Asian and American

Asian and American
Japanese Stella near Jefferson and FDR Memorials

Friday, May 25, 2012

Friday May 25, 2012

My oh my, how life can suck, how just terribly bad and challenging life can be - things go wrong, other things that you counted on to happen don't, dreams get squashed, hopes dashed, wishes never happen.  Hate, discrimination, prejudice, bias and disdain come suddenly into your life from nowhere, totally unexpected.  So, life can be such sorrow and full of regrets, shame, pain, remorse, and sad depressing memories.  
However, we are not alone.  God knows everything in our lives - EVERYTHING.  God still loves you and me and still wants to relevant and central in our lives.   God loves us and God will bless us by turning sorrow into joy, despair replaced by hope, setbacks replaced by gifts of love.  God loves us and will not let life beat us down.  
We have to do our part.  We must come to God, submit to His will and accept His Grace.  We must ask forgiveness of our sins, accept Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer, and then ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us with His presence.  We must accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as our pathway and our God who will lead us back to God the Father.
Come, come to God and ask.  Come to God in awe, worship and submission of your will to God's.  


Consider today's meditation by Charles Spurgeon:



May 25


Morning
“Forsake me not, O Lord.”  Psalm 38:21
Frequently we pray that God would not forsake us in the hour of trial and temptation, but we too much forget that we have need to use this prayer at all times. There is no moment of our life, however holy, in which we can do without his constant upholding. Whether in light or in darkness, in communion or in temptation, we alike need the prayer, “Forsake me not, O Lord.” “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” 
A little child, while learning to walk, always needs the nurse’s aid. The ship left by the pilot drifts at once from her course. We cannot do without continued aid from above; let it then be your prayer to-day, “Forsake me not. Father, forsake not thy child, lest he fall by the hand of the enemy. Shepherd, forsake not thy lamb, lest he wander from the safety of the fold. Great Husbandman, forsake not thy plant, lest it wither and die. ‘Forsake me not, O Lord,’ now; and forsake me not at any moment of my life. Forsake me not in my joys, lest they absorb my heart. Forsake me not in my sorrows, lest I murmur against thee. Forsake me not in the day of my repentance, lest I lose the hope of pardon, and fall into despair; and forsake me not in the day of my strongest faith, lest faith degenerate into presumption. 
Forsake me not, for without thee I am weak, but with thee I am strong. Forsake me not, for my path is dangerous, and full of snares, and I cannot do without thy guidance. The hen forsakes not her brood, do thou then evermore cover me with thy feathers, and permit me under thy wings to find my refuge. ‘Be not far from me, O Lord, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.’ ‘Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation!’“
“O ever in our cleansed breast,
Bid thine Eternal Spirit rest;
And make our secret soul to be
A temple pure and worthy thee.”


Evening
“And they rose up the same hour, and returned Jerusalem ... and they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them.”   Luke 24:33, Luke 24:35
When the two disciples had reached Emmaus, and were refreshing themselves at the evening meal, the mysterious stranger who had so enchanted them upon the road, took bread and brake it, made himself known to them, and then vanished out of their sight. They had constrained him to abide with them, because the day was far spent; but now, although it was much later, their love was a lamp to their feet, yea, wings also; they forgot the darkness, their weariness was all gone, and forthwith they journeyed back the threescore furlongs to tell the gladsome news of a risen Lord, who had appeared to them by the way. 
They reached the Christians in Jerusalem, and were received by a burst of joyful news before they could tell their own tale. These early Christians were all on fire to speak of Christ’s resurrection, and to proclaim what they knew of the Lord; they made common property of their experiences. 
This evening let their example impress us deeply. We too must bear our witness concerning Jesus. John’s account of the sepulchre needed to be supplemented by Peter; and Mary could speak of something further still; combined, we have a full testimony from which nothing can be spared. We have each of us peculiar gifts and special manifestations; but the one object God has in view is the perfecting of the whole body of Christ. 
We must, therefore, bring our spiritual possessions and lay them at the apostle’s feet, and make distribution unto all of what God has given to us. Keep back no part of the precious truth, but speak what you know, and testify what you have seen. Let not the toil or darkness, or possible unbelief of your friends, weigh one moment in the scale.


Up, and be marching to the place of duty, and there tell what great things God has shown to your soul.

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