Saturday, October 10, 2009
Let’s Talk About L.O.V.E. (Part 1)
A post that Alicia asked me to post up, her thoughts after what Pst CK shared on tuesday.
Introduction
In Elephant Love Medley (my favourite song in my favourite movie) Ewan McGregor crooned, “All you need is love.. All you need is love.. All you need is looooove~~”And Nicole Kidman replied with a curt, “Love is just a game.”
Pastor CK shared a really good word on Tuesday. I felt that everyone should have a chance to hear/read about it so I’m penning (part of) it out.
The word began with a cross and a reminder of what Jesus said – I am the way, the truth and the life. No one else has access to the Father except through me.
With that, let’s first understand what Gal 2:20 really means:On the cross, there was a great exchange: Our fallen/cursed nature – poverty, sicknesses, weaknesses, etc – was nailed to the cross. In return, we received the power to get wealth, health, strength, etc.
Christ bore the brunt of our sins and for that moment on the cross, was separated from God for our sakes. While He would usually address God as “Father” – signifying the closeness of relationship – He cried out “God, God, why have you forsaken me..?” on the cross.
A blameless Man lost His Sonship so we may gain it. In that context, “I” (fallen/cursed nature) was nailed to the cross and (the nature of) Christ now lives in me. Remember that that wasn’t a sacrifice on our part.
Sure, we’ve all had to make adjustments to our lifestyles too – no more personal appointments on Friday nights (or whichever night cg is on), waking up early on weekends to make it to church on time, set aside time to read the Word and pray…
Is that a sacrifice… or not?
Prodigal Living
Truth to be told, the lure of the world can sometimes be very tempting indeed. Late nights partying, no ten commandments to follow, more time with friends/other half/spouse, sleeping in…
The prodigal son sees the world and is captivated by it. He went up to his father and demanded his share of the inheritance, left home, and attempted to make his mark in the world. However, it wasn’t long before his recklessly extravagant lifestyle drained him of his finances. He was left with nothing and there was a famine in the land. Famine, loosely defined, is a lack of something. Some examples of modern day famines are: lack of true friends, lack of finances, lack of peace, etc..
The prodigal son was now desperate. A famine creates a want, a desire, a deep cry in the heart. He was willing to do anything to keep himself alive. From a rich man’s son, he became a pig farmer, willing to eat even the food that was fed to the swine.
He turned to “junk food”. Will it fill him? Yes. But, he will get hungry again.
Similarly, when we do not know the Father, we will not find out what will truly quench our thirst or satisfy our hunger. We then try to fill up a want by methods introduced by the world. The feeling is tantamount to eating food at a hawker center with a lot of MSG. The food is delicious, but it leaves us very thirsty.
Every sensational experience we have will take us to a new high and leave us wanting more. That is the reason why drug addicts have to keep increasing the dosage to get to the same level of “high”.
Finally, the prodigal son has a little awakening. He realized that even the servants in his father’s house have more than enough proper food. Therefore he made a decision to turn back with the intention of returning as his father’s servant since he had tarnished the family’s name and had squandered his inheritance away...
(to be continued)
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