It's the Lord's Day

All of the meetings have been exceptional lately. The ministry meeting, prayer meetings, home meeting, and today's meetings were awesome. With all of this going on, how can anyone be upset or discouraged? The church life is wonderful!

Anyway it's a great mountain. The good land is filled with mountains and valleys. Though the valleys lie ahead, they come with rivers, brooks, streams—all kinds of sources of water, supply, refreshment. The Lord is faithful, and His supply never fails. May I remain an open vessel, opening increasingly day by day. A brother shared with me not too long ago that what matters the most to the Lord is that our vessel remains open to Him. Regardless of what our situation may be, as long as we are open to the Lord, He has a way to supply you with Himself, dispensing more of Himself into you, and this is everything. Everything is to open our vessel more and more to the Lord, allowing Him to do His transforming work within us. Do it, Lord!!

Also amazing is the story of Mary mentioned in Matthew 26:6-13, and in other places in the other gospels. The title of the message for today's meeting was "The Faith of the Gospel and the Goal of the Gospel". I believe most of the saints were touched on the matter of Mary breaking the alabaster flask and pouring out the ointment on the Lord. The disciples called it a waste, but the Lord said that it was a noble deed done, and that whenever the gospel is preached on the earth, the story of Mary would also be told as a memorial. So the gospel is the story of how the Lord loved us, and the story of Mary is the story of how she loved the Lord, and "wasted" what was most precious on Him. This is the goal of the gospel, because this is what the gospel should produce—not merely persons saved from eternal perdition, but ones who would love the Lord with the first love, giving Him the preeminence in all things, willing to "waste" everything, including their own lives, entirely on the Lord. Yet this matter was preceded by the faith of the gospel, showing to us our need to develop this faith within us until we actually have something to pour out on the Lord. Anyway it's already late and I don't have much utterance to share the message in a good way…. if you want to read it, it's here. Also, there's a message by Watchman Nee on the matter that I HIGHLY recommend called "Waste and Pragmatism" (Go to chapter 2). 

hmmm

A reunião de ontem à noite foi inesquecível. No momento nem tenho palavras para compartilhar o que foi falado. Só oro que o Senhor torne as profecias da Sua volta a minha realidade subjetiva, que não sejam mera doutrina em mim.

Volte mais tarde após eu ter digerido a mensagem mais um pouco.

Stone Savior

I never really appreciated Christ as the "Stone-Savior" until the meeting Wednesday night. I always kinda glossed over it, not really paying any attention to it. But our Christ really is a solid rock!!!

Some points I enjoyed:

• "The stone which the builders rejected / Has become the head of the corner" (Psa. 118:22)
• On the day of His resurrection the Lord Jesus was made the cornerstone by God for the building up of the church—v. 24; Eph. 2:20.
• Christ was chosen by God in eternity past to be he cornerstone for God's spiritual building, but the builders rejected Him to the extent that they put Him on the cross—1 Pet. 1:20; 2:4.

It was encouraging to see that God's way of vindication is resurrection. When the pharisees asked for a sign, the Lord told them that no sign would be given except the sign of Jonah, which is a picture of the Lord's death and resurrection. So God chose Christ in eternity past, but in time He was rejected by men, crucified and put in the tomb. But God re-confirmed His selection in resurrecting this One on the third day! Now this One is the cornerstone for God's building, and everything He does in carrying out God's purpose is as the cornerstone!

So everything we do and are must go through the test of death and resurrection. We may be mocked, rejected and slain by men, but we should not fear this. Everything will eventually be tried, and whatever is natural will and should be buried and left, and whatever is of God will rise up in resurrection. Only what is of God can stand the test of death and come up in resurrection. 

I additionally enjoyed that although we have a "clay" nature, Christ is within us as a Living Stone. This Christ is solid and unshakeable! There are moments when you have a real realization that you are just clay, and you get discouraged... but as soon as you turn to the Lord, you touch this Rock, this Stone-Savior, and you realize that He's infusing you with His very nature, making you as solid as He is! Anyway, I'm speaking to myself... I felt like clay all this week, but the Lord in His mercy won't let me finish the week in this way. I may be clay, but what I am doesn't matter—what He is matters! And whether I like it or not, the Lord will carry out His transforming work! What He has begun, He will surely complete. Amen.

"Coming to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but with God chosen and precious, you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." –1 Peter 2:4-5.

So many more points enjoyed... I need some time to digest them.

rainy day

found out this morning there's a leak in my ceiling, cleaned up the flooded floor with elijah. tile flooring is a good thing.
     the prayer meeting was exceptional last night, i'm glad i took at least thirty minutes to join. sometimes you can get so caught up in your own world and forget about what the Lord is doing—alias, sometimes you have no idea what the Lord is doing. but He speaks through His members, and through them He can release His burden. my spirit was refreshed.


"That which we have seen and heard we report also to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ." - 1 John 1:3


The second part of footnote 3 says:

Fellowship here indicates a putting away of private interests and a joining with others for a certain common purpose. Hence, to have fellowship with the apostles, to be in the fellowship of the apostles, and to have fellowship with the Triune God in the apostles' fellowship is to put aside our private interests and join with the apostles and the Triune God for the carrying out of God's purpose. This purpose, according to John's subsequent writings, is twofold: 1- that the believers grow in the divine life by abiding in the Triune God and, based on the divine birth, live a life of the divine righteousness and the divine love to overcome the world, death, sin, the devil, and idols; and 2- that the local churches be built up as the lampstands for the testimony of Jesus and consummate in the New Jerusalem as the full expression of God for eternity. Our participation int he apostles' enjoyment of the Triune God is our joining with them and with the Triune God for His divine purpose, which is common to God, the apostles, and all the believers.

hmyn 377

1. If the path I travel
     Lead me to the cross,
   If the way Thou choosest
     Lead to pain and loss,
   Let the compensation
     Daily, hourly, be
   Shadowless communion,
     Blessed Lord, with Thee.
2. If there's less of earth joy,
     Give, Lord, more of heaven.
   Let the spirit praise Thee,
     Though the heart be riven;
   If sweet earthly ties, Lord,
     Break at Thy decree,
   Let the tie that binds us,
     Closer, sweeter, be.
3. Lonely though the pathway,
     Cheer it with Thy smile;
   Be Thou my companion
     Through earth's little while;
   Selfless may I live, Lord,
     By Thy grace to be
   Just a cleansed channel
     For Thy life through me.

praise Him for the Body life and the overcoming life in Christ

Praise the Lord.


I really mean it. I'm encouraged afresh just to say those three words packed with power to do at least three things spontaneously: 1) Take me out of whatever condition I may be in as a result of the typically chaotic events of my day, and elevate me experientially to my proper position seated in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus; 2) twist the arrow that has been shot into the heart of the enemy who accuses day and night, who was defeated by Christ's vicarious death on the cross; and 3) enthrones the God of glory upon the praises of His chosen and redeemed ones. I posted this quote from an outline from a recent ministry meeting on my Facebook, but it's worth noting again here: O Senhor tem perfeito louvor ou força da boca de pequeninos e crianças de peito para fazer calar seus adversários, o inimigo e o vingador – Sl 8:2 (The Lord has perfected praise or strength from the mouths of babes and sucklings to shut the mouths of his adversaries, the enemy and the avenger—Psalms 8:2). I wish I could just drink a cup of this every morning for the rest of my life!


I appreciate the spontaneity of the life supply in the fellowship of the Body of Christ. The portion of members that I may consider small has helped me in ways I have not yet come to understand, and have trouble recognizing. I long for a spirit of lowliness to just be open to the speaking of each member, regardless of whether or not I've already heard what it is they have to say. Otherwise, I'm seriously missing out. One of the most memorable sentences shared with me during my trip to Brazil captures this exactly: If you can't receive help from anyone except the members whom you consider to be more mature than you are, you don't know the Body. Amen, it's really true. I hope the Lord would really have a way in me along these lines during my time living in the brothers' house.


One more thing I've enjoyed that I can't exclude comes from having finished chapter two of Watchman Nee's The Overcoming Life. The book is incredible. What I've seen so far is that the standard of God's salvation for a Christian as seen in the Bible is much higher than the experience of most Christians. In this, we have to acknowledge that either our experience is wrong, or God's word is wrong. As a Christian, my initial response to reading this affirmation over and over again was to think, well that's a given; I believe that God's word is right, and cannot be wrong. But then I began to consider, if I believe so fervently in the infallibility of God's word, why is my experience so low?? May the Lord continue to shine! I want the life that more than conquers! I want to reign in life! I want sin under my feet! And what's most wonderful is that this is the kind of life I received when I got saved. May I learn to stand on God's word as the solid foundation I so commonly affirm it to be! May I stop striving to attain to something apparently unattainable and simply obtain what Christ has already achieved!

some complaining, followed by dispensing

Praise the Lord. 

Preface to this entry: First off, I've never seen a blog entry with a preface. Nevertheless, I thought it might be necessary to forewarn the reader of following series of mixed thoughts that are poorly transitioned. I hope the keeping of this blog would help me learn to organize my train of thought. Secondly, I tend to switch languages often, usually in attempt to maintain precision in expression. A line of thought may be expressed more accurately in one language than in another, depending on what is said and how it needs to be said. OK, I admit, sometimes it's just for fun. Use an electronic translator if needed, but don't trust in it absolutely—that is, if something seems too outrageous to come from my blog, it probably isn't the most accurate translation. Anyway, enough of the preface... enjoy! And don't waste too much time reading this, it's probably not worth that much of your time! (I mean it!)

I just finished reading a portion of the biography of Andrés Bello, an undertaking not initiated by interest, but rather necessity; I just found out I have to give a report on the guy on Monday for my Spanish-American Civilization class (yoo hoo!). My problem is a recurring one: I begin reading something with the need to extract the principal details from it, and end up liking it and wanting to read the whole thing. The guy was quite interesting, and I can relate to many of his interests—especially in the realm of linguistics and the philosophy of language. Yet with his educational background in humanities, he held some significant governmental and administrative positions. These seemed to be opportunities for transferring much of his formal learning into practical experience, having the tasks of writing, editing, translating and interpreting. Anyway, I can go on and on since I've just put down the book (I'll probably refer back to this entry while compiling points for my powerpoint presentation)…. but I'll leave it alone for now.

…But not entirely. From time to time I've been considering whether or not to change my major (again). I can never really settle on one thing, as there are always positive and negative aspects to everything I land on. Until today business has struck me as abysmally uninteresting, yet practical in its various facets and virtually ubiquitous in today's selection of careers. I'm managing to pick up the concepts fairly quickly, but some of the classes I've taken have had the tendency of just putting me to sleep. They just don't seem to do it for me like the language classes. Or Geography. Or History. Or Biology. Anything but Business classes seems to do it for me. Nevertheless, it looks like I'm going to stick with it. At least in my case, a lack of interest originates from a lack of understanding. And with some topics, a lack of understanding can produce a lack of desire for investigation of the topic. But in this case, what I understand about the study of business (that it's potentially useful for any given career path) is what will keep me from abandoning it. For some reason the reading I just finished strengthened this thought. 

Também fazendo parte da minha decisão é a questão do tempo exigido para me formar em tal curso de estudos. Parece que, daqui adiante, vou levar mais dois anos e meio para terminar o curso—já tendo feito três anos. À primeira vista isso parece ser longo demais para um curso de comércio exterior—e além disso, para alguém que não gosta tanto do tema. E com reclamação de muitos outros aspectos, a mente fica bem inquieto e traz consigo emoções engrandecedoras. Enfim, o ser interior fica perturbado e aborrecido com todo o sistema educacional. Antes de tudo cair em colapso, bem na hora de desistir, o espírito revolta—não quer mais ficar quieto, sossegado, negligenciado—oooooh, Senhor Jesus! 

…E ao render tudo ao precioso Senhor, o Deus da paz, a paz de Deus, que excede todo entendimento, vem me encher, me livrar da vaidade dos conceitos que só dão problemas (Ajudou bastante visitar hoje aquela florestinha no campus... gostei demais dela).  Hei de aprender que não sou o meu dono, e que nem o tempo que gasto no dia-a-dia é meu. Então se o Senhor já fez com que eu permanecesse aqui estudando o quanto tempo Ele determinar, em qual outro lugar vou achar a paz Dele? Não, outro lugar não dá, não senhor. Nem outro curso. Nem outro prazo de tempo. Amém.

Good meeting tonight at the Harvey's. I hope the Lord would really build us together in that meeting this semester. 

At any rate, I'm convinced. However this turns out, whatever resistance in need of relinquishing, whatever obstacle(s) in line for removal, I'm on the glory train in the tunnel of transformation. This train is full of supply, refreshing, renewing, dispensing. From one degree of glory to the next!