- I think as a team we've raised 100% of the funds we need. I'll know for sure probably sometime tomorrow. So huge praise there!!
- We leave Thursday! ...and I'm not totally ready yet! I plan to be before then though. ;)
- I had my own personal send off from my Grace Community Church neighborhood outreach friends. It was awesome!!! I am so blessed to have such wonderful sisters and brothers in Christ praying for me. I also had a sort of send off from Sojourners, my Sunday school group which I really didn't expect, but was neat. :D Verbal prayer like that is just a blessing. So thanks all!
- Oh, and what do you think of the new layout?
Anyways, on to the post.
Of all the attitudes, love, is the hardest, yet on the other hand it is the most enduring.
Love is more than just a feeling of "like" toward a person or a people. It is a volitional care and concern for others that is self-sacrificing. It's a wanting what is best for that person or persons. It's doing what's right even if it's hard, even if it costs you something. It's sharing the gospel with them. I know this is an incomplete definition of love, but it is the part that sticks out to me right now. And yes, even this small facet of what love is, is hard to do, but it matters.
As my day of departure draws closer, I feel a deeper concern for those millions of lost souls in Japan. I am very much an "American", but in a way the people of Japan feel like "my people". I know I don't fully understand them, their language, or their culture, but I care about them. And I kind of feel like I'm one of them. Because of this, it is painful to remember that while they as a nation are rich in worldly things, they are like the beggars on the street with nothing to eat, barely any clothing and no roof over their head in regards to spiritual "wealth". They don't know God. They can see the evidences of His existence in Creation, but the overwhelming majority does not know or worship Him as God. Instead they persist in superstition and the worship of materials like wood, metal, and stone.
They very much remind me of the people Paul spoke to in Athens who had so many gods, all but the real, true and living One. I want to be humble, serve them, love them and remember my purpose among them. And I know that my resolve to do so is strong right now, in this moment, but I also know that I will be tempted to give up, give in and be my regular sinful self when the opportunity to do so comes. And I know there will be plenty of times that I'll be tempted to from exhaustion, impatience, frustration, etc. It's a scary thing to know that while I have been saved from slavery to sin, there is still this evil sin loving flesh inside of me....
So, yeah, that's pretty much my prayer, (and I know I'm repeating myself, sorry I tend to do that sometimes) that when I am in those moments where I have the opportunity to complain, to not be joyful as I ought, to not be humble, to not serve, to not love, to not remember my purpose, to not glorify God, to sin, ...that I won't. That I will instead keep my eyes on Jesus, remembering His abundant grace to me, that I do NOT deserve and do what I have purposed to do.
My purpose in Japan is not to seek my own glory, but to seek to continuously point others to Jesus Christ and what He did, to serve and to love. I know I will mess up, at times so please pray that I will be humble and repentant when I do. From observing the people I love and respect, being open, humble and repenting of your sins instead of trying to hide it, makes a lasting impact. So, on that note, I guess it's time to confess that I felt like I had to be perfect because I am a representative of my friends and family, the people I know and love, but most of all of Christ. But on the other hand I know I can't be perfect. So, it was a blessing to be reminded that I am no more justified now than I was on the day I was saved. There is grace, I don't have to be perfect, nor can I be. I need simply to be humble and repentant. There's always that balance and that's why I love Romans - grace covers sin and yet we are to continually strive toward sanctification. And it is God who does the saving, we just sow the seed and water. God gives the life and gets all the glory. Praise Him all ye people!
It was so cool because we sang this hymn during evening service and while I like all the verses, the last one (6) pretty sums up how I feel about my STM, thusly I love the last verse of this hymn. :D
- We leave Thursday! ...and I'm not totally ready yet! I plan to be before then though. ;)
- I had my own personal send off from my Grace Community Church neighborhood outreach friends. It was awesome!!! I am so blessed to have such wonderful sisters and brothers in Christ praying for me. I also had a sort of send off from Sojourners, my Sunday school group which I really didn't expect, but was neat. :D Verbal prayer like that is just a blessing. So thanks all!
- Oh, and what do you think of the new layout?
Anyways, on to the post.
Of all the attitudes, love, is the hardest, yet on the other hand it is the most enduring.
Love is more than just a feeling of "like" toward a person or a people. It is a volitional care and concern for others that is self-sacrificing. It's a wanting what is best for that person or persons. It's doing what's right even if it's hard, even if it costs you something. It's sharing the gospel with them. I know this is an incomplete definition of love, but it is the part that sticks out to me right now. And yes, even this small facet of what love is, is hard to do, but it matters.
As my day of departure draws closer, I feel a deeper concern for those millions of lost souls in Japan. I am very much an "American", but in a way the people of Japan feel like "my people". I know I don't fully understand them, their language, or their culture, but I care about them. And I kind of feel like I'm one of them. Because of this, it is painful to remember that while they as a nation are rich in worldly things, they are like the beggars on the street with nothing to eat, barely any clothing and no roof over their head in regards to spiritual "wealth". They don't know God. They can see the evidences of His existence in Creation, but the overwhelming majority does not know or worship Him as God. Instead they persist in superstition and the worship of materials like wood, metal, and stone.
They very much remind me of the people Paul spoke to in Athens who had so many gods, all but the real, true and living One. I want to be humble, serve them, love them and remember my purpose among them. And I know that my resolve to do so is strong right now, in this moment, but I also know that I will be tempted to give up, give in and be my regular sinful self when the opportunity to do so comes. And I know there will be plenty of times that I'll be tempted to from exhaustion, impatience, frustration, etc. It's a scary thing to know that while I have been saved from slavery to sin, there is still this evil sin loving flesh inside of me....
So, yeah, that's pretty much my prayer, (and I know I'm repeating myself, sorry I tend to do that sometimes) that when I am in those moments where I have the opportunity to complain, to not be joyful as I ought, to not be humble, to not serve, to not love, to not remember my purpose, to not glorify God, to sin, ...that I won't. That I will instead keep my eyes on Jesus, remembering His abundant grace to me, that I do NOT deserve and do what I have purposed to do.
My purpose in Japan is not to seek my own glory, but to seek to continuously point others to Jesus Christ and what He did, to serve and to love. I know I will mess up, at times so please pray that I will be humble and repentant when I do. From observing the people I love and respect, being open, humble and repenting of your sins instead of trying to hide it, makes a lasting impact. So, on that note, I guess it's time to confess that I felt like I had to be perfect because I am a representative of my friends and family, the people I know and love, but most of all of Christ. But on the other hand I know I can't be perfect. So, it was a blessing to be reminded that I am no more justified now than I was on the day I was saved. There is grace, I don't have to be perfect, nor can I be. I need simply to be humble and repentant. There's always that balance and that's why I love Romans - grace covers sin and yet we are to continually strive toward sanctification. And it is God who does the saving, we just sow the seed and water. God gives the life and gets all the glory. Praise Him all ye people!
It was so cool because we sang this hymn during evening service and while I like all the verses, the last one (6) pretty sums up how I feel about my STM, thusly I love the last verse of this hymn. :D
- May the mind of Christ my Savior
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and pow'r controlling
All I do and say. - May the Word of Christ dwell richly
In my heart from hour to hour,
So that all may see I triumph
Only through His pow'r. - May the peace of Christ my Savior
Rule my life in every thing,
That I may be calm to comfort
Sick and sorrowing. - May the love of Jesus fill me,
As the waters fill the sea;
Him exalting, self abasing,
This is victory. - May I run the race before me,
Strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus
As I onward go. - May His beauty rest upon me
As I seek the lost to win,
And may they forget the channel,
Seeing only Him.
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