The Almost Forgotten Principle

We always remind ourselves of being contented - to always give thanks to God in everything we have and in every circumstance we may be into. We know comforting words such as “God will provide”, “God will never leave nor forsake me”, “The Lord is my Shepherd”, etc.

I know these words in my heart and I always pray for contentment. I always try to remind myself Matthew 6:34. But I do admit that whenever life presses hard against me, I become anxious. I may not be as worried as a freak yet there are some words and actions I do and utter that I now realize don’t glorify God.

Thanks be to God for our Com-Com (Communicating with the Godly my Communion with God) last July 16-17. It was themed “My Need of Poverty”. Striking passage during that night of devotion was Hebrews 13:5-6: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

I was deeply moved by God; He reminded me of the principle He has taught me. From time to time God has taught me to trust Him. One of the first few verses I learned when God called me was Matthew 6:33. Since 1997, God has indeed been my Provider. His providence and His divine intervention in my life is very evident that I lack nothing. Majority of the things I possess are blessings from others; I seldom buy my own stuffs. Elementary up to college years, stuffs needed just come on time. God has raised me to really depend on Him and to trust His providence. I did not grow in a rich family; in fact, I witnessed how we suffered from poverty and injustices that I even promised myself to gain all I could have and avenged my family. But thanks be to God; He found me. I am not rich now; however, I live a carefree life because my God sustains me.

But deception works in a very fraudulent way (otherwise it is not deception anymore). Nonetheless, nothing can be hidden when exposed to the illumination of the Word of God. I never thought that discontentment and anxiety have crept into my heart. Let me share what God has revealed to me that night and how this truth reminds me of my almost forgotten principle:

THE WARNING: Keep your lives free from the love of money

This seems to be a very simple command, don’t love money for the love of it is the root of all evils (I Timothy 6:10). In King James Version, it says: Let your conversation be without covetousness. NIV refers to living while KJV means conversation; NIV warns against the love of money while KJV against covetousness. I was puzzled by the different terms my NIV and the KJV use so I consulted some versions and commentaries. They do not contradict each other. Conversation is part of our living and covetousness is rooted from the love of money. This text is a matter of lifestyle, of conversation, of living. You can not say that you don’t love money yet your lifestyle and your words manifest covetousness. Therefore, covetousness is there because the love of money is there.

Does that mean when I utter “Your shoes are cute. I hope I can have one also.” is dangerous especially when in fact I still have one I can use? Yes, it is. It somehow shows the desire of the heart. Ouch! But I thank God for such a rebuke from His word.


THE ANTIDOTES:

The remaining part of the text provides the antidotes for this covetousness which is rooted from the love of money.

• Be content with what you have

Contentment in God is not just a matter of being happy while single or praising God though suffering. It involves money matters; material things are integrated here. Think of the disciples, who among them live luxuriously? Does anyone of them desire more than enough (yes, it is Judas alone and look what happened to him)? Think of our forefathers in faith. They were great men of God who are living contentedly in the Lord; they have put money in its proper place. They care not about material things.

You desire for more stuffs because you are not contented with what you presently have. You want more because the heart deceitfully says you need more. You want more because you see others have more. You see others have them more because you can not see that you have enough. You can not see that you have them enough because you are not contented with what you have.

• Trust God’s promise

In our text, God has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us. In Deuteronomy 29:5, God tells the Israelites, “I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet.” Wow! This is such a guidance and providence of God. Here and many more passages testify that our God is our Jehovah Jireh. So on which between this two do you stand: God deprives you of what you want or He gives you what He sees you need? Your answer determines your heart and your view of your God. This is another sharp knife that exposes the deception I clung.

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus reminds not to worry. He exemplifies how God cares for the sparrows and utters Are you not much more valuable than they?(v.26b). He mentions how the lilies are clothed and warns that the pagans run after all these things (foods and clothing or safe to say temporal things), and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Our Father in heaven knows what we need, all these things that we need shall be added unto us. Let us trust His promise.

• Boldly declare “The Lord is my Helper”

The Lord is glorified when we depend on Him, when nothing we hold but Him. He who is contented with what he has does not only trust God who never leaves nor forsakes him but also declares boldly and confidently that God is his helper.

But you can not boldly declare unto the world that the Lord is your Helper if words that come out of your heart reflect covetousness and if your lifestyle denies contentment. Who will believe your message if you also contradict it with your living? Do you really trust God when you are anxious? Are you contented when you always utter “deficiency”? Do you not love money when your conversation is full of material things?

Moments of how I grumble due to scarcity, praises I garnered because of glut fashion, even utterance of the desire for some unnecessary things suddenly flash back into my memory that I yearn to shrink out of shame. I have proven how faithful God is especially in providing my needs yet how come I forgot that with the way I live now. Praise be to God for His Word that strengthens a crooked thinking and living. Glory to God for reminding me of this passage before lies totally kick it off from my heart. I thank God for the Com-Com He used to lead me unto the right path again; I thank God for our speaker that night for using him. Praise and honor and glory to God!

“Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” (Pro 30:7-9)

This is the prayer of Agur and the text during our Com-Com. This is my prayer also. May it also be your prayer.

(photo is from http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/11_04/KeysDM_468x504.jpg)

When Waiting is...Overtime

For how many years, I am being asked with questions such as "Are you already married?", "When are you going to settle down?" or "Do you already have kids?" Questions I first answer with a smile and utter, "It's not yet the will of God." I am already 28, never had the chance to have a boyfriend. And because of that, I have received different comments. Some thought I'm choosy; others just concluded that I am celibate.

But for the knowledge of others, I do wait. I wait for him whom I can be called "his suitable partner". I wait to see someone beside me whenever I wake up in the morning; I wait to have someone pray with me when praying becomes so hard for me to do; I wait for someone to complement me and I'll do the same with him. But the waiting has been so long; it is, if not seen through the eyes of a child of God.

Singleness is not a curse nor a burden. I enjoy many opportunities of serving the Lord because I am single. I Corinthians 7:13 says "But I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord — how he may please the Lord." I praise God that though I am single, He has provided me with so many blessings that waiting becomes trusting and thanking moment for His glory.

Singleness is not a hindrance for raising kids

I do not need to wait for marriage and for my kids so I could train and nurture them into the knowledge of God. God Himself has abundantly blessed me with so many ways of being a godly and Biblical mother. You can have a family by faith. John Piper exhorts, "if a single woman turns without bitterness and regret from the absence of her own family and gives herself to creating God's family in the church, she will find a flowering for her womanhood in ways never dreamed of, and Christ will be uniquely honored.”

Singleness is not a hindrance to complement men

Man and woman are created by God to complement each other. But no need to wait until marriage to complement a man. There are men at home and in the church whom you can guide and help. I thank God that I have a male best friend, brothers and friends in Christ who give me the chance to practice my Biblical role. They guide and mold me and I also have the chances to complement them in one way or another.

Singleness teaches total dependence on God

I do not say that married men and women are not dependent on God. But there is a different encounter with God once you learn to cling to God more than anyone and anything else, especially during moments when you are being deceived of being alone. God shows Himself to be very much available for you and that He certainly fills any longing of the heart. You will also learn to embrace His will and enjoy His sovereignty; and that will teach you the freedom and dependence on Him.

You will also learn that marriage is just here on earth; it is just temporary. Your forever husband is the Lord. Isaiah 54:5 says, "For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth."

Singleness opens an avenue of focused ministry

This is the point of Paul in saying that the only focus of unmarried is the Lord. Some young married women in our church talk about how they wanted to join some of the ministries but they have no one to look for their kids or that they can't devote their whole time for they may be worrying about their homes. If you are unmarried, you have no other concern than to please the Lord (I Cor. 7:13).

Don't get me wrong again. I acknowledge the different ministry being cared by mothers. They have their homes as their primary place of serving God.


Single men and women, like me, should never look marriage as something that will make us whole. Christ is our contentment, whether married or single. Let us serve the Lord with gladness of the heart and with total dependence. The definition of true womanhood doesn't lie in marrying.

Lastly, I just wanna share John Piper's words:

"Married womanhood has its unique potential for magnifying Christ that single womanhood does not have. Single womanhood has its unique potential for magnifying Christ which married womanhood does not have.

So whether you marry or remain single, do not settle for a wimpy theology. It is beneath you. God is too great. Christ is too glorious. True womanhood is too strategic. Don’t waste it. Your womanhood—your true womanhood—was made for the glory of Jesus Christ."

Hope...Hope...Hope

Hope deferred makes the heart sick...(Proverbs 13:12a)

This verse became unforgettable because of Carolyn McCulley's book Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?. Now this verse keeps on ringing in my ears as I face moments of discouragements and frustrations. When events are beyond our comprehensions and they really push us at the end of our ropes, hope seems to be hiding beyond the clouds. And worst, sometimes it is the heart that gives in.

But those of Christ never lose hope. I don't know how it happens but I thank God that though it seems hopeless, hope is endless in His Hands. He keeps on pouring it in my heart; He gives an unexplainable assurance in my heart; He keeps me trusting His Word.

In moment like this, I always find myself in the book of Psalms. Well, Martin Luther is right when he said that if you can't find your life in the Psalms, you have never become a child of God. In this book, I learned three things:

Scripture tells us to put our hope in the Lord

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:5-8)

The Bible tells us about God's faithfulness; it records how God never fails His people. Paul even testifies of the encouragement the Scripture gives: For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.(Romans 15:4) In God's Words alone are hope; therefore, let us still trust God.

In any situation, praise God

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God. (Psalm 42:11)

God is still magnificently beautiful amidst the dark storms and those who have been truly captivated by His beauty never give in to any situations. No dark clouds can blur the heart so much in love with the Lord.

It glorifies God

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man; the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. (Psalm 147:10-11)

In the deepest moment and in the darkest hour, clinging unto the Lord alone gives God pleasure. It glorifies God to see His beloved ones depend on Him. It pleases Him when those downcast in spirit acknowledge their need of His touch and of His comfort.

I don't know how it really happens but I know it is God. It is during this time that I marvel how I can still manage to hope in Him and to really praise Him. I really thank God for this unexplainable hope against hope. There are so much surprises about our God, so much marvelous things He reveals. How can I explain that despite the questioning and disappointments of my heart is the beholding of His unseen workings. I thank God that nothing can separate me from His love (Romans 8:38-39) and I still glorify Him for He is my God.

A Meditation on the Fools' Day

We are fools for Christ... (I Corinthians 4:10)

I was thinking of writing an article about women as it will be very timely since March is considered a Women's Month. Unfortunately, I can't think of a very good topic until I ran out of time (and day) and it is already April 1. Then before frustration embraces me for not writing an article about womanhood, God gave me an idea: Why not write about this day? April 1 is said to be Fools' Day and I am a fool for Christ and I can also share some fool women for Christ I admire (thus, still being able to write about womanhood).

We have a negative connotation when we say fool. Who wants to be called a fool which is defined in my wordweb dictionary as A person who lacks good judgment and A person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of? But when Paul labeled himself a fool, he means a different thing. John Gill's commentary states that they (Paul and companions)were so (fools for Christ) in the esteem of men, for their close attach merit to a crucified Christ; and for preaching the doctrine of salvation by him; and for enduring so much reproach, affliction, and persecution, for his sake and the Gospel's. John Wesley explains that We are fools, in the account of the world, for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ.

I have here the honor to mention few women whom I consider fools for Christ:

• Mary, the mother of Jesus
  She was already betrothed to Joseph (Lk.1:27) yet she accepted God's will in her life (Lk.1:38) though that would cause her shame and humiliation and the possible cancellation of her and Joseph's wedding. She treasured things and pondered them in her heart that is why though her heart is crushed seeing Jesus nailed on the cross, she managed to stand near the cross of Christ, her Savior (Lk.1:46-47).
  
  
• Elisabeth Elliot
  She was married to Jim Elliot in 1953. Jim needed to leave her and their daughter to be missionary but was killed by the Aucas. While Elisabeth was working with the Quichua Indians, she met two Auca women who became her key to go to the people who killed her husband and share Christ to them.
  
  Many will never understand how she wanted to share Christ and thus, let the killers of her husband be saved in Christ. (And glory to God that salvation has come to the Aucas)
  
  
• Katharina Von Bora Luther
  She was a runaway nun who was married to the father of reformation, Martin Luther. Her devotion to Christ and her domesticity will be labeled foolishness today. She managed a large home (a former monastery) which is always full of visitors plus their kids and some relatives. They had a large garden and livestock where she, herself, managed for their daily foods.
  
  She is a career woman, a biblical woman who knows that home is her primary place of ministry.
  
  
• Susanna Wesley
  She is the mother of John and Charles Wesley. After I read her biography, I found her to be a woman of principle. She was not afraid to be forsaken by her father after studying that the beliefs and practices of the Dissent were wrong. In fact, she left her father's church. She stood on her principles though it caused Samuel (her husband)leaving her for 6 months. She was also on her 12th pregnancy that time. She educated her children and disciplined them. She met her kids in a special private conference with each child once a week.
  
  There are also some writings which said that while John Wesley preached, she was there praying for her son and the listeners.
  
  
• Sarah Pierpont Edwards
  Of course, I'll include her here. She is married to Jonathan Edwards. There are so much things I can say about her but what I love is Jonathan's description of her when she was only 13:
  
  They say there is a young lady in [New Haven] who is loved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for anything, except to mediate on Him.
  
  That summarizes her being fool for Christ. She was only 13 but her whole being is so much captivated by God; she was so much inlove with her Maker.

I can still mention many women whom I know have great fear and reverence in God. Some of them are also being used by God for me to be a Biblical woman: Mary Kassian, Carolyn McCulley, Dannah Gresh, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Leslie Ludy, and of course, Noel Piper. May God be glorified in the lives of these women.

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As I write this article, Mary Kassian posted in Facebook that April 1 is also the official release of Girls Gone Wise.