Bible and Whiskey

I came across an interesting sentence from a book (a novel) this morning:

"Sometimes, a Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whiskey bottle in the hand of ---" (fill in the dashed line yourself with whoever you know has drinking problem.)

How vivid is the description of the situation when we misinterpret the Bible! Well, maybe whiskey is not a very good analogy, perhaps red wine is a better one, at least in my opinion.)

Anna

Reflection on the devotional comment on Colossians 3:23

I think it's very true that very often we get too absorbed about ourselves that we have failed to take a helicopter view of everything, especially with regards to relationship.

A lot of times when we love or hate a person, we get too emotionally involved to that extent that there is only this particular person in the whole world. In effect, the position of God in our hearts has been compromised, diminished or even taken over. And things will get out of hands because we no longer allow God to pacify our hearts.

Once there was a radio interview with an old lady whose husband has just died. The couple have lived most parts of their lives together and everybody knew that they were loving couple. So, the interviewer asked her whether she was very sad and whether she would be able to overcome this lost. She replied that she would be able to let go without problems, because as a Christian, the one that she loved most was Jesus Christ.

That old lady illustrates very well that as long as we rest our human relationships in God, even the husband and wife relationship, we will not be too carried away to the extent that we lose our senses.

In the same token, in employer and employee relationship, sometimes we are too absorbed that our bosses did not really justifiably reward us. But if we put God in the picture, we won't be angry that much. Once a friend told me that he used to work under a supervisor that was very good in his work, but his boss did not appreciate him. This supervisor always told him that "God is with me." so that supervisor was not angry. Of course when it's time for that supervisor to move on, he did move on. But during that time when he was unjustifiably treated, he was still at peace with God and did not let the human relationship bother him much. I have been practising this for the past few months and it works well. Sometimes I forget but still I keep trying.

Important reminder that it's not about me and him/her, but about putting God in the center of our lives.

Anna

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men

I lifted the below from a website:

The concept of serving God in one’s vocation may at times seem overwhelming. The key to success in this endeavor is to do it one day at a time. Last night I caught the final set of the U.S. Open tennis match between Andy Roddick and Fernando Gonzales. Roddick won in straight sets to advance to the quarter finals. In the interview after the match, Andy was asked about his hopes going forward. He responded that he has tried to approach the tournament “one point at a time.” This is the approach of every great champion, and it is also the best way to ensure success as you seek to honor God in your vocation.

Purpose in your heart that you will glorify God today in the performance of your duties, in your interactions with co-workers, superiors, employees and customers. Pray for grace to enable you to exalt your Savior from your first interaction to your final transaction of the day. As you encounter each challenge to your contentment, pray again for God to glorify Himself through your response, and remind yourself that you represent Him and that your reactions will either honor Him or dishonor Him in the eyes of men. And be thankful, today, for the grand privilege of carrying the testimony of Jesus into your place of business.

- Ed -

Jonah

I was on this book of Jonah for the past few days and have been thinking about it for quite some time. It's not quite easy to believe that Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. However, Isn't Jesus' resurrection equally unbelievable and yet I believe and that forms the very basis of my belief in Christ? From first asking myself what my attitude toward Jonah's experience should be to now believing it, it's quite an amazing journey but my faith is definitely renewed and my trust in God affirmed. In fact, this is probably a good reminder of our faith in God.

From a guidebook, it has been pointed out that Jonah is a type of Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. And Jonah is a type of Israel in his disobedient to God, swallowed by nations of the world, but will yet give her up when Christ comes and be witnesses of God everywhere. Jesus also pointed out Jonah to the scribes and the Pharisees as the only sign (Matthew 12:38-40) when He was asked. A short book, yet significant! So is the Christian faith, concise yet profound!

PS At the end of the book, it was recorded that Jonah was angry that God was compassionate and gracious towards Nineveh. Jonah found it hard to love the city (Nineveh) of that hostile country (Assyria) to Israel (his own country). In the devotional material, it pointed out that God's love has a bit of irrationality in it, because it's across all creatures and all circumstances. I wonder whether this is consistent with the agape love in "The Four loves' written by C.S.Lewis. This agape love is unconditional, but I wouldn't link it to irrationality. On the other hand, Eros, is the type that most people associate with irrationality. Or is love in general irrational across the board ?

Anna

What wounds has God left you with that make you constantly dependent upon him?

I was reading Genesis 32 on the account of Jacob being transformed completely and finally convinced that blessing can only be obtained from God. His total change of characters from Jacob to Isreal was brought about through costly personal struggle.

The question, "What wounds has God left you with that make you constantly dependent upon him?" was the question asked in the devotional material relating to this passage. When I asked myself this question, I instantly thought of my BGR (boy-girl-relationship) in the past. To cut the stories short, all of them just turned away all of a sudden, or maybe they just "dumped me", so to speak. That made me wonder or even conclude that there was something wrong with me. This has definitely left scars on me, making me numb and phobic. But the healing came from God. The experience made me realise that no matter what I do, I am not in control but God is. In fact, these are occasions when God drew me closer to Him step by step and sent people around me to show His love for me. All these have left me dependent on God completely and not to take matters into my own hands.

That question also reminds me of a testimony that I heard from a church friend few years ago. Though it may not really be a wound for her, but it's a struggle that made her depend on God thereafter.

She is a talented, capable American. A mother of four, obtained scholarship to study African language, worked as a translator for the embassy, can speak fluent German. She said that God has always just been the icing on the cake. But one winter, her view changed completely. It was snowing heavily. Her son was having high fever and she needed to send him to hospital urgently. However, she couldn't start the car because of the cold, there was no one in sight, she couldn't contact her husband and it seemed that it's the end of the world. She said she was so helpless and clueless but it's at that particular point that she realised she was so powerless but God was powerful. Eventually her prayer was answered and everything was fine.

Reluctant to admit, but it's true that through ordeals that we learn to depend on God.

Anna