— c. h. spurgeon .

There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold I am wise.” But when we come to this master science, finding that our plumbline cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with solemn exclamation, “I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.” No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God.... 

But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe.... The most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.

And, while humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore.

Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead’s deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest, refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you this morning.

easier said than done.

It is so hard to swallow your own pride. I am at default quick to gnash at and bite up other people's pride. But can I really bite my tongue and grit my teeth and gulp down all the words my pride tells me to say? This is not to say to keep it all in and be the "better" person by not saying anything at all (which I don't think will be helpful...plus, trying to be the "better" person can sometimes be the wrong motive). I think things can be righted with proper words and tones, in civility, and with effort from all sides. But in a situation where no one is completely at fault but then again not completely in the right, it's much easier to spotlight and shame anyone else's wrongs. And without communication, everything is just...stuck. Murky. 'Everyone else is in the wrong, so why should I say or do anything?' It is really hard to admit that I was wrong especially when others won't admit they were too. Being the first one to admit anything in and of itself is really hard.

And even after giving in and acknowledging and apologizing and taking heat, but others still aren't budging, am I able to rejoice in my suffering, not mope and sulk in it? Instead of staying stuck in my sobbing and listing out all my horrible feelings to God and swimming in misery, am I able to sing songs of praise and declare God is still good and worthy to be praised?

It's all so much easier said than done...

---
more than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
-romans5.3-5 esv
---
count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
-james1.2-4 esv

God is sovereign.

out of love for God,

doing the things that no one else gives a second thought of doing
reaching out to those most avoid or are indifferent to
trusting God even when you can't hear His voice and all hope seems lost
praising God even when everything is going right and life is comfortable

---
we remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 thessalonians 1:3
---
brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God -- that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. therefore, as it is written: "let the one who boasts boast in the Lord."
1 corinthians 1:26-31
---
...rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus...
philippians 2
---

*am i living entitled and not thinking more highly of others?
*remember where you once were
*remember God's unchanging love and grace and mercy

Jesus,

Your humility paved the way for our salvation.

on when your labors seem fruitless

There are days, sometimes weeks, when I feel my efforts and labors are futile, fruitless, wasted. (I'm not saying that I am doing so much and want to be noticed for everything; I know I could always do more.)

But I have to remind and remind myself: God sees all. Even the things that I don't see -- perhaps, especially the things that I don't see. He sees it all, and that's all that matters. When others don't see, and when others do see but ignore or look down on your efforts, as long as your heart is pure, God sees your deeds and is glad. When my heart and desires that are grounded upon glorifying and loving God progressively manifest into a heart and deeds/labors of loving His people, there will be fruit, because ultimately it is He who nurtures and waters and grows. He is the breather of life. I am only an instrument, a channel. I will be disheartened by what I do not see* when my heart is focused only on what can be seen.
(*I am not using "what I do not see" as an equivalent to "the unseen" here.)

Many verses to choose from, but here are a few:

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:3)

For we live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13, 14)

E, rest assured, God sees.

no one . no thing .

there is none like You

no one else can touch my heart like You do

i can search for all eternity long

and find there is none like You

Your mercy flows like a river wide

and healing comes from Your hands

suffering children are safe in Your arms

there is none like You

 ♡

point to Jesus

actions
speech
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"Others May, You Cannot"

- G. D. Watson

If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. God’s call will put such demands of obedience on you that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians. At times, He will let other people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians who seem very religious will push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans. You cannot, and if you attempt it, you will meet with failure and rebuke from the Lord.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you to despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor. God wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may demonstrate His faithful love for you in supplying your needs day by day.

God may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity in order to produce some fragrant fruit for His coming glory which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it now. The reward for your work is held in the hands of Jesus and you will not see it until He comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you with a jealous love. He will rebuke you for the little words and feelings or for wasting your time. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He does not owe you an explanation of these mysteries. But if you give yourself to be His child, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and give you the precious blessings for those who belong, heart and soul, to Him.

Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit. It is His option to tie your tongue, or chain your hand, or close your eyes in ways that He does not seem to use with others. And when you are so possessed by the living God that your heart delights over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.


Victory

When you are forgotten or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you smile inwardly, glorying in the insult or the oversight, because thereby counted worthy to suffer with Christ --- that is victory.

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your taste offended, your advice disregarded, you opinions ridiculed, and you take it all in patient, loving silence --- that is victory.

When you are content with any food, any raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption by the will of God --- that is victory.

"Lord Jesus, make thyself to me
A living, bright Reality;
More present to faith's vision keen
Than any earthly object seen;
More dear, more intimately nigh
Than e'en the dearest earthly tie."

시편 121

하나님은 너를 지키시는 자

너의 우편에 그늘 되시니

낮의 해와 밤의 달도

너를 해치 못하리

하나님은 너를 지키시는 자

너의 환란을 면케하시니

그가 너를 지키시리라

너의 출입을 지키시리라

눈을 들어 산을 보아라

너의 도움 어디서 오나

천지 지으신

너를 만드신

여호와께로다

♡

God is good

Despite how I feel or what I go through
Whether circumstances be bad or good
Whether people hate or love
or are hated or loved
Whether I love or hate
or am loved or hated

He loves.
He is good.

The end.

"God judged it better

to bring good out of evil 

than to suffer no evil to exist." 

(St. Augustine)

"We Couldn't Make It Up"

❝Besides being complicated, reality, in my experience, is usually odd. It is not neat, not obvious, not what you expect. For instance, when you have grasped that the earth and the other planets all go round the sun, you would naturally expect that all the planets were made to match--all at equal distances from each other, say, or distances that regularly increased, or all the same size, or else getting bigger or smaller as you go further from the sun. In fact, you find no rhyme or reason (that we can see) about either the sizes or the distances; and some of them have one moon, one has four, one has two, some have none, and one has a ring.

Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed. If it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, I should feel we were making it up. But, in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have.❞

- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

works in progress:

workmanships (workmenship?) in progress.

______________________

¹⁰ For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2, NIV)

¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (NLT)

❝Everyone who believes in God at all believes that He knows what you and I are going to do tomorrow. But if He knows I am going to do so-and-so, how can I be free to do otherwise? Well, here once again, the difficulty comes from thinking that God is progressing along the Time-line like us: the only difference being that he can see ahead and we cannot. Well, if that were true, if God foresaw our acts, it would be very hard to understand how we could be free not to do them. But suppose God is outside and above the Time-line. In that case, what we call 'tomorrow' is visible to Him in just the same way as what we call 'today'. All the days are 'Now' for Him. He does not remember you doing things yesterday, He simply sees you doing them, because though you have lost yesterday, He has not. He does not 'foresee' you doing things tomorrow; He simply sees you doing them: because, though tomorrow is not yet there for you, it is for Him. You never supposed that your actions at this moment were any less free because God knows what you are doing. Well, He knows your tomorrow's actions in just the same way--because He is already in tomorrow and can simply watch you. In a sense, He does not know your action till you have done it: but then the moment at which you have done it is already 'Now' for Him.❞

- C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

God already sees us in our most perfect and best state of being.



*masterpieces in progress
*predestination, free will

learn to love.

{Living Life: quote from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren}
{felt a heavy need to repost}

❝Life is all about love.

Because God is love, the most important lesson He wants you to learn on earth is how to love. It is in loving that we are most like Him, so love is the foundation of every command he has given us: "The whole Law can be summed up in this one command: 'Love others as you love yourself.'"

Learning to love unselfishly is not an easy task. It runs counter to our self-centered nature. That's why we're given a lifetime to learn it...

Why does God insist that we give special love and attention to other believers? Why do they get priority in loving? Because God wants his family to be known for its love more than anything else. Jesus said our love for each other--not our doctrinal beliefs--is our greatest witness to the world. He said, "Your strong love for each other will prove to the world that you are my disciples."

In heaven we will enjoy God's family forever, but first we have some tough work to do here on earth to prepare ourselves for an eternity of loving. God trains us by giving us "family responsibilities," and the foremost of these is to practice loving each other.

God wants you to be in regular, close fellowship with other believers so you can develop the skill of loving. Love cannot be learned in isolation. You have to be around people--irritating, imperfect, frustrating people....❞

nearly bawled.

I've been wondering what good our learning would be in Heaven
We're all going to be worshiping God
So what good would it do me
to learn all of this and not need it in the end?
Why need all these people
when we won't fight or hate anymore?
Why love everyone else
when I only want to
need to
love only God?

Then I realized once again
what the center of all this had been
who the center of all this had been
I couldn't answer my own question
because I had been questing on the wrong path
My question had been wrong from the start
The question shouldn't have been
What would I get out of all of this?
but

What would God get out of all of this?

______
thankyouLord.

진짜진짜완전 궁금

When, God!? When did you start to create everything?!?! The angels, Heaven........Was Heaven just there already, since you were, since wherever you are = Heaven (right??)? AHHH this is driving me crazy. I wish the Bible told us more about before the creation of the world....


Random rant of the day.

my brain hurts / (too many thinks)

Can one view be true? The absolute truth? Course not, right? But I think someone's view can be truer than another's. The only absolutely true view is God's. Does God have views? Yes; that's how we have the 10 Commandments, the Bible. I have to stop thinking only about what I think and really analyze and try to become a better person. Don't ever be satisfied with where you are now. Don't give up. We have to try and align our views with God's (obeying) / try to align our will with His will . . . The more your views are/will is aligned with God's, the more truer they are...

We'll never be perfect in this lifetime. We can never stand on the same level with God. But He wants us to become more and more like Him.

I think this is one way how. . .
_________________________on a different note . . . . . . . . .

God created everything. He created everything in order to be glorified. Therefore, everything--the trees, sky, stars, animals, humans--is purposed to glorify Him. Then sin entered the world. Now, God isn't everyone's God. But because we were created to worship, to glorify, we need God. But along the process we substitute(d) Him for idols. Whatever these idols are, though, they can never replace God in the sense that they can never provide the completeness and contentness we have when God is our God. They never can satisfy. But being people, we always want and try to satisfy our cravings. So we go back to these idols again and again in hopes of reaching true satisfaction.


This week was full of thoughts and thinking and more thinking.