Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

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Tag: Loving kindness better than life

Wisdom, Might or Riches – Where is your glory?

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On March 12, 2009

In Christian

We often tend to bask in the glory of our wisdom (which is foolishness to God for he is far wiser than the wisest man), our might (or strength) or in our riches. We rest on the laurels of past accomplishments, riding the ebbing waves of ephemeral success, trying to establish a name for ourselves.

The Bible says in Jeremiah 9:23-24  that that wise man must not glory in his wisdom, the mighty man must not glory in his might, nor the rich man glory in his riches, BUT instead, he/she that glorifieth, let him/her glory in the following
– that he he understands and knows God
– a God that exercises lovingkindness (loving and kind God), judgment (a just God), and righteousness (THE ONLY RIGHT GOD) in the earth
– a God that delighteth to be loving and kind and just and righteous.

Point(s) to ponder:

  1. Do you understand and know God?
  2. Do you know God to be loving and kind, a just God and a righteous God?
  3. Where is your glory? In your wisdom, in your strength or in your riches; or is it in God?

Jeremiah 9:23-24
23 Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 
24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

MERCY – what is it?

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On January 31, 2009

In Christian

Mercy is often used to describe an act in which someone in power was kind and lenient to forebear the punishment that was due someone. The Bible uses ‘Mercy’ in a couple of ways – firstly, it uses it as to how most of us understand it. The punishment (wages) of sin (and we all are sinners) is death, but God’s mercy is that while we were sinners, God in the personhood of his son, Jesus Christ was kind and lenient to forebear the punishment due us, by intervening and taking our place and paying the debt (wages), being crucified for our sins. In other words, God was punished for man. Mercy in this case is “forebearance”, “lieneancy in punishment”, “paying the dues” and so on.

Another usage of the word ‘Mercy’ is that it is used interchangeably with “loving-kindness” which the Bible describes as better than life itself. The loving-kindness of God is unexplainable and can only be experienced. The Psalmist who experienced this writes – O taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8). 

Irrespective of  what ‘Mercy’ is defined as, I like to think of Mercy as the MERit + Christ + You a.k.a., it is the MERit of Chirst for YOU. Isn’t that really cool?

Troubadour Christians

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On January 30, 2009

In Christian

One of the definition for the word “Troubadour” according to the Merriam Websters dictionary is “a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians often of knightly rank who flourished from the 11th to the end of the 13th century chiefly in the south of France and the north of Italy and whose major theme was courtly love”.

I came across this term when watching one of my my 3 year old son’s favorite TV shows, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This episode was ‘Sir Goofs a Lot’ and the Troubadour character is played by Donald Duck. The word struck me as I started to ponder on it and I slowly realized that we are indeed called to be Troubadours ourselves, which led me to search for it’s exact meaning in the dictionary. The definition was truly a revelation and it amused me to realize that God speaks through straightforward means through his prophets, pastors and preachers but also through  mysterious and interesting ways, including a Mickey Mouse TV show.

Closer examination of the definition “a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians often of knightly rank who flourished from the 11th to the end of the 13th century chiefly in the south of France and the north of Italy and whose major theme was courtly love” shows 2 important points.
First it talks about a class/rank of people – knightly and secondly, it talks about a theme of their songs – love.

The Bible says that we are Royal Priests (1 Peter 2:9). Royalty as Knights in God’s Army.
Our theme that we should be singing should be love, God’s LOVE for mankind.

Psalm 89:1 and Psalm 101:1 are few of the many others that states – “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord”. Some translations of the Bible translate the word ‘mercy’ to the word ‘love’ or ‘loving-kindness’ (which is better than life). The Bible also records in Lamentations 3:22-23, that the Lord’s mercies (a.k.a. loving-kindness) is new every morning.
It is akin, to God waking up (if He slept, because He never sleeps nor slumbers) to meet you and me, when we wake up, to tell us that his love (mercy) is new and available for us.
Isn’t that something we should be singing about.

We are to be Troubadour Christians who if Merriam-Websters was to define us who have to define as us
“A class of Royal Priests and Knights in God’s army, that composed songs with a major theme – God’s Mercies a.k.a. Love”
Let us be Troubadour Christians – Let us sing of the mercies of the Lord forever and with us make known his faithfulness and loving-kindness to all generations.

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