5 AM Blogging - Part 2

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

John 15:1-4

I seem to be developing this habit of being up at 5 AM whether I like it or not. Three times, this past week it's happened to me. Usually it means I have a lot racing through my mind with matters that are unsettled (perceived or otherwise). It's also the only time I've had to fully reflect on things going on. Perhaps it's God's way of answering prayer so I'll take it.

The theme surrender has been showing up a lot this past month. Quite often it's the little things I have the greatest difficulty surrendering because I always take the position of "God's given it to me, I need to get it done." quite often followed by "Things are so busy, what the heck???" Since leading, one of the greatest lessons I've learned is that it's how you get things done that matters most. The process (journey) as opposed to the end result. Whether or not it's lifted up to God and if you trust he'll watch over you in that area.

I had dinner with a friend last night and have decided to support his full-time ministry in Athletes in Action. He's entering on a faith journey that is completely supported upon donation and prayer partners. We were discussing ministry and he was sharing with me two things:

1) If you can't bring it back to God, it doesn't matter.
2) Don't hate your hoe. (Your current work). God has a bigger plan beyond what you see.

Very refreshing. Especially the second item. Sometimes people think he said "Don't hate your ho'". That must've raised a few eyebrows.

The perpetual question...

Was talking to Dave (Half of Wu-Yu) and one of questions we asked ourselves was "why would we ever deprive ourselves of something like sleep?". Pure madness.

5 AM Blogging

10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:10-13

For some reason, I'm wide awake. I've tossed and turned to no avail. It's been a tiring couple of weeks for me. Work, school & serving continue to take up major portions of my life. It's not that I don't enjoy it, but things have been out of whack for months now. It's frustrating when there are so many things that you want to do, but never seem to be able to. Whether it'd be working out, devotions, journaling, friend's & family. You know the priorities are all messed up when the thing that is most important to you is the thing that there's never any time for.

One of the lies Satan throws at you is to amplify all the things that aren't right in your life and draw away from the things that are. It's these times that God will continually ask me if He's enough for me and if I can believe He is bigger than all this. This passage has popped in my mind lately. I really wonder what it must be like to find contentment in any situation. God is constantly hammering away at me that it's the journey that matters over the end result. I'm starting to get it. I want to see this happen.

Covenant

God continues to reveal how much he stresses relationship with us. Our bible study touched on the Passover and how God took the Israelites out of captivity and carried him into the promised land. More so, it was also God upholding the covenant he made with Abraham, and Jesus making a new covenant on top of that.

covenant - a binding agreement.

That word has showed up a lot more lately. Up until this point, when I heard that word, the first thing that pops in my mind is an Indiana Jones movie. Even legal documents carry that word sometimes. When studying my Professional Law and Ethics exam, one of the main topics was that was delved into was (fundamental) breach of contract, liability and damages. In a court of law, a judge would award the victim based on the severity of the breach and damages that extend from it.

The concept is exactly the same with our covenant. The moment, I accepted God's gift of salvation through Christ, I was choosing to enter a covenant with God. The terms being I become part of His family and acknowledge that Jesus is the Head of it. Most importantly, I place my trust that God HAS, IS and will ALWAYS hold up His end of the covenant. "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6, Hebrews 13:5).

So what do you when you fundamentally breach your end of the covenant? In a court of law you would pay damages and the victim (God) would hold the right to walk away from the binding agreement. How do you compensate God when everything you have is on loan from God? You and I have nothing. What would happen if God chose to exercise His right to end the covenant that WE broke first. I don't even want to entertain that. When we ask for forgiveness, it's God that willingly pays the damages through Christ so that justice is met. In fact, he knew in advance that'd have to.

When I started my walk with God almost 4 years ago, I didn't really understand anything about Jesus, Trinity, Resurrection or Christianity. The only thing I knew was that I could put my hopes and trust in God, Jesus Christ was somehow involved in that, and that I'd figure things out along the way. God's been faithful in protecting and revealing Himself to me in astonishing ways. The bible study was originally supposed to show God is a relational God who took the first step in reconciliation. Instead, I learned about grace. Everything clicked, and I'm blown away by it.

VOIP

I've discovered the joy of VOIP, long distance calling!

www.jajah.com

www.worldline.ca

Made my day. :)