The Joy and Suffering We Should Endure for The Cause of Christ( Special Post 2)

1)   1)  Jesus Christ in His essence should be the desiring passion of our life.  He should be our all-consuming fire within us because He lives in and through us. Faith and joy itself, in its own essence also, is a treasuring of Christ above all things.  In this book Paul writes, called Philippians, the Philippians thank him for coming and showing them that true and pure joy does not come from anywhere else but from the Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul came to strengthen the believers in that and had hope that when he left they would only look to the Father and glorify Him because of all he did through Paul.  Furthermore, it goes to explain how happiness is conditional and depends solely on happenings, but yet joy is rooted deeper.  Joy is depended on Jesus Christ.

2)  2)  Philippians, I think, does and doesn’t need to be interpreted.  I believe that this is one of Paul’s books that is actually pretty straightforward and is written clearly.  But the reason it needs to be interpreted is because maybe it is too easy for some people, they may think, to understand and they will read it and be done and not think it needs to be meditated on.  For example, when it says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  The only interpretation I have for this one small, little aspect of this book and of this chapter is really concentrated on the word worry.  People in our world have so many reasons on why they “have to” worry or think way too much into things.  Well, worry does not add a single minute to our hours or hours to our day here on earth.  It says for us to turn our worries into prayers and constantly give them up to our Father.  Yes, easier said than done.  It is said that the English term for worry comes from an old German word meaning to strangle, or to choke.  In our world that is exactly what it does, we let worry consume our thoughts and let it become our reality in our minds.  It is a mental and emotional strangulation that causes so much pain and strife that does not need to be there. 

3)   3)  I believe that I take Philippians for what it means.  I always try and meditate on all that I read and take time to understand it for what it is saying and not for what I want it to say.  If and when I need to interpret something, in this case in Philippians, I go to more sources and or sit and contemplate.  But I guess if I had to interpret this text to the best of my abilities it would be pretty much how I answered number one.  I believe that happiness is conditional and being joyful and having joy is in Christ and is also a choice we make.  Philippians is a book full of joy and hope.  It truly emphasizes the joy that He wants us to have in Him as our God, as our Creator and Father.  This book shines and radiates the light and Paul tells us that we are supposed to, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!”  Furthermore, we are to be content in any situation that our good Lord places us in.  It states in my bible, “whatever the circumstances.”  That we are to find real and pure joy in all of suffering because when we suffer, we suffer for what is right and good.  Through our suffering we find joy because He who lives in us and He finds favor in us through enduring patiently the suffering we undergo.

4)   4)  There are multiple supporting verses that back up my interpretation of Philippians.  Because I would say that my interpretation is directly from the Word of God.  In Philippians 4:4, 4:11,12…3:8-10…these verses are based on my bible because the handout that we received does not have the verses, which I know is a good thing and I wanted to give the verses that support my interpretation.

5)   5)  This answer I feel as though is going to be long and maybe even a little hard to handle.  This book is about love, joy and in contrast happiness, and suffering.  The one part we tend to over look is the suffering Jesus Christ went through for us undeserving sinners.  Therefore, the importance of this text and all of the other texts are to show us, His children and saints, yet still sinners, that we need Christ in us.  We need Him to live within us so that we may live in Him.  He does not need us to fulfill his purposes, but He wants us to live for Him.  When it says, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him.”  I cannot even stress to the reader how important this verse is to life.  To my life.  To the lives that are around me.  Paul is stressing that we are supposed to count all that we have or own as “worthless” when it is compared to the greatness of our Christ Jesus.  That our relationship with Christ is far greater than anything we could ever have or get in anything else in life.  He is our treasure, He is our joy.  That no matter what happens in this life, we will still rejoice, still praise, still love and serve Him all the days of our life.               

Downfall

     Where do I even begin.  I was a little confused by the story in the beginning, in like the first page and a half.  But then it got to a point where one of the characters said, "He's an angel."  Then I understood a bit more.  I thought is sad that the angel was an old crippled man who was stuck in the mud and unable to move himself.  Then the husband and wife, Pelayo and Elisenda captured him and locked him up.  At that point I was confused on who these two people were.  Why did they throw him into the wire chicken coop?  That was a question I was asking myself.  But then even when I kept reading after the angel dried his wings and stepped out of the coop and spoke a sermon, it mentioned that because of the news he was telling them about the devil and carnivals, and writing a letter to his bishop so then that person can write a letter to the latter and so on, they called in the troops and mob.  The wife was going to cage him in and charge admission for the neighborhood to come and see him. But is he really an angel?  That  is what the neighborhood would like to believe, because that is what they see.  But is it true?  I asked myself that question a couple times.  I mean on page 1061, he says, "If wings were not the essential element in determining the difference between a hawk and an airplane they were even less so in the recognition of angels."  So to me that says like he is saying that having wings does not only mean that he is an angel, that that is not the only factor in determining who he is or what he is.  It never really comes to a conclusion, I don't think, on if he was an angel or not.  It does say that in the end, he grew new harder wings that he hid for a while, and then flew away when they fully grew in.  The neighborhood was so happy that he left, it was as if a burden was lifted off their shoulders. 

A Heart Like Paul

     I have to say, I forgot how much I truly loved this book.  I read it here and there a few verses when I am led to it.  I have only read the whole Bible once through but I have not in a long time.  Reading this book in the New American Standard Bible was good.  I like how there are no numbers and how it just flows togther oh so perfectly. 
     There are many parts that I am in love with in Philippians.  Paul's thirteen letters are all some of my favorite writings in the Bible.  But when I was reading this through a few times it is hard for my mind to pick out the parts where I thought there was figurative language.  But I guess I see some places even though I am sure there are several.  That is why I really enjoy going over this in class and breaking it down as a team and classroom.  Because I feel as though I am able to hear the hearts of others and their opinions and relate to them.  I even listen and hear how they think and it helps me shape and challenge my thinking patterns also.
     One part I can see figurative language is when it says, "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me."  It does not make much sense to me what Paul is saying at the end, but when it says, "but also to suffer for His sake," I understand we are supposed to suffer for him, and there are people in the world who have died for Christ, been beaten, arms chopped off for just holding the bible and others that I know of.  But we will never be able to truly suffer just as Christ suffered on the Cross.  Another one would be, "Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers..." I think this is figurative speaking.  I don't think that Paul actually means real dogs but means false prophets and false teachings of the Gospel.  Furthermore, another figurative language in this book might perhaps be, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." I am not sure how to explain this one but I think that it could be figurative.  But I guess it is saying, to live is Christ, because that means Paul would be able to be Christ on earth for a longer period of time so that he may continue God's work.  Paul also says that it would be better he lived because it would be better for the people that he lived.  And then to die is gain because to die means he would be in heaven with his Father and that is far better than being down here on earth.   

Reflecting

     This past weekend was the play called, "Th Man Who Came To Dinner."  I got the chance to go on Thursday because I was unable to go during the weekend.  I do not know where to even start with what I thought about the play.  I went with my boyfriend Christopher, my friends Jessica and Jenna and my classmmate Sterling. The name of the play had me thinking that we was going to be a really good play but my first reaction was not so.  It annoyed me and bothered me a little bit.  The character of Sherry was annoying and intense.  I would say during the whole play we kept looking at one another asking what was going on.  What was this play about exactly?  Of course we kept watching it and it seemed like it got a little better as time went on.  There were several other characters that I truly loved.  I would say my favorite was definitely hands down the sister who would occasionally come down the stairs to talk to Sherry and show him pictures or tell him short stories.  I know the girl who played her and she did a fa-nominal job.  She had the whole crowd laughing every time she would come down those stairs and would go up one step at time.  Furthermore, I loved Sherry's assistant Maggie.  She worked with him for so long and he saw her as being so insufficient.  She fell in love with a news reporter and was finally happy and Sherry was doing everything he could to have her stay and break her and her love up.  In the end I do not know exactly how I felt or even still feel to this day about the play. I thought during it was weird and no true story line.  After felt as if the title has nothing to do with the play.  It was random and funny all at the same time.  I liked it and enjoyed it the best I could with what I saw.   

Normal Interaction

     First I want to start off by saying that I truly enjoyed last class.  It was my first week being back since we switched up groups a little bit to read parts of the play, "The Boys Next Door."  And I was in a great group, with great interaction with the text.  Furthermore, I enjoyed having that girl join our class who is in the theater department.  I feel horrible but I forgot her name, but she did a wonderful job of explaining the play in more detail and expressing the way she felt about it.  I could feel her enthusiasm and heart for this text and I saw it all over her face.  I think that kind of passion for literature in theater is fantastic.
     Moreover, also, after hearing some of my classmates express their hearts and thoughts about the text, really opened my eyes to different ways of thinking about it or even if a person thought the same way as me, it was still encouraging to know that I was not the only one to feel a certain way.  There were three people in the class that day that really touched my heart.  Chris, Sterling and Kristen.  Chris said that he previously worked with people who had disabilities and really enjoyed the interaction with them and that helped him understand the text more.  Sterling has a sister that is disabled and he spoke a little about it in class and I started to cry hearing about his sister's story and growing up with her.  How there were lines in the text that he could just see his sister saying.  Also, Kristen has a little girl cousin that also has a disability and hearing her story as well was so touching.  I started to cry listening because my heart has such a big place for children and men and woman who are disabled.
     Even re-reading the text after having our discussion time on Tuesday helped me even more.  I think it is safe for me to say that this is one of the most enjoyable things we have done this semester.  I have loved it.  While re-reading parts, I stood up and tried to kind of act it out and really take the time to visualize the situation and the interaction that Arnold, Lucien, Jack, Norman, Barry and all the other characters had through out this play.
     I feel as though I am able to really learn from this experience and use it in my future and that is something that will always be a part of my life.  This passion I have inside to work with people with disability is, I know, from God and I am going to put my passion into practice and do it all for the glory of the Lord.        

Love For All People

     Out of all of our field trips that we have had in this class thus far, I would have to say that today was far better than any of the previous ones.  The reason being because I just have such a huge passion in my heart for men and woman and children with disabilities.  I truly enjoyed walking around the facility and being able to interact a little bit with the people that attend the program.  The woman that worked there and the one who gave us the tour is named Ashley.  She did a fantastic job of giving us an overview of all that goes on and what kind of classes they offer.  The whole time walking around I tried to stay as close to Ashley as I could because I was and am so interested in what she does and what those facilities are providing for those amazing men and woman.  I think that places like those that work with people who have disabilities are resourceful and needed.  One fact that I would love about working there or at another facility like it would be getting to know all of the men and woman and building a true relationship with them.  When I was in high school in Orlando, I would volunteer every day of the week for a few hours or even, sometimes, a half a day at a disability center that worked with Down syndrome, autistic, and cerebral polsey children and youth.  Moreover, one of the biggest reasons I believe that the Lord is sending me to get my Masters in Professional Counseling is because I will have the opportunity to work in centers just like the one we visited today.  I enjoy working with them so much, it makes my entire day when I just see them smile and laugh.  I used to cry all the time and my heart would brake for each and every person that I would come in contact with who had a disability.  I hoped and prayed that they had a safe place to lay their head down at night, that they were loved and cared for by people so much, that they knew God loved them, and that they were happy.  I know that hopefully having the opportunity to work in a center like the one today I would shine so bright for my Creator and I would be doing something that makes Him proud.  He has placed the passion inside me and I know that when I do it that I am glorifying Him.  As John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”    

What Meets The Eye

     I went to Lake Bonny Park today for the first time in about a year.  What I love most about the park would be how diverse it is.  It has so many fields to play sports on and also a nice nature trail so people can take runs, jogs, walks or nice strolls through the area.
     What I liked most about going there today and visiting would be the silence part of this exercise.  I kind of pictured myself in Colorado, in the mountains with the cool crisp breeze blowing on my face while sipping hot cocoa.  But I was not there, I was at Bonny Park and listened to the birds chirp and the breeze fill my body.  I like the challenge of having to sit still and not think.  But be still.  I am not used to that at all but when I have my alone time with my Creator I try to be still in His presence and know He is God and listen.  That is what I tried to do today. It may have not been my alone time but it was extra time that I took to reflect on all He has created and and made for us, His children, to enjoy and be in awe of.
     I am not a writer, nor do I know how to write good poems, but what I do know how to do is try and do my best and that is what I believe I did.  I was there for the 45 minutes and tried to take in all that I could during that time and gave it my all.  I think if we never take the time to stop or slow down we so easily miss the wonderful, beautiful master pieces God has created and we cannot enjoy them for what they were created to be.
     I watched and looked all around me during the part I was writing. Seeing all that there was to see with the naked eye.  I tried to look beyond that and figure out what exactly i can see that is more than physical but yet why nature acts the way it does.

"The Senses"
Birds chirping in the pine trees
Calling out to one another
Singing beautiful melodies
Acorns dropping as if they want to be heard
Like hail hitting the car windshield
Ant mounds all around
Filled with anticipation
Needing to survive
Wind whistling through the leaves and branches
brushing past and leaving all behind
The sun drenching the landscape
Soaking up the droplets of water
left from previous rain
Worms inching along side feet walking on sidewalks
Trying to go somewhere
Somewhere real fast (they are underestimated)
Smells so distinct as if it wants to be seen
Like flowers first bloom in spring
Now breathing in deep taking all that is offered in
squeezing eyes so tight wanting to embrace
Every smell, melody, sound, emotion or touch
Nature is more than what meets the eye
      
"I went to Lake Bonny Park [or Circle B Bar Reserve] for this field trip, and I stayed there for at least 45 minutes."