Listen to the Source

Picked a sermon from John Piper to reflect upon during QT today. Sermon is The Food of Christ is to give eternal life. Couple of things which struck me:

People wanted to hear Jesus. In John 4:40-42, the samaritians heard jesus, and after they did, they told the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”. Many of us rely on the church for knowledge, we rely on our pastors to debate on issues. Have heard quite a number of friends say:" My pastor said this, or my pastor said that." It doesn't matter if there is a verse reference attached to it, the point is still from the pastor. Its quite different however, when i hear a person arguing straight from the bible and then using the its principles to address the situation. This is quite different from the previous example, where the pastor has a point to make AND then uses the bible to substantiate his point. See the difference? That said, the pastor's message cannot be totally discredited, just that the verses used runs the risk of being out of context.

The other powerful point is what motivates Jesus to do what he did. In V34, Jesus tells his disciples that his energy comes from doing the work itself. Notice his motivation was not about feeling good or altruistic but explicitly said "the will of Him (God) who sent me and to accomplish His (God's) work". The only people who will have come close to this type of determination are people who run their own business/ or professionals who truly love what they do. Yet, there is no mention of a higher being, just their own love for self achievement and passion. Given that we human beings are built to excel, the question lies herewith; are we putting our energy to use for his Kingdom? Are we engaging in Christian ministry for the right motivations? Various ministries exist, nearly all for the purpose of evangelism. Are we giving any of our energy or time to any of these ministries?

Let us strive for Christ, in body, mind and spirit. For Romans 12:2 says: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (ASV)

Joel

A call for discipline and love for Christ

I apologise if this is written in a hurry. This week is a busy week, 2 law papers due and the stocks are rising, esp the ones i'm tracking. Need to sell them off once i hit the price range and donate most of the profit to CF just like i promised 2 months back.

I had a most meaningful sunday, sharing with Jem and Mel about how we can strive in Christ. Thanks to Jem, i was reminded that the Lord is our friend only in the aspect that we know his plans for us (John 15:14-15). Heads up to Mel for clarifying that Lord is our friend because we know his plans.

14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
For Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.(Isaiah 9:6). We are friends of the bridegroom because we know his plans, but like what Mel said, we are still subservient to him. Let's strive to be in awe of our mighty Saviour, loving Him and developing a relationship with Him. And we can do so because Jesus has died as a one time sacrifice and removed the veil between us and God. All praise to Him.
*** PS: Jem asked if young peeps like himself should look out to more than life beyond their schools, studies, relationships (with girls esp haha... and of course buddies ) and sports. Well if possible, yes, young ppl should attempt to see beyond what they currently have now so that they will not think their current setbacks are permanent. When i was in JC, i couldn't see beyond 3 years, what i was going to do other than running, so i thought every injury setback was permanent. Looking back, that was quite a silly thing to do. But more importantly, i failed to realise that my value was in Christ, that i had eternal life and that was all i needed, more than success in sports or studies. Alas! If only i had read the bible in greater detail to understand the impact of Christ's death on my life. And that's what i got to do now, to remind myself that my treasure lies in heaven and not on earth.