Certain in God's Faithfulness?

I like to watch TV. I admit, sometimes I watch too much TV. And because I tend to forget the story after a while, it's become a habit of mine to re-watch my favorite shows from time to time. Looking at all those TV shows, I came to realize that I am a kind of person who likes to watch a strong and solid character. Series like Bones and Castle, my favorite kind ^_^, are very entertaining because it gives us 'perfect' characters who are very capable to do their jobs and in fact, at the top of their game. Though, like any other good stories, they often encounter problems, you'd still get the feeling that everything would be okay at the end because those leaders are good.

Other more challenging series like Life, however, is just okay for me because watching it can create an unsettling feeling. While it is a very good series, I often feel restless watching it because there is always a possibility that the lead character would do something stupid that can ruin his life. Call me silly, but I really don't like that feeling. For me, watching TV is supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable moment.

Anyway, why am I talking about TV series? Well, today devotion focuses on certainty in God's faithfulness. It talks about how Jesus, even through His last moment, was so certain in God's faithfulness that His faith radiates to His disciples and it guides Him through the suffering.

We all like certainty. It's kind of funny that way. Because there are many unpredictable events in our lives, we like to keep everything that's close to us very predictable. That's why trust and honesty become very crucial in any relationship because we need a certainty that we can count on those who are close to us in time of needs.

The question is how about our relationship with God. I know that I am not dependable, but can I trust God to be dependable? While it seems like an easy question to answer, I know that many times in my life, I doubt God for no reason. It's kind of sad that I found certainty in my favorite TV series but couldn't find it in my relationship with God.

Walker says, "Jesus was so sure that God's faithfulness would be present in all circumstances that his certainty radiated throughout his whole being" (2009, p.22). Wow... can I radiate with certainty? I guess that's a question I have to answer with my life.

Look at Things Above?

I have been watching the TED for last couple of days and learned so much about new technology. I'm quite impressed that they make the presentation available for everyone to see. One of the presentation talks about perception.

The presenter gives an illustration that when we look down to our feet, our range of perception is very limited. Yes, we can still walk and it's fine, but we would not be able to prepare ourselves against possible danger that might come.

When we start to raise our head, then our range of view will expand which gives us a better chance to survive since we can see the danger that might come from in front of us and helps us to relate to those around us.

However, our lives is not just about surviving, but about improving and enjoying life. That's why, from time to time, we want to lift our head up and see things slightly above us. That way, we can enjoy the sky and make attempt to improve the qualities of our lives.

The presenter then jokingly warns that while want to be able to look up, we need to be careful to know when to stop. If we continue to look up and up, we would eventually lose sight of everything and can only look at view directly above us. He says that it's "God". He then jokingly says that "God is the answer when there is no answer" (it's more like a mockery statement rather than a belief statement).

While people laughed and found it funny, I personally found it ironic because I really believe it's true and no other people has put it in a better word than the person who doesn't believe in it. (Please note I do NOT know his background belief and all my arguments are based on my perception of him). Yes, it might seem funny, but this is the key of my belief. In fact, without regularly 'looking up', I don't think I could survive in this confusing world. Without 'looking up', I wouldn't even know where to go. Quite opposite to the presenter, I find 'looking up' is the key to look forward in life.

In one of the devotion, Walker quotes Colossians 3:2 as the Bible verse which says, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things". I do believe that this is the key to walk our Christian lives. After all, our home is not on earth but it's in heaven.

Please note that I do NOT own these pictures.

Funny little thing called FAITH

One of the big topic for the last couple days of devotion seems to spin around this little and powerful thing called faith.
What is faith anyway?

Religious people sees it as the key of their belief
Rationalist calls it (quoted from my favorite TV series, "Bones") "an irrational belief in something that is logically impossible"
Marxism argues it to be "the opiate of the people"
And for most of us, we tend to treat it as an encouraging word when nothing else seems to work.

What is Faith anyway?

The bible describes faith as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). This definition didn't make a lot of sense to me before. I used to like this sentence just because it sounds smart and intelligent but I didn't really understand what it means. Lately, it started to click together for me.

For me, faith is a conviction of the heart of what we believe in. While we can try to convince ourselves by saying that we believe, our heart knows the truth in us. The key is not about knowing or saying that we believe, the key is to convince our heart. That's why in Mark 9:24 we got a statement such as "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!".