pray for America and its U-turn

I don't usually feel a persistent burden to pray for things that are "public." For individual's need, or from a friend's salvation, yes; or, for an evangelistic meeting I feel more a "duty" than a burden. The Harvest Crusade 2011 for LA was how my heart started to want to pray for Los Angeles, and America. Well, I guess reading Pastor Jaeson Ma's blog or FB updates of his passion for America might have prepared my heart as well.

Joyce Meyer's Hearing from God Each Morning talks about this kind of prayer burden,

A burden is something that comes to your heart and feels weighty and important; it is something God is asking you to carry in prayer... Some people are called to pray a lot for certain things. My husband prays a lot for America. I know people who pray for Israel all the time. One woman told me she prayed for veterans returning from war. I believe God has every need in the world covered. We don't all need to pray for the same thing because, if we did, all the needs woul not be taken care of. Pay attention to what God is placing on your heart and pray for that.

I pray that Jehovah's people in America will humble themselves and pray, that they will seek Jehovah's face and turn from their wicked ways. I pray that God will heal our land.

the Cross

Paul writes in his letters of three different deaths and resurrections, which are part and parcel of our Christian experience. The first is the death to sin and subsequent life to God, which happens to all Christians by virtue of our union with Christ in his death and resurrection. By it we share in the benefits both of Christ's death (its forgiveness) and of his resurrection (its power). This is inherent in our conversion/baptism.

The second is the death to self, called variously taking up the cross, or denying, crucifying or mortifying ourselves.... This death is not something which has happened to us, and which we are now told to 'reckon' or remember, but something which we must deliberately do ourselves, though by the power of the Spirit, putting our old nature to death. Indeed all Christians have done it, in the sense that it is an essential aspect of our original and continuing repentance, and we cannot be Christ's disciples without it. But we have to maintain this attitude, that is, take up the cross daily.

The third kind of death and resurrection ... is the carrying about in our bodies of the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our bodies (2 Cor 4:9-10). Plainly the arena for this is our bodies. It refers to their infirmity, persecution and mortality. It is in this connection that Paul could say both 'I die daily' (1 Cor 15:30-31) and 'we face death all day long' (Rom 8:36). For it is a continuous physical frailty. But then the 'resurrection', the inward vitality or renewal from the life of Jesus within us, is continuous too (2 Cor 4:16).

To sum up, the first death is legal; it is a death to sin by union with Christ in his death to sin (bearing its penalty), and the resultant resurrection with him leads to the new life of freedom which justified sinners enjoy. The second death is moral; it is a death to self as we put to death the old nature and its evil desires, and the resurrection which follows leads to a new life of righteousness in fellowship with God. The third death is physical; it is a death to safety, a 'being given over to death for Jesus' sake', and perfect in our weakness. The legal death was a 'death unto sin once and for all', but the moral and physical deaths are daily--even continuous--experiences for the Christian disciple.

John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: 1986), 280.

John Stott (1921-2011)

http://www.langhampartnership.org/john-stott/

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/07/27/john-r-w-stott-1921-2011/

God stalled my car?

Occasionally I have problems starting my car. It happened again last night when I was already running late to pick up people to church. I tried for several minutes, but to no avail; that's a bit unusual. Eventually, I started calling others to help pick up my riders. However, I couldn't find help right away. I then got off my car to make more calls. And as I was making more calls and wandering around my house, oh... mine... I had a full-length window wide-opened! Surely I would've left it in that state that if my car had started. (I don't live in a very safe neighborhood: one of my church friends got robbed right in front of her house in broad daylight just a week ago; she lived on the next block, within walking distance from where I live.) Immediately, I went back to my house, locked that window/sliding door, wondering if that's why I wasn't able to start the car.

Sure enough, I went back to the car and it started right away. By the time I finished church, my car started fine. The next morning it also started fine.

What do I think? Thank God for taking very good care of me.

a good jolt

It's an ordinary Wednesday.

On the way to church to attend our weekly prayer meeting, something quite not so ordinary caught my eye. As I drove past a familiar street near the freeway bridge where homeless people would sometimes spend the night, I caught a glimpse of a young brother from church squatting and talking a homeless person.

I was touched by what I saw. The sight gave me a much needed jolt from being self-absorbed, feeling self-pity for the past several weeks. God, thank you for waking me up. I, my needs, my problems, my family have been very well-taken care of by you. I need to look beyond myself and care about others.

piano student's awesome mom

To give me a heads up of schedule change, the mom of one piano student told me that she's waiting for test result about possible thyroid cancer. Wishing to comfort her and tell her that God would be watching over her, I shared with her how God saved my mom by prompting me to bring her to the doctor. The mom agreed with me and, out of my expectation, then told me that she happened to be praying for my mom around those days.

It's not the first time that people whom I didn't even imagine to remember my needs would have the heart to intercede for my mom. God's awesome. I am sure He's the one prompting people to intercede. God cares for my mom and us in ways that I can hardly comprehend. Praise the Lord!

p.s. I will need to pray for my piano student's mom. She has thyroid cancer and will be undergoing surgery and possibly other treatments afterwards.

true success according to meyer

"I know, O Lord, that a man's way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps." ~Jeremiah 10:23.

Joyce Meyer writes:

"Remember that true success is not just the ability to accumulate material wealth; it is the ability to truly enjoy life and everything God provides in it. Many people have position, finances, power, fame, and other similar things, but they may not have what really matters--good relationships, right standing with God, peace, joy, contentment, satisfaction, good health, and the ability to enjoy life."

This is the lesson I am learning.

precious moments

God is watching. Mom may be discharged from the hospital tomorrow.

Mom has not felt well for the past 3 weeks. Her caregiver said she's getting better, but I'm just not sure if I should bring her to the doctor. I have very little clue of what needs to be done for mom. That was Wednesday, and I prayed about it. I felt increasingly unsettled that afternoon and ended up paying mom a quick visit. The right side of her face near the jaw line was severely swollen, to my surprise. I thought, "OK, God, it's a clear enough sign that I should bring her to her PCP." I called the doctor right away for an appointment and brought her there the following day. During our drive to the clinic, mom kept dozing off, and I thought she must be having a bad flu or something. At the PCP's clinic, we found out mom's bp was 60/ 30-ish. I don't know what that means except that I have never heard any one with such low bp. The doctor mentioned something about mom being anemic, which was news to us. I was told to bring mom to the hospital through the ER for blood transfusion. The PCP didn't say anything about mom's swollen jaw because tests need to be done to determine that.

In the ER, mom was treated right away; she didn't have to wait because her bp dropped to 50/30 ish. AFter running some tests, the attending doctor there said mom's very sick and needed to stay in the hospital. The picture became clearer: mom had a bad infection, which could have caused her bp to drop, anemia, and possible bleeding from her inside.

It was a little rough at times, but God's watched over us. During mom's hospital stay, I discovered that mom's alzheimer sometimes didn't affect her as much, especially during the evening. In other words, her mind would be "in" and "out." There were moments of clarity, when mom could recognize me and communicate with me in meaningful ways. In one of those moments, I explained to her where she was and why she was there. I told her that she sometimes would not recognize me because she has alzheimer, and it's OK for her not to remember me but that she should try to remember God and to pray and rejoice always (常常禱告、喜樂，凡事謝恩). (I also said that even if she couldn't remember God, God does not forget her. Well, I think I needed to believe that more than mom does.) Mom showed signs of comprehension by nodding and saying, 感謝神，多謝妳. I read her Psalm 23, prayed with her. Mom had difficulty saying long sentences, though she uttered a couple of short phrases on her own to ask God to help her 常常喜樂, 福杯滿溢. That gave me tremendous joy since I haven't witnessed mom praying on her own for quite a long time. The brief moment of being able to communicate to mom was important to me.

It's a challenge to take care of an alzheimer parent, but when I pray, God will show me what to do. He's still giving me chances to do a better job. Pray that I'll do better to please Him and to bless mom. Amen.

愛 ...still

"[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Winding down our last study of the Agape series through the passage of 1 Cor 13:4-7, I have learned that the progression of the four verbs (bears, believes, hopes, and endures) in v.7 leads to the idea that love doesn't quit. John MacArthur noted, "It's Jesus, Jesus on a cross, bearing, throwing a mantle over their sin, believing, knowing that out there there were those that would believe, hoping that they would come to Him and enduring in the end while they spit on Him with the words, 'Father forgive them.'"

身邊發生了點事情，令我看到「罪」的destructive power，罪的種子可以小到令人不容易察覺，但罪就是罪，不處理的結果是嚴重的。。。但是原來「愛能遮掩許多的罪」（彼前4：8）。 Love covers a multitude of sins. Love will draw a veil over them. I need this covering, and I would want to provide this covering for others, through love. 為著身邊的事情難過了多天，今早睡夢中聽到幾首詩歌，醒後記得其中一首的音調，上網翻查，原來是「使團」的： 「愛的印記」

從網上讀到一個半新半舊的20世紀愛情天梯故事，是一股清新的affirmation。

感謝

"應當一無掛慮，只要凡事藉著禱告、祈求和感謝，將你們所要的告訴神。
神所賜出人意外的平安，必在基督耶穌裡，保守你們的心懷意念。" 腓 4：6－7

為甚麼要帶著感謝的心組禱告、祈求呢？ 就是在每個處境，無論艱難與否，也看到有神的恩典在其中。

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving

And His courts with praise

Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

For the LORD is good;

His lovingkindness is everlasting

And His faithfulness to all generations." ~Psalm 100:4-5 (NASB)