Higher Obedience

HIGHER OBEDIENCE IS MOVING

2006-08-07T17:03:00.000-06:00

Hi there, this is the last entry I'm writting here. I've been looking at wordpress for bloging and I've found it easier to work with and nicer as well. So I'm moving! I'll continue to think and wonder on:

www.higherobedience.wordpress.com

It's not so hard to remember.
Thanks Jason for "introducing" me to wrodpress.

See you there maybe.

Passing By

2006-08-05T22:09:00.000-06:00

The earth is the Lord’s,
And everything in it,
The world,
And all who live in it;

For He founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the waters.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord?
Who may stand in His holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart
(Psalm 24:1-4a)

Show me your ways, O Lord,
Teach me your paths;
Guide me in your truth and teach me,

For you are God my Savior,

And my hope is in you all day long.
(Psalm 25:4-5)

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0$ as of August 5, 2006.
www.banknm.blogspot.com

a Well

2006-08-03T22:15:00.000-06:00

"You cannot bring this foreign religion and corrupt the minds of our people," screamed the angry villagers. "If you don't stop, we'll kill you."

Prabahulal, a Gospel for Asia native missionary, received this dire threat when he first started his church-planting work in rural Rajasthan, India. And things didn't exactly improve when the first villgers received Christ as Savior. They were hated, branded as low castes and treated as dirt.

The believers were not even allowed to draw water from the public well. This was an enormous harship for the Christians, especially the women, during the hot summer months. They had to walk long distances to ger water and carry heavy pots home on their heads.

In spite of the animosity and opposition, however, their number grew. Some 75 to 80 people gathered for worship each Sunday...

Then, last October, God rewared the faithfulness of these dear brothers and sisters through one of Gospel for Asia friends who sponsored the drilling of a Jesus Well in their village.

Imagine the joy of the Christians when they received their own well as a gift from the Lord and from the Body of Christ! And just try to picture the amazement of their "enemies" when the believers invited them to draw water freely from the Jesus Well!

Within a month, the hostile attitude of the villagers began to change. They became friendlier and started to intereact with the believers as they drew water for themselves and their cattle. Most of all, the Jesus Well opened the door for Prabhulal and the other believers to build relationships and share the Gospel with those who formely refused to listen.

You see, each Jesus Well as has inscription that encourages those who draw water to ask the missionaries for an explanation. The inscription reads: Jesus Christ says: "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. (John 4:13-14)

Consider this: Jesus promised a reward to those who give a cup f water to one of His followers (Mark 9:41). Today, through a Jesus Well, you have the opportunity to provided a river of life to an entire village in His name!

The average cost to drill one of these wells is 1000$. With this month's moneys, we'll sponsor one. I know we won't get 1000$, but please, as you seek to help our brothers and sisters outside our America to bring the Gospel to people who never heard about Jesus, please give. Send Gospel for Asia your few bucks, send me your few bucks so we can add everybody's bucks to this bank and send a little more together a the end of this month.

By the way, our 18$ was sent for June & July, just today.

Thank you!

The Circle & The Parable of the Sower

2006-07-28T10:52:00.000-06:00

How to spend an evening: let’s watch a movie. But there’s nothing interesting on tv. What shall we do? Let’s look at the movies we own. How about The Circle. You haven’t seen it mom? Well it’s sort of weird and scary. Fine, will watch it.
While I was waiting for my mom to get ready for the movie, I went to the/my room and one of the first thing I saw on my bed was a book entitled “The Rest of God” by Mark Buchanan. I felt so strange. We were about to watch this weird, scary to a certain level, a movie a bit, well there’s no language or sex or stuff like that, but watching it won’t give you good feelings, it’s not going to lift you up.
When I was waiting for my mom I was obviously thinking about the movie we were about to watch and try to remember what it was and it just seemed to be a bit dark. When I looked at the book, my mind shifted to something so peaceful. I remembered the time I had spent earlier that day reading the book by the lake, feeling the fresh wind over my face, hearing the sound of the endless waves, it was just so good, so peaceful, so restful. I struck me how quickly my mind could be lifted up simply by seeing something. The contrast was just huge.
Then I thought I shouldn’t watch it. But I did.
I remember a time in my life (maybe 3-4 years ago) claiming that God hadn’t created us so we would scare ourselves “on purpose” or have feelings that aren’t true. Movies produces in us feelings that… I don’t know. When these feelings are negative, then I thought it was obvious we shouldn’t be desiring them.
But it seems as if my views have changed. Or maybe I have forgotten.
I’m not trying to set the line here between the kinds of movies we should watch and those we shouldn’t watch. I’m just wondering what’s the worth. Especially when the simple sight of a good book lifts me, cheers me up.
There’s good and there’s best eh?

The parable of the Sower

« A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell…” (Mark 4:3-4)

I read that passage this morning. Now I wonder: The farmer sows the seed, the farmer scatters the seed. He does it. The seed doesn’t say a thing, the seed doesn’t choose to move from one soil to the other. The seed fall to the ground and that’s it. Looking at this parable this way makes me think as if God (the farmer) is to blame if the seed aren’t all in the good soil. And as if the seed have no choice in becoming a great big plant bearing fruit or to be scorched by the sun. Doesn’t it sound strange? Well, I don’t know but maybe this is not the point of the parable at all. Maybe I was never supposed to look at it this way. Who knows.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 18$ as of July 28 2006

Mamon

2006-07-26T10:10:00.000-06:00

So yesterday I spent pretty much my day going from one place to another around Montréal. I got my license renewed (I was supposed to do that about 5 months ago…)! So I can drive now, beware though, it’s been more than 7 months since I drove a car. Anyways, I was a bit sick in the afternoon: Doggy here broke a big flower vase that stood in a stand and now my mom and I (unfortunately) were shopping for a new one. It was just sick because for them, spending 200$ on a decorative vase is like buying a hamburger at Mc Donald’s.
To me it’s just sick to think that people get discouraged because they have to choose between these 35 different 200$-flower-pots while so many children can’t even sleep because they worry about the food they’ll eat in the morning, knowing that it won’t be there. To me that doesn’t make sense at all, it makes me sick, so sick.

What do we do with our money? I am not rich and probably most people reading this blog aren’t rich and would even think they’d need a little help here and there to pay for studies and rent and so on. We usually don’t purchase expensive stuff just for fun or because we feel like it. But still, I am challenged with the way I spend my money. Because there are ways to help those who go hungry, or without clothes, or without means to bring the Gospel to people around them, there are ways. But I guess I care about myself first and I think I need this cd, this book, this shirt, before I think of those around me who’d need my help much more. Isn’t it the way Jesus lived and taught us to live? To put our own self aside and care for others. And caring for others isn’t only about “encouraging” or “being there for them” or etc. it’s about giving of our resources, our time, our belongings, our money to help those in need and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” – Luke 9:23

''... and Egypt's scepter will pass away.'' - Zechariah 10:11b

2006-07-24T15:19:00.001-06:00

I just got back from camp. Thanks to all of you who prayed for my time at camp, I've ahd a great time and I was able to stay three weeks instead of one, I thank God for this open door.

The other morning I read in Zechariah, I haven't been noticing much since a while in my readings, so I was encouraged to read verse 11b. When life's tough, when we're suffering in our bodies or because of Christ, when this world is unjustm it's good to be reminded that ''Egypt's scepter will pass away''.
Sin's strong grip on us shall leave us. Our ''enemies'' shall be captured for good. Disease and pain and sorrow shall go away. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, even when we can't see it yet.
I see it this way: God is full control of this universe, under Him are angels, Satan and demons, working for or against God and then, there's us -human beings. Bad stuff can happen and life can be harsh at times, this world is unfair and the way governments work in different countries and etc. isn't ''lovely'' at all all the time, and we might feel like our lives are horrible and nothing works properly, maybe we're longing for justice and peace, for healing and health, for love and understanding, but these things aren't always part of our lives, or the lives of our brothers and sisters around this world. But we must take courage. Because God, who is supreme and and thw Head of all, always has the last word. And He says to His people that Egypt's scepter will pass away.
You know the book of Revelation and the many promises in the Word about God's people, they shall be fulfilled, at one point in history. Maybe not right now, but our hope cannot fade away only because we can't see with our eyes today the fulfillment of God's promises in our lives. I'd say that it's rather selfish from us to think that way. Let us love and hope. These two are free anyways.

By the way, I know I haven't writen much about the Bank for Native Missionaries, but it's still going on. We're at 18$ right now. Giving money to our brothers and sisters overseas who are struggling to feed themselves and their families and to bring the Gospel to people who never heard the Name of Jesus Christ is obviously part of God's will for us who live in such a great abundance! Please think of ways to save a few bucks here and there and give them right to Gospel for Asia, or myself for this bank or to any Christian organization that's truly bringing the Gospel to unreached people.
By the way, I'm no longer living in Saskatchewan, so forget about my Sask. address. You can send your buck or two to:

Love

2006-07-18T17:08:00.000-06:00

I am sitting on my bed, in a rather warm, humid cabin at camp. I am not doing anything with camp this week, I’m giving a hand in the Bible School office for little things that need to be done, but I’m still living in a cabin with a few camp staff. Today was a really hot day and went I say hot, I mean cookin’ hot. It’s not just about the heat, it’s a lot about humidity, so let’s say, it was about 40 degree Celsius today. It was a blessing for me to be working in the basement because it was almost cool down there. People leaving the building would tell me that they were entering a furnace. Anyways, it’s hot here and I’m not feeling so well, I’m coughing from my cold and I’ve got a headache because of it and I’m sweating, I feel like sleeping but who wants to sleep in a humid cabin? I shall wait a bit. On top of all these little things that make me feel a bit sick and tired, I’m an a thinking mood. And I don’t like to be wanting to think when I don’t feel well enough to think because it’s hard on myself. Anyways I probably don’t make much sense to the reader.

I’ve been thinking a bit about something rather tough. Why is it that we, as Christians in North America, look so much like the rest of the world around us, act pretty much the same way and love the same stuff? We are all sinners it’s true, but why isn’t there a bigger gap in between those who follow Christ and those who don’t? I’m not saying we should live secluded from the world, but I’m saying that we should be different from the unbelievers, shouldn’t we? Shouldn’t we be appalled at sin, shouldn’t we be caring for the hurting, the hungry and our brothers and sisters around us and the world before our own selves? That means the way we use money should change, radically, for some of us.

How are we going to be recognized as followers of Jesus (not because we want to be cool because we are), it is by the love we have for one another.

Fun fun fun

2006-07-13T09:41:00.000-06:00

Camps aren’t perfect and sometimes things don’t work as they are meant to work and need fixing. In one of the girls’ cabins, hot water isn’t working, so after three days of either cold shower or no shower at all, counsellors asked if they could send their girls have a quick shower in our (2 staff and I) cabin. There was just no way we couldn’t say no, especially when the counsellors are telling us about the Doritos smell in the morning. Anyways, I won’t go there. So we had 3 girls coming last night when the second girl came in, she shut the door of the cabin behind her and started to sing a song that we sing before meal times. It’s on the “We will rock you” melody. It goes like this (but in French):

Eternal Father, Lord and King
You give us all we need
You put food in our plates
That fills our belly
Thank you for the food that taste good
Thank you Jesus, Thank you
Thank you Jesus, Thank you

She kept singing that until she was done and opened the door of the bathroom to leave. She even clapped her hands at some points. I didn’t know the song but heart before, but since last night, it’s an easy one for me.
I just thought that it was just… sweet that a little girl was simply singing these words in her shower because I could remember myself thinking about next week already in my shower that morning. Using every single bit of time I could to plan ahead and think how things could work and the like. I don’t know, I guess there is a time for everything under the sun, a time to think and a time to sing but… I wish I could just “fly away” from my days and sing in the shower, carefree.

I like the ministry our cabin has (…) every day we get counsellors asking us if they can use one of the beds in our cabin to sleep away their “only” free hour during their day. It’s really neat to be able to use our “quiet” cabin for their good. It’s a safe place to sleep and to cry.

Anyways I should get going now.

I'm just a Child

2006-07-10T12:49:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday I was off for the afternoon and a few staff and I went to some staff’s place to relax. I sat down in a chair and grabbed a book from a little table, I don’t even remember the title of it, something about lament / sorrow. Anyways I was so tired that I started to read it out loud for the girls around and then as they fell asleep, I went on in my head. I then kept reading and falling asleep and reading some more and falling asleep. I knew I was not going to get very far in the book, but still, I think it started something good in me. I can’t really describe what it did to me and I don’t even really remember why, but it seems as if these days, since I started reading that book, that I realize a bit more that I am just a child in need of my Father God. I realize that I am very little and that I am foolish and immature, that I need to go to Jesus all the time, that I need His wisdom, that it’s ok to run to Him, to cry out to Him, to be dependent on Him for everything. There is no such thing as “spirituality” or “maturity” that really means anything… as long as we always realize our deep need of a Father who takes care of us, to whom we should run to. Yes the Bible talks about being mature and “whole” but I am wondering if this “maturity” is actually, partially, a knowledge and a confession of our own inability, of our deep need for a Father, a Creator who’d walk by us every hour, because that’s the sort of relationship He has created us for. So I understand more and more that I do not know God much, that what I know isn’t a reason to boast or a righteousness of any kind. He calls me to simply rely on Him for everything. And not simply the bigger stuff… it’s maybe more something like an attitude of the heart, to acknowledge that I am just a child, even though I think I know much, or do more than other “Christians”. It sort of a good feeling too. To know that God wants to take care of me and that I am allowed to come to Him at any moment and cry out to Him with a child’s tears.

Tired

2006-07-08T16:16:00.000-06:00

So life's been a tiny bit busy this last week and it's looking the same for this coming week! Amen! As the reader knows I've been serving as camp director here at Word of Life in Québec this last week. Everything went fine, it was not the best camp ever but I praise God for the good week and good weather and especially for the staff. Things went fine and campers were hard-core at some points and dealing with some of them was sometimes discouraging, tiring, frustrating, funny and dumb. You know it's really funny how some kids get frustrated with nothing important but they then become a pain to deal with and we are now frustrated and ready to leave camp running, only because some kids don't want to go to bed or because they can't sleep outside that night because they were not obedient. Anyways this all seem to be a lot childish but we as "adults" aren't in their world anymore so it's frustrating. But God calls us to love them and help them. Thank you all for your prayers. I am sorry this entry is sort of just about me, but I do have some better things to write about... I'm just really tired right now. Please keep praying for me, I'll be here this coming week too.

Prayer Requests

2006-07-01T14:11:00.000-06:00

So I found myself very blessed. They hooked my laptop to their computer system here at camp. So I can print out my stuff and even go on the internet. But I won't be using this laptop so much in the coming week. It'll be fairly busy.

Could you please take a moment to pray for me right now.

I had a month to put everything together for this one-week camp here in Québec and now it's starting tomorrow. It'll be interesting and stretching for me in different ways. Especially because I was never a camp director before and I'm not always sure of how to do things and delegate the work.

Please pray for God to provide me with the leadership and wisdom I need.
Dealing with schedules, staff, kids...

Thank you.

Could you also pray that I would get my 2 suitcases (that are right now "lost" somewhere in Montreal I think) we had some problem with flights and stuff when I came back on Thursday and I don't have my 2 luggage since. Everything or almost all I own is in them. So I find myself with just one set of clothes and a few t-shirts from my mom. That's no fun especially that I am at camp and it's raining and hot and then sunny... anyways, thank you.

Community

2006-06-27T22:04:00.000-06:00

“I will miss living in this community of saints, I would like to stay here forever.” This last word, Forever, came on my lips without really thinking. But as soon as I said it, I realized that it meant a great deal. For the first time, the sorrow I experienced in leaving a community of Christians did not feel so selfish or made me think I was just weak for being sad. This time I realized that my longing to be with God’s people was God’s desire for His children. He wanted us to live together in His city of gold, He wanted us to enjoy Him together. Then I realized why I loved bible colleges so much: it was a glimpse of how my heavenly home would be. But I know, just a glimpse.

It gives me a new breath to know that God knows how I’m feeling, that my desire to be with His people is from God. It gives me more courage to fly home tomorrow, leaving behind the blessings of this community called Bethany College because I know that God is telling me that it’ll be alright, that He knows how painful it is and that it won’t take to long for me to finally go home forever, in His community of the saints. It’ll be alright.

Knowing that God understands and has a mansion for me in His city does help, but still it is hard and harsh and it hurts (words starting with h are horrible words) on this earth. It is still tough for me to leave, because I don’t want what I think is in front of me.

But oh well. It’ll all be over pretty soon anyways. So may I be found living with the hope and joy that one day I’ll have my longing to be with God and His people forever, fulfilled.

I am leaving this peaceful Saskatchewan on Wednesday June 28 2006. I’m going back to my homeland, Québec. I’ll be missing Saskatchewan, Bethany and most of all, the people. But it’s time for me to say good-bye, good night.

I will be fairly busy and without internet at least until July 8. So this blog will remain the same for a while. Do come by though. I might be able to add some thoughts at some point. But maybe not.

I’ll be camp directing for a week so you all can pray for that. I still do not think I’m the right person for this good service. Pray for leadership and wisdom, pray for humility and that I’d use all the resources I have in me but most of all, around me for Jesus’ sake.

Write to you later.
Oh, I’m flying Wednesday @ 18:30 (Sask. time) pray for safety and no luggage problem.
Gabrielle

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” – Ephesians 2:4-6

Let us Love and Sing and Wonder

2006-06-26T22:10:00.000-06:00

I sometimes wonder the usefulness of certain rules that we Christians create out of our own judgment. Why do we need to put loads on our brothers and sisters who are eager to follow Christ? Why do we care so much about what people might think of our family, our church, or our organization? And by “people” I’m mostly talking about Christians.
I’m realizing that the rules we set up ourselves are usually not for our own betterment or our own spiritual growth, they are there for the world around us. We say we have certain rules so that we would not offend other Christians, the purpose of the rules is praiseworthy but when we think about it, many of us obey them because if we don’t, then people will be offended at us. Do I make sense? Our desire is no longer to care for our brothers and sisters with a (and I don’t say that lightly) weaker faith, but it is to care for our own reputation as a Christian family, Christian church or Christian organization. There is no more meaning to the rules when we act that way. If we would truly care about the saints, we wouldn’t care so much about our little reputations and how people might see us. We all want to look good and spiritual, but we aren’t good and spiritual.

I am mainly thinking about external rules, like how one is expected to dress at church or to look like in everyday life. Why do we add burden upon burden on our back and the backs of other Christians when Christ has called us to freedom? I believe that the freedom Christ has called us to usually do not bear the meaning we think it does. I don’t know much about this freedom so take my words as words and words only.
Christ’s call to freedom does not mean that we can do as we please, it means that those who are mature in the faith should stoop down to the level of the saints who aren’t mature enough to understand the big picture of what freedom in Christ is. The mature are called to be gentle with the weak and help them grow so that they come to maturity and then see what freedom is, that they don’t need all these rules and should not think that if some Christians drink wine or doesn’t wear dress pants at church, it’s fine!

I do not believe that Christ wants us to follow a bunch of external rules so we would look good in the eyes of Christians, so that we would not offend them. I believe that there is a proper time and place to observe these “unwritten” laws though. When I go to a different church, I always inquire to my friends how they dress at that church, so I am not offending anybody. I think that if Jesus would be ruling –physically- over the Church today, many laws and rules we have would be abolished. He would call us to freedom again. Christ wants us to put our own selves out of the way so we can love and care for others. Why should we tell people how to live –according to our own thinking of what a good Christian should look like and live and our own interpretation of the Word?

A.W.Tozer wrote:
“Be hard on yourself and easy on others. Carry your own cross but never lay one on the back of another.”

Let us live for Christ. Let us be free. But most of the time today, we are called to bend to the rules our brothers and sisters hold on to so dearly and then help them grow and see that Christ calls us to freedom, not to a set of rules, He calls us to peace and love that are true, not superficial and based on the places we go or the way we shave (or not) for church. We may have rules for ourselves, but let is remain to ourselves only. May the burdens we create be on our own shoulders, because we believe it’ll help us to be more like Christ (knowing that legalistic spirits are wrong). May we never start thinking that if others don’t live as we do, they’re not as good as us.

It’s between the Lord Jesus and us. What others may think is between the Lord and them. He is Ruler over all. Let us seek the good of His saints, in whatever way Jesus calls us to love them. Sometimes, I think Jesus wants us to “offend” fellow Christians in order to open their eyes… But there is a time for that and it is never done because of anger or of a “I am more holy so I know better” attitude. It is done with a heart that longs to see Jesus’ children understanding the truth, a deep love for them.

There is much more to say about this, but I don’t want to be too long, it’s been long enough. Let’s just be smart and full of love. Let’s consider why we think the way we do about rules and why we expect certain things from people and if these expectations are good or just burdensome.

By the way, I am probably worse than most people at that love command. I may write about it, but I don’t do much about it. Pray for me. I have such a strong legalistic spirit.

Thinking on a Roof

2006-06-24T22:59:00.000-06:00

Today was a really good day. For the first time in a month I really felt like I was relaxing. I haven’t spent my free time without thinking about camp and when I wasn’t it was because I was somewhere else like Bigstone or Regina with friends, that’s not the times when I really relax. Anyways, today was Saturday and because camp stuff is under control, I found myself on a roof watching cars running in each other and making much noise. Today in Hepburn they had this event, I don’t know how they call it but a bunch of cars in a circle just run into each other for fun, the last car still running at the end is the one winning. I think I found the best spot, but don’t tell anybody. The event took place right in front of Bethany campus. So I went into the guys’ dorm (no worries there’s no guys living there at this time of the year) and I went on the roof of the dorm and walked all the way to the other side where I sat down. I could see everything, the crowd, the cars, the fire fighters very well. It was neat to be sitting there, but I did not enjoy the sight too much. Cars bumping in each other, setting on fire sometimes, car pieces ejected in the air, strong noise. I just felt like … that’s pointless.

It made me think about something though. These drivers’ purpose was to destroy everybody else around (and I’m sure they wanted to have fun too). But as I was watching them I just thought that the idea was stupid.
Sometimes we act the way these drivers do. We pick on everyone around us (yes on our brothers and sisters in Christ) and we are quick to find any black spot in them. We might not know it or realize it, but basically we like putting people down so we look better than them. It’s not just “fun” to talk about “this person who did this and that” it makes us feel good about ourselves. But really, as these cars running into each other, we are as stupid when we pick on people. That’s the same thing, we are destroying (not cars but) relationships, people’s reputations and other people’s fragile opinion of them.

When people around me say bad things about others, my perception of them (if I don’t know them well enough) changes for the bad. I believe that this is really unfortunate, it’s bad. We have to be careful when we talk about others because it doesn’t affect only ourselves (which is bad enough, we sin) but it affects people who are listening. They might grow bitter against these people or against you (that’s probably the way I’d be)! Because they’d be sick of your negative talk.

Anyways. Let us enjoy our today and be pleasant in the way we speak of others. Amen.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 8$ as of June 24, 2006 www.banknm.blogspot.com
* This month’s monies will actually be joined with July’s, at the end of July. Thank you for considering helping our brothers and sisters out there and doing something about it somehow by giving or prayer, or whatever.

By the way: BONNE ST-JEAN BAPTISTE!

My Peace

2006-06-21T22:14:00.000-06:00

I am usually not under pressure, or at least, I usually don’t feel it. But right now, tonight, I feel anxiety growing in my soul. It’s been a month now that I’ve been spending planning for this one-week camp, 99% of all my evenings and 50% of my weekends were burned up in thinking and organizing. Now that my departure from Saskatchewan is coming up very soon it means that camp is awaiting me right at the arrival area in the Montréal airport. Well, not exactly, but it feels like it. And even though it’s not something I am used to experience, I feel anxiety in me. I feel like there are too many details to think and ask and talk about, too many things I need to buy yet, so much to plan, man. I feel overwhelmed still I know it’ll be alright. I know it.
At lunch time I was reading a book, “Peace shall destroy many”, and I am glad I read a chapter instead of staring at the lounge by myself.

“According to Christ’s teaching, peace is not a circumstance but a state of being. ... He brought no outward quiet and comfort such as we are ever praying for. Rather, He brought inward peace that is no way affected by outward war, but quietly overcomes it on life’s real battle-field: the soul of man.”

Oh, this is a novel by the way. This is probably the only novel I like, I usually strongly dislike them. But anyways. As I struggle with “everything that needs to be thoughts of and be done” my soul should remain at peace. The worry and questions and overwhelming feelings should go away because that stuff and all circumstances are under the lordship of Christ Jesus. I will do my best to obey my Lord and serve His people, but I am learning right now that I need to have my soul at rest in Jesus first of all, the outcome is in His hand amen.

Jesus I need you so much. In the midst of thinking and planning and organizing, bring your Shalom to my soul, may I trust you, Ruler over all. Thank you so much.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 8$ as of June 21, 2006 www.banknm.blogspot.com

God Speed

2006-06-19T22:01:00.000-06:00

As the reader might know, I’ve been living in the not-so-flat province of Saskatchewan for basically two years. I have been spending time in Québec for summer & Christmas vacation but otherwise I have been in Saskatchewan.
These last months went by so quickly and I don’t know if I used my time wisely, or its best. I remember writing here that these months would be a time of loneliness but God has been extremely good to me, He kept me busy and working with good people that life seemed pleasant to me. People would ask me if I was looking forward to leaving Saskatchewan and I’d say that I wasn’t so excited yet because it was too far away. Until this morning I did not really realize that my time here in the Prairies would be over pretty soon, 10 days.
I spent the weekend in Regina, to see some friends one more time before I leave. It’s weird to say good-bye to people I love knowing that it might be the last time I see them on this side of life, and I’m only 21. Traveling back to Saskatoon I caught myself considering many things and realizing that all the time left I had here was 10 days. I wondered about the worth of leaving home, growing relationships and having to leave them probably for ever. I wondered about my tears, if the sorrow of my heart was something God wanted, if it was healthy. I know that it’s good to “mourn” but sometimes I get myself into things that hurt me and there would have been a different way to go that would have been less painful. I don’t know what I’m thinking. Are my friendships worth the pain of saying good-bye? It’s obvious, yes they are. But it’s still hard to embrace and understand why things work that way on earth.

Our God, our God! Your will is unfathomable and perfect. You do not think as we think and your wisdom surpasses all we can understand. Oh, let us all surrender to the desires of your Holy Spirit daily, today, right now. Let us embrace our today because you are in control as we let you be Ruler over us.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 8$ as of June 19, 2006 www.banknm.blogspot.com

God is Here

2006-06-14T23:01:00.000-06:00

We have a new cd at work. I mean, someone brought a new cd, which is really nice. It’s Sonicflood’s Generation. I don’t know what I think of it yet, well, I sort of have my own first impression, but I won’t talk about it here. Anyways, there is a song that says something like “God is here, let the broken hearted rejoice, God is here, let the weak say I am strong, God is here…”. It talks about our super-natural God, God of miracles. I don’t know but it makes me feel like, because God comes, God is here, we should rejoice, it’s a happy day, because He is all-powerful and here to help and heal and encourage us. I don’t know how to explain this. The very presence of God should create joy in our hearts because He is the God of miracles who cares for us. God is here, let us rejoice. Everything is truly possible! God is here.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you. Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favour you exalt our horn.
Psalm 89:14-17

Bank for Native Missionaries: 8$ as of June 14 2006

a Trip

2006-06-12T20:22:00.000-06:00

So I got out of little Hepburn for the weekend. One of my (or our) friends has just started her internship in La Ronge area (Northern Saskatchewan) building relationships with the people up there. So I went there with a few friends to visit her and see people around. It was really neat to live in her lovely trailer, make hamburger helper together, watch a movie on her laptop with dill pickle-seasoned pop-corn, shower in her triangle mini-shower, follow her around in the mosquitoes (yes it was raining all weekend long, but mosquitoes were as present as the rain) to see different people, going to church and then to fellowship (can’t use the word church for this one) and eating pig’s neck bones with a family of 1 parent and 7 children and 5 guests. Life up there is different, that’s for sure, I had a good time, but not “good” as “good”, but “good” like … “good” Gabe’s way.

Life for those without Christ in cities seems to be easier than life without Christ in “secluded” areas like Bigstone. Pretty much all the houses were the same size and had the same rectangular shape, there was no beauty to the neighbourhood, mud, dogs, dirty dying dogs, kids playing on wet piles of sand, unpleasant smells a bit everywhere. I mean, the weather did not help at all I know, but still I felt like there was no life, no hope, that people pretty much did not know what to do with their time. I’ve been to some really poor areas near Lafayette, Louisiana a couple of years ago and I sort of felt the same way, people seem to be ok with their lives even when they are living in unhealthy conditions. Maybe I’m mistaken, maybe these men and women are desperately wanting better lives.

The way the planet is working right now is just wrong to me. As Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 4:1 “…I saw the tears of the oppressed –and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors- and they have no comforter. And I declared that the dead who had already died are happier than the living, who are still alive.” I don’t mean to say that people living in Bigstone would be better off dead. Don’t take me wrong, it simply seems like life is tough and there’s not much hope of a better life. God sent comforters out there, that is for sure. He sent a few missionaries and obviously, my friend is starting a “bring comfort ministry” as I like to think of it. It’s not that these comforters desire for the community to look nicer or be healthier in physical ways, they seek to comfort the soul of individuals with Christ’s love and help them realize that He is all they need. May God bless these comforters and grant them perseverance and to see the fruit of their labor.

I sometimes wonder if we lead mediocre spiritual lives without even knowing it. We tell ourselves that it’s always been that way so we don’t seek any better options, we are ok with it. May God send His comforters to us, may He open our eyes to see how much we need Him, right now, and that we aren’t strong enough or good enough or rich enough, that that stuff does not matter. May we become comforters to those around us that are suffering, let’s give up our bread and our time for the sake of those God desperately want to save, to comfort.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 8$ as of June 12, 2006.

What can I boast about, when the life that I live has been given me
What can I be proud of, but of Jesus who died, to set me free
Set me free
Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom
Let not the strong man boast in his strength
Let not the rich man boast in his riches
For all men are equal down at the cross
Jesus still reaches out
Not matter how far or how weak we are
His love has no bounds
And He reaches the ones down on their knees
On their knees
- The Kry

From K.P.

2006-06-08T20:19:00.000-06:00

Vinda and Vasia work primarily among the Dalits (Untouchables) of India’s Maharashtra state, and God has rewarded their dedication with a church of 150 believers … But pastor Vinda and his congregation face a challenge that is all too common among our native missionaries across South Asia: The rented facilities where they meet cannot accommodate all those who so much want to attend the worship services –and their members are too poor to be able to afford a building of their own. …
Right now, Pastor Vinda’s church is just one of more than 1000 on the mission field that urgently need their own buildings. …

Besides running out of space, there are other pressing reasons why churches in Asia need their own worship places. Some are unable to rent meeting places at all because they are located in areas hostile to the Gospel.
Other face restrictions on church activities in their rented facilities, and non-Christians landlords frequently cancel their leases at the least provocation. Many churches are under constant surveillance and harassment by anti-Christian groups because they meet in rented public places.

Any of these things makes it difficult for a pastor to build a solid work, disciple new believers and welcome visitors. What these churches need is their own church home where the believers can grow in their faith and all can worship Jesus without interference.

Although congregations like Pastor Vinda’s cannot meet the entire cost, they are eager to contribute land, material and labor to make “God’s House” a reality in their communities. So Gospel for Asia prayerfully encourages them to proceed with the construction of their church building as far as they possibly can. Again and again I have seen that there is no lack of willingness to sacrifice and work hard for this cause among these first-generation believers!

But the reality is that these believers, mostly Dalits, are desperately poor and cannot finish their church home without help.

So today, I want to ask you to help them.

The church buildings we build on the mission field are simple, concrete-and-brick structures that fit well within their culture and seat about 300 people, which is sufficient for their growing needs. And the cost of one church building comes to about 13200$

This is where God gives us the opportunity to function as the Body of Christ and help meet the needs of our dear brothers and sisters half a world away.

Just think, your gift … will actually help bless one of these Asian congregations with its own place of meeting, worship and ministry –perhaps for the very first time!

And somewhere in Asia, your love and generosity will be the cause of mush rejoicing and praising God from the hearts and lips of those the Lord so recently redeemed by His grace.

K.P. Yohannan
President & Founder of Gospel for Asia www.gfa.org

If you’d like to give, please send the money to
245 King Street E, Stoney Creek, ON L8G 1L9

Or give to this month “Bank for Native Missionaries” all the monies will be sent at the end of the month to Gospel for Asia towards a church building in Asia. As of June 8, 2006 we are at 8$. Thank you in advance!
See www.banknm.blogspot.com for more details on why and how to send help.

Peace.

2006-06-07T20:49:00.000-06:00

It was not before coming to Saskatchewan that I realized how “peace” was an important value among Christians. Well I say this very carefully, but this so-called peace is not the shalom God has in mind for His children or the kind of peace Jesus preached. What I am saying is that we Christians want to keep our communities, our work places (if Christian), our churches at peace, this desire is good, but the way we actually “produce” this peace among Christians, is often wrong. Here are some things I’ve figured:
- To avoid conflict is one way to keep everyone at peace;
- To agree with everything someone says keeps our relationship at peace (but it’s fine if I turn around and gossip about this person);
- People and relationships must look peaceful and good from the outside, what’s really going on inside is a different story and that’s fine, we’re at peace!

I’ve been reading in the prophets for a while and I’ve never encountered a passage where God tells a prophet to keep quiet about some people’s sins, because peace would be disturbed and the prophet might look bad in the eyes of these people. Rather, God said that if the prophet would keep quiet, the blood of the people He was about to judge would be on the prophet’s head (see Ezekiel 3:17-19).

Yes we are called to live at peace, but Jesus does not mean “outward” peace, He means real, genuine shalom. If we want to live at peace with our fellow brothers and sisters, we need to deal with them in ways that are “Jesus like”. It requires honesty, humility, selflessness and love… not only from others, but first of all, from ourselves. Peace is no peace at all when our hearts are bitter and our faces are happy. We are fake. When there is a issue, a conflict among us, it doesn’t mean we’re ungodly or “unspiritual”, the way we deal with other people’s mistakes, sins, the way we forgive or not, the way we think about things that frustrate us, will tell if we are truly seeking real peace or simply wanting to take a shortcut to fake peace, building bitterness inside, this I call “immaturity”.

After searching our hearts and finding why we feel the way we do, let’s not be scarred to open up and be seen as we are. Let’s just be honest and true with one another, let’s seek real peace, working through conflicts in godly, mature ways. No body is perfect but we need to be real and stop being so proud about ourselves.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 8$ as of June 7, 2006. www.banknm.blogspot.com

Right Now

2006-06-05T20:44:00.000-06:00

Since a long while I couldn’t come up with something to meditate on in my morning readings in the Word of God. I don’t know why, maybe there was nothing to be found, or maybe I was not listening to God’s Spirit who wanted to teach me, maybe it’s not it at all. I do have my ups and downs in my readings and I often feel like it’s been useless, just a routine but sometimes it’s good.
This morning I wrote “NOW” on my right arm. I read in Ezekiel 33 and it gave me peace. Verse 12 says, “… The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it.” God is a God of right now, today. This verse sounds unfair to the ears of the fallen righteous people but it sets the repentant wicked people free. God doesn’t care about what I did yesterday or 10 years ago for Him (although He does) what He cares for the most is my right now, my today.
If I choose today to do as I desire instead of obeying God, I can’t lean on the devotion and the righteous stuff I did in the past, God will deal with me according to what I choose to do right now. In the same way, but somehow the opposite, if I turn to God in spite of yesterday’s sins and do what God asks me to do, God does not deal with me according to the past, but to what I choose to do right now.
I think it’s a real encouragement to know that our God is a God in the present. Yes, He knows what is behind and what is ahead of me and the way I’ll finish the race, but He walks with me day by day and always offers me to obey Him, to have peace, everyday, every time I turn to Him.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 0$ as of June 5, 2006 www. banknm.blogspot.com

There is now a “Prayer Requests” spot at the right of this page. I’ll be sharing different prayer requests I have, feel free to pray for me. If any of you would like to post his/her prayer requests with mine, please email them to me, it would be my joy to pray for you and post them here.

Strong Statements

2006-06-03T22:12:00.000-06:00

God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son. – Abraham to Isaac, Genesis 22:8

I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you. – Gideon, Judges 8:23

Even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God. – Balaam to Balak’s messengers, Numbers 22:18

You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cutt off your head. Today I will give the carcases of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands. – David to Goliath, I Samuel 17:45

How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; bit if Baal is God, follow him. – Elijah to the Israelites, I Kings 18:21

And if I perish, I perish. – Esther to Mordecai, Esther 4:16

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. – Job, Job 1:21

Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God. – Solomon, Ecclesiastes 5:7

We do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up. – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to king Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 3:16-18

Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord – God through Joel, Joel 2:13

My favourite one is David to Goliath. I remember reading this passage shivering, not from being cold, but just because these words are so full of faith, so strong, just because our God is really glorious and no one can dare to stand against Him, the Almighty.
I find that reading verses like that creates in me a higher “ideal”, a stronger desire to trust and obey God. For sure, I am not called to says such things right now in my life. My life isn’t not threatened if I speak God’s Word to people, the fate of my nation doesn’t depend on my actions, I am not in trouble like that. But I am faced with small acts of faith compared to these great examples of the Bible. But it’s all about faith in God, knowing that He will act. It’s about being persuaded.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 0$ as of June 3 2006. www.banknm.blogspot.com

Better?

2006-05-31T21:44:00.000-06:00

I realize that one has to be ready to serve when one says he wants to serve. I know that it sound obvious, but obviously I did not fully realized what I was saying.
My summer is so unsure. There’s some things I would like to do but at the same time I am restrained by time, space, money and so-called obligations… (like everyone eh?!).
I like to serve at the bible school I attended a couple of years ago, especially for their summer camps. It seems like every summer I am surprised. I’ve been a counsellor, the head counsellor…these two were no surprise for me. Last summer I sent an email to the camp administrator and told him I’d be glad to help at any level for the summer. I thought I’d be a counsellor, which would have been great. But instead he asked me to be supervising and mentoring a bunch of high school girls who would be working in the kitchen of the camp for 6 weeks. Not what I thought, and I knew it’d be much demanding and “self-destroying” (physically & emotionally!) than any other job in the camp. But I did it. It ended up to be even harder then what I thought it would be, but deeply good and the same time. This year I sent an email to the camp guy again, telling him I’d be glad to help them at any level. I was totally not prepared to his offer. I thought he’d say he didn’t need me or that I could be a counsellor, or just helping a bit with different things. He asked me if I’d be interested in being the director of a one-week camp. His other directors for that week had cancelled and he was looking for someone who could fill in… with only one month of preparation left. I had to be serious with him and tell him that my name was Gabrielle Leroux, not Super Leader or Idea Geek. Basically I was excited about the idea, but it seemed unreal, seriously, I don’t think I’m the type of camp director kids from age 11-13 would like to have.
Anyways, I’m learning that telling people I’m willing to serve can mean much more than what my little mind has in mind. So guess what I decided? I told him I was his man. I really have no excuses (he pointed out 4 reasons why he thinks I should do it) and I want to serve so, why not peanut!
It’s not that I didn’t want to do it, I believe that it’s going to be really good for me to experience all of that, I just feel like I’m not the perfect person for that job. I think God is really neat though. He seems to be pushing me to do things and go places where I first thought I would never do or go. God is neat and even though sometimes it feels scary, it’s really exciting.
Man I am so tired. I praise God for the opportunity He’s given me. You see, amidst uncertainty about ourselves and our ability (or lack of it), God’s the leader and He’s doing it, so just follow, it’ll be alright.

Christ alone

2006-05-29T21:50:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I think that some day I could totally give up. Tired of following rules and disciples for a God I never saw, sick of the unanswered prayers I sent up for years, overwhelmed by self-denial and the beating of my flesh all of that for a Savior I never touched. But then I am reminded by the Spirit of Christ that I live by faith. I live by faith. This is my lot, it is my glory. I’m not called to live according to what my eye can see and my hands can touch. I will trust God that He exists and hears me and will act for His good –even when I don’t see any good. Not in my time, in His time will He bless me. I will always pray and trust that He will act, I know He will. I shall live by faith. When I realize that I’m slowly giving up, I must remember that I don’t live by sight and by my own will, but by faith right now here on earth. I need to go on, to persevere. There is no salvation apart by faith in the grace of God, Jesus His Son. And I will hang on to Jesus, even when I don’t understand, simply because that’s what He asks of me, to trust Him, to live by faith.
I like these words from the song -In Christ Alone-

In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when striving cease
My comforter, my All in all, here in the love of Christ I stand
In Christ alone who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of life and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He arose again
And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost it’s grip on me
For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ
No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of men, can ever pluck me from His hand
‘Til He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

Bank for Native Missionaries: 0$ as of May 29, 2006. Our 20$ was sent today to Gospel for Asia to help provide a bicycle to one of their needy missionary in Asia. Thank you.
www.banknm.blogspot.com

Faith Journey

2006-05-26T22:22:00.000-06:00

Some people wonder what is going on with my « faith journey » that I started in the beginning of 2006 as I applied to university. Not knowing where to apply and why exactly and how it’d be possible for me to actually attend and where I’d live and how I’d pay for it all. Time, 3 negative answers on 4 from universities and my own lack of faith made me think the trip was over and that I was done with this idea of university for this fall. God had not the same view of things though. He called me back in mid-April reminding me I was still driving “somewhere” with Him, I probably had slept for a while and did not realize I was still in the car. Anyways, I had this choice to make, choose to go the test the university of Quebec wanted me to go for in August and then from there, know if I’m good enough to pass their second test and then know in mid-August if I’ll be starting university or not, OR moving with a few friends at 2 and a half hours away from university in August, but I needed to tell them my final decision in April. Basically God was saying to me, “Gabe you choose between being safe with your friends or putting your faith in me and try the test.” Gulp. So obviously I could not set myself against God’s “better” will for me and I said no to my friends. God stopped the car and asked me where I wanted to go, I’m still in for the faith journey and I think it is interesting and really good. I won’t know what will happen to me until mid-August. I can’t plan anything for the fall before that, or sort of, nothing official. I am happy that I chose to put my confidence in God, not in my own ideas and plans.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans, I surrender these into your hands
For it’s only in your will that I am free, for it’s only in your will that I am free
Jesus all for Jesus, all I am and have, and ever hope to be
Jesus all for Jesus, all I am and have, and ever hope to be

That’s neat, that’s the song that is playing right now.
It did not happen very often that I felt God was asking me to follow Him, I mean, in a personal way like this one, calling me on a faith journey and I can’t say no.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 20$ as of May 26, 2006
See www.banknm.blogspot.com for more info.

Religious

2006-05-25T21:50:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I get sick of my own “religiosity”, I don’t mean to say that I am religious or pious or anything like that, I’m talking about the things that I do that are what a Christian should do. Every morning I read a passage in the Bible and I try to meditate on it and write down my thoughts. The other day I was reading a note book in which I had written these thoughts, but somehow I just felt sick.
What is the purpose of thinking, talking, writing about God stuff if it does not have an impact on the way I live? Yes, I believe that doing these things will mold my thinking and the way I live in a long-term process, but I believe that the Word of God should and must have a direct, day-to-day impact on me. It will change the way I entertain my mind, the way I am and talk to people, the way I think about myself and others… it will transform my actions, today.
I’ve sometimes wished that all I had was the basics of Christian knowledge, that I would not concern myself with thinking much, but just living out with all my heart what I knew: Jesus died and rose again, I am made righteous by His blood, my sins are forgiven. I think that I miss this childlike faith and simplicity.
I know it is important, and it is a true blessing to be able to learn more and more about my God and His Word. But sometimes I feel like all I’m doing is as good as worthless because I don’t accept Jesus as Master over me, I listen and forget what He teaches me, I count my reputation and my life of greater value than that of Jesus’. I wonder sometimes what is the real good in only talking about good things with other Christians if it does not lead us to radical, practical actions. I sometimes feel like I should say stuff like “So why don’t we do something about it?” and challenge myself and people to godly actions. I believe that most of the time we think that only talking and thinking about Christian stuff excuses us from actually doing things about them. We often mistake knowledge for godliness. Or at least, I often do.
So if you happen to read this post, don’t be afraid to challenge me and ask me how I actually put into action what I think I’m learning.

SALT IS GOOD, BUT IF IT LOSES ITS SALTINESS, HOW CAN IT BE MADE SALTY AGAIN?
Lk 14:34

Bank for Native Missionaries: 20$ as of May 25, 2006.
What is this? Visit www.banknm.blogspot.com
Do not forget our brothers and sisters around the world, do pray for them.

Cheesy

2006-05-23T22:47:00.000-06:00

When I heard that I was going on a one day staff retreat in a camp, I just thought it’d be cheesy. You see, the words like “sharing time” and “team building” don’t appeal to me, I dislike having to participate in meetings when some enthusiastic leaders push us to share and make us do cheesy exercises to get to know each other better and the like. I knew it’d be alright but still… Anyways, things turned out really good. Seriously. The people who led us into sharing about God in our lives and understanding how and why we fit (or not in my case!) in our specific departments at the college and etc. were really good and nothing was cheesy. Misconceptions, I have a lot of these.
This I say unto you: Don’t be afraid to be cheesy, sometimes it turns out to be good.

Since today I started to go for walks in the morning. I used to go for walks in the fall of 2004 when I first came to Saskatchewan. I needed this precious time with God every morning. Now, it’s not really that I feel like I need it, but I know that I need it. Because things are going pretty well and I don’t feel like I’m lonely or in a dry season, I don’t feel like I need to spend extended time just pouring out my heart to God. I do read the Bible and pray, but there is something different and deeply good about going for walks in the morning, seeing the sun turning all kinds of colors and talk to Jesus about anything on my heart. My first excuse to God that I couldn’t go for walks was that “I already get up at 6am!” but I know that my excuses are always lame. I’ll see how it goes. This morning I forgot to put my glasses on, that does not happen to me very often. Anyways, these morning walks are precious to me and I hope I will be found faithful.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 20$ as of May 23, 2006.
What’s that? www.banknm.blogspot.com
Please take note that all the money will be sent on May 29, 2006 this month. Thanks to all the givers!

Ezekiel

2006-05-21T22:16:00.000-06:00

Our Bank for Native Missionaries just received 6$, thanks to the giver!

This morning I was reading in Ezekiel 18. I never noticed that sort of thing elsewhere in the Bible and I thought it was really interesting. It starts with these words from the Lord:

“What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: ‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.”

I don’t know why, but the Israelites thought that children paid for their parent’s sins, that it was the way God dealt with them. In Deuteronomy 24:16 we read, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.” Somewhere along the road, people obviously thought differently, I need to look into that, because I am pretty sure it’s written somewhere that children had to bear the consequences of the sins of their parents (but I might be mistaken). Anyways, here’s what is interesting, the response from the Israelites is shocking:

“Yet you (Israel) ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’” (v.19)

Later, God tells His people that if a wicked person turns to righteousness, that person will surely live, and that if a righteous person turns to wickedness, then, this person will surely die and nothing of his/her former righteousness will be remembered. That’s their response:

“Yet you (Israel) say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’” (v.25)

It seems as if for a certain period of time God had made the children share in the guilt of the parents’ sins (I am not sure how true this is, but it seems it is the way that the Israelites perceived it) and now God was telling them that it was not going to be so any longer. These people were probably so rooted in tradition and how things were dealt with, that when a better way was offered, they totally disagreed and even called God unjust. Isn’t that silly?

I wonder if there is anything of the kind happening in our lives right now. Sometimes we are so used to the routine, we hold so tight to the traditions in our churches or denominations, that when God offers us a better way of living, we see it as evil, non-biblical and wrong. That’s what happened to many Christians living in 19th century America. Christians were taking sides, some believed slavery should be abolished and some firmly believed that the Bible taught that slavery was good. They had lived like that since ever but now God was opening the way for more shalom in America, was offering a better way of living. Good Christians held on to their beliefs for slavery and could not understand that it was not God’s idea for His children. He had put up with slavery since long for the best interest of His ultimate plan, but now was the time to bring more peace, more respect. Who would argue that slavery is God’s will for our society today and that it is biblical?
Anyways, that’s only one example. We must be very careful and always read the Word of God with an open heart to what GOD wants to teach us, not what WE think He’s saying. We must always be humble and ready to change our thinking in order to align it with God’s. We must put aside traditions and come to the Word of God emptied of any pre-conceptions. Because we might become blind to the good that God wants to do us and we might refuse to be blessed.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 20$ as of May 21, 2006.
What’s that? See www.banknm.blogspot.com

Driving Home

2006-05-20T23:41:00.000-06:00

As we were driving back to Hepburn from a day spent in a camping by a lake (if we dare call it a lake) we were having fun talking about Jump5, a “Christian” band made of and for young teenagers. I must confess that we’ve listened to them twice in a month while working. Basically just because we thought it was funny and cheesy. Anyways, after we thought the topic was closed about Jump5, I started thinking and I started talking about the feeling I have about these Christian bands. I don’t want to say that Jump5 isn’t good at all for Christian teenagers or the like. I was just saying that many Christian bands nowadays promote ideas and concepts of Christianity and our life with Jesus that is twisted or only partially true. Many Christian singers sing songs about the joy we can find in life because of God, and they make it sounds like being a Christian is the best thing ever because you have joy and life is so good. Often we don’t even know if they are singing about Jesus or some boyfriend because no name is mentioned. I don’t see the teachings of Christ in these songs (and I’m not just talking about Jump5). It is true that Jesus calls us to have life in full, He wants us in heaven with Him, not in hell. He wants (and I say that carefully) us to be happy. All of this is true. But we cannot brag about a Christianity that is only joy and success, like life is going perfect all the time. Because that’s first of all not what goes on in most of our lives and second, that’s not what Christ taught.
Christ calls us to die, not to live. “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.” (Mk 8:34-35) And just think about the life of the apostles, can you really believe that they led easy, pain free lives? No they gave all (literally) to Christ’s cause.
Christ calls us, not to be casual about the Christian life, but full of awe in the face of God our Savior. Simply think about this: God let His Holy Son be killed by sinners in order to provide a way for us to be saved from His wrath. He was not casual about it, it cost Him the divine life of His Son Jesus (who was raised from the dead amen!). Salvation cost something great and we should not sing about it and live as if it’s casual and sweet. Many times we see the disciples in awe because of Jesus’ deeds and Jesus’ divinity. Just read Revelation and you’ll realize that God is truly almighty (or just read the Bible actually).
I don’t mean to say that the Christian life should focus on suffering and deep awe. I am saying that we cannot promote a Christianity that is for people’s earthly benefit only. Salvation is yes, for God’s and our eternal benefit, and yes this eternal life has begun already. But we are still here on earth, in our sinful body and are called to bring all to the knowledge of Christ. “Already but not yet”. We do have joys and happiness here on earth because we know Christ as our Lord and Savior, but we do experience the pain of putting to death our flesh and the “shame” that accompanies us among unbelievers, the persecutions for living according to Jesus’ teachings. Maybe we don’t experience much of that nowadays because we aren’t aware of the cost of following Christ and of the holiness of the God we claim to obey and love.
A friend in the car wondered if that’d be why we seem to sing and write songs that are shallow when compared to older songs. Many worship songs today are unbiblical and do not promote the truth. We sing them without really thinking I guess. There are many good, new Christian songs that I love, that are realistic and biblical too, but I just feel that everything is so shallow.
In the car I started thinking about this: what do we do about what we sing? It’s neat to sing beautiful things to God, but what do we do about it later? Songs basically are prayers and praises. Is it really a good thing to sing things like “I surrender all” or “You give and take away… my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your Name” or else and leave church and don’t do anything about it? It reminds me of the expression that says something like “Grand parleur, p’tit faiseur” (Big talker, small doer). Why do we sing these songs when it actually doesn’t mean anything to us and we’ll forget all about them and it won’t affect the way we live? Church isn’t just about weighing what the preach is about and putting it into practice, it’s also about coming before God and praising Him, praying to Him… and these things too, must have an impact on our daily lives.

I don’t know what sort of conclusion to write here. It’s been long enough already. These were some of my thoughts and it was neat talking to friends about them.

BANK FOR NATIVE MASSIONARIES: 14$ as of May 20, 2006
What’s that? See www.banknm.blogspot.com

Party Pooper?

2006-05-19T21:54:00.000-06:00

Since school is over at Bethany, I really feel to be a party pooper. And one of my friends told me not to be one since she was not going to be around anymore. I’ve tried, just a little bit to participate in the social stuff going on around me when I was invited. I remember writing about the “Salad Fiesta” in the beginning of May and the funny way I was “obligated” to go. I was a party pooper a few times since.
Today I was invited to go to a cabin by the lake tomorrow, a bunch of ladies working at Bethany are going, and these ladies are my age and older so it’s not like I would be totally out of place (apart for my French accent!). I told my friends I didn’t think I would go. Then they started to persecute me and tell me I should go. I myself was convinced I should go, because I had no excuse not to. So I started to discuss my anti-social problem attitude with them. It’s true that I don’t want to be anti-social, that I don’t want to be a boring little nerd, but that’s the truth about me, so I figured it was okay to talk about it. I felt humbled. I was convinced I should go, I had no excuse and I was just being self-centered, selfish and wanted to stay in my comfort zone tomorrow. I decided I would go and I am going. I am bringing a taco dip. Basically, it’s a base of cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning, the topping is salsa, chopped green & red peppers, green onions, tomatoes and grated cheese on top. You then dip your tortilla chips in there and that’s so good. Anyways, that’s not a recipe blog so I’ll stop right here.

I am challenged to deal with myself. With things I don’t like about myself. I’m not talking about my nose or my toes. I’m talking about my personality, my sinful nature, my weaknesses, my sins. Basically, things that are not as God wants them to be in me. I realize that it’s ok to be open to talk about those things with people around me who recognize them in me. Trying to hide my bad self won’t help me become better. In my case, these weeks, I see how big a party pooper I am and God has given me a couple of opportunities to practice the opposite: to be participating. I wonder why it is such a big deal to me to be exposed to people so that they know who I really am. I hate that, but this afternoon, as we chatted about my anti-social attitude, yes it humbled me, but somehow, though I don’t like the feeling of being humiliated because of the bad sides of me, because I was seeking to do the right thing, and not to excuse myself or find excuses, it was really good, just to know that I was being true and honest about myself. I felt like it was something a mature person does. I’m not saying I am mature, I am sometimes, for some things, but it’s hard to be open to talk about my sins.

I am learning to be selfless and not to prize my own little reputation too much. It’s a really good feeling to know that I’m honest in the face of my ugliness. Without recognizing it and having people to push me to become better, nothing good will happen. I believe that people who are real, are people who tend to mature the most.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 14$ as of May 19 2006 see www.banknm.blogspot.com for more info!

Me Myself & I

2006-05-18T22:12:00.000-06:00

It was lunch break on Monday, or I’m not sure, we were having a break anyways. I don’t know why but we (2 co-workers & I) started to talk about the way we “worship” God with our songs. My friend was saying that our worship focuses on the “I” and “we” a lot when it should focus on God. “I will give you all my worship” / We fall down, we lay our crowns” / “I bless you Lord” / “Lord who am I” / “I will not forget you” and the like are examples or phrases we sing. I was a bit perplexed and I told my friend “But when we read the Psalms, that are actual songs that David and others wrote, we see a lot of ‘I’’ and ‘we” we agreed that it was true and oh well, the conversation did not go much farther. “There’s a middle ground a guess.” Was my conclusion to them.

I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve been watching and listening myself praying. To my surprise I noticed that my prayers and thoughts were full of I’s, everything is about me. I’m not talking about the time I spend praying for myself, which has its proper and good place in my relationship with Jesus, but I’m talking about times when it’s time to simply let God be God. I was surprised to start disliking the way I prayed or thanked God. I’ve started to feel sick of focusing everything on myself when I talked or sang to God. At first glance, I didn’t think that the way I praised or worshiped God was self-centered, because in saying “I bless you Lord”, I’m using “I” but then “you” and “Lord”. So it’s not like it’s all about me. That’s right. I believe that there is a proper place and time to include myself, but isn’t there a proper time to exclude myself in my prayers?

I don’t think I’ve ever really thought about it and I’m just starting to, but why do I need to include a part of me in the praises I offer to God? Why can’t I erase myself totally from the offering? Why can’t I let God be God alone? I am not sure how to explain this, but I feel like there is too much of me and that I feel (probably unconsciously) the need to be recognized as the one who gives God the praises, the one who is humbled in His presence –again there is and must be a time for that sort of worship. Can’t my prayers and my worship be selfless, totally selfless?

“The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; He sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. Great is the Lord in Zion; He is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name –He is holy. The King is mighty, he loves justice –you have established equity; in Jacob you have done what is just and right. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool; He is holy.” –Psalms 99:1-5

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are His. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him…” –Daniel 2:20-22

That sort of worship offered to God must be really delightful in the sight of the Lord, it must smell like perfume to His nostrils, in a special way. Why? Simply because it’s all about Yahweh and no one else. The worshipper offers the best worship he can to God: He does not even mention his own name or a little “I” anywhere, he turns God to Himself (if I can say it that way), leaves an anonymous thank you note in His mail box. I’m not saying that God doesn’t know who praises Him when it’s done in “secret”, but I think that He delights in people who worship Him in total humility, excluding all but Yahweh.

There is a proper time for that kind of worship and I hope I can become more “selfless” as I pray and sing and talk to God. That I’d forget about me and simply lift the name of Jesus up so it’s all about Him and Him alone.

Bank for Native Missionaries: 14$ as of May 18, 2006
What is this? www.banknm.blogspot.com

Unfinished thoughts about an other blog

2006-05-16T22:42:00.000-06:00

One of Gibbons’ last entry on her blog www.randomnesssignedgibbons.blogspot.com made my spirit smile much. Why? Simply because I am a nerd. The topic was actually not funny but it was like walking on a road and see the sign “Dig down here you can find neat things”. I like when people throw ideas at me that make me think.
She talked about the fact that we Christians, are just like unbelievers when it comes to popularity. Here I quote her:

I've observed the power of these fads in the Christian community. Every few years or months, there will be some huge new book that everyone needs to read (e.g. The Prayer of Jabez), or some new idea that everyone is talking about (e.g. the emerging church), a movie we should all support (e.g. Narnia) or all boycott (e.g. Brokeback Mountain), or a new worship song we hafta sing (e.g. Blessed Be Your Name). What is with these mass infatuations with popular things? Should the body of Christ really "lemming" (v.) after its media, just like the world does?

I ask myself the question, “Is it a bad thing in itself?” Very often, I am prone to think that anything that originates from unbelievers is bad, we as Christians should not try to have our own “spiritual” version of, let’s say, Canadian Idol, whatever talk show on TV or the like (I really have a hard time putting my thoughts into words I am sorry). But I don’t think that this thinking of mine is good. I think that it is a big mistake to think that God works through His people only and never uses unbelievers to bring good stuff that Christians should use, God’s Spirit is at work, not only among Christians, but in all the world.

So as I reflect on Gibbons’ thoughts I wonder if using the “unbelievers’” way of celebrating great gifts to the world (such as artists and the like) is bad.
I think that our purpose must be different that the unsaved people. We don’t run after “Christian celebrities” to touch them, but to hear their wisdom or worship with them. We don’t buy the last “Christian best seller” because it’s famous, but because it will help us in our understanding of our Christian walk. We don’t participate in big conferences because we’ll see famous people, but because we want to grow and be challenged. Our purpose must be different, it must be godly.

Now what is sad is that many of us Christians, run after these big events, buy the last popular Christian thing that is out in the book store, for the same reasons unbelievers do the same with their non-Christian stuff (that is not wrong all the time). The things like, let’s say, the book “My utmost for His highest” and the movies “Left Behind” and its books, are not bad in themselves. But it’s the “why” we run after them that is important and the “how” we actually “praise” these things. We often turn the gifts that God gives us through His people (music, writing, preaching, etc.) into a worship of people when these things should bring us closer to God, deepen our faith and challenge us to live a radical life of surrender to God.

People who run after celebrities (people or things), to me, are characterized by the desire to be popular themselves, and it’s probably unconscious for most. “If I go to the conference, if I read this famous book, if I buy this popular cd, people will acknowledge me, people will think I’m spiritual, that I am bla bla bla.” We often are wanting to do certain things in order to be able to say “I’ve been to Third Day’s concert”, “I’ve seen Mac Powell with my own eyes!”, “I read this one twice”, “I went to Briercrest for four years”. Isn’t it true? Well, it is true of me. But don’t we see that this is empty? That we are actually trying to be “cool”, that by going with the flow of “Christian big things” we forget God and do it for our own reputation or just because we are so blinded by being so used to follow all that stuff, that we think it’s what it means to follow Christ nowadays?

My sole goal must be to seek Jesus Christ, glorify Him and call people to follow Him. I will follow the big names and the big books because I desire Christ, I want to learn to delight in the simple faith that I find in the prayers of new believers, I want to find joy in the little song for children, I want to delight in little events and use them as much as I can to glorify my God, I want to take the routine and the “normal” day-to-day life to persevere in the faith and grow, even against my flesh. I want to rejoice in the small as in the great.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 14$ as of May 16, 2006

Mother's Day? No, Sabbath Day.

2006-05-13T22:23:00.000-06:00

No I’m not going to write anything about that. You probably heard enough about it on TV, radio, in stores, at church, school. And I don’t have anything to say about Mother’s Day anyways. Well, I would probably need to think about it, but why would I actually write about that?

For two school years I worked in Bethany kitchen. Since students need to be fed during the weekend as much as during the week, cooks have to work during the weekend as well. Not all of them though. So we took turns working a Saturday and/or Sunday here and there during the month. So my days off were not all the time on the weekend. I sometimes had my Wednesday and Friday off, but was on duty for the weekend and it was changing all the time. Because of that kind of schedule, and the fact that working in a kitchen is not really a physical work (no, standing all day long isn’t considered a physical work for me, sorry) I never felt like I needed a day off, that my body needed to rest… oh for sure, I few times like after Youth Advance or big events I did felt I needed a break. So I never really fully appreciated my days off. I rested but my batteries were still half full.
Now that I have switched to cleaning the dorms, it’s been different. It’s not hard work, but it requires energy and strength (moving beds with Gerald is almost a hard-core sport!) so when it’s the weekend, I really appreciate it. Because my body needs a break

I’ve been wondering about the Sabbath a littlebit. I must say that I don’t know what to think about it, or rather, I should say, I don’t know how to practice the Sabbath. It’s not simply a day off work. It’s not only a day when I enjoy relaxing and doing whatever I feel like doing. Is it really a day for ME? I wonder how I am supposed to enjoy the Sabbath today.
I’m thinking as well about the apostles like Paul, John, Peter. I think of pioneer missionaries all around the world in all history. I wonder if they had/have a Sabbath day a week and if yes, what it meant/means to them. Because Jesus’ view of the Sabbath was a bit different from the people around. I think that it is a day where you rest from your work, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t work. Because Sabbath calls for mercy and if on the Sabbath you hear of some people’s needs, you should go and help, even when it means to work. So how about the apostles who were traveling much and helping out churches and speaking much, even on the official Sabbath day of the Jews, I wonder if they set apart a day of the week to rest. You know what? I feel like they did not. At Bible School I remember a staff saying that Sabbath for us, was not a day in the week, but Sabbath was everyday of the week because of… I don’t remember. I cannot imagine the apostles, Jesus Himself, stopping their ministry once every seven days. Would they? I would say that they probably did, but maybe in a different way. It was not a “day” but an everyday attitude of Sabbath (maybe that goes with my teacher’s idea) or maybe it was set times with God throughout the week… I really don’t know what I’m saying here and what it implies. I know nothing about the Sabbath.
I am aware that in Luke 23:56 it says, “Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” (Interesting that it doesn’t say “in accordance to the Law”… it’s about the same eh?) This verse is about the women who did the burial prep. For Jesus’ body. They rested, they stopped from their work because it was the Sabbath. That shows us that they rested, not from their usual week work, but from a special work (they did not prepare spices and perfumes all week long all the time). So it tells me that Sabbath is not only about stopping from my week job at Bethany. Even for special work that must be done, Sabbath most be observed. Well, actually, I don’t know. Because the text doesn’t say that it was a good thing or a bad one to observe the Sabbath. I wonder if they had chosen to “work” instead if they would have been commended or not. Anyways, I can’t see them working, because they had been observing the Sabbath since the day they were born. It was a custom. It is not a custom here in the West, so I don’t know how I am supposed to observe it today.
Oh, happy mother day to all the “mommies” reading this blog, have a good restful day…

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 14$/ as of May 13, 2006.
This month’s $$$ will be sent to Gospel for Asia so they can help provide a bicycle to a missionary who desperately needs one. Please send GFA or myself your few bucks. Help, it is a privilege, not to say a duty, pray, pray for them. Do as Jesus leads you.

Take Me In

2006-05-11T22:14:00.000-06:00

A girl I work with brought a cd today (we’ve been listening to an average of 7 hours of music a day –that’s without the breaks), Kutless. I had never listened to them. It was their worship cd called “Strong Tower” and I found myself loving it, really. I borrowed it from her tonight and I thought I’d share with you the lyrics of one of the songs. It is called “Take me in”

Take me past the outer courts, into the holy place
Past the brazen altar, Lord I want to see your face
Pass me by the crowds of people, the priests who sing your praise
I hunger and thirst for your righteousness, and it’s only found in one place
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the Lamb
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take a coal, touch my lips, here I am

I love powerful songs, and for me, the phrase I love the most is “Take me in by the blood of the Lamb”. We don’t talk or think much about the temple and how it relates to our own salvation. The temple was a really special place for the Jews and even the gentiles from its first construction, when it was called the Tabernacle, in the desert. It was not just a special building, it was a holy place, no gentile was allowed in, and the farther you got in, the more “holy” you had to be. Priests ministering had to be “ceremonially clean” and all the sacrifices and gifts had to be in good shape, healthy, perfect. You would never get to the “Holy of Holies” unless you were the high priest that year, and you would have gone in there only once a year to offer blood for your own sins and those of the people. I don’t know much about this Holy of Holies, but I am sure that every Jew had a great and holy fear for this place, God’s resting place.
If someone would have sung a song like “Take me in” in Jesus’ times, I am pretty sure people would have started to stone him or bring him before the religious authorities. How could someone ever think of entering the famous Holy of Holies? It was probably something people did not think about, maybe people were extremely afraid of being in the presence of God, they had heard of many stories about the holiness of God and things that happened to people who did not “follow the rules” in the temple or with the ark. “God is holy and you’re not. So don’t even think of going there!” was probably what lots of people thought.
I think it is truly amazing that we can make songs like this and sing such things like “take me in to the holy of holies”. If we’d be Jews it’d be really wrong 2000 years ago, but being gentiles, like most of us are… people would have thought we’d be out of our minds, totally crazy or demon possessed maybe.
It might seem foolish to Jews who don’t believe in Jesus as their Messiah right now to hear Christians sing such songs, but we know the Messiah Jesus came, died for our sins, was raised from the dead and opened the heavy, think curtain that separated the “holy place” from the “Holy of Holies” inviting all –Jews and Gentiles alike- to approach God, being purified not by the blood of goats or calves, but by the holy blood of the Son of God, God Himself.
Isn’t that amazing that we can come to the Holy of Holies, into the presence of God?!

“And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Mat.27:50-51

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His body, and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having out hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water…” Heb.10:19-22

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 7$/as of May 11, 2006.

Prayer

2006-05-09T22:17:00.000-06:00

I was reading an email someone sent me and I was a bit surprised when I read the following sentence: “I know you're a woman of prayer”. It took me off guard. Not only didn’t I expect that person to think such things about me, but I simply thought that I was not a “woman of prayer”, not even a “21-year old girl of prayer”. When I think about it, it is a privilege that people watch me live and believe that I am someone who spends time in prayer and believe in prayer, but I know that it is not the reality in my day-to-day life.
To be real I think I don’t spend more than 15 minutes in prayer everyday. It’s not only that I don’t spend much time in prayer, but there are times when I don’t believe in prayer. Sometimes I believe prayer can be very powerful, but other times I just feel it’s a routine and nothing more comes out, I feel like I’m not talking to anybody, not even to the wall, I just feel that my words are empty because they come from an empty, distracted heart. Right now I know I should pray more. But prayer is a hard duty. It doesn’t come naturally, and when I decide to spend more time in prayer, I feel like I’m trying to be “religious” or “spiritual” and I feel so fake, isn’t that stupid of me to think that way?
Praying these weeks has been a 10-minute routine for me and I don’t know if I am willing to give God more time in that way. I know it sounds wrong to say such things, but it’s my reality. I’d rather think and write or read or do some little things then to stop everything, and pray. I keep thinking that I should pray… but I discard the idea every time because there are other things to do.
Right now, the only people I feel excited to pray for are Surender, a Native Missionary in India, Sun & Aiqing, two women in prison in China for their faith, and for the people who emailed me or left a comment with the names of people they want to reach with the Gospel.
Getting this email obviously made me think about how my “prayer life” has been and is right now. I am challenged to spend more time in prayer. I’m challenged by the thought of praying when I’m done writing this… I don’t feel like doing it, I feel like it’d be a waste of time. Oh man, I hope I do pray more and believe in the power of the One who listens to my words on the behalf of those I pray for.

What is a woman/man of prayer actually?
gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 7$/as of May 9, 2006.

Seems like the Prairies to Me!

2006-05-07T21:35:00.000-06:00

I have been going for walks lots, the weather is so nice here. And I now have the habit of bringing my camera with me. So I’ll be sharing a few pictures I’ve been taking these last days around my little village. Enjoy.

I hope and pray the reader is not annoyed with my passion for Gospel for Asia’s Native Missionaries and their needs in their work. I just thought I should write a little bit about our last gift to them. On April 28 I sent Gospel for Asia the 17$ that was in the “Bank for Native Missionaries”. For April 2006, all the monies that readers of this blog, others and myself gave, was sent to help provide VBS child packets to children of Asia who are attending these VBS programs. They were 1$ each, so by giving 17$ together, we were able to provide 17 children with a few things to help them learn and participate in the program and help them share Jesus at home (see April 6 post for more info). I didn’t really take the time to realize that we literally gave 17 kids the means to hear and understand more about Jesus. Isn’t that neat? Anyways, I believe it’s a great privilege we have to be able to participate in the work of our Lord Jesus not only here in Canada & the States or wherever you are, but in the 10/40 window as well.

We just got a 7$ in this month’s funds for Native Missionaries. Thanks to the person who gave. I say “we” because it is not “my” bank even though I take care of it. It is the gift of different people put together to amount to a little bit more than if we’d be by ourselves. As you read this blog and about Gospel for Asia’s Native Missionaries’ needs, please take the time to look in your wallet and see how much you’ve got in the “change pocket”, think about it and send Gospel for Asia your few loonies or quarters, or send them to me to put your money in the Bank for Native Missionaries. This month I will send the money on May 31 and it will go towards providing a bicycle (bicycles are 130$ each) to a Native Missionary out there.
In the name of these Missionaries, thank you so much!

Gospel for Asia’s mailing address in Canada
245 King St. E, Stoney Creek, ON, L8G 1L9

My mailing address
Gabrielle
Box 196, Hepburn, SK, S0K 1Z0
gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Juice Powder

2006-05-06T22:07:00.000-06:00

Today I needed to go to the grocery store to get some food and I had a little list of things I thought I’d like to get. Among other things I wrote “Juice Powder”… but I struggled with it. The thing is that I have water for free, and buying juice powder to make it taste sweet and fruity or for a change, is good and totally alright, but for me right now I didn’t think I needed it. Yes, I wanted to buy some because it’s nice, but I went to the store and did not buy any, because I knew I had water for free and I could save 3$ or so by not getting this juice powder. I just decided not to fulfill this actually not important desire of mine. People would argue that because it is such a little, non-important and cheap desire, I should have gotten it. It’s a really lame argument. Why 3$ would make a difference anyways? It doesn’t make much of a difference right now in my bank account, that’s true. But if week after week I discard little things like that and choose to not have little “side” things for my lunches and to buy every new cd I’d like, then it amounts to more money. I don’t see it though. So without really realizing it, I can save money for university. But more importantly, I can save money for God’s cause.

Why are we so often on our guards when people ask us to help with our wallet, missionary work or the poor around us or a special outreach project? Why is it so easy to buy things for ourselves and the people we love and so difficult to give money to help people spread the it is that way is that we are selfish, lack faith in God to provide for our own needs, and because we really do have little money in our bank accounts. It’s true that most of us aren’t rich, and that we actually probably have little money, just enough for the month, or just enough for the semester. That’s a true reality. I totally know and understand that many of us already don’t spend much or any money on things that are not needed, but I think that most of us do. I do not mean to say that by stopping to buy little things like apple sauce for our lunches and coffee at work and juice powder and a new t-shirt and a new cd here and there will make us rich. No. But obviously, it will keep a few more bucks in our bank accounts and when we’ll be called to help, for sure we’ll have a few extra bucks and for sure we’ll be able to partake in the offering, knowing that we gave up a few little comforts in order to help bring comfort to those who don’t even have a third of what we have.
If we have a hard time considering giving money to God’s cause outside our monthly tithe, we should consider why we usually don’t have a hard time considering buying things for ourselves. We always want to get things for our money, if we give, then we should get something in return right? But that’s not the way God wants things to work all the time. He calls us to live by faith, to be wise with our money and always be ready to help those in need knowing that He will provide for all our needs (understanding that He knows what we really need). Giving to missionary work or an outreach in your church or a kid going to bible college obviously does not give you anything like food or clothing or neat gadgets, but I can testify with little experience, that giving to God’s cause bring you joy, joy in realizing that you are a tangible part of the work that is being done because of your gift, or the food or help it brought to others in need.
So hopefully God will help me think and care more about the people around me and less about myself, I hope He will give me more grace to see what I can do to save money for His saints, His cause. And I pray that He will call this generation of Christians here in America to realize how rich we are and the great task and privilege we have in helping our people and His saints all around the globe spreading the name of Jesus by being always ready to give joyfully when we hear about their needs.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 7$/as of May 6, 2006.
Please know that I have not written this post to push you to give for this Bank. It’s simply something I have been realizing since several months and that struck me again with my juice powder dilemma. Be free to ask questions or leave a comment, thanks again for those who already gave to Gospel for Asia through this Bank! gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Genesis 1 & 2

2006-05-05T23:02:00.000-06:00

So I am reading this book called “Finally Feminist” trying to figure out what the author is saying and if it’s interpretation of biblical texts are … biblical. It’s tough. But anyways, I noticed that the author has this different belief about the account of creation. I remember reading Genesis 1 & 2 when I was younger and thinking that there was something that I was never told before, it seemed to me that God had created human beings first and then, (chapter 2) had created Adam and then Eve from his rib. But I came to realize that it was not so later on in life.
So this author (John G. Stackhouse, Jr.) believes that:
- “Genesis 1 records that the human being was created in God’s image and as male and female in that image (Gen. 1:26-27).”
- “The second, and different creation story of Genesis 2 shows the human being divided by God into male and female. The self-consciousness of the previously undivided human “goes with” the male, and it is he who then recognizes and celebrates the female as his partner upon their differentiation.”
- “… Genesis 1, in which male and female are created at the same time as the image of God.”
I am not even sure what this guy is saying, especially because of my “French understanding of English” as I like to put it. I agree that God created human beings, male and female, in chapter 1 in His image, but I don’t understand why he says that in Genesis 2 that the “human being” is divided by God into male and female and by saying that, implying that in chapter 1 the “human being” was not divided into male and female.

I am actually tired right now and should go to bed. I am mixed up in these thoughts. I don’t believe that chapter 2 is a “second and different creation story” as if we would say that Mark is a second and different life of Jesus… Actually, maybe these words are proper… but I simply think visually. Think of a funnel. Well, Genesis 1 is in the bigger part of the funnel, and Genesis 2 is in the tiny, narrow part of it. Meaning that both are the same account, 1 is a general account of the creation, and 2 is a focus on the creation of the first human being and the second, namely, Adam & Eve.

Any theologians around? I think that names starting with “J” would be good people to comment these quotes and my tired thoughts. Careful, your name might start with “J” and you might have no clue… I’m thinking about at least to people. So think and email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca or leave a comment. If your name doesn’t start with “J” but you do have some ideas, please leave a comment, it’s always nice if other people like me, who don’t have a clue about these things can read your thoughts.

A word from my friend KP Yohannan

2006-05-04T21:12:00.000-06:00

Can you ride a bicycle with one person sitting on the top bar in front of you and one on the backseat?
To make things more interesting, can you pedal your friends on a treacherous dirt path through kilometres of fields and forest? And can you do it on an old, worn-out bike with no fenders, pedals that barely stay on, a chain that comes off frequently and a front brake that hangs by a little wire?
If your answer is “yes” to all of these questions, then you just qualified to join Pastor Raji’s evangelism team in India’s Andhra Pradesh state!
Pastor Raji has a great vision to take the Gospel to the many villages that surround his church. And God has given him six young men from his congregation who are on fire for the Lord and eager to help make it happen –so eager, in, fact, that when they go on outreach with their pastor, three of them ride on each of their two old bicycles!
Because some of the young men are students and the others have full-time jobs, the time they have available to visit interior villages is limited to the late afternoons and weekends. And that’s why their transportation is so crucial.
It takes Pastor Raji and his team two hours of walking to reach a village that is three miles away –but they can get there in half an hour by bicycle. With the bikes, they also can transport much-needed Gospel literature for distribution. Most of all, they can travel much farther, visit two villages instead of just one, preserve much-needed energy for their actual evangelism work, and return home the same evening.
On their old, worn-out bicycles, the team took the Gospel to 50 villages within six months. As a result, many souls were saved and churches were planted in several places.
But just imagine how much more they could do if Pastor Raji’s old bicycle could be replaced by a new one and the team could have three additional bikes for their outreach!
No doubt it would greatly accelerate their effectiveness. And the missionaries who pedal the bikes would be grateful if they only had to give a ride to one team member instead of two.
In South Asia, bicycles are crucial ministry tool, especially in rural areas where public transportation is limited and often unreliable. Unfortunately, few of our native missionaries can afford to buy the rugged bicycles that are specially built for the difficult roads they travel.
… It has been reported to me that a least 2000 of our native missionaries like Pastor Raji urgently need bicycles to be able to reach the many communities that lie all around their towns and villages.
And you can make a difference. In fact, you can provide one of our missionaries with a heavy-duty Asian bicycle for only 130$ -and double or triple his or her effectiveness overnight!
The wonderful thing is, the impact of your gift will be seen immediately: Many more villages will be reached with the Gospel, and thousands of people will have the opportunity to receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord –all because of your gift.
So I ask you to prayerfully consider how God would have you participate in this tremendous opportunity to help our native missionaries. Whether you can provide one bicycle or a dozen bicycles –or make a gift toward providing one- you will be sharing the wonderful Good New of Jesus Christ with thousands of men, women, and children who have never before heard His name.
And in the light of eternity, helping others find salvation is the most important thing we can do with our lives. I pray that God’s blessings will be upon you as you follow Him.
Yours for Asia’s unreached,
K.P. Yohannan
President of Gospel for Asia
www.gfa.org

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0$/as of May 4, 2006. All of May’s monies will be given toward providing one bike. Please email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca if you’d like to partake in this neat opportunity!

Verry Funny... ya.

2006-05-02T22:10:00.000-06:00

It seems that God likes to be a bit sarcastic with me at times and He loves to smile at me. Since a few weeks the cooks at Bethany had compelled me to go to a “Salad Fiesta” held at Bethany, yesterday night. I just didn’t feel like going, to be with two hundred or so ladies my mom’s age and up for a supper of variety of salads and hear a woman talk about some “biblical” stuff for women did not appeal to me. I kept telling the cooks “Listen, I am 21, I would not enjoy learning about salads, I’m just not interested!” The day of the Salad Fiesta arrived, Monday May 1st. As I left home to go to work that morning I found an envelope with my name on, where my landlord usually left my mail. I opened it and I found a card from her, with a ticket for the Salad Fiesta. She had bought a ticket and hoped I’d be able to go. MAN. You should have seen the smile on my face. It’s not that I was happy to be able to go, I laughed at how sarcastic this whole thing was. I simply could not refuse to go, this lady who knew not that I did not desire to go, gave me a ticket thinking I’d be glad. I had to go, I had no excuse. I told my friend at work and she really laughed at me. I was stuck. So I went. The cooks were really surprised to see me there and for sure, laughed at me when I told them the story. The evening was good. I’m glad I went. What is even funnier is that they had a draw, I usually never win anything (except when I put my name 10 times in a 50-name draw, which I did one time…) but anyways, my name was drawn and I won at beautiful garden thermometer. What am I going to do with that? I am not a women and I don’t have a garden! I tried to trade it for a Bethany hoody a staff got… but it didn’t work.

So what’s the point of my little story? I’m not really sure. But I feel at times that God loves to lead me where I don’t want to go, with a big smile on His face, sort of laughing at me because He knows it’s not going to hurt me, or simply because it’s funny to change Gabe’s plans. I think it’s funny too. And I’m glad God has this sense of humour with me. It makes life more interesting and laughing at me is always good for me.
This little, non-important situation in my life reminds me of a verse that I read a few days ago in Acts 26:14, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads” The NTL says “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against me.” The LS (French) says, “Saul, Saul, pourquoi me persécutes-tu? Il te serait dur de regimber contre les aguillons. » The version that makes the more sense to me, is the NLT, the French has some obscure meaning, and the word “goads” from the NIV doesn’t mean a thing to me. So even though I don’t like NLT, I like this verse because it makes sense to me and hopefully, it’s rendering the right meaning of the verse. I think that sometimes God says the same thing to me, “Gabe, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against me.” I don’t think I was fighting God when I did not want to go to the Salad thing. But it makes me think that sometimes I want to go against the will of God and I am fighting for my own point of view, my own so-called “rights” and desires. But God says “It’s useless to fight against me”.

I am learning that God’s will is supreme, that I can choose to fight against it or to give in. To me, fighting is characterized by transpiration and giving in is characterized by rest. To fight against God is useless and will bring us only backaches. To surrender to Him will give us rest as we trust that He knows what He’s doing. Our rest may be accompanied by nightmares (fears because of uncertainty) and a couple of “wake up in the middle of the night” (not understanding why God’s will is so), but it is useless (no use) to fight against God. And I’d add, it is no fun either.

Let us embrace our today, let us surrender with faith to the Holy Spirit that leads us in paths we don’t know or in places we feel lost. It’s ok.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0$/as of May 2, 2006.

Tell people there's a trap ahead of them before they get caught

2006-04-30T22:30:00.000-06:00

This morning I read Lamentations 2. Verse 14 made me think a bit. It says, “The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity.” That is Jeremiah speaking about Jerusalem. For almost the whole book of Jeremiah, the prophets (that were no prophets at all) tell the people of Jerusalem and Judah that nothing Jeremiah says will happen, but rather, there will be peace. Obviously the Lord speaking through Jeremiah is right and Jerusalem indeed falls into the hands of her enemies. I wonder how these false prophets felt. They had literally led the people astray to believe that there was going to be peace. I wonder how the people who imprisoned, and even tried to kill Jeremiah felt about this whole thing when they saw that he was right.

Jeremiah was found faithful in delivering the message; he exposed the sins of his people and warned them about the coming day of judgment. Jeremiah wasn’t harsh about it, he deeply wanted his fellows to come back to the Lord, with great love and tears he compelled them. It makes me think about me. I’ve always felt “guilty” for not telling people about Jesus. I’m not talking about people I’ve talked for two minutes in a store or that type of relationships, but I think of people I went to school with and worked with. I believe it’d be a shame to me that when these people die, they are told that their friend Gabrielle knew the way to God but never told them. That’d be shameful. I cannot even imagine the frustration and the great bitterness they’d have toward me. Don’t misunderstand me, it’s not that I care so much that people would be mad at me as much as the fact that I didn’t obey Jesus and spoke to all about Him. I’ve felt that way and I still believe that it is my privilege and duty to tell people about Jesus, people who don’t know Him. I can recall times I’ve thought to myself “Here’s an open door to talk about Jesus” but left it open and walked away. I regret I did not speak with words about Jesus to many people I encountered in my short life of 21 years.

I hope I can be like Jeremiah and speak about Jesus, the free gift of salvation to all the unbelievers I know. Lots may say that actions speak louder than words. That’s true but when your actions speak the truth about Jesus, your mouth must direct people to Jesus. Otherwise your just a good person and people don’t know why. I know this expression is usually taken the other way around, you may say such and such good things, but what really tells the truth about you is the way you act, not what you say. But you see what I’m saying. For now there are probably no unbelievers in my life right now, I work with Christians, I live with a Christian older lady and almost the whole community here goes to church (there is 2 churches in a 300ish inhabitant village… But I know people back in Quebec or other places that aren’t Christians that I can write to, phone, email, and pray for. I want to obey Jesus and I don’t want to miss any opportunity to let unbelievers know about Jesus because if they never hear anything from me about Jesus and go to hell, then it will be a shame for me.

I encourage you to dress a list of all the people you hang out with, work with or go to school with or etc. and see how you can reach out to them and learn what they think and speak to them about Jesus. Not forcing anything on them, but with sincerity and love, show them the way to God, call them to repentance, be real, don’t be weak and seek their approval. They will curse you if they go to hell. I’m not saying that their salvation depends on you, but simply that if you tell them about Christ and they don’t believe, they’ll have nothing to say against you (like the people and Jeremiah) but if you don’t say a word, and then go to hell because nobody else in his/her life spoke to them, then they might feel a real strong hatred toward you. And you will be ashamed.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20

It would be neat if you and I would post in the comments box the names of people we know aren’t Christian, that way we can pray for these people. I’ll start myself, you guys can pray for these people and add your friends too. I know that nobody ever leave comments here anyways, but who knows.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0$/as of April 30. Our 17$ was sent on April 28… I compel you to give up little comforts as Gibbons tells us www.randomnesssignedgibbons.blogspot.com so you can help the saints in the 30/40 window where they desperately need our help, your help in providing bibles and gospel tracks and bicycles and so on to help them carry the Gospel of Jesus where people never heard about Jesus. Giving to Gospel of Asia (www.gfa.org) or indirectly through joining the few readers of this blog and myself in giving a few bucks here and there every month, would be a tangible way to care for the lost, and allow Christian to tell people about Jesus in unreached areas of our world. Thanks for considering giving a buck or two. Let me know if you’d like to give by dropping a comment or emailing me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Dilemma

2006-04-29T22:42:00.000-06:00

This might not interest you much, but I want to share a littlebit about faith/trust in God. I don’t think I ever wrote in here about this journey of faith that God has taken me on. I must say that I never really considered it a “journey” since two days or so.

After spending two years at bible school, and three years working, last fall I believed it was time for me to start university. I had put the idea aside too many times, wanting everything to be somewhat perfect, knowing where to study, where to live and have pretty much all the money I’d need. But I was tired of this attitude of mine and since I knew God was pushing me to go to university, I’d start in the fall of 2006. Not knowing where or how or anything. I simply told God I wanted to respond with faith to His calling. I guess because of ignorance and laziness I applied quickly to two universities at the end of January, beginning of February, when deadline was March 1st, which is not that bad.
Already at that time, I felt like this whole thing wouldn’t work out. And my attitude was more like “whatever”. Then I got refused to two programs in the other university and really I was sure I’d be refused to my other program.
In the meantime some of my friends invited me to move in with them this summer. It sounded just perfect for me, since I was not going to university; I needed somewhere to live, something to do. Then God struck me, telling me that I needed to live by faith and not lean on my own understanding, my own “second plan” if living by faith didn’t work. I was actually getting excited about moving in with my friends in the summer. But what I feared –but thought it’d be impossible to happen- happened. I got a letter from the university, asking me to come in for a test, meaning that I was not refused for the program I wanted more than all the others, and had a chance to maybe get in.

I say that this, maybe getting accepted in university, is something I feared. Because I thought that the idea of moving with friends was good and safe. It did not require much (or any) faith in God. My test is in August. My friends are moving at the same time, in a city about two hours away from the university. It means that I must choose between trying to get in the program, or say no and move with my friends. One shuts the door for the other.
I want to be safe. What if I try the tests and fail (which could happen easily)? I’ll find myself back in Quebec without knowing what to do and where to live.

But it seems to me that God has a sarcastic smile on His face, telling me, “Gabe you started it. You said you’d do it by faith when you first applied.” So He expects me to continue to trust Him. I laugh too. Not really enthusiastic about this idea of His to put me in such a “cross-road” or “dead-end” so I’d choose to live by sight, or by faith. Did I just write this last phrase? I am a witness against myself if I drop my trust in God to live in “safety”.

I thought my faith journey started in the fall 2005 and burned out in the beginning of 2006. Seems like God is still in the boat and I, on the shore. Why am I on shore? I didn’t think it’d work and forgot the wonders God literally works, not only in the Old Testament times, but in my own little life. It’s scary to think that I am getting back on this journey because it is so uncertain in my eyes. But at the same time, I feel that God has something in store for those who trust Him. I hate trusting God and I so love it. It is so scary but it is so blessed.

Please pray for me as I desire to do what God calls me to.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: Money was sent yesterday, April 28. Please consider giving a buck or two this coming month, I’d encourage you to read Gibbons’ blog www.randomnesssignedgibbons.blogspot.com as she tells about her idea about how to save a littlebit of money. That’s encouraging. Thank you to all who gave.

Don't feel like writing, I'll quote.

2006-04-26T18:51:00.000-06:00

Here’s a quote from Donald S. Whitney. It makes me think about my life and my lifestyle, it reminds me of many people I know and ultimately of pretty much everybody on earth. Or maybe in the West, I don’t know. It is a challenge to me, to live my life with my eyes wide open and not let myself slowly be moulded into what is considered “life” for most people, even Christians.

In our frustrating and futile efforts to keep up the demands of life maintenance, our souls have shrivelled. We have more tasks, activities, and deadlines to accomplish than ever; we have more to organize, store, and maintain than ever; and the result is that we’re becoming increasingly efficient at leading meaningless lives. What good is our multitasking, the accomplishment of more and more, and the acquisition of wealth, if we are not – by the means God has given us – becoming more like Jesus, the One we live for and the One who will evaluate our lives?

This Friday, I am sending the money to Gospel for Asia. We are at 17$ so far, if you wish to give, please let me know gabeleroux@yahoo.ca or think about giving for May. A buck or two can do much for our eastern brothers and sisters. Thanks to all who gave!

Think n Act

2006-04-23T21:12:00.000-06:00

Those who know me wouldn’t say that I am lazy, but would obviously agree that I am the kind of person who likes to make up really lame excuses for almost anything, just because I don’t want to get out of my comfort zone. To me, that’s just laziness from my part. It’s interesting that I’ve been watching myself and realizing how this is true.

It’s not really that I find myself lazy at work, although I am at times, or lazy in keeping up with friendships, even if I am lazy sometimes, but I am lazy in carrying out the work, the thoughts, the commands of God. Some days I really wish I’d be dumb and would be able to think and talk only about people, work and the last movie I watched. That way I wouldn’t feel guilty for thinking and not living up to what I think I know. It’s one thing to know the basics of Christian life and do ok, be a good person and go to church and read the Bible and pray and help others… but it’s a different thing to struggle with these basic things of the faith and on top, desire to know more, to do more, to live a radical life of sacrifice for Jesus. I may look like I’m doing fine walking with Jesus, but really, what my actions are and what my heart thinks are often two totally different things. I don’t want to exaggerate here, but that’s what it is to my own perspective.

It’s neat that I can think and write down my thoughts here or in a note book or talk about them with people. But I am so concerned about the practical aspect of it all. Thinking good things is totally useless in my own opinion, if I do not do these good things, if I do not put them into practice. What’s the purpose of talking about how important it is to be selfless or loving or to seek humility daily, if I don’t do anything about it? It’s neat to think good stuff and I’m sure it’s good for us, but I feel that as long as I don’t keep thinking about them all the time and write them on my hand so I can remember living up to these things in my everyday life, then it’s useless.

I’ve felt like that many times as I left church. We had heard some good stuff and were challenged to put them into practice, but the next things I am talking about with my friends is what’s for lunch, or what I here people saying around me are stuff like how’s work or if they’re coming to the BBQ on Tuesday. I mean, these things aren’t bad in themselves, but it makes me feel like we hear God’s Word and we don’t keep thinking about it as we leave the church. I sometimes felt like talking about the sermon with the people I was with and continue to be challenged, but most of the time I thought it’d be a bit odd. Doesn’t it sound horrible?! Maybe if I’d continue to think and chat with people about what we just heard would help me put it into practice. It seems like when I turn my attention to something else right away, then I forget about the sermon, the teachings, the challenges.

I hope and pray I am learning to love God and love people in tangible ways, everyday, whatever it costs me. I pray that I am not just thinking out loud, but that I’m actually living as Jesus asks me to.

Please feel free to leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca about it. Either to help me put in practice what I know or ask me to pray for you in that area.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 17$ / as of April 23, 2006.This month, all monies will be sent to Gospel for Asia so they can provide VBS Child Packets to children in Asia (see post of April 6). Please consider giving a buck or two and help these children and their families to know Jesus.

Baruch and Gabe are good friends.

2006-04-21T20:53:00.000-06:00

After Baruch had written on a scroll the words Jeremiah was then dictating: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says to you, Baruch: You said, ‘Woe to me! The Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am worn out with groaning and find no rest.’” The Lord said, “Say this to him: ‘This is what the Lord says: I will overthrow what I have built and uproot what I have planted, throughout the land. Should you then seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. For I will bring disaster on all people, declares the Lord, but wherever you go I will let you escape with your life.’” (Jeremiah 45 1b-5)

Harsh encouragement this morning I’ve had. Jeremiah 45 must be the shortest chapter in that book and I like it. What I quoted is basically the whole chapter. Baruch was probably overwhelmed by everything Jeremiah was prophesying about the exile and destruction and disasters that were about to happen to Jerusalem and Judah. As he was writing Jeremiah’s words, he was probably so down and desperate, without hope. God knew his heart. In the middle of writing stuff about the city and what was going to happen, all the sudden, the Lord does not speak about these things, but almost directly to Baruch. That’s kind of neat. But God doesn’t have much encouragement for him. Things have to happen that way. That’s it. Don’t even hope for anything good to come to you, all you will keep is your life Baruch.

I don’t know why but I always think that in times of trouble or hardship, God will come to me and grant me comfort, bring me back to the good old days, will provide a way for me to have victory or to be set free from my pain. So when I read that, I thought that God was going to encourage Baruch, to lift him up. It did not happen. Well, I don’t know, it depends how you see it.
God had to deal with the sins of His people, that’s why He could not tell Baruch things would be ok, that He would change His mind and do good to them. Ultimately, God brought peace again. But not right now.

Yes God loves me and wants me to find joy in Him. But at times, He must deal with me in ways that seem to be hard. And at times, seasons of life change and it’s simply tough for my heart, I am like Baruch and don’t want to see what I’m seeing. I want to be somewhere else. I want to be with other people. I want to take life as easy as before. I want to look ahead and have hope because what’s in front of me is exciting and great. But sometimes, God says no, not yet. You must go through this wasteland, I have nothing else for you than Myself. You’ll escape with your life. That’s it.
What an encouragement. It makes me sigh (I was being sarcastic about the encouragement). But since it’s God’s will, then it’s God’s will. Let us be courageous, let us remain faithful even when we don’t understand, when we’re sick of these unanswered prayers. Because deliverance and joy will find us. It will.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 12$ as of April 21, 2006

Little Things

2006-04-20T22:19:00.000-06:00

Life in Christian community is so neat at times.
I happened to be around the office chatting with a “friend teacher” in the office area at Bethany, after 4:30pm (it closes at 4:30) and the secretary happened to pass by with carrot cake. And she handed us two pieces of carrot cake on paper plates with forks (!) wrapped in saran. How can it be? It just seemed so random to come in the office after the usual hours of work with pre-wrapped carrot cakes when she had no idea we were still around.
It’s just that being in a Christian “community” here at Bethany can lead to many little random sweet things like carrot cake. It’s not that I love carrot cake that much, it’s simply that I think it’s neat. Thanks Ruth!
Oh, another neat, simple observation, or goodness from God to me. I sold my guitar to a student and obviously, she left with it. I found myself “guitarless”. So I asked faculty and staff here if anybody had a guitar to lend me for the rest of my time here. And 4 people offered me their guitar. Isn’t that neat? God is gracious to me. Thanks Rick and cie!

I know thess observations are very simple, but these days, I think I need to notice the little sweet things that happen around me. It reminds me of God’s goodness to me and that even though life isn’t as easy and fun as last week when the students were still around, God is still around and He loves me, He cares for me.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him” I Corinthians 2:9b

As I Scrub...

2006-04-19T22:08:00.000-06:00

So, life has been busy here at Bethany. I pretty much spent the whole day scrubbing the dish pit. For months, tons of “sticky spilling” of milk, juice, cereals, farmer sausage, white sauce, jell-o, noodles, bread crumbs, lettuce and the like have been accumulated on the edges of the tables and the walls of the dish pit. No wonder why I did not feel hungry at the end of the day. After about 7 hours of diligent cleaning, the dish pit is now “sanitary”.
As I’ve been cleaning the kitchen these last couple of days, I often wondered why we made such a big deal of this spring cleaning. They do that every year and a mini one around Christmas too. I mean, it’s good to clean things, but really, to do it every year (thank God I won’t be around next year…) moving stuff around and being very meticulous is a long, hard job, it’s a pain. Why can’t we do it once every year? It’s not like the building will fall apart or the machines will break if there’s dust and some sticky stuff under the dish washer and on the edges of some tables. You know what I mean?
I’m sorry, I’m not a germ freak. I think it’s really neat to keep things clean, really. But, man isn’t it a bit much?
As I scrub walls and sigh that I need to change the brown water of my pale for the 10th time that morning, I realize that if we don’t keep cleaning all these machines and cupboards and corners of the freezer, the white sauce sticking under the counter won’t be sticky anymore if I wash it off in two years from now, it will be rock. The hard work of today will become extremely hard tomorrow if I don’t do it today. That’s what I’m learning. Well, it’s something I knew before but…

It makes me think about laziness again. Am I a lazy in my walk with Jesus? Do I put aside the things He wants me to do or not do? It’s easy to go through everyday and not really think about doing the right things, especially for those of you who just left Bethany. Sometimes I just want to take life easy and not to worry about trying to love people better (!), spend time with God, encourage a sister, be honest or be selfless or anything else I know I should be doing. I stay in my comfort zone (the sticky jello-ee edge of the “hole” on the dish counter). I am not challenged, I am just well, but my heart becomes hard to the Holy Spirit and blindly I sit as the wrong stuff and dust accumulates in my heart. I need to keep clean, to be alert. Even though it’s a pain to discipline myself to read the Bible and seek the joy of others and etc. it will help me not become so lazy and blind about my own sins and it will help me stay clean. Otherwise, it will be a harsh job when I realize, years later, that I was mistaken and I need to clean up my heart.
I want to remain faithful even though I’d like to sit for a while and enjoy life like most people do. I want to beat my body and make it my slave (1 Cor. 9:27) even though it doesn’t make sense to me why I should fight for discipline and seeking to obey Jesus and to love. You can pray for me about that. Feel free to leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca about it so I can pray for you as well.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 12$/ as of April 19, 2006.

Selfless

2006-04-17T22:35:00.000-06:00

Selfless. I’ve been thinking about that word a littlebit these days. “I don’t speak English” so often, I stumble at words and since pronunciation and understanding don’t come naturally like everybody around me right now, I sometimes need to take the time to think –really- hard at some words before I try to say them. Each letter seems to be important for me, but actually people don’t really pronounce them all, all the time, just like French I guess, but still it doesn’t make sense to me. Anyways. The word “selfless” is a fairly new word that was added to my vocabulary a few months ago. I think I heard someone saying “that was so selfless of you”. I understood right away was the person was saying (because English makes sense…) and I thought that it was a neat word that carried a profound meaning. Well maybe not that deep, but I found the concept of it all really neat, probably because it was new to me.
So, since “I don’t speak English” I think about words more than most English speakers do. Actually, maybe it’s just that I am a nerd. I remember walking home from school when I was 9ish, thinking about some words and expressions that we used that made so much sense, but when said slowly and intently, actually were cheesy ways of speaking. Anyways, I’ve been thinking a bit about the word “selfless” here’s my thoughts:
Selfless… self… less… selfless. Pretty simple, but I guess we don’t have such a word in French and I kind of wish we had one. So the reader may think that I am not writing about anything right now, I hope it’s been entertaining.
I believe that when someone is said “selfless”, it is one of the highest praise one can receive. I love being praised but I know praise should be given to God and I don’t even know how to respond anyways. But what I am saying is that, I wish I’d be seen by Jesus as selfless. Not that I don’t have a “self”, but that I give up my own self to let other people enjoy “life”. Stop being so “selfish” (hum, I wonder if “ish” means ish like 12ish or…) and self-centered and become selfless for the sake of Jesus and people.
Not putting my own desires first is always hard for me, but in waging war against my flesh (literally myself) I have found much joy, much joy. Here’s a little story:

It was the December dinner theatre at Bethany, in 2004. My job was to help serve the meat and cut it. I was doing it with a student and we decided that she’d cut it and when she’d get tired (the roast was sooooo hard to cut and required much strength) I’d take over, while she’d serve it. In all, we cut 2 big roasts. After cutting half a roast, my friend got tired and I took over. It was cutting without ceasing, ‘cause people kept coming non-stop. After finishing cutting the roast, I thought to myself, “Finally, I’ve done half of it, now it’s her turn” but… my friend did not seem to realize that it’d be a right thing to take over my job and I went on. I did not ask for her to switch jobs, as I started slicing the second roast, and as my hands were dying (almost literally) I realized that in fact, this student was probably really happy I was still slicing and that she had the easy job of placing the meat in the people’s plates. And I started to find much joy in the joy of that student (John Piper would obviously agree with me). Yes, I finally cut the last piece and when I opened my hand to drop the knife on the table, my fingers were not totally able to move and stretch as they should and looked like I was still holding a knife, it was painful, but my heart was glad, knowing that this girl had the joy of not “suffering this agony”.

That might be the only time I was selfless for a truly good reason. I want to surrender to Jesus my lack of faith, my pain, my frustrations and simply seek the joy of the people surrounding me instead of pursuing mine. I hope Jesus is making me into a more selfless Gabrielle, literally on a day-to-day basis. It’s a harsh attitude for the flesh, and the joy might not come all the time, but I can’t disobey my Savior on the basis that I don’t get the “reward” right away. That is called faith. Although, this calls for wisdom. Selflessness must be pursued in a “mentorish” relationship with Jesus and His Holy Spirit. No legalism is allowed, only genuine love. One must always be careful to remember that we are a part of the body of Christ, and not apart the body of Christ. We aren’t the doctor that will heal and encourage and hurt for everyone else (we can’t put everyone before us all the time) we must realize we are a part of Christ’s body and we have brothers and sisters with us to help us in our ups and downs, they too, are called to be selfless and if they are, then you’ll be cared for and put in front of many other people. May we all pursue selflessness. Isn’t it better than selfishness? Think about it:
Selfishness: You care about yourself and everyone care about themselves.
Selflessness: You care about everyone and everyone care about you.
Conclusion: selfishness provides you with 1 “carer”, selflessness gives you dozens of people caring for you.

My thoughts went too far for this entry.

Remember the Native Missionaries. As of April 17, 12$ has been gathered. It’ll be sent to Gospel for Asia on April 28. Please, consider giving a buck of two. Talk to me about it. gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Thanks to all who prayed and hugged and emailed me for encouraging me in these hard little last days. May God bless you and do good to you.

It's a bit tough right now

2006-04-15T22:32:00.000-06:00

Sorrow is heavy on my heart tonight. I haven’t taken the time to write on this blog for a while because I spent pretty much all my free time with my friends. This week was the last week of school, so I did not feel like writing or calling people or anything of the kind, I just wanted to appreciate the last moments with the people here. Today was commencement (graduation) at Bethany and now most students are gone. I find myself alone and I really feel empty. I feel like a stranger in this flat land. I guess my circle of friends here were my family, my life, but now they’re gone. It feels like I don’t know what I am doing here anymore since the people I love are far away. I hate having to say good bye to those dear to my heart, it is so hard. I went for a walk to cry out to Jesus and I’ve been realizing that I go to Him mostly when things are hard, harder than I expected them to be. I don’t seek Him as much when things go well. I’m learning that I cannot do anything against the seasons that come and go in my life. That I must embrace what is before me, it is useless to look behind me day after day. A neat season of good times is now over, and I am entering in a new season in my life. I see it as a season of drought, where I’ll experience solitude as my daily bread (even in crowds) but a time when I’ll draw closer to Jesus, because He’ll be the only one I can cry out to. I’m not sure why I’m writing this in my blog. To be sincere, to write about anything else would be a bit fake from me. I usually never write about how my heart’s doing, but today has been a tough day and I don’t feel like writing about anything else. I wonder what Jesus wants to teach me and how my next two and a half months here at Bethany will be like. I want to cling to yesterday, but I can’t. It’s just too hard for my heart to say good bye to people I know I probably won’t ever see again in this life.
Please pray for me. I may look strong and I often think I am. But really, I’ve got nothing to boast about. Again I realize how weak and frail I am. Pray, not that I’ll find joy again, I know I need to go through this drought, so pray that I’ll be sensitive to Jesus’ voice and learn to follow Him every day. Pray that I’ll find ways to serve Him and his people with contentment. Please, feel free to email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca or drop a comment here to let me know about your prayer requests. I know that spending my time sighing about my own little difficulties is not healthy, if I can pray for other people’s hardships, it’ll free me somehow. I know.

Mountain of God
Third Day
I thought that I was all alone - Broken and afraid
But you were there with me - Yes, you were there with me
And I didn’t even know - That I had lost my way
But you were there with me - Yes you were there with me
‘Til you opened up my eyes - I never knew
That I couldn’t ever make it - Without you

Even though the journey’s long – And I know the road is hard
Well, the One who’s gone before me – He will help me carry on
And after all that I’ve been through - Now I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley – To stand upon the mountain of God

As I travel on the road - That you have led me down
You are here with me – Yes you are here with me
I have need for nothing more – Oh now that I have found
That you are here with me – Yes you are here with me
I confess from time to time - I lose my way
But you are always there - To bring me back again

Sometimes I think of where it is I’ve come from
And the things I’ve left behind - But of all I’ve had, what I possessed
Nothing can quite compare - With what’s in front of me

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 5$/ as of April 15, 2006.
MONEY WILL BE SENT ON APRIL 28, 2006.

Repent and be Baptized

2006-04-09T23:10:00.000-06:00

I remember thinking about this some years ago, reading different accounts of people getting saved and being baptized right away, (Acts 2:38; 8:34-38; 10:44-48 etc.) I was a bit lost when I asked myself the question “So why don’t we do that anymore today?” Why don’t we baptize people the same day they get saved? I think that there was a waiting period of about 5 years for me, in between the day I got saved and the day I was baptized. Simply because I didn’t really think about it and people did not push me to it. I think that usually, people get saved and then are taught by other Christians about discipleship and after that they’re ready to be baptized, that takes a few months. I’d say that usually, new believers are baptized within the first year of their conversion (or later). At least, that’s what I’ve seen around me. I think that the main reason why we don’t baptize new believers very soon after their conversion is that we want to see for ourselves if he/she is serious and will persevere in the faith. It’s a good thing… but why do we dare to evaluate one’s salvation? I’ve heard of pastors, after many years of ministry, realizing they weren’t saved and coming to Christ, I’ve known adults being baptized and after a couple of years, being baptized again because they confessed that the first time, they just did it to please people, I’ve known people getting baptized and after many years of obedience to God, leave the faith. We all have heard about such things, and please I do not mean to put down these people who got baptized more than once, I believe these people are examples of humility and true disciples of Christ.

So we usually want to teach the new believers before they are baptized just so they understand what they should believe and what the church believes and what it means to be a Christian or to follow Christ. We chat with them and help them understand anything they need to realize and we watch them as they grow and make sure they’re sticking to Jesus, and then, when the person is ready, and when it fits in the 2 dates of baptism Sundays in the yearly calendar of the church, then, ok you can be baptized. I am sorry if this sounds bad, but that’s the way some churches do it, I know it’s different in different churches. Anyways, why do we do it that way? Why do we need to see perseverance before baptism when in Paul’s days people repented and were baptized? Maybe I’m not thinking properly here or maybe someone could come with the answer that we don’t live in the same culture or else, but I wonder about somethings.

I think that many so-called “new believers” aren’t as serious as those in the early church’s times.

What I mean to say is that, nowadays, many people “accept Jesus” with little understanding of their desperate need of a Messiah, a Savior, of Jesus. I don’t think that people quite get it and so accept this good news of free heaven and start “churching” with other believers. When they aren’t satisfied with the church’s teachings or because they don’t want to surrender themselves to the lordship of Jesus, they simply leave.

The people in the Acts who came to Christ, came with a desperate heart, a real and passionate realization of their damnation and need for the Messiah, Jesus. As we read in Acts 2:37 “When the people heard this (that they had crucified the Messiah), they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” These people realized that they had crucified the Messiah of God, they found themselves completely empty-handed, having killed the Messiah, I am sure they thought “Man, we killed God’s Savior for us, what can we do now? God is for sure utterly against us! Woe to us!” that’s why they asked the Believers what they should do. They understood they desperately needed Jesus, it was a death and life issue.

Usually, here in Canada that’s not how people come to Jesus.

I think that this problem of people not being very serious or not understanding their deep need for Jesus, today, is partially, because of us, Believers. The way we bring the Gospel to unbelievers is crucial. I tend to forget to tell people that they need to repent. They need to see that they are lost. That a curse is on them because they, yes, crucified the Son of God. There is different ways to bring the Gospel to people and sometimes, the Gospel is altered and people don’t realize their deep need and the cost of following Jesus.

Jesus was always blunt about it. “ ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.’ ” (Mat. 8:19-20) “… go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mat. 19:21) “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mk 8:34).

Where is our talk about the cost of following Jesus and the damnation that is upon us as long as we remain without Jesus?

So if we’d be serious in the way we present the Gospel to unbelievers, even if it means we have to say that it’s going to be hard to follow Jesus, even if it means to wait for the people to come to point to really realize their need for Jesus, even if it means to have less people accepting Christ today, I am sure that those who will come with a sincere repentance and desperate need to be saved, realizing their sin, these people will be ready for baptism right away. That’s the way it was in Peter’s days, they were blunt about it, they were true. If we need to “test” the faith of new believers, it’s maybe because we have made ourselves judges over them and because people don’t come to Christ with a full understanding. I guess you could say that, that’s why we teach them before they get baptized. You might be right, be obviously what we see in the N.T. is that people truly understood and repented of their sins, believed Jesus and were baptized (all in the same part of the day!)

This entry is getting too long. I am sorry. I might further my thoughts later.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 5$/ as of April 9, 2006

VBS Child Packets

2006-04-06T23:24:00.000-06:00

Last year more than 300,000 children were enrolled in Gospel for Asia’s VBS (Vacation Bible School) programs across India, Nepal and Sri Lanka, and more than 40,000 gave their hearts to Jesus.
This summer GFA’s missionaries and churches are planning for even more children in VBS. This is a native outreach – one that will result in thousands of children saved and their families impacted with the Good New of Jesus Christ.
Please pray for these upcoming VBS programs, that God would use them to touch the hearts of thousands of boys and girls across South Asia. I also want to ask you to consider providing a VBS packet for a child that includes a Bible verse wall plaque, a Bible story booklet, a New Testament and a cassette tape with a short message and songs.
Each packet costs only 1$! So you can express your love for these children by providing VBS packets that will help carry the Gospel to entire communities!

This month’s BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES’ moneys will be sent on April 28th, all the money that the readers of this blog will send me will be given to Gospel for Asia so they can provide VBS packets to these children. 1$ isn’t much!
VBS programs in South Asia have a great impact, not only on children, but on their parents who live enslaved to a false religion and in worshiping many gods. Kids go back home and sing the songs they learned, tell the stories about Jesus to their parents and etc. Usually, this is totally new for the parents, to hear about Jesus. So please, d not only think about giving, do give! Either by sending the money to Gospel for Asia (245 King St. E, Stoney Creek, ON, L8G 1L9) specifying that you’re giving for the VBS Child Packets, or send your buck or two to me (Box 196, Hepburn, SK, S0K 1Z0 - gabeleroux@yahoo.ca) and I’ll send them along with other people’s and mine on April 28.

There is 5$ in the BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES yet… so 5 VBS packets!

Year Round Lent

2006-04-05T22:19:00.000-06:00

Lent is good, but it makes me think, I want lent to be all year round for me, not only a 40 day thing. I am not saying that I want to give up chocolate or going to the theatre or else for ever. But I would like lent to be a general principle in my life.
It’s a pretty strange, or maybe a shameful feeling for Christians to say to their unbeliever friends, “Oh, sorry, I don’t eat chips, it’s lent” but I feel almost ashamed sometimes to answer questions coming from fellow Christians asking me why I don’t eat a snack like them, or why I got up early that morning or etc. Because I know that they’d think that I’m a bit odd, or a bit too spiritual (I know I am odd, but my heart isn’t godly at all). I think it’s sad that I fear that Christians will look down on me, or won’t understand me because I am trying, sometimes, to be godly and act upon the knowledge I have and what God puts on my heart to do. It’s not that I care too much about what people think of me (although I do), but it’s sad that lots of Christians think it’s strange, it’s abnormal or legalistic to be wanting to follow in the footsteps of Christ in ways that are higher than praying before meals, going to church and being nice to people. That’s why I feel “ashamed” sometimes, I feel like I’m “doing” lent out of season and people don’t understand why.
I want lent to characterize the way I live, I want to be able to give up the usual comforts I grew up with, like peanut butter on my toasts and having many clothes so I can save money to help those who don’t even have half of what I possess. I want to give up my rights to be first and to get even, to shine forth Jesus’ attitude and open doors to speak about Him to unbelievers. I want to give up a littlebit of my sleep every night to pray for God’s people. I want to give up wasting my time watching movies or etc. in order to spend time with God or care for someone. I want to be able to “suffer” a little bit in little ways like that, everyday of my life. Isn’t it the way Jesus lived? Isn’t the way His followers are called to live? “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31); Never be lacking any zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Rom.12:11-12); He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work… that he may have something to share with those in need” (Eph. 4:28) “… be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18) “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24) and so on.
I hope I can be “doing” lent all year round, so I can “suffer” with Christ somehow, so I can know Jesus better, so I can do the right things instead of doing the fun things and stay comfortable, not understanding Jesus calls me for a deeper intimacy, a stronger love, a greater commitment, a higher ministry. It’s my hope, but really I am not living lent everyday, it’s more a roller coaster thing, but I hope I can grow and learn from the heart to follow Christ with my cross upon my shoulder.

Nota Bene: Please, do not believe I am against having fun or eating ice cream or don’t think I’m saying we have no rights of our own. This is what I think God calls me to live like, I will enjoy a movie with friends and etc. at times too, but I believe that we should read God’s Word and pray He’d open our eyes to understand what He wants for us. Let Jesus tell you how you are to follow Him, not Gabe. But obviously, since we read the same Bible, we’ll find the same principles. I hope you’ll seek to practice lent all year round!

Lent

2006-04-03T23:11:00.000-06:00

Before coming to Saskatchewan I’m not sure if I had ever heard about this, lent. I probably did but I obviously don’t remember and so I did not really understood what it was. I don’t even know how we call that “season” in French… or I don’t remember maybe. I guess that the reader knows what lent is and why and etc. but I’ll write about it because it’s something fairly new to me.

On my second mission trip to Louisiana in 2003 our leader drove our white 15-passangers van for about 12 hours non-stop (apart for the few stops for gas and bathroom) so we would get to Lafayette very late that Monday night. After sleeping a few hours in a church and finding barbecues in the outside showers at 4am or something like that, we got ready and finally found a parking spot near Main street in Lafayette. Well, I don’t remember the name of the street, but it was the Main street. Hundreds of people had gathered, wearing long bead necklaces of all kinds, others were rolling their little shopping carts around, selling necklaces, masks, all sorts of stuff. The Main street was closed with fences, so nobody could drive or even walk there. People were sitting everywhere by the fences, there was lots of people. That was the beginning of “Mardi Gras” (Fat Tuesday) in Lafayette. We stayed for the first parade (the King’s Parade) then we left, knowing that the coming parades would not be appropriate for Christians, children and teens, or anybody that wants to keep his eyes pure. Anyways, we left in between the two parades.
The next day, I remember seeing lots of people, walking in the street, entering Mc Donald’s and etc. having a gray spot on their forehead. That is, a “ash spot” as I like to call it. That was, obviously, Ash Wednesday. People had indulged themselves in all kinds of sinful practices on Mardi Gras and the next day, went to the church (Catholic I believe) and got a ash spot on their forehead, they got “forgiven”.
And from that day on (or is it on Mardi Gras?) the season of lent had started, till Easter came.

Lent is a period of 40 days (or is it 48?) before Easter. Willing Christians choose to give up something during that period, like chocolate, carbs, or anything they like to do, in order to experience somehow, not only with their comprehension, but with their bodies, the sufferings Jesus went through for us when he was “captured” and crucified. If you want to see what lent is for some people, watch the film “Chocolat”, lent is pictured in a very legalistic way there. I don’t know what I think about lent though. I think it’s a good idea, but I realize that our giving up of, let’s say, chocolate for 40 days, will obviously not make us experience the sufferings Jesus went through. To me it sounds a bit… foolish to think that “I won’t eat chocolate in order to understand more how Jesus suffered for me”. I know that for some people, giving up certain things can be very hard though. I don’t want you to think that I am against lent. I think it’s a neat idea and that since I know when to start it now, I’ll probably give up something next lent (2007). But if it is done in a legalistic way (I do it because I was told to) or because of self-righteousness (I do it because people will think well of me) then lent doesn’t mean anything. We should give up something that will cost us something, like we like to say my sister and I at New Year’s “This year, I’ll give up eating whale”, “This year I’ll stop drinking”. We just say that for fun, but you get my point, if we give up chocolate simply ‘cause it’s an easy one, then we won’t “suffer” and the point of lent is to “suffer”.

I’ll say my point in the next entry…

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0$ / as of April 3, 2006

Kerosene Lantern

2006-04-02T23:31:00.000-06:00

It’s late and I should probably go to bed but since I’m off tomorrow, I thought I should celebrate by staying up. But the thing is this: when I stay up too late, then my day off is ruined because I sleep in for too long. But I am in the mood to think and write, only because I’ve been listening to some slow, good music and been reading my friend’s concordance for a while tonight.

So I have no idea who stops by and reads the entries on this blog, apart from the few who leave comments or email me about what I write. But, I hope all of you noticed about the “Bank for Native Missionaries” I set up in February. I was really amazed to be able to send 29$ just today, to Gospel for Asia, so that they get a kerosene lantern for the native missionary in Asia who needs it most. I really did not think I’d send that much money right from the first month. God surprises me and I have been encouraged by those who sent me money to support God’s servants in Asia.

I’ve always thought that giving to missionaries or a mission, to people I don’t know, who lives in a far away country and etc. was not for me. But God made me realize that I am rich, living life as easy as possible, trying to be holy and sometimes grab the opportunity to speak about Jesus to those who don’t know Him, while natives of Asia gave up jobs and money, were rejected by their families, are going hungry, walk miles and miles to reach the next village to speak about Jesus… I feel like I’m doing nothing here in my little life, thinking and writing and working and reading and laughing and eating and “churching” and… while my brothers and sisters in other parts of the world are having a tough day, stomachs partially empty, feet soar from walking, still proclaiming Jesus as Savior to anybody they can find. This is not the condition of every single native missionary, some of them are living in better conditions, some are worse. I just feel poor, naked, blind and wretched (see Revelation 3:17ff) when I think about them and me. I sometimes even have a hard time praying for them, because I feel so unworthy. In my eyes, they are really obedient to God and full of love and I think they are amazing saints, but in reality they are simple people who believed Jesus and took His call upon their lives seriously. That’s as easy as it is. I think it’s just the way believers should be: crazy maniac for Jesus. Do not misunderstand me. Wouldn’t it be the normal thing to do to surrender all to Christ and obey Him in every detail of our lives since He provided salvation from eternal punishment for us?

I cannot go (and it’d probably be less than “impacting”) to these villages where the name Jesus has never been heard, I don’t speak the language, I don’t know the culture, I am white. But natives of the country, they know the culture, they speak the languages, they know how to reach these areas. I have many material blessings and God is asking me to partake in His work of redemption out there, where people never heard about Jesus. He wants me to pray and surrender everything to Him, so I can send a few bucks here and there to support His missionaries out there. It’s very easy to say “I have no money, I’ve got debts and etc.” what about the peanut butter you had on your toast this morning? What about the snack you had this afternoon, what about the 4th t-shirt you bought last month? What about the book or cd or… these are little things that we buy without even thinking. I don’t think it’s bad in itself, but I think God wants us to put a few of our comforts aside and save a few bucks here and there so we can help our brothers and sisters who don’t even have what we call “the basics” in our society. Why should we help them? Because they spread the Gospel and they need us to help them buy food and clothing, gospel tracts, kerosene lanterns, New Testaments, bicycles…

Why do we buy pretty much anything without praying about it, but when we’re asked to support missionary work, we become very spiritual and say we need to pray about it?
I challenge you to set aside a buck or too here and there during the month and send the money to Gospel for Asia www.gfa.org or any real Christian organization that seeks to reach those who never heard about Jesus, or to send it to me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca along with others who read this blog, so we can get “bigger” amount of money together. I send the money at the end of each month. Last time, we bought a kerosene lantern, what a blessing to be a part of God’s work in Asia! For now there is 0.00$ in the bank.
For more info, please leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca I’d be more than excited to answer questions and hopefully help you be a blessing to God’s servants.

On blessing God

2006-03-30T21:07:00.000-06:00

So I want to continue in my thoughts about “blessing God”. I feel a bit busy these days, too many good things to think and research about, and a book I’m reading and take millions of notes from. It’s neat, but I almost need a schedule for my free time now, to make sure I do the right things on top of these good things, like keeping in touch with family and friends and hanging out with people and etc.
Basically I started thinking about this because of Sharon. I hope she doesn’t mind her name is written here. Anyways, I hope I’ll come up with good thoughts. So the big question is this: what does it mean to “bless God” or to say “blessed be the name of the Lord”. Obviously, I am sure that all of you who sing the song “Blessed be your Name” by Matt Redman (?) should know what it means to “bless the Name of the Lord”… maybe not actually.

I took my friend’s concordance and read all the semi-verses that contained the word “bless, blessed, blessing & blessings” that took me a while. I ended up finding that most of the reference were God blessing men, or men blessing men. Just a smaller amount of references spoke of men blessing God.

Reading many verses about people blessing their children or other people or blessing God, I’ve come to notice a few things… that I am not sure yet of, but I shall expand. I think that if we come to understand a bit more about how and why people blessed others, then we’ll understand better how and why they blessed God, it cannot be two totally different things, although, it must be.
- I noticed that many times, for example, when Isaac blesses Jacob (Gen. 27:27ff) the father’s blessings upon his son, is more like a prayer than anything else. “May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine…” But does this work with God. Can we pray to God for God? Hum… Solomon sort of said something like that in Psalm 72:15b “May people ever pray for him (God, the coming Messiah) and bless him all day long” that’s interesting ‘cause there’s the aspect of prayer and blessing. So I don’t know what it means to pray for God or if I am taking this all out of context.
- Often, people don’t actually bless others. It’s something done “through” God. People would say “The blessing of the Lord be upon you, we bless you in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 129:8) so, people recognized that they were not the ones who could bless others, and that it was only God who could bless and work for the good of human beings. That’s why they “prayed” (asked) God to bless people.
- There is still this kind of “human” blessing as in 2 Samuel 13:25, when Amnon “gave him his blessing” I think it’s more the kind of “blessings” that we use in saying “I give you my blessing on your marriage” or “blessings on your work” we are simply saying that we agree with what they are doing and wish them good.
- Nehemiah 9:5 says “… Blessed be your glorious name and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens…” At times, people don’t literally bless God, but ask for God to be blessed. “Blessed be your glorious name” I think is more a way of saying “May your name be blessed” than “I myself bless you”. But the question still remains: Who’s going to bless His name?

Truly, I don’t know. I really don’t know how we could be able to utter the words “I bless you Lord” Or what it means to call God “Most blessed”. I don’t know. I think that usually we say “I bless you Lord” or “May your name be blessed” meaning “I thank you Lord”, “May all praise you” than anything else. For sure, we cannot and will never be able to bless God in the same way He blesses people, because He has power over everything and can change times and circumstances, we cannot. We cannot bless God that way. So when we use the word blessed, sometimes is to say thanks or to praise God, sometimes it is to describe how unique, set apart and awesome He is. I don’t think we can bless God, because the lesser person is blessed by the greater (Heb.7:7 hopefully this is contextual). So we are bless God in the way that we humble ourselves and praise Him for who He is and thank Him for what He does.
No further thoughts Sharon.
Please tell me (and everyone else reading) what you think about this and your own beliefs by leaving a comment.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0.00$/ as of March 30, 2006
(29$ was sent yesterday!)

Blessed

2006-03-28T22:50:00.000-06:00

Have you ever heard the words “Bless you” when someone just sneezed? Actually, I am pretty sure that most people who are reading this use these words themselves. I myself don’t make use of them, at all. It’s just not in my vocabulary I guess and it’s fine. I know how to reply to people sneezing, in three languages, but I never say anything. That’s beside the point. What I want to start thinking about here is the word BLESSED.
I got an email from a friend asking me if I had any thoughts about this word and how in the world it was possible to “bless God” as we read it so often in the Bible “Blessed be the name of the Lord”. I have asked myself the same question a few years ago. Who am I to bless God Almighty! And I’ve come out without answers… without thinking much though. I don’t have much time right now, but I want to start, at least, to think about it.

I am really lost in my thoughts, so I’ll turn to the Word of God.
I think that the big issue (at least for me), is not really to understand how I can bless someone by my actions, but by simply saying “I bless you”.
- In Genesis 12:3 we read “I will bless those who bless you…” (God to Abram) I don’t know if God meant to say “I will do good to those who do good to you” or “I will do good to those who (literally say I) bless you” maybe I am wrong, maybe it’s both. I kind of feel that it’s more an action thing, as I recount the life of Abraham, people who did good to him were rewarded.
- In Luke 1:48 “From now on all generations will call me blessed, Mary is speaking here of the grace God has granted her, to become the mother of the Messiah, she is called blessed because “the Mighty One has one great things for me”. When people are said “blessed” it’s usually because “The Mighty One has done great things” for them. It speaks about grace freely given, a blessing, a gift.
- John 12:13, Jesus enters Jerusalem and people shout “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!” I think that when people literally say “Blessed be _______” and especially in that instance, I think people don’t have any power in “blessing” the person, but it’s more like a wish or hope or prayer that is said out loud. The people of Jerusalem probably meant something like: “We hope that good will be done unto you” or maybe they were saying “You are WELL COME”…
- Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” Obviously, the opposite to bless, is to curse. So we are called to bless people! But what does it mean. I don’t know, probably, to do good to them and not do them any wrong, to bless them that way and to pray for them (for their good)…
Anyways, I don’t really want to think about how I am supposed to bless people, whether with words or actions, I wonder what it means for me to bless the Lord. How can I dare to bless Him? I’ve always thought that the older or higher in rank bless the younger or lower person, not the other way around.
When Melchizedek blessed Abram, he blessed God as well saying “And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand” (Gen. 14:18). There is a little * at the word blessed, and it says that the word here could be translated “And praise be to…” instead of “And blessed be”. I think that often, the word “blessed” can have different meanings, like to praise, to thank, …
Well, I got to go now, but I shall be thinking and researching about this issue in the days to come. Please, if you have any thought about what it means to bless the Lord, or what it means when the Word says that God is blessed forever and so on, just leave a comment, if you don’t have any idea, please read the comments posted, if there are any.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 29$ / as of March 28, 2006. Our goal to get a kerosene lantern @ 29$ has been reached! Thank you for all of you who gave to bless one of God’s servants in Asia. From tomorrow the 29th on, we’ll start all over again of the month of April, please consider giving a buck or two to this bank, so we can help our brothers and sisters in Asia who don’t have access to so many things as we do, especially for Bibles and Gospel tracts and etc. let’s be a blessing to them! Send me an email gabeleroux@yahoo.ca to know more about this and how you can make a difference in the lives of these missionaries.

Make sure you do not take your life as seriously as the lives of those around you

2006-03-26T21:06:00.000-06:00

When I was a kid I used to love making cards for people, like birthday cards, I just enjoyed drawing cartoons and I had a good imagination, I always had ideas of things to draw. Since I finished “L’école secondaire” (let’s say high school) I found myself with little imagination. Why? I’m not sure, maybe I stopped drawing my 365 drawings a year and my imagination got down the drain. Yes I was a radical. But anyways, that’s not my point. Today I found myself a bit bored. Too much thinking and reading on a day off is extremely bad for me at times. So I remembered that it was one of my friends’ birthday today and I had forgotten to make her a card. So I sat down at my desk with a white sheet of paper. I knew right away what to do with it. I folded it in 4. But that was the extent of my imagination. If I’d be 11 years old today, I would have drawn something nice right away, but 10 years later, it’s different. I just didn’t know what to draw. So I found some cheese stickers that I got at work and cut them to form letters and sticked “Happy B day” on the card. Then I wrote a little something in the card, you know what I mean. I found myself thinking and writing down (yes, in the card) my random thought. I wrote “I wonder if I take my life too seriously and the lives of others not as seriously as I should” or something like that.

Isn’t it true? Just read my last entry and you’ll see. I’ve been sort of thinking –worrying- not extremely much, but a lot these last days about next fall and what will happen with me, where will I be and what will I do. Then I find this thought popping in my mind, maybe I take my life too seriously and I don’t care enough about other people’s life. I felt like expanding my thought in the birthday card, but I woke up realizing that this was not my blog or the notebook I write in, it was a birthday card. It was a good surprise to think about that when I had been worrying about my life. Maybe I do take my life too seriously and I worry about trivialities and God’s will and future stuff and etc. too seriously and I should be thinking about God’s Kingdom, how I can serve Him today in practical ways, how I can care for someone else’s life, love, help, provide wisdom and encouragement to people. I think that if I take the lives of people around me and on earth seriously I will automatically fulfill my own desire to take my life seriously. Wasn’t it the way Jesus lived? I don’t think He spent much time thinking about His needs and His desires and His future, although, I am sure He did to some extent. But I believe that His heart was fixed on His Father’s desires and on His fellows’ needs. It makes me think of the greatest commandment “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mat. 22:37) and the second greatest one, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat. 22:38). If I want to live by these 2 commandments, my life will be centered on God and people. I don’t mean to say that one shouldn’t take one’s life seriously at all. We have to be good stewards of what we have, things, opportunities, money and so on. But we need to focus our hearts on God’s desires, on people’s needs and live not for our own benefit, but for Jesus’, for others’.

How can I stick to the plan when I don’t know what is the plan?

2006-03-24T22:56:00.000-06:00

So, every year I find myself thinking about what will happen with me “next year”. I really dislike it when people ask me “So, what are you doing in the fall?” I usually respond with a deep sigh and different possibilities. The thing is that, I don’t like choices and possibilities, I just want to be told where to go, I just want God to clearly tell me what He wants, I’d be happy with that. The thing I omitted here is that God does reveal His will for me every single year, just not in my timing.

The way my brain works doesn’t make sense to me. When I started working a second year at Bethany I was convinced that it was my last year (and I am still convinced) so I decided that it was finally time for me to go to university. I like to be in control and to know everything, I knew that God that had grown in my heart the idea of starting university a few years ago but I had pushed it away, for human reasons. Last semester I decided I’d stop to depend on myself and trust God about university and apply, I didn’t know where I’d live or how I’d pay for it all, I just decided to do what I thought God called me to do. I felt like God was saying “Finally, you surrender”. God did lead me in the choice of universities I should apply at and it seemed to me that He wanted me in Sherbrooke, where I learnt later on, that a bunch of my friends where moving together. I guess that confidence started to build up in me, since I had the opportunity to move with them. It was like, my “plan B” if God’s plan wouldn’t work. It doesn’t matter if I go to university or not, I know where to take refuge. So I wasn’t trusting God as in the beginning but I did not notice. Things changed and finally I wouldn’t be able to move with these friends anymore. Well, I could but things would be more complicated and etc. so I guess God used this to call me home and make me copy one hundred times the words “trust me” on His blackboard. He is so loving. I had started with faith, now I was relying on man. And now, again, I think that I’ve come to the point where I surrender to God. The burden is lighter, much lighter.

I have no idea where God will lead me and how, but I know he will. He has been faithful every year. I don’t think I’ll be accepted in any university I applied; new dreams are building up though. I don’t know what to think, I guess I’ll stick to the plan, I’m learning that my part is to trust God and God’s is to reveal and teach me the plan.

This morning I read Jeremiah 17. Verse 5 helped me to realize that I had turned my eyes to man when they were first on God. It says, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for His strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord.’” I pray that I learn to surrender to Him and trust Him alone.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 25$ / as of March 24, 2006. We plan to send the money to Gospel for Asia so they can buy a kerosene lantern (29$) for one of their most needy native missionary. Please consider providing for the little 4$ left. Money will be sent on March 29 so, please let me know soon if you’re giving. Thanks again to all who provided money yet!

Further Thoughts about Love (don't take my picture seriously but take these thoughts seriously!)

2006-03-21T22:49:00.000-06:00

So in the last entry I simply started thinking about laziness and it led me to conclude (partially for sure) that often I am lazy because I lack love for the people around me. While I was thinking about it in the cold streets of Hepburn, I didn’t think my problem –my sin- was a lack of love. Oh, I say “was” but it still a reality for me today, I have little love for people so I am slow to help or frustrated to do things for others or have a hard time praying for them, and being lazy in my walk with God –having little passion in reading His Word and praying, no to seek time with Him, show that I have little love for Him. But don’t take my words as truths, only as thoughts coming from a struggling girl. Anyways, this is not Sunday school, so I don’t need to survey our last class.

I was hit again by God’s Word about love. I know I lack love –major. But God used His Word, not only thoughts of mine in the chilly Saskatchewan. A few days ago I was reading Revelation 2. I like the beginning and the end of this book, everything in between has a obscure meaning to me. Anyways, I was reading chapter 2, what Jesus had to say to the church in Ephesus (v.1-7).

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.” – To this point everything seems to be pretty smooth. But having read this book a few times, I obviously felt that things were not as neat as they seemed to be. And I knew this description of the church looked like my own. Jesus goes on, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the same things you did at first…”

I really felt like this was not the church in Ephesus, but Gabrielle herself. I think I can discern the right from the wrong in “biblical / spiritual / religious” matters (the everyday stuff) and I know lots of things about the Bible and I think and etc. and all of that is good in itself, but the thing is that, this church was upright in its knowledge and sufferings for Jesus, only they had forsaken their first love. I wonder how this can be possible. How can one do and think the right things about God and even go through hardships and trials for Jesus’ name and lack love for Him? How can it be? I’m not sure at all about it. But I’ve been thinking about it since a couple of months without having any biblical example (looks like I’ve found one).
I’ve been thinking about 2 things.
First, one can do and think the right things only out of duty or habit. So the heart isn’t involved, the love isn’t there.
Second, one can do and think the right things, only to “be like” these holy people one has heard of. You read and hear stuff about these “super Christians” or Puritans or Missionaries and you long to be like them / have the same relationship they had with God, so you devote yourself to apply to your life the same disciplines and etc. they had. Sometimes this leads to maturity and it’s good. But sometimes it leads to a fake pursuit of holiness, of God. It is done out of love for ourselves (wanting to be like these great people, not like Jesus…).

So if I know the right stuff and even suffer for the name of Jesus my love for Him can be lacking. Because if my heart is absent from my actions – even suffering for Jesus can be done with wrong motives – then, there is no love for Jesus. When I say “wrong motives” I don’t think (only) about things that are obviously wrong. Wrong motives are sometimes hard to find, but they are often found in our self-love or pride (I suffer for Jesus because people will think I’m a great Christian) and it’s hard to really know what drives us… well, it is for me.
The NIV and the French (LS) use the word “Forsake” / “Abandonner” to describe what happened. I’m thinking, when I forsake something or someone, is it for nothing? I usually forsake e.i.: peanut butter for honey (although together on a bun these two are amazing) do you get the point? I say good bye to something in order to embrace something else. Well, maybe not all the time. But it makes me think, when Jesus says to this church that they forsook their first love, they left it for what or who?
I must say that I don’t know and I don’t feel like thinking right now. I would love to write and think more about this, I shall do that later hopefully.

Please leave your thoughts and comments; you do not need to own a blog to drop a comment. I am not sure if I communicated my thoughts properly, I am too lazy to explain everything that could lead to confusion and this is getting long.

Do not forget our brothers and sisters in Asia, we still need 4$ (dead line is March 29) to add to our 25$ to buy a kerosene lantern for a native missionary out there and yes, you are welcome to give a buck or two to help! gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Laziness

2006-03-18T22:55:00.000-06:00

It was on a late Friday night, the wind was sweeping the snow into the streets of a small village in the Canadian Prairies. It was more than chilly, it was bitter. For the last several days the snow kept falling down almost unceasingly, but that night, the sky was totally clear; at last it was not snowing anymore. As I walked out the dorm I quickly ran to the main building of the school and went through it to get to the street, I could have walked outside, but I wanted to take with me every particle of warmth I could before heading home. Again I hit the cold wind as I left the building and started to run on the sidewalk, well aware that I could easily slip and fall because of the thick layer of ice under my feet and the snow that was pilled up high here and there on my path, but it was rude, harsh weather so I ran. As I crossed the street I looked up and what I saw literally stopped me from running and even walking. For about 10 second, there in the middle of the street, I stared at this big, strong orange, full moon. The sky in the Prairies is different than anywhere else and at some times, one can witness beauties. I felt compelled to keep on walking, I had run for a while and now I was wasting my time in the cold. So I continued on my way. As I stumbled through the snow in the street, I thought that I should take a picture of that moon. But doing that required me to go back in the cold after getting my camera at home. So I turned down my own idea. Still breathing the freezing air, I started to think about laziness.

I thought myself to be lazy for not daring to spend more than the minimum amount of time I was obligated to, that is my 5 minute walk from the school to my home. I’d be nice to have a picture of this gorgeous moon, but I was too lazy in my pursuit. A picture in this case isn’t a big deal, but it made me think about my laziness in general.
People are always finding news ways to make our lives easier and painless. Just look at your computer (that you think is slow), or your phone, or television or… all of these were made in part so human beings would communicate quickly and easily when apart. Think about your car or the toilet or food mixer or… all of that, so we’d be able to live and work in ways that are more comfortable. And that’s neat, I believe human are extremely intelligent beings and that’s to the glory of God.
I guess I’m just used to find ways to do my work as quickly as possible with the best tools I can get so it’s easy. I guess I’m used to be warm, so it’s hard to stay in the cold. I am used to have electricity and running water and my schedule and… It’s good, but the thing is that when something happen, when I want to take a picture in the cold or when I need to go outside to get some more lugs of wood to heat the house or shovel the driveway instead of using the neighbor’s “blowing machine”, or when I’m asked to wash the dishes when it’s not my turn or… You know, anytime you’re not in your comfort zone… Well when that stuff happens, are we quick to get up and do the work or walk one more mile in the snow or stay up or get up early? Most of the time, I find myself doing these things with frustration or very slowly to show my disagreement and etc.
I feel that we are lazy. Apart from a few individuals who have the heart of servants, we hardly run to help or do things that aren’t required but would be nice to do. I guess, it’s partially not “our” fault. We grew up in a world where everything is always perfected for our comfort, so we want to be comfortable and have it all as easy as possible. But really, this is not an excuse for being lazy.
I think that our problem, or my problem, is a lack of love, a lack of passion. When I think about it, if I would have a friend who loves moons, it would have been easy for me to go home and go back in the cold and take a picture for my friend. It’s easy for me to do things I usually don’t like, to help someone I love, I am never lazy when asked for a favour from a friend. Why? Because I love the person, so it’s easy… I’m not sure how it works though. So I wonder, what am I telling the people, what am I telling God when I am slow to help my brothers and sisters when they need help, thinking that others can help them? What does it say about me when I have a hard time doing things differently for someone else’s sake? I am simply spelling the phrase “Gabe has little love for you” to these people.

I pray that I am becoming more and more eager to help and do things for others, that I don’t wait for someone else to fill the blank spot on the “Need Volunteers” sheet. I want to be challenged every day to work and live in ways that will show people their worth because they are God’s creation.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 25$ / as of March 18, 2006.
On March 29th I will send the gift to Gospel for Asia and ask them to buy a KEROSENE LANTERN @ 29$ - Please consider providing for the lacking 4$ to help a native missionary in need of light when it’s dark outside and needs to find his way home or show a gospel track or some verses to people without Jesus. Thank you again to those who contributed already this month.

Tell me why

2006-03-17T23:21:00.000-06:00

"The typical media testimony goes like this: « I was sick and broke a total failure. Then I met Jesus. New everything is fine; my business is booming, and I am a great success.”
It sounds wonderful. Be a Christian and get a bigger house and a boat and vacation in the Holy Land. But if that were really God’s way, it would put some Christians behind the Iron Curtain and in the Two-Thirds World in a pretty bad light. Their testimonies often go something like this:
“I was happy. I had everything – prestige, recognition, a good job, and a happy wife and children. Then I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Now I am in Siberia, having lost family, wealth, reputation, job and health.”
K.P. Yohannan

That is very interesting. Don’t you think so? I don’t mean to say “interesting” and leave my interest here, forget and live just as if I didn’t read these few phrases. That is very interesting to me. Because when I think about it, I realize that it is very true. Isn’t it true that I want to enjoy life to the best, be loved by people around me, have nice things, be accepted by the “cool” people (even though I don’t want to be like them and I don’t necessarily like them, I still want to look good in their eyes)… Isn’t it true? And I think it’s true for most Christians too. If you don’t think such things as I write them, just look at the way you spend money, the way you dress when you go to church or a special event, just look at what you’re thinking when you’re around cool people. How do you feel like when the preacher asks people to come forward when you know you should go (not just to receive salvation by for different things)? What is your first thought when your schedule has to change because of a prayer meeting? When you’re on a mission trip and you have to sleep on the floor or do door-to-door evangelism in the heat of a humid day? I could go on and on with examples but I hope you get the point. The thing is that I want to be comfortable and pain-free… on earth. I want the easy path and I don’t like giving up my so-called “rights”. Like the rich young man (Mat. 19:16-22) who went to Jesus and asked Him how he could receive life everlasting, Jesus tells him at the end to give everything he had to the poor and follow Him. The rich man left, sad, because he didn’t want to depart from his riches. I know it sounds ridiculous, but what do you think Jesus would have said to this man if he would have started following Jesus and then went home for the night, did whatever he needed to do like work and take care of his land and etc. and when he had some free time during the day, hung out with Jesus, then went home for a snack and slept in his bed… It sounds funny. It seems to me that Jesus is taken as a mere “pal”. But that’s not what he asked of the rich man. “Give up everything and follow me” was basically what he told him.
So why do we act like that? Why do I think that I can “follow” Jesus to paradise by walking with Him whenever I feel like it, and skip the parts where he suffers and is ridiculed? Does it make sense? Why am I looking for a comfortable life and hope for more money, more friends to make me feel good about myself, more nice stuff?
People who came to Christ long ago did not come in order to get a heaven and a good life, people now countries where Christianity is rejected come to Christ not in the hope of getting a better health or life, they’re looking for something far beyond this.
I want to be able to say that I am following Christ because I gave up everything for Him. It doesn’t mean I need to go live on the street. It means that the way I live every minute of my life, at school, work, church, with friends, etc. is under the control of Jesus, I don’t do things my way, I don’t buy things I crave, I don’t think the way this world thinks about success, I live according to Jesus and I desire His approval alone.
I hope I am living more and more that way. It doesn’t mean it is easy, sin challenges me all the time, and all the more when I take a step for Christ. We aren’t called to live like the rest of the world, our Savior died on a cross, scoffed by sinners and asks us to take up our cross and do the same. It’s okay if I’m not accepted for doing the things of God, it’s okay if people laugh at me because I go to church every Sunday and talk about Jesus, it’s okay to surrender my rights to show love to others, it’s okay to speak up and tell people that the conversation isn’t right, it’s okay to seek Jesus in a radical way. It hurts deeply, but that’s the narrow road on which Jesus walked.
Please check up www.randomnesssignedgibbons.blogspot.com that’s were I found inspiration.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 25$/ as of March 17, 2006.
I WILL BE SENDING THE MONEY TO GOSPEL FOR ASIA ON MARCH 29 THIS MONTH. WE’LL PROBABLY GET A KEROSENE LANTERN @ 29$. Yes I know, all we have is 25$ but I am sure that we’ll get the 4$ we need for it before the 29th. Please consider being a part of the work of native missionaries in Asia by sending to Gospel for Asia or myself a buck or two or more so we can buy things that these saints need in the work of spreading the good news of Jesus out there.

Oh, by the way, now you can leave a comment on my blog, whoever you are. You don’t need to own your own blog or anything. Just leave a comment by clicking on the “comments” link.

Chips & Salsa

2006-03-14T22:54:00.000-06:00

"Many native missionaries and their families experience days without food – not because they are fasting voluntarily but because they have no money to buy rice. This occurs especially when they start new work in villages where there are no Christians.
Remembering the heartbreaking suffering of the native brethren, I sometimes refused to eat the desserts so often served to me. I am sure this made no difference in supplying food for the hungry families, but I couldn’t bear to take pleasure in eating while Christian workers in Asia were going hungry."
K.P. Yohannan, Revolution in World Missions

A bunch of bible college students and I were hanging out at some friends’ place in the city. The students had brought chips, salsa and drinks to enjoy during the evening. We had a great time indeed, playing some games and we laughed a lot. The chips and salsa were set before us and everyone started to dig in with delight as we chatted. Then people were asked what they wanted to drink. I did not eat or drink anything that evening. I was asked several times if I wanted some chips or people told me that I was allowed to drink something, but I refused. It’s not that I was more spiritual or something, but I was simply watching the people eating and I just felt that it was sad. Every time we get together, here in the West, we like to have food to enjoy, and it’s great. I have nothing against that. We have the privilege to enjoy food almost all the time. But that evening, I just sat there and watched. I almost felt like I was actually only present in spirit, totally detached from the group. I thought that people were probably not realizing how much we take food for granted and not as a blessing from God, that most people on earth had barely what they needed to eat everyday or less, and here we were, enjoying good company and eating thoughtlessly.
As K.P. Yohannan says, I knew that refusing to eat a thing did not supply any food to anybody (or actually, maybe more chips to my friends…) but I was simply in my thinking mood and felt I couldn’t simply enjoy food and drinks that evening, because so many people had a hard time getting one meal a day for themselves.

It makes me feel like I need to be more aware of the blessing I have to have three meals a day and often, snacks in between. Every time there is food for me to enjoy, a meal or a snack, I should take the time to bless God for His goodness to me. And I should help others around me, who enjoy the same blessings, to thank God precisely for that food.

Being thankful is one thing, but I think there is more to be done, more that is expected from us. It makes me think of the story in the New Testament where it is said that a certain person walks by someone who lacks clothes and doesn’t have food and the person simply leave him and say “Be merry, keep warm and eat well” without helping this someone in need, or something like that, I can’t find it now but… It is one thing to enjoy with thankfulness the blessings of God on our life, but not being sensitive to the needs of others when we have plenty, will, I believe, pile up a judgment on ourselves.

When I watch people and listen what they say, I am a bit confused. People like to complain and talk about how little money they have and all the bills they have to pay, while eating in a restaurant, or wearing a new pair of jeans, or licking the ice cream cone they just bought. It doesn’t make sense to me. There are plenty of ways we can save money. I might sound out-of-context, but when we think of it, since we have so much and enjoy without really realizing how blessed we are, why shouldn’t we consider to cut back on things like snacks, a 5th pair of pants, getting the last cd of our favourite band and etc. to save that money and support our brothers and sisters in need. We sometimes thin we are in need so why should we supply for other people’s needs. Well, we aren’t in need of anything and if we think of it we choose to buy stuff that we don’t need while other people don’t even have the essential.

I believe God wants us to be thankful for all the blessings He pours on us and I believe He might use these blessings to “test” us, to see if we’ll enjoy it to the max or if we’ll be wise and live simply, sharing with those in need.
That’s why I sometimes refuse to eat a snack or to buy a new shirt, because it makes me sick to simply enjoy so many things while my brothers and sisters elsewhere go hungry and cold. It’s not that my refusal to eat or buy something will change anything for them, but if I choose to share the money God gives me, even when it means to cut back on certain things, to help God’s people, then I believe I will be fulfilling God’s purpose He intends for His children.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 25.00$ / as of March 14, 2006
PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING A NATIVE MISSIONARY IN INDIA SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS BY GIVING A FEW BUCKS SO HE CAN GET GOSPEL TRACKS, BIBLES ETC. EMAIL ME FOR MORE INFO. gabeleroux@yahoo.ca
Thanks for all who gave already!

In Response to a Comment - Col. 2:20-23

2006-03-13T22:12:00.000-06:00

Here’s a comment I got from a friend, I think that I should share my answer (or rather, my thoughts) on here since it has something to do with some entries I wrote ealier. Here’s the comment:

Hey, I was reading these verses this morning...Colossians 2:20-23. I don't know why they made me think of your blog. Maybe it was the part you wrote about "beating your body" to make it a slave of Christ. Verse 23 says:"Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." I'm not sure what an example of such regulations would be, Paul calls them human rules. But it was interesting, because apparently, some kinds of discipline, though they may appear wise, actually don't help us resist giving in to temptation. What do you think?

I remember reading this verse and ask myself if discipline and regulations and etc. were doing me any good. But I never really took the time to deepen my thought about it, so now I must.

In this passage, Paul is says that since we were made alive with Christ, having our sins forgiven and since God cancelled the written code, with its regulations, we shouldn’t let anyone judge us on the basis of what we eat, drink and the way we celebrate or not certain events. Paul says that since we are dead to the basic principles of this world we should not submit to its rules “Do not taste! Do not handle! Do not touch!” then verse 23 comes here.
So what I understand is that since we were purified from our sins and since the written code and its regulations (probably the law or as the NLT says “record of the charges against us”) were cancelled, we should not think that we must continue to live as we used to when we were still dead in our sins, trying to please God by our acts of righteousness. The difference is that before knowing Christ we disciplined ourselves, our bodies to say no to different things in order to stay in line with God’s commands, it’s mere obedience, outward obedience. But when we come to Christ, our sins are truly forgiven once and for all and it’s useless to try to live by these “human rules” again because Christ is our righteousness, we do not try to earn it anymore.
So if we, as children of God, saved by faith in the grace found in Jesus, strive to “beat our body and make it our slave” in the same way, with the same attitude we once had, then I’d say, “Man, you need to sit down and remember your salvation, that now you were purified, only by Jesus’ blood, nothing else. You don’t need to seek to appease God or etc. anymore with your own efforts, Jesus did that for you.”
To try to be self-controlled and godly and follow all kinds of rules that are good, with a heart that is simply proud for being so “spiritual”, or secretly desiring to be “more loved” by God or be forgiven for some sins is totally wrong. First because it goes against the faith that God requires for salvation, and second, as Paul says “… they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (v.23) NLT says “… they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires” Louis Second says “… ils sont sans aucun mérite et contribuent à la satisfaction de la chair”. So basically, doing all sorts of godly things with the attitude of the “unsaved” person, is only an outward “godliness”, the heart is powerless to conquer its evil desires, because its attitude is not renewed by the Spirit of God, because the purpose we have in obeying different rules is to give ourselves a better image, in front of people, in front of God.
The attitude of a child of God should basically be “I was saved by the grace of God alone, I was totally lost and He freely gave me the righteousness I needed but could never find by myself, I deserve nothing from Him at all, and because of all He has done for me, I want to seek to walk in a way that pleases Him, I will obey Him” As it is written somewhere in the New Testament I can’t find right now, that we were saved in order to do good works, not the other way around.
So I still believe it’s important and expected by God for us to discipline ourselves to do all we can to come closer to Him, to obey Him with all our hearts. It doesn’t mean that the mere actions of devotions will bring us closer to Him and help us conquer temptation and make us truly godly, but it’s in our heart’s attitude of total trust in God and deep desire to know Him and obey Him because of His great love and salvation for us.
Let us not forget these verses “Be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1); Find out what pleases the Lord (Eph 5:10); Devote yourselves to prayer (Col 4:2); Let us be alert and self-controlled (I Thess. 5:6); Never tire of doing what is right (II Thess 3:13); Train yourself to be godly (I Tim 4:7); Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (I Tim 6:11); Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good (Titus 3:14)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14)

So these are my thoughts for right now. I don’t know if I answered the question in a satisfying way. Please let me know your thoughts about that. Leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 5.00$ / as of March 13, 2006.
PLEASE CONSIDER HELPING A NATIVE MISSIONARY IN INDIA SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT JESUS BY GIVING A FEW BUCKS SO HE CAN GET GOSPEL TRACKS, BIBLES ETC. EMAIL ME FOR MORE INFO. gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

I make no sense here

2006-03-12T23:42:00.000-06:00

Have you ever met someone who thought he was special, that he was the exception to the rule? (I say “he” but it can be a “she”). Well you might be one and somehow, to some extent, I believe that we all think we are special and can do things differently or pass by the rules everyone else has to follow without being stopped. Anyways, I just have a hard time with that type of people right now.
I don’t know where to draw the line. When is it time to be gracious (again) to them, to yield to their requests, to feed them whatever the wish… and when is it time to simply say no? I don’t know. It bothers me so much these days. I tend to be legalistic and stick to the rules, I enjoy being gracious to people as well and grant them a little something they aren’t supposed to get. But when that same person comes around regularly and chat and ask for a favour or a cookie or… I have a hard time knowing if I should be gracious again, or if I should say no. I feel like I should always be gracious when I can (and if I think of it, I probably can all the time), hoping that one day the person will wake up and realize how privileged she is… and start to be thankful and change the way she asks for stuff from me or etc. But at the same time, I believe that people need to be told the truth in the face. But the thing is that I am not gracious from the heart, I do it with frustration and when I say no, I fear to hurt people ‘cause I am frustrated and need to explain why the person can’t have the “cookie”.
I think I make NO SENSE to the reader here. I don’t have much time, so I can’t go further in my thoughts (or frustrations actually). But please, if you have any idea or tips about the topic of how to know where to draw the line between saying yes and no… please leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca I think I have some common sense and I know when I should say yes and no, but it’s more about little things, privileges allowed to the same person all the time…
In the next entry: In Response to an Email…

I hate sin, I hate sin

2006-03-09T23:07:00.000-06:00

Does anybody come to a point sometimes when one feels like, I don’t know if I am a Christian anymore. Because I do. I know that I trust Jesus Christ alone for my salvation, but because of the sins that I make, and not just the sins I make naturally without really thinking about it, but I think about the sins I wilfully make, right in the face of the Holy Spirit, in other words, I wilfully decide to grieve the Holy Spirit. Why? Because my sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that I do not do what I want (see Gal. 5:17). Sometimes, I am tempted to do something I know I shouldn’t, I clearly hear the Holy Spirit telling me to do something to get out of the grips temptation has on me, but I lack self-control and love for Jesus and seriousness and I am lazy and I enjoy the easy way and pleasure of sin, so I just give in. Knowing that I am not doing what is pleasing to God, knowing I will be down and discouraged about myself because of my sins, I simply do it anyways. What does it mean?
A few years ago or so, at Bible School, I had to choose any passage in the book of Romans and write a paper on the topic. I wrote about Romans 6 (We’re dead to sin and alive in Christ… what shall we say then, shall we go on sinning… etc.) I argued that because we were still in the flesh, we were struggling with sin and… well, I don’t remember everything. The teacher read my paper and wrote a full page of comments. He was not agreeing with my opinion and was saying that most commentaries and etc. thought that Paul was talking about his old life without Christ (when he was under the law of sin) but now he was under the law of Christ, which made him free from the law of sin. I don’t remember much that he wrote, but one thing I remember is that he said “I hope you don’t have two natures in you”. Meaning that he believed we don’t have the sinful nature and the Christlike nature both at work in us at the same time. Anyways, I have trouble with his opinion and I actually think that it’s scriptural to believe that sin (flesh) lives with us and we are free from its bondage, to obey Christ, or sin.
I know that for sure: sin abides in me, there ain’t any question about this truth for me. I struggle to obey the Holy Spirit and when I do, there is no reward. I feel like I’ve been waiting for the bus to pick me up to the amusement park, but when it comes, I turn away and go home. No fun. And that’s it. Saying no to sin usually doesn’t give me any good feeling. And actually, saying no to sin hurts my flesh so bad. It hurt me to say no to me.
I try to find ways to hate sin. When temptation comes, I love sin. But when it is consumed, I hate sin. And I would like to be filled with this holy burning hatred for sin, all the time. I don’t know how though. I am making it a point to pray about this issue everyday. But I don’t know. It’s hard to focus on the eternal rewards of hurting my sinful nature when today I don’t see any good result, apart from being boring to myself… I mean, my flesh. It’s hard but I need to keep my eyes on the joy that will come later, and beat my body and make it my slave (that actually a verse somewhere in the NT!!!)
So I know I belong to Christ, but what does it say about my relationship with Jesus and my love and my seriousness in all that when I sin “in the face” of the Holy Spirit?
Your thoughts? Just leave a comment, email me. gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

The Inspector (no that's not the title of a new movie)

2006-03-08T23:30:00.000-06:00

So, I work in a kitchen. Usually we aren’t told in advance that the inspector is coming to check us out. But this time, we got told that the lady was coming Tuesday to inspect the kitchen. So on the day she was coming, things worked a bit differently. Because the inspector is here, we feel like we should do things the way we are supposed to do them, so for a few things, we do them differently so it looks proper. It’s not that our ways of working are bad or unhealthy – at all. It’s simply because there are some standards that are to be met. Having lower standards is not a bad thing in itself when it’s still healthy and good, but when the inspector is in, we change our ways a bit.
I always feel wrong about that.
It makes me think, this might be the same way we see Christianity. When we are watched, when we go to church, when we are in the presence of some important spiritual people, we feel like we have to tidy up our spiritual outlook by longer prayers, looking serious or in a thinking mood, or start chatting about the Bible and whatever else we tend to do, or even though we don’t do anything different in the presence of other Christians, we might have the feeling of “Man, I need to look like I’m doing good spiritually” it’s not something we actually all the time tell ourselves, it’s just a sudden fear that builds up in our minds.
If we act that way on earth and are awaiting the return of Christ, are we going to do the same thing with Him, feel like we have to tidy up our lives, our spiritual outlook? I guess often, I’ve feared that Jesus would come back or that I would die soon, because I felt that I wasn’t as good as I should, I felt that I needed to focus myself on Jesus and clean up the junk in me, then I’d be okay to meet Christ. Why? So I don’t feel ashamed, so I look good. But the thing is that we can’t do that. We can’t pretend to look neat in front of Jesus. We can make other Christians think we’re doing pretty good in our walk with Jesus, but we can’t do that with God. When the “Inspector” comes, we won’t be able to hide anything from Him… but the thing is that, Christ is looking into our lives right now today and everyday. It’s like having the inspector in the kitchen every single day. Man, I think, what a burden it would be! I hope that knowing that Jesus is standing by us at all times doesn’t make us feel burdened because we must do things that are good and love and think pure thoughts and… We either act out of love or out of fear. We need to remember again that we are saved not by our own acts or efforts, but only by the work of Christ, knowing that will prompt us to free obedience, that’s the kind of obedience that is light and prompted by love and thankfulness. Or we can forget about that and think that we must obey in order to be blessed and loved by God. That’s wrong and that’s obeying out of fear. I believe we should strive to obey God and fear Him, tremble at His Word, but He knows how ungodly and lazy we were yesterday and He sees us today, seeking Him. And he chooses to forgive.
It’s useless to try to look good, we must be what we are in front of our brothers and sisters. Life in Christ is tough and different, we aren’t super heroes or perfect saints and we all know that. We need to be seeking Christ and obey Him in our daily lives, knowing that He’s watching us, wanting to help us and correct us for our good, and we need to come to His body, the saints, with truth, not allowing ourselves to feel like we have to look good. If we keep on being hypocrites, we won’t grow in maturity and we’ll keep on wearing a spiritual mask for the rest of our lives and that’s not what we want hey?
“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” (Mark 13:35-37)
We can be true with eachother and seek to help one another growing.

Mere Human Righteousness vs Holy Divine Righteousness

2006-03-06T23:34:00.000-06:00

The righteousness God requires is simply beyond our capacities. The “righteousness” we can acquire by our own efforts is by doing things that are good in the sight of God. But even when we would come to the end of our life without sin and perfect obedience, still our righteousness would be called “earned, human” and we would be found just a few steps further than those who led wicked lives to enter eternal life, when this city of God is found hundreds of miles away from the best human righteousness that can be. Our works are earthly and human but God is heavenly and spiritual, divine. It is impossible for us humans to grasp eternal life by our own means because it is first of all way too little when perfect and second, it’s simply not what God requires. God demands a divine righteousness to enter His Kingdom. God demands a holy spiritual blood. God demands His own divine essence in order to let you in His presence. And the only way we can have this, oh this heavenly righteousness, is by Christ Jesus His Son who offered His holy blood, His divine essence to God on our behalf. And we grasp this holy righteousness by simply trusting Jesus’ sacrifice. Believing that it is not by any deed of ours or obedience that we can find peace with God, but only by trusting that Christ Jesus the Son of God died and rose again and offers us forgiveness, peace with God and the righteousness that God requires. It may sound foolish, but God wants faith. That’s it.

About Pride

2006-03-04T22:41:00.000-06:00

I like books and now I’m reading one that is called « Steering through chaos » by Os Guinness. I think it’s neat that I get to borrow books from friends at Bible College. Anyways, I just started to read it and it’s very interesting so far. Right now I’m reading a lot about pride and it challenges me deeply. I want to read it all as quick as possible because it’s good, but I need to take the time to digest all the information and challenges I see. I have been especially impressed with some quotes from C.S. Lewis. Here’s something that I believe should be read closely and used to examine ourselves.

“In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. That raises a terrible question. How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshipping an imaginary God. The theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of his phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how he approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people: that is, they pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to Him and get out of it a pound’s worth of pride towards their fellow-men.”

“Pride can often be used to beat down the simpler vices. Teachers, in fact, often appeal to a boy’s pride, or, as they call it, his self-respect, to make him behave decently: many a man has overcome cowardice, or lust, or ill-temper by learning to think that they are beneath his dignity – that is pride. The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the dictatorship of pride.”

I think that seeking to obey Christ is very dangerous, very risky. Because we are all, to some extent, proud people. We easily shift from humble obedience to pride in our works. As we strive to obey Jesus and live lives that are pure and godly, it’s a great challenge not to think of ourselves better than the average Christian. We discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness, but if we find any pride in our pursuit, Satan’s laughing. Because our problem now is deeper than before. As Lewis says, “The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether.”

My thoughts aren’t clear… but I hope I’ll become more humble because I know I am not.

Meaning - less or full - question mark.

2006-03-02T23:25:00.000-06:00

In our frustrating and futile efforts to keep up the demands of life maintenance, our souls have shrivelled. We have more tasks, activities, and deadlines to accomplish than ever; we have more to organize, store, and maintain than ever; and the result is that we’re becoming increasingly efficient at leading meaningless lives. What good is our multitasking, the accomplishment of more and more, and the acquisition of wealth, if we are not – by the means God has given us – becoming more like Jesus, the One we live for and the One who will evaluate our lives? Donald S. Whitney

I think that we all should be busy doing good things, but I think we should evaluate why we do what we do. And I’m not thinking about things in general… I think about little things of life that we do, how we spend our time and how much we get busy. We need to stop and think “Why do I do that?” God sometimes isn’t in our activities and we do things simply because it’s been that way since years, or because we must do these things. Even when we don’t do things for any godly reason (especially when it’s a necessity) I think we need to find ways to turn our focus on God and remind ourselves that we depend on Him. Lots of things that we do and weary our bodies and minds are burdens Jesus wants to either bear for us or leave behind us. We need to evaluate our ways… because ultimately, God will do it to our face and we’d be simply glad to have done our duty. (Luke 17:10)

Hold On To What You Have

2006-03-01T00:26:00.000-06:00

Cycles. It’s a word written somewhere on the washing machine upstairs or maybe it’s the dryer. I’m not sure. Maybe both probably. Anyways, that’s not very important, you guys not what cycles are. The “Teacher” in Ecclesiastes could have used that word instead of saying “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecc. 1:9). He was speaking about things happening in the world not exactly about spiritual things. But all of us know about “moods” and that we go through times of wondering in valleys, smooth walking in the interesting foothills, harsh mountain hiking and intense freedom running on the heights. I don’t know for sure, but, man it’s sad that we are that way, not only in our day-to-day life, but in our walk with Jesus. It obviously shows that we aren’t pre-programmed machines and that we aren’t perfect like Jesus yet (…. that’s obvious). For the longest laps of time in my life, I was experiencing the running on the heights. Walking with Jesus seemed a joy and came naturally. But somehow I crashed, I re-appeared in the valley, I was thrown down the mountaintop. I’m not saying that something bad happened or I sinned (although, I do sin everyday), but simply that God wanted to start teaching me from the valley about the mountaintop maybe. I’m not sure yet. But anyways.
I know that all of us go through cycles, moods, stages in our walk with Jesus. Some days are good, some days are bad. Is this a proof of ungodliness? I don’t believe so.

“Only hold on to what you have until I come.” “I know you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” “Hold on to what you have” (Rev. 2:25; 3:9b; 3:11).

Our Jesus is fully aware of what’s going on in our hearts and where He’s leading us, for a hike or a slide - do not misunderstand me here. I, by no means, believe that God pushes us to sin and so, make us “backsliders”. If we decide to disobey God and go our own way, we’ll get down in a valley that doesn’t belong to our Shepherd Jesus. I believe that God wants us to experience the cycles of the spiritual walk with Him, every one of them, for His purpose and in His timing. As we follow Christ, we’ll find the journey pleasant and easy at times, but lots of the time, we won’t understand we’re we are and why the ground is so cold and bumpy. That doesn’t mean we aren’t following Christ our Lord. “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (II Tim. 2:3). We’ve got to hold on to what we have, hold on to the little faith we still have.

BANK FOR NATIVES MISSIOANRIES, 5.00$ / as of Feb. 28, 2006 - please consider helping.

So anywhere we are right now in our precious walk with Jesus, rejoicing, questioning or enduring the harsh road of “spiritual nothing” well, let us keep on seeking our Shepherd. Let us keep on reading His word and praying about it. To give up these disciplines will simply lead us into Satan’s pen. And, who wants that? As long as we are honest with God and pray for wisdom and read His Word, I believe He will reveal Himself to us and teach us.

Where are you at in your walk with Jesus? Feel free to let me know so I can pray for you.
gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

All of us are called for a purpose.

2006-02-26T23:33:00.000-06:00

Some years ago when K.P. Yohannan was in North India, had a small conversation with a little boy about eight years old.
KP – What are you doing?
Boy – I go to school.
KP – Why do you go to school?
Boy – To study.
KP – Why do you study?
Boy – To get smart.
KP – Why do you want to get smart?
Boy – So I can get a good job.
KP – Why do you want to get a good job?
Boy – To make lots of money.
KP – Why do you want to make lots of money?
Boy – So I can buy food.
KP – Why do you want to buy food?
Boy – So I can eat.
KP – Why do you want to eat?
Boy – To live.
KP – Why do you want to live?
At that point, the little boy thought for a minute, scratched his head, looked at K.P. in the face and said:
- Sir, why do I live?
He paused a moment in mid-thought, then gave his own sad answer:
- To die!

The question is the same for all of us: Why do we live? What is the basic purpose of our living in this world, as we claim to be disciples of Jesus Christ? Is it to accumulate wealth? Fame? Popularity? To fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind? And to somehow survive and, in the end, to die and hopefully go to heaven?
No. The purpose of our lives as believers must be to obey Jesus when He said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel….” That is what Paul did when he laid down his arms and said, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
If all of your concerns is about your own life, your job, your clothes, your children’s good clothes, healthy bodies, a good education, a good job and marriage, the your concerns are no different from a heathen’s in Bhutan, Myanmar or India.
(K.P. Yohannan)

During the Second World War, the British showed themselves capable of astonishing sacrifices (as did many other nations). They lived on meagre, poor rations. They cut down their railings and sent them for weapons manufactures. Yet today, in what is more truly a (spiritual) World War, Christians live as peace time soldiers. Look at Paul’s injunctions to Timothy in II Timothy 2:3-4, “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer.” We seem to have a strange idea of Christian service. We will buy books, travel miles to hear a speaker on blessings, pay large sums to listen to a group singing the latest Christian songs - but we forget that we are soldiers.
(George Verwer)

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES – 5.00$ / as of February 26, 2006

Remember.

2006-02-24T22:58:00.000-06:00

Hebrews 13:3
“Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.”

As you might have noticed, I am concerned for the saints all around the globe. I don’t want to alienate them from me because they live in a different culture or because they’re so far away. I’ve seen a person being frustrated because we got some Christian newspaper from Calgary (which is about 10 hours from here – Saskatoon) the person was frustrated because we don’t need to know what’s going on out there, it’s not here. I must say that it is probably (and hopefully) not the view of most people. But I feel that I cannot forget the children of God right here in North America who are suffering for Christ (I don’t know many of them… tell me if you do), not can I forget those I’ve never seen, those that are mistreated for Christ anywhere else on planet earth.
So what I want to write here, is a simple question. You have read that verse in Hebrews 13:3. Now what does it mean? Should we take it and live it literally? What does it mean, how can I remember the prisoners because of Jesus, as if I was myself in prison? And how can I remember those who are mistreated as if I was suffering like them? What does it mean? Does it mean that I should pray for them (obviously), does not mean that I should somehow find ways to suffer (in my own hands) to somehow experience what some people are going through? By this I mean, should I decide to sleep on the floor or drink water from the tap (that is gross but drinkable) for a day, or fast or lock myself up in my room without any entertainment, no even a bible… for 4 hours etc. In order to experience a tiny bit of what some saints are going through and pray about this whole thing? These ideas might sound “extreme” for some of you or totally dumb or fake. I don’t know, I try to think about ways I can remember those in prison as if I was their fellow prisoner, and those who are mistreated as if I myself was suffering.
Please, leave me some ideas about this. Leave a comment, email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca … Give me more verses about this subject. Minister to me.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 5.00$ / as of February 24, 2006

on Faith

2006-02-22T22:52:00.000-06:00

I’ve always liked to read Hebrews 11 :29-40. Most people know what Hebrews 11 is about. Faith. Now here’s an overview of this passage (Hb. 11:29-35a))
By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land… By faith the walls of Jericho fell… By faith the prostitute Rahab… was not killed… who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice and gained what was promised… shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead…
The victories of the faith! Through faith, God does marvellous things and even though we’re weak and have no ability to bring about changes or accomplish such miraculous things. By faith God does great things.
Now let’s see the overview of the rest of the passage (Hb. 11:35b-38)
(By faith)… Others were tortured and refused to be released… some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated… They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
On one hand we are told that God will do great things by the faith of His children. On the other hand, we are told that by that same faith, people went through extreme suffering, poverty and persecution.
Maybe we are called to experience both. Or maybe if we experience one of the two, the other one will come as a result… I don’t know, that’s not what it says anyway. I like this passage because it reminds me that living by faith on earth won’t bring me pleasures and victories over victories all the time. It won’t grant me success and always keep me safe, providing me with clothes and a roof over my head. To live by faith won’t change the world’s mind about me and make people love me. Yes God in His will, does awesome things through our faith, but we can’t believe that half-truth, and we can’t preach it either. Often I hear that the gospel we offer will bring an end to everybody’s problems and will make them successful and accepted. That’s wrong, that’s not the gospel of Jesus Christ. To live by faith, to obey God in all He calls us to, will yes, allow God to work great things for us, but we must not forget that those who live by faith will go through suffering as well.
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (II Tim 3:12) I sometimes wondered about this. It seems like I live at peace here in my Canada and I am a Christian and I live a generally godly life… so what’s wrong? This verse or my view of godliness and faith in Jesus? No need to answer the question. I wonder if I really know what Jesus means when He says that I must carry my own cross and follow Him (Lk 9:23). I believe that God grants peace to His children when it pleases Him, but to live my everyday life around unbelievers and never be rejected for Christ or accepted and see people come to the faith, then… I wonder if that “peace” is from God. Not making any impact on other people’s thinking about Jesus, being of a good smell or a smell of death to them makes me believe that we are at “peace” with all, but aren’t fulfilling God’s purpose for us, or not allowing Him to work through our faith. That’s maybe why I am not persecuted. It may be why we live in such a “peace” here in North America, because we aren’t much different than our neighbors, we live in ways that will keep us at peace and comfortable. I’m not saying that we should all be persecuted and put in prison as a result of our faith. Yes, it is true for numbers of faithful believers in the world, but I mean that maybe we should act much more different than our fellow country people. In the way we live our daily lives, what kind of possessions we have, what we do with our money, what kind of reaction we have when people around us say stuff against our Savior, people should all know we are Christians… We can’t compromise our “Christian” lives and live half in the world and half in the Lord and try not to make any waves because we’re scared of what will happen to us or we don’t know what to say or etc. that’s not living by faith at all. That’s doubting the power of God, that He is able to rescue us and put words into our mouths.
I say all that, but you would not find me acting it out very much. It’s much easier to step back and be at peace with the world, to laugh when everyone laugh instead of speaking up against the joke or the bad talks. I don’t know if what I wrote goes well with the passage… As we strive to obey God and live godly lives by faith, we shall go through lots of difficulties, but we’ll see neat things as well. If we don’t, well let’s still be strong and remain faithful, reminding ourselves of our father in the faith, Abraham.
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their won. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return. Instead they were looking for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, he has prepared a city for them.” (Hb. 11:13-16) “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them receive what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hb 11:39, 40)

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES : 0.00$ /as of February 22, 2006.

Please Consider

2006-02-19T23:36:00.000-06:00

“God has not given this superabundance of blessings to American and Canadian Christians so we can sit back and enjoy the luxuries of this society – or even in spiritual terms, so we can gorge ourselves on books, teaching cassettes and deeper-life conferences. He has left us on this earth to be stewards of these spiritual and material blessings, learning how to share with others and administer our wealth to accomplish the purposes of God.
What is the bottom line? God is calling us as Christians to alter our lifestyles, to give up the nonessentials of our lives so we can better invest our wealth in the kingdom of God.”
- K.P. Yohannan (Gospel for Asia)

I put together a « Bank for the Native Missionaries » Gospel for Asia (http://www.gfa.org/) has a list of things we can purchase for native missionaries to help them to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who never heard His name and to ease their daily life.
Since we are so blessed here in North America, I thought that it was our duty to help provide for our brothers and sisters who toil for the gospel of Jesus very often traveling form village to village in the cold or lacking New Testaments or other literature to tell the people about Jesus. There are different ways of helping them, we can sponsor a native missionary for 30$ a month, but if you can’t commit yourself to such a sharing of God’s resources to you, but still want to help, I encourage you to look at the list of things you can purchase for these missionaries, to send the money to Gospel for Asia (245 King St E, Stoney Creek, On, L8G 9Z9) with a note telling them what you want to purchase and leave them your address. Something else I want you to think of is this: many of us just don’t have much money, but still want to help our brothers and sisters out there. I believe that if lots of us would put our few bucks together, we would have enough money to buy something… So if you feel like me, send your few bucks to me and I’ll keep the money of everybody in that bank for the native missionaries, when we have enough money for anything you guys want to buy, I’ll send it to Gospel for Asia, who will in turn send it to the mission field and buy the article we want and give it to the missionary who needs our article the most. For more info, leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca
Here’s the list:

1 bible: 3.60$
1 set of 8 New Testaments: 5$
1 Bicycle: 130$
1 Bullhorn: 135$
1 Pack of 250 gospel tracks: 1.50$
1 Kerosene lantern: 29$
1 Winter clothing packet: 45$
1 tambourine: 6$
1 drum: 27$
15 min. radio program: 53$
* There are other things, but they are much more expensive.

Let me know if you are thinking of sending something to Gospel for Asia! It’ll be an encouragement for me. As well, I encourage you to get your church giving a few bucks here and there and help our brothers and sisters overseas. I’ll keep a record of how much money there is in the bank for them on this blog at each entry.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0.00$ / as of Feb. 19 2006

It’s about God, not me.

2006-02-18T23:23:00.000-06:00

“And now the Lord says – He who formed me in the womb to be His servant to bring Jacob back to Him and gather Israel to Himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength – He says: ‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
Isaiah 49:5-6

To me, it is obvious that the “servant” spoken of here is the Messiah God appointed to save those of Israel He has kept, namely Jesus Christ. What is interesting to read is that to Jesus, it’d be too little to bring home His people only so God extended Jesus’ salvation to the ends of the earth. In the past few years I’ve been reading a few books written by John Piper, the best way to describe Piper’s thought about God and why He granted us salvation is best summed up in this phrase he wrote: “He (God) is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”. The reason why I am thinking about Piper’s words is because this passage of Scriptures reminds me of these words.

In this passage of Isaiah, we read that God extended salvation to all nations on earth because “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant (Jesus) to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring those of Israel I have kept.” Providing salvation to His people Israel only seemed to be of little value… or of little glory (I’m not using the right words), God had in mind a greater work for His Servant, He would offer salvation to all people on earth. In God’s eyes, this was of a higher value, a greater glory to Him.

God could have saved His people only, but He provided salvation to all men for different reasons but here in Isaiah, we read that God’s reason for granting us, Gentiles His free salvation in Jesus Christ is to bring glory to Himself. The purpose of God in the salvation of men is to get glory for Himself. I’m not saying that God is desperately seeking ways to receive glory from men. He is already more glorious that we can bear to know. What I am saying is that, just as God created men for His glory, He saved men for His glory as well.

I know that there are many different reasons why God chose to give His Son Jesus as only Savior of all men. We can think about His love for us (John 3:16), His grace (Eph. 2:5, 8), His desire to make sinners right with Him (I Tim 1:15; 2:4), His mercy (Titus 3:4) and many other reasons. But if I focus on these reasons alone, it could make me feel like God is all about me and He saved me for my sake. I can totally believe that I don’t deserve anything from God and without Jesus I’m lost, but think that all God did was for my sake. I think I must keep in mind that God extended His hand to all men to receive free salvation in Jesus for His own sake, for His own glory.

It’s not about me, it’s about God.

I don’t want anybody to feel like God is using us and is actually very cold towards us. That goes against Scripture. God deeply cares for us and He knows that outside Him, beauty and love are only reflections of true beauty and true love that are found in Him, He is beauty perfect and love Himself. And He gives us the best we can get: Himself. He doesn’t leave us with only an image of what is good, He calls us to experience true love, true beauty, true goodness, that’s found in Himself, not in anything the world offers or any other created things. They are only reflections. By delighting ourselves in God, we make Him look great to the eyes of men and angels and Satan. That brings Him great glory and that’s why He saved us. So we would love Him and glorify Him.

In Response to a Comment / ARE YOU WEARIED part II

2006-02-17T22:38:00.000-06:00

I just got a certain comment from a “friend blogger” (www.randomnesssignedgibbons.blogspot) and even though this friend sort of gently warned me about things I thought, I went to bed and praised God for shaping my thoughts and views through people. In my last post I wrote about a verse I felt very different and interesting, “Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.” (Isaiah 43:22 NIV) and I wanted to understand what God meant by “wearied yourselves for me”. Anyways, just read the last entry to know more about my thoughts. I was totally aware that my thinking could raise some “Wait a minute Gabe…” kind of response from people. Here’s a comment I got (I didn’t ask the writer permission to publish it but… I guess, it’s already published in my comments so… what’s the big difference hey?!)

I like what you've written, it's very challenging. But I'd like to raise a "warning flag." When I read what you wrote about being tired from waking too early or praying during the night, I wondered, "Is this safe?" Yes, it's right and good that you are obeying God's call to holiness by these actions. But I feel it can be dangerous to ignore the signs of weariness your body gives you. Pushing past these signs as if they are only obstacles to your walk with God can lead to health problems, if you don't take care. So many pastors and Christian leaders burn out, maybe because they keep going, pushing themselves to the limit in seeking after God, but not taking time to check if their bodies are holding up under the strain. It seems to make sense that we need to take care of our bodies (by sleeping enough, eating enough, and relaxing enough) to be able to serve God and pursue him in the long run.

I totally agree with all of what’s written up here. I did not really talk about this issue of being wise and careful that our devotion should not lead us to the point where it makes us unable to continue to obey Christ, or isn’t helpful in our walk with Him (If I get up early to read and pray but I feel grumpy for the rest of the day… well that’s not good and some things need to be readjusted). It’s true that our bodies need rest and food, and we cannot alienate these needs from us totally “because we want to follow Christ”. Christians were always called to live lives that are pure so to set an example for unbelievers (Col 4:5; Titus 3:14; I Peter 2:12) and anyways when we read the New Testament, it’s obvious that God wants us to live healthy lives to the best of our means.
But at the same time, we read about a Paul talking about learning to be content being fed or hungry, having plenty or being in want (Phil. 4:12), we read that we must flee the desires of youth (II Tim. 2:22 – could laziness be included in here?), about devoting ourselves to doing what is good (Titus 3:8), we read about people struggling and being sick but still working for the cause of Christ (Phil. 2:25-30) and above all, the life of Jesus Himself, many times we read that Jesus would spend the night praying, getting up when it was still dark to pray, be alone with God, he was all day long busy with people around Him, healing and helping and speaking and preaching and… why is He sleeping while the disciplines are freaking out because of the storm that is overtaking their boat? Is it because He was physically drained? Maybe.
Anyways, what I mean to say here is simply that I think that we must be careful about the way we live our lives. I do not want to put any burden on anybody’s back, or say that all should do the things that Gabe feels called to do. But I believe that very often we love comfort and health more than doing the things of our Savior. We obey God as long as we feel good and keep our bodies healthy. I don’t know for you, but I have seen many Christian parents being reluctant to send their child on a mission trip because of the lack of comfort, because things could go wrong, because it’s humiliating to do door-to-door evangelism and so on. I am really not pointing at anybody, seriously. And then I hear of missionaries, who were beaten and persecuted and stoned in some area and now have a son reaching out to the same area, and they say that if their son must be persecuted or even be killed, they’d be the first to thank God for the privilege to partake in the cause of Christ. I hear of people giving up their jobs to go live in the slums to reach the people there, they eat their food, they live like them, they’re probably dying along with them, but they tell the people about Jesus, and souls are redeemed. I’m not saying that we are all called to deny all we have, even our health in order to reach the lost or live a godly life. Having less stuff and no money does not make us more spiritual people, otherwise, Africans and Indians and slum people and street kids are more spiritual than us.
But what I am saying is that I desire to be ready to put aside some of my usual comforts and things I’m used to do my way and a littlebit of my sleep and a meal here and there not to do godly things, but because I yearn to know God, because I seek His face in prayer, because I love Him and I want to be with Him and learn from Him.
I must learn that if I’m tired or hungry for doing things for God, out of love for Him, it’s okay. How am I going to show any real devotion to my God if I can’t spend a meal praying for the lost world instead of eating? I don’t know, but it shows a great deal of devotion. I’m not saying that we should do these things because we feel we have to. We should obey God as He reveals Himself to us, as He gives us ideas and compels us by His Word. “Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.” (Gal. 6:4-5).
I don’t know if anybody understand what I’m trying to write here. Basically, I want to say that because of the overflow of our love for Christ, we’ll be longing to know Him more and we’ll use all the means we have to serve and know and learn and love Him. I feel like we forget a world out there that is suffering for Christ, and oh I am not worthy to even pray for such saints who give all to Christ, they deny comforts and better health and jobs and status to remain faithful to Jesus Christ. Do not think that I’m mixed up with two context (persecution and peace)… I have a question for you that I need to ask myself as well:
Knowing that some people have to go through sufferings to remain faithful to Christ because their country rejects Jesus’ teachings, do I really remain faithful to Christ by being a tiny bit different from the world because I go to church and am a generally good person who lives in a country or religious freedom?

It took me forever to write and rewrite this question… Please answer me, leave a comment, send an email gabeleroux@yahoo.ca … May I pray for you? May I answer any questions? Send me an email. I hope you are challenged and you won’t do anything more for Jesus out of duty (although…) but out of a genuine and true love for Him. Let us not be legalistic. ( I’m sure I’d do one of the best Pharisee in Jesus’ time if I’d actually live in His time and if I’d be a man!)

are you WEARIED?

2006-02-14T23:04:00.000-06:00

No I didn’t spell the word wrong. I did not mean to say “Are you worried”, but really “Are you wearied”. I’m not thinking about the fatigue and tiredness you feel after spending much time with your children or after a day at work, or too much studies or some accumulated stress. Well, as I think of it, what I mean, is that I don’t want to write about the weariness that is found with us when we work as working as an end in itself, or as studying as an end in itself… Are you confused? I am for you, so I’ll simply explain myself in a clearer way, then, hopefully, you’ll get my idea.
On Feb. 12 I read the verse 22 of Isaiah 43. It says “Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.” I never really noticed the verse before and I thought it was an interesting idea that I didn’t really understand.
Chapter 43 starts with words of encouragement from the Lord to His people Israel, that He will stand by them and keep them safe, that He will bring the nation back together, that there is no other god besides Yahweh, He reminds them of all the good things He has done to the Israelites when He brought them out of Egypt and He tells them of amazing things He promises to do. Then comes verse 22.
Even if they had seen and experienced and been told of so many great and wonderful things, they did not weary themselves out for Him. They did not lift a finger in response to the blessings of God. If you read the rest of the chapter it tells you about their response: they bothered God with their sins instead of giving thanks and obeying the Lord.
Now I wondered about myself. I was interested in the word “wearied”. I thought it was a very different verse that we use to memorize and hear preached about, like the verse “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (often forgetting the next verse that says: “take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” Mat 11:28, 29). I guess these two verses (Matt & Isa) are talking two different things and have different context, but I simply don’t hear much about the cost our bodies and our souls must pay in our holy service to Christ. It is important to seek encouragement from the Word, but we need to seek to obey as much, if not even more than to be encouraged.
Anyways, as I said, I was (and I’m still) interested by this verse. “… you have not wearied yourselves for me…”. What does it really mean? These are just thoughts I have, nothing’s been proved with Scripture (?). I think that yes, God expects His people to respond to His goodness, His blessings, or anything He says or does or did. He wants a response from His people. Our response can be to ignore Him and continue in our own ways, or we can decide to obey His commands and seek Him. I think that in a sense, if we respond by obedience and thanksgiving, as we seek and strive to obey, we will “weary” ourselves for God. I’ll give you an example. That same day I was thinking about this verse, I felt so tired at the end of my shift at work and for the whole evening. I did not feel that way usually. But I understood that my body was tired because I had got up during the night to pray and got up early in the morning to read and meditate God’s Word. My body wasn’t happy with that, it was weary. I think that God expects us to respond to His great gift in Jesus Christ and all His blessings, not only by saying “thank you” and go to church and set a good example as a Christian. But by consciously seeking, running after Him to serve and know Him more, to climb the tree as Zacchaeus did in order to see Jesus (see entry entitled “Train yourself to be godly” Feb. 5/06). By doing so, our bodies might grow weary.
I do not mean that we should always be tired and never sleep and become blind because we’ve read too much. I simply think that if God opens my understanding on things I could do to know Him more, to respond to His gifts in tangible ways, I should obey and act. When it’s out of my comfort zone, when I don’t feel like it, when I am tired, when it’s hard, when it takes work. I think I show no real devotion to my Master and Savior when I am lazy to take up the cross He calls me to carry and tell Him I’ll go at church and give a part of my income and the usual good things that we are all called to do. But there’s a higher obedience.
As well, the first part of the verse says “Yet you have not called upon me…” So it made me think that maybe God is saying that because His people did not pray or call upon Him, they did not weary themselves. Maybe God calls us to call out to Him, to pray, to fast, to seek Him through prayer, and that, would weary us.
I don’t know, my thoughts are clear to me, I hope it is the same for you. I pray that I am sensitive to God’s teachings and God’s mind in His Word. I pray that I would seek Him more than my own health or needs or comforts. It makes me think of a verse. Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Please post comments or email me about that. Am I a maniac or what? gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Pony Express

2006-02-11T23:03:00.000-06:00

It’s been gone for more than a century. Yet, if it weren’t for TV commercials, more people probably would have heard of the Pony Express than of Federal Express.
The Pony Express was a private express company that carried mail by an organized relay of horseback riders. The eastern end was St. Joseph, Missouri, and the western terminal was in Sacramento, California. The cost of sending a letter by Pony Express was 2.50$ an ounce. If the weather and horses held out and the Indians held off, that letter would complete the entire two-thousand-mile journey in a speedy ten days, as did the report of Lincoln’s Inaugural Address.
It may surprise you that the Pony Express was only in operation from April 3, 1860, until November 18, 1861 – just seventeen months. When the telegraph line was completed between two cities, the service was no longer needed.
Being a rider for the Pony Express was a tough job. You were expected to ride seventy-five to one hundred miles a day, changing horses every fifteen to twenty miles. Other than the mail, the only baggage you carried contained a few provisions, including a kit of flour, cornmeal, and bacon. In case of danger, you also had a medical pack of turpentine, borax, and cream of tartar. In order to travel light and to increase speed of mobility during Indian attacks, the men always rode in shirtsleeves, even during the fierce winter weather.
How would you recruit volunteers for this hazardous job? An 1860 San Francisco newspaper printed this ad for the Poney Express:

WANTED
Young, skinny, wiry fellow, not over 18.
Must be expert riders willing to risk daily.
Orphans preferred.

Those were the honest facts of the service required, but the Poney Express never had a shortage of riders.
We need to be honest with the facts about the discipline of serving God. Like the Pony Express, serving God is not a job for the casually interested. It’s costly service. He asks for service to Him to become a priority, not a pastime. He doesn’t want servants who will give Him the leftovers of their life’s commitments. Serving God isn’t a short-term responsibility either. Unlike the Pony Express, His Kingdom will never go under, no matter how technological our world gets.
The mental picture we have of the Pony Express is probably much like the one imagined by the young men of 1860 who read that newspaper ad. Scenes of excitement, camaraderie, and the thrill of adventure filled their heads as they swaggered over the Express office to apply. Yet few envisioned that excitement would only occasionally punctuate the routine of the long, hard hours and loneliness of the work.
The discipline of serving is like that. Although Christ’s summons to service is the most spiritually grand and noble way to live a life, it is typically as pedestrian as washing someone’s feet. Richard Foster puts it starkly: “In some ways we would prefer to hear Jesus’ call to deny father and mother, houses and land for the sake of the gospel, than His word to wash feet. Radical self-denial gives the feel of adventure. If we forsake all, we even have a chance of glorious martyrdom. But in service we are banished to the mundane, the ordinary, the trivial.

Taken from “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian” by Donald S. Whitney

All at Once

2006-02-10T23:20:00.000-06:00

Since I work in a Bible College, students have chapels three times a week (Mon. Wed. & Fri.) and since my work schedule changes from week to week, I have my days off either on the weekend or during the week, so I’ve been convinced that simply reading and meditating the Word by myself and going to church when I was not working was not enough, since I had the opportunity to attend chapel on my days off. So I started doing that, to hear the Word preached and to worship as a community of people.
Anyways, this morning I was in chapel and the students who had gone on a mission trip to Thailand this semester, were doing a report on it with pictures and everything. At the end they put a list of prayers requests and needs up on the power point. And all the students and staff were invited to stand up and start praying out loud, all at the same time. So when the student told us to start, then most people started to pray about Thailand and etc. People were not loud or wild about it (I’ve experienced that in a church and it was pretty… different.) they were just praying using a normal tone and volume. I don’t really know what I think about that. People praying out loud all at the same time. I know that God understands each prayer, but I don’t know how good it is to do that as a congregation (obviously, you need to be more than one person to do that kind of thing!) I understand that prayer is prayed to God, not to people around, but shouldn’t we be able to understand what people say? It makes me think of the gift of “speaking in tongues” Paul told the Corinthians 14:26,28 “… When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two – or at the most three – should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.” I know that Paul is giving instruction to the church of Corinth so they would know how to behave and do things in the church and that the students and staff at Bethany are not called a church when they have chapel. But if we just look at the text Paul says “When you come together” so it makes me think that anytime believers gather together for any kind of meeting (Sunday morning, evening, Wednesday night and else) we should behave ourselves in these manners. I know that praying and speaking in tongues can be two different things (meaning that people who spoke in tongues, sometimes were praying in tongues and sometimes were speaking to the brothers in tongues or etc.) so here I’m saying that since Paul said that people speaking in tongues should be 3 at the most, that these 2-3 different people should speak up one at the time, one after the other, with the translation / interpretation of what they said. Why? So the people around would be able to understand what is said, and be strengthened. And Paul ends basically saying that if people can’t understand what you say, then you should keep quiet and pray to God in your heart.
I don’t know if I can compare prayer in a community of believers and speaking in tongues… But I think that all of the gifts and everything we do together as a congregation should be done for the strengthening of the people around and with order. Just look at the beginning of the passage, Paul writes about singing hymns, words of instructions (that could include church bulletin info?!), revelations from the Word / exhortations, a tongue or interpretation. Then Paul says that all of these should be done for the strengthening of the church. The he gives further instructions on speaking in tongues. So I don’t know, but if we gather together and start praying out loud all at the same time, will the contents of the prayers strengthen the people? Well, apart for what you are praying, you won’t understand a thing. You could be strengthened by your own prayers, but still, that’s not the goal of getting together as a group of believers.
I’ve said some cons about this issue. Now I’ll share to pros.
I must say that I did not pray at all while people were praying out loud. I was sitting at the back of the chapel where seats are reserved for staff (I feel important sitting there… well not really actually) and so I was not in the midst of the crowd and I just kind of watched and thought about this whole thing. Since it was done in some type or order and nothing was too loud or wild, I thought that it was actually neat. I just had the picture of God looking down to these 170 students and staff praying to Him standing up. I thought that it was rather a glorious image. I mean, when people all pray at the same time together but in their hearts, God listens to as many people at the same time, so it doesn’t change much for HIS understanding. Nobody is strengthened either. I don’t know actually. Anyways, I have no biblical support for this things, I see more biblical support against it. But still I don’t know everything so.

That was my little experience this morning. Anybody has any thoughts on that? There is much more I could write, but I realize that my entries are sometimes pretty long. Please leave a comment, email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca say something about what you think, either to strengthen the pros… or the cons!

IT TEACHES US TO SAY NO

2006-02-09T23:39:00.000-06:00

Since years I had the habit of reading a few chapters of the Bible in the morning. During the two years I spent at Bible School I had a little devotional book in which I had to answer two questions “What is the author saying?” and “How can I put it into practice today?” about the passage of Scripture I had to read. Most of the time I did it very quickly and couldn’t find much to “flesh out”. My answers were always very general, not so practical for me, today. Anyways, since several weeks I’ve been thinking and convinced that simply “reading” the Word of God was not enough. My time in the morning was more like a spiritual fast-food than a real good, healthy meal. It’s not that I would never take the time to meditate and journal on certain passages, I would take the time to do that when I felt like it, maybe one a week or less. These were good times. But I’ve been realizing that to meditate on the Word only when I feel for it, kept me from many blessings when I started (a week or so ago) to take the time to meditate on what I read, every morning. I knew since long that I should take the time to meditate more, but it meant getting early in the morning, I guess I had the excuse that I was already getting up early enough to spend 30 minutes reading the Bible (to be able to read the whole book in a year) and that I spent a little later 20 minutes reading and praying, and all of that in the morning before going to work. I did not feel like getting even earlier, but I felt that my routine was not so good, or lacked something. I did not want to cut my 30 minute reading ‘cause I would not be able to read the whole Bible in a year, something I’ve done since years and that I find very precious for me to keep doing. I would get up at 6:30am to read for 30 minutes and then go back to sleep and get up at 8:00 to shower and etc. and then have my 20 minutes. (My lazy nature likes the idea of going back to bed for an hour again) so a certain morning, I got up and read my 30 minutes, then I thought I’d read the two chapters I was going to read in my 20 minutes right now instead of going back to sleep. I found myself with a whole hour before showering. I took the time to read closely and to be interested by the words. I wrote down what I was taught and continued on to pray about what I read and thanking God for the blessings I had found in His Word that morning. My spirit was light and bold, ready to apply His instructions. It was good. So I decided to give up my sleep since, and I journal on what the Lord teaches me, and He does, every morning.

Here’s my entry for this morning, February 9 2006. I was delighted to read about godliness and self-control… since I’ve been thinking about these a lot these last several weeks. It’s about Titus 2:11-end

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. … Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.”
These last several weeks I have been thinking about godliness and self-control and disciplines. I’ve always believed that being self-controlled was good but I never really fought for it, until a few weeks ago. I realize that disciplining myself is based on two things, if one is practiced without the other, I am incomplete and not really self-controlled. First, discipline pushes me to “do” godly things and second, it pushes me to “say no” to ungodliness. I know it sounds obvious, the thing is that it’s very easy for me to “do” good things, but it’s very hard to “say no” to ungodliness and worldly passions. By writing “to do good things” I’m not saying that I do them heartlessly just because I have to or acting as a Pharisee, just for outward appearances and to receive praise from men, but I mean that I do good things pushed by the Spirit of God, but it’s something terribly hard to say no to things that are not good, to be self-controlled. I don’t know what it says about me when I push myself to fast and give up some sleep, but I fall so easily into sin, choosing to disobey the Spirit of God because it gratifies the desires of my sinful nature. I am learning to say no, and I trust that disciplining myself to meditate and pray and journal and flesh out God’s teachings, will give me strength and a renewed mind to say no to ungodliness.
Why would I want to starve my appetites for laziness, selfishness, pride, unbelief, evil? Why? I mean, why do I want to be godly and obedient to God’s will? Why would “I beat my body and make it my slave” (I Cor. 9:27)? Yeah Jesus died for me and saved me, but really, what’s the reason? Christians might say stuff like “We want to be like Jesus because He gave us so much” or “We obey Christ out of love for Him” or etc. these things are totally true and proper and should be the reasons why I want to obey God and live a godly life. But the point Paul makes in Titus, or the reason he gives us why we should “say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled and godly lives” is because Jesus saved us (1) to REDEEM us from all WICKEDNESS and (2) TO PURIFY for Himself a people that are His very own, EAGER to do what is good. So basically I am saved to be purified from wickedness, being zealous (/eager) to do what is good. I am not saved so I would live a happy life on earth and in heaven (even though I will experience great joys by fighting for godliness), but I am saved because Jesus wants to purify me from all evil, He wants me to be His own. So if I want to be godly, it should be based on the truth that it is why Jesus came on earth and died for me. He died so I would become holy, not in order to give me back parents and siblings and friends who died when I go to heaven. Jesus died so I would be eager to do what is good.
I know that many times, I am not eager to do what is good, because my sinful nature is in the way and desires what is opposite to the Spirit of God (Gal. 5:17). So, can I be eager without desiring to be eager? In the sense that I am zealous to obey God without really feeling like obeying? I don’t know. But I think that this is part of what it is to live by faith. I trust God will honor me if I say no to ungodliness, simply because I desire to obey Him. Well, actually I guess I am eager to do what is right if I desire to obey God’s will… but still. Anyways. I guess that if I look at my flesh, I will get the feeling that I don’t want to do good, and if I look at my renewed mind in Christ, I will get the feeling that I eagerly want to obey God’s Spirit. So.

I encourage (strongly) that we spend more time meditating on the Word of God, I find many blessings in doing so and I think it’s regrettable that I spent so many years just reading every morning without thinking and seeking God’s teaching every morning.

Feel free to leave any comments or email me about this entry. Do not take any of what I write as being the truth. These are only my thoughts about what I read and meditate on in the Bible. I hope it is a challenge to you. gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Quick Thoughts About Prayer... maybe I did not really take the time to really think about it...

2006-02-06T22:44:00.000-06:00

A prayer by a Puritan, from the book “The Valley of Vision”
Lord Jesus, give me a deeper repentance, a horror of sin, a dread of its approach. Help me chastely to flee it and jealously to resolve that my heart shall be Thine alone.
Give me a deeper trust, that I may lose myself to find myself in Thee, the ground of my rest, the spring of my being. Give me a deeper knowledge of Thyself as saviour, master, lord, and king. Give me deeper power in private prayer, more sweetness in Thy Word, more steadfast grip on its truth. Give me deeper holiness in speech, thought, action, and let me not seek moral virtue apart from Thee.
Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly husbandman, that my being may be a tilled field, the roots of grace spreading far and wide, until Thou alone art seen in me, Thy beauty golden like summer harvest, Thy fruitfulness as autumn plenty.
I have no master but Thee, no law but Thy will, no delight but Thyself, no wealth but that Thou givest, no good but that Thou blessest, no peace but that Thou bestowest. I am nothing but that Thou makest me. I have nothing but that I receive from Thee. I can be nothing but that grace adorns me. Quarry me deep, dear Lord, and then fill me to overflowing with living water.

I love the prayers of the Puritans. They are like old hymns. The words of the old hymns are always very meaningful and profound, so sincere. It’s very easy to repeat the kind of prayer we hear at church and the words we grew up with. For some of us our prayers are empty of all sincerity and are just the same words repeated again and again. I’m not thinking much about the fact that lots of people tend to use the words “God” and “Lord” so many times when they pray that kids who are bored in prayer meetings have fun counting “how many times Mrs White said ‘Lord’ while praying”, but I’m more thinking about generally praying the same words every time we pray. It might be at mealtime or when asked to pray at the offering time at church or in a prayer meeting for someone. It seems that a lot of our prayers are without much depth. But even as I write these words, I confess that I pray very simply and probably with the same type of prayer, and attitude all the time or so. I’m not saying that being simple in our prayers is wrong. I believe God delights in the prayers of children who do not use big words and theology to pray. I think what we might be lacking is sincerity. It doesn’t really matter the words we use, but rather the attitude of our hearts. And I think that often our prayers are so usual and lacking reality because we are not diligent in seeking Jesus our Master everyday through meditation on His Word and praying more. If you have a discerning spirit, you can know a whole lot by simply listening to the prayers of some people because usually it is obvious when someone has a real, day-to-day relationship with Jesus. Although, many people pray as hypocrites and like to use nice prayers to impress the world around them. Anyways. I should go back to where I first started: I love old hymns, I love the prayers of the Puritans. I would like to pray to our God like them. I memorized one of their prayers and, it’s been good to pray these words at the end of my day at work when I’m locking up by myself, or when I go to bed. At first it seems to be pointless since you memorize someone else’s prayer to God, but when you know it well and you believe in what you say, man, it’s sweet to the soul and it gives us a greater appreciation for what God has done and who He is and so much more. Even, just reading these prayers to God and making them our own challenges us and I think God delights in hearing such devotion from His children (when it comes from their hearts). Just think of the book of Psalms. These Psalms were written as a hymn book / prayer book for king David and the other writers and the people of Israel. People used these prayers, sang these songs to God. I once had a notebook where I wrote down different passages from the Bible and I would pray them to God. It’s a neat thing to do, I can’t really explain. It teaches me, encourages me, it humbles me, I believe God loves to hear his children praying His Word, since His Word is always according to His will. I need to do that more.

PS: RAY, thank you for your comment, I have indeed been reading through prayers of the Puritans and the lives of some of them. I wrote this blog even before reading your comment. Is that interesting hey.

TRAIN YOURSELF TO BE GODLY – I Timothy 4:7

2006-02-05T23:32:00.000-06:00

I’ve always thought that discipline was good. And indeed, it is good. I guess it’s easy for me to say that because I naturally tend to do things in an orderly way, at the right time and the right place, that’s just who I am and I recognize that people do struggle with self-discipline. As I spent time reading God’s Word and thinking (or we could say, meditating) about it, God once again spoke to my heart. I don’t know about you, but for me, when I start reading the Bible and meditate on some verses, God likes to open my understanding and speak to me, He teaches me through His Word. Usually God makes me realize new and old disciplines that I should introduce to my daily life. What I mean by discipline, well, let’s say, self-discipline, is simple things found in the Bible that we are commanded to practice. God calls me to obedience. What usually happens is that I know I should change things in my life to obey God, but the act of obedience doesn’t really happen. It’s neat to have these great thoughts about God’s Words and standards of the Christian life and spiritual disciplines, and I realized that even though I was usually disciplined in life, well I was not for the things of God, or at least, it was much harder to practice and did not come to me naturally.
When I look around me and listen to what people say and the way they live, I realize that lots of us “Christians” think that discipline is good, but we are too lazy to actually “flesh it out”. I say lazy because that’s a good word to describe the main idea. We think discipline is good, but we are always excused for not practicing the spiritual disciplines, because we’re too busy at home, work, church activities, school or discipline doesn’t come naturally to them, so it’s too hard. In one word, we are a lazy people that doesn’t make time for obedience. I say “we” but I know very well that many Christians do make time and do obey Christ. Something else I’ve noticed is that lots of us think that practicing disciplines will make us boring little nerds without a life. But I realize that without discipline, we are not real disciples of Christ. Did you notice the word “disciples” isn’t it interesting how it looks like the word “discipline”? (I’m a bit sarcastic here). Jesus said “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” (Mat. 11:29) and “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). True disciples, true followers of Christ are people who take up their cross, daily. Nobody dumps a cross on you and say “Hey! Here’s a cross for you!”. No we have to go after it. I believe that it is a big mistake to think that we are following Jesus when we do not seek to pick up our cross everyday and follow Him. I’m not saying that we have to do things in order to be saved, I’m not saying that we have to work for our salvation. We are saved only by the holy blood of the Son of God, Jesus who died and was brought to life again by God’s power. No one can claim to be a disciple of Christ without following Him daily.
Though our desire to become godly and like Jesus, should automatically dwell in us when we come to Christ for salvation, to practice spiritual disciplines, like reading and meditating on the Word of God, praying, fasting, making friends with unbelievers to set an example and tell them about Jesus, giving of “our” resources etc. these things do not flow from us naturally. I guess, for some people, it’s easier, but for most of us, we have to decide to set the alarm at 6:30am instead of 7:00am to have a time, or a longer time to meditate on the Word of God, we choose that next Thursday, we’re fasting, etc. That is discipline. It is our choice to take up our cross, the cross won’t happen to be on our shoulder.
Yes, it is hard work. Because we go against what we are used to. It is not easy at first, but I realize that we will never be free in our walk with God if we don’t seek to obey Him radically. I think that a lot of Christians struggle so much in their walk with their Savior because they do not discipline themselves. We have a hard time praying for more than 5 minutes, giving up our riches and desires to help others, it’s hard to read and find anything we can put into practice when we read the Bible, why is it? Because we do not discipline ourselves to be godly. That’s why we can’t pray with freedom and understand and “flesh out” the Word of God. When I first started playing the guitar, it was hard on my fingers and it was painful. Remembering how to do the few chords I learned and play them one after the other was so hard. Then I didn’t know how to strum and I was frustrated with that, I felt stuck. But I kept on practicing day after day and now, I play with much ease and it sounds very good. If I would have thought “Man, it’s hard, I give up” then today I would still struggle with chords and strumming. There’s no fun. I think it’s the same with the spiritual disciplines, yes it is hard, but if we stay there, thinking to ourselves “Man, it’s hard, it’s boring, it hurts me” then we will struggle all our lives, not being able to really spend good time with God, meditating, putting His Word into practice and whatever God calls you to. We won’t bear much fruit and be stuck.
I realize that if I do not seek and obey Jesus with all the means I have, like Zacchaeus, who climbed in a tree to see Jesus, I will stay behind the crowd without seeing, experiencing anything, I will simply hear people’s shouts of joy from afar because of the amazing things Jesus is doing for them. Who wants to live that kind of life? I don’t. That’s way it is so important to strive to obey Jesus.
It will cost us a lot. We might lose some of the things we always had, we might lose some comforts, it will cost us time with people we love. The call of Christ was never to live, but to die. Why do we think our call is to become better people and live to improve our comforts and what we have? The call of Christ on our lives is not to live, but to die. To take up our cross, daily and obey Him. We die to ourselves, our base inspirations, our flesh, to become alive to God in Jesus. And that is done by giving up our desires and start obey God’s Word.
These are things I’ve been thinking about and I am excited, because I am starting to obey my Lord in tangible ways, and it feels good. Obedience is tough, but it is so good to my soul to read and meditate and find God meeting with me every morning, teaching me. I used to read and pray every morning, but now I take the time to meditate in between reading and praying, it makes so a neat difference.

Anyways, if any of you would like to share with me how you discipline yourself to be godly and know God better, or if you would like me to pray for you, or anything else, just send me an email or leave a comment. Let us provoke one another to godliness!