"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."
-2 Corinthians 12:9
Every year my church's youth group go to a retreat known as the "Grace Retreat". The last time I attended was two years ago, but this year I decided I would go again as a small group leader. The small group leaders have a lot of responsibility, as they have to lead a group of 5-10 youth members in Bible study. It's very difficult to be an effective small group leader because they youth get really tired and disinterested if you are not engaging. Also, the leader gets very little sleep, having to attend early prayer meetings and going to bed late. By the way, this is all stuff I observed and heard from previous leaders. This year will be the first time I will be a leader for the Grace Retreat.
After I decided to become a leader, I realized something that troubled me a lot; I am not an adequate leader. Recently I haven't been reading the Bible as much as I should have, and I have been struggling with sin. My spiritual life has been very dead, and I feel very hypocritical. At church I put on this facade of being okay, but in reality I am not. I've been doing the things I want to do rather than seeking the things God wants me to do.
I wouldn't say that I am a fit leader for the Grace Retreat. Not even close. I've let my laziness and indifference make me inadequate to be a leader. However, I'm reminded of one thing that my friend told me- "God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called". I am also reminded of is the song "All in All", where the lyrics read "You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek, You are my all in all". If I try to fix my inadequacy on my own, I will achieve nothing. God is the only one who can treat my spiritual needs, and change my heart. Only in God can I find the strength to do His will.
The truth is, no one is truly fit to be God's child. We are all inadequate. None of us can do anything on our own, because we all fall short of God's glory. The good news is that God can and will help us. Furthermore, God has given us brothers and sisters that can encourage us and lift us up in prayer. One thing that I admire about my church is how we always make it a point to pray for each other. God didn't leave us on our own to try and live Christian lives; He gave us each other. We just have to accept that we are all inadequate and are in need of God's grace. Then we can build each other up in Christ.
-Smart
Enjoying God
"For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without Him?"
-Ecclesiastes 2:25
Today I played soccer with friends from my church as we often do on Sundays. I had a good time playing even though I am now quite tired and sore. Later in the day, I was cleaning the bathroom in my house. Like many people, I do not enjoy cleaning at all, especially when I have to clean the bathroom. As I was cleaning the bathroom, a thought came into my head. Why do I enjoy playing sports but I don't enjoy cleaning? That sounds like a weird and foolish question to ask, but it got me thinking.
Why don't I enjoy doing chores? They're tedious and require time and effort, and I often don't feel like doing them. However, I do like having a clean house. I'm sure many (if not all) people would prefer to live in a clean house than a dirty one. So why do we dislike cleaning our house so much? I think it's because we don't like the process of actually having to work at cleaning and possibly getting ourselves dirty. We like the result, but we don't like the process.
So why do I enjoy sports? First off, I want to establish the fact that I am a very competitive person when it comes to sports. I love winning and I don't like to lose. Despite this fact, I enjoy sports whether I win or lose. Of course, I am a lot happier if I win, but regardless of whether I win or not I still enjoy playing. The reason I like sports so much is because I like the actual process of playing a sport. I like running, jumping, defending, and competing. This is why I can enjoy sports regardless of the result.
What is the point I'm making here? The point is that it is much easier to do something if you can enjoy the process as well as the result. The reason I don't like cleaning is because although we like the result we don't enjoy the process. The reason I enjoy playing sports is because I enjoy the process of playing regardless of the result. Playing to win is just another way to motivate me to play harder and enjoy myself more.
I believe the reason I find it difficult to spend time with God is because I don't enjoy the process. I understand the result of spending time with Him is desirable, but I don't find the actually process of it appealing. I believe that this is why many people struggle to maintain a close relationship with God. We think that spending time with God is tedious and requires effort, and we often don't feel like taking that time to spend with Him. I think in order for us to really grow close to God, we need to learn to enjoy the process of knowing Him.
Think of your friends; you spend time with them because you like being with them. You don't spend time with them simply because you can gain something from your friendship; you do it because you enjoy the process of being with them. We have to learn to enjoy God in the same way. We shouldn't think of spending time with God as some way we can gain something from Him. We should think of it as a way to enjoy Him. Growing in a relationship with God is much easier if we can learn to enjoy knowing Him. And really, how hard can it be? God loves us, He adores us, He cares for us, and lastly, He enjoys being with us.
-Smart
-Ecclesiastes 2:25
Today I played soccer with friends from my church as we often do on Sundays. I had a good time playing even though I am now quite tired and sore. Later in the day, I was cleaning the bathroom in my house. Like many people, I do not enjoy cleaning at all, especially when I have to clean the bathroom. As I was cleaning the bathroom, a thought came into my head. Why do I enjoy playing sports but I don't enjoy cleaning? That sounds like a weird and foolish question to ask, but it got me thinking.
Why don't I enjoy doing chores? They're tedious and require time and effort, and I often don't feel like doing them. However, I do like having a clean house. I'm sure many (if not all) people would prefer to live in a clean house than a dirty one. So why do we dislike cleaning our house so much? I think it's because we don't like the process of actually having to work at cleaning and possibly getting ourselves dirty. We like the result, but we don't like the process.
So why do I enjoy sports? First off, I want to establish the fact that I am a very competitive person when it comes to sports. I love winning and I don't like to lose. Despite this fact, I enjoy sports whether I win or lose. Of course, I am a lot happier if I win, but regardless of whether I win or not I still enjoy playing. The reason I like sports so much is because I like the actual process of playing a sport. I like running, jumping, defending, and competing. This is why I can enjoy sports regardless of the result.
What is the point I'm making here? The point is that it is much easier to do something if you can enjoy the process as well as the result. The reason I don't like cleaning is because although we like the result we don't enjoy the process. The reason I enjoy playing sports is because I enjoy the process of playing regardless of the result. Playing to win is just another way to motivate me to play harder and enjoy myself more.
I believe the reason I find it difficult to spend time with God is because I don't enjoy the process. I understand the result of spending time with Him is desirable, but I don't find the actually process of it appealing. I believe that this is why many people struggle to maintain a close relationship with God. We think that spending time with God is tedious and requires effort, and we often don't feel like taking that time to spend with Him. I think in order for us to really grow close to God, we need to learn to enjoy the process of knowing Him.
Think of your friends; you spend time with them because you like being with them. You don't spend time with them simply because you can gain something from your friendship; you do it because you enjoy the process of being with them. We have to learn to enjoy God in the same way. We shouldn't think of spending time with God as some way we can gain something from Him. We should think of it as a way to enjoy Him. Growing in a relationship with God is much easier if we can learn to enjoy knowing Him. And really, how hard can it be? God loves us, He adores us, He cares for us, and lastly, He enjoys being with us.
-Smart
Objectivity
"Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things."
-Romans 2:1
In my engineering ethics class we talked about the idea of subjectivity and objectivity. Immediately people in the class talked about how nothing can be objective, since everyone is subject to their own views and beliefs. I've written before about truth and whether it is relative or not. I concluded that it cannot be relative, because truth has to be consistent in order to be truth. The topic I want to talk about today is similar, just more in depth.
There are many things that are subjective, such as people's opinions. Some people like action movies, other like dramas, and still others prefer horror. These are all subjective views; there is no such thing as an objective preference of movie genre. However, when raised with the question of objectivity versus subjectivity, people often forget that there are things that are objective as well. For example, a movie is a movie, not a book. That is an objective statement, and there is no room for debate on that.
When talking about objectivity and subjectivity, the previous example was trivial. What people really want to know is whether there can be objectivity in morality. Is it possible that our morals are objective? Is there a definitive "right" and "wrong"? Or is everything relative to the individual? Many people these days would say that morality is subjective to a person. A person's morality is just a result of a person's upbringing. They argue that since everyone has a different set of morals that there cannot be any absolutes. Everyone should be allowed to decide their own moral standards.
While I agree that everyone has a different set of morals, I don't agree that this means that morality is subjective. As an example, think about the laws we have in our country. Take speeding for example. The law says that if you drive over the speed limit, you will be given a ticket (given that you are caught). That is an objective law- if you speed, you will be penalized. However, people might differ on what they believe regarding speeding. Some may think that you can go ten miles an hour over the limit and you don't deserve a ticket. Others may believe that speeding limits are ridiculous and shouldn't be a law. Regardless of what you believe, if you speed, you will be given a ticket. What am I saying with this example? People do have subjective views on morality, but there is objective morality.
So what is objective morality? I couldn't go into full detail, but let's start at the core of the issue; where does morality come from? I recently heard Ravi Zacharias pose this question, and his answer was fascinating. His answer was that there is no such thing as morality without purpose. Think about it; if I gave you a baseball bat, you know the purpose of the bat is to hit a baseball. However, if you use it to hit a person, you are violating the purpose of the bat. I think it is the lack of understanding of our purpose that causes people to misunderstand morality. If there is no clear purpose for our lives, then there is no way we can violate or fulfill our purpose. In other words, there is no way we can do anything "right" or "wrong". People can try to justify their morals, but in the end they can't really rationalize them. So what is our purpose? To "glorify God and enjoy Him forever".
-Smart
-Romans 2:1
In my engineering ethics class we talked about the idea of subjectivity and objectivity. Immediately people in the class talked about how nothing can be objective, since everyone is subject to their own views and beliefs. I've written before about truth and whether it is relative or not. I concluded that it cannot be relative, because truth has to be consistent in order to be truth. The topic I want to talk about today is similar, just more in depth.
There are many things that are subjective, such as people's opinions. Some people like action movies, other like dramas, and still others prefer horror. These are all subjective views; there is no such thing as an objective preference of movie genre. However, when raised with the question of objectivity versus subjectivity, people often forget that there are things that are objective as well. For example, a movie is a movie, not a book. That is an objective statement, and there is no room for debate on that.
When talking about objectivity and subjectivity, the previous example was trivial. What people really want to know is whether there can be objectivity in morality. Is it possible that our morals are objective? Is there a definitive "right" and "wrong"? Or is everything relative to the individual? Many people these days would say that morality is subjective to a person. A person's morality is just a result of a person's upbringing. They argue that since everyone has a different set of morals that there cannot be any absolutes. Everyone should be allowed to decide their own moral standards.
While I agree that everyone has a different set of morals, I don't agree that this means that morality is subjective. As an example, think about the laws we have in our country. Take speeding for example. The law says that if you drive over the speed limit, you will be given a ticket (given that you are caught). That is an objective law- if you speed, you will be penalized. However, people might differ on what they believe regarding speeding. Some may think that you can go ten miles an hour over the limit and you don't deserve a ticket. Others may believe that speeding limits are ridiculous and shouldn't be a law. Regardless of what you believe, if you speed, you will be given a ticket. What am I saying with this example? People do have subjective views on morality, but there is objective morality.
So what is objective morality? I couldn't go into full detail, but let's start at the core of the issue; where does morality come from? I recently heard Ravi Zacharias pose this question, and his answer was fascinating. His answer was that there is no such thing as morality without purpose. Think about it; if I gave you a baseball bat, you know the purpose of the bat is to hit a baseball. However, if you use it to hit a person, you are violating the purpose of the bat. I think it is the lack of understanding of our purpose that causes people to misunderstand morality. If there is no clear purpose for our lives, then there is no way we can violate or fulfill our purpose. In other words, there is no way we can do anything "right" or "wrong". People can try to justify their morals, but in the end they can't really rationalize them. So what is our purpose? To "glorify God and enjoy Him forever".
-Smart
Priorities
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
-Matthew 6:33
The past couple weeks have been very difficult and stressful, both mentally and spiritually. School has been getting harder, and now that finals are right around the corner, I am very worried. I'm worried for the obvious reason that I have to take finals soon, but I am also worried that I've already entered the "summer break mode". It's very hard for me to find that sense of urgency for school, even though I know that finals are very near. I believe that this in part due to my spiritual life suffering. I haven't reading the Bible or spending quality time with God. I feel far from God, and I know that it is causing me to lose my sense of purpose in life.
Earlier today I was listening to Pastor Tony Evans on the radio on the way home from the gym. He was talking about reconciliation, and how there is both a vertical and horizontal reconciliation that we must understand. The vertical reconciliation is between us and God. Jesus has already done His part to reconcile us to Himself, we just have to accept Him. The horizontal reconciliation is between us and other people. Tony Evans stressed that we must have a vertical reconciliation before we can even begin horizontal reconciliation. He later talked about how our spiritual condition affects every part of our life.
One of the main ways we can see our spiritual condition is by taking a look at our priorities. I once wrote about stress, where I touched on the topic of priorities. Our priorities dictate much of what we do in our day to day life. For many people like myself, the top priority is to do well in school to ensure that their future will be comfortable. People with this priority tend to spend a lot of time studying, doing homework, and going to school. Once they begin to do bad in school, they begin to worry about their life. This is because they've placed their hopes into school, and they believe that by doing well in school later in life they will be fulfilled. Unfortunately, placing our priorities in school will only bring a lot of stress and worry.
The verse Matthew 6:33 says to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you". What is this verse telling us? It's saying that if we prioritize God our lives will begin to fall into place. We will have a new sense of purpose and fulfillment. Do you know what precedes Matthew 6:33? Jesus telling us not to worry. This is not a coincidence. Where we place our priorities will affect the rest of our life. If we don't prioritize our relationship with God, we will always worry. Putting God first places everything in perspective, and He will give us peace.
I've been meaning to write about a couple different topics on my blog, but I've been struggling to find the time and energy. I decided to write about this today because it's been on my mind and I wanted to re-prioritize my life. It's been hard letting God take first place in my life, because I've been so distracted by other things. I realize that this is having a negative effect on my life and is causing me to become lazy. I pray that God would help us to put Him back in the driver's seat of our lives.
-Smart
-Matthew 6:33
The past couple weeks have been very difficult and stressful, both mentally and spiritually. School has been getting harder, and now that finals are right around the corner, I am very worried. I'm worried for the obvious reason that I have to take finals soon, but I am also worried that I've already entered the "summer break mode". It's very hard for me to find that sense of urgency for school, even though I know that finals are very near. I believe that this in part due to my spiritual life suffering. I haven't reading the Bible or spending quality time with God. I feel far from God, and I know that it is causing me to lose my sense of purpose in life.
Earlier today I was listening to Pastor Tony Evans on the radio on the way home from the gym. He was talking about reconciliation, and how there is both a vertical and horizontal reconciliation that we must understand. The vertical reconciliation is between us and God. Jesus has already done His part to reconcile us to Himself, we just have to accept Him. The horizontal reconciliation is between us and other people. Tony Evans stressed that we must have a vertical reconciliation before we can even begin horizontal reconciliation. He later talked about how our spiritual condition affects every part of our life.
One of the main ways we can see our spiritual condition is by taking a look at our priorities. I once wrote about stress, where I touched on the topic of priorities. Our priorities dictate much of what we do in our day to day life. For many people like myself, the top priority is to do well in school to ensure that their future will be comfortable. People with this priority tend to spend a lot of time studying, doing homework, and going to school. Once they begin to do bad in school, they begin to worry about their life. This is because they've placed their hopes into school, and they believe that by doing well in school later in life they will be fulfilled. Unfortunately, placing our priorities in school will only bring a lot of stress and worry.
The verse Matthew 6:33 says to "seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you". What is this verse telling us? It's saying that if we prioritize God our lives will begin to fall into place. We will have a new sense of purpose and fulfillment. Do you know what precedes Matthew 6:33? Jesus telling us not to worry. This is not a coincidence. Where we place our priorities will affect the rest of our life. If we don't prioritize our relationship with God, we will always worry. Putting God first places everything in perspective, and He will give us peace.
I've been meaning to write about a couple different topics on my blog, but I've been struggling to find the time and energy. I decided to write about this today because it's been on my mind and I wanted to re-prioritize my life. It's been hard letting God take first place in my life, because I've been so distracted by other things. I realize that this is having a negative effect on my life and is causing me to become lazy. I pray that God would help us to put Him back in the driver's seat of our lives.
-Smart
You are the Messiah (Part 3)
So what can we take away from this passage? What can we learn? First, we must realize that Jesus cares about what people think about Him. At the time of this passage, the people believed Jesus was some sort of prophet. What would people say today if asked the same question? Sadly, I believe the majority of people would say that Jesus never existed. Even more so, I believe that people today feel they have no need for Jesus, as I said at the beginning of this message. People don’t want to believe in Jesus as Messiah, because they feel that Jesus is a hindrance to them. They don’t believe Jesus is their Messiah, they look to other things to be their “messiah”. Seeking money, pleasure, respect, and power becomes their messiah. This should concern us because it definitely concerns Jesus. We also must consider Jesus’ second question- “who do you say I am? (verse 29)”. Our view of Jesus is shaped by the relationship that we have with Jesus. Jesus is just as concerned about our relationship with Him as He is with our view of Him. We know that Jesus is the Messiah, but do we know what that means? It is one thing to know the answer to this question, it is another to understand it. So what is the proper understanding of who Jesus is? To answer this, we must understand the Cross. Jesus told the disciples about the Cross because the Cross is how He would save us. The Cross is the ultimate picture of who Jesus is. The Cross reveals many things about Jesus, such as His wisdom, power, authority, and obedience; but ultimately it reveals His love. Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that He loved them enough to die on the Cross for them. When Peter rebukes Jesus, Peter does it out of his love for Jesus, because Peter did not want Jesus to suffer these things. What Peter needed to understand is that Jesus must suffer these things in order to save him. Jesus wanted Peter to understand His love for him. Sadly, we see that Peter could not grasp Jesus’ love for him, because he was only concerned about worldly things. Peter’s life did not change at this point even though He knew Jesus was Messiah. Only after Peter experienced the power of Jesus’ resurrection did He truly understand who Jesus was. After Jesus’ resurrection, Peter underwent a major change in his life, and began speaking boldly to others about Jesus. Sometimes we too may hold the wrong view of Jesus because of our emotions or limited understanding of Him. Jesus doesn’t want us to rely on our emotions or our understanding; He wants us to rely on His love. He wants us to experience the power of His resurrection and to be changed because of it. His love is enough for us.
I spoke at the beginning about my high school friends. Many times they asked me why I did the things that I do: why I go to church, why I don’t go to parties, etc. I would simply just answer- “Because I believe as a Christian that I should go to church and I shouldn’t go to parties or etc.” If they asked me now, I would probably tell them that it is because Jesus is my Messiah, and because of that I cannot be the same. The power of the Cross and Jesus’ resurrection changes the way that I live. When I see the students around me and wonder why I continue to live in the manner I do, I know that it is because Jesus is the Messiah. However, it is not enough just to know that Jesus is my Messiah; Jesus wants all people to know that He is the Messiah. Jesus is asking me “who do people say I am? (verse 27)”? Jesus is asking us- “who do you say I am? (verse 29)”. Jesus is our Messiah; not one who came to rule over the earth by exerting power and authority, but one who came down to become one of us. He is our Messiah who suffered and died and rose again in order to save us from sin and death. He is our Messiah who loves us. Let’s read the key verse together- “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’ (verse 29)”.
-Smart
(Thanks for reading! If you have anything you'd want me to write about, let me know.)
I spoke at the beginning about my high school friends. Many times they asked me why I did the things that I do: why I go to church, why I don’t go to parties, etc. I would simply just answer- “Because I believe as a Christian that I should go to church and I shouldn’t go to parties or etc.” If they asked me now, I would probably tell them that it is because Jesus is my Messiah, and because of that I cannot be the same. The power of the Cross and Jesus’ resurrection changes the way that I live. When I see the students around me and wonder why I continue to live in the manner I do, I know that it is because Jesus is the Messiah. However, it is not enough just to know that Jesus is my Messiah; Jesus wants all people to know that He is the Messiah. Jesus is asking me “who do people say I am? (verse 27)”? Jesus is asking us- “who do you say I am? (verse 29)”. Jesus is our Messiah; not one who came to rule over the earth by exerting power and authority, but one who came down to become one of us. He is our Messiah who suffered and died and rose again in order to save us from sin and death. He is our Messiah who loves us. Let’s read the key verse together- “‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’ (verse 29)”.
-Smart
(Thanks for reading! If you have anything you'd want me to write about, let me know.)
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