It's sometimes funny how today's society is much more messed up than ever. Our generation is seen through the eyes of the critics of today's world as "Miley Cyrus Wannabes" and "wanting to get pregnant" and "having the desire to live glamourously and lustfully." There are some truth to this because we are part of this society. We all know that everything I have just mentioned has already happened and still occurring today. I sometimes feel that the people living in the Old Testament had a better chance to worship God than the people now or even the New Testament. Which is kind of ironic considering they weren't able to be in a direct relationship with God. Now that we are able to through Jesus, why have we gotten so astray?
So, I have been reading the book of Daniel, and I have realized how much of his life I do not know. Everyone heard about the story of Daniel in the lion's den, but I have never KNOWN about the WHOLE life of Daniel. To those who haven't read Daniel (like me), I will give a recap for chapters 1-5, because chapter 6 is the book I want to talk about today...
So the first chapter is about Daniel and his friends entering the King's palace to basically work for him. Daniel refuses to eat his royal foods and instead eats vegetables and drinks water. Of course, he and his friends are healthier and more wise, so the king promotes them. The second chapter is about King Nebuchadnezzar (I can spell his name now! yay:)) and his dreams. He calls all the magical communities but no one can interpret his dreams. Daniel interprets them - the huge statues of gold, silver, bronze, iron, clay shows the degradation of his kingdom after his reign. The King is amazed and says praise be to Daniel's God. The third is about King Nebuchadnezzar and his gold statue. After saying praise be to God, he goes and makes a huge statue for others to worship. Daniel's friends - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego do not, gets thrown in the fire, and the King is amazed because there are four people in the furnace. He takes them out, says glory to God, and promotes the three men. Fourth chapter is the King's dream about the tree and how his earthly indulgences have led him to a faith to live like an animal until he realizes that God is God. Chapter 5 - His son succeeds him to the throne, and drinks from the cup he stole from the temple in Jerusalem. A huge hand comes and write something on the wall, everyone is terrified, and calls Daniel. Daniel interprets that it is time for the King's end, which is fulfilled that night.
I guess I think the Old testament had a "better connection with God" because of all these in-the-face signs. Since I don't SEE with my naked eye a hand writing on the wall, I feel like we don't have a intimate relationship with God. But the reason is not because of the time we are living in, but how attentive we are when God is speaking to us. The world has corrupted and changed so much over the years, it's like listening to God in a storm. Can you hear your friend speaking all the way across the country? Of course not. (Unless you have skype or a phone or internet, or etc). But directly, we cannot hear the Lord with our naked ears. The good thing about our corrupt society is that it is all the more challenging and REWARDING when we have an intimate relationship and conversation with God. The hard part is, finding Him in our storms. Whenever I have a problem, I do run to God... sometimes. Most of the time I am yelling at Him, telling Him, "THIS is what YOU WANTED. I DID IT AND THIS IS THE RESULT. YOU HAVE GOT TO KIDDING ME. THIS IS WACK. I give up. I am not doing this anymore. You can't tell me to live according to your law in an earthy world. It's NOT. POSSIBLE."
But it is. In God's eyes, the word "impossible" doesn't exist. And it's proven with Jesus and other great men who lived in both the Old Testament times and the New. They were able to face indulgences, draw a line, and live above it.
Chapter 6 of Daniel explains just this. A great man who was SO intimate with God, even before Jesus, and was able to follow Him step by step. For me, I want to succeed in this world. I want to rise above and be respected in my profession. I know some people think this isn't the purpose of a Christian life. It probably isn't. But As I read in Daniel 6 today, I know that what God wants is what matters. He also needs people on the front line of the battle. Jesus once prayed to God before he was crucified to allow his people to be IN the world, yet not be OF the world. Whatever we want to do in the future, whether it involves becoming a missionary doctor or becoming a political leader in your hometown, God will use you wherever you go. I truly believe He doesn't want everyone to be a missionary, though lots of people think I should do it too. He needs us in the world so we can KNOW how the people live, and live above that. You also have to know how others live so you can counteract worldly wisdom and put God in there for people around you to be saved as well. I truly believe that God wants some of us to be highly respected in our society so they can be an example of a blessed individual in God's eyes. His only concern is the temptations we will face and our walk away from Him. However, if we only focus our eyes of Jesus and live like Daniel who knew nothing but God, anything is possible.
So in Chapter 6, Daniel became one of three administrators over a kingdom ruled by Darius (since the other king died). That's a pretty high honor for someone who was exiled. But not only that, Daniel's respect was gained because the people believe he was one with the holy God. The king was so pleased with him, that "...he planned to set him over the whole kingdom." - Daniel 6:3 WOW. Now that's major power. All from the grace of God. Afterall, Daniel was "so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities..." Daniel 6:3
Now the problem we all face - jealously. The other two administrators are NOT going to be happy if Daniel has so much power. Neither are the King's nobles. So what do they do if they see a threat? Of course find faults in him. That's another thing about Daniel: "They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent." Daniel 6:4
It is SOOO hard in this life to not be corrupt and tempted. But they faced similar struggles in the past; yet, Daniel was able to stay so pure through the grace of God. His trust with God and his dedication to God with his LIFE, made him not guilty of anything. Of course, the nobles try to find a fault and so they trick the King into making a rule so everyone has to pray to only him for the next thirty days. If they don't, they get thrown into the lion's den. Daniel goes to his room, distressed, and prays to God for help. Daniel found his higher authority and obeyed a holy rule instead of the earthly ones - There are no other gods other than the Holy God. You only pray to ONE GOD. Not a man-king. It's VERY DIFFICULT to obey this rule especially today. There is only one God, but sometimes we find ourselves worshipping inanimate objects more than God. For example, forgetting to do your QTs with God and instead surfing the internet everyday. We put everything before God and think, "Oh, He loves me, He'll forgive me." He will, but breaking one of His biggest commandments is not going to fly with Him.
Anyways, Daniel gets caught by the group of men wanting to see his doom, and they go to the king to throw Daniel into the lion's den. Another thing about life we can see in the life of Daniel's - there are always going to be people who will compete with you to see your doom. In school, at work, and even at home - people who are overtaken by jealously will try to stop your path from achieving greatness. So what did Daniel do? He prayed. Three times a day. He humbled himself to God and did not try to take on the group of men by revenge or boasting about himself. He meekly prayed to God. Another hard thing to do - be meek and humble. Hey, if God is with us, what can we fear? Who are we scared of? Who can mess with us? Having God on your side doesn't mean your better than anyone else - it means use that connection to help others to bring them to Christ. Always be humble - with God, and with the people around you.
We all know how this story ends - Daniel is saved by God's angel who saved him from the lions. If I was in that same position - I don't think I would have acted all calm like Daniel was. I would've panicked, blamed God for leading me to my demise, and cursed Him out. And if God decided to save me even after all that, I would've come out and cursed out the King for his ignorance and sent all the nobles to hell. But I pray that I will learn to live my life similar to Daniel's - giving my whole life to God, and knowing that he has my back. To not be controlled by anger or jealousy, but live with the peace of Jesus.
Also, don't let the fear of not succeeding get you down, because when God says He has big plans for you - He means BIG. HUGE. ENORMOUS. So big you cannot imagine. Like Daniel- who rose in authority in God's eyes, and therefore on earth. You can totally reach your success as long as it is on the path with God's, and you can give up your whole life for Him.
Amen to that.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
How humiliating
So this post is a long overdue one, and it isn't really related directly to the Bible, but it is an important lesson we should all remember in our hearts.
Humility. It's direct meaning means, "to the ground." It doesn't mean giving up all your money to the poor and an act to serve others. Well, it does, but that's not all. Humility is to honor the Lord your God in whatever ways where ever you might be.
I admit to struggling the past weeks. I felt my small church wasn't "fulfilling" me, and it wasn't providing the strength for me to grow. I guess being gone for a year made me feel like I didn't belong in here anymore. Simply, I really did not want to go. I felt as a church they moved on, so, I should too. There was also a conflict with the pastor's wife - I guess I felt the way she talked behind my back wasn't a "Christian" thing to do. When my mother also pointed this out to me, saying how is this acting like a Christian, what is a girl to do? What do I say to my mother and father, who aren't Christians, that she didn't REALLY mean to talk about me, it was by accident. How can I tell them that when they knew?
So I avoided going to church back home, and I simply left to make it easier for all of us. I promised God I would worship Him in my own time and praise Him as well. Which I did. But I couldn't help feeling down and upset. I was really quite disappointed with all the churches, not just this one. I really hated the way the church was seen as a worldly building when it's a place of worship for God. I also admit to yelling at God, telling Him He is a disappointment to me too.
But today, a week later, I got a visit from the pastor's wife. And she gave me good advice that I'm going to share with you guys. A church will have people with their own differences. Coming from different backgrounds, education, age, and everything else, not all the people are going to get along. But Christ's love tells us otherwise. We are to worship, all as unique individuals, under one sky, for one purpose only. And that is to praise God whether we hate the guts of the person next to us. She told me that though our church has about twenty people, number means nothing. For God said He would be there for those one or two people praising Him together. I guess I really underestimated God for pulling through with my problems for the past week or so. I really didn't think He would help me solve my church issues.
Because the truth is, before I came back home, I prayed to God to send me to other research places. I really wanted to go study somewhere else. But God led me back home. I was sort of upset, but I took it because it was still something I wanted, although it didn't end up the way I wanted to. I was trying to avoid my church issues basically. I didn't feel the church growing as a whole and I wanted to find a "faithful" church. But I learned a very good lesson today: all churches are made for one purpose: GOD. He is the only one that matters, not the person you hate in church, neither the personalities of the people in your church, nor your opinions about them. God loves each and every one of you, no matter what you do. And I learned that we can NEVER find a church that's so absolutely perfect for us. NEVER. This world isn't perfect, and you won't be able to find a church that fits YOUR EVERY NEED. Though there might be a leader and you don't agree with him/her, it's not your right to criticize when he/she is praising God. Whether you agree with their teachings or not, it's not you to judge. God put you there to listen. And you have to look past your differences to truly let God's word touch your heart. Pray and ask that God will help you to get rid of your anger and upsetness and touch your heart. We don't learn from men, we learn from God's teachings. We have to focus on God's message, not focus on the person saying the sermon.
I also prayed a lot about going back to my home church. I asked if God really, truly wanted me to go back. I thought I should move on and find my own church, but I felt God tell me to stay and help the church to grow in unity and faith. I felt like He put me there to help "fix" the church if I felt it was broken. Afterall, if I thought it was that messed up, God wanted me to help it be better. So with God's blessing I went. But I left because of so many problems I felt with the people there. The problem was, I was looking them with my physical eye, not my heart. I learned today that I must listen to God with my spirit and heart, not my eyes nor ears.
All in all, God taught me a lot today. He told me not to judge. He told me not to worry. He told me to don't be afraid to face those you fear - because running only makes it harder. But most importantly, I heard God tell me it's okay to be hurting, just leave it up to Him. He will take care of it. I was impatient with Him and couldn't wait a week for Him to pull through for me. How humiliating.
I thought I grew up a lot over the past year. I did, but now I realize I'm still a child at heart. I have so much more to learn about spirituality, and to trust wholeheartedly, God. Humiliating. Another form of humility. I learned to be humble. It made me feel really small I admit, but it's a step to maturity.
Oh and respecting your elders and peers. Another lesson I learned today. I learned that there are two leaders in my church who stuck with the youth group and the church community after all these years. They didn't complain though everyone else left them, though they probably felt the same way I did at least once in the past. But their strong need to praise God no matter where there are blessed them to stay. And now I see why. God looks passed all our sins and erring ways, it's our job to do the same. These two leaders were able to do that, and now I have the utmost respect for them. Thank you.
God has opened my heart to more respect and more blessings with this lesson. There was a purpose for sending me back to my home church, and I am glad. I pray that from now on I won't doubt God, because He knows what's best for me. I really learned what humility is today. And it certainly made me know that my God is an awesome God. And really big. Because I felt really tiny.
All you guys out there who are struggling with your churches, don't fret. Pray. God is listening and will answer you eventually. There is that one person you just can't stand, but it's God's grace and His love for them that you can look past their faults. Opening your hearts to that will help you excel in any congregation. Love with God, share His joy for His people. Though it may be painful, our joy comes from knowing that God has already won the fight for us. He loves us and them, nonChristians and Christians alike.
And that, my fellow people, is how I learned to dance in the rain today.
Humility. It's direct meaning means, "to the ground." It doesn't mean giving up all your money to the poor and an act to serve others. Well, it does, but that's not all. Humility is to honor the Lord your God in whatever ways where ever you might be.
I admit to struggling the past weeks. I felt my small church wasn't "fulfilling" me, and it wasn't providing the strength for me to grow. I guess being gone for a year made me feel like I didn't belong in here anymore. Simply, I really did not want to go. I felt as a church they moved on, so, I should too. There was also a conflict with the pastor's wife - I guess I felt the way she talked behind my back wasn't a "Christian" thing to do. When my mother also pointed this out to me, saying how is this acting like a Christian, what is a girl to do? What do I say to my mother and father, who aren't Christians, that she didn't REALLY mean to talk about me, it was by accident. How can I tell them that when they knew?
So I avoided going to church back home, and I simply left to make it easier for all of us. I promised God I would worship Him in my own time and praise Him as well. Which I did. But I couldn't help feeling down and upset. I was really quite disappointed with all the churches, not just this one. I really hated the way the church was seen as a worldly building when it's a place of worship for God. I also admit to yelling at God, telling Him He is a disappointment to me too.
But today, a week later, I got a visit from the pastor's wife. And she gave me good advice that I'm going to share with you guys. A church will have people with their own differences. Coming from different backgrounds, education, age, and everything else, not all the people are going to get along. But Christ's love tells us otherwise. We are to worship, all as unique individuals, under one sky, for one purpose only. And that is to praise God whether we hate the guts of the person next to us. She told me that though our church has about twenty people, number means nothing. For God said He would be there for those one or two people praising Him together. I guess I really underestimated God for pulling through with my problems for the past week or so. I really didn't think He would help me solve my church issues.
Because the truth is, before I came back home, I prayed to God to send me to other research places. I really wanted to go study somewhere else. But God led me back home. I was sort of upset, but I took it because it was still something I wanted, although it didn't end up the way I wanted to. I was trying to avoid my church issues basically. I didn't feel the church growing as a whole and I wanted to find a "faithful" church. But I learned a very good lesson today: all churches are made for one purpose: GOD. He is the only one that matters, not the person you hate in church, neither the personalities of the people in your church, nor your opinions about them. God loves each and every one of you, no matter what you do. And I learned that we can NEVER find a church that's so absolutely perfect for us. NEVER. This world isn't perfect, and you won't be able to find a church that fits YOUR EVERY NEED. Though there might be a leader and you don't agree with him/her, it's not your right to criticize when he/she is praising God. Whether you agree with their teachings or not, it's not you to judge. God put you there to listen. And you have to look past your differences to truly let God's word touch your heart. Pray and ask that God will help you to get rid of your anger and upsetness and touch your heart. We don't learn from men, we learn from God's teachings. We have to focus on God's message, not focus on the person saying the sermon.
I also prayed a lot about going back to my home church. I asked if God really, truly wanted me to go back. I thought I should move on and find my own church, but I felt God tell me to stay and help the church to grow in unity and faith. I felt like He put me there to help "fix" the church if I felt it was broken. Afterall, if I thought it was that messed up, God wanted me to help it be better. So with God's blessing I went. But I left because of so many problems I felt with the people there. The problem was, I was looking them with my physical eye, not my heart. I learned today that I must listen to God with my spirit and heart, not my eyes nor ears.
All in all, God taught me a lot today. He told me not to judge. He told me not to worry. He told me to don't be afraid to face those you fear - because running only makes it harder. But most importantly, I heard God tell me it's okay to be hurting, just leave it up to Him. He will take care of it. I was impatient with Him and couldn't wait a week for Him to pull through for me. How humiliating.
I thought I grew up a lot over the past year. I did, but now I realize I'm still a child at heart. I have so much more to learn about spirituality, and to trust wholeheartedly, God. Humiliating. Another form of humility. I learned to be humble. It made me feel really small I admit, but it's a step to maturity.
Oh and respecting your elders and peers. Another lesson I learned today. I learned that there are two leaders in my church who stuck with the youth group and the church community after all these years. They didn't complain though everyone else left them, though they probably felt the same way I did at least once in the past. But their strong need to praise God no matter where there are blessed them to stay. And now I see why. God looks passed all our sins and erring ways, it's our job to do the same. These two leaders were able to do that, and now I have the utmost respect for them. Thank you.
God has opened my heart to more respect and more blessings with this lesson. There was a purpose for sending me back to my home church, and I am glad. I pray that from now on I won't doubt God, because He knows what's best for me. I really learned what humility is today. And it certainly made me know that my God is an awesome God. And really big. Because I felt really tiny.
All you guys out there who are struggling with your churches, don't fret. Pray. God is listening and will answer you eventually. There is that one person you just can't stand, but it's God's grace and His love for them that you can look past their faults. Opening your hearts to that will help you excel in any congregation. Love with God, share His joy for His people. Though it may be painful, our joy comes from knowing that God has already won the fight for us. He loves us and them, nonChristians and Christians alike.
And that, my fellow people, is how I learned to dance in the rain today.
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