fettered by time?

time is an existential cage, in which every person in creation is born to be bound to. all are alike, unable to depart its grasp, till our mortal forms are shed for the glory we are to receive in eternity. yet, i have come to realize that time is what makes all of creation beautiful.

being steady and unchanging in its very nature, time permits everything else to become what they truly are through its being in creation. time permits process, a vital fact we can observe about creation. all creation do not simply appear, but arise through a series of consecutive steps. though something may appear to be entirely spontaneous, should the series of criteria prior to its material manifestation not be met, many things in creation cannot come to be.

time permits an unsightly dirt-bound creature like the caterpillar to transform into a butterfly, a creature designed entirely for a different realm - the air. time permits the growth of a single acorn, oh so frail and weak, into a mighty oak, fit for every bird of the air, every squirrel and every deer - all animals who could have killed the little acorn before its time.

time permits you, an individual caught in a fallen world which does not recognize God, to be gradually and slowly turned to open your eyes to the glory of Christ. once found in His good salvation, time permits you opportunities to glorify God further through the painstakingly slow process of sanctification.

as saint augustine put it so poetically,

"You allot a portion of time and being to each thing, because it is not the totality of Your Creation. It is just a bit of it. Each thing must cease to exist so the next thing in Your plan can take its turn. All the things You made do not exist all at once. Each takes its turn, passes away and is succeeded by the next, until all the pieces will someday complete that universe of which each thing is part. "

so, do not lament the course of time. for Philippians 1:6 reminds us that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion till the day of Christ Jesus."

triumph of the light.

"the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:5 (ESV)

ever found yourself in a well-lit corridor, searching for a room you are looking for? when you reach the right door, you turn the knob, push open the door, and find that it is dark inside. what enables you to find the light switch right by the door to turn on the lights in the room?

your answer: the light from the corridor.

this is where i begin my exposition. the most certain of God's truths are found weaved into the universe He spoke into being at the beginning of time. darkness cannot overcome light, this is a fundamental truth. no matter how frail the light, or how big the room, or how dark the room, light will always flow over darkness. wherever light touches, darkness has no place there. light always conquers darkness, so it is the same with God, who is oft-described in the Bible as light.

God will always triumph over the devil, over the world's insidious plans, over everything that is directed against Him. there is no debate whether God can triumph over all the strongholds and troubles in your life, but only a matter of when He will do so. the trust must then be in Him, to stick to His promise of faithfulness and deliver us, when He deems it fitting.

postscript: sometimes when you do the thing you are least likely to want to do, and you do it because it is clear God honors it, God the Father rewards you in a way you do not expect. more often than not, the reward is intangible, but infinitely invaluable to the recipient.

the unity of life.

please watch the video at the end of this link before reading on...

if you decide to read on without visiting the link, i hope you will find yourself compelled to visit the link before long. nonetheless, i must proceed. for those of us who read biology as a course of study, we have surely encountered the dreary moments whereby we have to memorize a seemingly endless stream of diagrams detailing the movement and interaction of so-and-so molecules to form a bigger, complex molecule to perform some uber-critical bodily function which we only know in words.

in other words, biology is just plain boring. interestingly, the apostle paul uses the body as an analogy for the church, as a whole, in 1 Corinthians 12:12. i concur with his analogy, but what about the smaller units in the church - the cell groups? i feel the video explains itself, in this manner. cell groups, albeit small, perform the most important functions, because they are the ones who are able to look at the finer details of an individual's spiritual life. after all, God's kingdom is about the salvation of every soul since the beginning of time, and not whether heaven or hell's got a better body count.

really, words fail at this juncture...but i shall try nonetheless. the body consists of trillions of cells, all united in their vision of functioning smoothly so that they can permit the Head - Jesus Christ - to do what He wills. the cells of the hand of Christ juxtapose themselves to coordinate their muscular efforts, and the same goes for His legs, His heart, His arms. there is no difference for any other part, really. but first of all, a cell must have all its parts working together, for how can it work for the greater good if it is engaged in fighting itself? likewise, all the members of a cell group must be in agreement.

when every cell is in one accord, they contribute to the success of Christ's work on earth, but what happens if a few rebel, and turn against their Master? there is a word for this condition - cancer. cancer occurs when a cell no longer obeys the normal directives, and goes haywire, particularly in its growth aspect. the same happens with a cell group which has lost sight of Christ in their work. they may still succeed in their endeavors, but they will not be necessarily contributing to His work.

in closing, i quote the words of apostle paul, "[Christ] makes the whole body fit together perfectly. as each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." therefore, brethren, as Christians who love God dearly, do not underestimate the importance of your cell group. your participation and encouragement and love is critical to its progress to it becoming in step with Christ's directives.

self-preservation.

one of the criminals hanging beside Him (Jesus) scoffed,"so You're the Messiah, are you? prove it by saving Yourself - and, us, too, while You're at it!" Luke 23:39

am i just another self-preserving rat, Lord? or do i call You Lord because You are? treachery infests this heart, yet You choose to make it home to Your Spirit, all because of a hope. indeed, not merely a mortal hope, but an everlasting one stemming from the fount of Divine love, bringing with its outpouring, every kind of providence and power to subdue the greatest of demons, both within and without.

even then, all in good time, for perseverance must finish its work in me, that i may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

post-error.

the history of a God-led nation took an abrupt and tragic twist when all Israel demanded of God a human king. in spite of Samuel's stern warning, they refused the Lord as their king, and insisted upon their request. i look upon my own track record, and find startling parallels of my disobedience of my Savior. yet, the Lord was gracious and merciful, as always. though He revealed his displeasure with their decision by destroying an entire crop harvest, He spoke through Samuel these words:

"don't be afraid. even though you have committed all this evil, don't turn away from following the Lord. instead, worship the Lord with all your heart. don't turn away to follow worthless things that can't profit or deliver you; they are worthless. the Lord will not abandon His people, because of His great name and because He has determined to make you His own people." 1 Samuel 12:20

conversely, those who profess the name of Jesus to be their Lord and Savior, i urge you to have the same confidence in the absoluteness of your salvation through the cross of Christ. if you have stumbled, or even fallen headfirst into a mucky pool of sin, do not be afraid, but repent - that is to, turn back to following Him, and devote your whole heart to doing so. this is His promise, that He will never "leave you nor forsake you" (Deut. 31:6).

Christ is God revealed.

though we speak of Christ's wonderful work upon the Cross, we often forget the 33 years that led up to that final moment of triumph. in descending from heaven, Christ modeled God in a manner all of Creation could never perform in its passive declaration.

all of Creation is wonderful, and rightly so, for its source is God Almighty. now, though the diversity of Creation be majestic and awe-inspiring, that is all it can be. it in itself demonstrates the length and breadth of the Creator's creativity, love of diversity, and sense of humor, but it tells us nothing conclusive of the essential qualities of God - His love, His grace, His character.

this is why belief that Christ is the Incarnation of God is so important, for if Christ is not God in the flesh, then we have no personal relationship with God. we will have had no salvation, for if He was not God, then we have merely another idol, a false god. we would have sinned greatly, for exodus 20:3 will judge us.

on the contrary, Christ is the image of the invisible God, as we find in colossians 1:15. because of this, we have every assurance that the manner in which He behaved represented the very manner of God. this applies too to every word He spoke. they represent the word of God.

this being true, Christ has spoken of a heaven and a hell, of judgment and salvation, of present-day suffering and future glory, and of going to the ends of the earth for His gospel. what then have we done as Christians? and what then have you done as a Christian?

through imagination.

the power of one's imagination is personally felt by everyone, no matter young or old. at least once during some point in our life, we call upon this secret power within us to grant us relief from the rigors of reality, or simply to pass time more meaningfully than merely watching it tick by. for those of us who have realized its power, we harness it in the most imaginative (what better word to describe imagination than itself?) way. not just so in the multitude of art forms present, but in every location man has done something to modify his living environment. truly, this universal gift has universal applications.

yet, for all its glorious power, it cannot be proven to exist. for only the mind of man knows its thoughts, and its imaginations likewise. no man can peer into another's open skull and see the throbbings of the faculty of imagination. my point here is not to break down the mechanism of such a wondersome power into gears and cogs so you can increase its potential through better knowledge of its inner workings. and rightly so too, for this faculty has no moving parts, only knowing a home within the minds of every man who has breath in his lungs.

i will use the term imagination to refer to both the faculty of the mind, and the product of the faculty. i certainly hope that you will be able to discern the difference, my dear reader. though i stated earlier that i would not want to dissect imagination, i would like to explain how this power is, rationally speaking, non-existent. the imagination of a man only exists as long as he puts effort into sustaining it. as soon as he takes away the effort of sustaining it, it disappears, along with all traces of its existence, perhaps only as a wisp of memory known only to the mind who created it in the first place. of course, i am not taking into account the fact that it can be retained physically, be it in words, in form, or in a beautiful tune.

now, i think we all agree that this is a universal fact. imagination must be pulled from the realm of the imaginary and put into reality through one's physical outworking, regardless of the medium it is finally expressed in. please, allow a moment to grieve for all the imaginations so flippantly aborted because those who bore them did not have the discipline to bring their heart and hands to render life to that which they imagined. now that the courtesy is observed, let us return to my intended point. though an imagination may come to an individual who is willing in both heart and hands, it needs another ingredient for it to truly come alive.

while an imagination come alive is wholly satisfactory for its creator, it is of little meaning unless it is appreciated by someone else. ask any artist, or writer, or architect, and he or she will answer you the same. and how can another appreciate your creation if he or she does not have thinking common to yours? (this phenomenon is commonly observed in art critics, who attempt to put themselves in the shoes of the artist to perceive what he or she is actually conveying through their artpieces.) therefore, in a curious twist, one must put on the 'mind' of the creator to fully perceive and appreciate the entirety of the creation. only then will creation find its true value and beauty, and thus give proper glory to its creator, be it man or God.

postscript: for all who profess faith in a Creator God, let me add this statement to the above - all creation must have a purpose. parallel this with an inventor or an artist, his or her creation serves to add convenience to life, or to simply beautify it. all men find their purpose in the Creator God, and as such, we must ask Him to tell us our designed purpose in life.

at the same time, we are created not mere servitors, but gifted the capacity to feel and perceive. therefore, we can appreciate the value and beauty of creation. the wonderful thing about this is that we can also perceive and appreciate the beauty of our personal purpose in God. now, as i have said, we have to put on the 'mind' of the Creator God, and see things from His perspective, to truly appreciate the beauty of our personal purpose and thus, glorify His name appropriately.

in laymen's terms, God is a big dreamer who will work for His dreams, but finds Himself in a predicament because His greatest creation have free will, the choice to make a choice whether they want to join Him in reaching their personal purpose.