And we start talking...
Reflections; 5th August 2009
Posted on Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Take Up My Cross
Matthew 16:24-26
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
John 15:5-8
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
JunYao:
John 15:5 should be mindset of us every Christian that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. This verse reminds me of my prideful nature that many times as I served and things turn out to be good when I use my gifting and talent, I'll tend to claim the credit for myself that I am good! But God really humbled me to my lowest point to let me realise that at the end of the day is not about me, it is really about Him who is not just the giver of my talent and gifting but also the source of my success! I've not totally ovecome my pride as I am still a work-in-progress but I've learnt to handle my pride as much as I've know how. As a Christian, without Christ. I am NOTHING. =)
Ben Tay:
From the passage in John, I think about the sweepers who keep our neighbourhood litter-free every day. Random rubbish such as newspaper, cups, cigarette butts are cleared from the streets everyday. However, the majority of the rubbish swept from the floor belongs to the trees around us. Look at the enormous amount of leaves and twigs/branches on the floor! There are leaves dropping from the trees every single second! These leaves and twigs are of dead and hence of no use for the tree and the tree just dispose of it by allowing them to drop when there is an external force.
Without food, leaves and branches die and are detached from the main body of the tree. Likewise, when we fail to feed ourselves with the Word of God, the relationship we have with God does not get knitted closer. Instead, we tend to sway away, depending on ourselves.
When we remain in God, that is to have the same passion as God, the same heartbeat for Him, our requests will be for His kingdom. Our desires will be aligned to God’s and all of what we wish for will be granted and fulfilled by Him who promised. This will lead to fruits of spiritual descent, and will last.
In Matthew, we are asked to deny ourselves and take up the cross. Denying oneself is probably the toughest thing to do. It means to forgo the things our carnal nature would want to do, by doing the exact opposite things. It is not so much about the doing too without focussing on the heart attitudes. It is simple to follow someone else; however, it is not easy to imitate someone who has never complained, bore our shame and guilt so willingly, and forgo His majesty and splendour up in heaven. It is to this extent that makes it such a tall order to follow. Yet, if we choose to do things our way, if we refuse to allow God to move and correct us, we will lose our souls to another. Could ‘another’ be something very sinful such as murder? It could well be in the form of studies, where we neglect everything else for our studies. Then, this is idolatry which is a sin too. There is no difference in the degrees of sin. A sin is still a sin.
Shawn:
From these two passages, I reflect upon whether I am a follower of God, Himself, or just a follower of fellow Christians. Do I really see the value of God in me, or do I value more how others see about me.
It is important to carry the cross, and the burdens of God when we are actually doing things for the Kingdom of God. In that case, we will share the same burdens, and will show the same concern that God will show. There must a motive and objective to be met, but these motives and objectives must include God in it.
Any motives that excludes God is as good as what Matthew 16:26 says, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? " What good are the achievements achieved, if God is not in the picture?
Si Yuan:
Very often when we talk about taking up the cross, we see it as an obligation. The fact however is that Jesus don’t need us to help Him carry the cross - He’s not that weak! We need to have a paradigm shift:
To grow and actualise my potential in Christ, the cross is a must and my need !
Apart from the cross - the daily life of surrender - I can do nothing! Unless I surrender everything to God, He cannot make me to be everything He wants me to be. Carrying the cross of surrender is our free will and we do it knowing that God’s future blessings outweighs our current surrender!
Personally, I’m working on the area of daily surrender to God in terms of my prayers and gleaning from and obeying the Word of God. I still have a long way to go. That is all.
Matthew 16:24-26
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
John 15:5-8
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
JunYao:
John 15:5 should be mindset of us every Christian that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. This verse reminds me of my prideful nature that many times as I served and things turn out to be good when I use my gifting and talent, I'll tend to claim the credit for myself that I am good! But God really humbled me to my lowest point to let me realise that at the end of the day is not about me, it is really about Him who is not just the giver of my talent and gifting but also the source of my success! I've not totally ovecome my pride as I am still a work-in-progress but I've learnt to handle my pride as much as I've know how. As a Christian, without Christ. I am NOTHING. =)
Ben Tay:
From the passage in John, I think about the sweepers who keep our neighbourhood litter-free every day. Random rubbish such as newspaper, cups, cigarette butts are cleared from the streets everyday. However, the majority of the rubbish swept from the floor belongs to the trees around us. Look at the enormous amount of leaves and twigs/branches on the floor! There are leaves dropping from the trees every single second! These leaves and twigs are of dead and hence of no use for the tree and the tree just dispose of it by allowing them to drop when there is an external force.
Without food, leaves and branches die and are detached from the main body of the tree. Likewise, when we fail to feed ourselves with the Word of God, the relationship we have with God does not get knitted closer. Instead, we tend to sway away, depending on ourselves.
When we remain in God, that is to have the same passion as God, the same heartbeat for Him, our requests will be for His kingdom. Our desires will be aligned to God’s and all of what we wish for will be granted and fulfilled by Him who promised. This will lead to fruits of spiritual descent, and will last.
In Matthew, we are asked to deny ourselves and take up the cross. Denying oneself is probably the toughest thing to do. It means to forgo the things our carnal nature would want to do, by doing the exact opposite things. It is not so much about the doing too without focussing on the heart attitudes. It is simple to follow someone else; however, it is not easy to imitate someone who has never complained, bore our shame and guilt so willingly, and forgo His majesty and splendour up in heaven. It is to this extent that makes it such a tall order to follow. Yet, if we choose to do things our way, if we refuse to allow God to move and correct us, we will lose our souls to another. Could ‘another’ be something very sinful such as murder? It could well be in the form of studies, where we neglect everything else for our studies. Then, this is idolatry which is a sin too. There is no difference in the degrees of sin. A sin is still a sin.
Shawn:
From these two passages, I reflect upon whether I am a follower of God, Himself, or just a follower of fellow Christians. Do I really see the value of God in me, or do I value more how others see about me.
It is important to carry the cross, and the burdens of God when we are actually doing things for the Kingdom of God. In that case, we will share the same burdens, and will show the same concern that God will show. There must a motive and objective to be met, but these motives and objectives must include God in it.
Any motives that excludes God is as good as what Matthew 16:26 says, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? " What good are the achievements achieved, if God is not in the picture?
Si Yuan:
Very often when we talk about taking up the cross, we see it as an obligation. The fact however is that Jesus don’t need us to help Him carry the cross - He’s not that weak! We need to have a paradigm shift:
To grow and actualise my potential in Christ, the cross is a must and my need !
Apart from the cross - the daily life of surrender - I can do nothing! Unless I surrender everything to God, He cannot make me to be everything He wants me to be. Carrying the cross of surrender is our free will and we do it knowing that God’s future blessings outweighs our current surrender!
Personally, I’m working on the area of daily surrender to God in terms of my prayers and gleaning from and obeying the Word of God. I still have a long way to go. That is all.
Labels: Our Reflections
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