“People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes.” – Abigail van Buren

“Die vorweihnachtliche Adventszeit ist eine Moeglichkeit, zur Ruhe zu kommen, waere da nicht der Vorweihnachtsstress.” – Gudrun Knapp

“Without knowing who I am and why I am here, life is impossible.” The Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, who lived from 1828-1920, said that.

Let us ask  two questions: “Who I am?” and  “Why I am here?”

“WHO I AM?”

On the service sheets of the last two funerals I went to I found the hymn “Amazing grace” by John Newton.

Church Service in Thailand

Picture/ Alan Collingwood

The first verse goes like this:

“Amazing grace how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.”

“WHY I AM HERE?”

At the end of the Gospel of Matthew we find The Great Commission. There the Lord Jesus Christ says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, …” (Matthew 28:18-20)

I am a sinner saved by grace. I was lost and blind, but now I am found and I can see. I believed.

And as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ I am here to be obedient to The Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ to tell others that they must believe in HIM. That’s why I went as a missionary to Thailand.

“Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.” – Chinese Proverb

“Every exit is an entry somewhere.” – Tom Stoppard

HEART

“The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers.” Contemporary Indian-born doctor and writer Deepac Chopra said that.

In the Bible the Apostle Paul is challenging the Corinthians:

He does not only say, “We … opened wide our hearts to you,” but also “we have spoken freely to you,” and “we are not withholding our affection from you.”

He challenges them to open wide their hearts also. First of all he states that they are withholding their affection from him, and then he encourages them as his children to open wide their hearts also “as a fair exchange.”

You find that in Second Corinthians 6:11-13.

“The worst prison is a closed heart,” was sent to me some time ago by email. I don’t know if it has been used as yet as a church sign.

Notes taken from The Life Application Study Bible (NIV edition).

“THOSE WHOM I LOVE I REBUKE AND DISCIPLINE. SO BE EARNEST, AND REPENT.” – Revelation 3:19 (NIV)

Let us focus on the word “discipline”.

The Lord is disciplining and rebuking us when we are far from him. How can we avoid the discipline of the Lord? We can avoid the discipline of the Lord by drawing near to him again through confession, service and studying his word.

CONFESSION

First John 1:9

In admitting our sins we are: a. agreeing with God that our sin is truly sin and that we are willing to turn from it. b. ensuring that we don’t conceal our sins from him and from ourselves. c. recognizing our tendency to sin and relying on his power to overcome it.

SERVICE

Deuteronomy 11:13: serving the LORD with our heart and with our soul.

Second Chronicles 19:9: serving faithfully and wholeheartedly.

Psalm 2:11: serve the LORD with fear.

Psalm 100:2: “Serve the LORD with gladness.”

Matthew 4:10: serve the Lord only.

Ephesians 6:7: “Serve wholeheartedly, …”

WORSHIP

John 4:24:

The Holy Spirit helps us worship. a. The Holy Spirit prays for us. Romans 8:26 b. The Holy Spirit teaches us the words of Christ. John 14:26 c. The Holy Spirit tells us that we are loved. Romans 5:5

STUDYING HIS WORD

Ezra 7:10

“FOR EZRA

Intr.:

had devoted himself

a. to the study and

b. observance

of the law of the LORD, and

c. teaching its decrees and laws

End:

in ISRAEL.”

Let us do what the Bible says: Let us be earnest. Let us repent.