three phone calls that saved me today - 1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord today

The phonecalls themselves did not literally saved me, but they were means through which I got saved from myself, from my situation, and from my tiredness. It's Saturday again and after work I managed to get some rest, right after I paid a visit to the vegetables market in Archway [called, Archway Market] on my way home. I can't believe the sun was shining so bright but outside it was so cold! The days when "you can see your breath" are back, and it looks like they are here to stay for a while! Well... bring it on, fall and then winter! :)

1 Picture Today - London is full of contrasts, check out these cars!

I finally managed to take such a picture of the contrasts existing in the UK and in London in particular. There are all kinds of cars on the street, some more fancy and others more old-style. In this picture, if you look hard enough, you can see a 3-wheel old-style yellow small car, and on the other side a nice black convertible new style car. Sometimes you can see them one after another, or one by the other - one worth £500 and the other £15000. I would say that the driver in the yellow car is happier and more restful than the other guy ;) But the contrast is indeed striking many times... [I finally managed to capture it

One Experience with the Lord Today - Three Phone Calls that Saved me today

This kind of phone calls don't usually happen, but neither are they too special - I would say, they are normal, and they are a nice expression of the saints in the church life which happen to take place today. A few articles back I was sharing that it is so good to be in this lovely place, in the church life - here we can enjoy God in all His riches in the house of God. And the saints are here - Christ is in the saints! We are not just men - we are God-men, those who have the divine life within the human life and who learn to live by the divine life in the human life. As such, we have both a human history (birth, family, school, high school, university, FTT, etc) and also we have a divine and mystical history (God sanctifying us, setting us apart, sweeping in us, our regeneration, our daily growing, being renewed, experiencing Christ daily, being transformed, being conformed, etc).

The First Call - a fellow Romanian brother calls me today (just as I was resting a bit after work). He asked me for some advice regarding some practical situations, and I tried to give him some advice. Eventually, due to my lack of experience in that particular field, I had to direct him to another brother who may help him. But this was not it: as we were talking, we "slipped into" having some fellowship, and there was some dispensing of God and some ministering of Christ! It's so good to hear that God is working in other people's lives, and that He puts the ones around us on our heart that we may pray for them and serve them with Christ! Yes, even the ones at school or at work, wherever the Lord put you, are the best candidates for your prayer and your speaking of Christ!

The Second Call - a brother called me for some fellowship concerning taking care of the young people. In the church life we are not passive; rather, the Lord shows us the existing needs and, according to the burden from the Lord, we cooperate with Him to take care of the need in a coordinated way. How do we take care of the young people? Is it organization? Is it a special group of people who does this? Or iIs it by having young people's meetings? Or is it by learning to take a personal care and a personal interest in one or two young ones? The conclusion of the call was that we are learning what's the best way to both take personal care of the young ones and how to have the meetings with the young people. Amen, we're learning!

The Third Call - is a call I got from a child, who eventually turns out to be the son of a brother in the church life who wanted to call his daddy (who is called Stephen, incidentally) and he misspelled his name on the phone - so he called me! I was startled at first to hear a child's voice on the other and, but I quickly realized it must be one of the kids of the saints... - eventually, I talked to the mom, and it was a pleasant conversation. You know what, even when you take a call that is not for you, that is, when the other person may have made a mistake in dialling, you can still minister life and receive life! I was so much enlivened and encouraged when I got this third call :) A simple call, the wrong person called, yet some flowing of God's life taking place! How about that!

The moral of the story - is not to point out how interesting life can be, but to thank the Lord in appreciation for the church life. Sometimes you're tired; other times you don't have time; still, other times, you can't be bothered to call the saints, or you forget to call the saints. In these times you need the supply of the Body, and you can be saved by the other members simply contacting you... Guess what, if you cultivate a relationship with the Lord and you pursue Him with the saints, the Lord Himself will call you through different members of His Body just to remind you about Himself, and there's some life ministered into you in these calls.... It is so good to "sow unto life" by enjoying the Lord and endeavouring to be in the church life.... - the Lord will then visit you just when you need it, when the time comes...

Today I realized again that I need the Body of Christ - I need the function of the other members of the Body. It's so good to be connected and be dependent o the other members. It's really "to me - for you", and "my going on is for you - your going on is for me". As members in the Body of Christ, we are NOT separate entities - we are an organic Body for Christ to move, be expressed, and be glorified through! I am so grateful to the Lord for the saints - all ages, all languages, all nationalities, from any country, in each one's measure, with their portion in the Body.... Lord, keep us here, connected and built up together as Your Body!

We are sinners saved through grace, praising God! (1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord) 30-day challenge

Back from the ITERO, and back to work and the busy life! Wow, after such an amazing retreat where time stands still and everything is quiet, where people take their time to chat and fellowship, and where no one hurries up... - to North London where everyone rushes to work or school, buses and cars everywhere, you need to be careful not to bump into the many people on the street, even at night you hear the police and ambulance, etc. What a difference... Now I know that when we just take time to listen to the Lord, and even take some specific time away from the busy life, He can have a way to speak unhindered!

1 Picture for today - London Tube, London Underground

There are so many pictures you can take of the popular tube stations in London... - this one, I think, is in Bank Station, where many people change between the Northern Line and the Central Line. Especially when I go to Bower House, I change at Bank (especially since Tottenham Court Road tube station is closed for repairs on the Northern Line). I put this picture on Facebook and many liked it - so here it is also on the blog! :)

1 Experience with the Lord today - We are Sinners Saved Through Grace, praising God!

This morning we started getting into Psalm 51, which is a psalm of repentance - David is repenting before the Lord, admitting his sin and confessing. What a deep and what a precious psalm! I still can't wrap my head around this whole situation - how could David, someone who warred God's battles, who had a desire to build a house for God, and who was chosen by God since he was a teenager - this one, how could he fail so miserably??? The Bible simply says that he woke up in the afternoon and he went for a walk on the roof of his house, he saw a woman bathing, and... - he took her, he arranged for her husband to be killed, and then married her! This is awful, and this is not something that is recommended as a "Bible story"...

O Lord Jesus... Even when the gospel of Matthew starts, it says that David begot Solomon "out of her who had been the wife of Uriah the Hittite"(Matt. 1:6) - even in the genealogy of Jesus, this sin is like a stain there... After such a great revelation, David - a man after God's heart - failed so miserably... A man who enjoyed God so much, who wrote psalms and was on the throne, conquering the enemies and subduing the nations - this one committed such a crime that not even people in the world would commit... This even is so inexplicable that it's a shame that it happened, really...

But I praise the Lord for the ministry of the age which interprets and brings to light the spiritual principles in this story. David is just like us - we are all sinners, and we commit sin and transgressions. That's why we all sinners love this psalm - it is composed by a sinner and it is read and sung by us sinners. Only a sinner can write such a psalm - just as the famous song, Amazing Grace, was written by a sinner saved through grace, John Newton. This guy was so rebellious and so much against God that he did a lot of terrible things (which include slave trade, etc). But one day grace came and conquered even him... only a sinner can compose such a hymn and utter such words - and this is what makes our salvation beautiful!

We are just sinners saved through grace - and we will forever remember this. We may be alright today, but we may fail again tomorrow - it is God's mercy and grace we are still here. We are NOT angels - but as sinners, we can utter praise that the angels cannot! The angels don't know the joy of being forgiven and accepted by God even after failing miserably... We are forgiven much, therefore we love much. As sinners, we are made the masterpiece of God to shine out as the New Jerusalem - and even there, while shining brightly as the sun, we will still remember that it is the grace who did it all - it's not of us! Today we can offer a sweet and precious praise to God - He receives us when we return to Him and repent! All we need to do is repent and confess, and He receives us back and gives us grace!

We are not "looking for trouble", in the sense that we don't seek to sin, but as human beings things happen and we may fail, even fail terribly - to such an extent that others may shake their heads at us... O Lord Jesus... - even then, we can return to the Lord and repent. Yes, we are sinners, but we can repent and confess our sins, and He forgives us. Out of such a deep failure with a thorough repentance, married with God's forgiveness, something comes out - something for the building up of the church! What a wisdom! What an amazing plan! It's nothing of us, not of ourselves, not of our own effort or ability - but it is of God's grace! How we praise Him! How we love Him! We, sinners saved by grace, are being made the masterpiece of God!

... and this whole week it's a week on Psalm 51 - I am looking forward to pray over this Psalm, to meditate and muse on it.... May He produce the Solomon in us, the Christ who is experienced by us even in these failures, so that His house may be built! Praise the Lord!