Receiving Life: March 2010

Friday, March 26, 2010

"The kingdom of God does not consist of words but in power." 1 Corinthians 4:20

Colossians 4:2-6
Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak. Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

1 Corinthians 1:30-2:5
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus (thank you, Jesus), who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD." And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

1 Corinthians 2:10-15
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.

The Holy Spirit is the One moving.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Space

I love these videos. It reminds me how small I am and it gives more wonder about how big God is.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

The Sex Trade of Cambodian Children - ABC News

Parents are selling their own children as sex slaves.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Deuteronomy 8:17

"Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.'"

Friday, March 19, 2010

WOO WOO!

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2303_china/

"Read this very brief article in the China Daily (China's official English language newspaper). It's the testimony of a university student who converted to Christianity.

Now if you've been following China for any length of time you might be picking your jaw up off the floor. Get this:

The official and highly controlled newspaper of the Communist government is featuring a story of a religious conversion of an exceptionally bright university student who found meaninglessness in existence apart from God.
He was given a Bible by a colleague, and the reader is not led to believe this is a bad thing.
He converted to Christ after reading it and now is experiencing fulfillment.
And he's now happily attending an unregistered church (i.e house church).

Whoa.

We know the church is unregistered because yesterday the China Daily ran an article on house churches that are thriving in Beijing and featured that church. In fact, this particular unregistered church has actually been allowed to purchase property for a church building.

This doesn't discount the fact that persecution still occurs in China. But we need to let this news soak in. This little article is huge. God is doing something incredible in that great nation.

Keep praying."

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Isaiah 40:1-2, 11

^{¹ Comfort, comfort my people,

says your God.}
² Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

I WIN!

Done cleaning! More space. Hopefully I can try to fit the cages inside my closet so I'll have more room. I started this project at 1pm. It all started from going to Target, and then realizing I needed to do laundry, to flipping the room around. I swept and bleached the floors, wiped down the walls, table, TV, everything I can wipe down, packed all my things into a tub and boxes and carried my biggo blue desk out on my back all by myself. It is now 3:50am. I am a relieved camper. <=)

This is how it looks walking in. I am going to pin my mirror, paintings and the dry erase calendar on the wall.

My window view from closet

The cages that hold my clothes. All the way in the corner are the clothes that I need to wash. Ha ha. This includes the adidas bag full of dirty clothes.

View from my window. My desk. Nice and bright now. =)

My bed, still not fixed.

The Computer. View through the ladder.

The laptop with the TV, VCR and DVD player. The AC unit is still there. I'll keep it for now.

That's all folks!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Tearing it DOWN

So after feeling disturbed in my room for the past two days, I decided to tear my room upside down. I got rid of my desk that took up so much room, threw out all the paper trash I had, put all my sentimental things, school books and spiritual books in different boxes and I am now attempting to sweep and mop my floor. Did my laundry for the first time in a month and getting ready to wipe the whole place clean.

Sorry for the dark pictures. Maybe I should take better pictures, but this is what I have so far. I don't know if you guys can see anything, but there is an AC unit on my floor that my mom shoved in my room since winter. There was a big giant lamp and a blue desk as you enter the room, but I got rid of that!! There's no point in having another desk in the room when I have one right under my bed.

I took all the clothes that I don't wear and gave them to my mom to figure out what she wants to do with them. After that, salvation army? I have a lot of T-Shirts.

Cleaning the room relieves me. It feels good to have things organized. It was a headache walking into my room with so much things piled on top of other things. I am not naturally tidy, but it made me upset. Feels like a new thing. I think I am slowly changing. We will see. Jesus will help me win this war of messiness in my life. Help me, Jesus!

AC unit on the floor. Computer in the back, TV to the right and modem next to it. Mess.

My bed

My cage of clothes.. headache. Pulled everything down to wash and toss away.

This is how it looks walking in. The trash bag is where my desk and big tall lamp use to be. All gone. =)

The floor. Still have to finish placing things in boxes.

The closet and more clothes that need to be washed. Too dark to tell.

Psalm 139:23-24 (New American Standard Bible)

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way."

Monday, March 15, 2010

Ugh!!

My room is SOOO messy that it's making me crazy! My mom puts all her garbage in my room.

Good thing I sleep on a loft bed... keeps my eyesight off the room. My goal for Spring break: CLEAN THE ROOM SO MY HEART WILL BE A HEART OF PEACE instead of disaster.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Do I have love?

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

The Excellence of Love

1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

1 Corinthians 9:9-27

"For it is written in the Law of Moses, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING" God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel. But I have used none of these things And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified."

Random Quotes that points me to Jesus.

"The Sabbath is to the week as the secret place is to the day." -- Bob Sorge

"It still does not seem like reality to many that the solution to everything is a vibrant life of prayer and communion with the Living God." -- David Sliker

"The glorious news: you can't miss God if you are seeking after Him earnestly and sincerely. You can, however, miss out if you slumber" -- David Sliker

PSALM 56:8
You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in Your bottle
Are they not in Your book?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalms 73:25).

Monday, March 8, 2010

Have You been Distorting the Gospel?

Five Distortions of the Gospel in our Day by James MacDonald

My oldest son, Luke, sent me a link the other day that quoted A.W. Tozer and James Kennedy (both wonderful Christian leaders in their day). Both men believed that many, if not most, professing believers they encountered around the country were not actually saved. They were deeply troubled by the distortions of the gospel that were the result of trying to get the gospel to more people. Well intentioned yes, but eternally dangerous for the souls of men and woman who had not heard the whole message. The article prompted me to look back in my file for something I remembered writing a while back. Here it is . . . What gospel have you heard and believed?

Five Distortions of the Gospel in Our Day

1) The Cake Mix Gospel: if we leave out key ingredients our souls will never “rise” to God. We don’t need the message reduced to some irreducible elements, we need the whole gospel. You don’t expect your car to run without all the parts. You don’t expect your body to function without all the organs working properly. You don’t expect a cake to taste right if it’s rushed and readied without the right ingredients. The gospel without repentance is not the gospel. Acts 18:26, “And he [Apollos] began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

2) The Cultural Gospel: Skip the postmodern sales job and go for the heart where human need never changes. Understanding the ‘culture’ is much less important than knowing what the Bible says about every human heart separated from God. We don’t need slick sales people giving out the gospel. We need bold, Spirit-filled messengers with a deep heart of compassion for lost people. The gospel without authoritative/binding truth is not the gospel. Acts 17:30, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

3) The Cool Gospel: Jesus transcends fashion trends. Marketing Jesus is cheap and powerless. We don’t need to ’spin’ the message we need to say it. We need to stop shaping Jesus in some misguided effort to make Him appealing. Jesus doesn’t need to be like us; we need to be like Him. The gospel wrapped in stylistic packaging is not the gospel. Revelation 3:17 “Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”

4) The Carnal Gospel: What Jesus can do for me: health, wealth, always happy, never hurting? Jesus solves those issues, but not the way we may think. He’ll change what you want a lot more than what you have. The selfish gospel that promises things Jesus doesn’t promise is a lie and is sentencing the lost who listen to a shocking surprise in eternity. The gospel of “me before Jesus” is not the gospel. Mark 8:35 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

5) The Careful Gospel: Let’s not upset anybody, just keep ‘em comfortable and coming back, There’s lots of time for folks to figure it out. The gospel of “get them to church, and in time everything will come together as long as we don’t offend them” is a dangerous gospel. Well intentioned is not enough. The gospel without urgency is not the gospel. 2 Corinthians 6:2, “Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION.”

Do you understand the implications of a distorted gospel? What horror to imagine many people thinking they are ready to meet God only to find out they never were because they believed a distorted gospel. Matthew 7 predicts just a scene of shocking surprise. Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock.”

"The Humility of God" - Phillipians 2:5-10

"Today as I sit in the prayer room and listen to the singers sing the Word of God, I am mindful of the humility of God. Jesus, the most humble man to ever live, beckons us to put on humility like He does. Humility is the true fragrance of God, and it gives an effective witness for the kingdom. Our words, our attitudes, and our facial expressions must always be soaked in humility as we go out and when we’re at home. He is exalted and glorified when we choose to put on humility.

Jesus walked among the ones He created, so high above them in power, in wisdom, in influence, and in insight, and yet He lived as a humble man from Nazareth. We see the true humility of God in the face of Christ. As we respond to the cry of heaven to put on Christ, the Holy Spirit will give us power and strength to be like Him.

He gives grace to the humble; He makes happy the poor in spirit. We go low, and He lifts us up.

God, give me power and grace as I choose to put on humility in all that I do and say.
Thank You, Jesus!"

By Wesley Martin

"Jesus doesn't boast in his knowledge; he shares it. He doesn't gloat; he gives. He doesn't revel; he reveals to us the secrets of eternity."

- Max Lucado

"Never Let the Gospel Get Smaller"

"Our temptation is to think that the gospel is for beginners and then we go on to greater things. But the real challenge is to see the gospel as the greatest thing—and getting greater all the time.

The Gospel gets bigger when, in your heart,

- grace gets bigger;
- Christ gets greater;
- His death gets more wonderful;
- His resurrection gets more astonishing;
- the work of the Spirit gets mightier;
- the power of the gospel gets more pervasive;
- its global extent gets wider;
- your own sin gets uglier;
- the devil gets more evil;
- the gospel's roots in eternity go deeper;
- its connections with everything in the Bible and in the world get stronger;
- and the magnitude of its celebration in eternity gets louder.

So keep this in mind: Never let the gospel get smaller in your heart.

Pray that it won’t. Read solid books on it. Sing about it. Tell someone about it who is ignorant or unsure about it.

'Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel.... For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.' (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)"

- John Piper