Oh praise the One who paid my debt.

"Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.

Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead."

While reading my bible this morning and afternoon, I was doing some devotionals and was struck anew by the things that Jesus has done for us through the saving work of the cross.

1 - We are set free from the slavery of sin and death.

Romans 6:10-11: 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:14 :14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 8:1-4: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Sonn in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

2 - We have been forgiven of all our sins

Col 2:13-14 : . 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

3 - We are adopted heirs (the word "son" is used in such a fashion that it means to be heirs, or inheritors, it does not denote specific "male" "sonship," which is a heresy propagated by the fake Gospel of Thomas.)

Gal 3:26: 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
Gal 4:7: 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Eph 1:4-5: 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.


"How deep the father's love for us? How vast beyond all measure?

That he should give his only Son to make make a wretch his treasure."

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Japan

“You might be tempted to ask, ‘do they really need the Gospel?’ but if you can look beyond the high technology, the smiles, and politeness, you will see a nation that is so desperately lost without Christ.” – Michael Oh 2009

This quote from Michael Oh, pastor of Christ Bible Seminary in Nagoya Japan, who we met, is probably one of the most insightful ways of expressing what I believe is a great failing on the American Christian Church. I say this from a heart that did not recognize how much we as American Christians functionally believe the health, wealth, and prosperity gospel. I came to understand this more as I was repeatedly asked, “why are you going to Japan? They have money, comfort, and Starbucks, why do they need missions?” It strikes our Western Christianity as strange to hear that a country as wealthy as Japan is 0.2% protestant, and worships over eight million gods. It strikes us as strange because we functionally believe that only poor nations need Jesus because Jesus will make you materially rich. This is a fundamental deformity in the heart beliefs of what the God-man Jesus Christ has done for us as Christians. Jesus came to pay for sin not a BMW. The result of Jesus’ perfect payment of sin is the reconciliation of his enemies (us) to him to himself, so that as reconciled sons and daughters, we might reconcile others to him through the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of God. (2 Corinthians 5:16-21). This is something that God taught me, and continues to teach me through my experience in Japan.

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Michael Oh

I had the honor of meeting Michael Oh while I was in Japan. His church and seminary in Nagoya is one that I believe will be strategic in the spread of the Gospel for God's glory in the coming years. Here's a sermon that he gave at a Desiring God conference which is causing me to reevaluate why I'm going to college, and continue to learn what it means to be a steward.


Josh

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Japan

I should have posted this before I left, but for some posts on my trip to Japan, check out:

https://mhudinjapan.wordpress.com.

-Josh.

P.s. I'm going to resume posting on my blog this week!

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A letter to a friend:

(P.S.at the beginning: My words are NOT the inspired words of God, duh lol. So if they are confusing or I don't make sense, please disregard them and just check out the Bible verses attached.)

Let me first say that I can have empathy for your struggles with understanding the will of God, at times it can be both an illusive, and discouraging thing to seek. Nonetheless we should seek it.

Something that has been most helpful to me is understanding that when my will aligns with God's will, my prayers will most assuredly be answered. (1 John 5:14-15). I think we see a clear example of our prayers not being answered with a 'Yes' when Jesus is praying in Gethsemane asking if it be possible that God take this cup from him (a request for something Jesus wants), but his deepest desire is , "Nevertheless, not as i will, but as you will." (Matt 26:39).

Practically - I hear from God by the sense of peace that my spirit gets when I am abiding in Christ. For me to do this, it is EXTREMELY important to be reading Bible. The reason is because the Bible are the very words of God, and if we aren't listening to them (reading), then we are inherently listening to the words of something else. It is also extremely important to continue in prayer. The Bible along with the Holy Spirit convict me of where I do not line up with God's will, and prayer is were I relationally talk to and ask for things from my Father. They are two sides of the same coin, they don't work without each other.

With these two foundations, the best way I can describe hearing God's voice is by being completely at peace and content with the Lord's will, and seeing how it is playing out. This practically looks like when I make major decisions, or even am considering undertaking something, what God wants me to do is the one I feel most at peace about. This DOES NOT mean it is the easiest, or most comfortable decision, but it is the decision that I feel most at peace with. (I'd be happy to provide you with real examples from my life if you're interested). But even things like being a community group leader, I didn't feel at peace about doing it until this year. When that peace came to me, I knew it was time to step up to the plate so to speak. It hasn't been easy, or without pain, or pressure, but it has been above all peaceful.

I hope that my words help, if not read the bible verses I've attached, and definitely seek out the spiritual authorities in your life.

(P.s. God is faithful, even when we are faithless. He's got you covered, you just can't see it yet)

1 Peter 5: 6 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."

1 John 5:13 I write f these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that i if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

Mathew 6: 25-34 " 25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."


Philippians 4:6-7 "6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

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On Being Broken

In order for something to be fixed, it must first be broken.

The same truth is true of our lives. I'm learning more and more, that all of life will be a continuation of being broken. But at the same time, it will be a continuation of being fixed.

At first, being broken feels like death, and in some sense, it is. The death, or breaking, of something. And then life goes back to "normal," with that brokenness fixed. Then the breaking comes again, and it is near death. Then the fixing, and a return to "average." Call me a masochist, but there's a certain point were the breaking is almost a relief, because it signals the fixing to come.

My hope is in He who does the fixing, he hasn't done a poor job yet, although I have managed to rebreak things that He has to refix.


Psalm 51:17 (Show Psalm 51)
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Hebrews 12:10-11 (Show Hebrews 12)
For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness .For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Revelation 3:19 (Show Revelation 3)
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

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