Pardon My Indulgence- Psalm 84
Was reflecting upon this thought the other day, about how blessed I am to know each one of you, and to share in your lives. And this passage of Scripture came to mind. Psalm 84:
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. [b]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
It's truly been a joy walking with each one of you, and watching your lives, and having you watch mine too as we grew in the Lord. Some of you, I've known for as long as 6 years, and some, 2 or so years. But each one has had his struggle, and I'm blessed to be able to call you brothers in Christ.
Some of us served passionately in our youth, prepared to lay down our lives for Christ, and were prepared to stand in the road if need be, if just to advance the kingdom. Some started off as nominal Christians uncertain about their faith, and merely as pew-warmers on a Sunday morning, head drooped in slumber as the pastor droned on. Some had vigorous faith, with deeply emotional encounters, weeping when the Spirit of the Lord came to minister and convict of sin. Some struggled through with demons of lust, distractions, vanity, rebellion, you name it. Some tore through the Scriptures page by page searching for answers to the deep philospohical questions of life and faith. Some sit in quietness and enjoy the presence of the Lord jsut as He "walked in the cool of the day" in the Garden of Eden. Some battled relationship problems, others, loneliness.
But each has a story to tell, and I'm blessed to know parts of your stories.
I think of Kenneth and the year of blessed ministry in Sec 4- the few of us giving him a guitar so that he could lead worship! Quentin- leading the school in amazing time of worship with just him alone and a guitar! Ian, ever being an inspiration in being inquisitive in the logical defense of the faith, prompting others to think apologetically and being in many senses, a true Leader! Nair- who struggled through his doubts and difficulties, arising as a Spirit-led man of God who was used to start the Saturday meeting in the first place! Amadeo- for ever being resilient and dependable as a true friend, listener, as well as being a model Christian student to our good example; and showing us that God is a god of all peoples! and Howard- growing from being bound by personal hardship to a brilliant bible student and apologist out of one shared phrase, "living with a heart for others"...
I'm sorry to flood you all with my mush. But I feel very blessed to have your friendship, and through Jesus Christ!
And I'm proud to say that as we consider ourselves a community of believers, "blessed are those whose strength is in the Lord"! And as a witness to your lives, I can say with conviction and great hope for us together, that we will "go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion"!
Amen?
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools. [b]
7 They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
It's truly been a joy walking with each one of you, and watching your lives, and having you watch mine too as we grew in the Lord. Some of you, I've known for as long as 6 years, and some, 2 or so years. But each one has had his struggle, and I'm blessed to be able to call you brothers in Christ.
Some of us served passionately in our youth, prepared to lay down our lives for Christ, and were prepared to stand in the road if need be, if just to advance the kingdom. Some started off as nominal Christians uncertain about their faith, and merely as pew-warmers on a Sunday morning, head drooped in slumber as the pastor droned on. Some had vigorous faith, with deeply emotional encounters, weeping when the Spirit of the Lord came to minister and convict of sin. Some struggled through with demons of lust, distractions, vanity, rebellion, you name it. Some tore through the Scriptures page by page searching for answers to the deep philospohical questions of life and faith. Some sit in quietness and enjoy the presence of the Lord jsut as He "walked in the cool of the day" in the Garden of Eden. Some battled relationship problems, others, loneliness.
But each has a story to tell, and I'm blessed to know parts of your stories.
I think of Kenneth and the year of blessed ministry in Sec 4- the few of us giving him a guitar so that he could lead worship! Quentin- leading the school in amazing time of worship with just him alone and a guitar! Ian, ever being an inspiration in being inquisitive in the logical defense of the faith, prompting others to think apologetically and being in many senses, a true Leader! Nair- who struggled through his doubts and difficulties, arising as a Spirit-led man of God who was used to start the Saturday meeting in the first place! Amadeo- for ever being resilient and dependable as a true friend, listener, as well as being a model Christian student to our good example; and showing us that God is a god of all peoples! and Howard- growing from being bound by personal hardship to a brilliant bible student and apologist out of one shared phrase, "living with a heart for others"...
I'm sorry to flood you all with my mush. But I feel very blessed to have your friendship, and through Jesus Christ!
And I'm proud to say that as we consider ourselves a community of believers, "blessed are those whose strength is in the Lord"! And as a witness to your lives, I can say with conviction and great hope for us together, that we will "go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion"!
Amen?
posted by leb at 9:33 PM
1 Comments:
Amen.
haha brother, you know when i read your post, truly so many precious moments replayed themselves in my mind. felt a stirring of my emotions, haha sorta like you wanna cry but not really kinda thing? =) I think i speak for all of us when i say u too have been such a blessing to us, ever ready to bring us back to God when we're down or to engage us in Christian Thought and meditation with the intention to edify. for that i thank you.
and here is the main pt of my reply. i thank God that he has given us these two years to discover and deepen our friendship as brothers. and i mean this for all of us. the meeting up for cell weekly, the emailing, the praying for and accountability. for me, this is the first time in my life i'm become so close and open to a group of friends and whose friendship i share is built in christ and identified in christ. i can never thank God enough for all of you. haha LEb, i think we're the more emotional sorts... just like a conversation we had last night at toshi's discussing abt "what does it mean to be male". haha... but ya for those of us more emo, let us say it for all of us, THANK YOU ONE AND ALL FOR YOUR LOVE AND BROTHERHOOD IN CHRIST THAT HAS NURTURED AND BLESSED EVERYONE IN THE CIRCLE. =)
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