Yesterdays CrossRoads was about: "
Giving your best for GOD"
** for those who don't know, Xrds is a name for crusade gatherings every thursday in NTU**
To summarise:
What I had learnt was made more whole while searching online about doing GOD's will. Firstly, we need to have a
HEART FOR GOD (which I feel is a mindset/attitude in human terms). Secondly, we must put in
ACTION to cohere to God's will but bearing in mind that without the first (right mindsets) we can never make the step up.
To understand what GOD's will is never easy. It requires a daily walk so intimate to God himself for us to know what He has planned for us. It is a daily choice we uptake to seek Him regarding all our decisions in life, no matter how small.
interested? read on!
Cynthia (a crusade staff) was the speaker for the day and I myself had the honour to work with her for a crusade event back in December during Operation A&E. I talked to her after crossroads and understood better that she experienced it as a personal lesson in life about surrendering to GOD.
Here's a Story: The Chicken and Pig (cynthia told as a pre-text to bring in the message.. my version may be exxagerated haha :DD )
In a farm, there lived a pig and chicken. They were well taken care of by the farmer. The farmer had made a pool of mud the Pig is able to roll in happily and the chicken was also well-fed and cared of by the farmer. So, they decided to come up with something to repay the farmer for taking good care of them:
Pig: wah.. love the farmer deep deep la. everyday i oso hab dis nice pool to roll in whee~
chicken: ya ya! i oso have a good life.. and good food everyday prepared by the farmer.
Pig: Yea i'm like so happy :D duno why he takes such good care of us.
Chicken: hehe... we shld to something to repay the farmer. wad do u think, pig?
Pig: *scratches head, tail, butt* err.. wad shld we do, chicken?
Chicken: Hey! i got an idea! why not we make Breakfast for the farmer? Cool right!
Pig: oh kewl hahas... how are you going to do that?
Chicken: Oh.. i will lay 2 eggs and fry for him haha!! smart right!
Pig: hmm *sad* but what can i contribute then????
Chicken: wa! i know Breakfast must have ham!! why dun u giv ur meat! smart right!
Pig: *looks bewilded* .... wa lao!! (he knew deep down he will have to chop off leg or something)
(cynthia says we are supposed to laugh at this point... so ya!! WOOHOO!! *clap clap clap*)
The story may be funny but let's think deeper again: Fitting the story into Abiding by God and doing His will,
are we sometimes like the chicken (not giving something of a big deal/sacrifice and something we can part with, or not much value, or just giving God our scraps while other things come first) or sometimes
giving too much without knowing like the pig ( sacrificing too much time in name of God till we neglect other stuff like studies, family, health). What is it that the farmer (GOD) wants?
What then is giving our best for GOD? Does God want the things we don't? (as in the eggs from chicken). Am I putting God first or other things in life has displaced God in my eyes? Or does God want us to sacrifice alot, put commitment, sweat, toil, blood, tear for him and then that is considered doing God's will?
It may require us some sacrifices, time and pain in life to abide in God but certainly the reverse is not true. It does not mean doing things that has lots of sacrifices, pain, torture = doing your best for God.
This then boils down to the most important thing when we want to do our best for God:
Do we have a heart for God? Is He our priority in life? Or is He just secondary, we approach him when we need help?
I'm sure alot of us have heard of
WWJD :
What
Would
Jesus
Do... here's what He did..
The Story of Gethsemane:
Matthew 26:36 - 43
36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." 40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." 43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.
Here, Jesus prayed 3 times and as Cynthia pointed out, His prayer to Father God had changed from initially troubled to acknowledging God's will to be done. He re-affirmed God's will as what He would choose to abide in.
This meant enduring all the flogging and mockery to die on by crucification on the cross as the bible described:
Matthew 27:26-44
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
27Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
The Crucifixion
32As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. 33They came to a place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). 34There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it. 35When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. 36And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. 37Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!" 41In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " 44In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
WWJD case study:
What
Was
Jesus
Doing??
He had prayed and knew that was God's will and he abided.
We face the choice: to abide in God no matter how big/small a choice is.
However, do we first SEEK GOD? Or do we simply lament when things don't go the way we desire it to be? Or do we have a heart for God and do what He wants us to do? Do we do things that Christian "should" do or is it truly doing it as a manifestation of thoughts that's in us?
Our actions are a manifestation of our thoughts: Before we can put all of it into doing our best for God, our mindset must be correct.
Let us seek God over all things.
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33
"This things have I spoken to you, that my joy might abide in you, and that your joy might be full." John 15:11
Dear Father,
thank you for teaching me this lesson in life.
you discipline those you love so we may grow
better in You and abide in you. Lord, I ask for
You to add to my trust in You, little by little,
to make me believe and rely on You fully. Lord,
I know that it is not about doing things but whether
is my heart really abiding in you instead. Lord,
help me to put down all the things that are
entangling me. Set me free to see what You want
me to see. I ask for Your will to be done in my life.
in Lord Jesus' name
amen
