A glimpse into times past

Excerpt of diary entry from February 18, 2008:
[This was after reading When God Writes Your Love Story by Eric & Leslie Ludy, and True Stories of Passion & Purity by Elisabeth Eliot]
Lord, several nights ago I made a commitment to hand over the pen to you. To let YOU, the author of love, write my love story. Lord, those true stories of passion and purity have changed my perspective on biblical relationships and marriage...

[Not an excerpt. But a recollection of the night] March 17, 2008:
Setting: Salina, KS. The MISSION Spring Break Retreat
I stood alone by the lake. Reflecting on what it meant to hand over the pen to God. Oh God you are the perfect author! Write my life oh Lord! I surrender all to you.
I was young in the faith, and perhaps a little rash and foolish, making bold statements, and frequently falling short of my proclamations, not too different from the apostle Peter, when he was young in the faith as well. Before I left the lakeside, at Salina KS, during The MISSION spring break retreat, I told God: I will wait one year. I will wait one year.

[One year later] March 17, 2009
Setting: Stroud, OK. The MISSION Spring Break Retreat
I stood alone by the lake. A different lake. I remembered what I said one year ago in Salina, Kansas. Did I wait for one year? On the surface I did, but deep down in my heart, I had struggles. Of course I was not perfect. But I refused to give up. I came to the Lord with all honesty: Lord, I am weak. Lord, I have failed. Give me strength O Lord. One more year? Yes Lord, I will wait one more year.

[Another year later] March 18, 2010
Reading this diary entry, I guess I must have been somewhat occupied with “Prayer at the Plaza”*. I suppose when you set your eyes on God, and stop looking around for a potential future mate (the wife that I continue to wait for), He takes you on a different field trip. The marriage and the relationship and the dating/courting can wait. It’s a slight break from the previous years’ entries of surrendering my love life to God, nevertheless, enjoy the excerpt:
The date is March 18, 2010. The time is 1:34am.
I am not able to sleep. I believe the Lord kept me awake for good reason: To write down in an organized fashion what He has been speaking to me in days past.
I sought the Lord regarding the theme of the prayer meeting.
He answered – James 4:7 and 2 Chronicles 7:14. “Submit yourselves...”
I sought the Lord regarding the motivation of the prayer meeting.
He answered – Matthew 6 – the Lord’s Prayer. “Hallowed by Thy Name...”
I sought the Lord regarding the ammunition for the prayer meeting.
He answered – Ephesians 6:10-18 – The Armor of God.
The writing ended at 3:30am. It was a very long entry.

* Prayer at the Plaza was a open air prayer meeting where Christians from different organizations came together to pray and intercede for the expansion of God’s Kingdom in Wichita State. I take this time to remember the valiant and heartfelt efforts of the following ministries/churches: Chi Alpha, Christian Challenge, Campus Crusade, Campus Ministries at Wichita State, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Ekklesia (from Eastminster Presbyterian Church), Students of the Cross (from the University Lutheran Center), International Students, Inc. (www.isionline.org), and The MISSION.

March 17/18/19, 2011 [A date in the future]

Diary entry: BLANK

Obviously, March is not yet come. I have not forgotten about the beauty of a marriage where God is the matchmaker. I have not forgotten about the sovereignty of God; I have not forgotten about my responsibility as a child of God, as a soldier for Christ, as a follower of Jesus. Until now, I still do not know what God has in store for my love life or who my future partner is (for those of you who know me well enough and are chuckling, please refrain). But I do know these things: God will sovereignly reveal at the divinely appointed time; and I will continue with my heated pursuit of God with renewed fervor and passion. I will allow nothing to stand between me and my God. Nothing.

A correct view of works

Often times, we do "works" of righteousness in order to earn the favor of God. My upbringing has been such that I do works (earn good grades) in order to earn the favor of parents. This is in stark contrast to the biblical view that we do not earn the favor/love of God by works, but it is by grace, through faith in Christ, that we have been justified and set right before God.

But that doesn't mean we throw works of righteousness out of the window. The problem is not works in itself; the problem is our misguided theology on works. And so I asked God, teach me the proper role of works in the life of a believer. That was yesterday. God is good. The Holy Spirit told me the answer today through the Word of God.

Follow me through the Word of God. Proverbs 7:1-5
1 My son, keep my words and treasure up my commandments with you;
2 keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 bind them on your fingers; write them on the table of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend,
5 to keep you from the forbidden woman, from the adulteress with her smooth words.

Keeping the commandments of God is essentially doing works of righteousness. What is the consequence of keeping His commandments? You will live. When you commit yourself to works of righteousness, you will live. Have you ever noticed, dear brothers and sisters, a sense of lifelessness and death and drudgery when we get ourselves entangled in sin? (hatred, sexual immorality, coveting, idolatry, gluttony, drunkenness, orgies, etc.) Observe His commandments, and thou shalt live!

God does not stop at general statements. God goes on to provide a few more details, teaching us to put his words to practice.

Keep my teaching as the apple of your eye - Let the precious lessons of the bible be the utmost craving of our eyes; not food, not clothes, not precious stones, not jewelery, not cars, not fashion accessories, not gadgets, not musical instruments. Instead, His Word.

Bind them on your fingers - we keep His commandments by the way we do things. How do we drive? How do we teach? How do we sell products? How do we manufacture goods? How do we balance the accounts? How do we forecast company profits? How do you chat online? What do you chat about? Bind the commandments on our fingers, observe righteousness through our daily chores and activities.

Write them on the table of your heart - When our fingers are moving, what are the underlying motivations in our hearts? Is it for self praise? Self glory? To polish the boots of the boss and in the process ignore principles of righteousness? Or is it to honor God by observing His commandments?

So, God has covered it all. Keep His commandments through our eyes, fingers, and hearts.

How are we to learn about His commandments? I'm not talking about memorizing the ten commandments, though it does start with that. I'm talking about having wisdom to apply good works, and having insight as to what situations to properly apply them. Answer is here - say to wisdom, "you are my sister," and call insight your intimate friend. I believe God is teaching us that wisdom and insight comes from close and constant fellowship with the Holy Spirit. We are to treat the Holy Spirit, not as some source of power to be utilized, but as our sister, our intimate friend. How do we interact with our sisters, or our friends? We talk to them, we confide our secrets to them, we open ourselves to them, we are honest with them, we listen to them, we learn from them, etc. What more the Holy Spirit of God then?

Keep my commandments and live. I believe the opposite is implied - failure to keep the commandments result in death. Who or what causes death? The forbidden woman, the adulteress, the smooth words. I recall the smooth words spoken by the serpent to Eve in the Garden of Eden, I recall the smooth words spoken by Satan to our Lord Jesus in the wilderness. Sin was knocking on the door. Friend, DO NOT open that door, DO NOT let death step in through the gates of your heart. Eve (and Adam) opened the door, and death was the result. The Lord Jesus kept the door firmly shut, and He gave us life.

Keep the commandments of God, do righteous works, that you may live, and not suffer death.