Thursday, February 26, 2009
- Roadmap to a Christian journey, Part I -Well, to start off, is anyone good at directions here?
If Yes, then read on. If No, then you must read on.
Usually in a shopping mall or a carpark, if you are not sure of where you are, wouldn't you head off to the nearest directory as soon as possible? Instead of actually finding out where you want to head to, like mostly everyone, why not find out where YOU are? A normal map would put a normal sized red dot and indicate that you are there. And that red dot is just what you are looking for... Because it is you regardless of wherever you are! After finding out where are you and what you are going to do, look for your destination next. I know it looks rather basic, but do you know that actually a lot of people are still lost out there? For a traveller, his red dot will appear on the map once he entered the specific area, and the same is applied to us Christians. After giving our hearts to Jesus, we will start from the Cross. As new Christians, we would then rely a lot on our Leaders and Pastors right? And from them, we just learn about Church Cultures and just do whatever we are told.
In Genesis 3:9 --> Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ''Where are you?''
From that we might think that God is actually just asking Adam where he is geographically, but He is actually asking where Adam is in his walk with God!
Of course... by then Adam had already ate the Apple... Adam, being new, he pushes the blame onto his wife, instead of taking responsibility for what he had done. If he had just told his wife exactly what God had told him, she would not have been to the Tree of Wisdom.
This can also be applied to us : We are new, we would just continue to sin, and God's Grace would cover it up, because He loved us. But we should change, and not to continue sinning for the rest of our walk with God. In Genesis 2:16-17 --> (16) And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ''Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) ''but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat it you shall surely die.''
God created man, how could He not know that man would actually eat the fruit of that tree? He had let Adam and Eve to eat it so that He could give the both of them senses to discern good and evil. If we want our kids to be good, why not just locked them up in a room and just feed them everyday? No, because we would want them to discern good and evil apart as well. If God Himself did not locked Adam and Eve up but instead, let them roam around the Garden of Eden, why should we keep our kids from going out to the world? After all, God created them too, not us... Even we are His creations.
The roadmap goes like this : The Cross, where we give our hearts to Jesus --> Stage of Dependence --> Stage of Independence --> Stage of God-dependence, Co-dependence, Inter-dependence.
It may not be easy as it seems to be God-dependent, but God had given us this challenge. Do not think that you cannot, because if you can't, He would not have created you. In the Stage of God-dependence, you will understand Humility, Brokenness, and Faith.
In 2Corinthians 12:9-10 --> (9) And He said to me, ''My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength if made perfect in weakness.'' Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10) Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, om persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
In Deuteronomy8:2-18 --> (2) ''And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. (3) ''So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lived by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. (4) ''Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. (5) ''You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. (6) ''Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. (7) '' For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; (8) ''a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; (9) ''a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. (10) ''When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. (11) ''Beware, that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgements, and His statutes which I command you today. (12) ''lest-when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; (13) ''and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; (14) ''when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; (15) ''who led you through the great and terrible wilderness,in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where you out of the flinty rock; (16) ''who fer you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end- (17) ''then you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.' (18) And you shall remember the Lord your God , for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
And after testing you, God will give you what you deserved, as ''He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end.''
-Part II to be continued-
I will serve You as long as I have breath. 6:25:00 AM
