Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The reality and truth of Life in Christ alone has been sinking into my consciousness. He is indeed Lord of Life, apart from him we are nothing. Apart from him, we are dead.
The contrast between Death and Life is a black-and-white one. It is unambiguous. I'm struck by how it all really boils down to a binary decision - all-or-nothing, 1 or 0. God's grace to us in Christ is an unchangeable, eternal offer that will not be withdrawn. We have to choose to live in Him or without Him, to live for Him or against Him.
Every day I see the rebellion of sin in myself. I daily make choices against Christ in the way I think, behave and allow myself to feel. It is a wonder that even when I make myself His enemy, He calls me His friend. It is a marvel that He love me even when I push Him away.
I have been reading Paul's letter to the Colossians. In it, he describes Christ's power over sin and death, His fullness, and the fullness of life we have in Him through faith, for:
'In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.
In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead (2:9-12).'
All praise to God :)
Christ has power over the strongest power in this world that has held men captive. He has power over Sin.
Christ is our surgeon. In His capable hands, we are free from Sin. He cuts it off from us, and it is a painful process because it has become part of our very flesh. But Christ is rightly precise in His diagnosis of our sin, and thorough in His removal of sin from us.
Now we are alive because of Him, and in Him we have life.
He's not just our doctor, He is Life Himself.
planted @
6:20 PM
Saturday, November 07, 2009
Dearie dropped a not-so-subtle suggestion that I blog about him :) He's right. Some positive affirmation is in order!
Looking back, I really thank God for letting our paths cross in school and in VCF. We are two very different people - both personality-wise and studies-wise, but we both bonded over a common love for international students! I remember being very impressed with his ability to 'connect' with people from different backgrounds and with different interests. He is a wonderful conversationalist, and more importantly, a good friend who is genuinely interested in getting to know people better. I must say that some of his love for people and his passion for going beyond the superficial to gain insights into souls (motivations, values, dreams, aspirations) has rubbed off on me. I think God used his example to grow my desire to deepen friendships. At first, it was a conscious force of will to set aside time for my classmates and hostel mates, but in time, that turned into a growing desire to get to know them as people outside of functional relationships.
Yes, I love my dearie's relational nature. He's a very good friend not only to me, but to many others as well. And I find myself thanking God for putting in him such a great love for people - one that has inspired and challenged me by example.
Another thing I am thankful for is his good nature. He beams often, and his (cheeky) grin never fails to cheer me up on a bad day. I am thankful for his patience (and courage) with me, even when I am in the foulest of moods and am a ticking emotional time-bomb. He is gentle in his speech and tone. And I know that I can be pretty un-gentle and caustic sometimes with my voice.
Dearie also importantly, keeps me accountable in my walk with God and in the daily out-working of my faith. He challenges me often, to do things I know I should do but do not do. It's incredibly difficult to move me from my complacent daily routine, from my state of inertia, but he tries. Very faithfully, he tries.
I must admit I don't enjoy the cheeky poking/ squeezing/ physical ka-chowing that he does to me, but I know it's all in the name of fun (he says it's his way of showing affection), and I occasionally poke him back so it's cool :) I have learned (the painful way) that along with good conversation, gifts, affirmation and acts of service, there are very (very very) physical ways to express love. Such as hugs. And I know there are times that some of my girl friends would really appreciate hugs.
There are many things that I love about my dearie, but the things I appreciate the most are the fruit of the good work that God is doing in him. He is genuine and sincere in His pursuit of God. He wants to get involved with the work that God is doing :) And I believe God is giving him with opportunites to be exposed to the world, to people outside his natural social circle, so that he can learn and grow and be better prepared for the years of hard work ahead.
We are both sinners. We both stumble each other more often than we should. But with God's help and God's grace, I know that we'll be encouraging and challenging each other to love God and walk in His way for the road ahead. What a blessing it will be to walk the road together with him :)
Haha you know how we always pray for journey mercies at the start of a rough trip? I think he's God's answer to my prayers.
Never fails to make me smile :)
planted @
12:02 AM
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
I've been studying for my first test of the year.
Right now my head's swimming with random letters and numbers. Stringed together, they make up the names of vaccines. Live attenuated vaccines.
For Shigella we have CVD 1203, which is a shigella mutant carrying aroA and virG deletions. There is CVD 1208, which has ShET 1 and ShET 2 mutations in addition to aroA and virG knock-outs.
I remember CVD 1208 very well thanks to its funny abbreviation.
ShET: Shigella enterotoxins 1 and 2.
How very appropriate!
planted @
6:20 AM
Sunday, November 01, 2009
Being too wrapped up studying for exams makes me un loving.
It makes me mentally and emotionally numb.
Today, I have made two people I love angry and have missed out on an opportunity to care for a friend.
I have also managed to cover six chapters of bacteriology: Strep, Staph, Salmonella, E.coli, Campylobacter and Antibiotics.
How do you study well and care for other people at the same time? Humanly speaking, there are only so many hours per day, and you have only so much energy.
It seems that one must come at the cost of sacrificing the other.
I haven't found an answer to that question yet.
planted @
7:23 AM
