Saturday, July 14, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Reflection on John Chapter 14
Reflection on John
Chapter 14
“Do not
let your hearts be troubled.”
In this
chapter we see how Jesus comforts his disciples and tell them he is the only
Way and the Truth and the Life, if one wants to come to the father. Both Thomas
and Philip asked an interesting question in return to what Jesus told them
about where he would be going and who the “Father” is. I found the question
asked by Thomas to be intriguing. This is what he said to Jesus when Jesus told
them he will go to prepare a place for them.
5 Thomas said
to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”6
And Jesus answered:-
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
And here is the question asked by Philip: 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus response:- : “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?
In the following versus I loved how Jesus kept referring back to his father and he was the one who has given him the authority to speak the words he was speaking to his disciples. You might think of he is equally powerful and able to do anything just like his father. And his father is him and him his father. But but…, how beautiful and wonderful he is to ordained all respect, love and glory back to his father. I see how he was so determination to accomplish what his father had sent him for!
The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me…
Not only for
his disciples but also Jesus has promised us if we believe in him, we can do
even more than what he has done and greater things in life.
Very
truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and
they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so
that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I
will do it.
God
is able! And his is able and faithful to finish all the work he has began with in
us. The word of God speaks to us “be still and KNOW that I am God”. So shall
we. Sometimes we might not know what we need to do about some difficult or
confusing situations we face in life. We might think really there might not be
a way out or it is going to cost us a whole lot more than what we can handle.
However, Jesus tells us today
14 “Do not let your
hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me!
He
is indeed the ONLY way! Our redeemer Lives!
“I am the way and the truth and
the life.”
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
My thought on Luke Chapter 22
My thought on Luke
Chapter 22
In this chapter
I have learned about how friendship can possibly betrayed and tested at times
of danger, fear of being captured and be killed, money… many things one can
mention. For instance Judas, one of Jesus disciples came to agree with chief
priest and officers of temple guard to have Jesus captured. Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one
of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went
to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard and discussed with
them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They
were delighted and agreed to give him money. 6 He
consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no
crowd was present.
Not only Judas betrayed
Jesus, but also Simon( Peter), one of the disciples who was loved Jesus, denied
his “knowing” of Jesus three times when he was confronted by the servant girl
and two other men. 31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But
I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have
turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 33 But he
replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” 34 Jesus
answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will
deny three times that you know me.”56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” 60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Though Jesus was betrayed by his close friends and he already knew when the time comes they would turn their back on him, he had still loved them and had them to get close by. One big difference I have noticed between Judas and Peter was, Peter seemed to realize what he did was wrong. The bible tells us in Luke 22:61 how he cried bitterly when the Lord turned and looked straight at him.
When it comes to Judas I though about if he had a chance to ask for Jesus’ forgiveness and wondered about why he didn’t. Could he have been saved regardless of the prophesies told about Jesus crucifixion and death? And why didn’t Judas repent afterward? I am not quite certain about it.
But reading the following context, it seemed Judas had a chance to repent and ask the Lord to forgive him when Jesus said 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
And
47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
Besides, in this chapter I also have learned also teaches us about the importance of serving all in humbleness, not with the mind set of “I am better than everyone else or “I know it all”, prayer and also loving ones who hated us or wronged us in any kind of ways. Here is what Jesus said to his disciples,
Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.
You are Love Lord! And Life abundant in you!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Reflection on Luke Chapter 13
Reflection on Luke Chapter 13
In this chapter Jesus
teaches about the importance of repentance. We need to repent for all the sins
we’ve committed against the will of God in our life. Sins we acknowledgedly and
unacknowledly committed. It was interesting what Jesus said against the thought
of many about bad things happened to worst sinner or more guilty ones such as the
“eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them”
and the “Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their
sacrifices”, not because of their deed. But Jesus took away the attentions from
those who died to the people who are alive and under the assumptions of the others
sins and death by replying “I tell you, no! But unless
you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13:5.
I like the
parable Jesus used in Luke 13: 6-8. I have learned about the importance of patience
and also how God is the God of more chances.
Then he told
this parable: “A
man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it
but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the
vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig
tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it
alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If
it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”
For my own amazing this is
what I have noticed in the previous and this chapter of Luke about how a sprit
can cripple one’s body. In this chapter we see how Jesus healed the woman who was
crippled by a sprit for 18 long years. You see his love and care for humanity.
“And a woman was there
who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and
could not straighten up at all. 12 When
Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman,
you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his
hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
What does the Kingdom of God looks like? It is a pretty good
question to ask and get the full picture. Jesus use different parables to describe
what the Kingdome of God looks like.
18 Then Jesus
asked, “What
is the kingdom of
God like? What shall I
compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed,
which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the
birds perched in its branches.”
20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? 21 It
is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds[
of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
It is important for all of us to understand and get the full
image of what the kingdom
of God looks like while
we are on earth. Don’t we pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? So
what is this heaven looks like?
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Reflection On Luke Chapter 11
“Father,
hallowed be your name” !
Reflection
On Luke Chapter 11
Reading this chapter, I
have noted some incredible insights and wisdom that Jesus applied to engage in
conversations he had with one of his disciples, crowds increased in numbers to see
miraculous signs performed by Jesus and also the Pharisee who invited him to
eat with him and others who oppose him fiercely.
Luke 11: 1 "Lord,
teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
The question asked by one
of the disciples seemed to be sincere and kind. I have found myself asking the
same question before out of a desire to want to spent time with God and engage
in conversations with him. This is what Jesus replied to the disciple: when you
pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your
name, your kingdom come (Luke 11:2).
Interestingly enough Jesus didn’t say too much about how he need to pray and
what define words or languages he had to say in order to learn how to pray. He
put it in a simple way as a guide line about how the disciple can pray and what
he need to consider first and be mindful about things he had to say when he
pray. May only the Will of God be up on our life and through his help may each of
us come to understand what this means in a deeper way not just as a merely word
and accept the will!
And also I like to mention
few things in I learned from these two verses of Luke (Luke 11:9-10). "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given
to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks
finds; and to him who knocks, the door
will be opened.
This “him” is us people!
That who says “I” is the Lord!
Yours and mine action is required! And faith!
- I remember pastor say this in one of the Sunday fellowship we had a while ago and I hope not to forget it ever: “Stop wanting to have a wishful life!”
This is what Jesus has
said to us in Luke 11: 11-12Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish,
will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
So shall we keep doubting him with what we wanted to trust him? I will leave
that for all of us to think about it deeply and pray (depending) on the holy
sprit to guide us and tell us what we need to say. May God bless us all!
"Blessed rather are those who hear the
word of God and obey it." Luke 11:28
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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