SEEC2006 - on the reflection of the teaching on joy, strength and faith
If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me(Matthew 16:24). During the Easter time, when we meditate the love of Jesus, who has beared our sin and shame and dying on the cross, our heart becomes heavy, because of his surpassing love and because we know that following Jesus is costly. The road to the Cross is not easy to follow. This is one truth. Grace is not cheap, and following Jesus is costly.
Yet on the other side of the story, sometimes christians was so absorbed by the heaviness of the cross. Together with the burdens facing in their christian walks, lifes become heavy. They walk like a dead man; Their life was without joy and strength; Their eyes are overclouded by their worries, anxieties and difficulties; and their heart was saddened by the heaviness in their life.
If we bear the cross by ourselves, the unbearable heaviness of the cross will make us suffocate, which in turn will paralyse our whole life. For Jesus say 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light' (Matthew 11:30). So often we think that we are carrying the yoke by ourselves. However, for a yoke to work, we need to have a companion who is walking in the same direction with you. The yoke of Jesus is light, because Jesus is the one who is carrying the cross with us. He is our companion. The underlying problem of us is that we are still grabbing hold of things and could't 100% place our trust and leave all our bagguages to Jesus. The heaviness have consumed all our strength, that we cannot realise the fullness which God has prepared in our life. With no strength from God, there is no joy, and our life could not shine.
If we fixed out eyes only on heaven and longing for the perfection that are yet to be coming, it is an act of resignation of life. This is not the true meaning of faith. The destination of faith are both pointing to heaven as well as onto this earth. If our joy and the dreams in this world are God-given, it will become our spiritual inheritage that God has bestowed for us, and we should grab hold and fight for it and give it back to God as a pleasing sacrifice.
We are surrounded by a cloud of witness, and the speaker is one of them. To me, He is Caleb. Even though he is old, but his heart was as young as before, with full of strength. He grabbed hold of his dreams (doctor, soprano and muscles) and work hard towards to attain them. God has answered his prayers, and he has inherited the blessings that God has prepared for him, and he can give his inheritance back to God and use it to serve others in his ministry that God has called him to be.
'Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn. (Roman 12:15) If the upbringings of a life is wounds and bitterness, they don't have the lightness to rejoice with those who rejoice. It the upbringings of a life is happy and smooth, they don't have the gravity to mourn with those who mourn. So as christians, when we are joyful, we can easily forgot God and become less sensitive to those who couldn't laugh and who are poor in spirit (Mt 5:3). When we are mournful, we tend to forget that it is God intention for us to be joyful, and the world is intrinsically good and beautiful that we can spontaneously praise for His goodness. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, and a time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecc 3:4). If we truely immense ourselves to Jesus, we will be sensitive to Him, and we will be sensitive to the other needs. Yet if don't hear any specific voice, then let's have a joyful heart, because this is one of the fruit that God want us to bear in our life (Gal 5:22-23). He is good.
Yet on the other side of the story, sometimes christians was so absorbed by the heaviness of the cross. Together with the burdens facing in their christian walks, lifes become heavy. They walk like a dead man; Their life was without joy and strength; Their eyes are overclouded by their worries, anxieties and difficulties; and their heart was saddened by the heaviness in their life.
If we bear the cross by ourselves, the unbearable heaviness of the cross will make us suffocate, which in turn will paralyse our whole life. For Jesus say 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light' (Matthew 11:30). So often we think that we are carrying the yoke by ourselves. However, for a yoke to work, we need to have a companion who is walking in the same direction with you. The yoke of Jesus is light, because Jesus is the one who is carrying the cross with us. He is our companion. The underlying problem of us is that we are still grabbing hold of things and could't 100% place our trust and leave all our bagguages to Jesus. The heaviness have consumed all our strength, that we cannot realise the fullness which God has prepared in our life. With no strength from God, there is no joy, and our life could not shine.
If we fixed out eyes only on heaven and longing for the perfection that are yet to be coming, it is an act of resignation of life. This is not the true meaning of faith. The destination of faith are both pointing to heaven as well as onto this earth. If our joy and the dreams in this world are God-given, it will become our spiritual inheritage that God has bestowed for us, and we should grab hold and fight for it and give it back to God as a pleasing sacrifice.
We are surrounded by a cloud of witness, and the speaker is one of them. To me, He is Caleb. Even though he is old, but his heart was as young as before, with full of strength. He grabbed hold of his dreams (doctor, soprano and muscles) and work hard towards to attain them. God has answered his prayers, and he has inherited the blessings that God has prepared for him, and he can give his inheritance back to God and use it to serve others in his ministry that God has called him to be.
'Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn. (Roman 12:15) If the upbringings of a life is wounds and bitterness, they don't have the lightness to rejoice with those who rejoice. It the upbringings of a life is happy and smooth, they don't have the gravity to mourn with those who mourn. So as christians, when we are joyful, we can easily forgot God and become less sensitive to those who couldn't laugh and who are poor in spirit (Mt 5:3). When we are mournful, we tend to forget that it is God intention for us to be joyful, and the world is intrinsically good and beautiful that we can spontaneously praise for His goodness. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, and a time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecc 3:4). If we truely immense ourselves to Jesus, we will be sensitive to Him, and we will be sensitive to the other needs. Yet if don't hear any specific voice, then let's have a joyful heart, because this is one of the fruit that God want us to bear in our life (Gal 5:22-23). He is good.
posted by justanotherbrotherinchrist | 11:26 am
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