From ad5abb8478ef0b1a27f38fea32a4e4fa5579595f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Pheng Heong TAN Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2020 18:02:55 +0800 Subject: [PATCH] I try to glorify God simply I am inspired to write after reading the Biblical verse, Isaiah 62:10, which, in NIV, reads: "Pass through, pass through the gates! Prepare the way for the people. Build up, build up the highway! Remove the stones. Raise a banner for the nations." And, I am encouraged to write, bearing this Biblical verse (or fragment of a verse) in mind: "sing a new song to the Lord" --- testi.html | 61 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 61 insertions(+) diff --git a/testi.html b/testi.html index 393c26d..cb6e9b7 100644 --- a/testi.html +++ b/testi.html @@ -18,5 +18,66 @@ That stranger would drop me off in a place that was better-lit (by street-lamps) we were both in. I don't think I had that much influence over his decision to leave. Maybe my god rescued me. My god is my saviour and my Rock. +
+

A longer story about God and me +

+

+ At some point in time between the years 2013 and 2017, I was acutely aware that something was just not quite right with my life. + I've felt that way, before 2013, I guess, but it had become something I just could not ignore. I somehow ended up doing the + following: +

+ Long story short, I felt better after reading verses from the Bible. Epistles (or letters) by the apostle Paul helped me, in particular. + I grew to fear God, in a gradual process. +

+

As I read more about God from the Bible, I discovered, or realised, that + I have done things that God finds abominable. For example, God says in the Old Testament that + "thou shalt not steal (you shall not steal)". (Exodus 20:15). +

I asked God to help me be a better person, if only to end my suffering, + if only to feel better. It seemed that I could not help myself feel better, no matter how much I tried. I guess it could be said + that I tried to repent. I am still trying to repent. +

+

I think God loves me. He is giving me kindness. For example, I have sunshine + most of the time (I need sunshine). And God made the sun. Plus, I grew to believe someone, or some being, or an existence other than + my own, died in my place. Like, I believe I deserved to be struck dead after doing things that God doesn't like - in other words, + I should have died for my sins (including stealing). But someone called Jesus, whom I would later address as Lord Jesus, suffered + the punishment for my sins. I believe God is forgiving. I frequently ask God to forgive me. Lord Jesus has said, "Forgive, and you + will be forgiven". So I try to forgive others whom I encounter in everyday life. It could be the staff of a restaurant who abruptly + cleans the table I'm at, without so much as a smile at me. Lord Jesus taught mankind a prayer that includes the line, "Father in Heaven [...], + forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors". So, I ask God to be nice to that particular member of the restaurant-staff + who did not smile at me, who seemed so robot-like to me. I do this in the hopes that I myself am forgiven. + + +

+

Long story short, and as a way to summarise the above, I note the following: +

    +
  1. I felt distressed, severely so +
    2. +
  2. I exhausted all the ways I could find to make myself feel better, without success +
    3. +
  3. I came across verses in the Bible. Or, as I now believe, God sent the Bible to me, in His generosity. +
    4. +
  4. I asked God for wisdom to understand what I have read in the Bible. (And if I have wisdom now, I believe it was + God who gave it to me. And I believe God is still giving wisdom to me, as I write this - consider me a fool!) +
    5. +
  5. I acted based on what I read in the Bible. +
    6. +
  6. I am happy now. I am in God's care. +
    7. +
+