Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Hi everyone!
So I'm taking this course in my church called Masterlife, it's mainly to have more faith in God and grow spiritually, us being the teenagers we are and probably not having much maturity in us, which is why we need God right? Okay so for Masterlife we're supposed to spend at least about 20-30mins with God everyday and memorize verses from the Bible and I came across this verse and I think it means alot.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me." -Luke 9:23
These are the basic guidelines to being Christ's disciple; and to me, honestly, being a faithful disciple isn't an easy feat. Denying ourselves include giving all glory, praise and credit that we receive from others' to God, and sometimes we just take it all in and are either too lazy or feel that there's no need to say, "All this is only possible by the grace of God," perhaps for fear that our friends might think of us differently or the ridiculous thought that sometimes enters our mind when we're not thinking carefully: that all was accomplished by our own power and actions.
Taking up our cross daily; many think that this is a burden and a sacrifice, suffering hardships for the Lord. However, it should not be so. Taking up our cross refers to giving up our whole lives to God, as Jesus gave His life for us. This involves bearing burdens, but it is deeper than that. It is a total dedication of life. Our whole life is given to His service in anything He says. This will lead us to willingly deny self. I, for one, know that this is hard, that we sometimes get so tired after a long day at school and are just too lazy to do our quiet time and spend time with God, that we don't hunger to get to know Him better, to fellowship with Him. It's like how if you love someone, you would want to hear his/her voice and will always be eager to call him/her or receive a call from him/her. This should be the way for God as well - we should yearn to hear Him speak to us.
Life is continuous learning, and as our faith in God grows stronger and stronger, we will learn to follow him as faithful disciples. Yes, sin is inevitable. Yes, we may be tempted by the devil. But let's not dwell on the past but pray for forgiveness and with the right heart, you will be forgiven, and all will be forgotten. Think of all those who have wronged us, all those we've wronged. If God can forgive us for all the horrible things we've done, can't we extend that same grace to everyone else? Can't we learn to love those we dislike at this moment, even though it's hard and even though they would think we were being fake by displaying politeness and being civil to them? Can't we forget all that's been done to us, but focus on what we're going to do next? With God's grace, can't we overcome all this? Can't we at least do our best to give back all the He's given to us?
I'm sure we can.
Love,
Linying.
So I'm taking this course in my church called Masterlife, it's mainly to have more faith in God and grow spiritually, us being the teenagers we are and probably not having much maturity in us, which is why we need God right? Okay so for Masterlife we're supposed to spend at least about 20-30mins with God everyday and memorize verses from the Bible and I came across this verse and I think it means alot.
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me." -Luke 9:23
These are the basic guidelines to being Christ's disciple; and to me, honestly, being a faithful disciple isn't an easy feat. Denying ourselves include giving all glory, praise and credit that we receive from others' to God, and sometimes we just take it all in and are either too lazy or feel that there's no need to say, "All this is only possible by the grace of God," perhaps for fear that our friends might think of us differently or the ridiculous thought that sometimes enters our mind when we're not thinking carefully: that all was accomplished by our own power and actions.
Taking up our cross daily; many think that this is a burden and a sacrifice, suffering hardships for the Lord. However, it should not be so. Taking up our cross refers to giving up our whole lives to God, as Jesus gave His life for us. This involves bearing burdens, but it is deeper than that. It is a total dedication of life. Our whole life is given to His service in anything He says. This will lead us to willingly deny self. I, for one, know that this is hard, that we sometimes get so tired after a long day at school and are just too lazy to do our quiet time and spend time with God, that we don't hunger to get to know Him better, to fellowship with Him. It's like how if you love someone, you would want to hear his/her voice and will always be eager to call him/her or receive a call from him/her. This should be the way for God as well - we should yearn to hear Him speak to us.
Life is continuous learning, and as our faith in God grows stronger and stronger, we will learn to follow him as faithful disciples. Yes, sin is inevitable. Yes, we may be tempted by the devil. But let's not dwell on the past but pray for forgiveness and with the right heart, you will be forgiven, and all will be forgotten. Think of all those who have wronged us, all those we've wronged. If God can forgive us for all the horrible things we've done, can't we extend that same grace to everyone else? Can't we learn to love those we dislike at this moment, even though it's hard and even though they would think we were being fake by displaying politeness and being civil to them? Can't we forget all that's been done to us, but focus on what we're going to do next? With God's grace, can't we overcome all this? Can't we at least do our best to give back all the He's given to us?
I'm sure we can.
Love,
Linying.
Agape loves you♥ 8:51 PM.
