Day 14: The Lord’s supper and a chance meeting

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (I Corinthians 11:23-26)

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10:00 AM - Honestly Lonely

I have learned that sometimes one simply feels lonely. It is very normal and Christians are not exempted from it. The Lord Himself felt lonely too when his disciples were leaving him and only The Twelve stayed, and also at Gethsemane. It is a matter of being honest about it and dealing with it, not running away from it. So, I prayed and submitted to Him my feelings of loneliness. It worked, you see. After praying, I felt better and I could start to fill my mind with positive thoughts instead. The Holy Spirit will heal you and give you peace when you surrender your heart and mind to the Lord.

02:00 PM - The great Christian leader and real life

I often wonder what goes behind the scenes of the great Christian leaders and evangelists like Billy Graham. After all, they are also just people. What makes them extraordinary is the Power of the Lord manifested in their ministries. Then, I ended up browsing for biographies of Billy Graham.

Many people must expect that his life would be perfect and smooth, because he is a godly man and GOD’s servant who has given his life for ministry. The wise say that GOD does not promise an easy life; but He promises to help us deal with life’s challenges. It is so true. I read that the pressure of being the children of Billy Graham was hard on those children. Some could deal with it properly, some could not. One of them could not save her marriage. One of them turned to alcohol and drugs. And, when the children finally got their lives sorted out, old age had its problems too.

When someone is the LORD’s servant, all eyes put him under scrutiny constantly and expose him to unrealistic expectations, such as never make mistakes. Well, David - a man after GOD’s own heart - made a huge mistakes with his adultery. He later repented and GOD forgave him, but still he had to bear the consequence of his sin. So, what’s the difference with the modern-day evangelists? Nothing.

What’s the difference with common Christians, like me? Nothing. Life in this fallen world is hard indeed, but we just have to roll on with the punches and depend on GOD.

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07:00 PM - An old friend at the Lord’s supper

I decided to go the the 7pm service. This Sunday has been scheduled for the Lord’s supper. To tell you the truth, I sometimes lose the meaning of sacraments like the Eucharist. The Bible said that it is to remember the Lord’s sacrifice at the Cross. But, when you regularly have it without proper contemplation on what it means, you get lost.

I got to the church right on time. It was almost full and I saw one empty seat between a woman and a man. So, I excused myself, seated myself there, and prayed. Immediately after I finished praying, the woman beside me elbowed my arm. There she was, my long lost friend.

Once we were very close friends. But, something came between us and we drifted apart. The best we do to keep in touch are Christmas and birthday wishes. We do not speak as much as we used to. So, it was a surprise to see her at my church. Afterwards, we spoke long enough about several light stuffs. I was really glad to see and talk to her.

Apart from the chance meeting, I had a meaningful service. The confession prayer hit home when we asked GOD’s forgiveness for the sin of self-importance: craving praise and approvals, while fearing dislikes. During the Eucharist sacrament, I had the chance to contemplate on Jesus’ sacrifice and what a selfish moaner I have been. Also, I realized my waywardness and I thank GOD for His steadfast love.

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10:00 PM - Filling in the blanks first

With all that’s gone on, I realize that I have many things to sort out first in myself. I need to postpone many things that I thought I was ready for. My best friend said, she needed to be ‘full content’. I think I understand what she meant. I need to fill in many blanks too before I can come back to GOD with decent requests, ones where I can trully say: “Thy will be done.”

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