"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." Luke 15:1-7
The parable of the lost sheep. Most of us have had been a lost sheep once. Lost in sin. Lost in the things of this world. Lost and directionless in life. Lost and unable to untangle ourselves from that mess that we are in. Lost and most of the times feeling condemned. Often the world outside the sheep pent looked more interesting, tempting and often cheated us and brings our life upside down. It feels us with fear and leaves us out in the open for the foxes and wolves that lie in wait. The sins and temptations, the condemnations and the evilness all flings themselves at us the moment we are out in the open and away from The Shepherd. The Shepherd comes looking for us, knowing what danger we are in, knowing that He needs to find us because we probably cannot find the way back or even sometimes we don't even want to go back because we don't understand the love of The Shepherd, we choose to hide like Adam in the garden after his fall. When you are lost and too confused to get out and the hands of grace just comes in and pulls you out of that situation of being lost and then clothed you with love and warmth, that is a beautiful moment. It is hard to forget such moments because in that moment we get to see the beauty of His Love, the extent by which He will reach out and the extend by which He searches for us even when we run away from Him. The most beautiful moment is He brings us back, when we are all so entangled in our sins and the things of this world, not when we have untangled ourselves. The beauty of His grace, His love is just so great. It brings repentance and conviction, there's totally no condemnation. That's love in the highest standards.
6/15/2015
6/01/2015
The foundation of faith
Matthew 28:5-6 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay."
I once had a sheep who asked me. "How do I strengthen the foundation of my faith? Is it by reading the Bible and praying more during devotion?" The typical answer that I would have replied is "Yes" But in reflecting the question, the real question that should be asked is "What really is the foundation of our faith? What is it that compels us to read the Bible and what is it that enables and drives us to pray?" To build the foundation of our faith, it is undoubtedly to read the Bible and to pray often and also to join in the fellowship of the brothers and sisters in Christ. We have come to think of this as the building of the strong foundation, but Bible reading and praying and fellow shipping comes to nothing when we do not understand the very thing that compels us to build these foundations, it becomes routine that happens because our leaders, our parents, our elder siblings and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ ask us to do. The true foundations of our faith is the death and resurrection of Christ. That is really the foundation of our faith, because when we fully understands Christ and what He has done upon the cross, when the reality of the spiritual exchange that was made on the cross dawned upon us, when the significance of how the death cleansed and saved us and the resurrection gives us a victorious choice of life and salvation just strikes the chords of our hearts, when all these happens within our hearts, minds and souls, it just compels us to have a passion and a desire to want to know more of God and to want to go deeper in that relationship with Him and that passion and desire will be the thing that compels us to read the Bible and to pray and to join in the fellowship of the brothers and sisters in Christ. The true foundation of our faith is understanding and really knowing what Christ has done for us upon that cross and living each day based upon that. The strength of the foundation of our faith is not what we do to strengthen the foundation, it is living in what Christ has done for us.
I once had a sheep who asked me. "How do I strengthen the foundation of my faith? Is it by reading the Bible and praying more during devotion?" The typical answer that I would have replied is "Yes" But in reflecting the question, the real question that should be asked is "What really is the foundation of our faith? What is it that compels us to read the Bible and what is it that enables and drives us to pray?" To build the foundation of our faith, it is undoubtedly to read the Bible and to pray often and also to join in the fellowship of the brothers and sisters in Christ. We have come to think of this as the building of the strong foundation, but Bible reading and praying and fellow shipping comes to nothing when we do not understand the very thing that compels us to build these foundations, it becomes routine that happens because our leaders, our parents, our elder siblings and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ ask us to do. The true foundations of our faith is the death and resurrection of Christ. That is really the foundation of our faith, because when we fully understands Christ and what He has done upon the cross, when the reality of the spiritual exchange that was made on the cross dawned upon us, when the significance of how the death cleansed and saved us and the resurrection gives us a victorious choice of life and salvation just strikes the chords of our hearts, when all these happens within our hearts, minds and souls, it just compels us to have a passion and a desire to want to know more of God and to want to go deeper in that relationship with Him and that passion and desire will be the thing that compels us to read the Bible and to pray and to join in the fellowship of the brothers and sisters in Christ. The true foundation of our faith is understanding and really knowing what Christ has done for us upon that cross and living each day based upon that. The strength of the foundation of our faith is not what we do to strengthen the foundation, it is living in what Christ has done for us.
"Forever" by Kari Jobe
The moon and stars they wept
The morning sun was dead
The Saviour of the world was fallen
His body on the cross
His blood poured out for us
The weight of every curse upon him
One final breath he gave
As heaven looked away
The son of God was laid in darkness
A battle in the grave
The war on death was waged
The power of hell forever broken
The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting?
Our resurrected King
Has rendered you defeated
Forever he is glorified
Forever he is lifted high
Forever he is risen
He is alive, He is alive!
The ground began to shake
The stone was rolled away
His perfect love could not be overcome
Now death where is your sting?
Our resurrected King
Has rendered you defeated
Forever he is glorified
Forever he is lifted high
Forever he is risen
He is alive, He is alive!
We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
We sing hallelujah
The Lamb has overcome
Forever he is glorified
Forever he is lifted high
Forever he is risen
He is alive, He is alive!
You have overcome
You have overcome
You have overcome
You have overcome
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