a continual shift in view (to the new) 🔭🌱 (2.3)
april: a wedding, midterms, oak glen, and turning a year older (but getting newer every day!) :-)
As a sort of eclectic collection of greetings and questions—are things really busy and non-stop lately? (It definitely feels that way on this end 🥲) Have you been able to go out more? & do you have fun plans coming up? Whether you’re taking finals and finishing the term (press on @ those of you taking exams today and tomorrow!), working or starting a new job, taking care of family, serving, applying to jobs or schools or programs, or doing something else, much grace to you! (Don’t forget to keep breathing & breathing in the Lord!!)
If you have time, I’d still love to hear from you (I’m sorry that I haven’t had that much time to reach out first these days. Each notification is still like a happy ping in my heart—even if I don’t respond or see it right away). Last but not least, to mama lam, all of the moms, and soon-to-be moms, happy (belated) mother’s day! 💐❤️
On this end, some quick updates are that we just finished with our midterms (7 of them, including Greek!). We’ve also started having visitors, and soon we’ll be prepping for events (like end of semester events with our college students) and also conferences that will be held here.
This time, I wanted to share something w you all that I’ve been wanting to for a really long time. I honestly don’t really know how to get it all across since I want to keep this short, but I guess to start off, along the lines of the last email, do you remember talking about the sky, animals, flowers (and food)?
It’s okay if you don’t(!!), but basically, everything around us—that we see, touch, taste, smell, hear, experience and enjoy—are a reference point or shadow to the really life, the reality of life, the true life, who is Christ (John 14:6, Colossians 2:17, 1 Timothy 6:19, Hymn 1333). And so continuing off of that, in that lens, something I’ve been appreciating lately is the simplification that comes with learning to more and more shift my focus in the midst of the outward things to remember and experience the Christ within as the real reality.
I honestly tend to still habitually focus more on and care more about the tangible and outward things, and it’s not like we can live without those things either, but what’s crucial in the learning to shift views is the hand-in-hand change in valuation in life to the things that really matter. Put simply, I guess it comes with the growing realization that although we live and interact with many wonderful things in the outward realm (like nature, really good food, etc.), which can cause us to remember Him as the reality of those things, all of those things aren’t the goal or point of our lives.
And all of the outward and tangible things that we interact with, though potentially beautiful and enthralling and like glitter of gold, prove to be temporal in satisfaction, fading away with time (too many verses in the Bible to list, and so many lines from hymns too!). But then on the other hand, many external and outward things in the world are also very un-wonderful, like the chaos in the world situation or difficulties in our personal lives. Such things can seem so outwardly chaotic, hopeless, and futile—kind of just like a heap of collapse. The Bible actually calls all of these things, both positive and negative, the old creation, which is old simply because God isn’t in it, since God is the only One who is new and eternal.
Since God is the only one who is new, anything that that doesn’t have God in it ultimately is temporary and passing away (meaning that we shouldn’t be usurped from the inward reality to only care about the outward things, good as they may be, and we also don’t need to be discouraged by the outward situation when it seems bleak). This is because what God desires isn’t perfection or order out of the old creation, but the new creation—to make us fully new as He is new. So the positive outlook is that the new creation is all that really matters, and that can be our view and constant realization in all that happens in our lives and in the world (Galatians 6:15).
Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.
Because we do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. — 2 Corinthians 4:16, 18
What that means for us is that we can live in the reality of the new creation every moment of the day. Practically speaking, we’re still living in this outward realm, and interacting with all of these things, but we can live in the inward realm in the midst of that, realizing the inward reality—and trust that the Lord has the ability to make us newer every day as long as we cooperate with Him. We are a new creation as long as we have received Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17, Titus 3:5), and now today, we need to continually stay in that reality in all that we do, whether brushing our teeth, talking to people, or doing work, etc. by cooperating with His renewing (Colossians 3:10).
So how do we cooperate with Him? We just continually abide in & with Him in the midst of all that we do and go through, set our mind on the spirit, muse upon God’s word, turn our heart to Him, give Him the first place and preeminence, love Him with the first and best love, pray short prayers (John 15, Romans 8:6, Psalm 119, 2 Corinthians 3:16, Colossians 1:18). When we do that throughout our day, just by remembering Him as the One living in us, we can trust in His faithful operation—He is renewing us day by day, bit by bit, little by little. (Revelation 21:5, 2 Corinthians 4:16).
recent makes :-)
Adding this section because some of you guys mentioned including more doodles and things! But I also honestly realize I have very little bandwidth to do more creative things during the training, so not much output these days heh..
pictures + psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
And… that’s basically it! :) Thanks for making it here if you did. Closing w some pictures and lines from some psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs —
I hear the voice of my Christ Jesus: “Just have faith, for I am the Lord. All will pass, but what you have in you’s eternal.” So I simply trust His word.
— “Not ashamed to be a Christian”, words and tune
All the earthly pleasures could not fill my soul, failed to satisfy the longing to be whole. These all shall pass, wither, and fade, and flee, but You’re mine eternally.
— “My Beloved, eternally”, words and tune
Christ for me!...Earth can no lasting bliss bestow, “Fading” is stamped on all below, mine is a joy no end can know: Christ for me!
— Hymn 518, words
Set your mind on the things which are above,
Not on the things which are on the earth.
— Colossians 3:2-3, tune
Perishing things of clay, born but for one brief day, pass from my heart away...
All that my soul has tried left but a dismal void;
Jesus has satisfied; Jesus is mine.
— Hymn 531, words
All is in Christ; our whole self present to Him. Vain your quest for lasting pleasure, wealth, success, and worldly fame; Christ alone must be your treasure, His resource your only claim.
— Hymn 515, words
How could I help falling in love with You?
Emptiness turned life’s pleasures blue; no earthly love could see me through.
— “From my heart comes a melody”, words and tune
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
— “Turn your eyes upon Jesus”, words and tune
Forgetting all created things, remembering only “God in me.”
Thank you again for all the prayers and care. :)
grace upon grace,
Grace enjoying grace