I went to pray at church tonight with a pretty heavy heart. Pastor Kwon is in Korea, facing problems that we've been praying for a while now. I started my prayers by thanking the Lord for the cross, for His resurrection and the eternal life that He has given us. My heart filled with confusion, all I could do was to simply confess my love towards my Father.
Then the Lord guided me to read through John chapter 20, in which He meets a saddened, worried Mary by His empty tomb. Thinking that Jesus was the gardener, Mary asks in grief if he is the man that took away the body of Jesus. Jesus simply replies, "Mary." (John 20:16) Jesus knew the woman so well that all that He had to do was call her by her name. It seemed as if He was telling her, "Mary, I know your name. I know your every thought. I know you love me."
In the latter part of verse 16, Mary almost dies of a heart attack at seeing the Lord, and probably ran towards Him with open arms. In verse 17, Jesus says this, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " This verse always sort of threw me off track - wait, then does this mean that Jesus isn't happy to see Mary?
Jesus, knowing me as well as He knew Mary, spoke softly in my heart, "Joo Hee, why would I never want any of my children to come running towards me with open arms?" "Hmmm...Good point, Lord." Then I imagined myself being in Mary's shoes. If I had just witnessed the death of my beloved Lord and have not been able to completely understand the true meaning of the cross, I would have been at his tomb day and night crying and crying at the physical death of my Lord. And to find that His tomb was empty one sad morning, I would have been so angry and confused at the same time. "Is someone playing a joke? Who could've possible taken the body of the Lord?" If someone had come up to the crying me and asked what was wrong, I would've asked the same question that Mary asked, "Where is He??!" ...But to find out that the very person standing behind me was the resurrected(!!!)Lord himself!!!! Without a second thought I would've gone straight towards Him, wanting to see Him closer, wanting to touch Him, hold Him. If the Lord knows me well enough to call me by my name to show that He knows every single one of my thoughts and feelings, then why would He stop me, his beloved maiden servant had been grieving so long for his loss? The focus is in this last part of verse 17 - "Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
Instead of greeting the bodily form of Jesus, instead of fulfilling my humanly desires of wanting to see, touch, hold, and be with the physical form of Jesus, the Lord tells me to look to the Father. It's not the physical resurrection that Jesus wanted Mary and his disciples to see. It was the glory of our God, the God of glory who claimed victory over all the death and sin of the this world that Jesus wanted us to see! Yes, I am here in body, but look to the HEAVENS! Look to the victorious, glorious Kingdom of God to which I will return soon!
Then the Spirit led me to read through many of the Lord's teachings before the cross in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Every single one of the words that the Lord spoke pointed to one thing - the glory of the Kingdom of God, the glory of our God. Jesus fiercely rebukes those that are deceitful and full of greed for the world, and kindly encourages His feeble yet loving disciples to have faith no matter what. He despises those that are haughty, but heals those humble with faith. He says that it is by faith alone that we will be able to know, see, and enter the Kingdom of God. To know the Lord for His glorious calling here on earth, to see the Lord for His glorious being, to be ready to greet the Lord for His glorious return - to be able to live by faith, for the Glory of the Lord!
Even in his last earthly prayer, the Lord prays, "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." (John 17:20-24)
Wow, how awesome is our God!
I then thought about our WSA program. My dad shared with me today how none of this would have been possible without the blind faith that we have in our good Lord. I felt quite embarrased to think about how weak and unprepared I was (and still am) for this calling of God, but wow, with faith! Look where He has brought us today! And look to where He will take us at the end of the six months!
I think we should spend more time in worshipping our Father. I'm sure most, if not all, of us live a life of worship, but in this march of faith in conquering English, every moment we are simply captivated in the glory and grace of our Father. Eunice, Mi Ae and I experienced this while ordering our textbooks online two days ago, and we also saw it in our visa process, GCA, housing, food, and everything else in our WSA program! When God called such sinners and weak humans like us to be completely united with Him in His glory, how can we not sing of His greatness every moment of our lives?! How can we not proclaim the Kingdom, the glory of our Father?!
Wow, Lord, wow.
You truly are an amazing, amazing God.
I love You so, so much, waaaaaaaaaay beyond words.
I will sing of your love and glory forever.
I will march on the daily walk of faith only with hopes for your glorious return.
For the Glory of our Lord!
Then the Lord guided me to read through John chapter 20, in which He meets a saddened, worried Mary by His empty tomb. Thinking that Jesus was the gardener, Mary asks in grief if he is the man that took away the body of Jesus. Jesus simply replies, "Mary." (John 20:16) Jesus knew the woman so well that all that He had to do was call her by her name. It seemed as if He was telling her, "Mary, I know your name. I know your every thought. I know you love me."
In the latter part of verse 16, Mary almost dies of a heart attack at seeing the Lord, and probably ran towards Him with open arms. In verse 17, Jesus says this, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " This verse always sort of threw me off track - wait, then does this mean that Jesus isn't happy to see Mary?
Jesus, knowing me as well as He knew Mary, spoke softly in my heart, "Joo Hee, why would I never want any of my children to come running towards me with open arms?" "Hmmm...Good point, Lord." Then I imagined myself being in Mary's shoes. If I had just witnessed the death of my beloved Lord and have not been able to completely understand the true meaning of the cross, I would have been at his tomb day and night crying and crying at the physical death of my Lord. And to find that His tomb was empty one sad morning, I would have been so angry and confused at the same time. "Is someone playing a joke? Who could've possible taken the body of the Lord?" If someone had come up to the crying me and asked what was wrong, I would've asked the same question that Mary asked, "Where is He??!" ...But to find out that the very person standing behind me was the resurrected(!!!)Lord himself!!!! Without a second thought I would've gone straight towards Him, wanting to see Him closer, wanting to touch Him, hold Him. If the Lord knows me well enough to call me by my name to show that He knows every single one of my thoughts and feelings, then why would He stop me, his beloved maiden servant had been grieving so long for his loss? The focus is in this last part of verse 17 - "Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
Instead of greeting the bodily form of Jesus, instead of fulfilling my humanly desires of wanting to see, touch, hold, and be with the physical form of Jesus, the Lord tells me to look to the Father. It's not the physical resurrection that Jesus wanted Mary and his disciples to see. It was the glory of our God, the God of glory who claimed victory over all the death and sin of the this world that Jesus wanted us to see! Yes, I am here in body, but look to the HEAVENS! Look to the victorious, glorious Kingdom of God to which I will return soon!
Then the Spirit led me to read through many of the Lord's teachings before the cross in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Every single one of the words that the Lord spoke pointed to one thing - the glory of the Kingdom of God, the glory of our God. Jesus fiercely rebukes those that are deceitful and full of greed for the world, and kindly encourages His feeble yet loving disciples to have faith no matter what. He despises those that are haughty, but heals those humble with faith. He says that it is by faith alone that we will be able to know, see, and enter the Kingdom of God. To know the Lord for His glorious calling here on earth, to see the Lord for His glorious being, to be ready to greet the Lord for His glorious return - to be able to live by faith, for the Glory of the Lord!
Even in his last earthly prayer, the Lord prays, "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." (John 17:20-24)
Wow, how awesome is our God!
I then thought about our WSA program. My dad shared with me today how none of this would have been possible without the blind faith that we have in our good Lord. I felt quite embarrased to think about how weak and unprepared I was (and still am) for this calling of God, but wow, with faith! Look where He has brought us today! And look to where He will take us at the end of the six months!
I think we should spend more time in worshipping our Father. I'm sure most, if not all, of us live a life of worship, but in this march of faith in conquering English, every moment we are simply captivated in the glory and grace of our Father. Eunice, Mi Ae and I experienced this while ordering our textbooks online two days ago, and we also saw it in our visa process, GCA, housing, food, and everything else in our WSA program! When God called such sinners and weak humans like us to be completely united with Him in His glory, how can we not sing of His greatness every moment of our lives?! How can we not proclaim the Kingdom, the glory of our Father?!
Wow, Lord, wow.
You truly are an amazing, amazing God.
I love You so, so much, waaaaaaaaaay beyond words.
I will sing of your love and glory forever.
I will march on the daily walk of faith only with hopes for your glorious return.
For the Glory of our Lord!
I have been thinking about the glory of our Lord. I have been loving Jesus that is pleased to save me since meeting my Lord!
ReplyDeleteJesus always encourages me, who is weak and unprepared, to run continuously until the Day no matter what.
It is only possible to see the glory of God by the blind faith in His goodness.
Praise the Lord for he is good and his love endures forever!! (Psalms 145:1)
I realized that there are a lot of things I never knew. There are really many things God prepared for us in this precious WSA ESL course, and He continues to work for us.
ReplyDeleteEven when I can not see anything, I hope I can remember that the Lord is planning His greatness in every moment of our program.
How awesome is the Lord in you!
ReplyDeleteI've known you before we met through Jae Hee, but I didn't really know who you are. I'm happy to get to know you more and more, because our awesome God lives in you!
I hope to know, see, and live here with you, by faith - for the Glory of the Lord! Just a few days ago, I was disappointed in me that I can't simply focus on the Kingdom of our God. But God said, "Be strong! I called you as the person to preach the Gospel to the ends of the Earth! Do not be in despair!" Amen.
Judy, thank you for your endurance in our Lord. I will not give up!
I'll study for the Glory of the Lord!
I'll love my Lord no matter what!
I'll go anywhere where he sends me.
How great is the blessing of the blind faith God has given us.
Let us fix our eyes on His glory! Amen.
I LOVE U, JUDY-!
"For the glory of the Lord!"
ReplyDeleteWe have been practicing this phrase for a while now, then this phrase is strength to us!
We have been learning English, and we have been writting this phrase in our hearts. To live like the words of this phrase is simply captivating in the glory and grace of our Father.
God helps us not to lose His heart, truth, and glory!
Yes, I have experienced that only God has worked through His will in our WSA program until now. I am looking forward to seeing God doing everything in his will.
Thank you Lord for showing us your glory.
Thank you Judy for sharing with us how you love Jesus Christ wholeheartly.
Let us spend more time in worshipping our Father!
I have been thanking my Lord for giving me fellow sister in Christ like Judy.^^
ReplyDeleteThe greatest joy to me is running together toward the Kingdom of God with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I have agree about Judy's think that would be able to the vitory from everything for only the blind faith.Also the great became challenge and grace to me by the confess of your faith.I'm studing English for the glory of the Lord, the Kingdom of God today also.Praise the our Lord of goodness forevre!!
Hmm...
ReplyDeleteOne thing I clearly know is that God has trusted in me no matter what.
I trust that He trusts me, his child, as long as I live, despite my weakness, disobedience, and lack of faith.
Only by this, we can know that God has a really great faith! lol~~
Judy, although we see our weaknesses before God, let's live only by faith no matter what.
Only by faith, I'm sure we can see the glory of God.
Thank you very much for your loving help.
I have been to the grave like Mary. There, I saw my death. It is death with Jesus. Mary understood his death and his resurrection.
ReplyDeleteBut she could only cry at his death.Anyway,
Mary met Jesus again, and this was her joy.
WMM family is on Shin-island korea, hoping for this program that we have been praying for a while now.
ReplyDeleteWe are simply captivated in the glory of God. We are ready for the Lord's glorious return.
I trust that if we are in Him, he will give us the glorious victory no matter what.
I am looking at his passion and amazing grace for his lost children!
Who knew this passion and grace, who cried with Jesus, who can give eternal life!?
Yes, Lord.
It is reason that I am here and the reason that I live.
I am standing this glorious calling of the cross in amazing grace!
Meeting the words of the Lord in all situations is a blessing. Because the Word is Jesus. ^^; Hallelujah!!!
ReplyDeleteYes! I will look to the HEAVENS with you - for the glory of the Lord!
Thank you of your sharing and meditation.
This has been my strength.