God remembers and forgets

“But the very hairs of your head are numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:30,31.

Do you have personal items that you frequently forget or lose? Well, I do. Couple weeks ago I had my pair of gloves that I wore to a Bible study. When I returned home, I realized that my gloves were missing. I went back to the garage and looked all over inside the car but I couldn’t locate it. A week later I went back to the Bible study and lo and behold they were there! It happens that the following day I was making a visit and I wore my gloves again because it was a cold day. When I got out of the car I realized that it was missing. But this time I couldn’t find it anymore. Two times in two weeks I lost my pair of gloves.

When you look around there are many items around us that we easily forget. They are not needed all the time but there will be times when you need it and you cannot locate it. One of them is an umbrella. If you noticed, people always lose their umbrellas. People take it out on a rainy day. As the rain clears up and gets sunny during the day, people forget to retrieve it and bring it back home. Does that sound like you? We have a tendency to forget. In fact, God knows and remembers everything about us that He does not forget. He even knows and remembers the number of hairs on each one of us! And we should be thankful that He did not forget about us. That is why He saves us! Because He remembers.

But you know what the best part about this is? God says in Jeremiah, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31:34. When God remembers us, He forgets our sins. He completely erases them! How can this be? It only happens when we accept God and allow Him to put “(His) law in (our) minds, and write it on (our) hearts.”

Ministry of Healing pp. 458-460

The whole Bible is a revelation of the glory of God in Christ. Received, believed, obeyed, it is the great instrumentality in the transformation of character. It is the grand stimulus, the constraining force, that quickens the physical, mental, and spiritual powers, and directs the life into right channels.

The reason why the youth, and even those of mature years, are so easily led into temptation and sin, is that they do not study the word of God and meditate upon it as they should. The lack of firm, decided will power, which is manifest in life and character, results from neglect of the sacred instruction of God’s word. They do not by earnest effort direct the mind to that which would inspire pure, holy thought and divert it from that which is impure and untrue. There are few who choose the better part, who sit at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary, to learn of the divine Teacher. Few treasure His words in the heart and practice them in the life.

The truths of the Bible, received, will uplift mind and soul. If the word of God were appreciated as it should be, both young and old would possess an inward rectitude, a strength of principle, that would enable them to resist temptation.

Let men teach and write the precious things of the Holy Scriptures. Let the thought, the aptitude, the keen exercise of brain power, be given to the study of the thoughts of God. Study not the philosophy of man’s conjectures, but study the philosophy of Him who is truth. No other literature can compare with this in value.

The mind that is earthly finds no pleasure in contemplating the word of God; but for the mind renewed by the Holy Spirit, divine beauty and celestial light shine from the sacred page. That which to the earthly mind was a desolate wilderness, to the spiritual mind becomes a land of living streams.

The knowledge of God as revealed in His word is the knowledge to be given to our children.

Scarlet Cord

“Then she said, ‘According to your words, so be it.’ And she sent them and away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.” Joshua 2:21.

Some of you may remember that my second sermon at church since I got here was on the story of Rahab. I really like this sermon as it focuses on both our identity as Adventists and our hope to see Jesus again. I was going through the story again this week and I thought it would be good to talk about it again. It would be a good refresher.

When my family were gone to Korea for many weeks it wasn’t easy for me. But I knew when they were coming back. So everyday I would count how many days are left for them to return home. I had the hope of seeing my family again. Having the hope really changes the perspective and attitude to things. Without hope things just worsen. With hope you know there is a positive attitude to everything. Also, with that hope of seeing my family again, I get prepared.

What about Rahab? When she let the spies go she made them promise to her that when they return to conquer Jericho, they would save Rahab and her family. They made the promise but Rahab didn’t know when they would return. Spies told her to tie a scarlet cord on the window as a sign for them to know which was her house. Here’s an interesting word play here. The Hebrew word for ‘cord’ is mentioned 31 times in the Old Testament and this passage is the only time translated as ‘cord.’ The other 30 times, it was translated as the word ‘hope!’ Isn’t that amazing? When Rahab tied the red rope around her window, it not only symbolized the saving blood of the Savior, but also represented her hope to being saved!

We know Jesus is coming again. We don’t know when, but He is coming again for sure. We need to learn to have the hope in our heart. To learn to have hope means to have the faith. May we live with that hope everyday.

Breath of life

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7.

Today (on Thursday) I went out to clean up snow in our driveway and Sebin came out with me. As I was shoveling snow I realized that the snow was heavy enough to make a snowman! It was disappointing up until now because we weren’t able to make a snowman but now it was time. As soon as I was done shoveling, Sebin and I immediately started rolling a snowball. In no time we stacked up big snowballs. I was really excited because this was Sebin’s first time making a snowman. And she loved it!

Hyemi was in the house so once we were done I shouted and told Hyemi to look outside. But something was missing. I knew I need to do something more to the snowman. It needed eyes, nose, and a mouth. As I was wondering what I need to do, Hyemi came outside with a carrot and beans so that we can create a face. I lifted up Sebin and she stuck the vegetables in the snowball to finalize the face. Oh it was fun.

I wonder how God must have felt when He created Adam. I don’t think He just did it with a ‘poof!’ in an instant. With His creative thoughts He must have spent some time in trying to make Adam look handsome. He may have tried this and that, but at last God finished forming Adam. God was truly satisfied. Only one more thing God needed to do… breathing in a breath of life.