For one, society has always been humble and prideful, because we all want others to believe that we are selfless and live for the care of others. On the other hand we also strive in life to improve ourselves, internally feeling the greater impact should be used for our lives. I find it really hard to apply selflessness to our lives in a greed-saturated society, and in that sense it also relates to our relationships and how our willingness to be there for others is really intact.
In friendships, there are humble and prideful acts involved no matter who you may be friends with. You are going to want a close and deep relationship with them and at the same time care for them beyond what you could imagine. But there is also a sense of trust involved - as everyone knows. But put this in perspective: you may have very close friends - possibly a handful to only a few - and only select the ones - in your mind - that you could tell [anything] to. And in this manner that you could tell them [anything] in [any way.] Most likely, the ones in your mind that you could tell anything to are the ones you are closest to. Reason is that you could tell them how your day is going, or how much you hate school, or how much you need help in your walk with Christ, or even show anguish to them through what your emotions are. That's the way Christ wants it to be with us.
God doesn't want us to pray in the kindest manner possible, in attempt to be humble. He is a big God and I am sure that He can see our thoughts, and that is how we have to apply our prays to Him. If ever you are faced with anguish, yell it to God, show Him your problems and concerns, because He is the one who can always give you a definite answer - every time.
So just like you can show your emotions to your close friends, be able to present those feelings to God too. He desires a relationship with all of us, and if we can learn to not just pray with selflessness but honesty, we will feel closer to Him simply through the way we address our prayers.
"How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and everyday have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say 'I have overcome him,' and my foes will rejoice when I fall. But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me." - Psalm 13
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
God's Purpose - Part II
Today was good to me. Nothing vastly special came abrupt, but here is how it ran. I woke up at 5:30 - as I do every morning - and due to the clouds, I couldn't pull out my telescope and do astronomy, hence I took a nice long jog in the pitch black. Around 6:45 I arrived at Main Street Java to teach a lesson to an awesome group known as FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). The lesson went well and I was suprised by the number of people that showed up. And it was that night that I went out to my Old Testament course at Biblical Seminary, only to learn more about Yahweh and his creations.
In correlation to God's purpose, I think I will write about what God spoke to me today - leadership. Leadership - it's a very blatant topic. Often used in society, but one thing I wanted to do was see what the "definition" was. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as "the capacity to lead." The Encarta Dictionary defines it as "the ability to guide, direct, or influence people." Of course there is no wrong answer to this - it came out of a dictionary anyways - but I believe that there are [many] different traits of a leader and that God created everyone for a diffent purpose, in which everyone will lead in different yet similar ways.
For instance, take it as the analogy Jesus gives in Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." That's how we - as humans - must act too. Why should we shelter ourselves when we have a message - the Gospel - in which it needs to be shared to this dark world. That's what Jesus was saying, we should be a light in a dark world, to provide leadership and guidance to the ones who need it and to provide an example of what Jesus would want. To shine our lights, we must live like Jesus, not only contemplate it, not only speak about it, but live on it. Make that our establishment for what we do in our God-given calling. God has called us to many different things, whether it is to be a scientist someday, or to be a College Football player, or to work in the business field; whatever it is use it for God, because in the end, to live a life like Christ will never lead to regrets. It may lead to struggle and hardships, but never will it lead to regrets. Because God is what it means to have true satisfaction.
"'...but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'" - John 4:14
In correlation to God's purpose, I think I will write about what God spoke to me today - leadership. Leadership - it's a very blatant topic. Often used in society, but one thing I wanted to do was see what the "definition" was. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as "the capacity to lead." The Encarta Dictionary defines it as "the ability to guide, direct, or influence people." Of course there is no wrong answer to this - it came out of a dictionary anyways - but I believe that there are [many] different traits of a leader and that God created everyone for a diffent purpose, in which everyone will lead in different yet similar ways.
For instance, take it as the analogy Jesus gives in Matthew 5:14-16: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." That's how we - as humans - must act too. Why should we shelter ourselves when we have a message - the Gospel - in which it needs to be shared to this dark world. That's what Jesus was saying, we should be a light in a dark world, to provide leadership and guidance to the ones who need it and to provide an example of what Jesus would want. To shine our lights, we must live like Jesus, not only contemplate it, not only speak about it, but live on it. Make that our establishment for what we do in our God-given calling. God has called us to many different things, whether it is to be a scientist someday, or to be a College Football player, or to work in the business field; whatever it is use it for God, because in the end, to live a life like Christ will never lead to regrets. It may lead to struggle and hardships, but never will it lead to regrets. Because God is what it means to have true satisfaction.
"'...but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'" - John 4:14
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
God's Purpose - Part I
"...the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was upon him." - Ezekiel 1:3.
As the Bible states, God reached his hand out to Ezekiel, displaying to him his purpose and calling in which it was his job to fulfill. This applies to us as humans also, that we all have a God given purpose that needs to be completed. God may not reach his hands down to show you what he has in mind for you to do in your future, but it is through what you love most that he will guide you to your calling. And sometimes that is hard to wrap our brains around, that God knew in advance what we were going to do with our lives yet we still live through free [will], and that [will] could be to do good or to not do good. It depends on how we live our purpose out.
A question we may ask ourselves though - at any age - is "What is my purpose?" And that is one I cannot answer to you directly, only God can. It is through praying and getting to know Him better in which you will find inspiration, comfort and the drive to do well in your calling. Another way of considering a spiritual gift rather than asking "What is my purpose?" could be to find what you are good at. Sports? Music? Intellect? Arts? What is your gift? God didn't make you good at something for no reason, he made it so you could use it for Him. And now is the time: consider what your purpose might be and try to do as much as you can to use it for Him, and in the end, after all the worldly saturations and fads go away, it will be you and your gift that would have made an impact on what God used you for.
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:10
As the Bible states, God reached his hand out to Ezekiel, displaying to him his purpose and calling in which it was his job to fulfill. This applies to us as humans also, that we all have a God given purpose that needs to be completed. God may not reach his hands down to show you what he has in mind for you to do in your future, but it is through what you love most that he will guide you to your calling. And sometimes that is hard to wrap our brains around, that God knew in advance what we were going to do with our lives yet we still live through free [will], and that [will] could be to do good or to not do good. It depends on how we live our purpose out.
A question we may ask ourselves though - at any age - is "What is my purpose?" And that is one I cannot answer to you directly, only God can. It is through praying and getting to know Him better in which you will find inspiration, comfort and the drive to do well in your calling. Another way of considering a spiritual gift rather than asking "What is my purpose?" could be to find what you are good at. Sports? Music? Intellect? Arts? What is your gift? God didn't make you good at something for no reason, he made it so you could use it for Him. And now is the time: consider what your purpose might be and try to do as much as you can to use it for Him, and in the end, after all the worldly saturations and fads go away, it will be you and your gift that would have made an impact on what God used you for.
"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." - Ephesians 2:10
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