When Ezekiel receives his call from God, the Lord warns him that the people He is sending him to are stubborn, and may not listen. But Ezekiel must go anyway. God’s call on Ezekiel — and us — is not to success, but to faithfulness. And thankfully, it is paired with an encouragement, repeated multiple times in this chapter: “Do not be afraid.” God doesn’t send us out alone. He goes with us.
Hey everyone. Welcome to my new personal/ministry blog. It’s actually a merger of my JapanLog (formerly at Tumblr) and my Devotional Blog (right here at Posterous), now found at my “permanent” URL, robinwhiteonline.com.
From here on out, this is where I’ll post ministry news, photos from Japan, thoughts on what I’m reading in the Word, and occassional other Japan-related or personal stuff.
If you’re looking for my comics-related stuff, you can go here or here. I’m also on Twitter, if you’re into that, with both a personal and a Doodze-related account. And in case you’re wondering, no, I don’t do Facebook anymore.
Shot on my iPhone from the roof of my church about a week ago.
Shot on my iPhone early one recent morning.
“私は神様を愛しています。 なぜなら、祈りを聞いてくださるからです。身を乗り出して聞いてくださる神様に、私は生きている限り祈り続けます。” (詩篇 116:1, 2 JLB)
最近も一度祈りの大切さと力を思い出しています。この箇所のように祈ります。自分の毎日生活に祈りをもっと大切にしたい。 “I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!” (Psalm 116:1, 2 NLT) I don’t have much to say about this verse, other than that it goes along with what God has already been reminding me of lately: the importance and power of prayer. This Psalm is my prayer today. I want to make prayer a more important part of my life.“But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” (Jonah 4:11 NLT)
Japan has more than 120 million people… And yet, how often do I, like Jonah, get distracted by my own needs and wants, and forget why I’m here? How often do I complain rather than give thanks? How often do I act like God owes me something? How often are my prayers short and weak and all about myself? Lord, please forgive me, and help me to see the world from Your perspective.