On blessing God

So I want to continue in my thoughts about “blessing God”. I feel a bit busy these days, too many good things to think and research about, and a book I’m reading and take millions of notes from. It’s neat, but I almost need a schedule for my free time now, to make sure I do the right things on top of these good things, like keeping in touch with family and friends and hanging out with people and etc.
Basically I started thinking about this because of Sharon. I hope she doesn’t mind her name is written here. Anyways, I hope I’ll come up with good thoughts. So the big question is this: what does it mean to “bless God” or to say “blessed be the name of the Lord”. Obviously, I am sure that all of you who sing the song “Blessed be your Name” by Matt Redman (?) should know what it means to “bless the Name of the Lord”… maybe not actually.

I took my friend’s concordance and read all the semi-verses that contained the word “bless, blessed, blessing & blessings” that took me a while. I ended up finding that most of the reference were God blessing men, or men blessing men. Just a smaller amount of references spoke of men blessing God.

Reading many verses about people blessing their children or other people or blessing God, I’ve come to notice a few things… that I am not sure yet of, but I shall expand. I think that if we come to understand a bit more about how and why people blessed others, then we’ll understand better how and why they blessed God, it cannot be two totally different things, although, it must be.
- I noticed that many times, for example, when Isaac blesses Jacob (Gen. 27:27ff) the father’s blessings upon his son, is more like a prayer than anything else. “May God give you of heaven’s dew and of earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine…” But does this work with God. Can we pray to God for God? Hum… Solomon sort of said something like that in Psalm 72:15b “May people ever pray for him (God, the coming Messiah) and bless him all day long” that’s interesting ‘cause there’s the aspect of prayer and blessing. So I don’t know what it means to pray for God or if I am taking this all out of context.
- Often, people don’t actually bless others. It’s something done “through” God. People would say “The blessing of the Lord be upon you, we bless you in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 129:8) so, people recognized that they were not the ones who could bless others, and that it was only God who could bless and work for the good of human beings. That’s why they “prayed” (asked) God to bless people.
- There is still this kind of “human” blessing as in 2 Samuel 13:25, when Amnon “gave him his blessing” I think it’s more the kind of “blessings” that we use in saying “I give you my blessing on your marriage” or “blessings on your work” we are simply saying that we agree with what they are doing and wish them good.
- Nehemiah 9:5 says “… Blessed be your glorious name and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens…” At times, people don’t literally bless God, but ask for God to be blessed. “Blessed be your glorious name” I think is more a way of saying “May your name be blessed” than “I myself bless you”. But the question still remains: Who’s going to bless His name?

Truly, I don’t know. I really don’t know how we could be able to utter the words “I bless you Lord” Or what it means to call God “Most blessed”. I don’t know. I think that usually we say “I bless you Lord” or “May your name be blessed” meaning “I thank you Lord”, “May all praise you” than anything else. For sure, we cannot and will never be able to bless God in the same way He blesses people, because He has power over everything and can change times and circumstances, we cannot. We cannot bless God that way. So when we use the word blessed, sometimes is to say thanks or to praise God, sometimes it is to describe how unique, set apart and awesome He is. I don’t think we can bless God, because the lesser person is blessed by the greater (Heb.7:7 hopefully this is contextual). So we are bless God in the way that we humble ourselves and praise Him for who He is and thank Him for what He does.
No further thoughts Sharon.
Please tell me (and everyone else reading) what you think about this and your own beliefs by leaving a comment.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 0.00$/ as of March 30, 2006
(29$ was sent yesterday!)

Blessed

Have you ever heard the words “Bless you” when someone just sneezed? Actually, I am pretty sure that most people who are reading this use these words themselves. I myself don’t make use of them, at all. It’s just not in my vocabulary I guess and it’s fine. I know how to reply to people sneezing, in three languages, but I never say anything. That’s beside the point. What I want to start thinking about here is the word BLESSED.
I got an email from a friend asking me if I had any thoughts about this word and how in the world it was possible to “bless God” as we read it so often in the Bible “Blessed be the name of the Lord”. I have asked myself the same question a few years ago. Who am I to bless God Almighty! And I’ve come out without answers… without thinking much though. I don’t have much time right now, but I want to start, at least, to think about it.

I am really lost in my thoughts, so I’ll turn to the Word of God.
I think that the big issue (at least for me), is not really to understand how I can bless someone by my actions, but by simply saying “I bless you”.
- In Genesis 12:3 we read “I will bless those who bless you…” (God to Abram) I don’t know if God meant to say “I will do good to those who do good to you” or “I will do good to those who (literally say I) bless you” maybe I am wrong, maybe it’s both. I kind of feel that it’s more an action thing, as I recount the life of Abraham, people who did good to him were rewarded.
- In Luke 1:48 “From now on all generations will call me blessed, Mary is speaking here of the grace God has granted her, to become the mother of the Messiah, she is called blessed because “the Mighty One has one great things for me”. When people are said “blessed” it’s usually because “The Mighty One has done great things” for them. It speaks about grace freely given, a blessing, a gift.
- John 12:13, Jesus enters Jerusalem and people shout “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!” I think that when people literally say “Blessed be _______” and especially in that instance, I think people don’t have any power in “blessing” the person, but it’s more like a wish or hope or prayer that is said out loud. The people of Jerusalem probably meant something like: “We hope that good will be done unto you” or maybe they were saying “You are WELL COME”…
- Romans 12:14 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” Obviously, the opposite to bless, is to curse. So we are called to bless people! But what does it mean. I don’t know, probably, to do good to them and not do them any wrong, to bless them that way and to pray for them (for their good)…
Anyways, I don’t really want to think about how I am supposed to bless people, whether with words or actions, I wonder what it means for me to bless the Lord. How can I dare to bless Him? I’ve always thought that the older or higher in rank bless the younger or lower person, not the other way around.
When Melchizedek blessed Abram, he blessed God as well saying “And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand” (Gen. 14:18). There is a little * at the word blessed, and it says that the word here could be translated “And praise be to…” instead of “And blessed be”. I think that often, the word “blessed” can have different meanings, like to praise, to thank, …
Well, I got to go now, but I shall be thinking and researching about this issue in the days to come. Please, if you have any thought about what it means to bless the Lord, or what it means when the Word says that God is blessed forever and so on, just leave a comment, if you don’t have any idea, please read the comments posted, if there are any.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 29$ / as of March 28, 2006. Our goal to get a kerosene lantern @ 29$ has been reached! Thank you for all of you who gave to bless one of God’s servants in Asia. From tomorrow the 29th on, we’ll start all over again of the month of April, please consider giving a buck or two to this bank, so we can help our brothers and sisters in Asia who don’t have access to so many things as we do, especially for Bibles and Gospel tracts and etc. let’s be a blessing to them! Send me an email gabeleroux@yahoo.ca to know more about this and how you can make a difference in the lives of these missionaries.

Make sure you do not take your life as seriously as the lives of those around you

When I was a kid I used to love making cards for people, like birthday cards, I just enjoyed drawing cartoons and I had a good imagination, I always had ideas of things to draw. Since I finished “L’école secondaire” (let’s say high school) I found myself with little imagination. Why? I’m not sure, maybe I stopped drawing my 365 drawings a year and my imagination got down the drain. Yes I was a radical. But anyways, that’s not my point. Today I found myself a bit bored. Too much thinking and reading on a day off is extremely bad for me at times. So I remembered that it was one of my friends’ birthday today and I had forgotten to make her a card. So I sat down at my desk with a white sheet of paper. I knew right away what to do with it. I folded it in 4. But that was the extent of my imagination. If I’d be 11 years old today, I would have drawn something nice right away, but 10 years later, it’s different. I just didn’t know what to draw. So I found some cheese stickers that I got at work and cut them to form letters and sticked “Happy B day” on the card. Then I wrote a little something in the card, you know what I mean. I found myself thinking and writing down (yes, in the card) my random thought. I wrote “I wonder if I take my life too seriously and the lives of others not as seriously as I should” or something like that.

Isn’t it true? Just read my last entry and you’ll see. I’ve been sort of thinking –worrying- not extremely much, but a lot these last days about next fall and what will happen with me, where will I be and what will I do. Then I find this thought popping in my mind, maybe I take my life too seriously and I don’t care enough about other people’s life. I felt like expanding my thought in the birthday card, but I woke up realizing that this was not my blog or the notebook I write in, it was a birthday card. It was a good surprise to think about that when I had been worrying about my life. Maybe I do take my life too seriously and I worry about trivialities and God’s will and future stuff and etc. too seriously and I should be thinking about God’s Kingdom, how I can serve Him today in practical ways, how I can care for someone else’s life, love, help, provide wisdom and encouragement to people. I think that if I take the lives of people around me and on earth seriously I will automatically fulfill my own desire to take my life seriously. Wasn’t it the way Jesus lived? I don’t think He spent much time thinking about His needs and His desires and His future, although, I am sure He did to some extent. But I believe that His heart was fixed on His Father’s desires and on His fellows’ needs. It makes me think of the greatest commandment “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Mat. 22:37) and the second greatest one, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mat. 22:38). If I want to live by these 2 commandments, my life will be centered on God and people. I don’t mean to say that one shouldn’t take one’s life seriously at all. We have to be good stewards of what we have, things, opportunities, money and so on. But we need to focus our hearts on God’s desires, on people’s needs and live not for our own benefit, but for Jesus’, for others’.

How can I stick to the plan when I don’t know what is the plan?

So, every year I find myself thinking about what will happen with me “next year”. I really dislike it when people ask me “So, what are you doing in the fall?” I usually respond with a deep sigh and different possibilities. The thing is that, I don’t like choices and possibilities, I just want to be told where to go, I just want God to clearly tell me what He wants, I’d be happy with that. The thing I omitted here is that God does reveal His will for me every single year, just not in my timing.

The way my brain works doesn’t make sense to me. When I started working a second year at Bethany I was convinced that it was my last year (and I am still convinced) so I decided that it was finally time for me to go to university. I like to be in control and to know everything, I knew that God that had grown in my heart the idea of starting university a few years ago but I had pushed it away, for human reasons. Last semester I decided I’d stop to depend on myself and trust God about university and apply, I didn’t know where I’d live or how I’d pay for it all, I just decided to do what I thought God called me to do. I felt like God was saying “Finally, you surrender”. God did lead me in the choice of universities I should apply at and it seemed to me that He wanted me in Sherbrooke, where I learnt later on, that a bunch of my friends where moving together. I guess that confidence started to build up in me, since I had the opportunity to move with them. It was like, my “plan B” if God’s plan wouldn’t work. It doesn’t matter if I go to university or not, I know where to take refuge. So I wasn’t trusting God as in the beginning but I did not notice. Things changed and finally I wouldn’t be able to move with these friends anymore. Well, I could but things would be more complicated and etc. so I guess God used this to call me home and make me copy one hundred times the words “trust me” on His blackboard. He is so loving. I had started with faith, now I was relying on man. And now, again, I think that I’ve come to the point where I surrender to God. The burden is lighter, much lighter.

I have no idea where God will lead me and how, but I know he will. He has been faithful every year. I don’t think I’ll be accepted in any university I applied; new dreams are building up though. I don’t know what to think, I guess I’ll stick to the plan, I’m learning that my part is to trust God and God’s is to reveal and teach me the plan.

This morning I read Jeremiah 17. Verse 5 helped me to realize that I had turned my eyes to man when they were first on God. It says, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for His strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord.’” I pray that I learn to surrender to Him and trust Him alone.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 25$ / as of March 24, 2006. We plan to send the money to Gospel for Asia so they can buy a kerosene lantern (29$) for one of their most needy native missionary. Please consider providing for the little 4$ left. Money will be sent on March 29 so, please let me know soon if you’re giving. Thanks again to all who provided money yet!

Further Thoughts about Love (don't take my picture seriously but take these thoughts seriously!)

So in the last entry I simply started thinking about laziness and it led me to conclude (partially for sure) that often I am lazy because I lack love for the people around me. While I was thinking about it in the cold streets of Hepburn, I didn’t think my problem –my sin- was a lack of love. Oh, I say “was” but it still a reality for me today, I have little love for people so I am slow to help or frustrated to do things for others or have a hard time praying for them, and being lazy in my walk with God –having little passion in reading His Word and praying, no to seek time with Him, show that I have little love for Him. But don’t take my words as truths, only as thoughts coming from a struggling girl. Anyways, this is not Sunday school, so I don’t need to survey our last class.

I was hit again by God’s Word about love. I know I lack love –major. But God used His Word, not only thoughts of mine in the chilly Saskatchewan. A few days ago I was reading Revelation 2. I like the beginning and the end of this book, everything in between has a obscure meaning to me. Anyways, I was reading chapter 2, what Jesus had to say to the church in Ephesus (v.1-7).

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.” – To this point everything seems to be pretty smooth. But having read this book a few times, I obviously felt that things were not as neat as they seemed to be. And I knew this description of the church looked like my own. Jesus goes on, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the same things you did at first…”

I really felt like this was not the church in Ephesus, but Gabrielle herself. I think I can discern the right from the wrong in “biblical / spiritual / religious” matters (the everyday stuff) and I know lots of things about the Bible and I think and etc. and all of that is good in itself, but the thing is that, this church was upright in its knowledge and sufferings for Jesus, only they had forsaken their first love. I wonder how this can be possible. How can one do and think the right things about God and even go through hardships and trials for Jesus’ name and lack love for Him? How can it be? I’m not sure at all about it. But I’ve been thinking about it since a couple of months without having any biblical example (looks like I’ve found one).
I’ve been thinking about 2 things.
First, one can do and think the right things only out of duty or habit. So the heart isn’t involved, the love isn’t there.
Second, one can do and think the right things, only to “be like” these holy people one has heard of. You read and hear stuff about these “super Christians” or Puritans or Missionaries and you long to be like them / have the same relationship they had with God, so you devote yourself to apply to your life the same disciplines and etc. they had. Sometimes this leads to maturity and it’s good. But sometimes it leads to a fake pursuit of holiness, of God. It is done out of love for ourselves (wanting to be like these great people, not like Jesus…).

So if I know the right stuff and even suffer for the name of Jesus my love for Him can be lacking. Because if my heart is absent from my actions – even suffering for Jesus can be done with wrong motives – then, there is no love for Jesus. When I say “wrong motives” I don’t think (only) about things that are obviously wrong. Wrong motives are sometimes hard to find, but they are often found in our self-love or pride (I suffer for Jesus because people will think I’m a great Christian) and it’s hard to really know what drives us… well, it is for me.
The NIV and the French (LS) use the word “Forsake” / “Abandonner” to describe what happened. I’m thinking, when I forsake something or someone, is it for nothing? I usually forsake e.i.: peanut butter for honey (although together on a bun these two are amazing) do you get the point? I say good bye to something in order to embrace something else. Well, maybe not all the time. But it makes me think, when Jesus says to this church that they forsook their first love, they left it for what or who?
I must say that I don’t know and I don’t feel like thinking right now. I would love to write and think more about this, I shall do that later hopefully.

Please leave your thoughts and comments; you do not need to own a blog to drop a comment. I am not sure if I communicated my thoughts properly, I am too lazy to explain everything that could lead to confusion and this is getting long.

Do not forget our brothers and sisters in Asia, we still need 4$ (dead line is March 29) to add to our 25$ to buy a kerosene lantern for a native missionary out there and yes, you are welcome to give a buck or two to help! gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

Laziness

It was on a late Friday night, the wind was sweeping the snow into the streets of a small village in the Canadian Prairies. It was more than chilly, it was bitter. For the last several days the snow kept falling down almost unceasingly, but that night, the sky was totally clear; at last it was not snowing anymore. As I walked out the dorm I quickly ran to the main building of the school and went through it to get to the street, I could have walked outside, but I wanted to take with me every particle of warmth I could before heading home. Again I hit the cold wind as I left the building and started to run on the sidewalk, well aware that I could easily slip and fall because of the thick layer of ice under my feet and the snow that was pilled up high here and there on my path, but it was rude, harsh weather so I ran. As I crossed the street I looked up and what I saw literally stopped me from running and even walking. For about 10 second, there in the middle of the street, I stared at this big, strong orange, full moon. The sky in the Prairies is different than anywhere else and at some times, one can witness beauties. I felt compelled to keep on walking, I had run for a while and now I was wasting my time in the cold. So I continued on my way. As I stumbled through the snow in the street, I thought that I should take a picture of that moon. But doing that required me to go back in the cold after getting my camera at home. So I turned down my own idea. Still breathing the freezing air, I started to think about laziness.

I thought myself to be lazy for not daring to spend more than the minimum amount of time I was obligated to, that is my 5 minute walk from the school to my home. I’d be nice to have a picture of this gorgeous moon, but I was too lazy in my pursuit. A picture in this case isn’t a big deal, but it made me think about my laziness in general.
People are always finding news ways to make our lives easier and painless. Just look at your computer (that you think is slow), or your phone, or television or… all of these were made in part so human beings would communicate quickly and easily when apart. Think about your car or the toilet or food mixer or… all of that, so we’d be able to live and work in ways that are more comfortable. And that’s neat, I believe human are extremely intelligent beings and that’s to the glory of God.
I guess I’m just used to find ways to do my work as quickly as possible with the best tools I can get so it’s easy. I guess I’m used to be warm, so it’s hard to stay in the cold. I am used to have electricity and running water and my schedule and… It’s good, but the thing is that when something happen, when I want to take a picture in the cold or when I need to go outside to get some more lugs of wood to heat the house or shovel the driveway instead of using the neighbor’s “blowing machine”, or when I’m asked to wash the dishes when it’s not my turn or… You know, anytime you’re not in your comfort zone… Well when that stuff happens, are we quick to get up and do the work or walk one more mile in the snow or stay up or get up early? Most of the time, I find myself doing these things with frustration or very slowly to show my disagreement and etc.
I feel that we are lazy. Apart from a few individuals who have the heart of servants, we hardly run to help or do things that aren’t required but would be nice to do. I guess, it’s partially not “our” fault. We grew up in a world where everything is always perfected for our comfort, so we want to be comfortable and have it all as easy as possible. But really, this is not an excuse for being lazy.
I think that our problem, or my problem, is a lack of love, a lack of passion. When I think about it, if I would have a friend who loves moons, it would have been easy for me to go home and go back in the cold and take a picture for my friend. It’s easy for me to do things I usually don’t like, to help someone I love, I am never lazy when asked for a favour from a friend. Why? Because I love the person, so it’s easy… I’m not sure how it works though. So I wonder, what am I telling the people, what am I telling God when I am slow to help my brothers and sisters when they need help, thinking that others can help them? What does it say about me when I have a hard time doing things differently for someone else’s sake? I am simply spelling the phrase “Gabe has little love for you” to these people.

I pray that I am becoming more and more eager to help and do things for others, that I don’t wait for someone else to fill the blank spot on the “Need Volunteers” sheet. I want to be challenged every day to work and live in ways that will show people their worth because they are God’s creation.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 25$ / as of March 18, 2006.
On March 29th I will send the gift to Gospel for Asia and ask them to buy a KEROSENE LANTERN @ 29$ - Please consider providing for the lacking 4$ to help a native missionary in need of light when it’s dark outside and needs to find his way home or show a gospel track or some verses to people without Jesus. Thank you again to those who contributed already this month.

Tell me why

"The typical media testimony goes like this: « I was sick and broke a total failure. Then I met Jesus. New everything is fine; my business is booming, and I am a great success.”
It sounds wonderful. Be a Christian and get a bigger house and a boat and vacation in the Holy Land. But if that were really God’s way, it would put some Christians behind the Iron Curtain and in the Two-Thirds World in a pretty bad light. Their testimonies often go something like this:
“I was happy. I had everything – prestige, recognition, a good job, and a happy wife and children. Then I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Now I am in Siberia, having lost family, wealth, reputation, job and health.”
K.P. Yohannan

That is very interesting. Don’t you think so? I don’t mean to say “interesting” and leave my interest here, forget and live just as if I didn’t read these few phrases. That is very interesting to me. Because when I think about it, I realize that it is very true. Isn’t it true that I want to enjoy life to the best, be loved by people around me, have nice things, be accepted by the “cool” people (even though I don’t want to be like them and I don’t necessarily like them, I still want to look good in their eyes)… Isn’t it true? And I think it’s true for most Christians too. If you don’t think such things as I write them, just look at the way you spend money, the way you dress when you go to church or a special event, just look at what you’re thinking when you’re around cool people. How do you feel like when the preacher asks people to come forward when you know you should go (not just to receive salvation by for different things)? What is your first thought when your schedule has to change because of a prayer meeting? When you’re on a mission trip and you have to sleep on the floor or do door-to-door evangelism in the heat of a humid day? I could go on and on with examples but I hope you get the point. The thing is that I want to be comfortable and pain-free… on earth. I want the easy path and I don’t like giving up my so-called “rights”. Like the rich young man (Mat. 19:16-22) who went to Jesus and asked Him how he could receive life everlasting, Jesus tells him at the end to give everything he had to the poor and follow Him. The rich man left, sad, because he didn’t want to depart from his riches. I know it sounds ridiculous, but what do you think Jesus would have said to this man if he would have started following Jesus and then went home for the night, did whatever he needed to do like work and take care of his land and etc. and when he had some free time during the day, hung out with Jesus, then went home for a snack and slept in his bed… It sounds funny. It seems to me that Jesus is taken as a mere “pal”. But that’s not what he asked of the rich man. “Give up everything and follow me” was basically what he told him.
So why do we act like that? Why do I think that I can “follow” Jesus to paradise by walking with Him whenever I feel like it, and skip the parts where he suffers and is ridiculed? Does it make sense? Why am I looking for a comfortable life and hope for more money, more friends to make me feel good about myself, more nice stuff?
People who came to Christ long ago did not come in order to get a heaven and a good life, people now countries where Christianity is rejected come to Christ not in the hope of getting a better health or life, they’re looking for something far beyond this.
I want to be able to say that I am following Christ because I gave up everything for Him. It doesn’t mean I need to go live on the street. It means that the way I live every minute of my life, at school, work, church, with friends, etc. is under the control of Jesus, I don’t do things my way, I don’t buy things I crave, I don’t think the way this world thinks about success, I live according to Jesus and I desire His approval alone.
I hope I am living more and more that way. It doesn’t mean it is easy, sin challenges me all the time, and all the more when I take a step for Christ. We aren’t called to live like the rest of the world, our Savior died on a cross, scoffed by sinners and asks us to take up our cross and do the same. It’s okay if I’m not accepted for doing the things of God, it’s okay if people laugh at me because I go to church every Sunday and talk about Jesus, it’s okay to surrender my rights to show love to others, it’s okay to speak up and tell people that the conversation isn’t right, it’s okay to seek Jesus in a radical way. It hurts deeply, but that’s the narrow road on which Jesus walked.
Please check up www.randomnesssignedgibbons.blogspot.com that’s were I found inspiration.

BANK FOR NATIVE MISSIONARIES: 25$/ as of March 17, 2006.
I WILL BE SENDING THE MONEY TO GOSPEL FOR ASIA ON MARCH 29 THIS MONTH. WE’LL PROBABLY GET A KEROSENE LANTERN @ 29$. Yes I know, all we have is 25$ but I am sure that we’ll get the 4$ we need for it before the 29th. Please consider being a part of the work of native missionaries in Asia by sending to Gospel for Asia or myself a buck or two or more so we can buy things that these saints need in the work of spreading the good news of Jesus out there.

Oh, by the way, now you can leave a comment on my blog, whoever you are. You don’t need to own your own blog or anything. Just leave a comment by clicking on the “comments” link.

Chips & Salsa

"Many native missionaries and their families experience days without food – not because they are fasting voluntarily but because they have no money to buy rice. This occurs especially when they start new work in villages where there are no Christians.
Remembering the heartbreaking suffering of the native brethren, I sometimes refused to eat the desserts so often served to me. I am sure this made no difference in supplying food for the hungry families, but I couldn’t bear to take pleasure in eating while Christian workers in Asia were going hungry."
K.P. Yohannan, Revolution in World Missions

A bunch of bible college students and I were hanging out at some friends’ place in the city. The students had brought chips, salsa and drinks to enjoy during the evening. We had a great time indeed, playing some games and we laughed a lot. The chips and salsa were set before us and everyone started to dig in with delight as we chatted. Then people were asked what they wanted to drink. I did not eat or drink anything that evening. I was asked several times if I wanted some chips or people told me that I was allowed to drink something, but I refused. It’s not that I was more spiritual or something, but I was simply watching the people eating and I just felt that it was sad. Every time we get together, here in the West, we like to have food to enjoy, and it’s great. I have nothing against that. We have the privilege to enjoy food almost all the time. But that evening, I just sat there and watched. I almost felt like I was actually only present in spirit, totally detached from the group. I thought that people were probably not realizing how much we take food for granted and not as a blessing from God, that most people on earth had barely what they needed to eat everyday or less, and here we were, enjoying good company and eating thoughtlessly.
As K.P. Yohannan says, I knew that refusing to eat a thing did not supply any food to anybody (or actually, maybe more chips to my friends…) but I was simply in my thinking mood and felt I couldn’t simply enjoy food and drinks that evening, because so many people had a hard time getting one meal a day for themselves.

It makes me feel like I need to be more aware of the blessing I have to have three meals a day and often, snacks in between. Every time there is food for me to enjoy, a meal or a snack, I should take the time to bless God for His goodness to me. And I should help others around me, who enjoy the same blessings, to thank God precisely for that food.

Being thankful is one thing, but I think there is more to be done, more that is expected from us. It makes me think of the story in the New Testament where it is said that a certain person walks by someone who lacks clothes and doesn’t have food and the person simply leave him and say “Be merry, keep warm and eat well” without helping this someone in need, or something like that, I can’t find it now but… It is one thing to enjoy with thankfulness the blessings of God on our life, but not being sensitive to the needs of others when we have plenty, will, I believe, pile up a judgment on ourselves.

When I watch people and listen what they say, I am a bit confused. People like to complain and talk about how little money they have and all the bills they have to pay, while eating in a restaurant, or wearing a new pair of jeans, or licking the ice cream cone they just bought. It doesn’t make sense to me. There are plenty of ways we can save money. I might sound out-of-context, but when we think of it, since we have so much and enjoy without really realizing how blessed we are, why shouldn’t we consider to cut back on things like snacks, a 5th pair of pants, getting the last cd of our favourite band and etc. to save that money and support our brothers and sisters in need. We sometimes thin we are in need so why should we supply for other people’s needs. Well, we aren’t in need of anything and if we think of it we choose to buy stuff that we don’t need while other people don’t even have the essential.

I believe God wants us to be thankful for all the blessings He pours on us and I believe He might use these blessings to “test” us, to see if we’ll enjoy it to the max or if we’ll be wise and live simply, sharing with those in need.
That’s why I sometimes refuse to eat a snack or to buy a new shirt, because it makes me sick to simply enjoy so many things while my brothers and sisters elsewhere go hungry and cold. It’s not that my refusal to eat or buy something will change anything for them, but if I choose to share the money God gives me, even when it means to cut back on certain things, to help God’s people, then I believe I will be fulfilling God’s purpose He intends for His children.

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Thanks for all who gave already!

In Response to a Comment - Col. 2:20-23

Here’s a comment I got from a friend, I think that I should share my answer (or rather, my thoughts) on here since it has something to do with some entries I wrote ealier. Here’s the comment:

Hey, I was reading these verses this morning...Colossians 2:20-23. I don't know why they made me think of your blog. Maybe it was the part you wrote about "beating your body" to make it a slave of Christ. Verse 23 says:"Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence." I'm not sure what an example of such regulations would be, Paul calls them human rules. But it was interesting, because apparently, some kinds of discipline, though they may appear wise, actually don't help us resist giving in to temptation. What do you think?

I remember reading this verse and ask myself if discipline and regulations and etc. were doing me any good. But I never really took the time to deepen my thought about it, so now I must.

In this passage, Paul is says that since we were made alive with Christ, having our sins forgiven and since God cancelled the written code, with its regulations, we shouldn’t let anyone judge us on the basis of what we eat, drink and the way we celebrate or not certain events. Paul says that since we are dead to the basic principles of this world we should not submit to its rules “Do not taste! Do not handle! Do not touch!” then verse 23 comes here.
So what I understand is that since we were purified from our sins and since the written code and its regulations (probably the law or as the NLT says “record of the charges against us”) were cancelled, we should not think that we must continue to live as we used to when we were still dead in our sins, trying to please God by our acts of righteousness. The difference is that before knowing Christ we disciplined ourselves, our bodies to say no to different things in order to stay in line with God’s commands, it’s mere obedience, outward obedience. But when we come to Christ, our sins are truly forgiven once and for all and it’s useless to try to live by these “human rules” again because Christ is our righteousness, we do not try to earn it anymore.
So if we, as children of God, saved by faith in the grace found in Jesus, strive to “beat our body and make it our slave” in the same way, with the same attitude we once had, then I’d say, “Man, you need to sit down and remember your salvation, that now you were purified, only by Jesus’ blood, nothing else. You don’t need to seek to appease God or etc. anymore with your own efforts, Jesus did that for you.”
To try to be self-controlled and godly and follow all kinds of rules that are good, with a heart that is simply proud for being so “spiritual”, or secretly desiring to be “more loved” by God or be forgiven for some sins is totally wrong. First because it goes against the faith that God requires for salvation, and second, as Paul says “… they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (v.23) NLT says “… they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires” Louis Second says “… ils sont sans aucun mérite et contribuent à la satisfaction de la chair”. So basically, doing all sorts of godly things with the attitude of the “unsaved” person, is only an outward “godliness”, the heart is powerless to conquer its evil desires, because its attitude is not renewed by the Spirit of God, because the purpose we have in obeying different rules is to give ourselves a better image, in front of people, in front of God.
The attitude of a child of God should basically be “I was saved by the grace of God alone, I was totally lost and He freely gave me the righteousness I needed but could never find by myself, I deserve nothing from Him at all, and because of all He has done for me, I want to seek to walk in a way that pleases Him, I will obey Him” As it is written somewhere in the New Testament I can’t find right now, that we were saved in order to do good works, not the other way around.
So I still believe it’s important and expected by God for us to discipline ourselves to do all we can to come closer to Him, to obey Him with all our hearts. It doesn’t mean that the mere actions of devotions will bring us closer to Him and help us conquer temptation and make us truly godly, but it’s in our heart’s attitude of total trust in God and deep desire to know Him and obey Him because of His great love and salvation for us.
Let us not forget these verses “Be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1); Find out what pleases the Lord (Eph 5:10); Devote yourselves to prayer (Col 4:2); Let us be alert and self-controlled (I Thess. 5:6); Never tire of doing what is right (II Thess 3:13); Train yourself to be godly (I Tim 4:7); Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (I Tim 6:11); Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good (Titus 3:14)

“For the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:11-14)

So these are my thoughts for right now. I don’t know if I answered the question in a satisfying way. Please let me know your thoughts about that. Leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

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I make no sense here

Have you ever met someone who thought he was special, that he was the exception to the rule? (I say “he” but it can be a “she”). Well you might be one and somehow, to some extent, I believe that we all think we are special and can do things differently or pass by the rules everyone else has to follow without being stopped. Anyways, I just have a hard time with that type of people right now.
I don’t know where to draw the line. When is it time to be gracious (again) to them, to yield to their requests, to feed them whatever the wish… and when is it time to simply say no? I don’t know. It bothers me so much these days. I tend to be legalistic and stick to the rules, I enjoy being gracious to people as well and grant them a little something they aren’t supposed to get. But when that same person comes around regularly and chat and ask for a favour or a cookie or… I have a hard time knowing if I should be gracious again, or if I should say no. I feel like I should always be gracious when I can (and if I think of it, I probably can all the time), hoping that one day the person will wake up and realize how privileged she is… and start to be thankful and change the way she asks for stuff from me or etc. But at the same time, I believe that people need to be told the truth in the face. But the thing is that I am not gracious from the heart, I do it with frustration and when I say no, I fear to hurt people ‘cause I am frustrated and need to explain why the person can’t have the “cookie”.
I think I make NO SENSE to the reader here. I don’t have much time, so I can’t go further in my thoughts (or frustrations actually). But please, if you have any idea or tips about the topic of how to know where to draw the line between saying yes and no… please leave a comment or email me gabeleroux@yahoo.ca I think I have some common sense and I know when I should say yes and no, but it’s more about little things, privileges allowed to the same person all the time…
In the next entry: In Response to an Email…

I hate sin, I hate sin

Does anybody come to a point sometimes when one feels like, I don’t know if I am a Christian anymore. Because I do. I know that I trust Jesus Christ alone for my salvation, but because of the sins that I make, and not just the sins I make naturally without really thinking about it, but I think about the sins I wilfully make, right in the face of the Holy Spirit, in other words, I wilfully decide to grieve the Holy Spirit. Why? Because my sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that I do not do what I want (see Gal. 5:17). Sometimes, I am tempted to do something I know I shouldn’t, I clearly hear the Holy Spirit telling me to do something to get out of the grips temptation has on me, but I lack self-control and love for Jesus and seriousness and I am lazy and I enjoy the easy way and pleasure of sin, so I just give in. Knowing that I am not doing what is pleasing to God, knowing I will be down and discouraged about myself because of my sins, I simply do it anyways. What does it mean?
A few years ago or so, at Bible School, I had to choose any passage in the book of Romans and write a paper on the topic. I wrote about Romans 6 (We’re dead to sin and alive in Christ… what shall we say then, shall we go on sinning… etc.) I argued that because we were still in the flesh, we were struggling with sin and… well, I don’t remember everything. The teacher read my paper and wrote a full page of comments. He was not agreeing with my opinion and was saying that most commentaries and etc. thought that Paul was talking about his old life without Christ (when he was under the law of sin) but now he was under the law of Christ, which made him free from the law of sin. I don’t remember much that he wrote, but one thing I remember is that he said “I hope you don’t have two natures in you”. Meaning that he believed we don’t have the sinful nature and the Christlike nature both at work in us at the same time. Anyways, I have trouble with his opinion and I actually think that it’s scriptural to believe that sin (flesh) lives with us and we are free from its bondage, to obey Christ, or sin.
I know that for sure: sin abides in me, there ain’t any question about this truth for me. I struggle to obey the Holy Spirit and when I do, there is no reward. I feel like I’ve been waiting for the bus to pick me up to the amusement park, but when it comes, I turn away and go home. No fun. And that’s it. Saying no to sin usually doesn’t give me any good feeling. And actually, saying no to sin hurts my flesh so bad. It hurt me to say no to me.
I try to find ways to hate sin. When temptation comes, I love sin. But when it is consumed, I hate sin. And I would like to be filled with this holy burning hatred for sin, all the time. I don’t know how though. I am making it a point to pray about this issue everyday. But I don’t know. It’s hard to focus on the eternal rewards of hurting my sinful nature when today I don’t see any good result, apart from being boring to myself… I mean, my flesh. It’s hard but I need to keep my eyes on the joy that will come later, and beat my body and make it my slave (that actually a verse somewhere in the NT!!!)
So I know I belong to Christ, but what does it say about my relationship with Jesus and my love and my seriousness in all that when I sin “in the face” of the Holy Spirit?
Your thoughts? Just leave a comment, email me. gabeleroux@yahoo.ca

The Inspector (no that's not the title of a new movie)

So, I work in a kitchen. Usually we aren’t told in advance that the inspector is coming to check us out. But this time, we got told that the lady was coming Tuesday to inspect the kitchen. So on the day she was coming, things worked a bit differently. Because the inspector is here, we feel like we should do things the way we are supposed to do them, so for a few things, we do them differently so it looks proper. It’s not that our ways of working are bad or unhealthy – at all. It’s simply because there are some standards that are to be met. Having lower standards is not a bad thing in itself when it’s still healthy and good, but when the inspector is in, we change our ways a bit.
I always feel wrong about that.
It makes me think, this might be the same way we see Christianity. When we are watched, when we go to church, when we are in the presence of some important spiritual people, we feel like we have to tidy up our spiritual outlook by longer prayers, looking serious or in a thinking mood, or start chatting about the Bible and whatever else we tend to do, or even though we don’t do anything different in the presence of other Christians, we might have the feeling of “Man, I need to look like I’m doing good spiritually” it’s not something we actually all the time tell ourselves, it’s just a sudden fear that builds up in our minds.
If we act that way on earth and are awaiting the return of Christ, are we going to do the same thing with Him, feel like we have to tidy up our lives, our spiritual outlook? I guess often, I’ve feared that Jesus would come back or that I would die soon, because I felt that I wasn’t as good as I should, I felt that I needed to focus myself on Jesus and clean up the junk in me, then I’d be okay to meet Christ. Why? So I don’t feel ashamed, so I look good. But the thing is that we can’t do that. We can’t pretend to look neat in front of Jesus. We can make other Christians think we’re doing pretty good in our walk with Jesus, but we can’t do that with God. When the “Inspector” comes, we won’t be able to hide anything from Him… but the thing is that, Christ is looking into our lives right now today and everyday. It’s like having the inspector in the kitchen every single day. Man, I think, what a burden it would be! I hope that knowing that Jesus is standing by us at all times doesn’t make us feel burdened because we must do things that are good and love and think pure thoughts and… We either act out of love or out of fear. We need to remember again that we are saved not by our own acts or efforts, but only by the work of Christ, knowing that will prompt us to free obedience, that’s the kind of obedience that is light and prompted by love and thankfulness. Or we can forget about that and think that we must obey in order to be blessed and loved by God. That’s wrong and that’s obeying out of fear. I believe we should strive to obey God and fear Him, tremble at His Word, but He knows how ungodly and lazy we were yesterday and He sees us today, seeking Him. And he chooses to forgive.
It’s useless to try to look good, we must be what we are in front of our brothers and sisters. Life in Christ is tough and different, we aren’t super heroes or perfect saints and we all know that. We need to be seeking Christ and obey Him in our daily lives, knowing that He’s watching us, wanting to help us and correct us for our good, and we need to come to His body, the saints, with truth, not allowing ourselves to feel like we have to look good. If we keep on being hypocrites, we won’t grow in maturity and we’ll keep on wearing a spiritual mask for the rest of our lives and that’s not what we want hey?
“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” (Mark 13:35-37)
We can be true with eachother and seek to help one another growing.

Mere Human Righteousness vs Holy Divine Righteousness

The righteousness God requires is simply beyond our capacities. The “righteousness” we can acquire by our own efforts is by doing things that are good in the sight of God. But even when we would come to the end of our life without sin and perfect obedience, still our righteousness would be called “earned, human” and we would be found just a few steps further than those who led wicked lives to enter eternal life, when this city of God is found hundreds of miles away from the best human righteousness that can be. Our works are earthly and human but God is heavenly and spiritual, divine. It is impossible for us humans to grasp eternal life by our own means because it is first of all way too little when perfect and second, it’s simply not what God requires. God demands a divine righteousness to enter His Kingdom. God demands a holy spiritual blood. God demands His own divine essence in order to let you in His presence. And the only way we can have this, oh this heavenly righteousness, is by Christ Jesus His Son who offered His holy blood, His divine essence to God on our behalf. And we grasp this holy righteousness by simply trusting Jesus’ sacrifice. Believing that it is not by any deed of ours or obedience that we can find peace with God, but only by trusting that Christ Jesus the Son of God died and rose again and offers us forgiveness, peace with God and the righteousness that God requires. It may sound foolish, but God wants faith. That’s it.

About Pride

I like books and now I’m reading one that is called « Steering through chaos » by Os Guinness. I think it’s neat that I get to borrow books from friends at Bible College. Anyways, I just started to read it and it’s very interesting so far. Right now I’m reading a lot about pride and it challenges me deeply. I want to read it all as quick as possible because it’s good, but I need to take the time to digest all the information and challenges I see. I have been especially impressed with some quotes from C.S. Lewis. Here’s something that I believe should be read closely and used to examine ourselves.

“In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that – and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison – you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. That raises a terrible question. How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshipping an imaginary God. The theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of his phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how he approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people: that is, they pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to Him and get out of it a pound’s worth of pride towards their fellow-men.”

“Pride can often be used to beat down the simpler vices. Teachers, in fact, often appeal to a boy’s pride, or, as they call it, his self-respect, to make him behave decently: many a man has overcome cowardice, or lust, or ill-temper by learning to think that they are beneath his dignity – that is pride. The devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the dictatorship of pride.”

I think that seeking to obey Christ is very dangerous, very risky. Because we are all, to some extent, proud people. We easily shift from humble obedience to pride in our works. As we strive to obey Jesus and live lives that are pure and godly, it’s a great challenge not to think of ourselves better than the average Christian. We discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness, but if we find any pride in our pursuit, Satan’s laughing. Because our problem now is deeper than before. As Lewis says, “The real test of being in the presence of God is that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether.”

My thoughts aren’t clear… but I hope I’ll become more humble because I know I am not.

Meaning - less or full - question mark.

In our frustrating and futile efforts to keep up the demands of life maintenance, our souls have shrivelled. We have more tasks, activities, and deadlines to accomplish than ever; we have more to organize, store, and maintain than ever; and the result is that we’re becoming increasingly efficient at leading meaningless lives. What good is our multitasking, the accomplishment of more and more, and the acquisition of wealth, if we are not – by the means God has given us – becoming more like Jesus, the One we live for and the One who will evaluate our lives? Donald S. Whitney

I think that we all should be busy doing good things, but I think we should evaluate why we do what we do. And I’m not thinking about things in general… I think about little things of life that we do, how we spend our time and how much we get busy. We need to stop and think “Why do I do that?” God sometimes isn’t in our activities and we do things simply because it’s been that way since years, or because we must do these things. Even when we don’t do things for any godly reason (especially when it’s a necessity) I think we need to find ways to turn our focus on God and remind ourselves that we depend on Him. Lots of things that we do and weary our bodies and minds are burdens Jesus wants to either bear for us or leave behind us. We need to evaluate our ways… because ultimately, God will do it to our face and we’d be simply glad to have done our duty. (Luke 17:10)

Hold On To What You Have

Cycles. It’s a word written somewhere on the washing machine upstairs or maybe it’s the dryer. I’m not sure. Maybe both probably. Anyways, that’s not very important, you guys not what cycles are. The “Teacher” in Ecclesiastes could have used that word instead of saying “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecc. 1:9). He was speaking about things happening in the world not exactly about spiritual things. But all of us know about “moods” and that we go through times of wondering in valleys, smooth walking in the interesting foothills, harsh mountain hiking and intense freedom running on the heights. I don’t know for sure, but, man it’s sad that we are that way, not only in our day-to-day life, but in our walk with Jesus. It obviously shows that we aren’t pre-programmed machines and that we aren’t perfect like Jesus yet (…. that’s obvious). For the longest laps of time in my life, I was experiencing the running on the heights. Walking with Jesus seemed a joy and came naturally. But somehow I crashed, I re-appeared in the valley, I was thrown down the mountaintop. I’m not saying that something bad happened or I sinned (although, I do sin everyday), but simply that God wanted to start teaching me from the valley about the mountaintop maybe. I’m not sure yet. But anyways.
I know that all of us go through cycles, moods, stages in our walk with Jesus. Some days are good, some days are bad. Is this a proof of ungodliness? I don’t believe so.

“Only hold on to what you have until I come.” “I know you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” “Hold on to what you have” (Rev. 2:25; 3:9b; 3:11).

Our Jesus is fully aware of what’s going on in our hearts and where He’s leading us, for a hike or a slide - do not misunderstand me here. I, by no means, believe that God pushes us to sin and so, make us “backsliders”. If we decide to disobey God and go our own way, we’ll get down in a valley that doesn’t belong to our Shepherd Jesus. I believe that God wants us to experience the cycles of the spiritual walk with Him, every one of them, for His purpose and in His timing. As we follow Christ, we’ll find the journey pleasant and easy at times, but lots of the time, we won’t understand we’re we are and why the ground is so cold and bumpy. That doesn’t mean we aren’t following Christ our Lord. “Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (II Tim. 2:3). We’ve got to hold on to what we have, hold on to the little faith we still have.

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So anywhere we are right now in our precious walk with Jesus, rejoicing, questioning or enduring the harsh road of “spiritual nothing” well, let us keep on seeking our Shepherd. Let us keep on reading His word and praying about it. To give up these disciplines will simply lead us into Satan’s pen. And, who wants that? As long as we are honest with God and pray for wisdom and read His Word, I believe He will reveal Himself to us and teach us.

Where are you at in your walk with Jesus? Feel free to let me know so I can pray for you.
gabeleroux@yahoo.ca