... Tetapi dahimu adalah dahi perempuan sundal, engkau tidak mengenal malu.
Bukankah baru saja engkau memanggil Aku: Bapaku! Engkaulah kawanku sejak kecil?
(Yeremia 3:3-4)
"Sungguh, bodohlah umat-Ku itu, mereka tidak mengenal Aku! Mereka adalah anak-anak tolol, dan tidak mempunyai pengertian! Mereka pintar untuk berbuat jahat, tetapi untuk berbuat baik mereka tidak tahu." (Yeremia 4:22)
Ayat diatas sangat keras dan tajam...Yeremia menghardik dan mengutuk hipokrasi umat Yehuda...mereka memanggil TUHAN, TUHAN...tetapi pada saat yang sama mereka masih melakukan dosa bahkan mereka nggak malu akan dosa mereka.
Ayat diatas kayaknya ditujukan kepada aku..karena aku juga seperti umat Yehuda...berdoa pada saat yang sama melakukan dosa....ahh..aku jadi malu ama diri sendiri. Ternyata aku adalah manusia hipokrit...
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Tuhan Menghardik Ku
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Allah Menyatakan Diri di gunung Herob
"Lalu firman-Nya: "Keluarlah dan berdiri di atas gunung itu di hadapan TUHAN!" Maka TUHAN lalu! Angin besar dan kuat, yang membelah gunung-gunung dan memecahkan bukit-bukit batu, mendahului TUHAN. Tetapi tidak ada TUHAN dalam angin itu. Dan sesudah angin itu datanglah gempa. Tetapi tidak ada TUHAN dalam gempa itu.
Dan sesudah gempa itu datanglah api. Tetapi tidak ada TUHAN dalam api itu. Dan sesudah api itu datanglah bunyi angin sepoi-sepoi basa atau dengan kata lain "Still Small Voice" or "The Gentle Voice of God". Segera sesudah Elia mendengarnya, ia menyelubungi mukanya dengan jubahnya, lalu pergi ke luar dan berdiri di pintu gua itu."(1 Raja-Raja 19:11-13)
Kadang kala kita mencari Tuhan untuk dapat bertemu dengan-Nya. Kita ingin Tuhan menyatakan diri dengan dahsyat yang serba WAH atau kadang kala kita ingin TUHAN membuat mukjijat supaya semua orang menjadi takjub tetapi sebenarnya kita salah karena TUHAN tidak menyatakan Diri-Nya seperti itu(bukan karena IA nggak bisa) cuma TUHAN ingin berbicara dari hati nurani kita, TUHAN ingin kita bertemu dengan-Nya lewat hati kita....
Masih ingat, ketika Allah mengutus Nabi Samuel untuk memilih Daud menjadi raja Israel?? TUHAN bersabda: "Janganlah pandang parasnya atau perawakan yang tinggi, sebab Aku telah menolaknya. Bukan yang dilihat manusia yang dilihat Allah; manusia melihat apa yang ada di depan mata , tetapi TUHAN melihat hati" (1 sam 16:7)
Jadi konklusinya....TUHAN berbicara dan ingin bertemu dengan kita melalui hati nurani maka carilah TUHAN di dalam hatimu. Nah pertanyaannya adalah bagaiaman bisa mencari TUHAN dari hati nurani??
Gampang....sisakan 1 -2 jam setiap hari dan berdoalah dalam kyusuk atau dalam bahasa inggris disebut Quite Time with God....saya yakin TUHAN pasti menyatakan diri-Nya kepada kita semua...
Jagalah hatimu dengan segala kewaspadaan, karena dari situlah terpancar kehidupan
Amin.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Hosea 13
BACKGROUND
The reign of Jeroboam II in Israel's northern kingdom (793-753 B.C.) was the "golden age" of the north, with great military successes and a thriving economy. Spiritually, however, the nation did not do so well. Hosea began his prophetic ministry near the end of Jeroboam's reign, and during most of his 40 years of ministry things only became worse, climaxing in Israel's fall in 722 (see 2 Kings 17). Four of Israel's final six kings assassinated their predecessors ("one murder after another," Hosea 4:2). As the last prophet before Israel's fall, Hosea pleaded with his people to turn to God and be saved. He warned of Israel's coming judgment but also of its final restoration. He has been called "the prophet of immediate doom and eventual hope." In obedience to an unusual instruction from God, Hosea married a prostitute and, as could be expected, endured her unfaithfulness in marriage (Hosea 1-3). The lessons he learned from his marriage helped him address the issue of Israel's unfaithfulness to God (Hosea 4-14). Hosea's ministry overlapped that of Amos and the first half of the ministries of Isaiah and Micah.
RECIPIENTS
Though he mentions Judah as well, Hosea addressed his prophecies primarily to the northern kingdom, which he often referred to as "Ephraim," the dominant tribe.
PURPOSE
To warn of God's impending judgment on Israel while showing the balance between his justice and his love:
• God's love does not mean he can forget sin. Sin must be punished.
• On the other hand, God's justice does not mean that he desires to completely end his relationship with his "wife" (Israel). God constantly tries to draw Israel back to himself. Even in the wake of judgment he will preserve a remnant.
Hosea 13:1-3 Once like champions, now like chaff. When Israel ("Ephraim") had been obedient to God, the whole world respected them (Hosea 13:1). But as they descended into idolatry, they had lost that influence and were now no more powerful than dew or chaff. Though Israel may still have appeared to be prosperous, its days were numbered and it would pass away.
Hosea 13:4-14 From rejection, to rejection, to restoration. God had saved Israel from Egypt only to find that, once they were secure, they rejected him (Hosea 13:4-6). Therefore God must reject them (see Hosea 14:4-7), but eventually he will restore them (see Hosea 14:4-7). Ultimately, Israel's defection will result not in the death of the nation but in the death of death itself (Hosea 13:14; compare 1 Cor. 15:55)!
Hosea 13:15-16 Judgment like the desert wind. Again using the figure of the hot east wind, Hosea warned of Israel's imminent judgment. It would be a time of unspeakable suffering.
Spiritual Lessons from Hosea
• Though God's calling Hosea to marry a prostitute was very unusual and was for a specific prophetic purpose, he may sometimes call us to do things that seem illogical or unproductive by human standards. When so called, we should readily obey. Abraham's willingness to offer Isaac is another example of such obedience (see Genesis 22:1-2).
• In a day of easy divorce, Hosea's efforts to win back his unfaithful wife provide a muchneeded
good example. The law provided for divorce (see Deut. 24:1) but only "as a
concession to [Israel's] hard-hearted wickedness" (Matthew 19:8). Divorce is never the
best option, even in cases of sexual infidelity.
• Though God disciplines us, he is also eager to forgive. God ordered Hosea to give his
children names with meanings suggesting judgment (Hosea 1:4, 6, 9) but later gave a
redeeming interpretation to those names (Hosea 1:10-2:1, 23). (See also Psalm 103:9;
Romans 9:25.)
Thursday, November 5, 2009
God's principles of forgiveness
Many people are troubled by the fact that they must keeping asking God for forgiveness, and they worry that God will grow weary of their repeatedly coming back. However God is not like that. Jesus says, "Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened" (Mtt7:7-8).In the Greek, the verbs ask, seek, and knock, are written in such a way as to indicate, "keep on asking...keep on seeking... keep on knocking". In this lovely statement Jesus does not specify what "it" is that we are to keep on asking for and seeking. But surely we do not imagine that "it" excludes forgiveness of sins, the very thing that Jesus shed his blood to accomplish (Mtt 26:28)?
In this lesson I would like you to consider three simple facts about the way God reckons sin in His system of mercy and justice. These facts help each of us to be confident that God will not turn us away when we "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb 4:14-16).
Peter asked Jesus how many times should he forgive his brother and he thought maybe seven times might be a fair limit. But Jesus said "seventy times seven"which of course does not literally mean 490 times, but rather that the number of times are not to be counted (Mtt 18:21-22). This is our Lord's principle of forgiveness, and we may be certain that he did not bind it only upon Peter, but also upon himself.
There is no limit on how many times you may ask forgiveness from God, even for the same repeated sin. This should not, of course, encourage us to keep on sinning. However it should encourage us to keep on repenting, to keep on struggling with our sin (Eph 6:10-18), and to keep on bringing our sin to the Saviour.
David prayed, when he asked forgiveness, "Have mercy upon me O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin" (Psa 51:1-13). In the greatness of God's compassion, there is a "multitude of tender mercies" and no upper limit on the number of times you can approach him for forgiveness.
God Does Not Grade Our Sins
John tells us that "if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1Jn 1:9). The word "all" is very important in that verse and also in verse 7. It means that whether our sins are small or great, whether few or many, whether done once or oft-repeated, the blood of Christ can cleanse them all, every single one.
God does not have a sin categorising system where for example...
• very small or occasional sin is simply overlooked or disregarded,
• moderate and not-too-frequent sin is forgiven when requested,
• excessive or oft-repeated misbehaviour is refused forgiveness.
That may be human justice, but it is not the way God's justice system works. God does not grade sin according to its severity or frequency. "God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2Pe 3:9). That includes all sinners, those who sin little, and those who sin much.
God Keeps No Record of Our Wrongs
Paul tells us that love "thinks no evil" and the Greek here can be translated a little more strongly as"reckons not evil" (1Co 13:4-5). Since this is God's principle of love he practises it himself. When he forgives our wrongs he keeps no record of them.
When Jesus saves us, our "names are written in the Lamb's book of life" (Rev 21:27 Php 4:3). Do we suppose that against our names God has recorded all our sins? No, rather...
• they are "blotted out" (Acts 3:19, Psa 51:1),
• and God will "remember no more" the sins he has forgiven (Heb 8:12, Jer 31:31-34).
Conclusion
Jesus says, "He who comes to me I will not at all cast out" (Jn 6:37). Our problem in coming to the Lord to obtain forgiveness is not that we have too much sin for him to forgive, but that we have too little faith that he will forgive it. That's because we tend to measure God's mercy and justice by a human measure. God does not do things by human standards and limitations. He has his own way. So let us listen again and again to his promises and just take him at his word. And when his word shows us that we are forgiven, let us trust his word, not our own feelings. When we do that, our feelings will begin to change, and instead of guilt we will have "the peace of God which transcends all understanding" (Php 4:6-9). Not only will we have confidence that God has forgiven us, but we will also be able to forgive ourselves.
St. Paul's 6 Steps to Grace
1. Hear Christ's gospel
(Rom 10:11-17)
2. Believe in Christ
(Rom 1:16-17, 8:34)
3. Repent of sin
(Rom 2:4-5, 6:1-2)
4. Confess faith in Christ
(Rom 10:8-10)
5. Be baptized into Christ
(Rom 6:3-4, 8:1)
6. Continue in his way
(Rom 12:1-2, 12:11-12)
Happy and back on track again
This whole week, i feel so dry inside my heart. I don't have desire to pray nor desire to study. Even when i go to pray nite, i went there just to fulfill my duty only...i don't feel like i really praise the Lord some more i was in state of "sin" so definitely my prayer was on the lips only but i hide it from my friends and i just pretend to worship the LORD but deep down in my heart i was dried.
Just now, after the prayer..i went to v4 parkir lot and i cried to Jesus, i poured everything to Jesus for almost 1 hour....Thank to JESUS, i feel better and now i am happy and back on track again....
so i wanna sing this song....please sing with me if u know :)
Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.
Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus (x2)
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
My Saviour, you can move the mountains,
You are mighty to save,
You are mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation,
You rose and conquered the grave,
Yes you conquered the grave
