Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Extreme hymn

Hello, I'm the one who is suppose to be posting on this site. :) Do you remember me? I know it's been a while and I'm sorry. But I'm posting now. So here goes. I must admit, I was struggling last night with "Love not the world nor the things in the world." And I was thinking, it's so hard to love Christ more than things in this world. Family, friends, desires, wants, things. And as I was thinking and praying this story came to my mind and put things in perspective a bit.

North Korea: The Villages of GokSan

"The young, brown-eyed girl looked up at her mother. What would her mom decide? Earlier that morning, the young girl's mother, their pastor, and twenty-six others in her North Korean village of GokSan were bound and taken before a screaming crowd of Communists. One of the guards ordered Pastor Kim and the other Christians, "Deny Christ, or you will die." The words chilled her. How could they ask her to deny Jesus? She knew in her heart he was real. They all quietly refused. Then the Communist guard shouted directly at the adult Christians, "Deny Christ, or we will hang your children." The young girl looked up at her mother. She gripped her hand knowing how much her mom loved her. Her mother then leaned down. With confidence and peace she whispered, "Today, my love, I will see you in heaven." All of the children were hanged. The remaining believers were then brought out onto the pavement and forced to lie down in front of a large steamroller. The communists gave them one last chance. "Deny this Jesus or you will be crushed." The Christians had already given up their children; there was no turning back. As the driver started the heavy piece of equipment, the singing from the villagers started softly. "More love, O Christ, to thee, more love to thee.""
~From the book "Extreme Devotion"



This story kind of puts our sufferings into perspective. Have I been asked to give up my family for Christ? No. Have I been asked to give up my own life? No. Then why can I not love Him with all I am knowing that it's the right thing? True we struggle with loving the things of the world, but let us keep that in perspective. Right now, perhaps, we struggle with wanting things more then Christ. We have not yet come to the point where we must choose between our lives and Christ. But whatever we struggle with we must remember that when we cry to Christ, He hears us. Let us ask Him, and mean it with all our hearts, to give us a love for Him. And then be willing to give up whatever it takes to get us to that point. See "Do I want a broken heart?" for another helpful quote.

3 comments:

Kat said...

Wow. That certainly does put our lives into perspective for us. Thank you for reminding us, Ana, to treasure Christ above all things. A story like that tears your heart, but WE are to be living exactly like that. May God give us the grace to forsake our wordly demandings for comfort.

Anonymous said...

That story was amazing. It really made me think....thank you so much for posting thought provoking, God-honoring things. I really appreciate you and your blog. By the way, congrats on your quilt, it's very charming. I like it. You did great, and in such a quick amount of time.
~Katie S.

Melissa said...

Thank you, Ana, for this post. I'm struck by the goodness of God in giving dying grace to these martyrs. It encourages me to trust that He will give me "living" grace to humble and deny myself today as I ought. I know that reading this has encouraged me toward whole-hearted sacrifice and devotion. Extreme hymn, indeed. But I pray it, with all my heart, just the same.
Love in Jesus,
Mrs. J.