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Happy Thanksgiving!

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

First of all, apologies for not being too active on here for the past week or so. I’ve been super busy with school, and I can’t promise how much more I’ll be active these next months because finals are coming up. I’ll do my best.

Now in heart of Thanksgiving, as you might see many people point out, we should remember that in the first Thanksgivings, many Indigenous have suffered under the hands of the colonists. But I should point at that the Thanksgiving we celebrate and was declared a holiday, didn’t have any connection to the feasts of thanksgiving the pilgrims had.

This holiday, Nov 26, was declared by George Washington as a “public thanksgiving and prayer” devoted to “the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”

Take this time to count your blessings and give thanks, for all your joys, happiness, sorrows, tribulations, peace, suffering, and pray for everyone and this world, for how much time we have left in it.

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Matthew 26:41 Watch and Pray

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Many times we know we need to do what is right. We know what is good, and we know we should do it. It’s so clear what we should strive to do. So why is it so hard? Why do we keep failing? It’s because our flesh is weak. Other circumstances arise, and the situation is suddenly not black and white anymore. The thing that used to be so clear and bright becomes dull and uncertain. Which is why we must watch and pray, watch and pray, watch and pray. Be sober and be aware what is happening around you. And keep watching and praying.

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Ephesians 5:14 Awake

“For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.””

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2 Corinthians 4:16-18

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Isolation has really been hitting hard for me lately. Most of the times, the only thing getting me through school was being able to see my friends, and I’m sure many feel the same way. It’s tough, for sure. But I was reminded that this is only temporary. All this suffering is momentary, and small in comparison to what lies ahead.

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Luke 22:41-42 Yours Be Done

“And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

This moment is so powerful in the Bible, and seems quite contradicting towards those who haven’t taken much thought to it. But it was in this moment we see Jesus, God in the flesh, struggle between his identity as a human and as God. Of course, if he was willing, he had the power to save himself, but he chose not to, because his death was necessary. It says in John 10:18 that he chooses to lay down his life. And he did, he chose to be crucified and killed for our sake, that we could be saved.

Here he also set an example for us - That we be submissive until death. It’s a tough pill to swallow, definitely. We are told again and again to watch and pray, staying sober and alert at all times. If you had the choice to live at the sake of denying Christ, or die professing Him, you might tell yourself that you would die for Him. But when the time comes, in the face of tribulation and pressure, are you ready to bear the weight of the cross?

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Matthew 16:24 Deny yourself

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” 

The ever present struggle between good and evil, doing what’s right to God and doing what’s right to the world. It’s been there since the beginning, since the fall of mankind and sin entered the world. We’ve always had to make decisions. We are born into sin, and sin feels so natural to us.

My deepest confession - When I was in middle school, the LGBT community had started rising dramatically and what was taboo and kept behind doors, was suddenly praised and out in the open. I was so exposed to this idea, I almost started thinking... I might have been part of it. I was a tomboy my entire life. I never seemed to have a crush on a boy. It felt right. I was scared because I knew that it was a sin. But it felt, oh, so natural. I could feel myself slipping into sin. Temptations grew stronger. And I lost who I was for a bit.

I prayed to God about it because I felt so torn between who I was and who I felt like I was, and the verse popped into my head. And then I understood something important. I had to deny myself to follow Christ. I needed to take up my cross daily.

I still struggle with it at times, but it feels like a burden has been lifted from me. I rely on His power to overcome such feelings. With His spirit, I’ve tamed my lusts of my flesh. I wondered why God would let me feel such things in the beginning, but then I realized it was so I could learn how to rely on Him.

Everyday, I deny myself. I know for a fact if I told my friends outside of church how I felt, all of them would have my back. Can’t say the same for my family, but I know for sure that almost everyone in school would praise me for how strong I am. 

But I know that the path is not easy. It’s a narrow and so, so hard. What is accepted in the eyes of the world is not always acceptable in the eyes of God. 

So I continue walking. Dragging the weight of my cross on my back, trudging my way to the end of the road. It gets heavy sometimes, but whenever I look next to me, Jesus is helping me carry some of the weight for me. Then I look at the road again, and suddenly, it’s not as bad as before.

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Should Christians be Pro-LGBT?

This is a spicy, controversial topic, but it should be discussed because it’s such a prevalent issue in our society. And I don’t care if I’m going to get absolutely flamed for this, but I’m not going to try to compromise what it says in the Bible. One could disagree or agree, it wouldn’t and would never change what’s written. 

If a Christian doesn’t know how to respond to this question, things will get messy, because now even the non-believers know a bit of scripture, and people know how to twist things. They will say Jesus taught to love all, and he would have supported the LGBT (especially on twitter), but don’t be deceived.

Now let’s make it clear - Yes, God does love everyone. He loves us all, through our weaknesses and imperfections, and He taught us to do the same. But he hates all sin. Homosexuality, is quite explicitly, a sin. He doesn’t specifically hate homosexuality. If a Christian were to commit adultery, it’d be the same.

Romans 1:26-27, 1 Cor 6:9, 1 Tim 1:10 and a lot more makes it obvious that God doesn’t like homosexuality. There is no other way around it. In the beginning was male and female, as God intended.

Just like one might view race or ethnicity as something sacred, we view gender/sexuality as sacred. Discrimination against race is forbidden, and violating it is not allowed. Marriage is one of the most important sacred relationships, and we can’t violate it. We can’t approve and support such things, as it says and Romans 1:32

Alright, then how should Christians view homosexuality?

First of all, we are called to love all. So we treat them like our brothers and sisters. Nothing less. Just because you disagree with someone doesn’t mean you go around condemning them, because we aren’t any better than them. We are all sinners, all the same in the eyes of our Lord.

Homosexuality is just like any other sin. Lusting for another gender or lusting for  the same gender, it’s all the same in God’s eyes. Yes, some people feel it as natural, some people are born with such tendencies. These tendencies are okay, but it’s about whether or not you act on them. Just like how some people naturally have a temper, or some have gambling/alcoholic tendencies. Some  are born with these tendencies, it’s part of us and our weaknesses. Being gay doesn’t make you a bad person. 

It’s tricky because it sounds like such a pure and natural thing. It’s love! Why would you not want to support love? Who could possibly be against love?

But to Christians it’s simple. Our standards are based on the Bible. The Bible says no, so it’s no. We can’t use our own standards or what we perceive as morally correct because then everything would be right, depending on perspective.

So then what are they supposed to do? 

Well, what did Jesus say to the woman who had committed adultery and was about to be stoned by everyone?

“Now go and sin no more.”

So don’t worry about it because “you’re born this way”, because it 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

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2 Timothy 4:6-8 The Crown of Righteousness

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

I love Paul’s comparison to a race. It’s such a good analogy.

Keeping your faith is like running a race, a marathon you might even call it. The prize is the crown of righteousness, eternal life and peace. It doesn’t matter what place you get, whether you’re first or last or in between. All you have to do is cross the finish line. That’s it.

But there’s a problem. This is the hardest race you’ve ever run. It’s not impossible, but it’s a painful and long and it seems like it’ll never end. The path is narrow, it isn’t flat, it’s dusty and there’s obstacles along the way. It’s crowded too, and some people try to push others out their way.

Some people will call you foolish for trying to run. It’s not worth it, they say, you don’t even know if the prize is guaranteed. They’ll laugh and live life easy, telling you to just drop the race and relax.

Some people hear about this prize, and will gladly run the race with you. They start out in a sprint, then a jog, then they get tired and start walking before until they meet the obstacles, and decide they’re too tired and stop. Some come close to finishing the race without even knowing, but give up because they cannot wait any longer.

As Christians, we’ve chosen to run this race. We’re given the freedom and will  to just drop out anytime we want, and many choose to do so. We need place our faith in this prize, because this prize makes all the pain and suffering worth it. It’s a hard, hard road to walk, truly. But we need to make it to the finish line, or else all that suffering will be in vain.

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Matthew 12:33-37 Known by Its Fruit

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Jesus was talking to the Pharisees and Scribes, but his words still ring true for us today. It’s not enough to just believe in Jesus and call yourself a Christian.  Being a Christian means living and acting like one too, for we’re known by our fruits. It ties in with James, as well, with the whole the tongue is a flame that can’t be conquered. Christians shouldn’t swear and insult others. We should strive to reflect Christ, where people look at us and go like, “Now that’s how a Christian should be.” 

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Ecclesiastes 1:2-4 All is Vanity

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?

A generation goes, a generation comes, 

but the earth remains forever.”

You know, Ecclesiastes isn’t always talked about as much as the other books. But it’s actually a really interesting book, it’s essentially King Solomon having an existential crisis. And it really strikes a chord with me, and I always think about it when conversing with an atheist over the meaning of life.

He writes on and on about how pointless life can be from the grand scheme of things. If you’re a peasant/commoner at that time, you work and toil under the sun for basically your entire life, then you die. If you’re rich and wealthy and live a life of self indulgence, it all is meaningless when you die. If you’re wise, it doesn’t matter because you’ll die too, just like the foolish. But yet he encourages the people to live vain lives to the fullest, keeping God’s commandment.

In this life that seems meaningless, we know something. Christ has promised us that those who come to Him will never thirst or hunger again. There is no need for us to really have an existential crisis, for we understand that He has appointed a time and purpose for us. And we know that death isn’t the end for us.

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Where did Jesus say I am God?

This is mainly addressed towards the view Islam holds, that Jesus was a prophet of God, not God Himself. I don’t mean to disrespect my Muslim friends in any way in this post! But the question, “Where does Jesus say, ‘I am God, worship me?’” comes up a lot, and it’s important that it should be answered.

Though sometimes when presented an answer, they’ll then say the Bible is corrupted. That’s a whole topic for another post, but to give a short answer that barely scratches the surface or even addresses the problem - In Surah 10:94, Allah tells Muhammad, “So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters” (Sahih International). Now if the scripture are corrupted, why would Allah tell Muhammad to use Scripture to verify the truth of Islam?

Okay anyways, back to the question -  

So where did Jesus say I am God, worship me, in the Bible?

Well, we have the most simple quote here (using ESV in this post):

Jn 10:30 “I and the Father are one.” You really can’t get more close to that.

But let’s delve deeper.

Prophets, apostles, and disciples of God that performed signs and miracles gave ALL glory to God. In Acts 19 when Paul and Barnabas are called Gods, they rebuked them, tore their clothes in anguish, and begged them to worship the one true God. Yet in John 20:28, Thomas says, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus didn’t correct Him. In fact, in Matthew 16:16 Peter confesses Jesus as Christ, and Jesus actually blesses him!

According to John, chapter 1, Jesus is called “the Word.” He is the eternal God and the Creator who revealed Himself to the world by coming in the flesh.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.”

For this reason, Jesus was called the Son of God. This is a designation unique to Jesus. It means that He had come from God and was the manifestation of God in the flesh.

And in Isaiah 6:9, in the prophecy of Jesus, he calls him, “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Faster, Prince of Peace.”

He is God who had become flesh to dwell among human beings. 

“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” Colossians 2:9

Being God in the flesh, Jesus was the complete embodiment of God. Hebrews 1:3 tells us, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…” 

God’s divine nature is seen clearly in the man Jesus. He was blameless in His words and actions. The Bible tells us that He was tempted in every way, but was without sin. Those who envied Him kept trying to find fault with Him, but they could not.

No other human being could exhibit God’s qualities as fully as Jesus. In Revelations 1:8, Jesus says He is the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

And quite explicitly in Revelations 5:12, it says to worship Jesus.

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”

These are some of many examples and I tried to condense my points into this post. Hope it might answer the question!

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John 14:15-18 Keep My Commandments

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

If we love Jesus, we must keep his commandments. For if we don’t, we don’t have the Holy Spirit with us. He made this abundantly clear. It says in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?” So we need to follow his words and teachings. 

And what were these commandments? It’d take awhile to list them all, but here are the important ones.

Love God, with your heart, soul, and mind. (Mt 22:36-38)

Love your neighbour as yourself (Mt 22:39)

Loving your enemies (Mt 5:44)

Proclaim the gospel and preach to all (Mk 16:15, Lk 24:47)

The necessity of baptism for salvation, and to baptize others (Mt 28:19, Mk 16:16, 1 Pt 3:21)

Do to others what you would want others do to you (Mt 7:12)

Honor God’s Law (Mt 5:17)

His commandments carry through the entire New Testament and still hold up today. We can’t follow him if we don’t keep his commandments. For on the day of judgement, he will say “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. (Mt 7:23)” Jesus warned that many Christians would go to hell. Those who did great works and performed good deeds in His name wouldn’t be recognized by the Lord. So we need to be careful not to follow the heresies and the world, and stick to his word.

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Isaiah 25:1

“O Lord, you are my God;

I will exalt you; I will praise your name,

for you have done wonderful things,

plans formed of old,

faithful and sure.”