A Relationship with God

Genesis 2:18-20

God said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." So God formed from the dirt of the ground all the animals of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the Man to see what he would name them. Whatever the Man called each living creature, that was its name. The Man named the cattle, named the birds of the air, named the wild animals; but he didn't find a suitable companion.

This is lovely, absolutely lovely. One Sunday service recently, oone of our leaders briefly talked about this verse, stressing on how God brought ALL the animals and birds to Adam and let Adam give them names. He stressed on how that was some serious time spent between God and Adam, and I absolutely agree! After all, we do have millions of animals on this planet :) At that point, I realized how much God has wanted to spend personal time with us from the very beginning. If God simply created man to live on his own like every other creature, He would not have bothered to spend that time with Adam. It is such an amazing thing to know that God not only would, but wants to, spend time with li'l ol' me :)

Today, I read this verse again. And I realized something else. Now listen and listen good. Read it out loud if you have to: God said, "It's not good for the Man to be alone; I'll make him a helper, a companion." God had decided Adam needed a companion; a soulmate. And being God, He knew VERY WELL who the perfect companion would be. But instead of simply creating the woman and presenting her to Adam, God brought in all the animals and let Adam screen through them (naming them in the process) to find what fits his fancy.

Did you miss it? Is it because I didn't bold it? :)

God didn't just give Adam a treasure, He got Adam involved in finding that treasure. This is like a father who has an idea for a gift he knows his child will love. But instead of just getting the gift and directly giving it to the child, they go on a hunt for it together. They spend time together, they go on an adventure; it's fun, it's exciting!

But the child doesn't find the gift. Adam didn't find that suitable companion. So guess what Daddy God did - He put His child to bed and created that gift while the child slept. And when the child woke up,what a surprise he got. What a surprise! Read the following verses - Adam was delighted to finally have his treasure.

My point here is, when it comes to OUR personal relationship with God (yes, it is a relationship, not just a religious event!) - and this applies for everyone - He KNOWS what is best for us and He KNOWS the desires of our hearts. And as Eve was a suitable companion for Adam, God also wants to provide us suitable treasure. But He doesn't want to just give us, as we often ask for it. We're so impatient; we just want everything to be done for us or given to us immediately!

Listen - God would rather spend time with you on an adventure of life, letting you dream and learn and have fun along the way, than just drop a gift at your feet.

YES, He tells us He has treasure for us, so that we may get excited and hopeful. These are ourDREAMS.

YES, He brings us on hunts and trials, so we may learn to overcome obstacles and overlook the things that are just not that important. This is our EXPERIENCE and WISDOM.

YES, He lets us go through disappointment, so we may truly appreciate the wonderful surprise He has in store for us. This is our REWARD.

Come on now. Is God not wonderful?

Watch Your Tongue!

Eph 4:29 [Message version] says, "Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Sayonly what helps, each word a gift."

The NIV says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."

I admit, this is something I still struggle with sometimes. Something I have learned over the years is that I have a gift of encouragement - this means, encouraging comes quite naturally to me; I love to say things that makes people feel good about themselves or what they do [of course, it's got to be worthy of encouragement. I will not encourage someone to shoplift or hurt others, for example] or give hope to someone's situation.

This ability to encourage comes from the ability to speak, but with the ability to speak also comes the ability to curse. These are two levels of cursing that I know of:

1) Obvious offensive / hurtful words. This includes foul mouthing people, spewing angry words at people, literally calling a curse upon people, bluntly putting people down, etc.

2) Subtle offensive / hurtful words. This includes making fun [teasing] of others, making light of a situation they may be in, (jokingly) calling them names or titles that really aren't appropriate, etc.

I've been guilty of both. In my walk with God, I have learned to throw out the first level of cursing and a portion of the second level. Admittedly though, there are times that I must still watch my tongue. The main area I need to do it in is making fun of others.

Oh Merr, does that mean we can't have a little fun? What a killjoy, what a spoilsport.

I'm not saying we can't have fun! There are many ways and many times I've had joking around with my friends. We laugh about it, we love it, we enjoy it. What I AM saying is to be wary and watchful of the degree of teasing we do or participate in. It's fine, it's good even, to do things all in fun, but once someone starts feeling uncomfortable or attacked, or if multiple people are ganging up on them, or if it is clearly not healthy for them to take so much embarrassment, are we to continue doing it?

I just stressed on the subtle level of hurtful words, but I think it applies even more so to the obvious level. If it is important to watch the way we talk in subtle, less abusive ways, then it is all the more important to watch the way we talk that OBVIOUSLY upsets others! Do you know why? Because Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death..." This means what we say has the potential to build someone up or tear them down. It has the potential to help someone make something of their life, or crumble into depression.

Maybe it sounds far-fetched to you. But you never know how much your words affect someone because you're not them, and they might not tell you. This is why watching the way I talk is such an important matter to me. It's absolutely vital to speak words that encourage, strengthen, build up, benefit, bless and help others (or even yourself - you achieve nothing by looking down on yourself or beating yourself up), because I don't know about you, but I don't want to be the one who causes someone to feel hurt, offended and condemned that might follow them or bring them to their very destruction.

Police v2

Has it truly been one and a half years since I've written in a blog? It's quite astounding that writing blogs has not even been remotely part of my life for such a long time. I've been receiving spam on my posts and ignoring them all, until I received a comment on my most recent post that didn't have a link on it and stated that the person appreciated my blog.

Thank you, whoever you are. Thank you because it's reminded me of the power of a good encouragement, even if it's just 6 words long.

It's interesting that my last post talked about my police ministry. I'm glad I wrote that post down a year and a half ago - it marked the start of my ministry, so now I can remember when it all began :) I haven't done anything huge or radical since, but I've been steadily moving. LAPD, LASD, CHP - I'm still at large and still pumped with the passion Jesus has given me. And as long as He wills me to, I will pray for you and encourage you.

Police

I'm going to try to tell this story without making it too long-winded. Let me start with a brief explanation of what I call my "police ministry".

• This "police ministry" is the starting of a tiny little mission I have where I want to let police officers know that they're appreciated. It may sound somewhat strange, but it's a desire that I now believe God put in my heart to bless law enforcement.

• Here in Los Angeles, I met a fantastic person whom I respect and appreciate. He, too, is in a police ministry and has enabled me to take my ministry a step further (so now we are standing together in it) by giving me books to give to officers together with my thank you notes.

Enough history. This is what's gotten me excited today:

• I was on my way back home when I reached a red light at an intersection. The car on my left was, you guessed it, a police car. I grabbed one of the books I had been given, opened my window and held the book outside the window (which I now realise might have been a dumb idea, but I needed to be quick because of the traffic light). I made a nice loud greeting and asked if I could give them the book; explained to them that my motives were just to appreciate their services and that they'd find a note of appreciation inside. BOTH officers took one.

Dang cool.

God is good, though very, very random. I've been asking for opportunities despite knowing it was hard for Him to give me any because I stay at home most of the day (yes, my fault). But He gave me that chance tonight and I'm glad I took it!

I must admit, I am ecstatic. Though I can't be sure if either my words, actions or the book I handed to the officers blessed them tonight, that sure was my intention. They will be in my prayers tonight, for sure.

My God, My Shepherd

I am at a loss for words and expression because of the awesomeness of our God. I open my mouth to give praise but all I can do is stutter in amazement.

I think God is laughing at me.

In Ezekiel 34:11-16, I so adored the way God promised how He would personally search for His lost sheep (people). While reading Ezekiel, y0u might assume that He is only talking about Israel but if you really read these verses, you’ll see how relevant they are to us today!

11 I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

12 I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered…

13 I will pasture them…

15 I myself will tend my sheep…

16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak.

This is exactly what God does today! He is forever seeking us out, personally, and when he does find us (or rather, when we allow Him to find us), He stays so true to His promise of providing for us, tending to us, healing us and strengthening us!

God wants to be so personal with us, but many times we don’t comprehend.

In v23 and 24, God also says that He will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.

The shepherd was written as God’s “servant David”. Literally, that sounds preposterous because David’s not around anymore, yet God said it. Then I realized that the term "my servant David” could very well mean someone from David’s line. Many, many, many years later, Jesus comes from David’s line and totally, perfectly fulfills this.

Can this, I ask, possibly be simply the work of scholars and authors? I find it impossible because there is no way that even the best minds could have “created” a story 66 books long and been able to sync them so perfectly with one another.

This is the Word of God.

I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.

Hope over Hardship

If I may, I can summarize Jeremiah and Lamentations into a sentence: they talk about the cause and effect of the fall of Jerusalem and all of the Israelites for that matter. The books are filled with anxiety, fear and worry. Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? Yet, in the midst of such, God is still glorious.

In Chapter 3 of Lamentations, the author writes about himself and his own hardships. Clearly his years haven’t been very good ones, yet in verses 19-27, he speaks the amazing truth.

¹⁹ I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.

²⁰ I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.

²¹ Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

²⁶ it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

²⁷ It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.

This is how I read the author’s words:

So many things have happened to me – I’ve experienced so much hardship; so much pain and suffering. I live my life aimlessly, feeling empty, feeling lonely. No matter how I run or where I go, I find myself travelling in a circle, always coming back to the same torment. This is what I remember, this is what I live in, and it makes me depressed, distressed and drained. I could easily say right now, that I’m done; finished.

But I know something that keeps me going, that is hope in my God. I know my God’s abounding and unconditional love; I know His ever-lasting compassion and I know His never-failing faithfulness.

I need to hope in my God, to trust Him and seek Him. For He works for the good of those who love Him. I will wait for the salvation of my Lord and I will persevere through this time of trial so that I may triumph through God and with God. I need only to remind myself daily that the Lord is my portion, my provider, my deliverer and my banner; therefore I will wait for Him.

The Lord is my God

I realize that previously I wrote about Romans and I’ve suddenly switched to Jeremiah. It may seem odd but God has been revealing much through Jeremiah and I’d like to use it to bless others. This post is a follow up of Jeremiah 29 I wrote about yesterday.

Recently during a service, while we were talking about good times, bad times; peace and hardship; joy and sorrow, we were encouraged to always reflect everything back to God. Everyone runs the risk of walking away from God; no one is invulnerable to losing the faith somewhere along the path of life. It’s hard truth but it’s truth all the same. But that is why we need to always remember who we are and who the Lord is in our lives. What the Lord revealed to me that night was simple but impactful:

The Lord is my God.

In Jeremiah 30 v10-11, God says:

I will surely save you out of a distant place,
your descendants from the land of their exile.
Jacob will again have peace and security,
and no one will make him afraid. I am with you and will save you.

And in v22,

So you will be my people,
and I will be your God.

When I read this, I remembered what God had reminded me, that He is my God. And through anything, He remains faithful and His love is ever-lasting.

Don’t keep in question why hardships still happen to us though God promises peace and security in v10. Further down v11, He also mentions discipline for us.

Hebrews 12 speaks of how hardship is like discipline and discipline isn’t pleasant but it trains us toward peace and righteousness!

When we endure hardship, I am confident that God does not allow us to endure more than we can bear, so that we may persevere and become even closer to Him. Ultimately, whether through promises or peace or easy or hard times, the Lord is still our God.

If we’re walking a straight and smooth path, the Lord is the One who kicks aside stones that may stumble us. If we’ve fallen into a deep pit, the Lord is the One with strong enough arms to lift us out.

Exile and Restoration

God revealed something I wasn’t exactly looking for this morning, but I’m glad He did because I feel it is such an encouraging word for anyone.

During the time of Jeremiah the prophet, Jerusalem was besieged by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and a number of Judeans were exiled to Babylon.

As I read Jeremiah 29, I felt that the Judeans were in exile in more than 1 way. They were:

1. Distant from God,

2. Distant from home,

3. Distant from peace.

We can imagine while they were in Babylon, they probably felt anguish, worry, confusion, fear, uncertainty and/or sorrow.

Perhaps, in the same way, we may be going through trials where we’ve distanced ourselves from God, people we love and who love us and from peace of heart and mind. Perhaps we may feel like the Judeans in exile; one or a whole mess of their emotions.

Despite the fact that the Judeans had forsaken God, He knew His promise to His chosen and remained true to it.

Likewise, God chose every one of us who know Him, or at least, knew Him at a time. And for those He chose, He’s made special purposes and promises. For the Lord says:

“For I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you and will bring you back from captivity.”

Rest assured, God knows and God loves us. Whether we are going through a challenging time or not, know that God has better things in store for us. He is forever faithful and standing by our side, so that the moment we call upon Him, we will find Him and He will bring us close to Him.

Cookie

If our life is a cookie, the crumbs are the pain and regret we leave behind because Jesus Christ has made us a whole cookie again

Testing Windows Live Blog Updates

Windows Live has this ultra-cool feature where I can update my blog without going into blogspot. How cool is that? :)

Amazed..

I have been working on The Purple Book (Biblical Foundations) for devotion and am currently on the chapter on discipleship. I haven't even finished the chapter but I'm too excited over something that has happened repeatedly and I felt it could be good for people to know.

Recently, I decided to take note of what I learn during devotion. My methodology was to write a WORD for the day, then the LESSON from devotion and the COMMAND or ACTION to apply in my life.

So yesterday, the word I received was discipleship and the action was to obey Christ's teaching. It may sound hard, having to remember every command and detail and so forth each day. It sounds like having to memorize a rule book and play the game. But what I learned today made things much, much simpler.

Today's word was crucifixion and that is, being crucified with Christ. Don't get riled up or run off yet; at least listen to what I have to say for the next two lines. Being "crucified" simply means to "die" or put off old, undesirable habits (I am confident every one of us has some of these) and live a new life in Christ. Here's a popular phrase on how to live a new life in Christ: What would Jesus do? (WWJD)

How often do we realize that by living a WWJD life, we are already obeying God? The math is simple: Jesus is the perfect example of how God wants us to live. By asking WWJD in our lives and applying the answer, we're already living how God wants us to live!

Upon this revelation, I said, "But God, Jesus is different! He is You in the form of a man; He had more power to overcome than any normal man on earth!"

And as God has done so many times before this, He said to me, "Isn't that why I gave you My Holy Spirit? He is your guide, counselor, guard and source of power. However incapable you as a person are, you are capable with My Spirit."

Once again, I am revealed the awesomeness of God's ways. I gotta admit, He has every detail thought thoroughly; every loophole filled.

I am amazed by Him.

Incredibility

Today, I was overwhelmed by the incredibility of God! This book, the Bible could not have come from simply any man or any hundred men cracking their brains together because it’s like a puzzle that fits perfectly. I have a vision that gets rather confusing and I’m attempting to write it down in words in hope that you may understand what I see.

Let’s start with this: Yesterday, I learned that the Word of God not ONLY = The Bible but also = Jesus Christ who = God who = the Creator of all the world and universe. Therefore the Word of God was present before earth and way, way before books and writing. If you didn’t understand that, to sum it all up: the Word of God is God Himself.

Today I learned that God’s Word isn’t simply about authority and commands. True, while it ultimately is that, it comes with love and benefits. That’s what makes Jesus (remember God’s Word = Jesus = God) so special. To love God is to obey Him. Obedience can seem like a burden sometimes (like performing chores or running errands for our parents or bosses. Especially bosses.). But the obedience God expects from us is different because He knows that in obedience, we will benefit; we will be rewarded.

And here’s the thing. Obedience sounds scary. It sounds like work; it sounds difficult to do. But in anything, what do you ever accomplish by not getting up and moving? Realistically, to lounge all day means to get nothing done. Though we do have to get up and get going, we’ve nothing to worry about because God has given us the easiest way towards this obedience. He has:

1) Given us the Bible
a. Which ultimately are His words.
b. He deliberately made it into black and white print (throughout the course of humanity)
so that it becomes easy for us to access and understand.

2) Given us the Holy Spirit
a. Which ultimately is Himself.
b. In His promise, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit when we repent and are baptized
in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is our guide, our guard, our counselor, our power.
Simply put, the Holy Spirit keeps us on track in our walk with God.
c. “On track” means that He is the one who teaches us to obey God, by speaking through
our hearts, minds, consciences and in any other way possible. It’s almost like we don’t
even have to try.

At this point, I wonder if you’re starting to understand what I have seen today. I guess what I’m trying to say is God really is perfect and He created; He IS His Word that is perfect. While God asks for our obedience, it’s not because He wants to rally subjects to worship Him. It’s because He loves us and wants the best for us. That great love and mercy, though He is sovereign and authoritative, is why He deserves that worship. When God asks for our obedience, He doesn’t take pleasure in watching us struggle and suffer on our way toward it. That is why He made it as easy as possible, by providing us a source of help for our minds and our hearts (the Bible and the Holy Spirit, respectively).

What I’ve mentioned is only a puny portion of what the Word of God has to offer and already they tie up together perfectly! I’m just summing it all up now:

God wants obedience so we can prosper. We want to be successful in life and the best way is obedience towards God. In the end, both parties look toward obedience for the same result. In other words, it’s like two parties working together for a common goal. As if things couldn’t get any better, God has provided us signposts that we can turn to for help on our journey to obedience. It makes things easy for us, and we learn to obey: God’s happy, we’re happy.

It’s like a fairy tale but it’s real.

Test Video

Blessed and Watched with Abundance

Deuteronomy 2:7
The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. The Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.

There are many areas in which I am not good at and I could easily brood over them. As I read this verse, I looked at my hands and I reflected not on what I cannot do, but what I can do. I am not multi-lingual but I am given a strong hold on one language. I cannot speak publicly but I am given clear speech. I cannot sculpt or paint but I am given drawing and computer-based talents.  I cannot organize but I am given the spirit of serving. I cannot perform miracles but I am given the grace of my God who can. 

In my journey, I could easily lose these gifts for the sake of a couple of failures, being overwhelmed by inabilities or the comparison to people with other abilities. But the Lord my God has watched over me in my journey of learning, changing and performing. He has been with me and indeed, I have not lacked anything. For the Lord my God knows and tends to my needs and even my wants. 

Have you ever thought of what your life is leading to? What you would do with it? I have. I don't care what I cannot do. I know what I can do and in that, I aim to do it well for the benefit and, hopefully, change in others for a better life. I do not have a particular kind of people to focus on but I do want to witness people, as a whole, live their lives without hurting themselves or others; without beating themselves up and with understanding the amazing life of serving others.

Someone prayed over me recently, declaring excellence beyond other works in what I do. I don't think he was talking just about my drawings. Thank you for your prayer - it is received and appreciated.

-Thank You, God-

Anger Management

Anger is probably one of the most interesting topics to me, current day. Maybe it's because I've experienced (and still am experiencing) so many kinds of anger, and not just experiencing that but experiencing ways on responding to it.

How many times can and do we get angry a day? We could very well wake up on the wrong side of the bed and feel like we're having a rotten day for the next 24 hours. We could have a day with petty problems like a car breakdown, not finding a (good) parking space, forgetting our homework, computer crashing on us, annoying classmates, rude people... And the problems mentioned are surely petty because they aren't enough to really, actually hurt us. But they can make us angry.

My life, when it concerns anger, can be broken down into three stages: past, past and present.

Anger Management #1
I am easily angered. Flukes, delays, pressure, stress, faults, words.. everything gets to me. I react, I flare up. I frown, I scowl. I swear, I curse. I become silent, I withdraw. I shout, I cry, I blame, I accuse. I spend the next hour in an isolated self-pity party, wondering why the world is against me, why people always fail me, why problems are out to get me.

Anger Management #2
I am fairly easily angered. Some little things still annoy me, some more important matters, but I approach the anger differently. I begin to ignore it, pretend that it didn't even happen. I dismiss the person who angered me momentarily, stop associating with them till the anger wears off and we easily become friends again. At times, I even dismiss the problem or source of anger altogether, but other times I find myself persistently complaining about it.

Anger Management #3
I am still fairly easily angered. But I find that I am angered by things so different from before. My approach has changed too. When someone angers me, I pray for them. When something angers me, I pray for peace over petty problems.

Anger isn't always a bad thing. If we're angry for a right reason and if we respond correctly, there's nothing wrong with it. Anger is just a feeling, after all. It comes naturally, we cannot stop it. See the three different stages of anger I have gone through in my life? It may not apply to everyone, nor is it a statement that I do not anger anymore. Even more so, I admit that every day I encounter, see or hear people, words, attitudes and situations that make me so angry sometimes. Sometimes I become so angry, I feel like strangling someone, breaking something. I feel angry because... because I know it displeases God. Because I know it could work out differently if people took the liberty to choose correctly. Because I am unable to do anything about it.

But you know what? While I know I am unable, I know my God is able. That is why I pray.

If you read one of my previous posts about my encounter with a group of people online, I was angry, so angry with them. I eventually resorted to praying for them, because there was nothing else I could do. Nothing else and nothing better. Who knows? Perhaps my prayer added another brick on their path to knowing God.

When I counsel people who have a horrendously negative outlook on people and life, who use swear words to describe others, who prefer to dwell in intolerance rather than forgiveness, pride rather than humility, I also get angry. But I am not one good with words or persuasion. I am not a miracle-worker: I cannot change their perceptions and behavior with the snap of my fingers. But I can pray for them and that they are enlightened with a life-changing experience that will give them a happier life to live in.

I heard someone say something very inspiring today, about how we can take our anger and change it into something good. What do we achieve, after all, by taking out our anger on someone? Rather, when someone actually tries it, changing the anger to do something good for another is so much more fulfilling. Not very long ago, I wouldn't have believed that.. at all. If you had said that, I would've snorted, turned away and decided that I will treat those I dislike anyway I liked. And I probably would've picked to make them feel bad, to ignore them, to hold a grudge.

But when I began to do something good - pray, forgive, love - I found that it became so much harder to become angry and so much easier to manage my anger. I discovered what it means to have peace in Christ Jesus even in anger.

Anger management. Do you have it?

Difference between Requirement & Desire

Many months of non-blogging and I have returned with a Word from God that I received today :)

Hebrews 9 & 10 speaks about Christ being the final sacrifice for mankind. We all know that God's law required priests of the past to offer sacrifices to God for the cleansing of the people. Heb 9 & 10 of the Bible makes one point very clear: such sacrifices are no longer required because Christ was the ultimate sacrifice. In other words, when Christ died on the cross, He permanently took away our sins.

On the surface, Hebrews 10 (vs 1-18) looks very much like a repetition of Hebrews 8 & 9. But as I read Hebrews 10 (vs 1-18), God revealed something different to me. He showed me the difference between requirement and desire.

The reason people had to present sacrifices and offerings in the past is because this was required of God's Law for the atonement of their sins. By right, because God's law is absolute, people today are also required to present offerings! HOWEVER... simply because it is required of the Law, doesn't mean it is desired by God.

 "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, 
 but a body you prepared for me; 
 with burnt offerings and sin offerings 
 you were not pleased. 

(Hebrews 10:5,6)

Now, God even proved (admittedly, we humans tend to ask for proof of a lot of things) to us that He didn't desire repeated sacrifices and offerings from us. He spared us the trouble by sending down His Son, Jesus Christ, who became the ultimate* sacrifice. Yes, he provided the sacrifice.

*ultimate = final. As in, final final. Nothing can be more final. Eternity final. I trust I've gotten through to you.

TODAY... God doesn't require us to give Him sacrifices, but He desires something from us. He has offered us an undeniable offer: He has provided a way to eternal life with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. To walk the way to eternal life is simply to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord (paraphrase of Romans 10:9 NIV). This is God's desire: that we take up on His offer and love Him and walk with Him.

That is all He desires.

In times of uncertainness, FOLLOW GOD

As I read 1st chapter of Colossians tonight, I stumbled upon this: But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. (1 Col 22-23)

I am advancing into a new season of my life where I will enter a new culture, new surrounding and new and different experiences. I've said to people before that I don't ever want to move from this faith and what I received back were cautionary words, warning me not to be too confident. I can't seem to express correctly when I speak, but what I really mean by my "declaration" isn't that I definitely won't ever stumble in my entire course of life, but that I don't want to.

Maybe it's hard for other people to understand - that's fine. But I know one thing, as Peter says in the book of John, "Lord, You know all things".. Indeed Christ knows all things of the past, present and future. I don't know what is in store for me, I don't know what will happen along the course of life, I don't know if I will weaken or be strengthened in this faith, but I truly hope that Jesus sees my heart today and knows my sincere desire to walk with Him.

I am shaken by other people's comments but not stumbled. Instead, I will only let such things affect me to the point that I will consider my life and future and pray about them to God and leave them all in His mighty hands.

"Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

Truth

Here are a few things I received from Wikipedia on "Truth":

Ghandi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth". He would later change this statement to "Truth is God".
~
Alfred North Whitehead, a British mathematician who became an American philosopher, said: "There are no whole truths; all truths are half-truths. It is trying to treat them as whole truths that play the devil".

The logical progression or connection of this line of thought is to conclude that truth can lie, since half-truths are deceptive and may lead to a false conclusion.
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"it is generally recognized that there is no absolute truth but nevertheless that there are objectively valid laws and principles".

You want absolute truth?



This is absolute truth. Not satisfied? There's a lot more where that came from. In an argument about truth, it is not just my relative opinion because absolute truth is real.

Luke 23:34

Seasonally, I go to this online chat/drawing game site (it's like an online Pictionary) to have a little fun challenging myself at drawing (as, at my own initiative, I usually draw the same old boring animals). I meet a lot of strange people there, not surprisingly - nice people, rude people, rule-abiding people, rebellious people, polite people, foul-mouthed people, etc.. I've learned to either ignore or leave a room when something less appropriate happens.

Today, as I stepped into a room, I "overheard" a conversation between some people who were talking about someone very casually, very ordinarily. I didn't think much of it at first but as they went on, a word caught my eye. One of them mentioned the name "god". It sparked my interest so I read on and they proceeded to talk about someone whom one of them had met and this person was a mess and has been a mess since his son died.

Here's the case: I knew there were a couple of players on the site that had nicknames involving the word "god" and I assumed, at first, that one of them was the subject of this conversation. But as I continued to read, they were not talking about "a" god, they were talking about God and this son they referred to was God's Son, Jesus Christ.

I had no idea how to respond, so I listened incredulously as they as they not only referred to God as a human-like being, but as someone who was so messed up, so broken over the death of his Son that he had to go to a person for counseling. I can hardly remember what else was mentioned and personally, I am glad I don't remember, because a one-time experience of that conversation was enough to boggle the mind.

I may not remember the details, but I remember what I felt and thought during the time. I was... stupefied. I just couldn't, and still can't, comprehend that I had just sat through a conversation where people talked about my God and were reducing Him to a torn, messed up man who acted like he had no hope in this world. I couldn't comprehend how they casually joked and teased about God and they laughed! They laughed.

I was stunned, literally.. and I was crying, inside, because my God, whom I know is sovereign and all-powerful, the Creator of everything, was being ridiculed by His own creation. Not just rejected, but ridiculed.

I was burned up, I was annoyed, I wanted to shout at them, rebuke them and teach them a thing or two. But someone wise once said, "Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing". It dawned on me that these people (and they are not alone) do not know God, they do not realise what they do. I don't know whether they acted purposely or out of ignorance, but either way, shouting at them wouldn't have done any good. So I left the room. If Jesus, in the position He was put, had the grace to ask God to forgive those who mistreated Him, I figured I need to learn to be as forgiving as He.

One thing I do know for sure at the end of the day is I know who my God is and what He isn't is a hopeless, crushed man who seeks other people for sympathy, counseling and therapy. He does not talk to men and mourn over the loss of His Son because His Son, Jesus Christ, is risen and living. I know God is self-existent and He does not need us, but He loves us. He does not seek hope, He is hope. And incredibly, despite His sovereignty and power, He is also the grace who loves us and saves us.

Let there be a REVIVAL!!

This is who I am - one of God's crew. Anybody wanna make somethin' outta it, they gotta talk to The Boss. 'Cuz no one's gotta say who I gotta be besides The Boss.

This is God's grace:

It SAVES us
It JUSTIFIES us
It BLESSES us
It EMPOWERS us
It is SUFFICIENT
It is SURPASSING
It is FREE

Nothing in this world is free, you say? It's okay, God is not of the world.

He is God.