Neat quote

I came across the following quote (on a website) that someone attributed as being by Elisabeth Elliot:

"Don't strain your eyes to see the future - for you will not be able to see clearly what God wants you to see NOW."

Jonathan Edwards' "Personal Narrative"

In this post, I'll be quoting selections from Jonathan Edwards' Personal Narrative from the website http://www.jonathanedwards.com/text/Personal/PNarrative.htm . My comments are interspersed throughout in italics.

"I was then very much affected for many months, and concerned about the things of religion, and my soul's salvation; and was abundant in duties. I used to pray five times a day in secret, and to spend much time in religious talk with other boys; and used to meet with them to pray together. I experienced I know not what kind of delight in religion. My mind was much engaged in it, and had much selfｭrighteous pleasure; and it was my delight to abound in religious duties. I with some of my schoolmates joined together, and built a booth in a swamp, in a very retired spot, for a place of prayer. And besides, I had particular secret places of my own in the woods, where I used to retire by myself; and was from time to time much affected. My affections seemed to be lively and easily moved, and I seemed to be in my element when engaged in religious duties. And I am ready to think, many are deceived with such affections, and such a kind of delight as I then had in religion, and mistake it for grace."

That last sentence is really interesting. I wonder if mistaking religion for grace these days is a very common occurrence...I guess so. Perhaps that's why there's that widespread slogan about Christianity - that it is a "relationship, not a religion." But actually I think Chrisitianity is a religion, and if a born again Christian was asked if they had a religion, they'd probably most likely respond that they are Christians. Christianity could be both classified as a religion and a relationship, but it's foundation is the saving grace of Jesus Christ. The central focus is not what mankind can do for God but what God does for mankind. With this being said, there is a great amount of attention in the Bible given to works, even though that's not what saves us. But of course, God can mold us and work in us and through us. I think God's empowering, indwelling Spirit is a central part of the relational aspect of the Christian walk.

"But in process of time, my convictions and affections wore off; and I entirely lost all those affections and delights and left off secret prayer, at least as to any constant performance of it; and returned like a dog to his vomit, and went on in the ways of sin. Indeed I was at times very uneasy, especially towards the latter part of my time at college; when it pleased God, to seize me with a pleurisy; in which he brought me nigh to the grave, and shook me over the pit of hell. And yet, it was not long after my recovery, before I fell again into my old ways of sin. But God would not suffer me to go on with any quietness; I had great and violent inward struggles, till, after many conflicts with wicked inclinations, repeated resolutions, and bonds that I laid myself under by a kind of vows to God,"

Christianity is more than outward spiritual 'religious' appearances...perhaps those outward things can mask inner struggles, even if one is genuinely born again. And, if one's not born again, outward piety simply isn't enough, and can't be a lasting substitute for inner peace.

"I was almost constantly in ejaculatory prayer, wherever I was. Prayer seemed to be natural to me, as the breath by which the inward burnings of my heart had vent. The delights which I now felt in the things of religion, were of an exceeding different kind from those before mentioned, that I had when a boy; and what I then had no more notion of, than one born blind has of pleasant and beautiful colors. They were of a more inward, pure, soul animating and refreshing nature. Those former delights never reached the heart; and did not arise from any sight of the divine excellency of the things of God; or any taste of the soul satisfying and lifeｭgiving good there is in them"

It's so neat how prayer "seemed to be natural" to him. It'd be great if thoughts of prayer could arise in those idle moments.

"Holiness, as I then wrote down some of my contemplations on it, appeared to me to be of a sweet, pleasant, charming, serene, calm nature; which brought an inexpressible purity, brightness, peacefulness and ravishment to the soul. In other words, that it made the soul like a field or garden of God, with all manner of pleasant flowers; all pleasant, delightful, and undisturbed: enjoying a sweet calm. and the gently vivifying beams of the sun. The soul of a true Christian, as I then wrote my meditations, appeared like such a little white flower as we see in the spring of the years; low and humble on the ground, opening its bosom to receive the pleasant beams of the sun's glory; rejoicing as it were in a calm rapture; diffusing around a sweet flagrancy;; standing peacefully and lovingly, in the midst of other flowers round about; all in like manner opening their bosoms, to drink in the light of the sun. There was no part of creature holiness, that I had so great a sense of its loveliness, as humility, brokenness of heart and poverty of spirit; and there was nothing that I so earnestly longed for. My heart panted after this, to lie low before God, as in the dust; that I might be nothing, and that God might be all, that I might become as a little child."

Perhaps when we look at flowers, we can be reminded of God's glorious power & our utter need of reliance upon him.

"I had, then, abundance of sweet, religious conversation, in the family where I lived, with Mr. John Smith, and his pious mother. My heart was knit in affection, to those, in whom were appearances of true piety; "

Catching glimpses of the active, sincere faiths of others can be a blessing...I'd love to learn more of the experiences and knowledge (of God/the Bible/theology...) that others have obtained.

"I had then, and at other times, the greatest delight in the holy scriptures, of any book whatsoever. Oftentimes in reading it, every word seemed to touch my heart. I felt a harmony between something in my heart, and those sweet and powerful words. I seemed often to see so much light exhibited by every sentence, and such a refreshing food communicated, that I could not get along in reading; often dwelling long on one sentence, to see the wonders contained in it; and yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders."

How neat that he was such in awe of Scripture!

Swearing

It's interesting that certain words are considered to be bad, stigmatized words -- cuss words. Of course there are several people who use those words, but there are also people who refrain from using them. However, if people use the euphemized expressions for certain words -- shoot, darn, heck, gosh, the words are somehow transformed into societally acceptable words. I guess they don't carry the weight of the heavy versions. So perhaps many words are stigmatized by society (not the society as a whole, but still by some/many people), with culturally assigned values. However even if many in society are tolerant of or use swear words, I still think many of them would agree that there are formal contexts where they aren't to be used.

BEing

From the book Shadow of the Almighty, by Elisabeth Elliot -- the following is part of a letter that Jim had written her:

" 'One of my renaissance experiences was to get among kids who were on a different spiritual level than my own, and enjoy fellowship with them. I found a very subtle snare in so doing. I sought their fellowship in order that I might minister to them, 'be a help,' you know, to these 'weaker' ones. What a rebuke came when I sensed my real motive - that I might minister. Love hacks right at this, for she refused to parade herself. I learned to recognize no 'spiritual planes,' but simply to love, purely, in every group. Trying to 'be a help' even has a smell of good works in it, for it is not pure. Our motive is only to be-do nothing, know nothing, act nothing-just to be a sinful bit of flesh, born of a Father's love. Then you see, Beloved, there can be no defeat."
(p.99-100)

In another place in the text, is the following, from a letter written by Jim:

"....The subject was 'What I as a Junior Wish Someone had Told Me When I was a Freshman.' I mentioned that beyond 'believing' and 'behaving' in the Christian life, there is also 'being,' and I brought in New Testament exhortations such as

'Be not ignorant.'
'Be not deceived.'
'Be sober.'
'Be vigilant.'
'Be mindful of the Word.'
'Be steadfast,' etc. " (p. 47)

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Well...perhaps being is a way of doing -- doing more unseen actions (although they could be noticed by others as well). Perhaps BEing can lead to doing more calculated, regular fruitful works. Although we should do good works, we should also try to BE more of who God wants us to be. I'm not saying this with a outwardly pointed finger.

Dear God, please make me BE more of the person you want me to be. Thank you. Amen.

School & Life

Well, my paper for one of my classes dealt with the implementation of corrective feedback in the L2 classroom...perhaps I should implement error correction into my LIFE. I should work on me. Or I should allow God to work in and through me.

So help me God...please change me and make me willing to be changed.

And, my practicum teacher brought up the following idea/philosophy of teaching from a book -- not being teacher-centered or student-centered but subject-centered, bringing the content to life.

Interesting.

As for a life application, perhaps I should not be utterly ME-centered or only others-centered (which naturally I'm not completely others-centered), but Word of God-centered. I should allow the Word of God to be brought to life in MY life.

God please give me a desire to eat your words. Not literally of course. But let/make it work in me and through me, and please make me willing for that to happen.

THANK YOU.

Cultural Christianity

Colossians 2:20-23 -- "If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations - 'Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch' (referring to things that all perish as they are used) - according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh."

Beliefs & values should be lined up w/ Scripture -- even "Christian" practices & opinions that may seem righteous. Perhaps things that seem 'normal' in religious settings can actually simply be cultural norms in a country or widely practiced among groups of Christians and should not be regarded as more/less holy.

Views regarding --- Dressing up vs. not. Standing up. Sunday morning greeting exchange. Songs that have repetitious choruses with few words vs. Hymns, or, a mix. Raising hands vs. not. Music. Giving. Church membership. Choir up in front. Cookies in the foyer. Benediction. Prayers. Baptism. Drinking vs. not. Cultural compromises.

It seems as though culture played a part in Christianity in Bible times. E.g. -- 1 Cor. 11:4-5: "Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head-it is the same as if her head were shaven."

Hmmmm ~~ so, should we follow certain cultural aspects of Christianity? Of course, Scripture should be the measuring stick. And when it's not clear ~~? I guess we should just do what we think would be the loving or right thing to do, according to Scripture, as best we can tell.

One set of footprints

Deuteronomy 1:29-33

"'Then I said to you, 'Do not be shocked, nor fear them. 'The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.' 'But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go."

Dear God, please show me the way in which I should go. And please let me realize more fully that you have sent Jesus to take my place on that cross. You have fought on my behalf. Please open my eyes to recognize your working in my life, and please let me trust you more. Please make me let you carry me and my burdens. Thank you. Amen.

Doesn't the famous "Footprints" poem make reference to there being one set of footprints when Jesus carried the person? ... I think so.

"Preach the gospel to yourself everyday." I don't know who authors this quote...it is a good one though.

Dear God, please remind me of the saving message of the gospel every day.

Thank you. ~~

Moving On

Well, the Japan chapter of my life is almost finished. I head back to the States early next month. Of course it's not to say I won't return to Japan. Coming back could always be a possibility. If I do come back and there's a choice of places, it may be fun to live kinda near Kobe. Or somewhere else. :-) It will be interesting to figure out what to get involved with this Fall...of course I'll have my classes, but what else will I fill my time with? Perhaps Talk Time or a Christian group at the UW or take Biblical Greek? Anyways it'll be interesting. It's been a long time since I'ved lived in America outside a vacation or transition period...and it'll be weird to be the only kid (especially since I'm the oldest of the bunch) in the house this Fall. Anyways, it's coming soon!

Rebecca St. James -- Psalm 139

If you are interested in downloading this song, you can do it through MSN music.
And you can check out the lyrics at:

http://www.spiritsounds.net/rebecca-st-james-psalm-139-lyrics.html

Part of the song goes like this: ". . .even though You know You will always love me. . ."

Beautiful, isn't it?

This aspect of God's omniscience really touches my soul. That, and the song is really nice. :-)
Perhaps this aspect of God will just gently breeze through my heart time and again. I think in college, too, I was really moved by His knowing our thoughts/heart. It's just so refreshing to think upon.

I wonder where the balance is, though. God loves us in spite of our sinful selves, yet we should try not to sin. I wonder what level of relaxedness we can maintain in His grace.

God, please open my heart more to a fuller understanding of/belief in your grace, and then please use me to help others understand/believe in it more as well. Thank you.

"Looking Above"

Numbers 21:8-9

"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.' And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived."

John 3:14-15

"'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."

God, help me to look to you for abundant life.