Another week, another blog post. This week has been great. Learnt a lot from the Bible, and was discipline most off the time... Looking back, thank You Jesus for everything that has happened. We are now transitioning our wix website domain off to pesanpesan.co (woohoo!), getting our finances in check, and creating a more concrete time table of posting.
Soo.... What have I learnt this week? Hmm. Where do I even begin?
A few days ago I dreamt off the phrase: I will show you a more excellent way. The verse from Corinthians goes we are called to earnestly pursue the spiritual gifts of prophesying, teaching, working miracles, healing, tongues, interpretation, etc. As the body of Christ we are given different gifts- each unique in their own right. Yet, Paul here writes :
But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12:31 🎁
For me, this week has been experiencing this "more excellent way". When I do more new activities, when I pursue Christ even more in my life. There is this indescribable gratefulness, this awe, at how Christ really compels me to step out off my comfort zone. A life fulfilled, as if the puzzle pieces all fit together...
It's always fearful to do something new alone. In my daily devotionals, Jeremiah exemplified this predicament. He stepped out off his comfort zone. Heck. He didn't just step out, he was persecuted for conveying God's coming message of judgment and exile off Israel.
Reading this, I can't imagine what Jeremiah went through. In chapter 20, he was beaten, reproached (disapproved), ridiculed/mocked, hated. He was a one person army against everyone else. You can't help but feel his torn conflicted spirit. Externally, he seems like a firm and an unrelenting prophet. Yet internally, his spirit was in turmoil.
On one hand he speaks to the Lord and woes his existence:
Why did I come out from the womb to see toil and sorrow, and spend my days in shame? Jeremiah 20:18 🤰
Yet on the other hand, Jeremiah understood the deep rooted conviction off being a witness for the Lord:
If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. Jeremiah 20:9 🔥
Reading Jeremiah, I finally understand how real his character is. His writing is unstructured, his emotions a float from high to low. You can't but question why so melodramatic? And yet isn't that what the human mind is? A intricate web off polarized emotions fluttering in rapid successions every second?
Jeremiah in rapid fire praised the Lord. In another second he started to question God on why he was ever born. And yet he brought this all before the Lord. This is what it means to be a believer. It's damm hard. We are conflicted as the "outsiders" going against the current. We are hated. We are hurt emotionally and physically. Because who really wants to be in that position? And yet... not speaking off Him is even worst. Our hearts are compelled with a burning fire that knows how amazing the Lord's grace is. At the same time we are filled with joy, indescribable peace, and a relationship unfathomable, a sense of purpose so divine, that we can't help but cry in gratitude. To extinguish that is... impossible.
Morgan best puts it:
“Under the stress and strain of his sufferings, he was tempted to abandon the work, to refuse to speak any more in the name of Jehovah. But when he attempted thus to find release from suffering in silence, it was impossible; for such silence became more intolerable than suffering.”
Reflection
Dear Lord, thank You for another day. Another opportunity to serve You. Thank You for Paul's call for us to pursue the higher spiritual gifts. Help us to earnestly strive towards You. Thank You for Jeremiah who You used to rebuke and judge the straying Israel. It's not easy being "the prophet" telling people that they are wrong, rebuking them, scolding, or telling them the truth off the coming judgment. And yet Jeremiah's heart was in the right place. He lamented at the sadness in knowing what will happen to his beloved nation. As Rembrandt's 1630 "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem" exemplified this:
Lord, please help us to know that we may likely fall. We will question and be at odds. Conflicted. Deflated. Questioning our very existence.. Disappointed at what's happening in this broken world. And yet the quintessential point being that-- the LORD is with me. Just like You was and is with Jeremiah. Help us to be Your witness. To glorify You in our lives and not be silent. In all the good times and bad times! Pull us back to hold fast to Your covenant and let everyone know that You are our living God!
But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. Jeremiah 20:11 👑
You are with us Lord, the enemy will not overcome us. Our emotions will not haunt us. And yet help us to find rest in Christ alone. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Posted on:
January 29, 2021
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Credits:
Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem 📷Europeana
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