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좌측_배너 배너 001

작성자 한태일 목사
작성일 2016-06-16 (목) 01:29
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Senior Pastor's Column for June
This past Memorial Day, my wife and I took our daughter, Faith, to New York. She recently landed an internship there.  We presumed that there would be heavy traffic traveling to the city on a holiday, but surprisingly quite the opposite was true. Normally a trip to New York has heavy traffic, or an accident can bring the expressway to a complete standstill, but this day there was virtually zero traffic in New York.  We originally planned for the drive to take approximately five hours; surprisingly we arrived in less than four hours.

As we were driving home, it occurred to me that on the road of life, there are similar times of blessing.  How many times do we find the road flat and smooth? How often do we find that the road of life is not easy, filled with sickness or other problems? How many times do we actually go through life just expecting something bad to happen? We have regular physicals to ensure everything is functioning properly. We carefully inspect our businesses or workplaces to ensure progress and success.  We constantly remind and warn our children so that they can avoid problems, and of course we pray to God for the very same reason.

But then again, it’s almost strange that there are times when life goes smoothly. When we can sense the good touch of God, and when we can experience His blessing. When hardships come, we can assume they are tests that will end up blessing us, which allows us to endure them. Yet when we experience a time in life absent of such hardships, it is, I believe, a time in which we must learn to genuinely thank the Lord so as not to begin meandering. It is not only when times are difficult, but also in times of plenty and ease where we must praise and glorify God. We need to look at our faith. We need to reflect on the remarkable grace God provides us even when we know we are not otherwise particularly worthy of such blessings.

When we recite the Lord’s Prayer, we must reflect upon each and every word. When we say, “Our Father, who art in Heaven,” we need to reflect on how everyday, as our Father, God is there in Heaven and at the same time in communion with us spiritually, right?  If He were some distant Father who does not communicate with us, what good would that be? We need to live like sons and daughters of God if we are to call Him Father, right?
If we say, “Hallowed be thy name,” then our lives need to be conformed to our Father in Heaven and be holy, distinguished from the world, right?  When we say, “Thy Kingdom come,” then we need to ask ourselves if God really rules sovereign in our lives. If we pray that God’s Kingdom is one that is ruled by God and then live our lives as though we are in charge, there is a disconnect there, right?
When we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,” and then live a life that is one of disobedience, how is God’s will to be done on earth? And then what if we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and then go ahead without being thankful for God meeting our daily needs and instead ask Him for the things of the world beyond that?  Ask what we want? If we pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” and then hate those who wrong us or seek revenge, how are our sins to be forgiven? Isn’t it duplicitous of us if on one hand we pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” and then either find ourselves falling into situations where we are tested or actually pursuing places where we will be tempted?  And if we pray, “Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever,” and then go on to building our own kingdoms, pursuing our own power and fame, and desiring glory and applause from people, isn’t there something askew? How can we say that God is ours forever and ever in such a case?  
And what is God to think after you close all of the above with an “Amen”?  
We really need to give this some serious thought. We need to look at ourselves, repent, and commit to work on those areas as we recite the Lord’s Prayer.

Summer is here. The fields and orchards are ripening.  At times like this, and as the weather gets warms, it's easy for us to become agitated, lazy, and fall into temptation.  

But we need to be alert and make this a time of prayer, request spiritual fruits. Of course, we need rest. But I hope that we also show self control and spend the summer profitably until the fall harvest. Autumn will soon be upon us, and after that winter.  Tomorrow and the future is not ours. Only God knows what the future holds.
   
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