Mark 2

Mark 2:16

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, "How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?"

When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."


A simple enough lesson here. Bring the broken, the sinners, the heavy-hearted, the diseased to taste from the word of God and fill their spiritual hunger.

Serving with gladness

"Serve the Lord with gladness.." - Psalm 100:2

Yesterday was a pretty full day: shop for spring roll party prize hamper stuff, come home and put the hampers together, marinate chicken wings for our CG table, eat lunch so I don't fall over, cook chicken wings, carry the hampers and church stuff to the car in the basement in 3 trips, get to church, help with setup, etc etc. And yesterday was hot. Mel said I looked tired by the end, and I physically was.

Not complaining; I'm so grateful to God that He made me efficient and capable of much.

I don't care how tired I get; I will never get tired of serving You. My life is not my own, and I don't think I really want it to be my own any more anyway.

Cooking chicken meant that my girls (and the boys :P) had a bit more to eat. Getting the hampers together meant more fun for everyone. Helping with setup meant that everyone actually had somewhere to sit and eat. Everybody happy :)

I don't think I can ever get tired of that kind of joy <3


K

Pruned and purged

Just wanted to share something that I came across this week- to anyone who is being pruned this season :)

It's from the book "Hinds' Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard:

"I am my Love's and He is mine,

And this is His desire,

That with His beauty I may shine

In radiant attire.

And this will be - when all of me

Is pruned and purged with fire.

Come, my Beloved, let us go

Forth to the waiting field;

And where They choicest fruit trees grow,

Thy pruning knife now wield

That at Thy will and through Thy skill

Their richest store may yield.

And spices give a sweet perfume,

And vines show tender shoots,

And all my trees burst forth in bloom,

Fair buds from bitter roots.

There will not I my love deny,

But yield Thee pleasant fruits."

(Cant. 7:10-13)

Blessed

I'm so thankful that God knows what I need, when I need it, without me even asking.

I've been really blessed recently, with an influx of new friendships, and the deepening of others. I can see that God is preparing me for a new season, giving me opportunities to reach more people and love more people.

God has built in such a great capacity of love in all of us, reflective of His own - I can't wait to be able to start reaching more people with that love.

I 've been blessed that through past tribulations, I can now see the fruits of the trials, as my capacity is stretched and my perspective is evolved.

I've been blessed with trials and challenges, with new friendships, with amazing people around me.

So thankful - so humbled to be a beloved daughter of Christ, of our dear Father in Heaven.

I've always been, and always will be, Daddy's little girl. And so are you!

Encouragement

My grace is enough, it's all you need;

My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size - abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become" (Corinthians 12:8-10, message)

Sometimes life can get overwhelming, and we feel like everything we do is not enough. That may be true, but God's grace is enough. In every task, situation, or relationship, God's grace is enough.

Gratitude

No matter how busy or stressed or afflicted we are, it's so important to stay grateful.

We generally remember to thank God when He comes through for us in a big bind, but also take the time to thank God for all the little things too.

A good parking spot.

A nice meal (or even a not so nice one - a lot of people in the world don't have the luxury of choice like we do).

Just for getting you through your day.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above.." - James 1:17

Once we get that revelation that everything good comes from God, we'll realise just how many times a day we should be saying, "Thanks, Lord". :)

K

Good kind of angry

At Sisterhood United last night, Bobbie Houston talked about "Steeling our convictions".

1 Thessalonians 1:3-5

It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.

We can all agree that bullying is bad, or sex trafficking is bad. I don't think anyone would refute any of those statements.

But are those convictions producing actions? We might get moved, or get a little angry, but does that stir us on to do something about it?

I think sometimes I put a barrier up... I don't want to feel to much. I don't want to know too much. Because doing that might just cost me something.

It's not ok that there are 27million- more slaves now than any other time in history. And that girls are deceived into travelling to other countries because they are promised jobs, and are subsequently trapped and forced to service men sexually.

It's not ok that teens are being bullied in school, and as a consequence commit suicide.

It's not ok that there are children in Africa (even now) who are being abducted and forced to become child soldiers, and are made into stone cold killing machines.

I want to be able to put steel in my convictions, Holy Spirit help me. Because it's not ok. It really isn't. We are the church. And if not us, then who? And if not now, then when?

Always in line, never in love..

"I'm always in line, but I'm never in love.." - Thrive, Switchfoot

For me, I'm very good at following rules. I'm the obedient Asian kid who always does what she's told. When I was little, if I ever did get in trouble, I'd cry in a heartbeat. Respecting and listening to authority is relatively second nature for me.

This is both good and bad.

Praise God that this trait has kept me out of big trouble: no run-ins with the law, no major problems with parents, no super sour relationships..

But, it also makes it much easier to be task-oriented instead of people-oriented, and very surgical about things. Also, the risk of being judgmental of people who don't live by the book like you do.

It's not that I blindly follow; it's just that generally the rules I've been told to follow make sense to me and I have little desire to rebel.

But do I always have love in my actions? I hope more often than not.

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Obedience is great, but you cannot lose the love in it - then, chances are you'll eventually lose the obedience too. (If we can help it, we never stick doing something we don't like for long, do we?)

God wants our heart more than empty deeds.

He didn't make us robots; He made us human with the capacity for love and choice.

Let's choose to have love in everything we do <3


K

Pray BIG

Was listening to a podcast from Craig Groeschel recently and he asked a really challenging question.

"What would be different in the world right now, if all your prayers in the past week were answered? "

Would the world look much different? Would the size of the church double? Would orphans find a home? Would lost family members find God? Would the sick be healed?

Or

Would only your world be changed? Would you ace tests? Would you have good days? Maybe all your meals would be blessed.

Our prayer life reflects what we believe about God, our belief of what he is capable of.

I'm guilty of praying small a lot of the time. But I don't serve a small God.

1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him.

Let's pray according to his will, and let's battle in the heavenly realms for those who can't battle for themselves. Let's claim back some things that don't belong to the devil.

Let's pray BIG.

God's Help

Psalm 123:1 (message) - I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help.

Sometimes we can feel overwhelmed by the problems in our lives. We are guaranteed to have problems, but how we react is our choice.


Of course, God gives us wisdom in His Word, for how to deal with many situations. But we need His strength to follow through, and at times, His divine intervention when human solutions aren't enough.


There are aspects in our lives that we can control, and there are others that we can only leave to God to take care of.


We must know the difference between being lazy and trusting God. Also, the difference between striving and acting with wisdom.


For example, let's say we have a friend, who has had a heart attack. Thankfully, he or she survives. But what should be done about this situation? Is it wise to pray that it will never happen again and for good health? Yes! Is it wise for that person to continue in the lifestyle and diet that led to such an event, trusting in God that He is protecting him or her from their stupid decisions? Hmmm....it's like praying that you'll pass an exam without studying.


I think what we should do, is the best that we can. After all, we are an example to others of how to live. Then God will surely intervene in situations where we really have no control and we can't do anymore.


Psalm 125: 4 - "Be good to your good people, God, to those whose hearts are right!"

Bugger off, thanks.

"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." - Luke 10:19

So glad that I don't need to be afraid of the enemy and his schemes, because to be honest, he's pretty good at scheming sometimes.

It's not only handy, but often life-saving to be able to boldly tell the enemy to bugger off. Much better than accepting and succumbing to whatever he wants to inflict upon you.

"Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." - Luke 10:20

It's not with cockiness that we should do that, but with Godly confidence that in Jesus' name, we actually have the power to tell the enemy where to go.

Sorry Satan, you don't scare me any more.


K

Leave out the Leaven!

So during my reading, I came across the word 'leaven'. This was the second time I'd come across it in recent days, and I didn't really know what 'leavened bread' was. So I decided to do a 'thematic study' on leaven. FYI for you guys' information!

For the scientific, a caveat - I have not done a full literature review, and so there may be a little more to add to the leaven story. But I decided to leave it at this!!

(Ah HA HA HA.)

What is leaven?

Any of 5 ‘biblical’ grains which have been exposed to moisture, followed by a lapse of time before baking, during which an agent of change e.g. yeast, may be added.


What are the biblical grains?

Choose 5 from the following 8 (answer is at the bottom of the post)

wheat, barley, rye, oats, rice, corn, spelt, maize.

So here are some examples of leavened food:

· Bread with yeast added

· Bread with no yeast added, but for whatever reason, the cook waited time before baking

· Beer and whisky, created through grain fermentation. Wine… the accounts vary, but considering it is still created through yeast fermentation, I would think it should be considered ‘unleavened’

FYI - Leavened foods forbidden at Passover are also known as ‘chametz’.

Why was leaven initially prohibited at Passover (Pesach)?

Exodus 12:14-15 "This day shall be for you a memorial day (of Passover), and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. ¹⁵ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.”

Leavened bread is bread that has had the opportunity for an outside agent to work upon it, to change the grain. If there is a fermenting agent added (remembering that bread just left for a while prior to baking is still considered leavened), fermentation may occur and change the grain. This does not necessarily ‘spoil’ the grain, but it does change it. So having a time each year when one eats only unleavened bread symbolises coming back annually to the ‘ beginning’ of God’s teaching before man added and changed things i.e. going back to the Torah.

New Testament references to leaven:

Matt 16:11-12 How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? – but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Saducees. Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Luke 13:20-21 And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?” it is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened

Galatians5:9/ 1 Corinthians 5:6 Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

1 Cor 5:8. Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed, Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

(same event as Matt 16:11-12) Mark 8:13-21

Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
¹³ And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side. ¹⁴ Now the disciples^[a] had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
¹⁶ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “ It is because we have no bread.”
¹⁷ But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still^[b] hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
They said to Him, “Twelve.”
²⁰ “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
And they said, “Seven.”
²¹ So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”

So does leaven = sin/evil stuff, unleavened = purity?

Although in many contexts, leaven is used negatively (e.g. Matt 16:11-12), it is also used to describe the Kingdom of Heaven (Luke 13:20-21). So not sure that one would say leaven always = bad. My understanding is that leaven is symbolic of an agent of change; you must use the context to work out if it is good or bad!

Unleavened bread (literally) in Our World

So a few trivial things first:

· I was curious as to whether flat breads e.g. pita bread were unleavened. N.B. Unleavened bread is called matzah. But I discovered that they contain yeast, and thus are definitely not!

· Unleavened Bread is a 1900 novel by Mr Robert Grant – “A businessman's selfish wife forces her way into upper society.” [Wikipedia]

Does unleavened bread play a role in Christians’ lives? Well, we should technically use unleavened bread for communion, as a sign of repenting of our sins and taking up our new righteous life (where our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus). But I think water crackers are more convenient =)

Answer:

Leavened grains: wheat, barley, spelt, rye, oats

References (apologies, not properly referenced)

The Bible =)

http://www.minuteswithmessiah.com/minutes/leaven.html

Wikipedia – for unleavened bread, the novel, flatbreads

I just want to know Him

Just had a MAD weekend at encounter.

LOVED seeing lives changed and people willing to step out and become desperate for God.

The major theme for encounter was God. Plain and simple. Being passionate about him, chasing after him, pursuing him.

As a deer longs for flowing streams,

so my soul longs for you, O God.

Psalm 42:1

So many time I think I seek what God can do for me. And it is true... he IS God, he can do ANYTHING. But that is beside the point. More than what he is able to do, I want to know HIM. I want to get to know what his heart beats for, who He is. Understand Him a little bit more each day.

I think I'm guilty of treating Him like a potential employer sometimes. Because sometimes I might go into a job asking:

a) How much will they pay me

b) What benefits will I get

c) What can I get away with but still get paid

But we don't actually care about who the employer is. Just the benefits.

God is amazing. And I had a revelation of just how much he has done for me. So I just want to know Him.

I just want to know Him.

I just want to know Him.

Stop Drop and Follow

Mark 1:17-18

Then Jesus said to them "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men".


They immediately left their nets and followed Him.


When God is speaking to you, stop and listen.

When you drop everything and follow Him, your life is changed. Leave your doubts, your uncertainty, your insecurities, your circumstance, your material things.. Your burden is lightened. You gain so much more than what you would have had. From catching fish in your nets, for your own livelihood, God empowers you to become fishers of men - expands you, stretches you.

When you follow Jesus, you leave behind your old life of sin, and allow Him to guide you into the new.

Leaders and Teachers

'Love and truth form a good leader; sound leadership is founded on loving integrity'
Proverbs 20.28 (Message)

One of the things my mum gave me for my birthday was a little booklet about teaching. It told the true story of a girl in Malaysia named Moey Yoke Lai who grew up amongst abusive and poverty stricken conditions. Although it meant paying twice the bus fare and walking twice the distance, the girl's mother made sure Yoke Lai was enrolled in a Christian school, Starry Hill. The details of the story are too long to share here, but in summary,Yoke Lai was shown grace and love by her principal, Ms Cooke. One of the things Ms Cooke did was give Yoke Lai accomodation in her own home so that she would be able to have a room to herself to study.

Yoke Lai went on to a career in teaching, and became one of the most positively influential  teachers at Starry Hill. In the book, Yoke Lai defines a student as 'the apple of God's eye' and a teacher as 'the eyes, lips, hands and feet of God in the classroom'. The booklet concludes with glowing testimonies/letters to her from her students One of her students told her: 'You had the ability to make us feel special. You were very pragmatic about it. It wasn't just words, it was tangible support. When someone goes to that extent to help you, it makes you think, "I'm worth it. I'd better pull up my sock and do something!'

In the new school term, I am inspired to make each student of mine feel special and important. To recognise the potential in each one, and be an encouragement and the most help I can to them. I want to make lessons and music fun for them and I want them to feel loved (even if it's not my job to love them). One quote from the book says, 'Teaching is more than just a job. To teach is to touch lives forever. To teach is to touch eternity'. I hope that the way I teach, the students don't just learn how to play the piano, but also learn how to have fun in piano playing and practice, to have courage in performing, persistence in difficulty, and confidence in themselves.

It's not enough to just be a good piano teacher. It's useless if I have no love for my students. Corinthians 13.1 and 3 says, "If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate...no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love" (message version).

Of course, we are all leaders and teachers in some way. Maybe the quote could be modified to say, "Serving customers/being an office worker/studying at university is more than just a job/place to be endured. It is to touch lives forever...to touch eternity".

In closing, here's another inspirational from the booklet:
'Perhaps the only true biography of a teacher is the one written on the faces and lives of his or her pupils'.

Life is all about loving God and loving others.

Priorities...

As I'm getting older, I'm finding that things which used to hold a lot of my time and attention are becoming much less important.

Case in point: I used to love buying dvd box sets of all my favourite tv shows and watching the episodes for hours on end (all in a row, commercial free!). I used to get super excited when I saw a box set on special in a catalogue and would go out as soon as I could to buy it.

While I do still love burying myself in tv eps from time to time, I've found that the desire to buy and collect box sets is completely gone. 

"When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things." - 1 Corinthians 13:11

I'm not sure that I actively decided to put away this 'childish thing' of mine - it more feels like God just took it away for me.

Perhaps, I think the more my eyes have been opened (to really see other people and their needs, and more of the bigger picture), the less room there is for childish things.

It's certainly not bad to have hobbies, nor does it mean that I'm losing my personality and turning into someone who's not really me. After all, we as a person should not be defined by our habits and hobbies, our likes and dislikes... right?

I also don't at all begrudge God for replacing my enjoyment time with His own choice of activities for me - in fact, I'm finding that there is much greater, truer enjoyment in things that actually matter.

It doesn't really matter if Meredith and McDreamy end up together in Grey's Anatomy. But it does really matter if I'm there and available when someone needs me. Or more tellingly, if I'm not there when someone needs me.

More of You, less of me. There's just not really room for both.

K