lifesong
Everyone needs compassion
And love that never fails
Let mercy fall on me
When everyone needs forgiveness
Kindness of the Saviour
The Hope of the nation
Saviour, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save
Forever author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave
So take me as you find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything that i believe in
Now i surrender
Shine a light in and
let the whole world see
Singing, for the glory of the risen king
Jesus, Shine a light and
let the whole world see
Singing for the glory of the risen king
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
5:20 AM
Just came back from sherperding with stephen, and I really felt that today's lesson is speaking right at me. The lesson is about the habit of secrecy, and I feel that it is good that I recap what I learn here.Matthew 6:1-41"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2"So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.Stage 1: Live to please others Stage 2: getting tired of pleasing others and start to fight back Stage 3: thinks that no one cares about him Therefore, the above cycle is actually meaning that man's glory is temporal and god's glory is eternal. People who live to please man will ultimately be tired of pleasing other people's demands and will actually question why others are not approving of what they are doing and seek people to contribute the same effort as he is. Ultimately, he will feel that no one really cares about him because he felt that he is not been approved or appreciated by other people. God actually desries us to lead a life of secrecy,because when we blessed someone secretly, we are knowing that we are doing to please god but not personal glory and approval by others. This can actually strengthen our relationship with god and independent of opinions from others as god will protect us from critics of others as said in Psalms 31:20. Another thing is that secrecy teaches us to have love humility not only to others but also god. As stated in philippians 2:3, by blessing other people secretly, you are making yourself humble by wanting the best out of them. In turn, you will be humble before god seek to serve Him without any personal agenda ie. wanting to rise up as a CL. The quote below is a total irony to me but we should still do so:'In a competitive situation, pray that others will be more outstanding and praised and rejoice in their success'Amazing. isn't it? We should have this kind of loving and giving spirit to others and as we know we are secured in the lord.The most important point that I learn the most is that secrecy teaches us to look to god to meet our needs instead of people. Instead of asking people to meet our needs, we should seek god instead of our needs when we know that only he is able to use his grace to do so. Furthermore, we need the grace of god to tame our desire for seeking other's attention about our needs as if we are secured in the lord, we will not rely on human to fufill them.
