38 years.

14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. (John 5)

For 38 years he was invalid. For 38 years he longed to be made well. For 38 years he held the hope that he might one day be healed. 38 years is a long time, and finally, after all his yearning and longing, Jesus came to him and changed his life instantly; he was whole and he could walk again.

The amazing part is that Jesus was able to find him again; this time at the temple. I wonder what he was doing there. I wonder whether or not he had faithfully been going to the temple and this was just one of his routine trips or maybe he never had the luxury or ability to go to the temple because of his handicap; so, being now able to walk, he immediately goes to the temple to show his praise and thanksgiving. Either way, this implies that he was a man of faith.

Interestingly, despite his faith, he was still a sinner. Therefore, Jesus tells him to stop sinning. We can learn a lot from this man. The first thing is to never stop praying and hoping for something. It might take 38 years, but God is faithful to answer our prayers. Secondly, we need to show our thanks whenever we can. Lastly, we need to remove the sin from our lives lest something bad should happen.

growing.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

We should never stop learning, never stop growing, never stop trying to become better. The qualities of goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love are not acquired in one single activation. They require a continual maintenance and a constant striving for improvement and refinement.

If you or I think this current existence is good enough, we are deceiving ourselves. Our life is not meant to reside on a plateau, but rather on an increasing curve whose tail continues upward toward infinity. We can't settle for this meager life. We must want and hope and dream to become better and more like Christ, especially during the times when we are waiting and not fighting. We are must vulnerable during those quiet times..

falling Asleep.

13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonian 4)

My husband's grandmother passed away this week. Before she left us, we got to see her a month ago. She seemed so normal. We laughed and talked about old times. We planned to visit her on Thanksgiving. However, when we saw her at Thanksgiving, she had already gone into a coma-like state. It was so weird. I kept thinking maybe she would just wake up and everything would be okay.

The concept of life and death are so hard to grasp. Maybe just the death part is difficult to understand; it is entirely final and so completely unknown. However, there is much more to life than this meager existence that we know. Thank God she's in heaven. That is are consolation. Those who pass before us, if they know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, will be resurrected and we will be reunited with them again...pretty soon, if you think about it. :)

Do not worry.

33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6)

Every now and then I must remind myself how important it is to seek God and His kingdom first. I get so caught up in this life and I become so entrapped in the worries of the day that my perspective gets blurry. My vision becomes restricted to my cares and wants alone, and I forget the important, eternal matters entirely. Life is not just about this moment or tomorrow's; life transcends into something that will last forever.

I need to stop worrying. I can't worry about petty, trivial things anymore because it is not worth it. And when I do fall into a pattern of daily anxiety, I must realize that such a lifestyle is a salient warning that my priorities are not right. If I am truly seeking God first, then those worries will be abated, my trust will be restored in Him, and I can live life eternally-minded.

foundation.

4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand. (Job 38)

In those moments that we feel as if God just doesn't understand our predicament. In those times that we feel as if God is not there for us. In our doubts, in our apprehensions, in our fears, and nightmares we must remind ourselves that there is one thing we ought to know for sure: we do not know everything but God does. Take comfort in the fact that the worries we hold are only partial pieces of the picture. There is more to the story from the very beginning to the end that we are not exposed to.

We just have to wait, have patience, and believe that God knows what He's doing. He laid the earth's foundation and we weren't there, and yet we live day and day out trusting that those foundations are sound. Likewise, in the little things and the hard things and the things that we want to let go and the things that we have a hard time holding onto, we need to trust that those are also sound in His hands.

attitude adjustment.

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 2The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. 3But the man who loves God is known by God. (1 Corinthians 8)

I've been in a mess lately about school. I think this verse really speaks to me because it sheds light on my attitude, and urges me to change my disposition. School should not be the focal point of my life; it should not dictate my behavior and actions and it should never justify my cruelty, annoyance, and bad nature. In short, I cannot be cranky in lieu of school.

I need to have an attitude adjustment, and just hoping to be nicer will not work. I need to love unconditionally just like God loves me. No matter what people do or say, I need to really keep in mind that I am a follower of Christ. I want them to know His love, and the only way I can do that is by sharing His love with them.

But before all of that, I need to love God and be known by Him. Otherwise, all my efforts to be cordial are phony. I want to be genuine and not fake.

a penny for thought.

only a fraction of a penny (Mark 12)

That's what the widow offered. That's how much I think my life is worth sometimes; it's not even worth a penny. Maybe that's how much your life is worth, you think. But whatever opinion we have of ourselves, God sees our sacrifice in a different LIGHT. Entirely.

Don't degrade yourself, and make excuses, whimpy ones at that, that God doesn't care whether or not you offer yourself because your life amounts to nothing. On the contrary, the fraction of a penny that you think you're worth is more in value then you could ever dream when it is offered with utter sincerity.

In God's economy, the exchange rate is excellent. :)