Patience in light of God’s patience

“The presense of impatience reveals the absence of humility, reveals the presence of self-righteousness in our lives. When we are impatient, we have forgotten God’s patience with us.”  – CJ Mahaney

very humbling…

The Appeal of Free Food: Ponderings of a Hungry Man

There’s a feeling of joy that comes with free food that can only be matched by a few things in this world. The patience to go through with something knowing that there will be a delicious meal waiting for you at the end. A working man coming home to enjoy a home-cooked meal with his wife and children. It gives you a nice romantic/homey feel. Longing for nourishment and the comforts of this world sure seem like worthy pursuits, but if only we could have the same satisfaction from being fed by the Word of God. As Christ says in John 6:35 35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” If only I could fully grasp this bread of life to satisfy and quiet my wants and desires…

Beaten but not broken

With an injury, depending on the severity, comes many emotions: fragility in my injured body, frustration that comes with the inability to do “simple” tasks, embarrassment, determination, just to name a few.  These “simple” things become so mundane, we forget to thank God for them.  Sadly, not until God temporarily took away my ability to walk on two feet, did I fully appreciate the gift of being able to physically walk.  In midst of these circumstances, one feeling I did not expect to have from the injury was joy.  Joy in knowing that there is a heavenly body awaiting me at the gates of gold.  That although there is much pain and suffering in this world, we carry on and live joyfully in faith with eyes fixed on the coming of our Savior and King.  “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”-James 1:2-3

Update on what happened this past Friday at Wooden.  Teammate stole the ball threw an outlet pass to me, I drove left and went up for a layup, and the opposing player fouled me up in chest area and my face.  Suddenly my upper body was falling backwards and my right leg was straight up in the air.  My left foot touches the ground first, then the rest of my body came crashing down on it.  It was too much weight for my foot to handle, so the ankle gave out. I think it’s a sprain… hopefully that’s all it is.

Making our God small

I’ve been reading Spectacular Sins by John Piper. It’s a very good book, and I highly recommend it. (Unlike most Piper books, it’s short and to the point!) It’s not just informative but it’s given me a greater understanding and appreciation of God’s sovereignty, especially in the area of sin and God’s sovereignty over it. One statement that struck me was: “Wimpy worldviews make wimpy Christians”. How often we talk, sing, read about the greatness of God, and I have no doubt that if I was to ask a Christian, or specifically someone from GOC what he/she thought about God, I’d probably get some responses ranging from “holy, awesome, powerful, omniscient, omnipresent, all-knowing, wise, faithful, etc” but how do those beliefs manifest themselves in our daily lives? I for one often lack faith when I choose to rely on myself on how I am going to get this or that done, deciding my future, or even making everyday decisions. Where is God in that picture? I am doing the exact opposite of what it says in Proverbs 3:5-7:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.”

We are supposed to build our faith on the solid rock of God, not the sinking sands that are ourselves. Christianity is more than facts but not less. We as Christians often say we read the Bible to “know more about God”. That statement might be inadequate depending on your definition of “knowing”. “Knowing” more about God does not do the Bible, or our Lord justice. After all I could pick up a book on USC sports history and know more about it, but I could care less about it. Plainly reading or hearing the Bible does not make us more like Christ, the Pharisees knew the Word of God inside and out but all that knowledge meant nothing for their perishing souls in the end. They were exactly the kind of people James warns us not to become when he says, “Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” The greater our understanding of God through the application of His word, the more faithful our worldviews will be. Let’s not be wimpy Christians, I don’t want to be one.

Last enrollment EVER

Just enrolled for the last classes of my college career. Yikes senior year is ending quickly. Senior year has been busy and seems to only get busier as time goes on, but all to the glory of God…well hopefully I’ve been able to be faithful in that. Tack on work starting on Tuesday and that equals some busy times ahead. Busyness tends to bring out the worst in me sometimes. The danger of focusing too much on the busyness and not on God, forgetting to care enough about others, thinking about what I need to do next, being impatient, being terse with people, among probably other things. These all boil down to selfishness. Selfishness being an exalting of oneself, therefore a lack of humility. Well this is what Peter has to say about it:

“You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the pround, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” -1Peter 5:5-7

What a comforting promise that is, that we ought to humble ourselves before Him and cast our anxieties on Him BECAUSE HE CARES FOR US. What a boundless love it is.

after this midterm, I’m playing BASKETBALL

I’ve been sitting at this desk too much these past couple days, my legs feel decrepit… like that feeling you get in your legs/feet when you’ve just woken up from sleeping in your seat during a long flight.

Another Year of Life, Another Year Older,

Another year wiser? I can only hope to strive to learn and understand more of what Solomon writes in Provers 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” Wow I’m 22 now. 21 is supposed to be a landmark year and in many ways it was. What a crazy year, lots of challenges, , lots of sin, lots of growth, a lot learned, and grace that abounded it all. Too much for this one page. Here’s to another year of blessed life. Thank you Lord, and thank You for family and friends.

A Prayer for Patience

“The presence of impatience reveals the absence of humility, reveals the presence of self-righteousness in our lives. When we are impatient, we have forgotten God’s patience with us.”

-C.J. Mahaney

“Appreciate the patience of God, think how He has borne with you and still bears with you when so much of your life is unworthy of Him and you have so richly deserved His rejection. Learn to marvel at His patience and seek grace to imitate it in your dealings with others and try not to try His patience anymore.”

-J.I. Packer

God, please grant me patience in dealing with every trial, every worry, every doubt. I cast these thoughts unto the only God of this universe who promises to give me rest. Amen

I GOT A JOB!

well potentially… with this Linguistics degree from the illustrious institution of UCLA I will be starting an internship as a Financial Advisor of all things. First thing people say when I tell them I got a job: “you got that with ling?? how??” Funny how things work out, I guess I have ET to partially thank for that.
Proverbs 3:5-6 is so true: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight”
The whole job search/planning for your future can bring out the worst anxieties in people. I for one had some of those fears, many of them this past summer, but if it’s one thing I’ve learned through this is: why worry? Matthew 6 Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow because each day has enough trouble of its own and to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all things will be added to us. God will and has always provided for all our needs, so why do we so often lack trust and feel anxious?

Funny how I posted on the subject of anxiety nearly 2 years ago http://jdeezy.blogspot.com/2007/03/stop-being-so-stubborn.html I guess God still has a lot to teach me…

Brothas and Sistas

The start of Christmas break has been such a blessing so far. Spending this past weekend in norcal was a BLAST, and the best was being able to spend it with friends. Whenever I get to go out somewhere is an adventure in it of itself because I’ve pretty much been a homebody since I was little (though not by choice!, don’t get me wrong, I do love experiencing new things!). After spending some time to look back at this weekend, remembering funny things that happened, etc, I realized that without the friends I have, much of it wouldn’t have been possible. God has definitely blessed me with the relationships I have made the past few years, especially in school, and to think that in less than half a year, I’ll be out of here, never to come back to the books, studying, apartment, and possibly the fellowship and church I’ve called home for the past few years. It’s a sad reality at first, and accepting the fact that the amount of time left here is getting shorter and shorter and there’s nothing I can do about it. But with great joy I can say that by the grace of God, my relationship with Him is not like those I have here. Though the relationships I have here on earth may be constantly changing over time, and we can be swayed every which way, my Savior is constant and unchanging.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8