Monday, February 18, 2013

Spiritual Journal Set #1


Lectio Divina #1 

"God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan." -- Ephesians 1:9-11(NLT)

            I believe that the advent of the Son of God is the most spectacular and remarkable event in the history of mankind and the entire cosmos. He has been with God since the beginning of eternity; He has communed and worked with God the Father and the Spirit as One in order to accomplish the purpose of God through their marvelous creation of men in their own image. The work of Jesus Christ astounds me, not only because it is the fulfillment of numerous Biblical prophecies, but also it is a powerful reality in my life.  
            "God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son" (John 3:16A) and the Son was willing to descend to earth as a lowly Servant and undergo excruciating sufferings and insane death on the cross in order to satisfy the Father's insatiable wrath towards man's sin. Furthermore, God promised to send the Advocate - the Holy Spirit - to those who believe in the Son of God. He did this so that man could be united with God and carry out His will just as Christ exemplified what it means to give God glory and bring Him great joy.  This Gospel message of what God did in the past gave me an assurance of God's incredible love for all mankind. It also gave me a desire to believe that it can change my wretched and doomed destiny into something astonishingly beautiful and eternally valuable through the power of the Spirit, which is working powerfully in my heart in this present time.  Finally, the Gospel gave me an extreme sense of hope for the future. I do not have to worry about anything, not even death. I can live my life to please God freely instead of wasting it by satisfying my earthly desires in which there is no eternal value. Ultimately, I believe that God will lead me to His glorious Kingdom as long as I keep my faith in Christ.
            This truth regarding God's love demonstrated through the creation of the world, the work of Jesus Christ, and the promise of the Holy Spirit and eternal life has been revealed to me by His grace alone.  Moreover, this revelation has becoming clearer and more real as I have been walking with Him and following His perfect decrees.  I love this particular passage because it is a great affirmation of my previous belief about the Gospel and it helped me to grasp a deeper understanding of unity with Christ.  The apostle Paul asserted that "We have received an inheritance from God and He makes everything work out according to His plan". God has already given us an access to all the powers and resources of the Kingdom of God. With this privilege then, we are able to do mighty things like turning this world upside down and proclaiming the Good News about Christ with great confidence and boldness.  Furthermore, this Scripture emphasizes that God is the one who makes everything work out not us, and they will be done according to His plan, not according to ours.  I believe that God certainly uses our work and efforts but I was encouraged and strengthened as I realized that God completes and perfects our work for His very purpose, and that any power or authority cannot change his purpose.
            I recognize that I'm a chosen person of God only because of His infinite grace and special mercy. Thus, I want to continue to develop my union with Christ by fostering my devotion and submission to Him through a continual attitude of "taking up the cross daily and following Christ".  Moreover, with the power and understanding of His will, that I receive through my relationship with God, I am so eager to do anything to please Him and advance God's divine will on earth as it is done in Heaven. 

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