hey girls! :) sorry i'm typing up this post so late. i was going to update this earlier today but i had to head out so this is the first chance i got to really sit down, read the Bible and gather my thoughts together and blog.
today's BRP matthew 10 really spoke to me about going out and preaching God's word to the nations.
7As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[b]drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
26"So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.
these two verses remind me of what we talked about when we were reading through the passage about the sower (mark 4), when Jesus talked about how a lamp should be put on a stand instead of just in a bowl, and about how what was hidden will now be brought to the light. and it really reminds me that my testimony, what God has been teaching me, even the Gospel, are all things that are meant to be shared. i pray for opportunities and the boldness to share my testimony here, at home.
28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny[d]? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
this passage always is a good reminder to me, hahaha. i was reading the beginning of this book my friend recommended to me (it's called out of the saltshaker and into the world or something like that, i think; i'll let you know when i'm done with it whether it's good or not hahah), and the author was talking about how she was really afraid to share the gospel with people at first, but then she came to realize that this was because she feared man. the person she really should be fearing is God, and once she realized that, she could share the gospel more freely and boldly.
ok, this post is getting kind of long hahaha. i'll conclude with one last thing :) today i think God kind of rebuked me. i was cooking lunch for myself, and i realized midway through cooking for myself that i should probably cook for my sister as well. i knew that she could do basic things like heat up water and make instant noodles, and i also knew that my brother would never cook for her. but i was really lazy, so i fixed something really quick for myself, and then i sat down and started eating. then midway through eating, i realized that hey, if my sister were instead a newcomer to our life group, or even someone i was trying to get to know from the dorms or some other place, i would NEVER, EVER have let her cook for herself like that. i would have jumped at the chance to serve her, to show her God's love through my actions. and that was when i realized, this is my problem. i don't have a ministry mindset here at home. this will make me sound so spoiled, but honestly what i needed, my mom gave me, when i was back home. i rarely thought about serving other people, much less my siblings. but how much of a hypocrite am i, if i won't even do something so small for my siblings?
i've been complaining about how i don't know how to reach out to my brother and sister, i don't know how to get them to play with me instead of staring at their own computer screens. i've been complaining about how i don't know how to engage my parents. if this were ann arbor, and this were my life group/my hall for the coming year, i know that i would be trying to figure out what they would like to do, and trying to serve them and engage them, and i would be praying for them a lot, and i would be pouring myself out to them. i haven't been doing that here at all. and today God was really, really strongly convicting me of that, hahaha. ok. tomorrow i'm fasting from my laptop. and my parents are also not going to work! hahaha. because it's Independence Day here in HK. pray for me girls :) pray that i will be able to spend really, really good time with my family. that i will try really hard to get to know them. to reach out to them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
it's really good to here about your life at home, erica. i'll be praying for you in your effort to connect with your family. also, i was really blessed by you including matthew 10:27 because that verse really spoke to me too.
ReplyDelete"What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs." So true, but i really need to work on actually living this out.