Hoarders and Tramplers

Week 6 ” Holy Wild”

Back in the early days of my husband’s career, he had befriended this man who later became his study partner.  They had spent many hours together in the library, supported each other during the grueling exams and finally celebrated when they got their licenses.  Unfortunately after that point they started to pull apart as they could  no longer agree with each other on some important issues.  For this man, in his haste to be successful, had taken some short cuts, made a few compromises which were considered both unethical and unprofessional.  Consequently he received a severe and public warning  from the institute they both belonged to.  Instead of feeling remorseful, I remember the day when he had declared to the both of us that for him to achieve his goals in life, certain trade-offs were necessary.  He was going to give up his license in exchange for quick steps to success.  One day, he said, he would write a nice letter of apology,  and the institute will more than happy to reinstate him.

This case, in my mind is an example of how mercy has been abused.

So what happened to this man?

The last I heard is he is not doing well at all in his career nor at home.  The worst thing is he had fallen away from God the moment he gave up his license.

God is merciful that I know, but He is not someone we can manipulate.

When we compromise, we lose our identity and our values, it is like walking in sinking mud, the further you walk, the deeper you get  and unable to pull yourself out of the dire situation and eventually will go under.

Just thinking about this man and his choices made me very sad….

Often times we don’t give mercies to our fellow brothers and sisters easily, we tend to hoard them…..

and other times we trample on them without any consideration. “God is merciful” becomes a mantra.

This is a warning for me,we reap what we sowed, and definitely in His mercies we still have to take the consequences of our action.

God does love us a lot, because of that He also disciplines His children.   It is for our own good.

That is one of the reasons I can rest in Him.

baaa…..baaa…

Week 6 ” Holy Wild”

My devotion  this morning is from John 21:

 ¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

   “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

   Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

 ¹⁶Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

   He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

   Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

 ¹⁷The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

   Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

   Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.’

This is a popular passage especially for those who are shepherding, it reminds us of our call and our mission in life.  But this morning, this passage took on a very special if not timely message, it spoke to me what “mercy” is.

Last night our book study discussed the issue of “mercy”.  It is vital to our faith and yet somehow it has turned into  Christian jargon.  We talk about it and ask for it, but do we really know and even value mercy?

So here is Jesus, face to face with Peter, the one who tends to put his foot in his mouth.  At one time he confessed his undying love for the Master, only to betray Him not once but three times, just as Jesus said he would.  That I think is a huge insult to his ego if anything else.  This guy who have followed Jesus intimately for three years, witnessed all the miraculous deeds and heard the hard-core teaching first hand.  A lot of people these days will love to be in his shoes.   Yet, this guy betrayed His Lord, he has failed miserably.  This is the amazing part: Jesus never said to him ” Well, Peter you really goofed up and to get back in my good book,  you have to ask for forgiveness and prove to me that you are a changed man”.  Come to think of it, this is what most of us expect from those who have offended us. We want justice served, we want to be convinced that the person is genuinely sorry for his wrong doings.   Yet Jesus never demanded that, He just simply said “Feed my lambs !”, not once but three times.  The same number of times Peter had denied Him.

To me that is mercy:  You don’t have to wait for someone to deem himself worthy, but simply you take him in all his brokenness, reinstate him and restore the relationship.  You love the person as he is just because……of mercy

Mercy is when Jesus wipes everything clean and starts us on a clean slate.  It is when He sees beyond our failure, our mistakes and instead the potential in us.  It is when He gives us another chance in something great…..and greater.

Did Peter get off easy? I don’t think so.  I can imagine the pain, the shame  and the guilt ……after all, when he realized what he had done he had cried bitterly.  Then he experienced mercy.

It is only in our contrition that we truly understand the preciousness of it.

Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness, three things we are given freely each day.

But how come it is so hard for us to give it to others freely?

Really, we don’t deserve it either.

“……But I’d rather be punished by God, whose mercy is great, than fall into human hands.” 2 Samuel 24:14 ( The Message)

Bully-Birds

 Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Our patio over looks the green belt and I feel like I am living by an aviary.   I like to watch the birds feed and so this summer I have put up two bird feeders. They reward me by giving me sweet songs in the mornings, and once in a while I can even catch a glimpse of a gracious humming-bird as it sails by. I love the quiet and tranquility as I sit amongst the trees and the birds.  Something about it brings so much peace especially at the end of the day.

This morning as I sat by the window for breakfast I noticed that the population of blue jays has definitely increased.  Last summer I only saw two of them, but this morning in a matter of 15 minutes I saw about 6.  These birds are louder, and bigger than the rest of the birds.  They are definitely the bullies at the bird feeders, for they would squawk and chase the other birds away until they got their fill.  The other smaller wild birds would hide in the trees and wait till they are gone and then come out to grab a few seeds.  Not only these birds pick on the smaller ones, they also go after their own kind to get to the feeders.  These guys are big eaters, I could not understand why my feeders get emptied so fast until this morning I saw how they attacked the food!

I used to like blue jays, but after seeing them in action I got really annoyed at them.  Their colorful plumage and their statures are no longer impressive to me.  Their looks have ceased to be charming ! I guess this is the law of jungle, the survival of the fittest, the small guy always finish last….. As the owner of the bird feeders, I feel it is my responsibility to look out for the smaller ones and make sure they get a fair share of seeds as well.  I am not sure how to go about this without scaring all the birds away, even as I write I am trying to devise a plan here….

The blue jays made me think about the teaching of Paul on the topic of the strong and the weak.   Except we are not dealing with the rules of  the jungle, but our responsibilities as people of God.  Our values are to be different from the world’s:  the strong no longer lives to rule, but is expected to care for the weak.  Ray Stedman once pointed out that a  favorite indoor sport of Christians is trying to change each other. The fact that we like people to be just like us, or agree with us. According to Paul’s writings in  Romans 14, asides from the non-negotiable doctrinal truth, Paul says that in personal preferences and convictions we should not try to make others to be like us but have to act in ways not to stumble our weaker brothers.   We should refrain to abuse our liberties in expense of others who are weak.  I have learned recently through some very personal and painful encounters that I need to respect where others are in their faith journey and not to impose my own views and convictions on them.  After all, He is God and I am not.  But sometimes in the pursuit of being right, we can leave a trail of hurt and damaged bodies along the way, and unfortunately sometimes we are blind to the wreckage we have left behind.

The blue jays reminded me what it means to be human, to love others as the way the Lord wanted us to. At the end the day it is not about what are my rights or entitlements, but rather what I need to do to build up others who are entrusted under my care.

 “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.  Do not destroy the work of God …..” Romans 14:19-20a

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Yesterday I filled up the two bird feeders, and this morning they are all emptied !! Last year, it took almost a month to finish the seeds in one. 

The poor little guy came by to pick up whatever left behind by those bullies !

My 85 year old angel

July 22, 2011. Friday 5:30 pm

It has been a long week and I am so glad that the weekend is here.  The rain finally has stopped, I hope tomorrow is a nicer day.

Jaden is taking his sweet time as usual, I don’t know why he likes to sniff the same trees over and over.  After all we walk up this hill everyday.

A bus is slowly pulling up, I wonder if my neighbor is driving tonight. As the bus finally stops in front of me, a  little old lady with a big pink floppy hat slowly makes her way off the bus.

The poor woman, she does not seem to be able to stand too well on her feet.

I slow down a bit, just wondering if she needs help.

We look up and our eyes met.  I smile at her politely.

” Oh, your dog is quite big !”

” Yes he is, but you don’t need to be afraid of him, he is friendly”

“Is he afraid of bears?”

” We saw a bear a month ago,  he was spooked, that is why he is wearing a bear bell now.”

” Be careful when you walk him, and when you see a bear, walk quietly away, they don’t like it when you run.”

I look at her pensively, this old woman who can hardly walk is telling me to be careful.

” I am so glad the rain has stopped.  This weather is making my joints really painful.”

” Yes the weather has been very nasty lately.”

” You walk the dog in the rain too? Make sure you don’t get wet, or else you will catch a bad cold!”

I cannot believe what she just said.  This complete stranger is showing so much care.

The cloud that has been looming over me suddenly disappears.  I can feel the sun on my skin.  A warm feeling slowly invade my being, chasing the chill away.

So this is what it feels when a stranger shows kindness to another.

She has to be an angel sent by God.  For He knows exactly what this child needs.

Some tender loving care to chase away the sadness in her.

Thank you Father, You just made my week.

I want to wash it out of my hair!

I am so glad it is Friday.  The week is finally over ! I really want to wash this week out of my hair, wipe it off my memory bank and delete it like an unwanted file !

This has been a very sad week, the sense of gloom has been hanging over me like a persistent rain cloud.  Every morning I wake up hoping for a glimpse of sunshine to brighten up the day, but I am greeted by gray sky and rain.

This week has been filled with hopelessness, desperation and recklessness. It started on Monday morning, when I got a text from my daughter around seven in the morning telling me that the commuter train she was on has stopped running due to a suicide on the tracks.  All the passengers were told to get off the train and  find alternate ways to get to the city.   It was a tragic incident, and unfortunately a handful of people witnessed the whole episode.  These people were so traumatized that  some of them were found shaking and crying uncontrollably.  I was told one woman has not slept for days as she cannot get the sound of screaming out of her head.

Every day this week when I drive by the train station I cannot help but think of this poor man and his family.  The pain and the turmoil that he had endured. The struggle the had gone on inside his mind moments before he jumped. It must had been living hell.  This is the awful reality I tend to forget that a life without God is meaningless and hopeless.

I had a conversation with someone about this, it is a basic human need to be acknowledged and cared for. And therefore it is one of our responsibilities to do so for others.   This incident is a wake up call for me to be more vigilant and sensitive to people around me. It was only few days ago I found myself having this easy conversation with a complete stranger.  My ability to strike up  conversation with people can sometimes be a little embarrassing.  But as I stand now, I am grateful that I have this gift, for I never know when I say hi to someone and to engage in a random conversation, I am telling the person that he or she is important.

On the other hand, our need to be acknowledged and to be cared for can sometimes cause pain for others.  Just as I have experienced this week, the need to be right and to be honored can be detrimental for others.  We can get so focused on ourselves that we forget people around us. In the pursuit of our own self-righteousness we might hurt others without realization.

So much have gone on this week, and I am glad the weekend is here. Strangely, I am thankful for this feeling of sadness,because it tells me that my heart is still tender.

I heard from Mr. Weatherman that tomorrow is a nice sunny day.   Yes, tomorrow is another day.

^“Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.” James 1:26-27 ( The Message)

The “W” Word

Week 5 ” Holy Wild”

Last night our book club touched on a normally shunned subject….the “W” word– the Wrath of God.   Not a popular topic nowadays, as people do not want to hear about an angry God.  They want a God who is loving and kind, some one who will leave them alone but shows up the right time to bail them out of trouble.   People want a manageable and safe God…

I had visited a mega church a long time ago, and as soon as I walked into it my mouth just dropped open.  This church has a dynamic pastor; good preaching; great programs; friendly people and yes, a gigantic parking lot. It is the ultimate dream church.  As I walked around the impressive campus with one of the members, he pointed to me the place where the seekers meet and informed me that they do not mention “blood” in their worship songs and sermons , because “people do not want to hear about it”.  I was a little stunned and very disappointed over the fact that they have eluded such an important part of the gospel just so people will find it acceptable.  

The hard truth of God and the gospel has often got watered down and sugar-coated just so people can take it, and heedlessly created a god out of their own image.  A so-called divinity that is safe to follow from a distance.  We have forgotten that He is the One who had caused the ground to split open and swallowed the rebellious ones. The One who had brought forth The Deluge during Noah’s days.  The One who had chased the wheelers and dealers out of His house as they dared to defile His holiness.  No, none of this, for we want a sweet-natured Grandpa.

The reality is He is the same, yesterday; today and forever.  He has not changed. He is not someone we can cut and paste—–not someone who we can take the attributes we like and disregard the rests.  We have to take the blood even though we don’t want to hear about it.  He is the Lord  who is full of compassion and of grace.  He abounds in loving kindness and is slow to anger.  He forgives our transgression and our sins.  BUT  He will not leave the guilty unpunished and His wrath is pour out against  the godlessness and wickedness of those who refuse to acknowledge and suppress His truth. 

Yes, God loves us….but don’t forget one important fact, He hates sins.

God is indeed not a safe god, He is not like a Polly Pocket which we can take out in our  conveniences. Nor the genie in the bottle who grants our limitless wishes on our demands.

He is not someone we can control or understand.

Other wise He is not God.

Things I’ve Learned in Life…

Sometimes I feel I should have a “L” sign on my back  just like a new driver, so the world will know that I am still learning and therefore don’t expect me to be perfect!

Just so you know that I did not write the following, but I totally agreed with the list.  I have clocked a few Ks under my belt, and have been learning some precious lessons in life, lessons I wish I had known earlier on, but hey, some times you have to learn it the hard way.  I am just thankful that God is patient with me, and I am still work in progress !

Things I’ve Learned in Life!

I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today,
life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life.

I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life”.

I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

I’ve learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.

I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I do not have to be one.

I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love that human touch – holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I’ve learned that you should pass this on to someone you care about…
Sometimes they just need a little something to make them smile.

–Author unknown. Found circulating around the Web!

What is Love?

My last posting is  for the fathers, and now this one is dedicated to the moms, especially the ones with the really  young kids.  Ladies, cherish your little rugrats  for they grow up really fast….

From “Fun n’ Faith for the Soul”

What Is Love?

Love is scaring away monsters in the middle of the night, then again at 1:00
a.m., 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m?

Love is reading the same bedtime story for the 999th time.

Love is a hug around the knees.

Love is watching Teletubbies instead of All My Children.

Love is a refrigerator covered with creative works of art.

Love is not grimacing through the dirtiest of diapers.

Love is trading in the Firebird for a minivan.

Love is the magic kiss that heals all “owies.”

Love is a cuddly kid in a blanket sleeper.

Love is the first kick, first smile, first laugh, first step, first
anything.

Love is your child pointing to a picture of Cameron Diaz and saying “mama.”

Love is your child sound asleep, any child sound asleep.

Love is a macaroni necklace.

Love is wearing the macaroni necklace to church with pride.

Love is a peanut butter kiss, a syrup kiss, a chocolate kiss, any kind of
kiss.

Love is a bouquet of dandelions.

Love is the smell of a baby’s neck.

Love is saying “no” at the right times when it’s easier to say “yes.”

Love is saying “yes” at the right times when it’s easier to say “no.”

LOVE IS WHAT MAKES IT ALL WORTHWHILE.

–Selected from Entourage Mantle Newsletter at Barbara’s Entourage

Fatherhood Cycle

 

I came across the following this morning while reading “Fun’ n Faith for the Soul“.  This is a priceless article, a must read for those who are dads and those who are children.

To all the fathers out there, I say “This too shall pass!”

To the children : ” Treasure your dad while you still have him.”

The Fatherhood Cycle

4 years: “My Daddy can do anything.”

7 years: “My Dad knows a lot, a whole lot.”

12 years: “Oh, well – naturally – Father doesn’t know that either.”

14 years: “Father? Hopelessly old-fashioned.”

21 years: “Oh, that man is so out-of-date. What did you expect?”

25 years: “He knows a little bit about it – but not much.”

30 years: “Maybe we ought to find out what Dad thinks.”

35 years: “Let’s ask Dad what he would do before we make a decision.”

40 years: “I wonder what Dad would have thought about that? He was pretty smart.”

50 years: “My Dad knew absolutely everything.”

60 years: “I’d give anything if Dad were here so I could talk this over with him. I really miss that man.”

–Selected from Mikey’s Funnies.

Love Bug

 

“Holy Wild” Week 4

Ever since I read this week’s chapter on love, I cannot get this song out of my head….

Love was when, God became a Man

Locked in time and space, without rank or place….

This is a song about God’s love, the kind that has no rhyme or reason, just one of those sweet love stories….

It is summer, and love is definitely in the air, I can smell it around me.  All these young ones falling in love, those “ga ga” looks and the little secret smiles…..they all there, visible to the old eyes. 

Ah….it is such a feeling to be in love with love, I was young once and I know that feeling.   It is so easy to fall in love, but it is hard work to stay in love.  Trust me, I know what I am talking about.

It is heart breaking to see people falling out of love. The pain, the hurt….you can feel it just being around them.  There is this kind of sadness which permeates out of  every single pore of the soul.   

I once asked this person who has fallen out of love:

“What made you fell in love in the first place?”

“The looks, the appearance…”

Yup, there is one of the reasons for love, you know love at first sight. But  as we know looks and appearances have no eternal values,  just ask the beauticians, the cosmetic companies who are making money from this business,  people can drop a mint just so they can look young and pretty….

It is a natural tendency for people to love because of…..

And yet the amazing and inconceivable thing is God loves me not because of my looks, nor my intelligence, or my accomplishments.  If His love was based on any of these things, I would be such an unloved person.

When I read this chapter about His love, I thought about my personal theme for 2010, it was about unconditional love, about loving people regardless….

I am still learning, and one thing I know unless I have love, I cannot love.  That’s what the Bible says isn’t it :

“….since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us….. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. ”   1  John 4:11-12; 16

It is because of His love that we can rest…

Love was when God became a Man,
Locked in time and space, without rank or place;
Love was God born of Jewish kin;
Just a carpenter with some fishermen.

Love was when Jesus walked in history,
Lovingly He brought a new life that’s free,
Love was God nailed to bleed and die
To reach and love one such as I.

Love was when God became a Man,
Down where I could see Love that reached to me;
Love was God dying for my sin
And so trapped was I my whole world caved in.

Love was when Jesus met me, now it’s real;
Lovingly He came, I can feel He’s real!
Love was God, only He would try
To reach and love one such as I.

God loves me, and it is so mind-blowing true… “These love came down, rose up, never stopped and runs to embrace even you, even me.” ( P 83, The Holy Wild)