Renewed Conviction

I jus watched a movie called ""Beyond the Next Mountain." It was about how a missionary went to a people called the Hmar tribe in India and spoke the Gospel of Jesus Christ in their language. He gave them a Bible in English but they couldn't understand it. A generation goes by and a father sends his son to go find someone to translate the "book" in their own language. So the boy goes off into the jungle equipped with some rice and bread. He finds another village that offers an elementary English class. then he goes to the "outside world" to find someone to translate the Bible. He gets caught up in a business of selling cigarettes, and his dad finds him on the streets caught up in worldly things. The boy becomes resolved to commit to his father's task of translating the Bible for his Hmar tribe people. He eventually talks to the prime minister and is given a scholarship to study in London, and then eventually America. It's funny how simple he is and how culture shocked he gets. He tries hard to resist falling into all the different opportunities and distractions. Oh btw, this whole time he writes letters to this girl he met back in his tribe. They eventually get married and teach English. But anyways.. the guy begins to study Greek and Hebrew, and after 3 years of dedicating himself to the translation he finishes. The guy is so happy he starts dancing like a bird and sings praises to God. He then mails it home to his tribe. His dad somehow makes copies for everyone in the tribe. The dad goes up to the mountain where he prays everyday, and finally holds up God's Word translated in his own language. It got super emotional because it showed how much he valued and cherished God's precious truth of the Gospel. The translated Bible later spread to other tribes in India. He then late becomes president of some Bible translation place and mails Bibles to everyone. Towards the end of the movie, he meets the missionary who first spoke the Gospel to his dad and tribe. The missionary is astonished at how his little seeds flourished and produced fruits of conversion in India. 

Too often we forget the power of the Bible and Prayer. We take it for granted. The truth of eternal life in Jesus Christ is more precious than gold and silver. When i'm 80, i want to look back on my life and see that i not only invested my life into growing in God's Word and in prayer, but that i also invested into loving those around me. It's so easy to get caught up in idols in America. It's so easy to turn to and depend on other things. In our pride, we try to satisfy ourselves with our lusts and we try to feed ourselves with inadequate substitutes. The answer is seeking intimacy with God and receiving His grace through faith. He is the only one who can truly satisfy our souls. What are we giving our lives to? When we look back on life, what will we have invested our lives into? Is there anything more important than enjoying the riches of God's love and sharing this good news with others?

I was talking to this woman, and she asked me, "How did you come to know the Lord." I told her my brief testimony. Then i asked, "How about you?" She began to tell me of when she was young and she her a sermon by Chuck Swindoll at EV Free Fullerton. She remembers him preaching out of Isaiah 6, and learning about God's holiness. She said she began to shake because at that moment she began to see how holy God really is. She began to talk about God's attributes and how she knew she needed to commit her life to God and take Him more seriously. She said, "I could no longer afford to take God lightly." She saw God and who He is in nature. By gaining a greater knowledge of who God is, one is given a greater sense of reverence, worship and awe. Paul says in Philippians 3:7, "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord." Nothing is more important than personally knowing God and growing in knowledge of Him. And with that head knowledge, we are given the heart knowledge to receive Him into our lives more and more. As Christians we need to take our walk more seriously. We cannot take sin lightly. We need to die to our sin and flesh and walk in the freedom of the Holy Spirit.

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." -Jeremiah 2:13

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." -Hebrews 12:1-2

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord." -Corinthians 15:58

"The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,
For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You." -Psalm 9:9-10