There are two words I want my life to reflect. Two words I pray every day that I may live by. Two words that my soul's ears ache to hear, heavenly soft in a way no word can describe.
This month in Cambodia has been so epic. I'm afraid that you will think of me as a liar because every single month I've said that the current month is, by one word or the next, awesome. But every month God has not only done amazing things through me, but at the same time has worked a miracle in me as well, like the one I'm about to share.
I have a way with words. This is no boast in myself, because the gift is definitely not from the reciever of it, but from the Giver of the gift. God has given me the gift and passion of teaching and preaching, which has been an incredibly humbling blessing. But not only that, He has given me a passion and gift of retaining and explaining the deep, rich, beauty of theology. By this alone, I come to tears: a small, dirty, guilty orphan, adopted and made clean, and given the keys to this beautiful treasure chest (being the gifts of preaching/teaching and theology) and deep inside the treasure chest is this remarkable, incredible, unimaginable Treasure (Christ) for me to share among my fellow siblings. What a gracious gift this is!
But with the keys to this wonderful treasure chest that unveils the ultimate Treasure, comes the joy of demonstrating the deep satisfaction and savoring of this wonderful Treasure above all other treasures.
and in worshipping God we give God His deserved glory,
and in glorifying Him we find our deepest joy.
Therefore worshipping God glorifies God,
which gives us joy.
God's glory gives us joy, and the more we glorify Him the more joy we find,
and our glorifying Him in worship brings us to our purpose of our creation.
God is immensly glorified by our enjoyment of Him.
This is mind-blowingly amazing because God's passion for Himself, His glory, is the start of my utmost joy! He has systematically and graciously made mortal life to reflect eternal life; eternal life being glorifying God by enjoying Him forever, and mortal life being glorifying God by enjoying Him until, and even in, death. His passion for Himself is His passion for my joy. What a remarkable thing to grasp.
So pratically, my purpose on earth is to display the Treasure by means of opening the treasure chest. Or in other words, through preaching and teaching and theology, I glory God by my enjoyment of God, which brings me joy! Do you see this?! Preaching and teaching and even theology are not only about doctrine but about passionate living. It's about truth and ethics.
Romans 1-11 are deeply enriched with theological truths. Paul permeates the first 11 chapters in, what I would argue, the most in-depth theological exhortation of biblical truths in all of the Scriptures. He teaches what is true about God and Christ and mankind and salvation and faith and the Spirit and justification and sovereignty and the law- all in Romans 1-11. Paul then moves from foundation to application in Romans 12 with the word therefore. From Romans 12-16, Paul engages in this personal and practical application from the foundation of Romans 1-11.
And that's what God is teaching me. He's desiring to close the 18inch gap between my head and my heart. He's transforming my mind and renewing my heart. I desperately want to not just lay a theological foundation, but built a practical application upon that foundation, displaying the joy of the Lord in glorifying Him. I want my life, my actions, my attitude, to reflect a joy for God. As I've laid the foundation for this life, it's now the time to start building up my life. Like Romans 12 says, I want to live a life that I "let love be genuine" (verse 9), that I "contribute to the needs of the saints" (verse 13), where I "bless those who persecute" me (verse 14), where I "repay no one evil for evil"(verse 17), and all the rest of the Bible!
That's where I want to be. And I want to not only be there, but stay there in steadfastness. I want to be steadfast in my walk with the Lord. But what I've come to realize is that steafastness is not about the distance, but about the depth. Jesus tells us to pray for our daily bread. So many times in my life I want the yearly loaf instead. God is calling us to go deep today, and not wait for tomorrow. Sometimes you need to stop waiting for the call and simply just obey the command. Most of the time God gives us a single road to follow, not the road map to life. And in that depth of devotion, then we will go the distance.
I worry about after the World Race. The post-Race life has been something I've pondered about lately these days. It's probably because of anxiety with the uncertainty of whether or not I'll reach being fully funded before I'm sent home. Nevertheless, I think about it. I think about how I want to bring so much to the States. I want to grow deep in my community and share my experiences. I want to make an impact back home. But that's distance, and the only way I will be able to make the distance tomorrow is if I make the depth today. One of my favorite historical figures, Martin Luther, would do hundreds of sermons a year, write thousands of pages of articles, books, letters, etc, was a professor of Biblical Theology, a devoted husband and loving father, and of course a major figure in the Protestant Reformation. Can you imagine all that he did in a year? How did he do it? Well, he answers: deep devotion. Luther said he had to pray for at least three hours a day, mainly because he had so much to do that he needed to devote that time to the Lord for discernment, strength, and steadfastness. If we are to ever continue in steadfastness to reach tomorrow, we must dive deep into God's arms today.
Think about it: today, this very minute, you can go as deep and even deeper then you've ever been before with the Lord, thus changing your heart and mind in ways like never before. I want that. I want that so bad. It's like an unbelievable taste in my mouth, like the first time you tasted and ate of the most precious food and drink that have ever touched your lips. I want to savor Christ that much. I don't want to settle down. I don't want to be complacent. I don't want to be on cruise control for the final months of the Race.
and run with endurance the Race set before me.
Practically, what does this look like for me? Some areas I've been praying and diving deeper into the heart of God in is:
- Gentleness- that my actions and words may be for building up, not tearing down or even just to say smart remarks.
- Study- that I'm constantly in the Word; despite being encouraged by my fellow brothers and sisters about my knowledge of the Word, there is still so much hidden treasure waiting to be dug up in Scriptures and I so eagerly want to read and find these treasures.
- Memorizing Scripture- I confess that in the begining of the Race I made a goal to memorize the book of Colossians, but due to not being steadfast in memorization I stopped. The Lord is reconciling this desire now by memorizing Philippians, which has been an astonishing blessing for my soul.
- Radical simplicity- Simplicity is a new area God has put on my heart to dive deeper in. I want to live a simple life. This has been inspired by Paul's statement that "there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content." I find it peculiar that he alludes the contentment of godliness with the reality that we don't really own anything but just have it for a little while, so be content with simplicity like food and clothing. That's what I want: contentment in godliness with the shirt on my back and whatever food I've been given in my belly, sharing the joy of Jesus!
- Fasting and prayer- Speaking of food, the Lord has won my heart over for fasting and prayer. It started in Thailand and I don't want this passion to slow down.
- Doing the Word- I don't want to merely hear the Word, but be a doer of the Word. When I read the Bible, I want to apply it.
Another area where I want to dive deeper in is 6:00am morning devotionals, giving myself a few hours in the morning to meditate on the Word before I start my day. It's 2:30am here, so I need to get some sleep. As I'm laying in bed, I'll be praying that you wouldn't be complacent with standing in the shallow end only getting your feet wet, but would come with me and dive deep into the depths of the ocean of God's grace and you wouldn't wait for tomorrow or the next day but dive in today, so that we are steadfast for whatever tomorrow may bring.
