I've been thinking about stuffs. A lot of verses have been coming to my mind. I wasted the time I had to write this sooner when the thoughts were fresher, so now I will just go off the verses I have and write and hopefully, I will remember some more things.
At school we were talking about A Farewell to Arms in a socratic seminar. I am very blessed to have open minded, hard-thinking classmates that are pretty much all Christian. The point is not exactly to speak what you believe, but what the author believed, what the character believes, and how those beliefs relate to your own, so it all interconnects. In A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, it shows the thoughts of the main character, Lt. Frederick Henry saying:
“If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”
Although what Hemingway is saying seems pessimistic and dark, there is an element of truth in it. Everybody dies who doesn't get taken away by God directly. Those who have not accepted Jesus as Lord will die by the body and the spirit. Children of God however die by the spirit then the body. :) :) :)
...Let me explain myself with this verse:
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ~ Galatians 2:20
My old self, my sinful spirit is dead. It died a while ago. It can't come back. Usually a body without a spirit is dead too, but look! I'm still here and moving and typing. Well, that's because the Holy Spirit lives inside of me. What do I do when the Counselor lives in me? I live by faith. What is faith made of? It is made of the assurance of the Salvation Christ is giving us. Assurance that His sacrifice was enough, that He is good, that His grace is sufficient (I'll talk about that later. :) It is also built on the Truth that He is Lord and everything that entitles. He, the Almighty Creator of the universe, who hold the forces of the world together, the Holy and Righteous One, is also the Healer of our souls, our Friend and Savior. He took the punishment of death for us and rose again so that we can both rise from death ourselves and live with Him in eternity. You see? Our bodies will die, but we, Children of the Living God will live. I want to encourage my classmates, that in Christ, the world will not kill you in the end. The world cannot touch you.
About that sufficient grace thingy. I just want to share what my pastor said. He was quoting somebody who I don't remember, but he talked about how we don't have to fear if God has enough grace for something we have done. First, the verse is this:
“But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'” ~2 Corinthians 12:9A
Now the guy my pastor quoted had a few more analogies, but he was talking about a fish swimming in the ocean worrying that he will breathe all the water in the ocean and use up all the oxygen, but the Lord said, “My water is sufficient for you.” I think that is really cool to think about. God's grace to me, who sins frequently, is as sufficient as the water in the ocean is sufficient for a single fish.
Colossians has some of the verses that have been going through my mind too. First is Colossians 2:6-8:
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
This shows me where to go to when I'm in need of Truth. The world will keep chucking falsehoods at me and I am thirsty for the Truth, the Truth that satisfies. There is empty deceit all over the world. I believe much of the hollow deceit that we Americans get comes from the movies. They tell us, “Follow your heart,” “Don't let anyone keep you from who you were meant to be,” and things like that. Those sayings are very hollow and without God, untrue. It's crazy how many movies there are that would be so much more meaningful if they had God in it; a God who loves and protects like He always has. So I say to you, don't let anyone take you captive by philosophy and empty deceit! You are not to be captured by thoughts, but to take every though captive! That's what standing your ground is. We are built up on and established in Him, the Ultimate essence of truth, and even called the Truth.
This verse also reminds me that our source of life is only God. We can only love because He loved us first. We can only move and live because He gives us the strength to do so. We can only speak because He spoke and we can only teach because He taught, a poet whose name I don’t remember said. Everything that is present in a redeemed life comes straight from God. We can’t just take it for ourselves, but we should pay it forward, return love and grace and mercy and forgiveness back to God by giving it to other people and therefore praising Him.
Yet another verse that is well quoted but still very important is this:
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” ~ Philippians 4:8
Being a student and an American living in the growth of the internet with all types of unwholesome ideas being thrown at us, this verse makes a lot of sense and we should take it really seriously. I believe that anything that does not glorify the Lord in at least the smallest way is not excellent or praiseworthy. In my life, I know that youtube has a lot of junk to watch. It’s not all bad, but lot of it does not give a hint of glory to the creator and is focused on man. Often they take the Lord’s name in vain and thus take glory away from it. That is not honorable at all so I should not be putting those things in my mind. A lot of the not honorable or praiseworthy things we think about we have to read/watch/hear as a part of our lives at school or work. I strive to combat it all by countering it with even more praise and worship and goodness.
My biggest problem with this verse relates to my own humanity; if forget it alot. I want to stress this verse to the people around me because non-praiseworthy thoughts are sneaky and hard to detect. Once we start thinking about them, they can put us in a negative attitude for the rest of the day. Remembering this verse in daily life in a worldly world will be healing and life-giving.
For one more thought I had, I would rather not explain everything but just give us a reminder:
We should not strive to be significant. It breaks apart unity. Instead, the greatest is the one who serves His fellows. We should make Christ significant by serving Him and others. When we do that we become close as the Body of Christ and we lift up Christ as the Head. When the Head and body are apart, not much happens. :)
Well, that’s about it, I think. Here are some verses from Colossians I thought were pretty neat. I’ll be using them for my daily verse too.
“He has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.” ~Colossians 1:22
“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” ~Colossians 3:1-4
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” ~Colossians 3:23-24
I love you, Silas. Good thoughts.. ~Mama :)
ReplyDelete