| Friday, March 17, 2006 |
| All glory and praise be to God! :D |
LORD (all caps) in the Bible is Yhwh in Hebrew, pronounced/translated as the more familiar "Yahweh". The ancient Jews would not take it upon their lips it lest they take it in vain, so whenever they came upon Yhwh in the Old Testament (and that would be a total of 6828 times) , they said, "Adonai", which means, "My Lord". And this is God's Name. "I Am Who I Am," He said. [Taken off this sermon by John Piper]
"Now who do you say I am?"
I'll admit. I've been struggling with faith issues for quite a while now...and it frustrated me no end. Why couldn't I trust Him? Why, with all the evidence in the Word and the testimonies around me? Did I not believe He was real? No, I do believe He is real. Did I not believe He loves me? No, of course He loves me! Then why couldn't I bring myself to trust Him totally, to trust Him to do the impossible?
Bro Ed told me that I had to decide to trust Him. John Piper said I had to fight these times, and believe that God would bring me through even in the midst of my struggles to trust Him. And I believe. Surely God would want me to trust Him as much I as desire to! And so I prayed, and sought His face.
He answered, of course. There has never, ever, been a time when I sought Him and He did not answer. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. I heard, I read, and faith came. Did I not love God's glory? For the glory of God is what I should live each day thinking. God is glorified when I trust Him, even more so, for the hard promises. The promises that human logic tell you isn't possible, but for which God says He is able.
Like getting 81 for my summer unit.
Why? Because last semester, was honestly, quite horrible, what with Christmas and practices and rehearsals and emotional stuff. I basically slacked through last semester. In fact, after my exam, I thought, maybe I can only get a Credit (60%) for this one. But nearer to the release of the results, I told myself, No, you gotta trust that He'll let you have a D (Distinction, 70%) or higher! I almost didn't dare to hope for a HD (High Distinction, 80%). But bless her heart, Sheena proclaimed that I would start getting all my HDs. And I did.
I was actually listening to yet another sermon on faith by John Piper, and so wasn't thinking much, concentrating on the message, when I checked my results yesterday...and I just went, "Oh My God!! Oh My God!!" when I saw my marks. And then I started crying out of shocked, suprised, joy. It was so surreal seeing a HD there. I mean like wow. I've got a HD to my name now!
But I shan't boast in anything except in Christ....cos' seriously, it wasn't me. Maybe they moderated because many people did badly. But whatever it is, a HD is a HD! And it really honestly did not come about, I'm sure, because I studied very hard and all that. I think on my own I'd have at best gotten a D?
Of course with this in mind I'm gonna study very hard (or at least try to) this semester....for the glory of God. = ) |
posted by esther @ 10:37 AM  |
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