Counting My Losses

Paul said in Philippians 3:8

Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ (RSV)

Had me wondering…

Wondering what I could count as loss for Christ’s sake.

I was brought up in a Christian family so my Christian values are actually cherished rather than frowned upon. I definitely cannot count family as a loss.

Friends? Most are Christians and the few that aren’t respect my beliefs. Haven’t had cause to lose any of them yet. Perhaps I’ve gained a few sef.

I’m doin quite well at school. So education is out.

Girls? Hmmm. That one is tricky. But in these days of Christian brothers and sisters added to the phenomenom of text messages like “Jesus loves you and so do I”. Can I really count that as a loss? Moreover most of my female friends are sisters in the Lord.

Food? Food “lost” during fasting is usually “gained” during breaking and during the glutinous moments.

Computers. I’ve found a way to integrate God into that as well. So…

Music? Thanks to artists like Kutless and Grits. I now have gospel music in my favourite genres as well.

I really cannot think of anything to count as loss. Perhaps is that why I don’t value my christainity as much as I should???

Working perfection out

So you were planning to work out your salvation/perfection yourself ehnn??? You feel because you give to the poor, refuse sex, attended last week‘s church program and participated in the last fast you will be made perfect??? Sorry, to disappoint but the Bible itself said it that our righteousness is like a filthy rag in His sight. There is only ONE way to gain perfection; through the One who wants you to be perfect. My meditation some day took me here and it made perfect (pun unintended) sense; Jude 24:

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, (RSV)

What I still ask though is that, isn’t any work required on our part??? Should we abandon the alms giving, self-imposed chastity, church programs cos it doesn’t work out our salvation and just wait for Him to do “magic” in us???

On the lighter note, the commentary I use had this to say about relying on other people:

…often unwilling when able, and unable when they are willing…

Very true. Have a great day folks.

The MAN Jesus

Heb 1:14:

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation? (RSV)

Need I say more…?

On another note, I also read, Heb 2:18

For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. (RSV)

Comforting passage indeed but what came to my mind when I read it was a debate in my office the other day: Was Jesus murdered? A colleague’s point of view was that in God’s plan, Jesus was to come to earth, touch man and die a natural death. The fact that Isaiah predicted the kind of death Jesus was to die (Isa 53:5) didn’t sway the kain colleague. According to him, Isaiah was only predicting what would happen not necessarily what God wanted. The question I’m led to ask with reference to the verse Heb 2:18 above then is, would Jesus have died a natural death like every man? Granted, He was made man, he suffered hunger, he aged (afterall, he was born a baby and died a man) but would he have died of illness or old age? I wonder. What do you think???

I’m not sure its right to ask these kind of questions; feel free to say so if that’s your opinion.

So they are tempted too???

One of these days, my daily devotional took me along the path of Col 1:5:

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel (RSV)

but what “struck” was a line of the commentary:

…we are so tempted within…

So here I am, thinking to myself that the author just used the word “we”. Meaning, I’m not the only one who struggles on a daily, hourly and minutely basis with temptations: “Should I listen to that?” “Should I watch this?” “Should I use that word?” “Stop thinking those thoughts!” I almost leap for joy to know that I’m not the worst of persons to still be facing temptations; that “we” all seemingly do too.

The other thing the devotional tried to convince me of (tried is the operative word here) is that I’m “greatly beloved”. Dan 10:11 was some of the basis of the author’s attempt:

And he said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly beloved, give heed to the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you." While he was speaking this word to me, I stood up trembling. (RSV)

I know I’m loved. John 3:16 says it all but “greatly beloved”???

The Ahh effect

I’ve been careful not to post anything to this blog that didn’t strike me (picture a hammer; no, a sledgehammer in Arnold Schwarznegger’s hands, two hands). As a result, a lot of the meditation I’ve done hasn’t been posted here, for the mere fact that they didn’t “strike” me. But the other day in church, the preacher read a verse, a popular verse which I’ve known for quite a while. Infact, I think it has been quoted in one of the many songs I listen to. II Cor 4:8-9.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; (RSV)

For me, it’s one of those verses you read and just say ahhh (sigh of relief) especially if you manage to think back to the troublesome times in which it was written and try to imagine how the writer was feeling while writing it. Sit back and imagine for a moment…

… roman knocks on the door. No its next door… a Christian being dragged off…screams…shuffling of feet…people running…sounds of breaking furniture…yet he keeps a brave heart and a braver face, tightens his grip on the pen and keeps writing…

At that same sermon, the preacher read another verse that “struck” me. Eccl 9:11

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all. (RSV)

Little relation to the first notwithstanding, it produced the same ahh effect.

Madd love

I read two things this morning that made sense and were one more evidence of the madd love that God has for me…and you.

The first was based on Psalm 33:13;

The LORD looks down from heaven, he sees all the sons of men; (RSV).

Sees us for what? (My thoughts, my questions). Everything my friends, everything. He’s looking at that your situation and the only reason why you haven’t seen his hands is cos you haven’t looked hard enough. The attached commentary to the verse had this to say amongst other things:

“…Thy sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah; thy whisper can incline His ear unto thee; thy prayer can stay His hand; thy faith can move His arm…”.

The question I now ask myself… and you is, “What are you showing Him that is seeing you?”. Sin? Love? Gratitude? The choice is yours.

The second thing I read was about faith. It was taken from 1 Kings 18:43:

And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times." (RSV)

but you might have to read the whole story to get the flow. It was basically Elijah telling his servant to go check for rain clouds when it hadn’t rained for 3 years, the servant came back each time, reporting that clouds weren’t there and Elijah kept sending him back. What touched me most was this statement from the attached commentary:

…So far from being crushed by repeated disappointment, faith is animated to plead more fervently with her God. She is humbled, but not abashed: her groans are deeper, and her sighings more vehement, but she never relaxes her hold or stays her hand. It would be more agreeable to flesh and blood to have a speedy answer, but believing souls have learned to be submissive, and to find it good to wait for as well as upon the Lord…

I hope you’ve been blessed. Have a great day.

(Clears throat)

You know how it is when folks want to give a big speech, they clear their throat first. I do same here.

I've wanted to do this for a while, you know, share my meditations with as many care to listen but I've been dragging my feet not unlike Casting Crowns' song Here I Go Again. Some blogs have encouraged me to start, kaycee for example and garageboy too. Anyway, feet dragging is over let me jump right in...

The other day, I was reading Psalm 149:2,

Let Israel be glad in his Maker, let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King! (RSV).

The rest of the chapter goes on along the same lines about how we should be glad in God, rejoice in him and so on. It causes me to wonder: Why? Why should we be glad in God when the proof of his existence in the lives of some (myself excluded) is, as far as they are concerned, non-existent. And I am pointed back to virtues without which a Christian’s belief would be tossed to and fro by every wind of misfortune: Grace and Faith. We have to believe (without necessarily seeing) that God is good, unchanging and unconditionally loves us, etc. That is faith. And what makes us believe that even when one is hungry, jobless, ill, has lost loved ones is Grace cos we are still humans and are quick to disbelieve the love of a God once the luxuries that we once assumed as proof of his love are gone. It’s the grace that keeps us believing.

This whole thing about grace and faith then led me to ask myself what my Christianity was founded on. Was it founded on the fact that I have a great family, that I have quick understanding, that most of my needs are provided? Or is it founded on Grace and Faith that are oblivious of my current physical circumstances? What’s yours founded on?