Mark 12:41-44 The Widow's Offering - Put in Our 2 Cu Coins

While reading this scripture today, I almost broke into tears. I was feeling compassionate for the widow and gratefulness to God all at the same time. These verses talk about a widow who offered two small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny, to the temple treasury. All of the other people who offered offered out of their wealth while she offered from her poverty. Which is more difficult? To offer what's in excess or offer what's not?

It seems that nowadays, everyone is so brought up with critical thinking that every decision to be made must be thought through in detail. The pros and cons must be weighed out before taking action so that the gain is optimal and loss is minimal. I am one of those included in this group of highly trained logical people. However, is that what God wants me to be? Wisdom doesn't come from our own endless discussion with ourselves, it comes from God. So when God asks me to do something, shouldn't I trust in Him and just do it even if it means sacrificing something what I love? This past Sunday, U.R. gave a sermon on God's request for Abraham to sacrifice the son that he waited so long to have. Did Abraham question God at all? No. Did he feel sad, yah. What father in their right mind wouldn't? Right at the moment before Abraham was going to strike his son, God sent his angels to stop him. Abraham was willing to offer his beloved son to the Lord the same way the widow was willing to offer what little she had to God. What ends up happening to Abraham? God blesses him to become the father of all nations.

A couple weeks ago, we invited the teenagers of our church to join in on the summer mission trip. They were all extremely excited but devastated because their summer youth retreat overlapped the mission trip dates. They were in a situation where they had to choose which one to go to. In the end, the ones who were planning on going to the youth retreat, ended up choosing to go on the mission trip instead. I found that it was very admirable and inspiring of them to choose to join the mission trip to do God's work rather than go on the youth retreat to enjoy themselves. This past Sunday, during our mission trip meeting, one of the girls told me that the retreat date has been changed to begin the day we come back from the mission trip. PRAISE THE LORD! This is how God works things out. I'm sure the choice that the teenagers made to give up the retreat was not easy and who would've known the date would be changed so that they may attend both?

"I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on." Lord, let me learn to put in my two coins every time for You and see that You will fulfill your promises.

Mark 10:6-9

Today is Winfred and Eva's wedding ceremony and thank God it's a beautiful Saturday morning. Last night, many brothers and sisters went to church to help organize the social hall, decorate the sanctuary, prepare the favors, prep food, and rehearse for the wedding. Witnessing all of that made me realize just how beautiful and flawless God's creations are. I'm not talking about the people that helped out or the rehearsal (though all was just wonderful), I'm referring to the beginning of the creation of mankind. God made male and female, and two are joined to be one flesh. The unity of a male and female together to form one life and to start new lives together is the most perfect idea, most perfect creation, most perfect planning ever.

It's incredibly sad to the see the perversion of marriage that's happening all over the world. I guess I can be referred to as "old fashion" about marriage but I don't think it's that at all. It's about preserving what God meant it to be and giving the authority to He who established it. Like Jesus said in Mark 10:5, "It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law" that allowed for divorce and along the same line, the reason why there are laws today being passed to redefine the original definition and origin of marriage.

Seeing Eva and Winfred marriage is the portrayal of God's almighty power in joining two lives together. God, I pray that your power rule over the this earth. I pray that we will all come back to you and turn away from the evil that perverts your original and perfect definition of marriage so that our next generations may be lead in the right direction. Lord, what you have joined together, let man not separate. Amen.

Mark 6:17-23 You are What You Eat?

Many people that I know still keep the tradition of not eating what was written in the Torah to be "unclean". In the gospels, Jesus makes it clear that nothing that enters the body can make a person "unclean" but rather what comes out of a person from within, thoughts and actions, that defines a person's "uncleanliness". That's because nothing a person eats will go through the heart; it goes through the stomach and out of the body. The first time I heard this, my mind was so blasted. I felt so enlightened after reading this scripture. How sad that so much time is spent arguing what's "clean" and "unclean" when it's so clear what the Gospels say. That being said, that was not the main message i received from the verses.

During one of my Sunday classes, one of the youths said to me that they're the type of person who doesn't react immediately when someone says or does something mean to them. Rather, they scheme and think of the worst way to get someone back. I guess it's passive aggressive for a lack of a better term. When he told me this i started to think about when I was his age. My temper was quick, my strength was unknown to me, and my insides were filled with anger all the time. Growing up, I'm sure i was a nightmare to my family. I made my sister cry every single day at least twice. I said plenty of very hurtful and dishonorable things to my parents that probably made my grandfather turn over in his grave a couple times. I'm really an ugly person - very ugly and "unclean" person. However, Mark 6:17-23, and other verses, keeps calling me to reassess the person that I am. Just in this last year alone God has reminded me multiple times to watch out for things I say, how I say it, and the things I do. It's not what goes in my mouth that makes me "unclean", it's what comes out.

Some of these people I know who still keep this tradition are a combination of beliefs - Jewish, some Muslim, and even some Christians of some denomination. Of course if you don't believe Jesus is the Son of God, you wouldn't take into consideration what Jesus had said. But even if it wasn't said by Jesus, doesn't it logically makes sense? I have nothing against someone who doesn't eat "unclean" foods, I even try my best to accommodate them when cooking. I guess pertaining to chemical balance, "you are what you eat" but a person could eat all the most expensive, non-pesticide infested, naturally fertilized, non-synthetic, unmodified deliciousness on earth but that will never make a person "clean".

Mark 1:29-31 - "...she began to wait on them"

I have always been very close to Grandma as she raised me when I was younger. My very first memories were of her and my grandpa in our tiny two-bed-one-bath, stone tiled apartment on the third floor of a four floored building in a beautiful gated area made for athletes and those who worked at the gymnasium. Coming back to the US was very difficult because I had to leave them and live with parents and a sister that just seemed to appear out of no where. Little did I know I would go to school and come to know Christ. I accepted Jesus when I was in the third grade and tried very hard to convince my parents to accept Jesus. I waited and prayed for 15 years before it happened but God's timing really is the very best. The story of my parents coming to know Christ is incredible and the arrangements of events on how it happened is worth another post all of its own. My parents coming to know Christ showed me how much God is working and how much He loves and listens to his little ones.

Now, I pray that God will bring my grandmas to know Him. Last Sunday we visited our grandma on a rather calm afternoon. Unexpectedly, my sister pulls out this new flip book thing we got and started sharing the message of the gospel with my grandma. Historically, my grandma gets very defensive when we mention the Bible or God. She usually shuns the moment. She was raised under a communist government so I can understand her confidence in the belief that everything that she goes through is a product of her own achievements. However, this time it was different. Grandma thanks my sister for sharing with her and said, "I will know in my heart, ok?".

Like Mary, Simon's mother-in-law, I have seen the way Jesus works when we have faith in Him.

So I wait like she does. I wait on Jesus for His perfect timing. I wait on Him to soften Grandma's heart and I wait for the moment He calls me to do His work.

You are my All in All

Usually the beginning of the weeks are very crazy for me. After winding down on a Sunday of church and sunday school, monday comes along and i start to think about all of the things that i have to do for the upcoming weekend. Just this past Monday I was really freaking out just thinking about all of the events and stuff I have to plan. I thank God that He's blessed me with so many opportunities to serve Him but I know the moment that i freak out, I'm not depending on Him enough. Just this past Sunday during worship we sang "You are my all in all". The lyrics say, "you are my strength when i am weak. you are the treasure that i seek. you are my all in all." These lyrics played in my head for the next couple of days yet I wasn't smart enough to link what was going on in my life to what these lyrics are telling me. Yesterday night as i was tossing and turning in my bed a verse popped into my head. Philippians 4:13- "I can do all this through him who gives me strength". I can do all this if i depend on God. No matter how many things get tossed at me he will help me handle it. In one of the passages in Matthew, Jesus withered a fig tree. He says in chapter 21 verses 21-22 that if we have only faith in him, not only can we wither a fig tree, we can move a mountain.

Matthew 26:14-16, 31-35, 47-56

Why didn't Jesus stop Judas and Peter from betraying and denying Him? Before Judas and Peter betrayed and denied Jesus, He already knew and He made it very clear to all his disciples that this would happen. Jesus could have had armies of angels protecting Him when he was arrested but He didn't. Jesus said that this must be done in order to fulfill the prophesies. If He intervened, God's plan would not have been carried out.

Sometimes I feel like I know what's best. When planning for a gathering or church event, I sometimes feel like my ideas are bulletproof. Even since I was really young I have been relatively independent. I figured out what classes I needed to take, how to get to the college I wanted to go to, how to get to the car I wanted, where I wanted to work, and what I wanted to achieve in life. Thinking back, was it really me? If it wasn't for God would I be where I am now? Even when Jesus was going through all the sufferings He gave glory to God yet I'm giving myself credit for the minor achievements in my life. Being able to let go of what I've planned and go with what God wants is not easy at all. When Jesus revealed to his disciples his betrayal, everyone said that they wouldn't. Peter said that he would never betray Jesus but in the end he did. I'm sure it wasn't easy for Jesus to have to endure all the physical and verbal abuses yet He was willing because it was God's plan.

Ever since I've become addicted to God's words it's becoming easier for me to know God's heart. He makes it perfectly clear and always guides me in the direction I should go. Giving up my own plans for His plans has made me 10x happier. I'm thankful that He's given me his word and the people around me to constantly remind me to depend on him. Jesus told his disciples to pray to keep away from temptation because "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". I've learned that God's plan is the most perfect and I see all the beautiful things he's doing around me. He's equipped me with all the tools I need to live the wonderful life He's given me.

Matthew 22:15-21

In this scripture, the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by asking whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar. I was amazed at how Jesus can see right through the Pharisees. If he said no, he would've been reported for treason, and if he said yes then the Pharisees were going to say he was disloyal to the nation. When you've got God on your side, it's hard for anything to break you.

Jesus said to give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. Would it be fair to with hold money from the government but give the money that I cheated the government out of to God? Yet it seems many Christians try to do such things, such as cheating on their taxes. Although I've never done so myself, I admit that I've had similar ideas. Even as Christians, we tend to fall. It never said in the Bible that once we follow Christ we will NEVER sin again but know that when we do, we've got Christ to turn to.

Often I get so worried about my savings and how i should spend the money. The money that i'm tithing could be used somewhere else. I could get myself some really nice shoes. However, I know that tithing is something that i SHOULD do and it's something i WANT to do. Give to God what's God's. God doesn't need my money. It's not the amount that matters. God wants me to dedicate my all to Him, and He will not let me go hungry and He will not leave me out standing the cold. Caesar is not God and the government is not God. It seems that the comparison isn't even valid.