16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
This particular verse tucks my heart. Clearly this verse is talking about evangelism which we must do. Talking about evangelism, I know, here, we haven’t done much in this specific task. There are still many people out there who haven’t folded into our church. And it is our task to bring them back to the fold. May GOD give us strength and motivation to perform this task. We really need to work hard in this matter. GOD will guide us.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
John 12
It's strange how one can read a chapter one day and feel nothing. But on another day, reading the same chapter, feel something.
7"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." (John 12)
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 6"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. (Mark 16)
The expression that came to mind after reading this verse again is 'carpe diem', remembering what happened in Mark with the two Mary's. Mary Magdalene and Mary of Jesus wanted to do the same thing for Jesus that Mary of Bethany did already, but they were too late. Jesus already predicted that Mary of Bethany saved the perfume for His burial. (On a side note, why is Mary such a popular name? This is even before Mary of Jesus became distinguished because of her special blessing in carrying Jesus in her womb.) This can remind us that if we want to do things for God, not to wait. Because even if we just wait for 8 or 9 days, it might be too late, like in this case. We do not know what will happen in the next moment. That is why there's a saying: Yesterday is a history, Tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a present (a gift from God). I know it is easier said than done. Many times we have the zeal in our hearts to do things for God, but we are not proactive enough in carrying it out into action. Hopefully we can be a source of strength for each other, and continue to pray for a increase in faith and deed.
10So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him. 8Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!" 37Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
It is quite sad after reading these verses. That even after witnessing the miracle Jesus has performed, they still would not believe. However, it sounds like God blinded them from the prophesy from Isaiah:
"He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts"
Can anyone explain this? But what I find even more saddening is the people in vs. 42 & 43. Those that believe, but do not have faith strong enough to stand up for their beliefs. I think sometimes we might become one of these people when we face the acceptance of men. Even with something as simple as saying grace in front of our friends before we eat when no one else is doing the same. Perhaps we can think about incidences where we have failed to acknowledge Jesus to others, either with our words or our actions.
7"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." (John 12)
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 6"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. (Mark 16)
The expression that came to mind after reading this verse again is 'carpe diem', remembering what happened in Mark with the two Mary's. Mary Magdalene and Mary of Jesus wanted to do the same thing for Jesus that Mary of Bethany did already, but they were too late. Jesus already predicted that Mary of Bethany saved the perfume for His burial. (On a side note, why is Mary such a popular name? This is even before Mary of Jesus became distinguished because of her special blessing in carrying Jesus in her womb.) This can remind us that if we want to do things for God, not to wait. Because even if we just wait for 8 or 9 days, it might be too late, like in this case. We do not know what will happen in the next moment. That is why there's a saying: Yesterday is a history, Tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a present (a gift from God). I know it is easier said than done. Many times we have the zeal in our hearts to do things for God, but we are not proactive enough in carrying it out into action. Hopefully we can be a source of strength for each other, and continue to pray for a increase in faith and deed.
10So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him. 8Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!" 37Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
It is quite sad after reading these verses. That even after witnessing the miracle Jesus has performed, they still would not believe. However, it sounds like God blinded them from the prophesy from Isaiah:
"He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts"
Can anyone explain this? But what I find even more saddening is the people in vs. 42 & 43. Those that believe, but do not have faith strong enough to stand up for their beliefs. I think sometimes we might become one of these people when we face the acceptance of men. Even with something as simple as saying grace in front of our friends before we eat when no one else is doing the same. Perhaps we can think about incidences where we have failed to acknowledge Jesus to others, either with our words or our actions.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
John 9
35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.
I have several thought on above verses. First of all, as we can seen from the passage, the blind man was casted and Jesus approached him and asked: “Do you believe in the Son of GOD?. For me, the way Jesus approached the blind man is kind of confirmation that GOD will look after us. Sometimes, because of what we believe, we will feel different than most of other people in this world. However, God will come to us and questioned our faith, and we have to examine our faith thoroughly whether we do believe in Him or not even though the world seems to “cast” us out. Moreover, it also shows that even thought the world does not care about us, but GOD does.
Secondly, the blind man answered Jesus “Who is He, Lord that I may believe in Him”. This blind man had a hunger to seek the Lord. He submissively and obediently yearns for believing in GOD as he said “that I may believe in Him”. This blind man was more than willing to engage a conversation with Jesus. Surely, nowadays, we don’t have opportunity to chat face to face with GOD but we can pray to have conversation with GOD. Pray so that GOD knows what are our concerns, worries, etc.
Thirdly, Jesus answered the blind man: “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you. When we search for GOD, He definitely will be there to answer us. Of course, today, we won’t hear a direct answer from GOD like Jesus answered the blind man and Jesus will not physically talking to us. But, we need to trust that GOD will answer our questions. God has numerous ways to answer our prayers. The answers could be testimony from others brethrens, words of encouragement from brothers and sisters as well as sermons and word of GOD delivered from Preacher or Holy workers. What we need to do is diligently reading the bible, sensitively listening word of GOD and most importantly, keeps those in our heart.
Fourthly, this blind man did have a simple faith. He simply believes in GOD and worshipped in Him after Jesus healed him and explained him who is GOD. The blind man didn’t any questions like the Pharisees. The blind mind just believes in GOD like there is no other way. We, human being, sometimes do have rational thinking which will hold back our faith. Sometimes, we do ponder, how things could be turned out like this, like that and we ask a lot of question based on our rationality. But, if we judged everything based on our rationality, we will have no faith in GOD.
In sum, from above paragraph we can learn few teaching as follows:
1. Don’t worry about what people think about us, GOD will take care. What we need to do is hold fast our faith.
2. We should constantly have the hunger to search for GOD and be submissive to Him.
3. Be sensitive to word of GOD and have faith in Him and eventually, we will realize that we have a good relationship with GOD. Believe that GOD will provide us with “answers”.
4. Have a simple faith and just believe. Don’t mix rationality with our faith. Set aside all those rationality, level-head thinking in order to have simple faith like this blind man.
Friday, April 09, 2010
John 11
We had just heard a sermon about this chapter. However, there are still certain places that puzzle me. I cannot really understand the context of some of the verses. For example:
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
I cannot really see the connection of verses 9 & 10 with it's context. There seem to be some sort of spiritual meaning about the light of the world. However, what does it have to do with people wanting to stone Jesus? It seems as if Jesus is trying to teach His disciples something.
Also:
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
Why did Thomas say 'that we may die with Him'? What did he mean by that? It almost could sound like he is mocking Jesus.
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
I cannot really see the connection of verses 9 & 10 with it's context. There seem to be some sort of spiritual meaning about the light of the world. However, what does it have to do with people wanting to stone Jesus? It seems as if Jesus is trying to teach His disciples something.
Also:
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
Why did Thomas say 'that we may die with Him'? What did he mean by that? It almost could sound like he is mocking Jesus.
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