Claiming the Promise of the treasure of the Jars of Clay

2 Corinthians 4
The Light of Christ’s Gospel
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.


7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death is working in us, but life in you.
13 And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,”[a]we also believe and therefore speak, 14 knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 15 For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.

16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.




"Paul is not addressing here the frivolous minds in compromising, nor is he referring to those who squander their lives in self-indulgent living, nor is he speaking to the narrow-minded hypocrites; these words are meant for the soldiers of the cross, those who understands what it means to love, to sacrifice, or even to suffer, oh dear one are grasping the significance of this fabulous promise? ..." - Ellerslie Honour


Are we letting life be numbed and vacuumed into earthly pleasures or are we willing to bear the weight of living for His glory and honour? What does it mean to be a Christian?

What a weighty mission to grasp and grip tightly to these promises huh?! I was struck and humbled for sure seeing the vid and reading over the passage again! But hey friends :), keep on claiming these treasures!! :)

and so learning to teach begins.... :)

Have recently been taking a full year UT course on Teaching a Second Language. And for those who really truly aspire to teach kids and teenagers, I geniunely feel that this course is something you'll enjoy (c'mon now don't kid yourself! hahaah) and seriously sooo appropriate for preparing a mind ready to inspire ready-little minds in a elementary school setting or preparing minds of high school kids for the real world out there. I'm so excited aobut taking it right now cuz I'm learning so much!! come talk to me if you wanna know more! :D It has only been three weeks of class but I feel like I'm already thinking differently about learning in general and I eagerly anticipate about what my mind will be opened to next.dan dan dan!!! :D

So class experience, there is more class interaction than I expected initially, which i love! the many perspectives and philosophies about teaching shared just TODAY in-class just blew my mind! :) Really, today was my first time feeling people talking actually care about 'teaching' like gosh! hehehe if you know what I mean...:P Today when one of my classmates was talking, there was a genuine 'uptightness' in the vibe she gave away in the way she spoke; I almost sensed a thirst when she talked her hurtles and fear of feeling inadequate to become a good teacher --> one of our topics of discussion during class. That classmate kinda rocked the whole 'peaceful' class atmosphere a little bit with her passionate and quite confident tone of voice, but throughout her whole 1 min quick spiel, I was like: 'she really believes in what she says!' what passion seriously...and plus it is extremely rare to find such vulnerability in a secular world like this nowadays, especially in a class that has just begun where you don't really know anyone at all yet. Then I though to myself ->we are in dire need of ppl such as these to claim to be teachers.

One of our textbooks is just inspirational in that it brings a message of hope towards new real-life practical strategies for teaching, despite failures from past teaching styles. One quote from the text Teaching and Learning Languages by Anthony Mollica that inspired me personally goes on like this(p.42):

'Language is much more than grammar. It is more than a way of structuring thought. It is a way of signifying our deepest feelings, our most sincere beliefs. Each time I learn a word (says Mollica) which has no translation into another language, I feel that I have discovered a rare gift, a fresh insight..'

Thanks for reading, and hope you guys were able to be somewhat inspired or impacted by the idea of in this post. ....... .......... or maybe even think of teaching in the future as well? :]

Keeping workin' the mind on this fascinating topic! Cheers :}

:)

A recent flaming fuel for the recent walk.. :) Our God continues to prove His faithfulness in the awesomeness of His love and power.

It is well with my soul ... :)

listen to this:



"... it in the quiet crucibles of your personable private sufferings that your noblest dreams are born and God's greatest gifts are given in compensation of what you have been through. "

- Wintley Phips

Loving People to Christ

more from: The Jesus I Never Knew

"According to this parable, Jesus knew that the world he left behind would included the poor, the hungry, the prisoners, the sick. The decrepit state of the world did not surprise him. He made plans to cope with it: a long-range plan and a short-range plan. The long-range plan involves his return, in power and great glory, to straighten out planet earth. The short-range plan means turning it to the ones who will ultimately usher in the liberation of the cosmos. He ascended so that we would take his place." p. 233

The parable this passage is talking about is taken from Matthew 25, the last parable before Jesus's ascension. What I love so much about this passage is how he speaks about we as Christians, His name bearers have a part in completing his work after his ascension. I was at a really great wedding on this past Saturday and the officiating pastor said something that touched a place really deep in my walk with Jesus. He said we are first and foremost called to be a Christians and His image-bearers in our life that need continuous refinement and work before He will use us to do great things for Him. As I kept searching my heart, I was asking myself, what needed refinement and work and what hindered me from bearing His name in a way that is pleasing to Him? All the questions stemmed back from my desire to bring people to know Christ. But how has been the question that is always so humbling to me because from experience it requires such a patient process of self-denial. I have been convicted to realize it is by learning how to love the people first and love them more than the idea of telling them the gospel that lives can be changed. The story of Zachias is one of my favorite portrayals of how Jesus extended love to bring sinners to Himself. He noticed Zachias on a tree and knowing about his unlikeable acts of inflicting pain in people by profitting illegal money off of them, Jesus called him down from the tree and made Himself available to show him he was accepted by Him despite his perpetuating acts of injustice and sins. I see such great importance in showing Christ's love to the lost as to show Himself and to love people to Christ. The Great Commission in the end of the book of Matthew that we are to make disciple from all nations. By working through us to love the lost to Him is one of the remarkable reasons according to Jesus I Never Knew is why He ascended to heaven.

Bethany Dillon

Bethany Dillon

Shared via AddThis

What I Miss ...

The past 5 weeks of being away in Sherbrooke has been really surreal; experiencing things in a way that's never experienced before, it was breath taking. Being obliged to speak in French all day, haha.. good times and interesting at the same time! ahaha... In a way still feel like I wanna keep breathing everything in. I really miss the mountains and hills of the small city (& describing the scenery en français in my final project), being able to walk to downtown from the mid-town campus in less than an hour and kinda visualize familiar GO-TO places because sherbrooke is just tiny enough. Everything from groceries to drugstore to bars :P to movies (I lied, one of them ;) ) is so accessible by foot compared to our GTA and being able to see the sunset every night because of where the campus is located. and not to mention, the people I've had the chance to meet and spend 5 weeks day in and day out with, just makes me nostalgic again just by talking about it..haha. feel like I wanna recapture and relive some of the moments! how ideal! hahaha.. I definitely miss it!!!

But coming back home, as I've started processing about my experience there and about people I've been honoured to meet and befriend, God had been revealing something new to me. Something that's worth losing words for! He knows that I've discovered a deeper kind of love for Him and this world that has yet to know His redeeming love. There's this unceasing holy discontent in me called forth to reach out to the lost, the ones who seem to be living in complete luxury but are far from being filled in the soul. Yes, a burning passion to love them, to reach out! Being in the midst of crazy lifestyles, there definitely were times that He totally came through for me so that I could be sane. It's really not a hard thing to lose focus during the course of a lifetime without His protection. When you choose Christ over any other side s according to what this world values and deems reasonable it's even harder. Cuz the devil is also at work against those are for His pleasure and His kingdom.

My yearning from this trip (besides of course To Keep Up the French, hopefully! haha :) ), is to keep falling in love with this great God and be humbly led to please Him!

This new song from Bethany Dillon's new album (Everyone to know)
triggered me to want to share this post with you all!

can be found on itunes/ http://www.bethanydillon.com/