From:
Our Daily Bread
March 18, 2011
by David H. Roper
Read: Psalm 37:8-11
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. —Psalm 37:8
I have a friend whose note cards are imprinted with a picture of Rodin’s The Thinker, the famous sculpture depicting a man in sober reflection. Below the picture is this inscription: “Life is not fair.”
Indeed, it is not. And any theory that insists that this life is fair is illusory and deceptive.
Despite the overwhelming unfairness of life, however, David in Psalm 37 prays that he will not retaliate but will instead rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him to bring justice to the earth in due time (v.7). “For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth” (v.9).
Our wrath tends to be vindictive and punitive. God’s wrath is untainted by self-interest and tempered by mercy. His wrath can even be His relentless love that brings our antagonists to repentance and faith. We must not then avenge ourselves, “for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord . . . . Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:19,21).
This must begin in the heart, the wellspring from which the issues of our lives flow. May we cease from anger, forsake wrath, and wait patiently for the Lord.
Lord, help me not retaliate
When someone wants to pick a fight;
Instead, give me the strength and faith
To show Your love and do what’s right. —Sper
Revenge restrained is a victory gained.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sunday, October 17, 2010
simply loving, simply living
Hey!
Cinta tak sederhana. Hidup juga tak sederhana.
Dahulu di awal masa, cinta itu sederhana, hidup pun sederhana. Sesederhana memuja dan balas dicinta, meminta dan balas dijaga, memberi dan balas dipahami.
Manusia dicipta indah penuh dengan estetika. Keindahan itulah yang melahirkan hasrat, "passion", dorongan cinta yang besar, yang dulunya murni bersumber dari mata air cinta kasih Allah. Namun sejak sang ular tua yang licik memperdaya Hawa, hasrat manusia pun ternoda. Manusia tak lagi menatap ke atas dan merentang tangan ke luar, namun menatap ke dalam dan merengkuh mengambil. Passion tetaplah hasrat untuk mencinta, bahkan hingga rela meregang nyawa, namun hasrat terdalam yang dicinta adalah dirinya, bukan sesama. Dosa telah mencemarkan konsep cinta.
Passion of Christ juga cinta. Hasrat yang menggelora hingga pula akhirnya meregang nyawa. Namun cinta yang dimiliki Sang Hamassiah adalah cinta yang mula-mula, tidak ternoda oleh rayu si ular tua. KasihNya terentang dari awal dunia hingga akhir segala. Kasih yang melihat ke atas dan merentang tangan memberi seutuhnya.
Cinta semestinya sesederhana itu. Tak mesti pudar jika dia tak mau mendengar, atau padam jika dia tak lagi memberi ciuman, atau goyah jika dia membuat gigimu patah, atau berubah seiring masa yang bertambah.
Cinta itu sederhana, sesederhana mematuhi perintah tak terbantah. Dan memang itulah esensinya! Cinta adalah titah Allah, Sang Empunya Kehidupan. Maka cinta adalah nafas, kita berhenti hidup bila kita berhenti mencinta. Seperti Adam mati karena cintanya yang ternoda. Dia terpaksa menyambung nafasnya dengan darah beberapa ekor domba.
Namun bagi kita yang telah ditahirkan oleh Darah Anak Domba Allah, bukankah menjadi sederhana?
Simply loving, simply living, day by day, looking up, stretching outward.
Happy Sunday,
Gbu all.
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." (1 John 3:14).
Cinta tak sederhana. Hidup juga tak sederhana.
Dahulu di awal masa, cinta itu sederhana, hidup pun sederhana. Sesederhana memuja dan balas dicinta, meminta dan balas dijaga, memberi dan balas dipahami.
Manusia dicipta indah penuh dengan estetika. Keindahan itulah yang melahirkan hasrat, "passion", dorongan cinta yang besar, yang dulunya murni bersumber dari mata air cinta kasih Allah. Namun sejak sang ular tua yang licik memperdaya Hawa, hasrat manusia pun ternoda. Manusia tak lagi menatap ke atas dan merentang tangan ke luar, namun menatap ke dalam dan merengkuh mengambil. Passion tetaplah hasrat untuk mencinta, bahkan hingga rela meregang nyawa, namun hasrat terdalam yang dicinta adalah dirinya, bukan sesama. Dosa telah mencemarkan konsep cinta.
Passion of Christ juga cinta. Hasrat yang menggelora hingga pula akhirnya meregang nyawa. Namun cinta yang dimiliki Sang Hamassiah adalah cinta yang mula-mula, tidak ternoda oleh rayu si ular tua. KasihNya terentang dari awal dunia hingga akhir segala. Kasih yang melihat ke atas dan merentang tangan memberi seutuhnya.
Cinta semestinya sesederhana itu. Tak mesti pudar jika dia tak mau mendengar, atau padam jika dia tak lagi memberi ciuman, atau goyah jika dia membuat gigimu patah, atau berubah seiring masa yang bertambah.
Cinta itu sederhana, sesederhana mematuhi perintah tak terbantah. Dan memang itulah esensinya! Cinta adalah titah Allah, Sang Empunya Kehidupan. Maka cinta adalah nafas, kita berhenti hidup bila kita berhenti mencinta. Seperti Adam mati karena cintanya yang ternoda. Dia terpaksa menyambung nafasnya dengan darah beberapa ekor domba.
Namun bagi kita yang telah ditahirkan oleh Darah Anak Domba Allah, bukankah menjadi sederhana?
Simply loving, simply living, day by day, looking up, stretching outward.
Happy Sunday,
Gbu all.
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." (1 John 3:14).
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Raising a Child
Raising a child isn't as simple as it is to be said. Abundant theories about how to nurture your little prescious kids in the end lays upon the abundant varieties of circumstances and each player's characters.
One thing for sure, I'm more than grateful to have my one Ultimate Role Model -- The Father -- for giving me a perfect example and showing me the basics of parenting rule : LOVE & PATIENCE. But really, though being mentioned so very often everytime everywhere, these two words are in it's nature highly difficult to be done!
Actually PATIENCE is one among all other qualities of LOVE, but specifically speaking about dealing with your little child in daily life, PATIENCE has to had more emphasis among others. I don't know about dealing with older kids or even teenagers -- there are theories but none experienced yet -- but I know what I'm talking about and I understand it well how LOVE & PATIENCE applies when nurturing a baby. A baby can't be told to do something, and you can't reason with him/her also. All you can do is to fill your heart abundantly with LOVE and PATIENTLY find a creative way to tell your baby something. Without LOVE & PATIENCE, you'll just end up in hurting your baby and yourself in your attemp to teach your baby. And finally it's not goodness and virtue that your baby learn, but rudeness and the seed of violence.
I'm not saying this because I'm a perfect mommy, instead I've been falling into this pulpit several times. I've been tempted to yell to my kids instead of patiently telling him/her what he/she needs to know or learn. But thank You my dear Father for lifting me up over and over again whenever I'm so low, being felt as such a bad mother after surrendering to such temptation. Thank God for being there for me and reminding over and over again about HIS PERFECT LOVE as my Heavenly Father that has patiently teaching me whenever I sinned against Him.
These things that my Father has taught me,and the ones that I've always been trying to keep in mind within every circumstances I'm in with my precious jewels Chrysolite and Chrysopras :
1. Every single person is made by, and for God, thus every single soul belongs to God.
My little Abby and El belongs to God? What a thought! They're not belong to me to be taught according to my will, but in a way she'll be taught by the very hands of God Himself. So no matter how hard I try to mold them to bend to my will, in the end whether they like it or not, they'll go God's way. They'll learn their private lesson from God in person. My part is to tell them God's truth, to show them example, and God Himself will open their heart and mind to make them understand the truth.
2. God had a specific and special plan for every single person.
Since every single person belongs to God, so when HE created one, HE must have a highly specific plan for each and every one of us. When our baby learn to interact with the world, we have to learn to willingly let the world teach them through experiences, by remembering that nothing happens out of the control of God predestinence. When we trust Him, we shall trust that in every single experience the kids have during their interaction with their surrounding neighbourhood He had planned it well for our good and for His glory. Our part as parents is to give the best protection we can give, and give the right direction according to the kids' talents and interests, and let God do His plans for our kids.
3. Don't put big expectation on human, instead put big trust only in God.
By putting our biggest expectation in God's providence, we'll have firm confidence that God really had a special plan for every single person. So when your baby fail your expectation in one way or another, you won't be over worried, because one thing for sure: God never fails!
Praise the Lord!
Bless my kids Lord. Bless me and my husband with so much love so we can pass it to our children. Surely, nothing stronger than LOVE.
Written in Saiti, 20-07-2006
Updated in Palu, 20-06-2010
One thing for sure, I'm more than grateful to have my one Ultimate Role Model -- The Father -- for giving me a perfect example and showing me the basics of parenting rule : LOVE & PATIENCE. But really, though being mentioned so very often everytime everywhere, these two words are in it's nature highly difficult to be done!
Actually PATIENCE is one among all other qualities of LOVE, but specifically speaking about dealing with your little child in daily life, PATIENCE has to had more emphasis among others. I don't know about dealing with older kids or even teenagers -- there are theories but none experienced yet -- but I know what I'm talking about and I understand it well how LOVE & PATIENCE applies when nurturing a baby. A baby can't be told to do something, and you can't reason with him/her also. All you can do is to fill your heart abundantly with LOVE and PATIENTLY find a creative way to tell your baby something. Without LOVE & PATIENCE, you'll just end up in hurting your baby and yourself in your attemp to teach your baby. And finally it's not goodness and virtue that your baby learn, but rudeness and the seed of violence.
I'm not saying this because I'm a perfect mommy, instead I've been falling into this pulpit several times. I've been tempted to yell to my kids instead of patiently telling him/her what he/she needs to know or learn. But thank You my dear Father for lifting me up over and over again whenever I'm so low, being felt as such a bad mother after surrendering to such temptation. Thank God for being there for me and reminding over and over again about HIS PERFECT LOVE as my Heavenly Father that has patiently teaching me whenever I sinned against Him.
These things that my Father has taught me,and the ones that I've always been trying to keep in mind within every circumstances I'm in with my precious jewels Chrysolite and Chrysopras :
1. Every single person is made by, and for God, thus every single soul belongs to God.
My little Abby and El belongs to God? What a thought! They're not belong to me to be taught according to my will, but in a way she'll be taught by the very hands of God Himself. So no matter how hard I try to mold them to bend to my will, in the end whether they like it or not, they'll go God's way. They'll learn their private lesson from God in person. My part is to tell them God's truth, to show them example, and God Himself will open their heart and mind to make them understand the truth.
2. God had a specific and special plan for every single person.
Since every single person belongs to God, so when HE created one, HE must have a highly specific plan for each and every one of us. When our baby learn to interact with the world, we have to learn to willingly let the world teach them through experiences, by remembering that nothing happens out of the control of God predestinence. When we trust Him, we shall trust that in every single experience the kids have during their interaction with their surrounding neighbourhood He had planned it well for our good and for His glory. Our part as parents is to give the best protection we can give, and give the right direction according to the kids' talents and interests, and let God do His plans for our kids.
3. Don't put big expectation on human, instead put big trust only in God.
By putting our biggest expectation in God's providence, we'll have firm confidence that God really had a special plan for every single person. So when your baby fail your expectation in one way or another, you won't be over worried, because one thing for sure: God never fails!
Praise the Lord!
Bless my kids Lord. Bless me and my husband with so much love so we can pass it to our children. Surely, nothing stronger than LOVE.
Written in Saiti, 20-07-2006
Updated in Palu, 20-06-2010
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