Hey guys,
As some of you have pointed out, it's been a rather long hiatus since my last email. There's a couple of reasons for this: busyness, computer at work dying on me, but perhaps the most prominent and honest one would be a lack in my devotions of late. As I've mentioned before, these emails are a tremendous blessing to me as an accountability system; if I am silent, chances are I am not growing/learning and am quickly reminded. For this I thank you. The terrifying part of drifting from Christ is the turtle-like speed at which it takes place. It starts off with compromises, neglect of worship and study, and eventually leads to sins and temptations. You do not notice the drift until you're hundreds of meters offshore. This is where I am. Apologies if I've recently lied the words "I'm doing fine" to any of you who've asked. This morning, after weeks of telling myself i needed to press back into Christ, I started swimming.
"Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory..." 1 Peter 1:8
While I still professed love and faith in Christ these last couple of weeks, I had no joy in either my love nor faith. That kind of joyless christianity leads nowhere. If loving Christ means experiencing him as precious, then for me to say I love him yet hold no joy in that love would be a lie. Nobody can honestly claim to love their spouse yet not take joy in that claim, and Christ is infinitely more lovely than a (possible?) future Mrs Lin. By the same token, so great is the grace extended in God's promises that for me to reluctantly trust in Christ for my salvation would be like an apathetic response to a billion dollar debt cancelled. It's just not possible, if these promises are truly believed, a debt greater than a billion dollars has been cancelled for me and I should not be able to trust in Christ without excitement.
Beyond prayer or church attendance or bible studies, the heart of christianity is to love and trust in Christ and to rejoice in that love and trust. There can be no true love nor faith without a deeply positive feeling. This is NOT to say love and faith are merely based on emotions alone, but it IS to say that joy is an absolutely essential component in both. Encouragement for/from Edward this week: Take moments to be joyful at the fact that you're saved and that God is good. If the Spirit is alive in you, reflections on Christ's character, deeds, and promises in your life should move you towards a deeply joyful feeling towards God that refuses to allow any drifting and, for those of us who have drifted, draws us back towards the shore.
It is good to be swimming again, happy Thursday!
Edward
"Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth..." 1 Corinthians 13:6
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." Philippians 4:4
Animals talking with English accents = awesomeness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV6I1_o6vrY&feature=player_embedded#
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