The next morning, I drove to campus and jumped out of the van only to be greeted by a sight I was not expecting: the entire bottom half of the side of the van from front to back was bright yellow with dried road paint. We unloaded quickly, and Tom Biang went with me to find the possible areas of road where we might have picked up our unwelcome addition on the van. When we found it, it was clear that there were no signs warning of wet paint on the road. We went back to Tom's house, grabbed a few scrub brushes, dish scrapers, and soapy water, and proceeded to scrub nearly every speck of paint off: out of the wheel wells, off the windows, and even the thickest parts that had dried. A little elbow grease, a lot of belabored breathing, and a garden hose resulted in the van sparkling silver once again, albeit one of the tires still shone bright yellow (It has since faded slightly).
At the end of our week in Purdue, we traveled 20 minutes east to a camp where we would have our annual fall college conference. Several people from my church in Dubuque, including my sister and two of my brothers came. It was wonderful to see them again! Among other things over the weekend, a few of us, who were either very wise or very foolish, played frisbee in a torrential downpour of a thunderstorm. I forgot that my phone was in my pocket, and upon discovery it appeared that it would never be revived again; however, old faithful finally revived again and has only been a little groggy since that experience. We spent some quality time on the slip 'n slides as well. Waiting at the bottom of the hill was a pool of muddy rainwater which sprayed our entire faces upon impact, coating us in layers of grime. I dare say that it was a well-spent afternoon by all.
Now, on to more serious things...
Tom taught on several things that stuck out to me over the weekend. One thought: The most important question one can ever ask in life; "Who is Jesus to me?" Not only is this most important question you can ever ask, but also it is the most important question that you can answer in your lifetime. The person of Jesus Christ has been proven in historical records to have existed. Eyewitness accounts give us proof about what He said, and who He claimed to be, while on earth.
"Who do you say that I am?" Jesus asked his disciples. Matthew 16:16 tells us, "Simon Peter answered, 'you are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.'" Jesus' response to this answer?
"Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven" (Matt. 16:17, NIV)
What, then, are we going to do with the truth of Jesus Christ being God, if indeed we have reached this conclusion? Tom pointed out one of the first things to know when you're running a race: Winners know where the finish line is. We are not running aimlessly; we are not fighting like a boxer thoughtlessly beating the air (Paraphrased; 1 Cor. 9:26).
In this race, it is important to know firstly who we are as a redeemed child of God. Tom shared with us Romans 8:28 as well as Ephesians 2:1-10, paying special attention to the last verse: "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Tom pointed out that in the Greek, the word 'handiwork' is 'poema.' We are God's poem, His artwork; we are His trophy. You say, 'Wow. I'm not much to look at. I'm a failure. I sin everyday and don't ever see myself overcoming these temptations constantly invading my life. God must look at me and regret that He saved me. My representation of Him sucks. I only read the Bible for five minutes every day, when everyone else I know reads for 30 minutes.'
Tom pointed out something that is crucial to understand: Many people, upon accepting Christ, begin to feel very discouraged because of their failures to follow the commandments of scripture. They can even feel as if they were better people BEFORE they came to Christ. However, did you read your Bible before you were saved? Probably not. That fact alone, regardless of the time spent on it, means that you are being changed to become like Christ. The more of a habit you make it, the easier it will be!
Tom's talk went further into explaining the way we are changed when we are saved. The devil's strategy flips 100% when we accept Christ. Before, he tried to convince you that you're a good enough person that you don't need any help saving yourself. After you realize your need for Christ, and ask forgiveness of your sins, the devil tries to convince you that you're the worst of all sinners so that you don't live in the grace and joy of God's forgiveness! he's such a bozo. No matter whether you are living up to your own standards of what you think a Christian ought to be, the most important thing to do is surrender your life to the Lord and allow Him to work in your heart. When you cannot see Him working in your life, don't stop trusting that He is continuing to transform you into an image of Himself.
Something that encourages me more than anything is that someday, the devil will not have power to speak lies to us anymore!!!
Revelation 12:10, 11 says, Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death" (NIV).
This is our hope; the assurance we have in God that what we experience here on earth will one day be worth it; to know that we will one day be with Jesus, that all sin and evil and sorrow, every painful tear-it will be done away with! What gladness, what joy must spring from our souls when we realize this truth!
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