Acts 29: The Story Today

The work won't finish with any less power than it started. So what are we lacking? Why aren't we seeing the kind of things the early apostles experienced? God longs to pour out His Spirit. But we have a part to do. And we can learn what this is by studying what happened at Pentecost.

"In solemn awe they bowed in prayer, repeating the assurance, “Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:23, 24. Higher and still higher they extended the hand of faith, with the mighty argument, “It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Romans 8:34." – {AA 35.2}

Higher still higher. Do we have that kind of faith? Are we willing to trust God with more and still more?

"As the disciples waited for the fulfillment of the promise, they humbled their hearts in true repentance and confessed their unbelief." -{AA 36.1}

How much time are we spending in true heart searching? In turning from sin? In seeking to trust Him more? 

 As they meditated upon His pure, holy life they felt that no toil would be too hard, no sacrifice too great, if only they could bear witness in their lives to the loveliness of Christ’s character.-{AA 36.1}

Our lives must be consumed. Nothing else should hold priority. Christ and Him only. No sacrifice can be too great to claim the promises of the gospel for our own. It is to be our very identity. When nothing else matters to us, we will see this kind of power again.

"The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men and in their daily intercourse to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ. Putting away all differences, all desire for the supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship." - {AA 37.1}

We must feel our need, and spend our time in deep heart searching. We need to pray as never before, and press together! We need to plead for a passion for lost souls. They shared the truths that came to their memory with each other.

Their hearts were transformed by beholding Him. 

"They did not ask for a blessing for themselves merely. They were weighted with the burden of the salvation of souls." – {AA 37.2}

We must ask for the gift of the Spirit. We have been told to, and when we do this in obedience, Christ in heaven also intercedes so He can pour out this gift on His people in all fullness.

"Every known tongue was represented by those assembled. This diversity of languages would have been a great hindrance to the proclamation of the gospel; God therefore in a miraculous manner supplied the deficiency of the apostles. The Holy Spirit did for them that which they could not have accomplished for themselves in a lifetime." – {AA 39.2}

And they themselves were transformed. Whatever language they spoke, it was always pure. They also spoke simply, and everyone could understand.

"They could speak the name of Jesus with assurance; for was He not their Friend and Elder Brother? Brought into close communion with Christ, they sat with Him in heavenly places. With what burning language they clothed their ideas as they bore witness for Him! Their hearts were surcharged with a benevolence so full, so deep, so far-reaching, that it impelled them to go to the ends of the earth, testifying to the power of Christ. They were filled with an intense longing to carry forward the work He had begun. They realized the greatness of their debt to heaven and the responsibility of their work. Strengthened by the endowment of the Holy Spirit, they went forth filled with zeal to extend the triumphs of the cross. The Spirit animated them and spoke through them. The peace of Christ shone from their faces. They had consecrated their lives to Him for service, and their very features bore evidence to the surrender they had made." – {AA 46.1}

The world will know. We say our lives are to be our testimony. But are they? Are they any different from everyone else's? Is there any reason your friends should think you have something they need? Because if they don't, you're but soothing your conscience. 

Christ must be all in all to us. When He is everything to us, we will live as such.

"Lost in wonder, the apostles exclaimed, “Herein is love.” They grasped the imparted gift. And what followed? The sword of the Spirit, newly edged with power and bathed in the lightnings of heaven, cut its way through unbelief. Thousands were converted in a day." – {AA 38.1}

The God Who Restores

Isn't it sad that despite what we know to be right, we still make foolish mistakes because we drift away from God for just a moment... Because we choose our own way. Because we do not allow Him to do for us that which He longs to do. We tie His hands. The all-powerful, all-wise, all-knowing God of the universe is limited by us?! Because we think we know better. We think we know ourselves. 

Even our best efforts end as but hopeless failures. For in and of ourselves we can do absolutely nothing. 

Yet though we have fallen so far, He does not leave us. All along He seeks to bring us back to Himself. From the emptiness of self-service, to His banqueting table where we can be truly filled. From the love of empty pleasures to a knowledge of the depth of His heart. He strives to win our hearts, never forcing, always loving. 

"Not one soul who in penitence and faith has claimed His protection will Christ permit to pass under the enemy’s power....Angels of God will walk on either side of them, even in this world, and they will stand at last among the angels that surround the throne of God." – {PK 587.1}

And when He restores, it's perfect. Better than what was before we fell. Closer to Himself than ever before. Hearts overflowing with love and gratitude to the One who has plucked us as brands from the burning.

"We have been great sinners, but Christ died that we might be forgiven. The merits of his sacrifice are sufficient to present to his Father in our behalf. Those to whom he has forgiven most will love him most, and will stand nearest to his throne to praise him for his great love and infinite sacrifice. It is when we most fully comprehend the love of God that we best realize the sinfulness of sin, and the fullness of salvation. When we see the length of the chain that was let down for us, and understand something of the merits of that infinite sacrifice that Christ has made for us, the heart is melted with tenderness and contrition. – {ST March 11, 1889 Par. 3}

Unrequited Love

Imagine...loving someone for your entire life, doing absolutely everything you can to make them happy, only to be shunned by them. Unrequited love. A tragedy at best. Yet, isn't this exactly what we do God?

Or am I being too extreme? Would you rather be happy to be loved half-heartedly? How would you feel if the one you loved only loved you back when it was convenient? Only when certain people were around. Or, weren't. What if they hardly took a minute out of their day to spend time alone with you?

Would you put up with such an arrangement? 

Or, take it a step further- would you give up everything that was rightly yours to exchange places, and take what they deserve? 

Would you DIE for that person?

Yet, isn't this, and so much more, exactly what Christ did for us?

Honored, loved of angels and His Father, happy and blessed, holding the wealth of the universe in His hands, He gave up all. To be born to an impoverished couple, under the stigma of illegitimacy, to shoulder the woes of the human race, to be deserted by His best friends, denied, betrayed, rejected, scourged...the list goes on. Why? Oh and there's more: hung naked upon one of the world's cruelest inventions, watching His mother suffer through it all, hearing the taunts of those who had so lately sung His praise, and the silence of those who up until now had believed, still loved...those very ones for whom He was doing all this. And by far the worst: He must endure the absence of His Father's presence as the darkness closes in.

If this doesn't transform you... It must! When you look at the cross...No, when you look at the Saviour on the cross, all else pales. What can hold value by comparison? Our greatest treasures are but tinsel. What would you trade for Him? Or, what would you NOT trade, for Him? For should you reserve something, life instantly loses its meaning. Then it is no wonder that inspired writing urges us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the closing scenes of the life of Christ.

So why do we stay away? What keeps us from Him? 

The enemy of souls loves to convince us that we are too far gone. That we have passed the point of no return. He knows that if we but ask for pardon we WILL obtain it. And he exalts in our defects, even trying to make our best service appear corrupt. 

But we have the promise: "All who have put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness will stand before Him as chosen and faithful and true. Satan has no power to pluck them out of the hand of the Saviour. Not one soul who in penitence and faith has claimed His protection will Christ permit to pass under the enemy’s power." {PK 587.1}

Yes, we see our sinfulness. We are fully cognizant of that fact. Our weakness and unworthiness make us ready to despair. But, our hope is in the mercy of God. And our defense is prayer. 

There's more to the promise: "But while the followers of Christ have sinned, they have not given themselves up to be controlled by the satanic agencies. They have repented of their sins and have sought the Lord in humility and contrition, and the divine Advocate pleads in their behalf. He who has been most abused by their ingratitude, who knows their sin and also their penitence, declares: “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. I gave My life for these souls. They are graven upon the palms of My hands. They may have imperfections of character; they may have failed in their endeavors; but they have repented, and I have forgiven and accepted them.”" – {PK 589.1}

It won't be easy. The refining process is a trying one. "But the anguish and humiliation of God’s people is unmistakable evidence that they are regaining the strength and nobility of character lost in consequence of sin. It is because they are drawing nearer to Christ, because their eyes are fixed on His perfect purity, that they discern so clearly the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Meekness and lowliness are the conditions of success and victory. A crown of glory awaits those who bow at the foot of the cross." – {PK 590.2}

When Jesus brings forth His gold, it will be purified, all earthliness removed, the image of Christ revealed, perfectly. 

I leave you with a passage I have encountered over and over this last while, and have come love:

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

As we enter a new year, look to Jesus. Think of His great love for you, don't leave it unrequited. Contemplate His great sacrifice, and spend time with Him each day as you would if it were your very last.

Bury Me

Dreams...wishes...dandelions...somehow they seem synonymous. 

Like tiny florets floating on the wind, none can really be sure which will reach maturity. They must be content to go where the wind blows. And we to surrender our dreams to the Author of Life, to bury, and bring to life, as He sees fit. 
Place and timing He knows best. 

And dreams are always safe committed to His care. Even if they never grow. 

For in that case, He simply has something much greater in store. And all that can hinder that greater good is us. He's just waiting for our permission. To work in our lives. 

True, it may appear as though mounds of earth cover cherished dreams, never again to see the sun. But who can tell what the springtime may bring. A thing of beauty, yielding so much more.

So the question. The only one left to ask. 

Will we let Him?

Bathtubs, Drains, & Valuable Lessons

A gurgling sound. Then, dark, grey, murky water, filled with floating bits of kitchen scraps and whatever else might be found in a drain system, bubbled up into the once sparkling white, clean bathtub. In an instant it could quite accurately be described as "filth and squalor". And needless to say, the stench of drain contents is enough to make anyone with functioning olfactories take a swift exit to escape the pollution. I guess I should be glad that it wasn't a drain system in a Korean apartment, where your neighbors' drain is also connected to the pipeline!

Nonetheless, such things in life do not automatically rectify themselves, and someone has to clean the mess, which I proceeded to do. 
Oh the wealth of lessons that a humble, even repulsive drain held!

As I scrubbed at the gunk, it became so representative of much of the stuff with which we fill our minds. Like drains, they become clogged with the filth of worldly pursuits, entertainment, and even seemingly innocent things that take up our time. God longs to quench our thirst with His pure water of life, but we would rather drink at broken cisterns. And like a clogged drain won't let the clean water run down, so we don't even want to accept that refreshing stream. Instead of letting it cleanse us completely, we try to mix it in with our own junk, but it is polluted, its power lost. 

As I thought about crystal clear, pure, refreshing drinking water, it seemed so wonderful in comparison to the nauseating drain water. I wouldn't want even a drop of contaminated water, or a speck of kitchen scraps to come near my drinking water. Yet I can be content so long as there's only a little bit of sin in my life? This can never be! I can't experience the blessing of the water of life God wants to give me if I insist on filling up on junk. He desires all, and the only way for me to have fullness of life is to give Him all. No reservations, not even a speck of dirt sticking to the side of the glass.

To my dismay, when I had the bath nice and clean, I discovered something rather disheartening. Although all the muck was cleaned away, the water wasn't going down properly, and a colony of drowned red ants floated up out of the drain. After getting rid of them, I realized the drain was still blocked, and so tried baking soda and vinegar, before getting out the plunger as a last resort. But, plunge as I might, little bits of rubbish kept floating up, and the drain remained blocked. 

This was when I saw another important lesson. I can clean up the symtoms, and yet the problem still remains, waiting to resurface at the most inopportune times. What I need is a heart transformation. And this is something I cannot do for myself. I can plunge and work as hard as I want to, but, in and of myself, I don't have the resources to solve the problem. Only Jesus can get to that level and change me from within. Only He can scrape away the layers of grime caked on over years of life in a world of sin. Only He can unblock my brain from the mass of garbage I have willfully allowed to clog it. But here's the secret: this is something He wants to do! In fact, the only thing getting in the way of Him performing His incredible operation clean-up is my own stubbornness to keep my dirt. Really? Rejecting God's beautiful, refreshing streams of life-giving water for a stagnant cesspool? How tragic! What a ridiculous trade! Yet how often I make this very fateful exchange. 

I pray that the lesson of the blocked drain will remain fresh in my memory. I pray that God will help me to recognize the true colour of that which this world dishes up as so desirable. That I will see it for what it really is: filth and squalor, repulsive. That I will lose my taste for it. And that I will acquire a love for the heavenly, living water, that quenches all thirst for all other, and springs up into everlasting life. Of that water I want 
to drink deeply.

God Lent Me His Piano

The beginning of August found me rather dejected, hopeless, wondering what had possessed me to even start this. An out-of-tune piano, final exam one month away, and pieces sounding more like they were falling apart than coming together...

Then more bad news, as if the situation couldn't get worse. 

The tuners finally came that first week of August, and to my dismay, I learned that the church piano would have to be moved out to the hall for an entire month. As a church pianist, the last thing I wanted was to have to hammer out the notes on an old piano with sticking keys. But the examining body uses our church piano, and wanted it perfectly tuned, so the replacement was moved into the church, and the main piano placed in the hall, not to be moved for a month.

Little did I know what a blessing this small inconvenience would prove to be.

Our tuned piano at home was an improvement on what it had been, but it proved impossible to get final exam pieces and even scales up to standard on it. Yet now a wonderful opportunity afforded itself. I was able to go to the church hall every day, and practice on that beautiful, exam-quality piano. God's piano.

Then it was that it hit me. 
God, the King of the Universe, was willing to have a substandard piano in His house of worship so that a girl could practice for her exam. 

To my shame, I spent more of the month with that piano than I did with the One who so graciously lent it to me. Yet my music fell far short of perfection. And it made me think... Perfection requires agonizing, struggling, striving. And still I cannot attain. 
All my own righteousness is but filthy rags. (Is 64:6) 
Only Christ can perform it in me. 
Despite my unfaithfulness, His love remains unchanged. 
He still calls to my wayward heart. (Jer 31:3) 
He, the Author of music, can compose something perfect, beautiful, out of this discordant note.

And this, this, is what He longs most of all to accomplish.

God lent me His piano.

Will I lend Him my life?

For Such A Time

In the midst of crises, God has always had His faithful few. And He calls them to stand. The Esthers, the Daniels, the Josephs.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And we are living in desperate times. If you don’t believe that, just take a look at the chaotic, messed-up world you live in filled with broken, desperate people. 

From generation to generation we plod on. The cycle: You’re born. Grow up. Try to become someone in this world, or, at the minimum, try to survive. Finally retirement. And then? It’s all gone. A vapour. And to the vast majority, not even forgotten, for they never knew you.

And so a probing question. Is this really what you want? No, really. Do you just want to be another generation in the vast span of years…or do you want to be the ones to see the end of this meaningless round, the end of suffering and woe?

For generations we have battled. We have failed. We have been slaves of sin. And if we continue in the same path, we can with certainty expect the same results. How much longer will we linger to enjoy hollow, imagined pleasures that only leave you empty? What will it take for us to be fitted the society of Heaven?

A radical change, to be sure. No doubt more radical than what I can think of right now. If we want to leave this world, we had better be heading in that direction. In every facet of our lives will be affected. How we dress. What we eat. What we listen to. What we watch. Who we hang out with. What we spend our time on. What occupies our thoughts.

Yes, it is radical. You will look different. You will stand out like a sore thumb. But look at the alternative. Your life will amount to nothing more than a selfish existence, for even our best deeds are selfish if we are not transformed by the Spirit of Christ. It will be but a pile of chaff, or as the Bible says without any attempt to euphemize, a hill of dung. You are lost, and all memory of you soon follows.

The call is for a complete, entire surrender. Maybe we have used these words so often that we have lost their true meaning. But they remain unchanged. You are not your own. You never have been. You only end slavery to Satan by becoming a slave of God.

Yes, the narrow path is by no means an easy one. When Christ Himself suffered, how can we expect a bed of roses? Yet it will be worth it. Infinitely worth it.

The question stands: Will we be the generation?