Love Of God : Hope For The World
Take a read of the following article extracted from Wisdom Of The Sadhu, a devotion by Sadhu Sundar Singh; once antagonistic but completely changed after a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus before his plan to suicide was executed. This is another testimony of how we badly need a touch of good enduring hope for life:
Once, as I traveled through the Himalayas, there was a great forest fire. Everyone was frantically trying to fight the fire, but I noticed a group of men standing and looking up into a tree that was about to go up in flames. When I asked them what they were looking at, they pointed up at a nest full of young birds. Above it, the mother bird was circling wildly in the air and calling out warnings to her young ones. There was nothing she or we could do, and soon the flames started climbing up the branches.
As the nest caught fire, we were all amazed to see how the mother bird reacted. Instead of flying away from the flames, she flew down and settled on the nest, covering her little ones with her wings. The next moment, she and her nestlings were burned to ashes. None of us could believe our eyes. I turned to those standing by and said: "We have witnessed a truly marvelous thing. God created that bird with such love and devotion, that she gave her life trying to protect her young. If her small heart was so full of love, how unfathomable must be the love of her Creator. That is the love that brought him down from heaven to become man. That is the love that made him suffer a painful death for our sake."
Anyhow and in any way, God is able to reach the heart of man to tell him of His great love.
13 Jun 2005
11 Jun 2005
To be or not to be, that is the question...
To be or not to be, that is the question…
Being is integral to who we are. Being is the state of our existence: whether we be what we are made to be or not is a constant battle. Acts 17:28 “for in Him we live and move and have our being”- no one can pretend to be someone else and at the same time manage to remain genuine and true to their self. Having not built our pillars internally, we subtly succumb as the invisible sinkhole appear, collapsing within. Everyday we face the choice of wither embracing or refusing our real selves. Perhaps cosmetics has gained more ground than we realize as “skin deep” because we lack the courage to acknowledge our ugliness and our need. Not being true to self, on its own already rejection, has driven many to the path of madness and sadly, suicide. Self-realisation, as many call it, is difficult to be attained without good enduring hope. There is no possible deliverance from this life-draining sickness by pretension or romanticizing the idea of death as an escape route for salvation. We all know better, death without good hope ends us nowhere close to heaven. Though reputed as the most famous line from a Shakespearean character, note the hopelessness and helplessness in Hamlet’s words as he contemplates ending his life after he discovers the cold-blooded murder that got his father and had led him to believe in a lie regarding his demise:
“To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; no more; and, by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished…”
So, being famous doesn't guarantee you've got life! Constrast it to the sure and hopeful tone of Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who id not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us form the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or presecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels or principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What love, what joy and what hope do His children possess!
Being is integral to who we are. Being is the state of our existence: whether we be what we are made to be or not is a constant battle. Acts 17:28 “for in Him we live and move and have our being”- no one can pretend to be someone else and at the same time manage to remain genuine and true to their self. Having not built our pillars internally, we subtly succumb as the invisible sinkhole appear, collapsing within. Everyday we face the choice of wither embracing or refusing our real selves. Perhaps cosmetics has gained more ground than we realize as “skin deep” because we lack the courage to acknowledge our ugliness and our need. Not being true to self, on its own already rejection, has driven many to the path of madness and sadly, suicide. Self-realisation, as many call it, is difficult to be attained without good enduring hope. There is no possible deliverance from this life-draining sickness by pretension or romanticizing the idea of death as an escape route for salvation. We all know better, death without good hope ends us nowhere close to heaven. Though reputed as the most famous line from a Shakespearean character, note the hopelessness and helplessness in Hamlet’s words as he contemplates ending his life after he discovers the cold-blooded murder that got his father and had led him to believe in a lie regarding his demise:
“To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; no more; and, by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished…”
So, being famous doesn't guarantee you've got life! Constrast it to the sure and hopeful tone of Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who id not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us form the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress or presecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels or principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
What love, what joy and what hope do His children possess!
2 Jun 2005
This is my story, this is my song
This is my story, this is my song
I scantly recalled this hymn as I was taking my late night shower while reflecting on the day: "blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood... this is my story, this is my song, praising my Saviour, all the way long.... " I wonder how my story would be. And if people would write a song about me, I wonder what it would sound like. No glorifying myself in case there's some misunderstanding of what I'm writing here, this is a response thought following a train of fleeting images in my mind of people who had faithfully followed the Lord's footsteps, obeying His every word. Few were high profile, many were not. Matthew 7:21-23 hung gravely over my heart as I recalled it while talking to a friend today. "...but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter". A stark reminder to me to count the cost of my actions, the consequence of my words and the fruit of my labour. Not only there is motivation to be a role model, I find this warning is effecting me to think of what am I imparting and investing into the young, causing me to check whether the dreams and the desires that I have would amount to the obedience the Lord is looking for. Hey, I don't want to be doing so much and in the end it's nothing but ashes and soap bubbles. I consider it healthy to have the fear of God in all I do, lest I am found swollen with pride after being prized for some achievement. After all, we are aiming at getting to heaven are we not? Then we have to play by God's rules, that's the only way up.
I scantly recalled this hymn as I was taking my late night shower while reflecting on the day: "blessed assurance, Jesus is mine; oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! Heir of salvation purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood... this is my story, this is my song, praising my Saviour, all the way long.... " I wonder how my story would be. And if people would write a song about me, I wonder what it would sound like. No glorifying myself in case there's some misunderstanding of what I'm writing here, this is a response thought following a train of fleeting images in my mind of people who had faithfully followed the Lord's footsteps, obeying His every word. Few were high profile, many were not. Matthew 7:21-23 hung gravely over my heart as I recalled it while talking to a friend today. "...but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter". A stark reminder to me to count the cost of my actions, the consequence of my words and the fruit of my labour. Not only there is motivation to be a role model, I find this warning is effecting me to think of what am I imparting and investing into the young, causing me to check whether the dreams and the desires that I have would amount to the obedience the Lord is looking for. Hey, I don't want to be doing so much and in the end it's nothing but ashes and soap bubbles. I consider it healthy to have the fear of God in all I do, lest I am found swollen with pride after being prized for some achievement. After all, we are aiming at getting to heaven are we not? Then we have to play by God's rules, that's the only way up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)