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| oh xanga, it has been fun.
but i have decided to move to a new blog-spot now. you can find me here: http://mattypau.wordpress.com/.
my posts and blogs will now be found on my new site. thanks for those who kept up with me and even took the time to read! even though i've moved to a new blog, you can still comment there!
take care ya'll God bless.
soli Deo gloria.
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| Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in Thee;
let the water and the blood,
from Thy wounded side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill Thy law's commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the Cross I cling;
naked, come to Thee for dress;
helpless, look to Thee for grace;
foul, I to the Fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
when mine eyes shall close in death,
when I soar to worlds unknown,
see Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
let me hide myself in thee.
soli Deo gloria.
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| 11 "Behold, the days are coming," declares
the Lord GOD,
"when I will send a famine on the
land-
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of
water,
but of hearing the words of the LORD.
12 They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the
word of the LORD,
but they shall not find it.
- Amos 8:11-12
the Old Testament never ceases to amaze me. for the past year or so, i have been slowly going through the Old Testament as part of my devotionals. and to be honest, it was a struggle, as i never grew up in the church as a child, and so many of these stories are quite frankly, unfamiliar to me. but the Lord was gracious as to convict me of my need to read the OT and to understand and to apply it to daily living, for "all Scripture is breathed out by God..." (2 Tim 3:16), the Apostles referred to the OT, and as did our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. but i digress...
there is something about the above passage which rebukes and cuts to my own soul. in our pursuit of God, we may study theology, we may read books regarding eschatology, lapsarianism, justification, etc. even in our reading of God's very Word, we may study each nuance and each word as it was written in its original form, consider the context and the parts of speech, and in our pursuit of sanctification, we may allow time each day to proper reading of the Word in which we may learn and be sanctified by.
but there is something incredibly significant in the above passage that i fear we have not considered. and if i could sum up the above passage in one word it would be this: URGENCY. we don't need to dwell into much historical context, but consider the word famine. even today, it has a sense of barrenness, a sense of need. and while we may find food and water to be absolutely important to our daily living, we have forgotten that even more so than food or water, God's Word is absolutely important to not just our daily living, but our eternal life.
but more than just a sense of importance, shouldn't God's Word invoke in us a sense of URGENCY? or in other words, are we DESPERATE for God's Word as we would be for food and water in a time of famine? are our lives characterized by a desperate need to seek His Word? yes we may say that we love God's Word, but to what extent? how extreme is our love for His Word? would we find ourselves utterly lost, utterly broken if we do not have God's Word? yet this is exactly what this passage portrays. a deep sense of if God's Word could not be found, people would search all over the world, "run to and fro" to seek the Word of the Lord.
i think the reason why the church has lost its sense of the importance of God's Word in everything that they do, why people have such trouble reading or desiring to read and to grow, why people find themselves not desiring God's Word, is because there is no sense of urgency when approaching God's Word on a day to day basis. God's Word would never be neglected, we would never need a reformation if only we would cultivate within our hearts, and pray for His grace and mercy to instill in us, a deep sense of urgency and desperate need for God's Word on a day to day basis. and would we be men and women of berean nature, who search the Scripture's eagerly. would we regard God's Word in a desperate manner, as if it were a time of famine of His Word.
soli Deo gloria.
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| "When I am told that God became man, I can follow the idea, but I just do not understand what it means. For what man, if left to his natural promptings, if he were God, would humble himself to lie in the feedbox of a donkey or to hang upon a cross? God laid upon Christ the iniquities of us all.
This is that ineffable and infinite mercy of God which the slender capacity of man's heart cannot comprehend and much less utter- that unfathomable depth and burning zeal of God's love toward us. And truly the magnitude of God's mercy engenders in us not only a hardness to believe but also incredulity itself. For I hear not only that the omnipotent God, the creator and maker of all things, is good and merciful, but also that the Supreme Majesty was so concerned for me, a lost sinner, a son of wrath and of everlasting death, that he spared not his own Son but delivered him to the most ignominious death, that, hanging between two thieves, he might be made a curse and sin for me, a cursed sinner, that I might be made just, blessed , a son and heir of God. Who can sufficiently declare this exceeding great goodness of God? Therefore the holy Scripture speaks of far other than philosophical or political matters, namely of the unspeakable and utterly divine gifts, which far surpass the capacity both of men and of angels."
- Martin Luther
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| my freshman year at ucsd, i first met walter at an in-n-out. around this time i had met annice for the first time as well. last year, i received a phone call in my on campus apartment that walter had proposed to annice. and just this last saturday, i had the privilege of watching walter and annice proclaim their love and commitment for each other, and they were wed. ... and just yesterday, i proposed to the girl of my dreams once again. =) err... maybe not the last part... again. but here's to you walter and annice! i love you both. "tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, walter and annice." for Christ's sake. to His glory. in His name. soli Deo gloria. | | |
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Im Gonna Make you Love Me
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