Thought For The Week- One encounter with you.....

One question has been on my mind constantly for the past two weeks. In a way, I'm happy that this simple question has wrapped its fingers around my thoughts.

"If an encounter with you was a person's only spiritual encounter, what would they see?"

I've been chewing on this thought for a couple weeks now and what I've realized is that many people that come in contact with me are in fact having their encounter with a little Christ but are they truly seeing Christ? Or am I getting in the way? Sadly, for a majority of the time, the latter part is true. 

The person that comes to mind is: Joesph. Wherever he was, people saw that he was a child of God. They knew there was something different about him. Gen 39:3- "When his master [Potiphar] saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his [Potiphar's] eyes and became his attendant." (emphasis mine) Notice the word saw. Such a tiny word with a world of meaning. Potiphar saw that the LORD was with Joseph. He didn't hear Joseph say that the LORD was with him, he saw it. This captures my attention as much as it did for Potiphar and his entire household. Joseph was in Egypt, far away from the land of his forefathers- the people of God. I'm almost certain that Joseph was Potiphar's one chance at a spiritual encounter with the true and living God. Even the prison warden in jail knew there was something different about Joseph. They saw that the LORD was with him.

If a person saw me, would they see something different? Would they see that the LORD was with me? Or would they just see me claiming that Christ is with me?

I know that for my last post, I just posted verses up that were on my mind. Somehow, I'm finding that string of commonality in all of my thoughts which leads me to realize that these are just a few of the many things I need to work on.

If I were to write a few sentences summarizing the connection I've made, it would be this: 

Remembering that I am only dust is a humbling thought that should lead me to live a more careful life-not full of showing others my righteousness or what I have done for Christ but showing others what Christ has done for me. Also, I like toast, green tea and honey.

Matthew 6:1–18 (NASB)

Giving to the Poor and Prayer

1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men ato be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

2 “So when you 1give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they amay be honored by men. bTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

3 “But when you 1give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 so that your 1giving will be in secret; and ayour Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to astand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners 1bso that they may be seen by men. cTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

6 “But you, when you pray, ago into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and byour Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their amany words.

8 “So do not be like them; for ayour Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

9 “aPray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 ‘aYour kingdom come.

bYour will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 ‘aGive us this day 1our daily bread.

12 ‘And aforgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but adeliver us from 1bevil. 2[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’

14 “aFor if you forgive 1others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 “But aif you do not forgive 1others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Fasting

16 “aWhenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they 1neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. bTruly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

17 “But you, when you fast, aanoint your head and wash your face

18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your aFather who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

My Life: An Update- Toast, Green Tea & Honey

For the past month, I've been on winter break from school and the one thing I can say that I cherish is having time to sit down and enjoy breakfast. In the hustle and bustle of the normal school day, often times breakfast is forgotten and a quick cereal bar or energy shake takes its place. If there's one thing I liked about break, it's having breakfast. Many people have shared with me their morning breakfast routines. One friend of mine recited to me their daily morning breakfast as: 1 waffle with butter and syrup, 1 scrambled egg and coffee. Another said: forget everything else, just hand me the coffee. My own breakfast to do list? None...well none until yesterday. I've discovered that I really like the combination of toast and green tea with honey. Green tea by itself to me tastes absolutely horrible...just horrible. However, when its combined with toast and butter, it's just plain ol' good. I wonder if I'll carry this breakfast into next week when classes start. It's a strong contender next to my usual cereal or waffle breakfast. Whatever may be, I really hope to schedule in time for breakfast this coming semester. I'm actually sitting here right now eating toast and green tea with honey and it's close to dinner time!

Now let's talk about honey. I think I've fallen under the spell of the honey bee orrr Winnie the pooh fever. I really like honey! Of course its this whole "having breakfast during break" thing that has made me discover that I like honey but I never really realized how indescribably good the taste is. It's light and sweet and golden and just reminds me of the Bible. Huh? The Bible you say? Why of course! Honey is all over the bible. God promised to the Israelites the land flowing with milk and honey. John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey...yum! no seriously if he ate pure wild honey, then anything he might of paired it with might have tasted good ;) Eating honey really takes me back to biblical times where I can imagine the people of God sitting around a table eating supper and passing the honey and the flat bread or that roasted lamb around the table. It sure must have been tasty. Honey just reminds me of the provisions God makes for his people and just how sweet his blessings really are. I don't really know why I'm ranting on about toast and green tea and honey but all I can say is I thank God for toast, green tea, honey, and most of all showing how great his provisions and blessings are to his people through a simple breakfast.

Thought for the week- Being Slow to Teach.

I've really been thinking about teaching. Not as a career possibility or anything but just the idea of teaching. Now when I talk about me teaching, I'm not talking about a classroom or anything. I'm talking about simple conversations I have with family or friends. Personally, I'm terrified of the thought of teaching, but on the other hand, often times I find that I'm so quick to offer a word of advice- "If I were you, I'd do this......." Just when I get a great thought, I'm so quick to share it to others but many times I lack the most essential part of sharing those words of advice which is, putting it into practice myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that sharing advice is bad. It's only bad when I myself don't put it into practice. So I guess this post's title should really be named..."Practice what I preach." Whatever the title may be, I've been learning the importance of teaching only what has been learned or put into practice. And when I think about all the things I've actually put into practice, I find that I'm even more hesitant to teach or offer words of advice since I have barely put anything into practice. I often find myself correcting my niece on things that I know are wrong but many times I do them myself-which is not beneficial to either of us. I think this whole idea of being slow to teach also ties in with the idea of humility. I need to humble myself enough to put into practice what I'm telling or being told. When I first thought about the idea of teaching, I automatically thought of James 3:1- "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment." (This stricter judgment part of teaching really scared me) But then I realized that this verse is not to discourage people from teaching but exactly the opposite! This verse encourages me to live a more careful life so that whatever I say might be actually seen in my life and truly beneficial.

James 3: 13 says it beautifully. I pray that I myself can put this verse into practice. "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom."

I am Dust.

This week, as I sat in my Thursday afternoon Biology lecture, I became distracted by a small thought that crept into my mind. I found myself looking at my hands. Just looking. As I sat there, I thought about how this hand was formed, not only formed, CREATED out of dust. DUST. (I guess I can somehow justify myself and say that I wasn't completely "distracted" from biology since we were studying cells and it is a scientific fact that the dust we see on fans or around our house is in fact dead skin cells...anywho back to the point). 

So much love was poured out onto a heap of dust. As my eyes sat there glued to my hand, my mind began pondering about that day, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years ago, when the Creator of the Universe bent down and picked up a heap of dust and began molding it into something like His own image. And yet to think, after creating something like the magnificent ocean, and the beautiful stars in the sky, the most valued thing in all of creation is a heap of dust. Amazing right?

John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Psalm 103:14 says: "For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust."

God remembers that we are dust, yet he still loves us. In fact, he sent his Son to die for us-the same dust who rejected him. He is willing to give us eternal life if only we accept Him as our Lord. Let's thank God for creating us, sustaining us and loving us even though he knows how we were formed.

Thank you Lord, for remembering this pile of dust. Please let us live humble lives in constant acknowledgment that we are a pile of dust made into something of worth only by you Lord.

How did I get into this mess?

On a brisk, October morning, I sat down at my study table. As I sat, I began to prepare myself mentally as I was about to embark on a journey through the living cell. I was in no way ready to delve into an hour long study of a Pearson 8th Edition Biology textbook, however, there I sat: highlighter in one hand, coffee cup in the other. As I opened up the monstrous textbook, I began reading the pages of information- Endomembrane systems, mitochondria, and lysosomes. Two minutes later, I found myself distracted and searching for a reason to stay distracted. I felt my fingers reach towards the glossy keyboard of the laptop placed at arms reach. A desktop notification had caught my attention: Windows Live Writer. Start Blogging Today! One thing led to another and here I am. I'm a rookie at this blogging business so please bear with me! But I do hope to write about anything that inspires me. I hope and pray that my words will bring nothing but praise for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thanks for reading! Take care, Goodnight, Byees.