08.25.05

Blessed are the poor in spirit

Posted in Uncategorized at 3:29 am by PlayerWon

Reflections upon my spiritual life reveal to me many disappointing things. The first term of university was a time of tremendous spiritual growth and wakening to new levels of leadership with much encouragement from Chinese Christian Fellowship. The second term I was impassioned by God through inspirational biographical readings of missionary Jim Elliot’s life. While this last summer term has provided lessons and reinforced certain spiritual areas over the drudgery of school, I find that I have lacked a more basic spiritual dimension. I need to become more child-like in my reverence and love for God. Simple. Focused. Direct.

This past term was rather difficult academically, but I by no means did terrible. In fact, I am still quite blessed in academics. I find that in the joys of the past weeks at home that I am abundantly blessed. Though my life is far from perfect, God has enabled me to overcome the troubles and subsequently showered me with blessings. I am blessed with good parenting, many friends, high grades, and fancy new material possessions. I am rather pleased with my emotional, psychological, social, intellectual, and physical being. I would say I am rather pleased with my spiritual being as well, if it weren’t for this critical insufficiency of a child-like love.

With all these blessings and past week of mad fun I’m having much difficulty focussing on God, even in devotional time. Thoughts constantly wander. Amidst all my spiritual maturity, spiritual leadership, and desire for further spiritual growth, where is God really? Where is Christ?

Says Oswald Chambers: “The great battle in private prayer is the overcoming of mental wool-gathering. We have to discipline our minds and concentrate on willful prayer.”

I do not pray with many requests for myself. I do pray with many requests of blessings for others. Where, though, is the worship? Where is the quiet, core communion?

I think I have become too proud… too self-absorbed. By worldly standards I think I’d be considered rather modest (although by that very thought I may have proven myself otherwise…) By God’s standards, though, I am hitting far… far from the mark. Pride is essentially the greatest sin; therein lies the root of arguably all other sins. A rejection of God with an apparent self-sufficiency in its stead. How does God appear when we have precluded Him entirely?

God blesses me in many ways. It is both His joy and mine that I am blessed. But I must not become rapt in it. I must not let divine blessings muddle a divine relationship.

Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3

The poor in spirit see, without their vision polluted by the innumerable circumstances of the bustling life of the rich.

How pathetic my attempts. How unworthy I am. Lord, make me perfect in Christ.

08.24.05

GYAAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Posted in Uncategorized at 11:21 pm by PlayerWon

Plane tickets rose $130 !!! That’s not even including surcharges, fees, tax…
*whimper*
*tear*
*cry*
*weep*
*sob*

Somebody feed me money…

08.16.05

Whose Fish?

Posted in Uncategorized at 4:01 pm by PlayerWon

w00t!

from http://www.coudal.com/thefish.php

By Albert Einstein (maybe)

This brainteaser, reportedly written by Einstein is difficult and Einstein said that 98% of the people in the world could not figure it out. Which percentage are you in?

There are five houses in a row in different colors. In each house lives a person with a different nationality. The five owners drink a different drink, smoke a different brand of cigar and keep a different pet, one of which is a Walleye Pike.

The question is– who owns the fish?

Hints:
1. The Brit lives in the red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The green house owner drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Malls keeps birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhills.
8. The man living in the house right in the center drinks milk.
9. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
10. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the one who smokes Dunhills.
12. The owner who smokes Bluemasters drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Princes.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

There are no tricks, pure logic will get you the correct answer. And yes, there is enough information to arrive at the one and only correct answer.

I just got it.
Can you?
=D

08.04.05

What Just Happened?

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:29 pm by PlayerWon

I walked into the Physics - Statics final exam today with a loose expectation of over 80%.
I walked out without finishing, anxious and worrying that I’m not going to pass.

08.02.05

Christian Life: Easy or Hard?

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:53 am by PlayerWon

Many new Christians have the misconception that a Christian life is supposed to be easy. After having come into the arms of God, afterall, shouldn’t we have it easy? What with having the very Lord of the universe backing you…

The truth is that there is some sort of duality in this issue.

Isaiah 43:2 (KJV)
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

1 Corinthians 15:57 (NIV)
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:3-5 (NIV)
3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

God does not give us a bridge over troubled waters. He gives us strength to wade through it.
God does not remove the fiery flames in our lives. He protects us as we face it.
God does not calm the storms in our lives. He calms us through the storms of our lives.
In the end it will be victory in Christ, in whom we are made perfect.

08.01.05

I’m Still Alive

Posted in Uncategorized at 2:40 pm by PlayerWon

I have neither posted, seen many people, nor talked to many people for quite awhile now. Previously it was the heat and work-load making me sloth-like. I would either curl up in a ball or work alone in an air-conditioned room at RCH.

(aside: crazy thing… I’m in the library right now in the silent area where there are the rows of carousels. I just noticed that atop the carousel beside me is a chunk of raw meat… @___@)

It’s been quite the stressful this term. At least one stress is gone as I’ve finally made me selection for housing for coming the co-op term. It was so hard finding a ride to Stratford. It was also rather difificult finding the very options of housing given the small selection from the local newspaper’s classifieds. Of course there are still finals in less than 2 days away. Academics aside, I still have to figure out how to move about and store all my possessions during the interim before co-op. Add to that the absence of secured housing for the winter study term. Also need to get my Drivers License (not even an “N” yet) …

Rather scatterbrained.

Essentially finished studying for Calculus now. Four more subjects to go… including one for which I need to learn from scratch 1.5 months of material since I haven’t gone to class.

So much to do. So much more ahead of us. There will always be difficulties. But those difficulties can always be used for the good in some way.

I’m thankful that the burden of school isn’t now eliminating my devotional time.

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