A New Reflection in the Mirror

There are many things that I love about God. One of those things is that when I spend time with Him, He reveals things to me. A few weeks ago, I was watching a pastor named Joseph Prince form Singapore. He preached to his congregation from the book of Song of Solomon. Not often have I heard a sermon come from this book. I wasn't exactly sure what the topic of the message was or the title. But he read Song of Solomon 1.6, a woman speaking to Jesus saying "Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me; my mother's children were angry with me; they made me the keepers of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept" (KJV). Pastor Prince explained that this woman's reference to the sun looking upon her describes her afflictions and her hard times. She is skin conscious and recognizes the pain she wears on her very skin. This woman's image of herself is not of beauty and love, as one made in the very image of God, but an image of blackness and persecution. She goes on to ask Him "Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one who turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?" (Song of Solomon 1.7). She asks the Lord where He is feeding His little sheep, where His flock is resting at noon, when the sun is high and hot. She wants a place to lay and feed with her love. This message can be preached about the dialogue between the Savior and this woman. But the note I would like to mention is the response Jesus gives her to answer her question "If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids besides the shepards' tent" (Song of Solomon 1.8, bold added). You will notice that after all the woman speaks about regarding the persecution she goes through and her resulting black and afflicted skin, Jesus delightfully titles her "fairest among women." What a significant difference God sees in us than we see in ourselves.

God revealed something to me: we are most precious in His eyes. When God created the world and all that is in it, He simple spoke these things into existence, "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light" (Gen 1.3). It was a matter of mere words. He did this for five days straight. But on that 6th day, He did something different. He decided to make a creature in the image of the Holy Trinity. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Gen 1.27). Amazing. The Lord took His time to create creatures in His own image. We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139.14)! Pastor Prince went on to say that when we look at ourselves in the mirror, we should see the glory of God reflecting on our faces. This is the majesty of God shining in us.

Today, I encourage you to look upon yourself as a beautiful creature of God. We are not perfect. We are not the brightest, boldest, or bravest. We have flaws, inwardly and outwardly. Our thoughts from our heart are sometimes dark and grim and we can even act unrighteously as a result of those thoughts. We are imperfect. But covered by the crimson blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we are made perfect in the eyes of God. Oh afflicted and troubled soul, black from the sun's persecution, you are the fairest among all. Rest in the bliss of His love for you. Look in the mirror as God's glory shines off your face and you reflect on the words of "More Beautiful You" by Johnny Diaz:

There could never be a more beautiful you. Don't buy the lies, disguises, and hoops they make you jump through. You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do. So there could never be a more beautful you.

Blessings

Standard

          As young adults, my friends and I often talk about relationships. We are at a stage in our lives where we are defining the standard we want our potential partners to uphold. Often times, we remind each other not to lower our standards, but to only settle with one who exemplifies these standards we have set.
          Just as we have standards for the people we decide to date, God has a standard that He requires us to live by. And we are not to lower them for the sake of others, even for the sake of our own lives. As Christians, we are called to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5.13-16). We are called to be different from others, from those of the world (Romans 12.1-2). This means we have to do things differently, repspond to things differently, look at things through a different lens. Our walk should be different, our speech should be different, as well as our passions and our desires. We are called to exalt the Lord and glorify Him in all that we do (1 Corinthians 10.31, Colossians 3.17).
          However, many times, I find myself trying to see how much of the world I can mix with this standard of God. But there is a danger in living in a gray area, blending righteous living with evil living (Revalation 3.15-16) and God will not stand for it. Anything that is not of the Lord is against Him (Matthew 12.30). But God knew the struggle we would face, living on this earth, so He has given us instructions in the Bible on how to live righteously.
          There are lessons all throughout the entire Word to demonstrate this standard the Lord has established for us. But Jesus tells us of one commandment that is the greatest: it is to love the Lord with all our heat, with all our soul, and with all our strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. This command is centered on love. So intersting it is to base life on this simple principle of love. But what is love? 1 Corinthians 12.4-8 tells us that "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues,they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." Furthermore, 1 John 4.8 tells us that God is love. If God is love, He must exmplify all these attributes that are love. And if we are commanded to love God and love each other, we too must exmplify these attributes that are love, thus living as God would have us. Alas, the standard is identified.
          Love is all we need to live a righteous life. This is the stnadard God has called us to uphold. We must rely on the strength and teaching of the Lord and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit to live to such a code of conduct. And God promises if we just wait on Him, we will make it thorugh this race called life. We will have new strength, running without being tired, walking without fainting (Isaiah 40.31). His comfroting love with always be with us leading us on that path of rightouesness. Rely on the Lord and He will teach you how to live to the standard He has set for our lives. Be blessed all ye!

Blessings

Eliminating the Static

Yesterday, I went to a Bible Study. Typically, Bible Study at my church is conducted by one of our pastors. So I was surprised to see one of our church members leading out the study. But I was also encouraged, quite encouraged, to see her leading out. It reminded me of when I was in college. My "church" at school was a small group of students under the name A.C.T.S. (Adventist Christians Together to Serve) who met in one of the campus buildings on Sabbath mornings. Our pastor had five churches that he pastored so he was not always able to preach at ours. Therefore, on many occasions, we conducted the entire service ourselves, from the praise and worship to the spoken word. And it was always great to hear other students who were just like me, teach me about this Jesus who we all strove to know more. It was encouraging because they didn't come from a theological standpoint with several Bible translations and a mix of Hebrew and Greek along with concepts only those who studied religion would understand, but they spoke from their experiences and their knowledge, and from what the Holy Spirit gave them to put in our hearts. My current-day church took the same approach. Bible study was intended to not only read the Bible but to use its teachings in a practical manner in our lives. And when the words are coming from someone just like me, my age, familiar with the struggles I go through, and facing the same challenges I do, it shows me how possible it is to put such lessons in place.

Last night, we were studying the transfiguration of Jesus on the mount when Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus and the disciples Peter, James, and John (Matthew 17. 1-8). We started discussing how the disciples did not quite understand what this moment of transfiguration meant. We discovered that there were three purposes to this moment. The appearence of Moses foreshadowed the people who will die in Christ but will be risen, just as Moses died but was now in Heaven (Jude 9). Elijah represents those who shall not die but will be alive when Christ returns and be taken to Heaven (2 Kings 2. 1-11). In addition, Moses and Elijah appeared as encouragment to Jesus and to show the disciples that the Kingdom is Heavenly, not earhtly.

However, the disciples resposne to seeing Moses and Elijah on the mount was to build tents for them to lodge in (Mt 17.4). Why did they not understand the transfiguration? Why did they not see the message Jesus was trying to portray to them? If anybody would understand Jesus, it would be the disciples, right? They walked with Him, talked with Him, ate with Him, lodged with Him. They were always togehter. Yet even though Jesus was clearly speaking to them and clearly demonstrating a message to them, there was some static in between that created a minsinterpretation of this vision. If that static occured even with the dicisples, some of the closets people to the Savior as He walked the earth, how much more is that static apparent for us in this day and age?

Static comes in many different forms. The two we pointed out in Bible Study was our motives and our distractions. Sometimes, we come to God with a motive already in mind. We ask God to send us to California. So we look for jobs in California. We look for apartments in California. We talk to people we know in California to learn more about the area. But in acuality, this may never be the plan God has for us. When we listen to His response, the only thing we hear are those things that pertain to getting us to that place WE want to be. Then, the message we do receive from God is misinterpreted becasue we interpret it with a mind that is already made up. We try to understand it in the context that allows us to go where we want to go and have our way. When we come to God in prayer, we should tell Him our plan. But, more importantly, we should ask God to make our plan HIS plan. We should allow God to lead our lives. If we focus on our own motives, we will only hear what will put us where we want to be. But if we free ourselves from determining our own fate and put all in the hands of our Father, trusting in his predetermined destiny for us, we will be able to hear a clear connection. Then, we must obey. No matter how different it is from what we expected, what we want, or what we even like to do, it must be obeyed. His way is always the best way. In addiiton, we sometimes cannot hear God clearly because we are dsitracted. To borrow an example from a church member, imagine talking on the phone, while driving, with kids in the back seat bouncing off the walls, while in traffic, trying to eat a breakfast sandwhich, in the pouring rain. How well do you think you will be able to focus on your phone conversation? Probably not very well. It is the same with God. When we come to Him in prayer, do we do it while we are tired and falling asleep? Do we wait until we are super hungry and want to quickly bless our food before we eat? Or do we emulate Jesus and go to a quiet place (such us up a mount) during a time when there are no distractions (such as when the disciples were sleeping) and when we don't have work to worry about work (such as after a day of teaching and healing) to spend time one-on-one with the Father? If not, our connection with God can have some static in the middle. If we are so focused on what we have to do next after our prayer is over, we might not get a clear response because our head is clouded with other things. Even during church service, we might find ourselves drifting to thoughts about plans we have after service. (Note: There is nothing wrong with walking and driving and excersizing and working and doing all our daily activites while talking to God. We should let every breath be a prayer and stay in the spirit of God all day). But, there are moments when we need to reduce the noise, eliminate the areas of distraction, and focus our attention and our motives directly on the Lord. In that moment, in that time of peace and solitude, we can hear the still small voice of the Lord (1 Kings 19. 11, 12).  

I encourage you today to make a conscious effort to find time to spend with the Lord and Him alone. Work towards setting a time out in the day for just you and Him. It may start as a few moments of solitude and eventually grow into hours on end of meditation of His love in your life. Despite our motives and despite the many things in this world intended to keep us away from fellowship with God, don't let these distractions determine your fate. Only you can control how you spend your time and what you do with the knowledge you posses. Simply by removing static from your life, you can reach a new level with the Lord and experience a deeper sense of His love.

Blessings