No Ordinary Day

1 Corinthians 7:23-24, 28-37, 39-40

You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings. Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them. But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this. What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.  I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.   If anyone is worried that he might not be acting honorably toward the virgin he is engaged to, and if his passions are too strong and he feels he ought to marry, he should do as he wants. He is not sinning. They should get married. But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing. A woman is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but he must belong to the Lord. In my judgment, she is happier if she stays as she is—and I think that I too have the Spirit of God.

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time now. I know that Jesus gave this command not to judge anyone for we shall be also judged and the measure we give when we pass on our judgment to anyone will be the same measure God will use against when its already time for Him to pass His judgment. The bottomline is, it’s wrong to judge.

But then whenever I share the Gospel and tell people to repent and turn back to God or else they will go to hell, I can’t help but feel guilty or condemned for telling people that we are sinners and not fit for heaven. Who am I to say that they can’t go to heaven anyway? My sister even told me once who am I to judge people and tell them whether they are going to heaven or not? Though I am very sure that the Bible tells us that can tell who will go to heaven or not according to God’s standards, I chose not to answer her back so to avoid debate. Besides, I really don’t know how to answer her appropriately during that time.

Then I’ve heard the same word again recently from the most prominent religious leader in the world today. He said, ‘if a person is gay and seek the Lord and is of good will, then who I am judge.’
At first glance these words sound true and inspiring. But when I’ve heard this word for the first time, I really felt uncomfortable and thought that there’s something wrong with the statement. First and foremost, the Bible has made it clear that homosexuality is a sin and God said that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God (see 1 Corinthians 6:9). We are also commanded to speak the truth in love so we need to tell the people that it is wrong to practice homosexuality.

My point is, yes it is true that we are told not to judge people. Instead, we commanded to love them. However, the Bible also said that love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth (1 Corinthians 13) so part of loving them is telling the truth and not tolerating the wrongdoing.

Going back to the statement ‘who am I to judge?’, I felt convinced that telling people what is wrong or right according to God’s standard is just the right thing to do. However, I also can’t shrug off the feeling of being judgmental for doing so, so I asked God if am I really being judgmental?

I Praise the Lord for some enlightenment a few days ago, when I read these words during my bible reading:

Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! – 1 Corinthians 6:2-3

So I thought, we are really meant to judge the world. But this statement should be taken carefully because the Bible said we are to judge the world, not people, specially if these people do not know the truth yet. The only time we are allowed to ‘judge’ people (i.e. correct or discipline them) is when the people we are dealing with belong to the same body of Christ (1 Cor. 5:12).
So for those who don’t know the truth, we are commanded to stand firm and speak the truth plainly and boldly, out of love. Because the Bible said, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.’ (Romans 10:17)
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (Romans 10:14-15)

So my conclusion, we are not being judgmental when we preach the Gospel. We are just plainly delivering God’s message. Judgment comes to people when they heard the message and yet they refuse to believe and accept the truth. And so this has become my motivation for preaching the Gospel.

Because my country has just celebrated its 117th Independence Day anniversary yesterday, I want to talk about the things that God is teaching me about independence, today.

I used to take pride in my quality as being so independent. As the eldest child in the family, I think it’s not surprising that I became this way. I am so used to discovering and figuring things out on my own that asking for help is not really an option. So I can always say that what I have accomplished are all because of my own hardwork and mine alone.
Admittedly, I was really FULL of pride and confidence in myself back then.

Looking back, I praise and thank Jesus that He really intervened and changed my attitude (as what I always say). God made me realize how my pride and self-confidence can lead me to my own destruction. Whether I admit it or not, when I am able to make things happen on my own, I become so prideful and full of confidence in myself. And once I start trusting
in my own abilities, I forget God in the equation and fail to acknowledge that everything comes from Him so I become so ungrateful.

But I praise God that He is so gracious and merciful to forgive my shortcomings. Not only that, He has really made sure that I will learn how to deal with it. So last year, He started to teach me about dependence. He led me into dead-end situations where I have nothing to hold on to but Him and His promises. And by doing this, I’ve learn how to depend on Him and trust Him completely that He can change the circumstance in just a snap of a finger. True enough, He has proven Himself trustworthy and faithful to His promises. He indeed can change the situation in my favor, if I will only learn how to ask for help.

So now I don’t want to remain as the independent woman as I used to be. I’m now starting to learn how to really acknowledge my own weaknesses and ask for help if I need to. And unless I’ve learned to depend on God, I will not grow and mature in my spiritual life.

Last night, I attended the wake of a friend and a sister in Christ, Ate Mau. We were not really that close in a very deep level but I can say that she is one of my first friends in LAMI- Manila. She was one of my team-mates in Makati Outreach, during my early days in the ministry back in 2011, so I was able to get to know her personally. Then she got transferred to another ministry area so our interactions became less and less but we still try to greet each other and talk a little whenever we get a chance during sunday service or DIPF. And then in the past two years, she was given an assignment in her work to stay in Africa for several months so I no longer get to see her that often. My knowledge of her whereabouts became limited to what she only posts in facebook, until I learned about her death.

And so last Tuesday, I was really shocked when I read her sister’s post about her sudden and untimely death. I was really in a trance for a while when I learned about her death because how can a woman who is at the prime of her health and of her life can die so suddenly? And she’s really serving God so how can God take away her life so easily when He knows that her life can still be of great use in His Kingdom?! Yes, I know that God is Sovereign and we cannot question Him but I just really can’t help asking these questions.

I’ve seen a number of death of people I know this year but despite our limited interaction, Ate Mau’s death has the greatest impact on me. Hers is the only death that gave me real sadness and grief. It’s maybe because we belong to the same body of Christ and we are connected in Spirit so her death is truly a loss for all of us.

And because God knows how much I can’t get over with her death (and to think that her death is still a mystery to us because the doctors don’t even know the sickness that lead to her death), I was surprised at the message of my Quiet Time yesterday:

“Show me, Lord , my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. (Psalm 39:4-5)

I believe this is God’s clear answer to my question. Truly our life is but a breath so it’s really important to make everyday count. Ate Mau’s life is a reminder that life is really short and once God executed His plan about our life, we can’t do anything about it. So it’s up to us how can we make the most out of it and make sure that we live it according to His will.

Looking at the brighter side, the death of Ate Mau has still became a blessing. She became a real life example of God’s sovereignty to any man’s life. And looking at the fb messages of the people who has been touched by her short stay here on earth, I can see that hers is a life well-lived. And the greatest comfort we have is the knowledge that she’s home now. She’s now face-to-face with our Lord and we know that will see her again very soon.

Thank you, Lord for the life of Ate Mau. Please tell her that I will surely miss her.

I don’t know why I always get teary-eyed whenever I listen to this song.