peace . love . joy

Friday morning found me washing up the breakfast dishes while my three siblings were in school, father was at work and my mum somewhere in another part of the house. As usual, when I'm relatively alone, I sing (or at least I try to). And my song choice was "Your Grace still amazes me" by Phillips, Craig & Dean.

I love songs that somehow possess that special magic. Somehow God blessed the lyricist\composer with the words and the music to go with it that expresses so well, the hit-it-right-on-the-nail type of accuracy, what is inside the heart, that which is desperately scratching the walls of the being to get out, to be expressed and proclaimed. Many songs are beautiful. Many speak to me personally. But not many, even not those I myself write, can articulate what I feel on the inside. And trust me, it is agonising trying to find the right words, the right melody, the right accompaniment, the right instrument, the right color, the right stroke of a pen to show and tell God how I feel towards Him. And I really want to. I guess that's why it gets pretty tiring and desperate on my part. I know He knows, but I still want to do something to show Him, make Him proud. I just want to. No, I need to. I cannot not sing out to God. I cannot not try to be miserably creative for His sake.

Anyways, after doing the dishes, I did my quiet time with God. And it was about humility. And the way it was presented was rather new to me and really made me think again, try to understand.

Jesus is the physical, and non-physical, embodiment of two naked truths about us, God's human babies. We are sinful and are convicted by the Holy Spirit as such. We know that God hates sin to the point that He can't even look at it. He's telling us that our brand of 'righteousness' really is nothing more than filth and dirt. But in that same breath, God's pulling us, drawing us close for a warm fuzzy bear hug just like the father of the prodigal son. He's telling us how much He loves us, yes, He'll spank us when we're naughty, but that's how much He loves us. He cares that much to want to be a part of our lives. He'd rather die than have to spend all eternity without us.

It is precisely within that tension of the two truths that real humility lies.

Humility is nothing more and nothing less than knowing the truth of who we are in Christ Jesus. And only a relationship with Him can give us the genuine thing, not pride disguised, nor a ploy to squeeze for ourselves more compliments.

We who are absolutely hopeless are now filled with hope, utterly lost but now happily found.

Do not forget who you are, looking to others to tell you who you are. Do not lose sight of the truth of what Jesus has done for you and in you. Do not forget that your purpose is not to gain attention and praise for yourself, but that you might bring glory to God, using your talents and gifts as a response in gratitude to Him, winning praise for the Lord God.