog, God never abandoned me, nor will He abandon you.
You were reaching through the storm
Walking on the water
Even when I could not see
In the middle of it all
When I thought You were a thousand miles away
Not for a moment did You forsake me
Not for a moment did You forsake me
In case you're still in the dark about me, I graduated from poly last year in April, decided to take a break from studying, and decided to return to uni in 1 year's time. I didn't know which uni to join yet, because Singapore doesn't have a very good range of design degrees, so I just took things one step at a time. Finish with this 1 year break then say again, see how. And it was during this time amidst all the working and traveling that not only took me away from church, but that I started to lose sight of God.
April is the time when uni applications start to open, so when 4 months had passed since Christmas, I started to panic. I couldn't just "see how" and wait around anymore, and I considered going overseas to do my degree. When you have to make a big decision in life, most people turn to God for guidance; which I did, but I couldn't hear Him. So being the rational person I am, I went ahead and did some research, and 75% decided to apply to a Hong Kong uni which is famous for design. I didn't want to go overseas, but there was no choice considering the local design courses......
Anyway, I remember it was a Saturday afternoon (day off from working!) and I was at the uni's website searching for the application procedures, all set on applying already. My parents were watching the news in the living room, when one of them shouted (or said very loudly), "Ning, 有新的design course leh!"
To cut the long story short, that is how I eventually managed to be where I am now, doing a degree in Bachelor of Arts with Honours (Communication Design), the first batch in a newly set-up course. But what struck me was how 'coincidental' the timing was: At the point when I was close to deciding to go to Hong Kong (with much reluctance), God showed me another option. No, scratch that; at the point when I felt so far away from God (couldn't feel/hear Him at all!), He showed me that He was still with me. At the point when I felt that I was the last person He would want to help, He showed me that He had never forsaked me.
Every step, every breath, You are there
Every tear, every cry, every prayer
In my heart, at my worst
When my world falls down
Not for a moment will You forsake me
So yes, I am officially starting school tomorrow. So perhaps God sent me this song last week to bug me, not because of the awesome melody, but because I need to be reminded of how I even came to be in the first place. That despite my lack of drawing close to Him, He is still there waiting for me (you) to go back to Him. That after all, He has the blueprints of my (your) life, for He is the omni-present, powerful, sovereign God who is in control. That after all, He has - and will never - forsake me and you.
After all You are constant
After all You are only good
After all You are sovereign
Not for a moment will You forsake me
Not for a moment will You forsake me
____________________________________
To read Meredith Andrew's story about writing this song, click
here.
Labels: A New Song, faith, strength
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Joel
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Hey guys,
Sorry for posting this so close to the quiz itself. Time is a scarce resource and the opportunity cost of writing is precious sleep. I will try to readjust my habits and/or find some one to assist in the blog post.
This month's bible quiz is on Joel. Because Yi Long laoshi is so good as provide english info, here is the copy-paste intro of joel
PURPOSE
To warn Judah of God’s impending judgment because of its sins and to urge thepeople to turn back to God
AUTHOR
Joel son of Pethuel
ORIGINAL AUDIENCE
The people of Judah (the southern kingdom)
DATE WRITTEN
Probably during the time Joel may have prophesied, from approximately 835—796 BC
SETTING
The people of Judah had become prosperous and complacent Taking God for granted they
had turned to self-centeredness idolatry and sin Joel warned them that this kind of life style would
inevitably bring God’s Judgment
KEY VERSES
“That is why the LORD says, ‘Turn to me now while there is time Give me your hearts
Come with fasting weeping and mourning Don't tear your clothing in your grief but tear your hearts
Instead ’ Return to the LORD your God for he is merciful and compassionate slow to get angry and filled
with unfailing love He is eager to relent and not punish" 2:12, 13
KEY PEOPLE
Joel the people of Judah
KEY PLACE
Jerusalem
OUTLINE
Disaster of the nation
• 1:1-12 Plague of the locusts
• 1:13-20 Call to repentance
The day of the Lord
• 2:1-11 Destruction
• 2:12-17 Need to return to the Lord
• 2:18-27 Promise of abundance
• 2:28-32 Promise of "pouring out" His spirit
Judgment of nations
• 3:1-16 Israel to go to war with other Nations
• 3:17-21 Glorious future of Judah
KEY THEMES
Day of the Lord
Repentance
The Lord in their midst
The promise of the future outpouring of the Spirit
Eh just to add something about the interpretation,
The use of locust to prophecize the day of the Lord is interpreted differently by scholars. However for simplicity's sake the most common interpretation is that chapter 1 describes an actual locust infestation used as an prophetic message/warning; chapter 2 uses this image to portray a human army in terms if a decisive conflict on the day of the Lord. (other interpretations include using the locust as a metaphor for a military army and chapter 2 refers to the Assyrians or Babylons invading)
Please read up!!!
Labels: Bible introductions
Isaaaca
, at
September 23, 2012 at 7:31 PM
