Dew Heart

Screwtape 17

2011-01-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Well well, what do we have here? Few days late again! But I'm trying.
Dear lord, please help me to love your word.

Here goes,

In this chapter, wormwood is trying hard to make the young Christian
focus on gluttony and forget God. (Can food do that? Yes, or else
fasting won't be such a big thing).

Screwtape repremanded him and ask him to temp them on delicacy instead.

Oh man. This is Singaporean and my pet sin. Complain non-stop about
not getting what you want. The perfect house, the perfect serving of
food, squeezing in the train and too many foreigner in Singapore and
army!

One verse comes to mine today. (every as you search for the verse, you
complained about the train waiting time.)

Phil 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you
may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a
crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the
universe

Really struggle in this. Pray that I can change and remember this
command by hard!

Screwtape 16

2011-01-03T19:01:00.000-08:00

4th day of the new year and my quiet time still not so consistent. I
need to buck up and work hard. Being sick is not an excuse since you
can still do your school work and play FM. Enough ranting. Here goes
screwtape chapter 16 insight.

God want the church to be a place where you are humble to learn
everything to become more Christlike. Being critical of small issues
don't make you more Christ-like and Satan will make use of this trick
to get you to focus on the wrong issues!

The orange light, songs that you don't like, sermon that is boring!
All these take your heart from the important issue that is being
humble in Christ.

1 cor 10:23 "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is
beneficial. "Everything is permissible"--but not everything is
constructive. 24 Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of
others. 25 Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising
questions of conscience, 26 for, "The earth is the Lord's, and
everything in it." 27 If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and
you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising
questions of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, "This has been
offered in sacrifice," then do not eat it, both for the sake of the
man who told you and for conscience' sake -- 29 the other man's
conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by
another's conscience? 30 If I take part in the meal with thankfulness,
why am I denounced because of something I thank God for? 31 So whether
you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church
of God-- 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am
not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be
saved.

Seek the good of others. Don't stumble people by your comments. And of
course, focus on growing. Everything do it for the glory of my Lord,
forever and ever

Screwtape 15

2011-01-01T07:09:00.000-08:00

God destine me for Eternity.

Both the past and the present is the state God wants me to focus on. Past is definite and focusing on it helps me to be grateful for what God gave me. He gave me a relationship with him, he gave me my friends, he gave me my wife, he gave me a job, he gave me a diploma, he gave me a great family, he gave me countless blessings. The present though, is what he wants me to focus on, he wants me to stick close to him, understand his plans, trust him, live with me, breath him, love him for today. Am I doing that? Future is what Satan wants me to focus on, he wants me to worry about my flat, he wants me to be jealous of that big car, he wants me to dream of nice holidays, he wants me to dream of the nicest gadget, he wants me to focus on earning money for all these things and then I will forget him. He's tricking me and I'm falling into it.

Do Not Worry

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^e]">[e]?

Matthew 6:²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Screwtape letters - I

2010-12-04T06:42:00.000-08:00

Screwtape in this chapter advised Wormwood to confuse the young disciple by means of confusion rather than by the truth. A right or wrong answer is too dangerous for them as the disciple have a high chance about finding out about the truth. A confusing answer is better such as, this is too old-schooled, these were the olden-legalistic way, this is the new way in church. A answer such as this will get him to never have a solid conviction and leave him stranded in mid-air.

Satan wants me to be confused and distracted. He won't want a yes or a no, a right or a false. He loves all falsehood, things that are unclear so that he can continued to play with your mind and you will never start to do the right thing.

How are things going for you? Are you distracted by the world and it's "deep" philosophy of life? Does its way lure you from the word of God?

A verse comes to mind,

Matthew 5:37 (The Message)

Empty Promises

^33-37"And don't say anything you don't mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, 'I'll pray for you,' and never doing it, or saying, 'God be with you,' and not meaning it. You don't make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say 'yes' and 'no.' When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.