Faith

What's faith?

What does it mean when we say, "S/he has good faith"?

Yeah.... tricky huh?

I was stumped too.

Finally came down to this:

"Faith: right knowledge in action through obedience" (Anna Rho)

"Lord, I want to be faith-FULL."

Fruit of Love

There's a fruit lady that sells fruits on her moto right outside Donut's Donuts.

She's there EVERY DAY! All day every day. 

Yesterday she ran into Donut's Donuts, handed me a pre-sliced orange, and ran back out.

It was like a, "Uhhh.. What? Huh?" situation.

Happened so quickly.

SO random. SO unexpected.

Yet something about it made me feel loved and cared for :)

"Fruit" of Love

Don't Act

"We try to be too holy. QT is NOT bible study." (P.Ray)

So true. There are times we come across QT passages where there seems to be absolutely NOTHING to reflect on. So, what do we do? We quickly turn the page to the given insights. (That is, in a sense, cheating.)

We can't seem to find anything to write down in the blank spots next to the passage. We look at our blank page and feel ashamed, hoping that nobody will come across our book. (ESPECIALLY our pastor.)

He's right. We try to be too holy. We have nothing to write, because we feel as though we must write down something holy. Okay, honestly! How holy can you get when you read a passage with a list of this person's descendants and that person's descendants? Or when you're reflecting on the book of Numbers for a whole 2 months? (You can only be so holy). 

"QT is NOT bible study." We don't have to act so holy. For all we know, NO ONE'S WATCHING! We're not in front of students, having to act like we know (even when we're clueless ourselves). It's a time with God. Simply reading, meditating, and spending time in prayer. No matter how so-called "holy" we can get, next to God, "nuh-uh" we are not even close to holy. 

So be honest. It's okay! We don't have to be so holy. 

"Anna Rho, you don't have to be so holy."

--

QT Sharing

Genesis 37:1-11

- Jacob had many sons, one being named "Joseph."

- Jacob favored Joseph

- Joseph's brothers were very jealous

- Joseph had 2 dreams foretelling his reign over his family. 

(Yeah.. not so holy. Simply facts, right? But who cares! God speaks even through this.)

The word 'God' doesn't appear once in the passage but we can clearly see God working. The extra love that Joseph receives from his father and his dreams lead to greater hatred from his brothers. This will eventually lead his brothers in selling Joseph, which becomes the pathway for Joseph's future authoritative power. 

GOD IS IN CONTROL. Every little situation in my life is being controlled by God. They may seem like mere dots at the moment but in the future I will see how God connects those dots to make a beautiful picture.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,

for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:28 

I went from Genesis to Romans 8:28. How? I don't know. God spoke, when all I did was jot down a simplified summary of the passage.

GOD IS GOOD :)

Called Righteous

"Wretched man that I am! 

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Thanks to be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

--

Christianity, this Christian walk, is very interesting.

It seems about right that you start to become a "better" person, or rather you start to feel like you're becoming a better person, the longer you've been a Christian.

However, it's not so.

As time goes by, we start to realize how "bad" we are, how sinful man is.

As for me, I'm finally starting to see more and more of what a "bad" person I am; what a sinful (wo)man I am.

Apostle Paul cried out, "Wretched man that I am!"

Why? I never really understood. Rather, it never really spoke out to me.

But today I myself want to cry out, "Wretched (wo)man that I am!"

I'm starting to see (hehe.... it's only the start) and realize how sinful man is, how sinful I am.

Perhaps this is a sign of growth? 

We were all living under God's wrath. 

(Actually, there are still many out there that are living under His wrath.)

But God loves me, God loves us so much that He decided to give us something called GRACE.

I am redeemed. We are redeemed. 

We say that God's judgment IS coming, but actually we were ALREADY judged.

We were once living under the wrath of God, but through Jesus Christ, 

we are now living UNDER GRACE.

So sinful. Yet, God calls us "righteous".

We often say, "We sin because we're sinners."

Nope. That no longer applies to us.
We're NOT sinners! God Himself called us righteous!
We don't sin because we're sinners, we sin because there's sin within us. It's sin that makes us sin.

Our status has changed from sinners to righteous.
In faith, we must believe.

"Wretched man that I am!

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Ker Plunx

Dropped my iPhone in the toilet.

(THANK GOD it was before I peed!)

The speakers were damaged so I had to get them replaced.

I don't know how trustworthy these replacement parts are... but at least it's cheap? :)

It cost me less than $20.00 to get the phone dried up and the speakers replaced.

YAY for Vietnam :)

Gentleness

And he said to them all, 

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself 

and take up his cross daily and follow me."

- Luke 9:23 -

--

It's so easy to think that I understood something:

1. I convince myself that I understood it 

2. I genuinely think I understood it 

LUKE 9:23

Heard it. Learned it. Taught it.

SO MANY TIMES.

Did I really understand it? Nah. 

I thought I did, but I guess there was more to it that I was missing.

It's not that I convinced myself (which makes me feel a bit better), but at the same time, I never took the time to really sit and reflect on what this verse - the verse that I've heard, learned and EVEN taught so many times - meant. 

So... Did I sit and reflect? (kind of)

Not on my own, but through God who brought the right teacher at the right time.

Question #1: What's the difference between "denying yourself" and "taking up your cross"?

Question #2: So then, what is your cross?

About a month ago I was asked this question: 
"What's the difference between denying yourself and taking up your cross?"
... (dot dot dot) ...
I felt like I got punched in the face.
Simply put, I couldn't answer the question. I couldn't differentiate the two!

After all these years of genuinely believing that I understood, one day I have come to realize that I was wrong.

The question was answered for me. It made sense, but it wasn't CLEAR.

Finally, after 9 long hours of sitting, discussing, and reflecting... it came.

It was as if all the dots in my head got connected.

There was a deep(er) meaning to this verse and it has now become clear(er) to me.
Perhaps there's more to it? I don't know. 
Perhaps there are other interpretations? Maybe.

But for now, I'm content.

"Denying yourself" and "taking up your cross" CAN be differentiated.

So then, what is MY cross?

After long hours, God gave me this word:
GENTLENESS. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
- Galatians 5:23 -

Hallelujah !

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Finally finished reading the whole bible,

along with a 555 page Korean commentary

HIP HIP HOORAY! :D

"하나님나라 관점에서 읽는 90일 성격통독"
90 Day Bible Reading Plan -  Reading from God's Kingdom Perspective

HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD!