There is no one who compares to Jesus(8)

Pheww... Crazy midterms are almost done and here come exams in not too long from now; it's like a never-ending cycle. I feel like all I do is study. I know that's not true, and I'm probably not the only one that feels that way, but it just gets pretty insane. It's like I spend hours and hours trying to get stuff through my brain and only a small fraction actually gets through. But I cannot complain and say that this hasn't worked out for the best. The grace I've experienced from the Lord these past couple of weeks has been truly indescribable. The Lord is so wise in His works. Seriously, no one could ever compare. He knows exactly what He's doing. I feel so incredibly priviledge to have Him as my Lord. I really love that hymn that says, "Oh never speak of sacrifice! A privilege untold is to be His at any price, in Calvary's hosts enrolled." It describes our experience in a perfect way: it's a privilege to belong to Jesus. Our God is so amazing; it just blows my mind.

One reason why I really like writing on here is because I get to reflect on what the Lord is doing in my life at each point in time. I also get to thank my Lord and praise Him for His faithfulness and abundant riches as each day goes by. Sometimes I write and it's not really until I'm actually typing the words that I truly see how the Lord has used that particular situation to show me something new or to expose me or to gain my heart. So, it's good; reflection in general is a good thing. Reflection on what the Lord does for us everyday is a good way to appreciate His mercies and great love. Many times I still don't appreciate things from the Lord as much as I should, so I'm still learning and this helps a lot. Anyhow, just thinking about the Lord and everything, and His love and how we are truly so privileged strengthens my faith and encourages me.

The Lord has mysterious ways of working. He's sneaky sometimes, but in a totally good way. Sometimes He'll blindfold us for a while, keeping us from seeing the reality behind things, that we may see them even brighter and more vibrant when He takes the blindfold off. Or maybe sometimes we blindfold ourselves. Who knows? The point is the Lord allows it to happen so that we truly come to appreacite things, and not only that but that He may really open our eyes to see His hand behind everything in our lives. I may be all over the place here so forgive me if you're reading this and I'm losing you. I just saw through a few situations these past two weeks that the Lord truly is in control. I know we hear this a lot and I even say it a lot myself, but many times the Lord has to remind me through new experiences of the things that I already "know." For instance, this week I went through an expereince where I found myself truly desperate, just desperate for a way out. I wanted to run out and do whatever I had to do to get the situation off my shoulders. Luckily, by the Lord's abundant mercy and His speaking through a sister, the Lord caught me before I made things worse and exposed me of my situation. He made me realize that I have to stop trying to take the easy way out of situations and wait for His leading instead of trying to do things my own way. It's really hard to wait upon the Lord but in this case it's become especially difficult, so He has had to tell me to calm down, relax and wait for His leading; He will speak in due time. I had thought that He had already gained what He was seeking through the situation, but turns out He wasn't done (again, He knows exactly what I need). So my first reaction was to be like, "Lord, we've already been through this. You got what you wanted. Now enough, please make it go away." So He says, "Cindy, relax. I'm not done, and the more you keep asking me to be done the longer I'm going to take. You don't know what's best, I do." So that shut me up. (If anyone remembers Brother Helcio's speaking: "shut up/delete", I always keep going back to that.) So in the end I'm waiting to see what the Lord is doing as things keep happening. I have no clue about anything, but I'm sure He's in control. I'm sure He'll have the victory here too. I'm willing to cooperate, so although I may give Him a hard time from time to time, I ask that He would soften my heart, open my eyes, and continue pouring His abundant grace in my life as He has been doing so far. The deepest desire of my heart right now is that He would keep working in my life. I don't want God to go away; I want Him here, working and labouring as the faithful Potter who is hard at work molding that very stubborn clay. I ask the Lord for His precious blood because I know my heart is very hard sometimes and my natural self often comes out in frustrating situations (Kiran would know), but I praise Him because as time goes on I am constantly reassured that Peter's God is also my God, and that just as He had His way in Peter's heart and soul so will He in mine if I remain open to Him. The Lord truly is wonderful. I pray that He would keep showing me more of Himself daily, reigning in my life, showing me how to take up my cross, and enlightening me about the path to follow.

God's mercy is so great! He doesn't care about our weaknesses, He doesn't care how much we fail, He doesn't care how unworthy of Him we are...Why? Because He's dealt with and continues to deal with all of that as we take His blood and as we partake of all that He has accomplished, and as He grows more in us, spreading Himself in every part of our being. He's dealing with all the negative things by His own life! Because as we grow to be more like Him in life and nature none of these things will remain and Christ will have the full victory in us. So, as Brother Dong mentioned last night, let us not pay so much attention to our sin and our failures or even what we DO for the Lord; let's focus on denying the soul-life, taking up the cross, following the Lord, and growing in His life. Let's make Him King in our lives and bring Him back. Jesus is undoubtedly our and the Lord.

"...And there is no other God besides Me; A righteous God and Saviour, And there is no one except Me. Turn to Me and be saved , All the ends of the earth, For I am God and there is no one else...That every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall swear. It shall be said of Me, Only in Jehovah is there righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come..."
Isaiah 45: 21b-24a