Takeaways and thoughts

Some recent take-aways from class and my own thoughts:
1. God’s grace and forgiveness
Dwell in peace with the Lord’s presence b/c Jesus Christ. Always go to the Lord and thank His grace and forgiveness, its amazingly true.

We grow older in our lives, we are more desperately in our lives to need the Lord. There are areas in our lives, we repeatedly failed. Instead of running away to hide and stop reading the bible thinking how God could possibly forgive for what we did, we can come back to the Lord, have confidence that His grace is bigger and we can thank Him for Jesus and His forgiveness. The repeated failures do not block us from the Lord’s presence. No matter what our past is, we can still dwell in peace with the Lord, in God’s favor, because of Jesus Christ, which has already be done.

Law crashes us for it measures degree of failures. Grace, on the other hand, measures great success. The reference point for grace is dead flat zero. Grace celebrates each success.

When babies first learn how to walk, they fall repeatedly. In the process, they may start to hold a little longer before they fall but they soon fall again. You never see a baby crying I will never learn to walk. When the parents watching the babies, they celebrate each little progresses babies make and firmly believe they will be able to walk. Just like how the Lord watching us for areas of our lives.

2. What is hope
When we try to define a human being, we define them by thoughts, action, ……but when we look at babies, they do not have any of those characters. But we still clearly call them human beings. Why? Because we will have confidence that they will grow into the characters of a human being.

This is just like God and us. God see us who will grow bearing His characters.

Hope is not a mind game.

3. From external
Early on in our lives, we prayed for cars, jobs, God provided our external needs. Then He invited us to grow. Unfortunately there is only one way we will grow. ONLY ONE WAY. Tough times, the stuff we will never sign up for, are the opportunities for us to grow. Paul knows the process, exalted in the mist of practical life, and so should we. None of us like pressure, difficulties, narrow areas, but that’s how we grow the fastest, and deepest to a relationship with the Lord.
Difficulties are an invitation from the Lord, going in partnership together with Him. When situation and or temptation is up, instead of screaming it is enough already, we can be thankful, like Paul, knowing the process, God is helping us and we are moving forward together. Be open to what God is teaching me now…

4. Tune time
We trusted the Lord to do the new way. However there are tune times. We set aside the old, but not see the new yet. Lord, you are working in me. Develop a habit of trusting in the Lord, we are going through and hanging in here together. “I will hang in there. I will see what will happen”.

5. Voice
If we succeed once and failed three times, we are still in God’s favor. However, our voices can be either like God’s: "great, I know you will succeed” or Satan's: "I know the Word, but you, forget it, it will never happen.”

Which one do you choose?

6. Internal
God changes us in a helical process. Our success rate will be higher and higher and the level of temptation will be bigger and bigger and we grow into a deeper and deeper relationship with God.
Like peeling an onion, layer by layer, tears on the way.
Some areas are repeatedly come back, each time with a different scope and intensity.

7. Kindness leads to repentance
Repentance= change of mind
We repent because of God's gental grace, not because of persuasion and law. we want others to repent, what shall we us? God's way or our way?

8. Blood=life
Our physical bodies reflect how our spiritual bodies work. Blood represent the life, blood provide nutrition and cleansing to other parts of the organs. Heart drives the blood, going through the lung, obtaining from the nature and to the organs. Spirit resides in the heart.

9. Why to pray out loud?
God does not require us praying out loud but it is for our own benefit. Sometimes it is to make our will yield to what we are praying. Sometimes is to make us confident that we are communicating with God not just going through things in our minds.
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Enjoy the opportunities that you will grow with the Lord!
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