Monday, April 30, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Celebrate Him!
Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the bright an morning star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart
Not because of who I am
But because of what you've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who you are
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still you hear me when I'm calling
Lord, you catch me when I'm falling
And you've told me who I am
I am yours, I am yours
Who am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me
I am yours
Whom shall I fear Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am yours
I am yours
A victorious moment; the moment where all walls were torn apart, all gaps bridged, freedom and liberation can be experienced. The power of resurrection of Christ that brings us back to God!
It is a fact that Jesus Christ existed! Historians, scriptures, religions claimed that. Even our calendar revolves what the Bible said. The 7th day is a Sabbath day, and our world today, Sunday is when everyone takes a break, rest, recuperate, most don’t work, spend time with love ones. Whether they go to church or not, it is a “Sabbath day” for them. Nevertheless, B.C. & A.D. that we read in books, it stands for “Before Christ” & “After Death”. Jesus is center point of everything. He is living and active today! We live in Him today. But, do we? Or we just take Him for granted? Or even deny or doubt His existence?
Ever wonder why He took so much trouble 2000 years ago; going around telling people about the coming of salvation for men. People at that time were not all that believing, some embrace Him, but others mock Him and trying to plot a way to eliminate Him. Who in the world will endure so much pains and stripes for a punishment that he did not commit? Who will go through so much trouble, pain & torture for a purpose? Jesus did. He went through everything not for Himself, but for US! Yes, this 2 alphabet, U S =US! He endured the cross so that by His resurrection, we can be united with God! We can go back to Him! We would no longer have eternal separation which leads to death, but we have eternal life, where we are with God in His Kingdom!
Titus3:3At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
He did it for us. By His stripes we are healed! Being Almighty God, He can just speak and all men will turn to Him, everyone will follow Him & no one can cause a wound on Him. But Jesus didn’t do that, rather He became one of us, and walks through human life and end up on the cross! All for us!
Think again, who would do that? And if you are God, seeing your Son enduring so much pain and suffering, how would you feel? It is normal for parents to take upon their child’s suffering; they wanna protect their child from injuries and harm. But God didn’t. God endures a greater pain to see His Son on the cross. If you are a parent, or wanna parent a child in future, imagine this situation. Which is of greater pain? To see your love ones suffer or you take upon the suffering on behalf of your love ones?
This is Easter. A celebration not of Easter eggs, not a moment where we all spend time eating yummy cute little chocolates made into a bunny, but it is a celebration and thanksgiving and honor and praise to resurrection of Christ. It is a time where we reflect God’s grace & mercy for us. The world has dilute the true meaning of Easter, but let us step back from the heights and fun of the worldly pleasure and quiet our hearts to reflect and rekindle our joy of salvation!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Faith Prayer!
James5: 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
Shared this during prayer meeting that day. I intended to share something about our “spiritual well” or “Jesus pruning our branches” but as I was flipping through the Bible, I was attracted to these verses. In the first part of the verse,
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
We should not only pray during our times of need, but we should pray & sing songs of praise when we are joyful. Often, we tend to only seek God when we are in trouble, when things go out of hand, but we never honor God or give thanks to Him during our happy moments, when we are blessed, when we are in our comfort zone. We somehow forget that the joys and laughter and blessings came from God, and not ourselves. This verse says we should make prayer our lifestyle. Not at a certain situation, but at all times. God communicates with us via the Bible, but we communicate with God via our prayer. Often, when we spend time talking to friends, we are building a stronger relationship with them. Same thing with God. If we can devote so much time to our spouses, studies, leisure, sports, food… more time should be devoted to our Father in heaven, who created us and gave up everything to have us united with Him! In the Bible, the book psalms is filled with songs of praise, worship and confession for God! Let every word that come out of our heart be seasoned with words that exalt and honor God for every situations and moments that He has put in our lives.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.
Sometimes, when we pray, we don’t see immediate healing. But that doesn’t mean we should stop praying. See that, we have to pray first, and then God will act accordingly. God can just make an action without us needing to ask, but God wants us to pray first. Not just merely praying, but a prayer offer in faith. Although we don’t see immediate healing, but our prayer in faith somehow stirs our spirit, gives us assurance, makes us feel better, gives us support or edifies our faith. Our prayer is actually part of God’s healing process!
16… The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
What a strong verse. A prayer of a righteous man is powerful & effective. We don’t just pray in faith, but we pray strong! It doesn’t mean we are shouting out our prayers, but every word that comes out from our mouth must be spoken in faith & with strong beliefs that God is hearing and answering our prayer. It avails much!!!!! We are righteous by the blood our Christ, our prayer is gonna make an impact!
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.
When we say Elijah, what comes into our mind? Many will remember that he’s the prophet who calls for the rain and God sent rain right. This verse says, he is a man with a nature like ours, he is just like us, but the verse continues to say “he prayed earnestly”!!! We should look at Elijah’s relationship with God. God didn’t reveal Himself to Elijah in a powerful and miraculous way, like a burning bush but God reveals Himself to him in a gentle whisper (1king19:11-13) Many times, we are so caught up with our daily routine and busy schedule that we missed what God wanna speak to us, God also speak in the quietness of our hearts. We should step back from heightened situations in our busy lives and listen humbly with a quiet heart to God’s guidance.
It has been a while since we started this prayer meeting. Initially with 5, now the numbers doubled. We meet every sun night and pray corporately as prayer in agreement brings power! Looking for more times where we can edify each other and intercede for people in IH. Gonna set a different culture here in IH, a culture not built by the world, but built by God!
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