Dear Readers,
Dear Prayer Partners,
It's been 6 months that I've been living in Japan now. Things are not steady, smooth, or always sunny. I realize now that I've been trying to carry a burden that no human can carry. I knew to avoid that mistake, but I still fell for it anyways unknowingly. It's a journey, to recommit this life into the hands of my Lord every time I remember, but I'm loving that He is able and that He has a plan for not only me, but equally for the people I have met. It's always amazing to be reminded from time to time of who God is.
I have a friend Ri-chan :) She has been a believer since the summer and she was even baptized but we haven't been able to meet regularly. Well she invited me to her house for dinner, so last night I got to go meet her. We went shopping for our ingredients (she likes Korean food, so I was going to make kimchee-bokkum bap) and we got to her apartment. She has such a cute college girl's apt hehe. We made our dinner, she made a very yummy soup, and ate it, and we did a Bible study and had a good prayer time :) I was worried for her because she will be moving away for her new job. I wanted to make sure that she would be consistent in her walk with Christ and was concerned because I didn't know how I could make that happen with her. But when I finally spent quality time with her last night, she surprised me with many things. And all I could think of was, 'wow God has been working in her life the whole time, and here I was being a doofus and trying to make things happen on my own power.' I tell people all the time to pray for me, and I stress it a lot, and I know the power of prayer, but sometimes I am blown away by how little faith I have. It's humbling, but my heart is joyful to know that I can depend on my God, who has amazing things in store, ready all in His timing, and all in His power. You can join me in praying for her, that she will grow closer and closer to Christ, long after she has moved away. I pray God's will be done in her life :)
On a side note, something I learned from God's word this week:
Matthew 16:24 "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would
come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"
Matthew 19:21 "Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then
come, follow me.'"
Now I don't know how many times I've read or heard these verses. Yet it struck me this week, how Jesus said "come, follow me". I think many Christians think this way, but for the longest time I thought that because I was a Christian I had to take up my cross, do all these "things" that a Christian does. I realized I glossed over the parts Jesus said, "follow me". Doing all those things are important of course, but what is the point? Because I'm a Christian? So therefore I must do these things? No...that just becomes religious frivolty. The important thing is following Jesus. All that other stuff naturally follows. I thought that being a good Christian meant I had to be humble, etc. but for what? I focused on being humble to be humble. I didn't see that my focus was not on Christ. The part I underemphasized was the most important - to follow after Jesus Christ. :) I hope this made sense to someone, because I'm kind of rambling, but it's because I wanted to share.
I wish I could always remember how I can depend on God, how faithful He is...
