Lohopeve's Blog

Interesting things I learned today…

Julia — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 02:06:54 +0000

The ESV Bible commentary’s explanation for Isaiah 8:6-7 – “The way of faith in God seems inadequate to Judah, but the worldly alternative she prefers nearly drowns her in human oppression.”

verse 8:11-15 commentary: “Judah and Jerusalem wring their hands over surface-level crises, with little awareness of the grandeur of God. By disregarding God, they find him to be an obstacle they cannot evade.”

So many interesting nuggets in Isaiah 8.

joy!

Julia — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:53:33 +0000

Those men that ponder, and meditate, and weigh the affairs of life, and study the mysterious developments of God’s providence, and wonder why they should be burdened and thwarted and hampered—how different and how much more joyful would be their lives, if, instead of forever indulging in self-revolving and inward thinking, they would take their experiences, day by day, and lift them up, and praise God for them.

Amen!

“hear our singing fill the air!”

Lean on the promisor, not on the promises

Julia — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 20:52:05 +0000

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed” (Heb. 11:8).

Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for him to know that he went with God. He leant not so much upon the promises as upon the Promiser. He looked not on the difficulties of his lot, but on the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, who had deigned to appoint his course, and would certainly vindicate Himself. O glorious faith! This is thy work, these are thy possibilities; contentment to sail with sealed orders, because of unwavering confidence in the wisdom of the Lord High Admiral; willinghood to rise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of the glad assurance that earth’s best cannot bear comparison with Heaven’s least. –F. B. M.

It is by no means enough to set out cheerfully with your God on any venture of faith. Tear into smallest pieces any itinerary for the journey which your imagination may have drawn up.

Nothing will fall out as you expect.

Your guide will keep to no beaten path. He will lead you by a way such as you never dreamed your eyes would look upon. He knows no fear, and He expects you to fear nothing while He is with you.

oh boy.

Julia — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 05:50:17 +0000

WOW this made me laugh and cringe a the same time because I actually resonate with the lyrics and because this is NOT a good way to share about our faith…

Makes me think of…

1 Corinthians 13:1-2. If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

and John 15:18. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

Note to self: stop speaking religious mumbo jumbo and start speaking the language of love.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

Julia — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:01:23 +0000

Wow, this is on my summer reading list.

REVIEW:
Clearly this book isn’t for everyone. It’s incredibly self-reflexive. It’s more than willing to employ a device while simultaneously satirizing it. Eggers, as described in his own words, is rarely likeable, noble, humble, or charming. Instead, he’s self-indulgent, arrogant, and so full of neurosis that Woody Allen looks calm and confident in comparison.
And while these factors will elicit cries of how overrated the work is, I find them the fuel behind what is a darkly compelling fever dream. Eggers takes the theme of being consumed (by cancer, by being young and wanting to make a mark on the world, by the responsibility of raising a child while maintaining friendships) and exposes its results in a harsh light. And it’s angry and difficult and … well … real.

Far different and more challenging than the back-patting, self-congratulatory, “Gee, aren’t I a strong and admirable person for surviving these tribulations?” tone that fills most stories of this genre. I congratulate him on avoiding making things neat and tidy. The result is an astonishing, staggering, and, ultimately, heartbreaking work.

Peace.

Julia — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 05:10:52 +0000

I have never felt so much peace. It’s that moment when you stop wrestling with the Lord and start trusting that He really, truly, will never forsake you or leave you. That He hears prayers. He is a God who listens and does not forget. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt such an overflow of joy. It’s been a long time since I have really trusted in the Lord with all of my heart and mind and strength. His love is overwhelming.

What do I have to give thanks for? Too much. Lord God, how quickly I forget how blessed I am. I am thankful for having a restful afternoon yesterday. Getting stuck in traffic with Rachel and having a chance to catch up. Getting to recline and study on new couches with the family. Driving back to school last night and singing to the radio. An email from my cousin asking me to compare California schools he got accepted into and recommend which one is best; God’s way of getting me back on track. Getting up this morning and reading out of the wrong book for statutory interpretation…an answered prayer for direction on what to write about in an essay. Praying for strength to read con law diligently, and then getting Grutter v. Bollinger, a case all about law school admissions. For the aqua-colored sunset on the way to the library.

Lord, I am so weak, my faith is the size of a mustard seed, but reflecting back on everything that You have done, I got nothin’ to say. You have never failed. Your timing is always perfect. This year has been an incredible one o Lord; You have taught me so much.

This is going to be another nutty week, but for some reason, nothing seems impossible. What do I have to lose? nothing. What do I have to gain by living for Your glory? Too much. More than I can ever expect.

Final brief due friday. Lord God, use me to be an encouragement to others.

This week will be a glorious one because He is victorious. I know it!

Joshua 3

Julia — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:13:20 +0000

What amazing faith. The priests came upon a river that looked impossible to cross, and they had to step into the water before the Lord parted the waters.

I would be scared that the river would wash me away…

“For our profit” (Heb. 12:10).

Julia — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:29:11 +0000

In one of Ralph Connor’s books he tells a story of Gwen. Gwen was a wild, wilful lassie and one who had always been accustomed to having her own way. Then one day she met with a terrible accident which crippled her for life. She became very rebellious and in the murmuring state she was visited by the Sky Pilot, as the missionary among the mountaineers was termed.
He told her the parable of the canyon. “At first there were no canyons, but only the broad, open prairie. One day the Master of the Prairie, walking over his great lawns, where were only grasses, asked the Prairie, ‘Where are your flowers?’ and the Prairie said, ‘Master I have no seeds.’
“Then he spoke to the birds, and they carried seeds of every kind of flower and strewed them far and wide, and soon the prairie bloomed with crocuses and roses and buffalo beans and the yellow crowfoot and the wild sunflowers and the red lilies all summer long. Then the Master came and was well pleased; but he missed the flowers he loved best of all, and he said to the Prairie: ‘Where are the clematis and the columbine, the sweet violets and wind-flowers, and all the ferns and flowering shrubs?’
“And again he spoke to the birds, and again they carried all the seeds and scattered them far and wide. But, again, when the Master came he could not find the flowers he loved best of all, and he said:
“‘Where are those my sweetest flowers?’ and the Prairie cried sorrowfully:
“‘Oh, Master, I cannot keep the flowers, for the winds sweep fiercely, and the sun beats upon my breast, and they wither up and fly away.’
“Then the Master spoke to the Lightning, and with one swift blow the Lightning cleft the Prairie to the heart. And the Prairie rocked and groaned in agony, and for many a day moaned bitterly over the black, jagged, gaping wound.
“But the river poured its waters through the cleft, and carried down deep black mould, and once more the birds carried seeds and strewed them in the canyon. And after a long time the rough rocks were decked out with soft mosses and trailing vines, and all the nooks were hung with clematis and columbine, and great elms lifted their huge tops high up into the sunlight, and down about their feet clustered the low cedars and balsams, and everywhere the violets and wind-flower and maiden-hair grew and bloomed, till the canyon became the Master’s favorite place for rest and peace and joy.”
Then the Sky Pilot read to her: “The fruit–I’ll read ‘flowers’–of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness–and some of these grow only in the canyon.”
“Which are the canyon flowers?” asked Gwen softly, and the Pilot answered: “Gentleness, meekness, longsuffering; but though the others, love, joy, peace, bloom in the open, yet never with so rich a bloom and so sweet a perfume as in the canyon.”
For a long time Gwen lay quite still, and then said wistfully, while her lips trembled: “There are no flowers in my canyon, but only ragged rocks.”
“Some day they will bloom, Gwen dear; the Master will find them, and we, too, shall see them.”

hi ne ni

Julia — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 03:47:10 +0000

How did others view Jesus when the woman poured expensive perfume on His feet? They must’ve been repulsed. Not only was He standing up for this “loose” woman, He was doing it at a party. His disciples were like omg what just happened…what’s wrong with this woman, and what’s wrong with this Jesus guy, associating with people like that? But Jesus did not simply blow off the woman just to save face; He thanked her for what she did by saying that what she did will be told in memory of her all over the world. Jesus was never concerned about credibility before men. He was concerned with loving the least of them.

I wonder how Jesus felt the night of His betrayal… Matthew says “His soul was filled with sorrow.” He knew the task that was ahead of Him, the cross that He had to bear, and he was grieved. He needed to meet with the father in prayer. He asked his closest companions for support, to stay awake and pray for Him. They weren’t much support… they fell asleep…

Jesus must have felt incredible, incredible loneliness on earth… He must have felt abandoned…by his friends who couldn’t even stay awake for an hour…betrayed…by Judas, one who was closest to Him…

What’s more, Jesus died for the very ones who were causing His discomforts and His loneliness. He died for those who were mocking Him and laughing at Him…unthinkable. He must have been so lonely in His lifetime…yet He endured. He was tempted like none other…tempted with food when He was hungry and fasting… tempted with women who were groveling at His feet…tempted because He had so much power and could easily have chosen to put people in their right place when the mocked Him, hurled insults at Him, and schemed against Him…tempted with so many things, yet He resisted all temptation and lived a blameless life. Obedient to the cross. Incredible. He lived a blameless life and died on the cross for the least of us…who are we to behold His glory?

When I hear You Lord and see Your majesty, I can only respond by throwing my broken self at Your feet and saying, Here I am. redeem these ashes and make them into something beautiful.

Good stuff!

Julia — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 06:02:26 +0000

Scripture: “He was sore athirst, and called on the Lord, and said, thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst?”(Judges 15:18)

Samson was thirsty and ready to die. The difficulty was totally different from any which the hero had met before. Merely to get thirst assuaged is nothing like so great a matter as to be delivered from a thousand Philistines! but when the thirst was upon him, Samson felt that little present difficulty more weighty than the great past difficulty out of which he had so specially been delivered. It is very usual for God’s people, when they have enjoyed a great deliverance, to find a little trouble too much for them. Samson slays a thousand Philistines, and piles them up in heaps, and then faints for a little water! Jacob wrestles with God at Peniel, and overcomes Omnipotence itself, and then goes “halting on his thigh!” Strange that there must be a shrinking of the sinew whenever we win the day. As if the Lord must teach us our littleness, our nothingness, in order to keep us within bounds. Samson boasted right loudly when he said, “I have slain a thousand men.” His boastful throat soon grew hoarse with thirst, and he betook himself to prayer. God has many ways of humbling his people. Dear child of God, if after great mercy you are laid very low, your case is not an unusual one. When David had mounted the throne of Israel, he said, “I am this day weak, though anointed king.” You must expect to feel weakest when you are enjoying your greatest triumph. If God has wrought for you great deliverances in the past, your present difficulty is only like Samson’s thirst, and the Lord will not let you faint, nor suffer the daughter of the uncircumcised to triumph over you. The road of sorrow is the road to heaven, but there are wells of refreshing water all along the route. So, tried brother, cheer your heart with Samson’s words, and rest assured that God will deliver you ere long.

Source: http://www.glorypress.com/devotional/FaithAndLifeOneYearBook.asp?bid=5