Wun Ming

“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children.”  My friend Alan Lyle loves this statement by Dietrich Bonheoffer.

This will save me from over-prioritizing architecture. Today’s entry in “My Utmost For His Highest” the main passage brought close to home the necessity of  prioritizing fellowship with God and obeying His Spirit as He calls “… so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus…” (Acts 20:24)

I have always and had a difficult time freeing myself from the bondage of spending too much time on architecture which gets me in trouble with other things. Architecture is my calling now but the problem is that how this plays out is actually shows I am prioritizing it over obedience to God in other callings. I’m thinking specifically of what Oswald describes as “the ministry you received when you were in true fellowship with Him”. where for me, sometimes God gives me something that is so encouraging to my faith and I think, “I need to share this with someone”. I rarely end up following through because I tell myself its going to take too much time. How many opportunities have I foregone the power of the Spirit to be able to encourage another person’s faith? The thing I want is for God to be use me and to know that in the end that I never turned my back on the God of the Universe and my Lord. Oswald hit me point-blank, stating it clearly, “consider your life valuable only for the purpose of fulfilling that [specific] ministry” and ”You must be sensitive to what God has called you to do, and this sometimes require ignoring demands for service in other areas.”

His argument is that ”Joy comes from seeing the complete fulfillment of the specific purpose for which [we were] created and born again, not from successfully doing something of my own choosing.” The things that I do in service will make me the happiest in a thousand years. His example is of Lord Jesus who’s joy came from doing what the Father had sent Him to do. And he says, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21) and if I want to “love the Lord your God with all my heart” I have to love others: ”‘Do you love Me’ then, ‘Feed My sheep’” (John 21:27).

Tim, prioritize close fellowship with God, (which runs away from sin and towards true freedom!) which implies:

• Prioritizing reading the Word everyday. I don’t even realize how much I need this and how God will use this…
• Prioritizing responding to His Spirit as soon as He calls and seizing the temporal opportunity of making sure it gets done no matter the cost to me because this is my where I want to derive my value and is where my true value lies. May God’s Kingdom always be exalted because He is worthy.

“Thus says God the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring (vegetation), who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it,

‘I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations,

TO open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.’”

- Isaiah 42:5-7 (This passage is a prophecy towards Christ but I trust that it applies to us as well.)

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your hearts desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him and He will help you.” Psalms 37:4,5

“Men on depraved mind and deprived [robbed] of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.” - 1 Timothy 6:5-6

“God is the source of true contentment” – John MacArthur Commentary:

The quote above is from a larger portion of text with the heading: On Writing and Rewriting

“[For most experienced writers] as they rewrite that first draft into something clearer, they understand their ideas better…and so it goes, until they run out of energy, interest, or time… the deadline is closer to tomorrow morning. And so we have to settle for prose that is less than perfect, but as good as we can make it.” – Joseph M. Williams, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace Pg.9

My dad said something similar to me: “the one who gets things done is hired more quickly than the perfectionist.” The unfortunate truth is that things aren’t perfect in this world.

1. Fall in love with the being of God. See God as your one and only treasure. Don’t trade anything for your relationship with Him.
• Grow in humility before God. Don’t care about how people see you and only care about how God sees you. Therefore respond in humility knowing you are a sinner before God.
• Grow in love for God. Respond in generosity, forgiveness, and love rather than judgement and condemnation towards others.
2. Don’t rush to do things before you feel God’s peace found by preaching the gospel to yourself

Be thou my vision, oh Lord of my heart,

Naught be all else to me, save that thou art.

Thou my best thought, by day or by night

Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light

 

Be thou my wisdom and thou my true word

I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord

Thou my great Father, and I thy true son

Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one

 

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise

Thou mine inheritance, now and always

Thou and thou only, first in my heart

High King of heaven, my treasure thou art

 

High King of heaven, my victory won

May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall

Still be my vision, O ruler of all

 

- Be Thou My Vision by Mary E. Byrne and Eleanor Hull