Thursday, March 26, 2009

 

the flower bud

So green, so rife, so bursting with life,
the newfound bud is not so dud.
Preceding the beauty that within lies,
So it will be, with yellow lines.

The beauty it has, it does not own,
but dies it must, that its own can sow.
Coming after this, something not-so-nice,
but it is after all,
the fruit of its labour.



was juz reflecting on a typical flower.. it's so beautiful (ok, most are.) but it must die before it can bear fruit.

dying to self.
that's the call of Christianity.
and of cuz taking up the cross, and following Christ.

i still don't really, fully, immensely, utterly understand wad it means to take up the cross.

but dying to self, and following Christ..
such cost.

and we'll always be challenged to give up things we hold dear to.
and we don't usually know they are THAT dear to us till we are called to give it up.
then we realise how immensely dear it was, how much we held on to it, knowing logically, that it wasn't the best.
and our soul deteriorates.
God You know best, and this simple faith, i give to You.

let me be simple, not simplistic.

Christianity is amazing.
so simple, a small kid can unnerstand. but then so deep and rich, cheem thinkers are stumped by it.
only God can do smthg like that, as jon said.

but its the simpleness which strikes me.
just pure love for God.

just that. untainted by busyness, and a love for Him.
like His disciples... simple ppl who just followed Him.
tho they din understand at first, they were amazing after. cuz of what God did.

i guess, we really need more models of ppl who live life simple enough to show they love God in their daily lives, and even how they intereact with ppl and others.
instead of discussing discussing and getting nowhere.

Lord, teach me to be Your child, with that Childlike faith.
but wise enough to know You, and discerning enough to do things the right way.

help me to obey.

the proud beauty of the flower must die before it can bear fruit.

The fruit appears, with many seeds so,
Eager to plant and bring life sown.
The new appears with flowerbuds too,
So green, so rife, so bursting with life.


Monday, March 16, 2009

 

Desert Song

Verse 1:
This is my prayer in the desert
And all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in the hunger in me
My God is a God who provides

Verse 2:
And this is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved
Of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flames

Chorus:
And I will bring praise
I will bring praise
No weapon forged against me shall remain

I will rejoice
I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Verse 3:
And this is my prayer in the battle
And triumph is still on it's way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I'll stand

Bridge:
All of my life
In every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Verse 4:
This is my prayer in the harvest
When favor and providence flow
I know I'm filled to be empited again
The seed I've recieved I will sow


Wednesday, March 11, 2009

 

Can Christians be Depressed?

found this transcripted vodcast by John Piper just by chance...

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/AskPastorJohn/ByTitle/2530_Can_Christians_be_depressed/

The following is an edited transcription of the audio.

Does being depressed mean that something is wrong with our hope?

Every Christian who struggles with depression struggles to keep their hope clear. There is nothing wrong with the object of their hope--Jesus Christ is not defective in any way whatsoever. But the view from the struggling Christian's heart of their objective hope could be obscured by disease and pain, the pressures of life, and by Satanic fiery darts shot against them.

We all have to fight the same way, by getting our views of Christ and his promises clear every hour of every day.

All discouragement and depression is related to the obscuring of our hope, and we need to get those clouds out of the way and fight like crazy to see clearly how precious Christ is.

This means we should help each other see Christ, right?

Yes. It seems that whenever one person is struggling—whether in a family, church, or small group—another person is given strength. The point of that is so that the body would work together and the strong would minister to the weak. Then the roles might be reversed the very next week or month, and the one who was just weak becomes strong to help the other who has now become weak.

The weakness can be psychological, spiritual, or physical. But the strength should flow back and forth between us. As we come up out of a discouragement we should minister to others.

This is exactly what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:4 where he speaks about comforting others with the comfort with which he had been comforted by God. God ordains that one person walk through a valley, find comfort in the valley, come out, turn around, go back to the beginning of that same valley, and help other people walk through it with the very comforts they discovered there.

We miss some of our greatest blessings by not enduring through hardship in our own families or in a church. God has things to teach us through hardship that we will not learn if we flee from it every time it comes.

19 December 2007


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


and no, i am not depressed in any way :P

the previous post, maybe.. or rather juz a lil tired-ly emo :P (ie the emoness that happen when u lack sleep and rational thoughts seem far far away)

Pointing to Christ and the gospel..
i realised that's what John Piper does, and ppl who inspired me.

not simplfying the gospel to make it like some all-healing drug for any 'illness' like depression, BGR problems, $$ woes, family headaches (though God heals.)
but juz pointing to the clear clarity of Christ.

which means, that we ourselves must be convinced of it.
which means, that we know Christ
and know His power.

another of Piper's sermon was about sexual sin.
when we sin, we lose that joy of our salvation. or rather, it fades till we aren't 'joyous' in His salvation, and we find cheap substitutes.

it's all about Christ. "looking unto Jesus" begins to be a deeper statement in my life.

as i think about it.. if only i read this article when it was written. or earlier that year (2007). i wonder if it would have made any difference then though...
has it been reality yet, i wonder too.

so is your hope obscured?

dark times always make the sunny times more refreshing.
if only we looked up.
looked back up.

oh well.
hey.. the weather these few days have been rainy, then sunny, and rainy again.
climate change? time of the year?
i have a hope.

hey.. the life these few days have been rainy, then sunny, and rainy again.
environment change? seasons of the life?
i have a hope.

looking unto Jesus.
the author and perfector of our faith.

look up ppl.


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