LoveOneAnother

Monday, November 06, 2006

A Story to Begin....

In the early days of our country a weary traveler came to the banks of the Mississippi River for the first time. There was no bridge. It was early winter, and the surface of the mighty stream was covered with ice. Could he dare cross over? Would the ice be able to bear his weight?Night was falling, and it was urgent that he reach the other side. Finally, after much hesitation and with many fears, he began to creep cautiously across the surface of the ice on his hands and knees. He thought if he distributed his weight as much as possible he would keep the ice from breaking beneath him.About halfway over he heard the sound of singing behind him. Out of the dusk there came a man, driving a horse-drawn load of coal across the ice and singing merrily as he went his way.Here he was--creeping along on his hands and knees, trembling lest the ice be not strong enough to bear him up! And there, as if whisked by the winter's wind, went the man, his horses, his sleigh, and his load of coal, upheld by the same ice.

How can you relate this story to your life with God?

There were 3 kinds of merchants at the time of James. There was the old Hellenistic mariners who never left the sea and shipped and sold cargo from one port to the next. There was the caravan traders who used camels, wagons, horses, and mules to bring and sell goods from one city to the next. And, there was local shop-keepers who traveled abroad to find goods and merchandise for their stores and businesses.

In verse 13 James pictures these merchants as making plans for future business ventures. They say, (James 4:13) "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."

These traders pick the exact day of their departure: "today or tomorrow." They pick the city they will visit: "this or that city," and one can imagine them pointing the town out to one another on the map. They determine the length of their stay: "a year." They state what they will be engaged in: "carry on business." And they even state the profit they assume they will get: "and make money."

James holds these merchants up before his readers as a warning: "Don't be like them," he is saying.

Why does he say this? James wants to warn us against a worldliness which causes its victims to neglect God and to arrange their lives as though He did not exist and as if they alone were masters of their destiny.

The merchants and traders James is acquainted with are a classic example of this sort of worldliness. In their work they act as if they are in control. In their plans they sound like they are in charge. They do their work, they make their plans, they have their hopes and their dreams, but in all of this there is no place for God or His leading.

We always have to be on guard, dear people, against this sort of worldliness. It is easy, far too easy, to act and think and hope and plan as if we and we alone have control of our future. It is so easy for us to think that if we work so many hours, or save so many dollars, or study a lot with many certs, then our hopes and dreams for the present and the future will be realized. It is so easy for us to plan next vacation, or what to buy next, or our new house, or our different job, as if we and we alone had any say in these things. It is so easy for us to neglect God's will and leading in all of this.

It is so easy for us to avoid the question,

"What does God want me to do? What is His will?"

(James 4:15) ... you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."

That is my motto for life. I am not saying we do not have to plan our schedule in advance or plan our time wisely Yes definitely we need to in order to be a good steward of our time.

I suddenly remembered my real mother sharing to me that before she married my dad there was another man that she was choosing between. In terms of quality i think he is many times better than my dad well they always said that to "suan" each other. A little humour in a marriage is important too. =) She chose my dad ultimately because of one thing He is the one from God. The other guy is not a christian and she knows that God's will for her life is to find a man who seeks after the heart of God. WOW!!!

If she plans her way and trusts her heart, it will say the other guy coz he is better financially definitely. But she always remind me in marriage The Bible says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain" (Psalm 127:1). In other words, the more you allow God to be the Lord of your marriage, the more comfortable and earthquake-proof it will be. It can be costly to wait for God's direction, it can hurt to follow God's direction and i can share more with you all the hurts that i have to go through to follow Him but i know my parents and myself have no regrets coz we know we did the right thing.

A picture of my parents and me at my commencement. Cant find photo of the 2 of them alone for some reason but i love them coz they have been involved in every milestones of my life. I love this family and my word for all is follow Jesus wholeheartedly.

Love, JOY

I'm Gonna Touch the Sky!
11:32 AM

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