There is hope. We can be fixed.
God, life, people, music, and a humble trainwreck of colourful ponderings
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;
But happy is he who keeps the law.
If there was only one reason to teach the Word of God. This would be it. To reveal the truth. And that people see that there is a way to obtain real fulfilling joy. Without the truth, the world is stumbling into chaos.
Proverbs 31:10 (NKJV) Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
14 When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. 15 The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was. And Moses told them, “It is the food the Lord has given you to eat. 16 These are the Lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.” 17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. 18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
Exodus 16:14-18
I have a problem with this passage.
Not that there’s anything inaccurate or anything wrong that happened. It’s very logical and is probably a sound record of what happened.
My problem is with how I would respond if I was one of those Israelites. Let’s take a small step back and look at the context.
The Israelites, very recently left Egypt. God saved them from slavery and showed His mighty signs and wonders and power to show off to the world. Now, as they wander the desert, they realise they are hungry and will die soon. Then the Israelites did what they did best. Complain. God heard them of course. And gave them food. But God took the opportunity to build their faith. He likes to do that to His chosen peoples. He gave them food for the day that would rot next morning. God wanted to build their trust in Him. To know that He will provide for next day.
Moses gave a difficult instruction. Go outside and take how much food is needed for your family for the day. I would have taken more than enough. I mean, for survival. My family is hungry. I already feel bad for not being able to provide for my family. Nomads don’t farm. Also, there was ALOT food on the ground. It’s an amazing miracle. Enough to feed more than 1 million for the whole day. I’d say taking more is not selfish. And it’s more of a precaution. Based on past record, this has never happened in my life, what are the chances it will happen again tomorrow just because Moses said so?
But God wanted the Israelites to trust Him DAILY. But… But… How? How do you TOTALLY FULLY trust someone? How do you TOTALLY and FULLY trust God?
To be honest, I can’t say I have perfect trust in God. I still have a lot of things in life that I like to do my own way. I still like to be in control. I still want to plan ahead. And I still like to complain.
(Disclaimer: I’m not saying that being in control of your life or planning ahead is bad. But I am saying that complete trust in God does require us to let go of some of our fundamental trust in ourselves, people, rules, and even logic. That’s why I find it so hard.)
But I have been practicing. Here are two simple practical ways to try and work on your trust in God. It’s how I do it anyway.
Advice
Firstly, try being trustworthy to others. Try not promising too much, and try to remember and fulfill what you have promised. The more I do this, the more I find that I can’t trust myself. Yet I also find that I do like being trustworthy, honest, and respected. I realise that I need to have love for others to want to be trustworthy. And I also realise that people love you for being trustworthy. I’d say, trying to be trustworthy shows me a glimpse of what God wants to do for us and what He wants from us. That might make you trust God and appreciate His promises more.
Secondly, let God prove Himself. If God said so, let it be His challenge to Himself. If He longs for us to trust Him, He’ll prove Himself. I agree that a lot of things (like basic needs) may be too risky to trust an unseen being with. Well then, start small. Trust Him for the little things. Praying and trusting God for a good parking could be a good start. When you start to believe that God is trying to prove Himself to you, pick up a bible and claim a promise He made in the bible. He made a lot of promises. And none of them are small. God only makes bombastic promises. If it comes true, it should be proof enough.
Thirdly, you can ask for faith, I guess. Wait, didn’t I say I only have two advice? Yeah I did. Oh well, my third advice is to ask. I definitely have faith. But I definitely could have some more. I don’t think it’s possible for a human being (except Jesus) to have a perfect 100% faith or a perfect trust in God. Various people have various degrees of faith according to what God gives them (but even though we’ve been given different levels of faith, I still believe it is our responsibility to grow it). So God is pretty much still in control in the first place. He says that nothing is too trivial a task for Him, and no request is too big and ambitious. And if we can pray for a friend to have faith, why can’t we pray for ourselves to have faith? No harm asking.
Trust
‘Trust’ sounds like a passive action. Sounds like ‘wait’. But imagine in movies, the starring hero will tell the girl who is hanging out of a tumbling car to “trust me”. It means she has to let go of the car she has been hanging on to and trust the hero to grab her hand before she falls. Trust is a verb. You need to do something. The hardest part of holding on to the hero is letting go of the car. Do you have something you need to let go of for God to prove Himself?
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
xHello dear friends. What if I told you that your actions are not your own? What if I told you that you cannot do anything you want? What if I told you that you will hurt those who love you just by having a bad reputation?
What I learn through my friends and media is that I will suffer the consequences of my actions. And that I can do anything I want as long as I feel okay about it. And that if I choose to do anything bad, I will just have to suffer from it later on. These are half-truths. Oh yes, you will suffer the consequences your actions. The only problem is, you’re not the only one who will suffer.
Friend A had a friend called Friend B. Friend B is an old friend of Friend A. A month ago, what Friend A heard on the news was shocking. Friend B’s apartment was searched and he was found to be cooking and distributing drugs. He was making alot of money. He was also dealt a death sentence. Friend A felt bad. Really bad. Ashamed. Alarmed. Afraid. Friend A doubted his ability to know people. He doubted himself. He felt bad for Friend B’s dad. Rumor was going around. Bad rumors.
It was a tough time for both family and friends. Now I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘I have never done anything as wrong or as serious as that’. But seriously, just throwing a simple tantrum will get people questioning about what kind of family you grew up in. We are being watched, and we are being judged 24/7. And who will be the most ashamed? Parents of course.
A father writes to his son in Proverbs 27:11, Be wise my child, and make my heart glad. Then I will be able to answer my critics.
Why would a father ask his son to be wise? Because a foolish son brings shame to his father. The more foolish the actions, the greater the shame. Consequences can potentially have a great ripple effect. So it’s not just shame, all sorts of negative things can come upon people around you just because you want to be an ignorant, lazy fool.
Pick your thoughts, actions and words carefully my friend. Especially don’t engage in things God consider as sin. Yes, I’m talking to you.
Proverbs 2:1-5
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding— indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.
So what is the fear of the Lord? I guess there’s only one way to experience it and find out.
For those of you close minded people, I’d like to say one thing. Bribing works wonders! It’s true. If it’s not true, why would it be so popular? We know it’s true because we see it. It’s a quick way to get wanted results. That’s a good deal right? Speed + results! And if you’re good enough, you can hide your tracks. Problem with this: conscience.
So before i talk about anything, let’s google-define the word ‘bribe’: to persuade (someone) to act in one’s favor, typically illegally or dishonestly, by a gift of money or other inducement. Ah ok. So key words here are dishonest and illegal. So is ‘bribing’ your kids to study bad? No, because according to this, it’s not a bribe. Illegal bribes are easy to spot. They’re bribes in situations where bribing isn’t allowed by the law. Dishonest bribes are a bit harder to spot. Because of the unspoken rules. Generally, if there’s a queue to a counter, it’s understood that latecomers have to insert themselves in queue at the back of the line. We all understand that that’s fair. But maybe Mr. Aaron decides since there isn’t any law here that says to line up, I’ll just ask a favor (with the motivation of money) of the counter attendant to deal with me first. I am in a rush too. We all know that cutting line is bad, but mostly because it slows our queue. But it is still a dishonest gain right? Because according to the ethical scale embedded inside us, everyone has to have an equal opportunity. If a line is served according to how much money you can pump into bribing, then it’ll be rich first, and poor last (if ever). For me, a bribe is when it negatively effects other people. Which is the main reason why corporate laws on integrity are of big importance. Here are my thoughts, I think a bribe is a form of motivation. A bribe can be both positive motivation (reward) and negative motivation (threat/punishment). And they’re bad because they either break rules, or are against our conscience. But, is bribing a sin?
What does the bible say about bribing. Let me be honest, I was very confused/intrigued by what the God has to say about bribing. They seem to contradict. And the word of God CANNOT contradict, or else it isn’t God’s word. Proverbs 15:27 Greed brings grief to the whole family, but those who hate bribes will live. And Proverbs 17:8 A bribe is like a lucky charm; whoever gives one will prosper! Seems like on one hand, bribing is bad, on another bribing is good. I think we forget to think that bribing is an act. It doesn’t reveal the nature of the heart. To assure you, the evil nature of greed is addressed in the bible. Deuteronomy 16:19 You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly. Exodus 23:8 “Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth. Proverbs 17:23 The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice. But the bible is also saying that bribing can be used for good. Proverbs 18:16 Giving a gift can open doors; it gives access to important people! Proverbs 21:14 A secret gift calms anger; a bribe under the table pacifies fury. So let’s get practical and REALLY ask, can bribing really be used for good?
Like I said, bribing is an act. It’s not an attitude. God will judge the attitude and intention of the heart. We can bribe to send an innocent person to jail. And we can pay a bribe to release a wrongly accused. We can contract a killer to kill our boss. And we can ‘contract’ an authority to see that a missionary’s visa is approved. Honestly, I hate bribes. I’m against it, but if my daughter was kidnapped and they asked for money, I’d be more than willing to participate in that bribe to keep my daughter safe. And I doubt I’ll feel bad. I think I’ll have peace in my conscience about the bribe. My sin would probably not be that I participated in a bribe, but that I have hate against the kidnappers. I know this sounds pretty unchristiany, but bribes is not a sin. Especially not if you’re the victim of the injustice. However, if you’re the one who’s asking for money to act unjustly, then the problem is greed. Then it’s a sin. If it’s an ‘opportunity’, well, you’ll have to look at the intention of your heart of why you’re agreeing. Guess what, I think Jesus would have participated in a bribe if he needed to.
Did Jesus do anything wrong during his time on earth? Contrary to popular belief, YES he did. It was so controversial, that moral codes and ethics were questioned. Tradition in a traditionally strong culture was shaken. People hated Jesus because of the rules he’s broken. Yet he dared to call himself King. Yet he dared to say that he’s the fulfillment of the word (wooooots). E.g. Luke 6:6-9 On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched Jesus closely. If he healed the man’s hand, they planned to accuse him of working on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, “Come and stand in front of everyone.”So the man came forward. Then Jesus said to his critics, “I have a question for you. Does the law permit good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing evil? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?” So in the Torah (Jewish book of Law given by God) it was God’s law that the Sabbath day is made for rest. No work is to be done on that day. So the Jews started to make weird rules based on this Sabbath law. Eg. like you can’t walk past your neighbors house because walking is a lot of work. But Jesus came to earth to explain that the law is not a list of do’s and don’ts. The law is for the alignment heart and attitude, and for the growth of character.
Excerpted from Jesus’ sermon on the mount (Matt 5): … You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell… You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. So Jesus came to earth to explain that it’s not the action that breaks God’s law (and His heart). No, it’s our hearts and our attitude and our character that breaks the Law. If I was paying a ‘gift’ to be released from jail early, whether I sin or not will depend on why. Is it because I don’t want to face the consequences of my actions? Is it because I don’t want my family and friends to know what I did? Or is it because I felt that I’ve been wrongly accused and I don’t think that’s where God wants me to be at that moment? Ask yourself what is the intention of acting the briber or agreeing to be bribed? Greed? Fame? Compassion? Love? Shame? Pride? Laziness? When asking yourself, our conscience will come into play and help us. And the Holy Spirit works with and guides our conscience. With choosing the right action, will come peace and joy. Acting against it will result in uneasiness and fear. Yeah. I agree that these are such subjective emotions to be using to weigh our action. But with practice, we’ll be able to make decisions as close to what is righteous as possible. Sure, we’ll never be perfect, but we can always try, right?
I guess my conclusion can be this, the problem is not so much the act of bribing, but the attitude and intention of the heart. The Church tends to get very traditionalized that the act of worship becomes the focus of christian lives and teachings. That’s very Pharisaical isn’t it? Jesus said their clean acts are just an outward show. What’s more important is the internal attitude and character. Clean the inside and the outside will be clean as well.
#1
Don’t let them call you a ‘bimbo’. You’re nerdy enough for me.
#2
God wants us to CHOOSE to love Him. He’s not gonna MAKE us.
Do We HAVE To Die?
over the centuries, people have always wanted to have control.
people have always wanted to be able to choose neverdeath. err… immortality. i meant.
there are many natural things in life that we don’t have a choice about.
like, firstly, of course, death.
life? yes. we do have a choice between life or no life.
but death? it’s a must. it’s a certainty. it’s adhering to the laws of nature and science.
also, we don’t have a choice but to be governed by the laws of physics… like gravity. and space. and time.
thirdly, we don’t get to choose our biology. i’m not a dolphin. and my dad is not Eminem. I don’t have a choice.
and, another thing we don’t get to choose, this is a big one, is CHOICE.
God gave us a will to make decisions.
God gave us the free will to choose anything for ourselves.
but not only that.
EVERYTHING. Requires. A Choice.
we HAVE to make a decision.
To agree with something, a choice.
To disagree, a choice.
To be ignorant, a choice.
To accept a fact, a choice.
To doubt it, a choice.
To act on it, a choice.
To let it go, a choice.
To complain, a choice.
To face it, a choice.
To walk the easy path, a choice.
To walk the road less taken, a choice.
To go with the flow, a choice.
To dare to be ridiculed, a choice.
To practice, a choice.
To procrastinate, a choice.
To be all round pessimistic, a choice.
To be joyful and thankful, a choice.
To be disobedient, a choice.
To trust, a choice.
To harbor anger, a choice.
To love, a choice.
you know, everything comes down to what we choose.
even when situations are out of control, it’s how we respond that counts.
even if everyone disagrees, if my conscience tells me it’s right, i still have to choose.
this is what determines character.
ask yourself:
do you make your own decisions?
or do you let your mood, situations or environment dictate your choices?
i’m not saying it’s easy to develop character.
in fact, that’s what problems are for; to help us grow.
when we make a choice to face a problem head on, we overcome something that we can never overcome if we don’t make the difficult decision.
problems and difficulties are like mirrors, they reveal a side of you that you’ve never been able to see by yourself.
also, if we don’t deal with this problem, it’ll always seem to keep appearing.
just like looking into a new and different mirror.
no matter how many new and different problems you’re gonna face, if the previous flaw in self has not been dealt with, you’ll see the same flaws show in the new and different mirrors.
the same issue will occur.
so choose to deal with it.
i can’t say i’m super holy.
just like obedience and holiness is a choice,
disobedience and sin is also a choice.
i have to say (honestly), i choose to sin and be disobedient all the time.
let me give you a very innocent example from my own life.
if someone is late for a meeting that i’m chairing, i get mad!
i choose to let my emotions rule over my actions.
cuz it’s downright easy to do.
but, you wanna know what’s the Most Difficult thing to do when someone makes me angry?
choose keep a joyful face, forgive, and continue to live life the best i can without making the situation worse.
you know, that’s just too difficult to do!
that’s just crazy.
but God’s all about crazy isn’t He?
Will the Judgement Day look like this? prolly not…
we hear people talk about the JUDGEMENT DAY all the time.
but I tell you the truth, brothers, Judgement day is not about fire and brimstone raining from the sky.
judgement, is when God weighs our character and compares it with Jesus’ character.
and our character is built on choices we’ve made.
let’s make the right choices.
The Book Of Proverbs
is a super good book to start reading about choices.
making wise and productive and efficient choices.
in fact, the bible talks all about choices.
anyways,
let’s take making the right choices seriously.
Proverbs 10:18
Whoever hides hatred has lying lips,
And whoever spreads slander is a fool.
– NKJV
at first that sentence made me think
“dont tell also bad, tell also bad, then howww?”
but then it sparked me to think even more.
what’s the main theme here?
i think it’s Responses to Hatred.
which got me thinking even more.
what different possible responses to hatred are there?
1. i could harbour my feelings and keep it secret.
2. i could tell someone. which probably would turn out as an evil report and defamation (it probably wont turn out to be a neutral report about how to help someone out of the bad situation or action).
3. i could directly tell the person involved that i hate him/her.
4. i could forgive that person.
this thought led to yet another question:
why would the proverbist (the person who wrote the proverb? haha) only mention no 1. and no. 2.?
i would have written:
1. Whoever hides hatred has lying lips,
2. Whoever spreads slander is a fool,
3. And whoever confronts hate confronts trouble.
but, i’m not wise old solomon.
hmmm.
1. it’s totally bad to slander. that’s obvious.
2. but it’s totally even worse to keep hatred inside
cuz it’ll grow into a huge whoopee cushion of hate and anger, and explode, one day, at the slightest prick from the bluntest kiddy toy scissors.
3. is it bad to confront?
wise old solomon already addresses this issue in Proverbs 27:6
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
ok it is good to confront.
but is it easy?
i hate confronting people when they do wrong.
it’s just difficult to get the right mixture of wisdom, strictness, mercy and love into it.
it’s also (more) difficult to be able to accept that the response may not be what we hoped for.
also, not forgetting
its just impossible to do in love… if we hate that person right?
but anyways.
i like to keep things simple here.
as a final conclusion, we should probably learn from this guy:
4. Hate is Bad
1 Wisdom has built her house,
She has hewn out her seven pillars;
2 She has slaughtered her meat,
She has mixed her wine,
She has also furnished her table.
3 She has sent out her maidens,
She cries out from the highest places of the city,
4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
5 “Come, eat of my bread
And drink of the wine I have mixed.
6 Forsake foolishness and live,
And go in the way of understanding.
13 A foolish woman is clamorous;
She is simple, and knows nothing.
14 For she sits at the door of her house,
On a seat by the highest places of the city,
15 To call to those who pass by,
Who go straight on their way:
16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”;
And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him,
17 “Stolen water is sweet,
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”
18 But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of hell.
-NKJV
Wisdom’s house is built on 7 pillars.
that’d be a big and steady house.
food has been set. meat. not baby milk.
& wine mixed. can mixed wine be kept? hmm im not sure. but i dont think mixed wine is meant to be kept. it’s special, tastes good, and is meant for today. tomorrow will have it’s own mix of new wine. don’t wait or let it rot. let’s dine today.
now Folly also has a house.
she’s not inside preparing. she’s outside.
doing marketing-sales.
reminds me of how some products are so “package-focused”.
the product itself has no substance.
people can have substance in their life.
quality.
but it takes wisdom, hard work, early preparation, time, precision (care; like mixing wine), growth (maturity), strength, and daily consistency.
watch for Folly!
she may make herself look good and sound convincing.
but you’ll find her sitting! at the door of her own house even.
not even standing or moving or looking for you or doing anything.
i can imagine a pretty looking lady, sitting on the doorsteps of her little run down house.
calling out, trying to gain attention.
trying to convince you of how pleasurable sin can be.
how would you respond if you see a man get fooled by Folly?
if i see a man get convinced by such a character and go into her house with her,
i would be the first to say “what an idiot! gosh! can’t he see such an obvious trap?!”
but then again, can i say i havent walked into obvious traps myself?
There is hope. We can be fixed. 