Mark 10:17-22 tells us about a rich young man who asked Jesus how to have eternal life. He may have desired to experience this, yet he could not give up the worldly inheritance that was before him. He may have went thru all the motions of what could be considered “good” and “moral,” yet he could not give up his possessions for the sake of following Jesus. Perhaps the thought was unbearable to him, given that he had invested on these things his whole life up to that point. He may have even worked for a lot of these things for a portion of his existence.

Unfortunately for him, and for all of us, all these things, like all things temporary, can only last for so long. Yet Jesus is the one guaranteed investment that we have. Jesus promised this man that he would have “treasure in heaven,”  yet that promise had a condition of selling everything he had and giving it all to the poor. For Mr. RYM, his earthly life was far too precious and valuable than the eternal life that was awaiting him, should he have decided to follow Jesus.

Following Jesus entails a process of self-denial, cross-carrying, and complete surrender. The necessary pre-requisite for doing these things would be counting the cost. Following Jesus brings joy, yes, and peace, and righteousness, but at the same time it involves a lot of risks. It entails rejection, persecution, hardship, and even death. After all, we were never promised a storm-free life, but a storm-proof one. In spite of these, though, God’s love is unfailing and we are guaranteed that we will never be separated from his love (Romans 8: 38-39). Following Jesus is costly, yes, but the return of investment is priceless. It will the greatest treasure we will ever have, one that will not be ruined by moths and dust and wear & tear. Jesus alone is our very great reward.

Tags: journal, reading, writing

Mark 9:35 NKJV – If anyone deserves to be first, he should be last and servant of all.

If we want to lead–if we want to be promoted–we first need to humble ourselves. Our promotion is not dependent on our own greatness or goodness, on our talents and abilities, on being a “mover and shaker.” It is entirely dependent on God. As we humble ourselves to him, as we allow him to shape us and mold us to be the human beings he wants us to be, He will be the one to exalt us in due time.

Success is doing what God wants me to do. It is not measured by recognition, fame, wealth, and power. Our pursuit of success should not, in fact, be entirely dependent on these external factors. Jesus said to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness–and the surefire promise after that was all things would be given to us. The concept of “all” leaves nothing out. things we perceive that will give us satisfaction are only temporal. They are nothing compared to the person of God himself.

Tags: journal, reading, writing

i was skimming thru my journal when i saw a few entries i thought would be worth sharing. here’s a little peek in my brain, and yeah . . . i’ll be posting more of these in the coming days.

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August 16th

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 – But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in my weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Romans 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.

“All things” include even the “weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties.” Basically this also means that these things, no matter how painful they may be, are for our own good, because God works in these situations as well. All too often we tend to be blinded by our pain to even see or allow God to work in these circumstances.

They may also teach us valuable lessons that we may also impart to those who will be experiencing the same things in the future. They may stretch us and increase our faith. Ultimately these situations may also be used by God for us to know him more—to be more aware of his personhood—his goodness, his character, his loving kindness. The sheer knowledge of that is too good to comprehend and at the same time too good to pass up.

Tags: journal, reading, writing

it is a beautiful feeling, knowing that God is in the midst of our pain. it may be hard to see him at the onset, but he’s there . . . waiting for you to come to him. words aren’t enough to describe it.

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the greatest comfort that exists is knowing that God is in our pain. we may resort to what is familiar or usual as a means to escape from what will cause us discomfort, but these escape hatches merely provide temporal relief. if we want to experience the comfort that is true, real, and eternal, we need to hold on to God and never let go. only then will we be able to face pain head-on and say, “my God is greater than you.”

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“Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” ~ 2 Corinthians 4: 16b-18 NIV

Tags: journal, reading, writing