Compassion and Complications

Throughout my sufferings, one of the beauties of having afflictions is that God has taught me through all the uncertainties in my life. The Scriptures clearly reveals that I can expect sufferings in this world. I need to put sufferings in the context of God's plan for my life, and I will understand what He is doing something beautiful. My faith and my life, I am a realistic person which means I am being realistic about my life. That I understand my role as a Christian. I like this quote by Paul Little "Faith recognizes the fact that God is in control of my life. Whether I believe it or not, it's a fact that God is in control of the world. If I don't believe it, I'm just robbing myself of the enjoyment of the fact." I have learned that I can never have much faith unless I am dissatisfied with the way I am now, and are longing for something better. God want to heal His people as long as His will and plans do not interfere. God does not want any to perish but if we want to do so He will allow it. Human desire for goodness is both a beautiful and a dangerous emotion. Sovereign God is the absolute, infinite, unqualified ruler in all realms in heaven and earth and sea. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. God takes no orders from anyone and He has already planned out our tomorrows and holds the world in the palm of His hand. God heals as well as He comforts His people. Romans 15:1-7 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. We have to remember that we are not alone and that our spiritual lives should not feed on the negatives and that we need to focus on positives. God's knowledge of our discouragements is more than just knowledge; His knowledge is more personal, warm, and compassionate. He knows every pains we all are facing. Discouragements pushes us into the arms of God. We just need to cling to Him and have faith in Him. Our spiritual outlook is to be on God and trust that God's glory that will be revealed. We have to remind ourselves that if we frequently relive our reasons for discouragements, we will lose our positive spiritual direction. We need to focus in following God today and tomorrow. We just press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14) Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Hebrews 5:7-9 During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.

God's will for us....

God's will. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified (spiritual). 2 Thessalonians 1:5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. Romans 8:27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. God don't have any doctrines, just His Word. Man came up with doctrines based on interpretations.

Learning from History

Reading Ecclesiastes helps alot. Hearing stories from my elders (old relatives and older Christians) reminded me that their experiences speaks the truth. As they say, "History repeats itself in every generation." Job 8:8-9 "Ask the former generations and find out what their fathers learned, for we were born only yesterday and know nothing, and our days on earth are but a shadow." I would encourage you to study Ecclesiastes as part of spiritual growth. Ecclesiastes 8:17 I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.

Faking

We can fake other people but we can't fake God. Jesus have spoken about people like the Pharisee. Paul was a Pharisee and he wrote in Romans 16:18 "For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people." What was so bad about the Pharisees' hypocrisy? If we think of it as consisting merely in their teaching or pretending one thing while in fact practicing something contradictory, we will miss Jesus' main point. As a disciple, my Christian faith should be inward, not outward because the Bible teaches that faith is of the spirit and not of the flesh. Acts 15:8 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. Therefore being holy is from within. Our thoughts are the product of our thinking and it is not our thinking that shapes our character, but the Holy Spirit that leads our thoughts and shapes our character. God is looking for Christians who will worship and obey Him from their hearts, minds and bodies. Without Christ, we are nothing. Along with love and under the control of the Holy Spirit, the power of love and Holy Spirit flows through us. A.W. Tozer said: "It's pretending to be holy without really being holy" God knows. All we can do is look at the fruits and pray that the Holy Spirit will guide is to trust whoever claims to be a Christian.

Two kinds of sinning

There are two kinds of sinning: 1. Sin on purpose (with a will) Those who were unwilling to pick up the Cross and unwilling to put away their sins as Christ commanded. Becoming a disciple, following Jesus Christ requires personal cost, giving up your selfish "me" and become like Christ. Discipleship requires following Jesus on His terms. A person who looks back is not fit to be His disciple (Luke 9:62). I must love Jesus more than myself and any other persons in my life (Luke 14:26). Looking back is a struggle for me that I need to work on NOT looking back. Remember a story about Sodom and Gomorrah? The angels warned Lot and his family not to look back when they run from the cities or they will die (see Genesis 19). Lot's wife died when she looked back. Looking back means you are still holding on to sin or sins that you will miss. Hebrews 10:26-27 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 1 John 3:6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD is on His heavenly throne. He observes the sons of men; His eyes examine them. God is not impressed by my appearance (1. Samuel 16:7). The Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord don't make decisions the way you do. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person's thoughts and intentions (heart)." (NLT) Jesus even said that appearances can be deceiving (Matt. 23:27), therefore we are not to judge others by their appearances (James 2:2-4). "The trouble with you is that you make your decisions on the basis of appearance." 2 Corinthians 10:7 (NLT) “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You do scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways” (Psalm 139:1-3). “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:27). The heart is where God meets us because that is where we make our decisions. Our hearts are where our desires and motives are located. It is important to understand that our hearts is the state of our "flesh". Our flesh search for pleasure, pride, passions and selfish motives. 2. Sin by accident as part of our sinful nature: Those who are in Christ Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Galatians 5:17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. We just need to be looking at our adequacy in the Holy Spirit, which will always be in us. This is God's design, and it pleases Him to do so that we can rely on the Holy Spirit. "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."--Matt. 26:41. Biblically, Christians are no longer "in the flesh": "You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him" (Rom 8:9). The Greek word for "dwells" is okv (oike), which means "I inhabit." "If Christ is in us, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness" (Romans 8:10). In other words, our human body is subject to death (and is already dying) because of sin, however our spirit is alive in Christ. We have eternal life in our possession, even though our body is dying because of sin. However, as Christians, our spirits are fully alive and thriving "because of righteousness"--because HE is justified and therefore already has "passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). "My temorary body is decaying at the same time, my inner being is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor 4:16). "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25.