nuggets of thoughts

Dark Nights

When dark nights haunt you, go to Jesus.  He alone comforts, knows our needs, what’s good for us.  Do not go around in circles:  read the Word of God, find solace in Him.

The Truth

The Christian is not a searcher of truth but a proclaimer of the Truth, since he has found the Truth in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.  Other “truths” that proclaim otherwise are not truths but lies.

Good Works

Kindness, generosity, charity, and other good works are either works of the flesh or works of the Spirit.

Man generally does good works to please himself, to boost his self-esteem, to feel good.  This kind of benevolence is the fruit of the flesh.  It aims not to please God.  This kind of good works therefore does not count to God.  "But we are all are as unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags..." Isaiah 64:6.

A Christian does good works because he loves God.  Loving others is God’s command and so he follows him by loving others, for it is impossible to love God without following His command.  His good works thus become the fruits of the Spirit.  He helps others and shows acts of kindness because he loves God and wants to please God, not himself.

Rewarder

God is the rewarder, not man.  The natural man is basically self-centered.  He wants to receive rather than give.  

The Christian who gives does not expect returns or rewards from man.  He gives to glorify his God.  God in return blesses in manifold forms.  He uses man or circumstances  to show His pleasure to His children.  

 

Irony

There are times when the people we love and who are true to us are those who do not know Jesus Christ of the Bible.  In other words, they are those who practice a different kind of Christianity or spirituality.  They are either unbelievers or do not have God at all.

And so we grieve over the fact that these people close to our hearts shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.  However, we do not lose hope, because as long as we live and these people are alive, we continue to pray for them, that one day God will change their hearts.

Knowing God First

The first service a Christian can give others is to tell them of the Gospel of Christ.  Man has to know of his total depravity, his need to repent of his sins, and his need for a Savior.  The Christian has to tell him who God is in the Person of Jesus Christ.  Modern teachings will help us find the answer to the question “Who am I?”  The Christian should teach man the answer to the question “Who is God?”

In knowing God through Jesus Christ, man will know himself, find the meaning to life and the ways by which he should live his life.  Jesus Christ is revealed only through the written Word of God, the Bible.

Impact

Those that create an impact in our lives are people who are there for us when we are sick.  It is in period of sickness that we feel lonely and think of the loved ones that are not with us, those who are not around anymore or those who live in far places.  And so people who show their love or kindness by being with us during sickness are the ones who touch us the most.

Poetry

Alienated
by maria maqui

Two worlds alienated;

Separate, distinct, dissociated;

One loving, reaching, but empty-handed;

The other the object, the subject, the dearly beloved.

Man’s inhumanity to man

Man after the fall inherited the disobedience of Adam.  His heart pulsates with sin and wrongdoing.  He is depraved and will either be saved or damned according to the Sovereign Will of God.

Atrocities inflicted by man to a fellow human being are never a rare occurrence in everyday life.  The first sin of murder was committed by a man against his own brother.  Esau hated his brother Jacob; Joseph was sold and almost killed by his eleven brothers.

Parents and children are not free from internal conflicts.  Abuse and bitter rows exist right within the home.

Children become resentful, disrespectful, ungrateful, and disobedient…while there are those that continue to love and respect their parents in spite of unavoidable family disagreements and disharmony, there are the Cain types who become the black sheep or crosses on the shoulder and thorns in the flesh…

When the thrill is gone

There are instances in life when man finds excitement, exhilaration and challenge in everything that is new.  In relationships like friendships and love and romance, in meeting new people, in handling new jobs and businesses, in venturing in new careers and fields of interest, one is throbbing with wonder and adventure in exploring this new experience.

He relishes the action and the kicks and the perks, and enthusiasm is at its peak.  The whole process itself keeps the person going.

But some things in life come to an end.  Certain levels have to be reached.  Whether in mid or at the zenith, oftentimes the verve and vivacity will wear off, the element of thrill and excitement is gone, and what used to be wonderfully new becomes  dull, commonplace, mediocre.  (This is with the exception of situations when one becomes a failure in reaching his goal, which is an altogether another story.)

Pursuing or courting a woman by a man in love, befriending or “wooing” a newcomer in a church, starting on a new career or business venture, all these entail passion and earnestness.  But when one finally gets his valued dream, or successfully attains his purpose or gets accustomed to what was once unfamiliar but palatable, things begin to change…for the better or for the worse.  EITHER he continues to love and  cherishes and nurtures the person, the object, or the experience …or he gets disenchanted, turns cold, finds them boring, and takes them for granted.  

Pathetic

This pathetic emotion called misplaced love, idolatrous love, hopeless fascination, foolish fixation…

It creeps over you like cancer.  It is a malady of the heart that cripples your sense of judgment, leads you astray, warps your logic, blinds your eyes to the hard fact that the idol you relentlessly pursue has feet of clay, isn’t as brilliant and grand and sublime and spectacular and adorable as you stupidly think…because just like you and anyone else he is marred with physical and character imperfections; a fallible man that came from the dust.

It is a malady of the heart called sin.

And so this pathetic emotion doesn’t give you peace.  It pricks your conscience; it deprives you of a healthy spiritual life and an intimate relationship with your God.  You very well know it’s an exercise in futility and unrighteousness but your foolish heart is humanly unconquerable.  You are wavering between disillusionment and holding on to the false god of your dreams.  

And so a piece of sanity and fear of God He mercifully left in you dictates that you destroy that temple you have built for that silly idol of your imagination. The cracks have begun to show and so you will have to finish tearing it down.

It will take time and tears and strength and obedience but most of all it will only be achieved by the merciful and awesome grace of God…