are we?
Joshua is about to go take the promise land back from Jericho. In his past experience, it's always been about war whoops, swords, horses, and bloodshed, just like any other war. but Jericho seems impossible. They've got the thickest walls that anyone has ever seen. How could they ever penetrate that monster of a wall?
Then this dude comes up to him while he's alone, and this dude's got his sword drawn. my first thought would be, "shoot. i'm gonna die." the other would be "is he on my side or Jericho's?" Joshua asks this question to this man (which i think is kinda brave of him, and the angel says "neither."
neither....
normally, a man like that would say his or his enemies, but he says neither and proceeds to say he's a commander of the army of God....
neither...
i mean, why would he say that? it's so strange. i've never really known the meaning of it until this past week when Vickie shared from the pulpit.
the question shouldn't be whether God is on our side, but if we are on His.
God will always be on our side. He always has been. We may not think so bc of the wars, poverty, famine, and broken hearts, but y'see...it's bc we don't choose him. It's bc we as a human race are not on His side. The scary thing is is that what happens if we choose to be on His side? will we get what WE want?
my question is, does that really matter? how long will that last you? most likely just this lifetime you have here on earth, but we have a chance to have something GREAT that will last for eternity.
nothing is ever more important that our relationship with God.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Since mailing out the newsletter, i've realized that it's been a while since i've posted something. I have some random thoughts here and there.
I read Joshua 7 this past week because the church I've been attending has been going through the book of Joshua these past several weeks. It was depressing chapter. Achan (everytime i read that name i think of 啊強. hahaha i guess only Chinese speaking people would understand that) had just stolen some stuff that God specifically told the Israelites to destroy. Because of this, Joshua and his army were defeated at Ai. Before Achan was found out, everyone knew that the culprit for their defeat rested on a man who disobeyed God and that this man would be stoned and burned along with everything that was his (including his family). One could see that God was giving Achan a chance to come out and confess, but he waited until the end, confessed, and met his surmise.
Normally, when reading something like this, people would rather have a happy ending where the people and God forgive Achan and they defeat the people of Ai and everyone lives happily ever after. But when i read that Achan and Achan's children were stoned and burned by the very people he lived with and has known for his entire life, my heart sunk. I thought to myself, "well, this isn't a very good ending." But as I was trying to collect my thoughts, God told me that holiness is more important. A right relationship with God is more important than anything in this world. While I hated the fact that lives had to be lost, but it was for the sake of holiness. I wonder what it was like for the Israelites that had to throw down rocks to kill Achan and his family. I wouldn't be able to do it....
I've come to notice that we as human beings try and justify things that the Bible says are clearly wrong, pushing themselves to the edge of moral behavior. They say, "eh, this doesn't really matter. What harm could it REALLY do?" the answer is, a lot. It starts to add up and become a disaster. and slowly but surely, you will be pulled so far from God, you won't know who he is anymore.
or it maybe a friend that has a bad influence on you. because they were present in your life through thick and thin, or maybe they just give you a good feeling every now and then, it's hard to leave this person behind saying,"i just can't be with you anymore because it's pulling me away from God." i bet it'll feel kinda similar to stoning your friend, and sometimes, you just aren't able to do it...
I hated to see Achan go, considering that he is a human being and that he eventually confessed, but God is still in control. God is still good, and God desires us to be holy just as he is holy so that we can have a right relationship with him. i know that to attain this level of holiness is impossible, and i know that those people who seem to have it all together disgust at times because we can't get it together. truth be told, they don't have it all together. none of us do. we all have our small moments where we disobey like Achan. but you see, the good news, the great news, is that God made a way for us to be holy so that we can once again have that same relationship with Him as Adam and Eve once had. All it takes is the simple faith that Jesus Christ was that way, and the only way. The most important thing in this world is to have a right relationship with our Creator, our God because it's the only thing that lasts beyond our lifetime here on earth. I hope that those that read this would understand that or at least contemplate on what's written here.
I read Joshua 7 this past week because the church I've been attending has been going through the book of Joshua these past several weeks. It was depressing chapter. Achan (everytime i read that name i think of 啊強. hahaha i guess only Chinese speaking people would understand that) had just stolen some stuff that God specifically told the Israelites to destroy. Because of this, Joshua and his army were defeated at Ai. Before Achan was found out, everyone knew that the culprit for their defeat rested on a man who disobeyed God and that this man would be stoned and burned along with everything that was his (including his family). One could see that God was giving Achan a chance to come out and confess, but he waited until the end, confessed, and met his surmise.
Normally, when reading something like this, people would rather have a happy ending where the people and God forgive Achan and they defeat the people of Ai and everyone lives happily ever after. But when i read that Achan and Achan's children were stoned and burned by the very people he lived with and has known for his entire life, my heart sunk. I thought to myself, "well, this isn't a very good ending." But as I was trying to collect my thoughts, God told me that holiness is more important. A right relationship with God is more important than anything in this world. While I hated the fact that lives had to be lost, but it was for the sake of holiness. I wonder what it was like for the Israelites that had to throw down rocks to kill Achan and his family. I wouldn't be able to do it....
I've come to notice that we as human beings try and justify things that the Bible says are clearly wrong, pushing themselves to the edge of moral behavior. They say, "eh, this doesn't really matter. What harm could it REALLY do?" the answer is, a lot. It starts to add up and become a disaster. and slowly but surely, you will be pulled so far from God, you won't know who he is anymore.
or it maybe a friend that has a bad influence on you. because they were present in your life through thick and thin, or maybe they just give you a good feeling every now and then, it's hard to leave this person behind saying,"i just can't be with you anymore because it's pulling me away from God." i bet it'll feel kinda similar to stoning your friend, and sometimes, you just aren't able to do it...
I hated to see Achan go, considering that he is a human being and that he eventually confessed, but God is still in control. God is still good, and God desires us to be holy just as he is holy so that we can have a right relationship with him. i know that to attain this level of holiness is impossible, and i know that those people who seem to have it all together disgust at times because we can't get it together. truth be told, they don't have it all together. none of us do. we all have our small moments where we disobey like Achan. but you see, the good news, the great news, is that God made a way for us to be holy so that we can once again have that same relationship with Him as Adam and Eve once had. All it takes is the simple faith that Jesus Christ was that way, and the only way. The most important thing in this world is to have a right relationship with our Creator, our God because it's the only thing that lasts beyond our lifetime here on earth. I hope that those that read this would understand that or at least contemplate on what's written here.
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