Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." (John 19:11 NIV) No man can receive anything unless it is given to him from above. So stop comparing.

This goes out to all pastors, ministry workers, missionaries and Christians alike.

Inner impressions (like the open/closed door theory) are not supernatural revelation, nor are they authoritative.

So it is inaccurate to apply the vocabulary of revelation to inner impressions. Phrases such as "from the Holy Spirit," "God told me," "God showed me," is misleading. This is not just a matter of imprecision. It causes confusion in the minds of believers and creates the expectation that all Christians should be receiving these messages.

(Gary Friesen and J. Robin Maxson, Decision Making and the Will of God.)

How I've drifted from You, I chose to turn away

And with my sin before me, I'm asking for your grace

To abandon my delusions and walk in all Your ways

I know I've hurt you deeply

Now I've come to seek Your face

I draw near, cry out to You

Receive Your undeserved love as it flows through

The Battle of Chai Chee

The way you hang clothes, how many clothe pegs you use, the order in which to spin wash/soak/rinse clothes, how many pineapple tarts you eat, what kind of towels you use, how you mop the floor. It is amazing how, at home, arguments arise over the smallest of things.

Is everyone prone to impatience at home? And why is it that (at home) our capacity to love is reduced to zilch when it should really be at its fullest?

Be doers of the word and not hearers only. You sure?

^{James 1:23-25}

²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Sit back, listen to God's word, listen to it again, look into it, listen and look some more and we will be blessed in what we do.

Serenity

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none?

-Shakespeare