ok, I worship an almighty God who's not only omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, but also omni-humorous. As I've confessed to my kakis these few days, I don't read the Bible enough for my own good. Yet my heavenly Father always have a way to speak deep into my heart and break down my defenses.
For example, this morning, during the dawn prayer session, Pastor Ed was encouraging us
1) to have intimacy with God and be obedient to the promptings of God - what He lays about our heart, just do it;
2) to know God more, through learning the promises He gave through the Word and
3) to lay upon power from on high, through prayer.
Even as we broke up into small groups of twos and threes to pray, I was flipping through my bible to consider what to pray through. Now the bible I brought with me was the one that which I doodle, highlighted and underlined a lot, as it was the first bible i received from a dear friend after I received Jesus Christ into my life. Even as I was reflecting upon Pastor's words to us, my eyes were drawn to this passage in Philippians:
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:7-10 (NIV)
It was just underlined simply with black ink in my bible - and quite frankly, it was kinda difficult to link up with the points that Pastor just made. However, there was this prompting to lay hold of the promises and the desires of the apostle Paul, to give up all that we hold as riches and to become more Christ-like and to know Him more. So I prayed through that passage with my friends, claiming upon the promises in this passage, giving thanks for all that has gone through in 2007, seeking forgiveness for not being serious with God and asking for revelation and direction.
At the end o f our prayers, the church sang "Knowing You Jesus" as a response unto what was prayed to God. This is an old familiar song that I grew up with in my walk with God, and as soon as the intro was played, the words came into mind, and I was like, "Okay, God, You're good. You win."
Knowing You Jesus Graham Kendrick
All I once held dear,
built my life upon,
All this world reveres
and wars to own;
All I once thought gain
I have counted loss,
Spent and worthless now
compared to this.
Knowing You, Jesus,
knowing You
There is no greater thing.
You're my all,
You're the best,
You're my joy, my righteousness,
And I love You Lord.
Now my heart's desire
is to know You more,
To be found in You
and know as Yours,
To possess by faith
what I could not earn
All surpassing gift
of righteousness
Oh to know the power
of Your risen life,
And to know You
in Your sufferings;
To become like You
in Your death, my Lord,
So with You to live
and never die.
(taken from http://frogg.freeshell.org/wshp/lyrics/Knowing_You_Jesus.php)
Well, to some, it may seems like like some cosmic fluke or "by-chance thingie. To me, it was pretty certain that God is showing me that He can, and will show me things, if I but just follow Him.
Too bad I didn't have cat-treats on me. Hmm, must remember to go buy a packet~ :D
