Don’t we wish to live our lives joyfully
and thankfully with those who are around us? For example, we have a job and
career that we always have wanted, we can do everything that we want, people
who are around us are nice and kind to us and there are no fights or quarreling
around. I want to live my life like these. As I am a “people-person,” I would
always invite my friends to my house and discuss and ask them about how our
lives went, like what a real family would always do, buy and can do everything
that we want. I also want to have power of teleportation so I can visit places
or other countries, such as South Korea and New York. I would go holidays with
my close friends, even.
Rather than always enjoying ourselves as
much as we can in the world, we should rejoice in the Lord, Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:4-5), if we have become
Christians and one of His followers. Otherwise, we probably would want to give
up on Christian life because we think following Jesus Christ is very boring. The
main reason for this probably is that we think that we must become
Christ-centred and spiritual person all the time, and we cannot enjoy our lives
for ourselves until the end of the age. It is true that we should become
Christ-centred people as we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). However, maturity in Jesus
Christ comes with timing (1 Corinthians 2:6-12). Why God is waiting
for us to come to Him in repentance, then (2 Peter 3:8-9)? In addition, I think it is
okay to enjoy ourselves as well, due to the fact that the word of God states
that God have created all things for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). I was a gospel+religious
person to glorify God in everything I do but I was not in religious side at
all. I guess that I was only living my life as a child of God as much as I
could, because my passion and desire has been in Jesus Christ. My passion is
still in Him but I watch television as well, due to the fact that I, sometimes,
get theological burden, that it gives me a headache. I watch television to
relax my mind and also watch it for fun. Nevertheless, I am quite afraid that
watching television becomes one of my idols. Because of this, I kept doing
religious repentance after I watched television, because of the spiritual sin
and I guess I was only thinking of God as the Judge who would condemn us. Nonetheless,
I should be doing gospel repentance to Him often to become more righteous and
holy in His sight, even though followers of Jesus Christ is already righteous
and holy in His sight (Colossians 1:21-22). Repentance is quite
hard for me to do as I feel more comfortable in fixing every mistakes that I
have made before asking God for His forgiveness. However, 1 Corinthians 13:3 declares, “If I… give over my body to hardship that I
may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
The Son is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all
things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been
created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things
hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning
and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the
supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once you were
alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil
behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death
to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if
you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope
held out in the gospel… (Colossians 1:15-23)
Second of all, as communications are
important to us, we should put ‘prayer’ in the communication list as well. Apart
from the Bible, prayer is the only way to have communications between us and
God. In fact, it is better than the Bible in speaking of communication because
the Bible only allows God to speak to us through the Spirit. We cannot talk
back to God by reading the Bible, and the word of God warns us not to edit,
add, or take words out from the Bible (Revelation 22:18-19; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; Proverbs 30:5-6). Nonetheless, prayers
allow us to talk to God as well as hearing from God through the Spirit. In
addition, as well as we love hearing from others to continue our conversation, God
loves to hear from us if our will match with Him (1 John 5:14-15). I need to have more
intimate relationship with God by praying to Him often, as I love gaining the knowledge
of God more than praying to Him humbly. 1 Corinthians 13:2 says that if I gain all
mysteries and all knowledge without loving Him, then I gain nothing.
Furthermore, God also loves us when we repent to Him and when we decide to be
more holy, righteous, blameless in His sight (Luke 15:1-10). 1 John 1:8-2:2 says, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us
our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not
sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. My dear
children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does
sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is
the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins
of the whole world.”
Do not be anxious
about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.
Finally, brothers
and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever
is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or
praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:6-8)
Lastly, as we love to give thanks to
everyone who are nice and kind towards us, we should honor God by giving thanks
to Him as God works in all things for our good (Romans 8:28). Since 1 Thessalonians 5:18 states, “give thanks in all
circumstances,” we should also give thanks to Him
even when trials, troubles, and temptations happen to us. The main reason for
this is that they probably are helping us with our faith in Jesus Christ (James 1:2-4). I had one bad habit until a
couple of weeks ago. My habit was twisting my neck around as far as I could. I
kept thinking that if I twist my neck around, it would be more comfortable to
turn my neck around, even though I knew it was bad habit and not going to fix
anything. Thus, finally, I have made up my mind that my neck is the part of the
body to worship God because of the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) as I, sometimes,
look upward during the church worship service. I still do this and especially
when my neck become sore and tired of staying still, but it is better than
having the bad habit of this. Another example of temptation is that I kept
logging into my Facebook, just to check notifications, and log out after. I,
even, did this without me noticing, which means opening my Facebook
accidentally. Therefore, I had to leave my Facebook for a couple of days by
deleting the Facebook application from my iPad, because I was trying to have my
study-time for my Unitec test and assignment. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what
is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted
beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way
out so that you can endure it.” Moreover, the main point that we should
give thanks to Him probably should be about God’s steadfast love. Because of
this kind of love, salvation in Jesus Christ is secured (Acts 4:12) and we are able to eternal life
in Him (John 11:25-26). We should make 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 as a prayer point,
to each of us who have been saved spiritually. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not
send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through
him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe
stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s
one and only Son. (John 3:16-18) Also, 1 John 4:9-10 states, “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into
the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not
that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take
away our sins.”
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give
thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His
love endures forever.
to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens,
His love endures forever. who
spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. who made the great lights—His
love endures forever. the sun to govern the day, His love endures
forever. the moon and stars
to govern the night; His love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1-9)
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