27 February, 2010

Les cygnes les plus grandes

A number of you looking closely at my profile may have noticed I'm into classical ballet.

If you have no interest, stop reading now!! What follows will bore you senseless.

For those still reading, something which has me thinking at present is - which dancer of the last 2 decades is best at interpreting the Swan Queen?

Here are four dancers, each performing the same Odette solo from Lac des Cygnes. In all other aspects of talent, their dancing is exquisite. True ballerinas.

I must add that I do not commend them for their appearance; I would actively discourage myself & every other girl I know from thinking they are normal, or something to strive towards by dieting, exercise or other means of weight-loss.

But in terms of balletic artistry - who is most swan-like, in her movements?

Galina Mezentseva?

Lucia Lacarra?

Svetlana Zakharova?

Or Yulia Makhalina?

My main criteria is how swan-like are the movements of the dancers' arms - & the slower, the better.

See what you think.

L/T.

26 February, 2010

Quelques choses

On the agenda for This Post:

1. John's gospel - personal reflections/notes
2. A random, unexpected, but by God's grace fruitful, gospel conversation
________________

Jean, lui qui Jésus aimait
It has been brought to my attention that a few more people are tracking my postings here because of my notes on Johannine recounts.

Welcome!

He's my friend of the moment, John Zebedee
- but I've been concentrating my study on
(a) what he seems to be saying about how we can know God
(b) what he seems to be saying about how to know what God wants for us
(that is, any or all of us who are His people because of our hope & discipleship in Christ Jesus, our Lord & Saviour).

Hope the notes may be of some use - relevant posts have this phrase: "..du fils de Zébédée.."
________________

C'est chouette!
C'est super!
C'est merveilleux!
Béni soit le nom glorieux du Seigneur!!

This week I was sitting in the prep staffroom of a prestigious boys' school west of where I live; it was after school, & as a casual, I was writing notes for the teacher I'd replaced au sujet de lessons she had hoped I would teach for her students.

What I have to say next involves some "in-talk", & if you need explanation, I apologise that I'm not able to give it straight away. Most of you should know what a GAP year is, & who can be called a "gappie".

So I was in the staffroom tying up some paperwork ends, & this "gappie" (GAP student) no older than my first graduating class of students, the Class of 2009, walked up & introduced himself, having done the rush-by "meet-&-greet" earlier in the day. We got talking, & by the grace of God got, somehow (I cannot imagine how, really), into discussing Christianity, the Christian faith, the Catholic faith to which this "gappie" was exposed; .. & in that discussion
- thanks to good old John/Genesis studies at TAT/meetings to discuss women's ministry with my MTS coach Alison Napier -
I was able to talk to this "gappie" about what the Bible really says on issues that he thought (as an unbeliever of agnostic persuasion) were open to interpretation and/or controversial. About real relationship with God & with Jesus, based on Bible referencing. As much as possible I talked up the Bible & the importance of reading it for oneself.

It was an opportunity which I had not in fact expected - though I do remember asking God early in the day to open doors for me to encourage & witness to school staff (though many profess Christian faith).

It was an opportunity I couldn't have taken without the solid reading God had given me to do of His Word according to John, in Genesis & in tracking Christian women's roles (esp. ministry ones) with Alison N.'s guidance.

Truly, PSALM 73 is so very salient at this time -
"..as for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all Your works."


Seems like I'm joyfully thanking the Father a lot more these days.
Thank You, GOD!!

Par-tay!

L/T.

25 February, 2010

Béni soit Dieu! Un étudiant ancien est sauvé!!

I cannot express my feelings of pure joy at hearing this news..
(Video link shows how I'd be dancing in response!)

Back in 2003, I taught a class of gifted students at Smithfield PS (NSW, south/western Sydney). A couple of students from that Smithfield class got into, & went to, Sydney Boys' HS.

Today I met a young Christian who went through Sydney Boys' with these 2 former students. Imagine my delight at hearing his report that 1 of my 2 was now a believer in the Lord Jesus.

I am so incredibly thrilled and I cannot thank God enough for this answer to prayers!!

Rejoice with me, for what was lost is FOUND!!!!!

L/T.

{Update: (18/10/10) The link provided is the testimony of how this 2003 student came to know Jesus Christ as Lord & Saviour.}

23 February, 2010

Musicien/ne? Allez-vous étudier à Sydney?

If you know anyone who's starting university-level Music studies at the Sydney Conservatorium this year, you are welcome to forward this link to them:

http://conchristiangroup.org/

God willing, those young Music students who aren't Christian - but who are open to hearing of Jesus & the Bible - may meet others who are in Christ, & perhaps come to know Him themselves.. .. ..

L/T.

20 February, 2010

À propos de la souffrance

Suffering - reflections
Some ideas about suffering can be read by clinking on the link to this forum thread.

Feedback welcome..

L/T.

19 February, 2010

Pensées d'un coeur loin de France

This may seem a bit random & abstract, but I find the music from this Tchaikovsky ballet so nostalgic (go to 1m45s).
The girl is torn between two worlds, in a sense.

Matches my mood.

This week I have had reason to feel particularly torn between two countries in two different hemispheres.. .. ..

L/T.

18 February, 2010

Confort et chanson

ISAIAH 40, verses 27 to 31
Ésaïe 40,27-31
"Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel,
'My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God'?

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
"
________________

The hymn I'm about to quote, I remember well from my childhood.

But what does it really mean?
What does it not mean?
And what does my Father want it to look like for me?

Donnez le meilleur
Give of your best to the Master;
Give of the strength of your youth.
Throw your soul’s fresh, glowing ardo
ur
Into the battle for truth.
Jesus has set the example,
Dauntless was He, young and brave.
Give Him your loyal devotion;
Give Him the best that you have.


Give of your best to the Master;
Give of the strength of your youth.
Clad in salvation’s full armo
ur,
Join in the battle for truth.


SOURCE
(words): How­ard B. Grose (1902).
[See link for more.]

L/T.

16 February, 2010

VI: Du fils de Zébédée (pas du tout Jacques!)

Hahah, you thought John been allowed to go off for a rest, but no such luck..!

Still working hard on understanding his writing.
________________

La plupart de Jean chapitre 8
Firstly, please note:
Owing to the fact that the first 11 verses of John's 8th chapter are contentious in their placement, I have let them go for the moment.


Yes, they have things to teach me.
Yes, they say relevant things about knowing God, & knowing what He wants for me to be & do, think & say.
Yes, I believe it's a genuine historical incident recorded here.

But I also agree with a number of commentaries & footnotes, which seem to feel that that eleven-verse chunk doesn't actually belong between the words of Jesus in ch. 7 & ch. 8 - whereas the recount of the blind man (ch.9) fits in much more seamlessly..
..
..

Sorry, getting ahead of myself again!
________________

8e chapitre (v.12-)
Five times here, Jesus emphasises that God the Father sent Him (16, 17, 26, 29, 42).

God the Sender - who takes steps towards people - seeking us before we seek Him?

Why does Jesus need to say this so often? Are the ones to whom He speaks really so much "thicker than a yard of lard" (thanks to Discworld novelist, Sir Terry J. Pratchett, for that phrase)? In other passages of Scripture, God only says something three times, & that's enough to get the point across.
________________

Une idée en français(e)
Being able to refer to a French Bible really adds to my study at times (I suppose that's my version of the gift of interpreting tongues!).

In English, another huge standout idea in this passage is somewhat lost in translation - the idea of the Son & the Father's testimony, testifying, witnessing.
That is, "témoignage" in French;
a witness translates to "témoin"; and
the action verb testify/witness is rendered "témoigner".

In the space of seven verses (from v.12 to v.18), this idea appears 7 times! (Which means something to those who know what the Bible does with certain numbers..)

It seems that knowing & responding rightly to God involves accepting His testimony, as the Father, about Jesus - in addition to accepting what Jesus testifies about Himself.
________________

Les croyances
Those Jesus is talking to will not believe what He says about Himself. Once again, the concept of believing in Jesus - abiding in, hearing & keeping His Word - pops up constantly (like this mad mole-bashing toy game that I was playing with the youngest of 3 kids on Saturday night while babysitting, only you don't hit the Word with a plastic hammer when it lights up!!).
To verify what I'm saying here, check out 8,31; 8,43-47; also 8,51-55.

Oh, and that Word is truth (v.14,16,32,40,45-46).

My impressions of this section overall are that knowing God has everything to do with knowing Jesus (see also v.19 & 55); AND as reinforced constantly in the preceding chapters).

That being a disciple of Jesus is about abiding in His Word (sticking with His Word?).

That what God wants means recognising our slavery to sin before Him (vv.32-36);
loving (v.42), honouring (v.49) & glorifying Him (v.50);
accepting Him, & accepting the One He sent.
________________

Still common themes. And this is not a comprehensive study. Haven't even focused on the light-darkness comparison. Yet the patterns I've been tracking have continued recurring thus far.

And next chapter, there will still be unbelief towards Jesus. Oh, and increasing hostility. And yet - one blind man, who will truly see..

But that's for later.

{To Be Cont'd}

L/T.

14 February, 2010

le 14 février

Ça fait 7 mois..!
It is seven months since I left Europe after my first Paris mission (plus London stopover).

A little frustrating, since it feels I'm no closer to returning there to actively participate in the work that I know needs to be done.

I'm sure many of my équipiers from June/July mission have moved on.

But as for me, I was always at a different stage of life from them - apart from Mia* or Kade* (who seem settled in for the long haul with GBU Paris) and probably Asher* (who until recently was still on the UCCF circuit in England).

A large portion of heart still looks towards the needs of the gospel in Paris & generally across France & Europe.

Which is why I've chosen Chinese New Year 2010, oops, meant VD, to ramble on about this.

My preference, if at all possible, would be to stay in Sydney work-wise, just because there's need for me to be trained & mentored (in specific ministry skills) by more mature Christians, who can't move with me as trainers/mentors to another city, state or country, if I get work there.

But I need to see what God provides.

How long, o Lord?

L/T.

10 February, 2010

Des missionnaires en Mexique

I'm always so encouraged by what I read at this blog link.

The post from yesterday, for example. (Sarah Sholl, along with husband Pete & daughters Karina, Lucy & Miriam, have been in Central America for around 1 year now - through CMS).

It's all so real - human people, struggling along, trying to overcome the language barrier that so often occurs when one tries to share the good news of Jesus in an overseas cross-cultural context.

Missionary stories & reflections always give fallen, unprepared, sometimes-useless-feeling people like me hope about our own parts in the future work of the Kingdom.

L/T.

08 February, 2010

GAL. ch.1, v.10 .. et .. 2 COR. ch.12, vv.7-10

Galates 1,10
"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?
Or am I trying to please men?
If I were still trying to please men,
I would not be a servant of Christ.
"

2 Corinthiens 12,7-10
"..there was given me a thorn in my flesh,
a messenger of Satan,
to torment me.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord
to take it away from me.
But He said to me,
'My grace is sufficient for you,
for My power is made perfect in weakness.
'
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses,
so that Christ's power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses,
in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
"

L/T.

Troisième année de mes juifs

This morning got my first 2010 call-up from the Jewish school where I've spent most of my teaching days since July 2007. It was a normal Monday, teaching Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 classes (not in that order though!).

It was nice to see my little Jews again - although they're growing up so fast! And this year's Y2s have just come so far since I first taught them when they started school in 2008. I had a great time with three separate Y2 classes before and after lunch, singing & playing musical games with them (yes, that is part of the Infants teaching program).

Plus, it's so funny to see their incredulous expressions just because I remember their names!

L/T.

05 February, 2010

V: Du fils de Zébédée (pas du tout Jacques!)

Let the reader BEWARE!

Réflexions pas faciles à comprendre
The notes to follow in this post are merely my thoughts written down
- notes taken while reading John chapter 7, then looking back over all my notes about the previous six chapters.

Therefore, read..
..and be confused..
..at your own risk!

----------------

KNOWING GOD (the Son/Father)
~ Believe in Jesus
7(5)+(38)+(39)
++6(29)(30)(35)(36)(40)(47)(64)(69)
SubTotal of 11 times, Added to the 13 times already mentioned in first five chapters.

.. - GRAND Total of 24 times
[Believing in Jesus]
________________

~ [Accept/Receive] the Son's teaching which comes from
the Father who sent Him
7(16)
5(43)
3(33)
1(11)(12)
= Listening/Hear-then-React
7(51)
6(45)(60)
5(24)
1(40)

~come to Jesus & drink [cf. living water4:14, blood6:53-56?)
{ie. accept Him, participate[?]}
7(37)

Total of 13 times, plus inferences
[Accepting/Receiving/Listening-to/Hearing&Responding-to
the Words of Jesus]
________________

~On HIS initiative (inferred);
God the Father is the sender of God the Son (Jesus)
7(16)(28)(29)(33)
6(44)(65)(70)
5(23)(24)(30)(36)(37)(38)
4(7)
2(11)
1(6)(18)

Total of 17 times
[Knowing God is possible
only because He has Initiated this By Sending Jesus]

----------------

KNOWING WHAT GOD WANTS HIS PEOPLE TO be/do/say/think
ie. Response to Him

~ Accepting Him/JESUS for who He is, accepting His *judgments* about us;
~ Seeking His *honour* & His will;
..~{not hate His sent One just because He testifies that [our] deeds are evil}
7(7)
..~right response to JESUS - not trying to kill Him or rejecting His Word/God's law given throu'Moses
7(19)+(28-30)
6(63)(68)
5(24)
4(41)(50)
2(22)
SubTotal of 10 times

5(32)(33)(36)(37)(39)
4(39)
3(11)(32)
1(7)(8)(15)(19)(32)(34)=testimony/witness
SubTotal of 15 times

.. - GRAND Total 25 times
[Accepting the Word/Testimony/Witness of the ones God sent]

++++++++++++++++
..~{choose to do God's *will*}
7(17)
..~{work for the *honour* of the sending God - as Jesus did[?] - truth, nothing false}
7(18)
..~right *judgment* of what JESUS does & why He does it - healing over law-keeping
7(23-24)
..~{recognise JESUS - whom God sent - as the Christ}
7(31)


L/T.

03 February, 2010

Adoniram Judson

Move over please, Horatio Spafford!

This man, Adoniram Judson, translated the Bible into the Burmese language, during the 19th century.

He worked faithfully at trying to reach the lost of Burma (Myanmar) with the good news of Jesus for over 30 years.

Was he a super-Christian?
A missionary without flaws?
With a productive & fruitful ministry from the outset?

To help answer that, here's a quote from CMS Summer School 2010 speaker, Michael Raiter (himself a former missionary, recent background in history of missions..):

"When he was released [from prison] his small church of 18 had dwindled to 4. In 1828, his wife died. He went into deep depression and spent 4 months sitting by her grave, watching her decomposing body, and writing this
- 'To me, God is the great unknown. I believe in Him, but I cannot find Him.'
"

During his years of mission work (in the 1800s), Judson lost 2 wives, 6 kids and 11 co-workers.

Yet by 1993, there were approx. 6 million Christians in Myanmar - all tracing spiritual ancestry back to this man, because he had made the Scriptures available in the Burmese language.
________________

Yes, he suffered.
(So have I - in lesser ways.)

Yes, he was not perfect.
(Nor am I anywhere near it, as my sisters would daily testify.)

Yes, God still used him anyway.
(And amazingly, God has used me, too.)

How I forget God's Word in places like 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 12-17, at my peril!

At the following link (which will have changed by 2011, so check it out QUICK), if you have just under 42 minutes of spare time, the rest of Michael Raiter's 1st CMS Summer School 2010 talk
- from which I quoted the excerpt, and my source for this post -
is worth a listen.

Please do think about setting aside the 42m to listen; & I hope that it is an encouragement, an inspiration and maybe even a challenge.


Love to all,

L/T.

IV: Du fils de Zébédée (pas du tout Jacques!)

Jean chapitre 6
Home stretch!
{Continued from previous posts..}

vv.51-59
My questions, as always, are about knowing God personally (of course) & knowing what He wants us to be/do/say/think.

Jesus is still playing variations on the theme of Eternal Life And Resurrection (*ah, sweet music*)
~ "If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever" (v.51)
~ "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (v.54)
~ "..so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me" (v.57)
~ "..he who feeds on this bread will live forever" (v.58)
..which reinforces that knowing God has a lot to do with eternal life & being raised up at the last day!

This seems closely related to what God wants for us (ie. how we can know what He wants)
~ feeding on Jesus (= bread of life - v.51, vv.53-54, vv.56-58).

Which begs another question:
**What does it mean to feed on Jesus - to eat His flesh & drink His blood?**
________________

vv.60-66
All that Jesus has said has elicited a reaction of arguing (v.52) & grumbling (vv.60-61) among the Jews who had sought Him after seeing the miracle of 5000 fed.

Jesus then appears to respond to the grumbling by indicating the importance of believing (*ding!!*) in His Words just spoken (vv.63-64). Finally, He rounds it off by reminding them that God the Father is the One who enables people to come to Him - again, emphasis on this being God's work first (and not ours, e.g. v.65; refer also to v.44).

The sad result, which must have been hard for God the Son & Father, is that "many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him" (v.66).
________________

vv.67-69
"'You do not want to leave too, do you?' Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.'"


Is this the right response to God?

Is this what God wants for us, what knowing God is all about?

Is there more to it than this? ..After all, Peter's understanding is hardly complete, as ch.13 will show..
________________

vv.70-71
And then, a curiously foreboding conclusion to this section..
.."..Jesus replied, 'Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?..'"
(That's not the foreboding part; the idea that Jesus chooses His followers, though, is in keeping with God's initiative as stated several times above - cf. v.44 & v.65.)

.."..'Yet one of you is a devil!'
(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray Him.)"

I think that last bit is clear as crystal - the predicted response of the betrayer is certainly not what God would want for us!

But this gives rise to my last question (for the moment):
**What did betraying Jesus really mean for Judas Iscariot, & how are we to avoid that, in the grace & will of God?**
________________

Wow, that was a thick passage of text to deal with. I'm in two minds about whether to sum up all my notes so far, or whether to let it go for now.

As I type this, though, it occurs to me that I never shared my findings about ch.5..in which case, I shall need to double back to it soon!

L/T.

02 February, 2010

III: Du fils de Zébédée (pas du tout Jacques!)

Jean chapitre 6
{Continued from previous post..}

vv.22-29
Once again, the crowd are searching for Jesus - a crowd that wanted to make Him king by force. In the wider context of the whole chapter, this is by no means commendable..but anyway, as Jesus implies, this crowd is more interested in "food that spoils" (v.27) than they are in what endures to eternal life which the God-approved Son of Man gives.

Perhaps, the gentle nudge about wanting what God wants to offer us by Jesus
- rather than wanting what WE want for ourselves?
{In other words, knowing what God wants for us might be
the eternal life that Jesus the Son of Man gives - not complete physical/material satisfaction now..?(v.27)}

The question of the crowd seeking Jesus next runs like this:
"What must we do to do the works God requires?" (v.28)
Oh, how classically Jewish that sounds to me - although it is also the 2nd of the questions I've been asking while reading this gospel.

And even more classic is the response of Jesus - a perfect fit for the context so far:
"The work of God is this: To believe in the One He has sent."
(v.29)

Oh, boy!!
That idea of "..believing.." just keeps coming back - we're up to FOURTEEN TIMES!!!!!
________________

vv.29-33
Oh, good grief.
Look with me at the crowd's reaction. They've just had a big miraculous feeding, and now it seems they want ANOTHER sign? How thick can you get??!?
"So they asked Him, 'What miraculous sign will you give that we may see it and believe You?..'" (v.30)

For crying out loud!!

Back to topic questions..knowing God appears to be knowing & receiving the bread of heaven that God sends
- "..the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.." (v.33); that is, Jesus Himself, the Word become flesh, the Lamb of God who the Baptist recognised would take away the sins of the world.

So this is about knowing & receiving Jesus (= bread of life).
________________

vv.33-51
I've split this off from the previous chunk only so that there's less clutter for readers - logically it seems that these two segments in vv.29-51 really belong together.

Jesus identifies Himself as the bread of life, assuager of hunger & thirst; the One from heaven;
- the One by whom we can know God; knowing God is about believing in Jesus, looking to & coming to Him (vv.35-37; also v.40 and v.47).

It's also about God the Father being the One who draws people to Himself (v.44).

And knowing what God wants for us is closely tied into that
~ that we listen to Him our Father, be taught by Him & learn from Him (v.45)
~ life eternal & resurrection at the last day (v.33, v.35, v.40, v.47 and vv.50-51).

Example:
"For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." (v.40)
________________

Seems to be more reinforcement of similar ideas here
~ belief for eternal life
~ the work, the will & the way of God (ie. not our way),
related to His desire for us to know Him (v.37-39, for instance).

Some new stuff too.

*pausing to catch breath*

L/T.

II: Du fils de Zébédée (pas du tout Jacques!)

Jean chapitre 6
As stated in a recent post, my current amble with John Zebedee through the gospel God inspired him to write is based on variations-on-a-theme of two questions:

1. How to know God?
2. How to know what He wants for His people?

Here we go gathering nuts in May..
..No, wait.
That's not right!

I meant gathering ideas in chapter 6, of course.

Not an easy task..!
________________

vv.1-15
In opening, I cautiously venture to say that, since Jesus is right there with the disciples & the people of Israel's countryside, then knowing God is obviously about being near Him. But what the motivation is for people to be near Him - well, that varies..

.."because they saw the miraculous signs He performed on the sick" (v.3)

..context of Philip, to whom Jesus speaks - "Finding Philip, [Jesus] said to him, 'Follow Me.' .. Philip found Nathanael and told him, 'We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote..'" (1,43 and 1,45)

Hah!

Even Philip understands that knowing God - & recognising the One whom He sent - is through God's own Word (ie. the Law/Prophets).


Knowing God seems to have to do with relationship, too
- esp. the communication side of things. Jesus talks to His disciples, e.g. Philip & Andrew (vv.5-10), engaging them in conversation - quite simple, in a sense.

Also, Jesus uses the little physical resources available, with His disciples following His instructions - in order to supply food for the people to eat.

His own knowledge of God the Father shows plainly here, as He takes the available food & gives thanks for it before distributing it.

In this section it is hard to see what God is saying about what He wants for us. I do not believe that He wants us to see exactly this kind of miracle today in 2010.

So why was it written? The short answer that jumps to mind is John 20:31. BUT I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to the passage.
________________

vv.15-21
The disciples are on a boat in the lake, facing rough waters & strong wind.

Knowing God here & being who He wants appears tied up in what Jesus has to say as He approaches them by walking on the water:
"It is I; don't be afraid."
In some ways, self-explanatory. As if a knowledge that Jesus is not only with them, but has authority over the waters (as God the Son), should be enough to quell their fears.
________________

And now we get into very deep water. Time for a rest before the next related post.

L/T.

Quatre rêves

Let me say from the outset of this post that I stand very firmly on the authority of the Word of God.

Spending time with John son of Zebedee has only strengthened that.

I know, both from looking again at John's writings, as well as from all the Scriptures God has enabled me to retain in my head, that I know God because He's made Himself known to me. He's the most active One in the relationship (10 times this idea has surfaced in chapters 1-5 of John's gospel).

So far in this gospel, it also seems crystal clear that knowing God (on our part) is about believing in Jesus, the One whom He sent. Thirteen (13) times that idea has turned up so far.

13 times across only FIVE chapters.

The next most frequently occurring idea is the importance of the WORDS - whether spoken by God the Father, or by God the Son.

I have counted 9 times in the 5 chapters studied where emphasis is placed on listening to God's Word.
________________

If I didn't already hold the view that the most important things in the Christian walk are knowing God through His initiative & subsequently listening to & believing in His Word, I should be bashing myself over the head right now.

Having firmly established that I rely more than anything on what God's Word says, it's time to talk about 4 dreams. 1 when I was only seven; 3 others in quick succession over this last weekend.

1 rêve
(à l'âge de 7 ans)
At the tender age of seven I was a proud Sunday-School know-it-all. Had you seen me at church, you would have noticed that the level of Bible knowledge I had was probably not so distant from where it is now.

But as a seven-year-old, I had one of those dreams where you wake up quite scared. It was a Judgment Day kind of dream. I won't go through all the details of how I knew what I was seeing - though I could, & if you ask me then I will in some subsequent post.

I, my family, and unknown others appeared to be standing before God in His glory. Waiting for Him to call us. One by one I watched my family members welcomed into eternal life. And I stood there, waiting my turn, having seen them all go ahead of me.

And then I woke up, thinking, "What about ME??!?".
_________________

Quite chilling at the time - though I think now, it was God's way of shaking me up. So what if I knew the Scriptures rather well at age 7? By knowing them alone it wouldn't have been enough to possess eternal life.

As such I suspect this whole dream was intended to say, "So you think you are a Christian, little Sunday-School genius girl? You think you can be sure of salvation and eternal life? Just because you know so much about Me and My Words?..
"..Well, THINK AGAIN."


3 rêves
(récemment)
For 3 consecutive nights (up 'til Sunday) I've had dreams about mission in France. Dreams about being back there on team with international & local fellow-workers, getting ready to go out & do outreach via Bible-stands.

..Why?
________________

It does make me wonder.

Once again, I reinforce that knowing God is - more than anything else - about Him & His Word. He is enough for me - & His Word as already recorded in the Bible we have is more than enough for me. It has been exciting finding new treasures in John, a book I've read through for myself - on & off - since I was 19.

And yet for me, personally, it may not be wise to let the odd dream just go. Or three of them in quick succession.

La chose la plus importante
Still I emphasise:
FIRST and foremost
- above all other apparent revelations and experiences -
hear the Word of the LORD God.

Not by might, nor by power, but only by His Spirit.

Because the Spirit of God already lives in you - if Jesus is your Saviour and Lord; if you belong to Him.

If Jesus is your Saviour and Lord, you do not have to ask God for the Spirit to be given you. He is already there!
(See a bit of Romans 8 - God says it!)

The issue is to be living by the Spirit that is already in us. Not begging Him to be there because some crack theology has implied He isn't there.

I know I'm now off on a major tangent (my first on this blog, I think!), but I am growing so tired of prayers that I hear, esp. by well-meaning praying believers at CCC Milson's Point, that God should send His Spirit to us, or fill us with His Spirit, or other phrases that imply we don't yet have the Spirit.

How silly, and how totally unBiblical.

God's Spirit says that we who belong to Christ are God's children. It's a matter of choosing to live by the Spirit (not by the sinful nature/flesh, the old way of thinking).

A choice that we fight to make every day - by depending on the already present Spirit.

Rant over.

Sorry if you fell off the train of thought on the way.


L/T.

P.S. Beloved friends - test EVERYTHING that you see and hear and read against the Scriptures!

Please!

Do not just blindly swallow the ideas of a speaker or writer!

"For this reason, since the day [I] heard about you, [I] have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

"And [I] pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."

COLOSSIANS 1:9-15

01 February, 2010

Mon beau-frère - merci!!

A quick but heartfelt thank-you to my youngest step-brother Jeremy Lin.

Really appreciated your generosity at dinner after church; it meant I could stay & talk to a number of different people, & was encouraged and/or challenged by the ensuing conversations.

Thank you once again for your pecuniary resourcefulness. I simply cannot express how much it was appreciated.

L/T.