Debts

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. Romans 13:8

Late do I love You

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

St. Augustine

"You have not spoken of Me what is right"

"...Their self-defense surprised me because their careless conclusion seemed indefensible. But then I thought of how common it is to make faulty judgments based on minimal information. One of the classic biblical examples is that of Job’s friends. They wrongly concluded that because a series of tragedies happened to him, Job had sinned.
 In the end, God defended Job and offered a startling conclusion. He didn’t rebuke his friends for judging Job but for speaking falsely about Himself (Job 42:7). This is a humbling reminder that when we make careless judgments about others, we are sinning against God.

 Lord, please restrain my lips when I’m tempted to say what I shouldn’t say about people made in Your image. Use my words to bless and not harm. May I reflect Your heart. "


Started reading ODB somewhat regularly after I got a free copy from Changi (the body I've joined here in Singapore). Used to think it was too simple of a devo, but sometimes a very simple and simply stated point with a single verse helps a lot.

Numbers 23:9 (NASB)
“As I see him from the top of the rocks, 
 And I look at him from the hills; 
 Behold, a people who dwells apart, 
 And will not be reckoned among the nations." 


 As I sit at my desk in the middle of my busy day, I look back and see only the Lord's provision for His people. I look forward and see His continued victory at every moment.  We are a heavenly people and we shall not be characterized by the problems that plague us.  We dwell apart and will not be reckoned among the nations. May we touch heaven this very day. 

Count the Cost

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Luke 14.

Tis a point I long to know;
Oft it causes anxious thought;
Do I love the Lord or no?
Am I his, or am I not?*

I realized that God does not care about the things I care about. He cares about me.

L

He gives and He takes away, and He makes us ask ourselves, did I truly ever love Him all this time? And do I love Him now, as He asks for or He pries from our hands the things that we really, really care about. 

I can see myself someday kneeling on the floor, burying my face in my hands at the remembrance of this post and all those prayers, because I was not even close to understanding the gravity of what Jesus requires. It's scary because this could happen anytime, yes, even as I speak. There are so many things that get in the way of God pouring into my life everything that He wants to - things that I am aware of and things that I am utterly blind to (I am blind to so many things, as the Spirit and the brothers and sisters who know me well can see), both the obvious idols and the things that I never would have imagined God whisking from me.
But He is Good. Maybe I don't fully understand what I'm saying, but I write this because I know it is true - I have seen and heard the testimony of saints who have gone through the furnace, and go through it again and again. He is in control. He is worthy and He is worth it. He empties us to fill us with something of infinitely more worth. He will carry out His eternal purpose of perfecting the bride and dwelling among His people, and may we never lose the vision (still so tiny in my mind) and the longing to see this come to fruition.

CCF, HCC, Brown, body of Christ, may we count the cost and encourage each other, from curious seeker to dormant church-goer to bright-eyed new believer to the ones weary from desert times, to do the same. And if we commit to Him, to commit to Him all the way. We have to persevere, as a body with all of its members. We have to live by faith and not by sight.


In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1

*A stanza Charles Spurgeon included in his commentary on the Song of Solomon. Song of Songs always seemed like such a misfit in the Bible to me, to say the least. I'm only starting to sense how marvelously rich this book of the Bible is. It's come at such an apt time too.