why do i keep checking the number of comments?

YOU MUST INCREASE, I MUST DECREASE. devo#1

A lesson all must learn. Our attitude should always revolve around this statement; we must humble ourselves and put CHRIST above everything else.

IRONICALLY, when it comes to our existance on Earth and comparing that to God's being...hahahhahaha.....we really can't decrease any further, nor can God increase anymore than what He already is. Since His existance extends past the physical realm, we can truly say He's INFINITELY greater than anything that we can perceive. And compared to Him, we are pretty much nothing.

YET we are still SOMETHING in the EYES OF GOD!! How is it that the infinitely GREATER God sees us, the finite, as worthy of His Love? NOT TO MENTION HIS ATTENTION?!? makes you feel good doesn't it? Makes me stop what i'm doin and just ponder for a while.

Actually, i did that today....wait i think it was the other way around...

I pondered, stopped walking, and scanned the horizon 360 deg. during sunset time.

You know how the Earth is round? no? well it is... we don't notice cuz it's THAT BIG. Or we are just THAT SMALL.



.....Hey Son, here's what i want you to do. I want you to go down to the hospital...

yep

...and give them ALL your blood...

why?

.....because they need it.....

who needs it?

..... my other kids, your younger stepsiblings. They're dying....



ok. Dad.




For those who know the story, a thought might once have passed through your head: It wasn't really a sacrifice, cuz He KNEW He was gonna rise from the dead, therefore no harm done.

Think. Do you think the gift of salvation would have been BETTER if God actually lost something in the process? Can an infinite God have something to LOSE? If He did, that would mean that God is limited, NOT all-powerful, and finite. Something finite cannot create something infinite, like space.

No. God didn't lose his Son.

But He still suffered. A lot. And shamed with sin, TO THE POINT THAT GOD THE FATHER HAD TO TURN HIS EYES...



Perhaps one of the reasons why we call Jesus' death a "sacrifice", even though God didn't lose anything, is that it helps us understand the LOVE of God. BUT the truth is...His death IS a sacrifice. Hebrews 10 describes it better than I can. We understand it as the Final Sacrifice Ever. Simply put, sin requires blood to pay, we used to butcher animals for this, then God sent his Son, as the final offering, so that we don't have to repeat this process anymore.

REREAD JOHN 3:16

"For God SO(OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) loved the world that He gave His ONE AND ONLY Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have ETERNAL (INFINITE, EVERLASTING, TIMELESS) life."

things to be grateful for

after reading others' blogs, i realised that I've really never gave thanks, just rants. Maybe that just shows what's really in my heart. But nontheless, i think maybe if i started to write some things to be thankful down, i might actually BE THANKFUL for them.

Don't feel that you have to mention something extradinary and grand, Paul. If you don't feel thankful for it...well...just list what you feeling grateful for for now.

1) my housemate Christine. I don't know what she does, but she brings joy to my life.
2) my brother Peter, and his spiritual growth spurt.
3) the opportunity to be on CCF committee. Maybe it was the encouragement I got from reading the nomination comments back in april or something, but that really got me to start serving WHOLEHEARTEDLY.
4) my accountability guys, and although i still fall in my sins once in a while, i still...yeah i'm grateful for them. i guess i had higher expectations for the results, which from what i can see, differed only a bit from when i didn't have accountability partners.

things that i NEED to be grateful for.
1) GOD'S LOVE
2) ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING ELSE

need to bulk up

yep...

absolute God

There is nothing absolute in this existance other then GOD. No truth is absolute unless there's a standard in which the truth is compared to. For example, a deed is good in some eyes and bad in others, but only compared to an absolute will we know if it is actually good or bad. Kinda abstract, yeah, but that's how i see things.

so with all these different denominations of churches, and even different opinions in a church, we tend to lose focus of God as our absolute. We tend to give our two-cents worth without turning to God.

something came up in my head....been meaning to talk about it.....keep forgetting....that's why i'm writing it down.

some people think that the movie "Bruce Almighty" is blasphemous. how so? perhaps, because the makers made God into a commercial icon? maybe...i never really got a chance to ask those who thought it was blasphamous... i did ask one or two friends, and they said it's because the makers were insulting God becuz they weren't accurate on the characteristics of God.
I say that you are more at risk of insulting God by LIMITING HIS ABILITIES AND CHOICE. in the movie, God gives his powers to Bruce, is light-hearted, wise, and gives the impression that He can be someone you can joke around with. Perhaps it is not wise to start a relationship wth God with these assumptions of his characteristics, but what if God initiates a similar relationship with you?! would you not take this opportunity to get to know Him the way HE WANTS YOU TO?! you say this is highly unlikely to happen, gathering from what God has been like in the Bible. I would agree, and the Bible is absolute. BUT what's NOT written in the Book may still happen. Some characteristics of God are given in the Bible, and yeah those are absolute...but what about the ones not mentioned...i dunno.....i'm tired... you know what i mean...i dunno why i'm ranting about this....i guess this all came up with a little debate with my church peeps about pros and cons of sweatshops... didn't know there were pros....

i need you Jesus...Plz don't leave me...i tremble at the thought of any given moment without you....and it seems like i'm ALWAYS trembling...let me feel your presence....please.

another answer to my own question

k so i've come to the conclusion that education IS important in term of serving God. I had ranted several blogs ago that perhaps non-educated people would not associate with educated people, so had concluded that educated Christians will not be able to reach non-educated unbelievers.

My change of heart comes from the fact that education does not only develop knowledge, but helps in the general development of cognition and thinking. What i mean is that education will teach us how to think. It's about the constant exercise of the mind.

A non-educated person will have a hard time understanding the Bible, because the Bible is for studying. For the untrained mind, studying ANYTHING will be tough. SO if a Christian wanted to witness and evangelize to the non-educated, what good is it if he appeals to them because of their similar, (non-educated) status, but does not fully understand the Word of God himself? (btw if you still can't find the blog of which i'm currently trying to correct, the blog is called "NEW FRIEND")

The issue of pride still remains, but pride can be SUCKED UP for the sake of your salvation FASTER than you can INSERT wisdom and cognitive skills into yourself. Perhaps we as CHristians should at least provide the underlying information of salvation, and then let the HOLY SPIRIT work to get them to open up and give them a learning spirit.

so to conclude, it's not the knowledge nor status which stems from education that is important in witnessing and evangelism, but it's the exercising of the mind and the way of thinking which develops with education.

i guess i was ranting about it all cuz i wasn't doin so well in school, and there were a lot of pressure to do well. the pressure's still there, but now i know there's a good reason to stay in school.