nothing long at all:
The more secure and content and strong you are in God, the more he will give you to handle.
I found peace and no longer felt bogged down by trying to figure the world out on my own. What happens within a couple days? HAVOC! But with God's help, I can survive.
God may test you, but he also provides the strength to survive.
1st Cor 10:13 "And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
But I AM tired.
So I'll cut this short.
Praise the Lord!
29 September 2010
22 September 2010
sleep peace
Are you familiar with the idea that our food, bread in particular, represents Gods constant support for our needs? Specifically, I think food represents the daily word of the bible. Water might be more of the holy spirit.
Anyway. Food and water are pretty basic to life. Another basic is sleep.
What could sleep represent? I sleep where I am safe (although I feel safer when I am awake enough to see my doom approaching). Some friends of mine (two) make me sleepy, not because they're boring, but because I feel safe, because I don't have to guard myself, because I don't have to work to figure things out.
What is sleep in God-terms? Peace, I think. There is a peace we get when facing persecution, but there is also an everyday peace which protects us from mild anger, frustration, despair, etc. This peace is the knowledge that God has you in his arms, is protecting you, will eventually bring you into his heavenly Kingdom (which, I should remind you, he will make by restoring earth).
Have you ever gone to sleep talking to God? At a church service? After discussing him? Not because you stayed up until 3AM the previous night, not because the pastor is especially boring this morning, but because you feel at peace?
I hope you have.
If not, it's pretty easy. Surrendering, like falling asleep, generally is not hard to accomplish. However, it does require giving up your worries.
Believe that he loves you, believe that he's there for more than a pep-talk and crutch for despairing people, believe that he's God, for heavens sakes! Rest in him, he will take your burdens, and go ahead, take a nap!
Anyway. Food and water are pretty basic to life. Another basic is sleep.
What could sleep represent? I sleep where I am safe (although I feel safer when I am awake enough to see my doom approaching). Some friends of mine (two) make me sleepy, not because they're boring, but because I feel safe, because I don't have to guard myself, because I don't have to work to figure things out.
What is sleep in God-terms? Peace, I think. There is a peace we get when facing persecution, but there is also an everyday peace which protects us from mild anger, frustration, despair, etc. This peace is the knowledge that God has you in his arms, is protecting you, will eventually bring you into his heavenly Kingdom (which, I should remind you, he will make by restoring earth).
Have you ever gone to sleep talking to God? At a church service? After discussing him? Not because you stayed up until 3AM the previous night, not because the pastor is especially boring this morning, but because you feel at peace?
I hope you have.
If not, it's pretty easy. Surrendering, like falling asleep, generally is not hard to accomplish. However, it does require giving up your worries.
Believe that he loves you, believe that he's there for more than a pep-talk and crutch for despairing people, believe that he's God, for heavens sakes! Rest in him, he will take your burdens, and go ahead, take a nap!
20 September 2010
the sea and the self
a short post
recently, via an English class, I have been reading Chopin's "The Awakening". (not the musical Chopin, someone else). There is this woman who is awakening, becoming aware of her interactions with the world and deciding what role she wants to play.
She takes a swim out into the sea. "to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which teh vast expanse of water, meeting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy" "to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (pg 70-71)
I love this imagery of being surrounded by a great vastness and immense beauty.
However, the woman, looking back to shore, "flash of terror" "quick vision of death [smites] her soul"
So she loves swimming out there, but then she's afraid.
what if, what if. what if the sea wasn't scary? what if the sea were inside her very soul, supporting her and filling her up. what if the sea embraced her? what if the sea loved her?
exhale.
this is God and us. the sea is god, vast, boundless, deep, amazing. we are swimming. but often we become scared. why? because we don't know that God is for us.
I can imagine why some unsaved people could become depressed. There is a vastness that is very daunting! but what if that vastness designed us to swim in him!
full throat drinking of him. drown in him. it's like a pressure in your chest from the inside out. your very core is turned to water and peace.
be full of joy my friends, for you do not have to fear the sea. the sea is on your side.
recently, via an English class, I have been reading Chopin's "The Awakening". (not the musical Chopin, someone else). There is this woman who is awakening, becoming aware of her interactions with the world and deciding what role she wants to play.
She takes a swim out into the sea. "to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which teh vast expanse of water, meeting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy" "to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (pg 70-71)
I love this imagery of being surrounded by a great vastness and immense beauty.
However, the woman, looking back to shore, "flash of terror" "quick vision of death [smites] her soul"
So she loves swimming out there, but then she's afraid.
what if, what if. what if the sea wasn't scary? what if the sea were inside her very soul, supporting her and filling her up. what if the sea embraced her? what if the sea loved her?
exhale.
this is God and us. the sea is god, vast, boundless, deep, amazing. we are swimming. but often we become scared. why? because we don't know that God is for us.
I can imagine why some unsaved people could become depressed. There is a vastness that is very daunting! but what if that vastness designed us to swim in him!
full throat drinking of him. drown in him. it's like a pressure in your chest from the inside out. your very core is turned to water and peace.
be full of joy my friends, for you do not have to fear the sea. the sea is on your side.
16 September 2010
on evil
Summary: "1 Evil is only the absence of God. 2 Human evil/sin. 3 Physical evil 4 We have the all-satisfying God even in our afflictions. 5 We are at the beginning of the world."
(btw, number 5 is the reason I started writing this)
And the most logically critical point is number 4.
1 Evil is only the absence of God.
This has probably been stated many times over, but it is always good to remind ourselves. Evil is not something material that we can throw at God to hurt him. It's merely his absence. Light and dark. Order and chaos.
2 There are two types of evil, human evil and physical evil (like tsunamis)
Human evil: It's falling short of the glory of God. Stupid stuff we do, forgetting who rules the universe, and many times simply being ignorant.
A On the justice aspect, sin is absolutely hideous and worthy of death to God because it makes God look like he made a crappy world. If he let's stupid people live (and we're all stupid) it looks like he tolerates shoddy work. What he really should do is demonstrate that our way of thinking won't work by wiping us off the face of the earth. How he somewhat does that is explained in Romans 1:25-26 and surrounding text. However, his primary solution to our sin is crucifying his son and pointing to that and saying "That's how much I hate sin." Though Jesus god demonstrates his justice and correctness and also his love for us.(by the way, 'justice' and 'righteousness' have the same Greek root and I get a definition of 'righteousness' by highlighting 'right' = correct, true, makes sense. God's righteousness is his knowing how to run the show)
B On the love of God side, sin hurts and grieves God because we're hurting ourselves, because he is the greatest good for us and we're missing it. Why is he not enlightening us and saving us? He is doing that right now, every moment that you live. Be patient.
3 Physical evil (tsunamis): Be patient, it will pass at the coming of the new age. "...thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Earth will take on some amazing qualities. Romans 8:21 "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."
4 The evil that we suffer should not bring us down completely. We have God for us, everything. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the great abba father, everything. There is a song by Scott Krippayne which is sometimes played on KTIS called "Sometimes he calms the storm." and the lyrics run thus: sometimes he calms the storm/with a whispered 'peace be still'/he can settle any sea/but it doesn't mean he will/sometimes he holds us close/and lets the wind and waves grow wild/sometimes he calms the storm/but other times he calms his child." God is greater than everything we experience, which makes it all endurable. Actually, we can enjoy it. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3. Taking away all out physical comfort can actually focus us on God, reaffirming that he alone is our only hope of safety.
5 Ok, here's the real reason I got excited to write this post. (actually, I was surprised what I came up with on number 4, and I think I like it most)
People sometimes say (at least in my philosophy class) "why didn't God, at the beginning of time, somehow someway make perfect humans that could enjoy him perfectly, never sin, never bring evil into the world, and everything would be happy?" well first of all, based on number 4, we wouldn't get a very clear idea of how much God loves us. Second...
Aren't we kind of at the beginning of time? I mean, we have all of eternity after this short life on earth... What if God DID do that, make humans perfect at the beginning. What if this, right now, is 'somehow'?
It is all fleeting persecution and affliction, it will pass within 100 years at the most. And one day in heaven is worth more than a thousand good years on earth.
Just today I was really tired and I had to mow the lawn (we have 5 acres, it took 2 hours or so). Basically most of the time I was being a sour puss and wondering why I had to do meaningless work.
I love janitor maintenance work by the way, I love it. Especially it there is a lot of things happening around me. But when winter is coming on and we could just as easily run through long, luscious grass than through short ugly stuff (hehe) I really would rather not cut the grass.
How to solve this? Keep the end in sight. Heaven. "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Just keep the perspective.
(btw, number 5 is the reason I started writing this)
And the most logically critical point is number 4.
1 Evil is only the absence of God.
This has probably been stated many times over, but it is always good to remind ourselves. Evil is not something material that we can throw at God to hurt him. It's merely his absence. Light and dark. Order and chaos.
2 There are two types of evil, human evil and physical evil (like tsunamis)
Human evil: It's falling short of the glory of God. Stupid stuff we do, forgetting who rules the universe, and many times simply being ignorant.
A On the justice aspect, sin is absolutely hideous and worthy of death to God because it makes God look like he made a crappy world. If he let's stupid people live (and we're all stupid) it looks like he tolerates shoddy work. What he really should do is demonstrate that our way of thinking won't work by wiping us off the face of the earth. How he somewhat does that is explained in Romans 1:25-26 and surrounding text. However, his primary solution to our sin is crucifying his son and pointing to that and saying "That's how much I hate sin." Though Jesus god demonstrates his justice and correctness and also his love for us.(by the way, 'justice' and 'righteousness' have the same Greek root and I get a definition of 'righteousness' by highlighting 'right' = correct, true, makes sense. God's righteousness is his knowing how to run the show)
B On the love of God side, sin hurts and grieves God because we're hurting ourselves, because he is the greatest good for us and we're missing it. Why is he not enlightening us and saving us? He is doing that right now, every moment that you live. Be patient.
3 Physical evil (tsunamis): Be patient, it will pass at the coming of the new age. "...thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Earth will take on some amazing qualities. Romans 8:21 "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."
4 The evil that we suffer should not bring us down completely. We have God for us, everything. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the great abba father, everything. There is a song by Scott Krippayne which is sometimes played on KTIS called "Sometimes he calms the storm." and the lyrics run thus: sometimes he calms the storm/with a whispered 'peace be still'/he can settle any sea/but it doesn't mean he will/sometimes he holds us close/and lets the wind and waves grow wild/sometimes he calms the storm/but other times he calms his child." God is greater than everything we experience, which makes it all endurable. Actually, we can enjoy it. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3. Taking away all out physical comfort can actually focus us on God, reaffirming that he alone is our only hope of safety.
5 Ok, here's the real reason I got excited to write this post. (actually, I was surprised what I came up with on number 4, and I think I like it most)
People sometimes say (at least in my philosophy class) "why didn't God, at the beginning of time, somehow someway make perfect humans that could enjoy him perfectly, never sin, never bring evil into the world, and everything would be happy?" well first of all, based on number 4, we wouldn't get a very clear idea of how much God loves us. Second...
Aren't we kind of at the beginning of time? I mean, we have all of eternity after this short life on earth... What if God DID do that, make humans perfect at the beginning. What if this, right now, is 'somehow'?
It is all fleeting persecution and affliction, it will pass within 100 years at the most. And one day in heaven is worth more than a thousand good years on earth.
Just today I was really tired and I had to mow the lawn (we have 5 acres, it took 2 hours or so). Basically most of the time I was being a sour puss and wondering why I had to do meaningless work.
I love janitor maintenance work by the way, I love it. Especially it there is a lot of things happening around me. But when winter is coming on and we could just as easily run through long, luscious grass than through short ugly stuff (hehe) I really would rather not cut the grass.
How to solve this? Keep the end in sight. Heaven. "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Just keep the perspective.
15 September 2010
lessons from trees
Months ago someone told me that we could learn from nature just as Jesus taught in parables about mustard seeds and 'a righteous man is like a tree'.
So here are two of my observations about a tree:
1 Only rooted in the springs of life will it flourish. But it also needs earth, dense solid foundation (the bible). From this grows the beautiful branches that we think of as trees. But what comes before the branches? The trunk. The trunk is large and solid and true and straight. It is the foundation for all of our meanderings in the wonderfulness that is our God and his manifestation in creation. This trunk is the solid truths about God that go unchanged from age to age. If you have ever heard me use the word 'linear', it means a definite truth and way of living. A trunk is linear.
2 A tree, when it dies, rots from the inside first. Have you ever reached your hand into the hollow inside cavities of a tree? I was running around a park recently and found quite a few dying trees (I don't know what is killing them). But one in particular was cleanly hollow and still had healthy looking bark on the outside. What happens when our core dies? What do empty people look like? Just like everyone else. But will it live long? No. I began climbing on one of the trees but stopped when it started to give way.
So two lessons: ground yourself in the word and truths, only then can you flower out.
Beware of losing your core, because it is hard to detect from the outside. We should be in the habit of digging into our core regularly to test it and strengthen it.
So here are two of my observations about a tree:
1 Only rooted in the springs of life will it flourish. But it also needs earth, dense solid foundation (the bible). From this grows the beautiful branches that we think of as trees. But what comes before the branches? The trunk. The trunk is large and solid and true and straight. It is the foundation for all of our meanderings in the wonderfulness that is our God and his manifestation in creation. This trunk is the solid truths about God that go unchanged from age to age. If you have ever heard me use the word 'linear', it means a definite truth and way of living. A trunk is linear.
2 A tree, when it dies, rots from the inside first. Have you ever reached your hand into the hollow inside cavities of a tree? I was running around a park recently and found quite a few dying trees (I don't know what is killing them). But one in particular was cleanly hollow and still had healthy looking bark on the outside. What happens when our core dies? What do empty people look like? Just like everyone else. But will it live long? No. I began climbing on one of the trees but stopped when it started to give way.
So two lessons: ground yourself in the word and truths, only then can you flower out.
Beware of losing your core, because it is hard to detect from the outside. We should be in the habit of digging into our core regularly to test it and strengthen it.
05 September 2010
logic/mind is a gift
School has started in full swing, so you will have to excuse this brevity.
Many things are gifts: the universe, nature in general, emotions, people friends, spouses, food, sleep, etc.
Add to this list: logic and thought.
If emotion is a gift, so is logic.
I came upon this realization as I admitted to myself that I was trying to understand everything, trying to become perfect by finding the ultimate solution and method of living. The truth is, we can never do that.
Plus, that would also make heaven either boring or frustrating. If we found the solution immediately, what would be left to think about? And if we were in continuous pursuit of perfection as something absolutely necessary, we would never reach it! Bummer!
Instead, our only peace and happiness is God himself. Period.
For a brief period these thoughts made me depressed because I thought I would lose all my fun thinking time. But then I realized what I stated first: logic is a gift. That means we explore it like an adventure. We focus on what pleases us most, what we feel we 'need' most, etc.
We should still pursue sanctification in all earnest fervor, but understanding everything is not necessary.
Be content all you logic-seekers! It is a gift!
Many things are gifts: the universe, nature in general, emotions, people friends, spouses, food, sleep, etc.
Add to this list: logic and thought.
If emotion is a gift, so is logic.
I came upon this realization as I admitted to myself that I was trying to understand everything, trying to become perfect by finding the ultimate solution and method of living. The truth is, we can never do that.
Plus, that would also make heaven either boring or frustrating. If we found the solution immediately, what would be left to think about? And if we were in continuous pursuit of perfection as something absolutely necessary, we would never reach it! Bummer!
Instead, our only peace and happiness is God himself. Period.
For a brief period these thoughts made me depressed because I thought I would lose all my fun thinking time. But then I realized what I stated first: logic is a gift. That means we explore it like an adventure. We focus on what pleases us most, what we feel we 'need' most, etc.
We should still pursue sanctification in all earnest fervor, but understanding everything is not necessary.
Be content all you logic-seekers! It is a gift!
04 September 2010
argument 17
Summary: "Our consciousness is evidence for a spiritual realm."
If we are merely complex chemical systems, material ordered by chance into something we call a human, then how do we have a consciousness? Why do we, human shapes, have consciousness, and not rocks? What physical properties make up a human? The brain? But people can lose parts of their brain and still be considered human. In fact, people can 'lost their minds' and still be human, still be conscious.
The fact that we have perceptions is evidence that we are more than physical anomalies. A purely mechanical/physical system would not be aware of it's own existence. A machine is not alive.
If we are merely complex chemical systems, material ordered by chance into something we call a human, then how do we have a consciousness? Why do we, human shapes, have consciousness, and not rocks? What physical properties make up a human? The brain? But people can lose parts of their brain and still be considered human. In fact, people can 'lost their minds' and still be human, still be conscious.
The fact that we have perceptions is evidence that we are more than physical anomalies. A purely mechanical/physical system would not be aware of it's own existence. A machine is not alive.
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