Response to Mistakes

[S] 2 Samuel 10:6 --
6  Now when the sons of Ammon saw that they had become odious to David, the sons of Ammon sent and hired the Arameans of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob with 12,000 men.

[O] We all make mistakes so my reaction to my mistake has greater significance than what the mistake was.  Here we see that the sons of Ammon realized they messed up and made King David angry toward them.  They had an option of seeking forgiveness from David or to prepare themselves to fight against David.  As they chose the latter, they were subdued by David's army.  Their surrendering and seeking forgiveness would have been a wiser choice for them.

[A] Whenever I make a mistake, I must learn to admit my faults and find favor of others whom I might have offended to allow God's grace to permeate through.  Otherwise, I default to defending my mistakes which may even lead to greater mistakes or sin.  This applies to small things at times with my own children.  My pride gets in the way but I must lead by example of letting them know that when I make mistakes I will also seek their forgiveness.

[P] Dear Father, continue to humble my heart so that I will always be seeking refuge under Your wings of grace because I know I will be falling short of my own (let alone others) expectations and instead of trying to reinforce it with my own might like the sons of Ammon, I need to seek grace.  Thank You for the great reminder.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Seeking for a Promotion Lately?

[S] Daniel 2:46-48 --
 ⁴⁶Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face and did homage to Daniel, and gave orders to present to him an offering and fragrant incense.
 ⁴⁷The king answered Daniel and said, "Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery."
 ⁴⁸Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

[O] A scene worth witnessing I'm sure.  The King of the mighty nation bowing down before Daniel is an awesome situation here probably all around him were awestruck.  How did this come about?  The word "Then" starting this verse was the reason.  In verses 1:17, 28 explains how God had granted ability to understand dreams and visions and he was bold enough to exercise that gift when he was called for.  As he did this he gave all credit to God and after "then" the King Nebuchadnezzar recognized the greatness of God and promoted Daniel to rule over the whole province of Babylon.  Truly a wonderful example of how God will promote us even in our workplaces rather than relying on our own efforts of trying to look good.

[A] While I believe in this principle of God promoting me into positions that He will use me even in the "secular" world situations, at times my mind wonders if He had forgotten about me.  I need to realize He does not forget and makes mistakes and stay on this path of relying this principle.

[P] Dear God, may I trust in You without wavering in any circumstance even when things don't look that bright for me.  May Your name be lifted up even through those situations in my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

The Recursive Grace

[S] Mark 14:31 --
 ³¹But Peter kept saying insistently, "Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!" And they all were saying the same thing also.

[O] Peter's response to Jesus' remark about how he will deny Jesus three times before the rooster crows while other disciples were echoing reminded me how Jesus already knew all this and yet He patiently talked to Peter.  By Jesus' saying this, it is clear Peter would indeed deny Him three times because Jesus always tells the truth, but then why did He even bother telling Peter this?  It was really for Peter's benefit because he was the one with the limitation of not knowing the future and when (not if) it happens to him, he would remember how Jesus even though He was fully aware of Peter's denial in the future still loved him and cared for him to get out of his failure into His grace.

Based on this concept, I began to think recursively (much like what you'd see when you take a TV camera and point at it own TV monitor screen) where God's grace covers Peter's failure which He already knew even before it happened and even if Peter knew Jesus knew it, he committed what he said he wouldn't do in his life time.  Confused?  Yeah, it goes round and round but the good news is that His Cross put a stop to all this and gave us a way out of that into His wonderful and peaceful grace.

[A] Whether I want to or not, I'm in the midst of this recursive relationship with God.  One things I can do is to tap into His grace given through the Cross such that I would not do things I don't want to do which I know Jesus knows that I am most likely going to commit anyways.  Sounds too pessimistic at first but I want to apply this not to be indifferent about my life's courses but as a commitment to live out my life to go against the grain of this world's "gravity."  I want to make less and less mistakes initiated by relying on my own strength that "I can do this."

[P] Dear God, Your grace touches me today deeply through this passage and may I continue to stick close to Your wonderful grace throughout my life.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.