Been Thinking About...

SweetJade · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:20 am Post subject: Been Thinking About...

Hi friends, --I have shared this message to some of you via email on July 18th, but i think it might be good to share with others on the web, so here it is.

Recently, I have been thinking about how much God’s love is for us… why a sinner like us deserve a sacrifice of Jesus? Why Jesus loves us much enough to put himself through the atonement? I’m not thinking about something surface or a knowledge about Jesus’ redemption plan for mankind, however I’m thinking about another stage of being a faithful follower who believes in Christ’s scarification and His atonement. Something deeper than knowledge, something that beyond my understanding… something spiritually consensus, but it’s so real and exist.

I have also been thinking about Jesus’ disciples who faithfully follow His teaching and lay their lives to death for what they believe… Once they receive God’s love through the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost day, they start to serve God by going out speak the truth and put their lives at risk [as others perspective not them.] They had been through persecutions, suffering, struggle, hungry, been arrested… [any kinds of hardships come in life]… Why they suffered with many kinds of dreadful situations? What is the main reason for them to stand firm on what they believe? What is a true value in their lives that motivate them to pour out their efforts to spread the Gospel? Where do their courage derive from?

In Paul’s faithful life; he significantly demonstrates his faith in Christ by showing his stupendous attitudes toward every circumstances, as this result, it shows his disciplined life where it flow from his inner, solid faith in Christ. Especially, in all of his trials, he penetrates God’s love as a resource of victory to overcome those suffering situations, this courageous model is not only for himself to grow in God’s grace, but also being an amazing example to those who follow his lead… I just think how could he still demonstrate great attitudes in a time of trouble and in a mean while, he still concerns about others’ lives who were not in a prison like him? What kind of freedom he had in his heart? A true freedom in his spirit… a marvelous courage from above?

What is the exact response you would have when you face the trials in your life? Paul wasn’t stay out freely, but he was in a prison… why and how he was filled with tremendous courage to write an heartened letter to his fellow outside who physically had freedom?

I’ve been thinking about this… and I got into a thought about a true meaning of ‘Freedom’ that Paul has is something spiritually invisible… It’s not really define a freedom to open for you to go anywhere you want, or say anything you wish… but it’s a spiritual freedom God has given us to follow His will. we couldn’t see or touch but we could feel and follow its path. A freedom in our heart that leads us go anywhere that the Holy Spirit will lead us to… to serve Him wherever He put you there… to follow Jesus’ heart even you’re snared in some place. How can we receive this kind of freedom? Open your heart to learn more about God’s love, and let Him sanctify your life daily. When your heart is governed by God’s love, your attitudes, your behaviors will demonstrate His true freedom in Christ.

Did you really know who you are? What is a purpose in life you withheld for years? Is it a time to step out of your ‘comfort zone’ to receive a true freedom in Jesus Christ? Whom do you live for? Ponder these questions with prayers… thinking seriously about this and perhaps you may find a new door God opens for you to understand His purpose in your lives. Praying that God will help you breakdown your opaque thoughts and start to establish His true freedom in your lives and begin to serve Him who deserves our sacrifice.

The article from RBC--'Been Thinking About' column fills and inspires my thought about why and how God loves us unconditionally and indescribably through the life of Paul. Please enjoy reading it… and feel free to give me your comment or opinion, I would love to hear from you.

NOTE: I love RBC online resource… if some of you haven’t visit their website yet, please try once… I have been being its member many years ago and still find many fantastic articles to read. here is the link to check it out! http://www.rbc.org/been_thinking_about/home.aspx
_________________
SweetJade
...Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edified.
If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know;
but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him. 1 Cor.8:1b-3 ~NASV~

Guest · Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:02 pm Post subject:

Very deep thought.

"Did you really know who you are? What is a purpose in life you withheld for years? " To answer this type of questions we might need to have 'a spitual freedom'

Petch · Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:38 am Post subject:

P'Jade,
It is good that we have this kind of thinking. It presses us to move on forward in a spiritual way. Those who realize the fact that life is about Christ will have a better understanding about spiritual freedom. Smile

Listen to this...

At first, fixing our eyes on what is unseen sounds like an impossible task - but Paul is talking about faith. There is a brilliant line in a song by the band Faithless: "You don't need eyes to see, you need vision" (Reverence, Cheeky Records, 1996). In terms of the Christian faith it's all about an eternal perspective. The future that awaits us when Christ returns to renew all things will definitely be worth the temporary hardships faced in the journey of following Christ. Keeping this in mind will help us to be faithful. It will help us to "keep on keeping on" during the hard times of life and to keep all things in an eternal perspective. That kind of faith is truly a faith of great "vision."

Guest · Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:45 am Post subject:

We do not grow into a spiritual relationship step by step— we either have a relationship or we do not. God does not continue to cleanse us more and more from sin— "But if we walk in the light," we are cleansed "from all sin" ( 1 John 1:7 ).