Self rebuke

I'm quite chowed as I post this,

I'm currently working on a school project which sees us having to start a blog to document the design process. Working on that project actually makes me realize how little excuse I have to not post ey. I am often quite tied up, with little time to sit down to post, but as I post on the school blog I think of the many things I would love to share here but do not have (or atleast make) time to post. Its a call to some serious reforms.

I think I may just need to cut out some other things in order to publish some of the many wonderful things the Lord has been teaching me of late. Nevertheless, my Journal has been filling up, so the thoughts and reflections are recorded.

Ie. the wonderful weekend I just had in Potch, visiting the NWU Sdasm that side for a revival program. Ah God has a way of speaking just at the perfect time. I was really in need of the messages there. The overwork had me really fatigued and sister White talks about the danger of being overly busy, even in the Lords work, that there is a serious risk of neglecting personal piety. I'll share my notes as I was reading the chapter "Come rest a while."  A chapter which God has really been speaking to me through.

A thought I had this morning: I have really come to know the love of Christ through the people that He has granted me the opportunity to know. I look at the people God has placed in my life and it makes it easier for me to comprehend the selfless love of Christ as I think of them. Friends, family, missionaries, my heart is warmed as I reflect. What burns in my heart is a desire to be more like Jesus that even through me God might be glorified, that through me someone might be able to say "I have come to know and love Jesus more."
It's a nice lesson on the power and effect of ones influence.

Anyhow, back to work. Looking forward to sharing some pages from my journal... And continuing the "Who is your maker" study :)...

PS. A link to my school blog: http://s-thinksdesign.blogspot.com/

Who is your maker? Part 1 (the first (brief) study on my blog)

Something I was thinking about the other night,

I really missed posting. something I recently read was  actually quite a push in terms of encouraging to post more (even when typing does at times feels a bit laborious). This is a quote from the great controversy under the chapter covering the investigative Judgement (a very enjoyble chapter by the way):

"In the judgment the use made of every talent will be scrutinized. How have we employed the capital lent us of Heaven? Will the Lord at His coming receive His own with usury? Have we improved the powers entrusted us, in hand and heart and brain, to the glory of God and the blessing of the world? How have we used our time, our pen, our voice, our money, our influence? What have we done for Christ, in the person of the poor, the afflicted, the orphan, or the widow? God has made us the depositaries of His holy word; what have we done with the light and truth given us to make men wise unto salvation? No value is attached to a mere profession of faith in Christ; only the love which is shown by works is counted genuine. Yet it is love alone which in the sight of Heaven makes any act of value. Whatever is done from love, however small it may appear in the estimation of men, is accepted and rewarded of God.  {GC 487.2} (emphasis mine).

Really inspired by the quote, so I hope I can be able to post more (making use of my pen - keyboard rather.)

A friend of mine shared some very valuable advice with me recently which I think will see me posting more too. I get very reluctant to post unfinished thoughts, but these tend to build up in my "unpublished" folder. She shared the idea of posting even some of my unfinished material, and having it "to be continued". A great idea I tought, for many reasons (which I wont go into now). 

In the meantime: below is the first study to see this blog. I trust, and hope you will be blessed.

Who Is Your Maker? Part 1

In all social dealings, the first impression a person makes has an effect on how the person will be viewed from then onward. When going to a job interview of something of the sort, one always tries to put on their most professional attire, because the first impression they make will affect the decision of the person interviewing. How good, or how badly a person is perceived, often goes back to the first impression that that person made on those viewing Him.

In Genesis 1:1, as we are introduced to the Holy Scriptures and the God who authored them, God first introduces Himself with these words:

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

The first impression which God makes, which will (or at least should) affect our entire view of Him from there on, is that He is the creator. Now later on in the Bible we are told that God is love, in other places we are told that He is merciful and gracious, and so on; but before God tells us all those wonderful things about Himself, the first introduction, the first impression God gives of Himself is that He is the creator of the heaven and the earth. He is the creator of the entire universe.

The fact that God is the creator is one of the most central themes in all of scripture. In Revelation 4:11, the heavenly beings worship God for this very fact, saying: 

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”  

The fact that God is their creator is their primary motive of worshiping Him.

Now, what does that have to do with us you may ask? Well firstly, the fact that God is our creator is cause enough to worship Him. Note the words of the Psalmist: 

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made: marvellous [are] thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well.” Ps. 139:14. 

Were God not our creator, He wouldn’t deserve it. 

But let us consider another aspect of the creative power of God. In Romans 1:16, God through Paul reveals something very interesting. He says: 

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” 

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Now Christ came to save us from nothing other than sin and its effects (Matt. 1:21). So the gospel can be understood then to be the power of God, which leads to salvation from sin. God exercises His own power to save fallen man from sin.

But what kind of power is it that God uses to save from sin? Where is this power revealed? Lets consider what Paul continues to say in Rom 1:20: “For the invisible things of [God] from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made (so there are some invisible aspects of God which are clearly seen and understood when looking at the things which He has made. What are these...?), even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” So Paul is letting us know that when we look at the creation of the world, the things which God has made, we get to visibly see His eternal power. The power of God is revealed in his creation, and that can be none other than His creative power. 

So just to slight recap: the gospel is the power of God unto salvation from sin; and this “power” is nothing other than the creative power of God. What God would have us understand is that in the work of saving man from sin, God wants to exercise all the creative energy that He used to create the heavens and the earth. In saving me and you, God would use nothing less than the power which created everything good, out of absolutely nothing. The same power used to make the sun, the moon and all the galaxies, God can use to recreate in me and you His very own image. 

The work and power of creation, is the very same work and power in the plan of salvation. It is thus that Paul tells us that: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2:8-10. To receive Christ, means to allow Him to exercise His divine creative power in the heart to produce righteousness and a character like His very own, and He does this work using nothing less than the power He used to make the stars. 

Now if is He was able to create the universe without even breaking a sweat, how can it be said that Christ cannot grant victory over “every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset”? (Heb 12:1) To say that is to doubt His creative power.

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.” What lovely words to meditate on. Understanding that God is our creator, gives a clearer understanding in His work as our redeemer. As much as there is nothing which is beyond Gods power to create, likewise is there no individual in this entire planet that is beyond the saving power of Jesus. Note the promise: “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17

To be continued...:)