last nite got headache.....i think ah neh spread to me
so i slept early like 0015h.
woke up by a call at 0125 from a long lost friend
And for the 1st time in my life
i was asked to go to CPIB to bail him out.
i got a shock! quickly change and go.
shock that he did such a thing......sigh
after that we had coffee and had a chat near he place.
well just pray that i can help to get back to the right track.
i think there is a reason why Dad got me in
So Dad guide me......
Now got to make sure to go report to CPIB every month till the case is close.
BTW, CPIB is Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau
Check this out. I think this is good.
Whitewashed Walls
"Then Paul said to him, 'God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck."
Acts 23:3 (NIV)
Devotion:
Have you ever painted over a dirty wall, only to have more handprints and marks appear just days later? I noticed this recently after we had some interior painting done in our home. The painters had painted the wall that leads down our stairs--the same wall that our kids drag their hands across as they race up and down the stairs. This wall had grown dingy gray from years of dirty hands, stray pencil marks, and the occasional crayon scribble. After the wall was painted, I admired how clean and pristine it looked. Ahhh, I thought, at last.
About a week later, I discovered marks on my beautiful wall. While the wall had been painted over, the habits had not changed. The children were still racing up and down the stairs, dragging their dirty hands behind them. Making what was once white and clean, gray and dirty all over again. As I looked at that wall, the Lord showed me that I am like that wall if I am not careful. I can cover what's there--wear the cool Christian tee shirt, carry my Bible, smile like everything's great and talk a good game about my walk with the Lord, but deep inside the ugly old habits are still there, waiting to be revealed the moment life gets messy. If I am not careful, I can become a modern-day Pharisee who focuses on the whitewash covering and ignores the dirty stuff underneath.
In Matthew 23:27, Jesus called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs because they appeared perfect on the outside, but inside were full of deceit, lies and hypocrisy. In Biblical times, tombs were whitewashed to make them attractive and visible, but that didn't change the death and decay they held inside. Jesus compared the religious Pharisees to these tombs. He knew the danger that lurked inside an overly religious person who spends more time perfecting how they appear than working on the condition of their hearts.
For those of us who are in the church and living committed Christian lives, I think it is easy to slip into the mindset of the Pharisees. The more comfortable we get in our Christianity, the more tempting it is to think certain ways and allow that thinking to supersede grace, mercy and compassion. So, how can we stop that from happening? We can stay in the Word, concentrating on what Jesus taught as He walked on this earth and connecting with who He ministered to--the broken, the less-thans, the lost and lonely. We can focus on being thankful and rejoicing in Him. We can pray often, asking God to reveal any patterns of behavior that are more surface-oriented than heart-oriented. We can surround ourselves with friends who are real and transparent and allow us to be as well.
Most of all, we can admit that, while we are saved, we are still sinners who struggle with bad habits and bad decisions just like everybody else. In a world that is mostly based on appearances, it is easy to become concerned with how we appear to others. We have to daily depend on Jesus to bring us freedom from striving and peel the whitewash away.
Dear Lord, Help me to remember that it's not the outside You care about, but the inside. Help me to be more concerned with what You think of me than what others think of me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Mark 10: 35 – 40
If Jesus were to stand in front of you, what would you ask Him for?
· James & John asked for chairs so they could sit at Jesus’ right & left hand
· You can determine your place/position in the kingdom of God
4 different colored chairs – You will occupy one, but which one?
1. Red Chair - Passion for God
- On fire for God
- Life passionate for God
- Connected with God (know that Jesus is EVERYTHING I don’t have)
- Nothing else matters besides God and His plans for me
- Fire is so consumed
2. Green Chair - Personal growth with God
- Abiding in Christ
- Discipleship chair
- Wants to grow closer to Jesus (found in prayer and reading of the word)
- If you abide in Christ, He will cause you to bear fruit
3. Grey Chair - Neither hot nor cold (lukewarm)
- Tired out
- Chair of comfort, chair of compromise (doing external things but heart don't really match up)
- Started on fire for God but slipped away (If I don’t do something about it, I will fall into the black chair. Submit my life to God)
4. Black Chair - Death chair
- Sinful chair
- Shouldn’t be sitting on this chair
Which chair are you sitting on?
- Allow God to reignite the fire in your heart today
- Do something that allows you to grow – do it from your heart
- Check frequently if your life is far from God