Hi

hi


http://www.freeshipingday.com/smooth.php?bob=p16k3vs0macu3wbn



wyattbelmonte

Of Abundant Grace and Peace

May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  2 Peter 1:2

Why do you know you have grace when you need it?

Is it because you possess the skills to accomplish a service? Is it because you are doing a ministry which you are considered an expert? Is it because you have the ample resources for the mission at hand? Is it because you have been there, done that? Is it because the mountain is not too much to climb?

Why do you know you have peace in your very heart?

Is it because you know you still have work tomorrow? Is it because you are healthy and you are still kicking and running? Is it because everything nowadays went well and going well? Is it because your bank account is fat as it seems? Is it because the economy is recovering as it should be?

End of questions.

Peter points to one thing why you have grace and peace -- knowledge of God and of Jesus.

When you know him, you know you can and you will do it by his grace. Though your skills maybe short or resources are scarce, you know you have grace because you know your God supplies your strength and wisdom to do so. Though the opposition of the service is great, his grace will be  immensely available for you, for you know your God will enable you. Though the days may follow the same route and may give you complacency, you know his grace will come to you by knowing him.

When you know him, you know you can close your eyes at night and sleep in peace like a babe and wake up revived like a young colt. In the midst of economic crisis, unemployment, family chaos or health issues, you have peace for he gives it to you by knowing him who calms the storm. Knowing your God, allows you to be still (Psalm 46:10). He brings you a table of feast in front of your enemies, that's why you know you will have peace by knowing him.

Other translation provides knowledge of God as experience with God. The more we experience him, the more we acknowledge his grace and his offering of peace. The more you spend your life with him, the more you tap into his grace and allow his presence to give you peace.

May you have the passion to know him. May your days be filled with experiencing our Almighty God. May you have grace and peace in abundance.

Sending Humans

When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. Matthew 28:17

They saw the risen Jesus. They worshiped him. And then, they doubted.

That's what we read from Matthew.

And yet, also according to Matthew, Jesus approached these worshipers--doubters and sends them to go out to the whole world to make disciples out of men. Jesus further gives them the authority to baptize people in the name of the Holy Trinity plus the position to teach people regarding how to follow and love him. Most importantly, Jesus promised them of his presence until the end of time.

That's right.

Jesus sent doubters to the world to bring his life giving and life saving message. He is sending imperfect disciples to preach to imperfect people. He does not commission people who have no flaws, he sends men who are just like us, humans. He sends men, who even in their prayers, have doubts into their hearts yet they continue to lift their hearts to him. He sends men, who even in their time of worship, have worries in their minds and yet they rest in their ever dependable God.

God sends humans to humans. Imperfect to imperfect. Sinners to sinners. Doubters to doubters. So maybe they can empathize with them. So maybe they can accept them and love them. So maybe they can understand their situation for they are in their situation.

When you feel you are unfaithful to him to serve him in your church, read that verse again. When you feel your weakness pulls you before you are able to offer your time and skills for him, reflect on that verse again. When your imperfection or spiritual inadequacy prevents you in volunteering for a ministry, come back to that verse again. When a doubt or a sin blocks you to make disciples out of men, be encouraged by that verse.

God is not sending superheroes. He is sending humans.

What Would You Do?

He would have decreed their destruction, had not Moses, the chosen leader, withstood him in the breach to turn back his destroying anger. Psalm 106:23

There’s a catch in helping someone.

In ABC’s “What Would You Do?”, they had this featured experiment episode where a waiter drops, on the floor, the food he is about to serve to a certain nice couple. The people sitting near the couple, who saw what happened, informed the couple even before the waiter has gone back to the kitchen or to whatever he is about to do. These people are really helpful.

One twist is, how about when the partners are not nice but are mean customers to the waiter? The couple would belittle the waiter as he is getting  their orders. They would shout at him, even mock his job. They would call him unacceptable names. The people around the couple had mixed reactions when they saw the waiter dropped the food and served the food on the couple’s table. One woman informed the couple about it. But with an angry tone. She pointed out their abusive conduct towards the poor waiter and defended the food server. They repeated the experiment and no nearby person helped out in informing the mean couple about the dropped food.

So, its good to help good people but its not good to help bad people.

Moses did not see it this way.

As the Israelites turned their worship from God to a fashioned molten calf, God was about to destroy the former slaves. Psalm 106:20-22 exposes their actions, “They exchanged their glorious God for the image of a grass-eating bull. They forgot the God who saved them, who did great deeds in Egypt, Amazing deeds in the land of Ham, fearsome deeds at the Red Sea.” Before this, they were complaining about their situation in the desert and even compared it when they were Pharaoh’s slaves. Surely, these are bad people. Moses would have told God, “Lord, you are right, anyway these are bad people. They turned away from you. These are spoiled brats. Go ahead with your plan.”

However, Moses helped them. Moses prayed for them. He pleaded for God’s mercy on their behalf. And God listened to his intercession, “So the LORD relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people. “ Exodus 32:14.

You can be like Moses. May you look the way Moses looked. May you help the people who may not deserve to be helped. May you pray to God in behalf of the people who may be mean to you or to others. May you concretely practice concern for people who in one way or another have hurt you or are hurting someone.

Helping people is being blind. You don’t see who they are or they are not, you just help them.

Amnesia

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you. Isaiah 49:15

It was a deliberate short-term amnesia.

I left my mother as I marched down to my high school graduation. I was one of the students getting honors and my mother came to march with me. I did not call her out that the entrance ceremony was about to begin. She made her dress by herself for this day. She prepared for my big day. She was proud of me but I guess I’m not of her. I marched down alone as my classmates held hands with their fathers or mothers.

I got the hardest scolding of my life after that. She was trembling with anger that I deliberately forgot about her. She was asking for explanation why I did what I did but I had no reason for my fault against her. And she has every reason to forget that I am her son.

But she did not. She continued to be my mother. She blessed me every day after that. She gave me life’s insights through her words and actions. She cared for me up until her last breath on her bed. She did not forget.

Just like God.

How many times you have deliberately have forgotten about him? When it is high time that you hold his hand, and declare he is with you, you turn your head to the other direction, clasp your own hand and forget to call his name. There were times, publicly, you have shunned association with this living God who loves you and cares for you.

Yet, this is the same God who stays with you and stays being your loving God. He is the same God who blesses your days and guides you to lead you to a prosperous life, a future and a hope. A God whose tender love gets you through the difficult times. A God who continues to remember his faithfulness in the midst of your unfaithfulness. A God who remembers to pull you out of the deep waters whenever you focus on the winds rather than on him. A God who will stand up for you and with you when people around you are about to stone you. He never forgets you. He will never forget you.

He got no amnesia.