there's a plank...

Who am I to judge?

Who are you to judge?

We are equal in sin.

One of the biggest qualities i look in a friend is that they aren't judging. That I can be my 100% self around them, ask the stupidest questions and not get a glare, or a "really? you didn't know that?" or a "do you live under a rock?". Sarcastic or serious, it hurts. And who are we to judge each other. We are equal in sin, equally at fault, and have all fallen short of God's glory.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
³ “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? ⁴ How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Matthew 7:1-5

We tend to judge others a lot, whether its shown obviously or just judging another on the inside. I know that I most definitely do, especially with first impressions. I think the root of it is pride. Thinking you are higher above, or better than others, but the truth is we are all equal. The one that stole is no better or worse than the one who committed murder. We constantly are looking for faults in another person, trying to compare ourselves to make us feel better about ourselves.

I know many times, especially at church, judging others is an issue. I think its because many of us that attend church have been there for a while now, know all the "standards and expectations" as Christians, and once a flaw is noticed, its immediately beaten down. It develops a negative atmosphere, and people don't feel welcomed. God made people, friends and community so we can feel loved and build each other up and not tear each other down. When we judge, we look at others and not ourselves. Like it says in the passage above, why are we talking about the speck of dust in another's eye when we clearly have a plank in ours.

Don't judge, but love each other. We all have faults and we all stumble, but we should be there for other, to help each other up, not to cast stones to keep others on the ground.

⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

John 8:7 

Journey: Guangxi

Unity.

Unity is necessary on all projects, on all levels, to have a good communication, and good relationships with one another. Without unity, the team can easily fall apart. Especially in a missions trip, when you're in the battlefield, you need all the support you can get, and without it, its extremely easy for Satan to tear and bring you down.

There are four main things that will break unity.

Gold. Resembling material possessions, if we have an attitude of wanting something to gain out of it, may it be money or a gift, its isn't the right attitude to serve with. You're there to give, not gain.

Glory. Serving and helping out, you are usually using your gifts and talents to glorify God, but if you are doing it with intentions of receiving praise and to show off your talents, for your own glory, that is also the wrong perspective to view ministry.

Guys/Girls. Ministry is not an opportunity to mingle and to get to know others, brewing relationships, especially romantic ones.

Gods. Before you go on a missions, you have to know the priorities in your heart. Where does God stand? He should be at the top. Are there other things that may be fighting that spot with God, may it be people, or materialistic things, but we have to make sure we have the right heart and attitude before entering the battlefield.

All these things have one thing in common, they all do not have God in mind. They're all self-oriented attitudes. All team members should have God first, working to please and honour him, and with the same goals and attitudes, unity can thrive.

Practical ways to sustain unity.

1) Positive and good communication. Do not assume things and over analyze things. Learn to confront others in love and privately.

2) Rejoice with one another. Seeing yourself and others succeed are always great motivations, learn to support one another. Share with others how God is working in your life!

3) Empathize with one another. Don't hide your feelings, be vulnerable and share with others, and be sensitive when someone decides to open up to you. Its through transparency will tighter relationships be made.

4) Be generous with one another. Take care of one another and give to one another. These members are your team for the missions time period, watch out for each other.

5) Forgive one another. You're going to be spending x amount of days with the same people, and you can get frustrated. In times of stress and trouble, things will get hard, but forgive each other.

6) Affirm our common goal. Be constantly reminded of why you are here and who you are serving. Its easy to get distracted and stray away in the pride and the hype of all things.

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

1 Corinthians 1:10 

The I's Of The World

We've taken over.

Walking home today after school, on such a beautiful day, i looked up to the sky to see this aircraft flying by. I don't know what it was, the point of view, or the blue skies, but it looked really ... "majestic"? What hit me was that there were people on that plane. And I soon realized how advanced our society is now, that we've taken over. There are people on land, there are people underground, there are people miles under the ocean, and there are people miles into the sky.

Although I believe that God gave us this earth for us to live in, but thinking about how much we've used it, and how we aren't taking care of it. Society today is all about "i". Think about it, iPhone, iTunes, Apple has most definitely channeled that "i" concept. Even in the real world, people are constantly thinking about themselves, and using others to get to the top. We've become really selfish in our thinking, and we often forget to put others first and love others as well.

¹² For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Matthew 23:12 

holy living.

 ¹ As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. ² For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

 ³ It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; ⁴that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable, ⁵ not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God; ⁶ and that in this matter no one should wrong or take advantage of a brother or sister. The Lord will punish all those who commit such sins, as we told you and warned you before. ⁷ For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. ⁸ Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject a human being but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

 ⁹ Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. ¹⁰ And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, ¹¹and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, ¹² so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12

Now that we have hope, now that we know that our salvation is assured, our support group and accountability is there, and we know that all hardships are apart of a plan, we must continue to live. Again, as I was skimming through scripture, I came across this passage and I feel like it sums up how we should live in simple and understandable terms.

Our main purpose for all of us on this earth is to please Christ. (v.1) Recently, i've been thanking God for each day in prayer, but ironically at night before I go to bed. I finally was able to spend some time this morning to thank him for another breath, and another day to live. We have been blessed with such opportunity in this life to be able to be something bigger. It doesn't necessarily mean famous, but because we are so privileged with education, and wealth, we should use it please Christ. Every breath, every word, every action and thought should be honouring to our God and Saviour. I try my best to do that. I've felt that as long as we strive to live a holy life, we are doing well. But recently, i've questioned, am i really doing this? Or am i still living a doubled life? The fact that a few of my friends can still joke around about Christianity, thinking thats its okay with me, is that a problem? Is it bad that i laugh with them, but its just that our intentions behind aren't necessary the same? Am i not showing and representing my God well enough? Am i really pleasing and glorifying God in ALL i am doing?

Flee from sexual immorality. (v.3) Its interesting how thats the first thing that is brought up. Looking at our world today, sex is something that has been completely changed. Doing it casually is completely accepted in today's society, but God created it to be saved for marriage, to be shared with your spouse. We've spoiled it and ruined it. Sex has gotten more and more "popular" lately and i would say that its one of the bigger problems out there lately, when used for the wrong intentions, so many things can go wrong. Hearts broken, lives taken, the consequences are endless and painful. This really requires self control. Especially with the internet, so many things are so easily accessible, easy doors that lead to temptation and eventually sin. We have to learn to control ourselves, and use our bodies for honouring purposes. (v.4)

Holy life. Holy living. (v.7) No one can be perfect. We as humans are all flawed, but we can fight. That shows growth, it shows commitment, and as long as we have that drive to be holy and we are continuously working towards it, God will acknowledge and take note of that. But sometimes, there are the lukewarm followers, the double faced Christians. (v.8) We talked about this in the sermon yesterday, that there are "Christians" that know that sin is wrong, know what they should be doing, yet CHOOSES to do the opposite. What bothers me the most with this is that they are misrepresenting Christ, which affects everyone around them, easily hindering others from getting to know the true being of Christ.

Love. (v.9-10) God is love. Therefore by following him and committing to him, we should also love others. Love is the foundation of all of this. Because of God's love, Christ was sacrificed for you and me. Without this unconditional love, there would be no faith, and no hope. Love can be hard sometimes, whether if its loving your enemy or confronting someone else, but with love as your intention, God will continue to guide us through. You are loving God by loving others.

These last two verses (v.11-12) seem to somewhat sum up everything. Leading a quiet life. From what I understand this time reading it, pride is addressed. Don't be boasting about yourself, and don't be cocky about yourself. "So that you will not be dependant on anybody." Lately i've started to realize this about myself. That i am extremely reliant on others. I always need someone there, and as some may say "clingy". Yes, friends and a support group are essential, but you cannot fully rely on them all the time. The truth is that they will fail you one day, and they may not even be there one day. If you invest yourself too much into others, you will fail to be independent. Im trying to learn to be less of that "clingy" character, to build confidence and to stop relying on others so strongly.

 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Romans 12:1 

Road to Calvary (III)

Before Jesus was arrested, as the amazing man he was, continue to prove himself by prophesying. Earlier in John 13, Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows, and in John 18, that is exactly what happens after Jesus is arrested.

15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

...

25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

John 18:15-18, 25-27

In the previous post, Judas represented us as followers of Christ that have fallen short of his glory because we are human and because we are sinners and need the love and help of Christ to reconcile with God. Similarly, here, Peter also can represent us. When we confess, repent and believe in our God, the sinner's prayer says that we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour. But many times, we forget why we say this, what this statement means and what commitment we're getting into exactly.

Saviour. We believe that Christ died on the cross for us, for all of mankind because we have fallen short of God's glory through sin. He is that connection between us and God, granting us the gift of salvation.

Lord. We often forget that when we say Lord, we are letting God take our lives by the reigns, and giving him full access and control. He reigns in our life as Lord. We should know and believe that he has a perfect and better plan for us, and having faith in him will only bring us blessing and happiness.

As a commitment, we are "married" to Christ. Peter, one of the disciples was completely committed to following Christ, but afterwards, he denied knowing him. If you were married, you wouldn't deny that your spouse was your spouse right? What kind of relationship is that? Yet as followers we may have the tendency to deny our God, due to pride, selfishness, and reputation.

Have you ever been a "Peter" in your life? Have you ever denied your faith because you would get ridiculed? judged? "Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself", at first, it seems like such an insignificant line, why is that necessary to be put in? (v. 18) After thinking about it, it shows how two-faced Peter (as well as us) can be. He simply decided to follow the world, "the servant and officers" (who were against Jesus), and join in their activities. This really demonstrates the difference between living IN this world and OF this world. Where do you stand? How far will you go before you decide to go against Christ?

"at once, a rooster crowed." A true demonstration of the power of God. That it IMMEDIATELY crowed, exactly as Jesus predicted. I've felt this before, after sinning, I sometimes feel like Adam and Eve, after biting into that apple after temptation, to have my eyes truly open to realize exactly how disgusting this act was, and how Satan lured us in.

But there's hope. God STILL continues to love us oh so unconditionally. And as long as we have genuine repentance and ask for forgiveness, he will give us another chance, a clean slate as his mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:23).

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Romans 11:33

Conquer

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31-38

We can conquer all that life brings. With God, we can overcome everything and anything. I think today's sermon at church was an extraordinary reminder to Christians. Life seems like a long time, averaging at about 80 years, 80 years of constant failure, trails, struggles, deaths, celebrations, obstacles, and pains, it seems like a long time. And I know for myself personally, its frustrating when you're struggling with pain and sin for so long, and you cannot win. Its difficult, and like they said in the sermon, giving up, and giving in are so extremely easy. To give in, do what you want, when you want, and how you want. Falling into the world's standards are simple and quick, but thats what Christianity is about, fighting the good fight. Can you fight against giving in, taking the hard but better road? Thats the real test.

In the passage, it says that IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US. God has conquered over all already, and like in v 38-39, he's conquered Satan, death, everything in heaven, on earth and under the earth (Phil 2:9-11). Its always something that goes un-noticed is that in that passage, it says "under the earth". That just goes to show that God is powerful and victorious over everything in Hell, including the devil himself.

As human beings, it is very common and natural to have pride, to feel and want to be the best, and i know i myself has thought so many times "im better than him", "i dont do this, so she's clearly worse than me", but no, who am i to judge? IT IS GOD WHO JUSTIFIES. We are all equal in God's eyes, we have all fallen short of God's glory, no one has fallen MORE or LESS short His glory. We are all sinners equally and equally need God's saving.

NOR THINGS PRESENT, NOR THINGS TO COME. God has already taken care of our future as well. Nothing that is happening to us NOW or LATER will separate us. As people, we love having control, of our lives, of our future. There are many things we want our way, it can be simple things like having the title of each note we take underlined, to bigger things like who we want to marry, what our family is to look like, but there are things that are out of our control. From the people you meet, to what university you get into. But trust in God. Do you have confidence in God that he will bring great things for you?

Verses 38-39, also talks about our identity. That at the bottom, within us, what truly defines us, is the love of God. As Christ followers we often "label" ourselves incorrectly. Yes, we are students, employees, husbands, wives, teachers, doctors, fathers, mothers, but before all of that, we are Christians, we are children of God. "I am a Child of God that is a brother, and student", not "im a brother, student, and also a Child of God." It is God's love that defines us.

We are continuously frustrated with the struggles we face daily, great or small, but God loves usand he has conquered way more than we have experienced. There are times that we want to give up, and just say game over, but remind yourself that nothing will separate you from God, no matter the challenges, and the difficulties, you can overcome it, and that God has greater things planned for you.

Luke 16:1-13

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

¹ Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. ² So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

³ “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ⁴ I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

⁵ “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

⁶ “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

⁷ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

⁸ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. ⁹ I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

¹⁰ “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ¹¹ So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ¹² And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

¹³ “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Going through this, i've read it a few times, trying to fully understand it. Here's what im getting out of it.

To summarize, basically, a "master" has caught his servant (manager) abusing his position, by "wasting his possessions". After being kicked off and fired, he needed to reassemble his life. He decided to call those who are in debt with his master. By telling those in debt that they now owe a smaller amount, i assume that he helped pay his master back.

A few things that stuck out:

- v.3: "im ASHAMED to beg" - when i read this, i immediately thought of pride. That clearly this manager cared about his status and didnt want to lower himself.

- v.8: "the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light." - shrewd meaning clever. The world is full of pride, and we all tend to be selfish and want the most for ourselves, and we'll use any sneaky tactic to boost ourselves up. Where as Christians, the people of the light are less selfish, are able to put others before themselves.

- v. 13: “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” - two masters. I guess this echoes the message at retreat, and that verse that has been on my mind lately. That the cost of discipleship is EVERYTHING. I personally know that there are parts of me that is still holding onto different sins and im just not willing/ready to let go yet. We have to learn to fully commit and devote ourselves to our relationship with Christ and not let anything get in the way between that.

Today "living as people of light" just stuck out to me. And its interesting to see it hinted at too in verse 8. I really think we need to continue to grow and live as reflections of Christ. Of his love, grace, and mercy. We cant be flashing lights, sometimes on, sometimes off, we have to be strong radiating lights to the world, to those around us. And we must set an example as representatives of Christ. Its difficult to follow through, but we have to try.

Dust Bunnies.

Today as I sat down to start my studies, i was all prepared, organized, and set up, until i swept my finger across my desk where i dont often use. And...

dust.

i hate dust. It actually bothers me so much that it can get anywhere, and just lingers, and they're all little particles. And this some swipe spiralled into a massive clean up. I wiped down my ENTIRE desk, including all the different levels, and just EVERYTHING. This then moved onto cleaning my drawer top and then that lead to moving my books....

and in the midst of all that, i came to realize. This is what we were made from. God made Adam out of dust. And like Ecclesiastes 3 says,

¹⁹ Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. ²⁰ All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.

This kinda goes back to the SNA message this year. Nothing. Nothing on this earth will last. Relationships, materialistic things, pride, nothing on this earth will full satisfy except for God. All things will corrode, will fail, and will break. That is why we must learn to set our eyes on things that are greater, things that will last, and things that are eternal. Not earthly things.

On the lines of dust, i kept thinking, its so hard to clean up, its such a hassle, its.. literally nothing. Like what is it exactly... bits and pieces of what? And it kinda comes out of no where too...

i dont know, this post isnt the most organized and structured, but it was just a revelation i had today.

Priorities.

With all of us in the midst of exams, i think we've all been caught up studying and studying and studying. I have to say that i have put God a bit behind, for instance, devos are things i'd leave off till later, and just everything spiritually seems to be falling apart. They're attached, but falling apart.

Like today, i've been studying since 3:30, till 10:30 (with breaks of course), but its just been study study study. Im happy and impressed that im so focused, but may we remember that we cant let it get the best of us. I think at the moment, its okay, since its just this time period, but if you're one of those people who are crazy about their marks and academics, or even more than that, if you're materialistic or prideful, take some time to reflect on your priorities, and see if its an idol. It gets bad when you put it ahead of God and ahead of things that really matter.

Learn to balance it out. Yes, studies are important, but dont let them over take what should be and is more important.

We Are Sheep!

Can't See The Future? Rely On God!

Rick Warren

“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” (Psalm 25:9 NIV)

The Bible says there are several things we need to do to receive guidance from God, but the very first thing is this: We need to admit we need a guide!

Most of the time we don’t want to follow God or anybody else. We want to go our own way. We don’t want to admit we need direction or that we need a guide.

Sheep, by nature, tend to wander off the path. The Prophet Isaiah says, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (Isaiah 53:6a NLT).

Another thing about sheep is that they have poor vision. They can’t see very far ahead. That’s why they need a shepherd.

God made you so that you would not be able to see into the future no matter how much you try. Why did God do this? He did it so you would depend on him.

Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (NIV). We’ve all made decisions that at the time seemed right but later on turned out to be wrong. Some paths lead to dead ends and we end up off track. That’s why we need to admit, “God, I need help.”

This topic comes up a LOT. And i will talk about it again. Society today has taught us that we have to be on top, the more money we have, the more control we have, and each and everyone of us have been transformed and brainwashed to have control. We LOVE having things going our way, and we have the mentality to think that we can do everything and anything. But that isnt true. There are SO many things in this world we cannot control, SO many things that we'll come across and not know what to do. The result? we need guidance.

The World has made "guidance" into a sign of weakness. The fact that you cant do it yourself makes you weak, and incompetent. In a world of pride and arrogance, we love praise and glory, ion fact, who doesnt. But we do need guidance. And the first step? Like it says in the devo, to ADMIT that we need a guide.

The Bible often uses the analogy of sheep to describe us. In the devo, they speak upon 2 traits that are similar between us and sheep.

1. We tend to wander off the path - agreed. I personally think we're all very very curious, we want to know what's out there, we want to try new things, take risks, "live life to the fullest", but we never know if those things are dangerous, hurtful, and we dont know what kind of consequences they may cause. But OUR GOD knows whats best for us, thats why he's given us his Word, The Bible (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) on whats right and whats wrong.

2. We have poor vision. - i guess i kinda mentioned this already, but we dont know the future. God has ALREADY built this massive, crazy unique plan for each and everyone of us, and us wanting control and power is only ruining this plan and getting us off track. God knows best and he knows what is ahead, we must learn to rely on Christ and give him our life.

We are the sheep, and God is our Shepard.

SNA, Saturday Night Alive, the annual creative arts night we hold at our church RHCCC was big this year, and being one of the heads, there was definitely the pressure, the stress, and the work. I really learnt to give it to God. I remember breaking down at home because i realized how humanly IMPOSSIBLE this task was. But in the end, on the final day, the stress and the pressure just left me. I dont know what it was, but it did. i was COMPLETELY fine, no nerves, nothing, i felt like.. i "knew" that it was going to be fine. yes of course there were errors, but it was all for God's glory, not for us, and he pulled through like he does every year and helped make SNA 2011 a great and memorable one.

Rely on God. He really knows best. Its hard, but let him take the steering wheel of your life.