Prompt: Who are you now? What are your philosophies? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? How do you define yourself? Focus on everything that makes you who you are.
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2/6/10
I am a sinner. First and foremost, I rely on Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord, to guide me from this life to the next as I try my best to follow Him. Now I know that that's not really what this chapter is supposed to be about, but I need to constantly remind myself of that, and those words seem to best fit how I should start my reflections.
That being said, I am a Christian. I am a member of the [Orthodox Presbyterian] church, whom God has called to be the wayward bride that He sent His Son to rescue. I am a talmid of the Rabbi Jesus, and my goal in life is to be covered in the dust from His feet. Now that might seem strange, but I believe that to be the innate destiny of all mankind: to become more like the One whose image we bear. I am a brother, who fails every test in the Bible that the Christ puts out for me. "If a man says, 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (I John 4:20). I always fall short, and hindsight continuously plagues me when I realize that I have sinned, or refused to do something good. My sin makes me sad, incredibly sad. "For I have the desire to do what it good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep doing" (Romans 7:19). I'm sorry if this seems really negative, but I need to always remind myself that I cannot do any good thing apart from the grace of God. God has given me a pessimistic attitude to wrestle with, because whenever I see the dark side of life, everything around me suffers.
I am an old-fashioned sort of guy. I think of myself as "a classy sort of old-school dude" [as my grandfather says], because I was baby-sat by my grandparents for most of my toddler years, and still rely on them for advice almost (if not more so) as often as I ask my parents. I mean, that's got to leave a mark on somebody, if one talks to and listens to a different generation, [then] that person will inevitably act somewhat like that generation. I believe in (but fail to follow) the unspoken and outdated codes of chivalry, and I try my best to live up to God's standards found in the law, always trusting in the true law-keeper, Jesus Christ.
A belief that I've just recently adopted [refined is more like it] is about the sovereignty of God. Now, I always believed that God had everything under control, but I never really believed that he was in control, if that makes sense. I taught myself to trust that everything is in God's plan, no matter how heart-wrenching or sinful I might feel about my actions, words, or thoughts. As Job said, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10b). Joseph, my namesake, also summed up this idea, saying "So now it was not you [Joseph's brothers] that sent me hither, but God" (Genesis 45:8a), and the apostle Paul also encourages this sentiment in the famous Romans 8:28 passage: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." I still have many questions as to how God's sovereignty and myself work together to perform His will, but knowing that He really is using EVERYTHING for good is a really amazing encouragement to me in trials. James wrote, "consider it joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of the faith develops perseverance" (James 1:2-3). Paul later state "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" (II Corinthians 12:9b), when he was confronted with a thorn that God refused to remove, because He said "My grace is sufficient for you [Paul], for My power is made perfect in weakness" (II Corinthians 12:9a). These passages really strengthen me, because they help me remember that I too, like the apostle Paul, can say "For when I am weak, then I am strong" (II Corinthians 12:10).
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2/6/10
I am a sinner. First and foremost, I rely on Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord, to guide me from this life to the next as I try my best to follow Him. Now I know that that's not really what this chapter is supposed to be about, but I need to constantly remind myself of that, and those words seem to best fit how I should start my reflections.
That being said, I am a Christian. I am a member of the [Orthodox Presbyterian] church, whom God has called to be the wayward bride that He sent His Son to rescue. I am a talmid of the Rabbi Jesus, and my goal in life is to be covered in the dust from His feet. Now that might seem strange, but I believe that to be the innate destiny of all mankind: to become more like the One whose image we bear. I am a brother, who fails every test in the Bible that the Christ puts out for me. "If a man says, 'I love God,' and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?" (I John 4:20). I always fall short, and hindsight continuously plagues me when I realize that I have sinned, or refused to do something good. My sin makes me sad, incredibly sad. "For I have the desire to do what it good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep doing" (Romans 7:19). I'm sorry if this seems really negative, but I need to always remind myself that I cannot do any good thing apart from the grace of God. God has given me a pessimistic attitude to wrestle with, because whenever I see the dark side of life, everything around me suffers.
I am an old-fashioned sort of guy. I think of myself as "a classy sort of old-school dude" [as my grandfather says], because I was baby-sat by my grandparents for most of my toddler years, and still rely on them for advice almost (if not more so) as often as I ask my parents. I mean, that's got to leave a mark on somebody, if one talks to and listens to a different generation, [then] that person will inevitably act somewhat like that generation. I believe in (but fail to follow) the unspoken and outdated codes of chivalry, and I try my best to live up to God's standards found in the law, always trusting in the true law-keeper, Jesus Christ.
A belief that I've just recently adopted [refined is more like it] is about the sovereignty of God. Now, I always believed that God had everything under control, but I never really believed that he was in control, if that makes sense. I taught myself to trust that everything is in God's plan, no matter how heart-wrenching or sinful I might feel about my actions, words, or thoughts. As Job said, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10b). Joseph, my namesake, also summed up this idea, saying "So now it was not you [Joseph's brothers] that sent me hither, but God" (Genesis 45:8a), and the apostle Paul also encourages this sentiment in the famous Romans 8:28 passage: "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." I still have many questions as to how God's sovereignty and myself work together to perform His will, but knowing that He really is using EVERYTHING for good is a really amazing encouragement to me in trials. James wrote, "consider it joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of the faith develops perseverance" (James 1:2-3). Paul later state "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me" (II Corinthians 12:9b), when he was confronted with a thorn that God refused to remove, because He said "My grace is sufficient for you [Paul], for My power is made perfect in weakness" (II Corinthians 12:9a). These passages really strengthen me, because they help me remember that I too, like the apostle Paul, can say "For when I am weak, then I am strong" (II Corinthians 12:10).
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