12But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?
13Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.
14The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me.
15It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
16It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire.
17The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.
18No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies.
19The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.
20Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?
21Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.
22Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears.
23God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.
24For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven;
25To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure.
26When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder:
27Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out.
28And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Job 28.
Amen.
homesick
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Elihu
I'm reading through Job. Most days, I don't really know what to do with the passage I read from Job for quiet time.
I'm at the part where Elihu, the youngest of Job's friends and the last to speak, speaks. It's the only part that's in the way of me getting to the grand finale in which the LORD owns everyone at everything.
Elihu talks a lot. His spiel is even longer than God's. This guy is passionate and long-winded and angry. He has enough sense to bite his tongue in the beginning and he's definitely not un-wise. But his strong belief and eloquence (and maybe even good intent somewhere in there) don't make him any less totally mistaken.
I can identify with Elihu (this is different from finding my identity in Elihu, just to clarify).
I am Elihu sometimes when I blog - even whatever good things I try to share become bad, because the focus has shifted from the awesomeness of God to the awesomeness of me (I pray that this is not true at the moment)
I can also think of moments when I played the Elihu in someone else's life. And later on, I think about it and I am ashamed, although I usually only had the best intentions.
To be honest, a lot of times when fellow brothers and sisters come to me with their problems, this is part of the reason I feel so helpless when I'm supposed to be strong for them. I can think of things to say, but I almost never say it because I feel like I don't have the right to say "I totally understand". I feel pressured to say words that are perfect like apples of gold in settings of silver. I'm disappointed when I can't sense the Spirit leading me to say one thing or another. I feel useless.
Jason Tarn once talked about (or talked about a book that talked about) how every sin in our life can be traced back to unbelief. God, I want to believe You fully in this aspect. God, I'm afraid of being Elihu, the young and knowledgeable but totally misguided. Sometimes, I'm sad because I feel like it's taken / is taking so long for me to know the Spirit. But You said that "anyone who trusts in Him will not be put to shame." You said "seek ye first" and "delight yourself in the LORD". And you also said that You make all things beautiful in Your time.
He knows my heart. He knows when I'm trying to hear the Spirit's call for selfish reasons and He knows when I earnestly seek Him on behalf of someone. He will do what is pleasing in His sight. There is no fear. There is only quietness and trust, and it is well with my soul.
He is in control of my sisterhoods and my sisters' lives.
I'm at the part where Elihu, the youngest of Job's friends and the last to speak, speaks. It's the only part that's in the way of me getting to the grand finale in which the LORD owns everyone at everything.
Elihu talks a lot. His spiel is even longer than God's. This guy is passionate and long-winded and angry. He has enough sense to bite his tongue in the beginning and he's definitely not un-wise. But his strong belief and eloquence (and maybe even good intent somewhere in there) don't make him any less totally mistaken.
I can identify with Elihu (this is different from finding my identity in Elihu, just to clarify).
I am Elihu sometimes when I blog - even whatever good things I try to share become bad, because the focus has shifted from the awesomeness of God to the awesomeness of me (I pray that this is not true at the moment)
I can also think of moments when I played the Elihu in someone else's life. And later on, I think about it and I am ashamed, although I usually only had the best intentions.
To be honest, a lot of times when fellow brothers and sisters come to me with their problems, this is part of the reason I feel so helpless when I'm supposed to be strong for them. I can think of things to say, but I almost never say it because I feel like I don't have the right to say "I totally understand". I feel pressured to say words that are perfect like apples of gold in settings of silver. I'm disappointed when I can't sense the Spirit leading me to say one thing or another. I feel useless.
Jason Tarn once talked about (or talked about a book that talked about) how every sin in our life can be traced back to unbelief. God, I want to believe You fully in this aspect. God, I'm afraid of being Elihu, the young and knowledgeable but totally misguided. Sometimes, I'm sad because I feel like it's taken / is taking so long for me to know the Spirit. But You said that "anyone who trusts in Him will not be put to shame." You said "seek ye first" and "delight yourself in the LORD". And you also said that You make all things beautiful in Your time.
He knows my heart. He knows when I'm trying to hear the Spirit's call for selfish reasons and He knows when I earnestly seek Him on behalf of someone. He will do what is pleasing in His sight. There is no fear. There is only quietness and trust, and it is well with my soul.
He is in control of my sisterhoods and my sisters' lives.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
the right perspective
The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our Lord stands forever. Isaiah 40:8
encouragement from this verse: our projects don't matter on the grand scale, God's word is what's important. We are called to do our best with what we have been entrusted with, but this system that is set up by the world is a deceiving one. Monday 5pm is not the goal. Our goal is much much better and much much more eternal.Good morning Hannah! And i hope all is going well with you and your project!
I have toiled and labored for things that pass away
Working just to savor these numbered days
Fruitless seeds are sown
Worthless things I’ve grown
I offer you all that I own
Though small and simple
I pray it honors you alone
encouragement from this verse: our projects don't matter on the grand scale, God's word is what's important. We are called to do our best with what we have been entrusted with, but this system that is set up by the world is a deceiving one. Monday 5pm is not the goal. Our goal is much much better and much much more eternal.Good morning Hannah! And i hope all is going well with you and your project!
I have toiled and labored for things that pass away
Working just to savor these numbered days
Fruitless seeds are sown
Worthless things I’ve grown
I offer you all that I own
Though small and simple
I pray it honors you alone
Friday, November 25, 2011
God please keep me sane and in the right perspective
healthy stress management tips anyone?
This is the first time I've felt too anxious to think properly four days before pencils down.
This is the first time I've felt too anxious to think properly four days before pencils down.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
greater than our hearts
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
I am thankful for the promise of 1 John 3:19-21. I am thankful that he knows me, and that I do not have to constantly be afraid of wronging or having wronged Him.
I am thankful for having a sister who also struggles with selfishness of thought and overanalyzing herself but hopes in Christ with all of her heart (or as much of it as she can give).
And I am thankful for the example of Job. I don't understand how he could know so unwaveringly that his suffering was not the product of sin, despite the manipulativeness of his somewhat wise but totally misjudging friends, but I'm thankful for his life story.
I am also thankful for K taking RELI for the glory of God,
for the powerful songs and testimony of Steven Curtis Chapman and his family,
for second chances in CCF and studio, for discipline and tenderness and repentance according to His timing.
and for the laser time that I trust Him to provide!
I am thankful for the promise of 1 John 3:19-21. I am thankful that he knows me, and that I do not have to constantly be afraid of wronging or having wronged Him.
I am thankful for having a sister who also struggles with selfishness of thought and overanalyzing herself but hopes in Christ with all of her heart (or as much of it as she can give).
And I am thankful for the example of Job. I don't understand how he could know so unwaveringly that his suffering was not the product of sin, despite the manipulativeness of his somewhat wise but totally misjudging friends, but I'm thankful for his life story.
I am also thankful for K taking RELI for the glory of God,
for the powerful songs and testimony of Steven Curtis Chapman and his family,
for second chances in CCF and studio, for discipline and tenderness and repentance according to His timing.
and for the laser time that I trust Him to provide!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
the end of ourselves...the beginning of Him
Where I fall short, His grace begins.
D told me that she heard exactly what she needed to hear tonight at the Beware of Christians screening. About her inherent sinful nature, about Jesus' centrality to Christianity, about how the decision to follow Jesus is the hardest decision in life, and the one that's the most worth it.
At first, I felt an immediate twinge of regret that I decided not to go. I remember looking at the attendees (there were so many...) on the Facebook event about 10 minutes after it began, thinking about my struggles with not making Christian activity, but not completely shunning it either. I was also upset that I had been procrastinating all day on sending her those verses that I thought would lead her closer to knowing Jesus after the talk on Tuesday night.
My sin of delayed obedience (= disobedience) was not pleasing to His sight, and it really could have been a stumbling block. But He was more than faithful.
T asked me yesterday during discipleship about the story of Naaman the leprous. We had been talking about how God looks at the heart and is faithful to forgive and receive those who come with a contrite heart. But Naaman was such a grump and so unbelieving when he washed himself in the Jordan. Yet, through the faith of the servant girl and His overall goodness, Naaman came out healed and saying "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel."
Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD that D, who almost always plans out every detail of her day, decided to go to the screening today out of the blue.
Praise the LORD that in a sea of people she didn't know, Laura saw her and called her name from across the room.
Praise the LORD for His kingdom come in the work and life of those four brothers who came to our university to share about the true Jesus.
Praise the LORD that although I have been whiny, ungrateful, lazy, and self-absorbed today, He heard my prayer (and everyone else's) to protect D's burdened heart. To not let the stumbling blocks that I or anyone other Christians in her life might have placed get in the way of her drawing closer to the Holy, Living, Loving Abba Father. That He would keep her far from falsehood and lies, and lead her to finally trust Him fully.
Praise the LORD.
My heart floods with gratitude - God, please please please let true gratitude become true repentance. I pray that You would strongly, gently turn me away from the blinding selfishness hindering me, hindering others in my life. I fall so very short as a discipler, as a sister, as a housemate, as a studiomate, as a daughter. I pray that You would provide me with people who will speak the truth to me (maybe not even in love, although I sure hope so), as well as show me how to speak the truth in love to others.
God calls us to be holy as He is holy.
But even as we sin and sin again, He is good. He is so faithful. His Word is living and active, and will endure forever.
"I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."
D told me that she heard exactly what she needed to hear tonight at the Beware of Christians screening. About her inherent sinful nature, about Jesus' centrality to Christianity, about how the decision to follow Jesus is the hardest decision in life, and the one that's the most worth it.
At first, I felt an immediate twinge of regret that I decided not to go. I remember looking at the attendees (there were so many...) on the Facebook event about 10 minutes after it began, thinking about my struggles with not making Christian activity, but not completely shunning it either. I was also upset that I had been procrastinating all day on sending her those verses that I thought would lead her closer to knowing Jesus after the talk on Tuesday night.
My sin of delayed obedience (= disobedience) was not pleasing to His sight, and it really could have been a stumbling block. But He was more than faithful.
T asked me yesterday during discipleship about the story of Naaman the leprous. We had been talking about how God looks at the heart and is faithful to forgive and receive those who come with a contrite heart. But Naaman was such a grump and so unbelieving when he washed himself in the Jordan. Yet, through the faith of the servant girl and His overall goodness, Naaman came out healed and saying "Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel."
Praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD that D, who almost always plans out every detail of her day, decided to go to the screening today out of the blue.
Praise the LORD that in a sea of people she didn't know, Laura saw her and called her name from across the room.
Praise the LORD for His kingdom come in the work and life of those four brothers who came to our university to share about the true Jesus.
Praise the LORD that although I have been whiny, ungrateful, lazy, and self-absorbed today, He heard my prayer (and everyone else's) to protect D's burdened heart. To not let the stumbling blocks that I or anyone other Christians in her life might have placed get in the way of her drawing closer to the Holy, Living, Loving Abba Father. That He would keep her far from falsehood and lies, and lead her to finally trust Him fully.
Praise the LORD.
My heart floods with gratitude - God, please please please let true gratitude become true repentance. I pray that You would strongly, gently turn me away from the blinding selfishness hindering me, hindering others in my life. I fall so very short as a discipler, as a sister, as a housemate, as a studiomate, as a daughter. I pray that You would provide me with people who will speak the truth to me (maybe not even in love, although I sure hope so), as well as show me how to speak the truth in love to others.
God calls us to be holy as He is holy.
But even as we sin and sin again, He is good. He is so faithful. His Word is living and active, and will endure forever.
"I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
May we come to the end of ourselves.
This stuck out to me when Dale said and/or prayed this at his house.
I shared this with Dandan last night when we were talking about despairing in man and hoping in Jesus, and she said wanted to think about that thought more.
God, there are so many possible and probable stumbling blocks out there...including ones that I have blindly and not-so-blindly placed.
May You be faithful, just, merciful and gracious where all of us fall short.
I shared this with Dandan last night when we were talking about despairing in man and hoping in Jesus, and she said wanted to think about that thought more.
God, there are so many possible and probable stumbling blocks out there...including ones that I have blindly and not-so-blindly placed.
May You be faithful, just, merciful and gracious where all of us fall short.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again:
Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding,
will guard
your hearts
and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
the joy of the LORD is my strength
Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in every situation,
by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding,
will guard
your hearts
and your minds
in Christ Jesus.
the joy of the LORD is my strength
Thursday, November 10, 2011
my brother talks about dating for the first time, on gchat
im 3/4 of the ppl tat dont hav gf
lol i dont want one
i need to study
art
chinese
athletics
LOL. of all school subjects to give up dating for. you go lil bro.
lol i dont want one
i need to study
art
chinese
athletics
LOL. of all school subjects to give up dating for. you go lil bro.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
time is ticking, t-time is ticking away
I was telling Karen this - my Saturdays and Sundays are continually being flip-flopped.
I wanted to commit to keeping the Sabbath holy by setting aside Sundays for church, discipleship, and fellowship over dinner, and household things.
But what do I do when this is what my Saturday looks like:
8am shack-a-thon, 10:15am field trip to Galveston, 3:30pm shower, 4:00pm meet Greg and Christine, 6:30pm eat something, 7:00pm practice, 7:30pm interministry worship night, 10:30pm talk to housemate 11:00pm huh??...no work done. QQ. this will have to be resolved prayerfully. I'm thinking it's because I tend to give an okay to plans on Fridays and Saturdays too quickly, without His will in mind.
Also, today I did not give Him the firstfruits (first hour) of my day, which totally throws everything off for the next twenty-four (plus) hours. This happened the morning after confessing to cell group peeps my frustrations with people who make excuses for not putting time with Him first...yeah...
Freedom is in discipline, in death. Dahhh. Lord, have mercy on us all.
Also, Greg the Christ-following architect I met up with today highly encouraged me to consider this for the near future: http://www.emiusa.org/
Also, prayer as the body of Christ for the body of Christ for His Name is so GOOD. and makes me long for that day.
Also, I tend to be a little saddened when fellow Christians do not seem nearly as excited as I am to meet them. But through His grace, may I not judge, just pray.
Also, let it raiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
I wanted to commit to keeping the Sabbath holy by setting aside Sundays for church, discipleship, and fellowship over dinner, and household things.
But what do I do when this is what my Saturday looks like:
8am shack-a-thon, 10:15am field trip to Galveston, 3:30pm shower, 4:00pm meet Greg and Christine, 6:30pm eat something, 7:00pm practice, 7:30pm interministry worship night, 10:30pm talk to housemate 11:00pm huh??...no work done. QQ. this will have to be resolved prayerfully. I'm thinking it's because I tend to give an okay to plans on Fridays and Saturdays too quickly, without His will in mind.
Also, today I did not give Him the firstfruits (first hour) of my day, which totally throws everything off for the next twenty-four (plus) hours. This happened the morning after confessing to cell group peeps my frustrations with people who make excuses for not putting time with Him first...yeah...
Freedom is in discipline, in death. Dahhh. Lord, have mercy on us all.
Also, Greg the Christ-following architect I met up with today highly encouraged me to consider this for the near future: http://www.emiusa.org/
Also, prayer as the body of Christ for the body of Christ for His Name is so GOOD. and makes me long for that day.
Also, I tend to be a little saddened when fellow Christians do not seem nearly as excited as I am to meet them. But through His grace, may I not judge, just pray.
Also, let it raiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
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